Author's Note: I sincerely doubt any readers will be interested in this overly-long one-shot about Charlie, but it happened in my head, so I had to write it.

So here is the 50 page, 25k word story that literally no one asked for.

Spoilers for The Sacred 28 and The House of Black. This takes place around 12 years after The Sacred 28. It also contained more sexually explicit material than my other stories, so be aware of that.

Charlie Weasley fidgeted.

"Almost ready?" came the voice of his wife. Charlie's eyes flickered in her direction before he looked back to the gaudy mirror he hated. Where on earth had Fleur found such a thing? Charlie wasn't sure.

"I suppose," he said at last, frowning.

Fleur's lovely face appeared in front of him, and she reached up, straightening his collar with her delicate hands. "Zis is going to be so good for you, Charlie," she told him with a smile. When Fleur said his name, it sounded more like 'Sharlie.' "Really, you are going to be such a good teacher!"

Charlie wasn't so sure. In fact, he was beginning to think this whole thing had been a mistake, including their recent move to Sweden.

"Perhaps I should talk to Narcissa," started Charlie, sighing. "When I agreed to be the new Magizoology Professor at Florence Institute, I didn't think I'd feel quite so nervous."

"Everyone gets nervous on their first day at a new job," Fleur reassured him. She dropped her hands, and her smile softened. "Besides," she went on haltingly, "you needed a change of pace. Lately, you've just been so – well, I just zink – " She stopped, and then she cleared her throat a little before another smile took over her features. This one seemed less genuine than the one before it. "I zink zis will be good for you," she finished at last. There was a finality to her tone, and Charlie knew what that meant.

No backing out.

Nodding at his wife, Charlie managed a small smile. "Well, I guess I should be off." He picked up his well-worn canvas bag and slung the strap over his shoulder. Fleur had bought him a fancy-looking leather bag to use now that he was an "educator," but he had intentionally forgotten to transfer his things into it.

"Have a good day," said Fleur, kissing his cheek.

Charlie looked at her for a moment and then nodded again. "Thank you. You, too," he said simply. Then he walked out the door of their townhome and disappeared from the doorstep.

Just a few seconds later, he appeared only twenty-five feet from his destination. Charlie rolled his eyes. When would he ever get good at Apparition? Shifting his bag on his shoulder, Charlie walked up the pathway and through a set of black wrought-iron gates.

In front of him was a sprawling campus centered around a red-brick castle with a black roof and green-topped towers. A large pond dotted with lily pads sat off the left, and well-cared for hedges were on the other side. Long greenhouses occupied the eastern corner, and nearby was a large stone fountain that had become a favorite study spot for students. There was an orchard of fruit trees lining one side of campus, and an absolutely beautiful garden filled with blooms of every shape and color just behind the castle. It wasn't visible from where Charlie was, but he had seen it before.

In the most distant western corner was a new building that had been constructed only the year before, built to replicate the style of the castle. It was something of a sports complex, Charlie remembered. It had a pool and other training facilities. The school had grown a lot in the last few years, and expansions were necessary. This was one of the main reasons for Charlie's hire.

Charlie's eyes scanned the grounds thoughtfully. Many large trees dotted the campus, and up the main pathway – just in front of the castle – was a line of low buildings that had come with the castle. They had recently been converted into dormitories, and although they'd been only simple white rectangles at the school's inception, they were now quite lovely with English ivy spread along the walls and nice lanterns next to every numbered door. As Charlie walked along the main stone path to the castle itself, young witches filed out of the dormitory rooms happily and excitedly. Some of them looked over at Charlie, smiling in friendly way or sometimes even giving him a flirtatious look. Charlie's lips quirked, and he rolled his eyes just a little.

Florence Institute of Higher Learning for Witches had an entirely female student body, with only some of the professors being wizards. Any male on campus caught quite a lot of attention; Narcissa had already warned him of that much.

But Charlie was 41, and all the witches on campus were teenagers or in their twenties. The very idea of one of them finding him attractive was enough to make Charlie laugh.

For a little while, the pleasant walk up to the main castle eased his anxiety, and Charlie was able to enjoy himself. However, as soon as he entered the castle, the trepidation returned in full-force. Turning down the elegant entryway, Charlie moved to a set of stairs and climbed them until he came to the floor where his new office was. He'd visited it before, but only briefly. He had yet to "settle in."

Florence Institute was housed primarily in Trolleholm Castle, where Charlie now stood, and the interior was stunning. The castle had high ceilings that looked down on three floors of elegant walkways and corridors. The colors were a combination of reds, golds, greens, and blues, and the style reminded Charlie of images he'd seen of The Palace of Versailles in France. Trollehom Castle, it was safe to say, did not have Hogwarts' rugged charm or antiquated courtyards. Here, everything from the chandeliers to the rugs was ornate and regal.

Pompous was the word Charlie always thought of, but the school was run by Narcissa Mal – ahem, Stewart - so then again, who could be surprised? Besides, the mission of the school was a good one – even if the facilities were way fancier than Charlie felt was necessary.

He finally opened his office door.

Inside was a rather small but lovely room with a very nice wooden desk, high shelves, and a great big window lined with heavy velvet curtains. Charlie stood on the threshold of the door and actually flinched.

Eugh. An office.

Turning, Charlie shut the door without even going in. He'd been thinking he would sit down with his new textbook and get further acquainted with it, even though he'd read it about a hundred times, but he couldn't bring himself to go in there.

So instead he walked around listlessly for almost twenty minutes until his first class was set to start.

Charlie was the newest Magizoology professor, but he was not the only one. Courses at Florence Institute were divided between first-year and second-year, and the elderly witch who'd been there before him – Professor Hale – was teaching the first-year courses, which were obviously easier and available as an elective, rather than just being for Magizoology majors.

Charlie was teaching four second-year courses, and they were a great deal more advanced. He looked down at his schedule, which was written on a piece of parchment along with the names of all his students. His first class of the day was Magical Wildlife Management. It was a course designed for those who planned to do what he had done in Romania with dragons – managing endangered populations, field research, things like that. He loved the course he'd developed, but he wasn't so sure about actually teaching it. He wished he was a student instead, and someone else had to stand at the front of a classroom and talk.

Finally, Charlie turned to go to his classroom. In the past several years, Charlie's ability to socialize with large groups had become dramatically strained. In school, he'd been pretty social: captain of the Quidditch team, prefect, all that. He'd had quite a few friends, though very few who had been what he'd considered "close." Charlie's main Human had always been Bill.

But Bill had died during the most recent war, some twelve years before. And now he – Charlie Weasley – was married to Bill's widow, Fleur. He'd also been the acting father to Bill's daughter Margrethe since she was six months old.

Thinking about Margrethe made Charlie smile. She was at Hogwarts in her third year. He missed her a lot while she was at school.

Charlie came to a stop at the door to his classroom, and suddenly, he realized that he would rather do anything else in the world than go and stand in front of twenty strangers. Seriously, he would have gladly tucked a blast-ended skrewt into the crotch of his robes than enter that classroom.

He pushed open the door.

The chatter inside simmered down as he crossed the front of the room, his eyes flickering at the group of students but not looking directly at them. He paused at the desk at the front of the class and then reached up for his bag, which he set on the desk with an unnecessary amount of gentleness. Clearing his throat a bit, he glanced at the clock.

9:00 AM. Time to begin.

Reluctantly, Charlie looked out over the class.

Students at Florence Institute were adults and not required to wear uniforms. They were also from all over the world, and so the group in front of Charlie was perhaps the most diverse he'd ever seen. There were dark-skinned witches in brightly-colored head scarves and robes like he'd never seen before, light-skinned witches who looked like Swedish natives but really could have been from anywhere, and just about everything in-between. All the courses at Florence Institute were given in English, but Charlie knew many of his students were non-native speakers, so he tried to remember to speak clearly.

"Good morning," he said after a painfully long pause. He shifted on his feet. "Er, I am – Well, you saw me at the assembly last week – Headmistress Stewart introduced me, so – "

He stopped. No one said anything, although many of them looked at him kindly.

Charlie cleared his throat. "So I know the Headmistress called me 'Professor Weasley' at the start of term, but, er – for the love of Merlin, please don't call me that." He balked, before going on, "Just call me Charlie, I beg of you."

A pause, and then one of the witches in the headwraps leaned forward with a bright smile and said, "Hello Charlie!"

Charlie blinked, and then he finally chuckled a bit, letting some of the tension leave him. "Er – So, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I, uh, I've been a magizoologist for a little over twenty years. I've worked with all sorts of animals, and I've done a lot of different jobs related to magical wildlife. If I had a specialty, I'd have to say it's dragons."

"Neat," said a girl in the corner, grinning.

Charlie scratched his head. "Yeah, you say that until you get stepped on by one."

The witches laughed.

"Anyway," said Charlie. "I've got a lot of experience working with magical animals, and not a lot of experience teaching, so if I can do anything to help you out – you know, just tell me." He put his hands in his pockets and fell silent again, suddenly tense once more. He glanced at the window. It was a beautiful day.

"Do you all just want to go outside?" he burst out quite suddenly. "I really don't like classrooms."

The witches all looked at each other, some laughing, and then they all shrugged and nodded, gathering their things. Charlie immediately led them out, and they reconvened under a large ash tree just near the greenhouses. As soon as they were all settled on the grass, Charlie felt far more at ease.

Out here, he could breathe.

"Okay," he said, finally feeling steady. "So here's your textbook," he said, showing them. "I'm sure you've all read Scamander's book, right?"

The group nodded.

Charlie shifted and showed them the textbook. "Alright, so this is like an updated version of that, right? I mean, Fantastic Beasts is great, but it was written in the 1920s, so this book is a decent response to that." He put the book aside, an arm balanced on his upraised knee. "Now, I'm not big on – you know – digging into books and writing reports, but there's a lot of great information here, and it's always a good idea to have an accurate resource on your hands, alright?"

Someone raised their hand. "Have you ever met Newt Scamander?"

Charlie smiled. "I have, yes." The witches in his group seemed very impressed by this.

"What was he like?" asked one girl.

"Exactly like you'd expect," said Charlie with a grin. "Old and crazy about beasts." The girls laughed, and Charlie tilted his head, expression softening. "He was brilliant, really. Passed a few years ago, but an absolute legend until the end." He thought back to that meeting. It had been years ago. "Newt Scamander is one of the main reasons I got interested in magizoology in the first place, when I was a very little boy. That book – Fantastic Beasts – is what did me in."

Charlie looked out over the group. They were all watching him.

"You know what the best thing Newt Scamander ever taught me was, though?" asked Charlie, feeling strangely at ease now. His lips quirked. "He said – worrying means you suffer twice."

The witch nearest Charlie – a dark-haired girl with bright-blue eyes – smiled widely.

Charlie shifted until he was sitting cross-legged, and he looked at his group directly. "And that's something important for magizoologists to remember, because there are going to be plenty of times when you're in scary situations, doing what you do. There will be days when you're not sure what's going to happen or what you're going to find. There will be days when you find an animal that's hurt or suffering, and it's going to be up to you to do something about it. And I won't lie. It's frightening. Have no doubt about that." Charlie bit his lip. "But the most important thing to remember about being a magizoologist is that it is your job to teach the magical community about these creatures – both for the safety of the people and for the safety of the animals." He wave his hand. "As long as you do that, you're a good magizoologist. No matter how much gold you make or how far from home you go, you do that – and you're a success. Got it?"

The group nodded enthusiastically.

Charlie smiled fully, and then he went on into the syllabus for the course, before talking about some of the things they'd be doing that semester. He dismissed them after that, and the witches left, chattering excitedly. Charlie stood and brushed off his robes. When he looked up again, the dark-haired witch with bright eyes was in front of him.

"I just wanted to say hi," she said with a friendly smile, sticking out the hand that wasn't loaded down with books. "My name is Lola," she told him. "And I'm really excited about your class."

"Oh, thank you," said Charlie, shaking her hand. "You sound English."

"I am," said Lola, beaming. "A graduate of Hogwarts, just like you."

"What house?" asked Charlie slyly. "This is a test, by the way."

Lola grinned. "Gryffindor."

"Good answer!" Charlie told her. "You pass the class."

Lola laughed, shifting her books in her arms. She had a little button nose and her dark hair was very curly. He liked her smile. "Oh," she said quickly, "and I wanted to let you know that I read both of the beast books you contributed to, and I liked your chapters the best. I mean, your work on the Hungarian Horntail was just – so amazing," she said, her blue eyes wide. "Especially that section on the migration patterns – wow, so great - and does your arm feel better? That bite must have hurt!"

Charlie blinked, then looked down at his arm. "Well, yeah," he said, chuckling. "That was fifteen years ago."

Lola blinked rapidly and then smacked a hand over her face. "Right, yeah, I – I knew that," she muttered, looking like she wanted to fall into a hole.

"And you know," said Charlie, a bit amused, "I don't think I even mentioned that in the book."

Lola's cheeks flushed scarlet. "It was, uh, in the footnotes of an article on your work," she explained. She paused. "I am not a stalker, just – so you know."

Charlie bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Which is exactly what a stalker would say," he teased.

Lola pointed at him. "I'm just going to go and – you know, maybe drown myself in the shower, so – I'll catch you later. Good-bye!" Then she hurried away, and Charlie laughed heartily to himself.

He suddenly felt much better about his own awkwardness.

The rest of the day went on rather pleasantly, and Charlie felt himself growing more comfortable as the classes went on. By the end of the day, he was quite pleased, and he left campus without having ever stepped foot in his office, which was nice.

Moments later, Charlie appeared on the busy street where his new townhome was, the one he and Fleur had bought the month before. Fleur would still be there, Charlie knew. She was still writing for Witch Weekly, but she did not have to go into an office. Instead, she simply wrote from home – sometimes. Other times, he suspected she spent the whole day shopping.

As soon as Charlie stepped through the front door, Fleur was in front of him. To his absolute horror, he could also hear other people in the sitting room.

"Charlie!" said his wife happily, kissing his cheek. "Come in, we are having a tea party – "

Charlie balked at the door, his brows furrowed. "What, really?"

"Yes!" said Fleur, giving him an exasperated look. "We are all waiting to hear about your first day at work."

"I don't want to talk to a bunch of people, Fleur."

Fleur pouted. "Zey are our friends, Charlie!"

"No," said Charlie, side-stepping her. "They're your friends." He went into the kitchen and started making himself a sandwich. Fleur gave him an annoyed look.

