Chapter 46- Bugs That Bite

Well I tried to outrun it, but it finally caught up with me.
Tell me how I can run from something that I can't see?
Oh that little bitty teeny weeny thing they call the lovebug...
-"Love Bug" as performed by George Strait

December 2026

Just over 2 years into Healer training, Rose was finally on what she called a "more humane" schedule and was enjoying tea and cake whilst paying a visit to her cousin Lily, the most popular employee at Java Magic.

"Mum will be here shortly for her lunch break," Rose said.

Sure enough, Hermione strolled in minutes later, waving at various people in the cafe. She kissed Rose's cheek and took a seat. Lily arrived seconds later with a cup of coffee and a plate with a slice of cake. "Try it," she said. "It's my very own creation, blueberry-walnut shortcake. Mrs. Landry loves it," she said, referring to the owner of Java Magic.

There was suddenly bustling and laughing at the door. In walked James and three others from his Auror trainee cohort, now in their final year of training. James quieted slightly when he saw his Aunt Hermione. She was big on manners, especially in public. They took the table next to them.

"Hi Aunt Hermione," James said and kissed her cheek.

"How is training going nowadays?" she asked. The group embarked on a explanation about the latest interrogation techniques and apprehension charms until Lily stopped at their table.

"Hey sis, can I have one of your special coffees?" James asked.

"One big brother special coffee coming right up. What can I get for the rest of you?" she asked, looking at each, her eyes resting seconds longer on the last one of the group. He stared back at her.

"Hello? Lily?" James said, waving a hand in front of her face and shooting an annoyed glance at David Conners, his staring friend. Lily recovered from her trance and slapped his hand away. Hermione and Rose chuckled.

When Lily left to prepare their orders, David spoke up. "Your sister is pretty," he said.

"Yeah, what of it?" James asked, a protective tinge to his voice.

"Calm down mate, just making an observation."

"Well, make it somewhere else to someone else."

Hermione and Rose looked at each other pointedly over their mugs. James could be just as hot-headed as Harry. Lily returned with their orders.

"Tell me what you think of the cake, it's a creation of my own making," she said cheerfully. James didn't hesitate, he knew it would be good. He ate the the slice in three bites.

"Hey, this is really good, I love blueberries," David said.

"Thanks," Lily said with a bright smile, causing David to blush. "Anything else I can get you, let me know."

"Um, Lily is it?" David asked and Lily nodded, seeing James' glare out of the corner of his eye, but decided to throw caution to the wind. "What time do you get off work?"

"Five," she quickly answered.

Suddenly James lunged across the table, grabbing David's shirt. Lily jumped back, fussing loudly at her brother. The others attempted to pull James' hands off, but he shrugged them off, knocking one into Hermione, whose hot coffee spilled down the front of her blouse. In a matter of seconds, Lily drew her wand and bound James with ropes.

"James Sirius Potter! All he did was ask what time I got off work! How dare you! Look what you did to Aunt Hermione!" Lily hissed. David was enchanted at the way her blue eyes flashed as she flawlessly sang a spell. She cast that spell faster than James!

James saw Rose helping Hermione clean the coffee from her blouse and groaned. Mum's going to kill me!

"Young man, this is not some rabble-rousing pub, that behavior is intolerable in my place of business," the owner, Mrs. Landry declared.

"I apologize madame," James said and Lily released his bindings. With flicks of her wand, the broken cups were repaired, crumbled cake and spilled tea banished.

"I'm sorry Aunt Hermione, really I am. You're not gonna tell mum, are you?"

Across the cafe, a wizard watched the scene with amusement, but his gaze was repeatedly drawn to Rose. He had seen her in there occasionally, but she was always reading something or other while she sipped her tea. Today, she gave her mum a quick hug and left the cafe. Unknown to her, a booklet fell from her satchel as she walked out the door. He left his table and retrieved the booklet, entitled Fever Reducing Elixirs- A Case Study with the initials REW on the top right hand corner. He went to Hermione's table, where James was talking in hushed tones to Hermione and Lily. He softly cleared his throat. "Pardon me madame, but the young lady dropped this on the way out."

"Fever elixirs? Oh- it belongs to my daughter, she's a Healer trainee," Hermione said proudly. "I can just pop in and bring it to her."

"I can return it to her. I...have an appointment there anyway, quite a coincidence, isn't it?" he said. Yeah, quite. I haven't been to a healer in years, but I think I feel something coming on.

James and Lily looked at each other with a yeah right buddy, sure you do. Hermione had a sudden fit of match-making inspiration for her swinging single, man-resistant daughter.

"Do you come here often?" she asked. James rolled his eyes and left the cafe.

"On occasion," he answered.

"Rose does too. That's her name, Rose," she said, tapping the REW on the booklet.

Lily, wiping a table nearby, cringed in embarrassment for her cousin.

"Well, it's gallant of you to offer to bring the booklet to her. She's currently doing a rotation in the spell damage ward, that's where you'll find her, Mister...?" Hermione said and extended her hand.

Gallant? Who says that anymore? Lily thought.

"Kevin Warner."

"Well Kevin Warner, lovely to meet you. Enjoy your tea," Hermione said and left the cafe.

