Monday, July 28
Hermione's Day
*****
Hermione loved Harry. She loved him to millions of bits and pieces. But Hermione was exhausted because she was growing an entire person. And even though Harry started sleeping again last night, it did not mean that his goddaughter did.
So Hermione was tired and her original plan of taking Harry to see the Rock and Roll Museum, the only museum she thought he'd like, and go act like silly tourists in the city they all knew so well was out the window.
And everyone stared expectantly at her and her feet hurt and her ankles felt swollen and she was tired and Harry and Susan were drinking coffee and Hermione would love coffee except she read it could be bad for babies.
Hermione tapped her finger on the table as she studied Harry and stalled…
She wanted Harry to have fun today, at least not rank her day at the bottom of the unofficial list they were going to pressure him for, but she also wanted to sit.
Hm… there were nine of them, so if Hermione sat on the sidelines, they had enough to split off evenly for quidditch. Except quidditch wasn't very fun, funny, or exciting, was it? And Hermione got the distinct impression that Draco and Harry were rather put out by quidditch ever since Trent died. In fact, she hadn't seen Harry on a broom all summer, which was a true anomaly for him.
Harry loved to fly.
Harry was practically made to fly.
So it was time to fix that.
"Susan, will you help me gather supplies?" Hermione asked. "Everyone else, stay put," she ordered them. She led Susan off to the side and whispered their location to her and Susan shrugged before grasping her arm tightly and popping them away.
"Hermione, Susan?" Professor LupinRemus (it was so uncomfortable to call him Remus, but it was also uncomfortable to discuss things in sessions with him when she kept calling him Professor) got to his feet as the girls rudely apparated in the middle of the dining room at Moon Lodge. "I thought Sirius said you all were on holiday?"
"We are," Hermione said. "I needed to ask if we could borrow your brooms?"
Hermione was entirely confident that Sirius had an entire broom shed full of brooms to play impromptu quidditch games with the other residents of their house.
"Sure," Remus said with an easy smile. He picked his wand up from the table and waved it. "You guys having fun?" he asked while they waited for the brooms to arrive.
"Tons," Susan grinned.
Remus laughed a little. "Being safe?" he asked wryly.
Susan rubbed Hermione's stomach. "Bit late for that, isn't it?"
Hermione blushed and smacked Susan's arm. Honestly. What a thing to say.
Remus laughed though and stood up as a stack of brooms zoomed through the house to him. "Nine?"
Hermione and Susan accepted the brooms gratefully but Hermione handed him back one. "Just eight," she explained. "If I don't have a broom, they can't force me to fly."
Remus laughed again and waved the girls off with well wishes and reminders to be careful.
As if this weren't a Harry themed week; which meant that being careful wasn't nearly as important as being ridiculous.
Hermione shrank the brooms and stored them in her bag before giving Susan a wicked smile. "We have one more stop to make," she said.
Susan raised her brows and laughed on the front lawn of Moon Lodge when Hermione explained her idea.
"Let's go get all my makeup and Harry's quidditch balls," she said. "BUT! We should go shopping for the clothes, I don't want the boys to ruin my dresses."
Objectively- Hermione wished they hadn't apparated into the sitting room at Invisibility Way.
In the girls' defense, they didn't exactly expect Professor Snape and Tonks to be quite busy up against the bookcase right beside the stairs.
Susan was still giggling and Hermione was still bright red when they made it back to the hotel.
"What happened?" Theo asked curiously.
"Nothing!" Hermione yelped. "Nothing at all!"
Nobody looked very convinced, so Susan explained between her fits of giggles.
"Snape and Tonks were shagging in the sitting room."
"Ugh!" Harry scowled from where he was lounging on the recliner, just as Hermione expected him to. "Why?! They have a bedroom! What is the point of the fucking bedrooms if nobody uses them?"
Hermione ducked her head to keep from laughing. She really hoped once it was safe for Fred and Harry to live on their own (whether that was at Invisibility Way or wherever) that Harry learned that sex could be more than just in one place at one time.
