Saturday, 28 September. The Burrow. {open to all}

[dadweasley]

After yesterday's adventures with young Charlie, Arthur felt a powerful need to keep out of Molly's way on Saturday morning. Staying in the same room with her while she cooked and cleaned and washed would mean conversation. And if he took part in a conversation, the subject of Charlie was bound to come up. And if the subject of Charlie came up, so

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[le_roux]

"Dad! Dad!" Charlie yells as he runs outside eagerly waving his letter. "Dad!" he yells again, then stops as he picks up a lovely rock and puts it in his pocket. He is just about to sit on the ground to look for more rocks when he realizes he is still carrying the letter and he should find his father first.

He makes his way toward the shed, picking up a twig here and there, a ladybug that he puts in his shirt pocket, a leaf for his book and by the time he reaches his father his pockets are filled with all sorts of slimey and wonderful things.

[dadweasley]

There's a strong sense of deja vu to the sight of a small boy wandering in his direction, constantly distracted by the joyous pleasures of the hedgerows. First it was Bill, and then... Arthur smiles down fondly at Charlie as the small boy comes to a stop in front of him. There's still a strong sense of wrongness to all of this, but at the same time it's comfortingly familiar.

"Morning, Charlie," he greets him. "Would you like to help Bonsai and me with the de-gnoming?"

[le_roux]

"Really?" Charlie asks unable to hide his excitement. He reaches over to stroke the kneazle when he realizes that he was here to show his father the letter.

"Dad, dad, look what I got." he hands the letter over to him. "It says something about Qui'itch and dragons but I don't understand the rest. Perhaps its for another Charlie?"

[dadweasley]

Another letter. Oh dear. Arthur takes the somewhat crumpled and grubby page from Charlie and smooths it out to read.

Madam Hooch. Yes, he remembers her being terribly disappointed when Charlie had set his heart on dragons rather than Quidditch. Nice of her to still think of him, all these years after he left school. But it's totally impossible, of course. He tries to remember whether Charlie, at six, had even mounted a broom for the first time.

What in Merlin's name can they write back to Hooch by way of explanation?

"It's for a big Charlie," he says at last, folding the letter and tucking it firmly into Charlie's pocket for him so that he won't lose it before there's a chance to show it to Molly. "He worked with Dragons, and was a pretty good Quidditch player too. Do you remember about Quidditch?"

[le_roux]

"Do you think I'll grow up and be just like Bill?" Charlie asked. "He's really big and he probably doesn't get scared." He leaned against his father. "I wish I was bigger, I'd be able to help you more and do stuff."

[dadweasley]

"I'm sure that you'll grow up to be just as big and brave as Bill," Arthur reassures him, continuing to hug the boy. He hopes so, anyway, and that this de-ageing isn't a permanent thing. "Maybe not quite as big; you're a bit sturdier build than Bill, and I don't think you're going to be quite as tall. But nicely adult sized, anyway. How do you like the sound of that?"

[le_roux]

"Really?" Charlie eagerly looked up to his father. "I'll be big," Charlie said in wonder. "Do you think I could be a dragon tamer, dad?" He bit his lip. "They are not scary like gnomes."

[dadweasley]

Arthur has always thought dragons extremely scary. He'd far rather face a few irate gnomes. But Charlie had always been so clear that that was the career for him, and so he and Molly had suppressed their misgivings and let him take his own path.

"Well, maybe. Perhaps we can arrange for you to see a dragon close up at some point. They have them in Wales, you know."

In the back of his mind is the thought that perhaps a reminder of what he once knew might help Charlie recover his memories and his years. It's not like the doctors seem to know what to do about him, after all, so reacquainting him with as much of the experiences of his former life as is possible can only help.