𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                     CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
                    ─── CROOKSHANKS & MR. WEASLEY'S  WARNING

Charlus, Harry and Alistair had already been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for about a week now. They didn't do much while they were there, but did go into town and buy last minute things for the start of the next term.

Hermione and Ron would be joining them soon, but until then, they passed the days and nights catching each other up on what they had done over the summer.

As expected, Charlus and Harry didn't do much, but Alistair told them a bunch of stories about his summer in Spain. This took Charlus and Harry's minds off everything, and honestly? It was nice to feel like normal kids for once, just spending time with their best friend.

A few days before they were expected to be back at Hogwarts, Charlus woke up much earlier than usual. He got up and looked at the clock; it was only 8:30 in the morning. 

Charlus was sure that Harry and Alistair wouldn't be awake quite yet, so he planned on going down to breakfast by himself. He pulled a grey hoodie out of his trunk, and paired it with a pair of light blue jeans and white shoes.

As he left  his room, a young witch in maid's robes stopped outside of a door. She knocked on it and announced, "Housekeeping." When the door opened, she was greeted by a loud roar and a rush of wind that was so strong it blew her hair back. "I'll come back later." she stated before she walked away, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Laughing slightly, Charlus  went down the hall towards the stairs.

He wasn't even at the top of the stairs for more than ten seconds before he heard someone shouting his name.

"Charlus!"

As he looked down at the dining area, an instant smile was brought to his face at the sight of Hermione Granger staring back at him with a loving smile. Her arms were clamped tightly around a enormous ginger cat.

The light brown-haired boy  instantly rushed down the stairs and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he pulled the girl into a large hug, but was mindful of the cat, of course. The two of them relished in their reunion for a few moments before slowly pulling away.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Charlus said with a huge grin, that covered his face from one ear to the other.  Hermione blushed slightly before she stuttered, "I can say the same about you. I missed you - er - all of you. You know, y-you, Harry,Alistair and Ron, too, of course."

The light brown-haired boy sent a playful smirk in her direction."I missed you too, Mione."  he replied  before he shifted his gaze to the cat in her hands.  " And who's this?"

"Oh, this is Crookshanks." Hermione answered while she gave the cat a small pat on the head. " I got him at a store in town. This witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."

Charlus eyed the cat skeptically and raised an eyebrow. "I wonder why." he said sarcastically, which caused Hermione to punch him playfully on the shoulder,  "Be nice."

The boy laughed slightly before he walked to one of the dining tables and pulled out a chair for the girl, who hadn't taken her eyes off him for a second. "Here, sit down."

"What a gentleman. " Hermione teased as she sat down with Crookshanks. " Only for you. " Charlus replied  before he sat down next to her. " So, tell me, how was France? Did you have a good time?"

And with that, the two of them sat in the Leaky Cauldron for at least an hour; talking, laughing, bonding, and catching each other up on what they had done over the summer. The young boy had even ordered  them breakfast while they enjoyed each other's company.

Things were so easy with Hermione. In some way he didn't understand, Charlus felt so at ease with her by his side. All he knew was that when she was around, everything was better. He was happier, calmer, and more relaxed; almost like he was home in a weird way.

What was weirder than that? Hermione felt exactly the same.

They hadn't even know each other for a long time, but she felt this connection to Charlus that she hadn't felt with anyone else. The girl felt as though she knew him better than anyone, and that simple fact made her smile because she knew that it was the same the other way around.

In the middle of their conversation, Hermione went to take a sip of her hot cocoa , which caused some of the foam left residue on her lip. "You've got a bit of, um," Charlus said to Hermione and pointed to his own mouth.

Hermione's hands went for her napkin, but Charlus was faster. Without thinking, he reached over and wiped the foam away with his thumb.

Hermione smiled at him, her cheeks were glowing a bright pink. "Oh, um, thanks." "No problem." he replied and shrugged.

Hermione smile widened and it wasn't until now that she realised how close they were sitting. Their knees were touching and if she leaned a bit forward, she could almost feel his breath on her face. 

Slowly, Charlus seemed to be coming closer, his famous sea green eyes never leaving her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. He could almost hear her heartbeat and hoped she couldn't hear his.

Just as their lips were about to touch the sound of the front door of the Leaky Cauldron could be heard throughout the room. Then, in walked Ron Weasley with his pet rat. Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.

"Hi! Hi!" Ron shouted happily as he walked in.

However, he raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. His two best friends were sitting down, having breakfast, but what really caught his eye, was Charlus's head, which had moved closer and closer to Hermione's.

