Chapter 3

Ginny,

Father asked the woman he was courting to marry him. They haven't set a date for the wedding yet, but they're thinking about sometime within the next couple months. I already asked him and Sam (that's her name), and they said that you and your family were invited. They'll send an invitation when they set a date.

Oh, Father gave me a puppy for Christmas. I've named her Hypatia. Do you think I'd be allowed to take a dog as my familiar instead of an owl, cat or toad? Although, a toad would be rather nice. Maybe I should go catch one.

Please tell your mother that I loved the jumper she sent. Thank you for the books. I've already started the Hobbit.

Why are Slytherins evil? Admittedly, many Slytherins have ambitions that bring them into conflict, but ambition and the cunning needed for those ambitions are a prerequisite of the house. Can one assume that a Slytherin is not brave just because he or she knows when and when not to fight? Are Slytherins disloyal, or has the mistrust of the other houses made them this way?

With Father and Sam getting married, I've started to think about Mummy a bit more. As you no doubt know, she was a Slytherin. Is it wrong for me to want to think of my mother as a good person, despite-or perhaps because-of the house she was sorted into.

If you and your family come for the wedding, remember to be careful. Gremlins have been known to try to take apart aircrafts if the person in the window seat becomes suspicious.

Luna
"Hello?"

"Dad? It's me."

"Sammie," said Jacob, wondering why his daughter was calling so soon after the last time they spoke. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No. Nothing's wrong… I'm calling because something's right."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to at the Academy next Thursday and Friday. Could we meet in Colorado Springs? I'll be there all weekend."

"Sammie, what's going on?"

"I'm seeing somebody, and I thought you two should meet."

"And you and this man can't come to see me because…"

"Do you remember that episode of the Twilight Zone where a gremlin destroys a plane?"

What on earth? "Yeah."

"Apparently Luna saw that episode and she doesn't want to get on a plane now that she-and I quote-'knows the dangers inherent in airplane travel,'" Sam said, with a bit of a laugh. "Of course, this is the girl that thinks that the Sasquaches, the Jersey Devil, and an army of Jackalopes united to destroy the 'alien menace.'"

"Alien menace?"

"The little gray Roswell aliens, Dad."

"Oh." This had to be the most confusing conversation he'd ever had with his daughter. "So Luna is…"

"Jack's daughter. She'd very sweet but her imagination tends to run away and take her with it." Sam paused. "She'll be ten in three weeks. I'm sure she'd appreciate a book. Personally, I'd recommend C.S. Lewis or something similar. She's on the last Lord of the Rings book already."

She was serious about this man, then. "And Jack is?"

"The man I'm seeing." With a sigh, Sam continued. "Jonathon 'Jack' O'Neill. Two Ls. He was a Colonel before he retired from the Air Force. Yes, I know he was Special Forces. No, I don't care. Anything else you want to know, or will the background check you're about to run be enough?"

"Sammie…"

"Are you even going to try to deny what you're going to do the moment I get off the phone?"

"I just worry about you."

"Please, just wait to make a final judgment until you meet him He's a good man."

"You said the same this about Hansen, and look how that turned out."

"Dad! Jack is nothing like Jonas."

Puppy and girl ran through the snow with barks and the occasional cry of "Back! Back you evil Orc!" From the looks of it, both had been playing outside for quite a while.

Jacob pulled the car up in front of the house. He was already quite sure that O'Neill was nowhere near good enough for his daughter, but he wouldn't say such a thing in front of the man's daughter. Which was probably why Sam had planned the first meeting between him and O'Neill this way.

The front door opened as he got out of the car. Sam stepped out of the house, giving him an unsure smile. After a moment, she turned to the girl.

"Luna, time to come back inside. Dry off Hypatia then change into the dress I laid out."

"Yes Sam," said Luna, running into the house, followed closely by the beagle puppy.

By this point Jacob had reached the porch Sam was standing on. After a quick hug, Sam motioned for him to go into the house.

"As soon as Luna finishes getting dressed, we'll head to the restaurant," explained Sam.

A public setting too. She was going all out for this.

It was then that he noticed something on her hand. The ring finger of her left hand. She didn't. She wouldn't. Who was he trying to fool? Of course she would. At least it was an engagement ring, not a wedding ring.

He'd talk to her about this later. "Should I give the book to Luna here or wait?"

Luna sat across from Sam, watching Jack and Jacob glare at each other. She rather liked Jacob (he'd given her the book Redwall by Brian Jacques), but obviously he and her father didn't like each other. Something had to be done.

"Father, are you and Mr. Carter going to fight?" she asked.

"No, of course not," Jack said a little too quickly.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"Well," said Luna, knowing quite well that while such a thing happened on a regular basis in the Wizarding world, it would probably not happen in the Muggle world. "The first time Mummy was engaged, Mr. Black-her fiancé-had to duel Uncle Lucius for the right to marry Mummy. Although how Mr. Black managed to win against Uncle Lucius, I don't know. I mean, Uncle Lucius killed him right in front of Mummy a couple months later. And Daddy would have dueled Uncle Lucius too, but Mummy had already been disowned because she had me."

"There will be no dueling," declared Jack. "Sam would kill us."

"Yes, I would," agreed Sam. "Wait-your uncle killed your mother's fiancé?"

Luna nodded. "He got off because he bribed the judge, jury, and police."

"That I believe," said Jack.

"Luna-" Jacob started to say.

"Is telling the truth, unfortunately," said Jack. "Her uncle is a member of the inner circle of a terrorist organization based out of the UK. From what I understand, when the government finally cracked down on them, a lot of the members managed to get out of it by bribery."

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Your uncle wouldn't happen to be Luciuc Malfoy, now would he?"

Luna nodded. "Unfortunately."

