Patterns

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Below him, the sky boiled with activity. Splashes of colour darted and swerved and intersected with each other in bright blurs of burgundy and green, occasionally fanning out to the edges of the pitch but always, inevitably, flowing back toward the center.

Charlie hovered just above the maelstrom of colour and movement, waiting patiently for the Snitch to appear. The job wasn't that exciting, really. At times he found himself falling into the pattern of the game - the calligraphy of flight, painted symbols that shifted and wove together but never repeated.

He stuck out like a sore thumb in the tumultuous sky - red hair blazing in the sunlight, immobile in a sea of orderly chaos. As the game wore on Charlie found himself staring too long, trying to read the writing in the sky. He felt hypnotized and slightly seasick, and very nearly missed his moment. When the flash of gold finally caught his eye, he dove, he feinted, he grabbed, and the House Cup belonged to Gryffindor.

It was no surprise to anybody, because Charlie was the best Seeker in the history of Hogwarts.

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Charlie is worried by Ginny's pale face and the way her hollow eyes follow Harry Potter everywhere he goes. Charlie has no advice for Ginny, no big-brotherly words to tease a blush back into her cheeks. He tries not to watch her watching, but he tells himself he's just looking out for her. It's his duty, after all. It's what big brothers do.

Not that he blames her at all. Harry is good looking and charming, athletic and brave, and flies a broom like he was born to do nothing else. Charlie feels a decade younger as he watches Harry chase Ron and Fred between the treetops over the back yard. Harry is unrestrained in the air, swooping and dodging with natural grace.

Bill comes to stand by him, pokes him in the ribs. "Remembering your glory days, eh?" Charlie manages a smile at the teasing, but the lump in the back of his throat prevents a reply.

"You'd make an excellent dragon-keeper," Charlie tells Harry one summer afternoon, just before he goes back to Romania. Harry is trimming his broom while Charlie stitches up a torn gauntlet. "After the war, I mean."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry says quietly. For the first time, Charlie notices Harry's eyes are hollow too.

It saddens him that he has no advice for Harry, either.

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The war itself will not leave England, but Charlie will have his hands full keeping dragon eggs from being poached by sneaking Death Eaters. He will patrol the beaches and cliffs of the Black Sea Coast every day, looking for nests on foot because flying is too dangerous when there are protective mother dragons about. He will clamber over abandoned rock walls and squint into the sun, one hand on his wand at all times. He will watch the skies anxiously for signs of Pigwidgeon or Hermes bringing news from home.

One day, they will not come.

He will not realize this until he sees a flash of white in the distant sky, slowly taking the shape of Hedwig winging her way over the hot sands. He will sit down hard on the ground and stare at the torn and tear-stained parchment for an hour before unrolling it.

He will not go home again, because there will be no home left to go to.

When it's all over, Harry will come to Charlie. The Burrow will be a pile of smoldering rubble, just like the Dark Lord, and Sirius's body will be buried at Godric's Hollow. Harry's hands will be rougher then, with burn scars on his wand arm that mirror Charlie's. He will ask if Charlie still thinks he would make a good dragon-keeper. Charlie will say yes, and not just because he's been in love with Harry since he first saw him sit a broom.

They will share a bottle of whiskey. Soon after that they will share a bed. Charlie will soothe Harry through occasional nightmares. Harry will remind Charlie how to dodge raindrops when he flies.

Harry's eyes will be empty sometimes, and Charlie won't feel so much older than him any more.

They will go and visit Ginny, but only once, because when they come she will not know them. She will scream and cry and cling to Charlie and throw things at Harry's head and call them both by the names of people long dead. Finally the staff will usher them out and ask them politely not to come back for a while, to avoid upsetting the patient. Harry will write to Neville and Neville will promise to owl them with updates after his monthly trips to visit his parents.

On their way back to Romania, they will stop at what's left of Hogwarts to pay their respects.

A flock of birds will rise unexpectedly from skeletal black outlines of trees, all that remains of the old forest. Wheeling just above the ruins of Gryffindor Tower, they will spiral upward with an eerie fluidity and then dive suddenly, a dark wave cresting just to fall back toward the earth. They will break apart and come back together for another upward spin, drawing black designs on the grey canvas of the evening sky.

Harry will lean his head against Charlie's shoulder. Charlie will put his arm around Harry's waist. They will stand in silence, watching. "Do you know," Charlie will ask, "what Ornithomancy is?"

"Divination by studying the flight patterns or songs of birds," Harry will murmur. He will tell Charlie all the different methods that Professor Trelawney used to use to foretell his death. Charlie will listen and nod, laughing quietly in the appropriate places.

Eventually Harry will lift his head and turn to look at him, green eyes still haunted, but increasingly hopeful.

"Tell me my future," Harry will say, as they walk away.

Charlie will show him instead.

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