"Game time!"

Hermione groaned as she heard the squeal of delight from Ginny as she came bounding down the stairs, the younger girl had to be one of the most enthusiastic game players that Hermione had ever known. How someone could get so excited about any type of game was beyond her, maybe it could be that when Hermione was younger she was never included in the games with the rest of the girls her age, that was why she preferred the company of books rather then people sometimes. But since she's known Ginny she's been forced into playing every game she could think of.

Speaking of the so called Witch, she flung herself down beside Hermione with a wicked gleam in her eye, Hermione could tell she was up to no good. "And what game is it this time Ginny?"

"Truth or Dare" Ginny wiggled her eyebrows. Operation Stun The Dragon was now in motion, ever since Charlie had moved home from Romania she had seen the longing glances both he and Hermione were sharing, it looked like neither of them were going to do anything about so Ginny took it upon herself to bring the pining couple together, with the help of her mischievous twin brothers too.

"Come on Ginny, truth or dare? Really?" Hermione sighed and closed the book she was reading

"Hermione" Ginny whined, pouting slightly to get the desired effect.

"All I'm saying is that truth or dare is for kids. We are adults" Hermione smirked

Ginny narrowed her eyes, "You will be playing Miss Granger. Everyone needs a little bit of childish fun in their life, and just think. You can try get the twins or Ron back for everything that they've done to you"

Hermione pursed her lips, she had to admit that Ginny made a good point, by playing truth or dare she could get at least a little bit of revenge on her brothers for the torment they put her through during their time at Hogwarts, now it was her turn and they had no idea what to expect.

"Okay, you've convinced me"

Ginny squealed happily and pulled her to her feet, "I knew I would" With that she pulled her along out into the kitchen where everyone was already gathered. Hermione looked around to see the members of their game, all together there was Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and the game master herself, Ginny. Hermione blushed as she realised that one of the only open seats was beside Charlie and just her luck Ginny pushed her into that seat.

"Now that we are all gathered here today" Ginny smiled, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Today's game is truth or dare"

Fred and George whooped in delight, they had always been fans of this game especially the dares, while the others just shrugged and waited to hear what the catch would be. "Now because we all are witches and wizards, there's going to be a bit of a twist on this game. Firstly, if you choose truth then you will have to take some of this to make sure you're not lying" Ginny grinned and pulled out a bottle of veritaserum.

"And where" Fred began

"Dear sister" George continued as they both smirked at their sister

"Did you pull that from?

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I didn't steal it if that's what you're trying to imply"

"And here we thought are dear sister was going to follow into our mischievous footsteps"

"There's still plenty of time for that" Ginny smirked and winked at her brothers, giving them the signal that their plan was now in motion. A flash of recognition appeared in Fred's eyes and he quickly leaned over to whisper in George's ear who realised what was happening and smirked, this game was going to be interesting.

"And what if we don't complete a dare?" Ron asked, mouth stuffed with one of Mrs Weasley's home made muffins.

"Those punishments will be decided by Fred and George of course" Ginny giggled at the fear that hit Ron's eyes as he glanced at the twins, there was no way he wanted to be at the end of one their punishments.

"Let this game begin then dear sister" Bill hollered eliciting a round of cheers.

"Fine, fine" Ginny grumbled and took her seat, she placed the bottle of veritaserum in the middle of the table. "Now, I think because it was my idea for this game then I should go first"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat, knowing all too well where this could lead to, she really was going to have to find a way to get back at Ginny.

Ginny drummed her hands on the table as she glanced around to find her first victim, her eyes landed on Bill for a second and a devilish smirk lit up her face. At the sight of the look on his sister's face, Bill couldn't help but grimace at the thought of what she was going to do to him, for a curse breaker he was easily frightened by Ginny and that was because he had been on the receiving end of one of her bat bogey hexes, after that he learned to never underestimate her again.

"Bill" Ginny smiled sweetly, "Truth or Dare?"

Bill had to choose his option wisely, he had no idea what his sister had planned but he knew it would be good whatever it is. "Truth"

Ginny pouted and stuck her tongue out at her eldest brother, of course he would be the boring one to choose truth first. "Fine, I'll go easy on you this time but if you keep choosing truth then you'll have a punishment"

Bill shook his head, the twins had definitely corrupted their young sister into a mischief maker in the making. "Do your worst little sister" He smirked at her

"Bill, my dear brother. My first and only easy question for you is" Ginny pretended to look thoughtful for a moment, as if she really had to think about a question after having her own list compiled since she started at Hogwarts. "After you've dropped a piece of food, what's the longest time you've left it on the ground and then ate it?"

