At the Moment

A HariPo fanfic

by mew-tsubaki

Note: J.K. Rowling's characters are in another companion story to my fics To the Future, From the Past, and In the Present. As usual, there are O.C.s, but duh, because Charlie's with an O.C. Anywho, please enjoy the story and let me know what you think of it in a review. BTW: I don't know how many chapters this'll last, but it will be shorter than the companion stories.

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The Second Insinuation (& the Eleventh Hint)

The next week was May's last, and it was a week after the kiss. Charlie and Mira had still gone to the library every night, though in discomfited silence. She didn't ignore him, per say, but she chose to either study or read instead of talking to him. And he had been perfectly content with watching her, watching over her.

During his class with the seventh years, he watched Mir catch ellylons with Ginny. The two girls were talking. He supposed it was about Black. Mira only ever got to talk about anything else with him, usually. But her silence had made that a little hard these days.

"I think you're worrying too much," Charlie heard Mira tell Ginny during Care for Magical Creatures. "Riu is definitely the one for you, Ginny. Of course a sudden separation would impact things. It's not you."

Ginny mumbled in feeble agreement. She numbly reached down to catch the blue-capped ellylon, but it scampered underneath an oleander brush. She sighed.

"There's no reaching for an ellylon," Charlie chastised, coming up to the girls. He shot his hand forward and plucked the fairy from the ground by its wings. "I told you to dive for it, Ginny."

Again, her agreement was muttered, and Charlie frowned. She dove for another ellylon, but tripped and fell face-first into the dirt instead. She went at it again, but Charlie caught her as she fell once more.

Charlie sighed. "Gin, this is all for your own good. Someone like you deserves better than someone like him. Continue with this assignment and don't think about him, okay?" Her brother walked away then, as if he had solved everything.

But he hadn't, and Mira glared at his back, angry that he thought he could just say whatever, but also a teensy jealous at Ginny for tripping and being caught by Charlie, his arms around her waist instead of Mira's. She was beginning to sort out her feelings for him, though she hadn't said anything yet, and she understood that her jealousy only gave more evidence that she was in love with him. "I can't believe he said that to you!! I don't care that he's our teacher or your brother! I oughta pop him good for that one!!"

"Mira, don't," Ginny pleaded. "It's nothing. He's just protecting his baby sister."

"Don't give me that excuse! He just doesn't know that Riu is your one-and-only! Your other half! Your soulmate!" Mira felt herself getting too easily worked up over that word, 'soulmate'. After all, Trelawney had told Miraphina that Charlie was her soulmate, the permanent love of her life.

"Mira, stop!" Ginny yelled at her. She huffed a bit and looked away from Miraphina's stunned face. "I don't –I don't want to hear that kind of poppycock right now, so just stop."

Mira superficially recovered. "Yes, okay. Right, then. I think I see some ellylons over there. Shall we?" Mira forced a smile, but Ginny's outburst had caught her off-guard. She observed it as a trait the Weasleys shared: Ron suddenly saved Sirius, Charlie kissed Mira out-of-the-blue, and Ginny abruptly told her or yelled things at her.

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The following week –June's first –found Ginny hailed by Professor Lupin three more times. From what Ginny had told Mira, Ginny could see Sirius –or 'Riu' as Mira called him in code –with Lupin's help, but Mira knew that Ginny was upset about something with Sirius. She'd been making up excuses and not seeing Sirius at all.

"So why bother?" Mira provoked Ginny during their break before supper. They were in the outer halls catching the summer breeze. "If you're not going to push for your relationship when you're tested, why bother staying with him?"

"I don't want to leave him!" Ginny retorted. She frowned and looked away. "I'm just angry with him right now…"

"And as I recall, being angry with him was what got you into this mess in the first place. Who was it arguing with her boyfriend in front of the Room of Requirement? Please, remind me."

The Weasley daughter took several steps towards the indoors. "You wouldn't get it, Mira. Grant's always been perfect for you."

The hurt look on Mira's face made Ginny regret her words, but Mira didn't want an apology. "Don't," she said, holding up a hand when the redheaded witch opened her mouth. Miraphina didn't want to hear anything about the guy who had abandoned her. She stepped past Ginny, saying, "I've got some homework to do, so I'm skipping supper again. I'll see you tomorrow." The Hufflepuff didn't glance over her shoulder to see the guilt on the Gryffindor's face.

As Mira neared the library, she dragged her feet and rearranged the strap of her rucksack a few times. The stress had returned. She could go into the library, face Charlie while thinking of Grant, not know what to say to Charlie because she still hadn't really talked to him since the kiss, and be unhappy all around. In the end, she swallowed the troubles and went in.

