WTR #44: Tradition (Hermione/Teddy)
Title: Tradition (Worth the Risk #44)
Pairing: Hermione/Teddy
Summary: Harry and Ron visit Hermione for their monthly brunch
Word Count: 1830
Rating: Teen
Betas: florahart & heather11483
Note: Previous chapters of Worth the Risk can be found here.
“You’ve been a bad influence on my son.”
“Excuse me?” Hermione looks up from the frying rashers of bacon and gives Harry a ‘you’d better explain yourself to my satisfaction or I’ll hex warts on your arse’ look.
Harry leans against the counter and steals a slice of tomato. “Al says that his favorite thing about Hogwarts is the library. I fully blame you, of course. A son of mine loving the library? It has to be a bad influence from his favorite aunt.”
“Does that mean I should blame you for the stacks of Quidditch magazines currently covering the table in the lounge and the fact that my daughter is practicing her flying right now?”
“Nah, that’s not because of me. You need to blame Ron for that.”
“Blame me for what?” Ron asks as he enters the kitchen. He gives Harry a suspicious look before focusing on her. “Hugo’s finished his book, so I told him it was okay to go outside and play. Rose is still ignoring me. Gotta love kids.”
“Why is Rose ignoring you?” Harry takes a bite of the tomato and dribbles juice onto the floor.
“Why do girls ever act the way they do?” Ron shrugs. “I have no idea. It’s like she left for school being my little Rosie, and now she’s this odd creature that acts like I’ve committed some horrid sin just by talking to her.”
“Ah. Yeah, Lily hasn’t reached that odd stage where a female stops making any sense at all and becomes something unfamiliar.” Harry shakes his head. “I can’t believe our little Rosie is already there. She’s not even a teenager yet.”
“She better not get any worse. Bloody hell. This is difficult enough. I thought she was fine yesterday but then, during lunch, she started glaring and ignoring. She’s been doing that for most of the morning since I got here, too.”
“Don’t try to understand women, mate. It’s pointless. I don’t think they even understand themselves most of the time.” Harry reached over and clapped a hand against Ron’s shoulder. “Beneath all the glares and attitude, she’s still your daughter.”
“Ahem.” Hermione clears her throat to remind them that a female is standing right there before they continue their discussion. “Rose is not some alien creature. Maybe if you didn’t think of her as such, you wouldn’t feel so awkward.”
“I’m not awkward! She’s the weird one. Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed it. I’m not going mad,” Ron mutters before he walks over to the refridgerator and gets a bottle of juice.
“I think that it takes a little time after coming home from school to get settled back into things,” she says honestly. “I remember that it always felt strange to be back home and to change routines after months of school.”
“Hermione’s right. James is the same way,” Harry says as he turns and reaches into the cabinets for glasses. “Al seems happy to be home, but I’m questioning his sanity since he was excited about a library, of all bloody things.”
“A library? Your son?” Ron snorts before he adds, “Oh, and don’t tell her she’s right. I’ll never hear the end of it.” He pours a glass of juice for himself and then one for Harry. “Want?”
“The library is a good favorite place at Hogwarts, thank you very much. I’ll be sure to ask Al all about it whenever I see him next.“ She looks at Ron and shakes her head. “No, thanks. I’ve got coffee. You know me and my morning coffee. It‘s a necessity. By the way, Harry can say whatever he wants. I’m almost always right, so that’s nothing new.”
“Anyway, this isn’t like that. Rose has never ignored me before, even when I’ve embarrassed her. She’s more like you, with eye rolling and acting like I’m childish,” he says. “Not a word, Potter.”
“What?” Harry looks innocent before he smirks. “Childish, huh?”
“That!” Ron glares before taking a drink of his juice. He looks at Hermione. “You’ll talk to her for me and make sure that I’ve not buggered something up and made my daughter hate me, yeah?”
“Rose doesn’t hate you.” She finishes frying the bacon and turns off the heat. “She’s simply adjusting. Things will be fine, I’m sure. She didn‘t act strange during breakfast; I‘d have noticed.”
Ron looks around before he lowers his voice. “I think she’s still upset about Mel. She asked me if ‘that woman’ was going to be around next weekend when she and Hugo come over. I’d planned for Mel to finally meet her, but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want Rose to make Mel feel weird or for Rose to feel weird.”
“Did she?” Hermione faces them and leans against the counter. It wasn’t a good sign if Rose didn’t approve of Mel without even meeting her. Of course, Ron might just be making a big deal out of nothing. She couldn’t really offer advice about Mel, though. She hadn’t told Rose and Hugo about Teddy yet. By the time they got home yesterday, everyone was tired from the road trip, and there hadn’t been a good time. Today, it’s the monthly brunch, and Rose is busy with flying and getting adjusted to being out of school.
