~A/N> Surprise! I got the chapter done faster than I had anticipated, so I decided to post it today. Don't
get used to the quick updates, this has been a slow week and I had lots of free time. This chapter is all H/Hr and the
kids and it was so much fun to write. I also got to see Goblet of Fire this morning and I have written a review on it.
If you'd like to read it you can find it here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/harmony_podcast/10217.html#cutid1
It is full of spoilers so don't read it if you want the movie to be a surprise. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and
thank-you for all the reviews!! :)
Even though Hermione had gone directly upstairs after they walked into the house, she still found herself pressed for time. She had gone immediately into James's room, taken his robes out of the wardrobe, and told him to get ready. With a quick, "Come find me if you need any help," thrown over her shoulder as she rushed across the hallway, she walked into Lily's room. She spotted Lily sitting on her bed, already dressed with a proud look on her face. She smiled as she noticed how pretty she looked in the white lace dress she wore. She had on shiny black dress shoes and from the looks of it Lisa had curled her hair.
"You look so pretty Lily," Hermione said as she walked over to sit on the bed next to her.
"Thank you," the little girl replied shyly, "I dressed myself."
"And you did a wonderful job," Hermione praised, beaming at her with pride. "I need to go get ready now, but if you need anything just come knock on my door, okay?"
"Can I watch you get ready?" Lily asked quietly, spearing her with blue, questioning eyes.
Hermione sat quietly for a moment, turning over in her mind thoughts of whether it would be a good idea or not, and finally replied, "Sure, why not? I'd love to have some company."
Lily jumped off the bed and gave Hermione a big smile. Excitedly walking out the door, Lily made her way toward Hermione's room while she checked on James one last time to see how he was faring. She waited patiently for him to open the door after she knocked, and when he did she gave a startled gasp. There, in the doorway, stood a miniature Harry Potter. With his black, messy hair that would never lay flat, the bright green eyes that seemed to always look right through you, to the general features of his face, he was the spitting image of his father.
"James, you look so handsome!" she said, sounding a bit breathless. She noticed that his cheeks took on a pink tinge and not wanting to embarrass him further she said, "Lily will be in my room, she wants to watch me get ready." When he rolled his eyes and smirked she laughed and said, "It's a girl thing. Just remember that your Dad will come up ten minutes before we are to make our entrance. If he's not up here by then, can you go down and get him?"
James nodded and she gave him one last smile before making her way back to her room with only one hour to get herself ready for the biggest event of the year.
~*~
While everyone else was hastily getting ready and making sure everything was ready, Harry sat in his office with a glass of firewhiskey, relaxing. He found that all he could think about since his trip into town was Hermione. He couldn't get over the fact that they had more in common than he had first thought. And the kiss...when he had pressed his lips to hers it had felt as if his blood had caught fire instantaneously. He found himself wanting to do it again...and so much more.
Shaking himself from his overactive imagination, he turned his chair from the fire as someone knocked on the door and called, "Come in." He had no idea who he had expected to walk through the door, but he had never imagined in a million years that it would have been her.
"Hello luv," Ginny said, in what he expected she thought was a sexy tone of voice.
Uttering an expletive at her undesired arrival, he stayed in his chair and asked in an even tone, "What are you doing here Ginny?"
"I'm here for the Ball, silly," she replied, making it sound like he was foolish for not knowing in the first place. He followed her with his eyes, which shone with his dislike of her, as she closed the door and made her way to his desk. "Don't tell me you're still upset with me? I've given you plenty of time to calm down Harry, tonight we can be a normal couple again and let everyone know that our engagement is still on."
He was stunned speechless for all of five seconds before he picked his wand up, cast a 'silencio' on the room, and yelled, "What the bloody hell are you on about?! I don't want anything to do with you, and when I told you to leave and never come back, I meant it!"
"Oh pish-posh," Ginny replied in an aggravating tone of voice, "We both know you still want me Harry, you've just been distracted by that...that...nanny."
