In Hogsmeade (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 20)
Title: In Hogsmeade (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 20)
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language, suggestions, and Luna Lovegood
Summary: It's Hogsmeade weekend, but who can relax?
Notes: If you haven't already, please take my reader's poll regarding my posting schedule.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Watch Me / Previous Chapters / Dream Interpretations
"You are quite large."
"Izzat righ'?"
"Yes," said Luna Lovegood serenely. "You're possibly the largest man I've ever seen."
"Well, that's great," said Hagrid uncertainly, looking at Neville and Uri for a cue.
"Just go with it," said Uri as the four walked through the falling snow of Hogsmeade village.
"Jus' go wid it," Hagrid repeated gruffly. "Jus' like the other twenty times she tol' me that?"
"Just like it," said Neville. "She doesn't remember asking you those other times."
"Righ', righ'," said Hagrid, clearing his throat. "Yeah, Luna, dat's righ'. I'm, um, possibly the larges' man you've ever seen. Righ'."
"Why are you so large?" she asked. "Were you attacked with a spell?"
"Well, at least she hasn't forgotten that magic exists," Uri admitted to Neville as they walked past the various shoppes that Luna would occasionally take interest in looking at. A brief interest, at most, unfortunately; she would appear completely fascinated for maybe ten seconds, then look away and continue her walk as if she had never seen whatever she had been looking at.
"Makes things easier, yeah," said Neville.
"No, Luna, no," said Hagrid. "I wasn' attacked. Me Mum was a giant, you see. And me Dad was a wizard. So here I am."
"How would that conception work?" Luna asked. "Her vagina is much larger than his penis, isn't it?"
Neville and Uri exchanged a shocked glance as Hagrid turned a bright red beneath his rough beard. "Er, um..."
"But I suppose it would be much easier than if your father was a giant and your mother was a human..."
"Er... Do I have to answer that?" Hagrid asked in an undertone to Neville. "I know we're supposed ter, but she didn' know that when she wasn' loopy..."
"Don't worry about it," said Neville, who had given Luna four birds and bees talks in the time that she had been moved from Mungo's to Hogwarts. He had also had to talk her down from trying to have sex with him three times. And, on a particularly odd afternoon, Uri had to talk Luna down from having sex with her when she had come to check on her between classes: Uri had explained that Luna had assumed that Uri was simply a girlfriend that she had forgotten about because of her memory loss, and next thing she knew...
The constant behavior changes, the constant shifts in maturity levels, were bad enough. But it was the access to Luna's vast volumes of knowledge that surprised and confused Neville and the others that had taken her under their care the most. Some mornings, Neville or Uri would have to stop Luna from leaving their bedroom without her shirt. But days, sometimes hours, sometimes minutes, later, she would be in the library reading books on magical creatures, goblin wars, or broomstick maintenance. And she was understanding all of it.
At least, that was, until she forgot it all again.
"I hate this," Hagrid muttered as Luna turned to watch, with avid interest, a completely unremarkable group of sixth year Hufflepuffs passing. "At leas' when I was teachin' Grawpy he'd eventually remember what I was sayin', ye know?"
"Eventually, yes," said Neville as casually as possible. Hagrid's half-brother Grawp had been living in the mountains outside Hogwarts for almost twenty-five years, and his vocabulary was topping out at around fifty words, ten of which were various swears that Hagrid had bellowed on particularly difficult education days.
Still, Neville thought. Two words a year. Not a bad pace, I guess...
"Such a shame," Hagrid said sadly. "Both of 'em, such brigh' kids..."
"We're trying, Hagrid," said Uri. "We're trying to make them better. But this is a very unusual kind of magic. It's a lot of trial and error..."
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Uri turned to find Luna tugging on her sleeve anxiously.
"What is it, Luna?"
"My name's Luna?" said Luna, shocked.
"Yes, it is."
"That's a pretty name," she said happily. "I have to potty."
"Alright," said Uri with a sigh, looking around. "Let's stop in the... Do we want to go to the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sounds good," said Neville. "And you don't have to hang out with us if you don't want to," he added to Hagrid. "If this is making you uncomfortable in the least..."
"Of course it's makin' me uncomfterbul," Hagrid said gruffly. "But I ain't leavin'. If you two can handle 'er all day and all night, the leas' I can do is help fer a few hours."
"Well, it's appreciated," said Neville as Uri took Luna's hand and guided her into the tavern.
"Anythin' you need, Neville, you know that," said Hagrid. "You can bring 'er down to the hut whenever you like, too. Fang and I can keep an eye on 'er if you two need some, yer know, down time."
"That would be nice," said Neville. "She always liked the animals."
"The toilet's back here, Luna," said Uri as the crossed through the doorway.
"Okay!" said Luna. "But you don't have to help me. Just wait outside, okay?"
"Sounds good, dear," said Uri, giving Neville a sad look over her shoulder before disappearing into the back.
"Was that Luna Lovegood?"
Neville and Hagrid turned to see Madam Rosmerta crossing through the crowded pub to them, a pint in one hand and a quart for Hagrid in the other.
"It was," said Neville.
"Free table over there, luvs," said Rosmerta, pointing into the corner with her pint arm. "What happened to her? Someone hit her with a Confundus? Poor girl. Just when she was getting over that Memory Charm, too...."
