AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Warning: SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT ahead - and fluffy romance.

Right, you've been warned!

This is the last chapter for you, my friends! I hope you've enjoyed my first foray into this particular ship. I know some of you wanted to see this story expanded beyond what I've written, but keep in mind that this was an entry for a Fest. It was meant to be a "short" romance story. I did my best to keep it within those limits and tell a complete story for you all. I hope I achieved that, or at least, met most of your expectations.

PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you thought when you get to the end!

Don't forget to check out the images that go with this fanfic here: http:/ / s905 . photobucket . com / albums / ac260 / RZZMG / Collide/

So, without further ado... I give you, the ending to this tale...

Decision made to go all in or bust, Hermione reached down, whipped her cotton long-sleeve off, and followed that bold move up with reaching behind and unclasping her bra. Sliding the straps from her shoulders, she swallowed her modesty and showed him her boobs.

Charlie's hands reached out and palmed them, feeling their weight. She met his eye, refusing to look away, feeling the flush of heat throughout her entire body as he simultaneously rolled both nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

"Don't know why you were worried. They're perfect, baby. Do me a favour and lay back," he bid. She did as he asked, and he followed, never releasing his hold, stepping boldly between her jeans-clad thighs. "Exactly where I want you," he murmured, bent his body in half over her and took her left breast into his lush, wet mouth.

Spiking electricity shot up Hermione's spine and into the back of her brain as he nursed upon her nipples, one at a time, bringing both to prominence with teasing nibbles and harder bites. Smallish they may be, but her beasts were very sensitive. In moments, she was arching into him, moaning, and undulating her hips to press against his rock-hard abs. Her fingers had found purchase in his soft hair.

Gods, his mouth was wicked! He hadn't even kissed her yet and she was a wanton slag in his arms.

His hands roamed across her frame, up and down, kneading her breasts, trailing along her sides – learning her shape and the feel of her skin. It was such an erotic moment, as he took his time, enjoying her flesh with his tongue.

When she finally begged aloud, he moved his fingers towards the clasp of her jeans and unbuttoned and unzipped them. She lifted her bum at his silent urging as he tugged them off of her, taking her knickers with. Tossing them with the rest of the clothing, he put gentle pressure on her legs.

"Open up for me, baby. Let me see that sweet, pink pussy again."

Both embarrassed and aroused by his language, she hesitantly did as he bade, prying her shaking knees apart.

"Oh, yeah. Look at that - still so pretty." He dipped his head closer. "I've missed your taste. Gotta have you again."

Hermione was certain that her heart was going to explode out of her chest the moment his tongue worked her slit, gathering up her juices in a slow, languorous glide, parting her folds. Blistering need fired her belly, drove her towards insanity as his hot, wet tongue feasted with burning hunger. Rasping over her sensitive clit, circling the tight bud and latching on with suckling pressure caused her to buck her hips. He grabbed her bum with a hard grip to hold her in place and drew more of her flesh deeper into his mouth. A long, deep moan escaped her mouth – a sound she'd never made in the whole of her life, even with her former partners.

He growled in response, the sound vibrating against her moist centre, snapping the tight coil of friction in her womb. A thick finger entered her a moment later, parting her channel.

"Mmmm... sweet and so bloody tight. Damn, but you taste and smell just as I remember, baby." His voice was a rough whisper against the inside of her thigh. His finger began a smooth, gliding rhythm opening her up. "Soft, like velvet. You're going to grip my cock hard and never let go, aren't you?"

His provocative words... his fiery touch...

"Charlie, I want you," Hermione gripped his hair and pulled a bit. "No more waiting!"

He stood up, removing his hands from her person to reach for the clasp on his jeans. With an assured confidence, and one hell of a smouldering glance, he stared at her through half-lidded eyes as he slowly unbuttoned and unzipped. The fabric of his denims rasped over his hips and was shoved to his knees. He wore nothing underneath.

