25. You Don't Choose Your Family, They Are God's Gift To You, As You Are To Them
Hermione observed what was happening around her with a smile on her face. It was unbelievable how many people were there. She was extremely grateful for that because all these people cared about her little munchkin. Charlie was in his element as everyone tried to steal at least a moment of his attention, and of course, everyone gave him a gift. That was probably the only thing that bothered Hermione about the number of people present, because by the fact that there were so many, Charlie also received so many presents. She wouldn't like him to be spoiled.
"Coffee?" she was snapped out of her thoughts by her newest addition to the family. Although they had only known each other for a short time, she felt that a strong friendship was forming between them that would last for the rest of their lives.
"You don't even know how much I would like to have one!" she agreed and gratefully took a cup of coffee from him. "Thank you for coming. It means a lot to me, I'm sure you had better plans for today than celebrating a three-year-old," she added.
"It's not worth talking about, I'm happy to be here," Tom said, taking a drink from his own mug of coffee. "Not that I mind, but I couldn't help but notice there was no alcohol."
"We agreed on this with Blaise. Although we'd all probably have at least one glass of something stronger, we're mainly here for Charlie, so that's it," she answered his unspoken question. The only alcohol here today was champagne, which they toasted to Charlie's health.
Tom nodded. "That's nice."
"Don't you feel like we're going back to our younger days a little bit?" she asked with a smile. Everyone was having fun, and they all seemed kind of carefree, which she really liked.
Tom looked around and had to agree with her. One of Ginny's brothers, he still couldn't remember which was which, was playing a prank on her while Harry was playing around with little Zabini. Next to them, in a pool of plastic balls that was obviously mostly for the birthday boy, Hermione's ex-husband was now frolicking with another Weasley and someone he guessed was Theodore Nott.
"We should join them," he remarked with a smirk on his face, looking away when Blaise turned in their direction. He wondered if he was jealous of him. If so, it was absolutely perfect because he had no reason to be. And most importantly it would reveal what Tom has been thinking all along, namely that he is not being completely honest with her about his feelings.
His smirk only widened, and he leaned towards the brunette to whisper something in her ear, causing her to laugh ringingly which was not missed by several people.
Blaise, who had been watching their entire antics, frowned a little, but only for a moment, as Theodore threw a plastic ball at him, getting his attention and giving him a slight shake of his head. Zabini sighed and threw the ball at him as well. Theo was right, there was nothing he could do about it now, nor did he plan to. He wouldn't have made a scene anywhere else, let alone at his son's celebration. Did it hurt him? Yes. But he was in no position to do anything about it.
On the other hand, it took a lot of self-control for Draco not to jump on the Quidditch player as soon as he took her coffee, let alone when he got too close to her personal space. He looked for Blaise out of the corner of his eye, and once again he couldn't help but wonder how he might have been taking it so calmly.
Ginny was very surprised and had absolutely no idea what to make of this. Never having any inhibitions, she went to her best friend to clarify the situation.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to our birthday boy," Tom said, and before Ginny could get to them, he went to Charlie to hand him the present.
“What was that about?” the redhead asked bluntly when she was next to her, not even caring that her teammate was not out of earshot.
Hermione rolled her eyes at her question. “I really don't want to deal with it today, Ginny. We're supposed to have fun today."
Ginny nodded. "You're obviously having so much fun with Tom," she teased.
"Excuse me! I am having fun with everyone," Hermione defended herself, knowing that her friend didn't mean it badly. "However I have to thank you. Although there is nothing between me and Tom, and there never will be, I am very glad I had the opportunity to get to know him. We understand each other."
"That's music to my ears," she smiled. "The only thing that matters is if you're happy."
"And who isn't today?" she asked rhetorically and put her arm around Ginny's shoulders. She had to admit that she had been a little mad at her in the beginning for trying to get them together, but she was really glad that they had met, so she couldn't be mad at her anymore.
They just stood there for a moment, watching what was happening around them before Hermione pulled away and placed the now empty cup on the table. "I'd like to chat with you longer, but I have to go make sure the future Mrs. Nott gets lots of kisses and hugs from Charlie before I forget about it," she informed her as her gaze wandered to the miniature locomotive that Charlie could be riding in. Until today, she had no idea that such a thing could be obtained. She knew that different cars were made, but she never dreamed of this.
"I totally understand, I was as shocked as everyone else when Charlie unwrapped it. I just hope that Daphne doesn't want to steal my title of favorite aunt," she grinned and placed her hand on her still almost flat stomach. Although she would be a mother in a few months, she definitely didn't want to lose her status as the best aunt.
The brown-haired woman laughed. "Don't worry, that's definitely not what she's after," she assured her and was about to go after her son, but she noticed that Tom was explaining something to him, after which they both looked in her direction. She suspected some ruse in it and didn't know if she should be worried, or not. The two spoke one last time and Charlie ran after her.
Hermione immediately squatted down and spread her arms so Charlie could run right into her arms. “Enjoying the party, bug?” she asked as she placed a few pecks on his cheek.
Little Zabini nodded eagerly and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Mommy," he commanded.
She looked at Ginny who was still next to them but she just watched her amused and shrugged her shoulders so she had no choice but to follow him. At first, it looked like he was leading her back to Tom, but they just passed him, and he gave her a huge, mischievous smile that made her quite nervous.
Once they passed him, it wasn't hard to guess where Charlie was leading her. She was starting to feel that Tom was just like the others and was trying to push her back to Blaise. And he was one of the few who knew how things were, so she didn't get why he was doing it. However, there was nothing, she could do about it now, so she would have to deal with him later.
Merlin, let it go well, she prayed as they stopped in front of a pool where two Slytherins and a Gryffindor were playing.