A/N: Hello everyone! Happy New Year! I apologize for the delay in updating this story. I've had chapters written for months, but something didn't feel quite right about it. So, I've decided to reupload the first two chapters with important changes. This will allow me to continue to write the story the way I first envisioned it. I hope you enjoy it!

THE FIRST THREE WEEKS

PREFACE

"The Minister is dead."

The entire tent had gone quiet in the usual busyness of the Burrow's back yard. Hermione felt the breath leave her body, her mind go blank. Her hands shook as she grabbed at her wand where it usually sat in her pocket. It wasn't there.

"They are coming."

The Patronus disappeared as quickly as it had come. A scream broke through the silence, and suddenly hundreds of people whirled around her, almost knocking her to the ground.

Her eyes searched the crowd as fear enveloped her completely. Where were Ron and Harry? Hadn't they just been standing beside her? Her heart was racing. She felt like she could no longer breathe as the sound of those Apparating out and in of the tent came from all around her.

Death Eaters, she knew, as screams pierced her ears.

Shaking, she finally remembered where she had hidden her wand, which was secure underneath her dress, in a holder that was strapped around her thigh. The time for embarrassment had gone, and she ducked beneath her dress and grabbed at the place where her wand should be.

But before she could grasp it in her hand, she was lifted off her feet and flying backwards. She could see, as she tried to catch herself, a green light flashed, hitting Aunt Muriel in the chest as she was running past her. Hermione had never liked Ron and Ginny's Great Aunt much, but she felt her heart sink as she watched the woman crumble in front of her, dead.

When she looked up, she saw him. He was masked, but his blue eyes bore into hers. A smirk fell upon his face, and he slowly moved toward her, raising his wand.

"Mudblood," he hissed.

It was as if time had stopped. She inhaled sharply, her eyes wide.

This was it.

Soon, it was all going to be over, and there was nothing she could do. What would Harry do? What about Ron? Would they be able to finish Voldemort without her? Would they know that she had left them notes for this very chance, hidden in a book that she had a sudden, horrible feeling that Harry and Ron would never even think to look in? Would they know what she had already uncovered that she hadn't yet been able to tell them because of the wedding?

She never had fallen in love. She had never traveled the world. Her life flashed before her eyes, and she couldn't help but think that this couldn't be it, that her short life couldn't be over before she could do all the things that she had wanted to do when the war was finally over.

Just as the spell left his lips and the green light came speeding towards her, two things happened at once.

She watched as Ron, roaring with anger, sent a killing curse towards the masked man, as Harry screamed her name, looking at her in unbelievable horror.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came. Two arms wrapped roughly around her torso, and suddenly, she was spinning quickly out of the tent, her body twisting and compressed, her lungs dying for air.

Her feet hit wooden floor, and she buckled to her knees, gasping. The silence was suddenly deafening.

The man bent down, still trying to hold onto her, his breath labored.

"It's okay," he said. "It's going to be okay."

Her mind was reeling as she tried to regain some kind of logic or reasoning. She had never come so close to death before.

And then the questions that she so desperately needed answering came to her. Where was she? Were Harry and Ron all right? What about the others? Was everyone alive?

She suddenly felt her stomach clench, and felt the immediate urge to be sick.

"The others-" she said, "We have to go back!"

She tried to get off the floor, her chest constricted with panic, but her legs wouldn't hold. The man, a man she knew to be familiar as she recognized his scent, held on to her steadily.

"Hermione, we can't," he said, although his own voice gave way to worry. "If we could, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute. We'll just have to wait."

And suddenly, the familiar form of a weasel Patronus entered the room, and Mr. Weasley's voice emitted from its mouth.

"Family is safe. Do not reply just yet. We are being watched."

The Patronus then disappeared as quickly as it had come. She looked up, tears blurring her vision, to look at her savior.

"Charlie?" she sobbed.

He threw himself to the floor beside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"They're safe," he said, and she could tell that he was trying to suppress the urge to cry himself in relief. "Everyone's safe."

"We can go back then!"

