Weasley Women Brunch

"Harry?"

Harry had to resist the urge to frown. He was listening to a quidditch match on the wireless and Hermione was usually very conscientious about not interrupting; she would sit quietly with him reading a book, or just leave him alone entirely. It was just one of the countless unspoken agreements between them that were rarely broken without good reason.

Which meant that right now she either had something she was nervous to tell him, or she was about to talk him into doing something that he would rather not do. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be good, but it would only be worse if she felt like he wasn't giving her his full attention.

He turned to face her and felt his eyes widen in surprise. She was standing in front him wearing a short lacy nightgown and a silk robe. Her hair was down and wild around her face and her face had been scrubbed free of makeup. She appeared to be ready for bed, except Hermione always slept in one of the many shirts she'd stolen from him over the years- a little quirk of hers that he actually adored.

She had lingerie for special occasions, but Harry knew for a fact she didn't own anything like the outfit she was currently wearing. Or, at least, she hadn't when he'd left for Berlin earlier this week.

She looked beautiful but she was refusing to make eye contact and dancing around on her toes like she was nervous. His stomach churned.

"What is it, love?" He asked carefully.

She took a deep breath, then finally raised her chin and met his eyes. "Do you ever wish that I was more feminine?"

Harry blinked in surprise. Opened his mouth and closed it. Blinked again. He allowed his gaze to trace her form from her full lips, over her lush curves- even lusher these days as a result of her pregnancy, down her slender legs, to her dainty feet, and back again until she began to squirm.

"Harry?"

"Sorry," he swallowed, "I don't think I understand." He'd learned enough over the years to know that it probably wasn't a good idea to blurt out the first thing that came to his mind, which was that he thought she was the very essence of femininity; lest she believe he was just brushing her off, because this was clearly bothering her. And while some people might have been satisfied to just take the compliment, Hermione would need to explain what was troubling her before she could move past it.

"You know, more like Lavender?" She continued.

And this time Harry couldn't stop himself from blurting out his first thought which was: "I can't think of a single way I would ever want you to be more like Lavender."

Hermione pursed her lips but let out a sound that was suspiciously like a laugh.

"What brought this on?" He asked, this behavior was very unlike her.

She pursed her lips. "We had our monthly Weasley women brunch today."

Harry bit back a groan and kissed his hope for a peaceful evening recovering from a week abroad being paraded around like a prized bull goodbye. Because while, in theory, the monthly brunch was a nice tradition, and Harry was grateful that the Weasleys included Hermione, because she would have been crushed to be snubbed, in practice, it was the bane of his existence.

All too often his wife came home with hurt feelings.

Ginny was Hermione's best girl friend and could always be called upon to be her staunchest defender. On top of which Angelina- George's wife- was fantastic and as far as Harry was concerned, Hermione could spend as much time with her as she pleased and he wouldn't lose a moment's sleep over it. And as guilty as he felt over the thought, Percy's wife Audrey might as well have been furniture for all she usually contributed to a situation. So he had no problem with his wife socializing with any of the three of them.

But the combined forces of Molly, Fleur, and Lavender had a way of tying his usually brilliant and confident witch into tight little knots of insecurity. He hated it and, of course, he couldn't even complain to his other best friend about it.

"Ah," unwilling to comment further until he had a better idea of what he was dealing with. He held out his arms for her and she walked into them, then he covered them in a blanket because as pretty as that little nightgown was, she had to be freezing.

"What happened?"

She squirmed in his arms and let out a little huff. "Gin had extra training so she couldn't make it."

"Ah," he repeated. As Molly's only actual daughter, Ginny felt a freedom to put her mother in her place when it really needed to be done that the other women in her family didn't, her absence did not bode well for the coming tale.

Hermione took a shaky breath. "It was fine at first. We were talking about the Victory Ball, because you know it's the tenth year anniversary."

Harry nodded- as if he could forget.

"Lavender asked if I had a gown and I explained that I hadn't had the opportunity to start looking because I've been so busy with work. I also said that I thought since I'll be even bigger by then than I am now, that it would probably be a good idea to wait until closer to the event to buy something, in any case."

