Chapter 5
Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
"Hermione? Charlie? What are you doing back? Romania not agree with you?" Ron snickered. Hermione first glanced at the picnic table that Harry and Ron were sitting on, Lavender Brown and Ginny across from them. Hermione looked up at Charlie, her eyes wide, but walked to sit between Harry and Ron.
"I'd rather not talk about Romania. I'm going to be the Arithmancy professor at Hogwarts, and Charlie will teach flying," Hermione said.
"What happened, 'Mione?" Harry asked, wrapping his arm around her in a hug. She hugged him back, then quickly hugged Ron.
"Hell. Bob tried to rape me," she said emotionlessly.
"What? I'm going to kick his arse," Ron said, his face quickly turning red.
"The Ministry already picked him up, Ron, you'll have a hard time," Charlie put in, sitting on the picnic table next to Ginny.
"You did serious harm to him, didn't you?" Ron demanded. Charlie simply shrugged.
"I put the body bind on him, knocked him out, and tied him up. And, then Leila came in, and was about to kill me for doing that much," Charlie said.
"She was not, Charlie. It just startled her. She thought Bob was a creep before then, it was just finding you at our tent, when you were supposed to be checking on the dragons, and Bob lying in a heap on the floor, she didn't know what to make of it. I can't say I blame her really," Hermione pointed.
"Yeah, yeah. Leila was your best friend out there, wasn't she?" Charlie asked with a smile.
"Best girl friend. You were my best friend there. And, the rest were decent," she said smiling softly, thinking of all of her friends there.
"So, you're going to teach at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, her brown eyes sparkling happily.
"Yep. You still take Arithmancy, don't you?" Hermione asked with a grin.
"Yes. It'll be so much fun!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Think you can call me Professor Granger?" she asked with a giggle. Ginny shook her head, wrinkling her nose.
"Wait, what are they going to call you Charlie, Madam Weasley?" Ginny asked, laughing harder. Everyone looked over at Charlie, who was trying to look angry, but was failing miserably.
"I'm thinking Charlie will be just fine," he said with a smirk. "Oh, 'Mione, we do need to go talk with Dumbledore about accepting the jobs."
"I owled him with my response," Hermione said. "Yesterday morning. Alex let me borrow his owl."
"When did you see Alex, he was working my night shift?"
"Just because you can sleep all morning long, doesn't mean everyone was. I got up at 6:20, right as he was coming back. Apparently, Norbert was still pretty pissed, and he had a rather large burn too, but Kate is wonderful with Healing Charms," Hermione told her.
"Oh . . . yeah . . ." Charlie trailed off. Hermione glanced over at Ginny and Lavender.
"Are you staying her, Lavender?" she asked curiously. Lavender nodded, and Hermione sighed. "Are you sharing Ginny's room?"
"Um, no, they put me in Fred and George's, which, I suppose will be Charlie. How are we going to work this one out?"
"Percy is still living here, then?" Charlie checked. Everyone nodded sadly.
"Well, maybe we should go see Mrs. Weasley before we all decide about rooms," Hermione put in. "Besides, she doesn't even know that we're here yet. Let's go, Charlie." Charlie rolled his eyes, but followed Hermione into the house.
"Wonder if they've finally admitted they like each other?" Ginny asked aloud. "You talked to him, Ron. Did he say anything?"
"Nothing. But, I'm guessing he likes her, cares for her, and it's extremely surprising that he didn't do serious bodily harm to the Bob guy."
Meanwhile, Hermione and Charlie were standing in front of Molly Weasley, who had just finished cleaning the kitchen from breakfast. She looked faintly shocked to see them, but asked no questions.
"So, Mrs. Weasley, how are we to work out the rooming situation?" she asked after she had explained what had happened in Romania.
"Easy. Charlie will room with Percy, and you or Lavender can room with Ginny. Or together, whichever. Just, Charlie dear, Percy tends to get a bit cranky if he's kept up past ten o'clock," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Of course he does, he's Percy. Come on, 'Mione. I think we should move our things upstairs. I know how happy Percy will be when he sees my things in there," Charlie grinned.
"Well, Charlie, I thought you said we had to go to Hogwarts. Why bother with doing that now. We should just go ahead and Apparate to Hogsmeade, go talk to Dumbledore now," Hermione said with a grin.
