Prompt Six - Drabbles and Voting!
Behind the cut are the entries for the sixth challenge of this round. Please for ONLY your favorite drabble in a comment to this entry with the number of the drabble and the title. Comments are screened.
Voting will be open until Saturday, March 28 at 11:59 PM EDT.
Your challenge this week was to write a drabble between 250 - 750 words, exploring Charlie’s death and who or what he encounters behind the Veil.
Your prompt was:
Death may be the ending of one life, but according to many it is the beginning of the after or the beginning of another life.
Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler.
But having stopped, listen and learn, then go your way.
There is no boat in Hades, no ferryman Charon,
No caretaker Aiakos, no dog Cerberus.
All we who are dead below
Have become bones and ashes, but nothing else.
I have spoken to you honestly, go on, traveler,
Lest even while dead I seem loquacious to you.
~taken from a Roman tombstone
DRABBLE # 1
Title: They Loved
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Blood
Word Count: 749
Author's Notes: Thanks to my beta!
The attack had been completely unexpected. The war was over. There wasn’t supposed to be any more death. The Order thought they had captured all the Death Eaters; they were wrong.
A month after the death of Voldemort, The Burrow was attacked by a small group of Death Eaters that had escaped from the final battle. The Weasley’s weren’t prepared for the attack. It was late at night, everyone was asleep. The protective wards went off around midnight and everyone flew into fight mode, their adrenaline rushing through their veins, waking them up and giving them a rush of clarity. They assembled in the kitchen, grouping together and Apparating away to the agreed safe house. The door flew open right as Charlie and George, the last group, Apparated away. A flash of light flew at the disappearing figures. They landed on the carpeted floor. Molly was doing a head count, she sighed when she saw them land, knowing that everyone was safe.
A gurgling sound came from the ground, and a shriek was heard as everyone looked down to see Charlie convulsing on the floor, a gash straight across his chest, blood pouring out. Snape may have been dead, but his curse lived on in the hands of those too dangerous to wield it. Molly collapsed onto her knees next to her second oldest boy. Grabbing his hand in hers, and bringing it to her lips.
“No, Charlie. I can’t lose you too. It’s not fair! You were going back to the reserve tomorrow. If only you had gone back sooner. Why? Why must I keep losing my children?” she screamed, the tears floating in her eyes released in a flood of emotion. The whole family felt the pain and agony. It was impossible not to. They could do nothing; they didn’t know the counter curse. They had to do what no one should have to do, they had to sit there and watch him die.
“I love you all,” he mumbled as his body went slack, and the hand Molly held lost its weight.
They turned to each other for comfort. That’s what they did. They lost, and they loved. They loved for peace, for comfort, for them. They loved because if they didn’t, they would fall apart.
Arthur knelt down and drew his sobbing wife into his arms. Bill pulled Fleur towards him. Harry tucked Ginny’s shaking head under his chin. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron, pulling him tightly against her. George sat there; staring at the body of yet another dead brother, wondering how much one family could take.
At that moment a familiar lynx came bounding into the room. The message was simple, they had apprehended all of the attackers and they were being carted off to Azkaban. The happy tidings came at a great cost.
Up above the grieving family, a single red head watched with a touch of sadness and glee. Fred ruffled his hair and turned to go do his job. He had to welcome his brother to the after life.
Charlie appeared on the ground, lying in the same position he had passed away in. His eyes blinked open and he looked around. The space was open and quiet, peaceful. He looked up and his eyes met those of his brother. A sad smile played across their freckled faces. Charlie stood up, brushing his pants free of invisible lint. He walked over towards Fred and gave him a bone-crushing hug.
They were together. Fred was not alone any more. But it had come at a cost. They wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and Fred lead him to his special space. Fred called this area “home,” though it would never be The Burrow. They looked down at the rest of their family, clutching at each other in grief. A lone tear fell down Charlie’s face, and he swiped it away with his hand.
They could get through this. The Weasley family could get through anything. They had always survived. If they could survive the twins for twenty years, they could get through anything. They would be a little bit damaged, but they would get through it.
Now Charlie and Fred lived, they lived and they watched those back on earth. They lived, watched and waited for the rest of their family to come and join them, so that once again they would all be united. All the Weasley’s together, once and for all. As it was meant to be.
