When you love two

Charlie took the few steps that separated him from her door and stood there nervously. He couldn’t believe he had finally asked her out. Well, he hadn’t really asked her out; they were just going to see a movie, like they had many times before, only now he thought of it as a date. They would go to the movies, then he would take her to a nice restaurant, and walk her back home. Somewhere between all that, he was planning on letting her know how he felt about her. Whether he would say the words or show her, he wasn’t sure yet.

‘Get a grip on yourself,’ he whispered, before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. After a few moments, he heard her hurried steps, and the door opened.

“Charlie,” she greeted, with a warm smile. “You’re early. Come inside,” she said cheerfully, taking his hand and pulling him into the house. “I’m almost ready, just give me a minute.” Then she turned back around and ran back to her room, barefoot.

Feeling a little more relaxed now that he was already there, he closed the door behind him and moved to the couch. It only took a few minutes for her to return and he stood up as soon as he heard her step closer.

“New jacket?” she asked, walking over to where he was and standing right in front of him.

“Yes, do you like it?” he asked, all the nervousness suddenly back when she reached forward, placing her hand on his chest as she touched the material.

“Looks good on you. Gives you that dangerous look us girls love so much,” she said, with a smile. “Ready?” she asked then, as she turned to the door and opened it for them.

“Sure,” he answered and followed her. Side by side, they walked all the way to Muggle London, most of the time in comfortable silence, and he let his arm innocently brush against hers every once in a while.

The small cinema was almost empty, as usual. That was why they always went there. It was a strange tradition, but one he loved all the same. It had started right after the war, when she had moved into the Burrow, where they knew she would be safe from rogue Death Eaters still on the lose; he had been living there, too, after taking a job at the Ministry, at his family’s request. Many lives had been lost during the war, and the Ministry had suffered considerable losses; add that to the fact that many employees were Death Eaters or spies, and the Ministry was in almost urgent need of personnel, and they wanted to make sure those jobs were taken by people they could trust.

She had wanted to go see a movie, but no one else seemed interested, except his father. Of course, he was not interested in the movie itself, not at all. He wanted to know how everything worked, how 'those Muggles' managed to capture all those images and sounds, without using magic. He watched, amused, as she threw everyone else in the room pleading looks, but no one seemed to notice, or decided to ignore them. He had finally taken pity on her, and had agreed to go. They had had such a great time that they quickly decided to do it again. Soon, it had become routine, almost a weekly date.

Although it was his turn to pick the movie this time, he let her choose. That would give a good impression, and would assure her evening started with a smile. She didn’t smile as often as she used to.

After a few minutes spent trying to decide, she finally chose a strange film he had never heard of before. She loved independent movies.

“What is it about?” he asked, as they walked to the box office.

“Don’t know, really,” she shrugged, “But I’ve seen a few movies from the same director, and I like his work.”

“It’s over two hours long, so I hope it is good,” he replied, as they waited to buy the tickets.

It was still early when they took their seats before the screen; not too close to it, not too far back, either.

They spent the next few minutes talking as they waited for the movie to start, but she shushed him as soon as they dimmed the lights, a look of concentration on her face that brought a smile to his lips. Following her example, he leaned back against his seat comfortably, his eyes leaving her to focus on the first images appearing on the screen.

“Dear Merlin,” Charlie groaned, as soon as the movie was over. “That has got to be the very worst movie I have ever seen!”

“It wasn’t so bad,” she said, shrugging. She knew it was a lie, but she wasn’t about to admit she had chosen wrong, even if they both knew it.

“Well, that’s easy for you to say, you only watched the first five minutes, and spent the rest of the time with your face on my shoulder, so you wouldn’t see.” Of course, he would never admit that having her so close to him had felt incredible. Holding her against his shoulder for almost two hours had made the entire movie worth it, and he had inwardly cursed the fact that it had finished, because he had been forced to let go of her. If it had been up to him, he would have stayed sitting there with her wrapped in his arms forever.

“Did not!”

“Oh, please! You were scared half to death!” he laughed. “After all you have seen, after surviving a war, I can’t believe a silly movie about zombies can scare you so much.”

“There was too much blood!” she retorted, as they stood up and made their way back to the busy street.

“Well, what did you expect from a horror movie?”

“You know I don’t like horror movies,” she said.

“May I remind you, you were the one that chose it?”

“I told you I didn’t know what it was about.”

“Well, let’s make sure we do know next time we have to pick a movie,” he said, trying not to smile at the look on her face. He loved riling her up every once in a while; he just couldn’t help himself.

