Chapter 7: Quidditch
About a dozen Juniors rushed forward and swarmed Bullwark begging to be Captain. He eventually picked a flat-nosed boy named Aves and, of course, Charlie had volunteered himself as the other. They started to pick out teammates and, much to everyone's surprise as well as her own, Charlie picked Hermione first.
She gingerly inched her broom towards him but went too far and had to carefully circle back. She heard a few people laugh and she scowled in Charlie's direction as she came up beside him.
"Why, exactly, are you pretending to be a Junior?" Charlie whispered to her after he picked another Junior from the group.
Hermione's scowl deepened, "I only eavesdropped on a class! Somehow I got sucked into the group heading out to the field and Bullwark kept cutting me off when I tried to tell him."
Charlie smirked, "Well, guess you'll have to play a game of Quidditch now." He picked Charity next and she darted over to their growing team. He looked at her from out of the corner of his eye, "Have to say though, you look bloody brilliant on a broom."
Hermione's face turned bright red and her broom jerked forward, causing her to let out a small squeal. Charlie laughed loudly beside her and her blush deepened as she tried to right herself.
"Well... Maybe not that brilliant."
She turned to glare at him and he responded with a lop-sided grin.
Once the teams were finally split, Charlie gave everyone a position. Since there were 12 players on their team, they had to double up on the positions. They ended up with two Keepers, four Chasers, four Beaters and two Seekers.
Charlie had debated for a long while on what position for Hermione to play even though she begged to just keep score multiple times. Eventually, he had decided she'd play as the other Keeper since- he told her cheekily - he'd catch the snitch quickly and it wouldn't matter how many points the other team scored.
Hermione carefully followed her other teammate that was assigned to be a Keeper and jerked to a stop in front of the levitating rings. She blew out a sharp breath, somewhat proud of herself for having lasted this long on a broom. If only her friends could see her now!
Her pride only lasted for a moment before Bullwark launched the quaffle into the air and the other team's Chasers made a beeline towards her. She was floating in front of the rightmost ring and they chucked the quaffle at her head.
Hermione ducked and felt a small brush of air ruffle the top of her hair before loud shouts of "Good job!" and "Nice one!" were heard.
She lifted her head and caught the scowl of a few of her teammates as they all met back in the centre of the field. This went on for a few more rounds until Hermione became decidedly focused on blocking at least one shot. Her moment finally came when one of the Chasers launched the quaffle directly at her. Instead of shying away from the hard object as she had been, she instead braced her body for impact.
She had expected the quaffle to be extremely tough and possibly leave some type of physical pain, but it only hit her with a hard thud and fell to the ground. Her arm slightly ached from where it hit her, but all-in-all she was perfectly fine.
Hermione's teammates all let out shouts of encouragement and she grinned at them, a small bout of adrenaline coursing through her.
After another twenty or so minutes of the game, Charlie was able to catch the snitch and her teammates all cheered, including herself, at their victory. It was the first time she had ever participated in a game of Quidditch and she was starting to understand why everyone loved it so much.
As the other wizards and witches around her started to descend, Hermione became nervous again. She didn't know how to get down and she gripped the handle of the broom shakily as she thought of a plan.
Charlie pulled up beside her and gave her an encouraging smile, "Point your broom handle down to the ground and lean in slightly. Be slow about it, or you'll come to a crash landing."
Hermione followed his instructions and began to slowly lower to the ground. Charlie went with her, giving her quiet words of encouragement. Once they had lowered enough, Hermione stuck her feet out, gently touched down and dismounted from her broom. Charlie did the same and gave her a wide grin.
"Fantastic job, Junior Grant. I think we'll make a Dragon Keeper out of you yet." He gave her a wink as she frowned at him and Keeper Bullwark walked up to take the CleanSweep back.
"Not bad, Grant. Your descent looked great, though your reflexes could do with some work." Bullwark smacked her on the shoulder, "Nothing a few months of training can't fix!"
