Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.
WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.
-oOoOo-
6 kilometers Southwest of Alston, United Kingdom, 21 kilometers East of Hesket, United Kingdom; Coltor Castle, Olympia Manor; 7:29 am UTC July 6, 2000
They had flown to the edge of the outer wards from the apparition and portkey point in the outlying area of Hesket. Rather than apparating to the manor, Ginny had wanted to fly as she had not been able to with the stormy weather on the island. Luna and Neville shared a broom and each others proximity. They also loved to watch the enthusiasm Ginny had for flying. Neville, Ginny and Luna stood at the edge of the outer wards. It was the first time all three of them had been away at the same time for so long and all three of them had missed home for very different reasons.
While Ginny had appreciated the hospitality Harry, Hermione and Daphne had put forth at New Inverness, Ginny missed her duties running the Longbottom House, insuring the needs of the vassals and elves were taken care of and having the responsibility of insuring the smooth operation of House Longbottom. She enjoyed the planning of the parties and the other social and etiquette requirements of the House. Neville and Luna appreciated Ginny all the more for her wanting to take care of these worldly duties involving the minutiae for which Neville treated as if it were a punishment if he had to deal with it and Luna had no desire to grasp. In Luna's mind, as she had told Ginny, one of the duties Luna appreciated most was Ginny's care for Luna. Whenever Ginny thought of her conversation about this with Luna, her eyes would well up with tears because of Luna's lack of a demonstrably loving home after her mother died.
On a more intimate level, Ginny missed the long walks with her two loves and the comfortable feeling of belonging. She did not care for the salt air and the spray of New Inverness Island. Even within Sethanion Keep, the warmth of the fires would never seem to provide her the bone-deep warmth of the hearths here at Coltor. And while the Potter house elves provided for nearly everything at New Inverness, she did not have the familiarity with them, even after two months, as she had with the Longbottom house elves after only a few days. This brought Ginny's thoughts back to a year ago when she had brought the Longbottom house elves into the family.
-o-o-
It was Ginny's love, more specifically the love of family, that had rejuvenated the Longbottom elves, although she did not know it at the time. The elves had been decrepit and listless when Neville had first returned with her and Luna after their Wedding of Three.
She had learned well from both Harry and Hermione that house elves were thinking, loving, quirky, devoted little beings. She had asked Hermione to come for the day and help her plan, as Hermione had done the most research on house elves and knew things about the little beings that had been lost to the dust of antiquity. Hermione had given her recommendations based on what she, Harry and Daphne had done with the Potter elves. Ginny took Hermione's recommendations to heart and followed them to the letter.
There were twelve elves at Coltor and she learned all of their names the second day. On the third day, she had called all twelve elves to her room and had a stack of clean, white, house elf tabards. All of the house elves were quivering in fear until she had explained that she was not giving them clothes and that they had done nothing wrong. Instead, so the house elves could proudly display their being members of the Longbottom Family, they were being asked to wear uniforms, like the house elves at Hogwarts had worn.
She suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, had twelve crying house elves hugging her as she knelt down. As she put on each one of their tabards, she thanked them for the years of service they had already provided to the family and how proud she was to be welcomed into a family whose house elves were so hard-working and full of love and devotion for the family. By the time she had dressed the twelfth elf in their tabard, her robes were soaked through to the skin in elf tears.
She had told Neville and Luna about what she had done with the twelve elves from the manor during their dinner and both Neville and Luna were crying in remembrance of Dobby and his sacrifice. Neville had wrapped his arms around both of the women and held them close, kissing them both on their heads.
"It's a wonderful thing you do, Gin. I love you for who you are. Don't change," he said, his voice full of emotion.
Luna was, of course, the one who posed the question, "How many house elves do the Longbottoms have, Neville?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I don't know, Lu-Love, but I will garner a guess that Gin-Love will know by Saturday," Neville said, looking at Ginny while pulling Luna's head to his chest. Ginny gulped.
The next morning, Ginny had owled Hermione with the results of Hermione's most-excellent advice and asked Hermione to be there for support when she brought all of the Longbottom elves together for the giving of tabards. Hermione agreed but indicated Luna and Daphne would need to be there as well.
On her fifth day at the manor, she had gathered all of the Longbottom house elves from all of the estates. It had been a bit sad for Ginny as, while Augusta Longbottom did not abuse house elves, neither did she care for them. The lack of love had been all too evident. In all, the Longbottom family had ninety three house elves, almost all of whom seemed to be tired and run-down.
