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Charlie Weasley sighed as he made his way around his mother's living room. Damn it all! The girl's not even twenty-four years old yet, and she has an old man lusting after her!

Hermione Granger had certainly grown up, looking nothing like the young girl he had met almost twelve years ago when he had traveled to Hogwarts to pick up Norbert, the baby dragon the trio had been keeping secret for Hagrid. No, that Hermione had been twelve, much too young for his nineteen-year-old self to notice, and she had been all hair and teeth. Now, however, Healer Granger had tamed her hair, cutting the worst of it off, giving her the "young professional" look, and her teeth had been fixed while in school. She had developed curves in all the right places, and Charlie could barely keep his eyes focused whenever she was talking to him about…what had she been discussing with him tonight?

"Charlie! Are you sure you have to go back to Romania tomorrow? You know we're having Harry's birthday party next week, right?" Molly Weasley came into his room with a basket of his laundry that she had insisted on finishing before he left.

"I'm sure, Mum. I've been here a day longer than I should have anyway…The only reason my boss hasn't said anything is because I never take any time off!" Charlie began pulling shirts out of the laundry basket and packing them in his rucksack, and the shirts were quickly joined by pants and underwear.

"Merlin, Charlie; at least fold them!"

"Ah, Mum, they'll be wrinkled anyway in this. I'll take care of them when I get home. Thank you for taking care of my laundry though," he grinned, kissing Molly on the cheek.

"I just wish you'd find a nice girl who could do this for you. I don't think you're taking care of yourself," Molly began worriedly.

Charlie shook his head. "Mum, we've talked about this. Even if I did find a girl who'd have me, she might not want to do my laundry and cook for me." He didn't admit that he had Hermione Granger in mind when he said this. It was a known fact that Miss Granger let Harry take care of the meals at their flat, and as for laundry…well, Hermione had shown up wearing new clothes many times because of some accident or other that involved a muggle washing machine.

Not that it mattered. Hermione was with Harry now. He hadn't particularly let himself think about that, especially when she had been sitting so close to him on the couch. He'd let himself forget that the newspapers had been speculating at an upcoming proposal at the now "Golden Couple." He had to agree; the two had something special. They had been friends for twelve years, and everyone agreed that the two could communicate without even speaking. They already had a flat together, and they rarely left home without a grin in place. Charlie had accepted the facts: he'd lost Hermione Granger to The-Boy-Who-Lived a long time ago.

"Charlie, are you okay? I lost you there for a moment." Molly was waving her hand in front of his face. "I just said that I just want you to be happy, whether the girl cooks for you or not. But you have to start taking care of yourself!"

Charlie nodded. "I will, Mum. Now, how about you? Disappointed no announcements were made tonight?" He forced himself to smile, knowing one couple she had hoped to hear had made concrete plans.

Molly shook her head sadly. "I'll be glad when your brother and Harry grow up! Leslie and Hermione aren't the kind to wait around forever."

"Mum, if Hermione hasn't left Harry's sorry arse by now, he's stuck with her."

Molly chided her son for his language before relenting. "Very true. However, every girl wants to feel special. I can imagine that those two are waiting for the boys to wake up and see that they want to settle down!"

Charlie laughed and nodded. "Sure, Mum. Whatever you say." But he prayed to God that she was wrong, that at least one of those girls wasn't waiting for a proposal; maybe then he'd have a sliver of a chance.


Natalia Pearson checked her appearance once again, nervous about her date. Well, could she actually call it a date if she was meeting Harry's pretend girlfriend? She shook her head. Harry had assured her that she had nothing to worry about, that Hermione, as fierce as the papers made her out to be, was nothing but a teddy bear. After telling her that, he had looked frightened, but she had assured him that she wouldn't tell Hermione he had said that, and he'd visibly relaxed.

Her feelings for Harry Potter were somewhat complicated. When she had met him, she was taken aback by the thought of this is the boy who defeated Voldemort? However, as she worked with him more and more, she came to realize his power and determination. He fought low-level dark wizards with the same ferocity he'd had when he defeated the Dark Lord, or at least that's what she'd been told. When she asked why, she'd been told that he'd vowed to never let anyone else die when he could do something about the cause. In just four years, he had worked his way up to team leader and was looking at squad leader very soon.

Natalia had quickly began to admire Harry, and not in the way that most witches admired him. The poor guy had a group of giggling fans just about everywhere they went, and the annoyed look on his face told the entire story about how he felt about these girls (and guys, to his chagrin). Natalia admired Harry for his strength, the passion he poured into his work. Also, she had never denied that he was a nice-looking bloke, with his raven-colored hair and green eyes. He had grown up from the bespectacled, too-thin boy who had been in the papers after Voldemort's demise.

Harry had taken notice of his new co-worker as well, and she did nothing to discourage him. Like he had told Hermione, they had flirted, never really getting anywhere for weeks, before he finally asked her out. She accepted and had a wonderful time on the date. However, she had known something was bothering him from the beginning. The poor guy was so easy to read.

"Harry? What's wrong?"

Harry's head jerked up from his dessert. "Wrong?"

Natalia nodded. "You've been miles away for quite a while. You okay?"

"I've got something to tell you."

Here it comes. Some dark secret that I can never get over, that will force me to see that I have nothing in common with Harry Potter and this will never work out. Natalia sighed and looked expectantly at Harry.

"I…well…I'm in sort of a relationship." Harry looked at her sheepishly.

"A…a relationship," she stated blandly. "You're in a bloody relationship, and you asked me out?"

"Let me explain!" Harry was quick to jump in. "You will let me explain, won't you?"

Figuring she had nothing to lose, she nodded. At least the bloke was being honest with her.

