Little sister. Big brother. However old we grow ¦ Charlie

[Ginevra Molly Potter]

Ginny had eventually been able to extract herself from the lascivious grip of her husband for just long enough so nothing was too obvious. Or so she hoped. She hadn't been away from the main room of the party too long anyway, but as she slipped back in, brushing smooth some of her highlighted auburn hair, she glanced around making sure to meet nobody in particular's eyes.

With glances and polite nods, she moved through the party, eventually stopping at one of the taller tables at the periphery of the party.

Before settling and placing her bag on the table, she collared a wait staff and pulled a glass of prosecco off their tray before chugging it at once and setting it down again with probably more force than intended. After pulling a face out of sheer embarrassment she tried to steady herself by rifling through her bag to find her lipstick to top it up and try to tidy herself up a bit.

charles septimus weasley

[charles septimus weasley]

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Whether it was a party put on by Potters or Weasleys, or some amalgamation of both, Charlie knew he would have a good time. These sorts of things usually made him sleepy by eight o’clock or so, yet with so much family around it was easier to keep the old engine running. And it was Christmastime after all! He’d see the rest of the family over the next couple of days anyways, so this was a good opportunity to drop into conversations with those he didn’t see all that often throughout the year. A large amount of the partygoers were friends of the Potter children, most of which were now former students of his that he was glad to see were doing well considering how their last year had ended. A party like this was good for the mind, reminding everyone that things would go back to normal despite everything that had happened. There was always a growing number of noticeable omissions each year, but that was life. The Weasley family was beyond large, and ever growing, his own children being a prime example of that. Harper had come along with him and Natalie. The other two were always a guess for things though he supposed Ondina would arrive eventually with the Goyle lad lurking behind her. He still didn’t really understand how that happened but who was he to deny what people wanted to do with their lives? He’d spent the majority of his young adulthood chasing dragons down in Romania. In hindsight, settling down earlier would have done him some good.

After escaping from a lengthy conversation with a young dragonologist that wanted the earth, sun and moon from him regarding his knowledge on dragons (as well as his signature on a copy of the Dragon Journal), Charlie spotted Ginny standing at a taller tables that surrounded the main portion of the party. Just exiting from the throng of bodies was a relief, the long drawl of breath he got immediately after reinvigorating him. He had always gotten a similar feeling from stepping outside first thing in the morning to take in the cold morning air. Nothing beat that. “Grand party you’ve thrown, Gin,” Charlie said as he rounded the table opposite his sister. “You got more than half the family and most of my students somehow.” Though he assumed that was mostly Lily’s doing, despite not even being there.

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[Ginevra Molly Potter]

She had just been clicking the lid back on her lipstick when Charlie approached. Nearly ten years her senior he was one of her older brothers, but still, they had a closeness beyond words. Now they were all grown up with families and lives of their own, it was harder to see as much of her family as she wanted to, but still, her core foundation was her family; it was hard not to have so much love for them. Watching him now with an adoring smile, she smoothed over her hair some more and glanced around.

"Yeah. Not a bad turn out, considering we hadn't had one in a few years" Her smiled wavered for a moment. "We're missing lily luna potter ....but we'll see her tomorrow after." Feeling slightly more confident that she'd gotten away with all her sneaking, her eyes flashed around the crowds again. "I assume some of your lot are here? I haven't seen them yet, but it's been so long with-" with a frown she cut herself off before drily continuing "Well one thing and another I guess" There was still a level of guilt she held within her. Originally it was from the fact she felt somehow Harry leaving had been her fault. The ructions it had set off, rippling through the family had been her fault. The time he had been gone, everyone had fussed around her and helped her prop herself up through the hard times. Now that she had began seeing him again behind everyone's back she felt she owed them some debt and like she was doing their hard work a disservice. In reality the likes of her Mother and Father, and likely the rest of the family would be pleased that they were back together, that things were back to normal; and still there was something holding her back from telling everyone. She felt her eyes drift to the door again and she watched HARRY JAMES POTTER enter and pull at the collar on his shirt, as if to straighten it. He avoided her gaze, and once she realised, she turned back to Charlie just as her cheeks pinkened slightly.

