Crush

The first time Hermione met Charlie Weasley was a few days before the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione arrived early in the morning at the Burrow and Ginny enthusiastically introduced her to her two oldest brothers. She met Bill first; he was a tall man with slightly reddened skin and long red hair that was tied back in a ponytail.

She couldn't help but notice that Bill was quite handsome, but it was Charlie Weasley that caused her heart to beat a little faster and her breath to hitch in her throat. Charlie was about her height with broad arms and shoulders. His hands were rough and scarred; when she shook his hand she let her thumb discreetly slide over a thick scar on the back of his hand.

Hermione spent most of the day asking Charlie questions about how he got his job and asking him to regale her with tales of what happened deep in Romania working with dragons. The rest of the Weasleys wrote off the extra attention Hermione was giving Charlie as Hermione just being herself and trying to learn something new. In actuality, Hermione just wanted to be alone with Charlie, and was studying his movements very closely. She noticed that whenever he was really into a story he would push himself to the edge of whatever he was sitting on and use his hands to accent whatever point he was making.

The night of Hermione's arrival she found she was having trouble sleeping. After attempting to go to sleep for a few hours, she wandered down to the kitchen for a glass of water. She made it to the sink before stopping, her heart beating rapidly. Charlie Weasley was sitting on the couch in the kitchen, she only saw the back of his head, but she could tell it was him by the relaxed way he was sitting. She saw his left arm lying on the back of the couch and he was leaning slightly to the right on the arm of the couch.

She knew even before she came around to look at him that he was sitting with his right leg bent so that his ankle was resting on his left leg. Charlie had been sitting like that all day when he wasn't telling Hermione some story about him and his coworkers at the dragon habitat. "Hermione? What are you doing up?" He looked up, slightly surprised to see anyone else awake at that time in the night.

"I could ask you the same thing," Hermione said playfully as she took a seat across from him.

"You've never shared a room with Bill. I've slept with dragons roaring right outside my window, but when Bill snores it's like someone grinding rocks into your ear. Fred and George couldn't sleep either and began to work on some of their joke products. I left before I could be considered an accomplice," he shrugged. "So, what's your excuse for being up so late? It can't be Bill's snoring. I know he's loud, but I'm relatively sure that you can't hear him in Ginny's room."

Hermione gave a little giggle, "No, it wasn't Bill, I just couldn't sleep." Charlie nodded his head and they sat together in silence. Hermione shifted a little in her seat; she had spent the entire day grilling Charlie about work, but there was one question she avoided. She didn't know why she didn't just ask him, it wasn't too personal, and not remotely insulting. When she really thought about it, she assumed that she didn't want him to think her too immature to understand, but the silence seemed to crush her until she let the words slip from her mouth, "Why dragons? Why not work with some safer creature?"

Charlie placed both feet onto the floor and leaned forward. His forearms rested on his legs and he clasped his hands together. He dropped his head down with a deep sigh; Hermione was sure he was about to tell her that she was far too young to understand. The words never came; instead he let his legs bounce a few times as he thought. "Dragons fascinate me." He lifted his head and looked directly into Hermione's eyes. "I respect them enough to know they are dangerous, so I know how to work with them. I know when to stay away, when it's safe to approach, and when to give them a minute to adjust." He shook his head and sighed, "You probably don't understand; hardly anybody does."

Hermione thought for a second, she couldn't exactly explain how, but she understood what Charlie meant. She knew how to act around Harry, who could be as dangerous as any dragon that ever lived. "No, I understand." Her eyes locked onto his.

Charlie smiled, smacked his legs and stood up. "Well, it's time the two of us tried to get some sleep." He lifted himself off the couch and held his hand out to Hermione. She smiled sheepishly and a slight flush crept into her cheeks as she gripped his hand.

Charlie escorted Hermione to the room she was sharing with Ginny. Hermione walked as close as she dared, taking in the scent of smoke that was coming from Charlie. They stopped in front of the door to Ginny's room, "Sleep well, M'lady," Charlie smiled as he brought the back of Hermione's hand close and brushed his lips against it. He laughed softly and told Hermione he would see her in the morning, to which Hermione gave a small wave.

Hermione crawled into her bed and breathed deeply. Her hand was tingling where Charlie's lips and touched it and her heart was fluttering in her chest. She fell asleep replaying the scene in her mind, with a slight bit of embellishment, and hoping that morning would come quickly.