Bella Amor

Harry warmed up before starting his jog. He called out to Ginny to inform her that he was leaving before closing the front door. He hopped down the stairs and jogged out of their yard onto the sidewalk. The beat of his running shoes on the concrete was staccato and soothing as he took in the neighborhood around him. They lived in a small suburb not unlike Godric’s Hollow where he was born. It was a magical community and Harry was unsurprised to see toddlers playing with toy snitches or older children zooming around on brooms charmed to hover just above the ground.

His mind began to drift from the neighborhood surrounding him as he thought about the dinner with Hermione and Ron on Thursday. It wasn’t out of the odd for the two couples to get together for dinner, but for Hermione to request it at such a busy point in her career was rather strange. Hermione dedicated all that she had to her job as a medi-witch at St. Mungo’s. She had just been promoted to a new position as head of the department for the critically severe. It was departments much like Muggle Intensive Care, but majority of these cases were not only severe, they were also without a determined treatment. It was a huge promotion and they had all celebrated with her on the huge achievement. With the promotion also came a larger work load and longer hours at work. So for her to suddenly insist that they all meet for dinner within the week was rather out of character.

He couldn’t think of anything that might convince Hermione that it was important to take an evening off from reviewing cases and studying symptoms, so he decided it would be best just to see what came of the dinner. Either way he was looking forward to having all of the people close to him together again. They could spend every night having dinner together and he would still probably look forward to every dinner. He smiled at that thought, even as the cooling air began to burn in his lungs from exertion.

He re-directed his mind to work today. It had been a slow day with cases that were more logical than physical. Beyond lunch he hadn’t had any real reason to leave his office except to pull files. The hardest of his cases was an ex-death eater who had been hiding from the ministry for the past few years. The last information they had received had put him living in London and someone had thought they had spotted him. The tip was consistent with what they already knew of the former death eater and would be reviewed before being looked into. Honestly, the man they were after was a fringe follower who didn’t have many sins of his hands. He was late in joining Voldemort and his biggest sin was the dark mark on his arm. Unfortunately for many that is all it took to convince them of someone’s evil.

Not many seemed to stop and think of the fear and confusion that had come in that last year. So many people were scrambling to choose sides so that they might live through the damnation that was sure to come. Some had families they had to think about when choosing, and many took the mark to protect their children and spouses from the maniac. Even at the front of the battle you could tell the difference between the ones who followed the Dark Lord because they revered him and those who followed him because they feared him. The biggest difference was the look in their eyes and how quickly they were to cast about deadly curses such as the killing curse.

Harry shook those dark thoughts from his mind and tried to think of something else. Suddenly his mind decided to recall the dream from last night. Not much more than a hazy memory of a dream he had almost forgotten about it. He closed his eyes for a moment as his mind replayed what little he could remember. The rough hands touching his body, the hard kisses on his lips, and his step nearly faltered as he shook his head hard. He shoved the thoughts of that dream as far away as he possibly could, picking up his pace so the only thought in his mind was his racing heart, controlled breathing, and the heavy sound of his footfalls. He let his feet lead him home and through the picket fence surround it. He took a moment to cool down on his front porch before entering the door.

Ginny was sitting in the living room with a bowel of popcorn sitting on the table. She was looking through the channels on television trying to decide what to watch. She glanced up as Harry walked in.

“Hey, I’m about to watch a movie, want to join me?” she smiled and patted the couch beside of her.

“Yeah, just let me take a quick shower,” he stripped out of his sweaty clothes and rushed through the motions of stripping himself of the grit and grime he had accumulated.

He walked back out into the living room in a pair of loose pajama bottoms and t-shirt. He stretched out on the couch like he had earlier. Although this time his head rested on his wife’s lap. Her hands carded through his thick hair and together they watched the movie she had picked out.

​A/N- Sorry this one is so short!! I promise to make up for it later with a nice long chapter! =)