A/N: Hey! Thanks for checking out my newest story! I wrote this over the course of a week and just loved it, so I hope you enjoy! It's very light and fluffy and moves pretty quick. The story is completely finished and edited and all my chapters are uploaded and ready to go. The plan is to post every 3 to 4 days so you'll be seeing regular updates! Comments are always welcomed and cherished.

Also, standard disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything in the Harry Potter Universe, I simply like to play with the characters.

December/January - New Year's

The words on the parchment sitting on my desk were beginning to swim. Checking the clock, I was grateful to see it was 7am. My overnight shift at St. Mungos Hospital was officially over. Don't get me wrong, I loved my job as a healer specializing in animal and creature related injuries. But people tend to give pets as holiday gifts and the week between Christmas and New Year's is always a busy time for me.

If a few illegal pet bites is the most exciting things I see in a day, I'm ok with it. Sure beats running for my life from the rein of Voldemort. I shuddered at the thought. At 23 years old, I was mostly healed both physically and mentally from my role in the war. Some days were still better than others. Thankfully, the good outweighed the bad.

A knock at the door disrupted my tired thoughts. "Hey Hermione. Big plans for the night?"

I looked up to see Jessica, one of my favorite nurses smiling down at me.

"Nothing too big. Harry is having some people over. I'm going to go home and get some sleep before heading over there."

She looked excited on my behalf. "Oh! A party? Taking anyone special?"

My love life, or rather lack thereof, was a major topic to just about everyone. How could Hermione Granger, one third of the famed Golden Trio, still be single after all these years? Truth was, I didn't have time to date. The idea of having to get to know someone and trust that they were dating me for me and not for my war hero status was enough to make me want to stay alone forever.

I tried a few times after the war. Ron and I dated for a few, awful months. Why I thought the two of us would be good together I'll never know. The war changed us, too. I became even happier to stay home and relax with a good book, while Ron was soaking up all the extra attention. It was a disaster.

It's ok though. Padma Patil decided to give him a second chance. She works for the gossip column of The Daily Prophet and their shared love of fame and gossip seem to work.

I had to refrain from rolling my eyes. "You know I'm not like that. I'll go, have a drink or two, wish my friends a happy New Year and head home. No big deal."

A look of pity crossed her face. "I just wish you could find someone you like. You're a catch and it's a waste to be married to this place. Just promise me if you meet someone tonight, you'll give it a chance?"

Knowing that the party was likely to be small and filled with my paired off friends, I knew there was no harm in agreeing. "I promise. But I better get home and get some sleep or I'm going to miss the whole thing."

We said our good byes and I headed home for a nice long nap.

I awoke feeling mostly refreshed. It was a treat to have the night off as well as tomorrow. Parties aren't really my thing, but I know how much Harry and Ginny love to host. It wouldn't feel right to not even make an appearance.

At least Ginny had thought to send me a dress to wear. My best friend knew me all too well. There were few things I hated more than shopping. It was getting late and I knew I had to leave soon. Grabbing my wand, I did a few quick movements to add a little make up. I had thought about putting my hair up, but it had really tamed in recent years. I was happy with the soft chocolate waves that fell just passed my shoulders. Feeling good about that, I approached the garment bag holding my dress. I unzipped it and gasped. It was not at all what I expected.

New Year's Eve is a night for dressing up, but this was ridiculous. The worst part, she knew that I had no option but to wear it or I would feel as though I was hurting her feelings. Cursing her name, I shimmied into the short, fitted, strapless dress. The champagne color was nice against my tanned skin, but the fact that it was completely covered in sparkles and barely came midthigh was what made me self-conscious.

Once against I told myself that the party would be small and to not worry about it. As I repeated that mantra to myself, I grabbed a pair of black stilettos and headed for the floo.

As I stepped out and brushed myself off, I was glad to see that I wasn't the first to arrive, but the party also wasn't in full swing yet. Ginny rushed up to hug me.

"I knew that dress would look amazing on you!"

I returned her hug and melted into her embrace. While the dress wasn't my style, I appreciated the thought that my friend had put into it and that she cared enough to do so.

"Thank you, Ginny." I looked around the room. "So, who all is coming?"

"The usual. It won't be too big. Neville and Hannah are here already. Ron got here a few minutes before you did with Padma, and Seamus and Dean are here. Luna should be coming any minute with her new boyfriend she met on her last trip and the twins and Bill said they would be a bit later. Oh! I almost forgot. Charlie is coming."

The majority of those people were expected. The idea of a small gathering when it came to the Weasleys didn't always match everyone else's idea. Now that just about everyone was paired off, the group was rather large. Actually, as I mentally flipped back through the list, I realized Charlie and myself would be the only two single people at the party. Just great.

"What's he doing in town?"

Charlie hadn't made it home much since the two weeks he took off after the war to help clean up the castle and make sure his family was ok. Fred had quite a close call, but thankfully after a couple days in St. Mungos to recover, the family was back home together good as knew.

"You'll have to ask him. I can't quite remember, something about too much holiday time or something."

She waved off the comment then brightened again as the floo roared to life. Out stepped Luna and a second later a shy looking man.

"Hey Luna!" I didn't get to talk to her much these days. She was spending a lot of time traveling looking for exotic creatures. Much to everyone's surprise, she actually found some of the ones we used to tease her about being mythical.

"Hullo Hermione. It's been too long. I trust you are well?" I nodded. "Great to hear! This is my boyfriend, Rolf Scamander. We met while I was out on expedition."

I shifted to the young man at her side. "Scamander. Any relation to Newt?"

His face brightened. "Ah yes. That would be my grandfather. He's quite smitten with my Luna here, as am I."

The pair took an uncomfortably long time gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Well then, I think I'm just going to get a class of champagne."

