Dropping the pouch with floo powder back on her mantlepiece, Hermione groaned and ran a hand through her hair, wondering just what to do now. For now I should calm down, she thought to herself, her tipsy brain not quite as quick as usual. She looked around her flat for Crookshanks, but only found him once she got to her guest room. He was lying right in the middle of the bed, curled up into a tight ball, and barely even opened his eyes when she entered the room.
"Oh, don't look so grumpy," Hermione said as she curled up next to him. While he didn't appreciate the comment, he still had an uncanny ability to know when she wasn't feeling well (even in his old age), so he headbutted her hand and started licking it. With a small smile, Hermione scratched him behind his ears at which point he started purring. She was grateful for every day he still was with her, but the signs of his old age had been growing over the last few months. His hearing was pretty bad and his eyesight wasn't the best anymore either.
"What do you think I should do now? You'll miss Charlie, too, won't you?" Hermione babbled on and even though she knew Crookshanks couldn't hear her particularly well anymore, she felt like he knew what was plaguing her mind anyway.
"Maybe talk about it to someone who can actually reply," came a voice from the doorway and, instincts kicking in, Hermione jumped up - with only a slight wobble - and whipped out her wand.
"Merlin, Ginny, don't scare me like that!" she said, pocketing her wand and relaxing when she realised it was her friend and not some intruder. The fact that an intruder would have a hard time breaking her wards or wouldn't care about her problems didn't even cross her mind. Crookshanks, little impressed by the sudden movement and commotion in his private quarters, jumped off the bed and hissed as he walked past Hermione and Ginny with a flicking tail.
"Sorry, but I didn't want to risk you telling me to leave you alone. Sirius said you were acting off when he left here." Ginny didn't look particularly apologetic, just worried, and Hermione's expression softened. She curled up on the bed again and patted the space next to her. With a sigh, Ginny climbed onto the bed and laid down facing her friend.
"Is this because of Charlie or Sirius?"
"Both. And firewhiskey, possibly. I really shouldn't have had any alcohol today," Hermione said, stifling a yawn. "I don't want a relationship with Charlie, but I'm still sad knowing that what we had is over. I didn't think I'd need time to get over him when I thought about it ending in the past, but apparently I do and that is unexpected." She looked at Ginny hoping that she'd have all the answers, all the while knowing that no one ever had all the answers.
"You'll be fine. Of course today sucks, and maybe tomorrow will suck as well, but it'll get easier," Ginny reassured her and added with a laugh, "You survived without getting laid regularly before!"
"However did I do it," Hermione replied, a wry smile on her lips.
"No idea. Why do you think I stuck with Harry all this time?"
"Because he's the love of your life and father of your children?" Hermione asked, the smile on her face widening.
"There is that," Ginny said, rolling over onto her back and looking up at the guest room ceiling, bewitched to always look like a starry sky, a smile on her face. After a moment she asked, "So why did Sirius tell me you were freaking out?"
Hermione turned onto her back as well and picked out the brightest star on her ceiling. "To be honest, there's two reasons. I have no idea how I'll survive the dinner at the Burrow tomorrow with everyone knowing, and I very nearly offered to blow Sirius. And not just as a joke or banter between friends." While crudely put, the latter of the two admissions didn't sound quite as dramatic out loud as it had in her head.
"Let's deal with the less serious Sirius thing first," Ginny said with a snort, ignoring the glare Hermione was shooting her. "You didn't actually offer to blow Sirius, so no harm, no foul. But even if you had, what would have been the big deal?"
"I don't want another friends with benefits relationship and I don't want to be just another notch on his bedpost - or him to be one on mine. In fact, I'd just like to be nothing more than friends with Sirius, and some days, you know the ones, even that seems to be pushing it. Besides, he doesn't do long-term and I don't think I want to start any kind of relationship based on nothing more than sex again."
"You and Sirius are friends though. Even on the days when you want to hex his favourite appendage off. Would anything with him really be starting it with just sex? You can't compare it to a relationship where you start with dating and getting to know someone through that. It's like you guys would be starting on, I don't know, the fifteenth date."
