Title: A Miserable Valentine's Day

Rating: T

Pairings/Characters: Charlie/Hermione, slight Bill/Fleur

Warnings: none

Gift Giving Extravaganza - Written for Jane (Dumbothepatronus). Pairing - Charlie/Hermione / Prompts: Valentine's Day, break up with a hopeful ending

A Miserable Valentine's Day

BuTwo months ago, Hermione didn't think she'd be spending today alone. Today was a day to celebrate lovers, and she had a boyfriend she was completely head over heels in love with. But yet, here she was, on Valentine's Day, alone.

How was that fair?

She stubbornly tried to stop the tears that wanted to fall as she thought about her ex-boyfriend. She missed Charlie so much, and she didn't know what went wrong.

One day, they were in love. Or at least Hermione thought they were in love. And the next day, Charlie was telling her it was over without any reason.

Maybe if she knew the reason, she'd be able to move on, but Charlie remained stubbornly silent when it came to that.

She sniffled and looked around her small flat. She wondered what to do. When she still had Charlie, she used to dream what today would be like. It would have been their first Valentine's Day as a couple and she was hopeful that it would be one of the best nights of her life.

She didn't really consider herself to be a romantic, but she allowed herself to fantasize about what the most romantic day of the year would be like for her.

But those fantasies were dead. She closed her eyes and sniffed again, wiping her eyes and hating herself a little bit for being such a baby. Everyone went through a breakup sometime in his or her life. She wasn't special. They were able to move on, and so would she. Hermione had to move on.

Suddenly, her fireplace flared to life. A familiar face could be seen, but it wasn't the familiar face she wished to see. Even so, Hermione wiped her face from any signs of distress. She didn't want news of her sadness to get back to him.

"Bill, why are you calling me? You should be giving your wife your undivided, devote attention," Hermione lightly reprimanded.

"Believe me, I'd love to be showering Fleur with my love, but someone at my house is making it impossible, and you have to come and do something about it."

"Who is it? And why is it my job to do something about it?"

"It's Charlie. He's here drinking and complaining about how he's going to die alone. Come over and fix it."

Hermione's heart jumped a little at the idea that Charlie might be as miserable as she was, but that didn't mean she was going to give in and go over there. She had her pride, damn it. "Charlie broke up with me. If he dies alone, that's his own fault," she stated.

"Don't give me that. You miss him as much as he misses you. I know you do. I don't know why he broke up with you, but obviously, he regrets it, so come over here and talk to him now. Before he destroys my whole night and Fleur ends up putting me on the couch as punishment.

Hermione averted her eyes.

"I know you don't want to look weak, or whatever, but one of you has to give in and approach the other. And Charlie's too much of a stubborn male to do it, so it has to be you.

That did it. She sighed and stood up from her couch. "Move out of the way. I'm coming through."

XxX

Hermione arched her eyebrows at the sight of Charlie slumped over the high table, a bottle of Firewhiskey clutched in his hand as his head rested on his outstretched arm.

Fleur's arms were crossed over her chest as her foot impatiently tapped against the marble floor. Her eyes were ready to spit fire and incinerate Charlie alive if something didn't change immediately.

When Hermione entered, Fleur's glare moved to her and a silent message passed between them.

'Do something or else.' ~ Fleur

'I'll try.' ~ Hermione

"Charlie, why are you destroying their holiday? If you want to mope, you should do it at your own place instead of making everyone around you miserable."

Charlie straightened at the sound of Hermione's voice and the harsh tone it had taken. "Why are you being so mean?" Charlie whined.

Hermione had trouble believing this was the same man she fell in love with, but she had never really seen Charlie drunk before, and it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to keep her patience, even if she wanted to strangle him a little bit. "Charlie, I don't understand what your problem is. You broke up with me. You don't have the right to play the injured party. Now get out of here so Bill and Fleur can salvage what's left of their evening.

Charlie turned sad eyes onto her. "You hate me."

Hermione pressed a hand to her forehead. She had the beginnings of a headache, and she was sure Charlie was going to make it worse. She hated dealing with drunken people. "I don't hate you," she stated evenly.

"Yes you do; don't lie to me," he petulantly exclaimed.

Hermione sighed, and her shoulders slumped. Charlie was making it very hard to be annoyed with the way his red bangs fell over his eyes so boyishly. And the pout completed the look of innocence. Well, it would have been a look of innocence if he wasn't holding a bottle of Firewhiskey.

"No, I really don't. I wish I did; my life would be so much easier if I hated you. Then I could forget about how you broke my heart without even telling me why you were ending it."

There was dead silence. Fleur loss her look of annoyance and her stance softened at the sight of real pain. Then she and Bill quickly left the room, giving the ex-lovers some much-needed privacy.

Charlie averted his eyes. "I didn't mean to break your heart," he muttered. He finally let go of the bottle of Firewhiskey and began tapping the countertop.

"Why did you then? Did I do something wrong?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, of course not. You're perfect!"

"I'm perfect so you break up with me. That makes a whole lot of sense," she sarcastically quipped.

Charlie looked at her again. "You are perfect. And I got scared."

Hermione took a step closer. "Scared? Why?"

"I've had tons of girlfriends before, but I've never cared about one as much as I cared about you. Before you, I never dated anyone longer than a month. You're the first person I could see a future with. And I get scared. I guess I'm scared of commitment. I know it's stupid, but I can't help how I feel."

"You broke up with me because you're scared of commitment?! Are you kidding me?! I've been suffering because you're scared you like me too much?! Give me a break!"

"I'm sorry!" Charlie exploded.

"You want me to believe you're truly sorry? Then you get up, get out of your brother's kitchen, and take me out for a nice Valentine's Day dinner!"

"This late? You think we'll be able to get in anywhere?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"You better hope so," Hermione threatened, "Or it will be your funeral."

Charlie stood up. "Yes, Hermione." He took a step forward on shaking legs and almost faltered.

Hermione arched an eyebrow. "Or maybe I should put you to bed."

Charlie smiled sheepishly. "That might be for the best."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Plenty of things we can do in a bed."

"Are we back together?"

"Of course. You broke up with me because you're an idiot. Not because we stopped loving each other. But that doesn't mean you're not still in trouble. You're going to be paying for your stupidity. Trust me."

Charlie smiled. "I can't wait."

X

(word count: 1,296)