"So what are you going to do instead?"

Charlie waved his wand and a bunch of condiments and vegetables floated to the counter. "Literally anything else," he muttered as he made his sandwich.

"Why?" asked Fleur. "Socializing is good for you, Charlie."

He ate a slice of tomato. "Fleur, I have been socializing for eight straight hours. I am done with humans for today."

Fleur rolled her eyes. "Fine, zen. Go and be a hermit!"

"I will, thank you." Charlie picked up his sandwich and took a big bite.

Fleur made a face at him and left the kitchen through the swinging door. Charlie stayed where he was in the kitchen because he had to pass the sitting room doorway to get to the stairs. He ate his sandwich for a few minutes, and then when he felt it was safe, he moved to the door to try and sneak upstairs to their bedroom without being seen.

Voices floated out of the sitting room, three witches and Fleur.

"… things gotten any better with Charlie?"

Charlie paused, swallowing a bite of sandwich as he listened.

"Not really," admitted Fleur's voice in a hushed whisper. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"It's not you, Fleur," said another voice. "It's him. How long has it been now anyway?"

There was a pause, and then –

"Ten months," admitted Fleur with a great deal of shame.

"Ten months without sex?" gasped one of the witches. "That is a travesty!"

Charlie's cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger, his eyes lowering.

"Honestly," said one of the other witches. "My mother always said – if your husband isn't having sex with you, he's having it somewhere else. You'd better keep an eye on him, Fleur."

Charlie rolled his eyes, anger causing him to grip his sandwich quite hard.

"Oh, I'm not worried about zat…" said Fleur sadly.

"He must be gay," said the other voice. "I mean, look at Fleur! What man is going to resist her?"

Charlie scowled. He wasn't having sex somewhere else, and he wasn't gay. Not that it was any of their bloody business –

"Let's just forget about it," said Fleur. "So how is your niece, Adia?"

The conversation changed, and Charlie left, going up the stairs as silently as he could. Once he was in their bedroom, it took everything in his self-control not to slam the door behind him. He tossed his sandwich into the rubbish bin, no longer hungry. Fleur would scold him later for putting food in the bedroom rubbish, but oh well. Scowling heavily, Charlie dropped his bag on the floor and fell heavily into a wicker chair in the corner.

He hadn't bothered to light any of the candles in the room, but there was just enough light from the fading afternoon to illuminate the room in a dim blue filtered through their curtains. Charlie's narrowed gaze looked over the room.

The bed he shared with Fleur was large with a big white headboard. It had an intricate, sloping design that moved all around, and it had been painted, cut up, and then re-painted many times to appear older than it was. On the bed was a perfectly-placed blue and white bedspread with about three dozen pillows perched strategically in the space where their heads logically should have gone, but couldn't because of all the pillows.

Everything in the room matched the bed, from the overly-large mirror Charlie had used that morning to the three dressers, antique rug, and massive jewelry chest in the corner. There were also lots of artsy, colorful framed pieces of art on the wall.

Charlie's eyes shifted to the dresser next to the ridiculous chair he was in. Reaching over, he picked up a framed photograph and looked over it.

It was of the three of them – Charlie, Fleur, and Margrethe, when the little girl had been about six. Charlie's lips quirked. Margrethe was now thirteen years old, and although she hadn't yet entered into that "my parents are no longer cool" stage, she was starting to pull away from them a bit. She remained incredibly sweet, but she was also fiercely independent, and she'd insisted that year that they not wait for the train to leave the station when she departed for Hogwarts. As soon as she'd kissed them both good-bye, she had dashed on to the train with her friends and never looked back.

That probably had something to do with Teddy. Margrethe had declared last summer, in no uncertain terms, that Teddy Lupin was her soulmate. Charlie had spent the rest of the summer watching Teddy – who was fourteen – very, very, very closely.

Charlie sighed and set the photo aside. Merlin, how he missed her.

And how he hated this bloody townhouse. Fleur had loved it, and they hadn't had a lot of time to look over the summer, so Charlie had gone ahead with the purchase, but now he regretted it. It was right in the middle of town, and even though the home itself was quite large and very nice, Charlie wish they'd just stayed in the little cottage in England instead.

But that was too far away from the school, and Apparating over long distances was risky, especially for Charlie who'd always struggled with Apparition. So there they were.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Charlie got up and showered, and then he climbed into bed even though it was currently only seven pm. Fleur came in a little while later, but he pretended to be asleep, even though he wasn't.

Over the next few weeks, Charlie acclimated to his job at Florence Institute, and he grew accustomed to the schedule. He even made himself go to his office every once in a while, though only when he needed to meet directly with a student. Anything longer than an hour was absolutely intolerable, and Charlie avoided it more often than not.

His classes went on, and he grew to quite enjoy them. There were days when he wished he could sit in the back of the class and simply observe, but more often than not, he was excited to give his new lesson. This was especially true when they got into the animal handling in the second week.

He did have an interesting conundrum to handle, though. Magizoology was not one of the designated majors for Squibs, as it required a lot of spellwork, but a Squib student named Jenna had asked to take the Wildlife Management course because she wanted to work as an editor for magizoological texts. It only made sense that she should see them in action, too, in order to help her accurately correct and annotate what she was reading. Charlie agreed with this idea, so she'd joined the course, but there were some lessons she simply could not do.

As a result, Charlie had taken quite a lot of time to figure out how she could best use her time on those days. In the end, he'd given her a leather-bound journal and asked her to record each group's weekly research findings before summarizing them in a report and turning it in to him. That would help Charlie keep track of everyone's progress and give her the sort of practice she needed. Jenna had been delighted at the assignment.

Charlie was glad Narcissa allowed Squibs in the school. It was quite clear they were excited to finally get to join other magical people their age.

As the days wore on, the seasons shifted and autumn settled over the campus. Charlie's classes spent a great deal of time outside, bringing in different animals each week and sometimes leaving the campus to explore other areas for the Wildlife section.

Charlie's connections from his earlier work often made it rather simple for him to bring in groups of interesting magical animals, and he loved the excitement he saw in his students when a new batch of creatures came in.

One day in late September, Charlie had a herd of thestrals brought in.

"Now," he told his class, "I know that thestrals aren't really considered 'wild' in England since they've become so domesticated, but here in Sweden, there are many herds of wild thestrals still roaming the forests. These thestrals grow larger than the ones in the UK, and they're a great deal more volatile, so you'll have to handle them with care." He looked back over the group of thestrals, black horse-like creatures with skeletal bodies and leathery wings. "Now, as I'm sure you all know, thestrals can only be seen by witches and wizards who have witnessed death. They are invisible to muggles or those who have never seen someone die. Can everyone see them?"

It appeared to Charlie that all the hands raised, so he went on, giving them their assignment. The thestrals he'd brought were all pregnant females, so he ordered his students to look them over and get as much information as possible. Charlie moved over to stand next to a lone thestral, and he patted its neck with a soft smile. The thestral whinnied and shook its head.

After a few minutes, one of his students approached him. It was Lola.

"Prof – I mean, Charlie," she said, grinning a little when he mock-glared at her. She shifted. "I, er – I can't see thestrals."

Charlie dropped his hand. "Oh," he said, surprised. He looked around. Apparently, all his other students could see them. There was something a bit sad in that, but that was how things were. Looking back at Lola, he smiled gently. "Well, that's not your fault. Here, let me show you what I can. Step up."

Lola did as she was told, and Charlie shifted behind her.

"The thestral is right in front of you," he told her from behind, putting a hand on her shoulder and very lightly shifting her. "Do you remember what they look like from the illustrations in your book?"

"Yes," said Lola with a confident nod. "Black wings, skeletal body. Like a horse."

"Exactly," said Charlie, gently prodding her forward. "Now extend your hand…"

Lola edged forward, her hand outstretched in front of her. She could not see the thestral at all, but when her fingers touched its side, she smiled and stepped forward.

"Feel that? Those are the ribs," Charlie told her. The thestral shifted, and Lola jumped a little. "It's alright," he said, showing her with his own hand where to touch the thestral on its back. "Right there? That's the spine."

"Wow," murmured Lola, looking entranced. "I can feel its heartbeat."

"Good," said Charlie. He hesitated for a moment and then reached for her hand, lightly placing his fingers over hers and then moving it up the length of the thestral's back. He shifted it down some, guiding her hand with his. "This is the belly, feel it? Here, you can even count the babies inside. One… two."

"That's the average amount of offspring, right?" asked Lola.

"Yes," said Charlie. "And the gestational period is – "

"Eleven months," answered Lola immediately.

"Good, yes." Charlie brought her hand up to the thestral's mane of stringy black hair, and Lola's lips shifted into a smile. Charlie smiled, too. "And there's the neck – feel that swollen bit right there? That lump on the neck, what does it mean?"

"She's dehydrated," responded Lola.

"Exactly," said Charlie, pleased.

As he watched, Lola shifted closer and brought up her other hand, smoothing it down the thestral's back. "Oh, I bet you are so lovely," she whispered to the thestral as Charlie watched. The thestral shifted, making a soft noise and turning its head towards Lola's. It nudged her face with its nose, and Lola stepped back, laughing.

"I think it just tried to kiss me!" she said, giggling.

Charlie grinned. "It definitely did. It likes you."

Lola stroked the thestral's head. "I'm sorry I can't see you," she told the thestral.

"Don't be sorry," Charlie told her, unable to keep the sigh out of his voice. "It's not really a good thing, being able to see them. I mean, they're beautiful, yes, but…"

Lola looked up at him, her head tilting curiously. She looked back in the direction of the creature she could not see.

"At least," she said after a moment, "something good comes out of something bad, right?" She swept her hand over the creature's neck. "I mean, death is painful, certainly – but then you get to see these beautiful animals. It's almost as if magic is trying to make up for your suffering."

Charlie blinked. He had never thought of it like that.

Lola looked up at him and smiled. He had to look away.

A little while later, he dismissed the class and his students moved on.

The days wore on, and Charlie became more and more invested in his classes. It was inspiring to see so many students who shared his enthusiasm for magical animals, and sometimes he found himself deviating from the planned lesson just to tell them a story or elaborate on an adventure.

"So when I was thirteen, I became convinced there was a dragon in the forest next to my school," Charlie told his students one day as they reclined on the crunchy autumn leaves near the ash tree. "And I decided to go in after it. I mean, I was determined. So one night, after curfew, I snuck out and went into the forest."

Lola, the only Hogwarts student in his group, gasped. "The Forbidden Forest? Merlin, you're lucky to be alive!"

Charlie snickered. "Oh, believe me. I know. My brother Bill found out about it and ended up accompanying me later. Said I couldn't go without him." He tilted his head. "It was quite the night. We only had eight or nine near-death experiences, so I'd say it was a pretty good time."

"Did you find a dragon?" asked Mayumi, laughing.

"Nah," admitted Charlie. "But I did befriend some pretty amazing centaurs." He glanced at his watch. "Oh, class is over." His students actually groaned, and Charlie chuckled. "I'll see you all on Wednesday. Have a good day!"

The witches got up and gathered their things. Lola lingered behind the others, her bag on her shoulder.

"Is your brother Bill a magizoologist like you?" she asked curiously.

Charlie's eyes moved to her face, and his smile flickered. He cleared his throat a little. "Ah, no. He was a curse-breaker for Gringotts." They turned and began walking in the direction of the castle. "He died in the Second Wizarding War."

Lola's bright blue eyes widened. "Oh," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," said Charlie, hand on his bag strap. He paused, and then without thinking about it, he said, "I miss him."

"I'm sure," said Lola. They walked in silence for a few steps before she spoke again. "What was your favorite thing about him?"

Charlie glanced over at her, and for a moment, he wasn't sure what to say. He had not thought about Bill in a while. For a long time, it had been too painful. But thinking about their adventure together in the Forbidden Forest had actually been nice… and Lola's question made him smile.

"My favorite thing about Bill," said Charlie as they walked, "was how terrifically confident he was." His lips quirked. "Bill was – one of those people who was just effortlessly smooth, you know? Just very cool, very laid back. Had every girl after him in school, but you'd have never known it because he wasn't arrogant at all. Just an all-around good bloke."

Lola smiled brightly. "And was he a Gryffindor?"

Charlie chuckled. "Yes, he was."

"So then he was brave, too," she said, turning to face him and walking backwards with a little skip. "Like you."

"And you," pointed out Charlie.

Lola laughed. She turned around again. "I don't know. I never went into the Forbidden Forest by myself."

"Mm, that was probably more stupidity than bravery," admitted Charlie. "We could have been ripped apart." They both laughed, and Charlie took a moment to reflect on how nice it felt.

They came to the castle, and Charlie hesitated at the door. He found, strangely, that he did not want to be by himself. He thought of his solitary office and the lunch he had waiting for him.

"Ah – " he paused, clearing his throat. "I just remembered – there was a book I wanted to show you. I think it might help with the research you're doing right now, the erklings report." He paused. "But if you're busy, I can just – you know, show you later."

Lola's face lit up. "No, no. I'd love to see it now, if you don't mind."

Charlie relaxed some, and he led her up the stairs to his office. He hadn't done much with it in the past few months, just loaded it down with his most useful reference books and a few odds and ends he'd collected from his travels. As he pulled down the book, Lola picked up the one framed photo on his desk.

"Is this your family?" she asked.

Charlie pulled down the book and turned slowly. He shifted the book in his hand and managed a small smile. "Yes, it is." He stepped over. "That's my wife, Fleur, and our daughter, Margrethe."

Lola traced the frame. "They're beautiful," she told him kindly. "And your little girl looks so much like you."

Charlie's expression flickered. "Does she?" he asked. His eyes lowered. Lola seemed to notice his reaction, and she didn't say anything further, instead setting the photo aside and sitting in one of his chairs with the book. Charlie sat next to her and pointed out the sections he thought were the most relevant to her research. Lola drank in the information, always asking questions and making notes.

"Erklings are very dangerous to study," Charlie pointed out. "You need to be careful with them."

"Oh, I know," she said, making a face. "They got one of my cousins when I was small. He escaped, but he lost an arm, first."

Charlie shook his head. "They're vicious. One of the few beasts I can think of with absolutely no redeeming qualities. They'll eat a child in an instant, so be careful."

"I think I'm a bit old for them," Lola pointed out with a smirk. "Being twenty-one."

Charlie blinked and then chuckled. "Yeah, I – sorry, I know you're an adult, I promise. I just – I sort of assume all my students are teenagers until they say otherwise."

