Charlie
She just said that she loved me, I just told her that I loved her. This wouldn’t feel real except she was here in my arms naked pressed against me. We spent the month tiptoeing around each other. Flirting and making sarcastic comments to one another. Then yesterday happened and I resolved myself to this being a casual thing. But now I know it’s different
One of my hands was in her hair the other on her back.
“How do you feel?” I asked her.
“I feel great.” She said, nuzzling her head into my chest. “What about you?”
“I feel better than anything.” I kissed her forehead.
We laid there for a while, just enjoying the afterglow of sex. Today was hard, the moment that Patronus came from Josh that said Malfoy was here and with Hermione sent me spiraling. I couldn’t get out of the cages quick enough, I probably scared everyone while I ran back to the office. Then to see him sitting in her office, I still don’t know exactly what he told her.
After what happened last week, he could have said anything. Percy and the twins finished their potion. Percy had managed to slip it into Malfoy’s coffee at the Ministry, which started off their day of fun. Malfoy was telling people left and right what he truly thought of them. It only lasted for about 4 hours, but he went home for that last hour, and we didn’t know what happened there. But I heard from Ginny that his wife left the house. We had all considered this a win because his reputation was ruined.
I thought it would be over then, but then today happened.
When Kingsley came with my father and brother to break the bond between him and the babies, I was relieved. I wanted him to have nothing to do with her or the babies, I have grown to have a possessive nature over them. If anyone was to hurt her, I would lose control.
Her stomach is what pulls me out of my train of thought. I looked down at her. “Hungry?”
A blush forms across her face. “Yes, it has been an eventful day.”
“Let’s get some food into you.” I got up and pulled on a pair of pants. She grabbed one of my shirts and some knickers. I could die a happy man.
We walked down the stairs; the cabin was dark because it was later in the afternoon now. Once in the kitchen she sat at the table while I gathered some leftover soup and heated it up with a charm. Once we were sitting down, I asked her the question that was on the tip of my tongue.
“What did he tell you today?” I asked her.
She paused mid bite and then swallowed. “He told me that it was Narcissa who told him I was pregnant, apparently someone slipped him a truth potion and he went around telling everyone the truth of what he thought of them, even Pansy. Who by the way did not marry him with the intention of an open Marriage. He told her that we had been sleeping together and she left him for her parents’ house.
“Then he told me to get rid of the babies. I nearly hexed him right there.” Her face turned sour. “That’s why I called Kingsley and your father. I knew that if he left today before giving up his rights, he might not do it. I couldn’t risk that.”
I looked away from her, trying to contain my anger. We already knew that Narcissa knew the woman, Harry found her two weeks ago and made a scene of it at the Ministry. We knew it would be a matter of time before Malfoy found out.
“Wait, Pansy never had another lover?”
“No. It was just a ploy by him. The bloody bastard.” She shook her head. “But I am officially done with him.”
I nodded. We continued to eat. Once we were done, we cleaned.
“Do I want to know what you were up to when you left?” She looked up at me.
“No, love, you really don’t.” She would only feel guilty if she heard the whole truth. Not for Malfoy, but for getting everyone else involved.
I followed him out of the offices towards the apparition point, but once we reached the forest line, I pulled him in. I could barely hear the voices behind me. It was tunnel vision; he was the only thing in my focus.
He started to say something but never had the chance to finish the sentence. I was already on top of him, out of control. My fist made contact with his jaw first. Then it was basically a free for all. Harry and Ron leaned against a tree in front of me, just watching making no effort to stop me.
Percy let me go for a while by that time Malfoy managed to get up and charge at me, but he was already pretty cut up, so I decided that it was Percy’s turn. I moved out of the way and Malfoy hit a tree. I nodded in Percy’s direction, to let him know that he was his if he wanted. He nodded back, taking off his outer robes. Malfoy still had his mouth on him.
“So, what is the bookworm of the Weasley’s going do?”
“I wouldn’t say that too quickly Malfoy. He did grow up with five brothers.” Harry commented.
Percy may have been the tamest out of all of us, but we still got into our scuffles. He could hold his own easily; he was just easily swayed sometimes.
I did a quick scourgify to my clothes and hands. I would have to take a shower later. I joined Harry and Ron; they were keeping watch to make sure no one came this way. It would be easier to put up a ward, but none of us could do that as quickly as Bill.
“I think we should take Malfoy to see Ginny.” Ron said.
I nodded; Malfoy would really end up in Mungos after she’s done with him. I’ll have to get the story from them at a later time. Percy was done with Malfoy and his shirt had bouts of blood around his white dress shirt and black trousers. Even a sourgify wouldn’t work.
“We’ll see you both later, Percy needs to change his clothes.
