FIC: Somewhere Between Life and Death (2/2)

[shiiki]

Title: Somewhere Between Life and Death
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Rolf Scamander, Luna Lovegood, Emerson Cod, Gen
Fandom: Harry Potter/Pushing Daisies
Word Count: 14,306

Summary: After an encounter in the Forbidden Forest, Magizoologist Rolf Scamander develops a strange power: the ability to raise the dead with his touch. Private Investigator Emerson Cod knows just how to exploit this talent, but the partners get more than they bargained for when they investigate the murder of Luna Lovegood.

A HP/PD crossover fic written for omniocular's 2008 challenge: screen play.

Notes: The challenge was to incorporate the show into a Harry Potter fic. And yes, you didn't read wrong, it was a challenge issued last February. *headdesk*

Huge thanks to norisis for the amazing job she did beta-ing this. ♥

Part 1


'Good morning.' The voice was soft but cheerful, and the smell that wafted through the apartment was tantalising. It took Rolf a few seconds to get his bearings.

At some point during the night, he had been covered with a quilt. He was curled up quite cosily under it now, with his head perched against the arm of the sofa for support. Sunlight was streaming in through the kitchen door -- the curtains there must have been drawn, because the ones in the living room still retained their black-out positions.

He propped himself up with one elbow and the quilt slid down his torso. Through sleep-crusted lids, he made out the shape of a woman standing in the doorway to his kitchen.

Luna, he thought, and then he was wide awake and humiliatingly aware that he had a guest in his house who had, by the looks of it, cooked breakfast while he was still lazing on the sofa. He practically leapt across the room to his bathroom. Along the way his foot caught Toby -- or was it Toaster? -- and he narrowly avoided falling flat on his face by steadying himself with the nearest available hand-hold.

There was a sharp tingle in his skin, and he let go of Luna's arm as though he'd been hexed. He managed to stagger the last few steps to the bathroom door, where he paused, certain his face was flaming red.

'Um ... good morning,' he muttered, and disappeared into the relative safety of the toilet where he could privately knock his head on the back of the door.

When he emerged, clean-shaven and looking decent, Luna was serenely setting plates of eggs on the table. She smiled at him and motioned for him to sit. He hesitated, with a hand on the back of the chair.

'You really shouldn't have -- I mean, I'm sorry I wasn't up early enough to take care of it -- that is, yesterday was really exhausting ... but it couldn't have been a picnic for you either, so ... did you sleep well?' Nice start, Rolf, he sighed mentally.

'Oh yes,' said Luna, seating herself at the table as though it were her own. 'I wasn't very tired, though. I napped quite a bit while they were burying me, you know.' She stuck her fork into her eggs, considered them for a moment, then added, 'I hope you don't mind them scrambled.'

'Oh -- er -- yeah, thanks. Really. It's -- er -- been a long while since somebody else made breakfast. I -- um ... well, thanks.'

They were silent for the rest of the meal, after which Rolf took the plates to the sink.

'What are we going to do today?' Luna asked, once Rolf had finished setting the dishes to wash.

Rolf ran a hand over his forehead, ruffling the edge of his fringe. 'I should probably meet up with Emerson. Have a chat with him. We could probably still find out who killed -- tried to kill -- you.' Did it become attempted murder if the victim was brought back to life afterwards? 'And, um, pass the information to the Aurors, so they can catch whoever it is, and ...'

'Collect the reward?'

She said it mildly, without any accusation in her tone, but Rolf felt his cheeks colour with shame nevertheless. Their little business sounded terribly callous when put that way.

'Well, I know it's an unorthodox approach to investigation, but it does pay the bills, and ...'

'I don't mind. I think it's a good idea. I am surprised though. I was under the impression that you were a Magizoologist.'

'I am, this is just a -- er -- side job I can't exactly publicise. I haven't been doing this long, anyway, but it really helps, I mean, I was a little broke when Emerson came along, and the whole magical creatures consultancy business isn't really doing well ... just about no one really cares enough to call an expert in most of the time,' he concluded, shrugging.

'I do understand,' she said. 'Research is more of my thing, really, but not many people are willing to fund it.'

Rolf's eyes widened. 'Are you -- you're not in this field as well?'

'Not exactly. I specialise in rare creatures. Fantastic Beasts left quite a lot out, if you don't mind me saying.'

'N-not at all.'

'I am rather impressed by your field work though. If I had to consult an expert on any known creature, it would be you.' Again, there was no hint of accusation or bitterness in her tone, but Rolf couldn't help but feel mortified as he remembered suddenly a single call that he had rejected, which had come from the calm woman sitting at his kitchen table.

