3 Months Later – 14 July 1998
"Be careful, Gerry!" Elizabeth shouted into the four-storey hole in the floor. Their new home was almost half-done at this point. Magic helped of course, but it was a slow process with only four wands working.
"Don't you worry, Bess!" replied Garrick from the ground floor, stabilising the whole floor-laying operation from the base. "You'll have a husband and a dining-room floor when we're finished!"
"I don't care about the floor, just so long as he doesn't break his neck!"
Of course, the owl had to choose that exact moment to come swooping in through the partially-finished window – smashing right into the neatly-stacked pile of glass panes Elizabeth was setting.
"Merlin!" she cursed under her breath as she cast a quick Repairing Charm on the pile to restore it. She freed the envelope from the owl's beak and snapped the wax seal open. Her eyes quickly scanned the parchment.
"Gerry! GERRY! Gerry, it's here!"
"Is everything all right, Bess?"
She bent over the edge of the hole, waving the piece of parchment ecstatically.
"They found her!"
"No!" Germaine gasped in disbelief, a wide, irrepressible grin crossing his face. Elizabeth tossed the parchment down one level so that he could read it.
"Luna!" she called, crossing to the finished part of the house. A dishwater-blonde head poked out of one of the bedrooms.
"In here, Elizabeth!" she replied, somewhat dreamily.
Luna was sitting on the floor with Giulius and Giacomo – charming the walls various colours, much to their amusement. Elizabeth crouched down beside her sons, admiring the young woman's ease with two youngest Ollivanders. Garrick had invited her to come and live with them about two months ago – a move Elizabeth wholeheartedly despised at first, but she had come to think of Luna as something of a daughter.
"They've found Guinevere," Elizabeth said, almost stumbling over the words.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" exclaimed Luna – changing the walls a bright, cheery shade of yellow. "I wouldn't mind watching the boys for a few hours – if you wanted to go now."
Elizabeth's smile brightened, if such a thing was even possible. She hugged the younger woman.
"Thank you, Luna – I couldn't thank you enough, really."
"I'm just glad that at least someone came home safe."
Elizabeth squeezed her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. Luna's comment disturbed her a little – after all, Xenophilius Lovegood was still counted among the missing. Garrick was always remarking how light-hearted and optimistic Luna was, but the Luna Elizabeth knew was darker, more jaded…
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go in."
A vein in Germaine's left temple started throbbing as he stared down the young Auror standing guard in front of the shop.
"WHAT?" he bellowed.
"I can't let anyone in without a direct order from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm sorry, sir – it's out of my hands. I can't let you in until I see an-"
"You listen to me, you little punk," Germaine hissed. "My name is Germaine Ollivander. My family has owned this building for the past two millennia. I tried to contact my father this morning, but nobody answered. I demand to know-"
"He can come in," said a smooth man's voice. A tall, bald, black man clad in flowing purple robes emerged from the shop. He reached forward to shake Germaine's hand.
"Mr Ollivander, I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt. I would wish you a good morning, but as you can guess, that wouldn't exactly be the truth. Would you step inside for a moment?"
Germaine shot a look at the young Auror guarding the door as he passed.
"Cedar and phoenix feather, been in use twenty-one years?"
"Yes, thank you," said Elizabeth, taking back her wand and moving to stand beside her husband.
"And yours, sir?" asked the very young, blue-robed security witch, directing her question at Garrick – the only one whose wand hadn't been scanned. He reluctantly handed it over, placing it directly on the Identifometer.
"Hornbeam and dragon heartstring, been in use sixty-seven years?"
Garrick snatched his wand back protectively, quietly thanking the girl. The three of them crossed the Atrium – desert and sparsely-decorated, but still strewn with chunks of stone here and there. One of the high, curved walls was covered in parchment posters of the missing and recently-found. Germaine found the one he was looking for as it scrolled slowly by right in front of his eyes.
