Chapter Two

Breaking their eye contact, Charlie Weasley looked at his nephew in Hermione's arms. James was eager to get to him, stretching his arms and making grabbing motions with his hands. Even though the toddler was usually well behaved, Ginny and his mother were making sure the kid was never short on any kind of attention. So, before James could start a mood Charlie didn't feel like dealing with, he picked him up and set him on his arm.

"I didn't know you were back in England," Hermione said.

Looking back at her, her cheeks were still almost as red as his hair and more curls had escaped the bun she had put them in. Her dress, a blue number which clung to her body, had covered her leg again, but his nephew had made sure with all his wriggling that the tops of bra were on display. Black lace, sweet Circe.

He cleared his throat. "You might want to, erm, to fix your dress."

Looking down on herself, she squeaked, actually squeaked, before rapidly turning away from him and putting the dress back to where it belonged.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked her, trying to keep his tone soft. At the moment she somehow resembled more a Mooncalf then the confident witch he'd seen her grow into.

She sighed and squared her shoulders. "I'm fine, really. You just surprised me. I was looking for Percy, I want to give him his present."

Turning back towards him, she gave him a once over and lingered on James, who was perched on his arm, chewing happily on his own fist.

Charlie grinned, and glanced back at the kitchen door. "You might want to wait with that, I'm pretty sure he's getting one right now."

She furrowed her brows at that and Charlie's grin became even wider.

"Audrey is currently wishing him a happy birthday, on her knees, with his trousers unbuttoned."

Her flush had calmed down a bit, but it flared right back up again. "You mean to say, I mean, she's actually, actually doing that right now?"

Charlie nodded. "Right there on mum's kitchen floor. I walked in on them, but they didn't seem notice me, so I backed out and warded the door. Dear old Perce deserves a little bit of naughtiness every now and then, otherwise the stick up his arse becomes too permanent."

Now it was Hermione's turn to clear her throat. "Well, that's one way of getting out of spending any money on a present."

He laughed at that and swung an arm around her shoulders. "Only you would look at it like that, darling."

She didn't know whether she should laugh or be offended by his statement. But he had pressed her right up against him, and steered them back towards the garden. Charlie Weasley was the shortest of all the brothers, but he still towered over her and judging by his physique, Hermione was pretty sure he could easily beat them in a fist fight if he wanted to. The gruelling job that was Dragon Taming, demanded that anyone attempting it needed to be in top physical condition. And Charlie was no exempt on that rule. His arms were as big as tree trunks and his shoulders looked like they could lift the entire world. Hermione knew that some guys did everything in their power to become as fit and slim as possible at the same time, but Charlie was the walking definition of a strongman, with the reflexes and litheness of a Seeker — or in his case, someone who handled dragons on a daily basis.

And being pressed up against him, tucked safely under his arm, his body heat radiating through their clothes, her hormones were going a little more haywire than they had in a very long time.

"I came back a couple of weeks ago," Charlie said. "I hadn't seen the family in a while and I had some leave due. Also, mum likes it when I stay over for a while, so I decided to come early and help her with the preparations. I also wanted to spend some time with my nieces and nephew, before they forget about me completely."

Hermione nodded. She'd seen Charlie briefly last Christmas, before he was called away to an emergency on the Romanian Dragon Reserve, but hadn't heard of him being back in the country since.

"Do you miss them, when you don't see them for months at the time?"

Charlie briefly looked at her. "A bit, I guess. But it has gotten easier throughout the years. But the Reserve depends on me and a couple of other Senior Keepers, so I don't really have a choice in the matter."

"That sounds kind of lonely," Hermione mumbled.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Again, you get used to it. But the dragons make excellent company when they get used to you."

He winked at her and James began to bounce on his arm. "Dragon, Charlie! Play dragon!"

Charlie laughed and tickled the toddler. "Apparently duty calls, Hermione. You sure you are all right?"

Stepping away from his heat, she nodded. "I'm fine, you boys go have fun."

