“It’s nice, isn’t it,” Tonks said lazily, “to be alone out here. I’m glad I had to stay this Easter.”
“Mmm,” replied Charlie helping himself to some of the chocolate egg by his side. He held some in front of her. “Want some?”
Tonks opened her mouth in reply and he fed her a piece, watching as her tongue chased the crumbs of chocolate around her lips. Then she settled back into silence.
He tried not to sigh as he gazed at her. They had become friends on the Hogwarts Express seven years ago, when she’d turned her hair Weasley red to convince everyone that they were twins. And they’d stood in line together and tried to predict who would get Sorted into which House. Tonks, he remembered, had been particularly bad at the game. When she was Sorted into Hufflepuff, the eleven-year-old Charlie Weasley had felt rather sad at losing his new friend because he knew he’d be a Gryffindor like his brother. However, after the Feast, she’d walked across the Great Hall and had whispered in his ear that she still wanted to be friends.
“Houses mean nothing. My Mum was a Slytherin and my Dad a Hufflepuff and you can’t get much further apart than that.”
They had made the effort to stay friends despite their respective housemates’ surprise and faint scorn. Tonks had been the first person to congratulate him when he made the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and had even commiserated with him when he fumbled a catch, giving Slytherin the win.
“Could have happened to anyone, Weasley,” she soothed, and ran her hands over his shoulders, massaging away the stress.
“It didn’t though, did it,” he retorted bitterly. “It happened to me and those bloody Slytherins are going to fly away with the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup.” He kicked a stone moodily and watched it scudder into the lake. “McGonagall’s not going to make me Captain now, and I thought I stood a great chance.”
“’Course she will,” Tonks replied breezily. “She knows how good you are. And the alternative is McLaggen!”
Charlie started laughing, suddenly feeling a whole lot better. “What a prat!”
“A complete dick,” she agreed and gave Charlie’s arm a squeeze. “How about we escape to the kitchens and persuade the house elves to make éclairs for tea?”
He smiled in agreement and took her proffered hand. Tonks always made things so much better.
Charlie, for his part, had listened and consoled her the previous year as she’d sighed over a Ravenclaw boy who’d barely acknowledged her existence. Then he’d laughed with her when, after finally getting a date with him, she’d declared him to be an arse.
“I thought he was the only wizard in the world for you,” he teased, and laughed uncontrollably as her face started to match the puce hair.
“Ugh! Derek Corner might be good-looking. He might well be the best flyer Ravenclaw have, and it’s probable that he’s going to have a fantastic career at the Ministry, but ...” she pulled a face and mimed being sick, “ ... did he HAVE to tell me all of this over and over again? He never asked me a single question? ARSE!”
“What would you have liked him to ask you, then?”
“I dunno. The sort of things we talk about, I suppose. What do I want to do when I leave Hogwarts? What do I think of the current England team? Or how do I think our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is going to leave us this year?”
“Gets eaten by a Manticore,” Charlie replied, smiling.
“You say that every year, Weasley.”
“Sometimes the long shot comes in, Nymphadora!”
They were the best of friends.
But, thought Charlie, friendship is not what I want, not any more.
He’d told his mum that he couldn’t come back this holiday because he had to revise. The twins’ presence, coupled with Ron and Ginny high on chocolate, was not going to help him, he wrote to her. His mum had replied, via return owl that, although she was disappointed because Bill was making the effort to return from Egypt, she did understand that his exams were far more important.
He felt guilty as hell, especially as he’d barely picked up a book, but when Tonks had announced that her parents were away, and she’d be staying at Hogwarts, he’d leapt at the chance to spend time with her without his annoying brothers hanging around.
Only ... it was worse now. Tonks had been her usual self, cheerier than the sun, a shining grinning dervish of a girl, delighting in the freedom of Hogwarts during the Easter holidays. He’d wanted alone time with her, but hadn’t been able to muster the courage to do anything “ not one word. In his dreams, he imagined kissing her, fantasizing about her rainbow hair tickling his neck as she curled up to him, and wondered, often, about sliding his hands around her waist. He would pull her close, kiss her longingly, inhale the glorious musky scent of her hair and ...
“What are you thinking about?” Tonks asked. She was sitting up and peering at him from beneath her pink fringe, a curious look on her face. Charlie flushed slightly and broke off some more of the egg.
“How much I love chocolate,” he muttered.
“Some things are better than chocolate,” she replied.
Charlie snorted. “This coming from the witch who regularly eats her own weight in Chocolate frogs! What, in the name of Merlin, could you possibly prefer to chocolate?”
Tonks leant forwards and cupped Charlie’s face in her hands. As her mouth touched his, he felt her tongue slowly tease his lips apart. Light-headed, he surrendered himself utterly to the moment. Her hands slipped around his waist, drawing him close, and as if she could read his mind, she started to kiss his neck. Then she pulled away. “See,” she whispered, smiling. “Much better than chocolate.”