Little Memories

Charlotte had her back to the front door as she placed a kettle on the gas stove in her kitchen. She had gotten a much needed shower, paying no attention to the large purple and green bruise that appeared over the spot where her ribs had been broken. She could tell they had healed completely and felt loads better. When she got out of the shower, she had put on a fresh set of clothing, since she had been wearing the same black coat and jeans ensemble from the day before. Seeing it was night, she grabbed a grey sweater and a pair of warm, knit slipper boots to go along with it, just to be sure that she kept warm.

Letting out a sigh, she stared out over the small window above her sink as her mind swam with too many thoughts. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to will the thoughts away, but was unable to. She bit her bottom lip and ran her fingertips through her damp curly hair, continuing to keep her eyes focused on the darkness outside the window. A loud snap resounded outside the cottage and Charlotte jumped a bit, her focus on the window and her thoughts breaking abruptly. The door slowly opened as two trunks floated into the living room.

“We’re back, Charlotte,” Draco called into the cottage just as the kettle began to scream.

“We?” Charlotte asked as she pulled the kettle off the stove and placed it into a tea cozy, keeping her back toward the door.

“Hello, Charlie,” she heard the deep, rumbling voice of her brother call into the cottage. Her eyes widened and she put the tea kettle down with a loud thud before spinning around to face both Draco and Gregory as they shut the door. She stood there for a few moments, her light blue eyes darting between the two of them.

“He wanted to get away too…and you are his sister, so I couldn’t tell him no,” Draco said softly, as if he were afraid of Charlotte’s reaction. She let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, a smile curling her lips despite herself.

“Well…unless you can magic a bed out of thin air, Gregory, you’re going to be stuck with sleeping on the couch,” she said softly before turning and pulling three tea cups from a cupboard. There was a long silence as the two boys looked at each other; Gregory looking between his sister and Draco.

“Wait…where’s Draco sleeping then?” Gregory asked as Charlotte poured hot water over the tea bags she had placed in the cups. Charlotte bit her bottom lip and glanced over her shoulder to Draco, who was watching her with a slight smirk. Gregory looked between the two of them for a few times before his eyes widened. “No, hell no,” he said suddenly, causing Charlotte to give a small chortle and turn back to the tea cups, “that’s not going to happen. There will be no…no…funny business while I’m here.” Draco gave a snort of laughter, which only caused Gregory to turn a scowl to him.

Charlotte slowly turned around, lifting her tea cup to her lips in an attempt to hide the Cheshire cat grin curling her lips. She glanced to Draco, who was watching her with a humored smile on his lips.

“What?” Gregory asked after a while of staring at his sister. “What’s that smile for?”

“It’s…not like things haven’t happened before, Gregory,” she said honestly, looked over at him as she handed Draco a teacup. Gregory suddenly had a repulsed expression on his face, like he had drank a bit of Polyjuice potion, and held his hands up slightly in surrender. Draco let out a small laugh before curling in his lips to keep from laughing hysterically like he wanted to.

“Fine! Fine,” Gregory said, shaking his head, “have it your way. I just better not fucking hear anything…like…like…” He gave a shudder and gave another grimace. “Just…no noises.” Charlotte glanced over at Draco, meeting his eye for a moment as they let out small chortles and giggles.

“I made you some tea…if that would make you feel any better,” the blonde girl said softly, trying to keep herself from laughing outright at her brother. Gregory merely gave her a playfully dark look before walking over to the counter and retrieving his teacup. He stood beside his sister for a while, sipping his tea and taking in the quaint cottage he found himself in.

“I can’t believe this is what you asked of mum and dad. You could have had mansions with bathrooms as big as this place,” Gregory said softly, shaking his head a bit as he glanced over at Charlotte. She pursed her lips a bit at him before letting out a heavy sigh and looking around the cottage as well.
“I know,” she said softly as a small smile curled her lips. She brought her teacup up to her lips and took a small sip. She looked over at Gregory to find him staring at her expectantly. Charlotte started at him for a moment in return before rolling her eyes. “If I wanted extravagant rooms and wealthy living, I could just go back home,” she explained with a nod. “But if I wanted warmth and solitude, I could come here.” Charlotte noticed that Draco was watching her with a smile and couldn’t help but to return it.

“You are one odd witch, Charlotte,” her brother said softly, shaking his head a bit at her. “I’d take the castle over this place any day.” His sister looked over at him, the smile falling abruptly and her brow raising within a matter of seconds. Gregory continued to look around the small kitchen, wrinkling his nose a bit, completely oblivious to the look his sister was sending him. His eyes managed to drift over to Charlotte and he did a double take when he noticed his displeased expression. Gregory cleared his throat as he stared at her, almost looking a bit afraid. “I mean…this place isn’t too bad,” he said in a shaky voice. Charlotte grinned widely, obviously pleased with his answer, and merely took another sip of her tea.

