The Privy Councilors 29/33

[herumtreiber]

Title: The Privy Councilors 29/33
Chapter: Dark confrontations
Author:herumtreiber 
Genre: AU to HBP, romance, adventure
Disclaimer:  I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, gore
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length:  ~5,587 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Luna/Neville, Ron/Hermione, Narcissa/???  Harry is about to be sent to Azkaban. The story explores  Wizengamot politics and the fight against evil Dumbledore -  where he gets vanquished early and does not prattle on and  on - but is he gone? Plus de-aging. Someone returns whose name begins with S. (And my revenge on characters whose accents are hard to read – like Hagrid and Fleur ;-)


Table of contents


28. The song is about...

Who'd ever think it
Such a squalid little ending
Watching him descending
Just as far as he can go
I'm learning things I didn't want to know
(The deal (No Deal); Andersson- Rice - Ulvaeus)

Remus and some Prowlers faced the two traitors. Chang laughed insolently and dared them to attack her. Zacharias Smith also taunted them, directing his barbs against Hermione and her personality.

The Prowlers attacked and soon had the two Death Eaters stupefied and trussed up like chickens. Still no sign of Draco. Some of them were getting worried, as this should have brought the arrogant blond to look for them or maybe contact them via cell phone.

Remus himself had been getting contradictory signals. He felt that Draco had recently been in these parts, but after discussing with the Prowlers, no one mentioned seeing him there. If Draco had disappeared, he dreaded bringing the news to the impressionable Narcissa.
As if summoning her with the power of her name, the blonde beauty appeared next to a frazzled-looking Sirius. She said, "What's happening, Remus? What is the commotion? Sirius mentioned some pain caused by the bond. We come here looking for answers, we are also looking for Draco. I can't find him anywhere in Hogwarts!"

Remus asked worriedly, "How do you know, Cissa?"
Narcissa replied primly, "I was a little worried, so I attached to him a Tracking Charm. Strictly temporary, of course. Currently it shows me that he is not here, rather in a strange place beginning or ending with the word Castle, the place appears to be under the Fidelius."

Remus answered a bit despondently, "The Fidelius, thus unreachable! What happened here, Narcissa, is simple. Harry's old crush sent him a letter suggesting they meet here to discuss dangers. Riding roughshod over the opposition of his council, Harry decided to go. Some of his friends went with him, they were caught by the Confundus charm. Miss Cho Chang released a Snitch in front of Harry. Harry reached for it and it was activated. Just as he was leaving, he was hit by a Stupefy cast by Miss Chang."

oOoOo

As Harry was hit by the Stupefy, he lost hope. Here he was, traveling to a confrontation with Voldemort and he was completely paralyzed! It was all  Chang's fault, too!

Harry felt the pull and expected a rough landing, seeing as he was immobilized. Still, that never came, instead he found himself reclining on the floor, and comfortably situated to see that there were three Death Eaters and Voldemort.

Harry kept some natural features of his animal form with him. He could detect sound patterns beautifully. So it was that he noticed a slow exhalation near him, a whisper of cloth moving, something that would surely be unobserved by most people. Harry decided that the situation with the Munchies and Voldemort was not the most interesting feature of the room.

Draco silently fumed as he considered the situation. It was all the Weasley Twins' fault! If they hadn't invented Extendable Ears Extended, he would not have appropriated some to proceed to listen in the corridors at 3 AM. He would not have heard a third year Ravenclaw confide in a fourth year Hufflepuff about the dastardly plot by Chang to kidnap Harry!

Draco would not have taken the Invisibility Cloak so nonchalantly – well, maybe he would have. He would not have been like Harry's Shadow. And the other hapless Prowlers never even noticed he was there! Except of course for Luna, who winked at him.
He had to restrain himself not to smack Harry when he proposed to go and meet Chang alone. Finally he realized that Harry needed to confront that person, of course, he would also need the protection afforded by an invisible Malfoy.