Guinevere Giulietta Ollivander
Missing Since: 25 July 1996
Current Age: 4
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Green
Status: Missing
Between her name and the rest of the text was a picture of her from before she disappeared. The movement had been frozen, but her appearance continually morphed from her two-year-old self to an extrapolation of what she might look like today. The three of them watched as the yellow "Missing" text changed slowly to "Found" written in green. A tear came to Germaine's eye as he felt his father's hand on his shoulder.
"She's alive, Gerry," he said softly, a tear coming to his eye as well. "That's all that matters in the end."
Somehow that wasn't a comfort. Yes, she was alive – but what would she know? He didn't even know if she would recognise him.
Germaine, Elizabeth, and Garrick watched as Guinevere's name scrolled through the bottom and re-materialised back at the top of the wall.
The golden doors opened to a green-carpeted hallway. Germaine followed his mother somewhat reluctantly as they passed several open offices and one large array of cubicles. As they rounded a corner, Germaine noticed his father sitting alone on a sofa outside a door marked "A Moody". Germaine felt his heart sink as he noticed the wet lines tracking down Garrick's face. Something was wrong… very wrong…
"Gary," his mother said, sitting down beside her husband and putting her arm around him. "What is it?"
Garrick said nothing, but placed his hand on her knee and extended his other arm to his son…
The lift ground to a halt.
"Level One," it said plainly, degenerating into an unintelligible, garbled mess.
Elizabeth led the way down the ragged, purple-carpeted corridor. They finally stopped at a door marked "K Shacklebolt – Minister for Magic" – handwritten on parchment and Spellotaped over another, older sign. Elizabeth looked to her husband and father-in-law before raising a fist to knock on the door.
"'And Makaya turned to the Fairy–' Come in," his deep, rich, velvety voice called from within.
Elizabeth opened the door.
"Grampa, Grampa, Grampa!" a little voice called as a waist-high ball of pink shot across the room and attached itself to Garrick. Germaine walked over to Kingsley Shacklebolt and took his hand as he stood up.
"I – I don't even know what to say, Kingsley," he stammered, pushing back tears of joy. "Thank you – thank you for finding her."
"A happy ending makes for a good change of pace, Ger," Kingsley replied, accepting a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Elizabeth. "We've been getting too few of those lately."
Garrick had finally managed to detach a little girl from around his legs. She clung to his hand as he crouched down to her level, albeit with much difficulty. She whispered something to him, and he motioned to Germaine and Elizabeth.
"Hi, Guinevere," said Elizabeth with a smile as she bent down to look her daughter in the eye. "Remember me?"
Guinevere shook her head and moved closer to her grandfather. Garrick steadied her with a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm your Mummy, sweetie."
Guinevere turned back to Garrick.
"Grampa?" she asked, standing on her tiptoes to whisper to him again. The near-silence had Germaine on edge.
"Yes, sweetheart," Garrick said to her. "Remember? You came over because your mummy was having your little brother…"
Germaine felt a tear creep into his eye as his father explained the whole story…
It was eleven oh-nine when Germaine, Elizabeth, and Guinevere materialised in the fireplace of Garrick's flat above the wand shop. His father was waiting for them, a worn dressing gown thrown over his blue pinstripe pyjamas. It was clear to Germaine that his message has woken him.
"You two'd best get going," he said, reaching to take Guinevere's rucksack. "Wouldn't want to have the baby in the Floo Network, would you?"
Germaine gave a little half smile and handed his half-asleep daughter to Garrick.
"Good luck," the old man whispered. "Call me when the baby's born, okay?"
"You'll be the first to know," Elizabeth added. She bent a little to speak to Guinevere. "Be good for Grandpa, okay, sweetie?"
"'Kay," Guinevere mumbled into Garrick's shoulder.
Germaine took his wife's hand and a handful of Floo Powder from the canister above the mantle.
"St. Mungo's."
The two of them dematerialised in a flash of greenish light.
"Come on, Gwenny dear. Let's get you to bed."
"But I'm not tired," she protested sleepily. Garrick rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long night.
"Why don't I tell you a story, hmm? Once upon a time…"
Barely two years, but that warm August night might have been a lifetime ago – something that happened to another man, another family. For now, Guinevere was alive, she was healthy, and she seemed happy. For now, that was enough…