Don't Think I Can Fight This Anymore

Dear Danny,

Quit gloating. You’re worse than George. If everyone was so convinced we’d get back together, why is everyone so damn excited?

I really hope they accept your transfer request to go to Germany. I’d love to work with you - even if you’re an annoying git.

Love,
Evelyn

Charlie woke up in a room that wasn’t his.

He blinked at the ceiling a few times, his mouth dry from the familiarity of the situation. There was a tiny snore from next to him and he turned to look at Evelyn. She slept with her mouth open, and her sheets pulled up just enough to cover her perfect full breasts. Her eye makeup had smudged under her eyes, as she hadn’t taken it off the night before.

God, even like this she was beautiful. He didn’t think he told her that enough.

He hadn’t noticed it last night, but she had more tiny black stars on her chest. These spread next to the Draco constellation, under her throat.

“It’s Hercules.”

He snapped his eyes up to her vast oceans. She was smiling slightly and she ran her fingers through his hair.

“You know, the Draco guarded the goddess Hera’s golden apples. Hercules was tasked with stealing them, so he killed the dragon. Hera turned her faithful dragon into stars as a reward. And when Hercules finished his twelve tasks, he too was turned into stardust. And he forever crushes the dragon under his feet.”

“You’re a good storyteller.” He told her, and she laughed. “Why that story, though? Why not the rise of the dragon?”

She shrugged, uncomfortable. “I keep seeing this dragon in my dreams. And I know it represents this...other side of me.”

“The Lieutenant.”

“Second Lieutenant, Weasley. But yes. I guess that sums it up.” She sighed and looked away from him, at the ceiling. “And the little bastard is a trouble maker. Always killing people I love. Causing accidents. Leading me to watch the same events over and over.”

“You can’t really want to kill it, though.” Charlie said. “It’s a part of you.”

“I know. I added the Hercules because I need to remember that Evelyn Finch is stronger than the Second Lieutenant. I’m just as good at smiling as I am at fighting. Especially now.”

“Now what?”

“Now that I have you back.”

He cupped her face and kissed her, shivering slightly as her small hands ran over his shoulders.She pulled away all too quickly.

“I have to go make breakfast.” She said.

“George can live without breakfast for a day. He’s getting fat. Let’s just stay in bed.”

“For how long?”

“Until you’ve made up for those awful things you’ve said.”

She was smiling and shaking her head.

“I was really hurt you know.”

“You seen to be alright now.”

“A miraculous recovery, I assure you.”

“And your brother is not getting fat.”

“Well, not as much as Percy.”

Evelyn giggled in spite of herself. “Can I at least get up and make some coffee?”

“No.” He rested his head on her chest and closed his eyes. “Bloody hell, Evelyn. I missed you.”

“I know.” She awkwardly bent her neck as far as she could to kiss the top of his head. “I missed you too.”

They lay in silence for a while, and finally Evelyn asked the question she’d been dreading the answer of. “When do you leave?”

He sighed. “The Portkey’s at four. I’ll have to go home and pack my things before.”

She sighed and tried to sit up again. “Well, I’ve got to get the shop open, with or without breakfast.”

But he took her wrists, holding her down. Her half-hearted attempts to fight him off made him smile slightly. “Just a bit longer, Evelyn.”

“Come on, Charlie. I’ve got to at least make coffee. My head hurts.”

“We have things to talk about.”

She sighed and nodded. “You’re right. We do.”

So they both sat up properly and talked. The conversation dragged them out of bed and into the kitchen, half dressed and trying to find coffee. There were silences in that conversation that seemed to go on forever. There were tightened throats and tears that threatened to fall. They talked about all the good and bad of the past. They talked about what they wanted for the future.

But in the end, sitting on the couch, she leaned against his bare chest and closed her eyes. “I just don’t want to ever lose you again.” She whispered.

Sherlock padded over to them and rested his head on Charlie’s knee. Charlie sighed and scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“I don’t either.”

And suddenly, the answer was so clear.

Half an hour later, Charlie walked her to the door of the tea shop. He caught her hand and pulled her closer. “I love you.”

She smiled, and was radiant. “I love you too.” She stood on tip-toes to kiss him. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

“Okay.”

And for the first time in memory, when Evelyn walked into the tea shop, Jackie was smiling.

~*~

Evelyn flipped through the J’s, frowning at the Jane’s Addiction CD’s. She was pretty sure she had at least one of these, but she wasn’t sure if she had listened to it. Or liked it. She had come to replace her Our Lady Peace album, which had been lost, but she had gotten side tracked. She wasn’t sure when she’d be back, so she might as well stock up.

“Hey, love.” Andrew grinned, kissing her on the cheek. “How’ve you been? We’ve missed you.”

“Good.” Evelyn smiled, and meant it. Since New Year’s Eve, she had never felt better. “Yourself?”

“Fantastic! Oh, actually, I need your opinion on something.” He held up his portable CD player and a pair of headphones. “So, I’ve got a friend in Newark, New Jersey. Brilliant things going on with the music scene there. Anyway, my friend knows a guy who saw the September 11 attacks, and he wrote this song. But I just...I like it? But it’s weird? I don’t know if other people are going to like it?”

Evelyn slipped the headphones over her ears, listening to the song that was already playing.

“Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun, scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands rip into your heart

That's if you've still got one that's left inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw, can we still reclaim our innocence
And if the world needs something better, let's give them one more reason now”

Somehow Evelyn knew that she was listening to the beginnings of something that would change music. Everyone would listen to this, even if usually they didn’t like this stuff. It was the new punk. It was the new grunge. The muggle world was gripped by fear and hatred and confusion, and it was so hard to understand all of that as a kid.

