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

Chapter 7 ~ It's just a simple teatime.

"Hey Hermione, hey George."

It was just a simple greeting, but the sound of those words was enough to make Hermione's heart stumble and then beating twice as fast.
Hermione was on the verge of simply disapparating again when she was snapped out of her stupor by George. She must have almost crushed George's hand in shock, because when Hermione finally let go of it, he shook it with relief and Hermione could see that it was also clearly reddened.
She mumbled a small "Sorry" in George's direction and then tried to behave as normally as possible, but that only worked moderately well.

In the moment she dared to look in Charlie's direction, her heart began to beat up to her neck. She had almost forgotten to breathe at the sight of him, he looked even more beautiful than she remembered and that perfect smile.
Hermione didn't understand how she had never seen it all those years before, how could it be so different now? She would never have believed that anyone could ever have such an effect on her.

It took all her strength not to fall back into a motionless stare. But a simple, "Hey Charlie," was all Hermione could manage at that moment. She was so uncomfortable, she was so caught off guard and she couldn't fight the reaction her body had to him.
At the moment, she just stood in front of him and didn't know what to do. Should she shake his hand? Should she give him a hug? Or should she just leave it and do nothing?
In the end, she actually just looked at him awkwardly, because she absolutely don't want to do the wrong thing and because her body was still resisting any movement. Instead, she tried to smile at him as honestly and naturally as she could.

She had felt like she had been standing there for minutes, but when George greeted his brother with a "Hey Charlie", she realized that probably only a few seconds had passed since they had arrived at the burrow. George swatted at his counterpart, gave him a brotherly hug and then started a conversation just like that.

"You just got here too, didn't you?"

Which seemed completely absurd to Hermione at first, how could he just talk to him like that?
It took her a few seconds to think clearly enough to realize how stupid this thought was. The only thing that was completely absurd was her reaction to Charlie's presence.

"Yeah right, I couldn't get there earlier because of the Portkey Authority, that was really..."

She listened to their conversation with one ear while she concentrated on breathing normally and getting her heartbeat under control. The initial shock was over, but she was still nervous.
After a few more breaths, she was ready to join the conversation, but she immediately regretted it.

"... How come you came all the way from Romania today?"

Hermione would have liked to punch George for asking this, but she knew exactly what he was trying to achieve with this question. He's not coming and if he really is, it's because of you. The nervousness was slowly creeping back into her, but she managed to keep it at bay. Hermione was far too curious about the answer to the question.

"Ahm..." Charlie faltered for a moment, as if he had to think about what he wanted to say before he finally continued. "I usually miss all the Weasley teas, you know, and I didn't have any plans this weekend anyway, so this was a good idea. I'll stay the night too, that'll make it a bit more worthwhile and Mom's always happy when I come over..."

What did that mean? He had thought about it for a long time, the explanation sounded very superficial and flimsy. Could it be that George was right? Was Charlie here because of her? Hermione's heart must have been pounding so loudly at this thought that she really wondered why the other two didn't hear it.

"So what else are you planning to do this weekend if you're already here? Are you going to visit old friends or are you going to stay in the burrow with your parents?"
George couldn't let it go, on the one hand she was glad that he kept asking, because she wanted to know the answer just as much, but on the other hand she hated him for it at the same time.
"Hmm... not much so far. Let's see what else I do tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to visit two friends in London before I go back, I haven't seen them for a long time either."