"Oh, I know," said Lola, closing the book. "I wanted to come here right after Hogwarts, but I had to wait a few years." She smiled sadly. "My grandmother raised us, and she got really sick in my seventh year, so I went home to take care of her for a while."

"That was good of you," said Charlie, looking over her face.

Lola shrugged, looking almost shy – which she usually was not. "She's as close to a Mum as I ever had," she explained with a tender smile. She pulled out a magical photograph from her bag and showed it to Charlie. It was of Lola, two wizards maybe five or six years older than her, and then an old witch with a cane. "Anyway. She's still sick, but she told me if I didn't leave for Florence Institute this year, she was going to disown me, so here I am."

Charlie and Lola both laughed.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then a strange noise sounded, and Lola gripped her stomach with a laugh. "Merlin, I'm hungry! Sorry."

Charlie grinned. "Nah, it's okay. I'll let you leave now."

Lola hesitated, and then she reached in her bag again. "Actually, I have my lunch with me." She wave a container with some pasta inside, her lips quirked. "So, I mean, if you don't – have anywhere to be… Maybe I could stay here and go over that book some more? In case I have questions?"

Charlie found himself smiling again. "Of course. Whatever I can do to help."

Lola beamed at this, and they each settled in their chairs with their lunches, eating and talking and reading. It was the most pleasant lunch Charlie had had in a while, and the two were so involved in their conversation that Charlie was nearly late to his next class.

"Oh, sorry!" exclaimed Lola, jumping up with her now empty container.

"No, it's – " he chuckled. "I completely lost track of time." He gathered his things up quickly, looked over Lola's face one last time, and then left.

From that point on, Lola stayed after class nearly every session, always walking with him back up to the castle and sometimes taking lunch in his office with him. It was always an open-door, semi-academic discussion, so Charlie didn't see the harm in it.

Besides, he was enjoying himself. He liked Lola. She was a nice girl.

As the days moved into November, Charlie found himself dreading going home more and more each day.

It wasn't just Fleur. It was everything. The house, the walls, the people. He hated everything from the door knocker to their bathroom rugs.

One Saturday, as he sat in the living room, Fleur came in. Feeling angry for no real reason, Charlie looked at her and said, "Do you know, Fleur, that not a single thing in this house is mine?"

Fleur looked at him, startled. "What do you mean? We bought it all together."

"We paid for it together," said Charlie, "but I didn't pick any of it. And I hate it – I hate all of it."

Fleur frowned. "Well, I didn't know zat, Charlie. You never told me."

"You never asked."

Fleur's eyes watered, and Charlie felt guilt wash over him in a tidal wave of misery. He stood with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know what's gotten in to me."

Fleur sniffed and wiped at the corners of her eyes. When she shifted closer, Charlie pulled her into an embrace.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

Charlie swallowed tightly. "I don't know," he admitted.

Because he really didn't.

Pretty soon, Charlie's daily conversations with Lola became his favorite part of work. Sometimes they would walk around campus together, just chatting or enjoying the weather. Other times, they investigated the outskirts of the campus, looking for animal tracks and figuring out what magical creatures were lurking nearby.

"Even if there weren't any in the area twenty years ago," he told her, "there are probably loads now. Magical creatures are attracted to magical populations, so the school itself is going to be something of a magnet."

"Really?" asked Lola, her eyes wide. "I didn't know that." She brushed her hands along the orange, red, and brown leaves as they passed, smiling happily when some floated down over her. "Okay, so here's today's question… What is your all-time favorite aquatic magical beast?"

Charlie grinned as they walked. "Yours first."

"Merpeople," she said instantly.

"Merpeople, really?" asked Charlie, interested. "Why?"

Lola twisted a leaf in her hand as they walked. "I think it's partly because they're so intelligent. I mean, they could have joined the 'being' status with witches and wizards, but they chose not to, just like the centaurs." Lola looked up thoughtfully at the sky. "I know their official reason was because they didn't like sharing that status with vampires and hags, but I think there was more to it than that."

"Like what?" asked Charlie curiously.

"I think," said Lola as they walked, "merpeople knew that the category of 'being' would bring down on them all these – rules and regulations that we as witches and wizards live by. And they're not like us. They have their own society, their own language, their own culture. And if they'd been called 'beings,' they might have lost that. Beings have so many laws. And beasts… well, they don't." Lola stopped beneath a tree. "So I think," she said, looking up at Charlie, "that the main reason they wanted to stay beasts was so they could be free. So they could keep their secrets. And really, I don't blame them."

Charlie watched her for a long moment. "I don't, either," he said at last.

Lola's lips quirked, and then they walked off together.

From that moment on, something shifted in the air at Florence Institute. Charlie had never understood before what a "lingering glance" was, but he certainly knew it now. Each time he made eye-contact with Lola – in class, across the campus, in the corridor – there was a prolonged heaviness to it, something that did not belong there… but simply would not go away.

Charlie tried not to think on it too much. Nothing they had ever discussed had been inappropriate in any way. There had never been anything that someone could have pointed to, anything that he or Lola had done that was worth remarking on.

But when he looked at her, and her blue eyes met his, his stomach always did a flip-flop. Sometimes his heart raced for no real reason. And some days, his eyes sought her out in class, and the result was that he would get so distracted that he would lose his complete train of thought.

Still, there was nothing wrong about this.

Nothing at all.

xx

Further into November, Lola brought something to his attention.

"You won't believe this!" she said excitedly. "There's a seminar next weekend in Trollstenar hosted by Yuri Sorenson!"

Charlie stopped, his eyes wide. "Really?" he exclaimed. "Oh, wow. Is he doing the piece on the erklings?"

"Yes!" said Lola happily. "I have been following his work since I was twelve! I want to go so badly, but – " she paused, and then gave him a sheepish look. "The seminar is on Friday."

"Ahh," said Charlie, chuckling. "So you want to know if you can miss class to go."

"Oh, please," said Lola, clasping her hands together. "I'll write you a full report, I swear – "

"It's okay, Lola," said Charlie with a grin. "You can go. I won't count it against you." Then he thought about it. "Actually, you know what? I want to go, too. I haven't gotten a chance to see Sorenson in person in years."

"Oh, you should!" said Lola. "It's going to be amazing. We could make a field trip out of it, you know? I know Ndidi would want to go, too. She's big on elfish creatures. Oh, and maybe – I don't know, I'll ask."

"I'll let everyone know there's no regular class that Friday," Charlie reassured her. "We'll all take a carriage together from here, since it's a bit far."

"Great!" said Lola, before her smile softened. "Thank you so much."

Charlie hesitated. Her tone was so genuine.

"Of course," he responded.

That night, he told Fleur about the seminar and the trip. "It's … two days," he said over dinner. That was a lie. It was only one day, but he wanted a reason to spend a night out of the house. "So I'll probably just spend the night at one of the inns or something."

Fleur nodded. "Zat sounds fun, darling. I hope you have a good time."

Charlie managed a small smile.

The following Friday, Charlie came to campus but did not go to his office or to his outdoor classroom. Instead, he went to go meet the carriage driver who was set to take them to Trollstenar. To his surprise, he found only Lola waiting for him.

"Everyone else got the flu," she told him with a wince. "It's an absolute plague in the dormitories right now."

Charlie eyed her, smirking. "And you're sure you don't have it…?" he asked teasingly.

Lola reached in her bag and yanked out a medical mask, showing him pointedly. "My roommate coughed twice yesterday, and I slept in the bloody closet." Charlie burst out laughing. "I am not getting sick!" declared Lola. "I don't have the time for it!"

"Well, then," said Charlie, opening the door. "I guess it's just you and me."

Lola's features lit up, and they climbed into the carriage together.

The carriage had an open top but with a small canopy, and Charlie and Lola sat on one side together just under the fabric canopy. The driver started off, and the carriage moved with a jolt, first on the ground and then climbing up into the sky.

Charlie never even thought to get nervous, being one-on-one with Lola. They talked the entire ride to Trollstenar, exchanging stories and laughing. He told her about some of the more raucous games he'd played growing up, and she revealed she'd played Quidditch, too.

"Really?" he asked, smiling. "What position?"

"Chaser," she said proudly.

"Ah, I was the Seeker," he said.

"Really?" she asked, sounding surprised. She looked over at him appreciatively. "You're kind of … muscular for a Seeker," she observed.

Charlie tucked his head and laughed. "I was actually a wisp of a thing in school," he told her. "Short, too. I'd probably be rubbish if I tried to play now."

"Me, too," she said with a snicker. "I saw some girls playing the other day and I thought about schooling them, but then I figured I'd only embarrass myself. Damn young people."

Charlie laughed. "Oh yes, because you're positively ancient."

"I found a gray hair yesterday," she told him morosely. "Thanks for reminding me."

Charlie laughed so much on the way to Trollstenar that his stomach actually hurt. When the pair finally arrived, Charlie and Lola got out and made their way to the conference hall where the seminar was being held. They were nearly late because Lola kept getting distracted by shops around them, particularly anything that rugs or blankets. She just loved them.

"We're going to be late!" Charlie admonished her, tugging Lola away from yet another shop window.

"But – but – that one is from the – and bloody hell, look at that candy! Okay, okay, I'm coming – "

After many (literal) twists and turns, Charlie and Lola came to the conference hall and hurried in just as the lights turned down and the introductory speaker took to the front. They slipped in past a few people in the semi-darkness and took their seats, both excited.

Charlie waved his hands at his own lap. "Damn it, I forgot my parchment."

"Here, take mine." Lola handed him some and a quill, and he noted with amusement that her quill was shaped like a femur bone.

"Bit macabre?" he asked in a teasing whisper.

"I used to want to be an undertaker when I was a kid," she whispered back.

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just kidding," she whispered with a grin. They both lapsed into giggles again, and another wizard shushed them. Charlie sucked in a deep breath. He could not remember the last time he'd gotten in trouble for laughing during a quiet moment, but here he was, doing his best not to snicker again.

Finally, the speaker they'd been waiting for came to the stage, and some have thought he was a rock star, the way the audience greeted him with loud applause. Lola in particular jumped up and clapped her hands furiously before sitting back down, quill in hand.

For the next two hours, Sorenson talked about his research, showed magnified photographs, and went into detail about his work. Charlie and Lola became focused as he talked, and they each recorded notes diligently, as did many others around them.

The seminar ended temporarily around lunch time, and Charlie and Lola left to go and get something to eat. They found an interesting restaurant that overlooked the bay, and they sat together at a table near one of Trollstenar's waterfalls.

"I love food," commented Lola, looking over the menu.

"You sound like my sister, Ginny," observed Charlie, chuckling.

Lola was still examining the menu. "My favorite Quidditch player is named Ginny," she commented.

Charlie glanced up, very amused. "Is that so?" he asked lightly. "And what Quidditch player would that be?"

Lola glanced up. "Ginny Malfoy, Captain of the Holyhead Harpies."

Charlie put his chin in his hand and stared directly at Lola. He had to wait nearly thirty seconds for it to dawn on her, and she gasped, nearly knocking her drink off the table in her excitement. "Wait – Wait a minute - She was – Ginny Malfoy was a Weasley and – "

"That's right," said Charlie, his amusement growing. "Ginny Malfoy is my baby sister."

Lola's jaw dropped, and she pressed her menu to her face. "Merlin's pants! How did I never make that connection?" She tucked her menu against her chest. "That is so – bloody amazing!"

Charlie laughed. "Taught her everything she knows," he said, before adding quickly, "Just kidding. No, really, she really learned most of it on her own. I was the first person to ever put her on a broom, though." He sipped at his drink. "Our mum didn't want her playing. Thought it was too dangerous. Bill and I really wanted to train her up, but Mum wouldn't let us. In the end, Ginny just practiced in secret until she got to Hogwarts."

"I am in such awe," she told him, her blue eyes wide and round. She wiggled happily in her chair. "She was the whole reason I tried out for Chaser in the first place. I mean, I had posters of her in my bedroom at home."

"Well, if she ever comes to campus, I'll make sure you get to meet her," Charlie promised.

Finally, Charlie and Lola ordered their food, items they'd never heard of, and when their plates came, they exchanged little saucers so they could try it all.

"I admire your sister for more than just her Quidditch skills," Lola told him after a moment. "I've read a good bit about the war… everything she and her husband did. And all of that after being kept prisoner by Death Eaters." Lola's eyes lowered. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like."

Charlie paused. "I can," he said with something of a small smile.

Lola looked up in surprise, and her lips parted a bit. "You – you were taken prisoner?"

"I was," he told her. "As was everyone else who was still alive after the battle at Hogwarts."

Lola seemed to find this deeply troubling, and Charlie felt a strange twinge in his chest. He had never seen her look so sad. The concern in her eyes – for something that had happened quite a long time ago – made his heart race.

"For… For how long?" she asked, frowning.

Charlie thought about it, strangely comfortable discussing it all. "Oh, I'm not sure I remember. Maybe ten or eleven months? Not quite a year." He shrugged. "Anyway, I got out and married my wife, Fleur, and then we both went on to fight in the final battle at Hogwarts." He paused. "And we won. The end."

Lola's lips quirked a little. "The end?"

"The end," he confirmed, hoping to reassure her.

Lola swallowed, looking down at her plate but not eating again. Charlie tilted his head a little and reached out, brushing her fingers with his. Her eyes lifted to his face.

"I'm fine," he told her with a small smile. "It was a long time ago."

"Sorry," murmured Lola. "I just – I know it's silly, but I … hate thinking about you having been held prisoner." She looked away again and quickly reached up, wiping away a quick tear with a watery chuckle. "Merlin, I'm such a crybaby sometimes. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," said Charlie, his fingers still near hers on the table. "There's nothing wrong with being sensitive. It means you have a good heart."

Lola finally seemed to relax at this, and she quickly regained her usual spirit. "I'm sorry for bringing that up, it was stupid of me – "

"I wouldn't have answered if I didn't want to," he told her.

Lola's eyes moved to his, and her smile grew some. "I like the way you explain things," she told him. "Even when it's something terrible or sad, you always manage to sound so… clear. Does that make any sense?"

Charlie looked over her face. "I think so, yes," he murmured.

They both returned to their meals after a moment, and a little while later, they went back to the seminar for the afternoon segment. The latter part of the seminar was just as amazing as the first, and when the time for question and answer came up, Lola lifted her hand and stood in an auditorium full of people to address Sorenson.

