Marik

The burning logs and roaring fire began to dance around as the flames inside the fireplace began to grow higher and brighter. In a quick burst of magical energy, the flames changed from a deep reddish-orange into a bright-green, filling the entire room with the vibrant light. Out of the dancing flames a smiling Luna emerged, moving gracefully out onto the carpeted floor of the living room with a skip.

"Hey Luna," he greeted her, getting up from his spot on the sofa to give her a welcoming hug and kiss.

"Hello Marik," luna replied, returning his kiss. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Shacklebolt. Thank you for allowing me to come over again."

"Luna, I told you over the summer to just call me Kingsley, I won't give you detention here I promise," Kingsley reminded Luna whilst laughing. Marik knew that even when school was in session Kingsley hated to be called Mr. Shacklebolt or heaven forbid professor Shacklebolt. He always said it made him sound older than he really was, which Marik knew to be kind of old.

"Sorry sir, old habit," Luna replied to Kingsley with a smile.

"So what are you two sweet things up to today?" Majesty asked the two of them.

"I was actually looking forward to finding that out as well," Luna answered, turning to him with a look of curiosity.

"Nothing special, it's just a nice day outside so I figured we would walk around town some today or something," Marik answered, he really had not planned anything special today, he had just wanted Luna to come over and spend some time with him.

"Well you both have fun then and make sure you are back by dinner," Kingsley told them. Marik nodded and led Luna out of the house.

Kingsley and his wife Majesty lived in Castle Combe, which was in Wiltshire, England. It was a fairly small village, dotted with large thatched cottages that appeared to have been around since Roman times. Many of the cottages throughout the village had been upgraded or rebuilt over the years to combat father time, but for the most part Castle Combe looked to be a town that was almost lost in time.

In his short stay with the Shackle bolts, Marik had already learned a lot about the history of the small town and the Shacklebolt family. Most of the people in the village were muggles, outside of the Shacklebolts and one other elderly wizarding family. He had learned that the village itself was one of the oldest villages in all of Britain from what Kingsley had told him, and owed its origins back to settlers from times even before Claudius's invasions of the isles back in 43 AD. Since then the town had always been what Kingsley called an ale town.

Most of the villagers still worked at a local brewery a few miles outside of town, however, just as many brewed their own ales and beers and sold them out of small market shops and stalls that they set up during pretty days like Shacklebolt family had lived in Castle Combe for over three hundred years now. The Shacklebolt family was one of the few families that had not invested into the ale market in Castle Combe, instead the Shacklebolt family had at one time owned and run one of the largest prisons in all of Britain, only outsized by Azkaban itself. The large castle, a little ways north of the village on a small island right off the coast, was where the prison had once been located in and had once had been Shacklebolt family property.

The prison had been closed for more than a hundred years now, and when Kingsley had become the oldest male in the family line he had sold the castle, and settled for living in one of the largest cottages in the town. When Marik asked Kingsley why he had sold the castle, Kingsley had told him that he did not enjoy living in such a large home, which Marik thought was a wee bit hypocritical sense the small cottage Kingsley currently lived in was at least three of Marik family's old home put together.

The castle was now owned by the ministry, who were slowly turning it into a historical tourist site. Marik had visited it a few times already and had gone on the weekly tour that ran through it once, but to be honest visiting an old prison was not the most exciting thing to do in the world.

Another thing Marik had learned about his new foster parents was that the Shacklebolt family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, which meant that Kingsley's family was one of the few, actual, pureblood families left in Britain. Kingsley, unlike most purebloods, did not think of this as much of an achievement though, and said it was just coincidence that people in his family fell in love with other purebloods. Marik wasn't sure how much he actually believed that though.

"So was there anywhere specific in town you were wanting to go?" Luna asked him as they exited the house and made their way down the long main street that cut through the middle of the village.

