Chapter 21: Kisses for the Camera

The summer was coming to a close and the friends were both anxious to get back to school and sad that their great summer was over. There were only 2 weeks left of summer break and it was time to step up Severus' job of breaking up Harry and Ginny. The last two Quidditch matches had made some progress with Ginny and X with him blowing her a kiss and she grinning and reaching out to grab it and a very public kiss on the cheek and him standing with his arm around her at a press conference. England was playing in the semi-final match the next day and they needed to get the ball rolling. It was decided that X would take Ginny to dinner that night but it would need to be a double date at least. No one would believe that Ron would let his sister cheat on Harry so they decided to have Hermione go with Charlie since they were who had joined Victor and Annie the last time.

"So may I take you out to dinner tonight?" Charlie asked Hermione with a dashing smile. He knew she had to do it for the order but he wanted it to be an actual date.

"But we're already going out with Ginny and X tonight," Hermione told him confused.

"Yes, I was just hoping you wanted to accompany me rather than being told to for the good of the order." He said not able to look at her face, he didn't want to see the rejection in her eyes.

Hermione smiled at him, "Sure Charlie that sounds wonderful. What time will you be by my room to pick me up for our date?" She knew he had fancied her for a while and decided it wouldn't hurt anything to give him a chance.

He grinned at her, "I'll be there at 6:45 as our reservations are for 7 at Le France restaurant in Diagon Alley." He smiled at her again and hurried off to get everything ready for their date. He knew this was his one shot and he couldn't mess it up.

He hurried into Bill and his room, "She said yes!" Bill and Fleur looked up and smiled at him, knowing how much he liked her.

"That is wonderful," Fleur said as she headed over to his armoire to pick out his robes for that evening.

"So, this is your chance at the girl huh?" Bill asked him with a grin. "I wonder what Ron will say when he finds out you're taking out his ex-girlfriend."

"She said yes?" Fred asked from the doorway where he and George had just entered to see how their brother had fared. George smiled at the look of happiness on Charlie's face.

"You do realize that she is still very young and is probably not ready for a serious relationship." George warned him, he was the more serious of the twins although he rarely let anyone see that side.

"Yes, all I wanted was a chance and now I have it. I don't want to scare her away." Charlie told them as he sat down on his bed.

"I won't let you scare her off," Ginny said as she entered the room and plopped down on the bed next to her brother. "That's why this double date works out so well. I can save you if you get in trouble and I have you to protect me from the evil reporters!"

"So should I bring her anything like flowers or something?" Charlie asked as they all discussed his chances with the brightest witch ever.

"What do you think she would like?" Fleur said trying to get Charlie to help himself. She knew he was nervous but he wouldn't always have them to rely on.

"She wouldn't want anything too fancy or flashy. She likes practical gifts mostly. She would probably appreciate a book more than a dozen roses." He told them and the two girls nodded their agreement. "I bought her this for her birthday in September; maybe I should give it to her now?" He asked them and pulled a small leather-bound book from his drawer and handed it to them for inspection.

"I'm not sure a pocket version of Shakespeare's sonnets is right for a first date," Ginny told him. "You don't want to overwhelm her. She already knows you fancy her so you don't have to prove that fact to her."

"I have an idea!" Fred said excitedly. "How about you buy her one rose, that favorite kind of hers, and then we can charm it not to wilt and to play one of those sonnets."

"That sounds like an interesting idea," Bill commented. "That way when you give her the sonnets for her birthday it will be like a remembrance of your first date."

"I'll go get you the flower," Ginny said and was about to dash out of the room when Ron walked in looking at his family strangely.

"What, is this a family reunion and I wasn't invited?" He asked them wondering what was going on that they were all gathered without him.

"No, we were just helping Charlie get ready for his order mission tonight," Bill told their youngest brother. They knew he would not take it well that Charlie was going on a date with Hermione.

"Since when do you dress up or need the help of the whole family to get ready for an order mission?" Ron asked knowing there was something else going on.

"Since it involves going out to dinner at Le France tonight," Charlie answered truthfully. He refused to lie to Ron, they may not tell him the exact truth but if it came down to it he would tell him the truth rather than a lie.