Giving her another smile, he turned away from her and started lifting James above his head in a manner that Ginny most definitely would not approve of. Grabbing a glass of punch, which was very likely spiked by someone with the last name of Weasley, Hermione made her way back into the tent.

~~~

The rest of the party went how they usually went. More and more Butterbeer and Firewhiskey was consumed and after a certain hour, most guests had left and the children had been put to bed. Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys were still sitting in the party-tent, except for Arthur and Molly, who had volunteered to retire with the kids and keep an eye on them.

Hermione was sitting between Harry and Audrey. She wasn't quite able to look Percy or Audrey straight in their eyes after Charlie's revelation, but managed to carry on the conversation well enough. It also helped that George and Ron kept spiking the Birthday boy's and Audrey drinks, to make sure, as George put it, he had a birthday they wouldn't forget. Hermione was pretty sure they he meant the hangover they both would have tomorrow.

While Harry told the adventure of James's first broom — a children sized one that wouldn't go higher than a foot off the ground — Audrey bent over to Hermione, with a sly grin on her face.

"So do tell," She started with a husked voice, "what did you do to Charlie, to make sure he keeps giving you very deliberate looks?"

Hermione looked at her with her brows furrowed. She liked Audrey. The woman was very clever and was more than able to keep up with her when she started going on regarding the rights and privileges of magical creatures. Audrey also worked for the Ministry, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and was their direct liaison to multiple Eastern European Ministries. So all of that meant that Hermione held Audrey in very high regard. However, she couldn't quite believe what the woman just said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione whispered, pointedly ignoring the man in question, who sat on the other side of the crooked circle. "He's not looking at me in any sort of way."

"Oh, but he is," Angelina, who sat right next to Audrey, grinned. "And I know that look very well."

Hermione tried to shush the women when they laughed. "What in Merlin's name do you mean?"

"It usually means," Angelina continued, with her eyebrows wiggling. "That I won't be able to walk straight the next few days."

Audrey laughed again. "So it's a family trait then. Even Perce is capable of looking at me like that, and like Lina said, it usually ends delicious."

Unable to resist, Hermione glanced at Charlie. And he was looking at her all right. Not in a very obvious way, as he was also continuing his conversation with Ginny and Bill — but sure enough his gaze was set on her. And as soon as she caught his eye, the corner of his mouth twitched. She looked away as fast as humanly possible.

"I don't know why he's looking at me. My hair is probably resembling something of a birds nest," Hermione muttered to the girls.

"Right," Audrey said. "A birds nest he would like to nest in."

Angeline burst into laughter and Hermione's cheeks heated.

"That doesn't even make any sense," she hissed.

"Doesn't mean it's not true," Audrey winked. "I think he would like it very much for you to be his nest, to fill you up and keep you warm."

Angelina started to laugh even harder and a few heads turned into their direction.

"Lina, my light, my heart, my love, care to share with the class?" George asked, taking a sip from his whiskey.

"Oh nothing special, my beloved — just the fact that Hermione desperately needs to get laid," she answered.

This grabbed the attention from almost everyone and Hermione could feel her face heat up even more.

"That's not — what?!" She shrieked. "Angelina!"

The older girl had the audacity to laugh even more. "You just proved my point! Let's be honest, when is the last time you had a proper shag, or even a date for that matter?"

"That is hardly any of your business!"

"As your family," Angelina said, trying to keep a serious face. "I think it's very much my business, especially if your happiness is at stake."

"I thought you were dating that guy, what's his name, Jackson, from your department?" Harry pitched in from her left.

"No," Ginny answered her husband. "That ended at least four months ago — he didn't think that the physical punishment of private House Elfs was a big deal."

"What about the guy from the French Ministry?" Fleur asked, while she was curled on Bills lap. "He seemed nice."

Ginny shook her head. "That was even earlier, and he smoked like a chimney."

"The Quidditch journalist, Owen Redbury?" Ron inquired.

Ginny shook her head again. "Was far more interested in what she did during the war, than what she did in bed."

Hermione had felt Charlie's heavy gaze on her, while her love life was discussed, but she was still startled when he added, "Now that seems like a guy who doesn't have his priorities straight."

This time Ginny nodded. "He was a complete tosser. His game analysis is unrivalled, but I couldn't stand the way he treated her."

"I'm sitting right here!" Hermione shouted.

"I know, honey," Ginny smiled. "But I'm just saying that Angelina might have a point."

"I am more than capable of picking out dates, thank you very much," she huffed. "And I'm not even going to dignify the other part of that question with an answer."

"You do seem a little tense," Harry quipped, without looking at her and taking a sip from his Butterbeer.

"Harry!"

"What?" He defended himself. "I'm just saying, you're not exactly the picture of blissful relaxation."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

This story was a complete spontaneous idea, so I'm keeping the chapters kind of short, so I can update more often. And again, I like to hear what you think!