Mister and Missus

For newlyweds, the world always seemed bright and fluffy and, importantly, full of promise. For Mister and Missus Hayes it was an odd combination of all of them mixed in with reservations, awkwardness and fears. However, time had passed over them and while the pair had not exactly soothed their fears or their reservations, the awkwardness was beginning to abate itself. Granted it wasn’t a complete and total eradication of what had been the first and most repetitive hurdle but it was something. Ever, it was something, and Millie was grateful for it, one hundred percent.

It had been a month or so, perhaps two, though she couldn’t quite remember. Soon, she reminded herself, opening up her diary to see, it would be the second month of marriage for them. She counted every day but not in the way one would imagine. She didn’t desire it to disappear and she certainly did not count down to a distant Ministry repeal. No, she counted up, taking every day and enjoying it for what it was. It was a new chapter: as clichéd as that concept was - and Millie was reluctantly beginning to enjoy it. She was moving along with her heart and her soul and her countenance was returning. Her happiness was back.

They’d decided that dithering between abodes was beginning to be pointless. Kieran’s rooms had become something of a hidey-hole for Millie and more often than not he’d find her swathed in the bedclothes in the middle of the afternoon, thoroughly finished with the day and indulging in sleep, chocolate and a movie or a good book or two she’d delved from the small section of Hogwarts Library which catered to fiction. Every time, Kieran would laugh and shake his head and wonder after her schoolwork and her N.E.W.Ts but every time Millie would sit up and grin, relinquishing her death-hold on a dismayed-looking Lucius Malfoy and with a smile she’d immediately win the fight. Just like that.

That Friday, the last bits and bobs would be moved from the Gryffindor Tower to Kieran’s rooms and as Millie sent her trunk and other bits of paraphernalia attributed to her person flying from the room, she found a sense of melancholy had draped itself around her. She truly was moving on. There would be no more sneaking into the boy’s dormitory - though why she mourned that loss she didn’t know as she hadn’t been going in there for at least a year or two - and there would certainly be no more harassment of her fellow dorm mates. If she wasn’t wrong she was sure they were happy to see the back of her -- not to mention painfully jealous of her husband.

Thus, Melissa Hayes had finally arrived - oddities and all. All of it had been tucked away in its respective places having found new homes just like herself and the cat that had, at some point, been gifted with a kitty abode that was fit for a king. That didn’t stop him from sleeping on the couch, on their bed and, well, wherever he could, though. Finally, when it was all finished she’d have a place to find her socks and a home for all her knickknacks. It was a home with Kieran: their home.

At some point during that evening, dinner was had and a bath was indulged in prior to a movie which had been made possible, somehow, by Elliot’s meddling. Nevertheless, Millie did not moan and settled down next to her husband - which was still a very bizarre prospect - to watch whatever it was that Kieran had chosen for them. After a generous bout of mischief thereafter and more than their fair share of teasing each other, bedtime called and Millie reluctantly donned a pair of pyjama bottoms - the koala having been adorable yet so not appropriate - to go to bed in.

Grinning, Millie dived back into the bed she had come to love for the softness of the sheets, the warmth and her pillow which, for some bizarre reason, took the shape of Kieran. She eagerly took the covers back and looked at him pointedly. There was no room for negotiation. The space next to her was not the cat’s. Lucius could have the couch or his condo or whatever it was he wanted but next to her was Kieran’s space. There was no sleeping on the couch for him. No way.

After some dithering of his own, he was bound to give in and once the mattress dipped, Millie grinned broadly and settled the covers around them, wiggling underneath Kieran’s arm to settle against his side, her head lolled against his shoulder. She curled her leg over and between his and closed her eyes, looping her arm over his waist as her fingers went in search of his.

“You’re a very good teacher you know,” she pointed out cheekily, recalling the way she’d decided that Transfiguration was a good choice on the N.E.W.T front, “you should really try and make a living out of it.”

