November 6th 2005 PT3
As quickly as they had come, Charlie's lips left hers and they stared wide eyed at each other for a moment before Hermione shook her head.
"What was that?" She asked and Charlie snorted.
"Past tense? You think all of this," he waved his hand between them, "is past tense?"
"You were literally talking in the past tense!" Hermione glared and he shrugged.
"Because everything I said was in the past," he said, ducking his head to look in her eyes, "I can't do any of those things, because I can't go back, but it doesn't mean those feelings have gone, Hermione."
"They haven't?" She asked and he shook his head, picking her hand up with his running his thumb over his fingers and smiling at her.
"I'm not saying I'm in love with you, though I'm not going to say I'm not falling," he said gently and she nodded, "but I feel something for you, and I wouldn't mind it if we, well, you know…"
"You want to, uh…" Hermione frowned and gulped loudly, "You want to be… together? With me?"
"If you want to try then I will certainly take that chance," He nodded and she smiled shyly at him, "I'm not talking some passionate dive straight into the deep end of a relationship, I'm just suggesting that now we know how each other feels, we let it run it's course, yeah?"
"Hagrid had a saying for that," she grinned, chuckling when Charlie frowned, "he used to say 'what's coming will come, and we'll meet it when it does'."
"We should get back," Charlie said, standing up and brushing himself off, "Arty will be wondering where we went."
"Oh crap, Arty!" Hermione shrieked and jumped up.
She set off suddenly, rushing from the glade hearing Charlie laugh loudly behind her before he appeared at her side. She smiled and nudged him with her shoulder and when he looked down at her she threw caution to the wind and pulled him down, pressing her lips to his and hovering for a moment before pulling back with a grin and taking off at a jog towards the Burrow. Charlie stood frozen as a slow grin spread across his face and he shook his head, walking after her.
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Hermione arrived back at the Burrow and was immediately set upon by the two female redheads and Angelina, who assured her that they had all had some very stern words with Ron and that he was currently upstairs sulking. She thanked them for speaking up for her and asked where Arty was, thanking Angelina when she told Hermione that her son was currently trying to beat Harry at wizards chess.
She crept into the living room and grinned at Harry, who was sitting in the chair facing the door, with her finger up her mouth and her other hand pointing at Arty. Harry apparently understood because he ignored her completely and turned his attention back to their game. Hermione tip toed behind Arty and covered his eyes.
"Guess who?" She said in the lowest voice she could manage, but she saw through her ruse.
"Mummy!" He squealed, turning and standing on the chair so that he was almost as tall as his dad, "where have you been?"
"Me and daddy just needed to talk, that's all," she grinned, "are you hungry?"
"Starving!" He yelled and nodded vigorously, "is dinner ready yet?"
"Why don't you go and check with grandma?" She grinned and he nodded before running off and she turned to Harry, "how's Ron?"
"Sulking," he snorted, rolling his eyes, "did he really say what Charlie said he did?"
"Oh about fucking two Weasleys?" She asked and snorted when he nodded embarrassedly, "of course he did. But you know what Ron's like, his mouth works before his brain can catch up with it."
"Still, that doesn't make it right." Harry sighed and Hermione shrugged, calling for a chess piece to move and grimacing when it got attacked.
Just then, Molly called everyone through to dinner and she and Harry walked into the kitchen, chuckling to each other when they noticed that Ron seemed to have completely moved in from his sulk as he came downstairs at the first mention of food. Hermione took her place next to Arty and smiled as Charlie sat on his other side, asking him what he'd been doing and listening intently as Arty described every single move of his and Harry's chess game. Every time he called Charlie 'daddy', the conversation around the table faltered slightly before picking up again and Molly hardly took her eyes off of father and son, who appeared to be in a world of their own.
Hermione surreptitiously ignored the glares that came from Rons direction whenever she and Charlie smiled at each other over their sons head, which was quite often now that they had agreed to be open and allow the natural course of things between them. Hermione was very happy with this course of action. Even though there was a small part of her, the part that remembered their previous encounter, that wanted go jump his bones and take him to bed right this very second, she knew that slow and steady was the best way to go.
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As Hermione stood in the doorway to Arty's bedroom and watched as Charlie tucked him into bed like he had been doing it his whole life, she felt a peace settle in her mind that felt completely alien to her and yet so wonderful at the same time. To see her little boy enjoying some quiet time with his dad was something that, only a few months ago, Hermione wouldn't have dared to dream but it was happening right in front of her and it made her incredibly happy, with a smile she turned and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water before moving to the sofa and laying down to wait for Charlie.
He emerged 10 minutes later and grinned at her as he lifted her feet before sitting down and putting them on his lap. She groaned as his thumb began to message the sole of her left foot, only for him to chuckle and push harder, resulting in her feeling like she could physically melt into the sofa cushions.
"That feels wonderful," she murmured, grinning, "when does the new reserve open?"
"Just after the new year," he supplied, moving onto the other foot as he rolled his eyes, "it's almost done but we have to wait for a permit to bring the dragons into the country and blah blah blah, you know the ministry."
"Hmmm, I do," she nodded, frowning, "do you want me to try and speed the process along? It is my department that's dealing with it."
"No!" He exclaimed and blushed, "not that I don't want the reserve to open it's just… well I won't get to see you and Arty every day when it opens, and I want to make the most of it."
"That's very sweet, Charlie," she said softly, smiling at him when he shrugged, "he's going to miss you, when you go back to work."
"I'll miss him too!" Charlie sighed, "I honestly used to dread the thought of being a father but with him… and with you…"
"It's not so bad, is it?" She laughed, "He kind of becomes the center of the universe, don't you think? Like everything you do, you do for him."
"Most things," Charlie nodded, "I mean there's some things I would do just because I want to."
"Like what?" Hermione asked and Charlie sighed, lifting up her feet and pulling her closer, making her squeal in shock.
And then he kissed her, again, and every conscious thought left her mind as he hummed into her mouth, begging for entry with his tongue.