"How was it?" Luna asked, sounding sooo innocent for such a question, from her spot folded up on the floor.
"Sounded real good," Susan grinned as she threw herself on the floor between Luna and Harry. "Snape has such a great arse."
After the others finished laughing (or gagging in Harry's case), they turned to Hermione and gave her very expectant looks. And now, what sounded like a fun and funny idea, sounded daft and maybe Hermione should have thought of literally anything else?
"Um…" Hermione chewed her lower lip nervously while sending Susan a pleading look that she ignored. "Okay, so… we're going shopping?"
"Shopping?" Draco looked excited, which was so very expected. "What are we shopping for?"
Hermione smirked a little and lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. "Dresses."
It took a lot of begging, a lot of bribing, and one Unbreakable Vow, but somehow Hermione and Susan managed to convince Harry to try on dresses for what Hermione assured him would be 'a very fun day'.
It was also thanks to Luna, mostly, who batted her lashes at Harry and said that she thought it sounded like fun and Harry almost immediately caved.
Sometimes Hermione wondered how those two didn't end up together. Luna adored Harry, she idolized him and loved him so honestly. In turn, Harry loved her, cherished her happiness, protected her safety. Luna and Harry had a bond right from the start and Hermione thought that their relationship was beautiful in its own very peculiar way.
Now Harry was marrying Fred. Luna was courting Draco. And Hermione, Susan, and Luna were laying on a lounge sofa in a bridal shop while the boys tried on bridesmaids dresses for the upcoming quidditch match they didn't know about.
It was a mad world, Hermione was just resigned to embracing it.
"If you laugh, Harry will kill you all," came Ron's muffled voice from behind a curtain in the bridal store they found.
"They're going to laugh and I'm not gonna kill them," Harry called from another curtain.
They were going to laugh. But, thanks to an Unbreakable Vow, they wouldn't take photos.
The girls heard Ron's heavy sigh before he threw open his curtain and stepped out on the little stage that the bridal shop had.
"I hate you all." Ron's face was so red that you couldn't even see his freckles anymore. Not as red as the horrible, off the shoulder, poofy, chiffon dress that he wore, but extremely red honestly.
Ron simply should never wear red.
It was a good thing he was a Slytherin.
Susan admirably tampered down on a giggle that Hermione and Luna didn't bother with as she slowly looked Ron over from top to bottom and nodded. "You look smashing, dear," she winked. "I think that one's a keeper."
Ron scowled and then lifted his skirt to step off the stage, increasing the girls' laughter at the feminine move.
"I hate you all so much," he muttered darkly once more. "C'mon, DRACO! Let's see what bullshit you've got!"
"I look fabulous." Draco threw his curtain open with a flourish and strut out on the stage, sticking his leg out and working his dress with everything he had in him. And, truthfully, Draco did look fabulous. He was in a tight silver sequined dress that had a long slit up one leg and he wore it with absolute confidence, arrogance, and the girls let out appreciative whistles mixed in with their laughter at his show.
"Draco, mate, I reckon you'd make a decent bird," Ron said solemnly with a playful sparkle in his eyes. "If we ever decide to be gay, I call dibs."
"If he ever decides to be gay then I still call dibs," Luna said seriously.
Draco inspected himself in the full length mirrors, posing and preening in his dress. "If I ever decide to be gay, I think I could make a killing posing for drag."
The girls clutched each other as they laughed and then began taunting the other boys into coming out of their figurative closets.
Blaise, not to be outdone by Draco, stepped from his changing room with so much confidence that Hermione was momentarily jealous.
He was in a very short, fringed, flapper style dress covered in gold sequins.
And he was killing it.
Susan cat called Blaise and wiggled her brows suggestively. "God damn, Blaise, work that dress, darling!"
Blaise did. He strut up and down the walkway, jutting his hips out side to side with a pout on his lips that only enhanced his appeal.
"Move aside, Draco, there's a new queen in town," he drawled as he pushed Draco away from the mirror by his face.
Draco pouted and the girls screamed with laughter while the two of them got in a mock-slap fight.
