“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Charles shrugged as he grabbed the bottle from her, their fingers brushing against one another for a brief moment, “What was it you said again? Your mother would be so inclined to marry me should something happen to your father,” He smirked, “So I imagine your father probably likes me too.” He said, taking a swig.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted to stay so long. He’d only come because he thought she was in danger and even that seemed strange. He hadn’t known her long at all and yet, here he was. Drinking her father’s whiskey after having just been caught kissing her by her parents.

Charles really didn’t mind though. He was rather enjoying himself.

It went silent for a moment. A content sort of silence; where you just were. It was a comfortable kind of silence.

“I only came here because I thought you were in danger,” Charles chuckled and threw the rum to the back of his throat once again, “and you weren’t.”

---

  

Emmeline just rolled her eyes in response. There was really no need for a response. He knew what he'd done and now her parents knew that there was likely more between the two of them. Or they'd assume as such. Honestly, she didn't know what was really going on no matter how much she had enjoyed that kiss.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him curiously. She knew he hadn't just been in the area, not with the way he'd looked when she'd found him at the door but he hadn't given her a straight answer why he was there either.

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

“Er,” Charles looked at the bottle, shrugged, and then took a hearty swig. He might as well go all the way. If worse comes to worst, he could just blame it on the alcohol, “I was at work and heard of some trouble here with two parents and their daughter.”

Then he slid the bottle back to her and continued, “Some mad wizard broke into their house and wasn’t cooperating,” Merlin, Charles, please stop, “I thought it was this house.”

Chuckling again, Charles shook his head, “But you’re not in danger so it’s fine.”

---

  

Emmeline's brow furrowed in confusion as he spoke. What he said made sense logically? Sort of, anyways. But emotionally she still didn't understand why hearing that would have prompted him to show up and make sure they were okay. She shook her head slightly when he finished.

"No, not fine," she said, leaning on the table from her chair to draw herself as close as she could with a table in between them, "Why?"

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

Looking up at her, Charles fumbled with the paper label on the bottle uncomfortably and looked to the table before turning to lock eyes with her; because I care about you, “It’s my job to make sure people are okay.” He shrugged.

“Why is it an issue?”

---

  

Emmeline raised a brow at his fidgeting. He wasn't telling her something, that much was obvious, but she wasn't about to go down that road again. If they started yelling at each other again her parents would surely show back up. She'd let it be..for now.

"Not at all," she said with a shrug before sitting back into her chair to simply watch him.

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

“Good,” He shrugged back and grabbed the bottle, pouring the last of the rum into his mouth. He placed the bottle firmly back on the table and huffed, “because it isn’t.”

Merlin, he wished he understood what was happening right now. He didn’t. He couldn’t. There was no sense to what was happen so where would he even start by trying to deconstruct this entire situation he and Emmeline had found themselves in?

“Rums all gone now,” He looked upward slightly before leaning toward her with a soft smile, “So I guess we’ll just have to talk. What’s your favourite colour?”

Maybe if he occupied her with questions, she wouldn’t ask her own that made him uncomfortable. That is, emotional. Uncomfortable and emotional were the same thing to Charles. Mostly only when it came to Emmeline, though.

---

  

Emmeline still continued to watch him. He was strange. But also fascinating. It was weird. All of it was weird whatever it was. She wasn't going to question it anymore though. That seemed to just cause more problems than not. Then she was laughing again lightly as he mentioned there was no more rum. Her dad was going to be pissed. Maybe Charlie wouldn't be forced into a proposal and he'd just end up murdered instead.

"Green," she answered without missing a beat, pulling her legs up and resting her chin on her knees still covered in her skirts and her arms wrapped around them, "Yours?"

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

“Red,” he shrugged, “Feel obligated to given my Hogwarts house.” Which was kind of true though if he were to be entirely honest, he didn’t really have a favourite colour. He just kind of felt an obligation toward it because of his Gryffindor loyalties.

His eyes were fixed on her as she huddled up on the chair though he arched an eyebrow, “Please don’t fall off.”

The last thing he wanted was coming here to save her from nothing only for her to actually die by falling off of a chair and breaking her neck. That would be disastrous in more ways than one. Well, mostly one: she’d be dead. That would suck.

