Here's another update! Thanks again for all the great reviews! I don't know when I'll find the time to write again, next two weekends are pretty busy, but hang in there and I will get another one out as soon as I can. But for now enjoy this one!
~HM
Chapter 19
Hermione was at the stove making dinner when the front door opened just shy of seven o'clock. "Oh god," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.
"Where's my, munchkin?"
At the sound of Harry's voice, Nora let out an excited squeal as she bounced in her highchair. She had been quietly playing with her toy blocks, but at the sound of Harry's voice, she was about to fall out of her chair with excitement.
"All right, take it easy," Hermione said leaving the stove to help her out.
Harry walked in right when she set her down and Nora shot off like a rocket. "Daddy! Daddy!" she exclaimed holding out her arms.
Hermione watched him scoop her up and toss her in the air. Her heart melted when Nora clung to his neck once he caught her. Such love, she thought as she made herself turn away from the endearing sight. They did this every night when he got home from work and he would sway as he held her and asked about her day. It always touched her and she would usually stop what she was doing so she could watch, but she had a feeling it would effect her just a little too much this time around so she kept her back to them. However, she could still hear.
"I heard you had quite a day, munchkin."
"Yeah…I went swimmen."
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah…Unca Dwaco threw me up weawy high…Aaaaw day way up to da sky!"
"Wow…that's pretty high."
"Yeah," she agreed with a firm nod. "And Aunt Na…Na…"
"Natasha," Harry finished for her when he realized she was having trouble pronouncing it.
"Uh-huh…Nat-sha…she made me wunch…and cut da crust off…just like mumma does."
"That's awesome, sweetie…I'm glad you had fun…here let's get you back in your highchair…have you been playing with your blocks?"
"Uh-huh…I can stack them weawy high…wanna see?"
"I'd love to see…start stacking, munchkin."
Hermione kept her eyes on the sauce she was stirring but a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. He was so sweet with her. She kept her back to him, hoping to wait him out until he went upstairs. That way, she wouldn't have to face him until the kids were around. She was just about to lift the spoon for a taste when she suddenly felt him sneak up behind her.
Her whole body stiffened as he peered over her shoulder and placed a hand lightly at her hip. "Smells good," he murmured.
Her whole mouth went dry as she tried to find a way to accomplish the simple task of speaking. "It's tomato sauce."
"Yeah? I guess that smells good, too."
Oh, boy.
"Are you going to let me have a taste?"
Hermione turned her head to look at him and immediately realized that was a mistake. Their lips were now inches apart. "I don't think that would be appropriate with Nora in the room," she said shakily as her eyes moved to his mouth.
Harry gave her a slow grin. "Although that be nice…I was talking about the tomato sauce."
She felt her whole face flush with embarrassment. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Oh…right." She hastily scooped up some up with her wooden spoon and tried not to shake as she held it up to him.
Harry grasped her trembling hand that held the spoon, then made sure his eyes met hers when he slowly took it into his mouth. "Mmm…that's good stuff," he said smacking his lips. "Are we having spaghetti?"
"Yes…are you sure it's okay? It doesn't need anything?"
"No, it's fine…here, try it." She took the spoon from her and scooped up some for her to taste.
Although she could feel his gaze on her, she made sure she kept her eyes elsewhere as he fed her the sauce. "It's okay," she said brushing of a dab of sauce she felt on the corner of her mouth. "Could use some more salt."
"You think?" he asked and grabbed her hand she was bringing to her mouth to suck off the sauce from her finger. "Let me try it again."
Hermione tried to make herself pull her hand away before Harry's dangerous mouth made contact with her skin, but she couldn't seem to do it. Her whole body shuddered when Harry closed his mouth over her finger, than swallowed back a groan when he sucked off the sauce in one long stroke. It was ridiculous. How could her whole body react to such a simple gesture? It was her finger for crying out loud, it shouldn't be this arousing. But Merlin help her, it was.
"No," he murmured softly as he kept her finger inches from his mouth. "Perfect the way it is."
Hermione blinked up at him. "What?"
He grinned. "The sauce?" he reminded her as he nipped the pad of her finger. "Its fine the way it is."
Her breath caught at the feel of his teeth lightly scrapping her skin. "Oh. Right." She cleared her throat as she tried to tug her hand free. He was way too close…but not close enough. He was now driving her crazy by kissing the tips of her fingers one by one. "Harry…"
"I never realized how incredibly feminine your fingers are," he said quickly between kisses and then lifted her other hand to give that some attention.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," she huffed as she tried to sound annoyed. "They're just fingers."
