A/N: I'm SO sorry about the delay in this chapter. It took me a while to actually figure out where I wanted to go from here and it's been a lot longer than I thought it would. Thanks for sticking with me.

Chapter 7

Bill getting married was one of the biggest things to happen for the Weasley family since Ginny's birth. So Charlie had to be there and not only because he was the best man.

Since he and Bill were so close in age and had been through practically everything together, so when he met Fleur Charlie got letter after letter about how smitten Bill was over her and how head over heels he was becoming.

Getting to the Burrow Charlie only wanted to turn and run the other way. It was complete chaos.

But of course his mother spotted him the second he appeared.

"Oh good, Charlie you're here. I could use some help cleaning up the family room if you wouldn't mind."

Of course everything had been scrubbed and dusted to a spotless perfection, but Molly insisted that it be kept that way.

"Oh thank Merlin, Charlie." All of his younger siblings dropped what they were doing as he walked in the door and ran to grab his things to have an excuse not to work anymore. "You really need to help, mum's gone off her rocker." Ron grabbed the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"It can't be that bad." But one look at the faces around him and Charlie knew that it was bad. "Okay, but the wedding is two days away and after that it'll all be over."

Getting to the room Bill and Charlie were sharing everyone piled in trying to hide as best they could. "You don't understand," Ginny sat on the bed opposite him. "She's gone mental. It's like she thinks Fleur's parents care what the house looks like. Their daughter is getting married what does it matter what the inside looks like when they're only seeing the outside!"

"Her oldest child is getting married, and you know how mum can be. Trust me, let her get through being neurotic about this wedding and the next one will be a lot easier."

Everyone groaned and slumped where they were. "She's gonna be mental."

A moment later they heard Molly getting ready to come inside so they scattered. Charlie unpacked a few things before making his way down to the sitting room where Molly was asking Hermione to dust before turning on him. "There you are, I'm glad you decided to help us here."

"Mum, calm down." Wrapping his arms around his mother Charlie could feel the tension in his mother's body and tried not to let it bother him. "I've only just arrived, and the house looks great. So let's all just have a cup of tea and then I'll help clean as much as you want."

She seemed to relent and give in to the weariness. "You're right, Hermione would you be a dear and get the others while I start the tea?"

When Molly went into the kitchen Hermione practically ran to Charlie and hugged him. "That was brilliant."

"I figured you all needed a break." It felt nice to be holding her and to have her cheek resting against his own. "How are you Hermione?"

"I'm...I'm well." The pause didn't go unnoticed, but Charlie tabled it for another time. "How are you? You're not hurt or burnt or anything?"

They let go of one another slowly and Charlie held out his arms and spun. "Still in one piece, no new burns or marks."

"I should probably go get the others, will I see you tonight?" He nodded as Hermione left and joined his mother in the kitchen.

"So mum, are you excited at all for this wedding or just going a bit nutty?"

Hitting him with a tea towel Molly sat a cup in front of him and sat with her own. "You know I'm excited, I just want everything to be perfect."

"Bill is marrying the love of his life and I know that you think they rushed into this a little fast but remember that you and dad also got engaged early and after how many years and seven kids you still look at each other like it's your first date." Charlie somehow always knew how to calm his mother down and make her smile, so it was a shock when the others came in to see her happy. "Bill is so in love with her that sometimes it's sickening but at the end of the day this is who he wants to marry and they want to spend the rest of their lives together. It's not too much to ask to just let everyone else have a good time as well."

The table was filled with everyone laughing and joking and even Molly brought out biscuits and the short tea break Charlie had talked her into slowly turned into a break until she had to start making dinner.

"I'll go clean the sitting room like I promised." Charlie left the room and was followed by Ginny who he supposed was sent there by their mum.

"So Charlie, I've been tasked with trying to get out of you whether or not you'll be next up for this personal kind of hell or not."

"I am not currently seeing anyone, and you can run and tell mum that."

"Alright, on to the next conversation. What's up with that new dragon you were telling us about at Christmas?"

Charlie went into a monologue about how excited he was to have gotten the new dragon and all of the things that it had done since it got there. "He just flew around for hours the first few days, none of the other dragons ever did that!"

Ginny seemed pleased when Molly called them for dinner and Charlie loved that he was able to talk about the dragon again.

After dinner everyone was tasked with helping clean the kitchen before going to bed and even though Fred and George only popped in for dinner and left before they had to help clean it wasn't too bad and Charlie waited until the creaks of the floorboards to head back down to the sitting room. where Hermione was already waiting.

"I brought you something." She said patting the cushion next to him. "I was reading about charms and found the one let's the wearer know that they're being thought about, I've made it so that when I think of you it will get warm."

He couldn't help but smile, smartest witch of her age indeed. "Just like the one I put on your locket." The necklace was on a leather rope long enough to hide down his shirt so nothing could catch it and hurt his neck, at the end was a pendant of a dragon.

"It took me a little while to figure it out, but I realized late at night it would stay cold and it would be warmest the day before I got a letter from you. Eventually I found a book that mentioned a charm just like it and figured that's what it was."

"I'm sure you thought it a bit presumptuous of me to do something like that."

Hermione's smile was bright, the kind you get from growing up with muggles obsessed with fixing teeth, and the sight of it made Charlie's heart race. "Actually, it was the exact opposite." Surprise was probably not the emotion he had expected to feel tonight but it was nice. "It's the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."

