Harry Potter One-Shots

Best Friend's Brother (Charlie Weasley)

WORD COUNT: 1127

It was the last day of school for the year, unfortunately, which meant we were leaving another year at Hogwarts behind. However, unlike the way I usually felt having to return to my nagging parents and annoying little brother, this time I was actually excited for the summer. For the first time, I was going to spend the summer at the Burrow with my best friends, Fred and George. I had visited for a few days last summer, and they came once to visit me (Mum and Dad didn't like that too much) but this year I was going to be with them the whole summer! And it was a bonus that I would be living with their family, and not my own. Their house -- and their life -- just seemed so much more interesting than mine. With all those siblings, both older and younger, it seemed like there was never a shortage of things going on in the Weasley family. Plus, Fred and George were really starting to get serious about this joke shop idea they had been throwing around for years, and I was fully on board and ready to help them plan it out.

As we sat, lounging in the train compartment together along with Lee, Alicia, and Katie, trading Chocolate Frog cards and lamenting over our O.W.L.s, the topic slowly changed to this summer.

"You three will definitely have to come and visit for a week or at least a weekend," George said to Lee, Katie, and Alicia. They all nodded.

"There won't be much room of course, since Charlie is back for the summer and Harry and Hermione will be coming to stay for the World Cup as well, but I'm sure we could squeeze you in somewhere," Fred supplied.

--

We arrived at the Burrow just before supper, and were greeted by the overage members of the Weasley family with lots of hugs and cheers. Ginny and I went upstairs to drop our stuff off in her room, where I would be sleeping (and escaping Fred and George when they were annoying me) and headed downstairs for the meal. With all the newcomers to the table, we decided to eat outside to have more space. It was peaceful and chaotic all at once; everyone was reaching over each other for food and talking in boisterous tones as the family members caught up with one another and the guests were introduced, all under the serene sunset. I had Fred sitting on one side of me explaining to Bill how his O.W.Ls went ("It was terrible, I think Snape made up some questions that actually don't exist in the real world just to trick us!") and George regaling Ginny and a disapproving Percy with tales of their most legendary pranks of the term ("We turned Malfoy's quill into a snake while he was holding it... never seen anyone jump so high in my life!"). Across from me was a tall, handsome redhead covered in freckles and very tanned, like he spent a lot of time doing work outside.

"I'm Charlie," he smiled, almost as if he read my mind.

"Y/N," I responded. "I'm staying here for the summer."

"Well that'll be fun. Although, I'm not quite sure you're ready for Weasley family Quidditch matches, they can get quite intense."

"Don't worry, I'm on the Y/H/N team so I'm sure I can handle a few blokes on brooms," I teased. Charlie raised his eyebrows at me.

"You'd be surprised," he shrugged mysteriously. Obviously, the twins had filled me in on their family's extensive Quidditch history: Charlie had been the star Gryffindor Seeker before Harry and captain of the team, the two of them were Beaters, and Ginny was shaping up to be quite a good Chaser once she was a little older.

"So Charlie, tell me what you get up to now that you aren't at school anymore?"

--

For the rest of the evening until it was too dark to see the empty plates in front of our faces, Charlie and I chatted back and forth about dragons and Quidditch and Hogwarts professors and everything else under the sun. Conversation with him was easy, like I was talking to an old friend.

At the end of the night, I headed up to Ginny's room for bed, but once the lights were off I couldn't stop thinking about a certain dragon keeper. The way the shiny scars of old burns and scratches stretched when he moved, the sound of his voice when he was laughing about an old memory, his sparkling brown eyes. I knew Charlie's room was just down the hall from Ginny's, and I wondered if he, too, was lying awake thinking about me.

After nearly an hour of tossing and turning and trying to banish the thoughts of Charlie Weasley from my head so I could sleep, I decided to get up and grab some water. I quietly slipped through Ginny's door and headed down the hall toward the stairs. Although it was late, I was startled to see another figure moving in the darkness.

"Y/N?" Charlie whispered.

"Charlie? What are you doing up?" I asked, feeling my heart thudding in my chest.

"Can't sleep," he shrugged. "What about you? Why are you awake?" I could just tell him I couldn't sleep. That would be the easy thing to do. I didn't have to go into detail, and we could go our separate ways and I would spend the rest of the night thinking about him. Or...

"I couldn't stop thinking about..." I trailed off, losing my nerve.

"About what?" Charlie whispered, stepping closer. Now I could most definitely feel my blood thundering through my veins as my heart beat frantically.

"About you," I finished, my breath hitching. He took another step closer to me and I looked to the ground. By this point we were nearly chest to chest, and I could feel the energy radiating off of him.

"I was thinking about you too," he breathed, and brought his hand to my chin to lift my face toward his. In the dim hallway, I could barely make out his features, but I could still see the twinkle in his eyes. He leaned forward, and I did the same. I closed my eyes right as his lips made contact with mine. It was instantly like a whole cluster of Filibuster's fireworks went off between us. I felt like electricity was coursing through my veins.

After a while, Charlie pulled away and smiled. I couldn't help but feel the same expression cross my face.

"We had better not tell the twins about this, yeah?" he smirked. I rolled my eyes.

"I won't if you won't."

--

A/N: ok honestly I could see myself writing a whole story just off of this one imagine... like this was so CUTE and I love it, not making any promises but keep your eyes peeled in the future if I decide to do this teehee