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Chapter Text

Prologue/Summary :

Olivier Dubois had arrived at Hogwarts in 1987. In 1988, he had met the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life. She was beautiful, extraordinary and intelligent.

Their meeting was quite funny. They had met in their first year, near the Black Lake, before Oliver disappeared completely and reappeared as if nothing had happened at the end of the school year. Their friendship had officially started in their second year. During his first Quidditch match with the Gryffindor team, he was hit by a bludger, he was unconscious for a whole week and when he woke up, she was there, by his side. Friends of his had told him that she had been the first to come down from the stands to see how he was doing and that she had not left his bedside the whole time he was in the hospital wing.

That was how their friendship was born. They did not stay friends for long, from the year 1990, students and teachers could see their friendship turn into a romantic relationship.

They had a pretty weird relationship. One day they were together, and the next day they were not, but there was no animosity, they were still best friends because even though they were not together anymore, it did not mean they did not care about each other anymore ( and they were still together in some way because there was no way they were dating anyone else, that would be cheating on Oliver/Charlotte Carter ). 

Charlotte “Charlie” Carter, also known as C.C. realized after Oliver had another accident during a Quidditch match that she could not go on like this anymore, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to love him and she wanted to be there for him, she wanted their relationship to finally be serious, stop playing.

Charlotte “Charlie” Carter Silverthorn was a fifteen-year-old witch, and she did not have many hobbies in life, just spending time with Oliver. She was born to two Irish parents, but they had lived in England for a very long time, hence the fact that she had been able to study at Hogwarts.

Charlotte “Charlie” Carter was convinced that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake with her. In 1987, during the House Sorting Ceremony, the horrible brown hat had sorted her into Slytherin when she felt she belonged in Gryffindor. Leaders, Pride, Ambition, Cunning, Disdain for Rules, Grandeur, Nobility, Provocation. She had none of those eight characteristics.

At least, that was what she thought at first. Since Oliver had been in her life, she had developed two of those characteristics; she was no longer really sure that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake with her. She had pride, she was proud to be seen in Oliver's company. And, she had developed ambition, she would stop at nothing and no one to make Oliver's dreams come true. The thousand letters she had sent to the recruiters of Oliver's favorite Quidditch team asking them to come and watch him play were proof of that.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 1

FIRST YEAR

1987-1988

SEPTEMBER

Charlotte “Charlie” Carter Silverthorn, better known as C.C., was at the back of the first year procession. It was the start of the school year and she was terrified, this was her first time away from home.

She did not really know what to expect; besides, she did not know anyone, some children had already managed to make one or more friends during the train journey. She had not been so lucky, the boy who had shared her compartment with her had spent the first half of the journey eating sweets, well, "eating" was a big word, there had been more on the floor than in his mouth; and the other half, he had spent sleeping, his snoring had covered the noise of the old locomotive. Charlotte had never been violent by nature, but she had to admit that she had regretted not having a pillow with her to smother this horrible troublemaker.

Charlotte entered the Great Hall, she was so impressed because she saw, everything was so beautiful, but everything was so intimidating, too. The older students looked at her group as if they were hoping to see one of them crack under the pressure, wondering who would start crying or running away first. It would surely be her, she already wanted to run away and go home.

One by one, the students were called to be sorted into the four different houses. Charlotte was apprehensive about her turn. Her parents had been very clear on the subject, if she was not accepted into Slytherin, she would bring shame and humiliation on her family.

Charlotte's name was finally called. She took a shaky step forward, her gaze fixed on her feet to make sure she did not trip over her own feet and fall flat on her face in front of everyone. That would be humiliating.

Charlotte sat on the small wooden stool, Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head and she waited for it to render its verdict. Would she bring pride to her family? Or would it be shame and humiliation?

It had taken an eternity (five minutes) for the Sorting Hat to finally announce which house she would be going to. Slytherin. Charlotte did not move anymore, she did not dare get off the stool to go join the table with the students who proudly wore the green and silver colours. But, all eyes were turned towards her, Charlotte swallowed her saliva with difficulty before finally having the courage to join the table which was on the far left of the Great Hall.

What the hell was she doing here? She was looking at the students in her house, she had nothing in common with them. They were all so loud, so proud, so arrogant, and they all thought the world was theirs, it was very clear on their faces. Charlotte was the complete opposite. What if the Sorting Hat had made a mistake with her? Was that even possible?

Charlotte already wanted to go home...

OCTOBER

Charlotte did not like Hogwarts. There was a competitive spirit between the four houses and it made Charlotte uncomfortable; all she wanted to do was learn new things, try to remember all the trivia, all the potions, all the information the Professors had drowned them with.

Charlotte's parents had been putting pressure on her without even realising it. In the months leading up to her entry into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they had told her that they had the best students in their year, getting the best grades from their first to their last year at the school. The Professors had been so impressed with the school career that Professor Dumbledore had named them both valedictorians ( a title that did not exist before and which disappeared just after they boarded the Hogwarts Express for the very last time ). Both of her parents had been members of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and had been very good at it. In other words, Mr. and Mrs. Silverthorn were perfect in every way, and Charlotte had trouble remembering whether the Wingardium Leviosa spell was a Charms spell or a Transfiguration spell. She could not hold a candle to them.

Charlotte did not have any friends either. She had not had much time to make any, her nose was buried in textbooks or her notes. The mentality of the other students exasperated her to the highest degree. How could someone be so hypocritical? So arrogant and pretentious?

Everything was a competition. Who had the best grades. Who had the best broom. Who had the best clothes and the most expensive accessories. Who was the most popular. Who was the richest ( and, the richest students would bet and debate about which of the students who belonged to the "poor" category was the poorest, as if knowledge would make their lives better… ). Charlotte would not be surprised if she learned that they were also in competition with each other to see who had the best handwriting.

She was still convinced that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake with her. In reality, she thought it was a mistake to be here, at Hogwarts. She did not belong, she had nothing to do with these people.

Charlotte was literally counting down the days until Christmas break, she could not wait to go home, isolate herself in her room for three weeks and forget that she hated Hogwarts and that she still had six years to do at this - horrible - school.

Maybe she could before she transferred to another school of Magic. She could go to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, French was not very hard to learn, according to her, so she could easily adapt. Or maybe Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in North America, she spoke the same language as them, she would not have any problems adapting.

She would talk about it with her mother when she returned home in December.

NOVEMBER

Charlotte had only one month and one week left to hold out. Her views on the school had not changed; in fact, this last month had only strengthened her resentment towards it. Charlotte hated Hogwarts now.

The positive point, because yes, there was still a positive point, everything was not so terrible. So, the positive point was that Winter had finally set in. It was very cold, the snow was starting to fall a little, but it was sticking to the ground so Charlotte did not care that there was only a single millimetre of snow under her feet for the moment. For the first time since the beginning of September, Charlotte had a smile on her lips, a real smile at that.

Charlotte spent most of her time outside, near the Black Lake, the trees covered in that thin white coat created by the snow, the lake was already frozen and the landscape around her was similar to the one she could see on some postcards or in the famous paintings of Ivan Shishkin. It was her favourite place in the entire Hogwarts property.

On a completely different subject, Charlotte finally had all her bearings in the castle, she no longer got lost in the corridors, she now knew that if she turned left on the second floor, she would not come face to face with Professor Binns' Classroom, but with one of the many broom cupboards. Which was a real improvement for her given the very poor sense of direction she had.

Her grades were average, she worked very hard to improve them and the teachers complimented her on her efforts, well except for one teacher but that was not very important. No one compared her to her parents, so that was a victory. No one told her that in her place, her mother or father would have done better or would have gotten the maximum grade.

She still did not have any friends, but honestly, it did not keep her up at night anymore. She did not care. She even saw it as a blessing, she did not need to worry or be afraid that her friends were hypocrites and would use her for their own gain. At least she was at peace. Plus, as an only child, she knew how to keep herself busy and entertained.

Also, if she could convince her mother, she might even be living her last weeks at Hogwarts, so she definitely did not need to make friends. She would make them at her new school. She just had to be a little patient. That was all she needed. And then, she would be free.

DECEMBER

Charlotte thanked Merlin for giving her such a strong immune system. She had spent all her time outside in the cold, enjoying the scenery. At the end of each school day, Charlotte had put on her warmest clothes before running to the Black Lake to do her homework, or just enjoy the peace and quiet the place offered. One of its advantages was that no one ever came to the Black Lake, she had it all to herself.

Oh, and she only had a few more days to go before she had to go home. The Black Lake would be the only thing she would miss about Hogwarts. Okay...the Library too, all those books, the absolute calm, the cosy and warm atmosphere of the place. Hogwarts Castle was not so bad in itself, it was the people who lived there that were her problem…

Charlotte was currently packing her suitcase, throwing her things into the large trunk, not caring that her clothes might get wrinkled or damaged. She figured that if she packed her suitcase quickly, then she would be in the rain faster and then home faster. Unfortunately, she still had several hours before Hagrid, the half-giant ( who was much friendlier than anyone else in this school ), would accompany them to Hogsmeade so they could all catch the Hogwarts Express.

" Come on, Charlie, you can hold on. Just a few more hours and you'll be free. Just a few more hours and you'll never have to set foot in that horrible place again ," she thought. She hoped she was not getting her hopes up, she could not handle the disappointment of having to stay at Hogwarts until the end of her schooling.

Charlotte was finally on the train. She had closed the shutter on the window of her compartment and the one on the sliding door, she did not want to be disturbed and had to put up with another student like the one who had travelled with her the day before the start of term.

She had slept for three quarters of the journey. She was exhausted, Charlotte did not know if it was because she did not like Hogwarts, but she could not sleep, she was always tired and she had the impression that even if she slept twenty-four hours straight, she would still be just as tired, as if in reality, she had not slept for months. She was finally relaxing.

Charlotte smiled widely when she finally saw her parents on the train platform. She was finally home ( well, almost… ) and she knew exactly what she had to say and do to convince her parents to transfer her to another Magic school. But, she had to be patient and subtle before she could actually bring it up, she could not just tell her parents "I want to change schools", they had to first realise that something was wrong with her before she could say anything.

JANUARY

Winter break was over and Charlotte found herself for the third time on the Hogwarts Express. Her plan had not worked. It had even been a total failure. Her father, with all the tact he possessed, had given her a gentle pat on the back before telling her that she had to calm down. And her mother, with all the maternal tenderness she had in her, kissed her daughter on the forehead before telling her that she had to try to fit in and that if at the end of the school year, Charlotte still did not like Hogwarts, only then would they consider the idea of ​​transferring her to another school.

She had hated her parents for this decision. To inflict such a thing on her when she had told them of her distress and her discomfort was cruel according to her.

Charlotte did not want to "try to fit in" or "make light of the situation". She did not like Hogwarts, there was nothing more she could do. She wanted to leave, period. It was not that hard to understand, though…

She had cried so much when her parents had expressed their refusal, thinking that her tears would make them change their minds, it had not been the case. On the contrary, her father had just rolled his eyes, convinced that his daughter was exaggerating and her mother had simply sighed and shrugged her shoulders before mumbling a vague "you'll get over it".

She had not left her room for the last three days of the winter break to show her displeasure.

The next few months were going to be so long, she did not know how she was going to survive seven long months of torture ( she was exaggerating, she was well aware of it, but at that precise moment, that was what she felt ).

Of course, she would quickly change her mind, she would realise that everything was not so horrible, but before getting to that point, she would still complain for a long time.

Charlotte sighed very loudly as she sat on her bed once she was back in her dorm at Hogwarts. Why did her parents never take her seriously when she talked to them?

"Only seven more months, Charlie. You can do this. You can survive these next seven months…," she tried to convince herself that everything would be okay, but she did not really believe it.

FEBRUARY

Charlotte still spent most of her time near the Black Lake, it was still as cold ( if not colder ), she was reading a book when she heard a noise coming from behind her. She sighed in annoyance, no one ever came here, it was her place so who dared to disturb her?

"Oh...sorry, I didn't know there was someone," the student who had disturbed her peace apologised.

"It's okay," she said in a soft voice.

The anger, or rather annoyance, quickly dissipated when she saw that the boy seemed to be as thrilled as she was to be at Hogwarts. She did not know him, but she could tell, no, affirm that they had something in common.

"Uh...my...my name's Oliver Wood, by the way. What's yours?"

The man named Oliver walked forward with an uncertain step, as if he was afraid of intruding too much into her personal space. Charlotte chuckled inwardly at the thought.

"Charlotte Carter Silverthorn, but people call me Charlie."

Oliver simply nodded before going to join Charlotte and sitting down next to her. It was only once he was seated that she noticed he was a Gryffindor. It did not bother her, she did not care what house the students belonged to, she did not let that insignificant detail dictate who she should or should not talk to.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, she did not feel like she had seen him before, yet she had spent a lot of time observing the students of Hogwarts during meals to judge and criticise them in her head, but him? She had never seen him. She was certain of it. She could not have missed him.

