Ch 89: Birthday Plans

Hermione had been racking her brain to think of something she could do or get for Ron for his birthday. When she had tried to pull off a surprise party, he had overwhelmed her by proposing. She knew he wouldn't want more stuff, and there were only so many pictures of the kids she could get away with giving him. She had picked up another risqué knicker set, but that didn't seem like something she could give him in front of Hugo. But one Sunday afternoon at a Weasley Dinner at The Burrow, she was struck with an idea. Ron had drifted off to the sitting room and was beating every brother who dared challenge him in chess while Hugo and Lilly had convinced Teddy to play exploding snap with them in the corner. Hermione took advantage of the tranquil scene of distraction to seek out her mother in law in the kitchen. Molly was conducting a parade of now clean and dry dishes back to the place in the cupboard when Hermione came in.

"Anything I can do to be helpful?" she asked.

"Oh, no dear. I have this down to such a routine I could probably do it in my sleep. I am just so happy to have my family all together each week. I know it takes a commitment to get here as often as you do, and I hope you know how much I appreciate it."

"Oh, Molly, of course. We love it!"

"Well, even if you love it, I know a weekly command performance with the in laws is not on every newlywed's list of fun," she chuckled.

"Well, maybe I am just a bit older than the average newlywed," Hermione laughed. "I would rather be here any day over going to a loud pub or something. Definitely not my style. Never was really, which is probably why I was still single when Ron came along!"

Molly laughed. "Well, maybe. But I would prefer to think that you two were simply meant for each other."

"Well, that's a bit how I think of it too," she confessed. She paused a moment before asking, "Molly, can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, dear, anything."

"I have been struggling to think of something for Ron's birthday. But I had an idea I thought you could help me with."

"I don't think he wants another jumper," the matriarch chuckled.

"Not for his birthday," Hermione grinned. "But I was hoping you could help me learn a bit more about magical cooking. And, I was really hoping you could help me learn to make some of his favorite foods. I know he goes on and on about your different meat pies and different puddings. And, well, I am afraid I am not that great at cooking in general, but the only magical cooking I have done is what Ron or Ginny have showed me with chopping charms and such."

Molly dabbed her eyes with her apron. "I would love to do that with you, Hermione. Why don't you start thinking about which dishes you want to learn, and just let me know what days and times would work for you. I know you have a busy schedule, and well, I don't! So, whatever works for you I am sure will be just fine."

"Wonderful," grinned Hermione. "I'll start jotting down the different things he's mentioned. And maybe we can get together in the next few days?"

Molly didn't reply, but just leaned over to embrace her newest daughter in law. Finally, she pulled back and patted Hermione's cheek lovingly, saying, "We are all so lucky you have come into our lives. I just couldn't have wished for a better partner for my Ronnie."

The following Monday, Hermione left the office at 2 in the afternoon to floo to The Burrow. She found her mother in law bustling around the kitchen, surrounded by piles of onions, potatoes, carrots and other ingredients. Molly greeted her with an embrace, but then quickly handed her an apron and got straight down to business. Hermione brought a notepad, but asked is Molly would mind if she could take some pictures and record a few videos of a few of the spells so she could re-watch the wand work at home if she forgot something. Molly laughed at the contraption and muttered about Arthur going mad if he got his hands on it.

They spent the next few hours making pie crusts for both sweet and savory goodies. Molly walked her through some of Ron's favorite meat pies and a treacle tart. Hermione got much of it on video, and Arthur did, in fact, wander into the kitchen and was falling over himself with excitement when Hermione asked him to hold the camera to record some things. They had cut slices of the different creations so they could taste all of them.

"You are like the magical Mary Berry," Hermione declared.

"Who in heaven's name is that?" asked Molly.

"Well, there is a famous muggle woman who is a cook and a television presenter."

"And what, exactly, does a television presenter do?" asked Arthur earnestly.

"Well, fair question. In America they called them hosts. They sort of preside over the program, like Lee Jordan seems to do on his wireless show. But there are some programs on the tele specifically about cooking."

"Really? Muggles watch people cook on the tele? Why don't they just cook themselves?"

