Charlee groaned, as she shifted in her bed uncomfortably, the taste of the disgusting blue liquid Madam Pomfrey had just fed her lingering in the back of her throat. She still had' Mr Potter!' ringing in her head, after Albus had stormed out of the room just as she had woken up, and Madam Pomfrey had tried – and failed – to call him back inside.
She ran a hand through her hair, and put a bit to her nose, sniffing it. God. She needed a shower.
Suddenly, the Hospital Wing doors burst open, and a crowd of people swarmed into the room, rushing towards her bed. Charlee groaned, and covered her face with her hands, as dozens of arms attacked her, hugging her tightly, voices screaming and shouting in her ears, rattling her ear drums to points of bursting.
“Please!” she heard Madam Pomfrey call out above the racket. “Please! Only six visitors at a time! Go on! Shoo! The poor girl has only just woken up! You're doing her more harm than good!”
Slowly, but surely, students filed out of the Hospital Wing, grumbling all the way to the double doors, till only Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Emily, Jack, and Jacob were left. Charlee turned her eyes onto Albus, who was sat closest to her, her hand clasped in between both of his.
“You sent me that ring?” she murmured. A grin broke across Albus' face.
“Is that what woke you up?” he asked, excitement laced in his voice. Charlee smiled, and nodded.
“Yes, I guess so. Pretty random, huh?” she grinned, and Albus squeezed her hand tightly in his. Her attention was then drawn over to Jacob, who was looking sadly at her.
“Charlee, I'm so sorry – this is all my fault. I shouldn't have made you guys practice-” Charlee held up her free hand.
“It's no one's fault. I should have cast a shielding charm around myself.” she sighed, and frowned up at the pure white ceiling.
“It's a shame I won't be playing in the match tomorrow.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Charlee then frowned.
“Hey...if tomorrow is Saturday, than today is...?” Everyone around the bed grinned, and soon, a pile of presents appeared on top of the blankets.
“Happy birthday, baby!” whispered Albus as he kissed her cheek.
An hour later, and Charlee had been showered, clothed, breakfasted, and had opened her presents. The presents this year had probably been her best yet!
Albus had bought her a silver necklace to match her ring, which had one small, but real, diamond in it. Rose had bought her a photo album, already half full with photos going back to her first year at Hogwarts. Scorpius had bought her a Slytherin scarf – which Rose had immediately changed into a new Gryffindor scarf instead. Emily, Jacob, Jack and Rebecca had all clubbed together to buy Charlee a rather expensive looking new beater's bat, which had her name engraved onto it, along with the rest of the Gryffindor team's names. Her parents had popped in to see her, and had dropped off some expensive chocolates from the Muggle chocolate shop, Thornton's. Teddy had bought her two packets of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, and a charm bracelet, which had five charms on it: A wolf charm from Teddy; a butterfly charm from Dom; a broomstick charm from Roxanne; a cake charm from Fred; and a teddy charm from-
“James?” Charlee asked in shock as she read Teddy's letter.
“I've tucked a note from James inside. He wanted to come and visit you, but he is so caught up i Quidditch at the moment...” Charlee tailed off and frowned at the inside of the card.
“What note?” Albus' hand picked something up from her lap, and handed it to her. Immediately, she noticed James' scruffy handwriting.
Charlee,
Happy Birthday. I wish I could be with you to celebrate it with you, and also to check that you are okay. I hope your injuries aren't that bad – I've seen you play Quidditch; I did recruit you for the team myself, after all. You are the best Beater I have ever seen – I'm sure Puddlemere United would open up a spot for you in the reserve team when you leave Hogwarts, if you wanted.
I guess you must be wondering why I am writing to you, and got you a gift. Well...I wanted to say sorry. I was a dick. A big one. I never should have cheated on you with Melissa – she wasn't worth it.
I've dumped her now, anyway, and have a new girlfriend. Her name is Hope. I reckon you'd like her. You two are quite alike.
I hope I'll get to see you at Ted's wedding, so that we can make up properly.
I really am sorry for what I did, Charlee. I hope you can forgive me.
James
P.S. No, my mum didn't tell me to write this. Honest. You can ask her if you don't believe me.
