His surprised eyes had searched to meet hers instantly, and he saw Hermione with the widest smile ever plastered on her face. Charlie had frozen on the spot after hearing the words leave her lips. It felt like everything was rising up inside of him; he was drowning in a overwhelming amount of joy.
But he didn't say it back.
He couldn't - at least, not out loud and definitely not now. Admitting that he was in love with Hermione as much as she was in love with him, would be like admitting his kryptonite. Even though their moment was private, Charlie couldn't say the words out of fear of not being able to hide his true feelings from the world.
Saying those three words out loud would make him want to proclaim his love from the rooftops as a side effect of immense happiness. which is exactly why he couldn't do that, not after the ones he loved had their lives threatened by a monster. His father could never know what Hermione truly meant to him because, quite frankly, she was the one person that he couldn't live without.
But to his surprise, Hermione didn't seem bothered that the words had yet to leave her boyfriend's lips. She was enraptured, staring at him with so much love and admiration without the slightest falter in her smile.
Charlie had instantly forgotten about the stinging sensation coming from his hand. His thoughts slipped into a serendipitous confusion at the thought of how this breathtakingly beautiful girl standing in front of him, was so willing to give her heart away to someone that was undeniably traumatized and broken -
"I love you," Hermione whispered, resting her forehead against his; interrupting his thoughts as though she knew he was belittling himself. "I'm totally and completely in love with you, Charlie."
His mouth had fell agape at the reaffirmation. For a second there, he wondered if he had imagined the words coming from her lips. But she said it again, as though confessing once didn't convey her message as firmly as her heart had wanted it to, nor would an infinite amount of love proclamations; her heart belonged entirely to him.
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"And I don't care if you don't say it back," she continued, mumbling against his lips, "because I'm giving my heart to you anyways."
Charlie smiled knowingly, yet obliviously; the temptation of letting the words come from his own mouth were too strong to fight.
"Darling, I -"
"You don't have to say it if you're not ready," Hermione interrupted, silencing him with a hush "All you have to do is say my name. When you love someone, you say their name different, don't you? As if their name is safest in your mouth."
"Hermione," Charlie whispered at once, failing to hesitate as his hot breath hit her lips, sending chills down her spine.
And with the single whisper of her name, Hermione was overwhelmingly overjoyed and satisfied. Her eyes were now aglow with the moonlight peering in from the windows of the dorm room, and something else.
