Disclaimer: Absolutely none of this is mine. Well, the plot is mine. And so are Olette, Nancee, Kate, and Cooper. All right, so most of this story isn't mine. Happy?
Author's Note: I would first of all like to thank .oOAurelieOo. and chattypandagurl for all their help. Okay, many people have commented on how out of character Ginny is acting. I was thinking, well, she's been the only girl in the family for so long and she's used to having her older brothers' attention all to herself, that if you put someone else in there, she's going to be jealous and angry, especially when Charlie stops spending so much time with her. Yes, I know, earlier in the story she was happy about the arrangement, which is until Charlie announces that he's going to take a desk job. That was really supposed to be the turning point for her to realize that now she's just a background player and not the main focus. Now do you get it?
Chapter Twelve- The News
Some time later, Hermione Apparated into Cooper's home, clutching the piece of paper Bill had given her with the address of Charlie's mate. To her the place looked empty, so she began to poke around, looking for her husband. She was just began think that maybe Bill had been wrong when a voice spoke out, "An' who're ye?"
Hermione spun around to see a broad man with blonde hair and blue eyes looking up at her from the couch. Hesitantly, she answered, "Hello, I'm Hermione Weasley. Is Charlie here?"
The man looked her up and down before asking, "Did Moll 'ave 'nother kid I didn't know 'bout? Course not, yer too old. Ye must be Charl's cousin or somethin'. Know ye can't be a Muggle fer sure."
Hermione was shocked to hear the man speaking in such a way in front of her. "I'm sorry, are you a wizard?"
The man shook his head and laughed. "Course not, I'm just a Muggle. 'Old on a minute, ye ain't Charl's lass, are ye?"
It took Hermione a moment to understand what he was saying. "Wait, Charl's lass? You mean Charlie's wife? Yes, I am Charlie Weasley's wife. Is he here? His brother, Bill, told me the chances of him being here were ninety-nine point nine to one hundred."
"Aye, Charl's 'ere. I'm Cooper MacCarren," the man replied.
Hermione shook his offered hand and stated, "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. MacCarren. I'm sorry if I startled you by just appearing."
Cooper shook off the apology. "Nothin' to worry 'bout. I'm used to people just poppin' in, but usually it ain't a bonnie lass like yerself. I've been hearin' lots 'bout ye, 'ermione."
"All good, I hope," she said with smile.
"Course, I hear nothin' bad 'bout ye. I'd worry 'bout ye sister, Gin, Charl's right mad and it ain't one of 'is best moods."
"I know it's not one of his best moods. Hopefully, I can talk him out of it though, where is he?"
"In the kitchen, an' I wish ye the best o'luck. Don't know why 'e's mad, but I got me a feelin' I don't want to be knowin'."
"I think you're right there, Cooper. Thank you," Hermione answered as she started moving through the house.
Over her shoulder, she heard Cooper call to her, "If ye ever want to make Charl right jealous, make sure to call me."
She laughed and replied, "I'll keep that in mind, Cooper."
Hermione crept into the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible. When she was close enough she wrapped her arms around Charlie's middle and kissed his neck. Instead of turning into her as she had expected though, he said, "Kate, go away, I've already told you I'm not interested." Then over his shoulder, he shouted, "Coop, I'm married now, so quit trying to sell me your sister."
He didn't even look at me, and he thought I was Cooper's sister. I'm going to kill him for that later, but right now, let's see if we can play with his head. Hermione quickly cast a spell making it impossible for Charlie to hear whatever Cooper had shouted in reply. She began kissing Charlie's neck and rubbing his back and stomach. "Cooper, come and get your sister before I do something I'll regret tomorrow," Charlie shouted without even looking as his assailant.
Finally, Hermione stuck her hands up Charlie's shirt and began to lightly scratch his back. Charlie let out a frustrated sigh and pushed Hermione back, once again saying, "Get away from me, Kate. I have a girl that loves me, and who I know is guaranteed to be there when I wake up in the morning."
