Chapter 10: Bond

Hermione tried not to think about it being Sunday as they soared over the open field. She tried, she really did but, even when they made love in the shower that morning, the gloom still hung heavily around her.

What would happen once she went back? Would he come live with her in England? She wished she could just stay with him here in Romania. She had come to love the beauty and simplicity of the Sanctuary, the Dragons that filled her with wonder and awe but especially the people.

Unfortunately, only employees and trainees could live here and at twenty-two, Hermione was over the age restriction to sign up for the Keeper classes. Her only hope was the Research Department, which is where she would have wanted to work anyways. They don't require the Keeper training but, sadly, there were no positions currently open.

They descended to Lumi's barn and Hermione reluctantly pulled away from Charlie's embrace. It was funny to think how much she had come to love their flying when only a week ago she would have cringed at the idea of sitting on a broom.

Charlie gave her a kiss on the top of her head as he passed by her to open the door and greet Lumi. Hermione frowned at his retreating back as the sad reality of her last day clawed at her. She shook the thought and steeled herself, she wouldn't waste the time she had left moping.

Hermione hurried after Charlie and walked over to Lumi, stopping when the Dragon nearly toppled her over to nuzzle at her chest. Hermione quizzically looked to Charlie at Lumi's sudden overt affection and Charlie shrugged with a grin.

"Maybe she can sense the bond?"

Hermione looked down at the dragon as her large head nuzzled into her like a cat and she reached a hand out to calm her.

"Alright, Lumi, alright relax," she said with a laugh. Lumi straightened out and curls of smoke escaped her mouth as she let out a rumbling purr. Hermione was astounded, she had never seen a dragon act like this before. She quickly pulled out her sketchbook and jotted down some notes- Highly affectionate, can possibly suspect soulmate bond? Hermione chewed on her bottom lip, would Effie ask her how she came to know this? A light blush bloomed on her cheeks at the idea of having to explain that to her boss.

"What are you blushing at?" Charlie walked towards her and ran a hand down her cheek, causing the blush to intensify and blood to pound in her ears.

Hermione shook her head and stepped out of his reach to quiet her heart, "N-Nothing," she cleared her throat. "Nothing. Effie requested some additional information, so I'd like to document my findings before you let Lumi out for the day."

She quickly set about taking the measurements her boss requested, as well as locating a sample of her scales from the ground that she had shed the night before. Once she was finished, Charlie opened the door to let Lumi swoop out and turned back to Hermione with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Now, I have an idea of what we're going to do today but before that..." He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him to press a hot kiss to her lips.

Hermione let out a small squeak of surprise but she melted into his body nonetheless. He cupped her face as she wrapped her arms around his waist to deepen the kiss. A shiver ran down Hermione's spine as Charlie's tongue explored her mouth and she let out a sigh when a hand went to the small of her back to press her closer against him.

"Ahem."

Hermione and Charlie broke their kiss and jumped apart from each other as they turned to the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Felix stood at the large barn door opening, wearing a face splitting grin as he took in their blushing faces. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Charlie grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist. The heat on her face increased slightly at Charlie's display of possessive affection. They hadn't even spoken about their relationship yet and he was claiming her in front of his friend and she... liked it. She felt like she should be angry at his assumption, or at the very least at the way he claimed her like an animal. Instead, she found herself turned on. Very turned on

Felix crossed his arms as his grin settled into a smirk and walked closer to them, "Hermione, I hope you're prepared to be the other woman in Charlie's life, I'm afraid Lumi may be his leading lady." He gave her a wink to show he was joking.

Hermione was about to reply when Charlie suddenly yanked her behind him and shoved Felix back hard when he came up beside her. Unprepared, he stumbled back but was, fortunately, able to catch himself before he fell. He straightened and looked up with wide, incredulous eyes, shaking the shocked expression from his face.

"What the bloody hell, mate! What was that for?" Felix rubbed the spot where Charlie shoved him roughly.

Charlie raised his hands in defence and surrender as Hermione stepped back around him with a pinched expression.

"I'm sorry! I don't-I don't know what that was about." Charlie looked at his hands bewildered before looking to Hermione and over to Felix. "You were just getting too close to Hermione and I didn't even think, I just..."

