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8th March 1897. The bi-weekly newsletter bringing you the latest news and gossip at Hogwarts for witchcraft and wizardry written by Winona Rosewood - this is the entry for this month's @hp-12monthsofmagic challenge

CELEBRATING WITCH MONTH

This month of March we want to unofficially celebrate the wonderful and wickedly talented witches found within our own school of witchcraft and wizardry, so wizards take a step back while today I will dedicate this week's newsletter to several ladies that I believe deserve the utmost attention. Unfortunately, the small amount I can write is only a small part as they are complex and people should take the time to get to know them.

AN ENTREPRENEUR IN HER OWN RIGHT

This may be my bias as Victoria Summer @whatwouldvalerydo, my dearest and darling friend to place her first but it would be outrageous if I didn't. This sweet and fair Gryffindor has a business mind screw on top. Her perfumes are to die for and I have never smelled so heavenly. I could dedicate a while page to her but I must share it with others.

BRINGING THE FIRE TO HOWARTS

Ema McGiliguddy @kc-and-co entered Hogwarts with fire and style. Literally. This adventerous Slytherin has all eyes on her and certainly the Newspapers have been lying as she is far from the frail girl they make her out to be. I do watch her in anticipation for what may be next on her path of adventure.

A WITCH OF HER OWN MAKING

What goes on behind this inquisitive Ravenclaw's mind is anyone's best guess but Persephone Gould @cursebreakerfarrier is certainly multi talented. A prefect I would love to have and daring in her choice of past time endevours like fencing to name but one.

MORE THAN JUST A STYLE ICON

Despite my past article about her, Carolyn Nyberg @lifeofkaze I do find she certain qualities to be admired. While her beauty is so great that she makes the beautification potion envy there, she is so much more with mind enviable too.

THE ALCHEMIST'S GOLD

Though brief our interaction may be through Delilah Sweets, Violette Durand @cursed-herbalist it was made clear to me that she is going to go far. In spite of her agreeable nature, there is an ambition to create more paths for women in alchemy.

A NEW AND GORGEOUS LIONESS

Io Gordon @drinkyoursoupbitch, Head Girl and the latest addition to our wild Gryffindor brood. She is certainly welcomed with open arms, at the very least from me.

AN ASTRONOMICAL MIND

Now while I don’t have much to do with Héloïse Perrault @the-al-chemist, I heard much about her. This French witch is proving herself of wit and intellect certianly befitting of a Ravenclaw. Her starry mind will certainly bedazzle everyone at Hogwarts.

A SOPHISTICATED POTIONEER

Lastly, I present Adelia Selwyn @thatravenpuffwitch whom I have to admit that I deeply admire her skillful hands as all I can watch with awe and wonder how she can brew potions so perfectly.

[flareshogwarts]

Nor this is so cute and somehow also bittersweet. I love how you express Charlies struggle and including Ava. Hehehehehehe!

We all need more from Mollys hugs and Chats with Bill.

Moving On

A/N: This story was written for the January prompt of @hp-12monthsofmagic challenge

Bringing friends to the Burrow during the summer break was somewhat of a habit for the Weasley children, and yet, Charlie Weasley had never really been one to invite people over. That wasn’t because he didn’t have any people to bring, he simply preferred sticking to a small but eclectic circle of friends. 

Lizzie Jameson was one of the exceptions. She was one of Charlie’s few regular guests at his home near Ottery St Catchpole, and Charlie would’ve been hard-pressed trying to think of a time when he wasn’t excited about his best friend’s stay. 

This year, however, things were different. He had been looking forward to Lizzie’s arrival, he really had, but when the lively Hufflepuff girl Apparated into the Burrow’s front yard, Charlie wasn’t the one to greet her first. Before he had even risen from his chair in the kitchen, his mother had rushed past him, pulling a bashfully smiling Lizzie into a smothering hug. 

“I haven’t seen you in forever, dear,” Molly Weasley cried out, cupping Lizzie’s face with both her hands and squeezing it ever so slightly. “Won’t you look at that, what a beautiful young witch you have become! And what a nice tan you got yourself! You must tell me all about your trip, Charlie was so frugal with the details. Did you get my birthday gift? I really hope you liked the chocolate Quaffle.”

Over his mother’s incessant stream of chatter, Lizzie raised an eyebrow at Charlie.

“I thought you made that one?” she mouthed, to which Charlie responded with a shrug.

“I came up with the idea.”

He was happy that he and Lizzie would finally get to spend some time together. At school, catching her alone was tricky; they were in different houses, and Lizzie had a plethora of friends and other extra-curricular activities to occupy her time. They saw each other during classes and their work for Professor Kettleburn, but even those Lizzie had come to leave in a rush more often than not.

Charlie knew the reason for it, of course. Lizzie now had a boyfriend, after all. 

He felt his excitement fade as he listened to his mother and his younger brothers, who had stormed into the kitchen upon hearing Lizzie’s voice, interrogating her on her boyfriend Orion’s shiny new career as rookie Chaser for the Montrose Magpies. Lizzie answered all of their questions patiently and with a proud smile on her face; for some reason, she seemed unable to even stop gushing about his new jersey.  

