July 21st 2004
Yet again, Hermione stood in the Burrow holding yet another baby. This time, she was busy cooing over Bill and Fleur's second child, Dominique. A truly gorgeous little girl with a head full of fine white blonde hair. Internally, she was furious at Fleur's ability to instantly fit back into her size 10s post pregnancy, where Hermione was still a dress size bigger than she had been before Arty. She probably always would be, as she couldn't seem to shift it.
Arty and Victoire were, as always, in the garden harassing the gnomes, who Hermione was sure secretly enjoyed playing with the children as they seemed to come out of their gnome holes extra quickly whenever they saw the children coming. From where she stood in the kitchen she could see the gnomes flying over the hedge and trotting back to the garden for the next round of chasing. It was adorable, in a very weird kind of way. She handed the baby back to her impossibly thin mother and wandered into the living room where she found Ron and Neville focussed on a game of wizards chess and Harry spectating.
"Harry, no offence mate, but your advice is bloody awful." She heard Neville grumble, and snorted, turning their attention to her.
"Where's the gnome monster?" Harry grinned and Hermione chuckled.
"Where do you think?" She asked, laughing, "I'm sure the gnomes indulge their little game every time they're here."
"Possibly," Ron shrugged as he moved one of his pawns, "Mum said they were the same when we were kids."
She settled on the sofa and watched them playing for a while before Arty came in and cuddled up next to her, explaining there were no gnomes left. She nodded, and proceeded to explain wizards chess to him, which he had never seen before and chuckled when he told her he didn't like it because the little people got hurt. She heard Ron snort and he poked his head around Harry to look at his nephew.
"Your mum used to say it was barbaric, mate." Ron grinned before turning back to the game and Arty turned to sit cross legged on the couch, facing her.
"What does bar… bur…"
"Barbaric?" She offered and he nodded, she smiled and smoothed his hair down, "it means that something is very horrible."
"Like my daddy?" He asked and Hermione gawped as she heard gasps from the three men, who all abandoned their chess game and came to sit with Hermione and Arty.
"Where did you hear that, honey?" She asked, frowning deeply.
"Am I in trouble?" He asked sheepishly, looking around at Harry, Ron and Neville, she watched as Harry shook his head and Ron and Neville smiled at him.
"Not at all, my little love," she reassured, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "I just want to know where you heard that your daddy was horrible."
"I heard grandma and grandpa talking about it when you were at work," he told her and she sighed, "they said daddy was horrible for leaving us."
"Guys, can you look after him for a minute?" Hermione asked, standing when Neville nodded for all three of them and she heard him offer to show him how to play chess as she left the room.
She stopped to take a deep breath when she had left the room, knowing that it wouldn't help anything to get angry at Molly or Arthur. It wasn't their fault, after all, that Arty had overheard them speaking the truth. Thinking through how she wanted to say what she needed to, she stepped into the kitchen where the Weasley parents were sharing a cup of tea. They turned to her and smiled as she entered.
"Hello, love." Arthur greeted, "do you want some tea?"
"No thanks," Hermione said, smiling sadly as she took the chair next to them, "I was wondering if I could ask you something?"
"Of course, dear," Molly smiled kindly, patting her hand, "You know you can ask us anything."
"Well, can you remember ever talking about Arty's father, when he's been here with you?" She asked, smiling sheepishly and saw them look at each other confused, "Maybe when he was out of the room?"
"It's possible," Arthur admitted and Molly nodded with a frown on her face, "why do you ask?"
"Well Arty just asked me what barbaric meant, and when I told him it meant something was really horrible, he asked if I meant like his daddy…" she sighed and Arthur gasped, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck
"Oh dear," he sighed, shaking his head, "he overheard us, didn't he?"
"I'm afraid so," she nodded and looked between them, "could you not talk about it, when he's in the house? I don't want him to think that way, that's all."
"Oh, dear, we are so terribly sorry!" Molly exclaimed, "You know we would never want him to think that way!"
"We will keep our opinions under wraps while little ears are around, ok love?" Arthur asked and she nodded, smiling, "sometimes we forget he is getting older and hearing more."
"Tell me about it," she snorted, "I stubbed my toe and swore the other day, and he was repeating it for over three hours."
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After that minor incident, the rest of the day at the Burrow was rather lovely. She enjoyed the warmth of the afternoon, spending it outside watching Arty play quidditch with Victoire and the boys. Ginny sat with her and they discussed what had happened earlier and she was surprised when the now Potter turned to her and suggested it was maybe a good idea to give Charlie one last chance.
"I'm not doing that, Gin." Hermione vehemently refused, "He's had four years with the knowledge that he has a child, I owe him nothing."
"And if Arty keeps asking questions? Or overhearing conversations that aren't meant for him?" Ginny asked, her eyebrow raised.
"I'll tell him the truth," Hermione shrugged defiantly, "Charlie made his choice, Gin."
"Four years is a long time, maybe he's changed his mind?" Ginny offered and Hermione snorted.
"So where is he?" She chuckled ruefully, "I don't see him here, with his son, on his birthday. Arty has his family, and Charlie chose not to be a part of it."
"Alright, alright," Ginny said, holding her hands up in defeat, "I understand, you know?"
"I'll protect Arty for as long as I can, I just don't want him to get hurt, that's all." Hermione defended and Ginny nodded.
"I'd do the same, if I were in your position." The redhead agreed.