Luna just smiled. "The Malfoys are cursed to fall in love in their early twenties." She said.
"And you're it." Neville added.
"You said what?" Titan asked, his voice calm and steady, belying his surprise.
"Draco's fallen for you." Hermione answered brightly, ignoring the bright red face of the boy who was still in Titan's arms.
"Oh…" Titan said.
"Yeah. Oh." Hermione said, abroad grin on her face.
"Hello, Harry." Luna chirped.
"Titan." Titan corrected.
"But…" Hermione frowned.
"Wait." Neville held up a hand. "You've two brothers. Who are they?"
"Remy and Pads." Titan answered.
"Alright, rephrasing the question. Who were they?" Neville tried again.
"Remy… and… Pads…" Titan said slowly.
Luna, Neville and Draco's expressions said that they didn't understand. But Hermione got it.
"Oh, my god. What did you do? Harry, that's-"
"Titan." Titan's voice went hard. "My name is Titan. Harry Potter is dead. Just like Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are dead. I am Titan Grimm and my brothers are Paddrick and Remington Grimm."
"But…"
"We might have been someone else… once upon a time, but our names are Titan, Paddrick and Remington Grimm, now. And that's how it's going to stay." There was little flexibility in his voice or face.
"Um… Hello...?" Draco was still quite red. "Are you going to put me down?" He asked quietly.
"Do I have to?" Titan asked just as quietly.
"I don't mind the holding bit, but I prefer to have my feet on the ground, if I'm not on a broom." Draco replied.
"That I can do." He lowered Draco until the, now younger, boy's feet touched the ground, but his arms stayed around the first year.
"Harr- Titan. Are you going to tell us what you did?" Hermione stood there, hands on hips, tapping her foot on the floor.
"No."
"Ha-Titan…" Hermione grit her teeth.
"No. I have to talk to my brothers first. Certain information is under a Fidelius… of sorts. It's not just my Secret." Titan warned.
"Who's your Keeper?" Neville asked.
"We all are. And that's the issue. We all have to agree to pass the Secret along and be together when we do." Titan answered. "Tomorrow is Saturday and we're due to meet Grampy at eleven, wanna come, too? Oh, and we haven't told our dormmates, yet."
"Oh, that's going to be fun… Not." Draco grimaced. Weasley were renowned for their tempers.
"Nah, they know we've got secrets, that there's things we can't tell them, they get that." Titan shrugged. "They might not like it, but they get it. Everyone has things they don't want people to know." He looked down at Draco. "But if you and me are going to do this? Grampy needs to know."
"That's it? If we're going to do this? That's it?!" Draco gasped. "No horror, no shock, no 'I'm straight', no 'but you're a Malfoy', none of that?"
"Uh… no…" Titan leant his head away from the blonde boy. "I've known I was bi, since… oh… definitely the ball… I spent more of my night watching you and the other champions and not my date. Why do you think she was so angry with me?"
"Are… your brothers going to object?" The blonde boy asked.
"They better not. Remy might be straight, but Pads is bi, like me."
"Oh, okay." Draco fell silent.
"So, meeting your grandfather? How? We can't leave the school and he can't enter it." Hermione clarified.
"Oh, we meet near the station, but as long as no one crosses the boundaries, it's all good. We can set up a table that crosses, but we can't cross it, ourselves. That way Grampy can slide things across the table to us and we can all sit down and eat together. Tomorrow, it will be Grampy and Lee's father joining us." He paused. "Us, meaning… Remy, Pads, the twins, Lee, Ken, Alicia, Katie, Angelina and me. And now you four."
The four firsties and the Horde sat and listened to Paddrick's tale, of danger and destruction. Then Hermione added how she, Luna, Neville and Draco had lost everything and everyone that had been important to them, to the Dragonpox epidemic that decimated their time. How they'd given up on their society, as it was, and taken the chance that Lady Magic would let them start over, implying that Lady Magic had cast them back in time to be with their friends. Only Moody, the four and the triplets, knowing that it wasn't quite right, or rather it was right, but there was one huge point missing. The veil and any reference to it or having come from a separate world, were omitted, leaving the Horde with the 'official' time travel story.
"Well, shite." Fred whispered.
"That explains a lot." George added.
"So, you've already finished Hogwarts, once?" Ken asked, looking from Pads to Titan and back.