“Yeah. That Woman, like she doesn’t know her name or something. I don’t know what to do,” Ron admits as he runs his fingers through his hair and tugs. “Have you told them about--”
“No, not yet,” she interrupts, not wanting him to say Teddy’s name in case Hugo or Rose suddenly comes into the kitchen. She felts a knot of anxiety twist in her belly at the thought but tries to ignore it. She plans to tell them. Soon.
“Not sure if my opinion counts, but I think you should do whatever you planned,” Harry says quietly. “Rose is going to have to get used to the idea of Mel unless you plan on ending things, so it seems pointless to put off a meeting that has to happen sometime.”
“Course it counts. Just don’t know if I want to force Rose and Mel into something awkward just to make things hurry up and make myself feel better.” Ron makes a face. “Would be easy to just make it happen and let it fall-out however it does, but someone could get hurt, you know?”
“Someone could always get hurt,” Hermione points out. He’s right in a way, though. She hasn’t told Hugo and Rose about Teddy yet because she doesn’t want to make things worse by doing it casually. She’ll know when the right time is, she’s sure, and she’ll deal with the consequences after. “Besides, you know how you get, especially with Rose.”
“She’s my baby girl,” he says simply. “And, no, I don’t know ‘how I get’.”
“You take any criticism to heart and get overly dramatic sometimes,” Harry says helpfully. “You do it worse with your mum, but Rose has you wrapped around her little finger and has since she was born.”
“Yes, what Harry said.” She turns back to the bacon and begins to prepare the plates. “Brunch is ready. We should eat before it gets cold.”
“I’m going to go check on the kids, but I’ll be right back.” Ron walks over and steals a rasher of bacon before he hurries out of the kitchen.
“He moved fast. Must have expected you to hex him.” Harry puts down his glass of juice and starts to help. “Do you think he’s right about Rose?”
“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “She hasn’t mentioned Mel or Ron’s dating in any letters to me, but I don’t think she’s really the type to glare and mutter. It’s not necessarily her way.”
“Not with you two as parents. Tantrums and loud fights is more likely.”
“Thanks.” She swats his arm and hands him the plate of bacon and sausage. “Put that on the table, Potter.”
“Bossy,” he mutters before he walks out of the kitchen. When he comes back, she hands him the plate of eggs. “I’m not your House Elf, Granger-Weasley.”
“Keep pushing it, and you’re on clean up duty,” she warns. It’s a hollow threat since she knows that he and Ron will wash up after brunch anyway. It’s how their monthly meetings always go. One cooks or provides food, and the other two clean up. She’s relieved that they’re doing this month’s at her house, since Rose just got home and Ginny isn’t likely to be thrilled at her being over anytime soon. She misses Teddy, especially after receiving a letter last night from him, but this is her tradition with Harry and Ron, so he’d not have been invited anyway.
“How are things going?” Harry whispers, looking around like she did earlier before he focuses on her. “This sneaking around secretive thing makes me remember school. All we need is my invisibility cloak and Filch chasing after us.”
“Only you would say that as if you miss it,” she whispers back, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Sometimes, I do.” He sighs and rests his chin on her shoulder. “Even with the whole evil wizard out to kill me and take over the world, we had good times. I was looking at George yesterday and wondering what Fred would make of the fact Fabian is so prissy at times. And I look at Teddy, and I hate that he’s had to grow up without ever knowing his parents.”
“Is everything okay, Harry?” she asks softly. He sounds melancholy, which always worries her.
“Oh, yeah. Things are fine, overall. Ginny and I have stopped fighting over things, for the most part, by just agreeing to disagree. All the kids are home now, so the house is loud and active again. I just feel old some days.”
“I’m sorry.” She hates that he and Ginny have had problems because of her and her choices. She’s glad to hear that they’ve compromised, but it shouldn’t have had to happen in the first place. “We’re not old. Not yet, anyway. Wait another hundred years, then we’ll sit in the garden with Ron and reminisce about our school days and embarrass our children by telling our grandchildren outlandish stories of our youth and breaking rules.”
Harry straightens up and smiles slightly. “The promise of being old and embarrassing my children one day shouldn’t cheer me up as much as it does, you know?”
Before she can reply, Ron comes back into the kitchen. “I might have been overreacting,” he admits with a grin. “Rose asked me my opinion about a Quidditch move, and there weren’t any glares or anything.”
“Imagine that. You overreacting?” Hermione feigns surprise before she hands him the last plate to put on the table. She kisses his cheek and ruffles his hair before she picks up her cup of coffee. “Come on. Let’s eat before everything’s cold.”