“Sounds good.” Harry said. Walking towards the spot where Malfoy lay unconscious on the ground. “Come on Ron, we’ll need to give him a minor healing potion.”
“Do we really need too?” Ron groaned.
“Yes, if he’s too hurt Ginny will complain. Since she wouldn’t get to fully hurt him.” Ron nodded.
I loved my baby sister, but she could be terrifying. I watched as they carried Malfoy out of the forest. “Come one Percy, let’s get you changed.”
It was her small huff, that brought me out of my thoughts.
She slowly nodded her head and hummed. “Do you want to grab a blanket and we can sit on the balcony?”
“Yes. You head up first, I’ll be right there.”
I made sure the doors were locked before heading up. I found her sitting once again with her head pointed up to the sky. I sat behind her and wrapped the blanket around the both of us.
“I made a bloody mess out of everything didn’t I Charlie?” She asked.
“Well, it wasn’t done gracefully.” I told her. “But it happened this way for a reason. No need to beat yourself up about it.”
She nestled her head into my chest, and we sat there, looking up. I think my wish was answered by the stars. My wish was for her, and here she was in my arms.
“What color should we paint the other room for a nursery?” She asked.
“Hmm… What about green?” Grateful for the change in topic.
“What type of green?”
“I dunno, maybe like a light green. Or a dark blue, that would seem calming.” I told her.
“The light green would make more sense I think, considering they will be here by early fall.”
My hands moved to her belly. The two little ones in her belly would never know the man who gave them genetic material. Instead, they would know the family who loved them regardless of who their father was.
“We will have to start fixing the other room in a few months, it’s already May. Time is flying by fast.” She placed her hands over mine.
“Well, you seem to very good with manual labor as well as woodwork, so I guess you’re the man for the job.” She mused.
“It does come for a price; can you pay it?” I moved her hair to one side and placed my mouth to her neck.
“What might that price be?” She asked, giggling. My beard was probably tickling her.
“You, with me forever.” I told her.
“I think that can be arranged.” She turned around to face me. “Can you handle me forever Charlie? I come with so much more.”
I wrapped my arms around her back. “Hermione, I knew that when I bound my soul to yours. I knew what it would entail. I was ready for it then and I am ready for it now. We have time to figure out the small details between us. Though I’m sure mum will want a wedding later. We can just focus on us and the babies. One day at a time.”
“I would like that. I do love you, Charlie. I just want to know you better than anyone else.”
“We will get there eventually.”
. … . . . .
The first thing I noticed in the morning was the absence of Hermione’s wild hair in my face. It became a daily ritual to move it from suffocating me without waking her up. It was a rare day when she was up before me.
I walked into the bathroom and found no trace of her. Downstairs was the same, no sign of her. I walked back upstairs to get dressed when I heard a giggle. It was coming from the guest bedroom.
I opened the door to find her sitting on the bed with her wand out. The color on the walls was different than before. What used to be a light brown was now light green.
“Oh Charlie, perfect. Help me pick a color.” She waved me to sit down with her. I let out a sigh of relief. This witch might just be the death of me.
“It this what got you up so early?” I asked her. I sat down next to her and pulled her legs over me.
“There was an owl downstairs, it was a letter from your mum.” She said pulling the letter out from her jumper. Her hair was tied back and in a lose bun. She was wearing my old jumper that mum had made a few years ago, and black leggings.
“I also sent an owl saying that we will be starting work after noon today.” Her head rested against my shoulder.
I read the letter from mum. She was upset that Malfoy was able to get onto the reserve so easily and was making the trip with Bill this weekend to make sure that Hermione was alright. Which mean that I had two days to make sure that the guest room downstairs was clean for mum and this one for Bill.
“Ah, so we’re gonna have a busy weekend.” I bent my head down to give her a kiss.
“Yup. I also want to get this decided.” She looked up at the walls, squinting at them.
“Did the color offend you?” I asked her. “Why did you want to decide this today?”
She smiled and looked up at me, her brown eyes glowing in the sunlight. “Well, you see something else happened this morning.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“I felt the babies move!” Her arms went around her stomach. “It was the weirdest of feelings, I freaked out for a second before realizing what was happening.”
My hand immediately went to her stomach. “That’s amazing. Do you think that I’ll be able to feel them?”
“I’m not too sure, I just noticed them so probably not for a few more weeks.”
I felt my face drop a little. She reached up and kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry I’ll call you over as soon as I can feel them with my hands.”
I felt her slouch around me. “Let’s get some breakfast in you and then come back and pick out a color.”
She moved off me and I pulled her closer to me and spoke. “I woke up without you. I thought that you might have regrets.”
She gripped her arms around my waist. “Never. I will never regret anything that happens between us.”
