Backdated a tad Who: Charlie and Cho What: Out shopping for the family When: Thursday afternoon, December 22, 1997 Where: Diagon Alley Rating: Pg, for Charlie's language only Status: Closed/threaded/incomplete
He had decided that he was going to buy something nice for his mum this year, something feminine and sort of flowing. The goal was to give Molly Weasley something she'd probably never think to spend the money on for herself, and that idea settled right with her second oldest child as he stood still on the street, continuing his mental inventory of what he'd gotten for his family so far for Christmas.
Charlie had decided to go all out this year. It was really the first Christmas he'd be able to spend with his family since....since Charlie couldn't remember when. And as he'd decided on the things to get his brothers and his sister, he'd definitely decided to stay away from anything knitted: sweaters, scarves, mittens and hats were off the list. That notion had a smile on his face, thinking of the countless sweaters he owned himself, all with a huge 'C' knitted into them, to identify that they were for him from his dear mum. No, he wanted to get her something silky and decadent, and he had thought maybe something in green.
He was just trying to decide which dress shop to head into when he caught sight of a familiar head, a tilt of face that sparked his interest immediately. Cho Chan was moving down the Alley, and Charlie realized that he hadn't spoken to her or written to her since that night he'd walked her home. Work had been busy, he would admit that to himself, but he thought for certain he would have heard from her before now. A flash of doubt went through him, and Charlie wondered if perhaps he hadn't made as good of an impression with her as he'd hoped he had. He had thought they would be meeting soon after that walk, for tea or for a fly on the brooms. But there'd been nothing as far as he could tell. He realized, as he started to moved after her, that it could be his fault; he hadn't been reading the journals as well as he should have, and when he had, he'd been scanning for things from Bill and Ron. He began walking faster, striving to catch up with her until he was just about moving at her pace, right at her side, when he spoke.