"Come on Neville! Theo! Harry!" Susan yelled when Draco and Blaise finally took seats by them. "Let's see your dresses, darlings!"
Luna fell over on Hermione's lap and buried her face in Hermione's legs when Neville stepped out and immediately won an award for the most awkward any of the boys looked in a dress. He had on a silk strapless dress, a rather pretty one honestly with flowers painted across it, but one that Neville could just never pull off with his level of discomfort and sweet awkwardness.
"This is weird," he told the girls, pointing at them all with a stern face and laughter filled eyes. "You're lucky we all love you or we would never tolerate this."
"Speak for yourself," Draco said from where he'd settled his score with Blaise by lounging across his lap on one of the settees. "We look fabulous."
Hermione smiled fondly at the two of them in their sparkling dresses, they were good sports.
Theo was not.
Theo was red faced as he emerged in his sleek dark-green dress that had delicate strappy sleeves and a long slit up the side to show off his legs.
"You're laughing, I can see it in your eyes," Theo told Hermione with a glare.
No- Susan and Luna were laughing.
Neville and Ron were laughing.
Hermione was checking out her boyfriend's incredibly fit legs and wishing he didn't look better in that dress than she ever would.
"I'm not," was all she told him though. She did smirk a little at him when nobody was paying attention.
She blamed the hormones for the way that his legs kept drawing her eyes.
"Come on Harry!" Susan yelled at their last friend hidden from sight. "The boys are all out here!"
"Are the boys all in stupid fuckin dresses?" Harry asked sullenly from behind his curtain.
"Yes," Luna said seriously. "You won't stand out at all."
Harry poked his head out and glanced over at the boys, his lips twitching the slightest amount. He then looked at Hermione and narrowed those sharp green eyes. "I would never do this if you didn't make me godfather," he told her.
"And Rose appreciates it," Hermione said sweetly. She didn't care what Theo thought, she was very happy with her decision to make Harry godfather. Harry was the first person to be happy about Rose and that hadn't changed at all ever since the night Hermione told him. "Now let's see it, Harry."
Harry took a deep breath and seemed to be steeling himself to a terrible fate before he threw open the curtain and stepped out.
It was a good thing that the vow didn't include sharing memories, because one day, in the future when Hermione didn't live in his house, Hermione was going to have to show Fred this sight.
Harry was in a full blown wedding gown- a sparkling, white, strapless, poofy gown -and somehow he managed to look brilliant instead of ridiculous.
Actually, he looked both brilliant and ridiculous and Hermione held her breath to keep from laughing at the look of rage on his handsome face.
Theo didn't keep from laughing. Theo burst into hysterical screams that caused Ron and Draco to start snickering and then the dam burst and they were all laughing.
Harry wasn't laughing, but his eyes weren't narrowed and his lower lip was clenched between his teeth so Hermione assumed he was amused anyway.
"This was daft," Harry muttered as he moved over to the full length mirrors. He moved so awkwardly with the almost comically poofy stress and Susan was giggling like mad when he tripped a little and immediately flipped them all off.
"Mione…" Harry didn't laugh, but he did do the same twitchy lip thing that Professor Snape did when he tried to fight a laugh. "I'm not walking around town like this," Harry warned her.
"Of course not," Hermione assured him. Her smile was a little sharp and amused when he peeked over his bare shoulders at her. "After Susan does your guys' hair and makeup, we're going to Devon."
"Devon?" Harry quirked a brow at her before he went back to inspecting himself in the mirror. "What's in Devon?"
"Play nicely while we make you pretty and you'll find out," Susan said in her 'I'm politely threatening you' voice.
"What else do we have to do?" Ron whined.
"Shoes and a makeover," Luna said airily as her eyes flitted over to the ranks of sparkling shoes.
Draco looked almost as eager as the girls were, which made Hermione and Susan giggle together. Harry sighed, but he looked pleased when Ron immediately tossed him a pair of sparkling green heels.
Though, Hermione suspected nothing less than a threat, a bribe, and another vow was going to get Harry to agree to hair and makeup.
