Chapter Text
Hermione couldn’t be sure but it felt like Charlie Weasley was flirting with her, she felt her cheeks flame as he caught her eye and winked. The table at The Burrow was always noisy, had she heard him right? All she’d been talking about was how difficult she found it to keep warm at night, her feet were always cold.
He had leant in a little close to her, so close she could smell his woodsy aftershave. “I never seem to have that trouble, don’t even bother with pyjamas most nights.”
At the words an image of Charlie naked in his bed sprang into her mind and she thought she might have sagged a little in her seat. Where this reaction came from she had no idea, warmth was spreading where she’d never felt warmth before. He wasn’t even Hermione's type; he was so big and burly, his freckled skin was littered with tattoos, his long hair was never tidy and he always had a slight arrogance that came with knowing just how good looking he was. Although it could be said she wasn’t even all that sure she had a type, no one else had ever made her feel like this and she was 19.
She’d had a couple of innocent kisses with Krum and the one kiss she’d shared with Ron had been pleasant enough at the time, but she didn’t feel the need to repeat it. There was a lot to be done afterall, she didn’t have time for all that nonsense. Even now she’d never felt the urge to kiss anyone else and she’d never quite managed to summon enough enthusiasm to take care of herself. She’d tried a few times and found it all quite time consuming.
Watching Charlie Weasley now she was fairly certain she could make the effort again. She thought about trying to ignore the heat that travelled over her skin as dazzling blue eyes looked at her but she found that she didn’t really want to. She thought she might even like it. And he just kept on looking at her, as if he knew exactly how he was making her feel.
~~~
She couldn’t help but watch him, it was amazing no one else had noticed how often she was preoccupied with staring at Charlie. One morning he had come into the house through the back door, blasting the cosy kitchen with an icy breeze. In his big hands was a bunch of mistletoe. Hermione squirmed in her seat at the kitchen table.
“Oh good Charlie,” Molly said. “Will you hang it over there for me?” She waved her hand distractedly to the doorframe in between the hallway and the kitchen and turned back to supervise the spoon stirring of its own accord in the pot on the stove.
Charlie clutched his wand in one hand and the mistletoe in the other as he stretched up to attach the bough to the top of the wooden frame. Of course Hermione was still studying him as his arms stretched upward. It pulled his jumper higher revealing a large strip of the most incredibly toned stomach she had ever seen. Really, it was ridiculous. And she couldn’t look away.
If his smirk as he returned his hands to his sides was anything to go by he’d noticed her staring too.
She felt warmth fill her cheeks, yet again. What did normal people do when they felt like this? She decided to ignore it as best she could, for now at least, and got up from the kitchen table. “Any jobs you need doing Molly?”
She half listened as Molly rattled through the things that she had already done and the rest that needed doing. She snuck a glance at Charlie who had sat down at the old wooden table, a mug of tea in one hand. He was leaning back in his chair, watching her, a smile playing on his lips.
~~~
Hermione seemed to have a knack of passing through the door topped with mistletoe whenever a red headed Weasley twin was in range. Three times since Charlie had put it up she’d found Fred or George stood under the foliage with her demanding a kiss. She would quickly peck them on the cheek and be on her way.
She’d just extracted herself from another such encounter with George in which he had ran off singing, I wish it could be Christmas Everyday when Charlie appeared, coming down the stairs just as she was about to go up them.
“You’re getting a lot of action under that mistletoe,” he said, stopping on the bottom step and looking down at her.
“I would hardly call a peck on the cheek action,” Hermione replied, wondering if there was a way to stop the fluttering in her belly or if she should just get used to it now.
Instead of smiling as she’d thought he would Charlie raised an eyebrow at her, “Oh no?”
He stepped off the last step and walked forwards. She stepped back, caught up in his gaze until her back hit the front door. They were slightly hidden here, in the alcove around the door but she could hear voices still bustling around the house. It didn’t matter, with Charlie this close she realised a lot of things didn’t matter.
