Memories
There were times when he really hated his line of work. Dragons were magnificent creatures that had intrigued him from the moment he had set eyes on one for the first time, but even with their beauty Charlie knew that it was not wise to play fast and loose with a dragon. In one moment the creature you are admiring can go from a docile beauty to a vicious beast that is set on devouring you one limb at a time.
He looked down at the sling on his arm in disgust. He had received many an injury since he began his career, but this was just ridiculous. His mind was not where it should have been. In this case, it was not in helping his fellow keepers restrain a particularly ornery old Hungarian Horntail that was well past it's prime. He had only turned his back for a split second when Miklos had swung his tail around, nailing Charlie in the shoulder.
The healers on the reserve did their best to stabilize him before he was moved to a hospital in Oradea. Even though the healers did the best they could his shoulder was still, as some of his fellow keepers put it, mangled. The bones had been partially healed but the deep tissue damage would take some time. An injured keeper wouldn't do much at the reserve, so they sent him home. Charlie had insisted that he could do paper work and other various odd jobs, but his boss wouldn't hear of it. He had at least three months of vacation time built up, plus all of the sick days. Angelo was set on Charlie using those days, and an injury was the perfect excuse.
For the last three weeks he had been moping around The Burrow. Life had been boring beyond what Charlie thought was possible. George had been avoiding coming home since the battle at Hogwarts, preferring to occupy his time with the thriving Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Charlie knew George had taken the loss of Fred the hardest. For as long as Charlie could remember the twins had been inseparable, having that special connection that twins always seemed to have no matter how different they were from one another. He missed their antics, especially more now that he knew that he would never have another Weasley Twins prank pulled on him.
Ron had been busy with Harry in Auror training, so those two weren't seen very much. For the past three Sundays he had been home the two younger boys had come for dinner, talking about all of the excitement of the job and the new Ministry. It made Charlie long for more excitement than sitting around the house all day and helping Molly with what few household chores he could manage with only one arm available.
The one person he longed to see caused butterflies. Charlie snorted. The idea that a little bushy haired girl would cause butterflies to flutter in the stomach of a fully grown man that dealt with dragons on a daily basis was amusing to him. He had known Hermione Granger for years. For years he thought of her as nothing more than his little brother's friend, then he knew her as his little brother's crush, followed by girlfriend, then ex-girlfriend after Ron told her of his plans to marry her and basically make her another Weasley baby machine. That amused Charlie to no end. He thought that Ron would be the first person to realize that Hermione Granger would not resign herself to stay at home and raise children as fast as she could give birth to them. She wasn't the type.
Ron would murder him if he knew the thoughts he had about the girl. No. Woman. She had grown into a smart and capable woman.
Ron would murder him if he knew what he had done with her.
Everything had changed the previous December. He had come home for Christmas and the New Year, to celebrate with his family. As honorary Weasleys, Hermione and Harry had joined them for the celebration. Charlie was glad that the two had come. Molly was still mourning the loss of Fred and the presence of her two 'adopted' children did a lot for her.
His thoughts on Hermione had changed on Christmas night. All day they had flirted back and forth, much to the amusement of the rest of the Weasley family and Harry. Soon the eggnog and elderflower wine came out, and life became a little more interesting.
Hermione sat next to Charlie on the sofa, leaning heavily against him. "You know, Charlie. I've always liked you," she slurred.
He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
She nodded. "Yep!" she said, popping the 'p'. "Ever since the World Cup, seeing you roughed up in that torn shirt..." she drifted off. "The timing and situation were awful, but you looked so sexy."
Charlie laughed. "I don't feel so bad for checking out your bum then," he confessed. "The wizarding world needs more girls willing to wear muggle clothes."
"Ha!" she suddenly yelled. "I told Ginny you were checking me out!"
Things only escalated from there. Molly had gone over the top decorating that year, putting mistletoe everywhere. At first he thought that the family would kill him if he followed tradition when he and Hermione ended up under a sprig of the festive plant but was pleasantly surprised when they wouldn't let him get out of it. Instead of a simple kiss on the cheek as he expected Hermione smashed her lips on his. By the time he realized what had happened she had pulled away and was walking into the kitchen. From that moment on he made it a point to get her under the sprigs placed in random nooks and crannies around the house.
"Charlie Weasley, I am beginning to think that you may have an ulterior motive," she whispered after a fairly heated kiss.
"You might be right, Miss Granger," he replied, lightly kissing her for emphasis.
The hour had grown late. They were the only two left out of bed, still talking and enjoying each other's company. After he had found a station on his father's wireless that played Muggle Christmas songs, they had danced and -
"Charlie!"
He was roughly pulled from his thoughts by his mother's voice outside of his bedroom door.
"Coming, mum," he called back after clearing his throat. Before he could stand from the chair next to the window, the door burst open. "Impatient woman," he teased.
Molly began tidying up the room. "Oh, nonsense. You are injured and need to rest."
"Did you come to clean?" he asked with a laugh.
She smiled at him. "You have a visitor and this room isn't in any condition to be seen, even though it's just Hermione." Molly straightened the bed one last time (even though it was fine to start with) and wiped imaginary dust off of her hands. "There!" She walked over to Charlie and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll send her up."
Charlie's mind had already begun to drift at the thought of seeing Hermione again in this room, especially after what happened the last time they were in there together.
The door to his bedroom crashed open, the occupants drunkenly stumbling inside yet not letting go of one another. With the door shut and locked clothes began to fly, lips trailed over naked skin, years of pent up lust and emotion erupting, fueling their need. Suddenly she was on his bed, he was on top of her, inside of her, surrounding her.
"Mum will kill us if she finds out you are in here," he panted.
"Let her."
"Daydreaming again?"
Charlie looked up to see the object of his affections standing in the doorway. He nodded. "It seems I have been doing more of that as of late," he replied.
Hermione walked in and sat on the bed. "How is your arm?"
"Mangled, still having issues with bleeding, with a touch of mind numbing pain when it rains." Charlie sighed heavily at the thought of his shoulder, going back into brood mode. "I can't believe I was so stupid," he grumbled.
She stood and walked over to him, putting a hand on his good arm. "You weren't stupid. Mistakes happen to even the best!" Her words were meant to reassure him, however it seemed to have the opposite effect.
Charlie pulled Hermione to his chest. "I was an idiot, and now I am paying for it."
She tucked her head under his chin. Even though he was the shortest of the Weasley males, he was still a head taller than her. "You never told me exactly what happened."
"My mind wasn't in the compound like it should have been," he said.
"Where was it?"
"Here in this room, replaying the events of Christmas and Boxing Day."
Hermione smiled. "I revisit those two days a lot too."
"So it wasn't just a one time thing?"
"Do you want it to be?"
He let go of her and ran his good hand through his shortly cropped hair. "So you are telling me that we have been owling for months getting to know each other's minds instead of only bodies, and you think I only wanted it to be a one time thing?"
Hermione snuggled deeper into his chest, easing his nerves. "What are we going to do now?"
"I know what I want. What matters is what you want."
His heart beat faster every moment that she was silent. He was sure if she didn't say something soon it was going to beat right out of his chest.
"We can spend time together until you go back to the reserve, continue to owl. Oh! We will see each other on holidays. There is one thing that we both need to do though."
He pulled back and looked down at her. "And that is?"
She smiled. "Invest in a Pensieve."
He looked down at her, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Want to make some memories to put in it?"
Leave a review!
|