Charlie barely slept that night. After walking Antoinette to the cabin, and muttering out a quick goodnight, he had gone into the house and straight up to his room. He ignored Bill who was trying to catch his eye. What could he say to him when Bill asked why they had gone off alone? He undressed quickly and got into bed. Hearing Bill open the door a little while later, Charlie pretended to be asleep.
Charlie’s mind had gone over the two conversations he had with Antoinette. His face still flamed red, even alone, when he thought about brushing the sand off her body. All night the same question ran through his mind, Was he only interested in her because she was part Veela? He very much wanted to talk to Bill about this, but he didn’t know how to ask. How did one ask if the attraction Bill felt for Fleur was because of the Veela heritage? No, he couldn’t ask that. That would get him a very much deserved punch in the face.
Charlie looked down at his watch and realised he needed to get up and get dressed. They were due at the Burrow in about an hour. He knew it was going to be a long day. Standing, he pulled clean clothes out of his bag and wandered down the hall to the bathroom.
He was about halfway down the hall when the bathroom door opened and Antoinette walked out. Her startled gasp and blush alerted him to the fact he was only in his underwear. Damn, he thought, I didn’t think about the fact I am not alone in the house.
“Good morning, Andi,” he said, deciding to ignore the fact he was only barely covered. “How are you this fine morning?”
“Et ees a fine morning and a very...umm... le fait d'éclaircir one too,” she answered smiling. She walked towards him and looked very pointedly at the clothes in his hands. “I think et would be better if you put your clothes on before we go to your parents.” She giggled and brushed past him before he could even get a response out.
Charlie shook his head as if to clear it as he watched her walk down the stairs. Turning back towards the bathroom, he saw Bill standing in the doorway of his bedroom, a worried look on his face.
“Please tell me that wasn’t what it looked like,” he said.
“Depends on what you think it looked like,” Charlie said. “If you think it looked like anything other than me embarrassing myself in front of Andi again, then you would be wrong.”
“Again? Charlie what did you do?” Bill asked.
“Hmmm, oh, nothing. Well, it was nothing really, just an innocent thing,” Charlie answered, his voice distracted as he thought about running his hands over Antoinette’s the previous night.
“Charlie,” Bill began, his voice threatening, “what in the hell happened last night?” Bill reached out and pulled Charlie into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. “Am I going to have to hurt you to protect that girl’s honour?”
“Protect her honour? Well, maybe. But, honest, it was innocent,” Charlie answered, his voice taking on a decidedly joking tone.
“Tell me,” Bill said through clenched teeth.
Charlie sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “We were walking down on the beach. She had just saved me from touching a...a jellyfish, I think she called it, and as we were walking...I sort of...tripped and we both fell down.”
“Wait, you the big Quidditch star and famous dragon tamer, tripped?” Bill said, laughter in his voice.
“Yes, I tripped. Now do you want to hear what happened or not?” Charlie asked. When Bill nodded, Charlie continued, “I helped her up and she was covered in sand-”
Understanding dawned in Bill’s eyes. “Ah, you helped her to brush it off,” he said.
“Yes, well, as you can imagine the sand covered her entire backside...” Charlie felt the blush creeping over his face again and stopped talking. Standing, he headed towards the door.
Bill’s laughter rang out in the room. “Charlie,” he said as he reached for Charlie’s arm to stop him from leaving. “Wait, that isn’t so bad,” he said. “Did I ever tell you about my first lunch date with Fleur?”
Charlie shook his head. “It can’t be any worse than what I did last night and then this.” He gestured to his undressed state.
“Oh, it is worse, much worse,” Bill said. “Sit down and let me tell you about the Leaky Cauldron.”
“Am I going to have to do something to avenge Fleur’s honour?” Charlie asked smiling.
“No, but you may want to go and ask her why she ever married me,” Bill said. “See, I had asked Fleur to meet me for lunch the day she got the job at Gringotts. I used the excuse we would be celebrating her new position.” Bill sighed. “I knew she was part Veela, but I wasn’t ever really affected by it. Not like Ron was anyway. Or so I thought-”
“Wait, she used her Veela charms on you? That is-”
“No, no. It isn’t like that. Fleur realised during our first meeting at Hogwarts during the Triwizard that her Veela side had very little effect on me. So, she never really tried to use her...I guess the word to use is charms, on me. Anyway, that day, I met her as planned in the Leaky Cauldron. She was sitting talking to Tom and I guess she didn’t realise she had unconsciously turned on her Veela charm. I walked up to the table and got a full blast of it.” Again, Bill sighed, this time shaking his head.
