Midnight Wanderings

Harry yawned and rubbed his tired eyes. It was well before midnight and the kids were tucked in bed after the usual round of storytelling. Lily had been the first to fall asleep and James followed. Albus had tried to hold on longer but soon his head hit the pillow.

Sighing in relief, Harry tucked the three of them in and walked out of their room. There was no denying the fact that he was tired. But still, his excitement squashed his tiredness and he was definitely looking forward to this night.

He made his way to the kitchen. Ginny was out on her work. Again.

Good.

The last he heard on radio (that afternoon), the match didn't seem to end any time soon. Moreover, the match was played out of England. So there definitely was plenty of time before Ginny turned up.

Perfect.

For what he had in mind for the night, it was better that Ginny was away and not there to keep an eye on him. Thank god he would get this night free.

Good. Everything was good.

For the umpteenth time that day, his mind wandered back to Leslie.

Two months ago since he had met Dean's fiancée Leslie, the young baker, she was all he could think about. She did occupy his thoughts very much lately. Thoughts that distracted him from his work very much so often. His mind wandered to their secret meetings in his private office, to what she spoke to him. Finally his mind settled on her hands. They were delicate; more so than Ginny's (if he had to be honest). And with a contented sigh he closed his eyes and imagined how her hands moved and worked.

Despite his tiredness, his face split into a devious grin. He had managed to hide this from Ginny for this long. Leslie knew how to be discrete. Since the two months they knew each other, they had gotten pretty closer. She could rival for his acquaintances in his personal team of aurors. They were that close now.

Leslie would arrive in his office through the floo when he signalled her and they would carry on their activities without any disturbance. He made sure to see that his office door was sealed good and he would use Muffliato.

But now, now things would happen at his home with no one to disturb him. Particularly Ginny. (For a good reason her absence held importance).

Heaven.

He remembered the last conversation he had with Leslie in his office.

"You aren't doing this right." She said in an exasperated tone.

Growling in frustration, Harry wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and grunted. "It's not like you have seen the best of my talents yet." He retorted. It took a lot to please her. And he'd rather not be distracted when he was on work. She didn't make it easy on him. He was sure she enjoyed seeing him worked up.

She looked at him as if looking at a stubborn child wanting to do anything to get his candy. There was always the easy way to do this but he took the hard one. Very well then, it wasn't like she didn't enjoy these meetings. They were always something to look forward to.

"Alright then. Let's do this again. But not in this crooked corner of the office. On your desk." She said and without waiting for his permission, she had cleared his desk of its contents and beckoned him closer. Scowling at the mess in his office, he walked towards her.

Oh well.

In the present, Harry smiled ruefully. Now nobody would say he wasn't good. After he had been trying so hard. He was a master now.

The doorbell rang. He hesitated only a moment before going and answering it. There she stood as beautiful as ever.

"Hello." She said cheerfully grinning up at him.

Mesmerized (and hiding his surprise), Harry simply grinned back at her. Instead of greeting verbally, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, pulled her closer to him and promptly attacked her lips.

A simple kiss turned into something more passionate and within seconds their tongues were battling for dominance.

Finally, she pulled back with a dazed look. "Wow." She whispered. "You are good."

"I always am." He replied cheekily.

Rolling her eyes, she untied her cloak and threw it haphazardly on the floor before giving him a seductive look. But Harry's eyes had already landed on the cloak.

"No No No." he said in a distinct impression of Ginny when she was reprimanding their kids. "You don't throw things like that and dirty the floor!" he said in his best Ginny impression.

She was not amused. She raised her eyebrows at him.

He hastily explained. "My wife hates when things are thrown apart like that." He said and she scowled darkly at him.

"Oh? Care so much about your wife then?" she asked

"Er…" he mumbled unintelligently. "This is her home after all."

"Not anymore." She answered without a pause. "Because I am so going to take her place." She winked at him and pushed him on the couch. She climbed on top of him and straddled his hips. "After all, which mad woman leaves her ruggedly handsome husband to some stupid Quidditch matches and working ungodly hours?" she asked him.