"I'll be right back," Ginny stated and hurried out of the room before Ron had a chance to ask her what she was up to.

"So who's going to tell me what is really going on?" Ron asked his brothers as Fleur went back to searching through Charlie's clothes.

"I'll tell you as soon as you promise not to get mad at me," Charlie told him seriously.

"Fine, I promise," Ron said sitting down on the bed and wondering what it could be that Charlie would be worried he would be upset.

"I am going out with Hermione tonight," Charlie told him carefully. "We are double dating with Xavier and Ginny for an order mission."

"So what, they hooked you two up to make it look convincing," Ron said wondering why everyone had been worried he would be upset. He knew how the order worked and that Hermione and Charlie didn't have a choice.

"Not exactly," Charlie told him. "You see I really asked her out, so it's a real date." He saw the look of realization on Ron's face and it was almost enough to curb his enthusiasm for the date.

"I see," Ron said trying to work through all his conflicting emotions. He didn't like the idea of Hermione, his first love, with anyone else but at the same time he was happy with Susan. "I guess I have to be ok with that. I don't have any right to hold her back just because it bruises my ego that she is moving on just like I did. If she has to date someone I'm just glad it's you instead of a jerk like Wood. At least with you I know you wouldn't hurt her or rush her and I know mum would kill you if you did."

"Thanks for understanding," Charlie said giving his brother a hug.

"Enough of all this sappy stuff!" Fred yelled out to liven up the mood. "We still have to get you all polished up."

Fleur held up a set of royal blue dress robes that he had for a few years. They were tailored but not too fancy. He thought they would look very nice. She took out his pair of muggle khaki pants and a butter yellow polo shirt. "What do you think? I know she is muggle born and will like how you look in these pants."

"You're the fashion expert here. I'll wear whatever you think will make me look good." Charlie told her as he went into the bathroom to change his clothes. He put his brown dragon hide boots on and took the glamour off his tattoo so she could see it if he took off his robes. It was a large yellow dragon, a Norwegian Ridgeback, on his left bicep. He came out of the bathroom in the pants and shirt with his robes over his arm.

"Nice tattoo, I wasn't sure you actually had one." Ron commented, "Is that Norbert?"

"It is a Norwegian Ridgeback but Norbert is one of the tamest dragons I've ever met. This guy here is not. I had to have my hair regrown three times after I got too close to this guy and he singed it off." Charlie told them, "I got a wicked scar across my back from him as well."

"What did you name him?" George asked, they had been told that they gave names to all of their dragons so it was easier to talk about them amongst the dragon tamers.

"He was call Sparky since getting anywhere near him was enough to get you burnt," Charlie said laughing.

Ginny ran into the room then with two Fire and Ice roses in her hand and a big smile. "I got two incase you screw up the charm." She told them and handed over the flowers. "Now you just have to decide on which sonnet to recite to her."

"I was thinking of 116 but perhaps it is early to be speaking of love?" He asked them all with a shrug.

"I also think that it doesn't show much thought to use that one as it is such a popularly known verse. Are there any others that you like?" Ginny told him.

"The one that comes to mind when I think of Hermione is Sonnet 43, I think that one will work fine, so let's start the charms on the rose." He told them and they got to work. They charmed the flower not to wilt and then charmed it to record Charlie's voice reciting the sonnet. They had to do it 8 times until he was happy with the result. Bill then charmed it so that it would only recite once someone touched the petals, that way it wouldn't get annoying by reciting over and over.

"Let me try it," Ginny said taking the rose and smelling it. She touched it to her cheek and Charlie's voice softly floated out saying:

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

"Yep, it's perfect!" Ginny said with a smile as she handed the rose back to her brother. "I have to go get ready for tonight so I'll let the rest of you make sure Charlie gets ready on time," she told them rushing off to get ready for the date herself. She put on one of her summer sundresses, her favorite buttery yellow one. She chuckled as she realized that Charlie's shirt was the same shade. She then pulled on her new cream colored summer dress robes and pulled her hair up into a French twist. Her mother had lent her the string of pearls and hair clip that Harry had given her for the inauguration. She decided she looked perfect and the reporters would eat her up.