Charlee was speechless. Her mouth was popped open in surprise, and she just knew her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. Gently, Albus' fingertip closed her mouth.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, as everyone stared at her. She nodded, and handed him the note.
He seemed just as gob smacked as her.
“What are you gonna do?” he asked her quietly, as he passed the letter to Rose. Charlee shrugged, and closed her eyes.
“I don't know. Right, now, I don't want to do anything-”
“Well, tough!” said Jack, who, when Charlee opened her eyes, had just stood up.
“What?” Charlee asked, slightly bewildered. Jack grinned.
“Meet us in the Room of Requirement at seven o'clock.” he said, as Emily, Jacob, Scorpius and Rose got up from their seats, and headed towards the doors.
“Why?” Charlee called after them. Jack winked at her.
“You'll see.”
Rose's P.O.V.
“I still say she suspects something.” Rose said, folding her arms across her chest, as Jack wondered past the fifth floor corridor, his eyes closed. Scorpius rolled his eyes, sliding one arm around her waist.
“You worry too much.” he kissed her head lightly, and Rose smiled, leaning into him. She wondered what would happen when they arrived at The Burrow for Teddy's wedding, and found that Scorpius Malfoy was with them too. She didn't care, though. She was happy with Scorpius, Malfoy or not a Malfoy.
Jack let out a shout of joy, and Rose and Scorpius sprang apart in shock, as Jack opened the newly appeared door, and dashed inside. Rose frowned, and walked in after him.
The Room of Requirement was beautiful. Blue and orange drapes were hung around the room, with hundreds of tables decorated with blue cloths scattered around the massive dance floor in the middle, which led up to a stage.
“Okay – so the Weird Sister's will be arriving at six to set up.” Emily said as she walked towards the stage.
“And the guests will be arriving at half past six, so that we can turn off the lights, and yell 'Happy Birthday!' when she walks in!” Jacob said, as Rebecca slipped into the room, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Don't forget that we have to give Albus the blindfold.” she reminded everyone. Rose smiled, and nodded. She hoped it would be okay for Charlee.
No.
She hoped it would be amazing for Charlee.
“Okay,” Rose said, as she walked onto the stage, looking at everyone. “So...Scorp, you're getting the food?” He nodded, and smiled at her.
“Already asked the elves. They'll bring it up at twenty-five past six.” Rose nodded, and looked at Emily.
“You've got the invitation list?” She nodded.
“I hope this room can fit over two hundred people.” she said, grinning.
“Jacob, Rebecca...you've got the party popper's, and balloon's?” The pair nodded.
“Jack – do you have the bag for the presents?” Jack shook a huge silver bag. Rose nodded, and looked down at the list she had in her hands.
“Okay – so that just leaves Albus to walk her here, and me to make sure everything runs smoothly.” she looked up at the five people before her.
“Let's get to work!”
Charlee's P.O.V.
“Albus?” Charlee asked tentatively, as she was guided forward, her arms stretched out in front of her, in case she walked into anything.
“Mhm?” she heard his soft voice from behind her, his breath on her neck, just below her ears, his hands carefully placed on either side of her waist.
“Where are we going?” she asked, as they started to climb another set of stairs, Charlee stumbling slightly as she went.
“You'll find out soon.” he murmured, turning her right at the top of the stairs. At first, Charlee had tried to figure out where they were heading after Albus had blindfolded her. But when they were nearing the staircase that went up to the fourth floor, Albus had stopped her, and spun her around several times, till she became disorientated.
“You know how much I hate you right now, right?” Charlee said, teasing him playfully as they walked forward. She heard him chuckle from behind her.
“You'll love me soon. Now stand still. And don't peek.” Charlee nodded, and let her hands fall back down to her sides, as he removed his hands from her waist. She heard his footsteps go past her, and heard something being opened – but what, she did not know.
Soon, his hands were back on her waist, and she was once more being guided forwards. He then removed one hand, and something closed behind them.
“I'm taking your blindfold off right now, okay? You might want to close your eyes for a second – the light my be a bit blinding.” Charlee nodded, and squeezed her eyes shut, as she felt Albus' hand untie the blindfold at the back, and felt him pull it gently off her.
Carefully, Charlee opened her eyes, and -
Nothing. It was pitch black.
