Broken Smile

Broken Smile


"Hermione, you have to tell them," Charlie said as he and Hermione walked down by thke ake at the Burrow.
"Charlie, I can't; what if they don't understand?" Hermione asked, rubbing her hands together trying to keep warm.

Charlie put his arm around Hermione, pulling her to him. "They're going to find out sooner or later; pregnancy has a way of showing itself," he pointed out. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I wish I was a kid again; life was so much easier back then," Hermione said wistfully.

Charlie started to laugh at her. "What?" Hermione asked. He kissed the side of her head.
"You talk as if you're some sort of old maid; you're barely eighteen," said Charlie. "Well, maybe I feel like an old maid," Hermione replied, looking up at him.

There was a short silence. In that time, Hermione built up the courage to ask the question that had being playing through her thoughts since Charlie found out about her pregnancy.
"Charlie, do you think I'm making the right choice?"
He remained silent for a moment, pondering his answer. "It's not my place to say," Charlie told her.

"I know but I would like to know what you think; your opinion means a lot to me," Hermione said, stopping in front of him and looking into his eyes.

Charlie was caught off-guard by Hermione's statement. "I think you should follow your heart. I don't know how you're feeling or what it's like to have another life growing inside; I can't judge." Charlie paused for a moment and continued, "My advice is to follow your heart."

A few tears began to fall. Hermione tried to wipe them away but Charlie caught her hand and he gently wiped them away with his thumbs. "Stupid hormones," Hermione complained.
"Yeah, stupid hormones," Charlie replied, hugging her to him.

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New Year's Eve was upon them, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been invited to a party at Grimmauld Place; the house now belonged to Remus. Bill and the twins were going out with some friends and Ginny somehow talked her mum into letting her go to Dean's house for a party his parents were throwing.

Hermione and Charlie had many offers for New Years, but they both declined. Charlie had other ideas; he thought it would be nice to spend some time alone with Hermione before she returned to Hogwarts.

The house was almost empty; Hermione sat on the rocking chair by the window in the living room knitting. Charlie stood by the living door watching her. When you can just watch someone and feel complete, then you know that you truly love them.

Hermione looked over at Charlie. "You know you could have gone out tonight; I would have been fine here," she said, continuing to knit.
"I didn't feel like going out. I prefer to stay home," Charlie said, sitting on the sofa.
"What do you think?" asked Hermione, holding up the small jumper she had just knitted.
"I don't think it will fit but I'll try to squeeze into it," Charlie joked.

"I don't think I have enough wool to knit you a jumper," Hermione said, folding the navy blue jumper and placing it on top of the others she had completed.
"Why are you knitting so many dark colours? What if you have a girl?" asked Charlie. Hermione smiled as she started to knit a pair of baby boots. "I just know it's not going to be a girl," she said.

"Oh really, and how do you know that?" asked Charlie.
"You'll think I mad if I tell you," Hermione said, thinking of her dreams.
"Well, you have nothing to worry about; I already think you're mad," Charlie said with a grin.
"That's the reason I'm not going to tell you; you can't take anything seriously," Hermione said, shaking her head.

Charlie stood up from the sofa; Hermione did not see him approach. He took hold of her arm, making her stand up. "Charlie?" He sat down on the rocker, pulling Hermione down onto his lap.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
"Taking things seriously," he answered.

Hermione relaxed back against Charlie, her head resting against his chest while he gently stroked her hair. "So, how do you know it's a boy?" Charlie asked. Hermione looked at him from her position against his chest.

"I've been having dreams since my parents my died; I keep dreaming about my old house." Hermione paused a moment before she continued. "Anyway this little boy showed up in my dreams a few months ago and continued to do so."

"So, you think he's your son. Why?" asked Charlie.
"Because the first time I had morning sickness I was dreaming of him. He was trying to wake me up, and in my dream he called me 'Mummy.'" Hermione broke off, her hands rubbing over her almost flat stomach. Charlie placed his hands over hers.
"What did he look like?" asked Charlie.

Hermione focused on their joined hands. "I don't know. Every time I tried to get close to him, he seemed to be further away… So, you don't think I'm mad, do you?" Hermione asked playfully. Charlie kissed the top of her head. "Well, maybe just a little mad," Charlie said, receiving an elbow to his ribs.

