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“You should focus on that time you rode the dragon!” Fred told her enthusiastically.
“Then the two of you will experience the same thing for sure,” George added with a laugh.
Charlie rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face, but didn’t say anything. He had said so little that Hermione was afraid he was angry about having to do this with her. When he agreed to it, he hadn’t known who the other person would be. Maybe she was that abhorrent to him.
She tried not to let that thought upset her. If she was being honest, part of why Hermione had agreed to this was because it was Charlie they had badgered into doing it. She had told them ‘no’ the first several times they asked, but only because she didn’t want to look overeager. The idea of a daydream with Charlie was very appealing. Unless he wanted nothing to do with her - would that affect the results of their test?
Perhaps Charlie was just this withdrawn with everyone these days, Hermione nervously told herself. Merlin knew the war had changed everyone else, and the things he had admitted to the family that he had to do - that Dumbledore had asked him to do… they would change anyone.
But the twins had clearly noticed something was off, too, or they wouldn’t have brought up the dragons. The point of their Patented Daydream Charms was for romantic daydreams as far as Hermione was aware. They were creating these especially for their Wonder Witch line. They must have hoped that the daydream she and Charlie shared would be more along those lines. Then again, maybe it was more the sharing aspect they were hoping for, no matter the subject. They were being very vague about all this.
“So, are you both ready?” the twins asked together.
“I would like a little more information about the goal here,” Hermione answered, feeling increasingly more nervous.
Charlie nodded in agreement. He looked as nervous as she felt.
“It’s hard to explain,” George told them. “The idea is that you’ll both go into a daydream together. It has a general theme. This one is ‘wedding.’ If you-”
“Wedding? Really?” Hermione asked. Why in the world?
“Lots of women want to daydream about their wedding day. We thought it would be appealing to them to have their loved one daydream about it with them so they could show their special someone what they want,” Fred explained.
“So if you daydream different things, you’ll both be present, but playing different roles in each other’s dreams. You’ll each remember the other’s daydream as well as your own, but if your daydreams align, if the same thing happens for both of you, we think it will do something special.”
Hermione was almost certain now that this was a terrible idea. She had seen how wide Charlie’s eyes went when they said that both parties should remember both daydreams, but he was clearly distracted by the last bit.
“Something special like what?” Charlie asked.
George shrugged. “No idea. This is an experiment, remember?”
With a wave of his wand, Fred had changed the two beds in Bill and Charlie’s room at the Burrow into one larger one. “Okay, in bed, you two.”
“What?” Charlie asked, looking even more nervous.
Somewhat patiently, George said, “The two of you need to be touching for the daydreams to link properly.”
“Can’t we just sit next to each other?” Hermione asked. In another life, she would love to lay down in bed with Charlie Weasley. But right now? When he looked like he might be sick at the prospect? She wanted to run.
“No,” Fred said, his brow crinkled. “These daydreams are for people who know and care about each other. As close as possible is best.”
“In fact, Charlie, you get in bed first, then pull Hermione into your arms,” George commanded.
They both protested, but the twins made a compelling argument. They would make it their mission to experimentally prank the two of them non-stop until at least Christmas unless they finished what they had agreed to. As it wasn’t yet New Year’s, that was a heavy threat. Charlie and Hermione looked at each other.
Gathering her Gryffindor courage and shoving down her humiliation at being so unwanted by the man she was crushing on, Hermione said, “Fine,” and looked to Charlie.
With a deep breath, he slid onto the bed and opened his arms. His cheeks and neck were as red as his hair.
When she slid into his waiting arms, Hermione found herself surrounded by his scent - leather and spices and grass and something undeniably Charlie. She had caught whiffs of him before from standing nearby, but being this close was heavenly.
“Okay,” one of the twins said - Hermione wasn’t sure and didn’t care enough to figure out which. “Now each of you will think the words ‘ simul somnium’ as you put this pill in your mouth.”
They followed their instructions, then Hermione felt Charlie’s arms tighten around her as a small groan escaped him. Hermione knew she was losing herself but before she did, she buried her head in his chest and sighed.