"I did, but Ty never got the chance, the war exploded at the end of his sixth year." Pads answered.
"So… you and Malfoy?" Katie asked.
"We weren't together, then. Weren't even friends." Ty replied.
"Friends, oh, hell no. We were enemies. He was the Gryffindor captain and their star seeker, and I was the opposing seeker. I didn't realise I was interested in guys until just a few days ago. Hell, I never expected to fall for a bloody Gryffindor. And Titan never gave the slightest hint that he might have been interested in guys, either. So, forgive me for being blind about it." Draco snarked from his seat beside Titan.
"So… what's next?" Lee asked. "If You-Know-Who is dealt with, never to return, what are you going to do now?"
"We've got our shops." Remy said. "And we've got permission from the Headmaster and the Board of Governors to have a Hogwarts shop, once we graduate. We'll be able to come into the school Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, those that aren't Hogsmeade weekends, that is. We want a Den in Hogsmeade, open during the week, as much for adults as students."
"And more importantly…" Paddrick added. "We have each other."
"Although, we hadn't expected to have Draco, Neville, Luna and Hermione show up, our Draco, Neville, Luna and Hermione, that is. We didn't expect to have them back." Titan smiled at them. "I kind of was keeping my distance from Neville and Mione, 'cause it hurt to be around, seeing that they didn't remember the crap we went through. Knowing that they do remember? It's a relief. Luna? I expected to see her next year and fully expected her to just Know. But Draco? A Draco that remembered the things we saw and did? I gotta say…? That Draco is far more appealing as a life partner, than one that doesn't."
"Wow…" Fred whispered.
"Boys? An' girls, too. I need to speak with the trips, Neville, Draco, Luna and Hermione. As an Auror. I need you other seven to leave, for a bit. And I need not remind you that speaking about this could hurt my grandsons, so mouths shut. Got it?" Moody had let the children speak, but he needed to protect his grandsons, and for that he needed to speak to the others that came through the veil.
"Yes, Grampy." The Horde members all said.
"Remy was going to be opening for a few hours, this afternoon." Lee warned.
"I can ask Percy to run the shop for the afternoon." George said.
"He happily do that, for a ʛalleon." Fred nodded.
"He knows where I keep the price lists and the register float." Remy nodded. "One of you guys will have to open the main trunk for him. But the wiz-space only needs to be activated to open the shop."
"If he won't, he was working pretty closely with Ronnie, so it's possible. If he won't, we can ask Penny." George said.
"That would work." Fred nodded. "She'd love the gold or… what about a shop credit? Their OWLs are approaching, a shop credit could go down well."
"Ask Percy first, if he says no, talk to Penny. Then ask whichever one, whether they'd prefer gold or shop credits." Remy nodded.
"Will do." George agreed and with that he and the other Horde members left the triplets and the firsties with Moody and headed back to the castle.
Moody gave them a minute or so and nodded to Paddrick, who took a deep breath and cast a set of Auror grade privacy charms.
"Thanks, Pads." The scarred old Auror grunted.
"No worries, Grumpy." Paddrick grinned at him.
"Right, you lot." He pointed at the firsties. "Who have you told?"
"You and the Horde." Hermione answered.
Moody paused and blinked. "That's it?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, I could see muggle parents accepting that I'm almost twenty-one, from another world and have taken over their eleven-year-old daughter's body." Hermione answered sarcastically.
"Hmm… You could be right." Moody allowed.
"I know my parents, Moody, neither of them were terribly please about me being a witch, it interfered with their view of my future. Telling them I know exactly how bad that future was going to get and still decided to join the wizarding world? No, they won't be pleased, not in the slightest." Hermione sighed. "I tell them, and they'll have me out of Hogwarts before I can blink, even knowing that it would mean having my core bound… Especially, knowing that. They'd see that as a bonus, not a drawback. They love me, not magic."
"Hgh…" Moody grunted. "And you three?"
"While my daddy would accept it, he also wouldn't remember it, or he'd forget that it should be a secret." Luna said. "It' easier not to say anything at all."
"My parents would probably withdraw me from Hogwarts, too." Draco added. "Neither of them would like knowing what happened in our original world, nor would they be pleased that their Draco has been... overwritten... by me."
"Yeah, pretty much the same, here." Neville sighed. "Protective parents…"
"Protective parents." Draco nodded.
