Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Luna's Hubby
The Wedding
3 reviewsHarry starts to get settled with his new family. Luna finds out that she's not really married, but there are ways to fix that.
5Insightful
Disclaimer:
Not mine. But if you think it is...Naw, never mind. Just don't sue.
AN: This is where I take off from Rorschacks Blot's initial chapter. Blame the rest on me.
Chapter 2 The Wedding
Harry could hardly believe the amount of food that he was given to eat. And no body was yelling at him, or insulting him, or forcing him to set the table, or clean the dishes, and sweep the floor, and all those other jobs he had to do every night after the Dursleys ate.
Of course, he did some of them, but then the most amazing thing happened -- his new friend's mother said, "Thank you." And she smiled at him! He could barely believe it! The teachers at school used to smile at him, but now they only seemed sad when they watched him.
Now he was sitting on the couch with his new friend, and they were reading together. It was a book unlike any he had ever seen. The pictures moved! They sat next to each other and Luna kept smiling at him, and he found himself smiling back.
- - -
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster, etc, frowned when he got back to his office after a long, boring day at the Ministry. One of the little metallic devices that was always spinning on a shelf had stopped spinning. Harry Potter was no longer where he was supposed to be. He waved his wand at it, and found that Harry had been missing since the morning.
This was highly unusual. He could count on the thumbs on one hand the number of times Harry had been away from his home this summer. If he were with the Dursleys, but not at home, then the device would spin a different way. So something strange was going on. He'd have to investigate.
- - -
The next day Selene Lovegood left her job in the Department of Mysteries and spent her lunch hour in the Department of Records. She learned several things, just not what she wanted to know. She found out that Harry Potter's records were sealed. Not only were they sealed, but only the Minister of Magic and the head of the Wizengamot could get access. She also found out that a number of people who had been accused of being Death Eaters had also tried to gain access to the file over the years. She did not learn where Harry lived before her
daughter rescued him.
Rescued.
She had come to that conclusion. He had gotten up early and started making breakfast, but was unfamiliar with the layout of the kitchen, so had not progressed very far before Selene had interrupted him. He was extremely frightened when she found him. She found that he expected to be punished for not having the breakfast ready. It took some time to convince him that she wouldn't punish him.
Harry had been given one of her husband Larry's T-shirts to wear as a night shirt. He was a small boy, as small as Luna, even though he was about a year older. He could be called wiry/, but she thought he was just /thin. But it was the lines of scars across his legs that drew her attention right away. She examined them -- none were very recent, but there were some black and blew marks on his upper thighs. She gently lifted the night shirt, and tried to sooth the boy who was tensing up. He was expecting a beating. There were more strap scars on his back.
She quickly checked his buttocks under the underwear, and saw they were black and blue. She put his clothes back in order, and gave him a hug, telling him that she would never hit him. He held himself stiffly in the hug, like he didn't know what was going on.
She made him breakfast, and talked to him while they ate. She found out about his home life. Even accepting that he was exaggerating, she realized that he was being abused. The scars on the backs of his legs and the
bruises were not exaggerations.
- - -
Dumbledore was getting very worried. All he could get out of the Dursleys was that Harry had run away, and what an awful, ungrateful, lazy child he was. It was hard to get even that out of them, their manaphobia made them extremely difficult to work with. He had tried to enlist the aid of a few teachers to search the area, but had run into problems. Severus couldn't stop insulting the child he had never met, and Minerva couldn't stop telling him what a mistake it was to leave Harry with the Dursleys. But Dumbledore had been in the house - it was picture perfect. The Dursleys, despite their problem with magic, loved their child. Surely, such a meticulously clean environment and loving family couldn't be bad!
It was now going on 24 hours and he still had no idea where to look for the boy. He was going to have to do something that might break the Secrecy Act. He was going to send Harry an owl. Well, he hadn't quite reached that point, but if something else didn't come to mind, he would.
- - -
Selene headed off to work after a serious talk with her husband. The broom was going to be locked up. The children were going to be supervised. The invisibility cloak was put on the shelf at the top of the closet, out of reach of little hands. She made sure the Firewhiskey was locked up, and she changed the runes on the lock just to make sure. He'd never guess The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy snorkack. She spoke with the children - no leaving the property. No farther than the hedge at the front of the house, nor beyond the stream that flowed through the back yard. She informed her husband of the first rule of parenting - if they're quiet, they're getting into trouble. Really, you'd think he was never a kid. Or maybe he just never grew up.
She went to work then, still unsure what to do about the new addition to their household. No matter what Luna thought, they could not get married. She would have to sit them down tonight and explain things. Theoretically, Larry could sit them down and explain it, but the chances of that actually happening were as small as getting rid of the bollywoggle infestation in the house. She automatically untangled a knot from her hair at the thought.
- - -
Minerva McGonagall had never been so angry in her life. In some small corner of her soul she was secretly satisfied that she was right. But that satisfaction was totally overwhelmed by the fact that the headmaster's mistake had hurt a child. She walked to Hagrid's hut and invited him with her. She was candid with the large man - they were going to investigate Harry Potter's home life. They walked into the woods near his hut far enough to get beyond the wards, and Apparated to Privet Drive. Walking up to number four she thought she could feel the absence of the boy who was supposed to be there. They knocked on the door, and it was answered by the woman that Minerva had spied upon six years ago. The woman took one look at Hagrid and let out a shriek, and tried to slam the door. Hagrid put out a hand and stopped its motion. With no effort he pushed the door open.
"Mrs. Dursley. I am Professor McGonagall. I am investigating the disappearance of Harry Potter. You will let us in, or the Aurors will arrest you and we will come in anyway."
Petunia Dursley may not have liked having a sister in the Magical world, but she learned as much as she could about it. Perhaps it was jealousy; or perhaps it was a Slytherin attitude towards knowing your enemy. But she knew what Aurors were, and she didn't want them arresting any of her family. She knew the Wizarding World's attitude towards Muggles.