'Thank you,' he murmured, now feeling very interested in why she had called him, but seeing no tactful way to ask without highlighting his rudeness in ignoring her previous request. He was saved from having to respond to this by a sharp ring of the doorbell. 'I'll get it!' he said quickly. 'You'd better stay here, so they won't -- um -- see you. I mean, because you're supposed to be dead and all.'

It turned out to be a moot point, as his visitor was Emerson, who greeted him with a 'Right, we need to sort this out properly.'

Luna wandered out of the kitchen as Rolf offered Emerson the sofa (the latter raised his eyes at the blanket, but didn't comment).

'Hello Emerson,' she said breezily, 'I thought I heard your voice.'

'Luna!' Rolf frowned. 'What if it wasn't him?'

'That's a good question. Did you do an identity check? If you're worried about Polyjuice, you should probably ask him a question that only he would know.'

'No need to do identity questions to be certain she's who she's supposed to be,' grumbled Emerson, as though Luna wasn't right there.

'Rolf and I were just talking about his job,' Luna went on cheerfully, ignoring Emerson's comment.

'Just how much did you tell her?' Emerson, of course, had jumped to the first conclusion; Luna had conveniently failed to clarify which job they'd last spoken about. 'Listen, dead girl -- Loony -- you'll leave that job to us if you know what's good for you. It ain't no easy job, being a PI, digging for clues.'

'Actually, it's usually quite ...'

Emerson cleared his throat. Rolf let the rest of his sentence, simple when the dead give the answers, trail off into silence.

'Well, I think you're going to need my help with this case,' Luna objected. 'Seeing as I'm the only one who has any clues. Don't worry, I don't mind doing a three way split. Thirty-thirty-forty? It is only fair; I did die for it.' She smiled beatifically at Emerson, and Rolf fought the urge to laugh at how neatly she had handled him.

'Fine,' Emerson growled, looking pointedly away from her. He conjured a sheet of parchment and a quill. 'Let's just get down to business.'

---

The facts were these: Luna Lovegood, aged twenty-five years, four months, twenty-one days, fourteen hours, two minutes, and fifty-six seconds, had been tracking the mysterious 'Nargles' in a place called Messengermire Woods when she was suddenly overcome by a feeling of drowsiness.

'Lemme get this straight,' said Emerson. 'You saw no flash of green light, no flash of any light, and no sign of people.'

'Well, no, I don't think so.'

Rolf, who was tracing Luna's last location on a map, shrugged. 'It doesn't look like a very well-populated area. And by well-populated, I mean by people, not -- er -- Nargles.'

Emerson gave him a dirty look; Luna smiled.

'Maybe you just didn't notice.' Emerson continued with the questioning.

'That is possible,' Luna conceded.

'It doesn't add up,' said Rolf. 'It's unlikely that she wouldn't have noticed the killing curse. It's the brightest beam there is. Even if it was too late for her to get out of the way, it'd still have been the last thing she saw.'

'So let's say it wasn't Avada Kedavra. Say it was a more subtle spell. Meant to knock her out. And then after she's out good, the attacker uses the killing curse.'

Rolf shook his head. 'But that doesn't make sense. If he planned to kill her, why such a roundabout fashion? And if he only meant to stun her, why is she -- I mean, why did she die?'

'Guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way,' sighed Emerson. 'We gotta check out the place she died.'

'I think that's a fantastic idea,' said Luna brightly. 'I rather think I'll need my wand, though.'

'And how d'you think you're gonna get that?'

'Wouldn't the Ministry have returned your possessions to your father?' said Rolf. 'I expect it'll be in your house.' He berated himself for not thinking of it earlier. It would have been so much easier for them if they'd grabbed it yesterday.

'We'll just have to stop by, then,' said Luna. 'Nip in, get the wand, out again. Easy, right?'

Emerson shook his head. 'Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?'

---

Emerson continued to complain all the way to Ottery St. Catchpole. They'd Apparated half a mile from Luna's house, with Emerson taking a Disillusioned Luna Side-Along. (Rolf supposed he could have done it, but he thought it best not to take any chances. He still didn't understand why he hadn't killed her yesterday. Who knew if the glitch in his system might suddenly decide to iron itself out?) They arrived in an empty, overgrown field, and trekked their way towards Luna's home, giving Emerson plenty of time to point out everything that could go wrong.

'There's gonna be people in that house, and they ain't gonna be as easy to get past as the nutty old dad was.'

'I beg your pardon!'

'Emerson, could we not insult him?'

'Sorry,' muttered Emerson. 'Like father like daughter,' he added when Luna turned away from him. Rolf sighed.

