* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 36: The Start of Something New

A/N: The quote about Mum and Mother is from Desha Wood, and the quote about every kid having the potential to be great is from Josh Shipp. Pinterest is a wonderful resource when you need inspiration!

The chapter title is from the song:

Start of Something New by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgeons in 'High School Musical'.

"Good morning!" Andromeda chirped, "You two are early this morning. Teddy isn't even up yet."

"That's what we were hoping," Harry said cryptically, "We thought it would be nice to talk before he wakes up."

Andromeda raised an eyebrow at him, "You Gryffindors are terrible at being subtle," she said. With a wave of her hand, a tray with three teacups and a pot of tea had appeared on the table in the morning room.

Daphne chuckled, "I have tried to tell him that he needs to get better at that before he's a qualified Auror."

"Subtlety has never been my strong point if I'm honest," Harry said.

"It wasn't Dora's either," Andromeda said with a chuckle while she poured out the tea, "I can guess what it is you want to discuss while little ears is not here. Have you considered what I said about adoption?"

Daphne nodded, "We have considered it a lot."

"We've done a lot of thinking," Harry agreed, "And we wanted to discuss how it would work if we were going to go ahead with it."

"Well, as I suggested when we last spoke," Andromeda began, "Narcissa and myself would happily look after Teddy between us while you two are at work."

"I never work weekends, so it would be Monday to Friday," Daphne said, "And I work a couple of hours less than Harry a day. so I could easily drop Teddy off and pick him up through the week."

"We would find a way of making it work," Andromeda assured them, "As long as we are all sure that it is what is best for Teddy."

"Are you sure it is what's best?" Harry asked, "You're his grandmother. Are you okay with letting him live with us?"

Andromeda sighed, "I love that little boy so much, Harry, but I can't give him what he needs. I'm exhausted by lunchtime after running around after him in the morning. I can't play Quidditch with him or throw him around in the air to get him giggling like you can. The older Teddy gets, the harder it is for me to give him the attention that he needs."

Harry nodded, "So this way, we all get what we want. You get to have Teddy during the day through the week, but you get your evenings and weekends to recuperate."

"I feel awful for agreeing, but you are entirely right," Andromeda said, "I am not as young as I once was. There is a reason that women have babies in their 20's, you know."

Daphne smiled, "It's easier to balance everything when you're young, and you're already used to not getting any sleep."

"Precisely," Andromeda said, "This way, we all get to see Teddy plenty, but he will have a better quality of life. On a warm summers day, you can get back from a day of running around the country chasing bad guys and still have the energy to take him out to the park. I just don't have that ability anymore."

"We understand Andromeda," Harry said gently, "And I don't want you to feel bad about it. Grandparents aren't supposed to raise their grandkids; they are supposed to babysit them and spoil them. You aren't the one who isn't doing your duty; I'm his godfather."

"And you are only 19 years old," Andromeda reminded him, "I doubt that Dora would have expected you to step up and offer to raise her son. She would be honoured that you are doing so, however."

Harry shrugged, "I'm doing what I wish somebody would have done for me as a kid. Teddy has the chance to grow up in a loving family. He can grow up with two parents who love him and a grandmother who adores him. One day he will be a big brother. He will always have a safe place to come home to during the school holidays, and he will always have our love. If we do this right, the three of us can give him everything I always wanted as a kid."

Daphne gripped Harry's hand because she could see that he was getting emotional.

Andromeda smiled tearfully and nodded, "I don't think Dora or Remus would have argued with that sentiment."

"Neither do I," Daphne said gently.

Andromeda wiped her eyes so subtly that Harry almost didn't notice it, "If we all agree, then I will start to get the papers drawn up. It can take some time for the contract to be finalised and whatnot. I will do it through the family solicitors to ensure that everything is kept as private as possible. You will get a copy via owl post to review; please make sure you read the contract very carefully when it arrives."

"I will," Daphne said with a pointed look at Harry.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I'll leave that part up to Daphne," he agreed.

Andromeda chuckled at this, but before she could say anymore, Teddy came barrelling into the morning room, "Daffee!"

Daphne laughed and picked the boy up as he threw himself at her, "Good morning, little monster. Harry is here too, you know?"

Teddy cuddled into Daphne and smiled at Harry, "Dada."

"No, Ted, I'm Harry," Harry said gently, "We've been through this."