And it did.
A growl from Susan, a pout from Luna, and a vow that nobody outside of their group was meant to see him. Theo and Ron also refused until Harry agreed, then they didn't have much of a leg to stand on.
Not that they were standing all that great anyway, as they all awkwardly tottered around on high heels.
Then Hermione got to do something she'd always wanted to do a little girl: give makeovers.
But God the boys didn't make it easy on them.
First, they all threw a fit about shaving their legs. Ron argued that it didn't matter if his legs were shaved since they couldn't see them. Harry said he wasn't getting married with 'fuckin hairless legs'.
Blaise knew a neat spell that immediately shaved his legs and Hermione memorized it for later. It was very difficult to shave legs with a stomach sticking out- she didn't know that Blaise held the secret to smooth legs all this time.
Then they tried to do the boys' hair, and Draco became extra dramatic when they tried to give him long straight locks.
"I don't want to look like my father," he sniffed. "I want curls like Susan or I'm not playing anymore."
So Luna gave him bright pink curls that looked more like something Tonks would wear than the 'disinherited pureblood Malfoy heir'.
Neville also asked for his long dark blonde hair to be curled, except he wanted 'waves like Hermione's'. Which was rather flattering since Hermione never really paid much attention to her hairstyle.
Harry sighed heavily when they lengthened his hair and charmed it red. He looked in a mirror and shook his head. "Why do I look like my mum?"
Hermione did not tell him it was because he had Lily Potter's cute little nose.
Theo did.
Ron was twisting and turning and preening when they gave him dark brown hair in pigtails. As much as he complained, Hermione thought he looked like he liked the look.
Theo agreed to a short bob if Hermione swore she would fix it later and they all laughed when they said they hoped Rose took after her 'tummy mum' instead of her 'drag mum'.
Makeup was another struggle.
Harry winced and grimaced every time a brush came near him. And his fingers twitched like he wanted to hex them all and was barely restraining himself from doing just that. Theo sat beside Harry and had a similarly sullen expression.
Honestly, it was sometimes difficult to remember that Theo and Harry weren't biological brothers with the way they acted.
Ron groaned and complained and only quit when Susan used a concealer to hide all his freckles. He started back up though when they gave him some rouge to make his cheeks pink.
Blaise argued over which color eyeshadow and lipstick they used on him. Which was so in character that Hermione could only laugh.
Neville was a good sport, but he was the only cooperative one so Luna got him as a client.
Draco refused to have muggle makeup on his skin and got into an argument with Susan over muggle cosmetic companies testing their products on animals. Hermione backed Susan up, Luna backed Draco up, Harry threatened to vanish the lot of it if one more person mentioned 'fuckin god damned bunny rabbits'.
Rose started kicking the life out of Hermione when Harry yelled. It seemed like a happy sort of kicking though, and Hermione let Harry feel and he was rather happy about it.
"I'll yell so much when you're born," Harry said with a soft laugh. "Hurry up and be born though, Rosie Posey."
"Not too soon," Hermione said hastily, she still had two more months to grow and develop. Hermione grinned at Harry's hairdo and makeup and wiggled her brows. "Auntie Harry has plans today."
Harry rolled his eyes, causing his shimmery blue eyeshadow to sparkle.
Hermione didn't think any of the boys had room to complain— they all looked much too pretty to be the crass and brash young men that Hermione knew they were beneath the dresses and hair and makeup.
"Ladies and Gentlemen…"
"Boys and girls…"
"Ghosts and gnats…"
Hermione laughed and her voice echoed around the quidditch stands. "Welcome to the first annual match of Queens and Quaffles: the World Cup match!"
Luna and Susan cheered on either side of Hermione and the boys did some flips on their brooms in the air, causing the girls to laugh as their dresses flapped in the wind.
Neville put his wand to his throat and shook his head. "Not annual," he said with only a slight smile. "I'm doing this one bloody time."
"Every year," Harry said abruptly with his own finger touching his neck. "Mione, make them promise."
