Chapter 8: The Ritual

I awoke cold. I knew that I had had a nightmare, but I couldn't remember any of it. The house was as silent as it got, still humming with a certain coziness, like a dissonance of assorted snores and the buzz of an area heater. Outside, the wind whipped harshly. It was nearly pitch black, but pure moonlight filtered through the window. Percy was tucked under a quilt with a book beside him. He had fallen asleep with his glasses on, and they were now crookedly hanging from his nose, only hooked around one ear.

I stood as quietly as possible. I knew that Percy slept like a rock, and there really wasn't any need to be cautious, especially since he had made me sleep on the floor. I opened his door carefully and slipped into the hallway before I cast a hushed 'lumos'. I crept down the stairs and into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Can't sleep?"

I almost jumped out of my skin at a voice behind me. I clasped my hand over my mouth as I turned to face Charlie, who was leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen.

"Where did you come from?" I hissed and glared at him. My heart still pounded in my chest.

"I was on the couch," he gestured behind him with a playful grin.

"Still can't ever sleep?"

"You act like you're any better," he scoffed and crossed his arms. I tried not to look at the muscles in his arms. I faked a cough and continued into the kitchen. He followed me and leaned against the counter beside the sink.

"So, what is it tonight?" I asked as I filled a glass with water and glanced up at him.

"What isn't it?" After a few moments, he added, "I'm just used to Romania. You know, the sounds, the cold, my bed. What's keeping you awake?"

"Existential dread," I answered shortly and took a sip of water. He raised his eyebrows. "Nightmare."

"So, are we going to perform the ritual?"

"Is this where you tell me you need a human sacrifice?"

"No," he said in a reprimanding tone. "You remember our ritual, right?"

"It was hardly a ritual," I scoffed.

"It was top-tier magic is what it was," he said in mock offense. "I made you a spell to get rid of your nightmares."

"You used a stick you found in the garden as a wand. Bill told me you were a fraud," I said.

"Hey, I was just trying to help you," he said and chuckled all while shuffling closer to me. "You always slept the whole night after I cast the spell."

"Come on, Weasley. Save room for the Holy Spirit," I said and took a step back.

"You look ethereal in the moonlight."

"I look like a hobo," I snipped and gestured to my outfit, a pair of shorts and one of Percy's t-shirts.

"An ethereal hobo," he said and leaned closer to me. His eyes flickered down to my lips, which I found myself subconsciously licking. "If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to have to kiss you."

"Keep it in your pants," I said and gently pushed him away from me. "Neither of us need this right now."

He looked at the ground abashedly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Believe me, I would love to kiss you, but I have shit going on, you know, with school and all," I said.

"How's this? I'll promise to try to refrain from kissing you if you tell me more about that program of yours," he said.

"Deal."

I followed Charlie as he made his way to the couch. We both sat down and he looked at me intently.

"It's just some scholarship thing they threw together," I said to break the silence. "I'm catching up on lessons through tutoring and then I'm going to start an independent study abroad."

"They just 'threw it together'?"

"Pretty much. McGonagall hates wasted potential or something, I guess," I sighed.

"But studying abroad; that sounds pretty cool," he said.

"Yeah, but I still don't know where I'm going. I'm considering going into Healing, but McGonagall has to find out which places would be suitable for that."

"You know, at the reserve in Romania, we need Healers," he said and leaned back into the couch. He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "We have apprentices every once in a while."

"Well, I don't know," I said hesitantly.

"What? Afraid you'll fall in love with me?"

"Hardly," I scoffed. "I don't speak Romanian."

"Most of the people on the reserve don't," he said and looked over at me. "We have translators and spells and shit."

I huffed and leaned back into the couch. "It's stressful," I admitted quietly.

"It sounds it. Want to talk about it?"

"Refrain from kissing me all you want but if you keep validating my feelings, there's no guarantee that I won't make a move."

He laughed quietly and sighed. "I miss you sometimes, you know?"

"Keep talking," I hummed and closed my eyes.

"Seriously, I do," he said and sat up to look at me. "I miss when you and I could just mess around, like kids. We had so much fun and then I graduated and..."

"And now we don't talk," I finished.

"Yeah. It sucks. You're my girl."

"Ew," I giggled. "Don't bring that back. It reminds me of being a first year, having a crush on a fifth year... Merlin! I just remembered! Your birthday was a little bit ago."

"I'm old," he grunted.

"You've got to be... twenty-two now, right?"

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "I feel ancient."

"You're not ancient," I argued.

"Bold of you to talk. You're a baby still. Eighteen years old," he sighed. "Those were the days. You know, I could wake up without any aches or pains back in my prime, when I was eighteen," he said dramatically.

"You're so... ostentatious," I said and laughed. He smiled.

"I don't even know what that means," he said and took a deep breath.

"Dramatic, Charlie. Dramatic."

"You're one to talk," he scoffed.

"Don't change the subject, Weasley," I said and sat up on my knees to face him. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks, Y/N/N," he said and sat up to pull me into a hug.

I could have stayed in his arms forever if he let me.

A creaky stair warned us of an impending visitor. I pushed away from him and slid away from him. He sighed lowly as Percy rounded the corner.

"I woke up and you had disappeared," he said sleepily, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. "Thought you ran away on us."

"I couldn't sleep," I said and heard Charlie huff under his breath.

"You could have woken me," he said. "You want the bed for the rest of the night?"

"Sure, thanks," I said and stood up, brushing my shorts of imaginary dust. "Night, Charlie. Thanks for talking with me."

"Any time, love," he responded. I pretended that my stomach didn't flutter at his petname.

I followed Percy up the stairs.

"I didn't know you were with Charlie or I wouldn't have interrupted," he said.

"It's fine. I appreaciate your concern over my whereabouts."

"You know, Charlie really likes you. All he talks about are dragons and his Y/N/N," Percy said and sat down on the floor among his blankets.

"Get up here, idiot," I snipped and cuddled under Percy's duvet. "If you snore, I will suffocate you with your own pillow."

"Love you too."

Percy fell asleep soon after his head hit the pillow and, although I wouldn't admit it, he didn't snore, although I might have preferred it so that I wouldn't be alone with my thoughts. There was a part of me that wanted to be with Charlie, all my doubts aside. Who cared about an age gap or an awkward family connection when you really liked someone?

But the reasonable part of me knew that I shouldn't. He was well into his career and I was a mess, still at Hogwarts, still barely managing to pull through. Merlin, what would his family think if we got together? It would be nothing short of scandalous, especially in the eyes of his Aunt Muriel.

It just wouldn't work. So I didn't have to worry about it.

And yet I did.

bros i cracked my back so aggressively that i may have induced a sort of paralysis from the waist down