"Oh, yeah, Mum, we didn't mention. Hermione is going to be teaching Arithmancy, and I'm teaching kids to fly. It's going to be great," Charlie said.
"I'm glad," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "So, do the others know you're dating?" Hermione turned pale and turned to look at Mrs. Weasley, then glanced at Charlie, who didn't seem at all surprised.
"They most likely have suspensions, but I haven't mentioned it to Ron, and he's the only one I talked to before today. So, no," Charlie said.
"How did you know?" Hermione asked softly.
"It's obvious, after all, I am a mother," she said with a knowing smile. "Go on, Apparate to Hogsmeade. Send a message through the Floo Network if you're not going to be here for dinner," she said. They both smiled, and Charlie looked at her.
"Let's go tell Harry, Ron, Gin, and Lavender where we're going," he said. Hermione nodded, following him out back.
"We're headed off to Hogwarts. Have to talk to Dumbledore and all that," she said with a slight smile. Everyone just nodded at them, but Ginny looked at Hermione pointedly.
"Granger, you better be back after dinner so we can have the girl talk thing," she said. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, but then grinned at the younger girl.
"Of course. Oh, Lavender, you and I can room together, you can share with Gin, or I can share with Gin. You guys discuss, and I'll talk when we get back. So, off to Hogsmeade," she said, before Apparating away.
She landed in the Three Broomsticks, still slightly dizzy. She glanced at Charlie.
"I don't think I'll ever get the hang of this Apparation thing. Are you always supposed to be dizzy?" she asked, placing a hand to her forehead.
"Uh huh. At least, for the first five or ten times. 'Mione, this is just the fourth time you've Apparated, right?" he asked. She nodded, smiling at him, as they took off on the walk to Hogwarts.
"So, 'Mione, are we going to tell Harry, Ron, Lavender, and Gin that we're dating?" Charlie asked on the way up. Hermione shrugged.
"I don't see why not. Of course, you realize that they're going be perfectly smug about it. They'll pull the 'I-told-you-so-now-admit-that-you-were-wrong-for-once' look, and tease us unmercifully. But, sure, why not? How to tell them? I figure that's what Gin wanted to talk to me about," Hermione said.
"Maybe we should wait until you talk to Ginny and Lavender tonight. I'll hang out with Ron and Harry, and between the two of us, we should be able to get the message clear," Charlie said.
"Probably. That sounds like a plan," Hermione said, as they walked hand in hand to the front door of Hogwarts. They slowly pushed the doors open, startled when a greasy voice from behind them started talking.
"My, my, what are you doing here?"
"Hello Mr. Filch. Charlie and I have just come to speak to Professor Dumbledore," she said. Filch looked at her suspiciously and slowly led them up to the entrance to Dumbledore's offices. Muttering the password, he allowed them to enter and go to Dumbledore's office. They walked up to the main area, to find Dumbledore sitting behind his desk.
"Hello, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley. How may I help you?" he asked.
"Well, Charlie, you're idea to come here. What are we going to say?" Hermione asked him with a smile.
"We want to work here. Wait, 'Mione, you already told him . . . We didn't have to come," he murmured. Hermione giggled at the lost look on his face.
"Oh, it's just as well. For one, I need to run over some rules with you all. You will need to arrive one month before school starts, so on August first, I expect you here. You two will have rooms close to one another, so you will feel comfortable. Also, it will, of course, be overlooking the grounds and the Quidditch pitch. You will be asked to call us all by our first names. Now, I know you to are dating, but try not to show to much affection in the hallway," he said, grinning at a faintly red Hermione Granger.
"Wouldn't dream of it," she muttered.
"Also, Hermione, I believe you will be needing a teaching assistant. If there is any particular student you would like to assist you in grading papers, the like—"
"Ginny? Could Ginny Weasley do it?" she asked hopefully. Dumbledore's blue eyes started twinkling even more, and nodded with a grin.
"Perfect. I think that should be all for now, however, if you need anything, don't hesitate to owl me. I may owl the two of you with some things," Albus said. Hermione nodded, then they both stood up. Charlie reached for her hand again, before Hermione turned to look at Albus.
