~A/N> I think I can safely say that this chapter includes one of the moments you've been waiting for :)
I've already started on the next chapter so I'm hoping to finish it by week's end. I hope you enjoy the
chapter and a big thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed so far! I'm sorry I haven't responded to any
reviews lately but between my boys, writing and managing my podcast, I've been quite the busy person.
That night in the Potter house was pure hell. Ginny Weasley had finally had enough of Harry's moodiness and the way
he had been ignoring her. When he had gone into the bedroom around ten o'clock that night, everyone in the house
soon found out just how angry she really was.
"How dare you skive off spending time with me to talk to that...that...nanny!" Ginny yelled, making Hermione's job sound like the most vile word in all of England. "And what was all that nonsense this morning? Hiding out in Lily's room the way you did? I should have been included in your little 'talk'...not her."
Hermione lay in her bed, listening to her name and job position being used as a bad word, and the way Miss Weasley said it made her feel almost dirty. As the redhead launched into yet another tirade Hermione could hear one of the doors down the hall squeak as it opened., She quickly put on her robe, opened her door as quietly as possible, and peeked out into the corridor. Looking to the right, she could see Lily peeking out a crack in her door and quietly made her way to check on the frightened looking girl.
"Did Miss Weasley's yelling wake you?" Hermione asked quietly with a look of concern on her face.
"Yes," Lily replied with fear showing in her eyes, "Why is she so mad? And why is she yelling at Daddy?"
"I'm not sure why," Hermione fibbed, picking her up. "Let's get you back to bed."
"No!" Lily said so fervently that Hermione stopped in mid-stride and almost stumbled. "I don't want to go back to bed...I don't want to be by myself."
"What if I sit with you until you go back to sleep?" Hermione asked, tucking a lock of blond hair behind Lily's ear.
"Okay," she agreed.
Hermione carried her back to her bed and tucked her in, making sure she was well covered. The temperature that night had dropped more than normal for the time of year and she had to ask Lisa for extra blankets. Sitting on the side of the bed, Hermione started to lightly run her hand over Lily's hair. Humming a lullaby that her Mum had always sung to her when she couldn't sleep, Hermione watched as Lily's eyes started to droop slowly until they were closed completely and her breathing had started to even out.
"Get out!" Harry suddenly yelled, startling Lily awake again and causing Hermione to jump. As Hermione tried to soothe her again, she heard the door to Harry's room slam open and two sets of feet stomping down the corridor. "You heard me, I said get out!" he repeated, his voice louder this time. "I will not have you going behind my back to my employees, trying your damnedest to erase Luna's memory. She is...was...the Mother of my children and the fact that you even tried appalls and sickens me to no end. Now leave my house!"
"B-But I...you can't...where am I supposed to go?" Ginny spluttered, her face bright red as her eyes danced with fire.
"Go back to Molly," he spat as he advanced on her, "Tell her that I said she can have her little girl back and that I've had my fill of you." As Ginny stomped her foot angrily one last time and turned to go down the stairs, Harry said, "Oh, and make sure to tell her that I don't need her to play matchmaker any more!"
Ginny halted on the fifth step and turned to glare at Harry as she said, "Of course you don't, not since that tart moved in. I'm sure you've been planning this ever since you hired her."
While they had been shouting back and forth, Hermione told Lily to stay in bed and had crept up to the door to watch what was happening, unnoticed. After Ginny had called her a tart her eyes grew wide at the insult and she gasped as she suddenly felt a powerful wave of magic pass through her. Shocked, she stared at Harry and then jumped as the table that had been against the wall behind him slid across the hall and slammed into the railing. At the same time all the candles in the sconces that were lighting the hall and staircase blew out, leaving Harry and Ginny in the dark. Thankfully the light in Lily's room didn't go out and frighten the little girl even more than she already was.
"Incendio," Harry said quietly, causing the sconces to light up once again. Breathing quite heavily now, he pierced Ginny with his bright green eyes and said in an almost normal tone of voice, "Leave now, and don't come back."
Recovering from the powerful magic Harry had just inadvertently used, Ginny turned quickly, made her way down the stairs and was out the door in mere seconds. Hermione had to say one thing for her, at least she knew when to shut her mouth and get out as quickly as she could with all of her limbs intact.
"Hermione?" Lily called softly as she peeked out from under her covers.
Hermione turned and made her way back to the bedside and sat once again. Lily untangled herself from the blankets and crawled onto her lap, snuggling into her the way only a scared child who was looking for comfort could. "Is Miss Ginny gone?" Lily asked, staring at Hermione with her big green eyes.
"Yes, I believe she is," Hermione replied, trying not to dwell on how good the thought made her feel.
"Is everything okay in here?" Harry asked quietly from the doorway, startling them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you, it's just that I heard voices and I wanted to make sure Lily was okay."
"I'm okay," Lily answered as she watched Harry walk toward them.
"She um...she heard you and Miss Weasley arguing and got a little frightened," Hermione answered, looking and sounding unsure.
Walking up to them and squatting down so that he was at eye level with his daughter, Harry said, "I'm sorry if I scared you pumpkin."
"It's okay Daddy," Lily replied, giving him a small smile. While he stared at her lovingly, running his hand over her hair, a big yawn escaped her and her eyes drooped a bit as she fought to keep them open. "Will you stay here with me until I go to sleep?" she asked Harry tiredly.
"Of course I will," he answered immediately. When she crawled off of Hermoine's lap and lay back on her pillow, Harry pulled the blankets up around her and knelt on the floor so that he stayed face-to-face with her.
