CHAPTER FORTY THREE

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September 17th 2006

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On the day that Charlie had been back in their lives for a year, he woke up feeling overwhelmingly grateful for everything that had changed in his life during such a short period of time. He gazed over at his sleeping and heavily pregnant fiance, chuckling as she smiled in her sleep before he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her stomach, feeling his second son move inside of her. Charlie wouldn't have believed that it was possible to feel so content and so fulfilled without the excitement of constantly being around incredibly dangerous beasts, but he was so glad to have found it true. Just as he was getting ready to roll out of bed, the door to their bedroom opened quietly and Arty shuffled in, tiredly rubbing his eyes as he yawned.

"Morning buddy," Charlie said quietly, grinning as he gestured for Arty to climb into bed next to him, "did you sleep ok?"

"Mmhmm," Arty hummed, blinking his eyes open, "you came home a year ago, daddy, did you know?"

"I did," Charlie chuckled, ruffling Arty's hair, "more importantly, how did you know that?"

"He remembers dates so well it's actually scary," came a mumble from next to them and Charlie leaned around Arty to find Hermione smiling up at him, "morning you two."

"Morning love." Charlie grinned, pushing her hair back from her face as Arty gave her a hug.

"Morning mummy," he called, before wriggling his bottom down so that his face was level with her stomach, "morning little brother."

"That will never not be adorable," Hermione snorted, grinning down at him before turning to Charlie, "and we really should think about names for him."

"Can I make him?" Arty asked and Hermione snorted as chsrlie frowned, "please?"

"You can suggest names, how about that?" Hermione suggested and Arty sighed, but nodded anyway, "how about we pick two names each and see what we all like?"

"I do have one idea," Charlie shrugged and Hermione turned to him with her eyebrow raised, "Remus."

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, furrowing her eyebrows as though thinking it over, "Remus Weasley… I quite like that."

"Oh! Draco is Latin for-"

"No!" Hermione shouted and Arty's eyes widened as he stopped mid sentence, while Charlie snickered beside her, "that name is completely off limits, my little love."

"Why?" He frowned and Hermione sighed, rubbing her stomach.

"Because I knew a Draco once and he wasn't a nice person," she explained gently and Arty nodded, though he still frowned, "and I'd rather not be reminded of him every time I have to address your brother. Understand?"

"Yeah," Arty sighed, looking to her, "did you know someone called Remus, too?"

"We did," Charlie nodded, smiling slightly, "he was a very good friend to the whole family."

"Why haven't I ever met him then?" Arty asked confusedly and Hermione sighed, patting the bed between her and Charlie, putting her arm around him when he wriggled in.

"You remember that you've heard about the big battle that happened a long time before you were born?" She asked and Arty nodded, while Charlie frowned at her, "well, Remus was fighting with the good people, but he died during the fight."

"So he was a nice person too?" Arty asked, frowning up at her and Hermione nodded, smiling.

"Remus was a wonderful person," she told him, "he was also Teddy's daddy, so he is very important to all of us."

"Oh," Arty muttered, nodding and looking down at his feet, "I like that name. Do you think Teddy would like it?"

"We could always ask him?" Charlie suggested.

Arty nodded and his parents agreed to send an owl to Andromeda later in the morning to arrange a meeting, before the six year old sprinted off towards his bedroom. Charlie was glad to have finally discussed his thoughts on the name with Hermione, as it had been stuck in his mind for some time and no other name he had thought of had seemed to fit. He smiled as he spread his legs and patted the space in between, waiting as Hermione awkwardly moved herself into the gap and he began to rub her shoulders, frowning.

"How does Arty know about the Battle?" He asked quietly and Hermione looked at him over her shoulders, "he seems a little young to know about that, don't you think?"

"I know," she nodded, sighing, "he doesn't know everything, of course, but I didn't know he was awake one night when Ginny had popped over. We were talking about it and he was suddenly just… There. He asked about it and you know I won't ever lie to him unless I absolutely have to, so I told him as little as I could."

"How did he take it?" Charlie murmured, his hands slowly working their way down her aching back and Hermione groaned as he worked on a particularly tender spot.

"Same way as any four year old would," she shrugged, sighing, "he was confused about why anyone would want to hurt someone else, but he just shrugged it off. He's asks about it every now and then, but he doesn't seem too affected by it. Are you annoyed that he knows about it?"

"I'm not annoyed," he shrugged as she leaned back and he slipped his hands around to rest on her stomach, "I was surprised, that's all. I could never be annoyed at how you raised him before I came back, Hermione. I've never known such an amazing kid."

"Trust me, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing at the time," she snorted and he chuckled behind her, "I guess I haven't done too badly, though. Talking of you coming back, I guess I should say happy anniversary, sort of."

"I can't believe it's been a year already," Charlie sighed happily, kissing her temple, "it's crazy how quickly that time passed."

"Just wait until this one arrives," Hermione chuckled, gesturing to her belly, "only then will you understand how quickly the time can pass. One minute you're holding your newborn and then suddenly-"

"Daddy!" Arty's scream interrupted her and Charlie snorted as she waved her hand at the door as if to say 'see what I mean?'

"What's up buddy?" Charlie shouted back, making Hermione wince as he was right next to her ear.

"Owl!" Arty shouted back and Charlie sighed, patting Hermione's stomach before he pushed her forward to get up.

As he entered the living room, he found Arty sitting cross legged on the sofa, the TV blaring cartoons in the background. He grabbed the controls as he passed, turning it down and ignoring Arty's protests as he put the remote out of his son's reach before he greeted the owl. The bird didn't wait around once Charlie had removed the letter that had been tied to its leg, only having time to receive an owl treat before he took off again. Charlie shrugged as he unfolded the letter and rolled his eyes, grinning as he turned to Arty.

"You better go and get dressed, buddy," he said happily, chuckling when Arty didn't acknowledge him, "oi, cartoon head."

"What?" Arty sighed, turning around with a frown and rolling his eyes when Charlie raised his eyebrow.

"Well, if you're going to give me that attitude," Charlie sighed dramatically, crossing the room and collapsing down in the armchair, "I guess I'll have to tell Andromeda that we can't watch Teddy for her today."

"Oh!" Arty exclaimed, jumping up and suddenly in a much better mood, "sorry daddy! Can Teddy come over? Pleeeease?"

"No more attitude?" He asked sternly and Arty shook his head, his eyes wide and innocent as Charlie chuckled, rolling his eyes, "then of course Teddy can come for the day."