"Mmm," he said noncommittally. Truth was, he and Hermione both despised the annual Victory Ball and if they could get away with skipping it, they would. The last thing his wife wanted to do was spend weeks searching for a dress for the blasted thing, and he certainly couldn't blame her.

Hermione huffed in a way that he was intimately familiar with and therefore knew meant that she was truly aggravated.

"And she said, and I quote: 'well I guess that's okay for a normal year because you always manage to scrounge something up and look fine anyway, but there's going to be even more attention on you and Harry this year, so it probably couldn't hurt to put in a little actual effort.'"

Harry snorted. He liked Lavender...for about five minutes at a time. But she was good for Ron so he did his best to get along with her and generally kept his opinion that she was a shallow, spiteful ninny to himself. However, when she made Hermione the target of her bitchy little comments- as she often did- he kind of wanted to strangle her, and more than once he'd lost his temper with her.

"And then," Hermione continued, "she very helpfully advised me that I should avoid getting too much bigger anyway because it will take me too long to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Then she just happened to begin discussing an article she read in Witch Weekly about romance and sex after having children and how important it is to make sure that your partner doesn't feel neglected at home so that he doesn't start looking elsewhere for attention."

"Whoa, let me stop you right there. Look at me please." Harry tapped her chin and Hermione met his eyes with her suspiciously wet ones and he took a deep breath so that he wouldn't snap at her. He knew she was especially sensitive these days. "Is that something you're worried about?"

Her eyes went wide and she vigorously shook her head. "No, not at all, that's just not the kind of man that you are. Even if you did feel neglected, you'd come to me and we'd work it out. And actually-" her lips twitched- "you kind of seem to like this," she ran her hands down her waist.

"I do," he eyed his wife's new figure, proof that she was growing their child within her.

"I just don't understand why she feels the need to be so mean! She's married. Happily, I thought. And I am too! So, it's not like we're in any competition, this isn't Hogwarts."

"But you know that she's just jealous, right?"

Hermione looked genuinely confused. "Jealous?"

Harry tried to stifle a chuckle as he knew that Hermione was feeling very vulnerable at the moment. "You're smarter, wealthier, and more important than she will ever be. She resents you for it and will be trying to put you down for the rest of our lives as a result. She's been doing it since Hogwarts."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Are you saying that she wanted you?"

"No, she never expressed any kind of interest in me, and I don't think she was hiding it or anything. But at the same time I don't think she expected you to catch me, so to speak, and that angers her."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, though I'm very happy that she was wrong," he leaned into her and nuzzled her neck."And for the record I was caught when I was eleven."

"You were not!"

"Maybe I didn't know it, but I was."

She rolled her eyes but then took a deep breath. "And you're really-" her breath hitched, "okay with the idea that I will go back to work after the baby comes?"

"Hermione," he said gently, "I've known you for most of my life. I knew the woman I was marrying." He paused, trying to decide how to phrase what he wanted to say next. "I respect the Weasley women, but they don't make decisions for us. Now, as lovely as it is, what is with this?" He tugged on her nightie. "Because I sense a story here."

"Gods, I'm starting to feel really stupid."

"Lay it on me."

"It was suggested to me that I should have gone on your trip with you. And that I don't try hard enough or properly support you as your wife. And oh my god, I've turned into a cliche of female insecurity," she buried her face against his shoulder.

He tried to keep his chuckles quiet but she was pressed against him and could feel him shaking.

"Don't laugh at me!" But then she snorted. "Actually, laugh, this is ridiculous."

"I love you," he murmured, "but this is the weirdest conversation we've ever had and that's saying something."

"You got me pregnant."

"I did do that," he conceded.

"So it's entirely your fault."

"Yep."

"I'm going to go get some ice cream. Turn your quidditch back on."

"Is that your way of saying that you're not going to share?"

"Sure I will, with your child."

She grinned at him, her nose wrinkled, so pleased with herself at her joke. He could only smile in return and shake his head. He loved her so much, he often didn't even know what to do with the feeling. Tonight he would make sure to steal a few spoonfuls of ice cream. She would never respect him if he didn't even try.