"Doesn't change the fact that he doesn't do long-term relationships. Have you ever seen him bring home the same witch twice before?" Hermione looked over at Ginny, who frowned at her words.
"Just because he hasn't found someone to have an actual relationship with, doesn't mean he'd never have a relationship ever. You know as well as I do that he loves children and maybe now that he can actually have a normal life, a relationship, marriage, children, that's something he wants for himself as well." Ginny was making some very good points, but this wasn't something they could figure out just between the two of them. Only Sirius could answer these questions in the end, and neither of them was currently inclined to involve the Marauder in their discussion. Even so, talking to Ginny helped.
"Just when did you get so wise?" Hermione asked, keeping her eyes on Ginny who'd started laughing.
"Must have happened while you were out and about shagging my brother." She paused for a moment. "Although I personally believe I've always been like this. Certainly smarter than my brothers, particularly the ones that earned more N.E.W.T.s than any one person needs."
Hermione and Ginny laughed together, Hermione breathlessly saying, "Don't let them hear that!" which made Ginny laugh even harder.
As their laughter died down, Ginny said, "I don't think you have to worry too much about tomorrow. Everyone will be a subtle as a Weasley can be."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about."
"None of us want Mum to actually find out that Charlie and you have been shagging for years. We love you guys too much for that." Ginny threw one of her arms over Hermione, attempting to hug her and Hermione groaned.
"Fine, I'll somehow make it through dinner tomorrow," she said to get Ginny to stop and pushed her away. Both of them turned back on their backs, looking up at the ceiling once more as a much more relaxed silence settled over them.
After a little while, Hermione said, "Thank you for coming over, Ginny. I think this conversation would have been somewhat more difficult with Harry."
"Harry giving you advice on how to get with his godfather," Ginny said with a snort, laughing at the same time as Hermione just a second later.
When they'd regained their composure, Hermione said in a much more sombre voice, "I don't want to get with Sirius. Not really. I think tonight it'd have been part rebound, part alcohol, and maybe a teeny, tiny part attraction." She bit her bottom lip, thinking about how to best explain her muddled thoughts. "I just want to be by myself for a while. No dates, no friends with benefits, no one-night stands. I need to figure out what I want." Ginny nodded, but her expression had shifted ever so slightly, and Hermione got the distinct impression that her friend had begun scheming.
"That sounds awfully adult of you," Ginny remarked. "Then again you're usually the more grown up of the two of us."
"Do you really think that? Look at you - you're married, have a house, an awesome job, and three children. And you're the younger of the two of us. Meanwhile I have an inkling of what I want eventually, but no idea if I'm ready for it." Hermione shook her head. "After, well, everything I wonder if I can still trust my decisions." She sighed and quietly added, "I never used to have that problem." Hermione had to think back to their Hogwarts days and how she was so sure of everything she was doing - S.P.E.W. came to mind.
"You'll figure it out, you always do. "
What if this is the one time I don't, Hermione wondered, but gave Ginny a grateful smile and changed the topic. Much like Sirius, Ginny was curious about some of the particulars of her relationship with Charlie, despite the fact that it involved her own brother's sex life. The younger witch argued that Hermione oughtn't be surprised that she had no shame whatsoever, considering how much of her personality had been shaped by the twins and the fact that she had six older brothers, most of whom she had to live with while they were teenagers.
Ginny ended up staying with her until she had trouble keeping her eyes open at which point she was almost back to sober anyway. Crookshanks had joined them again after a while and curled up on Ginny's stomach, the ginger witch stroking him while she and Hermione were talking. When Ginny left, Hermione dragged herself over to the bed in her own bedroom, falling asleep almost immediately. After the eventful Saturday she'd had, she planned on having a proper lie-in for once.
True to her word, Hermione had a proper lie-in on Sunday. When she finally woke up, it wasn't to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee or the sound of humming from the kitchen and, just for a moment, she was disappointed. With a sigh, she got up and ready for the day, deciding to go out for breakfast instead of staying at home and lazing around, which would only lead to unbidden thoughts about certain men in her life and fretting about the dinner at the Burrow. There was a bakery just down the road that she got bread or croissants from on the weekends - if she had the time, that was - and it normally had a few tables set out, so people could have breakfast or brunch or some tea later in the day. Bundled up in a thick coat, Hermione made her way there, sitting down not much later with a hearty breakfast and a book she'd brought along.
