* Potions *

It had been a pretty exahusting day, and it still wasn't finished. She still had a few reports to finish. She walked in the kitchen of the little cottage in Ottery St. Catchpole where Ron was cooking dinner. He looked at her and smiled.
"Busy day?" he asked. She went and kissed him sweetly on the lips.
"It still hasn't finished. I still have two reports to finish for tomorrow." she said putting the files she was holding on the table.
"Good thing that dinner is almost ready." he said waving his wand so plates and glasses flew from the cabinets and the cuttlery flew from drawers to the table.
"Where's Belle?" she asked as she took the files again.
"In her room playing. You wanna get her?" he asked. Hermione nodded, kissed Ron one more time and went upstairs. She stopped at a lilac and yellow room and looked at the 5-year-old red-haired girl sat on the floor throwing things inside a cauldron. Hermione smiled a bit. It reminded her of the time when she was 12 and was brewing polyjuice potion in the girl's bathroom at school. She knocked on the door, not taking her eyes off her daughter. The little girl turned her head to it and smiled widely.
"Hi mommy!" she greeted. Hermione left her files on a little chair next to the door and went to her daughter.
"Hi, baby! What are you doing?" she asked, kissing her daughter's head as she sat on the floor next to the little girl.
"I'm making a potion." Belle said in a matter-of-factly tone as she poured some glitter into the cauldron. She was surrounded by little bottles that had pretend liquids and ingredients, all of them were part of a potions toy kit that Hermione had purchased at George's store a few weeks before when Belle took an interest into potion making. Hermione just smiled a little. She loved to see her daughter so concentrated on her own games.
"And what kind of potion, may I ask?" Hermione asked.
"A make-you-big potion." Belle replied not taking her eyes off the cauldron. Hermione looked at her.
"You mean an Aging Potion?" she corrected. Belle looked at her and nodded. "And why are you making that potion?" Hermione asked later.
"So I can be big like you." the little girl said as if her answer was plain obvious. Hermione's heart melted.
"Why do you want to be big like me, sweetheart?" the bushy-haired woman asked.
"So I can help you with your work. If I help you with it, then you'll finish faster and you'll have more time to play with me." Belle said. Hermione could now feel her heart shattering to pieces and she looked at the little girl with tears in her eyes. She had been so absorbed in her work lately that she hadn't been around to see her daughter much. And Belle was growing up so much and so fast that Hermione regretted missing things from her life.
"That's... incredibly sweet of you, darling. And mommy's very sorry that she's not here with you very often and that she has to work so much. But... mommy has a very important job, and she wants to do it good so she can make the world better for you and everyone." Hermione explained, sniffing. Belle just looked at her. She knew her mom was working to give magical creatures better rights and, in her eyes, her mom was a heroine. However, she missed playing tea party with her or reading before dinnertime.
"I know, mommy." Belle said. Hermione smiled.
"How about you stay this little for some time, and instead you and I make a new and better potion after dinner?" Hermione suggested. Belle looked at her with big eyes and a big smile on her face. She nodded vigorously and took her toy wand that was next to her on the floor.
"Tergo" she said waving her wand around the cauldron. She then looked at her mom and stood up. Hermione stood up as well and took her daughter's hand. "What potion will we make, mommy?" she asked as the walked down the stairs.
"I don't know." Hermione said. "What do you think we should make?" she asked as they reached the kitchen.
Belle thought for a while. She had that pensive expresion: her eyebrows furred, eyes looking up at the roof, her index finger taping her chin. It was a lot like Hermione, and Ron thought she was adorable.
"Maybe a potion that makes you faster so you finish your work quick." the little girl said. Hermione smiled as they sat at the table and had dinner.
After dinner, Ron found his wife and his daughter sitting on the floor of the little girl's room. He leaned against the doorframe and just watched them as they mixed things in the cauldron placed in front of them, talking about the different ingredients the potion was going to have. When everything was finished. Belle took her toy wand and looked at Hermione, encouraging her to do the same thing. Hermione grabbed her wand and imitated her daughter, saying the same words she was pronouncing. When they were finished, Belle gave Hermione a small bottle to put the potion in. Hermione carefully took the cauldron and put the potion in it, then she closed it tight and sealed it with magic.
"What should we call our potion?" Hermione asked Belle.
"Mommy and Belle's fast potion." Belle said solemnly. Hermione smiled and wrote the words in the label.
"Now, it's time for bed for you. So we should clean this." Hermione said. Belle stood up and started to put her things away. Hermione tucked her in and sat on the bed, strocking the little girl's red curls.
"Don't forget to take the potion tomorrow, mommy." Belle said. Hermione smiled and kissed her daughter's head.
"I won't, baby girl." she said, then got up, turned off the lights and left the room.
The next day, Hermione got up really early to finish her reports and left for work. She kept the little bottle with her, looking at it from time to time. She smiled. From that day on, she left work in time to pick up her daughter from school. Some days, Ron picked her up, but Hermione was home an hour or so after that, and she made sure to spend time with her family. She wanted to do good in the world, but most importantly, she wanted to do good at home. And that was more important to her than any laws in the world.