Although I was albeit a little underwhelmed with the results of the poll, Charlie was the winner and this story has been on my mind for the past few months. Here it is, enjoy! And please review. Also, my marriage law fiction is coming to a close and I will have a new poll up soon concerning a sequel. So check it out!

The Summer of '96

The trainers were a well-worn dark grey with a hole forming in the toe, men's size 12. They sat on the little rug next to the door designated for shoes. The rug was old too, as old as the trainers, they had been bought at the same time.

It seemed like a lifetime ago and for muggles it was, nearly eighty years now. The idea of it was funny, him wearing the same trainers he had eighty years ago. He had been young then, barely thirty. They had just been married and were living in a little cottage in the countryside.

It would be a few years and several kids before they moved into the house he was in now. They had loved that little cottage, the first place they ever really could call home.

Staring now at the roaring fire before him, a glass of brandy in his hand, he longed for that little cottage. His son told him it had been torn down years before, that nothing was left of it. He was wrong of course, the memories were still there. His son had been born there, so had his daughter. The others came later, once they were settled in the big house in Godric's Hollow.

The house was buzzing with noise now. Men and women dressed in black and looking decidedly forlorn mulled about whispering of how sad it was and how sorry they felt for him. His grandchildren ran underfoot; still too young to understand why everyone was so sad.

It had taken him nearly an hour to escape to the library, but he was here now, watching the fire in peace. He drained his glass and reached for the bottle. He had mostly given up drinking when he had married her. Now he didn't see the point.

"Grandpa?" A voice asked from the door. Its owner was a little boy, dressed in a black suit with a clip-on tie, his hair was bright red like his fathers and his grandfathers until it had turned grey, and he had big brown eyes.

He put down the bottle and reached out his arms for the little boy to jump up into his lap, "Hey there buddy." He smiled at the little boy, barely four and already very inquisitive, he reminded him of his grandmother.

"Why isn't grandmum here?"

He sighed, the question was inevitable. "Grandmum's gone now Benny, but I think she misses you quite a lot."

The little boy looked close to tears, "Is she ever coming back?"

"No, I don't think so. Say Benny, do you want to hear a story?"

The little boy nodded eagerly, "Yes grandpa! Tell me about how you met Grandmum."

"Well ok, but where should I start?"

The little boy shrugged, turning his palms up towards the sky as if to say how should I know, "At the beginning I guess."

"Ah yes, well it was the summer of 1996 –"

"That was a long time ago grandpa!"

"Benny, do you want to hear the story?"

"Yes."

"Then stop talking."

He hadn't planned to visit Britain that summer. They had just gotten a new dragon on the reserve, a Chinese Fireball, and he was meant to be the head trainer. It was a benevolent creature and he had taken quite a liking to it when they decided to transport it to the reserve in Scotland. He was a bit sour on the whole thing and had decided to take the summer off and return home for some much needed rest.

He felt the comfort of home the minute his foot touched the other side of the fence surrounding the Burrow. There was no real path to the front door, just worn down earth long devoid of grass. A few gnomes were stalking back towards the garden, stopping momentarily to give him a defiant glare.

The twins accosted him at the door, their usual secretive smirks replaced with genuine grins. It had been two years since they had seen their brother and they were positively delighted.

"Charlie my boy, whatta' surprise!" One of them greeted with a hearty slap on the shoulder.

He tried to decipher who was who, they had grown since he had seen them last, they were at eye level now and had filled out considerably. Their personalities were much the same and from what he remembered, Fred was the ringleader.

"Fred," he nodded at his greeter then to the other brother, "George. How've ya' been?"

The two looked flabbergasted that he had been able to tell them apart, there was only one other person that could do that.

"Fred, George, your mum says – oh, hello." Her voice was filled with surprise as she eyed him, whatever she had come to tell the twins forgotten.

"Hello Hermione, remember me?" His voice was good-natured, they had only been introduced once before but he remembered her. She had certainly changed since then.