'Look, chances are Mr Lovegood isn't going to remember me. I'll use the friend-from-abroad excuse again, and-'

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. They were in view of the house now, and even from a distance, it was evident that there was a whole swarm of wizards in Auror uniform milling around.

'You were sayin'?' said Emerson snidely.

---

It was obvious to all three of them that attempting anything with a bunch of Aurors at the alert was not a good idea. Although Luna seemed to contemplate it for a long time before agreeing. In the end, Rolf and Luna hung back while Emerson got closer to do a bit of reconnaissance.

'I hope Daddy's all right,' said Luna, twisting one long strand of blond hair around her finger.

Rolf wasn't sure what to say to this. Luna was not the kind of person you gave standard platitudes to. He settled for changing the subject, hopefully, to one she would enjoy talking about.

'So ... tell me more about those Nargles.'

He guessed right; her face brightened, and by the time Emerson returned, he had learned that Nargles were incredibly tiny, could shapeshift, liked to inhabit mistletoe, and were considerably mischievous.

Emerson looked quite smug when he came back. 'Seems like this was a better idea than we thought,' he said happily. Evidently he had amassed some clues. 'Couldn't get squat from those Auror-types -- your Law Enforcement's a hell lot more closed-mouthed. Got in with some reporters, though. One of them had quite a bit of dough to dish -- when given the right incentive, of course.' Rolf supposed that by 'incentive', he meant Galleons.

'What are the Aurors here for then?'

'Seems someone went grave-robbing last night.'

'What?'

'Besides us. Not a moment too late, I'd say we were. Apparently, old Lovegood wasn't K.O.ed all night -- went wandering in the wee hours and woke the entire house, raving about his Luna.'

'Oh, Daddy,' sighed Luna.

'Turned out there were three people in hoods digging about in the grave outside. The bunch staying with Lovegood came out after them, but they Disapparated. They checked the grave-'

'They'll know it's empty!' Rolf tried not to panic.

'Yeah, but Skeeter -- that's the reporter -- reckons the three in hoods made off with it. Reasonable conclusion, if I do say so myself. Who's gonna believe that the body up and walked away on its own?'

'How on earth did that Skeeter reporter of yours find out all of this if you couldn't get anything out of the Aurors?'

Emerson shrugged. 'Still, we know there were three of them after dead girl here. That's a start.'

'So what about Luna's things?'

'They ain't in the house anyhow. The Aurors never sent them back -- s'all being held for investigation. I heard one of your bigwigs talking. That Longbottom guy?'

'Great. So her wand's in the Ministry, probably in the Auror Department, and the Neville Longbottom is probably heading the case.'

'Neville's a lovely friend.'

'Right.' Rolf rubbed his forehead. 'Great.'

So on top of everything, they now had a Ministry break-in to plan.

Unsurprisingly, Emerson was strongly opposed to the idea of going anywhere near the Ministry. Rolf wasn't too keen on it himself, but Luna seemed likely to do it herself (and give the game away) if they didn't help. She had a mad idea that she would be able to just waltz into the Auror's office and ask Longbottom (or even Harry Potter himself) nicely for her wand back.

'But I know Neville and Harry.'

'Yeah, and that's the problem. What d'you think will happen when they see you walking right up to them? You're supposed to be dead, remember?'

'I think Harry would understand. I could explain it to him, and then he'd-'

'Throw me into Azkaban for practising Dark magic, probably,' finished Rolf. 'Luna, promise me you'll stay put while Emerson and I look for your wand.'

'If they catch you doing that, you have a better chance of going to Azkaban,' Luna pointed out. Then, as an afterthought, 'You didn't do Dark magic bringing me back, did you?'

'I ...' Rolf wasn't sure how to answer. 'It just happened.'

She answered her own question a moment later. 'I don't think you did. Dark magic requires intent -- and I don't think you want to do anything wrong. But breaking into Harry or Neville's office isn't right, Rolf. They're good.'

'Yeah, but I'm not stealing. Your wand's yours.'

Emerson made an impatient noise. 'Look, if you want that wand back, we're doing it our way, got it?'

Luna subsided. Perhaps it was because they had entered the telephone booth that served as the Muggle entrance to the Ministry of Magic and a cool voice was asking them to state their name and purpose.

'Er ...'

'Emerson Cod, Appointment with the Aurors,' said Emerson.

'Rolf Scamander, retrieving my wand,' said Luna at the same time.