Millie lifted her head and looked at her husband, her eyes shining with mirth as her lips quirked up into a smirk. She leaned forward and nudged her nose with his playfully before opening her mouth and flicking the end of it with her tongue. Certainly, the endearments weren’t completely in tune and in good working order yet but the disgusting displays of affection on her part most definitely were. Millie had never been shy around anyone and she wasn’t going to take much of an exception to her husband so licking him was, whether he liked it or not, an inevitability.

“Rate your Friday, Mister Hayes,” she instructed, trying to put on her best ‘Professor-Voice,’ “out of ten,” she added before continuing: “I mean, obviously, it was the best after hours because of me but you know...”

Millie winked, unable to help herself and giggled before lowering her head back down into his neck. Unabashedly, she let her eyes close as she took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent that was half-soap, half-food, half-aftershave, half-whatever else and all Kieran. She smiled into his neck and squirmed against him involuntarily before snuggling closer, as though she could get closer when in reality if she did so she’d probably pass right through him.

Slowly but surely, Mr. Hayes and his wife were becoming a real married couple – the sort that lived together and were able to get on without hiccups or awkward pauses. After class, Melissa somehow tended to find her way into his office or his rooms if she did not want to head back to the Gryffindor tower. Keiran surely wasn't going to head up to hers, so it really was the only viable option, all things considered.

The night of movie watching was definitely a new event for them, but Keiran found himself grateful for  Elliot's ideas, as much as he usually tried to avoid Avery's pushing him to watch muggle films. Picking out a movie at random, he had sat on the fairly small couch in his main room. As the movie stretched on, he found himself distracted as always, toying with Melissa's hair and fingers. When the credits started rolling, Keiran wasn't even looking at the screen. Instead, he was leaning towards Millie with his temple against her shoulder, drawing nonsense shapes on her palm.

He probably wouldn't have been so distracted if it were someone else – but with her hair brushing against him each time she turned, the after-effects of her bath meant that each turn also passed a wave of sweet-smelling air. He probably would have actually understood something about the movie. Keiran couldn't even name it by the end. At her questioning his opinion of it, he admitted blatantly to not having actually watched it. That of course, merely ended up with them teasing each other and making a rather amusing show of it.

Millie had gone off to change, leaving Keiran to set up his place on the couch. Lately she had been more likely to ask him to stay with her, but he refused to assume and accidentally insult her. It seemed to take a lot to do that, but he wasn't about to risk anything. Instead of sleeping on the couch, though, when he went in to say goodnight, he could tell that he had made a couch bed for no reason. She was comfortable enough with him in that moment to silently ask him to stay.

He paused for a moment but when he joined her under the blankets and she immediately curled around him, Keiran knew he had read her correctly. He could feel her hand trail across his torso and quickly picked it up to bring the back of her hand to his mouth and kiss it. With a laugh at her comment he settled her hand on his chest, covering it with his own. It all felt strangely normal.

"You don't say?" He laughed again, more fully. "I'll have to speak to the Headmaster about that, then."

Keiran shifted slightly, his toes accidentally brushing against hers. He grinned to himself, thinking back to his mum's story about her and his dad's first date. Keiran's foot brushed along her the calf that wrapped over his own as she spoke again.

“Out of ten?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow as a grin spread across his face. “I'd say...” Keiran paused as she nuzzled his neck before deciding his number, “a two.”

His smirk made an appearance as he expected her to look up in surprise. Rather than giving her the time, though, he lifted his hand from hers, and lifted her chin with two fingers. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth in jest before kissing her properly. “I take it back. A ten, definitely. Or eleven. Or twelve..” He chuckled at his teasing, planting a kiss on the corners of her mouth for each number. “And what say you, Mrs. Hayes? Other than you probably skipping classes,” He pointed out gently, “I dare say the day went well for you?”

After a moment, he brushed his thumb over her chin, grinned wickedly and added, “Oh, and for the record, you're more than welcome in my office at all hours.” The idea nearly made him laugh aloud. What a strange situation the two were in. But it somehow worked.

