WHO: Snow White, Charlie Weasley, probably some cameos by Wolf Cubs WHEN: October 21 WHERE: Wolf Manor WHAT: Charlie gets to help Snow's campaign! They finally get some closure. TRIGGERS: Mentions of alcoholism.
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Wolf Manor was alive. The last time she remembered it, there was a sadness that hung over it like a raincloud. Without the children in it, it was a stark reminder of what her life had been and what it would be when she went back, and in the meantime, she would have to deal with all that space. That was why she'd invited so many to live with her back in those days. Six rooms to fill, and a seventh that was half empty most days.
Now it was bustling. The children played in the backroom while Snow was in the front living room, going over her plans for this campaign run. She was late, which meant there was a ton to catch up on and work through, but she had no doubt that she could handle it. After all, stressful situations were something she was incredibly used to.
Loki was already on the team. In fact, he'd been the first to join up, and that had been a huge relief. A trickster god was definitely someone who wanted on your team. Bobby would have had stats and figures down easily, but he was no longer here. It made her sad knowing what he went back to. She'd wrangle Jo at some point, but Charlie was going to make this work with stinking charms on all posters and yard signs.
She was going through a large stack of signs and verifying their contents and quality when there was a knock at the door. Ordinarily, a knock on the door was no cause for the lump of iron that dropped in her stomach. It was only Charlie. He would certainly be the same as always — which might have something to do with that sudden heaviness in her gut.
Snow put her best foot forward, though it was someone mired by the tiny floured handprint on her skirt that she hadn't noticed. The door opened, and a warm rush of Texas air hit her in the face.
Charlie had chosen to walk to Wolf Manor. He, of course, could have easily apparated to the location. He'd known it well from the months he'd lived there. He could have disapparated in a secluded spot and not worried about any non Displaced seeing his sudden appearance. But, if he were honest, the ability to take his time and approach the Manor at a slowed pace had seemed almost optimal; especially as he got closer and closer to the property.
When he'd helped Snow get back to the Manor after her return, with her children trotting in front and behind and to the side of them both, he'd been able to focus on just being in that moment. He was there to help her and there were small individuals who needed his help, too. He hadn't been able to lament about the Manor, even though he'd quickly sucked in a breath when it had first come into view on that day. But he didn't focus on that.
Now he was.
He had walked up the drive with his hands in his pockets and a gloom expression on his face. He'd missed the Manor. Snow's departure had been hard. Losing her, obviously, had been part of it and the largest factor. But the Manor had become Charlie's home and having to quickly relocate back to the Burrow, which he'd hated living in all by himself, had particularly stung. Now?
Now the Burrow was filled to the brim with people and yet, upon seeing the Manor, all he could think was how much he missed this place instead. Sighing heavily, he pushed the tired expression away. He didn't want his emotions displayed so readily on his face, especially since he didn't really know what he was feeling at present. So, as he'd worked at doing for years, he brought a smile up and it remained as he trudged up the stairs to the front door and knocked.
He hated knocking. It felt wrong.
But, then the door opened, and there was Snow. There was no need to force a smile now. It shifted and became more true. "Hey," he said in greeting, lifting his hand just a little awkwardly, almost like a wave. Then it fell back to his side and he looped his thumb into his belt loop, while the rest of his hand slid into his pocket. "Your Charms assistant has arrived," he then added with a bit of jest.
In her world, with the added memories she had, it had been months since Bigby's death. Very nearly a year even. Snow had gotten adjusted to the loss, knowing the 13th Floor witches were working on it, but glass was a fragile thing. Though they had recovered a good deal of the pieces, she wasn't sure what would be missing when they were finally able to put him back together again. If they could. She was strong, because her children needed her to be, and yet late at night, she found herself unable to sleep and thinking only of how she'd failed Bigby.
And yet, it was like yesterday that she remembered waking up, feeling Charlie's heartbeat against her cheek. The contrast was whiplash, especially when you factored in that she'd been gone for months. She finally understood how Rose must have felt. How confused and angry she must have been being torn away only to return to find that life had moved on without you.
Instinct, in this case, was a confusing thing. First instinct was ask him why he was knocking, to grab his hand and pull him into the house. First instinct was to smile and invite him in cordially. First instinct was to reach out for him and kiss him, never mind the children. First instinct was to ask him not to tell the children what had transpired between them.
Too many conflicting instincts.
She settled for moving aside from the door and gesturing for him to come in with a warm smile. "Assistant? I'd call you my expert."
He waited for the invitation. He wasn't going to enter the house without it even though he felt strange standing out on the porch. His fingers twitched inside of his pockets and he nodded his head in understanding as she stepped to the side, gesturing him to breach the front door. Stepping in, he moved in far enough that she could easily close the door, before he turned to look back at her. "Expert? Careful. That kind of talk might go to my head," he teased still, his grin wide.
