Charlie was happy to be back in England, closer to his family, especially now that Voldemort was on the rise again. When the opportunity to go back and continue to work with Dragons came, he was the first one to ask for the position. He had quickly been selected to be the head of what was now called Azkaban's dragon guards. He had 4 other wizards under him and he had quickly found a room not too far, with old school friends of his.
Now, he could find time to hang out with his younger siblings. He had a hard time accepting how old Ron and Ginny were now, he tended to see them as kids, always, but they were almost adults too. He had missed quite a bit while working and now he intended to catch up.
Of course, before he was given the position, Aurors came to test him in defensive spells, because in case of another attack of the prison, he'd have to defend it. He proved that he was good enough, apparently one of the best out of all the candidates.
One of the friends he was rooming with was about to get married to a muggle woman named Maggie and Charlie, along with other friends, were invited that Saturday night in a club near London so they could meet her, and, of course, have fun together.
.
Hermione's summer had been pretty nice so far. One of her elder cousins was in town and she had decided to go clubbing, bringing the young witch with her because she decided that she needed to loosen up and maybe even have a summer fling.
Her cousin, Barbara Granger, had turned 18 in the middle of her end of year exams and had spent the first half of her summer working to have some money. Now, she was determined to spend that money by having fun with her younger cousin Hermione. Barbara, or Barbie like she wanted to be called these days, wasn't a big fan of her name. She was tall, thin, had brown eyes and long dark blond hair. She looked even taller because she loved wearing heels. And her skin showed that she loved hanging out in the sun.
"I told you, I have a boyfriend at school." Hermione told her cousin as the girl helped her chose a good outfit to go dancing.
Her cousin didn't need to know that Draco was just a pretend boyfriend.
"Your parents don't know about him, you have no picture of the two of you to show me, so he doesn't count. It must mean you're not serious about him." Her cousin insisted.
"Fine, I'll go with you to that club, but don't expect me to get wild." Hermione warned her.
"Oh come on, there was always a wild side to you, Hermy. It's time to let it out." Barbie replied with a wink.
"I won't confirm or deny that." Hermione chuckled, thinking that her cousin was right, but she couldn't very well tell her that she had once set a teacher on fire at school, stolen potion ingredient, and done so many more forbidden things.
To everyone in her muggle family, Hermione was attending a very private school for gifted children, geniuses.
"Anyway, your parents are away on a convention for the rest of the week and we're alone, so we can have as much fun as we want." Barbie added.
"Which is probably why you're making me wear such a dress. Dad would never let me out of the house dressed like that!" Hermione replied, looking at herself in the mirror and, despite her complains, she liked what she was seeing.
"Oh come on, you look at least 3 years older this way, if not more. You look like a mature adult young woman ready to have fun!" Barbara exclaimed.
"Yes, I do." Hermione smiled, putting on her feet the pair of heels her cousin had gotten out and following her out the door, to the car.
"We're going to have so much fun!" Barbara exclaimed, making Hermione chuckle, happy for this care free moment.
.
Since it was a muggle club, Charlie and his friends were dressed like Muggles, and they quickly apparated in front of the club, not willing to waste time and money on muggle means of transportation and unable to park their brooms around the clubs.
"Maggie said she'd wait for us inside, by the bar, with her friends." The future groom declared.
"Are her friends hot?" Another of their friends asked.
"I have no idea. Never met them. I mean, I did meet one of them, but she's married already, and not really your type anyway. And she won't be here tonight." He shook his head.
"Even if they're not, the club is full, you're bound to find someone to your tastes." Charlie reminded his friend.
"You're so right!" He nodded.
The group of 6 young wizards walked in and quickly headed for the bar. The future bride was there, along with 3 of her friends, 2 of which were already in a couple. Charlie stayed a while, getting to know his friend's fiancee before he decided to go and dance, along with a few other of his friends.
He only had one drink, he definitely wasn't drunk, and he couldn't afford to be. Not in these times. His friends quickly spread out to dance with girls they found attractive and Charlie decided to do the same. He scanned the crowd and quickly found a girl he liked. Brown hair, dancing with a blond and taller girl. He walked close to the brunette and they started dancing to the beat of the music, side by side, until he got a good look at her face.
"Hermione?" he asked with surprise in his voice, turning her so she'd see him.
"Charlie?" She asked, a deep blush on her face.
"You know him Hermy?" Barbara asked her cousin, a bit defensively.
"Yes, I... Don't worry. This is Charlie Weasley, one of my best friend's big brother." Hermione explained.
"Good, you're in good hands then. I'll go and see if that tall guy over there is willing to have fun with me. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Barbie declared before she left.
"That doesn't forbid much, now, does it?" Hermione called after her cousin who just winked at her.
Charlie guided the young witch away from the noise, so they could speak without yelling.
"What are you doing here? I thought Ron said you wouldn't be back until the end of August?" Hermione asked.
"The escape from Azkaban moved the plan up. I'm here with friends I'm rooming with. One of them is getting married and we came here to meet his fiancee. A muggle." Charlie replied.
"I'm here with my cousin. She decided I needed to have fun with her." Hermione replied, unable to stop from blushing.