The twins watched on amused, "Yes Hermione?" They asked in synch, pulling the two out of their staring contest.

"Your mum says lunch is ready." She said at last, turning quickly and disappearing back into the house.

Free of her presence the twins turned back on him. "So Charlie, to what do we owe the pleasure?" It was George this time, he was sure of it.

"Reckoned I needed a break." He said with a shrug. "Did she just mention lunch?"

"Mum's gonna go ballistic you know." Fred told him, George nodding in agreement at his side.

They were right too. No sooner had he crossed the threshold to the kitchen, his mother was squeezing him to her tightly. She always nagged him to come for a visit and he always came up with some excuse.

Once he was seated, the biggest plate of food in front of him, they bombarded him with questions. How long are you staying? Why are you here? Is everything all right? Would you cut your hair already? His mother's biggest concern.

She didn't say a word the entire time, but he could feel her eyes on him. He looked in her direction, smiling but she blushed deeply and acted as if she hadn't been looking.

"So you're staying for the whole summer then?" Ginny asked in wonder, she had been young when Charlie had left and her memories of him were faded and few.

He quickly assessed his sister, she was an attractive teenager. Her hair was more auburn then red and had a lithe body and expressive face. He also noted her inclination to Harry; she sat close to his elbow, sneaking glances at him when the others weren't looking.

He nodded in response, "Yep."

He wasn't sure how to treat his youngest siblings. Ron was watching him with what could only be defined as pride, as if he finally had something to be proud of in front of his friends. Ron had followed him around a lot as a kid, the twins used him as a test subject and Percy had little time for any of them, so Ron looked up to him. Ginny was like a distant relative, a cousin maybe, someone you didn't see much and only had polite conversations with. The twins he could deal with, hell, even Percy was familiar, but not the two youngest. He wished Bill were there.

"O.W.L. results came yesterday." His mother informed him, smiling with pride, "Ron got seven. Those lot," she nodded in the twin's direction, "three a piece."

The two smiled with pride, "Yeah mum, but whose rolling in cash now?"

This piqued Charlie's interest, Bill had mentioned something about a joke shop in his last letter, but nothing that was more than in passing. "Rich are you?"

The twins nodded eagerly and Fred replied, "Business is booming. The prophet wrote an article on us the week before, most successful business in Diagon Alley."

"Who needs some stupid test scores when you have fame?" George said, stars in his eyes as he thought of their shop.

Charlie tended to agree with them. He had received nine himself, not as many as Percy or Bill, but he had received outstanding in all the ones he had passed, no easy feat.

The rest of lunch passed in easy conversation. Even Harry, who had been decidedly somber when he had arrived, seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Once lunch was finished, they were all shooed outside to give their mother some peace.

"Wanna play quidditch Charlie?" Ron asked once outside. He had just joined the Gryffindor team he informed his elder brother and wouldn't mind some pointers.

After much deliberation, it was decided the twins and Ginny would be up against Harry, Ron and Charlie. Ginny fetched the brooms from the broom shed and they headed towards the orchard.

Noticing Hermione walking a few steps behind the rest, Charlie fell back to join her. "Not going to play?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No. I'm not very good at flying; I prefer to keep both feet on the ground if at all possible."

He laughed at the conviction in her words, he had met a few witches afraid of flying in his years at Hogwarts, and none of them seemed so sure of their inability.

"So you don't even want to give it a try then?"

More vehement head shaking combined with a resolute, "No."

She was a tough one to break apparently. She picked up the speed, passing him to catch up to the others, falling in step between Harry and Ron. The dynamic of the three was obvious, Hermione and Harry did most of the talking and Ron hung off their every word, especially Hermione's.