“Needless to say, I was ready to kneel at her feet and promise her the world. I sat down at the table. Fleur turned and looked at me and smiled. I stuttered out a hello and then couldn’t say anything else. My mind felt like it was full of empty space and I just couldn’t think. Tom left and came back with a drink for each of us.
“I picked up my glass and drank it right down. It was Firewhisky and I hadn’t even realised it. Needless to say, since I wasn’t expecting it, I spit most of it out, all over Fleur.”
Charlie began laughing. “Oh, she must have loved that,” he choked out.
“Well, she wasn’t exactly happy. But, it had the desired effect of her turning off her charm and my brain cleared. I apologized, profusely, while trying to wipe her off. Now, you fell down, but think about where I was trying to wipe off.” Bill stopped talking. He saw the understanding dawn on Charlie’s face.
“Yeah, I guess that would be worse,” Charlie said sympathetically.
“Oh, that isn’t even the worst part,” Bill muttered. “While I was reaching across the table to help her, I knocked her glass of Butterbeer into her lap.”
“Oh, this is too good,” Charlie said. “So, tell me, did you rush to help her clean that up?”
“Ha, ha, little brother. No, by this point, I was too embarrassed to do more than throw a handful of Sickles on the table and rush out. I went back to my office at Gringotts thinking that it was good I would never have to see her again. Yes, I forgot totally she had just been hired to work there. Needless to say, when I emerged from my office six hours later, it was to literally walk right into her and knock her over.”
“You were right, I think I will ask Fleur why it was she ever married you,” Charlie said.
Bill smiled. “Let’s just say, I was very glad the bank was closed and there were very few goblins around to witness the ensuing fight. If you ever wonder about whether or not you really love someone, get into a fight with them. If you don’t hesitate to shout back at them as loudly as they are shouting at you, and then the fight turns into laughter, it is true love. I knew at that moment, I was in love with her. I didn’t know anything about her, but I knew I loved her.”
Charlie nodded. He stood again and walked to the door. “I am going to take a shower. We have to get to the Burrow soon.”
“Charlie, be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you hurt, either,” Bill said.
Charlie hesitated for a second then giving a brief nod, he went out the door. He knew Bill only wanted the best for him. He wasn’t sure where this was going with Antoinette, but he wasn’t going to stop it. It would be what it would be. He wondered quickly if she liked dragons.
An hour later, Charlie walked slowly down the stairs. He could hear the female voices coming from the kitchen and as he neared the bottom of the steps, was startled to hear Antoinette’s voice among the voices.
He stopped just out of sight outside the kitchen doorway to listen. He realised quickly they were speaking mostly in French. He took a step forward when he heard his name mentioned and froze.
“Charlie, ‘e ees very intéressant. Il est charmant, mais aussi, je pense réservé. Et il est si sexy.” There was much giggling coming from the kitchen at this comment.
Charlie wasn’t sure what exactly was said, but he understood his name and the last word, sexy. He wished he could just walk out the door and go to the Burrow. He knew there, he could avoid Antoinette if he really tried.
“Antoinette, ne moi dites pas que vous vous intéressez à Charlie?” asked Fleur. There was more laughter among the women.
“Et si je suis? Il y a un problème avec cela?” Antoinette asked hauntingly.
“Non, no, but you must know, ‘e only loves es dragons,” Fleur answered.
“Dragons? Ah, oui, ‘e non talk about dragons,” Antoinette answered. “But we non talk too much,” she added with a giggle.
“Interesting conversation to eavesdrop on, little brother,” came Bill’s voice from just behind Charlie.
Charlie jumped and once again found himself blushing. “I...I...well...” Charlie couldn’t find the words to defend himself.
Bill laughed. “Can’t say I blame you for standing here instead of entering into that lion’s den. You would be better off in a cage of dragons, and more comfortable, I would imagine.”
Charlie nodded gravely. “Shall we join them?” he asked.
