CHAPTER TEN:

(A/N: some new fanart <3)

Third Person P.O.V.:

It took all of five seconds for Harry to sprint up to the boys' dormitories to fetch the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map from his trunk.

When he returned moments later, the core four crept through the portrait hole and covered themselves hastily in the Cloak - Ron and Charlie had grown so much that they now needed to crouch to prevent their feet from showing - then, moving slowly and cautiously, they proceeded down the many staircases, pausing at intervals to check on the map for signs of Filch or Mrs. Norris. They were lucky; they saw nobody but Nearly Headless Nick, who was gliding along absent-mindedly humming something that sounded horribly like 'Weasley is our King'.

They crept across the Entrance Hall and out into the silent, snowy grounds. With a great leap of his heart, Charlie saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney. He set off at a quick march, the other three jostling and bumping along behind him. They crunched excitedly through the thickening snow until at last they reached the wooden front door. When Charlie raised his fist and knocked three times, Fang started barking frantically inside.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Charlie called through the keyhole.

"Shoulda known!" said a gruff voice.

The core four beamed at each other under the Cloak; they could tell by Hagrid's voice that he was pleased.

"Bin home three seconds... out the way, Fang... out the way, yeh dozy dog..."

The bolt was drawn back, the door creaked open and Hagrid's head appeared in the gap... Hermione screamed.

"Merlin's beard, keep it down!" said Hagrid hastily, waving wildly over their heads. "Under that Cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"

"I'm sorry!" Hermione gasped, as the four of them squeezed past Hagrid into the house and pulled the Cloak off themselves so he could see them. "I just - oh, Hagrid!'

"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!" said Hagrid quickly, shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close all the curtains, but Hermione continued to gaze up at him in horror.

Hagrid's hair was matted with congealed blood and his left eye had been reduced to a puffy slit amid a mass of purple and black bruising. There were many cuts on his face and hands, some of them still bleeding, and he was moving gingerly, which made Charlie suspect broken ribs. It was obvious that he had only just got home: a thick black travelling cloak lay over the back of a chair and a haversack large enough to carry several small children leaned against the wall inside the door. Hagrid himself, twice the size of a normal man, was now limping over to the fire and placing a copper kettle over it.

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded, while Fang danced around them all, trying to lick their faces.

"Told yeh, nuthin'," said Hagrid firmly. "Want a cuppa?"

"Come off it," shouted Charlie, crossing his arms, "you're in a right state!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine," said Hagrid, straightening up and turning to beam at them all, but wincing. "Blimey, it's good ter see yeh four again - had good summers, did yeh?"

But Ron wasn't ready to move on from the topic just yet, instead he exclaimed, "Hagrid, you've been attacked!"

"Fer the las' time, it's nuthin'!" said Hagrid firmly.

Charlie furrowed his brows in disbelief, demanding, "Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince instead of a face?"

"You ought to go and see Madame Pomfrey, Hagrid," said Hermione anxiously, "some of those cuts look nasty."

"I'm dealin' with it, all righ?" said Hagrid repressively.

He walked across to the enormous wooden table that stood in the middle of his cabin and twitched aside a tea towel that had been lying on it. Underneath was a raw, bloody, green-tinged steak slightly larger than the average car tire.

"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" gulped Ron, leaning in for a closer look. "It looks poisonous."

"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid shrugged, unbothered. "An' I didn' get it ter eat."

He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left side of his face. Greenish blood trickled down into his beard as he gave a soft moan of satisfaction.

"Tha's better. It helps with the stingin', yeh know."

After a moment, Harry asked, "So, are you going to tell us what's happened to you?"

"Listen," sighed Hagrid, giving up after countless attempts at denial, "I can' tell yeh much, but Dumbledore sent meh ter find the giants."

"Giants?" squealed Hermione in a hushed whisper. "And you found them?"

"Well, they're not that difficult ter find, ter be honest," joked Hagrid. "Pretty big, see."

Ron's eyes lit up, "Well, where are they?"

"Mountains," muttered Hagrid unhelpfully.

"So why don't Muggles - ?"

"They do," said Hagrid darkly. "On'y their deaths are always put down ter mountaineerin' accidents, aren' they?"

He adjusted the steak a little so that it covered the worst of the bruising.

"Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you've been up to" said Ron eagerly. "Tell us about being attacked by the giants and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the dementors-"

Hagrid choked in his mug and dropped his steak at the same time; a large quantity of spit, tea and dragon blood was sprayed over the table as Hagrid coughed and spluttered, and the steak slid, with a soft splat, on to the floor.

"Whadda yeh mean, attacked by dementors?" growled Hagrid.

"Don't you know?" Charlie asked him, wide-eyed.

"I don' know any thin' that's bin happenin' since I left. I was on a secret mission, wasn' I, didn' wan' owls followin' me all over the place - ruddy dementors! Yeh're not serious?"

Harry smirked, "You tell me about your summer, and I'll tell you about mine."

Hagrid glared at him through his one open eye. Harry looked right back, an expression of innocent determination on his face.

"Oh, all righ'," Hagrid said in a resigned voice.

He bent down and tugged the dragon steak out of Fang's mouth.

"Oh, Hagrid, don't, it's not hygien-" Hermione began, but Hagrid had already slapped the meat back over his swollen eye.

He took another fortifying gulp of tea, then said, "Well, we set off righ' after term ended -"

"Madame Maxime went with you, then?" Charlie interjected, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah, tha's righ'," blushed Hagrid, and a softened expression appeared on the few inches of face that were not obscured by beard or green steak. "Yeah, it was jus' the pair of us. An' I'll tell yeh this, she's not afraid of roughin' it, Olympe."

