DISCLAIMER: Aw, JKR didn't send me Harry Potter for my birthday :( although tbh, I was more interested in Charlie (if you hadn't noticed . . . :P )
100 reviews! Yay!! Thank you! :D
At half past eight, three hours after Hermione had arrived at the hospital, Harry arrived. Ginny immediately went over to him and hugged him, and the pair of them sat down together, not saying a word. "Do you know . . . who's behind this?" Mr Weasley asked, his voice breaking the silence for the first time since Hermione and Charlie's arrival.
Harry sighed. "When I went back, the fight had finished, mostly. The attackers had all been caught; they've all been rounded up now," he said. "They were escaped Death Eaters from Azkaban," he continued painfully, looking at the floor.
There was a pause, as everyone digested this. "How . . . ?" ventured Bill, not wanting to finish his question. If the Death Eaters could escape from Azkaban, they might yet regroup, and find a new leader, a prospect so horrifying that Hermione could hardly bear to think about it. She felt Charlie stiffen, and he sat upright, untangling his fingers from her own.
Harry smiled without humour. "Good question," he said. "No one knows. Kingsley's demanding full enquiries; the top brass are going to be working round the clock until we know what happened. Basically, what we know at the moment is this: since the decision was made to not have Azkaban guarded by Dementors (see a/n), a group of about five or six Aurors have been guarding the only exit. Everyone thought that that'd be safe enough – you all know about the security measures on the island: no apparition and everything – and these guys were the best we had. And anyway, when you go to Azkaban, you have your wand snapped, and the pieces get burnt. The prisoners were basically harmless."
"But . . ." said Ginny, indicating that Harry should go on.
"But evidently they weren't. They all somehow acquired wands, and those guys . . . the Auror's on duty . . . they didn't stand a chance. Six of them against forty-seven deranged criminals?" he made a small noise of disbelief and sadness. "Then they came straight to the Ministry – charmed some boats to get them to the mainland, and apparated straight to London. Their plan was to take over the Ministry, and the rest of the wizarding world from there. Fortunately, they didn't succeed," he continued.
"How did they get the wands?" George asked.
"No one knows," said Harry. "I think the whole of the Ministry will be asking themselves that question. I mean, obviously they had an insider to get them new wands, but no one knows who it was, or even where they got them from. They're checking through Olivander's records, but he swears blind that he hasn't sold forty seven wands to a single person – or even more than one to a person in the space of at least a year – but of course, they wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. If it was one person, they'll have used Polyjuice potion . . . and it's more than likely that they went abroad to get different wands. Who knows?"
"Who were the six guards?" Ron asked quietly.
"None that I recognised, except Sarah McGuiness," Harry replied. "You know, our young professor from last year?"
Ron nodded despondently, and let his head fall back against the wall. "I know," he said.
"Sarah McGuiness? Long black hair, and really tall? With an eyebrow piercing?" Charlie asked. Harry and Ron nodded.
"Did you know her?" asked Harry.
Charlie nodded, sadly. "Yeah, she was in my year at Hogwarts – in Ravenclaw, though. I didn't know her that well . . . but still . . ." He blinked rather rapidly, and Hermione put her hand on his arm.
There was a moment's pause, then Ginny asked, rather tentatively, "What happened? To Percy, I mean. What exactly . . . went on?"
"Well," began Mr. Weasley, shifting in his chair. "I was thinking about coming home – it was nearly five o'clock, after all. Well, it was around half four, actually, but it had been a long day." He gave a mirthless laugh. "Then I heard the Minister's voice, projected throughout the Ministry, I presume. Anyway, he was saying that we were under attack, trained Aurors were handling things, we should evacuate, the usual. I thought I'd go and help where I could, and I left the office, but I ran into two of them pretty much straight away, and started duelling them. It must only have been a minute or two later when Percy and Penelope arrived, but at the same time, four more Death Eaters arrived. Well, I thought we were goners, for sure – Percy and yourself," he nodded towards Penelope, "fought admirably, but I'm getting on a bit now; I'm not cut out for duelling, and we were outnumbered two to one. But then Ron, Harry and Hermione arrived."