For a moment, her confidence seemed to waver as the eyes of the audience turned on her, but Charlie reached up with a subtle movement and touched her hand, just around the tips of her fingers. Lola glanced at him quickly and then looked back to the stage with a smile.

"Er, so I was just wondering – have you ever considered looking to the Bavarian erklings for any evidence of cross-elfish breeding?"

Some in the audience snickered, but Sorenson looked intrigued. "Why do you ask?" he inquired, his voice magnified on the stage.

Lola bit her lip. "Well, it's just that no one seems to know what's causing the irregularities in their size, and most researchers seem to believe it's their diet, and the changing ecosystem around them… but I think – based on those scans that you showed us – that what we're seeing is more of an adaptation to a changing gene pool. And there's always been rumor that erklings mate with gnomes when there's no available females, so… "

Sorenson stroked his white beard. "That is – something I had not considered," he admitted. "Would you be available to discuss this more after the presentation?"

Lola barely kept her heels on the ground. "Oh, yes – certainly."

"Good, good."

The seminar concluded about a half-hour later, and Charlie accompanied Lola up to the stage where Sorenson and his colleagues stood, exchanging words. As soon as Lola approached, Sorenson looked to her.

"Ah, yes, there you are. May I ask your name?"

"Lola Morgan," she said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. "I'm a student at Florence Institute of Higher Learning for Witches."

"I'm afraid I haven't heard of it," admitted Sorenson.

"I have," scoffed the wizard next to him. "Bunch of silly little girls wasting their time and gold, if you ask me."

"Well, we didn't," said Charlie flatly.

Lola snickered and tried to hide it.

Charlie looked back to Sorenson and extended a hand. "I'm Charlie Weasley, we met before years ago at the Ambley Research Center. I was working under Heinrich Goten."

"Charlie Weasley! I do remember," said Sorenson with delight. "And this brilliant young witch is your student, I assume?"

"She is," said Charlie with pride. "But her brilliance has nothing to do with me. It's all her." He shifted to face Lola, who beamed. Together, they walked with Sorenson for almost twenty minutes, with Lola expanding on her ideas. Sorenson asked her to write the majority of it down.

"I would love to work on these ideas and maybe get them published," he told her, and Lola's eyes grew wide and hopeful.

"Really?" she breathed.

"With credit to Lola, of course?" questioned Charlie.

"Yes," said Sorenson with a knowing smile. "I would be happy to tell our community of her growing role in our research." He shook both of their hands. "It was a pleasure talking to you both."

After that, Charlie and Lola left the conference hall, and Lola gripped his arm as soon as they were outside, practically dancing with excitement. "Oh, Charlie! I could get published!" She wrapped herself up in a hug. "This is amazing. I love today."

Charlie slid his hands into the pockets of his robes as they walked outside, only then realizing that it was already dark. "Merlin," he said, checking his watch. "We were in there for a while."

Lola looked all around, dropping her arms. "Wow, we were. It's pretty late."

Charlie stopped her before they went any further. "Honestly, I was planning on staying at an inn here in Trollstenar tonight. I thought there would be more of you coming, so you wouldn't have to ride back alone."

Lola bit her lip, glancing along the stone pathways before she shrugged. "I can handle it, I think."

Charlie felt that same feeling, the one that had urged him to call her into his office when he didn't need to. Lola hesitated too, seeming reluctant to leave.

"I don't know," he said after a moment. "It's a long ride to make alone, and so late at night."

Lola watched him. "I was actually planning on staying with a friend in town this weekend, since everyone back at campus is sick. But – maybe I could just get a room here?"

Charlie nodded. "That would – probably be for the best."

They turned in unison and walked until they came to an inn. Charlie went to check-in at the front, and the inn-keeper – a female goblin with a mean look – handed them two keys. "Twenty and twenty-two," she grunted.

Charlie accepted the keys and handed one to Lola, who trailed behind him as they moved into the hallway to find their rooms.

"Oh, here's mine," said Lola, unlocking it and opening the door. Charlie peered over her shoulder into the room. Lola balked at the door. "Oh, wow. Look at all the … er, dead animals."

Charlie tried not to laugh. "Merlin's beard," he said, looking around. The room was covered in furs and mounted animal heads, some of which blinked or moved on the occasion, like the hog in the Hog's Head pub. The bed was large and low to the ground, with wooden posts that still resembled tree trunks and a pile of furs next to the pillows. There was a door to a bathroom in the corner and an available dresser to use. It was actually quite nice, in a rustic way, but the decor was a little unnerving.

Charlie shrugged. "You could always sleep in the closet again."

Lola made a face at him, and he snickered. For a moment, they both stopped and looked at one another. There was something heavy in that look, a lingering sentiment that seemed out of place – and at the same time, not.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Well, I guess I should leave you alone. My room seems to be next door, so just – you know, come ask if you need anything."

Lola nodded slowly. "Thank you, Charlie. Today was – really, really great."

"Yeah," he agreed, still standing where he was.

Lola didn't make a motion to move, either. Finally, Charlie forced himself to take a step back, and he did so rather abruptly. "Good night," he said, moving quickly to the door right next to hers. He let himself in and found a room identical to Lola's. Closing the door behind him, Charlie dropped his bag on the bed and breathed in before letting out a long, deep sigh.

He pulled off the more confining pieces of his robes, leaving himself in only his undershirt before he pulled on a pair of pajama pants. He took off his watch and left on his socks, because it was quite cold. He was at work getting his fireplace going when a knock came at his door.

Standing slowly, Charlie walked over to his door and opened it. Lola stood on the threshold, wearing a set of plaid men's pajamas colored in green and black. They were quite big on her, and he wondered – for a strange, brief moment of irritation – if they were a boyfriend's. Then he remembered her saying she had two older brothers, and her family didn't have much gold. The pajamas had probably belonged to one of them.

"Sorry," said Lola sheepishly. "Do you have any toothpaste? I forgot mine."

Charlie smirked. "Yeah, sure." He stepped aside and Lola came in, her feet completely hidden by the pajama pants. Charlie dug out his seldom-used shaving kit and handed her his toothpaste. "You can just use my bathroom," he said, pointing.

"Thanks," said Lola, moving to the sink and brushing her teeth. Charlie stood in his room, trying to remember what he'd been about to do. He couldn't, though. No matter how hard he tried, all he could think about was Lola standing in his rented bathroom, wearing those overly-large pajamas.

Some part of him suddenly wished the other students had come along. Another part of him was grateful they hadn't. For no reason at all, his heart pounded.

Lola emerged from the bathroom, her arms up as she pulled her curly hair back in a ponytail.

Before she could finish, Charlie reached up and stilled her hand. He didn't even remember walking in her direction, but suddenly he was there, barely an inch away. Lola paused, her arms still up. Charlie closed his hand overs and brought it down. Her hair fell, never having made it into the tie.

Charlie's much larger hand curled over hers, bringing it down to their sides as he looked over her. His body felt like a tightly-coiled spring, ready and waiting.

With his free hand, he reached up and curled his fingers behind her head. Before either of them could stop it, Charlie had leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss, eyes closed. Lola reacted instantly and pulled her arms around his neck, her mouth opening to his and her tongue licking at his own. Charlie matched her fervor with a sudden passion he hadn't known was in him, a heat that had never existed in his body before. As soon as she was flush against him, he groaned against her mouth.

Fuck, he was already hard. And not just a little, but so hard it almost hurt.

Charlie twisted his head and caught her mouth again, his hand tight on her hips. He waited only a split-second before his hand jumped up under the loose pajama top, pushing hard up her spine and making her gasp and rock against him. He didn't feel the back strap of a bra, and that made him groan again, images of her body flashing through his mind.

Quickly, Charlie turned and pressed her against the closed door of the bathroom. She was shorter than he was, so he reached down without pulling his lips from hers and hauled her up, pushing his hips right up against her as soon as she was level with him. Lola gasped against his lips and whimpered as her legs clenched against him, her body rolling in a slow grind. Her parted lips caught his again, and Charlie all but slammed his hand against the door near her head, pressing right up against her as they pressed heatedly together.

"Fuck, Lola," Charlie groaned, completely blinded by desire.

Lola reached between them and yanked his shirt up, pulling it over his head and dropping it to the floor as Charlie continued to move his hips against hers, wanting more but unwilling to move away, even for an instant. Lola's begging whimper finally convinced him to drop her so she could pull off her pajama top, revealing her completely bare torso beneath. Charlie turned her in his arms and pulled her flush against him again, this time with her back to his front. His lips jumped to her neck and his right hand to her breast, kneading it in his palm. She still had her pajama pants on, but Charlie pushed his other hand right past the band and delved into the front even as they stood in the center of the room. One arm was tight over her torso and the other was down the front of her pajamas, slipping past her underwear. Lola reached over her own shoulders to grip his, her eyes closed and lips parted in a gasp. Charlie planted his lips on her neck, kissing and sucking as he pressed a finger inside of her.

Lola let out a moan, and Merlin, Charlie almost came right then, feeling how wet she was. He pressed another finger inside of her and pumped, curling his rough digits inside of her as Lola bucked against him. Her hot body jerked back and grinded against his dick again, and Charlie gripped her tighter, moving his fingers faster.

Suddenly, Lola moved in earnest to twist out of his grip, and Charlie felt a strangely surreal sense of fear for a moment as he pulled his hand out of her pajamas. But Lola was just turning to grab him, to pull him to her and take his mouth with hers again. Charlie instantly walked her backwards, and his hands shoved her pajama pants down along with her underwear before he pressed her back against the bed, his large palm hot on her bare stomach.

Lola reached down and groped him through his pajamas, and Charlie jerked in her hand, unable to get out of his remaining clothes fast enough. The pajamas were gone in an instant, and Charlie's hand found Lola's thigh to pull it up so he could situate himself between her legs. Without a moment's hesitation, Charlie positioned himself and pushed all the way inside of her.

They both let out loud gasps, completely inhibited, uncaring of any noise they made. Charlie bowed his head against her breasts and thrusted, open lips against the center of her chest. Lola gripped the furs beneath their naked bodies, her mouth never closing but her eyes shut tight.

"Oh, Charlie – Please – Merlin – "

Charlie thrust faster, both of their bodies slick with sweat. Merlin, he really felt like he was going to explode from the passion that pulsed through his entire body. Everything in his mind and spirit centered around the feeling of being inside her, and his throat felt dry. The desire was almost unbearable, and he straightened from his spot, head dropped back and eyes closed as he pumped into her. The sounds they made were a combination of gasps and moans, and the slap of flesh against flesh echoed throughout the room.

Lola's hand reached for his arm, and he dropped back to her again, gathering her up in his arms and pulling her straight up to him, so that they were both sitting up. The result was that he went deeper than ever before, and he had the clarity of mind to slow for just a moment. Then Lola was pushing her hips over his again, desperate for more, and Charlie obliged, using his strength to pull her up and down over and over again.

Quite suddenly, he felt his climax right at its peak, and that was when Lola's body tightened around him and shut off any logic or sense he had. Her arms tightened around his shoulders and she bowed her face into his neck, crying out loudly as her orgasm shook her. Charlie had only vaguely registered this when his own body gave in, and his orgasm fell over him in blinding waves. He let out a groan, his body shuddering from the release, his chest heaving.

Lola stayed where she was, her face partially hidden in his front. Charlie blinked slowly, not quite having regained his awareness yet, but gradually coming down from the high. He shifted forward, using one arm to carefully lower Lola back to the bed. He pulled out of her, still panting, and looked down at her face.

For a moment, all they could do was recover. The shock settled on them both around the same time.

Swallowing, Charlie moved to lie down next to her, his eyes on the ceiling. Lola seemed content to look at the ceiling as well, but after a minute or two, she turned to look over at him.

Her bright eyes looked concerned. Charlie couldn't blame her. He probably looked like he was about to cry. Maybe he was.

Lola looked down the length of the bed and then reached for a thin sheet, which she tugged up over both of them. Charlie's glassy eyes flickered in her direction as she fixed the sheet around him with care. Her eyes were low, checking to make sure he was covered. Then she curled her arms in front of her chest and settled on her side, facing him. She didn't say a single word, just blinked at him with those large blue eyes.

Charlie turned in her direction and appreciated the silence for a few minutes, trying to sort out his thoughts now that the heat of his body had cooled. "Are you alright?" he whispered after a moment, reaching up and brushing her hair out of her face. "I'm sorry for sort of… jumping you like that.

His heart lifted when Lola's lips curled in a teasing smile. "I can most definitely say," she murmured, curling closer, "that I did not mind." She looked over his face, her smile falling a bit. "But I … I do wonder if that was about me… or just – someone."

Charlie shifted his gaze to her face, and he sat up in the bed, letting the sheet fall to his waist. He gathered Lola in his arms and pressed a meaningful kiss to her lips, his fingers curled tenderly in her hair. Unlike the other kisses from before, this one was slow and throough, and when their tongues brushed, it was a soft touch.

Charlie pulled his lips from hers and looked into her eyes. "It was about you, Lola. You make me feel – I don't know, like my days are … worth living. And I haven't felt like that in a long while." He let his fingertips trace the line of her jaw. "That … wasn't for just anyone, trust me."

Lola's lips quirked at a small smile, and she brought her forehead to his, keeping him there with a small hand at his neck. "I felt really bad for wanting you," she whispered. "I still do."

"I don't want you to feel bad," he said to her lowly. Charlie's hand curled, the one he knew had the simple wedding band on it. He pulled away enough to look at her. "Fleur – my wife, she was… married to my brother Bill first." Lola's eyes widened. "After he died in the war," Charlie continued, "I married Fleur to keep her from having to go to someone else. It was the safest thing we could do, and – and she needed someone to help her care for Margrethe."

Lola's brows furrowed. "Margrethe isn't …your daughter, then?"

"She's my niece, technically," Charlie told her. "But I've raised her since she was six months old, and it just – it just made sense to stay with Fleur after the war, because I wanted to be in Margrethe's life, and it didn't seem so bad with Fleur, but – "

Charlie closed his eyes and pushed a hand over his face. "I have been miserable for so long, and it's gotten even worse since Margrethe went to school. And I'm so afraid to leave Fleur because I don't want to lose Margrethe, too, and – " he stopped, feeling choked up. When he looked up, Lola's eyes were shining with tears.