It was easier to joke than to dwell. Or so he was going to say.
He glanced back behind his shoulder then, down the hallway, assessing the general area of the Manor. It made his heart ache just a smidge more. He remembered sauntering into the hall from the Ranch on varying evenings, looking forward to spending time with his housemates. He remembered looking forward to coming to a home.
This wasn't the case anymore.
Then he turned his attention back to Snow. "Where we heading?" The Manor was large and there were multiple places that would have made sense to him.
She gestured toward the living room with its walls of couches. Having seven children meant needing a whole lot of space. The living room was large enough to house nine people easily, but more could fit comfortably. They'd had war councils in here. The coffee table was lined with various fliers and writing utensils. Signs were stacked in boxes.
"Do you want something to drink before we begin?"
He glanced into the living room and saw how the table was already well underway with the campaign planning. He couldn't help but smirk. That was the Snow he remembered fondly. But then he turned his attention back to her. He wanted alcohol. He didn't say this.
"I'm fine," he offered instead with a slight smile as a 'thank you.'
"You're still a shitty liar," she answered him, though her tone was light and there was a smile on her own face. It was nice when you could count on some things, and she imagined that Charlie had gone on quite the alcoholic binge when she disappeared. First Bobby, then her. It must have been a terrible blow to him and Jo. "What do you want?"
He gave an amused scoff before shrugging his shoulders in a gesture of 'what can you do?' It didn't surprise him that she was able to see through him. She had been able to for longer than he'd have liked to admit. "Whiskey," he replied. It'd been his drink of choice as of late. Best he could do when he didn't have access to the preferred fire branded one from home.
Snow retreated into the kitchen after gesturing for Charlie to have a seat wherever he liked. She'd return with two glasses of whiskey, neat, but for the moment away from his gaze, Snow paused in the kitchen. She made sure her back was to the door in case he opted to show up.
She wondered if this was how Rose felt when she'd come back to find Charlie. Probably worse, since she'd come back to find her sister "shacking up" with her boyfriend. In Rose's eyes, no time had passed. Snow wasn't the type to lock herself away in a bedroom or go months without sleeping or doing much; she was the type to throw herself into anything else. She gave herself five seconds. Five seconds to let her face crumple, to let herself really feel the heartbreak. Let it in and take over.
And then, after those five seconds were done, she straightened her shoulders, went to the cabinets and began the ritual of pouring the glasses. When she returned to the living room, she'd hardly missed a beat. "One of these days, it'll be cold, and we'll get to have some sort of alcoholic coffee."
He hesitated, lingering in the hallway, his eyes watching her figure depart towards the kitchen. Once she was out of view, he leaned his head back, and shut his eyes before bringing his hands up to push his hair back.
And then he turned, making his way to the living room, before flopping down on the couch. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of laughter and commotion. It was the sounds he was all too familiar with from his childhood. A house full of children? It was a memory Charlie Weasley wouldn't ever escape and it had been what he wanted for Snow. He didn't like her being here, in Tumbleweed, away from all she loved. Knowing they were here with her? It was a blessing.
But it didn't change her return from being any more difficult. Every single concern and issue came rushing back to him. Bigby, the kids, Rose. Now Emmeline. He sighed while he still could before straightening up to lean forward and look at the posters on the table, wishing for his focus to be there instead of all the concerns.
He looked up when she entered and gave a dry chuckle. "Careful, we might be shipped off to the Arctic if you keep tempting fate."
"I'll take it over a black hole."
It wasn't meant to be a reminder of the final night they'd spent together on that blasted ship, but when weighing one thing against another — well, they could both agree that it was infinitely better. She held out the glass for him with a smile that was tinged with sadness. Only those who knew her well could see it in her eyes. Most people never thought about Snow White too often. Not as a human being anyway. They saw her as a robot who kept Fabletown together in tough times.
"Besides, you're a wizard. I bet you could keep us all warm."
He glanced to the floor and gave the smallest of smiles. Anything was preferable to the black hole. But mention of it, when coupled already with his sensory overload of being back in the Manor, summoned up memories whether he wanted them or not. His thoughts went to that final night, after weeks of tension between him and her due to Rose's return, and how he'd held her close to him; praying that if it was the end then she'd meet her fate, too. He'd be so afraid that she would be the only one to survive, lost forever, never able to die but not really living either. He hadn't wanted her alone.
And they'd escaped it, only for days later to have her disappear from him entirely.
He lifted his head though, and allowed for the smile to remain, as he reached out to take the glass from her. The smile was a shield. He looked to her and it was hard to keep maintained. Taking the glass, he hid behind it, taking a drink with ease.
