AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was my submission for the 2011 SMUTTY-CLAUS FIC AND ART EXCHANGE FEST. My exchange partner was... my excellent friend, UNSEENLIBRARIAN!

Exchange partner's prompts incorporated:Charlie Weasley x Hermione Granger, plot, action, romance, strong & resolute female character, snarky banter, Christmas, chocolate, one-upmanship, snowbound, thrilling chase, scarves used in creative ways, bathroom sex, wild sex, angst with an HEA.

Further challenge was to throw in as many well-known, cliché phrases as possible.

To Unseenlibrarian: I love you, Ook! You're a fabulous, wonderful, awe-inspiring friend, and I hope you like this story I've worked hard to bring to life for you!

Thank you to my fabulous beta MCCARGI who was of amazing (SUPER ULTRA AMAZING!) help in assuring this piece was as wonderful as possible for my recipient. Woman, you are a goddess, too, and I owe you one! Call in that favour anytime!

Thank you the mod - flyingcarpet - for putting on this fabulous fic exchange! We're sad to see you step down and hand over the reins to someone else, but we're very thankful for everything you've done for this fandom and that we'll continue to see you around the 'net!

Please review, folks!

DISCLAIMER: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

TIMELINE: June, 2000 – June 2005

MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Charlie Weasley, Ginny Weasley-Potter, Ron Weasley

SECONDARY CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Fleur Delacour-Weasley, Anglina Johnson-Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Jeremy Stretton, Arthur Weasley, Audrey Weasley, Bill Weasley, George Weasley, Molly Weasley, Percy Weasley + original characters

SUMMARY: Post-Hogwarts-EWE (2000-2005). It began with a collision. Not a life-threatening one, where body parts were damaged, and people would wail and lament a loss, but it would ultimately turn out to be a life-altering one that had something to do with racing blood, and tears, and breaking hearts and mending them back up. This is the story of how Hermione fell out of love with Ron Weasley, and fell into love with his brother, Charlie. It charts how years and circumstances kept them apart, and how their undeniable attraction for each other kept them coming back for more. It is the story of wishes changing fate, of ritual magic taking root, and of a very satisfying happily-ever-after accompanied by a lot of moans, groans, and crazy, wild kisses. Watch the sparks fly as hearts collide!

EXTRA: The landscape surrounding The Burrow in this fic is modelled on the idea from the "Deathly Hallows" video game (it's a combination of the 2nd and 6th movie versions – golden marsh out front, trees/grass out back and hills). I listened to the song, "Collide" by Howie Day while writing this fic (the title is in homage to such a great song) – give it a listen sometime!

RATING: NC-17/MA (Explicit Profanity, Explicit Sexual Situations, Infidelity)

**IMAGES for this fanfic can be found by going here (remove all spaces from the URL to make it load properly): http:/ / s905 . photobucket . com / albums / ac260 / RZZMG / Collide/

COLLIDE

BY RZZMG

June 2000

It began with a collision. Not a life-threatening one, where body parts were damaged, and people would wail and lament a loss, but it would ultimately turn out to be a life-altering one that had something to do with racing blood, and tears, and breaking hearts and mending them back up.

The place was The Burrow. The month was June, and the weather was perfect – not too hot, not too humid. The occasion was to celebrate a brand new tradition: an Order of the Phoenix annual summer party.

That day Hermione had purposefully chosen to Apparate to the Weasleys' property, rather than Floo, for she didn't want the green, sooty powder associated with such travel to ruin the pretty, light lavender-coloured tea dress she'd purchased to wear for the event, nor for the violent whipping of the passage through the Network to upset the neat hair trim and style she'd had professionally done just that morning for this specific occasion.

All of her painstaking care was done, of course, with the specific intent of surprising Ron, the boyfriend she hadn't seen since the Easter holiday, when he'd had a few days off from the Auror Apprenticeship Program. His six-month assignment with Harry in Germany was almost up, thankfully, and they'd be able to spend a little more time together soon... and be able to explore their new sexual relationship, which they'd finally consummated during his last visit.

Appearing at the edge of the Weasley property, she walked the rest of the way down the well-worn path to their home, enjoying the late morning sun across her bared arms. The large, canvas party tent was just being set-up by the full contingent of ginger-haired wizards on site, so she turned towards the house, to go into the kitchen with an offer of help. In her hands, she held a tin of her homemade shortbread petticoat tails to share.