"We'd gone to find Hermione," Ron said, continuing with the story, "and then we went off to find Dad. Once we'd arrived, we were all much more evenly matched, and we brought them all down, and Hermione and Penny did some fancy spell work that literally tied them in knots, so they couldn't escape."
"We thought it was all over," said Hermione. "At that point, apart from a minor cut on Ron's face, and the fact that we were all breathless, we hadn't had any injuries at all. The six Death Eaters had been captured, and we were pretty secluded, down in your department," she nodded towards Arthur.
"Then Penny spotted a Death Eater on the landing above us," Ron said. "She tried to curse him, but he moved. He aimed a curse at Dad, but Harry pulled him out of the way. Percy and I tried to get him, but neither of us was able to. Then—"
"Then he shot a curse at me," said Penelope, speaking up for the first time. "And before it could hit me, Percy jumped in front, and took the curse for me. So . . . so all this is my fault. If it wasn't for me, Percy would be . . . he'd be . . ." She trailed off, unable to complete her sentence because she was sobbing so hard. Mrs Weasley immediately went over to her.
"Don't cry, dear," she said. "It's not your fault at all – you didn't cast the spell. It's no one's fault," she soothed, hugging Penelope.
"Yeah," said George. "It just shows how much Perce loves you, to take the curse for you. He'd have never forgiven himself if he hadn't done it." After a while, Penelope appeared to relax a little more, once all the Weasleys had reassured her that it wasn't her fault, and they didn't blame her at all. Mrs Weasley kept a comforting arm around her, Ginny went over to sit on her other side, and everyone quietened down again, each lost in their own thoughts once more.
At nearly ten o'clock, a Healer came in to let them know that there was no change in Percy's condition. She also said that, though this was a definitely good thing, as it meant that it was very unlikely that he would die, they wouldn't know the extent of his injuries until he woke up. Hermione felt Charlie slump back into his seat as she said those words, and took his hand again. He squeezed it gratefully, and once more silence fell in the small room. Half an hour later she and Fleur left in search of food, and came back with several cups of tea and coffee, and a few cakes and muffins from the canteen. No one touched the food, but the coffee was drunk quickly, then they went back to waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting some more.
No one slept; no one even closed their eyes, and eventually, at half past one on Saturday morning, the Healer, who had introduced herself as Helen O'Donahue, came back in to the room. "He's awake," she said, smiling broadly at them. "We think he's going to be OK."
Everyone leapt to their feet at her words, smiling, laughing, crying and hugging. After enough tissues had been handed around, and everyone had hugged everyone else – including Healer O'Donahue – at least twice, the general furore died down, and Molly was able to ask the Healer what the prognosis was.
"Well, we still have no idea what the spell was that hit him," she began, "but he has regained consciousness, and so far the only after-effect seems to be that he has absolutely no recollection at all of the past forty-eight hours or so – he remembers going to bed on Wednesday night, but nothing after that. Thursday and today – well, yesterday, technically – are a complete mystery to him."
"What about his physical wellbeing?" asked Mr. Weasley. "There's no cuts, or internal bleeding or anything?"
The Healer frowned slightly. "Nothing too major; at least in the immediate future. But the curse seems to have weakened his heart ever so slightly." She saw the looks of horror on the faces of the Weasleys, and hastened to reassure them. "It's not as bad as it sounds – all it means is that in the future – once he hits old age – he's likely to be more prone to heart attacks and the like. But as long as he eats a sensible, well balanced diet, we'll be able to keep that risk to a minimum, and we're also developing a potion at the moment, which works to strengthen the heart, so I'm sure by the time he has need of it, in fifty or sixty years or whatever, it'll be readily available."
"Oh, thank Merlin," Molly said, relief evident in her voice.
"You can come and see him if you want," said Healer O'Donahue, and immediately all seven Weasleys and Penelope moved forward. She held up her hands. "No more than two at a time, and only five minutes per pair!" she said severely.
Molly, Arthur and Penelope went in first – the Healer relented her 'no more than two people' rule when she saw the look Molly was giving her – followed, after five minutes by George and Ron, then Bill and Fleur. Ginny and Harry went in next, and when their five minutes were up, Charlie started forwards. Hermione hung back, but he pulled her in with him anyway, saying she was practically family, and she'd been present at the battle. Hermione wasn't sure what this last point had to do with anything, but she went in anyway.
Percy was sitting up on the bed, wearing a pair of green hospital pyjamas, his glasses and a broad smile. "Charlie; Hermione!" he said, waving at them both. "How are you?"
"Never mind us, how're you?" said Charlie, sitting down on a chair next to the bed. Hermione crouched on the floor.
"Oh, I feel fine," said Percy. "Never better. A little disconcerted to learn that it's Friday – well, Saturday really – as the last thing I remember is Wednesday night, but other than that I'm OK."
"Oh, thank Merlin!" said Charlie. "You seriously had me – and the others – worried there for a few hours."
"Oh dear, I hope I didn't get anyone too frantic," Percy said, rather anxiously.
"Don't be silly, we all coped," said Hermione, smiling up at him from her position on the floor. "We all knew you'd pull through in the end," she added.
"Ah yes, the others have told me you were at the fight, too," said Percy. "Are you alright? Did we put up a good show?"
"We put up a very good show, if I do say so myself," said Hermione. "And we keep telling you – we're all fine, it's you we were worried about!"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me," said Percy, with a nonchalant wave of the hand.
"Don't get yourself knocked unconscious, and we won't need to, little brother," Charlie reprimanded gently. Percy opened his mouth to respond, but then Healer O'Donahue came back in.
"And that is quite enough excitement for one night!" she said, sounding scarily like Professor McGonagall. "Out, now, both of you!" she waved her hands at Charlie and Hermione, and started fussing around with bottles of potions in a corner of the room, bear the sink. They said their goodbyes, and walked out of the room, but just as he was nearing the door, Percy called Charlie back.
"What is it?" Charlie asked, slightly confused.
"You," said Percy.
"Me?" asked Charlie.
"Yes, you," said Percy again. "If you want to get Hermione, you ought to be a bit more gentlemanly. Offer her the chair, and stuff; not make her sit on the floor."
"Get Hermione?" repeated Charlie. "What are you on about?"
"Hermione is your mystery woman," said Percy, as though it was obvious. "The one Bill told us about the other night, the one me and George spent ages trying to guess."
"My mystery . . . what the . . . how did you . . ." Charlie stuttered incoherently.
"Oh, don't try to deny it," said Percy. "I worked it out the last – I mean, Wednesday night. She's the one you're secretly in love with, who you can't date because she has a boyfriend. Only Bill told me that she and Ron broke up, so now she's all yours for the taking. As it were."
Charlie couldn't quite believe he was having this conversation with his brother, who was lying in a hospital bed, and had been, until half an hour ago, fighting for his life. Or, if not fighting for his life, at least in serious danger of not waking up for quite a long while. His little brother Percy, who was perhaps the most clueless of all the Weasley siblings when it came to women, and that even included Ron. And to add even more surreality to things, the doctor was in there with them, mixing potions, but, if the smirk on her face was anything to go by, quite blatantly listening in on their conversation.
And were his feelings for Hermione that obvious? Bill and George had just guessed, and so had Percy. Admittedly, George and Percy had been helped by Bill's none too subtle hints, but still. He, Charlie, had always been the best at keeping secrets. Always. The one the others told things to – secret, private things – because they knew that, if they asked him not to, he would never, ever dream of telling another soul. And now here he was, being read like an open book by his little brother.
Quite understandably (in his opinion, at least) he was unable to form a response more coherent than, "I don't . . . Hermione's not . . . I'm not . . ." which elicited a pitying glance from Percy, and an impatient sigh and strict instructions to leave now from the Healer.
"Just remember!" called Percy, as he left the room. "Offer her the chair next time!"
Honestly. Being told how to handle his love life by his little brothers. Could his life be any more embarrassing? Hermione, chatting to Ginny and Harry, over at the far end of the waiting room had evidently not heard any of his conversation, and for that he gave thanks to as many deities as he could think of. She evidently did not have any feelings for him, other than those of friendship, and anyway, he couldn't date his little brother's ex. That was just too weird.