“Where are you going?” she asked, as they reached the street, noticing he had turned in the wrong direction. “My place is this way,” she said.

“You are not going home yet,” he said, and stepped closer to her, reaching for her hand and then pulling her along with him.

“Where are we going?” she asked, but didn’t pull her hand away.

“Dinner. Can’t have you going back home, alone, right after watching such a scary movie, can we?”

She looked at him for a moment, as if about to complain, but then she simply shrugged and muttered, “Fine, then.”

“Good girl,” he joked and started walking again, his hand still holding hers.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the small Italian restaurant, and he saw the smile on her face as they stopped by the door. She loved Italian food.

“Here?” she exclaimed, turning to him with a smile. He simply nodded and opened the door for her.

It had been some time since they’d had dinner together, but he hadn’t forgotten how nice it was.

Talking to her was always so easy, and he found that all the previous nervousness was suddenly gone. He could tell she was more relaxed too, smiling and talking excitedly, and for a moment, she looked happy, like she hadn’t in a long time.

She told him about her job, about how much she hated it, and her boss as well. He wondered, not for the first time, why she didn’t simply quit and get a new job, something worthy of her, but he knew better than to ask out loud; he didn’t want to ruin the night, or upset her.

Before he knew it, they were eating desert, and when he glanced at the clock on the wall, he realized they had been in there for over two hours. It was amazing how time went by so fast when he was with her and, when she followed her gaze and saw what time it was, her eyes widened, too, and he was pleased to know the same thing happened to her.

When they finally left the restaurant, it was dark and cold, and, even though he wanted the night to last much longer, he realized the ‘date’ would be over soon.

“Maybe we should Apparate away,” he suggested, closing the door behind them and standing by her side.

“No, let’s walk back,” she suggested. “We are not that far away, and you know I love walking.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, come on,” she said, reaching for his hand and dragging him along.

“All right, then,” he agreed, with a shrug. If that was what she wanted…

They had been walking for half an hour when he noticed her shiver slightly and rub her hands together.

“You look cold.”

“A little,” she answered, with a shy smile. “I should have brought a coat, but I didn’t think we’d stay out this late.”

“Here,” he said, taking off his jacket and offering it to her.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t. Then you would be cold,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

“Nonsense, I will be fine,” he said dismissively, helping her put the jacket on.

“Mmm, so warm,” she said, with a smile, and then looked back at him. “Thanks,” she said, and he noticed her eyes move up and down his body, stopping on the tight black T-shirt he was wearing. Was she checking him out?

With a smug smile, he offered her his arm, which she instantly took, and they started walking again.

They remained silent the rest of the way, and a few times, he turned his head to watch her, and noticed she was doing the same thing.

“I had fun tonight,” she said, when they finally reached her house.

“Even in the movies?” he asked, with a grin.

“Well, maybe not that much fun there,” she said, laughing, “but the rest of the night was great. I really needed something to cheer me up.”

“Yes, I noticed you seem a bit down, lately. Anything I can help you with?” he asked, and he took a step closer as he spoke, trying to appear nonchalant.

“You have, you always do,” she replied, and he could see the honesty in her eyes.

This is it, now or never. He was a grown man, what was he so afraid of?

Gathering all his courage, he took another step closer to her, and slowly tilted his head down, giving her time to step back if she wanted to. She didn’t.

He closed his eyes when their lips finally met. It was just a feathery touch at first, but when she didn’t stop him, he did it again. Slow and patient, he kissed her for the very first time, her lips softly parting to accept his. He nibbled on her lower lip, enjoying the warmth, but when the tip of his tongue brushed her lip she pulled back.

She didn’t say anything, and neither did he, for a few moments.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his fingers on her chin, making her meet his eyes.

“I can’t do this, Charlie,” she said, and bit her lower lip.

“Why not?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm even when he felt his heart beating out of his chest. He knew she felt something for him, too, so why had she stopped him? Then the strangest idea crossed his mind, and he asked, with a confused frown, “It’s not because of my brother, is it?”

“W…what?” she stammered, and a look of guilt crossed her face before it was replaced with shock.

“Is it?” he asked, surprised. He wasn’t sure why that would be a problem. “I am sure he wouldn’t mind,” he said, with a small smile, but frowned at her confused expression. “Look, I know you two were, you know, really close, but I don’t think that would be a problem. He might not be really mature, but I am sure he would understand.”

