Hermione
The morning in the burrow was busy, despite it being a Tuesday. Everyone wanted to be home to see of Charlie and I, make sure that everything was for sure that everything was good. Charlie had gotten pulled aside by Bill, some sort of guy issue, I didn’t press the issue. Instead, I wandered outside to sit in Molly’s garden.
I laid down the blanket I brought with me and read my copy of Romeo and Juliet, it had seen better days, but lately I couldn’t help but read it. It wasn’t too hot, there was still that cold wind that was ever present.
I heard someone walk towards me and my head shot up, thinking it would be Molly, instead I see Harry walking towards me. I motioned for him to lay next to me.
We laid there on our back saying nothing. Looking up at the clouds that were moving at a fast rate.
“I’m going to miss you.” He spoke.
“Me too. But I’ll be back eventually once everything calms down. And you can come to see me whenever.” I reach for his hand.
“It won’t be the same ‘Mione.” I turned my head towards him. “You will always be my sister, so if Charlie does something to piss you off, I’ll do to him what I did to Malfoy.”
I laughed. “I love you too Harry. I don’t know what’s going to happen. This is all a mess.”
I turned my head to the sky once again, looking at the clouds, wishing that I could run as fast as they move. Maybe if I could then none of this would have happened. “You know Harry, I never felt too much affection for Draco. Not in the way that I thought I should have.”
“I don’t follow.”
“He was only a distraction. Yes, I was attracted to him and yes, I liked him well enough. I think that I just hoped that one day it could have been love. But I didn’t love him, that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“Then why were you with him?” He said quietly.
“Because I was trying to forget someone else. To forget that I was in love with someone else, and I thought it would never happen, so I wanted a distraction, and there Draco was. He. Was a willing participant. It wasn’t bad with him; he was kind and lovely. Or at least I thought he was.” I breathed in. “Oh Harry, what a mess indeed.”
“I just can’t believe that he was sleeping with both Pansy and I. On one hand I want to know his reasoning for all of this, but on the other hand it wouldn’t change anything. I don’t want him in my life, or the babies.”
“It’s okay, he won’t know. Even if he does find out, everyone will tell him that the babies are Charlies.” He took a deep breath. “Speaking of Charlie how are you feeling about that situation?”
“Honestly?” He nodded. I gripped his hand a little tighter. “He was the one I was trying to forget. So, I feel like I am stuck. I am quite literally having another man’s children and now he is bound to me for the rest of his life. And it’s not like I can just confess anyway, he probably sees me as just Ron’s friend.”
“Oh… Oh. OH… Wait seriously?” I felt his head turn towards me, but I didn’t want to meet his eyes, all I could do was nod. “That’s a predicament then.”
“That is probably the understatement of the year.” I finally turned my head to his. Those big green eyes were wide. “You can never tell anyone, even Ginny.”
He opened his mouth, but the look on my face shut him up. “No, because I don’t even know what is going to happen here. I mean, we decided to tell people on the reserve that the babies are his since we need to be near each other more during the pregnancy.”
He had a look on his face, this was one that I knew all to well. He was thinking something through. “Well, maybe just take it one day at a time Hermione. You have the rest of your lives to figure this out. I’m sorry that we had to decided that for you.”
“No, don’t feel bad. I am grateful for him for doing this. And I am happy that this was the choice you lot made.” His green eyes looked sad. “I’m serious Harry, this is the best option.”
I breathed out. “So how are things with you and Ginny?”
“Very well. We recently decided how to decorate some of the extra rooms at Grimmauld. So it’ll be nice once it’s all finished. She’s going to miss you, too. She is only too excited to start buying you all the baby clothes and clothes for you.”
I rolled my eyes. “She doesn’t need to do that. I would be happy with a few things for the babies.” I paused. “Though if I told her to stop, she would only buy more.”
“Yes, be ready for all of the gifts that they give you. I don’t think you’ll be able to stop Fred or George.” He laughed. Because he knew that those two were also like my protectors. I always met them for lunch or tea, considering how we lived near each other. The first time I showed them a muggle movie was a glorious experience, they enjoyed the movies about magic. It was probably because of how absurd they seem, especially to me now that I know real magic.
“Yes, they are still a force to be reckoned with.” I answered. The breeze began to pick up and the chill began to move through me. “Let’s go back inside, I’m starting to feel a little hungry.”
He nodded and helped me get up. It was a short walk to the house. Molly was in the kitchen looking at a paper in her hand. She looked up and saw us walking in. Harry told her that we came in because I was hungry, and she immediately went to make food.