Bill blinked, he definitely hadn't been expecting such an easy question from Ginny, he thought she had just been fooling him when she said she would take it easy this round. "Well, to be honest, I am a Weasley and I love my food so I try not to let too much of it go anywhere except my mouth"

Beside him, Charlie begin to snigger, knowing all too well the extent of the infamous Weasley hunger, as he continued to laugh he could feel someone watching him, glancing to his side he was pleasantly surprised to find Hermione staring at him. Charlie poked his tongue out at her and winked, causing the intended reaction of a fiery blush to grace her cheeks. Bill nudged Charlie in the stomach and gave him the 'we need to talk later' look. Charlie nodded before urging him to answer the question.

"And may I add, I am also part Werewolf now" Bill dramatically highlighted the scars gracing his face. "So to answer your question sister, I don't think I've ever dropped a piece of food in the ground because my reflexes are too fast, I catch it before it hits the ground" He smirked at the stunned reactions of his siblings

"Bill, you put way too much thought into that answer" Ron mumbled as he stuffed his face with a biscuit.

"At least I have a brain to think with"

The group at the table began to laugh and the more the laughter grew, the redder Ron become. "Okay, okay settle down" Ginny called out, still letting out a few giggles every now and then. "Bill as you answered your question, it's your turn"

Bill smirked, one that could rival Ginny's, as he glanced around the table for his victim. He was tempted to choose Charlie so he could embarrass him on front of Hermione, Charlie had definitely made a mistake in telling him about his feelings for her, although he wouldn't outright tell Hermione that Charlie liked her considering he was loyal to his brother but he would have some fun with it from time to time until Charlie confessed to her. But maybe that was too easy, so instead he went for Fred.

"Fred, truth or dare?"

Fred's eyes sparkled with delight at even being asked the question, "Is it even a question big brother? Of course I'm going to choose dare!"

Bill laughed, "Very well, thought I'd be nice and still give you a choice" He shrugged and began to think of a dare for him when it suddenly dawned him, he had thought of the perfect dare and one that not even Fred or George would think of.

"I dare you to stuff a bra with ice in it and leave it on your chest for 1 minute"

Fred gawked at his brother, usually Bill was very good at the truth questions, not so much the dares so that's why it was so hard to believe that those words actually came from his mouth. "Are you serious? Where am I going to get a bra from?"

With a flick of his wand and a bit of silent magic Bill manage to conjure up a bra for Fred, it was bright yellow with polka dots. "Something to match your personality. Loud and in your face"

"Very funny" Fred muttered as he grabbed the bra out of his hand, George handed some ice and together they both stuffed it until it was full, as he moved to get attached around the back of his shirt, Bill put his hand out to stop them. "What?"

Bill shook his head, "Now do you really think I asked you to stuff ice in a bra just for you to wear it over your shirt? I don't think so, time for the shirt to come off and the bra of ice to go on"

The rest of the group begun to laugh as Fred begrudgingly took his shirt off, he stared at the bra full of ice for a moment two, already shivering at the thought of what he was about to do. With George's help he managed to stick the bra, gasping in shock as the coldness of the ice hit his chest. "I h-h-h-hate you B-B-Bill"

Bill and the others laughed as they watched Fred begin to shiver, it had been one of his most creative dares but also slightly mean, but after all Fred and George had put them through in the past then they deserve a bit of revenge. He kept his eye on the timer and before he knew it the 1 minute was up. Fred gladly shoved the bra off, putting it out of his sight before pulling his shirt back off. "Watch out Bill, what goes around comes around" He smirked.

The group continued to go around the circle with many of them choosing truth for the first time, trying to go easy before the game got more intense. But after a particular embarrassing question for Ron, whose face now matched the colour of his hair, it was finally Hermione's turn. "Truth or Dare, Hermione?"

Hermione pursed her lips, she had never really been one for dares before but everyone else had been choosing truth and she could slowly see Ginny losing patience with people wimping out of the game, so did she want to play it safe with truth? Or take a risk and pick dare for once in her life. Her eyes briefly met Charlie's, he flashed her a smile of encouragement, almost sensing her dilemma, she knew for know whatever choice she made wouldn't result in her crush being revealed as Ron didn't know, so for once she took the risk. "I choose dare"

"Finally!" Ginny clapped, "I've been waiting for someone to stop being a wimp for once" She glared at her brothers and Harry who shrugged with no remorse for taking the easy way out.

