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"Muuuummy, I want to be with yooou," Lily whined with a pout on her face, climbing onto the sofa with her sticky little hands.
"Darling, careful," Hermione warned her, catching a finger between the pages of the book she was reading and lifting it above her head to prevent the little girl from hurting herself with the hard cover corners.
Lily, tired from the effort of climbing, wriggled into the space between her mother's crossed legs, pushing with her hips to make more room and be more comfortable between them. Still whimpering, she hid her little face between Hermione's breasts; the smell of mummy always made her feel calmer.
Hermione puffed out her cheeks to keep from screaming. Lily had been unbearable all day. She only wanted to be on top of her and hadn't slept during her nap time. She had barely eaten anything and every time Hermione thought she had finally found something to distract her, she came looking for her again.
It was hot.
The Burrow felt like an oven on full blast. The wood trapped the heat and the almost non-existent wind dragged dry leaves in a hot breeze that only increased the desperation of those who looked out the window. Even the water from the tap came out lukewarm.
And the little girl's hot, damp little body clinging to her dress was driving her completely mad. Even so, she placed her palms on the tiny back and rubbed it in circles, feeling the sweat slide down her neck and her daughter's damp little head under her chin.
"This is worse than '95," Harry huffed as he entered the house with his hands and face dirty with soil.
Ron came with him. He was red all the way up to his neck and ears after de-gnoming the garden with his best friend; an activity that neither Hermione nor Lily could stand, considering it "cruel and barbaric," so they hadn't participated. Harry loved hearing Lily say "barbaric" with the same indignation as her mother.
"Come to Daddy!" Harry said to Lily, crouching down with his arms outstretched before Hermione started biting the insides of her cheeks from anxiety; she looked on the verge of collapse.
Lily turned her little face away so as not to look at him, hiding in her mum's dress. Which was strange. She always wanted to be with him.
"She's hot," Hermione murmured, panting as well, fanning herself with the book that barely released any air, which split between her and her daughter and cooled neither of them.
Harry looked outside, still with dazzled eyes. He would turn eighteen in a few days, so, unlike the previous year, he could use his magic. Ron, with sore fingers from shaking so many gnomes, dropped down next to Hermione, who gave him a light push on the shoulder to move him away: her friend was on fire and was making her even hotter.
"Mrs Weasley!" Harry called, because yes, he could use magic, but he had no idea how to conjure what he wanted.
The kitchen door opened, letting Ginny out carrying a tray with lemonade and ice to distribute around the house. She was wearing the top of her green bikini and a short skirt, clothes that Hermione didn't feel confident wearing, much less after having been pregnant.
Lily opened one little eye when she heard the tinkling of the door and saw her aunt approach, offering her the pink glass with sparkling stars that Grandma Molly kept just for her to use.
"It has heart-shaped ice," Ginny informed her, raising and lowering her eyebrows quickly.
Lily jumped to the floor without protest. Hermione could finally breathe; her torso was wet and she gestured a "thank you" to her friend, who winked back.
"We have to go and get some mint," Ginny sang, exaggerating a searching expression on her face, handing the other glasses to Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Mmm, will you come with me?"
Lily smiled, showing all her tiny teeth, and with her lemonade dripping along the way, left hand in hand with her aunt towards the garden.
Hermione wanted to scream: The hat! Don't forget the hat!, but she was so tired and they had already gone far… the guilt of being a mother who didn't put her baby first and was glad to be alone for five minutes hit her in the pit of her stomach.
"Have a shower, take the chance," Molly told her, drying her lip with a handkerchief and giving her a kind smile. Moving her wand, Lily's hat flew from the upstairs room, down the stairs, out the open door and across the grass until it landed on the little girl's head. She laughed loudly when the hat with the enormous sunflower fell onto her crown.
Hermione breathed deeply, pressing the cold glass to her forehead and thanking the suggestion. She got up from the sofa that could compete in temperature with the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room and took her opportunity, climbing the stairs. Mrs Weasley's voice no longer sounded so kind now that she was busy scolding Ron for going out without having applied the sun potion, which was why small blisters were starting to appear on his face.
Outside, Harry, who was receiving the last bits of help from Mr Weasley, saw his little girl leave the house with an empty glass held tightly in one hand. Ginny had started a race across the dry grass that Lily was losing spectacularly, but she ran with great determination with her brow furrowed and her hands tightly clenched, ignoring the dry grass that pricked her little toes through the holes in her sandals.
"I'm going to take all the mint I find!" Ginny shouted, not letting her win without making an effort, but running much slower than she actually could.