Despite her protests that she didn't know anything, Professor McGonagall learned a number of unpleasant facts. Harry was wearing his cousin's old clothes since he had none of his own. She couldn't get a good description of him, except that he wasn't as "big boned", and "well filled out" as Dudley. There were no pictures of him, and Mrs. Dursley wasn't sure what he had been wearing. She didn't know when he disappeared. It was a nice day, so after breakfast his job was to weed the lawn and garden. He didn't come in for lunch because Mrs. Dursley liked not having him in the house, and she might have "forgotten" to feed it to him. If it bothered him he could speak up and complain, couldn't he? They didn't discover that he was gone until dinner when he should have been doing the dishes, even if he didn't want to eat.
It was only after Minerva told Hagrid to find Harry's room that Petunia showed them the cupboard under the stairs where he lived. Hagrid ripped the door off its hinges and crumbled it to kindling when he realized that there was no latch on the inside - the person in there was locked in every time the door was closed.
They found out that Harry had no friends. They found out that Dudley's friends made sure of that. No one had checked up on Harry since his first teacher had tried, and Vernon got her fired for harassing the family. Minerva and Hagrid searched the park and the school, but found nothing. They Apparated back to Hogwarts for a late lunch, though neither had much appetite.
- - -
Harry and Luna had another fun day. They noticed Luna's Dad around a lot more than he had been the day before. They played house, and Harry cleaned. They played outside, and Harry pulled weeds. They ate lunch, and Harry ate a lot. They read together again, and Luna liked the way he read. He was still fascinated by the moving picture books, but Luna insisted that she had outgrown those years ago, and now that she was a big girl, she read big books.
They read Encyclopedia Brown, even though the book wasn't big, it did have more words (and the pictures didn't move). Luna, who had read it before, let Harry solve the mysteries. He explained some things that had confused her, like bicycles and televisions. Luna was impressed. Her mother was right, Harry was smart. Luna, in turn, explained wands and magic. She was sure he was magic, because he had defeated the Dark Lord and saved everyone. Harry didn't believe it. How could he have done something like that without knowing it? And he had no wand, so how could he be magic. Luna wasn't sure, so they went outside and ran around. Harry had fun.
- - -
Dumbledore couldn't fit what he had heard from his deputy Headmistress with what he had seen. There was no way that the Dursleys could have done to Harry what she said they did. Once he came to that conclusion, there was nothing more to be said. Obviously, Minerva had misunderstood. Which still left him with the question, how to find Harry.
He looked suspiciously at a device he really didn't put much faith in. It was an antique diagnostic artifact, given to him nearly seventy years ago. It took so long to attune to a patient that it really had no practical application in the medical field. It was just sitting there six years ago, and he was bored, so he took an afternoon and attuned it to Harry. It usually just slowly puffed grey smoke. Sometimes it puffed black, and a few times it puffed red. The directions had been lost decades ago. But now it puffed white smoke. And sometimes it puffed it very fast. Now he wished he had the instructions. He couldn't remember if it could tell where someone was. But it was producing a lot more smoke than it used it. He took it off the shelf, and stuck it in a lower draw of his desk. He would have to make a concerted search for the instructions. But in the meantime, he found something in the draw that he hadn't thought about in years. Yes, this was a project that he had put away when he kept running into theoretical brick walls. Now that he had it, he'd have to schedule some time to do more research. He put the rubber chicken on the top of a pile of papers on his desk, and remembered that he had to find Harry Potter.
What to do? What to do? He hadn't been this confused since Throckmorton Gildersleve had bred those clothes eating pixies in '41. That had been a dinner in the Great Hall to remember! He shook his head. He had to concentrate on the current problem. If this continued much longer, he'd have to inform the Ministry, and that could be disastrous. But he guessed that they would find the boy.
Wait a minute -- they would use Aurors. That was it. He had a friend who was a retired Auror! He got on his knees -- he was getting to old for this sort of thing -- threw some floo powder into the fire, and called, "Alastor Moody!"
- - -
Larry Lovegood watched the children running through the backyard. He wondered about his daughter's husband. Despite having been married for almost ten years, he still mostly had a bachelor's view of cleaning. Harry, though, always cleaned up after himself. After lunch he had started washing the dishes by hand. Usually, Larry just left them for his wife to cast some cleaning charms on them. Luna had joined her husband, and they seemed to have fun doing it. Larry scratched his head over that one.
When they finished a game Harry would put all the toys away. When they finished reading -- well that wasn't quite unusual, as his wife and Luna also always put books away. He tried several times to figure out what rune-key his wife had set for the liquor cabinet, but gave up. Dang it! An editor was supposed to be hard drinking and hard smoking! She wouldn't allow him to smoke, either. That part was alright. He never liked it the few times he had tried. At least now he had an excuse for not smoking. The kids were making noise, so he went back to his office and worked on his editing job.
- - -
Selene took a long lunch to go shopping. For some reason many witches and wizards didn't seem to have an ounce (milliliter, she reminded herself) of common sense. Her husband, for example, no matter how much she coached him, he just couldn't go among the Muggles without sticking out like a sore thumb. It seemed he gravitated towards plaids and stripes like a Nargle to mistletoe. She herself fit in just fine, and had no problem moving among them. She was dressed in a simple orange and blue striped skirt, with a bright green top.
She bought Harry -- well, everything. He had come with one set of clothes, and those didn't fit him. She bought him a trunk to use and had the shopkeeper help her load all the clothes into it. They were going on a vacation in a week, and he would need it.
They didn't have a lot of money, but she contemplated getting a training broom for the kids. Then she decided against it. Both of them had been on a real broom two days ago. There was no question that her daughter knew how to fly one safely. She would just have to teach Harry basic broom safety. She didn't want him just picking it up off the streets! Who knew what misinformation he would learn.
After the shopping trip, she spent some time at the Unspeakable's potion lab. She brewed up some basic healing potion, and some bruise salve, signing off the ingredients for her personal use.
Algie Croaker walked through the lab, and noticed what she was doing. "That's quite a batch of salve. Problem?"
She shook her head. "Kids! You won't believe what my daughter got up to yesterday!"
"Try me. She can't be any worse than my great-grand nephew. He cultivated a Venus Man Trap in his window box for most of last summer before we caught it. He kept snipping off the jaw-leaves before they could grow." They both laughed at that.
