Just a nice, happy one shot that I may add to in the future, please leave a review and tell me:
a) what you think about it
b) any advice/constructive criticisms
c) whether you want me to carry on with it!
Thank you 3
- HermionesPolyjuice xoxo
It was bitterly cold and Charlie Weasley was getting fed up at waiting outside for his wife to let him back inside. He had knocked a good fifty times, had shouted her name another thirty times and lost the feeling in all his fingers and toes. He was stomping around on the porch getting angrier every minute he was waiting wishing he hadn't forgotten his key on the kitchen table. It had been at least fifteen minutes since he had arrived home from work and still no one had let him in. He was just about to bang on the door again when an excited voice came from behind him,
"Daddy!" Charlie whipped around to see his 3 year old son running towards him through the snow. The cold had turned his plump cheeks a rosy pink and he had the biggest smile spreading across his face. His overly large woollen hat was falling down over his eyes but with no care in the world he carried on running towards his father. Charlie bent down and scooped his son off the ground and into his arms.
"Hello my boy, how are you?" he asked planting a kiss on his son's forehead, after pulling the hat off his head to expose the flaming red hair.
"I'm grand, we were just choosing a Christmas tree," his son said happily throwing his arms around his father's neck and burying his head into the crook of Charlie's neck.
"Josh, we were going to keep that a surprise from Daddy, weren't we?" Charlie turned around to face his wife, a grin spreading across both of their faces.
"I was wondering why no one was letting me in," Charlie said leaning down to plant a kiss on Hermione's lips. He lingered there for a moment appreciating the soft warm lips under his cold ones until Hermione pushed him away.
"I don't know about you but I'm freezing," she said walking towards the door into their small house. She put her key into the lock. A few taps and a few spells muttered later, the door clicked and Hermione pushed it open. She flicked her wand and light flooded the living room. Another flick and there was a roaring fire in the fireplace. Charlie was incredibly glad to finally enter the warmth. He trudged over the doormat and kicked the door shut behind him letting the cold air stay outside. He put Josh down and knelt in front of his son.
"Did you pick a really big tree my little man?" he asked as he unbuttoned Josh's navy duffle jacket to reveal an emerald green Weasley jumper with a large J on the front.
"It was the biggest tree I've ever seen! Wasn't it Mummy?" Josh replied eagerly as his father pulled of his jacket. He tugged at his gloves and scarf before handing them over to his father and sitting down on the floor.
"It was indeed," Hermione said as she hung up her jacket by the door and ruffling her son's hair.
"And where, may I ask, is this huge tree?" Charlie asked as he also sat down on the floor to pull off Josh's wellington boots.
"Uncle Fred said that Uncle George would bring it over later," Josh replied before standing up and running upstairs, no doubt to play with his train set. Charlie grinned to himself. He stood up and walked over to his wife, who was now standing in front of the stove stirring a casserole. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gently kissed her neck, taking in both the smell of her hair and the smell of the delicious food.
"How was your day?" she asked still stirring at the casserole.
"It was the usual; Tommy is turning out to be a pain though. Too eager and doesn't realise he has a lot more to learn before handling the dragons," Charlie said.
"You say that every day, are you going to tell him how much he has to learn or let him continue to annoy you?" Hermione said.
"I'll tell him one day. But anyway, how's the little one in here doing? You're not doing too much are you?" he asked concerned as he stroked her stomach.
"Charlie, I'm not even two months pregnant and we haven't even told anyone yet. You can't tell me to slow down already," Hermione said exasperatedly as she put the lid back onto the saucepan and turned around in her husband's arms.
"I know, but I also know you too well and you're definitely going to be darting around all day everyday so I am going to have to be the one to remind you to take it easy every now and again," he smiled down at her. Hermione stood onto her tiptoes and tilted her head back ever so slightly as she curled her arms around his neck. Charlie reached down and met her mouth with his. He took in a deep breath and kissed her deeply. He pulled her in closely to his body, the heat from the oven radiating through her to him. He reached up and ran a hand through her bushy hair. He traced her lips with his tongue as he lifted her off her feet. And then there was a knock on the door and they broke apart immediately. They heard tiny footsteps running down the stairs, through the living room and then the door open.
