A fortnight later, Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Hestia, and Luna floo'd to Longbottom Manor. It was the first nice weekend day they'd had in awhile, and Neville had invited them to see some of the spring flowers around the manor. Hestia, though used to the grimy elegance of 12 Grimmauld Place, still found the opulence of Longbottom Manor overwhelming. The reactions of her hostess? Somewhat less so.

"Sirius?" she asked as they made their way down to the gardens. "Did I offend Regent Longbottom in some way?" The children were a good twenty yards ahead of them, flitting this way and that to check out different flowers and magical plants.

Sirius chuckled and stretched, a motion that gave him the perfect opportunity to double-check that the lady hadn't changed her mind about leaving the house elves to monitor them and come along herself. As she got to know him better, Hestia was starting to better appreciate the sheer elegance with which he'd turned his old pranking habits into the building blocks of a clever, observant life.

"Only by your very existence, my dear," he said.

"That…um…doesn't make me feel better," she replied.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said. "I forgot that you're not used to disappointing people like that yet. We'll need to work on that."

"Shouldn't I try to not disappoint them, instead?" Hestia asked.

"Not at all," Sirius said. "I'm a massive disappointment to people like that because I'm not like them, but I still have the lordship and the blood, so they have to respect me by their own rules. You don't, and there's nothing you can do to make someone like that accept you. If they did, they would be accepting the idea that someone could become like them without the same blood, and then what would blood mean?"

"Oh," Hestia looked down at the ground. "So I've lost the game before I even started playing, then."

Sirius sighed. "You are a wonderful witch, Hestia, far moreso than I will ever deserve, but we have got to get you to stop thinking like a schoolgirl."

"I beg your pardon!" slipped out before she could stop herself, but fortunately none of the children seemed to notice. Hermione was peppering Neville was questions about plants, Harry was strolling along behind them, taking in the scenery, and Luna had latched onto Neville's arm and periodically staring into empty space next to the plants as if she'd seen something there.

"You're treating this like it's a test on which you have to get an Outstanding," Sirius said. "I recognize what you're doing because it's the same thing Lily did the first time James took her to a Society party."

"But…but…if Lily was doing it—"

"She was," Sirius said, "and James and I both spent much of the next day consoling her. Lily wasn't a paragon, Hestia. She was a brilliant, beautiful, unyielding young woman who sometimes spoke before she'd thought things through, could be an incredibly demanding taskmistress to younger students whom she didn't think were working hard enough, and was deeply neurotic about her place in the magical world. You shouldn't hold her up as a standard to meet or someone to emulate."

"Oh." Hestia took a deep breath. "That's…going to take some getting used to."

"Before they were martyrs, they were my friends," Sirius said. "They were real people once, just like us. Lily was as uncomfortable as you are now, too, and I think it's for the same reason: you're both interacting with the upper echelons of a society that disdains you and trying to earn your way in. And do you know what James and I told Lily?"

Hestia shook her head, trying not to focus on the fact that he'd just compared her to Lily Potter.

"That she was going at it the wrong way. Their game is stacked against her from the beginning, and no amount of being Head Girl or the brightest witch of her age would overcome that. The only way for her to win was to refuse to play. At the end of the day, she was Lily Potter, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in the country. She didn't have to play by their rules. To a large extent, they had to play by hers."

Sirius sighed. "Of course, with the war on, she wasn't able to go very far with that, but it did help her face the various people who thought she wasn't good enough for James. It's the same for you, Hestia. You're never going to be good enough for people like Augusta, but it doesn't matter. Make them learn that they need to be good enough for you."

"I'm not at all used to thinking like that," Hestia said.

"My recommendation would be to get used to it," Sirius said. "You're an intelligent, caring, beautiful witch, but some people are never going to accept you at my side no matter what you do. If you let them get to you, they're going to drive you mad or drive you away from me, and I don't want either of those to happen."

"I don't, either," Hestia said.

"Besides," Sirius said, "can you see me with a stuffy Pureblood heiress? We'd kill each other inside of a week. That's not what I want in a life partner, and I seriously doubt I'm what they want in a life partner. Well, I guess there's the title and the money, but anyone who just wanted me for those wouldn't be worth having."

Hestia nodded. "I see what you mean. So how should I handle people like Augusta, then?"

"My instinct is to prank them, but I think I need to grow out of that at least a bit," Sirius replied. "You should probably just be polite and ignore them. Definitely don't try to meet their expectations, though. Anyone who thinks you're not good enough for them isn't good enough for you."

