The Twinkle in His Eyes
Chapter One
Standing in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, Hermione Granger looked at her underwear clad body. At the tender age of twenty-five, she was working full time at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The hours were never ending and her triumphs were few and far apart — but she loved it, and enjoyed herself immensely with both the research and the fieldwork. She was successful at what she did, even if her personal life was basically non-existent. Inspecting her form once more, she sighed. The black lace hugged her body perfectly, even if she didn't have much curves to speak of. But there were many scars marring her body, taking away any beauty her petite frame might have had. Her 'Mudblood' scar — the worst of all — was still as prominent as ever, and she rubbed the puckered skin.
She was expected at one of the never ending birthday parties in the Burrow, and while she loved the Weasley's like her own family, they were a rowdy bunch to deal with. After the war, she and Ron had decided to make a go of their relationship and the first month in, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. During the second month Ron noticed how their new found status as War Heroes influenced the way women looked at him and during the third month, their fighting had become so bad, she more than once fled their apartment crying. They never made it to the fourth.
She'd left all the bitterness regarding their break-up in the years that followed, and she was proud to say that she had been genuinely happy for him when Ron had announced he was going to marry an Irish girl he'd met in a pub. The fact that the engagement lasted less then six months was a different matter all together, but after it Ron never found himself without a pretty girl on his arm. And she was more than able to live with that.
However, during those years after the war, most of her magical family had paired up and some of them had already started popping out offspring. Merlin, even Ginny was currently trying to convince Harry that a second baby was exactly what they needed. She didn't blame them, but after Percy had met Audrey, and George found his way to Angelina, she was more and more the odd one out. She'd dated of course, but none of the blokes lasted long enough for her to introduce them to the Weasley's. And the last few times when they had all met up, Molly had not so subtly asked when she was going to get serious and give her some more grandchildren.
Smoothing a few loose curls away from her face, she picked up a long-sleeved, blue wrap-dress that she'd had gotten for the occasion and stepped into a pair of sensible heels. She had wrangled her hair into a somewhat decent bun and managed to apply a little bit of make-up without looking like a raccoon. The blue dress she put on showed off the little bit of cleavage that she had and having spend the last couple of months on assignment in the south of Spain, her complexion had a healthy tan. She looked good, considering. Giving herself a smile in the mirror, she glanced to the freshly cleaned vibrator and dildo laying on her duvet. At least she was more than satisfied in that department. She picked up her magically extended purse and her wand from her bed and Disapparated.
~~~
As usual, the Burrow was in a state of chaos. It was Percy's birthday and because it was the end of August, the centre of the party was located in the garden. Someone had erected a party tent and a couple of parasols to keep the many, many partygoers out of the sun wherever possible. Nevertheless, the garden seemed to be bursting at it seams.
"Hermione!" Ginny was the first to spot her, and hurried over to her with an energetic James bouncing on her hip. "It so good to see you! How was Spain? Any Spaniards I need to know about? Please tell me there are Spaniards I need to know about!"
Laughing, Hermione embraced her friend and gave her godson a kiss on his cheek. "It is good to see you too Gin, and little James of course. My, look how much you have grown in these last weeks!"
Grinning like the proud mama-bear Ginny was, she handed him over to Hermione for further inspection. He immediately tried to grab one of Hermione's runaway curls, but she managed to hold his hand in her own fist before he succeeded in his goal. Giving him another kiss and a smile, the two women walked towards the partytent.
"Quick as always, Jamie," she said to the toddler in her arms. "You've got your parents Quidditch reflexes."
"Up Hermie, up," he giggled and grabbed some fabric of her dress, before he settled himself against her.
"And you, Miss Child-Whisperer," Ginny grumbled at Hermione with a smile, "we've been trying to get him to calm down for about an hour, but no, two seconds in your arms, and he's as happy as a Goblin in a pile of Galleons."
"You can't really blame him, can you?" George interrupted. "I mean, I wouldn't make a fuss either if I got to cuddle against a gorgeous witch's bosom."
"And undress her as well, he obviously has good taste," Ron added, greeting Hermione with a wink.
She huffed and looked down at her cleavage, where some black lace from her bra was showing due to James' grip on her dress. She tried to cover it back up, but James wasn't letting go, still giggling and putting his other fingers in his mouth.
"Well, it's good to see you too boys. George, how is your intended? And Ron, still going strong with Cerise?"
They laughed and talked for a while, before Hermione started to make the rounds looking for Percy, with — after a pleading look from Ginny — James still in her arms. She had gotten Percy a very nice book on the history of muggle governments throughout the ages, and she wanted to give it to him before she was completely swept into the festivities. She was greeted by Arthur and Molly and even more Weasley's, friends and people she knew from the Ministry, who asked how she was doing and whether her assignment had been successful. She even bumped into Luna, who greeted her with a big smile, a compliment on her tan and the way she managed to get the Wrackspurts around her under control. But no Percy, or Audrey for that matter.
"Where is that uncle of yours, huh?" She muttered to Jamie, while brushing some dark locks out of his face. It yet remained to be seen whether his hair would turn completely black like his father's or whether the Weasley genes would push through and make them more red. Hermione didn't care either way, as she pressed a kiss against James's hair. It was perfectly soft and smelled like baby, which ever since his birth, was one of her favorite smells in the world.
"Funny Hermie," the toddler said back to her and she smiled. She figured that Percy must have gone inside and walked towards the back entrance near the kitchen. While turning the last corner, James managed to get a hold on one of her curls and yanked on it with all his might. Hermione stopped herself from crying out, but while she tried to stop the toddler from pulling even more on her hair, she ran into a large, heavy body, of which she bounced off. She felt herself falling backwards and she wrapped her arms as protective as possible around the child in her arms.
"Merlin's balls, Hermione!"
Before she hit the ground, a pair of strong hands grabbed her, and stopped her from falling backwards completely. She was hovering a few feet of the ground, and she had lost her footing. Looking up, she looked straight into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Charlie," she breathed, while trying to get her feet under her. "Are you okay?"
"Me? How about you?" He laughed and looked her over. His gaze dropped towards James, who was clutching her dress even more tightly than before, and even further down towards her legs. He was standing half over her, with his legs on either side of her. Following his paused look, she saw that her dress had fallen open, revealing her entire leg, including a hint of her underwear.
Her cheeks heated up immediately and she scrambled, trying to stand up. It wasn't until Charlie took a step back, with her arms still in his massive hands, that she was able to.
Charlie's gaze snapped back towards her face, while making sure that she had found her balance. At least, that was what he was doing? He wasn't letting go of her arms and his eyes looked a bit darker, his pupils more dilated. But surely that was just the change of light.
"Charlie! Up! Up!" James yelled, thankfully releasing her hair and reaching with both hands for his uncle.
I am a long time reader and this is my first time publishing. Please let me know what you think!