Well…. She made a valid point. Still… it was his duty to defend Quidditch.

And Ginny.

"Well… I work ungodly hours too." He pointed out flipping their positions.

She just smiled sweetly at him. "Still… your wife is mad." She whispered as her lips pressed onto his and he happily obliged.

"Missed you." Harry whispered playing with her long hair. She hummed with content.

"I missed you more." She said.

"I missed you most." He said back and she chuckled. His heart warmed instantly.

"It's not been more than two days though." She said. "Since the last time we were together."

"Still." He insisted. "Every minute away from you feels like an eternity."

"Charmer." She whispered and placed her palms flat on his chest.

"I love you." She whispered.

His answer was without a trace of doubt. "I love you too." And it was true. He loved her more than anything else.

He wasn't sure how long they were both lost in each other's eyes.

It was only when a small call of "Daddy" broke through the silence that Harry jumped up and looked wide at his three kids standing looking at him curiously.

"Er… What are you doing here?" he asked hoping he wasn't caught in the act.

They looked at him as if to ask 'What do you think?'

"We were sleeping and we heard-" Albus stopped when his gaze landed on the person on the couch.

She had slowly gotten up and smoothening her messed up hair.

"Mummy!" Albus grinned at Ginny on the couch and tackled her onto it. Ginny winced at the sudden impact but smiled nonetheless. "Hey Al." she said as she hugged him.

It was only a second later that two other little bodies hurled themselves at Ginny.

"Mummy! I missed you!" James said being exceptionally loud for a six year old.

"Mummy! Lily good. Lily miss mummy." Her youngest whispered nestling herself in Ginny's arms.

"I missed you all too." Ginny whispered fondly kissing each of their foreheads.

Harry stood behind and watched his family together. It was almost midnight and he remembered that it was only few minutes ago that he felt bone tired. But now, he was filled with energy as his family radiated joy.

After a while, Albus looked in the direction of the kitchen. "What's that smell?" Albus asked jolting Harry out of his musings.

"Smells like something's burnt." Ginny whispered with a suspicious look at Harry.

Harry's eyes widened in realisation and he bolted to the kitchen. He groaned and realised he was too late to save it now.

His burnt cake.

He took it out of the oven and glared at the offending piece of burnt food.

Ginny had followed him to the kitchen and tutted. "You should have known better than to try again." She said looking at him. "Remember all the other time you burnt half the kitchen?" she asked.

Harry glared at her. He found it unnecessary to add that that particular incident happened once. Years ago.

And it definitely wasn't half the kitchen.

"It's not fair." He pouted like a child as he looked at his destroyed cake. "I had been practising baking with Leslie for weeks." He mumbled. "All the hard work destroyed." He whispered looking nearly broken.

Ginny just rolled her eyes quite used to her husband's dramatics. "Come on you big baby. Stop pouting." She said dragging him out of the kitchen.

"And I will be sure to mention it to Leslie how amazing your baking skills are." She said unable to stop herself and cracked a grin.

Harry growled and crossed his arms. This was why he wanted to test his skills in her absence. Nobody could embarrass him as good as his wife.

He knew Ginny would definitely tell this to Leslie. They met on a regular basis after all. And Leslie would tell Dean and Dean would tell Seamus.

Which was equivalent to telling the half the wizarding world. Really.

He wouldn't be surprised to find the new headlines on the Prophet.

'Harry Potter: Saviour of mankind, Destroyer of cakes'

A/N: If it still didn't make sense, Harry WAS NOT cheating on Ginny.

I don't think Harry wouldn't know how to bake a cake. But ignore the logic in here.

I just needed a reason for Harry's secret midnight wanderings and well… my mind came up with this. (However lame it may seem by the end of the story).

Well… I hope you enjoyed the story. Let me know if you were tricked while reading.

And most importantly, REVIEW! And favourite too. It makes me happy.

But no flames please!