He looked to be the same age as her, they must have shared classes, how had she not noticed him before that day? It was a riddle to her.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

Charlotte showed him the front cover of her book, Oliver just nodded before admitting that he had not read it, he was not really a fan of reading...Charlotte laughed softly. This boy was really cool.

Unfortunately for her, that was the last time she would see him, he had disappeared, as if he had never existed. Yet, she knew that he had not been the product of her imagination.

MARCH

Charlotte was starting to think she was going crazy. How could someone just disappear that quickly? How could someone just vanish? She kept her eyes glued to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to try to catch a glimpse of him, he was not there. She strained her ears when she was in class with the first year Gryffindors, the Professors did not say his name when they took the register. It was really as if Oliver Wood did not exist.

She had spent even more time at the Black Lake, hoping that he would join her once more, but he never did. His name was not even spoken in the corridors either. Maybe he had no friends, just like her...

This was her luck, mind you...the only student she was likely to get along with was a mirage. Better to lock her up in St. Mungo's.

Charlotte would not go so far as to say that her quest to find Oliver was becoming an obsession, but it was driving her crazy, for sure. And the less she wanted to think about it, the more her brain refused to think about anything else. Charlotte was convinced that if she acted like she did when she lost her favourite bracelet, Oliver would magically reappear. Just like her bracelet did when she stopped looking for it.

But, Oliver was more stubborn than a silver bracelet. He knew how to hide.

Charlotte had received a letter from her mother, she asked her how things were going for her, if she still hated Hogwarts as much and if she had made friends ( she left aside the fact that it had taken her mother almost three months to get news of her, apparently, her unhappiness was really not worrying in the eyes of her parents ). The young brunette was tempted to lie, she did not want to leave Hogwarts before finding Oliver.

However, as Mrs Silverthorn so aptly put it, you can not find someone who does not want to be found. People had to be left to find their own way back. Alack and alas, Charlotte was not particularly known for her patience.

Charlotte did not give up. She even forgot to answer her mother's letter. She had much more important things to do. Besides, she was not fooled, she suspected that her mother would only read the letter on the surface, she could write sentences that had no particular meaning that she would not even realise.

Charlotte could not really complain, compared to some students, she had great parents. They really loved her and they were ready to do anything for her. They were interested in her and her hobbies, they were not violent with her. So yes, they were sometimes a little "old school" and did not always take her seriously, but beyond that, she really had nothing to complain about.

APRIL

The snow was melting fast, the morning temperatures were freezing and the afternoon temperatures were very hot, the students at Hogwarts were at a loss as to what to wear, and Mrs. Pomfrey had never had such an outbreak of Muggle illness in her entire nursing career.

Charlotte had faked cold symptoms so she could go to the infirmary and see if Oliver was there. No, he must have been the only student not infected by this cold and flu epidemic. It was really her luck... ( well, on the bright side, she had been able to spend an entire afternoon sleeping without worrying about classes ).

Charlotte had eventually admitted defeat, Oliver Wood was nowhere to be found and she increasingly thought he had only been a figment of her overactive imagination.

As the weeks went by, Charlotte had realised that in reality, the students of Hogwarts were not as bad as she thought, the rainy and grey weather of the Autumn and the cold of the Winter had made them stupid, now that the sunny days had - finally - arrived, their mood had improved.

She would never understand why or how people could let the weather dictate their mood of the day, it was completely silly.

Charlotte had come home for the Easter holidays anyway, she did not want to spend her time chasing a ghost anymore. If he really existed, then it was up to him to come to her, just like when they first met by the lake.

Charlotte had not told her parents about Oliver, it would have raised too many questions that she had no answers to. Plus, her father would have given her his speech about boys being bad and that she should not get near them ( he had given her this speech just before she boarded the Hogwarts Express on August 31st ).

Her mother had spent the two weeks of vacation asking her how things were going at Hogwarts, asking her the question once a day, probably hoping to go from "I hate Hogwarts" to "I love it so much I don't want to leave" overnight. But the answer remained the same, much to Mrs. Silverthorn's dismay.

But at least Charlotte could see that her parents were finally starting to take her seriously. So, all was not lost.

MAY

Charlotte was once again near the Black Lake, her feet were immersed in the water. Her potions textbook was open to the page of chapter 3. Charlitte was almost tearing her hair out, she had been revising for several hours for the final exam in Potions and she could not remember the information. Professor Snape was very demanding and very strict, if during the written exam she forgot a single comma, she knew that Snape would not hesitate to fail her. But, there was so much to remember, that she could not do it.

She closed her eyes, she tried to recite the ingredients in order but after the first three, her brain locked up and she was unable to continue. She let out a little cry of frustration before violently closing her schoolbook.

"What's wrong with you?"

That voice. Charlotte had spent months searching for it all over the castle without ever finding it and there it was, behind her. The young Slytherin turned slightly to look at Oliver, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows and his hair was all disheveled, a sign that he had taken off his sweater not so long ago and had not bothered to fix it.

She had been right, he had reappeared once she had stopped looking for him.

"I can't seem to memorize the potion ingredients for next month's final exam. Snape's going to make short work of me, I can feel it."

Oliver went to sit next to her, he grabbed the textbook before opening it to the first chapter. He gave her the memo-technical means he had found and which had made his life easier in Potions, because like her, he could not remember all the components of all the Potions.

"It saved my life, I discovered it by pure chance and honestly, without it, I would not have been able to get good grades all year."

Charlotte thanked him again and again. Hoping that the memory technique would be as effective with her as it was with Oliver.

"Hey, by the way. You know you're a hard guy to find?" she announced point-blank.

"Oh? You were looking for me? Why?"

He chuckled softly, not wanting to disturb the soothing silence that reigned all around them too much. Charlotte smiled widely, nugging him with her shoulder.

“Nah,” she simply said.

JUNE

Charlotte and Oliver had spent the entire past month revising together, exchanging different methods to help them memorize information.

Charlotte did not really consider Oliver a friend, they spent a lot of time together, sure, but they only talked about revision, classes and what they thought would be in the exams. They never talked about the weather, they had not taken a few minutes during the breaks they took between revisions to get to know each other. And to tell the truth, Charlotte did not know what to think about it, she did not know if it was a good thing or not.

Their relationship, if she could actually call what they had a "relationship", was quite strange, they knew that they had to meet up, every day after school, near the Black Lake without the other having to say it verbally. They could sit next to each other for several hours in a row without saying a single word without it being a problem. They were perfectly comfortable with each other so they didn't have to talk over and over again.

However, despite this gray area they were in, Charotte was still going to miss Oliver when she left Hogwarts at the end of the school year. She would have liked to have more time with him, unfortunately, life had decided otherwise.

Besides, she had not told him that she would not be at Hogwarts next term and, quite frankly, she did not know how to tell him, or even if she was required to.

Anyway, the most important thing was the exams, they could not let anything distract them, they had to stay focused, so Charlotte would tell him the news when the exams were over ( or maybe even on the train at the very end of the school year or maybe she would not say anything and let Oliver notice her absence on the first day back, it was cowardly, true, but Charlotte was not always brave...).

Charlotte and Oliver were on the Hogwarts Express, Oliver was eating a ton of candy that he had bought from the Lady with her small Trolley, he had offered some to Charlotte, but the latter was not very fond of candy.

"I-I have to confess something to you," Charlotte announced in a shaky voice.

"Okay, go ahead, I'm listening."

"Next year you'll have to find another study buddy, I won't be here anymore... I'm changing schools..."

Oliver, who was about to pop another Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans into his mouth, stopped mid-air. He looked at Charlotte, blinking his eyes a few times, as if that was a quicker way for him to process and understand what she had just told him. Was he really disappointed that she was leaving?

"Why are you leaving?"

Charlotte just shrugged, not wanting to admit that she was running away from the place because she had no friends and the people were not always very friendly and she did not like that everything was a competition.

On the platform of King's Cross, the two young teenagers were facing each other, it was time for goodbyes. Oliver held out his right hand towards Charlotte, she slipped her hand into his and they exchanged a handshake a little too formal for eleven-year-olds.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Charlie."

"The pleasure is all mine."

They parted ways to go and join their respective parents. Both thinking that this was the last time they would see each other.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 2

SECOND YEAR

1988-1989

SEPTEMBER

Charlotte had quietly boarded the Hogwarts Express, avoiding Oliver like the plague. After telling him she would not be at Hogwarts when school started, she did not want to see him and have him ask her a million and one questions about her presence. She was not ready to face Oliver, even if he had probably forgotten she existed. She had not forgotten him, she did not want to admit it, but she had thought about him for a good part of the summer holidays.

Charlotte had closed the curtains of her compartment so as not to be bothered by anyone, she was going to fall asleep when the door suddenly opened. Charlotte was going to start yelling at the intruder, but it was Oliver who was right in front of her.

"Well, well, well! Who do we have here? The lonely and mysterious Charlotte Carter Silverthorn!"

"Oliver Wood, so glad to see that beautiful face of yours again!"

Charlotte stood up to go greet her friend. They had sent each other a few letters the first two weeks of July, then after that, nothing, it had been radio silence for both parties. Now that she was up, she realized how much he had grown. Three months ago, Oliver was as tall as her, she could easily look him in the eye when she spoke to him, now, she had to raise her head to be able to look at him.

They shook hands, it was still a little too formal for two kids, but it seemed like it had become their thing. Oliver decided to sit with her and spend the whole ride in her company.

Oliver and Charlotte had spent the eleven hours of travel ( in reality it was ten hours and fifty-nine minutes ) talking. They told each other how their vacation had gone. Charlotte had listened to Oliver talk for forty-five minutes about his vacation, he had spent a week here then the other week there then the next one in another country in Europe, then the Woods had gone to Asia, then to North and South America, without forgetting Africa and Oceania. Fortunately magic existed, the Wood family had Apparated from one place to another, remaining, almost always on the Magical side rather than the Muggle side, but they had still been able to explore and discover so many wonderful things.

"What about you?" he finally asked.

"My vacation wasn't as cool as yours. My parents and I stayed at the manor all summer. But, I was allowed to go for a walk in the greenhouse, my mother doesn't let anyone near her greenhouse," Charlotte laughed nervously.

As far as Charlotte could remember, her family had never gone on holiday, her parents thought it was Muggle behaviour and that they were too good to act like them. Her parents were not supporters of Lord Voldemort, they had made sure to stay as far away from him and his schemes as possible; Mr. and Mrs. Silverthorn did not think that Muggles were inferior to Witches and Wizards or that Muggle-borns had no place in Wizarding society. They just did not want to act and behave like Muggles.

"You've never traveled?" Oliver asked, surprised.

"I've never been further than my parents' estate," she admitted, feeling slightly ashamed.

"It's okay. One day we'll travel, you'll see the world. It's beautiful."

Charlotte just nodded, making a superhuman effort not to let Oliver's promise go to her head. They were just kids, after all.

They still took a break from their various conversations to go change.

Once they arrived at Hogwarts, they exchanged a wave, a last smile before going to sit at the table occupied by their respective houses.

OCTOBER

The second year was not easy. A month had barely passed, but the Professors were no longer joking, they had moved on to serious matters in the space of a week. They had kept the first week to explain a little about the program and the expectations of this school year, they had taken stock of the acquired knowledge. Then, the following week, they attacked the serious matters.

Charlotte had even less of a social life than in her first year. She hardly saw Oliver anymore, they did not share any classes together and apparently, Oliver not being at all concerned about the deadlines of that school year, had not accepted Charlotte's proposal to revise together a little bit every day after class.

Too bad for him, he was the one who was going to cry at the end of the year, not her. Apparently, he was going to try out for the Quidditch team, he had been a fan since he was a kid, whenever he could, his father and he would go see a match, he had dozens of posters of different players from his favorite teams hanging in his room, at home in England. Oliver had not hidden it, he had repeated it a good ten times in the Hogwarts Express, it was his dream to become a Quidditch player and join a professional team one day. And the first step was to play for his house team.

Oliver had a dream and nothing could stop him from it. He would be a professional Quidditch player or nothing at all. Although it was risky, Charlotte found it honorable. 

That was why she studied twice as hard. Oliver focused on Quidditch and she focused on her classes. She did not mind doing her own homework and Oliver's. Besides, it was not like anyone knew about their little arrangement. And, thankfully, for both of them, the memory technique Oliver had taught her the year before still worked.

Unfortunately, the weeks, or rather the days, passed and Charlotte saw Oliver even less than at the beginning of the month. She saw him for two minutes after class, he gave her his homework before disappearing; then, she saw him for two minutes before breakfast to give him back the work she had done.

Charlotte had a strange feeling. The first time it had happened, Charlotte did think much of it, it had been a simple oversight. Then it had happened again. And then again. And then again. And Oliver had never thanked her for all the trouble she had taken for him. Not liking confrontations, Charlotte had said nothing to Oliver.

She tried not to think about it too much, there was probably a logical explanation. Maybe he was just swamped with Quidditch practice?

