A thank you to Dorothea Greengrass, Wake The Dragon, and Webstriker for edits and some ideas.

Live, Laugh, Love

Harry turned the knob as slowly as possible, using both hands for stability and for the way it muffled the slight click of the apparatus. He felt the latch give and paused a moment before he opened the door with a gentle push. He stepped into the room and closed the door without a sound as he released the handle only a fraction of a turn at a time.

The living room was scattered with various toys, shoes, papers, and crayons. Freeing the House Elves had been a momentous occasion, but there had been repercussions, and household chores were the first casualty. He had suggested hiring some help but his wife vehemently refused; she could be just as stubborn as he when she wanted.

He deftly manoeuvred through the maze and was conscious to avoid the known creaky spots in the floor. He made it to the kitchen undetected and was only a few steps away from his goal. His wife's back was turned to him, long blonde hair tied up in a messy bun on the back of her head. She preferred wearing it down, but babies' hands had pulled out enough locks over the years that she sacrificed the comfort of loose hair for the safety of having it tied up.

The baby was 9 months old, so she might've given away his presence with her eyes—they always got big when she saw her dad walk in the room—had she not been intently focused on the spoon full of smashed up pears. That level of secret-keeping would only last a couple more months at best, so this was one of the last times he would be able to surprise his wife. He tried to come home for lunch as often as possible, but he never knew exactly how his daily schedule would play out so even though his arrival was anticipated, the time was never set in stone.

A couple more steps and his hands could attack her sides just below the ribs, which would send her into a fit of giggles. It would likely send the baby food flying in the air as well but the extra cleanup would be worth it.

His eyes firmly on his target he forgot to look down, and he set his foot down on something squishy—

Squeak

Daphne gave a little jump, but she didn't turn around, instead she continued to feed the baby.

Harry looked down and recognized Kayla's favourite squishy toy, a koala. The innocent-looking toy had thwarted his devious plan.

'Couldn't quite navigate the minefield, huh?' she said as if this was all her design and she had emerged victorious.

'I guess not,' he said as he brought his hands to her sides. Though he had lost the element of surprise, he still wanted to hear her giggles, the sound was like music to his ears.

She brought her elbows down sharply to her side to gain freedom from his attack. That caused a little flick of the spoon and a small remnant of baby food ended up on her face. The tickling ceased and he leaned around her as she tilted her head to greet him with a kiss.

Over ten years of marriage, the days—and nights—of passionate snogging had given way more commonly to little pecks "Hello" or "Goodbye." Every once in a while, to let his wife know he still found her extremely attractive—regardless of what four babies had done to her body—or just to spice things up a little, he would hold the kiss a little longer. If the older kids were around and the kiss drew an, "Eww, mummy and daddy are kissing," he knew he had succeeded in mixing things up.

Today, his kiss lingered and she returned it, though her lips were kept firmly pressed together, completely rejecting any advances of his tongue. That was a bit disappointing, but he also knew exactly what it meant.

'You realize it is already after noon,' Harry said teasingly.

'Well, I've had more important things to do today,' Daphne replied matter-of-factly.

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah, it was pink sock day for Laurel. Of course, she could only find one of her flamingo socks. Hagrid left his lunch on the counter, so we had to come back and get it, which made us late for school. Henry had a huge blowout on the way home, so I had to strip the fabric off the car seat. Scourgify doesn't quite cut it. Fortunately, Kayla has been an angel all morning.'

'Sounds fun.'

'Then we went to the orchard and picked some fruit.'

He wiped the baby food off Daphne's face with a thumb. 'Mmm, pear. Then you made this delicious baby food by yourself?'

'I did,' she said proudly.

'You are so talented. And you know that I don't care that you haven't brushed your teeth, I still want to kiss you.'

'I know, I just can't imagine it is very pleasant.'

'It certainly beats the alternative.'

'Which is?' she asked leadingly. She knew the answer, but hearing him say it out loud was always a gentle reassurance, so she pressed the issue.

'Not kissing you.'

'Come here you sweet talker.' She pulled him down for a real kiss, and he hummed his satisfaction.

'I still got the moves,' Harry said in mock arrogance after they broke apart.

'Ha! You know what I love about your moves?'

'What's that?'

'That I know they won't work on anyone else!'

'Well, I guess we'll never find out since you're the only one I ever use them on.'

'What would you like for lunch? You get all cheesy when you're hungry.'

'You know me so well. A sandwich would be perfect.'

'Can't you make that yourself?'

'I could, but it just doesn't taste the same,' he said with pouty eyes.

'How is it different?'

'You make it with love.'

'That is the worst argument I've ever heard. Finish feeding Kayla her pears,' she said with a roll of her eyes. This was a discussion they'd had countless times, and his point truly had nothing to do with the flavour. It had taken a few years before she understood that it was just simple acts of service that made him feel loved. It was the same way that she just wanted to spend quality time together, be it a little walk or tuning out other distractions just to talk.

She got up from her chair and handed Harry the baby food as well as the spoon.

'Thanks, honey,' he said with a grateful smile.

'Are you all ready for bed?' Harry asked his two eldest as he entered their room.

'Yes, dad,' they both intoned in annoyance, out of habit more than anything.

'You brushed your teeth?'

'I did!' Hagrid was so excited that he remembered the task that he so often forgot, and Laurel nodded her affirmative response. Harry didn't need to check with Laurel, she had been in the habit for years. Hagrid on the other hand liked to battle with this routine and had been caught trying to deceive his parents on more than one occasion.