Evelyn slipped off the headphones. “Keep an eye on them.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. They’re going to do some big things.”

“You want a copy? There’s like two other songs on the demo.”

“Sure.”

They took her already sizable pile to the counter and Andrew slipped one more case on top. In blocky letters the homemade CD read, My Chemical Romance.

Evelyn paid for her music and walked out onto the street, pulling her coat tighter around her. She was running a little late, but that was okay. In spite of the frigid cold, she was smiling.

Because today was the day her life started over.

~*~

“She’s late.”

Molly glanced out the kitchen window that her son was looking through. “She probably got held up.”

Charlie was all but vibrating with anxiety and excitement. It was the day everything changed.

“Charlie, sit. I want to talk to you about something.”

He tore himself away from the window and sat across from her at the table. Molly sighed and pulled a small velvet box out of her pocket, and put it down in front of him. “Here. Take it.”

Charlie opened the box and stared at the gold and ruby claddagh ring for a moment, then hurriedly snapped the box shut. “No way, Mum.”

“Charlie - “

“It’s your ring!”

“No, it’s the family’s ring. Your father and I have talked about it, and we want Evelyn to have it.”

Charlie sighed and opened the box again. The ring had been passed from mother to daughter-in-law for centuries, occasionally going from mother to daughter as needed. Even with six sons, Charlie always expected his mother to give the ring to Ginny. She was the favorite, anyway. So it wasn’t lost on him that she was giving him the ring for Evelyn.

“What about Ginny?” He asked weakly.

She sighed. “Well it turns out that Remus was holding onto Lilly Potter’s ring for Harry, so she’ll have that one. Then we thought for Ron and Hermione, but he wanted to get her something new. Bill’s already married.”

“So I’m the last resort?”

Molly rolled her eyes. “No, we just never thought it would happen. And honestly, I think Evelyn needs this more than the others.”

That was true. Charlie closed the box again.

“So, you give that to her when you think she’s ready.” Molly stood and moved around the table as Charlie pocketed the ring. “Now, are you sure that - “

He caught his mother’s hand and pulled her close, hugging her around the middle tightly. “Thanks, Mum.”

She smiled and ran fingers through his hair. “You’re all grown up.”

“I grew up a while ago, Mum.”

“Hmm, I must have missed it. The twins were always so distracting.” She sighed and kissed the top of his head. “Come on. There’s a few more things I packed for you.”

Charlie released his mother as George pushed the kitchen door open and stomped through, talking over his shoulder and dragging a trunk over the threshold.

“This is the last time I help you with anything, Evelyn Rose.”

“For fuck’s sake, there’s a feather-weight charm on the trunk.” Evelyn said irritably, dragging a second trunk into the kitchen. She also had a backpack on over her overcoat. “Don’t be such a bitch, George Arthur.”

“It’s awkward to carry!”

“Then levitate it, damn it!”

Charlie looked at Sylvia, who entered the kitchen last, shaking her head. “Has it been like this all afternoon?”

“Yes. Why do you think we’re so late?”

Charlie glanced at the time. “Merlin. We need to get going.”

“Wait! I have things for you.” Molly said, running from the room.

“Charlie, let’s go help her.” Sylvia said, tactfully leaving her boyfriend to say goodbye to his best friend alone. They both left, but not before Charlie gently kissed Evelyn on the side of the head.

George watched Evelyn rummaging in her backpack. She was looking anywhere but at him.

“Why do you have to go to Romania?”

Evelyn sighed and looked at him. He seemed so sad. “George I just...this is what I have to do. I can’t go without him again. And honestly I think that a change of scenery would be good for me. Especially with the new job and everything.”

“But what about me?”

His voice was so small and quiet, and it was the first time she had heard him talk like that. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his sad face.

“Hey, stop it, it’s not forever. We’ll be back soon, especially with Ron and Hermione finally setting a date. And Harry and Ginny engaged. And you’ve got Sylvia. You’ll keep moving forward.”

“I’m not sure if I know how. You’ve always led me.”

Evelyn smiled. “You and Sylvia are going to move into my old apartment, get married, and have lots of little troublemakers like you who are just as brave as she is. When you need more space, you’ll move to a big old house with lots of charm and you’ll make it so neither of you ever feel lost again.”

“We can’t move into your flat - “

“Yes, you can.” She said seriously. “You have to. Both of you are still tied down by places that you shared with Fred and Matilda. This is the first step.”

He sighed.

“George, listen to me. The only way that you can move is forward. It’s that or standing still. You can’t go back, no matter how much you want to. Besides, Fred wouldn’t want that. It’s so cliche to say, but you know that it’s true. You’ve got to go forward, if for nothing else then for Sylvia.”

“Like you are for Charlie?”

She smiled. “Why else would I leave you, idiot?”

They hugged tightly.

“When Charlie screws up, you can stay with me.”

“It’s funny how you always say that, but I was the one who screwed it up last time.”

“Yeah, well, now it’s his turn.”

Evelyn smiled and squeezed him tightly, then let go. “I’ll write.” She promised.

“Well what else are you going to do out there? Stare at dragons?”

Molly came back into the room and started fussing over Evelyn, while Sylvia waited to hug her tightly. George glowered at his older brother as they shook hands.

“Take care of her.” George said. “Or I swear I’ll rip you to pieces myself.”

“I will.”

Evelyn and Charlie finished their goodbyes and picked up the trunks and Charlie’s small duffle and stepped outside. They’d apparate to the Ministry of Magic to take a portkey to Romania. Evelyn would have a few days to settle in before she had to go to Germany for her first round of work for the US Magical Armed Forces.

“Ready to go home?” Charlie asked, taking her hand.

She smiled, knowing that this time it would really be home. “Let’s go.”