A/N... I do not own any of these characters, we all know who does and we thank her daily!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED THE LAST CHAPTER!
Queen of Demons68, IGOTEAMEDWARD, feelingcowgirlish, and Butterflysparkle1012. Each of you made my day =]]

I am also sorry for waiting so long to post this chapter.

The Pull – Chapter 3

I sat on the sofa in front of the fire place trying to read Potions Brewing, a magazine that comes out about once a month. It is always filled with new and interesting ideas and even some challenges. This issue's challenge is about turning some of the potions like the calming draught and skelegrow into a pill form. I wonder how the magazine will feel when they find out in a few short months that Severus has already managed this. It is in the last few stages of testing and such but will be in St. Mungo's pretty soon. He was excited in his own way when he perfected the formula last year.

"Anything interesting" Charlie asked. I laughed and told him how the challenge is one that Severus already perfected. "Good. Now we can avoid drinking some foul potions. Playing with dragons all day usually means you get some broken bones. Skelegrow is the worst potion."

"Oh, I disagree! Polyjuice is awful." I shuddered remembering all the times I had to take it through the years. Accidentally turning into a cat was probably the worst though.

"I didn't know you had ever taken it, who did you turn into?" Oh no! "Umm… I made it for the boys when we were in school. It was awful and is not something I ever wanted to do again. I had to take it a couple more times when we were out searching for that year."

"I will take your word for it. For now, would you like to take a walk with me around the lake?" I let the breath out that I was holding just in case he noticed I didn't actually answer his question. I was not too keen to reveal I turned myself into a cat on accident or into Bellatrix.

"Sounds lovely, let me go slip on my shoes and we can head out." I stood and kissed the eagle tattoo once more before making my way up the stairs. I threw some socks on and then my converse and ran back down the stairs. When I reached the bottom I saw Charlie with a basket in his arm. I smiled and hooked my right arm with his free one.

"Are we having a picnic Lee?" he smiled down at me and just motioned for us to go out the door. Not exactly an answer but enough of one all the same. He asked about my childhood before I knew about magic.

"Honestly, I think my childhood was pretty good. I didn't have friends because everyone thought I was weird and weirder things would happen when I was around. Like one time in elementary school I was playing on the monkey gym when some other kids all came over and kicked me off of it. They told me they didn't want to be near the "freak". As I was walking away some of the poles came undone and the whole gym fell apart. They told the teacher that I broke it so they could not play on it. Things like that happened all the time so I spent all my time alone reading and making things float in my room. That is why the letter from Hogwarts was not a big shock for me and my parents." I continued telling him all kinds of things about my life and about my parents. After around ten minutes we made it to the lake. Charlie set down the basket and continued to walk.

"My childhood was a lot different. I spent most of my time with Bill. There was always so much going on and when the younger ones were born I helped out with them the best I could. There was never any chance to get alone time. Even at Hogwarts, Bill and I were always together when we were not in class. He was the most understanding when I took the job in Romania. Mum was furious. She set up blind dates hoping I would meet some girl and not move away." I felt a bit jealous but it passed quickly. The blind dates were years ago and he obviously moved away so there was nothing to be jealous of. Charlie continued to tell me stories of his childhood.

I felt the cool breeze blow around our bodies and the sun beating down on our skin. It was not very often that the weather was so nice outside. Mixed with the fresh smells of the outside, it was a great day. Charlie's voice made it even better. He had a very smooth voice, almost like silk. Every so often he would laugh at the story he was telling which would cause me to laugh.

Charlie was so different from his brothers, not just in looks but the way he acts as well. His whole family is all about being together all the time and having family dinners and events. I always wondered why he was not around much but his stories proved it all. He was not around much because he liked to be alone. It is like he got enough of the together time as a kid and now he wants "me time".

Would he still want to see me when he leaves? Will I just become his little brother's friend again? What is all of this? I like Charlie, probably more than I should. We did not much about one another before all this but it feels like I know him, like I have always known him. Like this morning at breakfast, Charlie made me a cup of tea that was exactly how I liked it, lemon and honey. I doubt he could have known this from our past encounters since we rarely had tea together before. And then, earlier he mentioned a pull to me. I too felt a pull to him, but what did that mean? I have all the questions but no idea how to get answers. I can't just ask him without seeming like I am asking more of him than he is willing to give. I know I have to ask before he goes back home to Romania. I just do not want to ruin a good thing with my questions before it has had a good chance to even start.

We arrived back at the basket in what seemed like a short amount of time. My stomach was growling at me so loud I was sure Charlie was hearing it as well. Charlie opened up the basket and used his wand to lay out the blanket and the food he had prepared. There were some simple deli sandwiches, some welsh cakes, a container of Yorkshire pudding and some fish and chips. I licked my lip and dug in.

"I suppose this is what you were up to while I was reading?" We smiled at one another and continued to eat in a comfortable silence.