"No, you're going to take all the mint I find!" Lily replied.
Harry laughed to himself and when a flying hat landed on her head, the girl kept running even though she couldn't see anything ahead.
"Gin, her eyes!" Mr Weasley shouted, making her stop halfway to adjust the hat so she wouldn't end up face-first on the ground.
Seeing her run safely, Harry and Arthur went back to what they were doing. They had gathered some branches to make a canopy and then dug a space large enough to fill with water and make an improvised pool for Lily.
"Now we all fit," Mr Weasley celebrated, with a wide smile and his hands on his hips; he loved it when the Potters brought him Muggle projects.
Harry's heart melted when he saw Lily running —at what she believed was great speed— with Ginny back towards him. His daughter's laughter was the happiest music on earth, one he would never take for granted after the war. Her thick, rebellious hair like his stuck to her skin from sweat and although she had inherited his green eyes —eyes that could convince him to jump into an active volcano in search of a flower if she asked— she was just like her mother.
She looked so much like Hermione that most of the time he felt his chest would burst with love.
"What did you do?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes as she crossed the door.
Her freshly washed hair was dripping and the thin white dress with sunflowers —chosen to match little Lily— fitted her waist so well that for a second Harry forgot what she had asked.
"Ma-magic," he cleared his throat and slowly pulled her closer to kiss her cheek.
Hermione's face flushed when Harry's hand rested on her belly. Ever since they had conceived Lily, it had become a habit for him to place his hand there every time he hugged her.
"She's not going to learn about boundaries if you keep doing everything she asks," Hermione replied, shaking her head but with a smile on her lips.
"It's not for her. It's because you needed space," Harry said, resting his head on her neck to smell the roses in her hair.
Hermione's knees buckled imperceptibly and she lost her breath. Being like this… with him… with her body hot from the summer and him with his sweaty, dirty body was… she exhaled slowly and shook off the desire to push her hips back; there were too many people watching and before she gave in, she pulled away from Harry, fixing her hair with her cheeks still pink.
"It's hot."
Harry heard her whimper as she pulled away from him, blowing her hair out of her face. She whined in the same way her daughter did when she was uncomfortable and that made him smile inside. For a long time, Hermione had deprived herself of being what she was: an eighteen-year-old teenager, and every time that part of her came out, he made sure she didn't sink back into herself.
"What if…?" Harry asked with his lip half bitten, approaching her from behind again; he hadn't missed the tremble in her knees. "She'll be entertained for a while…"
"This is a different kind of heat," Hermione defended herself, giving him a gentle swat to pull away again when a tingle in her belly warned her to do so.
Harry looked at her with raised eyebrows. And she, realising she had been caught, leaned into his ear and whispered:
"Maybe tonight."
"Too hot?" Harry asked with a mischievous smile, not letting her pull away.
Hermione reacted too late.
Harry pulled her by the waist, and in one movement, lifted her into his arms and jumped with her to the bottom of the pool. The contrast of the cold water against her hot skin made her open her eyes underwater and let out a scream that dissolved into bubbles. He, meanwhile, hit the bottom with his feet and pushed himself upwards, without letting her fall.
"HARRY POTTER!" Hermione shrieked, spitting out water when they surfaced.
"HARRY POTTER!" Lily shouted, imitating her mother playfully, throwing herself with her arms open, clothes, sandals and hat still on, onto her father's body.
Hermione covered her head with her forearms and Harry, who was an expert at catching Lily, opened his fingers to receive her. He squeezed his eyes shut and saw white spots when one of his daughter's knees hit his teeth, but he didn't let her go.
"What do you mean Harry?" she scolded with feigned offence, pulling her to his chest and rubbing his mouth with watery eyes. "My name is Daddy!"
"Harry," Lily laughed, collecting water in her mouth to spit it into the sky.
Hermione, who forgave him for throwing her into the water upon seeing the kick he had taken to the teeth, let out a laugh and kissed the bump on Harry's face tenderly before taking Lily in her arms so he could recover from the impact. Ron, who was covered from head to toe in potion and looked green, approached the group with a huge hat his mother had put on his head, very much against his will.
"And what about Ginny!" he complained when he saw her without any slime on her skin or ridiculous hats, looking at his mum with his arms crossed.
"I did put on potion," his sister replied, sticking her tongue out at him.
Harry couldn't help laughing through his pain when he saw him walking like a creature from the bottom of the Black Lake, dripping potion across the grass that stuck to his feet and calves.
"The water's really cold," Ginny shivered as she put one foot in.
