ROMEO [2] ⚡ harry potter

35

HAVEN
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Despite the couple's plans to be there for each other, the weeks following Zara's funeral made the task virtually impossible. Harry seemed to constantly spend his time in the Ministry, attending court cases and making statements. He wanted to control the narrative of his own story, and make sure that those who needed to be punished were, and those who were innocent, were released.

He had never had so much power and influence in his life, it was as if all the years he would have needed to grow in this way had passed by in an instant when he killed Voldemort and now, here he was, seventeen years old and apparently the greatest wizard who ever lived.

Merlin, he needed a break.

"You were amazing," Theodore said, beaming as they exited the courtroom in which he had been tried. The boy had gone undercover with the Death Eaters during the war in order to save Charlotte and Zara, but very few people actually knew this. As far as the public knew, Theodore Nott was just like his father. So, Harry pulled a few strings to prove otherwise, and Charlotte had proved as eyewitness.

"It was the least I could do," Harry shrugged as they entered a golden lift, and he prepared himself for the inevitable swarm of reporters awaiting them in the atrium. "Guys, remember to ignore them, okay?"

"Harry, you've gone through this a million times," Charlotte laughed, as she nervously clutched onto his arm, the jolts of the lifts shocking her every few seconds. "I mean, how bad can it be?"

"Don't jinx it, Charlie," Theodore said, as the lift came to a halt, but it seemed any damage had already been done. Cameras were already flashing as the lift doors opened, and Harry felt his hand immediately clasp Charlotte's as she stepped out before him, head held high with purpose.

"Mr Nott! Yours is the forty-third trial in which a Death Eater has pleaded innocent- what made you more successful than the previous forty-two?"

"I suppose it helps that I never was a Death Eater," Theodore barked and Harry shot him a warning glance as he mentally begged that his friend wouldn't undo their hard work.

"Mr Potter, why the favouritism?"

"Miss Cardleman, what's it like to date such a hero?"

Charlotte immediately looked at Harry, and pursed her lips for a moment, then leaned into him slightly they both burst into laughter, finally reaching the Floo chimneys, and walking into the flames.

When they each finally landed in Harry and Theodore's newly rented home, they were still laughing, as they brushed off dust, Theodore following soon after them. Since Harry and Theodore both had no parents to go back to after the war, it had seemed only natural that they live together, as he couldn't go on living at the Weasley's and his friend was determined to move away from any reminders of his lost love.

Their apartment was a quaint one, located upstairs of a large Georgian house in central London, close enough to where Charlotte now lived.

"We should celebrate," Charlotte giggled, hurrying to the kitchen. "Where do you keep your alcohol?"

"Lottie, you're underage," Harry laughed, following her. She was stood on her tiptoes, peering into some cupboards on the wall. He wrapped his arms around her. "Muggle law says eighteen."

"Muggle law can fuck off," she said, tilting her head in a way which he now knew to mean kiss me. An of course, he complied.

"Actually guys, I think I'm just going to head to bed," Theodore said from the living room, and Charlotte hummed in response, as Harry littered kisses on her neck. Neither of them questioned the fact that it was only two in the afternoon, since they had learned not to critique the boy's frequent naps.

"I should head home," Charlotte muttered, turning to face him, but she showed no signs of decisiveness. "Study or something."

"Lottie. You've been studying all week," Harry said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "Take a break. Stay with me."

"I wish I didn't love you so much," she joked. "Then it would be easier to say no."

"You love me? Even despite everything?" He found himself blurting out, his stomach suddenly twisting with anxiety. "Even despite the fact that there's always going to be press on our backs, or that I'm constantly afraid of everything now, or... despite the fact that I had that thing as a part of me for so long?"

Charlotte let out a sigh. "Of course I love you, Romeo. How long has this been bothering you?"

He didn't answer, but instead just shrugged, feeling his face grow hot and red as he looked down at his feet. Then Charlotte placed a cool hand on his cheek, and kissed him gently, leaning her forehead against his.

"I fell in love with you Harry, before any of this chaos. And I loved you during the chaos, and I'll still love you after it," she whispered. "And it's okay that you're afraid now, because you were so brave for so long. For so many years, Harry. And you deserve normality. Actually- you deserve a holiday."

"A holiday?"

"Yeah!" She grinned, pulling away from him. "We could just fly away together, after these pesky exams of mine are done, which they will be soon enough."

"Where would we go?" He asked, his spirits already lifted. This was what made him love this girl. "It would have to be a Muggle holiday too. Get away from it all."

"Yes, exactly! We could go to Spain or, or I don't know- just some place with a beach and the bluest water," she grinned.

"A Greek island, with mountains and meadows and sea and history," Harry suggested. "We can rent a villa, I can afford that."

"That sure would be nice," she giggled. "But for now, how about this, let's order in some food, I'll persuade Dad to let me stay the night and in the morning, I bang out four or five hours of work to make up for it."

"I wish I could persuade Richard to let you move in," Harry sighed.

"Don't even try it," Charlotte laughed. "Unless you want to die."

"Again," he joked, and she grinned, kissing him once more.

"I'm gonna go ring Gretel, she's more likely to say yes," Charlotte said, grabbing her phone off the counter before hopping out of the kitchen to make her call.

But as soon as she left the room, Harry felt colder, and more afraid than before. When he looked over his shoulder, he half expected to see a masked Death Eater, or an enormous snake, or the lingering being of Voldemort himself- still surviving- still with one more horcrux left.

He half expected this safe haven to end.