disclaimer: thanks jo! you rock!

chapter 14

The trip to London took about two hours by flying motorcycle. Charlie landed us in a small clearing outside the city. The we took the road into London. Charlie didn't like flying over the city because of the chance that muggles might see him. It was seven o'clock when we arrived at his building. He lived in a rented flat over an office. The sign on the office door read "Granger &

Granger, DDS"

"The building belongs to my sister-in-laws parents," Charlie explained as he led me around to the back of the building. "They know about wizards, and they had the flat available, it's seemed like a logical place for me to live. Since, I took the appointment at the ministry, I decided that I'm going to be staying in England. I think I might actually look for a house at some point. Mum wanted me to stay with her and Dad at the Burrow, but I don't like the idea of being this close to forty and still living with my parents. Besides, there's always a grandkid or two underfoot." He stowed the bike away in a small shed then he went to lead me up an iron staircase in the back of the building. He took out a key and opened the door at the top of the stairs. The flat was separated into two rooms, the entry door led into a small kitchen area, which looked so spotless as to be unused. I saw an open door that led to the bath room. Off to the side was the living room, there was a desk in a corner with a big leather chair. In the center of the room was an over stuffed leather couch, with a cluttered coffee table in front of it. Towards the street side of the building were a pair of curtained french doors, obviously leading to the bedroom. Ruby was sleeping on her perch near an open window. We were greeted at the door by a mewling gray tiger kitten.

"And who is this little fellow?" I asked. I picked up the little striped ball of fluff and he started purring. I brought him up to my face and kissed his nose. He purred even louder.

"His name is Binks, he was a gift from my goddaughter."

"He is absolutely adorable."

"He is pretty cute, he's a smart little guy, too. Victoire found a litter of abandoned kittens on the beach, there were four in the litter, she kept one, gave one to Dominique, her mom kept the third, and she gave this little guy, to me. She offered him to her dad, but Bill said that three female cats in the house were enough, and since this one is male, they needed to be separated." He led me into the house and on to the couch. It was as comfortable as it looked, I snuggled closer to Charlie as he sat down next to me. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"A bit, how about you?"

"Yes, I thought that we might go out. I've been craving Dim-Sum, all day."

"Does Changs' deliver?"

"Well, yes." I just smiled, and pulled him into a kiss that told him exactly what I wanted for the evening. Charlie grinned at me and said, "I'll go call it in." He got up off the couch and headed towards the telephone in the kitchen. I heard him order a few of our favorites and then hang up the phone. He came back to the couch, and sat down next to me. "They said they'll be here in thirty minutes." Binks moved from my lap to the seat next to me, and Charlie kissed me again. "I need to tell you something," he said, suddenly, sounding quite serious.

"Ok?" I answered, a little nervous.

"I love you."

Charlie had stunned me into silence. "I mean, I've fallen in love with you."

I blinked at him a few times, then kissed him again. "I assure you, Mr Charles Gideon Weasley, the feeling is quite mutual. I am ridiculously, head-over-heels in love with you, too."

"I wanted you to know that before we spent the night together, I think I fell in love with you when we were in Wizard Wheezes that first time, and you were so amazing with Rosie." He paused for a second, and said "Miss Glinda Leanna Goode, I'm not asking you to marry me, not yet, at least," the last bit was quieter, almost mumbled. "But," he continued, "I've spent my entire life wondering if I'd ever find the particular female who was out there for me. Now that she's in my arms, she's stuck with me. You're not getting rid of me, woman." He kissed the stuffing out of me, just to prove his point.

"Charlie, I think I fell in love with you, as we were leaving your brothers' shop, and Rosie asked you that little question." I chuckled as Charlie remembered his parting conversation with his niece. "I can answer that now... you can keep me."

We stayed on the couch, snuggling, talking and playing with Binks, until the buzzer rang, and our dinner had arrived. We ate our delivered feast on the sofa, I think that Charlie ordered enough for six people, after we'd had our fill, and discovered that both Binks, and Ruby, who'd woken up when she smelled food liked Changs' roast pork, we stowed the left overs in the fridge. "Believe it or not," he explained after I'd commented on the amount of food we'd put away. "Those are regular take-away orders for Changs'."

"Wow."

"Yeah," he took out his wand and performed a quick cleaning charm on the silverware and dishes we'd used. I noticed that his wand had a few scorch marks on it.

"You're going to have to replace that one soon," I commented.

"I know," he said. Then he sort of smiled a bit sheepishly. "Actually, I have a request, Mr Olivander is currently working on a new wand for me. Ah, I was wondering, if well, you'd mind too much is he used the lock of hair that you gave me as a core. He thinks that the fact that you're hair doesn't cut very easliy, and well... It might be a little more fire resistant, than a regular wand. Besides,

I just think that it would be bloody brilliant for me to have my girlfriend's hair in my wand. Can I, please?"

"All right," I answered. Then I dragged him into the bedroom, I think I'd had enough chatting for the evening.

AN: this is an edited version of this chapter, there will a "mature" extension of this that will be posted as a MA one-shot, hopefully tomorrow, or monday.