After the End of the Year Feast. . .
10:12 p.m.

The feast had been marvelous, sad, all emotions tied in one. It was almost the next day, almost time to leave Hogwarts. Zoey wasn't planning on going home tomorrow. Cardiff was miles upon miles away from London, where he'd be interning at The Daily Prophet. It was after curfew, after the feast, and Zoey had decided to sneak up to the Owlery to send his mother a letter so it would reach her before his younger brother could tomorrow. In the letter, he explained all the was happening at Hogwarts and what was going to happen this summer. He told her he was renting a loft in Diagon Alley, which she'd been to twice. She knew he wanted to write and experience the world, so she would understand. At least he hoped she would.

Still in his outfit, Zoey wore his grass green shirt untucked, his silver tie was loosened, and his silver vest had the top two buttons undone. His gray corduroy pants and black, strapped shoes were still in place, firm to his skinny frame. He had his sleeves rolled up a bit, as he didn't want the fabric anywhere near owl droppings. He set down in the owlery near the window to begin writing his letter. A beautiful tawny owl came down and perched next to him, foot outstretched. It was the owl he normally used, and she was a pretty thing.  He laughed and pat her head. "Not yet, Hardy. I haven't written it out completely." She nipped at his ear, making him laugh again, and then sat next to him, waiting.

It was sometime after ten in the evening. Most students had already gone back to the common rooms. He spied a few seventh years out on the grounds, of course, cause they could get away with it now that they were no longer students. He just smiled, knowing he'd probably be there next year. He didn't know where Beatrix was, but he hadn't told her where he was going. He sort of just disappeared from the feast once it finished.

A canery yellow fedora donned the Hufflepuff boy's head, he was wearing his favorite jeans and a nice conservative black tee. No, it wasn't Charlie's best, but he wasn't out to meet anyone, not out to impress anyone. In the past couple of days Charlie had made a fool of himself in the biggest ways, and he didn't want that to happen again tonight.

The feast was over and the dreaded ride back to London was mere hours away. It chilled the boy down to his core. One last year. One last favorable year at Hogwarts, and what did he have to show for his last six? Good O.W.L.s, a few good friends, but what about the romance? What about the fun?

He was out wandering the halls after hours, he knew it was wrong, but really... what could anyone do? Take away points? The cup had already been awarded. Detention? When? After Charlie was home, safe in his bed? Sure, they could hold off punishment until next year, but maybe that's what Charlie wanted. He wanted to make his last year memorable, and if troublemaking was the only way to make it what he wanted, then so be it.

As he climbed the stairs to the owlery, he thought about how lonely the owls must get over the summer. No journeying to and fro, no heavy packages carried back from home, it must have been a sad life. It reminded Charlie of his own situation, not having anything to do over the summer. Heck, his friends all even managed to find internships, while Charlie had none. No, his summer was doomed before it even began.

He didn’t choose the owlery because of the shared empathy though; he chose it because he was sure to be alone. What could anyone possibly have to say to their parents that couldn’t wait until the next day when they could tell them in person? So as he reached the top of the stairs, Charlie was truly startled by Zoey sitting, writing, focused on his work.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know anyone was up here.” Charlie said, turning to leave.

Half way through his letter, his arm got cramped and he had to set his quill down. Ugh, why now? It wasn't eleven yet, but still, if he was to be caught up here, well... Well, there was really nothing anyone could do. Prefects, professors, they all knew Zoey was a good, studious boy. Eccentric, maybe, but great at the making the grades. He was going to take his chances, even as he heard foot steps proceed up the stairs of the owlery.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know anyone was up here.”

Turning to look, Zoey saw Charlie Robards turning to leave. He eyed his outfit. Charlie was usually one to have good fashion sense, and tonight he did. He was rather conservative in dress, but still, it was nice nonetheless. Smiling, Zoey turned from his position to face Charlie. "No, no! Please, sit with me. I need some company. I mean, I know I'm surrounded by a bunch of birds..." Hardy, the owl, nipped at him again and a few of the other owls gave him foul looks, "... but the company of a handsome gentleman like yourself would do me some good."

Charlie had one foot in the air, about to put it in front of the other to step out when Zoey asked him to stay. It was an odd way to gain company, calling someone handsome, when Charlie was sure he was just the opposite, but he stayed none-the-less. Zoey had always been a mystery to Charlie, someone that piqued his interest. He wasn't like most of the slimy Slytherins, he was someone Charlie could actually see himself getting along with.

"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt for me to stay for a few minutes, you know... if it's company you need." Charlie said, a smile creeping up on his face. Staying was the easy part... Conversation was the hard. "So...uh..." He was totally drawing a blank. He hadn't really had much interaction with Zoey, or any Slytherin other than Trent, so he didn’t know what to say. Politics? Religion? Favorite Quidditch teams? "Wha'cha writing about?" He asked instead, throwing the controversal topics aside for a place where there were witnesses if things went badly.

