Four Weddings and a Dragon - Charlie Weasley

Chapter 16

Draco held onto Hermione, snatching her out of the air as she was about to trip over a table in the library of Malfoy Manor. His eyes were locked on hers as he caught her. "You once told me to come to you for help. It was long ago, and I should have done it then. Well, I'm ready now," he said. "This is me asking. Us asking. We're asking you and your husband - help us."

Charlie couldn't bear any more. He stepped away from the spell book spread open on the table, out of Astoria's reach, her hand falling into empty air where it had once gripped his arm. He took hold of Hermione himself, stabilizing her in an upright stance instead of the unsteady, tipped posture in which Draco had held her. She clung to Charlie as he restored her balance, her face pale, her manner uncharacteristically quiet.

It gave Charlie the resolve to say, "No more help today, Malfoy. This is as far as we go."

Astoria was at his heels. "Charlie, please. At least read the rest of the Gravida Sympatico spell with me. It's ancient, rare, secret, and you won't be able to read about it anywhere else. Come and see that we don't want to hurt or compromise either of you. Everything sounds so needlessly intense when Draco says it. That's just his way. At least find out what exactly it is we're asking before you tell us no."

Charlie hung his head. "I have finished reading it. And we haven't told you no," he said. "But we can't tell you yes either. Not yet. Asking us to decide in a matter of a few hours if we'll form the other half of your fertility spell, bringing our baby into it... It's too much, Astoria. We need to stop and think. We need to wait."

Her eyes were wide and shining, mouth twisted. "I'm pleading with you," she said, her voice level but full of sorrow, "from Esther to Chester. Please help me find what you saw me lose on the first morning I knew you."

Hermione winced, turning her face toward Charlie's shoulder.

With his wife's arm still linked through the crook of his, Charlie took both of Astoria's hands in his. As he did, Draco clamped his arm around Astoria's shoulders. The four of them stood connected, suffering, desperately trying to communicate what they needed to each other.

Charlie's voice was tender, low and soothing. "Wait just a little, Astoria. Let us go home, clear our heads, study it out. The space will be good for the pair of you too. After spending this very odd day with us, you might want to change your minds as well."

"Quite the contrary," Draco said, his voice in the same calm register as Charlie's for once. "It's all far more perfect than I first imagined."

It was not a taunt. It was sincerity. And as his words ended, Hermione felt something stir inside her. For the first time ever, she had felt her child move its tiny, fragile body within hers. From the movement, a vibration seemed to rise from her abdomen, warm and pulsing through her chest and down her arm, toward Charlie.

She saw his expression change as the magic from her body entered his. Head swiveling away from Astoria to look at her, Charlie spoke. "Hermione? That - is it..."

Astoria let out a little cry, like a laugh only more joyful. The magic had passed through Charlie's hands and into hers. She threw her head back, as if there was no ceiling overhead and she was smiling directly into the stars. Enraptured, she answered Charlie's half-asked question. "It is!"

Draco was farthest from the source of the magic but it seemed to hit him most forcefully, as if it hadn't dissipated but magnified as it moved through each of them, growing stronger and brighter. He gasped and staggered, clutching with his free hand for the oak trim on the back of the armchair to keep himself up. The air hummed in his ears for a moment as the magic spiraled through the gnarled old woodwork, grounding itself, passing out of him.