CHAPTER ONE:

Third Person P.O.V.:

On one summer evening, Charlie Hawthorne found himself among the tired-looking commuters within a subway car that was headed for Tottenham Court Station.

Lonely men and women loitered on the passing platforms, while the conductor spoke over the intercom, "In a few moments, we will be arriving at the Central Line after departing from the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line. I must ask you to remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop."

Charlie only half-listened. His mind was too preoccupied on the excitement that swelled up inside of him. Today would be the day where he'd finally see Hermione for the first time in over a month. Sure, they had written letters to one another constantly, but it wasn't the same as seeing one another in person.

The brown eyed boy had spent majority of his summer at 12 Grimmauld Place, you see. Charlie had kept busy with helping renovate the hidden house as it would naturally be the new headquarters for the upcoming revamped Order of the Phoenix, a secret society formed to oppose the work of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Albus Dumbledore had been hard at work recruiting and bringing back old members, so much so, that the young boy had barely seen his grandfather around much.

When it came to his friends, Charlie, as harsh as it may have seemed, had only reached out to Hermione and Ron. Out of Dumbledore's request for keeping Harry Potter uninformed of anything regarding the Dark Lord, Charlie, Hermione, and Ron had only spoken briefly to theIr friend, out of fear of revealing something that they shouldn't — this would probably make Harry quite upset...

Nonetheless, earlier in the month, it was time for the new Order to reconvene at 12 Grimmauld Place for their first official meeting back. The Weasley's had arrived about three weeks after Charlie, and had been staying with him, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Alastor Moody ever since.

As for his father, Charlie made sure to keep true to his vow of silence about Fenwick being a Death Eater. However, when it was time for his grandfather to bring the old members of the Order back, Charlie subtly hinted that alerting his father about reforming the organization against Voldemort wasn't exactly the smartest idea. Luckily, Dumbledore didn't require any further convincing as he himself, wasn't planning on inviting Fenwick back into his secret society — with Julia gone, he didn't have the obligation to anymore.

Regardless, Fenwick still remained adamant on keeping tabs on his son more than ever before. He required daily check-ins from Charlie that would consist of a multitude of questions regarding the suspicious silence from Dumbledore, or reasons as to why his son was often away from the castle. Charlie was capable of coming up with very believable lies that would throw his father off the scent of the secret society rising — the less he knew, the better — and when it came to telling his father where he was, the brown eyed boy always said he was with the Weasley's —

Charlie knew that his father wouldn't dare to visit the Weasley's Burrow out of disgust of "conforming" to blood-traitors ways, so that lie remained fairly solid.

The only thing that Charlie chose to focus on was his relationship with his beautiful girlfriend, Hermione Granger. Their relationship was best kept secret now that Charlie knew what his father was capable of. The young boy made a promise to himself that no matter what, nothing was ever going to happen to Hermione — he wouldn't allow it to.

All the brown eyed boy wanted was to just be normal for a day, without worrying about his evil father or his grandfather's secret society. Therefore, Charlie set out for Tottenham Court, so he could relish in a single evening in London with his girlfriend before they would be sucked back into their crazy, magical lives.

Ultimately, Charlie just wanted the world around them to stop, so he could live in the moment with Hermione — away from all the potential problems that they may have to face...

Hermione, in comparison to her boyfriend, wanted to appreciate any alone time that the two had with one another. She had no problem with their relationship being something that only the two of them knew about. In fact, she found comfort in knowing that the two of them could relish in the benefits of their relationship in peace without everyone else trying to put their two senses in; she had Charlie all to herself, and the mere thought of that made her smile.

She had been counting down the moments until she saw Charlie again, and imagine the immediate happiness that swelled up inside her as she waited for him in the depths of the subway station.

Her heart began to beat at a rapid pace when suddenly, the train came barreling into the station before coming to a complete stop. The doors opened wide, and one by one, commuters came pouring out of the subway car, but none of them had the sparkling brown eyes that the bushy haired girl was so desperate to see.

Until at last, the last person out of the sliding doors was none other than her boyfriend, an immediate smile found its way on to her face as she peered at him over the heads of the subway dwellers.

Hermione took in the sight of him from a distance. His signature curl was dangling in front of his confused face and his bag was held over his shoulder as he watched the Muggles pass by him in a rush.

