The need of being versed in country things.

[dragonsandquidditch]

Charlie still has his own troubles with technology; for as fast and convenient as it proves to be, tasks such as using his cellphone or checking his electronic mail (how mad his father would go over such a concept!) lacks the comfort and familiarity of communication through owl. Still, Charlie has yet to find an owl for himself, so he resigns to picking up his phone and calling his mother to see if she might want to venture to the countryside with him.

He dresses himself simply for the occasion, in a loose, tan shirt and those marvelous trousers known as jeans that rest comfortably on his hips. He makes sure to wear the comfortable boots he'd found at one of the boutiques in town, the black ones made out of leather that prove rather formidable in all sorts of weather. And, of course, he has his wand.

He packs lightly, figuring he'll treat his mother to one of the country diners he's found while on previous excursions. He smiles to himself as he raises his wand, though apprehension lingers throughout him, considering the previous time he'd Apparated in Darrow. Still, it's easier than hailing a cab or walking; he wants to save his energy for examining potential houses. He hasn't told his mother that scoping out future homes is his goal for the day, but he hasn't made a secret for his disdain of city life, either.

With another breath, he finally murmurs the spell, closing his eyes and concentrating. He feels the familiar tug as it pulls him forward, beginning to relax a little.

Then he lands flat on his ass, with his shirt tangled in the branches of a nearby tree.

"Bloody hell!" He exclaims to the empty field in which he's landed, half-naked, this time. He only hopes his mother doesn't find him like this.

Comments

[teaandsympathy]

Molly had been struggling with the Muggle technology as well, but had managed to learn enough not to miss Charlie's call, and she was glad of the chance to spend time with him and away from the city center. Life in Darrow was so different from the Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, or even the London she knew.

So she Apparated to the place she was supposed to meet Charlie at the appointed time. She would have preferred her robes, but was wearing a brown dress dotted with small flowers instead, along with a sweater a size too big in a leafy green. She tugged the clothes back to rights when she arrived, turning as she heard Charlie's exclamation.

"Really, Charlie," she chided, but not too firmly. Hermione had said something about him having difficulties Apparating in Darrow, although Molly could think of no reason why that might be.

[dragonsandquidditch]

"Accio shirt," Charlie more sighs than says as he points his wand towards the upper branches of the tree. Apparation has never been his strong suit, but he can normally manage loads better than winding up half-naked in front of his own mother.

"Sorry, mum," he replies as he hastily dresses himself. His arms briefly tangle in the sleeves, and suddenly, he feels seven years old again, much too clumsy to properly dress himself in his own robes. It makes him grin, just as he finally manages to poke his head out.

"I don't know why I'm having so much trouble with it," he shrugs, walking over to her. "I guess the city just doesn't agree with my Apparating abilities."

"That's a nice dress," he tells her, stopping just before her with his hands shoved in his pockets. Just like he's seven years old again.

[teaandsympathy]

"At least it was just your shirt went off course." It could have been much worse. If Charlie had gotten Splinched... but he didn't, which was the main thing.

"Risking you life looking after dragons for so long, I'll not have you getting hurt going from one place to another, all right? We'll get it sorted out, I'm sure. And in the meantime, there's nothing saying you have to Apparate all about." It was second nature - or in Molly's case possibly first nature - fussing over her children, no matter how grown they got, and after those decisive words, she smoothed down the shoulders of Charlie's shirt.

It was easier than knowing how to respond to his compliment, sweet though it was, and Molly patted at her plump curves uncertainly with her, "Thank you, dear.

"Now. An afternoon just the two of us, yes? But I think you've got plans of some kind."

[dragonsandquidditch]

"True," he says, recalling some of his own, less fortunate mates back in Romania who'd Apparated after a pint too many of Firewhiskey, winces. "So far, Darrow has seen fit to spare me the nastier parts of Apparation gone wrong so far. I might be pressing my luck, though."

"I know you won't, mum," he says with a grin, appreciative of his mother's worrying; he doesn't admit it often, even to himself, but he often misses her and her lectures. Just as much as his childhood room and old broomstick, they're a part of home for Charlie. He doesn't even mind when she soothes down his shirt.

"You know me too well," he grins at her. "Yes, I do have plans. I'm not much for city living; never have been. My apartment's nice, but I'd much rather be out here, in the countryside. Like back home." He rubs the back of his neck with a grin. "I dunno if you'd fancy maybe moving out here with me? I've been looking for a place like Ron and Hermione have got, The Nook?"

[teaandsympathy]

Molly missed the rest of her family most of all, but The Burrow was a close second. Ron and Hermione had offered to let her stay with them, but they were newlyweds, and as much as Ron might wish she didn't, Molly knew what it was like to be young, in love, and recently married. She didn't want to impose; Muffliato spells or not.

"Middle of a Muggle city, I'm not sure it'll ever sit right with me," she began. "A place of our own, it wouldn't be The Burrow, of course, but we could make a home soon enough. If you're not too old for living with your mum after so long."

[dragonsandquidditch]

Charlie, for all he loves his work and his charming little cottage in Romania, misses the Burrow almost as much as the rest of his family. Hell, the house really is a part of the Weasleys, a part to make their family hole. Though he can never entirely recreate it, he wants to at least find a space he can call home, trapped as they are in a magical city.

"It's hard to sleep at night, even with silencing charms," Charlie nods in agreement. "It really isn't home, you know? I'm never too old to live with your amazing cooking, mum." He teases, a glint in his eyes.

[teaandsympathy]

"Oh, so it's me, not my cooking you're after," Molly teased, but the crinkles around her eyes let on she was pleased by the compliment.

"So we're to be looking at houses, then? Or land for one?" She was more than willing to let Charlie take the lead; he was the one with the ideas, after all. And if they were very lucky, they'd find a place that would suit them both, with room to grow, in case more family showed up.

[dragonsandquidditch]

"Well, obviously," Charlie replies, delighted as his mum teases right along with him. It feels good just to spend time with her, in the open air, again; the countryside almost reminds him of home, in that moment.

"Either or," he says, though he hadn't really considered plain land before his mum mentions it. That's a potent idea, though; it might turn out cheaper to purchase a plot of land and er...magically expand upon it, so to speak. He'll certainly keep that in mind as they begin their trek through the bushes. "Hopefully we'll find something that lets us immediately get out of the city, though."

[teaandsympathy]

Molly followed along with him, her thoughts already going to what kinds of things she might need to do when they did find a house.

"The flats are as dodgy as Ron said, aren't they? But I suppose it's better than being dragged here with no way out and no roof over our heads."

[dragonsandquidditch]

"Well, they're nice, but they're too cramped," he says as they walk along. "And yeah, it's decent of them to at least give us someplace to live, but even with Silencing Charms, my flat never feels like home, you know?"

Charlie leads them to an abandoned farm house, shingles and wood beams littered through the yard from the gaping holes in the building itself. The house itself is a fairly decent size, tucked away between a couple of trees. The gurgling of a river or stream nearby widens his grin; already, Charlie feels more at ease with the new world he finds himself in. He lets out a low whistle.

"What do you think, mum?" He asks, taking his wand out in case they decide to explore the house itself. "Quaint, no?"

[teaandsympathy]

Nothing would ever compare to the Burrow, but Molly wasn't the type to dwell when there was nothing to be done about it. And there was something about the place that reminded her, just a bit, of the Burrow had looked like before she and Arthur had made it their home and raised a family there.

"It'll take work." But nothing a bit of magic couldn't fix, and any place they could afford would, and her grin resembled Charlie's. Her innate pragmatism was already noticing what sorts of work and thinking toward solutions as she walked around the house.

[dragonsandquidditch]

"Yeah, but that's the fun of it," Charlie says, walking in the opposite direction of his mum, taking in the state of the building and how it seems to hold itself up in spite of the cracks in its wares, so to speak. "And we have magic to help us, after all."

"And I don't think we're too far off from Ron and Hermione," Charlie points out with a grin.