Hermione turned her frown towards Bullwark, "Sir, I'm not a-"
"Not what?" He interrupted.
"NOT A JUNIOR!" Hermione yelled, frustrated with how many times this insufferable man cut her off.
A hush fell over the remaining Juniors and Bullwark looked at her quizzically. "Not a Junior? Then who are you?"
Charlie leaned over and whispered in his ear and Bullwark's eyes widened as he took Hermione in. "Hermione Granger? In my class?"
The silence now turned to whispers behind her and she grimaced but shot an appreciative look at Charlie.
"It's an honour to meet you, Miss Granger!" Bullwark stuck out a hand and she shook it. She was glad she wasn't being mistaken for a Junior anymore, though she could do without all the whispering.
"Hermione is here to research Lumi for the Ministry, though I'm not quite sure how she got wrapped up in Junior classes..." Charlie quirked an eyebrow at her and she toed her boot in the ground.
Thankfully, Charity came up and explained what had happened.
"Ah, yes Keeper Kotov can be quite... intimidating," Bullwark said, nodding his head as if he understood her predicament perfectly. "Well, I can't say I'm sorry to have mistaken you for a Junior! It was a pleasure to have you in class, Miss Granger. While you're here, if you ever want to learn some more flying, please don't hesitate to swing by!"
Hermione smiled at him and agreed, though she knew perfectly well that was the last thing she wanted to do. Yet, there was a small part of her that had greatly enjoyed being on a broom of her own. The satisfaction of succeeding at the only thing that had ever been a struggle was exhilarating. Maybe if she just practised a little bit more...
Charlie placed his hand at the small of her back, sending jolts of electricity up her spine. They said their goodbyes to Bullwark and he led her away from the group to around the side of the building. He walked until they neared the cabin where the Commander's office was and he stopped short of the door, finally breaking into a fit of laughter.
Hermione looked at him incredulously before her own small giggles mixed with his and before they knew it, they were leaning on one another laughing hard. A few Keepers passed by looking at them like they were crazy but Hermione didn't care. Eventually, they both caught their breath and she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I can honestly say that was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time." Charlie let out a few more small chuckles as he wiped his own tears.
"I hope you don't mean my flying!" Hermione placed her hands on her hips and gave him a mocking glare, though her lips still held a smile.
He held his hands up in surrender and grinned, "Of course not, I would never! Just the look on Bullwark's face when he realized who you were..."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Please, I hate it. I didn't do anything special, I just helped Harry."
Charlie immediately sobered up and the serious look on his face had her stomach flip. "Hermione, you rescued an Ironbelly from Gringotts. Do you know what that means to us? Or how many times that story's been told around here?"
Her mouth went dry and she shook her head as he gave her a gentle smile.
"You may be famous in Wizarding England but around here you're more than just the girl that helped Harry Potter. The Keepers respect you. Even though we specialize in dragons, we all have a love for the creatures that roam the world."
Charlie's eyes sparkled as he looked into her eyes. "To them… to me… you're a hero."
For a moment, Hermione was frozen but before she could clear her head, Charlie turned from her then and walked into the cabin. She swallowed a lump in her throat and followed after him. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and asked if she'd wait for him so he could give her the surprise he had promised yesterday. She happily nodded and made to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace.
"I'll only be a few minutes so try not to wander off and get sucked into another flying lesson." He winked at her and headed up the stairs with a small laugh.
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms as she sat and waited. It was unfair how he could just say whatever he wanted and then immediately act unaffected. Meanwhile, she was lucky if she could form a whole sentence. At least whatever happened between them last night in the woods seemed to be forgotten and she was grateful for it. She had acted like an imbecile and he was graciously not bringing it up. Merlin knows she had no idea what to say if he asked.
She briefly wondered if Luna had written her back yet. Hermione couldn't decide if she even wanted Luna to write her back. What was she supposed to do if her suspicions were correct and Charlie was her soulmate?
Why did she feel sudden disappointment at the thought of him not being hers?