So Charlotte had gone three weeks without really seeing Oliver. She preferred him when he was just a ghost she was chasing…

NOVEMBER

Charlotte was in the stands to watch the first Quidditch match of the year. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Charlotte did not know what she was doing there, she did not like Quidditch, she thought it was a barbarian sport. Plus, she did not support either team.

Oliver and she had become complete strangers again. Charlotte had stopped doing Oliver's homework, from day to night, he had stopped giving it to her and she had not asked him any questions. He had not come to see her in the morning to greet her and wish her a good day. He no longer came to spend a quiet moment with her near the Black Lake, he had cut ties with her without even giving her an explanation for his behavior. But hey! if he wanted to behave like a cad, then that was his problem.

The match had not started yet, she still had plenty of time to slip away. She stood up, a symphony of "sorry", "excuse me" and "watch out, I'm passing" was heard as she passed. Just as she was about to take the stairs to go down, she heard Lee Jordan's voice echo through the microphone, he announced with particular enthusiasm the arrival of the Gryffindor players. Charlotte instinctively raised her head, a glance. Just a glance in his direction and then she would leave.

Her eyes fell on Oliver, he was standing near the three rings. So it was true, he was playing goalie. It had escaped her for a moment. Oliver's gaze was already on her and suddenly Charlotte could not leave anymore.

Five minutes. She told herself she would stay for five minutes and then she would leave for good.

But of course, nothing went as planned. Mrs. Hooch blew the whistle for the start and two minutes later, watch in hand, Oliver fell off his broom before finishing his fall on the sandy ground. The scream that had escaped from Charlotte's throat was not human, it was comparable to the cry of a Banshee. She was the first to go down, Charlotte had never run so fast in her life.

She fell to her knees when she finally reached him, her small hands coming to rest on Oliver's face, it was impossible not to see the worry in her eyes.

Oliver had been taken to the infirmary, Charlotte had followed the Professors, openly disobeying when they told her to return to the other students. There was no way she was leaving him alone.

Charlotte had spent a full week at Oliver's bedside; after the second day, Mrs. Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall had given up on making her leave, it was more than obvious that she would not move. And, after a while, the chair she was sitting on did not seem as hard and uncomfortable as it had been at first.

She had held his hand the whole time, talking to him and telling him that everything would be okay for him, reading in a low voice so as not to disturb the other students present in the hospital wing. Charlotte was very scared ( she had heard Pomfrey and McGonagall say that if he did not wake up soon, Poppy would have to transfer Oliver to St. Mungo's magical hospital ) but she tried not to show it, it was not about her, but about Oliver.

Then Oliver had finally opened his eyes. Charlotte had never been happier in her life. But before he could actually come to his senses and realize where he was, Charlotte stood up, went to get Mrs. Pomfrey before disappearing and never coming back.

DECEMBER

Oliver was doing better and that was all that mattered to Charlotte. However, the two young teenagers still had not spoken to each other. Although it was only a matter of time now.

"Hey, you know you're a hard girl to find?"

Oliver's voice echoed to Charlotte's ears who was, as usual, near the Black Lake, her outdoor blanket laid across her knees.

"Were you looking for me?"

"Yes. I wanted to thank you for staying with me when I had my Quidditch accident."

"No problem."

There was a long, rather awkward silence, Oliver did not dare sit down next to her as he would have done quite naturally a few months ago and Charlotte had her nose buried in her book, she had not once raised her head to face the gaze of her friend. Well, her former friend.

"Look, C.C., I'm sorry."

"C.C.?"

It did not take a genius to figure out why he called her that. Her real name was not just Charlotte, it was Charlotte Carter, but she was tired of people telling her her name was too long so she would only introduce herself with one or she would just say her name was Charlie, which was even shorter. But Oliver was not like the others, he liked to call her by her full name ( sometimes it was just to tease her and sometimes it was because he just liked the sound of it ). This nickname, however, was different. No one had ever called him that. And it would be his nickname, only Oliver Wood would be allowed to use it.

"I apologize and the only thing you remember is the nickname I gave you?"

"Because I like it."

"I'm sorry, C.C.," he repeated, hoping that this time his apology would be accepted.

Charlotte finally raised her head to look at him. She did not say anything, she just lifted her blanket, inviting him to come and sit next to her.

“You’re still a meanie.”

“I figured,” he laughed.

“But I forgive you, Mr. Meanie.”

“Is this gonna be my nickname?”

“Oh, yes! For at least the next three days,” she laughed.

“Won’t survive, I swear to Merlin.”

And just like that, they were friends again. As if the last few weeks had not happened at all.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Always."

"Why did you stay?"

"No one deserves to be alone, Oliver. Especially not during that moment."

"Then why didn't you stay after, when I woke up?"

"I didn't know if you wanted me or not," she answered honestly.

“Impossble. I cannot not want you,” the sincerity in his voice was hard to ignore.

Charlotte rested her head on Oliver's shoulder before mumbling how much she had missed him. Truth be told, he missed her even more than she could ever imagined.

JANUARY

Oliver and Charlotte were at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays, Charlotte had not wanted to go home, her parents had sent her a letter a few days before the holidays to inform her that this year, he would celebrate Christmas with the members of his father's family. Charlotte did not like her father's family so she had made the decision to stay at school. And Oliver...she did not know why he had stayed with her.

The positive point of this situation had been that they had finally been able to really get to know each other. Charlotte had learned that like her, Oliver was an only child, he had always lived in the same city and the same house, but that he had already traveled a lot with his parents. She had learned that it was his father who had introduced Oliver to Quidditch when he was between five and six years old, his favorite team ( which was also his father's ) was Puddlemere United and that he dreamed of one day being able to play for them. He also had the ambition to become the captain of the Gryffindor team ( if he succeeded in this feat, then it would probably facilitate his entry into a professional team ).

She had also learned that Oliver preferred to eat fruit over vegetables. He did not have a favorite color, but he liked red and blue. He did not read ( except for the Daily Prophet ) because books were too long and too boring and there were too many unnecessary details. He knew how to use a few Muggle objects, but he was far from being an expert in them. He had been homeschooled from the age of six until he started Hogwarts ( just like Charlotte had been and like the vast majority of Hogwarts students ).

They did not have much in common, but that was okay. Charlotte even thought it was better this way. They could exchange their points of view on different subjects, it fueled the discussion instead of just saying "yes, I agree with you." or "you're right on all counts." They had a lot more to talk about.

Charlotte had been so sad when she had entered the Great Hall, during the evening meal and had seen all the students who had left during the holidays already back. No more quiet time with Oliver...what sad news…

Oliver waved at Charlotte as he saw her enter the Great Hall, she walked towards him, a big smile on her face.

"Eat with me?" Oliver held out the plate he had just prepared and had not touched yet.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." Charlotte looked around and Oliver's housemate did not seem to be happy about having a Slytherin student eating at their table.

"Sit down and eat with me."

Charlotte sat down next to Oliver and they ate together. Charlotte had not cared about the indignant looks Oliver's housemates had been giving her throughout the meal.

In this new year, things were going to change and for once, Charlotte felt that it would be in a good way.

FEBRUARY

February. Ah, February! Charlotte's least favorite month of the year. There was too much pink everywhere. Who had decided that Valentine's Day and the month of February had to be associated with this horrible color? Could they not have chosen a less ugly color? Okay, yes, there was red, too, but pink was still predominant.

"So, if I sum it up correctly," Oliver already laughed before continuing his sentence. "You hate February just because it has pink absolutely everywhere?"

"That's exactly it. It's the worst color in the world," she stated in a firm and serious tone.

"So... pink is out of the question? I'll never see you wearing anything with pink in it?"

"I'd rather die."

Oliver laughed out loud, she was so dramatic sometimes, he had never met anyone like her.

But Charlotte could see in Oliver's eyes that there was something wrong.

“Don’t…don’t tell me that’s actually your favorite color…? I am so sorry! I-uh-actually it is not that ugly…?”

“No…but…”

Oliver pulled a pink and purple bracelet out of his pants pocket and handed it to her.

“Mom said pink was a safe bet, all the girls like it so she bought it…”

“Is it for me?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes…” he took a moment to scratch the back of his neck nervously. “But I’m sure mom can exchange it.”

Charlotte held out her wrist to him before asking him to put it on. She admired it for several long seconds once Oliver had put it on her wrist properly.

Mrs. Silverthorn had always told Charlotte that a piece of jewelry without diamonds was not a real piece of jewelry, it was not a real gift. But now that she had this plastic jewelry around her wrist, Charlotte understood how wrong her mother was. It was the most beautiful bracelet she had ever received and she would never get rid of it.

Charlotte kissed Oliver on the cheek, she had a genuine smile on her lips.

"Thank you very much, it's beautiful! I'll see later, when I go to the Library, to find a spell to make it never break."

"You don't have to pretend to like it, you know?"

"I'm not pretending, Oliver. I really like it a lot."

And it was true, she was not lying, she really did like her new jewel. The color, the material it was made of, or even the price it had cost did not matter to her.

During the Easter holidays, Charlotte promised herself that she would go to every shop in Oxfordshire to find him a present. She did not know that he would buy her anything, so she had nothing for him in return...yet.

She was going to get him something simple, yet classy. Something... who was she trying to fool? She was definitely going to get him something Quidditch related.

Hopefully she could ask her father if he knew anyone on the Puddlemere United team who could get a signed shirt for Oliver. Her father had connections with everyone and anyone so she had no doubt he could do her a small favor.

MARCH

March was finally here. The transition from Winter to Spring was finally starting. But there was more than just the arrival of the warm weather. There was also Oliver's birthday. Charlotte had the jersey signed by the entire Puddlemere United team for Oliver. The jersey had arrived a few days ago, she was going to give it to him when she remembered that his birthday was coming up soon.

“Oliver Wood!” she shouted across the hallway to get the attention of her friend who was with his friends.

“Charlotte Carter Sliverthorn!” he screamed back, with a wide smile.

Oliver's friends left and Oliver waited for Charlotte to join him. She had run through the corridors, she had been scolded by Filch, but she did not care at all.

“Hey, birthday boy!”

“Hey, you.”

Charlotte did not waste any time, she gave him the gift she had for him. Oliver smiled before ripping the paper off at the speed of light, Charlotte giggled.

Still, she was nervous. What if he already had one? He had seen dozens of games of this team, at one point or another, he could have collected the autographs of all the players…she felt so stupid…

Then, suddenly, she felt Oliver's arms encircle her and her feet were no longer touching the ground. She heard Oliver speak, but in all honesty, she did not understand anything at all of what he was saying to her, his voice was muffled because of her long brown hair. A few seconds later, she was back on solid ground.

"You're the best! Damn, you really are the best!" He put both his hands on her cheeks, they looked into each other's eyes. "How did you get it?"

"My dad knows someone who owed him a favor."

"You're great! You're the best," he repeated once more.

No one had ever looked at her like that. She had felt like she was the only girl in the world, and there was something else in Oliver's eyes that she could not quite describe, but if she had to give a word, she would say 'affection'. There was affection in Oliver Wood's hazel-green eyes. Charlotte felt the red rise to her cheeks. She looked down slightly as best she could with the young Gryffindor's hands still on her face.

Oliver placed a tender kiss on the tip of Charlotte's nose before pulling away from her. Charlotte giggled when she felt Oliver's lips brush against the skin of her nose. She giggled like a little girl.

"Don't move from there. I'll hang it in my room!"

Charlotte had never seen Oliver so happy, she could not help but smile in return.

Once Oliver was out of her sight, Charlotte brought the tip of her index finger to her nose, where Oliver had kissed her, and her smile grew twice as wide.

Once Oliver was out of her field of vision, Charlotte brought the tip of her index finger to her nose, where Oliver had kissed her and her smile grew twice as wide. She felt her heart beat faster, too. She felt like she was in those books she read before falling asleep at night or whenever she went to the Black Lake to relax.

APRIL

Oliver and Charlotte's friendship had grown stronger as the days had passed. They were now inseparable, they had begged the Professors to put them in the same classes so that they could be together ( to plead their case, they had said that it was to revise better, and that they worked much better when they were together and to their great amazement, it had worked ), so they sat next to each other in every class. They ate together at every meal, one time they were at the Gryffindor table and the next meal they were at the Slytherin table. The only time of the day they were not together was from curfew until breakfast time.

Charlotte still had the bracelet Oliver had given her a few days before Valentine's Day. She had found a spell to make the jewelry unbreakable. And, Oliver had the Puddlemere United jersey hanging right above his bed, he had forbidden his roommates to touch it, it was the most precious thing he owned and he would not let anyone dirty it or damage it. He looked at it every chance he got. He still could not believe the jersey was real. Charlotte really was the best friend he had ever had.

He knew Charlotte was scared every time he rode his broom to practice or before every match. She had also asked him to quit Quidditch, the horrible fall he had made during his very first match had traumatized Charlotte to such a point that in reality the young Slytherin had not gone to the Gryffindor match against Hufflepuff in March. And she would not be present for the Gryffindor match against Ravenclaw next May either. Oliver had refused to quit Quidditch, it was perhaps dramatic, but he could not quit, Quidditch was his whole life. Charlotte had not insisted, she knew she could not make him change his mind, not on this subject.