Kevin Warner went back to his office for a bit before heading to St. Mungo's to track down REW, or Rose, according to the mother. Upon arrival, he went to the Spell Damage ward and inquired about her.

"Her shift ended for the day, but she'll be available at seven tomorrow morning, would you care to leave a message for her?" a Mediwitch said. "Or perhaps leave the booklet here?"

"Would you please tell her that I will be at Java Magic tomorrow at lunchtime with the book?"

"Of course, I'll see that she gets the message."

"Many thanks Madame."

That evening, Rose looked everywhere for the booklet, needing it for a class the next day. It was unseemly for trainees to lose their hospital-issued materials. The lectures would be never-ending. She could just hear her supervisor: If you can't be trusted with the simple things like books, how can you be trusted with the very life of a person? She even went back to ransack her cupboard at St. Mungo's in my free time no less! in search of it. The duty mediwitch relayed the man's message.

"Someone found it and came here?" she asked. Someone actually did that?

"Yes, not long after you clocked out."

"Why didn't he just leave it here?" The mediwitch shrugged.

The next day, she went back to Java Magic. She walked in, scanned the patrons and saw a man looking at her, holding up her booklet. She approached the table, stopped at a polite distance and nodded.

"I got your message. Thank you for taking care of my book."

"You're welcome. Would you care to join me for a cup of tea? I can also recommend the blueberry-walnut cake, it's quite good."

"I know, it's my cousin's creation."

He held out his hand. "Forgive my rudeness, I'm Kevin Warner."

She returned the handshake. "Rose Weasley." When their hands met, Rose suddenly felt tongue-tied and when their eyes met, she was void of thought. Whoa, I like this one.

"Weasley? I know a Bill Weasley at Gringotts."

"H-He's my uncle. Do you work there?"

"Yes, I'm a investment advisor there." He looked at his watch. "I hate to cut the conversation short, but I must return to work."

"Oh...well, thanks again for my book."

"I hope it's not too forward of me to ask if you would care to join me for dinner?"

Rose smiled. "No, it's not too forward. I'd like dinner very m-much." Why did I stutter?

This is unexpected, I didn't think she would accept so soon! he thought happily.

With a fluttering heart, Rose agreed to meet him Friday night at Finnegan's. Back at their flat, Rose and Serena talked of the day's events.

"I felt so loopy, especially when he asked me to dinner, I stuttered," Rose said. "How can I like someone that much after just meeting him?"

"Although I won't discount the importance of your announcement, want to hear about my day?" Serena asked. "Rose Weasley going on a date, with a man, stop the presses," she teased.

Rose threw a sofa cushion at her. "All right, what's up with you?"

Serena took a deep breath and opened her mouth but nothing came out. She could hardly believe what she was about to say herself and ran her hands over her face.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Rose encouraged.

"No, it's not bad, just surprising...in a good way, I think."

"Well?"

"Scorpius asked me out," Rose said.

"Is this a joke?"

"No joke, I assure you. He was sweet but serious."

"You've known each other all these years and he asks you out now?"

"Well, that was Hogwarts. Things are different now."

"Are they ever."

That night, Harry, Ginny and James were at Lily's discussing what happened that day at Java Magic.

"You owe your aunt a new blouse," Harry said. "We've talked about your temper, haven't we? Aurors have to control theirs, not lose it just because some bloke talks to your sister." As if I have room to talk, I bought her a cottage I can see from my bedroom window!

They were interrupted by knocking on the door. Lily answered. "Mr. Conners!"

They heard the man's laugh. "When you say that, I look for my father, call me David."

"Would you like to come in? You know my dad I imagine, but you can meet my mum."

David stepped into the doorway. Lily looked happy in a way her family had never seen.

"Good evening sir," David said with a nod to Harry then to James.

"Dave," James said.

"We all right mate?" David asked.

"Yeah."

David turned to Lily. "Ready? Finnegan's has a good band on Friday nights."

Harry, Ginny and James didn't realize Lily was dressed for a night on the town until they saw her nice skirt and blouse. David was helping her into a cloak.

"Lock up on your way out, okay? Bye!" Lily said with a wave and the two disappeared.

Harry and James blinked blankly at each other.

"That was interesting," Ginny said.

At Finnegan's, Seamus himself showed Rose and her date to a great table not too close to the stage but still close enough for a good view when the band played. They chatted over wine and ordered dinner. Rose saw the man James got into the tussle with hold the door open for Lily and smiled.

"What's the smile for?" Kevin asked.

"My favorite cousin just came in with her date."

"Is this one a Potter or Weasley?"

"A Potter, the youngest, Lily."

"Wold you like me to ask them if they would like to join us?" Kevin asked.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I asked, didn't I?" He rose and went to the couple, introduced himself and pointed to Rose at he table. Lily's face lit up when she saw Rose and waved. Both men thought she was absolutely charming. They let a server know of their seating change and the four talked until dinner arrived.

"Wow, Rose is on a date," Lily teased.

"Did you talk to Serena?" Rose asked.

"Who's Serena?"

"My adopted sister, flatmate, best friend I have."