Correctly, Kieran predicted Millie’s outrage at him only producing a two on the day-rating scale. She glared at him briefly before smiling into his kiss, contented by his correction. Millie’s eyebrows rose at his jibe and she laughed a little before sliding her face back into his neck, hiding cheekily from view. Millie moved not a moment later and looked at Kieran in mock-seriousness, her lower lip jutting outwards at his injustice. Her resolve broke at the sound of his laughter, however, and Millie found a giggle readily erupted from her own lips at the prospect of her habitually hanging around his office.

“I did go to Divination the other day, wretch.” Millie batted out her retort expertly and looked at Kieran pointedly, as though he had no right to prod and poke at her for being a lout when it came to attending classes - when, of course, he had every right. Millie would have argued that her saving grace was that she attended the workshops that her professors held and always made sure work was in on time. She, like many other Herbology students, kept a little patch of ground outside the greenhouses and always had an assortment of potion ingredients on the go which the apothecary in Hogsmeade benefited from. Certainly, she was no layabout despite popular and, oftentimes, accurate opinion. On the quiet, she was quite pro-active.

“I also went to Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology the other day,” she added triumphantly. Of course, Care of Magical Creatures was a different kettle of fish all together and it was a mostly practical subject. Her cousin’s birthday had passed at a particularly useful juncture: meaning that Millie could inherit the shabby but serviceable dragon-hide boots which her cousin had replaced with the birthday money he’d received. That was what sent her back down to the pen and she was shovelling Hippogriff excrement to serve as suitable punishment for not attending often enough. However, even the professor couldn’t deny that her careful application of animation charms was clever - regardless of it being a method to shirk responsibility.

For Kieran’s sake more than her own Millie was trying. She knew that for the ruffled professors he was a suitable personage to whom they could pose all of their worries and concerns, knowing full well that he’d relay them back to his errant wife. She also recognised, albeit reluctantly, the childishness of not attending and while Elliot sniffed at her for it, he too had, under the radar, returned to some of his classes in order to glean a few N.E.W.Ts from seven years of schooling. Their parents had done well and so, in a rather more privileged time they had no excuse but Millie’s motivation had also come from a sneaky glance at Slytherin N.E.W.T results. Frustratingly, Kieran had done well - far too well for Millie to lie about and be the useless wife.

Bizarrely enough, one of her harder N.E.W.Ts by far - Ancient Runes - was one she had been regularly turning up to, along with Divination, from September and during October she’d picked up Arithmancy once more, desperate for something a little bit more varied from the mystical. Arithmancy was largely theoretical, also, but it was planted in reality more so than her other favourites. Charms had also returned to frequent viewing in November and the frostiness of her professor went on ignored by the blonde who ploughed through the material eagerly, wrangling and frustrating her peers as, seemingly like clockwork, she was back in tune with what was going on.

“There was a cross in my tea leaves, can you believe it?” Millie pouted, recalling the dismay that she’d felt rise up from within her at the sight of the crooked black vein of tea leaf in the bottom of the cup she’d cleaned of its contents. She recalled, embarrassingly, the way she stole out of the room afterwards, telling herself to ignore the cries of the resident Seer - that the woman knew nothing and that Tessomancy as a narcissistic divining art. Millie furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, clearing her mind of the memory, making a note to remove it all together at some point in the coming days.

“My orb was all cloudy and murky, too,” Millie added after a moment of thought, “I’m all blind for some reason. Or, well, I was. I managed to warn one of those rotten old know-it-all Ravenclaws that he’d fall down the stairs and he didn’t believe me. He turned round, tripped over a sickly looking first year and tumbled all the way down to the Great Hall.” Despite herself, Millie couldn’t help but smirk a little bit as she drew the covers up closer around them. There was nothing more that she hated than not doing well in Divination. She always felt she could perceive things at their clearest in that smoky room.