Charlee stared around herself wildly. She couldn't even see Albus.
“Oh God,” she whispered, still turning wildly around on the spot.
“Al? Albus? Albus! Oh, God! Albus! I've gone blind-” Charlee let out a shriek as many lights flickered on at once, and one huge voice boomed:
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLEE!” Party strings, balloons, and mini fireworks descended all around her, as Rose stepped away from the massive crowd of people to hug her tightly.
“Happy birthday.” she whispered in her ear, hugging her best friend tightly. Charlee hugged her back just as tightly.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Rose nodded, and smiled, before she pulled back from the hug, and let Charlee look around the room. Charlee's gaze swept along the orange and blue draped walls, the sparkling silver dance floor that was already packed, the many blue-clothed tables that were placed around the dance floor, the mountain of food that was piled high on a long table across the back, which spanned the room. She grinned, as the Weird Sister's struck up her favourite song.
“C'mon – let's dance!” she grabbed Albus' hand in hers, and pulled him onto the dance floor, letting his arms snake around her waist, letting his lips move against her neck, saying words that were too private to be spoken aloud.
“This is so amazing.” she whispered quietly in his ear as the song changed, and they started to swap together.
“I'm glad you think so. You're seventeenth birthday is always special – you're legal now.” he winked at her, and she laughed softly, circling her arms tighter around you.
“I missed the first apparition class though – and I'll probably have to miss it tomorrow, as well.” she sighed into his neck. Albus kissed the top of her head lightly.
“Don't worry about it – I'm sure you'll be able to take the test with the rest of us when the time comes.” Charlee nodded, feeling comforted by this thought, as she breathed in his heavenly scent from his neck.
“Hey – later, I want to take you somewhere, okay?” Albus whispered in her ear, so that only she could hear. Charlee nodded, and looked up at him.
“Where?” Albus winked.
“You'll see.” Charlee rolled her eyes at this comment, but didn't say anything more, as the song yet again changed, and Rose grabbed her hand, before pulling her away from Albus.
“It's my turn to dance with you.” Rose winked at Charlee, and Charlee laughed, as she was pulled into a waltz. Herself and Rose had been 'waltzing' together since their second year at Hogwarts. But Rose had been the very opposite of what she was now when they had first met...
***
The bell just outside the Potions classroom chimed. Professor Slughorn looked up from his desk, his gaze sweeping the classroom. He stood up.
“Well, class, that is it for today's lesson. Please copy the homework off the board – it is due in next lesson. Now pack up your things, and go to your next lesson.” Immediately, students started scraping back their chairs, and packing their bags. Charlee slung her bag over her shoulder, and proceeded to head towards the door, trying to get as far away from Malfoy as she possibly could, since he'd been giving her and Albus death glares all lesson.
As she walked up the dungeons steps, as felt a presence next to her, and looked up at see Albus walking in sync with her. She smiled.
“Hey.” she said. Albus looked at her, and grinned cheekily.
“Hey!” he said in a cheerful tune, as the made their way across the Entrance Hall, pushing their way through the surge of sixth years who were heading down from the Charms corridor.
As they broke through the crowd, and hurried through the double doors and into the grounds, a flame of red hair jumped on Albus, making him topple down the next few steps. Charlee stood still, watching the pair with wide eyes, as the boy stood up, ignoring the grass stains that were now smeared over his trousers, and looked up at Charlee. His face was riddled with freckles, and he had startling blue eyes. He grinned.
“Hey – I'm Fred. Fred Weasley – his cousin.” the boy named Fred nodded at Albus, before he turned back to Charlee, eyeing her up and down.
“And you are?”
“Charlee.” she replied quietly, trying not to flinch under his intense gaze.
“New friend?” he asked. Albus nodded as he stood up, brushing the grass off from his trousers.
“Yeah. We met in Potions.” Albus grinned in Charlee's direction, and she grinned back.
“Well, it's been lovely to meet you, but right now, I have to skidaddle- catch ya later!” he winked at Charlee, smacking her bum as he ran past them, heading back towards the castle. Charlee looked at Albus.
“Skidaddle?” She asked. Albus shrugged.