When she went to restaurants or cafés by herself, she always picked a table by the windows. Whenever she looked up from her book, she watched the people going past: some hurried, some were with their families, some seemed to have all the time in the world. Most people looked quite loaded with bags though, and she figured that most of them still had some more Christmas shopping to do. Grinning to herself, she was glad that she'd gotten it out of the way already, so she could bury herself in work for the last week before the holidays started.
A couple of hours and cups of coffee later, Hermione made her way back to the flat. The Weasley family owl was already waiting for her when she got to her living room, perched on her windowsill and clicking her beak furiously when she saw Hermione return. How long had she been waiting for her? Hermione quickly went over to the window, opening it for the bird, and grabbed a few owl treats from a bowl on one of her shelves.
"Sorry, Elvi. I hope you haven't been sitting there for too long," Hermione said while she fed Elvi a few treats and took the note off of her leg. The barn owl gulped the treats down, clicked her beak at Hermione a few more times and then took right off again through the open window. Shaking her head, Hermione closed the window and watched Elvi fly further and further away. The Weasleys had gotten her after the war and normally she was a whole lot nicer to her. Then again, she probably didn't appreciate being kept waiting.
Unfolding the note and reading it quickly, Hermione raised her eyebrows. Mrs Weasley had written her to let her know that the dinner was going to be a birthday dinner for Charlie, who had already come back from Romania last night, would you believe it. Since they so rarely got to celebrate Charlie's birthday these days, Mrs Weasley wanted to pull out all the stops - as if she ever didn't - and asked her to bring along a dessert of some kind, maybe her carrot cake if it wasn't too much trouble for her.
Since Hermione would simply have ended up doing what she'd set out to avoid that morning without the request (lazing around in her living room until it was time to get ready for the dinner at the Burrow, that was), it really wasn't too much trouble. Thankfully no trip down to the shops was needed and so Hermione got cracking on the cake right away. Although focused on the task at hand, she couldn't help but let her mind wander, ultimately fretting, albeit only a little bit, about the dinner.
While Bill, Fleur, Audrey and Percy (as well as their children) wouldn't be coming around that night as far as she knew, those four would have been the ones least likely to let her and Charlie's secret slip. In fact, the only ones likely to spill just what kind of relationship Hermione and Charlie had had for the past six years were the twins. She loved Fred and George, she really did, but even now they sometimes didn't realise when they'd taken a joke too far. With a sigh and a frown and a mood that was reminiscent of Sirius on his bad days, Hermione set the timer for her cake and used the time it took to bake to get ready.
Putting on the finishing touches on her appearance - a little bit of makeup (just because, she told herself) and taming her hair into a messy braid -, her anxiety nearly got the better of her. Tempted to tell everyone she had somehow gotten food poisoning, her plan was foiled when Ginny stuck her head through her fireplace and told her to get a move on and come through to the Burrow. Grumbling to herself, Hermione got the cake from the kitchen and flooed to the Weasley home a few minutes later, dusting herself off after she stepped out of the fireplace. She had just hugged Ginny when Fred, George, Angelina and Katie came through with their children.
Fabian and Paige, the two closest in age, were off to the kitchen, where the rest of the Weasley family had gathered, in a second, Gideon following hot on their heels. Only the youngest of this particular bunch, Roxanne, was left behind because Angelina was holding her, but the little girl was making grabby hands after her older brother and cousins.
"Just a second, Roxy. Let's say hi to Auntie Ginny and Auntie Hermione first," Angelina said to the little girl, standing next to Hermione and Ginny with Katie as they waited for Fred and George to dust themselves off. At the mention of Hermione's name, the twins' heads snapped up, taking one look around the living room before wide grins spread on their faces when their eyes landed on Hermione.
Hermione's heart rate picked up at the look Fred and George were giving her - they looked ready to pounce. Normally she wasn't scared of the two and even now it felt ridiculous considering she'd faced Death Eaters and a Dark Lord in the past. However, she really didn't want Mrs Weasley to find out about her and Charlie. She attempted to escape to the kitchen, but it was futile, because they simply stepped in her way, blocking her escape route.