“I’ve had around about a nine consistently, I think,” she decided finally before conceding that: “right now it’s most definitely a twelve.” Millie wiggled up and met Kieran’s lips with her own then before resuming her place curled against his side. She smiled to herself and cuddled close, revelling in the warmth that was already vibrating through the bedclothes. She was sure at some point they’d extricate themselves from the sheets during the night, hot, bothered and tangled up in each other but until then Millie was going to enjoy Kieran’s embrace and the warmth they provided each other.

Keiran had to actively suppress a groan at Millie's mention of attending Divination. If there was any class he didn't care about a student attending, it was that one. The Slytherin in him made it almost impossible to look the Divination Professor in the eye, no matter the topic of conversation. To keep from interrupting her, he slung the arm that wasn't wrapped around her over his eyes. It also helped when she mentioned two other theoretically useless classes – though he knew better than to say so, especially around his Ministry friends who worked with the animals or in potions of some capacity.

While Melissa clearly knew that the other professors looked at him oddly when he spoke with her, and then later questioned him on her not attending classes, Keiran did his best not to bother her about them too much. One can only suggest someone does something, really. If you tell someone they must do something, they hardly ever want to. It was like if he told Millie she couldn't skip classes, she would want to all the more. And he was hardly her father – especially right then.

Keiran had actually started wondering if he should question her goals after Hogwarts and suggest they go about working up to N.E.W.T.s outside of class, since she seemed to dislike them so much. He had known many students both when he was one, and as a professor, who couldn't sit still or did not find it easy to focus. So he wasn't about to judge her if either of those was the case.

Unfortunately, Millie started rambling on about Divination again. Keiran lifted his arm just enough to see her face – the pout was particularly distracting, but in this case he didn't mind. At least it meant less thinking about the ridiculousness of that subject. Finally, after she started on about a Ravenclaw, Keiran couldn't do it anymore.

“Listen,” He began, “I'm glad you were right – in that round about sort of way – but I really cannot stand Divination. Have you noticed that I won't even talk to the professor? It is the silliest and most absurd subject. Like it all you want, nipper, but please don't try and predict my future.”

By the end, Keiran found he was mostly joking, and smiled to ease his potentially offensive comment. It wouldn't do, when they were in such high spirits, to ruin things with his own annoyances.

“A nine is pretty good.” Keiran shrugged after she moved back down to his side. “Always room for improvement.” He let his hand fall from his face and back onto his torso, where he let it relax on his stomach. “Now I have a new goal.” He grinned.

Looking down at Millie, Keiran suppressed a yawn, not really wanting to lose this surprisingly easy and thoroughly entertaining evening. In a last ditch attempt to keep the sleepiness at bay, he lifted the hand once more and settled it on the side of her face. His thumb brushed her temple before his fingers spread and ran through her hair once. The hand trailed down her arm before returning to its previous spot.

The conflict of realism and the divining arts was what made the match the Ministry of Magic had made utterly ridiculous at times. Melissa Adriana Hayes née Finnigan had always had her head in the clouds. Her primary school teachers had hated her for it and loathed even more when she displayed an acute awareness about whatever they were talking about despite looking a million miles away. By contrast, Mr. Hayes was grounded and knew exactly what he wanted. It was boggling to wonder what the Ministry hoped to achieve, then, with such markedly different creatures having been brought together. Certainly, they were not paired well for their mutual love of certain subjects.

Millie perked up, dismayed at Kieran’s dismissal. She would’ve pointed out that he should be encouraging her, lest she lose hope and not go and become a drunken painter like her employer - though she doubted she’d be as lucky as Krum and end up in the Ministry, too. She didn’t, though. No, Millie merely pursed her lips, thoroughly humourless, and steadied her gaze on Kieran. She poked at him, her eyebrows furrowing into a frown, and wriggled forward, a pointed, albeit softer, expression leaking onto her features.

“I don’t need to try, maestro,” Millie drawled, a smirk pulling at her lips. “Okay, okay, okay.” She twitched her fingers at him, wiggling them ‘spookily’ before, barely suppressing her grin, clearing her throat. “I see...teddy bears and doilies and little socks.” Millie waggled her eyebrows, pressing her fingers to her temples as she half-mockingly attempted to draw on Kieran’s future. She grinned fully once she finished and laughed before settling back down against her husband.

Millie’s eyebrows rose teasingly when he finished speaking and she retorted: “you clearly need to get yourself a hobby, sweetheart.”

A soft smile crossed her face and she leaned into Kieran’s touch almost immediately, pressing a brief, flyaway kiss into his passing palm before reaching for his other hand once more with her spare which wasn’t curled up, warm against his side.

Eventually, the pair abated in their chattering and the multi-colour bluebell flames Millie had cast faded out, leaving them to their slumber until the following morning when the sounds of the birds flitting on the branches of the tree outside drowned Millie into wakefulness. She lifted her head off of her fleshy pillow and opened her bleary eyes, flicking her gaze around in search of the offending sound. Thankfully for them, the birds took that moment to jump from the branches and Millie shook her head before lowering her head back down to Kieran’s chest.

From then, she drifted in and out of sleep but restlessness was beginning to take hold and Millie reluctantly wiggled out from under Kieran’s arms and, after wriggling out of the sheets, jumped up and drifted out into the living room and kitchen to find something to eat. Food was rapidly becoming Millie’s best friend and she attributed that to the influx of cold weather - not to mention the fact that Christmas was rapidly beginning to happen. Plus, Saturday always meant breakfast in bed.

No one could ever say that she wasn’t a resourceful witch because, not half an hour later, Millie returned to their bedroom with a tray full of toast, bacon, beans, sausages, scrambled eggs and orange juice - not to mention the pot of tea she’d charmed to follow in after her much to the concern of Lucius Malfoy who, having been fed, decided to go in search of some attention and a warm bed to sit on.

Millie hopped back up onto their bed lithely after setting the tray down. She watched absently as Lucius set himself down away from the breakfast, staring disdainfully at what was there, and shook her head before leaning over Kieran, her hair flicking down to press at the skin of his face as she observed him.

“Wake up sleepyhead,” she murmured, moving down to nudge at his cheek with her nose. “Otherwise I’ll eat all of this food by myself and then I’ll start on you.” She smiled and began to trail her lips across his face, nipping with her teeth gently at his skin. “Omnomnomnomnomnomnom.” She mumbled before moving away a little bit and reaching to press her lips against his eyes, one kiss for each lid. No movement.

“Fine!” She declared decisively, turning away. “More food for me!”

Keiran rolled his eyes pointedly as she reached up to make a prediction – one that did not sound entirely appealing, leading him to hope she was toying with him. “This isn't to squander your dreams of reading the palms of paying customers, but I rather hope you're wrong about that.” The only time he could see that working would be if they had a little one in the future. He eyed her cautiously, wondering for a moment if she really was right. That would be silly, he decided.

She suggested he needed a new hobby and he had to actually bite his tongue to keep from voicing his comment that he could think of more entertaining things to do. Right then.  Luckily she didn't catch his embarrassed look – or if she did, she didn't say anything.

Keiran couldn't tell if she actually fell asleep before him, but he found it hard to sleep until her breathing was even and she had stilled. Something about her being comfortable with him made him quite happy, though he could only admit that in moments like this when his Slytherin background didn't matter. He wasn't exactly the normal Slytherin graduate anyway, as his house was chosen based upon his extreme desire to succeed and that being the strongest of the traits the sorting hat seemed to consider. In his case, at least.

Although Keiran wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper, it took Millie moving out of the bed to alert him to her being awake, and to poke at the back of his mind that he, too, should get up. Unfortunately, his having stayed up later than intended decided that he would go back to sleep, instead. The smell of breakfast foods called to him, but he tried to fight it. Whatever his dream in that short time had been, he wanted it back, thank you very much.

Millie was hovering over him, Keiran knew, because her very presence had seemed to be the trigger for raised hair on his arm. He seemed to search her out, now, without meaning to. It was rather disconcerting. In that moment, he was content to let her attentions drift over him rather than stop her from kissing his face. It was hard to fight a smile, but apparently he did well enough, for she turned away, the bed moving under her.

Opening one eye just a bit – enough to see her reaching for the breakfast tray – Keiran let a smirk appear in full before reaching out with one arm. His arm snaked around her middle and pulled her to him in order to pull her to his chest and plan kisses on her shoulder. Unfortunately, though, he moved so quickly that in her surprise, her reaction mixed with the shifting bed made the tray shake and fall towards the edge of the bed.

“Bugger-” He began, eyes wide as he watched it. But before either of them could do anything, Lucy (who had apparently also been shocked by their actions) simply floated off the bed, the breakfast tray following. “What the hell? Millie, how are you doing that?”

His mouth open, he glanced from Melissa to the cat and back again. He probably looked like a confused or scared fish, but he was just too surprised to care at that point. When had his wife learned wandless, nonverbal magic? He had been working on it for ages, to no avail. Keiran knew that she was brilliant in her own entertaining way, sure. But it still didn't explain how she had managed it.

While she’d half been expecting it, Kieran’s movement did scare Millie and she shrieked as his arm slipped around her waist. Her chest erupted giggles past her lips as she fell against his chest and a genuine smile slid into place on her lips as her hands reached for Kieran’s face, her fingers slipping gently over his jaw as she turned to steal a playful kiss. However, before she could the change in his countenance struck and her head snapped round to see the cat, utterly unimpressed, floating in the air, a look of surprise that she was sure mirrored both of their expressions, flitting across his flat face.

Millie’s features morphed into a visage of complete ignorance as she wiggled down to the end of the bed on all fours. She knelt up onto her knees once she reached the edge and stole the cat from the air, tossing him down in the direction of the floor - but to no avail. Regardless of her efforts, Lucius floated back up into the air and rolled over onto his bag, stretching himself out before letting his eyes slide shut - his intention to sleep in mid-air very, very obvious.

Turning, Millie’s eyebrows shot to her hairline as she looked at Kieran, an absurd grin darting onto her face. She laughed despite herself and lifted herself off of the bed, glad to have resumed rebellion in the form of resuming a scantily clad but at the same time oddly still unsexy mode of dress. However, the underwear she’d blindly fished from the drawer the night before had an unsettlingly lacy undertone that, while set off by the cute cat socks and the muscle t-shirt, was still quietly quite provocative. The point was, despite the unnecessary details, that she could move a bit freer and happily moved to fetch the breakfast tray.

“The cat has no master,” she told Kieran with a smile as set the tray down on the bed between them. Reluctantly, Lucius floated back down to the floor and huffed, expelling a loud meow before waddling out of the bedroom to cause trouble somewhere else.

Millie shook her head and picked up a piece of buttered toast. She took a bite before holding it out patiently to Kieran, looking at him with visible contentment. Breakfast was about all she could cook much to her chagrin and although she could bake she didn’t exactly call cookies and brownies cooking as there was about zero true nutritional value in them. Still, breakfast she could do and it was a start, at least.

“I am almost the best wife in the world. While you will not catch me ironing your boxers, I will make you breakfast.” She smiled gently and put the toast down, exchanging it for her glass of orange juice. She looked at it, the acidity reaching her nose, and the little button in the middle of her face wrinkled before resuming the munching of her toast, abandoning the orange juice with blatant disdain.

“What’s the plan for today, then?” She asked interestedly between bites, having swallowed. “I mean, apart from me working tirelessly totally not last minute on anything the tyrannical staff of this institution have tasked me with completing.”

Somehow, the cat had saved their breakfast as well as himself, and Keiran couldn't quite believe it. Lucy really was the strangest of cats, but the professor wasn't likely to tell him that. There was no need to insult the creature that saved his food. As much as Keiran would have liked to have accepted her kiss in reaction to his catching her, the cat was far too distracting.

