THC
Round 6
Ffn: EndofthePage
House: Slytherin
Category: Standard
Prompts:
[Pairing– Positive] Charlie Weasley and Hermione Granger
[Dialogue] "We haven't come all this way just to watch you flounder about in two feet of water."
Word count: 1452
Disclaimer/TWs:
Beta: Thanks to Oni and Charlie for beta'ing this story.
"Can't believe you made me do this."
"I didn't –"
"Don't even try to deny it now, 'Mione! You might have fooled my brothers but not me," Charlie said, his eyebrows slightly raising as he wiped away the sweat that dripped down the side of his forehead.
It was a bad day. A very bad day.
"You're being dramatic!"
"Oh, am I? Did you say that this outing was going to be a hike?" Before she could interrupt him again, he continued, "No, I distinctly remember you saying it would be a nice walk to the river."
One might be wondering how he found into this situation. Well, it was quite simple. After Ron and Hermione had gotten married, it became a tradition for the family to go on holidays to Wales, as that was where Hermione's grandparents retired to.
It was then that Charlie decided to stay in England for a while, to get to know his nieces and nephews and to be there for his family. The plan had been to return to Romania in a few years.
The holiday cottage they had booked this year was in the middle of nowhere, in Snowdonia. This was near her grandparents, so it made sense at the time, but it took them over an hour just to get to the nearest shop. So maybe it was his fault that he hadn't registered just how far it would be to the nearest river.
This is why he was planning on complaining to Hermione the whole way. And he wasn't going to admit that it had been his mistake. He had some pride, after all.
"You can always go back," Hermione replied, out of breath as well.
"Oh no, no, no. If I turned back now it would be counterproductive."
"Well then, stop whining! We've got an hour to go, and then it won't take that long to return home," Hermione explained.
Charlie wasn't stupid, he could practically hear the smug tone in her voice. He groaned, shoulders slouching as he steered off the path for a second. His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out her intentions, hands on his knees as he got his breath back.
"Why do I have a feeling you've got a terrible plan in mind?" Charlie asked, as he found a suitable, long twig he could use as a walking stick. He was getting older, and he was starting to realise that he might not be as athletic as he used to be. Or maybe he was just being a tad over dramatic – this hike was one of the worst ones he had ever been on.
"Perhaps I have, perhaps I don't. Are you seriously using a walking stick? You're in your thirties, you're not old!"
"Details, details." Charlie waved her off as he set off again, taking the lead. Even though he wasn't completely sure which direction they were meant to be going in, he knew Hermione would correct him if he started going the wrong way.
They were heading to the river because just beyond there, there was a town. In the town, there was a shopping centre. So, it would all be worth it. That was what he kept telling himself, anyway.
He and Hermione had drawn the short straw– quite literally. To decide who would be the lucky ones to get to make the journey.
He knew that Hermione hadn't made him do it, and it wasn't her fault that they were stuck in this situation. She knew that as well.
It was just the way their conversations would flow, friendly banter.
Time went by quite quickly after they both stopped chatting, choosing to enjoy each other's company instead of talking. That, and they were too tired to use their words. Charlie would occasionally give Hermione his water bottle when hers ran out.
He liked the countryside.
The Welsh hills and forests were always beautiful to look at, and they did remind him of Romania. He smiled, taking in the scene around him, the green grass going on for miles until they got to the town that he could see in the distance. A few hills looked like mountains, and he could see a herd of sheep in the next field over, standing next to the woods.
It was a beautiful sight and one that he would have regretted missing.
After forty minutes had gone by with some idle chatter but mostly they keptto their own thoughts, he heard the sound of flowing water before he could see the river. This was good, the river being what they needed to get to before the town would be in sight.
He grinned, ignoring his fatigue as he ran to the river, ditching the walking stick, and waved for Hermione to join him. It wasn't much of a river, he realised as he neared it. It was more like a stream, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He decided to listen to his childish whims and took off his walking boots and socks off.
He stepped into the river just as Hermione caught up with him. He laughed, kicking the water as he stepped on the pebbles at the bottom, being careful not to slip.
"What are you doing Charlie? We've still got twenty minutes more walking to get to the shops! We haven't come all this way just to watch you flounder in two feet of water!" Hermione complained. She was tired, and she just wanted to get the worst part over and done with, before she could surprise Charlie with the fun surprise she had planned. But he wasn't making it easy for them.
"Come on, 'Mione, join me!" Charlie responded, grinning from ear to ear as he started to find some stones so he could skip rocks, though he wasn't sure if this part of the river would be a good part to test it on.
"Oh no, absolutely not. We need to get going," Hermione laughed, grinning at his antiques. "There's something you need to see."
Charlie groaned, but nodded, knowing when he needed to stop. He climbed out of the river, put his shoes and socks back on, and joined Hermione once more, feeling more refreshed than he had been during the beginning of their walk.
It didn't take long until they finally got to the shops, and Hermione had her bag spelled with an Undetectable Extension Charm so they could fit all of their stuff in for the next week without worrying about having to go back again. The first thing he did was chug his water once they had filled the bottles up again, and that made him feel a lot better.
They also got some snack food to survive the way back, though Hermione seemed confident that they wouldn't need too much. He still had no idea what she was up to, but he could tell that she was scheming just from her smile.
"What are you up to, 'Mione?" Charlie asked, eyes narrowing in mock suspicion as he munched on a granola bar, following her out of the shop.
"You'll see."
He did.
His mouth was agape, reaching to the floor as Hermione finally showed him her genius plan. For the first time that journey, he was very thankful that he was with one of the smartest witches in his family.
There, in front of him, was a train station.
An old one, like Kings Cross, but a lot smaller with only two platforms.
He turned to Hermione, in sudden realisation, "Don't tell me this was an option, the whole time?"
"Well, it wasn't. Arthur said to do the journey the Muggle way. I could tell he meant for us to hike, but he didn't mention anything about other forms of travel. This train takes an hour, and it leads just outside the village we're staying in. That, and there's only one train in the morning on the weekends and one in the afternoon. We missed the first one."
Charlie did the only thing he could think of doing. He hugged Hermione, with a grin returning on his face as he messed up her hair in a brotherly manner. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"
"And your company isn't bad either, when you're not complaining," Hermione said, amusement in her tone as she hugged him back.
He broke their hug after a few moments, a plan forming in his head.
"I think we should make the journey sound so incredibly easy, and not mention the train, so the next ones who pick the short straw–"
"Have to go through what we went through? I like it."
Charlie grinned, it wasn't a bad day, after all.