Chapter 36 – Masks of All Sorts

Submitted: Friday 2 November 2012 Last Submission: Mid-October

A/N: I've finally been able to get a chapter ahead again. I don't like posting the chapter just as I've written it. It's much too easy to post chapters on impulse without thinking of the long term ramifications of where the story is going. Please review...I look forward to hearing what you think.

Hermione couldn't help herself. She turned the necklace over in her hand time and again. The gold glimmered in the candlelight and the emeralds gleamed, "I wish I could have been there." Harry caught the regret when cast a glance at her belly which was just beginning to show. He wondered if he'd have noticed if he didn't already know. Hermione looked him up and down, "It wasn't dangerous, was it?"

"Nothing worse than we've seen before." If she wasn't going to share her secret then he wasn't going to feel bad for hiding a few details of his own.

The truth was that his back was healing slowly. He'd remained in Greece for an extra week so that he could rid himself of his limp. While the wound itself had been superficial, the knife's venom had reached his spine before Antiones was able to get him to a healer. The poison nearly killed him. He was feverish for three days and couldn't walk for four.

"Now that I see it in person..." Hermione admitted, "...I don't care much for it. It looks like something a Slytherin might wear."

Harry nodded in agreement, "At least they aren't snakes. She shouldn't be bothered too much with dragons."

"I wouldn't count on it." Hermione, having been a flatmate of Lavender's, was not as sure. Lavender had never been fond of reptiles of any kind and was famous for it. Their second year, Lavender would rarely visit downstairs except for classes or meals – not because she was afraid of the 'Heir of Slytherin.' The thought of a nasty slimy snake patrolling the corridors gave her chills.

Hermione turned the necklace over yet again. It would have been worth thousands regardless of its origins. Pure gold, it was fashioned into two serpents who's mouths provided a clasp. Emeralds were used for the eyes and diamonds were set into the wings.

"Serpents mean different things to the Greeks," Harry reminded her. "Besides, if it means Lavender can walk out in public then she'll get used to it quickly."

"When are you taking it to her?"

"I'm not," Harry answered. "You are."

While she didn't object, Hermione's look of surprise beckoned him to explain, "You did all of the research. This has been your adventure from the beginning. All I did was take the trip down to Rome and Greece to pick it up. Besides," Harry couldn't help but grin when he said this, "If I know Lavender, she will throw off her robes just to see how she looks. You wouldn't have me suffer through that, would you?"

Hermione gaped at him, "And you'd have me suffer through it? Do you know how many nights I had to suffer through her 'I've got a date and I'm going to look fabulous' dance? She had no shame..."

Harry snorted tea through his nose he laughed so hard.

Hermione loved moments like these. They'd been through so much over the years. It was successes like these that made the hardships worth it. And it wasn't like they'd had many hardships of late. She wondered what he'd spend his time on now that the necklace was found. Maybe that witch he'd been quietly seeing?

It didn't take much to get Hermione's attention. Harry did just that when he winced as he adjusted in his chair. Now that she thought about it, he'd walked a little odd since he'd been back. She wondered what he was hiding.

She wouldn't push for now. If Hermione was to visit Lavender then she had loads to do, "Harry, do you mind if I borrow your owl?"

"I am so happy you were added to the Floo network," Hermione said as she dusted herself off.

"So am I," Lavender admitted. "I doubt Harry will use it. Any excuse to walk the Forest..." Lavender looked Hermione up and down, "So, what brings you here tonight? And how's the baby?"

Hermione smiled, "The baby's fine. It's me that needs help."

"Oh. Really? What can I do for you?" Lavender prompted Hermione to have a seat at the table.

"No..." Hermione laughed as she sat, "I didn't mean I needed help from you. I've just been sick a lot. It's getting more and more difficult to hide it from the boys."

"So you came here to hide?" Lavender's grin, like everything else, was lopsided.

"Not exactly." Hermione was trying to hide her excitement but it came bubbling out, "I wanted to show you my new necklace."

As the necklace came out, Lavender could only stare, "Did Ron buy that for you? It must have set him back quite a sum."

"Ohhh nooo...this is for you."

Lavender frowned, "But it would be wasted on me. Who would see it?"

"Everyone! Try it on."