It was not long before we were both done eating when Charlie pulled me to him. We situated so that I was resting my back against his chest with our legs tangled together. I turned my head to look out at the lake when I heard laughter that was not coming from the man behind me.

"Bloody hell, what have we got here?" I went to move away from Charlie as fast as possible but he held me against him. How had the twins got here without alerting either of us?

"Hello to each of you as well." Charlie called out to laughing.

"We were going to come and steal you away"

"From the Burrow for a while" George continued with Fred's comment.

"But, it appears you do not want our assistance." They were each smiling mischievously as they finished their statement together.

"Nope, no assistance is needed at all. Have a seat and help yourself." He motioned to the mountains of food left over on the blanket. George reached out for the pudding while Fred helped himself to a welsh cake. "How is the shop?"

"It's going" George started "swimmingly" Fred finished.

"We just released about a dozen new items including a candy that turns you into your animagus. We created thinking it would help those who want to learn the skill. It is easier if you know what animal you will be before starting all the training. Turns out people really liked the idea." Fred looked incredibly happy as he talked about their success.

George added, "We also have a cream to help remove scaring and some treats to help you speak and understand different languages."

Fred finished off his welsh cake and jumped up, "Enough with the small talk, explain!" He sat back down with a hard look on his face. I was not sure whether or not to be scared from the hard stare or laugh about the sudden change in him. I glanced at George and found the same hard look. Scared it is then…

I opened my mouth to answer them when Charlie started speaking. "We were trying to figure that out when y'all arrived. Mia and I are together but that is all we can actually tell you for now." The twins looked at one another before shaking their heads.

"When did it start?" They asked at the same time.

"The night that I arrived here."

"I know you are our brother but I feel this needs to be said, hurt her and we will hurt you." I was shocked. The twins and I did not hang out or anything that would warrant such a statement.

"I assure you that that will never happen. We are still trying to discover what our relationship entails but you two are the only ones who know, so please keep your bloody mouths shut."

I laughed and added, "Thank you for the shockingly protective moment but I do not believe Lee would hurt me in any way. That is just barmy."

"When are you two going to tell the family?" George asked.

I spoke up, "I was hoping to when your parents came back from Bill and Fleur's home. Your mum mentioned wanting to host a big family dinner. We could get it out of the way then. It seems like the best option to avoid any aggro that could happen." I looked up at Charlie when I spoke hoping for his approval of my plan. We had yet to talk about telling anyone at all about our relationship.

"I was about to suggest the same thing. I know mum would not be able to help herself with throwing a big dinner party once she is back." Turning to the twins he asked, "Will you two be able to hold off on all the jokes. It would be ace if you did."

"We will do you one better, we will help. You're going to need plenty if you plan to not have any aggro at all about the recent revelation." George answered.

Fred grabbed another welsh cake before commenting, "Have you thought about how mum will react knowing y'all would have been here alone for a time. I could imagine her first thought would be full of unwedded shagging." Fred had a great point. I had not spent time thinking about what everyone else would say about us. I was always more focused on Charlie and me, not that it is a bad thing. What we have is new and different but at the same time is it feels completely normal. He doesn't see me as his little brother's best mate but as my own person. I have always been grouped, whether it is Ron's mate, Harry's mate, or one-third of the Golden Trio. The most anyone ever noticed me and me alone was when I was being referred as the bushy haired know-it-all, which is not something I liked. I was happy when Severus stopped calling me names after I started my apprenticeship with him.

Bloody hell... we are shagging! There is no way that we would be able to lie and say we are not. Molly would see right through any lies or misdirects. Bloody hell! I could feel myself slightly shaking. How upset would Molly be? I was starting to feel like maybe telling the family so soon would be a bad thing, a scary thing.

"Mione, you look like you are about to have a panic attack." Fred laughed. Charlie slightly turned my body to have me face him a bit more and looked into my eyes. "Mia, everything is going to be okay. Everyone will be happy for us or not say anything at all. Besides, I am not going to give you up just cause someone else has an issue with us." I wanted to believe what he was saying but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I tried my best to swallow it down and give him a smile but the best I could do was a little half arse smile. Charlie seemed okay with it and looked at the twins. "What are your plans for today?"

The twins seemed to accept the change of subject and began to tell about the impending dates for that night. They were taking two lucky ladies to a dine and bar called The Other Bird. It was a relatively new establishment that got a lot of customers for many reasons. Many people got a kick out of the name and an even bigger one when they went to the bar side of the building and got to watch birds dancing all over the bar. I went there one night with a big group and really enjoyed myself.

After what seemed like forever the twins apparated away leaving Charlie and I alone once again.

"Would you like to head back in, we can be lazy in the sitting room." He had a big smile on his face that made it impossible to say anything other than yes, not that I would have said no. I smiled and nodded my head to yes. Charlie stood up and then pulled me up and off the blanket. He got out his wand and made all the dishes fly into the basket followed by the blanket. We walked hand in hand towards the house.

A/N

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xxoo's Caity