'Let me smell your breath,' Harry said.

Hagrid bounced over and breathed into Harry's face. The smell of mint was evident, and Harry nodded his approval, accompanied by a smile.

'Wait!' Hagrid said after he had taken a few steps towards his bed. He turned back around to face his father. 'You need to check the back ones too.' He scampered back to his father and blasted a large breath into his father's face.

'Very good, Hagrid. The back ones smell clean too.' Harry almost couldn't get the words out in between his laughs.

'Are we all set for bed?' Daphne asked as she entered the room. She had a large smile on her face, she had obviously heard the encounter from out in the hall.

'Yes, mum!' Hagrid declared.

'Mum, why did you name me Laurel?'

'I'll answer that,' Harry cut in. 'Your mother's name comes from a Greek story of a woman named Daphne who ends up turning into a laurel tree. Since you are part your mum, we thought the name Laurel was good for you.'

'How am I part mum?'

'Nice going, sweetie,' Daphne said dryly to her husband. 'Only one question per night, that's the rule, remember,' Daphne said sweetly yet firmly to her daughter.

'My turn,' Hagrid piped up. 'How did I get my name?' His questions often mirrored those of his older sister.

'I can answer that,' Daphne said. 'Hagrid was one of your father's first real friends, and he might be the only person who has never tried to manipulate your father.'

'What does eniplate mean?' Hagrid asked.

'It means that people would try to trick him to do things without telling him why,' Daphne explained. The one question rule certainly wasn't applied in a consistent fashion.

'Like what you do to get us to clean our room!' Laurel accused.

'No, there is a good reason for that, and we have told you. If you had kept your room clean, do you think we would have spent ten minutes looking for a sock this morning?'

'No,' Laurel responded, defeated. 'Have you mapipelated daddy before?'

'Yes,' Daphne replied with a coy smile. 'I sometimes manipulate daddy to do things I don't want to do.'

Harry ran a hand through his hair. 'I think it's time for us all to go to sleep now.'

'Yes, it's time for bed. Goodnight, kids.'

'Mum, I'm thirsty,' Hagrid whined.

'Here's some water,' Harry said as he conjured a glass and filled it with water.

'But I want fridge water.'

'Alright, I'll go get you some.' He stepped out into the hall, produced a Cooling Charm and chilled the water. Then he returned to the room and handed Hagrid the water.

'This isn't fridge water. You weren't gone long enough,' Hagrid said knowingly.

'You are getting too smart for your own good,' Harry claimed.

'Just go get it, and I'll tell them a story,' Daphne said softly.

Harry left and returned with a couple glasses of cold water—Laurel may not have asked, but he knew the question would come if he came back without water for her as well—and the children's miraculously consistent bedtime thirst was quenched.

'Daddy. mummy said you would tell us one more story for bedtime,' Laurel said as he was getting prepared to leave the room.

'She did, did she?' he asked rhetorically. He looked at Daphne as he said, 'But you are such a better storyteller than I am.'

'I know, but they don't need exciting right now, they need boring,' Daphne replied.

'My stories aren't boring,' he retorted.

'The stories aren't boring, just the way you tell them.' He feigned offence. She leaned in close, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered, 'The more boring the story, the sooner they go to sleep. Unless you'd prefer them to have an exciting story and you have the boring night.'

His eyes popped open and eyebrows shot up, heat filled his cheeks. Even after all these years, the warmth of her breath and the glancing touch of her lips on his ear still sent chills down his spine.

'Storytime kids,' he proclaimed with finality.

Daphne said her final "Goodnights" and kissed each of the children one more time before leaving the room.

'Did mummy just epipelate you, daddy?' Hagrid asked.

Harry let out a soft laugh. 'Yeah, I guess she kinda did. But she doesn't try to trick me or take advantage of me. In the end, I'm happy with mummy's manipulations.'

He began his story and true to Daphne's word the children were asleep in no time. He shook his head at her prophetic tendencies. He placed a kiss on the forehead of each child and stealthily creeped out of the room.

He found Daphne curled up on the sofa reading a book. She marked her spot and closed the book as he sat down on the other end. Daphne stretched her legs and allowed her feet to rest on his lap. Her desires needed no words and he took one foot in his hands and began to rub.

'Why are my stories boring while yours aren't? Don't we tell a lot of the same stories?' he asked.

'Yes, but when you tell the stories you give all the credit to others and claim everything that you did was just luck.'

'Well, it's true.'

'Not to the degree you claim, and your kids want to hear about you, not others. When I tell them, I try to tell them what you were thinking and why you did what you did. You're already their hero, you don't have to try to hide your achievements.'

'They don't really feel like achievements. It was just survival.'

'I think you know what I mean. But let's talk about what you said when I left,' she said coyly.

'Just told them one of my boring stories,' he said, wracking his brain for any other conversations that were had.

'And the part about being happy with my "manipulations." ' Her eyes sparkled with satisfaction.

'Oh, yeah. That.' She still had the ability to make him blush. And he had that "how did you hear that" look.

'Did you forget about the permanent Listening Charm I have set up in their room?'

'I suppose I did. What I didn't say was that I think you are just as happy with them as I am.' He added a roguish smile. She swung her feet off his lap, onto the floor and rose to her feet. She then took his hand and gave a gentle tug.

'Only one way to find out.'

~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed this very little one-shot. I may add more scenes to this story as things hit, but I have no immediate plans. This just struck and I wanted to get it down.