Lavender eyed the necklace warily. She'd never been a big fan of reptiles of any kind. Even dragons gave her that scaley heebee jeebee feel. "I don't know..."

"Just try it on!" Hermione begged.

Reluctantly Lavender picked up the necklace. It felt familiar. Had she seen it in a dream? She changed the subject, "How is Harry?"

"He won't say." Hermione remembered his awkward walk and his wincing at odd times that afternoon, "You haven't had any visions of him lately?"

"Not for a few weeks. What I do see of him is foggy and I can't make anything out."

"Hmmm..." Hermione thought on this. Lavender had said before that she had a difficult time seeing her own future. She wondered if that had something to do with it. "He's good. Now try on the necklace or I'm going to go home and give it to Padma."

That did it. The young crone pulled the necklace out of the box and lifted it over her head. It wouldn't fit without unclasping it. She worked the mouths of the two dragons until they came loose. Hermione, seeing it may be difficult for her mate, got up and helped her secure the clasp behind her neck.

"How does it look?" Lavender asked. "Like lipstick on a pig?"

Hermione turned her mate around. She looked up and down. "You look...beautiful."

"Ha Ha!"

"No. Look!" Lavender didn't keep mirrors around the cottage but her mate had brought one with her. She opened up her bag and pulled a small mirror out...along with two boxes from upmarket boutiques which she placed on the table. She pushed the mirror in Lavender's face but the crone initially shied away.

It didn't take more than a moment for Lavender to warm up to looking glass, though. First she hazarded to open one eye. It took no more than a glance to see what her mate had been going on about. Instead of the grey skinned hag with bloodshot eyes and lopsided hump, the looking glass beheld a young witch from years past. It was her! The old her! Gorgeous her!

Her robes were already drooping off her shoulders. She wriggled a bit to finish the job and soon Hermione averting her eyes. Lavender danced around the shack unclothed and uninhibited, "Look at me, Hermione! I'm gorgeous! Look at me!"

It wasn't quite dark yet. Hermione decided she'd seen enough of her mate...more than enough really, "I have something else for you."

Lavender eyed the boxes with a lot less suspicion than she had the necklace. She pulled the bow off the first box and tore it open much like a small child would. Inside was a tiny black dress and a pair of knickers. Hermione was quick to explain, "I'd written your measurements down for your birthday our final year at school together. I hope it fits."

"It's perfect!" Lavender cooed after she slipped it over her shoulders. "What's that?"

"This box here?" Hermione giggled. "Take a look for yourself!"

The bow and the top of the box found the floor quite easily. Both witches squealed when the contents were revealed. Hermione had seen them in the shop and she couldn't help herself. The most gorgeous pair of black pumps stared back at them. Lavender took no time to try them on.

"You didn't have to do all of this!" Lavender insisted. Hermione would have argued but held her tongue. It had all been more than worth it. The young blonde was as giddy as any time since the War, "I feel overdressed now. I feel like we should be going out."

"We are going to," Hermione giggled. "First we are off to meet Harry for dinner at a very nice restaurant. He wants to be the first to see you. Then we've arranged for a little shopping!"

Again the witches shared a squeal. Hermione wasn't much of a shopper herself but this would be a happy exception.

"How? Why?"

"I'll explain at dinner. Harry can fill in any blanks." Hermione turned serious, "But before we go I need to explain a few very important rules about the necklace. You must promise me to follow them to the letter or there will be disastrous consequences."

"So," Seamus asked as he ran his fingers through her hair, "No snogging? At all?"

"Never."

"And you can't take off the necklace?"

"Never."

Lavender had finally shared her deepest darkest secret with the bloke she had fallen in love with. She couldn't help herself. He'd asked so often why they couldn't see each other without a new moon that after a while her vague answers made him believe that there might be another wizard.

"I don't bloody care what you look like," the Irishman insisted.

"I don't like the way I look under all of this. If you saw me as I really am then I'd never be able to look at you again. I'd rather think that the last vision you had of me was like this. This is who I always want to be."

"You're mental," Seamus kissed her on the forehead.

"How so? No matter how much power this necklace has it can't make a baby." She frowned, "More than anything in the world I wanted to finish school and have a beautiful little girl with a successful young wizard. Eventually you will want a child as well and you will leave me for someone that can give you one."

