magitech: The ICW doesn't necessarily override Hogwarts when it comes to exams; it's just that Britain is one of only a few countries in Europe that administer exams other than the Competencies and Proficiencies. Jen will still be taking her OWLs in all subjects other than the Dark Arts.

Honest Lunar Raven: Voldemort put Danny in the Tournament for two reasons. First, the Portkey on the Triwizard Cup that takes the victor to the winner's circle has to be made by Dumbledore so it will pass through the castle's wards. There are very few other time Voldemort can grab him. Second, if Danny were to win, that would increase the public's perception of his power and talent; the higher of a pedestal he's on, the more terrifying Voldie looks when he displays the boy's broken body for all the world to see. Unfortunately, Danny just refuses to go along with the script.

fIrE cRoTCh: First, that name. Seriously? As for your actual question, taking Jen's blood would not give Voldemort her connection to the planet's magic, and there are two reasons why: first, the ritual that gave her that ability did so by carving her magical core out of her soul, but her blood was left unaffected; and second, Voldie never took Harry's magic in canon, as evidenced by the fact that he could use the Killing Curse on Frank Bryce. He just needs donations of flesh, blood, and bone to build a body around his soul.

Deshi Basara: I can't speak for anybody else, but my long periods between updates are because 1) I have two other fics I'm writing at the same time, 2) I'm not a tween or a teen, which gives me more experience with literature and writing in general at the expense of free time, and 3) I proofread my chapters multiple times before I post them.

So, this chapter was supposed to include the final Task, but… let's just my muse was feeling sympathetic for my many poor, deprived Luna fans.

Disclaimer: Were the champions' families only allowed to watch the Third Task? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.

Chapter 32
Family Stress

Jen dropped heavily onto the bench at the Ravenclaw table, doing her best to ignore the nearly palpable excitement running through the other students in the Great Hall. Her nerves had kept her up the previous night, and it was obvious in her demeanor. This was her last opportunity; if she made even a single misstep, that was it. No chance of recovery.

Tonight was the final Task of the Triwizard Tournament, and she intended to take the prize.

She had just prepared herself a cup of tea when Flitwick practically skipped over to her. "And how are you doing this wonderful morning, Miss Black?"

"Not as well as I will be once I'm fully awake," she replied shortly.

He chuckled at that. "Well, I have news that should cheer you up immensely. Even though the Task isn't until tonight, all the champions' families have been invited to the castle for the day. They'll be arriving after breakfast and assembling in the main courtyard."

"That is good news," she replied with a faint smile. Of all the champions, she had probably seen her family most recently – being able to fly to the edge of the wards and then teleport home made that much more convenient – but those visits had only been for a couple of hours every few weeks. Spending a full day with them would be most enjoyable. However… "You said they're invited to the castle, but does that mean we have to stay here? Knowing my aunts, they will at least want to go out for lunch." Not to mention, it provides an explanation for where I was keeping all my 'secondary foci'.

"You know, the headmaster never told anyone you had to remain here. He implied it, certainly, but he did not actually say so." Mischief radiated from the quarter-goblin as he grinned, the expression matched on her own face. "I would say there's no reason you couldn't."

Flitwick turned and made his way back to the staff table, and Jen attacked her breakfast with sudden gusto. Approximately an hour later, all but seven of the students rose to take the last of their exams. Those remaining waited until the crowd had sufficiently thinned before heading towards the school's main courtyard.

The moment Jen entered the open space, she had to wonder about the half-dozen or so magicals milling about. All of them are more powerful than your average wizard, and it feels like they are wearing the same uniform, too. What could have possibly brought the Aurors to Hogwarts? One witch peeled away from the rest of the group, and the girl was shortly lifted a few inches off the ground in a hug. "Wotcher, Jen!"

"Good to see you, too, Dora. Now put me down." Her enthusiastic cousin dropped her with a huff, and she intently ignored the snickering of the other students. "Not that I mind, but why are you even here?"

"Security. The history of this Tournament being what it is, Madam Bones and Scrimgeour, the Head Auror, thought it was best that all of you had a bodyguard to make sure no one was kidnapped or sabotaged before the last Task starts. Guess who's stuck with you?"

"The Baron save me from an overprotective family." She frowned as her sonar found the other Blacks. "And speaking of family…"

"Later," Dora interrupted. She waved a wizard to approach. "Think it's about time we got this show on the road, Shack?"

