Perfect Mistake

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the characters (Joanne Rowling) nor the plot (MysticalFaery05), though I have managed to stray quite far from the original plot. The original character is my own creation, yay for the Evil!Ex-wife!Sue.

Part Four

Over the course of the next four weeks Hermione and Charlie spent a great deal of time together, as friends. She was pleasantly surprised how easy a friendship it was. She enjoyed their time together. He had this way of livening up a room with very little effort.

Their first week of getting to know each other better was spent finding a nice flat for Charlie to let. After an intense search they found the perfect place; it was a small but cozy one bedroom flat in the top floor of a converted Victorian mansion. It was a convenient distance from Diagon Alley and not too far from Hermione either.

They very quickly got in the habit of meeting every Wednesday for lunch. Hermione referred to them as meetings because she and Charlie were not dating. However, he was actively working toward obtaining a divorce.

On one particular lunch meeting, Charlie convinced Hermione to go furniture shopping with him. He insisted that he would just muck it up with out her, so kept on begging until she relented. As soon as she did, she a feeling of foreboding come over her, she really did hate shopping.

-

Hermione sat alone, in the small café, for nearly half an hour. She'd had about three cups of tea while waiting. It was not like Charlie to be late. She was torn between being angry at his tardiness and concerned that something had happened to him. She had been feeling queasy for a few days now and was worried that she might be coming down with the flu. If Charlie wasn't going to show up, he could have at the least sent an Owl so she could have stayed home.

Charlie finally showed up, forty-five minutes late, and just as she was getting ready to leave. He had a sombre almost defeated expression on his face. Repressing her ire, Hermione rushed to his side out of concern only to have Charlie usher her to sit back down and she reluctantly complied. "Charlie, what's wrong?" she implored.

Charlie rubbed his hand over his face, appearing as if putting on a mask in order to form his reply, "Dumitra came by a few days ago. Our divorce was set to finalise on Monday. I thought she showed up to say goodbye or good riddance. But she…" He looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Instinctively Hermione reached out and touched his hand in comfort.

"Tell me," she repeated, her calm expression hiding the fact that her heart was racing.

Charlie looked longingly into her eyes and stated, the last thing she expected to hear, "Dumitra's pregnant. She wants to reconcile."

Hermione's heart shattered into a million pieces at his words but put on a valiant effort to keep her anguish at bay. "Oh. That's. What are you going to do?" she asked. She was doing the maths in her head. They split up in December that would mean that he had slept with her since their break up. Hermione was chilled with the realisation.

"I--" Charlie started but he was interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Ah, dere you are Charlee. You didn't expect me to stand outside all by myself forever, did you? Oh. Hello. I am Dumitra, my friends call me Mita. You must be…Herminnie," said Dumitra, Charlie's pregnant not quite ex-wife.

"It's Hermione, and I asked you to wait for me," he said through gritted teeth, "I've made her wait, now give me a few minutes to explain things to her, please."

"Fine den," said Dumitra curtly, "You meet me at Mme Malkins. I need new rowbs." Shooting a less than subtle glare at Hermione, she made a show of patting the round bump at her mid-section.

"I'll meet you there," Charlie answered in a dismissive tone. Dumitra bent over and kissed Charlie on his cheek and sauntered off to the exit. Hermione watched him unconsciously wipe off the kiss.

Hermione was stunned. 'A baby, a family, Dumitra was giving him what he wanted. He was going to leave. He was going to go back to Romania.' her mind screamed, 'Noooooooo!' but her exterior remained calm. "Are you sure it's yours? Oh, that sounded awful…it's just the maths don't really work out. Unless…" she offered weakly.

"Uhm. Yeah. I'm sure." he said with that defeated tone, "Remember when I told you Dumitra wouldn't leave the Reserve and that I had to leave? Well, whenever she felt a little randy or got a little too drunk, she would end up on my doorstep. I always put her off, though."