Charlie and Ron shared an amused glance and sniggered uncontrollably; they were quickly silenced with a slap on the arm from Hermione.

"Anyways," continued Hagrid, sending the two boys a bashful glare, "where them giants are's very difficult ter get ter, fer humans anyway, so we needed Dumbledore's instructions. Took us abou' a month ter get there -"

"A month?" questioned Ron, as though he had never heard of a journey lasting such a ridiculously long time.

Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose, dumbfounded by his friend's complete disregard of the fact that everyone in Dumbledore's inner circle was being heavily surveyed by the Ministry.

"O' course!" Hagrid said darkly. "Can' do magic, not with the Ministry followin' us all the way! Plus, giants aren't fond o' wizards... don't trust 'em."

"So, what did you do when you found them?" Charlie asked, incredibly intrigued.

"We gave 'em a gift, jus' like Dumbledore tol' us," Hagrid explained. "Gave 'em a bunch of Gubraithian Fire, yeh know, everlasting flame... giants like magic, jus' don' like us usin' it against 'em."

Hermione's ears perked up, "And then?"

"We sat down, an' had a bit of chat," Hagrid went on. "Well, we tried ter 'ave a chat - giants can' speak English well, yeh see. We ask'd 'em for their help, but left tha' night ter let the chief think it over... an' tha's when everythin' went wrong."

The core four shared a glance, waiting in anticipation for Hagrid to continue; quite literally on the edge of their seats.

"A fight broke out... went on fer hours, yeh wouldn' believe the noise... then, the nex' mornin' there was a new chief," Hagrid sighed deeply. "We went back ter see what we 'ould do with this new chief, but things got even worse."

Charlie furrowed his brows, "What d'you mean?"

"Turns out, the new chief didn' object ter all wizards," Hagrid said darkly, "just us..."

"What?" Harry said, puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"The Death Eaters got to them first, didn't they?" Charlie said aghast, putting pieces together.

"Yep," muttered Hagrid, clearly unamused. "Couple o' 'em had bin visitin' ev'ry day, bringin' gifts ter the chief."

"How d'you know they were Death Eaters?" inquired Ron, squirming anxiously.

"Because I recognised one of 'em," Hagrid growled. "Macnair, remember him? Bloke they sent ter kill Buckbeak? Maniac, he is. Likes killin' as much as the new chief; no wonder they were gettin' on so well."

"So Macnair's persuaded the giants to join You-Know-Who?" said Hermione desperately, fiddling with her teacup.

"Hold yer hippogriffs, I haven' finished me story yet!" said Hagrid indignantly, who, considering he had not wanted to tell them anything in the first place, now seemed to be rather enjoying himself. "Me an' Olympe talked it over an' we agreed, jus' 'cause the chief looked like 'e was favourin' You-Know-Who, didn' mean all of 'em would. We had ter try an' persuade some o' the others, the ones who hadn' liked the new chief."

Ron's brows furrowed, "How could you tell which ones they were?"

"Well, they were the ones bein' beaten to a pulp, weren' they?" said Hagrid patiently. "The ones with any sense were keepin' outta the chief's way, hidin' out in caves roun' the gully jus' like we were. So we decided we'd go pokin' round the caves by night an' see if we couldn' persuade a few o' them.'

"You went poking around dark caves looking for giants?" said Charlie, with awed respect in his voice. "And you found them?"

Hagrid nodded, "One o' them knew a bit of English an' 'e translated fer the others, an' what we had ter say didn' seem ter go down too badly. So we kep' goin' back, visitin' the wounded... I reckon we had abou' six or seven o' them convinced at one poin'."

"Six or seven?" said Ron eagerly. "Well that's not bad - are they going to come over here and start fighting You-Know-Who with us?"

But Hermione interjected and said, "What do you mean 'at one point', Hagrid?'

Hagrid looked at her sadly, and muttered, "Chief raided the caves... the ones tha' survived didn' wan' no more ter to do with us after that."

"So... so there aren't any giants coming?" said Harry, looking disappointed.

"Nope," said Hagrid, heaving a deep sigh as he turned over his steak and applied the cooler side to his face, "but we did wha' we meant ter do, we gave 'em Dumbledore's message an' some o' them heard it an' I spect some o' them'll remember it. Maybe when they 'ave a chance ter remember tha' Dumbledore's bin friendly to 'em... tha's when they'll come."

They all went quiet. Hermione glanced nervously at Charlie, Harry and Ron, plainly wanting them to speak to break the sudden gloomy silence they found themselves in.

"But you still haven't explained how you got in this state, Hagrid," Charlie said, gesturing towards Hagrid's bloodstained face.

"Or why you're back so late," added Harry. "Sirius said you were supposed to be back ages ago -"

Ron looked at Hagrid curiously, and said, "Who attacked you?"

"I haven' bin attacked!" shouted Hagrid emphatically. "I -"

But the rest of his words were drowned in a sudden outbreak of rapping on the door. Hermione gasped; her mug slipped through her fingers and smashed on the floor; Fang yelped. All five of them stared at the window beside the doorway. The shadow of somebody small and squat rippled across the thin curtain.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Charlie cursed under his breath, realizing who who it was. "It's her!"

"Get under here!" Harry said quickly, seizing the Invisibility Cloak; he whirled it over himself, Ron and Hermione while Charlie tore around the table and dived under the Cloak as well. Huddled together, they backed away into a corner, Fang was barking madly at the door while Hagrid was thoroughly confused.

"Hagrid, hide our mugs!"

