Disclaimer: JK owns HP

1989

Chapter 34

Hermione pressed a languid kiss to his lips just before lifting the hood of Harry's cloak over her head; departing into the night. Nine days had now passed since their trip into the forbidden forest, and there was still much to be done before she left to go back into battle with her friends.

Just that morning, she had received a summons from Dumbledore by way of an owl. He wanted her to meet him in his office that evening, and to be safe he wanted her to come alone and not be seen whilst doing so.

Though she had been expecting to meet with him soon, as they still needed to segment out a full wiggentree, it was a bit peculiar that he hadn't wanted Charlie to attend as well. Surely he knew that he was just as much a part of this as she was, and that she would relay everything to him anyway.

After careful consideration, Hermione couldn't help but sense that something wasn't quite right with his request. For days now she had been plotting how to get Snape's secret out of him, but for some reason that just didn't seem to be the root of what was unsettling her about his letter.

She tried to rationalize every possible scenario in her head for what she was feeling, and eventually came to the conclusion that it might have something to do with Mason Flint. Though it was an accident, she had played a part in his stay at St. Mungos. Had the ministry heard about the unfortunate incident and wanted to take action, or was she just being silly now that her time here was drawing to a close?

Upon her entrance into the headmasters office ten minutes later, she noticed that Dumbledore was standing in front of the large arched window. His back was to her, and he made no movement to acknowledge her arrival.

Silently, she joined him where he stood; taking in the view. There was a large, full moon that lit up the night sky that evening; a large winged beast flying majestically across it. This was not their normal way to start a meeting, which again caused her to sense that something was wrong.

"Good evening Miss Walters." He finally spoke, still not turning his head to face her. "I will take it you and Mr. Weasley's trip into the Forbidden Forest was a success?"

"It was." She confirmed, eyes tracing the landscape. "There is a young male unicorn that seems particularly fond of Charlie, and with the help of some apples it didn't even seem to notice that we had stolen several locks of its hair."

"Ah, the one Hagrid saved last fall." He commented, already knowing. "That was very smart of you to seek that particular unicorn foal out."

"Yes, well, it was all Charlie's idea really." She confessed. "Just like how he also knew the thestrals would be attracted to me if I smelled of blood. He made me carry along a bunch of dead ferrets to feed to them."

Dumbledore had to repress a smile at that imagery. "Then I will assume you were successful at obtaining hair from one of them as well."

Hermione nodded her confirmation. "Mhm, though theirs were given to me willingly. Charlie assured me that they are perceptive creatures, and sure enough after I fed them and showed them I wasn't a threat, one of the smaller ones let me cut several strands off without a problem."

"That is excellent news. Which means you should be in the clear to finish your end of things before you leave."

She only nodded at him in response, unsure of where he would take the conversation next.

"You know, I have always believed that happiness could be found even in the darkest of times." He spoke up again after another minute. "And the relationship you have built with young Charles this year is a true testament to that."

The corners of Hermione's lips twitched upwards at his words. "I do know. He has been my main source of light." She responded fondly. "Guiding me through one of the most difficult journeys of my life."

Dumbledore raised his hands to link his fingers together in front of himself, pausing in thought again. "Then I will make sure he is able to continue to do so." He finally said before removing himself from in front of the window.

He continued to move slowly toward his desk, while Hermione turned to watch him thoughtfully. "I'm sorry, but what exactly do you mean by that?" She asked just as he took his seat behind the large claw-footed desk.

"There are several very important topics of discussion on our agenda tonight." He answered calmly, or rather, non answered. "So I do hope you don't mind if I put that particular one off for now."

This all but confirmed her suspicions that something wasn't quite right, and the hint that it actually had something to do with Charlie was daunting. Instead of panicking over it, she ended up nodding in compliance before taking her usual seat in the left side guest chair.

"For your next task," Dumbledore continued. "Professor Sprout has informed me that the wiggentrees your Herbology class potted near the beginning of term are almost at full maturity now."

Hermione noted the drastic change in subject, but did not draw attention to it; hoping he would get back to the subject of Charlie sooner rather than later. "That's good to hear. Does that mean Charlie and I will be able to have one of them soon?" She asked, hoping to redirect it to get some more answers.

"I have fed her a story about a colony of bowtruckles whose own tree recently caught fire." Dumbledore responded in a roundabout way. "And ever the philanthropist, she agreed to donate one to replace it."