Charlie had never been one to associate with Muggles, you see, as his father basically forbid him to do so, and yet, the look of bewilderment on his face was something that Hermione found adorable.

Not being able to contain her excitement any longer, the bushy haired girl had pushed her way through the commuters without a second thought. It didn't take long for Charlie to catch a glimpse of her as she was basically running towards him now. So he simply set his bag onto the floor, and held out his arms, just in time for his girlfriend to jump into them, planting a huge kiss on his lips in the process — god, how they both had missed this.

(A/N: okay but like lowkey... Char and Mione are literally Noah and Allie from the Notebook with magical powers — I dare you to tell me I'm wrong)

After a moment of engaging in a very intimate public display of affection, the two pulled away and Charlie set Hermione back down on the floor.

Charlie, being the smartass that he was, waved off those that stared at him and his girlfriend snogging in the subway station, "Nothing to see here — move along."

Hermione laughed, slapping his arm playfully before wrapping her arms back around him, pulling him into a hug. They both found solace within each others arms after being apart for so long.

"I've missed you," Hermione said truthfully as she pulled back, resting her head against his. "Your voice, your kisses — everything."

"I bet you have," Charlie teased, but was quick to place another kiss on her lips to stop her from scolding him for his comment. As they pulled away once again, he spoke in a heartfelt tone, "I missed you too, beautiful."

"How are things at Grimmauld Place?" Hermione asked, trying to fight a smile as she was still flustered from their kisses.

"As good as can be expected," Charlie sighed, "when I told everyone I was coming to get you, Ron wanted to come with me. Luckily, Ginny talked him out of it for whatever reason..."

Hermione giggled, "Of course she did — you reckon she knows about us?"

"Oh absolutely," Charlie laughed. "But I assume she's waiting for her, 'I told you so' moment —Anyways, you haven't missed much and I'm sure Ginny will be delighted to fill you in on all of the excruciatingly boring details tomorrow, but tonight," — he placed a quick peck on her cheek — "I'd much rather if you and I could spend a simple evening far away from all of it."

"Is that right?" Hermione teased, but internally she was beaming at the mere thought of it. "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well Granger," Charlie smirked and leaned in closer, his hot breath giving his girlfriend goosebumps, "I've never seen much of Tottenham Court Road before, I figured we could explore a bit until we went to see your parents."

Hermione raised a flirtatious brow, "Is that your way of asking me out on a date, Hawthorne?"

Charlie smiled bashfully, "I suppose so... I've never done that before, how do you reckon I did?"

Hermione acted like she was thinking for moment, just to cause anticipation to form within her boyfriend, and as expected, Charlie took the bait and waited intently.

"Really good," Hermione beamed, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

With a slight squeal of excitement from his girlfriend, Charlie untangled himself from her embrace so he could pick his bag up off the floor. Then, with his bag in one hand, he interlocked his other with Hermione's and allowed her to lead the way out of the underground subway station.

As they walked up the steps, Charlie took in the sight of setting sun peering over the buildings along the wide street that was thronged with fast-moving people and lined with an abundance of shops in preparation of closing for the day.

They walked down the street for a fair amount of time as Hermione rambled on about the history of certain shops, and Charlie had no interest in stopping her as he found tranquility in the sound of her voice. In the past, the boy never did understand the concept of missing someone so much that you crave something as simple as the way they talk, but with Hermione his entire perspective had changed.

Everything felt right with Hermione, in a way that Charlie didn't really know how to explain. It was like he was with his best friend, but she was so much more than that. She was the one person that knew him better than anyone else — Hermione was someone who inspired him to be the best version of himself.

When they first met, they had a connection unlike any other — a connection in which they were drawn to one another despite their immediate differences. It was almost like Charlie's entire life had been waiting for her to make her appearance, and every day, he was reminded that she was beyond worth every minute —

"Babe, are you listening?"

Charlie was pulled from his thoughts as Hermione spoke again, waving a hand in front of his face.

"What?" Charlie shook his head to get out of his daze. "Yeah, yeah. Of course, I was listening."

"Really?" Hermione smirked and raised a brow at him, "And what was I saying?"

An amused smile began to form on his face, but before Hermione could slap him playfully on the shoulder to scold him, Charlie pulled her in for an affectionate kiss.

"You're beautiful, you know?" Charlie said sweetly as he pulled away, trying to charm his way out of admitting that he wasn't actually listening. "Have I mentioned that?"