“He likes making up new words.” he said, as the pair started walking towards the row of greenhouses to the side of the castle. When they reached the huddle of students, a girl with bushy red hair stepped out of the group, striding straight over to stand in front of Albus.
“Hi,” she said, quickly glancing at Charlee, a small smile on her lips. “Ready for Herbology? My mum got me a few books on the subject – it really is fascinating. Neville-” she glanced at Charlee. “-Professor Longbottom that is, teaches this subject. I've told him some of my theories. He thinks they are quite good, considering this is my first day here.” she looked between the two, before she peered at Charlee.
“And your name is?” Charlee gulped.
“Uhm...I'm...I'm Char...Char-”
“Char Char? That is an awfully odd name. Fancy your parents naming you the same name as your surname. Oh well-” she shrugged. “- I suppose that is what people do these days!” She turned around, and walked back towards the group of students, as a slightly plump, round-faced man walked out of greenhouse two.
“Ignore Rose,” Albus whispered, as they walked into the greenhouse, depositing their bags onto the rack by the door. “Ever heard of Hermione Granger?” Charlee shook her head.
“Well, she's my aunt. Let's say that she was – and still is- the cleverest student Hogwarts has ever seen. Rose is her daughter; she likes to attempt to follow in her footsteps.”
***
Of course, Rose was nothing like that now. In their mock exams in their second year, Charlee, Albus and also Frank had beaten her in their practical Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. She had been....rebelling, ever since.
“Nice to see a bit of girl on girl action, ladies!” winked Roger Davies, as he tried to grind against Charlee, his breath stinking of firewhiskey.
“Go and grow some balls, Davies!” Rose called out, still dancing with Charlee. Charlee threw her head back and laughed at this statement. Roger, however, simply ignored it. He leant over, and left a slobbery kiss on her cheek.
“Happy birthday, sexy.” he pinched her bum, before he carried on grinding his way through the crowd. Charlee glanced at Rose, and they both burst out laughing.
“That boy has no brains!” Rose giggled, as they danced across the floor towards the refreshment table, Rose picking up a firewhiskey, Charlee picking up a butterbeer. They both then leant back against the wall, watching the goings on on the dance floor. The Weird Sister's were playing some fast song, so many people on the floor were jumping up and down, waving their hands in the air. Rose glanced at Charlee.
“You drunk?” she asked, as she drained the last of her drink. Charlee shook her head. Rose nodded her head, and grinned.
“Good – at least we won't fall off the table then!” and with that, Rose put Charlee's drink down onto the table, and pulled her over to a table by the side of the floor. She climbed up onto it, pulling Charlee up with her.
“Rose?” Charlee asked enquiringly, as Rose started tapping her foot to the beat, and started to wiggle her hips.
“Let's do something for the boys, hey?” she winked, and Charlee shook her head, laughing, as she started to dance too.
Slowly, as the music grew louder, and the crowd around the table grew considerably larger, the two began to get their groove on. Charlee wriggled her hips, and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing her bust up, and wiggling her bum, not caring who saw her, or what they thought of her. She had wasted nearly two weeks of her life under a coma, and now, she wasn't going to waste a second of it; she was going to live it, and live it to the full.
Suddenly, Charlee felt a pull of her arm, and was lifted off the table, and carried across the room towards the door, Rose still dancing on top of the blue-clothed table. Charlee glanced up, as she saw the familiar black mess of hair she had grown to love.
Albus gently set her down on her feet, and took her hand, intertwining their fingers together.
“I don't think anyone will mind if I kidnap my girlfriend for an hour, or so.” Charlee smiled softly, ad let him lead her out of the room, and back towards the Gryffindor common room.
Charlee frowned, as she was guided forwards by Albus' hands, which were rested gently against her waist. He let go of her, and closed something behind them. A door.
“Al – I'm really getting tired of the whole 'blindfold Charlee' thing.” she commented, as she sniffed the air, trying to pick up a scent.
“Well, you can take it off now.” She heard from behind her. Charlee reached behind her head, and yanked off the piece of material, letting it fall gracefully down to the floor. She frowned.
They were in Albus' dorm.
Slowly, Albus' arms snaked around her waist, as he pressed her lips against her neck.
“It's your birthday,” he whispered. “I wanted to do something special; something that you'll remember.” Charlee frowned, not understanding him.
