The Web Of Love

There was a very good mood in the Burrow, because every one of them got together after a long time, plus there were Theo and Daphne, whom Molly had invited when they were at Charlie's birthday party, as Daphne was now telling Hermione.

"Theo wanted to decline the invitation at first because he wanted to return to France as soon as possible, but I talked him into staying a while longer. Don't get me wrong, I love Paris, but I long for good old London too often," she explained with a small sigh, though she had a smile on her face.

The brunette nodded. "I understand you completely, I could never leave London. However, we have to go visit you soon," she also said with a smile. She was still surprised at how easy it was to talk to Daphne. Blaise was right years ago, she really was prejudiced against Slytherins.

"I hate to interrupt you ladies," Theodore interrupted their conversation as he suddenly appeared in front of them, even though Hermione had seen him having a heated conversation with Bill and Arthur just a second ago. Theo bent down to the blonde next to her and kissed her on the cheek. "I need to borrow Mrs. Zabini for a while," he informed them of the reason for his appearance.

"It is time for my second coffee anyway," she said, showing them her empty mug, and motioning for Theo to follow her into the kitchen.

"I couldn't help but notice a certain change," he said in a low voice as she started making coffee.

She gave him a quick glance. "What change?"

"Draco is acting different," he elaborated.

Hermione swore she could see the wheels turning in his head at that moment as he tried hard to think why was it that way. 

"We're working to fix the problem we've created," she replied to a question he hadn't even said yet. "Don't worry about it anymore, okay? It's Draco, you never know if he'll wake up tomorrow and insist on his truth again," she chose her words carefully in case someone overheard them. "But I believe this time it's different. We had a reasonable talk for the first time. Something's going on with him, I don't know what, but we'll figure it out."

"If say so. You know I believe you, right? If anything was going on, would you tell me, please? He and Blaise are my family and I have to protect them from each other," he explained with more emotion than she was used to from him.

“Of course I would, Theo. They're my family too," she assured him with a small smile, and with a mug of freshly brewed coffee, she moved back into the living room to the others, where she sat next to Ginny, who was discussing her team's last match with Draco.

"I could, at least, watch it from the bench when I can't play anymore, but the little guy just decided he doesn't like everything I eat," complained the redhead.

Draco winced at the information, which made Hermione laugh. "Don't worry, we cheered enough. And your team won, so you have to be happy anyway."

"It is true. We played really well, didn't we?” she asked looking at Hermione.

She quickly nodded. "More than good. Although reluctantly, I have to admit that I enjoyed it very much."

Draco scoffed. "I'm not surprised. All these years she's been keeping us under the illusion that she doesn't like Quidditch and in the end she knows so much about it that she could become an expert at the game."

"I know, it's unbelievable. It's the only knowledge she doesn't pass on to everyone," Ginny agreed, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"That's true," Draco agreed with a smirk as well.

"Hey you two bullies, sometimes I really regret you two met," she said dramatically, standing up from her chair so they couldn't tease her any longer.

"Your wife is bullying me," she complained to Harry as she walked over to him.

Her longtime friend looked at his wife, who was laughing at something Draco had said, then looked at Hermione. "Welcome to the club," he informed her and they both burst out laughing.

“You know what I just thought?” she asked as their laughter slowly faded away.

"I don't know, and honestly? I'm afraid to ask," he teased her.

The brown-haired woman pierced him with a look. "I see your wife has infected you," she said in all seriousness before the corners of her mouth twitched. "Back to business. I love these gatherings in the Burrow, but we should go for a butter beer sometime. Just you, me, and Ron," she shared with your idea.

"That sounds very tempting. I miss those days quite a bit. You know what? I'll go find him right now and arrange it with him because as I know us all very well, we'd forget about it and then it might as well be next year before we take the time," he said, and without waiting for her answer, set out to find the last member of their trio.

Hermione didn't mind, she knew he was right. Plus, she didn't stay alone for long as her little munchkin came rushing towards her with Blaise hot on his heels.

“Mommy!” he screamed, gripping her leg tightly.

"You're out of luck mate, not even your mom can save you from a tickling monster," Blaise informed him and Hermione laughed at that.

She sipped her coffee while running a hand through Charlie's curls. "I dare to disagree. Moms are a secret weapon against monsters of all kinds, aren't they, Charlie?"

"Yes!" he shouted, nodding his head fiercely at that.

Blaise gave them a thoughtful look. "That I'd get it wrong?" he asked himself. "Hmm, I probably did. You're lucky you have such a beautiful mother, otherwise, you wouldn't have escaped the tickling monster," he told him, taking him into his arms.

"I'll show you what this beautiful mother is capable of," she warned him with humor. Apparently, their friendship was back to normal when he started flirting with her again.

"Is that a promise?" he blurted out almost eagerly, his eyes sparkling.

"Get lost," she said with a roll of her eyes. She forbade her mind to look for anything more in it so she could enjoy their bickering instead of worrying about it. And surprisingly, she was doing quite well.

"I'm on my way," he smirked and went with Charlie back to the garden.

Meanwhile, Hermione had finished her coffee so she carried the mug into the kitchen where she washed it and put it back in the cupboard before returning to her previous place next to Ginny.

“Have you calmed down yet?” she asked when they were suspiciously quiet.

But before either of them could answer, Ron appeared beside her. "When are we going for the butterbeer?"

"Are we going for a butterbeer?" Ginny wanted to know right away.

The brown-haired woman sighed. It seemed that her plan to go with just Ron and Harry had been lost long ago, but she wasn't particularly bothered because these people around her were her family. And she wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.