I am standing outside of the loo listening to Hermione wretch. If its called 'morning sickness' why can it happen anytime during the day? Hermione and I were sitting in the kitchen, our naked bodies intertwined, when all of a sudden she jumped off of me and ran to the bathroom.
After a few more minutes, Hermione emerges with a dressing gown wrapped around her. I guess naked time is over then and I summon my dressing gown from upstairs. She looks so miserable with her flushed cheeks and bloodshot eyes, but just as this morning, she is still beautiful. She guides me into the kitchen and starts to pull out some pans.
"Is spaghetti all right?" she asks me.
I nod my head as I take the pans from her hands. "Let me, 'Mione. Go sit down and relax." She acquiesces and pads over to the table. She sits in the chair that we had just made love in, on, whatever. She smiles at me when I bring her a fresh cup of tea.
She hums slightly as she sips her tea. "Harry, how do you always get it right?" I look at her a quirk my eyebrow. With where my mind likes to dwell, that can be taken many different ways. She catches my drift and shoots me a glare. "Oh you! The tea, silly. You are the only one who knows how to make it right. Just a bit of cream and honey. You have yet to fail me."
I smile to myself as I break the spaghetti in half and place it in the pot. "After seven years of sitting by you in the Great Hall and twelve being your friend, I kind of picked up on it. Is there something wrong with that?" I can't help but tease.
"No," she sighs. "It just proves that we were blind all along. No one, not even Ron knows how I like my tea, except you. You know more about me than anyone, Mr. Potter. I think you might even know me better than I know myself."
I mentally agree with her. I probably do know her better than herself. "It's not my fault that you told me all of your dirty little secrets." She shuts up at that. She can't think of a comeback. I shake my head chuckling. The Great Hermione Granger is speechless.
I stir the noodles and the sauce to make sure nothing is burning. I know it's faster to cook with my wand, but cooking the Muggle way tastes so much better. Not only that, but I need to do something to occupy my hands, or I would be having her for dinner. If earlier was just the appetizer, imagine the main course. I need to stop that train of thought immediately or I will have a serious problem in the southern region of my anatomy.
I taste the sauce. Perfect. I bring a spoonful over to Hermione who sensuously licks the sauce from the tip of the spoon. Gods, she's going to kill me. "Mmmmmm, that's good," she says seductively. She really is going to kill me. She knows what turns me on, and she uses it to torture me.
I go back over to the stove and finish making our dinner. Now is when I use my wand. With a flick and a swish, spaghetti, sauce and cheese are on two plates that are already sitting on the table. Cooking is better the muggle way, but serving is definitely wizard's work.
We eat in silence. I can't help but watch her over the top of my glasses. She is beautiful and she is sexy. I never thought that spaghetti was a sexual food. Boy, was I wrong. The way she sucks the noodles between her puckered lips. The way her tongue darts out to catch the remnants of sauce on her chin. Oh Merlin! I either need to buy bigger pants, or not look at my girlfriend.
Girlfriend? That doesn't sound right at all. She is not my girlfriend. She is my lady. She is a lady, no denying that. But I want her to be so much more than that. She is already my lover, the mother of my unborn child, my best friend. What else do I want? I want her to be my wife. My heart leaps at that thought. To be able to wake up next to her every morning would be heaven on earth for me.
I know it's too soon to ask her. But when I do, I'm going to do it right. I can't go ask her father because he is gone. But it would feel wrong just to ask her and not get approval. Approval from who? The door to the kitchen opens and my question is answered. I need to ask Arthur and Candace's approval. I am doomed. I see fire burning in Arthur's eyes. I follow his gaze and notice that Hermione and I are still dressed only in our dressing gowns. Not a good thing.
Candace is now sitting in Hermione's lap and Arthur is standing in the door, glaring at me. Ron is standing behind him with a knowing smirk on his face. I want to smack that look of the git's face. I restrain myself when Hermione asks Arthur how dinner went.
"Fine," he said coldly.
"Where did you go?" she asks him.
He grumbled something and Ron slapped the back of the boy's head. "Arthur, I am sick of this. You will act like a human being or I will make you wish you were never born." A sense of pride wells up for my best friend. He has never stood up to Arthur this way. The night must not have gone very well.
I look over at Hermione and Candace. The tiny girl is asleep in her mother's arms. Hermione tries to stand with her and Ron grabs Candace before Hermione puts too much strain on herself and the baby. I walk over to him. I have a feeling he needs to talk a bit with Hermione about their son. I take Candace in my arms and thank him softly for not letting Hermione lift her.
As I start up the stairs I hear Hermione's voice, "Arthur Ronald Weasley, you go up to bed right now. No books, no paper, no lights. Go to bed!"
A few seconds later a grumbling nine-year old boy brushes past me. I slowly carry Candi to her bad and tuck her in. With a small kiss to her forehead, I let her sleep. As I start down the hallway to the stairs, I stop and face the young man who is standing in his bedroom doorframe. "Why aren't you dressed?" he asked me. How am I supposed to answer this?
"Arthur..."
