A/N: This is in response to the Addiction Challenge for HPFC: She had never felt anything like this before. And it felt good. I've written several Charlie Weasley stories and in my little world, Charlie lives in America; plays professional Quidditch and works at the only dragon preserve in North America during the off season. May be a little intense in content. Naturally, this is based on characters created by J. K. Rowling.--Rita

The Charlie Fix

"Leave it alone, Hermione. He's not going to come back." Ginny said. "I know my brother too well. Charlie's too much of the 'love 'em and leave 'em variety' than the kind who sticks around for breakfast."

Hermione hid her face in the pillow. Oh God, she thought, it smells like him. How was she supposed to recover? She'd made a fool of herself, the way she reacted to his touch. The fire inside her rose so quickly when he touched her, that she thought it would consume her. She had never felt anything like this before. And it felt good.

Her experience was severely limited. Viktor had been too much of a gentleman to try anything, but she did enjoy his kisses. Ron, of course was her first lover. Ron was a virgin, too when they finally got together but he had more experience and she thought he knew what he was doing. He always seemed to be in such a rush and once he was satisfied, and that was real quick, he pretty much forgot about her. For the longest time, she thought that was the way it was supposed to feel.

Until she met Charlie.

Charlie was visiting his family during a break in the Quidditch season. The owners of his team, the Flying American Red Dragons rewarded the players and staff with a paid vacation before the North American Tournament in Hamilton, Ontario. He had whole week to relax and unwind and that was exactly what he planned to do.

Ginny invited him to a party sponsored by her team, the Holyhead Harpies to celebrate the end of their season. It was supposed to be THE party of the season; lots of alcohol and food. Just the kind of party Charlie liked.

The party was just as raucous as was to be expected from an all-witch Quidditch team. He drank too much and decided he shouldn't try to apparate to the Burrow. Ginny said she and Hermione had plenty of room for him on the sofa. Hermione and Ginny shared a two bedroom flat in the city. Hermione had declined the invitation to go to the party because she had to study to upcoming exams.

Hermione was awake when they got back. Her books her scattered across the kitchen table and she had a harried look on her face. She looked up when she saw Ginny come in.

"I hope you don't mind, but I've invited Charlie to sleep here tonight. He's much too drunk to apparate. He'd probably leave a leg behind."

"I'm not that drunk," he insisted. "Hello, Hermione," he said, sitting down next to her, draping his arm across the back of her chair. "It's been a long time."

Hermione looked flustered. She wasn't used to having anyone sit that close to her, especially someone so damned good looking. He looked so different from Ron. He was shorter, very muscular and if it weren't for their hair color, no one would guess they were brothers.

"So, Hermione," he said, her breath quickened involuntarily when he said her name. "What are you studying?" He took the book away from her and closed it, reading the cover.

"Law," she croaked. She cleared her throat. "Magical law," she repeated.

"Fascinating," he said and she believed him. He was still sitting very close to her, looking at her mouth. He smiled at her. She blushed again.

"Hold still," he said very quietly, his breath warm on her face. "You have an eyelash on your cheek." With a touch so light, he touched her cheek. "There." He showed her the eyelash.

He leaned back in the chair, still looking at her. "How're you and Ron getting along?" Charlie asked. His tone was so seductive that Hermione couldn't concentrate.

"Oh, didn't I tell you, they broke up." Ginny said. Hermione nodded.

"Ron's got to be the biggest idiot in the world," Charlie said. "I wouldn't have ever let you go."

Hermione didn't know what to say. She looked down at her books and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Charlie brought some liquor from America. It's called mescal. Show her the bottle, Charlie. It'll creep you out." Ginny said.

Charlie pulled a bottle of an amber colored liquid from his inner pocket. He put the bottle on the table. Hermione squinted to look at it.

"Is that a worm in the bottom?" she asked repulsed.

Charlie laughed. "Yep. Want to try some?"

Hermione started to shake her head, but she caught a glimpse of Ginny who nodded encouragingly to her. "All right," she said in a small voice.

Ginny got three glasses and shoved the books aside as she sat down across from her brother and Hermione. Charlie poured the mescal into the glasses and gave each of them a glass. He and Ginny raised their glass in a toast and waited on Hermione to pick up her glass. She smiled shyly and picked up her glass. Charlie grinned at her, they clinked glasses, "To Quidditch!" Ginny and Charlie said, and they slammed back the drink. Ginny and Hermione coughed and sputtered, clearly choking on the foul tasting liquid.

Charlie laughed heartily. "Takes a while getting used to," he said, finishing off the glass.

"Oh my God, that's horrible!" Hermione said. The drink was beginning to burn her throat. She laughed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "You could have warned me!"

"Hermione," Charlie said, still laughing. "There's a fucking dead worm in the bottom of the bottle. What did you think it was going to taste like?"

She playfully slapped him on his shoulder. He caught her hand and held on to it. Then he did something that was so typically Charlie Weasley and so fast that even his sister didn't see it coming. He held on to her and pulled her into his chest and kissed her.

Hermione was so surprised that she froze. She stiffened against him but he didn't back down. He softened his kiss until she couldn't help but respond. A noise that sounded like a moan escaped his lips and he deepened the kiss. His hands were in her hair and her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.

Ginny coughed discreetly. Horrified, Hermione pulled away from Charlie. Her face was scarlet and she was breathing in short gasps. She looked down at the table, unable to meet anyone's eyes.

"You guys need a moment?" she said smiling.

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Charlie said. He looked surprised that someone else was in the room. "Sorry, Hermione. I got a little carried away." He smiled sheepishly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. She poured herself and Charlie another shot of the mescal, but Hermione shook her head when she offered her some. What infuriated Hermione most was Ginny and Charlie's attitude. They acted like he hadn't just kissed the stuffing out of her; that she couldn't breathe or think. Her lips burned and she had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach she had never felt before.

Charlie and Ginny were drunk. They were in a playful mood and Hermione knew she was overreacting. It was nothing to get so excited about. Relax, she told herself.

Charlie and Ginny had moved on to arguing about the rules of Quidditch or some such nonsense. There was a bit of good-natured name calling and yelling.

"Let me see, who are the World Quidditch Cup Champions? Oh, yeah, that would be the Flying American Red Dragons. And where are the Holyhead Harpies? Oh that's right, they're the losers." Charlie chided.

Ginny threw a pillow at him, but he ducked and it hit Hermione in the face..

"I'm so sorry," Ginny said. "I meant to hit his fat head."

Stunned, Hermione laughed. "It's okay. I think I'd better go to bed now. Goodnight, Ginny. It was good seeing you again, Charlie. What time are you leaving tomorrow?" she asked.

"Probably before you wake up. It was really nice seeing you again, too. I hope I get to see you before I leave town." He said.

"Me, too." Hermione whispered. They looked at each other. She gave him a shy smile.

Ginny didn't stay up too much longer after that. Her head started to feel woozy so she decided she'd lie down. She made up the couch for Charlie and said good-night.

The apartment was quiet and the sofa lumpy. Charlie pulled off his boots and stretched out. He grabbed one of Hermione's books and began reading hoping to fall asleep. There was nothing duller to Charlie than magical law, so he thought it would put him to sleep immediately. But Hermione had made notes in the margins of the book and he was fascinated by her handwriting. Some of it was bold and there were some doodling of flowers and hearts. She had put her initials in one of the hearts and a "+" with initials he couldn't make out. It looked like she'd scratched out the initials hurriedly. On the next page, she'd written Hermione Weasley, in girlish scroll. He grinned. He didn't think girls still did that after the age of twelve. He turned the page and written in very small handwriting she had written Mrs. Hermione Weasley. Cute, he thought. Then he saw it; in smaller writing still, she had written, "Mrs. Charlie Weasley."

He slammed the book shut. Shit!

He heard a door opening, and he hurriedly dropped the book on the floor and pretended to be asleep. Hermione tiptoed out of her room and went to the kitchen table to pick up her books. She saw that her magical law book was missing. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer. She turned and saw the book on the floor next to the sofa where Charlie was sleeping. It didn't look like it had been opened. She quietly made her way to the sofa, holding her breath. She started to pick up the book, when Charlie touched her arm. She jumped and dropped the rest of the books.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," he said very, very softly.

Hermione pulled her hand back. "I thought you were asleep."

He shook his head. "I can't sleep. Please, sit down."

She shook her head. "No, I'm, um, I wanted to study some more. I can't sleep either."

He took her hand and pulled her next to him. He sat up. "Maybe we could keep each other company."

Hermione was so nervous; Charlie saw that she was visibly shaking. "Don't be afraid," he said whispering quietly in her ear. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her breathing was uneven. She wanted to run into her room, lock the door and pull the covers over her head. She wanted to kiss him more than anything she'd ever wanted.

Charlie pushed an errant strand of hair out of her face and leaned into her. He stopped when he was less than an inch away from her lips. She trembled and leaned in and her lips met his. He moaned again and deepened the kiss. His lips were soft and hungry. She whispered his name and his breathing became quicker. He wanted all of her. His impatient hands were under her night shirt, caressing her. He pushed her gently on to the sofa and covered her with his body. His lips followed his hands. And she thought she was going to lose her mind. The trail his tongue made against her flesh felt like she was on fire. She had never felt this way before. She couldn't sit still but she didn't want to move either.

"Let's go to your room," he said thickly pulling her up. He continued to kiss her as they fell into her bed. He kissed her neck and lips as he pulled her clothes off. She struggled to pull off his shirt. She was impatient; she wanted him inside her now. And she cried out as he entered her.

"Oh please, Charlie," she breathed his name. He took his time pleasing her. She held on to him like she was going to fall off the face of the earth and he was her savior. She had never had such an earth-shattering climax and she felt like she was going to pass out from the pleasure.

Much later, as they held on to each other, trying to get their breathing back to normal, Charlie held her and gently stroked her back. He had a very satisfied smile on his face and he closed his eyes. He rolled her over on her back and kissed her. She giggled when he nibbled her ear and kissed the hollow between her breasts. Before she fell asleep, she kissed him. Words were unnecessary, but she wanted to tell him how she felt.

"Charlie," she said. His eyes were closed but he smiled. "I've never felt like this before." He opened his eyes.

"Yes?" he said.

"And it felt so good." He laughed and hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head as he held her close. He fell asleep as she watched him.

When she woke up the next morning, he was gone.