"Has anyone seen where Hermione's gone off to?" All of the Weasley children, except for Percy, were home for the next few weeks at the Burrow and Molly had cooked up the most amazing dinner. "Did she run back in for the potatoes?"

Molly went to stand and find the girl but Charlie beat her to it. "I'll go see if she needs help mum, you sit and relax."

Everyone kept their seats around the tables that had been placed in the garden to accommodate the large number of guests. It made it easier for Charlie to sneak into the kitchen and scare Hermione. "Mum's asking where you've been for so long, we'd better hurry."

"Well if you hadn't taken so long to get in here…" Wasting no more time Charlie bent to place his lips over Hermione's. The snogging couldn't go on for too long but any chance they got alone they would take. Only a few minutes passed until the two broke apart and quickly grabbed the dishes.

"Finally, I'm starved."

Everyone laughed but Ginny still looked a bit disgusted. "Do you ever think of anything other than food?"

He wasn't listening though, instead spooning more food on his plate than should have been possible to eat.

"Hermione dear, why are your cheeks so pink?"

Molly might have been worried that she was coming down with a fever or something similar, but she couldn't know the real reason. At least not yet. "Charlie told me a joke in the kitchen, that's what took us so long."

"She was laughing so hard I thought she couldn't breathe!"

"Well, don't leave us in suspense. What was the joke?" George called over and Charlie didn't waste any time telling the table a joke he had heard on the reserve recently, waiting until just the right time to say the punch line earning laughs around the table. "I can see why Hermione thought it was hilarious."

The rest of dinner kept Hermione locked in conversation with Ginny not noticing the sly glances Charlie was throwing her way.

"Mate, ease up or someone will notice." Bill was the only other person to know about the romance and only because Charlie begged him to run interference for them one night blocking Harry from coming up the stairs and letting Hermione run off to the bathroom.

After everyone had started to fade from the day Bill and Charlie snuck outside to sit in the garden together. Bill had brought a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey which they shared talking about everything they hadn't gotten a chance to yet. "How's it going with Hermione anyway?" Bill asked finally, he didn't know much about their relationship except for the obvious physical aspect. "Have you two told anyone else?"

"No we haven't, and we don't plan to until we know it's going to last. Mum doesn't need to get her hopes up about Hermione marrying another Weasley and we definitely don't need Ron getting pissed off about it and Ginny trying to meddle." The truth was Charlie and Hermione liked the fact that no one else knew about them, it made a lot of things easier but it also made things more difficult. "It's going well though, we were able to spend some time together a few months ago when she came to the sanctuary and there was a lot that we talked about."

Bill had always been Charlie's best friend, his older brother and the man he looked to for support and advice. So when Bill said something, he knew that it was with the best intentions. "I think you should tell everyone, it'll be better in the long run. Mum and Ron won't get angry about it being a secret for so long and the two of you can finally start acting like a couple in front of us."

"I just don't want her to feel uncomfortable about it."

"We're going to play some quidditch while Mum's out, do you two want to join us?"

Ginny's smile looked pleading, she didn't want to be stuck with Ron on her team again and with Charlie there at least someone would help her out. "Sorry Gin but I'm knackered. Think I'm going to sit this one out."

"Come off it Charlie, you only fell ten feet!"

"Ten feet is enough to do some serious damage! Magic can heal a lot of things but the brain isn't one of them."

"Hermione?"

"You already know my answer to that." With a huff the youngest Weasley finally left to join her other brothers in the makeshift pitch. After a few minutes of waiting to see if she would come back, Charlie jumped off the couch followed closely by Hermione as they ran up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Clothes were flying as Charlie practically ripped them off of Hermione's body, both had at least had the foresight to not wear shoes and make things easier but the unnecessary amount of other layers keeping their bodies from being flush with each other was frustrating.

Finally, down to their underwear, Charlie pinned Hermione against the door and lifting her to straddle his hips. One of Hermione's delicate hands ran through his now short hair grabbing onto any locks she could while the other rested on his chest.

Charlie's hands weren't as idle though, one forearm held her up as his other worked along the top of her panties. Hermione was moaning softly into his neck as Chalire left a trail of kisses along her collarbone nipping at the skin lightly. His thumb circled around the obvious wetness loving every time her body jolted from hitting just the right spot. After teasing for a bit Charlie moved the material aside and worked two fingers inside of her working against the tightening walls and feeling them contract against him.

Hermione was moaning loudly enough that Charlie brought his face back to hers and met in a searing kiss. Their tongues worked together in keeping both of them quiet as Hermione came closer and closer to the edge of her orgasm only quieting back down after cumming.

