Work Text:
“Hermione, love, what have you been doing in here all day? It’s almost time for dinn...er.”
Tony Stark came up short as he walked into his wife’s home office at the sight of books and papers stacked and strewn across nearly every available surface. Including the floor. Carefully walking into the room, he sidestepped a high tower of books precariously sitting on one of the side tables. After he stepped around the large desk, he finally caught his first glimpse of his wife since she had been hidden by piles of books in front of her. He chuckled as he realised she’d fallen asleep at some point during the afternoon.
Looking over the books and papers surrounding her, his eyebrows flew towards his hairline. “Beltane? The Goddess? The Green Man? What on Earth are you up to, love?”
Hermione startled awake at the sound of his voice. “Huh? Wha-?”
Tony reached out and ran a hand over her wild curls. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he chuckled, a smile lighting up his features.
She tilted her head back and looked up at him, sleep clouding her light brown eyes. “Oh, hi. What are you doing here?”
“I came to let you know it’s almost time to start getting ready for dinner,” Tony replied. “But I have to admit that I’m very curious to know what you’ve been doing in here all day.”
Swiping her hands over here eyes, Hermione sat up straight. “Pull up a chair and I’ll explain.” She looked around the room and noticed that there wasn’t any available space for Tony to sit. Hermione blushed. “Oh, Merlin, I didn’t realise that I’d gotten that into my research. Here, let me conjure a chair for you.”
Tony laughed and placed a hand on her wrist. “Love, just go ahead and explain it to me. I can stand for a few minutes.”
“Well,” Hermione started before she launched into an explanation of what she'd been researching.
Tony stared down at her work in awe. He didn't quite understand everything that she was talking about since a lot of it had to do with magical spells and wizarding traditions, but he understood one thing. Fertility rituals.
“Wait,” he said, interrupting her explanation about who the Goddess and Green Man were. He grasped her hands in his, turning her chair towards him. “Fertility rituals? Hermione, are you trying to tell me you're ready to try for a baby?”
She ducked her head, but he could still see the dark red flush spreading up her neck and across her cheeks.
Tony dropped to his knees. Letting go of her hands, he cradled her head in his hands. He looked into her eyes and saw a terrified emotion reflected back at him. “Hermione?”
“I–I, uh,” she trailed off and gave a brief nod of her head which Tony still held in his grasp. “Yes. I think,” but she broke off again as a pained look twisted her beautiful features and tore at Tony's heart. After a few moments, she continued, “No, I know that this will probably be my only option for being able to have a baby.”
He started to remind her about other options, but she reached up and wrapped her fingers around his wrists. Pulling back, she pressed a kiss to one palm and then the other.
“After I was cursed, I looked into every option, magical and Muggle alike, and nothing would counter the dark magic of my scars. The reason I think this will work is because of the purity rituals and the Goddess and the Green Man.” She dropped one of his hands and reached out with her now free one and ran her fingers through his hair. “I want to try because this is probably my only chance to be able to carry our baby. If… if it doesn't work then we'll look into other options, but I want to try this first.”
Tony reached out and cupped his free hand against her jaw, brushing his thumb across her lips. “I may not know much about the wizarding world other than what I've learned since we met all those years ago, and I know even less about Beltane, but if this is what you want, then let me know what I need to do and I'm there for you.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her lips before standing up. “We still have a few weeks until Beltane so we have some time to prepare, but in the meantime, we have a dinner party to get to.”
Hermione looked at the time and jumped out of her chair. “Oh, no! I need to get ready or we'll be late!” She pulled Tony up from the floor. “You need to get ready too!”
She pushed him towards the door.
“I'm going, I'm going,” Tony chuckled. “No need to be so pushy.” He winked at her. “At least not now.”
“I'll show you pushy.” Hermione laughed. “Get out of here, you scoundrel!”
“I look forward to it.”
Weeks later on Beltane
Tony knew his wife had a devious streak, but she didn't usually show it while in the presence of others. And not in such a risqué way.
