Chapter Sixteen

Hermione

It didn't really make any sense to Hermione, but for some reason she wasn't exactly surprised to see that horrible woman climb out of Kingsley's tent. She was absolutely the sort of succubus to go after whatever power was available and not care who she hurt in the process. Just the short explanation she received from Charlie about how their relationship began and ended so abruptly described that perfectly. She was, however, shocked beyond measure that Kingsley would fall for such an act. He seemed better than that.

Her eyes met the Minister's. He was horrified. Was it guilt? Shame? Something entirely else that she didn't understand? He took one step towards her.

"Hermione, I can…"

Before he could finish his thought, Charlie interrupted him with a stern, cold tone Hermione had never heard before. She didn't like it or how angry Charlie clearly was. There were evidently still some feelings on his part for Anca. No doubt seeing someone he considered a friend with her had to have been very painful.

"You two go to the main building immediately. Don't you dare step outside until you've been told it's safe again."

Not daring to argue when he was in that state, Hermione nodded and took off running towards the secure building as she had been ordered. All around her the night air was filled with shouts and alarms and the frightening sounds of dragons roaring. Behind her she could feel Kingsley just a few steps behind.

A great deal of relief fell on her when she reached the safety of the administration building. The entire refuge was nothing but chaos. As she ran, everywhere she looked there was another worker emerging from their homes, some only half-awake, to run towards the danger. The Gryffindor in her hated being told to essentially hide behind security enchantments, but she was also relieved not to be expected to help. She wouldn't know what to do with a dragon if she came across one. Reading about them in books could only take her so far. She would be far more of a hindrance than a help.

There were others inside of the administration building already but none of them looked as nervous as she felt. Likely the families of some of the other keepers, it didn't look like it was their first dragon escape. Several of them placed blankets on the floor for their young children to lay down and go back to sleep. Unsure where to go, Hermione sat down on one of the steps of the large staircase that led to the upper floors. Kingsley sat down next to her only moments later.

"Hermione…"

Hearing his voice again reminded her of what she witnessed outside of the tents. No longer afraid of being trampled by a furious dragon, she could think about something less life-altering. What was he thinking letting that horrible woman touch him? It didn't make any sense. Only a short time earlier he had been inviting her inside his tent. Was Anca just a convenient substitute? She might have been far angrier and disappointed in him if she hadn't also been inside of Charlie's tent. Did she have any right to be upset when she was essentially doing the very same thing?

Turning towards him to look at his face, she caught a glimpse of a shade of lipstick she would never wear smeared on the side of his neck. She could feel her heart start to pound and her blood pressure rise. Unsure what she should say, she instead conjured up a clean handkerchief with a non-verbal spell to push it into his hand as she pointed at the spot. He was embarrassed, but did as she suggested.

"I can explain."

"There's no need to. You're a grown man. What happens inside of your tent is none of my business."

Even as she said the words out loud she still felt betrayed. It wasn't a rational thought, she knew. Why should she feel like he had done something wrong to her? She was in Charlie's arms when the alarms went off. How could she be upset with what Kingsley did? He sighed as he dropped his eyes to meet the floor.

"I thought she was you."

His statement was so preposterous she nearly laughed out loud. Surprised, she turned to look at him again. Instantly, she knew he was telling the truth. There was evident shame on his face and she had never seen him so bothered. Some of the frustration and anger she felt towards him began to soften. Maybe there was an explanation that made sense.

"We look nothing alike."

She didn't mean to sound petulant, but Hermione knew she did. Two women couldn't possibly be more different except for their apparent taste in men. How could anyone think that that wretched bitch was her?

"In the dark when I'm mostly asleep you do."

Kingsley sighed again.

"I woke up being kissed by a woman in the dark. Of course I thought it was you. I wanted it to be you. When I realized it wasn't you, I tried to push her away, but she was determined."

"I imagine she was."

"Hermione, I did nothing to encourage her. I said nothing to her to make her think I wanted her in my bed."

It would be easy for a scorned woman to refuse to believe his explanation, but Hermione knew he was telling the truth. She could see it written all over his face and despite everything, she knew she would continue to trust the wizard with her life just as she had that night they battled Death Eaters on the back of the same thestral. Anca was the sort of woman to push in where she wasn't wanted or invited just because she saw an opportunity.

How could one person be so horrible? Hermione couldn't help but be a little annoyed that Charlie ever fell for her charms. He was an intelligent man with seemingly good instincts and insights about people. It was a skill necessary when dealing with wild animals that could kill at any moment. How could he think he was in love with someone like that? It was no wonder he'd closed himself off so thoroughly from everyone else. Of course it would feel like he didn't have it in him to fall in love again. She understood that, even felt that way herself before. Sometimes it was far easier to be alone than it was to be fearful of being hurt by another.