Having established that Percy was to be given a sleeping potion, and would therefore be out of it for a good twelve hours, Molly and Arthur decided to stay at the hospital anyway, and Penelope joined them. They would be able to stay in the waiting room, and though the others insisted that they would be far more comfortable at home, in their own beds, and anyway, it wasn't like Percy was going to be in a position to talk to them for quite a while, they decided to stay anyway.
Bill then said that he was going to take Fleur home, as she was practically asleep on her feet, and Molly insisted that he stayed with his wife, due to her being pregnant (even though he offered to stay at the hospital too). Ginny and Harry went back to her flat – Harry was adamant that he would stay to protect her, in case "anything happened", and though Ginny was most definitely of the opinion that she did not, under any circumstances, need protecting, she didn't protest too much, as it meant having Harry stay with her.
George and Ron disappeared off to George's flat ("for a stiff drink or seven") and soon Hermione and Charlie were the only ones left.
"Well, I'll say goodnight, then," she said to the remaining occupants of the room. "Or good morning, or whatever it is," she added, yawning.
"Yes, goodnight, dear," said Molly, hugging her. "Make sure you get some sleep."
Hermione chuckled. "You too," she said, hugging her back.
Charlie, too, said his goodbyes, and went to hug his mother. "'Night Mum, Dad," he said.
"Goodnight, Charlie," said his mother. "You will make sure Hermione gets home safely, won't you? Everyone else has gone . . . and Ginny told me you broke up with Ron?" she addressed Hermione.
"Yes, that's right," Hermione said, a forced smile on her face. "Ron and I have broken up now."
"For good?" Molly asked, sounding disappointed. "Oh dear . . . are you sure you won't be getting back together again? There's—"
"Come on, Molly, this isn't the time to be discussing this," Arthur cut in, saving Hermione from a half an hour lecture on why she and Ron should start going out again. She smiled at him thankfully.
"Yeah, come on Hermione," said Charlie, taking her arm and leading her out of the room. "I'll see you home safely," he continued, winking at her, and the pair of them left the room amid a chorus of goodnights.
"'Walk me home'," repeated Hermione. She pulled a face. "Oh, dear. I do feel bad, deceiving your Mum like this. She's always been so good to me, and here we are, sneaking around and everything . . ."
"I could leave, if you wanted," said Charlie.
"Oh, Gods, no," said Hermione, hurriedly. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just feel a bit . . . guilty, that's all. I wouldn't want you to leave." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "I'd miss you," she said, blushing slightly. "After all, who'd be around to cook for me, and fix the shower when it breaks?" she joked.
"Oh yes, you definitely need a man for those kinds of things," Charlie said, nodding seriously.
"Oh, don't say that!" groaned Hermione.
"Don't say what?" repeated Charlie, confused.
"'You need a man'," said Hermione. "Honestly, I haven't even been broken up with Ron for a week yet – a week! – and all I'm hearing from all my girlfriends, and your Mum, and even Harry the other day is how I need a man in my life!" She snorted in disgust. "Honestly! This is the twenty-first century here! I am a successful woman, and I do not need my success to be measured on whether or not I have a boyfriend. It's rather insulting, you know? Never mind all the academic credentials I have; I'm a failure because I don't have a boyfriend." She sighed.
"You think that's bad?" asked Charlie. "I've had that from my Mum – and sometimes even my brothers – every time I've come home for the past eight or nine years. 'Why aren't you engaged yet?' 'How come you've never brought anyone home for us to meet?' Argh!" he growled.
"It does get a bit . . . wearing, doesn't it?" asked Hermione, and Charlie nodded vehemently in agreement.
"It truly does," he said. "I mean, every time—"
"HERMIONE!" They rounded a corner, and Hermione was immediately engulfed by two shrieking girls. It was Isabelle and Coralie, her two French friends from the Ministry. They jabbered away at her, in a mixture of French and English, laughing and hugging her, and she joined in, glad that they had made it out safely and that they were evidently fine.
Charlie tapped her on the shoulder and cleared his throat. "I'll . . . um . . . just go back to the flat, and see you later?"
Hermione smiled at him. "Yeah, that's fine. I won't be long!" she called, as he disappeared off down the corridor.