Hermione grinned and mentally pat herself on the back for the silly idea. As soon as they arrived at the stands where the Quidditch World Cup was once held, she didn't even have to convince Harry to fly- he all but begged to.
"One day you'll play here for the Canons," Ron had laughed. "Just not in a dress, eh?"
Harry didn't laugh, but he looked rather wistful about it and said he'd rather fly with his friends anyway.
And then the girls offered to play announcers instead of flying, which was much more fun for Hermione. She got to sit and relax and be silly with two of her best friends for a while. Even if it was Harry's day, Hermione was having a wonderful time.
"On the field now, we have the…" Hermione looked at the boys and tried to pick a name for them.
"The Sequins," Luna said, her magically enhanced voice carrying just as Hermione and Susan's did.
"The Sequins!" Hermione agreed with a laugh. "Keeper NELLIE LONGBOTTOM, sporting a French floral wrap dress and a makeover courtesy of Luna!"
The girls cheered and then Susan jumped in. "And on the Sequins Team, we have chaser and captain, RONNIE WEASLEY. Ronnie is in an Italian shift dress, and his makeover was completed by our very own Hermione Granger!"
After they cheered, Luna took over. "And, last but never least (Luna and Draco were so adorable), we have the Sequins' seeker DRAYMA MALFOY, who is sporting a very pretty and sparkly dress and is wearing cruelty free makeup done by Susan!"
Ron, Neville, and Draco did a lap around the pitch with their dresses flying behind them while the girls and other boys clapped and cheered.
"And on Team Sparkles, we have keeper THALIA NOTT, looking gorgeous this evening in his satin dress and his makeup completed by myself!" Hermione yelled.
"And then we have chaser and drag queen extraordinaire, rocking some stunning gold heels to match his dress, BELINDA ZABINI!" Susan announced.
Luna perked up when they turned to her. "And, our bride to be, the captain and seeker for Team Sparkles, is none other than our very own HARRIETTE POTTER, who it took all three of us to hold her down to do her makeup!"
Everyone laughed when Harry did a flip on his broom and his dress flapped up around his face and he began flying erratically while trying to bat the fabric away.
"I'm releasing the balls!" Susan said with an immature giggle before opening the box of quidditch gear. "On your marks, get set…"
"GO!"
Susan levitated a quaffle to the middle of the pitch and threw it up while she released a snitch.
And then the girls proceeded to entirely ignore the match going on in favor of commenting on the important aspects of this game.
"Ladies and prettier ladies, this is the most important match of Harriette's life," Luna said in her dreamy announcer voice. She smiled at the white blur flying through the sky. "She always held dreams of playing professional quidditch, little did she know that all it took to be a professional was to bat her false lashes so prettily."
"Susan," Hermione conjured a microphone and held it pompously in front of Susan once she finished laughing at Luna, "in your professional opinion- which of these lovely ladies has the best legs on a broom?"
Susan flicked her hair off her shoulders and stuck her nose in the air while she spoke into the microphone. "What an excellent question, Hermione, and you've came to the right person to ask it. Now, although we all know that Drayma thinks her legs are the best, the fact remains that Belinda simply has legs for days."
Luna conjured her own microphone, wandlessly, which Hermione was very jealous of. "Susan is a biased reporter," she said in a very factual tone. "She's only judging based on what she can see, and we all know that Ronnie has the nicest legs in the game."
"Ooh, it looks like Ronnie fumbled the quaffle," Susan said with a put out sigh. "I guess legs aren't the most important thing this match, are they?"
"No." Hermione shook her head sadly. "It's arses and heels, ladies, arses and heels."
Which prompted a whole new line of commentary while the boys tried to play quidditch and ignore them.
"Well, Harriette says that Nellie has the nicest arse on the field, but personally I think Thalia has a brilliant arse hidden on that broom," Hermione said thoughtfully, causing Theo to blush from his position in the goal posts. "You ladies haven't seen it bare, but—"
"Shut up," Theo called to her with a laugh and an even darker blush on his handsome face. "You're so embarrassing."
Harry, without missing a beat, flew across the sky and added his own comment. "I've seen it bare, I wasn't impressed to be honest."
