Dragon Tears - 7/7 - Teen - Charlie/Hermione
Title: Dragon Tears (7/7)
Author: silvernatasha
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Sometimes, something bad can start something good. Charlie/Hermione.
Word Count: 1017.
Hermione’s finger traced cautiously down his lifeline. “I think,” she said softly, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, “this means that you’re going to have a long and happy life.”
Charlie grinned and tugged on an errant curl. “You don’t believe in divination any more than I do.”
She kissed his cheek. “I know. But this is… it’s… how does it feel?”
Flexing his fingers experimentally, Charlie shrugged. “Kind of strange. I mean it’s been six months since the explosion and…” He curled his fingers into a fist. “I have a hand!”
“I know.” Hermione pulled his new hand up to her face, kissing the palm. “It feels real. I had no idea St Mungos’ could do this sort of thing.”
Charlie rested his hand on her cheek, marvelling at the feel of her skin. “Me neither. They’ve been working on it since the war. I’m something of a test subject.” He had touched her skin before, but this was different. “I still can’t believe it’s not real.” There were even freckles on the back of the hand. “It’s a bit tiring, though,” he added with a slight frown.
“The Healers said it would be,” Hermione agreed softly, resting her head on his shoulder and holding up his hand so that she could look at it. “You just have to practise. Have to get used to it.”
He nodded. “Don’t think I’ll be playing the piano anytime soon, though.”
“You don’t play the piano,” Hermione pointed out with a smile as the car came to a halt. “We’re here,” she said softly, her tone changing to one of caution.
Charlie licked his lips. “Yeah.”
“We can go back.”
“We’ve come this far. I think I need to say goodbye to this place,” Charlie told her resolutely, opening the door. He clambered out, Hermione quickly following him.
There was a new tent standing where the old one had been. It looked strange, so obviously new when they were both used to seeing a battered, weather-worn tent. “It looks nice,” Charlie said, his voice slightly strained.
Hermione nodded. “Did you want to go in?”
Before Charlie could answer, though, someone emerged from the tent, calling, “I’ll be right back!” over their shoulder. Jess topped when she saw the visitors. “Charlie! Hermione!” She gave a squeal of joy, launching herself at them and pulling them both into a three-way hug. “It’s been too long,” she told them earnestly.
“Yeah, it has,” Charlie agreed, ruffling her hair as she turned back to the tent.
“Mark! Addie! Get out here now. We have visitors.” She sighed, looking at Charlie and Hermione. “I wish you were both coming back here permanently.”
Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Apparently, I’m a bit of a health and safety risk.”
“And I… I’m staying with Charlie.”
Jess gave them a knowing smile, nodding. “We thought it would be something like that.” She gave Hermione another hug, murmuring, “Don’t let go of him now you’ve got him.” Hermione blushed.
When Mark and Addie finally emerged from the tent, there was another reunion with hugs and laughter and much teasing at Charlie and Hermione’s expense. “Come on, you’ve got to come in and have a drink or something,” Addie said firmly.
Hesitating for a moment, Charlie said, “Actually, can we postpone that for an hour? I wanted to go and check on Misty.”
“Of course,” Mark said with a knowing smile. “I expect you’ll want to see Chaz, too.”
“Chaz?” Hermione asked curiously. When they had last been at the reserve, there hadn’t been a dragon called Chaz.
“Only one of Misty’s eggs hatched in the end.” Addie flashed them a devilish grin. “We were going to call it Charlie, but it didn’t seem dragon-y enough.”
Charlie tried to scowl but ended up laughing. “Is she in her usual spot?”
“No. She moved a couple of miles to the west after Chaz hatched. She’s easy enough to spot, though.”
They had to use brooms to get to Misty’s new nesting spot. Hermione wasn’t particularly keen on brooms although, after you’d ridden a Hippogriff bareback, a broom was nothing in comparison.
Charlie let out a whoop of joy as he spotted his favourite dragon from the air, a smaller dragon, about four months old, just behind her. Hermione grinned at his reaction, following him as he went down to land at a safe distance. Mothers of newborns were just as protective as those guarding their eggs, which meant that Misty was just as fierce as the last time Charlie had seen her.
In silence, they watched the dragons amble about, Hermione wordlessly taking Charlie’s hand as he observed the dragon he had watched over since she had hatched.
“This is it,” Charlie said finally. “I can say goodbye to this place now.”
Hermione understood why he wanted to come here now. To say goodbye and finally get some closure on the place that had consumed so much of his time since he had left school. “Looks like Misty makes a good mother,” Hermione remarked quietly as the dragon scratched at her son’s back, helping him to shed his first set of scales.
“Mmm.” Charlie turned to look at Hermione, holding both her hands. “Coming to see Misty wasn’t my only motivation for coming here.” He looked a little sheepish as he admitted this.
“You didn’t?”
Charlie shook his head. “This place means a lot to both of us and I was thinking that… well, now that I’ve got my new hand…” He squeezed Hermione’s fingers, trailing off. “Now that I’ve got my hand I could ask for yours.”
Hermione stared at him. She was fairly certain that she knew what he was saying, but didn’t want to say anything in case she was wrong.
“I know that we haven’t really been together all that long, but I know that this is right.” Still holding her hands, Charlie sank down onto his knee. “Hermione Granger.” His voice was as choked up as Hermione felt. “Will you marry me?”