Hermione barely recognized the woman staring back at her from the mirror. She was elegant and beautiful, in a form fitting bodice that eventually swirled out into a full skirt. Her hair was half swept up, and half down. She somehow knew that was just how Charlie liked it.
Ginny stepped out from behind her. “He’s going to hyperventilate when he sees you!”
“I hope not!” Hermione said, worrying that Charlie might have changed his mind. That this was too much of a dream come true to be real.
She didn’t have time to worry about it. Molly was suddenly there fussing, along with Fleur. Then Harry collected her from the dressing room. Her bridesmaids headed out, giggling, as the processional music began.
Hermione felt faint and elated at once. And then she stepped outside, into the aisle that had been created in the garden and saw him standing there on the dais. She felt her heart constrict happily.
*****
Charlie had never imagined such an intense moment in his life. Saying Hermione was his other half was always met with patronizing “Awwww”s, but no one understood that he meant it. He couldn’t believe he had gotten up the nerve to even ask her out, much less that they had made it here, to an altar where they would exchange blood and magical bonds in order to be together for all time.
Some would say it was extreme. He had honestly been surprised that she was willing. But Hermione had nuzzled against him and said, “We already belong together for all time. This is just a formality.”
So here they were. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The one he had pined after from the moment he saw her as a woman at Bill’s wedding. The woman who loved and cared for creatures just as much as he did and would fight for them every bit as much as him. Everything about her was amazing, yet she was agreeing to marry him despite all his flaws.
Charlie could hardly breathe as he watched her float up the aisle toward him.
The ceremony itself went quickly. They each used the Weasley family Athame to make a small cut in their own hand, mixing their blood together and speaking the ancient words to bind themselves together. The magic rose around them, bringing their magical cores together, first spinning around one another, then gradually sinking in until they were one, fused together by the power of their love.
It wasn’t a ceremony Charlie had ever thought he would see performed, and certainly not one he expected to participate in. But in that moment, he knew it was right, perfect for the two of them. Staring into Hermione’s eyes, he knew she saw it that way, too.
The kiss they exchanged to seal the bonds… it felt more real than anything Charlie had ever experienced. The intensity was unbelievable. Her lips were so soft, but so determined. The heat between them left him panting, desire surging from deep within.
Some part of his brain seemed to awaken, acknowledging that this felt like more than a daydream. So fucking much more. His heart clenched with pain when he realized it wasn’t real. No. NO! He couldn’t… Charlie felt like his world was falling apart for a moment.
One long, disorienting moment passed before he realized that the intense kiss from the daydream hadn’t ended. His lips were pressed against Hermione’s. Her sweet, supple body was held tight in his arms. Her fingers were carding through his hair and dancing along the back of his neck. Charlie shuddered as he tried to understand how this was happening but mostly gave it up in favor of enjoying the moment he was certain would end soon.
“Merlin’s pants! Get them off of each other!” he vaguely heard one of the twins cry.
There were hands then, trying to pry them apart, until one of them gasped - Fred, he thought. “Fuck. Their hands are bleeding.”
“ What is going on in here !?” Mum’s voice was at top intensity. The door nearly blew off its hinges as she stormed in.
Someone, more likely several someones, were about to be in trouble and Charlie had a feeling he was among them. He couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when his lips were against Hermione’s and her tongue had begun exploring against his own. Merlin, he wanted more, needed it like air.
“Charlie?” Mum asked incredulously. “Hermione?”
“It was just an experiment,” one of the twins said frantically.
“We never would have expected-”
“What in Merlin’s name did you do to them?” Mum demanded. He felt her hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him away, but Charlie wasn’t having it. “That magical pulse shook the house. Start talking now!”
She gave up trying to separate them as she listened to the twins’ garbled explanation. Charlie couldn’t give a shite about their words. He was just relieved that even Mum was leaving them be. He wanted nothing more than for them to all leave the room so he and Hermione could consummate their marriage.
