"Hermione, I don't…oomf…I don't understand why you're so mad at me," Harry complained as Hermione threw their bags from the car into his un-awaiting arms. She slammed the lid to the boot shut and walked to the back door to get Teddy out of his car seat. When she re-emerged, with Teddy securely on her hip, she glared up at him.
"I told you, I'm not talking about this until we get home after the party," she answered back as she spun on her heel and marched toward the front door of the house. Her hair whipped around the back of her neck and her cloak swept behind her in a fashion that would have made Snape proud.
"Hermione!" Harry called starting to lose control of his anger as he stomped up behind her. "Would you stop for a second? For Merlin's sake, I only accepted a position at work!"
That did it. Hermione spun around so fast, her elbow came in contact with his stomach and knocked the wind out of him. Harry doubled over, dropping the bags in his hands into the snow and tried to regain his breath. When he looked up at Hermione, he was met with her steely glare; only this time, anger was not the only emotion burning in her eyes. Sadness and disbelief were there as well.
"I didn't realize I had to spell everything out for you, Senior Auror Potter," she hissed. "But this is one you're going to have to figure out on your own. Until then, I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk to me for the rest of the night."
Hermione turned and rapped her knuckles quickly on the door in front of her. Seconds later, George Weasely was standing there, a Firewhiskey in his hand and a huge smile on his face.
"Happy Christmas!" he exclaimed as he kissed Hermione's cheek and ruffled Teddy's hair.
"Uncle George!" Teddy squealed as he jumped out of Hermione's arms and landed on George.
"Hi Ted," George smiled, barely managing to catch the little boy and not spill his drink. "Have you been a good boy this year?"
With a sheepish grin up at Hermione, Teddy looked back up at George and whispered; "Only cuz Mummy said I wouldn't get any Christmas presents if I wasn't."
George burst into laughter and ushered them in while announcing their arrival to the rest of the family. He shut the door behind Harry, who was sporting a look of clear annoyance on his face, and noticed immediately that something was off between the Potters.
"What did you do?" George asked with a smirk on his face as he helped Harry with the bags, which were now soaking wet from being dropped in the snow.
"I have no bloody idea," he grumbled back removing his coat and scarf. He watched Hermione move into the sitting room where most of the family was, and immediately turn her back to where she knew he was standing.
"All I did was tell her that I accepted a promotion at work last week and that it's set to start at the end of January."
"You're not serious?" George said with disbelief.
"I don't get why that is such a problem," Harry said, frustrated, as he followed George into the house. "It's my career, promotions are a good thing in the working world!"
George stopped and looked at Harry with one of the most serious looks Harry had ever seen from the prankster Weasely.
"Harry, you don't work in a shop, you don't work a desk job. You're an Auror. That's one of the most dangerous jobs in the universe. Now, they've given you a promotion to work missions that even other Aurors think are dangerous.
"Did you even think to ask if she was ok with that?"
Harry couldn't believe he was talking to George Weasely. What was worse, he couldn't believe George Weasely had figured out what was bothering Hermione before he did. Damn.
But he was right. As realization dawned on him, Harry felt his heart sink. He looked over at Hermione, who was seated next to Molly and Fleur across from Ginny. As he watched her, he saw her participate in the conversation, but the same lightness and ease she had around these women they both considered family seemed forced. He could see there was something weighing heavily on her mind, and only now was able to understand what that was.
"Believe me Harry," George continued and clapped his shoulder, "You're a braver man than I ever believed, if you thought for one minute you could pull a stunt like that on Hermione."
Without a word, Harry turned into the kitchen and grabbed a drink. He was left alone after Bill helped Teddy and Victoire sneak a sugar cookie from Molly's dessert table. Some Christmas celebration this was turning out to be. He had single handedly ruined Christmas for the most important woman in his life, with an off handed comment that he didn't even think twice about.
"That explains what happened outside," Harry thought as he rubbed his stomach where Hermione had accidentally hit him. He stood at the sink and watched the snow fall gently. He dropped his head, rubbed the bridge of his nose, before heading back to the sitting room.
Ron and his family had arrived, completing the whole Weasely Christmas, and Harry gave him a half smile and a handshake as he came over. Lavender was holding a small bundle of blue blankets in her arms and looked more than a little tired.
"Things getting easier at home?" Harry joked as he watched Lavender hand over the baby to Molly almost with a sigh of relief.
"He's up every four hours," Ron sighed. "By the time I got back from that mission we were on last week, she looked like she hadn't slept the full week we were gone."
"It'll be over soon. He's only three months old, but he'll be sleeping through the night before you know it."
"Yeah well, I think I'm going to request the week after New Years' off too," Ron said looking over at his exhausted wife.
"That's probably wise," Harry said glancing sadly over at his own wife.
"So, not that it's any of my business or anything, but…uhm, did you and Hermione have a fight or something?" Ron said after a moment.
"Yeah," Harry admitted swirling the drink in his hand. "I really mucked things up this time, though."