Selene thought for a moment then said, "Yesterday she decided to go get a husband. Took the broom out and well, sometimes I just don't think /my /husband understands what child rearing is all about, as he didn't notice a thing going on."
"But she's alright?" Selene nodded. Croaker laughed. "Good thing she didn't catch one. You might need that for him if he put up a fight. Let's see, you're in Ottery-St. Catchpole, right? Hmmm, Cedric Diggory is probably too old for her. There's the youngest Weasley boy. He's only, what, a year or two older?"
"No, she wasn't going after either of them."
"How about, Neville?" Croaker joked.
"No, it seems Luna has her own ideas. As long as they don't get her killed. . . . How is Neville, by the way? No lasting, uh, effects?" She was one of the few people who knew about his potentially life-threatening way he proved that Neville wasn't a squib.
"Uh, no. No lasting effects. We're all just glad that Alice and Franks' only child isn't a squib. That would have probably killed Augusta."
"Hmmm, Algie. Would you mind if I came over to see you and your wife after work? I'd like to bring Luna and her cousin, because I'd really like to talk to Rosamond about him."
"Luna has a cousin? You've never said anything about him before. I didn't think you or Larry had any siblings."
"Well, it's just short hand. I'm not entirely sure of his relationship with Larry. He's just here from Australia. And he's an orphan. I'd like to have Rosamond check him out, medically, if that's alright."
"You don't want to go to your regular healer?"
"I'll explain it all tonight, if you don't mind."
"Alright, Selene. This seems a little mysterious, but what the hell, eh? We're the Department of Mysteries, right?"
"Exactly. Thank you. I'll see you around seven?"
- - -
Harry and Luna were playing Aurors and Robbers in the back yard when Harry suddenly stopped.
"Stupify! I got you!" yelled Luna. She looked at him for a moment. "Hey, you're supposed to fall down."
Harry just stood there with his head tilted, seeming to listen. Then he squatted down, ignoring Luna. She came up to him, and looked over his shoulder. There was a green grass snake staring at him. She heard Harry hiss, and the snake seemed to nod its head in agreement.
"Whatcha doing, Harry?"
"I'm talking to this snake. She just ate a beetle and will go back to her den now."
"Do you often talk with snakes?"
"This is the first time. I heard her muttering to the beetle to stop wiggling so much while she ate it."
"Hello, Miss Snake," Luna said, amicably.
Harry hissed. He turned to Luna. "She can't understand you. And she can't understand me when I talk to you. But she understands me when I talk to her. I wonder why that is?"
"That's easy, silly. Magic!"
"Oh, that makes sense. Bye, bye, Miss Snake," and Harry repeated the good bye in parseltongue. He picked up the stick that he was using as a wand, and said, "Now it's your turn to be the Robber."
"I'm going to steal a dragon from Gringotts Bank."
"Do they keep dragons in banks?"
"Where else would you keep one? It would burn down your house if you kept it at home."
Harry nodded, covered his eyes, and started counting, while Luna ran away.
- - -
Selene stepped out of the fireplace carrying a suitcase.
"Going on a trip, dear?" her husband asked.
"I was thinking about leaving you, but then I thought it would be less trouble just to kick you out. Then I thought, since you're taking us on a vacation next week, I'll just get Harry some luggage. It's also filled with clothes for him."
"That's nice dear."
"Larry, we're going to have to set up a room for Harry to sleep in. He can't keep sleeping in Luna's room."
"Hmmm, if we expand the mud room, we can convert that to an office for me. Then I can move my stuff out of the upstairs room, and Harry could have that. I'll be able to work, and watch the kids in the back yard while I'm doing it, if we put the desk under the window."
Selene had to admit that it was a good plan. But they were going to be busy tonight, and they might not get to it tomorrow, and after that she couldn't see any time before they left on their trip.
"I was also thinking, why don't we keep Harry."
"I assumed he was staying. After all, he is Luna's husband."
Selene rolled her eyes. He was a sweet man, and quite capable in many ways, but he just hadn't been all there since that last spell that ended his career as an Auror. She just smiled indulgently, and said, "Dear,
he's not really Luna's husband. They're too young to get married. But I was thinking that if we change his name to Lovegood, and claim he's a distant relative of yours, we can avoid most questions."
"Whatever you say dear. They do get along quite well."
"Yes, I had noticed that too. And speak of the little monsters, where are they?"
"I haven't seen any little monsters. Are there some around? What kind? Should we lock up the kids? I sent them to wash up. I had just called them in."
"No, that's fine. I just want to talk to them about, uh, some things. Also, I'll be taking them to the Croaker's after dinner for a little visit."
"That's nice, dear. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get the article on illegal Centaur races done or the next issue will be too short."
Selene sat Harry and Luna down in the living room. "Did you decide on a name yet?"
"Well, Luna Lovegood sounds so good with the two elles, while Luna Potter doesn't have anything special about it. Harry Potter doesn't either, and Harry Lovegood isn't any better or worse. Now if we could change
the first name too, I could become Patti Potter, or Harry could become Lowel Lovegood, but you never said anything about changing the first names."
"I don't like Lowel," Harry put in his two knuts worth.
"I never said anything about changing first names because first names don't change. However, Harry, I would appreciate it if you would take the name Lovegood, at least for awhile. We'll know your real name,
and you'll know your real name, but I don't want anyone else to know it. Will you do that for me?"
"Alright. But if I want my own name back, I can have it?"
"Yes dear. Now let's eat. We're going to visit some friends of mine after dinner."
- - -
It was not a good evening for the Dursleys. Mrs. Dursley had done her best cleaning up the pieces of the broken door. The wood splinters had punctured the Hoover's bag and pumped dust into the house. She hadn't even gotten to cleaning that before Vernon came home, and she had to endure his yelling at her about the freaks.
He was still ranting when the door bell ran. He opened it with "What the hell do you want, you expletive ," before he realized it was group of policemen. When they asked about his wife's nephew he ranted more about the worthless boy who ran away, and if they find him they could keep him. He'd had enough, and why weren't the police arresting the freaks who had come to check on the boy that afternoon, and vandalized his house. The two uniformed men and two plain clothed detectives came in and looked at the damage. The one in the bowler hat, who had a limp and a glass eye that didn't match his real eye, looked in the cupboard and asked about the mattress on the floor.