Hermione laughed and jokingly rolled her eyes before placing a finger on the boy's lips, "Flattery gets you nowhere, baby."

"It was worth a shot, I reckon."

The two of them laughed as Hermione interlocked their hands once again, and pulled him forward, passing by other couples who were out for a night stroll. Charlie's eyes wandered, however, as they passed by a grand, old-looking theatre at the bottom of the road. It was lit up in great white strobe lights, and with the moon darkening everything around them, it was the brightest area along the road.

(A/N: photo reference)

"That's the Dominion Theatre," Hermione explained as they came to a stop so Charlie could take in the sight of the building. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Charlie said in awe as he looked around.

The giant awning covered the entire area of sidewalk in front of the theatre. Older and professional-looking men and women kept walking through the doors; they were ready for their evening viewing of the play, Grease, which was heavily advertised from the giant poster illuminated on top of the building.

Yet, what caught Charlie's eye the most was the glass cases stationed on either side of the doors, which were previewing the productions that were coming to the theatre in the near future.

"Look," Charlie said softly, pulling Hermione to one of the glass cases.

Peering inside, the brightly-lit poster for Romeo and Juliet hung underneath a grand red banner that read:

Coming Soon...

"That's the book you got me for my birthday two years ago," Charlie said simply, but Hermione's ears had perked up. "The one about two lovers in fair Verona — you said it was one of your favourite Muggle stories, right?"

Hermione stared at her boyfriend in awe as he stared into the case. For some reason, the fact that he remembered such a minimal detail about her made her heart flutter.

Charlie looked in her direction when she didn't answer, and gave her a funny look when he caught her staring, "What? Something on my face?"

"No, no! It's just..." she trailed off, still enamoured. "...I can't believe you remembered that."

"Of course I remember," Charlie smiled proudly before placing a kiss on the side of her head. He turned back to the case, "I reckon we should go see it when it comes to town, what do you think?"

"I'd love to," Hermione beamed, placing a quick kiss on the boy's cheek before they began walking once again. "Come on, there's a café not too far from here."

They walked a little further until they reached a small and shabby, yet charming Italian café named, Luchino Caffe. Upon entering, they were escorted to a table by a single waitress who asked for their drink order as they got situated.

"Two cappuccinos, please." Hermione said sweetly, and the waitress hurried off into the back to prepare them.

Charlie and Hermione linked hands from across the table as they engaged in conversation about what they had done since they had been apart.

Hermione reminisced about her recent adventures with her parents while Charlie talked about Grimmauld Place and how the Weasley's were driving him insane. Their cappuccinos arrived within a couple minutes, and much to her unknowing, when Hermione went to take a sip, some of the foam left residue on her lip.

"You got a little something..." Charlie said, trying to stifle a laugh as Hermione's eyes widened, "Here I got it —"

Charlie raised his thumb to her face and gently wiped her lips of the cappuccino foam as Hermione looked at him intensely, her auburn eyes growing darker. Once Charlie wiped it all off, he stuck his thumb in his mouth, and in that moment, it took every bit of self-control Hermione had to not jump across the table and kiss him passionately.

But the cheeky wink that Charlie sent in her direction, gave her confirmation that he knew of the effect he had on her, and she refused to give him that satisfaction.

Instead, Hermione raised a brow at him, "You think you're cute, don't you?"

"I think I'm adorable," Charlie corrected with a playful smile, which made Hermione giggle. The boy took a sip of his cappuccino, wiggling his eyebrows at his girlfriend in the process.

"Maybe a little," Hermione admitted bashfully, and Charlie was quick to bring her hand to his lips and kiss it gently.

The two continued to talk the night away. Yet, they kept true to the idea of not getting caught up in talking about the Dark Lord, Harry Potter, or the Order — they just wanted to be normal teenagers on a date. All that mattered was the idea of talking about nothing with someone who meant something — that is what made the night perfect.

However, the two of them would seemingly lose track of time, and before they knew it, it was quarter past eleven at night. Charlie, who was determined not to make a bad impression on her parents, paid for their drinks and led Hermione out of the café and onto the now deserted street.

Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't worried about her parents at all, and instead, didn't want the night to end. She had been enjoying her night with her boyfriend, and despite her knowing that her parents were probably worried, she would pull back on Charlie's arm every now and then, just to place kisses all over his face in attempt to make the moment last a little longer.