"Alright… I'll grant that telling your parents is not a wise idea, how do you plan to keep it hidden? Dumbledore and Snape are both Legilimens, so unless you're occlumency masters…? The chances are they'll find out, sooner or later." Moody warned.
"Grampy? What about a Knowledge Secret, like ours?" Remy asked. "Would that help?"
Moody blinked, there were times he forgot that there even was a Secret, the boys had just become who their documentation said they were. Even now, being in the middle of discussing the Secret, the still forgot.
"It would… If you could get the wording right. Do you plan to dismiss the other Secret and start fresh, or create a second Secret?" He asked.
"Mione, Remy?" Titan asked. "Which do you think is safer?"
Remy and Hermione conferred for a few moments, before Hermione pulled out a pencil and notepad, and Remy turned to Titan. "We prefer to dismiss and start over. If we do, we can all be Secret Keepers, and all of us would have to agree to telling someone new. Plus, if Mione and I get the wording right, we can separate the veil issue from the time travelling issue. That way, we can tell someone… like Dumbledore… about the time issue and because it involves multiple Secret Keepers, he's more likely to accept that it's the complete secret, not just one half of what we're hiding."
Moody nodded and hummed as he thought about it. "Yes…" He eventually agreed. "That would work. But it would be better to have three parts, in that case. One, for the new Id's for the triplets. Two, for the time travel issue. And three, for the veil. It'd be best to cast them in that order." He tilted his head and ran a couple of scenarios through his mind. "Something along the lines of 'Titan, Paddrick and Remy were who they were, but have been issued new Id's by the DMLE' as part one. And 'Titan, Paddrick, Remy, Draco, Neville, Luna and Hermione have travelling back in time', up to you whether you add that you came from different points in time or not. And 'Parts one and two, are because the seven went into the veil' again whether you state that it happened at different time and willing or not, that's something you lot have to work out."
"But you'll cast it, once we work it out?" Titan asked.
"I will, but… I can't do that with the wards between us." Moody warned.
"So, you have to be with us to do it?" Hermione asked, her head popping up from the grouping of Draco, Neville, Remy and Pads.
"Grampy? Could you ask Dumbledore for permission to visit us tomorrow. Tell him that we're ready to buy a place in Hogsmeade and need to view them via pensieve." Remy started.
"No." Pads cut in. "No, that won't work. He'll want us to do that in his office. No, we're better off, if Grampy asks to visit as we want to invite Draco, Neville, Luna and Hermione to become Den shareholders. That requires an oath from them, and we've already had Grampy registered as our oath-binder, due to our age."
"So, they just need to come up with business idea." Moody nodded. "That's better. Ideas?"
"A student magazine. A bit like the Quibbler but covering the school. Not necessarily gossip and the like, but a page for each year, reminding them what essays and assignments are due. A page to cover Hogsmeade and anything that happens there, a page for the muggle world and a page for the wizarding world in general." Luna replied.
"Perfect. You cover the school stuff. Hermione helps and covers the muggle stuff. And I cover Hogsmeade and the wizarding world." Draco grinned.
"And Neville?" Moody asked.
"A nursery, for fresh potions ingredients. Potted plants for the dorms, terrariums, equipment for herbology and books, too. That would have me working reasonably closely with the twins, Ken and Remy." Neville answered.
"Excellent." Moody half-grunted-half-laughed.
"Plus, you can also tell him that one of us raised the subject of betrothals." Hermione said.
"No, not with Dumbledore, he doesn't approve of them." Moody said. "His mother's influence, I think."
"Heh…" Hermione snorted. "Not his business."
"It's not, but that doesn't stop him from trying to interfere. We're best off just telling him enough to get the response we want." Moody said. "Betrothals can happen during the holidays, best to let Dumbledore find out after the fact."
Christmas was approaching fast and the Express was due to leave in a few days. This year, the Weasley's were going to Romania for Christmas and the boys and Ronnie were expected to stay at school, but the triplets put paid to that. They wrote to Molly and Arthur and begged for the twins to stay with them, unsurprisingly permission was given. What did surprise them was that Ronnie and Percy elected to stay at the school by themselves.
Apparently, Titan's lecture to Oliver Wood had influenced Ronnie considerably. While she was not the best of students, she was working hard to get to a solid EE grade and planned on keeping it there. Percy was helping her with the more academic subjects and after watching his sister struggle with her wand, had written to their father, stating that Ronnie was having difficulty casting spells as she was using Charlie's old wand and it didn't like her all that much and would Arthur object terribly much if Percy took her to meet with Auror Moody who had a trunk of second-hand wands, in the hope that one would choose her? It would cost ʛ1 and the old wand or ʛ2 and the family would keep her old wand.
Arthur replied, sending the ʛalleons and permission, for Percy to take Ronnie to Ollivander's in Hogsmeade to get a brand new wand and asking them to send the old wand home, it had belonged to their grandfather's brother and while he didn't object to one of the children using it, he wanted to keep it in the family.
So, Veronica Weasley got the willow and unicorn wand that, in that other world, Ronald Weasley had acquired after his second year. Much to the amusement of Hermione and Titan, the exact same wand had chosen the two counterparts.
The triples and the quartet had met with Moody and he'd cast their Secrets, as they'd walked from the school's gates, across the grounds, to the castle. The group had already written out the thee Secrets on muggle paper, which after Moody had read them, were banished to their trunks, in case they were needed in the future. They'd reintroduced the Horde to the time travel Secret, before the Auror had left, but after having met one of each of the quartet's parents, or in Hermione's case her guardian Augusta, in the Headmaster's office, to provide consent and to witness the students' oaths.
Dumbledore had been a little alarmed at the students having to give oaths, but was mollified when told that if they wished to cancel the oaths at any time, all they had to do was to hand over control of their shares back to the Den. If they'd paid out the cost of their wiz-spaces and trunks, they would be able to keep them, otherwise monies outlaid would be returned to them and the Den would keep the items. It was only an oath of professional loyatly, after all, and most businesses used a similiar oath to ensure craft Secrets weren't stolen, by shifty employees.
But all that was resolved, now and the Horde were running hard and fast to try and keep up with the requests for Den products, not just for Christmas but for the rapidly looming exam season.
Even the staff were seen to be visiting the Den and spending their gold. McGonagall bought a selection of heather-based products for herself and a range of muggle sweets for most of the staff, excluding Snape, he got a set of very nice crystal phials. Dumbledore, of course bought sweets for everyone. Flitwick bought a set of duelling robes for himself that were, miraculously, the right size for the tiny charms Professor. Professors Sinistra and Babbling bought muggle books on astronomy and runes, while Professor vector found herself a handful of books on advanced mathematics that she thought sounded interesting.
Fifth and seventh year students frequently sent notes via owl, to inquire after this or that book. Requests for paper, graph-paper, parchment or ink, came almost hourly. Then there were the commission requests, books, games, clothes, equipment. Once student even sent a request for a specific shade of a specific type of yarn, so that she could finish the scarf and hat combo, she'd been working on.
Lucius looked at his son.
"Would you care to repeat that, please, Draco?"
"The Malfoy Gift. It struck a little earlier than expected, father." Draco obediently said. "I want to court Titan Grimm. Auror Moody's grandson."
"I thought that was what I heard. Gift? I've never heard it called a Gift before." Lucius mused.
"Hermione and Alicia started it. I was bemoaning the Curse and they quickly corrected me. Thanks to the Gift, Malfoys can be quite confident that we will find their life's partner, by the time they are in their mid-twenties." Draco explained. "You and mother were betrothed before leaving Hogwarts and were declaring your love for each other not much later. So, I'm a few years younger again? So what? Malfoys know what we want and only the best will satisfy us. Titan, is for me, the best of all of those at Hogwarts."
"Back up a little, son. What makes you so sure it's a Gift?" Lucius frowned.
"Father..." Draco sighed. "All Malfoys are subject to it, not selected members of the family. We find love, with our life's partner, before we reach twenty-five. It's widely known, enough that most other families don't approach us about betrothals until after that time, the Blacks not included, they're a bit stubborn in that way. We never have to worry about… 'do they like us?' We never have to worry about… petty breakups. We never have to worry about… the drama of dating. We never have to worry about… infidelity. We never have to worry about… whether our partner cares about us. We never have to wonder if… they will support us in our ventures. We never have to worry about… abuse. We never have to worry about… disrespect. We don't have to worry about… our partners being respectable. We don't have to worry about pretty much anything as far as our partner is concerned. They are the person that is most suited to us, above all others."