"Does Jack…"

"Completely normal, I think," said Luna. "How do you know?"

"My parents graduated from Salem," he explained, ignoring the confused looks from both Jack and Sam. "Never got the letter myself, but my son, Mark went to Salem. Do you know where you want to go yet?"

"Hogwarts. Mummy went there and Ginny will be going there," said Luna. "Ginny's my best friend. She lives in Devon, so I don't get to see her anymore, but we write."

"Any idea on which house you want to get into?"

Luna shrugged. "The house system is flawed. They weren't very well thought out."

Jacob nodded his head in agreement. "So, when's the wedding?"

Luna,

Mum and Dad said they'd love to come to the wedding. Could you tell them congratulations for us?

I don't know… Toads aren't very good pets. But they are cute and slimy. Maybe you should get an owl so that you can talk to your father.

I don't know what to say to you about Slytherins. Everybody knows they're evil, but that's just it. Why are they evil? Just as many dark wizards have come from the other houses, but the Slytherins get more press because their ambition generally leads to conflict. Everybody seems to forget that the Death Eaters weren't only Slytherin. Not to mention that Grindelwald was a Hufflepuff. The Dark Lady, Griselda, was a Gryffindor. Rowena Ravenclaw invented many of the spells we now consider dark, like legilimency.

What are gremlins?

Ginny
Mark glared at the man in front of him. He and his father hadn't gotten along since the death of his mother.

"What do you want?"

"Sammie's getting married," Jacob said.

"And?"

"Luna, her fiancé's daughter, is a half blood," explained Jacob. "But Sammie's fiancé knows nothing of the magical world. I want you to keep it that way. When she gets her letter the summer after next, I'll deal with the explanations."

Another glare. "Fine. You've delivered your message, now leave."

Once Jacob was gone, Mark sighed and shook his head. He remembered, all those years ago, when he'd received his letter from Salem. After a heated conversation with his father, it had been decided that neither his mother nor Sam were to know about magic. Even then, Sam would only be told if she received a letter as well.

He'd regretted that decision then, and her regretted it now. But that was in the past.

Ginny,

Sam's father is a squib. From the Carter family. He said that if you and your family didn't want to travel by plane to the wedding, you could use his floo. He also said I could use the family owl when I went off to Hogwarts because it doesn't get enough exercise.

Oh, he gave me the book Redwall, by Brian Jacques for my birthday, even though it isn't my birthday yet. You should read it; it's really very good.

Father and Sam have sat a date for the wedding. It will be on May 11. I get to be a flower girl. What's a flower girl? Have you ever been to a Muggle wedding before? I don't think they use the handfasting ceremony. Father and Sam were talking about Catholic and Episcopalian churches. Do you know what a church is?

Oh, we're going to go see Father's family soon. I've never met them before. I think Father is going to ask one of my cousins to be something called the ring bearer. What's a ring bearer?

Do you know why Father gave Sam a ring when he asked for her hand? And why did he ask her instead of her father or brother (Sam's older brother Mark is a wizard, according to Mr. Carter). Muggles are so strange sometimes. Although, I suppose Sam would be a halfblood, even though she doesn't have any magic.

Luna
"Gentlemen, take your seats," said General Hammond. "Where's Capt. Carter?"

"Just arriving, sir," said Major Samuels.

"Carter?" asked Jack, wondering if there could be more than one Capt. Carter.

"I'm assigning Sam Carter to this mission."

"Uh, that's not a good idea," said Jack. "We shouldn't be in the same chain of command, sir."

"Why not?" demanded Hammond.

"Because we've already set a date for the wedding, sir," said a far too familiar voice. "I thought we already sent you an invitation, General."

"Where's Luna?" asked Jack.

"With my father. He volunteered to take her," said Sam.

"Luna?" asked Kawalsky

"My daughter."

"A friend of mine at the Academy is watching her until Dad gets in," added Sam.

"She's going to drive those cadets insane," muttered Jack.

Sam let out a laugh. "Actually, Gant and I think some of the cadets will to try to prove to Luna that gremlins don't try to take planes apart."

"I knew I shouldn't have let her watch the Twilight Zone," said Jack as Kawalsky and Ferretti snickered.

Hammond seemed to have finally gathered his wits. With a sigh he said, "We need both of you on this mission." He glanced around the room. "O'Neill, you're the leader of the first team," he began listing roughly half the people in the room. "Kawalsky, you have the second team…" Hammond's list included the other half of the room and Sam.

Jacob watched the little girl surrounded by a group of cadets, trying not to laugh. Even for a witch, Luna was beyond strange. There were times when he wondered if she acted that way on purpose. Then again, her mother had been Eos Malfoy and she'd been certifiable.

"Luna, they'll find out about the gremlins eventually," said Jacob. "Until then, they don't need to know." He turned to the cadets. "I'm sure you're supposed to be somewhere."

Sha'uri looked back at her brother, then went to follow her husband. She wanted to speak to O'Neill's chosen. It only took a couple moments to catch up to the fair-haired woman.

"You are O'Neill's chosen, yes?" said Sha'uri.

"Uh, yeah," said Sam. "Jack and I are getting married in two months. You're Dr. Jackson's wife, right?"

"Medic!" shouted Kawalsky. "We need a medic!"

Along with the soldiers, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Sha'uri walked through the gate.

Luna,

Dad says that the Carter family is really old. Older than the Malfoys. They were allied with the Longbottoms and Potters for centuries before they moved to the Colonies. Mom says congratulations on your father making such a good match.

Your father really gave Miss Carter a ring? Do you think he knows to give her a wedding necklace during the ceremony? What's a church? Dad said he didn't know what a church was either.

I just got my report card back and Mum is really happy. All my grades were really good. What about you?

Ginny