After the cheerful Christmas day at Xenophillius' house, Michael and Luna spent the next day at their home with Jeff and Sarah, along with Harry and Ginny. Remus, Tonks, and Andromeda had decided to spend Christmas as a family at the Tonks' house with Ted, while Ron and Hermione had decided to stay at the Burrow.

"They're really getting ready for it," Harry observed with a bit of awe as he talked with Michael, Jeff, and Luna. Ginny was busy in the kitchen despite Michael's protests but was soon joined by Sarah, whom Michael had absolutely no problem asking to cook for him.

"For what?" Luna asked. She was staring out one of the large windows behind Jeff and out into the back yard. It was a little after four in the afternoon and the sky was a beautiful combination of orange, red, and purple. It had snowed a little the previous night but the precipitation had turned out mostly to be sleet, resulting in nothing more than a slippery and dangerous time for the couples coming up the pathway to visit them.

"Getting married," Harry told her. "They went to Hermione's parents' on a weekend a little while after you left. Personally I'm surprised they made it to the end of the year. Then again, it is Ron…."

He grinned ruefully at the thought and flashed a quick glance to the kitchen. It was not so quick that Michael missed it, however.

"I've never really thought about them getting married," Michael said, looking over where Harry was and contemplating the idea. "I guess they have been together for a long time. That's got to be at least a little weird for you though."

"And what about you?" Luna inquired dreamily of Harry, as Ginny reentered the room, carrying a tray of sandwiches. Michael was not aware they owned a tray of any kind – he and Luna had been eating off paper plates for the last two days.

"What about Harry?" Ginny asked, handing out the sandwiches. "God, I feel like my mother…" she added, looking down at the tray in her hand before seeming to accept this and shrugging.

"About both of you," Luna explained. "I was just wondering when you two are going to get married."

"We – what?" Ginny stuttered, looking at Luna as though she was mad. It wasn't the first time in Luna's life she had gotten that look.

"Seriously," Harry grumbled, having turned a very Christmassy shade of red, "just because you two got married out of the crib doesn't mean everyone else has to."

"I was only curious," Luna said mildly. "Please don't take that as any kind of pushing."

"No, don't worry about it," Ginny said, sitting down beside the former Ravenclaw she liked so much. "We're doing our thing, you know? We're hanging out and taking it one step at a time."

"How many steps have you taken?" Michael asked Harry slyly. He didn't dare answer in front of Ginny, but his look gave them away.

"What's that on the mantle?" Sarah's voice preceded her as she entered the room, her hands now washed but still wet. She wiped them mindlessly on her jeans as she walked over to the fireplace.

"Well we didn't have time for the usual Christmas decorations," Luna replied, gesturing around their undecorated house. "So yesterday we decided we could at least hang up some stockings for fun. I also thought you'd all be happy if I put on some music too!" she finished brightly, gesturing towards the radio on the kitchen countertop that had been merrily belting out Muggle Christmas music all afternoon.

Michael tried very hard not to groan. It was the day after Christmas and he was not going to start an argument with his wife…but sweet Merlin did he hate this music. Luna preferred Muggle Christmas tunes over Wizarding ones because according to her they were more upbeat and made her want to dance. It was around the third verse of Silent Night Michael almost asked Luna when she was going to get up and make good on that promise. But no, he could suffer the music a little while longer…discretely lowering the volume a little at a time with his wand when Luna wasn't looking, as he had been doing all day.

Sarah gasped and when she spoke, her voice was much, much higher than usual.

"In between your stockings –!" she said in a hush, turning to stare at the others, her hands over her mouth. "You named them!"

Michael smiled broadly and nodded. "We're naming them for Luna and my grandfathers," he told her. Beside Luna, Ginny carefully got up and hurried over to join Sarah. The two girls had always gotten along well and the holiday seemed to be bringing out the best in them both.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Sarah squealed, dancing about as if she had to use the bathroom and flicking her wrists rapidly at her sides. Jeff snorted loudly into his drink. It wasn't his first or second of the day.

Beside her, Ginny silently mouthed both boys' names. She too turned to stare at them, her eyes wide and wet. She first grinned hugely at Luna, but after a moment or two her eyes shifted to Harry, who simply bowed his head and took a drink of his own in response.

"Those are great names," Ginny said to Michael and Luna, managing to only look amused at her boyfriend. "I can't wait to meet them."