Hagrid seized Charlie, Harry and Ron's mugs and shoved them under the cushion in Fang's basket. Fang was now leaping up at the door; Hagrid pushed him out of the way with his foot and pulled it open.

Professor Umbridge was standing in the doorway wearing her pink tweed cloak and a matching hat with earflaps. Lips pursed, she leaned back to see Hagrid's face; she barely reached his navel.

"So," she said slowly and loudly, as though speaking to somebody deaf. "You're Hagrid, are you?"

Without waiting for an answer she strolled into the room, her bulging eyes rolling in every direction.

"Er-I don' want ter be rude," said Hagrid, staring at her, "but who the ruddy hell are yeh?"

"My name is Dolores Umbridge."

Her eyes were sweeping the cabin. Twice they stared directly into the corner where Charlie stood, pressed against Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Dolores Umbridge?" Hagrid said, sounding thoroughly confused. "I thought you were one o' them Ministry - don' you work with Hawthorne?"

"I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, yes," said Umbridge, now pacing around the cabin, taking in every tiny detail within, from the haversack against the wall to the abandoned travelling cloak. "I am now the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher...and Hogwarts High Inquisitor."

"Wha's that?" said Hagrid, frowning.

"Precisely what I was going to ask," said Umbridge, pointing at the broken shards of china on the floor that had been Hermione's mug.

"Oh," said Hagrid, with a most unhelpful glance towards the corner where Charlie, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood hidden, "oh, tha' was... was Fang. He broke a mug. So I had ter use this one instead."

Hagrid pointed to the mug from which he had been drinking, one hand still clamped over the dragon steak pressed to his eye. Umbridge stood facing him now, taking in every detail of his appearance instead of the cabins.

"I heard voices," she said quietly.

"I was talkin' ter Fang," said Hagrid stoutly.

"And was he talking back to you?"

"Well... in a manner o' speakin'," said Hagrid, looking uncomfortable. "I sometimes say Fang's near enough human -"

"There are four sets of footprints in the snow leading from the castle doors to your cabin," said Umbridge sleekly.

Hermione gasped; Charlie clapped a hand over her mouth. Luckily, Fang was sniffing loudly around the hem of Professor Umbridge's robes and she did not appear to have heard.

"Well, I on'y jus' got back," said Hagrid, waving an enormous hand at the haversack. "Maybe someone came ter call earlier an' I missed 'em."

"There are no footsteps leading away from your cabin door."

"Well, I... don' know why that'd be..." said Hagrid, tugging nervously at his beard and again glancing towards the corner where the core four stood, as though asking for help. "Erm..."

Umbridge wheeled round and strode the length of the cabin, looking around carefully. She passed within two inches of where Charlie, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood pressed against the wall; Charlie actually pulled in his stomach as she walked by.

After looking carefully inside the enormous cauldron Hagrid used for cooking, she wheeled round again and said, "What has happened to you? How did you sustain those injuries?"

Hagrid hastily removed the steak from his face, revealing a large amount of fresh and congealed blood on his face as he spoke lamely, "I, uh... had a bit of an accident."

"What sort of accident?"

"I-I tripped."

"You tripped, did you?" Umbridge repeated coldly.

Hagrid nodded hastily, "Yeah, tha's right. Over... over a friends broomstick. I don' fly, meself. Well, look at the size o' meh, I don' reckon there's a broomstick that'd hol-"

"Where have you been?" asked Umbridge, cutting coolly through Hagrid's babbling.

"Where've I - ?"

"Been, yes," Umbridge said. "Term started two months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues have been able to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left no address. Where have you been?"

There was a pause in which Hagrid stared at her with his newly uncovered eye. Charlie could almost hear his brain working furiously.

"I-I've been away for me health."

"For your health," repeated Professor Umbridge. Her eyes travelled over Hagrid's discoloured and swollen face; dragon blood dripped gently and silently onto his waistcoat. "I see."

"Yeah," lied Hagrid, "bit o' fresh air, yeh know -"

"Yes, as gamekeeper fresh air must be so difficult to come by" said Umbridge sarcastically. The small patch of Hagrid's face that was not black or purple, flushed.

"Well - change o' scene, yeh know -"

"Mountain scenery?" said Umbridge swiftly.

She knows, Charlie thought desperately. But how?

"Mountains?" Hagrid repeated, clearly thinking fast. "Nope, South o' France fer me. Bit o' sun an'... an' sea."

"Really?" inquired Umbridge. "You don't have much of a tan."

"Yeah... well... sensitive skin," said Hagrid, attempting an ingratiating smile.

Umbridge looked at him coldly; his smile faltered. Then she hoisted her handbag a little higher into the crook of her arm and said, "I shall, of course, be informing the Minister of your late return."

"Righ'." said Hagrid, nodding.

"You ought to know, too, that as High Inquisitor it is my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my fellow teachers. So I daresay we shall meet again soon enough."

She turned sharply and marched back to the door.

"You're inspectin' us?" Hagrid repeated blankly, looking after her.

"Oh, yes," said Umbridge softly, looking back at him with her hand on the door handle. "The Ministry is determined to weed out unsatisfactory teachers... goodnight."

She left, closing the door behind her with a snap. Charlie made to pull off the Invisibility Cloak but Hermione seized his wrist.

"Not yet," she breathed in his ear, her hot breath made goosebumps appear on his skin. "She might not be gone yet."

Hagrid seemed to be thinking the same; he stumped across the room and pulled back the curtain an inch or so.

"She's goin' back ter the castle," he said in a low voice. "Blimey... inspectin' people, is she?"

"Yeah," said Harry, finally pulling off the Cloak. "Trelawney's on probation already."