He was happy to be up in the air, it had been a while since he had played quidditch and it gave him something in common with the others. The game was rowdy, the twins were infamous cheats and Ginny was no better. When he called them on it, they reasoned him and Harry were the best seekers Hogwarts had ever seen, so their cheating shouldn't matter much and then promptly sent a quaffle at Ron's head.

Hermione seemed oblivious to the going on's above her, setting her back against one of the trees, submerged in a book. He noticed Ron watching her too, flying closer to the ground then the rest. He shook his head, puppy love at its finest.

His earlier prayers were answered when midway through their game another redhead stepped into the clearing in the orchard. Bill was the tallest of the brood, thin but muscular with hair even longer than Charlie's was and dressed all in black.

The six descended quickly, Ginny reaching him first and throwing herself into his arms, the rest followed suit, obviously elated to see their eldest brother. It nagged at Charlie a bit, their obvious preference, he knew Bill came around a bit more than he did of course, but he was surprised at how much the blatant favoritism bothered him.

Even Hermione was all smiles for the older boy, quitting her reading to accept his praise on receiving an outstanding in ancient runes. Charlie was the last to greet him, hugging his closest brother tightly.

"It's been a while Char," Bill commented, they had last seen each other several months before when Bill had brought his fiancée, Fleur, to Romania. The others were none the wiser to his recent engagement and Charlie had been his only confidante.

Turning to the others Bill spoke with a hint of pride in his voice, "I have a surprise for you lot. She's waiting inside."

"She?" The twins said in unison, wonder in their eyes.

Bill was a bit of a playboy and thus the twin's idol. He had never so much as mentioned girls in his mum's presence before and now he had a girlfriend at the Burrow, alone under their mother's scrutiny. This had to be a big deal.

The walk back to the Burrow seemed to be quicker than earlier, and they chatted amiably the whole way, none the wiser to Bill's surprise. Ginny saw her first.

"Phlegm."

The look of disgust on Hermione and Ginny's face combined with the boys lovelorn expressions promised to make the rest of the night very interesting.

He drank by the fire with Bill and his father that night, long after the others had gone to bed. They discussed the Order and Sirius's death, skirting topics of the future. The firewhiskey was making his head hazy and a certain witch kept popping into his thoughts.

Bill noticed his far away expression, but wisely waited until their father decided to retire to ask him about it. "Thinking about something important Charlie?"

He drained his glass, setting it down on the table, "Not really. They don't like me much."

Bill laughed, "Being a bit sensitive aren't we? They love you, the twins idolize you. If Perce was here he would actually talk to you and that's more than the rest of us can say."

"Not Ginny and Ron."

Bill's smile faltered a bit, "They were kids when you left Charlie, only two weeks after your last term ended. Ron was eleven, Ginny wasn't even ten yet. They love you Charlie, they just don't really know you."

"Harry and Hermione are here a lot aren't they?"

"Quite a bit, they're good friends to Ron and neither of them really have anywhere else."

Charlie turned to face his brother, curious as to where his statement had come from, "Hermione's got a good home doesn't she? Both parents and whatnot."

"Oh of course, but I suppose it's hard, them being muggles and not knowing what goes on here. Why so interested?" Bill was suspicious.

His brother was a good person, friendly to everyone, but he hardly ever took interest in other people. He much preferred dragons.

Charlie shrugged, refilling his glass, "I'm trying to get to know my brother and sister a bit better, she's friends with both of them right?"

"Yes, friends, at least until Ron grows up a bit. The twins say he's love struck and I can't help but agree." Bill mused, chuckling at his younger brother's lack of prowess in the dating department.

"She's beautiful, can't blame him."

Bill arched an eyebrow in his direction, his voice warning, "And she's sixteen Charlie, don't go getting any ideas. She's a kid and she's our brothers anyway."

"I'm not getting any ideas; I know how young she is. But I wouldn't be too sure she's Ron's." He commented, avoiding his brother's gaze.

The idea of him being interested in her was ridiculous, he was merely commenting on his brother's good taste in women. He didn't like the look Bill was giving him.