"We can't either," Michael said softly. He coughed roughly as soon as he said it and stood up. "All right," he called loudly at Sarah, who stopped her dancing and looked at him in confusion. "You knew about Luna's Christmas present and didn't immediately snitch to me? What kind of friend are you?"

But before Luna could take up for her and tell Michael politely that Sarah was a good friend to her, Sarah had turned on Luna, throwing a murderous look her way.

"So she gave you the book, did she?" Sarah seethed, addressing Michael but glaring at Luna. Luna simply sat there, her head tilted at Sarah in apparent confusion.

Michael nodded slowly, casting his own look of confusion towards Luna, who seemed at a loss for a reason as to Sarah's fury. Michael had fully intended to dive into Luna's story last night, but they had ended up staying at her father's far longer than they had planned and he had fallen asleep almost immediately after getting home.

"Yeah, she did," Michael said slowly. "I didn't get a chance to read it yet though. You tested it for Luna, right?"

"Yes…yes I did," Sarah snarled at Luna, who frowned.

"I really appreciate you helping me with the gift, Sarah," Luna said, looking a little hurt now herself. Michael looked back and forth between the two women and wondered what the hell had Sarah so riled up.

"And you're welcome Luna," Sarah sighed, taking a deep breath to calm herself. It was, after all, very difficult to stay mad at Luna for any period of time. "But…couldn't you have stopped me from reading that last chapter?" she asked desperately. "Or at least warned me?"

"Oh…" Luna said in understanding. "You're angry about the ending. I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't think you would be so offended. I always thought you were a little more open to that sort of thing. It was only making love."

"I've seen making love!" Sarah said shrilly. "That was not making love!"

"Erm…what?" Michael said blankly, staring all around the room. Jeff was sitting up much straighter now, his previously glossy eyes alight with excitement.

"Well Michael," Sarah said with another heaving sigh, "Luna certainly does love you. There's a little surprise – a happy ending, if you will – for you…or anyone else reading it…at the end of the book. I think you'll like it a lot, you sick bastard."

Michael swiveled his head around to stare at his wife. "Is she saying Book Luna tried to have sex with Book Sarah?" he demanded. Sarah gave Jeff a hard kick in the shin from her place over beside him.

Luna looked a little put out by having her surprise ruined, but merely shook her head. "No, she tries to have sex with Book Michael."

"But I was Book Michael!" Sarah whined, finally falling down next to Jeff in a defeated sort of way.

Harry and Ginny were following the rapid exchange like a very fast paced Quidditch match, their heads whipping back and forth as the others argued.

"Well, it really only was meant for him," Luna said apologetically.

"I…I am going to have to read this book," Michael said, his eyes wide like…well, like a kid on Christmas morning. "Right now. In fact, get everyone out of my damn house. Sarah, you Side Along Jeff, he's too wasted to do any magic right now –"

"Wait!" Jeff called unexpectedly, holding up his hands, not slurring his words but certainly sloshing his drink. "Michael, before you go read your porn and kick out all your friends…I have something for you."

"You do?" Michael asked in surprise. He and Jeff and Sarah had never gotten into the habit of buying each other Christmas gifts. They would usually do something nice for one another on a birthday, but had come to an understanding that buying presents for each other on top of everything else that accompanied the holiday was just too much hassle for people so busy fighting the Dark Lord for control of the Wizarding World.

Of course, that had changed slightly between Jeff and Sarah in recent years, as they became less of friends and more of 'a pair of deviants' as Michael once heard Hermione saying to Ron in a fit of anger after having walked in on one of their adventures.

"Yeah…I got you a present," he repeated, getting unsteadily to his feet, pushing himself up on Sarah's knee. "Actually," he corrected himself after a moment, "it's for you and Harry."

Sarah laughed suddenly, a very hard laugh that Michael knew meant he had something unpleasant coming. He glanced over at Harry, who shook his head, apparently as confused as he was.

"Oh, did you really do it?" Sarah asked, grinning at Jeff in a coy sort of way. He nodded and winked. Still giggling a little, she reached up and took what was left of his drink from him, relaxing back into the sofa and taking a sip. "Well go on then," she laughed. "Show them."

Jeff got down on both knees and groped around under the sofa and pulled out a large, flat rectangular package about the size of his chest. It was rather poorly wrapped and Michael could see a wooden corner sticking out.

"So that's what you hid under there," Luna mused. "I thought perhaps a mirror to check for Wood Woofers."

"Nope, it's something else," Jeff said, brushing off the package a little. Michael rubbed the back of his neck – was he supposed to feel guilty they hadn't dusted under the couch? With a stab of terror, he realized what had happened. He was growing up. "Here."