"May as well," the large Auror said in a slow, deep voice. "Since you already have your charge, you can move on. Potter, you'll be spending the day with Dawlish." Here a sullen man nodded at the Lion. "Diggory, go with Robards…"

"Let's get out of here," the metamorph whispered to her. The two wandered away from the group; halfway across the courtyard, Dora guided them to the nearest wall and erected a silencing charm around them. "Yeah, we really don't want to go over there right now. I'm honestly kind of afraid you'll accidentally start a duel."

Jen rested her back against the ivy-covered surface before crossing her arms. "You want to tell me what Sirius and Aunt Cissy are arguing about with Dumbledore?"

"One of these days, I'm going to make you tell me just how you can know everything that's going on around you even though you're blind."

"Trade secret. Spill."

"I really don't know," her cousin said with a shrug of her shoulders. "When we got here from the Auror Office, those three were already in the thick of it. All Mum told me was that Professor Dumbledore came over and wanted to know if Aunt Narcissa and Sirius had discussed the timing for some exchange, and they just blew up at him. I tried to listen in, but I couldn't get through the privacy charm they're under without making it obvious."

The old goat just doesn't know when to stop, Jen thought with an internal sneer. "Right after the Ravenclaw Task, Dumbledore said that I had to spend this summer with the Potters or he'd go in front of the Wizengamot and propose that they regain custody over me."

"He what? No, Aunt Narcissa must have been exaggerating. He would never do something like that."

"Dora, I was right there. I heard him say it with my own two ears."

The older witch gaped. "But… but… He's Albus Dumbledore! Why would he want to take you away from us?"

"Because in his mind, you aren't my 'real family'. He thinks I would be better off with the people who threw me away when I was a toddler than with the people who actually give a damn about my wellbeing. Aunt Cissy told him where he could shove his demands, but it sounds like he decided not to listen."

Dora wrapped her arms around herself, and Jen felt a brief flash of sympathy for the normally bubbly woman. From the mind reading she had done the previous summer, she knew that her cousin venerated Dumbledore; to have the image of her hero tarnished like that was not a pleasant experience. She could somewhat relate, for despite the woman's many faults, she had looked up to Elsie in much the same way.

Still, it could be worse; at least Dora was not covered in the shredded remains of her mentor. That tended to put a damper on one's day.

Feeling the headmaster stalk off in a tremendous temper, she ripped down the charm the Auror had cast. She walked quickly over the remaining distance to her family, the metamorph just a few steps behind her. "I take it he didn't like what you had to say?"

"That's one way to put it," Sirius replied, a growl underlaying his words. "You know, I used to respect the old man, but not after that. Who does he think he is, the next coming of Merlin?"

Jen opened her mouth to respond when she felt four people approaching from behind her. Turning, she smiled slightly as they came to a halt. "Good morning, Viktor."

"De same to you, Jen. I vould like to introduce you to my parents, Anton and Kalina Krum. Modder, Fadder, dis is Jennifer Black, de junior jampion for Hogvarts."

"It's nice to meet you both," she greeted with a slight curtsey.

"For us as vell," Anton Krum replied, the sentiment echoed by his wife.

Viktor then jerked his head at the tall man behind him. "De beanpole is my brodder, Nikolai."

"An honor," Nikolai said with a short bow. His accent, though still clearly central European, was much less pronounced than those of the rest of his family, and his voice was full of restrained laughter. "You vould not believe how much ve have heard about the mysterious young voman who keeps besting him in combat. If I did not know better, I vould think my brother obsessed."

"I wouldn't consider myself 'mysterious'," she denied. Extending one hand to each member of her own family in turn, she introduced, "This is the Head of our House, Lord Sirius Black; my aunts, Lady Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks; and my cousin, Nymphadora Tonks."

The man-child gave a roguish smile. "Charmed." The other women nodded in agreement.

Greetings exchanged, the Bulgarian contingent departed, and Jen fought the blush striving to warm her cheeks when the other four all turned towards her with knowing grins. "Not. One. Word."

"So that's Viktor Krum, hmm?" Dora asked. "You two seem quite… friendly. Anything you want to tell us?"

"Nothing at all."

Andi smirked. "You're sure about that? I don't see him going to any of the other champions so they can meet his parents."