"I know what you're doing," Charlie whispered as Hermione kissed the side of his face repeatedly; they hadn't even walked far from the café yet.

"Hmm?" Hermione hummed obliviously before whispering in his ear, "What am I doing?"

Charlie rolled his eyes playfully as Hermione continued to kiss down his neck simply to try and stall him a little longer.

Then, a mischievous idea formed his his head, and without hesitation, the brown eyed boy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and spun her around.

Hermione squealed as he held onto her, walking a few steps before eventually putting her down, and placing a passionate kiss on her lips.

"As fun as this is," Charlie said with a sigh as he pulled away, causing Hermione to pout from what was to come next. "We should really get going."

"No, not yet, please" Hermione whined, wrapping her arms back around the boy's neck. "I want to stay here... with you."

"We'll come back one day, I promise," Charlie said as he kissed her nose in a cute manner, "But your parents are probably worried sick, and truth be told, I don't want to make a bad impression."

"You've met them before," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion. "and they loved you."

"Yeah, but that was before..." Charlie said nervously, "we were just friends then, and now, well, we're together and —"

"Beyond happy," Hermione finished, stopping her boyfriend from getting too much in his head.

"But meeting your parents as your friend is a lot different from visiting their house as your boyfriend," Charlie gulped, and Hermione's heart awed at his cute nervousness. "I just... I don't want to screw it up."

"Aw baby," Hermione said softly, gazing into his eyes before placing a comforting and short kiss on his lips. "They'll love you just as much as they did before, I know they will. They know we're crazy for each other and that's good enough for them — you have nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Okay," Charlie breathed out, and Hermione was quick to lean up and kiss him again; there was so much reassurance in her kiss that the boy was feeling slightly more confident with the whole thing.

Shortly after, the two began to walk again. However, this time, an idea had formed in Hermione's head and she thought the opportunity would be too adorable to not see it through.

So, she hung back behind him slightly, just so Charlie could walk far enough away that she could get a running start and jump on his back playfully.

Much to his surprise, Charlie held her still anyway, and he carried her up the rest of Tottenham Court Road without a care in the world. The entire rest of the way, Hermione held onto him tightly, kissing the side of his face again, but also whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

"I like you a lot," Hermione whispered; it was so low that it sent a chill down his spine and made his heart beat rapidly.

On top of that, Charlie couldn't help the wide and flustered smile that appeared on his face — he was really falling hard for this girl...

"I like you a lot too."

———————————————

They found their way to Hermione's parents house and to no ones surprise, the porch lights were on, indicating that her parents were still up and waiting for them.

(A/N: we're just gonna pretend that Hermione lives nearby Tottenham Court Road, okay? I know she lives in Hampstead, but for story purposes... lol)

Charlie had set Hermione down on the ground before they walked up the steps to the front door. He visibly tensed as nervousness overcame him again — he had a right to feel nervous, didn't he? It was kind of a big deal, wasn't it?

And yet, Hermione, who knew her boyfriend better than anyone else, slipped her hand in his, and had every intention of placing a final peck onto his lips, but the front door flung open —

"Hermione Jean Granger!"

Charlie looked up and he gulped at the sight of both of Hermione's parents standing there with their arms crossed, looking thoroughly worried.

"Where have you been?" Monica Granger asked in a scolding tone. "Your father and I have been worried sick!"

Charlie breathed slowly and spoke before Hermione got the chance to, "That was my fault. I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I lost track of time —"

"We both did," Hermione corrected, squeezing Charlie's hand gently to which the boy smiled softly.

"Oh, Charlie, dear," Monica turned to him, her expression softening as she pulled him into a tight hug. "It's so good to see you! How was the train ride?

"It wasn't too bad," Charlie said as he pulled back from the hug. He looked at Hermione with a smile, "It was definitely worth the trip."

"Aw, well then, as long as you two are alright," Monica beamed, instantly forgetting about her worried state. "Isn't that right, Wendell?"

For the first time, Charlie turned to look at Hermione's dad directly; he didn't look too happy, and instantly, the brown eyed boy felt a bit uneasy and held his breath.

However, once Wendell caught sight of how happy his daughter looked holding hands with the boy in the doorway his expression, just like his wife's, softened.

"That's right," he said with a soft smile before turning to Charlie, and sticking out a hand. "The boy with the letters turned boyfriend... welcome to the family."