“And what of food? Have you a favourite meal?” He asked with a casual tone.

---

  

Of course he'd say red. And while Emmeline loved her house, she wasn't about to say red just because of some strange sense of loyalty. Nope, green was more her color though not the dark emerald of Slytherin. More of a soft, springy sort of green. "Typical," she said with a smirk, "And we've already established I can take care of myself. I'm sure I'll be quite fine in my chair."

She had to stop and think about his next question though. She didn't really think she had much of a favorite food so long as something tasted good. "I'm not sure on that one," she answered, tilting her head to the side slightly on her knees, "Cinnamon rolls maybe. But not with too much icing. It can ruin a good treat that way."

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

Kicking the chair slightly, Charles watched with a grin, “You sure?” His tone was playful almost – as if wanting her to fall off just so he could make some snarky comment. He wasn’t sure what comment though and really, he didn’t actually want her to fall on the floor. He wasn’t drunk enough for that.

“Cinnamon rolls. Noted.” He smiled, “I’m not one for sweet treats usually. They hurt my teeth and don’t agree with me.”

His eyes watched her after that. He didn’t speak for a while, didn’t even move. Just smiled with what could only be described as a caring and contented look. The way she just seemed happy – which was much different to when they first met – filled him with a tangible sense of happiness.

“Why do you insist on only having two expressions?” He huffed a little, “You’re either pouting all the time or being cute.”

He wasn’t even sure what he was saying by this point.

---

  

A little squeal of surprise left Emmeline as he jostled her chair with his foot before shooting him what she thought was a scathing sort of glare. It probably wasn't even remotely close. Not with the scrunching up of her nose and narrowing of her eyes while she kept her chin on her knees.

"You're an ass," she said with a playful tone though took his own words to memory as well. No sweets for Mr. Charlie.

And then she was blushing all over again. "I think you've had too much to drink," she said simply though her heart wasn't even fully in it. She wanted to believe he really thought that but it was hard to. Believing something put her at risk for a let down.

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

“A loveable ass, Miss Woodcroft,” Charles stated assuredly, “the most loveable.” He nodded once before shaking his head. He could barely notice her blushing, in all honesty.

Though to say he’d had too much to drink was most definitely an overstatement. She hadn’t experienced too much to drink beyond some bastard who couldn’t handle his drink, “I haven’t,” he said plainly, “as surprising as it might be, this is nothing compared to what I’ve been used to in the past.” He shrugged and looked to the floor for a moment, moving his foot to scrape across the floor, “though I don’t expect to ever have too much with you around. I’d rather you not see that side of me.”

---

  

Emmeline was amused at his statement. He seemed to be able to turn anything around and make it seem better. A true optimist it would seem. She almost envied him that ability. But that amusement was quick to fade when he mentioned the way he'd drank in the past. That was a bit worrisome. Maybe she shouldn't have told him where the rum was.

"Why not?" she asked again, apparently her favorite sort of question.

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet

“Why do you always ask why?” Charles huffed and grabbed the bottle, shaking the few drops that were left into his mouth before placing it back on the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the one he’d poured her. Grabbing it, Charles tipped it into his mouth and swallowed.

He then sighed and placed the glass on the table next to the bottle reaching around his back and patting over his shoulder, “Because that’s how you deal with this.” He said with a shrug before leaning back in the chair and running his hands across his face. Ugh, he couldn’t keep being ominous and he’d already said too much.

At an impasse, Charles decided to explain to her as best he could without really explaining anything, “My job isn’t easy.”

---

  

Emmeline shrugged. She was just curious by nature. She liked to know things and to learn things. Th only way a person ever did that was by asking why. At least, that's the way she felt about it. Though, she had never been the most social of girls and had always been a bit shy so whatever was going on was all out of her realm of comprehension and comfort.

"I suppose it's not," she said simply, "But..Nevermind." She shook her head. She was still curious why or how she came into the whole picture for him. But it was a question better left unanswered she felt.

"If you could go one place in the world, where would it be?" she asked, hoping to draw the attention away from the unfinished sentence prior.

---

  

---

#LovelyLadySet