Fire in Her Eyes - Charlie Weasley

Chapter 20

Charlie only blinked. Kai counted her breaths to try to keep the panic from rising while she waited for him to respond. She got to ten before he answered.

"What did you just say?" His voice was terrifyingly calm. She knew that voice. He was furious and doing his best to not lose control.

"Please don't make me say it again," she pleaded softly, her eyes barely able to meet his.

"How do you know?" His voice was short and clipped, his eyes burning angrily into her face.

She gulped, meeting his eyes before immediately glancing away. She looked down at her hands clenched together in her lap, shaking from anger and fear. She knew it was time to truly come clean, but god she was terrified.

She inhaled to compose herself and gather her thoughts before responding, the way she had seen him do so many times. "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but my magic is a little different from most wizards and witches," she breathed out nervously. He only gave a short nod, keeping his burning gaze on her as if to pin her to the chair. "One of the differences is that I can see magic as color. Yours is red, for example," a brief look of surprise crossed his face before he scowled at her again. "The darkness that I found in Sawyer had a sprinkle of a color that I've only ever encountered with.. him," her voice dropped to a whisper on the last word. She hated the fact that even after five years, she still couldn't bring herself to say his name. But she knew Charlie would understand who she meant.

Charlie continued to watch her, still not speaking.

"What color?" He finally asked, his voice tight with controlled anger.

"I can't explain it. A sick green," she shrugged, helplessness coursing through her body, "his used to be a dark green, but once he got involved with dark magic," she paused, thinking, "it was like his magic got sick. The color changed."

"Why would he do something like this?" Charlie's deep voice was practically a growl. Hatred burned in his eyes, and she had no idea if it was for someone who would curse an innocent creature.. or if it was for her, for bringing this trouble to his sanctuary.

"I don't know," Kai was on the edge of tears; guilt and desperation coursing through her body and streaked across her face. She didn't want him to believe that she had anything to do with this. She couldn't imagine leaving here, getting kicked out for bringing harm to the only creatures that Charlie loved. "Truly, I swear. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if he's trying some new, awful way to get me back. If it's a test to see how much damage he could do. I don't know," her eyes pleaded for him to see her truth. "But I do think that I could fix her. Please let me try," her voice broke as tears threatened to overcome her. Guilt was threatening to drown her, sink her into the ground and bury her alive.

"I need to process this," he looked away from her, staring blankly at the wall. "We'll discuss this later."

She swallowed, but knew when she was being dismissed. She somehow made it through his door and back to her office, closing the door behind her before the tears over came her. She cried softly at her desk, letting the hopelessness of a past she could never escape, win for just a moment. Briefly, she let herself drown in the sorrow of never being free from her ex, of always needing to run and never getting to have any place to truly call home.

After a few moments, she began to pull herself together. She wiped her tears and used a well-practiced charm to glamour her face, easily wiping away any trace of her breakdown. She wasn't great at many charms, but she had perfected that one at least. She sat down at her desk and began her report on Charlie's injuries in his file. She could wallow in her tears tonight, off the clock. But she wouldn't give him any other excuse to fire her. She ensured that she left out the fact that the injuries were from a dragon in his chart, simply stating "unknown origins".

A soft knock pulled her out of her focus. "Come in," she called out, folding Charlie's chart and setting it under a stack of files. She didn't know if anyone else knew he was injured last night, but she wasn't about to risk being the one to out him.

Sawyer poked his head through the opening of the door, a grin on his face. "Hiya Kai," he fully stepped into her office, softly shutting the door behind him. "I'm here to get my all clear." He looked completely healed and had his usual air of confidence.

She forced a small smile, shame threatening to swallow her whole. It was her fault that he was as injured as he was yesterday. "Take a seat please," her voice was quiet. She felt muted today from regret and only having the small amount of her magic left. She needed food and sleep.

He hopped onto the exam chair, grinning. "I've got to say, you're probably the best healer I've seen. Most would have sent me Mungo's after patching me up a bit. I've never been able to get back into the field so quickly."

Kai only nodded, placing her hands on either side of his head, fingers at his temples. "Hold still please," her voice still soft.

She sent a small amount of magic through his body, searching for any injuries or any left over signs of the darkness she had found yesterday. Thankfully, she found nothing but a healthy body and the glow of his butterscotch orange magic at full strength.

"Ok," she sighed with relief. He was going to be alright. "I still want to follow up next week and double check, but you should be good to go. Just be cautious and ease back into things for the next week or so. Let's take a look at that burn." She nodded to the arm she had treated yesterday.

Sawyer slipped out of the short sleeve button up he was wearing so that she could view the full wound. She gently unwrapped the bandages around his arm, working her way up to his shoulder.

The skin under the bandages was the healthy pink of new skin. There was a slight tinge of shimmering gold when Kai shifted her magical sight, but it wasn't noticeable to anyone but her. Dragon fire always left a trace, but at least he wouldn't need a skin graft.

"Holy shit," his mouth opened in awe at the sight of healthy skin. "Liam said you were good, but this is almost unbelievable." His eyes were wide when they met hers, and she looked away at the respect shining in them. She didn't deserve it, not when it was her fault he got hurt in the first place.

She swallowed, uncomfortable, before walking over to her cabinet and grabbing a sun protection salve. "Put it on and wear it for the next two weeks at least," she ordered sternly handing him the bottle. "That skin is still regrowing and will sunburn far too easily. Also be careful, because it will get cuts, scrapes, and bruises more easily too." She sighed, "I'm good, but even I have limitations."

Sawyer grinned as he rubbed the lotion into his arm under her watchful eye, then grabbed his shirt and put it on. He jumped off the table and grabbed her into a quick hug. She pulled back in surprise at the contact, not remembering the last time someone had hugged her.

"Thank you, Doc," he grinned easily. "You're amazing." He breezed out her door and Kai sat down at her desk, letting the guilt swallow her whole. 

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~M

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