One Thousand Miles
Summary: CW/HG, GW/HP, LB/RW
Twenty two year old Charlie Weasley is home for the summer, but a lot's changed since he's been in Romania. For one thing he can't get his little brother's best friend off his mind.
Hermione is staying at the burrow for the summer before her final year at Hogwarts, but a familiar face isn't making it easy for her. She knows that dating a guy five years her senior isn't the best idea, but you can't help who you fall in love with, can you?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize!
One Thousand Miles
Chapter One: Home For The Summer
"Hello? Anyone home?"
Charlie Weasley slung his shoulder bag onto the kitchen floor as he let himself into the burrow. He looked around him, smiling slightly. Nothing had changed in the past three years, he observed happily. The large scrubbed wooden table still sat in the middle of the large, sunny kitchen and the walls still hung with a variety of pots and pans. A Frying pan was washing itself in the sink and a tea towel was flapping half heartedly at a stack of wet dishes.
"Er… hi."
Charlie spun round as a voice greeted him from the doorway that led to the hallway. A girl with long brown hair and dark, curious eyes stood in front of him, leaning against the doorframe. Charlie smiled tentatively at her, trying desperately to place her face.
"It's Hermione," said the girl, grinning at him as his eyes instantly flooded with recognition.
"Oh! Hi there! Sorry, I didn't recognize you – you've… changed... since I was last here," he stumbled over his words, still slightly stunned from the girl's smile. He hadn't remembered Hermione being quite so pretty.
"I'm afraid no one else is home at the moment – your dad's at work, as are the twins and Percy. Bill's in France with Fleur and your mum's taken Ron, Harry and Ginny shopping with her."
"Did you not want to go with them?" Charlie asked, and then realised he must sound rude.
"I mean you, Harry and Ron used to be inseparable," he grinned. Hermione held out a scrap of parchment.
"I decided to use the quiet to write a couple of letters. You know before I get roped into a game of quidditch or something."
Charlie gave her a wry smile. He knew only too well how hard peace and quiet was to find at the burrow.
He took a seat at the kitchen table and watched as Hermione flicked the switch on the kettle.
"Tea?"
"Yeah, thanks."
A moment of silence fell over them, as Hermione busied herself with making the tea and Charlie watched her, still wondering when his little brother's best friend had grown up so much.
"So are you home for good or just the holidays?" Hermione asked as she sat down opposite him, handing him his tea. Charlie took a gulp of tea and leant back in his chair.
"I've got six weeks off work – I got a couple of nasty burns when a Ridgeback escaped and decided a break would be good for me. It's exhausting work and when I'm tired I can't concentrate on the job, which is dangerous," he explained, pulling up his sleeve to show her one of his burns. A long strip of his skin was a shiny muddy red colour and looked extremely sore.
"Does it hurt?" Hermione asked, looking concerned. Charlie shook his head.
"Nah, not really. I just need to chill out a bit before I go back. The season's quiet at the moment anyway."
"So, you must be in your final year at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah. I still can't believe I've got to decide on a career at the end of the year!" she replied, looking slightly stressed.
"You should come and work with the dragons," Charlie grinned and she laughed.
"I like living too much, sorry."
"Charlie! You're home! Why didn't you tell me you were coming back? Let me look at you – have you been eating enough?"
Hermione stood up and went to wash the cups as molly Weasley threw her arms round her second eldest son then held him at an arms length, scrutinizing him. Her eyes landed on the burn that was still visible and she glowered at him.
"Charles Weasley – I do hope your being careful round those dangerous beasts!"
Charlie winced at her shrill voice, but nodded.
"Yes I'm fine -there was just an incident at the camp and I got a couple of minor burns. I'm home on accident leave for six weeks though."
"Hey Charlie! How's it going mate!" Ron clattered into the kitchen just then, laden with shopping bags and swiftly followed by Harry and Ginny.
"Hey Ron, Harry, gin – How is everyone. God I missed you guys!"
He pulled his sister into a hug and shook Ron and Harry's hands warmly.
"So tell me what you've all been up to," Charlie said as molly fussed around finding a cake and making more tea for everyone.
Hermione slid back into her seat next to Ginny, who was glancing at Harry with a strange expression on her face.
"Did you get to speak to Harry at all whilst you were out?" Hermione asked the younger girl, quietly. Ginny shook her head.
"No. We bumped into the Patil's and lavender and the guys spent the whole time talking to them. Do you think Harry's got a thing for Parvati again?"
Hermione thought back to the disastrous Yule ball and shook her head.
"I really doubt it gin. Look, just talk to him about it. You two have been playing this game for years now…"
Ginny nodded miserably, and then forced a smile back on her face as she rejoined the conversation.
"So any girls on the scene Charlie?" she asked and Ron snorted.
"We all know Charlie can't keep a girlfriend – he's rubbish at it!"
Charlie looked somewhat affronted and slung a scone at his brother, which bounced off his forehead and onto his plate.
"Cheers mate!" he grinned and the table erupted into laughter.
"Don't throw food Ronald!" molly's voice was stern and Ron scowled at Charlie.