"Can we see our rooms before we leave?" she asked. Albus stood and escorted them down the winding steps and halls of Hogwarts. They passed the picture of the Fat Lady with a smile from the both of them. Charlie dropped Hermione's hands, and put his arm around her waist instead. Hermione leaned into him as they finally reached a tapestry of a unicorn.
"Hermione, you'll be here. You can make up whatever password you would like, so I'll leave you here and I'll lead Mr. Weasley down the hallway to his room," Albus told her. Hermione nodded, slipping out of Charlie's grasp and walking slightly closer to the tapestry. Charlie followed Albus down the hallway to his own room.
"I think my password will be . . . Romania," she said with a slight smile. Although Romania held a few bad memories, she really had enjoyed her time there. She stepped past the tapestry, and into a large room. She could see the bath through the corner, and the large bedroom adjacent to the room she was currently in. It was a sitting room, large with a white couch, and a large table in front of it. There was a fireplace, and a few other chairs. The kitchen was also in the main room, but Hermione seriously doubted she would ever need to fix her own food except when the house elves weren't working on it.
She slowly wondered into the bedroom where there was a huge bed with scarlet covers and gold curtains. It reminded her of her days in Gryffindor, only there was no Lavender to share it with. She sat on the bed, still looking around, noting the big closet, and that the bathroom also had a door into her own private rooms. She smiled softly, then exited her rooms to meet Charlie in the hallway.
"Ready to go to the Burrow?" he asked. She nodded, holding his hand once more. "Dumbledore said we could walk to Hogsmeade and Apparate, or we could Floo from his office." Hermione bit her lip softly.
"Apparate, I guess. Besides, it's a lovely day for a walk. Let's go, Charlie!" she said, happily skipping out of the castle. Charlie simply shook his head as he watched her go.
"Hey, 'Mione!" he yelled after her. She abruptly stopped and turned to face him. "Why so happy?"
"I don't know," she yelled back. "Want to race to Hogsmeade?"
"You're ahead of me!" he yelled back.
"Surely a measly ten steps won't keep such a strong man like you from catching up!" Charlie grinned and started chasing her immediately. Hermione squealed and took off towards Hogsmeade, running as quickly as she could. Suddenly, she felt powerful arms around her waist, and she turned around, fear evident on her face.
"Charlie, don't do that," she whispered, her lips trembling. Charlie instantly let her go, looking at her in shock.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting on the ground in front of her. She slowly sat next to him, looking at him carefully.
"It reminds me of Bob. I mean, I'm handling everything well . . . it's just when you grabbed me like that, I was so scared that he had come back. I know that he can't hurt me, but you scared me," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, reaching for her hand. "I didn't think." Hermione softly smiled at him, reaching for him hesitantly. At first, Charlie simply held her, clutching her protectively. "Hermione, you know I'd never intentionally hurt you, and I would never let anyone hurt you. Hell, if I could have stopped Bob sooner, you know I would have," he whispered.
"I know," Hermione told him, smoothing his hair down, running one hand down his smooth jaw. And, even though they had been dating for weeks, they had yet to kiss. Sure, they held hands, hugged, and kissed each other on the forehead and cheek, but never really kissed. So, Charlie was completely surprised when Hermione guided his head closer to hers, until their lips were only inches from one another.
Charlie gently put his hand on her cheek, guiding her closer to them, until their lips were barely touching. It started out as a chaste and gentle kiss, but soon Charlie's tongue pressed against her lips begging entrance. Hermione quickly parted her lips, pressing herself even closer to him.
A few minutes later, Hermione reluctantly pulled away, still looking into his cloudy blue eyes. She smiled softly at him, then looked around and smiled softly.
"Think we should go back to the Burrow?" she asked thoughtfully. He grinned and stood up, helping her. They slowly walked back to Hogsmeade, then Apparated, still holding hands. Their worry about how to tell their friends about their relationship was solved because everyone saw them holding hands as soon as they got back.
"I was right! They are dating!" was the first thing Hermione heard when she popped back at the Burrow.
A/N: Sorry I seem to keep ending like this. I just wanted to get the next chapter out. Two in two days, not bad, right? So tell me what you think!
Tracy: Thanks for the support! I hope you liked it! And, not nearly as long to the next chapter, right?