Rose Among the Thorns

Chapter 19- Of the Honeymoon

Charlie and Hermione returned to London two weeks later, both much tanner than they had left. They had explored both magical and non-magical sites in Athens, Santorini, Samos, and Paros together. Hermione dragged her new husband across the country, often quoting A History of Magic under her breath.

"Weren't the ancient Greeks marvelous?" Hermione had exclaimed dozens of times upon discovering the birthplaces of famous Greek witches and wizards. She would scramble up the path towards the tiny villages rattling off the statistics of the particular wizard who had lived there, Charlie trotting dutifully behind her.

It had taken a great deal of artful persuasion on his part to finally coerce her to spend a day at the beach. He had confiscated all of the books she had brought with her, much to her dismay. Later that evening Hermione had admitted that it had been a wonderful day, sunbathing and swimming in the Mediterranean. She had even seen the Hungarian Horntail tattoo on his left shoulder, which he begged her not to tell his mother about.

Back at Hermione's, now their, flat they had just finished unpacking when Ginny Flooed.

"How did you know we were back?" Hermione asked, slightly awestruck.

"Charlie's arrow on mum's clock moved to 'home," her friend replied, her face grinning in the flames.

"Hey, Gin, how've you and Harry been?" Charlie asked his sister as he knelt on the rug next to his new bride.

She shrugged. "Status quo. I've got a match this weekend, if you want to come."

"Love to," her brother replied.

"Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Tomorrow sounds fine," Hermione replied.

As Ginny's head disappeared from the fireplace Charlie chuckled softly.

"What?" Hermione asked him.

He looked down at his watch. "I'll give her five...four...three...two...one...now"

Someone rapped on the front door.

"Mum," Charlie said upon seeing the quizzical look on Hermione's face.

"Charlie, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said, scurrying over the threshold of their flat. "I spoke to Ginny and she said you had just gotten home."

She embraced her son and kissed Hermione on the cheek. Then she went into the kitchen.

From the sounds of the cabinet doors and cookware clanging, it sounded like Mrs. Weasley was making tea. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her sheepish husband.

"Did you enjoy yourselves?" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mum. Greece is beautiful this time of year," Charlie responded.

"We brought everyone souvenirs back with us," Hermione added.

Mrs. Weasley returned from the kitchen with a tea tray loaded with steaming cups of tea and sandwiches.

"Now you didn't have to do that for us," she chided.

They spent the next hour and a half having a rather uncomfortable tea. Hermione wanted nothing more than to unpack, start a bit of wash, take a bath and go to bed. She had a distinct feeling that her mother-in-law was fishing for any romantic developments between her son and his new bride, and Hermione didn't like this much.

Finally, Hermione shut the door behind Mrs. Weasley, but only after promising several times to attend Sunday dinner at the Burrow. She leaned on the door, pressing her forehead into the cool wood.

"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized as he picked up the leftovers from their tea. "She's, well, you know what she's like."

"I suppose she does get lonely sitting by herself at home all day," Hermione conceded, moving to help Charlie clean up the mess.

After they finished tidying up, Hermione started on the wash while Charlie showered. She took a quick bath, then settled down on her side of the bed to read the latest edition of Transfiguration Today. Charlie padded into the bedroom and slid under the covers next to her.

"Do you want me to turn the light off?" she asked.

He mumbled something Hermione couldn't make out. She lowered her magazine and looked at him. Charlie was lying on his side, his back facing her. His slightly damp, untidy hair was half buried in the pillow.

"Charlie?"

After several moments with no response Hermione tried again.

"Charlie?"

A soft, low snore was her answer. She giggled, dropped her magazine on the nightstand, and picked up her wand.

"Silencio," Hermione said, pointing at her husband's back. She smiled with satisfaction as he stopped snoring.

Hermione turned off her lamp and snuggled under the covers. With a grimace, she remembered that she had to return to work the next day, and she had a sneaking suspicion that the entire office would be on her like goblins on gold.

*******

Notes: No, there hasn't been any hanky panky yet. They've still got five and a half months to get pregnant.