"I believe you, Kingsley."

The slight drop of his shoulders showed his great relief as he exhaled. It would be easy to ignore what she was feeling, but she knew it was time to finally end it with Kingsley. He deserved far more than she could offer him. As much as she cared about him, she knew they would not have a happy future together.

"I think we should go back to being just friends again."

All of the relief that had been present on his face moments earlier was gone. He was evidently upset. She hated every moment of it. If there was some way they could get through the necessary conversation without either of them getting hurt, she would be willing to do anything. She didn't want to hurt him or harm their friendship in any way, but she knew it was wrong to keep going like they had been. It would only be harder if she waited.

"Is it because of what happened?"

She shook her head.

"No, not at all. I've been thinking about this for a little while now."

"Why? We're great together."

It took all of her self-control to bite back the frustrated sigh that was caught in her throat. He wasn't going to make it easy for her, was it? No, of course not. A bloody Gryffindor through and through, he was not one to give up without a fight.

"Yes, we are right now, but that won't last. We want different things."

"Like what? We're both ambitious workaholics."

That time she didn't bother to stop her sigh. She was going to have to be blunt.

"A family. I can't give you that."

"I don't need that."

"But you want it and that's not something that just goes away. I've come to terms with the fact that I won't ever be a mother and I actually don't want to be one any longer. You might be happy in the beginning, but eventually, you're going to come to resent me from keeping you from having what you want. I couldn't bear for you to resent me and start to hate me."

His shoulders sagged. Somehow she knew he wasn't going to argue. There was no need. They both knew she was right. She could have left it at that, but the evening's events showed her there was another reason she knew they would never be able to last in the long-term.

"Besides, there will always be more Ancas out there."

He looked confused by her statement. It was embarrassing for her to admit her true feelings, but she felt like he deserved to know what she was thinking. While they had been seated at the same table for dinner, she had a number of insecure thoughts rushing through her mind. Maybe they were irrational.

"There will always be beautiful women willing to throw themselves at the handsome Minister for Magic. A plain, boring witch like me? I could never compete."

His eyes narrowed at the insult she gave herself. She knew he was going to try to tell her that she was wrong. As much as she might have appreciated the compliment, she was a rational person who could look at potential complications logically. The world at large wasn't nearly as kind as Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"You are not plain nor could anyone ever call you boring."

Perhaps they could agree on the boring part. There had been enough excitement in her life that one could make the argument she wasn't boring. The rest of it, however, was something that she had come to terms with years earlier. An awkward teenager, she was fortunate enough to grow out of most of that phase as a young adult. Many other women were far more attractive than she was, but she knew she wasn't hideous. As she grew even older and no longer felt like she could call herself young, she was not ugly. She just was rather unremarkable, someone that few would turn to look at a second time.

She smiled at Kingsley's attempt to change her mind, but didn't argue out loud even if she wanted to. It was frustrating to know that any future with the man would inevitably lead to more women like Anca wondering what made Hermione special enough to be with a man like him. The list of reasons why they should end their relationship before they both got hurt just got longer.

Charlie

Chasing a dragon loose in the middle of the sanctuary was a job for a young man. Only minutes into running around the place he once called home looking for a sign of the escapee reminded Charlie that he was sorely out of practice. All of those many months sitting behind a desk at the Ministry of Magic stripped him of the necessary energy and stamina he needed to move swiftly in the dark on the edge of constant danger and potential death.

It was invigorating. Though he might have been feeling his age, he knew he was right where he was supposed to be. Exhausted and sure to feel every ache in his muscles the next morning, he happily ran through the reserve with his former coworkers to wrangle the rogue dragon back into its enclosure. His heart continued to race even after the last of the security charms were placed on the dragon's home and the alarms were switched off. Adrenaline still pumped through every cell of his body. It also wasn't a job for the faint of heart.

He enjoyed the thrill of chasing after the loose dragon and working together with others to bring it back under control. His life and their lives were quite literally in each other's hands. It almost felt like he had never left Romania.

Except that he couldn't shake the fact he no longer belonged. He was not the same wizard who hastily packed over twenty-five years worth of belongings into a charmed pillowcase to rush back home with his tail between his legs. When he left like a thief in the night, it was permanent. He just didn't realize it at the time. Romania would always inhabit a large part of his heart, but he knew that it was time that he finally moved on. There were other adventures out there waiting for him.