"It's pointless," Andromeda said, "When I tell him that you two are taking him away for the weekend, he runs around shouting 'Dada' and 'Daffee'."

"Just accept it and let him call you Dada," Daphne agreed.

Harry smiled and tickled the boy who was still in his pyjamas, "I guess I should start listening to the women in my life, don't you think, Teddy?"

Teddy just giggled in response.

"So I know you hate being away from me," Neville said while he fried up a full English breakfast, "But that doesn't mean you have to keep quiet about what you're doing over there. I want to hear all about how much you love the course and about how great France is."

"Well, I can tell you all about how great the course is," Lilly said from the kitchen table, "But I hate France."

"What's so bad about it?" Neville asked curiously.

"The French?"

Neville snorted, "You sound like Theo. He was so annoyed when Sadie told him that she wanted to go to Paris on their honeymoon. I think he would have rather gone anywhere else."

"He ended up enjoying it though, even if he pretends he didn't," Lilly said with an amused shake of her head, "But in all seriousness, I don't like what I've seen of France. The French Healers in the centre are arrogant idiots. Then there's Marcel, who is just a slimy little slimeball."

"Has he-"

"He's left me alone since Clara spoke to him, don't worry about it," Lilly said offhandedly, "But then there's French food which I thought I would enjoy, but I really don't. I tried frogs legs, and the texture was just awful. Then I ordered a steak the other night, and it was basically rare! I think they just cut it off the cow and put it on the fucking plate."

Neville raised an eyebrow at her, "You really don't like France much, do you?"

She shook her head, "Nope. When we go on our honeymoon, we will definitely not going anywhere in France."

"When?" Neville said as he put a plate of food in front of her, "Not so long ago, you were terrified of commitment."

"Well…" Lilly said as she looked down at her breakfast, "Distance does make the heart grow fonder."

"I know," Neville said. He placed his hand on top of hers, "You don't appreciate what you have until it's gone for a week at a time."

"You should come and visit me in France," Lilly said. She looked up at him, "Maybe I'll like it more if you're there."

"Why Lillian Moon," Neville said sarcastically, "I didn't think you said cheesy things like that."

Lilly smiled at him, "I'm serious, Nev."

"Then I will seriously come to visit you in France," Neville promised her, "Next weekend, I'll come to you. The only reason that I haven't yet is because I thought you were enjoying catching up with everyone else while you were at home."

"I am," Lilly said honestly, "I love catching up with the girls and nipping over for a coffee with my Mum, but I don't need to do it every weekend."

"I think it's about time I came to visit you anyway," Neville said, "Your course-mates must be desperate to meet me since I was the one who bestowed your new nickname on you."

Lilly whacked him around the head, "Oh shut up. They are desperate to meet you, but that's only because they think you're tall, dark and handsome."

"I am rather tall, and I do have kind of mousy brown dark-ish hair," Neville said with a grin.

"And you're handsome," Lilly added, "But don't you dare flirt with any of them, or I will kill you."

"Why would my eyes ever wander when I have you?" Neville asked.

"At least what I said wasn't that cheesy," Lilly murmured as she stabbed a bit of bacon with her fork.

"Can I mess with Marcel next weekend?" Neville asked eagerly.

"I told you he hasn't been bothering me lately."

"I know, but I still want to mess with him."

"Neville!"

"Please? Just a tiny bit?"

Lilly grinned at him and gave in, "Oh, I suppose so…just a little bit."

Neville grinned back, "I can't wait."

"Daph, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh-huh," Daphne replied. She was a little preoccupied because they had just set Teddy loose on the new kid's playset they had bought for the Manor's back garden.

"Does it bother you that Teddy calls me Dada but only calls you Daffee?"

Daphne frowned and looked over at him, "No, of course not. You're his godfather; he's known you since he was a tiny baby. I'm a more recent addition to his life."

"You've been around since before his first birthday," Harry reminded her, "I know you only really started getting to know him at Easter, but he clearly loves you."

"And that's enough for me," Daphne said honestly, "Children have a more profound bond with their mother. To Teddy, you are the only man he regularly sees; therefore, you are Daddy as far as he's concerned. It's more confusing where women are concerned because there's Andi and Narcissa, then me."

Harry hummed thoughtfully, "I was just worried it offended you."

