Lumos (ON HOLD)

The Encounter with Quirrell

Over the duration of the January holidays, Charlie received a great many of letters from her friends. To her greatest surprise and utmost pleasure, one of her many senders, was Malfoy himself. During the rest of the term, to Charlie's amazement, Draco had taken to hanging out with her and her friends, and they had all taken it in stride. Ron, for some strange reason, hadn't made one rude remark towards their new friend and for that, Charlie was grateful. Hermione and her often stayed up late at night, discussing the guys they liked and teasing each other for their petty crushes. Charlie still hadn't gotten over Draco and Hermione had drifted from Dean, towards a Ravenclaw called Tommy. Charlie made fun of her to no end, and Hermione returned it to a large extent.

Charlie's holidays consisted largely of Quidditch practice (Jamie had received a secondhand comet 290 for his 10th birthday and could now play), chasing her brother around the house when he stole her cat food to feed his puppy Bounce (another birthday present) and practicing her new found hobby of baking, alongside replying to her letters.

Her father, Jamie and Giles were common guinea pigs for her cakes and slices. She was never sure whether they had turned out well until she tried them herself, as her father and his chauffeur had perfected what was commonly known as 'poker face' and used it whenever they were faced with unidentified baked substances.

When term rolled around again and it was time to board the Hogwarts Express, it was safe to say that after hearing about Hermione's trips to France, Charlie was very much looking forward to returning to life at Hogwarts.

As she pushed open the compartment door, she was greeted by Hermione and Harry.

"Hey guys! How were your holidays? What about France, Hermione? That sounded awesome!" Hermione grinned at Charlie, who had sat down opposite her, and pulled a wad of photos out of her pocket and handed them to Charlie, who closed her hand over the large pile and began sifting through the stack. The first twenty or so were of beaches, hills and fields, and while a few consisted of snaps showing cafe fronts, restaurants and markets, the majority of the photos showed Hermione and her parents swimming and laughing and smiling at the camera.

"Wow, that looks amazing! You look like you had so much fun! You have to take me next time!" Charlie grinned at her best friend, handing the photos carefully over to Harry. Hermione grinned and nodded, waving to Lavender Brown as she passed by the compartment. She pulled open the door and spoke softly - a rare thing for Lavender - to the trio.

"Ron and Draco are coming soon - Mrs Weasley is giving Malfoy the "If you betray these kids, I will personally see to it that you are thrown to the giant squid" speech. I'll see you and Charlie in the dorm later, 'kay?" Charlie and Hermione nodded at Lavender who slid the glass door closed and sashayed her way along the narrow corridor.

Harry looked up from Hermione's photos and stared at the two girls.

"Did someone come in?" He asked. Charlie grinned and shook her head, waving manically at Draco and Ron who were boarding the train. Charlie tugged at the wooden handle and groaned as the stubborn old door creaked slowly open.

"God, how did Lavender open this so easily?" She complained, jumping as the door slid suddenly open with a loud bang! Ron and Draco entered the cramped train compartment and after he had tossed his suitcase onto the overhead luggage holder, Draco sat down next to Charlie and smirked at her.

"So... got any baking we can try?" He asked, referring to her baking escapade that had occurred during the holidays. Charlie poked her tongue out at him.

"Nah, it was all so delicious we ate everything!" She replied sarcastically, knowing full well that he knew what a disaster most (read: all) of her baking had been. He laughed and greeted Hermione and Harry, who were catching up with Ron. Harry was complaining about having to stay with the Dursley's.

Charlie leant her head back against the cool wood wall and drifted off into oblivion.

*Time Skip (shh, I can't be bothered writing all about the train journey, gahh)*

The train wheels screeched and sparked against the metal tracks. Charlie jolted awake and smacked her forehead into Draco's cheek. During her sleep, she had tipped sideways and was half in Draco's lap, her feet falling off of the seat with Draco resting his hands on her calves to ensure she didn't slide further off and her torso draped over his legs. Her apology was stuttered as her face burst into colour. Draco waved her apology off.

"Charlie. It's fine, you nearly fell off the seat and well, I couldn't exactly leave you like that, so I, um..." He trailed off, gesturing to their current position, his pale cheekbones dusted with dark pink. She laughed nervously, looking away from him and swung her legs off and onto the floor. She thanked Harry as he pulled her suitcase off of the rack and followed Hermione out the door, pulling her small turquoise bag behind her.

She grimaced as her suitcase thumped down the stairs, the handle twisting out of her grip. Charlie ran after, smiling at Hagrid as he stopped it rolling away.

"The carriages are over here, Charlie!" Hermione called. Charlie rolled her eyes and dragged herself into a carriage. Draco raised an eyebrow at her fumbling. She shushed him and Hermione - who was giggling at her friend's awkwardness. The carriage wheels groaned to a start and rolled along the path towards the castle.

*Time Skip - I'm just going to get it over with and say it - there are going to be quite a few of these in this story*

Conversation at dinner turned to silence as desserts and puddings filled up the plates. Charlie pushed her small slice of lemon cake around her plate with her fork, staring up at the candles, and the soft glow they emitted. Every now and again, one candle would let off a barely visible plume of light grey smoke, that would curl towards the ceiling before vanishing altogether. Charlie continued to watch the wisps of smoke for several minutes, until she felt someone's eyes watching her. She looked down to see Hermione staring at her from the other side of the table. Charlie smiled and Hermione smiled cautiously back.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked Charlie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just not hungry is all, and I've got an uneasy feeling about something - but I'm sure it's nothing." Hermione raised her eyebrows at Charlie's not-so-solid excuse. She brushed it off, resolving to ask her about it later in the evening.

Charlie dipped her spoon into the small china bowl in front of her and finished eating her cake.

As the four made amiable conversation (they had said goodbye to Draco at the dungeon entrance), they made their slow way towards the Gryffindor common room. On their way past a second floor corridor, Charlie noticed that the door to Snape's storage room was slightly ajar, and she snuck up to the door and put her eye at the crack, wincing as the small sliver of light danced across her pupils.

Inside, she could see Snape talking angrily to someone, and when he turned around in frustration, she could see that it was Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. They seemed to be having a one sided conversation, or argument rather, with Quirrell backed up against one of the jam packed ingredient shelves with Snape speaking hurriedly to him.

"I do have other ways of finding out if you are lying to me, I am a potions teacher incase you couldn't remember." Charlie shivered as cold fingers made their way down her spine at Snape's voice. She turned and hurried to catch up with the others.

Even when she awoke the next morning, she could still remember Quirrell's terrified face burnt into her memory.

*AN: Hey guys, I'm sorry it's been so long! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully the next one won't be too far away.
Vote, comment, follow, you know the drill
xxoo
~howling-wolf~