March – St. Patrick's Day

The letters kept coming, and I kept responding. While I was enjoying hearing from Charlie on a regular basis, I couldn't help shake the thoughts from the last time I saw him. I felt it in my soul that he was becoming someone important to me. Rarely did I accept new people into my life and the idea of romance was nonexistent.

Until I met Charlie.

Everything was different now. For the first time in my adult life, I found myself truly wanting to start something with a man. Why, oh why did it have to be someone so unobtainable?

Charlie had written to me and told me he would be home for St. Patrick's Day, but that he needed a break from his family. There was to be a big celebration at The Leaky Cauldron, but he and I had both decided to skip it. He asked if my offer still stood for use of my guest room and I couldn't say no.

So, despite my swirling feelings, I gave him the address and was currently waiting anxiously for him to arrive.

The townhome I purchased was modest, but very homey. Aside from St. Mungos, it was where I spent the majority of my time. So when I moved in I made it a point to make sure all the furniture was comfortable and that there were plenty of well-loved books and pictures of those I care about around the place.

As I waited for Charlie, I did every cleaning spell I know to make sure that things were ready. I had gone to the shops to get a variety of foods and was in the process of preparing a dinner for us when the doorbell rang.

My heart stopped for a moment as I realized that this was really happening. Charlie Weasley was about to be staying at my house. Just the two of us.

Swallowing that last thought down, I pasted a smile on my face and opened the door.

"Char..." I hadn't even finished welcoming him before I was wrapped up in his strong arms and being swung off my feet.

"I've missed you."

His short statement caught me off guard. Were we to have this conversation already?

"I missed you, too." I confessed.

That seemed to be the right answer, because his face broke out in the biggest grin I've ever seen. We stood there just staring at each other until the silence stretched on so long I realized I should really show him in.

"Oh! You probably don't want to stand out there all day. Come on in. I'll show you your room."

He followed me in taking in the surroundings as I showed him down the hall and to the guest room.

"Here we are. Make yourself at home. Bathroom is the next door on the right."

Charlie was looking at me as I spoke, but I wasn't sure he was taking in a single word. He just looked... happy?

He seemed to notice I had stopped talking. "Oh! Right. Thanks again for the offer to stay. Mum has been getting a little bit clingy. Last time, she chased me around the kitchen with a pair of scissors threatening to cut my hair."

"She didn't!" Charlie's hair was adorable. It was a little shaggy, sure, but it only added to his features.

"Oh, she did. Then I got lectured. It's only going to get worse with Ginny's wedding coming up. That just leaves me and Ron without a spouse and you know it's only a matter of time before he proposes to Padma."

"Ah. So I'm just a convenient stop to avoid a set-up from your mother?"

I meant to sound sarcastic and playful, but I grimaced as the words left my mouth. It came out a bit hurt instead.

Charlie closed the few feet between us quickly. "Is that what you think?"

I looked down and answered quietly. "I'm not sure what to think, to be honest."

His strong finger lifted my chin so I was forced to meet his eyes. "Well let me clear something up. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I seem to fancy you, Ms. Granger. If I have the opportunity to spend time with you, I will always choose that above all else. Seems I've been having a hard time getting you off my mind and I'm really looking forward to it being just us this time."

I swear I saw my heart actually melt into a puddle on the floor. As much as I wanted it to be that easy, it wasn't. Just as I was about to say so, I remembered the food on the stove.

"Shoot! Hold that thought."

I rushed back to the kitchen. Thankfully everything was perfect and nothing had burned. I pulled the pots off the burners and transferred the food to serving dishes, managing to avoid Charlie's questioning gaze.

"Are you just going to keep your back to me and pretend I didn't just admit to having feelings for you?"

I put down the bowl I was filling and braced myself on the counter to collect my thoughts. Charlie came up behind me and turned me around to face him. I was trapped between him and the counter with no escape in sight.

"If you don't want me here, I can go."

"Charlie, it's not that."

"Then please, put me out of my misery here. Your reaction has me wondering a million different scenarios."

I could see the hurt reflected on his face and I hated myself for doing that to him.

"It's just not that simple Charlie."

"Are you saying you don't have feelings for me then?" His tone was challenging.

"No, that's not it."

"Then it is that simple."

And in the next breath, his mouth was on mine. His kiss was even better than I remembered. There was so much passion and emotion for such a small action. By the time Charlie pulled away, I was breathless and my mind was fuzzy with pleasure.

"What were you saying?" He looked smug, and for good reason. My legs felt as if I had just been hit by a jelly legs jinx.

But the question brought me back to reality. "Charlie, I'm your sister's best friend and your brother's ex-girlfriend. That's enough to make it complicated even without throwing in our age gap and the fact that you live more than 2600km away."

My voice broke at the end. I had never wanted anything more than what Charlie was offering and was cursing the fates that made it so complicated.

"Mione, we are two grown adults. I don't give a flying Hippogriff what my family says. If we want to be together, that's between you and me. No one else. Do you understand?" I wanted to argue, but knew deep down he was right so I just nodded my head. "Good. As for the age gap, that doesn't matter. Wizards live well into their hundreds. In the scheme of things, seven years is a drop in the bucket." He grabbed my hands and I had to admit that his words were comforting me. "I admit that the distance is a bit daunting, but do you think you could just trust me? I'll be home a lot this year and if we can manage until December, I have an idea on a way to make it work long term."

I raised a brow, but he refused to say more. Instead, he just looked at me with his big, hopeful eyes.

Without stopping to overthink it, I threw myself into his arms.

Finally, we broke apart long enough to eat dinner. Our conversation flowed smoothly, but it had shifted slightly. There's a difference in getting to know someone as a friend, and getting to know someone as a partner. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Charlie. His hopes, his dreams, what he saw for his future.

I was pleased to find he and I were fairly similar. Aside from his perpetually single lifestyle up until this point, Charlie really did want to settle down. He just hadn't met anyone that caused the spark that made him want to learn more. Not that there were many opportunities at the reserve, but there was a town close by that he frequented often enough.

After our bellies were full, we retired to the sitting room where I introduced Charlie to the television. We spent a quiet evening snuggling on the couch as we watched a couple DVDs.

He was quite taken by the experience and I was happy to be the one who shared it with him.

As the evening wrapped up and it became apparent that we were both extremely tired, Charlie walked me to my room. He gave me a very thorough good night kiss before retreating to the guest room.

I appreciated his lack of assumptions. Just because we decided to give this a go didn't mean I'd be sharing my bed with him any time soon.

This was a little bit of a longer trip. Charlie stayed with me for three nights. While I was at work he found ways to occupy himself. He apparently had to visit the Ministry anyways to deliver some documents for the reserve so it was nice to know he wasn't sitting at home bored out of his mind.

Though it did make it quite difficult on my side to focus on work knowing that Charlie was waiting for me at home. On the second day, I came home to a fully cooked meal. It was delicious and I was delighted to know that he was more than capable in the kitchen and looking after himself. That had been a big source of arguments between Ron and me.

I found that I enjoyed coming home to him and, though it was incredibly early in our relationship, I hoped this was a glimpse into our future.

When it came time for him to go, I had to fight back tears. This was the longest stretch we had been able to spend with each other and it broke my heart that it had to end. Charlie was just as torn up, but he promised to write as soon as he got home. It was going to be hard hanging around an empty house waiting for the next time we would be together, but I told myself that he was worth it.