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rarepair_shortsTitle: Beyond the Imagination
Pairing: Charlie Weasley/Marietta Edgecombe
Rating: PG
Word Count: 680
Summary: Marietta goes to Romania, to get away from her past transgressions.
It was nice, getting away from it all. There was a crispness to the air in Romania, though Marietta wasn't sure if it was truly just down to the weather, or if she was partially imagining it in her desperation to get away from her homeland. Back home, everyone looked down on her for her past transgressions, but here, in Romania, she was free from the whispers of "sneak," and could be herself again.
She'd always done well in Care of Magical Creatures, having an affinity for fauna. Sometimes Cho had teased her that she was kinder to animals than she was to people. Marietta thought privately that it was true. She hadn't been all that kind to Cho, really, in the end.
The dragons frightened her a little at first. Marietta trembled at their might, and the unpredictability of their behavior. She'd never been very brave, as her betrayal only showed quite vividly. But she learned.
She grew to love them, the great creatures. Caring for them, training them, learning their little idiosyncrasies, Marietta felt a peace that she hadn't known for many years, a happiness she hadn't encountered since childhood. The dragons couldn't love like people could love, but Marietta felt a closeness to them, anyway. And she didn't care if she was only imagining it.
She was sure she was imagining Charlie, though. The way he complimented her techniques, the way he smiled at her over meals, it couldn't be the way Marietta hoped in her most secret of thoughts. Charlie was a Weasley, and he'd seen his share of the war. He was connected to home, Marietta's old home, and he knew what she had done.
That night, by the fire, when he finally kissed her, Marietta felt her heart race and her stomach flip over, and she felt like she was facing the dragons for the first time all over again. She stared him down questioningly. "How could you possibly be attracted to me," she asked, "with this?" She gestured to her face, to the scars that would haunt her always, her last remaining tie to the old things. "With what I've done?"
Charlie only smiled, and pulled his robe up his sleeve. "See this?" he asked, pointing to a horrible burn mark on his upper arm, the skin blackened and wrinkled. "That's from when I forgot to feed a Chinese Fireball for two days. Hunger makes them mad as hell, you know." He grinned. "And this one?" He yanked his sock down, exposing a dark, ragged line that began below the knee and ran down to his ankle. "I didn't get out of the way in time when the brood was coming back from the hunt one evening. You definitely don't want to get in the way of a mother dragon bringing a meal back for her young ones. But you know that by now."
Marietta shook her head, frustrated. "But that's not the same," she insisted. "That's just the dragons; that's just simple mistakes. It's not betrayal."
"The way I see it," Charlie said, slipping his arm around her shoulders and shifting closer to her, so that she could feel the warmth of his body so close to her skin, "every mark we wear is just a mistake we've made. I could've healed each of my old scars close to nothing with magic, but I haven't. Because they remind me of the things I've learned." He touched her face so tenderly, Marietta nearly cried. "You've learned, too. I know you have."
"Yes," Marietta said, her voice shaking, as she longed to bury her face in his shoulder and run her hands through his hair. But trepidation stilled her, the thought that perhaps she was still imagining, that perhaps she would always be the little sneak traitor who nobody could love. "I have learned. I've tried so hard. But it still hurts me. I feel like the worst person on earth."
"I think you're brilliant," Charlie said fiercely. He kissed her again, his lips hot and eager, and it felt more real than anything.
Pairing: Charlie Weasley/Marietta Edgecombe
Rating: PG
Word Count: 680
Summary: Marietta goes to Romania, to get away from her past transgressions.
It was nice, getting away from it all. There was a crispness to the air in Romania, though Marietta wasn't sure if it was truly just down to the weather, or if she was partially imagining it in her desperation to get away from her homeland. Back home, everyone looked down on her for her past transgressions, but here, in Romania, she was free from the whispers of "sneak," and could be herself again.
She'd always done well in Care of Magical Creatures, having an affinity for fauna. Sometimes Cho had teased her that she was kinder to animals than she was to people. Marietta thought privately that it was true. She hadn't been all that kind to Cho, really, in the end.
The dragons frightened her a little at first. Marietta trembled at their might, and the unpredictability of their behavior. She'd never been very brave, as her betrayal only showed quite vividly. But she learned.
She grew to love them, the great creatures. Caring for them, training them, learning their little idiosyncrasies, Marietta felt a peace that she hadn't known for many years, a happiness she hadn't encountered since childhood. The dragons couldn't love like people could love, but Marietta felt a closeness to them, anyway. And she didn't care if she was only imagining it.
She was sure she was imagining Charlie, though. The way he complimented her techniques, the way he smiled at her over meals, it couldn't be the way Marietta hoped in her most secret of thoughts. Charlie was a Weasley, and he'd seen his share of the war. He was connected to home, Marietta's old home, and he knew what she had done.
That night, by the fire, when he finally kissed her, Marietta felt her heart race and her stomach flip over, and she felt like she was facing the dragons for the first time all over again. She stared him down questioningly. "How could you possibly be attracted to me," she asked, "with this?" She gestured to her face, to the scars that would haunt her always, her last remaining tie to the old things. "With what I've done?"
Charlie only smiled, and pulled his robe up his sleeve. "See this?" he asked, pointing to a horrible burn mark on his upper arm, the skin blackened and wrinkled. "That's from when I forgot to feed a Chinese Fireball for two days. Hunger makes them mad as hell, you know." He grinned. "And this one?" He yanked his sock down, exposing a dark, ragged line that began below the knee and ran down to his ankle. "I didn't get out of the way in time when the brood was coming back from the hunt one evening. You definitely don't want to get in the way of a mother dragon bringing a meal back for her young ones. But you know that by now."
Marietta shook her head, frustrated. "But that's not the same," she insisted. "That's just the dragons; that's just simple mistakes. It's not betrayal."
"The way I see it," Charlie said, slipping his arm around her shoulders and shifting closer to her, so that she could feel the warmth of his body so close to her skin, "every mark we wear is just a mistake we've made. I could've healed each of my old scars close to nothing with magic, but I haven't. Because they remind me of the things I've learned." He touched her face so tenderly, Marietta nearly cried. "You've learned, too. I know you have."
"Yes," Marietta said, her voice shaking, as she longed to bury her face in his shoulder and run her hands through his hair. But trepidation stilled her, the thought that perhaps she was still imagining, that perhaps she would always be the little sneak traitor who nobody could love. "I have learned. I've tried so hard. But it still hurts me. I feel like the worst person on earth."
"I think you're brilliant," Charlie said fiercely. He kissed her again, his lips hot and eager, and it felt more real than anything.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-13 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-15 02:46 pm (UTC)