"Right Hermione" Ron smiled, putting a finger under his chin as he tried to think of a dare. "I dare you to hold hands to the person on your right for the rest of the game"

Hermione felt her face heat up as she realised the person sitting to her right was Charlie, as she took a glance at him she missed the looks of delight passing between Ginny, Fred and George, their plan already off to a better start then they had imagined. "Sorry Charlie, do you mind?" She whispered

Charlie chuckled and slipped his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers together and was pleased to find that it felt better than he had already imagined. "Don't worry Hermione, I never refuse to hold hands with a beautiful witch" He winked, laughing even more as he saw the blush on her cheeks deepen ever further.

"If you two lovebirds don't mind, we'd like to get back to the game" Ginny coughed loudly, breaking Charlie and Hermione out of their intense staring contest.

"Sorry Gin" Hermione smiled, "My turn now to ask the question" She hummed thoughtfully as she glanced around the group, every so often she felt a bit of pressure on her hand that was enclosed with Charlie's and she practically had to keep slowing her heart rate down before it burst out of her chest. "Okay, seeing as I'm currently holding hands with him I'll choose Charlie"

"Of course you do" Fred muttered with a ghost of a smirk on his face, ignoring the obvious glare Hermione was sending his way.

"So Charlie" Hermione turned back to him, "Truth or Dare?"

Charlie drummed his fingers on the table as he pretended to think of his choice, "Of course I choose dare"

"Very well" Hermione grinned. "I dare you to eat one spoonful of the spiciest thing in this kitchen"

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "Okay Granger, but just so you know I can handle my spices quite well" He jumped from his chair and went to the cupboards, browsing for a moment or to before finding what he was looking for. He lifted down a tub of chilli powder before getting a spoon and taking his seat once again. "This is what Mum usually puts into her spicy carrot soup, with a little big of magic and some of this, it really packs a punch" He poured a a bit of the powder on the same and raised it to the group, after a moment of preparing himself he stuck the spoon in his mouth and tried to swallow the powder but what he didn't expect was how hard it would be. As soon as the powder hit his mouth it instantly dried up his saliva, his eyes widened in surprise and soon enough tears pricked at his eyes as the spice finally hit the back of his throat. He tried to swallow the powder but accidentally inhaled some of the powder and before he knew it he let out a mighty cough which was followed by a large red powder cloud.

The group watched in stunned disbelief as the powder hit Bill in the face, turning it red in places while Charlie coughed and spluttered the rest of the powder out. "That's horrible!" Charlie yelped and ran to the sink, sticking his head under the faucet to rinse the horrid and spicy taste from his mouth. His siblings, Harry and Hermione laughed as they watched his attempts fail at cooling himself down. After watching on for another moment or two Hermione finally felt bad for him and decided to help him out, she summoned a cold glass of milk and handed it to Charlie, giggling as she watched him chug the pink of milk within a few seconds. Once he had finished he had slammed the glass down of the counter and sighed in relief, his eyes and face both red from the tears and the spice of the powder.

"I think the twins have been a bad influence on you Hermione" Charlie grinned and guided her back to the seats while the twins feigned innocence.

"Us?" Fred gasped

"Bad influences?" George frowned

"Why we have never heard..."

"The likes of it!"

Charlie rolled his eyes before draping his arm casually behind Hermione as they took their places at the table again, not seeing the determined glint in Ginny's eyes he decided to choose his baby sister as his target. "You know the drill Gin"

Ginny rolled her eyes but played along, "Fine, I choose truth"

"And you were giving us a hard time about choosing truths" Charlie smirked but continued on before she could interrupt him, "Fine, my question is. Who is the person you most regret kissing?"

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, he was fighting fire with fire so if that was how he was going to play, she would fight back just as hard. "As much as I wouldn't want to answer that question on front of my brothers, I'd rather not take a punishment. So the person I most regret kissing would have to be Neville"

Harry almost choked on his drink, he raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Care to elaborate?"

"It was at the Yule Bull, you weren't giving me any attention and still only saw me as your best friend's little sister, I had a great time at the Ball with Neville but his kissing experience wasn't the greatest" Ginny shuddered at the memories. "Felt like a washing machine on a full cycle?"