I love Luna, but she was clearly too distracted to have a conversation with at the moment. Heading towards the kitchen, I noticed a lot of food waiting to be put out. Never one to shy away from helping, I began to unwrap the items and bring them to the dining room table where I knew Ginny would want people to serve themselves from.

Ginny found me there a few minutes later putting out another item. "Oi! You're a guest, Mione, not a servant. As host to this wonderful shindig, it's my responsibility to provide refreshments. It's your job to socialize."

I held my hands up defensively. "It's quite alright. I know your busy greeting everyone as they come. I'm the only one here without a date so really it makes sense that I sneak away to help. No one will miss me."

A look of utter sadness crossed her features and I regretted my words instantly. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she beat me to it. "Charlie! Get in here!"

Charlie Weasley came striding into the room a minute later. I had to admit, he looked good. If it was possible, his muscles had grown even larger than the last time I had seen him. His face was tanned from the sun, but he looked good. Really good.

I chastised myself for thinking of him that way.

"Hello sis. What's going on in here?" Charlie looked over in my direction and smiled, revealing rows of perfectly straight, white teeth. Hey, I'm the daughter of dentists. I notice these things.

"Hey Char. I know you just got here, but I was wondering if you could keep Hermione company tonight? She seems to think that since she is without a date that she has kitchen duty and I refuse her to be anything other than the guest she is."

I had to refrain from rolling my eyes. I've never felt anything less than a welcomed guest at Gimmauld Place.

"Absolutely. I'm here by myself, too, you know." He winked in my direction. "Since we seem to be the odd ones out this evening, it only seems right I offer to be your date for the night."

My face flushed. This wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought I would come, say hellos, drink a glass of champagne or two, and be on my way back home. But the look Charlie gave me made it seem he, too, was feeling a bit uncomfortable by all the loved-up couples ready to ring in the new year together.

In the end, I couldn't resist the look he gave me. "Fine!" He smiled and grabbed a glass of champagne and handed to me.

"To being dates for the night!" He clinked his glass to mine and we drank.

I couldn't help a small laugh. "This is absurd. We are both adults. I'm perfectly capable of attending a party alone and enjoying myself." Charlie raised a brown. "Fine. I had planned to slip out early."

He gave a deep, throaty laugh that sent a pleasurable chill down my spine. Well, that was new. Ignoring it, I turned back to my date. "Ok, if we're going to do this, let's do it properly then. How'd you manage to get home for the holiday?"

He took a sip of his drink and considered the question longer than I would have thought he needed to. "Seems I've acquired a bit too much holiday time. We have recently taken on some more trainers and the reserve is in a better place to cover my spot. I've been told I have a certain amount of leave I need to take this year, or they are going to file disciplinary recommendations."

I was shocked. "Surely they can't punish you for working!"

He shrugged. "I think it was partly a joke. But I have enough time off I could take a year or two and they would still have to pay me. I think it's getting a bit overwhelming for them to keep track of. So I made a deal that I would do that, but I'd be coming home for all the holidays."

"All of them?"

"Yup. Managed to get approval to be home for at least two days every month. Sometimes it will be longer."

I tried to imagine what it would be like to go home so frequently. Not that I had another home to go to. My parents' memories were still lost. They were alive and happy though, so I tried not to dwell on the fact that they have no clue they created a child.

"And you'll be staying at The Burrow?"

This time he shuddered. "Yeah. We will see how that goes. I may rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron sometimes. Not sure how much of mum and dad I can take. Every now and then is ok, but I've been off on my own for so long now that tension can get a bit high when I'm there too much. Especially now that everyone is moved out. There's no one to share the attention."

"I can imagine." I bit my lip as an idea formed and it was out before I could stop myself. "Well, if you ever need a reprieve, I have a cozy guest room. It doesn't get used much and I'm not sure if it would be weird to have me as a temporary roommate, but it's there if you need it."

He looked me up and down as if considering me seriously for the first time. "I might just take you up on that."

We continued speaking with each other most of the night. I did sneak away more than once to catch up with my friends, but it was never long before I found myself back at his side. Charlie was the one Weasley sibling I didn't feel like I knew inside and out. He had made it home a few times over the years, but it was never really in a setting that allowed us to get to know each other well.

This evening proved to be the most I had ever spoke to him and we spent hours getting to know one another. I found myself liking what I heard. Charlie seemed to have a truly kind heart.

As the clock began to count down towards midnight, we followed the rest of the guests outside. Ginny and Harry had managed to get a magical patio installed with a bubble of protection all around and up quite a way.

Fred and George stepped away from their wives to reveal a stash of fireworks. They readied them to go off just as the clock changed.

Charlie and I stood in the back of the crowd, off to the side a bit. To my surprise, he grabbed my hand and turned to me as the crowd began to count back from ten.

Our eyes locked and I could see him searching for permission. I gave the slightest of nods, but he seemed to have noticed. When the clock struck twelve and the crowd was filled with shouts of celebration, Charlie lowered his mouth to mine.

The kiss was tame and not nearly as long as I wanted, but man did it pack fire! Never had I been kissed like that before. It felt like my nerve endings were on fire. If he could do that to me with one simple kiss, what would happen if he did more?

I had to shake myself from the questions swirling in my head. "Wow."

His smile lit up his face. "I'll say."

We were interrupted from our moment as the crowd descended on us. Hugs were given as gleeful squeals of happy new year made their rounds.

My eyes found Charlie's as I hugged his sister and he winked at me while he patted Bill on the back. From there, the crowd got a little rowdier and it was harder to find a quiet place to talk. My brain was screaming at me to corner him and ask him what the hell he meant by that, but my heart was scared.

Instead, I found myself making my excuses to leave a little less than an hour later with a confused mind and a racing heart.