"I'd get fires going but it wouldn't be pleasant."
She took her seat on the couch. The mention of the black hole stung, but so did the fact that he couldn't look at her for long. That wasn't going to work, not if he was going to work on her campaign. Or for their friendship.
She drew in a breath and turned to face him. The lines on her face were harder than they needed to be, but if they weren't the alternative was too much emotion. "Charlie, we need to be honest with one another. You can't look at me, and we need to fix that. How can we fix that?"
He lowered the drink and let his thumb draw across the edge of his glass. He appeared as though he were finding the reflection of the ice to be fascinating as he thought over her words. It wasn't helping his case in regard to the claim that he couldn't look at her.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. He wasn't against trying to fix it. He wanted to fix it. Snow had climbed her way to being one of his most treasured friends; before their relationship had changed that first time. And regardless what became of them now, he still wanted the foundation of their friendship.
He sighed. "I don't know how to fix anything anymore," he freely admitted. He didn't talk about this with many. Emmeline, sometimes. Emmeline and Snow were the one's he was best at being honest with. He couldn't even manage it with Tonks these days. He tilted his head up and looked to her. "I missed you."
"I know what that feels like." Missing someone. It had been no time for her, so she hadn't had the time to miss him, not the way he missed her. But she knew what it was like to miss Bigby, and if his feelings for her were even half that, well, she feared for how she'd left him.
It sounded silly, even to her, because she hadn't been gone at all, and now it had only been a few weeks. She missed the sights and sounds of Wolf Manor before. Her children were her first loves, of course, but there was something about that time period with Charlie, Bobby, and Jo that she couldn't shake. Maybe it was that she'd had friends, not allies.
Getting this out in the open might help. It might also put a wedge between them permanently, but it was a chance that Snow was just going to have to take. "My feelings for you haven't changed, so if that's something you need for me to deal with before we can be friends, then that's what we have to do."
Charlie was well aware that Snow knew what it was like. He'd told himself that it was better that she went home. As much as he longed for her, and he had most certainly done so, he knew it was cruel to hope that she'd come back. He didn't want her separated from her children. And while he had come to accept his feelings for Snow, he wanted her to have her husband.
Or this was what he'd told himself. And Emmeline, because it was no good trying to hide things from Emmeline.
But, if he was being honest, he'd had moments of being purely selfish; especially in those initial days. Where he'd want her back. And that had been coupled with guilt. He felt guilty for it. It was an aggravating position to be in.
He set the glass down and his hand moved to rub at the back of his neck, before dropping down between his knees. He clasped his hands together and kept his gaze down. "Mine didn't go away," he admitted.
"I'm not sure if I need you to deal with it or if I need to deal with my own. I think we can manage friendship but..." he lifted his gaze now to look at her. "...I just don't think we can manage friendship without being honest. Maybe us getting it out, admitting it, will be enough."
It at least got the elephant out of the room. They cared for one another but situations had changed. They might change again. He didn't know. But the elephant was acknowledged. That seemed like a good first step.
"I don't know that admitting it is enough, Charlie." Her voice took on a sad tone. It was good to hear that she wasn't alone in this, or that neither of them knew what to do with what they were given.
She knew one thing though.
"I need closure. This admission leaves me with more questions than it does answers or a proper ending." They needed to say goodbye to that part of their relationship to be able to be friends again. It was new territory for Snow who simply cut Charming and Snow out of her life when we walked in on them fucking. This was different.
Snow leaned over and kissed Charlie on the cheek. Just a soft thing that meant a lot to her, but was very clearly a goodbye.
There hadn't been the possibility of closure for Charlie. Though they'd finally come back together in those last moments, waiting for the black hole, there was still plenty they hadn't resolved. There were subjects that had been placed on the back burner. The intent was always to come back to them, to make an approach of how to move forward and cope with them, but then he hadn't had the chance. He'd come home, to Wolf Manor, only to find an empty field. It wasn't like having a row and a relationship ending.
No.
She'd disappeared and closure was impossible.
He lifted his eyes to look at her. A proper ending hadn't been possible up until now either. And he didn't know if that was what he wanted. But he was fairly certain it was what they needed.
It would be for the best.
When she kissed his cheek, his hand reached out, catching her's. His eyes shut and for a moment he just held her hand, as he swallowed the lump in his throat. And then he opened his eyes, looking to her, and gave her the weakest smile.
This was the right way to move forward.
Snow returned the smile with one of her own, giving his hand a squeeze and then returning to her position to begin with the posters. She was well-practiced at covering up her feelings — happiness, disappointment, betrayal — for centuries and no one was the wiser. It was unlikely that she would change now, not after so long.
"So I was thinking… These could be placed in various spaces around Main Street."