"Why didn't you go out tonight?" Hermione asked after a moment.
"Because I have other plans with a mad woman, I think you know her," he said, grasping her hand before she had the chance to hit him again.
"And what are these plans?" Hermione asked, using her other hand to move Charlie's hair out of his eyes.

"Well, I'll show you." He held onto Hermione as he got up, taking her hand and leading her out of the living room. When the reached the top of the house, Charlie pulled the attic stairs down and motioned for Hermione to go first.
"Why are we going up to the attic?" Hermione asked.

"I'll show you; go on," Charlie said holding onto Hermione's waist as she climbed into the dark attic. "It's dark up here," Hermione said, taking hold of Charlie's arm as he reached the top.
He took out his wand, saying, "Lumos. Better?"
"Yeah, but it smells," she complained. "I'll open a window in a minute," he told her, guiding her further into the attic.

Charlie stopped in the middle of the attic; he let go of Hermione and made his way to one of the windows. Hermione took out her wand and whispered 'Lumos,' making her wand light up. As Charlie opened the window Hermione felt the chill night air rush in.
"It's cold; maybe you should close the window," she said, receiving a heavy sigh from Charlie. He took off his jumper and walked back over to Hermione. "Here, put this on and stop moaning," Charlie ordered. She took his jumper and pulled it over her head. "I'm not moaning. Why are we up here? I mean it's dark, smelly, and cold; I'd rather be sitting by a warm fire," Hermione retorted, causing Charlie to placed his finger on her lips.
"Sshh. As much as I love to hear your voice, please shut up." He took her hand again, leading her to the surprise.

A couple of large trunks lay near the back of the attic; Charlie opened one of the lids, revealing many toys. A little plastic man on a broom came flying out. "Me and Bill used to fight over him," Charlie said, amused.

Hermione knelt down beside the trunk; she lifted out a tatty-looking doll with lots of red hair. "Ginny's?" Hermione asked.
"She turned thirteen and claimed she was too old for dolls," Charlie said, kneeling next to her. He clapped his hands together. "Up," Charlie commanded, making the doll stand up and dance for them.

Hermione laughed. "Quite different from Muggle dolls," she said, picking up a very small broom with the initials CW scratched on it. "My first broom," Charlie said when he saw it. He next took out Fred and George's fake snakes and spiders. "They drove Mum mad with these."
"I'm sure they drove her mad without them, too," Hermione quipped, finding a cute stuffed dragon at the bottom of the truck.

"Alfie!" Charlie cried happily.
"Alfie?" Hermione repeated while laughing at him.
"Don't laugh; this dragon used to come everywhere with me," Charlie said.
"I can see why; he's so cute," Hermione said, looking at him closely.

"This whole Alfie business better not leave this room," Charlie warned while pointing his finger at her. She held her hand to her heart.
"I won't tell a soul," Hermione promised.
"He doesn't breathe fire does he?" Hermione asked suddenly, holding the dragon away from her hair.
Charlie grinned. "No, just a plain old stuffed dragon."

They opened the second trunk, which was filled with baby clothes; most of the clothes were knitted, presumably by Molly. "I'm sure Mum would be more than happy to give all of this to you," Charlie said, watching Hermione's smile disappear.

"Charlie, they won't understand!"
"And what if they do? I did," Charlie said, taking her hand.
"You're different," Hermione said, looking at their hands joined together.
"You have to tell them. In two months you'll start to show, not to mention how dangerous being in school is," Charlie said, lifting up Alfie again.
"I'm not dropping out of Hogwarts," Hermione responded in a firm voice.
"You won't have to; Mum and Dad will make sure of that," Charlie reassured her.

"But it's not down to them; the governors won't stand for a pregnant student being in school," Hermione pointed out.
"Dumbledore has connens; ns; he wouldn't let them kick you out of school," Charlie said, hoping Hermione would see sense.

A short silence passed, and then Charlie handed Alfie to her.
"You can bring Alfie with you for support," he said, trying to get her to smile.
Hermione could only manage to give him a weak smile.
"Will you be there when I tell them?" she asked.
"Of course I will," he replied.

Hermione took Charlie's face in her hands and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she said, not realizing how much that kiss meant to Charlie. They spent the rest of the night in the attic talking and going through Charlie's memories.

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Big thanks to Jamie my wonderful beta reader.
Erin kite- thanks for reviewing.
Lacey- I don’t think you’re a witch, I understand the errors in my story make it hard for people to read. Thanks for reviewing again.
Juri- sorry about the killing thing, Lol, glad you like story.