“Good, because that would be rather awkward.” We kissed, it was long and slow. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Charlie.” She told me.
. . . . . . .
The weekend with my mum went about as good as I expected. She was overjoyed that Malfoy was out of our lives for good. Her overbearingness was kept to Hermione, for which I was grateful. Though that didn’t stop her from dropping hints at me to get married. Though she did spend more of the weekend hovering over Hermione.
Bill was a welcomed guest. He filled me in on what was happening with the family. After the everything was done with Malfoy everyone was in a better mood. Turns out that Harry and Ron ended up calling in the rest of the family when they took Malfoy back home. Mum didn’t ask questions when they said they needed a few healing potions. Apparently, Malfoy no longer works in the Ministry, he resigned the very next day. A Narcissa vanished from the Pure blood society.
I was also told that Ron even got the courage to ask out a woman that he had been fancying for a while. She was close in their friend circle. Their friends were ecstatic to hear that Hermione was okay, none of them were told the situation, just that Hermione and I were having children. They sent their gifts with our family and were looking forward to seeing Hermione again.
It was two weeks later that Bill came back to make sure that the wards were still strong. He wouldn’t have to come back for a few months. Fleur would be happy to have her husband back for the weekends again. Though she understood why he had to come.
The following week we had Harry and Ginny visit. Grateful that she was okay. They stayed for a couple of days. Then last weekend it was the twins, they always looked out for Hermione the most, other than Harry. They left a couple of baby things for us, including some toys. To which Hermione checked for pranks when they left. To our surprise, there were none.
Today I was in the cage with our Welsh Green again, she was calmer than any other dragon brought here. She left us clean her wounds without a struggle. If I didn’t know better, I would say that she really likes us. Which could be a possibility, but she would be just as happy when she’s fixed up and can leave.
I sat on the edge of the cage, having just changed the bandages to her wing. I could hear someone running up to me. I turned to look, and it was Hermione.
“What are you doing out here?” It was dangerous for her to be out here; she was twenty-three weeks pregnant.
“I needed some fresh air, and I was missing you.” She said, walking up to me.
“It’s dangerous out here for you. You could have gotten some fresh air near the offices.” My tone came out harsher than it needed to. Which was very apparent, her smile faded from her face.
She took a small step backwards. “Sorry for bothering you.”
She turned away and began to walk away. Dammit all.
“Hermione.” I called out for her, but she didn’t stop.
“Hermione, please stop” She walked at a faster pace. I jogged slowly after her, until I caught up to her. There were tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.” I told her. “I’m just worried about you and the babies. It’s dangerous for you to be out here without anyone. What if something had happened?”
She shook her head against my chest. “I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t doubt that in a normal situation. But here there are different dangers than you are used to.” I pulled back and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I couldn’t handle you being hurt and alone. So, if you come out here to see me bring someone else with you.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry.” I heard her sniffle. “It’s these bloody hormones, I feel like I’m going crazy.”
“It’s okay, love.” I look around. “Do you want to see our Welsh Green? You can’t come in the cage, but it should be okay for you to stand outside with me.”
Her face lit up, she probably thought I was going to make her leave. I might have if I didn’t feel so guilty for snapping at her. I doubt that there was much that I could deny her. I walked with her back to the cage and her eyes grew big. I enjoyed that look on her face, it was innocence, and happiness.
“This love, is a Welsh Green, I told you about her when we were at the burrow. She has been recovering very well and is extremely well behaved. She doesn’t fight us to change her bandages or anything.” I told her. “It was quite shocking and refreshing to not get burned.”
“Have you been with her this whole time?” She asked me.
“Yes, well, since we’ve been back. Josh thought it best for me to be taking it easier. Considering the babies and everything.” I told her. I pulled her close to my side.
“That was probably for the best. I am already a hazard to myself on a good day.” She had her hands on her bump, it had gotten significantly bigger over the last few weeks.
“Ooh.” She moaned. Her arms going a little rigid.
“What’s wrong? Does something hurt?” I moved to face her. She had her head looking down at her bump. She pulled my hand from her waist to her bump.
She moved her head to look at me, a smile fell on her face. Just then I left a small movement under my hand. It was the strangest thing, my chest constricted, I almost couldn’t breathe.
“Is that what I thought it was?” My eyes never left her belly, then there was another one.
“Yes, that was the babies moving.”
I dropped to my knees and put my head between my hands against her bump. “Hello little ones. I cannot wait to meet you.” There was another movement against my face.
Hermione laughed. “They recognize you.”
I hummed in response. Not wanting to move from this moment, but the sun was getting lower in the sky.
“Let’s go home, you can continue this while we are in bed.” She told me. I nodded in agreement, and we walked back to our cabin.