Michael was brought out of his thoughts as Jeff held the package out to him with both hands. Harry stood up and moved over to the arm of the other couch that Michael and Luna were occupying so he too could see what Jeff had done.

"Well…thanks, man," Michael said awkwardly. He supposed from now on they'd all have to start buying things for each other at these types of things. That was what polite, mature adults did, right? He held the thing out to Harry – it wasn't especially heavy, but it did have some weight to it.

"Well, you want to do the honors?" Michael offered. With a shrug Harry took it and perched it up in his lap. Jeff was watching eagerly, looking a little more drunk now. Sarah was smiling deviously over her drink from across the room while Ginny had remained by the fireplace, her brow furrowed, inspecting the stockings with a puzzled look now.

So Harry reached out and tore the wrapping down from the top, splitting it down the middle. Michael could see now that he was holding something in a frame, but it didn't appear to be a photo or any kind of picture. He could only see small typed words under the glass. As Michael looked on in bewilderment, Harry seemed to have figured out what Jeff had got them. And he did not look happy about it.

"I have to know," Harry said wearily, abandoning his assault on the wrapping paper. "Did you do this while you were drunk, or did it just seem like a good idea from the start?"

"Little from Column A, little from Column B," Jeff said lightly. "Michael, open it!" he urged. Rolling his eyes, Harry handed Michael back the partially wrapped gift, placing his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes now.

In a single movement, Michael tore off the remaining wrapping to expose the gift completely. There was a moment while Michael simply stared down at it where everyone in the room was silent, Jeff forcing his mouth closed to try and keep himself together. Finally, Luna leaned over to look at what they had been given.

"Ohh, I remember that," she observed. "Wasn't she nominated for a Golden Quill for this?" she asked the room at large.

Michael hadn't said a word and Jeff was looking at him with great anticipation. "Well," Michael thought dryly, "at least I don't have to ever get him a real gift now."

"Loon," he said in a dangerously calm voice, "could you hold this for a moment please?"

"Of course," she replied dreamily, reaching over and taking the gift off his lap. "Please be careful outside, you know it's still icy on the doorstep," she added as Michael lunged off the sofa like a released tiger, barely missing Jeff, who was now howling with laughter.

"Give me a hand with this Harry!" Michael yelled, rolling back to his feet like he would in combat against a Death Eater. Sarah was having a bit of an episode herself on the other couch as she watched Harry too leap off the sofa and advance on her boyfriend, who was no longer able to contain himself.

"It's a great piece!" he said with actual tears coming out of his eyes. "I thought you two could hang it in your office!"

Harry drew his wand but Luna shook his head.

"No wands in the house please, Harry," she said calmly. "Either chase him outside or hit him with your fists, if you don't mind."

"High," Harry muttered to Michael, sheathing his wand back in his pocket.

"And low," Michael replied with a curt nod.

Without further ado, Michael and Harry charged Jeff again, Michael diving for his legs while Harry made to tackle him. But Jeff drew his wand at the last second and disappeared, leaving them both to skid across the floor, Harry banging his head on the center table of the room.

"Dammit!" Michael hissed, staring at his elbow. "I swear, if Voldemort had a spell that caused carpet burn he'd have won this damn war by now!"

"You said no wands Luna," Harry said accusingly, picking himself up and rubbing his head gingerly.

"Jeff doesn't listen to rules well," Luna said simply. "I was surprised you did, Harry."

There were several loud thuds above him.

"Is he on the roof?" Michael shouted in disbelief. His friends were truly mad. All of them. Every single one.

"You should probably get him down," Luna said mildly, "it is rather slick up there." But the serene tone in her voice was undermined by her expression, one of barely controlled hilarity. Michael was sure Luna was having a very good time watching he and Harry struggle.

"To be honest," Sarah said from her place on the sofa, "I always thought that was a bit of lazy writing on Skeeter's part. It's nineteen ninety-nine, and I mean, really, gay jokes? When there are so many real things to make fun of you two for? Like when Harry thought Dumbledore was going to let two of his favorite students – plus Ron – drown in a lake in front of him. And when Michael was so convinced the group he had practically led for three months was out to murder him and brainwash his wife, just for the hell of it. Add in the fact that you're both totally whipped and I'm starting to think that Rita Skeeter has lost her touch at slander and libel."

