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Cedric stood in front of the wall hung mirror and pinched and twiddled at the Superman pin on his chest. He still felt so giddy that Harry, his husband, had given him such a lovely gift. Especially when that gift was something related to his current obsession this past week.
“Y'know, if you keep on touching it, it'll change color from all the friction.” Harry piped in amusedly from his desk.
The married couple were currently in their shared office up in the Ministry's floors. It was a private workspace and the first ever to be the quarters of both the Head of the DMLE and the Head Auror. Both positions were occupied by Harry and Cedric, respectively.
“No need to worry. I'm sure I could use that steel preservation charm you used.” Cedric said with a hint of fondness at Harry's playful concern.
Satisfied with the brooch’s placement, he stared in awe at the reflection of it. It was glossy with a thin coat of resin and its red and yellow color wasn't too dark or too vibrant. He was honestly happy that Harry had picked the old design with the more prominent 'S' rather than the new minimalistic version. The old one definitely resonated with Cedric the most.
His hearing suddenly picked up a rather loud tick from his wristwatch. He flicked his hand up to take a look at the time. 9:55 a.m., he should get a move on.
“I should be going now,” Cedric trotted over to his desk and grabbed his suitcase. “I still have that meeting.”
“Right, and you're hoping that one of the lads there will point out that pin on your chest just so you can talk their poor ears off the whole hour about Superman.” Harry chuckled as he turned on his chair to face Cedric who was right in front of him.
He still remembered that one time during auror training where Cedric would give out an endless amount of motivational speeches ever since he was inspired by that fictional superhero. All Harry could do that time was quietly snicker behind his hand as the poor newbies looked over at him and silently pleaded with their wide eyes for him to stop his yapping husband.
“Mhh, that is true,” Cedric leaned down, making the two face to face. “But that would also give me an excuse to mention my gorgeous husband who gave me such a gift.”
Harry mirrored his husband's affectionate smile. Being this close, the two admired how age managed to only make the other look more stunning. Cedric's honey gold hair was combed neatly and slightly dusted with grey. His skin is still smooth, most of the small wrinkles under his stubble.
Harry's shoulder length hair seemed to stay inexplicably the same in jet black color. The top section of hair was tied back as a few white hairs poked out resembling a hedgehog's prickles (according to Cedric.) His wrinkles were more defined around his cheeks, smile lines prominent as ever with littered facial hair across.
The two admired each other for a second longer before Harry closed the gap between them. Cedric responded immediately, turning his head to the side while moving his lips. Harry tangled a hand in Cedric's hair. Their stubbles lightly chafing against the other as the stress from work seemed to melt away. They didn't want the kiss to be too wet, it was supposed to be a small peck after all. But they couldn't help themselves.
A knock at the door ended up helping them as the two jumped away from each other out of instinct.
“I— uhh— come in!” Harry exclaimed before he could think.
The door clicked open to reveal the current Minister for Magic, Hermione. Her face displayed a few wrinkles and light eye bags. Brown curls were as neat as her magically ironed robes. She seemed to be distracted as she held a few documents in hand. She did look up though and read the room in a flash.
“Oh, am I … interrupting something?” She peered between both chiefs as they stood stiff and away from each other. The obvious situation was only amplified as Cedric's hair looked disheveled and Harry uselessly fumbled to fix his robes.
“Not at all, I was just— about to head out.” Cedric tried to flatten his hair as his flustered face completely gave him away.
He quickly pecked Harry's head before bidding goodbye to the both of them and disappearing through the doorway. Cedric managed to scramble out in a jiffy but not before Hermione could get a glimpse of the shiny pin on his chest.
“What's with the pin on Cedric's chest?” She asked before she gasped.
Hermione looked slightly horrified as she approached her longtime friend. “Don't tell me I managed to miss an appreciation ceremony.”
Her eyes were wide, making the eye bags look more prominent. Harry's expression softened as he calmed her down in a somewhat cheeky manner.
“Don't jump to conclusions now, Hermione, that's not like you.” Harry teased but continued as Hermione was giving him a look. “It’s a gift I gave him a week after we had that family outing to the cinema. He couldn't seem to shut up about Superman so I decided to fuel that more and give him that pin.”
It was Hermione's turn to tease as she gave a cooing sound at Harry's initiative and his flustered face.
“That's very sweet of you, Harry. I can't imagine how the younger you would have reacted to you growing up to be a mushy and sentimental man.” Hermione laughed behind the papers she held and received a light smack to her arm from Harry.
“I can't say that he would be overjoyed.” Harry gave a breathy chuckle before composing himself to gesture to the files Hermione had. “But, anyway, those must be for the sightings in Cornwall, yeah?’’
Recently, there have been a few self proclamations of Neo-Death Eaters from ominous messages on abandoned walls. Most of which have been seen in Cornwall and Devon. The new group (or at least, the supposed society) didn't pose much of a threat. The majority of the Ministry believed this was just some hoax or horrid prank pulled by a handful of edgy teenagers.
But as Hermione said, better safe than sorry. And according to Harry, she says those words so often that she should just make that the Ministry's new motto.
The files now in Harry's possession after a quick discussion, Hermione waved back a goodbye at him but not before noticing a unique brooch on his chest.
Unlike Cedric's, the one on Harry's chest was a yellow horizontal oval that had a black bat spreading its wings. She could've sworn she had seen that symbol somewhere in the muggle comics Hugo used to read all the time.
Harry didn't seem to notice as he heard the door click closed and he was left alone with his tasks. He slumped in his chair and sighed through his nose, browsing through the parchment documented sightings. He thought about maybe having another movie night with his family. Maybe they could watch that Batman film that was released three years ago. He's heard Bruce Wayne's actor was quite handsome.