Freed from confinement, his thick cock sprang up from a thatch of crimson-red hair, fully erect and dewed at the tip. He lifted it for her to see, stroking up and down once, twice. Below, his heavy sac was tight and full. Hermione's mouth watered at the sight. She wanted to taste him, to know him as he'd known her.

"Later," he offered, reading the desire in her gaze. "Right now, I want to hear you say you love me. I've waited a long time for that."

Her lips parted, and the words flowed from her mouth. "I love you, Charlie."

"I love you, too, baby," he murmured, giving her a sweet, relieved smile. He stepped closer, resting his arousal in between her soaking folds, slicking her essence all over his length, nudging her swollen, delicate clit with his crown. "Now, touch your breasts," he ordered, continuing to stroke her core, teasing, daring. "Play with them. Show me how you like it, Hermione."

Grasping the tiny, dusky-hued nipples, she rolled them ever so slowly between her fingers and thumbs. Pulling with light pressure, as she did whenever she masturbated, she drew them away from her body until the pleasure bordered on pain, and then released them. Caressing her small mounds, she cupped them and arched, showing them off to him, feeling bold and daring. "I want you inside me," she purred, kneading her breasts and licking her lips. "I want you deep – so deep that I'll never be able to forget the feel of you."

His blue, unwavering gaze erupted with heat. His cheeks and throat pinked with increased blood flow. Against her tender labia, his erection twitched. He drew in a hard, deep breath. "No way will you ever forget me, baby. I won't let you. After this, you'll crave only me - just like I crave only you."

His words were frightening... and thrilling.

Fitting his broad crest against her hungry, wet cunt, he held tight to his shaft with one hand, and gripped her hip with the other to assure a smooth entrance. With a little nudge, he pushed in, burying the head of his cock inside her, stretching her opening with its incredible width. They both hissed at the pleasurable sensation.

"Deeper," she enticed him, her voice lowering into a husky range she'd never visited before.

He let go and leaned both palms next to her on the table, and bent over her. Their eyes were locked on each other, taking in the others' expression as they finally – finally – made love.

"You okay?" he whispered and pushed a little further. Her silken tissues parted for him, letting him in an inch at a time.

"Yes," she gasped as he advanced, his broad shaft gently filling her up. "Deeper."

He throbbed within her as he slowly advanced until he was buried to the hilt – and his tip nudged the back of her channel. "As deep as I can get, baby," he said, smiling down at her. "As deep as you need."

"Yes," she moaned, actually trembling with the need for him to move. "Charlie, please!"

He dropped to his elbows, and she noted the beads of sweat dotting his brow. His lips hovered over hers, his patience and willpower incredible. Long, red-black lashes swept down as he blinked, but never looked away. "Please what, love?"

With shaking eagerness, she grasped his shoulders and dug her nails in. He groaned and his eyes rolled up into his head. Obviously, he liked a little pain with his pleasure. "Please, fuck me," she uttered in a very soft voice right against his mouth, following up the request with a lick across his lips. "And kiss me. Hard."

With a rumbling groan, he dropped his mouth the rest of the way and captured her in a fiery kiss that sunk her into a state of mind-numbing bliss. His hips moved with precision, withdrawing almost to the tip before sinking deep inside, his strokes full and accomplished, hard and heavy. Her creamy response made his penetration a perfect glide, with just the right amount of friction for them both.

Hermione bucked in his arms, as they came around her, pulling her shoulders up off the table and into the heat of his chest. Throwing her arms around his neck, she held on for all she was worth, enjoying the explosive sparks that centred on where they melded together and shot up through her womb and belly, straight into her heart and mouth. Driven higher by the new angle, she wailed, as the mounting pleasure became an intense animal, grabbing onto her sanity and shaking her hard.

