Work Text:
Charlie flooed to Grimauld Place on the way home, his mother having asked him to check on Harry since none of them had heard from him in a few weeks. They were beginning to worry.
“Hello,” Charlie called out. His voice echoed around the empty kitchen. Frowning Charlie started to explore the ground floor, looking for a sign of the-boy-who-lived-twice. The first few rooms he came to were empty, dark and full of junk that the Order had yet to even sort through. He stuck his head into the parlour, not really expecting Harry to be there by this point only to find him passed out fully clothed on the moth bitten sofa with a blue haired baby sleeping on his chest and baby paraphernalia surrounding him.
Charlie stared wide eyed for a moment, not having expected to find Teddy here. Last he’d heard the baby was with his grandmother. Frowning he walked into the room. The baby stirred on Harry’s chest, his eyes blinking awake focused on him.
“Hello Teddy,” Charlie whispered, smiling at him. The baby wriggled around in Harry’s arms and started making whiney noises, reaching for Charlie. Harry’s eyes snapped open at the movement and Charlie suddenly found himself with a wand aimed at his face, Harry having sat up abruptly, keeping a firm hold on his godson.
“Woah, just me Harry,” Charlie said, holding his hands up and backing away. He hadn’t really considered what a bad idea it would be to sneak up on someone who’d been on the run for almost a year.
“Charlie,” Harry said with a sleep rough voice, lowering his wand and wiping a hand over his face. “What’re you doing here?”
“Mum asked me to check on you, where’ve you been mate, everyone’s been worried about you,” Charlie said, though he suspected he now knew the answer.
“Yeah, sorry. I haven’t had much time to answer mail, this one’s a bit of a handful,” Harry said, indicating the baby and standing up. Charlie watched as he moved sluggishly to the changing mat and took care of Teddy, dressing him quickly and picking him up again. “What time is it?”
“A little after six,” Charlie responded.
Harry nodded and walked into the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink or anything?” he asked, whilst preparing milk for Teddy one-handedly. Charlie found himself impressed with the skill, he was pretty sure he’d have dropped the baby by now.
“Nah, thanks mate. So, how long have you had Teddy? We all thought Andy was looking after him,” Charlie asked curiously.
Harry stiffened at the question. “Andy’s in St. Mungo’s, she has some disease that she’s not going to recover from. They said she had two years tops, so she asked me to take him.”
“I’m sorry Harry,” Charlie said, wincing. Harry had had enough responsibility shoved at him over the years, he should be allowed to rest now without worrying about more death.
Harry shrugged without turning to look at him. “It is what it is, I guess. But I’m his godfather and I refuse to let him grow up like I did, so here we are.”
He turned his attention to Teddy and smiled at him. “Are you hungry Teddy-bear?” Teddy’s hair flashed bright pink and back to blue and Charlie felt like he’d been kicked in the gut at the forceful reminder of his dead best friend. Harry chuckled and held the bottle out for him and the baby latched onto it hungrily.
He glanced up at Charlie and caught the brief flash of pain in his eyes. “You knew her, didn’t you?” he asked softly.
“Yeah,” Charlie said, a little choked up. “She was one of my best friends in school.”
Harry nodded. “I didn’t know her all that well, but she loved Remus and she stood up to Mad-eye for me and that’s enough for me to know she was a great person.”
Charlie nodded. “She was the best,” he said. They stood in silence for a while, both their gazes transfixed on the feeding baby. Then Charlie realised the time and coughed. “Listen, mum told me to tell you to come to dinner.” Harry smiled at that. “She also said if you refused then she’d come and drag you there herself.”
Harry chuckled. “Guess I should find a better hiding spot then.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Charlie asked seriously, inspecting the younger man carefully. He was only seventeen but he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Charlie thought he shouldn’t still look like that, not now that Voldemort was gone. But he stood stiffly like he expected to be attacked at any moment, and his face looked warn down, deep purple shadows beneath his eyes making him look like he hadn’t slept in days.
