Just one dance. [Fanfiction - Hermione Granger and Charlie Weasley]

Chapter 6 ~ Today there are no excuses.

It had been three weeks since Ginny and Harry's wedding.
George hadn't spoken to her about Charlie and Hermione had just gone about her daily life as usual. It was actually as if nothing had ever happened. As if the evening with Charlie had never happened.
At least it was Like that, as long as she didn't think about him, because then her stomach always started to tingle. The longer she thought about him, the worse the feeling became, and at some point the tingling turned into a stinging sensation and she felt really sick.
She thought it would somehow get better with time. She could feel the evening fading more and more from her memory. Hermione tried to convince herself that it would get better, but if she was honest with herself, she was just as confused as she had been the morning after the wedding.

George, on the other hand, had already met up with Angelina twice in the meantime and came back from the date grinning broadly both times. At least things were going well with them, Hermione thought to herself. She was really pleased to see George so happy. She had never seen him in such a good mood since she had moved in with him.

Hermione was making her breakfast while she was thinking.
When she finally sat at the table with a warm cup of tea in her hand and made herself some toast, George came into the kitchen yawning. He mumbled a barely intelligible "Good morning," to himself, then snatched the finished toast from her hand just as she was about to take the first bite and bit into it himself with satisfaction instead.
Meanwhile, he skillfully ignored Hermione's indignant "Hey!". Wordlessly, he went into the kitchen, poured himself a cup of tea from the kettle Hermione had prepared and sat down next to her.
He took another bite of the toast, then waved it in front of Hermione's annoyed face and managed to utter a small "Mthamks" as he chewed with his mouth full.

It was still too early for Hermione to argue, so she simply shook her head in resignation and made herself another sandwich.
The two of them enjoyed their breakfast in silence.
It always took a while for them to wake up properly, but as they were both morning grouches, that was no problem at all.

The two of them enjoyed the pleasant silence while they ate until they were startled by a loud bang.
Hermione flinched violently and, out of the corner of her eye, she could see that George was no different.
"It's nothing short of a miracle that that owl is still alive, but why is Mom still sending letters with it? Errol really deserves an owl pension..." Annoyed, George opened the window, carefully took the unconscious owl in his hand and placed it on the chest of the drawer next to him. He closed the window again before skeptically examining the animal in front of him.
"Do you think he'll come round?" Hermione asked worriedly as she stood next to him.
"If he's made it this far, then he'll survive... I think."
George took his wand from the table and poked it gently. He looked a little relieved when the bird started to move again and gave a slight tug.
With a smug "Told you he was tough as old chewing gum..." he looked triumphantly at Hermione.

"For sure... When you're done adulating yourself, see if he's hurt and what your mother wrote."
While Hermione fetched a bowl of water and some owl cookies from the kitchen, George examined the bird quite reluctantly. "Adlating myself? What's that supposed to mean? Is that another one of those weird Muggle phrases I don't know?"

"It's called adulating not adlating. And yes, it's a Muggle phrase,, that's what you say when someone is full of self-praise. Like you, actually, whenever you open your mouth."
When Errol saw the owl cookies in Hermione's hand, he shuddered and tried to tear himself away from George.

"It's not my fault that I'm so incredibly great. OUCH! That stupid owl!"
Errol had bitten George's finger, who was now indignantly examining the bloody wound. George had let go of the owl out of fright and it had suffered to Hermione as if nothing had ever happened to it before it started nibbling on the owl cookies.