Daphne shook her head, "When we started talking about adopting Teddy, I realised that I need to accept something. I may become his Mum, but I will never be his mother, and that's okay. He's mine in a way that he will never be hers because I'm going to be the one who heals his cuts, cuddles him after a nightmare and soothes him when he's unwell. But he is hers in a way that he will never be mine because I didn't carry him for nine months and I didn't give birth to him; I never held him in my arms as a baby. I'll be his Mum, and she will always be his mother, and I'll make sure he knows that as soon as he's old enough."

Harry smiled at her, a little tearfully, "That was beautiful. Did you come up with that on your own? Because that could go on a wall, you know, it's inspirational."

Daphne chuckled and looked down to hide the emotions swimming in her eyes, "I came up with it while talking to Sadie late one night about the whole thing."

"I love you so much," Harry said, it was a little bit out of the blue, but Daphne understood, "I can't believe that you and I are only 19 sometimes, but I don't mind."

"We both went through some awful things," Daphne said while she watched Teddy playing, "Both in our childhood and during the war. When you grow up like that, you grow up fast because you don't have a choice. I want Teddy to be able to grow up without that, you know?"

Harry nodded and slipped his hand into hers, "I want him to grow up good and slow like we should have done, but not many people in our generation got that chance. Some of us didn't even get the chance to grow up…."

Daphne squeezed his hand, and Harry sighed, "Every kid has the potential to be something great. They just need the right people behind them. If Voldemort had been adopted by someone who showed him love, then maybe he wouldn't have grown into the monster that he did. Without the Weasley's or Hagrid or Sirius…I don't know what I would have grown up to be."

"With us behind him, Teddy can be whatever he wants to be," Daphne assured Harry, "I know that you feel like you have to fix the mistakes that were made during your childhood through Teddy, but all you need to do is love him. If you do that, everything else will fall into place."

"I already do," Harry assured her as he let his eyes fall on the little boy.

"I have to go out for a bit. Are you going to be okay on your own?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her fiancé, "I spent a whole weekend with him while you were in isolation; I'll be fine. Where are you going?"

"Just out to help someone," Harry said quickly, "Won't be long."

"Oh no," Daphne said sharply, "You don't get to just disappear with a rubbish excuse. Who needs help?"

"Just a friend of mine, nobody you know," Harry said, "It's just a quick errand."

Daphne took another step to block his access to the door, "Let's try that again, shall we?"

Harry grimaced, "Theo told me not to tell you because he knew you would bring it up for the rest of his life."

Daphne sniggered, "In that case, I'm not even going to ask now, but you can tell me all about it when you get back. I was just going to bake a cake with Teddy anyway, so you wouldn't have been much help here."

Harry laughed, "Alright, I'll see you in a bit. I promise I won't be long."

Before Daphne could say anything else, he had dashed out of the house. She shook her head, wondering what stupid situation Theo had gotten himself into this time, and shouted, "Teddy! Do you want to bake a cake for pudding tonight?"

The hyperactive little boy dashed into the entrance hall from the study with a grin on his face. Daphne laughed as she ushered him into the kitchen, "I'll take that as a yes."

"What the hell did you do to end up like that?"

"I pissed Sadie off," Theo mumbled, "Can you just get me down, please?"

"I wish I had a camera right now," Harry said with a grin. Theo was currently suspended from a tree in the back garden of his home. His feet had been tied together, and he had been hung upside down from one of the tallest branches.

"Just get me down, you self-righteous prick."

"Theo, hasn't anyone told you to be nice to the person on the ground when you're the one hanging from a tree?"

"Surprisingly enough, that has never come up in conversation," Theo said sarcastically.

Harry snorted and levitated Theo towards the ground. Once he was close enough, Harry cut the rope, and Theo fell into a crumpled heap on the grass below.

"Why didn't you just ask Draco to help?" Harry asked with a bemused look, "I mean, he literally lives right next door."

"I didn't want Draco to see me like that!" Theo said in an undignified manner.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin," Harry muttered under his breath, "I forgot about your epic love story. How did you manage to piss Sadie off so much anyway?"

"Ask me another," Theo said as he picked himself up and dusted himself down, "Shall we just say that she's a little touchy whenever Egypt is mentioned at the moment?"

Harry snorted, "What did you say?"

"She was complaining about having to go back," Theo said, "So I just said something along the lines of well if you want to keep going with the course, then you're just going to have to suck it up for the next little while. The next thing I know, I wake up hanging from a fucking tree."

Harry tried to hide his amused look, "Yeah, that is pretty touchy."