He clipped her pulsing clit and the responsive upper inside of her pussy just right. Just where she needed to be for... "Oh, God, Charlie! I'm going to-"

He increased the power behind his lunging hips, propelling her towards the edge of madness. "Come, baby love. Crave what I give you," he enticed around lush, open-mouthed kisses. "Come on. Let go for me. Let go."

She did, and shattered into a million pieces with a scream of his name. Every muscle in her body tightened around him. Everything inside her burst into light.

X~~~~~X

Great sobbing breaths exploded from Hermione's lungs as she struggled to regain who she was, and what had just happened to her. Charlie talked her down. He cooed sweet, soft things in her ear. "That's it, baby. Felt good, didn't it? You needed that, didn't you?"

Unable to gather enough air to reply, she simply nodded.

"My sweet, pretty baby, just relax. I've got you. I won't let you go."

Slowly, her entire body began to go limp with satiation. The glow took her over and she drooped in his arms. Charlie laid her back on the table, bent at the elbows, smoothing hair from her cheeks and forehead. His arrogant smile told her that he knew he'd made her come harder than she'd ever before – even more so than the time in the bathroom or in Ginny's old bedroom.

His hips shifted and he widened his stance, and it occurred to her that he was still connected to her body, and still achingly hard. "I want you to come again for me," he bade, circling his pelvis, fucking in and out in shallow, quick thrusts. "Think you can, baby?"

Awed at just the thought, especially after having experienced an orgasm that had nearly stolen her soul, Hermione shook her head. Circe, could she? Maybe she wasn't sensitive enough for... He ploughed deep and hard, stopped, withdrew and did it again.

Oh. OH!

Her eyes widened, her fingernails dug into the wooden tabletop, and she knew he saw her reaction. His smirk grew into a grin as he realized the possibilities.

"Yeah, I think you can do it. I want you to do it. I want to feel your tight, soft cunt clench around me again." He sighed with happiness, shut his eyes for a moment and threw his face to the ceiling, revelling in the memory. "You were incredible, baby love. I almost lost all control right then." His hips flexed as he drew back, and she whimpered with the loss of him. A moment later, he snapped forward and surged back into her, making her whole once more. He was so deep inside her, every inch snugly buried. It was heaven.

He was right – she craved him now.

Her honey flowed thick and hot around his pounding length as he gripped her knees and spread them wide, opening her up and making her as vulnerable as a woman could be. His gaze was locked on where they came together again and again. "Beautiful, baby," he grunted, sweat now running down his cheek. "You should see how your pussy stretches to hold me. It's like... fuck... like it was made for me."

"Deeper, Charlie," she cried out in desperation, once more nearing the lash of the storm. "Oh, God, I need... I can't..."

His fingers slapped down upon her aching clit. The little blow heated her flesh. Hermione let out a little gasp, and then moaned. Merciful heavens, but that had felt good! She raised her bum off the table a bit, rising to plead for more. Charlie delivered, spanking her little bundle of flesh, even as he hammered into her with force and increased his pace.

This time, Hermione shouted her pleasure, unashamed by the honesty of her response. "Yes! YES!" Close... she was so close... "More!" she begged. She was near sobbing from the swelling need that was lodged within her womb and desperate to be set free. "Do it again, Charlie, please - and fuck me so deep! Come in me!"

He obeyed, his slick fingers alternating between slapping and rubbing her clit, until finally, she plummeted off the edge and into the wave of dark bliss, screaming Charlie's name.

"Oh, God, Hermione," he moaned, grabbing her hips in a bruising hold and ramming into her with all of the unrestrained power and wildness of a pagan Storm God. "I'm coming!" He threw his head back and shouted to the ceiling, his hips continuing to buck, his semen exploding into her in throbbing waves of heat that filled her channel and made Hermione feel, for the first time in her life, replete.

X~~~~~X

Charlie's shuddering form ejaculated for several long seconds before finally draining itself of every drop. With an exhausted, deep sigh of satisfaction, he fell atop her, barely supporting his weight on his forearms. His cheek rested in the valley between her breasts, and his lips blew harsh, warm pants across her erect nipples, keeping them excited.

