The characters in this story belong to J.K. Rowling, but the story is mine.
Sometimes life throws you a curve; does something that leaves you wondering about your sanity. For Hermione Granger, this was one of those moments. She was sitting on the sofa in her flat, her legs curled underneath herself, wondering what in the hell she was thinking! She was not supposed to be thinking about him in that way!
"He's like a brother to you!" Her head screamed.
But unfortunately (or fortunately depended on how you look at it) her heart was telling her something completely different.
It had started earlier that evening when she was attending one of the Weasley's frequent family gatherings. Hermione had been going to the Burrow for these occasions for years. Ever since she had been 11 years old and had become friends with Ron Weasley, she had felt like a part of the family. The Burrow had become like a home to her. All through her years at Hogwarts and now the five years since they had graduated, the Burrow always welcomed her. More often than not, it was a safe refuge from the rest of the world. You could always count on the ramshackle home and the family that lived there to be just what you seemed to need.
One of her best friends in the world was Ron Weasley. She had met him at school along with her other best friend Harry Potter. They were inseparable. Through all their adventures and life threatening moments over the past 12 years, they had remained close. Hermione and Harry had both lost any family that they had (Hermione's parents had died four years ago in a death eater attack and Harry's had been killed when he was a baby). For the two of them, Author and Molly Wealsey and their seven children (who all survived the war, thank merlin!), had now become the family that Harry and Hermione spent all their time with. It just felt right. Even though Molly and Author could never replace her parents, they were as close to it as you could come. Hermione loved them.
Then of course there were the Weasley's children; Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Bill was the oldest; the big brother to all of them and Hermione felt that way about him also. Bill was great for advice (both solicited and unsolicited). He had gotten married a few years ago to Fleur. They seemed happy and now were starting their very own Weasley clan. Then there was Percy. He used to be such a terrible git, but had come to his senses and was once again back with his family. Percy got married last year to a witch he met at the ministry. His wife Nina, was just as smart and ambitious as he was. They were a perfect match. The twins, Fred and George, still the pranksters as ever, we successful with their joke shops and had themselves settled down. George and his wife, Katie, had their first child a month ago. Ron had become an auror along with Harry and had met a very sweet witch named Danielle. They got married three months ago and were still in that nauseating "honeymoon" phase. It was cute, but there were definitely only so much the family could take before someone yelled "Get a room!" Ginny was dating Harry. Everyone knew that they would be together, there was no denying the connection those two had.
Hermione chuckled to herself. She remembers at one time how everyone said the same thing about her and Ron. They actually tried dating each other, it only lasted two dates before they both admitted that they were much better off being just friends. Ron was like a brother to her. Nothing more.
But then again, isn't that they was she should be thinking about him right now too?
This was infuriating her.
It all started tonight right after dinner. The newest generations of Weasleys had been put to bed and all of the adults were now sitting in the lounge chatting with one another. The conversations stopped however when Harry cleared his throat and announced that he had asked Ginny to marry him the night before and she had said yes. After a round of gushing women crying and hugging the newly engaged couple and kisses on the cheek and pats on the backs with congratulations from the various men, all conversations now floated to the topic of the wedding.
Hermione sighed and smiled. She was genuinely happy for the two of them. After everything that they had been through, they deserved to have a life together. Despite Hermione's smile, a part of her was saddened and a little bit jealous. It was happy times like these that reminded her that she had no one like that in her life. She wanted a boyfriend, fiancé, a husband. She wasn't dating anyone. She hadn't been serious with any man yet where she could even think of spending the rest of her life with them. To be truthful, she hadn't actually been on a real date for almost a year now. It's not that she hadn't been asked, it's just that somehow the man doing the asking was not someone she wanted to go out with. The men Hermione seemed to attract were normally the complete nerd who only wanted her for her brains, or men that only wanted her become of her somewhat celebrity status (she helped Harry defeat the Dark Lord). She wanted to find a man that liked her for her, all of her. She felt that she was an all around good person, she was intelligent, funny (ok, some of the time), and even though she wasn't a drop dead gorgeous woman, she wasn't ugly either.
While the rest of the family was admiring Ginny's ring and hearing the details of Harry's proposal, Hermione decided to slip out unnoticed into the back garden for some fresh air. What she didn't realize is that someone did notice.
She was sitting on the garden wall staring out at the stars about the trees when she heard someone walk up behind her.
"You ok Hermione?"
She turned around and saw Charlie standing there with a concerned yet sympathetic look on his face.
"You snuck out of there pretty quickly. I expected you to be huddled around Ginny's ring like the rest of them."
"Yeah well, I was hoping no one noticed that I had left."
"I don't think anyone did, except me of course."
Charlie flashed a smile at her. That famous Weasley smile. She couldn't help but smile back.
Charlie sat down on the wall next to her.
"Seriously though, you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that…oh I don't know how to explain it. I'm happy for them I really am.."
"But" Charlie interrupted "you can't help but feel a little jealous and left out."
Hermione turned to him.
"How did you know?"
"Because that's how I'm feeling right about now. I'm excited to see the two of them as happy as they are, Merlin knows they deserve it, but I don't have that u know? I'm the only Weasley child left that's single"
"I thought that's how you wanted to be Charlie. I mean everyone always talks about how you love the bachelor life."