Three badges plunked to the bottom of the pay phone. Rolf picked one up. It said, Unnamed companion. The other two were Emerson Cod: Auror Appointment and Rolf Scamander, wand retrieval respectively. Luna plucked the first badge from Rolf's fingers, smiled, and stepped out of the phone booth.

As the telephone booth plunged downwards into the depths of the Ministry, Emerson glanced at Rolf.

'Is there something you ain't telling me about that girl?'

'What? No -- no, I don't know what you mean.'

'You know, that Skeeter reporter had quite a bit to say about her as well. Said she's known the girl since she was up at that school of yours. Always had a screw loose up there.' He twirled his finger in the direction of his head for emphasis.

'I think she's perfectly sane.'

'Huh.' Emerson snorted, but didn't continue his line of conversation.

They emerged in the Atrium, had their wands registered by the watchwizard on duty, and got into another lift.

'Level Two,' said the clipped female voice. 'Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including Auror Headquarters, Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, and Wizengamot Administrative Services.'

'Looks like that's us,' said Emerson, and they stepped out into a busy flurry of activity.

There seemed to be a lot of manpower in this department. Rolf wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing -- on one hand, it was easy enough to blend in with the crowd. However, it would also mean a lot of people to catch him if it came to that. He also had no clue exactly where to start. It wasn't as though there were blinking neon lights pointing him in the right direction. He contemplated Summoning the wand, but someone might notice that, even in this crowded corridor.

'... yes, I know it's unlikely, but you can't be too vigilant, sir ...'

Emerson nudged him and Rolf looked up to see Neville Longbottom striding along next to another Auror. Casually, they shifted their course to follow them.

'... my friend, and Harry's too, that's why,' Longbottom was saying. 'I assure you everything has been done.'

They were heading into a quieter corridor now. Emerson poked Rolf again. 'Disillusionment,' he hissed. Rolf quickly complied, making himself blend into the walls like a chameleon.

'Prior Incantatem revealed no defensive spells cast by the wand -- it's at my cubicle, if you want to test it yet again.' Longbottom pushed open a door and allowed the other Auror to step through.

'I'll distract him,' muttered Emerson. 'Get moving.' Loudly, he addressed the Aurors, 'Auror Longbottom, I presume?'

Longbottom turned around, eyes narrowing as he spotted Emerson. Rolf didn't stay to watch Emerson draw Longbottom aside or to hear their conversation -- he expected Emerson would be making a nuisance of himself, which didn't give Rolf much time to retrieve Luna's wand from Longbottom's cubicle. He hurried through the door after the other Auror.

There was a light popping noise, and Rolf felt the Disillusionment Charm slide away from him like egg yolk slipping down his back. The Auror in front of him turned, gasped, and before Rolf could even put his hands up, he was at wandpoint.

Damn. He should have known the Auror Office wouldn't have allowed any disguises.

'Who are you and what are you doing here?' demanded the Auror.

'I --' His throat felt dry. 'Rolf Scamander. I'm -- er -- retrieving a -- my, that is, um, wand.' His eyes flickered nervously downwards to the badge pinned to his chest.

The Auror peered at it.

'Auror -- Auror Longbottom told me to come through first,' he added. 'Someone's -- ah -- detained him outside.'

He wasn't sure whether the Auror bought it. The man's eyes were still narrowed. 'Fine,' he said at last. 'I'll escort you to his cubicle, and you can wait for him there. I doubt he'll take long.'

Rolf gulped. On the bright side, he wouldn't have to search the whole room (which was full of cubicles). The only thing was, Longbottom would be along soon. He couldn't very well make away with Luna's wand under Longbottom's very nose. Plus, there was the little problem that Longbottom hadn't sent him in, which would become very obvious very quickly.

Very quickly.

They had just arrived at Longbottom's cubicle when the door burst open and Longbottom entered. He had, Rolf noticed with a sinking heart, a firm grip on Emerson's robes.

'I'm a private investigator, I ain't interested in anything but solving the mysteries!' Emerson was protesting loudly.

'Then you won't mind a little questioning to help forward this investigation,' said Longbottom curtly. 'And neither will your accomplice.'

Rolf felt the blood drain from his face. Longbottom knew.

An hour later, they were sitting locked up in a holding room, their wands confiscated, waiting for ... well, Rolf wasn't sure who or what exactly.

'I told you this was a bad idea,' growled Emerson. 'Hey you!' he snarled at a Junior Auror guarding the door. 'I have the right to an attorney.'

This received no verbal response. The Junior Auror scratched his nose.

