CHAPTER TWO:

Third Person P.O.V.:

Harry and Charlie 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 meeting up with 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, Harry was pretty quiet about his summer, but Charlie took his mind off things with stories about Hagrid and his creatures. These stories ended up taking Charlie's mind off things as well, and honestly? It felt nice to feel like a normal kid for once, just spending time with his best friend.

A few days before they were expected to be back at Hogwarts, Charlie awoke with a panicked start. Ever since he came to The Leaky Cauldron, he'd been experiencing the most troubled nights he'd had in ages, which would easily be explained by his encounter with his father. He would toss and turn all night long, and then when he did find himself falling asleep, he would replay his father's aggression in his head and be instantly pulled awake out of fear.

This terror of his father just kept getting worse as Charlie got older, but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't possibly tell anyone about it. His father was the Minister of Magic, surely no one would believe a silly, thirteen year old over such authority. Regardless of that fact, Charlie felt uncomfortable with the situation anyways, so he was okay with people not knowing. It was his own problem to deal with for now. If anybody knew, there would be this infinite risk of people looking at him like he was broken or scared or vulnerable, and Charlie didn't want any of the extra negative attention.

He groggily pulled himself out of his bed and looked at the clock; it was 8:15 in the morning. Charlie was sure that Harry wouldn't be awake quite yet, so he planned on going down to breakfast by himself. He pulled out a light grey, long sleeve out of his trunk, and paired it with a pair of light blue jeans and white shoes.

As he looked at himself in the mirror, Charlie rolled up his sleeve slightly, styling his shirt like he normally does. However, as he did so, he noticed the harsh purple and blue bruising from his father's grip on his right wrist. Shaking off the instant memory, he rolled his sleeve back down before giving himself a reassuring smile in the mirror.

It's okay, everything's okay.

Just keep telling yourself that.

It's okay.

Everything's okay.

Charlie turned on his heel and left the room. As he walked down one of the resident halls of The Leaky Cauldron, he stopped for a moment outside of Harry's door. The brown eyed boy didn't even have move closer to hear the faint snores of his best friend within the room. Laughing slightly, Charlie continued down the hall towards the stairs.

He wasn't even at the top of the stairs for more than ten seconds before he heard a familiar voice call out him name.

"Charlie!"

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 not only a loving smile, but a bright, orange cat in her hands.

The brown eyed boy instantly rushed down the stairs and engulfed the girl in 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," Charlie said with a huge grin, that covered his face from one ear to the other.

Hermione blushed slightly, "I can say the same about you. I missed yo - er - all of you.You know, y-you, Harry, and Ron, too, of course."

The brown eyed boy sent a playful smirk in her direction at the sound of her stutter before saying, "I missed you too, 'Mione." - he then shifted his gaze to the cat in her hands to avoid the awkwardness - "And who might this be?"

Charlie gave the cat a small pet on the head, as Hermione watched in admiration. She was pulled back to reality when the boy gave her a look to urge her answer, "This is Crookshanks. I got him at a store in town. This witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."

The brown eyed boy smiled, "Quite the hero you are then."

"Well, I don't know about that."

The boy chuckled lightly, then moved to one of the dining tables and pulled out a chair for the girl, who just kept her eyes on him; god, she missed him.

"Here, sit down, please. I'm dying to know all about your trip." Charlie said.

Hermione smiled big as she sat down with Crookshanks. Her and Charlie sat in the Leaky Cauldron for at least an hour; talking, laughing, bonding, and catching up. The young boy had even ordered the two of them breakfast while they enjoyed each other's company.

Things were so easy with Hermione. Charlie felt so at ease with her by his side, and he didn't even know what that meant. 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 Charlie 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 vice versa.

Out of their friend group, Hermione was always closest to Charlie, while Ron and Harry were closer to one another. Maybe it was because Charlie and her bonded on a deeper level? Who knows. They were, undoubtedly, best friends...

In the middle of their conversation, Charlie reached across the table to grab some pepper for his scrambled eggs - that had recently been brought to the table by Tom - causing his sleeve to roll up slightly. The boy hadn't even realized, but Hermione did. She noticed everything about him. Her eyes almost immediately caught the sight of the large purple mark on his wrist.

She gasped as she grabbed his arm gently, pulled it towards her, and caressed his bruise carefully, "Oh my god! What happened?!"

Charlie sighed before politely taking his arm out of her grasp and rolling his sleeve back down, "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

Concern washed over Hermione's eyes as she said, "Charlie that's not nothing -"

"I probably just hit it off the bedside table when I was sleeping or something! Seriously, it's nothing." Charlie said, defensively.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but the brown eyed boy quickly cut her off as he put his hand over hers in reassurance, "Hermione, please."