"Harry," Ron stated with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Look, I've already figured out what I did and I feel like the biggest git ever, so please do me a favor and don't lay into me too. George has already done that, done a hell of a job I might add, and I don't know that I could stand another talk right now."
"At least tell me what you did then," Ron argued.
Harry looked over at Hermione and never once broke his gaze as he explained about the promotion at work. When he finished, both he and Ron took a long swig of their drinks and stayed silent.
"You know that was about the stupidest thing you could've done," Ron muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Yes, I'm aware," Harry replied irritably. He put his drink down roughly on the nearest table, grabbed his cloak and left the warmth of the living room.
From across the room, Hermione watched Harry talk with Ron and all the different emotions that ran across both of their faces. She was finding it increasingly difficult to sit with everyone else as the events of the afternoon played through her mind. She shook her head before she allowed herself to concentrate on them again and turned her attention back to Lavender and Ginny who were talking about Hugo and his inability to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.
"I don't know how you managed Hermione," Lavender sighed as Molly handed Hugo back to her and she settled him in her arms. "I know you and Harry didn't have Teddy until he was almost two, but Harry was gone so much with training and they were busy with catching the rest of the Death Eaters."
"It was different for us though," Hermione explained. "Harry spent a lot of time over at Andromeda's house just after the war helping her take care of him, and learning how to be a dad. And by the time her illness had progressed so much that she wanted us to take Teddy, I was through healing school and assigned as her personal physician. I was home a lot."
"I can't believe that's been almost three years already," Molly sighed with a deep breath.
They all nodded in agreement before a loud crack broke the relative ease of the room. All eyes were turned to the corner where George, Charlie and Ron were playing with Teddy and Victoire. A small stream of smoke was wafting into the air from Charlie's wand and Teddy and Victoire were squealing in delight.
"What are you doing over there?" Fleur asked as she approached the corner.
"Just playing with the kids," Charlie answered with a smirk.
Hermione glanced around the room and noticed Harry was missing. Excusing herself from the group, she went to the kitchen. She didn't find him there. She searched the upstairs, and still saw no sign of him.
"Ron, have you seen Harry?" she asked him concernedly as she descended the stairs.
"He went for a walk about twenty minutes ago," Ron answered as he dropped Teddy off his shoulders and set him on his feet. "He's pretty beaten up about what happened with the promotion."
Hermione arched an eyebrow and looked toward the door.
"I didn't tell him if that's what you're thinking," Ron asked backing away slightly. "Apparently George helped out a bit, but he knows why you're upset with him."
Hermione took a deep breath and tried to hold back the tears that were trying to well in her eyes. She made up her mind to go out and find him, just as Molly was announcing dinner.
"Hermione, could you help Fleur get the kids settled?" Molly asked over her shoulder as she began setting out the food.
She opened her mouth to decline and go after Harry, when the front door opened and Harry walked heavily through it. His eyes met Hermione's for a second and she stared back at him. Before she could make a move toward him, Harry turned his back to her, shut the door and began unfastening his cloak.
"Right, everyone, take your seats," Molly called out as everyone began to settle in. Hermione followed Harry into the dining room silently, wishing she had said something before they'd joined everyone else.
"Harry, Hermione, you two there, next to Bill," Molly continued gesturing to two empty seats near the center of the table.
Without a word to each other, they made their way over to their seats; Harry pulling out Hermione's chair for her, before taking his seat next to her. Both of them kept their hands in their laps and heads focused on the table unless spoken to, but they never once made eye contact with each other.
Around them, people were talking and having a wonderful time. Ron kept watching his best friends nervously, but knew they just needed some time to talk to each other. Unfortunately, he also knew they weren't going to get the chance for a few more hours at least. He saw the awkward movements between the two as they tried to not disturb the other, and it was painful to watch two people who were so in love with each other try to avoid each other.
He let out a large sigh, and Lavender placed her hand on his knee and squeezed it comfortingly. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek.
"They'll be ok, love," she whispered.
He gave her another weak smile and returned to his dinner.
"There's an interesting buzz around the ministry these days," Arthur said loudly calling everyone's attention to him.
Harry felt his heart stop and looked up to Mr. Weasely hoping he would get the hint to stop. But Mr. Weasely wasn't looking at him.
"It seems that Scippio Forsythe has retired from the Senior Auror position of S.A.S.S. and that Kingsley offered the position to a young Auror who has been exceptional in the field."
"Any ideas who that could be?" he asked the table jokingly.
Everyone except Ron, Harry and Hermione chuckled. Harry resumed staring at the table while Hermione, whose face had gone pale, was fidgeting with the napkin in her lap.
"Mummy?"
Hermione looked next to her at the little boy who had suddenly appeared there.
"Yes, sweetie?" she choked out still trying to control her emotions.
"Can we open presents?"
"Not until tomorrow morning, Santa hasn't come yet," she smiled brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Why don't you and Tori go play? Did you finish your dinner?"
With a small nod, Teddy walked back over to Tori and the two took off into the living room together.
"So Harry, any thoughts?" Charlie smiled as he took a sip of his drink.
"No, none," he responded quietly not looking up at anyone.
