Annie was sat quietly at her desk when Alastor Moody approached. She didn't need to look up from her paperwork to know who it was; due to his fake leg Moody's foot fall was very distinctive.
"Good evening, Alastor," she greeted him calmly. She had only come back that morning after a few months leave due to her partner's death, whether she liked it or not it was apparently protocol.
"Malfoy," Moody grunted. "I have an assignment for you."
Annie rolled her eyes at that, it was typical of Moody to try and throw her in the deep end the moment she got back.
"What's the assignment?" she asked, still neglecting to look up from her paperwork.
"We have information about an attempt on the life of the Muggle Prime Minister."
This caused Annie to look up at him, clearly rather surprised.
"What has this got to do with the Auror office? Surely that would be a case of national security - CI5's department."
"Normally, yes, but this is a plot by a group of suspected Death Eaters so I've agreed with the head of CI5 that you are to work with their top team to fix this before it goes too far. I want you to leave for CI5 Headquarters immediately," he ordered, offering her a map.
Annie brushed the map aside. "It's alright; I know where I'm going." She picked up her motorbike helmet and gloves and started walking towards the exit. As she walked she couldn't help but think of the last time she saw anyone from CI5. She remembered meeting Bodie and Doyle at the ruins of James and Lily's house, Bodie winding her up so much that she punched him in the face and how he'd comforted her when Sirius was taken away. She couldn't help the half smile that played across her lips as she thought about him. She wished she'd thought to stay in touch but she was struggling so much at the time that it had never occurred to her.
And now it sounded like she had been given another chance.
Bodie and Doyle were just arriving at HQ after completing an assignment of their own when they spotted the motorbike outside (only after Bodie had managed to walk into it in the dark). They'd been told the day before that they were going to have to work with someone from outside CI5 but didn't know who.
"That must belong to whoever we're working with." Doyle commented.
"Why do we have to work with some random guy again?" Bodie asked, not really liking the idea of having to work with someone new, but liking it even less after walking into their bike.
"Because Cowley said so." Was the only response his partner gave him.
They went to go to their desks but Bodie stopped in the doorway causing Doyle to walk straight into the back of him. Sat on Bodie's desk was Annie, reading a file about the case they were meant to be working on. She glanced up when she heard the door open and offered them a half smile.
"Good evening. You're going to be working with me for a little while. There's a group of witches and wizards who want to kill your Muggle Prime Minister."
"Muggle?" Bodie asked.
Annie rolled her eyes before answering. "None magical people."
"So what are we supposed to do? If it's Witches and Wizards how are we supposed to be able to help?"
"Not really sure, we can head over to Downing street tomorrow and work it out from there."
"Why can't we go today?"
Annie sighed, knowing that if Bodie kept asking stupid questions she'd end up putting a silencing charm on him. "Because I've been working all night so I'm gonna go home and go to bed and we can fix this then, besides our intel says that we have a week before the murder attempt is meant to happen. Anyway, it's almost 11 o'clock and I know for certain you've just finished a long assignment. We'll start work on it first thing in the morning. " Before anyone could argue with her she picked up her helmet from where she'd left it on the desk and left.
Bodie and Doyle went to Annie's flat to find her the next day; she'd phoned them that morning to say she was going to be running very late and Doyle had offered her a lift, which she'd gratefully accepted. She told them where she kept the spare key and they could hear the shower going. They started wandering in the general direction of the living room but then they heard the sound of movement from the living room. Their automatic reactions were to pull out their guns, thinking it was a break in. What they hadn't expected though was a small 2 year old child making an absolute mess with his chocolate cake. There was cake everywhere: on his face; on his clothes; in his hair and all over the white shag pile carpet. His innocent silver eyes sparkled up at them and he giggled, not sensing the potential danger and just excited to meet new people. "Play! Play! Play!" The toddler repeated excitedly as he watched them.
"Put the guns away." A surprisingly calm voice came from behind them. The sound of Annie's voice had made them both jump. They put the guns away and turned to look at her, like guilty children found with their hands in the Swiss roll jar. Annie had clearly just got out of the shower, her dressing gown clung to her wet skin whilst her normally pure white hair had darkened slightly and been straightened by the weight of the water. "What were you even doing?" she finally asked them.
Doyle stepped forward to explain. "We heard movement and thought there might be an intruder so we came to investigate."
"Are you two always this paranoid?"
"We aren't paranoid, we're cautious. There's a difference," Doyle replied.
"You're right, there is a difference but you're way beyond being merely cautious if you've got to a point where you're pointing guns at a two year old."
Before Doyle could reply Bodie stepped in, asking the question that had been weighing on his mind since he saw the child. "Is he yours?"
The question caught Annie off guard. "I'm sorry?"
"I was just wondering if he was your son. He looks very like your boyfriend... Sirius wasn't it?"
"No, he's my Godson. I took custody when Amy was killed last November. His father's dead and his only living Uncle is in Azkaban, as you know full well, for a crime he never committed. So, other than little Harry, I'm the closest thing to family he has."
She gently picked up her Godson and started trying to clean him up. In the end Doyle offered to take over so she could finish getting ready. She accepted gratefully and five minutes later they were on their way down to Downing Street, where all hell had already broken loose.
The three of them ducked behind a wall to avoid the large amount of spell fire, Annie glanced round the corner before turning back to Bodie and Doyle.
"Right I'm gonna go over there." She gestured to another wall on the other side of the area that was being heavily fired at. "Both of you stay here and wait for my signal."
"Who says we have to do as you say?" She didn't need to turn round to know it was Bodie who was arguing with her. Only he was stupid enough, after all.
Annie turned back to him. "Alright, let's look at it this way. What kind of training do you have to defend yourself against a killing curse? Or the crutiatus? Or even a simple disarming charm?" She didn't give him a chance to respond before she continued. "There is absolutely no way you will ever make it out of this alive without me so either button it and do as I say or go and get yourself killed. It makes absolutely no difference to me." With that she turned on her heel and walked off leaving a slightly startled Bodie and his somewhat amused partner behind her.
She managed to slip over to the other wall without being noticed or drawing any spell fire. She was just about to motion Bodie and Doyle over when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She spun round instantly and pointed her wand at the person behind her. She faltered however when she saw the very familiar hazel eyes hidden behind wire rimmed glasses and untameable black curls.
"Miss me?" Amy asked with a knowing smile as she leaned casually against the wall as if, as far as she was concerned, there wasn't a fight going on all around them.
"Wh… H… How?" Annie stared at her best friend in shock
Amy shrugged casually. "The killing curse only works if the person really wants it to. I'm guessing Peter didn't want to kill me enough. Or that's what Dumbledore said anyway."
"Hang on…" Annie narrowed her eyes slightly, suspicion setting in. "How do I know it's really you? How do I know you're not a Death Eater trying to trick me?"
"Ask me anything."
"Alright… Where was Leo conceived?"
This caused the black haired girl to start laughing. "Seriously? That's the one you're going with? Heads' common room back at school, right after Regulus proposed."
The moment she finished talking the blonde pulled her into a hug. They'd completely forgotten about where they stood or the potentially life threatening situation until they pulled apart and Annie was pushed out of the way of a spell. It took her a second to realize what had happened. Bodie had pushed her out of the way of a curse but it had hit him instead, throwing him backwards like a rag doll that had just been cast aside and causing him to bang his head against the wall, leaving him completely unconscious. Annie was by his side in a split second, attempting to get him to come round but her heart broke as she realized there was nothing she could do.