“No,” Harry replied honestly. Then he glanced up to meet Charlie’s eyes. “I just needed time, then I went to see Andy and I just… I don’t know.” Harry shook his head, a small frown on his face.
“Come to the Burrow,” Charlie urged, “let everyone see that you’re okay, eat something, it doesn’t look like you have since we last saw you.”
Harry grimaced at that. “I’m used to not eating,” he mumbled under his breath. Charlie felt his heart clench to realise he really hadn’t been taking care of himself. Harry took the bottle away from the baby and lifted him onto his shoulder, patting his back gently.
Teddy burped and Harry smiled at him, pulling him away from his shoulder. “Good boy,” he praised, tickling the baby’s stomach. Teddy smiled at his godfather, reaching out to grip his finger in his hands.
“Okay,” Harry said, looking up at Charlie. “But you know the minute I’m there she won’t let me leave again.”
“I know,” Charlie said grinning. “But maybe that’s not such a bad thing right now.”
“Maybe,” Harry conceded with a shrug. “Will you hold him for a minute? I just need to get changed.”
“Oh, um, sure,” Charlie said, his eyes widening.
Harry chuckled. “Don’t worry, he won’t bite. He doesn’t have teeth yet,” he said as he placed the baby carefully in his arms. Charlie smiled at the joke, but his eyes were transfixed on the tiny human that was nestled into his arms. “Two minutes,” he heard Harry say and he nodded absently.
Charlie gently rocked the baby in his arms. “You’re definitely your mother’s son kiddo,” he said to him. “Her favourite colour was the colour of your hair, did you know that? She always said it upset her that the colour didn’t suit her.”
“Pink looked cooler on Tonks anyway,” Harry said from behind him. Charlie looked up to see that Harry had shaved off his stubble and changed his clothes, from which he’d likely been wearing for days. He had a bag slung over his shoulder which Charlie assumed was full of baby things. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” Charlie agreed, handing Teddy back to him carefully. Harry kissed his forehead then took out his wand and cast a bubblehead charm over him.
Charlie frowned at him questioningly. “Floo,” Harry said, shrugging as though it answered his questions. “After you?” he asked, indicating the fire. Charlie nodded and flooed home.
“Oh, Charlie dear, did you go to see Harry? Is he okay?” she asked, bustling over to him with a whisk still in her hand.
“Calm down Mum,” Charlie said stepping out of the way of the fire so Harry could come through. “He’s coming in a minute.”
Harry stepped through the floo moments after Charlie and was immediately assaulted by Molly’s famous bone crushing hug.
“It’s nice to see you too Mrs Weasley, but do you mind letting go, you’re crushing the baby,” Harry said, patting her back awkwardly.
She leapt away from him, startled. “Oh, Teddy! Why do you have him Harry dear?”
Harry gave her a half-hearted smile. “Andy’s in hospital.”
…
Harry woke up to the sound of a baby crying not too far away from his position on the sofa. Groaning, he groped the floor for his glasses and pulled himself to his feet. When he got to the other end of the lounge however, he found his godson’s crib empty and the crying having stopped.
Frowning he began to search the ground floor of the Burrow. Panic increasing when he could not find him until he heard someone singing in the kitchen. Curiously he followed the sound to unexpectedly find Charlie cradling Teddy in his arms, singing a lullaby that Harry had never heard before.
Charlie looked up as he heard Harry come into the room and smiled. "I was hoping he didn't wake you," he said softly.
"I don't mind," Harry said. "He is my responsibility, after all."
"Yes," Charlie agreed, looking him over with a critical eye. "But you need rest more than most of us. Go back to bed, I can look after him." He nodded at the baby gurgling happily in his arms and smiled at him.
" Charlie, I-"
"Nope, not listening, go back to sleep," Charlie ordered.
Too tired to argue, Harry held up his hands and went back to the living room. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow, not even removing his glasses.