"That's quite pithy," Hestia said. "When did you become such a sage?"

"Probably while I was licking my own nadgers in dog form," Sirius said. "Contemplation of one's nadgers is a sure path to enlightenment."

Hestia sputtered and nearly tripped, but Sirius tightened his grip on her arm and kept her from falling. "Sirius!"

"Hey, you asked."

"The mistake was definitely mine," Hestia said, sighing.

Harry and Neville shared a grin as Hestia sputtered out Sirius's name. "So, they're…um…"

"Together?" Harry supplied.

"Yes." Neville blushed.

"They are," Harry said. "They started dating the second she was no longer his employee."

"That's nice," Neville said. "They seem good for each other."

Luna nodded without taking her eyes off of a flower shaped like a spiralling rose that slowly cycled through the colours on the rainbow. "I think they really are," she said.

"Same here," Hermione added.

"I'm sorry my Gran doesn't seem to think so," Neville said. "She can be pretty stuck-up about that sort of thing."

Harry shrugged. "That's not your fault, mate. I'm sure Hestia will give her feelings on the matter the importance they deserve."

"So, none at all?" Luna asked, still without turning around.

Neville gave a most ungentlemanly snort of laughter.

"Hey, you said it, not me," Harry said. "Hermione's been encouraging me to be more diplomatic, which basically means I have to learn how to insult people while sounding like I'm not insulting them."

Hermione sighed. "That wasn't the only lesson I wanted you to take away from that conversation."

"It was an in-depth conversation and I did my best to take away the key points," Harry replied.

"Did…did you just use diplomacy on me?" Hermione asked.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said blandly.

"Harry James Potter!"

"So I should only use diplomacy on other people?" Harry asked.

"Yes!"

"Don't use it on me, either," Neville said. "I like it when you're blunt and I'd probably miss what you're saying, anyway."

"You can use it on me if you like," Luna said. "Puzzling out your meaning is fun. It's like having a conversation with a crossword puzzle built right in."

"OK," Harry said. "No more diplomacy on any of you except maybe Luna."

"Good." Hermione massaged her temples. "Merlin help me, I missed you talking normally just now."

"Neville?" Luna was now staring at what appeared to be a spot three inches to the left of a tiny bronze-coloured daffodil that played a sound like a cross between a trumpet and a wheeze whenever a breeze blew past it. "Why doesn't your grandmother like Miss Hestia?"

"Because she thinks Miss Hestia isn't from a good enough family to be the Lady Black," Neville said. "There's all kinds of complicated etiquette she doesn't know and she's probably never helped her mother host a ball or party before."

"Oh." Luna expelled her breath as she spoke the word almost as if she were sighing. "Is that sort of thing important?"

Neville shrugged. "Gran thinks it is. It seems to me it's more important that Miss Hestia and Sirius love each other unconditionally. You never know what's going to happen to you in life. Maybe you lose your money, maybe you lose your magic, maybe you lose your house. Someone who married you just because you had enough money for her to host fancy parties probably wouldn't stick with you if you couldn't help her do that anymore."

"That," Hermione said, "is a very mature way to look at things."

"I agree." Harry nodded.

Luna sniffled.

"Um…" was as far as Neville got before she spun around and hugged him so hard that he nearly fell over.

"Hermione was right," Luna said, still sniffling. "That's too mature. Neville shouldn't have to know that and it's not fair that he does."

"Wait, what?" Neville asked. Harry couldn't tell if the poor boy was more confused by the statement or the small blonde girl latched onto his chest who made it.

"Oh." Hermione turned to Neville. "I think what Luna is trying to say is that you were awfully specific about the importance of unconditional love, specific enough that she's worried about you…and I think I am now, too."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hestia and Sirius approaching and waved them off. He was starting to realise what was happening here and thought it was best if it was handled without adults getting involved.

"It's alright." Neville patted Luna's back awkwardly. "You don't have to worry about me. I've got Harry and Hermione and Sirius now."

Luna promptly burst into tears.

Neville stared at Harry, eyes wide. "Help?"

"It's not fair," Luna said in between sobs. "It's not fair!"

"Of course it's not," Harry said. "There's so much wrong with this world that it makes Hermione and me sick to our stomachs some nights. So we're going to fix it. I mean, perma-killing Old Mouldy is still at the top of the list, but I think that helps with the fairness, too. It's alright to cry about how awful things are, Luna, but when you're ready, we'd like your help fixing them."

