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1.
Retezat was always stunning early in the morning.
A playful breeze nipped at Charlie's flushed cheeks as he burrowed deeper into the purple knit scarf wrapped tight around his neck. He was thankful for the warming charms woven into the shearling lining the inside of his cloak, because even with the thick twill weave of his cotton working trousers, he could still feel the chill of the mossy cobblestone he was perched on trying to seep into his bones. The pale gradient of the rising sun spilled slowly over passing clouds down to the rocky slopes surrounding Peleaga Peak until all you could see was a blanket of light waking up the foggy valley below.
A freshly steeped batch of tea sat steaming in a chipped red thermos Dad had gifted him on the family's last trip up to Romania, as Charlie carefully tended to the fire he had built to fight off the morning cold for when the other dragon handlers eventually dragged themselves out of their thickly insulated tents to start the day. A simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and overnight oats sat next to him on the cobblestone under a preservation and warming charm, waiting for Charlie to dig in. He would eat and properly start his day soon, but not just yet. First, Charlie sat and thought.
That day should've been just like any other, a chilly Tuesday in early October with no cause to break from his usual routine of tending to his charges and helping around the reserve. Dragons were creatures of habit, and after so many years of working with them, Charlie had fallen in step, just like all the other dragon handlers before him. He rose with the sun and slept just as the fog would start to settle over Bucura Lake.
But instead, he needed to leave the grounds of Sanctuarul Balaurului as soon as the fog had cleared enough to apparate safely; first, to the nearby city of Hațeg, then from there to the larger city of Timișoara, where one of Romania's International Portkey Stations was located.
The eggs and oatmeal went down quickly, and soon Charlie was puttering about his tent as quietly as possible, gathering a bag of anything he might need for the day's outing. It should only be a simple thing: meeting recently appointed Headmaster McGonagall and his new B.A.T. charges. But as Charlie apparated away, he felt a pang of anxiety he could only hope was his breakfast digesting wrong and not a sign of things to come.
After the now infamous 'Battle of Hogwarts' and the ultimate victory over You-Know-Who—who doesn't deserve acknowledgment even in Death as Charlie sees it— came what the Ministry, barebones as it now was, called the 'Summer of Rejuvination'. To try to earn favor in the wizarding public and focus solely on a brighter future, heavy efforts had been made to kickstart any sort of rehabilitation the Ministry could fund or even simply encourage. Diagon Alley was rebuilt where rubble had once lay, the Wizengamot was now busier than ever trying to sort through new bill proposals and funding was put into any third-party program that was aimed at those impacted by the war the most—the B.A.T. program at Hogwarts being one of the more notable.
Although Hogwarts and the Wizarding World at large were not complete strangers to schooling being affected or cut short due to war, there had never been such a large number of students without a chance to even finish their final year of studies before. Even worse, many of the children had been directly in the line of fire, or like Charlie's baby brother and his friends, smack dab in the center of the whole war.
Just thinking about it made Charlie's heart ache something awful as he walked through the cobbled streets of Timișoara. The rows of arched windows perched on pastel colored terraced houses reflected the mid-morning sun onto the freshly cut lawns of Victory Square. The area was already starting to fill up with Muggles; tourists starting their day after a lie-in, locals gathering, some on their way to work, and others relaxing or opening up the many shops populating the marketplace. The entrance to the magical sector of Timișoara was located in a pristinely kept antique store tucked into a corner; it never seems quite empty, but you would be hard pressed to see customers coming and going. A simple knocking pattern with his wand, and Charlie was on his way.
Weaving through the magical crowd, Charlie soon reached the entrance to the International Portkey Station, a stately building significantly wider than the stores and restaurants neighboring it on either side. The typical wizarding space used to expand buildings in crowded market streets like this was, by ICW regulatory law, not permitted; any magical manipulation of Portkey Landing Zones could mess with the magic, at best creating delays in the tightly kept schedule and at worst resulting in severe injury of its passengers.
Charlie sat in the surprisingly uncrowded waiting room, located just off to the side of the main traveler processing area, and leafed through the paperwork he had received back in September when his B.A.T. supervisory project request had been accepted.
The Broadening Arcane Tutelage program (or B.A.T. for short) was a concept first thought up back when apprenticeships were still the norm for most recent Hogwarts graduates. A wizarding academic or professional in their field would submit a request for a student aide on some project or another, and any 6th or 7th year could apply for one of the B.A.T. postings in exchange for a N.E.W.T. waiver on a subject or two.