Charlie put one hand against the door, right at the side of her head and then leant forward. She felt his nose run a line from her jaw, ever so slowly upward. His breath tickled over her skin and as he reached her cheek his lips ever so softly kissed at a tiny spot. She was glad of the heavy door behind her holding her up because some peculiar sensation was spreading down her legs.
“Don’t think I’d let you off so easy if it was us under that mistletoe.” He said smoothly in her ear.
And then he was gone, through the offending door and into the kitchen as if nothing had happened.
Hermione took a shaky breath and ran up the stairs. She wanted something from Charlie that she had never needed before, and it was a lot more than a peck on the cheek.
~~~
She spent the next day trying to plan out a stop under that damn mistletoe with Charlie. It wasn’t easy as ideally she needed the kitchen to be empty to be able to take full advantage of his earlier threat.
Because of her meandering in the doorway she was caught twice more by Fred; the last time Charlie was stood watching from by the large fired oven. The look he gave her was knowing and the kiss she let Fred place on her cheek was wholly unsatisfactory.
~~~
The day before Christmas Eve everyone was planning on a trip to Diagon Alley to do some last minute shopping. Fred and George were already manning their shop but everyone else lined up by the fireplace to make their way there by floo. Charlie had said he’d come but he was busy rustling with a coat in the hallway while Ginny, Harry and then Ron went through. Hermione pretended to be tying a shoe lace on her brogues as Molly disappeared into the fire.
Before Arthur stepped into the large fire place she said “I’d best go the toilet before we leave, don’t wait for me I’ll catch you up.” Arthur smiled easily and disappeared in the green flames of floo.
She turned around, heart hammering, knowing he’d be there. He was. He learnt against the door frame, auburn curls loose around his face today, a pine green jumper stretched nicely over his muscles. When he saw her watching he raised an eye to the mistletoe and lifted an eyebrow, a challenge or invitation she wasn’t sure.
It didn’t matter what it was, she wouldn’t say no to either. She marched straight up to him and kissed him. She knew immediately it was...wrong, something was wrong. Her lips were mashed against his but she’d come in with too much force and her teeth had stung her lip. She kept her lips there a moment longer, pushing even harder but this didn’t feel hot or sexy and he wasn’t moving, wasn’t he meant to move his lips against hers? She pulled back, confused. Charlie smiled slowly and she felt her frown deepen.
“Do you maybe want to try that again treasure? A little slower?”
Hermione repeated, “Slower?”
“Yeah, like this…” he brought his hands up to cup her face and lowered his lips to hers. Hermione noticed he’d tilted his head slightly as his lips came over hers in a brief, soft kiss. It was slow and sexy AND hot, everything hers hadn’t been. But Hermione Granger was nothing if not a quick study. She was determined to get this right.
She stood up on her tiptoes and let her body fall slightly against his. She leant her hands against his hard chest and did just as he had done, tilted her head and started to kiss him, slowly. She kissed him so slowly that she could feel everything. Her lips moved over his, feeling out his full lower lip. This felt nice, it was good. She felt his hands come up to rest at her hips and she realised one of her hands had snuck up from his chest and was now around his neck, tangled in his smooth curls. She kissed him full on the lips. The whole thing was very pleasing. She wasn’t sure what came next though. She leant back and looked at him, her eyes must have shown some question.
“Very good but there is more. That’s what you wanted to know yeah?”
His words were low and rough and made her feel a bit floaty so she just nodded slowly at him.
His lips tilted a little at the corners. “You’re something else Hermione Granger.”
Before she could reply a hand left her waist and cupped her face again. She shut her eyes at his touch, waiting as he came closer. His lips touched hers softly but then his tongue traced along her lip and a flush spread all over her body. She tentatively opened her mouth to him and the kiss went from pleasing to absolutely delicious. Charlie had spread a large hand over the small of her back and used it to bring their bodies together as he deepened the kiss. Hermione let out a gasp of surprise at the way her body moulded to his. His kissing was making her feel breathless and light headed, their tongues danced together as if that was what they were made to do and she clung to him wondering how it was that Charlie Weasley had woke up this part of her that she’d just assumed she didn’t have.