Charlie exhaled slowly out of relief, and instantly shook the man's hand firmly, "Thank you."

"Hermione," her father called, pulling the girl from her gaze of awe at watching her parents and boyfriend interact. "It's fairly late. Why don't you go show Charlie where he'll be sleeping?"

The bushy haired girl nodded and pulled Charlie into the house; it was a a fairly large and was decorated extremely well, which one could assume was a benefit of having such a high-paying job as a dentist.

The living room was to the left of the door as they walked in, and Charlie could briefly make out the family photos on the mantle above the fireplace. In the back of the house, was the kitchen and dining room. Then, on the right of the door, was a giant staircase that lead upstairs to which Hermione pulled him towards.

All the way along the wall leading upwards, were photos of Hermione at various stages of her life, and Charlie couldn't help but smile at each and every one of them.

"Oh, by the way," Wendell called from the bottom of the stairs, causing Charlie and Hermione to stop and look down at him, "leave the door open."

"Dad!" Hermione scolded while Charlie's face flushed red — that's embarrassing...

As her parents shared a laugh before disappearing into the kitchen, Hermione pulled Charlie further up the stairs, until at last, they reached the top floor. However, before she showed him the guest bedroom, there was something that Hermione wanted him to see. So, despite his confusion, Charlie was pulled into Hermione's bedroom.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Charlie asked with a raised brow.

"You'll see," Hermione said simply before walking around her bed, sitting down, and looking at something on her bedside table.

Charlie nodded in understanding and occupied himself by looking around the room.

It was, somehow, exactly how he imagined it to be. There was a packed bookshelf in one corner, a desk underneath her window that was filled with work that she had been doing over the summer, but his favourite part, without a doubt, was the board of photos the was hung on her wall.

(A/N: we really making this shit as accurate as possible, eh?)

It was filled with pictures of her friends from Hogwarts; Charlie, Ginny, Ron, and Harry, and each photo held a different memory; Quidditch matches, study dates, and even silly photos of them making stupid faces. It brought an immediate smile to Charlie's face as he looked at them; he even laughed at some of them.

"Which one's your favourite?" Charlie asked, but he didn't tear his gaze from the wall as he tried to examine each photo.

"This one," Hermione said, but to Charlie's surprise, she wasn't pointing at one on the wall, but instead, holding up a framed photo that had been individually separated and kept on her bedside table.

Charlie walked over, and sat down next to her on her bed before taking the frame from her hands. Some of the best memories of his life flooded in his head as he gazed down at the photo.

It was a picture of the two of them dancing at the Yule Ball, and it seems as though it was taken just seconds after he had called her beautiful, as they both were seemingly flustered, yet happy at the same time.

"Where did you get this?" Charlie asked as he looked at his girlfriend in awe.

"I made Rita Skeeter give it to me before I let her go," Hermione said with a slight laugh. "She had all of these candid photos of people that she was planning on using in her articles, and I told her I was going to get rid of them all, but when I saw this one... I just had to keep it."

Charlie chuckled, "Who would've thought that Rita Skeeter actually managed to capture something as good as this?"

"Never would've guessed," Hermione joked, but as her eyes fell on the photo again, her heart fluttered, just like it always did every time she looked at it. "That night was one of the best ones of my life."

"Is that right?" Charlie teased, a smirk forming on his face. "And why might that be?"

Hermione nudged him playfully before she spoke in a timid tone, "You know why..."

"I know," Charlie said softly before putting a hand on the side of her face and pulling her into a short but sweet kiss.

But a forced cough coming from the doorway had pulled them away from one another. Both, Charlie and Hermione's heads turned to the door in a panic.

"Mum!" Hermione squealed from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry!" Monica said timidly, her face reddening, "I just thought that Charlie would like another pillow for the guest room!"

It was then that Charlie took notice in the pillow in Monica's hands, but he didn't dare make eye contact with her as he was too embarrassed.

"Uh, yeah," Charlie stuttered, "that would be great."

And without saying another word, Monica handed him the pillow and left the room. Hermione immediately buried her head into Charlie's chest and groaned loudly to which he simply laughed before kissing her head softly.

"C'mon," he said in a whisper, "it's late."

With a reluctant nod, Hermione led Charlie to the guest room. It was fairly basic in decor, nothing too special, but it was incredibly home-like with its neutral colours. Charlie set his bag on the bed as he listened to Hermione intently.

