Albus was losing his cool, he needed to find the boy, and talk some sense into him. It was too late to bring him back for school, to get control of his money, but he needed him. With the weapons gone but for the bow, he needed to find a new way to oust the governors, and the sooner the better. He was done with their meddling, especially when it came to his teachers, two in particular. He could put up with Remus around, as he could have been useful, with information about Harry. But it seems the bat had not only rubbed off on his personality, but provided him with antidotes, to truth serum. Remus had told him the boy was in Morocco, drinking tea with it in it, but his sources told him Thailand. There were the chances that he could have been tricked, his sources were fooled by Lucius, and he needed to confirm them.
Remus was expecting the man to come after him, and was prepared. Unfortunately Albus knew he was not the only one Harry was close to, still here in school, though it was limited now. There was a certain lion, and Ravenclaw, who he had a strong bond with.
Luna was perched on the edge of a chair in the library reading, helping Neville prepare for exams. "You will ace this."
Neville looked up from the practice exam Filius had given him to help. "I don't know, I know it is months until exams but…."
Remus' voice came from behind. "Miss Lovegood is right, you have shown real skill in my class, and I believe Filius says the same."
Luna smiled when Neville went a bit red. "You know even your grandmother has said how proud she is of you."
Neville nodded. "Madam Sprout asking me to apprentice in the fall, she was worried I'd never find anything."
Remus shook his head. "You are too hard on yourself. I have heard your grandmother rave about you more times than I can count."
In public the woman was frightening, she was a force to be reckoned with, always seemed cold. Her husband had been a powerful man, many years her senior, an arranged marriage. He had taught her all about politics though, and she had been behind a lot of his work, when alive. He died when their son was little, and she had been ruling the family estate, and their seat on the Wizengamot ever since. She may compare him to Frank, but Augusta was extremely proud of Neville, who she had raised since he was a baby. She actually found comfort he was being a teacher, not an auror, she had lost one son to it before. She was a part of the order, and Remus had heard her speak in private about Neville, he was not just trying to reassure the boy. He knew Augusta had applied recently, to get him into a special program, that summer.
Minerva had appeared in the doorway, and she came over their way, not sure why she was. She was a bit surprised when Albus asked her to fetch the girl, and had to wonder what he was up to now. He usually only saw kids like this when they had got into some kind of trouble.
Remus was surprised to see her. "I'm not late for the staff meeting."
Minerva shook her head and looked at Luna. "I am to bring you to the headmaster's office."
Luna looked up confused. "Is there something wrong Professor? Is it my dad?"
Neville squeezed her arm. "You know your dad is okay, you just had an owl from him this morning."
Remus eyed the woman. "What is he up to?"
Minerva shook her head. "I have no idea. As far as I know if it isn't about home, and she is in no trouble."
Remus shared a look with Luna, and silently reminded her to be careful. They both knew what it could be about; Albus was of course aware, of her friendship with Harry. He and Severus had never supplied the two with antidotes, they had not considered Albus may try to question them, they thought he'd be more careful. Luna's dad owned a paper, and would happily publish what he did, if the man tried anything. And Neville's grandmother would be even quicker to see him fired, then Lucius, if he interfered with Neville in any way.
Luna followed the woman up to the headmaster's office. She touched a small amulet to her lips, and slid it back under her robes. Ever since she had found about she was the heir of Ravenclaw, her father had made sure she took precautions, to keep her safe.
Albus motioned Minerva to leave them and for Luna to sit. "I thought the two of us could talk over dinner a bit."
Luna eyed the food in front of her. "It is a bit early for dinner, and I was helping Neville study for his exams."
Albus shook his head. "They are a few months away. I was interested to speak to you of your mother."
Luna was on edge but didn't show it at all. "My mother sir? She died when I was very small, I didn't know her well."
Albus nodded. "I understand you spend summers with her people in France. I believe the same group as Miss Delacaur's grandmother."
Luna was not liking where this was going. "Yes, my mother and her grandmother are distant kin of sorts. I have met her often."
The man kept asking her questions, as she ate the food, reminded she had used her pendant first. She was uneasy, she knew he had a fake bow, and wondered if he had learned. She was grateful when she was able to escape from the office after dinner. Albus watched her go, and rubbed his temples, the girl was almost as bothersome as the wolf. He had no idea, but he had a feeling she may be the heir of Gryffindor. He had looked into all the old blood families, and Xeno definitely was not, but he had not considered Luna's mother. He knew Godric's grandson had gone abroad. He was not sure when, but he also heard Harry had been in France, before Thailand.
He took a headache potion. "If she is the heir, Harry could have convinced her to claim the sword. He could have taken it for her, to the veela."
Harry and Bill had gone out to take a walk on the grounds. The castle was closed for the night, and after being holed up in another cellar store room all day, they needed the fresh air. There were too many muggles in the area, as the museum was active for tours and popular, to do much magic. They had done a lot more physical work here, then they had before. They planned to do some at night, for at this rate it would take them months to go through just the cellars alone and all the stuff. They had been at it for two weeks now, and found little more than records.
Charlie and Viktor had opted to go into town for some supplies. Neither had been down in the cellars, Charlie was not really needed on this one as there were no serpents so far, but happy to come give a hand still. He and Viktor opted for a run to town, instead of sending an elf.
Viktor picked up some chicken and put it in their buggy. "I hope you can cook, we did promise those two we would have dinner for them."
Charlie smirked. "I believe you were the one who promised. Besides since we are grocery shopping, they should be cooking."
Viktor shrugged. "Harry cooks for us a lot, and they have been working hard all day."
Charlie picked up a precooked chicken. "Maybe we should go the safe route. Mum never did have much luck, teaching any of us to cook."
Viktor laughed and agreed. "Mum always thought I should know to cook and clean, even with elves, around to help. I know a bit.'
They got the groceries on their list from the other two, and tried to sort out, what they could make. They decided not to resort to pre made, they both cold cook a few things, though it was not going to be a gourmet meal. They did grab one set of microwave meals, which could be zapped with magic, just in case they managed to screw this up too bad.
Back at the cottage they were alone still, so began unpacking, and talking. They had a lot more in common than quidditch, Viktor liked animals too, though he liked more muggle. His family raised hawks, and he had often loved working with them, and their horses too.
Viktor laughed when he noticed Charlie had some flour on his nose from the biscuits he had popped into the oven. "Let me get that for you."
Charlie blushed when Viktor wiped it from his nose. "Thanks."
Viktor realized how close he was to Charlie and nearly backed up for a moment. "We should finish the salad."
Charlie didn't know why but he didn't step back "Salad, right."
Viktor was about to take the chance and kiss him when he realized "Do you smell smoke?"
Charlie was about to make a crack about Viktor not being that hot, when he smelled it to, and turned towards the oven. It turns out they had used the spell wrong, and by the time they got to their biscuits, they looked like they were charcoal. The chicken had come out already, and luckily Charlie had enough batter left, to make a half dozen more biscuits to replace the ones they burned. This time they watched more carefully.
Neither spoke about the near kiss, as they got dinner on the table. Charlie was not about to tell his brother, he knew Harry and Bill would jump on it, in a moment flat. They would remind him of what he and others like Oliver did, when they had refused to take the next step.
Harry appeared in the door and his nose wrinkled a bit. "I told you Bill this was a bad idea, by the smell we will have to go out."
Viktor looked hurt. "You are insinuating we didn't cook a good dinner? Maybe we will send you to bed without some."
Bill smirked. "Considering how well my brother cooks, that may not be much of a punishment."
Charlie pointed at the chairs. "Sit and eat before we do you ingrates."
They admitted they burned one batch, but the food did look edible, even if an odd meal. Bill was not surprised to see biscuits, they were one of the few things, their mother successfully taught them all how to cook. Chicken, and to their laughter some hash browns, and corn, were on the table as well, and what passed as a salad. Harry was surprised as they were eating, when Kreacher arrived, with a letter. It was from Luna.
He looked up when he was done reading. "Albus was grilling her about her mother. She is worried he suspects she is an heir."
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