I know it has been a bit since I updated this! Thank you for the awesome reviews... lol I thought I was spelling Hogwarts wrong. I know I need to go back and edit like crazy. Hope you like it.

UNTIL I FIND A BETTER PART OF ME
Chapter Twenty-Four

As they drew closer to the Reserve, Charlie could tell Hermione was still nervous. The way that she got lost her in thoughts, nibbled her bottom lip, and stared at her feet were all signs that pointed to just that. He smirked as he watched the incredibly intelligent and clever woman with their bags floating behind her in a line. She was focused and distracted by her thoughts, but she still managed to multitask. She battled Voldemort and helped Harry takedown an evil that almost destroyed the world they knew yet she was afraid of meeting a bunch of rowdy and ballsy dragontamers. He grabbed her hand and tugged her to face him.

"Sweetness, there's nothing to worry about."

Hermione's eyes met his. "I-I know."

The uncertainty in her voice wasn't lost on him. He sighed then and shook his head as he pulled her closer. He gave her a chaste kiss before giving her a one-armed hug. His lips brushed against the top of her head then across her temple.

"They are going to…"

He was in the midst of reassuring her when he heard roaring shouts of his name. He frowned, glancing up for a moment. His eyes widened when three burly men were headed their way. He was momentarily ripped from Hermione as one of them had grabbed him and swung him about in a bear hug. The other two were pounding their fist on his back with celebratory hoots. He groaned as he tried to breathe.

"Adrian, put him down!" Henric roared from next to them, chuckling at Charlie's misfortune. "You don't want to reinjure him."

When Adrian finally put him down and released him from the bear hug, Charlie stumbled and both Henric and Anton steadied him. For a moment, they all just stared at each other before Charlie drew both of them into a hug. There were more celebratory shouts and hoots and pounding of fists until they finally calmed down a bit. Charlie noticed Hermione standing to the side, looking a bit confused but definitely amused by the entire scene. He chuckled as he pulled Hermione to him once again and placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Guys, this is my fiancée, Hermione," Charlie introduced. He gestured to the men in front of them. "Hermione, this big bear of a man is Adrian. That over there is the king of lousy jokes, Henric, and Anton is even more of a daredevil than me when it comes to dragons."

Hermione looked at all them then put out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

All three of the men looked at each other then grinned as they pulled her into a hug in the same way they had done with him. However, it had less roughhousing. Hermione chuckled as all three of them started peppering her with questions about Harry, how they had always wanted to meet the Golden Trio, and obviously ribbed on Charlie with questions on why she would ever want to marry him. She took it in stride and gave some snarky responses, which cemented her into their inner circle. Charlie couldn't have been happier that his three closest mates were getting along with his fiancée.

"Alright, alright!" he said, shaking his head at their antics. "We don't want to chase my fiancée away."

"No, of course not!" Anton agreed, with his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "I need you to come back permanently. None of these guys know how to spot me and have my back the way you do." He showed both Charlie and Hermione a burn mark on his arm. "I got this, because Henric over there was too focused on wooing Jasmine."

Jasmine. The name sent a jarring halt to Charlie's excitement. Nervously, he glanced over to Hermione, who hadn't noticed the change in his behavior thankfully. He had never told her about Jasmine. Why would he? Jasmine really wasn't a girlfriend. A lover that shared his bed over the years certainly, but they had never made it into anything. Jasmine had been well aware of his dilemma with commitment. She had even managed to extract the information about Tonks from him one night when they had gotten horribly drunk on their night off. So they had remained friends with benefits rather than even attempt to make something out of it, not that he would've even allowed it to happen.

Not that Jasmine wasn't the type of woman a man wouldn't want... she actually was. She was perfect for a dragontamer, considering she was a dragontamer. The woman was brave and fierce. She was a risk taker and a daredevil. She had the mind and drive of a dragontamer, but she was all woman. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he remembered quite vividly their extracurricular activities outside of dragontaming. He felt guilty that he hadn't even remembered Jasmine at all during his time home. He had never sent her any correspondences. Yes, they weren't together, but Jasmine had always been a good friend.

"How has Jasmine been?" he asked his mates.

The three of them looked at each other wide-eyed then glanced at Hermione. He almost groaned at the look that crossed Hermione's face. She may have missed his reaction in the beginning, but she certainly observed the awkwardness that followed. Although, she didn't question him in front of his mates, she did pin him with a foreboding look.