“It’s okay Molly, I can make something simple.”
“Nonsense, I’ll make a quick meal. Have a seat on the couch I’ll call when it’s ready.”
I figured it was better not to argue with her, we made our way to the living room where Charlie and Bill were sitting down. Charlie on the couch, Bill in one of the armchairs. I let go of Harry’s arm to join Charlie on the couch. His arm went around me automatically, it felt like this was something we had done for years rather than just the last week. I felt better instantly, I didn’t even realize how exhausted I was.
“I lost my sister to Charlie.” Harry feigned hurt.
“Sorry mate, she said she likes my muscles better.” I swatted his chest. Harry and Bill busted out in laughter.
“So where did everyone else go?” I asked, noticing that the house was too quiet in comparison to before I went outside.
“They said that they had something to do.” Bill said.
“That’s suspicious.” I raised an eyebrow to him. The three of them looked between each other. I knew they had a secret; anyone would be able to tell. Everyone had been really hush hush around certain topics, Draco being one of them. I can only imagine what they planned to do with him. George and Fred were calm when I told them, but they were silent planners, and could do harm, and with Ginny at their side it could be disasterous.
“Will they be back in time for dinner?” I asked.
They each had a shocked look on their face, I knew that they expected me to ask, but I don’t really care right now. Harry was the first one to regain his composure. “Yeah, they’ll be back in time. Have you ever known Ron to miss dinner?”
“True.” I replied. I laid my head on Charlie’s shoulder and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to admit that he was now my home, because normally that isn’t forced on to someone.
I opened my eyes again and a mischievous smile crossed my face. “So did you both put money into the bet for my son’s name?”
“I did.” Harry said. Bill nodded.
“Harry, you were never going to win.” I laughed.
“I held out hope.” He rolled his eyes. “I take it you decided a name already?”
“Yes, I will be naming him after Charlie. Since he is now bound to me forever, and thus giving up his last remaining good years.” I smiled. “So, you all should start planning out what week’s you will come to visit us.”
“I feel offended. I’m not that old, I younger than Bill at least.” Charlie remarked. Harry and Bill were laughing too hard to say anything. I rolled my eyes.
“The betrayal hits hard Hermione.” Bill said. “But I bet that you would pick Charles, so I’m good for taking their money. Plus, I have my own to watch.”
“Me too.” Charlie said. “Though I was mostly in it for the bragging rights.”
Just then Molly walks into the living room. “Lunch is ready.” She motions for all of us to go into the kitchen. She made sandwiches and soup.
“Did I hear something about names?” She asked once we all sat down, not doing much to keep her excitement off of her face.
“Yes, I was telling them that I decided to name my son after Charlie.” I told her.
“That’s wonderful, dear. I do love how the names sound together Charlotte and Charles.” She set down the last bowl. “I just hope he doesn’t live up to the namesake. Running off to live a dangerous job.”
I laughed and Charlie bushed a deep red. Bill said something like what about his job and Molly shut him up. This conversation changes topics several times.
I managed to talk Molly into helping me clean after lunch. Our departure to Romania was deterred until tomorrow. Charlie had already talked to the person in charge of the reserve, so they knew about our situation.
I was worried that they might not want my help anymore, but they agreed to having me cover the paperwork aspect and someone else would go into the field for me. They seemed very happy for me to still be going to the reserve.
It was the best that I could have asked for. I walked out of the kitchen to find everyone in the living room, Molly was sitting in an armchair already knitting. A magical set of needles working next to her. I was feeling more tired than anything now, maybe helping to clean wasn’t the best idea. Though I did know that being pregnant would make me feel tired more.
“I’m going to head up to take a nap before everyone comes back for dinner.” I said heading for the stairs. I saw the heads nod.
By the time I reached Ginny’s room my exhaustion felt worse. I would have to pay attention to the signs of tiredness later. I took of my trainers and jumper and moved the covers of the bed to get comfortable.
I tossed and turned each way trying to fall asleep, but it was pointless. I just laid there thinking about the past two weeks. It was probably five minutes before I heard knocking on the door.
“Come in.”
“Hey, how are you feeling?” It was Charlie.
“Tired, I can’t seem to get comfortable.” I held the covers up to my chin. I felt a little childish.
“I’m sorry.” He moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “Do you want some company?”
I nodded my head. He moved to get into the bed, taking his boots off. The bed felt cramped with the both of us. He adjusted to put his arm under my head, and I moved my head to lay on his chest. I took a deep breath in.
“Feel better?” He asked.
