26. Family Is Not Important, It's Everything
Charlie let go of her hand and dove into the ball pit after Blaise. The older Zabini squatted down to even out their height difference a little, and listen to what was on their son's mind.
Meanwhile, Hermione paced nervously in place. She had no idea what Tom could have told Charlie, and she hoped she wouldn't regret meeting him, after all. She knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, but no one could ever know how even an innocent prank could turn so bad.
"Looks like we have a special wish from the birthday boy," Blaise informed her as he stood up and walked out of the pool.
"And what should it be?" she asked in a fairly even voice for how panicked she was right now.
Blaise had a playful smile on his face, the one Hermione loved so much and hated at the same time because she never knew what he had in store for her. But before he could answer her question, their son appeared.
"We're going to dance!" he shouted joyfully.
"Dance?" the brunette didn't understand. That didn't seem as bad as she imagined.
"Yes, Charlie insists we have to dance together," Blaise confirmed.
Ah, so here was the catch, Hermione thought. On the other hand, she had to admit it was a really nice catch. She couldn't remember the last time she danced with her ex-husband. Most likely it was sometime when their marriage was still working. They often danced together after dinner. She never understood, but Blaise had made it their little habit. And she'd be lying if she said she didn't like it.
"But there's no music playing," she argued feebly.
With that, two other occupants of the pool also appeared next to them. "Come on Hermione, that's very easy to fix," Theo teased.
Ron nodded and waved his wand, which startled her a little as she knew him and his tastes all too well. To her surprise, however, he chose decent music, so there was nothing stopping them from fulfilling Charlie's wish.
"May I have this dance?" he asked theatrically, holding out his hand to her.
Hermione laughed, then took his hand, and before she knew it, she was back in their old days. She wasn't in Charlotte's garden at the moment. She wasn't at a party full of people. No, she was back in their little kitchen. It was just the two of them.
And that's how it lasted for a while. They swayed to the beat as one, and both enjoyed it immensely before their little bubble was disturbed by their curly munchkin.
"I want, too!" Charlie demanded, causing laughter from everyone present.
Blaise bent down and took him in his arms so the three of them could dance together. The others just watched them with smiles on their faces, and at that moment they too forgot that these two were no longer married.
"Take a good look at them. Do you really want to ruin this?" Theodore asked quietly as he took the opportunity to walk over to Draco. He hoped they both could keep their cool and not make a scene as this was the perfect opportunity for another ice shower that his friend was so desperate for need.
"Blaise already took care of that himself," he answered suspiciously calmly.
Theo nodded as there wasn't much he could do. "We both know very well how things go in our families. We were led to believe that family comes first. That there is nothing more important. I've always despised it, but as I look around now, I'm beginning to realize that there might be something to it. I am beginning to think that family is not only important but that it is everything. And these people here, Draco, are our family," he told him quite calmly.
Meanwhile, Arthur apologizes to his wife and asks Charlotte to the dance, whereupon George takes his role and invites his mother to the dance. Harry followed in his father-in-law's footsteps, so instead of joining the others with Ginny, he did so with Narcissa.
"I wouldn't mind if you asked me to dance, my dear," Daphne informed Theodore, suddenly appearing at the Slytherin pair and saving Draco from further moral lessons.
"Please accept my apologies, my dear," Theo said apologetically, correcting his mistake.
Draco, who definitely wasn't going to think about their conversation, went to join in and chose Mrs. Potter as his dance partner when Harry left her for his mother. Ron, who hadn't been a big fan of dancing since fourth year, didn't exactly want to dance, but he noticed that Hermione's mother didn't join in and it wouldn't be right for her to be the only one of Charlie's grandmothers not to dance at his party, so he, with a minor warning how bad a dancer he was, led her away among the others. Gradually, all the guests joined in like this, and so it looked like some kind of garden ball.
“Since you've got such a wonderful idea, how about you go dance with Daphne? I'm sure that would make her very happy," Hermione suggested as she remembered that she had something else planned before Tom caused this whole thing.
Charlie looked a little sheepishly towards the blonde who was dancing with his uncle Theo. He then snuggled up to Blaise, making it clear that he didn't want to leave where he was right now. Hermione thought it was really cute because it wasn't too often that she got to see a shy Charlie.
"Wouldn't you like to thank her for the train she gave you? It's impressive, don't you think?” Blaise interjected.
Their little one quietly enjoyed their embrace for a while longer before showing that he wanted to go down and hesitatingly parted after the pair of future spouses. Theo and Daphne were too far away for Hermione and Blaise to hear them, so they had no choice but to watch the scene before them. Charlie walked up to them and tugged on Theo's pants, gesturing for him to bend down before whispering something in his ear. Theodore nodded with a smile on his face and took a step back. Charlie stood in his place and held out his hands for the blonde to pick him up. Daphne looked confused at her fiancé who just nodded, so she picked him up off the ground a bit confused. Little Zabini put his arms around her neck, kissed her cheek, and whispered something. The blonde was touched by his gesture. She whispered something back to him, then began to sway to the rhythm with him.
Hermione sighed and rested her head against Blaise's chest. "Why does he have to grow so fast?" she sniffed a little because she herself was very moved and close to tears.
Blaise pulled her into a hug, which she anxiously returned. "I don't know," he too said rather heavily.
"I am sorry," she apologized for her emotions and took a step back. "I'll go to the bathroom to calm down, and I'll be in a cheerful mood again," she assured him, and before he could say anything she headed inside the mansion.
She just needed a moment away from all the emotional stuff going on outside. And she really needed to go to the bathroom. So with that, she killed two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, as she was leaving the bathroom, a third bird appeared, which she was in absolutely no mood for today.
"Can we talk?" Draco wanted to know, needing a moment away from the others himself, and happened to catch a glimpse of Hermione while looking at the pictures in the hall.
"No," the brunette said sternly, giving him a look she immediately saw as a mistake. His eyes reflected something she couldn't identify, but it broke something inside her. "Today is Charlie's day," she added hesitantly.
"So tomorrow then?" he asked almost brokenly, and that surprised her perhaps even more than the look in his eyes.
She nodded. "I'll send you an owl where we'll meet in the morning," she said quietly, giving him one last look and returning to the celebration, successfully pushing their conversation to the back of her mind.
Today was Charlie's day.