There was a knock on the door ('Finally,' said Emerson). The Junior Auror left them -- leaving the door wide open for what was strangely longer than necessary for an exit -- but nobody entered. The door fell shut again, leaving them without a guard, but Rolf had the strangest feeling of still being watched.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the door finally opened again and Longbottom returned ... with his arm around the shoulders of Luna Lovegood.

'Okay,' said Longbottom, frowning at Rolf and Emerson. 'Does anyone want to explain things?'

'This is something I definitely want to hear,' said a second voice, coming from the corner of the room. Rolf jumped as a silvery cloak slid off a tall wizard with jet-black hair ... and a lightning scar just off-centre of his forehead.

'Hello, Harry,' said Luna pleasantly.

---

The game was up. They weren't in trouble -- at least, Rolf didn't think they were yet -- but Harry Potter kept giving him strange, calculating looks that were not at all reassuring. He'd told them the whole story -- no point hiding anything now, after all -- and thankfully, neither Auror seemed to be in a doubting mood.

'It's decidedly unusual,' said Potter, 'but then again, I've seen stranger things.' He and Longbottom exchanged a look and the latter smiled wryly. Potter sighed. 'I think it's time to bring in reinforcements.'

'They'll be delighted,' said Longbottom. 'But let's move this to your office.'

Reinforcements turned out to be three more war heroes: Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger. The latter didn't even pause for a beat before shooting questions at them. Rolf had heard that she was an excellent magical lawyer; now he could imagine just why.

'So you touch dead people, bring them to life, touch them again so they go back to being dead, but not after you've got information out of them?' she summed up, after she'd dragged the story out of him once more with a few neat questions.

Rolf confirmed this.

'Blimey,' breathed Ron Weasley. 'That must make it a hell lot easier to be a P.I.'

'Least someone sees the value in it,' muttered Emerson.

'I'm not sure it's exactly ethical, Ron,' said Hermione, pursing her lips.

'That's not really the point, Hermione,' said Ginny Weasley. She arched her eyebrows at Rolf. 'I'm assuming you brought Luna back. And didn't let her die again. Not that I'm not grateful, of course, but why? Or why not?'

'I -- it ...' His throat felt dry as the five of them, the most famous names in wizarding Britain, stared at him. Luna, however, saved him. Her fingers curled around his arm, making him jump.

'Shouldn't she be -- er -- dead from that?' asked Longbottom.

'I don't really know how it works. I may have lost the skill. I haven't touched -- um -- anything dead since ... well ...'

'That should be easy enough to verify.' Hermione opened the door and said briskly, 'Accio roses on my desk!'

Half a dozen wilted roses zoomed through the open door. Weasley caught it, grimacing as a thorn caught him. 'Blimey, Hermione, I sent them this morning.'

She laughed and kissed his cheek. 'Which was sweet of you, but you know I'm no good with flowers. I smashed them accidentally with a book.'

Longbottom shook his head, looking slightly pained as he fingered the drooping petals.

'Does it work with plants, Mr Scamander?'

'It did.' Rolf reached out to touch the flowers tentatively. The moment his finger connected, it sprung back into bloom. 'I reckon it still does.'

'And ... the converse?'

He touched it again. The rose wilted. He nodded. 'Still works, it seems. Just not on -- Luna.'

Hermione examined the flower. Then she looked at Potter and Longbottom. 'Is there a chance that she wasn't actually dead?'

'It sure didn't seem that way,' replied Longbottom. He glanced sideways, but Luna seemed completely unperturbed by the discussion of her death. 'She wasn't breathing, no heartbeat. No physical injuries; it was assumed to be the killing curse.'

'I see.' Hermione pursed her lips. 'Luna, can you tell us what happened to you?'

'Okay, okay,' Emerson cut in. 'Look, we've been over all of this before, all right? You've got dead girl back and we obviously haven't done her any harm. Nothing to justify you keeping us here. In fact, I demand compensation for wrongful arrest.'

'Oh, I don't know, mate,' said Weasley. 'Sounds like you might know enough to help us get to the bottom of what's going on here.'

'I'm a private investigator. I work for a fee.'

'I reckon that could be arranged.'

Emerson looked at him suspiciously. Finally, he nodded and stuck his hand out. 'Emerson Cod,' he said. 'Pleasure doing business with you.'

---

It wasn't long before the Aurors and their friends had the answers they needed from Luna, Emerson, and Rolf. (Although most of them looked rather askance when Emerson mentioned his reporter source.) It was decided that until Luna's would-be murderers were apprehended and the mystery of her resurrection (and Rolf's inability to reverse it) had been solved, they would maintain secrecy.