Hermione giggled. "Another excellent question. There is actually a whole channel that plays nothing but food and cooking programs 24 hours a day. Anyway, there was this very popular program on the BBC, and I think it was so popular it even was shown in America. But, the show brought all of these good home cooks from all over the country and they had baking competitions. And the presenters were these two hosts, a man about Bill's age who was quite tough on people, and then a women, older than you I believe, named Mary Berry. And she was one of the judges, but was always explaining proper technique and such. And no one could ever make it as good as she could, but she was always encouraging and patient in helping the contestants improve their skills. If there was a magical version of the show – you wouldn't be a contestant – you would be the Mary Berry!"

Arthur was fascinated, and Molly blushed. But, Hermione just nodded again. "You would," she said as she went to get one last bite of the treacle tart.

"Go on with you," Molly said. "You are really very sweet. Now, will you take all of this home with you?"

"No! I can't! I don't want Ron to know what I am doing so I can surprise him on his birthday with all of his favorites. Maybe George and Angie or Bill and Fleur could use it?"

"Well – how about you take the meat pie and say I insisted you come get some since I made too much for just Arthur and me. I'll distribute the others out to everyone else."

"Thank you, Molly."

"And thank you, Hermione. The recording phone is really so interesting. Most fun I've had in weeks."

It was a few days before Ron's birthday, and Hermione, Hugo and Ron were finishing up a dinner of spaghetti when Hugo asked, "So, Dad, what are we doing for your birthday. You can't propose again this year, and I don't have a big surprise party to pull off. So, what else?"

"Oh, well, I am sure that my mum will have a cake on Sunday. We don't need to have two parties."

"Actually, I was wondering if we could have dinner here that night?" Hermione offered. "I have a new recipe I'd like to try out. If you want to invite the Potters or anyone that would be fine. But, it could be fun."

"Actually, I think just the three of us would be nice," Ron said. "And a night with my favorite people sounds perfect."

When Ron came home from Wheezes at 6 on his birthday, he was greeted by a strange sensation. As he stepped through the floo, he could look around and see the sitting room of his home, but the smells assaulting him were telling his brain he had floo'd to The Burrow by mistake. He shook his head briefly and wondered if his brother had slipped him some sort of new test product, but decided even George wouldn't do that on his birthday. Then he groaned – maybe his mum had come to dinner unannounced. He hoped Hermione wasn't too upset, as she had been talking just that morning about how excited she was to have just the three of them for dinner and to try some new recipe she found. Bracing himself for some family tension, he made his way to the kitchen. But, when he walked through the doorway, he was greeted by the site of his lovely wife standing at the stove.

"Happy Birthday," she said with a huge grin.

"Hey," he said walking over to kiss her. "Sorry, did my mum show up unexpectedly?" he asked tentatively.

"No. Why? Did you invite her?"

"Uh, no. I was looking forward to just us tonight. But, did she bring this by? I'm sorry, Hermione. I know you were excited to cook something on your own tonight."

He looked back at her, only to realize she was grinning even more.

"OK. Clearly I am missing something. What's up?" he laughed.

"This is your birthday present, Ron. You are impossible to shop for, so I racked my brain trying to come up with something. But then I thought of this idea. I've spent the past few weeks taking cooking lessons from your mum. Now I know how to cook magically AND how to make all of your favorites. So tonight it is roast chicken, parsnips and carrots with your favorite honey wheat bread and treacle tart for dessert."

He stared at her in bewilderment, finally shaking his head and breaking out into a lopsided grin. "You made all of this?" She nodded. "But it smells exactly like Mum makes it!"

"Well, that was the idea when I took lessons from her. And, well, I was always top of my class in school and thought I would work just as hard at this. Is it alright?" she added hesitantly.

"No it's not alright," he said picking her up and twirling her in an embrace. "It's bloody brilliant! That is such a wonderful present!" he added before he set her back down to kiss her.

"Good," she beamed. "I wrote everything down and had a little picture book made up of the recipes. Just muggle though – no moving pictures in the book," she added as she handed him the bound book wrapped in a bow.

"How on earth did you manage this?" he asked in awe as he flipped through the book to find not only his favorite recipes, but pictures of his mum baking, photos of the kitchen, and photos of his parents together at the kitchen table enjoying some freshly made scones.

"Oh that part was easy. I took pictures and videos during the lessons so I wouldn't forget anything. So when I realized it would be easier to have them all in one bound book, I decided to use one of those photo book things on the internet and just added in the pictures and typed in the recipes."