"Anyway, how are you? What's your plans for tomorrow?" Tilting her head to the side she was just about able to force a smile as she reached forward for another glass of prosecco, just for something to do with her hands. "I hope I'll see you all at Mum's in the evening. All the ham sandwiches won't eat themselves" teasing with a wicked grin she lifted the glass to her lips for a small sip.

charles septimus weasley

[charles septimus weasley]

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While he had always intended to let his own children find a way for themselves, their insistence at sticking around the family home years after getting out of school had started to become somewhat of a reoccurring theme. Harper had been impossible to move out, and Ondina only did the second she decided to get married. That was a whole other thing that he was still coming to terms with. He knew deep down that she'd still come running back at some point when she needed their help. Not that Goyle was incapable of handling her, just that he didn't think the boy knew what he had gotten himself into. "Just Harper so far...I think Nat got swept up by George to discuss some new product he was making for pets. Wanted to run it by her first to make sure it was safe." The answer would be no, of course, but his wife was the only one in the family that had the ability to give George such a straight answer. Everyone else would probably dance around it, enabling him to make it.

Changing the topic to the following day's activities was probably for the best. It wasn't that Charlie saw himself incapable of having a conversation about what had been happening in his sister's life, but rather that he didn't want to do it at a party where everything seemed to be going better than it had. Plus it was the holidays. Digging up bad memories wasn't his sort of thing. "Nothing too exciting. That never changes. But we'll be at the Burrow early, I think. Dad wanted me to help get some last minute decorations up, and I know he's using that as an excuse to have Harper get there early and check out that old bike of his." Or whatever other piece of technology he had in his shed from the 80s. The fact that he was so far behind with muggle gadgets and gizmos was charming.

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[Ginevra Molly Potter]

As she sipped her drink, she nodded, listening to Charlie. There was a sense of contemplation in her smile, laughing quietly into her glass at the idea of any of her brother and Nat's inventions being safe off the bat, and then again at the idea of her father getting Charlie and his kids to the burrow early, just so he could quickly bundle Harper out the garage and get her on the bike. Likely it would leave Charlie putting up whatever decorations were left with their mother fussing over them, and her and Charlie both knew this, even if it went unsaid. It would be nice regardless.

It wasn't long before she was downing the end of the glass with a quick chug. She knew she should likely slow down, and yet she didn't particularly care.

"Well we're having a smaller dinner at home. All five of us.." she started, a sense of slight hesitancy in her voice "But if you need to escape pop over, I'm sure I'll have extra. Though we'll all be over to mum and dad's later anyway." It was clear what she was trying to say, no matter how she forced brevity into her voice. Of course her parents had always been Harry's biggest fans but after the last year, she had realised a lot of her brothers seemed to back her during the whole ordeal and although it was going better between her and Harry there was still anxiety over whether words would be exchanged in the burrow. For the first while she'd be walking on egg shells regardless while she got a feel for the mood in the house.

charles septimus weasley

[charles septimus weasley]

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He felt his eyes flex at the the sound of all five Potters sitting down together for Christmas dinner. Not because of circumstances surrounding his sister's marriage, but because getting that particular group of nephews and niece to sit still in one place for longer than five minutes without an incident would be an impressive feat. Maybe without Lily there things could go smoothly. Each child had their own quirks and Charlie had reasonably decided years ago that they were better off never changing than bending over to whatever society willed them. Once upon a time he'd fielded his niece's questions about becoming a dragonologist too, which he gently brought her down from over the years. As much as he respected Lily's aspirations, there was such a thing as keeping her alive. Throwing dragons into the mix of an already volatile young werewolf simply wasn't the match it was made out to be. And anyways, it sounded like her dreams had shifted closer to the joke shop anyways. He'd heard no complaints from George yet about having her employed there. Then again, how much trouble could one truly get into when surrounded by thousands of prank items? Charlie knew there had to be a point where it sort of mellowed the girl out.

"Thanks for the offer. All depends on if I'll get into a drawn out discussion about creatures with Renard..." Charlie didn't mean to sound bored by his son-in-law already, but Renard was...Renard. He also wasn't fully sure how that dynamic between him and Ondina worked, but that wasn't exactly something he could decide for them. Smiling it away was the easiest. Nat didn't like when he did that. "Speaking of, I know mum gets all funny whenever any of us brings extra food, but are you planning on bringing anything? Don't want a repeat of the beef wellington incident." Charlie hadn't eaten the dish since, and he swore he could still smell and taste it almost four years later. Five beef wellingtons made ti Weasley proportions was too much even for them. Never again...