"No, they're not." He stopped at one finger and lingered. "These fingers were all over me just a few short hours ago."
She didn't want to talk about that. "Harry…I don't think…"
"They were in my hair…all over my back…they even sneaked in between the buttons of my shirt…and drove me crazy."
Hermione closed her eyes when he softly kissed her palm. "Harry, you've got to stop this."
"Stop what?"
"Seducing me in the kitchen with Nora a few feet away."
"She's happily playing with her blocks."
"Daddy, I done!" she exclaimed.
Harry grinned. "See?" he said and gave her a wink before letting her go and turning his attention to Nora. "Wow…that's a pretty tall tower," he said watching the colorful wobbly tower that she had made. "It almost is as high as your head!"
"Yeah." She then made a crashing sound with her mouth as she knocked down her tower, then clapped and jumped in her seat, absolutely pleased with herself. "I do 'gain."
Harry chuckled as he leaned down to pick the blocks that fell on the floor. "Knock yourself out."
When Harry had left her, she immediately retreated to the sink, busying herself with washing the dishes so her hands would be occupied. He would probably go upstairs now that his little seducing act was over. Besides…he wasn't that great at it. She blew out a breath that sent her bangs dancing. Who was she kidding? He was good. Too good. And not to mention incredibly sexy. What would it be like to make love with him? To throw caution in the wind and let him take her. How would it feel to have Harry's long hard body nestled between her thighs…
"Hermione?"
Her whole body jolted when he snuck up behind her and placed his hands on her hips. The dish she had been washing slipped from her fingers and clattered into the sink. He really needed to stop sneaking up behind her. "Yes? What?" she asked breathlessly. She squeezed her eyes shut when he gently moved her hair to expose her neck. "Harry."
"Are you still thinking?" he asked with a whisper.
She bit her lip when he pressed himself against her, pinning her to the counter. "Yes," she managed to say even though her mind felt like a pile of mush.
He nuzzled his lips against her ear. "Think fast, Sparky," he groaned before giving her earlobe a little nip and pushed himself away.
Hermione waited until he left the room, only stopping long enough to kiss the top of Nora's head, to close her eyes and let out a not so steady breath. Her whole body was wired and she needed to have a few moments before she felt relaxed and her heart rate was down to normal. She blocked out Nora's block building noise in the background as she tried to calm herself.
When she finally felt more at ease, which took awhile since Harry knew just how to stir her blood, anger for the insufferable man replaced wanting. The nerve of him! Practically seducing the knickers off of her right in front of Nora. Merlin knew how was going to act around the other kids tonight. She lifted her chin as she continued to wash the dishes. She'd like to see him try. If he so much as winks at her, she would give him a icy stare that will turn his blood cold.
He didn't wink at her. In fact, he didn't so much as look at her through dinner and acted completely oblivious. No one in the room would never suspect that just a few hours ago Harry had his hands, which were now busy cutting up Nora's spaghetti, exploring under her blouse. It infuriated her that he could turn his seduction off and on so quickly.
Wait a minute, what was she furious about? Just moments ago she was mad he was flirting with her with Nora in the room and now she was mad because he wasn't in front of the kids? She didn't know what was going through her mind exactly but she chose to deal with it by taking a nice long sip of her wine.
Harry didn't know exactly what was going through Hermione's mind at the moment, but he did know that he was getting to her and that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Although the kids were all talking a mile a minute about their day, Harry still kept one eye slightly trained on Hermione. She was driving him crazy and she didn't even realize it. She probably didn't have a clue how sexy she was…and wow, was she a fantastic snog. He couldn't wait to get his hands on her again. It wouldn't happen overnight…he knew that…but he could be a patient man when he wanted to be.
"Dad, you've got to see this Quidditch pitch," Albus was raving as he tore off a hunk of bread. "It's so cool…we played for hours!"
Harry smiled. "Does Scorpius play at school?"
"Nah, he never wanted to, but he's pretty decent. His strong skill is the Bludger though, he can hit it pretty far."
"Tell Dad about the bet, Al," Lily said before casually picking up the Hippogriff plastic toy Nora had dropped and put it back on the table for her.
"What bet?" Harry asked as he skillfully took the toy away from Nora before she could dive it into her spaghetti. "Eat your dinner, Nora…you can have it back when you're done."
"But, I'm fuw, Daddy," she whined poking out her bottom lip.
"A few more bites, luv," Hermione said. "What bet, Al?"
"To see which dad could catch the Snitch faster," he said grinning up at Harry. "Will be the easiest ten gallons I ever make."