The girl's face softened at his touch. She didn't want to keep pressuring him because if she did, there was no telling how far he was willing to go to defend his story. Not to mention, this scenario had this weird déjà vu vibe to it. He had been this defensive before; last year, after his fight with Draco, when he strangely missed all those days of school...

However, Hermione noticed a look behind the boy's deep, chocolate brown eyes; a look of something she couldn't decipher. Was it fear? Nervousness? Pain? Maybe all of the above? Whatever it was, it wasn't making Hermione feel at ease. The bushy haired girl couldn't shake the feeling of worry that she suddenly felt.

Nonetheless, Charlie felt a sense of relief as this awkward moment of tension was cut short as the sound of the front door of the Leaky Cauldron could be heard throughout the room.

Then, in walked Ron Weasley with, what Charlie assumed, to be his new pet rat, Scabbers.

"Oi! Oi!" shouted Ron, happily as he walked in.

However, his face fell at the sight before him. His two best friends were sitting down, having breakfast, but what really caught his eye, was Charlie's hand over Hermione's.

The brown eyed boy followed the ginger's gaze at his and Hermione's interlocked hands, so he let go quickly, as he realized how it must've looked. Charlie 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, Charlie plastered an awkward smile on his as he pulled Ron in for a quick hug, "Good to see you, mate."

Ron was reluctant, but hugged back, "Yeah...you too."

As they pulled apart, a sudden awkwardness had filled the room. Charlie could still feel the concerned 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. Was I interrupting something here?"

"Not at all," Charlie said, quickly, "Just catching up, isn't that right, Hermione?"

His brown eyes had now met hers for the first time since Ron had walked in. He was subconsciously telling her to forget about his bruise and focus on their friend.

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

Charlie chuckled slightly to break the tension, causing Ron to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Where's Harry?"

"Sleeping still, I reckon," Charlie shrugged, "Where's the rest of your family?"

"On their way," said Ron, petting 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 wand. It's pretty wicked, fourteen inches, willow - 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!" cried Hermione, 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 yelled as he ran after the ugly looking rat while Hermione went after Crookshanks.

In a few moments, they both had finally caught their pets near the bottom of the staircase that Charlie had descended from nearly an hour ago. Tom, the innkeeper, was currently glaring at Ron and Hermione for disrupting all of his customers, but Charlie was quick to wave him off.

The screeches and whining from the two animals were loud, very loud. Charlie 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, how could you let that thing attack me?" yelled Ron.

"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione, petting the cat's head.

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

"Honestly Ronald, you're being dramatic!" Hermione defended, before turning to Charlie, "Back me up on this, Charlie, please."

The brown eyed boy shook his head with a small laugh, "I'm not getting involved."

"See!" shouted Ron, "Charlie 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!"

Charlie rolled his eyes. As he did so, something had caught the corner of his eye; or someone, he should say. Up on the balcony of the stairs, was Harry, looking down with a smile as he watched his two friends bicker.

"It's a cat, Ronald! What do you expect? It's in his nature!" yelled Hermione, holding back Crookshanks who was prepared to pounce again.

"A cat?" questioned Ron, confusingly, "Is that what they told you?! It looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me!"

Hermione scoffed, "Oh that's rich, coming from the owner of that smelly, old shoe brush!"

The bushy haired girl turned to her cat and whispered softly, but loud enough for Ron and Charlie to hear, "It's alright Crookshanks, you just ignore the mean, little boy."

"Oh for goodness sake," Charlie muttered before tilting his head back up to Harry, "Would you please come down here and put me out of my misery?"

Harry nodded before descending the stairs, laughing.

"Harry!" said Ron.

Hermione turned around quickly, "Harry!"

Charlie laughed before moving back to the table that he and Hermione had their breakfast. His three friends followed and sat down.

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

"So," he cut the tension and turned to Ron, "How was Egypt?"

Ron's glare fell as he turned, "It was brilliant! There was loads of old stuff, like mummies and tombs. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself!"

Hermione scoffed once again, "You know, the Egyptians used to worship cats."

"Yeah," Ron's glare had returned, "Along with a dung beetle!"

Hermione opened her mouth to retaliate but Charlie simply nudged her with his hand, causing 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 bushy haired girl sighed before dropping the topic out of Charlie's request. She understood the fact that he didn't want their first time seeing each other after so long, to just be about her and Ron fighting.

The Leaky Cauldron's door came flying open once more and in walked the rest of the Weasley clan to which Charlie smiled widely.

"Not flashing that clipping about again, are you Ron?" George asked as he took the newspaper from his younger brother's hands.

"I haven't shown anyone!" Ron defended.

"Oh yeah, not a soul!" Fred mimicked, "Not unless you count Thomas,"

"The day maid," George added.