It was all he could stand. Charlie jumped up from the bed and pulled on his pajama pants. "I'm sorry," he said to Lola. "I – I have no bloody fucking excuse for this. I am – I should – "

Lola's brows furrowed again, and she looked shakily at the bed before she slipped out of the sheets and tugged on her pajamas. "No, I mean – it's your room, I'll – I'll go back to mine."

Charlie clenched his eyes closed. He wanted to cry. And he didn't want her to leave. But for fuck's sake, he was married, and maybe he hadn't married for love, but he'd still made a bloody commitment and – what was wrong with him?

He looked up to see Lola quickly wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, and his heart clenched. He reached for her, taking her by the elbows and tugging her forward. "I'm – I'm sorry, Lola, I – I – please know that I wasn't – trying to use you, and that you are – "

So special to me, he thought. He had no business saying that to her - a witch who wasn't his wife, but instead was his student, a woman twenty years his junior.

"No, it's alright," murmured Lola, even though it clearly was not. "You – you have your family, and you need to do what's best for them. I get it, really."

"You shouldn't have to get it," started Charlie desperately, his stomach in knots and his heart in pieces. The last time he'd felt this awful was at Hogwarts, when nearly all of his family had died. That was a pain he'd hoped would never return to him, but here he was, crushed under the weight of his own misery: the fact that he had cheated on his wife, and the knowledge that he had hurt Lola – the first woman in so long who had made him feel alive – by making her feel like he'd just used her, only to toss her away.

That wasn't it. It wasn't!

He wanted even now to hold her in his arms, to listen to her laugh and feel her warmth, to talk about anything and nothing, to kiss and stroke and embrace. He had never wanted that with anyone as much as he wanted that with her, but he couldn't – he couldn't say that – not knowing that he would lose his family if he did.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this," he said at last, feeling defeated.

Lola managed a small teary smile. "I'm sorry you're so sad," she murmured to him, bringing her lips to his cheek in a tender kiss. "… but least I could make it better for a little while." For a moment, she kept her lips at his cheek, and then she brushed them over his own lips before she pulled away.

Charlie put a hand to his face again as Lola turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The next morning, when Charlie awoke, he went to Lola's room only to find it empty. When he came to the front of the inn to turn in his key, he asked if the clerk had seen her.

"She checked out this morning," said the bored attendant.

Charlie tried not to show his distress – not that the old goblin was paying any attention. Charlie turned in his key and left, taking a long carriage ride back to a point he was comfortable apparating from. When he arrived at home, it was still very early in the morning and Fleur was asleep in bed.

Charlie took a shower downstairs, and even though he wasn't normally one to waste water, he stayed in for a long time, letting the water run cold. When he finished, he got dressed slowly and methodically before falling onto the living room couch. Then he laid there and counted all the things he hated about himself.

By the time Monday rolled around, Charlie's hatred for himself had been replaced thoroughly by fear. The fear mostly centered around Lola. He hadn't been smart enough to use protection, and he'd even finished inside of her – what a bloody idiot he was – so he was afraid she might get pregnant, and that would ruin her bloody life, all because he had no self-control.

He also feared she'd grown resentful of him, and who could blame her? She could easily report him to Narcissa, who was the Headmistress of the school. Charlie was sure he would get fired if that was the case, but honestly, that wasn't what bothered him. He deserved to get fired.

But he knew that would ruin the reputation of the school, not to mention drawing a bunch of attention to Lola. He didn't think she would do that, because he knew Lola was sensible, but she had every right to report him. He had been in the wrong in so many ways.

The worst was – he still longed for her. He missed her. He thought of the easy way they'd talked and laughed, both in class and on that day of the seminar. He thought of her coming to him on that first day of the semester, her sweet smile, her jokes. He thought of her absolute passion for magical animals that rivaled his, her willingness to help her classmates, her love of learning.

His heart ached. He had to stay away from her, just as much for her benefit as anyone else's. There was no way he would ever be "good" for her. There was nothing he could do to be what she deserved.

Not when he was still trying to be Margrethe's father, and maybe even Fleur's husband.

That Monday, Charlie made his way to class feeling like he'd swallowed a bunch of stones. He came to the ash tree where they often met, and he saw most of his students already gathered. He wasn't sure if he really expected to see Lola there, but there she was, sitting with her friends.

When he approached, feeling quite sick, Lola was one of the several people who greeted him with a wave. She did a good job of looking normal, but for a brief moment, he saw pain in her eyes. He remembered her revealing that she was a "crybaby," and that made him notice that the edges of her eyes were red. She'd been crying recently.

I am fucking rubbish, Charlie thought to himself.

At last, Charlie sucked in a deep breath. "Good morning," he greeted in return.

"Are you alright?" asked Mee-sun. "You're not getting that sickness, are you? The flu?"

Charlie managed a weak smile. "I hope not," he said, before pulling the textbook out of his bag. He glanced quickly at Lola and saw she was watching him. Her eyes darted away from his, her lips twisting into a frown for just a moment.

However, as the lesson continued, she acted impressively normal. Charlie was the one who was struggling. Finally, after what seemed like years, the class ended and Charlie gathered up his books.

It went on like this for a few days, with Lola appearing in class and Charlie barely managing. Lola seemed okay, and she often managed to ask him questions in class that sounded completely normal. Charlie was filled with mixed feelings. He didn't want her to be in pain, but he couldn't get her out of his mind, and it was disheartening to think she might be so indifferent.

Then, on Friday, a knock came on his office door. Charlie had been so determined lately to avoid going home that he'd actually spend a good deal of time in there. It didn't make him feel any better, but at least he could be miserable in peace.

He glanced up at the knock. "Come in."

In stepped Lola.

"Wow," she said with a small teasing smile. "You must be desperate if you're in here."

Charlie felt a powerful jolt in his chest, his lips quirking in a sad smile. How could she know him so well after only three months? He had never even told her how much he hated this office.

Lola waved a piece of parchment in her hand. "I just – I wanted to give you my report on Sorenson… "

"Oh," said Charlie thickly. "Yeah, sure." He stood up and rounded the desk, accepting the parchment from her. "I'll be sure to… you know, give you some notes as soon as possible."

"Thank you," murmured Lola. She stayed where she was, and so did Charlie. At last, she moved closer. "Charlie… I just – I want to know that you're okay."

Charlie's eyes lifted to hers. "I'm not," he admitted frankly.

Lola bit her lip, and finally he could see the longing in her eyes, the pain that reflected his. "Me either," she said in a tiny voice.

Charlie tossed the parchment back on the desk and stepped forward, taking in a sharp breath just as he crashed his lips against hers. He kissed her for only a moment before he pulled back just enough to press their foreheads together.

"I need to see you again," he whispered against her lips, almost begging. "Please…"

Lola's hands gripped the front of his robes, her lips ghosting over his. She made a soft noise between a gasp and a whine, even as she nodded furiously. "Yes, I – I'll meet you anywhere, just… tell me."

Charlie looped his arm around her waist, his eyes still closed as he pressed his face into her neck. "Next weekend… Meet me in the woods just outside of campus. We can go to Berns Hills, they've got – Muggle cabins. No one should know us there…"

Lola nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. She pressed her lips to his again in a brief kiss. "I have to go," she murmured, kissing him one last time. "Hey," she said before she left. Her hand touched his face. "It's going to be okay, right?" She gave him her sweet hopeful smile.

Charlie's lips quirked in response. "Yeah," he said quietly. "It's going to be okay."

Lola looked over his face once more before she stepped away, her hand lingering on his face before she dropped it and left.

Charlie exhaled.

That weekend, Charlie did his best to act normally. Fleur probably sensed something was up, but she may have only guessed that his mood had grown worse. He did his best not to be short with her, and he was mostly successful.

Merlin, Fleur didn't deserve this.

It wasn't her fault that she was so radically different than he was. That after twelve years together, they had not learned how to be anything more than two people who parented Margrethe at the same time and in the same place, and remained virtually apart in every other respect.

There had been a lot of good times with Fleur, and Charlie reflected on those in his spare time over the next week. He had not married Fleur for love, but he did love her – just not in the way he should. It had never been that kind of love. There were times when maybe – for just a little while – Charlie thought it might have been. They had been through a lot together. They had raised their daughter together, and even though Charlie hadn't had a hand in making her, Fleur had never once used that against him. She had never treated him as anything less than Margrethe's father.

Margrethe knew he wasn't, though. Charlie and Fleur had jointly told her about Bill when she'd been around age seven or so. It seemed unfair to Bill not to tell his daughter the truth, to let her know that her father had given his life in such a selfless way.

But Charlie didn't think Margrethe had really registered much. She had never known Bill. He had died before she was even born. He was a photograph to her, not a person.

To Charlie, though, Bill had been so much more. And to Fleur… he'd been her everything.

They'd both lost him, and they'd tried to make up for it with each other. Sometimes, it had almost worked. But mostly it had not.

Still, there had been days – especially when Margrethe had been very young – when Charlie had felt such a great deal of joy with his family, Fleur included. In a lot of ways, they worked very well together. As a pair of parents, they were equally loving and compassionate, strict and fun. They'd rarely, in the last twelve years, disagreed on anything in relation to Margrethe.

But now Margrethe was growing older, and she was away at school most of the year. Without her there, the chasm between Charlie and Fleur had grown to such great proportions that he wasn't sure if it could ever be fixed.

Or even if it should be.

"Charlie?"

He looked up, dragged out of his thoughts by Fleur's voice.

"I'm sorry," he said. "What?"

Fleur put her hands on her hips. "I said, did you want me to do anyzing for you before I begin packing? I am leaving for my trip with Gabby in just a few days! I need to make sure everyzing is in order."

Charlie shook his head. "No, thank you… I'll manage fine on my own."

Fleur eyed him for a long time and then she rounded the kitchen table, kissing the top of his head. She left the dining room without another word.

Fleur left for her trip with Gabrielle on Thursday, and she was not set to return until the following Tuesday. As soon as she was out of the house, Charlie felt a huge sense of relief that instantly burdened him with guilt.

He went through his classes as normally as he could, and then he cut the last one a few minutes short so he could leave campus. Walking past the black gates, Charlie hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and went into the woods. He only had to search for a few minutes before a hand jumped at his side, and he nearly fell over.

"Sorry," said Lola with a grin. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Charlie let out a breath of relief. "Bloody hell," he said. "I'm old. You're going to give me a heart-attack!"

Lola rolled her eyes. "Maybe," she said coyly, "but not like that."

Charlie looked over her face, and just like that night in the inn, he felt an overwhelming surge of emotions for her. Desire was a big part of it, but that wasn't the only thing. He just wanted her with him. "Come on," he said, holding his hand out for her. Lola took it, and together they Apparated near their destination.

As quickly as they could, they came to the main building for the cabins and rented one with some Muggle money Charlie had stowed away. They got their key and walked through patches of woods until they came to their cabin. By the time they got in, night had fallen and the air was frigid. As soon as they stepped up to the door, snow began to fall in earnest, and they both hurried into the cabin, laughing, as if the snow would melt their skin as soon as it touched.

All the misery Charlie had been feeling over the last few weeks vanished in an instant as they came into the dark cabin, flicking their wands so that the rustic Muggle lanterns were lit only dimly, casting the cabin in a warm glow. They turned to each other and paused for only a moment, looking over one another's faces, and then they were together, locked in a heated kiss. Charlie reached up and unbuttoned Lola's robes, pushing them back off her shoulders and reveling in the skin that was revealed. His lips dove to her collarbone even as he walked her backwards, fingers curling into the soft parts of her hips.

As soon as Lola's legs hit the bed, Charlie slowed his motions. He pulled away enough to look her in the eyes, to let her know that even though he was already hard and his body screamed for her, it was more than that. His desire was enveloped by the deepest of affections, an absolute adoration the likes of which he had never felt before. They stayed standing, bodies pressed together and their foreheads brushing as their bodies swayed. Charlie lifted his hands and brushed them feather-light over her body, his fingertips finding the straps of her bra and tenderly working them down her shoulders. His eyes never left hers, and Lola shuddered, her throat bobbing with a thick swallow as Charlie moved her bra down the length of her torso and then reached around to unclasp it, letting it fall to the floor.

The slow removal of their clothes was even more intense than the quick, passionate coupling of before, and Charlie felt his body vibrate with energy. Their lips ghosted over each other, and Charlie's thumbs hooked in Lola's underwear, dragging it down her thighs and spreading his fingers along her skin as far as he could reach. Lola stepped out of the underwear and caught his lips with hers, her hand delving to the trousers beneath his robes and gripping him, making Charlie inhale sharply. He could feel his pulse in his groin, and when Lola relaxed her grip and rubbed him through the fabric of his clothes, he felt dizzy.

Lola reached up and helped him pull off his robes, and as soon as he was naked, she kissed him again and drew him down onto the bed with her. Charlie climbed over her and let his fingers trace a line all the way from her ankle up the length of her body. It lingered near the inside of her thigh, skimming teasingly the 'V' of her groin and then over her breasts. Lola inhaled sharply, her body trembling from the simple touch.

Lola reached her arms around his neck and pushed her spread fingers between his shoulderblades, as far down his spine as she could reach. Their mouths fell together once more, and Charlie pushed his bare hips against hers, grinding his hard length along her sex. Lola's lips parted against his and she whimpered, running a hand along her own breast. She squeezed hard when Charlie continued to tease her, and her next noise was something like a whine.

"Charlie," she groaned.

He swallowed the name with another kiss, his rough hands gliding over her soft skin.

"Tell me what you want," he murmured. He didn't want to tease her. He wanted to know exactly where and how she wanted him. He wanted her to feel absolutely perfect, satisfied, worshipped.

Lola hooked one arm around his neck and pulled herself up a little, her curly hair falling over her shoulders. Charlie felt another surge of desire when he saw the dazed look in her eyes. "I want you inside of me," she whispered breathlessly. "Slow…" she sucked on his lip. "Slow and deep. I want to feel every part of you."

Charlie shuddered, but he summoned all of his self-control and focused on pleasing her, not just gratifying himself. Lola leaned back against the mattress and Charlie pushed a hand up the center of her torso, between her breasts and over her collarbone. Then he shifted back enough to position himself and push in, going painfully slow so every nerve felt like it was on fire. They both groaned, and Charlie pushed himself all the way in, letting out a huff as he did so. It was divine torture to remain in her without moving, but he managed it for a few moments before he pulled out and pushed back in, curling his hips just so.