And how does he know that she wouldn't be there in the morning? She forgot about her question though when she heard the laugh of the Scot coming from behind her. Charlie just shook his head though and stated, "Cooper, quit laughing like a hyena and take your sister to some other bloke. She isn't even half as pretty as Hermione, and she's twice as dull."
The Scotsman let out another hearty laugh before he said, "Charl, that ain't me sister, that's yer wife."
Charlie spun around so fast that it caused him to fall off the bar stool and on to the ground where he saw that it was indeed his wife and best mate laughing at him from above. "All right, you two," Charlie said as he stood up once again. "It wasn't that funny."
"Course it was, Charl. Ye shoulda seen yer face when I told ye it was 'ermione standin' behind ye and not Kate," Cooper retorted.
Charlie just sighed and took his seat on the stool. Hermione sat next to him and tried combing his hair in an attempt to calm him. "It's all right, love. We should have told them from the start."
"No, actually we shouldn't have. We shouldn't have to tell them anything about our marriage, Hermione. I mean, they knew about the marriage law to begin with, they knew I was a pureblood and they knew you were Muggleborn, yet they were never bright enough to add two plus two. Sometimes it's just better to let people live in their own little worlds," Charlie snapped.
"Charlie, have I done something to upset you?"
"No, Hermione, I just hate this. I hate this law with all these rules, I hate the fact that I'm a pureblood, and I hate the fact that you're Muggleborn," Charlie replied with a shake of his head.
"Really? I love the law."
Charlie turned to her so quickly that it shocked Hermione that he didn't get whiplash. "You love it? Why?"
Hermione smiled slightly and answered, "Because, Charlie, you think of all the law is requiring, you're not thinking about all the law has given us. Think about this, Charlie, would we be married right now if it wasn't for that law?"
"Maybe."
"Would we even have known how the other felt if it wasn't for that law?"
"Sooner or later it would have driven one of us insane enough to say something."
"Would you even be here if it wasn't for that law?"
"Mum would have thought of some reason to get me here."
"Would we be expecting twins if it wasn't for that law?"
"It's a possibility. Wait, what?" Charlie was studying his wife now, his eyes traveling from her eyes to her stomach back to her eyes over and over again.
Hermione took Charlie's hand in her own and said, "Charlie, at the Burrow I explained everything to our family, even the test and how long I had remained blue. Nancee took it as a sign and decided to switch my drink with a pregnancy test potion. Well, first I was blue and then I was pink. One baby girl and one little boy."
"What—wait—when—how?"
"Charl, I think ye was there fer the when an' how. Yer gonna be a dad, lad, ye could show a bit more excitement," Cooper commented. "Wait, yer gonna be a dad, I gotta call ever'one we know."
Hermione didn't say anything to Cooper; instead she just looked at Charlie and asked, "Charlie, are you happy? I mean, with the babies? You're not really giving me much to go on." When Charlie still didn't say anything, Hermione stood up and started to move away. "Maybe I should just go."
She didn't get too far though, because Charlie instantly pulled her back to him since she was still holding his hand and began to kiss her sweetly. "More good news, Charl does got 'alf a brain. I really gotta be findin' the book wit the phone numbers in it," Cooper commented as he left, having decided to give the couple their privacy.
When they pulled apart, Charlie asked, "How could you think I would be anything but happy about this?"
"Well, you were just sitting there staring at me, I didn't know what to think."
"Trust me, love, I am extremely happy. Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all."
"Actually, there is something I would like," Hermione replied wistfully.
Charlie grinned, "Name it."
"I want to go home before the babies are born."
Now Charlie looked confused. "Darling, I know I'm a bit angry with my sister, but I think I can guarantee that it'll be over before the nine months are over."
"No, Charlie, that's not what I meant," Hermione stated. "I meant I want to go back to my old home, to my parents' house. Then I want to go to Romania."
"Your parents? I just have one question, love. Do they have any idea about us?"
Sadly, Hermione shook her head. "No, that's why I have to talk to them. We just can't forget about them, they are my parents, which means that they're going to be grandparents and I think they have the right to know."