“Well…I’m going to turn in for the night,” she said softly, placing her teacup in the sink delicately. Without another word, she stepped over to Gregory, giving him a warm hug and a sisterly kiss on the cheek. “Despite the fact I had only expected Draco to come, I’m glad you’re here,” she said as she pulled away and gave him a small smile before turning to Draco. He grinned at her for a moment as she leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the lips, disregarding the horrid gagging noises Gregory was making, and walked over to her bedroom. The door closed quietly behind her as Draco finished off the last bit of his tea.

“I’m serious, Draco,” Gregory said, giving him a hard look, “if you’re going to do anything with my sister…” The taller of the two paused and gave a shudder, his upper lip curling slightly. “Look, I just don’t want you two talking about it and I most definitely don’t want to hear any noises from that room.” Draco merely watched him for a few moments before giving him a nod and clasping him on the shoulder. He didn’t say a word as he stepped around the eldest Goyle and slowly made his way into Charlotte’s bedroom, but not before grabbing his trunk and lugging it behind him.

All the room’s lights had been extinguished spare a small candle on the bedside table. Charlotte was sitting down on the edge of the bed, her back facing Draco as he shut the door quietly behind him. She turned and glanced at him over her shoulder as she gently pulled a brush through her hair. He could see, in the dim light of the room, that she had remained in the army green, loose tee and changed into a pair of sleep shorts. Letting out a small sigh, he walked over to the same edge of the bed she sat on and lowered himself beside her, slowly looking over her.

“You’re all healed up, now, right?” He asked softly. Charlotte replied with a simple nod before her brow furrowed and she placed her hairbrush to the side.

“Well…my bones have healed…and I’m fine other than where they were broken,” she spoke softly, as if she were afraid of disrupting the quiet tranquility of the room. Draco stared at her for a moment before letting his hands slowly venture to the hem of her shirt. She made no move to protest or slap his hands away, so he slowly lifted the thin cotton fabric. His eyes traced the pale skin of her stomach, noticing she had put on just the right amount of weight since her stay in Azkaban. As the fabric pulled higher and higher, Draco’s stomach dropped and he suddenly turned cold. A large bruise marred her otherwise perfect, flawless skin, stretching upwards and out from the ridges of ribs that could be seen through her skin.

Drawing in a deep breath of air, he slowly lifted his eyes from the wound and looked into Charlotte’s eyes. She was watching him with an emotionless expression. However, the tiniest, painful expression flashed in her eyes as he let his fingers drift over the angry looking bruise.

“It looks worse that it feels, Draco. Trust me,” she breathed, staring earnestly into his eyes. “It’s just a bit tender to the touch, really.” Draco bit his bottom lip and nodded, too much running through his mind for him to create a cohesive sentence. Without another glance to the marring he had done to her skin, he let the fabric drop back into place. There was a long silence between the two of them as Charlotte picked her hairbrush back up and Draco stared darkly at the designs in the oriental rug on the cool floor of the cottage.

Before he had realized it, Charlotte had placed her brush to the side and had extinguished the candle, plunging the room into sudden darkness. She leaned over at gave Draco a kiss on the cheek, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close to her.

“We probably should be getting some sleep, especially you,” she said softly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark of the room. Draco gave a bitter laugh and shook his head, glancing over to Charlotte from the corner of his eyes.

“I haven’t been able to sleep properly since I got drunk,” he said in a low voice, a smirk curling the corner of his lips despite himself. Charlotte bit her bottom lip to stem the wide smile that grew on her face and she let out a sigh through her nose.

“My parents don’t allow me to keep any booze here,” she said with a musical little giggle, “it was one of their only conditions in giving me this place.” Charlotte the let out a low hum and shook her head. “Gregory probably wouldn’t allow me to drink anyway.” Draco let out a laugh as he let his eyes wander over the dark form beside him, one he could tell who it was without even needing to see the details and pleasant curves of her facial features. “Come then, you should put on some pajamas and we can just cuddle and see who falls asleep first.”

Draco did as he was told and stood, walking over to the trunk he had pulled into the room and quickly changing into a pair of pajamas. By the time he had turned back around, Charlotte was tucked into bed with her head resting comfortably on a goose down pillow. He smiled for a moment before pulling back the covers on the opposite side of the bed. Slipping into bed, he had just barely gotten settled in when Charlotte wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Do you think it’d ever be like this…if we ever married?” Charlotte whispered into the quiet of the room suddenly. Draco, unlike many men his age who would have gone completely blank and froze as a question of that importance, knew the answer immediately.

“It’s not a matter of ‘if’, Charlotte, it’s a matter of ‘when’ we’re married,” he said in an unwavering voice, “and yes, I imagine it would be something very close to this.” Charlotte remained quiet for sometime after her spoke, merely looking over his face in the near darkness.

“You aren’t just tell me this so I’ll sleep with you, right?” She asked softly, the wide grin she wore evident in her tone. Draco let out a small laugh at this and merely shook his head.

“No. No, I really mean it, Charlotte. After all this is fighting and war is over, I have ever intention of marrying you,” he said honestly, causing Charlotte not to say another word and merely snuggle closer to him.