Charlie knocked softly on Hermione's door at exactly 6:45 since he knew she appreciated punctuality. He smiled as she opened the door wearing a mint green sundress with matching robes loose/open over her shoulders. She had half of her curls pulled back away from her face and decorated with the rose hair pin he had given her for NEWTs. "You look beautiful," he told her and handed her the rose.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile as she brought the rose to her face to smell it. The petals touched her lips and his voice filtered out reciting the sonnet. "Oh!" She said surprised as she heard the verse from the flower. "That was lovely, I love Shakespeare's sonnets."

"I'm glad you approve," he said offering her his arm so they could walk to the entry hall to apparate.

"I have always liked sonnet 43, I'm glad that you chose it over some of the others." She told him as they walked down the stairs. He smiled to himself as he realized she would not have appreciated one that spoke directly of love.

They met Xavier and Ginny at the entrance to the restaurant and were shown to their table. Xavier made sure to have a possessive arm around Ginny's waist and made a show of pulling out her seat. Ginny was holding a teddy bear wearing Quidditch robes with Xavier's number on them, obviously a gift, and made sure she smiled adoringly at X as he lead her through the restaurant. They had definitely made their point for no sooner than 10 minutes later there were at least 4 reporters in the entranceway of the restaurant, 2 with camera.

They talked calmly to each other through the appetizers and the main course. It was much easier for Charlie to get along with X knowing it was really Harry. Ginny and X made sure to flirt extra heavily whenever one of the servers was around. They knew that it would make the front page of the paper in the morning so their public snog at the match would guarantee to be seen. X kept his left arm around the back of Ginny's chair for most of the meal and leaned in and whispered softly in her ear numerous times. He smirked to himself the last time he did it and he saw the flash of a camera go off. Obviously one of the cameramen had made it past the maitre-d.

Desert was when they really started their little show. X ordered Cream Brule and fed it to Ginny off of his spoon. Charlie and Hermione had a hard time not laughing at the looks on the reporters faces. For them it was as if Christmas came in early. Charlie and Hermione split a piece of Chocolate Gateau but they each had their own fork unlike the spotlight couple. They knew they would have to loose the reporters before apparating back to headquarters so they decided to take a walk down Diagon Alley. The more people that saw Ginny on Xavier's arm the better.

"Thank you for the lovely meal," Ginny purred in Xavier's direction as they neared the front of the restaurant where the reporters could hear them.

"No thank you for honoring me with your presence," X said taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. "For you are the only woman I have eyes for," he said silkily. Draco and Severus had spent the better part of the afternoon teaching him to speak in that manner and it seemed to be paying off. Ginny blushed prettily and smiled at him while looking up at him through her eyelashes. X hooked her arm in his and led her from the restaurant.

"Would you like to take a walk?" Charlie asked Hermione as they followed Ginny and X down the streets of Diagon Alley.

"Yes, that would be nice." Hermione told him. "I had a nice time tonight Charlie." She said knowing how long he had wanted to ask her out for.

"Would it be too presumptuous to ask you for a second date?" He asked smiling down at her.

"How about you escort me to the Quidditch match tomorrow," Hermione said with a chuckle. "Then we can see from there. You do realize that I go back to school in a few weeks and I won't see you until Christmas."

"There are ways of seeing each other during the year, if you so desire." He told her so she realized he would wait for her.

"Tonight was great Charlie, but I'm not looking for anything serious. I want to have a good time my last year at school, go out with any of the boys that ask and be a kid for once. I don't want to keep you from finding someone special." She told him sadly.

"Hermione, if you just want to go out occasionally and date other men in between, that is fine with me. Just tell me honestly, do you want to go out with me again?" He asked her understanding that she didn't want anything serious or long term, he just needed to know if she liked him at all.

"You are a wonderful man and I had a great time. I would love to go out with you again." She told him then added, "I also don't want to get your hopes up. I don't plan on having a serious relationship until I'm done with university. I will most likely be in university for 5 to 7 years then 2 more years of apprenticing at least. I am going for a double mastery of potions and transfiguration and that is my first and only goal. Love will come after that."

"I understand," he told her, finally understanding where she was coming from. "How about we stay just as friends but can still go out on a date now and then."

