RP: Birthday Dinner

[shh_harry]

Date: 27 September 2005
Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Roger Davies
Location: Hermione and Roger's house
Status: Private
Summary: Harry spends the evening with Hermione and Roger to celebrate her birthday
Completion: Complete

Comments

[shh_hermione]

It had been an awful week. Fortunately, it was nearly over. Only two days left before Sunday, which had taken on a new meaning recently as being a 'day of rest'. Even with Ron helping out part-time and Lee working, the press required a lot of attention and it was more physical work, if only due to the spellwork and movement necessary. Hermione liked creating something, but she was fast approaching a point where she knew she'd have to make some difficult decisions regarding all the stress and work in her life right now

[shh_harry]

"Hallo, Hermione!" Harry leaned down to kiss Hermione's cheek, and then gave her a warm hug. He followed her into the house, looking around admiringly.

"This place looks amazing," he said. "It looks like you." He reached out and squeezed her hand lightly. Hermione looked stressed and tired out, and Harry wondered just how many hours she was working in a week. She had two jobs, he knew, and she always pushed herself hard. He didn't want to upset her by telling her how tired she looked, but he chided himself mentally for letting so much time go by without seeing her. He barely had time for anything but sleep himself these days, but he made a mental promise to come by more often and help her out when she needed it.

[shh_hermione]

She returned Harry's hug and then stepped aside so he could enter the house. At his words, she smiled. "Thank you. We worked on it for weeks, but it was certainly worth the effort. I really love how it turned out."

"Would you like a brief tour? It won't take too long, but I can show off my surprise for Roger and force you to sit in my library for a bit," she said. "Roger's making dinner and said he'd give a shout when it's ready. If you prefer, we could just sit and have a glass of wine instead."

[shh_harry]

"I was just about to ask for a tour," Harry said. He took a deep sniff. "And I thought I smelled something good. I was going to chide you if you were the one cooking-- you're not supposed to cook for your own birthday celebration." Of course, his birthday dinner had consisted of samosas, tandoori goat meat, and jalebi in Uttar Pradesh.

"I'd be shocked if you didn't have a library for me to sit in," he teased good-naturedly. "That would be a good place for me to give you your birthday gift, actually."

[shh_hermione]

"It wasn't romances, thank God. It was a history of English magic text and a Properties of Transfiguration. A few titles similar to that," she said. "I'm not sure I'd have agreed on a romance even for the money."

She arched a brow and smiled. "I'd never use my relationship with Roger to affect his business. Besides, he needs you far more than I would because he works far too many hours himself. If it continues to be so time consuming, I'll probably just place an advert for someone to work for Vanateigh. Ron's intending to eventually quit anyway, so it would just require juggling accounts for a while to pay the salary."

"You do know that a gift wasn't necessary, right?" she asked as he reached into a bag. She took the gift from him and carefully opened it, listening as he explained what it was. "I could certainly use this now. I very well might get addicted if it's sweet and puts me in a good mood."

[shh_harry]

Harry chuckled. "You probably both work too hard," he conceded. "It's easier for me-- I show up and do what I'm told as best I can, rather than being in charge of a whole business."

Though that brought up an interesting question, and one he'd have to discuss with Roger. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up the number of hours he was working a week, plus heavy Quidditch practices. That would be for another time, though, not an away-from-work social occasion.

"That's the point of a gift, isn't it?" he asked. "They're not required, but they're given because we want to give them. And that stuff is damned good. I'm halfway addicted myself, and thinking I should see about mail-ordering more if it's possible. Now, part two you don't get 'til we're in the library."

[shh_hermione]

"Being in charge is a pain in the arse," she muttered. "I prefer it to being told what to do, though, I have to admit. I've never been particularly fond of taking orders."

She smiled. "I suppose that's why we give them. I'm much better at giving than receiving, however. I always feel silly when I get gifts, like I don't deserve them," she admitted. She gave him a hug. "It's a lovely gift, Harry. Thank you."

"Now, we can move along to the guest bedroom, if you'd like. The guest bathroom has paint that changes based on your mood, a creation from the twins, of course, so we'll definitely stop by there, too."

[shh_harry]

Harry chuckled. "I think I have an uneven relationship with being in charge. I never know if I want it or I don't. I didn't think I could teach the DA, but I loved it when I did. But I was proud to be Quidditch team captain in sixth year, and in fifth I was so envious of you and Ron when you were made prefects and I wasn't. Now it seems kind of stupid and petty of me to have worried so over it, doesn't it?"

He returned her hug with a smile. "'Course you deserve a birthday gift or two," he said, following along as if she were an art museum docent.

"Anything created by the twins is worth seeing for sure," he agreed. "Anyway, how often do I get to look around your brand new house? Show me everything." He did his best to hide the stiffness setting into his leg as he moved down the hall.

[shh_hermione]

"I doubt Cocoa misses us at all. Crookshanks certainly doesn't miss him, though Zuzu is far more active, which drives him nuts." She smiled. "I'll get you a potion after dinner. It might help. The twins carry quite a variety at their Apothecary, you know? You should drop by and pick up something."

She heard footsteps and looked up with a smile when she saw Roger enter the library. "Cheeky bugger, listening at doorways, are you?" she teased, leaning her head back so she could kiss his chin. "We did mention wine, and it's much better having it delivered compared to having to actually summon it myself."

"Is dinner nearly ready?" she asked before she looked at Harry and smiled. "Since we have wine, I suppose that means it's time for my gift."

[shh_harry]

"Yes, I should go by the twins' shop," Harry agreed. He hadn't yet. Perhaps it seemed too happy, too life-affirming before now to go and visit that part of his past. Now, though, the draw was there. He wondered just what the twins were up to these days

[shh_hermione]

Hermione took the bag from Harry and opened it. "Last time we were in India, my mind was, uh, elsewhere," she said vaguely, not mentioning Horcruxes or research. "I didn't really get a chance to browse the bookshops."

As Harry explained what the text was, she listened and looked at the scroll. "It's lovely." She displayed a few sections and glanced up at Harry. "Just a few? Goodness. I'm not sure if this is appropriate as a birthday gift, Harry. It should be in a museum or somewhere safe for people to read and learn from it, not in my little library where I can selfishly devour it."

She stood up and walked to him so she could kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Harry. It's a wonderful gift, and I look forward to reading it." She walked back to her chair, stopping to kiss Roger lightly before she sat down. "I think I should have that wine now before I decide to start reading."

[shh_roger]

"Nearly ready, yeah," Roger said, smiling as he took a seat and sat the wine glasses on the center table, then grinned at Harry. "Not so much great cook as great at following directions."

He poured wine into each as Harry took out his gift and handed it to Hermione. He glanced over at the scroll that Hermione removed from the bag, eyes widening when he saw how obviously old and extensive it was. Hermione would be curled up with that in no time. He heard her say that the scroll would be more suited for a museum, but he thought she deserved the best.

When Hermione stopped and kissed him on her way back to her chair he returned the kiss and smiled. "Got it covered," he said, handing a glass of wine over to her.