Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay, I've been super busy !

Thanks to Fremionelife99 for the beta reading :)

Nothing you recognize belongs to me ! :)

Alice and Hermione quickly grew fond of each other during those daily lunch meetings. Hermione understood that there was much left unsaid about the part Alice had played in the European Order, and that she did not want to talk about it. Hermione understood that. Some parts of the ordeal she personally went through during the war were still too painful to mention. Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix. She shuddered and told herself for the millionth time that she was gone and it was over.

Hermione walked back home and thought again of the mystery Alice was presenting. They laughed and they shared some stories, but Alice never mentioned the Max guy again. Hermione knew he had died, and that it was painful to talk about the people we lost, but it seemed that there was something more to it. Anyway. The week had been horrible. So many emergencies occurred that the initial project she was working on had been severely delayed, she had been yelled at by her supervisor because she did not managed to keep the deadlines and she hadn't seen Fred in a week because she was too tired to do anything else than collapse on her bed and sleep until morning. But finally, the long-awaited Friday evening was there. She had been looking forward to sitting on her couch with a good book and a cup of tea and then sleep for the rest of the weekend for a week. Hermione arrived to her flat and unlocked the door, and she could almost taste the feel of long-awaited rest. She crossed the threshold and was greeted by a loud BANG and was suddenly covered in a gooish liquid. Fred stood there in her hallway, laughing his ass off.

"And THIS, is the first prank I play on you as your fiancée. Classic, but still good".
Hermione just stood there, the brownish liquid messing the carpet her mother had given her for her birthday. She looked at Fred with utter disbelief for a slight moment then slopped down on her now-ruined carpet and started crying.
The smiled on Fred's face vanished and was immediately replaced with a look of horror.
Oh dear Lord, what have I done .

He sat down next to her and panicked
"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry Hermione, I thought it was going to be funny, please please please, stop crying. Look, it's all gone", he said as he sorted it out with his wand.

"Could you please stop crying, yell at me for being the stupidest fiancé in the history of the world, but please stop crying I can't stand it when girls cry, and it's even worse when it's you," Fred blabbed on and on as he panicked.
"Well, it's even worse when it's me that made you cry," Hermione finally stopped sobbing while he kept talking ,"… And I say that Ron is an idiot, but seriously, I am the worse fiancé in the history of the world and you should complain to the ministry. No, I deserve that you complain to my mother. She will kick my ass, and throw me out of the house – even though I don't live there anymore – and then maybe even let Ginny jinx me with the bat-boggey hex we taught her. "
"Nah, that would be too cruel". Hermione's tiny voice had interrupted his rambling. Fred quickly started apologizing again, but Hermione interrupted him.
"No, Fred, it's not your fault. I've just had the craziest week at work and I was looking forward to having a cuppa, and put my pyjamas on and I wasn't expecting it, and I had missed you and … " This time Fred interrupted her by kissing her. It was sweet and tender and almost brought back tears into Hermione's eyes. He pulled away, winked at her and said, "Missed me, huh?" Hermione bursted out laughing at his antics. She pulled back his face towards her and kissed him again. A proper kiss, with passion and longing, and everything she needed after that week in Hell. It grew more and more passionate and Hermione was surprised when Fred pulled away again.

"Now, now, not that I mind where this is going, but I remember you saying something about pyjama's and a cuppa?"

He stood up and offered his hand to help her up. She went along with him as he led her towards the couch.
"Okaaaaaaay. Since the first part of the amazing Friday night I had planned kind of sucked, I am going to upgrade the loving romantic dinner I also had planned. So.. You sit right there", he said as he sat her on the couch, "you relax right there," he added as he transfigured her work attire in silk pyjamas and brought her a book and a glass of wine,"while I cook this wonderful dinner for the two of us." Hermione tried to protest and help him out, but he shoved the book unto her hands, "Don't make me use a glueing charm to stick you to the couch, because I will do it." The firmness in his tone and the memory of the prank he had just played on her convinced her to stay put.
Satisfied that she was going to let him prepare dinner, he walked towards the kitchen and closed the door separating it from the living room. For an entire hour, she was distracted by the constant noise coming from her kitchen. However she stayed true to her word, until he popped his head through the door and announced that dinner was ready. She dropped her book and almost ran to the kitchen.
"Oh Merlin Fred, this is…. Amazing."
Molly had taught him well. The table was covered with dishes that looked all delicious. Hermione looked up to Fred's face and saw that he was waiting for her reaction. She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Thanks Fred, this is truly amazing. Way better than the evening I had planned." He smiled at her as they sat down and enjoyed their dinner.

Charlie burned down his dinner. He always thought that was the irony in his life. He tried his best not to get burned during the day and always ended up burning something during the evenings. He opened his kitchen window to try and dismiss the smoke. He was going to head down to the local pub to get something decent to eat when someone knocked on his door. He wondered who that could be, and really hope it wasn't Kendra. He had managed to avoid her all week and hoped that she would understand that their occasional hook-ups would de facto cease as his engagement occurred.
Alice stood on his doorway. At least it wasn't Kendra. Alice smiled up at him through the many bags she was carrying. Charlie took the ones that threatened to collapse and move so that she could get inside. The February evening in Romania was way too cold for her leather jacket.