"Restroom is down the hall," she said, "and if you need anything just ask, okay?"

"Okay," Charlie repeated with a smile as he walked over to her, kissing her on the head, "Goodnight, baby."

Hermione smiled and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, but before she could deepen it —

"No funny business," Wendell Granger said in a sing-song as he passed by the room. The two teenagers pulled away, and Charlie could've sworn he heard the sniggering of Hermione's parents down the hall.

"They're so embarrassing," Hermione said with an eye roll as she leaned her head against Charlie's.

"They're funny," Charlie corrected with a laugh to which Hermione raised a brow at him. "Look on the bright side, they could be a lot worse."

"I suppose," Hermione sighed before gazing back into Charlie's eyes, "Goodnight."

Charlie simply smiled in response, and his girlfriend swept out of the room. He quickly got ready for bed, and dozed off in the Granger's guest bedroom, reminiscing on how good his night with Hermione had been.

——————————————

"Charlie."

The boy was pulled from his sleep in the middle of the night by a whispering voice and a slight shake on the arm. Charlie groggily looked around and could make out the face of his girlfriend which was illuminated by the moonlight coming in from the window.

"What is it?" he said softly, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Hermione responded in a whisper, "I just... I want cuddles."

Charlie laughed a bit as he turned over to look at the clock on the bedside table, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Mione, it's nearly three in the morning," he said matter of factly, but Hermione didn't seem to care, so he pressed on, "What about your parents?"

"I'll sneak back into my room before they wake up," Hermione said, clearly unbothered, as she tugged at the covers and pouted, "please."

Charlie sighed — as much as he respected the Granger's, especially after they let him stay the night, it was hard to say no to Hermione. After a moment to debate with himself about what the right thing to do was, Charlie pulled the covers back so she could crawl in next to him.

They cuddled into each other like two pieces of puzzle; her head resting in the crook of his neck and his arms wrapping around her as he kissed her head.

Hermione smiled contently into his chest; she got what she wanted, and who could blame her? She hadn't seen him for a month and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before going back to Grimmauld Place and being forced to act like they were just friends.

"Thanks for tonight," she said softly to which Charlie hummed in response. "It was perfect."

"I'm glad," Charlie whispered with a soft smile, but his eyes were dozing off again. "I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot too," Hermione said before placing a kiss on the part of his neck that she could reach.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, again."

———————————————

Charlie awoke the next morning and the memories of the previous evening flooded his head.

Just as she had said, Hermione had seemingly snuck back to her room very early in the morning because when Charlie extended his arms, he grasped nothing but air.

He glanced at the clock, half past nine in the morning; he had slept in a little bit. As he threw the covers off of himself and sat up, a piece of parchment sat on his bedside table pulled his gaze. Grabbing it in his hands and opening it slightly, he read in his head:

Morning darling,

I didn't want to wake you, so I slipped out when you were sound asleep.

When you wake up, meet us downstairs for breakfast.

I like you a lot.

xo, Hermione

p.s. thanks for the cuddles <3

Charlie smiled to at the note before getting ready for the day. When he was ready, he headed downstairs for breakfast, just as the note said.

The distant talking of the Granger family grew louder as he approached. Soon enough, he stepped into the kitchen and immediately three pairs of eyes had fallen on him.

"Good morning," Hermione beamed.

"Morning," Charlie said with a smile as he took his seat next to his girlfriend to which she linked their hands under the table.

Wendell nodded at the young boy with a smile as he peered over the newspaper in his hands, and Charlie simply nodded back at him.

Monica, who was at the stove, spoke in a cheerful tone, "Did you sleep well, Charlie? We just redid that guest bedroom."

Charlie subtly glanced at Hermione and saw her blushing uncontrollably to which he probably made it worse by saying, "Yeah, I slept great. Probably the best sleep I've had in a while."

"That new mattress was worth the investment then, I reckon," Monica beamed as she turned from the stove with a pan in her hand. She walked over and placed a piece of bacon on everyone's plates.

Wendell put the newspaper down and looked over at his daughter, "Have you got your bag packed?"

"Yes, I packed yesterday afternoon," Hermione said at once.

"Of course you did," Charlie laughed to which Hermione playfully slapped him on the leg under the table.

"Great," Wendell beamed before turning to Charlie, "Now Charlie, Hermione tells us that you're very gifted in the magical game of Quidditch. I've always been very fascinated in the sport, what's it like?"