Keiran lifted himself up to sit back against the headboard as Millie attempted to set the cat back down, a laugh escaping him though he tried to keep it back. Her grin convinced him that he wouldn't get in trouble if he teased her. She had to know how incredibly adorable she was, Keiran mused as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to return.

“None? I think you're right. I think he is under the impression that he has us trained quite well.” Keiran replied with a smile that made his cheeks ache from the scale of it. “Especially considering he's practically lived with me for a while, now.” He watched the cat leave the room and rolled his eyes dramatically before taking the food she offered him.

“Believe me, Mills,” He replied, nudging her shoulder with his between bites, “things will even out. I'll cook dinner if you want.” He winked at her before his smile slipped a little at her negative reaction to her drink. That wasn't the first time that Millie had seemed to want something but then gotten near it and seemed disgusted by it. Keiran would have to be careful with dinner, then, as something didn't seem quite right.

She moved the conversation along so he decided not to mention it, instead pushing the thought to the back of his mind. What were they to do that day? He hadn't really thought about it. Perhaps he should grade those papers. Keiran wasn't really looking forward to it, if he was being honest. He needed to start assigning fewer of those. He toyed with his fork as he pondered the answer to her question.

“Hmm. We could both work on what needs to be done and take turns distracting the other. Or we could skive off for a while and make ourselves get to it tomorrow.” Keiran shrugged, perfectly fine with either answer. “But if we did the latter, we would spend the day doing whatever you wanted. I know how miserable that would be.” His nearly-wicked grin appeared once more at the thought of wasting the day away. He found that he wouldn't really mind that.

Food was the basis of all good relationships and if food was going to give their marriage some longevity, perhaps beyond the repeal of the law (though Millie wasn’t entirely sure what would happen in that scenario), then it was through food that they would conduct their relationship. Breakfast was the best place to start and then they’d have brunch and elevensies and then lunch and then a mid-afternoon snack and then high tea and then dinner and then supper and then chocolate because one always ended a good day with chocolate.

Millie picked up her own fork and clashed it with Kieran’s in an effort to steal a bit of scrambled egg. With a laugh she managed to scoop herself up some and brought the fork to her mouth as she listened to Kieran. Millie nodded, wondering idly why on earth he bothered with homework, her thoughts bizarrely in tune with his, and continued to eat before looking up, realising with a start that he was interested, genuinely, in doing nothing.

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing, you know,” she pointed out with a smile. “You’re not required to cook. I am quite happy to let the House Elves do whatever they do. However, I think I can do breakfast. Give me that, at least.”

She grinned and resumed her nomming for a time before growing bored, as one does, you know. Millie flopped down, propping herself up half on the folded bedclothes and half on her hand, her elbow digging into the mattress. She took a moment to observe Kieran in that mid-morning light that was all sunshine and gold before sitting back up again.

“So we can do nothing then?” She queried gently, mentally already having washed her hands with her homework - for the entire weekend really.

Millie bounced up, off of the bed and stood to attention. She then moved about the room in a flurry, finding towels - one of which she threw at Kieran’s head - and fresh pyjamas because, unless the plans changed, doing nothing meant pyjama day and a pyjama day meant laying about wiggling one’s toes in one’s fluffy socks. Oh, what a good day, potentially! Millie grinned and returned to the bed, towel shrugged over her shoulder, and she took a couple more bites of toast before tugging on Kieran’s arm.

“C’mon, you smell, not really, but you smell...shower, shower, shower.”

It was amazing, really. She’d probably reach fifty and still be as flighty and excitable as ever. No amount of angst or pitfalls could ruin that young woman’s insatiable optimism and vivacity. Truly, she was very much one of those people who looked genuinely happy to be alive.