Luna had tears running down her face at the evident lack of love, while both Hermione and Daphne, who had apparated over that morning, had looks of determination in their eyes.
Standing in a room with twelve happy house elves and eighty-one terrified elves was emotional for Ginny. She and Luna had chosen to wear white tabards matching the ones she had previously given out to the twelve elves from Coltor. Hermione and Daphne were wearing their black acromantula silk Potter-Black robes and were each standing behind and to the side of Ginny and Luna.
"I am not here today to give any of you clothes," Ginny began with a smile and immediately saw the wave of relief wash through the room. Ginny then took on the countenance of a Lady of an ancient and noble house, as did the other three Ladies. "Lord Neville Franklin Longbottom, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Genevra Molly Weasley-Longbottom, speak with his voice. He is proud of his own accomplishments. He is also proud of the accomplishments of all members of House Longbottom. The house in which you are all members," she paused because the sound of gasps within the room was nearly deafening. Even the twelve from the castle had gasped at this revelation.
Luna spoke as well."Lord Neville Franklin Longbottom, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Luna Venus Lovegood-Longbottom, speak with his voice. He is proud of his own accomplishments. He is also proud of the accomplishments of all members of House Longbottom. The house in which you are all members," she said.
Most elves were bound by oaths of slavery, as these elves had been until Ginny and Luna spoke those words.
"As members of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, Lady Luna Venus Lovegood-Longbottom, whom shall be addressed as Lady Luna," Ginny directed to Luna, who began speaking.
"and Lady Ginevra Molly Weasley-Longbottom, whom shall be addressed as Lady Ginny," Luna said with a smile as Ginny picked up the speech.
"welcome each of you as members of the House of Longbottom," Ginny said, motioning to Hermione and Daphne who both took a step forward.
"Lord Harry James Potter-Black, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Hermione Jane Granger-Potter-Black, speak with his voice," Hermione said then paused as the elves gasped again. "I am here to proudly witness your joining the Longbottom Family as members, as the Potter and Black house elves are now members of joined Families Potter-Black."
Daphne looked over the room of elves and smiled. Daphne had told Ginny in private that this was a gift Hermione would cherish for years to come, much as Daphne and Hermione had cherished doing the same for the Potter and Black elves. Daphne would literally do anything for Hermione and this was so easy a thing to do.
"Lord Harry James Potter-Black, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Daphne Ophelia Greengrass-Potter-Black, speak with his voice," Daphne said. "I am here to proudly witness your joining the Longbottom Family as members, as the Potter and Black house elves are now members of joined Families Potter-Black."
The women moved to stand in a circle and joined the tips of their wands together over their heads.
"So mote it be," they said in unison. A bright, Spring-green column of light shot upwards to the ceiling, flooded down the walls of the room and washed over all of the elves.
When the spell was completed, all four of the women had self-satisfied smirks on their faces and joined in a group hug.
The elves, however, were completely and utterly stunned. They had felt their bonds of slavery dissolve to be replaced by a magical bond much more powerful. A bond based on loyalty, duty, love and family. Their level of mental overload was heightened even further as the four women turned to them again and twin stacks of tabards appeared beside Hermione and Daphne.
"As I said earlier, I am not here to give you clothes. So that you can proudly display your being members of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, we are presenting you with uniforms, much like the house elves at Hogwarts wear uniforms. All of you, including Tanker, Stoopy, Clocks, Tinkle, Digger, Stodgy, Prickly, Sparkle, Jester, Bossy, Minxy, and Blammo." While the house elves were shocked, the original twelve from Coltor were even more surprised. Not only did Lady Ginny remember their names, she included them in the membership ceremony!
"Form two lines and come up to receive your tabards," Luna said. The "Yes, Lady Luna" replies from the elves echoed off the walls for some seconds as the elves formed two lines and marched up to Ginny and Luna.
As each of the elves approached, Ginny or Luna would ask their name, Hermione or Daphne would hand a tabard to Ginny or Luna who would then place a tabard on the elf. As the tabard went on, the elf's name became magically embroidered under the small coat of arms over the elf's heart. The back of the tabard had a large Longbottom coat of arms covering the back with the family motto embroidered above, "Labor Omnia Victus".
Each time they placed a tabard on an elf, the elf invariably began crying and hugging the young women. Both Ginny and Luna had silently thanked Hermione and Daphne at least a dozen times that day for casting the water-proofing charms on their robes.
