Pandora Lovegood:

Pandora looked over the notes covering her desk one last time before turning away. Everything was perfect. All of her calculations worked out. She'd done them all dozens of times and everytime she got the same answers. She even tried attacking it in a different way, completely solving the problem in a different way and arriving at the same answer yet again. Years of research all leading up to this moment.

She left behind the table that held all of her notes and strode across the room to where the runic circle was drawn onto the wall. Pandora let a small smile spread across her face as she looked at the culmination of all of her research. She could feel her eyes start to water a little but she ignored it in favor of finally finishing the project.

"It's done, Lily," she said, mostly to herself. "You couldn't be here to see it, but I did it."

This project had defined so much of her life, and to think it was entering the final step, she couldn't believe it. It had all started so innocently too. Her, Lily, and Severus out on the grounds after a fourth year Defense class. Lily was truly terrifying when she put her mind to something. Pandora didn't even want to think where the project would be if Lily hadn't been there for the first few years of research.

A tear finally escaped her eye because of thinking about Lily for more than a few seconds. Thinking back to what happened at the end of the war never failed to bring tears to her eyes. The feelings associated with losing her friend never seemed to quite fade away. Not to mention the grief she felt for poor Harry, having the weight of the world on his shoulders without the brightest witch Pandora had ever known to guide him.

Pandora didn't even want to think about what would have happened if she had died in the war, leaving Luna to grow up in the world without her. Luna truly was a beacon of light in this dark world. Every time Pandora felt herself losing motivation, or felt the itch to be out in the field, she would remember the girl upstairs and her motivation to complete the project would redouble.

Luna was out at the Weasleys today, and Xeno was out looking for a new species, as Pandora needed all of her focus to make sure this crucial stage went off without a snag. Molly was the sweetest woman Pandora knew and was always welcoming in allowing more children into her home. That and Luna got along well with some of her youngest. First of all, having Ginny was nice to have around to have another girl, even if Ginny was a year younger. But then there was Ronald.

Ronald was always a very odd child. Pandora didn't want to think that, but the thought was never quite able to leave her. Ever since she met the boy for the first time, she knew that there was something off. From the stories of his early accidental magic, to the faraway look he had at most times of the day, to how he apprehended a Death Eater on a whim, there was something about the boy that unnerved her. And the scars he got from Peter… were ghastly to say the least.

But Luna absolutely loved him to bits. Pandora had noticed over the years that a lot of his siblings were unnerved by Ronald, except for George for some reason, but Luna was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Maybe it was Luna's unquenchable curiosity, which pulled her to whatever was most interesting in any given room. Or maybe something as simple as being the same age as her, but Pandora had a hunch that such a mundane answer would satisfy her daughter. They all believed in the death of Occam in the Lovegood household.

Pandora shook her head. She was getting distracted away from her task. She took a few moments to center herself and get ready for the process to start before getting down onto her knees to activate the bottom of the circle.

"WAIT!" a voice yelled out from behind her. Pandora whirled around to come face to face with Ronald Weasley standing in the doorframe, looking entirely out of breath and panicked.

"Ronald?" Pandora asked. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"

Ronald just stood there, for a few minutes breathing heavily. He was sweating profusely, as if he had run all the way here from the Burrow instead of flooing over. Which might be possible, given how stingy Molly could be with their floo powder at points. Ronald's eyes kept darting around the room and Pandora could swear that she could see that his hands were shaking. She couldn't help but notice the scars that crossed over his right eye and extended down to his neck. Pandora stood up to cross the room and kneel next to him.

"Ronald what's wrong?" Pandora asked in concern. She didn't think that she had ever seen the boy so focused on something. Most of the time, Ronald had a faraway look and barely seemed to be present in the moment. He always looked like he was lost in memories and unable to live in the present. But now, Ronald looked dangerously in the moment. Like his attention was completely latched onto what was happening around him, and it unnerved Pandora more than she wanted to admit.

"I…" Ron said before stopping. His mouth opened and closed for a few moments as if there was something on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite remember what it was that he needed to tell her. "I don't know," he said finally. He sounded frustrated in himself for not being able to remember what it was he needed to tell her. Pandora just shook her head amusedly.

"Ok, let's just send you back to the Burrow for now," she said. "You can come back if you remember what you needed to tell me, but not right now. I'm in the middle of something very important, okay?"

Pandora could see the look on his face slowly go back to his normal faraway expression, and he nodded absently. She led him up to the floo and sent him back through over to The Burrow. She came back down to her lab and knelt down in front of the runic circle.

And activated it.