Hermione turned towards her boyfriend, smiling before she linked their hands and squeezed gently. Charlie reciprocated her smile before pulling his girlfriend into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly as he kissed the top of her head; Hermione nuzzled into his chest as he did so.
Harry watched this interaction with an odd expression, while Ginny grinned widely.
"I'm so confused," Harry whispered, itching his head awkwardly. "How did I miss this? You two are my best friends for Merlin's sake!"
"Don't beat yourself up over it," Charlie shrugged, his tone radiating comfort. "It wasn't something we wanted to parade around." He shifted his gaze to Ginny, raising an accusing brow, "We want to keep our relationship a secret."
"But that's no fun," Ginny pouted, stomping her foot in annoyance. "Why can't you be one of those couples who make people feel awkward with their immense snogging?"
Hermione sighed, tightening her grip around her boyfriend, before muttering into his chest happily, "Because I like having him all to myself."
Charlie smiled bashfully against Hermione's head at this comment, avoiding the teasing glance that was sure to come from Harry.
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"Oh, I bet you do," Ginny smirked mischievously, eyeing Charlie up and down before winking in Hermione's direction, "Tell me, is he as gentle and sweet as he seems? Or is he more of a 'freak in the sheets' kind of guy?"
"Both," Hermione giggled, feeling slightly relieved that their was someone that she could talk about and gush over Charlie with. "But we'll talk about that later..."
As Ginny let out a breathy laugh, Charlie leaned back slightly, narrowing his eyes in confusion at his girlfriend, who blushed a bright pink under his gaze, before he shifted his gaze to Harry, looking for some sort of explanation.
But Harry simply shrugged, muttering, "Women."
"I'm so happy for you two!" squealed Ginny, ignoring Harry's comment. "You're dating, you've shagged, you're sneaking around, and you are quite obviously in loveeeee... damn, I'm jealous."
"You can't be that jealous," Hermione smirked, raising her head off of Charlie's chest to nod in Harry's direction. "Seems to me like you're doing just fine."
"Oh yeah," Charlie laughed, catching on to what his girlfriend was insinuating. "Your turn to be interrogated — what's going on between you two?"
Ginny's face faltered as she gulped slightly, "Right, about that..."
Harry tried to help by adding, "Well, w-we, uh —"
"You like one another," Hermione shrugged, slightly amused on how quickly the tables had turned, "that part's obvious."
"We grew closer over the summer," Ginny sighed, confirming her friend's suspicions. "We're not official, mind you, but there's something there." She held Harry's hand in hers before adding, "We're just trying to see what'll happen."