She sniffled and released Neville. "I'd love to, but I don't think I'll be much good at anything. I'm just a girl who likes reading about weird animals."

"And faced down Lockhart," Harry said.

Neville nodded. "And you didn't see her tell off Mr. Lupin. She was amazing."

Luna blushed.

"Exactly," Hermione said. "Luna, you're much stronger than you think you are and you're still young yet. We're not beating ourselves up because we can't fix the whole world immediately."

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"OK, OK, I suppose we do have some regrets on that front," Hermione allowed, "but we recognize how difficult it will be. We're learning and getting ready, though. And when we graduate Hogwarts…it's showtime."

"You really think I'll be able to help?" Luna asked.

"I really do," Harry said. "But even if you can't, we'll still like you because you're our Luna and we wouldn't trade you for anything."

Luna burst into tears again and threw her arms around Harry. "I have the best friends in the world."

Harry awkwardly patted her on the back and mouthed "Help?" at Hermione.

She sighed. "Boys." Then she walked over and pulled Harry into a hug, squishing Luna between them.

"Hugs are the best." Luna slipped an arm out beneath Hermione's and gestured to Neville. "Come on, we need you, too!"

The other boy shrugged, walked over, and tentatively allowed Hermione and Harry to hug him. Luna, in the centre, managed to work an arm out and hug him around the waist.

"See?" Luna asked. "Hugs are wonderful."

"Um…" Neville said.

Hermione glared at him. "Stop being so English and hug us properly!"

"But…I am English!"

"That's no excuse," Hermione said.

"Oh, alright…" Neville tentatively squeezed tighter.

"Now stay put and enjoy it for a moment." Hermione paused. "Luna, are you purring?"

"Mmm-hmmm," Luna said.

"Well…alright, then," Hermione said.

They stayed silent for a moment (but for the purring, which Harry found odd, but comforting), then Neville spoke up again. "This is actually kind of nice."

"I think it's very nice," Luna said. "We'll do this regularly to keep your wrackspurts away."

"My…what?"

"Just go with it," Harry mouthed over Luna's head.

"Oh, alright," Neville said. Harry was impressed that he'd somehow managed to answer both Luna and him simultaneously.

Between school and trips to see Neville, it took a few weeks for Harry and Hermione to make some time to return to Diagon Alley with Sirius to see Remus. They had a great time chatting with them, though, and resolved to do it a few more times before Hogwarts started. They had just as much fun the second time, which was during the intra-term break at the end of May. After Hogwarts let out in mid-June, Harry and Hermione suggested Sirius hire Tonks to look after them as needed and take Hestia on a holiday to a Wizarding resort in Jamaica, since Sirius hadn't gone on holiday since he'd escaped Azkaban and Hestia had never been able to afford such a trip. Tonks had some time before her Auror training course started and was happy to take the job, which is how they all found themselves walking into Oldknowe Books on a slow Saturday afternoon in late June.

"Hi, Uncle Moony!" Harry said as they walked in.

"Hi, Harry," Remus replied. He was sitting behind the counter and put down the book he'd been reading. "I'm glad you and Hermione could come by today. I don't think I know your friend, though."

"I think I remember you," Tonks said. She morphed her hair from a shock of pink curls into a perfect match for Remus's light brown hair. "Does that trick ring a bell?"

"Nymph…no, I seem to recall you hating that name," Remus said.

"Just call me Tonks," she said.

"Certainly," Remus said. "My goodness, I haven't seen you since—"

The bookshop door burst open. "Nymphadora Tonks!" shouted a large redheaded woman as she bustled in. A small redheaded girl with freckles trailed in after her, looking confused. "I don't know what you've done to my Charlie, but—"

"Are you sure you want to have this conversation in public?" Tonks asked acidly. "I know what I did and what you did, and I know which of those was legal."

"Legal?" Mrs. Weasley snorted. "A deviant like you would have to be portioning a good boy like Charlie to get him to want to marry you. I know you were at the Lovegoods, too, since my Percy said he saw Harry Potter there and that's just the silliest…"

She trailed off when Harry started waving. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "I'm really sorry I startled Percy like that."

"You…you're…" Mrs. Weasley stared at him.

The little girl squeaked and hid behind her mother.

"Harry Potter, at your service," Harry said, bowing a little. "And this is my best friend, Hermione Granger. I think you know our good friend Luna Lovegood."

"You…do know the Lovegoods?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Of course we do," Harry said. "We were visiting a few weeks ago when Charlie and Percy came over to help Luna with her article. They were very nice, and I'm sorry for scaring Percy."

