3

Quidditch practice that night was intense. He had worked out all his anger at Jamie and sexual frustrations over Ashlynn and he was now taking a long hot shower to ease his aching muscles. He had told the rest of the team to go ahead back to the tower without him, he was going to relax under the warm water for a while. When he finally got out of the shower later on though, unsure of how long he'd been in there for, he was surprised to hear footsteps.

"Hello?" Charlie called out, thinking that maybe someone had forgotten something and come back to retrieve it before curfew.

Charlie grabbed a fresh, fluffy towel, quickly dried off his hair and wrapped it securely around his waist.

"Hello Charlie" Jainey replied coyly when he stepped into the changing room "fancy meeting you here."

She was sat in a very short dress on the benches next to Charlie's locker.

"Jainey. How lovely to see you. Do you need something?" He asked politely, not wanting to misconstrue her actions, as he slowly crossed the room towards her.

"Well…" Jainey blushed "I heard some rumours about your… talents… I understand and accept your conditions Charlie. No strings. No commitment. Not exclusive." She punctuated each sentence with a pout, lick or bite of her lips, her eyes roaming over his increasingly chiselled torso.

His mind flew back to Ashlynn lying on his bed and her earlier admission which caused all his anger and frustrations to flood back through his body like a tidal wave. He had found that snogging Mary-Angela kept these feelings at bay so, if she was up for it, why not Jainey too.

Charlie closed the gap between them and, taking her hand, helped her stand before pressing his lips firmly against hers. She kissed him back immediately and the kiss soon changed from firm to needy. His mouth trailed across her jaw kissing as he went. He nibbled her earlobe gently then kissed the soft skin behind it. He left open mouthed kisses down her neck to her collarbone as she moaned and pressed her body firmly into his.

He felt her hands roaming over his exposed torso and clenched his muscles as she did so. Her small hands moved down towards his abdomen and dangerously close to the top of his tenting towel. He pushed his body into hers as he lent her against the wall on the other side of his locker. She whimpered and arched into him when she felt his hard shaft pressing against her pelvis. His hands roamed down her side, gently palming her breasts and tweaking her erect nipples through the dresses fabric as they went until his fingers reached the hem of her dress.

His lips released her neck so that he could look into her eyes.

"May I?" he asked, fingering the bottom hem of her dress. She replied simply with a smile and a nod. His hands ran up her thighs and reached for her bottom, squeezing the soft flesh underneath the skirt of her dress, before returning his mouth to hers fervently.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the changing room door "Mr. Weasley. Are you still in there?" The voice of Professor McGonagall called. "It's 10 minutes until curfew, your teammates said you were still down here."

With a groan he pulled his hands out from under Jainey's dress and noticed the bruises marking the love bites he had left up her neck.

"I'm coming in in 2 minutes, make sure you are decent." McGonagall called through the closed door.

"Let your hair down to cover your neck" Charlie instructed Jainey firmly as he frantically opened his locker. Charlie threw on his trackies and was pulling a clean t-shirt over his head when his Professor opened the door.

"Miss Crow, what are you doing in here, you do not play on my quidditch team." McGonagall started before taking in her and Charlie's dishevelled appearances and the small bruises peeking out through Jainey's hair. "Actually I do not want the details thank you. Detention both of you, Saturday morning for you Mr Weasley and Saturday evening for you Miss Crow. Plus 20 points from each of you, I expect better than this of my students and I will not be happy to see this happen again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor." the pair cowered under her firm glare "Sorry Professor."

"Now, back to the common room, both of you, you have only five minutes until curfew. You might just make it if you run." Professor McGonagall finished as she swept out of the room leaving them blushing and holding in their laughter in her wake.

…

Charlie continued to spend time with Mary-Angela and Jainey to release his frustrations about Ashlynn's relationship and the news that he was a great kisser spread quickly across the school. Rounds with Ashlynn went better after she and Jamie broke up over the Christmas holidays (the douchebag cheated on her with a muggle girl in his neighbourhood and Charlie didn't know whether to leap around in celebration that they were no longer dating or punch the idiot in the face for hurting his best friend). Over the rest of the year he snogged more and more girls from his year and the years above, it became less about releasing his frustrations and more about trying to move on from Ashlynn. Even when she wasn't dating someone else, she also wasn't dating him and his Gryffindor courage failed him time and time again.

