New chapter, part II of the last chapter.
I hope you will like this ending.
JSkyLady2020 welcome :)
LadyHawkCC welcome :)
Alyanarr welcome :)
sodasgirl1 welcome :)
and finally for this week Vadergirl2006 welcome :)
xx,
...
...
« Come in » Hermione said
It was Charlie.
The young man had come back to England about two weeks ago but she had only seen him, once, when he had come to the Ministry to give his letter of resignation to Kingsley.
Kingsley had tried to convince him to keep his Auror's position. He had told the Dragon's lover that he was a bloody good Auror and had even offered him a raise. It was a real loss for the Ministry but Charlie had made his choice.
For Kingsley, Charlie's decision meant more than loosing one of his Aurors. Indeed, he was also loosing Alicia. Aurors had a longer maternity leave for obvious reasons and even though Alicia had offered to work on the formation of the aurors in training until December, Kingsley did not know how to compensate the loss of two of his best Aurors. Besides, Kingsley was quite sure that Alicia would change her mind about coming back to the Aurors' section after giving birth. Like many witches, she would ask her transfer to another department.
At least, Harry and Ron had decided to keep running after the bad guys, they were now teaming with Audrey and the trio was kicking arses everyday.
...
Hermione was staring at Charlie. She was surprised to see him, she had not expected him at all. Except Fred and George who had lunch with him once, nobody had seen him since he had come back from Romania.
She, gently, asked him what he wanted, if she could help him.
« I hope so. You are the brightest witch of your generation, aren't you? » he replied nervously but with a smile
She offered him a cup of tea and replied:
« I don't think I am and I am certainly not the brightest one in the area that you are seeking advice for but I am getting better at listening to people so go ahead. »
He refused the cup of tea, he did not have enough time, as he had to meet Alicia at St Mungo.
« Alicia has entered her third month, nine weeks already and today, we are going to find out if it is a girl or a boy, so I can not be late. »
Hermione blinked, she did not know that it was possible for witches and wizards to learn the sex of the baby that early on. She sighed, nine weeks already and four months since the battle of Hogwarts, it was astonishing.
She smiled back at Charlie and told him that everyone knew that it was a boy, what else could it be. Charlie chuckled and sat on the corner of Hermione's desk.
« Who knows? It could be a girl. Alicia and I both feel it is a girl but anyway I haven't come to see you to pick a color. »
Hermione nodded and asked him what was bothering him.
...
Charlie shared his feelings with Hermione. He told her everything from his first meeting with the 11 years old Alicia to their night together almost three months ago and what had led them to that night.
He told her that during his trip, he had missed Alicia more than he would have ever imagined. He had missed small things, like the sound of her laugh or her smile. He needed her in his life, when she was not around something was missing. He had never felt like that before, never and he would have never imagined that he would ever feel something that strong for someone.
He was seeking for advice, relationship advice. He had been a one night stand man, with man, for years and falling for a woman was new and very unexpected.
He had picked Hermione because he did not know with who else he could talk. He could not speak with his siblings, he did not really have friends around as he had been living out of England for years and the few persons with whom he could speak with where too close to Alicia and since he did not think that Harry could help him, there was only one person left: Hermione. She was friend with Alicia but their friendship was only from a few weeks ago so their bond was not that strong yet.
...
« I don't know what to do Hermione. Alicia has accepted to come to live with me but she also wants to know where we stand. Why did you jump with Fred? I mean, you aren't just dating my brother, you are going to marry him. I think that if someone had told you a year ago that you would be engaged to Fred before your last year of school, I just don't think that you would have believed it, so what changed in four months? » asked Charlie who was staring at Hermione
Hermione bit her lips and explained Charlie why he was wrong.
« Everything has changed but unlike you are thinking, if someone had told me what would happen, I would have been surprised but happy, very happy. I have always loved Fred, I just never thought that I would have him. I tried to forget about him but I never succeeded. My brain tried to fool my heart without success. I did not jump, not really, I just listened to my heart. What is yours telling you?» she asked nicely, she really wanted to help she just did not know how
« Would not be here, if I knew, would I? » he said curtly
Hermione disliked his comment, she was only trying to help.
She had always liked him but it was easy to like someone that used to be absent most of the time, was not it?
Lately, he had disappointed her. It was a complicated situation but as Mr Weasley had said Charlie was 25 years old not 12 and he had slept with Alicia because he wanted to. In Alicia's shoes, Hermione would have killed him.
Actually, what Ron had implied, a few months ago, about what Fred would do if he knocked her up was pretty much what Charlie was doing with Alicia. Perhaps Ron was more intuitive than what everybody thought, he had just picked the wrong brother.
...