Hermione nodded. "We were also there when Charlie's potion wore off, ," she said, her voice taut with anger. "He was so relieved to be able to feel love for Tonks again that he wept. It was the single most horrifying thing I have seen so far in my life and I still occasionally have nightmares about it. Charlie didn't want to press charges, but I wish he had. You are a monster."

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Molly roared as she went for her wand. Several things happened simultaneously after that:

Tonks paled and went for her own wand.

Harry stepped in front of Hermione, who reached into the pocket of her jeans for her own wand.

A shimmering, translucent silver shield sprung up in front of them, because Remus had been faster on the draw than any of them.

"If you raise your wand at the son of James Potter or his friends," he said, "I will execute you and, if necessary, go whistling to Azkaban afterward."

"Bold words from a shop…" Mrs. Weasley trailed off. "R…Remus?"

"It's been a long time, Molly." Remus allowed his shield to dissipate, but he held his wand ready to cast another in an instant. "I know you're good, but you've never once beaten me in a duel, so unless you're going to use your daughter as a human shield, I urge you to either put your wand away or ask her to move."

Mrs. Weasley gulped and put her wand away. "I'll have you sacked for threatening my daughter."

Tonks' hair turned jet black. "He was trying to protect her, you plonker! You're the one who almost started a duel with kids around!"

"Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked loudly enough to quiet everyone else.

"Yes?" she asked, playing along.

"I'm super-famous in the Wizarding World, aren't I?"

"That's my understanding," she replied.

"So I'll bet if I sent a letter to the owner of the bookstore telling them how much I liked it here and how much great help I got from Mr. Lupin, they'd probably appreciate it."

"I'd go so far as to say they'd take out a newspaper ad and quote you in it," Hermione said.

Harry had to stifle a smile at how well she was playing along. "I think I'll do just that, then."

"That's a lovely idea," Hermione said. "Don't you think so, Mrs. Weasley?"

"You…you…" Mrs. Weasley sputtered.

"Me." Harry paused after saying that because, really, where was he supposed to go from there? Movie heroes always had much better quips. "My name is Harry James Potter, Mrs. Weasley, and if you mess with my family or friends, you mess with me."

"Mum?" a small voice asked from behind Molly. "You always told me Harry Potter was a hero and read me all of those books about him. Why are you threatening him?"

"He's not who I thought he was," Mrs. Weasley said tightly.

Tonks unexpectedly burst out laughing. "The crazy thing is that you're both right. Harry isn't who you think he is, but he and Hermione are both real heroes. Not the kind in books, but the kind you walk past on the street and whose existence you take for granted until you need them. I'm lucky to be their friend, Ginny, and I hope you'll try to be their friend at Hogwarts, too."

"Me?" Ginny stepped partially out from behind her mother.

Mrs. Weasley put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea, dear."

Tonks grinned and her hair turned spiky and pink. "That's the fun thing about Hogwarts, kid. When you get there, you can make your own choices about your friends."

Mrs. Weasley glared at her. "My Percy will keep me appraised of that sort of thing."

"You might think that," Tonk said, "but he'll probably be too busy snogging his girlfriend to pay much attention to what Ginny gets up to."

"Girlfriend?" shrieked. "What girlfriend? He's too young to be snogging."

Tonks shrugged. "I don't really know her. Some younger Ravenclaw witch. Well-developed for her age and shows it off. I have to hand it to Percy; the kid's got good taste."

"Well, I never!" Mrs. Weasley took Ginny by the shoulder. "I've had enough of this. Ginny, we're leaving."

Harry gave the girl a cheery wave as she left, to which she responded with a timid one of her own.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Harry turned and high-fived Hermione as soon as she finished putting her wand away. "You were great!"

"You, too! That was a great use of Case 3, not to mention your own fame." she said, grinning. Harry thought he caught Remus raising an eyebrow as the older wizard realised Hermione had drawn a weapon.

"I don't like being famous, but if I can use it to ruin the day of someone like that, I might as well," Harry said. "I feel kind of bad that we ratted out Percy's relationship to his mother, but that berk probably deserves it after what he did to Charlie."

"Oh, he does," Tonks said, "but I have no idea if he's actually dating anyone."

"You made that up?" Hermione asked.

"Yep." Tonks popped the 'p' extra loudly.

Harry high-fived her.

"That," Remus said, "was a clever prank, but would you mind explaining why a grown woman burst in here and threatened you? I can't approve of putting Harry and Hermione in danger if you knew she was after you."