"You!" Michael roared at Sarah, who had pulled her feet up on the couch, as if it were a powerfully protected base he and Harry could not penetrate as long as she was on it totally. "You knew about this too?"

"He…had made a few jokes about it," Sarah admitted, setting down her drink on an end table. "But I didn't think he'd actually frame the thing!" But even as she tried to sound irritated or shocked, she was laughing again. "You really should get him off the roof though."

"You're right," Harry said, a grin growing on his face. He nodded at Michael and they advanced on a suddenly frightened looking Sarah. "But you're coming with us."

"Since when do Aurors take hostages?" Sarah cried disbelievingly, shrinking away from the pair.

"Desperate times, desperate measures," Harry replied, the smirk still on his face, but the playfulness more evident now. Before she could do anything to defend herself, Harry and Michael had swooped down upon her and pulled her into a slightly off balance Apparition. They could be heard reappearing outside, but not on the roof.

The room now almost empty, Luna carefully set the frame down on the sofa beside her and stood up, reaching for her painful back as she did so. After rolling her neck a few times as well, she addressed Ginny, who was still standing by the fire with the blankest expression Luna had ever seen.

"Would you like some Christmas cookies, Gin?" she asked politely, now heading for the kitchen. There was a crashing noise in the direction of the front lawn. Both women ignored this. "Or a drink? You're legal now, aren't you?"

"Luna…what exactly was all that?" Ginny asked, baffled almost beyond words.

"Oh, did you not ever see it?" Luna asked from the kitchen. She was speaking to Ginny over the bar that separated kitchen and den, picking at a plate of cookies, not seeming to find any she wanted. She pushed the plate away with an unhappy expression.

Ginny shook her head. "See what, Luna?"

"Here."

Luna had returned from the kitchen empty handed and picked up the frame, holding it out to Ginny. She took it and finally got her chance to see what had set off Michael and Harry so quickly.

She felt a very strange mixture of amusement and fury as she looked down at it.

"Oh God," she half moaned, half laughed. "This again."

In her hands was a framed, full page article from The Daily Prophet dated some two months ago. She read the headline to herself, but didn't really need to. She'd never forget what was written there.

Potter and Jacobs the headline read in large black print, Brothers, Warriors, and…More?

Below was a picture of Michael and Harry staring longingly at each other, not touching, but almost reaching out to as the photo moved.

"I always enjoyed the first line especially," Luna said vaguely, sitting back down while Ginny remained on her feet, taking in the article in her hands. Ginny's eyes jumped down to where the article began.

"Harry Potter has recently qualified as a full time Auror," the story began, "but would he perhaps be better suited for a job in the Department of International Magical Cooperation as the Head of 'Foreign Affairs'? Could Michael Jacobs, a former and disgraced Auror himself, be Potter's true 'Chosen One'?"

Ginny snorted loudly as she read that bit. She had almost forgotten Rita had put this out back during an especially slow news week in October. Given that Michael and the others had been away at STRIKE at the time, it had been impossible to know how he had reacted. But apparently he had managed to find out somehow, and so had Jeff. Truthfully, Ginny thought Hermione was far angrier about it than Harry had been, infuriated that Rita Skeeter was back to inventing news about their friends.

"I think this would look great in their office," Ginny laughed, setting down the frame and propping it up against a table.

"So you don't want Harry to propose then?" Luna mused, pulling herself around to lay out flat on the sofa.

"I – what, that's not what I said!" Ginny said fiercely, blushing red as her hair.

"I was only joking," Luna said placidly from the couch. "We can tease each other…we are friends, after all."

Ginny sighed. "Yes Luna…we are," she agreed. Deciding to have that drink Luna had previously offered, she took her turn in the kitchen, picking up and sniffing a few different open bottles. She had to hand it to Michael, even compared to her hearty brothers, he had both an abundance of and good taste in alcohol.

She finally settled on a bottle of expensive looking Firewhiskey ominously labeled Incendio and poured herself a glass with a little ice. It was a vivid red and crackled a little as it settled over the few cubes in the glass.

"But that means we can give advice too," Luna's voice came from the living room.

"So what do you think we should do then, Harry and I?" Ginny asked plainly, starting to bring the glass to her lips before thinking better of it, putting the cup back down, and adding a healthy amount of soda to counterbalance the liquor.

"You should be happy," Luna said very seriously as Ginny rejoined her in the den. Luna had her eyes closed and her legs stretched all the way out on the sofa, her feet still not touching the other arm rest. Her hands rested on her very swollen belly. "If you and Harry are as happy as you want to be right now, you should keep having fun. But if you feel like you're ready for the next step, you should tell him. None of us will live forever. Not in these bodies, at least."