So, yes, Oliver readily admitted, he was disappointed not to have his best friend with him, to encourage and motivate him, but he understood why she could not watch his matches, if the roles had been reversed he would most likely have reacted the same way she did. He had respected her decision, as she had respected his decision not to stop Quidditch.

Oliver had to find a way to prove to Charlotte that Quidditch was not as dangerous as she thought. What had happened to her in November would never happen to her again. Even though he could not actually promise her that, he could promise her to be much more careful and that was why he could say that he would never let an opposing player knock her out again.

Oliver had a genius idea. It was not exactly a genius idea, but it had to work nonetheless.

Oliver held Charlotte's hand, they were walking towards the Quidditch pitch. Charlotte was afraid of brooms, she was afraid of flying and she was afraid every time Oliver got on his broom, he went so high and he had to balance on his broom sometimes because he had to stop the different balls with his hands. He could fall at any moment and it was terrifying.

Oliver mounted his broom, he held out his hand to Charlotte who shook her head from left to right. There was no way, she would not ride it and even Oliver's reassuring and warm smile could not change her mind.

“You’re my brave girl, yeah? You can do it.”

“I don’t think I can…”

"Come on, C.C., trust me."

"No. Not this time."

"It's not dangerous, you'll see."

"Ten the one who fell 18 meters five months ago."

"C.C. you have to see for yourself, it's not as dangerous as you think."

"Today, maybe, because it's just the two of us. But it'll be a whole different story in May, with all the players and the balls flying everywhere."

Oliver looked Charlotte straight in the eyes, when he saw the terror in her gaze he gave up on the idea. The goal was to help her see Quidditch in a different light, not traumatize her even more.

MAY

Charlotte had mentally prepared herself to attend Oliver's Quidditch match, it was the last match of the season and she knew that Oliver even though he had not said anything wanted her to be there. She had already seen the worst, she had heard that in the last match the opposing team had not touched Oliver once and she had found it hard to believe until the moment Oliver had entered the Great Hall in one piece and without a single scratch. He had been lucky in the last match, that did not mean he would be lucky again.

She did not mean to be so defeatist or pessimistic, she was just really scared for Oliver. He was the most important person in her life, he was the first person she had managed to bond with, he was her only friend and her only goal was to not let anything bad happen to him. Quidditch made things damn difficult for her.

But, she was in the stands, hands over her eyes, she did not want to watch the game, well, she did not want to see him get hurt or knocked out. A Gryffindor student kept her informed of everything that happened during the game, she had even tried to force Charlotte to remove her hands from her eyes and open them but she had not given in. She had not seen anything of the game, but that did not matter, Oliver had asked for her to be there, not for her to watch the game from start to finish.

Gryffindor had won the match, but it had not been enough to win the Inter-House Quidditch Cup. Oliver was disappointed, sure, but next year they would do better. They just needed to train harder and longer to be on par with the other three teams.

"You know, C.C., you could have really enjoyed the game if you had actually watched it," Oliver laughed, having flown over to her.

"Nah, that's fine by me," Charlotte replied, shaking her head from side to side. "Next year I think I'll just turn my back to the field, so I can be sure I don't see anything at all."

"You're being so dramatic, it's unbelievable."

"If you weren't on your broom right now, I'd hit you!"

“Lucky me, then, eh?”

“Yeah, lucky you!”

Charlotte turned her back on him before leaving, Oliver pointed his broom towards the ground to return to dry land. They both had smiles on their faces.

But, Oliver did not lose hope, Charlotte would eventually watch her matches and not just be present with her eyes closed. She would come around, he knew it. It was just a matter of time.

"By the way," Charlotte announced once Oliver had emerged from the boys' locker room. "You played a very good game."

"How do you know? You didn't see anything," he said in an amused tone, but the compliment still pleased him.

"Your housemate gave me a detailed description of the game and Lee Jordan is Gryffindor's number one fan."

"Mhm."

Oliver put his arm around Charlotte's shoulders and they left for their last revision session of May.

JUNE

Charlotte was lying on her bed, in two days she would have to say goodbye to Oliver and then spend two months without him. How was she going to survive?

Did they really have to leave Hogwarts? Charlotte laughed - luckily she was alone in the room - suddenly, at this time last year, she was dying to go home because she thought she would change schools and finally be able to say goodbye to Hogwarts. And now, she was on the verge of tears because she had to leave for two short months…

Well, it also had to be said that she was not on the verge of tears because she was going to miss Hogwarts. She was on the verge of tears because she was going to miss Oliver.

She had not really had time to think about the summer holidays because of revision and exams, but now that she finally had some free time, she could not think about anything else and it made her sad.

Charlotte finally got out of bed, she was only now going to start packing her bags. She did not hurry, far from it, in fact. After finishing her second suitcase, Charlotte felt that she had earned a break; she took her outdoor blanket and her book before leaving her dorm and the dungeons a few seconds later and then she headed towards the Black Lake.

On the train, Charlotte had her head resting on Oliver's laps, the latter talking to her about what his parents had planned to do during the summer.

"Mom wants to go camping, she said it's been a long time since she's been camping."

"Camping? What's that?" Charlotte asked, intrigued by this activity.

"Uh...how do I explain...it's a tourist activity, basically you travel with a camper van with only the bare necessities and you sleep in a tent, but there are lots of ways to go camping."

"That sounds really interesting."

"Yeah, it's not my favorite, but it's cool."

Charlotte was envious, not in a bad way, she envied the ease with which Oliver and his family embraced the Muggle culture and way of life. Muggles were so fascinating to her, they loved to travel, they used different means of transportation, and so many tools to help them in everyday life, they lived for the most part simply but had so many ways to entertain themselves and live a full and enriching life. And, Charlotte was not ashamed to say it, she wanted to know that, too. She wanted to know and experience their way of life.

There was no way her parents would agree to travel with her and let her use the Muggle bus or what Oliver had called a bycicle to get from point A to point B across her city. Nor would they agree to not using magic for anything and everything and living like a half-Muggle. Which was a shame, their way of life seemed so fun and fascinating.

"Send me some postcards telling me about your camping?"

"I promise, lovely C.C.," he said, poking her cheek playfully.

“Yay.”

They slept for the rest of the journey.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 3

THIRD YEAR

1989-1990

SEPTEMBER

Charlotte was back in her dorm, she was standing on her bed and she was hanging just above her bed all the postcards that Oliver had sent her during the Summer and the other souvenirs that he had given her a little earlier on the train.

It was the very first time Charlotte had decorated her side of the dorm and for some strange reason, as she watched her hard work, she finally felt like she belonged, her side of the dorm finally felt like it was hers, like it was her room. It made the place feel less cold, less impersonal. For the very first time in two years - almost three -, Charlotte felt like Hogwarts was finally going to be able to become her home instead of just a place where she spent ten months out of twelve for seven years ( she only had five and a half left ).

Charlotte smiled, proud of the work she had accomplished. She never wanted to get rid of this feeling of happiness and plenitude that she had been feeling for some time now.

One of the four roommates entered the room, Charlotte did not really pay attention to her, Charlotte was staring at the only picture of Oliver that was hanging on the wall with the postcards. He had sent it to her with one of the cards, when he and his family were in Rye in East Sussex, the town was rich in Muggle history and Oliver knew how fascinated Charlotte was by Muggles so he had sent her a picture of him posing in front of a beautiful little castle. Below the polaroid there was a simple little sentence: "You would have loved this place, I have not stopped thinking about you." he had simply signed with his first name.

'I have not stopped thinking about you' this sentence played over and over in Charlotte's head. Her heart had accelerated its beating and the young woman thought it was humanly impossible for a heart to beat so fast; it was as if it was literally going to come out of her chest at any moment. It was the strangest but most pleasant feeling at the same time and she never wanted to get rid of it.

"Oh, your boyfriend sent you a bunch of presents over the holidays," Charlotte's roommate scoffed.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend, and secondly, you really do have an exceptional knack for pointing out the obvious."

"You two aren't together, so you wouldn't mind setting me up with him, would you?"

"Don't even think about it. He's not a big fan of vipers anyway."

"Oh, wow! Very original, Silverthorn!"

"The truth hurts, you know."

Charlotte decided to leave the dorm, because in reality, she was getting on his nerves and Charlotte was not exactly known for her patience and ability to stay calm. Usually, Oliver was there to get her away from any heated situation before she lost her cool.

As the dorm door closed behind her, Charlotte felt anger rise up inside her along with a feeling she had never experienced before, jealousy. It was not the bad jealousy where she wanted to keep Oliver all to herself and prevent him from having a social life outside of her; it was hard to explain, but Oliver was her only friend and she was afraid of the day he would start dating someone, he would leave her behind and end up forgetting her and she would be all alone again. If it was not already clear, Charlotte had abandonment issues.

Charlotte went to find Oliver ( he was not hard to find, he was on the Quidditch pitch ). She sat down next to him and they remained silent for a few moments.

"I can practically hear you thinking," Oliver announced, finally turning his head towards her.

"That...that Medusa bitch…viper or…or whatever really doesn't know how to shut her big mouth," Charlotte spat, her anger suddenly doubled.

Oliver laughed gently, giving his best friend a light nudge with his shoulder before asking her what was wrong with her this time to put her in such a state, to which Charlotte told him the whole story.

“Did you really hang up my postcards and the polaroid on your wall?”

“I just told you that Medusa was after you just to break your heart and piss me off and all you remember is that I decorated my side of the dorm with the stuffs you sent me this summer?”

“Because I don't care about her, C.C., you know very well that you're the only Slytherin I like. So stop letting it get in your head.”

Charlotte knew he was right, that she should not pay attention to what Medusa said, that it would only get her into trouble, but she could not do otherwise. She did not like her and Medusa knew what to say to piss her off.

OCTOBER

Oliver was running through the school corridors, normally he was going to Hogsmeade with the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but there had been a last minute change of plans. Just before he crossed the school gate, Minerva had called his name and she had signaled him that he should follow her.

"What is it, Professor? Am I in trouble?"

"No, it doesn't concern you, Mr. Wood. It's Miss Silverthorne, she's in the hospital wing."

Minerva had not even had time to explain what had happened to Charlotte, he had run away to be with her as soon as possible. Oliver knew how much she hated the Hogwarts hospital wing, he did not know why exactly , but Charlotte had confided in him that it was the place in the school where she felt the least safe.

Oliver rushed through the infirmary doors, not taking the time to close them before continuing his run to Charlotte's bed. He sat on her bed, gently cupping her face in his hands, he gasped when he saw the state she was in.

"What...what happened? Who did this to you?" Oliver tried his best to control his voice, but the truth was he was so worried that his voice was raising on its own.

Charlotte's eyes filled with tears and before she could answer, Oliver pulled her into his arms to give her all the comfort she needed at that moment. They would have time later to talk, right now all that mattered to Oliver was making sure she was okay and that now she was safe in his arms and that he would not let anyone hurt her again.

Charlotte spent several long minutes crying on Oliver's shoulder, but he did not care, it was the least of his worries. Oliver's heart had broken with every sob. Then, she finally moved away from him, Oliver passed his thumbs under Charlotte's eyes to chase away the last tears present on her beautiful but battered face.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver," Charlotte's eyes filled with tears again, but she did not cry this time.

"Why are you sorry? What happened?" Oliver asked with a frown

"She was running her mouth again and...and...and...I tried to ignore her and do as you told me...but...but...but she got pissed off when I didn't react so she destroyed everything..."

Charlotte's last sentence caused the girl to sob again; Oliver did not need to ask her what Medusa had destroyed, Charlotte had told him enough times how much the postcards and the photograph meant to her and that after the bracelet he had given her last February, they were the most precious things she owned ( Oliver found it both fascinating and hard to believe, she owned extraordinary and priceless things, but Charlotte had explained to him that none of these things had been given to her with affection unlike Oliver's gifts ).

But, that did not explain how she ended up with a black eye and a gash on the left corner of her lower lip.

"What happened next?"

"We exchanged some insults, then she started talking nonsense about you and I lost my cool...I know you don't like it but I could not not react so before I could think my hand was in her face."

Oliver sighed weakly, he did not like it when Charlotte got into trouble because of him. She knew though that he did not care what the Slytherin house students said about him, it was childish and honestly, they could say whatever they wanted, it did not affect him, he knew who he was and he was comfortable in his own skin, so he did not care what lie they decided to tell about him, no matter what rumor they wanted to start, Oliver did not care because he knew the truth about himself as did the people close to him.

"My sweet, sweet Charlotte, even though it's really honorable of you, but it really didn't do any good. Let them talk, that's all they can do anyway. You and I are better than them, OK?"

"OK."