"No one special," Charlie answered Ginny's question with a smile.
"What about that Amie girl you were seeing last time we went to visit you?" Ron asked.
"The one mum didn't like," Ginny added and molly gave her a dark look.
"I did like her… she was just very… self involved," Molly said firmly, glaring at her youngest children.
Charlie suppressed a laugh.
"I still see her from time to time but not as anything more then friends," he confirmed. Ron looked disappointed. Hermione figured this Amie girl must have been rather pretty.
"So still playing quidditch Harry?"
"Yep – I'm captain this year, its going to be amazing! House cup and quidditch cup this year, hey Mione?"
"Definitely," she smiled.
"Hey Mione are you coming to play quidditch in a bit? We've finally got her flying! She's not half bad," Ron informed Charlie. He caught Hermione eye and they both suppressed a laugh, but Charlie's eyes shone with amusement as they shared their private joke.
"Sure guys – I'll be out in a bit," she replied and Ron, Harry and Ginny all charged out of the kitchen.
"You want to play?" She asked Charlie as molly disappeared into the utility room with a pile of laundry.
"I should unpack really," he sighed, nodding towards his shoulder bag and Hermione bit back a disappointed smile.
"Although if you help, it'll be done quicker and I could play…" he wheedled and she laughed.
"Fine – it's a deal!"
Charlie heaved his pack up the stairs and Hermione followed him, wondering what it was about Charlie that made people want to be around him.
Hermione sat on Charlie's bed as she watched him tip piles of clean clothes into his chest of drawers and sling the dirty ones into a pile on the floor.
"Don't you believe in folding?" she laughed.
"What are you eighteen or thirty five?!" Charlie threw back at her, poking his tongue out at her.
"I'm seventeen actually," Hermione answered, with a blush.
"Really? You seem older…" Charlie was surprised and also disappointed that she was that much younger then him. He also supposed keeping up to date on how old his siblings were wouldn't do him any harm either!
"Here, stick those on the bedside table would you," he chucked her a pile of objects, including his wand and several photo frames.
The first frame was one of him and the rest of the Weasley's on holiday in Egypt, the second was Charlie sitting on a fence in front of an enclosure full of dragons, waving and beaming at the camera, and the third was Charlie with two people she didn't recognize. A guy with longish brown hair and a girl with a mane of honey coloured curls.
"Who are they?" she asked, showing the fame to Charlie. He glanced at it and then returned to throwing his socks into a drawer.
"That's Petey, my best friend and his sister Amie…"
Hermione stared back down at the photo and felt a surge of envy in her stomach. So this was the girl Charlie had been dating. She was very pretty, Ron was right. She placed the frame on the table beside the others then picked up the final object. It was a necklace with a dragon's tooth hanging from it. Charlie was already wearing several of these round his neck and on his wrist and she fingered it curiously.
"It's from a Czech Red Crest – their extremely rare as their hunted for their red scales. You can have it if you want," Charlie called from the other side of the room. Hermione ran her finger over the smooth tooth as he turned and walked over to her.
"Here…" he said, taking the necklace and un-knotting it. He lifted her hair and slid the pendant round her neck, tying it at the back and letting her hair fall back over her shoulders.
Hermione was suddenly very aware of Charlie sitting behind her on the bed and she could smell his aftershave. He smelled like a mixture of fresh air and honey, an oddly delicious blend.
"So, quidditch?" Charlie broke the tension and she jumped up.
"Defiantly, c'mon," she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs and out inot the garden.
Dinner was a noisy affair that night. The twins returned from Diagon alley where they were setting up their second joke store and instantly began questioning their older brother about whether or not he'd be willing to be a guinea pig for their new lines – they'd pay him of course. Charlie declined telling them that he only had six weeks off, not six years and he'd like to go back to work in one piece. The twins turned their attentions to Percy as he and Mr. Weasley arrived home shortly after them.
Molly had put together some picnic tables outside under a canopy and they all crowded round trying to squeeze onto a bench. Hermione found herself squashed between Percy and Charlie, opposite Harry and Ron. Ginny was between the twins and didn't look happy about it. She kept swatting their hands away as they tried to sneak things into her drink.
"Do you need saving?"
Hermione glanced over at Charlie as Percy continued to talk about his new idea for a research paper on corrupted potions scales. She had been nodding for the past half hour whilst trying to keep her eyes open. She laughed at Charlie's words.
"Nah – I'd save yourself whilst you can. It's only a matter of time before he asks your opinion too," she muttered back and Charlie grinned.
"Hermione – did you want that book on the habitat of the Romanian wood knome I told you about? Shall we get it before it gets dark?"
Charlie stood up and Hermione stared at him, and then nodded.
"That would be a good idea, I think," she agreed and excused herself from the table. Ron shook his head at her in disbelief that she could still be thinking about reading when there was food going.
"Yeah... Let's highlight my bookworm tendencies even more, hey Charlie," Hermione pouted as they headed towards the house.
"Your not a bookworm," Charlie interjected, "people just don't appreciate intelligence that's all"
Hermione blushed at his words and followed him into the safety of the kitchen in silence.