Throughout the questioning, Rolf also noticed that Potter continued to stare at him periodically as though trying to figure something out. He was quite relieved when Hermione Granger finally wrapped up the questioning, announcing that she would need a few hours to tackle some theories and the rest of them should do further investigation at the scene of the crime to see if they could get her more information. For all that Potter and Longbottom were ostensibly in charge, Hermione certainly seemed used to giving orders.

They Apparated north and for the first time, Rolf and Emerson saw the site where Luna had been found. The Aurors had blocked off a large area of forest, although Rolf would never have noticed if Potter hadn't revealed the thin, blinking line of light when they arrived.

'If you crossed that without being scanned first,' he said, 'you'd have tripped off a million sensors at Headquarters.'

Rolf exchanged a look with Emerson, suddenly thankful that they had made their detour to the Ministry first.

'We'll split up inside,' said Potter. 'Two groups should be able to cover more area but still provide enough backup if either group runs into anything. I'll go with Ron and Mr Cod; Neville, you're with Luna, Ginny, and Mr Scamander.'

Rolf felt a great sense of relief to leave Potter and his unsettling gaze as Luna led his group away, saying, 'Come on, I remember this path.'

The light seemed to fade as they followed Luna deeper into the brush, further into the woods. Although it had to be late afternoon, with the sun high overhead for hours yet, it seemed as though they were trekking by twilight, so thick and close was the canopy. It reminded Rolf of the Forbidden Forest, which made him uneasy given how his last encounter there had turned out.

He supposed he shouldn't have been shocked when out of nowhere, a furious ball of something flew at their heads, screeching.

'Duck!' screamed Ginny. Two hands were on Rolf's back, pushing him to the ground before he could even obey the command. The thing -- a bat? -- skimmed the top of his hair. Longbottom fired a beam of red light at it, but missed.

'No, wait!' Luna caught his arm. 'That's a Nargle!'

'It also tried to take a dive at us, if you didn't notice,' snapped Ginny.

'That's what you were tracking?' asked Rolf, staring as the creature zipped off through the trees.

'Nargles, yes.'

'Are you sure?' Longbottom frowned. 'It looked plenty like a bat to me.'

'It's a shapeshifter,' explained Luna. 'It can take on the form of many other small creatures -- though not quite exactly the same.'

'Small creatures,' repeated Ginny. 'Then what is that supposed to be?'

She pointed one finger at a shape that was looming out of the darkness, just growing upwards from the ground, it seemed. It came closer and Rolf realised that it was actually millions of Nargles clustering together, taking a rather humanoid form ...

Three humanoid forms, in fact. More Nargles were arriving to form two shapes to flank the first one. They were clustering into what looked like three hooded figures.

'Luna,' whispered Ginny, 'they can't impersonate Dementors, can they?'

'They can't turn into anything bigger than themselves,' replied Luna cheerfully. 'I didn't know they could congregate like this, though. This is interesting!'

Rolf could see her point. Once you got over the shock of the whole thing, it was amazing to see such a creature, one he'd never known existed.

It had always been his dream to discover something new.

Longbottom didn't seem to share their sentiments. With a loud incantation, a silver bear exploded from his wand, just as Luna observed, 'It's not cold enough for them to be turning into real Dementors. I think it's just the shape.' She glanced at the silver bear. 'I don't think we'll need a Patronus. I don't feel anything. Nargles are mischievous, but not malicious -- I don't think they'll intentionally cause grave harm to us.'

'Get Harry and Ron,' Longbottom told the bear, and it lumbered off through the trees, faster than a real one.

'The girl is right.' The Nargles had stopped swarming, and now the three tall figures stood before them, looking remarkably like men in hoods. The one in the middle was actually speaking. 'We will not harm you. With you and the red girl we have no issue.'

'What do you want with Luna?' demanded Ginny immediately.

'She has passed into the realms previously. She holds something that can pass our barriers. That.' The creature's arm lifted, a stubby finger pointing at Luna's neck. Her hands flew to her collar and pulled out a pendant.

'Yes.' The Nargles dissolved from their form, swarming towards Luna.

'Stay back!' Longbottom threw his arms out protectively. 'Protego!'

The Nargles were repelled by the Shield Charm, bouncing back. Behind them, the sound of footsteps pounded the earth.

'Ginny! Neville! Luna!' Rolf heard Potter yell.

'We're all right!' Neville called back. 'There's some kind of -- thing-'

'Nargles! Neville, don't hurt them!'

'Bloody hell,' said Weasley.

'What in the hell is that?' Emerson brought up the rear, huffing a little from running.

The Nargles reformed the hooded figures. When they could speak again, they said, 'Where did you get that.'