He stopped as if struggling for words, the sound of shame in his voice, "But then last April a good friend, Ivan, he got careless one night and well, he died. It was stupid and senseless and for fuck sake, you just don't mess around with dragons, you know? The dragons always win." He shook his head at the tragedy, "Dumitra and Ivan were close. They had been friends since they were little. She was devastated by his death and sought me out for comfort. I didn't turn her away. I needed to feel alive. It wasn't her specifically that I wanted. She was just there. Gah, I sound like an arse."

"Oh Charlie, I'm so sorry about your friend. But. No. You don't sound like an arse. I understand. I-I really do." Hermione consoled, thinking of Harry just after the war.

"Hermione, I'm. I always seem to be saying this to you. But, I'm sorry. I don't wa-I have to at least try and work things out with Mita, for the baby." said Charlie.

"Well, you loved her once. You said you wanted a family," she encouraged, disbelieving her own voice, " Maybe it's a sign, that you are meant to be together." She really couldn't believe she what she was saying as her own hopes flew out the café window. She had tried not to fall in love with Charlie. She valued his friendship so much. But now right in that very moment, she realised that she'd failed. She loved him with all her being. She had hoped they were heading to more, but sometimes these things just aren't meant to be.

"I didn't have a clue about love," Charlie snorted in disdain, his expression softened as he looked into her eyes, "Hermione, this is not what I want. Not with her."

"When will you return to Romania?" asked Hermione, trying to sound breezy and needing to change the direction of the conversation.

"Excuse me?" asked Charlie in confusion, "Oh, no. I can't leave my job. I'm going to commute. It will be hard, but it's my only option at the minute. Dumitra wants the baby to be born in Romania and then she'll make the move to London."

Hermione hadn't realised she was still holding Charlie's hand until he pulled it away. She looked up into his eyes. He looked so torn. Hermione sighed; she had been down this road before. Not exactly the same, but similar enough that she said what needed to be said, "I'm your friend Charlie. All I want is for you to be happy. You need to concentrate on your family. I need you to know that I understand."

Charlie made a strangled sounding noise before speaking, "I. No. I. I'd like to keep seeing you. As friends of course, that is if you do?"

"I'd like that, but. Does your wife know about us? About our, you know?" asked Hermione, feeling like she was twelve and embarrassed by the word sex.

"Uhm. No. I haven't. I--" started Charlie.

"Well, she probably won't like us hanging around each other, whether she knows or not." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," he responded, "Hermione. I. This isn't what I wanted. You, our friendship, I don't want things to change between us, but…"

"Charlie, our friendship is important to me too. I support you. Whatever you decide," she offered.

"Yeah. Okay." he nodded, as he stood up. He kissed her chastely, as usual, and said, "I best be going. I'll Owl you soon, okay?"

Hermione watched Charlie leave. She knew that their relationship was going to change. As she made to leave, she was hit by a wave of nausea. After taking a minute to steady herself, she exited the café and Apparated directly home.

The Apparation threw Hermione off so much that she barely made it to the loo to throw up. Muffy was at her side immediately. "Miss Hermy is sick? Oh dear." the house elf worried, as she kindly pressed a cold compress on Hermione's forehead, "I must get Master right away!"

"No Muffy. Please don't bother Viktor. I'm all right. Really, I am. I just need to have a lie down," insisted Hermione, "Thank you for your help."

Muffy did her own insisting and helped Hermione into her nightgown and into bed. She also didn't listen to Hermione and went and told Viktor that Hermione was ill. When Viktor stopped by her room to check on her, Hermione was fast asleep.

Hermione knew she was pregnant. She was sure of it.

-

Viktor was seated in one of the comfortable arms chairs in Hermione's study. She sat opposite. They were both staring at the white stick waiting to see if two pink lines appeared.

Earlier, she had cast the conception charm. Still in denial she called in Viktor to cast the charm as well. Both castings were positive. Hermione went out and bought a Muggle EPT in a vain attempt to prove the charms wrong. Three minutes passed and two pink lines appeared.

Hermione was ashamed. She was supposed to be the smartest witch of her generation. How could she have been so irresponsible? A night of drunken stupor, that's how. She sat there starring at the positive test, numb.