The grinding sensation this created for the both of them was almost unbearable. He had never felt anything like it. Each time he moved, slow and deliberate like Lola had asked, he felt an overwhelming surge of pleasure. Lola arched against him each time, curling her toes on the sheets, matching his movements with her eyes closed and her fingers flexing on his skin.

"Like this…?" whispered Charlie against her temple.

"Merlin, yes," she whimpered. Her voice was shaking almost as much as her body. "Charlie, I – " she bit her lip so hard the skin turned red, and she managed to open her eyes and hold his face as he pushed in and out of her almost lazily. "Merlin, I – I want – "

"What?" murmured Charlie, speeding up a bit. "What do you want?"

Lola opened her eyes, and it was the most beautiful thing Charlie had ever seen. "I just want you," she gasped out, and Charlie leaned forward to kiss her, pushing in and out rapidly now.

"You have me," he told her in a hoarse whisper.

Lola wrapped her arms around him and came hard, clenching around him with her body and her legs. Charlie made a strangled noise and climaxed only moments later, feeling absolutely breathless for a long moment as he orgasmed with his lips parted against her chest.

Fucking Merlin.

Panting, Charlie fell to the side with Lola still in his arms. Her limbs relaxed, and she shifted to the side but did not let him go. Charlie didn't mind, though he did let out a soft groan and drag a hand down his face. "Bloody hell, I hope you are on a contraceptive potion," he managed once he'd regained his breath.

Lola gave him an exhausted smile and turned into his chest. "I am, yeah… No babies for me, please."

"I agree," he said, and Lola's smile grew. This time, they looked at one another with open affection, not fear. Charlie tucked her into his arms and kissed her forehead and then both of her cheeks. He wanted to shower her with love, to show her just how much he cared for her. To his delight, this made Lola laugh happily, and she turned her face up to his, catching one kiss with her lips before she stroked a hand through his red hair. Her fingernails on his scalp felt so nice, and her bare body against his was so satisfying in every way.

They stayed like that for a long while, curled under the blankets until Charlie got up to start a fire in the fireplace. Then he jumped back in the bed with her, and Lola laughed and held out her arms for him. They tucked together and stayed there for hours, just talking. Charlie held her in his arms and traced her skin with his fingertips, reveling in every spot where their bodies joined. He studied her belly and her collarbone, her hair and her fingertips. Lola looked over his many freckles and scars, sometimes asking for stories about some and then offering tales of her own.

"This," she told him, showing him a scar on her knee, "is from when I spent a night out in the woods by myself, and I got chased by a huge jackalope."

"Yeah?" said Charlie with a grin. "Well, this is from where I nearly lost a hand to a Hungarian Horntail." He showed her his arm before shifting to point out a long burn scar on his lower stomach. "And this is where its tail got me."

"Okay, fine, you have better scar stories than me," scoffed Lola. "I'll get there."

"I hope not," he said, pulling her against his torso. "I got those scars because I made stupid mistakes. You need to be smarter than me."

"I doubt that'll happen," she said, peering up at him. "Not when it comes to magical beasts. No one is smarter than you."

"Oh, plenty… plenty of people, Lola." He rubbed his fingers over hers, and she lifted her hand to lace their fingers. Lola settled her cheek against his chest, humming happily.

"Have you ever heard of Steve Irwin?" she asked.

Charlie tilted his head. "No?" he said with a smile.

"You'd have really liked him," was all Lola said.

Charlie chuckled and fell asleep with Lola at his side.

The next morning, Charlie and Lola got up and made themselves breakfast before going out into the snow and spending the entire day wandering the forest around them. They found a walking trail that led up the mountainside, and they hiked the whole way, not knowing where they were going or how long it was, but simply enjoying the adventure of it all.

The forest floor was covered in snow, and each step made a thick crunch as they hiked along. They investigated animal trails and dug through snow and dirt to find special rocks. They moved up the mountain and ducked under snow-laden branches, each wrapped up in hats and gloves and coats.

They came upon huge fallen trees and climbed all of them, and Lola jumped straight through a hole into the belly of a forgotten oak. Charlie really did nearly have a heart attack when she disappeared for a moment, but then her curly head popped up through the gap in the bark, and she laughed at his annoyed glare.

They went even further, climbing over rocks and tramping through streams.

At last, they reached the top of the trail, which ended at the peak of a rocky ledge. The view in front of them was breathtaking, and as they both came to stand on it, breathless and exhilarated, Charlie felt an indescribable thrill.

"Isn't the world amazing?" asked Lola, looking out over the stunning landscape.

"It is," agreed Charlie softly.

Together, they took a seat on a flat rock that gave them an excellent view of the snowy horizon, and Charlie held Lola in his arms.

"Charlie," spoke up Lola after nearly a half-hour of silence. "I'm probably going to hate myself for asking this… but – " she looked up at him, her eyes serious. "Why would you rather be here with me than with your wife?"

Charlie inhaled, dropping his head as he thought. A part of him felt ashamed for wishing Lola hadn't asked, but of course she was curious. It was only logical that she would want to know.

"I know you two married because of the war," she went on softly when he didn't respond. "But – I mean, do you not… care for her…? Or – "

"I do," Charlie admitted to Lola, looking up. "But… not in the way a husband should. And it's never.. been that way. I care for her quite a lot. It's just – we've never been… " He sighed heavily. "Fleur is a good person. And she's an amazing mother. But she's not - … for me, she's – "

"Not your person," finished Lola.

Charlie looked over at her. "Right," he said very quietly. "She's not my person, and I'm not hers."

"So… why?" asked Lola. "Is it… because of Margrethe, that you stay?"

"Yes," Charlie told her. "I want to do what's best for her. And I want to stay in her life. If I leave Fleur, I'm not sure what will happen." He knocked his knuckles against the stone they sat on. "Really, though, I'm just a coward."

"You?" said Lola incredulously. "Charlie, never."

"Yes, I am," he told her frankly. "I should just be honest with her, but I – I never found a reason to tell her the truth before. Separating from Fleur would just mean separating from Margrethe, and it never seemed worth it. And now I… I just – " he shook his head. "I don't know." He looked over at Lola's earnest features. "I don't know anything. And that is … incredibly unfair to you. And Fleur."

Lola lowered her eyes as she thought. "Don't worry about me," she said softly. "I'm here of my own free will, you know."

You're young, thought Charlie. Long-term consequences were a theory to her and little more. Still, that selfish desire in him would not let him pull away from her. Not right now.

"What about you?" he asked after a moment, unable to bear his own thoughts any longer. His lips quirked in a wry smile. "Why would you rather be here with me, instead of someone your own age?"

Lola looked genuinely surprised, and then she laughed. Shifting in her spot, she turned to face him, and she placed her arms on his upraised knees so she could perch her chin there and look at him with her big blue eyes.

"Oh, Charlie," she said. "How could I not? I mean, you're like a gift basket!"

Charlie chuckled. "A gift basket?" he repeated skeptically.

"Yes," said Lola with a beautiful smile. "All my favorite things, wrapped up in a single person." Her smile softened, and the expression became heartbreakingly sincere. "Knowing you like I do," she murmured, "how could I be anywhere else?"

Charlie felt a surge of affection in his chest, and he leaned forward, catching her lips in a kiss. Lola kissed him in return, and then she pulled back to giggle.

"Besides," she said, smirking, "you are so incredibly attractive."

Charlie actually flushed. "Yeah, right," he said wryly.

Lola made a scoffing noise. "Seriously, Charlie? Are you blind? I could throw a rock anywhere on campus and hit a witch who'd gladly sleep with you."

Charlie laughed as she settled her back against his chest. "You're lying!"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "Honestly, do you pay any attention at all? Those girlss are absolutely thirsty for you."

Charlie made a face before they both lapsed into laughter.

That night, after they'd gotten in from the snowy cold and ditched all of their gear, Charlie and Lola ran a hot bath and climbed in together. The steaming water brought their numb bodies back to life, and Lola delighted in sinking into the water and reclining against Charlie's chest, her hair pulled up in a bun that left stray curls sticking damply to her neck. Charlie wrapped her in his arms and they took turns tracing damp washcloths over each other's bodies. Each time Charlie found a new freckle on her, he kissed the damp skin and Lola's giggles grew.

At one point, Lola shifted around slyly and slipped her knees around his waist against the tub's bottom. The giggles were gone, and instead the look she gave him was focused and filled with desire. Her lips fell on his and she kept over him, her hands moving from his shoulders up his neck to cup his face. Charlie kissed her back without hesitation, his head turned up to hers and his hands seeking out her lower back.

Then Lola reached between his legs and sank onto him without warning, and Charlie closed his eyes in ecstasy, feeling very much at her will. "Bloody – Merlin," he groaned, and Lola kissed him again, her fingernails raking down his chest in wet trails. Water sloshed around them, some spilling out onto the floor of the cabin's bathroom, but neither of them minded. All they could see or think about was their two bodies joined together, the erotic pressure between them. Charlie leaned his head back over the back of the tub as Lola moved herself up and down over his shaft until both of them tightened up in climax.

Panting against his neck, Lola held onto him there in the bathtub for several minutes until he shifted his head to kiss her again, sweet and light. She smiled, and Charlie shifted to help her off him and out of the tub. They got dressed in pajamas and climbed back into bed, where they stretched out next to one another and played cards while listening to the radio.

"Noooo!" groaned Lola when she lost, and Charlie fell onto his back, laughing.

"Well, to be fair," he said, "I've been playing a lot longer than you."

Lola stuck her tongue out at him, and he snickered as he wrapped her up in an embrace. They spent the rest of the evening there on the bed, holding each other and talking until Lola fell asleep in his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest.

Charlie slept very well that night, even though he knew he probably shouldn't have.

The next morning was Sunday, so Charlie and Lola reluctantly gathered their things and prepared for her to return to the school. Although Florence Institute students were allowed to leave on the weekends, they had to be back on campus by Sunday evening.

"I'll Apparate back by myself," she told him. "I don't want someone to see you, just in case."

Charlie sighed. "Yeah, that's probably for the best."

Lola stepped up to him and nuzzled his face with hers. "I'll see you soon," she whispered. Her eyes flickered with hope. "Right?"

Charlie paused. "Well, you'll be counted absent if you don't, so."

Lola smacked his chest and gave him a dirty look, and Charlie chuckled, quickly catching her arms with his hands. "Yes," he promised her softly. "We will see each other again soon… whenever I can. I promise."

"Good-bye," whispered Lola tenderly.

Charlie nodded, a curled finger tracing her jawline. "Good-bye. Be careful."

Lola took one last longing look at him before she disappeared in a swirl of color.

Charlie returned home that evening and did his best to complete the work he'd been neglecting. The townhome was nice and quiet without Fleur there, as she wasn't scheduled to come back for a few more days.

Unfortunately, Charlie found himself unable to concentrate. All he could do was reminisce over the past few days with Lola, and how wonderful it had been. When Fleur came home on Tuesday, he greeted her with a smile and let her tell him all about her trip. When she asked what he'd done while she was gone, Charlie's heart pinched.

But all he said was, "Nothing really." And that had been all.

November ended and December began. Things became stressful with exams and holidays coming up, so he and Lola rarely had time to see each other outside of class. A few stolen kisses in the office were hardly enough for either of them, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Sooner than Charlie realized, Christmas was upon them, and in just a few days, he and Fleur would go to pick up Margrethe from school. On the last day of Florence Institute's term, Lola came into his office.

"Well," she said, puckering her lips, "I suppose I won't get to see you for a few weeks."

Charlie made sure his office door was locked before he pulled his arms around her waist and tugged her close. "I know," he said with a sigh. He inclined his head towards hers and kissed her cheek, eyes closed. Lola curled into him with a contented sigh. "Hopefully, we'll have more time after the holidays."

Lola looked up and gave him an encouraging smile, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. "I hope you have a good one," she told him. "Enjoy it, okay? Don't be sad…" She pressed a piece of red hair from his eyes.

Charlie's lips quirked. "Yeah," he responded simply. He kissed her one more time, a lingering kiss that they both pulled away from with a great deal of reluctance. Then Lola gave him one last look before departing.

Charlie went home soon after, trying not to look as distracted as he felt. The townhome was practically infected with Christmas. Charlie liked the holidays, but the décor Fleur had set up was a bit over the top. There wasn't a single flat surface in their home that wasn't covered in tinsel or Christmas figurines. Both the front and back doors had large wreaths. Even the bathroom towels were Christmas-y. Charlie observed one of them with a squint.

Still, he was excited. Christmas holidays meant Margrethe was home, and that was something he could always take joy in. That morning, he and Fleur left for King's Cross Station and waited on the platform for about fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express showed up.

As soon as Margrethe bounced down the steps and spotted them, Charlie felt his whole heart lift.

"Mum! Dad!" she exclaimed happily as soon as she saw them. Margrethe ran and jumped into their arms. Fleur peppered her with kisses before Charlie swept her up in his arms and hugged her, causing her to squeal with delight.

"Ready for all your presents?" asked Charlie as he walked, still dangling Margrethe in his arms, which made her laugh.

"Yes!" she declared.

"Well, too bad," he told her in a tease, "because we returned all of them."

"What?" exclaimed Margrethe.

"Mmhm, it's true," said Charlie, swinging her as they walked. "We heard you'd been bad at Hogwarts, so we gave all your presents away."

Fleur giggled, especially when Margrethe eyed them both with suspicion. "What did you hear…?" she asked sneakily, and Charlie laughed.

"What should we have heard?"

"Nothing!"

He finally dropped her, and they walked off to get her trunk and take her home. However, she had to stop when she spotted Teddy Lupin being picked up by his grandparents, Ted and Andromeda Tonks.

"Oh, Teddy!" shouted Margrethe, hurrying away from Charlie and Fleur to fling her arms around his neck. She even kissed his cheek, which Teddy seemed almost smug about – until he spotted Charlie watching with his arms folded, and suddenly, he couldn't get away from Margrethe fast enough.

"I'll see you soon!" he told her, before shifting to put his large trunk between him and Margrethe's watchful parents.

Margrethe looked over at Charlie and saw him giving Teddy a Look. Making a loud huff, she rejoined her parents. "Stop looking at Teddy all mean like that!" she told Charlie as they left.

"I wasn't!" he defended.

"Yes, you were!" she told him matter-of-factly. "Wasn't he, Mum?"

"Mm," said Fleur. "Teddy shouldn't worry so much if he hasn't done anyzing wrong," she said with a smirk.

"Exactly," said Charlie vehemently. He glanced over his shoulder at Teddy one more time, and the young boy hurried away with his grandparents.