"What the hell was that?" Bodie muttered to himself as he finally came round.
After a moment of disorientation he realized he was in the hospital. He tried to move his left hand to rub the sleep from his eyes when he found out he couldn't. He tried his right hand but discovered it was in a sling. He groaned at that, realizing he must have dislocated his shoulder. Again.
He blinked a few times and looked down to see why his left hand hadn't been able to do as it was told and was somewhat relieved to see the sleeping girl with white blonde hair. She was sat in the chair next to his bed and had her arms crossed on his bed with her head resting on top and his left hand was clutched in her right. He gently pulled his hand from hers and used it to gently brush away a white blonde lock that had dared obstruct his view of her face. He found something strangely beautiful about seeing this normally feisty, opinionated young woman at her most innocent and vulnerable. But it was definitely something he would never tire of seeing, if he ever got to see it again.
It was only when he felt her head move against his hand that he realized he'd neglected to pull it away. Annie's eyes slowly blinked open and she stared at him for a moment before finally being able to ask. "How're you feeling?"
He gave her a half shrug, trying to avoid moving his right shoulder. "I've had worse… I think."
"You didn't need to do that you know. Push me out of the way." She didn't give him a chance to reply before continuing. "Thank you though. It's because you didn't need to that it means so much more that you did."
She didn't even give it a second thought, it felt so right; she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. She didn't seem to realize what she'd done until she noticed his grin at which point she pulled back, blushing slightly and looking away. What she hadn't expected though was for him to gently turn her head back towards him so he could kiss her. She felt herself relax as it occurred to her that he liked her as much as she liked him and felt herself melt into the kiss as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck, his good arm snaking around her waist.
In the hallway outside Amy and Doyle were talking. Amy had gone and got them both a cup of coffee. She'd never particularly liked it but she needed to try and stay awake. Leo was fast asleep in a pram next to her as they talked about Bodie and Annie.
"So what is going on with those two? Because after what just happened there it seems like they should be dating." Amy wrinkled her nose slightly as she took a sip of the coffee in her hands.
"They aren't dating but you're right they should be. He's had a bit of a thing about her since she punched him."
"What did he do? Must have been bad to get Annie to lash out like that."
"Yeah it was. He was incredibly sexist and let's leave it at that." Amy nodded in understanding, knowing the sort of thing he must have said.
"Do you think they'll get together?" Amy asked, after a moment's silence.
Doyle thought for a moment before responding. "I don't know but I hope so. It would do them both some good."
"Just a question of when, I think."
That was when they heard movement through the half open door behind them. They both turned to check what was happening, expecting it to be Annie having just woken up, but instead they were greeted by the sight of a now fully awake Bodie with an arm around Annie's waist as she attempted to fuss over him. Normally Doyle might have been a little upset that no-one had told him about Bodie waking up but he wasn't this time, which probably had something to do with the calming draught that Amy had put in his drink when she went to get it. It was a trick she learned from a healer when Sirius was in hospital and she had to use it on her brother. She'd already decided that now would be another good time to use it.
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Annie muttered, as she sat in the driver's seat of Bodie's Capri. He just grinned at her before starting to give her instructions on what to do. They'd been together for a few weeks now and Bodie had insisted that she needed to learn to drive a car rather than just using her bike constantly, and he had offered to teach her. This had all the makings of a complete disaster, but when had that stopped either of them before.
Annie was getting a little frustrated at being ordered around and by the 5 minute mark she had started talking back about everything she was told to do.
"Take the left at the T junction." Bodie instructed her.
"Why left? Why not right?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the road.
"Because I told you left."
"But I want to go right and go past the ministry."
"Just go left. We can go that way another time."
Annie grumbled something under her breath before conceding and going left, unfortunately due to difficulty seeing the nose of the car, she didn't see the bollard resulting in her crashing straight into it. They were both out the car straight away, inspecting the damage and arguing over who's fault it was.
"So what happened to you? If you don't mind me asking of course." On seeing Amy's confused look Doyle nodded towards the tan line on her ring finger.
Amy sighed. "Oh… that… He was killed, the night before our wedding. I only found out in the morning. I was half way through getting ready when my brother came in and told me… I also found out at about the same time that he'd been fighting alongside the same people I spent my life fighting against."
"Oh… I'm sorry."
"It's fine. It was two years ago. It's weird though, this is the first time I've talked to anyone about it. I was so upset and felt so… betrayed I didn't know what to do. I couldn't talk to Annie about it she wouldn't… understand. Are you ok?"
She noticed Doyle stiffen and freeze when she mentioned feeling betrayed. "Yeah… It's just I had a girl leave me because she accused me of betraying her for doing a compulsory background check."
"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry…" Amy didn't get to finish that sentence as a bickering Annie and Bodie entered the pub. "What happened?" She asked.
"Annie damaged my car by crashing into a bollard." Bodie replied.
"I fixed it didn't I?" Annie replied hotly with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Not really. A Wand can't fix a dent in a car." Bodie replied slightly agitatedly.
"You can't even see it anymore." Annie snapped.
"You have done worse in the past." Doyle reminded his partner.
"There we go. No reason to be upset with her if you've done worse and she fixed it." Amy replied coolly. Bodie opened his mouth to respond but couldn't seem to think of a rebuttal so he closed it again looking a tad frustrated.
Annie and Bodie had been dating for a few months, which rather impressed Doyle as it was the longest relationship he'd ever seen Bodie have.
Annie noticed, Bodie seemed to have started being very quiet and retreating into himself more. Although Annie was starting to get a little worried but Doyle had told her, he sometimes got like that and just needed to be left to get through it. But Annie got the impression he knew something she didn't.
They all went to the pub together and the girls sat opposite the boys. Annie and Amy laughed together and Bodie sat watching Annie. He loved her and he knew he didn't want to lose her, like he had so many others, but he wasn't sure what to do. He was scared to try and propose in case something went wrong, in case it put her in danger. Doyle looked at his partner and could read his indecision like a book. "How about we go and get some more drinks?" Doyle asked. Bodie could tell that his partner wanted to ask what was bothering him and nodded. Maybe talking about it would help him sort out the thoughts flying around his head. "So what's bugging you?" Doyle asked once they got to the bar and out of earshot of the two girls.
"I was just thinking…" Bodie replied cryptically.
"What about?" Doyle pressed.
"I love Annie and I don't want to lose her."
"So why haven't you proposed yet then?" Doyle asked after a moment's silence.
Bodie sighed at that. "I haven't asked Cowley yet and… I'm worried she might not want to get married? Or what if Cowley says I can't? Or what if proposing puts her in some kind of danger?"
"Right. You love her don't you?" Bodie nodded. "And you'd do anything to protect her wouldn't you?" Bodie nodded again. "Well that solves the last problem as for the other two if she didn't want to be with you she would have left already and there is no way Cowley could refuse."
"Really?" Bodie asked, clearly still a little anxious.
"I wouldn't have said it otherwise; you're really over thinking this. Just go for it."
Bodie gave him a half smile. "Thanks mate. That's exactly what I needed to hear."
Annie was getting ready for a dinner date, Bodie was going to treat her for her birthday. Amy helped her choose a nice outfit for the restaurant she was going to with Bodie. In the end she chose a red cocktail dress and matching heels. Amy had just finished doing Annie's hair and makeup when the doorbell rang. Annie went to answer it and smiled at her boyfriend as he stood on the door step. He was looking particularly handsome in his suit and tie.
