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For their valuable reviews!
A special mention for 'Anon', my 200th reviewer!
Thank you for the correction, I appreciate any grammatical corrections because I try my level best to deliver proper grammar.
As for the name Frederick McIntosh, I knew I wanted to use the first name as Frederick and the last name well, it just came to me. Its resemblance is only a very unfortunate coincidence.
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CHAPTER 40.
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"Owl sent." Hermione said proudly to Fred as she came next to him and washed her hands in the sink.
"That's good. What did you write in the note eventually?" Fred asked, drying his hands on the napkin.
"Oh it was casual. I said I would be done by 1 and that we could have lunch again, I bet that's going to surprise him. He would never imagine me opting for lunch instead of a quick meeting." Hermione said smiling smugly.
Fred grinned. "I bet he's going to be wondering. So you think you can pull this off? I don't know if you'll be able to act the part convincingly." He said with a teasing glint in his eyes.
"I'm pretty convincing with you around, aren't I?" she teased back.
Fred shook his head in a resigned manner and dramatically wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, feigning sobs.
Hermione laughed and said, "well, thank you Mr. Weasley for your unrequired display of acting skills, if I can even call it that!"
"Oi! Don't mock me! You are talking to the master of acting! You think we would succeed so much in our pranks if we weren't great actors?" He asked.
"Perhaps you are. I've never really needed to act before; unless you count the times I've taken the polyjuice potion. And however good one's acting is, imitating Bellatrix is another challenge altogether. I was awful at that. But I'm guessing acting in front of Charlie shouldn't be so bad." She concluded.
"You'll be fine. Just make sure you rattle him. Now that we know he has a girlfriend and is absolutely against showing any excessive affection towards you, we can use that to our advantage. Although, I hate to think what level would you have to cross to unnerve him?" Fred said, frowning.
"Don't worry. I'll try my 'charm' first. The fact that I'll behave entirely opposite to what he would be expecting will cause him to lose his guard." Hermione said.
"I guess. But nothing more than a kiss, okay? A quick, chaste one no less." Fred said wrinkling his nose at the mere thought of it.
Hermione laughed again. "Okay. I would not do anything more myself. Normally I would be completely against all this, but I was genuinely torn and worried about Charlie, while all this time he was playing along. It's time he frets some now."
Fred beamed, "I'm so proud of you." he said wiping another imaginary tear.
"Overdoing it, Fred." She sang as she collected her bag and some parchments and prepared to leave for school.
"Jealous." He mumbled before giving her a quick kiss and she playfully swatted his arm and disapparated.
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"I thought you had a staff meeting,Mione" Charlie said as he entered her cabin.
Hermione looked up from the journal she was filling and gave Charlie one of the broadest smiles he had ever been received.
He smiled back but his smile faltered just a little bit and if Hermione didn't know to look for it, she would have missed it completely.
She mentally applauded herself for his unease and tried to focus on being overly enthusiastic about her meeting with Charlie.
"I did. But then I realised, hey, I called the meeting, I can surely call it off. Besides, you're leaving soon and when else will I have an opportunity to go on a date again with you? So I decided that the meeting could wait." She said coming over to him and hugging him closer than necessary.
Charlie stood stuck on the spot and he seemed to gather his wits around Hermione's changed demeanour.
"Oh. Ok. That's umm... Awful I mean awfully kind of you Hermione. But you need not have cancelled work. I mean, I would have been fine meeting for tea as well," he said nervously.
"What are you saying, Charlie? It was no big deal. Besides, now that we've covered France, I was looking forward to Italy." She laughed. "So where are we going for lunch?"
Charlie was still recovering from her previous comment when he was hit again and he tried his best to compose himself so as to appear normal in front of Hermione.
Hermione, for her part was immensely enjoying his inner battle that seemed to waging and for a moment she felt really bad, since she knew the feeling. She had gone through it! And because of him! So a little innocent payback would be fun! She shook her head. She was spending way too much time with Fred.
"Umm actually, I had thought that maybe we could go to Halo Haven for lunch. It's nearby and it's got great food." Charlie said, embarrassed that he was suggesting a restaurant in their own country.
Hermione beamed and said, "of course! I love that place. Don't worry about Italy. We can do that next time!"
Charlie blanched. Next time? Why the hell would she want a next time?
He was completely unprepared for such a jovial and outgoing response from her.
He had imagined that she would be nervous and avoidant. But she seemed to be the complete opposite! Something was totally wrong with her. But he had to play along. There was no backing out now. Damn Ginny! I'm going to kill you.
"Uh sure. Ready?" He asked, offering her his arm.
"Always." She replied with a sweet smile and took his arm.
They popped into the waiting area of Halo Haven and the welcome witch immediately took them to their table.
Charlie seemed a bit more relaxed now and he thought that it was time he started his bit of acting. He had to do it either way, so may as well get it out of the way.
"You look beautiful today, Hermione." He said, as he pulled her chair for her.
She blushed and took the seat.
"Thank you Charlie. You compliment me more than I deserve." She said graciously.
"Just the truth" he said trying to sound nonchalant.
She smiled again and held his hand that was on the table with her hand. He flinched slightly at the unexpected contact.
"I want to apologise for last night." She said. "I was a bit upset with something. Someone rather. And I think that caused my sour mood for the evening. That is why I didn't feel like talking to you after dessert. But this is so much better. I've taken care of the problem that caused my bad mood and I'm feeling so much better. Also this gives us a chance to meet again." She prattled happily.