It had been discontinued when cuts started to be made to the amount of electives offered to older years, but, as Hermione had very excitedly explained during Charlie's visit to the Burrow when it was announced over the summer, Headmaster McGonagall had decided to offer it as an alternative for the returning 8th years. It was officially offered to offset the challenge of logistically determining the curriculum for what would be an almost doubled 7th year class, but anyone with half a brain could see how these kids could benefit from an option to study away from the castle, where they saw pain and torture on the regular.
A noise startled Charlie out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see McGonagall walk through the processing gates, followed by a group of travel-weary teenagers dragging trunks behind them.
Hermione Granger led the trio, arguing in hushed whispers with a taller boy Charlie couldn't recognize whose auburn hair fell down over his pale face in neat curls. Harry Potter rounded out the procession, walking slightly slower to help the Portkey sickness while looking around at the decoration on the wall.
Headmistress McGonagall gave Charlie a broad smile as he stood to shake her hand, "Mister Weasley, you're looking well. Thank you for meeting us today. I know the trip down from the Sanctuary isn't the easiest one."
Charlie waved off her concern with a laugh and a shake of his head, "No worries, Professor. So these are the students I'll be in charge of?"
"Yes. You're already familiar with Mister Potter and Miss Granger," McGonagall gestured to the two teens, Harry trying to hide a snort and Hermione rolling her eyes fondly, "But this young gentleman over here is Theodore Nott, one of our returning Slytherins."
As Theodore met the redhead's curious gaze head-on, Hermione's supportive squeeze of his hand and Harry's protective stance at his back not going unnoticed, Charlie just knew he was going to have a very interesting fall season.
"Can't wait to work with you three," Charlie said finally, giving the trio a bright grin. "There can never be too many fresh faces out on the Sanctuary. We've got to keep the dragons on their toes after all."
Trying to hold in the laugh at the paling looks on the teens' faces, Charlie met Headmistress McGonagall's gaze and nodded.
This was going to be very interesting indeed.
2.
Once Headmistress McGonagall had left to take her International Portkey back to Hogwarts, all Charlie wanted to do was return to Sanctuarul Balaurului and get his charges settled in. Still, it was obvious they would need to do some shopping in the city first. Each of the trio had only brought their school trunk and a rucksack or satchel bag. They would need to get weather-appropriate clothing, stock up on rations, and make sure they had any camping supplies that couldn't be shared with others at the reserve.
Charlie also had the sneaking suspicion that he would be dragged along to spend at least an hour inside any bookstore available to Hermione in the vicinity. When the first stop after grabbing the essentials was a cozy wizarding specialty store named Academia Arcane, which was spotting a very fragile set of leather-bound textbooks in its window, he felt vindicated as he let the curly-haired girl go wild before she vibrated herself into the ground with excitement. A half-hearted warning of only giving her half an hour to gather any purchases had barely left Charlie's mouth, and Hermione was off.
He spent 15 minutes wandering through the potion and healing aisles with Theodore—Theo, as he very adamantly demanded to be called—helping the boy find a few sets of beginner Magizoology Healer equipment as well as some more obscure potion ingredients. Charlie found that while Theo was the quiet, studious type and had an almost striking resemblance to Percy when he was still in school, Theo had an almost obsessive passion for magical creatures that Charlie was perfectly happy to indulge.
They were halfway through a discussion about the almost comical amount of baby Wyverns sent to Dragon Sanctuaries when Charlie heard a hushed argument around the corner of the nearest bookcase.
"No, Harry, I'm telling you this will work. It doesn't matter if you couldn't communicate with them during the Tournament; you're still fluent in a reptile-specific language, and this book clearly postulates that guivretongue is a real thing and is very possibly a dialect of parseltongue!" Hermione's frustrated whisper rang clear through the narrow store and was followed by a quieter response from what must've been Harry.
"'Mione, this book says it's a theoretical. Even if I could learn it, I doubt any store in the area would have the required material. Also, who says I could learn it even if I wan-"
"Harry James Potter, don't you dare finish that sentence," Hermione interrupted, cutting Harry off, "You grew up being hunted by a genocidal Nosferatu clone, of course your grades suffered! But you know as well as I do that you're just as smart as any other wizard I know. Well, except maybe Ron. His skills lie elsewhere…"
Harry chuckled at that, "He's just smart in a different way. You know books are hard for him, something about the letters floating and flipping around. I don't get it but either way he plays a killer game of chess and is getting scary good at dodging George's pranks."
