Title: Tell Him
Rating: T
Pairing(s): Charlie/Hermione
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 939
Summary: Hermione has a fear and she's afraid to talk about it. Charlie won't let her get away with that.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Interpret the thing you're most scared of into a story somehow. Be this spiders, ghosts, snakes - anything that you find yourself afraid of, and what you think your Boggart would turn into! However, the end of the story must result in the defeat of the scary object/person/creature! – Prompt Used – (word) unimaginable
As Many as You Want Competition: Prompt Used – Charlie/Hermione
Dance Competition: Round 2 – Merengue – Write about a couple that are afraid to open up to each other
Het Pairing Boot Camp: Prompt Used – needle
Feedback: Yes
Hermione suffers nightmares. It's not the kind Harry was forced to go through when Voldemort was alive and the connection through the scar acted up. Those had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the megalomaniac Dark Lord.
These were nightmares of the thing she is most afraid of. It is the most unimaginable fear possible, at least in her mind. She knows if she faces a Boggart, it will no longer change into her getting failing grades. That fear no longer exists for her since she no longer goes to school.
Hermione dreams about it while she sleeps. She thinks about it when she's awake. It's an all consuming fear, and she doesn't know how to make it all better, how to make the fear go away.
Hermione sees Charlie's worried eyes. He looks at her when he thinks she's not paying attention, but she doesn't know what to tell him. If she admits her fear to her boyfriend, it could be taken as an insult to him. And the last thing she wants is Charlie to leave her because of a perceived insult. It will make her fear seem more like reality, or at least a very possible reality.
Hermione gazes into the mirror when she runs a brush through her hair, trying to detangle it. Although her brown tresses aren't as bushy as they were when she was at Hogwarts, sometimes, they're still hard to manage. She winces as she pulls at a particular tough knot and then starts working the brush with gentle hands, hoping to loosen the knot to avoid any further pain.
She's so focused on her task that she doesn't notice the extra person in the room. The soft hand on her waist startles her so badly that she drops her comb and it clatters against the surface of the dresser. "Charlie," she breathes.
The redhead smiles and leans forward, nuzzling her neck with his nose and taking a deep breath, breathing in her scent, and Hermione shivers at the pleasant warmth that settles in the pit of her stomach.
"What's wrong?" she asks, as Charlie stays uncharacteristically silent.
"You tell me," he says in that gravelly voice that always seems to light her insides on fire.
"I...I'm not sure what you're talking about," Hermione stammers, trying to come up with a satisfactory answer for him.
Charlie turns her around so Hermione's bottom is against the dresser. His hands are on both sides of her, locking her against the piece of furniture. "Hermione, tell me what's bothering you," he needles, and it feels like a blow to her heart, the helplessness in his voice.
Hermione looks down between them. "I'm afraid to tell you," she admits.
"Hermione." She doesn't look up, so he grasps her chin between calloused fingers and lifts it up so their eyes meet. "Hermione, we've been together for almost two years. What can you possibly be afraid to tell me after all of this time? What is it that I cannot understand after all of this time?"
Tears spill from Hermione's eyes and Charlie brushes them away with a gentle finger from the hand not grasping her chin.
"Hermione, talk to me," he implores.
She takes a shuddering breath and lets it out with a whoosh. "I'm afraid of being alone, of dying alone. I'm afraid of waking up and finding that no one cares about me, that I could die and no one would miss me. I'm afraid that I'll go to sleep alone and wake up alone, and do that every day until I breathe my last breath.
There's a wrinkle in Charlie's forehead when he frowns. "You do realize you have a boyfriend that you fall asleep next to every night, right?"
Hermione wrenches her face out of his grasp. "Of course! That's why this fear is so irrational, but I can't help it!"
"Hermione!" Charlie grabs Hermione's waist and keeps her pressed up against his body. Her hands come up and rest on his muscular shoulders. "Stop it! It's okay to be scared of things. You know what it's like to lose people thanks to the war, so you're afraid of accepting the fact that the war is over and you're not going to be forced to keep saying goodbye."
He leans down and presses a chase kiss to her lips as tears build up in her eyes but don't fall.
"Hermione, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. And I'm not planning to go anywhere. I promise you that. As long as I'm here, you won't ever have to be alone."
Hermione leans up and claims his lips. Charlie allows the aggressive kiss, knowing she needs it. When air becomes a necessity, they press the foreheads together, letting their breaths mingle.
"So, you won't leave me?" Hermione asks.
"Never," Charlie vows. And as an afterthought, he says, "Don't forget about Ron and Harry. If you think you can lose their friendship, you're delusional."
Hermione nods and a small smile plays on her lips. It's not at full wattage, but it's a start. "I love you," she says in her quiet voice.
"I love you too, always and forever. Don't you ever forget it." He then takes her lips roughly, his hands gripping her waist and his lips plundering her as if it he needed them to live. Hermione lets him, reveling in his desire for her.
She put her fears behind her, knowing deep down that Charlie has never lied to her, and he isn't about to start now. She simply enjoys the kiss, giving back as much as she receives.