"I'm off to bed, goodnight." Bill stood, using a spell to whisk his glass into the sink and patting his brother on the shoulder affectionately before disappearing up the stairs, each step squeaking under his weight.

He was tired but didn't feel like making the climb up to Percy's room, his mother had set him up in there so he could have a bit of privacy. The fire was warm at his feet and the alcohol left his throat and belly warm and fuzzy.

He would have fallen asleep right there in his chair if it hadn't been for an intruder, one of the younger kids coming downstairs for a midnight snack.

She didn't notice his presence at first, sneaking into the pantry to retrieve a chocolate biscuit and a glass of milk. She nearly dropped her bounty in shock when she saw him.

He laughed at her reaction, "Easy there Hermione, only me. Got a bit hungry I see." He eyed her snack playfully, enjoying the red tint of her cheeks.

"Oh, um, yes, Fleur was talking to Ginny about something and I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat much at dinner, so…" She trailed off, noticing she was still standing awkwardly in front of him and quickly sitting down.

The chairs around the table were mismatched and in various states of shabby. She had picked the newest, his father had bought it when the twins were born, and sat down next to him, "Want half?" She gestured to the biscuit, breaking it in half and placing it in his accepting hands.

They ate in relative silence, both staring into the fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he assessed her once again. She was wearing purple cotton pajama shorts and a loose white t-shirt. He had remembered her hair as being bushy and it still was, but it had relaxed a bit and framed her face nicely. She wasn't particularly curvaceous as most of the woman he went for were, like Ginny, she was thin but strong.

"Am I up to muster?" She asked at last, smiling slightly when it was his turn to blush. He had not realized his inspection was noticed.

He nodded, "You pass with an outstanding." His voice was teasing and he swelled with pride when she returned it with a smile, a real one too not the half one from earlier.

"How did you do on your tests then?" He knew she was smart, he had heard her name and smartest witch of our age in the same sentence more than once.

She shrugged, "Ok I guess. I only got ten; I got outstanding in ancient runes, arithmancy, and astronomy, care of magical creatures, charms, herbology, and history of magic, potions and transfiguration." Try as she might she couldn't keep the pride out of her voice.

"And the other?" He asked.

She bit her lip, looking down, "I got an exceed expectations in defense against the dark arts."

"Well that's wonderful! I've heard correctly, you are brilliant." His praise was genuine, she seemed remarkable to him, on par with Bill and that was saying something.

She blushed, her head dipping further, "I wouldn't say brilliant. I only got an exceed expectations in defense."

"Smarter than that knucklehead brother of mine."

Her head shot up, "Ron's very smart."

He noted her defiant look; she was adamantly standing up for his younger brother. This was what Charlie did, he studied people, he read them. Dumbledore had once told him if he lived in the muggle world, he would've been a psychologist, whatever that was.

"You really like him huh?"

"He's a good friend, so is Harry. The best." She said it in an off-handed manner, downplaying her outburst.

Charlie nodded, finishing his biscuit, the clock struck three and suddenly he remembered how tired he was.

"It's late, walk you upstairs yeah?" He stood waiting for her to join.

"Well, ok."

The creaky steps only intensified the silence that echoed between the two. Ginny's room was on the first floor and the two stopped before the door.

"Goodnight Charlie, thanks for walking up with me." Hermione said, turning to enter the room.

He stopped her with one hand wrapped around her forearm, "Night Hermione." His voice was barely a whisper as he looked down into her eyes, deep brown meeting twinkling blue. She shivered.

"See you in the morning." Her voice was equally quiet as she stumbled back into the room.