"Hermione, this is amazing. Can we make copies for my siblings for Christmas?"

"Oh! That is a fabulous idea. We can give one to your parents too. Not that she needs the recipes, but the photos are nice. And it is sort of an homage to her incredible skills."

"She would love that. And the fact that it's a muggle book will send my dad absolutely over the edge in glee."

She laughed. "Not exactly a high bar to make your dad happy."

"True. So true. But, this – this is amazing. I can't thank you enough."

"Well," she said coyly as she set down the pot she was stirring on the counter and wrapped her arms around him. "You do have one more present, but it isn't something I thought you would want to open in front of Hugo. Well, you might not mind, but I think it would send our son running for the hills."

He gave a half moan-half laugh as he pulled her closer and let his right hand drift down her back and over arse, his long fingers trailing down and then up to just tease her most sensitive skin. She gasped at his touch, and then kissed him sensually as he continued to caress his fingers over her mound. Reluctantly, she pulled back, whispering "later," as Hugo came thundering down the stairs.

The three of them had a great dinner and then played exploding snap, and then Hermione cleaned up the kitchen as Ron headed upstairs to read with Hugo and then tuck him in. Hermione was wiping down the counters by hand waiting for Ron to come back downstairs when she heard her mobile buzz, and she laughed at the text.

Surely the kitchen is clean by now. Please come upstairs so I can open my last present. Love, the randy birthday boy.

She popped into the downstairs loo to freshen up a moment, flicked off the lights and headed up to find her eager husband. When she walked the hall to their bedroom, she saw the door was slightly ajar. As she poked her head in, she felt the slight buzz of crossing a ward, and realized he had already put up the silencing spell. Grinning, she came in quietly, closed the door and leaned gently against it.

"Texting for sex now?" she teased.

"Well," he grinned, "really I was just thinking of you. The less energy I waste going up and down those stairs means the more energy I can dedicate to making you come undone."

"Ahhh. Selfless," she winked.

"Do I get to unwrap you now?" he asked, his voice suddenly low and raspy which somehow caused her skin to break out in gooseflesh.

"Please do," she said, unable to draw out her teasing any longer now that she saw his eyes in front of her so dark with lust. "Or, should I unwrap you first?"

"Mmmm," he hummed as he took the two last steps to stand in front of her. "Birthday boy always gets to go first. Isn't that a rule or something?"

He leaned to kiss her, careful not to touch her anywhere else to prolong their torture just a bit more. Then, lips still locked, he moved his hands to her waist and turned her around so her back was to him. She sighed, arching into him and wriggling against his hardening length, causing him to freeze a moment as his eyes involuntarily fluttered shut.

"Two can play at that game, you naughty witch," he breathed against her ear as he moved her hair aside to kiss her neck greedily. His left hand snaked around her slowly, ghosting over her skin to trail his fingers across her arms, and then her stomach and finally lower to cup her sex while his right hand had seemingly of its own across made its way to cover her right breast, which it was now kneading with pleasure. He felt her start to shudder and become putty in his hands, but he wasn't ready to let her go yet. His right hand slowly made its way from her breast to the buttons on her shirt, slowly opening each one until her blouse hung open. He backed away only enough to move her out of her shirt and let it fall between them. He grinned at the dark green lace now adorning his wife and ran his hungry hands over both breasts, torturing her nipples until she was squirming and moaning in his hands. Only then did he allow his hands to shift to the zipper on her skirt which he pulled down slowly, allowing the navy fabric to drop from her hips and pool at her feet, where she soon kicked it away. Holding her in place, he painstakingly walked around her, never breaking the contact between them, and then planted his lips on her collarbone and slowly worked his way down as he crouched before her. His hands grasped her left leg reverently, slowly making their way down to her ankle, where he softly lifted her foot and removed her shoe, then repeated it on the other leg while her hands scraped through his copper locks.

Standing again, he slowly made his way to her back, where he let his hands again clutch and roam over her soft skin. His fingers eventually made their way back to the front clasp of her bra, which he unhooked and threw to the side before he was back on his knees, sliding her lacey green knickers off with his teeth. He stood, letting his fingers rub between her folds and smiled at how wet she was in anticipation.

"My turn," she said in a choked whisper as he licked his finger to taste her, eliciting a slight whimper from him.