Margrethe rolled her eyes, something she had started doing a lot more recently. They all went home, and Margrethe delighted in poking around the house for a while, as she hadn't had a chance to get very familiar with it before leaving for Hogwarts.

After only a few days, though, she ended up spending most of her time in her bedroom, reading Witch Weekly on her bed or perusing through catalogues to shop. She quickly made friends with some other young witches in the neighborhood, and they spent a great deal of time giggling behind their hands, gossiping, and playing with jewelry and whatnot.

Charlie couldn't help feeling a little put-out. It was quite clear that Margrethe was becoming "the teenager," rather than "the little girl," and that was nearly enough to drive Charlie to drinking (which he did not do).

She even told him one day that she didn't want to do Christmas-Pajamas-And-Cookies anymore, which had always been one of their traditions. "That's for babies, Dad," she said, but when she saw Charlie's crestfallen expression, she dropped the nail polish bottle she'd been holding and clambered over the couch to jump in his lap.

"I didn't mean it," she said, frowning. "We can have cookies if you want."

Charlie looked over her face and gave her a small smile before stroking her head. "Nah, it's okay. Maybe pajamas and cookies are a little babyish for a brilliant young witch like you," he said a little sadly.

Margrethe fell into deep thought, and then she perked up. "We can start a new tradition." She tapped her chin. "Something big." She gasped. "Oh, I know! My friends down the street said there was a big light show here every Christmas Eve! Can we go to that? Just me and you?"

Charlie smiled brilliantly. "Yeah," he said, feeling a little choked up. "Of course."

"Good," said Margrethe with a happy smile. She kissed his cheek and then ran off.

So that Christmas Eve, Charlie and Margrethe went hand-in-hand down the snowy street in Stockholm to cross the magical barrier into a wizarding neighborhood near the water. There, they found a cozy spot on a hill to lay out a blanket and cover it in treats. Then they watched the beautiful magical light show, which was conducted by a team of skilled wizards using specialized wand work. There was Christmas music and delight all around, and the pair had a wonderful time.

"You were right," Charlie told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "This is a good new tradition."

Margrethe let out a happy hum. "Sometimes change is good, don't you think?" she said, looking out at the lights again.

Charlie bit his lip. "I suppose it is," he murmured.

The following morning, the three of them had a wonderful Christmas, opening presents and enjoying breakfast together. After that, they packed up and travelled to England, where they spent the remainder of the holiday at the illustrious Malfoy Manor with Charlie's extended family.

It was all quite nice, but Charlie couldn't help but think on what Lola must be doing. He wondered what Christmas would be like with her. He thought about whether or not Margrethe would like her, and immediately decided that she would.

Over that week, Charlie fought with himself about whether or not to talk to someone about what was going on. At last, he decided he could not keep it to himself anymore, and he asked his brother George to take a walk with him outside.

Away from the busy house and hoards of children indoors, Charlie and George took seats on a long swing in the snowy garden.

George sat down and then made a face, pulling out a handful of melted candy from the pocket of his robes. "Agh, Fred!" he exclaimed, and Charlie chuckled. "I swear, that kid's probably got licorice wands hidden in the damn Ministry of Magic somewhere." He tossed the candy on the snow-covered grass, and a pixie darted out and snatched it. "So, what's going on?" asked George, reclining on the swing.

Charlie's smile faded, ad he fell quiet for a few moments. After glancing around to make sure no one had followed them outside, he decided to simply be up front about it. He leaned over his knees, fingers clasped in front of him.

"I'm having an affair," he admitted quietly.

He only turned his head to look at George's face after he'd said it. Predictably, George looked horrified. Then he groaned.

"Why would you tell me that, Charlie? Bloody hell - "

"Well, I'm sorry, but I only have one brother left, alright?" Charlie sat up and fell back against the swing with a heavy sigh. He shook his head, brows furrowed as he glared at his own hands. "Look, I just – I just need you to hear me out, alright? I've got to talk to someone about it."

George eyed him for a long moment before he sighed and shifted to give his brother a bemused look. "Alright then," he said, exasperated. "I'm sure you have your reasons, so… What? I mean, is this – someone from your new job or something?"

Charlie hesitated. "Yes."

George waved a hand. "So like another teacher?"

Charlie hesitated again. When he did so, George raised a brow – and then comprehension dawned on him. "You've got to be bloody kidding me, Charlie," he said flatly.

"Look, it's – it's complicated – "

"A bloody student, Charlie? Are you serious?"

"She's not a teenager, alright?" cut in Charlie defensively. He paused, before going on in a mumble, "she's twenty-one." At George's dubious look, Charlie went on somewhat peevishly, "Look, the age difference is not the issue – "

"Gotta disagree with you, mate," interrupted George wryly.

Charlie groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands. "Merlin, I don't – I don't even know how it happened, but – " He sat back and glared at the pale blue sky. "George," he said after a moment, "I really, really like her."

George's expression softened at this, but he sighed even so. "Come on, Charlie. I know you and Fleur aren't exactly soulmates, but… hell, there's got to be a better alternative to dealing with it than this."

"How?" asked Charlie desperately. "If I leave Fleur, we won't be able to take care of Margrethe together anymore. And I have no legal rights to Margrethe at all. I never formally adopted her!" He felt a lump in his throat. "George, Fleur could – could just take her and leave, and I could never see her again. She isn't mine. And even if Fleur doesn't hate me for leaving her, what if she meets someone else? And she moves off with him, and that's where Margrethe goes on break? I mean," he swallowed roughly, growing more distressed as the scenarios bombarded him, "someone – someone else could so easily take my place, and – and I don't want to lose my daughter." His voice cracked. "And I know you may not believe this because I'm being a completely selfish bastard, but I don't want to leave Fleur without someone, either. I mean, she – she can handle herself, but it's hard… being on your own."

Charlie hid his face in his hands again and fell silent, trying not to cry.

George sat next to him in silence for a few minutes. "Charlie," he said quietly. "I – I understand why you're worried, mate. But I don't think Fleur would keep Margrethe from you." He paused before going on a bit more gruffly, "but if you want to make sure you do piss her off, then by all means… keep doing what you're doing."

Charlie sat up again with a deep sigh. George was right.

"Look, the temptation for you," went on George, "is going to be to continue seeing this student and lying to Fleur about it, because that will give you the best of both worlds. But you've got to know that's going to blow up in your face." He put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "You do realize that, don't you?"

Charlie twisted his fingers. "Yeah," he muttered. "I know."

"Not to mention, it's pretty terrible to Fleur," George told him firmly. "I mean, yeah, she's a bit hard to deal with sometimes, but – you two are still married. S'not really fair to her, what you're doing. And it's not the best thing for Margrethe, either."

Charlie set his eyes on his hands. "So you think I should just break it off, then. With Lola."

"If that's the girl, then… yeah."

Charlie remained silent for a long time. In his head, he practiced it over and over again – telling Lola that they would have to stop, that he couldn't meet up with her anymore, couldn't hold her or see her or talk to her –

And then he saw his life after, the same way it had been before, the tense afternoons and solitary nights, the quiet dinners and awkward attempts at intimacy. That was his life before and after Lola.

George seemed to be studying his face very closely. "Charlie," he said quietly, and Charlie looked up at him, unable to mask his thoughts. George exhaled. "You really are unhappy, aren't you?"

Charlie just shook his head and shoved his hands over his face again.

George scooted closer and looped an arm around his brother's shoulders, squeezing him for a moment. "Alright, so… let's look at this way. Maybe – you shouldn't be thinking about choosing between Fleur and … Lola. Maybe you should be thinking about this life that you have or another one." Charlie looked up at him. "What kind of life do you want?" asked George. "That's what you need to figure out."

Charlie nodded slowly.

"So maybe… " went on George with a shrug. "Maybe a life with Fleur isn't the right one. I don't know. But either way, you need to be honest about it."

Charlie looked at his little brother. "I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you. And for being a … a terrible person. That can't be fun to deal with."

George shrugged, finally smiling some. "You're not a terrible person, Charlie. But you are rubbish at this whole 'Christmas spirit' thing. Total mood killer."

Charlie rolled his eyes, and George grinned a bit as they both got up and left the snowy garden.

"Thanks, George," he said, and they went inside to enjoy the family festivities.

The Christmas holidays came to a close, and sooner than Charlie would have liked, Margrethe was returned to King's Cross. She hugged her parents good-bye, none the wiser to Charlie's secret internal distress. She also did not know that Charlie had slept on the couch the night before. He'd told Fleur he'd fallen asleep by accident, but that wasn't true. He just didn't want to be in the bed next to her. The guilt and misery was killing him.

And worst of all, he missed Lola. Their time apart had not done anything to temper his feelings for her. He longed for her more than ever, and his heart ached thinking about George's perfectly sensible advice.

So as the first of the year passed, Charlie mused on exactly what he should do. He could not figure it out, though. Fleur certainly noticed his mood, but she only attempted to talk to him about it once. Charlie dismissed her, and she did not try to talk to him again. After Margrethe returned to school, they spent the next week existing alongside each other but interacting little.

Charlie returned to Florence Institute in the second week of January, without any decision solidified in his mind.

The powdery snow on the ground lingered on, so Charlie bundled up before trekking across the grounds to the beautiful red-brick castle. He came in the busy corridors, waving to students of his and nodding to other professors. He greeted Narcissa, who he had just seen at the Malfoy Manor for Christmas. Still, that was family time, and this was work time, so when she stopped him, he felt a spike of fear.

That only intensified at her first words. "Charlie," she said, stopping him with a hand on his arm. "I wanted to talk to you about your student, Lola Morgan."

Charlie fought to remain passive, even as he panicked internally. "Yes? What about her?"

Narcissa's face lit up in a smile. "I got news just this morning that she's going to be cited in a Magizoology article getting published next month. What wonderful news!"

Charlie swallowed the incredulous noise in his throat. "Y – yes, we're very proud of her."

"Keep up the good work," Narcissa told him. "You are doing a marvelous job."

Charlie managed a stiff nod. "Thank you, Narcissa." After that, he went on his way. As soon as he made it to his office, he closed the door behind him and exhaled. Pushing away from the door, Charlie dropped his bag on his desk.

Suddenly, his desk chair swung around. "Hello!" declared Lola, startling him. Charlie actually jumped, and when he saw her bright smile and giggle, he felt misplaced fury simmer under his skin.

"Bloody fucking hell, Lola," he snapped angrily. "What are you doing in here?"

Lola's face fell, her lips parting. "I – I wanted to come and say hi."

"Well, you shouldn't have," said Charlie flatly, turning away from her and ripping off his cloak. He didn't even hang it up, just tossed it over his desk and looked pointedly at his bookshelf, his back to her. "You should just go. I have a lot of work to do before class."

Lola remained quiet for a moment, and then he heard her stand and walk over slowly. "Charlie," she said quietly. "What is it? Why are you angry?"

"I'm not angry," he bit out, swallowing hard and forcing himself to keep away from her. "I'm just busy." And because he wanted her to leave him alone so he could be miserable in peace, he went on, "You wouldn't understand that because you're barely more than a child."

A few seconds passed in silence, and then Lola moved around him and appeared at his side, her blue eyes focused hard on him.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," she said firmly.

Charlie dropped his hands and turned to glare at her. "You are the student. I am the teacher. I can make you listen to me."

"Good luck," was her flat reply.

Charlie growled. He'd missed her all break, and he missed her now, at this very moment, but he did not want her in there, because it was too hard, and he didn't know what to do, and – and – and -

He swallowed hard and looked away, glaring at the corner of the room for no real reason.

Lola folded her arms across her chest. "Is – Do you … not want to see me anymore?" she asked, not sounding quite as hard as before. Her tone wavered. "Because… for Merlin's sake, just – tell me… " she paused, before going on, "just tell me what I did." The last word sounded strained, and he could see the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Charlie inhaled deeply, and he finally looked down at her face. "Nothing," he whispered at last. "You didn't do anything to deserve any of this."

Lola's eyes met his, and she bit her lip. "Did you… miss me?"

Charlie nodded, all his anger fading away. It was instead replaced with exhaustion. "I did," he told her. Taking a step back, he leaned heavily against his desk. "I'm sorry," he said at last, his eyes on the floor. "Merlin," he said with a humorless laugh, "I am doing more and more damage to the people I care about every single day."

Lola stepped up to him and, without hesitation, she put a hand on his chest and moved to rest her forehead against his collarbone. After a moment, he pulled his arms up around her and took the undeserved comfort. Turning his head, he brushed his lips over her cheek.

"I did miss you," he told her. "A lot."

"I missed you, too," she told him. Her eyes lifted to his face. "What made you so angry?"

He looked down at her. "Me," he told her. "But it's not your fault. I'm sorry, just… go to class." He cupped her face with his hand. "I'll see you soon."

Lola gave him a small smile and leaned up, pressing her lips to his in a gentle kiss. Charlie returned it, prolonging it further by tugging her close and nipping at her. This made Lola smile a bit more, and Charlie took comfort in it as Lola pulled away and left.

Over the next week, Charlie struggled to concentrate through his classes. He could not imagine how his students learned a damn thing from him, but really, none seemed any the wiser. Lola participated in class like she always had, and although they were able to speak twice alone over the first week, they both felt at a loss without more time together.

One snowy afternoon in mid-January, Charlie led the Wildlife Management class out into the forest surrounding the castle. There, he knew a herd of pakka were somewhere nearby, maybe spread into a couple of groups. Pakka were magical antelope-like creatures, and they were currently endangered. Charlie knew of a wildlife reserve in Norway that was hoping to rehabilitate them, but they were short-handed, so he'd volunteered his class to help identify and tag them.

"Alright," Charlie told the class. "I know it's cold, and I know this is going to take a while, but this is real-world magical wildlife management right here. We're going to be making a big difference for these animals today. So, remember your assignment. You are to collect as many pakka as you can, bring them into this enclosure here – " he gestured to the simple wooden circle they'd constructed that morning in a clearing in the woods, " – and then identify general characteristics before tagging them. Got it? We need to know the sex, approximate age, and any family groups. Make sure you record all that on your tags before you attach them." He paused, before going on, "Also, pakka are wicked fast and induce hysteria in predators if they make direct eye-contact, so… be careful."

Jenna raised her hand. "What should I do?"

"Glad you asked," said Charlie, moving over to his Squib student. "I want you to look over this logbook for me and point out any irregularities your classmates find. Some of these pakka were previously caught and released, and we need to know if there are any matches so we avoid redundant entries."