"You look beautiful Annabelle." Bodie told her.
"So do you." She told him with a smile, wondering why he was using her full first name but deciding not to ask.
He couldn't stop the half grin that came onto his face as he replied. "I know." Making his girlfriend laugh. "Anyway are you ready to go?" he asked looking her over and she nodded. "Let's go then." He took her hand and led her towards the car waiting outside.
"Where are we going?" She asked as he opened the car door for her and she sat down.
"You'll just have to wait and see." He replied with a grin as he got into the driver's seat.
Annie almost laughed when they got to the restaurant. It was the same one he had taken her to for their first date when he got out of the hospital. It wasn't particularly posh but she'd decided to dress up anyway because Bodie said he was going to wear a suit.
He opened the car door for her and offered her a hand. She could tell that he was going out of his way to be a gentleman and she wasn't about to start arguing with him about it. She took his hand and he led her into the restaurant. As they ate dinner she could tell he was slightly distracted and it wasn't until they went for a walk in the park afterwards that she understood why.
As they stood under a rose archway Bodie gently pulled her hand to turn her away from the beautiful scenery to look at him. "I love you Annabelle. More than I've ever loved anyone. I know we've only been together for a few months but I never want to lose you." As he said this he took a step back and got down on one knee, producing a ring in a box from his pocket. "Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, will you marry me?"
Annie's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. She stared at him, studying his face for some sign that he might not be serious but found none. She looked down at Bodie, wondering when the tough CI5 agent had turned into the man she wanted, so much, to share her life with. It took her a moment to be able to find her voice but she nodded. "Of course I will." She gave him both her hands and gently pulled him to his feet before pulling him into a loving kiss as he gently slipped the ring onto her finger.
When Annie went to work the next day she was obviously so much happier. Amy was the first to notice. "What's got you so happy?" She asked.
Annie sat down on her partner's desk, a massive grin plastered on her face. "Bodie proposed last night."
"Really? What happened? How did he do it? What did you say?" Annie started telling her everything before showing Amy her engagement ring. "This is brilliant, Annie. You got any ideas for the wedding yet?"
"Slow down." Annie laughed. "I found only out last night. One thing I do know is I want you as my bridesmaid."
"Well that's a given." Amy replied with a grin. Just then they were approached by a woman with long curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Hello Cindy," Amy greeted Moody's secretary. Cindy gave Amy a half smile before she turned to Annie.
"Annie, Moody wants to see you right now." Cindy informed her.
"Alright thanks Cindy, I'll be right on it." Annie jumped down from the desk and went to Moody's office to see what he wanted.
"So I hear you've got engaged, Malfoy." Moody commented as Annie entered the room. Although he didn't seem to look up Annie knew his magical eye was watching her through the top of his head.
"Yes, sir. Last night, as a matter of fact." Annie responded with a smile.
"And when was I going to hear about this? You know we need to check out this fiancée of yours. Make sure there aren't any security problems."
"I forgot about that…" Annie paused. "Oh well, there shouldn't be a problem. If CI5 can trust him then surely we would be able to."
"I hope you're right. But we'll have to do a security check anyway."
"I understand, sir, and I'm sure he would too."
"Alright, you may go."
Annie headed back to her desk but by the time she got there, someone was already stood over her desk awaiting her return.
"What do you want?" She asked her brother coldly.
"Is that any way to address the head of the family?" Lucius drawled, casually leafing through some of Annie's paperwork. She snatched it off him and placed the bundle of papers back on the desk which she promptly sat behind.
"Considering said 'head of the family' stopped caring about me when I was 11 and decided that saving his own skin was more important than standing up to his parents for the sake of his little sister under the daily Crutiatus, I can talk to you however I want." Annie snapped.
"I hear you're engaged." Lucius said changing the subject completely, meaning Annie knew she'd hit a nerve.
"Yes, I am." Annie replied slightly more calmly as she tried to sort through her papers.
"Who to? When was I going to hear about it?" Lucius asked.
"Well maybe I didn't feel you needed to know. You have wanted nothing to do with me for nine years now so I'm sorry if you weren't high on the list of priorities."
"As long as you're not marrying a Muggleborn. Or even worse a Muggle."
"I guess it's the 'worse' of the two then." Annie replied with a half-smile, looking over her papers so her hair fell over her face and hid her smile.
"What!? How could you disgrace the family like this!?" Annie had never seen Lucius this furious.
"If you'll excuse me Lucius I have a lot to do before I meet my fiancée for lunch." With that she got up and went over to her best friend's desk to get her to sign some papers for her, cursing under her breath at how quickly gossip spread within the Ministry of Magic and hoped Bodie wasn't having problems as well.
Later that day Annie and Amy were heading towards their office when a new recruit approached them. Amy thought her name might have been Emily. "Hey guys. Mad eye just gave me my first assignment."
"Shhhh." Annie and Amy hissed simultaneously, earning a confused look from Emily.
"What did I say?" She asked.
"You don't call him Mad Eye within the vicinity of the building." Annie reprimanded.
"He's got ears like a Hippogriff. He's bound to hear you." Amy added.
This caused Annie to turn on her friend. "Ears like a Hippogriff? Hippogriffs don't have ears, when have you ever seen a Hippogriff with ears?"
"They do have ears; they're just not as visible as human ears." Amy countered.
"Is that so?" Annie asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"How else would they be able to hear each other from opposite sides of the forest? They must have ears and bloody good ones at that."
"Alright I concede that they must have ears but they don't need to be that good. They're bloody loud when they want to be." The recruit was now forgotten as they continued towards their office, still bickering about how good a Hippogriff's hearing was.
Amy was searching on the train for somewhere to sit. It was the train from Paris to Beauxbatons. She finally found a compartment. There was a girl sat on her own quietly staring out of the window. Some of her long white blonde curls fell down to her waist whilst the front had been braided and pulled back to keep the rest of her hair out of her face. Her sapphire blue eyes were slightly clouded as she was lost to her own world. Amy could see that the girl was also in her first year and knocked on the door. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"Not at all" the blonde gave her a half smile.
Amy sat down on the seat opposite so she could talk to the girl more easily. "My name's Amelia Potter by the way. But everyone calls me Amy."
"I'm Annabelle Malfoy but most people call me Annie."
"You sound English. How come you're going to a French school?"
"I could ask you the same question." Annie replied coolly.
"My Uncle thought my brother James would be a bad influence."
"Same here."
"Your family thought your brother would be a bad influence?"
"No my family thought your brother would be a bad influence." Annie replied with a smile.
Amy laughed at that. "Yeah that doesn't surprise me."
"My brother says he's never seen a group of students as annoying as your brother and his friends."
"My brother says the same about yours, I wouldn't worry." They spent the next half an hour talking and laughing. Unlike the Hogwarts express this was a public train and it stopped at every station along the way. At the third station they were joined by a young man.
He was in his 20s and had black hair and blue eyes. He hadn't seemed to even acknowledge the two girls at first but when he did he seemed slightly confused to see them there. "Why are there so many small children on this train?" He muttered to himself, unfortunately not quietly enough for Annie not to hear.
"Hey! We're not small children! We're 11 and are about to start at school! Don't you dare call us small children!" Annie snapped at him. She'd stood up and was looking surprisingly intimidating for a recently turned 11 year old and Amy couldn't help but giggle at the very surprised look on the man's face. It was obvious that he wasn't used to many people arguing with him, let alone an 11 year old girl who somewhat resembled a china doll that Amy had when she was younger.