"Her name is Hermione," he said, gritting his teeth together in anger, "She is a loving, caring woman who is beautiful inside and out and treats James and Lily like they are the most precious things in this world. You, on the other hand, wouldn't know love if it walked up and bit you on the arse! Your only priority is yourself and anyone else be damned!"
He sat staring at Ginny angrily, his eyes ablaze with his fury, while she stood in front of him looking just as angry as he did. Without another word, she closed the distance between them, sat on his lap, and pressed her lips demandingly to his. Shocked by her brazenness, it took his mind a moment to realize what she was doing, but before he could do anything there came a voice yelling, "NO!"
Startled, Harry pushed Ginny from his lap, causing her to none-to-gracefully fall to the floor on her bum. Standing, he immediately looked in the direction the voice had come from and was shocked to see James standing there with his hands balled into fists at his sides. He seemed to be breathing heavily as he looked at Harry with hatred in his eyes. As Harry continued to stare at him, unable to find the words he needed to say, James yelled, "No, no, no!"
Rushing up to him, Harry knelt down and took his son by the arms. Staring into his shiny green eyes he said, "James, this isn't what you think. I didn't invite Miss Weasley here, she came on her own."
The boy's eyes broke away from his, glaring angrily at Ginny. She glared back at him and spat, "What are you looking at, you little mute?"
Suddenly, everything in the room that wasn't extremely heavy went flying at Ginny. She screamed as picture frames, quidditch trophies, and ink pots came at her with great speed, barely missing her head and body.
Harry looked back at Ginny and then whipped his head around to stare at James again. He could feel the waves of magical energy coming off his son's body and he started shaking him. "James, stop it! This isn't right! You're going to hurt her!"
It seemed the thought that he might hurt her finally penetrated through James anger-induced haze and Harry felt him relax a little. Anything that was in midair fell to the ground, which caused a pot of ink to spill all over Ginny's dress. When Harry heard her sputtering and cursing, he turned and had to stifle his laughter as he saw why she was so upset. Sobering quickly, he put his hand on James shoulder and steered him over to the desk. Looking down at the fiery redhead, he said, "Leave now Ginny before I call the authorities and have you forcibly removed. I have no idea how you got past the gate in the first place."
Ginny stood up, looking angry and embarrassed at the same time. Taking out her wand, she scourgified her dress and sneered at Harry. "The young man that you have out there was very receptive to my...friendly behavior."
"You're vile," Harry spat, "Now get out of my house and never come back."
Pulling herself together and trying to act more dignified than she was, Ginny raised her nose into the air and walked quickly from the room. Harry and James followed her, Harry wanting to make sure she actually left, and once she was past the perimeter gate he turned to James and said, "I am so sorry you had to see that son. Miss Weasley sort of...surprised me and you saw us before I could stop her. I hope you'll forgive me."
James looked up at his Dad and saw how sorry he was by the look on his face. He nodded his head, letting Harry know that he wouldn't hold it against him. Relieved, Harry bent down and hugged James, something he didn't do near enough, and straightening up he said, "It's time to go up and get the girls."
~*~
Hermione sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror and explained why she was putting the shiny powder on her eyes. She couldn't imagine how a four and a half year old like Lily Potter could come up with so many questions. She smiled at her reflection as she remembered a time when her own Mother had said much the same thing about her.
Shooing Lily out of her bathroom so that she could change into her dress, Hermione told her she'd be right out and shut the door. When a knock sounded on her bedroom door a minute later, Hermione opened the bathroom door a crack and asked Lily to please answer it. "Daddy!" she cried as she saw Harry standing on the other side.
"Hey pumpkin," Harry greeted, "I wondered why James pulled me to Hermione's room when I said we were going to find you first. What are you doing in here?"
"Hermy said I could watch her get ready," Lily replied happily, "I got to watch her do her hair, and color her face. She's in the bathroom putting her dress on now."