Charlie gulped. Bad mood? Problem! Was she talking about Fred? Did she have problems with Fred? And what did she mean by taking care of it? Had she broken up with Fred? For him that too? Sure, he was showing all signs of interest in her. And she was a smart witch. She would have known he was flirting with her. So had she decided to end things with Fred so as to be with him? Merlin! That would be terrible. He could never do that to Fred.
"Oh that's fine, Hermione. Happens to the best of us." Charlie said, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.
He was getting scared now. All his acting skills were being tested to the limit, he could hardly bother. He was busy trying to wonder what had transpired between Fred and Hermione, if at all. He would absolutely hate to be the reason behind their break up.
A wizard came for their order, they ordered and Hermione took control of the situation again.
"So Charlie, what is it that you wanted to tell me last night?" She asked, sipping her water.
Charlie gulped. He didn't know whether he should ask her now or not. He had been confident that she would refuse him. But looking at her now, he would need to rethink about that.
But if he didn't ask her, what other excuse could he come up with? And he also wanted to know her situation with Fred badly.
Maybe he should just go ahead and ask her. If she said no then maybe she still could save her relationship with Fred. But if she said yes...
He shuddered inwardly at the mere thought. Oh Ginny. Why do I listen to you? Telling mum about Nikita would have been easier to bear than all this tension.
"Umm. Hermione. I've been thinking." He said, falteringly. "I think you're nice. Very nice actually. And we get along. Don't you think?" He asked, testing the waters.
She smiled widely again.
Why does she have to smile so wide? Charlie grimaced.
"We get along brilliantly, Charlie. I never would have guessed otherwise, but since the past days, you've paid so much attention to me and mind you, I'm getting rather used to it." She replied with a wink.
Dear Merlin! Charlie thought. This is so not going the way it was supposed to go.
Hermione wanted to laugh. Out loud. She was torn between feeling bad for the poor red head in front of her and victorious that she was managing to baffle him so easily.
She was sure that he was probably wondering about Fred and also about her sudden change in attitude toward him. She had him cornered.
"Oh. That's great." Charlie said rather unconvincingly. "I was uh wondering if, you know, I know that Romania is far. But with a portkey or the floo it's not that far really." He blurted out.
Great going Charlie. He berated himself. What the hell was that statement even supposed to mean? Get a grip. Lose the awkwardness. Just do what you came here for. And ask her. Her answer will answer your other questions.
Hermione looked confused for a moment.
"So you're saying? I should visit?" She asked, pretending to be confused about his sudden nervousness.
"What? Oh yeah. That too. Of course you should visit. I could show you around. You could meet Norbert too." He said, aware now that he was rambling.
"Oh that's great Charlie. Very kind of you. I would love to visit. Maybe over the summer. School closes soon. So I could come then." Hermione said brightly.
Great! Just great.
"Is that all?" Hermione asked.
He seemed to be wondering whether he should go ahead with the plan or leave it be. If he did ask her and she said no, then he would be relieved. But if she said yes, which earlier he was sure would not be the case. But now he couldn't really say. She seemed so happy about everything, that he really wondered if he should ask her, fearing that she would say yes.
"Uh no. There's something else." He said slowly.
"Go on." she encouraged him.
"Hermione. Um. I really like you. Would you maybe.. Would you like to go out with me?" He blurted out before he could stop.
Hermione tried to control her laughter. She looked at him innocently and said with utmost seriousness, "but Charlie, I am out with you."
"I mean, I meant as on a date." He said.
"I thought this was a date." Hermione said, confused.
"Yes. It is. What I'm trying to say is, will you be my girlfriend?" He stammered.
There. He said it.
Hermione stayed quiet for a few seconds and that relieved Charlie, until she broke into a wide smile and got up and hugged a very, very stunned Charlie. She whispered into his ear, "Charlie Weasley, I would love to be your girlfriend."
He shuddered, not a good shudder but one filled with dread and very murderous feelings towards one's sister.
"Wow." He said feeling completely run over. "Thanks?"
She laughed. "So is this our first date? Or should we count Paris as our first date?"
"Um. Whatever you want, really." He said.
He could barely believe it. She said yes. YES!
Who knew that a small three letter word could put him in such a dilemma?
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Hermione popped into the shop after an eventful lunch, she greeted Lee at the counter and made her way to the back room to meet Fred and George.
"Your wide smile tells me that I'm speaking with Charlie's new girlfriend." Fred said, finishing off writing a letter.
"Correct. Or so he thinks." She said evilly.
George laughed. "Do I even want to know how my poor brother took it?"
"Probably not. For a fierce dragon tamer, he's pretty soft when it comes to family" Hermione said.
"He's always been that way. Very protective of all of us." Fred said.
He whistled and a beautiful stately owl flew in through the window.
He was white on the body and grey on the sides. He had a black bowtie on his neck and his eyes were surrounded by something that looked like dark under eye circles. If an owl could ever get dark circles. It gave him a bespeckled look.
"Here Cunningham, come here boy! Good owl." Fred said lovingly, giving him a piece of biscuit.
Hermione stared at the owl. Cunningham? The name suited him. He looked like he would any moment transfigure into a butler.
"That's our overseas owl, Cunningham." George said proudly.
Fred finished tying a letter to his leg and gave him an affectionate pat.
"What's in the letter?" She asked.
"It's an invitation." Fred grinned.
Turning to the prim bird, Fred stroked his grey feathers, and spoke clearly to him, "Take this to Nikita boy, in Romania."
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Check and mate?
Poor Charlie!
He could barely handle his new girlfriend Hermione, how will he handle his old one too?
*evil laugh*
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Thank you all for helping me receive 200 reviews! I'm supremely grateful to each and every reviewer!
I love hearing from each one of you :)
Thanks for reading.
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