Leave A Tender Moment Alone

Daphne awoke to her door creaking open. She lifted her sleepy head off the pillow, blinking tired eyes as they tried to adjust to the small amount of light slipping in from the corridor through the thin crack. She could just about make out a blurry shape.

“Harry,” she mumbled, “is that you?”

Having been called out, her husband sheepishly shuffled into her room, but didn’t come any further than her doorway. She would have rolled her eyes if she had the energy. With a sigh, she pushed herself up so she was propped up on her arms. “What are you doing here at,” she fumbled about for her wand before casting tempus, “three in the morning?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was just in the kitchen baking some cookies, and they came out really good but they’re never as good later as when they’re fresh from the oven, so I thought I should see if you were still up because then you might want some but it’s okay if you don’t really—”

“Harry,” she cut off his rambling, “Did you really come to my room because you were baking in the middle of the night?” By now her eyes had adjusted enough that she was able to see him nod, rubbing the back of his head.

“I guess it does sound kind of silly when you say it out loud.”

Kind of? Daphne thought to herself. “Why were you even baking at this hour in the first place?”

“Ah, well, I felt in the mood for some cookies, but we didn’t have any and I didn’t want to bother Ninny or Nimmy, so I just made some myself. They’re really good, I promise. The chocolate chips are all gooey and hot.”

“That explains why you were baking, but why were you even awake?”

The only answer was silence. Potter just stood there, rubbing his hands as if he was unsure of what to do. Daphne let out a yawn and fell back into her bed.

“Okay, well, I’m going back to sleep. Don’t bother me—”

“Wait!” She shot him a glare. He shrunk back and hesitated, but carried on in the end. “Could you. . . could you stay up and eat cookies with me? Please?”

Was this really the wizard that everyone was so frightened of? He was acting like a child. In fact, he reminded her a lot of Astoria in her younger days, when she would try to bug Daphne into doing things with her.

“Go to sleep, Potter. That’s what I’m going to do.”

“I can’t.”

“Then call one of your friends to eat your cookies with you.”

“No,” he vigorously shook his head from side to side, “it has to be you!”

Like a petulant child. Daphne buried her face in her pillow, ignoring him and hoping that would make him leave. When she looked up a bit later, he was still standing there, gazing back at her expectantly. She rolled over onto her back, pulling her pillow along to shield her face.Yet she couldn’t resist peeking over, finding Potter still waiting on her.

She threw her pillow at him. He easily caught it and tucked it under his arm.

A forceful exhale.

“Fine.”

A large grin blossomed one his face. He immediately started walking out of her room, taking her pillow with him as a hostage.

“I guess one cookie wouldn’t hurt. Just don’t make a habit of this.”

They were very good. She devoured a whole platter while he watched on in glee, pouring them some tea. When he came by the next night, he found her reclining against the headboard, a book in her hands.