"Alright, relax."
"Then apologize for what you said." As she said this she put her wand under his chin threateningly.
He just raised a questioning eyebrow at her, wondering why he was being threatened by an 11 year old with a stick but eventually he shrugged and gave in. "Fine I'm sorry." Although Annie could tell he didn't quite mean it she accepted and sat back down and started chatting to Amy again, leaving Bodie to blink at her, still slightly startled by what just happened.
"So, you said your Uncle didn't want you at Hogwarts. Why was it his decision? Why not your parents'?" Annie asked after a while.
Amy went rather quiet and looked away. "My parents were murdered when I was 5." She whispered.
"Oh Merlin. I'm so sorry. I... I didn't think..." Annie stuttered, feeling suddenly guilty.
Amy just brushed her off. "It's fine. It was 6 years ago." Annie nodded and started talking to her about a different topic in an attempt to lighten the mood.
The girls were lounging around at Amy's house, it was the summer holidays a few years after they'd met and they were trying to think of something to do when they heard the doorbell go off. Amy went to answer and found a man at the door; he must have been about 26, 10 years older than the girls. He had curly brown hair and eyes so green they reminded her of the girl her brother fancied, Evans. "Can I help you with something sir?" She asked politely.
He held up an ID for her to see. "DC Doyle. I'm here because a young man by the name of James Potter has been arrested and he gave us this address to come to for bail."
"Oh Merlin. What did he do?" Amy muttered. She suddenly seemed to realize they were still stood in the doorway and invited Doyle into the living room where Annie was still lounging on the sofa.
Annie looked up and sat bolt upright, suddenly fearing the worst. "What's happened?"
"James has been arrested." Amy replied sitting down in an armchair and watching Doyle, who was now leaning on the fireplace, waiting for him to explain.
"We've had a few problems with Mr Potter in the past but the incident where he was found as a passenger on a motorbike, going over the speed limit by a considerable amount, without a helmet was the last straw so Fisher and Anderson took him in this morning. They set the bail and asked me to come and get you as we don't seem to have a telephone number on record for this address." Doyle explained.
"We don't own a phone." Amy told him. "How much is the bail?"
"You just need to come and sign some paperwork, it doesn't actually cost anything. But you'd have to be over 18."
"Oh yeah I am." Amy lied, earning a look from her best friend. "What do I need to sign?"
"Come back to the station with me and you can sign the release papers." Doyle took her back to the station and Annie followed.
Annie whispered to her best friend. "How much are we willing to bet this has something to do with Sirius?"
"My entire family's fortune." Amy replied as she signed her brother's release forms and James was let out of the cell. "You idiot." She reprimanded her brother, clipping him round the ear and knocking his glasses askew.
"Lovely to see you too Amelia." He replied with a grin. Amy said a quick thank you to Doyle before dragging her brother out of the station and back to the house.
It wasn't until they were in the pub waiting for Bodie and Doyle at lunchtime that anyone actually thought back on the events that had occurred so many years before hand. The girls got there first and by the time Bodie and Doyle arrived they were chatting about the two events. Amy was telling Annie, who seemed to have forgotten, about the "rather cute" police officer that came to the house about James' bail and how she'd had to pretend to be 18 to get him out.
"Oh, really?" Doyle was stood behind them with a smile on his face as he realized exactly what they were talking about. "You thought I was cute, did you?"
As Bodie sat down and Annie sat on his lap, Amy turned to look at Doyle, looking a little sheepish. "Um…"
"That's what she said isn't it?" Annie asked with a laugh. Bodie wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so her back was pulled right up against his chest.
"At least I didn't get a crush on the Muggle we met on the train when we were 11." Amy snapped. It was Annie's turn to blush this time, looking away from both her best friend and fiancée.
"Hang on, was that the train from Paris to some school… Beauxbatons?" Bodie asked.
"Yeah, why?" Amy asked.
"That was me…" Bodie replied and his fiancée turned to look at him in surprise. "I remember being threatened by an 11 year old girl on that train for calling her and her friend small children."
"Why were you on a train in France of all places anyway?" Annie asked.
"I had to meet a contact right outside the school." Bodie replied. It was Amy's turn to laugh this time as she realized that through the course of their childhoods they'd both met the boys before and somehow fate had been playing with them all this time, trying to bring them together.
Annie was going through the materials for the bridesmaid dress whilst Amy was trying on different styles and modelling them for her. Once Annie picked out a material and style for Amy's dress she started looking at bridal dresses. She had just got a dress out when she felt arms around her waist and someone pressing a kiss against her collarbone. This made her jump and she spun round to see Bodie grinning at her with his arms resting around her waist. "Don't sneak up on me like that." Although she pretended to be annoyed with him he could tell from the twinkle in her eyes she was pleased to see him really.
"You love me really." He grinned before kissing her on the lips.
She kissed him back before responding. "And what evidence do you have to support this?" She asked with a smile.
"Well you are the one marrying me." He pointed out.
"Yeah what was I thinking?" She teased.
Amy was leaning against a wardrobe and rolled her eyes at the flirting couple before wondering off to try and find some shoes to go with the dress and colour Annie picked out.
A week before the wedding, Annie and Bodie were practicing what they were supposed to say. When they'd finished Annie looked up from her sheet of paper, with everything she needed to say written on, to look at Bodie. "William Andrew Phillip?" She asked, causing him to look up at her rather suddenly.
"What?"
"It's just, we've been together all this time and you never actually told me your first name, or your middle names."
"That would be because if I had told you then you might have started calling me by my first name."
"Do you not like it?" Annie asked.
"Not particularly. No."
"Why?"
"Because it's the name my parents gave me. It's the name my parents called me by." Annie appeared to be missing the not so subtle hints that Bodie didn't want to talk so she kept asking questions.
"Problem with your parents?"
"I ran away from home at 14. What do you think?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." Annie was slightly surprised by the rather blunt response but knew that meant she should leave it alone.
"If it helps I know how you feel." Bodie raised a disbelieving eyebrow and Annie continued. "I didn't exactly have it easy as a child either. I believed different things to my family so they felt the need to use the Crutiatus on me daily."
"Crutiatus?" Bodie asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be.
"The torture curse. Prolonged exposure has been known to drive people mad. It's like millions of white hot knives piercing your skin and ripping you apart. There are no outward injuries but it's the most awful thing anyone can be subjected to." Bodie could tell she was starting to get a little upset and shaken so he pulled her into a comforting hug.
"I'm sorry." He whispered into her hair as she started to sob into his chest.
Bodie waited at the front of the church with the Minister and Doyle. Most of the guests had already arrived and once they'd all finished arriving Bodie heard the bridal march start up. That was the point where he started to get a little nervous, what if Annie changed her mind? What if she just left him stood there like an idiot? He felt Doyle place a comforting hand on his shoulder and Bodie gave him a half smile.
Amy was the first to come down the aisle wearing a beautiful burgundy dress with matching heels and leading Leo, who had been chosen as a ring bearer, by the hand. The rings had been put in little bags that Leo wouldn't be able to get into so he couldn't try to eat them. He looked incredibly cute in his suit and got many 'awws' from the women in the congregation.
When the mother and son reached the front of the church Bodie's attention was drawn to his beautiful bride. She was wearing a pure white dress with a train flowing behind her. The veil obscuring her face slightly but he could still make out her beautiful smile as she reached the front and he couldn't help but smile back. Neither of them even noticed the fact that everyone else had stood up as Annie walked in as they only had eyes for each other. Annie didn't even turn as she passed her bouquet to Amy.