"Exactly!" Theo said with a wave of his hand, "I need a bloody drink after that. Are you in?"

Harry shook his head, "Nah, we've got Teddy for the weekend, so I really need to get back. I just nipped away when I got your Patronus asking for help."

"You didn't tell Daphne, did you?" Theo asked quickly, "She would never let me live it down."

"I didn't tell Daphne," Harry promised, although he knew that his fiancé would find out what happened eventually. She had her ways and means of getting the truth out of Harry.

"But I will warn you," Harry added, "Sadie will tell Daphne, you do realise that, right?"

"I'm hoping if I apologise profusely, then she won't," Theo said with a shrug, "I think she should just pack it in if it's making her this miserable, but that's not how Sade thinks."

"She needs to decide for herself," Harry said. He patted Theo on the back, "Just walk on eggshells at the moment mate, yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks for pulling my arse out of the fire."

"Or your arse down from the tree, as it so happened," Harry grinned.

Theo rolled his eyes, "You're going to tell Draco and Neville about this on Monday, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," Harry said with a mischievous grin, "Have a good weekend, mate."

When Harry stepped back into Potter Manor, the first thing he heard was laughter. It brought an instant smile to his face to hear Teddy laughing and Daphne chuckling with him. He followed the sound into the kitchen, where it looked like a cake had been massacred rather than baked. There was flour on everything, including Daphne and Teddy.

"Merlin's balls!" Harry said with a grin, "Did you bake a cake or did the cake bake you?"

"Cake Dada!" Teddy said excitedly. He jumped down from the little footstool he had been using and ran over to Harry.

"No, Teddy, don't hug Daddy," Daphne tried to say quickly, "You're covered in…."

Teddy launched himself at Harry, "Flour."

Harry laughed, "And now we're both covered in flour, but that's okay. These are my weekend clothes anyway."

Daphne shook her head in amusement, "The cake did find its way to the oven eventually."

"Did you have fun?" Harry asked Teddy.

Teddy nodded eagerly, "Chocolate cake!"

"Oh, that's my favourite," Harry said eagerly, "But I think while the chocolate cake is in the oven, you should have a bath."

"I think that's an excellent idea," Daphne agreed.

Harry shot her a bright smile, and she smiled back at him. The conversation that had taken place between them and Andromeda that morning was still running through their heads. Harry suspected that Daphne felt the same as he did about the prospect, he was excited and over the moon, but that feeling was also tinged with a lot of nerves.

"Teddy, don't fight me on this one. You need to wear a cardigan. It's getting cold now," Daphne was trying to tell the child.

Teddy kept shaking his head and pulling his arms out of the cardigan while she tried to put it on him.

"Teddy," Harry said in a firmer tone of voice, "If that cardigan doesn't go on, then you're staying here while we go to the Burrow."

Daphne didn't know whether it was the threat or the tone of voice, but it did work. Teddy stopped going rigid and let Daphne put his cardigan on.

"I don't think I'm even going to try and force a hat on him," Daphne said as she shoved her feet into her boots.

"It's not really cold enough yet," Harry said, "And if I know Molly, now that the wind is starting to pick up a bit, she will have moved things inside for the winter anyway."

Daphne nodded and took Teddy's hand, "I was hoping she would do that. I know it's not that cold by our standards, but Teddy feels the cold so much more than us."

"Fleur won't want Victoire out in it either," Harry said when they reached the fireplace, "And these days, Molly listens to Fleur, for an easy life as much as anything else."

"I think that's why Bill listens to her too," Daphne joked.

They both laughed as the floo powder was thrown into the fire. Harry went through first, and Daphne followed with Teddy. When they reached the Burrow, the large dining room table had been crammed into the kitchen once more.

"Sorry about the mess, dear," Molly said when she heard the floo roar, "It's time for us to move things indoors again now that the weather is turning."

Harry smiled in amusement and helped Daphne out of the fireplace with Teddy.

"Everyone else is in the living room," Molly said, "And no, Daphne dear, I don't need any help before you ask."

Daphne chuckled, "Alright, Molly," she said. Between them, they managed to drag Teddy into the living room, which was full of people. He hid behind Daphne's legs as he tended to when faced with a big crowd.

"It's alright Teddy, it's just busier than you've been used to over the summer," Daphne said gently. She reached into her bag and pulled out a reasonably well-worn dragon plush toy, "I brought Elli."

