Charlie
I woke up to something tickling my face, the brief thought that an animal was next to my face until I realized it was Hermione’s hair. She had turned in her sleep. Back pressed against my chest. My arms were wrapped around her still.
I might have entertained getting up if I didn’t mind waking her up. But after the last few days she should rest when given the option. I also didn’t want to leave her, I wanted to stay wrapped around her, protecting her. I moved my arm down to her belly.
They weren’t technically mine but there was a connection there. I felt a strange jolt in my hand whenever I touched them. Like they were reaching out for me, but that was a little ridiculous. I reveled in the feeling none the less. Hermione was a force of nature; she could be here one moment and gone the next. Maybe that was why I wanted to hold on to her so tightly.
I could be her chosen family if she would let me. Eventually, though, for now I would be here while she needed me. Even if that did break my heart. I patted down her wild mane, it was out of control more than normal, I wondered if the children would also have that hair.
I felt her stir next to me. She stretched her arms and legs, resembling a cat. I kept my grip on her. “Good morning, sleep well?”
“Perfect.” She replied. Her hands settling on top on mine on her bump. “How did you sleep?”
“Like a rock.” I was slowly falling in love with the way she felt in my arms. Secretly hoping that every day was like this. I was brought out of my thoughts by a gurgling sound.
“I think the babies are hungry.” She blushed.
I laughed. “We should get up then. I’m sure that we will offend mum by not getting them some food.”
I got up and put on my shirt. I was never one to sleep with clothing on, but that would have to change because of this sleeping arrangement. We had a long day ahead of us, we would have to leave by floo to Romania around noon. Judging by the sun in the sky it was already around nine.
Even with her hair looking alive, she looked beautiful. Her tan skin and chocolate eyes only added to that. My eyes meet hers, and a smile crossed my lips.
“I don’t want to do anything at all.” She groaned; her hands moved to work her hair into a bun atop her head. It must weigh a lot.
“Then don’t, leave the packing and stuff to us.” I told her. I was waiting by the side of the bed for her.
“Then I’ll feel lazy, and that would be worse.” She got up from the bed and moved next to me. “Come on, we can see what everyone is up to.”
We walked down the stairs to find most of my family there. Ron was entertaining Victoire, mum in the kitchen with Fleur, Ginny and Harry sitting in the drawing room.
“Aren’t you two going to be in trouble for missing so many days of work?” Hermione asked Ron and Harry.
“No, we talked with Kingsley and the department head, so they told us to do what we needed.” Ron answered before turning back to our niece.
“Aunt ‘Mione, can you read a book to me?” The little girl asked.
“Of course, sweetheart.” She left my side to sit on the couch with her. Victoire brought her a book about dragons and a princess.
“This is going to be you aunt ‘Mione, cause your gonna go with the dragons. And Uncle Charlie can save you.” She said very matter-of-factly.
We all started to laugh. This little girl had no idea how right she was, I did save her, and technically Malfoy was named after a dragon.
“You know, they used to call aunt ‘Mione the Gryffindor Princess?” Harry said.
Hermione shot him a glare; she hated that nickname more than ‘golden girl’. Mainly because the press used it as many times as they could.
“So, you are a princess?!” Her squeal was joyful.
“Not really, that’s just what they called me.” Hermione told her. “Now let’s get to reading this book.”
Victoire sat on Hermione’s lap staring in awe at the pages of the book. I moved to the kitchen area leaving them in living room. A few minutes later Harry, Ron and Ginny followed me. We sat at the table, there was a heavy feeling in the air. It was mum who broke the tension.
“So, now that we know that it was Narcissa who was behind the whole healer situation, how are we going to handle this?”
Harry looked up from the table. “I talked to Kingsley about the situation, I didn’t tell him that Malfoy was the father, I just told him that Narcissa thought that he was. He was upset and agreed that Hermione leaving the country was the best option. He said that he will have people looking out for the supposed Healer. Her picture has gone up around the ministry. Which means that Malfoy has a good chance of seeing it.”
I looked at him. If Malfoy sees it, he will start asking questions, especially if it is someone he knows. “Do you think he could put this together?”
“I’m not too sure, maybe. If he recognizes her, he might go to his mother. We must be ready for if he comes looking for Hermione. Kingsley already took care of her file, but if one of her coworkers knew before we had a chance to seal it, then someone could let it slip on accident.”
“There are too many variables here to keep her safe and away from him and his mother.” Ginny said, her hands rubbing together, her sign of nervousness. “Though there could be a possibility that he wouldn’t want anything to do with the babies.”
We all agreed with her.
“In any case, we need to be careful.” Mum said.
Just then Hermione and Victoire walked into the kitchen holding hands. “How’s breakfast coming along?”
“It’ll be ready in about 10 minutes dear.” Mum said. “Why don’t you and Charlie make sure that you have everything ready before you leave?”
I nodded and got up from the table. Victoire went to sit with her mother. We walked back up to the room and she had her beaded bag ready. I was amazed by the number of things that could go in there. No wonder she was always prepared.
“Is everything you need in that little bag?” I asked her.