Hermione let out a giggle, and a shuffle could be heard from where she had presumably playfully pushed Harry away. Charlie looked down at Theo to see a fond smile on his face before the brunette shook his head in exasperation and turned back to the shelves to browse various decorative stirring rods. Charlie leaned back onto the opposing bookshelf to give Theo room to browse, deciding to instead focus on the hidden duo behind him just in case anything happened. If anything, Charlie was more fascinated than cautious as he tuned back into what the pair was saying.
"How can you be sure this guvretongue or whatever works on dragons? Hermione, you don't even speak parseltongue, and now you're telling me there are dialects? Next, you'll be telling me I can talk to fish, too." Harry asked teasingly.
"Well, first off, it's guivretongue, get it right." Hermione huffed, "God, your French is atrocious, Andromeda would be disappointed. And secondly, well…"
Charlie couldn't hear the rest as Hermione peetered off into a hurried mutter and apparently neither could Harry as he responded, "What did you just say, Mi?"
A smack could be heard as Hermione hissed, "Harry, you know I hate that nickname."
"But you got it from Teddy!"
"Teddy is 1 and a half and can't even walk yet; you are 18 years old."
"Hey! Be happy I didn't call you Mimi!"
Another smack and a yelp.
"You are too old to be mimicking a toddler's inane babbling!"
"But it was cute!"
"Harry."
Charlie was starting to wonder if he would have to intervene, for the sake of Harry's hypothetical kids, if nothing else. A deep sigh and a muttered 'You're ridiculous' from Hermione made him relax back against the bookcase, his eyes following Theo once again as the boy had seemingly moved on to intently studying a jar full of unidentifiable fish eyes.
"Anyways," Harry continued after a beat of awkward silence, "What were you saying earlier? It was too fast for me to understand."
Charlie mentally chuckled at the shit-eating grin he could hear in Harry's voice and the defensive upper lilt of Hermione's response.
"It was nothing! Nothing important, I mean-"
"C'mooon, Hermione, you can't just leave me hanging like that."
The pair went quiet for an almost painful amount of time before Hermione relented with a huff, "Fine. I… may or may not have had a dragon phase when I was younger. And subsequently know a bit too much about European dragon mythology, and guivre is a type of French creature that can include things like dragons and wyverns. My Mom is French, it didn't just come out of nowhere!"
By the end of Hermione's explanation, Charlie had peeked around to see Harry laughing and Hermione looking away, face slightly flushed.
"You were embarrassed because you were a nerd as a little kid?" Harry asked teasingly, still slightly out of breath, "'Mione, the first day I met you, you were chasing a toad and spouting Hogwarts: A History like it could save you from firstie nerves. You've always been a nerd, I'm just more surprised I've never heard of this until now."
"I grew out of it by the time I realized real magical castles didn't, in fact, have dragons in them! Muggle fairy tale books are very misleading to a 7-year-old," Hermione grumbled.
"…Did you imagine yourself as the princess or the dragon in this scenario?" Harry asked with barely hidden glee before pausing to think for a second, "Or am I mixing up fairy tales? I never really read any as a kid."
Hermione responded with a roll of her eyes, "You're mixing up Rapunzel and the other fantasy stories with dragons and castles. And to answer your question, I would not be trapped in some castle because the logistics make absolutely no sense. You would waste away long before any search party attempt could be made, especially if it's guarded by a deadly creature! I'd escape before the first year was over…" Hermione seemed to genuinely start to think about the concept before stopping herself with a smack to Harry's arm, "You got me sidetracked! We need to focus on the parseltongue dialect!"
A look crossed Harry's face, like he was debating whether or not it was smart to say whatever had come to mind, before he deliberately scooted out of smacking range and, in a voice that mirrored the Twins' way too much for Charlie's comfort, fake-cooed with a shit-eating grin, "Whatever you say, princess."
If Charlie wasn't too used to the bullshit antics of teenage boys, he might've wanted to die right there, as in a matter of seconds, three things happened: Hermione's face erupted into a flush while Harry only had a light smattering of pink on his cheeks, Hermione shoved the book she had been holding at Harry and muttered something about finding more instructional manuals, and Harry sat for a solid 10 seconds just staring at her retreating form with the kind of stricken smile that would get even a stranger assuming certain things.
A cough came from behind Charlie as both he and Harry turned to see Theo standing there with a stack of books and miscellaneous potions equipment, his fond smile offset by an exasperated look in his eyes.
"Are you done bothering Granger, Potter?" Theo asked nonchalantly, like this had played out in front of him a thousand times before, "I want to finish shopping while the sun is still out, preferably."
Harry ducked his head with a sheepish laugh and a hand scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, I'm done."
Theo raised an eyebrow at Harry silently before the black-haired boy continued, "… And I'll go make sure she doesn't get lost in the shelves so we can leave at a reasonable time."
Theo nodded like all was right in the world and gestured with his head for Charlie to follow him to the Sales Witch in the back, not bothering to wait for the redhead whose head was still spinning slightly. In the end, Charlie simply shrugged it off, deciding his questions could wait for another day when he wasn't on a tight schedule and when he wasn't yearning for his nice, insulated tent back on Retezat.
3.
It hadn't taken the trio long to settle into the rhythm of Sanctuarul Balaurului. Harry and Hermione had experience with camping, although under much worse circumstances, and Theo apparently went regularly with his Father to visit relatives in the north before 'everyone in my family went crazy' (Theo's words, not Charlie's).
Charlie trusted them to be mature enough to share a tent; if Hermione had survived sharing a tent with Harry and Charlie's brother, then Charlie felt she was fine to share one here. The tents used on the reserve were much more similar in size to the ones the Weasleys had used during the disastrous Quidditch World Cup, so each teen could have their own space as an extra precaution.
Also, Charlie had it on good information that Ginny had taught Hermione the Bat-Bogey Hex years ago. She would be fine.
Even so, Charlie kept a close eye on the three, both to make sure there were no signs of any discomfort (or Merlin forbid fear) between them, but also to make sure they were adjusting to the weather and climate of Romania well. Once they were no longer moving awkwardly in the stiffer fabrics of their new robes and could comfortably wear the fireproof gear required to even go near the dragons, Charlie introduced them to Apple.
Apple was a Common Welsh Green dragon that Charlie had rescued just over 9 years prior and was one of his favorites of the charges under his care. She had settled herself further down the valley under the peak that held the dragon handler camp in a pocket of warded-off terrain parallel to Bucura Lake, where she could rest away from the steeper cliffs but still had enough elevated areas to improve her wing strength with short flights under Charlie's supervision.
Not that she had been able to do much flying recently.
See, when Charlie had first rescued Apple, she had been camping out in a rural Muggle homestead with a broken wing that she had been in the steady process of healing. Just before the war with You-Know-Who had really started to ramp up, she had been on a trajectory to finish healing within the year, and Charlie had started reaching out to others at sanctuaries and reserves around Europe to see if there were any leads on her family in an effort to start reunification. But then his family found itself in the middle of a battle he had hoped they could avoid, and everything else no longer seemed to matter. Of course, Charlie still worked his job and cared for the dragons on the reserve, but his mind was often elsewhere, and Apple took up a more than semi-permanent residence in Romania with him.
And then, in the winter of 1996, Apple got hit by a stray curse while on a practice flight, and her condition quickly got worse. No one was ever able to identify the attacker or the exact curse cast, but a team of a local Aurologist, Curse Breaker, and Magizoologist was able to figure out that part of Apple's brain had been inflamed by the curse, and that it was the cause of her rapid deterioration in mood, limb weakness, and trouble recognizing her caretakers. Intensive healing had helped the worst symptoms, but side effects remained up to the present day, with Charlie only able to provide comfort care to the best of his limited ability.
Somehow, he had the feeling past-Charlie wouldn't have been able to visualize that his ability to help extended to supervising two teenagers arguing over one of the thickest magizoology books Charlie had ever seen, as well as a few curse-breaking books Harry had definitely stolen from Bill's room at the Burrow.
"No, I'm telling you it has to be a new curse! Her symptoms don't line up with the original curse at all," Harry argued, furiously gesturing to a passage in his curse-breaking book on movement-based curses. "Yeah, sure, she's grumpy and can't move well, but her wing is all twisted up! I'd be grumpy if my arm was twisted like that, and I have experience with that."
Theo rolled his eyes, "Not everyone has the medical resume of a one-legged goat, Potter. You're being blinded by Quidditch-induced paranoia, surely." A small smile was tugging at the edge of Theo's lips as he moved to point to a passage in his own book. "Look here, Harry, there's a case from 1892 where a wizard's pet kneazle had what is speculated to be a brain inflammation, and it progressed to where its tail was always bent at a 45-degree angle."
"A cat is not a dragon, Theo," Harry responded, unimpressed.
