Closed Back to Where It Began

[Charles Abberline]

It felt nice to set foot in the village again after such a long time. He had left the school so abruptly that he never got the chance to say goodbye to it and its surroundings properly, which he regretted greatly as it felt more like home to him than the school and the village in Scotland ever did. And now that he was free to do as he pleased, Charlie figured that he'd come back to see if anything had changed while he was in England. Of course, the Hit Wizard also hoped that he would come across a couple of familiar faces while here. He sat down on one of the free benches in the park and looked up at the castle in the distance, wondering what graduating from that school would have been like. While Charlie had always been somewhat of a loner during his school years, he at least he had a handful of friends here (who he regrettingly also left behind without saying as much as a word to them). Would they have forgotten about him now? Would someone else have broken his record of fastest chess win at the chess club? If so he'd be sad not to have been able to defend his title. He sighed as he continued to look at Hogwarts, and felt ashamed to admit that he would've rather stayed here than to return to England where he had been forced to take care of his father during the holidays.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was just done with a shift at Honeydukes. It was strange to work there now that Jerara and Corrine were both gone, but she was glad to still work there.She wanted to look at different things for her future soon, but at least for now it was nice to work somewhere familiar. Though she did miss Hogwarts terribly every time she looked over at the castle in the distance. Rose had many things in her life that were changing. She had recently broken up with Kauri, and was soon going to be moving in with her two best friends. She was also still getting used to having a baby sister, though she enjoyed spending time with Lucy a lot. She was growing very fast. Rose was wandering through the park, not ready to return home yet. She looked at the castle in the distance and it nearly made her trip over her own to feet. Rose quickly managed to right herself without actually falling down, but she blushed and looked around if anyone had noticed that. Nearby, a young man was sitting on one of the benches. Rose was ready to give him a quick smile and move past him, but then she froze. She knew him. Rose blinked in disbelief, then stepped closer. "Charlie?" She asked, though it was unmistakably him. He had changed and gotten older, but she would recognize him anywhere. "What are you doing here?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

He guessed he shouldn't be so surprised to come across one of his old school friends here seeing as how close the village was to the castle, but still, Charlie couldn't help to look surprised when Rose stepped closer towards him. It had been a while now since he had last seen or heard from the woman so to have her stand in front of him all the sudden... well quite frankly he was at a loss for words. ''Rose? Wha-... Hey!'' he said bewildered, standing up to hug his friend as she came closer. However surprised he may be to see her here, it was definitely good to see her again. He let go of her, shrugged at the question and said, ''Had a day off and thought I'd come here to check this place out, see if it had changed much,'' his heavy Lincolnshire accent more noticeable than ever after spending two years in the company of his father. It hadn't changed that much, the village, it looked pretty much still looked the same as it did before he left, not that he actually thought that any big changes would've happened to the village though. ''What about you? What brings you here?''

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was surprised that Charlie gave her a hug, but hugged him back happily. Their relationship had ended when Charlie had moved to England, and they hadn't had much contact since. It had been years now. "A day off?" She asked, trying to wrap her mind around it. "Where do you work?" Was he back in New Zealand? If he was, why hadn't he told her? Though, she guessed she hadn't actually kept up with him either. It had been too painful to keep writing after a while. Rose smiled at his question. "I live here, remember? At least in New Zealand." She said, though she tried her best not to sound accusatory. It hadn't been Charlie's fault that he'd had to move. "More to the point, I work at Honeyduke's." She said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the store. "Kinda stayed around, even after I graduated." She said lightly.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie nodded his head in response and proudly said, ''I work for the British Ministry of Magic as a Hit Wizard.'' It had been his dream ever since he was little to work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and after seven long years, he finally achieved his goal of following in his parents' footsteps. He hoped his mother would be proud of him. Was he sad that the letters stopped coming after a while? Yes, he was, since she was his only connection left to the school. But after thinking about it Charlie could understand why they had stopped coming and so he had stopped writing them. They were doing well before their relationship had to stop so abruptly. Yet as the young adult looked at her he couldn't help but wonder what they would be like if he had just said no to his father's request of coming home. ''Of course,'' he replied, noticing the accusatory tone. He couldn't blame her. Charlie smiled when Rose told him that she worked at Honeydukes now. ''Does that mean that I can get a friends discount?'' he joked. ''But no, that's pretty cool,'' he added in all seriousness. He always liked that particular shop.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt herself relax a little when Charlie explained he worked for the British Ministry of Magic. For a moment, she had thought he worked here somewhere and hadn't told her he was back. But it seemed like he was just visiting, and she couldn't fault him for that. As silence fell between them, Rose reflected on what it had been like to lose Charlie. She had been hurt and upset, and maybe a little angry even though she knew it hadn't been his fault. Seeing him again now, it made her think back to their time together. He had been her first boyfriend, and it all felt a little childish now, but it also made her feel nice to think back to it. They had always had a good time together. She smiled when he asked for a friend's discount. "I could ask my boss, maybe if you buy lots." She said with a smile. She shrugged a little as he said it was pretty cool. "Not as cool as a Hit Wizard. What exactly do you do?" She asked him, a little jealous that he had established himself in a career so quickly.