End Chapter 44
WTR #43: Reception. Teen. | WTR #45: Comprehension
Pairing: Hermione/Teddy
Summary: Harry and Ron visit Hermione for their monthly brunch
Word Count: 1830
Rating: Teen
Betas: florahart & heather11483
Note: Previous chapters of Worth the Risk can be found here.
“You’ve been a bad influence on my son.”
“Excuse me?” Hermione looks up from the frying rashers of bacon and gives Harry a ‘you’d better explain yourself to my satisfaction or I’ll hex warts on your arse’ look.
Harry leans against the counter and steals a slice of tomato. “Al says that his favorite thing about Hogwarts is the library. I fully blame you, of course. A son of mine loving the library? It has to be a bad influence from his favorite aunt.”
“Does that mean I should blame you for the stacks of Quidditch magazines currently covering the table in the lounge and the fact that my daughter is practicing her flying right now?”
“Nah, that’s not because of me. You need to blame Ron for that.”
“Blame me for what?” Ron asks as he enters the kitchen. He gives Harry a suspicious look before focusing on her. “Hugo’s finished his book, so I told him it was okay to go outside and play. Rose is still ignoring me. Gotta love kids.”
“Why is Rose ignoring you?” Harry takes a bite of the tomato and dribbles juice onto the floor.
“Why do girls ever act the way they do?” Ron shrugs. “I have no idea. It’s like she left for school being my little Rosie, and now she’s this odd creature that acts like I’ve committed some horrid sin just by talking to her.”
“Ah. Yeah, Lily hasn’t reached that odd stage where a female stops making any sense at all and becomes something unfamiliar.” Harry shakes his head. “I can’t believe our little Rosie is already there. She’s not even a teenager yet.”
“She better not get any worse. Bloody hell. This is difficult enough. I thought she was fine yesterday but then, during lunch, she started glaring and ignoring. She’s been doing that for most of the morning since I got here, too.”
“Don’t try to understand women, mate. It’s pointless. I don’t think they even understand themselves most of the time.” Harry reached over and clapped a hand against Ron’s shoulder. “Beneath all the glares and attitude, she’s still your daughter.”
“Ahem.” Hermione clears her throat to remind them that a female is standing right there before they continue their discussion. “Rose is not some alien creature. Maybe if you didn’t think of her as such, you wouldn’t feel so awkward.”
“I’m not awkward! She’s the weird one. Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed it. I’m not going mad,” Ron mutters before he walks over to the refridgerator and gets a bottle of juice.
“I think that it takes a little time after coming home from school to get settled back into things,” she says honestly. “I remember that it always felt strange to be back home and to change routines after months of school.”
“Hermione’s right. James is the same way,” Harry says as he turns and reaches into the cabinets for glasses. “Al seems happy to be home, but I’m questioning his sanity since he was excited about a library, of all bloody things.”
“A library? Your son?” Ron snorts before he adds, “Oh, and don’t tell her she’s right. I’ll never hear the end of it.” He pours a glass of juice for himself and then one for Harry. “Want?”
“The library is a good favorite place at Hogwarts, thank you very much. I’ll be sure to ask Al all about it whenever I see him next.“ She looks at Ron and shakes her head. “No, thanks. I’ve got coffee. You know me and my morning coffee. It‘s a necessity. By the way, Harry can say whatever he wants. I’m almost always right, so that’s nothing new.”
“Anyway, this isn’t like that. Rose has never ignored me before, even when I’ve embarrassed her. She’s more like you, with eye rolling and acting like I’m childish,” he says. “Not a word, Potter.”
“What?” Harry looks innocent before he smirks. “Childish, huh?”
“That!” Ron glares before taking a drink of his juice. He looks at Hermione. “You’ll talk to her for me and make sure that I’ve not buggered something up and made my daughter hate me, yeah?”
“Rose doesn’t hate you.” She finishes frying the bacon and turns off the heat. “She’s simply adjusting. Things will be fine, I’m sure. She didn‘t act strange during breakfast; I‘d have noticed.”
Ron looks around before he lowers his voice. “I think she’s still upset about Mel. She asked me if ‘that woman’ was going to be around next weekend when she and Hugo come over. I’d planned for Mel to finally meet her, but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want Rose to make Mel feel weird or for Rose to feel weird.”
“Did she?” Hermione faces them and leans against the counter. It wasn’t a good sign if Rose didn’t approve of Mel without even meeting her. Of course, Ron might just be making a big deal out of nothing. She couldn’t really offer advice about Mel, though. She hadn’t told Rose and Hugo about Teddy yet. By the time they got home yesterday, everyone was tired from the road trip, and there hadn’t been a good time. Today, it’s the monthly brunch, and Rose is busy with flying and getting adjusted to being out of school.