When Dursley said that that was where the boy slept when he was being punished the other detective seemed to become more interested. When they asked to see where the missing boy slept normally, they didn't get an answer, and one of the uniformed men went upstairs to check it out. The Dursleys couldn't provide a picture of the missing boy. Nor could they produce any of his clothes, toys, or other possessions. The uniformed cop reported that there was no indication that anyone except the adults and Dudley slept upstairs, at which Dudley entered the conversation by saying that his freak cousin always slept under the stairs, and it was fun to stomp on the stairs when he was locked in. When asked if he did it often, he said not only him, but his dad did it. Vernon was getting very red, and ordered Dudley to his room while the police were there. It was at that point when the normal looking detective decided to take the whole family to the station and interrogate them separately. He was convinced that there was something very wrong here. There were so many terrible things that could be done to a child, and nothing he had seen or heard made him think that they hadn't been done to the missing Harry Potter.
- - -
"This is called Floo travel, Harry. You throw in a pinch of floo-powder, step into the green fire, and call out you destination. We're going to a place called The Swamp. Luna, are you ready? Can you show Harry how it's done? Thank you dear. See, Harry, when the fire turns green, it doesn't hurt to be in it. See how she keeps her arms at her sides. It may help to keep your eyes shut, too. I know I like it better when my eyes are shut. It can be a pretty dizzying experience. Just remember to say the name clearly. Ready, here you go. I'll throw the powder in. And now in you go! Keep those arms down.
"What a way to travel! You'd think they'd come up with a way to let a family go together. Oh well, THE SWAMP!"
- - -
When she arrived at the Croaker house, she saw Harry and Luna staggering around like drunks, falling down, laughing, and getting up to do it again.
"Alright, that's enough you two. It doesn't make you that dizzy. Hello Algie, Rosamond. How are you?"
"We're just fine, Selene. My, how Luna's grown. But I don't know this other boy."
"This is my husband, Harry Lovegood," Luna answered, taking Harry's hand.
Rosamond's eyes widened, and Algie's mouth opened.
"I told you she had her own ideas. Luna, can you wait here while Mrs. Croaker, Harry, and I talk privately. Mrs. Croaker's a healer, and I'd like her to check Harry's health. Come on, Harry."
The two women and Harry left. Algie sat down, and asked Luna to sit down, too. "So, Luna. How long have you known Harry?"
"All my life. Mummy's been telling me about how he saved everyone, but now I'm not sure. Harry doesn't remember saving everyone, but he is smart, so that part of the story is right."
"What do you mean, he saved everyone?"
"He defeated the Dark Lord and saved everyone. I thought everyone knew the story. Mummy said that there were parties and everyone was happy, except for Harry, because his mummy and daddy were killed."
"I see. Yes, he wouldn't be very happy when that happened. And when did you get married?"
"We didn't get married."
"But you said he was your husband."
"That's right."
"But you have to get married to have him become your husband."
"Oh, bugger! Then I guess we'll get married when he comes back with Mummy."
"It usually takes longer to have a wedding than that."
"A wedding?"
"That's where you have a special party to get married."
"Did you have a wedding?"
"Oh yes. About seventy years ago. Mrs. Croaker and I got married."
"Can you tell me about it?"
- - -
Harry held Aunt Selene's hand as they followed the other woman. Aunt Selene wasn't at all like Aunt Marge. She was pretty, for one thing. And she had a nice house, and she smiled, and said happy things and made him feel good. Aunt Marge did none of those things. He was a little nervous around this other lady, so he held Aunt Selene's hand tighter. She looked at him, and could see him tense up.
"Don't worry, Harry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Mrs. Croaker's a healer. I'd like her to look at your back and legs and make sure you're healthy."
"I don't want her to see my back."
"Why not?"
"Because I was bad."
She stopped, and picked him up, and held him for a moment, whispering soothing words. Rosamond waited patiently. When she saw Harry relaxing in Selene's arms, she led them to a bedroom. She asked Harry to stand still and brought out a wand. He cringed when she approached him, so she made colored bubbles appear from its end. Then she made sparks appear, then different color lights. Then she cast a diagnostic charm, and moved it all around him. This wasn't as interesting as the other things she did with the wand.
Selene asked Harry to take off his shirt, but Rosamond told her it wasn't necessary. They then walked Harry back to the living room. Selene gave them a book she had brought along for this situation, and stepped into the dining room with the Croakers to discuss the situation.
"So, your seven year old daughter kidnapped Harry Potter to have her way with him," Algie joked.
"Oh, quiet you. More like rescued, if what I diagnosed was any indication," said his wife.
"That's my feeling, too. The home life he told me about! Those people ought to be locked up! I can't let him go back there."
"But you can't keep Harry Potter, even if you change his name. Everyone knows about his green eyes and the scar. You just won't be able to get away with it."
"I was thinking about that. We can use some Eye-Die (TM) to change his eyes' color. I was thinking we can check with an opti-mage while we're on vacation and see about corrective eye magic, too. That would help with people who know Harry Potter wore glasses. Can you do anything about the scar, Rosamond?"
"Sorry, no."
"I may be able to get you in contact with someone who can help. I know one of the cosmetic mages of the Federal Bureau of Inquisition in the New World. That's where you'll be on vacation, right? He may be able to do something."
"Oh thank you. . . ."
"Don't thank me yet. He's a by the book kind of guy. He won't help unless you have legal rights to Harry."
Selene went from happy to sad in less than a second.
"You better have some plan about that, after raising her hopes like that!" his wife threatened.
"We could avoid the Ministry if we went through the Muggle system. We'd need to talk to the boy's guardians."
Rosamond and Selene brought Algie up to speed on what they knew and suspected about those guardians.
"Well, we'll still probably have to get them to sign some papers. Do you know where they live?"