Isabelle and Coralie rounded on her the moment he had disappeared from view.
"Hermione," said Coralie, her face serious. "Who was that?"
"Mon Dieu!" exclaimed Isabelle, pretending to fan herself and the pair of them giggled.
"Oh, for Goodness' sake!" said Hermione, rolling her eyes but turning a bit pink all the same. "That's only Charlie!"
"Only Charlie?" repeated Isabelle. "You share a flat with him?" Hermione nodded. "Urgh, I hate you so much." She poked her tongue out at her.
"Why?" asked Hermione, perplexed.
"Um, hello, have you taken a good look at him recently?" Isabelle asked.
"Yes, but . . . oh!" said Hermione, her point finally dawning on her. "Well, yeah, he is fairly good looking, but he's also Ron's—"
"Oh, so he's the one you were supposed to be going on a date with today!" said Coralie. "What happened?"
"On the date?" Hermione asked, and the girls nodded. "It never happened. His brother was injured at the Ministry."
The two girls sobered up immediately, and asked what had happened, whether he had been seriously hurt and if he was going to be alright. Hermione nodded. "Yeah, it was a bit . . . touch and go for a few hours. But he pulled through, and he'll be alright now, hopefully."
"It wasn't Ron, was it?" asked Coralie.
Hermione shook her head. "No, not Ron. Another of his brothers, Percy. Percy Weasley. I've introduced you to him a few times, do you remember?"
"Tall, red hair and freckles?" Isabelle asked. Hermione nodded. "I vaguely recollect him . . . but you say he's going to be OK?" Hermione nodded again. "That's good."
"Anyway, what about you?" said Hermione, suddenly remembering why the pair of them were at the hospital.
"Me?" asked Isabelle. "Pfft, I'm fine," she said, waving a hand airily.
"She wasn't fine," corrected Coralie. "I was very worried for a few hours . . . but the nurses gave her plenty of blood replenishing potions, and they managed to fix her wound in the end, so—"
"Oh, don't listen to her," said Isabelle. "Of course I was always going to be fine. I wasn't exactly going to die and not find out what happens between you and dear Charlie in the end, was I?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at Hermione.
"Oh for Merlin's—"
"We have to be going now," cut in Coralie, hastily averting an argument, and the pair of them started off down the corridor. "We'll see you . . . next time we have a class, whenever that is."
"'Bye!" called Hermione, before going to the designated apparition spot and apparating back to her flat. She let herself in, and saw Charlie's head poking out of his bedroom.
"You got back to your flat alright then?" he asked with a wink, and Hermione laughed.
"I did," she agreed, yawning. "Oh, excuse me. I'm off to bed now, it being quarter past two in the morning."
"Me, too," said Charlie, giving her a wave and shutting his door. Hermione stumbled around her bedroom and bathroom for five minutes or so; removing her make-up, cleaning her teeth and pulling on some pyjamas before collapsing into bed, exhausted.
Suddenly, she was awake again. Groggily she glanced at her clock – 3:47am. So, she had been asleep for about an hour and a half. What had woken her, then? Her answer came immediately: a cry from Charlie's room and a couple of thuds. Charlie was being attacked!
She charged into his room, blasting the door open with her wand. He was sitting bolt upright in bed, hair sticking up in all directions. "What?" he yelled, confused and disoriented, clutching his wand and trying to untangle himself from his sheets.
"You're being attacked!" Hermione answered, still not properly awake herself.
"I am?" Charlie asked, looking around as if he expected someone to jump out from inside the wardrobe, or perhaps from behind the curtains. "I mean, what's going on? I'm not being attacked – what's happening?"
Hermione felt slightly silly. "I heard a cry from your room, and a few thuds. I thought you were being attacked," she said, sheepishly.
Charlie's ears went pink. "I was . . . uh . . . having a bad dream. I sometimes talk in my sleep a bit."
"Oh," said Hermione, feeling even more silly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just jumpy, after what happened today."