It took several minutes before either of them could actually speak.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, sincerely concerned. He weakly lifted his head and glanced through his long, sexy lashes, his eyes glazed with languid satiation.

With feline laziness, Hermione gave him a smile and ran her fingers through his sweat-dampened hair and across his cheek. "I'm sure I'll feel it later," she joked. "But no, it was..." She sighed with contentment. "Charlie, it was wonderful - better than I'd dreamed."

His ginger-red eyebrows rose at that. "Have you been fantasizing naughty things about me this last year, baby, late at night, alone in your bed?"

"Yes," she opted for complete honestly, stretching.

With tenderness, he reached up and touched her lips and chin. "Me, too." Slowly, his smirk wound back up his cheek and then, with an easy push-up, he was off her and slowly, carefully pulling out. "Wanking to thoughts of you has been my hobby for years, though. Nothing new there."

The hot drip of his semen slipped out of her. She moved to get up, her sore muscles protesting, but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Stay put. I'm not done with you yet, baby love. Not by a long shot."

Her mouth fell open. Was he kidding? He wanted to do it again? She wasn't sure she could. Was it even possible?

Stepping a bit back, he reached down and finished stripping off his clothing and shoes, and then grabbed up his wand from their combined pile. With a flourish and a wave, the table was transfigured into a bed, and Hermione fell back into the soft mattress with a small yip of surprise.

"How long does that Contraceptive Charm of yours last?" he asked, twirling his wand around and considering their surroundings.

"Um... twenty-four hours."

He grinned, shark-like. "Excellent."

With a negligent wave of his wand towards the clothing pile, her scarf flew into his hand by silent summons. "Lay back and put your arms above your head, wrists together."

"But-"

"I said I had a few surprises for you when I saw you today, didn't I? Well, surprise: I'm on transfer back to England as we speak," he explained around a frisky grin. "The Department has been bugging me for years to take up with the Hit Wizard and Auror offices regarding illegal use of dragons and dragon parts. There's a lot of black market selling going on, and the cooperative efforts will help unite the two Departments and take those dangerous products off the street. They need an expert on identification of parts, as well as someone who knows how to handle any recovered hatchlings or younglings or" – he sniffed with amusement – "people stupid enough to cage an adult, like they did your Ironbelly at Gringotts."

He placed a warm palm on her shoulder and gently pushed her to lie back. She allowed his lead, feeling encouraged by his news. He would be coming back here to stay, and he'd be working in the same building as her! They could see each other more frequently, and date like normal people at long last.

"Hands up now," he bid. She did as asked without hesitation, rejuvenated by his commitment to their relationship. He began winding her scarf around her wrists, tying them together, and continued his account as he worked.

"I've already trained my replacement at the Reserve," he admitted, making sure she was nice and tightly bound. When he was reassured that she couldn't get loose, and that the hold wasn't so tight that it cut off her circulation, he picked his wand back up and waved it at something behind her on the wall. Instantly, her arms were tugged up and pinned to the location he was pointing at. "All right?"

Hermione nodded, feeling a thrill at the idea that he was into bondage– something she'd tried out with Malfoy and found she'd enjoyed along with a little role-play. This was definitely going to be a day to remember!

"I'll miss being at the paddocks," he continued on, as if they weren't both fully naked, still sticky from their last round of shagging, and that he didn't have her trussed up to a wall in his parents' shed, "but truthfully, I'm not getting any younger and I'd like to get out before I lose a limb. Besides, I'll be closer to home for you – no more miles between us... oh, and also to help out the others with mum and dad, now that they're getting older."

"All very honourable intentions. I heartily approve," she affirmed. "Now, what are you going to do to me like this?"

He licked his lips and bent his mouth to hers. "Have I told you how much I liked kissing you, and how pretty I think your breasts are, baby love? Here, let me show you..."