She ground her teeth. Sirius's animal form was extremely appropriate, for when the Blacks sniffed out an embarrassing situation that could potentially be turned to their advantage or amusement, they went after it like a dog chasing a squirrel. "There's nothing going on between us."

"All right, all right, we believe you," Sirius lied. "We'll try to act surprised in a year or two when the request for a marriage contract shows up."

Growling, she turned to the last member of the group. "I suppose you have a snide remark you want to make, as well?"

"Not out loud." A thick wad of magic coalesced in front of Cissy's forehead before stretching out to her mind. The probe immediately retreated, and, realizing what her Darkest relative wanted, she followed it with a probe of her own. 'I've known you for seven years,' Jen heard at the forefront of her aunt's mind, 'and more than that, I know how you act around people you actually enjoyed shagging. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite you in the behind.'

'He and I have already discussed the best way to avoid that.' Tugging the tendril of thought back, she asked, "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, we were thinking we'd head to London for the morning, have lunch, and then come back here in the afternoon so you'd have plenty of time before the Task this evening." Sirius snickered. "We can't have our little princess miss her grand entrance."

Jen took a deep breath to force herself not to smack that smug look off his face. There are days I really wonder if I didn't have an easier life before I found out I was a Black.

"That's a bad idea, Lily."

The redhead turned to her frowning husband, and at her confused expression, he nodded at the four dark-haired individuals and the lone pinkette she had been watching. "Going over there to talk to Jenny. Leave it alone, just for today."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to wish my daughter good luck in the Tournament," she hissed. Though none of the other families were nearby, she still kept her voice low so her words wouldn't travel. Blurting this story out to everyone in earshot would not only shame them to an impossible degree, but it would also ruin any chances of establishing a rapport with her baby girl. The latter was by far the worse consequence. "This is a day for the families of the champions to see their children, and she. Is. My. Child."

"So is Danny!" James answered in an equally quiet tone. "If that isn't enough, don't forget that Professor Dumbledore and Mad-Eye both believe this is when whoever put his name in the Goblet will make their move. The last thing he needs to be worrying about right now is why his own mother is more interested in another champion than his safety."

"I still think we should have told him the truth."

"Because that can't possibly end badly. 'By the way, son, do you remember how we told you about your squib sister that you've never met and hadn't even heard of until this summer? It turns out that she's actually a witch, so leaving her with your Muggle aunt and uncle was pretty much pointless. Oh, and they also horribly abused her before they abandoned her in the middle of London when she was five, so now she wants nothing to do with us because we were the indirect cause of all her suffering. Can you meet her some time? You already have, actually; Sirius took her into his House and adopted her. She's even taken his name. Yes, she is the same Black you've written several letters to us complaining about being a "loathsome Dark witch".' That will go over real well, I'm sure."

Lily glared at him. "I didn't say we should tell him like that, but he deserves to know. The longer we wait, the angrier he will be that we've kept it from him."

"You think I don't know that?" James sighed and reached out for her hand. "You're right, though; we do have to tell him sooner rather than later. Just… how about we wait a few more days, just until his summer vacation starts? Let him get through the rest of this year before we drop even more trouble on him."

Much as she hated to admit it, he did have a good point. Her shoulders slumped as she reluctantly nodded.

"Besides," he added, turning towards where Danny and the Auror dogging his footsteps had just split from the rest of the scarlet-robed group, "you'll see her all you want soon enough."

"Really? And just how do you figure that?" she asked in an utterly unamused tone. There was a time for jokes, but this was not it.

"I talked it over with Professor Dumbledore, and he promised that she would be spending some of the summer with us. He also said he would speak to Sirius about returning at least partial custody to us, but he didn't make any guarantees on that point. It was supposed to be a surprise for you, but…"

Her eyes slowly widened as she stared at the grinning idiot she had married, daydreams of an eventual reconciliation with her estranged daughter shattering like glass. "Come again? Please, please tell me you did not just say what I think you said."

A tentative knock drew her attention to her dorm's door. "Jen? Do you have a moment?"

"Come on in, Luna." The third-year's head emerged from the opening, and she gestured for the girl to enter fully as she finished tying the laces of her trainers. The Muggle shoes were not as fashionable as her boots, but she had a sneaking suspicion that this Task, just as all the others had, would feature a healthy dose of running around. The younger Ravenclaw made no moves to approach, causing her to frown. First she distances herself from me, and now she won't even come into my room? "You have a problem, I take it?"