"Well. Hi," Charlie said as he laid the bags on his coffee table. Alice untangled herself from her scarf and then smiled.
"Hello. You seem surprise to see me. I did not get the answer to the letter I sent, but I figured I would come down anyway." Charlie looked puzzled.
"Did you get the letter I sent this…" she was interrupted by the tapping of an owl on the living room window. Charlie went to retrieve the letter. The owl looked ancient and ready to collapse. Charlie fed him scrapes from the ruined dinner he had prepared.
Charlie held up the letter and smiled at Alice. "I guess you're talking about this letter".
Alice looked embarrassed. "Oh God, I really thought you knew I was coming, I'm sorry, I did not mean to intrude on your evening, you probably have some plans."
Charlie smiled. "Not really, I was going to head for the pub downtown. The thing you are smelling is my dinner, I seem to have a problem with flames when they don't come from a dragon." She had the courtesy of laughing at his joke. She pointed to the bags she had brought with her.
"I have brought everything you need to do pizza ! I'm not the best cook in town, but if you have an oven, I'm your girl," she said while she was rummaging through one of the bags ,"and also, I've come bearing Firewiskey," she added as she held up the two bottles.
"I figured we might not have started on the right track, and alcohol might help remove the embarrassment, providing that we remember tonight afterwards."
Charlie quickly agreed. He had the time to think over their meeting during the week, and after an earful from his sister, who was not pleased with his behaviour towards his fiancée during the show, he had to acknowledge the fact that he had not been a good company for his future wife. He had been wondering what to do to redeem himself, but she had taken the matters upon her own hands.

They ate quickly as they had light conversation about his work at the reserve. He showed her some pictures of the dragons and dragon tamers, and he explained the Weasley family to her. Alice only had one little sister and was confused by the many siblings he had.

Once they finished dinner, they settle down in the living room, and two glasses appeared in front of them as the rest of the dishes washed themselves.

"Nice housing magic" Alice commented. "I may have completely misunderstood the kitchen advice I received from my mother. But I do manage the housecleaning spells quite well."
"We'll be a winning team in our house then," Alice jokingly added. However, they both realized at the same time that it was the first time the upcoming marriage was mentioned since the pairing.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it to be awkward, but maybe we should have the talk now, you know, get it out of the way?"
"Sure, but I'm certain this will help" Charlie answered, as he poured two glasses of Firewhisky. They both downed their drinks and looked at each other.

Charlie cleared his throat and asked her the first thing that popped into his head.
"Do you want children?"

Alice seemed to be very uncomfortable at this. "Um, to be honest, I don't really know how I feel about children. I never really liked them, and I always figured that this would be a problem for the future. I never thought I would have to have children in order to remain in the community. You?"
"I never thought I would settle down, so kids seemed to be out of the question. I like them though, but I don't want seven of them."
"You did not want to settle down? What does that mean for me?" Her tone had turned cold suddenly.
"I never met anyone that accepted to be put second after my career, and I understand that they wouldn't, but dragon keeping is the only thing I really like to do, and it usually doesn't go well with a family life"
Alice didn't answer for a while. Then she reached for the bottle and took a large swing of it, not bothering with pouring it in her glass.
"We're in for a big mess, aren't we? We don't know each other, we have completely different lifestyles and we don't have the same projects for the future. We also have to be married in a few mouths, and starting a family sooner than either one of us wants it."
She looked so sad that Charlie had to do something. He came and sit next to her on the couch and they sat together in silence for a while. She put her head against his chest, and closed her eyes, seeming to will back tears.

Charlie stroke her hair and said : "Now here's an idea," she looked up at him, showing that she was paying attention, "Maybe we should determine Unforgivable of our owns. You know, stuff that neither of us will be prepared to forgive the other. That way we can determine what is really important to each other and manage to make this work. "
Alice smiled. "Sure. You go first though"

Charlie stood up and went to retrieve his glass. He sat down opposite her, on the floor. She sat down on the floor too, mimicking his action. They were perfectly symmetrical, with the bottle of Firewhisky in between them.

"Alright. I can't give up dragon taming. I really love it here, and I don't see how I can do anything else"
Alice took a sip from her glass and nodded. "Would you be opposed to transferring to a Dragon reserve in Wales ?"
"If that is really important to you, we may negociate. Do you really want to?"
Alice shifted, uncomfortable. "My career is important too, and I don't really want to take a Portkey everyday twice a day to go to work. My family is in London, and I am quite used to see them everyday. Maybe we can wait until we are married to really decide what to do, but it would be nice if you got information about a possible transfer."
Charlie agreed to it. "Fine, I'll ask what is possible. Your turn !"

"Okay, this is going to be a big one I think. I need James. I know it's weird, but we have been through some hard stuff, and I cannot fancy a life without him. He is more than my brother, and without him I wouldn't be here. I need you to be okay with the fact that I am going to need him, and see him everyday. You mustn't feel threatened by him, I need you to be on speaking term with him. It would be nice if you were friends, but I'm not asking for that much, I know he is much to take. "

Charlie felt uncomfortable. "Are you sure there's nothing between you? I know you told me he was gay, but still, he is handsome, and you are very close, and I don't actually know where I'm going with this."
Alice smiled, reached to take his hand. "I promise you that there's nothing between him and me. I love him, and he loves me, but in the most sexless way that exists. I've known him all my life, and I'm not going to lie to you, he was my boyfriend when we were 4. That's the extent of the romantic side of mine and James' relationship. We've kissed a couple of times on dares and stuff, but nothing with feelings I promise. "
Charlie squeezed her hands once. "I agree to your condition. I'll try to be friends with him"

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