"Hermione! How good to see you today," said Fred, or rather the twin she'd decided she'd be calling Fred that evening, in a booming voice.
"We wanted to use this chance and tell you that - ", George began, equally as loud, only to break off and letting Fred finish the sentence.
" - you're truly like a sister to us."
"Of course we're not just speaking for the two of us here - "
" - but everyone: Ron, Percy, Bill… Charlie."
"But we do feel so very close to you."
"Although some of us probably feel closer to you than us."
"One could say as if they were right inside of you, perhaps." Hermione contemplated her options as the twins stared at her expectantly, sure that she was going to start yelling any second now. While undoubtedly satisfying for a moment or two, yelling and hexing the twins would draw unwanted attention, Hermione realised. Just moments earlier, she'd been scared of the twins and ready to lose her head, but now there was an eerie calm about her. The twins had actually achieved the opposite of what they'd wanted - there was no way in hell she'd let anything slip that evening.
"Nice try," she said calmly after taking a deep breath. The smile on her face was soft, as if they'd just told her an innocent joke, but it didn't quite reach her eyes - those had a dangerous glint to them. Fred and George's eyebrows had shot up, their expression almost comical if one thought about it. "Now if you'll excuse me, your mum is probably waiting for my cake." She pushed past the twins, elbowing them in the sides for good measure as she went. Angelina, Katie and Ginny gave Fred and George stern looks before following after Hermione into the kitchen, where everyone else was sitting around the already set table.
Hermione set down her cake on one of the few free spaces on one of the worktops and hugged Mrs Weasley, who was watching over numerous pots and pans at the same time as chatting with her children and grandchildren.
"Thanks for the cake, dear," she said, patting Hermione's cheek before gesturing for her to sit down somewhere around the table. Hermione had wanted to avoid Charlie that evening, but as luck would have it, the only free space at the table was across from him, right between Remus and Sirius. With a sigh Hermione plopped down between the two Marauders and said a loud hello to everyone else in the room, not bothering to greet everyone separately because that would just take too long.
She gave Charlie a weak smile before focusing her attention on Remus to her right, who was leaning into her and asking, "How are you doing? Sirius mentioned that the dinner almost slipped your mind."
"Has he now?" Hermione replied sharply, glancing at Sirius, but he was talking to Harry, James and Al and not paying any attention to her and Remus. Glancing back at Remus, she saw that Remus was wearing a look of genuine concern and wasn't actually trying to annoy her with the question. With a small sigh, she said in a much softer voice, "I'm fine, Remus. Thanks for asking." As she took a closer look at Remus, a small frown appeared on her face because Remus was more haggard looking than normally. There had been leaps and bounds in the development and improvement of Wolfsbane over the years, but turning into a werewolf once a month still took its toll on the body, even with the potion around. Eyes widening a little, she realised that the last full moon had only been a couple of nights ago. "How are you doing yourself?"
Remus gave her a lopsided grin and raised an eyebrow at her in a way that made her feel silly for asking, because of course she knew that it would never be pleasant for Remus to turn - but he'd gotten used to it by now, had made his peace with his wolf. "I'm fine, Hermione."
"Another potion master came 'round our place a while back and wanted my handsome husband as a test subject for his version of the Wolfsbane, Friday was the first time they'd tried it," Tonks said with a wide grin, wrapping her arms around Remus and putting her head on his shoulder.
"How'd that go?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows. It was always nice to know people continued improving that potion.
"Only had to take one dose," Remus said, a giddiness to his words that made him seem much younger.
"Wow, that's really impressive," she said, a wide grin on her face. Tonks was grinning just as widely, pressing a kiss to Remus' cheek.
"Can't get much better than that," Remus admitted, wrapping an arm around Tonks. Their conversation was interrupted when Mrs Weasley spoke up and told them that dinner was ready, floating all kinds of delicious-smelling things over to the table and spreading them out along it. Everyone filled their plates with as much food as it could hold before tucking in. For a little while everyone was focused on eating, but it didn't take too long for conversations to start up again - the Burrow was never quiet for too long.