"No. Well… no, not really a 'problem', exactly. It's just…" Luna sighed. "Can you come with me for a moment? There's something in my room I want you to have."

Interest piqued, she rose to her feet. Ravenclaw Tower was split in half above the common room, the boys claiming one side and the girls the other, with twin spiral staircases granting access to each gender's territory. The feminine half was then subdivided into seven floors, with every section having between three and five dorm rooms jutting off a communal landing. While the floors were organized by year, the exact numbering of each story rotated so that students could maintain the same space throughout their time in school; for instance, the fifth-years currently had claim to the level closest to the common room while the sixth-years had to climb all the way to the very top.

Jen followed her friend up the single flight of stairs required to reach the third-years' domain and into the room indicated. Much like herself, Luna had no roommates, though that was likely because no one had desired to share with the formerly-reviled eccentric. The dorm, therefore, had a unique flair, clay statues of unusual critters scampering about the floor and sheets of parchment that she could only assume were sketches or paintings hanging on the walls. "Did you make all these yourself?"

"That I did," the unusual girl answered as she dug through the clutter on her desk. "Ah, here it is."

Jen's sonar swept over the object, but for some reason she could not feel any details. It was a necklace, that much she could tell from the brass chain, but the pendant itself? Nothing beyond it being circular. "Is this supposed to be your way of apologizing for avoiding me for the past couple of months?"

"Ah, no, though I do owe you an explanation about that." Luna nibbled on her lower lip for several seconds, organizing her thoughts, before she asked, "Who are my friends?"

"I am, or at least I was the last time I checked. Padma and Morag enjoy your company as well. Susan, Justin, Kenneth, the firsties loved it when you came around… even Tracey has started warming up to you."

"True, but not my point. Let me rephrase: who in my own year considers me a friend?"

Frowning, Jen turned the question over in her mind. She had not payed a great deal of attention to the other third-years, she had to admit, concerned as she had been with learning the three years' worth of magical theory she had missed, keeping up with her current classes, participating in the Tournament, endearing herself to the first-years, seducing Viktor, and spending what little time she had left with the same individuals she had named to Luna. Come to think of it, I do not recall ever sensing her around her yearmates. She was always with us until recently, and then she was off by herself. "I'm afraid I don't have a clue."

"I don't have any," Luna said softly. "Before you came here, I didn't have any friends at all, and all the friends I do have, I know through you."

"So… what? You felt you could not have any of your own unless you cut yourself off from us?" she asked in confusion. She did not profess to be an expert in making friends – the interpersonal skills she had developed while working in Candyland ran more to manipulation and keeping her clients coming back time and time again – but she was fairly sure that acquaintances and companions could be added to one's social circle without rejecting those one already had.

Luna shook her head. "I'd be doing particularly poorly if that was my aim, wouldn't I? No, I simply realized that most of my close friends are in the class above me; when you graduate, I'd still be stuck here for another year without anyone. I don't want that to happen, so I've been doing some self-study."

And that tells me absolutely nothing. "Okay, I'll bite. Which classes, and what difference would it make?"

"All of them, and a lot." The younger girl smiled. "I arranged it with Professor Flitwick. He's going to come by my house during the first week of summer to give me a series of exams, and if I pass them in addition to the ones we just finished today, I can skip fourth year entirely and advance straight to fifth."

"You'd be joining us, then?" She could not deny that the plan had a certain appeal; Luna was both extremely intelligent and possessed of a unique interpretation of the world. Debating with her about information presented in class would be entertaining if nothing else. "You're sure you are ready for those tests?"

A blush heated Luna's cheeks. "Pretty sure. Padma found out what I was planning and has been helping me prepare. I wanted it to be a surprise."

'If she's that focused on what she's doing, we probably shouldn't interrupt her,' rang the Indian girl's voice in Jen's mind. That and similar pieces of advice had recently become Padma's favorite refrain whenever the conversation turned towards their quirky underclassman. "So that's why she's been so smug recently; I had wondered. How long have you been working on this little plan of yours?"

"Since shortly after winter break," Luna answered as she fiddled with the jewelry in her hands. "I started working even harder after the Slytherin Task, and the reason I've been off on my own so much lately is that I just haven't had the time to study for my exams, learn the new material, and socialize."