“What?” she asked, frowning. Albus' breath tickled her neck as he chuckled.
“What do you think?” he asked, as one hand brushed against the side of her breast.
Oh...
“Oh...” she said out loud, not knowing what else to say. Immediately, Albus pulled back from her, looking embarrassed.
“Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have thought you'd want....I mean...I shouldn't have presumed you would...I should have asked-” at this, Charlee pressed her finger against his lips, silencing him.
“Of course I want to.” she whispered, as she pulled one of his arms back around her waist, pushing his other hand against her breast. He flushed pink.
“Really?” he asked quietly, his voice slightly raspy. Charlee nodded, smiling.
“Yes – definitely.” she grinned at him, and he grinned back, as their lips met each other in the middle, immediately moving in sync with each other. Charlee slid her arms around Albus' neck, as she pressed her body against his. Albus responded with a soft moan, as he moved his hand down from her waist to cup her butt. Charlee smirked against her lips, as they slowly started retreating back towards his bed. Albus gently fell back down onto it, pulling Charlee down onto of him, kissing all the while.
Taking advantage of this position, Charlee scrambled up so that she was straddling him lightly across his waist. She then proceeded to carefully remove her top from her body, throwing it down onto the floor beside the bed. Albus groaned in appreciation, eyeing her breasts all the while, as she leant down to lick his bottom lip, drawing his attention back to their kissing. He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer against him. Her hand was at the bottom edge of his shirt. She glanced at him.
“May I?” she whispered, tugging gently at his shirt. He grinned, and nodded, as she slid it off him, and chucked it behind her, her lips already back against his, his tongue inside her mouth, trailing across her teeth, battling with her tongue, as his hands stroked up and down her sides gently. He then gently rolled over, so that he was on top, and Charlee was underneath him. She carefully hooked her thumbs into the waistband on his trousers. He looked down at them, before he looked back up at her, and nodded. Charlee smiled, and gently unbuckled his belt, and slid them off as far as she could reach; Albus then kicked them off, and Charlee heard a small thud by the side of the bed.
Charlee stared up into his bottle green eyes as he kissed her, his hands caressing her partially bare body. If anyone had told her at the beginning of the year that she was going to lose her virginity to Albus Potter, and not Scorpius Malfoy, she would have named them crazy. But now that she thought about it, she didn't know she could be that blind – of course she would lose her virginity to Albus! He had always been there, always been her shoulder to cry on, always been the one guy she could trust, always been the one guy she had never thought about dating...
It seemed so obvious.
“I love you.” she blurted out into the silence. Albus stopped removing her skirt, and looked at her quietly, his eyes scanning her face. Charlee blushed, and refused to make eyes contact with him. Finally, he cupped her cheek with one hand, and titled her face towards his, their eyes immediately locking.
“I love you too, baby.” he said quietly, a soft smile on his lips. “And I always will. Forever. It'll always be you and me; I promise.” Charlee smiled.
“You said that to me when I was in a coma; I remember.” Albus chuckled, and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Are you ready to do this?” he asked, a serious expression on his face. Charlee nodded; she had no doubt in her mind. She was ready. She was more than ready.
“Yes.”
A/N: I bet some of you were waiting for someone to shout “ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!” again, huh? ;) But no! There wasn't one! D: They are actually doing it o_0 I bet you all reckoned you would never see the day xD
Anyway – I hoped you liked that chapter. I know Charlee has just woken up from her coma, so it's a bit weird that she is already up on her feet – but she was only allowed out for that night. She'll be back in the Hospital Wing in the next chapter for a few days, or so xD Or at least until they head to the Burrow for Teddy's Wedding! (Oh yes, it's growing closer xD )
Anywho – please rate and review! I love to hear what you think about the story, and it really does help me improve my writing. It's also nice to know that people like the fanfiction (:
Shout Out: A big shout out to marciabarcia! You review every chapter, and I'm glad you enjoy the story (: You reviews always make me smile.
Note: Okay, I am really sorry for the extra long wait! But my broadband has been down :/ I finished this chapter a while ago, but I haven't been able to upload it till now.
I hope you can forgive me.
Write a Review Forget About Forbidden: Happy Birthday, Charlee!
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