Only ten minutes passed before Charlie came back down to retrieve her and she merrily followed him out of the building. Whatever this surprise was he seemed excited and it infected her own mood. She pushed her thoughts of soulmates and Luna to the back of her mind. She just wanted to enjoy his company while she could.
They mounted his Nimbus, after she swatted at his arm when he offered the CleanSweep for her to fly by herself. Hermione for once was not afraid and they quickly flew towards Lumi's barn.
Hermione settled back against Charlie and relished in the feel of his solid chest and his strong arms around her. It had only been a day since they last flew together but it surprised her how much she missed it. It felt so different from flying with Harpis and Felix, with Charlie she felt safe and secure and could allow herself to just enjoy it.
They gently descended and Hermione sighed as she pried herself away from Charlie's embrace. He gave her an odd look but didn't say anything as he gave a loud sharp whistle with his fingers.
They waited only a moment before Lumi flew into view and dropped down in front of them. She nuzzled against Charlie's outstretched hand and then looked to Hermione, waiting for her attention. Hermione readily obliged and ran her hands over the smooth scales of the dragon.
"So... The surprise isn't here. We have to fly somewhere else." Charlie said from the other side of Lumi.
Hermione quirked an eyebrow, "Then why didn't we go straight there?"
"Lumi loves the surprise too, plus I thought it might give you some time to study her a little more." Charlie shrugged as he grabbed his Nimbus and Hermione eagerly mounted it again, excited to be back in his embrace.
Lumi followed after them and it felt so... well, magical to be flying with a dragon. Certainly not on, as she had on the Ironbelly, that was just downright terrifying.
They soared over the open field and Charlie quickly cast a Disillusionment charm on them and Lumi as they popped through the barrier of the wards. They flew over a nearby village and into the mountain range and dropped their altitude while gliding between the two peaks of snow-capped mountains.
He brought them to a large clearing at the base of one of the mountains and this time Hermione hopped off, eager to see where he was taking them. Lumi stayed circling in the sky and flew off to the other side of one of the mountains.
"She'll meet us there, she likes to fly these ranges. I've always wondered if it has something to do with where she's from." Charlie explained as he cast a Shrinking charm on his broom and tucked it into his pocket for safekeeping.
Hermione followed him up a winding trail, glad she had put on her sturdy boots. They climbed through a thicket and over massive tree roots, walking for a short while before she could hear the steady beating of running water. The sound grew louder as they walked and she stepped through the tree line to come upon a large picturesque meadow.
There was a gigantic waterfall, flowing down to a channel that pooled into a lake before continuing to wind into a creek through the trees. Wildflowers of every colour spread over the grass so perfectly that it looked like something from a painting.
Hermione held her breath as she took it all in and she saw Charlie watching her from the corner of her eye. "It's beautiful..."
Charlie grinned and stretched out his hand which she took without hesitation. "I'm glad you like it. It's my own secret place, no one else knows about it except for Lumi... and now you."
Hermione gave him a small smile, "Thank you for sharing it with me."
He led them to a large boulder that sat at the bank of the lake and he helped her climb up to sit on its smooth surface. His firm grip on her waist as he hoisted her up sent a fire raging into her core and she tried to will the blush from her face as he climbed up to sit beside her.
The sun was beating down on them but the air had a slight chill to it and Hermione wished this could be the weather in England. It was so bright here and she lifted her face to bask in it.
Charlie rustled around beside her and she looked over to see he had taken off his shirt and laid down with his hands behind his head as a cushion. His eyes were closed and she let herself admire his tanned body for a moment before quickly looking away, another blush staining her cheeks. He was so damnably attractive and she couldn't help but admire him, even now.
Lumi flew above them and dropped down a short way away, circling on the ground for a moment before settling for a nap.
Hermione pulled out her sketchbook and scribbled down some notes and quick sketches of Lumi before a husky voice pulled her from the parchment.
"So..."
Hermione glanced down at Charlie to see him looking at her with a smirk and mischief in his eyes. "How about a swim?"