"She's teasing you about going a date?" Kevin asked.

"Among other things," Rose mumbled.

Lily explained. "My dear cousin thinks that she's allergic to men."

That comment earned a laugh from the table.

"We're not that bad, are we?" David asked.

"Try being the youngest of the family, a girl at that, with way too many overprotective brothers and cousins," Lily said.

"I have an idea," David said. "I merely asked what time she got off work, and her brother about dragged me across the table ready to show me the mistake of asking," David said.

Dinner was served and each talked of their jobs and families. David and Kevin could have listened all night. Both girls had Weasley bright blue eyes and bright smiles that were often shown when they spoke of their families.

"I'm sorry if we're boring you with talk of our families," Rose said.

"Sometimes we just can't help it, our family is such a big part of our lives," Lily said. "It's nice to be here though, so thanks."

"I think it's all fascinating, I'm an only child," Kevin said. "During the war, my parents were just another family trying to get by. It was hard with my mum being a half blood."

"Yeah, but thanks to your parents, look where we are today," David said.

"Excuse me," Lily said quietly and left the table. Both men stood quickly.

"Did I say something wrong?" David asked.

"I'm not sure," Rose said and stood. "Excuse me."

Rose went to the loo where Lily was looking in the mirror, frowning. "What's up? David thinks he said something wrong."

Lily sighed. "He did, but it wasn't his fault."

Rose chuckled. "Can you explain that one?"

"You know more than anyone how much I love my dad. He's my hero, but I'm afraid that men will only see me as Harry Potter's daughter, not as Lily."

"I understand, I really do. Growing up, people were always asking me if I had beaten my mum's Hogwarts marks," Rose said. "I gave up a long a long time ago trying to live up to other people's expectations of who I should be. If people don't like me, for me, it's their loss, you know?"

After dessert and brandy, the couples said good night.

"Can I escort you home?" Kevin said.

"Sure, it's not far," Rose said.

When they arrived at her building, he said, "Another coincidence, my building is just right there." He pointed to a building across the street a block away.

"Another coincidence?" she asked.

"I must confess something to you. That day you dropped your book, I went to the table of the woman you were sitting with and inquired about you. I believe it was your mother, who told me how to find you. I said it was a coincidence that I was going to St. Mungo's that day anyway, but I wasn't really. I was looking for a reason to see you again."

She was somewhat flattered.

"Now the question is, are you interested in seeing me again?" he asked.

At Lily's home, she took a seat on one of the chairs on the front porch and patted the seat on a chair next to it.

"I want to apologize for leaving the table so abruptly after dinner. I've got a small Potter complex to get over," she said.

"Potter complex?" he asked.

"Before you write me off as a nutter, I'll explain," she said. "All my life I've been known as Harry Potter's daughter, wondering if people ever see me, Lily. Yes, Harry Potter is is a hero and yes, I'm proud to be his daughter, but I will always see him as Dad first. He loves treacle tarts, hates his hair, and is still in love with my mum. I'm Lily, I love to cook, I have Weasley blue eyes and I'm good at Charms. Does any of that interest you?"

"Very much," David said. "I want to see more of you, not your father...wait, that didn't come out quite right. I have nothing against your father, that is to say-"

Lily laughed and put a finger to his lips. "I know what you meant."

From his bedroom window, Harry watched the scene of his daughter laughing at something the man said and putting her finger in his lips. He felt smooth, soft arms wrap around his waist give a slight squeeze.

"Harry, if she knew how you spied on her like this-"

"I'm not spying! I'm just-"

"She would be angry beyond measure, do you want that? I'm sure this David is perfectly nice, he's James' friend after all," Ginny said.

"He's too old for her," he said with a pout.

"He's 20, the same as James. Lily is 18," Ginny said. "How is that too old? So what's next? Is his hair the wrong color? Please don't be one of those dads."

"All right, I get it," he said.

"I know you're concerned for her, so am I. I also realize that she's a young woman now, a beautiful, sweet, young woman that young men are going to notice. It can't be helped," she said.

"But what if-"

"No Harry, you can't think about all the what ifs. Whatever she does or doesn't do is entirely her decision. She's left the nest love, let her fly."

August 10, 2027

David watched Lily finished tying the bow on Albus' gift. She didn't use a store-bought one, she made one herself. Today was Albus' birthday party, and the whole family would be there, which was a rare thing these days. David would also be there as her guest. After 8 months of dating, he had met some members of the family, but today he would meet them all and was nervous. He rose from the dining table and paced the room, absently straightening a pillow on the sofa.

"We've been seeing each other for how long, eight months? It's about time you met everyone. I love you, so they'll like you," Lily said matter-of-factly.

David stopped pacing and looked at her in surprise. "You love me?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't still be with you if I didn't," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You sound surprised."

"I...I am. No girl has ever told me that before," he said quietly. "I've loved you for a while now, it's just good to hear it in return."

She quickly crossed the room to bestow him a searing kiss. He loved kissing her and longed for more of her, but he knew she wasn't ready for more than the kissing and fondling they enjoyed. He would be crazy to complain and pressure her. She was worth the wait.

She pulled him to the sofa. "Come on, we have some time before the party."