CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

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May 12th 2006

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Opening his eyes, the first thing that Charlie knew was an extreme amount of pain in his back, gasping out in pain and suddenly seeing three faces come into his line of sight. Hermione, whose eyes were filled with tears, sobbed and ran from the room, leaving only his Mum and Dad hovering over him as he groaned, trying to ease the pressure on his back but finding, as he tried to roll off of it, that he couldn't move at all.

"Mr Weasley," came a voice that he didn't recognise, "before I release you from the effects of the paralysis potion, I need to ask you a few questions."

"Get on with it." He hissed and the face of a middle aged woman came into his vision as his parents left it.

"First of all, do you need any pain relieving potions?" She asked and Charlie glared.

"Of course I fucking do!" He snapped and he heard Hermione gasp as a hand, presumably hers, stroked his hair.

"Of course, I'll get them right away," she nodded, "do you remember why you're here?"

"Dragons." He muttered and the healer nodded.

"Good," she smiled, "do you recognise the people here with you?"

"Of course I bloody do!" He snarled, "if you're going to ask stupid questions, I suggest you get me some bloody potions first!"

"Ok, Mr Weasley," the healer sighed, heading out of the room briefly before returning with two vials, "drink these, please."

Hermione's face reappeared, hovering over him as she glared at the healer and Charlie would have laughed if he hadn't been in such agony.

"Just give him the potions!" Hermione growled and the healer sighed as she lifted the first vial to his lips and tipped, allowing him time to swallow in between that and the second.

"Thank you," he muttered, breathing a sigh of relief as they took effect, "I need to get off of my back."

"You are off of your back, Charlie," Hermione said gently, "you're basically hovering."

"Why is it so painful then?" He asked and Hermione sighed, turning to the healer.

"Can you cancel the paralysis so that he can sit up, please?" She asked shortly and the healer nodded, flicking her wand before leaving the room.

"Here," his dad said, pointing his wand at the bed and Charlie felt himself being moved into a sitting position, "gives your arms and legs a stretch, they've not moved for almost three days."

"What!" Charlie gasped, his jaw hanging open as he turned to look at Hermione, who nodded, "three days?!"

"Almost," she shrugged tiredly, and Charlie noticed the dark circles under her eyes, "you were brought in on Wednesday morning and it's now Friday evening."

"Where's Arty?" Charlie asked, frowning and Hermione sighed heavily, leaning forward and taking his hand, lifting it to her cheek as his mum answered.

"He begged and begged to see you yesterday, but when he did he was so upset," she sighed, shaking her head, "poor dear, he asked me if you had died."

"He's with Ginny and Harry, son," Arthur said, smiling gently as he patting his son's leg, "we will bring him to see you tomorrow, now that you're awake."

"What happened to the reserve? The keepers?" He asked quietly, not really wanting to know but knowing that he needed to.

"The reserve was almost completely ruined, the dragons that escaped were killed," Arthur sighed, shaking his head, "no keepers were killed, though there were quite a few injuries. Yours were by far the worst."

"Good." He sighed and Hermione snatched her hand back suddenly, crossing them over her chest as he turned to look at her, finding her glaring at him.

"Good? You think this is good?!" She snapped, gesturing to his bandaged torso, "you could have died! I had to explain to our son that his daddy's body was too injured for him to be awake. I had to reassure him that you weren't dead!"

"Her-"

"And then, you wake up and say it's good that you had the worst injuries!" She cried, shaking her head as her eyes watered, "you don't even know what your injuries were! Do you even know what dragon it was that burned you?!"

"I have no idea, but-"

"You were caught by the edge of a flame from a bloody Ironbelly! Do you know how unbelievably lucky you were!?!" She wailed, her shoulders shaking as she let out her rage and Charlie sighed, snatching one of her wildly gesticulating hands from the air and holding it tightly as she tried to pull away, "you had almost no skin left on your back, Charlie! Your internal organs were almost roasted. You almost left me, almost left Arty, so don't you dare for one second tell me that this is a good thing!"

Charlie watched as, with a strength that he wasn't expecting, she snatched her hand away and hurriedly left the room, muttering to Molly that she was going for a breath of fresh air before she did so. Charlie gawped after her for a few seconds, swallowing the lump in his throat as he turned to his dad, who nodded when Charlie raised his eyebrow. Hermione's words flew through his mind as he moved his gaze down to his hands, fresh pink skin covering his burns.

"She's been out of her mind with worry ever since I told her what happened," his mum sighed and Charlie turned to look at her, frowning, "she refused to go home at all, Arty has been with Ginny ever since you were brought here and Hermione has been through a lot, during the last few days."

"Oh Hermione," Charlie sighed, dropping his head into his hands and pulling at his own hair, "merlin, she's right though. I'm such an idiot."

"It's your job, Char-"

"No, Dad," he groaned, cutting off his father's words of comfort, "I had a chance to run, without even coming face to face with a dragon. I should have done, but in that moment I forgot about everything else. I forgot that I have other responsibilities now, I have a family!"

"Yes, you do," came Hermione's sigh from the door and he whipped his head around to look at her, "and I really, really want you to be alive to watch it grow."

"What?" Charlie gasped and Hermione shrugged, dropping her hand onto her stomach as Charlie's eyes widened.

"I found out yesterday," she sighed, walking towards him and smiling at Molly, who grinned at her, "I'm pregnant, Charlie, so please try not to go and die on me. I'm not ready to raise another baby on my own."

"You're... What, really?" He asked quietly, stunned and she nodded, smiling shyly.

"6 weeks," she shrugged, sitting down on the bed as his parents quietly left, "I'm sorry… about before."

"You're pregnant?!" He asked again, a slow smile spreading over his face as she snorted, nodding, "we're having another baby?"

"Yes, that's generally how it works." she nodded, laughing and Charlie broke into a full grin, grabbing her arms and pulling her towards him and kissing her all over her face as she giggled.

"I love you," he muttered between kisses, his eyes stinging as he rested his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes, "I'm not going anywhere, Hermione, I promise you that. I'm going to be here for everything this time around, scans, the birth, sleepless nights and poopy nappies, everything."

"So you're happy?" She asked quietly and he snorted.

"Happy doesn't quite cover it," he said, grinning as she pulled away, "how are you feeling?"

"Sick," she chuckled, shrugging and rolling her eyes, "same story as last time, coffee is the one thing that takes me from nausea to full in sickness."

"But you're happy?" He asked and Hermione nodded, sighing.

"Now that I know you're going to be ok, I am happy about it," she smiled, looking him straight in the eye, "but you need to be more careful, ok? I can't do this without you, Charlie. Not again."