|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: Kalarien Story: Charlie Weasley and the Mountain of Dragons Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: WIP Reviews: 0 Words: 18,389
Chapter 4: Kings and Queens Why? Why did she even try? He'd given Nils permission to ask her out; obviously he didn't want her. But Wilhelm had sounded so convincing, with all his "live for today" crap, that she had actually believed for a second that he'd go out with her. But no, right away he'd offered to leave her alone with Nils, right away he'd let her know that he didn't want her that she should go looking elsewhere for companionship. What else did she expect from the great Charlie Weasley? And instead she'd asked some silly question about the weather. The weather! Of all things to talk about! He'd looked so surprised at her question, he'd probably expected something more intelligent. His opinion of her must have fallen to an all time low, even lower than at Hogwarts, where she hadn't been worth even a second glance. He probably wouldn't even bother talking to her any more... But she knew better than that. She knew that he was noble beyond noble and that he would be nothing but absolutely-straightlaced-to-the-book fair with her. She'd just be a face, one of three whom he'd chosen to accompany him on this little excursion. She would be nothing to him. Not competition, not friend, not enemy...just that woman. Could anything be worse? She'd retreated back to Wilhelm immediately, but hadn't told him what had happened. After all, she hadn't told him what she was going to do, anyway, and he didn't ask. Instead they'd walked in silence for a while, before Nils came running back to talk to her. Wilhelm (unfortunately) stepped away to keep Charlie company while Nils talked, Liz doing her best to ignore him. "I picked this up for you." He handed her a dirty rock that was so cold that she could feel it through her thick mittens. "I thought you'd like it." She didn't. If it had been Charlie giving it to her, it would have struck her as amazingly adorable, that he was acting like a smitten five-year-old. On Nils, it was just annoying. She dropped the stone into her pocket, vowing to drop it on the ground the next time she was alone. "Thanks..." or not. "You're welcome." He was practically bouncing. "Charlie helped me pick it out. He says we're setting up camp soon. It's a little early, he said, but we've come pretty far and it's been a long day for everyone." Everyone? Charlie gets knocked out, I get rid of a Graphorn and have to spill my life story for Wilhelm. Wilhelm...well, he had to listen to me, and that would make a long day for anyone. You've just picked up old rocks. What a long day you've had! "Okay." "You wouldn't have thought any more about what we talked about this morning, would you?" At least he's not assuming that you've said yes, that's something. "Let's see, between disposing of a Graphorn, spilling my life story to Wilhelm, and being bothered by you...I haven't had anytime to think." As if I even had to think about saying no. "Oh." He sounded so disappointed. "Well, let me know when you've made a decision." Could she not make it more obvious? "Nils, I don't think..." Once again she was interrupted in her negative response by Charlie calling out "Were camping here!" and Liz escaped from Nils by running up to claim a good spot for her tent. The boys always took the good ones, leaving her with slanted spots that almost always meant that her head was below her feet. Little bumps may not matter much in wizarding tents, but hills always mattered, especially when the tent wasn't one of the deluxe multi-level models with a jacuzzi. There was nothing worse than the tap spilling out water on the floor because gravity took it at an angle to the sink. *** Charlie and Wilhelm worked closely as they set up the tent. Nils had volunteered to cook, tonight's meal being nothing more than dried fruit and reheated soup that was stored away in the ice box of the old tent. This kept him out of the way, which was good, as he tended to like complaining about physical labor more than actually working. This allowed Charlie to really have a conversation with the old man, something he hadn't done the whole trip. In fact, he hadn't had an extensive conversation with anybody the whole climb. Charlie the Popular becoming antisocial, what an idea! "How's your family Charlie? I believe I've met your father before, pleasant chap." Wilhelm was saying. Charlie pounded one of the stakes into the ground. "Yeah, Dad's great. Didn't even realize how great until I moved to Romania. But he's absolutely heroic. I don't think I could manage with seven kids." Wilhelm was hooking the tent to the poles. "Yes, parenting is an amazing thing. The returns are so much greater than the sacrifices...and soon you have an enormous, loving group of people. All families want to do is to take care of each other." Charlie grunted as he finally got the final stake beaten into the ground. "Yeah...I guess. Sometime I would like to know what it's like to be Ron or Ginny, just to see what it's like to have so many older brothers...I mean, I have Bill, but we're so close in age...I don't think it would be the same." "I was the youngest child in my family," Wilhelm noted. "There were five of us, and I always knew that my oldest sister would take care of me, and all the others. It's a powerful feeling, to be protected." "Yeah...and you know, sometimes I wish I were the twins, or Percy, to know Ron and Ginny better...there's a seven year gap between Percy and me, did you know that? It's like I don't know the younger ones at all...I feel like I should be protecting them, but I don't know how...I never see them..." This conversation was definitely taking a personal tone. "Liz was just telling me about her little sister today...she's still at Hogwarts, she probably knows your brother and sister." "I don't know...Hogwarts is a big school. It would depend on what house and class she was