A/N- Alright so this chapter came pretty quickly but don't get used to it folks. I really am trying to keep up and not take too long but you know how life can be. On another note, I am not giving up this story nor am I giving up The Nine People You Meet In The Afterlife. Some of the jokes in this chapter will only be funny if you have read that story. It's a bit like a companion piece but you can read this without ever having read the other. So, without any more chatter from me, I present to you, Chapter 10! Oh, and thank you for the lovely reviews. Your response is the reason I was writing at four o' clock this morning.
Nightfall came faster than anyone would have thought it would. James, Abby and Nat sat in the Gryffindor common room. Daemian had gone up to get the Cloak from Al. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Nat asked a bit worriedly.
"No," James answered simply, staring into the cackling fire. "But you can't go through life sure of everything," he pointed out. Nat nodded, resigning herself to accept the answer and curled herself up in the armchair. There was a comfortable silence that elapsed and soon, everyone felt a certain sense of comfort about what they were about to do. James had always been the sort of person that exuded comfort.
"Ready?" Al chimed as he, Dalton and Daemian came down the stairs, clutching the Cloak.
"Wait!" Rose squealed as she nearly tripped down the stairs in her attempt to get to the common room quickly.
"Alright, so Victoire and Emilie are in the Room of Requirement already…" James stood up, gathering the map in his arms, a light blush creeping into his cheeks.
"Who's Emilie?" Abby demanded instantly, her face now scowling at James.
"Victoire's friend," he murmured, the bush in his cheeks intensifying. Al had to work his hardest to stifle his laughter. So James had a crush on a seventh year and Abby had a crush on James. Typical for James to be out of his league and not notice that one of his closest friends fancied him.
"Well, then, let's be off?" Al announced, not wanting a full-scale fight to break out between Abby and James before they were able to set the plan into motion. Everyone nodded and began pouring out of the Portrait Hole. It wasn't curfew yet so they didn't receive a lecture from the Fat Lady as they went past. Halfway down the corridor, Daemian donned the Cloak and the second years trotted off to the left while the first years continued along forward.
"Do you think asking Luna'll do any good?" Dalton asked conversationally as they maneuvered their way down the moving staircases.
"It can't hurt to try," Al shrugged as one of the stairways swung unexpectedly to the left. "Rose, I have a question," he began suddenly. "Remember a long time ago, you said that James's friends had told you things you wouldn't tell him?"
Rose nodded.
"Well, what exactly were they?"
"If I didn't tell him, what makes you think I'll tell you?" she shot back smartly, grinning devilishly.
Al frowned and turned to Dalton. "Daughter of her mother, this one is." Dalton sniggered but stopped under Rose's glare.
The rest of the walk to the greenhouses went by relatively quickly between sharp retorts about Rose and playful comments in return. "Here we are," Rose sighed as she heaved open the door and allowed her brother and friend to scamper in before her.
"Who's there?" a distinctly airy voice wafted through the air to the three children.
"It's us, Professor Lovegood…. it's Al, Rose and Dalton," he continued even though he was relatively sure that Luna didn't know Dalton.
"How nice of you to come and visit," she said as she floated towards the room where Al was standing. Luna Lovegood looked vastly different than she had during her time at Hogwarts. There were some unmistakable qualities, the radish earrings, the airy voice and the flowing, pale blonde hair, but for the most part, she was unrecognizable. Her face had matured into more womanly features and she had grown a surprising amount taller. Even her neat, dark blue robes hardly suggested fascination with nonexistent nargles.
"We've come to see if you needed any help setting up your office," Al supplied awkwardly, wishing he possessed some of his brother's charm.
"Oh," Luna breathed, looking startled. "I thought you had come down to ask me if I knew where Neville had gone," she stated plainly, turning and walking back into her office, her cloak billowing behind her.
Al, Rose and Dalton stood there uncomfortably for a bit. Luna never had lost her knack for speaking uncomfortable truths.
Dalton pursued his lips, a public sign that he wasn't about to say anything. Al tilted his head towards Luna's door and shrugged.
"Well, that could have been part of it," Rose agreed, taking tentative steps to the office. "Do you know though, Aunt Luna? Where Neville went? Is it something important?" she asked, now in the office looking up at Luna with bright, curious eyes.
"Why of course it was something important. Do you think Neville would have gone if it wasn't something of utmost importance?" Luna asked dreamily as she scooped up some unrecognizable potted plants and began scattering them around the room generously. Rose looked over her shoulder and exchanged excited glances with Al and Dalton.
"We didn't think he would but we were wondering if we could be of any help… to whatever Neville was planning with Professor McGonagall."
"Your offering is kind but with half of the Order of the Phoenix in on it, I daresay they have enough help," Luna nodded, now going around with what resembled a watering can and spraying all the plants with an orange liquid.
"Then could we at the very least know what's going on?" Rose prodded.
"No one feels the need to keep us informed around these parts," Al added while Dalton continued to linger towards the back, lips pursed and soaking in the scene.
"You're Dalton Wood?" Luna asked, snubbing both questions and looking straight at the little blond boy.
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded quietly.
"And you are here because, as friend to a Potter and Weasley, they bring you into all sorts of adventures?" she asked serenely as she continued going around with her watering tin.
"Yes, professor. And I think it's important that we know…"
"Why is it important that you know?" Luna inquired, her voice as calm as ever.
All three faltered as none had an answer to the question.
"Oh, Aunt Luna, you always confuse me," Rose laughed, flopping down into one of the blue arm chairs. The tension in the room seemed to have broken and both Al and Dalton sat themselves down, smiles playing on their faces.
"Good. After confusion usually comes answer or two."
Harry stormed into the house, throwing the simple oak door closed behind him. It was well into the early hours of the morning, the still time between sunfall and sunrise. He and Ginny had arrived home at least three hours ago, had relieved Katie of her babysitting duties and had hardly sat down to an incredibly late dinner when Harry had up and ran out. He was angry. He was confused. This Recol character was beginning to change the way Harry saw things, now his vision was tinged with anger.
"Harry James Potter!" Ginny reprimanded from the kitchen where she sat, hair up in a messy bun, a steaming cup of tea held in both her hands. "You'll wake Lily."
Harry glared at her with unmistakable anger for a moment before it seemed that every ounce of energy rushed out of his fingertips, leaving him hardly able to stand. "Sorry, Gin," he murmured, walking past the kitchen and towards the bedroom.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked in a voice highly reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley.
"Bed," he shot back matter-of-factly.
"Come here," she ordered though her voice had considerably softened. Once Harry was standing crankily at the doorway, she considered him thoughtfully. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he murmured immaturely.
Ginny smiled resignedly. "Harry, we're married now. It's not like you can just ignore me and scamper off to your dormitory while I stay down in the common room being harassed about you by Romilda Vane. After nineteen years, do you still have trouble trusting me?" she asked. Her voice was free of any accusations and this made Harry's heart clench guiltily.
"It's not that. I just have things to worry about and I don't want you to worry about them, too."
Ginny laughed. "So you think Recol's all yours now?" she asked, sipping her tea tentatively. "He's my problem as much as he is yours."
"He's not calling for your immediate resignation from the Ministry. He's not threatening your fami…" Harry trailed off and dragged himself over to the chair across Ginny, collapsing into it.
"No, he's not calling for my resignation but he is threatening my family as much as he is yours," she pointed out with a mischievous smile.
"But in the words of one of our children, you can't live your whole life worried."
"Who said that?"
"Al wrote me and told me that James had given him that bit of information," Ginny informed him. "It came in just today but you've been so busy storming about, I don't think you've had time to read it."
After a tired silence, Ginny spoke again. "Harry, we're going to get through this."
"How do you put up with all this, Gin?" Harry asked randomly, slamming his fist onto the table.
"Put up with what?"
"Everything! I mean, when you married me, you probably weren't getting ready for a lifetime of threats and danger and…."
Somewhere between all his yelling, he had not noticed Ginny get up from her chair and wrap her arms around his neck tenderly. "I wasn't expecting a perfectly happy ending, if that's what you're trying to say. Honestly, Harry, you know me better than this. I was in more danger my sixth year than I was in all my other years combined and you were no where to be found. No, I was in danger because of my own doing. Because, I, like you, have this strong inclination towards what's right," she finished, kissing his cheek.
"Ginny," was all Harry could muster through the wave of relief that was washing over him. He had needed to be reminded that Ginny was making these decisions out of her own lot, that she didn't hold it against Harry that deranged people like Voldemort and now Recol were drawn to him.
"We'll be fine," Ginny nodded and though Harry knew it wasn't her place to promise anything of that sort, it made him feel considerably better. And then, with surprising agility, he jumped out of his chair, swung around and swept Ginny off her feet. She was a fair amount smaller than he was so it wasn't incredibly challenging. Ginny squealed in laughter as Harry lumbered off towards the bedroom.
Harry shushed her playfully. "You'll wake Lily," he warned before kicking the door closed behind him.
Daemian rubbed his eyes wearily, laying languidly on one of the bean bags in the Room of Requirement. "James, where's Al? I want to go to sleep," he complained, rolling over uncomfortably no his side.
"If it's taken him this long, he's probably figured something out," James implored unconvincingly. He looked at Emilie out of the corner of his eye nervously but upon seeing her humming patiently, the tension in his face was considerably relaxed.
"I think James is right," Victoire rushed to his defense and now, having successfully persuaded a seventh year, there were no more arguments. After another twenty minutes had elapsed, the large door to the room opened and Al, Rose and Dalton fell inside.
"What took you so long?" James demanded, casting a backwards glance to see if Emilie was appreciating his very masculine way of dealing with the situation. Al had to work to stifle a laugh and he could see Abby rolling her eyes dismissively.
"We were talking to Luna," Al answered back simply.
"Did you find out anything?" Nat added in, now excited that they had received new arrivals.
"Well, not anything in particular, no," Rose frowned, sitting down gently on one of the bean bags. There were groans of disappointment.
"But we did figure out that Neville's doing something important for the Order," Dalton supplied helpfully.
"That's a far cry better than anything we found out," Abby observed tersely.
"How did your interview go?"
"Well, Seamus wouldn't say anything. He just said that Neville was in fact gone and no one really knew when he would be coming back," James explained. "And then he asked if I had a subscription to the Daily Prophet and I said no but that Victoire did and he said he would recommend canceling it," James frowned now.
"I don't think that the whole Daily Prophet situation is relevant to Neville," Emilie said from her spot near Victoire.
"No, someone he hates probably works there or something," Daemian added, laughing at his own joke.
The nine students stayed in the room a bit longer, laughing and sipping the hot cocoa the house elves had brought up. Finally, when a grandfather clock chimed midnight, they decided to disperse. "Emilie is in Ravenclaw so she'll be heading up a different way," Victoire announced to whomever it concerned.
"Alright, well, have a safe trip up, Emilie. I'll keep an eye on the map and make sure you don't get caught," James offered gallantly. Abby accidentally stepped on his toe.
"Thank you, James," Emilie said graciously as she hurried along the corridor.
The rest of the group crept up quietly to their common room, said the password ("Blast-Ended Skrewt") and dispersed to their own respective dormitories.
The next morning, James had trouble waking, not being accustomed to going off so little sleep. It took the combined efforts of Daemian and Sebastian to prop him out of his bed and ensure that he made his way down to breakfast.
"Hey, James!" chirped Rose as he passed her on his way down. He looked at his cousin with a look of utter confusion. How on earth did she have that much energy? Sighing heavily, he followed his two friends until they reached the Great Hall.
"I asked Victoire to lend me her copy of the Daily Prophet when she was done," James spoke between yawns.
It was a bright morning with nary a cloud in the sky. The staff table seemed to accept Luna's present naturally and everything ran smoothly as students tucked into porridge, kippers, toast and eggs. It wasn't until that Victoire Weasley handed James the Daily Prophet with a trembling hand that nothing seemed right. The headline proclaimed everything he needed to know: RECOL LETTERS CALL FOR RESTRICTIONS ON HALF-BREEDS AND POTTER RESIGNATION: story inside on page 4.
While James was used to seeing his last name in the newspaper, he had never before seen it in this context. He tore open the newspaper and scanned page 4 quickly. He gathered the general idea and turned to face Victoire, who was still hovering over him like a sort of guardian angel.
"My dad's in danger, isn't he?" James asked meekly.
Victoire nodded.
James folded the paper neatly, handed it back to his cousin and began stirring his porridge slowly; looking into it as though it held the answers to his problems. He had wanted adventure but this was more than he could handle. There was a different between simple marauding and full-on adventure… or was there? Making sure no one was paying him any attention (aside from the older students who received the Daily Prophet who were giving him pitying looks) and drew the Marauder's Map from underneath his cloak, where he kept it at all times.
Instead of reciting the usual sentence which would gain him access to the map, he tried a technique he had seen his dad use once before. Producing a quill and ink from his bag, he scribbled "Can I handle this sort of adventure?"
For a while, the parchment remained resolutely blank, as though those who would answer were cleaning the house or whatnot. Finally, when James was on the verge of giving up hope, a messy scrawl appeared.
Are you James Potter or not?
He quickly answered. Yes.
Then there's no question about it, a different handwriting scrawled where his response used to be.
But keep an eye out, we don't want to see you here anytime soon a third handwriting wrote.
I second what Sirius said… Oh and James, I doubt I've ever written to you before. This is Lily, your grandmum and I expressly forbid you from getting into a huge predicament a very feminine writing said.
Oh, Lils, you're confusing the boy now. And this is supposed to be the Marauder's Map, not the Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, Lily, Fred, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Albus Map. What's next? You'll expect us to let Snivellus join? A familiar handwriting scrawled.
The writing continued but, stifling a map, James tucked it away, feeling a little bit more confident but infinitely more confused.
So there it was. Please review now, dearies!
xoxo
yours truly