Lucius stood and just gawked at his son, he knew all of this. But he'd never hear it put quite that way before. When looked at from that direction, the enchantment on the Malfoys was most definitely a Gift and not a Curse.
"Oh." Was all Lucius could say.
"Exactly." Draco smirked.
Lucius shook himself, anything to regain his composure. "And you feel Titan is this person?"
"I don't feel, father, I know. Look you and mother were already betrothed? And there was just that split second where you suddenly realised that this person was everything. Right? You met her eyes and knew that she was it and just as importantly, she knew it, too." Draco huffed. Ye, Gods, but his father was a mule to deal with at times.
"I would like to know a little more about the lad, before offering a contract." Lucius warned.
"Father, you know what Ty's been like since he reached Hogwarts."
"And before Hogwarts? What of his parents? How do we know they would welcome a contract?"
"The triplets' parents died when they were a year old, when the muggles destroyed part of Liverpool. They've lived with Auror Moody ever since."
"Ah. And their grades?" Lucius was clutching at straws to find things to ask.
"Auror Moody insisted, if they want to keep their businesses and prank the school, they have to keep their grades at EE or above. They all keep an O in potions, Uncle Sev makes sure of that. In arithmancy they're all E's, same for astronomy, CoMC is Pads favourite and he's first in their year, in charms Pads has an O, in defence all of them do, herbology they're all E's, in history it's Remy that has the O, potions all of them, runes it's Remy again, in transfig it's all of them."
"I see…" And finally, Lucius did see. "Very well, I shall contact Auror Moody and discuss the matter with him. I would suggest allowing us to discuss it privately, before involving yourself and Titan."
"As you wish, father." Draco smiled.
"There is also the matter of an heir…" Lucius warned.
"Understood, but we have a possible way around it. Hermione was telling us that the muggles have this thing called surrogacy." Draco changed his stance and began to to speak as though repeating a lecture. "Surrogacy is where a woman becomes pregnant and carries a child but is not related to that child. We talked about it in potions last week. Uncle Sev says that magic could make it so much easier. Muggles take an egg from a woman, usually not the one that's going to carry the child. The egg is fertilised by the man who is to be the child's father, then inserted into the carrier, who bears the child until birth. He said that magic could make it so much easier. In the case of two men? One man could take a gender-swap potion to become a woman, long enough for a healer to retrieve eggs, which would be fertilised by the second man, and inserted into a witch who'd agreed to carry the child for them. In the case of two women, one would have to take the gender-swap potion and then they would have two options, the first being that they impregnate the carrier by traditional means, the second by retrieving eggs and externally fertilising them."
Lucius blinked in shock. "That's… that's…"
"Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell have already volunteered to carry a child for us, if we decide to go down that path." Draco gave his father a smug grin.
"Ooh, I don't want to know. Go away, you exasperating child." Lucius huffed, by smiled to take the sting out of his words.
The rest of the school year passed quietly. The much-expected prank on the school turned out to be not so much a prank as a show with gifts. The Horde had conjured a fluffy pink and white rabbit toy and engorgio-ed the heck out it, to make it Hagrid-sized, then they'd enchanted it to a fare-thee-well, given it an expanded basket full of Easter eggs and set it loose. Eggs in all different shapes and sizes, different flavours, some filled with smaller eggs, some filled with candy-coated nuts, some with sweets, some with treats, some with toys, some with flowers. All of them covered in bright shiny metallic foil wrap, that came in so many different colours, red, blue, green, gold, purple, orange, stripes, spots, different designs, the list was almost endless.
And every student got some, even the staff were offered the basket. And everyone in the school knew that the Horde were responsible, but no one, not even the staff could work out how they did it or trace it back to them. It frustrated McGonagall and Flitwick no end, they would have dearly liked to have allocated points, but without proof, it just wasn't possible.
Snape, however, had caught the Horde as they finished up and were just handing the rabbit the basket. His only comment had been that 'Miss Lucas, from Hufflepuff, is allergic to chocolate, gentlemen, I do hope that you've taken that into consideration?' and was assured that none of the eggs were actually chocolate, instead they were made with carob, but that they'd planned to have the bunny give Christina Lucas and her friends a selection of candy eggs, they were about having fun, not hurting people.