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[Ginevra Molly Potter]

Ginny had always been close enough to her brothers to know their tells. She felt the shift in him when she had mentioned getting her whole family together. Things were still strained with regard to her and Harry's relationship; and their busybody family. Maybe it was her brothers' protective nature surrounding their baby sister. She felt the strife and tension when she mentioned him or they had to be around. They were civil and of course, he was as good as a brother to them as well, for just about as long as she could remember. But things weren't like they used to be, no matter how much she wished they were. Of course, it wasn't like their own families were without fault, but the closeness just made the complicated web a little bit more complicated.

Glad for the change in direction of the conversation, she raised an eyebrow and listened to Charlie talk about Renard. He wasn't the only one that was unsure of the match, but Ginny had enough on her own plate without having to worry about others. Eventually, she just nodded and gave him a vague smile "Well the offer still stands. The kids are always welcome to have the numbers evened out for arguments or games. Whatever they're in the mood for."

A groan escaped her as she rolled her eyes. "Don't be so overdramatic Charlie. It wasn't that bad. I was only trying to help anyway." With a quiet laugh she reached for her glass again "Dad ate it anyway, it didn't go to waste. But no, I didn't make anything extra this year. I'm sure Mum will have enough anyway."

She was quiet for a moment as she glanced away and around the party. "Weird, isn't it?"

charles septimus weasley

[charles septimus weasley]

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It was really only Ondina that Charlie was actually worried about when it came to bringing her places. Even as an adult, and married at that, he and Natalie were still concerned at times. Nowadays it had more to do with her personality than her sickly nature. He really didn’t want to hear venomous words under hushed breaths. He wasn’t deaf – he’d caught little things here and there. And his wife had certainly seen more. Whatever the deal was that she had going with the Goyle boy, well, he hoped it wasn’t anything too serious. Marriage aside, of course. The other two of his children he wasn’t worried about in the slightest. Harper was a perfectly normal girl who had always fit in with the rest of her cousins, and his son was basically the same. But Ondina was Ondina…

“It took him a week of eating it for every meal to finish it,” Charlie corrected his sister with a laugh. “I was convinced he was going to become one after having that much. He really doesn’t need it at his age.” Still, Nat would probably want them to bring something. Charlie wouldn’t object, as he had no say when it came to food. Eating field rations was still fairly typical for him when he went out to one of the reserves. The added bonus of being back at Hogwarts in the spring had given him a couple extra pounds that he needed to lose too. Though that would be good for Christmas eating. An expanded stomach would make his mother proud.

“You mean about how were once again acting like nothing had happened after an extremely traumatic event involving innocent children and Hogwarts?” He didn’t mean to get too realistic about it, but that was what was happening here. That sort of thing had never sat well with him. It went further back than the battle too. He’d seen the warning signs well earlier than that, as far as when Harry had participated in the Triwizard Tournament. “I’m glad we’re all fine this time…being there for it brought too much back.”

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[Ginevra Molly Potter]

Sipping another morsel of her drink, she leveled him with a look. ”Nobody needs it, never mind him at his age..” with a low chuckle, she glanced away again, directing her gaze out at the crowds at the party.

Her mood had shifted to a more contemplative one. Charlie laying it all out bare like he had only made her nod and murmur in agreement. ”You think we’d be used to it by now and yet..” she trailed off into a wary silence. When she started that thought out loud, she wasn’t even sure where she had been going with it. Now she wasn't quite sure what to say. For a moment she still avoided his gaze. Charlie had always been one of the ones she spoke to a little more freely. He’d been older during the last war, and in her eyes that made him somewhat removed from it all, despite his work behind the scenes. Seeing him as almost an impartial outsider made it feel easier for her to talk to him about it all; made her confidences feel more safe with him.

Ginny’s mouth fell open and she took a breath as if she wanted to say something, but held back. It closed itself again and she continued watching the party, sipping from what seemed to be a magically refilling flute.

”I’m glad too” a comfortable silence settled between them for another few moments before she spoke again, though this time her tone was quieter, more serious.

”It’s getting harder to process it though, Charls. I still don’t think I’m okay after…well…recent events…” she was of course referring to all that had happened to shake her family in the last few years. Sure it was true things with Harry were better now, but something still sat in her that she feared she’d never entirely shake off. It was likely the first time she’d admitted this aloud to anyone. The first time she’d let something snap through the cracks of the facade; admitting her weakness made her face away from her brother. The ignominy enough to weigh heavy on her heart.


charles septimus weasley