"No. And when I tried to find out, I found that that Harry's information is only available to the head of the Wizengamot and the Minister of Magic. I did find out that Lucius Malfoy, Brandon Nott, and Walden MacNair have tried to gain access to it, too. I'm heartened that they failed, but worried that they tried. How can we find them if we can't get into the file? And I certainly want to involve as few people as possible -- especially people in the ministry."
"There's another avenue of research, if you're willing to use it." She looked like she would reserve judgment until she heard it, so he continued. "The Goblins. They probably hold his parents' will. They would know the address of his guardian."
"But would they give that information out? I would think if it were that easy, the Death Eaters would have already found him."
"Bring Harry with you when you ask. . . ."
- - -
Harry and Luna read for a few minutes, and then started looking around the strange room. There was a definite eagle motif to the room. They could see the adults in the other room, but couldn't hear anything. Luna said they used a silencing charm on the doorway so sound could get through.
"So we could make as much noise as we wanted and they won't know?" Harry asked. Luna giggled, and then became serious.
"Harry, I found out something from Mr. Croaker. You're not my husband."
"I'm not?"
"No. We have to be married and then you become my husband."
"How do we get married?"
"He said it takes a lot of time and work, and you get all your friends and family together, then the man and woman take a vow and then they're husband and wife. And afterward they often have a party. But it sounds like the vow is important."
"So how do you vow? Uncle Vernon used to vow all the time, mostly about punishing me. And he made those vows come true. What do we vow?"
"We vow to love, honor, and obey each other for our whole lives."
"OK, I vow that."
"No, silly. That's not how you vow. Hold hands and say it like this: I, Luna Sulva Lovegood vow to love, honor, and obey you for the rest of my life. Now you say it."
"I, Harry James Potter. . ."
"Lovegood."
"Lovegood, vow to love, honor, and obey you for the rest of my life."
They felt dizzy, but neither of them noticed the slight blue glow that surrounded them. It was probably too late, but the adults in the other room didn't notice it either.
- - -
In the bottom draw of the Headmaster's desk, an old, magical artifact puffed out red smoke. This wasn't the red smoke that Dumbledore had seen before. That was rather rust colored. This was a bright red. If anyone had seen it, they would have been reminded of Valentine's Day. However, no one saw it.
- - - - - -
manaphobia - Wizarding term for "fear of magic."
AN - Bollywoggles and their hair snarling attributes were first reported in the stories of michelle-31a Read her stories -- they're good.
The Federal Bureau of Inquisition came from another story that I didn't note; However, that author claimed it had come from another story, which I know I never read. To the originator, whoever you are, thank you.
Thanks to Hermione Green for being my beta reader.
Not mine. But if you think it is...Naw, never mind. Just don't sue.
AN: This is where I take off from Rorschacks Blot's initial chapter. Blame the rest on me.
Chapter 2 The Wedding
Harry could hardly believe the amount of food that he was given to eat. And no body was yelling at him, or insulting him, or forcing him to set the table, or clean the dishes, and sweep the floor, and all those other jobs he had to do every night after the Dursleys ate.
Of course, he did some of them, but then the most amazing thing happened -- his new friend's mother said, "Thank you." And she smiled at him! He could barely believe it! The teachers at school used to smile at him, but now they only seemed sad when they watched him.
Now he was sitting on the couch with his new friend, and they were reading together. It was a book unlike any he had ever seen. The pictures moved! They sat next to each other and Luna kept smiling at him, and he found himself smiling back.
- - -
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster, etc, frowned when he got back to his office after a long, boring day at the Ministry. One of the little metallic devices that was always spinning on a shelf had stopped spinning. Harry Potter was no longer where he was supposed to be. He waved his wand at it, and found that Harry had been missing since the morning.
This was highly unusual. He could count on the thumbs on one hand the number of times Harry had been away from his home this summer. If he were with the Dursleys, but not at home, then the device would spin a different way. So something strange was going on. He'd have to investigate.
- - -
The next day Selene Lovegood left her job in the Department of Mysteries and spent her lunch hour in the Department of Records. She learned several things, just not what she wanted to know. She found out that Harry Potter's records were sealed. Not only were they sealed, but only the Minister of Magic and the head of the Wizengamot could get access. She also found out that a number of people who had been accused of being Death Eaters had also tried to gain access to the file over the years. She did not learn where Harry lived before her
daughter rescued him.
Rescued.
She had come to that conclusion. He had gotten up early and started making breakfast, but was unfamiliar with the layout of the kitchen, so had not progressed very far before Selene had interrupted him. He was extremely frightened when she found him. She found that he expected to be punished for not having the breakfast ready. It took some time to convince him that she wouldn't punish him.
Harry had been given one of her husband Larry's T-shirts to wear as a night shirt. He was a small boy, as small as Luna, even though he was about a year older. He could be called wiry/, but she thought he was just /thin. But it was the lines of scars across his legs that drew her attention right away. She examined them -- none were very recent, but there were some black and blew marks on his upper thighs. She gently lifted the night shirt, and tried to sooth the boy who was tensing up. He was expecting a beating. There were more strap scars on his back.
She quickly checked his buttocks under the underwear, and saw they were black and blue. She put his clothes back in order, and gave him a hug, telling him that she would never hit him. He held himself stiffly in the hug, like he didn't know what was going on.
She made him breakfast, and talked to him while they ate. She found out about his home life. Even accepting that he was exaggerating, she realized that he was being abused. The scars on the backs of his legs and the
bruises were not exaggerations.
- - -
Dumbledore was getting very worried. All he could get out of the Dursleys was that Harry had run away, and what an awful, ungrateful, lazy child he was. It was hard to get even that out of them, their manaphobia made them extremely difficult to work with. He had tried to enlist the aid of a few teachers to search the area, but had run into problems. Severus couldn't stop insulting the child he had never met, and Minerva couldn't stop telling him what a mistake it was to leave Harry with the Dursleys. But Dumbledore had been in the house - it was picture perfect. The Dursleys, despite their problem with magic, loved their child. Surely, such a meticulously clean environment and loving family couldn't be bad!
It was now going on 24 hours and he still had no idea where to look for the boy. He was going to have to do something that might break the Secrecy Act. He was going to send Harry an owl. Well, he hadn't quite reached that point, but if something else didn't come to mind, he would.