Hermione could sense the confusion he was feeling and she reached out to grab his hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze. Felix looked between them for a moment before surprise dawned on his face.

"Merlin's balls! You're soulmates!" He rushed forward to swing an arm around both of their shoulders but Charlie once again shoved him and this time, Felix did fall to the ground.

Charlie rushed forward as soon as he did to help him up, repeating apologies over and over.

Hermione crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Felix as he stood, "How do you know we're soulmates?"

"It's written plainly on your faces! And the fact Charlie is being subconsciously over-protective." He rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder where Charlie had shoved him twice now. "It's pretty obvious."

"I'm sorry, Felix. I can't control it." Charlie's face looked crestfallen and Hermione gave him a reassuring smile. She knew he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Felix waved a hand dismissively, "It's fine. Part of the bond I suspect." He looked between them amusedly before settling his gaze at Charlie, "Now, what's this I hear about poachers?"

An hour later Felix finally left them, he had been assigned to track down the poachers Charlie had seen yesterday and get them to the Romanian Ministry with a few of their Aurors. Charlie had told him where the poachers had been, thankfully leaving out their swim and almost kiss.

Hermione let out a sigh as Charlie came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist to embrace her. He pressed a light kiss to the back of her neck that sent a spark down her spine.

"So," she said, once she had found her voice. "What are we doing today?"

Charlie gripped her shoulders and twirled her around. The grin that was stretching across his face had her stomach plummeting. Seeing a Weasley smile like that could only mean trouble.

"We are going to work on your flying."

"Charlie!" Hermione called out a short while later as they stood in the green field near Lumi's barn.

Charlie was doing aerial manoeuvres in the sky to show Hermione what she should do. Currently, he was showing her how to do a full 360-degree rotation while flying straight - it made her stomach queasy just to watch.

He flew down to her where she waited with her feet planted firmly on the ground, thank you very much. He had removed his shirt at some point and beads of sweat glistened on his chest as he neared her. Had he not been trying to convince her to do something she was absolutely terrified of, she might have toppled him from the broom to lick his body clean.

She shook her head to rid the perverted thoughts from her mind. One day with this man and she was already a sex-crazed lunatic.

"What?" he asked as he pulled his broom next to her.

"I hope you realize I can barely ascend properly. There is no way I'm going to be able to do... what was it called again?"

"An Aileron roll! It's one of the first things we're taught on the Quidditch team, it's relatively easy, just have to lean enough into it-"

"Charlie," Hermione interrupted. "I'm not doing that."

Charlie pouted at her words, "C'mon, 'Mione." His pout increased further as she vigorously shook her head no. "Fine but will you at least try to fly with me? You did so well yesterday!"

She was going to refuse again but his big blue eyes looked at her pleadingly and she felt her resolve crack. Honestly, she was supposed to be level-headed but Charlie was turning her into a sap.

"Fine."

The joy that overtook his face was worth it, she decided, watching as he accio'd another broom. That thought, however, dissolved from her mind as a CleanSweep floated in front of her. How had she done it yesterday? In a fit of anger towards Charlie, that's how. Now that she had a clear head, it took everything in her to mount it.

Her voice warbled a little as she looked up to Charlie, who was hovering on his broom a few feet above her. "H-How do I do this again?"

He gave her a reassuring smile and brought his broom alongside hers. "Feet firmly planted on the ground, that's it. Hold on steady to the handle and kick off hard. Yes, well done!"

Hermione had jumped as hard as she could towards the open air and was sent barreling towards the sky. She heard Charlie yell some instructions at her and she tried to follow them. Grip the handle and pull to the side, okay. She banked wide and her broom came to a creeping halt in the air. Her palms were sweating against the wood and her heart pounded in her ears.

Charlie flew up next to her as if he'd been born on a broom - Hermione tried not to be envious. "Well done, love! That was a fantastic bank."

Hermione's heart swelled at the endearment and she allowed herself to ease back a bit more comfortably. Her hands were still shaking but she felt a little safer with Charlie beside her.

"Now," he said looking to her with a grin. "Let's do that again."

