Finally! Here we have Chapter 27! I'm not going to lie to you, I rewrote the beginning of this chapter five times before I got it to go where I wanted. It is a little shorter than the rest but I didn't want to take away from the ending by continuing on. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

The Unexpected Baby

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Envelope

It sat on the coffee table, unmoving and unopened. Charlie stared at it as he chewed his thumb nail. How could one envelope cause him so much anxiety. He should have opened it as soon as the owl delivered it, but he was too nervous. Hermione hadn't pushed him, she wasn't in the mood to and had gone to bed for a nap over an hour ago. In the back of Charlie's mind something told him that she knew he wouldn't open it until she was awake again.

A soft rap on the door startled him. He slowly got up from the armchair, never taking his eyes off the envelope and then turned to answer the door.

"Sorry we're late!" Ginny whispered as she pushed the pram into the flat. Baby James was sound asleep.

"Have you opened it? What did it say?" Harry asked quickly as he brought up the rear with the baby bag and a tray of treats baked by Ginny.

Charlie said nothing and looked towards the coffee table where the envelope sat. For such a small thing, it had a huge presence in the room and just as Ginny was about to dash for it, Charlie held out his arm and held her back.

"I haven't opened it yet," he said with a croak. He hadn't spoken in over an hour and his voice felt rusty with misuse.

"You haven't opened it yet?" Ginny hissed incredulously. James stirred in the pram and then turned his head and continued to sleep.

Harry let out a slow breath as he placed the baby bag down beside the pram and then turned to Charlie. He'd never seen the older Weasley brother look so stressed and anxious. He felt like he needed to give him some form of rescue remedy just to calm his nerves.

"Where is Hermione?" he asked softly, as he glanced quickly at his wife who was clearly itching to get at the envelope. She was getting more and more like Molly with each passing day.

"She's having a nap, she didn't sleep too well last night. The baby is pushing against her sciatic nerve or something like that and she's getting pains in her back and leg," Charlie informed them quietly as he ushered them to sit on the sofa.

Shadow immediately jumped up onto Harry's lap and curled up. He looked up at Harry and gave him a solitary meow, indicating that he would like to be stroked. Harry obliged and started petting the black ball of fur behind the ear. Ginny frowned and folded her arms beside her husband.

"I can't believe you haven't opened it yet," she said grumpily, a small pout on her delicate lips.

Charlie slumped back down into the armchair and eyed the envelope warily. He felt like he now knew every loop and curl of McGonagall's elegant, practical handwriting, he'd read it so many times. A heavy lump had fallen into his stomach and he was feeling nauseous. He kept thinking back to the interview and he could only seem to recall all the times he made a rambling fool of himself. What person would want to hire someone like that?

"Ginny give him time," Harry said as he patted her gently on the knee. Ginny continued to frown.

"Evening," said Hermione sleepily as she shuffled into the living area.

Ginny and Harry greeted her and smiled as they watched her wander over to have a look at James sleeping fitfully in his pram. Hermione was getting a lot bigger now and she seemed to be waddling now instead of walking.

"Good nap?" Ginny asked softly. Hermione turned to look at her friend and shrugged her shoulders.

"It was alright. It took me a while to drop off," she whispered as she straightened and went over to Charlie.

"Are you going to open it or what?" Hermione asked with a chuckle as she planted a kiss on top of his head. He took her hand in his and ran his thumb over her knuckles.

"I will, when I pluck up the courage to do it," he admitted with a sigh.

"There is nothing to be nervous about," Hermione reassured him as she picked up the envelope and handed it to him.

Harry and Ginny leaned forward in their seats in anticipation. The air in the room felt heavy with a strange mix of nerves and eagerness. Hermione placed a loving hand on Charlie's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Charlie bit his lip and then slit open the envelope.

The parchment shook in his hand as he extracted it from the Hogwarts crested envelope. As he unfolded it Ginny leaned forward in her seat even more and lifted herself up a little, just to try and see what was written on it. Charlie read in silence and Harry and Ginny could read nothing on his face. He wasn't reacting, and they didn't know if this was a good, or a bad sign.

