Full Summary:

When 14-year-old Hermione Granger discovers the possibility of having a soulmate in a book in the Hogwarts Library, she vows to herself she'll one day find hers. The only issue is your soulmate is said to have matching birthmarks and well... Hers is in a very, very interesting place.

Now at 23 and working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, she's sent to Romania to investigate a newly discovered dragon species. Much to her surprise, Hermione finds more than just a scaly beast as she works alongside Charlie Weasley.

A/N: I want to start this note off by saying a gigantic thank you to my betas, FaeOrabel and Srastrr. Without them, this fic would not be what it is. Another shoutout to WordsmithMusings, who read over my smut scenes to make sure they sounded realistic and to Mrs_Poncey for making the beautiful covers below!

Lastly, I want to thank every single person in the FicFest chat. Without you all allowing me to bounce off ideas, read some snippets and especially host writing sprints, I don't think I could have ever managed to finish this.

I highly recommend you check out the rest of the fics in this collection. Every single one is amazing and the authors even more so.

I hope you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Favorites, follows and reviews are appreciated.

**Written for Hermione's Nook Rarepair Soulmate FicFest** The full collection can be found on Archive of Our Own under the user, hermiones_nook. (there are another 56 stories to read!)

Chapter 1: Discovery

1993

Hermione watched as her classmates filed out of the room. When she lingered at her desk, Ron and Harry turned to her with a questioning look but she waved them off.

"Professor Binns?" She called out into the empty classroom.

The ghostly professor gave her a quick glance from his spot at the front of the room and answered her in his gravelly voice, "Yes, Miss... Grant was it?"

"Granger, Sir." She tried not to roll her eyes, she had to remind him of her name almost every day for the last three years.

Hermione approached Professor Binns where he floated behind his desk. She fiddled with the cover of her History of Magic textbook as her ever-present need for knowledge battled with the intense awkwardness she was feeling. However, she knew he would be one of the only Professors willing to explain it to her, just as he had last year with the Chamber of Secrets.

She swallowed her discomfort, "Sir, I was in the library, doing a bit of light reading and came upon a book about... well about soulmates actually, and I was wondering if you could explain some things to me."

Professor Binns turned away from the open book on his desk and looked at her as he scratched his balding head, "Soulmates? You're a little young to be interested in something like that, aren't you?"

Hermione felt her cheeks heat at the question, "It's just something new I'd never heard of before. Muggles don't have something like this, you see."

That seemed to be accepted as a satisfactory answer and the Professor nodded his head in agreement. "What are your questions then?"

"Well... How exactly does it work, Sir? Wizards and witches are just... born with a matching birthmark and that's it? There's no way for them to find each other?"

"Unfortunately not, I'm afraid. Although, it is believed that when they're close to one another, the attraction is undeniable. It's being able to match the birthmark that's the hardest part." He peered down at her from the top of his glasses, "Sometimes the birthmark isn't in a well-seen place."

If Hermione could have died from mortification, she would have keeled over on the spot. She felt as if the professor was seeing right through her, even though he was the ghost. Her birthmark happened to be in a very... peculiar area and with a sinking heart, she realized how difficult it would be for her to match it.

Hermione cleared her throat as she asked her final questions, "How does one know whether this person is right for them? And how do I know if our-their birthmarks match? What if it's just a coincidence that they have a similar looking one in the same spot? What if-"

Professor Binns held his hand up to stop her line of questioning, "Your soulmate will be the right one for you, don't you worry about that. As for the birthmarks, just trust in the old magic. No one else will have a matching one, I can guarantee that."

Hermione's face fell at his answer, she was hoping for certainty and, unfortunately, he wasn't giving it to her.

The Ghostly Professor sighed at her reaction, "Honestly, child. If you wanted to hear something about destiny and fate, you should have asked Professor Trelawney about all this. I prefer to stick to the facts, as you know."

"Did you ever find your soulmate, Sir?"

He scoffed at her question, "No, Miss Grotter. Finding your soulmate is a very rare thing indeed. They are of the magical community, yes, but they could be anywhere in the world at any point in time. Wizarding children are raised on the stories but muggleborns, such as yourself, usually have no idea about soulmates. Which is why it can be very difficult for people to find theirs."

He gestured to the scrolls of parchment on his desk, "Now, I don't have time for any more silly questions. I need to prepare my lecture on Uric the Oddball, which I find to be much more important."

Hermione's heart sank. She had so many more questions but, being the ever dutiful student, she thanked Professor Binns and ducked out of his classroom. She turned down an empty hallway and pulled out her time-turner to make it to Arithmancy on time, where she could lose herself in numbers and charts and forget about this whole soulmate business.

2003

"You wanted to see me, Ma'am?" Hermione stepped into her bosses office and shut the door behind her.

Effie Willows, Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, turned from her desk. She was an older woman, presumably nearing her fifties, though Hermione never asked. Her hair had been dyed a bright shade of red in an attempt to cover her greys, but every so often as her hair grew out, the silvery roots peeked through. She always wore some odd mismatch of clothing, and today's ensemble entailed an orange blouse with bright pink polka dots, a dark green pencil skirt and purple stockings. Hermione felt nearly boring in comparison with her plain black skirt and white blouse.

"Yes, dear. How do you feel about a new assignment?" Effie asked as she adjusted her angular glasses.

Hermione furrowed her brow, "But Ma'am, I was only just recently assigned to investigate the rise in Pixie numbers. Why would I be getting a new assignment now?"

Effie sighed and shuffled some papers in her hand, "It's not that I want to reassign you, dear. But there's been a new dragon species discovered in Romania and the Dragon Keeper responsible for finding it, Charlie Weasley, requested you. He said he wouldn't work with anyone else. If we want this dragon species on the books, you have to be the one to go, I'm afraid."

Hermione blinked at Effie. Charlie? Wanted... Her? Since graduating from Hogwarts, she had only seen him three or four times and thinking back, they had barely ever even had a full conversation in the time she's known him. Not that she didn't want to, of course, she found him to be the most handsome of the Weasley children but they never seemed to be in the same place at the same time.

She was still extremely close with the Weasleys despite her and Ron breaking up shortly after the War. Well, shortly was putting it lightly, they really only had about a month-long fling before deciding that it would be best to just stay friends.

It was her own doing really, her silly child-like mind still hoped to one day find her soulmate and on discovering Ron didn't share her birthmark, Hermione found herself distancing from him.

It was all for the better, though. She had lost herself in her work and Ron had even discovered his soulmate in Luna Lovegood. They had matching rabbit-shaped birthmarks just at their hip bones. (Not that Hermione asked, Luna was just an over-sharer.) Now they were married and expecting their first child.

"Well?" Effie broke her train of thought, "You're only what... twenty-two?" Hermione nodded and Effie smiled. "You're still so young. It would be a great opportunity for you, Hermione. Get your feet wet in the field. See Romania too! I hear it's lovely this time of year."

Hermione pursed her lips as she thought. It would be a good opportunity, after all, it's not every day that a new species is discovered. She had only been in the field a few times, mostly being assigned to research and paperwork instead. She missed having the excitement that came with being out and in the thick of things. So, she readily agreed and Effie handed her a stack of papers from her desk.

"This has everything you need to know about the dragon. Charlie sent it the other day. He documented everything about the dragon as it grew. He's awfully smart, he even included little facts such as its temperament and food preferences. You might have some competition in the note-keeping department." She gave Hermione a small smile, "You'll leave tomorrow morning."

Effie told her the time and place to meet for the Portkey, and Hermione flipped through the packet as she left her office. He had indeed kept an overt amount of facts on this new dragon and she itched to read through it all.

Entering her office, she frowned at the sight of Aiden Reynards, who dropped a large stack of papers on Hermione's desk. He had unfortunately been partnered with Hermione and, instead of splitting tasks, he took it upon himself to decide he'd be the field op while she handled the paperwork.

"Got some more papers for you to file, Granger." He leaned against the front of her desk and crossed his arms, giving her a sour smirk.

If anyone could contest with the disgusting personality of Cormac McLaggen, it would be Aiden. It was almost as if they had been cut from the same cloth, feeling the need to make her skin crawl as often as possible - they even looked similar. She could only thank Merlin that McLaggen didn't work at the Ministry, otherwise, she probably would have quit a long time ago.

Hermione pressed her lips together and rounded her desk to set her file down. "I'm afraid I won't have time for that, Reynards. Effie just gave me a new assignment that I need to prepare for."

"Oh? What's that? Have to do some research on your little house-elves again?" He chuckled and moved around to stand next to her, far too close.

Hermione could feel her face turn hot from anger. "My little house-elves have gained quite a lot since I started, thank you very much. I'm the only one that advocated for required payment and I worked bloody hard to make it happen."

And she had indeed, working tirelessly outside of the office for months on end to appear in front of the Wizengamot to earn that for them. She had the target of nearly all the remaining pure-blood families on her back to prove it.

Aiden scoffed and ran a finger down Hermione's arm, "Cmon, Granger, you're the best at filling these things out. You know I'm rubbish at it."

He was trying to act suave but the greasy grin he was giving her only made her stomach turn. She stepped out of his reach and grabbed Charlie's packet from her desk. "It's not my problem. File it yourself or don't file it at all." She quickly raced from her office and down to the cafeteria for some much-needed peace.

She stepped into the lifts and let out a breath of relief at finding it empty. She grabbed onto a dangling strap to hold herself and after a few seconds she stepped out at the cafe.

Hermione grabbed a coffee and turned to the tables and immediately spotted Harry and Ron animatedly talking at one in the back, so she decided to join them.

"All I'm saying is, if Seamus blows something up again I'll snap his wand right in his face." Ron gestured wildly with his fork at Harry as Hermione sat down across from him.

She arched an eyebrow at Ron as he continued shovelling food into his mouth and Harry sighed dramatically.

"Sorry, Hermione. Ron has been tasked with training Seamus for his Auror test and it's not going so well."

Ron mumbled something under his breath and Harry rolled his eyes and gestured to the packet Hermione had in her hands. "What's that?"

Carefully setting the papers on the table and aiming a glare at Ron when he nearly spilt sauce onto the parchment, she explained the new assignment to them and her confusion at being singled out by Charlie.

"Charlie's an odd bloke, he doesn't like random people sniffing around his dragons. Figures you're probably as close as he can get to someone familiar." Ron explained as he finished the last of his lunch.

"How long will you be gone for?" Harry asked as he sipped his tea.

Hermione frowned, "You know, I forgot to ask..."

"Hermione Granger, forgot to ask a question?" Ron laughed, "Merlin, who could've thought."

She narrowed her eyes at him as he and Harry stood to head back to their department. They quickly said their goodbyes, knowing that they wouldn't see each other again until after she returned from her assignment. She took a generous gulp from her coffee before settling herself in her seat and diving into Charlie's packet. She drank up all the new information he divulged. Effie had been right about his detailing and he had even gone so far as to explain it's personality and preferences.

Hermione had to admit, his record-keeping was spectacular and she felt as if she was reading from her Care of Magical Creatures textbook. She soon lost herself in Charlie's elegant script and was startled when the clock chimed, indicating it was time to go home.

Swearing to herself at getting lost - honestly, it happened more often than she cared to admit - she quickly packed up her papers, accio'd her bag and jacket and headed to the floos to go home. Stepping through the green flames of her apartment in muggle London, she stumbled over Crookshanks who laid in front of the fireplace. Again.

"You silly cat, how many times do I have to tell you not to lay there?" Hermione huffed at the half-kneazle who only meowed at her in response.

She shook her head and set her bag and the packet down, grabbing something quick to eat so she could continue pouring over Charlie's research. She already had so many questions and was only half-way through it. She curled up on the couch and lost herself again in his words, eventually falling asleep against the pages.