"And neither of us is a healer, but I think assuming a totally new curse with no reports of a new attack being spotted is absurd," Theo drawled with a flick to Harry's forehead. "Come on Potter, get that brain of yours working and let's gather a list of possible theories we can bring up to Healer Williams when he returns from his sabbatical next week."
"Why do you know the name of a random healer all the way in Romania?"
"Because I pay attention. Next question."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Theo's non-answer, "We weren't introduced to any healers our first week here, or not any by name."
Theo remained resolutely quiet as Harry began to poke his cheek repeatedly in an attempt to get a rise out of him.
"Theo. Hey. Hey, Theo. Theooo," came the non-stop barrage of pestering Harry had definitely picked up from Ginny.
"Fine!" Theo snapped after a minute or two, turning sharply to face Harry, neither acknowledging the close distance between the two of them. "He's mentioned in a few of the periodicals I follow, and I might've dug more into his career once I learned I was accepted to this program."
Harry let out a laugh at that, dropping his head down so it rested on Theo's shoulder, "What is it with you and Hermione and being weirdly cagey about nerd stuff?"
Theo turned back to flip through the magizoology book with his left hand as his right came up to gently card through Harry's hair. Harry let out a pleased sigh and moved closer towards Theo, his head now resting in the crook of Theo's neck as his body weight was mostly supported by the other boy's torso. After a moment, Theo spoke again in a more solemn tone, "Not a lot of people in my family take kindly to a man who isn't harsh or interested in leadership. I'm not sure about Granger, but people like us—quiet, studious, standoffish—don't always get the best treatment, so I find it easier not to give people any opportunities."
"I wouldn't do that to you, you know that. Right?" Harry asked quietly.
Theo paused before pulling the black-haired boy closer and murmuring, "I know, Harry. I know."
Deciding that it was likely the two boys wouldn't cause any trouble as things were in the moment, Charlie decided it would be a perfect opportunity to instead go and actually get the Healer on staff, so a decision could be made on which theories to pursue.
Plus, some privacy might be appreciated. At least, for now. For… whatever might happen. Whenever it happened.
Charlie sure didn't want to be there when it did.
4.
Charlie hadn't meant to stumble into the teens' tent; he really hadn't.
It was 2 am, and the more veteran dragon handlers had gotten together for a drink or two to celebrate another successful rehabilitation. It had been a tough one this time, and more than a few bottles of Firewhiskey had been passed around the campfire. Having said goodbye to his friends, Charlie had stumbled in the vague direction of his tent with the sole intention of collapsing onto his reinforced mattress and passing out.
The two tents being directly next to each other, it wasn't the most improbable mistake to make, and Charlie would've immediately left once he realized where he was, but… he had to take a moment. Because instead of being asleep like he should've been at that moment, Hermione and Theo were hunched over a transfigured workbench in the corner of the tent, the dim light above them illuminating a mess of papers and blueprints along with what looked to be the prototype of some sort of brace.
Charlie knew that the trio had been working on something to help straighten out Apple's twisted wing until the muscles could be repaired or healed, but to find out they were sacrificing their sleep for it… He made a move to call out and gently chastise them for pulling what looked like an all-nighter when he heard a quiet murmur come from Hermione.
"I can't figure out the matrix on the joint here," she said with a huff of frustration.
Theo leaned over to look at whatever she was pointing to before motioning to a paper that Charlie couldn't make out, "Look, it's supposed to be Thurisaz here instead of Raidho. The support runes should go closer to the central joint, while the flight runes should extend outward to the flares of the wing."
Hermione tilted her head, studying the paper before jotting down a couple of notes and a sketch along one of the blueprints, "What about that? If we mixed Laguz with Raidho, the long-distance travel support could mix with the intuition of the muscle movements to help with navigation."
Theo moved closer, leaning further over Hermione's shoulder to consider her writing, "Hm… Possibly, but I don't think that would fit down the thinner joint braces."
Moving behind Hermione to guide her right hand, which was still holding the quill, Theo murmured as he moved their conjoined hands slowly, "Look, the rune schematic has to work outward from the broader base of strength and support to the thinner lines of specific intention down each part of the wing."
Hermione hummed a tired noise of understanding as Theo kissed her hair softly, squeezing her waist as he murmured, "Time to go to bed, Granger. We can look at the matrix again in the morning."
Hermione's head fell back onto Theo's chest as she nodded sleepily, mumbling in return, "Harry'll be upset we stayed up so late again without him."