“Yes, very much.” He still felt like home, it could turn addicting. I moved a hand to his chest, one of his moved towards my belly. I thought that I would feel awkward, but it felt natural, expect for that small shock that I deemed was because of our magic.
I couldn’t help but feel guilty for how nice Charlie made me feel. He deserved better than this.
“Are you really okay will all of this Charlie? I mean you didn’t ask for this, and now you’re stuck with me and my children, though I guess not my children because after the pregnancy I wouldn’t need to be near you much.” I was talking fast. My breath was more ragged. “I feel horrible.”
He pulled me in closer with both of his arms. It troubles me how good his arms feel around me. How much I enjoy his scent, it was almost forest like, strange, but comforting. I felt even more guilt because of this.
“Hermione, I do not regret agreeing to bind my magic to yours. Do not blame yourself. This was not your fault and of course I will help with the babies. Do you understand?” I gave a slight nod, though I didn’t believe myself. “Good, because the blame is not yours, at most we can blame Malfoy.”
“Okay, we can blame him.” I yawned the last word.
“Now, how about a short nap?” He asked me.
“That would be nice.” I burrowed my head even further into him.
. . . . . . .
I woke up to knocking at the door. The door opened before I could say anything. I assumed it was Ginny.
“Yes, Gin, can I help you?” I still felt tired, waking up felt like a bad idea.
“Mum said that dinner is ready, and for you to come down.” It was Ron. “Though you two do look really comfy.”
“Get out git, we’ll be right down.” Charlie responded, his voice still sleepy.
“Okay, just come down, everyone’s hungry.” I grabbed the pillow and threw it at his head.
“Always thinking of your stomach.” I grumbled. “We’ll be right down.”
He quickly closed the door; I could hear his footsteps going down and a trail of laughter following him. I turned back to Charlie and sighed in exhaustion. “I’ve slept better in the last week than in the last five years.”
“I would like to take that glory, but it’s probably because you’re surrounded by family.” He said caressing my hair. “You know your hair comes alive in your sleep, I thought it was going to suffocate me.”
I pushed his chest. “Well, I guess you will just have to live with-.” I paused; would I have to sleep with Charlie the whole time? We have been the last two days because of the hospital, but we wouldn’t have too tonight. Though right now I could only sleep once I was near Charlie.
“What’s going on in your head?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“I think… We have to figure out this whole bonded thing. Because before you came in the room, I was contemplating life because I couldn’t get comfortable, but once you laid down with me, I felt instantly better and could fall asleep.” I frowned. “I feel like I am being too reliant on you. I fear it will be this way for the whole pregnancy.”
He blinked a few times. What I would give to know what exactly he was thinking. He finally spoke.
“Hermione, this is fine. If I must sleep in the bed with you for a few months and fight off your hair, then so be it. If we have to stay near each other all day, then that’s fine too. I’m not saying this because of some weird complex, but I am genuinely okay with all of this. Don’t feel guilty. I promise I will let you know if it changes.”
I nodded and got up off the bed. “Thank you, Charlie. Let’s get going before Ron decides to eat all the food.”
“That would be tragic.” He got up and made his way holding the door for me.
Dinner went fine, Fleur joined us, and we talked about things to get for the baby, and some things for me to have during the pregnancy. Molly chimed in on the conversations telling me about the differences between a normal pregnancy and a twins pregnancy. Bill said something about how the twins were a trouble before and after birth, which earned him a slap to the back of the head.
All of us laughed and the night carried on that way. Until it was just Bill, Charlie, Ron, left in the living room. Ginny had gone ahead to home, but Harry stayed behind. The same with Fleur. They all had a nervous look on their face. I finally had enough of them and their awkward.
“What is going on, I haven’t seen you look like this since fourth year.”
Harry rubbed his hand through his hair. “Well, the thing is, we have something to tell you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It’s about the healer that you went to see. There was something suspicious about her, so we investigated her.” Ron spoke, his voice fading by the end of his sentence.
“I’ll come out with it. She wasn’t a real healer. No one else heard of her, we went back to the office that you went to for the appointment. It was empty, there was no trace of anyone, not even magical.” Bill told me.
I blinked a few times, my brain not quite catching up with what he said. “So, what the bloody hell does this mean?”
“It means that the person you were seeing, was a stranger. We do not know who she was, Harry and Ron went to investigate, and that name didn’t come up anywhere in the ministry. It was an alias.”
I could feel my pulse quicken; my hands were shaking. I thought that I might throw up, this was too much.
“So, someone knows that I am pregnant, they knew my life was in danger and was going to let me die?” I said.