…
Harry woke to the sound of a harsh whisper, "let him sleep, Ron."
"He's been sleeping all day," Ron said in a whinging voice.
"He needs rest, he barely sleeps as it is." Harry dimly recognised the voice as belonging to Charlie.
"How do you know that?" Ron demanded.
"My room is down the hall, if it's not his nightmares waking him up, it's Teddy."
Harry felt guilty for keeping Charlie up. Then he remembered the previous night and Teddy and felt even worse. Teddy was his responsibility, not Charlie’s. He shouldn’t hand him off to someone else just because he was tired. The thought of Teddy had him sitting bolt upright.
"Teddy!" Harry said loudly. He looked around wildly but was unable to see, his glasses having fallen off in the night.
"He's fine Harry," Charlie's soothing voice said. Harry looked towards the sound and found his glass being held out to him. He took them gratefully and looked up into Charlie's face.
"Thanks," he said. "Where is he? What time is it?"
"He's just down there," Charlie said, pointing to the blue haired baby lying on a blanket on the floor, chewing on the ear of his Wolf teddy. Harry felt smile cross his face as he watched his godson gurgle happily. "And it's just gone two in the afternoon."
"What?" he asked staring at him. "Why didn't you wake me?"
"You needed to sleep. Teddy's been fine, I've fed him three times, he's due again in two hours," Charlie said placating him.
"I'm sorry Charlie, you shouldn't have had to do that, he's my responsibility."
"It's okay Harry, Tonks was one of my best friends, I'm happy to help."
"She was?" Harry asked.
"Yes, clumsiest person I ever met," Charlie said with a wistful smile on his face. They both turned to look at Teddy as he started gurgling and smiled. Teddy looked up at them with bright eyes and his hair turned messy and black.
"Think that's my cue," Harry said to a chuckling Charlie as he untangled himself from the blankets and went to pick up his godson. "Good morning you," he said brightly, tickling the baby's stomach. Teddy squealed, his little legs and arms wriggling around. Harry laughed softly and held him close, rocking him gently. Teddy clutched onto Harry’s shirt tightly and stuck his thumb in his mouth.
"Just missed each other huh?" Harry asked softly as the baby's eyes drifted shut.
"You're very good with him," Mrs Weasley's voice said from behind.
He turned to smile at her. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing," he admitted.
Molly laughed brightly. "The plight of every parent Harry. I don't have a clue what I'm doing either." She winked at him.
"Really?" Harry asked even as Charlie perked up, "don't be thick mum, you’re the best."
She patted her son on the cheek and beckoned to Harry. "Come have some breakfast dear, you're still too thin."
Harry rolled his eyes, wondering if she was ever going to stop saying that to him.
“Hey, where’s mine?” Ron asked.
Molly turned to scowl at her youngest son. “You’ve had three times the amount of food today that I see Harry eat in three days. You can wait until supper.”
Harry grinned at his best friend and followed Molly into the kitchen, settling into Arthur’s usual chair. He shifted his sleeping godson onto one arm so he could eat the sandwiches that Molly placed In front of him.
"Thank you Mrs Weasley."
"Molly dear, call me Molly," she said, patting his cheek.
Harry blushed. "Molly," he repeated.
“How are you doing dear, really? Charlie says you haven’t been sleeping well,” she said with concern, sitting next to him and pouring another cup of tea.
“I’m fine Mrs W- Molly, really,” Harry insisted, his cheeks blushing at the attention.
Charlie snorted from the doorway as he made his way into the kitchen. “Sorry Harry, but I don’t believe you,” he said.
Harry scowled at him, his insides squirming unpleasantly at the disapproving glare Charlie was giving him. He instinctually moved Teddy closer to himself, suddenly fearing they’d deem him an unfit guardian.
“I’m fine,” he said again.