"The night maid,"

"That bloke who came to fix the toilet,"

"Or that wizard from Belgium!"

Charlie laughed with the Weasley Twins as they sat down at the table next to him. Ron was just excited, bless him. Next, was Mrs. Molly Weasley. As soon as she walked in, she squealed in excitement from seeing Charlie and Harry. The two boys stood up and walked over to her.

She gave each of them a big hug while saying, "Good to see you, dears!"

"Good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley," said Charlie.

"Truly," affirmed Harry.

Molly put a motherly hand on Charlie's face, "Now, have you two got everything you need?"

"Yeah, we went shopping when we first got here," explained Charlie.

"All of your books?" questioned Molly.

Harry nodded, "All upstairs."

"What about your clothes?" Molly pressed on.

Charlie smiled, amused, "Everything's there."

Molly, then, squeezed Charlie's cheek and gave Harry a pat on the shoulder, "Good boys."

Mr. Weasley then came to say hello, urging his wife forward, "Harry! Charlie! Good to see you!"

Charlie stuck out his hand politely while Arthur gave it a firm shake with a smile, "Same to you, sir."

Arthur then moved to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder, "Mind if I have a chat with the two of you?"

Harry looked to Charlie, who shrugged, before answering, "Of course."

Charlie excused himself from the table before walking to the corner of the dining hall with Harry and Arthur.

"Looking forward to a new term?" Arthur asked them, nervously.

Charlie noticed the change in Mr. Weasley's tone, so he raised his brow before saying, "Yeah, should be alright."

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

Arthur sighed before looking around. As soon as he realized he was in the clear, he spoke in a whisper, "Now, there are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me for divulging what I am about to reveal to you two, but -"

He paused before moving the two boys farther into a secluded area. Harry nervously looked at Charlie at the mention of the Ministry, but Charlie didn't dare look back at him just yet, he wanted to hear what Arthur said first.

" - I know that the two of you have quite the habit of wandering off by yourselves. But you mustn't do that this year! Especially you, Harry. You're in grave danger! You must not wander off alone. When I think what could have happened to him that night you ran away from home, it frightens me. Thank goodness Charlie was there! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked the two of you up, i would've been terrified to see the sight that Ministry would've stumbled upon."

Harry gulped, "Is this about Sirius Black, sir?"

Arthur nodded vigorously, "They say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fenwick keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands -"

"What is he after?" Harry questioned, but Arthur simply looked to Charlie, who sighed.

"You." the brown eyed boy whispered.

"What?!" exclaimed Harry before turning to Charlie with an aghast look, "You knew about this and yet, you're only telling me this now?"

Charlie shrugged, "I didn't know for sure. I've just heard some things -"

"Things like a murderer is after me?" scoffed Harry.

"Look," pleaded Charlie, "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to get you all worried over nothing. We're going back to school soon enough, and Hogwarts is safe -" the boy turned to Arthur "- isn't it?"

"No one knows for certain. We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts." Arthur spoke truthfully.

Charlie gulped, "With all due respect, Mr. Weasley, are we absolutely certain that Black would come after Harry?"

Mr. Weasley let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know. All I know is that they didn't report it in the press because your father wanted it kept quiet, but Fenwick went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards apparently told him that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts... he's at Hogwarts'. Black is deranged, Charlie, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that...."

There was silence for a moment.

Harry was in disbelief.

Mr. Weasley was a nervous wreck.

And Charlie was taken aback at the newfound information that his father had seen Black before his escape. He was under the impression that they had never met.

Harry shook his head slightly, still aghast, "What about Dumbledore? Surely, nothing would happen to me as long as he's around. Does he know about this?"

Charlie nodded quickly, "Of course he knows. The Ministry had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't too happy about it, but he agreed."

"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?" questioned Harry.

"My grandfather isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Charlie heavily.

Arthur nodded in agreement, "Nor am 1, but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."

"If they help keep Harry safe, then I will never say another bad word against them," said Charlie.

This comment seemed to make Harry forget about his friend's lack of sharing information. He knew now, that Charlie was only trying to do the right thing.

"That's for sure," said Arthur, "Anyways, I just wanted the two of you to promise, especially Harry, that you won't go looking for Sirius Black."

Charlie furrowed his brows. Why would-

"Mr. Weasley," Harry spoke with an obvious tone, "Why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?"

Took the words right out of Charlie's mouth.

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Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*

Short chapter after all those super long ones I've been writing! Have to slow down a little or PoA won't be ten chapters like I want it to be.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Little Charmione, little Sirius Black action - It's getting good! I'm excited!

If you liked this chapter, I'd appreciate it if you could vote, comment and/or share! It would mean so much!

Until next time! Much love!

xo, Selena