"Yeah well the life of a bachelor is not all it's cracked up to be. I hate it sometimes going home to an empty flat with no one to say "Honey, I'm home" to."
Hermione nodded her head. "I know. Sometimes I think I'll be one of those old maids that lives by herself with just her cats to keep her company."
Charlie laughed.
"No way Hermione. You'll find someone. In all honesty, I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend. Why someone hasn't snatched you up yet."
Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh.
"You're funny Charlie." Hermione said sarcastically. "Honestly! I'm not going to be snatched up anytime soon. In order for that to happen I actually have to have someone interested first and that is not occurring. No one is beating down my door like someone I know." She glanced at Charlie and smirked as she said it.
"Is that what you think? That I have women beating down my door? Surely you jest!"
Hermione laughed again.
"I've heard about you and your romancesCharlie. Rumor has it that you can have any woman you want and frequently do."
"Really? Gee I wish somebody would let me know where all these women are. No seriously Hermione, I'm not the playboy everyone makes me out to be. I have had a few relationships in the past and I'm not being conceited when I say that there are some women out there that are attracted to me, but the problem is that I'm not necessarily attracted to them. Most of them are stupid, idiotic women who don't care about anything that actually requires them to think. That was fine when I was younger, but now that I'm getting old, I'm looking for something more. I'm not always going to look this good you know."
"Getting old? Charlie you are not getting old."
"I am too. I'm almost 30!."
"30 is not old!"
"I know, I'm just kidding. I know I'm always going to look good." He smirked.
Hermione smiled. Charlie Weasley did look very good in fact. He was shorter than Ron and Bill, but still was tall at 6 ft. He had that gorgeous Weasley smile and brilliant blue eyes. He was muscular without having too many muscles. Charlie had worked with dragons in Romania, but had since come back to England to live. The war had made him want to be closer to his family, so he had taken a job at Hogwarts teaching Care of Magical Creatures and also as the schools new flying instructor. He had cut his hair too.
Hermione must have been in a daze thinking about the way he looked because all of a sudden she heard Charlie laugh.
"See something you like?"
Hermione instantly blushed. She hadn't realized she had been staring.
"Sorry" she apologized.
"Don't be. It's just reaffirms what I said earlier."
Hermione playfully smacked his arm.
"Conceited?"
"Nope, just confident."
"Oi! Will you two quit flirting with each other and get in here. We're gonna toast the happy couple!"
They both turned to see Bill standing by the kitchen door with a huge smirk on his face.
Charlie cleared his throat. Hermione could see a blush on his face and was sure there was once on hers as well.
"Well I guess we better go in. No more hiding out." He stood and offered his hand to Hermione to help her up.
"Thanks. It was nice talking to you Charlie. It made me feel better. I don't think we've ever gotten to really do this before."
Charlie paused, staring at Hermione. Suddenly she felt light headed. She was looking at Charlie differently now. She had a feeling he was doing the same thing.
What are you thinking! This is Charlie remember? Big brother? But wait, technically he isn't your brother so…
Hermione was brought back to reality when she felt Charlie softy run his thumb on her cheek. She closed her eyes, enjoying his gentle touch.
"We should do this more often Hermione" he whispered and with that he turned and walked back to the house. Hermione stood there frozen for a minute replaying what just happened in her mind before slowly following him.
Everyone was standing around the kitchen of the Burrow when they walked in. George handed her a glass of champagne.
"What were you guys doing out there?" Ron asked.
"Just talking." Charlie answered.
"Yeah, I wasn't feeling too well and Charlie came out to see if I was ok."
"Are you?" Harry asked.
"Yeah" Hermione answered glancing at Charlie, "I'm fine."
"Alright then, a toast…" Ron began
After the toast everyone started to leave. Hermione gave Ginny and Harry both a hug and said goodbye to Author and Molly. With a pop, she was gone.
Back in her flat, Hermione was just taking off her cloak when she heard a knock at her door.
"Hermione, can I come in?"
It was Charlie.
She opened the door and gestured him in. He looked nervous.
"Charlie, are you ok?" Hermione asked worriedly.
He stopped and walked over to stand directly in front of her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Out in the garden, after Bill told us to come in…when we were standing there…"
"Yes?" Hermione asked.
"Did you feel anything different?"
Hermione felt her face becoming hot. "What do you mean?" she stammered.
Charlie stepped even closer to her.
"What I mean is, I felt like for a moment there, you weren't just Hermione anymore. I mean, of course you were Hermione, but you were suddenly more than that. I felt like I was seeing you in a whole new light."
Hermione lowered her head. Charlie placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head until they were looking into each others eyes.
"Did you?"
She couldn't seem to find her voice, so Hermione slowly nodded her head.
"I though so." He whispered.
And with that he gently leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
She started to say something when Charlie gently put his finger to her lips.
"Just think about it. Ok?"
Hermione nodded.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow." With a soft pop, he was gone, leaving Hermione once again to stand frozen in thought.
A/N: So what do you think? Let me know! Should I continue?