-o-o-
Luna missed the calm background of Coltor Castle which, in turn, helped calm her inner sight. Before she had gotten married to these two wonderful people standing here with her, she had found herself best connected within the small garden at the Rookery. When their marriage was finalized with the Vows of Sealing, she had felt her center shift to here. This was now her home and she felt as if she had been connected to this place all of her life.
Her visions during her time at New Inverness were just as dark and gloomy as the stormy weather of the island. She had seen nothing but visions of destruction, fire and fury. Even the maelstrom within the international port key they had used to get to and from New Inverness had not been as chaotic as the scenes she had witnessed when Seeing while on the island. She knew that some of the visions had been in the ancient past as she had watched fourteen men and women in deep cloaks woven from unicorn hair chanting around the base of gray-silver towers. She knew this ritual from her studies in the Black Family library with Hermione. She had not understood the writing until she had witnessed the ritual in her visions. She had read of a sacrifice but her visions of these rituals did not show her anyone dying. Those visions involving death had been related, she sensed, but were not parts of the ritual.
She shook herself from her memories and reveled in the feelings of warm and home which washed over her. She squeezed Neville's hand and reached across him to grasp Ginny and pulled them into a three-way hug. Luna was crying a bit at the feelings of belonging, not only to the land, but to these two amazingly wonderful, loving people.
Ginny raised her eyebrow at Luna questioningly. Luna looked back at her and explained. "When I was growing up after my mother died, I was so alone. At Hogwarts, I was alone again until Harry and Hermione befriended me and introduced me to the two of you and now..." she sniffed but plowed on ahead, "now I feel happily surrounded by people who love me more than I have ever been loved before. The elements are welcoming us back with a bright, sunny day and filling me with such a sense of warmth, home and love that it's a bit overwhelming," Luna said, the dam finally bursting and her tears now running down her face unashamedly.
Both Neville and Ginny held her in their arms. Ginny was cooing softly to her but just loud enough for Neville to hear, "Lu-Love, you will never be alone again. We love you and unless you want some private space, I will be near you or with you every waking moment," and as Luna's face came up to meet Ginny's, Ginny closed her eyes and gave Luna a gentle kiss.
"When I am Nicholas Flamel's age, I shall never tire of seeing my wives demonstrate their love for one another," Neville whispered softly to the two of them. This earned him a passionate kiss from both women and turned Luna's tears to gentle laughter. After receiving his kisses, a breathless Neville continued his thought, "Or demonstrating their love for me," he grinned. Both women smiled and kissed his cheeks.
Neville could feel the welcoming of this place for the last several miles. He had felt the strength of the wards as they reached out to him in welcome. When they had landed and walked to the edge of the wards, Neville could feel his connection to the lands, which had been stretched due to the distance he had been from home, return to full strength. He closed his eyes to feel the wash of power flow across him. He arched his back, stretched his arms out wide and said formally, "The Lord Longbottom has returned."
There was a thrum from the wards and the three watched as a wash of purple light ran up the outer wards. Although they expected this by now, it was still a bit awe-inspiring to see. The three continued forward, walking on the path through Neville's herb garden on the eastern edge of the wards. Both Ginny and Luna ran their hands along the rosemary, lavender and heather and each time they brought their hands to their faces would sigh at the overwhelming sense of home and belonging as they took in the scents of the various plants. The ladies had also had it drilled into their heads by Neville, Daphne and Hannah Abbot to not touch anything brightly colored or anything black. Sometimes the containment wards on the more dangerous gardens could get bypassed and the spore of a dangerous plant could land and grow where it was not expected. Neville kept a vigilant eye out for anything untoward growing in and amongst the herbs. He didn't expect anything, but the danger still existed.
They reached the inner wards and walked to the gates. The sentries had clearly been alerted their Lord had returned for the gates were opened and it seemed the entire estate had come out for their return. The house elves were standing in two lines of six in front of the gates and it was clear to everyone who was not an elf that the elves were barely containing their urge to run forward and hug the approaching trio.
"Husband, we realize you want to insure all the gardens are weeded and all the hot houses are planted and all the green houses are in order, but we want your undivided attentions for three days," Luna said shyly.
"Husband, I have barely seen you these last six weeks. You've left before the sun rose and returned long after midnight each night for the past six weeks. I have no doubt you are looking forward to tending your plants, but our Lu-Love is right. We, more than your plants, need your undivided attentions for the next few days," Ginny said, sounding far too formal for a walk through the gardens.
