Paparazzi by WeasleyForMe
This is a (belated) birthday story for Clover Bay! Thanks for your patience! And thanks to Prince Charming for beta reading!
With her new celebrity status after the war, Hermione finds it difficult to maintain romantic relationships. But what if she is thrown into one inadvertently? With Charlie Weasley? A birthday gift for Clover Bay :)
Charlie noted that the hysterical tone of her voice matched the panic he was feeling. He ran halfway down the hallway toward the floo connection before realizing he wasn't wearing anything over his boxer shorts.
"Hang on a second, Hermione!" he called, turning back toward the bedroom to retrieve some plaid pyjama bottoms, and he gracefully pulled them on while bounding back into his small living room. He saw her panicked looking face in the middle of his previously unused fireplace.
She immediately started gushing as soon as she saw him appear. "Charlie! Did you see the newspaper? I'm so sorry! You have no idea how badly I feel!"
"Calm down, Hermione. Yes, I vaguely read the paper," he told her, referring to the photos he happened to glance at before she started screaming into his floo. He watched her bite her lip; she looked cute when she was frazzled.
"I can explain everything. I just didn't know this would still be such an issue," she told him with a sigh.
"Yeah, I'm going to need an explanation for a few things, starting with why exactly I'm plastered all over the front page of the Daily Prophet, and ending with why exactly this happened as soon as I bumped into you." He tried to make light of the situation, but Hermione just groaned at him and tugged at her hair.
"Open up your floo so I can come explain it."
Charlie looked around his living room. There was a pair of dirty underwear on the arm of the couch, and several dishes had been stacked on the coffee table forming a lovely tower of old food bits. He was certain that the situation in the kitchen was much worse.
"Uh, how about you just stop over… later?" he asked uncertainly.
"Yes, yes of course. It's still so early, sorry," she apologized. "How about I grab some takeaway for lunch and bring it over?"
"That works for me," he told her, flashing a bright smile which she thankfully returned for the first time during their conversation. "I'm at number 7 Collins Lane. Just stop over."
With a brief nod, she closed her floo connection and Charlie set to work. He wordlessly sent the dishes to the sink where they begun to wash themselves, and then he picked up all of his stray articles of clothing.
"Bugger," he muttered when he got back to his room to find that nearly his entire wardrobe was strewn around the floor and needed to be washed.
Several loads of laundry and one shower later, Charlie was dressed and making his bed with clean sheets. He had already folded his clothes and mopped the kitchen floor; his mum would be proud.
When Hermione knocked, he was running his fingers through his hair, trying to achieve the best affect, wondering why he even cared. "Coming!" he called before grabbing his wand and heading for the front door.
And there she stood, looking impossibly cute in those same ridiculously high pink shoes, jeans and a blouse. "Hey," she said apologetically with a half smile. "I brought Chinese."
Charlie's smile inevitably appeared. "Come on in, and have a seat."
Eying his sparse furniture, Hermione took a seat on the couch and started to open the takeaway containers. Charlie grabbed plates and plopped down next to her. "So are you going to explain to me exactly why, as soon as I run into you, I'm front page news?" he asked with a wink.
Hermione blushed, both from his obvious attentions and the fact that she had always thought Charlie Weasley was font pages news. "Well you see, this has kind of been a problem for me since the end of the war." She scooped some dumplings and noodles onto her plate and started to eat.
"Go on," Charlie prodded, devouring several dumplings with his set of chopsticks.
Hermione sighed and set her food down. "Well I seemed to get caught up in the media frenzy that followed Harry after the war, and while I thought it had ended, I guess it hasn't. And I'm just really sorry that you got caught up in it as well."
"At least now I understand why I'm plastered all over the Daily Prophet," Charlie stated with a nod, plowing some more of their lunch into his mouth in typical Weasley fashion.
Hermione shook her head sadly. "It's not just you. This has happened before." It felt oddly satisfying to confide in Charlie. "A few times actually."
"What happened before?" he asked carefully, setting his plate down on the coffee table.
Hermione looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure you're ready for this story?" After receiving a nod from Charlie, Hermione kicked off her pink shoes and curled up at the far end of the couch. He mimicked her and curled up opposite her. "Right after the war ended, Viktor Krum asked me out on a date. We barely made it through dinner and started eating dessert before some photographers showed up in the tiny restaurant and made a huge scene."