Ginny was very taken aback by Luna's answer.

Luna was always so vague and ethereal – at least in Ginny's eyes – it was rather shocking to receive such a straight answer. But as Ginny looked past Luna lying on the couch, off her sore feet, eyes closed and a smile on her face, she thought she might understand her friend's reasoning. She and Michael truly had a very beautiful home, but what was more, they had a wonderful life. Ginny knew from the stories Harry told her that the two of them, just as much as Harry himself, had had a very difficult time so far in this war, but it seemed Michael and Luna were determined to live their lives in open defiance of it.

While Remus and Tonks had waited so long to get married and continued to delay having a child because of the war, Michael and Luna had refused to allow the fighting to turn them from the path they had always dreamed of. Michael was too stubborn and Luna was too detached.

And yet he and Luna were also quietly acknowledging a fact that she was always hesitant to bring up with her boyfriend. There was no guarantee whatsoever that they would all survive this war. If Ginny included herself in their group – and she liked thing she could – there were eight of them, four couples, all fighting…was it likely that they would all be able to sit together like this after the war finally ended, sipping drinks and laughing carelessly?

Luna seemed to recognize that might not happen and rather than hunker down and wait for war to pass them by before truly living, she embraced the life she had been given and was making the most of it, war be damned. Their marriage, their home, and their sons were all an insult to Lord Voldemort, telling him clearly that his power and plans were not enough to ruin their own.

Ginny just hoped this rebellion didn't come back to haunt her friend and her family.

"Ow, ow, ow."

"Stop putting weight on it, dumbass!"

Jeff had just come limping back into the room, hopping erratically on one foot, half supported by Sarah. Michael and Harry strode in after them, Michael looking rather smug, Harry slightly guilty.

"What the hell!" Jeff cried indignantly as Sarah more pushed than laid him on the sofa across from Luna, rubbing her shoulder where he had been leaning on her. "This isn't hand-to-hand training, and it's not our bedroom, so stop throwing me around like that!"

"Stop complaining," Sarah said harshly, her hands on her hips. "You let me get captured by them! Who knows what those two brutes would've done to me?"

Behind her, Michael and Harry were having much more subdued exchange.

"Always a pleasure working with the Aurors, Harry," Michael said courteously, extending his hand.

"We'll take all the help we can get to bring down the most hardened criminals," Harry replied just as seriously, shaking Michael's hand.

"What happened to him?" Ginny asked, gesturing over at the groaning Jeff Allero. Sarah was slapping his hands away as he tried to grab his leg. Luna had not moved but did turn her head and open her eyes to watch the scene.

"Well Jeff felt like playing Santa Clause apparently," Michael said with a rather mean laugh.

"But instead of coming down the chimney, he fell off the side of the house," Harry said, shaking his head.

"He landed on the snow," Michael went on.

"But it was sort of compacted from Sarah running away from our snowballs," Harry finished, rubbing the back of his neck. Michael made an offended sounding "tch!" noise at that.

"Why were you throwing snowballs at her?" Ginny demanded, trying to look outraged for Sarah but only succeeding in stifling her laughter.

"We had to get him down somehow," Harry said in a strained sort of way. "We thought we'd give him a little motivation."

"But we didn't take into account the fact that he would find it as funny as we did," Michael explained.

"Would – you – stop – moving?" Sarah was muttering angrily as Jeff writhed on the sofa. Sarah was attempting to hold him down with one hand and cast a spell with her other. "I need to set your leg!"

"I want Luna to do it!" Jeff said miserably. "She's the best at Healing spells. You'll break more bones than you heal."

"Luna needs rest," Sarah seethed, "don't make her get up because you're a baby!"

"I can do it," Ginny volunteered. Jeff looked over at her hopefully. "Growing up with my brothers…the way they are…I got pretty good at Healing over the years."

"It's true," Harry vouched. "Gin's the only reason I haven't fallen apart yet. I'm not sure there's an injury or limb she hasn't fixed on me yet."

Ginny smiled warmly at Harry, but there was a bit of pain beneath the surface as she recognized what he was saying was unfortunately accurate. She couldn't help but think of what Luna had said to her earlier. She would never say it to either of them, and she fully understood how vital they both were to the war effort, but…Michael and Luna were free of one burden she and Harry would never be able to escape from until the very end. Harry would not have told her he was the Chosen One if he was not absolutely sure of it. That was one obstacle neither of their hosts had to worry about.