He couldn't help it, the moment the words were out of her mouth Charlie's lips were covering hers in a searing kiss filled with emotion he hadn't been able to bring himself to say.

It had been years since Charlie had thought about any other woman, and there had been plenty who had tried but none had succeeded. In the beginning of the "infatuation" as he and Bill called it Charlie had attempted to go on dates with women from the sanctuary to try and keep his mind off of the very illegally young Hermione but none of them lasted too long. Maria, the one he had dated last actually told him that she hoped he got whoever it was he was so hung up on soon, and now it was time.

For a dragon tamer his lips were soft but worked against hers with experience, Hermione who had only ever kissed two boys in her life felt like she was doing it wrong or that Charlie would suddenly not fancy her anymore because of it. But he wasn't slowing down and she just started copying what Charlie was doing and it seemed to work.

After a few minutes of snogging uncontrollably Charlie pressed his forehead against Hermione's and took a couple of deep breaths. "I have wanted to do that for a very long time."

"So, what do we do now?"

Charlie pulled her into his chest leaving kisses along her cheek as she relaxed into his embrace. "We can figure it out later. I actually wanted to talk to you about something else first." She nodded and seemed to take a deep breath, almost preparing for what he was about to say. "I know that you're preparing for something, that you and Ron and Harry are getting ready for the time when you have to take on this fight and that the three of you are going to try and keep us all safe from whatever it is you think is coming." Hermione was still, almost as if she was holding her breath and not give anything away about their plans. "I also know that I can't stop you."

The locket warmed against her chest greater than before. "Charlie…"

"Don't say anything, you have to save the world Hermione whether you know that's what you're doing or not." A calloused thumb traced her jaw down towards the lips he had just bruised with his. "I've worried about your safety for the last few years and I think I can manage for a little while longer."

Their necklaces grew warmer as their lips met again in a softer kiss and it was only after that they both headed off to bed.

The next morning Molly was absolutely frantic about everything that needed done before the wedding and the moment her kids set foot in the kitchen she was giving them jobs. Hermione and Charlie were only given the time to smile coyly before having to run off and pretend to be working, the strip of leather holding his pendant was visible but no one mentioned anything.

"I just think it's weird is all Ginny," Ron grumbled to their sister as they walked out to the garden for degnoming. "She's acting really off lately, have you noticed?"

"All I've noticed is that she's happy, she's been happy for a long time but weddings bring out different emotions in girls. She might be thinking of her own wedding or who she wants to dance with tomorrow. All that matters is that she stays in this mood and that means don't run in there mucking it up by being a grouch."

Curiosity got the best of him, there was really only one person Ron would be concerned about being happy. "What are you talking about?"

"Hermione," Ginny was looking at him and waiting for a tell, she had a knack for knowing when people were hiding secrets. "She gets these letters all the time that make her face practically explode into a smile, and I think they're from a secret boyfriend but she won't tell us."

"Why not?"

"Well that's the thing, she would only keep it from us if it was a secret boyfriend, she would at least tell me if it was something dull." Ron was busy shaking his head but Charlie just shrugged before expertly throwing a gnome over the wall. "Why would she keep a boyfriend from us?"

"Maybe she didn't want you to read too much into it, like it's not anything serious and didn't want all the questions that she knows you'll have." Pointed looks had never done much for Ginny, but today she was picking up on the simplest of ticks.

"Ron, I think we can handle it out here if you want to hide or something."

Without another second Ron ran towards the back porch of the Burrow where Harry and Hermione were most likely camping out.

"It's you."

"What are you talking about Gin?"

Charlie had laid out on the grass soaking up the rays of sun he missed so much from Romania, but Ginny stood over him. "You're the one Hermione's been hiding from us."

"Don't you think I'm a bit old for her?"

"Actually no. I think you're the perfect age and maturity for Hermione. Maybe you've noticed but she's much more grown up than Ron and knows about four time as much, not to mention you have an interesting job with something that she's interested in, and I guess you're not bad looking." Charlie laughed, out of the Weasley kid Ginny was obviously the most attractive being a girl and all, and while the twins were charming and good-looking in their own weird way it was Bill and Charlie that had always been the ruggedly handsome ones. But Ginny never enjoyed admitting it. "You're exactly the type of person I would imagine Hermione fancying."

"And why's that, since you've decided that's the case."

Dropping to sit with him Ginny started listing off on her fingers. "You enjoy your job, you're good at what you do, you're compassionate, love to read, when you need to be serious about something you are, but you always try to have fun. Those are only the things off the very top of my head, there are so many more!"

"What do you want me to say Gin?" Even though they had snogged most of the night and admitted their feelings for each other, Charlie and Hermione hadn't put any parameters on what the relationship meant because she was going to be running off soon. "You want me to say that I love her? That every time I get a letter from her I keep it and reread them when I miss her, that when I do get to see her all I want is to hold her close, that I'm absolutely terrified of what's about to happen because I know that the three of them have some crazy bloke to kill? Fine, I said it."

"Charlie." Ginny stood with a coy smile to her brother before leaving the garden. Hermione, however, stood behind the stone wall where he never would have seen had she not said something. "You really feel that way?" Hermione walked towards him and dropped in the spot Ginny had vacated.

"I really do." twisting their fingers together Charlie let his voice drop so only the two of them heard the conversation. "I didn't realize until last night that I was falling in love with you over the years, but that's what was happening."

Leaning in Hermione captured his lips with her own letting the quiet envelop them for a moment to themselves. "I love you too Charlie." She said running her thumb along his jawline.