"Nowhere specific. I figured we could just walk and talk for awhile. I just wanted to see you today," he answered his girlfriend, flashing her a quick smile. Walking around village of Castle Combe had become a daily event for Marik. It was the best way he had found in his new life to clear his mind and keep his head screwed on straight when things got tough. Most days he enjoyed going off on his own and enjoying the peaceful quietness of the town, but today he had felt like bringing Luna long with him.

"You're too sweet," Luna said, returning his smile and grabbing his hand, wrapping it in hers.

"Plus, on nice days like this a lot of the townspeople open up their shop stalls, figured maybe we could find something cool," he added, as they continued to walk down the street hand in hand.

"I've never been to a muggle shop before. What do they sell?" Luna asked him curiously.

"Well this is an ale town, so most places sell their self-bottled-beers, but there are a lot of little craft stores too. This is where Majesty gets all her crazy jewelry that you like from."

"Ooh I love her jewelry, now I'm excited!" Luna replied. He just laughed. Luna would like Majesty's over dramatic jewelry. He noted at the mention of jewelry that Luna was wearing the large golden apple earrings he had seen on her once before. She was one of the few people in the world who could pull off such a, dramatic, style.

"Maybe I will have to get you something then."

"You already bought me that book on Nargles the last time we hung out. You don't need to buy me anything else," Luna argued as they made their way closer to some of the first shops.

"Well I like buying you stuff so yeah! And besides I had never even heard of a Nargle before so that book was for me just as much as it was for you," he argued back. Luna just shook her head as she smiled again.

"Maybe I will have to get you some jewelry too then. I think some gold earrings would fit you nicely," Luna said looking off in the distance. He couldn't tell if she was being serious or not, but hoped for the latter.

The walk into town was a short one from the Shackle bolts and within minutes they could see the colorful stalls dotted along the street's edge. He had never been much of a flyer in his years at Hogwarts but Marik had always wanted to get on a broom and look down on this place from above ever since he had first come into town. All of the stalls were topped with a bright colored fabric and in their long rows they resembled strips of a rainbow.

"Let's go check out this place," he said to Luna, pulling her along with him by the hand to one of the first roadside stalls.

"Hello, how are you two doing today?" the elderly lady behind the stall asked them as they approached her shop. The stall was a smaller one compared to the majority of other stalls along the main road. This lady's stall had three small tables set up with rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets of all shapes, sizes, and colors laid out. Marik could already see Luna's eyes widen at the sight of so much jewelry.

"Hello," he and Luna said in unison.

"We are doing good today. Just came into town to take a look at all of the stalls today," Marik added. Luna had already started to look through some of the hand made bracelets.

"You are a smart boy then. Best way to earn some kisses and favor from a woman is to get her some jewelry," the elderly lady told him as she sprouted a wide grin.

"He is quite the smart one isn't he?" Luna added, flashing him a wink as she continued to look over the wares.

"Hey I didn't. . ." he started to argue back, but the two women had already struck up a new conversation about one of the pieces of jewelry Luna was holding.

"I have never seen a bracelet like this before. It is quite beautiful," Luna said to the shop keeper as she held up a bracelet.

"Ahh that is a memory bracelet. It is woven with one of my best black and silver threads," the elderly lady replied, looking proud at her work.

"Why is it called a memory bracelet?" Luna asked, examining it like it may hold some enchantment or something inside it's strings. Marik smiled as Luna looked over the bracelet, it was always funny to observe when a wizard interacted with the muggle world.

"It is an old tradition in this town. Whenever we use black thread in a piece of jewelry or clothing we are supposed to remember a sad memory as we weave. It is almost a way of sewing away our sorrows. The next color of thread we use finishes the piece's story. I used silver in this particular one which signifies wealth."

"Meaning you have grown richer in life from your sad memories and experiences," Luna answered the elderly lady, looking the bracelet over. It looked like any of the other regular bracelets to him.

"Very good dear," the elderly lady looked happy that Luna was appreciating her work.

"It is quite beautiful work and a very powerful symbol. Marik try this on," Luna told him, handing the bracelet.