"Would you?" Sarah muttered dejectedly to Ginny. "I can shoot a fireball the size of your head from my wand, but a broken leg is a bit beyond me."

"Healing and household spells are a bit out of your realm of expertise when you grow up with a human and a House Elf butler," Jeff teased.

"I don't know what you're smirking about," Michael said, crossing his arms. "You're the one who's committed to living with her. You might actually have to do things like feed and pick up after yourself."

Ginny knelt down beside Jeff and drew her wand, looking totally confident in performing the spell in front of them all.

"Yeah it does sound pretty horrifying, but there are other benef – YOW!" he yelped as Ginny cast the spell to fix his leg without warning. "Hell!" he muttered, his eyes watering, tenderly reaching down for his leg. Looking satisfied, Ginny stood up and brushed off her knees, quickly shifting her eyes to Sarah, who gave her a grateful wink in response.

"I was going to say getting to wake up with you every day!" Jeff said accusingly to Sarah, tentatively touching his leg and wincing. "When I said I was looking forward to sleeping in the same bed every night, I didn't just mean for sex."

"Oh," was all Sarah said, taking her turn to be self-conscious in front of everyone. "Well…I'm looking forward to that too," she said shortly and in a very small voice.

Michael couldn't stomach this display of gentle love and mutual affection any longer.

"Get a room," he said derisively, rolling his eyes. "No really," he added as they both turned on him, "there's three free ones in this damn house, pick one and go."

They both broke into shifty grins.

"I don't have to carry you, do I?" Sarah asked as Jeff pushed himself into a sitting position.

"You know what?" he said merrily. "My leg suddenly feels much better. Thanks Ginny!" he added as he jumped up – his leg shaking a bit – grabbed Sarah and pulled her towards the nearest bedroom, off the kitchen, wobbling comically as he hurried.

"Silencing Charm please," Luna called after them, shutting her eyes again. She looked rather exhausted and Michael crouched down next to her. While not exactly peppy, Luna was always bright and energetic, but her pregnancy was really beginning to take its toll on her.

"You want me to get rid of everyone?" Michael asked quietly, speaking directly into her ear.

"No," Luna replied softly, opening her eyes and smiling vaguely. "They're my friends."

Michael grinned as he stood up. "You have to admit," he said to Harry and Ginny, who were now standing rather close together, "those two do have a way of making shamelessness endearing. You guys could learn a thing or two from them.

Ginny and Harry both shifted uncomfortably and Michael was rather proud of himself. Ginny had spent more and more time with the group recently, especially in the past year after she graduated from Hogwarts in June. Michael liked having Ginny around quite a bit – not least of which because it gave she and Luna a chance to rekindle their friendship – but his chief issue with her was that, much like her blonde friend, she was incredibly hard to faze or embarrass.

"You know," Ginny said boldly, shaking off her awkwardness, "Harry has had that London flat of his for a while now…we're a little past hiding in broom closets. But…I have a question," she added, looking a little wary. Luna slowly sat up and motioned for Michael to fall in beside her, which he did with no complaints.

"Yes?" Luna encouraged when Ginny seemed to teeter on not asking after all.

"Well…it's your stockings," Ginny finally said, nodding over towards the fire, which had begun to die down out of neglect. "They're sealed at the top – it looks like you did it by magic – and the bottoms have little holes in them…why is that?"

Typically, Michael let Luna field that one.

"Oh, they're to trap Pyrerates," Luna replied with a smile.

Harry and Ginny shuffled their feet a bit, each silently daring the other to inquire further into Luna's claims.

"Umm…they catch pirates, Luna?" Harry asked as Ginny indiscreetly stomped on his foot.

Luna laughed at that. "No, not pirates Harry," she corrected him patiently. "They're too small to catch anything but Elf pirates, which are really only a problem in the sea around Japan. Pyre-rates," she sounded out.

"So…what are they then? If not marauding Elves in the Pacific?" Ginny asked, her mouth twitching a little. All their friends had long ago gotten used to Luna's…eccentricities, but every now and again something would pop up that really tickled them. Michael had, also over the years, stopped taking offense on Luna's behalf at any of this. They all loved each other like a family, why shouldn't Ginny be allowed to tease Luna about her claims the same way Michael did Ron about his pitiable choice of a Quidditch team or Harry did Hermione about wanting to live in a library?