"She's still getting over the Memory Charm," said Neville.
"What?" said Rosmerta. "Neville, it happened, what, two months ago? There's no way she's still--"
"There is a way," he said as the three of them sat down at the table. He explained to her as best he could what was happening with both Luna and Charlie, adding at the end, "We're trying to keep it out of the public eye, but we also know that means it'll be common grapevine knowledge soon enough. So I'd appreciate it if you try to break down any rumors you hear that don't mesh with what I've told you, alright? You and Ab are two of the biggest gears of gossip in this town, and I'd rather have the right story spreading around than the wrong story."
"Oh, of course!" said Rosmerta. "Absolutely, Neville, you'll have my word. And if I hear anything around, I'll let you know. People talk when they get some drinks in them, and I have good ears."
"Thanks," said Neville. "But if you hear anything, don't tell me. You go straight to MLE. Hermione Weasley and Seamus Finnigan would be best; they have Luna and Charlie as a top priority."
"Poor child," she said, looking back towards the toilets. "First her mother, then her father, now this..."
"Yeah," said Hagrid. "An' she don' know abou' them, neither. Small consolation..."
"She'll have to know eventually," said a voice from behind Neville. "Mind if we join you?"
Neville turned to see Kinnell Bosh, along with Andrew Reyburn, standing near their table, still looking chilled from just leaving the cold outside.
"Yeah, pull up a chair," said Neville, and the Charms and Muggle Studies professors joined the circle. "And, yes, she will have to know about Xeno and Europa one day. But not yet. The Healers agreed that it will be too much for her, that it might make her consciously choose to just forget everything."
"Tricky business," Rosmerta sighed. "It was all over the papers..."
"While she was in Poland and at St. Mungo's," Neville corrected. "She was kept from that news when it was front-page stuff."
"Quibbler's still running, right?" asked Andrew.
"Yes, he was able to build up enough of a staff in the last few years where they can keep going without him," said Rosmerta. "Hired a few away from the Prophet after the war, if I recall..."
"Well, he'd have to," said Kinnell. "With all the time that the Lovegoods had spent on the road, it would have been hard to keep that newspaper afloat without some extra help. So, Neville, do you have a plan about what you're going to do with her? Any ideas that you haven't tried yet?"
"Not really," said Neville. "Uri and I are still just getting used to having her around so much. The planning really hasn't come so much as the coping. But I think I might sit her down one day and just, I don't know, start talking? Tell her everything that I know about her, everything that's happened in her world."
"Avoidin' the fam, o' course?" Hagrid added.
"Unfortunately, yeah," Neville said. "I hate hiding anything from her, but it's something that will have to wait."
"Do you mind if I sit in on that conversation?" asked Andrew. "I'm planning to write a book about Hogwarts during the war years, and it'd be fabulous to get your views on what happened."
"You're writin', Reyburn?" Hagrid said with some surprise. "I didn' know that."
"Well, it's just in the outline stages so far," Andrew said with a shrug. "I'm hoping to track down some other former students to get their interviews."
"I don't know," Neville said with a furrowed brow. "Any book about Hogwarts during the war years is a book about Harry, and I don't know if he'd like that. He has enough problem between the unauthorized stuff and this Muggle Porter thing... I don't know if I can sign off on that."
"All right," said Andrew, deflating slightly. "I have a few other ideas that I could go with, I guess... I want to write a response to Skeeter's old Dumbledore book, for one. Grindelwald's a fascinating subject, but I'm still amazed at how little most of his biographers have touched on him..."
"Since when did you become such a historian?" asked Neville.
"I've always been a historian," Andrew chuckled. "History of Magic was the staff position I was hoping for, but if you think Binns is stepping down anytime soon, you need to get your lobe checked."
"He'll still be teachin' long after our great-greats are passed on," Hagrid said with a shake of his shaggy head. "Long as Hogwarts still stands, he'll be there..."
"...Boring children into a coma," Bosh said with a wry grin and taking a sip of his beer.
"This group's gotten a lot bigger since we left," said Uri, returning from the toilets with Luna close behind. "Are we missing anything?"
"Just the usual talk," Bosh said, shifting his chair across the stone floor to give the two women room. "Backstabbing the co-workers who aren't here."
"I'm a co-worker," Uri said, sitting down beside the Charms professor, "and I wasn't here. Was I being backstabbed?"
"Only pin-pricks," Bosh joked. "But don't worry, they're fine. It's like acupuncture. You'll feel better in the morning."
"Thank you very much," Uri said dryly.
"Oh, Neville!" Andrew said, slapping the table suddenly. "I had an idea for you! For Luna!"
"Why do you have something for me, person I don't know?" asked Luna.
"There was this stupid film that my sister liked to watch when I was a teenager," Andrew explained. "I don't even remember what it's called, but it was about a girl who loses her memory and relives the same day over and over."
"Okay?" Neville pressed, somewhat skeptically.
"Give her a journal," said Andrew. "Make her write in it, things that she remembers and things that she doesn't. Put big blazing letters on the cover that say Read Me, so it's the first thing she sees every morning. At the very worst, you won't have to re-explain the world to her every few hours. She'll see her own handwriting, and she might trust it more. At best, maybe things will start to stick."