"I don't really know if this is my style," he tried to argue. Luna gave him a quick glare and that was all he needed to take the bracelet from her and put it on. Luna was one of the sweetest girls Marik had ever met, but once she was set on something there was no budging her.

"It looks good on you boy. Makes you look even handsomer!" the elderly stall keeper told him in obvious attempt to flatter him.

"It does look quite good on you. It makes the silver in your eyes look a little brighter. And I think it's story fits you," Luna said smiling.

"If you say so," he replied, looking over the thin woven string bracelet now on his wrist. He guessed it wasn't so bad, and he was always all for looking more handsome.

"I will take it," Luna said reaching into her purse.

"Uhh Luna, you can just pay me back," he said trying not to laugh as the lady looked at Luna like she was crazy when she was handed a wizard's galleon. Marik reached into his wallet and pulled out some of the muggle money he had left and handed it to the stall keeper. The two of them moved on and headed down the street from there.

"Thank you Luna," he told her as he took her hand in his again.

"You're welcome Marik. I never knew muggles had their own type of money. That is most interesting," Luna replied in her deep in thought voice.

"Yeah, I should have thought about that earlier."

"Well on our next date I get to buy everything, you spend too much of your money on me."

"Technically I just spent that money on me."

"True. Ooh a book store. I have never read a muggle book before," Luna said, sounding excited and headed off towards the small bookstore. He followed her lead and they made their way into the small shop.

"Welcome to Ben's Books! Just call for me if you need help finding anything," the shopkeeper shouted to them as they entered.

"There are so many books here. Who is this Don Quixote man Marik?" Luna asked as she looked through one of the books on the first shelves she came across. "Mmm I love the smell of old books."

"I think if I remember correctly it is a story of a knight who hates windmills or something," Marik answered. He had been assigned that book to read when he was younger, but from what he remembered one of his many bullies had stolen his copy before he could actually finish it.

"It is an odd thing to hate isn't it. Do all muggles hate windmills?" Luna asked him.

"No, I think it was just him," he replied, laughing a little at Luna's question.

"Did you read many of these books growing up?" Luna asked him as she moved on further down the shelf.

"Yeah, I read a lot when I was younger."

"Which one was your favorite?" she asked him again, picking up another book from the shelf.

"Hmm. . ." he started to think. "I'm not sure. I liked Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell a lot growing up," he answered her, struggling to think of a book.

"What is it about?" Luna asked him curiously.

"It's been awhile since I read it so my memory is foggy. I'm pretty sure it was about a guy who thinks the world he lives in is corrupt and no good. So he tries to rebel against it, believing there is more to life. In the end though he is caught and brainwashed to believe the world he lives in is perfect. Or something like that."

"Doesn't sound very good," Luna replied bluntly.

"Yeah, I did a poor job of explaining it. It was a good book back in the day though, made you think a lot."

"This is odd," Luna said, picking up another book, this one dustier than many of the others around it.

"What is?" he asked her.

"This is a wizarding book," she said showing him the book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

"I've never heard of it," he said, looking over Luna's shoulder as she flipped through the book.

"It was actually one of my favorite children's books growing up," Luna said with a smile as she flipped through the pages.

"What is it about?" he asked her curiously.

"Well it is a collection of a bunch of short stories in one novel, but my favorite story is the The Tale of the Four Brothers. The Quibbler actually still has a monthly section on any rumors with the Deathly Hallows, it is one of the more popular articles in the paper."

"What are the Deathly Hallows?"

"You have never heard the story of the Deathly Hallows before?" Luna asked him, looking amazed that he had not.

"Nope."

"You should certainly buy this then, I will pay you back for it later. It is one of the most famous wizarding legends there is in Britain. It would be better to read it than for me to tell you."

"Okay then. Is there anything else you want while we are here?." he asked Luna, taking the dusty book from her.

"No, I'm good. I'm excited for you to read this. My mother used to read me these stories every night when I was younger," Luna told him as they paid for the book at the counter.