Theo let out a small laugh as he led the two of them over to what must be their sleeping area, "He can survive, Hermione. Sleep well."
It was too private a scene for Charlie to justify staying any longer, and as he stumbled back to the proper tent this time, he smiled to himself.
The kids would be okay.
+1
It was one of their rare days off from the B.A.T. program schedule.
Charlie had gone into town to grab supplies, some place Harry still didn't even dare try to pronounce, and he, along with Hermione and Theo, were given the official go-ahead to do absolutely nothing. Harry thought it was absolutely brilliant as he was just about to explode if he had to look at one more diagram of dragon muscles, but something still wasn't sitting quite right with him.
The three of them were hanging out in their designated tent. Hermione was catching up on some of the confusing academic journals that kept piling up on their nightstand during mail delivery, Theo was cooking a light lunch in the kitchen, and Harry was lying next to Hermione on the bed, staring up at absolutely nothing.
Charlie had checked in on them before he left, meeting Harry's gaze with a wry grin when he saw the three bundled together on the bed (it was cold, okay?) before waving them off with a cheeky 'Don't have too much fun while I'm gone,' and it hadn't left Harry's brain since.
What fun could he mean? We're not doing anything different from what we usually do, Harry tried to convince himself, but in reality, their daily routine was pretty fun in and of itself. Harry genuinely enjoyed playfully arguing with Theo and listening to Hermione talk about her new theories. He felt like he could breathe when he was around them, even when the rest of the world still felt suffocating—hints of the war's effect leaking in through letters from home and bundles of the Daily Prophet Hermione insisted on reading each week.
Harry turned to look at his friends as his brows furrowed in frustration. Does Charlie know something I don't? Theo was humming to himself softly as the sunlight streamed in through the skylight, bathing his warm brown curls in a soft glow. He looked so at peace when he was at the reserve, it made Harry's breath catch sometimes. The light would always catch Theo's dimples at just the right time whenever Harry managed to pull the rare laugh from him, and Harry swore it was a thrill comparable to winning the House Cup. What does he see that I can't? Hermione's face was scrunched in concentration, a quill tucked behind her ear and tangled with a loose curl falling out of the braided updo she had started to wear since working around fire-breathing and hot-tempered creatures. Up this close to her, Harry could see the faint smattering of freckles that had built up from days spent out under the unrelenting Romanian sun. The fresh air had done wonders for Hermione, her lithe form no longer tense with stress or shaking with anger like they had been so many times in the final months of the war.
Harry wondered when his friends had grown to be so lovely to look at.
Is that what Charlie's been getting at? That I think my friends are attractive? Slimy bugger wasn't being subtle then, with his finger guns and wiggling eyebrows. What does he know about us? His best friend is an overgrown green lizard named after a fruit. Harry rolled his eyes, chuckling at himself, knowing he didn't really mean any of that. Apple was a perfectly lovely dragon, after all. He let his eyes roam over to Theo and Hermione again. God, they really are stunning, aren't they?
Harry wondered how he had not noticed this earlier. His eyes suddenly widened as he sat up.
Oh. Ohhhhh.
"Oh, that's what he meant," Harry mumbled to himself in almost a trance-like state, like he was just finding out a truth that had been right in front of him the whole time. Both Theo and Hermione looked over at him with matching looks of confusion and concern.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked, putting down her journal to turn her body to face him.
"I think Charlie thinks we're all dating," Harry blurted out, unable to stop his thoughts from flowing, mind racing and body starting to shake. "Are we dating? You guys are so pretty, and I think I might be just a little gone for you, and he's been giving us these looks all month and-"
"Potter, breathe," Harry heard Theo's voice to his left as he tried to match his quickening breaths with the steady hand drawing circles on his shoulder.
"So what if he thinks we're dating? Does that change anything about our friendship?" Theo asked softly, looking up at Hermione and then back to Harry.
Hermione chimed in, slowly moving closer to the two of them, "Harry… do you want it to change anything about our friendship?"
Harry dropped his face into his still-shaking hands, "Maybe?"
"Is that a statement or a question, Potter?" Theo asked teasingly even as he pulled Harry's head up to meet his searching gaze.
Harry could only quietly mutter, "Statement," before Theo was giving him a wide grin and pulling him in for a kiss.
Hermione tasted just as sweet as Theo was warm, and by the time Charlie came back no amount of 'I knew it' and 'Totally saw this coming' could wipe the stupid smile off his face.