It could have been worse she mused, critically eyeing the pile on her bed. Most of it was fairly tasteful but the thought of wearing it in front of anybody, especially Charlie made her cringe. Thankfully she was saved by Ginny who burst into the room and flopped dramatically onto the unoccupied bed.

"I hate getting married" she moaned

"Then be thankful you only have to do it once" Hermione sat on the bed next to her "What's so bad about it?"

"There's so much to organise, mum keeps asking me what I'm doing about the reception and stuff and I don't know what I'm doing. It's only 8 days away and I am totally lost." She rubbed her eyes

Hermione sensed that Ginny was dancing on the edge of a minor nervous breakdown so she quickly interrupted "Ginny, take a deep breath. You can relax. You've got the dress and all the clothes you need, we've sent the invites, your mum has the catering covered, Harry has sorted out the honeymoon and he's got his robes already. The twins are organising the reception" she saw Ginny's face "don't worry, I'm keeping a close eye on them, the flowers are arriving by owl the day after tomorrow and I will personally oversee the decoration of the orchard the day before the wedding. All you need to worry about now is your hair and makeup"

Ginny stared at her wide-eyed "Hermione, you have got to be the best maid of honour ever"

Hermione grinned "well, I try. Are you feeling better now?"

"Loads" Ginny smiled back

"Good because I need to owl Charlie to say thank you for his chequebook"

Ginny raised an eyebrow "pen pals already?" she teased

"No this is the first time I've written to him" said Hermione, Ginny's meaning going straight over her head with an audible whooshing noise. Ginny laughed and left Hermione chewing on the end of her quill and trying to work out where to start.

'Dear Charlie,

Thank you so much for the loan of your cheque book, I will pay you back that second I have the money.

Ginny has started having pre-wedding jitters. I have been doing my best to calm her down but I suspect a paper bag may be necessary on the actual day. It's ridiculous really she's been with Harry for so long that the ring will be the only difference.

Molly has asked me to remind you that you need to bring your dress robes with you when you're here next. She also said that you need to clean your hut before I get there. Please ignore it – mess doesn't actually bother me too much, after spending a year in that tent.

I heard that you just got a new Swedish Shortsnout, I though that they didn't like to be transferred?

Anyway, thank you again and will see you at Ginny's wedding

Hermione '

She surveyed the letter for a couple of minutes, it rambled a bit but overall it wasn't too bad. She had found it surprisingly easy to write once she got going. She debated for a moment whether to put a kiss at the end or not but eventually decided against it. She sent the letter off and went downstairs for dinner.

Charlie slung his bag over his back and stepped out of the front door of his hut. He took a good look around him before he left, to fix the place as it was in his memory. He did love the Burrow but whenever he was there he felt a little homesick for this place. He'd only be gone a couple of days this time (Ginny was getting married tomorrow and he'd be back again the day after). He honestly couldn't think how he'd ever manage to thank Hermione enough for being willing to give up everything to let him stay here.

And that brought on another train of thought altogether. Hermione. After the letter she'd sent last week with his chequebook he'd written back straight away and after that they'd written almost everyday. She was easy to write to, Charlie thought; her letters were to the point and kept him updated. While they were sometimes funny, they weren't overly emotional. Her thirst for any kind of knowledge meant that she absorbed everything he told her about the dragons and she always seemed interested

She revealed more of herself in her letters than she did in conversation; the few times they had talked she had been shy and awkward but, in her letters she talked without restraint. Her most recent letter was still in his pocket, only half read, it had arrived that morning.

'Dear Charlie,

I can't wait to see all these dragons you keep writing about they found fascinating. I must admit, I've never had a huge amount of interest in dragons before but I suppose it's really because I've never learnt much about them. It could also be that I think of all of them as being like Norbert, which hardly adds to their appeal.

Molly is beginning to feel the stress of 6 wedding in 4 weeks. In truth, I am mainly organising Ginny's wedding for her and I've taken over a lot of the arrangements of ours to try to take the weight off of her shoulders. Talking of Ginny's wedding, I will be mainly spending today decorating the orchard so that it's ready for the ceremony tomorrow. Molly has given me charge of a group of 'helpers' for this task but I suspect that, since the helpers include the twins I may just as well do it all myself.