Tonks' hair flattened back out into brown. "I'm sorry. I didn't know she was in the area or that she'd react violently."

"It's our fault, too," Harry said.

"Harry!" Tonks hissed. "I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you!"

"You are," Harry said. "And we're keeping an eye on you. Fair's fair."

Tonks sighed.

"Oh, lad." Remus laughed, but his eyes looked a little watery. "You reminded me so much of your father just now. Listen, my only priority here is your safety. I'm not going to try to get you in trouble with Sirius or anyone. Please tell me what happened so I can figure out what I do and don't need to warn Sirius about. Normally, if someone had burst in the door like that and reached for their wand, I would have been tempted to curse first and ask questions later, but that was Molly P–Weasley, for Merlin's sake! Why is Molly Weasley threatening children?"

"She was feeding her son Charlie potions to make him hate me," Tonks said. "When they wore off, he proposed."

"I see," Remus said. "And Harry and Hermione just happened to be there for this?"

"Yes," Tonks said. "Their presence was entirely coincidental."

"I did not become a prefect and a Marauder simultaneously by being slow-witted," Remus said. "Tonks, if you'd known Molly was feeding Charlie potions, you'd have done something sooner, so I'm guessing someone else figured it out…probably Harry; very clever, lad."

"It was all Hermione," Harry said immediately, then noticed her glaring at him. "Oops."

Remus laughed. "I also guessed she would deny it if asked directly, but I knew if you were anything at all like James, there was no way you would take credit for Hermione's cleverness. In fact, it's probably been driving you crazy that you can't brag about it more."

"She was brilliant," Harry said. "She came up with the whole plan and ensured nobody saw anything that could prove a metamorph was present."

"Clever indeed," Remus said. "Wizarding courts have long since learnt to ignore the 'a metamorph did it' claims because they're easy to make and impossible to prove. Why didn't you come to Sirius or me, though?"

"We…had an opportunity that we couldn't pass up," Harry said. "Besides, there's so much wrong with the Wizarding World. I mean, if we'd gone to the Aurors, would anyone have done anything?"

"Probably not," Remus sighed. "I'd like to say I would have, but I haven't exactly given you reason to believe that, have I?"

Harry shrugged.

"I promise you I will, though," Remus said. "I hope you never have to do something like that again because you trust Sirius and me enough to let us take the risks for you. I know I haven't earned your trust, Harry, but I want to. Sirius and I want you to be safe more than anything."

"You'll actually help, not just tell us to call the Aurors or teachers and let them decide if and when to do anything?" Harry asked.

"If I genuinely think that will get something done faster and safer for you, then yes, I will," Remus said. "Otherwise, no, I'll help you get it done if it needs to be done."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry said. "We probably will need help sometimes, especially till we're older and know more dangerous spells."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Even when you're older, you shouldn't have to use those spells. Most witches and wizards go their whole lives without fighting in a life-or-death situation, and I don't ever want you to have to be in one."

"Harry's just being overdramatic." Hermione glared at the boy. "We're not planning to get in any life-threatening situations at all, are we?"

"Well, there is Old Mouldy still out there," Harry said.

"Oh, right," Hermione said. "That's a good point."

"Don't worry about him," Remus said. "None of us are going to let him get anywhere near you. I'm sure Sirius and Hestia are making great progress at figuring out why he isn't dead and how to kill him permanently."

"Definitely," Harry said. "We're just…being cautious."

"Right," Hermione said. "Cautious."

A few minutes later, when Remus was alone again, three realisations hit him. First, he might really have a second chance with Harry now, but the second chance was always harder than the first.

Second, Harry and Hermione were lying about being overdramatic or cautious. For some reason, two children not yet in Hogwarts were convinced they were going to face dangerous situations and, horrifyingly, seemed to have made their peace with it. Remus had a bad feeling it was more than just Voldemort's continued existence troubling them, mostly because Harry seemed to have used that as an excuse for his comment and caught Hermione flat-footed with it. Something else was going on, and the only thing Remus could think of was that Harry had somehow gotten the impression there was a Prophecy out there about him. If that was true, he needed to find out. Remus could understand if Sirius knew and hadn't shared it with him, but if Harry was playing things this close to the vest then Sirius might not know yet. But how to get into the Hall of Prophecy?

Third, Remus decided he desperately needed to get laid if he thought a girl he'd played games with as a small child looked attractive. Admittedly, she was technically of age now, but she was still a child.