"Uncle George!" Josh's excited voice rang through the door into the kitchen. Charlie and Hermione beamed at each other.
"Hello my favourite nephew, how are you doing today?" George's voice came from outside.
"Your favourite nephew? I'm your favourite!" Josh almost screamed with pleasure. Hermione and Charlie laughed and headed out of the kitchen to the front door.
"Of course you're my favourite," George exclaimed as he picked up the beaming boy and swung him around in a circle.
"Charlie! Hermione! How are you both? I haven't seen either of you in a very long time." George put down his nephew and crossed over to the amused couple. He shook hands with his elder brother and planted a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek.
"We're doing well, George. How's Angelina doing? And little Cory?" Hermione asked.
"They're both doing very well. And Cory can't wait to meet his older cousin next week at Granny Molly's-"
"I can meet Cousin Cory next week? And we're going to Granny Molly's? Yippee!" Josh exclaimed and started dancing around in circles.
"He's going through that age where anything and everything gets him excited," Charlie explained to George's slightly confused, yet amused, face.
"I can only imagine. Hannah went through that stage, in fact I reckon she's still going through it," George laughed. "Anyway, I came here to deliver you your tree. It's just outside but I don't think it'll fit through your door so we're probably going to have to shrink it and regrow it when it's inside." Charlie nodded and the two brothers headed outside to check on the tree.
"Josh, come here. You don't want to get in the way of the tree or else you'll be squashed. You know how big it is," Hermione beckoned to her son to come over and she scooped him up into her arms.
"Mummy, can I help you decorate it this year please?" Josh asked.
"Of course you can monkey. Now, shall we go upstairs to the attic to get the boxes of decorations?" Josh nodded keenly so Hermione put him down, took hold of his hand and they climbed the stairs until they reached the attic.
Ten minutes later, Hermione and Josh reappeared in the living room followed by three large levitating boxes overflowing with fairy lights, tinsel and tree decorations. Over in the far corner Charlie and George were just standing back and crossing their arms to admire their handiwork.
"It's quite crooked – leaning to the left a bit," Hermione said as she directed the boxes to land on the floor.
"I knew that would come out, rather than a thank you darling for putting up the tree," Charlie groaned but he waved his wand and the tree realigned itself.
"Thank you darling for putting up the tree," Hermione said as she gave her husband a quick kiss on the lips. Charlie grinned.
"Well, I'd best be off or else I'll lose my head," George said. He said a quick goodbye to Charlie, Hermione and Josh before heading outside and apparating to his house to face the wrath of Angelina for being back so late.
"Mummy, can we please decorate the tree now?" Josh asked enthusiastically as an even larger grin crept along his face.
"Of course we can monkey. How about you go and put on your favourite Christmas Songs on the radio while Daddy and I put the fairy lights on the tree?" Hermione said as she crouched down so she was at the same level as her son.
"OK." Josh gave his mother a quick hug before running into the kitchen to put on the radio.
"I honestly don't get how he has so much energy. All day every day he's just running around, jumping across rooms. It's exhausting just watching him," Hermione sighed as she walked slowly to the boxes in search for the small, colourful fairy lights they used on the tree each year. Charlie just laughed.
Five minutes later, the Christmas Carols were sounding loudly through the small, cosy cottage and the fairy lights were strung over the rather large Christmas tree.
"I want to put the first decoration on please," Josh said despite already being at the tree and putting a small gnome with a Santa Claus hat on the tree.
"Looks like you already have," Charlie said with a smirk as he directed a sparkling snowflake onto a higher branch. The three Weasleys worked in silence for a few minutes, Josh covering the lower branches with gnomes as his parents took control over the higher branches.
"Mummy, where are the new ones we got today?" Josh asked as he stood back from the tree to admire his handiwork, exactly how his father had done less than ten minutes previously.
"They're in the bag on the table. Do you want to go and get them?" but Josh had already run into the kitchen to collect the new baubles. "Be careful monkey, you don't want them to break!" Hermione called after the small boy.