The first time their eyes left each other was when the minister started talking.
"Dear friends and family, with great affection for William Andrew Phillip Bodie and Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy we have gathered together to witness and bless their union in marriage. To this sacred moment they bring the fullness of their hearts as a treasure and a gift from God to share with one another. They bring the dreams which bind them together in an eternal commitment. They bring their gifts and talents, their unique personalities and spirits, which God will unite together into one being as they build their life together. We rejoice with them in thankfulness to the Lord for creating this union of hearts, built on friendship, respect and love. If anyone has any reason why this couple should not be joined in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." On hearing silence the Minister continued.
"Our Father, love has been Your richest and greatest gift to the world. Love between a man and woman which matures into marriage is one of Your most beautiful types of love. Today we celebrate that love. May your blessing be on this wedding service. Protect, guide, and bless William Andrew Phillip Bodie and Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy in their marriage. Surround them and us with Your love now and always. Amen." The Congregation echoed the Amen before resuming their seats.
"Doubly blessed is the couple which comes to the marriage altar with the approval and blessings of their families and friends. Who has the honor of presenting this woman to be married to this man?" The Minister asked.
Amy stepped forward and smiled at her best friend. "I do." She gently took Annie's hands and gave them to Bodie and returned to her place behind the young bride. As she moved to take her place back behind Annie she whispered to Doyle, who had somehow managed to find something to lean on, "stand up properly you're making the place look untidy." Although he looked slightly put out he did as she said and stood up straight.
The hymn started and as it did the wedding party moved onto the stage and Leo gave the ring bags to Amy and Doyle before running down to his seat on the front row where he was meant to be sat between Cowley and Moody. He picked up his Teddy that had been left on the seat and managed to clamber up onto it with a little help from the two men, which earned them both a smile from Amy.
Next in the Order of Service was the charge of the bride and groom. "Let me charge you both to remember, that your future happiness is to be found in mutual consideration, patience, kindness, confidence, and affection. William Andrew Phillip Bodie, it is your duty to love Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy as yourself, provide tender leadership, and protect her from danger. Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, it is your duty to treat William Andrew Phillip Bodie with respect, support him, and create a healthy, happy home. It is the duty of each of you to find the greatest joy in the company of the other; to remember that in both interest and affection, you are to be one and undivided."
Next the Minister started the Pledge, looking between the couple before him with a smile as Bodie and Annie turned to face each other. "William Andrew Phillip Bodie and Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, you have made a very serious and important decision in choosing to marry each other today. You are entering into a sacred covenant as life partners in God. The quality of your marriage will reflect what you put into nurturing this relationship. You have the opportunity to go forward from this day to create a faithful, kind, and tender relationship. We bless you this day. It is up to you to keep the blessings flowing each and every day of your lives together. We wish for you the wisdom, compassion, and constancy to create a peaceful sanctuary in which you can both grow in love."
The Minister then turned to Bodie. "William Andrew Phillip Bodie, do you understand and accept this responsibility, and do you promise to do your very best each day to create a loving, healthy, and happy marriage?"
"Yes, I do." Bodie replied with a smile at his beautiful bride.
"Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, do you understand and accept this responsibility, and do you promise to do your very best each day to create a loving, healthy, and happy marriage?"
"Yes, I do." Annie returned Bodie's smile.
"I, William Andrew Phillip Bodie, take you Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part: according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge you my love and faithfulness."
"I, Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, take you William Andrew Phillip Bodie, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part: according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge you my love and faithfulness."
Once the beaming couple had exchanged their vows the minister turned his gaze to Doyle and Amy. "May I have the rings?" After a moment of fumbling to get them out of the bags they were passed to the minister. "Let us pray. Bless, O Lord, the giving and receiving of these rings. May William Andrew Phillip Bodie and Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy abide in Thy peace and grow in their knowledge of Your presence through their loving union. May the seamless circle of these rings become the symbol of their endless love and serve to remind them of the holy covenant they have entered into today to be faithful, loving, and kind to each other. Dear God, may they live in Your grace and be forever true to this union. Amen." He then gave the rings to the bride and groom.
"Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. With this ring, I thee wed." As he finished speaking Bodie gently slipped the ring onto Annie's finger, where only that morning an engagement ring had been.
"William Andrew Phillip Bodie, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. With this ring, I thee wed." Annie slipped the ring onto his ring finger.
"Because William Andrew Phillip Bodie and Annabelle Scarlet Malfoy have desired each other in marriage, and have witnessed this before God and our gathering, affirming their acceptance of the responsibilities of such a union, and have pledged their love and faith to each other, sealing their vows in the giving and receiving of rings, I do proclaim that they are husband and wife in the sight of God and man. Let all people here and everywhere recognize and respect this holy union, now and forever."
The Minister then started the closing prayer. "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace." Once the congregation had echoed 'Amen' the minister caught Bodie's eye with a smile.
"William Andrew Phillip Bodie, you may now kiss your Bride." Bodie didn't need telling twice, he lifted her veil and pulled his new wife into a soft kiss. Their first of many kisses as husband and wife. Before they pulled away from the kiss the Minister continued. "It is now my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Bodie."
Once the service was over everyone gathered outside the church for photos, Amy made sure that by the time the photos were finished Annie was covered in as much confetti as possible. Once there had been more photos taken than anyone really knew what they'd do with, they all headed down to the Godric's Hollow town hall. They'd chosen to have the wedding and reception in the town on the outskirts of London because that's where they met, for the first time since the train in France. Once they arrived at the hall Bodie and Annie waited outside so the guests could come and talk to them. Although they were each taken up in separate conversations their hands stayed clasped together. More often than not Annie was approached by CI5 operatives and Bodie was approached by Annie's class mates, each wanting to meet the person that claimed the other's heart. To say the Beauxbatons girls were taken by Bodie was an understatement. Annie caught many of them saying they wished they could have taken her place or taken him home with them.
After all the guests had entered the hall Bodie and Annie followed. The guests all had circular tables of ten. The burgundy table cloths were draped over every table and there was a vase of white roses and an ornate candelabra in the centre of each. The only table that was any different was the long top table where Amy and Doyle where already sat, talking to each other as Leo played with his teddy bear sat quietly on a chair next to Amy. Food started to be brought round so people could start their meals.
It wasn't until after they'd all eaten that they started the speeches. Amy stood and tapped her spoon against her glass to get everyone's attention so she could start her speech. "Good Afternoon everyone." She smiled at her audience, she seemed almost at home in front of the crowd of people but then the Potter family were never known for being shy. "I've been asked by my lovely best friend to do a speech for you all, of course the problem with that is that she completely forgot to tell me until first thing this morning." She paused to let the smattering of laughter die away before she continued. "As much as I love Annie she's never been particularly organised. As a few of our class mates will know she had a habit for forgetting about homework and then attempting to copy mine over breakfast. A particularly notorious example was the g… French revolution essay which was 5 parchment scrolls completed over her pancakes. She's always had a bit of a temper though, at the age of 11 she managed to lose her temper with her future husband because he was stupid enough to refer to us as small children." This caused more laughter. "But despite all her flaws she can be sweet and funny and I'm so pleased she's managed to find someone who's so perfect for her." She then went on to do her toast. "To the bride and groom." She raised her glass with a smile at the couple and everyone else stood, copied and repeated the sentiments.
