just us

Before opening it, he rested for a moment against the oaken door, letting his hand stroke the smooth dark wood and let out a sigh.
Things hadn't been so easy lately, he and Hermione had both been so stressed for the last couple of months, first the difficult, premature birth that left their first son, Hugo, so fragile. Then the usual sleepless nights of getting in and out of bed, trying to soothe the baby, coupled with the constant, never ending fear that one night he'd be gone to the world, destroyed by some minor infection that his tiny body just couldn't handle, he could even have been killed by a kiss. Now, slowly, the fear was starting to recede but both of them had just been so tired all the time that , after taking care of little Rose as well, they'd had very little time for each other.
But now both their children were asleep and they were both actually home and reasonably awake for once, and it seemed the right time to start to bridge the invisible chasm that had formed between the two of them. Breathing a little faster than usual, he slowly pushed the door open, letting the diffused, sepia light flow through the growing crack. Looking towards the cradle in the corner, he saw her, as he knew he would, sitting on the padded stool next to it, her forehead resting on the bars. She was so still he thought for a moment she might actually be asleep, but then she turned her head slightly, sending her loose curls tumbling over her face and back and smiled sleepily at him.
"Hey you."
"Hi."
Within moments he had crossed the room and draped a long arm around her like a warm blanket before pressing his face into her long coffee coloured hair. It smelt like home, like sunshine and laughter and old, old parchment.
"I've really missed this..."  He could tell she didn't expect a reply – merely being there was enough. , but somehow he felt he really needed to.
"Yeah … I...I mean … yeah "she smiled at him again- but this time with a challenging glint in her eye – how she loved to watch him struggle.
"What I mean-"he continued, battling on. "Is that I've just…..I've really missed you, a lot- you know?"
He eyes softened and she tilted her head to one side, like a questioning child.
"Of course I know." She whispered, there was a faint edge to her voice and she quickly turned away, but not before he had seen the tell tale glint of tears.
They sat in silence for a while, watching their child sleep and dreaming of when it hadn't been this hard.
As if feeling their gaze, Hugo gave a sudden lovely little smile, still deep in dreams and ron laughed out loud still stroking his wife's hair.
"You used to do that all the time- when you fell asleep on your armchair in the common room."
She turned to face him, looking amused but slightly incredulous
"You used to watch me sleep?!"
Ron chuckled, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"umm , not really , its just half the time it was when you were checking through my homework , so I really needed you to hurry up and finish it."
Hermione snorted loudly and leaned her head back to look up into his face, smirking.
"Oh I see, I always wondered why you and Harry stayed friends with me for so long."
He grinned teasingly back at her and gestured for her to make room on the seat "of course it had nothing at all to do with the fact that your sweet and beautiful and I'd had a huge crush on you since I was eleven, it was all to do with your brains."
She blinked at him in surprise. The years had started to make thin creases around her eyes and her face was slightly plumper than that of the girl he had kissed 12 years ago, but all this only made her more lovely, because she was his, the laughter lines from the many jokes they'd shared, they scar on her left hip where Croockshanks had clung onto her after he'd stepped on his tail, each tiny imperfection reminded him of their life together.
Then her eyes met his and within seconds they were in each other's arms and he was kissing her , her hair , her face before finally , ever so softly , kissing her full on the mouth with such love and tenderness that Hermione just wanted more then anything to stay in that moment forever , where hurt and anger and everything else that had ever troubled them could just vanish and they could be together.
But life had to go on and she had to say what had been on her mind ever since Hugo had been born.
"I don't regret it you know, any of it." She whispered against his mouth.
"I know."