Chapter 9

Charlotte spent the last few days leading to their return to Hogwarts in a daze. Mr. Nott didn't say anything to her and she avoided Theodore.

The evening before they were due at Hogwarts, Mr. Nott called her into his study.

Mr. Nott was sitting at his desk, "Take a seat." Charlotte sat in a chair opposite to him.

"The Nott family is loyal to the Dark Lord. Since you are now part of the Nott family, you are expected to do your duty to the Dark Lord."

"But sir, I don't want to follow him. He is a ruthless killer and.."

Mr. Nott slammed his hands on the table, "You don't have a choice in the matter!" He paused before continuing, "You know what will happen if you refuse the Dark Lord. He will hurt your mother and brothers and even Theodore." His hands were visibly shaking.

Charlotte whispered, "Do you really think he will win?" She was surprised to see show some compassion towards his son.

Mr. Nott sighed, "What I think is irrelevant. Listen to the Carrows and Snape at school." He left the office in a huff.

Charlotte thought about Mrs. Malfoy and Draco, they were both scared. They probably didn't have a choice about the things they have to do. After seeing Mr. Nott's reaction today, perhaps the same thing applied to him as well.

She slowly walked back to her rooms, but instead of entering she walked to the door adjacent and knocked. Theodore opened the door with bloodshot eyes, "Charlotte," he was surprised to see her, "is everything alright?"

"Can I come in?", she walked in as he simply nodded. She sat on his bed and looked at him, "I'm sorry I have been ignoring you. I just needed some time, I know things aren't easy for you too and hpmh-" she was interrupted by Theodore putting his finger to her lips.

"You don't need to apologize, I know how hard this whole situation must be on you." He grabbed her hand while taking a seat next to her. "It is hard on me too, but know this, I will try my best to protect you."

"I will try my best to protect you too." Charlotte smiled back at him. She got up from the bed.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked.

She smiled and climbed back into his bed. They cuddled and slept comfortably for the rest of the night.

Next Day

Charlotte was walking distractedly along the aisle of Hogwarts Express. She was trying to find her brother, she didn't seem him at the station. She bumped into Neville Longbottom.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She noticed his even more haggard expression. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Neville sighed and pulled her into empty compartment. He looked around before speaking, "Luna was taken by the death eaters when they attacked the station. We don't know where she is or if she is even alive. Seamus said he stopped hearing from Dean Thomas, who was in hiding, and he is a muggleborn."

Charlotte bit her lip, before blurting out, "Luna is alive, she is in Malfoy Manor."

Neville raised an eyebrow, "How do you know that?"

"I'm sorry I can't tell you. Don't tell anyone I told you this."

He looked at her strangly before replying, "Okay, thank you. Do you want to join us at our compartment?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Thank you, but I need to find my brother." She left the compartment and walked down the train, trying to find David. After some time, she gave up and found Padma and sat the rest of the Ravenclaws in her year.

When all the students assembled in the Great Hall for dinner, she was relieved to find her brother sitting with his friends. She waved at him and he smiled back. It looks like her family was alright.

Headmaster Snape announced even more restrictions and more patrols. Owls were going to be more regulated. Any news of Harry Potter was to be reported to the Carrows.

Few Weeks Later

The DA seemed to lay low, so Charlotte had fewer injuries to tend to. The Carrows allowed some students to go to Madam Pompfrey.

Charlotte was sitting in the Ravenclaw's common room reading when David came up to her.

"Charlie, come quick! I need your help." He led her to the first year boys dorm. Girls were allowed to walk up the stairs to the boys' dorms.

David led her to his friend's bunk and pulled the curtain. There was a boy clutching his hand in pain, he looked up in alarm, "David! I told you not to tell anyone!"

"No, it's okay. This is my sister." David gestured to Charlotte. "Charlie this is Gordon. When we were walking after Herbology, he tripped and Alecto Carrow stepped on his hand."

Charlotte examined Gordon's right hand. It looked like his finger was bent weirdly. She wasn't sure if it was broken or dislocated. After reading up on some healer spells, she tried to perform a spell that would allow her to see the bones of the hands.

"Okay Gordon, I am going to perform a spell, that would allow me to see what the problem is."

"Will it hurt?" he whimpered.

"No it won't hurt. It is a diagnostic spell." She pointed her wand to his hand and muttered the spell. The hand now looked like a skeleton, she could see all the bones. David and Gordon gasped at the skeleton hand. "Hmm, it looks like it isn't broken but it is dislocated. I can perform a spell to fix this."

"Is the spell going to hurt?" he whimpered again.

"Yes, but your hand will be fixed." She saw his scared expression. "But, I can put some numbing potion, if you would like?"

"Yes, please!" he nodded enthusiastically.

She summoned the numbing potion. "You will not be able to feel your hand for an hour." She used a dropper and placed two drops on his knuckle. After a few minutes, she carefully said "Episkey."

Gordon's finger went back to the normal position. He immediately smiled, "Thank you!"

She gave him a smile. "I'm glad I could help." She ruffled his hair and turned to David. "Are you hurt too?" she asked.

David smiled, "No, I am fine. Thanks Charlie." He gave her a hug. She packed up her bag and left the boys dorm.

Valentine's Day

Headmaster Snape banned any frivolous decorations and inappropriate behavior between couples. However, he never mentioned that gifts couldn't be exchanged.

Charlotte always liked the holiday and tried to dress up more nicely, without being too obvious. She tied her hair in a crown braid around her head and wore silver star earrings. At breakfast there were heart shaped omelets.