When everyone sat it was Bodie's turn to do his speech. As Annie listened to it she could tell he'd spent an awful lot of time on it and had practiced it more than once or twice. Annie was amazed at how he had managed to write a speech that was so full of honest sentiment and love in so few words, it seemed so different to how he was when she first met him yet she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the love she felt for him in that moment. Once Bodie finished he handed over to Doyle.
Doyle got to his feet, nervously fiddling with the scrap of paper he'd jotted notes upon. Amy gave him a reassuring smile and he visibly relaxed before starting his speech.
"Thank you. Having known Bodie for many years somehow I never thought I'd be standing here as his best man. It's… surprising to see Bodie married, honoured as I am to be standing up for him. It must be a pretty special lady to induce my mate to leave the life of a single man, and I do believe Annie to be just that. But what has she got herself into, eh?"
At this a ripple of laughter echoed around the room as the guests anticipated the juicy stories that Doyle might be about to share.
"I wouldn't say anything to spoil Annie's view of Bodie. I wouldn't dream of telling her about the training course in the Brecon Beacons where he stole a staff car to get him and three mates into town for a curry, and nothing short of torture would get me to tell her about Murphy's stag night and why none of us are allowed to go into Belgium anymore, official duty or not." Doyle paused, giving the guests a chance to stop chuckling and shooting a glance at Bodie's anguished expression.
"But I can tell her," he said, transferring his gaze to the bride and lowering his voice a little, "that she's got a good 'un there and he'll never let her down. Like he's never let me down, when it really matters he'll always be there."
Annie smiled up at him, a glint of tears in her eyes.
Doyle picked up his glass and raised it, saluting Annie and Bodie. "The Bride and Groom," he toasted, sipping the amber bubbles as the other guests got to their feet and repeated his words.
The tables were moved aside so that the dance floor was made clear and Bodie and Annie shared their first dance as husband and wife.
For the next song they were joined by Amy and Doyle, which the other guests took as their cue to join as well. Although she refused to show it, Amy had got really excited when Doyle had invited her to dance, she realised he probably just did because it was tradition but it gave her an excuse to get close to him so she didn't care. Unfortunately neither of them were particularly good dancers so they ended up stepping on each other's feet quite a lot.
Annie was off talking to Remus when she spotted something over his shoulder. She already knew Amy would have had a few too many, she always did at weddings, what she didn't expect however was to see her in the corner of the room snogging Doyle. At first it hadn't hit her who it was that Doyle had pressed up against the wall with their hands tangled in his brown curls until she saw the burgundy dress and messy black curls. Annie pointed it out to her husband who, if the grin on his face was anything to go by, was never going to let Doyle live this down. Annie could tell that they both must have had a few too many because it was so unlike either of them to do anything this publicly, not to mention the fact that neither of them would want to admit their obvious feelings to the other for fear of rejection and a repeat of the heartbreak they'd both experienced before. Annie however noticed that the happiest she'd seen her friend in over two years was when she was with Doyle and she wasn't about to let her throw it away because of a few doubts that didn't really matter. To everyone else it was unbelievably obvious how much they cared for each other but Annie was going to make them see it for themselves if it killed her.
It was Annie's first day back at work after her honeymoon and the first thing she noticed was that there was no sign of Amy. That was when she found the letter on her desk. It was from St Mungo's hospital explaining that Amy was in hospital with gunshot wound to the kneecap, next to it was a note from Moody giving her permission to visit Amy in the hospital. Annie immediately picked up the phone on her desk and called her husband at work to tell him where she'd be before apparating straight to the hospital to find Amy.
Annie was shown to Amy's room and couldn't help the half smile when she saw Doyle's brown curls as he slept on the armchair next to the bed. The thing that really caught Annie's eye though was Amy who was sat in her bed watching Doyle as he slept. "You should just tell him you know." Annie commented from the doorway.
This made Amy jump and look up at her best friend. "What?"
"Just tell him how you feel." Annie sat down on the edge of her best friend's bed. "Amy it's been so long since I've seen you be as happy as you are with him."
"But… what if he doesn't feel the same? ...what if I just get hurt again like with Reg?" Amy asked, sounding very like a lost child. Neither of them noticed Doyle starting to wake up.
"Amy I can tell you right now that Ray feels the same about you as you do about him, and as for you getting hurt again, do you honestly think Ray would ever do anything to hurt you like that?"
Amy shook her head. "No I don't think he would."
"Of course I wouldn't." He spoke up from his armchair, making both girls jump. "Amy, I promise, if you're willing to give me a chance I'll never let you get hurt again." Amy looked into his eyes. As hazel met green she could tell how sincere he was being and nodded with a smile on her face, bigger than Annie had seen from her in a very long time. Annie glanced over at Doyle who had exactly the same smile on his face, she got up to leave them alone together, making a point of pushing Doyle closer to Amy, before going to use the phone to tell her husband where Doyle was and what had happened.
Amy was given permission to leave the next day as long as she was put on a course of potions, that she'd have to be on for the rest of her life, to help her continue work with little or no side effects.
The moment Amy was out of the hospital she and Doyle went out on a date. Annie and Bodie could tell that they were both head over heels. This was the happiest either of them had been since their last relationships had broken down.
Amy was working when she received the phone call. It was the anniversary of James and Lily's deaths and she had been with Doyle for several months by this point. Her heart stopped when she heard what the doctor had to say. Doyle had been injured. She scribbled a quick note to Moody and left for the hospital.
By the time she got there he was in the operating theatre so he could have the two bullets that had hit him removed. Bodie was waiting outside, attempting to ignore the platinum blonde who was apparently reprimanding him for not looking after Doyle. "How is he?" Amy asked as she walked over.
"They think he'll pull through but he'll be in a bad state for a while. He'll need a lot of looking after." Bodie replied, Amy could tell he was just as worried as she was and gave him a weak nod.
At this point the blonde appeared to finally notice Amy. "Who are you?" she asked.
Amy gave her a weak smile. "I'm Ray's wife." They'd got married a couple of months before hand whilst on a mission, no engagement or planning they just decided to one night, and they had only just finished hearing the end of it from Moody and Cowley. Amy recognised the woman, from descriptions Doyle had given her, as being Marge.
"What!?" Amy flinched slightly and Marge turned on Bodie. "I told you to look after him! Not only did you let him get shot twice! You let him get married!"
"What has this got to do with Bodie? It was Ray's choice to get married and Bodie couldn't have stopped it even if he wanted to. It also isn't his fault that Ray got hurt, I'm sure he tried his best to keep him safe." Amy responded to Marge's telling off of Bodie.
"Humph. He's got shifty eyes. Always knew he wasn't to be trusted and this just proves it."
"Are you seriously so shallow that you'll judge people based entirely on appearance? You don't even know him. How can you possibly judge what kind of person he is?" Amy snapped, you could always tell when Amy was anxious because that's when she got irritable and snappy.
"In my line of work, sunshine, appearance is everything." Marge replied.
"And what line of work would that be?" asked Amy, clearly getting increasingly frustrated.
"None of your business." Came the slightly snippety response.
"Then why bring it up?" Amy asked smartly, really starting to not like this woman at all.
"I'm not talking to you, especially not if what you say is true. I can't believe Ray would even think of marrying."
"Well clearly you are talking to me as you're responding to everything I'm saying."
"I, darlin', was talking to Bodie." She turned her back on Amy and directed the next comment to Bodie. "Who still hasn't explained what happened to my Ray."
"Your R.. know what? Forget it. I don't need this right now." Amy went to find a doctor whilst Bodie reluctantly explained what happened.