He vowed to himself that he would ask her out when she visited him at the Burrow for a week that summer.

…

Ashlynn had gone to her maternal Grandmother's house to floo over to the Burrow this year as she was travelling from home rather than straight after staying with Tonks. Ashlynn's Mum's Mum was a witch who had married a muggle farmer and had a non-magical daughter. Ashlynn's Mum was an only child and was quite surprised when her first child with her muggle husband started to display signs of magic. Ashlynn's Grandmother however had stepped in straight away and explained everything to her daughter and son-in-law, they were all so excited when she'd received her letter to Hogwarts. Ashlynn's twin brothers, who were a year younger than her, weren't magical so they went to a local school and stayed living on their parents farm year round in the Gower in South Wales but they stayed close all year round through writing each other letters.

Ashlynn loved looking after the animals when they got sick but caring for animals wasn't her true passion, instead she really lit up when she healed her brothers' bumps and scrapes. When she was a child she had done this with magic without realising it, her maternal Grandmother recognised the ways the scars would disappear under her hands and each summer when she came home from Hogwarts she tutored Ashlynn in the magical first aid she knew. Her grandmother's teachings, having a way to use her magic for the good of her siblings and having them help her in return by carrying around the injured livestock when they were too heavy for her, allowed the three siblings to avoid jealousy or fear over her magical state.

Her other passion was for electronics. During the summer after fifth year Ashlynn was determined to make her Walkman work at school, she had loads of CDs and her Walkman could play them for her to listen to through headphones but electronics didn't work at Hogwarts because they were disrupted by the high magical intensity. She wanted to take it back to Hogwarts and show Jake Swethers her favourite songs, he was a muggle born boy in Charlie's dorm who adored music and played the guitar beautifully. Ashlynn tinkered with the device night after night, soldering and programming and adding a touch of magic. She really loved electronics and would definitely have gone to University to study some type of electrical engineering if, like her brothers, she hadn't been magical.

She finished working on the Walkman on the night before heading to the burrow and packed it, thinking she could test it in the magical environment, along with her booklist and a few sets of clothes in the new Cath Kidston overnight bag her Mum had bought her for doing so well in her OWLs. She had earned O in Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy and Muggle Studies and earned E in History of Magic, Defense against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. She was well on her way in earning a place to study healing at St Mungos.

…

"Ashlynn, we're going to Hogwarts! We're going to Hogwarts!" Fred and George chanted as soon as she stepped out of the floo.

Her tinkling laugh rang through the Burrow as she danced in a circle with the 11 year old twins.

"Hello love" called Charlie from the doorway, he was lent against the wooden door frame in a shirt a little too small for him as his bulging biceps pulled at the seams.

"Hi you" she called back giggling at the ridiculousness of the dance moves the twins were now displaying.

Charlie sauntered over to her and grabbed her bag with one hand and her hand with the other, she noticed how it had become rougher over the weeks since their last prefect round and stroked her thumb over his knuckles. He led her up the stairs, dropping her bag off in Ginny's room and continuing up to the room he used to share with Bill. Pushing the door half shut behind them he released her hand as she wandered up to the left hand wall.

"How's Bill enjoying working with Gringotts?" Ashlynn asked, gazing at the moving photos and postcards written from Bill to Charlie adorning the wall above Bill's empty mattress.

"He seems to love it" Charlie replied watching her intently "he's travelling the world and learning to break all sorts of curses. He'll be stationed somewhere in a few months though, Mum's going to take it pretty hard if it's somewhere far away."

Ashlynn simply nodded in reply before walking over to Charlie's bed and sitting up on it, leaning her back against the wall and kicking her feet off the edge. Charlie melted when she smiled up at him and patted the bed beside her. He knew then that whatever she ever asked of him, he would do it without question and that feeling terrified him.

The best friends sat together, hand in hand on his soft mattress with their backs against the wall and feet playing with each other over the side of the bed. They chatted for hours just catching up with each other and filling each other in on all the mundane and ordinary bits of their summers that they missed out in their weekly letters to each other. Just as the smell of dinner wafted up the stairs and Charlie's stomach began to growl there was a loud crash outside the door. Jumping up and running out they found Tonks lying in a heap.

