Epeolatry - ✔️

Nineteen

"Forgiveness does not change the past
but it does enlarge the future."
- Paul Lewis Boese

Mrs. Weasley led the girl back into the living room and ushered her into a seat before sitting opposite of her. The two sat in comfortable silence for a while until Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to speak. "Charlie told me what happened," Athene said nothing, only brought the tea to her lips. This was the conversation that she had been dreading and it wasn't even Charlie that she was having it with. "I understand your pain, dear."

Athene opened her mouth to speak, but the lump in her throat had returned.

"He's been a mess ever since," Mrs. Weasley took a sip of her own tea, "He's home more often than not and he's contemplated going to see you several times. He went back to Romania for the first time today."

"Why didn't he come?"

Mrs. Weasley never got the chance to answer as her fireplace came alive and someone stepped out. For a millisecond, Athene hoped that it was Mr. Weasley coming back to get something that he forgot. But the man's hair was too long and he was too tall to be the elder Weasley. Charlie came tumbling through the fireplace in a flurry of drunken steps.

He stumbled around the furniture until his mother steadied him in her arms. "Charlie, what are you doing?"

"Mum," Charlie slurred and smiled lazily, "You'll never believe what happened today."

"Charlie," Mrs. Weasley warned, her eyes flashing dangerously, "we have a guest."

Charlie stopped in his tracks and his eyes searched the room for their supposed visitor. When his eyes landed on Athene, his heart stopped and his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. As it would seem, he sobered up real quick. "Athene." There was no question or uncertainty in his voice while he spoke, only a twinge of regret. He straightened himself and his clothing. It was something so trivial, yet it caught Athene's attention.

"Charlie," She ran her eyes over him. His hair had grown longer in the short time that they had been apart and it was unruly and untamed. There were dark bags under his eyes and stubble growing along the sharp edges of his jaw. "You look awful."

"I know," Charlie took a step forward and, seeing as he didn't need his mother's support anymore, Mrs. Weasley scuttled off to eavesdrop in the kitchen. "I've been trying to find the right words to say to you, Athene. But they avoid me as much as I have avoided speaking to you."

"I figured that you stayed away to be with your other woman. She's quite the catch," Athene was pushing him, testing him, and he didn't disappoint.

"You have to know that I didn't," Charlie stumbled over his words, and it surprise Athen by how nervous he looked, "I didn't-"

"You didn't cheat on me?" Athene filled in his blanks, "What I saw, Charlie, it can't be unseen."

"I know." Charlie took another step forward so that they were toe to toe. Athene could feel his breath on her face and she could smell the alcohol that was fading quickly. "And I know that you might not believe what I'm about to tell you, but can you promise me that you'll at least listen to me?"

Athene stared Charlie in the eye and she hated that she could only see desperation and hurt in his eyes. She wanted to see his guilt clearly in his eyes to ease her pain. "I'll listen."

"Madeline Fletcher was the newest dragonologist about a year ago," Charlie tore his eyes away from the woman in front of him with great effort, "She was the only woman that had shown interest in me during my time in Romania and I fell into her trap. It wasn't love, only the attraction of a man and a woman." His words were like knives in her heart. It wasn't hard to believe that women had thrown themselves at Charlie's feet, he was too handsome. But there was a part of her that wanted Charlie to be hers. Only hers. "I broke it off long before I saw you at Hogwarts again.

"When I saw you in the woods that day," Charlie laughed, "I knew that you were the missing piece in my life. I knew that I would never lay eyes on such a beautiful human being: inside and out. And it wasn't just the way that you had your hair tied over your shoulder or the way you looked at me. It was the fire that I saw in your eyes when I told you to leave the forest and the kindness that I saw when I came in for that book."

Athene's heart felt like it was going to burst, but she held it in. He hadn't told her what had happened that night and even words might not fix the damage that had been caused.

"I didn't want to leave you, but I needed to go back to Romania to appease my worry and the Ministry," Athene nodded her head in agreement, she understood, "But when I got back, it seemed that the distance only made Maddie's heart grow stronger. She had tried so many times to get me alone, but she had never been successful until the day that you came to visit. It seems that she had enlisted the help of my colleagues and they snuck her into my cabins."

"And you let her kiss you?" Athene's voice was icy cold, but her eyes held all of her pain.

"No," Charlie fervently shook his head, "No, Athene. After her confession, after you left, I told her what I should have started with. I told her the truth."

"I need to know, Charlie," Athene raised her hand to silence him before he continued, "I need to know if this is just some game to you. Is this moment just another trivial set of seconds that you can throw together?"

"Athene," Charlie brought his hand up to cup her cheek, "Nothing has ever been more important than this moment."

"Good," Athene sighed and then threw herself at Charlie. Her arms wrapped tightly around Charlie's shoulders, and her lips were quick to find his. Charlie no longer smelled of alcohol. Instead, he smelled like smoke and lemon soap. His arms felt like home, and it was a feeling that Athene would cherish until the day she died.

The two only separated when they needed to gasp for breath, but they didn't leave each other's embrace. "Athene," Charlie buried his face into her hair and breathed a sigh of relief, "I told her that I could never be with her because I love you."

Athene's heart soared and a smile grew on her face. "I suppose I should tell you what I was going to tell you." Charlie cocked his head to the side, listening to her every word. "I love you, too."

Author's Note:
No relationship can exist without trust and honesty. Luckily, this relationship has both.

Question of the Chapter
Do you play a musical instrument?