"I would never let them break," Josh called back from the kitchen.
"You need have some faith in him, you know. He has your brains, he's not exactly stupid," Charlie told his wife, "plus we can easily fix them if he were to drop them you know"
"I know that, but I just worry about all the energy he has filled up inside of him," Hermione replied as she placed an intricately designed silver bauble on the tree. Charlie chuckled as he too levitated a red bauble onto the tree.
"Here you go Mummy," Josh reappeared walking very slowly, carefully holding a large paper brown bag.
"Why don't you give it to Daddy to unwrap?" Hermione suggested so Josh passed the bag gingerly to his father taking extra care not to drop it. Charlie took the package in one hand and picked up his son in the other arm. He walked over to the sofa and sat down. Hermione joined them and sat on the other side of Charlie. Josh sat there eagerly watching his father carefully take the bubble-wrapped baubles from the bag. There were three and as Charlie began to peel off the bubble-wrap of one of them Josh could hardly contain his excitement. He began to bounce up and down urging his father to hurry up, who decided to be even slower just to tease his son.
"Daddy, hurry up!" Josh squealed excitedly.
"I don't want to break them Josh, I've got to be careful," Charlie said giving his son a kiss on the forehead. Josh groaned and slumped back against the sofa, folding his arms in front of his chest and frowning towards the fire. There was no doubting he was his mother's son with that look.
"No need to get grumpy with me young man," Charlie teased and poked Charlie in the side right below the ribs and right where he knew Josh would start laughing. As if on cue Josh gave out a squeal of delight and a broad smile spread across his face. Hermione watched the interaction between her husband and her son with delight. Charlie had been so worried about being a good father when they found out Hermione was pregnant almost 4 years ago. But he really didn't have anything to be worried about, he was a natural. Content with his son's joy, Charlie turned back to unwrapping the baubles and soon pulled out a glass translucent green sphere. Inside of it were a few tiny gold twinkling lights and etched onto the glass were tiny dragons and a gold D.
"That one's yours, do you like it?" Josh asked.
"I absolutely love it, monkey. Did you choose it out for me?" Josh nodded and Charlie pulled his son into a tight embrace.
"The man said if you did something with your wand the dragons would start to move but I don't remember exactly what he said," Josh said thoughtfully.
"He just needs to tap it gently on the D, remember?" Hermione said and Josh's eyes instantly lit up and he nodded his head excitedly. Charlie pulled his wand out from his back pocket and carefully tapped the D. A second later the tiny dragons began to beat their wings and they flew around the bauble weaving among each other and the letter. Josh was awestruck.
"Wow!" he said his voice filled with admiration. Charlie chuckled before handing it to Josh.
"Why don't you hang it up on the tree?" Josh shook his head.
"No, you've got to open the other ones first," he said sternly, sounding not too dissimilar to his mother.
"OK, which one first then young man?" Josh pointed to the larger of the two and Charlie unwrapped it. This one was red and gold with trains etched around the large J.
"This one's Mummy's isn't it?" Charlie teased. Josh glowered at his father, again looking just like his mother would look when she was angry. "I'm only joking, little monkey." Charlie ruffled Josh's hair and handed him the bauble. Josh cradled it with care.
"Daddy, can you please tap the J?" Josh asked and to his delight Charlie gently tapped the gold J and immediately the small lights inside began to flash and the trains began to move as steam left their chimneys. Josh just watched it awestruck.
"I can't wait to be able to do magic. When will I do magic?" Josh asked not taking his eyes away from the two baubles on his lap.
"I'm afraid it won't be for a while, monkey. You'll go to magic school when you're 11," Hermione said as she reached across her husband to tap her son's knee.
"So in…8 years," Josh said screwing his face up as he did the maths.
"8 years too long by the sounds of it," Hermione chuckled and Josh nodded in agreement. There was a peaceful silence among the small family of 3 as they sat on the sofa, Josh staring at the Christmas Tree decorations and Charlie and Hermione watching the fire dance about.