"Um... what sort of thing are you planning to do with us in class, Hagrid?" asked Hermione, biting her lip slightly.

"Oh, don' you worry abou' that, I've got a great load o' lessons planned," said Hagrid enthusiastically, scooping up his dragon steak from the table and slapping it over his eye again. "I've bin keepin' a couple o' creatures saved fer yer OWL year; you wait, they're somethin' really special."

"Look, Hagrid," said Hermione urgently, dropping all pretence, "Professor Umbridge won't be at all happy if you bring anything to class that's too dangerous."

"Dangerous?" said Hagrid, looking genially bemused. "Don' be silly, I wouldn' give yeh anythin' dangerous! I mean, all righ', they can look after themselv-"

"Hagrid, you've got to pass Umbridge's inspection," Hermione said earnestly. "Umbridge is looking for any excuse to get rid of teachers that she thinks are too close to Dumbledore. Please, Hagrid, teach us something dull that's bound to come up in our OWL."

But Hagrid merely yawned widely and cast a one-eyed look of longing towards the vast bed in the corner.

"Lis'en, it's bin a long day an' it's late," he said through another yawn. "Look, don' you go worryin' abou' me, I promise yeh I've got really good stuff planned fer yer lessons now tha' I'm back... now you lot better get back up to the castle, an' don' forget ter wipe yer footprints out behind yeh!"

"I dunno if you got through to him," whispered Charlie, a short while later when they walked back up to the castle through the thickening snow, leaving no trace behind them due to the Obliteration Charm Hermione was performing as they went.

"Then I'll go back again tomorrow," said Hermione determinedly. "I'll plan his lessons for him if I have to. I don't care if she throws out Trelawney but she's not getting rid of Hagrid!"

(A/N: Hermione and Hagrid's relationship is SO underrated and I'm upset about it)

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Hagrid's reappearance at the staff table at breakfast the next day was not greeted by enthusiasm from all students. Some, like Fred, George and Lee, roared with delight and sprinted up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to wring Hagrid's enormous hand; others, like Parvati and Lavender, exchanged gloomy looks and shook their heads as they had preferred Professor Grubbly-Plank's lessons.

Hermione kept true to her word and ploughed her way back to Hagrid's cabin through two feet of snow every morning after breakfast, willing to plan out his lessons for him. Luckily, however, Hagrid seemed to be listening to Hermione's warnings and didn't bring out any creatures that were capable of ripping someone's head off. But much to Hagrid's disappointment, the High Inquisitor wasn't planning on visiting his class anytime soon; Umbridge wanted to catch him off-guard.

And so, December arrived, bringing nothing but more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth-years. Ron and Hermione's Prefect duties also became more and more onerous as Christmas approached. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle, to watch over first- and second-years spending their break-times inside because of the bitter cold, and to patrol the corridors in shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels.

They were so busy that Charlie had begun to miss his shared Prefect duties with his girlfriend; all of the work aside, being a Prefect was always an easy way for them to secure some alone time with one another. Not to mention, seeing Ron parade around his badge and work so closely with Hermione was starting to irritate Charlie very much. In fact, for the first time ever, he wanted to spend the holidays away from Hogwarts. Between his Quidditch ban, Ron being a disrespectful prat, and worry about whether or not Hagrid was going to be put on probation, he felt highly resentful towards the place at the moment.

The only thing he really looked forward to were the DA meetings, but they would have to stop over the holidays, as nearly everybody in the DA would be spending the time with their families. Hermione was going skiing with her parents, and Charlie and Harry were having Christmas with the Weasley's at The Burrow.

Nevertheless, Charlie arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last DA meeting before the holidays and was very glad he had, because when the torches burst into flame he was the first to see that someone had taken it upon themselves to decorate the place for Christmas; tinsel was draped from the bookshelves, paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling, and mistletoe was visible under every arch in the room.

Charlie had only just managed to take in the entirety of the room before the door creaked open and Luna Lovegood entered, looking as dreamy as usual.

"Hello," she said vaguely, looking around at the decorations. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

"Not me," said Charlie with a polite smile as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I reckon, it must've been the house-elves."

"Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost directly over Charlie's head. He jumped out from under it, not wanting Luna to get the wrong idea.

"Good thinking," she said very seriously. "It's often infested with Nargles."

Charlie was saved the necessity of asking what Nargles were by the arrival Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville, and within five minutes the room was full enough to save Charlie from trying to understand the complexities of Luna Lovegood.

"Okay," Harry said, calling them all to order as they got situated. "'I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week bre-"

"We're not doing anything new?" said Zacharias Smith, in a disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come."

Charlie rolled his eyes before speaking very loudly, "We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then."

Several people sniggered. Charlie saw Hermione laughing and felt the familiar swooping sensation in his stomach, as though he had missed a step going downstairs; her laugh was one of his favourite things.

"- alright, well we can continue to practice in pairs," called Harry, trying to fight an amused smile. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."

They all divided up obediently; Charlie partnered Neville as usual. The room was soon full of intermittent cries of, Impedimenta! People froze for a minute or so, during which their partner would stare aimlessly around the room watching other pairs at work, then would unfreeze and take their turn at the jinx.

Neville had significantly improved with Charlie's help, although he was still, for some odd reason, struggling with the Disarming Charm. After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid out cushions all over the floor and started practising Stunning again. Space was too confined to allow them all to work this spell at once, and so, the group stood back and observed as partners would alternate in demonstration.

Charlie found himself watching alongside Fred, George, and Ginny when Ron and Hermione took their places in the centre of the circle; it was their turn to practice. Knowing the potential, and probable, outcome, Charlie smiled widely, but his smile quickly faltered when he could hear Ron and Hermione's conversation in the near distance.