As he watched the reserve's team of dragon keepers coat the entire area with the enchantments to keep their charge safe and contained, Charlie didn't feel like he was part of that team any longer. Feeling both nostalgic and a little melancholy, he volunteered to be the one to inform those waiting inside the administration building that it was safe to leave.

Once he stepped inside the front door, he raised his voice enough to make the announcement. All of the families of the dragon keepers were used to the routine. Thankfully, a dragon only got loose every few months or so, but there were drills and procedures to follow to ensure that everyone was safe. A dragon keeper couldn't possibly do their job adequately if they were fearful that their children weren't safe. The ones who had been through the same before just quietly stood up and gathered their sleeping children to file out of the building.

Seeing Hermione and Kingsley seated on the stairs reminded him of the uncomfortable moments they shared when the alarms first sounded. There seemed to be evident tension between the two. Remembering seeing Anca outside of Kingsley's tent made him angry all over again. To his surprise, his anger wasn't directed at his ex, but at the Minister. How dare he do that when he had Hermione? It made him furious on her behalf. She deserved more than that.

"Oh, Charlie, I'm so glad you're back."

Hermione stood up quickly from the stairs when he approached them. Though he could tell immediately that she was upset, she was also relieved to see him. That knowledge helped to quell the tiniest bit of fury raging in his guts. He was about to say something that might have forced Kingsley to rescind any offer he had for a new job. The slight touch of his forearm brought him back to reality. He hissed at the pain.

"You're hurt."

He hadn't even noticed the small burn on his arm when he was out in the thick of it. A couple of times the furious Romanian Longhorn shot a fireball in his direction that narrowly missed him. Or at least he thought they missed him. Seeing the familiar wound he'd had countless times before, he just laughed. It wasn't the first time and he knew it wouldn't be the last burn he suffered either.

"It's safe to return to our tents."

Just as he repeated himself that the danger had passed, the front door opened. Charlie saw his former boss Mihai step inside looking exhausted and annoyed. No doubt he didn't appreciate the fact that they had one of their very rare security breaches when they were also hosting very important guests. Mihai was a good man that he respected, but he also had a problem with his ego at times.

"You two should go on ahead. I need to have a word with the director."

Kingsley stepped away from them to approach their host without offering any further explanation. The two men spoke in whispers with Mihai then leading him towards the direction of his private office. Whatever was so important that they needed to discuss it alone wasn't something Charlie was going to be able to eavesdrop on.

"It's been a long day. I'm sure you're exhausted."

Hermione nodded and went straight for the exit. Back outside in the cool night air, there was a relative peace over the refuge that just a few short minutes earlier had not existed. It still managed to impress him how quickly the workers were able to get a crisis under control. One had to be ready for anything if they chose that sort of job. Just a couple of steps away from the building, Hermione seemed to release some of the tension she'd been holding onto with a heavy exhale.

"I might be tired, but I think you have more of a reason. Is everything all right? Should we worry that it will happen again?"

"Absolutely not. At least not tonight."

He didn't have the heart to tell her that a dragon escape wasn't as rare of an event as it should have been. There was a reason why so few people ever wanted to come visit a dragon sanctuary. It was a dangerous place even when staffed with the most capable of dragon keepers. Part of him felt embarrassed that there were problems with the containment of their charges at all. He had several ideas of how the enclosures and their security enchantments could be improved if he was asked about the new reserve. Some of the issues were simply because in both the Romanian reserve and the one in Sweden, they were just operating as it had always been before. Few directors ever were interested in change. He thought Mihai would have been different, but there was a great deal about the man he considered his friend that he was wrong about.

"Why did Kingsley need to speak to Mihai?"

"I'm not sure exactly why he is, but I assume, the honorable man that he is, that he is informing the director of how his horrible wife snuck into his tent and accosted him in his sleep."

There was a great deal of anger behind Hermione's words. Who was it directed at? She had every right to be furious with Kingsley, but somehow he got the impression that most of her anger was saved for Anca. Not that he could blame her, of course. He understood how easy it was to hate the woman. Unfortunately, he also knew how easy it was to love her too.

"She wasn't in his tent at his invitation?"

Hermione turned to look at him with fury in her eyes. That had been the wrong question apparently.

"Of course she wasn't. She snuck in when he was asleep. Likely she was watching our tents to see if he would be alone. She probably even saw me go into yours."