Charlotte nodded, but Oliver could see that it was not a convincing nod, Charlotte would continue to defend Oliver through thick and thin, it was just who she was and Oliver as much as he liked that side of her, he could not help but worry about her. He really better tell his parents to get a good cardiologist, because he felt that the little heart attack he had when Minerva told him Charlotte was in the hospital wing would be far from the last.

NOVEMBER

Oliver had made sure that Charlotte was not involved in any fights with anyone anymore. He did not care about the safety of the other students, he only cared about Charlotte and he knew that last time she had been lucky but that she would not always be lucky; he wanted to avoid it becoming a habit so that one day Charlotte would not overestimate her opponent and be seriously injured.

It was not an easy task, though. Since the start of the school year, he had noticed that Charlotte had a certain anger in her. He did not know where it came from or what made her like that. Oliver was torn, he wanted to ask her what was wrong and show her that he was there for her and that she could talk to him, he would keep every secret she told him; but on the other hand, he did not want to ask her questions so that she would not feel like she had to talk to him if she did not want to, he wanted her to come to him because she wanted to come and talk to him and tell him what was wrong. Out of desire, not obligation.

So he opted for something more subtle.

"You know, you can tell me anything, I will never judge you."

Or maybe not so subtle after all…

"Yes, I know that. And I know what you're referring to, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, no problem."

Oliver turned his head to her and gave her a genuine smile, she did not want to talk and he was going to respect her choice. As he had mentioned, he was not going to force her to talk when she did not want to.

"I don't even know why I'm so mad! It doesn't make sense to me, it's not like there's something serious going on like my parents are getting divorced — they’re not, by the way — or something. I have no real reason to feel this way but I'm so mad!"

Even when she tried to explain what was wrong, Oliver could hear the anger in her voice ( now, he suspected it was more because she was unable to say what was bothering her ).

"Is it still about what Medusa did?" 

He knew that Charlotte was still bitter about the fact that her roommate had dared to reduce the photos and postcards he had sent her during the Summer to confetti, Oliver had tried to find a spell to glue the pieces back together, it had worked, but it was not the same...Oliver was not a powerful enough wizard yet, when he had glued the pieces back together, you could still see the tear marks, you would have thought that they had reconstituted the photos and postcards with adhesive tape, it was not the same thing at all…

"You don't have to know right away, sometimes it's hard to put words to what you feel," he reassured her.

"I know...but still..." Charlotte sighed exaggeratedly. "It's annoying not being able to describe exactly what I feel..."

"Like everything else, it will come in due time."

It was Charlotte's turn to nod. If only Oliver knew that his best friend was lying to him like a tooth-puller...

DECEMBER

Charlotte knew very well why she was so angry all the time and if she did not want to talk about it to Oliver it was only because she was ashamed. In reality, she was not angry or upset, she was jealous and she had no right to be.

Charlotte, contrary to what she made people believe, she did not have the same arrogance and assurance and self-confidence as her housemates. She doubted herself every second that passed; she knew that she had nothing that made her stand out, she had an ordinary hair color, blue eyes that had no depth, she had a beauty common to so many other girls, she was not particularly intelligent — she was not stupid for all that — she was just aware that there were things she knew and others she did not know, most of the time she knew what she was talking about, otherwise she refused to take part in the conversation. She was ordinary, average.

No one in thirteen years of existence had ever decided to choose her; if Oliver had, it had been nothing more than a coincidence; if he had the chance, he would choose someone else. Nothing could convince Charlotte otherwise.

That was the reason for her jealousy. Medusa had not been the only one to come to her and talk about Oliver, as if he had only just begun to exist four months ago. More and more girls were coming to her to ask if Oliver was seeing someone lately — she was always tempted to lie and say he was taken but it was not fair to him. She could not do such a thing to him. Oliver had the right to have a life outside of her, even if she hated it.

She was jealous and angry because she knew it was only a matter of time before Oliver chose one of the girls he was circling around and pushed her into the background until he even forgot she was there. It was bound to happen.

Charlotte was brooding on her bed when a seventh-year student opened the door to her dorm to inform her that her "boyfriend" was waiting for her outside the dungeon door. Charlotte frowned for a moment, wondering who she was talking about before realizing that she was referring to Oliver. So she got out of bed, her thick duvet over her shoulders because it was always freezing cold in the dungeons of Hogwarts, and went to join her best friend.

"Hey," she greeted in a tired voice, it had been a long day and all Charlotte wanted was to sleep until the next morning when her alarm went off.

"Hi," Oliver replied, smiling weakly at her. "I came because I had to ask you something important."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Earlier, there was this Hufflepuff girl who asked me if I wanted to go for a Butterbeer with her this weekend."

"Oh, I'm happy for you, but you don't have to ask me if you can go, you're free to do whatever you want, with whoever you want."

Charlotte saw Oliver sigh and her shoulders slumped all at once. Charlotte did her best to hide her jealousy and anger. She had become better at this game, lately.

"No, you don't understand, C.C., what I'm trying to tell you is... damn it! I want to go, I want to go have a Butterbeer, but not with her."

"With who, then?" Charlotte's impatience was making itself felt, in her defense, she was really very tired.

"With you !" Oliver shouted the last word of his sentence before looking around to make sure no one was around them and that this conversation was turning into a spectacle for the students of the school. "I want to go have a drink this weekend with my best friend, not some random girl I probably wouldn't want to see again."

"Oh..."

Charlotte was speechless, to say she expected anything but this was an understatement. She was so shocked that she forgot to answer Oliver.

“So…what do you say? Please, put me out of my misery…you’re killing me, here…”

“Oh, Merlin! Yes! Sure! Of course! I mean, yes I would like to go and have a Butterbeer with you this weekend.”

“Great! Awesome! See you tomorrow, have a good night.”

“Same goes for you.”

Oliver left and Charlotte returned to her dorm, a huge smile on her face. In fact, her smile hadn't left her since.

JANUARY

There was some tension between Oliver and Charlotte; it had started after their Hogsmeade outing the previous month. The dynamics of their relationship had changed but neither of them wanted to acknowledge it, to do so would be to admit that it was real and they did not want that. They were afraid of what this change would bring to their relationship and neither of the two friends wanted to take the risk of ruining such a beautiful friendship for something that might not even be real.

The other students had noticed it too, but like Charlotte and Oliver, they too had their heads buried in the sand and acted as if they did not see the little discreet glances that the two friends threw at each other throughout the day; they acted as if they did not see Charlotte approaching Oliver's hand or when she brushed the skin of Oliver's hand with her little finger; they acted as if they did not see Charlotte blushing as soon as Oliver looked at her for a little too long; they acted as if they did not see Oliver grinning with all his teeth when he caught Charlotte looking at him from the other end of the classroom; they pretended not to see that Charlotte was attending all of the Gryffindor Quidditch practices ( and they all knew it was not to spy on Gryffindor for Slytherin's team ) and then being in the stands during Oliver's matches ( although she did not watch them because she was still afraid that something bad would happen to Oliver ). They all pretended not to see any of this, even though Oliver and Charlotte had the discretion of a herd of elephants.

Both concerned also refused to talk about it, if one of their respective friends — or in Charlotte's case, students with too much curiosity — asked questions about the nature of their relationship, they quickly changed the subject or simply kept silent, because sometimes it was better if they said nothing at all. They forgot that in many cases, actions speak louder than any words.

For the first time, Charlotte had gone home for the Christmas holidays, she had needed to put some distance between Oliver and her, she needed to get her thoughts in order. She had thought that the tension between them was only due to the fact that they spent so much time together, they had almost become each other's shadows, so spending a little time apart should not have hurt them. In theory. It was quite the opposite that had happened — at least for Charlotte — she had thought that her feelings would disappear the moment she closed the door to her room in her family home; but, she had been miserable. She had almost entered a state of depression because she missed Oliver so much and she wanted only one thing and that was to return to Hogwarts to be with him.

She had no choice now, she had to admit that her feelings were real. She had to admit that the tension between them did exist. She could not bury her head in the sand anymore.

FEBRUARY

Charlotte had the perfect Valentine's Day gift for Oliver. The Quidditch World Cup was fast approaching, she did not know not because she followed the news in the Daily Prophet but because Oliver was talking about nothing else. If it had been anyone else, Charlotte would have already told him to shut up ( in a much less polite way, it goes without saying ), but she loved how passionate Oliver was.

Charlotte had managed to get passes to the World Cup, giving the holder the ability to attend any match they wanted and as many matches as their hearts desire. It was Oliver's dream, a whole month of Quidditch. He was actually going to eat, drink, sleep, and live Quidditch for the entire World Cup period.

To get them, Charlotte had had to part with her favorite jewelry set, but it had been totally worth it so she had not been sad for too long. Plus, the joy Oliver was about to feel had overshadowed her sorrow. She also knew that this would be a dream come true for him, so there was really no room for tears and sadness.

However, her gift for him was in two parts, the England team had, for the occasion, released a brand new jersey available for all their supporters to purchase. And of course, it was inconceivable to Charlotte that Oliver would attend an event of such importance to him — and to the Wizarding World — in a jersey that was as old as the two of them.

Her problem, or rather her dilemma was that she did not know if she should give him everything at once or if she should give him part for Valentine's Day and the other part for his birthday in March. She did not really know if giving him both parts at once was such a good idea after all, if she did, she would not have anything to get him for his birthday ( she would not have any new ideas for a present by then and even if she did, Oliver would complain because she was spending too much money on his account and he did not like that ).

Finally, she decided to follow her first idea, she would give them to him separately. She would give him the jersey first, giving him time to think about why she was giving him this and what the second part would be ( he would have a little less than three weeks to figure it out ).

They had an appointment near the Black Lake, as since the beginning of their friendship, it was their safe space, no one ever went there and even less during the winter period, the snow, the cold and the ice did not make anyone want to venture there. No one except Oliver and Charlotte.

Charlotte had wasted no time, as soon as one of the two old blankets had been laid on the floor and they were finally settled under the second one, she gave him the gift.

Oliver let out a cry of surprise when he saw the jersey and Charlotte laughed weakly, if he was shocked now then he was risking a heart attack when he saw the passes.

"You spoil me too much, you know that?"

"Yeah, but it makes me happy."

She then told him that he had until his birthday to find out why she had given him a brand new England Quidditch jersey. She knew he would never find out, attending the World Cup cost a lot of money, it would clearly not occur to him to think that thanks to her he would be going.

MARCH

"What happened?" Oliver asked when he regained consciousness in one of the beds in the infirmary, Charlotte was by his side, as always.

"You fainted when you saw the passes..." Charlotte explained to him, a sorry pout on her face.

"I thought I dreamed it," he admitted with an embarrassed smile on his lips.

"No, it's real. You're going to the World Cup this summer."

"Oh, Merlin!"

Oliver could not believe it; never, not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined it. It was unexpected. But above all, Oliver did not know how to thank her, his family was not poor, but they were not rolling in money either, he would never be able to buy her something that matched what she had just offered him. She had spent several hundred galleons just for him and Oliver knew that if he pointed it out to her, she would simply shrug her shoulders because she did not really have a concept of money, for her, nothing was really expensive.

"Mrs. Pomfrey said you needed to lie down for a bit, you hit your head when you passed out. Oh, by the way! Here, you need to drink this," she grabbed the glass that was next to Oliver's bed. "She said it'll help with the headache you must have right now."

Indeed, now that she mentioned it, he had just noticed that his head hurt. It was as if someone was playing a tambourine inside his skull.

Oliver drank the potion before lying back down, Charlotte ran her hand over her forehead to remove the strands of hair that were no longer in their original place.

"Do you like it, at least?" she asked weakly.

"Of course! But..."

"No 'buts'. My father has seen with yours, he agrees that you can go, he will accompany you because you are still too young to go by yourself. So you don't have to worry, everything was taken care of before I bought them."

"You are the best, C.C., you know that?" he said, placing a kiss on the hand that she had just passed over his forehead and through his hair.

"Now I know," she answered him, diving her blue eyes into Oliver's brown gaze.

They stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes until Mrs. Pomfrey interrupted them to announce that Oliver needed to rest ( he did not have a concussion, so there was no danger to him; fortunately, there had been more fear than harm ) and that Charlotte needed to return to class. Oliver had fallen asleep, but Charlotte had refused to leave, just like the first time he had ended up in the hospital wing the year before.

Oliver had fallen asleep without fear that Charlotte would not be there when he woke up, the only way she would not be there when he opened his eyes had been if he had directly asked her to leave ( and he would never ask her to do that ).

Oliver slept peacefully because he knew he had found someone who would stay by his side forever, through thick and thin. Oliver Wood was no longer alone and he was only just realizing it.

APRIL

Oliver was counting the days, he only had two months and twenty-five days left before his dream came true, but he preferred to say that he only had eighty-six days left, for reasons he did not know, but the second option seemed shorter than the first while the period of time was actually the same…

Oliver had sent the passes to his parents, he did not want to keep them at Hogwarts, he did not want to risk losing them or worse, having someone steal them. He could never forgive himself if he misplaced them or if someone stole them. And it had nothing to do with Quidditch, for once in his life, it was secondary, no, he could never forgive himself because Charlotte had paid a lot of money to give him this gift. She had told him she had sold her favourite jewellery so she could afford it and because she wanted to pay for it with her own money, he had seen how important that had been to her — even more so to her than it had been to him, and yet she did not even like Quidditch.