The light brown-haired boy  abruptly pulled back as he realized how it must've looked. Charlus could've sworn he heard a sad sigh come from Hermione, but shook it off. It probably didn't mean anything.

As he stood up, Charlus plastered an awkward smile on his as he pulled Ron in for a  hug, "It's great to see you."

At first, the ginger haired boy jumped slightly surprised, but eventually hugged him back, "Yeah, you too,mate."

As they pulled apart, a sudden awkwardness had filled the room. Charlus could still feel the gaze of Hermione, who still had yet to even acknowledge Ron.

 The ginger spoke up as he looked from one friend to the other, "Uh - sorry. Did I interrupt something?" "No, nothing at all," Charlus lied quickly, "Just catching up, isn't that right, Mione?"

His sea green eyes had now met her chocolate brown eyes  for the first time since Ron had walked in. He was subconsciously telling her to focus on their best friend.

Hermione sighed, as she turned to the ginger, "That's right. Honestly Ronald, get your mind out of the gutter."

Charlus chuckled slightly to break the tension, which caused Ron to roll his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Where are Harry and Alistair?" "Sleeping still, I reckon," Charlus replied and shrugged, "Where's the rest of your family?"

"On their way," Ron said and petted his rat, "Mum has to get some last minute things for Fred and George. She told me to go on since I already got my brand-new wand. It's pretty wicked. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail- hair. "

"Hopefully you don't end up breaking this one too, Ron," Charlus said and smiled playfully at him. Ron sent him a glare, but before he could say anything back he yelled, "OUCH!"

Ron buckled as Crookshanks suddenly leapt from Hermione's arms, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting and hissing madly, at Scabbers.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" Hermione cried, but Scabbers had already shot from Ron's hands and was currently running around the dining hall with the orange cat right on his tail, scurrying underneath the tables and feet of other customers.

"Scabbers!" Ron shouted as he ran after the ugly looking rat and Hermione decided to go after the enormous ginger cat, leaving Charlus behind.

After almost ten minutes, they both had finally caught their pets near the bottom of the staircase. Tom, the innkeeper, was currently glaring at Ron and Hermione for disrupting all of his customers, but Charlus was quick to wave him off

The screeches and whining from the two animals were loud, very loud. Charlus sat down on the bar stool as he sighed and silently apologized to Tom, who was behind the bar. This was bound to cause a fight between Ron and Hermione.

"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" Ron exclaimed. "He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" Hermione said and petted the cat's head.

"And what about Scabbers?!" Ron asked, his voice getting high at the end, "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"

"Don't worry. Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers will be in yours. What's the problem?" Hermione defended before she turned to Charlus, "Back me up on this, Charlus, please."

The light brown-haired boy shook his head with a small laugh, "I'm not getting involved." "See!" Ron shouted , "Charlus isn't going to say anything because he knows I'm right and doesn't want to upset you! I'm warning you, Hermione, keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers, or I'll turn him into a tea cozy!"

Charlus couldn't help but roll his eyes. As he did so, he noticed something, or rather someone, out of the corner of his eye. On the balcony at the top of the stairs, were  Harry and Alistair.  They looked down and smiled as they watched their two friends arguing.

"It's a cat, Ronald! What do you expect? It's in his nature!" Hermione yelled as she held back Crookshanks, who was prepared to pounce again. "A cat?" Ron asked in confusion, "Is that what they told you?! It looks more like a pig with hair, if you ask me!"

"Oh that's rich, coming from the owner of that smelly, old shoe brush!" Hermione scoffed before she looked down at her cat and whispered softly, but loud enough for Ron and Charlus to hear, "It's alright Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean, little boy."

"Well it's nice to see you two haven't changed a bit." Alistair said as he and Harry descended the stairs. This directed their attention to the boys for the first time. "Harry!Alistair!" Ron said as Hermione turned around quickly, "Harry!Alistair!"

Charlus laughed before he walked back to the table where he and Hermione had eaten breakfast. His brother and his three friends followed and sat down.

Ron and Hermione kept glaring at one another from across the table. This was ridiculous. Charlus, Harry and Alistair shared a glance, to which light brown-haired boy shrugged. He had no idea what was happening anymore.

So," Harry cut the tension and turned to Ron, "Egypt. What's it like?" "Brilliant!" Ron replied  with a smile as he turned, "Loads of old stuff... Like mummies, tombs, and even Scabbers enjoyed himself!"

Hermione scoffed once again, "You know, the Egyptians used to worship cats." "Yeah," Ron's lips had turned in disgust, "Along with a dung beetle!"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something back but Charlus  nudged her in the ribs , which caused her to shift her gaze towards him. He shook his head at her to subconsciously tell her that enough was enough. This conversation was getting stupid.

