It had been a rough week for Harry Potter. He quickly discovered that his wife, who he loved dearly, was not the easiest person to deal with when miserable. Her morning sickness has resumed, although it really wasn’t morning sickness, but more like all day sickness. He couldn’t even make mention of food without her gagging and running to the bathroom. And once she returned, she would yell or hit him.
His only escape was his work. Everyday, when Ginny was taking her nap, he would go to his office at Hogwarts and have a cup of tea, plan his next year of lessons, or grade papers. Once, he even went just to visit Dobby. He always returned home in time to wake Ginny, and give her Healer Peeker’s potions and dinner. The night was the only time when Ginny was not sick, but it seemed like after seven her hormones would take over, and the problem was mood swings.
Now, he sat in his Hogwarts office, preparing to return home once again. He had spent the whole day grading the very last of the papers. It had taken so long because of all of the trouble Ginny was having. He felt like celebrating.
He quickly cleared his desk of papers, trash, and teacups. He closed his windows making a dash for the fireplace.
Harry Flooed directly into the Three Broomsticks. He placed an order for a romantic dinner for two, and told Madam Rosmerta he would be back to pick it up shortly. He hurried over to Honeydukes, buying some chocolates that claimed to quiet an upset stomach.
He arrived back at the Three Broomsticks and picked up his orders and Flooed home.
Harry had made a fair bit of noise coming out of the fireplace, and he was hoping he had not woke Ginny. He placed his packages on the kitchen table, and started setting things up.
He placed candles all around the kitchen, and covered the table in a beautiful cloth. He set the table with two plates, napkins, forks, knives and spoons. He went to the china cabinet where Ginny kept the special dishes, and brought down the champagne flutes they got at their wedding. He lit the candles and then turned his attention to the food.
Ginny leaned on the doorway, smiling sweetly at her husband’s turned back. She had heard him rustling in the kitchen when she had woken from her nap. She knew something was up once she saw the table and the food on the counter (which Harry had now arranged on plates, and was scrutinising intensely.) Ginny decided this was the perfect time to thank him. She crept silently to him, his back still turned.
Once she was close enough to whisper, she said, “If you want that to arrange itself, I can teach you the spell,”
“Ahhh!” Harry yelled and whipped around. “Ginny, you’re not supposed to be awake yet!” he said, crossing his arms.
“I heard someone in the kitchen,” she said, pouting.
“You ruined your surprise,”
“So, what are we eating?” Ginny asked, peeking around Harry.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Harry said. He unfolded his arms and pointed towards their living room. Ginny just smiled and shook her head.
“Ginny, please?” Harry pleaded. Ginny shook her head again advancing towards Harry. She opened her arms hugging him tight. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist resting his chin on her head. Ginny tipped her head upwards, pulling Harry into a deep kiss. Slowly, she started to back up, pulling Harry with her. Quickly and all at once, she broke the kiss, pulled away from Harry, and got behind him.
“Ginny! Not fair, you cheated!” Harry said huskily.
“I know, but I cheated well, didn’t I?” She smiled, looking at the food, and rubbing her hands together. “This looks fantastic.”
“Now that you know what we are eating, go sit
somewhere while I finish,”
“Fine,” Ginny said, slumping out of the kitchen.
Harry took the plates to the table. He stepped back and admired his work. The plates were full of mashed potatoes, broiled chicken, vegetables, and there was still the chocolate cake on the counter.
Healthy enough for now, I suppose, he thought. He went back to the bag and pulled out the sparkling water, and filled the champagne flutes with the fizzy drink.
“Perfect,” he said, and went to fetch Ginny.
“Harry could you please come here?” Ginny called.
Harry was sitting in the living room, reading the Daily Prophet. Ginny had been sitting with him, but had gone to the loo a few moments ago. As soon as Harry heard her voice, he jumped up and rushed to her.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.
Ginny smiled, “Yes, I’m fine, but our bathtub is not,”
Harry cast a glance towards the bathtub. Aside from looking a bit grimy, he thought it was fine.
“And your point is?”
“That I can’t get down and dirty with the housework anymore, so you need to help me,”
“Oh,” came Harry’s quiet reply.
Ginny saw the look on her husband’s face and smiled. “Come on, I’ll tell you what to do,”
Harry sighed and followed his wife as she led him out of the bathroom and down the hall to their utility closet.
Ginny pulled a stick with feathers off of a hook and handed it to him.
“That is a feather duster, and you use it to dust the dust off of all the surfaces in the house,” she explained calmly. Harry took the duster.
“You can just start with that for now; it’s best if you take it slow,” she smiled.
“Okay,” Harry said bravely. He marched off, determined to show Ginny he could clean as well as anyone else.
Ginny sat down on the couch and watched as Harry carefully dusted the photos around their side tables and the mantel and the photos on the wall.
“Don’t forget to reach up there in the corner of the ceiling and get the cobwebs,” Ginny advised, “I usually do that part with magic, but, hey, you’re taller than me,”
Harry just nodded and reached the cobwebs.
Ginny watched silently for another few moments, and then started laughing hysterically. Harry turned around and looked at her.
“What? What’s so funny?” he said, smiling at his wife’s face scrunched up with laughter.
Once she sobered up a little, she calmly stated with a straight face, “I just realized that you are very sexy from this angle,”
Harry struck a pose, holding the duster high above his head with his left hand and his right hand on his hip.
“Call me Master Dust Buster,” he said dramatically.
“I think you earned a break, Master Dust Buster,” Ginny said, motioning with her finger that Harry should come closer. He dropped the duster and flopped on the sofa next to her.
“What kind of break?” he said mischievously.
“This kind,” Ginny said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.
A/N: And so ends chapter six. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Now, I know some of you may argue that Harry already knows how to clean, but it's been a while, and he probably thought that in the Wizarding world, all the cleaning was done magically. Well, I think Mrs. Weasley would instill in her daughter that it's important to clean properly. Just my view. Plus, how else would this story come about if he wasn't a little niave? *wonders how this A/N got so long* Please let me know what you think, and don't forget to wager your guess about the gender of the babies! And so much thanks goes to my fabulous beta, Ron x Hermione! Thanks so much!