"Well, you've heard of my friends Ron and Hermione?" At her nod, he continued, "Right after the war, Ron, Hermione, and I went back to Hogwarts for our seventh year, and we hoped that would keep us out of the spotlight a while. However, we were invited to numerous balls and parties celebrating the defeat of Voldemort. We finally graduated, and we bought a flat together, the three of us. However, not long after we settled in, Ron began dating a girl he had met while we were at Hogwarts. Apparently, they had had something going on while we were in school because they were very serious, and as soon as she was through with school, Ron moved out and left Hermione and me by ourselves.

"This wasn't the first time Hermione and I have been left to fend for ourselves, but this time we had the press looking at us. With Ron gone and our still living together, the papers automatically concluded that we were involved and had taken our relationship to the next level. We were all ready to set the record straight when we noticed something."

Natalia, who had been listening attentively, inquired, "What?"

"My fangirls. No, they weren't happy with the situation, but they respected Hermione's power enough that they stayed away from me. People have come up to me, telling me that it was just a matter of time before we got together. The thing is, that although I may have once had feelings like that for her, I now know that we could never work out that way. I love Hermione Granger, and she loves me, but we're not in love. We're blatantly using one another, and we've never hidden it from each other."

Natalia had laughed in shock. The wizarding world though Harry and Hermione were a couple, but there was nothing going on? She'd always figured Healer Granger was her biggest competition for Harry Potter's heart, and now she was hearing that Harry didn't love her that way?

"So…? Are you angry?" Harry had an anxious look on his face.

She had shaken her head. "I like you, Harry Potter, and I believe you. But just to prove something to myself, I'd like to meet Hermione. Is that possible?"

Harry's eyes had lit up, and he had begun nodding immediately. "Of course. Hermione would love to meet you! How about you come to our flat next week one night? I'll see when Hermione has an evening off and owl you?"

Natalia had smiled and agree, anxious to meet the girl who was obviously so important to Harry Potter.


She was putting the final touches on her appearance when she heard her doorbell ring. Smiling, she answered it and was greeted by a very handsome dark-haired wizard.

"Evening, Natalia. You didn't have to go through all of this trouble, but I'm glad you did," Harry smirked as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Of course I did. Have to make a favorable impression on this girlfriend of yours," she replied cheekily.

"Who, I'm reminded, is watching dinner, so we'd better get going. We're liable to not have a kitchen if we leave her alone cooking for too long." Harry allowed Natalia to grab her things and apparated them out of her flat and into his. As soon as they landed, he took off toward the kitchen, where a faint smell of smoke could be detected.

"Hermione! I was gone five minutes! What could you have done in that span of time to make broccoli look like that?"

Natalia sat on the sofa and laughed at the bickering in the kitchen. The two truly did sound like two siblings arguing about the best way to finish dinner, which ended with Harry kicking Hermione out of the kitchen. Natalia looked up as an embarrassed-looking brunette quietly made her way to the living room.

"Natalia?"

"I take it you're Hermione?" Natalia stood up to greet her hostess.

"That's right," Hermione replied. "Sorry about…that. He knows better than to leave me with food on the stove. It seems to know that I'm in control, and everything falls apart."

"So Harry's the cook around here?" Natalia inquired.

"Most definitely. I can barely make tea, and that's only because the kettle lets me know when it's ready. I'm much better with potions. They have very specific instructions with them."

Natalia decided that, for the moment, she liked Hermione. She seemed just as bright and sweet as she had heard she was; however, she still wanted to see Harry and Hermione interact. She had to see if it was as innocent as they claimed it to be.

Dinner was finally served, and Natalia noticed with a smile that there was no broccoli on the table. The guest bit into the piece of ham that had been placed on her plate, and her eyes widened. "Oh my God, this is amazing! Harry, I didn't know you could cook like this!"

Harry blushed at her compliment, and Hermione laughed. "If he couldn't cook, we'd starve! However, he does like his pizza and takeout quite a bit, so I guess we could survive."

"Well, I get tired of my own cooking, and by the time we both get home, it's pretty late. Plus, if I didn't actually drag you out and make you eat something, you'd probably never eat. If you're anywhere near your work, that has your attention."

Natalia watched the two, and even though Harry and Hermione fussed over each other during the meal, it was obvious that it was totally platonic. Especially with the looks Harry would send her way. Hermione noticed, and smiled, causing a blush to appear on Natalia's face.

"So, you two, you have plans tonight?"

"Actually, I thought we might grab a coffee or tea?" Harry looked at Natalia for confirmation.

Natalia nodded. "That sounds great. Here, Hermione, let me help you clean up first."

However, Hermione waved her off. "It won't take me three minutes to get these washed and put up. Thank you though. You two have fun, and I'll see you both later!"

Harry watched Hermione leave the room, and he turned to look at Natalia. "I'll be right back." Natalia nodded as Harry followed his best friend out of the room. Feeling wrong for doing it, but needing to at the same time, the girl leaned against the door listening.

"So…?"

"So…? What Harry?"

"She's great, isn't she?"

Hermione laughed. "She is, but you don't need my confirmation on this subject, Harry. You're a big boy!"

"You know I'm shite with women, Hermione."

"That I do, but if you like her, that's all that matters. But, for what it's worth, I think you and she make a great couple. Just…"

"Just what?"

"We need to decide when we're going to stop our charade, Harry. The papers get a hold of Natalia, you know how she'll be painted. The girl who…"

"Broke up the Golden Duo. I know. We'll talk later, Hermione." When Harry walked out of the kitchen, Natalia was looking over Hermione's book collection with great interest. However, for the rest of the evening, her mind was on Harry and Hermione's conversation. Just how far was she willing to go for Harry Potter?"