Madam Pince wasn't there to watch her like a hawk for once, and that relieved Mira some. The girl sat at her usual table and placed her bag down on the seat beside her. It was very quiet tonight, and there was no sign of Charlie.

Go figure that the one time he's caused all the problems is the one time I want him, she thought as she slowly cracked open her Potions text. I might as well get cracking on my notes, then. She went through her stuff for the class and gathered what she knew was most important, putting the insignificant things at the bottom of the pile. After twenty minutes, though, the notes began to really pile up.

Miraphina stood and stretched once a half-hour had passed. She browsed the shelves behind her and pulled out a title on dragons. Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, because it made her think of Charlie again. She ended up closing the book and returning it to its spot on the shelf, but she had to brush aside some dust first.

It took her a moment to recognize that it wasn't lint. In actuality, it was a pale purple flower. The flower was small, with a long dark green stem. A few more flowers branched off the main stem. Mira picked it up, liking it and its barely-there fragrance.

"Do you like it?"

A part of her had been expecting him to show up then. Miraphina turned around to find Charlie right behind her, leaning against the back of her pushed-in chair. She smiled softly. "Yes, I like it," she answered.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Good. I was wondering if we could have a truce," Charlie stated as he pulled out a few more bunches of the tiny purple flower.

Mira laughed. "Charlie, you don't have to win me over with flowers or gifts of any source. And why do we need a truce?"

"You've been mad at me since I kissed you," he said quietly, a frown in his eyes.

At both of us, really. The brunette inhaled and exhaled before commenting. "Partially," she finally admitted. She took the other flowers from him, her excitement flying off the charts when he purposely brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. "Truce," Mira mumbled, her voice little more than a squeak.

Charlie smiled then. "What, no cockney for me?"

She glared at him, but that only made him laugh.

"Sorry, that was mean, truce," he said in a rush, but the laughter was still there in his voice. "They're sweet peas, by the way."

"They're cute and elegant at the same time," Mira said, staring at the flowers.

"Would you mind my being cheesy if I agreed you're the same?"

She looked at him, seeing a blush dust the apples of his cheeks. "And if I do?"

He leaned forward but stopped, seeming to realize he might kiss her again. Mira wondered if he would ever kiss her again, but she didn't want to push it, not when she still had mixed emotions from the first one.

And that made her stop. Were her emotions really so mixed? Or were they all telling her to go for it?

She looked at him and saw he was waiting for her to speak. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said that the flowers, they represent delicacy," Charlie repeated. He brushed the second bangs that she had streaked a chestnut color behind her ear, and she knew why he had told her that. His unspoken sentence hung in the air between them: 'They're delicate, like you, like us.'

The look in his eyes was it. Mira hugged the flowers to her chest and buried her face in his chest, embracing him, as well. He needed to know that they weren't too delicate.

When she pulled away, she stuffed her things in her bag. It was late, and Madam Pince would probably stick her nasty beak in soon. Charlie waited patiently while Mira packed up.

"You should get back to your place," Mira whispered as they headed downstairs. "You don't want to get in trouble." The look he gave her was a Shouldn't-I-be-telling-you-that look.

"I'm fine. I'm faculty, remember?"

Mira pursed her lips. When they passed the Great Hall and he stayed with her, she wondered what he was up to. Easily enough, she found out. He had wanted to walk her to the Hufflepuff portrait hole.

"Good night, Mir," Charlie said quietly. It was spoken in a hushed, seductive way that made her insides melt.

"Gud noight, Chalie." She blinked and blushed and slapped her forehead all at once while his shoulders shook with silent laughter. Agh! she scolded herself. Not again!!!

"Good to know you're still frazzled," he whispered. He shot her that charming –too charming –smile and left as she entered the canary yellow and black Hufflepuff Common Room.

Mira clutched the sweet peas in her hand. He needed to know that they weren't too delicate, and she would make sure of that tomorrow, after a good night's rest.

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Okay, so maybe May went by kinda fast, but June is a whirlwind of events, so I'm glad I started the Insinuation arc in the previous chappie. Sorry if they made up too fast for ya, but I write in the time lapses, so there really isn't any confusion.

So let's review and march on to 12 (it'll probably be the favorite chapter by far)!!!

Thank you, those who review and even those who haven't! (But especially the reviewers –anyone who's ever gotten a review on their story I'm sure understands how great it feels to get feedback!)

-mew-tsubaki :)

P.S. –A double-post! Thanks to you, o0Black-sand0o!