Chapter 5: A Court to set us Free

A year and a month later…

The queue for taking a portkey was quite long. It was the winter holiday period, and Luna guessed everyone had a reason to travel and see the people they hold most dear. Luna had the patience of a ghost, really.

"What are you playing with?" Severus asked suddenly.

"I think it's a muggle toy I found in your belongings. Sorry…"

"It's a yo-yo. May I take it back?" Severus, it was an absolute evidence, wasn't patient at all. He played with the green coloured yo-yo in order to pass time. In the meanwhile, Luna thought of what they had to do. This was the last stopover of their journey.

It had been hard, at first, to set their project. In a post-war time, people didn't really want to hear that their world had not been shattered enough. Yet, with the help of Harry and the new British Ministry of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, things had changed.

During the summer, they had worked with Hogwarts' Head staff to make students aware of their rights and reinforce equality amongst them. Most of them were coughing to hide their laughter when Severus was talking about it…

And now they were working with the Department of Magical cooperation, in order to establish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Wizarding world. There were different teams of wizarding diplomats traveling around the world in order to organize a big conference and vote for a common law among them. They were one of the teams, and yet it was hard to think of Severus as a diplomat. Luna was really interested at how they could ensure an access to the most basic rights for everyone, without any distinction.

And in a few weeks now, there would be a special Wizenmagot gathering to decide of the closing of Azkaban, and the repealing of Dementor's kiss as a sentence.

Finally, it was their turn to take a portkey. They were given a golden cat figurine, and a moment later, they had disappeared.

.oOo.

Wizarding Japan was a highly traditional community. Every wizard they had met until now wore a traditional outfit. Every witch wore a kimono, and Luna half expected a samurai to come near them at some point.

They were invited to attend to a Tea Ceremony by Kuroki Shigematsu. She was the wizard working for international cooperation in the Japanese community. They had to take off their shoes when entering an old wooden house, and then they were asked to come near the hearth in the centre of the main room. Their host had called it a Ro, and Luna felt she grew more curious with each new discovery of this intriguing culture.

They watched in silence as the ceremony began. It was kind of strange to have to remain silent in order to convince someone. Luna was focused on the low gesture of Mrs Shigematsu, and so was Severus at her side. She felt so calm as they watched the utensils being cleaned as the water was slowly poured over them. She could hear the sound of water calming her mind. She couldn't compare that to her usual British afternoon tea, nor to the rituals Severus and she shared.

Her mind left for a moment, it was wandering around to whatever peaceful thought that might cross her mind at this instant. When she came back to the real world, Mrs Shigematsu was shoving a cup–a Chawan– of tea in her hands.

And then, they began to talk. It wouldn't be easy to change things in Japan. Laws were not discussed easily. Apparently, there was no such thing as Azkaban or Dementors here. Yet, equality was not a fundamental part of the society. Witches didn't share the same rights as wizards, and more than that, the distribution of roles in the society was quite strict, for both of them.

Later, when Severus told her the ceremony had looked like the brewing of a potion, but in a more raffinate way, she understood what he meant.

They had another three days to spend in Japan, other events to attend to, and people to convince. Sometimes, Luna caught Severus playing with the yo-yo. It was a bit maddening for him to have to take care of boring things sometime. And yet, Luna had also caught him smiling. Well, she had already seen him smiling of course, on rare occasions. But now, it was more like a joyful grin.

His life had been full of spectres, shadows and impossible vows. And yet, when he finally succeeded in paying his debts back, he hadn't been free at all. The Mediwizards had found him, and barely healed his wound before the Aurors escorted him to Azkaban.

Luna knew how rare it was for Severus to enjoy the simplest things in life. He had told her he rarely had the opportunity to travel. And well, just to be free in fact. Free to go wherever he wanted, to do whatever he wanted… Now he was free from all the vows he had made in his life, and yet he remained at her side.

.oOo.

He was infinitely more kind than she'd thought he would be. Or at least he looked that way. Luna hoped that was due to the time they had spent together.

He looked so intimidating, alone in face of the Wizenmagot. After all, Severus Snape had raised intimidation to the level of an art.

She was taking notes for the Quibbler, of course. They hadn't stood for fundamental rights and equality for nothing! As different officials began to talk, she could get a glimpse of Snape's keen eyes. His gaze was more intense and passionate than when he brewed potions. His expression was even more focused than when he was duelling against Harry at chess. And as it was, he was also calmer than he ever was while reading for hours.

Luna understood he was made for this. He had missed the rage of the battle and the tricky art of saving people. And he was finally back in the arena.

Author's note: I'm gifting this post to Alana, who helped me a lot these days with my bad English. For your patience and your kindness, thank you.

A lot of people helped me with this story, so I must thank Aya, my English teacher, and the lovely people from the Collectif NoName.

Chapter word count: 1019

"Japanese Tea Ceremony" from The Golden Snitch: write a 1000–3000 words story on a character performing the traditional tea ceremony

Additional Prompts:

Objects: Ro, Chawan, kimono, tea

Colours: gold, green

Words: silence, gesture, water

"T'is a figure of speech" from The Golden Snitch: To have the patience of a ghost.

Story word count: 3041

"Through the Universe" from The Golden Snitch: 099 Lunation — (object) the Quibbler

"International Women's Day 2018" from The Golden Snitch: Write about Luna Lovegood. Bonus prompts: (word) important, (creature) thestral, (object) yo-yo.

"White Day" from The Golden Snitch: This fic is a gift to Alana. Extra Prompts: (colour) white, (object) roses, (word) mysterious, (object) mask, (dialogue) "Who ate all my chocolates?".

"Concours de points" from La Gazette des bonbons aux citron: (Ère) Trio d'or

"Pick a card" from La Gazette des bonbons aux citron: Ecrivez sur Luna Lovegood.

"Petits défis entre amis" from La Gazette des bonbons aux citron: Write a 5 Chapter story on Luna Lovegood and women's rights.

"Round 5 (Year Two)" from The Houses Competition: Themed Story Undestanding; Sometimes understanding what somebody is going through is more beneficial than fake sympathy.

Prompts: [Action] Writing, [First Line] He was older than she'd thought he would be.