"Don't worry," Ron whispered to Hermione with a smile. "I'll go easy on you."

"Thanks, Ronald." Hermione smirked, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched Ron retreat to his side of the circle.

As Ron and Hermione took their positions, wands raised, on either side of the room, Charlie felt a nudge on his shoulder from Fred.

"Oi," he whispered, an amused smile curling on his lips as he held out a hand, "I've got one sickle on Ron."

"You're on," Charlie laughed, shaking Fred's hand without hesitation. "Easiest sickle I've ever made."

Affirming the deal, both Fred and Charlie turned back to watch the duel, waiting in anticipation as Harry counted Ron and Hermione down:

Three.

Two.

One.

Before Ron could even mutter a word, Hermione flailed her wand in his direction and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Charlie felt himself positively swelling with pride as he watched Ron get lifted off of his feet and flown backwards, landing hard on his backside with a loud squeal. There were gasps of surprise and murmurs of awe, but nothing was as satisfactory to Charlie then Fred reaching into his pocket to pull out a sickle and reluctantly handing it over.

Fred huffed as he placed the sickle in Charlie's hand, muttering, "For fucks sake."

"Thank you," drawled Charlie, closing his hand around the coin.

As majority of the girls in the DA moved over to congratulate Hermione on her successful takedown, Charlie smiled proudly; his girlfriend was a badass.Turning back slightly, he caught Ginny staring at him and Fred with a confused look.

"You did not just bet on who'd win..." she said slowly, her mouth falling agape slightly.

Charlie laughed lightly, shrugging before gesturing to Fred and whispering, "His fault for underestimating my girl."

Ginny shook her head, trying to conceal a smile, "Prat."

Instead of saying anything in rebuttal, Charlie simply smirked and walked over in Hermione's direction. His girlfriend saw him, of course, and quickly bid a farewell to Parvati and Padma Patil, who had been praising her over her easy duel with Ron.

"I must say," Charlie began, reaching his girlfriend and facing her, "I think you did excellent."

"Did you?" Hermione teased in a low whisper, being mindful of the people that were around them. "That was nothing - in fact, there are plenty of other things I'm excellent at... perhaps I could show you?"

Charlie gulped, his cheeks growing red as he managed to whisper, "I'd like that very much."

"Oh, I bet you would," Hermione giggled, an amused smirk curled onto her lips; she loved the effect she had on him.

"When?" Charlie asked lowly, his eyes resisting the urge to look down at her lips.

"Tonight," she whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening, "after we go to Hagrid's."

And with that, Hermione moved away quickly, not wanting to cause suspicion. Both her and Charlie rejoined the group just in time to watch Elaina stun Daphne with ease and precision; everyone clapped.

It was safe to say, that everyone had made great progress, and at the end of the hour, Harry called a halt.

"You're getting really good," he said, beaming around at them. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff - maybe even Patronuses."

There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear in the usual twos and threes; most people wished Charlie a 'Happy Christmas' as they went. He helped Hermione and Ron collect the cushions and stack them neatly away, but his eye was caught by Ginny and Harry sending each other discrete glances from across the room.

Realizing that they were wanting to talk with one another, Charlie quickly escorted Hermione and Ron to the exit before either of them realized what was going on. Harry, catching on to what his friend was trying to set up, pretended to be straightening the cushion pile to make it seem less suspicious when he didn't follow his friends out of the room.

That was all Charlie saw as he stepped out into the corridor with Ron and Hermione, leading the way back to Gryffindor Tower, and feeling overwhelming pleased with the fact that he had just 'wing-manned' his best friend.

---------------

Charlie hadn't been there to see Ginny and Harry return that evening as he had already set off with Hermione to Hagrid's Hut.

The two of them plunged through the snow and made it to Hagrid's before night fall, just in time to see the half-giant stump out of the forest, beaming at the two Gryffindors on his doorstep.

"What're you tending to now?" Charlie laughed as Hagrid led the way inside the house.

The half-giant did what he always did; stall by putting a pot of tea on and petting Fang. Only when Hermione raised a brow at him, did he answer.

"I'm not sayin'," said Hagrid happily. "I don' want ter spoil the 'prise."

"Hagrid," Hermione scolded as she sat down at the table with her tea in hand, "to pass Umbridge's inspection, you need to be careful. It would be better if she saw you teaching us how do things like looking after Porlocks, how to tell the difference between Knarls and hedgehogs - stuff like that!"

Charlie laughed, "You know, the boring stuff."

Hermione sent a playful glare in her boyfriend's direction, which caused him to chuckle even harder; he wasn't helping the situation, mind you, but his laugh was infectious.

(A/N: I will use this gif until the day I die)

"Don' yeh worry," sighed Hagrid, "The stuff I've got's much 'ore impressive. I've bin bringin' 'em on fer years, I reckon I've got the on'y domestic herd in Britain."

"Uh, Hagrid," stuttered Charlie, "I think Hermione's right. Maybe you should just do lessons on things like Knarls, instead of something like a Chimaera. You know, just to be safe."

Hagrid shook his head, "Ain' nobody in their righ' mind 'ould rather study Knarls than Chimaeras, Char... but 'nough 'bout meh lessons, I wanna discuss somethin' else."

Charlie's ears perked up, "You're finally ready to tell us about how you got those injuries, are you?"

"No," Hagrid said flatly before glancing between Charlie and Hermione with a slight smile. "I wanna talk 'bout wha's goin' on 'tween yeh two."