She saw some couples and friends giving each other gifts. However most were terrified to do anything in front of the Carrows. She saw Daphne Greengrass giving Theodore a gift. Immediately she became jealous. She knew that they were just friends, but she still couldn't help her feelings.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and it was Gordon, her brother's friend. He looked very sweaty and his face was red. "Um, hi Charlotte."

"Hello." She smiled back sweetly.

Gordon looked even more nervous now, "Happy Valentine's Day!" he nearly screamed out. He closed his eyes, leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Almost immediately, he pulled back and dumped two chocolate frogs in her lap. He then ran and left the Great Hall.

Charlotte turned red due to the fact that majority of the Ravenclaw table was watching them, since he yelled. She saw David going after his friend. She returned her attention to her breakfast, trying to cool herself down. Padma nudged her, "Who is that?" she asked grinning hysterically.

"Just one of David's friends." She looked up at the Slytherin table and saw Theodore look right at her and he gave her a wink, she blushed again and focused at her food.

For the rest of the day, her friends in Ravenclaw teased her about her admirer. For her last class she had Charms with Theodore. After the lesson, Theodore discretely gave her a note. Meet me after dinner in the greenhouse.

Before dinner, she went up to her brother's dormitory and found Gordon hiding there. "Hello Gordon."

The poor boy turned bright red, "Charlotte! What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to thank you for your gift this morning. I wasn't sure what you like, but I brought you some pumpkin pasties."

Gordon took the pumpkin pasties silently. He fidgeted before blurting out, "I'm sorry for this morning."

"Why?" she was confused. "I enjoyed the chocolate frogs you gave me."

"I shouldn't have kissed you, in front of everyone."

Charlotte giggled, "Perhaps not, but I didn't mind it." She walked towards to the door, "If you get hurt again, don't hesitate to find me."

After dinner, she snuck into the greenhouse. In the very back of the garden, she found Theodore sitting on the ground with a picnic set up. He looked up, "Hi."

She sat down next to him and gave him a kiss, "Is this for us?"

He nodded, "Yes, we already ate dinner, so I just got some dessert and wine."

"What if Professor Sprout finds us here?" she asked before popping a grape in her mouth.

"Don't worry, she subbing for Madam Pince in the library." He sipped some wine, "So do I have some competition with that first year boy?" he winked.

She slapped him lightly, "No, that was David's friend. He was just thanking me for healing him." She went on to talk about the other injuries she healed in the last month and was starting to get a little tipsy with the wine she was drinking.

Theodore was telling her about Slughorn pushover tendencies and how Snape was a better Head of Slytherin than him. He was interrupted by Charlotte pressing her lips on his. Slowly the kiss became more heated and she could feel the tension leaving her body.

She unbutton his shirt while she felt him doing the same to her. She shyly grazed her hand on his torso, but pulled back in surprise. She looked down and saw that his stomach was now well-defined. "When did you get these?" she asked in shock. The last time she saw Theodore shirtless was when they got caught in the library by Snape.

Theodore blushed, "I've been working out, its helps with my stress. Do you like it?" He was never confident in his looks. He knew he wasn't no Crabbe or Goyle, but being best friends with Blaise, made him self conscious.

Charlotte stared at him before she nodded, "What about me? Does my body please you?" she inwardly cringed on her wording. Her shirt was wide open and her bra was visible.

Theodore stared at her breasts and raised his hand, "Can I?" he gestured to her chest. She nodded and he hesitantly squeezed her left breast. He then leaned forward and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her into his lap.

Eventually he gently put her on the picnic blanket and was about to remove her bra. They were interrupted by a crash. Neville was standing with a broken pot near his feet.

Theodore and Charlotte completely froze. Neville looked pale and then turned around and left.

Sighing, Charlotte got up and used her wand to dress again. "Sorry, I need to go." Theodore understood and gave her one last kiss. She thanked him, "Thank you for this. It was very sweet of you."

Charlotte left the greenhouse and chased after Neville. He didn't turn around and had his fists clenched. She tried to catch up to him but he kept walking faster. He finally stopped walking once he reached the Barnabas the Barmy painting. He entered the room of requirements and she followed him.

He turned around, "What the hell was that?" he bellowed. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Honestly, that is none of your business."

"He's a Slytherin and a Death Eater. How could you?"

"He's not a Death Eater!" she blurted out.

"How do you know?" he asked skeptically. "Are you sleeping with him for information? Is that how you found out Luna was at the Malfoys?" His face suddenly stung due to her slapping him.

"It is not like that at all." She pinched her nose in irritation, "He's my husband." She took off the charm on her hand and displayed her ring.

Neville jaw dropped, "W-What?"

Charlotte snorted, "You know how it is, I'm a pureblood. There was always a chance my future husband would be decided for me. My grandfather and Mr. Nott arranged it many years back."

"But most of them wait until they finish school!" he argued. He knew very well about all the pureblood customs growing up with his grandmother. She even tried to set him up with some French pureblood witches. While Augusta Longbottom had no dislike towards muggle-borns and half-bloods, she would prefer her grandson to continue to pureblood line.

"I know, but I turned seventeen this summer and Mr. Nott wanted to secure his family legacy as a precaution."

"Merlin, wow. I feel sorry for you."

"Don't be. Theodore isn't like his father. He is not a death eater. You know about his patrols, he is not cruel or mean anymore."

Neville thought about it, "It doesn't mean that he won't become a death eater. What will happen to you if they find out you have been healing other students?"

Charlotte sighed, "I don't know."

AN: I know the greenhouse scene was very awkward, but that was the point. They are two teenagers attempting to figure out their relationship in this scary time. I am also trying to figure out if I want the whole school to know about their marriage before or after the final battle.