"I'm not stupid or blind Uncle Harry. You say you love my mum. Well, I love her too, and I don't want you around. I don't hate you. I just don't like this."
I kneel down a bit so I am eye to eye with the angry boy. "What don't you like, Arthur?"
"You and my mum. She doesn't need you. She's got me and Candace, she doesn't need you." Tears were falling down Arthur's cheeks as he blinked fiercely to stop them.
I didn't know what to do, so I did what anyone else would do. I hugged him. After a few moments he relaxed a bit in my arms and his crying had slowed. I looked into his eyes and asked, "What happened tonight Arthur? I thought we were cool."
"She was there." That's all he had to say. I understand now why Ron was so angry with him. I understand why he is so against me right now.
"I take it, you don't like her?"
"No. She has less of a brain than my Viktor Krum action figure." I laugh. I can't help it. I sit on the floor and pull Arthur into my lap. For being mad at me, he sure doesn't seem like it now.
"Arthur, you have to remember that Lavender makes your Dad happy. Just like your Mum makes me happy. I love your Mum, Arthur. I love her and you and Candi. I hope that I can make her as happy as she makes me."
He looks down at his hands. "She deserves to be happy. You were right, Dad never made her happy. I can see the way she smiles when you are around. She is happy now."
I wrap my arms around him and rock him slightly back and forth. "Do you really love me, Uncle Harry?"
"Very much, Arthur."
"And you love Mum?"
"Hmm-hmm."
He looks at me as seriously as a nine-year-old can. "Don't ever make her sad. She has cried enough. Don't make her cry anymore."
"I can't promise that I won't make her cry, but I will try my hardest. Are we OK, now?"
He shakes his head. "No, I have to get used to this. But as long as you try, so can I."
He pulls away as if he just realized that we had been hugging ,and sticks out his hand. I shake it roughly sealing our pact. I usher him back into his bedroom. "Good night, Arthur."
"Good night." He turns back to me. "Oh, and Uncle Harry. Thanks," he says in such a small voice.
"Any time, Arthur." He closes the door and I am left in the hallways staring at where the smartest nine-year-old in the world was just standing. No he is not stupid, not even close. He knows what's going on. Although he has not accepted it, he is tolerating it. That is all I can ask for.
I head back downstairs to the kitchen. When I walk in, I find a frustrated Ron and an amused Hermione. I sit down between them and stare at my best friend. He messed up tonight. He wanted to gain his son's trust and show him that he still loves him. You can't do that when your mistress tags along.
"The kids met Lavender tonight," Hermione whispers in my ear.
"I heard," I whisper back. The shocked look on her face makes me chuckle. "Arthur told me."
"All right, how did we go from him hating you three hours ago, to him hating me?" Ron asked through his folded arms.
"Ron, did Lavender know you were going where you were going?" He shakes his head.
"How did you introduce her?" He looks up at me. I can see the pain in his eyes.
"I didn't have to. We were at Florian's and she saw me. She came up behind me, covered my eyes and said 'Guess who?' I turned around to warn her of the kids' presence and she kissed me. Right there in front of them. She kissed me. Arthur pushed himself between us and ran out the door. Candace just looked at me with her puppy-dog eyes. My heart broke at that moment. I grabbed her up and looked at Lavender and saw that she was crying. She kept apologizing to me. I have to go over and talk to her soon. She was so upset. She didn't mean to hurt the kids. I didn't either."
I lean over and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's better that it's out now rather than waiting for it. I talked to Arthur a bit upstairs. He doesn't hate anyone; he just doesn't know how to handle this. Give him some time. All of us. If we don't throw it in his face, he will be more understanding." Hermione gives me a look and motions to her belly. "I know, easier said than done. But we have to try. I promised him that I would."
Ron sits up and nods defeated. "He's a good kid. He's smart. He would have cottoned on eventually. It's better this way." I can tell he is trying to convince himself more than us. "I'd better go check on Lav. She ran out of Florian's crying." He stood up. "I'll see you later." With a pop, he was gone.
Hermione's head dropped into her own folded arms. Her shoulders were shaking. I moved over to her and put my arm around her. "It's all right, love. We can do this." She looks up at me and instead of tears and red-rimmed eyes, I see her eyes sparkling and a huge smile across her face. She was laughing.
"He deserved it you know?" she says to me.
"I know, but I still feel sorry for him."
She nods, then wraps her arms around me. "I love you, Harry."
I love hearing those words come from her lips. I sigh deeply, content. "I love you too, 'Mione."
With a flick of the wand our dinner is cleaned up and we start to head upstairs. She stops at my bedroom door. I know this is where we part. I will be sleeping alone tonight. I close my eyes and sigh. I wish it were different.
She reaches a hand up and cups my cheek. "Someday soon, Harry. Sweet dreams." With a not-so-quick kiss she walks to her own room and disappears behind the door.
I turn and go into my own room, divesting of my dressing gown. I lie down in my bed, naked and wanting. Her words resound in my head, 'someday soon, Harry.' I pray it were sooner. I fist my pillow a few times and settle in for another restless sleep. I will never have a restful night's sleep, until I can fall asleep in her arms. Someday.