"How's Meg doing?" Harry asked his mother curiously while taking a sip from his tea.

"Oh, she finally opened her flower shop in Southley. She was so excited when I stopped by on opening day. The place looks lovely and everyone in our community already knows about it" Bella, his mother, told him excitedly.

"Wonderful. I guess, I have to pay her a visit now, mh?" Harry put his cup down. "She's wanted this for years".

"Yeah, she never understood why none of us had opened a flower shop in that part of town yet and preferred to go all the way to Flora's in Northernley" Bella chuckled into her cup.

"It's not like you can take the bus or summat" his father Roy threw in dryly, grinning around his cupcake. "Wizards".

"Hey!" Bella slapped his shoulder with a laugh.

"We're just very lazy. Thank you very much" Harry made fun of himself and his community. Partly, it was true though. Many of the wizards he knew would never take the bus to get to a magic shop they wanted to visit. Why, Harry couldn't say.

"At least, you own up to it" Roy winked at him funnily. "If you don't wanna take the bus for whatever reason, why don't you just fly there or whatever?".

"Huh, fair point" Bella had to admit. "I assume most of us do that without drawing attention to ourselves or there are some hidden magical entrances in the back or something".

"Like in your bakery because you can't fly" Roy put two and two together, sounding amused at the mere thought. "How's it going anyway?".

"Good, good. Business is booming" Harry grabbed another cupcake. "And no, I don't have dozens of hidden entrances in my backroom for random customers. Only one for family and friends and myself when I'm on magical delivery duty".

"Makes sense. It's a lot faster to just hop from one place to another through our portal doors" Bella noted casually.

"I have to admit, that's something the human world is lacking. It makes things so much easier. You walk through a door and you are exactly where you need to be" Roy finished his cupcake.

"True but I rarely use it for personal reasons. Only for work a ...".

"We know, Darling" his mother stroked a strand of hair out of his face. "You rarely use your magic outside of work to begin with".

"Yeah ..." Harry's thoughts wandered back to how he had used his powers on bloody dog biscuits out of all things a few days ago.

"What is it, Sweetheart?" Bella picked up on his change in mood.

"Nothing, it's just ..." Harry let out a long sigh of defeat. "A few days ago, I used my powers against my own rules and I'm not entirely sure why I did it and it's eating me alive".

"You're always too hard on yourself, Love" Bella pulled him into her arms and he went willingly. "No one forces you not to use your powers but yourself. There's nothing wrong with using the gift you were born with. You are a wizard and can use your magic, Baby".

"I know. I just don't like to use it outside of my own home too much and I can't really say why" Harry snuggled deeper into the embrace. "Maybe because I chose to live a normal life among Nogicis and I feel bad for having an advantage".

"Lots of us live like normal Nogicis, Darling. You know that. It's nothing unusual. It would've been weirder if you had chosen to live in the village" Bella caressed his back soothingly. "Sarah lives just like you but uses her magic all the time and it's not an issue for you. Why is it an issue when it comes to your own magic?".

"I don't know. I just like doing things normally, like Niall. And I know I have special pastries at my bakery but that's different. I'm not actively doing something or ...".

"Aren't you?" Roy tilted his head to the side, trying to catch his eye. "You fill half of your pastries with simple potions or cast spells on them or use special ingredients to bake them. That is actively using your gift. You were always great at potions and it's not wrong to make use of it to make people happy".

"Your father is right. You make that decision every day, Love. It's a good thing you do and they don't even know it. So, using your magic for something else isn't something to feel bad about ...".

"Even if I only used it to finish up some bloody dog biscuits?" he cut his mother off, peaking up at his parents.

"Even then, Darling" she smiled warmly at him.

"But why did you do that, Sweetheart?" Roy hooked nosily. "What was so important about dog biscuits? Something up with Àmbar?".

"No" Harry felt himself starting to blush and cursed his own inability to keep a straight face in any situation.

"Uh, there's tea. Tell us everything" his mother picked up on his flustered state, grinning manically.

"There is nothing to tell" Harry tried to lie but he knew it was pointless. He couldn't lie to save his own life.

"The colour of your cheeks begs to differ" Roy snickered evilly.