Neville leaned back in his chair, thinking. "You know," he said, looking to Uri, "that might be a good idea."
"Couldn't hurt," Uri shrugged.
"Might also help in the research," Bosh added. "Give a copy of that diary to the people at St. Mungo's, maybe they can discover some kind of patterns to what she's remembering and what she's not."
"Or the Ministry," said Andrew, leaning on the table in his excitement. "They may be able to find some clues about what happened that night. Subconscious writings, that kind of thing."
"I'll talk to Katherine or someone else at Aesalon," said Neville as the bell above the Broomsticks' front door jingled. "They'll be able to tell us if it'll help or hurt."
"Neville, look!" Luna whispered, looking towards the door. "It's Harry and Hermione!"
The table turned as one to see the small group of students that had just entered the pub.
"Luna," Neville said. "That's not--"
"It's very foolish of them to be here," Luna continued quietly, leaning in to talk to Neville. "With the Death Eaters looking for them, they'll surely be caught. Maybe they need help doing whatever it is they have been doing to stop He Who Must Not Be Named."
"Luna, that's not them."
"Do you think Harry is looking for his glasses? And where is Ronald?"
"Luna, that's not Harry and Hermione," Uri explained. "That's their children."
"Their children?" Luna repeated, staring at Rose and Albus. "Harry and Hermione have children? I am surprised and that Harry would leave Ginny for Hermione. Their relationship only rarely struck me as sexually charged."
"No, they're not--"
"Darn it," Hagrid groaned, covering his eyes. "Now I'm thinkin' of Harry an' Hermione havin'... No. I'd rather not be thinkin' abou' that. Ever." He downed the rest of his ale, possibly hoping to drown those particular thoughts.
"That one there," said Uri, pointing to Albus, "is Harry and Ginny's son. That one," now pointing at Rose, "is Ron and Hermione's daughter."
"Who are the other two?" asked Luna.
"Well, that one there is Kayla. She's Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan's daughter. And that one... Huh..."
"Well, I'll be dipped," said Hagrid, leaning back in his chair as they watched the quartet of students sit down at a table. "Izzat--?"
"It is," said Neville, shaking his head in wonder. "Wow. Ron's gonna have kittens when he finds out his daughter's hanging out with Goyle's son."
"Ronald is having children and kittens?" Luna asked.
"Takes all kinds, I guess," said Uri.
"Hey, I'm all for it," said Andrew. "After everything that happened during the Gryff-Slyth match, it's good to see them actually, you know, co-existing."
Neville just sat back and watched the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and two Gryffindors chatting like they were all in the same house. Wonders never cease, he thought, although he did have to wonder how Gabriel Goyle actually became connected to Rose and Albus's circle in the first place.
---------
"You don't have to be so nervous."
"What?" Scorpius said with a start, pulling his eyes away from his walking feet.
"You don't have to be nervous," Meghan repeated. "You know that those three Pure Bloods are expelled. They're not going to be here."
"Oh," said Scorpius, catching on to what she was saying. "Yeah. Right..."
"Besides, I don't think they'd be stupid enough to do anything on a Hogsmeade weekend, even if they weren't gone. Not with so many professors around."
"Never underestimate the crazy," he said with a shivering sigh. "Besides, that's not what I'm nervous about."
"Oh," Meghan said, her voice shaking a bit herself. "Well, cut it out," she said, slapping his arm. "I'm nervous enough for the both of us."
"I'll try," said Scorpius, looking up and down the street at the passing students, their numerous footprints turning the once-serene snowfall into a quickly-browning slush, searching for a topic. "So, um, what d'you wanna do?"
"I dunno," Meghan shrugged. "This is my first time in Hogsmeade. Surprise me."
"You haven't been here before?" Scorpius said with surprise.
"Muggle-born, remember?" said Meghan. "Not exactly a family vacation spot."
"Well, I mean, you didn't come during the first Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Couldn't," she said, a little self-consciously. "I didn't have permission from my parents."
"Oh," said Scorpius. "So how'd you talk them into this one?"
"Mum cornered Dad after I sent enough owls," Meghan explained. "She wanted to sign it from the beginning, but he didn't."
"Well, couldn't she have signed it anyway?"
"She could have," she said quietly. "But things are... tense around my house. Dad's been... well, he's been weird about this from the very beginning. About me..."
"He doesn't like that you're a witch?" Scorpius asked.
"I don't know," said Meghan, absently playing with the earflap of her wool cap. "I think so sometimes. But other times it's that he's just afraid of magic in general, for some reason. I don't think it helps that I'm in the hospital wing every other week. It makes him think I'm in danger, or something. But Mum, she... she loves this, you know? She's fascinated by all of this, and she knows that I'm good at it when I'm not, like, screwing up and putting myself in the hospital wing. She's supporting me. And he's not. And..."
She trailed off, staring down at the sidewalk, lost in thought. Scorpius wondered whether he should put his arm around her. She was upset, she might want him to try to make her feel better. But would she want that this early? Would she want him to try to make her feel better? Should he be saying something?