She took his same pace, dragging each step as long as she could as she slowly untucked his shirt, ran her fingers up over his chest and scraped her nails against his nipples as she lifted his shirt over his head. As soon as it was off, she let her mouth and tongue roam over him as she continued to work on his trousers. His button undone, she slowly crouched before him, tugging the trousers over his legs and off over his bare feet. Clad only in his tented pants, she smiled and stood to kiss him, making sure her breast rubbed against his chest, and her wet center brushed against his leg eliciting a groan from him. He went to reach for her, but she smacked his hand away gently and pushed him softly to the bed. Laying on his back, she motioned for him to scoot up to the top of the bed so his whole body was on it. Then she crawled on all fours over his legs to reach for the elastic of his pants. She pulled them down, Ron lifting his arse to help as she eased them over his straining length. Once naked she kissed him quickly, and then turned all of her attention to his erection. She straddled his legs, making sure to trail her wet core over him and then grasped him, running her tongue from base to tip.

"Fuck, Hermione," he gasped as she felt him slam his head back into the pillow.

She smiled and hummed slightly, which elicited more slurred swears as she bobbed her head, sucking him as she went. She continued her ministrations for some time until Ron finally reached down to her.

"Please, Hermione. I want to come inside you, love."

She smiled and crawled up over his chest to kiss him and quickly found herself rolled onto her back. He lovingly kissed her, and then moved his mouth down to her breasts. Gasping after only a few moments, she arched into him as she held his head to her chest. While still torturing her rock hard nipples with his tongue and left hand, he moved his right hand down to her core. He let his fingers slip between her folds, causing her to gasp as he brushed against her swollen nerve center, and then moaned as he inserted two finger into her. He quickly began pumping his fingers in and out of her bringing her to the edge of orgasm, and then swiftly removed his hand, lined his throbbing erection up with her entrance and plunged into her, causing moans and breathy gasps to escape from her parted lips. So practiced and understanding of her reactions, they soon came together, collapsing into each other as they recovered their breath.

Finally she whispered, "Happy birthday, Ron."

"Amazing sex and my favorite food," he chuckled. "My idea of a fucking perfect day."

She grinned, kissed him on his cheek and drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Later that same weekend, Ron and Hugo were working out in the yard clearing up some fallen limbs and leaves after a particularly heavy rain when Hugo reminded Ron that Mothering Sunday was coming in a few weeks.

"But I have an idea," Hugo assured him. "It's something that I need your help with, though," he added tentatively.

"Sure. You know I'll help you with anything. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I've been giving it a lot of thought. And, well, I'm ready to let the last two rooms in the house be changed. And I was thinking that maybe you could help me clean out Mummy and Daddy's office. And then we could make it really nice for Mum. She works so much I think it would be nice for her to have a nice office here at home. And just like Mummy and Daddy shared it, we could make space for you too. But, I would want to surprise her with it on Mothering Sunday. Do you think she would like that?"

Ron wiped his eyes, willing himself not to let a tear fall at the tenderness in Hugo's voice. "Buddy, I think she would be blown away. But, you know you don't have to do that if you're not ready. Your Daddy and Mummy left this house to you, and that hasn't changed. This is your home. And, I am confident in saying that Hermione wouldn't want you to do anything that you weren't comfortable with yet."

"No. I'm ready. When it all just happened I needed places that I could remember them in and smell them in and where I could feel close to them." He stopped, but Ron sensed he was still collecting his thoughts so he didn't say anything. Eventually Hugo continued, "And I still feel close to them. But I don't think of them as being in those rooms. I hear them in my head and in my heart and in your and Mum's stories. And, well, this is our home, not my house that we all happen to live in. And I want it to belong to all of us. And I think it would make sense to redo their bedroom too. That way we can all have our own rooms over the holidays. I want help going through everything, but I don't know that we need to the bedroom before Mothering Sunday. Think we can pull off the office, though?"

"Little man, I am rather confident that when you and me put our heads together we can do just about anything. I'm also sure we could call in Jean or Ginny to help get her out of the house if and when we need that. But, promise me – if you change your mind please don't hesitate to let me know. There is no rush."

Hugo smiled. "Thanks, Dad. But it's good. It's time." With that, he hugged his dad quickly and headed off to work on an art project, leaving Ron watching him in awe and trying desperately to not think about how the hell he was going to keep it together once Hugo left for Hogwarts.