After turning the treats over to Molly and greeting everyone with hugs and kisses, she'd been shooed out of the kitchen. "Don't want to ruin that lovely dress of yours, my dear," Mrs. Weasley had kindly excused her from the work detail. "Ron hasn't even seen you in it yet!"

Seeing that the food preparation was well-in hand – Fleur, Ginny, Angelina, Audrey and Harry were helping out – she took the hint and went to find her boyfriend.

Heading out the door, Hermione turned the corner of the house intending to head into the backyard, and collided with someone hurrying in the opposite direction at just that same moment. The impact jarred her backwards and she nearly fell.

With quick reflexes and a firm grip, the other party involved in the accident grabbed onto her arms to steady her, assuring her safety. "Alright there, Hermione?"

Looking up into the bright summer sun, her gaze fell upon Charlie Weasley.

Of all the boys at The Burrow, Charlie was the one she'd spent the least amount of time with, as he'd been stationed in Romania for work since his graduation from Hogwarts, rarely coming home. Yes, he'd been present to battle the Death Eater attacks at the Quidditch World Cup during the summer prior to her fourth year, and to safely escort her and the others to King's Cross that September. He'd also participated in the Triwizard Tournament's First Task that same year by safely conveying his dragons to Hogwarts. And alright, he'd been at Bill and Fleur's wedding as the Best Man, and he had led a small army of reinforcements during the final battle of the war. Despite all of those opportunities, though, the number of times she actually recalled them interacting could be counted on one hand.

Yet, for what little she did know of him, she had to admit that Charlie intrigued her. She knew from Molly's photo albums that he'd once been the Seeker-slash-Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, good enough to play for the English Nationals, if he'd wanted. His popularity with the witches was also well documented by the photos showing a handful of different girls hanging all over him through the years. Most compelling, however, was his ambition to achieve a universal standard for dragon rights, as they struggled against human encroachment and poaching. His fight in this arena was quickly becoming the stuff of legend in the wizarding community. Already, he'd successfully argued before the International Confederation of Wizards during their semi-annual meeting that the sale and trading of dragon parts, not previously regulated, be limited to those with special license and dispensation by each Foreign Ministry's Magical Creature Department, and that guidelines be established as to who, what, when, where and how such applications and indulgences be allowed. He'd been pivotal in helping to draft that legislation, in fact, and in seeing it passed the floor just this last year, going into effect on an international scale earlier this past Spring.

Hermione had to admit that she was a little star-struck by and a tad envious of Charlie Weasley's ability to practically charm constitutional liberties for a subset of magical creatures into law. If only she could apply his 'magic touch' to her work on house-elf and werewolf rights!

"I'm so sorry about that!" she offered, embarrassed at having run smack into the man's solid chest. "I wasn't paying attention."

"My fault," he easily offered, then paused for a moment to inspect her. "Wow, Hermione, you look really beautiful!"

That caught her attention. She glanced up... and was pierced by his intense gaze.

He had the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, with white ice chips surrounding each dark pupil. Ron's cerulean orbs had a ring of brown in that same place, the same as Arthur's, Bill's and Percy's, and George was like his mum and Ginny – brown-eyed. Charlie was the odd-man out in the family, apparently, having true recessive genes in the eye department.

His hair, she noticed, as the sun struck it just so, was also different from the rest of his family's - more scarlet than burnished copper or ginger, as if it were unnaturally coloured from a box. Bill's came closest in shade, but none of the rest of the Weasley's had such a flame-red look to them. In contrast to his eyes, he obviously had the more dominant redheaded gene of the bunch.

Her hands had automatically rested upon his biceps when he'd grabbed at her, as a means of balancing herself, but now she was acutely aware of the size and strength under her fingertips.

And his scent, heady in her nose as they stood so close together, was of sweaty musk, clean skin, grass and the earth...

Right that moment, for the first time, she noticed Charlie Weasley... and her body reacted to that awareness. Her nipples tightened and she went a bit moist between her thighs, her heart began a staccato beat in her chest, and she could feel the blood heating her cheeks. "T-thanks," she managed to stutter and dropped her eyes, mortified to be attracted to anyone other than Ron.

Abruptly, Charlie released her, made some comment as to needing to get something from in the house in an unaffected tone, and walked around her and out of sight.