"I thought it was gonna get better," Meghan said to the ground with a sniff. "I thought my dad would get used to the idea of me being a witch after two and a half years. But he hasn't. He keeps hinting -- no, he doesn't even hint, he just says -- that I could drop out and go to high school. That I should. That it'd be safer. And he has these looks that he always gives my mother, like it's her fault that I'm here. That if she was as scared as he was, then they could gang up on me and pull me out, or something. That she should be discouraging me from coming here."
"Maybe when you get older and, um, not hurt so much, maybe he'll be better about it?"
"I don't know," Meghan said with a shake of her head. "I don't know if he'll ever be better about it. I'm just afraid that... And I know that they always say that when your parents are splitting up you should never blame yourself but I can't help it I feel like they're going to split up and it's all my fault because I'm here and God," she cried, wiping her cheek with her gloved hand, "I'm a horrible first date, I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright," Scorpius said, daring to pat her on the shoulder. "You need to let it out, I need to hear it."
"No, you don't. It's just being paranoid."
"Maybe, maybe not," Scorpius shrugged. "But don't let your parents tell you what to do. You're a witch, you should learn to be a witch. Here or there, they'd be fighting. If you went back to the Muggles then your mum would only be upset that you're not realizing your potential, right? Or she'd be mad at your dad for forcing you to move back. Either way, someone's going to be upset. Just do what you think is best for you."
Meghan snorted reluctant laughter. "Look out for number one. Spoken like a true Slytherin."
"Not at all," said Scorpius. "Just, you know, recognize that there are going to be problems no matter what. Your folks are reacting differently to a unique situation. You are a witch, you can't change that, and if your dad can't deal with that then that's his problem, not yours."
"I suppose..."
"Look at it this way," said Scorpius. "If I always cared about what my parents thought, I wouldn't be here right now. I have a three-hour lecture or and a three hour screaming match ahead of me when they find out I'm on a date with a Muggle-born. They'll probably forbid me from ever talking to you again. But whatever. I have to look out for me sometimes, you know?"
"Oh, thank goodness," Meghan chuckled.
"What?"
"I thought I might have said too much when I said I was your date."
"Oh," said Scorpius, suddenly feeling quite warm despite the December chill. "So, um, is this a date?"
Meghan looked up at Scorpius with a shy smile. Then, to his surprise, she slipped her small hand into his.
"So we're on a date," she said as the two walked hand-in-hand down the street. "It's my first time in Hogsmeade. Show me the sights, Scorpius Malfoy."
"The sights," Scorpius mused. "Yeah... Well, there's Honeydukes. There's, um, the Wheezes, that's pretty cool. The post office has a lot of owls if you want to see those.... And... um... that's about it, I think."
"That's all?" Meghan said skeptically. "Really?"
"That's about it, yeah," he repeated, knowing full well that he was forgetting to tell her about some other spots. The Shrieking Shack was okay, but wasn't exactly the hot spot that it was when his parents were going to school. Some students thrilled at rumors that the ghost of Severus Snape, murdered inside by the Dark Lord during the Second Battle, still haunted the deserted building. Scorpius doubted it was true. Besides, he found the idea a little morbid, considering his father always talked about Professor Snape as his favorite teacher.
Then there was the Three Broomsticks. Gabe had said that he and a few others were going to be hanging out there, and the last thing Scorpius wanted was to sit there and take grief or, worse, lose Meghan's attention to her own friends for the rest of the afternoon. He also dreaded the very idea of Puddifoot's, currently decked out in Christmas roses and glittering baubles. More terrifying, there was mistletoe around every corner. He didn't want to be in a large group with Meghan, but he also didn't want to be completely alone with her. Despite knowing that they had spent an entire evening alone the first time he had ever met her, the thought of sitting in a corner table for two sent a nervous chill up his spine.
"Huh," said Meghan as the two turned into Honeydukes. "Everyone talks up Hogsmeade, I thought there would have been more than three neat places."
Scorpius remained tactfully quiet. He scanned the room quickly as they entered, making sure no Pure Bloods, at least troublesome ones, were in sight. Clear for now, the two made their way through the throngs of Hogwarts students pulling down pound after pound of chocolates, taffies, and other sweets from the shelves and walls of Honeydukes.
"So what do you want?" Meghan asks as they looked up and down the aisle.
"For what?"
"I said I'd get you something for your birthday that Gabe's not going to eat, right?" she replied, examining a package of Canary Creams.
"You don't have to," said Scorpius. "Really."
"Well, I have to know what to get you for Christmas, don't I?" said Meghan with a playful smirk.
"Getting a little ahead of things, aren't you?" Scorpius asked, the same smile crossing his face.
Merlin, are we actually flirting?
"When's your birthday, anyway?" asked Scorpius. "I should probably know when I'm supposed to buy you something."
"December thirty-first," said Meghan.
"Wow," he said with a chuckle. "Two parties in one night?"
"More like one party for two celebrations," she said. "But it's alright. Better than a Christmas birthday."
"I suppose," he said. "So what do you want for your birthday?"
"A kiss at midnight?"
The two froze as Meghan's words washed over them both. Scorpius's face turned pink as his lip twitched with a nervous smile, while Meghan turned beet red and turned back quickly towards the shelves.
Yeah, this is flirting, Scorpius thought as Meghan giggled a little behind her hand. And, I gotta say, it's pretty fun.
Watch Me / Previous Chapters / Dream Interpretations
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language, suggestions, and Luna Lovegood
Summary: It's Hogsmeade weekend, but who can relax?
Notes: If you haven't already, please take my reader's poll regarding my posting schedule.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Watch Me / Previous Chapters / Dream Interpretations
"You are quite large."
"Izzat righ'?"
"Yes," said Luna Lovegood serenely. "You're possibly the largest man I've ever seen."
"Well, that's great," said Hagrid uncertainly, looking at Neville and Uri for a cue.
"Just go with it," said Uri as the four walked through the falling snow of Hogsmeade village.
"Jus' go wid it," Hagrid repeated gruffly. "Jus' like the other twenty times she tol' me that?"
"Just like it," said Neville. "She doesn't remember asking you those other times."
"Righ', righ'," said Hagrid, clearing his throat. "Yeah, Luna, dat's righ'. I'm, um, possibly the larges' man you've ever seen. Righ'."
"Why are you so large?" she asked. "Were you attacked with a spell?"
"Well, at least she hasn't forgotten that magic exists," Uri admitted to Neville as they walked past the various shoppes that Luna would occasionally take interest in looking at. A brief interest, at most, unfortunately; she would appear completely fascinated for maybe ten seconds, then look away and continue her walk as if she had never seen whatever she had been looking at.
"Makes things easier, yeah," said Neville.
"No, Luna, no," said Hagrid. "I wasn' attacked. Me Mum was a giant, you see. And me Dad was a wizard. So here I am."
"How would that conception work?" Luna asked. "Her vagina is much larger than his penis, isn't it?"
Neville and Uri exchanged a shocked glance as Hagrid turned a bright red beneath his rough beard. "Er, um..."
"But I suppose it would be much easier than if your father was a giant and your mother was a human..."
"Er... Do I have to answer that?" Hagrid asked in an undertone to Neville. "I know we're supposed ter, but she didn' know that when she wasn' loopy..."
"Don't worry about it," said Neville, who had given Luna four birds and bees talks in the time that she had been moved from Mungo's to Hogwarts. He had also had to talk her down from trying to have sex with him three times. And, on a particularly odd afternoon, Uri had to talk Luna down from having sex with her when she had come to check on her between classes: Uri had explained that Luna had assumed that Uri was simply a girlfriend that she had forgotten about because of her memory loss, and next thing she knew...
The constant behavior changes, the constant shifts in maturity levels, were bad enough. But it was the access to Luna's vast volumes of knowledge that surprised and confused Neville and the others that had taken her under their care the most. Some mornings, Neville or Uri would have to stop Luna from leaving their bedroom without her shirt. But days, sometimes hours, sometimes minutes, later, she would be in the library reading books on magical creatures, goblin wars, or broomstick maintenance. And she was understanding all of it.
At least, that was, until she forgot it all again.
"I hate this," Hagrid muttered as Luna turned to watch, with avid interest, a completely unremarkable group of sixth year Hufflepuffs passing. "At leas' when I was teachin' Grawpy he'd eventually remember what I was sayin', ye know?"
"Eventually, yes," said Neville as casually as possible. Hagrid's half-brother Grawp had been living in the mountains outside Hogwarts for almost twenty-five years, and his vocabulary was topping out at around fifty words, ten of which were various swears that Hagrid had bellowed on particularly difficult education days.
Still, Neville thought. Two words a year. Not a bad pace, I guess...
"Such a shame," Hagrid said sadly. "Both of 'em, such brigh' kids..."
"We're trying, Hagrid," said Uri. "We're trying to make them better. But this is a very unusual kind of magic. It's a lot of trial and error..."
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Uri turned to find Luna tugging on her sleeve anxiously.
"What is it, Luna?"
"My name's Luna?" said Luna, shocked.
"Yes, it is."
"That's a pretty name," she said happily. "I have to potty."
"Alright," said Uri with a sigh, looking around. "Let's stop in the... Do we want to go to the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sounds good," said Neville. "And you don't have to hang out with us if you don't want to," he added to Hagrid. "If this is making you uncomfortable in the least..."
"Of course it's makin' me uncomfterbul," Hagrid said gruffly. "But I ain't leavin'. If you two can handle 'er all day and all night, the leas' I can do is help fer a few hours."
"Well, it's appreciated," said Neville as Uri took Luna's hand and guided her into the tavern.
"Anythin' you need, Neville, you know that," said Hagrid. "You can bring 'er down to the hut whenever you like, too. Fang and I can keep an eye on 'er if you two need some, yer know, down time."
"That would be nice," said Neville. "She always liked the animals."
"The toilet's back here, Luna," said Uri as the crossed through the doorway.
"Okay!" said Luna. "But you don't have to help me. Just wait outside, okay?"
"Sounds good, dear," said Uri, giving Neville a sad look over her shoulder before disappearing into the back.
"Was that Luna Lovegood?"
Neville and Hagrid turned to see Madam Rosmerta crossing through the crowded pub to them, a pint in one hand and a quart for Hagrid in the other.
"It was," said Neville.
"Free table over there, luvs," said Rosmerta, pointing into the corner with her pint arm. "What happened to her? Someone hit her with a Confundus? Poor girl. Just when she was getting over that Memory Charm, too...."
"She's still getting over the Memory Charm," said Neville.
"What?" said Rosmerta. "Neville, it happened, what, two months ago? There's no way she's still--"
"There is a way," he said as the three of them sat down at the table. He explained to her as best he could what was happening with both Luna and Charlie, adding at the end, "We're trying to keep it out of the public eye, but we also know that means it'll be common grapevine knowledge soon enough. So I'd appreciate it if you try to break down any rumors you hear that don't mesh with what I've told you, alright? You and Ab are two of the biggest gears of gossip in this town, and I'd rather have the right story spreading around than the wrong story."
"Oh, of course!" said Rosmerta. "Absolutely, Neville, you'll have my word. And if I hear anything around, I'll let you know. People talk when they get some drinks in them, and I have good ears."
"Thanks," said Neville. "But if you hear anything, don't tell me. You go straight to MLE. Hermione Weasley and Seamus Finnigan would be best; they have Luna and Charlie as a top priority."
"Poor child," she said, looking back towards the toilets. "First her mother, then her father, now this..."
"Yeah," said Hagrid. "An' she don' know abou' them, neither. Small consolation..."
"She'll have to know eventually," said a voice from behind Neville. "Mind if we join you?"
Neville turned to see Kinnell Bosh, along with Andrew Reyburn, standing near their table, still looking chilled from just leaving the cold outside.
"Yeah, pull up a chair," said Neville, and the Charms and Muggle Studies professors joined the circle. "And, yes, she will have to know about Xeno and Europa one day. But not yet. The Healers agreed that it will be too much for her, that it might make her consciously choose to just forget everything."
"Tricky business," Rosmerta sighed. "It was all over the papers..."
"While she was in Poland and at St. Mungo's," Neville corrected. "She was kept from that news when it was front-page stuff."
"Quibbler's still running, right?" asked Andrew.
"Yes, he was able to build up enough of a staff in the last few years where they can keep going without him," said Rosmerta. "Hired a few away from the Prophet after the war, if I recall..."
"Well, he'd have to," said Kinnell. "With all the time that the Lovegoods had spent on the road, it would have been hard to keep that newspaper afloat without some extra help. So, Neville, do you have a plan about what you're going to do with her? Any ideas that you haven't tried yet?"
"Not really," said Neville. "Uri and I are still just getting used to having her around so much. The planning really hasn't come so much as the coping. But I think I might sit her down one day and just, I don't know, start talking? Tell her everything that I know about her, everything that's happened in her world."
"Avoidin' the fam, o' course?" Hagrid added.
"Unfortunately, yeah," Neville said. "I hate hiding anything from her, but it's something that will have to wait."
"Do you mind if I sit in on that conversation?" asked Andrew. "I'm planning to write a book about Hogwarts during the war years, and it'd be fabulous to get your views on what happened."
"You're writin', Reyburn?" Hagrid said with some surprise. "I didn' know that."
"Well, it's just in the outline stages so far," Andrew said with a shrug. "I'm hoping to track down some other former students to get their interviews."
"I don't know," Neville said with a furrowed brow. "Any book about Hogwarts during the war years is a book about Harry, and I don't know if he'd like that. He has enough problem between the unauthorized stuff and this Muggle Porter thing... I don't know if I can sign off on that."
"All right," said Andrew, deflating slightly. "I have a few other ideas that I could go with, I guess... I want to write a response to Skeeter's old Dumbledore book, for one. Grindelwald's a fascinating subject, but I'm still amazed at how little most of his biographers have touched on him..."
"Since when did you become such a historian?" asked Neville.
"I've always been a historian," Andrew chuckled. "History of Magic was the staff position I was hoping for, but if you think Binns is stepping down anytime soon, you need to get your lobe checked."
"He'll still be teachin' long after our great-greats are passed on," Hagrid said with a shake of his shaggy head. "Long as Hogwarts still stands, he'll be there..."
"...Boring children into a coma," Bosh said with a wry grin and taking a sip of his beer.
"This group's gotten a lot bigger since we left," said Uri, returning from the toilets with Luna close behind. "Are we missing anything?"
"Just the usual talk," Bosh said, shifting his chair across the stone floor to give the two women room. "Backstabbing the co-workers who aren't here."
"I'm a co-worker," Uri said, sitting down beside the Charms professor, "and I wasn't here. Was I being backstabbed?"
"Only pin-pricks," Bosh joked. "But don't worry, they're fine. It's like acupuncture. You'll feel better in the morning."
"Thank you very much," Uri said dryly.
"Oh, Neville!" Andrew said, slapping the table suddenly. "I had an idea for you! For Luna!"
"Why do you have something for me, person I don't know?" asked Luna.
"There was this stupid film that my sister liked to watch when I was a teenager," Andrew explained. "I don't even remember what it's called, but it was about a girl who loses her memory and relives the same day over and over."
"Okay?" Neville pressed, somewhat skeptically.
"Give her a journal," said Andrew. "Make her write in it, things that she remembers and things that she doesn't. Put big blazing letters on the cover that say Read Me, so it's the first thing she sees every morning. At the very worst, you won't have to re-explain the world to her every few hours. She'll see her own handwriting, and she might trust it more. At best, maybe things will start to stick."
Neville leaned back in his chair, thinking. "You know," he said, looking to Uri, "that might be a good idea."
"Couldn't hurt," Uri shrugged.
"Might also help in the research," Bosh added. "Give a copy of that diary to the people at St. Mungo's, maybe they can discover some kind of patterns to what she's remembering and what she's not."
"Or the Ministry," said Andrew, leaning on the table in his excitement. "They may be able to find some clues about what happened that night. Subconscious writings, that kind of thing."
"I'll talk to Katherine or someone else at Aesalon," said Neville as the bell above the Broomsticks' front door jingled. "They'll be able to tell us if it'll help or hurt."
"Neville, look!" Luna whispered, looking towards the door. "It's Harry and Hermione!"
The table turned as one to see the small group of students that had just entered the pub.
"Luna," Neville said. "That's not--"
"It's very foolish of them to be here," Luna continued quietly, leaning in to talk to Neville. "With the Death Eaters looking for them, they'll surely be caught. Maybe they need help doing whatever it is they have been doing to stop He Who Must Not Be Named."
"Luna, that's not them."
"Do you think Harry is looking for his glasses? And where is Ronald?"
"Luna, that's not Harry and Hermione," Uri explained. "That's their children."
"Their children?" Luna repeated, staring at Rose and Albus. "Harry and Hermione have children? I am surprised and that Harry would leave Ginny for Hermione. Their relationship only rarely struck me as sexually charged."
"No, they're not--"
"Darn it," Hagrid groaned, covering his eyes. "Now I'm thinkin' of Harry an' Hermione havin'... No. I'd rather not be thinkin' abou' that. Ever." He downed the rest of his ale, possibly hoping to drown those particular thoughts.
"That one there," said Uri, pointing to Albus, "is Harry and Ginny's son. That one," now pointing at Rose, "is Ron and Hermione's daughter."
"Who are the other two?" asked Luna.
"Well, that one there is Kayla. She's Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan's daughter. And that one... Huh..."
"Well, I'll be dipped," said Hagrid, leaning back in his chair as they watched the quartet of students sit down at a table. "Izzat--?"
"It is," said Neville, shaking his head in wonder. "Wow. Ron's gonna have kittens when he finds out his daughter's hanging out with Goyle's son."
"Ronald is having children and kittens?" Luna asked.
"Takes all kinds, I guess," said Uri.
"Hey, I'm all for it," said Andrew. "After everything that happened during the Gryff-Slyth match, it's good to see them actually, you know, co-existing."
Neville just sat back and watched the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and two Gryffindors chatting like they were all in the same house. Wonders never cease, he thought, although he did have to wonder how Gabriel Goyle actually became connected to Rose and Albus's circle in the first place.
---------
"You don't have to be so nervous."
"What?" Scorpius said with a start, pulling his eyes away from his walking feet.
"You don't have to be nervous," Meghan repeated. "You know that those three Pure Bloods are expelled. They're not going to be here."
"Oh," said Scorpius, catching on to what she was saying. "Yeah. Right..."
"Besides, I don't think they'd be stupid enough to do anything on a Hogsmeade weekend, even if they weren't gone. Not with so many professors around."
"Never underestimate the crazy," he said with a shivering sigh. "Besides, that's not what I'm nervous about."
"Oh," Meghan said, her voice shaking a bit herself. "Well, cut it out," she said, slapping his arm. "I'm nervous enough for the both of us."
"I'll try," said Scorpius, looking up and down the street at the passing students, their numerous footprints turning the once-serene snowfall into a quickly-browning slush, searching for a topic. "So, um, what d'you wanna do?"
"I dunno," Meghan shrugged. "This is my first time in Hogsmeade. Surprise me."
"You haven't been here before?" Scorpius said with surprise.
"Muggle-born, remember?" said Meghan. "Not exactly a family vacation spot."
"Well, I mean, you didn't come during the first Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Couldn't," she said, a little self-consciously. "I didn't have permission from my parents."
"Oh," said Scorpius. "So how'd you talk them into this one?"
"Mum cornered Dad after I sent enough owls," Meghan explained. "She wanted to sign it from the beginning, but he didn't."
"Well, couldn't she have signed it anyway?"
"She could have," she said quietly. "But things are... tense around my house. Dad's been... well, he's been weird about this from the very beginning. About me..."
"He doesn't like that you're a witch?" Scorpius asked.
"I don't know," said Meghan, absently playing with the earflap of her wool cap. "I think so sometimes. But other times it's that he's just afraid of magic in general, for some reason. I don't think it helps that I'm in the hospital wing every other week. It makes him think I'm in danger, or something. But Mum, she... she loves this, you know? She's fascinated by all of this, and she knows that I'm good at it when I'm not, like, screwing up and putting myself in the hospital wing. She's supporting me. And he's not. And..."
She trailed off, staring down at the sidewalk, lost in thought. Scorpius wondered whether he should put his arm around her. She was upset, she might want him to try to make her feel better. But would she want that this early? Would she want him to try to make her feel better? Should he be saying something?
"I thought it was gonna get better," Meghan said to the ground with a sniff. "I thought my dad would get used to the idea of me being a witch after two and a half years. But he hasn't. He keeps hinting -- no, he doesn't even hint, he just says -- that I could drop out and go to high school. That I should. That it'd be safer. And he has these looks that he always gives my mother, like it's her fault that I'm here. That if she was as scared as he was, then they could gang up on me and pull me out, or something. That she should be discouraging me from coming here."
"Maybe when you get older and, um, not hurt so much, maybe he'll be better about it?"
"I don't know," Meghan said with a shake of her head. "I don't know if he'll ever be better about it. I'm just afraid that... And I know that they always say that when your parents are splitting up you should never blame yourself but I can't help it I feel like they're going to split up and it's all my fault because I'm here and God," she cried, wiping her cheek with her gloved hand, "I'm a horrible first date, I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright," Scorpius said, daring to pat her on the shoulder. "You need to let it out, I need to hear it."
"No, you don't. It's just being paranoid."
"Maybe, maybe not," Scorpius shrugged. "But don't let your parents tell you what to do. You're a witch, you should learn to be a witch. Here or there, they'd be fighting. If you went back to the Muggles then your mum would only be upset that you're not realizing your potential, right? Or she'd be mad at your dad for forcing you to move back. Either way, someone's going to be upset. Just do what you think is best for you."
Meghan snorted reluctant laughter. "Look out for number one. Spoken like a true Slytherin."
"Not at all," said Scorpius. "Just, you know, recognize that there are going to be problems no matter what. Your folks are reacting differently to a unique situation. You are a witch, you can't change that, and if your dad can't deal with that then that's his problem, not yours."
"I suppose..."
"Look at it this way," said Scorpius. "If I always cared about what my parents thought, I wouldn't be here right now. I have a three-hour lecture or and a three hour screaming match ahead of me when they find out I'm on a date with a Muggle-born. They'll probably forbid me from ever talking to you again. But whatever. I have to look out for me sometimes, you know?"
"Oh, thank goodness," Meghan chuckled.
"What?"
"I thought I might have said too much when I said I was your date."
"Oh," said Scorpius, suddenly feeling quite warm despite the December chill. "So, um, is this a date?"
Meghan looked up at Scorpius with a shy smile. Then, to his surprise, she slipped her small hand into his.
"So we're on a date," she said as the two walked hand-in-hand down the street. "It's my first time in Hogsmeade. Show me the sights, Scorpius Malfoy."
"The sights," Scorpius mused. "Yeah... Well, there's Honeydukes. There's, um, the Wheezes, that's pretty cool. The post office has a lot of owls if you want to see those.... And... um... that's about it, I think."
"That's all?" Meghan said skeptically. "Really?"
"That's about it, yeah," he repeated, knowing full well that he was forgetting to tell her about some other spots. The Shrieking Shack was okay, but wasn't exactly the hot spot that it was when his parents were going to school. Some students thrilled at rumors that the ghost of Severus Snape, murdered inside by the Dark Lord during the Second Battle, still haunted the deserted building. Scorpius doubted it was true. Besides, he found the idea a little morbid, considering his father always talked about Professor Snape as his favorite teacher.
Then there was the Three Broomsticks. Gabe had said that he and a few others were going to be hanging out there, and the last thing Scorpius wanted was to sit there and take grief or, worse, lose Meghan's attention to her own friends for the rest of the afternoon. He also dreaded the very idea of Puddifoot's, currently decked out in Christmas roses and glittering baubles. More terrifying, there was mistletoe around every corner. He didn't want to be in a large group with Meghan, but he also didn't want to be completely alone with her. Despite knowing that they had spent an entire evening alone the first time he had ever met her, the thought of sitting in a corner table for two sent a nervous chill up his spine.
"Huh," said Meghan as the two turned into Honeydukes. "Everyone talks up Hogsmeade, I thought there would have been more than three neat places."
Scorpius remained tactfully quiet. He scanned the room quickly as they entered, making sure no Pure Bloods, at least troublesome ones, were in sight. Clear for now, the two made their way through the throngs of Hogwarts students pulling down pound after pound of chocolates, taffies, and other sweets from the shelves and walls of Honeydukes.
"So what do you want?" Meghan asks as they looked up and down the aisle.
"For what?"
"I said I'd get you something for your birthday that Gabe's not going to eat, right?" she replied, examining a package of Canary Creams.
"You don't have to," said Scorpius. "Really."
"Well, I have to know what to get you for Christmas, don't I?" said Meghan with a playful smirk.
"Getting a little ahead of things, aren't you?" Scorpius asked, the same smile crossing his face.
Merlin, are we actually flirting?
"When's your birthday, anyway?" asked Scorpius. "I should probably know when I'm supposed to buy you something."
"December thirty-first," said Meghan.
"Wow," he said with a chuckle. "Two parties in one night?"
"More like one party for two celebrations," she said. "But it's alright. Better than a Christmas birthday."
"I suppose," he said. "So what do you want for your birthday?"
"A kiss at midnight?"
The two froze as Meghan's words washed over them both. Scorpius's face turned pink as his lip twitched with a nervous smile, while Meghan turned beet red and turned back quickly towards the shelves.
Yeah, this is flirting, Scorpius thought as Meghan giggled a little behind her hand. And, I gotta say, it's pretty fun.
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