When Hermione gave him a smile and started to get up Lily quickly said, "Don't go Hermy."
Hermione sat back down and looked at Lily. Seeing the little girl watching her she gave her a reassuring smile and said, "I'm not going anywhere."
Happy with her answer, Lily snuggled down into her blankets and not even five minutes later was sound asleep. Harry bent over and gently placed a kiss on her forehead as Hermione slowly got up from the bed so as not to wake her up again. Once they were both in the hall, Harry closed the door without a sound and turned to James' bedroom door. Taking a look inside, he saw that James was fast asleep, the sound of his slow, steady breathing filling the room.
As he and Hermione made their way down the hall, Harry turned to her and asked, "I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, I think I'll have a spot of tea. Care to join me?"
Hermione looked at him and found herself drawn into his eyes. They were such an intense color of green and it seemed as if every time she looked at him she was drawn into them to the point where she felt she might drown. Taking a deep breath and breaking eye contact with him she said, "I should probably get back to bed, Lily and James might get up early, even though it's been an eventful night."
She could feel him watching her but refused to look him in the eye again. Muttering "Good night," she turned and headed to her room, wondering if she had made the right decision.
~*~
The next morning as Hermione walked into the kitchen, she could sense the change in the atmosphere of the household. Lily was laughing at the funny faces Cole kept making, Lisa was humming while she prepared breakfast, and Harry looked tired, but relaxed for the first time since she had started working for him. As she sat in the chair next to Harry and thanked Lisa for the tea she set in front of her, Hermione looked up at James who was sitting across from her and froze. He was sitting there watching Cole entertain his sister and had the biggest smile on his face that she had ever seen. Harry looked over at her, saw her staring, and following her gaze he noticed his son's smile also. When Hermione looked over at him all he said was, "I've been such a fool."
After that, breakfast was a myriad of small talk, teasing, and food consumption. Soon Cole stood up and said, "Time for school James." Looking toward Hermione he winked at her and said, "I'll see you later."
"Bye," she responded quietly, feeling her cheeks warm with his attention. As she turned all her attention to stirring her already stirred tea, she missed the dark look that passed over Harry's face as he watched the two of them.
"Hermy," Lily said, breaking into Harry and Hermione's sudden silence, "Can we play outside this morning?"
Hermione looked out the window and when she saw how sunny it was outside she said, "That sounds like a great idea."
The two of them finished their breakfast and made their way out into the vast front yard. As they were tossing a ball back and forth, Harry walked out the door and stood watching them with a smile on his face. Walking toward them, Hermione noticed that he carried a broom with him and was surprised when he walked up to Lily and asked, "Feel like going for a ride pumpkin?"
"Yes!" Lily replied excitedly, jumping up and down.
Hermione watched as the two mounted the broom and Harry made sure that Lily was safely on before pushing off the ground. He slowly ascended until they were level with the top of the shortest tree on the property and then proceeded to fly in wide circles. When he started to carefully zigzag back and forth, Hermione could hear Lily laughing and the sound was one of the best she had ever heard.
When they finally came back down to earth, Harry and Lily's cheeks were tinged pink from the cool wind hitting them as they flew. What she noticed next were their eyes, they were bright and filled with a happiness that made Hermione feel a bit choked up. It made her happy just seeing them so happy for a change, enjoying a joyous father/daughter moment that she hadn't witnessed until that day.
As soon as Lily was off the broom, she went running to pick her ball up again. "Hey Daddy," she called and when he looked toward her she threw the ball at him. Placing his broom on the ground and catching it easily, he went to toss it back to her, only to laugh when Hermione suddenly ran up and snatched it out of the air. "Hey!" Lily said, giggling as she started to chase Hermione, "Give that back!"
"You'll have to catch me," Hermione called playfully, already some distance away from her. She turned around and jogged backwards, slowing her pace so that the short-legged Lily could catch up to her quickly.
Lily was laughing happily as she chased after her and Hermione would slow just enough to let her catch up a bit and then would increase her speed again. When Lily suddenly stopped, smiling the biggest smile she had ever seen, Hermione slowed again, confused.
"Gotcha!" came a masculine voice from behind as two arms wrapped themselves around her waist, stopping her immediately. Lily ran up laughing and grabbed the ball off the ground where it had dropped completely unnoticed when Hermione had turned around in surprise and came face-to-face with Harry. She stood there with his arms wrapped around her, his touch sending a jolt of nervous awareness through her body, and found herself looking into those damn eyes again.
Harry, on the other hand, was struck by how wonderful it felt to have her in his arms. With her body pressed against his, he couldn't help but notice how nicely they fit together. Realizing that he probably should have let go of her by now, he loosened his hold on her and stuttered, "S-Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
"It's okay," Hermione replied, unable to meet his eyes and silently admonishing herself for wishing he would have held her just a little longer. "I, uh...I should get Lily inside so that she can wash up for lunch."
"Right," Harry agreed as he dared a glimpse at her face. When she wouldn't look at him, he swore inwardly at the stupidity of his actions. He hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable, he had just gotten swept up in their game of keep-away when Lily had ran by him and said, "Daddy, help me catch her!"
The three of them made their way silently back to the house, Lily in between the two adults, looking back and forth between them and wondering why they were suddenly so quiet. Inside the house, Lisa stood unnoticed by a window watching them, observing how Harry and Hermione stole a glance when they thought the other wasn't looking. With a knowing smile, she made her way back to the kitchen, wondering what it was going to take for them to admit they had feelings for each other.