DRABBLE # 2
Title: A Little Understanding
Rating: G
Warnings: Charlie's dead. That in itself should be enough to warn anyone away.
Word Count: 717
Author's Notes: Evil, evil prompt. LOL. Thanks to my beta!
It had been a bad idea to attend his own funeral. Since no one could see him, Charlie was robbed of his goodbyes. So he drifted and listened to the bits of conversation that floated on the air.
~~~~~
"… never really understood him."
"I know. It was as if…"
~~~~~
"… firewhiskey loosened his tongue. I remember once when I visited him in Romania, he got pissed, and for a moment I thought…"
~~~~~
"… I was a goner."
"So what happened?"
"Like I said, I thought I was dead, but then Uncle Charlie burst out of his cabin, saw the dragon had me cornered, and…"
~~~~~
"… shot me down."
"Really? When was that?"
"A month or so before I started dating Hannah. But it was dreadful. I asked him out and all he did was look at me as if I was a..."
~~~~~
"… Hufflepuff."
"No, Charlie's bloke was a Ravenclaw. But I can't remember his name. That was, what? Seventh-year?"
"No. Sixth. But that was when I figured out Charlie was…"
~~~~~
"… a mystery. I'll never understand why he went alone to check on that injured dragon. He knew better. After all, he'd been at the reserve for thirty years.
"Charlie always did do crazy shit. It's like he had a death wish. But I rather think he went the way he would've wanted."
"What? Torn apart?"
~~~~~
None of them understood. The only person who had ever understood him was long gone.
Charlie was wrapped around his lover. It had been long months since they'd seen each other, but such were the necessities of wartime. He'd never thought he'd find love, but now that he had… "Promise me, when the war's over, we won't hide anymore. We'll really be together."
"No one will understand."
Charlie chuckled. "It's not like anyone understands me now. So, promise?
"If we both survive….
Of course, they hadn't. Oh, some would say Charlie had, for his heart beat and he breathed for more than twenty years after. But in truth, he was just as dead as his lover.
Now, finally, his body had caught up with his spirit.
One thing was certain, though, he couldn't hang around here any longer.
He felt a pull - a beckoning. Charlie looked around, but saw only mourners and tombs. There appeared to be no way of escape, no portkey for this crossing. So he closed his eyes and concentrated on the pull, imagining it as a tether to the beyond. Finally, he simply let go of his last grasp on the world of mortals and zoomed through the cosmos, rocketing toward eternity.
Motion stopped. Charlie opened his eyes to dim, dusky murk. He turned a full circle, expecting some sort of welcome. Even if it wasn't the one he desired, at least Fred, or one of his long-dead grandparents, should have met him on his passing, shouldn't they? But they hadn't. There was no welcoming party for Charlie Weasley.
Merlin, other than a short burst of togetherness, he'd passed through a lonely life; he hadn't expected to suffer more of the same in death. How would he endure a solitary vacuum? But what choice did he have? Suicide wasn't an option for the dead. There was no end to eternity.
After several moments, Charlie again closed his eyes. Perhaps it would work both ways. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could return to the land of the living - become another Hogwarts ghost. Anything would be better than this.
Charlie grasped about in his mind, but there was no tether linking him to the past.
Just as he was giving in to despair, he was wrapped in strong arms and pulled to a hard, familiar chest.
"You've come."
Charlie looked into his love's dark eyes. "I'm sorry it took so long."
"Long? For me it was but a moment."
"It was years, decades. I didn't want to keep living, but it would've been cowardly to…."
"I understand," Severus murmured.
Charlie knew Severus did. He always had. It had been that understanding that had brought them together and forged a relationship that lasted beyond the grave.
As he pressed against his lover, Charlie realized his lonely life had been nothing more than a single beat in the heart of eternity.
DRABBLE # 3
Title: The Next Adventure
Rating: PG
Warnings: Major Character Death
Word Count: 589
Author's Notes:
Charlie stretched in the long grass. He couldn't remember falling asleep in the field, but he did sometimes nap outside. He stood, worried that during his sleep, the dragons had needed his assistance. It wasn't until he started back toward the dragons that he realized something was wrong.
The Reserve was eerily quiet and empty. There were no dragons roaring in the distance, no shouts from his co-workers. He felt disoriented, as if he was waking up from a bad hangover instead of a quick nap. Everything seemed wrong.