As she walked away Amy briefly heard Marge mutter. "What is her problem?"
Bodie raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything, after having seen the argument and having been on the receiving end of Marge's sharp tongue before, he knew better than to comment.
When Doyle was finally out of the operating theatre, they all saw him being taken to the room. Marge started dramatically sobbing at the sight of him so Bodie passed her a handkerchief from his pocket. For the moment neither of them noticed Amy starting to cry, but when Bodie did notice he went over to try and comfort the girl and pulled her into a hug.
"We need to find out who did this." Amy whispered. Bodie nodded in agreement.
It wasn't until a day or so later that Doyle was starting to come round. As his eyes blinked open he could hear his wife talking to a doctor at the end of the bed. "Amy?" He muttered, causing her to look over and come straight to his side.
"How are you feeling Ray?" She asked him anxiously, gently taking his hand and stroking the back of it with her thumb.
"Like I've been shot." He replied with a weak attempt at a reassuring smile.
Amy gave him a half smile back and kissed him on the forehead. "You need to be more careful, sweetheart. Marge looked ready to kill Bodie when she found out and that just wouldn't do."
He could tell she was teasing him slightly, but something caught his attention. "Wait… Marge was here?" Amy just nodded and she could tell from the look on his face that it was the last thing he wanted to hear.
"Yes she was and she didn't seem particularly happy about our marriage." Amy gently stroked his hair. The worry was obvious in her eyes and Doyle gently took her hand down from his head and kissed the back of it.
"I'll be alright Amy, I promise." He answered her unspoken worries
"What in Merlin's name even happened to you?"
"I'd gone to do those errands, like you asked and when I got back someone else was in the flat. They shot me... twice. It was Bodie that found me there."
"How did they even get in?"
"I hadn't locked the door properly; I was only going to the shops. I wasn't exactly expecting someone to break in and try and shoot me was I?"
Amy sighed. "Alright, I see your point. But be more careful next time ok?"
"I'll try my best." Amy gave him a weak smile and a soft kiss on the lips before going to fetch Bodie; she'd promised she'd find him the moment Doyle woke up.
Annie was a little nervous as she waited for Bodie to get home. She had been feeling a little under the weather recently and had taken the day off to go to the doctor's. When Bodie finally came back and into the living room he asked what he'd been thinking straight away. "What did the doctor say?"
"I'm fine." She replied. "I'm fine… the baby's fine…"
"Good… wait… what?" The last part hadn't registered at first but when it did he took a moment to comprehend it.
Annie bit her lip slightly nervously as she watched Bodie. It was taking a while for the news to fully sink in. "You're…" He didn't finish the thought before pulling her into a hug. "That's brilliant Annie."
"Really?" She looked up at him, slightly startled by this response.
"Really. I never told Ray this, but I always rather liked the idea of being a dad someday."
Annie smiled up at him. "I'm glad you're so pleased." She paused for a moment. "Do you think we should go and tell the Doyles?" Since Amy and Doyle had got married it became easier to refer to them collectively by surname rather than individually.
"I think we'd be in trouble if we didn't." Bodie replied with a smile as he wrapped his arm around his wife's waist.
As they started walking out to the car something seemed to occur to Annie making her groan. She spotted her husband's confused, and slightly concerned, look and explained, "Moody's going to have to take me off active service when he finds out. I'll die of boredom if I'm put doing a desk job."
"I'm sure you'll manage." Bodie replied, placing a kiss in her white blonde locks.
Amy and Doyle had both been playing in the living room with Leo. Despite the fact that his only connection to the boy was the fact he'd married his mother, Doyle was trying to be like the father Leo deserved and needed. They almost resembled a Christmas card, a happy and laughing family with Christmas decorations covering the house, even though it was barely December. It was easy to tell Amy had done the decorating. She always went over the top when it came to Christmas.
Amy was just about to start thinking about what to do for dinner when the doorbell rang, making her nearly jump out of her skin.
On going to answer it she found Annie and Bodie on the doorstep. "Something we can help you both with?" Amy asked, and Annie pretended to look offended.
"What? I need a reason to come and visit my best friend now do I?" Annie replied.
"Considering we all agreed to stay out of each other's hair tonight so we could spend some time as couples, yeah you kinda do." Doyle answered as he walked over to them, leaving Leo to play with his cuddly toy dog on the floor.
"Well we found out some news and wanted you two to be the first to know." Annie replied with a smile.
"Annie's pregnant." Bodie explained, on seeing their curious faces.
"That's wonderful!" Amy exclaimed, pulling her best friend into a hug.
"Yeah, congratulations you two." Doyle added with a smile.
When Annie got back from work her husband was already home. "I was thinking about something." She started as she hung her coat up on the hook by the door.
"What were you thinking about?" Bodie asked, curious about what could have brought on the serious tone in his wife's voice.
"The baby. How are we going to do this? We both work full time, so how will we be able to look after it at the same time?"
"Well, for a while at least, you'll have to stop working." Bodie replied casually, as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
"Yeah… wait… what? Why me?"
"Well you are the woman of the house; it's your job to look after the children isn't it?"
"Ok let's get one thing straight here, there is absolutely no way I am just giving up my job to look after a child, I can't just abandon Amy like that and the office would fall apart without both of its best operatives." Annie was starting to lose her temper a little but was only just managing to keep a lid on it.
"Well there's no way I'm giving up my job, especially since, like I said, staying home and looking after the children isn't my job. It's yours and there is absolutely no way you can try and make me stay here and do it. I'm the man of the house; it's my job to provide the income. You're the woman of the house, it's your job to stay home and cook and clean and look after the children." Annie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was so angry she wanted to lash out, just like she did at CI5 HQ, but she couldn't. Something inside her held her back and she knew that really she would never want to hurt her husband. Instead she stormed out, grabbed her coat and left for some time to cool off before she had to face her husband again.
It was about a week before Amy and Doyle got fed up of the argument. Annie had spent the time staying at their house and Bodie had been telling Doyle about what happened and how wrong Annie was, a lot. Eventually they were both fed up and started engineering a way to fix things between them. They finally decided they'd just force the couple to talk.
Amy went back to Annie and managed to convince her that Bodie was going to apologize for what he said. Whilst Doyle was back at Bodie's attempting to convince him the same thing. After about 5 minutes a piece they were both convinced to meet up at the nearby park.
The atmosphere at the park couldn't have been frostier if the whole park was iced over. Annie and Bodie wouldn't talk to each other and at first wouldn't even go near each other.
Amy whispered to Doyle. "Well this seems to be going well." As they stood to the side, leaning against a fence watching the couple exchange frosty glares.
After a few minutes of this it was clear that neither of them was going to speak so Amy called over to them. "Has day care seriously not occurred to either of you?" This got their attention. They both turned to look at Amy as the black haired girl got up from her leaning post and walked over to them. "I mean seriously. If neither of you want to stop working then just get a 3rd party to look after the baby instead. I know Remus would be willing, and in need of a little extra money so you could ask him."
Annie was the first to speak. "I… I suppose that could work."
Bodie nodded in agreement. "Yeah I guess so."
Amy gave them a half smile, pleased they were finally agreeing about something. "Good now you two kiss and make up, and don't make us bail you out of another argument."
Annie laughed before going over to her husband and gently taking his hand before kissing him on the cheek. "We'll try our best but we won't promise anything." But Amy could tell she was teasing from the smile now on her face as Bodie wrapped an arm around her waist and she rested her head against his shoulder.