- - -
Selene headed off to work after a serious talk with her husband. The broom was going to be locked up. The children were going to be supervised. The invisibility cloak was put on the shelf at the top of the closet, out of reach of little hands. She made sure the Firewhiskey was locked up, and she changed the runes on the lock just to make sure. He'd never guess The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy snorkack. She spoke with the children - no leaving the property. No farther than the hedge at the front of the house, nor beyond the stream that flowed through the back yard. She informed her husband of the first rule of parenting - if they're quiet, they're getting into trouble. Really, you'd think he was never a kid. Or maybe he just never grew up.
She went to work then, still unsure what to do about the new addition to their household. No matter what Luna thought, they could not get married. She would have to sit them down tonight and explain things. Theoretically, Larry could sit them down and explain it, but the chances of that actually happening were as small as getting rid of the bollywoggle infestation in the house. She automatically untangled a knot from her hair at the thought.
- - -
Minerva McGonagall had never been so angry in her life. In some small corner of her soul she was secretly satisfied that she was right. But that satisfaction was totally overwhelmed by the fact that the headmaster's mistake had hurt a child. She walked to Hagrid's hut and invited him with her. She was candid with the large man - they were going to investigate Harry Potter's home life. They walked into the woods near his hut far enough to get beyond the wards, and Apparated to Privet Drive. Walking up to number four she thought she could feel the absence of the boy who was supposed to be there. They knocked on the door, and it was answered by the woman that Minerva had spied upon six years ago. The woman took one look at Hagrid and let out a shriek, and tried to slam the door. Hagrid put out a hand and stopped its motion. With no effort he pushed the door open.
"Mrs. Dursley. I am Professor McGonagall. I am investigating the disappearance of Harry Potter. You will let us in, or the Aurors will arrest you and we will come in anyway."
Petunia Dursley may not have liked having a sister in the Magical world, but she learned as much as she could about it. Perhaps it was jealousy; or perhaps it was a Slytherin attitude towards knowing your enemy. But she knew what Aurors were, and she didn't want them arresting any of her family. She knew the Wizarding World's attitude towards Muggles.
Despite her protests that she didn't know anything, Professor McGonagall learned a number of unpleasant facts. Harry was wearing his cousin's old clothes since he had none of his own. She couldn't get a good description of him, except that he wasn't as "big boned", and "well filled out" as Dudley. There were no pictures of him, and Mrs. Dursley wasn't sure what he had been wearing. She didn't know when he disappeared. It was a nice day, so after breakfast his job was to weed the lawn and garden. He didn't come in for lunch because Mrs. Dursley liked not having him in the house, and she might have "forgotten" to feed it to him. If it bothered him he could speak up and complain, couldn't he? They didn't discover that he was gone until dinner when he should have been doing the dishes, even if he didn't want to eat.
It was only after Minerva told Hagrid to find Harry's room that Petunia showed them the cupboard under the stairs where he lived. Hagrid ripped the door off its hinges and crumbled it to kindling when he realized that there was no latch on the inside - the person in there was locked in every time the door was closed.
They found out that Harry had no friends. They found out that Dudley's friends made sure of that. No one had checked up on Harry since his first teacher had tried, and Vernon got her fired for harassing the family. Minerva and Hagrid searched the park and the school, but found nothing. They Apparated back to Hogwarts for a late lunch, though neither had much appetite.
- - -
Harry and Luna had another fun day. They noticed Luna's Dad around a lot more than he had been the day before. They played house, and Harry cleaned. They played outside, and Harry pulled weeds. They ate lunch, and Harry ate a lot. They read together again, and Luna liked the way he read. He was still fascinated by the moving picture books, but Luna insisted that she had outgrown those years ago, and now that she was a big girl, she read big books.
They read Encyclopedia Brown, even though the book wasn't big, it did have more words (and the pictures didn't move). Luna, who had read it before, let Harry solve the mysteries. He explained some things that had confused her, like bicycles and televisions. Luna was impressed. Her mother was right, Harry was smart. Luna, in turn, explained wands and magic. She was sure he was magic, because he had defeated the Dark Lord and saved everyone. Harry didn't believe it. How could he have done something like that without knowing it? And he had no wand, so how could he be magic. Luna wasn't sure, so they went outside and ran around. Harry had fun.
- - -
Dumbledore couldn't fit what he had heard from his deputy Headmistress with what he had seen. There was no way that the Dursleys could have done to Harry what she said they did. Once he came to that conclusion, there was nothing more to be said. Obviously, Minerva had misunderstood. Which still left him with the question, how to find Harry.
He looked suspiciously at a device he really didn't put much faith in. It was an antique diagnostic artifact, given to him nearly seventy years ago. It took so long to attune to a patient that it really had no practical application in the medical field. It was just sitting there six years ago, and he was bored, so he took an afternoon and attuned it to Harry. It usually just slowly puffed grey smoke. Sometimes it puffed black, and a few times it puffed red. The directions had been lost decades ago. But now it puffed white smoke. And sometimes it puffed it very fast. Now he wished he had the instructions. He couldn't remember if it could tell where someone was. But it was producing a lot more smoke than it used it. He took it off the shelf, and stuck it in a lower draw of his desk. He would have to make a concerted search for the instructions. But in the meantime, he found something in the draw that he hadn't thought about in years. Yes, this was a project that he had put away when he kept running into theoretical brick walls. Now that he had it, he'd have to schedule some time to do more research. He put the rubber chicken on the top of a pile of papers on his desk, and remembered that he had to find Harry Potter.
What to do? What to do? He hadn't been this confused since Throckmorton Gildersleve had bred those clothes eating pixies in '41. That had been a dinner in the Great Hall to remember! He shook his head. He had to concentrate on the current problem. If this continued much longer, he'd have to inform the Ministry, and that could be disastrous. But he guessed that they would find the boy.
Wait a minute -- they would use Aurors. That was it. He had a friend who was a retired Auror! He got on his knees -- he was getting to old for this sort of thing -- threw some floo powder into the fire, and called, "Alastor Moody!"