“Yes, it has an extension charm, and everything else was taken to Romania already.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” I only had a small bag that I needed to take because that was all I brought here.
I looked through the room to see if there was anything that I wanted to take with me. I turned and saw Hermione looking in the mirror, her hand on her bump. Her expression was full of worry, I walked over to her and hugged her from behind, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.
“I can hear your brain. What’s going on?”
She relaxed into my embrace and let out a long sigh.
“Do you think we can keep them safe?”
I took a moment to answer her. “Yes, I do. Especially at the reserve. The wards there are meant to protect from poachers. It will be the safest there.”
She nodded. “What do we do about us, Charlie?”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Nervousness settled into the pit in my stomach.
“I mean we are bound to each other in a way similar to the way wizards and witches get married. We have to be around each other all the time.” I knew what she was getting at. She wanted to know where we stood as us.
“We can figure that out along the way, nothing has to be determined at the moment. Let’s see if we can live together without wanting to kill each other. We focus on the babies and getting ready for them.”
I hope that would be enough for her to feel comfortable. It was as much as I could say without admitting that I had been in love with her for the last three years. That would surely overwhelm her and might have her avoiding me. Everything has happened in the span of a week. Wounds were fresh and needed time to heal.
“You’re right. Thank you, Charlie.” She turned and smiled at me. She wrapped her arms around my waist. “We should go back. I think they’re done talking about me.”
“What makes you think that?”
“It’s what you lot have been doing for the last week. I’m not dense.” She said. “Plus, I’m really hungry now.”
She let go of me and walked towards the door. When she let go of me I felt a little emptier. It’s probably because of the bond. I’ve felt that way since we left the hospital. Anxiety ran through me every time she was out of sight, like she would disappear. I have no idea how much of that is me and what is the bond.
I didn’t really care. I had something precious now, and I couldn’t let it be taken away from me. I followed her down the stairs, breakfast was ready. We all had small talk going around the table. It was mostly figuring out schedules to visit. The twins had the advantage over everyone because they could leave Verity and Lee to run the shop while they visited. Everyone else had normal jobs and had set schedules.
They promised to visit at least once a month. Mum said she would visit occasionally but send things with everyone else while they visited. Being friends with people high up in the ministry had its benefits. We would be able to floo in and out of the burrow if needed, we would only need to let Percy know so he could make a note of it at the Ministry.
By the time it came to say our goodbyes, Hermione was in tears again. Giving everyone hugs and well wishes. I hated to see her cry; it disturbed a part of me that wanted to protect her. We walked through the floo first and then Bill followed after us.
. . .
My cabin on the reserve wasn’t anything too big. It had two rooms, a living room and decent size kitchen. I had done most of the work on it since coming out here after Hogwarts. Remodeled the living room and the stairs over the years. Mostly making things a little better here and there.
Hermione looked around in awe though. Taking in the sight of the cabin slowly, walking from room to room. Though I call it a cabin it had three rooms. She noticed the boxes of hers in the living room. When we sent everything over, I had my closest friend, James, put her stuff in the living room. He was the only one allowed in my cabin, the wards kept everyone else out.
“It feels comfortable.”
“Er, thank you.” I responded.
Bill had then walked through the fireplace. “I won’t be able to stay long, I still have some work to do at Gringotts.”
I nodded. He knew where everything was and was capable of doing this without me being there. He would only need Hermione for a moment to allow her to adjust the wards. She continued her walk through, going upstairs. She first went to the guest room, looking at the bed post. Then to the main bedroom.
My bed was big, the lay out of the room was big itself, enough space and lead into a private bathroom.
“You sure have a decent size bed.” She commented. “I’m going to need a bigger end table on this side of the bed. One that fits a few books.”
I smirked. “What makes you think that’s your side of the bed?”
“Because I am claiming it.” She stuck her tongue out. “Also, it’s closer to the bathroom. Didn’t think you would fancy me vomiting on your nice wood floor.”
“That you are right.” I motioned my hand to the closet. “Check this out.”
It wasn’t big, but it was a walk-in closet, with enough room on one side for her clothes.
“I like the way you think, Charlie.”
We continued our tour, it ended in the kitchen, by the time we were done Bill needed Hermione for the wards. I sat in the living room while they finished up.
“We’re done here.” He said.
“Perfect, is there anything else that you need to check while you’re here?” I asked him.
“No, everything else should be fine around the reserve, so long as she is not out in the field.” He gave a pointed look to Hermione.
“She will not be going out there.” I said. She gave a little humph, but that is a conversation for a later time.
“Yes, yes, I know. Desk duty for me.” She said.
“With that I will be off.” He gave me a hug then turned to Hermione. “You be careful.”
“I promise.” She whispered.
Bill walked into the fireplace and called out for the burrow. I walked into the kitchen to grab water for Hermione and me. When I returned, she was sitting on the couch, with her eyes closed.
“Hey there, it’s a bit too early to sleep.” I told her.
“I’m not sleeping. I’m just taking in the new smell of this place.” I sat next to her on the couch. She immediately moved to curl into me, like we had been doing this for years and not a week. “It smells like you.”