“Harry, it’s okay to admit to weakness, you know, we are your family. We’re here to support you.” Harry met Charlie’s eyes, surprised. He understood Ron, Ginny and the twins seeing him as family, but Charlie too? They barely knew each other.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking down. “I guess I’m just so used to dealing with everything alone.”
Molly laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “Well, you don’t have to do that anymore.”
Harry looked up at her with a grateful smile. Charlie took a seat and stole one of his sandwiches. “Why don’t you tell us what’s wrong?” he asked.
Harry bit his lip and hunched his shoulders, wondering if he could really tell them. He didn’t know either of them as well as Ron or Hermione, but he couldn’t tell them either. How could he? After everything, they deserved to believe he was happy, they deserved to focus on themselves for once.
He looked up into their earnest expressions and found tears start to leak down his face as he whispered, “everything.”
…
“Oh Harry,” his mother wailed, pulling him into her arms and holding him tightly. Charlie stared with wide eyes as the-boy-who-lived suddenly broke down in heart wrenching sobs. How Teddy remained sleeping through it all was a mystery to him. “It’s alright love, we’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sorry, god, I’m sorry, I should go, I should-” Harry pulled away, wiping his eyes roughly with his sleeve, the whole time never once jostling the sleeping baby.
“Don’t be stupid Harry, you’re not going anywhere,” Charlie surprised himself by saying. He didn’t know the boy very well, but his whole family adored him. He had saved Ginny and Ron and his father’s lives, not to mention literally dying to save them all. He had seen his strength and bravery and skill- gods he’d out flown that Horntail far better than most of his colleagues at the reserve. But all he could see sitting before him now was a lost kid, with haunted eyes that were so full of pain, still holding on closely to the only part of his family that he had left.
Harry stared at him, his bottom lip wobbling as he whispered, “sorry,” again.
“It’s alright Harry. Please just tell us what’s wrong, so we can help you,” he said gently.
“I- I don’t-” he hunched his shoulders again and stared determinedly at the table. “My whole life has been a bit of a horror show. And now, Voldemort is dead and I never have to see the Dursley’s again and I’m living in the Burrow surrounded by family and friends just as I’ve always wanted and I should be happy. I know I should. But I’m not, and I don’t know why, and I don’t think I know how to live without the threat of violence and death hanging over me all the time. And I died. I walked into that forest fully prepared to die. I’d known I’d have to do it for three years and I knew I had to die. I never thought I’d have a future. And then I was back, and he’s gone, and I have to look after Teddy and his parents died because of me and so many people lost their lives because of me and I have no idea how to look after a baby and no idea what to do with my life and people keep sending me all this fan mail and job offers that I’m not even qualified for and-”
He cut himself off, breathing heavily.
Charlie watched at the teen curled in on himself, protecting his godson in his arms even as wild magic started crackling around him.
Charlie took a shaky breath at the raw power that was surrounding him, he’d never seen such a thing. Slowly he reached out to grip Harry’s shoulder, the teen’s whole stiff posture drooped under the contact and the wild magic was suddenly gone.
“You’re depressed, Harry. It’s understandable given everything you’ve been through. You’ve never had a chance to process everything that happened to you, you’ve never been given the chance to grieve, it’s always been one thing after another. It’s understandable that it should hit you now, when you no longer have to worry about being killed all the time,” Charlie said in a soothing voice, hoping he was saying the right thing. Sure, he’d seen a few things in his life time, but nothing compared to Harry, he had no idea if he was dealing with it right.
“I can’t fall apart, I have to look after Teddy,” Harry whispered brokenly, his watery eyes meeting Charlie’s.
“And you are doing, you’re brilliant with him Harry, you really are. But you have to look after yourself too, if only so you can help him better,” Charlie said.
“He’s right Harry,” Molly said gently, tears silently running down her face at what the boy, whom she considered her youngest son, had told them. “Let us help you with Teddy, you need to rest.”
“I just, didn’t want him to grow up like I did,” the boy whispered.
