Chapter Nine
Chris walked into a lowly lit room and looked around. Every one of the plush chairs was unoccupied except for a black one in the corner. There Charlotte sat with her legs hanging over one of its arms and her back leaning comfortably on the other. She had a notebook sitting in her lap and was intently writing something in it. Chris walked over to her and sat on top of the matching footstool.
"What you writing?" Chris asked in curiosity.
"It’s a new song. I’ve been working on it for a bit." She said as she kept writing and scribbling on the page opened to her.
"How long is a bit?" Chris asked, although he already knew the answer.
"A week. I was hoping that we could play it tomorrow in Manchester. You know, to introduce it?" She looked up from her notebook at Chris as if silently pleading with him to say yes.
"I don’t see a problem with that. Well, actually, I do. Music?"
"Oh, er, I wrote Matt’s part, and Eric got his the other day. I think they have it down."
"What about my part? Or am I just not important anymore?"
"I was actually hoping you could listen to the words and then write your own part. You always liked doing that before and I have to fine tune the words anyway."
"Show me what you got." Charlotte nodded and then she handed him the black notebook. He tossed it back to her and smirked wickedly. "Sing it to me."
"Chris, I just don’t feel up to singing it."
"Sing it to me." He said again. He wasn’t going to let her get off that easily and she knew it. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling before she started.
"You don’t remember me, but I remember you. I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you. But who can decide what they dream, and dream I do." She sang in a slightly pained voice and looked at him once she had reached the last line.
"Keep going." Charlotte groaned but continued anyway.
"I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you. I have to be with you, to live, to breathe. You're taking over me." She paused as Eric and Matt came into the room and dragged over two seats of their own plush chairs of assorted colors and sat down near them. "You want to hear too?" She said much like an irritated mother to her children that wanted nothing more than to hear a daring story about pirates and pixies.
"Of course." Both Matt and Eric said together with a smile.
She nodded and then started to sing once again. "Have you forgotten all I know, and all we had. You saw me mourning my love for you, and touched my hand. I knew you loved me then. I believe in you, I'll give up everything just find you. I have to be with you, to live, to breathe. You're taking over me. I look in the mirror and see your face. If I look deep enough, So many things inside that are just like you are taking over." She stopped and looked at her mates with sad eyes. "Then the chorus, which you all heard, goes and repeats."
"You really do miss him, don’t you?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, I do, but sometimes being friends is better than dating." Charlotte said, looking at Chris.
"I know what you mean. So his little talk with you yesterday helped?"
"Yeah, I am glad he came back." Charlotte smiled as she thought of that meeting through the floo network.
"So, you going home with him tomorrow night?"
"I don’t know."
"But you just said you felt better after talking to him."
"Yeah I did, but I feel weird talking to him. It’s just not the same anymore."
"Charlotte, we dated and broke up." Chris pointed out.
"Yeah, Chris, there was a difference. First of all, we agreed to split up because it didn’t fit right, and if you remember right we didn’t really talk for about three weeks afterwards."
"Oh, yeah." He said in a soft voice.
Matt stood up from his seat and let out a low large yawn. "Well, it’s late and I am completely beat. Concert tomorrow. I need my beauty sleep." Matt pulled Eric up from his seat by his arm and pushed his friend out of the room. Charlotte just laughed as the two stumbled clumsily out of the room.
"Do you really think that they believe they are fooling anyone? It’s not because they’re tired."
"No, but I don’t mind. I have to talk to you." Charlotte groaned she hated that phrase with a passion now.
"Chris, last time I heard those words, the love of my life dumped me. Spare me anymore pain, mate." Chris simply took her right hand and leg in his hands and lifted her off the chair, leaving her with only her left hand and leg to keep her from falling. He, then, gently lowered her to the ground, let go of her, and then quickly seized the opportunity to steel her chair and laughed at Charlotte’s unfortunate experience.
"Hey, now! That was awfully mean. I bought the chair. It’s mine!" Charlotte got up off the ground and rushed at Chris and quickly sat on top of him.
"Get off, Charlotte! You are crushing me!" Chris mocked and let out fake moans of pain induced by the thin woman sitting on him.
"Sorry, mate." Charlotte then laid on him and made herself a complete dead weight on his form.
"Oh my, Charlotte, you are killing me!!"
"Oh, didn’t you know, I’m not Charlotte. I am her twin and sadly enough I can’t walk." Chris laughed as Charlotte faked a cry of pain caused by her ‘injured’ legs.
"Okay, so what’s your name then?"
"The name is web." Chris nearly fell of the chair laughing at how lame that was. She was so dumb sometimes.
"So, your Charlotte’s web, eh?" He smiled and pushed her off of him and she fell to the floor with a loud thump.
"Anyway, back to the talk."
She got up off the ground and looked at him. "Right, sir."
"I am not going to force you to meet Billy tomorrow, but will you think about it?"
"Yeah, I’ll think about it."
"Thanks, Charlotte. Hey, so are we still doing ‘Carol of the Bells’ tomorrow."
"If I feel like it."
"Oh, I see. Acting like you own this place, yet again." He faked shock and then smiled at her when she chucked a pillow at him. "Well, Miss Charlotte, the world does revolve around something, but it isn’t you."
"Sure it is." She smiled.
"Fine, be that way then." They sat in a temporary silence and then Chris yelled out. "Give me back my monkey!"
"NO!!!" She jumped up and grabbed the monkey that was lying on the floor near the chair he had claimed. She held to it tightly.
"But it’s my monkey and you can’t take it!" Chris warned. Then he yawned widely and Charlotte grinned at him.
"Matt’s right. Sleepy time, You should go to bed too. You are the one that has everything to lose if you mess up tomorrow. I mean if your voice sucks, you suck, or if you forget the words… well, that will just be funny."
"No, no, no, my dear sweet Christian. There is no way in the world that I could ever mess up! But if you happen to hit a wrong cord, being lead guitarist and all, I’m going to have to sack you."
"You promised!" Chris whined.
"Promised, what?" Charlotte smiled slyly, knowing full well what the promise was.
"Not to call me Christian."
"No, actually my exact words were ‘I promise I will not speak that name as long as anyone else is around’. And it’s just so damned cute." She walked over too him and tried to pinch his cheeks but he merely pushed her away playfully before she even got the chance.
"Night, Malfoy." He said just to bug her.
"Night, Christian." He shrugged her use of his full name off. In return, he simply turned to the stairwell and began to walk up it taking the stairs by two.
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Though Charlotte’s time seemed to be fun, it was a very different tale for our eldest Weasley boy, William Weasley. Now, that Charlotte was no longer around he really had no one to talk to or anyone for him to basically just hang out with. Charlotte was more than he made her out to be. She was one of his best friends and the love of his life. Maybe it’s just not meant to be. Bill sighed and ran his hands through his long flaming red locks. Tomorrow was the day that would show everything as it was. Bill nodded to himself and leaned back in his bed still buried in thoughts of his love. All you can do is wait and hope that you won’t be stood up. She did promise she’d be there, but, then again, it is Charlotte. No one can ever be quite sure with her.