Making sure that she was satisfied first Charlie moved them both to the bed where he removed his boxers while Hermione continued undressing herself and entered her easily. The door was locked and the blinds were shut but they had to keep an ear out in case everyone returned which meant that Charlie didn't get to spend as much time as he liked trying to make Hermione's legs heavy.

Still, they were able to spend a few minutes where it was more passionate than carnal. Hermione got on top and rode until she came again before Charlie laid her on her back and finally let himself feel the same release.

"And it's only been twenty minutes." He said laughing. "More than enough time to just lie here."

The two of them stayed in bed, Hermione's head on Charlie's chest feeling his heartbeat even out. But there were only a few minutes to spare and eventually they had to get up and clean up the mess before going downstairs and pretending like nothing happened.

"So Charlie, are you seeing anyone?" The question he had been dreading finally came over breakfast when he wasn't sharp enough to bat off his mother's advances in trying to meddle.

"Mum I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"There is someone!" She called excitedly. Charlie's brothers all looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and glee that it wasn't them. "Who is she? Does she work with you or live in the village nearby?"

He groaned letting his head fall to the side and meet with Hermione's shoulder, the same shoulder he had marked the day before during a heated snogging session. "Someone help me."

While there was a chorus of Weasley's telling him there was no chance they would take on their mother, Hermione very quietly whispered down to him. "Just tell her it's a new relationship, someone she doesn't know."

Molly was still fluttering around excitedly that her second oldest was finally interested in something other than his dragons.

"Fine, mum. It's someone I've just started seeing recently, so I didn't want to tell anyone because I don't want to ruin it." But she continued to ask questions. "She's British, ok?"

"What's her name dear?"

"That is where I draw the line mother, I won't tell you her name. Not yet."

Molly looked disheartened but stood down, she had gotten more information than expected. "Well at least she got you to finally cut that hair of yours."

They tried not to laugh, Charlie had once asked Hermione very casually whether she liked shorter hair on men or if she liked his longer hair. Her answer had been that while she thought the long hair suited Charlie she was partial to short hair and the very next day he cut it. Molly Weasley had no idea she was thanking Hermione for accomplishing something she had been attempting for nearly a decade.

Since Hermione was living in Bill's old room she was able to sneak next door to Charlie's room in the middle of the night, there was no waking Ginny by getting out of the creaky cot anymore but every once in awhile some of the family was wide awake late into the night and Charlie had come up with an interesting solution.

The book she was reading had grabbed all attention possible away from the outside world for Hermione, the plot was nothing more than a trashy romance novel from a muggle bookshop she grabbed. So when there was a knock on the window she screamed loudly enough that the noise downstairs halted and a few people started running up the stairs. She had enough time to motion that Charlie fly higher just as the door flew open.

"What's wrong?" Bill had his wand out and was searching around frantically. "What happened?"

George and Harry were behind him waiting for an answer. "Oh, I was engrossed in this novel and I think a bird hit the window and it scared me."

While the others were chuckling at how ridiculous it sounded but Bill walked over to the window and stuck his head out to look for an injured bird. Looking down first he saw nothing but when he looked up he saw Charlie and decided to get the boys out of the room. "Looks like the bird's gone, why don't we leave Hermione to her book?"

They left with Bill shaking his head and Charlie flew into the room on his broomstick closing the window quietly. "That was close." He crawled into bed pinning her to the bed with his body and kissing her soundly. "But I think Bill bought us some time."

The book was forgotten as Hermione wrapped herself around Charlie.

The last night of Charlie's visit he was sitting on the couch enjoying the warmth the Burrow offered, it was home to so many and no matter how long it was between visits it was always the same.

A small shift in the next seat let him know that someone had joined him, it was late and there was only person who would be out of bed. Hermione smiled sadly before curling up close to his side and allowing Charlie to drape an arm around her. "It'll be alright love, you'll be able to come see me and the dragons anytime you want."

"I know, it's just….I miss being able to walk into the next room and see you. I miss falling asleep with you and waking up to you."

Charlie placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Then come with me. Come to Romania, it's wonderful there and I'm sure there's a job you'd do fantastic in. We could be together every day and not worry about anyone in our relationship." Hermione, the one who needed a plan, the one who always wanted to know the answers, stared without so much as breathing. "You can think about it for a little bit. There's no need to answer now."

"It's just such a big step, and how would i explain it to everyone?"

"Tell them that you found a great opportunity in Romania and that I put in a good word for you. Of course the sensible thing is to tell everyone. It has been over a year since we started seeing each other."

Neither of them noticed that Molly stood on the stairs grinning broadly to herself, watching as her son was falling deeper in love with the girl she had hoped would marry into the family.

Her cup of tea could wait until morning, she decided, as Charlie and Hermione kissed.