Charlie frowned and glanced at his mother, wondering how Harry had been raised. He’d heard horror stories from the twins of there being bars on his windows and locks on his door when they’d got him in his second year, but he’d always assumed they’d been exaggerating.
“And he won’t dear. I promise,” his mum said fiercely. Harry looked at her with searching eyes for a moment before he nodded.
“Thank you Molly,” he said.
“Not a problem dear. Now, why don’t you give me Teddy and go and freshen up, hmm? You have been wearing those clothes all night after all,” she said in her stern mother voice. Harry blushed and nodded, passing the baby over gently into his mum’s expert hands. Harry brushed his hand gently over the boy’s head before standing and leaving the kitchen.
Charlie waited for a minute before turning to his mum. “Merlin,” he whispered under his breath. “I knew there was something wrong, but that…”
His mother was pale. “I didn’t even pick up on it. He acts so normally, I just never considered…”
“It’s not your fault mum,” Charlie said. “I don’t think anyone did, except for me.”
“How did you know?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.
Charlie gave her a sad smile. “I could hear his nightmares through the wall. And if it wasn’t those it was Teddy waking him up. That’s why I got up with him this morning, I was hoping he’d get some sleep for once.”
“What are we going to do Charlie?” his mum asked in despair and Charlie blinked, he’d never seen his mother look so downtrodden. Usually she was full of opinions and answers, she’d never normally ask for his advice.
“We just have to be there for him, listen when he wants to talk. Sounds like he’s got seventeen years’ worth of horror to unload.”
She nodded agreeably, then Teddy started to fuss in her arms, distracting her.
Knowing his mother had the baby well in hand he washed up Harry’s dishes, then went into the living room to clear up the mess that having a month old baby living in it caused. At least he could alleviate one burden from the boy’s shoulders.
“You don’t have to tidy up for me,” Harry said from behind him, making Charlie jump. “I would have done it myself.”
“I know.” Charlie smiled. “But honestly, there’s not a lot for me to do around here, I’m not due back at the reserve until September earliest and I get bored easily.”
Harry scratched the back of his neck and nodded, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. “Well, um, thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Charlie said, shrugging. “So, Ron wanted to get a quidditch game going earlier, if you’re interested, it’s why the prat was trying to wake you up.”
“Thanks, but I should really get back to Teddy,” Harry said, his eyes dulling slightly.
“Don’t be silly Harry, I’ll look after him for the afternoon, you go off and enjoy yourself,” Molly said, coming into the room with a fully awake Teddy, now sporting ginger hair.
“I- Are you sure?” he asked, unable to keep the hope out of his voice. Charlie grinned, he actually couldn’t wait to see Harry fly again. He’d been very impressed with him as a fourteen year old, he wanted to see how much he’d improved.
“Of course dear. Just don’t go hurting yourselves now, you hear?”
“Yes Mrs Weasley,” Harry responded dutifully as Charlie said, “yes mum,” laughter evident in his voice.
Charlie watched as Harry gently kissed his godson on the forehead. “You be good for granny Weasley okay?” he asked the infant. Teddy giggled and wrapped his small hand around Harry’s finger, his hair flashing black then back to ginger. Harry chuckled. “Red isn’t really your colour, you know,” he said playfully, then tickled the baby’s tummy. Charlie felt his heart warm at the interaction as Harry swiftly kissed his mother on the cheek before coming back to Charlie’s side.
“Let’s get the others,” he said smiling.
Charlie nodded and together they headed upstairs to find his brothers and Ginny. They made up pretty even teams, Harry and Charlie playing seekers opposite one another. Pretty soon the two of them had forgotten about the rest of the match, trying to out manoeuvre each other, racing around in the air as they tried to catch the snitch.
“Haha!” Harry cried out in triumph as his hand closed around the small gold ball just seconds before Charlie’s. Charlie caught the look in his eye and saw, for the first time in weeks, happiness. It was the look of the carefree teenager he had met at the quidditch world cup.
