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CHAPTER ELEVEN: Preparations

Lily didn't know what to expect when she heard the knock at the door to her rooms. But it definitely wasn't the person that she found waiting there when she opened the door. Emily.

"Who let you in here?"she joked, before she noticed Emily's serious expression and sighed. "You know, don't you?"

Emily nodded. "Martin spoke to James and he spoke to me." Lily didn't even try to pretend to be happy about how the news had spread. "This is my family as well,"Emily pointed out. "Twice over."

Lily couldn't argue with the point, given that Emily was both her sister-in-law and Martin's sister. She stood aside and let the older woman in. "So, I suppose you're here to tell me that I'm crazy and I'm the scarlet woman."

"Well, it's kind of my duty to think that anyone that wants to sleep with my brother is crazy. You probably think the same about me."

Lily couldn't help smiling. "Actually, I think being with you made James a better person,"she admitted.

Emily had to smile as well. "Are you hoping that'll be true of you and Martin?"

Lily's smile faltered. "Maybe we both need someone to make us better."

"You know this is going to cause a lot of trouble?"

Lily nodded. "I know."

"We're not going to turn our back on you and Martin whatever happens but…just make sure you've thought things through before you take it any further."

Unaware of what was going on with her family, Nymphadora was in the Room of Requirement. With her were Bradley and Beverley. She hefted her wand as though about to challenge an imaginary opponent, and then lowered it in frustration. "This is ridiculous. I don't even know what I'm meant to be preparing for."

"Isn't that the point?"Beverley asked. "You have to be ready for anything."

"You could always try casting spells at me,"Bradley suggested.

Nymphadora gave a tight smile. "That's nice but I don't fancy hurling curses at you."

Bradley thought for a moment. "All right then, what about this?" He went to where there was a stack of balls and retrieved some one of them. Then he cast a quick Levitation Charm and floated it in front of Nymphadora. "Make that your target."

Nymphadora found herself intrigued by the idea. "Bombarda,"she snapped but Bradley was ready and moved the ball out of the way. "Fulmen!" A lightning bolt spun from her wand but again missed the ball. Then, another idea occurred to her and she looked back at the stack of balls.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Several of the remaining balls, maybe eight in total, floated up into the air. With deep concentration, Nymphadora manouevred them so they moved to surround Bradley's ball, forming a loose sphere around it.

Bradley attempted to move his ball through the gaps in Nymphadora's formation, but every time he did so, Nymphadora moved one of the balls and blocked them. Eventually, tired of toying with him, she swung the balls inwards. They all collided with Bradley's ball, which deflated under the impact.

Beverley gaped at the sight. "That was incredible!"

Nymphadora gave a modest smile. "It was just an idea that came to me."

Bradley put an arm round her. "Keep coming up with ideas like that and you'll be champion no problem."

Harry's mind was still full of thoughts of his two daughters as he made his way to his fifth year class. Hermione had done his best to convince him that he should just sit back and let events take their course. It was good advice, naturally. That didn't mean it was something he was going to be good at doing.

A good distraction from his musings came in the form of two figures coming down the hall: Viktor Krum and Philip Nave.

Harry's instinct was to address Viktor but he forced himself to look at his son. "I thought you weren't allowed in the school."

Viktor gave the answer. "Your Professor Longbottom agreed he could enter the school if accompanied at all times, and with appropriate charms to stop him from wandering off. Philip expressed an interest and I volunteered to accompany him."

"I felt a touch of nostalgia for my old school,"Nave answered.

Harry nodded. "I hope you've been keeping well."

Nave snorted. "Spare me the fatherly act. You killed my mother in this very building."

Harry knew there was no point arguing but he did it anyway. "I didn't…"

"I don't care what your story is,"Nave retorted. "You killed her whether it was you that fired that curse or not."

"Maybe we should continue our tour,"Viktor suggested.

Nave followed him past Harry without argument. Harry let our a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. He wondered why Nave had wanted to visit the castle. He had an odd feeling it might have been simply to unnerve Harry.

If that was the case, it had worked.