Ron, who was carrying the quidditch in one hand, showed an impressive level of skill as he brought his wand to his own throat to enhance his voice. "Mate, for someone who's so shy, I think you've seen more of us naked than anyone else."
"Harriette uses her cloak and spies on you all," Luna said so seriously that Hermione could almost believe her.
"I do not!" Harry defended himself hotly. Hermione couldn't see his face, but she knew he had to be glaring. "You lot just get naked for no reason all the fuckin time, it's mad."
"And what reason does Frederick have to be nude in front of you, hmm?" Blaise drawled with a laugh. He wasn't flying as much as he was floating around on his broom up in the sky like a shimmering male model. "How scandalous, Harriette, have you been sleeping with your betrothed before your vows?"
"Oh, no!" Susan gasped. "Is our little Harriette, our bride to be, the personal light of my life, sexually active with Freddy Poo?"
Ron laughed and joined in on the teasing as he easily scored past a floundering Theo. "George said they shagged in his apartment."
Harry howled in indignation and the girls screamed with laughter.
"Do you think being well-shagged has improved Harriette's flying?" Hermione asked Luna with the microphone.
Someone, Ron it sounded like, muttered a score update, but the girls didn't care much about that.
"No, Hermione," Luna said, "and here's why. Ronnie is an excellent flier, even in his leather high heeled boots. And he's only had sex once, right?"
Hermione could admit that she didn't used to like Luna. She didn't like the way that Luna was so comfortable lounging in fantasy and uncertainties and tried to drag the others (Harry mostly) into that world with her where logic wasn't a factor. But Luna grew up a little, Hermione mellowed a little (she was a rather high strung child, objectively) and now Hermione wondered if Luna had always been so funny and witty or if it was a side-effect of dating the very sarcastic Draco.
Either way, the girls laughed and Ron scowled and some of the boys laughed. Or, Neville did laugh, until Susan zeroed in on him.
"Ladies, ladies, the question is that if a well-rounded sex life makes or breaks the fliers in the air, then why is Nellie so terribly bad at flying?"
Neville frowned and seemed more concerned with bickering than he was with keeping Blaise from scoring. "Maybe I've been having loads of secret sex, Susan. I don't tell you everything."
"He does tell me though," Ron said brightly as he easily snagged the quaffle from Blaise. "And Nellie here is a virgin with a crush on Hannah."
"Ron!"
"But you went out with her before?" Draco called to Neville. "Abbott, right? Johnny's sister?"
Neville tried to cross his arms, but then the wind blew his hair in his face causing him to sputter and nearly tumble off his broom. "I- we just- I…"
"Nellie thought for a while that she might be interested in blokes," Luna said matter-of-factly. "She isn't, of course, but she was quite confused when she developed a minor crush on her opponent, Belinda."
"LUNA!"
Hermione didn't know if it was true or not, though she suspected it wasn't because Luna wouldn't be so cruel to say it in front of Blaise if it were true, but it was funny enough to cause her to laugh until tears freely streamed from her eyes.
"The score is 50 to 40," Draco called to them with a toss of his long pink curls.
"Nobody cares," Susan called back.
"I do care about how Harriette is managing to hold her dress up with her rather flat chest," Hermione said with a smirk when Harry flipped her off. "Such unladylike behavior, Mrs Weasley!"
"I am not WEASLEY!" Harry yelled as he aimed his broom high in the sky. "Fred is going to be a Potter!"
"Oi!" Ron yelled at Harry and waggled his red eyebrows that didn't match his now dark hair. "I changed my mind, mate. You make a hell of a bird, if you can make the carpet match the drapes, then I vote you come join the Weasley family with me instead."
"I'm telling Fred you said that," Harry warned him. He was all but a white blur as he trailed through the sky. "Also, fuck you, Blaise, I keep thinking your shoes are the snitch."
Blaise laughed loudly and wiggled his golden heels playfully. "Distracting you, daaaaarling?"