"Come on, tell us or I'll ask Niall" Bella threatened him lightly.

"Urgh, okay, fine but stop looking at me like that. It isn't anything big or interesting" Harry gave in with a loud groan. "Three days ago when I was cleaning the outside tables, a dog ran up to me".

"Just like that?" Roy wrinkled his forehead.

"Yes, she had run off from her owner when they were training to walk without a leash" Harry let them know, thinking about bright blue eyes and a voice as angelic as could be.

"Uh-huh," his mother looked intensively at him, knowing there was more.

"Alexa, that's the dog, was being an angel in my presence, so I could talk to her owner and I just ... I saw how stressed he was and how bad he felt for bothering me, so I randomly offered him dog biscuits for Alexa and gave him no choice but to accept them. The thing was just ... I didn't have any ready" Harry focused on keeping his voice steady and avoiding his parents' eyes.

"And that's why you went against your own no-magic rule and conjured some up for them" Bella seemed to understand what had happened afterwards. "I see".

"Yeah, I had the dough rawly ready in the back actually and just finished three of them up with magic to give them to Alexa but I also insisted on him getting something if he wanted to and then he did choose a piece of my stress-relief cake and I really hope it helped him relax after his stressful morning ..." Harry trailed off when he saw his parents' smug smiles. "Anyway, because I gave him no chance to say no, I said it was on the house but he is just as stubborn as me and left some money in the jar before he left".

"I see. And what did he look like?" his mother asked nonchalantly but Harry saw right through her.

"Nice try, Mum. I won't fall for that. It wasn't like that. He looked ..." Harry thought back to the man's stunning blue eyes, the bright smile, his cheeky personality and those mesmerising, sharp cheekbones, clearing his throat when he was silent for too long. "Like a good dog owner".

"Is that why you're with us today on your break?" Roy asked amusedly, visibly trying not to laugh at him.

"Kind of" Harry admitted sheepishly. "Niall keeps teasing me since then and it's kinda annoying. I needed a break from that for one day and I was on my delivery run anyway, so ...".

"We get it" Roy smiled sympathetically at him.

"Why don't you just tell Niall to stop?" Bella wondered seriously.

"You know him. He won't. It's pointless to even try. He just loves teasing me, especially when he thinks it's doing something but this time, it's not. I won't give in to his poking, no matter how many times he says that I should give this new bloody romance novel a chance instead of banning all books from my life" Harry heard his best friend's words clearly in his head, definitely confusing his parents with this analogy. "Why would I even consider that option? Who says that man would even be queer and consider me out of everyone? Hell, who says he'd even come back again? So far, he didn't and I don't think he will, so Niall can stop with ...".

"Breathe, Darling" Bella put her hands on his shoulders to ground him. "You're talking yourself into a frenzy".

"Sorry," Harry mumbled embarrassed.

"You don't have to be" Bella offered him a comforting smile.

"If you think Niall is overdoing it, then you should tell him. He's your best friend. He'd never want to hurt or upset you" Roy took a hold of his hand. "But at the same time, you should maybe listen to him and try to see where he's coming from. Maybe he's right".

"He's not" Harry pouted like a literal child.

"Oh? Are you sure, Honey?" Bella cocked an eyebrow at him. "You seemed pretty taken by that mysterious dog owner".

"I'm not ...".

"You're just proving my point, Love" Bella chuckled lightly at his childish behaviour. "Maybe, if he ever comes back, try and be open for whatever could happen, okay?".

"For what reason? I suck at love and you know it. There's no need to ...".

"You don't suck at love, Darling" Bella frowned at his words. "I know your story with Phil didn't go the way you had envisioned it but that's life, Harry. None of you screwed up or anything. It just ran its course and that happens more often than not. It wasn't on you or anything you did".

"Okay but if that's true, then why should I try again? Who says it won't happen again? I don't wanna experience that ever again. I'd prefer something messy with fuck-ups" Harry couldn't see what they were trying to tell him.

"Who says it will happen again?" Bella simply looked at him.

"I ...".

"Your mother has a point, Harry" Roy didn't let him speak. "You can never know where your story goes. Life is unpredictable and will surprise you time and time again. Sometimes it's bad and other times it's good but you won't get one without the other".

