“Moon! You coming round for dinner tonight?”
She glanced up from the ledger spread open on the counter before her, quill in one hand, ink splattered on her nose. Both of her bosses stood before her, identical quizzical looks on their faces.
She sighed, stretched, drew out the suspense.
“What, are you mad?” She tossed her quill on the counter, a grin blooming. “Of course I’m coming! I wouldn’t miss your mum’s cooking if I were dead.”
One couldn’t work for Fred and George Weasley for going on four years and not be inducted, however temporary the position, into Molly Weasley’s family. And she, Venice Moon, was quite alright with filling said position. Molly’s cooking was well worth every minute spent with the crazy, eccentric, bloody wonderful Weasley brood.
Fred leaned closer and rubbed a spot of ink off the end of her nose.
“You’re as bad as Ron, Moon. Honestly. I’m not even asking how you managed that one.”
She swatted his hand away.
“Fine. From now on YOU can do the ledger every night.”
She slammed the book shut, laughing at the murderous look on Fred’s face.
“That’s what I thought. Now, I’m going home to change. Not that I don’t love these pink robes, mind you. I’ll meet you there, alright?”
She was halfway out the door when George’s voice stopped her.
“I should probably warn you beforehand, Moon”Mum’s going to be sickening tonight. Charlie’s home.”
The looks on the twin’s faces were apologetic. She smiled.
“Oh really? Charlie? The only one of your wonderful brothers I’ve never met?” she asked dryly, shrugging. “I think I can handle your mum.”
Laughing, she stepped out the door and disappeared with a pop.
An hour later, she was knocking on the Burrow’s front door. She could hear voices chattering loudly inside, booming out of the open windows. A moment later the door swung open. Ginny’s smiling face appeared, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright with laughter.
“Venice! Come on in!”
Ginny grabbed her arm and all but dragged Venice through into the kitchen. The room was a sea of red hair and freckles, and for a moment her vision was completely obscured as Molly pulled her in for a hug.
“Venice, dear, we’re so glad you could come! Sit, sit, dinner’s almost ready.”
With a gentle shove, Molly pushed her into a chair, and she found herself seated between Ron and Bill.
Bill rested his elbow companionably on her shoulder.
“So, Moon, what’s new?”
She shrugged.
“Not a whole lot. How’s Gringott’s treating you?”
Bill smiled.
“Excellent, as always. You know I love my job.”
“Always knew you were nuts, Weasley.”
Bill let his arm slide off her shoulder.
“I think you spend too much time with my brothers, Moon. They’re starting to rub off on you.”
Laughing, she turned away, glancing around the table. Arthur caught her eye, smiled a greeting. Beside him, Harry was deep in explanation of how a spark plug worked. Ginny was leaning across the table, talking about goblins with Bill and beside Ginny. . .
Warm brown eyes sparkled at her as a muscular arm slid across the tabletop, offering his hand. She took it, speechless.
“So you’re Venice. I’ve heard quite a lot about you from my brothers. I must say, you’re not what I expected.”
For a moment she could only stare at him.
“Yes, well,” she finally managed, “you shouldn’t believe everything you hear from Fred and George. What did they tell you, that I was an ugly old hag with a large wart on the end of her nose?”
Charlie chuckled.
“Yeah, something like that.”
He released her hand and sat back in his chair, eyes still on her face. It took all of her willpower not to fidget under his gaze.
Charlie jumped as Ginny slapped his arm a moment later.
“Stop staring, Charlie! The poor girl puts up with Fred and George all day; she doesn’t need you driving her crazy on top of it!”
He rubbed the offended spot, throwing his sister a dirty glare.
“Jeez, Ginny”I don’t come home for ages and this is the welcome I get?”
Ginny’s hand twitched toward the wand she’d stuck in her ponytail.
“Don’t make me whip out a bat-bogey hex. Venice is my friend, and I won’t let you annoy her.”
“Ginny, it’s okay, really.” Venice interrupted. She smiled at the pair of them. “Honestly”people might think you’re brother and sister!”
After one last glare at Charlie, Ginny returned to her conversation. Charlie smiled appreciatively across the table.
“So how many siblings did you grow up with to be that good at diffusing fights?”
He quirked an eyebrow and she smirked.
“None, actually”I’m an only child.”
They grinned at each other as Molly started dishing out plates that overflowed with food. As she tucked in, Venice couldn’t stop herself from sneaking glances across the table.
She’d certainly heard a lot about Charlie over the years, seen pictures, but nothing had prepared her for the actual person.
Charlie was. . .there was no other word for it. . .cute.
Muscular, rugged. . .Venice felt herself blushing for even thinking the words, bending her head over her plate to hide the rush of color in her cheeks.
“Venice?”
Her head came up”everyone at the table was staring at her. Her cheeks flushed even brighter. Fred and George were both grinning mischievously.
“We’re going to the orchard to play a quick game of Quidditch. You in?”
Ron’s face was hopeful as he spoke, and she nodded almost automatically. Shoveling the last bite of food on her plate into her mouth, she rose and followed the crowd outside. Teams were divided quickly: Ron, Bill, Fred, and Venice against Charlie, Harry, Ginny, and George.
Venice and Ginny, as the only girls, were appointed Keepers. Hovering near the tree that served as her goalpost, Venice couldn’t help but shout taunts across the orchard
“Come on now, Harry! Do we need to get you new glasses? That was nowhere near the goal! Oy! George! If I win, will you give me a raise? Hey, Charlie, you should ask Ginny for flying lessons: it looks like you could use them!”
“Venice!” Charlie finally shouted back, irritated. “D’you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Chuckling, only pretending to watch the action at the other end of the orchard, Venice let her mind wander. As competitive as the Weasleys were, it would be a few moments before the Quaffle came back to her end. She drifted closer to the apple tree she was guarding, watching the way the leaves reflected the sunset.