There was only one answer to a question like that. “Yes.”
One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven
Author: silvernatasha
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Sometimes, something bad can start something good. Charlie/Hermione.
Word Count: 1017.
Hermione’s finger traced cautiously down his lifeline. “I think,” she said softly, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, “this means that you’re going to have a long and happy life.”
Charlie grinned and tugged on an errant curl. “You don’t believe in divination any more than I do.”
She kissed his cheek. “I know. But this is… it’s… how does it feel?”
Flexing his fingers experimentally, Charlie shrugged. “Kind of strange. I mean it’s been six months since the explosion and…” He curled his fingers into a fist. “I have a hand!”
“I know.” Hermione pulled his new hand up to her face, kissing the palm. “It feels real. I had no idea St Mungos’ could do this sort of thing.”
Charlie rested his hand on her cheek, marvelling at the feel of her skin. “Me neither. They’ve been working on it since the war. I’m something of a test subject.” He had touched her skin before, but this was different. “I still can’t believe it’s not real.” There were even freckles on the back of the hand. “It’s a bit tiring, though,” he added with a slight frown.
“The Healers said it would be,” Hermione agreed softly, resting her head on his shoulder and holding up his hand so that she could look at it. “You just have to practise. Have to get used to it.”
He nodded. “Don’t think I’ll be playing the piano anytime soon, though.”
“You don’t play the piano,” Hermione pointed out with a smile as the car came to a halt. “We’re here,” she said softly, her tone changing to one of caution.
Charlie licked his lips. “Yeah.”
“We can go back.”
“We’ve come this far. I think I need to say goodbye to this place,” Charlie told her resolutely, opening the door. He clambered out, Hermione quickly following him.
There was a new tent standing where the old one had been. It looked strange, so obviously new when they were both used to seeing a battered, weather-worn tent. “It looks nice,” Charlie said, his voice slightly strained.
Hermione nodded. “Did you want to go in?”
Before Charlie could answer, though, someone emerged from the tent, calling, “I’ll be right back!” over their shoulder. Jess topped when she saw the visitors. “Charlie! Hermione!” She gave a squeal of joy, launching herself at them and pulling them both into a three-way hug. “It’s been too long,” she told them earnestly.
“Yeah, it has,” Charlie agreed, ruffling her hair as she turned back to the tent.
“Mark! Addie! Get out here now. We have visitors.” She sighed, looking at Charlie and Hermione. “I wish you were both coming back here permanently.”
Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Apparently, I’m a bit of a health and safety risk.”
“And I… I’m staying with Charlie.”
Jess gave them a knowing smile, nodding. “We thought it would be something like that.” She gave Hermione another hug, murmuring, “Don’t let go of him now you’ve got him.” Hermione blushed.
When Mark and Addie finally emerged from the tent, there was another reunion with hugs and laughter and much teasing at Charlie and Hermione’s expense. “Come on, you’ve got to come in and have a drink or something,” Addie said firmly.
Hesitating for a moment, Charlie said, “Actually, can we postpone that for an hour? I wanted to go and check on Misty.”
“Of course,” Mark said with a knowing smile. “I expect you’ll want to see Chaz, too.”
“Chaz?” Hermione asked curiously. When they had last been at the reserve, there hadn’t been a dragon called Chaz.
“Only one of Misty’s eggs hatched in the end.” Addie flashed them a devilish grin. “We were going to call it Charlie, but it didn’t seem dragon-y enough.”
Charlie tried to scowl but ended up laughing. “Is she in her usual spot?”
“No. She moved a couple of miles to the west after Chaz hatched. She’s easy enough to spot, though.”
They had to use brooms to get to Misty’s new nesting spot. Hermione wasn’t particularly keen on brooms although, after you’d ridden a Hippogriff bareback, a broom was nothing in comparison.
Charlie let out a whoop of joy as he spotted his favourite dragon from the air, a smaller dragon, about four months old, just behind her. Hermione grinned at his reaction, following him as he went down to land at a safe distance. Mothers of newborns were just as protective as those guarding their eggs, which meant that Misty was just as fierce as the last time Charlie had seen her.
In silence, they watched the dragons amble about, Hermione wordlessly taking Charlie’s hand as he observed the dragon he had watched over since she had hatched.
“This is it,” Charlie said finally. “I can say goodbye to this place now.”
Hermione understood why he wanted to come here now. To say goodbye and finally get some closure on the place that had consumed so much of his time since he had left school. “Looks like Misty makes a good mother,” Hermione remarked quietly as the dragon scratched at her son’s back, helping him to shed his first set of scales.
“Mmm.” Charlie turned to look at Hermione, holding both her hands. “Coming to see Misty wasn’t my only motivation for coming here.” He looked a little sheepish as he admitted this.
“You didn’t?”
Charlie shook his head. “This place means a lot to both of us and I was thinking that… well, now that I’ve got my new hand…” He squeezed Hermione’s fingers, trailing off. “Now that I’ve got my hand I could ask for yours.”
Hermione stared at him. She was fairly certain that she knew what he was saying, but didn’t want to say anything in case she was wrong.
“I know that we haven’t really been together all that long, but I know that this is right.” Still holding her hands, Charlie sank down onto his knee. “Hermione Granger.” His voice was as choked up as Hermione felt. “Will you marry me?”
There was only one answer to a question like that. “Yes.”
One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven