Kiss Me, I'm A Gryffindor

25th April 2001

The sun was setting in the horizon casting long shadows along the grass behind the Burrow. Molly Weasley had just completed another one of her famous Sunday night dinners—mandatory for every Weasley, and held outside when the weather was nice. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had retired to their beds early that night leaving Harry, Hermione, all six Weasleys, Alicia, Percy's girlfriend Audrey, and Fleur outside. The night was cool, and everyone was feeling full and sleepy thanks to Molly's delicious Spaghetti Bolognese.

"Let's get a fire going," Bill said waving his wand.

They dragged chairs around a roaring fire that seemed to appear from nowhere. Everyone was a little tipsy from dinner, but all the merrier.

"Anyone up for a drink?" Ron asked, "Accio Firewhiskey!"

Two bottles soared from the Burrow's kitchen window and towards Ron. He tried to catch them but fumbled and dropped them. He casually leaned down to pick them up.

They all sat down. Fleur needed a little help because she was nine months pregnant and due to pop sometime next week. No one knew if it was a boy or girl except for Bill and Fleur, and they weren't going to spill, much to Molly's displeasure

"Now I'll never geet up," she groaned but smiled pleasantly. "Bill can you bring me my water?"

When they were all seated, Ron conjured glasses that filled themselves with small doses of Firewhiskey and floated around the circle to their owners. He took the seat closest to Hermione and pecked her on the lips.

Bill took the moment as a chance to kiss Fleur lightly. She grabbed him tightly as all the stress of carrying a baby in her belly for nine months melted off of her.

Percy kissed Audrey passionately on the lips. She giggled and he tried for a second.

"Well let's not be a wet blanket," Ginny muttered in Harry's ear. They too exchanged a kiss.

"Oi!" Charlie exclaimed, "Enough with the love fest! This is not a game of spin-the-bottle!"

"Feeling left out mate?" George asked, taking a swig of Firewhiskey. He had his arm around Alicia Spinnet, an old friend who was his new girlfriend. "I only charge two sickles a kiss."

"He's only mad because he could never get a girl to kiss him," Ginny teased.

"I did too," Charlie said, fuming. "More than once for that matter!"

"Twice doesn't exactly count as more than once, Charlie," Bill joked.

Charlie gave Bill a rude hand gesture that his mum would have had a fit over.

"When did you have your first kiss Charlie?" Hermione asked.

"Fourth year!" Charlie said heatedly.

"Please, enlighten us," George said coaxing Bill on.

"Fine, but I'm going to need some more Firewhiskey," he took the last drink from his cup, and then Ron refilled it.

He stared deeply into the fire before starting.

Charlie Weasley's favorite part of the day was Quidditch. He loved flying hundreds of feet in the air, where no one could touch him and he was free. The wind whistled through his hair when he flied—or at least he imagined it would, if his mum didn't make him cut it so darn short. His riding cloak billowed out behind him. He loved searching for the small Galleon-sized golden Snitch, which ended the game and gave his team 150 points. He loved the responsibility of being the soul person that ended the game. Charlie also loved floating on the air and staring down at one of the Gryffindor team Beaters, Melissa Sawyer.

Melissa was like a goddess when she flew. Her dark-brown hair whipped behind her in the wind, stretching all the way down to her waist. Even though it got in her eyes, Melissa never wore her hair up. She was a year ahead of Charlie, in her fifth year, and almost every Gryffindor boy had a crush on her whether they wanted to admit it or not. Charlie was one of the guys who would never admit it.

"Charlie!" the team captain, Ignacio Henley would yell at him, if he neglected his seeking duties for too long, "Hurry up! We don't have all night!"

It was becoming a habit of Charlie's. He lingered outside the Gryffindor locker rooms near the Quidditch pitch, until Melissa would emerge, laughing amiably along with the other girls on the Quidditch team. Today he did the same.

The sun had almost set, and the moonlight cast a faint silvery glow over the well-kept Hogwarts lawn. Charlie was beginning to get a bit worried when Melissa's friends emerged from the locker room without her. He waited for nearly fifteen minutes before Melissa finally came out of the locker room.

In the light of the doorway of the locker room, he could clearly see Melissa even though he was hidden in the shadows. She was dressed up in taupe dress robes, and her hair was combed smooth.

"Melissa?" Charlie asked, still hidden in the shadows.

"Is that you?" she asked quite shyly.

Charlie hadn't known his crush on Melissa was mutual. Now she was standing there, in full dress robes, waiting for him. He knew he should do something, say something at least, but his mind was suddenly wiped free of all thoughts.

"Uh," he stammered.

"It's okay," she said quietly, moving from the light into the shadows where Charlie was standing. He could hardly believe it.

Suddenly, before he knew what was going on, she placed her lips on his. They lingered there for a moment, and the subtle smell of mangoes wafted into Charlie's nose.

Melissa broke away and looked at him adoringly—at first. Then her eyes bugged out of her head and she jumped nearly two feet in the air.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched.

Charlie backed swiftly away form her.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently enough.

"What do you mean what do I mean?" she demanded furiously. "Why did you let me kiss you? What were you doing out here at night anyway?"

Charlie stared deeply into his feet, wanting to melt from the scene.

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled inaudibly. "I thought…"

"Whatever you thought, you thought wrong!" she screamed at him. "Ugh, I can't believe you thought—" she cut off immediately. "Sorry never mind."

"What are you doing in those dress robes then?" Charlie asked.

It was Melissa's turn to admire her feet.

"If I tell you, do you swear not to tell anyone about this little incident…ever?" Melissa said quietly. Her tone was threatening, and it frightened Charlie a bit.

"Well I might have to tell Tonks," Charlie mumbled again.

"No one else though!" she exclaimed. As far as Charlie knew, Tonks and Melissa got on pretty well. At least, Tonks didn't roll her eyes too many times when Charlie confided in her that he fancied Melissa.

Charlie nodded and waited for Melissa to continue.

She stood there for a moment: "I'm meeting someone. You know, for a date."

"Who?"

"Niles Hanley."

"The Slytherin?" Charlie asked incredulously, "He's rotten, Mel."

She shrugged, "He's supposed to meet me soon, so could you please get away from here?" she asked as kindly as possible.

Charlie stalked back to the castle feeling stupid. He knew Melissa wasn't trying to be rude, but he still felt bad. What did Hanley have that Charlie didn't have anyway?"

Tonks was waiting for him up in the common room.

"How was practice?" she asked immediately when he stepped through the portrait hole. "Oh," she said next, when she saw the defeated look on his face, "That good, eh?"

Charlie led her to a squashy armchair near in the corner of the common room. He didn't want to be overheard. Even though it was well past an appropriate bedtime by now, the common room was still littered with late-night homework-doers.

"Well she kissed me," he said quietly to Tonks.

Tonks hopped in her chair and grinned: "So what's the problem, Charlie? Did she have dungbomb breath or something?"

"No," Charlie said miserably, "She thought I was…someone else…that Slytherin boy, Niles Hanley."

"The seventh year? Eww…he's a slimy git, and he's way too old for her, didn't he get held back a year?"

Charlie shrugged: "Slimy git? Weren't you the one gushing about how hot he was the other day at lunch?"

It was Tonks's turn to blush: "I've got no idea what you're talking about, and if you tell anyone, I'll jinx your elbows together," she said quickly from between her clenched teeth. Her hair flared from bubblegum pink to a scary green and back again.

"So how was it," she asked a few moments later.

"It was nice, I guess," Charlie said. "But it was totally ruined when she jumped a mile in the air and told me off."

"Ah, my first kiss was the same way," Tonks said slumping into the depths of her chair and putting a goofy grin on her face.

"What are you talking about, Tonks?" Charlie asked, unbelievingly. "Who'd you kiss?"

"Oh no one," she said seriously. "I've just always imagined telling you that phrase to see the look on your face when I beat you to your first kiss."

Charlie shook his head and laughed unconvincingly: "Well you still have a chance of 'beating me'. I'd hardly count that as my first kiss."

By now the common room was mostly empty except for a few stray Gryffindors who fell asleep with their Potions essay in their laps.

"I can do you one better," Tonks said scooting to the edge of her chair.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"I mean, we can tie," she said and she kissed him softly as the last embers of the Gryffindor fireplace burned steadily in the fireplace.

"Aw shucks," George said smacking his lips, "That was adorable."

"How come you never told me about this?" Bill asked in fake anger.

"Because after we kissed she threatened to put Blast-Ended Skrewts in my pillow if I told anyone," Charlie laughed.

"What happened to Melissa?" asked Ginny.

"She went to study dragons in Romania. Why do you think Char—" Ron began, but he was cut off quickly by Charlie.

"That's not even a little bit true!" he exclaimed, angrily taking another swig of his drink. "At least I was still young and had my boyish charm!"

"You never had charm, Charlie," Ron teased.

"Who was your first kiss again, Won-Won? Wasn't it Lav-Lav? When you were nineteen."

"Sixteen actually," Ron said in embarrassment, "And for your information, she was not my first kiss."

"Who was then Won-Won?" Hermione asked in complete seriousness.

A/N: Another new story? Yes. This one isn't as complex as my other stories. It's light on the conflicts and heavy on the fluff. But hey, they deserve a break every once and a while after all the Death Eaters and such. I hope you enjoy, but I'm not going to be extremely conscious about updating this story quickly—luckily each chapter is its own little story it won't bee too hard to follow, and it may be a while before I get another chapter up. Please leave a review; I really do appreciate them.

*Niles Hanley is a real character in the books; he just wasn't in the same grade as Tonks and Charlie. He was a first year in 1996.

Oh no! Tonks was actually in Hufflepuff! I can't believe I didn't remember that until now... Oh well, I guess she spends at least some of her time in the Gryffindor Common room since she is good friends with Charlie. That was a mistake on my part. I'm sorry. I don't think many people actually noticed until I pointed it out...

Samantha