After the children had their faces smeared with the sugary mess, Snape quietly awarded 'the pranksters responsible' fifty points for taking safety into consideration. Neither McGonagall nor Flitwick ever worked out who was responsible. It became a tradition to do this each Easter, and it wasn't until Draco, Neville, Hermione and Luna were graduating, that they gave McGonagall their notes and methodology for her to recreate their Easter Bunny.
That summer, the summer of 1992, was spent having a break and then getting ready for the new school year. The end of June and all of July were spent relaxing. Oh, sure, there were trips to the muggle world to stock up on products, but they only happened once a week, the rest of the time was just enjoyed. A hiking trip through the Trossachs' national park for a week. A trip to the Isle of Sheppey for a few days in the sun. A few days at Malfoy manor, a few at Longbottom lodge, a few in Crawley with the Dagworth-Grangers. Even a few at the Burrow, the poor orchard becoming a makeshift camping ground. Different adults from different families acted as chaperones and in some cases as guides.
August saw the Horde descend on Diagon Alley in numbers. Agreements were to be made and others refreshed.
Titan bit his lip nearly bloody before he went, but into Add A Room or Two, he did go.
"Hi. I'm Melissa. What can I help you with?" Titan remembered the blonde witch.
"I was hoping I could talk to Albert." In his pocket he fingered the note that Albert had written for him to take to the tent shop.
"Just a moment and I'll ask." The young witch bounced away and returned less than a minute. "Blue door on the right." She pointed the way.
"Thanks." Titan took a deep breath and went over, tapping on the doorframe.
"Come." The man's voice was strong and sure, and Titan did as he was directed. "Have a seat, lad." A hand pointed at the chairs on the opposite side of the desk. "Now what can I do for you?"
"Complicated." Titan winced.
"You in trouble, lad?" Albert frowned.
"No, nothing like that. It's just…" Titan huffed and pulled out the note and handed it over.
Albert quickly read it and looked at the boy. "I remember this and the young man I gave it to. But you're not him, so why have you got it?"
"Actually… I am him. I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you all of my story." Titan grimaced.
"How bad is it?" Albert went a little grey.
"Then? Bad, very bad. Now, not a problem, not anymore."
"What can you tell me?"
Titan handed over a slip of paper that covered the time travel Secret and waited.
"Oh, my." Albert gasped.
"Exactly. A week after I saw you, the DMLE got involved. I can't give you any details, but who I was is gone, dead, who I am now, is permanent. They agreed to change everything about me, my age, my core, my name, everything. I now have two brothers, we're triplets. And we are part of the Lion's Den."
"Ah."
"So, I'm here, with my guardian's permission to see if we can come to a formal agreement for my brothers and I, as our company Tribus, to buy your second-hand wiz-space frames, all of them, in as is condition."
Albert raised a brow and began to nod. "I think we can, lad. And I think we might even come to an agreement to purchase our apprentice frames."
"Only those that have passed the safety checks." Titan corrected.
"Oh, of course." Albert replied. "But I don't think a κnut for the box's worth is going to work, not in the long run, not if you're going to sell them on."
"Fair enough. We're kind of selling them on, but not individually, only as part of a trunk."
"How so?"
Titan went on to explain the study-trunks and the Bolt-Hole trunks, what they were, what the contained and who they sold them to. From there it, devolved into a long, hard negotiation session, before the two were satisfied with the result.
"Lad, you drive a hard bargain. I'll forward a memory of our agreed conditions and price to my Gringotts' account manager and have him draw up the contract. I'd assume that it won't take long, it's fairly straight-forward. I'll have him send a runner to the Den's shop, when the papers are ready. In the meantime, it's good to see you again, and better to know that things worked out alright for you. If you don't mind, I'd like to pass on to Carson that I heard from you, no details, just that you're well and doing fine."
"Yeah, that's okay, you just won't be able to mention anything about who I am now or how I got to be who I am now." Titan shrugged.
"He doesn't need to know that. I don't need to know that, so having it under a Secret, that's a good thing, lad."
"It is." Titan grinned.
"Alright, off you go, the school rush is coming, and you want to be prepared." Albert waved him away.
Titan's grin grew. "Oh, it's going to be madness." He stood and gave Albert a bow as he left.