CHAPTER FORTY SIX

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November 23rd 2006

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"I need your help." Hermione blurted as soon as she stepped out of the floo in Grimmauld Place and Ginny, who had been reading Wizard Weekly on the sofa jerked around and yelped at her sudden appearance.

"Hello to you too," she chuckled, rolling her eyes as she closed the magazine and threw it down on the table, "what's brought you here all flustered?"

"I want to marry Charlie." Hermione said, frowning and Ginny cocked her head to one side in confusion.

"It's a bit late to only realise that now," she laughed, gesturing to Hermione's finger and the brunette groaned, glaring at her, "alright, jeez, why do you need my help with that?"

"Because I want to organise everything in time for Christmas," Hermione said innocently, smirking as Ginny's eyes widened, "without Charlie knowing about it."

"Bloody hell," Ginny muttered, patting the seat next to her and turning to Hermione as she sat down, "you don't want much, do you?"

"Actually, no," Hermione grinned, pulling a notebook from her handbag and opening it up to a page full of indecipherable scribbles that would only ever make sense to her, "I've got it all worked out, see. Kingsley will agree to marry us-"

"You've asked him?" Ginny gasped and Hermione shook her head.

"Not yet, but I know he'll say yes," she shrugged, jabbing her finger to the notebook, "the ceremony will be in the glade in front of the house, so that's pretty much sorted and-"

"I'm not seeing why you need my help, here." Ginny frowned and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Firstly, I need your help to find a dress. Secondly, you're obviously my maid of honour and thirdly, you're already married and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing." Hermione counted out on her fingers and Ginny went from excited to ecstatic to amused with each item on her list.

"For someone with no idea, you sure seem to have a lot of them," Ginny chuckled, pulling the notebook from her hands and squinting at it, "does that say cock?!"

"No, it says cook, get your mind out of the gutter," Hermione snorted, shaking her head as she took the book back, "I only have a month to pull this off and I was hoping you would be able to contact Lee to do the music and whoever you had as caterer."

"Well that's easy," Ginny grinned, nodding, "I'll talk to Lee at the shop and mum did the food, so no problems there."

"Damn," Hermione sighed, frowning, "I wanted to surprise your mum and dad, too."

"You could tell them you want to throw a Christmas party at the cottage?" Ginny suggested and Hermione gasped, writing it down.

"That's brilliant," she exclaimed, "see, this is why I need you."

With the boys spending a day with their daddy, Hermione spent quite a few hours with Ginny as they discussed the intricacies of planning a wedding. Even though it was only a month, Hermione felt like there was more than enough time to do everything as she wanted it. The only problem she could envision was finding a dress, due to the lack of time for alterations and fittings, but Ginny seemed to be on a roll as she quickly came up with a solution for that problem too.

"Don't muggles have dresses you can buy straight away?" She offered and Hermione frowned as she nodded, "well, couldn't you get one of them and, you know how good I am at clothing Transfiguration, I could alter it to be exactly as you want it to be?"

"Are you sure?" Hermione gasped, wide eyed as Ginny nodded, "that would be amazing! Thank you, Gin."

"Suits for the boys won't be a problem. If you're planning to tell Harry, he can go and get them," she said as Hermione nodded, writing it all down on a fresh page, "does anyone else know?"

"My plan, hopefully, is for you and now Harry to be the only ones who know," Hermione shrugged, a frown slowly spreading over her face, "I do have one more thing I need help with, though."

"Ok…" Ginny said, frowning and gesturing for Hermione to go on.

"I want to take Charlie back to Romania, to his reserve for a few days between Christmas and New Year, so-"

"Arty and Ree can stay here with us," Ginny shrugged, smiling as Hermione sighed in relief, "you know we love having them, Hermione."

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In the time that he had been home with Hermione and the boys, Charlie had truly come to appreciate how tiring it could be to look after not only a boisterous six year old, but now also a very demanding baby. Whereas Arty, at least Charlie had been told, was a very laid back and easy going baby, Remus seemed to run his body like clockwork and god forbid your schedule didn't quite match up to his. Every day he would expect his food at the exact same time and if it was missed… Things got very loud, very quickly. It was one such moment, when Charlie had been distracted by one of Arty's stories, that led Charlie to the Burrow via the floo, where he sent Arty off before handing Remus and a bottle of milk to a surprised Molly, who quickly rectified the situation as Charlie collapsed on the sofa with his arm thrown over his eyes.

"Not that I'm not pleased to see you, dear," Molly said as she fed the now quiet baby, "but why are you here, exactly?"

"I needed a break," Charlie groaned as he uncovered his eyes, sighing as he moved his legs for his mum to sit down, "how the hell did Hermione cope on her own for so long?"

"Well, she only had one child to worry about for one," Molly pointed out and Charlie nodded, frowning, "plus Remus is as precise as you were at his age, so I know how frustrating it can be."

"Should I be better at this, mum?" He asked sadly, sitting up and stroking Remus' hair, "I feel like I'm doing a really shit job."

"Oh Charlie," Molly sighed sadly, transferring a now full baby onto one shoulder expertly and putting her other arm around her son, "I can tell you with absolute certainty that every parent on this planet has moments when they just need a moments peace. You're a wonderful father, dear. Arty worships the ground you walk on and little Remus will grow up just the same. You have to remember that this is the first time you've looked after both boys without Hermione."

"I love them both so much," Charlie said, smiling as Molly handed a wriggling bundle to him and cradling him in his arms, "I just have no idea what I'm doing."

"Do you think I knew what I was doing with you lot?" Molly snorted, rolling her eyes, "there's no guidebook. Parents have been making it up as they go along since the dawn of time."

"I guess you're right," Charlie murmured, smiling down at Remus, "I just want to get this right. I missed all of this with Arty and I want to enjoy it now."

"I'll let you in on a secret," Molly chuckled, smiling conspiringly, "the first few months always feel like a bit of an anticlimax, because right now all Remus does is eat, sleep and poop. Everything changes the first time that your baby looks at you and knows who you are."

"He doesn't know who I am already?" Charlie frowned and Molly snorted, shaking her head and stroking Remus' fluffy red hair.

"As far as he is concerned, you're just the nice man who gives him food," she chuckled and Charlie grunted, "give it another month or two and you'll see a difference in his eyes when he recognises you as daddy."