Hermione counted the five and then let loose the breath she'd been holding, chided herself for her unintended reaction. She forgave herself for it quickly thereafter, though. After all, she hadn't meant to notice Charlie in any fashion other than friendship, but that she had was easily explained away as hormones. She missed Ron, and had been thinking of what they'd done together back in April a little too much lately. That was all it was.

Casting a quick Cooling Charm over her body, she straightened her dress in preparation for showing off to her boyfriend how pretty she looked and felt.

An hour later, the party was underway. It turned out to be a full house, with every invitee and their guests in attendance. The food was phenomenal, and everyone complimented her biscuits when they were brought out with the other desserts. Ron continually touched her through the event; he kept his arm about her waist practically every second – minus the times he needed two hands to eat. He even snogged her a few times for good measure.

Despite the wonderful attention she received from the man she loved, and the opportunities to reconnect with people she hadn't seen in quite a while, Hermione spent the rest of that afternoon and evening acutely aware of how Charlie Weasley's intense, blue eyes followed her everywhere, uncomfortable in the fact that there was a part of her that secretly liked his attention.

X~~~~~~~~~~X

October 2000

To her surprise, Charlie showed up for the Weasley's October Samhain ritual party. Apparently, everyone else was equally as shocked, as he hadn't put in an appearance at this particular event in many years.

When he approached her with a glass of chilled pumpkin juice extended, she graciously accepted it, trying not to notice how her tummy flipped at his easy smile and his husky voice.

For the hundredth time, she silently wished Ron would hurry up and arrive. He and Harry were running late finishing up the written part of their finals for the Auror Apprenticeship Program. Sometimes, Arthur kindly explained to her, noting her anxiousness, Ministry tests could run over. "But we won't start without them!" he promised.

"Miss little Ronnikins that much, hmmm?" Charlie asked her, a glint of humour in his eye as he took a sip from his own cup.

Hermione looked away from that fetching gaze, afraid he would see the truth of her small attraction for him. She didn't want to encourage it. "Yes, I miss him," she told the truth.

She hadn't seen much of Ron over the last two months, his apprenticeship often requiring him to work ten and twelve hour days, and to study all weekend – something he'd never excelled at in school and now had to work twice as hard to accomplish to meet the goals of the program. Her own job at the Ministry - hired by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures right after graduation the year before - was equally as time-consuming, requiring her, the new witch, to stay late and on weekends, and to bring her work home. Although they'd just moved into a flat in London together in late August, lately they'd been passing ships in the night.

Charlie was quiet in the face of her blunt pronouncement. Finally, he took a deep breath, his glance moving out over the crowd in the backyard, as everyone waited for the bonfire to reach its peak. "Lucky fellow," he finally said, an odd look flitting across his features.

Had that been disappointment she'd spied? Surely not!

Before either could say another word, Arthur called his son to him for help with gathering more wood for the fire. Setting his cup down on a nearby picnic table, he threw her a small smile over his shoulder. "Later, baby."

With that, he walked off, leaving her terribly confused.

The bonfire in the backyard was roaring and the sun had gone down by the time Ron and Harry finally Apparated in. She went to greet her boyfriend, and he met her with a wooden kiss that was quickly over. His behaviour of late had been similarly stilted towards her, and she wondered again what had caused such casual indifference in the man who used to greet her with an enthusiastic kiss each time they met. Yes, they hadn't seen much of each other lately, but they still loved each other... right?

There wasn't time to ask or consider the problem further, as the elder Weasleys called everyone to the circle of the fire, asking them to take up a place, and to hold the hand of the person next to them. She gripped Ron's on one side and Ginny's on the other.

Per the ancient tradition – one that dated back nearly two-thousand years - Molly and her husband burned the harvest sacrifices in order: a small branch from a fruit tree, a perfect shaft of golden wheat, and the innards of a ripe pumpkin. They then spoke the customary blessings of thanks to Mother Earth for providing a good crop this year, and requests to the wind, earth, sea and sky for safety and joy throughout the winter season for all.

"Wish time, everyone!" Arthur chimed in with a bright smile. "Ready? Go!"

Everyone closed their eyes and made a single wish. Custom dictated that it was not to be shared with any other, and that it had to be a wish just for you, not a benevolent wish for others. It was to be the secret of your heart's greatest desire at that time, manifested in thought and given life through feeling.