Looking around, Charlie couldn't see the normal bustle of the reservation. He was alone. Confused, he turned to head toward the reservation offices-except the offices were missing. There were no buildings at all, actually.
Charlie suddenly remembered that he no longer worked with his dragons. Hadn't for a long time. Instead, he'd taught Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts for the last twenty years. The last thing he could remember was going out to check on the thestrals, just as he did every morning. It didn't explain how he had returned to Romania.
A strange fog crept in over the grass. As he continued walking, Charlie found himself in an old graveyard. It was not the cemetery on the reservation. This one was older and run-down. A snow-white owl watched him from the fence surrounding the cemetery. As if sensing his distress, the owl moved, flying in front of him and bidding him to come further into the cemetery.
It felt like a dream so Charlie followed, curious to see where the owl would lead. Ahead of him, he could see a group of people standing and talking. As he drew closer, he could not hear them even though they appeared to be in conversation and while they looked vaguely familiar, he couldn't make them out.
The first person he recognized was his father, tall and proud as he had been when Charlie was a child. Charlie's mother was beside him, beautiful and thin. Fred came around from behind them, Tonks on his arm. No one spoke, but they all touched him with gentle pats of encouragement and soft smiles.
As they moved to surround Charlie, he could see one other person.
"Harry!" Charlie called out, breaking the strange silence. It was Harry in his youth, his hair still jet black instead of the unruly white it had become when he grew older.
Harry smiled and Charlie could see happiness warring with sadness in those familiar green eyes. "Charlie," Harry said softly. He approached and drew Charlie into a tight hug. "I didn't want to see you so soon."
A thought hit Charlie, sudden and sure. "I died," he said. His voice sounded odd and hollow.
Harry smiled sadly and nodded. "You had a heart attack."
Charlie knew it was true, that it wasn't a dream. The people surrounding him were those he had loved and lost over his one hundred years.
Harry had been the last and hardest loss. Only five years before, Harry had succumbed to a magical fever, dying in Charlie's arms in the middle of the night. Even after seventy-five years together, it had been too soon. The children, grandchildren and his work had kept Charlie busy since Harry passed, but nothing had filled the gaping hole left in his heart.
Now, his arms tight around his lost love, Charlie finally felt whole again. He would miss those he left behind but, with Harry by his side, Charlie was ready for the next great adventure.
DRABBLE # 4
Title: Too Little, Too Late
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst
Word Count: 469
Author's Notes: None
Perhaps he shouldn't blame her for marrying the werewolf. But, he did. He felt betrayed, and that should have been it for Charlie, but love didn't much work that way.
He'd come back the night Bill had been attacked by Greyback, the night Remus had hurt her with his rejection, and she'd sought comfort in his arms. Not the werewolf's. His.
The Battle of Hogwarts was in full swing by the time Charlie got there. The story of his life, really. Always a day late, a Sickle short. His eyes scanned the crowd, seeking her out. Charlie had loved Tonks for as long as he could remember, but he had been selfish, never putting her first. He regretted that, once more, too late.
He'd seen Bellatrix take Remus down in the battle, and raise her wand in Tonks' direction. He acted on instinct, out of love for her, throwing himself in the path of the green light that emanated from the tip of the Death Eater's wand. He'd failed Tonks so many times in life, refusing to commit to her, never able to be quite what she needed, but he'd been there when it counted. He'd died in her place.
Death was the next great adventure, it was true, or at least Charlie thought it was probably true for most people. For him, not so much. Some would never understand why he chose to stay behind, refusing to pass through the veil that might bring him peace. There was a time he wouldn't have believed it a choice he'd make either… but that was before.
When he really thought about it, Charlie had to laugh. He'd successfully avoided any semblance of commitment in life, only to be claimed as love's bitch in death. He didn't miss the irony of the situation.
He'd had few things to which he was connected-truly bound by, but the small child with the spattering of freckles across his nose and the dimple in his cheek-his child-that was what held him here-what tied him to this world, when he belonged in another. Tonks had bid him go on, to find the peace that death should have brought him, but he could not. He needed to be here to watch Teddy grow, to float nearby as he slept, the pout of his bottom lip making Charlie grin in the middle of the night.
Charlie stayed behind… bound by his love for her, his love for his child, realising too late what it was that made life worth living. It wasn't a job, or an unseen adventure, it was those to whom you were connected that mattered.
