Home for the Holidays

Charlie Weasley had never been a man who thought about getting married and settling down. He had always been the Weasley looking for adventure and danger by working with dragons. He hardly ever came home, instead choosing to spend all the time with the dragons he cared for.

With his line of work, he had never intended to find anyone who approved of the danger or put up with his travels. Because of that, he had definitely surprised himself ten months ago when he found himself asking Hermione Granger to marry him.

They hadn’t been dating for long when he had asked her, and he couldn’t even give anyone a straight answer as to why he had asked her so soon, other than telling them that it had just felt right.

It was now exactly a year since the day they had felt the first sparks of passion between them. It had been Christmas morning at the Burrow, and he had actually managed to make it home for the holidays, an occurrence that hadn’t happened in the previous four years. He had been going into the kitchen to refill his glass of eggnog, and she had been coming out of the kitchen with a cup of hot chocolate.

Everyone had watched as they met in the doorway of the kitchen and living room, right underneath the mistletoe that Fred and George had taken upon themselves to hang up, a place that everyone spending the holiday at the Burrow was careful to hurry through. Unfortunately, in his hurry to refill his glass, he hadn’t given it a passing thought, and as he looked at Hermione, he knew it hadn’t been on her mind either.

Ginny was the first to notice where they were standing and had alerted everyone else to the mishap. Charlie tried not to look angry as he looked down at the witch in front of him. She was blushing and she couldn’t even meet his eyes.

As the crowd of people in the living room chanted for a kiss between the two, Charlie found himself chuckling at Hermione’s shyness. He had figured he would just roll with the moment and get it over with when he grasped her chin to tilt her face up to his. He hadn’t been prepared for the spark of electricity that shot down his spine when his lips touched hers. He had been so caught up in kissing her, he hadn’t heard the living room go silent behind him until Bill had yelled for the two of them to come up for air.

They had finally broken apart, and he had stared down at Hermione in wonderment. She still had a flush on her cheeks, and he wasn’t sure if it was the embarrassment or the heat of the kiss that had the flush still present.

Realizing what had happened, he watched as Hermione turned and ran out the kitchen door to the porch. He wanted to follow her, but he didn’t know if it was appropriate considering what they had just shared. He turned around and gave Fred and George a death glare before deciding he would go find Hermione.

He found her sitting on the steps on the porch, shivering and covering her face with her hands. She wouldn’t look at him as he approached, but he wouldn’t be deterred. He had every intention of apologizing to her, but he found he couldn’t say the words. What he had wanted was another kiss.

Charlie remembered what that day had been like a year ago as he stared down at his wife in their bed. She was so beautiful when she slept, her cheeks rosy, her mouth barely opening as her chest rose and fell from her breathing.

He had promised her he wouldn’t miss Christmas this year, and he hadn’t. It may have been Christmas morning already, but he was here and that was what counted. He wanted to wake her up, but she was sleeping so peacefully on the right side of the bed, just waiting for him to arrive home and climb into bed with her, which is exactly what he planned to do.

He quickly stripped in the candlelight and peeled back the covers, sliding in next to Hermione’s warm body. She cuddled into him in her sleep as he pressed a kiss against her forehead, grateful for that bloody mistletoe that had caused so much havoc a year ago.