"Well?" Ginny asked sharply.

Charlie reread the letter twice and then slowly lowered it. Hermione gripped his shoulder tightly, but he couldn't feel it. His emotions were going haywire. His stomach felt sick, his skin felt itchy, his brain was buzzing and his mouth was dry.

"I got the job."

A cork popped right beside Hermione's head and she laughed and cursed at the same time. Fred leaned down and planted a huge kiss on her temple. She laughed and batted him away.

"Sorry Herms!" he said cheerfully as he charmed the champagne bottle to float around the room and fill everyone's glass.

"That's alright Fred, just don't scare me like that again. I am heavily pregnant you know," she said with a laugh, rubbing her stomach.

She sat in a large armchair in the Weasley's living area. Her mother and father were intermingled in with the crowd that had gathered and she could hear her dad laughing along with Arthur. Ginny and Fleur were playing with the children on the floor. George was busy trying to get music to play from one of Arthur's old muggle stereos that he had bewitched to hook up to the Wizarding Wireless Network. Fred was topping up people's drinks while Ron, Harry and Bill discussed the latest results in the Quidditch league. Percy and Audrey were sitting next to Hermione, and they had only just arrived after Percy had been held back at work.

"So then Barbra wanted time off and she came to me with this right in the middle of the meeting with the ambassador of the German Ministry of Magic," Percy was telling Audrey and Lavender. Lavender gasped loudly and Hermione could tell by the tilt of Audrey's head that she was rolling her eyes.

"Here's your orange," Charlie said passing Hermione a tall glass of orange juice and perching himself down onto the arm of the armchair.

Molly followed him in from the kitchen and was levitating a platter of sandwiches and a platter of traybakes. Hermione's mother followed closely behind Molly, carrying her own homemade cake and a jug of squash.

"Here's to the man of the hour!" Arthur said loudly as he raised his champagne glass.

The whole room turned to Charlie and Hermione and raised their glasses. Everyone was beaming with pride, but none more so than Hermione, who looked up at Charlie with eyes that twinkled like stars. He glanced down at her and gave her a smile that was meant only for her.

"Speech!" called out Fred and George in unison.

Charlie flushed a light shade of pink and started to laugh. He held up his hands in a gesture that indicated that he didn't want to do a speech, but when the room started to chant at him, he felt his resolve dissolve.

"Okay," he said finally, standing up from the arm of the armchair. He looked around the room of grinning, happy people and felt his heart swell with joy.

"Thank you all so much for putting on this impromptu party, and so close to Christmas!" he began. The room murmured their appreciation of his thanks and he continued.

"I can honestly say I still can't quite believe that I am going to be the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor at our beloved Hogwarts. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me. I believed I was going to be on that Dragon reserve for the rest of my life," he explained to his family that had gathered around. He glanced down at Hermione again and felt a flutter in his stomach.

"Really it is all down to one person that I am here today, in this amazing position. I did not think, for one second, when I came back home during the summer for a holiday that my life would change so drastically. Who knew getting drunk with a friend would have such a brilliant outcome," Charlie said as he reached down and placed a hand in between Hermione's shoulder blades.

Hermione was feeling a little hot under the collar and knew she was blushing heavily. If she could have glanced in a mirror she would have seen that she had turned a shade of pink that strongly resembled beetroot. Someone made a whooping sound, and to Hermione it sounded like one of the twins. This made her blush even more.

"It won't be long now until Hermione and I welcome our baby into the world, and I can't believe that his new home will be Hogwarts," Charlie said happily.

"As you all know the Care of Magical Creatures Professor is required to live on the grounds like every other professor, but Hermione and I are lucky in that we get the use of a house."

"A house? Where is there a house on the grounds?" asked Ron, awestruck and feeling slightly jealous.

"You haven't been to Hogwarts in a while Ron. Professor Armstrong had one built close to Hagrid's hut, in order to be closer to the creatures living in the forest," Charlie explained to his youngest brother.