And Charlie was connected. Bound in death, as he'd never been in life, to love something-someone-more than himself.
Once more, too little, too late.
Voting will be open until Saturday, March 28 at 11:59 PM EDT.
Your challenge this week was to write a drabble between 250 - 750 words, exploring Charlie’s death and who or what he encounters behind the Veil.
Your prompt was:
Death may be the ending of one life, but according to many it is the beginning of the after or the beginning of another life.
Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler.
But having stopped, listen and learn, then go your way.
There is no boat in Hades, no ferryman Charon,
No caretaker Aiakos, no dog Cerberus.
All we who are dead below
Have become bones and ashes, but nothing else.
I have spoken to you honestly, go on, traveler,
Lest even while dead I seem loquacious to you.
~taken from a Roman tombstone
DRABBLE # 1
Title: They Loved
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Blood
Word Count: 749
Author's Notes: Thanks to my beta!
The attack had been completely unexpected. The war was over. There wasn’t supposed to be any more death. The Order thought they had captured all the Death Eaters; they were wrong.
A month after the death of Voldemort, The Burrow was attacked by a small group of Death Eaters that had escaped from the final battle. The Weasley’s weren’t prepared for the attack. It was late at night, everyone was asleep. The protective wards went off around midnight and everyone flew into fight mode, their adrenaline rushing through their veins, waking them up and giving them a rush of clarity. They assembled in the kitchen, grouping together and Apparating away to the agreed safe house. The door flew open right as Charlie and George, the last group, Apparated away. A flash of light flew at the disappearing figures. They landed on the carpeted floor. Molly was doing a head count, she sighed when she saw them land, knowing that everyone was safe.
A gurgling sound came from the ground, and a shriek was heard as everyone looked down to see Charlie convulsing on the floor, a gash straight across his chest, blood pouring out. Snape may have been dead, but his curse lived on in the hands of those too dangerous to wield it. Molly collapsed onto her knees next to her second oldest boy. Grabbing his hand in hers, and bringing it to her lips.
“No, Charlie. I can’t lose you too. It’s not fair! You were going back to the reserve tomorrow. If only you had gone back sooner. Why? Why must I keep losing my children?” she screamed, the tears floating in her eyes released in a flood of emotion. The whole family felt the pain and agony. It was impossible not to. They could do nothing; they didn’t know the counter curse. They had to do what no one should have to do, they had to sit there and watch him die.
“I love you all,” he mumbled as his body went slack, and the hand Molly held lost its weight.
They turned to each other for comfort. That’s what they did. They lost, and they loved. They loved for peace, for comfort, for them. They loved because if they didn’t, they would fall apart.
Arthur knelt down and drew his sobbing wife into his arms. Bill pulled Fleur towards him. Harry tucked Ginny’s shaking head under his chin. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron, pulling him tightly against her. George sat there; staring at the body of yet another dead brother, wondering how much one family could take.
At that moment a familiar lynx came bounding into the room. The message was simple, they had apprehended all of the attackers and they were being carted off to Azkaban. The happy tidings came at a great cost.
Up above the grieving family, a single red head watched with a touch of sadness and glee. Fred ruffled his hair and turned to go do his job. He had to welcome his brother to the after life.
Charlie appeared on the ground, lying in the same position he had passed away in. His eyes blinked open and he looked around. The space was open and quiet, peaceful. He looked up and his eyes met those of his brother. A sad smile played across their freckled faces. Charlie stood up, brushing his pants free of invisible lint. He walked over towards Fred and gave him a bone-crushing hug.
They were together. Fred was not alone any more. But it had come at a cost. They wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and Fred lead him to his special space. Fred called this area “home,” though it would never be The Burrow. They looked down at the rest of their family, clutching at each other in grief. A lone tear fell down Charlie’s face, and he swiped it away with his hand.
They could get through this. The Weasley family could get through anything. They had always survived. If they could survive the twins for twenty years, they could get through anything. They would be a little bit damaged, but they would get through it.
Now Charlie and Fred lived, they lived and they watched those back on earth. They lived, watched and waited for the rest of their family to come and join them, so that once again they would all be united. All the Weasley’s together, once and for all. As it was meant to be.
DRABBLE # 2
Title: A Little Understanding
Rating: G
Warnings: Charlie's dead. That in itself should be enough to warn anyone away.