"Tonks!" They both cried reaching down and pulling her up by and arm each.

"Hey you two!" Tonks squealed as she pulled them into a big group hug together. They were best friends no matter what and the holidays were meant for best friends. "Mrs Weasley says dinner's ready so we better wash up and head back down."

"Alright but I'm holding your hand on the stairs Tonks, you're such a liability" Ashlynn giggled at her best friend "but you're our lovable liability" she added placating the scowl that had threatened to appear on Tonks' face. Grabbing Tonks' hand in one hand and Charlie's in the other she pulled them down a couple of flights of stairs to the main bathroom opposite Ginny's room to wash up and then continued on down to the kitchen from where the delicious scents of roast chicken were emanating from.

…

The next day the trio headed out to Diagon Alley with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Percy and the twins. Ron and Ginny had gone to the Lovegood family for the day to play with their daughter Luna who was around their age.

As they all got ready to floo, Percy pompously gave the twins a lecture covering all of the rules they would have to follow at Hogwarts. Percy was going into his third year and taking it very seriously. The twins however, were stood one on each side of Percy pulling silly faces at him every time he turned to look at the other.

Tonks and Ashlynn were chatting away about what they wanted to get from the shops, other than their essential school supplies, while Charlie contentedly chipped in occasionally with suggestions.

"Alright, alright you lot, let's go, let's go. Charlie you go first so you can greet the boys on the other side." Mrs Weasley instructed. "You next Ashlynn, don't forget to catch Tonks when she comes through" she muttered in Ashlynn's ear as Ashlynn grabbed a pitch of floo powder from the plant pot in the matriarch's hands.

After a dizzying moment of green flames, Ashlynn stepped out of the floo into the Leaky Cauldron and positioned herself on one side of the hearth with Charlie standing on the other, ready to catch Tonks between them. They grabbed hold of her arms and righted her the moment they saw her purple hair come tumbling through. Next came Percy who muttered something to himself about 'immature brothers' and moved out of the way, brushing his clothes down to make sure no soot or floo powder was on his clean clothes.

The twins arrived together in a whirlwind of excitement and laughter and Charlie dragged them out of the way so that the floo was clear for their parents while Tonks entertained them by morphing her face into various silly animals on request.

…

Two hours later the trio had all their school books, potions ingredients, quidditch gear and other equipment for school sorted. They all had new school robes too, Charlie's shoulders were now too chunky for Bill's old ones, and the girls were looking at dresses. Again. They did this every year and Charlie was resigned to the process by now.

Charlie wandered through the clothing racks at Gladrags while the girls gathered a heap of dresses each to try on. Some because they liked them and some because they were so hideous they couldn't miss the opportunity to try them on for a laugh.

On his meander through the shop, Charlie found a gold silk dress with pleated cap sleeves and a square neckline, noting that it was the same colour of gold that Ashlynn painted her nails. He picked it up and kept walking, stumbling across a playsuit with spaghetti straps and covered in rainbow sequins. He grabbed that too and brought them to the changing rooms as the girls came out in their first hideous outfits. He laughed with them as they came out in more and more ridiculous clothing for the next half hour before they finally got round to trying on the few items that they really liked. He thought Ashlynn looked beautiful in anything, but even he had to admit that some of the previous outfits were revolting.

Tonks found a short velvet dress that she was happy with which changed colour between greens and purples as she moved and sat down by Charlie on the bench ready to help Ashlynn decide. Ashlynn however couldn't find anything she was happy with. She was curvy and soft and tall. She didn't feel beautiful in anything she had picked up and was close to tears when she came out in the final dress, a v-neck red sweater dress that reached halfway down her thighs. Charlie thought she looked stunning in all of the outfits but Ashlynn didn't feel beautiful and that's all that really mattered.

Tonks jumped up holding her tight as the tears welled in her eyes, whispering to her how beautiful she was and how much she'd love to be curvy like her. The problem was that Ashlynn hadn't really felt confident about her body before dating Jamie and now felt even worse about herself since Jamie had cheated on her last Christmas.