"Open the last one Daddy. Open it now!" Josh squealed excitedly as if suddenly remembering there were only 2 presents in his lap, and not 3. Charlie raised his eyebrows as he looked down at his son. Knowing his father was looking at him, Josh slowly turned his head to meet his father's look.
"Please open Mummy's one, please Daddy," Josh said innocently not needing to be reminded of his manners. Charlie smiled and began to peel off the bubble wrap from the final present sitting on his lap. Inside was a purple sphere with flying books around a golden M.
"We couldn't get Mummy's books to stop moving on this one," Josh said thoughtfully as he looked down at the bauble. "Why wouldn't they stop Mummy?"
"Probably because you were trying to stop them by pressing the M with your fingers," Hermione chuckled. Charlie carefully touched the M and the books stopped moving and the lights stopped flashing.
"I want to do magic," Josh said somewhat grumpily.
"No need to be grumpy, Josh. You will be able to very soon," Hermione told her son. Josh nodded but still seemed upset.
"How about you go and put these on the tree then little monkey?" Charlie asked in an attempt to brighten up his son's mood.
"OK, can you hold them for me?" Josh asked handing over the baubles.
"You're really going to make you poor old father stand up just to hold some balls," Charlie teased his son imitating Josh's scowl. Josh, however, knew his father was just teasing him and simply nodded with a big smile. Charlie groaned as he took the baubles from his son and stood up. Hermione watched as the 2 loves of her life walked over the tree to put the 3 new baubles on. She watched them stand back and admire the half-decorated tree, both crossing their arms and despite only being able to see their backs knew that a large grin was spreading across both of their faces. Hermione took a mental note to remember this image and treasure it forever.
A few seconds later and Charlie dived at his son. However, Josh was too quick and dodged past his father to the other side of the room, an even larger smile filling up his face. Charlie chased after his son around the living room a number of times before finally cornering him by the bookshelf. Charlie began to tickle his son ferociously and Hermione couldn't help but laugh upon hearing her son's shrieks of laughter.
"Daddy…please…stop," Josh panted through his laughter.
"Daddy? I don't know a Daddy," Charlie said as he continued to tickle his son's abdomen.
"You're Daddy."
"No I'm not. I'm the tickle monster!" Charlie began to tickle his son even harder as Josh's giggles got louder and louder. Hermione watched the scene unfold from the sofa, not being able to maintain the laughter escaping her mouth. This was what she had always wanted. A family that made her laugh; a family that loved each other – she couldn't contain her excitement at the thought of her family growing. Still laughing she stood up and walked over to the kitchen and began to dish out the casserole into 3 different sized bowls; a very large one for her husband, a medium sized one for her, and a smaller one for her son. She cut up some baguette and put it on the table as she called to her family, "Tea's ready for you or am I going to have to eat it all by myself?" It took less than 10 seconds for the 2 boys to burst into the kitchen, panting and smiling ready to eat.
"Are we going to finish the tree now?" Josh asked eagerly putting his spoon down as he finished his food.
"I reckon so," Charlie said, he too finishing his casserole. Hermione nodded and sent the dirty dishes over to the sink and they started cleaning themselves. Despite seeing it happen 3 times a day every day Josh watched in amazement.
"I really-" he started but didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Want to do magic now," Charlie finished the statement. Everyone laughed, Josh included. It was something Josh said a huge number of times each day. They all stood up and headed back into the living room, where the tree was sparkling brightly.
Josh ran straight over to the almost empty box and picked out 2 wooden trains, a gift from Hermione's parents on his first Christmas. He eyed up the tree before placing them carefully on branches at eye level. Charlie slung his arm around his wife's shoulders and pulled her in close. They watched in admiration as their son pulled baubles in varying shapes, sizes and colours and placed them carefully on the tree. It was a picture perfect moment and neither of them could be happier.
A couple of minutes later Josh picked out the last bauble and tried to hang it up on a branch just out of his reach. He stood up on his tip-toes and struggled some more to reach. It was just a bit too much and the bauble tumbled from his fingers and landed on the wooden floor, where it shattered into small pieces. Josh looked down at the mess and started to cry. Charlie and Hermione hurried over to their son. Hermione gave Josh a tight hug whilst Charlie repaired the bauble to be good as new.