It had started out innocently enough with a lovely green and white sundress that she knew would drive him wild. It was demure by pretty much everyone's standards, but knowing the wildcat that hid beneath the demure covering always got his blood going. Her seduction then progressed to little touches here and there above the table while they ate and bold strokes below. By the time the dessert course started, Tony was as hard as his superhero name. Once the dessert course was over, he was sorely tempted to just throw his wife on the table and have his way with her but she beat him to it.
The plates were barely cleared before Hermione had hauled him out of his chair and off into the descending darkness for a ‘discussion’ in the woods. He knew her flimsy excuse didn't fool any of their friends, but at this point he didn't care. And he knew she didn't either. It was Beltane and this was their chance.
Clint’s voice followed them across the grass, “It’s a good thing we’re pretty much done here, so you two lovebirds just go have fun!”
Tony laughed. “I have to say that I rather agree with Legolas’s suggestion.” He stopped their movements and pulled Hermione into his arms. “Why don’t we just get out of here and go home? You know, we can just bounce and bang.”
Hermione turned around and stared at her husband. “Did you just say what I think you said? And no, we are not going home. I am not letting all my hard work go to waste.”
“Are you at all surprised?” Tony smirked. “Plus, most of them know because as soon as you asked Nat for help to set up this celebration, so naturally everyone knew since Bucky can’t keep a secret to save his life.”
Hermione laughed. “Touché.” She poked her head around his shoulder. “You kids go have your own fun too, and we’ll see you in the morning!”
Laughter and singing followed the couple as they disappeared into the woods. After a few minutes, Hermione led Tony into a clearing she had prepared for them earlier that day. There wasn’t anything noticeably different, but as they walked closer to the centre, Tony felt the soft caress of his wife’s magic.
Before he could ask what spell she’d used, Hermione explained that it was a combination of the cleansing and barrier spells necessary for the ritual.
Once they were close enough, Tony finally saw the little area she’d prepared for them to lie on. He grinned and pulled her back into his arms. “Ever the Girl Scout.”
Hermione laughed. “I’m glad I learned years ago that that’s a good thing.”
He kissed the top of her head. “With you, everything is good.”
A few weeks after Beltane
After finishing in his workroom for the day, Tony left and made his way through the front room of their home. As he started up the stairs towards Hermione’s office, he blanched at the sight of his wife sitting on the middle landing. Her back was against the wall and tears were coursing down her face as her body shuddered with emotion.
At the sound of a strangled laugh bursting from her lips, he jolted into action. “Hermione,” he called out as he scrambled up the stairs. “Love, what is it? What’s wrong?”
Once he was within arms’ reach, he dropped to his knees and wrapped her in his embrace where he finally noticed that her hands were clenched around something. What it was he couldn’t tell.
She didn’t respond, but her shoulders trembled, persistently.
Tony continued to hold her in his arms, whispering into the top of her curly head. “I love you. Everything is going to be okay,” he kept repeating.
Suddenly, Hermione shook her head, forcing Tony to pull his back before she accidently broke his nose. “No.”
He pulled back even further and looked down at her. “No? No, what, Hermione? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she muttered. Hermione took a deep breath and finally looked up at him. “Nothing’s wrong, Tony. In fact,” she uncurled her hands as a huge smile transformed her tearstained face, “everything’s great. Or going to be great. Or crazy and hectic and no more sleep in a few months. Or…”
Tony silenced her with a kiss. Losing himself in the kiss, he tangled his hands in her wild curls and poured himself into that one single moment. Tony was loathe to end their embrace, but he had to know for sure so after a few moments he pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers.
“Are you…?” Closing his eyes, he swallowed around the lump in his throat that appeared as he thought about the stick in her hands. “Are we…?”
His half-asked questions were met with a watery chuckle from Hermione. “Yes,” she finally replied. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”
Tears rolled down Tony’s cheeks as he laughed happily before pressing his lips against Hermione’s again.