"I wish you the best of luck, then." Pointing a finger towards the object that had prompted the whole conversation, she asked, "You were going to tell me what that is before we got sidetracked, I believe?"

"Oh, right. Um, it's a good luck charm, kind of. I know it's silly, but… would you, maybe, be willing to wear it tonight?"

Silly or not, I appreciate the gesture. "Why not?" she replied, and her words caused her friend to literally hop in excitement. Luna untangled the necklace from where she had wound it about her fingers and placed it in the middle of Jen's palm…

"GAAAAAAHHHH!"

Jen dropped to her knees, the pendant sawing through her hand as it slid over her skin to the floor. That pain, bad as it was, was just barely able to make itself known above the background agony; she was far more concerned with the acid that now filled her veins. Someone was screaming her name in panic, but she could not feel who it was, nor could she sense anything else, for that matter. Her sonar was filled with ghostly flames that devoured everything around her, gnawing on her flesh and drilling into her right arm, even as great hammers taken directly out of a forge pounded on the inside of her skull.

Enough!, she shouted over the din in her mind. Anger at the circumstances and at Luna and hatred of her own weakness blended into the power rushing along her nerves, and with a mental roar of fury she flooded her entire body with the resulting dark magic. The fires were quenched, her blood returned to its proper place, and she just lay curled in a fetal position, her savaged right hand cradled to her breast.

"…Je… kay… plea… sorr… don't… like this. Jen, please! Wake up! Jen!"

Her uninjured arm struck out like a viper, grabbing the collar of Luna's shirt in a tight fist and dragging the girl down to her level. She snarled in feral rage even as her sonar stabilized enough to reveal the tears that ran down her assailant's cold cheeks. "What… the bloody fuck… did you just do to me?"

"I don't know! It's never done anything like that before!"

Much as she wanted to apportion blame and take her pound of flesh for what could have only been an assassination attempt, she could hear the honesty and terror in Luna's denials. "Fine, how about an easier question. Who did you get it from?" So I know who to slowly and torturously kill once I hunt them down.

"It was my mother's," Luna replied in a tiny voice, and the icy wrath suffusing her retreated a tiny amount. "It was passed down in her family for several generations; I don't know the exact length of time. She always told me it would bring me good fortune, and I thought you needed it more than me tonight. Merlin, I'm so sorry!"

Okay, that pretty much rules out the idea that this was intentional, but I've never heard of a good luck charm spontaneously becoming a cursed object. "What was it, anyway? I couldn't feel it long enough to make it out."

"A bronze coin with a woman's face on both sides. Mum always called her the 'Mother of Mercy'."

With a sigh, Jen released the younger girl and flopped back onto the wooden floor. All the things in the world she could have offered me, and of course she would pick a depiction of Holda. Fan-bloody-tastic. She barely kept from lashing out when Luna stretched a hand towards her face. "And just what do you think you're doing now?"

"Jen… your nose."

She reached up and irritably wiped away the blood trickling from both nostrils. Now that she was more or less recovered, she slowly unclenched her right fist to discover just how badly the idol had damaged it. Much to her relief, the injury was much more mental than physical, though the inch-wide burn stretched across her palm caused Luna to gasp. She wrapped her powers around it, but she was unsurprised when that did not help; the wound had been caused by white magic, after all. Again tapping into her anger, she applied a dark healing charm that quickly restored her skin to its unblemished state.

"On second thought, I appreciate the sentiment, but I would much rather not borrow that particular family heirloom."

"I'm really, really sorry. If I had known…"

Jen waved her apologies away while kicking the offending object to the other side of the room; it was not like the girl had had any clue what would happen. Feeling around her for anything else to talk about – the last thing she wanted to do was answer any questions about why the pendant had hurt her – her sonar picked apart one of the charms circling Luna's four-poster. What in the world? Why would mind-influencing magic be there? "Luna, do you know who cast that spell on your bed?"

Sounding equally eager for a new subject, her fellow Ravenclaw quickly replied, "I did, actually. Daddy's family has a lot of spells for repelling or attracting the creatures we see, and over Christmas break my first year, I found one that keeps Adolickies away. It took me a while to cast that one right, but I got it eventually."

"Mind telling me what an 'Adolicky' is supposed to be?"