Teddy grabbed the toy and covered his face with it.

"Elli, the dragon?" Charlie asked.

"It's short for Elliot," Daphne said, "Harry named it after a dragon in a Muggle book or something."

"It was a film I used to like," Harry said, "It was called Pete's dragon."

"So Elli is a boy?"

"Hey, it's nearly 2000. Boys can be called Elli," Bill joked.

"Well, it's a rubbish name for a dragon," Charlie said.

"Coming from you, Charlie?" Bill retorted, "The guy who called his teddy bear, Teddy and his dragon, Drago."

Aurora laughed from Charlie's side, "Remind me never to let you name our kid if we ever get around to having an actual human kid rather than a brood of baby dragons."

"Hey, I'm not that bad at naming things!" Charlie defended himself.

"What would you name our kid if we had one then?" Aurora asked.

"Uh…Charlie or Bill…or Arthur."

"Good to know you love the rest of us, Char," George joked as he clapped Charlie on the shoulder.

"And none of those are girls names," Aurora added.

"Charlie is unisex!"

Bill barked out a laugh and said, "Shut up, Charlie. Just face it, you are never naming anything."

Aurora nodded her agreement, and Daphne laughed. She looked down at Teddy and said, "Come on, sweetheart, you don't normally act all shy when we come here."

"I bet I can get him out of his shell," Charlie said. He knelt in front of Teddy and said, "Do you like dragons, huh?"

Teddy nodded.

"Well, I have loads of cool stories about dragons," Charlie said, "I can tell you about the time I flew a Welsh Green or about the time I rode into battle on a Norwegian Ridgeback. Would you like that?"

Teddy perked up a little and nodded eagerly. He stepped away from Daphne and let Charlie pick him up. Daphne smiled and said, "Thanks, Charlie," as he sat Teddy on his knee and began to tell him stories.

Bill shook his head and caught Daphne's eye, "He did not ride into battle on the back of a Norwegian Ridgeback, by the way. It was a small skirmish, and he was leading the dragon in, not riding it."

Daphne laughed, "Well, it sounds more dramatic to a one-and-a-half-year-old if he says he rode it."

"That boy and his tall tales," Bill said with a grin, "How's your weekend going?"

"Good," Daphne replied, "Did you get your fence put up yesterday?"

"Yep, and I did not use magic like the wife asked, so she's happy," Bill said. He shot Fleur a grin.

"This is weird," Hermione said as she looked between Bill and Daphne.

"How familiar those two are all of a sudden?" Harry asked, "Tell me about it."

"Well, we do spend all day together five days a week," Daphne said.

"Like Neville and I, so I understand the bond," Harry said as he glanced over at Teddy, "If he's quite happy with Charlie, I'll take this chocolate cake into the kitchen for Molly."

"I'll go through and see if Mum wants a hand with anything," Bill said.

Daphne wasn't stupid; she knew the fact that they were both disappearing at the same time meant that they were going to talk about something. She could work out that the something was her, or her situation with Fawley more to the point.

She didn't say anything though as she sat down in the chair and said, "So Draco, did you hear that Theo pissed Sadie off yesterday and ended up hanging upside down from a tree?"

Draco's response was to positively cackle with laughter.

Harry dropped the cake off with Molly in the kitchen, and as he was about to head back into the living room, Bill stepped out.

"Oh Bill, I'm glad I caught you," Harry said in an undertone, "I wanted to talk to you."

"I was just coming out to say the same thing to you," Bill admitted, "Let's nip out into the garden."

They stepped into the garden and shut the backdoor behind them.

"You go first, Harry."

"I just wanted to thank you," Harry said honestly, "For everything that you did for Daphne. You could have put her back in that cursed room or given her any old Curse Breaker as a mentor, but you didn't, and she's so grateful for that."

Bill smiled, "You don't have to thank me for doing my brotherly duty, Harry. You're my little brother; the least I can do is keep your fiancé safe after everything she's been through. I don't mind mentoring her either though, she's amazing already, and she's only a trainee. That girl is going to be a fantastic Curse Breaker one day."

Harry smiled proudly, "I know. She thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread; she won't shut up about you. Every night it's Bill said this, and Bill did that, or Bill showed me this new way of working."

Bill laughed, "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I know when a man and a woman work together, there can be all sorts of tension there, and I just wanted to assure you that it's completely platonic and always will be."