in. I can ask, though." They sat in silence for a while. Charlie wanted to say something, wanted to tell Wilhelm how much he wanted to have a family, with seven kids running around, his mother feeding them cookies and warm milk when they had nightmares... "Do you think you'll have your own family one day?" It was as if Wilhelm had been reading his mind. "Er...I don't know. I'd like one..." Then suddenly he started talking all at once. "It's not like there haven't been girls that would go out with me... and there are definitely girls that I like...It's just that none of them seem to be the type that I would like to live with forever, you know? I mean, most girls I date just want to have a fun time, and you know, goody for them. But really, I need someone who doesn't mind responsibility, and who wants to have kids. I feel like an old man talking like this" Great thing to say to an old man, "but I really just want a family. Is that so much to ask? Really. And I feel like life is so short. I wanted to have a family by now, you know? Back at Hogwarts, the thought of turning out like Dad scared the crap out of me, but I still wanted to have a family one day, and I'd always thought 'gee, twenty-five seems like a good age to get married; not too old, not too young.' Now here I am, twenty-six, without even a girlfriend. All I've got is a stupid crush-" he cut off abruptly, only just now aware of what he had been about to say. Close one there, smart guy. "It seems I was having a conversation with Liz about maturity as well," Wilhelm interjected. "She was talking about her past. It seemed she'd had a few run-ins with men who didn't like responsibility. It utterly disgusted her. I think she'd appreciate a conversation with you, get your views on the subject." A conversation would be...nice. More than nice. Maybe I should try... *** As if today couldn't get any worse... Liz was not in a good mood. She felt that the whole world should know it, but, seeing as her companions were all men, she was afraid they would shrug it off as PMS. They'd better be hoping that I don't get PMS on this trip. I might be the only one to make it out of here alive. To add insult to the injury that had been her day up to the point they had stopped for camp, the snow had picked up. That wasn't really a bad thing in itself, but all the snow started building up on top of her tent, making an indent in the ceiling. She had stepped out to brush it off and put an Impervious spell on it to prevent further backup, when she caught a snowball in the face from Nils, who obviously thought that catching her unawares with some frozen water was romantic. Then, as she brushed snow off her tent, one of the few trees that was still taller than her decided to dump the load that one of it's branches had been supporting right on top of her, some of the snow shifting uncomfortably down the back of her jacket, making her shiver. Now she finally had the chance to sit down, have a cup of tea, read one of her books...maybe even take a hot bath, anything to relax and maybe salvage something slightly good out of this horrid day. Wearing only her dressing gown and slippers, she sunk into one of the beat up armchairs in the drawing room of the tent, putting her feet up on the foot stool. She took her first sip of tea and sighed. Any day that ended like this couldn't be called a bad day... A knock on the pole of her tent broke her out of her reverie. "Liz?" a voice called out. Charlie, she thought, anyone else would have an accent. I don't need this... "One moment." She called back, setting her cup down and standing up. She crossed the room as slowly as she could without seeming like she was avoiding anything (I am not avoiding anything!) and opened the tent door. "What do you want?" she asked tiredly. Charlie looked taken aback, whether at her tone or her dress, Liz couldn't tell. He was still in his Parka and day clothes and it didn't seem as though he expected her to retire so soon. "Oh...er, can I come in? It's cold out here." She rolled her eyes to herself. Well, my evening was ruined anyway. "Come." She stepped aside, motioning for him to follow her. She led the way into her drawing room, and sat in the chair she had occupied before certain someone's had to interrupt what seemed like the only moment of peace she would have the whole day. If he's going to bother me like this, I get the comfortable chair. "Take a seat," she gestured vaguely at the worn sofa, reminiscent of a queen deigning to allow a subject to sit in her presence. In fact, I think I'll play the part. "What matter of great importance did you need to talk to me about, oh great leader." She stuck her nose into her teacup, sniffing it daintily. She took a sip and grimaced. It had gotten cold. "Er...I was wondering...are you...do you..." he seemed to be having trouble and half of her wanted to go and hug him and tell him that she didn't care what he had to say; she loved him and there was no denying that (wait, I didn't say that...are you putting words in my mouth?). However, the other half of her brain, the side that wanted to be cynical and cool had the momentum at the moment; nothing would stop it. She pulled herself up to her most queenly height and lifted her nose into the air haughtily. "Charlie, I was enjoying my time alone here. I have had an extremely long and trying day, so if you have nothing to say, I would appreciate it if you would leave me to my tea." His mouth opened and closed like a fish for a moment (Nils would be proud of him) before he clamped it shut, his teeth cracking together, hard, and he stood up. "I will take my leave then." Almost as if he had sensed her little game, he gave a short half bow and left. Now if only I could convince myself that I DON'T want to follow him... *** Ha!!! I remembered to do an Authors Note!!! Many , many thanks go to Yolanda for Beta-ing and to Incurable Romantic for her support and for reading this thing. Look for her writing at GT.net and maybe coming soon here!
|