 

[Charles Abberline]

''Guess I would have to come on over more often then,'' he replied. It surprised him how easy he found it to talk to Rose again after all this time. It was almost as if they hadn't stopped talking to one another. Perhaps she would like to stay in contact with him again once he'd be back in England. He smiled when she asked what he did as a Hit Wizard and said, ''When all hell breaks loose, it's us who'll be on the scene first to assess the situation, and if needed capture the dangerous criminals before they can cause more trouble. I guess one could say that we're sort of the police officers of the Wizarding World? We mostly keep ourselves busy with basically everyone who does not uphold the law up to a certain point.'' They weren't as important as the Aurors, whose job was a lot more difficult since they dealt with the worst of the worst, but Charlie found satisfaction in bringing in the lowlife scum. ''What about you, have you thought of something to do after Honeydukes?'' He wasn't particularly sure if it was a proper question to ask but he could not imagine someone like Rose working for a sweets shop for the rest of her life.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose tried not to be too happy about the idea of Charlie coming to visit more often. While she had been very happy with him, had loved him even, she had to remember they had been apart for a good chunk of time. He may have been her first boyfriend and her first love, but that didn't mean they were just able to pick things up where they had left off. She had loved Kauri too, and she knew she had changed a lot over the past years. Her eyes widened in surprise as Charlie explained what his job entailed exactly. It was pretty intense. "And... you've gone through training for that?" She asked him, suddenly feeling worried. "I don't know if I had ever pictured you doing a dangerous job like that... you were always such a Ravenclaw." She said, feeling a little conflicted. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who had changed. Was this the same boy who had been scared of being outside the common room at night? Rose winced inwardly at his next question. It wasn't a strange one, she knew that more was expected of her than working in a store for the rest of her life. But it felt especially bad right after hearing about Charlie's dangerous and important job. She shrugged and sighed. "It's fine there, I don't mind it." She said evasively. "My boss is very nice." There was more she wanted to do, but she didn't know if she should share that with Charlie. It was something she had been putting off a little, preferring the relative safety of the job she knew.

 

[Charles Abberline]

''Well, partially. I'm still very much in training but they do give some sort of responsibility to newcomers. For example, I was allowed to make my first arrest a couple of weeks ago and deliver evidence during the trial. But other than that, it's just a lot of paperwork and standing in the background to watch the professionals do it. It does help, however, that most in the office still remember my parents from when they worked there as well.'' Charlie told Rose. He was happy that he could use such connections in the Ministry to secure a job more quickly without having to wait for ages for the application to be accepted. He chuckled softly at what she said next. ''You mean a nerd?'' the Hit Wizard replied jokingly. He knew exactly what he was or what people thought of him during his team at school, especially when he was a student at the wizarding school in the distance. Did he mind it? Not at all. ''I suppose I should give you some credit for being more brave and such, shouldn't I?'' If it hadn't been for dating Rose and wanting to be cool to impress her friends as well as wanting her to know that he wasn't some boring stickler for the rules, Charlie probably would've never come out of his shell. He noticed that she hadn't actually answered his question so decided to drop it just in case Rose did not want to talk about occupations at the moment. Instead, he just nodded and went to sit down on the bench again. ''So how was school the last couple of years?'' Charlie asked, curious to know what she had been up to.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt a strange mixture of pride and envy as Charlie told her about his job. He was doing things, making a real difference in the world. It was amazing to hear that he had already made an arrest. Rose couldn't help but think about how the best thing she had done in her job was sell someone a lo tof Chocolate Frogs at once. Combined with Charlie's earlier question, it made her feel a little uneasy. It was easier to talk about their time at Hogwarts, and Rose laughed softly as he called himself a nerd. "More... theoretical, let's say." She said with a grin. "I seem to remember a boy who was terrified of being out of the common room at night." She said, remembering their first meeting so many years ago. She laughed again and shook her head. "I don't think I did much." She said softly. "You're brave on your own." His question made her think for a moment and she took a seat on the bench next to him. "It was pretty good, for the most part." She said, glancing at him. "How was it for you? Starting in a new place?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie snorted at Rose's reply and nudged her playfully. If there was one thing he'd missed the most between them it was the playful banter. He chuckled at the memory of their first night at the castle. ''I was only terrified because a certain scared the living hell out of me that night,'' Charlie said, grinning back at her. He remembered that night all too well as it was also the first and last time he had ever lost his house any house points. He didn't think that what she said was entirely true, she had definitely helped him to get there, but arguing about it wasn't going to anyone any good, as he was sure that both of them were pretty much set on what they thought. He smiled softly when she told him that her remaining years at Hogwarts were mostly good. ''I'm glad to hear that it was good for the most part,'' the Hit Wizard said. He wondered what the bad parts would be but didn't intrude on private matters. ''It was pretty intimidating at first, the original castle is way funkier than this castle is and it took me quite a while to find the way to my classes, I still managed to get lost in my seventh year.'' Charlie didn't feel like telling Rose that he'd been rather lonely in Scotland. He hadn't really made any friends during his time at the other castle, he barely had time to do so anyway with exams and trying to find his way around to castle.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt a warm feeling as Charlie nudged her, it felt familiar, like old times. Rose laughed at his words, shaking her head. "Not true! You were totally scared before I even arrived." She insisted, sticking out her tongue at him. Rose was glad when Charlie didn't ask her for more details about her time at Hogwarts without him. Somehow, it felt strange to admit to him that she had been dating someone else, though they had broken up and it had been in her right. It was a strange feeling, and she chose not to linger on it too much. Rose was curious to hear about the other Hogwarts. "Oh, I figured it would be pretty much the same." She commented, tilting her head slightly. "Are you sure you weren't just extremely bad with directions?" She added jokingly, nudging him again. She noticed he wasn't giving her a lot of specific information about his time at Hogwarts Scotland, but then again, she hadn't gone into much detail herself. She shuffled her feet a bit uneasily. "When did you know you wanted to be a hit wizard?" She asked him, a little more quietly.