“Yeah. That Woman, like she doesn’t know her name or something. I don’t know what to do,” Ron admits as he runs his fingers through his hair and tugs. “Have you told them about--”
“No, not yet,” she interrupts, not wanting him to say Teddy’s name in case Hugo or Rose suddenly comes into the kitchen. She felts a knot of anxiety twist in her belly at the thought but tries to ignore it. She plans to tell them. Soon.
“Not sure if my opinion counts, but I think you should do whatever you planned,” Harry says quietly. “Rose is going to have to get used to the idea of Mel unless you plan on ending things, so it seems pointless to put off a meeting that has to happen sometime.”
“Course it counts. Just don’t know if I want to force Rose and Mel into something awkward just to make things hurry up and make myself feel better.” Ron makes a face. “Would be easy to just make it happen and let it fall-out however it does, but someone could get hurt, you know?”
“Someone could always get hurt,” Hermione points out. He’s right in a way, though. She hasn’t told Hugo and Rose about Teddy yet because she doesn’t want to make things worse by doing it casually. She’ll know when the right time is, she’s sure, and she’ll deal with the consequences after. “Besides, you know how you get, especially with Rose.”
“She’s my baby girl,” he says simply. “And, no, I don’t know ‘how I get’.”
“You take any criticism to heart and get overly dramatic sometimes,” Harry says helpfully. “You do it worse with your mum, but Rose has you wrapped around her little finger and has since she was born.”
“Yes, what Harry said.” She turns back to the bacon and begins to prepare the plates. “Brunch is ready. We should eat before it gets cold.”
“I’m going to go check on the kids, but I’ll be right back.” Ron walks over and steals a rasher of bacon before he hurries out of the kitchen.
“He moved fast. Must have expected you to hex him.” Harry puts down his glass of juice and starts to help. “Do you think he’s right about Rose?”
“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “She hasn’t mentioned Mel or Ron’s dating in any letters to me, but I don’t think she’s really the type to glare and mutter. It’s not necessarily her way.”
“Not with you two as parents. Tantrums and loud fights is more likely.”
“Thanks.” She swats his arm and hands him the plate of bacon and sausage. “Put that on the table, Potter.”
“Bossy,” he mutters before he walks out of the kitchen. When he comes back, she hands him the plate of eggs. “I’m not your House Elf, Granger-Weasley.”
“Keep pushing it, and you’re on clean up duty,” she warns. It’s a hollow threat since she knows that he and Ron will wash up after brunch anyway. It’s how their monthly meetings always go. One cooks or provides food, and the other two clean up. She’s relieved that they’re doing this month’s at her house, since Rose just got home and Ginny isn’t likely to be thrilled at her being over anytime soon. She misses Teddy, especially after receiving a letter last night from him, but this is her tradition with Harry and Ron, so he’d not have been invited anyway.
“How are things going?” Harry whispers, looking around like she did earlier before he focuses on her. “This sneaking around secretive thing makes me remember school. All we need is my invisibility cloak and Filch chasing after us.”
“Only you would say that as if you miss it,” she whispers back, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Sometimes, I do.” He sighs and rests his chin on her shoulder. “Even with the whole evil wizard out to kill me and take over the world, we had good times. I was looking at George yesterday and wondering what Fred would make of the fact Fabian is so prissy at times. And I look at Teddy, and I hate that he’s had to grow up without ever knowing his parents.”
“Is everything okay, Harry?” she asks softly. He sounds melancholy, which always worries her.
“Oh, yeah. Things are fine, overall. Ginny and I have stopped fighting over things, for the most part, by just agreeing to disagree. All the kids are home now, so the house is loud and active again. I just feel old some days.”
“I’m sorry.” She hates that he and Ginny have had problems because of her and her choices. She’s glad to hear that they’ve compromised, but it shouldn’t have had to happen in the first place. “We’re not old. Not yet, anyway. Wait another hundred years, then we’ll sit in the garden with Ron and reminisce about our school days and embarrass our children by telling our grandchildren outlandish stories of our youth and breaking rules.”
Harry straightens up and smiles slightly. “The promise of being old and embarrassing my children one day shouldn’t cheer me up as much as it does, you know?”
Before she can reply, Ron comes back into the kitchen. “I might have been overreacting,” he admits with a grin. “Rose asked me my opinion about a Quidditch move, and there weren’t any glares or anything.”
“Imagine that. You overreacting?” Hermione feigns surprise before she hands him the last plate to put on the table. She kisses his cheek and ruffles his hair before she picks up her cup of coffee. “Come on. Let’s eat before everything’s cold.”
End Chapter 44
WTR #43: Reception. Teen. | WTR #45: Comprehension