Under Cover of Darkness

[gilpins_tales]

Title: Under Cover of Darkness
Characters: Charlie, Tonks, Remus
Rating & Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 3865
Summary: Tonks was shaking her head. “I think one day someone will come along and I’ll - I’ll be so bowled over from lack of practice and by him, that my only chance of surviving it all is if he’s the same.”
Author’s Notes: I seem to have

Comments

[tegdoh]

I'm sitting in the dark waiting for an experiment to run its course, and reading this fic was just what I needed.

Poor Charlie! We really get a sense of his alienation coming home after living abroad for so long & working at a job no one in his family understands - to a place where maybe he never really fit in. He's so desperate to find something to hold on to, something comfortable, so naturally he turns to Tonks. And I couldn't help feeling sorry for him all the while I was rooting for R/T.

I love your Tonks here - you've really shown that she has matured and grown since school, and that she is a match for Remus in every way. And of course he has to go an be a noble prat about it all. But as stoic a facade as he maintains, you can still sense his relief when Tonks and Charlie decide to stay.

second son, second best
Poor Charlie!

[gilpins_tales]

Thank you very much.:D

It probably doesn't sound that good to say I'm glad you felt sorry for Charlie while rooting for R/T - but that is what I was hoping for. There's such little canon info about him, but he strikes me as the Weasley that goes his own way and quietly does his own very dangerous thing, while Ron speaks of him with affection and admiration. And the slightly out-of-place loner also seemed to fit with JKR saying he never married, which I was a little sad about as she seemed keen on marrying everyone else off, lol.

I liked the idea of Charlie and Tonks being good friends from their schooldays, being drawn together by not quite conforming to the norm. And the irony of her now being so attractive to him because he's come home and is seeking the reassurance of old memories, and because she's matured into the young woman that has attracted Remus...

In version one of this (before I suddenly realised I was supposed to be writing Charlie, not R/T), Remus and Tonks did get to fight their duel and the noble prat did have to

[katyhasclogs]

Ouch. That really was angsty! In a quietly painful way that is just so R/T.

I loved the way that it was clear from the way Tonks spoke about Remus how much she thinks of him, and the sense of tensions bubbling under the surface.

Fab fic, well done.

[gilpin25]

Thanks very much.:D It did seem to end up with a large dose of angst all round, but I'm chuffed you thought it was 'quietly' done as it always seems to me that so much was going on under the surface with R/T, and that until the hospital-wing scene in HBP neither of them seemed keen on sharing it with the world at large. So it was interesting to take a look at it and them through Charlie's eyes - and rather sad for him, too. Though he's still got his dragons!

Thanks again for the nice comments, you know I appreciate it. :)

[duck_or_rabbit]

First:

The last thing he’d read was a bundle of out-of-date newspapers with the headlines reporting that Sirius had lost the entire Black family fortune at cards, had founded a colony of atheists in the East, and was secretly inventing a new brand of coleslaw.LOL

[gilpins_tales]

I thought you might appreciate some of the many strings Sirius has to his bow - including coleslaw making. ;)

I haven't done a Charlie POV fic before and am very chuffed you liked this one. As he doesn't get many mentions in canon, I decided to take the line that he was the slightly out-of-place loner, who quietly goes his very own dangerous way - tying in with him apparently never coming home for holidays and JKR saying he never married. Ron speaks of him with obvious affection and admiration, which led to the probably dubious approach that he's very likeable, kind-hearted and that he and Tonks would have hit it off at school as friends with important things in common. And that Charlie would have liked to hit it off even more at a time when he wants the reassurance of old memories and recognises that the more mature Tonks, who has attracted Remus, is far more attractive to him... Doesn't life just smack you in the face? ;)

She couldn't seem to complete a sentence without touching that bracelet, which speaks to the small things

[under_crisis]

this was a great idea! (and was headdesking on why it didn't occur to me hee hee) i really loved charlie-tonks friendship-hinting-at-more fics, and you tied it in nicely with remus' "too old" line... this time, not using bill as is what's more common in fandom.

i also particularly loved the mood, which is full of hints and nuances. not much laid out in the open, even in charlie's own thoughts. i think at this stage, where everything was up in air, the atmosphere created by not being forthright ties in nicely with the uncertainties especially wrt remus-tonks.

oh you're not alone in your meta-blues, i'm still tinkering with my idea and it's already the second half of the month! lol

[gilpin25]

Thank you very much.:D

I'm especially glad you liked the mood as I tried to be deliberately vague about when exactly this was in OotP (I couldn't have Charlie coming home for the Christmas hols, for example, as he didn't. Though it might have made sense if he had;)), but still trying to say that a lot is happening at a rate of knots with the war and with relationships. And one in particular, of course.

I also like the idea of Tonks and Charlie being really good friends from their schooldays, and him being the one who doesn't quite fit in with the other Weasleys. And the fact that he's now attracted to her because she's matured into the young woman who has attracted Remus, seemed both rather sad and ironic - in the way life has of smacking you in the face!

Many thanks for such nice comments and we can panic over our Meta fics together! ;)

And have a very Happy Birthday tomorrow.:D

[sspring92]

I always felt sorry for Charlie! He really is the forgotten Weasely. I think JRK really ignored him. I always felt like he really had a lot of potential for character growth. Hmm..kind of like our favorite couple. So much potential ignored for taht potter kid ;)

I thought the perspective of the R/T relationship form outside the 2 main characters was very well done. i enjoyed seeing it from Charlie's angle. I can also just imagine the conversation between R/T later. "What do you mean trying to pawn me off on Charlie!?"

Thanks for the little Friday treat!

[gilpins_tales]

I quite like there not being that much canon info on Charlie (though, like you, I do wonder if JKR forgot him;)) as it gives you lots of scope to try and make sense of the bits we do get. He strikes me as the Weasley that goes his own way and quietly does his own very dangerous thing, while Ron speaks of him with affection and admiration. And the slightly out-of-place loner also seemed to fit with JKR saying he never married, which I was quite sad about as she seemed keen on marrying everyone else off, lol