"Maybe If you are lucky I will read some of it to you then," he said, giving her a flirtatious wink.

"Maybe if you are lucky I will stay over long enough to listen," Luna winked back.

"Touche," He laughed as they headed out of the store.

"So where to next?" Luna asked as they began walking on the main street again.

"Hmm, it actually doesn't look like there are that many more stalls open today. You down to just find a spot and relax for a bit?"

"With you? I don't know about that. . ." Luna replied sarcastically.

"Oh shut up. C'mon then," he said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Luna's hand and led her down a few side streets to the bridge that stretched across the small creek cutting through Castle Combe.

The spot was one of his favorites in the entire village. Most days when it wasn't raining he would bring a few of his books over here and sit next to the bridge with his feet dipped into the water and read. It reminded him a lot of sitting by the great lake at Hogwarts, and it always seemed to make him a little less homesick sitting there. He showed Luna to his usual spot next to the bridge and immediately began taking off his shoes so that he could dip his feet in.

"How is the water?" Luna asked as she sat down next to him.

"Pretty warm, it feels good," he answered, dipping his feet in. The weak current massaged his ankles as the water flowed past them.

"Is this the spot you were telling me about, where you come to read?" Luna asked him.

"Yeah, it's the one."

"It's quite the pretty spot. My home has a small creek that runs behind it. I used to set up nets along the shoreline and try to catch rhyme fish there when I was little," Luna said, her eyes looking out over the creek's waters.

"What is a rhyme fish?" he asked her. Luna knew more about magical creatures than probably even Hagrid did it seemed at times.

"They are just normal creek fish that make their nests in pairs of twos. I don't actually know where their name comes from though."

"Huh. So what have you been up to since the last time you came over?" he asked, changing the subject from fish.

"I've been doing quite a lot of work on ancient runes actually. I want to make sure I am ready for my first class in it."

"That's all I did during my third year summer too. How is your practice on it coming along?"

"Quite well actually. Although I must admit watching you carve runes made the concepts much easier to grasp."

"Well I am quite the good teacher. Speaking of runes I added another rune tattoo to my collection," he said, pulling up the sleeve on his left arm to show Luna his newest tattoo.

There is a muggle saying for a certain brand of potato chips that states I bet you can't have just one. That saying, Marik had discovered, can also be applied not only to chips, but also to tattoos. In less than a year he had already become addicted with his rune tattoos and was having to use a lot of self control to keep from getting carried away with them.

As of now he had already done rune tattoos for umbrosio, wingardium leviosa, accio, protego, and incendio spells. Marik had always like tattoos and after a few more of his rune tattoos his left forearm would probably be completely covered. The incendio rune tattoo was his latest one and he had placed it near his wrist on his left arm. The artwork for the spell that the rune created was probably his second favorite one yet, following close behind to his shadow magic rune tattoo.

The rune tattoos were extremely useful and made wandless casting much easier to do. It also helped to amplify the power you could usually put into a wandless spell. For example the accio spell was fairly easy to cast without a wand after a bit of practice. With the rune tattoo for the spell he could wandlessly cast the spell and now be able to summon objects from further away and at greater speeds. It was still not as good as casting with a wand but any increase in spell power he saw as a plus.

"It looks really good. You are starting run out of space though," Luna replied as she looked over the new rune tattoo on his arm.

"I know I am, gonna have to move up my arm soon."

"I never thought I was much of a tattoo person myself, but I have to admit I do like yours. I actually find them quite hot if I'm honest," Luna said flirtatiously, resting her head on his shoulder.

"In that case I will have to do a lot more of them then. Gotta look hot for my gal."

"You already do, trust me. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question Marik?"

"Of course not. Go ahead."

"How are you doing?" Luna lifted her head up from his shoulder and looked into his eyes as she asked him.

"Uhhh good?" he replied, a little confused at the sudden question.

"Maybe I should have clarified more. You've been living in a new home, a new house, with new parents. How are you doing with all of that?"