She had no idea how long they stood there, kissing under the mistletoe in a silent Weasley kitchen but eventually Charlie pulled back. She was relieved to see that he looked just as breathless as she did and his eyes sparkled desire into hers.
“The things I want to do to you treasure,” his voice rumbled through her.
Hermione could think of no response to that but her face was already grinning at him.
~~~
Christmas Eve morning was a busy one in the Weasley kitchen. Molly was already in full swing with Christmas dinner prep and was somehow also churning out bacon and egg butties for the masses. The table was full of Weasleys and Hermione caught Charlie’s eye just before she sat down. Something about his gaze made her insides clench, how did he do that? She raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled then turned his attention back to the massive butty in front of him. The whole exchange took two seconds but it left Hermione feeling nearly as hot and bothered as she had under the mistletoe. She was longing for something; more kisses, his hands on her body, just more of Charlie...yes, she needed more of him.
All day there were jobs to be done and in between that Hermione kept darting off to try and wrap presents. She barely saw Charlie and began to wonder if he was avoiding her. Bill and Fleur arrived with Victoire and as the sky darkened the twins arrived having shut up their shop. They all gathered noisily around the kitchen eating cheese on toast for supper. Ginny was creating some kind of hot punch that smelled of apples and cinnamon and something sharp and warming. When Hermione took a sip she felt it relaxing her and gradually the kitchen emptied as they all moved into the living room, squashed onto armchairs and lounging on fluffy rugs under the glow of the Christmas tree.
There were a couple of games of exploding snap on the go and Bill and Charlie started to tell stories of their childhood Christmas. Molly and Arthur smiled at their memories, and laughed out loud at the time Fred and George had enchanted the Christmas Tree to spin furiously everytime someone said the word turkey.
Hermione felt more comfortable than she had in a while and she closed her eyes, listening to the chatter.
~~~
Ginny had woken her as everyone went to bed. Well, she thought everyone had, there was no sign of Charlie so she assumed he’d already gone upstairs. Now she lay in Ginny’s room...alone. As usual as soon as the house quietened Ginny snuck off to find Harry, Morgana knew where they went as she couldn’t imagine they stayed in Ron’s room but Ginny never returned before the early dawn hours. Hermione huffed, she couldn’t sleep. The sleepiness she’d felt downstairs had passed. She felt restless like something was tickling in her belly making her whole body squirm. After another five minutes she could take no more and she threw back to covers.
Hermione padded into the kitchen with her big fluffy slippers flip flopping onto the old stone floor. There was a slight glow from the Christmas tree in the corner so she didn’t bother turning the light on. She went over to the big cupboards to get a glass and turned the massive tap to fill it with water. She took a sip.
“Nice pyjamas.” A low voice came from somewhere behind her.
She spluttered into her glass, spinning around to see Charlie sat at the kitchen table, hidden in the shadows.
Hermione put down the glass and wiped her now wet hand down the pyjamas. She’d bought them at Marks and Spencer a few weeks ago, they were a flannel two piece number that covered every inch of her and had cartoon reindeers dancing through snow all over.
“Thanks,” She responded, even though he could have been joking. Charlie was still fully dressed as if he’d been down here all night. “I thought you were in bed.”
“Nope,” he took a sip out of a bottle before him on the table. Okay so he wasn’t the most verbose person she’d ever met.
“It’s just I didn’t see you before I went to bed.” She said simply.
“Did you miss me Hermione? Is that why you couldn’t sleep?” He drawled out the words and sat forward, leaning his tattooed forearms on the table. He seemed on edge tonight, different to how he had been under the mistletoe.
“I…” Hermione started then stopped, unsure of what she could say to that.
He pushed back the old wooden chair so it scraped over the floor as he stood up. He came to stand in front of her, big and overwhelming in her personal space. She sucked in a breath and got a bit hit of the pine and wood scent that was all him and made her knees weaken even more.