Although focused on her meal, Hermione couldn't help but hold Charlie's gaze a little too long whenever their eyes met, her heart rate picking up when he gave her his typical smirk that usually meant he was going to do something exceptionally naughty to her as soon as they were alone. Except he couldn't make good on that promise any longer. After the fifth time their eyes met and Charlie tugged at the collar of his jumper, revealing a love bite Hermione had given him, she cleared her throat and took a big gulp of her water, looking over at Sirius, only to find him watching her with an amused look on his face.
Clearing her throat once more, she quietly said, "Thanks for sending Ginny over yesterday."
Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "No problem. Wouldn't want you to freak all nice. That would have given you a perfect excuse to skip out on dinner and this is far too hilarious." Hermione gasped at the words, but Sirius just grinned.
"I'm glad my misery is so entertaining to you." Sirius simply gave Hermione one of his 'oh-please'-looks. She frowned and huffed before leaning close to Sirius and whispering, "Yeah, didn't think that would work either. I really don't want this to spread further than it already has though."
"Oh, come on. As if we'd let anything slip. Your secret's perfectly safe with all of us."
"Within half a day the whole family knew!" Hermione said, exasperated.
"Not the whole family or else another Weasley would have paid you a visit last night." Hermione shuddered at the thought - Mrs Weasley would have been unbearable.
"Come on, just relax." Hermione shook her head. How could she relax in this situation? She focused on her food for a while, changing the topic of their conversation to Christmas, asking if he'd gotten all his Christmas shopping done yet. To her surprise Sirius told her with a smug smile on his face that he was in fact ready for Christmas and had gotten all his presents in order.
Just as she was about to tell him about her shopping tour with Ginny and Luna, Fred interrupted her and asked, "Hey, Hermione! Have you seen Charlie's new tattoo yet?" He was loud enough to draw the attention of most people around the table and Hermione licked her lips nervously, looking over at Charlie.
"How would I? I haven't seen him in ages." She tried to sound confident, but it was one thing to just not tell her family and friends something and another thing entirely to lie to their faces - or at least some of them. At the same time she couldn't stop thinking about the tattoo Fred undoubtedly meant: a dragon whose head was nestled on Charlie's hip, but whose body came very close to his private parts before curling around to his arse and ending on his thigh.
"And it's not exactly in a place I'd show Hermione, is it?" Charlie asked the twins with a grin, eliciting snorts from most of the adults around the table.
"That's what we thought, but you never know, do you?" George asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"Oh, stop being ridiculous, you two," Mrs Weasley chided her two sons as she got up from the table, waving her wand to magic the empty plates and leftovers to the sink and worktop. "You really should stop with all those tattoos, though, Charlie. You've hardly got a free spot of skin left on your body." It was a point Mrs Weasley made almost every time Charlie came home, but he simply shrugged. Everyone else turned back to their other conversations while Mrs Weasley levitated three cakes over, including Hermione's carrot cake, as well as plates and forks for everyone. One of the cakes had thick chocolate icing (Charlie's favourite), the words "Happy Birthday" written on it in bright orange letter and a whole bunch of candles on it one of the twins lit with a flick of their wand. They all sang 'Happy Birthday to you' together, which had Charlie smiling brightly before taking a deep breath and blowing out all the candles at once.
Soon everyone had a piece of cake sitting on the plate in front of them, their attention moving away from Charlie as they were tucking in. Before he even took the first forkful of his cake, Charlie caught her eye and smirking at her again he swiped off some of the chocolate icing with his thumb, licking it off and letting his teeth graze over the pad of the digit still holding her gaze. Hermione stared, she knew she was staring, and her breath hitched as she watched him. Just what was he playing at? She shifted in her seat, wetting her lips and finally lowered her gaze, looking down at her plate. It was ridiculous how easily her body reacted to Charlie. If it wouldn't cause more trouble than it was worth, Hermione would have retaliated, but with her luck one of the others would notice - they weren't completely oblivious after all.