Hermione felt heat rise in her cheeks, and Charlie immediately shifted his gaze away from Hagrid's prying eyes, unable to keep a secret from his long-time friend.

"What d-do you m-mean?" Hermione stuttered, blushing uncontrollably.

"Well, bin wonderin' if Char, here," Hagrid smirked, nodding at Charlie before turning back to Hermione, "ever got 'round ter tellin' yeh 'bout his feelings?"

Charlie choked on the tea that he had just sipped from his mug; he couldn't believe the words that came from the half-giant's mouth.

"Hagrid, what the fu-"

"Please elaborate, Hagrid," Hermione teased, leaning on the table in anticipation. "What of Charlie's feelings towards me?"

Hagrid laughed, "Well, 'bout tha' crush he's bin havin' on yeh since secon' year, o' course!"

Charlie's mouth fell agape, "I did not have a crush in second year!"

"O', righ'," Hagrid corrected, a smirk curling on his lips. "It must've bin firs' year."

"Hagrid, I swear to Merl-"

"Used ter tease him 'bout it all the time," Hagrid teased, finding amusement in watching the young boy squirm with embarrassment. "But he kep' sayin' yeh lot were jus' friends."

"We were!" shouted Charlie, incredibly flustered. "I wasn't lying!"

"Were, eh?" Hagrid repeated, his tone implying that he had secured a victory. "Pas' tense..."

"That's right, Hagrid," giggled Hermione, leaning up to place a kiss on Charlie's flustered cheek. "Past tense."

Hagrid grinned widely, clapping Charlie on the back in celebration, "Tha's mah boy! Congratulations! I'm happy for yeh lot."

"Thanks," blushed Charlie, linking his hand with Hermione's and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But we're not telling anyone, Hagrid... not yet."

"Yeh secret is safe with meh," nodded Hagrid, taking a sip of his tea in delight. In that same moment, Fang started barking and jumping around happily. Hagrid beamed at his puppy, saying, "Look! Fang's happy for yeh too!"

About an hour later, Charlie and Hermione made their way back up the castle, both of them looking incredibly cheerful after their talk with Hagrid. As they reached the Fat Lady's corridor, Hermione stopped Charlie from saying the password, placing a hand over his mouth and speaking against it.

"Let me just go change," she whispered, and the hair on the back of Charlie's neck stood up, "then, we can go somewhere... just the two of us, okay?"

Charlie said nothing due to his muffled mouth, but nodded vigorously. Removing her hand from her boyfriend's mouth, Hermione turned, said the password, and led the way through the portrait hole into the common room. With little time to adjust, the two of them could hear the undeniable arguing coming from the depths of the common room.

Ginny's angry voice was heard above all else, "It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron -"

"Yeah, it is!" came Ron's voice, just as angrily. "D' you think I want people saying my sister's a -"

"A what?" shouted Ginny, her tone growing more and more heated. "A what, exactly?"

"He doesn't mean anything, Gin -" came Harry's voice automatically, though he sounded more anxious than angry.

"Oh, yes he does!" Ginny yelled, flaring up at Harry. "Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel -"

"Shut your mouth!"

Charlie and Hermione shared an alarmed glance before stepping out into the common room which seemed to only be occupied by three other people; Ron was sending glares at his sister while Ginny had her wand raised high towards him, and Harry stood there shifting uncontrollably on his feet.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Charlie shouted, catching everyone's attention.

"I caught them kissing in the Room of Requirement!" Ron yelled, pointing at Ginny and Harry. "I forgot something and went back to go and get it... that's when I was met with the horrific sight! Can you believe that?! My best friend and my little sister!"

"Oh for goodness sakes," sighed Ginny angrily, "You're being pathetic! Maybe if you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it!"

Ron had pulled out his wand too; Harry stepped swiftly between them.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron roared, trying to get a clear shot at Ginny around Harry, who was now standing in front of her with his arms outstretched. "Just because I don't do it in public - !"

Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push Harry out of the way.

"Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?"

A streak of orange light flew under Harry's left arm and missed Ginny by inches; Charlie immediately pushed Ron up against the wall.

"Oi! Don't be stupid -"

"So what if I've kissed Harry?!" shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now.

"Ginny, please, stop this," Hermione called, trying to intervene, but Ginny was beyond reason.

"Hermione's dating Charlie -"

"Ginny!" shouted Hermione; Ron immediately stopped struggling for release amongst Charlie's grip and looked at his friend with narrow eyes.

"- and she's snogged Viktor Krum! Meaning, it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!"

Realizing what she said as soon as the words left her lips, Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth, peering over at Hermione with apologetic eyes. It took a second for the words to process in Charlie's head, but as soon as they did, he released Ron; his hands were shaking as he was filled with feelings of immense anger and betrayal.

Charlie blinked turning around towards Ginny, breathing dangerously slow, "What did you just say...?"

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." Ginny trailed off, feeling incredibly guilty as she looked around at the situation she had caused; Ron was sending daggers in Charlie's direction, Harry was speechless, Hermione had buried her head in her hands in shame, and Charlie was breathing shakily.

All of the anger and adrenaline building up inside Charlie made him go numb. His heart felt like it had stopped as he looked over to Hermione for an explanation, only to see her looking extremely guilty.

"Charlie -"

"When?" he breathed out slowly, searching her eyes for answers.

"Charlie, please -"

"When?" he repeated impatiently, demanding an explanation.

"T-The night of The Y-Yule Ball," she whispered, looking incredibly ashamed of herself.

Charlie sucked in a shaky breath and closed his eyes, wishing for this nightmare to be over. Without saying another word, he clenched his jaw and made for the portrait hole once again, but Hermione was quick to reach out for him, her eyes growing wide.