Shite. No. It wasn’t real. Even with her lips and body pressed to his, Charlie felt his heart clench in pain at the thought. It wasn’t real. She didn’t actually belong to him. Just a fucking daydream, just a tiny glimpse of what he wanted more than anything else. From her reaction, her daydream must have been something similar. She couldn’t want him that way, the way he wanted her in his life forever, but Merlin whatever she had dreamed, he would take it. He would take every second he could have with her.
It hurt, real physical pain, when they finally did pull the two of them apart. It helped his heart a little that Hermione whimpered at being separated from him as well. Charlie was using all of his restraint to keep from hurting the twins for pulling Hermione away from him. Mum’s cheeks were red with anger. He thought she might have been yelling at Fred and George, but he honestly couldn’t remember hearing it.
“Charlie? Hermione? Are you two in there?” Mum asked, sounding hesitant.
“Yes,” Hermione said. Her voice was strained. “But I don’t know why you’re all here. We need to be alone.”
Charlie’s heart leapt. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who felt that way?
“No, dear. I’m afraid the twin’s daydream charm went a bit awry. If we leave you alone, I think what happened will be irreversible,” Mum said gently. She added in a mutter, “If it’s not already.”
“Did… did you both dream the same thing?” Fred asked hesitantly.
“Haven’t really talked about it,” Charlie answered. In other circumstances he probably would have been embarrassed by how husky his voice was, but right now he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“What was the dream, dear?” Mum asked. Her voice was still gentle though she looked like she could cheerfully murder someone at any moment.
“We got married,” Hermione said. “He looked perfect and my dress was perfect and the ceremony…”
“We were blood and magic bound,” Charlie managed. He didn’t really want to share it with anyone. It was too special, but in the dream they had all been there watching. It just wasn’t something he wanted to talk about in the aftermath. “We used the Weasley Athame.” It was then that he really realized his hand was cut, like it had been in the dream.
“We clasped hands like this,” Hermione added, bringing her bleeding hand to his.
“NO!” Mum cried, but they were already touching and holding before she could stop them.
Charlie’s head spun with the weight of Hermione’s gaze on his. It felt so fucking real. He needed it to be real, no matter how much he knew it wasn’t. With their hands together, blood mixing, he felt like there was magic pulsing around them, out of them, through them - like they were magic. And then he was kissing her again.
This was real. Completely real - it had to be. Even if she hated him for it later, Charlie was basking in these moments of real feeling between them.
The twins pulled them apart again. Charlie heard himself growl and Hermione whine.
“What exactly was the point of this experiment again?” Mum enquired of the twins.
George looked abashed. “Well, if they had separate daydreams, they would each remember them and be able to talk about them together. If it was the same daydream-”
“Which it seems like this was-” Fred added, somewhere between excited and remorseful.
“Then it would be a shared experience and, basically, real,” George finished. He was bracing for the impact of Mum’s furious rant.
Instead, there was stunned silence. Finally, she said, “Charlie, Hermione? You both dreamed that you married that way? With the Athame and chanting the marriage spell?”
“Yes,” they answered together. He wondered if she remembered every second of it as vividly as he did. But then he could feel it, almost see it through her eyes. Yes, she remembered. But this… what was this that he could remember from her viewpoint, too?
“Mum… I think the daydream may have worked,” Fred said, all semblance of remorse gone.
“It worked,” George said in awe.
“And now your brother is married for all eternity to someone he barely knows!” Mum’s voice was rising.
“It’s okay, Mum,” he said. “I… I want to be.”
His eyes met Hermione’s, and she smiled at him. “So do I,” she agreed.
“You’re always harping on him to find a nice girl and settle down. We’ve taken care of that for you,” Fred said, probably with a grin.
Charlie wasn’t sure, because he couldn’t bring himself to care. Hermione was the only thing that mattered to him in this moment.
With a sudden smile, Molly said, “Fine. What’s done is done. I suppose it’s time to start planning a ceremony the rest of us can see. Come with me, boys. We have wedding decorations to make!” The twins groaned but followed her out.
And then it was just the two of them, as it should be.