Luna's explanation took a little over five minutes, during which Harry wondered off in search of more cookies, only to be let down as Luna paused in her tale to inform him they were out of the reindeer ones. Ginny, meanwhile, had actually been paying close attention to Luna, sitting on top of the large coffee table in the center of the room until she finally and absentmindedly took a sip of her drink.

Her resulting screech actually caused Jeff to poke his head out the bedroom door to make sure everything was all right; Michael had dismissed him when he noticed he had not bothered to put on pants before checking on them. Ginny's frenzied claims that her brain was on fire were assuaged by Michael once he realized what she had drank, although he did recommend she read the warning on the bottle more carefully next time and pour only a few sips of the bright red liquid over a full glass of ice.

Harry chivalrously volunteered to finish the drink for her, a gesture she readily accepted.

Finally, it was nearing six in the evening at Michael's home, which meant midnight was fast approaching at Stonehenge.

"So you're not to ask General Staffon to actually meet you?" Luna asked. She was much more awake and alert than she had been hours earlier, sitting on the edge of the sofa and watching Michael get ready to leave. A glossy eyed Harry and Ginny were spooning on the other couch and hadn't interacted with Michael or Luna much in the last half hour or so, yet Harry seemed reluctant to take full advantage of one of the many empty rooms Michael's house provided.

"Come with you?" Harry asked, coming back to earth. "Where are you going?"

"Stonehenge," Michael answered. He was slightly surprised to realize he had made no mention of this to Harry all evening, but decided to chalk it up to their party being more focused on fun and excitement than war and strategy. "I may have a lead on the spy in STRIKE, and I'm going to confront them tonight. And no, I'm not going to waste Staffon's time if I'm wrong."

"Well, let's go," Harry said, staggering to his feet and stumbling slightly. Michael grinned and shook his head.

"Sorry, but not this time."

"I'm not that drunk," Harry said, drunkenly.

"I'd say the same thing even if that wasn't a lie," Michael said. "I've got to give the impression of vulnerability if I want to draw out this spy."

"Why do men always go for the bait strategy?" Ginny asked disdainfully, her eyes closed. She shook her head slightly from side to side. "Bloody stupid excuse for a strategy it is…." Harry sighed and collapsed back down next to her.

"I won't tell you to be careful because I know you will be," Luna said calmly. "But I will tell you to come back. Please."

"I always do," Michael smiled comfortingly at her. "And I really doubt there's much to worry about anyway. He's a spy. I'm a soldier-spy. I outrank him."

Ginny groaned from the sofa.

"I'll pack you a snack then," Luna smiled. She may have finally accepted that she could no longer accompany her husband and friends on actual missions, be she was still determined to help. "You might have to wait a while; at least you won't have to be hungry."

"I love you," Michael said affectionately, quickly kissing Luna. He turned to Harry. "Still not considering marriage?"

Harry, Ginny, and Luna laughed, and Michael did as well, but quite as easily as his friends and wife. Secretly, he was much more worried about this trip to Stonehenge than he let on. Not that he was scared of facing this spy; he just had a bad feeling.

So when he set off to Apparate to England, he kissed Luna a little more passionately than usual, just as a precaution. Harry – sobering up as Michael left – warned him he and Ginny would be staying at Michael's house until he returned and that he would be going to Stonehenge personally if Michael didn't come back within a half hour.

Of course, the feeling of disappearing into the night for a dangerous mission was somewhat diluted by the fact that a woman who looked more and more motherly by the day handed him a brown paper bag containing a ham sandwich and Christmas cookies, wished him good luck, and waved him goodbye. He felt more like a child going to school than he had in years.

It was slightly warmer than Michael had expected when he arrived at Stonehenge at eleven fifty-eight, though his own home had been downright freezing since he returned to it. He immediately pulled out his wand and muttered "Homium Revelio," at the same time reworking some of the arguments in his head he planned to use to convince Luna to move to some tropical beach with him one day. The spell showed no human presence near him, so he headed for the center of the stones.

He decided that he would wait until twelve ten, and if no one showed up, he would go home. To pass the time, he leaned up against one of the stones, sighing with contentment as its power flowed through him.

He pulled out the sandwich from his bag and took a bite. Ham, leftovers from Christmas dinner, Xeno having insisted they take some home. Marveling at the improvements in his wife's cooking, Michael almost forgot to look around periodically, as he was supposed to be waiting for General Staffon. He alternated bites of the sandwich with large pieces of the last Christmas cookies, chewing the cookies a little more slowly as he tried to decide what precisely Luna had put in them. She had refused to allow him to help prepare the actual dough and had laid out a number of different items Michael was pretty sure were not usual ingredients in cookies. Michael tasted something a little like mint but as he chewed it transformed into a much more nutty taste. Even after three years of marriage there were still some things about Luna that remained a mystery.

