Fire in Her Eyes - Charlie Weasley

Chapter 13 - Potions

Kai woke up before her alarm the next morning, giving Gus a pet before getting out of bed. She loved that the grumpy old man had chosen to adopt her. She had always envied a cat's ability to just demand control. If they chose to adopt you, then you just had a cat. It's how things worked. And if they didn't like you, then nothing you could do would make them stay.

She turned on her coffee maker and tried to figure out what to wear. She had to go into work, but it was a Sunday so she didn't know what was appropriate. She sorted through her clothes until she found something that was professional enough but still comfortable, settling on black skinny jeans, combat boots, and a grey sweater. She grabbed a jacket for the walk, put her coffee in a mug and headed out the door.

It was still brisk this early in the morning, so she quickened her pace for the brief walk to the headquarters building. Shivering, she reached out to push open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She closed her eyes and pulled briefly at her magic, before reopening them to allow her to see any magic surrounding the door. An intense red shimmer surrounded the whole door. She had a feeling that alohamora wouldn't work, but it was all she had.

She pulled out her wand. "Alohamora," her voice shook slightly from standing out in the cold. The lock didn't budge. "Alohamora," she was more demanding this time. If the lock were alive, it would have rolled its eyes and flipped her off. It still didn't budge.

Kai stood outside the door and debated about what to do. She could have asked Chelsea, but her friend had mentioned last night that she was heading out of town with Cooper. The answer was staring at her, as plain as the red shimmer she could still see on the door. She needed Charlie.

She sighed and anxiously ran a hand through her hair. She didn't want to see him. Not after the past few days that they've had. Things have been so up and down. They argued a lot and he basically told her he wanted to fire her. But last night, things got... intense. She had no idea where they stood and she hated that. She didn't like feeling unsure. Unfortunately, she didn't have a choice. If she didn't get the burn salve back on the burner in, she looked down at her watch, 30 minutes, all her work would be for nothing.

Mind made up, she determinedly strode to Charlie's cabin. It was right across the street from hers and close to the headquarters. She wasn't going to let her work go to waste. That potion had left her exhausted all week. Not to mention, it would be a game changer for all the trainers.

Kai took a deep breath, trying to find her courage before knocking firmly on the door. She bit her lip and fidgeted, waiting for it to open, but she couldn't hear any movement inside. She waited a few moments, then pursed her lips and knocked again, much more firmly. She needed him to get up now. She kept knocking until she heard an angry, "What?!" and the front door slammed open.

She instinctively took a step back as Charlie came fully into her view, scowling. Her eyes met his annoyed ones before slowly trailing down his shirtless chest and muscled stomach. Thoughts of what could have happened last night flashed through her head.

"Um," she swallowed nervously. She already didn't know how to handle him when he was mad, and it didn't help her nerves that all he was wearing was a pair of black sweatpants. They were slung low across his hips and were definitely not loose on him. Shit. She shouldn't be looking there. She snapped her eyes to his, blinking twice to try to forget the fact that she could see just about everything. "I'm sorry to bother you so early, but I need to put the burn potion on the heater in," she looked down at her watch again, "twenty minutes and the front door to the office is locked."

Charlie pursed his lips in annoyance, crossing his arms across his chest. She couldn't help but stare at heavy bulk of his arms. "This can't wait until later?" She quickly forced her eyes back to his and shook her head no. He groaned as he turned around to walk back into his cottage. Kai kept her face on the ground for a moment, wanting to die, just a little bit, about the fact that he sure as shit knew she checked him out. He had left the door open, and she decided to follow him in, closing the door behind her to keep the cold air out. Still keeping her eyes to the ground to avoid thoroughly eye fucking her boss.