I wish for love, she thought.

There, that was simple, honest, and to the point.

When she opened her eyes, she just happened to notice that Charlie was standing across the fire, exactly opposite her position. His intense, blue gaze was focused upon her, and it burned her like a thousand suns with the heat of its desire.

Her heart took off under her ribs, and quickly, she looked away, feeling her cheeks bloom scarlet. Misplaced hormones - that's all it is, she tried to convince herself again. After all, it had been a while since she and Ron had... She clasped her boyfriend's hand tighter in hers, feeling their sweaty palms rub together, hoping to garner some strength from the union of their flesh. He didn't grip her back, she noticed.

At some unspoken cue, the others quickly concluded their wishes, opened their eyes, and the round of hugs and kisses on cheeks (or in the case of married or dating couples, on lips) was initiated. Girls stayed put, men moved from lady to lady, circling in a clockwise motion.

Ron's kiss to her mouth was a quick peck. "Happy Samhain," he wished her, and moved on to his mum before she could respond. His cool affection hurt and baffled her, consuming her thoughts so much that she barely noticed as Harry, Percy, and George all appeared before her with their own wishes and kisses to add to her cheeks.

Then, between one blink and the next, Charlie was in front of her, and the fog over her mind lifted. She became hyper-aware instead, as he gripped her shoulders and leaned in. His kiss touched the corner of her mouth. "Happy Samhain, baby," he whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear. "I wish you the love you deserve."

With that, he moved on to greet his mother, and Bill appeared before her instead.

It took her new partner squeezing her arm and whispering a question after her health to break her from the shock of Charlie's kiss. "I'm fine," she reassured her friend. "Happy Samhain, Bill." He gave her a quizzical look as they traded quick pecks on the cheek, but decided to take her at face value. He moved on and Arthur was before her.

The elder Weasley offered her much joy and happiness, reminding her that she was another daughter to him and was always welcome in his home, kissed her forehead, and then passed her off to Ron, who finally returned to her side and took her hand to complete the ritual.

Even as their fingers entwined, Hermione instinctively sensed that Ron's grip upon her was unwanted – merely a duty for her boyfriend, and not a pleasure. She frowned, nervous as to what he was trying to tell her in these small, but important physical gestures. Did he not desire her anymore? What had she done wrong? Was he getting ready for "the talk" – the one every girlfriend dreaded just before their guy dumped them? The idea made her positively nauseated, and took away any joy she'd managed to eke out of the night's activities thus far.

She hardly paid attention when the Weasley patriarch and matriarch said the final blessing upon them all, bringing the ritual to a close, her thoughts consumed by the potential meanings behind Ron's behaviour towards her of late.

Arthur clapped his hands together and rubbed them, the sound drawing Hermione back to the here and now. "Well, don't just stand there like sops. Let's pop some popcorn, shall we?"

Across the fire, George, Charlie and Bill all gave a wild, wolfish howl in happiness that the "serious stuff" was over at last, and then knuckle-tapped each other, trading laughs. The circle took that as its signal that the party had begun and broke up.

"This fire's dehydrating me. Let's get some drinks," Ginny suggested to her over her shoulder as she headed to the picnic table nearby, where Molly had earlier set out pitchers of homemade apple cider and pumpkin juice, along with a selection of finger foods, small dishes, and cloth napkins. She'd also set out across the length of the table the selection of carved pumpkins that everyone had made earlier that day, and set them to glow in the darkness with a flickering candlelight spell.

"Yes, thank you," she politely accepted the offer, aware that Ron had immediately let her go upon the conclusion of the ceremony and went to help Harry set down a blanket near the fire for the four of them to sit upon. "The Jack-o'-lanterns are fabulous, aren't they? The ones I carved for Harry, Ron and I seem... amateurish compared to all of yours."

Gin shrugged. "We've sort of got this unofficial competition going as to who can carve the best one. It's been on-going for years, so we've lots of practice. Yours are wonderful, though. I love how you stacked them on top of each other with a Sticking Charm. Can you tell which is mine?"

Hermione grinned. "I'm going to guess it's the one that has funny little spectacles and a lightning bolt scar cut out of it."

