Today was Hermione's 44th birthday. Like in the past twenty years of their marriage, Harry woke up early that morning to prepare a breakfast for bed for his lovely wife.
That morning, Harry quietly walked downstairs to the kitchen. He was happy his oldest children David and Ella were at Hogwarts while their youngest son Charles was having a sleepover with Ron's children. It meant less distractions for Harry as he prepared Hermione's favourite breakfast.
What Hermione loved eating the most were waffles with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. It was something she only allowed herself on her birthday, both because she wanted to keep her figure and because, having been raised by dentists, she did not like eating sugary things too often. Old habits die hard.
So, that morning, Harry took out the old waffle maker and a trusty, large measuring cup. Then, he began grabbing the different ingredients needed for the waffles. As he began putting the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, he thought back on his marriage with Hermione. Proposing to Hermione had been the best decision he had ever made in his life. Twenty years later and he still believed himself to be the luckiest bloke alive. Grinning, he looked back down at his batter. His grin vanished.
"Oh dear..." he muttered as he took in the amount of flour laying on the counter. Only a few weeks ago, Harry had suffered an accident at work. He had mostly recovered but he still had problems with his magic. While that wasn't that bad in itself - Harry being more than able to live without it - he also suffered from something else: his hand coordination was all wonky. When he had distracted himself with thoughts of Hermione, he hadn't concentrated on what he was doing, resulting in him pouring the flour on the counter instead of inside the bowl. "Well... I'll just clean it afterward." he said as he filled the measuring cup with flour again.
Once he was done with the batter, he let it rest as he plugged the waffle maker in the wall. Then, he took the dirty dishes and dragged them to the sink. As he couldn't use magic because of his accident, it meant he would have to do it by hand. He knew it was not the best idea because of his hand coordination but he did not want to leave dirty dishes for Hermione to clean on her birthday. It just wasn't cool.
As he cleaned the dishes, he noticed he had a hard time doing his task. With the soapy water covering his hands, the ustensils just wouldn't stay stick in his hands. It meant he had to put a bigger effort in concentrating on his task.
Then, suddenly, Harry overheard sound coming from upstairs. "Did Hermione wake up?" he asked himself, turning around sharply. Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to do as the brush immediately went flying toward the waffle maker and the batter. Gasping, Harry threw himself after the brush. He was very relieved when he managed to catch it.
"Take that, brush! Even my accident couldn't stop the seeker in me!" he grinned before he accidently put his hand in the bowl full of batter. He immediately jerked his hand away but not before accidently throwing the bowl toward the other side of the kitchen. With another gasp, Harry ran after the bowl and only managed to catch it before he crashed on the ground. Sighing in relief, he slowly and surely (his hands were still wet and soapy) put the bowl back on the edge of the counter. Then, he took a step back.
He immediately felt something under one of his foot. Frowning, Harry looked down. "How did that get in there?" he asked, bending down to grab the fork on the floor. Unfortunately for him, the bowl of batter had been a bit too close to the edge of the counter and chose this moment to fall down, turning and falling on his head and spattering batter everywhere on his face and shirt. The shock made Harry fall on his bum.
Resigned, Harry used his clean hand to wipe his eyes. When he opened them again, it was to see Hermione standing in front of him, gaping at him. "Good morning, Hermione, and happy 44th birthday!" he said without missing a beat.
Hermione stayed silent for a few seconds... before she promptly burst out laughing.