- - -
Larry Lovegood watched the children running through the backyard. He wondered about his daughter's husband. Despite having been married for almost ten years, he still mostly had a bachelor's view of cleaning. Harry, though, always cleaned up after himself. After lunch he had started washing the dishes by hand. Usually, Larry just left them for his wife to cast some cleaning charms on them. Luna had joined her husband, and they seemed to have fun doing it. Larry scratched his head over that one.
When they finished a game Harry would put all the toys away. When they finished reading -- well that wasn't quite unusual, as his wife and Luna also always put books away. He tried several times to figure out what rune-key his wife had set for the liquor cabinet, but gave up. Dang it! An editor was supposed to be hard drinking and hard smoking! She wouldn't allow him to smoke, either. That part was alright. He never liked it the few times he had tried. At least now he had an excuse for not smoking. The kids were making noise, so he went back to his office and worked on his editing job.
- - -
Selene took a long lunch to go shopping. For some reason many witches and wizards didn't seem to have an ounce (milliliter, she reminded herself) of common sense. Her husband, for example, no matter how much she coached him, he just couldn't go among the Muggles without sticking out like a sore thumb. It seemed he gravitated towards plaids and stripes like a Nargle to mistletoe. She herself fit in just fine, and had no problem moving among them. She was dressed in a simple orange and blue striped skirt, with a bright green top.
She bought Harry -- well, everything. He had come with one set of clothes, and those didn't fit him. She bought him a trunk to use and had the shopkeeper help her load all the clothes into it. They were going on a vacation in a week, and he would need it.
They didn't have a lot of money, but she contemplated getting a training broom for the kids. Then she decided against it. Both of them had been on a real broom two days ago. There was no question that her daughter knew how to fly one safely. She would just have to teach Harry basic broom safety. She didn't want him just picking it up off the streets! Who knew what misinformation he would learn.
After the shopping trip, she spent some time at the Unspeakable's potion lab. She brewed up some basic healing potion, and some bruise salve, signing off the ingredients for her personal use.
Algie Croaker walked through the lab, and noticed what she was doing. "That's quite a batch of salve. Problem?"
She shook her head. "Kids! You won't believe what my daughter got up to yesterday!"
"Try me. She can't be any worse than my great-grand nephew. He cultivated a Venus Man Trap in his window box for most of last summer before we caught it. He kept snipping off the jaw-leaves before they could grow." They both laughed at that.
Selene thought for a moment then said, "Yesterday she decided to go get a husband. Took the broom out and well, sometimes I just don't think /my /husband understands what child rearing is all about, as he didn't notice a thing going on."
"But she's alright?" Selene nodded. Croaker laughed. "Good thing she didn't catch one. You might need that for him if he put up a fight. Let's see, you're in Ottery-St. Catchpole, right? Hmmm, Cedric Diggory is probably too old for her. There's the youngest Weasley boy. He's only, what, a year or two older?"
"No, she wasn't going after either of them."
"How about, Neville?" Croaker joked.
"No, it seems Luna has her own ideas. As long as they don't get her killed. . . . How is Neville, by the way? No lasting, uh, effects?" She was one of the few people who knew about his potentially life-threatening way he proved that Neville wasn't a squib.
"Uh, no. No lasting effects. We're all just glad that Alice and Franks' only child isn't a squib. That would have probably killed Augusta."
"Hmmm, Algie. Would you mind if I came over to see you and your wife after work? I'd like to bring Luna and her cousin, because I'd really like to talk to Rosamond about him."
"Luna has a cousin? You've never said anything about him before. I didn't think you or Larry had any siblings."
"Well, it's just short hand. I'm not entirely sure of his relationship with Larry. He's just here from Australia. And he's an orphan. I'd like to have Rosamond check him out, medically, if that's alright."
"You don't want to go to your regular healer?"
"I'll explain it all tonight, if you don't mind."
"Alright, Selene. This seems a little mysterious, but what the hell, eh? We're the Department of Mysteries, right?"
"Exactly. Thank you. I'll see you around seven?"
- - -
Harry and Luna were playing Aurors and Robbers in the back yard when Harry suddenly stopped.
"Stupify! I got you!" yelled Luna. She looked at him for a moment. "Hey, you're supposed to fall down."
Harry just stood there with his head tilted, seeming to listen. Then he squatted down, ignoring Luna. She came up to him, and looked over his shoulder. There was a green grass snake staring at him. She heard Harry hiss, and the snake seemed to nod its head in agreement.
"Whatcha doing, Harry?"
"I'm talking to this snake. She just ate a beetle and will go back to her den now."
"Do you often talk with snakes?"
"This is the first time. I heard her muttering to the beetle to stop wiggling so much while she ate it."
"Hello, Miss Snake," Luna said, amicably.
Harry hissed. He turned to Luna. "She can't understand you. And she can't understand me when I talk to you. But she understands me when I talk to her. I wonder why that is?"
"That's easy, silly. Magic!"
"Oh, that makes sense. Bye, bye, Miss Snake," and Harry repeated the good bye in parseltongue. He picked up the stick that he was using as a wand, and said, "Now it's your turn to be the Robber."
"I'm going to steal a dragon from Gringotts Bank."
"Do they keep dragons in banks?"
"Where else would you keep one? It would burn down your house if you kept it at home."
Harry nodded, covered his eyes, and started counting, while Luna ran away.
- - -
Selene stepped out of the fireplace carrying a suitcase.
"Going on a trip, dear?" her husband asked.
"I was thinking about leaving you, but then I thought it would be less trouble just to kick you out. Then I thought, since you're taking us on a vacation next week, I'll just get Harry some luggage. It's also filled with clothes for him."
"That's nice dear."
"Larry, we're going to have to set up a room for Harry to sleep in. He can't keep sleeping in Luna's room."
"Hmmm, if we expand the mud room, we can convert that to an office for me. Then I can move my stuff out of the upstairs room, and Harry could have that. I'll be able to work, and watch the kids in the back yard while I'm doing it, if we put the desk under the window."
Selene had to admit that it was a good plan. But they were going to be busy tonight, and they might not get to it tomorrow, and after that she couldn't see any time before they left on their trip.
"I was also thinking, why don't we keep Harry."
"I assumed he was staying. After all, he is Luna's husband."