He took the steps two at a time up to Percy's room, directly above Ginny's room. As he passed the twins room he faintly heard whispering, those two were up to something for sure, but he ignored it, entering Percy's room and throwing himself on the bed in exhaustion, not bothering to change or close the door. It had been a long day; he had forgotten how busy the Burrow was. He wasn't even this tired after a day with an irritable dragon.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Harry's birthday was in a couple of weeks and his mother was secretly planning a surprise party for him. The twins had left the morning after his arrival, returning to the flat above the shop and he hadn't seen much of them since. Same went for Bill, who had gone back to his new flat in muggle London, Fleur with him.

That left the younger four to amuse Charlie. A week into his vacation was all he needed to remind him why he never took vacations. He was bored, painfully so. They'd exhausted quidditch and were loathe to come up with new ideas for fun.

Fortunately, he, along with his parents, was somewhat frequently summoned to Grimmuald Place for Order meetings and various other things. When he returned the others would attack him, flinging question after question his way, they knew he was the only one who might slip up and tell them something.

So far, his will had been strong, but being left alone to babysit them on a rainy Saturday morning was not doing well on his resolve. His mum was at Grimmuald Place for the day and his father had work, so the five of them were left alone to amuse themselves.

They had scattered around the living room, laying lazily on the comfy couches and chairs. Hermione was sitting on the cushioned window seat, a book in her lap and her hair pulled away from her face. Ginny lay nearby on the couch, flipping through a magazine and Harry and Ron were playing wizard's chess.

Throwing aside her magazine, Ginny scooted up to a sitting position with a huff, "We need to find something to do."

The others, save Hermione, nodded in agreement. Realizing none of them was going to come up with good ideas, they turned on Hermione. She ignored them, continuing to read as if nothing was occurring.

"Her-my-kneeeee!" Ron called, waving his hands in front of her face to no avail, "Is there anyone in there?" He went to knock on her head, but her hand shot up, gripping his wrist tightly in her small palms.

"Don't you dare." She hissed, releasing his arm and giving him a slight shove for good measure. Setting her book down she stood, smoothing out her denim shorts, "Well what do you want to do then?"

They all shrugged.

"Think of a muggle game Hermione." Ginny suggested.

"Harry grew up in a muggle house, with another kid at that, I'm sure he must have a better idea than I do."

Harry laughed mirthlessly at this, "Yeah me and Dudley were great playmates. His favorite game was holding my head under the bath water. A barrel of fun that one."

"Dudley and I."

Harry rolled his eye good-naturedly at her correction, "Come on, nothing? I thought I knew you a little better than that."

She sighed, "Well, there was a game we used to play in grammar school, but I suppose Charlie might feel a bit too old for it." She was struggling to get out of telling them.

"Nope, I'm game for anything." He replied, a smug grin on his face as he watched her twist uncomfortably.

He had been watching her closely this past week, the way she interacted with everyone. As prideful as she was he noticed she didn't like speaking about muggle things or her accomplishments. He found her modesty endearing.

"Well it's like hide-and-seek, but we hide in pairs because of course we were too young to hide by ourselves. So the pairs hide then one person has to seek them, the only way to win is either to be the last one found or make it to base first." She looked around at the others, "We don't have to hide in pairs though."

"I think pairs is the best idea actually." Ginny said, her eyes trained on Harry, "Harry wanna be my partner?"

He nodded eagerly in her direction and the two exchanged a smile.

"Whatta' 'bout me traitor!"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Oh please Ron, you be it first. Charlie, you and Hermione can be the other pair. Now anybody have ideas for rule?"

Ginny was the leader, despite her age, Charlie had surmised that much. She was outgoing like the twins and authoritative like Bill and Percy; quite the mix.

"No wands, your mum's room is off limits and I think that covers it."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Harry's ideas and the pairs began to set off.

"Wait, where's base?" Ron asked, bewildered as to where he was supposed to go and more than a little annoyed that Charlie instead of him was hiding with Hermione.

Charlie looked around, peering into the kitchen as well, "The kitchen table. Can we go now Ron?"

The younger boy nodded and the four were racing off, Hermione yelling ten minutes down the stairs in reminder to Ron.