“Congratulations,” Charlie said graciously.
Harry grinned at him. “Thanks Charlie. Thanks for making me do this, it was fun.”
“Any time,” Charlie agreed. He liked that he had helped the boy let go, if only for a few hours.
…
Charlie woke to the sound of screaming. He sleepily made his way out of his room and crouched in front of Harry, shaking his shoulder. Harry woke with a jolt, springing up of the sofa, arms flailing. Charlie dropped back to avoid the limbs.
“Woah, Harry! Calm down, it’s just me,” Charlie said, catching his hand. Harry looked into his eyes dazedly and gradually seemed to recognise him. Charlie climbed up onto the sofa beside him and wrapped his arms around him.
“You can’t keep going like this Harry. You need to talk about it. It helps, I promise. It doesn’t have to be me, but I’m here and willing to listen, whenever you need, if you want me to,” Charlie promised, holding the teen close as he slowly worked to control his breathing.
“I’m sorry for waking you up all the time,” Harry mumbled, pulling away and hugging his arms around himself.
“I don’t care about that Harry. I don’t sleep much anyway. Please, let me help you,” Charlie implored. He couldn’t handle it anymore, watching the boy walk around like a sudden breeze might crush him, screaming in pain in the night, crying out for everyone from his parents, to Sirius, to his brothers and Hermione, he even heard his own name once or twice. He couldn’t explain it to himself, but he needed to take that haunted look from those bright green eyes.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” Harry said, twisting his hands together in his lap.
Charlie reached out to enclose his hands in one of his own. “Then just start at the beginning, go chronologically. I take it you don’t remember living with your parents?”
Harry shook his head and shuddered. “No, the only memory I have of them is the night they died. That was the first nightmare I ever had. I always heard this woman scream and saw a flash of green light before there would be this high pitched cold laugh and my head would explode in pain, waking me up,” Harry said, rubbing absently at his forehead.
“Merlin,” Charlie breathed.
“I didn’t know what it was at the time. My aunt and uncle told me that my parents died in a car crash, I always supposed that was what the dream was of, but then in my third year a dementor made me pass out and I saw the rest of the memory.”
Harry shuddered violently and Charlie wrapped him in one of the throws on the sofa.
“What was living with your aunt and uncle like?” he asked, it was one of the questions he’d been burning to know the answers to, but he had refrained from asking.
Harry sighed. “They- didn’t love me, hell you could say they hated me. Later, I realised it was because they were scared of me, scared of what I could do, but…” he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought and Charlie squeezed his hand comfortingly. “They treated me like a house elf really. I did the cooking and cleaning and gardening. I only wore the hand-me-down clothes that no longer fit Dudley. I slept in the cupboard under the stairs until I was eleven.”
“What?” Charlie asked, unable to help himself. They kept a child in a cupboard and treated him like a slave. It was worse than the twins had made him think.
Harry merely shrugged, ignoring the question. “If I did something that they deemed to freakish, or if I didn’t reach the end of the chore list, or if they were just plain bored of seeing me, they’d lock me in the cupboard so I couldn’t get out and they wouldn’t feed me. Sometimes for days. When I did get food, it was less than half of what a kid my age should have been eating, but complaining only ever made it worse.”
“Why did you never tell anyone?” Charlie asked.
“I tried, once. I told one of my teachers at school, she said she believed me, there was a meeting at school and by the time it was over Vernon had convinced them I was deranged and attention seeking and just needed firmly disciplining. They locked me it the cupboard for days.”
“So you never told anyone at Hogwarts?” Charlie asked, surely Harry knew they wouldn’t be so easily fooled.
Harry shook his head. “My letters were addressed to ‘the cupboard under the stairs’, I assumed that someone knew and had just decided it was unimportant.”
“Unimportant? Merlin Harry, they were abusing you,” Charlie said in a strangled voice.
“It wouldn’t have mattered, it was the only place I was safe from Voldemort. If I had told someone, Dumbledore would have sent me back anyway.”