“I’ve been curious about you Hermione...very curious. Something is happening here that I’m not sure should be. But ever since you kissed me…” She opened her mouth to say something to that but he spoke up again stopping her. “Don’t try and tell me you didn’t want to...that you don’t want to now.”
Hermione was sure she audibly gulped as her mouth went suddenly dry.
Charlie looked down at her, red strands escaping from the messy bun on top of his head. He rested a hand either side of her waist, holding onto the kitchen counter. It brought his face nearly level with her and his bright blue eyes gleamed in the gloom of the dark room. She did want him, she couldn’t deny it. She wanted his kisses more than she’d wanted anything before.
“You’ll have to ask me treasure, if you want it,” his voice was so low, so quiet.
She thought about it for a moment, just a moment, trying desperately to think of the reasons why she should say no. Sadly her short-circuited brain couldn’t come up with anything, there was absolutely no reason on earth she wanted to say no to this.
She breathed out the words, “Kiss me.”
He smiled seductively, as if he knew exactly the effect he had on her. His lips brushed hers and she felt the spark of desire that only he’d seemed able to light within her. This feeling was addictive. His body moved forward so all of his hardness was pressed deliciously against her. He tilted his head a little and teased her lips with his tongue, this time she knew what he wanted straight away and she opened to him allowing his deep and sensual kiss. He kissed her until her lips felt swollen and her fingers were cramped from where she’d been gripping onto the front of his jumper. It was glorious but the restlessness was still there though, squirming through her body.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Hermione gasped out, her words forming the protest her body couldn’t manage. “I mean not this exactly, I love the kissing but we’re in a house full of Weasleys.’” She snuck a glance at the Weasley clock just to double check the rest of the arrows were all pointed to in bed. Charlie’s arrow was vibrating around the ‘at home’ segment.
“Sleeping Weasleys. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.” Charlie said, thankfully showing no signs of stopping. “But maybe that’s half the fun eh?”
One of his large hands scooped around her waist, teasing and playing at the waistband of her pyjamas. His touch left a trail of fire along her skin. He moved higher, his roughened fingertips travelling up. He watched her the whole time, his eves never leaving hers. Maybe he was waiting for her to stop him but he’d be waiting a long time. Hermione never imagined that someone else simply touching her could make her feel like this.
After what seemed like an age his fingers moved over the side of her breast. She held her breath, waiting for more. His thumb traced up the underside of her breast, following the curve up until it brushed over her nipple. Hermione’s whole body jolted and the breath she’d been holding rushed out. Charlie didn’t stop but he moved a large hand to her waist to steady her as he did it again, and again. She could feel her nipple puckering, and she arched up into him without really thinking why she was doing it. His thumb carried on teasing her and each time he stroked her a sensation flew down to her core. Something was started to happen, and she thought she might cry if he stopped. She could hear Charlie’s breath mingling with hers in the silence of the kitchen so she hoped he wasn’t quite ready to stop this yet either. The hand he’d had gripped at her waist had loosened and now played across the softness of her stomach. He pulled back the waistband of her pyjamas a little and traced a line across where the material had been.
His touch was killing her. Hermione knew what she wanted. With this new fire burning through her veins she saw no reason not to get it. In her head she blamed the mistletoe, and the winter punch, and those twinkling fairy lights that made everything warm and comfortable. She blamed it all happily and grasped Charlie’s wrist, pushing his hand into her pyjama bottoms, pointing him exactly to the spot where she most needed him to touch her.
Charlie didn’t miss a beat and slid a large finger right in between her folds. Hermione realised she was wet, incredibly so and while she’d never quite managed to understand the mechanism of reaching her own orgasm she knew enough about anatomy to know that Charlie’s finger had instantly found her clitoris.