The girl with the bushy hair sighed before dropping the topic out of Charlus' request. She understood that he didn't want their first time seeing each other after such a long time to be solely about her and Ron arguing about Scabbers and Crookshanks.

The Leaky Cauldron's door came flying open once more and in walked the rest of the Weasley family, which caused Charlus to smile widely.

"You're not flashing that clipping about again, are you, Ron?" George asked as he made his way over to them. He took the newspaper from his younger brother's hands. "I haven't shown anyone!" Ron defended.

"Oh yeah, not a soul!" Fred retorted, "Not unless you count, Tom," "The day maid," George added. "The night maid," "The cook," "The bloke that came to fix the toilet," "And that wizard from Belgium!"

Charlus laughed with the Weasley twins as they sat down at the table next to him. Ron was just excited, bless him. At that moment Mrs.Weasley walked in. She squealed in excitement from seeing Charlus,Alistair and Harry.

The three boys stood up and walked over to her. She gave each of them a big hug while she said, "Good to see you, dears!" "Good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley," Alistair said. "Truly," Charlus and Harry affirmed at the same time.

Molly put a motherly hand on Alistair's face, "Now, have you three got everything you need?" she asked. "Yeah, we went shopping when we first got here," Alistair explained to her.

"All of your books?" Molly asked. Harry nodded with a small smile, "Yes, it's all upstairs,"  "And what about your clothes?" Molly pressed on. Charlus couldn't help but smile softly at her care before he replied, "Everything's there, I promise."

Molly, then, squeezed Alistair's cheek tenderly, gave Harry a  gentle pat on the shoulder and ruffled Charlus' hair in a playful manner before she smiled contently at them, "Good boys."

Mr. Weasley then came to say hello, urging his wife forward, "Charlus! Harry! Alistair! Good to see you!" "Same to you, sir." Charlus said and stuck out his hand politely before Arthur gave it a firm shake with a smile.

"Mind if I have a word with the three of you?" Arthur asked. Harry looked to Charlus and Alistair, who nodded, before he answered for the three of them, "Yeah, sure."

Charlus excused himself from the table before he walked to the corner of the dining hall with the three of them. "Looking forward to a new term?" Arthur asked them  nervously.

Charlus noticed the change in Mr. Weasley's tone, so he raised his brow before he replied, "Yeah, it should be great."

Harry and Alistair nodded as they looked curiously in Arthur's direction. The three boys were intrigued to find out what the Head of the Muggle Department had to say.

Arthur sighed before he looked around a little. As soon as he realized he was in the clear, he turned back to Charlus,Harry and Alistair and said in a lower voice, "Now, there are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me for divulging what I am about to reveal to you three, but—"

He paused before he moved the three boys farther into a secluded area, "— I think that you three need to know the facts.  Especially you both, Charlus, Harry. You are in grave danger. Grave danger. "

Harry gulped as he looked at a wanted poster of two men. Then he asked quietly, "Has this anything to do with Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle, sir?"

Arthur nodded vigorously before he asked, "What do you know about Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle, you three?"

"Only a few things." Alistair began to say. " We know they have escaped from Azkaban, that they murdered thirteen people with one curse, and that they were big followers of You-Know-Who."

"Do you know why?"  Arthur asked. Charlus,Harry and Alistair looked at each other and shrugged slightly also shaking their heads.

"Twelwe years ago, when you both stopped—" "Voldemort." Charlus and Harry said at the same time. "Don't say his name." Arthur scolded and a shiver went up his body. "Sorry." they said hastily.

Arthur sighed before he gestured to the Potter twins. "When you both stopped You-Know-Who—" he said and guided the three boys to walk forward. "—Black and White-Riddle lost everything. But to this day, they still remains faithful servants."

They stopped walking again, as Arthur looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping. " And in  their minds you both, Charlus, Harry, are the only things that stands in the way of You-Know-Who returning to power. And that is why they have escaped from Azkaban. To find you both."

"And kill us." Charlus and Harry said at the same time.

"Listen," Arthur said, "I want the three of you to swear to me, especially you, Charlus, Harry, that whatever you might hear, you won't go looking for Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle."

Alistair nodded while Charlus furrowed his brows. Why would-

"Mr. Weasley," Harry began to ask with an obvious tone, "Why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?"

Took the words right out of Charlus' mouth.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Little Charmione, little Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle action - It's getting good! I'm excited!

Please, don't forget to vote and share If you liked it, and if you want, comment too ! I'd really appreciate it <3

Thank you for reading this far.

Until next time, much love to you all!