Instead of paying attention to Zoey, as manners dictate, Charlie chose to study his surroundings he loved flying, found birds fascinating, how they could fly without the help of broomsticks. He envied them in a way. They had one thing that Charlie could never have. He wasn't obsessed with flying, he didn’t dream of becoming a professional Quidditch player, he just liked it for fun, and fun was something Charlie could never get enough of.

Charlie looked confused to Zoey. But that just made him even more cute. Though, Zoey wouldn't admit that, not even to Beatrix if she were so inclined to ask. Charlie also seemed confused, not knowing how to interact with Zoey. Typical, though, not many people did know how to interact with him. Zoey just smiled and patted the space next to him.

"Well, it's a letter to my mum." He sighed. "I didn't want Gareth to take it home, cause it wouldn't get there in time. I kind of forgot to tell her I'm living in London this summer." His Welsh accent was coming out triple force. It made him almost flinch everytime he enunciated words they way he did. "But yeah, I'm working at The Prophet this summer. I haven't found a place to live yet, but I'm looking. It'll probably be the streets until I do, but that's an adventure for another day." He laughed.

Charlie looked handsome, indeed. He obviously didn't know it himself, but Zoey could see all the intricate things that built up Charlie. It made him smile. He loved finding things like that one someone by sheer visualizing. "So, what brings you up to this owlery this late?"

Zoey seemed to be staring at Charlie in a very peculiar way. It was kind of creepy in a way, and totally kind and sweet in another. Charlie still wasn't sure which was more overpowering. It was just like having a secret admirer; they sent you presents, and though it creeped you out because you had someone stalking you, it made you feel good because someone actually cared about you.

"But yeah, I'm working at The Prophet this summer. I haven't found a place to live yet, but I'm looking. It'll probably be the streets until I do, but that's an adventure for another day."

Charlie loved writing, though he wasn't very talented at it himself. He found the way words could flow into each other, creating a masterpiece in its own right, to be perfectly beautiful. His creative mind simply chose to make magic in another way. Charlie wasn't worried about Zoey's literacy talents; he had no doubt that Zoey would make a perfect reporter, if that's what he wanted to do (Charlie's mother had been a reporter back in the day). No, Zoey would be fine there, but what about before he got there? Charlie couldn't let him live on the streets, but he couldn't exactly bring a guy home either.

"So, what brings you up to this owlery this late?"

At the question, Charlie began to blush. “Well, I really just wanted to get away from it all. Ya’ know? It’s been a tough year, and I only have one left before it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for me. I don’t really think I’m ready.” Charlie said, not afraid of his feelings, just surprised that he, of all people, felt the way he did. “I mean, I’m excited about getting out into the world, but it’s kinda scary. So much more responsibility, so much harder than school.”

Averting his eyes quickly, Zoey could sense Charlie's thoughts. He knew he was being creepy watching him, a traditional Slytherin trait, no doubt. Looking back at his letter, he could see it was almost done. He dipped his quill and then finished off the last few words. Sealing it, he tied it to Hardy's claw and watched the bird fly from the window. Then , he turned his full attention back to Charlie.

"Well, I really just wanted to get away from it all. Ya’ know? It’s been a tough year, and I only have one left before it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for me. I don’t really think I’m ready. . . I mean, I’m excited about getting out into the world, but it’s kinda scary. So much more responsibility, so much harder than school.”

Collecting his thoughts, Zoey could see Charlie had a point, but this is where they differed. Zoey wasn't one to be scared of the future. He always looked at it like it was an adventure, waiting and willing for him. "I can see what you are talking about. But then again, I don't scare easily." He sighed and leaned back against the stone window. "There are only so few things that scare me. Something happening to my mother is one of them, and the other is falling in love."

He looked at Charlie with a tiny gleam in his eye, something that said he'd been there before and was afraid to go back. "Not that I fear it, just, more that I'm afraid of what will happen to me if I let my guard down for a second. It's hard for me, I guess."

Charlie watched as the owl fluttered out the window. He gazed at the bird, watching it fly farther and farther away, until the little feathery beast was out of sight. Yet another reminder that things in Charlie’s life weren’t permanent.

"I can see what you are talking about. But then again, I don't scare easily. "There are only so few things that scare me. Something happening to my mother is one of them, and the other is falling in love."

What an odd thing to say. Zoey was cool and all, but Charlie didn’t really know him well enough to talk to him about his love life. Family was one thing, you can talk about family to anyone, but love was something you kept between your closest friends. Trying to make the best of an awkward situation, Charlie just listened intently, hoping Zoey would either elaborate, making the situation less uncomfortable, or change the subject entirely.

"Not that I fear it, just, more that I'm afraid of what will happen to me if I let my guard down for a second. It's hard for me, I guess."