Familiarity meant that there was something very normal about shrugging herself clear of all modest garments in pursuit of a shower. The fact that she ultimately made it so that Kieran had no say in matter - that he had to go - also meant that they were getting a little bit too close. It was quite normal for Millie to make fantastical requests of those who she was close to and mischief was always high on the agenda being that she was, very much, the epitome of a marauding Gryffindor.

Plus, if getting absolutely starkers meant that she could unhinge Kieran a little bit then Millie was going to go for it. She wasn’t impressed that a change in countenance could only be provoked by the cat flying. One would say that her methods were excessive but cleanliness was next to godliness after all and she liked smelling of peaches. If she could get Kieran to smell fruity and delicious too then, well, she’d finally cracked him.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” She drilled, turning on the shower’s jets. After making sure they were warm, Millie quitted her pyjamas, abandoning them on the floor behind her, and jumped into the shower, beneath the spray which was hot and reassuring for her muscles. She dipped her head under the water and smoothed her sleepy curls back from her face before cocking her head around the side of the door.

“I swear to Merlin, I will hurt you if you do not come and have a shower with me, Kieran Hayes.”

And by Merlin, did she mean business.

As tempted as Keiran was to reach over and knock the food off of Millie's fork, he was loathe to upset the cat again with any attempt to dirty the bed. Clearly, Lucy was not a fan of such things. He would have to remember that in the future if he wanted to avoid the shock of a floating cat. His mind was still reeling slightly, unsure exactly what had happened. Deciding he didn't care to investigate, he simply continued eating and let her steal what she wanted. There was no point in staking a claim when she so clearly could convince him to give her most anything. Keiran couldn't say when that had started, or exactly how she did it, but it tended to work.

“Do you not trust my cooking, love?” He asked, feigning offense. “Surely you'll let me try. Practice makes perfect after all.” His light frown fell, replaced by a crooked smile. “You can have breakfast every day if that means I get to sleep in. I've no problem with that.”

While she pondered his response, Keiran made to clear the bed of the tray before catching her watching him as he piled plates and silverware, careful of her mostly full glass. “If you want,” He started as he pushed himself up off the bed, moving the tray to the bedside table nearby. “Why get work done when we could simply lay about like dossers?”

A laugh left him as he caught the towel before it fell from his shoulder to the floor after smacking his face. She had excellent aim, the Quidditch-oriented part of his mind pointed out. Millie came to stand next to him, either ignoring his surprised look at her comments or simply not caring if he was taken aback or not. “You wound me,” He joked, allowing her to tug him along, albeit hesitantly.

It wasn't until they actually reached the bathroom in question that the hairs on the back of his neck stood up in warning. She was probably about to do something rather crazy. While usually this was something Keiran admired in her, the spontaneity, he wasn't exactly sure what she wanted. Of course, when he did understand, Keiran found that his eyebrows were practically up against his hairline in surprise. Would she ever cease to shock him? He doubted it. He found that he rather hoped she wouldn't, anyways. Melissa was one of the most entertaining people he had ever come across.

That is, until she threatened him. At first he had assumed she was kidding – or told himself she was. Apparently not. “Melissa..” He replied in an almost warning – the married thing was still fairly new and sometimes he just couldn't tell if she was teasing him or not. They had not gotten to the point where he knew her well enough to decide without asking.

As much as he wanted to play the gentleman card, she seemed to be having none of it. Keiran was fairly certain she would snap at him for using her full name, which he rarely did, but he had a feeling if he walked out she actually would do him physical harm like she claimed. He eyed her warily before grasping the hem of his shirt and lifting it over his head. As much as he had started to take after Robin through their years together, this was not something he was familiar with.

Watching her carefully, he decided the best idea would be for her not to be angry with him, even if he had showered just the night before. Once his level of dress fit that one of one meant to be taking a shower, he walked up to the door and stepped in, accepting the warm water as if it could blanket him and make the situation more simple. Unsure what was expected of him, Keiran lifted a hand and toyed with her hair gently, keeping his eyes locked on hers. "You may be the death of me, Missie."