petrichor || charlie weasley

1) blood and beauty

Walburga Black was screaming again.

Charlie had just barely fallen asleep, and now he was wide awake once more. Scrambling out of bed, he sprinted down the various flights of stairs with his wand in hand. Aside from the late Mrs. Black's scream, he had heard his mothers voice as well. Hearing his mum's scream reminded him of the nightmare he had been having of late. The ones where all of his family was dead on the ground in front of him while he was being burned on a stake.

The nightmares always left him shaky; especially because while he knew that fire was dangerous, he wasn't overly scared of it. He was around fire for his job everyday. His family's dead bodies made sense to him; he was scared that by the end of this they would all be dead, but the part with being burnt alive? That made no sense to him.

Reaching the entrance hall, he was shaken from his thoughts by the sight before him. The curtains of Walburga Blacks' portrait had been closed. His mother stood by the door, Remus, and Sirius were there as well. Another figure stood just inside of the door. His long black cloak, hooked nose, and greasy hair proved him to be Severus Snape.

Everytime that Charlie had seen Snape, whether as his Potions teacher or as a member of the Order, his face had always been one of perpetually distaste. Whether for the people around him, the place, or collection of things, Snape always looked like he was experiencing something that greatly displeased him.

Except this time.

With the little light in the entrance hall, Charlie could see what appeared to be worry on his former Professor's face. The fact that someone as filled with hate as Severus Snape was worried, made Charlie more nervous than he had ever been; with a few exceptions.

"What's the matter mum? Sirius, Remus?" Charlie asked, anxious for the answer as to why Snape was at Grimmauld place at bloody four in the morning.

"Weasley, come with me. You may actually be useful for once." Snape said, turning on his heel and opening the front door. "You have your wand correct? You seem to be one of the more competent Weasleys, although that isn't saying much."

Charlie wasn't phased by the insult; he had heard much worse. He was, however, shocked that Snape wanted - no need his help. The temptation to ask "Why me?" was almost overpowering, but the seven years of being in Snapes class had taught him better than to ask stupid questions. Instead of giving in to temptation, he simply gripped his wand tighter and nodded; not that Snape could see.

"Why do you need Charlie Severus? Can't you take Remus?" his mum protested, her voice a little shaky.

Charlie loved his mother dearly, but he wished that she would ease up a bit on the protectiveness and the worry. While he appreciated the fact that his mum cared, she took it too far in his opinion. Especially when it came to his job. He loved working at the sanctuary more than anything. Caring for animals was his passion, and he was overjoyed that he got paid to do something that he loved. Admittedly he had been a little mad at his mum when she first tried to get him to leave Romania. He had just gotten his dream job and there his mother was, trying to guilt trip him into leaving this once in a lifetime opportunity to come back home and be a "proper big brother for his siblings." At times it still bothered him, and as much as he did love his siblings, they got to be a bit much for him at times. Although, he would take Fred and George pranking him over his mother pestering him any day.

"Because, Molly, Charlie will draw the least attention. Now, if you would stop questioning me, we will possibly be able to save someone from dying." Snape snapped, opening the door and stepping out into the breezy London air.

Walking past his mum on the way out the door, he squeezed her hand in assurance. He was confident in his dueling skills, as well as hand to hand if it came to that.

Snape led him to a small park only a couple of blocks away from Grimmauld Place. The park wasn't lit, and appeared to be empty. This did not surprise Charlie as it was by now close to five in the morning on a Wednesday.

Following Snape around the various equipment, the two men stopped at a slide in the very middle of the park. A shape that looked faintly like a human was sitting, or rather lying on the end of the slide. Charlie could make out no more than a rough silhouette because of the shadow that the play structure provided. It occurred to Charlie that this was likely the reason that Snape had chosen the slide; it was sitting in complete shadow, and even if someone were to come to the small and rundown park at five in the morning, it would likely be to walk there dog, and there would be no reason to go into the middle of the park.

"Oh Teagen, what have you done?" Charlie heard Snape whisper, his old Professor's voice held the most emotion he had ever heard come from the bat-like man. Charlie was startled. It seemed that this person, Teagen, was at least relatively important to Snape.

"Come Weasley, I need you to pick her up, gently, and then follow me." Snape's voice was once again hard and void of any emotion. "We must hurry, and we must be as inconspicuous as possible."

Charlie only nodded in acknowledgement. Moving closer, he tried his hardest to pick up the figure gently, but with virtually no light, Charlie feared that it was not nearly as gentle as he had ment it to be. Judging by the faint groan of pain the figure let out, as well as the slight stiffening he felt, his assumption had been correct.

Snape let out little noise of disapprovement before turning and leading Charlie back the way they had come.

Charlie paid little attention to where exactly Snape was leading him, assuming that they were going back to Headquarters. His attention was focused on the figure in his arms. The person was not heavy, but not extremely light either. They seemed to fit in his arms perfectly, like they were made to be carried by him. Or he was made to carry them.

As they passed under a street light, Charlie got his first glimpse of what they looked like. He had to hold in a gasp, but could not stop the slight wince.

The person, the girl's face, was covered in blood. Her hair, which seemed to be a dark brown, was more or less coated in blood. He could just barely see the faint outline of a new bruise. He could also see hardened blood on her lip, as well as various small scars all over her face.

Charlie didn't know how he hadn't noticed it before. How had he not felt the wetness of the cloak that was wrapped around the girl in his arms? Now that he was conscious of the fact that there was blood, he could feel some of it dripping down his arm, making its way to his fingers. Just what had this girl been through?

"Snape, she's dripping blood," he spoke up, trying to keep his voice quiet while simultaneously talking loud enough for Snape to hear him.

"Then you had better hurry up Weasley, assuming of course that you don't want her death on your conscience." Snape snapped at Charlie over his shoulder.

Even Though the words themselves may have alluded to Snape not caring, Charlie had heard the slight shake in Snape's voice. He also saw the Potions Master's stride quicken.

Once again, Charlie asked himself, why did Snape care so much about this girl? What about her had made Snape of all people become fond of her?

Only a minute at most had passed and Snape was opening the door to Grimmauld Place. Suddenly, Snape stopped. Charlie heard him mutter a word that he had never heard before.

Turning around to face Charlie, Snape told him "Apparate to the bungalow or whatever it is you call that wretched home you live in. I will tell Molly and Remus to meet you there."

Without another word, Snape had disappeared into Number 12. Charlie stared at the door for a moment before realizing what Snape had. The girl apparently did not know about the Order of Phoenix, or at the very least was not privy to its whereabouts. Seeing as she was in no shape to read, as well as the fact that they did not have a note with the address on it, The Burrow was the next best place.

Concentrating on not splinching himself or the injured girl in his arms, he apparated to The Burrow.