The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley

Chapter 7 - This Isn't Goodbye

Nova

I didn't know what was harder to believe the fact that it was Charlie and I's first anniversary or that we have less than two months left of our last year at Hogwarts.

I was studying in the Great Hall with Tonks, who was with me most of the time for the past month. Penny seemed to be doing nothing but crying over the fact how much she will miss all of us and she was driving Tonks insane. I tried not to think about it as much as possible as I knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye to living here at school.

McGonagall was getting less strict on me in our last few Advanced Transfiguration sessions. If I didn't know any better I would say she was getting sentimental. It will already be hard to leave this place without the teachers missing us too.

Tulip was getting rather impatient and seemed as she couldn't get out of here fast enough. She and Jae have been fighting more than being all over each other lately and she didn't look like she is going to miss Hogwarts at all.

I have been keeping myself as busy as possible and just tried to enjoy the last two months as much as I could. I found myself strolling around the school on my own a lot. It was like I was saying goodbye to every part of Hogwarts. I even fell into a deep conversation with the Fat Lady – the portrait that is guarding the Gryffindor Common Room – one day when I was waiting for Charlie. She was a bit tipsy but I got a lot of gossip about other portraits from her.

Because Tonks was with me most of the time, Andre had to take on the Penny duty. He seemed exhausted most days as he tried balancing studying and making sure Penny had enough handkerchiefs to wipe her nose in. He never complained or seemed annoyed about it and I am sure Penny appreciated it as much as we did.

Barnaby tried talking to Tonks a few times and she only gave in once. She said that he looked dashing that day and that since everybody's whining about the end of the year might as well have a proper goodbye. Their relationship always was so peculiar to me but I knew Tonks well enough that I knew it suited her so I fully supported it.

Charlie and I, on the other hand, have been great. Nothing changed except the fact that we tried hiding our excitement that we are soon going to work together from our friends. We knew that Penny would be mad that we were so hyped about our job and not all miserable about leaving school.

Lately, it's all we could talk about. Charlie told me about everyone he has met and told me how they are, personality-wise and I couldn't wait to meet everyone. We made speculations about where I would be working and how they were planning to introduce dragons to other creatures. Like we did for the Creatures Reserve, we also made a list of all creatures we think I will work with. It was all in good fun because I know I will love my job no matter what beasts they assign to me.

In my free time, I tried to best prepare myself for the job. I knew I would have a whole month after N.E.W.T.s to get everything ready but I wanted to get there with a strategy. I tried putting myself in different scenarios with various creatures and dragons, thinking about what they have in common and what they don't, about what the best approach to make them like each other would be. I got goosebumps just thinking about it, that's how excited I was!

—

"Tonks, could you tell me how to properly cut a Mimbulus Mimbletonia again. I can't seem to get this plant straight." I sighed as I tried to quiz myself on some of the toughest questions and I couldn't seem to get this one right.

"Always do it without a spell and cut straight down, near the main stem." She answered without even thinking about it. I nodded and closed my eyes trying to imprint the answer in my brain. It was the simplest thing to remember.