Neville looked sharply at Ginny and Luna. Both had their eyes downcast, as was deemed proper in pureblood society, not that Neville put any stock into that. Daphne and Gran had apparently been drilling both of his wives in societal behavior during their "Ladies' Night Out" visits. Making a decision which, for Neville, required no thought.
"Chamberlain of the House!" Neville shouted. An older man walked up to Neville and began to kneel before Neville made a motion for him to stop. The man stood at attention in front of Neville.
"Are you going all formal on me as well, Simon?" Neville asked the man then embraced him, much to Simon's embarrassment, although he did return the hug before the young man would release him. "It's good to see you, Simon. How fairs the House?"
"The House fairs well, My Lord," Simon said with an amused smile.
Neville looked at him with his own wry smile. "Well, Simon, it seems I have been remiss in some of my duties as Lord Longbottom. Does anything require my immediate attention or the attention of my Ladies in the next four days which might interrupt me from the duties I have been so lax in performing?"
"No, My Lord. There is a vote of the Wizengamot a week from today which My Lord may be interested in reviewing and the Hogwarts Board of Governors meet the following morning," Simon said, trying his best not to laugh.
Neville heard a soft noise behind him and whipped around to see both Luna and Ginny trying their utmost to look innocent by looking up at the clouds and anywhere but Neville.
Neville turned back and with a resigned shake of his head looked at Simon. "Thank you, Simon," Neville said then whisperer, "Simon, could you make sure...," Neville began when Simon softly whispered back to him, interrupting him.
"Lord Neville, the virility and pepper-up potions were placed in the second drawer of the bureau in the master suite this morning. Should the Ladies choose to do so, the fertility potions are in the top drawer of each side table," Neville's eyes bugged out at this and he began sputtering but Simon pressed on. "My Lo...er...Look, Neville, your wives are staring daggers at me so I'd best let you get upstairs to get your duty done. In my 32 years of marriage, I've learned you don't keep a man's wives waiting on him for long unless you enjoy being on the receiving end of hexes and jinxes," Simon whispered conspiratorially. He then said, in a normal tone of voice, "Yes, My Lord. We shall see you in five days!"
"Simon, I said four days," Neville looked at him bemusedly.
"Yes, My Lord, but both of your Ladies are holding up five fingers and making motions with their wands and I like my bits where they are, if you know what I mean," Simon said softly.
Neville turned around just in time to see Ginny slap her arms to her sides and Luna rapidly moving her arms to scratch the back of her head, again both of their eyes were searching the sky.
Neville turned back. "Yes, very well. Five days!" The crowd laughed in good humour at the antics of their Lord and his Ladies.
Ginny and Luna each took one of Neville's arms and led him into the house. He held himself with as much dignity as he could when everyone in his employ was laughing at his happy predicament. At the top of the stairs, the three of them turned and waved to the crowd, who cheered. The trio turned again and the doors to the manor closed behind them. For the next five days, Neville's fate was sealed.
"Sometimes it was great to be Neville Franklin Longbottom!" Neville thought to himself with a wry smile on his face as he and the Ladies entered the master suite.
-oOoOo-
6 kilometers Southwest of Alston, United Kingdom, 21 kilometers East of Hesket, United Kingdom; Coltor Castle, Tempest Keep; 11:59 pm UTC July 12, 2000
Neville was spooning into Luna who was in turn spooning into Ginny. The two women were deeply asleep after the three of them made love for six impassioned hours. Regardless of what Ginny's Witch's Weekly may publish, Neville could not get to sleep.
While Neville had taken a virility potion and two pepper-ups earlier in the evening, he did not think these significantly contributed to his inability to sleep.
He did believe that his inspection of the top drawers of Luna's and Ginny's side tables were the predominant reason for his lack of sleep. He had thought he had been in the room the entire time the three of them had been intimately engaged, but it was apparent the two women had either mutually or individually distracted him to give them sufficient time to each consume a fertility potion.
"Thank the Goddess," he thought to himself, "these two are educated and didn't take one every night!" Neville remembered stories his Great Uncle Algernon had told him of witches who had consumed a fertility potion before each intimate coupling with their husband on their honeymoon, insuring a fatally-high number of simultaneous conceptions that would require the intervention of healers or monsters of unimaginable creation being born.
Neville carefully extracted himself from Luna and Ginny and tucked the blankets back around them. He cautiously stood so as not to disturb them and put on his robe and slippers then walked to the door and quietly closed it behind him. He walked downstairs to the third floor and entered his den. He called for Sparkle, who popped into the den less than a second later. Sparkle was a rare gift in house elves as she spoke more like a person than a house elf.