"Okay, that seems a good cover story, but how do we actually get it though?" She asked for clarification.

"In three weeks, Pomona plans on visiting some relatives for the weekend." He described the plan. "You should use your cloak to sneak out after dark, and move the tree to the room of hidden things during that time. That way you can work on the amulet forms from there."

Hermione nodded as she ran over the plan in her head. "That should work. I'll let Charlie know."

Her words had obviously been another attempt to redirect the conversation again now that all the obvious information had been exchanged, causing a certain tension to radiate off the both of them. As if they could sense that the other had unfinished business to discuss.

"Miss Granger, the time has come for us to have an in depth conversation about your upcoming trip to the future. It is actually the main reason I requested your presence here in my office tonight." He revealed.

Hermione's throat went dry at the thought of it. During her first few weeks here, she had been desperate to get back to Harry and Ron; having to spend months in the past without them had felt wrong. But now, six months later, she was much less so. She had built a life here since then; not only with Charlie, but with several new friends added into the mix as well.

"As you already know." He continued on; brushing past the solemn look now appearing on her face. "The Department of Mysteries is sending a team over on the eve of your departure. They will be coming the same day Wilkie Twycross is set to preside over the apparition tests, which has been moved back a few weeks further than normal. They are using it as a way to cover their real reason for being here."

Hermione thought hard about where he could possibly be going with this, but nothing clear came to mind. "Yes, we wouldn't want any of the other students to get suspicious. I suppose their arrival will directly coincide with my disappearance after all." She settled on.

"That's precisely what I wanted to talk to you about." His voice dropped an octave. "They won't actually notice you've gone, Hermione."

The lump that had formed in her throat felt as if it had now fallen into her chest at those words. This was nowhere in the realm of what her worst case scenario had been.

"Wh-What?" She tilted her head as both brows wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean they won't notice?"

"Miss Granger, they will not remember that you were ever here to begin with." Dumbledore stared over the rims of his glasses at her, in order to explain the seriousness of what was about to happen at Hogwarts. "The unspeakables plan on mass-obliviating the entire school. The very morning after you've gone."

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With her heart racing, and her chest feeling rather heavy, Hermione headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. She never did get the opportunity to ask Dumbledore about Snape; as there hadn't been an opportunity to broach the subject once the unexpected news had been dropped on her. She now realized she likely wouldn't even get the chance again, not unless she could somehow get him alone before the ministry officials showed up on her last night here.

As the moving staircases locked into the correct landing, she exited onto the seventh floor before muttering the new password to the fat lady. She knew Charlie would be waiting up for her, but she still didn't know how to break the news to him. He was bound to have similar feelings over the matter to her own.

Sure enough, he lifted his head at the sound of her clambering in through the portrait hole. As usual his face was gleaming with a bright, welcoming smile; directed right at her.

Unlike Dumbledore, he stood to greet her; coming to meet her half way. His arms wrapped around her so he could pull her into a tight embrace, which she desperately needed at the moment. She took in a deep breath to commit his scent to memory; pleasant like mint, but somehow woodsy and piney all at the same time.

As she hugged him somehow even tighter than before, he let out a low, deep chuckle directly into her ear.

"I missed you too." He whispered, as to not wake any of their sleeping dorm mates up. "In fact I had quite a bit of time to do some thinking while you were downstairs, and came to quite the conclusion of just how much I really am going to miss you once you're gone."

Hermione relaxed the side of her face against his chest, letting the combined sound of his voice and heartbeat soothe her. She was going to miss him too.

"I didn't know love could feel like this Hermione." He continued, his fingers absentmindedly stroking through her hair. "And I don't ever want it to end."

That heavy feeling in her chest that had just started to dissipate suddenly returned full force. As much as she wanted to get lost in his arms, she couldn't put off telling him anymore.

"But Charlie it will end." She whispered solemnly in return. "You leave in less than two months."

He suddenly pulled back, with his arms still loosely around her; putting some space between their upper bodies in order to look her face over. His smile faded, and was replaced with a look that conveyed both surprise and concern. "What do you mean I leave in two months?" He asked.

Hermione pulled back even further in order to clear her senses. "Dumbledore pulled some strings in order to get you into the next available training program at the RDS." She explained softly before putting on a forced smile. She hoped he would at least be excited to get to work with his beloved dragons even earlier than planned. "You leave April 18th."

