The Web Of Love

"Come in," Hermione urged her friend as she found her standing outside the door.

 Ginny walked in with a smile and immediately took Charlie, whom the brunette was holding in her arms as she thought someone else would be standing outside the door.

"I thought you were Blaise," she said as she made her way to the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"I hope I'm not disturbing you," Ginny blurted out in surprise.

The brunette shook her head as she took out two coffee mugs. "He's just picking up Charlie, I'm on the night shift tonight," she explained.

"Oh, just water for me," she added quickly, realizing she hadn't answered her previous question.

Hermione gave her a scrutinizing look but didn't say anything and put one of the mugs back in the cabinet. Ginny started talking to her nephew about something, so she poured some water for her and started to make herself some coffee, as she was definitely going to need it before work at night.

"And what brings you to us anyway?" she asked as she sat down with them, coffee in hand.

"Me!" Charlie squealed excitedly, causing them both to laugh.

"Of course, you do," Ginny agreed, pressing a kiss to his cheek before turning her attention to Hermione. "I've been to the doctor, and Harry's still at work, so I thought I'd stop by."

"At the doctor? Is everything okay?" the brunette immediately asked, her inner doctor awakening in her.

"Don't worry, it was just a checkup," she assured her. "Everything is more than fine. I'm healthy, and so is the baby," she added with a smile.

“Baby?” Charlie wondered as Hermione tried to process her words.

Ginny nodded with an even bigger smile. "Yes, baby," she confirmed her words.

Hermione squealed happily, jumping to her feet and immediately wrapping her best friend in a tight hug, Charlie still in her arms. She couldn't believe it. She knew that Ginny was in no rush to have children, Harry on the other hand... He had already talked at school about the fact that if they got out of the fight with Voldemort alive, he would like to have a big family one day. She was so happy that he was finally starting to get it.

“Mommy! You squeezing me!” Charlie complained, causing the woman in question to laugh and pull away from the pair a little.

"Forgive me, my little bug," she said, ruffling his hair before turning her full attention to the redhead. "That's great news! Congratulations, does Harry know?" she spat at her. 

"Harry doesn't know yet. You're actually the very first person I told," she confided to her.

The brunette immediately remembered her pregnancy. "Just like you were the first one to know I was expecting Charlie," she breathed out, kind of touched.

"Exactly," she agreed.

"Wow, I can't believe it, you're going to have a baby," she continued to blurt out, returning to her chair. "What do you say, Charlie? You're going to have a cousin."

“When do I get to play with them?” he asked, making them both laugh.

"It will be a while before you can meet them," Ginny told him.

Charlie pouted sadly, but only for a few seconds before he turned his attention to the train that was on the table and started playing with it, meaning that the two women now had time to themselves. As soon as little Zabini started playing with trains, it was very difficult to get his attention.

Ginny watched her little nephew for a moment, imagining what it would be like to hold her own child like this. Unfortunately, she was not allowed to be seduced by this idea for too long, as she had a minor request for the brunette. Although, it wasn't really a request...

She cleared her throat and tried to think her words through at the last second to start as little argument as possible before she said, “So now that you and Blaise are really friends, Tom was asking me about you. You remember Tom, don't you? Tall, black hair, cute dimples -"

"Absolutely not," Hermione cut her off sharply.

"But of course you do, you saw him a few times when you picked me up after work," Ginny insisted.

"That's not what I meant, of course, I know who Tom is, but I'm definitely not gonna date him if that's what you're suggesting," she explained with a roll of her eyes.

"Look, I remember what you told me the other day and I'm not saying you should find a new husband right away," she sighed. “But I insist, you're not getting any younger, and you're going to be lonely when Charlie grows up. Why not at least give it a try? You can just go out for coffee with him, for example. And then you'll see. It doesn't have to be something romantic right away, it can just be your new friend," she tried to convince her.

Hermione immediately remembered Draco. It had been four days since their conversation, and he still hadn't tried to contact her, which surprised her a little, but also greatly relieved her. For a moment she thought that she would tell Ginny about it, minus the fact that she would mention who it was, but she knew that the redhead would get the name out of her anyway, so she had no choice but to let it simmer inside her.

And as her thoughts drifted away from the Draco, with whom she would never be with, she began to really think about her words. She definitely didn't want to look for a new acquaintance right now. Charlie was still young, and she still harbored strong feelings for her ex-husband. But objectively, Tom was really cute and at first glance somewhat modest, definitely more so than his teammates. One coffee can't do that much damage. And one extra friend is always useful.

"Fine, I'll go," she finally agreed quietly.

Ginny squealed happily as Blaise walked into the kitchen.

"You are going where?" he immediately asked curiously.

"On a date," the redhead smirked, and Hermione let out an inward moan. "Tom Gray is interested in her."

"It's not a date!" Hermione blurted out immediately. First, it was true. Second, she didn't want Blaise to think he was looking for someone new. Not when he still had her heart.

Blaise stared blankly at the redhead. “Tom Gray? The quidditch player?"

"The one and only," Ginny agreed with satisfaction.

Now he finally shifted his gaze to Hermione, who panicked a little. "It's not a date," she repeated.

There was a moment of silence in the kitchen, which was broken by Charlie finally noticing that there was another person in the room with them. He put the train back on the table and held out his hands to Blaise.

“Daddy!” he shouted excitedly.

"I started to think I was wearing Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak," he teased, kissing his cheek.

Charlie chuckled. "Aunty is having a baby!" he announced cheerfully.

"Charlie!" Hermione screamed in terror as Blaise looked at Ginny in confusion. "I'm so sorry," she whispered giving her friend an apologetic look.

Ginny shook her head in amusement at that. "Nothing's going on, although I'd like Harry to be the next to know, so please don't tell anyone else."

"Of course," Hermione agreed.

"You can count on us, I'll look after the champion here," Blaise said, tickling Charlie's neck to make him laugh as he was sniffling a little. "And congratulations," he added with a smile.

"Thanks," Ginny smiled as well. "I'll go now, Harry will be finishing in a moment. I'll get back to you about the date, okay?" she asked the brunette a rather rhetorical question, kissed Charlie goodbye, and was gone.

"It's not a date!" Hermione blurted out back at Blaise and hurried off to Charlie's room to get things ready for him.