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It had been a stressful couple of weeks in the Potter household. As much as Harry wanted to have a lie in with his wife in his arms, the pitter-patter sound of small feet coming down the hallway dashed any hope of that.
Harry stirred, planning to wake Hermione, but found her eyes already open. “Morning love,” Harry yawned, “sounds like the kids are up.”
Hermione stretched languidly. “We should get out of the house today. Just us and the kids.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? Can you get away so soon Minister Potter?” Harry grinned when she playfully slapped his arm.
“Hush you. The campaign has made it crazy here. I won, It’s over. I can start taking the ministry by storm on Monday; today should be for family.”
Hermione had quickly found that the only way to affect the change she sought, was to work her way up the Ministerial ladder. The last couple months had been full of hand shaking, dinners, and benefits. Harry had to listen to her give each speech at least five times. With the race now over, and Hermione declared the newest Minister of Magic, they hoped life would settle back into a better routine.
“I agree,” Harry said leaning over to give her a quick kiss. “How about you get the littles dressed. I’ll make some breakfast and we can head to the park. Maybe fly a kite or something. We can let the kids run around and we can all blow off some steam.”
“Sounds lovely.”
***
“Jamie, do you need help son?” Harry looked up so see his five year old son straining to reach his cup on the table. Hermione was just about to reach out to move the cup into his grasp when it slid across the table of its own accord.
Hermione looked to Harry with wide eyes. This was the first bit of magic Jamie Sirius had done. Harry didn’t skip a beat. “Wow, good job kiddo. Be careful.”
“Did you see me? I did it all by myself!” Jamie delarce happily.
“We did see. Nice work pumpkin.” Hermione managed.
Their daughter and eldest, Lily Luna, had missed the exchange. Much like her mother, she had a vast love of books. She was currently absorbed in one of Hermione’s old copies of The Tail of Emily Windsnap.
“Lily dear, finish your page and join us please,” Harry said patiently. He loved that his daughter had inherited his wife’s love of books, but he did wish she would read less at the table. In fact, books were banned from the table at dinner time.
Lily slid her bookmark into place and set her book aside. “Sorry dad. I finally got to the part where Emily finds out she’s part Mermaid. I had to find out what happened next.”
“Now that I have your attention. What do you think of going to the park today?” Harry asked.
Jamie’s eyes lit up. “Park?! YES! Can I fly the kite Uncle George got me for Christmas?”
Lily looked more reserved. “ All of us? Or just me, dad, and Jamie?”
Hermione’s heart broke. She hadn’t realized how much her busy schedule had been affecting her children. “ All of us. I thought it would be nice to spend some time together today. I’m sorry the last few months have been hectic, but it should start to settle once the media frenzy is over. And yes, Jamie, I think today is a perfect day to try your new kite.”
“Yay!” Jamie pumped his fist into the air.
As the family finished up their breakfast, Harry came into his element. When Hermione fell pregnant during their first year of marriage, they first thought they would both continue to work. When little Lily made her appearance though, neither of them could bear leaving her with someone else during the day to go to work.
Hermione was on the fast track in her career and working hard to improve the magical society. Harry knew her staying home just wasn’t something he could ask of her, so he put in his notice to leave the Aurors. Harry had been the stay at home parent since then. Luckily, his parents had left him fairly well off, and Hermione’s salary was more than enough to keep them in the black.
So as Hermione cleared the table, Harry ushered the kids off to wash their hands, and to put on their shoes and jackets. He summoned a day bag that he had packed.
“Hold it right there Lily Luna.” Harry commanded in his ‘dad voice.’
His 7 year old winced and turned to him. Her shirt was comically sticking out as she has attempted to hide a number of books beneath it.
“Go put those back. You may bring one book with you, and you can put it in the bag for now.”
Lilly pulled no less than six books from beneath her shirt. Harry held out the open day bag to her. She carefully looked through the titles, selected one after some deliberation, and slid it into the open bag.
Harry managed not to roll his eyes at his daughters antics. Hermione, who had been watching from the end of the hall had to stifle a laugh.
The Potters decided to take their car to a local park. The trip was short, and as soon as the car was in park, Jamie practically leapt from the car. This was his favorite park.
He ran straight for the swings, with his family trailing behind him.
They played on the swings, took pictures as the kids went down the slides, and got dizzy on the merry-go-round.
After a quick snack and a drink, Harry told the kids it was time for the kites.
“Now. To learn to fly a kite you have to know how the wind feels. Put your arms out like this,” Harry demonstrated and stuck his arms out like he was an airplane, “And run.”
Harry took off and Jamie tore after him, his arms out as he made airplane noises between giggles. Lily laughed at how silly her dad looked and raced after them, arms out. The sounds were music to Hermione’s ears as she spread her arms and ran alongside them. Lily soon took the lead as the all raced across the field.
Harry scooped up his daughter and spun her around. “When did you get so fast?” he asked her as she squealed with laughter.
He set her back down and pulled the kites from the bag. Lily’s was a bright red and gold phoenix and Jamie’s was a red and black dragon.
The kites were soon in the air and Harry fell back on the grass next to his wife while the kids slowly let their kite climb higher.
“When I suggested we get out of the house today, I don't think I really understood how much we all needed it,” Hermione murmured as Harry put his arm around her and pulled her into his side.
“Should be no surprise you were right. Even the magical population has come to that realization,” Harry teased. “But yes, the kids are having a blast. They have been begging to bring the kites out for weeks now.”
“Why haven't you guys flown them yet?”
“We were waiting for you. I didn’t want you to miss it.”
Hermione smiled at his thoughtfulness, “Thank you for waiting.” She leaned her head on his shoulder and gave a contented sigh.
The kids laughed and bickered about whose kite was higher. Harry rubbed gentle circles on her arm. The wind. The grass. The sun. Today was perfect, and it felt like coming home.