A shout from behind made her whip her head around, just in time to see the Quaffle streaking straight for her. Gasping, knowing instantly there wasn’t time to catch it, she twisted, trying to avoid it, and felt a sickening pain bloom at the back of her skull.
Her vision grayed as she grabbed at her head. Forgotten, her broomstick dropped from underneath her, and she fell. . .
Next thing she saw was Molly’s face, hovering above her own.
“Venice! You had us worried”how do you feel?”
Wincing, she slowly moved her head back and forth.
“I’m alright, Molly. I’ve got a bit of a headache though.” She pressed a hand to her forehead; her entire head throbbed with every beat of her heart.
Glancing at crowd of faces gathered around the sofa where she lay, she tried valiantly to smile.
“So, who threw that Quaffle?”
Sheepishly, surprisingly, Charlie raised his hand.
“Venice, I’m so sorry!”
“I see how it is. I just met you and you’re already trying to kill me. Jeez, Charlie, if you didn’t like me you could have just said so.”
The room around her let out a sigh of relief, punctuated by several chuckles.
“I’m fine, I promise. You can all stop hovering round my deathbed now.”
She pushed herself upright as people filtered, one by one, from the room. Charlie dropped onto the sofa beside her.
“I’m really sorry, honestly”I thought you heard us call your name before I threw it.”
His eyes were solemn, concerned. She smiled.
“And it’s really okay. I know you didn’t mean it. Don’t worry about it.”
They sat in silence for a moment, watching the game of wizard chess Harry and Ron had started in the corner.
“So what’s it like, working for Fred and George? I don’t know how you do it; I’d probably kill them both in the first day.”
“It’s definitely interesting. I love it, though. I love that every day is never the same as the one before. And yeah, sometimes I’d also love to strangle both your brothers, especially when they get the bright idea to test some new product on me and it goes wrong (trust me, it’s happened more than once). Even so, it’s the best job I could have hoped for.”
“You started working for them right after Hogwarts, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“Fresh after graduation, yeah. Never even dreamed of doing anything else. Not after knowing firsthand what Fred and George are capable of when they put their heads together.”
“I bet your parents were thrilled with that idea. I remember how upset Mum was when the twins started their joke shop...”
“Yeah, they definitely weren’t too pleased at first, but they came around when they saw how much I enjoyed it. They’ve even been in a few times. My dad loves your brothers. Says they remind him of him when he was that age.” She winked at Charlie. “I do my best not to remind him of how long ago that actually was.”
“You’re terrible, Venice. We like your dad!”
She turned in her seat to glance at George, who was skulking in the doorway, obviously eavesdropping.
“I know you do. That’s why I keep the three of you apart as much as I can. The last thing I need is all of you ganging up on me. I can barely survive just you and Fred as it is!”
After sticking his tongue out at her George slunk back into the kitchen. In the corner, Harry and Ron were shouting instructions at their chess pieces, each of them completely absorbed in the game. She watched them for a moment, giggling as Ron started waving his arms about, nearly hitting Harry in the eye in the process.
“It’s hard to imagine sometimes that we were in the same year,” she said, nodding at Ron after a moment. “It’s almost like watching a couple of children when they get going.”
“You’re joking!”
Charlie’s face was incredulous.
“What do you mean?”
“Were you really in the same year as Ron? Blimey...I had myself thinking you were at least as old as the twins.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, Charlie. I know it’s hard being such an old man...”
She giggled again as he clobbered her in the arm with a throw pillow.
She spent the rest of the evening chatting with Charlie, talking about mundane, every-day things. Where she lived, where he lived, their every-day lives. The time flew; she was startled to look up after a bit and find that she, Charlie, and Ginny were the only ones in the room. Ginny was half-asleep in her chair, Arnold the pygmy puff perched happily on her shoulder.
“Oh, Charlie, I’m sorry”it’s so much later than I thought. I should go so you guys can get some rest.”
“There’s no hurry, Venice. Tomorrow is Saturday; everybody’s going to have a bit of a lie-in anyway. I don’t want you to think I’m going to throw you out or anything.”
“Of course not. After your failed attempt to kill me with a Quaffle, throwing me out would be child’s play.”
She elbowed him jovially as she pushed herself to her feet.
“I really should go. Sleep sounds like an amazing idea right now.”
“Alright. You can use the kitchen fireplace to floo home. It’s definitely better for your head than Apparating.”
“Yes, I’ve heard spinning around in fireplaces is SO much better for you.”
Her cheeks turned a startling shade of red when Charlie paused mid-step to raise an eyebrow at her.
“I’m sorry, it’s my mouth. . .things just come out, I have no filter sometimes. I get myself into trouble like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I’m sure I have an idea.” Charlie’s voice was so dry she couldn’t help but laugh.
She offered her hand when they reached the fireplace, shook his firmly.
“It was really nice to meet you, Charlie. Thanks for the company tonight, and the conversation.”
“Same here. And I’m still sorry about your head. I’ll have to make it up to you.”
He smiled.
“Have a good night, Venice.”
A Story for Charlie by Darkness Enshrouds
Chapter Notes: I always felt so bad for Charlie. He gets the least book-time, never has a love life...I decided he needed something. This is slightly A/U, due to the fact that it takes place after 7th year, there’s no Voldemort, and nobody’s dead. I got the name Moon from Sorcerer’s Stone, just a last name mentioned once during the sorting ceremony, and I’m not one of those people that read the Lexicon like a bible, so if Moon is actually a person with a first name, my apologies. I just liked the name... And this all belongs to Jo; I’m a kid playing in her sandbox, is all. :)