Remus disrupted her thoughts a moment later, leaning over and whispering into her ear, "My sense of smell is still rather good, Hermione." She groaned, glancing at Remus and shaking her head at Tonks grinning at her from behind him, the older witch raising her eyebrows at Hermione. Hermione was about to say something, but Sirius tapped her on the shoulder and she looked over at the other Marauder.
"Doubt I ever mentioned this before, but thanks to my animagus form my sense of smell is pretty damn good as well," he said, his voice low enough that only she could hear him.
"Please stop," she muttered, rather flustered as she focused all her attention on her cake. Remus chuckled at her reaction while Sirius' barking laughter filled the kitchen, clearly amused by her predicament. Why couldn't they embarrass Charlie instead of her? Was she such an easy target? A few of the others around the table made comments here and there and by the time everyone had finished their cake, she was on edge again.
As everyone leaned back with contented sighs, Mrs Weasley let her gaze wander over her children and grandchildren. When her eyes landed on Hermione her smile faltered a little and with a sigh she asked, "Hermione, why is it that you never bring along a boyfriend for these things?"
Hermione nearly choked on her drink and the twins used her momentary speechlessness to ask, "Yes, Hermione, why don't you?"
There suddenly was a tension in the air as all eyes were on Hermione, waiting to see what she was going to say. However, it was Charlie who spoke up. "Oh, lay off her. I never bring anyone with me either."
"And why would that be?" The twins asked with wide grins on their faces.
Charlie frowned and said, "Not interested in a relationship like that. Maybe it's the same for Hermione."
"Oh yes, you would know all about what Hermione wants, wouldn't you?" Charlie's ears reddened - he wasn't quite sure how he'd backed himself into that corner. Meanwhile, Hermione refused to look at anyone in particular. It had gotten pretty quiet around the table, at least as far as the adults were concerned. Mrs Weasley was looking from Hermione to Charlie, wondering just why the two of them were acting so strange, why all of her children were being so weird that evening.
Her expression darkened and eyes narrowed after a moment and she asked, "Fred, George, Charlie, what is that supposed to mean?"
"Now Molly, please remember that they were both consenting adults," Remus quiet voice cut through the silence and Hermione stared at him wide eyed.
"And just what would they have to be consenting adults for?" There was a shrill note to Mrs Weasley's voice and the adults exchanged worried glances.
"What does consenting mean?" Teddy piped up, distracting everyone for a moment. Tonks gave Remus an amused look as the werewolf ran a hand through his hair, annoyed at his momentary slip.
"We'll explain later."
Before Teddy could ask again, Mr Weasley got up from the table and said, "Come along, kids, who wants to play with muggle things in the shed?" Apparently everyone but Teddy wanted to go play instead of staying at the table and the young metamorphagus only followed after Mr Weasley when Tonks and Remus told him to run along. Luna went with him, saying that Mr Weasley could probably use their help keeping all the other kids in line.
When the door shut behind Luna, Mrs Weasley glared at everyone still sat around the table, asking once more, "Just why would they have to be consenting adults?" No one wanted to be the one to speak up and tell Mrs Weasley, but in the end Fred said, "Hermione and Charlie have been having fun with each other for the last six years - if you know what I mean."
It took Mrs Weasley a second to let that sink in.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
None of them would have been surprised if that scream could have been heard all the way in Mr Weasley's shed.
A/N: Heya everyone!
This one turned out to be a long one - hope you guys enjoy it c:
I would have waited to update another week, but we don't have a lot going on at work at the moment, so I should be able to get quite a bit of writing in over this weekend and next week, haha.
Also, I've joined a HP fanfic fest on tumblr that I have to write a Charlie/Sirius story for - it's due in July, but I want to get started on that soon, so I have more time to edit. And it'll probably end up longer than I think it'll be right now as well, so the more time, the better. It's not a pairing I've ever written before, but I think it'll be fun because I have a really good idea for it (if I do say so myself).
Anyway, I mention this because I found it kind of amusing that the prompt that spoke to me the most was Charlie/Sirius, when those two feature heavily in this story, and it might mean that over the next couple of months I'll actually stick to my two-week-between-updates-posting-plan. Just wanted to let you guys know!
Hope you're all having a good weekend!