Her best girl friend laughed. "Harry took one look at it earlier and threw me a naughty smirk." She wiggled her bottom in a happy little sway. "I'm gettin' some tonight!" She took her two glasses and headed for the blanket where Harry was currently seated, waiting for her, Ron at his side.

Blushing to her roots, Hermione ignored the sex commentary and tried to guess the others, not having seen them until just this moment, too caught up in carving three pumpkins to pay much attention to the others. "I saw Molly carve the Children's Pumpkin today – the one with the cute expression, so that's a cheat, but the dragon is obvious – Charlie."

"Got it in one, baby!" he called across the fire to her.

From where he sat, she couldn't see him, but just the sound of his voice and his casual referral to her made her belly flip over. She guessed at who carved the rest, getting most of them right. "They're all just amazing!" she stated again in true awe. The skill it took to pull off most of these was astounding.

Her eyes strayed back to the one with the dragon carving; the beast was curled around a crescent moon, breathing fire. She reached out and touched it, running a fingertip over the wings. "So very beautiful!"

Charlie appeared at her side at just that moment. "It's yours," he very softly murmured, so that only the two of them might hear. "I carved it with you in mind. Take it with you after tonight, if you'd like. There's a Permanent Stasis charm on it so it'll never rot."

She couldn't look at him, frightened by her inappropriate feelings for him, knowing they would be obvious on her face if she were to glance up. "T-thank you," she offered instead.

The sound of popping within the kettle began and cheers rang out from the group – and Charlie took that as his signal to slink back to the blanket that he was sharing with Fleur and her husband after refreshing his drink.

Hermione snatched two glasses of cider, one for her and one for Ron, noting how liberally Bill salted the popcorn, and joined her boyfriend and friends on their blanket. The other family members were all situated much the same around the fireside, talking, laughing and sharing spooky tales.

For most of the rest of that night, Ron sat at Hermione's side, but he rarely touched her – or looked at her, for that matter. She tried to pass it off in her mind as his exhaustion and stress, but a seriously niggling doubt began to creep into her heart regarding his feelings for her. Perhaps they'd moved in together too soon, and he was finding the idea of living with her somehow stifling. Perhaps now that she'd finally given her virginity up to him, and the chase was over, he was losing interest. Perhaps he was finding it as awkward as she was to be living with someone, but rarely seeing them. Whatever the cause, she knew they'd have to talk about it soon.

Adjacent from them, she noted Charlie tip his head back and give a hearty laugh to something his sister-in-law said. Hermione's eyes unconsciously roamed the strong line of his throat and jaw, seeking out his lips. The memory of the tingling sensation they'd left behind on her skin when he'd kissed her tonight made her shiver.

Yes, she was going to have to speak with Ron soon. They needed to straighten this whole mess out between them and resume a normal, healthy sex life so that she could finally get over these weird hormonal responses that she was experiencing.

Her gaze strayed back to the picnic table, drawn to the flickering image of Charlie's dragon entwined about the moon, breathing fire. The symbolism was clear: the fabled construct of virile, potent male seducing the mythological symbol of gentle femininity.

"I carved it with you in mind."

Regardless of the outcome of her talk with Ron, she absolutely intended on taking Charlie's pumpkin home with her tonight.

X~~~~~~~~~~X

December 2000

One and a half months later, Hermione was sitting by her lonesome in a Muggle cafe, sipping hot tea on a Friday night, and avoiding sending Molly the letter she'd written explaining why she'd be skipping Christmas at the Weasleys this year.

Not that the woman who's been a surrogate mother to her didn't know the reason already.

Still, she was finding it difficult to gather her courage to owl the note, knowing the disappointment that would follow.

The bell above the door rang, signalling another customer. She ignored it, as she had the last six occasions that it had chimed since she'd sat down the hour before. This time, however, the jingling carried with it an unexpected guest.

"This seat taken?"

She glanced up to find Charlie Weasley standing over her - again.

"Oh, hello!" she cheerfully greeted him, genuinely happy to see the man. He had, after all, featured rather prominently in two or three of her more interesting dreams since she and Ron had broken up the month before. "Please." She indicated he should take the seat across from her with her hand.

He joined her, settling with a feline grace into the chair.

"Not to be rude or cliché, but... do you come here often?" she asked, curious as to how he'd just happened across her. This wasn't a wizarding cafe, after all. "I'm wondering how you found me, or if this is just a chance encounter."

