"GIRLLLLLS JUST WANNNAAAA - THEY JUST WAAAANNAAAAAAAA - GIRLSSSSSS JUST WANNAAAA HAVE FUUUU-UUUUN!!!"

The music was so loud that the rickety old stairwell outside the flat was an echo chamber, the floor vibrating with the beat of the music coming from within.

Charlie stood by the door, shifting from one foot to the other, staring at the door with more dread in his eyes than he had ever felt facing down even the most ferocious dragons.

Truth be told, things had been strained between Tonks and Charlie ever since the night at the Three Broomsticks - or the morning after, rather - when Tonks had gone home with the lead singer of the Expelliarmens, the wizarding punk rock band. The morning after, when Charlie had shown up at the door, Tonks had brushed him off, excusing her behavior, and hitting Charlie in a vulnerable spot: "You don't understand things like this," she had said pointedly. Meaning the sex, meaning the lust, meaning the hormones and jealous feelings that had raised up inside of Charlie when she'd answered the door in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and the plaid shirt the singer had worn on the stage the night before.

It had been a bit like she had stuck a knife between the breast scales of a Tibetan Red, where the meaty bits of them were wrapped around life-supporting arteries that, if severed, could kill the otherwise impenetrable dragon. Stuck it in a twisted, it felt. Because he'd trusted her with that chink in his armor - told her it was there in the first place - and she'd stuck her knife there anyway.

Not that she was wrong.

He didn't understand things like that, not always. Not the way she did, anyway. Not the way most people did. But he understood enough to be here on her doorstep that morning, hadn't he? And enough to be outside her door again today?

He shifted foot to foot now, his heart pounding almost as loudly as Cyndi Lauper's voice.

The news paper had said the lead singer was engaged. To somebody else. And Rita Skeeter had called Tonks the little Harlot from London and had described the dramatic scene that had gone down in a fancy restaurant in SoHo when the fiancee and the harlot found out about one another while the lead singer made excuses for himself about life on the road and the things to be expected in the lifestyle of rock and roll...

Bill had shown him the article when the brothers had sat down to share a dinner together - their Mother had asked Bill to find a way to talk to Percy and try to get the younger Weasley home for Christmas, so Bill had asked Charlie and Percy both to a "Bromas" dinner at the pub. Percy hadn't bothered showing up, sending a note he was too busy with the final preparations on the Yule Ball at Hogwarts and simply couldn't make the dinner. So Bill had rambled about how horrified their Mother would be when she found out her son was refusing to attend Christmas Eve at home - "already down ickle Ronniekins thanks to this damned ball," Bill sighed, "Now Percy too." He shook his head, paused, then said, "And I reckon after you've seem this - you as well."

Now Charlie stood outside Tonks's apartment in his brother's best suit, mouth dry, heart a drum beat, trying not to relive the last time he'd done this in his mind.

He knocked on the door.

Finally.

Before he could lose his nerve.

Hopefully she would answer before those nerves turned into him throwing up.

Or just running away.

The music stopped inside.

He wondered if he could make it out of sight, down a couple flights of the rickety old stairs, before she opened the door?

Stay, Charlie. Stay.

You've faced Zuzu on her worst day, how could this be any harder?

Easily.

Dragons were predictable.

Dragons, if they wanted you dead at least you knew it... and would be dead promptly, with only a scorch mark on the ground to ever indicate you'd existed at all. No messy feelings to work out, no confusing biology or anything... Tonks on the other hand could filet him with a thousand painful cuts if she wanted to... and not even mean it the way it felt she did.

The door flung open.

She was wearing a hot pink dress with ruched taffeta about her waist that looked like cupcake frosting, a load of teal beads about her neck that hung over her chest, her hair teased up into standing, her eyeshadow sparkling over her eyes - purple and teal an white - like an 80s dream.

"Cha-Cha?" She tilted her had to one side in curiosity. "You're here?"

His mouth was dry.

At least she wasn't crying.

"Yes," he said. "I'm here."

"Oughtn't you be in Ottery St. Catchpole? Won't Mumsy be livid if you miss Christmas?"

Charlie nodded.

"But you're here?" she laughed, then started putting in giant pearl-looking plastic hoop earring. "Why?"

Charlie took a deep breath. "I saw the - the paper. I saw the news paper. With the article about that lousy - that singer - and his - you and him... at the restaurant. I saw - and I know - I - You're to chaperone tonight. At Hogwarts. And he's - the Expelliarmen. They're - playing. The Ball. Them and the Weird Sisters. And you --" he stammered, seeing her eyebrows raise up, the expression in her eyes somewhere between amusement and confusion, and Charlie felt sick.

"...so you came here," she said, finishing his thoughts for him, as she was prone to do when they were together, "...to check on me?"

He shook his head.

"To talk me out of chaperoning? Because I have to, it's part of my job, and with Moody out at the Minis--"

"To be your new date," Charlie pushed the words out of his mouth like a hard wind and flushed, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Oh!" Tonks looked surprised, then her features softened. "Oh Cha-Cha... Always rescuing me, aren't you?" she smiled.

Charlie opened his mouth to answer, but the door was puller wider open from Tonks's side. "Do I hear Charlie Weasley?!" asked an excited voice inside and Charlie's eyes widened as he found himself staring up at Bradley Scamander's tousled hair and bright eyes as he leaned around behind Tonks and smiled at Charlie. "Holy shit it is. Hey Charlie!"

