Every Little Thing

The Invitations

January rolled into February and the body count of girls that the DMLE was investigating rose to four which meant they were dealing with a very capable and dangerous serial killer. Bella never admitted defeat but the aurors had made no progress on their end either and Bella was beginning to think that her little crew was in over their heads. Daily debriefs with Harry were happening to make sure every step had been covered. The bodies were all found the same, naked, bruised, strangled and sexually assaulted. This was quickly turning into a grim fucking nightmare of a case. Bella is no stranger to tragedy and she cause her fair share of them but the grisly murder of these young women was starting to get to her. They needed just a small break, anything to lead them down any road to investigate. Everyone in the office was getting frustrated and it was beginning to wear them all down. "I could always go undercover," Kate remarked one day during a round table meeting. Bella didn't know the specifics of what the muggle term uncover meant but she had watched a cop show or two with Jack and knew she wasn't ready to risk one of her officers yet to a plan that wasn't fully formed. They tabled that conversation and agreed to come back to the undercover idea if they weren't any closer to finding the perpetrator by the beginning of March.

Hermione had been spending much of her time coming up with ideas for her minister campaign and so far her best plan was implementing the wizard/muggle hospital collaboration that she had started thinking about after her accident. There was too big of a divide there and she was working closely with the director of St. Mungos and Dr. Hoffman to come up with an appropriate proposal. She was only slightly shocked when Dr. Hoffman agreed to give so much of her time to a cause that a muggle shouldn't be invested in. "Yes, Wizard/Muggles relations are going to be my selling point." Hermione said during dinner one night explaining her plan to Bella. "If Dolohov is going full pure blood then my goal is to reach everyone else in the community. Even the purebloods will benefit from joint healthcare." Andromeda was very excited about Hermione's hospital proposal. She had been saying that the wizarding hospital needed a reformation for years and she was actively involved in the planning stage with Hermione as both a hospital representative  and grandmother of a half-blood. The minister candidate had welcomed all of Andy's help and kept an open mind when listening to everyone who stopped in her office to offer her words of advice, encouragement or to ask her questions. "I think people like me, Bella." She smiled brightly at her fiancé one afternoon when they were cuddling in her office. This wasn't news to the older witch. If anyone had what it took to win over the mass population it was her witch. She has the ideal candidate.

One particularly cold day early in February, Bella came home and found that Andy was out shopping with Teddy in Diagon looking for Valentine's Day presents for his teachers so it was just her and Hermione at home however Bella didn't see any signs of her lover downstairs. She knew the only other possible place would be the library. Bella walked into the library of Black Manor and saw her fiancé bent over the desk, quill in hand filling out the remainder of the wedding invitations. "We should've just eloped." Bella said laughing when Hermione looked up with ink smeared across her cheek. "All this work for one day seems a bit too pure for us, love." The dark-haired woman reached forward after licking her thumb and wiping the smear of ink from Hermione's face.

The younger witch wrinkled her nose at the soft gesture but smiled, "you are a pureblood, Bella. It wouldn't feel right for you to not get the wedding all purebloods deserve." Hermione said as she started melting the wax for the rest of the notes that needed to be sealed.

"Oh but I already had that unfortunately and it ended in his death and many, many, many, many unhappy guests when I refused to let that scumbag kiss the bride." Bella's usual dark brown eyes glistened with mischief as she recalled her wedding day to Rodolphus Lestrange. "Trust me, pet. If I could've skipped that day I would have." Marrying that joke of a man was one of the many things Bella regretted in her life but this was not a time for regrets, this was a time for celebration and moving forward with the love of her life. "We could get married in the alley behind the leaky cauldron and it'll still be a more romantic affair than my first marriage. It'll be perfect because it'll be with you." Bella leaned down and kissed Hermione on her neck, slowly adding more pressure until she felt Hermione shriver under her touch. Bella brought her hand up to clasp around her fiancé's neck to deepen the kiss before nipping at her pulse point. "You smell divine today, pet."