There was a flash of shame that she couldn't hide. It all made sense. If Anca saw her slip into his tent, it wasn't unlike her to think that she would have a chance to seduce the influential Minister for Magic. Charlie always suspected that she would leave her husband at the first opportunity for someone with more money or power. At the time when he was wrapped up in her spell, he couldn't see the truth. Now, it was so obvious it made him sick to his stomach. Just as Mihai wasn't the man he thought he was, neither was his wife.

"Kingsley explained that he was half-asleep and thought he was kissing me."

"You two don't kiss anything alike."

Her cheeks flushed at his statement. Why was she embarrassed? It was the truth. Never, not even in his most drunken state, would he ever confuse one of her kisses for one of Anca's. There was nothing similar about the two. Hermione was far more passionate. When he compared his interactions with Hermione to the ones he had with Anca in the height of his obsession, he could safely say that Anca always felt more like she was just going through the motions. He tried not to hold that against her in the moment. Some women, some men for that matter, just weren't by their nature very passionate. That didn't mean there was something wrong with them or that their feelings didn't matter.

"He wouldn't have known that. I've never actually kissed Kingsley before."

That was a surprise Charlie didn't expect to hear. While he was confident that she had yet to go to bed with the wizard, he assumed that they had at least shared a heated kiss at the end of one of their dates. Was it his fault that she never chose to take the next step? He didn't want to think that their inappropriate arrangement was the reason she wasn't experiencing true happiness.

"I had no idea."

"He invited me to join him in his tent after dinner tonight. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a tempting offer, but I knew it would be a bad idea. I'd already planned to end it with him and that would have made it all more complicated."

"Did you end it with him?"

It had been impossible not to notice how the two of them could barely look at each other when he arrived to tell them they were safe again. Though he might not have been the sort of wizard to break the hearts of witches left and right, he had had enough experience in the uncomfortable act of ending a relationship to recognize the signs.

"Yes. It's over."

"Does he think it's because of Anca?"

"No, absolutely not. I told him I believed him when he said it was all a misunderstanding. One meal with her and then what you told me about her was all I needed to know to know what sort of person she was. I told him the truth. All of it."

"All of it?"

Seeing what must have appeared to be panic on his face, Hermione actually laughed.

"Well, no, not all of it. He doesn't know about us. I told him about how we want different futures and I didn't want him to come to regret choosing me."

He was glad to know that she hadn't felt the need to completely unburden her conscience. As much as he respected Kingsley, he never wanted the other man to feel like he had been trying to sabotage his potential relationship with Hermione. If the roles were reversed, he knew he would feel disrespected by someone he considered a friend. Maybe there was more to his conscience than he really wanted to consider. Since that first night he was alone with Hermione in the attic, he convinced himself he had been doing nothing wrong. Evidently that wasn't true if he felt a twinge of guilt for how he had conducted himself in the previous months.

"He might not have come to regret it."

She shrugged her shoulders, but didn't argue with him. Maybe she didn't expect him to ever fully understand her choice. Part of him struggled to see why she hadn't rushed into a serious relationship with the Minister and forgot he existed. There was sadness on her face. Knowing that she wasn't happy made him upset in turn. She deserved to be happy. Why was the Universe continuing to be so cruel to her?

"Goodnight, Charlie."

Back at their tents she tried to offer him another smile that didn't fully reach up to her eyes before ducking inside hers. It was tempting to follow her inside whether she invited him or not, but he got the impression that she needed some time alone. Feeling the burn on his arm again, he knew that he needed to get the wound cleaned and bandaged before he only made it worse. Dragon burns were vicious and could easily get infected if not properly tended to.

When he was back in his bed later, he was frustrated to discover that he wasn't able to sleep. Exhausted from both a long day and the excitement of chasing after the loose dragon, he expected he would be in a deep sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Instead, he couldn't get the thoughts swirling around in his mind to shut off. So much had happened in a single day he wasn't even sure where to start analyzing and overthinking.

Unsure how long he tossed and turned, he finally decided to give up even trying to sleep in his own tent. Maybe he wasn't the only one who was still awake. Careful not to be seen sneaking into Hermione's tent, he was very quiet when he pulled open her tent flap. It was madness to go to her, but he couldn't help himself.

Even in the dim light he could see the redness of her cheeks where she had been crying. He felt his stomach twist in knots. If there was anything he could do to keep her from being upset like that again, he would do it.

His initial plan to see if she was up to finishing what they attempted to start before the alarms went off no longer seemed appropriate. That wasn't what she needed at that moment nor was it what he needed. Choosing to break one of their rules, he lifted up the blankets to get into the bed behind her. Being extra careful not to jar her awake, he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. Moments later he was asleep.