Blurred Visions of Tomorrow

A Bunch of Ugly Rings

A/N: the birth of my Bella/Luna power friendship

New Years came and went. The women rang in 2004 surrounded by their family and friends. After the start of the year, work had been busier than ever. Bella took it upon herself to personally start tracking Dolohov and Harry permitted her to travel to his last known locations overseas but her search turned up nothing. There were no signs of Dolohov nor signs that he ever even left London. Once again any and all leads to find the stalker went cold. This infuriated Bella to no end and she had been extra snippy with Flowers lately who always seemed to be everywhere she was. "God, don't you ever stop smiling?" She asked her one afternoon out of sheer annoyance that one person could smile so fucking much.

Changes were happening in the ministry as Kingsley announced that it was going to be his last year as Minister and was stepping down at the start of 2005. Bella knew her witch had her sights set on that position but Hermione felt she lacked the experience because of how young she was. Bella knew that if anyone would be capable of filling the position, it was Hermione. Strong willed, smart and just stubborn enough to run the magical world and she chose Bella. How this happened will always be a mystery to the older witch.

As quickly as the New Year passed, it was now February and Bella was finding herself at work lost in thought as she had been everyday that she wasn't out actively searching for that bastard, Dolohov. There was only one thought on Bella's mind since Christmas. She was going to propose to her girlfriend. As hard as she tried, she couldn't push the thought out of her head. It was two days before Valentine's Day. She had decided that that was when she was going to propose. It was Thursday afternoon and she had yet to pick out a ring. "Fuck I guess I need to do this," Bella thought. She was going to give her an old family ring but she wasn't too keen on the idea of Hermione wearing a piece of jewelry from a family who so openly hated muggleborns. No, she needed to get her something that was inherently Hermione.

Bella stormed out of her office and straight into Harry's without knocking. "Potter?" Bella asked, not bothering to close the door before speaking. "I need tomorrow off. Do we get time off here or does the ministry run like a prison?"

"Yeah. There's allotted time off for every employee." Harry said, pulling out a paper that read "request off" at the top. "I just need to know why you need the day off."

"That's none of your business, Potter." Bella said crossing her arms

"As your supervisor," Harry chose his words carefully, "it is my business to know why you need tomorrow off."

"Give me that paper," Bella said, reaching over and ripping the paper and quill from his hands. Bella started writing and reading her words aloud as she went, "Bellatrix Black needs Friday the 13th of February off of work for personal reasons. As stated in the previous sentence, the reasons are of a personal nature and the ministry can go ahead and fuck right off. That means you, Kingsley. Signed, Bellatrix Black, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." She slid the paper back across the desk, "there you go. That should suffice."

Harry gulped, "yes, that'll do."

"Good, so I won't be here tomorrow. Don't tell anyone of this request. Got it?" Bella glared at Harry who nodded his head.

"I wouldn't dare." Harry smiled. Bella nodded, stood and started walking towards the door. "So any big Valentine's Plans?" Harry asked, stopping Bella in the door frame.

"Actually yes, there's this muggle restaurant just outside of Diagon Alley that Hermione loves. I thought she might like to go to a nice dinner. We've been quite a few times. The food is good and the muggles usually fuck off and leave us alone after a well timed glare. You should take your witch there sometime." Bella let a smile slip to Potter and quickly schooled her face.