She took a deep breath and asked seriously:
« Look Charlie, I know that this is not what you might want to hear but are you sure that those feelings aren't just growing because Alicia is pregnant with your baby? »
Charlie shook his head and assured her that they were there before and he added:
« I was not ready to accept them. You know what sucks the most, Vasyl, my ex boyfriend, helped me to understand myself and my feelings, for a girl. When I arrived there after our trip to Paris, he did not even try to kiss me. He knew that things were over and that there must be someone else as the war had ended months ago. I told him everything and he told me that something must have been there, for a very long time, as I have kept Alicia's letters all those years. »
« Alicia sent you letters, when? » frowned Hermione who had thought that the love letters had been an invention of Fred and George.
A love letter, it was a romantic gesture but way too often misunderstood, specially between teenagers. Writing to Fred had crossed her mind a few years back but back then she was terribly scared of Fred's reaction. She used to picture him reading the letter in the common room or worst in the great hall, and the humiliation would have been unbearable.
...
She asked Charlie again about the letters, she really wanted to know even though she could see that Charlie had turned red and was uncomfortable. She did not care, he had mentioned the letters, not her. If he did not want to share any intimate details with her, he should not have come.
«I thought you knew about them, Bill has been making fun of me for years and thanks to him all my siblings know about them. Alicia wrote to me on Valentine's day of her second year and then she sent me a few letters the summer after I graduated. I never replied, obvisouly but I never threw away them either. I know that she was thirteen years old but nobody has never said anything that beautiful to me. Over the years, I did read them whenever I was feeling down and believe it or not but that was often. » explained the dragon's lover who was terribly embarrassed
Hermione's heart was melting and told Charlie that it was definitely a proof that something had always been there.
...
Somehow her story and Alicia's were similar. Friends with the Weasleys and in love with one of their older brothers, a never ending love for aforementioned older brother.
If Andromeda had not helped her to deal with her feelings, she could have been in Alicia's position. Encouraged by the older witch, she had opened her heart to Fred and it had been the best decision that she had ever taken.
She told Charlie about her many conversations with Andromeda and her conversation with Dumbledore the day of the battle of Hogwarts. She told him that Dumbledore confessed that he regretted to have not listen to his heart enough during his life. She even told him about Andromeda and Kingsley. After observing them all summer, Hermione was convinced that they were soulmates who had lost their ways to each other and she did not wish that to anyone.
« They are still in love. You should see how Kingsley looks at Andromeda and what should I say about Andromeda' smile when Kingsley comes to Grimmauld Place. Her smile enlightens the house. Harry and I would like to help them to cross that line that they are so afraid of but it is complicated, we have to deal with more than 25 years of living separately. Time is love's enemy. »
« Does that mean that your advice is telling me to jump? » asked a confused Charlie
She nodded. Yes, that was her advice.
« Perhaps you and Alicia aren't destined to be together or perhaps you are, there is only one way to find out, try. I have spent weeks trying to find out if saving Fred's life was written or not. I have read tons of books and I would still be looking for the answer if Fred had not told me that he did not wish to know. He told me that he did not want us to waste time looking for an answer, death is part of our lives and there is not much we can do about it except live our lives. »
Charlie agreed and let her continue
« You know, I risked everything to save your brother and when it comes to your brother, I will always risk everything. Every moment that I spend with Fred is worth the risk and that will never change. Fred has taught me that living is better than regrets. He is teaching me how to live and between you and I, I am really enjoying the lessons. » she said with a smirk
Charlie laughed, she had sounded exactly like Fred. He took Hermione's hands and thanked her for sharing her love's journey.
« I like that my love's journey with Frederik Gideon Weasley. »
« You should write a book, it would become a best seller for sure. » mocked Charlie
They both laughed and only stopped because Charlie's watch started to ring. He had to leave. Before to let him go Hermione made him promise to tell her about the sex of the baby as soon as he and Alicia would be out of St Mungo.
...
Alone in her small office, she looked at her rings as she was thinking about the conversation that she had just had with Charlie. She remembered how unsure she was at the beginning of the summer. She could not say when her doubts and fears had left her. Was it after that lunch at the local bar, after their first date, after their first trip to the black market or after their first kiss?
She could not tell, somewhere along the road, she had started to live just live. She knew that she was not totally cured yet of her old habits. All those research about time turners were vivid proofs but as long as Fred would be by her side, she knew that he would help her to remember that living was more important.
...
...
And that is the last part of the last chapter.
As I have already mentioned, I did change a few things about my story. This conversation between Hermione and Charlie is a reflection of Hermione's summer.
Charlie's POV on Alicia's pregnancy and his feelings for her are a reflection of what Hermione would have been through if I had decided to keep the Hermione and Fred pregnancy scare story line, with Hermione wondering if Fred confessed his love because of a possible pregnancy or because he truly loved her.
I have no regret of changing this part of the story as I really wanted my story to be a real « love's journey » for Hermione.
I still have an epilogue to post but I still wonder how to post it as this story as a part II, part that I have no idea when I will post it, or if I will ever post it so I want my epilogue to be a closure, just in case. I can't use the real epilogue of the story as without part II, it is just not understandable.
Anyway, I am thankful again to have got so many followers, I am glad that you have liked the story and I hope that you do like this first ending. I know, it is not a real ending but that is gonna be it for now.
Xx