Once their baby boy, Andrew, was finally born, Annie took a few months off to look after him before returning to work and leaving him with Remus during the day. This hit a slight snag however when it became time for the full moon and Remus explained that he couldn't look after the child on the day before and the day after.
As a result Annie decided to take Andrew to work with her. She got in only to be called straight to Moody's office. On her way in she left the small boy on Cindy's desk, before going through to his office. The girls were both sent off on a mission so Cindy was left looking after the child for the day.
By the time they got back though, they were slightly startled to find Andrew in Moody's office, playing on his desk. Moody was deep in conversation with the Minister for Magic so the girls had to wait outside.
When the Minister finally left Annie and Amy were both called in. Annie gently picked up her son and just as she left Moody stopped her. "You're not doing this again Bodie, we don't run a nursery you know."
Annie nodded in understanding. "Yes sir, sorry sir." Before heading home.
Since Annie couldn't leave Andrew with Moody again Bodie decided to take Andrew to work with him. He got in only to be called straight to Cowley's office. On his way in he left the small boy on Betty's desk, before going through to his office. The boys were both sent off on a mission so Betty was left looking after the child for the day.
By the time they got back though, they were slightly startled to find Andrew in Cowley's office, Cowley was bouncing the child on his knee as he was talking to the Minister on the phone.
When Cowley put the phone down Bodie and Doyle were both called in. Bodie gently picked up his son and just as he left Cowley stopped him. "You're not doing this again Bodie, we don't run a nursery you know."
Bodie nodded in understanding. "Yes sir, sorry sir." Before heading home.
"What do you do during the full moons?" Annie asked her best friend at the pub one night. It was the night before the full moon and the boys had been left with the children.
"What?" Amy asked, looking up from her drink.
"What do you do with Leo during the full moon? You know when Remus can't look after him for you when you and Ray are both working." Annie had been getting desperate for someone to take the child whilst she worked and it only just occurred to her to ask Amy.
"Oh, I leave him with Molly."
"Molly?"
"Molly Weasley. Fabian and Gideon Prewett's little sister."
"Do you think she'd be willing to look after Andrew for me?"
"I don't see why not. We can ask her tomorrow."
The next morning they both went down to the Burrow. Amy left Leo with Molly and she was more than happy to take Andrew as well. However she ended up looking after the second child for a little longer than she bargained for.
When the girls got in they were once again called to see Moody. As they came in he offered them both a glass of Oak Matured Mead, which they each accepted gladly. Amy leant on Moody's desk and placed the glass on the table behind her and Moody equally forgot about the drink he'd left on the side table. Annie however was not so fortunate. As the others were talking she took a gulp of her drink. Because it was given to her by Moody, she hadn't thought to check it, but almost instantly regretted it. She started coughing and spluttering; neither of the other two seemed to think much of it at first until she started coughing up blood and passed out.
Amy was by her side instantly and checked her pulse which was rapidly decreasing. Amy didn't even stop to ask for permission, she took her friend straight to St Mungo's. A Healer took Annie straight away and Amy phoned Cowley to try and get hold of Bodie.
"Hello, Cowley speaking."
"Is Bodie there?" Amy asked anxiously, "it's important."
"Who is this?" Cowley asked, slightly suspiciously, "and why are you calling?"
"Amelia Doyle. I was with his wife and she's now in St Mungo's hospital, she was just poisoned."
"I'll let him know. Thank you Mrs Doyle." Amy hung up and a few minutes later Bodie and Doyle turned up at the hospital, a panicked look on Bodie's face.
"What happened?" Bodie asked anxiously.
"We were in Moody's office for a drink when..." Something suddenly seemed to occur to Amy and she quickly ran off, coming back a couple of minutes later with the Mead bottle. "Someone poisoned this." She passed it to the healer and explained what happened so they could discover what poison was used.
It wasn't until a week later that Annie was allowed out of the hospital and even then she wasn't couldn't be left alone, meaning that both Bodie and Amy had to take some time off for looking after her. It was one of the days were Amy was left with Annie that an important piece of news leaked out.
"How you feeling?" Annie asked, Amy had spent most of the morning feeling incredibly unwell and had even been sick a few times.
"Better thanks," Amy told Annie with a smile, "it's you we should be worried about. You're the one who was poisoned."
"You're the one who's been showing the signs of pregnancy." Annie teased but she was rather surprised to see Amy stiffen and freeze. "You're not... are you?"
Amy nodded slowly. "You can't tell anyone. Not yet. I haven't even told Ray. I've been waiting for the right time to break it to him."
"You phone him and you tell him right now."
"But..."
"Amy it's now or never."
Amy groaned before phoning her husband, slightly nervously. "Ray?"
"Is everything alright Amy? How are you feeling?" Doyle asked down the phone.
"Yeah I'm fine, I was talking to Annie and she said there's something I should tell you." He could tell she was a little nervous.
"What is it?" He asked with a mouthful of salad as he sat at his desk attempting to eat lunch, talk and finish his paperwork.
"Well you remember we'd talked about having a child together, so Leo could have a little brother or sister?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, that was a couple of days ago, why?"
"Well it might be happening a little earlier than we expected."
There was silence from his end of the phone for a moment. "What? Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"That's wonderful Amy." She could practically hear the grin in his voice and couldn't help but smile herself.
"I'm glad you're so pleased. I'll see you later, ok sweetheart?"
"Yeah we'll talk about it more later, bye. Love you."
"Love you too." With that she hung up.
Christmas 2013
"Andrew." Annie called her son. He'd vanished upstairs with his wife a while before hand and had yet to come back down.
"Just leave them be. Long as they're down in time for us to go round Harry's," Annie turned round to see her husband stood behind her.
"We're meant to be leaving in five minutes, besides if his driving's anything like his dad's we'll need to factor in time for us to get in and out of the hospital." Doyle teased, leaning on the doorway.
"We probably should start thinking about leaving. Who fancies going and getting them?" Amy asked, with a small girl with long brown curls and bright blue eyes clutching her hand.
"Will, you can do it." Annie said, shooting a smile at her husband.
"Why can't you do it?" Bodie asked.
"Because he's your son."
"He's your son too. But fine, why don't we send Ray?"
Annie nodded in agreement. "Good idea, Ray, you go."
"He's your son not mine." Doyle replied.
"True, but he's married to your daughter not mine." Annie countered.
"Could always send Leo." Amy suggested.
"No you cannot send Leo!" His voice came from the living room, luckily at that moment the couple came down the stairs.
"Are you all arguing again?" Jessica asked. She had long brown curls and bright green eyes; it always scared Amy how much she was like her dad.
"No they call it debating." Andrew told her with a grin. His blue eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief and his short black hair was slightly messed up. "Anyway we all ready to go?"
The little girl holding Amy's hand spoke up. "We were waiting for you daddy."
"Is that right Sophie?" Andrew asked.
The girl nodded. "Granny said so."
"Oh, did she now." That was Jessica as she turned to her mother, who only gave her an innocent smile in return.
At this moment Leo walked into the hallway to join them. He looked very like both his father and his uncle Sirius with: black hair down to his shoulders; a spark of mischief in his silver eyes; a flirtatious smile permanently fixed on his face and a battered leather jacket, he had been inseparable from since he got it for Christmas, from Bodie, several years before hand.
"Anyway we should be going, we're already late." Annie pointed out and they all started heading out to the car, on their way to one of many happy family Christmases with the people that meant so much to them.