Whew, okay, that made things better. Good thing Charlie didn’t open his mouth. Zoey was merely stating the fact that he was a guy. Guys didn’t like to let their guards down. Charlie completely understood. “Sometimes letting your guard down is a good thing though. If you don’t let in the good, you’ll never know what it’s like. Personally, I can’t wait to be hurt, because I know it’ll only make me stronger, and the whole ‘it’s better to love and have lost’ motto. Y’know?”

It was so easy to just let go of his own problems and talk about someone else's. He didn't fully understand why, but just being around Zoey seemed to make all his problems seem petty and unimportant.

After he explained his fears, Zoey couldn't really look at Charlie for a few minutes. It wasn't that he was ashamed, that was actually so far away right now. He just needed a few seconds to ponder. He slowly perched himself on the edge of the window, which was only a stone opening in the wall. If he moved so much as a foot forward, he'd be falling down to the grounds, probably breaking multiple bones. But that was the rush he got from chancing even falling from the fifth floor.

“Sometimes letting your guard down . . . Y’know?”

Zoey considered his words. Charlie was an odd person to understand, though that was probably what made him unique. Everyone was unique in one way or the other, though Zoey was, well, voted most unique when it came to clothing. He wore that badge with honor. But that was aside from the point. Shifting again, he was now sitting on the window, though his feet dangled inside instead of outside.

He scratched his chin and then smiled, though only halfway. His mood was moderate, pondering. "I've been in different relationships, Charlie. Vienna took the life from me. I never loved that witch." He giggled at his own pun and continued. "And this thing with Ava, well, isn't going anywhere. I had a lover once, last summer. It was a man. Actually he was almost twice our age." He knew was divulging too much information. "But you probably don't want to hear this. You seem uncomfortable."

Charlie couldn't seem to meet Zoey's eye. He wasn't sure why he couldn't, he just couldn't. It was a strange exhilaration being alone with a slimy slyther-snake in a room full of owl poop. It made hormones and pheromones run rampant, and though Charlie didn't fully know what he wanted, he was sure of one thing: he didn't want this night to end quite yet. It was just starting to get interesting.

As Zoey pranced about the window, Charlie worried. "Uh..." Charlie began, then shut his trap. He was going to say that he didn't think it was such a grand idea to play in an open window on the fifth floor with no net below, but Zoey probably knew what he was doing. Or at least Charlie hoped so.

"But you probably don't want to hear this. You seem uncomfortable."

"No, keep talking!" Charlie said, rushing the words out. "I mean... only if you want to," He added, not wanting to make Zoey feel like he had to talk. Truth be known, Charlie had been wondering about himself in the same way lately. Was he riding the same broom as everyone else? Was he ‘different’?

Zoey's mind raced with thoughts of his previous summer. He remembered eating pastries at a local bakery with his grandmother, writing in his journal whilst sitting on a floor of the Eiffel Tower, and most importantly, he remembered Pépin. That man changed Zoey's whole perspective on the thing called love. He really shook him up, but in a good way. Yes, the summer of 2007 was the best summer Zoey had experienced, and though he'd never shared with Beatrix, he could finally open up to someone about it.

"No, keep talking!"

Smiling, Zoey looked at Charlie and continued where he left off. "Well, I met him at a French wizarding club. His name was Pépin, and though he was thirty, he was magnificent, charming, handsome." Zoey looked off in the distance and then snapped back. "Mon amour... Ah, I mean to say, he was my love. The first person, gender aside, I've ever fallen in love with." Zoey's gaze shifted to outside the window.

"Si seulement vous pourriez m'entendre, il est presque été une année, une année pleine, et je doute que je revoie vos beaux yeux verts…" His hand was gripping the edge of the window, and his eyes seemed glazed. Charlie had to be confused, and Zoey quickly regained his stature. "I apologize. But anyways, that's all I'm really willing to open up about him. Have you ever loved someone, Charlie?"

"Well, I met him at a French wizarding club. His name was Pépin, and though he was thirty, he was magnificent, charming, handsome. Mon amour... Ah, I mean to say, he was my love. The first person, gender aside, I've ever fallen in love with."

Charlie may not have been multilingual, but he could still understand common phrases like that. He didn’t find it pertinent to reveal that little bit of information. Charlie just listened, trying not to seem so interested, though deep down he knew that everything Zoey was saying was everything Charlie wanted. Wanted more than anything else.

"I apologize. But anyways, that's all I'm really willing to open up about him. Have you ever loved someone, Charlie?"


Charlie didn’t want Zoey to stop talking, but he couldn’t make the Slytherin speak about things he wasn’t comfortable with. Had Charlie ever loved anyone, other than his family? “Other than dear mum? No, can’t say I have.” Charlie said, looking directly into Zoey’s eyes. “Not that it matters, I haven’t really missed that much, I don’t think.” He said. Honestly, he couldn’t know for sure, because he had never been there. Never felt that fluttering in his heart that told him there would never be another.