A/N - Sorry about the amazingly long update time! Been on holiday and not had PC access. Anyhoo, without further ado, here is the conclusion to this tale; thanks for those who have followed it and yeah, it was amazingly cheesy and cliched but a lot of fun to write and all the rest of it.

Cheers!


X

Charlie's Flat

Exeter, Devon

August 18th

9AM

Charlie walked up the stairs leading to his flat, somewhat glad to be home. He'd loved every minute of it but he was glad to be back in his own space. Reaching the door, he fumbled for his keys. He couldn't find them anywhere in any of his pockets. "Funny," he uttered to himself. "I knew I took some with me." Then he remembered that he'd left them with his family. "Sod," he grumbled, trying to open the door which was locked. He could hear people inside – must be Harry and Hermione – but some music was playing fairly loudly; chances are they didn't hear him. He knocked again to no avail. Sighing to himself, he stood looking through the frosted glass on his front door, trying to get their attention.

After a short while, he heard the music get turned down and saw the figure of somebody moving towards the door. It opened and Hermione was there, an enormous smile on her face. "Hello!" she greeted Charlie, hugging him.

"Hello," he replied. "Hey, Harry," he called out, seeing Harry smiling back at him behind Hermione. "Good few days?"

"Welcome back," Harry said happily. "We're just making some breakfast. Come take a seat, Hermione and I have some explaining to do…"

Charlie raised a quizzical eyebrow at the pair as he sat down in his kitchen, an idea brewing in his mind of what the pair would need to 'explain'. Quietly, he hoped to himself that this idea of his was the right one – they deserved each other, after all. Sitting down, he noted that Love Will Set You Free was playing in the background. Hermione served him a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich, of which he was truly grateful.

"Nice music choice," Charlie quipped. "I do love Whitesnake. So, what's this 'explaining' all about then?"

"Right," Harry began, sitting down with a mug of tea. "It all started when I came to live at yours after the breakup. Hermione and I just-"

"I knew it," Charlie interrupted. "I bloody well knew it!" He grinned, raising his mug to them both. "Nice one, you two."

Hermione blushed slightly as Harry continued. "She was just on my mind more and more. And then the night when we danced… As I said to you then, something changed, Charlie. I knew I had feelings for Hermione then. It wasn't a silly dance that night. It was a step in the right direction."

Charlie nodded, taking a bite from his sandwich. "Did you realise everything then?"

"No, after that it all made a bit more sense. I began to look back into our younger years, and…well…everything just seemed to fit. We've always been close… I guess there was a reason for that." He looked up at Hermione, who was looking back at him, smiling, full of radiance.

She kissed him on the cheek. "That's the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time," she said, sighing happily.

"Well then!" Charlie began, jubilantly. "This is all great news. So what about you, Hermione? Did you realise your deep-seated love around the same time?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. The breakup with Ron was hard, but… Harry. He was just on my mind, in my dreams, my thoughts… I look back now, and it's always been about Harry."

"I think," Charlie said, standing. "This calls for a trip to the pub. Drinks are on me!" he yelled, finishing his breakfast.


The Burrow

Ottery St Catchpole, Devon

August 28th

6PM

Charlie, Harry, Hermione and Ron sat around the garden table, enjoying the home-brewed Weasley cider. It was another beautiful late summer's evening and the four of them were enjoying relaxing.

Nearly two weeks had passed since Harry and Hermione had realised their feelings for each other. They had kept it reasonably quiet but Harry had insisted that Ron be told. He'd struggle to keep something like this from his best friend; although it'd be tough for all three of them, he wanted to involve Ron and not see him alienated and pushed away. It was agreed that he was best off knowing, so the pair made a trip to The Burrow and sat down with him, speaking heart-to-heart. To their surprise, he told them he understood and wished them well. Harry and Hermione could sense that it was still a touchy subject with Ron and that they'd have to tread lightly, but they also knew that he meant what he said. Ron had also apologised for anything he said that might have hurt either of them over the summer, and they apologised to him in response. They had patched the friendship up. It was a fragile patch, but a patch nonetheless. Ron had made it clear that he might take some time to get used to their relationship but insisted he would be fine and support them both as his best friends. Since then, Harry and Hermione had visited The Burrow regularly to see him.

Harry had also wanted to settle the score with Ginny, although every time he visited she was never in. "Probably off eating the face off her man," Ron mused, which Harry laughed awkwardly at. Like Charlie, Ron was never a true master of subtlety, but Harry shrugged it off – it was Ron; that's who he was.

As the four of them sat in the afternoon sun, Ron broke the silence once more. "It is a bit odd for me, y'know" – he gestured towards Harry and Hermione, who sat holding hands – "but hey. Like I said before, it's cool! You two are my best friends, after all. We've been through too much for it all to end."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry smiled back at his right-hand man. "To our friendship," he called, raising his pint.

Ron and Hermione echoed the call. Charlie changed the topic of conversation slightly. "So then chaps, back to Hogwarts for you soon eh?"

"Yeah," Ron began. "Should be a good year."

"It's going to be odd, not seeing you as regularly, Charlie." Harry spoke plainly to their friend.

"And likewise to you three! If I can get to Hogwarts without any problems – rather, if they'd let me in! – I'd love to come and visit." He paused. "Anyway, I'd better head back. Got work tomorrow…not quite the exciting life of a wizard but hey, some of us have to live boring, regular lives!" he laughed to himself.

The trio said their goodbyes to Charlie as he made his way homeward. Once he had left, the three of them kicked back and relaxed – something that they had not been able to do properly over their rollercoaster of a summer. Enjoying the late summer evening, they chatted long into the night, revelling in each other's company and looking forward to their forthcoming year at Hogwarts.

~LOVE WILL SET YOU FREE~