Two years. Seven hundred and thirty days. That's how long it had been since he had last been home. He had missed birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries, but when word reached the Dragon Reserve that his dad had just gotten out of a week-long stint at St. Mungo's after a tampered with muggle pocket knife situation had gone awry, he knew he had to go back. Now, looking at the familiar green of the grass, with spotty yellowed dead patches, and holes where gnomes had made their home, he wasn't exactly sure why he left in the first place. The Burrow had always been a serene place, even when filled with seven rowdy children. He stopped for a minute when he was only about five feet from the door and took in his surroundings. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, taking in the familiar scent of homemade cooking and freshly mown grass. He slowly opened his eyes again, the bright sun causing him to bring his hand to his forehead to shield his eyes.

He sighed heavily, finally allowing himself to walk towards the house. Raising his hand, he formed it into a fist and gave three steady knocks to the wooden door. He heard a mumbled name and a request to "please get the door, dear" and before he could run away, the door flung open.

"Cha-Charlie? Merlin…is it really you?" he heard a voice stutter. He looked up from where his eyes were trained on his feet and met the gaze of Hermione. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing an oversized faded Gryffindor sweatshirt and a pair of muggle leggings. Her feet were left bare, and he could see the chipped remains of the last bits of red nail polish clinging to her toenails. She looked positively breathtaking. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about Dad. I figured it was about time that I returned to the Burrow. It has been two years after all," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck, "So, um, am I allowed in or has my absence for all this time rendered me family-less?"

Hermione jolted out of her daze, "Of course! I mean…I mean no. No, wait…I mean, ugh," she sighed and took in a deep breath before continuing, "What I mean is…yes, come in. Your dad is laying in the living room and your mum is with him. The rest of the family isn't here though…just me," Hermione finished and opened the door wide, allowing Charlie to walk past the threshold.

"Hermione, dear…who was at the door?" Charlie could hear his mother's voice floating from the living room. He heard her feet coming towards the door, "Hermione? Who was it?" his mom's voice was more pronounced now as she got closer to the front door, "Blimey…Charlie, is that really you?" his mom asked, hand coming up to cover her opened mouth.

"Hi, Ma."

"Hi, ma? That's all I get? After two years of not seeing you at all, all I get is a hi, ma? My darling boy…come here and give your mother a hug. Oh, I've missed you so much," she rushed up to Charlie and gave him a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She pulled back and looked into his face, pulling her arms from his waist and placing her hands on his cheeks, "My word. It really is you. My Charlie," she whispered, her eyes watering.

"Hi, ma," he whispered, and he leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek, "I missed you guys."

"We missed you too. You are never to leave here for that long ever again, understood. Why are you here anyway? Not that I'm complaining, of course, I am just curious as to what made you come back after you left so unexpectedly?" Molly questioned.

"I heard about Dad…where is he? I wanted to see how he was doing," Charlie strained his neck to see further into the house.

"He just went up to bed…It's been a struggle really, trying to regain all his energy. Come, let's go sit in the kitchen instead of standing around in the entranceway like a bunch of animals," Molly suggested. They all made their way into the kitchen and sat at the table. "This past week has been hard on all of us, but especially your father. The Ministry is making him take a month-long sabbatical. All paid, have you, but it has him up in arms. Doesn't like the fact that he's going to be unable to fully provide for his family for such a long amount of time. Although, I suppose once he sees you, he might change his tune. He's missed you so much, Charlie. We all have." she reached over and rubbed a hand over his knee lovingly, "Are we ever going to get an explanation as to why you left?" Molly looked questioningly into Charlie's eyes.

Quickly, Charlie glanced over to Hermione and saw her tense up. He tried to meet her eyes, but they became hard and she moved her gaze away from where Charlie was sitting to look out the window, "Um…maybe at some point, but I don't think that that point is today…anyways, I don't think it really matters right now. The only thing that matters is that I'm here and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. I think the Reserve was getting tired of me, anyways. They practically packed my bags for me. And gave me no definite time to be back by. I guess my constant need to be with the dragons was getting to be a little concerning for them and they just about had enough of it. So…what have I missed since I've been gone?"

"Nothing and everything, as they say. Harry and Ginny are really going strong now, I suppose he'll be proposing any moment. And Fleur and Bill had another baby. My little Ron has been helping out the twins at the joke shop, turns out the Ministry life just wasn't for him, though I think we all expected that. Percy's still Percy. Always at work. And well Hermione," Molly looked over to where Hermione was sitting, "Well, I'm sure Hermione can tell you what has been going on in her life. She's been very successful, she has. No surprise there, though. We always knew she was destined for great things," Molly said, taking her hand off of Charlie's knee and reaching out to pat Hermione's hand. "Why don't you two go take a walk around the pond and Hermione can tell you about what she's been up to? It is such a nice day out and well, since your dad is still asleep, I wouldn't want any extra noise in the house to wake him up. I'll be sure to call out to you both once he's moving again. I know you're dying to see him, Charlie," Molly smiled.

Hermione got up first, pushing in her chair and moving outside without any word to the other two in the kitchen. Molly looked towards where Charlie was sitting, his eyes trained to where Hermione once was, his face hardened in concentration. "Charlie, dear?" Molly questioned, urging her son to look at her, "Charlie…not everything is as bad as it seems, yeah? A new beginning may be just what you need. And it may seem like there isn't much you can do right now, but give it time. Some things need to work themselves out on their own before they can be seen for what they truly and actually are," she gave Charlie a small smile, patting his hand as a look of confusion took over his face.

"How did you…" he began but was cut off almost immediately by his mother.

"A mother always knows. You'll be fine, my dear. I just know it," Molly finished, as she got out of her chair and pushed it into the table, before moving towards the staircase, no doubt about to go up the stairs to check on Arthur

"Mum?" Charlie called out, and she stilled, one had on the banister and one foot on the first step, "How? How did you know that something happened between Hermione and me?"

"Oh, dear. I didn't," she replied, an amused expression on her face, "You just told me."

"B…b…but you just said," Charlie stuttered, his mouth drawn open.

"Oh, I know what I said. And believe me when I say that I knew you had eyes for our little Hermione. I just didn't know the extent of it. You may have hidden your feelings well from the rest of the family, but never from me. No one can hide their true feelings from their mother. Especially when their mother is Molly Weasley. Surely you must know that. Now I would suggest you go outside because whatever did happen between you two, it seems like it's going to need a lot of fixing," Molly smiled, "Oh, and it would probably be best not to start with I'm sorry. Women already know that you're supposed to be sorry, but what we really want to know is why," she finished, turning her body once more and ascending the stairs.

Charlie took a deep breath before pushing in his chair and continuing towards the door that Hermione had left open in her haste to leave. He stopped in the entranceway and spotted Hermione leaning up against one of the old oak trees, looking out towards the small pond. Quietly, he closed the door and walked towards her. He waited until he was closer to her to say her name, quietly as not to scare her, to try to get her to turn around. She made no movement or showed any indication that she had heard him.

"Hermione," he said again, more forcefully this time, "Hermione, please look at me. We need to talk about this."

"No, Charlie, we don't. You had two years' worth of chances to talk about this," she whirled around to look at him, emphasizing the this while moving her fingers back and forth between their bodies, "so don't come out here thinking that I owe you a talk, or for me to listen to whatever shit you feel like spouting off because I'm telling you now, you lost that opportunity a long time ago," she finished, and spun around to walk back to the house. Charlie watched as she moved away and disappeared into the house.