But, Oliver Wood still had a slight problem. He could not see himself attending the Quidditch World Cup without his best friend. One pass would be for his father — as she had said the month before, he or rather they were too young to go alone —, the second would be for him — of course — and the last one would be for her — at least he hoped so. He wanted to make his dream come true with her by his side. After all, it was entirely thanks to her that it was possible.

His problem was that he did not know how to ask her to come with him. He was afraid she would reject him, she refused to watch his games, it was not to attend a whole month to watch a sport she hated where the violence was three times worse than during a school championship. There could be deaths during this tournament. It would be too much to ask of her and if it was to make her bored from morning to night, it was not worth it either.

He did not know what to do...his only fear was really being rejected by Charlotte, he would not be able to survive that.

But, he had to take his courage in both hands and ask her the question. She could always accept, nothing told him that she would refuse to accompany him.

He had waited until they were alone to ask her the question, it was better that he be turned down in private than in the middle of the Great Hall.

"I need to ask you a question, but you can't be afraid to say 'no' if it's too much to ask," he began, even though the reality was that hearing her say that little two-letter word had the potential to break his heart forever.

"Sure, tell me everything, Olly."

"Would you come with me to the World Cup this summer?"

"Oh."

There was a long silence and Oliver could already feel his heart breaking in his chest. Well, technically she hadn't said 'no', but she hadn't said 'yes' either but that didn't make much difference in the young Gryffindor goalkeeper's mind.

"I thought you were going to ask one of your teammates to go with you..."

"What?" Oliver could not hold back his laughter, he laughed until it hurt his throat. "No, no, C.C., I don't want to go with one of them. I want to go with you, well if you want to, of course, I won't force your hand."

"Will I be allowed to hide in your chest when there's a foul that's a little too violent for me?"

"You know very well that the answer to that question is yes."

"The same for yours."

It had taken Oliver almost five minutes to understand the meaning of Charlotte's last sentence but when the information finally reached his brain, Oliver squealed in joy before hugging Charlotte and thanking her a million times.

July was looking to be a great month and Oliver was impatiently waiting.

MAY

Charlotte was anxious, in fifty-one days, she would be alone with Oliver. The tension between them was worse than it had been two months ago, it could now be cut with a blunt butter knife and she was ninety percent sure that spending a whole month confined in a tent with Oliver, being together 24/7 was not going to help the situation, far from it, even. How was she going to survive?

On the other hand, it was an experience she was still looking forward to. The atmosphere must have been exceptional during these events, the fraternity and the coalition of supporters — even if they supported different teams — ; the atmosphere at its best because everyone was there for one reason only, to have a good time and support their favorite team; the joie de vivre of the supporters, making the competition live from start to finish, even if the team of their choice lost. 

But the thing she was most looking forward to experiencing was sleeping in a tent. It would be the very first time in her life that she would do it, since Oliver had told her about it last year, she had dreamed of trying.

Charlotte was going to be able to do everything she was not usually allowed to do; she was going to be allowed to drink cheap drinks; she was going to be able to eat unhealthy food; she would have the option of not standing straight if she did not want to; she would not have to be perfect because a Silverthorne must be perfect all the time, no matter the circumstances; she could throw out the window, for one month only, all the manners her parents had instilled in her since birth. For one month only, Charlotte would be able to be a regular child, she would not have to represent the Silverthrone clan.

It was to be believed that in July, Oliver would not be the only one to realize his dream.

As a result, she was both looking forward to it and hoping that time would stop so that July would not come too quickly.

In the end, it was possible that she would have so much fun that she would not have time to think about her feelings for Oliver and the constant tension that reigned between them. Maybe this month that they would spend together would make them realize that in reality, there was nothing more than friendship between them. Maybe they would realize that they had a friendly love at first sight and that was it, nothing more than an innocent crush that would disappear soon enough. Maybe this would be the moment when they would realize that trying to be more than friends would be a monumental mistake. Maybe it would be good for them and that it would put an end to several months of stress and internal doubt.

No matter what this July had in store for her, Charlotte knew it would be unforgettable for Oliver and her alike.

JUNE

Everyone was jealous of Oliver. He bragged about going to the Quidditch World Cup, he bragged about being there for the whole competition and all the members of his team envied him or cursed him for having such luck and not them. The three Chasers — who answered respectively to the names of Velva, Elektra and Leaf — flirted constantly with him, hoping that he would decide to invite one of them to go with him; the boys of the team licked his boots, in the same hope as the three witches. Yet everyone knew that he would be accompanied by Charlotte, but, this information did not prevent the other players of the Gryffindor Quidditch team from believing that they had a chance to oust Charlotte ( as if it were possible… ).

“Look what I got!” he said as he sat down next to Charlotte in the Great Hall at lunchtime.

“What?”

Oliver chuckled before pulling out a half-eaten muffin — he had saved the other half for Charlotte — and a piece of parchment. He then slid them towards Charlotte.

"As for the muffin, it's nothing to write home about, but the text on the parchment, a masterpiece," he explained, sarcasm well present in his voice during the second part of his sentence.

Charlotte unfolded the piece of parchment that was folded in four and began to read. She burst out laughing after only a few seconds, Oliver laughed as well, not only because he remembered what was written, but also because Charlotte's laughter was very catching.

Charlotte began to read aloud.

" O is for Original, because there are no two like you,

L is for Life of the Party, because there is never a dull moment in your company,

I is for Inimitable, no one will ever be as handsome, intelligent and gifted at Quidditch as you,

V is for Valorous, because you don't back down from anything and you are not afraid of anything, especially after the horrible fall you had last year during your first match,

E is for Extreme, because you never do things by halves which makes you the best at everything you do,

R is for Radiant, because when you walk into a room, you light it up with your smile and your beauty."

Charlotte laughed even harder, it was way too hilarious not to laugh, Oliver's teammates would stop at nothing to convince him to ditch Charlotte — even though they were not together — for one of them. They really wanted to attend the World Cup.

Oliver found it funny too, but he could not help but feel bad for Charlotte. As the saying goes, the best jokes are the shortest, and this one had been going on for way too long for Oliver's liking. He told these girls — and the others, for that matter — that they could drop it, that he would not change his mind, but they did not understand or they thought he was joking and that he wanted them to, in fact, continue. That was obviously not the case, his decision was made and nothing would make him go back on it.

"She's really trying too hard, I say! Which one of the three gave you that beautiful poem?" Charlotte asked, wiping away the tears that had flowed from laughing so much.

"Elektra, I think, I don't really remember," he answered with a shrug. "Anyway, whoever it is, I don't care, this summer is you and me and my father, and no one else."

"I know. And it's going to be the best summer of our lives!"

"Oh, yes!"

JULY

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived. Charlotte had spent the night at the Woods, they had to wake up very early the next morning in order to finish preparing their things and loading everything into the camper and then hit the road as soon as possible.

Normally, it had been planned that Mr. Wood would Apparate with the two children to let them sleep as long as possible suspecting that during the weeks that followed, they would not have so many hours of sleep, but Oliver had suggested taking the camper van to go to Scotland, they would only have a five hour drive so that gave them time to set up the tent and rest a little before the opening of the tournament.

"Dad, her family is not like ours, she doesn't travel, the most she's ever been is the fence in front of her house to mark the boundary of her parents' property. She's not even allowed to have a bicycle. She allows us to attend the most popular event in the Magical world, the least we can do is give her a little adventure," he had told his father before Charlotte arrived.

So Mr Wood had capitulated, his son had scored a point, it was the least he could do.

"All right, kids? Are you ready to hit the road?" Mr. Wood asked when the camper was loaded.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

After they said goodbye to Mrs Wood, they all got into the camper van and Mr Wood started driving.

Charlotte had spent the five hour drive looking out the window at the scenery, she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life, Oxfordshire was beautiful, but nothing could compare to these diverse and varied landscapes, her eyes were shining with wonder and Oliver couldn't help but smile. She was so cute!

Charlotte had barely spoken during the journey, she was usually not very talkative, but this was much worse. Father and son Wood turned their heads regularly to make sure she had not fallen asleep, but no, she was still sitting on her knees on the booth seat, her nose pressed against the window.

"She's really amazed at nothing," Mr. Wood pointed out, chuckling weakly.

"She's never traveled before, so that's normal. She doesn't even dare go to Hogsmeade because she's afraid," Oliver explained in a low voice.

"Poor child."

"Mhm."

Overexcited, the two children had not been able to rest once they had arrived in Scotland and the tent had been fixed in the ground. The first match was starting soon, it was impossible for them to sleep. In reality, they were afraid of not waking up in time...so they had stayed awake, they had played cards while waiting.

Scotland were going to play the United States, Charlotte and Oliver had the Scottish flag painted on their right cheek and a team coloured scarf simply placed on their shoulder before being able to proudly brandish it during the match.

Charlotte had spent most of the match with her head buried in Oliver's chest. The match had been quite violent and Charlotte had not been able to take it, but Oliver had kept one arm around her to comfort her, while he twirled his own scarf with his other arm.

In reality, Charlotte had spent most of the World Cup with her head buried in Oliver's chest. She had seen each team's entrance and the few minutes before the end of the match and that was it. It had been like that throughout the competition; but that hadn't stopped her from still having fun.

The final, Scotland against Canada, had lasted five days, Oliver had prayed to Merlin every night that it would last even longer, he was not ready to go home and spend the whole month of August without Charlotte, he was going to be really bored after this crazy adventure they had lived together.

It had been the best summer of their lives.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 4

FOURTH YEAR

1990-1991

SEPTEMBER

Charlotte had a secret. It was not anything scandalous, although it really depended on who discovered her secret.

After spending all summer with Oliver, she had realized she was in love with his best friend—in fact, it was her mother who had opened her eyes to her situation—and she was pretty sure Oliver felt the same way.

How could she be sure? The answer to that question was simple and logical: she had kissed him, and he had not pushed her away. That must have had a positive meaning. The fact was, it did not matter if Olivier felt the same way as her or not. She was not ready to face him yet; she did not know what to expect now that they had...exchanged a kiss. Everything was going to change, that was for sure, but how much? Charlotte Carter was not in a hurry to find out.

It was for this exact reason that she had been avoiding Olivier for the past two and a half weeks. As soon as he walked in her direction, she turned around, taking the longest routes to get to class. And during lessons, she ignored him as much as possible, pretending that she wanted to follow the lessons so as not to fall behind but also so that she would not miss important information for exam day.

However, Charlotte Carter was not blind; she could see that her behaviour was affecting Oliver, but she could not bring herself to confront him. Reciprocating a kiss was not the same as reciprocating feelings. Anyone could kiss anyone just to gain a little experience or just for fun. Kissing another person was not necessarily a form of commitment.

Besides, Charlotte Carter was not ready to have her heart broken by anyone just yet. She might act tough, but she was still a girl, and at the end of the day, she had her insecurities and fears. Not to mention, Olivier was her only friend, and she did not want to lose him over something so...stupid.

So, ignoring him, even though it was the worst thing, the worst reaction she could have, was - according to her, her only choice because as she had already said, there was no way she was going to confront him and have "the" conversation.

However, there was no mistaking it. She was not happy about the situation. She hated herself for doing this to him, and she was constantly sad ( we won't even mention the guilt that was eating away at her and had been keeping her awake for the past two weeks ). She might have been acting strong, and she might have been pretending to be indifferent to the situation, but she was more affected by it than she realised. And even more than she was willing to admit.

Charlotte Carter did not know how she was going to survive this school year. It had only just begun, but it already seemed endless and one of the worst tortures she could endure.

A week and a half later, when Mrs. Silverthorn had sent her a letter asking how things had gone between her and Oliver, Charlotte Carter had lied and told her that everything had been sorted out, that they had talked things over and decided to just be friends. Mrs. Silverthorn had believed her—at least, that was what she told herself to avoid feeling even more guilty.

It was official, the school year had barely begun, but it was going to be long and...a real pain in the arse.

OCTOBER

"OK. Enough is enough! I'm done playin' that stupid game. What's wrong with you?"

Oliver cornered Charlotte Carter in an empty corridor in the sixth floor.

"I—I don't—"

"Don't bullshit me. I'm not stupid, C.C., so just stop playing," Oliver pleaded with her.

Charlotte Carter sighed dramatically before pinching the bridge of her nose. She had been so reckless, she was lost in her own thoughts, she did not hear him coming and now, she did not have any other choice but to face him.

In case it was not clear enough, she was not ready yet.

"I wanna know why you're ignoring me like I have some sort of contagious disease that you're scared to get, too."

"I—uh—I was scared, okay?"