X~~~~~X

"You do realize that we're now stuck in here for the night," he announced in the quiet after this last round of sucking and licking that had culminated in yet another orgasm for her. "It's a blizzard out there. Hear it hitting the roof? We're snowed in, love."

She glanced up, lifting her cheek just slightly from his shoulder and noticed that the small, lone window in the shed was nearly blanketed white by the storm that she'd spied earlier that day finally letting loose its fury. Thank goodness their Warming Charm was still in place, as she was sure the temperature had dropped fast outside.

"I guess you can't run from me now if I do this," he stated, extricated her from his side, and picking his wand up from the floor, Accio'd his jacket to his hand. He rifled around inside a pocket, and pulled out a small box.

A black velvet ring box, to be precise.

Hermione's heart fluttered wildly under her breast as he put the coat and the wand aside, and brought the box to her face.

"I went to the Apuseni Mountain range to a small commune that has an opal mine, and I pulled this from the rock for you. Polished it up nice and pretty using dragon's fire. I carved the ring with you in mind. I... I hope you like it."

With shaking hands, she sat up and took the box from him. Tears already flowing down her cheeks, she opened it...

... to find a dragon twined about the full moon.

The gold ring was feminine, dainty, carved in the shape of a dragon encircling a sizable, round fire opal in the centre. It was gorgeous – reflecting hues of light gold with hints of orange and red, just as a full harvest moon would look.

"You're the only witch I've ever wanted to ask this of," he spoke very sincerely, sounded hopeful, "but would you be mine, Hermione, in every way? Will you marry me? Please let me be the one holding your hand when you're a hundred."

Hermione's heart burst with such happiness that she started to weep as he waited with it poised at her fingertip. "It's beautiful. So... Oh, Charlie, yes!"

He expelled the breath he'd been holding and slid the ring on her finger. It fit just perfectly. "Thank Fred, the Founders, and Mother Earth!"

She laughed to hear Fred Weasley elevated to the position of deity.

"We'll tell the others later," he said, dropping the box onto the jacket on the floor and pressing the length of his body over hers. "First, I wanna make love to my fiancée, though."

Humming happily into his kiss, Hermione thought that a fantastic way to seal the deal.

X~~~~~X

EPILOGUE - June 2005

"A collision is the cosmic meeting of two bodies causing an exchange of energy," Kingsley stated, speaking to the assembly. "In humans, it can result in an accidental exchange of feeling at the same time. Usually, its consequence is embarrassment, or anger, or giddiness. But, in very rare, special occasions, when fate and magic meet at the same time, it achieves an understanding between two souls. In that one-in-a-million chance, it can also end in the two parties recognizing that they have met their heart's mate. Such was the case, I was told by each of them, separately, of Charlie and Hermione."

He smiled down upon them both from his greater height at the front of the pulpit, and then turned back to the gathering group who had come to celebrate this most special day with the couple.

"You know, I found it most interesting that they would both cite the same incident – an accidental collision while walking in differing directions on seemingly random errands – as the moment when they both recognized the other's importance in their life. However, as their friends and families can all attest, it took several more years and life experiences for that accident to bring them full circle."

There was some murmured agreement from the crowd, as well as some chuckling.

The Minister reached out and put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Charlie, Hermione, I have known you both for a long time. We fought together in the war, and I have watched you each go your separate paths in the years following. I am happy to see the two of you collide once last time – and this time, finally unite - here today, before all of us, in the ultimate exchange of human affection and bonding."

Hermione looked over at the man who was about to become her husband, and smiled through her tears. Never had she been happier. She finally had her wish. This was true love - the collision and joining of two hearts, who promised each other every tomorrow.

Charlie's hand gently squeezed hers in an acknowledgement and the return of her feelings, even as his blue gaze met hers, and when he spoke his vows to her, his voice rang out clear and true across the yard where they'd first noticed each other – and fell in love - so many years before.

~FIN~