Just as Lily said this, the bathroom door opened and Hermione walked into her room, trying to smooth out the skirt of her dress. When she saw Harry and James in the doorway she stopped suddenly and said, "Oh, hello. Is it time to go downstairs already?"
Harry stood there staring at her, not really registering the words she was saying. She had on a dress that had thin straps and started as dark blue around her chest, gradually lightened to a powder blue around her hips, until it was almost white at the bottom of the skirt that was just above the floor. It had lines running vertically two-thirds of the way down it that were sparkling and he noticed that she was wearing high-heeled shoes that were a frosty blue color. When he brought his eyes up to her face, he noticed how her cinnamon colored eyes shone with an inner-radiance that took his breath away. And her hair...she had pulled the top and sides back into a clip while letting the rest cascade down her back in ringlets and Harry's fingers itched to touch it to see if it felt as silky as it looked.
Hermione, on the other hand, was struck by how handsome Harry looked in his black dress robes. His green eyes were even more striking than usual and she suddenly felt shy under his appreciative stare.
Both adults were brought out of their perusals of one another as James and Lily started laughing at their behavior. Embarrassed, Hermione moved to her bureau to put her earrings on and picked up the necklace she planned to wear. When she fumbled with the clasp Harry walked over to her and asked, "May I?"
Letting him take over, she shivered as his fingers whispered across her skin as he secured the clasp. When his hands lingered, brushing across her shoulders, she felt every nerve in her body ignite as desire washed over her like a tidal wave. Gasping, she turned to face him and noticed that his eyes had darkened and she swore she saw a flicker of desire in them before he quickly turned away.
"It's time we go downstairs," Harry said, joining James in the hallway. "Oh, I almost forgot..." he said, picking up a small box that he had placed just outside the door. Opening it, he took out what looked like a bracelet and said, "Lily, I got this for you to wear tonight." He slid the elastic band over her hand and when Hermione looked at it more closely she smiled. The bracelet was a corsage made up of small orange and green flowers that were arranged in the shape of a pumpkin, and Lily's eyes lit up as she stared at it.
"Thank-you Daddy!" she said, launching herself at him. He picked her up just long enough to hug her and then set her down.
Walking up to Hermione, Harry smiled and said, "I got one for you too, I hope you like it."
She watched as he carefully took out another wrist corsage and gently placed it on her wrist. It had three small white teacup roses surrounded by baby's breath and small green leaves. Hermione stared at it, touched that he had gotten her something so beautiful, and when she looked up at him she said, "Thank-you Harry, it's beautiful."
He found himself getting drawn in by her eyes as he replied, "You're beautiful."
They stood there staring at each other for a moment, both caught up in the turmoil of emotions they were experiencing. Finally, Lily broke through the seriousness of the moment by saying, "Daddy, we need to go."
"Right," Harry said, breaking eye contact with Hermione. Walking toward the door, Harry stopped before stepping into the hallway and motioned toward Lily and Hermione. "Ladies first," he said with a smile. Hermione took hold of Lily's hand and carefully made her way to the top of the staircase. She could see the guests all gathered at the bottom, dressed in their finest, and she felt a little nervous at the prospect of meeting all these new people. Interrupting her thoughts, Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Why don't you walk down with Lily first, and then I'll walk down with James."
"I'm just the nanny, shouldn't I go down by myself and let you and the children make your entrance?" Hermione asked, looking uncomfortable.
"No, you should walk down with us. You play an important role in Lily and James life, I'm proud of the work you do and I think you deserve some recognition," Harry replied, looking very serious. "Usually Cole and Lisa would walk down with us, but unfortunately they both had to work tonight for the first couple of hours and then they'll be able to enjoy themselves." 'And I'll have you all to myself for at least an hour,' he thought to himself, pleased at the prospect of holding Hermione close and dancing with her.
Reigning in his wandering thoughts, Harry took a deep breath and said, "Time to mingle with the Rich and Pretentious."