"Of what, exactly? We share a kiss, we did not commit a felony:"

"I know! Merlin, I know! It's just…I knew things would change after that and I was not ready to hear you say those words."

"What words? That I enjoyed it? That I would love to do it again sometimes? Or maybe you were scared of me actually asking you out?"

Charlotte Carter could tell, Oliver was not genuinely mad at her, he was more hurt an disappointed in her — which, in her opinion was so much worse ). If she had not known before that she'd messed up, she'd definitely gotten the message loud and clear.

"No. I thought you would say some other words along the line of 'we made a mistake' or 'let's never do that again' maybe even a small 'eww' to finish me up," she answered, shamefully.

"C'mon, have a little faith in me, Charlie. You know me, you know I would never."

"I'm sorry, okay? I did not thought."

"No, clearly, you did not…," Oliver sighed, still hurt and disappointed in her. "But, I understand where you came from. But, just so you know, I would have never kissed you back if I did not want to or if I did not share your feelings."

"That's…that's good to know."

For a long minute, they just stand in from of each other, not a single word was spoken, there was no need for words in that moment.

However, the atmosphere were getting to thick to be consider comfortable. Charlotte Carter broke the silence.

"So…tell me more about that date…," she wanted to sound confident, but her voice came out so timid and soft, Oliver could have easily missed her word if there had been the slightest noise around them.

"You really want to know?"

"I do, yes."

Oliver smiled before taking her hand in his, he gently tugged on her arm and Charlotte Carter knew what he wanted from her. The next second, they were walking through the corridors, still holding hands as if it was the most normal thing they could do.

"So, about that date?" pressed Charlotte Carter, curious and impatient.

"Yeah. Yeah, so…"

Oliver started by telling her that he would take her out on a weekend, not a weekday because he knew she did not like going out on weekday evenings because she liked to study and rest so she would not fall asleep during classes. He added that he would not take her to the Three Broomsticks or Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, but to the Mystic Tea Shop, he had discovered it by chance. He had gone in, his curiosity had been piqued and the atmosphere there was very different from that of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, there were no pink decorations or that gave the impression of having entered directly into a bad Muggle romance novel.

He continued by telling her that they would make a quick stop at HoneyDukes to buy all the treats they wanted to eat and/or taste. Finally, they would stroll around the village before returning to the castle.

"What? No quick 'detour' to the Quidditch Supply Shop? I'm disappointed, Mr. Wood."

"Well, I know you don't like Quidditch, so yeah, no."

"One thing for me. One thing for you. I think it's called equity or something like that."

"Yeah, something like that," laughed Oliver.

They spent the next few hours planning their perfect first date.

NOVEMBER

They never went on their date. Oliver did not have a single minute to himself between classes, Quidditch practices and homework, he could barely keep up. As for Charlotte Carter, between classes, optional subjects and the Extra-curricular Subjects, she could hardly allowed herself to take a break to actually breath deeply so going out on a date? Impossible.

They still met for breakfast, lunch and diner but they did not interact anymore during classes. Nobody warned them that Year Four would be this intense this quick, because how could they only be three month in and already be over their head?

Due to this, they were also unable to discuss what they were now. They ignored how to act in presence of the other during the fifteen minutes ( sometimes almost twenty ) they had with each other. It was a whole new dynamic, were they still friends? Were they already in an official relationship even if they did not go on their first date yet? Could they hold hands if they wanted? Should they kiss on the cheek or on the lips? There were too many question and too little answers.

And, in all honesty, thing were a bit awkward between them and weird to boot.

Charlotte Carter joined Oliver at the Library. She slumped gracelessly onto the chair opposite him.

"I am so tired, it's not even funny anymore. I swear I am real close to just explode!"

Oliver laughed before gently squeezing her hand in what he expected to be a comforting gesture. Charlotte Carter immediately felt the tensions leaving her body.

Oliver - 1

Charlotte Carter's anxiety - 0

"Don't worry, it's temporary. After Christmas everything will go back to normal."

"I hope. Because I'm debating on putting myself on a coma or jumping from the Astronomy Tower."

"Dramatic much. Like always," mumbled Oliver, hoping Charlotte Carter would not hear him, but of course she did.

"That's why you love me, Wood."

"That's right."

They laughed before starting studying.

Verily, not much work were done that afternoon, they were way too busy peeking at each other ( and of course, to look on the the opposite direction when the other felt their gaze on them ) ; it was so cliché, but none of them cared.

They were both thinking the same thing, at this instant. They were impatient for the pressure to ease up and get back to some semblance of a social life; or to find a better rhythm so they could manage everything. They were tired of waiting to finally get their date, they felt that the longer they waited, the less likely it would be to happen ( the tension between them was becoming unbearable, both for them and and painful to watch fort he student surrounding them ).

Luckily for them, Christmas break was right around the corner, they just needed a little more patience and everything would turn out just fine for them.

DECEMBER

Oliver wrapped a scarf around Charlotte Carter's neck, a disapproving look on his face.

"We've been…friends for like what? Five years, now?"

"Three and half, actually," Charlotte Carter corrected.

"OK, we've been friends for three years and a half now and I've been repeating myself for just as long : you need to wear a scarf in Winter! Catching your death his not attractive, in case you did not know."

"It doesn't match my outfit, Oliver! I can't wear it!"

She was about to take it off but Oliver was quicker than her, he enveloped his hands around Charlotte Carter's wrists, he did not exert any pressure, he just kept her from moving.

"I'm not spending Christmas in the Hospital Wing with you, listening to you whining about 'how you gonna die soon', so keep the scarf."

"Can I pout and hate the scarf?"

"Yes, you may, darling."

Charlotte Carter smiled widely before doing what she promised : pouting and hating on her ( Oliver's ) scarf. But, the muffler scarf smelled just like Oliver so it was somehow hard to, frankly, hate it. She even took a couple of deep breaths just so she could really smell his perfume and engrave it in her brain.

"Since we're at it," Oliver begun, "what are your plans for Christmas?"

"I'm gonna stay here, I think."

"Oh…may I ask why?"

"Uh…let's just say that I did not particularly share the values some members of my family have but now it's like…worst so I don't want to be celebrating with them because I feel like by just bein' there it's like I'm agreeing with them one way or another. I don't want to by a hypocrite, you know?"

"Well, then, there is only one solution to this problem."

"Which is?"

"You gonna have to come home with me, of course."

"What? No! I can't just crash your family Christmas party! That's not polite!"

"It's not crashing if you're invited."

"I—I don't know, Oliver, it's just—"

Oliver stopped walking, he put himself in front of her and smiled tenderly. He was tempted to take her hands in his, but he was not entirely sure if he could or not. He decided 'not' was the correct answer for now.

"Please. Mum's been asking when she'll see you again. I'm pretty sure she loves you more than he loves me. Plus, she'll finally have someone to talk to while Dad and I talk about Quidditch."

"Oh, so I'm just going to keep your mum company while you and your dad have fun? That's nice, isn't it!"Charlotte Carter pretended to be offended.

"C'mon! You know what I meant."

"I do. I do."

They laughed, still feeling a bit awkward around each other ; they, yet again, did not know how to navigate this change in their relationship. And, both had the feeling it would remained like this until they would finally be able to go on their first date and take the time to discuss everything they needed to talk about.

"I'll come only — and I mean only — if you ask your parents and they agreed."

"You got yourself a fair deal."

They resumed walking around the castle.

JANUARY

Charlotte Carter had spent the best Christmas of her — short — life. Charlotte Carter had had a sneak peek at the Woods' extreme kindness, but during the Christmas holidays, she had it confirmed. They were kind, charming, and loving; they loved one another, listened when one of them spoke, and were respectful of one another. But it was not forced; Charlotte Carter had quickly understood that it was... genuine, it was truly their character. Moreover, it was not the kind of kindness that was stifling or even annoying. It was caring and comforting.

In other words, the Woods were almost the opposite of the Silverthorns.

Their way of celebrating was different, too. At the Woods' house, there was music; some of the decorations were enchanted, either creating a festive atmosphere or they danced to the same rhythm; there was not tons of food, but just enough for the four of them, and enough for them to go back for more if they were ever hungry again.

Charlotte Carter loved her parents and family, but they were more serious, more uptight. There was music, but classical, not dance music. Mrs. Silverthorn always demanded that the house-elves cook for a large number of people, but they ended up with enough food to feed the entire army of the United Kingdom. And, of course, since they could not eat that much, three-quarters of the meal went to waste. The atmosphere at home was grim; you also had to be dressed up ( when Oliver told her to stay in her pyjamas on Christmas morning to open presents, Charlotte Carter thought her heart had stopped beating and she hesitated to obey ).

She would cherish that memory for the rest of her life, it was her second best memory ( right after the Quidditch World Cup ).

On another positive note, they finally got to go and their first date. It was nothing like the one they had planned in November. They went to the Muggle World, Oliver showed Charlotte Carter around, the went to the village Library and the young witch discover a new book genre, it was called 'romance', they went to drink a beverage called 'Milkshake', they walk around the Christmas Market and Charlotte Carter could not resist the urge to buy herself a snow globe. It was nothing like they planned, it was eve better! She discovered so many new things and experiment with new experiences.

Oxfordshire was definitely the best place on earth for a first date. Even better than Hogsmeade.

The next day, they took the time to talk, they needed to discuss where thy stood, what they were going from now on and about the nature of their relationship. Charlotte Carter was adamant, she wanted to go on a second date with him, she wanted to upgrade their relation and to go from friendship to a romantic one.

Oliver, on the other hand, was more reserved. Not that he did not have feelings for Charlotte Carter—he definitely did. He was just afraid of ruining everything between them; afraid that if their relationship did not work out, he'd lose more than just a girlfriend. As a bonus, he also knew how Charlotte Carter's family viewed him and his family; they considered them traitors, no-marks; so, he knew that Charlotte Carter did not share their point of view, but he could not help but be afraid that one day the Silverthorn family would succeed in turning Charlotte Carter against him and making him believe that he was not good enough for her.

Despite this, they had still managed to find common ground. They were going to take things as they came, they were not going to put pressure on each other, and they were going to take their time, they would move at their own pace.

FEBRUARY

Oliver had to make this day as special as possible. It was their first Valentine's Day and Charlotte Carter deserved the best. The only downside was the fact that Charlotte Carter loved Valentine's Day as much as she loved Quidditch.

So, if he wanted to buy her a gift, he would have to be subtle and, he was pretty sure he just got the prefect excuse ( even if it was not as slick as he thought it would be ). But, a man do what he got to do.

Oliver had laughed internally when he went to the village, he knew exactly what he was looking for, but every boys in the shop were asking their buddies what they should get to 'their girls'. The only thought Oliver had was : you should not be with her if you don't know the basics about her.

Like, for example, Oliver knew not to get Charlotte Carter chocolate or a red rose because she was not interested in those things, instead he got her — from the Muggle World via his mother — a couple of romance novels, a rose he enchanted so she went from a dark red to a deep black colour ( her favourite colour of all time ) and a scarf even if he knew she would never wear it because she only accepted to wear the one he "gave her" in November, even if he ignored why ( he also ignored that she put a spell on the scarf so Oliver's smell would never leave it ).

However, Oliver was no idiot. He knew better than to offer her the gifts on Valentine's Day itself, he had done it a few days before, so as not to arouse too much suspicion.

"Why did you.."

"Well, I could not sleep the other night, so I thought to myself : why do I not know when her birthday is? Then, I remember, you never told me, you keep it a secret like it's classified information. So, I came up with a date on my own."

"So, I was born on 10th February?"

"Yup," affirmed Oliver with a firm nod.

"Close, but no cigar! I was born in October. The 31st."

"Why did you never tell me? I mean, you know my birth date…"

"Because I don't celebrate it…anymore."

"Why?"

"What happened on 31st October?"

It took a minute for Oliver to understand what she meant ad he felt sad for her. He felt sad for the little girl you could not celebrate her six birthday because it fell the exact same day the worst wizard this world held died and she was being punished for that like it was her fault.

However, that small piece of information put to light a whole new side of her he did not know about. Her parents were not just some rich pure-blood wizards and witches, they were Lord Voldemort partisans. They were loyal enough to him to refuse to celebrate Charlotte Carter's birthday because the passing of Lord Voldemort was more important than their own daughter, niece, granddaughter, cousin.

Oliver felt sick in his stomach, what Mr. and Mrs. Silverthorn did was beyond bad parenting and his opinion on them just radically changed, he just lost all respect he previously had for them.

"Well," said he, after realising that he kept his mouth shut a bit too long, "from now on, we will celebrate it! Just you and me. You deserved to be celebrated, Charlie."

"I—"

"Nope, no protest."

"Okay."

Charlotte Carter stood up to go put the wrapping paper to the bin and when she came back, she kissed Oliver, first on the cheek, then on the lips.

"Thank you. What you did…nobody ever did something like that for me, before. I will never forget it."

"Then, I'm happy.

They were both happy.

MARCH

Oliver and Charlotte Carter were dating for two months, now, the still had not made it official, but some student around the castle suspected it.

