“I'm not so sure about this place,” Charlotte said, looking awkwardly up at a small abandoned shack.

“It’s all right,” Charlie reassured her. “We’ll be safe here. No one will find us.”

“I don’t want to hide anymore, Charlie! I can’t hide anymore!”

“Both of our lives are at risk!” he shouted, grabbing her by the wrists. “Elizabeth’s father will have us killed.”

And it was true. Before he was born, Charlie was set in a prearranged engagement to a girl from a wealthy family. Elizabeth. The wealthy always marry up.

“I don’t think I care that I might have to die,” she hissed. “I don’t care anymore. This is so much worse.”

“It’ll get better… It always gets better.”

….

Charlotte was a simple girl; no friends and just her father to look out for her. However, she was deeply bound to the peasant population, and the servants gossiped- especially about Miss Charlotte’s nighttime adventures. She’d been followed to the abandoned shack that she’d used to meet Charlie, and they were caught.

A loud series of knocks awoke Charlotte. She pushed aside her covers, and was instantly cold. Since there was no fire in the house, they had no source for heat. Her father sat up.

“It’s all right, I’ve got it.” She pulled open the door to their one-room cottage to reveal a sergeant cloaked in a black uniform. He was from the city’s government.

“Can I help you?” she asked, a bit embarrassed being seen in her nightgown.

“Yes. Are you Charlotte Smith?”

“I am.”

“I have a warrant for your arrest. Please come with me.”

“For what?” Charlotte’s father roared, storming up to the officer, who was now holding out a piece of parchment encrusted with the city government’s brand.

“It’s nothing, Father. It’s nothing.”

“It’s that boy, isn’t it? The one from the manor! I told you not to mix with him, Lotty, I told you!”

“Please don’t tell him,” she pleaded to the sergeant. “Please.”

“I have to. You’re a minor. You are correct. She’s under arrest for having a relationship with an engaged man… er… Charlie Johnson. They are both sentenced to hang tomorrow night in the Town Square. It’s time to leave, Miss Charlotte.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she turned to her father. “I love you, all right? I’ll tell mum you said hello.”

They left, her father staring at her awestruck.

….

As the sun rose, Charlotte was put under control of men not nearly as nice as the man who had arrested her. They taunted her, pulling her hair and calling her horrid names.

Finally, when they were gone, she was left to muse in her thoughts. The dirty, dark chamber offered no protection or reassurance that everything would be okay.

Food was slipped into her room a couple of hours later. She scurried over to the tray to find stale bread and warm water. She was pushing the bread around mindlessly when the door swung open to reveal the man who had taken her from her house.

“Sir, sir,” she begged.

“My name is Sergeant Greene. How can I help you?”

“Do you know if I’ll be able to see him? Before I am to hang?”

“Well, I know you are to both be hanged at the same time. However, I do believe you will be in the preparatory room together.”

And they were. Not long after she talked to Sergeant Greene she was forced into a small chamber where she was stripped down to her undergarments (in her case, her slip, which was barely warm). Charlie was soon pushed in, undressed down to his long johns.

They were left alone, staring at each other.

“Oh, Charlie,” she rushed into his arms and looked up at him. Soot coved his worry-etched face. “Are you all right?”

“As good as I’ll ever be. Charlotte… do you hate me?”

“Why would I? How could I?”

“I don’t know. I got us both in so far over our heads.”

“It wasn’t just you,” she assured him. “I'm not so innocent here, either.”

“Let’s run,” he whispered in her ear. “When we’re up there, let’s run.”

Before she could say anything else, Sergeant Greene came into the room and led them through the jail.

Charlie slipped his hand into Charlottes, and smiled weakly at her.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Greene warned. “The town is mad enough at the two of you as it is.”

“I don’t care,” Charlotte replied honestly as Greene opened the door that led to Town Square. “These are my final minutes. I shall do with them what I wish.”

As the ascended the steps to where their fate lay, the crowd booed. Charlie squeezed Charlotte’s hand one last time before the noose was slipped around their necks.

As she stood there, Charlotte found her father in the crowd. Tears were streaming down his face.

The hangman slowly began to tighten the rope around Charlotte’s neck, breathing rapidly down her neck. She wanted to take a bath desperately.

As his grubby fingers worked his was over her collarbone, Sergeant Greene stepped up and whispered something unintelligible into the hangman’s ear.

Sergeant Greene turned to the crowd. “I’ve decided to take this one- I want the pleasure of being able to kill them myself!”

They cheered as he faced the two again. “I’ll cut the rope. As soon as I do, run.”

Charlotte’s eyes met his. “Why? Why are you doing this for us?”

“I have a soft spot for a couple of kids in a forbidden love,” he nodded. “Reminds me of myself.”

He backed away from them and they nodded, stepping forward, off of the platform. The noose tightened and Charlotte instantly couldn’t breathe. It felt like she’d been there for minutes when the sword finally cut through her rope, dropping her to the ground.

It took her a second to regain balance, but she did not need any motivation. Charlie pulled her up and they ran like they’d never run before.

….

“My father thinks I'm going to return to his house. He says that if I come back alone, the town will drop the charges and I can resume normal life. If I don’t come back…” he sighed.

“Charlie, what are we supposed to do?” she cried, flinging herself away from him. “Your dad would kill you if he knew that we were still together!”

“And I'm supposed to care?” he asked, grabbing Charlotte’s arm and pulling her closer. “You’re the only one that’s ever been important to me. I love you.”

“I love you too, Charlie.”

With that said, Draco leaned down and kissed Hermione.