"And then you want to go to Romania?"
"Yes, at least for a short visit. To see how I adjust, I mean, we're both planning on having more than two children, and I'm not going to stay in England throughout all of my pregnancies. The twins can be born in England or Romania; I don't really care as long as they're healthy. Please, Charlie, for me?" Hermione begged while giving her husband her best pout.
"Okay, okay, we'll go see your parents today since I really don't want to have to face my family, and then next week, we'll pack and go to Romania," Charlie relented.
Hermione squealed and hugged Charlie, the noise caused Cooper to come walking in, asking, "Ever'thin' all right here?"
Suddenly, an idea struck Charlie. "Hey, Mione, can Cooper come with us when we talk to your parents?"
"Why?"
"Because they'll be less likely to commit murder in front of him?"
"Charlie, my parents are not going to kill you."
"Hermione, you're pregnant and we're married. What do you think your parents are going to do? Say good job and pat me on the back? I think that's highly unlikely," Charlie retorted.
"Charlie, I'm sure that if we explain everything, my parents will understand."
"Please, love, can he just come. If nothing else it will give us one extra person."
"Aye, 'ermione. Can I come alon'?" Cooper asked.
Great, now they're both attacking me. Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt, and besides, he seems to have forgotten about Ginny, hopefully having Cooper there will keep him in that mood. If he starts worrying about my family, he might remember to worry about his own family. "All right, all right, Cooper can come. I swear, some times I think that you're closer to him than your wife, Charlie."
Charlie smiled and kissed her cheek. "No, I am much closer to you, Hermione. After all, we're going to be parents."
"Great, can I tell 'em tales 'bout Charl from when we was young lads?" Cooper interjected.
"No, no, you can't," Charlie quickly answered.
Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "Why? What don't you want my parents hearing? Or me for a matter of fact?"
"Nothing, love. Cooper just has some embarrassing stories from when I was younger. I like to think that in my time, I've grown and matured."
"Right. Can I tell 'em 'bout the box then?" Cooper tried again.
This time it was Hermione that said, "Merlin, no. Do not bring that subject up. My parents have a thing with people hunting me down and would really prefer not to fuel their ideas."
"So, what can I tell 'em?" Cooper questioned.
"You can tell them about what I wonderful man Charlie is," Hermione replied.
"So ye want me to lie?"
"Yes, but I want you to sound convincing as well."
"I love you too, Hermione," Charlie commented.
"You know I'm teasing, love," Hermione stated as she straightened his shirt. "I'm sure they'll love you. Oh, and before I forget, here's your wand. You left with George's."
Hermione took the wand out of her pocket and replaced it with the one Charlie had taken. "Are you ready to go?" Hermione then asked.
"Please, I won't be ready until I am completely drunk."
Hermione just gave him a look that said; Don't even think about it, Mr. Weasley.
"All right, all right. One shot of Firewhiskey," Charlie amended.
Hermione just continued to stare at him.
"Fine, I'll settle for a cup of strong coffee. Can you help me out here, Coop? Hermione's starting to scare me," Charlie said.
"So the big, bad Charl Weasley is scared o' a small lass? I never woulda guessed," Cooper replied as he made his friend a cup of coffee.
"Cooper, trust me. Do not get Hermione angry. She's much better than me at spells, and can have you gone within five seconds if not sooner, and I am only mildly ashamed to admit that."
"Only mildly?" Cooper asked with a soft laugh.
A little while later, Cooper, Hermione, and Charlie apparated into her parents home, Cooper and Hermione just doing side along apparation with Charlie. Hermione broke away from Charlie's hug and called, "Mum! Dad! Are you home? I have some news to tell you!"
Instead of her parents though, they heard another voice reply, "Hermione, there you are. I was beginning to worry."
The couple swirled around to see none other than Harry Potter standing in the doorframe to the kitchen, his wand at the ready.
Charlie only said, "Bloody hell, I'm going to die."