"It's great," Charlie said after taking a sip of the water in front of him. "It's the most popular and most well-known game among witches and wizards..."

And for the next half an hour or so, Charlie and Wendell engaged in a lengthy conversation about Quidditch to which Monica and Hermione chimed in every couple minutes or so.

Charlie had to admit, he had been nervous about the whole meeting the in-laws thing because he had very little experience with such a respectable and loving family dynamic. However, by the end of the visit, he could safely say that the Grangers went above and beyond to make him feel like one of their own.

Hermione had felt her heart swoon many times as she watched her boyfriend get along so well with her parents. They were the three people she cared about most in the world, and she couldn't fight the smile on her face that appeared every time that Charlie acted like he was part of the family.

After breakfast, it was time for Charlie to head back to Grimmauld place with Hermione. The brown eyed boy helped load the bags into the back of the car, as it was decided that walking while slugging the bags was going to be a nightmare.

Wendell and Monica graciously escorted them both to Tottenham Court Station, and waited around to bid a bittersweet farewell to their daughter.

After Wendell had said goodbye to Hermione, he turned to Charlie and stuck out his hand once again, "Take care of my daughter, will you?"

"Of course," Charlie said at once and shook the man's hand firmly to which Wendell smiled.

Then came Monica Granger, who gave the brown eyed boy a hug directly after she had done the same to her daughter, and said, "Thanks for coming."

Charlie smiled as he reciprocated the hug, "Thanks for having me."

Monica was beaming as she pulled away from the young boy, "Come visit any time you'd like, okay?"

"I'd be honoured," Charlie said in a charming tone before linking hands with Hermione, and stepping onto the subway train.

As the doors closed behind them, Charlie and Hermione both waved to Monica and Wendell who waved back from the platform, and soon enough, after finding their seats, the subway began to move.

A couple of hours of travelling later, Charlie and Hermione stood outside the entrance of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. The only problem was, it was hidden from the public eye.

Looking around quickly for any sign of Muggles, Charlie kept thinking about what he had been forced to memorize at the beginning of the summer:

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

Then, no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, had a battered door emerged out of nowhere between eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows; it was though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way.

Hermione stared at the magic unfolding with awe to which Charlie chuckled slightly before holding out a hand, "Shall we?"

The bushy haired girl nodded, but to his surprise, she didn't take his hand. As he was about to question it, however, Hermione teased him, "We're just friends when we're here, remember? Friends don't hold hands."

Charlie smirked, "I don't recall that ever stopping us before."

"Yeah well, we were never just friends, were we?" Hermione said in a hot whisper as she brushed passed him before climbing up the steps of the old-looking house.

Charlie, who remained stunned by her tone of voice, took a moment to come back to his senses before he followed behind her with the bags. He closed the door behind him and it didn't take long for hurried steps to be heard from the floor above them.

"Hello?" Charlie called, and soon enough, all of the Weasley's had emerged from various parts of the house.

"Hermione! Charlie!"

Ginny engulfed Hermione into a tight hug as Ron, Fred and George basically tackled Charlie to the ground out of excitement.

"Oh, dears, it is lovely to see you two!" Molly Weasley said, practically jumping from excitement.

"I'm glad you two are here," Ron said in a slight panicked voice, "Harry's just sent letters. Apparently it's bad. Something about Dementors and using magic underage, and now —"

"The Ministry is getting involved," Ginny said softly, as Hermione and Charlie's faces had fallen.

Charlie sighed, "Great."

Safe to say it took all of about thirty seconds before, as expected, Charlie and Hermione's crazy, magical lives took top priority over their love-induced and normal evening that they had spent together...

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, I guess...

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

This chapter was like 90% Charmione fluff and I love it lmfao

DISCLAIMER — Listen, we all know my girl Hermione isn't one for PDA, but in this story, I've quite obviously made it that when it comes to Charlie, she can't help herself lol

My favourite part of this book is writing parallel moments that you guys probably won't recognize unless you reread the book when I'm finished lol

For example... remember their date on Tottenham Court Road...

Much love to you all! Spam with comments ❤️

xo, Selena

p.s. wattpad messed up and I can only see half of the comments y'all left on the last part, so if you could, just repeat the cute couple nicknames that you think Charlie and Hermione's would call one another.