Lily climbed and spun around Hermione's torso. Hermione, used to how restless she was, followed her rhythm perfectly, although her eye twitched a little; Harry knew she didn't like playing much, it wasn't her strong suit, whereas it was his. He approached his girls and pulled the smallest one by the tie of her dress and then, in a coordinated movement, threw her into the arms of her grandfather Arthur, who caught her in the air. Lily's heart beat fast with excitement and a mix of wanting to vomit and laughter that made her swallow water, spun in circles inside her stomach.
Ron, oily, let himself fall into the water to join the game with his goddaughter and she stuck her tongue out in disgust when she felt the green potion on her own skin. Ginny was the next to receive little Potter and threw her back to Harry.
Lily's screams were so high-pitched that Hermione discreetly covered her ears with her hair. She looked towards the house and Crookshanks watched them with horror from the window: no one would ever make him get into that torture of water, not even dead.
"I love you," Harry whispered to her, hugging her from behind with his hands under her bust, giving her a timid and discreet kiss on the collarbone before letting her go.
"Hey," she growled with a furrowed brow.
"You said it was too hot to cuddle," Harry reminded her in his defence.
"Harry!" Lily shouted, landing in his hands and shaking her feet hard to swim clumsily to the other side.
"You're mad as hatter," Hermione told her with a warm smile before kissing her forehead, as if she could leave her heart there, before watching her fly back into Arthur's arms. "But not anymore…" she said, continuing her conversation with Harry with a pout on her face.
"Mum, look!" Lily shrieked, flying between Ron and Ginny.
"Mad!" she replied, catching her in her arms to cover her in kisses on the face and hair. The smell of her daughter was the most effective calming potion on earth.
"No! The kissing monster has got you!" Harry dramatised, bringing his hands to his face with feigned horror.
"What do you mean monster!" Hermione growled.
"HELP! THE MONSTER HAS ME!" Lily shrieked, kicking in the water to swim towards Harry, who upon receiving her said:
"The monster infected me and now I'm a kissing monster too!"
"NOOOOO!"
Lily twisted, laughing so hard she swallowed more water than she could and started coughing.
"This girl is not a toy," Mrs Weasley reminded them with feigned annoyance and her hands on her hips.
"Yes I am!" Lily defended herself with her wet hair over her face, still breathing strangely.
Hermione pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at how stubborn she was, so much like her father, and then said:
"If we keep overstimulating her she'll never go to bed."
Harry, who was very interested in bedtime, agreed. The rest of the game was gentler and while Mrs Weasley finished dinner, Hermione went up to the second floor of the house with her daughter wrapped in a towel with dragon prints, clinging like a koala.
"I'm cold," Lily complained, chattering her teeth, seeking the warmth of her mother's belly to warm herself.
"The bath will feel nice," Hermione assured her, kissing one little ear.
Harry, who was walking behind them, turned on the tap to fill the tub and while Hermione took off the little girl's wet clothes, he distributed the rubber ducks that Mr Weasley had given her for when she bathed at the Burrow.
"Bubbles?" Lily asked Harry, wishing with all her heart that her dad would do the magic trick. She loved it when he prepared the bubbles and surprised her with colours and sparkles.
He twirled his wrist with the wand in his hand, straightened up very properly and made her wait a little just to build more anticipation. Lily's eyes sparkled and her open little mouth waited excitedly for the tip of the wand to splash golden lights and transform the boring tub into magic. Harry coughed under Hermione's amused gaze and after three very unnecessary wand movements, pink and sparkling bubbles filled the bathtub.
His daughter's smile didn't take a second to light up her face. Hermione wrinkled her nose and he shrugged before taking Lily in his arms to put her in the tub.
"I can do it, I'm a big girl," she told him and Hermione, covering her mouth to keep from laughing at Harry's tragic face, watched her take a folding stool, unfold it and climb in by herself.
"How do we say to Daddy?" Hermione reminded her when she saw her sink under the foam.
"Thank you Daddy!" Lily celebrated, popping out towards the surface.
"It has been an honour," Harry replied with ceremony, and Lily returned the bow she had seen her father make so many times to greet Buckbeak.
"Go and have a shower, I'll take care of Lily," Hermione said, taking off her wet dress, left only in her underwear.
Harry held his breath and couldn't resist discreetly running his eyes over her body. Lily was playing without paying attention and he… quickly left the bathroom with his heart beating in inappropriate places. He needed a cold shower, the coldest possible.
"Are you coming in with me?" Lily asked Hermione, sharing her duck with her.
