Title: Chores
Rating: T
Pairings/Characters: Harry/Hermione
Prompt: Chores
Warning: None
Disclaimer: I don't own, and I'm definitely not making any money off of this.
Word Count: 677

Notes: I haven't written since January 2021. This is me trying to get back into it. Decided to ease back in by going to one of my favorite Harry Potter pairings.

Chores

Harry dusted the mantle while Hermione watched from the doorway with shrewd eyes. It took a while for him to notice that he was no longer alone. He looked over his shoulder with a smile lighting up his face. "Hey, Hermione, I didn't hear you get home."

"Yeah, did you enjoy your day off?" she asked.

There was something odd in her voice that caused Harry to pause his cleaning. "Yeah, I got a lot of chores down around the house."

Hermione nodded, as if he just confirmed something for her. "You know, we might have both grown up in Muggle households, but we are magical. If you wanted to do housework, you could have done it the magical way and then still been able to relax on your day off. You didn't have to spend your whole day cleaning."

Harry shrugged. He looked back at the mantle and start wiping it down again. "I don't mind."

"I know you don't mind. What I'm saying is you didn't have to."

Harry's shoulders were stiff as he stared at the mantle; his wiping became more ferocious. "Why are you making such a big deal of this?"

"I'm not the one that seems angry that I'm talking about it."

"Just want to be useful and help you out. Is that such a bad thing?"

There were soft footsteps and then Hermione's arms were winding around his torso. "Of course, that's not a bad thing. And I love that you want to help me around the house. I appreciate it. But I also want you to enjoy your day off instead of spending the whole day working. You work hard with the Aurors. You deserve some time to relax. To unwind."

Harry's body lost some of the stiffness as he allowed his wife's touch to soothe him. "I'm sorry for getting angry. I know you were just worried."

"Can you blame me? I know your childhood."

Harry swallowed at the reminder of the Dursleys. At the memory of what life was like before magic, before he knew and understood love. "I did all the housework. I know I had to in order to avoid a frying pan to the head or a belt to the arse, but I probably would have done it all anyways, even without the threats. If it meant they might love me. Just a little bit. I would have done anything they asked me in order to earn their love."

"You don't need to do all of the housework to earn my love. You already have it just by being you. My self-sacrificing idiot of a husband who has way too big of a hero complex. The man that drives me up the wall and makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. The same man who I know will always be there for me and never judge me for being me. You could be on Ron's level of sloppiness, and I'd still love you." She pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade. "But please, don't take that as an invitation to be at Ron's level of sloppiness. I'd still love you, but I really might pull my hair out."

Harry chuckled as he turned around in Hermione's embrace, wrapping her in a warm hug. "Don't worry. You're safe. I'm not sure how Ron does it, but I could never be at that level." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Hermione's lips.

She eagerly returned it, opening her mouth to his exploring tongue, moaning as the kiss grew more heated and Harry's hands wandered down, grabbing her behind and squeezing. She broke the kiss, panting lightly. "I know you've been cleaning all day. Are you too tired for some activities in our bedroom?"

"Never too tired for that," he murmured, capturing her lips again as he lifted her up.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her upstairs to their room. And if they were so busy that they missed dinner…

Well, that was no one's business but their own.