"I can do that," said Jenna, pleased. She took the logbook and began going over the notes.

The rest of the witches spread out, covering as much ground as they could. Some of the pakka were caught pretty quickly, but the majority of them remained at large, even after an hour. The students were spread out all over the area, but Charlie walked all along the edge of the clearing, and he could see all of them. Sometimes he'd help them bring in a more difficult pakka – the males in particular were fairly hostile – but he was proud of the way his students handled it.

By the time the class was over, they'd rounded up around a dozen pakka, which was a very good start. The students herded the pakka into the enclosure in the clearing, and one of his older students, Osha, was just finishing up tagging the last pakka when one of the herd looked up sharply. The pakka shifted in its spot, making a distressed noise.

Others perked up as well, and the herd began to shift nervously. Charlie's senses instantly became alert as well, and he turned in his spot, eyes on the woods that surrounded them. His students, including Lola, chatted around the pakka enclosure, ready to submit their reports.

Charlie took out his wand and scanned the treeline. The pakka herd became even more anxious, making noises and pacing around their enclosure.

"Charlie?" questioned one of his students. "What is it?"

"Shh," he said, holding up his wand. He waved his wand and muttered a spell. Around him, highlighted bodies shimmered in the forest. His blood ran cold.

They were being stalked by a group of magical creatures.

The pakkas could sense it, and now Charlie could see the outlines of low-backed beasts moving just beyond the clearing.

Charlie waited tensely. One of the creatures passed by a gap in the trees, and he cursed internally.

It was a group of Chupacabra, attracted to the pakka. He opened his mouth to tell his students to get back to the castle, but just then, one of the feral wolf-life creatures burst through the forest and barreled forward straight towards the pakka enclosure.

"GET BACK TO THE CASTLE!" Charlie shouted immediately, lashing out with his wand at the Chupacabra and slamming it into a tree. The students screamed and scattered, many Apparating right away with loud panicked 'pops'. More creatures leaped into view, and the group of pakka broke from the enclosure and scattered, creating chaos. Three of Charlie's students panicked and ran instead of Apparating, and Charlie hurled his wand forward.

"STUPEFY!" he shouted, catching all but one of the creatures. The remaining beast leaped for Mayumi and snatched her cloak in its teeth, snarling viciously as she screamed and tried to get away. Charlie ran over and kicked it soundly in the jaw, and Mayumi jumped up.

"Apparate!" he demanded. "Now!"

Tears streaming down her face, Mayumi disappeared. Two other students were desperately trying to save the pakka from being devoured, but it was hopeless. A Chupacabra ripped the throat out of a young calf, and the students screamed out.

"GO!" Charlie shouted to them desperately.

"But the pakka – "

Charlie lashed out with his wand, snatched the witches with a golden magical rope and yanked them out of the path of a stampeding pair of predators. They stumbled to a stop in front of them.

"Forget the pakka!" he told them. "GET TO THE CASTLE NOW!"

They disappeared, and Charlie turned desperately to the enclosure, which was now wrecked and covered in blood. He looked all around, fighting off one creature as it came too close, and then he heard a blood-curdling scream.

It was Jenna. She had been chased up a tree, and the Chupacabra was coming for her.

"JENNA!" shouted a voice to Charlie's left, and to his horror, he saw it was Lola. Her robes were torn and there was a long scratch on her side, but she sprinted towards her Squib classmate with her wand in hand and blasted the creature away from the tree.

"Come down here, Jenna!" called Lola. "I can Apparate you!"

Charlie rushed to help, but as soon as he did, a last Chupacabra appeared out of no where and snatched Lola to the ground. His entire world froze as he watched it sink its jaws into her shoulder and move to drag her off.

Charlie raised his wand and hit the Chupacabra with a hex so strong it snapped the creature in two.

Lola lurched against the ground, crying out in pain as Charlie ran to her and dropped to his knees, his hands jumping quickly to her torn and shredded shoulder. Jenna landed next to them and burst into tears.

Charlie fought to keep calm, and he gathered up Lola in one arm before snatching Jenna with his other hand. Without warning, he Apparated them all back to the castle.

As soon as he appeared in the corridor, the healers were already there, and someone had taken the injured Lola out of his arms before he'd even realized what was happening.

"Lola…" his hand remained extended. It was covered in blood.

Jenna sobbed next to him, and some of the other witches came up and comforted her. Charlie could only stand and watch as Lola was taken off, his heart perfectly cracked in two.

A half-hour later, after Charlie had somehow – in his haze of misery – managed to make sure all the rest of his students were safe and uninjured, he sat just outside the hospital wing, still covered in blood.

A voice called his name. It sounded like 'Sharlie.'

"Goodness!" declared Fleur, dropping in front of him, her teary eyes filled with concern. She touched his face. "Are you alright? Narcissa sent me an owl!"

Charlie looked up at his wife's face. "I'm okay," he managed weakly.

Fleur moved to sit next to him in a chair, and she curled her arm around his. "And your student…? Ze one who got injured?"

"Lola," he volunteered in a barely-there whisper. His Lola. He did not say that, though.

"Is she… alright?"

Charlie blinked at his rust-colored hands. "I don't know."

They sat together in silence for another fifteen minutes. Finally, Narcissa emerged from the hospital wing. Charlie looked up and stood, feeling as though he was moving underwater.

Narcissa's lips turned up in a soft smile. "She's going to be fine, Charlie."

He exhaled shakily.

"She had some severe injuries to her shoulder," explained Narcissa, "but they have been mostly healed. She will still have a lot of soreness, though, so she needs to rest until everything is back in top shape."

Charlie bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Narcissa. I should have paid more attention. I should have gotten everyone out when I first realized the pakka were nervous."

He had let Lola get hurt. That bloody creature was about to drag her in the woods and eat her alive. Charlie closed his eyes, unable to make eye-contact with anyone at the moment.

Narcissa touched his shoulder. "You did everything you could. You got everyone else, and now they know just how dangerous their work can be."

Charlie sighed deeply, and then he looked at the door to the hospital wing. "Can I – Can I see her myself before I leave her to rest…?"

"I don't see why not," said Narcissa. Her eyes flickered to Fleur, and then she nodded to them both before departing.

Charlie entered the hospital wing with Fleur next to him.

Lola was lying on a bed with the sheets pulled up around her, and her torn robes were in a container near the beside table. They had been replaced with a simple white robe, and he could see the red swelling that peeked out from under the collar of it. That redness was the only remaining ailment of what had been a bite strong enough to rip her arm off.

Charlie moved to her bedside, and Lola opened her eyes. She looked exhausted, but when she saw him, she smiled. Fleur came to stand next to Charlie, and Lola looked to her as well.

"Hello," she said quietly. Her eyes flickered back to Charlie. "Is everyone okay?"

Charlie nodded numbly. "They're fine. Jenna… she's alive thanks to you."

Lola managed to chuckle weakly. "She can climb a tree like a real champ," she tried to joke, wincing a little at the soreness in her shoulder. At Charlie's forlorn look, she said more gently, "I'm going to be fine, Charlie. Look. All my limbs and fingers, still here."

Charlie could not make himself look away from her. He knew Fleur was right next to him, watching the entire exchange, but it took everything in his power not to bring Lola into his arms and hold her there forever.

Lola looked back to Fleur. "He's going to keep worrying anyway, isn't he?" she asked with a knowing smile.

Fleur's lips quirked a bit. "Oh, yes. He cares for his students… very much."

Charlie finally looked up at Fleur, and he managed to shake his head and move away from the bed. "I'll, uh – let you rest," he said quietly. Lola nodded, and her eyes followed Charlie and Fleur as they left the hospital wing. Narcissa allowed him to cancel the rest of his classes and return home, so he did, entering the townhouse a little while later with Fleur.

They both went upstairs to their bedroom, and Charlie walked in first. He could not make himself sit. Instead, he stood in the middle of the room, looking and feeling lost.

He could not shake his despair at what had happened. That fear he'd felt when he'd seen Lola snatched to the ground by vicious jaws… it was unlike anything he had felt before.

Fleur watched him from the doorway for nearly ten minutes, neither of them speaking.

At last, she came to stand next to him. Her hand fell to his arm, and Charlie slowly lifted his gaze to hers.

"Charlie," said Fleur, her eyes shining. His heart pounded. "I zink… we need to get a divorce," she whispered.

Charlie stared at her in disbelief. And then, all at once, he broke down sobbing. It all hit him like a fist directly to his chest, and Fleur wrapped him up in her arms, crying as well as they sank to the edge of their bed and held one another.

"I'm sorry," he managed through the tears, because he knew for certain that Fleur knew, that she had seen it in his eyes when he'd looked at Lola on that hospital bed. "I'm sorry, please don't – please don't hate me, and – please, for the love of Merlin, don't – don't take Margrethe away – "

Fleur pulled away, her face streaked with tears. "Zat is what you are afraid of? Oh, Charlie! You should know better zan zat!" She wiped furiously at her face. "You are her father! I would not do zat to you or her!"

Charlie ducked his head and shoved his hands over his face. "I – I've just been so afraid and miserable and – fuck. I've been so awful to you. I'm so… sorry…"

Fleur shook her head, sniffling as she looked at their window. Her eyes dropped to her lap, more tears falling. "I have known it would come to zis. I – I prepared my heart a long time ago." She breathed in shakily. "I could see how you were… and I felt much ze same. I just – I zought we could fix it. For her." She looked to him sadly. "But you are far past zat point, and I zink… I am, too."

Charlie looked to her and took her hands in his. "I care about you very, very much," he told her earnestly. "Please don't think I don't."

Fleur nodded shakily. "I – I understand."

They could not say anything more after that, so they simply sat on the bed together, side by side but their arms intertwined, looking at the ceiling and wondering what their futures held.

Lola spent a few days in the hospital wing, and then she was released to her dormitory. Charlie did not dare visit her there, but once she was well enough, he called her to his office.

Lola entered. Outside, the snow had finally melted. The sun was shining.

Charlie sat on the edge of his desk, waiting for her. When she stepped inside, she closed the door behind her and looked at him for a long moment. Charlie met her gaze squarely.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking briefly at his own hands.

Lola slowly crossed the office and came to stand in front of him. "Better," she said, smiling a little. Her eyes watched him very carefully. Charlie shifted off the desk and reached for her hands, curling her much smaller digits in his.

"Fleur and I are getting a divorce," he told her, eyes lifting to hers. "And I doubt I'll teach here again next year."

Lola's eyes widened, and she curled her fingers in his almost timidly. "And… me?"

Charlie looked at her, fear still welling in his chest. "I have shown you," he said weakly, "the absolute worst parts of me." He breathed in shakily. "Do you even want to be with me?"

Lola's brows furrowed, and she stepped forward, taking his hands in hers and squeezing his much larger fingers. "I already told you," she said with a teary smile. "You're my gift basket." She brought up her arms around his neck, and Charlie hugged her to his torso fiercely, burying his face in her neck. "It's okay you got a little jumbled up," she whispered against his skin.

They pulled away just enough to press their foreheads together, savoring the comfort they felt together.

So Charlie and Fleur sold their townhome, and Fleur moved back to England, where she bought a stylish condo in a busy part of wizarding London. She seemed quite happy there, and Charlie helped her move in and get settled. In the months that followed, Charlie remembered how well they got along when he did not feel pressured to be her husband, or she his wife.

Charlie finished the remainder of the term at Florence Institute, and he sat in the audience with a contented smile as Lola crossed the stage and received her diploma in Magizoology. When she was done, she raced happily across the lawn to her grandmother and two older brothers.

And as soon as they could manage, she slipped away from her family and tucked into Charlie's arms while he whispered to her of how proud of he was.

He offered Narcissa his resignation after that, citing that he appreciated the experience, but teaching wasn't really for him. He did miss his students after, but he needed to find a different path to travel now. George had been right. It wasn't about Fleur versus Lola. It was about his past life versus the one he wanted.

So he took a new job at the wildlife reserve in Norway he'd been preparing the pakka for, and soon after, he bought a beautiful two-story cabin in the middle of the woods nearby. It had room enough for both Fleur and Margrethe to visit, and it was absolutely, positively isolated.

Lola returned to England to care for her grandmother, but she and Charlie visited each other frequently. Each visit only seemed to intensify their feelings for one another, and each time she left, Charlie missed her more and more.

He had not invited her to stay with him because he knew she had a duty to her grandmother, but he had another reason as well. As Charlie adjusted to his new home and radically different lifestyle, he took careful stock of what it meant to him, and how it made him feel.

His job was wonderful, he still had Fleur and Margrethe in his life, and he did get to see Lola often.

But something didn't feel quite right, and soon he figured out that the wonderful house just didn't feel the same without her there. He didn't want just a life away from Fleur; he wanted a life with Lola. He was certain now.

So when Lola's grandmother died a year after her graduation and Charlie's divorce, Charlie went to England and asked her to come back to Norway with him.

Permanently.

"I have shown you the worst parts of me," he told her that night as he held her in his arms, "but if you'll let me, I will spend the rest of the foreseeable future treating you as you deserve."

Lola looked up at him with her big blue eyes and traced his face with her hand. "With an offer like that," she said softly, "how could I refuse?"

Charlie felt happiness in every inch of his body, and he hugged her close.

After that, they went home.

"Dad?"

Charlie looked up at the sound of Margrethe's voice, and he saw she had a hand extended. "It's almost time to go!" Margrethe said. Charlie smiled and stood away from the table.

"Where on earth are you two going?" asked Lola, laughing. "It's Christmas Eve!"

"It's for ze light show," Fleur told her from the other side of the kitchen table, laughing.

"That's right," said Margrethe, beaming at her father. "It's our tradition, right, Dad?"

Charlie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "That's right." He said good-bye to Lola with a kiss while Margrethe hugged Fleur, and then they left the cabin, just the two of them.

"Where did you get that fancy looking necklace?" asked Charlie as they stepped off the porch.

Margrethe grinned and shrugged coyly. "Teddy gave it to me."

"Oh, so you two are in the jewelry-giving stage now?" asked Charlie, eyebrows lifted.

"We are in the official dating stage now," Margrethe told him, and Charlie groaned.

"Nooo!"

"Yes!" Margrethe linked her arm with his and laughed. "It's okay, Dad. Sometimes, change is good."

Charlie looked down at her and smiled softly.

"Yes," he admitted. "You are very right about that."