Love Burns (Charlie Weasley X Reader)

Chapter 4: Believe It When I See It

^gogoși

Chapter 4: Believe It When I See It

Life on the sanctuary was the same as always. It felt strange to know that we were in the middle of a war and yet life kept going. It was one of my early morning shifts and the hospital building was nearly empty besides the two other workers who were on, Dmitri and Hana, one of the newest healers who had just transferred from a wizarding hospital in South Korea.

"Merlin, why can't someone be maimed already?" Dmitri grumbled from where he was sitting as he raised his greying eyebrows.

"What time is it anyway?" Hana asked.

"It's only five," I said and looked at the clock with disgust as if it would speed up its ticking.

Hana let her head drop to her chest with a groan.

"I'm hungry," she whined.

"I can go get us something from the cafeteria," I volunteered and perked up in my seat at the idea of doing something other than sitting around.

"That sounds magnificent," Hana said and sat up in her seat, suddenly seeming thrilled. "How much?" She dug in her pockets for money.

"You can buy me lunch next time," I suggested and stood. "What do you guys want?"

"I'm on a diet," Dmitri said and slapped his hand against his belly.

"Want a salad?" I asked.

"No, I'll have gogoși," he said and Hana giggled at him.

"I'll take the same," she said.

I nodded and set off. The sun had not yet risen but the air was pleasant. Dew soaked through my shoes as I ventured toward the cafeteria, humming softly under my breath. The cafeteria lights were on but I knew that Danny would have just arrived for the day. He would likely be irritated that I was coming in so early.

I pushed open the door and walked to the counter. I didn't see anyone in the front but I could hear the cooks bustling around in the kitchen.

"Danny!" I called and rang the bell that was situated on the counter obnoxiously.

"Damn it, it's not even six yet!" he called back from the kitchen. I grinned as he emerged.

"Good morning, Danny," I chimed and waited as he wiped off his hands on a towel.

"Morning, lovely," he said and shot me a glare. "What do you want from me?"

"Gogoși," I said with an innocent smile in his direction.

"Really?" he asked and groaned. "Fine but only because I love you. How many?"

"Three orders, please. And hold the spit," I requested and batted my eyelashes when he turned and gave me a dirty look.

"Three?"

"Yeah, for Hana and Dmitri too," I said.

"It'll be a few minutes," he said and turned.

"Can I come and watch?"

"No, stay out of my kitchen," he said over his shoulder as he disappeared into the kitchen.

After about fifteen minutes, Danny brought a few containers of gogoși out and pushed them over the counter.

"Thanks, Danny," I said and slid him a few galleons. "Keep the change."

"You're welcome, sugar. They were made with love," he said and wrinkled his nose at me before flipping me off.

I just grinned at him. I brought the containers back to the hospital. Hana squealed when I came through the door.

"You are an angel," she said and grabbed one of the containers before returning to her seat.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Dmitri said and accepted a container.

I pouted at him before opening my container and eating one of the doughnuts. I ate a few before tucking the container away to give the rest to Charlie once my shift was over.

"Well, it's almost time to go," Dmitri said after a while. It was six-thirty, which meant that we would be able to leave in half an hour.

"I'll wrap up inventory," I said and pushed out of my seat. In the storage closet, I counted salves and potions and checked them off on a sheet. I made sure to note that we were low on skele-grow so that we could get a new shipment.

"Y/N," Dmitri said from the doorway of the closet. "Charlie's here to see you."

"I'm almost done with this," I said and gestured to the inventory sheet.

"No, I'll finish that up. You go ahead," he said and took the sheet from me. "You can go early if you need to."

I furrowed my eyebrows before leaving the closet to find Charlie. He was in the staff room with Hana, who was looking down at the ground guiltily.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled and set a comforting hand on my shoulder before slipping out of the room.

"What's going on?" I asked Charlie, whose eyebrows were knitted together, dark bags under his eyes.

"Why don't we go home first," he suggested and grabbed my windbreaker. "I'll walk you."

"No, what's happening?"

Charlie sighed and rubbed at his eyes with his palms.

"It's Sirius. Harry and some of the Order were at the ministry building. There was a big fight there and... Sirius didn't make it."

"He didn't make it?" I repeated.

Charlie shook his head. "Let's go home, okay?"

I nodded, feeling like I was dreaming. I could feel myself walking but my mind was somewhere else. I had just seen him, and now he was gone? Charlie had his arm wrapped around my shoulder, his other arm holding my windbreaker. He walked me back to our cabin and led me inside.

"You okay?" he asked after a beat of silence, setting my coat down on one of the chairs in the dining room.

I nodded, my mind reeling.

There was a part of me that knew that the world had gone to shit but the rest of me was stuck in a believe-it-when-I-see-it mood.

I believed it.

"Who did it?"

"Who did what?" Charlie asked.

"Who killed him?"

"It was a death eater," he said.

"Do they know which one?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange," he said.

I nodded and took a deep breath. I had seen her name on the tapestry in Sirius's house.

"Did any of the death eaters die?" I asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "I know this is hard and sudden but you should get some rest. You've been up all night. We can talk more after you get some sleep."

"I don't need sleep," I said. "I need to see Dumbledore."

"You can't," Charlie said and grabbed my arm when I turned.

"I have to," I protested.

"Y/N," he said and held his grip on my arm. "Come here." Charlie pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around my shoulders tightly. "It'll be okay."

How could it be?

I didn't cry. I didn't mourn. I just felt numb. Death is funny that way. We know that we should feel bad and we should cry and curse the heavens. After all, death is the end of all that we know. The death of a stranger to one may be the end of the world to another. I felt guilty that I had no tears to spare over Sirius. I barely knew him. But he was the first that I knew to die to this war. I'll believe it when I see it. I saw it; I felt it; I believed it. The war was real and people were going to die.

Hey loves, my exam is in two hours 😳😳😳 I'm a tad bit stressed but I think it'll go fine since it's us history, which I'm like an expert on. If only I could get an essay about the Spanish-American war. That bitch is my specialty.