Michael sighed and looked down at the watch Luna had gotten him for their – in retrospect – poorly timed anniversary. Michael generally didn't think of himself as a person who would wear a watch but the black and gold trim did make it look just the right amount of flashy. Eight minutes past. Michael shrugged to himself and made to push off the stone, but stopped with one hand on it.

He felt something. It was perhaps his natural instinct, amplified by the stones. He would never have felt it without the stones, but something told him to hold. He fixed his eyes on a spot in the darkness straight ahead, slowly pointing his wand at the same spot, the sandwich falling from his hand.

"Show yourself," he commanded. He wordlessly lit his wand, though it was unnecessary. A solitary figure strode into his line of sight, a wand held loosely at his side. Michael narrowed his eyes at him.

"So I was right. Sanders."

"Looks like I was right too," Sanders said casually, disregarding Michael's wand and walking towards him.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't think you had really found one of the Seven," he shrugged, still coming closer. The tip of Michael's wand sparkled dangerously. He sighed and came to a stop. "But I figured if you had I could find out enough to get a hold of it by eavesdropping."

"And if I hadn't found one?"

"Well, then I'd finally get my chance to kill you."

Within a second, both wands had fired their respective spells, clashing in the middle. And with that first meeting, Michael knew he was dealing with an enemy far more powerful than he had expected.

To complicate matters, Michael had to refrain from anything that could be potentially lethal. They needed him alive to find out who he was working with and why. Sanders, however, was fighting to kill.

In fact, Michael felt a very poorly timed sense of déjà vu as he was nearly caught in the side by a killing curse though, unlike Sirius' misplaced one, he was able to avoid it.

"Fool you once, eh?" Sanders taunted.

Unable to make sense of this, Michael retaliated with a Displacement Curse, trying to destabilize the ground at his feet. It worked and Sanders stumbled forward, dropping his wand and rolling on his back.

Michael pointed his wand down at him as he approached cautiously, his eyes narrowed, his stance defensive. He stopped a foot from Sanders, his wand at his face.

"Get up," Michael ordered him, in the voice he used when trying to impose authority. Sanders, glaring at him, slowly got to his feet. He held up his hands in surrender. Michael felt triumphant for a moment. "You bastard. Not only did you betray STRIKE, you made me drop the sandwich Luna made me…."

But apparently Sanders was no novice of the tricks of STRIKE Special Forces. Michael should have expected it, being trained in them all himself, but was too tired to realize it. It was one of the best tricks STRIKE agents had. Michael knew the procedure. Never say anything to try to distract your captor. They expect it.

But when Michael noticed that certain look in Sanders' eye, that look that was so hard to fake, the look of something truly spectacular and attention grabbing behind him, danger or reinforcement or imminent death, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder. Sanders seized his opportunity, launching himself at Michael and tackling him to the ground.

Michael's wand rolled away as Sanders slammed into him. Before he could do anything, Sanders was on top of him, landing punch after punch on his face. He managed to throw him off, and Sanders staggered a few feet away from him.

Michael jumped to his feet and quickly wiped the blood from his mouth, before taking a swing at Sanders. Tactics, magical power – none of it mattered now. Down and dirty brawling…Michael wasn't a fan, but that didn't mean he was bad at it. If nothing else, it got his adrenaline flowing in a way magical duels did not.

He and Sanders struggled around Stonehenge for a few minutes. Occasionally one would end up on the ground and receive a few kicks in the side or punches to the face, and by the time both men were spent, each was as bloody and bruised as the other.

Sanders snarled angrily as he ran straight at Michael, reaching back a fist to land another blow. But while Michael was as tired as Sanders, he was keeping together better. He sidestepped at the last minute, grabbing his arm as he stumbled past him and slamming him face first into one of the stones.

Something strange happened when Sanders connected with the stone. The stone shimmered oddly and he fell to the ground, unconscious from the blunt trauma, but that was to be expected. What Michael didn't expect was to no longer be panting over Benjamin Sanders, but over the unmarked and uninjured form of Sirius Black.

Michael panted heavily, feeling a swelling under his right eye and a pounding headache coming on. He rubbed the less injured side of his face.

"Harry's going to fucking kill me…."