"April?" He repeated, his heart thumping in his chest. "But...but you don't leave until May."

He looked as if he could barely process the information, just as she had felt less than an hour ago. "I know." She nodded before glancing to the floor.

"Well I don't want to go." He said firmly, looking almost sick at the idea. "We're already short on time Jean, and I'm not cutting it down another two weeks. I'll just politely defer until August, just like I originally planned."

Hermione closed her eyes and groaned under her breath at his stubbornness. "Charlie, you've got to."

"Why?" He retorted angrily, though held himself back from raising his voice. His hands waved wildly on either side of himself, as he tended to talk with his hands when he was frustrated.

Hermione softly grabbed his hands in hers, and brought them back down; holding them between their bodies. "Because if you don't." She started softly. "We don't stand a chance. Not with the war, and definitely not with each other."

Charlie stared into her eyes for a moment to try and read her; his own sadness of moving up their farewell was mirrored in them. "Did Dumbledore have more to tell you than just when I'm supposed to leave?"

She nodded as her eyes flickered to their joined hands; where her thumb began to stroke the back of his hand soothingly. "Mhm. Apparently word of my little incident with Flint made it all the way to the ministry. They are worried my time here is going to leave lingering effects on those I've had continuous contact with, so they plan on erasing any memories of me as soon as I'm gone."

A growl of discontent escaped him as he began to fully understand what was happening. After digging his heels into the metaphorical ground he was actually going to have to leave earlier than her anyway. It truly was the only option going forward. He couldn't risk getting his memory wiped by waiting for her to leave first. Because if he did then he risked being unable to help her both between now and then, and upon her return.

"Of course they are." He grumbled under his breath. "Fuck!"

They stood in near silence for a moment in order to let Charlie process the news; the several expletives he began to mutter accounting for the only noise in the room. They were lucky everyone else was already asleep.

"I feel like I should have seen this coming." She finally cut his cursing off. "It's a rather obvious plan of action for them now that I think about it."

"Bunch of bloody arseholes." He scoffed.

"I know they are just doing their jobs, but I can't help but agree." She stepped in close again; placing a single hand to the right side of his face. "Which is why you have to go. If they find out how close you've gotten to me, they'll be determined to erase all of your memories too."

"I won't let that happen." He growled. "I'd run and go into hiding before I let that happen."

Hermione kissed him softly on the lips, pulling them closer together. "Luckily for you, I don't think you'll have to. They have no jurisdiction in Romania."

He ended up chuckling at that, but his face still looked solemn. Though he knew it had to be done, it still didn't make their upcoming departure any easier. He ended up deepening the kiss as he closed off any remaining distance between them.

Even though there was no distance left, they each had a need to be even closer to one another. It had never been clearer that their time together in the past was drawing to a close, now at even more of an accelerated rate. With both their minds racing through the same thoughts, Hermione couldn't help but begin to sniffle through a series of wet and rather sloppy kisses.

Charlie suddenly lifted her up, carrying her bridal style over to the staircase that led to the boys dorms. "But back to what I was trying to mention earlier." He cut off their kiss, no doubt hoping to lift her spirits before bringing her up to his bed. "No Jeanie, it won't end." He rested their foreheads together in a comforting manner, using her fake name; old habits apparently resurfacing under the tension of the moment. "Sure, our relationship will have to be put on pause, but my love for you will never end."

Hermione released a small sob along with a watery smile as his thumb brushed a single tear from her cheek. He always seemed to eventually know what to say to cheer her up, proving that he was exactly the man she needed in her life.

"And neither will mine." She replied.

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A/N: So I have a possible opportunity for anyone out there who is interested in writing fanfiction, but does not know what to write about, or even how to get started. I find myself constantly coming up with ideas for new Charlie/Hermione fanfiction, but I know I will never have the time or energy to actually write them all. (My husband keeps encouraging me to refocus my energy to write an actual book)

So if any of my fellow Charmione people out there are interested in writing a fanfic, I would be more than happy to share some ideas, (or help you flush out an idea of your own), and I would even be happy to help with chapter planning and beta-ing. We need more of this pairing, and I've honestly read all the good ones too many times. I would love to get more reading material out there, but unfortunately I am not as fast at writing as I would like to be.

Please PM me if you are interested! I have 4 ideas ready to go.