Charlie nodded. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"Physically, I'm fine," Hermione replied. "I was really lucky – not a scratch on me. Mentally, I'm . . . not so much. Not really. I mean, seeing my friends throwing themselves into battle again; it reminded me of what happened a couple of years ago, with Voldemort and everything. When Percy fell down . . . I thought he was dead. It was like, after all we went through over the last few years, it wasn't worth it. We did all that, and yet there were still all those people out there, we could still be killed. What was the point?"
"C'mere," said Charlie, pulling her down onto the bed next to him and hugging her tightly. "What you and Harry and Ron did, two years ago, to bring down Voldemort – the nine months you spent running up and down the country, hiding from him and concocting plans for his downfall, and, in the end, defeating him . . . how dare you say that was for nothing?" Hermione looked into his eyes and was a bit scared to see how angry he looked.
"You and Harry and Ron are the three bravest people I know, because of that," he said. "Oh, I know what you're going to say about the Order, and all that, and yes, they were brave too. But they didn't spend nine months living in isolation, and they were all wizards who were of age – yes, you were too, but you yourself were the oldest, and you were only eighteen. That's not old. That's nothing. And you did all that; it's amazing."
"But not amazing enough," said Hermione, still glum.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," said Charlie. "You can't expect to completely save the world. You did a hundred times more than most people do in their whole lifetimes, but you can't do everything. There's always going to be evil out there; you can't rid the world of it completely. You did your bit, and no one expects any more than that. You can't save everyone, but you damn well did your share of the saving, and you did it well."
"Y'know," said Hermione, "for someone who wrestles dragons for a living, you're pretty clever." She smiled at him, and Charlie squeezed her shoulders.
"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment," he chuckled. "You OK now?" he asked, sounding more concerned.
Hermione nodded. "I'm getting there. What you said, it makes sense. I guess I'm just . . . being daft," she said.
"No, you're not," Charlie reassured her. "You've been through a lot today, you were in a battle, for Christ's sake! You're allowed to be feeling a bit strange."
"Thanks," said Hermione, and then her stomach growled at an embarrassingly loud volume. She turned a bright shade of pink. "Sorry," she muttered, as Charlie laughed loudly. "Kinda ruined the moment, didn't it?"
Charlie just laughed some more. "C'mon," he said, jumping out of bed and pulling on an old Weasley jumper with a dragon on the front of it. "Let's go and get some food. When was the last time you ate?"
"Uh . . ." said Hermione, thinking. "I guess . . . breakfast – I skipped lunch 'cause I had a paper due, and I wanted to get a start on it."
"Honestly," Charlie rolled his eyes. "You'll waste away – and then Mum'll have yet another thing to nag you about. Sit down." He pointed to the armchair in the living room and Hermione sat, summoning the duvet and pillows from her room. Charlie came back in from the kitchenette a few moments later, carrying two bowls and a large tub of chocolate chip ice cream. Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Oooh," she said, accepting the bowl. "Thanks!" They chatted amicably for half an hour or so, before there was a loud pop and a letter appeared out of thin air in the middle of the room. Charlie caught it as it fell down and handed it to Hermione, as it was addressed to her. She ripped it open and scanned down it.
"It's from the Ministry," she said. "Attack today . . . blah blah . . . we commend all the brave fighters . . . attackers are at present unknown . . . will keep you informed of an further developments . . . hah, that's not what Harry said—"
"Yeah, but they're not going to come out and say 'it was the Death Eaters, they escaped from Azkaban', are they?" Charlie put in. "It'd cause mass panic, wouldn't it?"
"I suppose," agreed Hermione, going back to reading the letter. "Yadda yadda . . . basically, they're not going to let slip what happened, though they find it highly regrettable and many inquiries will be started as soon as possible . . . blah blah . . . this is mostly just a load of official lines that they're sending out to all the employees, and . . . oh goody," she finished flatly.
"What?" asked Charlie.
"'As the Ministry buildings were not damaged in the attack, we shall return to business as usual, with everyone coming in when they usually would, as we want to show these despicable people that they have not won. Ms Granger, if you have not been injured you will be expected to attend your lectures on Monday as usual. If you were injured in the attack, please contact . . .' blah blah," Hermione sighed. "Well, I'm in on Monday then," she said.
"You'd think they'd cut you all some slack, what with the whole near-death experience thing," said Charlie.