"Thanks for the confidence, son, but it's been years since I've played…I could be a little rusty."
"No way, Uncle Harry," Hugo boasted. "You're the best…you could totally beat, Uncle Draco…you did back in school."
"Yes, but I was a lot younger back then and I'm sorry, but when did you all start to refer Draco as Uncle Draco?"
"Today, when he told us to," Al said before taking a huge forkful of spaghetti.
"He said it would annoy you," Rose said with a chuckle. "Does it?"
Harry couldn't help but grin and shared an amused look with Hermione. "No, I guess it doesn't…just never thought that would happen."
"Did you two really hate each other in school?" Samantha asked who was sitting at the other end of the table with James. She had to lean forward to see Harry who was sitting at the head of the other end.
"Despised," he answered with a chuckle.
"He wasn't the most friendly person back then," Hermione said putting her two cents in. "But with a father like the one he had…it was just how he was raised."
"Luckily he grew out of it," Harry said before finishing off his last bite. "Now…who wants dessert? Sam was nice enough to bring some cheesecake."
"Cake!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped in her highchair.
"Looks like the munchkin wants one," Harry said nuzzling her head. "Anyone else?"
All the kids held up their hands. "I'll just bring the whole cake out then."
"I can get it, Harry," Hermione said as she started to stand up.
"No, I got it," he assured her placing his hands on her shoulders to keep her seated. "You cooked the dinner…relax." He gave her shoulders a soft squeeze. "More wine?"
She wanted to groan at the feel of his strong hands on her shoulders, but was able to hold it in. "S-sure…thanks."
"You bet….J…give me a hand?"
"Yeah, sure," he said as he got up from his seat.
Once everyone had a healthy slice of cheesecake and Hermione's wine glass was topped off, Harry and James sat back down to dig in themselves. Loud clatter of silverware and mixed voices filled the table once more and Harry couldn't help but smile. They were a family. A family joined by tragedy, but a family nonetheless.
"Daddy?"
"Hmm?" Harry looked over to see Lily looking at him and then raised a brow. "What do you want?"
Her blue eyes widened innocently. "What makes you think I want something?"
"Because you called me, 'Daddy.' You stopped calling me that when you turned eleven and now only call me that when you want something or if you are sick." He jabbed her fork at her and gave her a knowing look. "So out with it, missy."
Lily let out an exasperating breath. "All right, fine. I was just going to ask…all of us were talking and we were wondering…if it's okay with you and Aunt Mione…if we have a pool party here sometime."
Harry exchanged a quick look with Hermione. "A pool party?"
"Yeah…a big party that lasts all day…we'd invite all our friends and family."
"Can we?" Hugo asked hopefully. "You can invite your friends, too…have your own grown-up party and we can invite our friends."
"Planned it all out, have you?" Harry asked with a chuckle than looked over at Hermione. "What do you think, Mione?"
She looked at all the kids who were all smiling at her, some of them with their hands clasped together as they begged. She looked over at James who was grinning, then shrugged at her. "Could be kind of fun."
Hermione laughed as she shook her head. "How can I say no to these pleading faces? Of course we can have a pool party."
Whoops and cheers exploded from the table and even a few high fives were exchanged. "When can we have it?" Rosie asked.
"We'll have to try and pick a few weekends that can work," Harry said. "Then we'll ask around and see what the best time would be. You guys might want to ask your friends what weekends won't be good so we can cancel it out. We'll figure it out."
"I'm going to go Owl, Jake," Lily exclaimed as she jumped from the table.
"Hey, wait for me," Hugo said jumping up as well while he snagged his last bite of cheesecake. "He's my friend, too, Lil."
"C'mon, Rosie," Al said getting up and throwing his napkin down. "Let's go Owl Scorp and Mia."
"Once you're done you guys come back down and do kitchen duty!" Harry yelled as he started to clear the table.
"Oh, we'll help you, Mr. P," Sammy said picking up her plate and Rosie's who had been sitting next to her. "James and I will be happy to help."
"Aww, man," James muttered then stuttered when his girlfriend gave him a stare. "Er…I mean, sure thing,
Dad," he stammered as he quickly grabbed his plate.
Harry grinned. His boy was whipped.
"Harry, are you just going to stand there or are you going to bring those plates in?" Hermione asked with an annoying huff.
Harry winced. "Er…yeah…sorry, Mione," he muttered and hurried into the kitchen.
He may want to get his hands on Hermione, but she still sometimes scared the hell out of him.
Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed the plates from his hands. "Well, don't just stand there, go get the rest of the plates."
He was nuts about her.