“What?” she repeated, and he wondered if maybe he had been wrong.

“You and Ron. Weren’t you two involved back in Hogwarts?”

“Me and Ron?” she asked, a look of relief on her face he couldn’t really
understand.

“Yes, and that was years ago,” he said, frowning for a moment at her expression. “So, unless you have a better reason…” he breathed against her lips, and then leaned closer again, for another kiss.

She was hesitant at first, but then he felt her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer. This time, when his tongue flicked over her lips, asking for entrance, she didn’t pull back. He could feel her responding to the kiss, and it encouraged him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible, as the kiss slowly turned more heated. There was nothing in the world other than her at that very moment. All he could think about was how good it felt to have her so close, or the way her hands pulled at his hair as she kissed him; not even the fact that they were standing right outside her house, where any passerby could see, distracted him. He had wanted her for so long he couldn’t really believe it was finally happening.

“Charlie,” he heard her breath between kisses, her body relaxing in his arms, and he slowly started walking with her, trying to get to the door. “Stop,” she breathed, when her back hit the door, but didn’t push him away.

“Why?”

“I can’t do this, Charlie,” she repeated, and he finally pulled back.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, resting his forehead against hers, as he tried to calm his breathing. “Hermione, what is it?”

“I.. I’m just… seeing someone.”

“You are? You hadn’t mentioned anyone new,” he said, trying to sound calm.

“Well, it’s not really new, it’s…”

“It’s him, isn’t it? The married guy?” he asked, tilting his head back so he could see her, more clearly read her expression. She didn’t answer, and refused to meet his gaze. “I thought you had left him, Hermione.”

“I tried, I did; it’s just that…”

“He can’t offer you anything. You gave him time, more than enough, and he didn’t leave his wife. He just kept you there, waiting for when he felt he needed you, not giving anything back. What are you waiting for?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head slowly, and he could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. It was like his heart had stopped beating. He could feel his pain, the fear of losing her to something that never existed, but he could feel her pain, too, the confusion in her mind.

“I love you, Hermione,” he said, even though he had promised himself he wouldn’t say those words to her, not so soon at least. He could only hope that would make a difference. When she looked away, his fingers gently but firmly pushed her chin up, making her meet his gaze. “I would never hurt you, and you know it. I can make you happy. I think maybe it’s time to let go,” he said, the last part barely a whisper as his lips touched hers again, for a second.

He was about to pull back when he felt her hands around his neck, pulling him to her again. He kissed her with passion, as he felt the hope return to him. He had known about the married man she had been seeing, but she had told him months before she was going to leave him. Charlie was sure he was the reason she had so unhappy lately, even if she would never admit it, and he often wished she hadn’t refused to tell him who that man was. He would have made damn sure he stayed away from her.

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him again, all coherent thought hurriedly escaping his mind. It took every bit of the self control he still had to break the kiss.

“Not like this,” he whispered, although he didn’t let go of her. He wanted to do things right, from the beginning; he wouldn’t start something with her when she was still with someone else.

“You are right,” she agreed, nodding as she, too, tried to catch her breath.

“So…?” he asked, and instead of answering, she smiled at him and kissed him softly. “Are you sure?” he asked. If she chose him, and then changed her mind…he didn’t even want to consider that possibility, so he pushed the thought away and kissed her back. After a few moments, he felt her trying to deepen the kiss, and he pulled back.

“Right,” she whispered, with a smile. She looked so beautiful, her face flushed, her hair messier than usual, her lips kiss swollen.

“I should go now,” he said, but didn’t move.

“Yes, that’s probably the best idea,” she replied, as her eyes darted from his eyes to his lips.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked, and she thought about it for a moment before answering.

“I think I will be busy in the afternoon,” she started, and stopped for a second, “but maybe we could have dinner.”

“That sounds nice,” he said.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes,” he answered.

They stayed in silence for a few moments, neither of them making a move, just looking at one another.

“Good night,” she whispered, with a smile, and he responded the same way.

Her hand caressed his cheek as she leaned forward and kissed him one last time, before turning around and walking inside her house.

He stood there, just a few steps from her door now, and he couldn’t believe he was even more nervous than he had been earlier, when he had gone to pick her up.

Now, he knew she felt something for him, that his feelings weren’t one sided, but he also knew there was someone else in her life, someone he hadn’t counted on. He would fight for her if he had to; there was no way he would lose her now, not when he knew she was the one for him. He only wished she would tell him who the other man was.