"You would, wouldn't you?" she agreed. "But I guess I agree with what they're saying – we have to show these people that they haven't won, that we're not scared of them and the easiest way to do that is just to carry on as though nothing has happened . . . business as usual, like they say."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "It probably is for the best." They chatted some more and, eventually, at nearly half past five in the morning, fell asleep.
Hermione felt herself being roughly shaken awake, and groggily opened her eyes. "Wh-wh-what's going on?" she yawned. Ginny's face came into view.
"Finally!" said the other girl, rolling her eyes.
"What?" asked Hermione, wishing she was still asleep.
"I need you to come to mine," said Ginny, sounding far too chipper for Hermione's liking.
"Why?" asked Hermione, suspiciously.
"I need you to help me bake a cake!" Ginny replied brightly.
"Bake a cake?" repeated Hermione. "Why? What's going on? What time is it?"
"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" sighed Ginny. "You're not normally so dense."
"I'm not normally woken up by some weirdo in the middle of the night telling me to come and bake a cake with her . . . especially when the weirdo knows I can't cook!" said Hermione, throwing a pillow at Ginny. "Go 'way!"
"Absolutely not," said Ginny. "Firstly, it's not the middle of the night, it's half past three in the afternoon. Secondly—"
"Wait, what?" Hermione asked. "Half past three? Are you sure?"
"Pretty much," said Ginny, scarastically, pointing to the clock, which, sure enough, read half past three. Secondly, I know you can't cook, but I want you to expand the oven for me and also to help me ice it," she continued. "And thirdly, I haven't had the chance to talk with you properly about the whole Ron situation, so we need a good girly catch up. Oh, and I'm not a weirdo."
Hermione rubbed her eyes. "And this couldn't be done some other time?" she asked.
"Nope!" replied Ginny, yanking the duvet off Hermione, who squealed in shock.
"What's goin' on?" Charlie had evidently awoken, too.
"Me and Hermione are going to go to my flat and bake a cake," said Ginny. Charlie looked at the pair of them.
"I'm not even going to ask," he said, rolling over and closing his eyes again.
"Good plan," said Ginny, dragging Hermione into the bathroom. "Go shower," she said, pointing. "I'll fetch you some clothes."
Hermione did as she asked; showering, cleaning her teeth, getting dressed and brushing her hair in record time, before walking back out into the lounge. Charlie had woken up again, but was still lying on the sofa, wrapped in his duvet. "Hey, Hermione," he smiled at her. "Ginny was just telling me how you're going over to her flat to help her bake a cake for Mum for her birthday."
"Thank you very much for letting me know what's going on, Charlie," Hermione said very pointedly. "It's so considerate of you."
"You're welcome, darlin'," he winked at her, and Hermione blushed and knocked over an empty glass, flustered. "Anyway, I was just telling Ginny how I've been training you up!"
"Oo-er," said Ginny, smirking.
"Oh, real mature, Gin," said Hermione, becoming even more flustered.
"At cooking," said Charlie, firmly. "Hermione helps me in the kitchen – she's becoming quite a good cook!"
"Good," replied Ginny. "I'm going to need all the help I can get . . . anyway, cheerie-bye, Charlie; we're off now," she smiled at him and dragged Hermione over to the fireplace.
"It appears that I am off," said Hermione, waving at him.
"Try not to have too much fun," Charlie said dryly.
"I will," said Hermione, floo-ing Ginny's flat.
"Now," said Ginny firmly, once she had stepped out of the fireplace and got her balance back. "You can tell me all about what's going on with you and Charlie."
"Me and Charlie?" began Hermione, acting surprised. Ginny raised her eyebrows, and Hermione knew that any further denials would get her nowhere. "OK, OK. Me and Charlie. Well . . ."
I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that JKR said that Dementors no longer guarded Azkaban. I could be making that up entirely, but I think I remember seeing it somewhere. If she didn't say it, I have now, so it's true for this story –sticks out tongue-
Not the most exciting chapter, I know, but they'll be lots of Charlie/Hermione action in the next chapter, and in the one after that, they end up jumping into bed together (though it's not quite what you'd first think). Just though I'd give you all a little teaser of things to come lol x