"Charlie, please," she pleaded, tugging at his arm; tears were forming on the lids of her eyes. "I-It happened b-before w-we... and it m-meant nothing, I swea-"

"Hermione, let go," Charlie said as calm as possible, trying to avoid her eyes.

"No, no, please," Hermione cried holding his arm tighter when he tried to move once again. "Y-You have t-to listen!"

Charlie shook his head, unwilling to talk about this in the angry state that he was in. Instead, he yanked his arm out of Hermione's tight grip and walked out through the portrait hole despite his girlfriend's cries for him to stop.

He angrily made his way through the corridors, walking rapidly as though he was looking for an escape. As expected, however, Hermione chased after him, the placement of her footsteps traced every single step of her boyfriend in front of her.

"Baby, wait, please," she called, running slightly to catch up to him. "Stop walking away, you do this all of the time!"

Charlie growled in response, "That's because it stops me from saying things that you don't want to hear!"

"Are you kidding?" Hermione yelled, continuing to follow him until finally grabbing ahold of his arm and turning him around. "All I want is for you to tell me exactly what's going on in your head right now. Tell me what you're thinking, so that we can work through this together!"

"What I'm thinking?" Charlie furrowed his brows, looking up for the first time to meet her eyes. "I'm thinking about how you've been lying to me this entire time!"

Hermione shook her head instantly, "I haven't been lying to you."

"You're joking, right?" Charlie said, aghast. "I specifically asked you last year after the Yule Ball, before we started dating, if there was anything going on between you and Viktor, and you sai-"

"I told you that you were the only boy I fancied," Hermione finished, reaching out and grabbing ahold of Charlie's face. "Yes, I remember... but what part of that wasn't telling you the truth? Please, Charlie you're bein-"

"How I'm acting now is no different from how you acted when Elaina kissed me last year," Charlie scoffed, removing her hands from his face.

"I know, I know," Hermione said sadly, pleading. "You have every right to be upset with me, I get that and I'm sorry, but please don't forget that I gave you a chance to explain yourself to me..."

Charlie sighed; he couldn't argue that. Instead, he gave in, nodding slowly to give her a go-ahead.

"He kissed me right after my fight with Ron," Hermione explained slowly, being mindful of Charlie's ability to get fed up at any given moment, "and that's why I was crying that night when you asked me to dance... I was confused. I had feelings for you, but you were with Elaina, a-and I was jealous - a part of me wanted to kiss him," She paused to pull Charlie back as he turned to walk away after this comment, "but only to get back at you for kissing someone else... because, as selfish as it makes me, I wanted you to feel the same heartbreak that I felt. When it happened, I felt extremely guilty, believe me - I was planning on telling you, but I was scared of what your reaction was going to be... and after what happened between us that night... I j-just couldn't bring myself to ruin everything that we started."

"You should've just been honest with me," Charlie said slowly, his anger subsiding after such a revelation.

"I was scared, Charlie," she said through the tears that were now streaming down her face. "I didn't want to lose you..."

Charlie sighed, his cold exterior melting away as he reached up to wipe the tears from her face. Hermione shuddered at the contact, but quickly nuzzled into his hands as though she never expected him to touch her ever again.

"You'd never lose me," he whispered softly, attempting to smile to lighten the mood. "J-Just promise to tell me these things before you share them with Ginny... I don't know how many more of these surprise revelations my heart can take."

"I promise," Hermione smiled, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck; she smiled when he didn't protest. "I love you, Charlie. Only you. Please don't forget that."

Charlie grinned softly, "I don't think I ever could."

"Good," beamed Hermione, pulling him down for a much-needed kiss, and savouring the taste of his lips.

---------------

After taking a few detours, it was well past one o'clock in the morning when they set back off towards Gryffindor Tower. They walked hand-in-hand through the deserted, dark corridors, grinning from ear to ear as they cuddled into one another.

As soon as they reached the Fat Lady portrait, they quickly said the password and clambered into the common room undetected. Charlie and Hermione bid a bittersweet farewell kiss at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the their different dormitories.

Charlie stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, watching as Hermione climbed up the stairs towards her dorm room, feeling overjoyed by how lucky he was to call her his. When she disappeared out of sight, Charlie quietly made his way up to his own dorm and slid into the room that was full of loud snoring.

A part of him was thrilled to have arrived so late... this way, he didn't have to deal with the pestering questions from his friends about Ginny's revelations. Instead, he got changed and quietly slipped into his bed, resting his head against his pillows with a smile. Weirdly enough, he was thankful for his fight with Hermione, because not only did it prove to him how secure they were as a couple, but it also led to a happy conclusion of his week by divulging in their actions of reconciliation.

Charlie wasn't sure what time it was before he finally dozed off, but he surely remembered how quickly his wake up call seemed to come. Regardless of his few, much-needed, hours of sleep, Charlie's eyes blinked in the sunlight as a smile crept on his face; the memories of the night before flooding his thoughts.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes before glancing around the room. Scarily enough, Ron's bed seemed to be the only one occupied, as the ginger sat still, glaring in the brown eyed boy's direction. There was someone occupying the on-suite, which Charlie quickly figured out in his attempt to avoid eye contact with Ron.

Not long after, Harry walked out in his pyjamas, proving that, Dean, Seamus, and Neville must've gone down for breakfast early, despite how out of character that sounded.

"Morning," Harry beamed upon noticing that Charlie was awake. "You came in late last night. Everything okay between you and...?"

"Hermione," Ron said bitterly. "No point in beating 'round the bush anymore. Might as well say her bloody name... we all know now, isn't that right?"