"Harry." He shrugged, as if that explained it all.

It did.

Her friend was meddling. He knew she would speak to no one too close to the "Ron situation" – not Ginny, not Molly and Arthur, and definitely not Harry, himself – because she didn't want any of them choosing sides. It wasn't their fault that they'd been thrown into the middle of a nasty break-up, and she wouldn't go crying all over them, hoping to sway them to pick her over her ex, as Ron was doing. So, she'd bottled it all up inside and marshalled on, as any good Gryffindor would.

Only Charlie wasn't really involved, despite his blood affiliation, was he? He lived in Romania, far away from the rest of them, refusing to get involved in family politics much the same as he avoided Ministry politics at home – by making himself purposefully inaccessible. And, as a general rule, he was known to hate gossip and drama, avoiding it like the plague.

So, why was he here then?

The waitress walked up. She was tall, leggy, pretty, and dumb as a box of rocks (it had taken the bird thirty seconds to figure out what Hermione was asking for when she stated she wanted a cappuccino, and then she'd returned with tea instead). But, she cynically reminded herself, brain capacity didn't seem to matter all that much to a man. At least, it hadn't to Ron...

"I'll have whatever she's having," Charlie waved a hand towards Hermione's cup.

"Tea," she provided.

The waitress made some sort of ridiculous bulging eye contact-flirty gesture with Charlie and then hurried off to get his order ready.

"What is it with blondes?" she muttered in annoyance, taking a sip of her honey-sweetened tea. "Honestly, it's not as if that's even her real hair colour. You can tell it's from a box."

Charlie stared at her with that unfathomable blue gaze of his. "My brother's an idiot. Brunettes are infinitely more interesting and sexy."

Hermione's jaw nearly fell to her knees.

"So, she was a blonde, then?"

She nodded, unsure of how much to say or even how to start. Charlie seemed to be doing just fine on that angle, though.

"One of those twit-for-brains Auror groupies?"

She nodded again.

He scoffed. "Slags, the lot. Ronnikins blew it - his loss. Better fish in the sea, and all that."

Again, her head dipped in agreement.

He leaned forward, forearms on the table, clasping his hands before him. "Good. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's skip the commiseration stage, since I know you're not into wallowing, and stick to what we're both best at: intellectual pursuit and high adventure, preferably rolled into one. How would you like to come with me tomorrow morning up to the Scottish Reserve to see a Hebredian Black dragonlet hatch?"

Her heart thumped hard in her chest. "S-seriously?" she asked, very excited at the prospect. The only dragon she'd ever seen hatch from an egg had been the Norwegian Ridgeback, Norbert (actually, Norberta, as he turned out to be a she), and being present at its birth had been such a wondrous thing – definitely in her top ten favourite memories. "I'd love to!"

Charlie gave her a stunning grin, and once more, she felt that weird tumbling about in her belly.

He had nice teeth. Really straight and white... very... nice...

Damn, but her attraction for the man was difficult to ignore – and really not a smart thing. It was simply too tacky to try for something with Charlie as he was Ron's older brother. It didn't matter that she and that git of an ex of hers were no longer together, she simply could not go there with Charlie. It would create too many complications...

"Great, then shall I pick you up at your flat, or will you come to me?"

The way he said that last – in a naughty, sultry tone – had her heart fluttering.

Gads!

"I... I'll give you my address."

Just then, the annoying waitress reappeared. She put Charlie's cup and saucer down in front of him as he leaned back in the chair. He showed absolutely no interest in the blonde bint, keeping his attention on Hermione the whole time. Frustrated disappointment flittered across the woman's face at being so stupendously ignored, and she left the check, hurrying away once she realized there was no action for her to get in on tonight.

Charlie took a sip of his drink and sputtered in surprise. "What the hell-? This isn't what I ordered!"

When he put the cup back down, pushing it away, Hermione chuckled as she spied the contents – a cappuccino.

Oh well, better late than never.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Please review! Do you like this new ship I've embarked on? It's my first Charlie x Hermione story (usually I'm a Dramione shipper, as most of you already know). What do you think?

.

Chapter 2 PREVIEW:

"Charlie! Wha-what are you doing here?"

.

"Do you still love him?"

.

"You need reasons to smile more."

"What sorts of reasons?"

"This kind, love."