"You truly are mental." Seamus growled. "All I want is you. I've fancied you for...ever.

Lavender sniffed. Seamus wasn't exactly a poet. Those were likely the most romantic words she'd ever get out of him.

"Listen, I never wanted no kids anyway," he lied. He felt awful for her. When she hadn't been going on about boys at Hogwarts, she'd always gone on about how she wanted a family of her own, 'With a baby girl for me and, if I must, a little boy for my husband.'

He changed the subject, "So we don't have to wait anymore to see each other? You're sure?"

"Aye, but remember that I still can't stay overnight. And it's better that I come to visit you."

"Why," Seamus asked with more than a little sulk to his voice.

"I told you. I have my reasons. For now, I'm staying at Harry's evenings. I have a healthy business as a fortune teller and I don't think my clients need to see the new me. I get the impression they believe that you have to be a crone to know the future."

Seamus was still sulking, "I'll have to wait around until you decide to pop in?"

"I'll invite you over from time to time. Let me find my own place first. I don't want to abuse Harry's hospitality."

Seamus would have continued to protest but Lavender decided she'd had enough talk. She took the matter in hand and gave him something else to think about.

Harry couldn't quite place a finger on it. There was definitely something wrong with Eve. She'd been quiet most of the evening. While she'd been friendly with all of the Weasleys, she seemed to keep her distance from Harry. As they reached the row of stones that announced the Weasley property line, he finally gathered the courage to confront her.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

She didn't answer immediately. Instead she searched his face for answers. The moonlight was all she had and forced her to furl her eyebrows as she squinted.

"Is it because I didn't write while I was gone? I know I promised but...I was laid up for a few days."

"I worried a little," she admitted. "I had a feeling you'd gotten hurt. You have a difficult time sitting, don't you?"

"I tweaked my back."

She nodded knowingly. If the stories she'd heard were true then he'd have had to do much more than tweak his back to look like that when he sat down. She wasn't the only one that noticed. She'd recognised more than a few worried glances shared that evening amongst the Weasleys. Even little Victoire had made a point to take it easy on Harry after her first overzealous leap into his lap had caused a muted yelp.

Harry took a good look at her, "This isn't about me getting hurt, though. What happened tonight?"

"I had a chat with Fleur," the young witch admitted weakly. "She went on and on about her sister. She couldn't stop talking about how terrific you were either. Is it true you promised to go out with her sister once she returns from Beauxbatons?"

"Gabrielle?"

Eve nodded.

Harry was at a loss for words. While he hadn't entirely forgotten about Gabrielle or his promise, he imagined that she'd have found a boy closer to her age by now. It still made him uncomfortable that she was that much younger than him...whether she was now of age or not. The fact that Fleur had brought this up to his current girlfriend was beyond acceptable no matter the circumstances. He couldn't even fathom why she'd do such a thing. He'd grown used to the Veela's hints about her sister and her constant questions about his love life but this was something he needed to end quickly.

"I'm very sorry. I don't have to go through with it. I can talk to her." Harry tried to brush his girlfiend's hair out of her eyes but she shook her head away.

"No." Eve looked at him sternly, "If you made a promise then you need to honour it. Fleur told me how that promise got her sister through her final year of school. She said that her poor sister fancies you more than anything in this world."

Harry was now beside himself, "Why would she possibly mention that to you?"

"She wanted me to know how honourable you were. She wanted me to know how terrific my boyfriend was." Eve seemed to be trying to smile as she blinked away tears.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly why she did it," Harry grumbled sarcastically. Fleur was going to regret this, "So, what is the problem, then?"

"I just know," Eva sniffed, "you are going to go out with her one time and that's going to be it for us. How can I compete with a Veela? A French Veela at that..."

"Why do you say that?" Again, Harry tried to stroke her hair but again she pulled away.

"Have you seen Fleur?" Her voice cracked as a tear slipped down her cheek, "She's all beautiful and everything. You've seen how the blokes stare at her. If Gab...if she's half as pretty as her sister then I don't stand a chance. I mean, look at me..."

Harry was tempted to say that 'looks aren't everything' but quickly caught himself. To him, Eve was just as pretty as Gabrielle but how could he make her believe it? Either way, he was well aware he was treading on dangerous ground.