“Yes.” Bill said. I felt Charlies hold on me tighten. “Hermione, how did you find this Woman?”
I thought back a few weeks, I had been throwing up and knew that I needed to see someone. I thought it was a flu until I took a muggle pregnancy test. Then I looked for a healer that was less known. Oh, Merlin.
“I had been feeling unwell for a little while, I thought I had the flu until I took a test. Then I knew I needed to see a healer. She was recommended to me by a friend, I didn’t say what kind of healer I needed.” I took a deep breath in, it felt like my heart was going to explode.
“She probably knows, oh Merlin, we’re, I’m in trouble.” I kept breathing, trying to keep myself from hyperventilating. My hands moved to my abdomen, this could all end badly.
“Who knows ‘Mione? You’re scaring us.” Ron moved to my side.
“Narcissa.” I let out. “It all makes sense now. The engagement in the news, Pansy’s leaked pregnancy. She was trying to get rid of me.”
The room went quiet. I didn’t hear any of them breathe. “I don’t know how I didn’t piece this together sooner.”
Harry began to pace around the room, Ron was still a little stunned. Bill had his hands in his hair. Charlie didn’t move his arm still around me.
“Did she know that you were with Malfoy?” Harry asked.
“I don’t know, but you know sometimes mother’s know things without you telling them. She could have had someone watching us.” I told them.
“Hermione, if she thinks that the babies are Draco’s she might try something to you. Did you tell the healer that the babies were his?”
“No, I didn’t mention anyone.” I looked at Charlie. “I went into the office with Charlie though… So, if you didn’t find anything there, that would have taken time. They wouldn’t have had time to do it overnight. She probably thought that the babies were Charlies because I brought him, and twins run in the family.”
“She probably cleared out after she saw Charlie, thinking he was the father.” Ron said.
I nodded. “And now, Mungo’s has that Charlie is the father on the paperwork. So, if she went to look, that’s what it would say.”
They looked a little relieved. I felt relief for Ginny’s inability to plan things out, if I had gone with her, Narcissa might have done something to me. Bill looked like he had something to say.
“Hermione, you need to stick to Charlie all the time.” His expression was serious. “Your magic is bound to one another. So, if someone were to look at you while pregnant, they wouldn’t find any traces of Malfoy, they would see him. Even now all I can smell is you and him.”
“I don’t quite follow Bill.”
“I don’t either.” Charlie said.
“It means that as long as your magic is near each other, no one should be able to tell that Malfoy is the father before she gives birth. After birth no one should question it unless they look like him.”
“Hermione, I think it’s best if you don’t come back to Britain at all until after birth.” Harry said. “If she was willing to let you die because of what she believed then, she will try something worse later.”
My hands wrapped around my stomach. This was all too much. My babies were in more danger than I thought. “How am I supposed to keep them safe?”
“I will meet with another curse breaker in the morning and see if we can find something to help protect you. I think I know the runes, but I want to be sure. I will also be going with you two to Romania in the morning to set the wards.”
“Okay, I need to think.” I mumbled. “I agree to all those things, I just need to think out some more details.”
I took a deep breath. “Your mum and dad are going to lose it.”
They all looked at each other. “Did you already tell them?”
“Yes, while you were sleeping.” Harry said. I nodded if they told Molly and Arthur then the whole family knew. They were all probably trying to figure out their own way to help.
“I think I need to lay down.” I told them. I looked up to Charlie, he nodded in agreement. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
I gave each of them a hug before heading up. Instead of Ginny’s room we went to Charlies. I quickly changed into a shirt and shorts while Charlie went to the restroom. He returned with no shirt and long pajama pants.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, sitting on the bed.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Overwhelmed. I just want to relax, but I don’t think that will ever be an option. For me.”
I sat down on the other side of the bed and went under the covers. “Would some cuddles make it better?”
I smiled, “They would ease the burden a little bit. Probably make the babies feel better.”
He chuckled. “We can’t have the babies feeling bad, now, can we?”
He got under the covers, and we got into the same sleeping position as earlier. Some of the anxiety went away as I smelled him.
“You feel like home.” I whispered.
“So do you.” He replied. “I will make sure that you and the babies are safe, okay?”
“Okay.” I hummed. “Do you hear that Charlotte and Charles? The strongest Weasley will protect us.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. The hard moments will come and challenge me and my resolve. But in this moment, those were far off days. I only need him and my babies.
“Yes, he will. So, sleep.” His hand started to rub the small of my back and it felt like a trance. Lulling me to sleep, I couldn’t help but do just that. Drifting off to sleep, head on his bare chest, arm draped across him.