“Yes, let’s,” Bill answered smiling. As they walked into the kitchen, Bill addressed the ladies, “Good morning, having a lovely talk, are we?”
Charlie ducked his head as he felt the blood rush to his face. He knew from the brief look Fleur gave him that she knew at least some of the conversation was overheard by him.
“Oui, we were enjoying our morning chat,” Fleur answered as she rose onto her toes to give Bill a kiss.
“Mum is expecting us,” Charlie said quickly. “I am going to head there now, are you coming by Apparation or Floo Powder?” he asked the room at large.
“Oh, we will be Apparating,” answered Fleur. “The dust on our clothes... Charlie, will you please take Antoinette with you? She has never been there before.” Fleur’s voice sounded innocent, but there was a hint of something more that Charlie suspected was humour.
“Ah, sure. If you want, but why...never mind, I will take her,” he said. Turning to Antoinette, he said, “Andi, are you ready?”
“Oui,” she answered. “Let us go then.” She smiled at Fleur and then walked out the door into the yard. Charlie nodded at Bill and followed her out the door.
“You will have to take my arm,” Charlie said to her when he reached her side a few steps from the door.
“Why do you call me by that other name?” she asked.
“Other name?” Charlie said confused. “Ah, what other name?”
“Andee,” she answered. “Et ees not my name.”
“I...well...” he stammered. He hadn’t realised he had called her by that name; that was the way he had started thinking about her last night when he was daydreaming about spending more time with her. “Your name is so long, it is just easier,” he said quickly to cover his stammering. “Besides, Antoinette is a bit stuffy, don’t you think?”
“Et ees not stuffy,” she said, her tone cold. “Et was my grandmother’s name.”
“Oh, sorry,” Charlie said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“But,” Fleur said, “you are right, et ees a bit stuffy.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, “I think et ees fine for you to call me Andee. Et is better than Tonee, non?”
Charlie nodded. He liked the way her accent added emphasis to the end of the name. “Then, Andi it is,” he said. “Shall we go?” He held out his arm for her to take.
“Non, there is one more thing,” she said. “If you would please come with me.” She turned and walked away from the house. They turned the corner and she kept walking until they were close to the path down to the beach and out of sight of the house before she stopped.
She turned and looked at him. “I think et may be best for you to kiss me before we go to your parents. I think et will ‘elp to clear your mind from wondering.” She leaned close to him and standing on the tips of her toes as Fleur did, brought her face towards his.
Charlie didn’t think, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He bent his head and tried to keep the kiss light and friendly. His intentions were shattered within seconds of their lips meeting. He heard someone moan and didn’t know if it had been him or her. Truth be told, he didn’t care. He just tightened his arms and deepened the kiss.
“Victoire, come back here. We don’t have time to look for shells this morning.” Bill’s voice carried clearly to where they stood entwined in each other’s arms. They broke quickly apart.
Charlie was happy to see the dazed and dreamy look on Andi’s face knowing it mirrored the look on his own. He turned quickly, his arms still around her and Disapparated to the woods close to the Burrow. He knew they both needed a few minutes to settle themselves before facing his mum.
Charlie looked down at her. He wasn’t sure what to say after the kiss they just shared.
“Oh mon, qui était...” Antoinette murmured.
“English?” Charlie said chuckling. “I think I may have to learn French.”
“Oui, sorry. I didn’t not finish, that kiss was... Well, ‘ow I describe it?”
“You don’t have to describe it, just tell me you would like to do it again,” Charlie said. He wasn’t sure where this boldness came from, he only knew he wanted to kiss her again.
“Oui, yes, I would like to kiss you again,” she answered and dropped her eyes.
Charlie didn’t answer, he just lifted her face and bent his to her. Again, he tried to keep the kiss light but once again, the kiss escalated very quickly. After a few minutes, Charlie broke gently away from her.
“If we want to go to Fleur and Bill’s party, we really should stop now. Believe me, I would rather Apparate away to some place where we could continue, but I don’t think that is a good idea right now.” He pulled her closer and gave her a brief hug. Then turning her in the direction of the Burrow began walking with his arm around her towards home.
Beyond Dragons by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: I hope the French I used in this chapter is correct. I found an online translator. I just hope it is accurate.