"It's an ugly bug that likes to crawl around on the upper years and sting them, even though no one seems to notice when that happens. Boys especially do stupid things when that happens; I think they're poisonous. Thankfully, they don't bother younger students."

Cocking her head in confusion, Jen tried to parse out the meaning in that. Luna's family had an innate talent for empathy, though from how the girl described it, their gift often manifested in visions of metaphorical animals. That would explain why this so-called 'repelling charm' would affect her mind. Unfortunately, her description is still not much to go on. "What else can you tell me about these creatures?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. I try to avoid them, after all. I'm pretty sure they nest in broom closets; I certainly see them flying around there often enough. Oh, and even though boys act out more when stung, they like to go after girls more, or at least earlier. A lot of girls have small ones when they're only second-years."

"Do I have many of them hanging around me?" she asked reluctantly. She had an idea of what her strangely innocent friend was seeing, but she hoped she was wrong. The implications of her suspicion were disturbing.

Luna turned her head away and nodded slowly. "I didn't want to be rude and point it out. Normally it's not so bad, but recently you've gotten a lot more whenever you pay attention to Krum, the last couple of days in particular."

Of course I attract these 'Adolickies' when I observe him; I'm remembering shagging him. She was, unfortunately, correct in her supposition: what Luna was sensing every time she saw these insects was lust. Modifying her own mind to be free of that emotion was stupidly dangerous, and the consequences… If she spent long enough inside that spell, she could very well become completely asexual. Imagining such a fate made the retired prostitute shudder.

A thought sprang to her mind then, one that caused her to relax slightly. Immediately prior to the Yule Ball, Luna had – albeit entirely unintentionally – implied that she was attracted to the Black heiress. Jen had ignored the incident because of how skittish the other girl was afterwards, but she had not forgotten it. That she could even make that verbal slip in the first place means that her charm isn't as effective as it's supposed to be. It only suppresses her desire on a conscious level; she feels lust but just can't understand it, and therefore she has no incentive to get rid of the spell. Let's give her one. "You know, there are some upsides to being stung by adolickies."

"If there are any, I've yet to see them."

She was glad now that neither of them had left the floor; it would make things that much easier. "It's sad that I'm the blind one, and yet you're the one who can't see." Suddenly reaching out to get a good grip on the younger Raven's neck and hip, she jerked Luna closer.

When Jen kissed Viktor a few days ago, she had purposely been teasing, inviting. As much as she wanted him to rip her clothes off and take her right there and then, it was extremely important to her that her partners freely chose to shag her silly. To force them to make that decision was rape, and her personal history made that the one moral she refused to break lightly. It would require the most extreme of circumstances for her to even consider doing such a thing.

However, she had no such plans to bed Luna tonight.

Rolling them over so she could hold the disadvantaged girl down with her weight, she began snogging her captive. Her lips were hot and possessive, demanding Luna yield her mouth – and from there her entire body – to her to do with as she wished. Slight shifts in position allowed her to grind against her friend, and even though she could not hear the thoughts racing around in Luna's head, she could feel the smaller body begin to respond to her ministrations as it remembered this timeless dance. Delivering the coup de grâce, she shaped her magic into the unaltered version of the attention charm she had recently tested on the Bulgarian champion.

The imitation of a succubus's aura, little more than a naked ball of pure sexual desire, slamming into her chest made Luna moan and spasm wildly, her thighs clenching tightly around Jen's leg just above the knee. She owed the black witch for the injury that idol had inflicted, after all, and a climax like this one was a low price to pay by anyone's accounting.

Jen gave her latest conquest another, gentler kiss in order to better remember her taste, and the speed with which Luna answered proved the younger girl's mind had yet to restart. That's probably for the best. If I slip out quickly enough, she'll question herself rather than me. A little quiet reflection on her past decisions is exactly what she needs right now. "That you can only feel when you play with the Adolickies. Think carefully about what we just did, but don't take too long. The Task starts in an hour, and I expect you to be there cheering me on to victory."

She rose and left the room, and the door cutting off Luna's high-pitched mew of need brought a smile to her face. I'd call that a successful intervention.

Okay, ladies, that's steamy enough. If anyone's confused about where the Adolicky-Repelling Charm came from, reread the second to last scene of chapter 23. Actually, it might behoove you to read that entire chapter again…

Silently Watches out.