“So you not only like my muscles, but my smell too.” I laughed. “Careful Hermione, you might never want to leave.”
“Then you would have to be stuck with me forever. Sounds like you are getting the worse part of this bargain.” She moved her legs to lay across mine. “You are really comfy.”
I pulled her closer to me. “I don’t think so.”
She hummed in response. We sat like that for a good while until I gave her a small tour of the reserve. This included the office like area that she would be working in, and the surrounding cabins. Her job as liaison, was mostly handling the correspondence between us and the Romanian Ministry. Kingsley made a deal with them so Hermione would rarely, if ever need to leave the Reserve, they liked it better because none of them liked to come here.
If they were to come, they would have to apparated outside of the wards and then they would walk about a mile to the office area. So, they all dreaded coming here. They might ask Hermione to stay here forever so they wouldn’t have to come back. Sending her a welcome basket wouldn’t be a bad idea from them.
She was in awe of the place, stopping to ask me questions about the people and different work that goes on. I told her each place, introduced her to the different people. None asked about her belly, for which I was grateful for. Happy to leave the hard questions for another day.
Before we knew it, it was nightfall. The sun set behind the mountains and the stars were beginning to shine. We made it back to my cabin when there was no sun in the sky, only stars. They we magnificent here because there were no city lights to pollute the sky. Similar to the amount of stars that we would see in the burrow, just a little different because of our latitude.
“They look beautiful. Is there anywhere we can lay to see them?” She asked me.
“Well, there is the small balcony on the second floor, if you want to lay there?” I told her.
“Where is that? I didn’t see it earlier when I looked around the cabin.” She looked up, her expression puzzled.
“It’s off of the bathroom. You didn’t go in there, so you probably didn’t notice it.” I opened the door to the cabin. “Come up, I’ll show you.”
We walked up to my bedroom and through to the bathroom. There was a skyline view that was visible from the bathtub, it was charmed to see out, but no one could see in. Past the tub was a small door that led to the balcony, which had a notice-me-not charm, so no one would see me standing out here. There was no furniture out here.
“It’s wonderful.” She sat against a wall. “It’s a nice breeze too. I would love to have a blanket and hot chocolate. That would make it perfect.”
I know that she didn’t mean it literally, but I was still going to do it. “I can go grab that; I’ll be right back.”
I left before she could argue, the hot chocolate was only a few spells to be done, and I grabbed a blanket from a closet. One that would fit the both of us.
When I got back her head was looking up to the sky. “Now we can have a small party.”
I gave her one of the cups of chocolate and then wrapped the blanket around us.
“Thank you.” She put the cup to her lips and blew on it before taking a drink.
“Did you make a wish tonight?” I asked her.
“Yes, I did. I hope that it will come true.” She turned to face me. “Are you going to make one?”
I pondered that for a second. “Yeah, I will.”
I wondered what she wished for. We sat together for a while before I deemed it too cold to stay out. She agreed but wanted a bath. I showed her how to use the tub and left her in the bathroom.
I went to lay in bed. She really had no idea what she did to me, none of it was bad. It made me want to hope that something will come out of all this.
“Charlie.” She called and tore me out of my thoughts.
I walked over to the entrance of the bathroom. “Yes?”
“I need a towel, please.” Her voice carried.
“Okay, give me a moment.” I forgot to put some on the rack near the tub. I was gone for a week and didn’t see the need to put one out. I walked into the bathroom with a towel in my hand and forgot one detail of this. She was naked.
I put my hands in front of my eyes. “Sorry, I forgot that you were naked.”
She let out a small laugh.. “It’s alright Charlie. I’m sure you’ve seen a naked woman before.” She paused. “And besides, I think I might need some help getting out of your bathtub, it’s a bit steep and I don’t want to slip getting up.”
I stopped breathing for a second. This witch was not asking me to help her out of my bath, while she was naked. I wouldn’t be able to escape the erection that was threatening to form. I let out a breath and dropped my hand from my face.
“Maybe we should transfigure it before your next bath.” I said evenly.
“Yeah, that might be a good idea, but I enjoy being submerged in the water. It reminds me of the prefects bathroom.”
I opened my eye and breathed out. She had a smile to her face, and her hands we stretched towards me to help her step out of the tub. Making sure that she was stable before letting her go. Keeping my eyes above her shoulder level was near impossible, but I did it. She wrapped the towel around herself, and I let her hold on to my arm to get out of the bathtub.
“Are you good now?” I asked.
“Perfect. Thank you.” She replied.
I walked back into the bedroom and changed into some sleepwear pants. I went downstairs to quickly check the locks and windows, hoping that my erection went down enough that she wouldn’t notice. When I got back up, she was in bed already. Curled towards the middle of the bed. I climbed into the other side. I noticed that she was already asleep. Of course she was, she was the embodiment of a tease. I laid on my back and for a second, I thought that she was awake because she moved to curl into me.
But she wasn’t, she just moved towards me in her sleep. I can’t complain, if this is how the rest of my life is going to be then I would be happy.