Dear Mystery Author, that was delightful! Thank you so much. :)
I love Milly as a character in all her permutations and this was definitely Milly as I see her, strong, but vulnerable, tough but lacking a bit in self-esteem, and very, very Slytherin in her mind-set, keeping things to herself.
The draconian Ministry law I could see/believe. They didn't seem to have any qualms throwing Hagrid in Azkaban for most of a year -- and I still wonder at times if he wasn't tortured for information in CoS or, for that matter, why he wasn't given Veritaserum to find out the truth when he was a kid? Nothing the Ministry could do would surprise me, whether it's run by incompetents (Fudge), law-and-order types (Scrimgeour), Death Eaters (Pius), or the "good guys" (Shacklebolt). Each has their own blind spots.
Punishing all those they felt were Death Eater sympathisers is par for the course and I believe even if the Ministry didn't, that wizarding society most certainly would and will. That's made clear in Death Hallow's infamous epilogue when we see how diminished Draco is, as well as in Ron's still-bigoted assertions against Muggles as well as Slytherin house. The war taught them much about life, but little about tolerance and acceptance, so yes, I could easily see this sort of thing happening.
The extrapolation of Charlie's life on the preserve was fascinating. I could imagine him exactly this way, treating going to face killer beasts like it's just any other job. I could also easily imagine him being the sort to ignore his hurts and deal with them on his own (he must have driven Molly spare as a child).
Having Milly notice him first due to his lack of modesty, then to first touch him in the context of healing was a nice touch. I do like Charlie -- and Percy, among the Weasley men -- who strikes me as the sort who is quiet, but intense which definitely comes across in a physical context. Lucky Milly didn't burst into flames! ;)
Having Charlie be revealed as a typical male easily led by drink and the promise of debauchery was amusing & one could buy that he would behave that way without thought for his "housekeeper" (if one is feeling generous, one might wonder if he didn't seek sexual release due to being worked up over Milly). The very real hurt and disappointment Milly feels over his thoughtlessness was a lovely drop of angst and their dialogue over it was very in-character. I especially loved how she forgot herself to confront him, only to be undone by the sudden revelation that he does, indeed, see her as very much a woman.
The depths of Charlie's warm generosity in accommodating her, revealed in his help in bettering her situation and obtaining her first the job, then the apprenticeship, was lovely. IMO, the main grace of the Weasley family is that core of warm generosity and I also believe each of the clan shows it in their own way and not always in the way one might expect. It makes sense to me that Charlie (who is, at worst, a man not given to deep introspection, and who daily, literally risks his life to deal with dragons) would see the formidable and intimidating situation Millicent is in as being something easy to overcome. Milly's very real fear of worsening that situation plays nicely to their growing desire and I loved, loved, loved the UST here. I didn't include that in my wishlist, but UST to RST is one of my favourite tropes, so brava!
Finally, their steamy interlude was delicious and I loved that they couldn't just shag, but had to be creative. The handjob was sizzling and I really loved that Charlie had zero clue he was dealing with a shy virgin. With some stories, I feel stinted, but this time I don't regret the lack of a proper shag as the lead up to it was heated enough to allow me to imagine their first time... and I have a vivid imagination. ;)
So thank you, thank you, for a delicious, steamy, heaping helping of UST to RST, angst, h/c and beautiful character considerations/extrapolations. All my favourites! I loved it. :)