Word Count: 717
Author's Notes: Evil, evil prompt. LOL. Thanks to my beta!
It had been a bad idea to attend his own funeral. Since no one could see him, Charlie was robbed of his goodbyes. So he drifted and listened to the bits of conversation that floated on the air.
~~~~~
"… never really understood him."
"I know. It was as if…"
~~~~~
"… firewhiskey loosened his tongue. I remember once when I visited him in Romania, he got pissed, and for a moment I thought…"
~~~~~
"… I was a goner."
"So what happened?"
"Like I said, I thought I was dead, but then Uncle Charlie burst out of his cabin, saw the dragon had me cornered, and…"
~~~~~
"… shot me down."
"Really? When was that?"
"A month or so before I started dating Hannah. But it was dreadful. I asked him out and all he did was look at me as if I was a..."
~~~~~
"… Hufflepuff."
"No, Charlie's bloke was a Ravenclaw. But I can't remember his name. That was, what? Seventh-year?"
"No. Sixth. But that was when I figured out Charlie was…"
~~~~~
"… a mystery. I'll never understand why he went alone to check on that injured dragon. He knew better. After all, he'd been at the reserve for thirty years.
"Charlie always did do crazy shit. It's like he had a death wish. But I rather think he went the way he would've wanted."
"What? Torn apart?"
~~~~~
None of them understood. The only person who had ever understood him was long gone.
Charlie was wrapped around his lover. It had been long months since they'd seen each other, but such were the necessities of wartime. He'd never thought he'd find love, but now that he had… "Promise me, when the war's over, we won't hide anymore. We'll really be together."
"No one will understand."
Charlie chuckled. "It's not like anyone understands me now. So, promise?
"If we both survive….
Of course, they hadn't. Oh, some would say Charlie had, for his heart beat and he breathed for more than twenty years after. But in truth, he was just as dead as his lover.
Now, finally, his body had caught up with his spirit.
One thing was certain, though, he couldn't hang around here any longer.
He felt a pull - a beckoning. Charlie looked around, but saw only mourners and tombs. There appeared to be no way of escape, no portkey for this crossing. So he closed his eyes and concentrated on the pull, imagining it as a tether to the beyond. Finally, he simply let go of his last grasp on the world of mortals and zoomed through the cosmos, rocketing toward eternity.
Motion stopped. Charlie opened his eyes to dim, dusky murk. He turned a full circle, expecting some sort of welcome. Even if it wasn't the one he desired, at least Fred, or one of his long-dead grandparents, should have met him on his passing, shouldn't they? But they hadn't. There was no welcoming party for Charlie Weasley.
Merlin, other than a short burst of togetherness, he'd passed through a lonely life; he hadn't expected to suffer more of the same in death. How would he endure a solitary vacuum? But what choice did he have? Suicide wasn't an option for the dead. There was no end to eternity.
After several moments, Charlie again closed his eyes. Perhaps it would work both ways. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could return to the land of the living - become another Hogwarts ghost. Anything would be better than this.
Charlie grasped about in his mind, but there was no tether linking him to the past.
Just as he was giving in to despair, he was wrapped in strong arms and pulled to a hard, familiar chest.
"You've come."
Charlie looked into his love's dark eyes. "I'm sorry it took so long."
"Long? For me it was but a moment."
"It was years, decades. I didn't want to keep living, but it would've been cowardly to…."
"I understand," Severus murmured.
Charlie knew Severus did. He always had. It had been that understanding that had brought them together and forged a relationship that lasted beyond the grave.
As he pressed against his lover, Charlie realized his lonely life had been nothing more than a single beat in the heart of eternity.
DRABBLE # 3
Title: The Next Adventure
Rating: PG
Warnings: Major Character Death
Word Count: 589
Author's Notes:
Charlie stretched in the long grass. He couldn't remember falling asleep in the field, but he did sometimes nap outside. He stood, worried that during his sleep, the dragons had needed his assistance. It wasn't until he started back toward the dragons that he realized something was wrong.
The Reserve was eerily quiet and empty. There were no dragons roaring in the distance, no shouts from his co-workers. He felt disoriented, as if he was waking up from a bad hangover instead of a quick nap. Everything seemed wrong.
Looking around, Charlie couldn't see the normal bustle of the reservation. He was alone. Confused, he turned to head toward the reservation offices-except the offices were missing. There were no buildings at all, actually.