"That's perfect," she told him and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Can we still tease Ron about being more than friends though?" She asked mischievously, "You know how jealous he gets!" They each laughed and decided to head back to headquarters as Ginny and X had already headed back once they lost the reporters.

They got back to headquarters and Charlie escorted her to her bedroom. "I had a great time tonight, thank you for joining me." He told her kissing her hand as X had done to Ginny. Hermione smirked at him and pulled him close for a hug.

"I already told you that I had a good time," she said and then pressed her lips gently to his. Charlie couldn't believe his good luck; he hadn't expected a goodnight kiss at all! "Thank you for the rose," she said with a smile as she stepped in and shut her door.

Charlie just grinned and headed back to his rooms oblivious to the two sets of eyes that had watched the exchange. Ron was fuming that Hermione had kissed his brother on their first date and Severus realized he would have to keep a close eye on Charlie Weasley. He was a protective and possessive man and wouldn't let his friend get hurt again like she had by that imbecile Oliver Wood.

"Hermione, Ginny, hurry up or we're going to be late for the game!" Fred yelled in the direction of the girls rooms. They had an entire box to themselves for the game so everyone in the house was coming, even the Longbottoms. Everyone wanted to see Xavier catch the snitch and guarantee England's spot in the World Cup finals. The two girls finished their hair and hurried to meet the group in the entrance hall.

"Wow everything looks so much brighter and louder now that we're at the semi-finals!" Ginny said with a grin as she sat down in the front row of the box. She was wearing robes that Xavier had given her in England's colors with his number on them. Hermione and the rest of the group were all dressed in England's colors as well and sporting banners and rosettes with Xavier's number or picture on them.

The team took to the air and as they were announced they did a lap around the pitch. As X flew buy he slowed down and blew Ginny another kiss. This time she caught it and then sent him back one of her own. Severus smirked to himself at how well things were going as he noticed the interaction had been caught on the jumbo screen where the advertisements and scores were put up. There was no doubt in anyone's mind at that point that there was something going on between England's star seeker and the daughter of the minister. The newspaper had three separate photos of the two on their date last night. One of him kissing her hand, one of him whispering in his ear and one of her grinning like a lovesick puppy up at him, he had definitely succeeded in his mission so he didn't think the dark lord would be upset with him.

The game was over quickly. England was up 60 to 40 when X spotted the snitch 45 minutes into the match. He sped across the pitch with the Argentinean seeker trying desperately to catch up to him. The crowd was on their feet and going wild as Xavier thrust the snitch in the air showing he had caught it. No one had expected the game to end that quickly but all the English fans were ecstatic that they were going to the finals.

Xavier raced over to Ginny after quick congratulations from his team. He jumped from his broom and scooped her into his arms, spinning her around as she laughed and clung to him. He set her back down and pulled her close. The crowd took a collective gasp as he brought his mouth down to hers in a passionate kiss. They didn't even notice all the flash bulbs going off as they kissed. Their kiss was amazing. Ginny was so happy for Harry having made it to the world cup that she almost forgot it was X she was kissing. That is until Ron, as instructed by the order, pulled her away from Xavier.

"Ginny, how could you do this to Harry? I thought you loved him," He said with a fake outraged look on his face as he glared at Xavier and his sister.

"It was just a little kiss Ron," Ginny told him. "I was just congratulating him on his great catch and win."

"Since when does congratulating consist of snogging?" Ron said getting into the act. "Harry is going to be devastated."

"Harry's a big boy, he can handle it," Ginny said and tossed her hair and went over to talk to Hermione and Charlie who were talking to X. Xavier slipped his arm around her shoulder as they stood there talking. The reporters were going nuts trying to push each other out of the way to get the best view of the unfolding drama.

"Well I would say that I achieved my mission," Severus told Remus with a smirk. "I don't think that could have worked out any better."

"It's just a good thing the Weasley's were warned before hand or it could have come to blows." Remus told him before going over to congratulate his 'nephew.'

The party was just getting started when they all got back to headquarters. The entire order was present to congratulate Xavier. Harry even had a good time as he slipped out and changed into himself every now and then so it looked like they were both at the party. Severus was the only one who couldn't stay for the party as he had to go report his progress to Voldemort. Harry was hoping that he would come back pain free this time after the spectacle they caused after the match.