"Yeah," Charlie said softly to Harry, ignoring Ron. "All good."

"Glad to hea-"

"How do you do that?" Ron growled, getting up from his bed.

Charlie furrowed his brows, climbing out of bed as well to get dressed, "Do what exactly?"

Ron crossed his arms, radiating an impressive amount of aggression for it being so early in the morning, "Pretend like nothing's going on? Parade around and act like what you're doing isn't bang out of order?"

"And what exactly am I doing?" Charlie said, confused as he pulled a shirt over his bare torso.

"You've been snogging Hermione this entire time, haven't you?" Ron grunted in disgust. "And yet failed to mention it to me, but had no problem sharing it with Harry -"

"Oh, my mistake," Charlie said sarcastically, "I forgot that everything I do must be approved by you."

"Funny," growled Ron, his jaw now clenched. "Forgive me, but I thought we were mates."

"We are mates," shrugged Charlie, getting slightly annoyed. "But I'm not obligated to share everything in my life with you. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, my relationship with Hermione is none of your business."

Ron scoffed, "It bloody well is, and you know it!"

Charlie was taken aback, "And how do you figure that?"

"Guys," Harry interjected, "let's just calm down."

"No," snapped Charlie, harsher than intended. "If Ron feels so inclined to know every aspect of my relationship with Hermione, than I have a right to know why."

"Piss off," Ron barked, voices rising. "You don't know what you're bloody on about."

"You're the one who brought it up," Charlie rebuttals, taking a step towards Ron. "I mean, you seem to care more about the fact that I've been snogging Hermione, than the fact that's Harry's snogging your sister -"

"Oi," said Harry, watching his friends from a distance. "Leave me out of this."

"Watch yourself, Charlie," growled Ron, ignoring Harry's comment completely. "Harry's situation is completely differe-"

"And why is that?" Charlie demanded, taking another step forward.

"Char-"

"Stay out of this, Harry," barked Charlie, wanting to get answers. "I want to hear what Ron has to say."

But Ron said nothing. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Charlie, his ears growing red from anger as the two stood face to face.

"C'mon Ron, say it," taunted Charlie. "Why does it bother you that I'm dating Hermione, huh?"

"Guys, plea-"

"Say it, Ron. Let me hea-"

And before the words even left Charlie's mouth, he was being pushed back harshly by Ron.

"BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH HER!"

With another hard push, everyone fell silent. Both Harry and Charlie knew what was coming, of course. Ron wasn't exactly modest in his pursuit of Hermione... and yet, Charlie's nostrils flared and his fists clenched.

"Touch me again, and I swe-"

"What? What are you going to do? Does that bother you Charlie, huh?" Ron spat aggressively. "That I'm in love with your girlfriend? Are you annoyed? Because then you'll know exactly how it feels! I've spent months watching you two get close. I would get so mad at the thought of the two of you together, and you knew it. But that didn't stop you, did it? You didn't say anything!"

"What was I supposed to say, Ron?" Charlie growled, towering over the ginger. "Thank you for being in love with my girlfriend? Thank you for being too stupid to not make a move? Thank you for letting me so graciously have her? Wake up, Ronald! You were never an optio-"

This time it wasn't a push, but a full on right hook to the jaw.

Charlie's head whipped to the side, and for a single second his eyes widened, completely shocked that the ginger had it in him. Ready to unleash the anger built up inside of him, Charlie turned to Ron, and was prepared to leap forward when Harry stepped in front of them and seized his arm.

"Harry, let go!" shouted Charlie, trying to yank his hands out of his friend's grip. "He deserves everything damn thing he's about to get-"

Ron scoffed, "Bugger off, Charlie."

Charlie pushed even harder against Harry's restraints at Ron's words. The Hawthorne boy saw red, and God forbid what would happened if he managed to break free...

"Come on, mate," Harry addressed Charlie, trying to reason. "Hermione wouldn't want this."

And with a shaky breath and the processing of the words that left his friend's mouth, Charlie came to a reluctant halt as he sent daggers over Harry's shoulder at Ron. Without giving himself time to grow angrier again, Charlie turned, opened the door, walked out, and slammed it behind him.

The door slam grew the attention of those in the common room or, more specifically, Ginny and Hermione, who were sitting on the couch engaging in a conversation. As Charlie came barreling down the stairs, their heads whipped towards him.

"There you are!" Ginny beamed, unaware. "Mione was just telling me that - oh my... Charlie, what happened to your face?"

"Ask your brother," said Charlie angrily, stomping his way to the portrait hole without even glancing in his girlfriend's direction.

Hermione, growing immediately alarmed at the welt forming on her boyfriend's face, got up and ran over to stop in front of him.

"Wait," she called, pushing back on Charlie's stomach so he wouldn't rush past her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Just leave it alone," he dismissed her, avoiding her pleading eyes t.

"Stop that... don't shut me out," Hermione scolded, furrowing her brows as she grabbed the sides of his face to make him look down at her. "Tell me what's going on."

Charlie looked into her eyes, and immediately his cold exterior melted away. He unclenched his jaw, smiling sadly as he said, "It's okay... I just want to be alone right now."

Hermione frowned, "Charlie..."

"Oi! Mate, wait up!" Harry called, running down the stairs.

At the sound of Harry's voice, Charlie sighed and pushed past Hermione, clambering out of the portrait hole without another word. Running after him, Harry was caught on the arm by Hermione, and she looked at him for answers.

"Don't worry. I'll explain later," said Harry, taking a step out of the room. "Right now, I've got to go after him before he does something stupid..."

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Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*

DUN DUH... this should be fun 😈

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