"It's more like a bungalow than a house," Hermione chimed in, "I've seen it, it doesn't take away from the overall look of Hogwarts. In fact, it looks like it has been there for years!"

Murmurs echoed through the people in the room and Hermione knew they were keen on seeing this bungalow, and getting to come and visit them at Hogwarts. Charlie laughed and continued to talk.

"Hermione and I will be moving into the bungalow just after Christmas, so I can be ready to start in January with the students. It's going to take a lot to pack up the flat so any and all help will be most welcome."

"Count us in mate," Fred and George called out.

"Me too," said Bill cheerfully.

Charlie thanked everyone again and then Arthur proposed a toast in order to congratulate Charlie on his success once again. Everyone drank and then got stuck in to the food Molly and Martha had prepared.

"Feeling any cooler?" Charlie asked Hermione as they sat out on a bench in the garden, away from the celebrating Weasley and Granger clan.

Hermione let out a breath and watched as it fogged in the freezing December night air. With the amount of people in the room Hermione had found herself getting hotter and hotter, and it was making her feel slightly ill. Charlie suggested sitting outside for some air and she had to admit it was helping. Charlie wore a large heavy cloak and she was wrapped up in her thickest, woolliest cardigan.

"Definitely," she said as she continued to watch her breath fog in the air.

"Good. We can't have you passing out," he said with a light chuckle. He took one of her hands in his and gave it a squeeze.

They sat in silence for a while and simply stared into the clear night sky. They could see millions of stars thanks to the cloudless night and Hermione felt relaxed. She cuddled into Charlie and sighed happily. She couldn't quite believe that she was going to live at Hogwarts with Charlie. When she'd first attended the school, she had often fantasized about living there forever. If she could have gone back and told her eleven-year-old self that her dream would eventually come true, she knew her younger self would have gone into fits of joy.

"Hermione?" Charlie asked tenderly.

Hermione lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him. His eyes were sparkling like pools of never ending water. His black pupils were dilated in he darkness, but she could still see the hypnotic blue that she loved so much.

"Are you happy?" he asked innocently.

"Yes of course I am, why?" she asked bemusedly.

"With us moving to Hogwarts, it will make things a little trickier for you when you go back to St. Mungo's," he told her honestly. Hermione shook her head and held a hand up to cup his cheek.

"Charlie, listen to yourself. We're going to be living at Hogwarts. We'll be able to visit our little nook in the Library every day if we wanted to. We will be able to take long strolls around the lake, and go to the Quidditch matches. I don't care one bit about how I'm going to get myself to St. Mungo's every morning, as long as I can get back to you in the evening," she told him honestly.

Charlie took her hand away from his cheek and held it tightly. He stared at her for a long time, a look of pure, unadulterated love on his face. Hermione stared right back at him, feeling more love for him than she had ever felt for anyone.

"Hermione, this is going to be a brilliant adventure. I can't wait to share it with you and our little dragon," Charlie said, his voice laden with emotion.

Hermione felt tears prickle at the corners of her eyes. She gave him a watery smile and glanced down to her stomach. She placed her free hand on top of her belly and rubbed gently. Their little boy was going to grow up in the most magical of surroundings. Charlie shifted a little on the bench but Hermione didn't notice as she continued to rub. She knew the baby was sleeping at the moment, and she wouldn't feel any kicks for a while, but still it was a comforting thing to do. Charlie let go of her hand and shifted again on the bench.

"Hermione?" he asked. She made a noise with her mouth to indicate that she was listening as she continued to look down at her stomach, enraptured.

"Hermione?" Charlie asked again, in a tone that was a little more urgent.

Hermione looked up at him and then gasped out loud, her hands flying to her mouth and large, fat tears spilling from her eyes. Her vision may have been blurry, but she knew what she was looking at. It sparkled even in the dim light and as she looked from it to Charlie, little rainbows seemed to refract in her watery vision.

"Will you share in this adventure with me as my wife? Will you marry me?" Charlie asked in a voice that quaked with the emotions he was feeling.

"Oh Charlie…yes!"

A/N: Let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review :) Did you think this was going to happen? Until next time my friend!