Charlie suddenly remembered that he no longer worked with his dragons. Hadn't for a long time. Instead, he'd taught Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts for the last twenty years. The last thing he could remember was going out to check on the thestrals, just as he did every morning. It didn't explain how he had returned to Romania.
A strange fog crept in over the grass. As he continued walking, Charlie found himself in an old graveyard. It was not the cemetery on the reservation. This one was older and run-down. A snow-white owl watched him from the fence surrounding the cemetery. As if sensing his distress, the owl moved, flying in front of him and bidding him to come further into the cemetery.
It felt like a dream so Charlie followed, curious to see where the owl would lead. Ahead of him, he could see a group of people standing and talking. As he drew closer, he could not hear them even though they appeared to be in conversation and while they looked vaguely familiar, he couldn't make them out.
The first person he recognized was his father, tall and proud as he had been when Charlie was a child. Charlie's mother was beside him, beautiful and thin. Fred came around from behind them, Tonks on his arm. No one spoke, but they all touched him with gentle pats of encouragement and soft smiles.
As they moved to surround Charlie, he could see one other person.
"Harry!" Charlie called out, breaking the strange silence. It was Harry in his youth, his hair still jet black instead of the unruly white it had become when he grew older.
Harry smiled and Charlie could see happiness warring with sadness in those familiar green eyes. "Charlie," Harry said softly. He approached and drew Charlie into a tight hug. "I didn't want to see you so soon."
A thought hit Charlie, sudden and sure. "I died," he said. His voice sounded odd and hollow.
Harry smiled sadly and nodded. "You had a heart attack."
Charlie knew it was true, that it wasn't a dream. The people surrounding him were those he had loved and lost over his one hundred years.
Harry had been the last and hardest loss. Only five years before, Harry had succumbed to a magical fever, dying in Charlie's arms in the middle of the night. Even after seventy-five years together, it had been too soon. The children, grandchildren and his work had kept Charlie busy since Harry passed, but nothing had filled the gaping hole left in his heart.
Now, his arms tight around his lost love, Charlie finally felt whole again. He would miss those he left behind but, with Harry by his side, Charlie was ready for the next great adventure.
DRABBLE # 4
Title: Too Little, Too Late
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst
Word Count: 469
Author's Notes: None
Perhaps he shouldn't blame her for marrying the werewolf. But, he did. He felt betrayed, and that should have been it for Charlie, but love didn't much work that way.
He'd come back the night Bill had been attacked by Greyback, the night Remus had hurt her with his rejection, and she'd sought comfort in his arms. Not the werewolf's. His.
The Battle of Hogwarts was in full swing by the time Charlie got there. The story of his life, really. Always a day late, a Sickle short. His eyes scanned the crowd, seeking her out. Charlie had loved Tonks for as long as he could remember, but he had been selfish, never putting her first. He regretted that, once more, too late.
He'd seen Bellatrix take Remus down in the battle, and raise her wand in Tonks' direction. He acted on instinct, out of love for her, throwing himself in the path of the green light that emanated from the tip of the Death Eater's wand. He'd failed Tonks so many times in life, refusing to commit to her, never able to be quite what she needed, but he'd been there when it counted. He'd died in her place.
Death was the next great adventure, it was true, or at least Charlie thought it was probably true for most people. For him, not so much. Some would never understand why he chose to stay behind, refusing to pass through the veil that might bring him peace. There was a time he wouldn't have believed it a choice he'd make either… but that was before.
When he really thought about it, Charlie had to laugh. He'd successfully avoided any semblance of commitment in life, only to be claimed as love's bitch in death. He didn't miss the irony of the situation.
He'd had few things to which he was connected-truly bound by, but the small child with the spattering of freckles across his nose and the dimple in his cheek-his child-that was what held him here-what tied him to this world, when he belonged in another. Tonks had bid him go on, to find the peace that death should have brought him, but he could not. He needed to be here to watch Teddy grow, to float nearby as he slept, the pout of his bottom lip making Charlie grin in the middle of the night.
Charlie stayed behind… bound by his love for her, his love for his child, realising too late what it was that made life worth living. It wasn't a job, or an unseen adventure, it was those to whom you were connected that mattered.
And Charlie was connected. Bound in death, as he'd never been in life, to love something-someone-more than himself.
Once more, too little, too late.