"Well, mate, I wouldn't count on her being very… welcoming," Anton said, patting him on the back. "Anyways, men, let us get this welcoming party started, shall we? Everyone has been waiting for your arrival." He turned his attention to Hermione. "They all can't wait to meet you. We've never had anyone famous set foot on the Reserve."

Charlie watched as Anton drew Hermione into conversation, leading her slightly ahead of them. He looked at Adrian and Henric, who gave him an apologetic look having witnessed the exchange between Charlie and Hermione. Henric sighed, shaking head as he put an arm around Charlie's shoulder as they started walking to base camp.

"I take it you didn't tell your beautiful fiancée that Jasmine warmed your bed for pretty much years."

He squeezed his eyes shut then shrugged. "Jasmine and I were never truly together, Henric."

"I know this, but you did have something going on," Henric told him. "And women are still women. Even if you say that nothing is going on, in their mind, there is always something going on. She took it pretty hard that you're engaged, Charlie." He paused for a moment then smirked. "If you're feeling that bad, I wouldn't mind taking that pretty warhero off your hands-"

Charlie shoved Henric away roughly. "Don't even think about it. Don't you even dare lay one finger on her."

"Ah, I see that I hit a nerve," Henric chuckled as he nudged Adrian. "It seems our dear Charlie has met his match."

Adrian chuckled at Henric's teasing. Charlie just rolled his eyes before he drew Henric to him and ruffled his hair. He then let his arm hang around Henric's shoulders as they all walked into base camp, where they were met with more celebratory greetings. Charlie almost groaned when he caught the sight of Jasmine introducing herself to Hermione. It had been awhile since he had seen Jasmine, but she hadn't changed a bit. She was still a dark beauty and she hadn't changed. The way that she was smirking at him and the look in those devious and mischievous eyes, Charlie felt a dread wash over him as Hermione glanced over at him as well with a narrowed suspicious look. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, shaking his head. This wasn't a good a start.

Obviously noticing the scene playing out, Henric chuckled as he handed him a mug of brew. "You may need this. Welcome home, Charlie."

Charlie glared down at his mug before he lifted the drink to his mouth and took a huge gulp. His eyes stayed upon Hermione as she continued to give him a questioning look while people introduced themselves to her. It seemed as though he didn't even need to introduce her to anyone, because they all were happy to make her acquaintance. His eyes slid to Jasmine who was giving him the 'same up-to-no-good' smirk and he growled. No, he didn't come this far with Hermione to lose her over his ex-lover's devious games.

"Oh yes," he muttered, glancing at Henric and Adrian, who had witnessed the silent exchanges between Charlie and Hermione and Charlie and Jasmine. "Quite a welcome home."

"I can't believe I was complaining of no entertainment at all," Henric told them, with a shrug. "All I have to do is wait for Charlie to come home."

Charlie playfully shoved Henric. "I'll feed you to the dragons, Henric."

"Aw, you wouldn't do that to me."

"Don't push me."

Hermione was grateful when Charlie finally slid up against her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She glanced up at him and smiled in appreciation. He placed a kiss on her forehead before he tilted her chin up with a hold from his fingers as he gave her a thorough and possessive but short kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't question it.

"I guess I didn't need to be scared," she told him. "Everyone introduced themselves."

He gave her a small smile. "You like it here so far?"

She glanced around, looking around base camp. It was a large tent with tables on the perimeter, fire pit in the center, and rows of long benches around it. The people had been friendly and welcoming, except for one woman. She didn't know what to think about her. The moment she found out her name, she knew why she felt strange around Jasmine. The way Jasmine's eyes had looked her up and down, she felt liked she was being judged and taken inventory of. Her assessment had finished with a satisfied smirk and those eyes held a secret within them that Hermione knew she wouldn't like. She knew that this Jasmine was the woman that Charlie and his mates were talking about.

She was certainly a beautiful woman that had this dark streak in her. Hermione supposed if she worked into this type of work, there probably would be an element of danger within her. In all the dragontamers she met, they all had the same fiery but dangerous nature to them. They were all natural daredevils. They would have to be considering they worked voluntarily with dragons.

