Chapter 7:
Hearts
The Christmas holidays over, life returned to a normal state. The joy that came along with the holidays carried on until mid-January, when a bitter weeklong ice storm forced everyone indoors, killing the winter excitement. Even though Matt and the rest of the male first years had the wintertime blues, Charity's personality was sunny as ever. To someone such as Mark, Charity's constant peppiness became a source of annoyance. But to Matt, her bright attitude was his incentive for waking up on the hardest, coldest mornings. The teachers had doubled the workload since the break, there were no incoming or outgoing letters because of the storm, and trips to see Hagrid were an impossibility; still Charity found joy and spread it to her beloved boys.
And then, near the end of January, Matt noticed a change in Charity.
It was subtle at first, but as time went on, even Julie noticed it. She came up to Matt one day and asked, "Why is Charity all weird lately?"
Yes, this was the question. She was still Charity, but something was different. She had been floating around the castle in a daze, speaking in a soft, airy voice and saying random things at inopportune times, and clutching the leather journal Matt had given her closely to her heart.
In short, she was acting like Julie.
Matt would have been incredibly worried had she been the only one that was acting like a space cadet, but Dwight, Mark, and Jorge were acting strange, too. Dwight had become somewhat moody, choosing to spend his time alone. And Mark and Jorge acted as though Matt were a dying person whenever they were around him, but when Dwight was around, they would erupt in hysterics, laughing and smiling. When Charity joined them, they turned into their same old, respectful but fun selves.
Yes, this post Christmas world was a very strange one, and oddly, Matt felt as though he and Julie were the only sane first years to be found.
One afternoon after the first Quidditch practice since the storm, Matt made sure to stay after everyone else left to wait for Dwight. He was making lap upon lap around the Quidditch pitch. Finally, after he landed, Matt greeted him at the entrance to the locker room.
"Hey, mate, you want to go play some exploding snap?"
Dwight forced a grin and shook his head before heading towards the showers. Matt followed, and hearing the water blasting, stood near the lockers and shouted over the noise.
"Dwight, I'm not stupid, I know something's wrong! You can talk to me, mate!"
"I don't think you could help me."
"But I can try! What are best friends for?"
Dwight was silent for a few moments before answering. "Valentine's Day is coming up."
"Yeah, I know it is."
More silence ensued. "Scarlett Weasley asked me out."
Matt gave an odd look that he knew Dwight wouldn't see. "Um…okay?"
"And I really do like her. But I don't know if I should or not, because I think… never mind."
"No, tell me!"
Dwight sighed loud enough for Matt to hear it. "I think Charity likes me, too."
Matt felt as though he was going to throw up.
"But I'd rather be with Scarlett."
Matt couldn't understand this. Charity honestly, wholeheartedly loved Dwight, a thing that killed him to know, while Scarlett "loved" every member of the male gender. Charity was naturally beautiful, while Scarlett was covered in makeup and such. Charity was the kindest, most loving person ever, whereas Scarlett was only superficial-a wannabe of perfection. Matt swallowed hard before speaking.
"I thought you liked Charity."
"I thought she was hot when I first met her, and I may have liked her a little bit. But I'd rather have Scarlett."
Matt shook his head in disbelief. "So have you told her `yes'?"
"No, I've been thinking about it. What do you think I should do?"
"Well, if you really do want Scarlett to the point that you couldn't be happy staying single, go ahead. But realize you're running the risk of hurting Charity and possibly destroying her confidence in you."
"I'm willing to take that risk. Charity's always so happy, she won't be hurt. And Scarlett would be crushed if I turned her down…"
I bet she would be.
"So I'll tell Scarlett I'll go out with her as soon as I see her! Thanks, Matt!"
"Uh, no problem." Matt turned and left the locker room, unsure of what he had just done, and wondering if he was the one who was supposed to tell Charity, or if Dwight would actually be suave enough to tell her himself.
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As Matt discovered that night at supper, neither boy had to tell Charity that Dwight was dating Scarlett. Having been working in the library, Charity bounced into the Great Hall after everybody else, and made her way to the Gryffindor table to sit beside Dwight. But upon getting there, she saw that Scarlett was in her usual place.
"Uh, hello, Scarlett! What are you doing down here with us?"
Scarlett gave a seductive smile. "I am just eating lunch with my boyfriend." With that she leaned over and wiped gravy from the corner of Dwight's mouth. "You got something right there, honey."
Matt looked up towards Charity, but the look on her face made her wish he hadn't. He had never seen anything so wrenching in his life. She had a helpless look in her wide green eyes, and her mouth was open ever so slightly. Matt could tell that she was beginning to breathe faster, and before he could say a word, she turned on her heel and calmly walked back out of the Great Hall. Matt gave a look towards Dwight and Scarlett before jumping up and following her, not caring that the whole school was watching.
Once in the corridor, he heard the distant sound of running. Turning in the direction of the dormitories, he saw Charity sprinting as fast as she could to get away from everything. He began to sprint after her, following everywhere she went. Finally, he saw her dash into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When he reached the door, he put his ear against the hard wood and heard sounds of sobbing from within. Unsure of what else to do, he looked carefully around before opening the door and stepping inside.
Charity's black shoes were visible from within a middle stall. Thankfully, Moaning Myrtle wasn't there, and Matt padded softly to the stall door.