“Surely you don’t think-” Charlie couldn’t comprehend the leader of the light condoning Harry to grow up in such away just because he was safe from outside threats.
“No, I know. Dumbledore, he was a great man, but he had many faults. Many of them revolved around my life. He was training me up so that I would walk into that forest and let Voldemort kill me. I just never knew it until that night,” Harry said it with such conviction that Charlie couldn’t help but believe him, no matter how it might turn his world view on its head.
“What’s the life of one boy compared to the lives of everyone else on earth?” Harry asked, his voice full of compassion tinted slightly with anger.
“Your life has worth Harry. And don’t you let anyone tell you differently. There are people who care about you, people who love you. And they, we, love you for you, not the public image of you. We accept the courageous, kind and brave person you are that all of them see, but also the person who is stubborn and grouchy in the mornings and incredibly witty,” Charlie said passionately.
Harry looked up at him with wide eyes, as if he were surprised to learn that anyone cared about him. “Regardless,” Harry said, “I had to die to save everyone I love and that was important to me. I couldn’t let you all die when I could do something about it.”
“You are the bravest person I have ever met Harry,” Charlie said earnestly. Harry blushed and Charlie had to repress a grin at the action, Harry was really quite adorable when he did that.
Teddy stirred in his crib then, ready for his midnight feed and Harry scrambled to go to him. Charlie smiled as he watched Godfather and Godson interact. Sure, Teddy couldn’t do much yet, but he responded well to Harry, letting him change him without fussing, taking his bottle eagerly, going to sleep almost straight away as Harry gently rocked him.
Charlie stood and squeezed Harry’s shoulder. “I’ll let you get some rest. G’night Harry.”
“Goodnight Charlie,” Harry said. “And thanks.”
“Any time, I mean it Harry,” Charlie said honestly. Harry bit his lip and nodded. Charlie smiled at him and sketched a wave before heading back to his room to sleep. He had a nightmare about the eleven year old boy he’d met smuggling a dragon out of Hogwarts being towered over by some hulking mass of a man wheedling a frying pan.
…
“Shh,” Charlie said, rocking baby Teddy gently to quiet his tears. He kept an eye on Harry’s sleeping form on the sofa, hoping that he would sleep through it. “It’s okay Teddy-Bear, I’ve got you.”
The baby’s tears stopped and his little fingers curled around Charlie’s night shirt. Charlie smiled at him and carried him to the kitchen to collect a bottle of milk that had been left in stasis for him. He held the bottle out to Teddy and his mouth latched onto it immediately. Charlie smiled at him and held the bottle steady as he drank it down.
Charlie slowly walked back into the living room to find Harry thrashing around under a tangle of sheets. Charlie walked up to him quickly.
“Harry, Harry, c’mon wake up mate,” he said, nudging his shoulder gently.
Harry startled and sat up abruptly, looking around wildly until his eyes finally focussed on Charlie. “Ch-Charlie?” he asked.
“Hey, you okay?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Harry said, sitting up and putting his glasses on. Upon seeing Teddy in Charlie’s arms his face filled with regret. “Jeez, I’m sorry Charlie, you should have just woke me up.”
Charlie shook his head and took a seat beside him. “Don’t worry about it Harry. I like helping out. You were having a nightmare, that’s why I woke you up.”
Harry sighed and nodded. “I should put up a silencing charm so I don’t keep disturbing you.”
“Don’t you dare,” Charlie said sternly.
Harry stared at him with wide eyes. “What-”
“I want to be able to hear, so I can help you Harry. I don’t like the idea of you being trapped in those nightmares alone,” Charlie said seriously.
Harry bit his lip and nodded. “If you’re sure,” he said uncertainly.
Charlie nodded, satisfied, and turned his attention back to Teddy, who was half way through the bottle, his eyelids drooping. Charlie smiled at him.