“The old ones were so boring, but this season, they’re stunning. Trust me, you’ll love them.”

Charlie raised his eyebrows fractionally. “I thought you were a Catapults gal, Snidget.”

Lizzie responded with a laugh. “They’ll have to share my love with the Magpies now, I guess.”

“So much for loyalty,” Charlie muttered to himself. He was surprised at how snappy he sounded, but a strange sort of irritation had taken hold of him ever since the topic had turned to Quidditch. Lizzie seemed to share the notion; her brows knit together in a frown, but before she could reply, Charlie’s younger brother Fred drew her attention.

“Don’t listen to him,” he smirked, his brown eyes flashing. “He’s just jealous he only gets to handle dragons instead of Snitches.”

“Others chase undying fame, Charlie only scary lizards,” Fred’s identical twin George sniggered. 

“Chasing scary lizards is a perfectly acceptable career choice if you ask me,” Lizzie jumped to Charlie’s defence with a stern look at them both. “And it’s not like Charlie isn’t his own kind of famous either. I have a lot of friends who are quite partial to him, actually.”

Knowing where this was headed, Charlie motioned for Lizzie to stop, but it was too late. His mother leaned closer with sparkling eyes.

“What kind of friends? Girls?”

“Mum…”

Not minding him, Lizzie giggled in reply. “Yes, actually. There’s Janet, and Alexa, Elle, Madison, Rose, Millie… oh, and Ava.” 

At that, Charlie frowned. “Who’s Ava?” 

“I’m not sure you know her. I only met her properly last year.”

“What house is she in?”

“Ravenclaw. You might know her from Potions, actually. She’s rather petite, blonde, wickedly clever. She’s top of… well, almost all classes, really.”

“Does she like dragons and Quidditch?” the twins asked innocently, elbowing each other in the sides.

“Sadly, no and no.”

Charlie thought all of this rather odd. “And she told you she wanted to meet me?”

A faint dusting of colour rose to Lizzie’s cheeks. “She didn’t exactly say it, but I think the two of you would get along well. I can introduce you if you like?”

“Thanks, no need,” Charlie said abruptly and rose to his feet. He left behind a stunned silence as he walked through the kitchen door into the garden. 

As he crossed the garden towards the hedge separating the Burrow from the fields beyond, his thoughts circled around Lizzie and how strangely angry her behaviour made him. Was it too much to ask to not talk about her relationship for more than five minutes? Or his lack thereof, for that matter? There was more to life than dating and all the other things that seemed to consume all of Lizzie’s waking thoughts lately. When had she changed so much? 

When he reached the broom shed on the edge of the Burrow’s grounds, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. The dark, dry heat hit him like a Bludger to the face. He looked around. There were gardening tools, discarded furniture, and old plant pots littering the shelves and floors, and in a rack by the wall, the ragged broomsticks of the Weasley family were stored. Charlie took one of them out and put it back again, sitting down on a dusty sunchair instead. 

He was annoyed with Lizzie, and his mother, and Fred and George, but mostly, he was annoyed with himself. It wasn’t Lizzie’s fault that he was irritable, and she had only meant well. 

But what was so wrong about wanting to pursue his passion? Why did everyone always question him? His internship with the dragonologists in Wales during the first half of the summer was the first step to the career of his dreams, but instead of support, all Charlie received from his family and friends were patronising remarks.

The door creaked open, and a shadow blocked the light streaming into the shed. Convinced it was Lizzie, Charlie sullenly said, “If you want to play Quidditch, I’m sorry. I can’t provide you with balancing and broom surfing.”

“Oh, neither can I,” said the voice of his older brother Bill. “I’d break something even trying.”

Charlie’s shoulders relaxed as Bill sat on an upturned cauldron across from him. “What do you want?”

“I heard you stormed out on Mum. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing,” Charlie shook his head. When Bill didn’t reply, the words suddenly came tumbling from his mouth. He told him about Lizzie, her repeated attempts at pitching him to various of her friends, and how strangely disappointed Charlie had been from the moment she had set foot into the Burrow’s kitchen.

“I don’t know,” he finished with a helpless shrug. “I just don’t understand why she’s changed so much.” 

“You have gotten older since you first met. People change when they grow up, and so do their friendships.”

“That’s not it,” Charlie insisted. “It only started after she got with Orion.” 

Bill made a contemplative humming sound. “Is that why you’re so upset? Because Lizzie has a boyfriend now?”

“Why would I?”

“You’re not jealous then?”

“Absolutely not,” Charlie said vehemently. He paused. “Should I be?”

“Well, is there anything on your part?” 

“Why does everybody keep asking me that?”

“You’ve always been close. More than close, even.” Bill shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first person to fall in love with their best friend. It happens. I mean, you even kissed.”

“We… wait, how do you know that?”

Bill’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “There’s no secrets at the Burrow.”