She hadn't realized how good looking Charlie was before today. Probably because last time she saw him, she was in love with Ron and there was his entire family around, along with the excitation of the World Cup. Now... Of course he was a bit older, but that didn't stop her from finding him very handsome and she was unable to stop the blush creeping on her cheek every time he looked at her or spoke to her.
"I have to say, it took me a few minutes to recognize you tonight. You look..." he spoke, looking for the right words.
"Weird?" She tried to complete.
"No, not weird, hot! And much older." Charlie smiled.
"Barbara insisted that it was essential, I didn't have it in me to fight her on this." She smiled back.
This was easy, talking to him. He looked at her like a man looked at a woman he liked and, for the next 3 hours and a half, they stayed together, talking and dancing, laughing and dancing some more, until it was time for them to part ways, when Barbara came to get her cousin. There was definitely a connection there.
"I had fun tonight Charlie. It was very nice to see you." Hermione told him as he hugged her goodbye.
Charlie didn't know what to do or what to think. Hermione was 8 years younger than him, yet here he was attracted to her like he had never been attracted to anyone in a long time. As he hugged her goodbye, he tried to hide a certain part of his anatomy who had a hard time not reacting to her presence. He really hoped that she hadn't noticed it.
It had to be because of the dress, the shoes and the make up, right? Surely, if he went to see her at the train station before she took the Hogwarts Express, he wouldn't find her so attractive. Though now that this thought crossed his mind, he did picture Hermione in her school uniform and it wasn't helping him at all.
Yet, it wasn't all physical. They had talked a lot, about various subjects, and he had fun. She was smart, and she wasn't opposed to dragons. She had even proven curious about the subject. He decided to write to her later and he'd see how things went from there.
"Hey Charlie, where have you been, mate?" One of his friends asked.
"He was busy with a little hottie." Another one chuckled.
"That hottie is my little brother Ron's best friend. She's in his year at Hogwarts." Charlie replied seriously.
"You're in trouble." The future groom simply stated and Charlie didn't even have it in him to deny it.
Yes, he was in trouble because he was attracted to a girl 8 years younger than him.
Was Ron really just her best friend or was there more between them? Sure, she was pretending to date Draco Malfoy, he knew about that part, but were they just friends? There had to be more boys he didn't know about at Hogwarts... Could he rival with them without being on site?
Charlie shook these thoughts out of his head, he couldn't think like that. Not yet. First, he'd write, see if she'd like to start a correspondance. Then, he'll see how things develop. He couldn't start getting jealous of boys his younger brother's age when there was nothing between them yet.
.
The next day, Charlie went to Azkaban to get some work done. Plus, Hagrid had asked if he could come to visit Norberta and Charlie had agreed, wondering if the dragon would remember the man who had taken care of her in her first weeks of life.
Surprisingly, Norberta seemed to remember Hagrid and she seemed very happy to see him. The half giant was very happy as well, excited when he was told that he'd be able to come visit on the weekends once school started. Charlie was even trying to get him a special autorisation to come and care for the dragons, on a volunteer basis. He'd have to pass some tests but he was confident that Hagrid would pass.
When he came home that evening, he couldn't stop thinking about Hermione, and so he decided not to wait and to write her a letter, sending it to her by owl as soon as it was written.
.
Hermione was pleasantly surprised when she received a owl from Charlie. Since her cousin was sleeping, she had free time and so she asked the owl to wait so she could reply. She told him that she was happy to have spent this time with him and that she would be happy to correspond with him.
After that, she wrote he usual letter to Rose, deciding, for some reason she wasn't sure she understood, to leave out the part of her week when she met Charlie. For some reasons, she didn't want anyone else to know about it for now. She wanted this moment to be just hers, and just the thought of their dancing together, so close, made her blush. Nobody had made her feel this way before and she wanted to keep it her secret for now. Plus, he probably didn't feel the same way anyway. He was 24, surely he had plenty of girls his age lining up to go out with him.
He probably just spent all of this time with her because he knew her and, as Ron's best friend, he didn't want to leave her alone, thinking it could be dangerous. But then again, Barbara had told Hermione that Charlie looked at her like a man looks at a woman... But they were so far appart... 8 years...
Sighting, Hermione decided not to think about it too much for now. She'd answer if he wrote to her, because she loved to talk to him, but she wouldn't push it. Maybe he'd end up being just another good friend, like Victor, with whom she still corresponded.
"Hermione, how are you awake already? We've stayed up watching movies until 5am, how come you're already awake and dressed?" Barbara asked Hermione.
She had just woken up and looked like a completely different person. That first cup of hot chocolate in the morning did do all the difference.
"Barbie, it's 1pm!" Hermione chuckled.
"It's too early..." She complained.
"Come, I'll make you a hot chocolate, it'll wake you right up." Hermione offered, amused by her cousin.
"Maybe some eggs and bacon too." Barbara asked.
I know that some of you won't be happy with this new potential pairing, because of their age difference. Well, depending on the maturity of the two, it seems like less. I won't tell you if they're a definitive pairing or not. You'll have to see with time (mostly because I've been known to change my mind midway)
Thank you for those who made the names suggestions for Hermione's cousin. You won't see her again.
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black