"Char?" Her sobs stopped abruptly and she spoke in a shaky voice.
"Go `way. You shouldn't be in here anyways."
Matt's eyes darted about anxiously, not having the faintest idea of what to say to a heartbroken girl.
"It's a lovely night, cold and bright."
Silence.
"It's a lot nicer than how Charity's feeling right now!"
An outburst of a laugh, quickly silenced by a sob.
"Charity, I'm so sorry that that happened to you, and I'm really trying to figure out what to say to help you!"
A wrenching sob echoed from the stall. "Please tell me that this isn't true!"
Matt stood in silence, not knowing what to say, and Charity had her answer. She hiccoughed pitifully.
"And the worst thing is they both betrayed me and used me!"
"What?" Matt breathed, disbelief in his mind, barely hearing Charity's new rack of sobs.
After a few sniffles and a ripping off of toilet paper, she sighed, and began to speak softly in a monotone.
"Scarlett knew how I felt about Dwight because of the Christmas Eve party cause she tricked me and I trusted her, but she acted all nice and said she liked Tanner, but now she's with Dwight." Another sob threatened, but Charity breathed as deeply as possible.
"And then Dwight came to me in mid-January and asked who I liked and he persuaded me to tell him and he said he liked me, too, but that he wanted to wait to date so I believed him and have been having the greatest time of my life these past few weeks because somebody actually loved me and I loved them back but now he's going out with Scarlett and I don't understand why this is happening… Oh, I need my journal!"
Matt closed his eyes tightly and leaned against the other side of her door.
"Why did they do this to me?"
Matt shook his head sorrowfully. "I honestly don't know, Char…"
He heard her stand up and slowly, the lock came undone, and Charity stood looking up at him. Her face was blotchy and red from tears. Her lower lip trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes were a murky gray color. She stepped forward slowly, finally falling into Matt's open arms. She began to sob again, into the shoulder of his robes.
"I honestly don't know why, either."
Matt took a deep breath and prayed a silent prayer for help. "I know you may be hurt by what I'm going to say, but just know that I only want to help you. Dwight is not the one for you. If he really did care about you, he wouldn't have broken your heart like he just did. And God has made someone specifically for you who will never break your heart."
Charity sniffled and forced a nod. "I just feel like there must be something wrong with me."
Matt shook his head furiously and pulled his hand up to smooth Charity's hair. "There is nothing wrong with you at all, and don't ever think that. The one with the problem is Dwight, not you."
Charity sniffled again and tilted her head on Matt's shoulder. "Tomorrow's going to be so hard, being Valentine's Day and all."
Matt shrugged. "Just go about like you've never been hurt, show them all you're made of stronger things. I know you can do it; it'll be hard but you'll be okay. You're going to walk tall and not let anybody get in your way! And just know that no matter what happens, I'm always here for you, and I'll never hurt you, ever."
Charity brought her head up to Matt and smiled a genuine smile. "You know something? You are the greatest guy ever." She hugged him fiercely and he patted her on the back.
"You're not too bad, yourself."
She laughed and he wiped the area under her eyes softly. "Now, what was this about you needing your journal? Cause we can go get it…"
Charity blushed a fierce shade of crimson. "You'd laugh…"
Matt sighed and dropped his arms to his sides. "I'm standing in a girls' bathroom covered in tears, standing between my two best friends…I'm not going to laugh."
Charity shrugged innocently. "I like to-write. Poems and such. And I use the journal you gave me for Christmas for that stuff."
"That's cool! I wish I could write."
They went together out of the bathroom and towards the dormitories. Charity hadn't eaten, but she couldn't have even if she had wanted to.
True to Matt's prediction, Charity appeared to be the most confident person in the Great Hall the next day. She walked in with a smile plastered on her face. Matt could tell from her eyes that she wasn't okay, but she portrayed a solid, steadfast person. She sat down next to Matt, gave lukewarm greetings to Scarlett and Dwight, and turned all her attention on talking of random things to Matt. She was chattering a little to incessantly to be normal, but no one other than Matt noticed. He thought she would lose her composure when Dwight leaned over and kissed Scarlett, but she distracted herself with a little confetti heart. Right before she left the Great Hall, she handed Matt her journal, opened to a certain page. On the page was Charity's precise penmanship, creating a poem.
Just Because I'm Broken
Just because I'm broken, doesn't mean I cannot fight
Just because I've fallen doesn't mean I'm through with life
Just because I feel as though broken beyond repair
I throw myself against the odds of anger and despair
But just because I'm broken doesn't mean that I'll give up
I'm adaptable to change, even though there's way too much
I feel now I must fight to be free
For being broken has brought strength to me
I'll learn to stand strong when the winds come my way
I'll be able to smile when they laugh in my face
So though I am broken, when my Lord carries me
I'll mount up and soar with eagle-like wings.
Matt smiled and closed the journal softly before handing it back to her. Yes, Charity had been broken, but she was like Matt. She could endure any hardship brought her way, for she was made of stronger things. And whenever she couldn't bear it anymore, Matt would be there to be her "hero."
A/N: Review! Also, I just want to throw out that Charity is loosely based off of Keely Teslow from Phil of the Future, and a mixture of someone else.
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