Luna untied it and held it cupped in her hands. 'It was my mother's. Daddy found it just a while ago and gave it to me. For luck.'

'The talisman is ours. There are barriers that no human should cross before their time.'

'What does it do?' Rolf found himself asking.

'It provides safe passage through our barriers. But beyond those barriers are gates through which nothing can guarantee safe passage. We entrusted it once to humans but they have not guarded it well. We must have it back.'

There was a long pause while the Nargles' words sank in. It ended when Luna slowly held her pendant -- the talisman -- out to the Nargles.

'There are three of you present who have dealt with the realm beyond,' said the collective voice of the Nargles once the talisman had been swallowed up in their huddled form. Rolf remembered then that they had said they had no problems with Longbottom or Ginny. But three?

'You,' the Nargles' finger landed on Rolf, 'have a power to unlatch the portal. And you,' pointing at Potter now, 'know how it comes about.'

Rolf sucked in a surprised breath. Potter knew what was going on with his ... ability? It was his turn to stare at the Auror; but Potter's face remained impassive.

'I have an idea,' he said calmly.

'It is,' said the Nargles cryptically. 'We guard the gates. We know such things.'

'Do you know why it didn't work on Luna, then?' Rolf asked quickly. 'And how can I get rid of it?'

The Nargles had no eyes -- at least none that Rolf could see, in the form they had taken. However, Rolf had the distinct feeling of a hard gaze on him.

'The girl entered the realms but did not cross them. You were sufficient to recall her.

'As for your second question. There is a new gate open.' That piercing feeling of being stared at shifted. 'You know the dangers when a path to our realms is uncontrolled. Close it.' The order, he realised, was directed at Potter.

Having relayed this missive, the Nargles started to disintegrate into their separate bodies, disappearing into the thick undergrowth of the forest. For a while, no one seemed to be able to think of anything to say. Finally, Emerson gave a slightly harsh laugh.

'Well, that was disturbing. And by disturbing, I mean worse than watching your momma get it on kind of creepy.'

'I'll say,' said Weasley, rubbing his forehead. 'And what'll Hermione say when it comes out to the world that there really are Nargles?'

This brought a short laugh from everyone except for Luna.

'Oh, I don't think we're meant to tell anyone about them,' she said earnestly. And Rolf thought he rather agreed. Some magical creatures were meant to be studied. But others ... others should probably be left well alone.

'Let's go back,' said Ginny. 'I guess we've discovered as much as we ever will.'

Potter nodded. 'Magic is much deeper than we can understand,' he sighed. 'I'm not sure what we're going to file as a report, though,' he added ruefully. 'The paperwork is going to be a nightmare. And we're probably going to have to liaise with the Department of Mysteries ...' His gaze shifted to Rolf.

'I'll handle the paperwork,' offered Longbottom, and together they trooped back towards the Auror-demarcated boundaries.

---

The administrative part of their little adventure did prove to be something of a three-ring circus. The official story Potter and company decided to put forth was that the 'corpse' they had discovered had proved to be a clever duplicate, and the actual Luna Lovegood had been unconscious in the forest. With Emerson and Rolf's help, they had located her and revived her. As far as Rolf knew, a plausible explanation for how the duplication had come about was never fabricated, but Potter and Longbottom submitted their concerns about the entire forest being 'dodgy', along with a petition to secure it as an old magical site. This got the Department of Mysteries involved, and Rolf supposed that Ministry employees were used to things that involved that department being inexplicable.

The media was another matter, of course. Hardly an hour after the Aurors closed the case, they began to buzz about the Ministry like -- well, like Nargles, thought Rolf, thinking of the way they had swarmed about in the forest.

'Rita Skeeter's right at the front, of course,' said Hermione in a disgusted tone.

'That's great!' said Weasley.

'I'm sorry?'

'We can send Luna out with an official statement. I mean, after the last time Rita dealt with Luna, can you imagine the look on her face when she runs into her again?'

Fighting a war together, Rolf thought, certainly gave people a lot of in-jokes.

'Er -- Mr Scamander?'

'Um, you can call me Rolf,' he told Potter.

'Right. I -- er -- well, I spoke to the Department of Mysteries about your ... gift. It began after that mishap in the Forbidden Forest that you told us about earlier, didn't it?'

'Yeah ...'

Potter nodded. 'I happen to know that there's an artefact there -- I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly what, but it may be what's caused this whole thing.'

'Oh.'

'I spoke to Gordon Grant in the Death Division; he thinks that there's a chance we could reverse this. Assuming, of course, that you're willing to work with him.' Potter looked at him seriously. 'I admit, I wasn't quite comfortable with the fact that you could bring dead people back on a whim, but it doesn't appear to be what you've done -- other than that business you have going with Mr Cod, so ... well, I won't force you.'