"Hey, monkey, look it's all fixed, no need to cry about it," Charlie said showing Josh the newly fixed bauble. Josh reached out a hand to touch the bauble and let out a hiccup.
"I'm sorry," he cried burying his head into Hermione's shoulder. Hermione gently rubbed his back.
"These things happen, monkey. But Daddy's fixed it now and you can put it on the tree when you wipe away those tears," she said soothingly squeezing her son tightly. Josh nodded his head and pulled away from his mother. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands and sniffed loudly.
"You better go and get rid of that snot, young man. We don't want it going onto the bauble," Charlie said raising his eyebrow at his son. Josh let out a little laugh before running to the toilet to wipe his nose.
"Wash your hands Josh," Hermione called after him. When he reappeared with red, puffy eyes Charlie picked him up in one arm and handed him the bauble.
"Maybe next time you just ask for some help," Charlie teased. Josh nodded and carefully looped the string over the branch he couldn't reach earlier. Charlie took a step back and together they admired the now completed tree. Hermione walked over to Charlie's other side and he slung his arm around her waist. He planted a kiss on her forehead as they examined the tree as Silent Night played through the house.
Half and hour later, Charlie reappeared from upstairs.
"I finally managed to get him to go to sleep; had to read him Thomas the Tank Engine about 4 times. I'm going to kill your parents when I next see them for introducing him to trains," he said with a chuckle as he walked past the sofa and kissed the top of Hermione's head.
"My cousins were obsessed with trains, maybe not quite to this extent though, so it was bound to happen at some point," Hermione laughed as Charlie appeared from the kitchen carrying 2 mugs of steaming mint tea. He handed one to his wife before plopping himself down on the sofa next to her. He glanced over at the book she was reading; Quintessence: A Quest and gave out a slight chuckle. His wife may be on a two week holiday but she was forever working. He truly loved his bookworm.
"You won't ever stop will you?" he asked nodding at her book. Hermione smiled.
"It's the only time of the day I get any time to myself," she said not looking up from the book.
"But what about time to me?" he asked innocently. She laughed.
"Your time is in the bedroom," she said, blushing ever so slightly. Charlie let out a haughty laugh before pulling the book out of his wife's hands.
"And why can't I have my time now?" he said leaning over to her and beginning to pepper her with kisses.
"Oh honestly, am I ever going to be able to do some work from home?" she asked with a laugh but didn't reject Charlie's lips on her neck. She felt him shake his head and smiled. She lifted his chin and kissed him on the mouth. It was a soft and gentle kiss, their tongues dancing around each other as the kiss became more and more deep and passionate. Hermione finally pushed her husband away and took a breath of hugely needed air. She shook her head and cast her eyes downward, clearly upset. Charlie didn't need her to say anything. He sat back down against the sofa and took her hand in his and kissed it gently. He wasn't totally surprised to see a few tears in her eyes when she looked up into his. He reached around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She leant against him, letting the tears spill down her cheeks. She pressed her ear against his chest and could both feel and hear his strong heartbeat, which calmed her down.
"I really miss them," she whispered into her husband's chest.
"I know, sweetheart, I know," Charlie replied as he placed a kiss on the top of her head and pulled her in closer to him. He couldn't imagine what she was going through, he truly admired her strength; losing your entire department in a fire a week ago whilst you had a meeting with the Minister for Magic was hardly the easiest thing to go through just before Christmas but Hermione had coped exceptionally well. Charlie squeezed his wife's shoulders and they sat there together in a peaceful silence watching the fire crackle and dance whilst listening to O Little Town of Bethlehem play in background. Charlie loved his family with all his heart and was just as excited as Hermione was to make it grow.
(A/N: I hope you enjoyed it - I may continue with it and make it into a story rather than a one shot or should I just leave it as it is - what do you think? Please leave reviews or else I won't know what to do with it! Thank you!)