Hermione smiled and submerged herself in the water. Lily climbed up and curled her back against her mum's chest. The steam had fogged up the mirror and condensation droplets gathered on the bathroom ceiling. But none of that mattered to Hermione, whose heartbeat synchronised with the little one with whom they had once been just one. She kissed the top of her head while Lily animatedly told her about her mint hunt with Ginny.
Hermione took her daughter's little hands and compared them with her own. She had short nails and Harry's fingers. There was very little left of the tiny baby who cried for milk and before she realised it, the little girl who asked her to share the bubbles would also have vanished.
"Look, it's you and me," said Lily, taking a smaller duck than the other in her hands and one with a bow on its head.
Hermione hugged her, resting her head on Lily's crown, who didn't move an inch. Mummy needed a hug and she liked giving her all the hugs she wanted.
After dinner, the yawns spread from face to face. The pool had made them very hungry at first and now very sleepy. The temperature had dropped a little, but not much.
"Sleep well, love," Hermione whispered, stroking Lily's clean, dry hair as she slept with her mouth open just like Harry.
Crookshanks, hot and all, let himself be hugged by the little girl with whom he slept religiously every night and every nap. He liked how soft and gentle she was when touching him; Hermione had worried from the beginning that it would be that way.
"Have sweet dreams, love," said Harry, seeing the curls inherited from Hermione framing the white and soft little face of his daughter.
For a moment the air in the room became melancholic and the parents walked hand in hand slowly, stopping for a second longer at the open door's lintel.
"She's growing up too fast," Hermione murmured, feeling the same emptiness in her belly that she had felt the day Lily was born three years earlier.
"Too fast," Harry agreed, looking with a lump in his throat at the marks on the wood that recorded the little girl's height every time she visited the house.
Hermione sighed heavily and started the walk towards the room next door. Their sweaty palms didn't let go until they found the bed. They lay down without covering themselves, with the window open that at that hour did bring a little cool breeze. The stars shone and the silence of the countryside crept into the room. Harry's fingers caressed Hermione's forearm and, out of habit, rested again on her flat belly.
She tilted her head and her eyes got lost in Harry's emeralds, which smiled at her like every time she needed them to. He, with extreme delicacy, approached her face and took her chin with his other hand. Their lips met, timid at first and little by little, more desperate.
"Harry…" she gasped, lowering her hand to the elastic of his shorts.
"Not if you don't want to," he replied, sensing Hermione's trembling fingers brushing his underwear.
Hermione's chest sank under her ribs and the lump in her throat made her nose tingle.
"Am I selfish for wanting another one?" she asked in a very low voice, incredulous at what she was saying.
"Am I selfish because I know how it was for you last time and I still want it?" Harry replied, clenching his teeth, feeling like a terrible person.
Hermione shook her head vigorously and sat on Harry's hips, touching her forehead to his.
"No," he assured her, brushing the hair from her face and wiping the tears with his thumbs.
Hermione smiled. Her chest rose and fell and her fingers intertwined with Harry's, who kissed her between the eyebrows tenderly. She lowered her gaze to the Snitch necklace resting on his neck where her photo and her daughter's accompanied him. Her lips sought his again, letting the night decide which path it would take and just when he brought one hand behind her neck and the other held her waist, the creak of the door gave way to a tired little voice that said:
"Mummy I'm hot."
Hermione saw Harry open his eyes as wide as hers and jumped out of bed without thinking, approaching the door. Her heart was beating so fast it was suffocating her. She thanked the higher powers that they were fully dressed. Harry, who had stopped breathing, stretched his arm behind his head and took a cushion to put over his shorts.
Lily, who was rubbing her little eyes, took her mum's hand and guided her to the bed. She climbed up and lay down in the middle, finally calmer now that the bed smelled of mummy and daddy. Crookshanks's footsteps soon appeared in the room and a purr announced the cat's jump onto the bed. This time Hermione didn't hold back the laugh that escaped her lips and Harry couldn't either.
The laughter became so contagious, faced with how frustrated and incredulous they were, that a few minutes later Ron and Ginny had come to see what was happening and a surprise pajama party was organised, in a group effort to get the sweaty and bad-tempered little girl who occupied the bed back to sleep.
Pooling engineering ideas, Harry and Ron built an igloo with cushions and Hermione came up with the novel idea of making it snow inside. And while Ginny, who had more energy than her, went along with all Lily's crazy ideas, Hermione stayed sitting, watching her daughter grow by leaps and bounds. And Harry, Harry never stopped resting his hand on her warm belly, even if it was too hot to cuddle.