“So, do you want to talk tonight?” Charlie asked. They had done this every night since Harry had told him about the Dursley’s. Harry had told him more about his life with them, about his first year and Quirrell, and he had finally learned the truth about what had happened to his sister in the Chamber of Secrets.
“Third year?” Harry asked, he knew talking had been helping him, and for some reason it was a lot easier with Charlie than anyone else. He supposed it was because he hadn’t really known him very well.
“Third year,” Charlie agreed, turning his full attention to Harry now that Teddy was sleeping in his arms again. “Didn’t you run away from home that year?”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “My uncle’s sister came to stay that summer. She was saying some really horrible things about my parents and I just sort of- exploded. I ended up accidently blowing her up like a balloon and she flew out of the door. I thought I was going to be expelled, so I ran. I couldn’t stay with the Dursley’s if I was going to lose Hogwarts, I’d rather have lived on the streets.”
“That was the first night I ever saw Sirius, though I didn’t know it was him. He was disguised as Padfoot…” Harry regaled the adventures of his third year to Charlie, which by all accounts was pretty mild compared to the previous two years, despite a supposed mass murderer being out to get him.
As he spoke Charlie sat on the sofa beside him, listening intently. Harry’s eyes began to get droopy as he talked and he leaned heavily into the back of the sofa. Eventually he fell asleep, his head slumping onto Charlie’s chest. The dragon tamer didn’t have the heart to move him, so he settled into a more comfortable position, checked Teddy was secure in his arms, and allowed himself to drift off with his cheek resting against the top of Harry’s hair.
…
“Should we wake them?” Harry roused to a voice asking, he kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep as he hoped the voices would go away.
“Don’t you dare Ronald.” That had to be Hermione’s voice, Harry deduced. It was somehow furious and concerned at the same time.
“But that can’t be comfortable,” the first voice, which Harry had identified as Ron, reasoned.
“They look pretty comfy to me,” Ginny said, stifling a giggle.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ron asked, and Harry found himself wondering about that too. Although, Charlie’s shoulder was very comfortable. Harry fought the urge to snuggle closer to the man who’s cheek rested on the top of his head.
“Oh Ron, you are so naive,” Hermione said, sighing at him. Ginny giggled outright at that.
“What?” Ron asked, he sounded frustrated to Harry.
“Haven’t you noticed how close they’ve been getting?” Hermione asked.
“Yeah, bonding over the baby,” Ginny said.
“What are you two on about?” Ron asked, still bewildered. But Harry had a sinking feeling he knew where this conversation was going. They thought he and Charlie liked each other. He felt himself blush at the thought and turned his head further into Charlie’s chest to hide it.
“You three! Out, leave them alone,” Molly’s shrill voice entered the room. There was a smacking sound.
“Ow! Mum,” Ron complained.
“Out, if you have nothing better to do the lot of you can wash the dishes.”
Their footsteps shuffled away and Harry felt it was safe to finally open his eyes. He blinked awake, only to open his eyes and find Charlie looking down at him.
“Morning,” Charlie said with a smile, casually brushing Harry’s fringe from his eyes with his spare hand.
“Hi,” Harry said, blushing at the action. He sat up and reached for Teddy so that Charlie could do the same. The older man flexed his arm a little, it having gone stiff from holding the baby all night.
“Harry,” Charlie said, a little hesitantly.
“Yeah?” Harry asked, biting his lip.
“Do you, maybe want to move you and Teddy into my room tonight? You can get some sleep without the three stooges standing over you in the morning.”
“Oh, no Charlie, I wouldn’t want to put you out like that. It’s your bed,” Harry protested.
Charlie smiled a little. “Well, we could always share the bed, I’ve been falling asleep with you on the sofa the last couple of nights, sharing the bed might at least be a little more comfortable.”
“A-are you sure?” Harry asked shyly, his face flaming red by this point.
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay then, if you are sure,” Harry agreed.
“Great,” Charlie grinned.