Harry and Ginny disappeared up the stairs, heading towards the top floor and leaving Hermione and Charlie alone in front of Ginny's door – again. Hermione did a quick sweep of the floor, her eyes searching for potential hiding places then looked at Charlie defeated, "Well…"

"What?"

"You live here."

"Used to live here, you spend more time here then I do." He reasoned.

With a huff she turned, heading up the twisting stairs, "Fine, then follow me o helpless one."

He shook his head laughing at her wit, following her up to the second floor. Things didn't look much better on that floor either, his door was flung open but provided little hiding space and the twins door loomed at the end of the hallway, closed tightly from prying eyes. Come to think of it, Charlie couldn't remember anyone, save the twins, stepping foot in there since their fifth birthday when a stream of fireworks had nearly given their mum a heart attack when she was putting away their laundry.

They turned at the same time, staring at one another. Hermione gulped, "Do you think we should?"

"Up to you."

"I don't know."

"Just go for it."

Hermione nodded in agreement, but didn't move.

"Ladies first."

"Prat."

He grinned at her back, walking closely behind them, ten minutes was close to being up. Her hand shook on the door handle and she nearly pulled away but instead straightened up and tentatively opened the door.

Charlie pushed her in lightly and followed, closing the door quietly behind them. The room looked, normal. Two beds sat a few feet apart, neatly made and two matching dressers adorned the opposing wall. A few knickknacks lay around the room, but nothing that looked particularly dangerous.

"Don't touch anything." Hermione warned, she had spent the past five years around the twins, she knew that even the most innocent of things could be a trick.

"Closet maybe?" Charlie suggested, nodding towards the wooden doors hiding the twin's closet from view.

Hermione agreed, opening the door slowly. What they saw shocked them.

The closet had been magically expanded to a size double their bedroom. There were laboratory desks and stools scattered around the area with all sorts of creations and bubbling potions on top. Things flew around the room and hung from the ceiling, everything in bright colors, magenta and purple sticking out particularly.

"Wow."

Charlie was at a loss for words. Having witnessed some of the twins accidental magic when they were young, he had always been under the impression that the two were child prodigies at the least, geniuses at the best, but this was something else altogether.

Hermione had begun wandering the room, being careful to take her own advice from earlier and not touching anything. After making a few laps around the room, she sank down onto the bright orange couch at the corner of the room.

Making sure the door was closed behind them Charlie joined her. He noticed her edge a bit away from him on the couch, worrying her lip between her teeth as if she was unsure of what to do next. Her inexperience with boys was obvious.

Not that he was interested in her in that way, he reasoned, she was practically family and his brother's object of affection as Bill had pointed out. No reason for him to look at her as anything but that.

"Charlie, why are you really here? I know I shouldn't ask, but Ron says you love your work, I can't imagine you leaving it." The words tumbled out of her mouth quickly as if she worried that she would lose the nerve to say it if she didn't go about it quickly.

He had been expecting this question for a while, everyone had accepted that he just wanted a vacation too easily. He hadn't expected it to come from her however.

"There was this dragon, a Chinese Fireball, Mindy, they brought her to the reserve two months ago. They assigned me head trainer and I was really glad for it. She's a docile sort, very good with humans and willing to be trained…" He trailed off their, frowning at the memory of the gentle dragon that had once been in his care.

She sensed a but was coming up and urged him on.

"Then a few weeks ago they decided she would do better in Scotland, something about the weather, so they up and took her from me. I stayed on for a bit after that, but I was annoyed with everyone and I decided maybe I could use a vacation." He finished lamely, not daring to see her reaction to the story. She probably thought it was silly, getting that hung up over a dragon that he had taken care of for a month.

"Oh, I'm sorry Charlie. That must have been terrible for you." Her words were sincere and when he meant her eyes he saw compassion and sadness for him.