Hermione stumbled into Charlie's cabin completely exhausted. They had practised flying until sunset and Lumi had returned to her barn. Hermione had said a final goodbye to the dragon who, much to Hermione's surprise, actually looked sad at her departure. Then she had, as skillfully as she could, flown herself back to the cabins.

She was actually quite surprised how good of a teacher Charlie was. She could now ascend quite easily and stay mounted without an issue. Flying around in the sky without her stomach dropping had taken longer but, eventually, she was able to do that as well. The only difficulty was smoothly getting back to the ground. She could now understand why Harpis almost always came to a crash landing.

Charlie laughed at her as she flopped onto his couch. His cabin was much bigger than hers, with actual stairs instead of a ladder and a hallway with multiple rooms. The kitchen was quite large and he even had a dining room. The only part that was similar to hers was the raging stone fireplace that warmed her bones.

"Tired, love?" Charlie asked as he sat beside her and effortlessly pulled her onto his lap.

Hermione hummed and nodded her head as his hands kneaded knots from her back. She pressed her cheek to his shoulder and sighed, "Actually, Charlie we should talk."

His hands paused for a moment before continuing their ministrations. "What about?"

Hermione forced herself to push away from his shoulder to look into his bright blue eyes. "Us. Work. You know... you know I leave tomorrow right?"

Charlie grimaced but nodded and stopped rubbing her back to pull her closer. "Yes, I do... I don't want you to but I know you have to."

"I wish I could stay but you know the rules. I'd have to have a job here and I'm too old to start Keeper training and there are no open positions in the Research department." Hermione gave him a sad smile as he sighed and leant his head back over the couch.

"I know, but we'll make it work right? You can come anytime you want, I'll have a Floo network set up in my cabin or you can come by Portkey. And you know I'll come to you as much as I can." Charlie looked at her hopefully and she laughed.

"I meant 'us' as in how to tell our friends and family about our relationship, but I'm glad to know I have so many travel options," Hermione smirked as Charlie blushed slightly.

"Oh. Well, I was planning on taking a few days off next month to come see you and maybe we could tell everyone then? Have dinner at the Burrow? You can tell Harry and Ron and your parents right away if you want but I'd like to be there to watch the Twins eat their own words and pay up."

He grinned at Hermione's confused face. "George and Fred bet Ginny I'd never marry, 'Too in love with his Dragons.' They bet 50 galleons each against Ginny. She always was my favourite."

Hermione smiled but sobered immediately and looked down to the floor, "Actually... that's something I'd like to talk about too. Marriage, dating... What's expected?"

"Hermione."

The unexpected firmness of Charlie's voice had her looking back into his eyes instantly.

"While I wouldn't mind marrying you this minute, if I could, I've never been in a relationship before." He smiled at her surprised face, "I know, I know. I'll be thirty this year but I was resolved to die a bachelor. You've quite changed that about me. That being said, I want to experience dating you first - just for a little while."

Charlie lifted her chin with his finger, "However, the minute you tell me you're ready to get married, I'm yours." He placed a tender kiss against her lips before pulling back with a smile.

Hermione grinned, "So I get to decide how we travel to each other, when to tell people about us, and when we get married? I must have you completely wrapped around my finger."

Charlie's smile turned into a devilish smirk as he flipped their bodies to pin her underneath him. He trailed feather-light kisses down her neck, stopping momentarily to pull her shirt off and continued his path down her body. His lips were leaving hell-fire in their path as he pulled her trousers and panties off. She was utterly confused at what he was doing, but she certainly wasn't going to stop him.

Charlie moved further down until he settled himself between her legs, placing gentle kisses on the insides of her thighs. Hermione's eyes rolled into the back of her head as he gently kissed the bundle of nerves at her centre and she moaned loudly. He made quick work of devouring her and she enjoyed every minute that his attentive mouth worshipped her. She came crashing down from her high against his tongue, moaning his name over and over again.

Charlie looked up at her from his spot, his mouth and chin slightly glistening as he flashed a smug grin, "What was it you said about having me wrapped around your finger?"

Hermione growled a swear and pulled him back up to her, to show him exactly what she meant.