Disclaimer: Anything you recognise is not mine; it all belongs to J. K. Rowling as we all know
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Chapter Two
He's Back
Harry Potter smiled slightly as he finally reached his destination. Glancing up at the small house in front of him, he walked through the white gate and rapped firmly on the front door.
The door opened and Harry was slightly surprised to see that there was no one standing in front of him. Looking down, he saw the reason as a little girl, about 4 or 5 stared up at him with wide eyes.
Studying her, Harry saw that there was no denying this was the child of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Small and petite, with bushy red hair and brown eyes and what looked like a speck of dirt on her nose, the child seemed to be studying him too.
"Bella, who is it?" A voice called from the back of the house
"I'm not sure mum," the girl, Bella apparently, called back. "But as he's wearing the crest of the order of the Phoenix, I'm not too worried."
Turning back, she smiled and extended her little hand to Harry
"My name is Isabelle Weasley but everyone calls me Belle or Bella. I'm four and a half years old. Did you know that the crest you're wearing has been enchanted so that only those with the right intentions can wear them? Mum told me so that I could tell the good people from the bad. It's done using a charm called the intentio charm…"
"Harry?!"
Harry looked behind Bella and saw Hermione, hair tied up bouncing a baby boy on her hip. He grinned.
"Hey Hermione, I see you've been busy"
"What?" Hermione asked, before looking down into her arms. "Oh," she flushed slightly. "Well, come on in, Bella, shut the door behind him would you? Harry, how are you? Where have you been? Its really been too long and the letters to few. Are you here long? When did you get here? Have you got a place to stay? Have you seen Ginny yet?"
Harry laughed as he walked over and gave her a light hug, not wanting to squash the child he was holding.
"I'm good, I've been in various places around Europe, Italy, France, Spain. I don't know how long I'm staying for, but I'm hoping this time its permanent. I only got here about 5 minutes ago and I came straight over. I haven't organised accommodation yet and…no, I haven't seen Ginny yet"
"Well, of course then, you're going to stay with us. Bella, would you please floo your dad and ask him to come home? Tell him an old friend's come back"
Bella nodded and quickly moved out of the room
Harry was surprised, "She knows how to do that? She told me she was only 4"
"Yes well, Bella's quite a bright little child, very inquisitive"
Harry chuckled. "I wonder where she got that from. And I guess this must be Paul then?" He asked, letting the baby grab his finger
Hermione smiled fondly. "Yes, this is Paul, a year old. So, what have you been doing the past few years? You never did say that much in your letters"
Harry's eyes darkened slightly. "We were searching out the remaining death eaters."
Hermione nodded. "I assumed as much, but that's such a huge job!"
Harry laughed mirthlessly. "Why do you think I was gone for so long? It's taken us nearly 5 years but we think we're almost done. Lupin and Tonks have gone to Germany to check up on some of our last leads but we've captured nearly 300 of the bastards. Not without losses of course." Harry lowered his head slightly as he thought of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-eye Moody, who had sacrificed their life fighting rogue deatheaaters. And Dumbledore, who had died giving Harry the chance to defeat the dark lord at the end of his seventh year.
"So what now?" Hermione asked, "I mean, now its over, what will you do? Are you going to stay an auror?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I became one to avenge my parents and Sirius and Dumbledore and everyone else who Voldemort killed, but it's cost me 5 years of my life. I mean, when was the last time I sat down and had a conversation with you and Ron? I just don't know if I have any motivation left to do it. It's cost me so much…" Harry trailed off as he thought of the things he'd left behind when he's gone off to capture deatheaters. The people. One in particular.
"How is…how is Ginny?" He asked tentatively, his hand nervously running through his hair
Hermione stilled slightly and he could see her trying to find the right answer.
"She's…well, she's good." She started lamely. "I mean, she was devastated when you left, we all were, and it took her awhile to get back on track. She did a course on advanced charms at the local wizarding university. She's actually replaced Professor Flitwick at Hogwarts. She dated a bit, not seriously at first…but a few months ago, she met this really nice guy…"
Harry couldn't help but feel the hurt inside as he lowered his head. Well what did he really expect? Did he think Ginny was going to wait for him?
A loud pop then a voice yelling, "Where is he?" interrupted his thoughts
Looking up, he saw Ron rush into the room, His hair awry, robes flying everywhere. His eyes found Harry and a huge grin lit up on his face.
"HARRY!" He yelled joyously. "Its about time! Are you staying?"
Harry laughed at Ron's enthusiasm. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, I'm staying"
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Please read and review!!! I've written three more chapters but I want some reviews before I post anymore!