"A washing what?" Ron frowned, he had never heard of a machine like that before

Ginny waved her hand dismissively, "Never mind, it's a saying that Hermione taught me" she clasped her hands on front her and grinned, her eyes never leaving Hermione and Charlie. "Sorry guys but my next target is Hermione"

"Again? I literally just went" Hermione sighed

"Now, now Hermione. You don't want to ruin the fun do you?"

"No"

"Good, now truth or dare?"

"Dare"

"Oh very bold move" Ginny's eyes sparkled with mischeif, revelling in the fact that Hermione could sense what was about to come. "I dare you to kiss your crush"

"W-what?" Hermione gulped, she was pretty sure her face was as red as a tomato by now

"You heard me, I want you to kiss your crush. It's simple" Ginny smiled sweetly

"It is not simple!"

"Oh but it really is. Or would you rather a punishment?"

Hermione frowned, she had forgotten about that part of the deal for playing this game, she glared at Ginny, she should have realised that this had been a set up for her to reveal her crush to Charlie, she just wished it wasn't on front of everyone though. Ginny could see the fear in Hermione's eyes and decided to give in just a little bit. "If you don't want everyone to see, we can all close our eyes, you take your crush by the hand and go to the linen closest for some privacy but no more than 2 minutes or we open our eyes!" She warned

"That sounds fair" Hermione agreed and watched as the curious group all closed their eyes. She took a deep breath and stood up from her chair before tapping Charlie on the shoulder. His eyes flickered open in shock and...was that delight she could see? He also rose from his own chair and followed her out to the closet, closing the door silently behind them and switching the light on so they could actually see each other.

"Something you'd like to tell me Mione?" Charlie smiled

"Don't call me Mione, you know I hate it" Hermione bit her lip, feeling the butterflies creeping into her stomach as she realised how close she was to him.

"Sorry, Mione" Charlie grinned, ensuring to emphasise her nickname for her and watched the blush spread across her cheeks, without thinking about it he raised his own hand to cup her cheek, gently caressing her soft cheek. "Do you really have a crush on me?"

"What do you think? Would I have tapped you on the shoulder to follow me in here for nothing?"

Charlie chuckled, "I suppose that's true. I'm just surprised as all"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Really? You haven't noticed that I've had a crush on you since the Quidditch World Cup all those years ago?"

"Oh no, I definitely noticed back then" Charlie grinned again, Hermione only noticing now that when he smiled two dimples appeared in both cheeks. "I thought it was cute how you always found something to ask, even if it was about school, Quidditch or my dragons"

Hermione chewed on her lip as she felt the heat spreading to her cheeks once again, and for all those years she had thought she had gotten away with her crush on Charlie, not realising that he had known all along. "It's fine that you don't feel the same. I mean I'm your brother and sister's best friend, you've known me since I was a little kid..."

She was cut off by a pair of lips enveloping her own, her eyes widened in surprise as Charlie moulded his lips to her, she wasn't sure if it was to shut her up or if he felt the same as her but either way she didn't mind and found that it felt much better than her dreams. Hermione melted into the kiss once she had gotten over the initial shock, she wrapped her arms around his neck and played with the short strands of hair just at the nape of his neck, in response Charlie let out a small growl and pulled her flush against him.

The pair were so engrossed in their kiss that neither of them realised that their two minutes of alone time were up until the closet door was yanked open and a loud shriek followed. They jumped apart and turned to find Ron staring at them both. "I feel like I'm about to be sick" He grunted before running back into the kitchen, swearing at Ginny for forcing him into opening the door.

Both Hermione and Charlie erupted into laughter, once they managed to calm themselves down they smiled at each other. Charlie was the first one to break the silence "I know Ginny can be a pain in the ass sometimes but she's one hell of a matchmaker" He held out his hand for her to take, a nervous look on his face as if he was worried that Hermione would reject him after the snog they just had

"I agree" Hermione smiled, gladly putting her small hand into his larger one, "Looks like you're stuck with me now Dragon Tamer"

Charlie chuckled and pressed a sweet kiss to her temple, "I wouldn't have it any other way Bookworm. Now let's rejoin the group, hear their thoughts and then continue on with the game"

The new couple, hand in hand, walked happily back into the kitchen just as the group were dispensing their bets to Ginny, unbeknown to both Charlie and Hermione, everyone had been betting on how long it would take them before pulling their heads out of their arse and getting together. But Hermione found she didn't mind, instead she was rather happy now that she could sit and rest her head on Charlie's shoulder as the game resumed. Life had a funny way of working sometimes, even with the intervention of her best friend and later on in life, sister-in-law.