A/N: I was completely and utterly overwhelmed at the response to the last chapter. One of the reasons I love writing is the ability to touch people with my stories and it's an amazing feeling when I achieve that, or come close to it.
With regards to this chapter; as you're about to find out, I like echoes and circles, and the past affecting the present, and things repeating themselves.
Darling GEG - skip over the last third. You won't like it.
Everyone else probably will, though.

December 2001

She was beautiful.

With her hair gently curling and pinned up at the nape of her neck, her makeup soft, and long lace dress glittering. It skimmed over her collarbones and down to her fingertips. The waist was tied with a shiny black ribbon with some sort of raised pattern on it.

Harry skimmed his finger over the ribbon as he entered the room from behind her and slipped a white rose into her hair.

She lifted her hand to touch it, then turned to look in the mirror. In the reflection, Hermione beamed at him.

"It's lovely. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you ready for this?"

She sighed deeply, steeling herself. "Yes. Of course. Yes."

Harry took her hand.

The year before, Mr Granger had passed away. In his absence Harry had agreed to be the one to give Hermione away on her wedding day. At first he'd felt like he'd been pulled in two directions; his loyalties to both his best friend, to be a Best Man, and to Hermione. In the end, her need was greater than Ron's. And of course Ron understood.

Hermione adjusted his tie and took his hand.

They were at the Burrow, the scene now of the third Weasley wedding, making it something of a tradition after Percy had been married in the garden the summer before last. For all the fuss and drama that came naturally with weddings, Harry felt oddly relaxed with this one. Apart from the speech. He was nervous about the speech.

"What's on the ribbon?" Harry asked as he caught sight of a familiar shape.

She smoothed her hands down over her waist.

"It's embroidered," she said softly. "With the names of all the people who should be here, and aren't."

He nodded.

There wasn't anything more to say.

The ceremony passed... ceremoniously. Harry tried to pay attention but most of the service was boring and actually the little dancing fairies that were glittering around the tent were far more entertaining.

But the 'bound for life' bit was rather captivating, and he wanted to be the one to lead the applause and cheering as they kissed. And kissed again for good measure.

"There is something about rescuing people from an escaped mountain troll that forces friendship upon you," Harry said with his glass of champagne raised. "At eleven years old, I knew that these two would be there for me no matter what, for the rest of my life. And there's something about facing almost certain death, too, that makes you appreciate the choices that you make of those who stand by your side. Ron and Hermione are the people who never gave up on me. Never gave up hope. And never looked like they would ever get together."

There was a burst of appreciative laughter.

"My childhood wasn't always a happy time. But I can say with absolute certainty that in every moment of light and laughter and happiness, these two people were by my side. They are without a doubt absolutely perfect for each other and I'm thrilled that after years of running after each other, they've finally made this step.

"To Ron and Hermione."

xXx

"Hey," Harry said as he bounced over to where Charlie was half leaning, half sitting on the edge of a table. "Did you hear? Seamus caught one of those nasty Muggle diseases."

"What sort of disease?" Charlie asked, amused.

Harry reached around him to the bottle of champagne on the table and topped off both their glasses.

"One of the ones that makes your balls itch like crazy, apparently. 'Cos it's a Muggle disease they have to treat it with Muggle drugs. He's been told not to have sex for a month."

"You sound delighted with this news."

"I am."

Charlie laughed and wondered where he could sneak Harry off to for a quick snog. The tell- tale drop of Harry's gaze to Charlie's lips, then groin, then back again was a clear indication that the other man was thinking the same thing.

"Round by the shed?" Charlie suggested.

"Pfft. No. Everyone's sneaking off there. Amateur." His eyes were laughing.

"I missed you, Harry." They hadn't seen each other since Harry's birthday. Work commitments and wedding plans had got in the way and the stars hadn't seen fit to align for them.

"I missed you too," Harry whispered. "I'm sorry."

Although it wasn't really clear what the apology was for, Charlie had a fairly good idea.

"Me too," he said. "If we left now would they cover for us?"

They did and exchanged smug, knowing, couple-y looks as Harry and Charlie exchanged kisses and handshakes (where appropriate) with the bride and groom. It was safer to Apparate back to the flat in London rather than risk being caught by a stray Weasley relative. Since Ron would be off on his honeymoon in the next few hours, it would be quieter there, too.

As they landed in the hallway Harry quickly backed Charlie up against the wall, pinning him there by his wrists and taking control of smooth, needy kisses that travelled from lips over the sharp line of jaw, down a smooth neck to where skin met starched collar.

"Why don't I see you more often?" Harry demanded.

"I don't know. I was just thinking the same thing."

Harry shook his head best he could, since his face was still pressed against Charlie's neck. Here, he could fell the rush of blood through his pulse point.

"My life is shit without you. We should... fucking hell, Charlie."

"We should go to bed," Charlie said gently, taking Harry's hand. "We should definitely go to bed."

This, they knew.

Stripping out of clothes, removing each other's layers one by one until warm skin was exposed, fingers and lips needing and wanting and taking until they were balanced right where they were meant to be.

Harry looked down into warm eyes that were shades darker than normal in the half light, feeling Charlie's thighs clench around his waist as he pulled back carefully, then sank back into the tight heat.

Then: "Fuck, Harry, more. Please."

He was trying to be careful, to get Charlie there too without hurting him but he only had so much restraint and this... this was what made everything okay again, like a soothing balm over the jagged edges of his life.

Harry pushed in again.

Sweet pink lips were soothed with wet kisses, their tenderness completely at odds with the frenetic movements of their hips and teeth that bit and fingertips that pinched at sensitive nipples.

He pushed in again.

Noise: groans, gasps, cries. Dirty wet slapping sounds. 'Fuck,' and 'more,' and 'now'.

Pushed in again.

Control was thrown out of the window or maybe just lost and the dark heat took over, pulsing through him even as he tried to stop it. He never came too soon. Never. Even as this thought skirted the edges of his mind he pushed it away and decided to ride it out, finding his deepest point and grinding there.

Again.

Even as he grasped for air in his lungs and sheets under his fingers he pulled back and found a new position further down on the bed. Charlie's hips bucked at the lack of him. Without preamble, Harry sank two fingers back inside, finding Charlie's sweet spot, used the fingers of his other hand to guide the lovely thick cock into his mouth, then moved them to tight, fuzzy balls to gently roll and knead them.

It was a work of moments as he purposefully enveloped his man with an overload of sensations and Charlie's cock burst, the pulses of hot come throbbing onto his tongue in the same rhythm Harry was using on his prostate.

He hummed as he swallowed and kissed up Charlie's chest, nuzzling into the few reddish hairs there.

"I love finishing in your mouth," Charlie said and brushed the tip of his thumb into the soft dimple on Harry's cheek.

"I know you do," Harry said. The next bit didn't need to be spelled out. Slowly, Harry leaned in and let Charlie taste himself with a tongue sliding against another hot tongue.

Exhaustion took them to sleep.