Love's Journey

A/N: New story that randomly popped into my head. Oh, and also, if any of you guys have read my other stories where I describe my created character, Jamie's, eye color as an electric blue, disregard that. I'm changing her eye color to ocean blue. For those of you reading this story first, just a heads-up! Enjoy!

Italics – thought

Regular – speech

Harry Potter was lying on his bed at 14 Willard Lane, Godric's Hollow, staring at the ceiling. He thought about what his two best friends Ron and Jamie were doing, but more so what Jamie was doing. 'Jamie!' he thought to himself, and he smiled warmly.

The truth was, Harry had been in love with Jamie since they were 7 years old. Sure, he hadn't known what love was then, but he knew that she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Right about now, Jamie would be with Ron at the Burrow, having fun and talking about why he wasn't with them.

Harry knew that Ron had had a huge crush on Jamie ever since he saw her, and he had tried to tell him about his own feelings for her, but it seemed like Ron was never listening. He may have been his best mate, but sometimes Ron was incredibly thick. Harry would've thought it was obvious how he felt about her; He wasn't very secretive when it came to his feelings. He would always try and sit next to her, he was always holding her hand, and he went to her for advice when he needed it.

'I can almost picture it…Ron and Jamie on a romantic walk around the lake at the back of his house… Ron confessing his love for her……Jamie reciprocating those feelings…Ron wrapping his arms around her and leaning in for a kiss………' Harry sighed in frustration.

Before he could ponder this disconcerting thought any longer, a noise like a cracking whip sounded through his room, rousing Hedwig out of her sleep and making his Persian cat, Isis, hiss and streak under his desk in alarm. Harry jumped in shock and turned towards the source of the noise, wand raised, but dropped his arm as he saw who had caused the disturbance.

"Jamie?" Harry said as he got up and went to greet her. He was about 5 feet from her when she cried out from the shadows, "Stop! Don't come any closer!" He stopped abruptly, and he said, "Jem, what's wrong?" He then fell silent, and he heard soft sobs coming from where she was standing.

He then said gently, "Come into the light, Jem" and Jamie, sniffling, stepped out of the shadows slowly.

The first thing that caught his eye was her eyes. That's what he loved about her the most: her eyes. They were ocean blue, like the color of the water in islands like the Bahamas and Bermuda. The way the moonlight was reflecting off of them right now was enough to drive him to distraction. She moved out further, and as he saw the rest of her, the smile on his face faded rapidly, turning into a frown.

Her long ebony hair was mussed and tousled, and there was a nasty bruise on her cheek, just under her left eye. The old shirt she had on of Harry's, a red Maroon 5 tee, was ripped at the left sleeve and down the middle, stopping right at the top of her chest. She had a cut lip and when she went to walk again, his eyes were drawn to her thigh, where a huge purple and black bruise was forming.

Jamie stopped in front of him, and Harry said, "What happened? Who the hell did this to you, Jem?" Jamie looked up, sniffed, and muttered, in her soft Irish accent, "Who do you think did this to me?" her accent slowly going from a soft Irish lilt to a thick Scottish brogue, like it did whenever she got extremely upset, or worried.

Harry's eyes widened at her insinuation, and he said, "No…not……Ron?" She nodded, and she said, "He wanted to talk to me, so I went to his room. He locked the door and put the Silencing spell on his room, and he……..Harry, he tried to rape me!!" Harry sat back down on the bed, not wanting to believe it.

Ron, his best mate, his brother………..he was so gentle, he wouldn't hurt a fly…….except Malfoy, but he was a special case. He looked up and noticed that Jamie had started crying again. He took her hand, pulled her down next to him and wrapped an arm around her. He felt her tears wetting his chest, but he didn't care. He was filled with so much rage that he could have sworn his blood was boiling.

Harry smoothed Jamie's hair back from her face, saying quietly, "Ssssh, it's okay, Jem. I'm here. Don't cry, princess. It's alright." Jamie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and she sat up and said, "Oh, I'm sorry for crying all over you, Harry. I must look a mess….," and she went to fix her hair, but Harry stopped her and said, "No. You look beautiful."

Jamie blushed a bit, but put on a skeptical look as she said, "There's no need to lie, Harry. I look awful."

Harry moved closer to her and said, "I'm not lying, Jem. You look beautiful." Then he said, "I'm still surprised that you haven't got a boyfriend yet."

Jamie rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, please……….none of the boys here or at Hogwarts interest me. They're a bunch of dunderheads, the lot of them. Besides, I'm in love with someone already."

At those words, Harry felt his world come crashing down on him. It felt as though his heart had been ripped out and stomped on; cursing inwardly, he asked, "Who's the lucky guy?" Jamie looked at him shyly, and she said, "Well, he's smart, funny, brave and loyal. He's selfless, and he's not afraid to tell others what's on his mind. He's got great hair, these amazing eyes and a killer smile."

Jamie, unaware of Harry's extreme discomfort, said to him, "What about you, Harry? Are you in love with a certain girl?" Harry smiled in spite of himself, and he said, "Actually, yeah, I am."

Jamie felt her heart break when she heard this, seeing as how she's been in love with Harry since they were 6. She sat there, listening to her dream guy explain his dream girl. "She's amazing, with long hair, gorgeous eyes and a personality that's all her own. She's studious, but not a total bookworm, and she loves to hang out with her friends. When she walks into a room, everything just seems to freeze, like she's the only thing in the world that matters at that moment."

As they said these next words, their heads seemed automatically drawn together.

"He's a god."

"She's perfection incarnate."

"He has a great sense of humor."

"She has a radiance that rivals the sun."

Then, they both said these words at the exact same moment:

"He's………….you."

"She's ………..you."

As soon as these words left their mouths, their lips met in a tender kiss. Harry wound his hand into Jamie's silky hair, deepening the kiss, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning in the back of her throat.

When the two finally surfaced for air, Harry stared at his girl thinking she never looked more beautiful; mussed hair, kiss-swollen lips, the adorable beauty mark on her right cheek, and her eyes closed in contentment.

Jamie opened her eyes slowly to see Harry staring at her adoringly, and she ran her hands through his shoulder-length hair, saying, "Mmm…….that was nice. So, you were talking about me all along?"

Harry nodded, saying, "Yeah. Jem, I could never love anybody but you. We were meant to be together, I know it." He then leant down and started kissing her on her neck, saying, "You meant me all this time, huh?"

Jamie tilted her head back, moaning as he kissed and sucked on a sweet spot on the middle of her neck, and she said, "Yeah, Harry. It's always been you."

Harry then pulled back, and he looked into Jamie's eyes and said, "I love you, Jem." Jamie smiled and answered, "I love you, too, Harry."

Then, he put a concealment charm on her bruises, and he fixed her cut lip. He then gave Jamie another shirt to sleep in, and he said, "Bedtime." He pulled back his sheets, and Jamie climbed under them, Harry getting in next to her. He pulled her into his arms, and she snuggled up against his chest.

Harry tilted her chin up and kissed her once more, saying, "Goodnight, princess" and she said back, "Goodnight, my love." The two lovebirds then fell asleep, dreams of each other running through their heads.