Charlie waved his palm numbly, a new wash of embarrassment coming over him. "Hi, Bradley."

"How's the coolest dragons dude doing?" Charlie asked, his voice lilting with that slightly New York sounding accent he'd picked up from Tina Scamander mingling with the British one that clung to the edges. He wore a dark charcoal suit, a tie hanging 'round his neck not yet done up, and a pair of brown, thick rimmed glasses. He hadn't had those last time Charlie had seen him, they must be new.

Charlie looked at Tonks, who flushed, then back to Bradley.

"The scales of the iridescent Caribbean spiketail is often used in making wizarding glasses. The scales are collected from the shorelines of various islands in the sea there and are crushed, heated, and tempered into glass that can be enchanted to make various focuses for eyesight realignment. No dragons are harmed when they are made by collection of shed scales though there are some practices that have been condemned by the Ministry that have raised iridescent spiketails in captivity specifically for the use in making glasses. I do hope you didn't get them at any of those practices!"

"Oh. Uh, nope. No, these are LensCrafters," Bradley shrugged. "Same day and all." He grinned as Tonks laughed and ruffled Bradley's hair. "Newt thinks my eyes went bad on account of all the drawing I do. I got a light table!" He paused, then added, "Charlie, have you seen my comic? I'm published."

Charlie said, "Tonks mentioned. I think."

"Actually - hang on! I have a copy, you can have one!" Bradley ducked away from the door and disappeared into the flat.

Tonks waited until his footsteps faded, then looked at Charlie again. "Thanks for thinking of me, though, Cha-Cha. It means a lot to me that you always think of me." She wrapped her arms around him and laughed gently when Charlie's nerves went rigid. "I love you Cha-Cha."

Charlie nodded.

"You wanna come in?" she asked. "You can still come to the Ball with us if you want. A girl can't have enough dates!" She snorted when she laughed, eyes sparkling.

"No, no Mum will be mad as a short-snout if I'm not home for Christmas."

Tonks laughed, "But you were going to --"

"I know. That's when I was needed," Charlie said.

Tonks blinked, hearing something in Charlie's voice she'd never heard in it before. "Cha-Cha are you alright?" she asked.

Charlie replied, "Happier than a water spout in the sea on a rainy day."

"Here it is!" Bradley appeared again and shoved a comic book over Tonks's shoulder to Charlie. "I hope you like it! I still can't believe somebody besides ME is into my story." He was infectiously excited as he handed it over. "You remember Remus Lupin? He helped me eons ago with making this." Bradley was aglow. "I mean obviously I'm not about to quit my job with the giraffes or anything - that is my real dream job, always has been. Sort of like you with your dragons!" He smiled.

Charlie stared at the comic book. It had a drawing of a half man half wolf on the cover. He stared at it. The Adventures of Wolf-Boy: Under a Full Moon, it read. Then, in smaller letters, Volume One. Charlie's eyes roved the cover, taking in a pink-furred wolf behind Wolf Boy, and the sloppy signature over the author's tagline where Bradley had written To Cha-Cha from Bradley Scamander!!! with three exclamation marks.

Bradley beamed. "You'll have to let me know how you like it, alright? Maybe I'll make a dragon character and name it after you in Volume Two!"

Tonks laughed. "That would be really cool, huh, Cha-Cha?"

"Yeah, sure, yes," Charlie stammered. He backed up, holding the comic. "Anyhow. I better go."

"What? You're not staying?" Bradley looked genuinely disappointed. "How come?"

"Say hi to Molly for me, yeah? And your brothers."

"Percy's not coming," Charlie said.

Bradley thought for a moment. "He's the smart one, yeah?"

"Yes," Tonks and Charlie said in unison. Charlie's cheeks warmed and Tonks grinned at him. "Jinx on you, Cha-Cha."

"Yeah, jinx," Charlie said, then, backing toward the stairs, he added, "Have fun at the Yule Ball. Both of you."

"You're sure you won't come with?" Tonks pressed.

"OH! That would be FUN!" Bradley agreed, "You should come! You can tell me about what it was like being in Griffindor like Remus was! And you, too. This one only wants to talk about Hufflepuff and I get enough of that from Newt..."

"Not nearly as much as Tina goes on about Ilvermorny," Tonks said.

"No one goes on about anything as much as Teeny goes on about Ilvermorny," Bradley laughed.

"Except Cha-Cha going on about Dragons," Tonks supplied.

Charlie forced a smile, stumblimg toward the stairs, "Alright. Bye."

"Bye Cha-Cha. Come visit more."

Bradley nodded, "Yeah! I want a chance to hang and hear about your dragons! I'm staying here - I'm working at London Zoo for a bit and Tonks offered me a bed to crash in."

Charlie nodded. "Busy in Romania. Lots of dragon business going on. Nee baby and all. Barely got away today. Just - just stopped by for - to say Happy Christmas is all. Going home now. Bye."

"Happy Christmas, Cha-Cha," Tonks said sincerely.

"Happy Christmas, Charlie," Bradley added.

But Charlie barely heard him - he was already rushing down the steps, comic book clung in his fingers tightly.

Bradley looked at Tonks, who stared after Charlie in concern. "Alright?" Bradley asked.

"Yeah," Tonks said.

"Alright, good," Bradley said, and he kissed her temple, then ducked back into the flat.

But Tonks lingered there until Charlie's footsteps reached the ground floor and the building door shut behind him. She sighed and closed her flat door, too.