"Sparkle, could you please go to the master suite and silently cast Ago Eluo on the Ladies? I forgot to do it when I left and I have no wish to disturb them," Neville explained.
"I will do so immediately, Master Neville. Would you like a snack or something to drink while I am here, Master Neville, sir?" Sparkle asked, unconsciously wringing her hands.
"A light snack and a firewhiskey would be appreciated, Sparkle," Neville said.
The little elf disappeared with an almost silent pop. Neville had counted to twenty before Sparkle had reappeared with a large silver platter containing an assortment of warm meats, steaming freshly-baked bread , chilled fruit, a pitcher of water, a water glass, a small bottle of firewhiskey and a glass appropriate for sipping the whiskey. She set a doily on the return of Neville's desk, removed a trivet from the pocket of her tabard, setting the trivet on the doily and then set the tray on the trivet.
"My apologies for taking so long, Master Neville, but I know you want the Ladies needs taken care of first," Sparkle explained, looking at the floor.
Neville knelt down and took the little elf's chin in his hands and pulled her face up so she was looking at him. "Sparkle, I've told you before, you need never never never apologize for taking care of Lady Luna or Lady Ginny before seeing to my needs. Those two are the most important people in the whole world to me and their needs come before mine. Do you understand?" Neville asked.
"Yes, Master Neville, but Lady Ginny be saying Master Neville and Lady Luna come first and Lady Luna be saying Master Neville and Lady Ginny come first and Master Neville be saying Lady Ginny and Lady Luna come first and it confuses all us elves!" Sparkle was looking at the ground again and was in tears by the time she had finished talking.
Neville pondered this for a moment and considering what he knew of house elves, could understand why this would be so stressful for them. He once again touched the little elf's chin and gently pulled her face up so they were looking at each other again. "Sparkle, it is I who should be apologizing to you and the other elves," Neville began, but paused as Sparkle gasped, "Yes, Sparkle. I should apologize to you and the other elves. Lady Ginny, Lady Luna and I did not know we had been giving all of you contradictory instructions. I will discuss this with Lady Ginny and Lady Luna so there will be no further confusion. As Lord Longbottom, I have a responsibility to protect the life, health and happiness of all under my protection. This includes you and all of the Longbottom house elves," Neville paused for a moment to let Sparkle regain her composure.
Sparkle, tears falling in rivers from her eyes said, "Master Neville is as great a master as an elf could wish for! Sparkle was afraid you would punish her and instead you apologize to me." She reached out and hugged Neville.
Neville patted her on the back and continued. "Now Sparkle, I have a secret you can share with the other elves and when you share it, you speak with my voice. Do you understand?" Neville asked.
Sparkle pulled away from Neville and nodded her head while wiping her nose with a handkerchief from her tabard. "I understand, Master Neville," she said.
"Good," Neville said with a smile. "Lady Ginny and Lady Luna both took fertility potions this afternoon and I suspect they are now both pregnant," Neville began to explain but Sparkle unknowingly cut him off.
"Yes, Master Neville. Lady Ginny is with two and Lady Luna is with one," Sparkle nodded with a big smile on her face.
Neville was stunned for a moment. "Sparkle, on this matter you will speak to the house elves with my voice. Lady Ginny and Lady Luna are most important to me and therefore to the house elves and every other member of House Longbottom. Their lives, health, safety and happiness are to be held in the highest regard. At least one house elf is to be with each of them at all times," Neville said authoritatively. "I, Lord Longbottom, do demand of House Longbottom. So mote it be," he swore.
Sparkle stood at attention for a moment with her eyes closed. She opened them and nodded. "All the Longbottom house elves is now knowing this, Master Neville Lord Longbottom," she said.
Neville nodded. "Thank you, Sparkle. You are a dutiful, hard-working elf and I appreciate the work you do," he said.
Sparkle hugged Neville again, saying "Master Neville is the greatest Master!" She then released Neville, stood at attention once more and said, "Sparkle will be the best house elf she can be for the Great Master Neville!" and popped out.
Though no one was outside to witness it, the wards pulsed purple again with their now well-defined orders.
=o=o=
Neville lay out his mat and sat on the floor. He closed his eyes and began his relaxation exercises to take his mind off the revelations of the day. He reached his center and began his vision exercises. While Trelawney was a hack at teaching, Luna was the real deal. Her capability at Seeing would be legendary if she ever chose to speak of it publicly. Judging by the way people reacted to prophecies, however, he was certain that if her ability ever became to be known by the general wizarding population that she would be hunted down and inspected, experimented upon and ultimately destroyed, as was explained to him by Great Uncle Algernon.