Charlie couldn't understand the problem because he thought the world of her, he had also heard a lot of guys talk around school about how stunning Ashlynn was and how she was so unattainable. He stepped over and handed her the gold silk dress he had picked out for her and handed the rainbow sequin playsuit to Tonks.

"Just go try these last ones on and then we'll go, okay?" He encouraged as he guided Ashlynn back into the changing room and pulled the curtain across.

Tonks however stayed outside for an extra minute to whisper to Charlie.

"She feels ugly. That's the problem. She needs to feel desirable and I can't help her with that." Tonks whispered before dodging back into the other changing room to try on the playsuit.

Charlie was still stood up, struggling to get his head around how someone so incredibly gorgeous could ever consider themselves as anything less than beautiful when he heard a small sniffle. Ashlynn had come out of the changing room in the gold dress.

"Can you zip me up Charlie?" She asked timidly with another small sniffle.

His jaw dropped at the sight of her, his eyes raking across her figure taking in every curve as he went. After what felt to him like hours, his eyes eventually met hers and he was speechless. Nodding dumbly he moved behind her and gently grasped the zip in the centre of her back. Lifting one hand and brushing her curly hair over one shoulder reverently, he slowly pulled the zipper up as he watched the freckles on her back disappear one by one behind the silk. She turned back around slowly and looked into his face expectantly.

"You look… radiant" Charlie breathed out, awe evident across his face and his voice brimming with truth.

She smiled and his face lit up in a grin. She felt beautiful under his gaze at that moment and he would keep trying to make her feel beautiful whenever he got the chance.

…

She and Tonks bought the items Charlie had suggested and each grabbed a clutch bag that matched them on the way to the tills.

Leaving the store, with Charlie carrying all their bags from the day so far, they started to walk back up towards the Leaky Cauldron discussing their plans to grab a butterbeer while they waited for Charlie's family to be ready to go. Laughing loudly and joking away together it took a few minutes for them to hear a voice calling out from behind them.

"Ashlynn! Hey Ashlynn wait up!" A deep voice called loudly, matched with a fast set of footsteps pounding against the cobbled street.

Spinning on the spot Ashlynn saw a boy named Eric Langlorn running up the alley. He was a beater for Ravenclaw and they had worked together on their beater skills a little last year. He was a similar build to Charlie but very slightly shorter so he matched Ashlynn's height almost perfectly.

"Hi Eric. How's your summer going?" Ashlynn replied in a cheery tone while giving him a quick hug hello.

"Great, been honing my quidditch skills, I'm hoping to get scouted as it's my final year." He answered enthusiastically with a flex of his biceps for the girl in front of him. "I was actually wondering, if you're not too busy that is, if you'd like to grab an ice cream with me." Eric's confidence wavered at her surprised expression but he ploughed on "I really like you Ashlynn, you're beautiful, smart, caring and have one hell of a beater arm… Please?" He finished hopefully gazing into her eyes.

Charlie wondered if they mesmerised other boys like they mesmerised him but quickly shook that thought form his head. This guy just told her she looked beautiful, no matter who that message came from he desperately wanted her to believe it and Charlie's jealousy would not help in this situation…

"I would love to" Ashlynn replied quietly breaking Charlie from his thoughts "you two don't mind waiting for me do you? I'll make sure to be back in an hour so as not to keep Mr and Mrs Weasley waiting." she asked, turning back to Tonks and Charlie.

"No, of course not, go have fun!" Tonks said enthusiastically "Charlie and I will take your bags and see you at the Leaky in an hour. Don't be late mister, we're watching you." She teased Eric with a laugh as she pulled a frozen Charlie down the alley away from the potential new couple.

"She's too beautiful and brilliant for you to wait so long Charlie. Gather up that Gryffindor courage next time she's single and tell her how you feel you muppet." Tonks chastised Charlie all the way back to the pub.

Ashlynn had come back giddy with excitement an hour and a half later, Eric dropping her off at the Leaky's floo with a gentle kiss and a promise to write to her. She had a new boyfriend and felt over the moon. Charlie had missed his chance again.

...

Author's Note

Hi again! Hope you're enjoying getting to know the characters, I sure am :)

Read, review, follow, favourite, say hi, send a little love...

Wishin' girl x x x