She tossed her blond hair saucily and rested a flirtatious hand on her hip.
It only served to inflame his desire.
Entreatingly, he held open his arms for her, arranging that look that she liked so much on his face. She giggled softly at the curved smile and raised eyebrow and sauntered oh so slowly towards him.
Teasingly, though, she stopped just out of reach.
“What ees wrong wiz zees picture?” She smiled enticingly at him, making it exceedingly difficult for him to form a coherent answer. He settled for shaking his head.
“Eet ees zaht you are dressed, silly!” She ran her eyes leisurely down his unfortunately clothed body.
With his eyes on her, Charlie’s fingers found various buttons and clasps and managed to quickly remove the offending garments.
“How’s that?”
She quickly closed the gap between them and pressed a warm kiss to his lips. “Eet ees much better,” she whispered, running her slender hands along his bare shoulders.
“Good.”
He captured her lips for another long, hot kiss.
~*~
Now those, those were the days.
Those were the days when a bloke could expect his girlfriend to be a devoted person who would be there at the end of the day, preferably in a good mood.
Those were the days when he could keep a girl happy just by being himself.
Those were the days when he could take a girl to meet his family and they would just happen to like her and certain members of said family wouldn’t actually fall in love with her and flirt shamelessly with her - in front of him, no less.
Charlie drummed his fingers irritably on the scrubbed kitchen table, choosing to ignore that the setting sun would soon leave the room in darkness and that he would be unable to see the words on the rather rumpled piece of paper resting near his hands.
It was all Bill’s fault.
Bill always had to have everything “ the looks, the popularity, the perfect OWL scores, and apparently, the pretty girlfriend.
And, coincidentally, if Charlie just so happened to be dating the prospective girlfriend, then it was only that much easier to actually talk to her. And it must have made it easier to make such a brazen proposition to her: leave Romania, leave Charlie, and join him in England.
Charlie slammed his palm onto the table in frustration, relishing the noise the rather meaty slap made. “Stupid, fucking, perfect Bill,” he swore for the empty room to hear.
The kitchen slowly dimmed and grew darker until Charlie could hardly see the two other chairs that were tucked next to the table.
Such darkness never happened when Fleur was there. She always made sure that there was plenty of light. She preferred candlelight in the evenings; more romantic she had always claimed.
She was probably lighting a candle in Bill’s tony little London flat and giving him the same explanation at that very minute. He could see her face, lit beatifically by the glowing flame, smiling as she spoke.
Stupid Bill.
He had managed to take away so much in just a few moments. It wasn’t just that he had taken Fleur, no, he had managed to take a million little things along with her. He had taken that little smile that had appeared whenever Charlie had realized that she was happy to be with him. He had taken the swell of joy that Charlie felt just under his heart whenever she would sleep next to him with a look of pure contentment on her face. And he had taken away the laughter and the silly teasing.
Bill had taken away the light in his life, leaving Charlie in the darkness.
It made Charlie almost physically ill to think of the day that she had left. Every time he remembered it, it was like there was a guttering light that just might live again, but every time, every single time, it always died.
Charlie groaned and rested his forehead in his palms as the scene brutally replayed itself in his mind once again.
~*~
She hadn’t slept well. He had felt her moving throughout the night and she had gotten out of bed the moment the first sunbeam had hesitantly peeped through the window.
He could hear her walking around, pulling clothes off of hangars, and then a sudden intake of breath that she tried to stifle.
“What’s wrong?” he called in a sleep-clogged voice.
“Nothing.”
Her voice was pitched higher than it usually was and it trembled slightly. A faint note of worry was struck in Charlie’s rather sluggish brain.
He sat up gingerly, rubbing his eyes so as to wake up faster.
“Fleur?” he asked, looking around, taking in the scene that was unfolding. “What the bloody hell is going on?”
She was sitting calmly on the floor, using her wand to fold her clothes and stack them neatly in her trunk. She stared determinedly at the trunk as it continued to fill with her possessions. Charlie watched, transfixed and horrified, as her clothes were neatly packed away and then her books and papers. His reverie was only broken when the trunk was shut with a small snap and she Levitated it with a brief wave of her wand.
“What are you doing?” The words tumbled out as Charlie grabbed for his dressing gown and lurched out of bed.
“This ees not ‘ow I want to live,” she said calmly, though she spoiled the effect by sniffing and raising an elegant hand to wipe a tear that had fallen to her cheek.
She walked out of the bedroom quickly and resolutely, following her floating trunk.
“Fleur, wait!”
Charlie ran down the hall after her and caught her by the wrist just before she reached the door. She spun around in surprise and the trunk crashed to the floor as her wand jerked downwards.
She looked up at him, not with anger, but with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“But…but, why?” Charlie implored.
“I ‘ave an opportunity. I ‘ave to take it. Please,” she begged, “let me go.”
In shock, Charlie dropped her slim wrist, dimly aware that he was nodding.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small and pale blue envelope which she held out to him. “Here.”
He took it, hardly aware of what he was doing. She Levitated the trunk once again, opened the door, and left. Charlie heard the faint pop of her Apparating a few moments later. Numbly, he shut the door and rested his head on the jamb. He didn’t understand what had just happened. All he knew was that Fleur had left “ suddenly “ without any warning.
He could feel the envelope still resting in his grip and he slowly closed his fist, crushing it. He stood there for what felt like an hour before he unclenched his fingers and removed the crumpled paper.
Carefully, he ripped the envelope open to reveal a single sheet with a few lines on it. His eyes scanned it quickly and then, he read it again in disbelief.
My dearest Charlie “ it began.
My dearest Charlie,
I don’t know how to say this, but I feel trapped. I cannot remain here with you without feeling as though I’m wasting away. When you took me back to your family last weekend, you introduced me to your brother Bill. We spoke for a long while and he offered to secure an interview for me at his bank. I really must take it. I cannot stay here with you and simply be a Dragon Keeper’s wife. I need a life of my own and I have a chance to find it in London. I’m sorry to do this to you, but I really must leave.
Affectionately yours,
Fleur
For the second time, Charlie scrunched the paper in his fist, hardly daring to believe the traitorous words on it.
Bill had talked Fleur into leaving.
~*~
Two weeks later, Charlie was still shocked at the despicable thing that Bill had done. He had stolen the most precious thing that Charlie had ever known and had extinguished Fleur’s love for him.
It wasn’t enough to say that their relationship had been like a flame. A simple flame was too small and insignificant to be used. It had been more like a much larger and purer light, penetrating Charlie’s entire life.
And yet, like a candle, Bill had managed to snuff it out in only a moment.
Charlie stared at the table, even though it was too dark to read the words on the wrinkled page. He knew what was there, even though the flame “ the light “ was out.
Snuffed by Indigoenigma
Story Notes:
Thanks to Afifa for being a lovely beta.
Chapter Endnotes: I always appreciate reviews!