I will warn you now that Molly is struggling to sort out the sleeping arrangements for tonight and tomorrow night. I'm just letting you know in advance so that you can prepare yourself for potentially sharing a room with the twins and Ron.

Good Luck with that,

Hermione'

Charlie grinned and apperated to the Burrow, stuffing the letter back into his pocket as he did. He strode straight into the kitchen and had to fight the urge to stride right back out again. The noise was deafening, this was the kind of thing that happened when the entire Weasley clan was in one place and it could at times be a little overwhelming. Molly was sat at the table looking frazzled as she tried to work out sleeping arrangements, just as Hermione had said. Aunt Muriel watched, disapproving and occasionally offering unhelpful advice.

Susan and Ginny were by the stove cooking something with Fleur's supervision. Bill was in the process of leading almost everybody else out to the pub for a couple of hours so that Molly could have some peace.

"Are you coming Charlie?" he called over the din as he passed

Charlie shook his head "I need to speak to Hermione first"

"Fair enough" Bill grinned at him "she's in the orchard, we'll be at the Leaky Cauldron if you change your mind"

Bill disapperated with Harry and 5 other Weasleys, the silence created by their absence was almost deafening. Charlie slipped out to find Hermione, there was nothing very important to talk about but he had made the excuse and now he had to make it look like he had been telling the truth.

"Tell her tea's nearly

It was a lovely evening; the sun was just beginning to set, creating a pinkish hue in the sky. Everything looked slightly golden in the fading light. When he reached the orchard he stopped short. Hermione had done a good job, there were rows and rows of seats all face a small white arch way (under which, he guessed, the ceremony would be held). There were garlands hung between the trees and they decorated the arch way, it was stunning in a simple way. One thing was missing, though, Hermione herself.

"Hermione?" he called, taking a few tentative steps forward

"Yes?" said a slightly muffled voice and Hermione dropped gracefully out of the tree to his right

"Ginny wanted me to…what were you doing up there anyway?"

"Candles" she replied simply, smiling at him and dusting off her jeans. He raised an eyebrow at her. She flicked her wand and hundreds of tiny lights in the trees ignited

"Wow" he grinned "I'm impressed"

She moved to stand next to him, tilting her head on one side as she looked at the orchard. "It's not too much is it?" she asked

"No it's beautiful; Ginny will love you for ever"

She turned her head suddenly as though she had remembered something "What did she want?"

"Hmm?" he had no idea what she was talking about

"Ginny! When you came out you said Ginny wanted something but you never finished your sentence"

He had to think for a moment, he honestly couldn't remember why he had come to find her. Then he remembered that he had lied, there hadn't been a reason. "I think she said tea was ready"

A distant shout from the house confirmed this. Hermione hesitated "It's so peaceful out here" she sighed "I'm almost frightened to go back in, everybody's so stressed at the moment and your Aunt Muriel hates me"

Charlie nodded "There aren't many people she does like. But it should at least be less noisy in there now, All of my brothers and Harry and Dad have left for the Leaky Cauldron"

She looked at him, a little confused "and you didn't go?"

"I said I might join them in a bit but someone had to protect you and Ginny and Susan from Aunt Muriel's wrath"

She looked at him for a second and then laughed, her wild curls were trying desperately to escape from the bun she had tightly bound it in. Another shout came from the house

"Coming!" Hermione called back, she didn't move but looked at Charlie with a mischievous glint in her eyes "well it seems we can't escape it. I'll race you back"

"Those are hardly decent running shoes" he pointed at her flip flops

"Well, I'll take them off" she grinned "Ready, steady…"

She never got to "go" because both of them, intent of winning, had sprinted away on "steady". They both arrived at the back door at almost the same time wheezing and clutching their sides laughing.

A/N - ok, I'm not sure about this chapter but let me know what you think! Also, thankyou to absolutely everybody who has already reviewed, your comments have been so useful (and rather lovely too)