Neville cleared his mind and entered a deep trance.
Men and women in nearly-white gray cloaks standing in a circle around a tower of silver. One in the group has a white line of magic running to someone else unseen and far away. Another of their group entering the tower, never to leave. The scene repeats until the last tower and one cloaked woman; the one with the line of magic. She enters the tower and an indescribably powerful pulse climbs from all the towers and reaches skyward. A smaller pulse follows the white line. The main pulse reaches to the very edge of space and domes over and races back to the earth at tremendous speed. The lesser pulse follows the white line back to a sleeping girl about 4 years of age, surrounds her and is absorbed by her and disappears within her. The main pulse passes through the towers and into the earth, forming a dome at the very core of the planet before coming back up to the ground and winking out at the top of the towers. The calling is successful but the binding was not complete. The Called came and stayed, but there is a hole in the vessel.
Two girls sat on the end of a bed, exchanged rings. They briefly kissed and a bond began forming between them. The thin blue line of bonding ran between the two, denoting life-long friendship. One was young of soul and one was ancient.
The father told the daughter to weaken the walls or her bonded would die. She saw the walls weakened. The point of view shifted. If the older soul was ancient, this perspective was one of incomprehensible age. Ollivander's family had been making wands now for nearly twenty-four hundred years. This perspective made that time period a blink of an eye. This remembered the forming of the stars, the sun, the earth and the moon, the changing of the eras. This remembered the birth of magic here and communicated with others of Its kind across the voids of space and time. It had once been the guardian of man, but men were too numerous to remain healthy and It had become the guardian of magic.
It had heard a call and been freely bound to the places where It was. It had been asleep for several ages of man.
A young girl had used the memory of the dance to awaken It. It had prevented her from harming herself and instead touched her and changed her so she would believe she had accomplished her goal. It had deemed her and her bond mate worthy of Its attention and changed her so all with ill will would see what she had been led to believe from It.
They came, as It knew they would, with destruction on their minds, hatred in their hearts and darkness in their souls. Although It considered them children, It considered them damaged beyond repair and deemed the return of their soiled souls unsafe. So when they came and opened themselves to It, It reached out almost reflexively and snuffed them out. It had failed, however, to take into account the effects that occurred due to the linking of their souls. For when It snuffed them out, the release of their connected, concentrated magic was so great that sending the magic upwards was not enough. It was forced to send the released energy outwards as well. A wave of fiery destruction rippled out for miles outward and upward. It stretched as much as It could to contain the energy without harming Its charges. This would cause the event to come to the attention of man's children. And magic must be protected, regardless of the cost.
Neville awoke with a start. He lifted his visions journal and began writing everything he saw in raw form. He reread the entries eight times before he was satisfied he had written everything as he had Seen the events unfold. He felt utterly drained as he finished the ninth read-through. He looked at the grandfather clock the Potter-Blacks had given him as a "just-because" gift and noted it was just before four in the morning. He closed his journal and pressed his fingertips to his temples in an attempt to fend off the coming headache. It never worked so he didn't really know why he bothered. He resigned himself to wait until later to discuss his visions with Luna and Ginny. Luna might know the meanings of some of it. Ginny frequently was able to pick things apart and associate things which were Seen into real-world events, places or people. He would also discuss it with Hermione, once Luna and Ginny suggested it, of course. It was always better to have your wives tell you to go spend hours alone in a locked room with a beautiful witch than to do so on your own.
He walked upstairs, entered the master suite and opened the bureau. He removed a Drought of Dreamless Sleep and tossed it back, savoring the flavor of vanilla and cherry which Daphne had somehow managed to mix into the potion. As the wizarding wireless jingle went, if you were pants at potions, get them from Potter's.
He removed his slippers and dropped his robe to the floor and heard the quiet snapping of fingers. His wand was in his hand in less than a blink of an eye as he whirled to find the noise. Neville saw Jester hold his finger to his lips in the universal gesture of "Be Quiet" while he pointed at the two sleeping witches with his other hand. Neville nodded then looked around the room noting that Tinkle, Tanker and Clocks were also in the room although Tinkle and Clocks seemed to be asleep on house elf-sized beds. Neville put his wand under the right-most pillow, gently sat down on the right side of the bed and lay down. He slowly and gingerly scooted over until he was spooning into Luna again. He closed his eyes and fell into a restful sleep almost immediately.