"I know" Harry sighed out in defeat. "I just don't think I'm ready to let myself love again and I probably don't even have to. No one says he's coming back. No one says he's even gay".

"But what if he is? What if he shows up again and you talk and find out that it's mutual? What then?" Roy questioned softly.

"Then I'm screwed" Harry shook his head at himself. "Because he was bloody gorgeous and I could never resist him".

"I guess that's your answer, Sweetheart" Bella shrugged as if it were that simple.

"But that won't happen. I'm pretty sure he's not gay".

His own words turned into something of a mantra on his way back to the bakery. He needed to keep reminding himself that he was being stupid. That utterly gorgeous man would never come back to his bakery and was definitely completely straight and not interested. There was no danger for Harry to get ahead of himself and get hurt along the way.

Fate had its very own way of telling him to stop being ridiculous. Its very own way of laughing at him and making his life miserable. Because as soon as he was in front of his bakery, a familiar dog stopped right at his feet, wagging her tail excitedly. Only a minute later, her stunning owner came into view, panting just as bad as last time. But this time, he didn't look as stressed as before.

"Hey, it's you" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.

Coming to a halt a mere meters in front of him, the gorgeous man looked up at him with a breathless smile. "And it's you again. I kind of had the feeling she would run here again".

"Looks like someone loved my doggy biscuits" Harry leaned down to pet Alexa's head. "Hi, girl. Missed me?".

"Definitely" the man grinned at him. "I'm Louis, by the way".

"I'm Harry" he reached his hand out for Louis to shake.

When their hands touched, Harry felt an electric shock shoot through his entire body. It felt like little fireworks were crackling beneath his fingertips. Like sparks were flying between them at the simple touch but it was probably due to Louis' body being on fire after running after his dog. Nothing more. No magical touch.

"Another round of biscuits for Miss Alexa?" Harry asked to cover up what just happened.

"If it's not too much trouble" Louis suddenly appeared way shyer than before. "Oh, and this time, I'm paying for them".

"If you must" Harry rolled his eyes playfully, opening the door to the bakery and alarming Niall.

"There you are, H. We were wondering where you got lost. I thought you'd come back through the po ...".

"I stopped by my parent's house to bring them cupcakes" he cut his best friend off before he could say too much, stepping aside to reveal Louis behind him. "And I just decided to spend my break with them to catch up".

"We thought you got killed or kidnapped, H!" Niall exclaimed in a fake-hurt voice, on the verge of laughter.

"By whom?" Harry clicked with his tongue unimpressed.

"What do I know? You're a pretty man. People might get ideas" Niall pointed at him to prove his point.

"You're insufferable" Harry shook his head at his antics.

"He's not wrong" Louis spoke up behind him, making Harry twirl around to face him in pure shock. "It happens to pretty dogs all the time, so why not to pretty men like you as well?".

"Um ..." Harry was at a loss for words, not sure what to make out of Louis' words and his own horrified expression on his face.

"More doggy biscuits? I'll fetch you some" Niall fled the scene.

"Did that happen to Alexa?" Harry decided to take the safer approach instead of trying to decipher the rest.

"I don't know but something must have happened to her. She's a rescue and we don't really know what she went through before she came to me" Louis had his eyes fixed on his dog. "It must have been horrible though. She had major trust issues and always shied away when someone wanted to touch her".

"Really? I didn't get that vibe at all" Harry looked down at her now too, admiring how calm she was in his place.

"She got better over time but is normally wary of strangers. Not with you though and that must mean something" Louis looked up at him now with an odd look on his face.

"She probably smelled the bakery on me and decided I was trustworthy if I smelled like food" Harry cracked a dumb joke to release this weird tension between them.

"Maybe" Louis' mouth twitched at his joke.

"How old is she?" Harry needed to ask something. Anything.

"Three-ish? We're not entirely sure" Louis scratched his neck.

"She seems pretty young and lively to me" Harry said dumbly, earning an empty look from Louis. "Anyway, I'll go and check on Niall. Alexa wants her treats".