So on that fateful walk to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there was an unknown traveler. When the others fell victim to the Confundus charm, Draco only got a small bit, not too much, just making him incapable to defend himself for a while.

Draco even had the brilliant idea of transforming into a lion, though he quickly desisted when he looked at Harry and realized that a lion under the Cloak would surely be seen. He needed to be close to Harry, and silent too.

When Cho threw the Snitch at Harry, Draco was fascinated, until he suddenly remembered that he no longer had to catch the Snitch. He was not a Seeker anymore. That insight brought his acuity to his normal levels.
Just as the portkey activated, Draco held on to one of Harry's arms. He cringed when he heard Cho's shout of "Stupefy!" and Harry became stiff as wood.

When the portkey deposited them in the Dark Lord's presence, Draco grabbed the Invisible wand that was dangling from Harry's nerveless fingers.

As he was sinking into despair, Harry felt someone grab his knee. Then someone smacked him in the arm. The combination of gestures could only come from one person, thought Harry, hoping against hope that no one on his side got hurt. It all made some kind of sense now, and he hoped that Draco's flair for the dramatic did not get them into trouble.

Draco was pondering their problems, after trying to comfort Harry. He was dimly conscious of the Dark Lord's posturing, but he had heard it all before and it was not important, frankly the Dark Lord was more boring than Mr. Binns.

"Pureblood Supremes"  Check.
"Supreme plot to get the downtrodden Harry and steal something from him"  Check.
"Plot involving the wand"  Whoa!

Draco and Harry paid attention as the Dark Lord gloated, "You think you are so free Potter, but you are only a small piece in the chess set. Your role was established a long time ago and it was to be followed scrupulously by you. What might interest you is that I did not choose the chess board or pawns, it was Dumbledore who did."

"He foresaw a future where we battled several times, and both survived, only to grow stronger. I don't know if Dumbledore is gone or not, I want to win this game, to vanquish you completely. Dumbledore gave me the tools I needed!"

"Dumbledore was so kind as to prevail upon his familiar Fawkes so that the phoenix would transfer his magic, his essence, himself, into the body of Peter Pettigrew."
Voldemort continued in an unctuous voice, "Now Harry, after all our skirmishes, you are aware of the fact that our two wands can not fight against each other, because they are brother wands. Another Dumbledorian ploy, no doubt. This fact saved your life once."

"It won't save you again. In the core of my wand, there used to be a phoenix feather. It so happened that I had control over Pettigrew-Fawkes, the part phoenix. He gave me three more phoenix feathers willingly."
"The stalemate, the balance is thus finally broken. My wand will vanquish yours, just as I will win over you."
Voldemort rapidly took out his wand and shouted Avada Kedavra! Directing the spell to Harry.

Draco, as he prepared for the hardest battle in his life, had to admire the Dark Twit's plots. It was a pity that they caused so much pain and death.
He swished the Invisible wand and muttered, "Accio Death Eaters!"

The three startled Death Eaters flew to Draco's side. The first one arrived conveniently to block the Dark Lord's first curse. An increasingly irate Dark Twit cast two more curses, and the two remaining Death Eaters caught the brunt of their master's displeasure and died.
Voldemort was smart, very much so. The former Head Boy saw Harry lying down, and realized he couldn't have blocked the spells. He deduced that someone was with him, possibly under an Invisibility Cloak. He also surmised who it must be.

Voldemort flicked his wand energetically and cast a spell that effectively caused a small hurricane in the room. Draco took care that Harry wasn't jostled around too much, and therefore was unaware that the Invisibility Cloak had slipped from him. Voldemort pointed his wand at Draco and said an incantation that would give him his wand. Promptly Draco's wand flew out of his robe and got to Voldemort, who pocketed it.

Voldemort gloated and leered at them. He had them where he wanted them, and now his fun would not be denied or postponed.
Harry was in despair. They were at the hands of Snake-face! Damn Cho to hell!
Draco considered his next move, he believed in Sirius' interpretation of magic. He had surprise on his side, and hopefully magic.

Voldemort faced Draco and cast an Avada Kedavra directly at him.
Draco swished and flicked the Invisible wand, casting Petrificus totalus at the Dark Twit.

The light of the spells met in the middle. Voldemort expected his green spell to come through. What happened was completely different.

Sirius expressed it best when he said that wands are quite a lot more than the sum of their parts: a magical core, the wood and the cover. If Harry's wand had remained as it was, the situation would have been indeed untenable, but now the wand was completely redesigned. It got a magical cover, which was the demiguise cloth used in one of the Deathly Hallows, the Invisible Cloak.

Also important was the fact that the outer part of the old wand was covered by blood willingly offered, even if Draco grumbled a bit whenever he cut his fingers when he was sewing the invisible cloth.

The magic woven around the wand was very powerful, it was  made by an Enemy and two Friends, a wand of renewal, hope of protection against the cruel hands of unknown fate.
The ideas may not have affected the core business of magic, but they certainly affected the intent, upon which magic depends.

So for a little less than five seconds, the lights seemingly touched one another without mixing and tried to go around their path. However the red light of Petrificus soon overtook completely the Avada green, having no barrier, the spell continued until it met its target, Voldemort.

The Dark Lord soon keeled over, having been completely immobilized.

Draco recovered his wand and the Cloak, and promptly freed Harry from the spell.
Harry grumbled a little, mentioning that he would have gotten out of the problem, to which Draco replied facetiously, "Yeah, in your dreams!"

Draco bound Voldie with tight rope, and he took out a bracelet, saying "This is a portkey to Hogwarts! We will use it to get there and later kidnap our dear Dark Blob into the Chamber of Secrets!"
Harry smacked Draco upside the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Harry replied, "You had a way out of all this, you should have used it and saved yourself!"

Harry was smacked in the arm in return, "Twit! Don't you get it that there's nothing that can keep us apart? Wild horses could never take me from you; wild hippogriffs maybe, but horses, no!"

Draco gave Harry the bracelet, saying "Use it to picture one part of Hogwarts where we will arrive." Then he gathered his things and grabbed Voldie's and Harry's hands, thinking hell must have frozen over.

Harry pictured Moaning Myrtle's bathroom whilst he mumbled, "Crazy hippogriff-challenged individuals."

oOoOo

They duly left Voldemort's Keep, where they did not want to remain, and reached Hogwarts. Harry used his parseltongue abilities to open the door to the Chamber of Secrets. They made their way down.

Draco said, "Whatever happens, Harry, remember all the pain he caused. Circumstances force us to choose certain paths, in order to avoid a certain peril. We must be aware of possible horcruxes, also the Triple Kiss proved insufficient to stop Dumbles. These stark necessities must guide our hand now."

Draco turned to face Voldemort, and swishing the Invisible wand, intoned, "Imperio: You will gouge out your eyes with the spoon that will appear." He conjured a silver spoon. Harry gasped but kept quiet.
Voldemort tried to fight the Imperio of the blond, whom he had always considered weak and untrustworthy. He found he couldn't. The curse was as relentless as its caster, and it would only be satiated with one action.

It took half a minute until the Dark Lord reached for the spoon and proceeded to gouge out his eyes. Harry watched as Draco swished the wand and all blood disappeared, cauterizing the wounds as well.

Draco turned to Harry, "We are ready for the next step of the plan. We can not kill the Dark Lord until we have the last horcrux destroyed, and there is no way of knowing if what we suppose the last one is really the last one. I also heard some rumors that you were a horcrux of Voldemort and therefore should offer yourself up so he can kill you and another horcrux bites the dust."

"There is one way to jump over these assumptions, though, and I invite you to take it with me!"
"Voldemort has always been obsessed with immortality. I submit that we give it to him!"

"Consider this, Harry: a basilisk lives for thousands of years. A blind basilisk that lived in the Chamber of Secrets would be free to continue its existence for untold years. Snake-face will finally become a snake. He will be detained here forever and no one must know, not even our friends, Harry!"

"We will perform a joint transformation on Voldemort and he will assume the basilisk shape permanently. Being blind he cannot kill like they do. We will perform a Fidelius charm on the Chamber of Secrets, so that only you and I know where it is."

Harry and Draco, using their wands, cast a transformation spell on Voldemort that Draco recalled from his study days at the Manor under the stern tutelage of his father. The relentless magic of the two powerful wizards was enough to overcome any native barrier of Voldemort's and he was duly changed into a basilisk, one that measured 3 meters long.
Harry used Mobilicorpus to drag the unresisting serpentine shape to the place in the Chamber where the basilisks apparently resided.

oOoOo

Draco performed the Fidelius charm ritual, and the Secret Keeper chosen was Harry Potter. Harry muttered,  "The Chamber of Secrets may be found beneath Hogwarts."

Harry mentioned a little peevishly, "I thought only the owners could perform a Fidelius."

Draco answered, "It depends on circumstances. Here the fact that you could speak Parseltongue made you a strong contender for the possession of the Chamber, given by Slytherin to his descendants, among whom parseltongue is venerated."

Just as they were ready to leave, Draco noticed Harry's sudden discomfort. He asked gently, "What's up, Harry?"

Harry replied timidly, "I was wondering, you vanquished the Dark Lord, the prophecy must be wrong!"
Draco sighed as he answered, "Or maybe it was right all along. I can bet you that if we consult with Luna we will find an Amazonian tribe whose calendar shows that I was born as the seven month dies. My mother had probably challenged Voldemort in secret, as did my father, probably giving him tepid coffee and interrupting his planning. The power the Dark Lord knew not was the power of friends, who would help each other in bad or good situations."

"What I mean to say is that when all is said and done the Prophecy is just words. They were chosen by Dumbles because they helped him to gain your custody and trust."
"Voldemort is gone, your unrelenting duty calls have been amply answered. It's time to have some fun! But we must get first to some Prowlers and Marauders or we'll be lynched!"

oOoOo

The combined force of Prowlers and Marauders was busy trying to find out where Draco and Harry were. Hermione, Remus, Neville and Luna were in the Library doing research.

The others were in Draco's rooms, pacing around and occasionally sighing. Narcissa and Sirius were balls of nerves, until suddenly Narcissa stood up and shouted, "He's come back! My son has come back!" Sirius embraced her.
They contacted the other persons and they came back from their research. Soon the door opened and an exhausted-looking, yet smirking Draco Malfoy accompanied by a visibly drained Harry Potter went inside.

They were the center of a group hug. Everyone wanted to know what had happened until Draco shouted, "What happened is simple! Harry was kidnapped and I sneaked along, Voldemort bored us with his exposition, and I vanquished him!"

Hermione said, "You, but the Prophecy specifically stated that…"
Draco countered with, "The prophecy was manipulated. Every adult and opinionated youth that were skulking around would have been able to vanquish him, if they had planned and dared! They found it so much easier to believe in dead words than in the future of an innocent infant."

Narcissa asked, "What happened? You were gone for four hours!"
Draco sighed and said, "I won't tell you, I'll show you." He accio'd a Pensieve. He put his wand near his temple and extracted the memory of his curious day, stopping when Voldemort froze under the Petrificus.

The Prowlers and Marauders could see the memory when it was played in exposition form. They could observe Harry gliding along, later the results of the Confundus, Cho's words and the portkey, and the confrontation with Voldie.
Ron asked, "So how did you finish off Voldemort?"

Draco answered nonchalantly, as if it was a question he was used to answering, "I cast a variance of the Killing Curse that makes it impossible for him to remain here. I cast Avada Kedavra infinitus, using Voldemort's own magic as the motive power. The spell will try to kill him aided by his magic, and his own magic will react. The stalemate will last forever. Just to be sure I turned him into stone."
Eventually they ended the grueling question session three hours later. Both Draco and Harry were exhausted from the awful day they had endured, and fell asleep at once, not without Draco sneaking out a memory vial with his owl.

The next day the paper had the great adventure of Voldemort's defeat. The account was factual, though, and mostly followed Draco's point of view, which it was not strange considering that his memories were used to communicate the story to the writer, who signed simply as N. Tonks.

There was a palpable sense of relief going through the school, and probably through the Wizarding World. For some time, they had been bereft of their father figure, while their supposed hero disavowed them. Now it seemed that the misunderstood one was really the hero. Only time could tell what would occur.
If the school felt relieved, the Prowlers, and especially the Musketeers, felt daunted at what still awaited them, a new avatar or reincarnation of Dumbles. It felt like running in circles, never going anywhere useful. Still they persisted, because it was what they wanted.

Draco called Sirius on the phone and told him to meet him in his room. When he arrived, the suspicious Marauder looked at Draco shrewdly and realized no pranks were involved, so he breathed easily.

Draco said, "I have gotten to know you a lot, Sirius, since we first started our exchanges. I want the best for you."
Draco continued, "There's a development that could be worrisome. Now that Voldemort is no more, and my father was passing information to Severus, they will let him out of Azkaban. They will insist on exile, so he will live in some manor in the Continent or America . But he will press to have his family back. I can handle him myself, but it is my mother I worry about. At home it was always the monolithic power of my father that solved everything, Mother wasn't allowed her opinions. I fear the return of such circumstances."

"Mother has been more carefree and happy the last few months, mostly because of you. I must ask you to make a decision, whether to give Mother up or search something with her."
"Before you start, Sirius, you and I know that having a cousin as mate in the Pureblood rituals is insignificant and hardly newsworthy. You also know that if some miscreants bother you, I will send them away after suing them."

Sirius replied, "I'm afraid I will disappoint you Draco, like I have disappointed Harry."

Draco answered earnestly, "You have never disappointed me, Sirius! Not as a book, nor as a live person nor yet as a small kid. You were always the essential you, and you have provided great comfort, love and security for me."

"Hearing this, you must realize you won't disappoint me. I know Harry and he holds you with the highest esteem, through thick and thin, through life and death."

Draco continued, "I will support you whatever way you decide. I want you to be in my life and to be in yours, whether you act as godfather-in-law or companion or father. I will keep trying to keep Mother happy."

oOoOo

Next Draco went to visit his mother. Narcissa was reading some magazines. Draco surreptitiously observed the room for any loose cutlery and cast a spell to glue it for half an hour. He tried to give himself a pat in the back by reminding himself that he had already met and dueled Voldemort, his mother was surely not that dangerous.

It didn't work.

Draco started anyway. He informed Narcissa of the very real possibility of Lucius leaving Azkaban to stay in Europe or America. He emphasized that Lucius had no right over them, he had relinquished that some time ago when he cared more about the Dark Lord.

He asked seriously, "What are you going to do about Sirius, mother?"
Narcissa replied, flustered, "What?"

Draco answered, "He makes you feel more brightly. I've seen you laugh and play, prank and be yourself. I see you alive, I think it has to do with your relation with him. You will say that I am too young, and maybe that's true. Still I hope I'm old enough to recognize and appreciate love, and learn to cherish it in my heart."

"Please mother, be assured of my respect and love for you. Nothing can change that, and nothing ever will. I wish the best for you, and if it is Sirius, I'd be delighted! Or if you decide not to pursue that avenue, I would respect your wishes. Just don't let Lucius tell you what to do as is his wont."

Three hours later, Sirius was kissing a delightfully surprised Narcissa in her quarters, when they were rudely interrupted by the being Sirius wanted to avoid meeting.

Kreacher said officiously, "Lady Black, Lord Black, I must inform you that the analysis done in the former rooms of Grimmauld Place 12 has been finished. It is ready for your perusal."
Narcissa recovered first and called another House-elf to get Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione so they could go with them. Having a hunch, she included Luna and Neville in the list of persons to go.

Eventually they all Apparated or used portkeys to get to the manor. Draco observed a Sirius and Narcissa in disarray and inwardly smirked and gloated: 'Lion 2, Black-Black 0.'

They entered, and when Luna stepped inside, she felt an inchoate pain, she hardly listened to the explanations because the ache was devouring her. Neville solicitously asked her if they should perhaps leave. Luna answered resolutely, "No, I want to see some of the reasons now."
So Narcissa called for the projections to start, showing a period of more than two years.

At first nothing untoward happened, then it became clear that people were being kept prisoner. Luna muttered darkly to herself, "Seer McKenna!"

The people imprisoned were treated progressively worse. Soon they came to be subject to appalling actions. Everyone was crying now and trying to hold onto a dear one.
Draco exclaimed, "I want an Obliviate! The whole thing is so.. unspeakable, I know it will haunt my mind if I remember it."

Harry and Ron surprisingly concurred. Sirius and Narcissa looked like they wanted to agree, too, but they were the adult and responsible ones.
Hermione answered their plea with cool logic, as was her wont. "Why use a crude obliviate when we have a better remedy? I propose we use the Immolatio mens spell, cued to let's say an elf singing the Marseillaise."

Everyone concurred with Hermione's idea when suddenly a pale, trembling Luna spoke, "Before we do that, there are some things I must tell you. As some of you know, I am a Seer, that does not mean like Trelawney, but rather a person that watches the Universe and helps keep it in being. Quantum theory would seem to point out many probabilistic results of the experiments. It seems that in certain cases, the act of being observed indelibly fixes the results of the experiment."

Luna gracefully waved her arm to encompass her slim body. "We are not these unwieldy molecules and atoms, but rather a set of probabilistic functions that have collapsed in a strangely unique way. According to some theories, the purpose of life is to provide such observation platforms."

She smiled wryly. "At any rate we Observe, and we are very good at it. Some people believe that Atlantis was not Observed enough and thus disappeared into the primordial chaos. It is a tradition that no Seer should know who their fellow Seers are. However, two years ago, a group of more than 10 Seers presented itself to Albus Dumbledore with the purpose to help him in the war. They were never seen again."

Luna motioned to the door, a sad expression on her face. "I don't have to tell you what he did with them, you observed it. I can tell you though that Munro McKenna made some hand motions during one of the periods he was sane. Those correspond with American Native sign language for "Ritual of Rendering."

Hermione sat down with a thud. "I've read about that Ritual. It's very dangerous to perform, because it can wipe out existence. Basically it would be a ritual to destroy Time between some selected moment and the present."
Narcissa commented, "Then be thankful I interrupted Dumble's experiments when I became the Heir of Black. Dumbles was really not counting on his commando base exploding under him."

Hermione continued, "If the ritual was interrupted then that's why we are still here, remembering our lives. Still, some part of the rite obviously succeeded, as no Dumbledore paintings have appeared and the interrogation of the Dementors supposedly having his partial soul proved futile. I have the strong hunch that he went back in time and looked for a moment or person to influence, to bridge his gap regarding us. He will reappear when he wants, but we'll be ready for him, as ready as we can be."

Then Hermione took out her wand and swishing it energetically and lively, directed its top to each of the individuals there, except Kreacher. With the surety and elegance of a very powerful witch, she said Immolatio mens! After having set the conditions when the spell should stop. They would remember their conclusions, but not the agonizing sights they had endured. It was thus that Hermione realized that there was some knowledge she did not want.

On Tuesday the school still was abuzz about the new Voldemort-vanquisher. A visibly disgruntled Draco left the Great Hall rather than withstand the stares of the fellow sheep. A few seconds later, Harry moved fast to get to Draco's side. People thought that Harry looked solicitous, but Luna Saw better. She perceived Harry's very faint smirk and nonchalant walk.

Harry appeared to be gloating to himself, 'Let's see how the Savior shoe fits, Lion!'

oOoOo

Lessons proceeded as usual for Luna. She loved Tuesdays because she had her Arithmancy class that day. It was a pleasure for her to see the strange uses of some mathematical equations and how they impacted spells. Muggles really were so ignorant! They had not decoded the true import of Fibonacci numbers.

She had briefly toyed with the idea of becoming a Generalist, as she loved to see and learn about the interactions between different branches of magic. Lately though, she had been very busy with the paper and the plans she was slowly developing with the help of Neville.

When she entered the Great Hall for dinner, she found a small green envelope in her seat. Observing it carefully and comparing it to known malignant objects, she thought it was friendly. There was a small note, written with invisible ink. It was only her keen powers of observation that permitted her to learn what the letter said: 'I await the pleasure of your company at that place which adapts the most. Black Panther.'

Luna thought it was an invitation for a date with Neville. The problem was the place, what was that site that adapts the most? Then she remembered the Room of Requirement.
She subtly fingered her orange rind earrings and pineapple bracelet, which calmed her so much, and coincidentally provided subtle Earth magic with the goal of avoiding pranks and mishaps.

She made her way to the Room and entered. The illumination was subtle and refined, it came from about 200 candles hovering in midair or on the big table situated in the middle. The table was red-orange, the colors of Gryffindor, with blue edges proclaiming the Ravenclaw heritage.

The two chairs looked very comfortable. As she sat down, Luna Saw rose petals of many colors, perhaps as many colors as a rose can be, perhaps as many colors as there are.
She calculated there were at least 2000 petals in the table, chairs and floor.

Then Neville entered. He looked breathtaking, his brown hair carefully coiffed, his robes elegant yet tasteful, his whole outlook bearing a lot of maturity and strength, which he had acquired, like all of them, living through trying situations.

Neville kissed Luna, they stopped before they got lost on the kiss.
Luna was astounded at the many different petals. When she asked Neville how he had gotten them, the Gryffindor fidgeted a bit and said, "As you know, Luna, I'm very good in Herbology. The science has always fascinated me. I started planting things since I was five years old, trying to escape the strictures of an unyielding Gran."

"When I was six, I discovered how to grow roses and preserve them. Actually it was thanks to Draco that I learned about the preservation. Gran decided to visit the Malfoys and I had to go with her. Draco's father was awful, his mother was cold, Draco looked bored."

"After dinner we escaped to the Garden. I mentioned that I liked plants and Draco called a house-elf, called Twinky, who apparently was in charge of the garden, to give me a rundown on different processes used. I learned much from that conversation."

"Unfortunately Gran thought that the Malfoys were overbearing, prissy, sententious. She didn't visit them any more and Draco and I lost the chance to become friends then."
"But with the information, I was able to save the petals from every rose I have ever planted. Through the years, I tried to plant roses of every color. The result is here, plain for you to See."

"Luna, I know you can See many things. I hope you can glean a pattern from the roses, such path could be said to resemble my life. The roses strive for the light of day and turn it into beautiful flowers."

Breathless, Luna observed as Neville got on his knees and took out a small box, which he opened while he said, "I would like our patterns to join, I feel without you there would be no real light, or roses. Will you marry me, Luna Lovegood Ravenclaw?"

Luna replied huffily, "Neville, need you ask? You have stood behind me always, even when I was in the wrong and tried to pressure you into changing your views. You always gave me a chance to grow and protected me. I only hope that I can do as much. I hope to be your shelter, and grow wise enough to help and protect my Nev. Of course I will marry you, Neville Longbottom!"

Neville kissed Luna, and it was a sweet, passionate kiss. They had experience with this type of kisses, but they were certainly looking forward to what would come.

They did not know what the future would bring, but they would surely meet it forcefully, with verve and the bravery of Gryffindor, the intelligence of Ravenclaw, the loyalty of Hufflepuff, and Slytherin's guile.

30. The wrath of Weasley

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