Submitted for the first round of The International Wizarding School Championship.

School: Ilvermorny

Year: Exchange Student 1 filling in for year seven.

Theme: The Burrow, which focuses on a warm family life where a little goes a long way with a bit of love.
Special Rule: You will have to write something that you have never written before. Each school will have a different designated element that you will have to ensure is different from anything you have ever written. This is worth 5 bonus points!

Special Rule Element—Ilvermorny: Write a setting you have never written before.
Setting: The Lovegood House (aka the Rookery).

Main prompt: [Character] Pandora Lovegood

Optional prompts: [Object] An Infant's Crib and [Colour] Emerald Green.

Wordcount: 1,330

Author's Note: Snargaluffs is a plant that Harry believed was in the Lovegoods' front garden when he, Ron, and Hermione visited them looking for more information on the Deathly Hallows. I took creative licence in that I made it to actually be those plants, as well as add some symbolism here and there reflecting Pandora and Xenophilius's union and little Luna's character.

A big thanks to my awesome teammates for proofing this for me. Thank you.

Enjoy!

Love Will Keep Us Together

Pandora sang happily along to the Captain & Tennille single playing on the wireless. It was her and Xenophilius's favourite song and she never got tired of hearing it. While singing, she filled the old dented blue kettle and set it on the range to boil. Pandora loved her tea.

She opened the window further and looked out to where her husband, Xenophilius, was busily working away with his adze on the large trunk of birch driftwood. She smiled slightly. They had found it while strolling along some coastlines during an expedition on Asklepieion. It was just one of thirteen such pieces of driftwood they had thusly discovered and decided to keep as mementos of their many journeys. She had never considered for a moment that her absent-minded sweetheart was collecting them to use as nursery furniture. It was just one of several such sweet surprises he had amazed her with over the years and one of the things that made her love him even more than she already did.

A nursery, something she had never thought she'd need thanks to a pegasus accident when she was nine. And now, not only did she need it, but she was going to use it soon. Pandora's smile grew radiant as she patted her just beginning to show belly lightly. It was a blessing to be cherished and nurtured. Her prayers had been answered.

Xenophilius had already moved his workspace from the first floor into the living room—his printing press, inks, papers, typewriter, photography equipment, and reference books now demanding one corner of the modest living room—making things a tad more crowded but definitely liveable in their little castle tower home.

Pandora giggled when she remembered how Xenophilius had put on such an enterprise around revealing their future home three years ago.

"Xen? How much further is it? Walking in high heels while blindfolded is not what I envisioned when you said you had a surprise waiting for us." she commented after catching herself from stumbling over some pebbles. She was getting tired. She was clinging onto an emerald green ribbon letting herself be led in the wilds of an unknown English countryside to whatever gift Xenophilius had made for them. But she loved her new husband—they had been wed for just three months—so she continued to walk despite her hamstrings protesting with each step.

Afterwards, she'd felt bad that she had had no idea he had been working on such an architectural endeavour.

"Not too far now, Pan dear. It's just over this ridge and past the horned clover sprites' den."

Pandora grinned despite her building frustration with Xenophilius, she couldn't help it. Whenever he would start his ramblings of fanciful creatures it would make her smile.

"Pandora," Xenophilius whispered tenderly as he bestowed to her a small chess piece, a rook, as he canceled the blindfold charm with a wave of his wand. "As I promised you back in Hogwarts, I have made you your own castle tower. For us and us alone."

She looked up from the polished cherry wood rook to see a lifesize replica standing proudly before her. Instead of wood it had been fashioned from cut stone and brick, but the spiral and spirit of the tower were there, breathing its own form of oxygen.

"Oh, Xen! I love it, thank you!" she exclaimed happily as she jumped up and kissed him. Handling him the ribbon and rook, she whispered a charm joining the two objects together, thus creating a pedant that bounced and swirled in her hands.

Xenophilius smiled, his eyes twinkling as he swept his love's hair aside and gently brought the newly crafted necklace around her neck and fashioned the ends of it in a bow.

The shrill whistle of the kettle and the babble of the news anchor over the wireless brought Pandora out of her reminisces.

"—Now the Minister of Magic denied any comment as to why he was found without any clothes in the Grand Sorcerer's Fountain or why there were two identical women with him, neither of whom were his wife—"

Now that was interesting… maybe wrackspurts glorying in their mischief? Pandora mused as she waved her wand to pour the hot water into the teacups. They were part of one of her favourite sets; they were oriental themed boasting a bluebird mingling with an emerald and periwinkle parakeet framed within a floral border of hyacinth orchids, bamboo irises, and a saucer magnolia crowning the bouquet. It was a specially crafted set made by Xenophilius's uncle and gifted to them three years ago on their wedding. Four explosions, two quakes, and one crash later, the set was down from thirteen servings to five. She couldn't help grinning as she magically removed the tea infusers from both cups, the whimsical image of one day sharing milk tea or chai with both her husband and child warming her heart to overabundance. What a great memory that would be...Three souls, a family, enjoying tea together on a cold winter afternoon.

With a whispered word Pandora opened the door as she carried the bamboo tea tray laiden with tea, biscuits, and luchon sandwiches of cucumber, egg salad, and lemon dill with cream cheese. The crabapple trees and the dirigible plum bushes swayed back from the path allowing her room as she walked past. A quick, reflexive stunning charm to the snargaluffs later and she had passed them by and was already on the back forking path that ran to where Xenophilius was now busily bead planing hazel into cylinder balusters.

With a flick of her wrist she transfigured some wood shavings into a rustic dining set for two.

"Tea time, love." Pandora announced, the tray hovering over the heart shaped rowan wood table.

"Tea? Is it that late already… thank you, my sweet." Xenophilius looked up from his wood planing. His glasses were horribly askew and his long hair was terribly tangled being tasseled by the wind to and fro—and yet Pandora thought he was cute, her zany Xen.

With a grand twirl of his wand the balusters, railing, headboards, and base danced and flew around them before affixing themselves into a crib. Their crib for their child.

And, yet, something was missing.

With a twinkle in her eyes, Pandora snapped her fingers. She knew exactly what the crib was missing. A mobile was the finishing touch this needed. She hummed as she summoned willow, apple, and vine from the pile of driftwood. She was not a talented carpenter like Xen but she could still do some fancy woodworking spells when the occasion called for it, like now. With a pirouette she whirled her wand and the apple wood spun itself into a hooked pole and the willow became flexible enough to join itself into a round band while the vine narrowed and lengthened to connect the two together. With some more wandwork she had crafted animal shapes from fallen shavings and secured it to the mobile.

Now all it needed was a coat of paint. Something that she could have waited on doing until later but she was never one to put off what could be done today for the morrow. Thus, she summoned her paints and her brushes and began to paint the crib in a rich emerald green with white clover dotted along the bottom trim. A bunny nibbling on a clover with its mate standing guard was colorfully drawn upon the headboard. For the footboard Pandora decided to hand letter, "Laid Up On Da Green."

Xenophilius clapped as he finished his third sandwich. "Brillant charmwork. Now come join me before the tea gets any colder."

Pandora accepted the offered tea cup from his outstretched hand, blushing, as she joined him at the table. Clinking their cups together they shared the same happy grin and twinkles in their eyes.

It was going to be one of those happy memories they would both cherish forever.

Fini