Chapter 7

The first month of the law flew by. Hermione spent a lot of time with Charlie, just getting to know each other. Charlie had taken her to Romania one weekend to see the dragon reserve he worked on. They spoke often about the rights of dragons, as well as other creatures, and Charlie thought she would love the reserve.

As Charlie was showing Hermione around he told her he had a surprise for her. He covered her eyes with his hands, which made her immediately tense up. "You're going to have to trust me, Mia. No peeking," Charlie's excitement was evident in his voice. Hermione laughed and relaxed, nodding against his hands. She still couldn't figure out how the nickname came into existence, but she secretly liked having a name that was specifically Charlie's. She knew he would never do anything that would put her in danger. Slowly, Charlie began to guide her forwards. After what felt like hours of walking, Charlie stopped.

"This is my favourite spot on the reserve. I thought you would enjoy it. Now, I'm going to take my hands off on the count of three." Charlie explained after he had turned her slightly to the side. Again, Hermione nodded against his hands, a smile on her face. "Ok, one. Two. Three!"

Charlie let go of Hermione's face, and she gasped. They were standing on a grassy hill. The hill looked out over the different habitats of the reserve. It was a breath-taking sight. But what made Hermione tear up was the sunset. The sun was huge as it sank towards the earth, beautiful colours flooded the sky. She saw a few silhouettes against the sun and realized they were dragons flying around in the sky.

Hermione turned towards Charlie, the awe still apparent on her face. Charlie beamed at her. He had known she would love it, but what he didn't know was that watching her taking in the sight was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He realized he was falling hard for the witch in front of him. Before he could think about it he stepped forward and kissed her.

Charlie wrapped his arms around the girl to hold her tighter against him as he kissed her. He had assumed that the kiss would surprise her, but she didn't hesitate for a second. She wrapped her arms around his neck, grabbing the hair at the back of his head. For several minutes they stood there on that hill getting lost in each other. Hermione felt like her heart was going to explode from the intensity and happiness she felt.

Eventually, they needed to breathe and broke apart. Charlie smiled shyly at Hermione, who smiled back. He took her hand while conjuring up a blanket. The couple sat down watching the sun disappear behind the horizon. They talked about everything. Charlie told her how he felt guilty that he didn't do more during the war, and she told him what she went through. She told him never to feel guilty, but to be glad he didn't have to go through it. They found they had a lot of things in common, both mentally and even quirks. They both had a habit to bite their lip while reading. They both put others before themselves, jumping in when anyone needed a helping hand. Hermione had begun to realize she was falling in love with Charlie. It made her nervous, she didn't know how to deal with the feelings she had for the Dragon Tamer.

Hermione and Ron had also recovered over that first month. After the first night Ron apologized, going back to the friendship they had before the Law happened. Hermione was glad that Ron had seemed to accept that she didn't love him, she hoped he would give Pansy a chance. Meanwhile, Ron kept thinking about how the plan would change things for the better.

Hermione and Ginny spent every evening together, planning their weddings. Hermione didn't want to wait until they were almost out of time so she had chosen to be married November 20. She had told Charlie that that was her parents' anniversary, and he immediately said they needed to have it as theirs as well. He wanted to make sure she felt her parents were honoured at their wedding. Ginny had decided she wanted a Christmas Eve wedding. Hermione thought that was cutting it pretty close, since the deadline was December 31. Hermione worried about Ron, he hadn't mentioned anything about his wedding.

Ron and Pansy had been owling quite frequently, not that any of their friends or family knew about it. At first it had been only business, making sure the plan was sorted completely. They had their own code and everything. Eventually they started talking about other things. They would never admit it out loud but they actually had a lot in common.

Ron had invited Pansy to accompany him to a couple of weddings, to keep up appearances. Pansy agreed, but insisted he had to accompany her to some of her friends' as well. Luckily, some of their friends were marrying each other, which made things easier.

The first one they went to together was Blaise Zabini and Luna Lovegood. They were both nervous as people would be seeing them together, but they knew it had to be done.

The two actually had a lot of fun together, not that they would ever admit it. They danced all night, and laughed at each other's jokes. Pansy had never smiled so much in her life. Ron decided Pansy was even more beautiful when she smiled.

Pansy introduced Ron to her parents, and they seemed to approve. Ron had some difficulty shaking her father's hand, knowing he had been a Death Eater, but when he got talking to him he realized he was actually a really nice man. He even brought up the war and explained that he had realized after it was over how wrong the Dark Lord was about muggleborns. He was trying to turn over a new leaf, and Ron decided he would do his best to help. He really did like Mr. Parkinson. Draco even came over and shook Ron's hand. Ron didn't want to talk to the ferret, but Pansy insisted. Ron felt jealous that Pansy wanted to spend so much time with Draco. But he realized that if the plan worked out she would be marrying him in less than three months.

It was Pansy's turn to meet the Weasley brood at Seamus Finnigan and Susan Bones' wedding, which was at the beginning of October. Pansy was extremely nervous, she didn't know how to interact with them. However, she needn't have worried. Mrs. Weasley immediately gave her a hug and started fussing over how thin she looked. Pansy was surprised at how much she liked the caring nature of Mrs. Weasley. She had the strangest thought of her life – if money really was everything, why did Mrs. Weasley seem so happy without it? Hermione even gave her a hug, chatting with her. At first Pansy stuck her nose up at Hermione, but the witch was persistent. Eventually, Pansy began to realize that Hermione wasn't the know-it-all stuck up bookworm that she had seemed at school. Pansy started to realize why Ron liked her, and began to feel a bit jealous of the witch.

Ron and Pansy started owling more openly, often including messages from their parents. Ron started to feel like if this was a real relationship he would be happy. But he knew he was meant for Hermione, so he wouldn't let himself accept his new feelings.

A/N: Phew it has been way too long lovely readers! I am sorry times a MILLION for the excruciatingly long wait. Unfortunately my house burned down in February so the last few months have been a bit ridikulus (hehehe had to). Thank you all for your support of this story! I LOVE YOU ALL!

I am going to try and get a few more chapters up asap to make up for my appalling absence.

Please read, review, follow and/or favourite this story. Let me know where you would like to see this story head to. The next chapter will be the fulfillment of The Plan ;) Will they go through with it? Will they break their own hearts in the process? Will they get CAUGHT? Only time will tell ;)

Until next time,

missmysterygirl out