alisanne

Title: Heat
Author:

alisanne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Charlie Weasley/Hermione Granger
Word Count: 960
Warnings: None.
Summary: Not all heat burns.
A/N: Written for

hphet/

hphet's prompt # 7: Heat.
Beta(s):

sevfan and emynn.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

~

Heat

~

The heat’s stifling. Licking a bead of sweat off her upper lip, Hermione holds her wand steady and stares into the dragon’s eyes.

“That’s it, don’t back down,” murmurs Charlie, standing behind her.

Fighting back the shiver of arousal his voice always gives her, Hermione steps into the dragon pit, centring herself.

“Good,” he murmurs. “You know, I think you may be a natural. Now here’s the test. See if she’ll let you go near her babies.”

Hermione exhales. Then, moving slowly, she edges forward, her gaze holding the dragon’s as she does her best to exude calm and not make any sudden movements, Charlie’s lessons of the past few days reverberating in her head.

As Hermione gets closer, the dragon’s nostril’s flare, and she shoots a blast of steam over the top of Hermione’s head that she’s sure singes some of her hair. She doesn’t flinch.

“Excellent,” says Charlie. “It’s hard not to react to that. And remember, if you need to back away, do it slowly.”

But Hermione’s nothing if not determined. Retreating is not a part of her plan. She continues to edge forward until she’s almost touching the first of the three baby dragons.

Reaching down, her eyes still on the mother, Hermione rests one hand on its head.

A rumble emerges from the mother dragon’s throat, but no fire or steam. A good sign.

Sinking to her knees, Hermione continues to pat the baby’s head, reaching around to scratch the ridges behind his ears. He emits a noise between a trill and a purr, the sound of a happy baby dragon, and the mother flops down onto her belly and rumbles, eyes still trained on Hermione.

Shifting until she’s cross-legged, Hermione continues petting the baby, whose sounds invite his sibling to investigate. Soon, Hermione has a lap full of baby dragons all vying for her attention, and while the mother doesn’t move any closer, she does keep a watchful eye on Hermione.

Finally, the dragon huffs, her eyes closing. The babies ignore their mother, continuing to play with Hermione, shoving their heads under her hands for caresses and scratches.

“Brilliant,” says Charlie, crouching down outside the pen. “She’s accepted you as nanny.”

Hermione giggles as a couple of the baby dragons rest their heads on her lap and gaze up at her with liquid eyes. One decides to climb up and drape itself over her shoulder, its face landing on her chest. “Actually, I think the babies consider me to be a piece of furniture,” she says, chuckling.

“More like another, slightly bald, sibling,” says Charlie.

“You think they see me as another dragon?” Hermione hums.

“I believe so. A scaleless, misshapen, grotesque one, but a dragon nonetheless.”

Hermione raises an eyebrow. “You’re terrible for a girl’s ego.”

“Sorry, but I suspect that’s how they see us.” Charlie smirks “Would it make you feel better if I told you I’m a bit jealous of the one with its head on your…chest?”

Snorting, Hermione shakes her head. “Must you always tease?”

Charlie frowns. “What makes you think I’m—?”

“Actually, the heat’s stifling in here,” Hermione interrupts, lifting the dozing baby dragons off her lap and not meeting his eyes. “I should go back to my room and take some notes. This is fascinating.”

“Hermione.”

After placing the babies beside their mother, who hasn’t moved or opened her eyes, Hermione stands, brushing sand off her trousers. “Hm?”

“Look at me, please.”

Exhaling, Hermione carefully backs out of the dragon pit before turning to look up at Charlie. “Yes?”

Stepping forward until he’s close enough to touch, he says, “Since you’ve been here studying these past few weeks, I’ve had the feeling you’re interested in me, but whenever I try to flirt with you, you pull away.” Charlie exhales. “Now, if I’m out of line, I apologise, and I’ll never mention it again. But if I’m right, and there is something between us, then don’t you want to see where it could go?”

Hermione swallows hard. “I assumed you were just teasing,” she whispers. “I didn’t think you actually fancied me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Charlie’s eyes narrow.

“Because you flirt with everyone!” Hermione crosses her arms across her chest. “I think you’d flirt with the female dragons if you thought you had a chance.”

“Who says I don’t?”

Hermione’s mouth falls open and she gapes at him.

Charlie keeps his face serious a moment before cracking a smile. “I’m joking.” He goes serious, intent, the look in his eyes making her breath catch. “And I don’t flirt with everyone, just you.”

“Oh.” Hermione looks away. “It appeared like it to me.”

Charlie clasps her shoulders, making Hermione look up at him again. “I’m sorry I’ve made you feel that way. Will you let me make it up to you?” He hums. “I promise no flirting if it makes you uncomfortable.”

She tilts her head, eyeing him. “Well, I never said no flirting ever.”

Charlie barks a laugh, drawing her closer before he tucks a stray curl behind her ear. “All right, then. Flirting it is, but only with you. Now that’s sorted, would you have dinner with me?”

Hermione pretends to consider for a moment before nodding. “All right.” She smiles. “And I was joking about the female dragons, too, by the way. I don’t think you flirt with them. Well, not much.”

“Good to know you don’t think I’m actively suicidal,” laughs Charlie, pulling her away from the dragon pen and shaking his head. “You know, I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

Hermione leans into his body, the heat of his touch seeping all through her. Far from being stifling, he feels warm, comforting. She smiles. “You could be right.”

~