Predators in the Night
a/n – Something that grew up out of an off the cuff comment on CaerAzkaban talking about the wild moors. And Wales.
And, as always, nothing recognizable in the Harry Potter Universe belongs to anyone other than JKR and her merry band of delinquents .. .I mean business partners. The radio program Harry is listening to is on BBC Wales, and this story implies Lunar Harmony. While anyone bothered by that might want to decamp now, it doesn't seem to bother anyone at Alex and Helen's country club since the Triad and children are frequent guests of the Grangers for Sunday Brunch.
Of course, Helen is just plain scary in her own right and Alex is a former Royal Marine so that might cut down on the gossip. As my great-uncle was fond of saying "there's no such thing as 'former' Marines. There are Marines on active duty and Marines waiting for orders, but that's really it."
Also, someone else is wandered in, and they'll be acknowledged in an afterward.
Chapter One - … But You'll Only Die Tired
1145 bst 22 April, 2012 Grand Salon, Potter Manor Mt Snowden Wales
"...and to the South, it seems that it was a busy weekend in Cornwall for the legendary 'Beast of Bodmin Moor'. Friday and Saturday evenings, during the dark of the moon, there were numerous sightings of the legendary feline in the vicinity of the West Country village of Godric's Hollow. As has been the case in recent years, the mythical feline has been seen chasing a figure of a man in dark robes and wearing a silver mask, playing some sort of macabre game of 'cat and mouse' with the screaming figure. While this is a relatively new addition to the legend, tales of large cats and other animal oddities have abounded in Cornwall and Wales for centuries."
Turning off the radio, Harry Potter put down the copy of The Sunday Prophet he had been looking through and looked over at the other davenport where Luna was lounging, drinking tea and working the word search puzzle from the weekend edition of The Quibbler.
Feeling his eyes on her, Luna smirked and simply asked, "Yes?"
"Did you ladies put him back," Harry asked as he shook his head.
"Put who back," Luna parried his question with a question as she circled "shenanigans" backwards and diagonally. "And where would we have put whomever back?"
Pushing his glasses up and pinching the bridge of his nose, Harry closed his eyes. "Dolohov," he replied wearily, "and back in Cell 27b in Azkaban."
"Don't we always," Luna asked innocently as she circled "retribution". "We're big witches, we can clean up after ourselves."
"Should have known, when the two of you didn't come to be until after four, two nights in a row."
Remembering how giggly Hermione had been when the pair had woken him for a moment as they trooped into their room last night / earlier this morning, he sighed.
"Catnip hangover?"
"Left a potion on the nightstand for her. She'll be fine, her alarm's set for noon. She'll be ready to go when we take the sprogs to Alex and Helen's for brunch at their club."
Still watching Luna closely, Harry waited as she continued to work the word search.
Finally, she sighed and put down the magazine and rolled her eyes. "Ask, already."
Shrugging, Harry smiled sadly, "Not going to ask, 'Why', the Department of Mysteries and the fact he was at Malfoy Manor explains why. But …"
Trailing off, Harry simply gestured toward her and asked, "How?"
Smirking mischievously, Luna wrinkled her nose, shifted into her animagus form, a rather large white rabbit with overly sharp incisors and blood-red eyes, and shifted back before answering.
"With the Beast of Bodmin Moor running around, no one ever notices the Beast of Caerbannog," she said sweetly as she picked up her magazine and went back to work looking for "incongruous".
"Pity, that. I'm much more photogenic."
a/n2 - And the Beast of Caerbannog is courtesy of the folks at Monty Python, specifically 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'. And remember, as always, five is right out.