He loosened his hold on her, and cleared his throat. Her face flushed from the closeness, and although she never had been given the chance to get to know Charlie, she couldn't escape from the fact that he was touching her in a way that he never had before, and she felt the awkwardness of the contact overwhelm her.

They broke apart and he shook his head. "We can't go back, Hermione. Not now."

"Why not?" she cried.

"This was the plan."

He didn't continue, and she clenched her fists together as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Charlie, please," she said. "Tell me what's going on. I need to know what's going on. Why can't we leave? Where are we? Why did you bring me here?"

He sat back, leaning his elbows onto his knees as he sighed. He brushed a hand through his disheveled hair.

"We're at my home in Romania. Before the wedding- well, we had to be prepared, didn't we? We all knew there was a chance." He looked down at his hands. "Anyway, the Order decided that if something were to happen… You see, I offered up my home as a safe house. Ginny, Mum, and Dad are at Bill and Fleur's cottage, I assume. Harry should be with Lupin and Tonks at 12 Grimmauld Place, and Ron- well, he's supposed to be at Aunt Muriel's, but I can't imagine that worked out the way it should have."

Hermione placed a hand on his, and he looked up at her sadly.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"None of us really fancied her much anyway," he said, but she could tell he felt otherwise as his eyes became glossy.

With the back of his sleeve, he wiped away at his face. "I'm just glad the others are safe. My job was to bring you here. They paired everyone with an Order member, you see, to lessen the chances of anyone finding you three."

She gave him a watery smile. "Thank you, Charlie."

"It's nothing, really," he said.

She shook her head. "You saved my life."

He looked at her, his brown eyes never wavering, and nodded.

"Anyway, we'll have to stay here for awhile."

"How long?"

He gave her a crooked smile at the question. "Well, they always say the first three weeks are the hardest."

When she gaped at him, he looked away.

"Just until you're safe," he continued. "There's a spare bedroom here that you'll be staying in until we get word from the Order. I didn't have much time to prepare, I'm sorry- I don't have much. There are some clothes in the dresser for you, if you wish to change. The bathroom is down the hallway there, first door on the right. My bedroom is across the hall from yours, in case you need me."

"Oh!" she said, and then, with a look of embarrassment, she pulled out the tiny beaded bag. He turned his head, his face temporarily flushing red, and cleared his throat.

"I already packed. Harry and Ron- we were supposed to leave after the wedding together."

He nodded, and she patted his hand again.

"Thank you, Charlie."

He cleared his throat, and pulled out his hand from under hers. When he stood up, he reached a hand out to her, helping her off the ground. She didn't let go. Instead, she nearly choked him as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He could feel her hot tears on his neck, and he tightened his hold.

"Will I be able to write a letter to Harry and Ron?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Thank you," she said as she pulled away to look at him. "I think I need to lie down. I'm not feeling so well."

He let go of her, and nodded. "I'll show you to your room. Would you like a cup of tea? It'll help soothe your stomach."

She couldn't help but feel as if he could read her thoughts, and now that the moment had ended, she suddenly felt very awkward. She never really had the chance to be around Charlie at the Burrow, and because he was gone so often, she barely even knew him. She felt embarrassed for crying all over him, and an unwanted thought dawned on her.

How in the world was she going to be able to live with a man she only knew of, but never really knew, for the next three weeks?

Shaking her head of the thought, she said a shy "Yes, thank you," and followed Charlie to the spare bedroom that didn't quite feel like home.

A/N: I wrote this first chapter in a fit of inspiration a month or so ago. Now that I actually have a break in studies in university for a couple of weeks, I'm excited to continue writing it. I've got some new inspiration, and to be honest, I'm actually quite happy that I had to wait so long to continue writing it, as I have new ideas that I think are much better than the previous ones I brewed up.

I really hope you enjoy this story, and are willing to stick with me through it as I begin to write again and try to publish chapters regularly.

Just a quick note: This will be A/U after the first few chapters of DH, and Dumbledore is alive. It will most definitely be a HG/CW romance, and will probably also have some HP/GW on the side. If you have any consideration for other ships in the story, or just want to let me know some of your ideas that you'd like to see play out, let me know! They might just appear in the story!

- Ashley