“Okay, but even if we kissed, it doesn’t change anything. I don’t have feelings for Lizzie,” Charlie insisted stubbornly. More quietly, he added, “Or at least, that’s what I thought.”

“You don’t think that anymore?”

“I don’t know,” Charlie said, frowning to himself. “Everybody thinks there’s more to us, so what if they’re right? What if there is?” 

Bill was silent for a long time. “Do you remember the plush Erumpent I got for Christmas when we were small?”

“No.”

“Mum and Dad got me an Erumpent and you a dragon. You loved that dragon. You took it with you anywhere.”

“Sounds about right.”

“People liked the Erumpent better, though. They kept asking you if you weren’t sad that it was way cuter than your dragon, and eventually, you believed them.” He paused. “Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“No, because dragons clearly are superior to Erumpents.”

“You changed your mind after people told you how to feel often enough.” Bill’s voice softened. “I know you want to please everyone, but you shouldn’t let that decide how you feel about something. That’s for you to decide, and only you. And if someone’s not happy about it, that’s their problem, not yours.”

“If anyone thinks Erumpents are better than dragons, they have enough of a problem as it is.”

With a laugh, Bill rose to his feet. “Think about it. Mum says dinner’s at six.”

Charlie stayed in the broom shed long after Bill had left. Their conversation ran through his mind over and over again. Bill suggesting that he was jealous was ridiculous. Why would he be jealous? 

Jealous. He let the thought sit with him, gave it a little room to breathe. It felt strange.

He remembered when he and Lizzie had come into this same broom shed during their Christmas break a couple of years ago. They had hidden from the twins and had found themselves under a mistletoe in the doorway. It was the only time they had ever kissed, but it had been Charlie’s first; both their firsts, in fact. Looking back, he wasn’t sure if the memory felt good or awkward. 

Bill’s words kept Charlie occupied over the next couple of days. He spent his time with Lizzie and his family, trying to put his issues aside, but they never quite left him alone.

By the end of the week, Charlie still didn’t know how to feel. Was he jealous of Lizzie’s relationship with Orion? Wasn’t he? The idea felt foreign to him, as if his mind refused to wrap around the concept of Lizzie being anything but his friend. 

The summer in Devon was kind, and the Weasley children made the best of it, spending their days in the garden from early in the morning. A pleasant breeze stirred the leaves of the trees in the orchard, and the scent of grass and honeysuckle hung heavy in the air. Charlie sat on the steps in front of the kitchen door, watching Lizzie playing tag with Ron and Ginny, an affectionate smile playing around his lips. 

Maybe he and Lizzie could have been more, he thought to himself. Maybe, if things had been different. If she hadn’t fallen in love with Orion, or if Charlie had known what he wanted from her when there had still been a chance. 

Ultimately, it was what it was. And that, Charlie decided, was perfectly fine. 

Further out in the garden, Ron and Ginny had left Lizzie to her own devices. She sat in the shadow of an old honeysuckle tree and was reading the letter she had received from Orion the other day. A soft smile formed on her features, the happiness radiating off her so strong that Charlie thought he could feel its warmth even from where he was sitting. It was then that something within him settled. If Lizzie smiled like that, he was satisfied, no matter who or what was the cause of it.

“Would you look at that, George?” Fred grinned as he slumped on the stairs next to Charlie. 

“Someone’s in love,” George sang, suddenly appearing on Charlie’s other side. In unison, the twins added, “Go on, make your move!”

Charlie stifled a sigh. “I’m not in love.”

“Then why are you staring?”

“I’m not staring.”

“You are staring,” Fred and George sniggered, fluttering their eyelashes and making kissing noises.

Ignoring the twins’ wolf whistling, Charlie rose to his feet and made his way over to Lizzie, who looked up from her letter with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry about them,” she glared in the direction of Charlie’s cackling brothers. “I told them to knock it off, but you know how they are.”

“It’s fine,” Charlie waved her off. He nodded at the parchment in Lizzie’s hands. “How’s Orion?”

“Are you polite, or do you really want to know?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to know?”

Lizzie suddenly looked sheepish. “I never thought you cared much.”

“Don’t take it personally, Puffskein. I had a lot on my mind.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“It’s fine.”

Lizzie tilted her head. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

A smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Charlie nodded. “I do.”

Slowly, the smile returned to Lizzie’s face as she tucked her letter away and told him about Orion’s first days in Montrose. Her eyes were flashing with excitement, and the dappled light falling through the canopy above them made her hair look like dark honey. She did look pretty, smiling like that, and Charlie wondered whether there really wasn’t more to the thought.

The simple answer was no, there wasn’t. Lizzie was happy, and that was all he needed to know.

“Say, that friend of yours,” he said when she was done with her recount, “the one you mentioned the other day. Tell me about her.”

A knowing smile formed on Lizzie’s features. “Which one?”

Charlie searched his brain for any of the names she had mentioned and said the first that came to his mind.

“Uhm, Ada.”

“You mean Ava?”

“Yeah, Ava. Tell me about Ava.”