OH NO!! It's the final chapter :sob: I would like to thank everybody who has read this fiction and reviewed and enjoyed it :DI'm so happy that it was a success! You know I remember I read my first Char/Herm fic andthought to myself that I should give it a go. I never thought I would have been able to produce my most successful story to date!! So I thank you all for reading and reviewing and enjoying and so for the last time...ENJOY! xxxx

Disclaimer: Since the first chapter I have only owned the plot line o.O

2 weeks in Romania

Chapter Twenty: Happy again

Hermione sighed heavily into her coffee cup. As she picked at a blueberry muffin she noticed Ginny was staring at her in a concerned manner.

"What?" she asked her as she swallowed a piece of muffin. Ginny giggled slightly but then looked concerned once more. "You know that's the first time I've ever seen you eat a muffin," she said softly. Hermione scoffed in an unladylike manner and simply said, "I eat junk food when I'm depressed or nervous."

"I never seen you eat any in Hogwarts," Ginny said confusedly. Hermione smirked a smirk that could have rivalled Draco Malfoy's.

"I had a secret stash in my dorm," she said cynically and with that she finished her muffin and got up to pour herself another cup of coffee.

"So which one is it?" Ginny asked as she watched Hermione prepare herself more coffee. Hermione glanced over her shoulder and mumbled something that resembled "Which one is what?" Ginny shook her head with a sigh. She looked around Hermione's flat, which was situated 3 miles outside of Diagon Alley. On her kitchen counter laid the note that told Hermione that her rally had been postponed for 3 weeks due to unforeseen circumstances but Ginny knew that's what wasn't throwing Hermione off her 'A Game'.

"Are you depressed or nervous?" she asked passively as she picked at her fingernails. No response came from Hermione and when she sat back down at her kitchen table Ginny looked at her morosely.

"I'm guessing you're depressed because what reason do you have for being nervous?" She knew that her assumption was correct because they'd only been back from their holiday in Romania for 2 days now and Hermione hadn't been her usual self.

"I have a paper due in a couple of days," Hermione said insipidly while she blew on her hot drink. Ginny laughed openly and looked at her best friend sceptically, "You can't lie Hermione Granger, we aren't due back in healer school for a while and since when do you get nervous about writing essays? Admit it you're depressed because we left Romania where my older and manlier than Ron, brother is situated." Hermione grumbled into her cup and Ginny chuckled quietly.

"Don't worry you'll see him at Christmas," Ginny informed her for the 12th time in 2 days. 'Why do people assume that that will make me feel better? It's almost September!' Hermione thought heatedly to herself.

"Hermione dear eat something please," Molly begged a reluctant Hermione who had barely touched a good, wholesome meal since their return from Romania. Hermione picked at a piece of tomato and gave Molly a wry smile. "I'm just not hungry at the moment, sorry," she said with forced politeness. Molly's constant nagging at her to eat proper food was beginning to tug at her temper but she was always able to keep her cool as she knew everyone was just looking out for her.

"When was the last time you ate properly and not scoffed your face with junk food?" Harry asked his best friend who was now pushing a piece of celery around her plate listlessly.

"About a week ago," Hermione said nonchalantly as she took a sip of pumpkin juice. Harry's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "But that's when we left Romania! Herms that isn't good, come on you'll see him at Christmas," he said as he tried to cheer her up. However all he got from her was a sharp glare and a mumble about it only being the start of September.

"Say Herms isn't your rally in 2 weeks?" asked Arthur from the head of the table, trying to lighten the mood around the Burrow kitchen table.

"Yeah that's right how's your speech?" asked George who had been invited to dinner at his childhood home with his twin brother. Everyone looked at her with happy faces and high hopes but were shot down when she told them that she'd had the speech written for a long time now and that she had to go home now to clean her flat. A few moments after she had floo'd away from the Burrow a heavy sigh was emitted from Molly.

"Oh that poor girl, I've never seen anyone as love sick in my life and I've endured Ginny," the mother of the Weasley siblings said profoundly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" exclaimed Ginny who was sitting beside Fred with Harry opposite her. Molly gave a genuine chuckle and then looked at her daughter fondly. "When Harry wasn't your other half I had to endure you pinning over him for a good few years honey and that was hard enough but Hermione…I've never seen anyone as bad," she said sadly as the entire table nodded at her in agreement. Ginny cupped her head in her hands and sighed. She knew where her mother was coming from, she had been terribly lovesick over Harry so she knew how her best friend felt and she wanted now to do everything in her power to help the situation.

"What should we do?" she asked the table. As everyone thought hard she looked at Harry who had a glint in his eye.

"I think I have an idea," he said with gusto.

"You are on in twenty minutes Miss Granger," an official told a patiently waiting witch. Hermione stopped scanning over her speech and looked up at the wizard who was now looking at her.

"Thank you Carl." Carl was a man she had met many times during her rallies and she had grown quite fond of him. He was the only gay friend she had and he was so passionate about magical creature rights.

"What's wrong darling? You seem a bit off today; usually you are pacing about the floor chugging down the fizzy pumpkin juice. Is something the matter?" he asked as he sat down on an empty seat beside, the rather passive looking witch, and crossed his legs. Hermione gave him a meek smile and told him that it was nothing and that she was just nervous but Carl seemed to know that there was something else bothering her.

"Hermione darling you can't lie so stop patronising me and tell me." He was a very forward person and he took no crap from anybody and he especially wouldn't let the smartest witch of their generation get the better of him.

"Well…it's about a guy," Hermione said giving up even trying to persuade Carl that she was only nervous. "What did that jerk do to you now?" Carl said aggressively as he flipped his jaw-length hair out of his face. "Oh that's right you don't know! Ronald and I are no longer an item. Gosh this is a really long story, would you mind if I shortened it down a bit?" She'd forgotten she hadn't seen Carl since their last rally together which had been over 4 months ago.

"NO! You will tell me every detail. I will not accept less!" Carl exclaimed dramatically. Hermione chuckled lightly at his enthusiasm for gossip and began, "It all started in Romania."

"When is she on?" asked Fred eagerly. George flipped through a small booklet and then looked at his pocket watch. "She's on in fifteen minutes. I can't believe we've never been to one of these rally things before, it's amazing!" George said to his twin excitedly. "You know George I think we could sell our products here. We don't test them on magical creatures…only ourselves and other volunteers. We can say that no magical animal was harmed during the testing of our products (bar ourselves). They'll eat it all up!" Fred said as a brainwave hit him.

Ginny and Harry seen Fred and George's faces light up with glee and they knew instantly that they were discussing something about the rally and their business. "They really are amazing aren't they," Harry said with a laugh as Fred and George bounced past them waving their arms wildly. Ginny nodded her head as she gazed around the massive field that the event was being held in. She couldn't help but get excited as she seen stalls of magical potions, jewellery and organic food. Her handbag was loaded with information sheets and her feet were covered in mud from the wet ground, this really was a wonderful place.

"Come on," she said to Harry as she grabbed his hand, "Let's go look at the stalls!"

"And now I'm here," Hermione said with a heavy sigh as she handed Carl a tissue. Carl dabbed away the fresh tears from his eyes and clutched Hermione's hand tightly. "That was an amazing story darling. I can't believe all that happened in the space of 2 short weeks. This Charlie guy sounds to me like the perfect man for you. Oh I wish he was gay…if he was I'd have had him years ago." Hermione cringed slightly but laughed all the same. Carl was so funny at times and it felt good to get everything off her chest again. It actually made her feel more confident about doing her speech.

"Is it still raining?" she asked the still weeping wizard.

"N-no it stopped j-just as I came into see you." Hermione smiled, she was glad the rain had stopped as she hated doing her speeches in the pouring rain. She looked back at the sobbing wizard and grinned. "I'm going on now Carl. Will you be watching me?"

"I wouldn't miss it darling you know that," Carl said as he tried to sober himself up. Why did he always cry at a good story? "Okay then…wish me luck!" and with that Hermione walked out onto the stage to greet her audience and just as she stepped up to the podium she heard Carl shout, "You don't need it!"

"Oh look she's coming on! We have to get up closer," Ginny said as she tried to drag her boyfriend through the heaving crowds. Harry, whose glasses were askew due to being pushed and pulled around too much, suddenly stopped and pulled his other half close to him. "No we can't go up to the very front you know that!" he hissed in her ear. As chills went down her spine Ginny looked Harry in the eyes. "I'm not stupid I just meant close enough that we don't have to strain our eyes to see her!"

--

"Good afternoon Cunningham field!" Hermione exclaimed as she held her wand up to her throat. The sound of her magically enhanced voice vibrated through the air and was met with cheers and clapping.

"It's good to see you all! I'm Hermione Granger and I am going to talk to you today about the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare or SPEW for short." Another loud cheer was emitted from the crowd of people who had assembled to see her. She smiled eagerly and continued on with her well rehearsed speech.

"House elves today are being treated like they have been for centuries…like slaves! 95.76 percent of magical homes in the UK today have a house elf working for them, receiving no pay, no holidays and improper clothing. Many witches and wizards accept this way of life for the house elf and so have the house elves come to expect this standard of living for themselves. As a witch born into a non-magical family I have been able to see the cruelty and unfairness of house elf enslavement from a different perspective."

--

"Wow she is on fire!" Fred whispered into Ginny's ear as they stood at a safe distance and watched their best friend, who was practically like a sister to all of them, perform her speech.

"She should be Minster!" George whispered into Ginny's other ear. Harry who was standing directly behind Ginny heard these remarks and smiled warmly to himself. He knew Hermione was a great speaker, she always had been and it warmed his heart to see his best friend being admired by so many people for all of the right reasons.

"When will she see?" Fred and George asked Harry in unison. Harry snapped himself out of his memories and looked up at Hermione who was wowing the crowd with every word she spoke. "Any minute now," he said knowing he was right.

--

"I ask you to picture yourselves now as the slaves. The indignity of having to wear only a simple piece of cloth to hide your bodies, the anger of not receiving thanks or pay for all of your hard work and having to work every single day of your life. It's not a pleasant picture is it? We at SPEW are aiming to changethis horrific way of life for house elves for good. We aim to get house elves proper payment for their work, proper clothing and holidays. Join our fight against enslavement and you too will feel a great sense of pride knowing…" As Hermione directed her view at the front row for the first time since her speech started she faltered as she seen the blazing red hair and tanned features of Charlie Weasley staring up at her with a broad smile on his face. Her heart hammered against her ribs as he winked at her and motioned for her to keep going.

"Has she noticed?"

"Yeah she has. She doesn't normally stop during one of her speeches but seeing Charlie standing in the front row certainly seems to have stopped her tongue." Harry laughed. Never before had he seen Hermione falter during a speech, not even when Ron had surprised her by attending her very first rally. He knew now that Charlie most certainly was the one for his best friend.

"…knowing that you can help change the lives of thousands of repressed house elves around the country. Help us today to stop the corruption. Thank you," Hermione concluded with a triumphant feeling in the pit of her stomach and a warm, tingling, excitement in her heart. After she took her bow she practically ran off the stage, briefly told Carl that Charlie was in the crowd and ran down the steps and forced her way into the crowd. She pushed and shoved people out of her way as best as she could and before she knew it she had been engulfed deep into the crowd and was nowhere near the front. 'Damn it!' she grumbled to herself and she pushed a rather large lady out of her way.

"Charlie!" she started shouting. She knew it was no use but it wouldn't harm her to try. "Charlie!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as people started to move out of her way voluntarily. "Char-," she began but was pushed into an open circle of grass where no one seemed to be standing but she soon knew the reason why when she seen Charlie standing in the very middle of the open area. Tears freely fell from her eyes as she ran up to the man she thought she wouldn't see for another couple of months and flung her arms around his neck.

"Oh Charlie!" she sobbed into his neck as he ran his fingers through her hair. She knew he was smiling and so she lifted her head up to see his face. His eyes were bright and cheerful and his teeth were pearly white. He smelled like oak and lemon and was slightly wet from the rain.

"Hey Herms," he said brightly, yet passionately as he gazed deeply into her eyes. Hermione was unaware of anyone watching them and her lips crashed down onto his in a kiss that she had needed since she had gotten back from her holiday. As the radiant couple kissed, the rain started to fall once again and Ginny was heard sighing, "How romantic." Harry cuddled his girlfriend, who was close to tears of joy, as they watched the happy couple be swallowed up by the crowd. He loved it when his friends were happy.

"Thanks for paying to bring Charlie over here Harry. You are the most wonderful boyfriend in the world," Ginny said sweetly as she pecked Harry on the cheek. Harry chuckled as he spotted Charlie carrying Hermione out of the crowd and into a music tent. "I'd have done anything just to see Hermione happy again. I think we should go to Romania next year…don't you?"

The End

A/N: :sob: :sobs harder: :weeps hysterically:Oh it's all over now!! Harry was so sweet to do that for Hermione don't you think? That's what friend are for lol. Well I hope the final chapter was entirely suckyfor you all and please review with all of your comment :D:D:D Thank you all for being so consistent with my story and thank you all for believing in me. I love you all and shall see you in another fic. LOVE xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx