Every Little Thing

Well Done, Kitten.

Saturday evening had finally arrived and Hermione needed to take a moment to breathe after confirming the dinner menu with Twiggy and Winky. Narcissa and Aviya were set to arrive shortly and Andy was busy in the kitchen with the elves because she had been extra helpful after she came home and caught Hermione grieving earlier in the week. She wasn't going to mention anything to Andy or even invite her to the dinner tonight but the middle black sister did offer a kind shoulder for Hermione to cry on one night when Bella was at the hospital checking on Kate. "Dora was a surprise but Ted and I tried for many years to conceive another baby after she made her grand entrance into the world and we were left with many little heartbreaks as well so I understand how you are feeling right now," she confided in Hermione when they were huddled together in the library one night. Andy was very understanding and told Hermione that she would always be there for her and that she should never hesitate to reach out about anything. After that, Hermione would have felt weird asking Andy to leave the house for their dinner. Teddy was spending the night at his Uncle Harry's house so they would be able to have an open discussion about the potion without small ears hearing. "Do you think you should go wake up Bella?" Andy called to Hermione as she sat at the kitchen island, staring off into the distance.

She sighed but relented, "I guess I have to."

"I know, honey," Andy gave her a sympathetic smile. "Something has crawled up her ass this week. She's been very grumpy. Like extra grumpy."

"Not with me," Hermione said quietly, "not intentionally at least. Something is going on with her. I think everything with Kate is getting to her more than she's been letting on. I asked her if she wanted to cancel dinner tonight and she declined. I'll give you a hundred galleons to go wake her up for me."

Andy cackled, "not for a million galleons. I prefer not being set on fire tonight."

"Fine," Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed off of the stool.

"Hey!" Andy got her attention. "You married her."

"I know but waking her up when she's already in a bad mood is just a disaster waiting to happen."

"Promise her sex," Andy shrugged.

"We haven't had sex since our honeymoon."

Andy's head whipped around, "well isn't that a tasty little tidbit. Bella? Not having sex. Is everything okay?"

"Well we decided to wait until I got the positive pregnancy test and you know how that went. Then she's just been so grumpy and I've been kind of sad so sex just never came up," Hermione quickly added, "don't tell Bella I told you."

"Discussing your sex life at a family dinner," Andy pretended to think it over, "no I'm not prepared to die at least not anytime soon." She shrugged, "maybe at the next dinner. I don't want to put a hard and fast commitment on death just yet."

"Thank Merlin for small miracles," Hermione left the room and quietly made her way up to the darkened bedroom. Bella had fallen asleep almost everyday after work this week which was unusual for her. When Hermione brought it up, Bella had just snapped at her and told her she didn't need to be seen by a mediwitch and that she was fine so Hermione dropped the subject immediately. She stood outside the closed door and took a couple of deep breaths. "Don't be a baby, just go in there and wake up your wife," she nodded and opened the bedroom door. The lights were dimmed and she saw Bella lying peacefully on her side, spooning Hermione's pillow. It tugged at her heart but she was still nervous to wake up Bella.

The week had been long for both of them. There were no new developments with Kate and it was eating away at Bella. Hermione had chosen to throw herself into her work so she wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about the conception potion. Honestly, they hadn't spent a lot of time together after the night of the pregnancy test. When they did have time together, Bella was being short with Andy or her. She yelled at Teddy once and she was just in an overall bad mood. She wanted to give Bella her space. Whatever Bella was working through, she needed the space and Hermione was happy to provide it to her.