No one was shocked when Charlotte Carter attended Oliver's Quidditch game wearing his spare jersey. She still did not look even for a second, she spent the whole game with her nose in her book, she did smiled when she heard Lee Jordan announced in the microphone that Gryffindor scored a goal or that Oliver stopped a goal attempt from the opposite team. She also applauded him every time he stopped a goal from being scored.

At the end of the game, Gryffindor won after Charlie Weasley caught the Golden Snitch, Oliver flew right to the terraces to join Charlotte Carter, still having her nose in her book ( she was getting to the part were the two main characters were about to kiss for the first time ). The goalkeeper just waited, a smile on his face, for his girlfriend to finally look at him.

The girl right next to Charlotte Carter nudged her lightly in the ribs to finally lift her head from her book. The Slytherin girl looked up from her book and blushed profusely when she saw Oliver and half of the Gryffindor house were already staring at her.

"I'm sorry," she closed her book after putting the bookmark in the right place.

Oliver laughed and shook his head in amusement. Yup, that was his girl. The girl capable of breaking somebody's nose just for looking at her the wrong way but who could also blush and be as red as a tomato when reading a romance novel.

He flew a bit closer to her before kissing her in front of everyone. However, Charlotte Carter did not reciprocate the kiss, not because she did not want to but because she was too stunned to do so.

"Wh—why?"

"Tired of hiding."

Charlotte Carter smiled from ear t ear before pulling him towards her to kiss him. In the book she was reading, the author ( or, rather the female main character ) describe the first kiss like having butterflies in your stomach, but Charlotte Carter was piratically sure she had a whole damn zoo inside her at this moment. The moment was so…magic, powerful she did not have word to actually describe how she felt when Oliver's lips pressed against hers.

"Go take a shower and celebrate with your teammates, I'll join you later, yeah?"

"Yeah."

With one last kiss, Oliver flew to the ground to do what Charlotte Carter just told him to do : celebrate Gryffindor's victory against Ravenclaw.

Oliver Wood was happy and not just because Gryffindor won a match. He was genuinely happy to officially be in a relationship with Charlotte Carter, but he was still scared of losing her if thing did not work out between them. He just figured that he could not spent the rest of his life in fear. He played one of the most dangerous game in the whole wizarding world without feeling an ounce of fear; so, if flying several meters above the ground did not scare him and he got back on his broomstick after a horrible fall, he could jump in at the deep end, and move on to the next stage in his relationship with Charlotte Carter. And, now that he it was done, it did not seem as scary as he thought it would be ( it was, of course it was, but just a notch below ), and he was eager to see what the future holds for them.

APRIL

Spring was one of the best season, according to Charlotte Carter ( but, Autumn would still be her all time favourite ). Spring allowed them to go back to their favourite spot, the place where everything begun between them and Charlotte Carter could not imagine having any more dates not taking place to the Black Lake.

She had prepared a small picnic, some fruits, some bonbons, sandwiches and chocolates,two butterbeers ( one for each of them ) and pumpkin juice to accompany their meal. She did not forget the tablecloth nor the book she Oliver would read to her. The book she choose that day was Gone with the Wind, written by Margaret Mitchell and published in 1936, it was, obviously a Muggle romance novel/ historical fiction ( it was not an easy choice, she wanted to reread The Thorn Birds written by Colleen McCullough , published in 1977, but she knew Oliver would kindly mock her for wanting to read it again so she choose an unread one ).

Everything would be perfect. So much so, Charlotte Carter had even checked the weather forecast in three different newspapers, just to be sure that the sun would be out throughout the date ( Charlotte Carter had not planned a plan B in case of a downpour ).

The basket in her left hand, Oliver on her right, they walked to the Black Lake, discussing their next study session ( it would take place two days after tomorrow ). Once they found the perfect spot to sit down, they put the tablecloth to the ground, the basket in the right corner at the bottom of the tablecloth. They put the food and beverages on top of it.

"So," Oliver begun before swallowing the last bite of his apple, "what book did you choose for today's date?"

Charlotte Carter wiped her hands on her napkin before fishing the book out of the basket and giving it to Oliver. She had not spoken; her mouth was still full of the bite of sandwich she had just taken.

"Gone with the Wind? Where did you get it?"

She opened the book at the very first page and pointed to a name : Angela Wood. Oliver's mother.

"My Mum gave you her book?"

"Nope, she lent it to me. She sent it a couple of days ago, saying I might like it."

"Oh."

When they were don eating, Oliver patted his laps for Charlotte Carter to lay her head on them, she laid down and Oliver started to read the first paragraph of the first chapter out loud.

"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin—that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns."

Once again, they had a perfect date. However, if there was one thing Charlotte Carter knew for sure was, after all these perfect dates they had, something bad was bound to happen. That was like a law, for every good thing in life must be a bad thing, so the balance would be even.

MAY

April was almost over and Charlotte Carter was still waiting for the wind to shift direction. She was waiting for a bad thing to happen but it did not come. Oliver was perfect, he took her on dates when it was possible, he was a perfect gentleman, if she did not want to do something or to go out to a certain place, he would just nod and cancelled the plan or just modified them. He was what any girl would man, once again, he was perfect.

He was so perfect that Charlotte Carter was really close to sabotage her own relationship with Oliver. It actually made sense in her twisted mind, it was preferable that she put an end to the relationship rather than something outside of her causing trouble between them. If she made that decision herself, she could convince Oliver that they could remain friends. If something or someone else made that decision for her, she knew she would lose her best friend forever and there would be no going back.

So, instead of breaking up with him, she decided to go back home for Easter break whilst Oliver was staying at Hogwarts. The train ride home was long and boring without Oliver, those few hours without Oliver gave him a very bad overview of what his life would be like from now on if Oliver was no longer a part of it.

In the train back home she had an epiphany, living a life without Oliver Woods in it? That was not the kind of life she wanted for herself anymore. Yet, she needed to talk to her mother just to be sure of what to do next. She knew it would be no easy task, Mrs. Silverthorn was not Oliver's number 1 fan, she tolerated their friendship and the fact that Charlotte Carter had feelings for him ( Mrs. Silverthorn was not yet ready to welcome Oliver and his parents into their domain or even to mix their two families ), and that Mrs. Silverthorn would rather have a tooth pulled without aesthesia than give her advice on love, but Charlotte Carter had no one else to turn to. She had no female cousins, no female friends either, the only female figure in her life was her mother ( it was sad, she was well aware of that ).

It took her three days to gather all her courage and go talk to her mother. But, obviously, things did not go as she planned, she should have been able to predict her mother's reaction.

"Mother…can we…can we talk, please?"

"Sure, what's on your mind, dear?"

"I—uh…"

"Speak, dear. I'm quite busy."

Her being busy meant reading the wizarding version of Muggle celebrity magazines, she was not actually doing anything major.

But anyway, Charlotte Carter took a deep breath and explain the whole situation to her mother in one breath. And, it had seem like her relation problems got her Mother's attention, because the latter just stopped what she was doing. Mrs. Silverthorn put a hand on her daughter's cheek and smiled sweetly at her.

"I think deep down you know the answer, you just don't want to admit it out loud."

"What?"

"I'm going to say it for you, then. You are a Silverthorn, my dear. You deserve better than someone like him. You are not even sure of his blood status. What if…what if he's," Mrs. Silverthorn whispered like what abut to say was a really bad word, "a half-blood or a mudblood?"

"Well, it doesn't change anything, does it? Whether he's a half-blood or a Muggle-born, I don't care."

"You should, would not want to sully the purity of your blood, would you?"

"You know what, Mother? Never mind. Forget this conversation ever happened," she turned her back to her Mother and left the room

Charlotte Carter should have known, her mother was not really supportive and that if she had pushed Charlotte Carter to confess her feelings to Oliver was because she secretly expected that it would put an end to their friendship.

On the other hand, this discussion had not been entirely a waste of time; Charlotte Carter knew exactly what she had to do. She was determined to stay with Oliver, not because she wanted to deify her mother, but because she knew that if her mother felt threatened by their relationship, it was because she had something special and that it was not just a simple little fling that would end before it had really begun.

It was no secret that Mrs. Silverthorn had the gift of second sight. Unlike Professor Trelawney, Mrs. Silverthorn was a true Seer; what she saw always happened. Charlotte Carter was therefore convinced that her mother had seen something that had frightened her, and that was why she was so defensive.

JUNE

"Oliver!" Charlotte Carter ran through the halls, chasing after her boyfriend who was walking well ahead of her. "Oliver!" she screamed again and again until the boy finally stopped to wait for his girl.

Oliver's teammates left him the second Charlotte Carter was almost in front of them. It was no news to her, Oliver's teammates did not like her because of the badge on her school uniform.

"What is it, Charlie?" he smiled at her fondly.

"How could you do this to me? Uh? How could you?" she had the worst frown Oliver ever saw on her face.

"What did I do, exactly?"

She showed him the book the had just finished reading something like ten minutes ago. Her frowned deepened like it was even possible. Oliver took the book from her hands and read the title. Pride & Prejudice.

"What about that? What does it have to do with me?"

"You kept it from me from this long, that's what it has to do with you," Oliver could not tell if she was genuinely upset or not. "This is like the best book ever. And the passage. The passage, Oliver. It's like…I can't even put words onto this!"

Oliver was amused. Truly amused. When he befriended her four years ago, he really did not pictured her as the romantic type of girl, there was absolutely no sign. On the contrary, she was cynical, pessimistic, and let's be honest for a second, she could also be cold and heartless. Ever since Charlotte Carter discover the romance novels in January, a whole new side of her personality was brought to light and Oliver was loving it. He loved that her two personalities could coexist together without one erasing the other. Like he already said plenty of times, he was the girl who could beat you to pulp and an hour later, kick her feet in the air because the book finally reach the romantic part. It was truly fascinating!

"I'm sorry. Verily. It won't happen again."

"Better not or I might break up with you. No, I won't do that, who I'm kidding? Anyway, I just wanted to give you the book back before I forget and keep it to myself."

She headed the book back, as promised, Oliver put it on his bag with a smile on his face. The started walking towards the Great Hall, it was lunch time.

"You know mum would not mind."

"I know, but mine would and we both know she would destroy it if she stumbled upon it by chance."

"I know…"

There were a few heart beats of silence, both still focused on the examen they just took, they were thinking back to the answered they gave and second-guessing if they gave the right ones or if the miserably failed their Defence Against the Dark Arts final.

"Uh…," Oliver begun. "Tomorrow morning we take our final exam do you—"

"Yes. Wherever you wanna go is fine by me."

"Great! I'll let you know, then."

"You know, sometimes, you should let me pay for our dates, I don't like you spending all you money…"

"Yeah, over my dead body, honey!"

Charlotte Carter could not say why, but hearing Oliver calling her "honey" instead of "C.C." our "Charlie" did something to her. So much so, she decided to kiss him right on the threshold of the Great Hall doors, where everyone could observe them like fairground animals.

"Please? Can't a girl spoil her boyfriend in peace?"

"Nope. That's my job."

"Fine, but I'm buying you a gift and you know, it's not polite to refuse a gift."

She smiled mischievously before sitting down at the Gryffindor table, waiting for Oliver to come and join her.

"You're diabolical," said he when he sat down in front of her."

"That's why you love me, Wood."

"Indeed, yes."

JULY

Mr. and Mrs. Sliverthorn were not home, they decided to go on a vacation without their daughter and in all honesty, Charlotte Carter was not even mad about it. She was free to do whatever she wanted, to roam wherever she wanted and invited whomever she wanted ( and by whomever, she meant Oliver ).

Oliver came twice during the first week and thrice the second week of summer break. By the time the third week ended, Oliver came everyday and left only a couple of minutes before the sun sets. He would only spend the weekend with his family , which allowed Charlotte Carter to do a few things around the house ( the ones the house elves would not do ). Like, for example, taking care of the plants and flowers in the greenhouse. She even took the liberty to plant a few flowers of her own. She had planted some Colocasia esculenta ( black coral ), Eclipse hydrangea, Angelonia augustifolia ( angelflare black ), heuchera ( midnight rose ), black satin petunias, Calathea Dottie, Black Raven ZZ and Glacier sky Petunia ( okay, maybe she wet a little bit overboard, but it did not matter ). She was so excited, she wanted so badly to show them to Oliver. She could have followed her mother's example and used magic to make the flowers grow faster, but that took all the fun out of it (not to mention she was not at school anymore, so she was not allowed to use magic until September).

During the Summer break, Oliver and Charlotte Carter did not go particularly on dates, they had a couple of picnics in Charlotte Carter's backyard, they had gone to the municipal swimming pool near where Oliver lived, but nothing too extravagant. They had just considered the days they passed doing nothing in particular as dates, because, whether it was credible or not, they found that staying at home doing nothing in particular was just as pleasant, enjoyable and satisfying as going out.

In other word, in comparison to the last summer, this one was pretty boring and enjoyable, nonetheless.