"Here, grab the hot chocolate and biscuits."
Hermione held onto the flask and packet of chocolate coated snacks tightly as Charlie threw her a broom.
They flew the ten foot or so to the tree house and crawled inside.
"This is amazing! I can't believe I haven't noticed it before!" Hermione cried as she crossed her legs on the floor of the large tree house in the top branches of a willow tree, in the Weasley's field.
"It's my secret – I used to pretend I was Tarzan," Charlie replied, with a straight face.
"Yes I can just see you swinging from tree to tree!" she laughed, "Anyway if your Tarzan, that makes me Jane," she giggled and Charlie grinned.
"Biscuit? Jane?"
"Hermione! Mione! Get up!"
Hermione groaned and rolled over, opening her eyes as Ginny's voice awoke her.
"What?" she asked groggily as Ginny swam hazily into view.
"I need you to come with me to the Patterson's field. The guys are playing a big game of quidditch with Ben and Michael and I said I'd go watch. C'mon – I need you to entertain Ron whilst I talk to Harry," she pleaded.
"They've gone to play quidditch?" Hermione sat bolt upright in her bed.
"They were meant to come to Diagon Alley with me today to help me buy my first broom – I'll kill them!" she darted out of bed, through the shower and then began to dress. She yanked on her jeans with a white halter neck top, pulling her hair up into a loose knot as she dashed down the stairs.
Ginny followed her, rolling her eyes.
"Hermione, they've already started the match. You've no chance of persuading them to go. Now will you help me?"
"Go where?"
Charlie sauntered into the kitchen in a pair of jeans that had seen better days, pulling his checked shirt on as he poured himself a mug of coffee.
"Charlie! Do your shirt up – no one wants to see that!" Ginny cried, and then accepting that Hermione wasn't gong to help her, stalked out of the kitchen. Hermione tried not to look at Charlie's muscular chest as he buttoned up his shirt lopsidedly and ran a hand through his hair, which was paler then the rest of the Weasley's, having been bleached by the sun.
"So, go where?" he repeated and Hermione sighed.
"Ron and Harry were meant to help me pick out my first broom today but they've stood me up in order to play quidditch. I hate it when they do this!" she said frustrated.
"I'll come, if you want," Charlie offered. Hermione threw him a grateful smile.
"Oh, you don't have to, but thanks anyway."
"No, I'd like to," Charlie held her gaze, "plus I know a thing or two about brooms"
Hermione remembered that Charlie had been quidditch captain and keeper in his school days and was still a pretty fantastic flyer.
"Okay then. Thanks."
"I can't believe you made me get one that's so fast!" Hermione exclaimed for the third time as she eyed the bag containing her broom that Charlie was holding.
"Hermione, its top speed is fifty miles and hour! You'd barely stub your toe if you fell off it!" he laughed and Hermione swatted his shoulder.
"Shall we get an ice-cream before we head back?" he asked, pulling her into Florean Fortescue's Ice- Cream parlour and grabbing a table.
"I'll have a cherry and walnut sundae please," Hermione told the waitress and Charlie pulled a face.
"Triple chocolate dream for me," and Hermione laughed.
"You're a chocolate freak I see."
"It's the only way to live," he replied with a gin.
Their ice – creams arrived quickly and they tucked in.
"You've got it everywhere!" Hermione giggled and reached across to wipe the chocolate sauce off Charlie's cheek with her thumb. Charlie placed his own hand over hers against his cheek then parted his lips, taking her thumb between them and licked the chocolate off.
The moment would have amused Hermione if she hadn't been trying to control her hyperactive heart. She was sure Charlie and everyone else in the parlour could hear it banging wildly against her chest, and her cheeks flooded with pink. Charlie's eyes never left hers, his expression was strange, as if he wasn't quite sure what was happening between them.
"Charlie…I."
But he'd dropped his hand from hers; her own falling deftly onto the table top. They finished the ice – creams in hurried silence, then Charlie got to his feet, leaving a bill on the table to cover the cost and darting out the door.
Hermione raced after him swiftly, grabbing his arm and whirling him round to face her.
"What was that?" she asked, "What just happened back there?"
Charlie avoided her gaze, staring down at the pavement.
"Nothing happened, Hermione- it was nothing."
"Don't give me that," Hermione snapped, "Something did."
She sighed, then spoke again more softly.
"Charlie… These past couple of days I've… I mean you and me…" she trailed off.
"You and me could never happen," he answered, finally looking up at her. Her eyes were full of disbelief, mixed with hope.
"There's five years between us. I'm going to be twenty three next year and you'll have just finished school – it'd be a joke." He said flatly.
"My parent's have ten years between them and they're perfectly happy. Yours have seven!" she protested, but Charlie interrupted her.
"And anyway even if it wasn't a joke, we've only got another five weeks at the burrow left. Then I'd leave, you'd go back to Hogwarts and there'd be this massive tangled mess of unnecessary hurt," He explained and her eyes shone with tears she wouldn't let fall.
"So, nothing happened," he finished, then turned around and headed back up the street.
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