That seemed to be the end of the conversation and, as the topic moved onward, both Harry and Hermione released a deep breath.
xxx
The ride to the Granger's house was quiet. Teddy had fallen asleep in his seat as they were flying over Kent and Hermione had not said one word to Harry since she had told Harry not to talk to her. Harry was sure she was crying, though she was looking away from him the whole time. The occasional sniffle and the discreet wipe of her eyes were like a knife to the heart for Harry.
When they arrived at the Granger's, Harry gently extracted Teddy from his seat and walked him upstairs to Hermione's old room. Hermione was already there setting up the small bed that she slept in growing up. Harry laid the little boy down, and helped Hermione change him into his pajamas.
They went downstairs to talk with the Granger's, though neither one of them were in the mood. Hermione talked with her parents minimally, but Harry stayed near the window staring out at the backyard.
"Well, dear, we're happy that you made it tonight," Mrs. Granger smiled at her daughter.
"We are too," she tried to reciprocate the gesture.
"I think we've got a pretty busy morning tomorrow before we all head over to the Burrow for dinner," Mr. Granger commented. "Why don't we all get some sleep?"
Mrs. Granger agreed and Hermione helped her put away the tea tray and biscuits before turning toward the stairs.
"I'm going to set up some security wards around the house," Harry said quietly as he walked toward the front door to grab his cloak.
Hermione turned and looked at him as he opened the door and let himself out without another word. Tears sprang to her eyes again and before she knew what she was doing, she followed him out of the house.
He had his arms raised above his head as he faced the house and she could make out the slightest movements of his lips as he said the enchantments. She took a seat on the front porch steps and waited for him to finish.
"I didn't mean to ruin your Christmas," his deep voice broke through her thoughts as he lowered his arms. "I'm sorry."
"Me too," she choked out with a sad smile. "I shouldn't have ignored you like that, it's not fair."
He shot a locking spell to the front door and they both began to walk to the back of the house, Hermione with her arms crossed in front of her chest and Harry with both arms slightly swinging at his sides. He stopped to place the charms on the side of the house and she stopped right next to him.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Hermione. I screwed up. This is my fault, not yours. I put you in this situation."
He began to walk away again, but before he could, Hermione grabbed his elbow. He turned to look at her and could see just how much he had hurt her. She searched his face for a second before stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Harry held her tighter as she buried her face in his shoulder. He felt her shoulders shake as she began to cry in earnest and did his best to comfort her. When she had calmed down a bit, they continued on to the backyard with Harry's free arm looped protectively around Hermione's waist.
"Do you remember when we were in the tent, hunting horcruxes and I used to worry over every little thing?" Hermione started as they moved to the final side of the house.
Harry just nodded and pulled her closer to him as they stopped again.
"That hasn't gone away in the five years since then," she admitted. Harry grabbed her hand and led her into the back door of the house and up the stairs to the guest bedroom. He shut the door quietly after checking in on Teddy, and turned back to Hermione who was sitting on the bed.
"I don't sleep well when you're away on a mission, and I know that you've told me that no news is good news, but every day I go without a letter from you, my mind comes up with the worst possible scenarios."
By this point, Hermione's resolve not to cry had completely crumbled and Harry was kneeling in front of her cupping her face in his hands.
"When you told me you got this promotion, I felt that anxiety double," she sniffled. "But at the same time, I know that you are the perfect person for this job and I feel selfish for wanting you to decline the position."
Harry interrupted her next statement with a sound kiss to the lips. Hermione fisted his cloak in her hands as sobs overtook her body and she collapsed against him when they broke apart. Harry rubbed her back soothingly and kissed her temple as he sank to the floor with her in his lap.
"Hermione, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" he whispered against her hair as he held her.
"Because I know that you love your job and I didn't want you to give it up just because I am an overly paranoid wife."
Harry chuckled and Hermione felt it rumble through his chest. She snuggled closer to him.
"I want you to listen to me, Hermione. No answering, just listen," he started. Hermione nodded her head against him.
"As much as I love my job, you and Teddy are my first priority. I can always find a different position in the Aurors or go teach at Hogwarts; Merlin knows McGonagall sends enough letters asking if I want a teaching post."
Hermione's face broke into a small smile and she looked up at him.
"If I had known about any of this before I was offered the Senior Auror position, I never would have even considered it, let alone accepted it. It doesn't excuse the fact that I didn't talk to you about it first either. I should have done that regardless."
He squeezed her tighter to him and caught a glimpse of his watch. Teddy was going to be up in a few hours.
"I'm sorry, love," he said again.
Hermione kissed him tenderly as she cupped his face with one hand.
They got up and changed into their pajamas before climbing into bed.
Harry snuggled up behind his wife wrapping an arm around her waist as she clutched it between her arms against her chest. He gently kissed the back of her neck and nuzzled his face into her as he made himself comfortable.
A/N: I know it's been a while since I've published anything, but I think I've finally got some inspiration. We'll see where this goes, i do have a pretty good idea though. Let me know what you think and, as always, happy reading.
Cheers,
Em