"I'm also telling Fred you said that," Harry smirked before abruptly and silently summoning the heels right off Blaise's feet. "Catch me if you can, Belinda."
"Kill him!" Ron roared playfully while the girls egged Blaise on. "Kill him before he reports us to Fred!"
The actual match was all but forgotten as everyone cheered on Blaise or Harry while Harry dangled Blaise's heels and flew circles around the pitch.
"What a woman!" Susan cried. "This is the effect of ladies in quidditch, we simply have more exciting matches, folks!"
"Drag queens today, maybe the muggle queen tomorrow," Luna said brightly while Blaise began trying to wandlessly summon the shoes from Harry. "I've always believed she was a secret witch."
Hermione nodded sagely. "Queen Elizabeth is immortal. She's a timeless classic, much like Drayma's dress."
Draco barked out a laugh and twirled his broom, nearly getting hit by the golden blur that was Blaise. "I am fabulous," Draco drawled in a falsetto tone that made everyone laugh.
"I think Ronnie looks prettier," Theo called, sparking a heated debate from the boys as they ignored the quaffle to argue over looks.
"Ladies, don't fight," Hermione called to them, ignoring the way that Blaise had finally drew his wand and was trying to land a stinging hex on Harry. "You're all beauty queens in my opinion!"
"But I'm the prettiest, right babe?" Theo asked. He was now lounging backwards on his broom, neglecting the goal posts entirely.
Hermione gave Theo a bright and loving smile. "No," she said solemnly. "I think that Belinda is the prettiest."
"Aww," Blaise gave up his pursuit of Harry to coo down at Hermione, "I knew you loved me, Granger."
"Oh!" Luna gasped and sat up quickly. "Harriette, hurry up and win the match! We should vote on the real winner today!"
"Yesss," Susan said in a sibilant cheer. "Come on Team Sparkles!"
"Luuuueeee," Draco whined down at his girlfriend, "why wouldn't you cheer for me?"
"Because you're an idiot," Harry laughed as he abruptly snatched the snitch from the air only a few feet below Draco. "And I win."
"Our lovely Harriette might have won the match for Team Sparkles, but let's reveal the votes to see who truly wins the first annual Quaffles and Queens competition," Hermione said half an hour later as the boys sat prissily in the top box and the girls held a small box full of parchment slips. "The first vote goes to…"
Hermione turned to Luna who pulled a parchment from the box Susan held. "To our darling Belinda, from Ronnie."
Blaise stood up and made a curtsy.
The next two were also to Blaise, from Hermione and Neville.
"Oooh," Susan grinned at the next slip she pulled. "One vote to Nellie, from Harriette."
"Cheers," Neville winked at Harry.
The girls laughed and Susan pulled the next slip. "And this one is to Drayma from…" she rolled her eyes at Draco. "You can't vote for yourself, you narcissistic wanker."
"You never said that." Draco tossed his hair and crossed his legs, somehow making the movement look rather prissy and haughty. "And I am the prettiest."
"Fine." Susan huffed and pulled the next slip. "This one is for Harriette, from me."
Of course.
They could have a contest on who had the bluest eyes and Susan would vote for Harry.
The next vote for Harry came from Luna, another non-surprise to all of them but a now pouting Draco.
"I thought you loved me the most," he told her with his lower lip stuck out and his lashes fluttering.
Luna hummed. "You're the prettiest boy, but you look a lot like Tonks with your hair and I don't think I like pink hair."
"I don't either," Hermione assured her. "It's very bright, isn't it?"
"It is," Luna nodded. "It hides wrackspurts."
Of course it did.
"The next vote is for…" Susan snorted and turned the parchment so Hermione could read it.
Hermione blushed and shook her head at Theo. "You can't vote for me, I'm not in the contest."
Theo batted his long fake lashes and flashed a pretty smile at her. "But you said to pick the prettiest girl here, and I did."
"Gross," Harry sighed. He propped his chin in his hand and tapped one of his silver painted nails on his cheek. "You two ever get tired of flirting?"
"Nope," Theo laughed. "You and Fred flirt all the time."