'That's ...' Rolf struggled to find words. 'It's good. I mean, I do want to. I never wanted this ... ability. And Emerson's going back to America with the reward from this case, so ... yes. I'd like very much to work with Mr Grant.'

Potter smiled, his face lighting up with relief. 'Good.' He stuck out his hand. 'Thanks for your help. And -- uh -- for Luna.'

'No problem, Mr Potter.'

'Harry,' he said, and before Rolf had enough time to process the thought that he might just be on first-name terms now with the Boy Who Lived, someone called him away.

Luna came and slipped her arm around his elbow. 'I have to speak to the press,' she said. 'Will you come with me?'

'What are you going to tell the reporters?' he asked, as she led him down the corridor.

'The truth, of course.'

'Won't that contradict Potter -- Harry's story?'

'That'll just make it more believable. Rita Skeeter thinks I'm not quite sane, after all.'

'But you're perfectly all right,' said Rolf indignantly.

'I know that, and you know that, so it doesn't matter if nobody else does.'

'It doesn't bother you that people don't believe you?'

'Just because people don't believe things, it doesn't make them less real.'

There was a momentary lull in their conversation as Rolf let her words sink in. They reached the lifts and were waiting for them when he remembered something.

'Luna, there's something I was wondering about. Before we met, I got a call from you, I think. I'm sorry I didn't answer. It was because ...' Because I was terrified I'd run into a Kneazle I'd brought back to life.

'Ah yes. It was a curious case,' she said. 'Poor Snorky. He was utterly spooked, so I thought I ought to call in an expert.' She raised a finger to her chin thoughtfully. 'In retrospect, I understand -- it can be quite the startling experience to be dead and then alive again.'

Snorky ... Luna's Kneazle. The dead Kneazle? Rolf's breath caught in his throat.

'You mean ...'

'I expect it's just as well that you didn't come to check him out. I'm not sure I would have been very happy to have Snorky become dead again.'

'Luna, how did you know?'

'I didn't, not until I met your Kneazles. I didn't really sleep much that night -- I'd had a good nap earlier, if you recall. I thought a bit about it, and it made sense. I meant to ask, but I think Emerson arrived and I never got round to it.'

'Oh. I'm sorry about -- about Snorky. I watched him get knocked down by that car and I didn't know I could do that -- bringing people back from the dead thing yet, so I just touched him and I thought I must have been mistaken about him being dead, and I must've killed something else that I hope didn't belong to you, though not that it's good, killing some other person's pet-'

He stopped abruptly, because Luna put her finger to his lips.

'It's okay,' she told him. 'You have nothing to be sorry about. Strange things happen in this world, Rolf, but it's always for a reason. I don't wish you'd left Snorky dead, but that doesn't make me a bad person who wanted another person's pet to die. I'm not sorry you brought me back, although I hope no one else died for that.'

'I don't think so. There wasn't anyone in proximity except Emerson and your dad, and they're both alive ... I think your case was special. That whole realms thing the Nargles were talking about.'

Luna nodded. 'That dream I had before you woke me. There was a river, and I kept trying to cross it. I think that must have been the veil between this world and the next.' She smiled and closed her eyes. 'Mum was there, I think. She kept telling me to go back, but I was trying to go to her.'

'Are you -- sorry I pulled you back?'

'Not at all. There's still so much to see in this world. Death would be an adventure, but I'll get there eventually. I'm not in a hurry.'

The lift arrived and they stepped in. It shot upwards, taking them towards the Atrium, where hordes of reporters would probably descend on them the moment they stepped out.

'Will I see you again after this is done?' asked Luna suddenly.

'If you want to.' Rolf felt his mouth curling into a smile at the idea of meeting Luna for tea, chatting about rare creatures and learning more of her beautiful philosophy.

'I would love to,' he amended warmly. 'Though,' he added, 'I probably shouldn't go anywhere near Snorky until the Department of Mysteries work out my -- um -- bug.'

'We'll make a date,' promised Luna.

'The Atrium,' announced the disembodied voice from the lift.

'Thanks for coming with me,' said Luna.

'I don't mind. Ron Weasley seemed to think you could handle reporters well; it should be something to watch.'

They smiled at each other and stepped out of the golden gates into the excited throng of waiting reporters.

THE END

Disclaimer: A great deal of the plot is adapted from the show Pushing Daisies, including several lines that hail from the first/second episodes. The idea of 'passing through the realms' is inspired by Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty.