Chapter 10—Bouncing Ferret

Disclaimer: I own only Josephine Clearwater, snarkers, and the Bouncing Ferret. All else belongs to J.K. Rowling. This story is not for profit, and the only reward I get is the smile on my face when you review (so please do so!).

Author's Note: The next chapter is going to swing the focus back to Harry, because after all this is his story, but I had to write this chapter because otherwise my brain threatened to quit and I'm not quite in the mood to go hunting out a replacement.

A nightclub is not the quietest place in the world, nor is it the most private. Yet, the Bouncing Ferret is precisely where Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Josephine, and Luna met to discuss their dear friend's whereabouts.

Ron looked around their table. "Does anybody think it's weird that I'm the only guy at this table?" he asked.

"Feel privileged then," Hermione said.

"Neville is coming too; he just had to finishing pruning that new hybrid of his," Ginny added.

Neville and Harry didn't see each other all that much anymore, but they'd gotten closer in their last two years of Hogwarts. The others in their dormitory didn't really understand what the two of them were going through. Ron tried, but it wasn't the same. Harry wasn't the only one who had lost somebody. Before sixth year started, Neville's grandmother passed away. He had gone to visit his parents early in the morning and when he came home his grandmother was dead in her rocking chair with a cup of tea beside her on the table. Everyone said she'd gone peacefully; that it was her time to go. Neville wasn't so sure. Gran always drank her tea with no sugar and no cream; the tea in the cup was too light and it smelled funny. No one really listened when he suspected foul play. He emptied the contents of the cup into a sealed container and saved it to test. With months of testing until he had almost none of it left, he found the poison in it and knew what it was. With some urging and pleas to Dumbledore, he proved she was poisoned and got them to start an investigation. After almost a year and a half of listening for news and examining the evidence, he found the murderer on his own. Anthracina Avery. She was the only one in Britain who kept a garden that included ragwarsus plants. If any part of the plant was ingested, chemical toxins would spread into the blood stream and directly shut down the heart and brain. Of course, the Avery's didn't publicize this knowledge. It took Neville a long time to discover who had killed his grandmother and to prove it. Anthracina Avery was currently serving a 100-year sentence in Azkaban.

"Where could he be?"

"Neville?"

"No. Harry. I want to know where he's hiding and why he won't come out," Josephine said, frustrated.

"He must have a good reason," Hermione said logically.

"He doesn't. At least, not one that he would tell me," argued Josephine, grabbing a hot wing off the plate in the middle of the table. "I wonder where he is now."

"He's on a date," Luna said, taking a hot wing herself and starting to munch happily.

"What do you mean he's on a date? When's the last time you talked to him?" demanded Ginny.

"This afternoon."

"What do you mean you saw him this afternoon?" demanded Josephine. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's stopped by for a glass of snarkers after yelling at Ginny. I told you, he's on a date."

"With who?" Ron asked, surprised.

"A Muggle girl."

"I meant do you know where he's living?"

"Oh, no. He didn't want to tell me. He'll tell everyone when the time is right. I think that means soon. He's getting bored," Luna delicately set down the bone she was holding and took a sip of her drink.

Hermione turned to Ginny, frowning a little. "What were you fighting about?" asked Hermione.

"He was over at the Burrow to help Mum and find a way to burn off some time. I told him that he ought to tell us where he was living, but he complained about invading his privacy and needing his space," Ginny said offhandedly.

Just then, a woman with brown, almost black, hair and large silver earrings came over. "The upstairs room is free now."

"Thanks, Daphne," Hermione said with a smile. "We'll pay the tab on our way out."

"Send Neville Longbottom up if he comes in looking for us," added Ron.

"Sure thing, Weasley," the owner of the club said.

With Ginny in the lead, the five of them wound their way around groups of people dancing and tables, 'til they reached a narrow staircase on the back wall. The staircase led to an upstairs room for conferences and meetings. There were large plush chairs around a solid oak table. On the table were a self-refilling water pitcher and glasses as well as parchment and self-inking quills. A menu sat in the middle of the table, touch sensitive to ordering, and keeping track of the tab.

"So, what do we know?" asked Hermione, seating herself at one end of the table and taking a sheaf of parchment and a quill. She started writing the names of places where he might be hiding out. "Has anyone checked the Leakey Cauldron? He could be staying there."

"No, I checked with Tom. Harry hasn't been in there in months."

"Maybe under a different name?"

"No, Tom knows him. He would have seen him at some point."

Hermione crossed out the Leaky Cauldron on her list. "What about the Three Broomsticks? The Hogshead?"

"I asked Rosmerta," Ron said, "She hasn't seen him in ages. There's no record of him at the Hogshead either."

"What about Hogwarts? Do you think he might be there?"

"If he's hiding out there, I doubt Dumbledore would tell us."

"What about Grimmauld Place?"

"Haven't checked there yet," Ginny said.

Luna shook her head. "He said he never wants to set foot in there again. Too many bad memories."

"Maybe he's staying with Tonks?" suggested Hermione.

"Maybe…she's so busy with work that she's never home anymore anyway."

There was a knock on the door and Neville entered. "He's not there. I just picked up and moved wall-o-thorns bush that sprouted in her yard. It's the horrible fairytale sort that wizards bred a long time ago to keep rescuers away from princesses in towers. Tonks hasn't seen him more than once or twice since Ron and Hermione's wedding." He pulled out a seat and took a glass of water.

They kept the discussion and debating up for the better part of an hour with no real results. None of them knew where he was and it didn't seem like he'd be revealing his hiding place soon, no matter what Luna said about the matter.

"This is getting us nowhere," Josephine said.

Ginny sighed. "Let's just go downstairs and enjoy ourselves. It's a Friday night and I want to have fun. Maybe Harry really can take care of himself. He's survived the last 20 years, hasn't he?"

"You're just going to give up?" Josephine asked.

"Not give up…regroup," Hermione said gently.

"If he wants some time alone to think about life, we ought to give him it. He'll come to us when he's good and ready," Neville said wisely.

"Maybe he'll tell me at work on Monday," Luna said.

"Work? Harry's got a job?" Ron asked, surprised. "He said he was going to take it easy for a while."

"He's bored."

"Isn't most work boring?" asked Ron.

"Of course not! He's working for me!" Luna said brightly.

"He's writing for the Quibbler?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.

She nodded enthusiastically. "When the next issue comes out, I want you to guess which article is his. He's not going to use his name, he's going to use his true name."

"True name?"

"Many cultures believe in a secret name known to no one. A name that defines who you are in your innermost and secret heart."

The rest of the group exchanged confused glances.

Luna continued, "If a person knows your true name, then they have complete control over your whole being."

Neville asked carefully, "Then why would he use his true name? Then wouldn't everyone know it?"

Luna turned to him and blinked slowly. "I suppose you're right. He won't use his true name per say, but one more fitting than the name his parents gave him. A name of his own choosing." She smiled serenely.

There was an awkward silence.

"Okay, so, who wants to go get their dance on? I'm ready to party," Ginny said with a grin.

Luna said, "I'll come. I promised the bartender I'd give him my snarkers recipe. If he substitutes wine for the grape juice, it'd make an excellent drink here."

"I'm for it. I haven't dance made a fool out of myself dancing in a few weeks."

Ginny whispered loudly to Josephine, obviously intending for Neville to hear her, "That's because he hasn't been dancing in a few weeks."

"I heard that," Neville said.

She grinned at him.

Ron looked at Hermione, then back at the group. "Hermione and I'll stay too. Sounds fun."

"All right then, let's go. Josephine, are you in?" asked Ginny.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I could use a good relaxing evening," she said, getting up as well and heading toward the door.

Hermione, blushing furiously, pulled Ron to her and whispered something in his ear quickly.

Ron listened and a stupid grin spread across his face. "Er, guys?"

"Yeah?" asked Ginny, already at the top of the stairs.

"We're going to go home. My wife and I are going to go party alone," he said with a grin, going past them to go pay his and Hermione's part of the bill.

His sister made a face. "We did not need to know that, Ron. All you had to say was that you were leaving," she called down after him.

Hermione shouted down the stairs, "I'll be waiting at home!" and she Disapperated.