Viktor broke the silence and asked, "Are you going to tell him?"

Hermione didn't look up and shook her head, "I can't. He went back to his wife." As the worlds left her lips a wave of nausea hit. 'She's pregnant.' she thought, 'This is like one of those bad movies of the week.'

"You loff him." said Viktor. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Hermione answered, though her voice was but a whisper, "but it doesn't matter."

"Vhat vill you do? Do you vant to keep it?" asked Viktor.

"What? Yes, of course I'm going to keep It." replied Hermione. She was quiet in thought and then had a cold rush of fear, "Oh. Do you need me to move out? I can--"

Viktor cut her off. He was angry as he replied, "No Her-mi-on-e. I do not vant you to leef. Please don't fink little ov me. I vant to support you in any vay you need. I vill take care of you, if he can't."

"What about Lavender? You just started dating. You are happy. I can't. I won't do that to you."

"Her-mi-on-e, Laveender vill understand. She is amazing vitch. If ve explain, she vill be supportif. Maybe ve both help you?"

"Thank you Viktor. You are such a good friend."

"Vhen you are ready ve tell her."

"Okay." said Hermione, as she reluctantly agreed.

Charlie was waiting outside the café when Hermione walked up to him. She gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek. He greeted her with a smile, yet underneath she could tell he was exhausted from Portkey commuting. "You look a sight. Come on. Let's grab our table before you collapse," she said taking him by the hand and pulling him over to their usual table.

They had continued with their lunch meetings, and as each visit past she vowed to tell him about her pregnancy at the next. This was their fourth meeting since his return to his marriage, and she had yet to tell him. She just couldn't bring herself to complicate his life more than it already was.

Charlie had that lost look on his face again. Hermione braced herself for what she knew was coming. "You okay, Charlie?" asked Hermione, absently stroking his hand with her finger.

"Yeah. Well, no. I have some news," said Charlie.

"Okay, good news or bad news? Should I be worried?" Hermione asked with a nervous smile.

"Uhm. Damn. I'll just tell you. I'm going to stop Portkeying everyday and just head back for the weekends."

"And?" asked Hermione. She knew there was more to it given his demeanour. This was good news.

"Mita suggested that I stop seeing you as I won't be home every night," Charlie blurted out.

"I see," responded Hermione, attempting to sound more okay than she was.

"She thinks that I'm in love with you," he said. He was looking at her intently as he spoke.

"Oh."

"She thinks that you are in love with me. She said that she could tell that day you met."

"I see."

"She's right about me."

"And me too."

They sat and stared into each other's eyes. The minutes ticked away but neither said a word. The waitress came by with the cheesecake Hermione had ordered for dessert. Hermione didn't even remember eating lunch as she was so focused on Charlie. The silence was finally broken when Hermione thanked the waitress.

"Hermione, I'm s--" Charlie started to say, but Hermione cut him off.

"No. Don't say it 'cause I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry for loving you. However, you have your family to consider." she said.

"Oh gods, Hermione, my timing is for shit. I shouldn't have. No. That's not true. I will not regret what happened between us. Not one minute. But things will have to change," Charlie said. Hermione felt her heart break all over again. She couldn't tell him about the baby now. He had to try and make things work with his wife. Her conscience was screaming at her to tell him, to let him make his own decision. She just couldn't bring herself to put him in a position of having to choose. There was always a chance she wouldn't like the choice. Better to have him a little, than not at all, she rationalized.

"We are friends, Charlie, it will be okay," Hermione said. Attempting to be strong, she scooped up some cheesecake on her fork and held it out to him to sample, "Mmm, cheesecake?"

"Cheesecake? You know, Mum craved cheesecake when she was having the twins. Funny," said Charlie with a shrug. He then opened wide and took the offered fork into his mouth.

Hermione froze. This was her opening. For a split second, she almost changed her mind and told him about their baby. However, she kept her mouth shut. He may love her but Dumitra was still his wife.

"Hermione, you okay, love?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just spaced for a second."

"Good cheesecake."

"Yes."