Avoiding to look at Louis, Harry headed into the back to fetch the biscuits and get a bloody grip. In pure concern, Niall looked at him but Harry just shrugged non-committally. He had just made a fool of himself in front of the most stunning man and he didn't know how to stop. He has never been good at small talk or flirting, subtle or not. He sucked at it and it showed, big time.

With the biscuits in hand, he headed back to the front and saw Louis inspecting some of his cupcakes in the display. Bracing himself, he walked behind the counter to pack up the biscuits, stopping right where Louis was standing on the other side.

"Do they really make people happy?" Louis asked without looking up, referring to his happiness cupcakes.

"As far as I was told, yes" Harry was mesmerised by Louis' face and the way he scrunched his nose sometimes.

Looking up at him now with intimidatingly beautiful blue eyes, he sent him one of his sunshine-smiles while scratching Alexa's ear. "I'll take four of them. Different flavours?".

"Yeah, the joke is that they all look the same but taste differently" Harry let him know while getting his order ready. "Although the ingredients are basically the same, your four cupcakes shall taste like strawberries, cherries, chocolate and blueberries".

"Do you know which one's the chocolate one?" Louis hooked intrigued, watching him work casually.

"I think I do. Why? You wanna steal it for yourself before anyone else can take it?" Harry teased him while discreetly putting a mark on the chocolate cupcake to identify it later.

"Something like that, yeah" Louis replied strangely again.

"Don't worry. I made sure you'll see which one it is" Harry handed him his box with the cupcakes and a little one with the dog biscuits, both of them secured in a handy bag.

"Thank you, Harry" Louis took it with a grateful smile. "I guess we'll see you around, yeah?".

"Yeah, maybe Alexa will find her way here again" Harry felt his heart contracting at the prospect of Louis leaving right now.

"She did it twice and all good things come in threes, right?" Louis headed for the door, looking back at him one more time. "Let's just hope that's true. See you, Harry".

"Bye, Louis" Harry waved at his retreating figure.

"That was painful to witness" Niall leaned in the door frame of the backroom. "But I think it's safe to say he likes you, H".

"I don't think so. At least not like that. Probably only in a purely platonic kind of way, which is absolutely fine. I don't wanna date anyone anyway" Harry started cleaning the counter to busy his mind and forget about the entire interaction.

"Because of Phil," Niall said and it wasn't a question.

"Obviously" Harry rolled his eyes at him.

"It's been over four years, Harry. I think you can...".

"I don't think so, Niall" Harry cut him off harshly. "I don't wanna hear anything about old and new books and opening new chapters or any of that bullshit. I'm done with love and it doesn't matter if I'm attracted to Louis or not. I can't even properly talk to him and that's a good thing. Like this, he'll be weirded out enough to never come back and we can all move on".

"And if he won't?" Niall dared to ask although he should know better. Harry was on the verge of getting loud.

"Then I still wouldn't go for it because it'll be pointless anyway. I would just crash and burn and for what? A short little romance with a stunning man? No, thank you. I refuse to entertain that idea even for a minute" Harry wouldn't back down on this. "It would only end like last time and you know it".

"I don't because no one can know that, H" Niall replied softly. "I know falling out of love isn't uncommon but I have the feeling destiny is trying to tell you something here. Do you need his dog to run away a third time to get it?".

"This is not destiny meddling with our lives. It's his dog learning the basics after being mistreated and ...".

"Harry, you're the wizard. You should believe in stuff like this and not me because you know it's a thing" Niall looked pointedly at him, causing Harry to sag against the counter in defeat. "I get why you're scared but this is fate telling you something. It's time to let the past rest and give something new a chance".

Not wanting to hear this, Harry headed into the backroom to bake something. He was a stress-baker. "You're wrong. This is not fate telling me anything. It's just a dog. Trust me when I tell you this means nothing. After all, I should know. I'm the wizard".

"Whatever you say, H" Niall shrugged before leaving him alone for now, which Harry was thankful for.

He knew he was right. This wasn't a sign or fate meddling with his life. It was only Louis' dog learning to walk without a leash and deciding she preferred treats over training. Just a silly dog and no fate or destiny or anything. Louis would not come back a third time because fate was not trying to set him up with that perfect man.

End of story.