"Fred flirts with me," Harry said. "I don't flirt with him."
"In public," Ron muttered, drawing a laugh from Neville and Draco.
Harry scowled over at Ron. "If one more person brings up George seeing me undressed, I'm cursing the lot of you."
Ron used Harry's own curious head-tilt against him. "George didn't say you were naked, mate, he just said you shagged Fred in his apartment."
A beat of silence.
Then they all started laughing at Harry's very obvious blush and embarrassment.
"Who's the last vote?" Harry asked Susan, blatantly trying to veer them away from the current topic.
Susan snatched the last parchment out of the box and laughed at it. "For Belinda, from Belinda."
Hermione rolled her eyes but conjured a golden crown. "Then the winner of Queens and Quaffles first annual match is BELINDA ZABINI!"
Everyone whistled and clapped when Hermione crowned Blaise.
Blaise put a hand on his chest as he curtseyed and waved regally. "Thank you," he said with a sniff. "I've always known I was the prettiest witch in our group."
Hermione laughed and felt light on the inside to see Harry laughing too when Blaise began blowing kisses to them all.
She felt even better when Harry slipped his hand in hers and helped her waddle down from the Top Box together.
"Mione?"
"Hmm?"
Harry turned his head and gave her a sweet smile while they navigated the stairs together behind their friends. "When Rosie's older, I think you should do stuff like this with her, yeah? Show her that you're more than just a genius, you're also fun."
Hermione laughed a little at the very near insult. "I'll try," she said drily.
Harry slowed her to a stop on in the stairs and his face was more serious. "I think you're going to be a great mum," he said softly, too softly for the others to hear. "I wish that I'd gotten to have someone like you as a mum when I was growing up. Rosie's lucky, isn't she?"
Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked quickly to keep them away so she didn't make Harry nervous. She hugged him instead, laughing internally as she had to work to keep his magic long red hair from getting in her mouth.
"You're going to be the best godfather ever," she told him earnestly while Harry let her hug him and he awkwardly hugged her back.
Harry's voice was still soft, as if he were trying to keep everyone from hearing him. "If you didn't have me, who would be her godfather?" he asked.
Hermione pulled her head back so she could keep her arms around Harry but also see his face. He didn't look upset or confused, only curious.
It was a peculiar question to ask though.
"Why wouldn't we have you?" Hermione asked him slowly, scanning him closely for any tells. "Is everything alright?"
"Course," Harry grinned and grabbed Hermione's hand so they could resume descending the stairs. "I was just curious how it works. Like, if Sirius died, then is Remus my godfather?"
"Most likely," Hermione said, considering the technicalities. "I suppose if something happened to Theo and I and then something happened to you, then Fred would be godfather—
A fate Hermione would hate.
—or we'd name a secondary one."
Harry hummed a little thoughtfully. "My parents should have named a secondary godfather," he mused. "Then I wouldn't have been homeless, or lived with the Dursley's."
Hermione's eyes surely went wide at the logic in Harry's statement.
Harry glanced at her and nodded a little. "I'd pick Sev and Tonks or maybe even Bill and Fleur, but that's just me."
Hermione let out a heavy breath as they approached the bottom of the stairs. She gave Harry a grateful smile as she never would have considered the logic in choosing a secondary godfather past Harry and Fred. "Thank you," she said genuinely. "You'll still be godfather, but maybe it would be a good idea to pick a secondary one. Not that anything's going to happen to you," she said hastily, "just in case."
Harry looked relieved and happy when he returned her smile. "I just want Rosie to have a good life."
"With a godfather like you, how could she not?" Hermione murmured, touched by how much Harry loved her daughter already.
Harry squeezed her hand and urged her along to catch up with the others. "Godfather isn't as important as parents, Mione. Also, maybe she'll get lucky and be born with your looks and not Thalia's, yeah?"
Hermione laughed and they caught up with the others just in time to tag team Theo as they poked fun at him over who Rosie would resemble the most.
Harry truly was a good friend to Hermione and a good brother to Theo. Hermione knew that he would make an excellent godfather to their daughter soon too.