"Are you serious?" Charlie asked, surprised. "Then what happened?"
Hermione sighed. "Well it's not as if Viktor isn't already famous, so I thought that perhaps the combination of the two of us going out together was the problem. So we went on a few more dates, then resorted to spending time together at Krum Manor, then resorted to talking via owl. But the problems persisted, and he broke up with me." Charlie gave a sympathetic look, but she just smiled and shrugged.
"But I was wrong; it wasn't the combination of the two of us, because when I started dating Oliver Wood, it was just as bad," she told him.
"You and Wood?" Charlie asked, thoroughly surprised.
"Briefly. You're lucky you were in Romania and didn't see me all over the news," she whispered.
"No, actually it's a shame, because they only women they show in Romanian newspapers are large, burly wrestlers. Never anyone as sweet and lovely as yourself," he told her, causing her to laugh and blush simultaneously. "So what happened with Wood?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "He believed everything he read in the gossip columns regarding Viktor and myself, which were not true in the slightest. But that's ok. He was hotheaded and jealous. But things progressed in a similar fashion after that. Philip was just as bad with his temper. And although Zachary was extremely attractive, he couldn't handle the paparazzi."
"Damn, Hermione. How many boyfriends have you had?" Charlie teased.
Hermione blushed and her eyes went wide.
"I'm just joking! Just a joke!" he promised, reaching across the couch to playfully hit her leg at the same time that she reached over to smack him for being sassy. They met in the middle of the couch, noses inches apart. Charlie had to hold his breath to keep himself in line. He would give her a chance to back away if that's what she wanted.
Hermione licked her lips, but didn't move an inch. "So this is why I came, to apologize to you."
"Mmm," Charlie hummed, watching the way her tongue teased the corners of her mouth.
"I mean, you don't really deserve to be thrown into this. It's not even as if you're my boyfriend. You didn't ask for this, and now I bet everyone is going to give you a hard time, and that's just not really fair either. And-"
"Hermione, you're rambling," Charlie whispered with a lopsided grin.
"Am I?" she asked quietly, reaching out to run her hand along his arm.
"Yes."
She clearly hadn't backed away, and Charlie wanted to taste her lips. Hermione's eyes fluttered closed as his lips met hers in a deep kiss, and any surprise or resolve melted away immediately as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Charlie decidedly loved the way her lips tasted as she parted them, allowing his tongue to delve into her warmth. As his hands found their way to her waist, Hermione ran her fingers through his hair and down his neck, sending a delicious chill through his body.
Hermione gave in to his touch as he pulled her body closer to his. His lips were hot and smooth as silk against her own, and she didn't want it to stop.
But it had to.
Hermione broke away from his kisses, breathing heavily and immediately missing the contact. "Charlie, I don't know if this is a good idea. You're lips are fantastic, but I just don't know."
He nodded. "I can understand your hesitation," he muttered, frowning slightly and hoping he didn't scare her off.
Hermione chewed on her lip for a minute, her eyes darting between Charlie's lips and his brilliant blue eyes. She leaned in for another, brief kiss, their lips barely meeting before she was on her feet. "I'm going to get going. Clear my head," she told him.
Charlie stood and led her to his apartment door. "I'll walk you out."
He followed Hermione down the hallway to the front door of his building and pulled the door open for her. "Floo me?" he asked, and she smiled and nodded before turning to walk outside.
And there they were. Cameras started to flash, taking photograph after photograph of Hermione and Charlie standing together, looking extremely shocked. The gossip columnists had managed to find where Charlie lived, and now everything looked far more scandalous than it already did.
"Get back inside," Hermione screamed at Charlie, trying in vain to push him back through the door before he realized what was happening. "Charlie!" she shrieked, and he finally snapped back to attention. He quickly grabbed her by the arm and closed the door behind them.
Leaning on the locked door inside the hallway, they turned toward each other. "Now what?" he asked as gently as he could.
"I wish I knew."
I really feel kind of bad for them! Maybe I will be nicer in the next chapter ;) Thanks for reading and please review!