He felt himself leaning towards her, eyes becoming heavy and he knew he should stop but he couldn't help himself. The first touch of their lips was sensitive, so light it almost wasn't there, but it was. He pressed his lips firmly against hers, one hand falling lazily to her knee and the other slung around the couch. She was hesitant and he realized that she must not have been kissed often. She scooted closer and he nearly groaned, but gained some control of himself, pulling away, his breath heavy.

"Charlie, I –" Her face was flushed and she looked embarrassed.

"Hermione, don't." He looked down at his watch, "Times up, c'mon."

He practically jumped from the couch, turning at the closet door, "Hermione come on, I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have, but it won't happen again. Hurry up though, Fred and George will never forgive us if the others find this."

She looked crushed and he wanted to comfort her, but it was all so wrong. She was sixteen, he was going on twenty-four. She's going on seventeen, that's legal, he mentally kicked himself for the thought. That didn't make it right.

"Coming?"

She stood at last, following him out of the room, a few steps behind. The others were waiting in the kitchen, clearly bored and anxious for their return.

"There you, what took you so long?" Ron piped up at their presence, eyeing the two warily.

Hermione shrugged, "I was reading. Forgot about the game."

"Figures."

"So what's next guys?"

The four turned on Charlie, amusement on their face.

"Wanna play more kid games huh Charlie? Well mum just owled, she's on her way home and expects the house to be spotless. So," Ginny threw his wand to him, "get to work oh dearest brother of mine."

She didn't say a word to him, didn't even look in his direction for two whole days before he decided to wait out the rest of his stay at Bill's. His brother was happy to have him of course, Fleur was back in France visiting family and Bill wasn't used to be sedentary, he was always on the move before he took the desk job in London.

He had secretly rejoiced to see how sad Ginny and Ron were to see him go. The others were too, but that was more expected. He still had most meals at the Burrow and visited occasionally but he found keeping his distance was for the best.

The summer passed quickly, Harry had a quaint birthday party and they had all gone to Diagon Alley for book shopping, Charlie had spent most of his time at the twins shop. It had been agreed that he would escort them to the Hogwarts Express on September 1, along with his parents, and then take a portkey to Romania directly from there.

He arrived at the Burrow with the first light but wasn't surprised to find the others already awake and eating. Dressed in their school uniforms, robes thrown across the back of their chairs the four ate in relative silence. Hermione and Harry were conversing quietly, from the looks of it she was annoyed with something and so was he, and Ron was, in true Ron form, wolfing down his food and Ginny appeared to have fallen asleep in her porridge.

His mum greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, and a comment about how lovely his hair looked, he had cut it the week before. She asked after Bill, who was supposed to be coming to see them off as well and looked slightly miffed when he told her that Bill and Fleur would meet them at the station.

He sat down across from Hermione, hoping it would force her to meet his gaze, acknowledge his presence, no such luck. All it served to do was end the heated back and forth between her and Harry.

"Glad to be going back?" He asked.

Only Harry responded with a short nod, they were obviously not morning people.

"Well, time to be off." Mr. Weasley announced, hurriedly entering the room in what he thought to be appropriate muggle clothing, checkered golf pants and a bright pink colored shirt.

Charlie held back his laughter at the ensemble. He preferred muggle clothes to wizarding robes and thus realized how ridiculous his father looked. So did his mother who looked as if she wanted to make him go change but knew there was no time.

"All right you, the ministry sent cars for all of us this year, so hurry up out there, and don't forget your trunks." She ushered them out grumbling and groaning into the cold morning air.

Hermione was last, dragging her trunk behind her, a grimace on her face. Charlie caught up easily, replacing her hand with his own and lifting the trunk with ease.

"I can do that myself." She said, defiant.

"I know, just thought I could be of help." They walked in silence, still yards behind the others, "I might owl you this year." He said at last.

She thought on this for a moment, deciding begrudgingly as they reached the car, "I might respond."