"Oh. . . Good I guess. I try not to think about it all too much to be honest. Living with Kingsley kind of makes it feel like I'm still at Hogwarts so the fact that I'm actually living with Kingsley doesn't really kick in too often.

"When I'm not doing good or things are getting to me don't worry though. I have my friends and you to help me out and I promise to ask for help when I need it. Me inviting you over today was actually because I kind of wanted help today."

"What do you need help with?" Luna asked him, her words sounding sincere.

"I just didn't want to be alone today ya know? I had a bad dream last night and didn't sleep too well so I figured I would get you to come over to keep me from overthinking. Sorry that is selfish I know," he answered, feeling a little guilty.

"I wish you be selfish and invite me over a little more." Luna winked at him. "What was your dream about? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"I don't mind. In the dream I had just gotten off the Hogwarts Express train and sat down on a bench at King's Cross Station waiting for my parents to pick me up. I just sat there watching everyone else come and go until I was the last one there. That was it. It was just me sitting alone on a bench for what felt like hours. So it wasn't a horrible dream by any means, just made me feel a little. . ."

"Lonely," Luna said, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah."

"I get it. Well don't ever feel like you are alone Marik. I'll always be here for you and am always willing to come be with you when you need me," Luna gave him a peck on the lips and a bright smile when she finished speaking.

"Thanks Luna. It really does mean a lot to me I hope you know that."

"I know it does, and you're welcome."

"Wanna makeout?" he joked sarcastically as their conversation ended and silence ensued for a few moments.

"You are such the romantic," Luna replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I know," he said laughing, turning his gaze from hers to look back over the water.

"Well I never said no did I?" Luna said, poking him in the sides.

The two of them spent the next few hours with their feet dipped into the water, lost in conversations, among other things, until the sun began to creep behind the hills across the water. Reluctantly they separated and got their feet out of the water and began heading back to the house.

"Thank you for taking me into town today," Luna said, grabbing his hand again.

"Of course. Thank you for visiting me today."

"You are very welcome!" she said with a smile as she rested her head against his arm.

"Did you have fun?"

"Of course I did. I thought you could tell that from our time by the creek though," Luna said with a devilish look.

The two of them made their way back to Kingsley's where they were told dinner would be served in a few minutes. After showing Majesty the new bracelet that Luna had bought for him the two of them made their way to the sitting room while they waited for dinner to be served.

"Okay, I want to read to this thing," he said as Luna and him sat down on the sofa. Luna quickly snuggled up against his arm.

"I'm excited," Luna replied as he took the book out of its bag and began to read.

The Tale of the Four Brothers

There were once four brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across the bridge when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

And Death spoke to them. Death was angry that he had been cheated out of four new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the four brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from an elder branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

The second brother Death approached had always been jealous of the magic his three brothers were able to perform, and as a squib he saw this as an opportunity to become magically superior than his brothers. So the second brother asked Death for something that would allow him to absorb the magic of the world so that he could have even more magic than his brothers did. So Death reached down to the ground, picked up a single stone from the riverbank. The stone turned blacker than onyx in Death's grip and when fully turned to black Death handed it to the second brother.

The third brother sat and waited impatiently before Death turned to him and asked what it was that he desired. The third brother, who considered himself the sharpest of the four, decided that he wanted to be wiser than anyone else in the world, even Death. So he asked Death for the knowledge of all things magical in the world. So Death picked up a few pieces of bark from the nearby elder tree along with a few of the tree's leaves. With his magic, Death weaved the bark and leaves into a magical tome, and gave it to the third brother.

And then Death asked the fourth and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was truly the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the four brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts.

In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination. The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.

