A/N: Thanks for the continued support... this story is almost finished, probably only another 3 or 4 chapters... so enjoy!
disclaimer: i own nothing...
Once they arrived back in Romania they were both exhausted and they went straight to Hermione's tent as it was closer.
"Thank you for today Charlie," Hermione smiled at him, "It was so nice to be able to spend time with my parents again without worrying that they hated me or were scared of me."
"We all need our families Mi, it's important to have relationships with the people you care about. If you ever want to go visit again just let me know, I really like them and I love hearing all those stories about when you were little," Charlie chuckled and gave her a quick kiss. Hermione shared his grin and they got ready for bed.
As they lay in bed that night Charlie asked Hermione quietly and thoughtfully, "Do you ever think about the future Mi?"
Hermione smiled into the dark, "Of course, don't you?"
"Yeah, I was just wondering if you see me in yours," Charlie said this with more confidence then he had.
Hermione turned to kiss him and whispered, "To be honest I can't really imagine a future without you in it."
Charlie loved her reply and said simply, "good."
Giggling a little, Hermione asked, "That's all I get? Don't I get to know if you dream of a future with me in it?"
Charlie smiled as he moved his hands up and down her arms, "Mi all I ever think about these days is a future with you," he paused and kissed the top of her head, "I want a bunch of little Hermione's running around and a big house to call our own, and I want to not let our daughters date until they're thirty, and I want to give my sons the best flying lessons they could imagine."
Hermione had a tear running down her face, through her smile, "only the sons for flying lessons?"
"Oh no I'll give them to my daughters too, as long as they don't take after their mum's fear of flying," Charlie chortled.
Hermione hit his chest softly and playfully and then said, "You really want all that?"
"Mi, of course I do," Charlie whispered, "I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life."
Feeling totally content, they both eased off to sleep, knowing they only had a few hours before they had to get up to work.
A couple months later, mid July
The past two months had been amazing. Charlie and Hermione had now officially started living in Charlie's tent together, having gave up Hermione's tent to a new keeper on the site and they couldn't be happier.
After the talk they'd had the night after the visit to her parents' house, the subjects of marriage and children had come up a lot and they never really shied away from discussing all the things they wanted to do together. They hadn't gone as far as naming their unborn children or anything, but they had been talking about buying a house close enough to the reserve to be able to just apparate to work every morning.
It was mid July when Arthur Weasley's patronus came into camp and announced that Ginny was having the baby. Dropping everything, Charlie and Hermione arranged for a portkey right away and arrived at St. Mungo's.
Hours later, Hermione and Ron's Godson arrived in the world. James Sirius Potter looked just like his father but had Ginny's eyes, an adorable baby. Charlie and Hermione stayed for a few days and found out that Ron's wife, Mandy was expecting, Fleur was expecting again, and Angelina as well; there would be plenty of Weasley's going through Hogwarts in the years to come and Hermione secretly hoped that she would be able to add to the bunch as well.
A few weeks after they had arrived back in Romania, Charlie and Hermione found out that the temperamental Horntail that had been delivered a few months ago was about to give birth and so they prepared.
The day was August 16th, and the Horntail was particularly feisty while in labour. Charlie was in charge of the team as they tried to help the dragon have a safe birth.
"Okay, Matty, Robbie, Brandt and Sam, can you guys watch the back end? Mi, Chris, Derk, you guys take the front and me and Arnett will try and get this egg out without it breaking."
They each followed Charlie's instructions, having done this before none were too nervous although this dragon was considerably more aggressive than the rest. Plus she might think they were trying to steal the egg which would make her go really wild even though they were just trying to help her give birth. She had been injured during the war and so a thing like popping an egg out wasn't as simple for her as it was for other dragons.
Everything was going smoothly and the egg was almost out when the Horntail reacted to the team. The egg came out the rest of the way and before anyone knew it, a streak of red was flying threw the air. Charlie's hair caught everyones eye as he was tossed high into the air; the Horntail had kicked him with its back leg. Trying to avoid a panic, the rest of the team tried to secure the area, while Hermione and John ran to where Charlie lay, at least twenty feet away.
Hermione rushed up to him and pointed her wand at him, "enervate", she said loudly and Charlie awoke, screaming in pain.
"Charlie, Charlie, you need to calm down and tell me where it hurts baby," Hermione was trying to keep calm, but it was hard when the man you love was laying on the ground bleeding and screaming.
"I think it's my back," Charlie moaned out, "it hurts like crazy."
Hermione quickly conjured a stretcher for him and levitated him onto it. By the time they got to the medical ward of the reserve Charlie had passed out from the pain and Hermione was crying. Suddenly everything they had been planning, the months of talking about their future together, it felt like it was slipping from her grasp. Everything she had wanted so badly was now a question, not a certainty. The pain of that hit her so hard she could hardly breath, and the other keepers were trying to keep her from collapsing as they sat in the room waiting to hear how Charlie was.
A few hours later the healer on site came out and told them that although Charlie had fractured a vertebrae in his back when he fell and cut himself up rather badly, besides a bit of scarring and some pain for a month or so he would be okay.
Relief flooded Hermione and she ran into see him as soon as she could stand.
When she entered the room she saw Charlie laying in a slightly awkward position, obviously in pain and approached him slowly. She took his hand and kissed him softly, then whispered in his ear, "Oh baby I was so scared," she shuddered.
"I'm okay Mi, it's just going to take a month or so before I'm back on form."
So many thoughts went through her head she couldn't control it, 'what if something worse had happened?' and 'what if this happens again?' were at the forefront and although she knew that working with dragons was dangerous, she hadn't ever really imagined a situation that would hurt either of them this badly.
As if he read her mind Charlie gripped her hand tighter and told her to look at him, she complied and he told her, "Mi don't think for one second that this is going to stop us from having everything we want together. Don't worry about me I'm only staying here the night and then you can take care of me for the next month while I get better."
Charlie smiled and Hermione chuckled through her tears, "Oh lucky me!"
"I love you Mi," Charlie nodded his head signally her to come closer, "I'd like to kiss you right now but its a bit difficult. You're going to have to do most of the work."
She laughed and kissed him, "I love you too."
The rest of the team came in to check on Charlie and the room was suddenly full of laughter. After a long time, it seemed like hours, the rest of the crew left and Hermione carefully got into bed with Charlie.
"I better not be hurting you or I'll never forgive myself," Hermione mused with a serious tone.
"Don't worry Mi the only thing that would truly hurt me would be spending a night away from you," Charlie kissed the top of her head and she told him to rest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly- tired from their eventful day.
Hermione lay with her head on his chest for a few minutes thinking about everything that had happened with Charlie when she realized that they hadn't spent one night apart, or day apart, since they had gotten together in March. She smiled at the thought and kissed his chest then fell into a slightly uneasy sleep.
