Disclaimer: The HP universe still belongs to J.K. Rowling

Another big thank you to my awesome Beta Clover Bay!


So Hermione started to take a little more care of her appearance before she was to meet him, she smiled at him more brilliantly and she tried to touch him "accidentaly" as much as possible. She knew, however, perfectly well she was not a great seductress, unless the guy was seduced by her vast knowledge.

Also Charlie didn't treat her any different than before and she started to feel a little disheartened. She told herself to simply accept the fact, that Charlie didn't like her that way.

So she went back to how things between them had been before, which mainly meant a lot less akward since she's been very consious about every move she made while trying to seduce him.

So one night they were going for a walk and Hermione told him with much laughing and giggeling the story of Ron and his latest conquest that turned out to be a guy that had used some polyjuice potion. Of course Ron had been too embarrassed to tell her the story, but Ginny had told her everything in great detail in her last letter.

Charlie looked at her surprised and said: "Doesn't that bother you, I thought you and Ron were together."

Now it was her turn to be surprised as she replied: "Well, we kind of had a … a thing right after the war, but that was over almost as soon as it had started. We're better of as friends and now Ron is enjoying the peeks of being a bachelor and a war hero."

Charlie smiled weakly but seemed deep in thought for the rest of the evening.

XYX

Soon the days got shorter and colder and work at the plant preserve was a little less busy. Christmas was approaching and Hermione had vacation for two weeks during the holidays and New Year. She decided to spend the first week with her parents in Australia and the second with the Weasleys and Harry.

Charlie had only gotten one week of vacation over New Year, so she would see him again at the Burrow.

It was quite a change to leave the cold Romanian winter for the hot Australian summer. Hermione enjoyed being spoiled by her parents again and her mother noted happily that her daughter looked a lot healthier and happier than the last time she had seen her.

They spent most of the time at the beach and Hermione was happy and content that the relationship with her parents was closer and better than it had been in years.

Her father approved very much of her working in the preserve, he thought it was good for her to get to know hard work.

Her mother wanted to know more about that Charlie guy that made her daughters eyes shine so much. She listened amused to Hermione's reasoning as to why or why not he might like her more than just a friend. After everything that Hermione had told her it sounded to her as if that Charlie liked her too,as more than a friend, that is.

The week went by fast and she told her parents to visit her at the preserve in spring.

They readily agreed, though for different reasons. Her father was really curious about dragons and her mother was really curious about a certain dragon tamer.

XYX

Again it was a big change from sunny Australia to dreary England. It had snowed a bit for Christmas, but the last few days the rain had turned the snow into a mass of grey snow slush. The English weather certainly hadn't been something she had missed while away.

But her friends and surrogate family soon made her forget about the dreadfullness outside. Especially one friend made her feel warm inside. True it had only been a week since she last saw him but she had missed him nonetheless.

But soon Ron, Harry and Ginny monopolized her time and they had so much to talk about. Ron had started Auror training and enjoyed it immensely. He still didn't want to commit himself to a serious relationship but he had gotten a lot more careful after the polyjuiced guy.

Ginny was having the time of her life playing professional Quidditch. Hermione was quite surprised to see pictures and interviews of her in magazines (Harry collected them all).

Harry looked content, with Ginny in his arms and surrounded by his friends and surrogate family. Hermione was happy for them but couldn't help but send a wistful glance at Charlie now and then.

Charlie spend most of the time with Bill, she knew that they were really close. At the moment he had his little niece Victoire on his lap and was pulling faces to amuse her.

That made her wonder whether Charlie wanted his own family one day and for a short moment she imagined that little girl on his lap with a mop of bushy red hair on her head instead of the beautiful blond locks.

She really had to stop this line of thinking. He apparently wasn't interested in her that way, no matter what her mother thought and she should move on and not daydream about what their children might look like.

He chose exact that moment to look at her and give her a cheeky smile and a wink. Hermione turned beet red and threw herself eagerly into the discussion of her three friends about which team might be the biggest competion for Ginny's team about which Hermione was abolutely clueless of course.

Surrounded by all those people Hermione and Charlie didn't get to spend as much alone time as she would have liked. He seemed to seek her out though whenever she had a moment to herself.

He had asked her about her parents and told her about how Bruno and Hilda had grown and had already reached the size of a horse. Their fights had already gotten so intense that they had to put them in different enclosures during daytime, at night, however, they still wanted to snuggle with each other to fall asleep.

She also noticed how he would try to get a seat next or across from her at the table and how he would brush her arm with his, or touch her back lightly. She hoped his touches were as accidental as hers had been. Whenever their eyes met across the room he would wink or smile at her which caused the butterflies in her stomach to flutter and a silly grin to appear on her face that she couldn't get rid of for the next few minutes.

She was glad that Ron was his usual oblivious self and that Harry and Ginny were busy doting on each other, or they might have noticed something.

It seemed, however, that other people were not quite as blind as to what was going on between them, whatever that might be. Bill started to smirk at her in the most annoying way; and one day while she helped Molly in the kitchen the older women told her with a knowing smile, how happy she was that she and Charlie got along so well.

Of course Hermione's restless mind immediately went into overdrive and started to analize every smile, wink and gesture trying to find out what his intentions were. She had to admit though that she couldn't come to a conclusion and that it might be best to just tell him at least rudimentary how she felt about him. Or if the perfect moment arose maybe she could even kiss him (like the kiss between her and Ron).

Of course the perfect moment to kiss him never came up. And whenever she tried to tell him about her feelings or ask him about his, her Gryffindor courage flew straight out of the window, and she almost chocked on the words she didn't say.

So Hermione spend the fews days until New Year's day in a mixture of hope, giddiness whenever he smiled at her or brushed her arm and misery about her uncertainty.

The Weasleys had invited pretty much everyone they knew and liked for a big party on New Year's eve. They had put up a big tent in the garden behind the Burrow and it was Ginny's and Hermione's task to take care of the decoration.

While Hermione had something classy and unobtrusive in mind, Ginny seemed to think the more the better. The result was definitely colorful and Hermione later denied having anything to do with it.

There were lots of food and drinks and she enjoyed seeing friends from school and the order again and catching up with everyone.

Later some music was played and people started dancing. Hermione had danced with almost every male in attendance and she still hadn't seen Charlie anywhere. She got a little disappointed.

That was when two strong arms circled around her waist from behind and she heard a familiar voice whisper into her ear "care to dance?".

She turned around in his arms, already slightly tipsy from the punch and the music, and maybe that's the reason why she clung closer to him then she normally would have.

She was very aware of his arms around her, her hands on his shoulder and his intoxicating scent.

They kept dancing until it was time for the countdown and the start of the New Year. They stood with his arms around her waist and her hands on his shoulders.

Ten

He tipped her chin with his finger to make her look at him.

Nine

She suddenly became very aware of how close he was and blushed.

Eight

He gave her a smile that made her knees go weak.

Seven

She nervously started playing with his hair.

Six

He softly caressed her lower back.

Five

She started drowning in those beautiful eyes of his.

Four

He tenderly caressed her face before his fingers moved to play with her hair.

Three

She tightened her grip on him

Two

He pulled her closer to him.

One

They moved their heads until they're lips met for a tender first kiss.