That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that Death had gifted him, and turned it thrice in his hand. Magical energy entered into the brother's home through every window and every door, and entered into the brother himself. More and more the brother turned the stone in his hand, wanting all the magic he could get. The brother continued to turn the stone until he found that he could turn the stone no more; the brother's body had absorbed more magic than he was able to hold. In a burst of magical light, the light from the second brother's world vanished and the second brother fell in a heap to the ground of his home.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

The third brother traveled to the nearest city he could find, and hurriedly headed towards the town's library. With a hunger and lust for knowledge of all things magical in this world the third brother began writing the titles of every magical tome inside the library into his Elder Tome. With an unhealthy obsession, he added and proceeded to read all of the books he could with the tome Death had rewarded him with. Through his obsession for learning and hunger for knowledge the third brother got lost inside the numerous worlds of his books and ignored the world around him. The third brother eventually became hungry, but was too caught up in his readings to notice, he died of that hunger in the same library a few days later.

And so Death took the third brother for his own.

But though Death searched for the fourth brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took of the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and as equals, they departed this life.

"It is a gloomy story isn't it?" Kingsley asked. Marik jumped a little in his seat as he looked up and say both Kingsley and his wife had sat down on the couch across from them.

"Jesus Kings, you scared the hell out of me! People actually read this to their kids? I thought Bambi was bad but this is just dark!" he said, amazed that this was a children's story. He would have had nightmares if his parents would have read this to him when he was young.

"It is quite a dark story, but it is impossible to deny the imagination that it evokes in a young mind," Luna said, taking the book from him to look it over herself.

"Why would you want a kid to imagine so much death?" he asked, confused.

"Not death, the Deathly Hallows," Luna answered him.

"I still don't even know what the Deathly Hallows are?" he admitted.

"Dinner is ready, so let's continue this conversation at the table," Majesty announced, and they all followed her to the table. He quickly grabbed the breadbasket as soon as he sat down and threw three rolls onto his plate. Majesty could bake bread that tasted almost as good as the bread at Hogwarts and much to his delight she served it almost every night. Majesty was strick with the butter dish on the downside though.

"So what are these Deathly Hallow things?" still curious, he asked again as they sat down.

"Here look," Luna told him as she transfigured her napkins to a quill and ink bottle before grabbing his napkin to draw on. "First you have the fourth brother's Cloak of Invisibility," Luna said to him as she drew a large triangle on his napkin. "Then you have the third brother's Death's Diamond," Luna continued to tell him as she added a large circle inside of the triangle. "Next you have the first brother's Elder Wand," Luna added a straight line down the middle of triangle and through the circle. "And last you have the third brother's Elder Tome," Luna finished adding two more small lines and held up the napkin for him to see.

"I still don't get it," he replied, stuffing a piece of bread in his mouth.

"The Elder Wand, Death's Diamond, Elder Tome, and Cloak of Invisibility are the Deathly Hallows," Kingsley answered from his chair at the head of the table.

"Okay. . . So I get that the brother's gifts make up this symbol, and that they are the Deathly Hallows, but how does the story inspire imagination."

"Marik you are about to duel in a very important tournament this summer yes?" Luna asked him.

"Yeah?" he asked, confused where this was going.

"Imagine if you had a wand that guaranteed you would win the tournament."

"Well I kind of do," he said sarcastically, causing Kingsley and Majesty to laugh, Luna just rolled her eyes.

"While, yes, I agree that you will win the tournament again this year let's try to think about this a different way. Imagine during your time at Hogwarts that you had a book that could grant you access to every book on magic in the world as long as you knew the title of the book. You would have access to books and spells that nobody else in the castle did. Or imagine if you had the ability to drain the magic of your opponents and the world around you constantly and use it as your own power."

"Yeah, I guess they all do sound appealing," he started to say, when it dawned on him.

Harry has an invisibility cloak. . .

"These things are not real though. . . right?" he asked, trying to hide his expression.

Was Harry's cloak the same one from this story? Could Harry have one of these Deathly Hallows in his possession already?

"That's what makes the story so popular," Majesty answered him.

"People have been debating their actual existence for hundreds of years now," Kingsley added.

"That's what my father does his monthly update in The Quibbler on. Anytime a new rumor sprouts up about one of the hallows he reports it," Luna said.

