She scraped her once bushy, now sleek brunette hair into a loose bun and
observed herself in the floor length mirror that stood before her. She frowned
slightly as she sighted her reflection; an average height, average weight,
average looking teenager. She did not see the beautiful young woman that
everybody else saw in Hermione Granger.
She sighed slightly as she made her way down to breakfast in the
Burrow. The smell of Mrs Weasley's cooking greeted her as she emerged into
the kitchen and she couldn't help but smile as eight red-heads turned
simultaneously to greet her. The fire crackled in the grate as Ron's mum
kindly placed some bacon onto the young woman's plate.
Mrs Weasley had noticed lately that, whenever Hermione entered the
room, all her sons were silenced. They all stared at her longingly, all that is,
except for Charlie who seemed to not even notice. Hermione, she also
noticed was oblivious to all this attention. She, Mrs Weasley couldn't help but
chuckle to herself. This girl was so modest, and yet she had everything:
beauty, brains, and a kindness that graced her.
Hermione was sat listening intently as Fred animatedly explained his
new theory about why the twins' new growing sweets actually induced terrible
fits of coughing. She smiled politely, wandering why he was wasting time
talking to her. Everybody in fact had been spending more time with her lately.
Everybody, that is, except for Charlie.
They had never got on well, the two of them. Charlie, Hermione
thought, was far too arrogant. He was good looking, but he sure knew it and
whenever she was around, they would have arguments and wind each other
up. They hated each other; there was no other word for it, so they generally
avoided each other.
This particular day, all the Weasleys had to go to visit a friend in London, Charlie and Hermione, however stayed home because Hermione didn't want to 'intrude' on their visit and Charlie had an essay to write. Neither knew that the other would be there so it came as a surprise to Hermione when she went to fetch water from the kitchen and found Charlie sitting at the table with his head in his hands.
"Charlie!" Hermione gasped.
"Oh… err… hey", he sat bolt upright, caught off guard.
"I didn't know you were here", she gabbled angrily.
"Fine, I'll bugger off then", he retorted and stood to leave.
"Oh Charlie, don't be so childish. Can't we just live under the same roof without jumping down each other's throats?"
"Hmph."
With this Hermione stormed out (completely forgetting her water) and didn't dare to return to the kitchen until her hunger overpowered her. She peered around the door and was relieved to find the cosy room totally deserted (apart from Pig who was zooming round happily). She quickly whipped up a sandwich and sat alone at the large table in the centre of the room.