"Oh, I know," Harry said, "I trust you and Daphne completely. I know that nothing like that would ever happen. Anyway, look at your wife."

Bill laughed, "I won't tell your fiancé that you said that."

Harry snorted, "Yeah, don't, I value my life, and obviously, I prefer Daphne anyway. Fleur is too nice, and she's also too French."

"The too French I get," Bill admitted, "But can a woman be too nice?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "I'm stubborn, and I'm hotheaded. I need someone who can be a bitch and tell me when I'm an arsehole, and Daphne does that. I'm also not going to lie; it's really hot."

Bill laughed, "See, I like the easy life. I try to avoid riling Fleur up at all costs."

"Then I definitely don't need to worry about you and Daphne having an affair," Harry joked, "She goes looking for an argument half the time."

Bill chuckled, "I just felt we ought to discuss it, so there was no unsaid tension between us about the situation. I wouldn't want to do anything that would lose me your trust."

Harry smiled, "And I appreciate that. I know how it can be when you work with someone day in and day out. You get to know them better than you know anyone else, even your own wife or fiancé or whatever."

Bill nodded, "I told her that, you know? I told her that my philosophy was that we were the same as Auror partners. I know we don't do what you do, but we're on the frontline just like you."

"I think you guys are just as valuable, if not more so than us," Harry said honestly, "You guys are the geniuses who can look at a curse, turn it into code and decipher it. We're the muscle; we're the dispensable idiots that run into battle."

"Every good army has indispensable geniuses and indispensable idiots, Harry," Bill said as he clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Is Ron coming today?" Hermione asked Ginny conversationally.

"No, he's working again," Ginny replied, "He's saving up everything he can to give Katie, for when she has the baby."

"Well, at least he's treating her with respect," Hermione said, "It's too easy for the man to run off and have nothing to do with his kid these days."

Daphne nodded, "If you aren't married, then there's basically no protection, and it's a free-for-all if it comes down to a custody battle."

"More and more people are choosing not to get married these days though, Daphne," Hermione said, "It's been the same in the muggle world for a little while. The days of shotgun weddings are over."

Ginny snorted, "You're saying this to the person who just had a shotgun wedding?"

"You had your reasons," Daphne said with a smile, "Where is Blaise?"

"Working on the house, like he does every spare minute he gets," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, "I see more of Blanche than him these days."

Daphne tried not to smirk when she said, "Do you?"

Ginny shot her a warning look, "Yes, I do."

At this point, Hermione decided a change of subject might be a good idea, "Oh, I meant to ask Gin, have you heard anything from Luna recently?"

"I spoke to her last week before she disappeared off to America," Ginny said, "I asked when she would be back, and she said when the work was done."

"I didn't know that she was going to America," Hermione said.

"Neither did I. What is she doing out there?" Daphne asked.

"Well, it's kind of an interesting story," Ginny said, and the other two girls sensed that gossip was going to follow, "She left with her new boyfriend because he lives out there. Do you remember the guy she took to the memorial ball that none of us knew?"

Hermione and Daphne nodded.

"He's her boyfriend, he's five years older than her, and his name is Rolf Scamander," Ginny said.

"Scamander…as in Newt Scamander?"

"Yep," Ginny said, "Luna is dating his grandson."

Hermione laughed, "Well, it's Luna, so that I can believe. What does he do in America?"

"He runs a sanctuary for magical creatures that are going extinct," Ginny replied, "And he managed to convince Luna to go back there and work with him."

"So she's shacked up with the boss?" Daphne asked with a grin, "Saucy!"

Ginny snorted, "I doubt it's like that. I don't even know if she'll get paid or if it's a voluntary thing. Either way, this sanctuary is on an island near New York, so she said that if any of us had ever wanted to see the states, we could go and visit her."

"I have always wanted to go to New York," Hermione admitted, "But I'll wait until Luna invites me herself. I wonder how Rolf Scamander ended up living over there, though? Doesn't Newt live in the UK?"

"He's lived all over the place, from what I've heard," Daphne said, "He went wherever there were magical creatures that needed discovering."

Ginny shrugged, "I know nothing on the magical creatures front, but I do know that Rolf has family in New York because Luna told me."

"Fair enough," Hermione said with a smile, "It sounds exciting. I'll look forward to talking to her about it when she next comes back."

"If she ever comes back," Daphne joked, "She's found a sanctuary for rare magical creatures. We might never see her again!"

* ~ TBC ~ *