She bit her lip as she realized that Jasmine was the only woman dragontamer. There were other women here as well and surprisingly children as well. There were families here and she found that she didn't quite feel so awkward anymore. She met Cheryl, Anton's wife, and his young children, May and Ambrose. She instantly got along with Cheryl and she didn't miss Anton's smile of approval at the budding friendship.

"Her-Hermione?"

She flushed, realizing she had gotten lost in her thoughts. Her eyes focused on a concerned Charlie looking into her eyes. She gave him a bright smile as she gave him a gentle kiss.

"Of course."

Relief was visible on his face. "I saw you talking to Micah."

"He told me I could stop by tomorrow and he'd show me around the tent," she told him excitedly. "He has some books, scrolls, and manuals that I can read over about dragon medicine. I didn't know you wrote him about the pads I made you. He thinks it's a brilliant creation and would like to enhance the features."

Charlie chuckled. His fingers stroked her hip. "Sounds like you have a lot to do with our time here."

"Oh, you don't mind do you?" she asked as her face fell. "I know you wanted to show me around and-"

"Sweetness, showing you around is pretty much selling you the idea of living here and having you be comfortable with it," he told her with a chuckle. "The fact you want to jump into work straight away… well, it makes it even more obvious that you and I are truly alike."

Hermione grinned, grasping his hand. "Make sure you wear the pads. That's all I ask."

"You don't mind if I help out?"

"Of course not," she told him. "Anton, Henric, and Micah were telling me about Graehanna and her young. They say that one of younglings, Amber, broke her wing, but they haven't managed to separate them so Micah can repair the wing."

Smiling, Charlie nodded his head, clearly impressed that she was attentive and concerned about what was going on in the Reserve. "Yes, they told me about that as well. We're trying to figure out how it can done and if it can be done."

"Well, I figure you can help out with the team while Micah shows me around," she told him. "He said he didn't mind giving me a tour. He said it would be better this way anyway, because he'll be able to show me the ropes. Oh, he wants to show me this new dragon illness strand and-"

Hermione gasped into Charlie's kiss, silencing her effectively. When he finally pulled away, he was just smiling brightly at her. "You really are okay being here, aren't you?" He kissed her again, pulling her closer. "Blimey, I was so scared that somehow you'd end up hating it here."

"It's growing on me. It's different from what I thought it was going to be," she admitted, looking around. She winked at him. "Ask me in two weeks and we'll see if this feeling sticks."

"Oh, I bet I can make living here worthwhile, Sweetness."

She bit her lip, loving the way his eyes shimmered in light of the fire. "Mm, I bet you could."

She looked back towards the fire pit. She loved the feel of his arms around her as he pulled her closer. Her eyes continued to stare at the dancing flames until she felt Charlie tense against her. She frowned, looking up at him, but he wasn't paying attention to her. She followed his line of sight and realized he was looking straight at Jasmine across the tent. The dark beauty was gazing back at him with a deadly fire burning them. She glanced back and forth between the two before he cottoned unto the fact she had noticed the exchange between him and Jasmine. He had the grace to look ashamed as he averted his eyes. She felt his arms tight around her almost protectively and she couldn't help but draw her attention back to the woman.

Hermione caught the flash of jealousy and anger in Jasmine's eyes and she realized that she had been right all along with her instincts. There definitely had been something that had been going on between Charlie and that woman now meeting her eyes and smirking. She had felt it the moment that her name was spoken and the way Charlie had awkwardly asked about the woman. The look in Jasmine's eyes was a bit unnerving as they burned into her as if they were issuing out a challenge and a promise of a battle of sorts. Instinctively, she placed a hand over Charlie's wrist as if she was marking her territory, which was absurd, considering Charlie wasn't property. Yes, he was her fiancé, but he wasn't hers. He didn't belong to her and that thought burned a fear into her just like those eyes of Jasmine. Those same fears that Ron had ignited into her all those years ago caused her heart to clench and her stomach to pitch. Jasmine had the body that Ron described that Charlie went after and she definitely had the strength of character that Tonks had... and they obviously had history.

Jasmine's smirk got wider as she gave Hermione a knowing look before she flicked her hair by pushing it over her shoulder. Hermione watched her turn around and walk towards a group of the dragontamers sitting down at one of the tables. Ask me in two weeks, huh? she thought to herself. Try a second.