"Has anyone proved that they have one of the hallows? Or where they might be?" he asked.

"See," Luna said with a smug smile.

"See what?" he asked, grabbing another piece of bread and looking for where the butter had gone off too.

"The story has your mind racing and asking questions. You are already imagining a world in which they do exist, that's why it is a good story," Luna replied. He guessed she was right.

"Well has anyone?" he asked, trying not to let Luna know she had been right. From her face it was clear she already knew though.

"The Elder Wand is about the only one of the Deathly Hallows that people have claimed to have had or seen in recent years. All of the other Hallows have not been claimed or seen according to reports in at least 300 years," Luna answered him.

"Most of the claims have come out to be false though. The last big rumor was that Grindelwald had the Elder Wand when he was in power, but when he was captured his wand was examined closely and proved to be just a normal wand," Kingsley added.

"Do you guys believe the Deathly Hallows are real?" he asked the group.

"I do. Although, I think it very likely that most of them are currently lost, buried, or hidden away where we are unlikely to ever find them," Luna answered as she finished her food.

"I don't know if I believe the story fully, but I think it is very possible such powerful items could exist," Kingsley told him.

"Hmm. . ." was all he said, his mind lost in thought. For the rest of the dinner his mind wandered through the story he had just read, wondering if such items actually existed.

He definitely could understand why the prospect of the Deathly Hallows being real was so appealing. He could remember countless times he had pretended to have the one ring from Lord of the Rings or Thor's hammer. Powerful, magical items were appealing even outside of the magical world and being the one to have them was the dream of who knows how many children in the world.

"Thank you for dinner again," Luna announced as she took her plate into the kitchen.

"Of course Luna, and you are welcome back to dinner anytime dear," Majesty told Luna.

"Will you be going to the tournament this summer Luna?" Kingsley asked Luna from behind his glass of pumpkin juice.

"Yes Prof-Kingsley, I will be. I'm excited to see Marik duel again," Luna answered, flashing him a smile.

"He better not let me down. I have spent too much time for that to happen," Kingsley said while staring hard at Marik with a glare.

"You have spent too much time?" he asked Kingsley, rolling his eyes.

"Yes I have! Which reminds me one of Flitwick's colleagues is coming over tomorrow to practice duel with us. So you need to be up early," Kingsley told him as he stood up.

"Ughh. . ." was all he said as his head fell to the table. Kingsley had been making him work almost nonstop on his dueling everyday over the summer, it looked like today would end up being his only day off for who knows how long.

"I should let you go get some sleep then," Luna said as she stood up. "Thank you again," Luna added as she waved goodbye to the Shacklebolts.

"Bye Luna," Majesty said as Luna led him back to the fireplace in the living room.

"Thank you again for inviting me over. I had a lot fun," Luna said, turning to meet his gaze.

"Of course. You need to come back before the tournament too. Oh and thanks for the bracelet."

"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to Marik," Luna said to him. He took her hands in his.

"I want to wear it. It's growing on me."

"You are growing on me," Luna said flirtatiously.

"Well I would sure hope so. I guess you are growing on me too," He replied, trying to flirt back.

Luna leaned in and gave him a kiss. For a few minutes the two of them stayed like that, both of their arms wrapped around the other, and their tongues fighting against the others. After a few more minutes of kissing, he broke the kiss off and Luna headed through the fireplace back home.

He grabbed his new book off of the sofa and ran off to his room. He immediately took out a piece of parchment and started to write a letter to Alina. He quickly crumpled up the paper though and instead started writing a letter to Harry, asking him for more information on what he knew about his cloak and the Deathly Hallows.

After sending the letter off he headed down to the library and looked for some history books, seeing what else he could find on the Deathly Hallows. Luna was right, the story really did make your imagination run wild.

**Please favorite, follow, or leave a quick review if you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Please go to the series forum and join a conversation or start a topic of your own! Link for forum can be found on profile page!**

**Please Check out the Open Polls on my Profile Page!**