This invasion felt nothing like her own clumsy fumblings in the dark, under the covers. No, it seemed as if Charlie knew her own body better than she did. The feeling that shot through her as he pressed slightly at the very centre of her thighs made her whole body shake. Her hands came up, gripping onto his enormous upper arms as he kept on, moving his finger between her legs, gliding over that sensitive spot and making her hips rise every time. Hermione was chasing that beautiful sensation in a way she had no idea her body was capable of.
She’d been holding her breath again but it all escaped suddenly in a gust. “Oh my,” she managed to say and he laughed in response.
“Okay?” he said with a smile still on his lips.
“Ah...ah...yesss,” Hermione managed to breath out but she couldn’t form any proper words. She wanted to tell him that she’d never felt anything like this and that she wasn’t sure she could actually complete what he was aiming for but that she’d rather sit down naked to Christmas dinner tomorrow than have him stop what he was doing. She didn’t know where to look. Everytime she glanced at his face he was watching her, eyes intense and eyebrows furrowed together. Was this normal? Could she ask him not to watch her? Probably not.
He changed his movement and she found she didn’t care. His finger was circling around instead of going up and down and she let out a moan, a loud moan and instantly clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Don’t hold back on my account,” he said and his voice was hoarse like she’d never heard it before. “If you don’t want to be heard though…”
He kissed her, open mouthed. The hand that had been curled around her breast all this time came up to the back of her head, carefully holding her as he kissed her. She had no idea if all this touching was usual, as she had nothing to compare it to but before she could wonder about that she felt a warmth spread all over her along her spine and out to her toes. Another noise escaped her throat, swallowed by Charlie’s mouth over hers.
Something was happening to her, her skin felt too tight. There was something inside her that seemed to be climbing up, higher and higher and it was becoming impossible to ignore. She didn’t know what to do with it, it felt like she had to do something. Lots of noises were escaping her now, whimpers and sighs as her body took over. Charlie covered them all as his tongue teased her own.
Her thighs had started to quiver as the feeling increased. Then the climbing inside of her halted for a magnificent moment, her whole body tensed just as wonderful pleasure took over and flooded her body for what seemed like an endless minute. She stopped kissing Charlie and threw her head back, letting out a silent gasp. Some part deep within her was still convulsing when Charlie kissed along her neck and slid his fingers back out her pyjama bottoms.
She felt shaky and giddy. She lowered her forehead onto Charlie’s shoulder and giggled, the sound escaping into the near empty room.
“Something funny?” he muttered and she heard a smile in his own voice.
“Not really funny,” She answered. “I just feel...kind of fluttery and that was...Charlie that felt…” she couldn’t think of the right word to describe what he’d done to her but the grin on her face surely told him that.
“Good?” he finished for her.
“Yes,” she said dreamily. “That was very good, very pleasing. Erm, don't you? I mean does something need to happen there?” Hermione started unsure of how to word this but she looked pointedly at his crotch. Something still looked pretty solid, stretching in his jeans and she was fairly certain most men didn’t come in their trousers without any touching.
“Nah treasure, you’re right, we really shouldn’t have. I just couldn’t help myself. And if you touch me now I’ll be slamming you into that counter before you can say Hungarian Horntail.”
Despite the orgasm he’d just delivered and the fact she wasn’t entirely sure why slamming was such an erotic verb, the image his words conjured up made Hermione shiver.
“And don’t look at me like that. I can sort this out myself.” He delivered that line with a wicked smile and again the image that brought into her mind nearly made Hermione moan, she bit her lip to stop the noise escaping. What was happening to her?
“Go on back to bed. Or Father Christmas won’t bring you any presents.” He gave her a wink and went back to chugging the bottle of ale he’d left on the table.
Hermione, a little unsure of what people did in these situations, scurried out of the room and darted up the stairs. She ran into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. She was still breathing heavily and her heart was racing. She smiled at her reflection. She’d just had her first orgasm. Her body felt like it never had before. Half of her felt sated and half felt alive. She went back into Ginny’s room, still empty, and. as her eyes started to shut she thought of what Charlie might be doing now...downstairs, alone. She smiled a naughty little smile into the darkness and burrowed down into the covers.