"We hardly ever do anything anyway. We might as well be mates," she complained. He knew what she meant. While they both enjoyed dating, it would be difficult for Harry to remember a time when they'd lost control snogging. When he'd been with Eliza they would lose track of entire afternoons...

"Eve," Harry protested, "Will you slow things down? I haven't even seen Gabrielle since last year. If you keep this up you'll have me married off within the month."

"It's just..." Eva glanced down pensively.

"...you're worried," Harry finished for her.

Eve nodded meekly. Harry was angry with Fleur. Intentional or not, she'd stripped away Eva's confidence. Strangely, Harry now felt oddly protective of her and he wanted nothing more to fix her broken heart, "How would you like to come back to my place tonight?"

This was the first time Harry had invited her over for an evening. Her spirits immediately rose as she nodded excitedly.

Kreacher eyed his master's guest carefully as he took her cloak. After Eliza's antics he was much more careful with Harry's guests. Kreacher'd allowed himself to fancy Eliza and when Hermione pointed out what she'd been doing to his master, he didn't take it well. Secretly Kreacher had slipped down into the kitchen and beat himself with a pan until he grew woozy. He knew if either his master or mistress (as he now thought of Hermione) found out they'd be very upset. Even so, he couldn't allow himself to become so complacent.

This witch seemed different than Eliza. Kreacher was not naïve. He knew that Harry had been interviewing possible spouses since he'd left Hogwarts. While Eliza had been unsuitable, the one before her had obviously captured Harry's interest. By the looks of things, this one, this Eva Flanagan as Harry had introduced her, was different in her own way. She had a secret, though Kreacher couldn't divine what it might be.

Kreacher watched as Harry led the young witch out of the Sitting Room to the stairs. As the couple reached the edge of the elf's hearing, Harry explained to her, "At first Kreacher and I couldn't stand each other. Now I don't know what I'd do without him."

The house elf smiled as he blinked out of the Sitting Room. He understood exactly how Harry felt. He felt the very same way.

"I wish I could have been a fly on a wall during that conversation," was a phrase used often in wizard circles. Only one witch in all of England was actually capable of knowing the joy.

While Rita Skeeter wasn't a fly she could transform into a beetle. That's exactly what she did when she heard the tinkle of the bells in the Daily Prophet's reception area. It took a few moments but she flittered herself into the room and landed on a nearby wall.

Disappointed, she almost flew back into the writers' offices when she saw that it was only Eva Flanagan, the receptionist, who'd dropped in. The young witch was sorting through paperwork and writing notes at her desk. Rita stopped, though, when Quilvash, the Editor, barrelled in grumbling, "Have anything for me yet, Eve?"

The receptionist jumped, startled. "No," she answered reluctantly.

"I swear," the Editor wagged a meaty finger, "If you don't show me something soon then I will find me another assistant. I should have sacked you the moment I found out you were dating the boy."

Eva did her best to pretend she was ignoring him. This only made him angry, "You've seen the birds that boy frequents. What makes you think he'd possibly choose you over any of them? One's an Auror, two are professional Seekers and, from what I've been told, there's a bloody Veela eyeing him all the way from South France..."

He paused knowing he'd struck a nerve. She'd tightened her grip on her quill when he'd mentioned the Veela. She was still pretending to ignore him but her handwriting became sharper - less bubbly. He leaned on her desk to get her full attention, "Don't let your imagination betray you. Wealthy wizards don't marry receptionists. Receptionists are what wealthy wizards pass the time with while they search for the proper witch to marry."

She looked ready to argue but Quilvash put a stop to it by raising his voice, "Are you daft? How many real life Cinderellas do you know? And what do you have to offer besides beauty? All of these witches have beauty and more..." he turned to walk away, "...talent, fame..." he turned back and grinned, "but what do I know? Maybe yours is a storybook romance after all. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be begging you for the rights to publish your real-life story.

Eva looked ready to cry. These were the moments that Quilvash relished, "Get something good. If it's good enough I'll even let you write the story." The door slammed behind him.

Rita licked her mandibles. Information was her entire business. She wasn't sure exactly how this nugget would prove useful but she was sure if she thought long and hard on it she'd find something.