Selene rolled her eyes. He was a sweet man, and quite capable in many ways, but he just hadn't been all there since that last spell that ended his career as an Auror. She just smiled indulgently, and said, "Dear,
he's not really Luna's husband. They're too young to get married. But I was thinking that if we change his name to Lovegood, and claim he's a distant relative of yours, we can avoid most questions."
"Whatever you say dear. They do get along quite well."
"Yes, I had noticed that too. And speak of the little monsters, where are they?"
"I haven't seen any little monsters. Are there some around? What kind? Should we lock up the kids? I sent them to wash up. I had just called them in."
"No, that's fine. I just want to talk to them about, uh, some things. Also, I'll be taking them to the Croaker's after dinner for a little visit."
"That's nice, dear. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get the article on illegal Centaur races done or the next issue will be too short."
Selene sat Harry and Luna down in the living room. "Did you decide on a name yet?"
"Well, Luna Lovegood sounds so good with the two elles, while Luna Potter doesn't have anything special about it. Harry Potter doesn't either, and Harry Lovegood isn't any better or worse. Now if we could change
the first name too, I could become Patti Potter, or Harry could become Lowel Lovegood, but you never said anything about changing the first names."
"I don't like Lowel," Harry put in his two knuts worth.
"I never said anything about changing first names because first names don't change. However, Harry, I would appreciate it if you would take the name Lovegood, at least for awhile. We'll know your real name,
and you'll know your real name, but I don't want anyone else to know it. Will you do that for me?"
"Alright. But if I want my own name back, I can have it?"
"Yes dear. Now let's eat. We're going to visit some friends of mine after dinner."
- - -
It was not a good evening for the Dursleys. Mrs. Dursley had done her best cleaning up the pieces of the broken door. The wood splinters had punctured the Hoover's bag and pumped dust into the house. She hadn't even gotten to cleaning that before Vernon came home, and she had to endure his yelling at her about the freaks.
He was still ranting when the door bell ran. He opened it with "What the hell do you want, you expletive ," before he realized it was group of policemen. When they asked about his wife's nephew he ranted more about the worthless boy who ran away, and if they find him they could keep him. He'd had enough, and why weren't the police arresting the freaks who had come to check on the boy that afternoon, and vandalized his house. The two uniformed men and two plain clothed detectives came in and looked at the damage. The one in the bowler hat, who had a limp and a glass eye that didn't match his real eye, looked in the cupboard and asked about the mattress on the floor.
When Dursley said that that was where the boy slept when he was being punished the other detective seemed to become more interested. When they asked to see where the missing boy slept normally, they didn't get an answer, and one of the uniformed men went upstairs to check it out. The Dursleys couldn't provide a picture of the missing boy. Nor could they produce any of his clothes, toys, or other possessions. The uniformed cop reported that there was no indication that anyone except the adults and Dudley slept upstairs, at which Dudley entered the conversation by saying that his freak cousin always slept under the stairs, and it was fun to stomp on the stairs when he was locked in. When asked if he did it often, he said not only him, but his dad did it. Vernon was getting very red, and ordered Dudley to his room while the police were there. It was at that point when the normal looking detective decided to take the whole family to the station and interrogate them separately. He was convinced that there was something very wrong here. There were so many terrible things that could be done to a child, and nothing he had seen or heard made him think that they hadn't been done to the missing Harry Potter.
- - -
"This is called Floo travel, Harry. You throw in a pinch of floo-powder, step into the green fire, and call out you destination. We're going to a place called The Swamp. Luna, are you ready? Can you show Harry how it's done? Thank you dear. See, Harry, when the fire turns green, it doesn't hurt to be in it. See how she keeps her arms at her sides. It may help to keep your eyes shut, too. I know I like it better when my eyes are shut. It can be a pretty dizzying experience. Just remember to say the name clearly. Ready, here you go. I'll throw the powder in. And now in you go! Keep those arms down.
"What a way to travel! You'd think they'd come up with a way to let a family go together. Oh well, THE SWAMP!"
- - -
When she arrived at the Croaker house, she saw Harry and Luna staggering around like drunks, falling down, laughing, and getting up to do it again.
"Alright, that's enough you two. It doesn't make you that dizzy. Hello Algie, Rosamond. How are you?"
"We're just fine, Selene. My, how Luna's grown. But I don't know this other boy."
"This is my husband, Harry Lovegood," Luna answered, taking Harry's hand.
Rosamond's eyes widened, and Algie's mouth opened.
"I told you she had her own ideas. Luna, can you wait here while Mrs. Croaker, Harry, and I talk privately. Mrs. Croaker's a healer, and I'd like her to check Harry's health. Come on, Harry."
The two women and Harry left. Algie sat down, and asked Luna to sit down, too. "So, Luna. How long have you known Harry?"
"All my life. Mummy's been telling me about how he saved everyone, but now I'm not sure. Harry doesn't remember saving everyone, but he is smart, so that part of the story is right."
"What do you mean, he saved everyone?"
"He defeated the Dark Lord and saved everyone. I thought everyone knew the story. Mummy said that there were parties and everyone was happy, except for Harry, because his mummy and daddy were killed."
"I see. Yes, he wouldn't be very happy when that happened. And when did you get married?"
"We didn't get married."
"But you said he was your husband."
"That's right."
"But you have to get married to have him become your husband."
"Oh, bugger! Then I guess we'll get married when he comes back with Mummy."
"It usually takes longer to have a wedding than that."
"A wedding?"
"That's where you have a special party to get married."
"Did you have a wedding?"
"Oh yes. About seventy years ago. Mrs. Croaker and I got married."
"Can you tell me about it?"
- - -
Harry held Aunt Selene's hand as they followed the other woman. Aunt Selene wasn't at all like Aunt Marge. She was pretty, for one thing. And she had a nice house, and she smiled, and said happy things and made him feel good. Aunt Marge did none of those things. He was a little nervous around this other lady, so he held Aunt Selene's hand tighter. She looked at him, and could see him tense up.
"Don't worry, Harry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Mrs. Croaker's a healer. I'd like her to look at your back and legs and make sure you're healthy."
"I don't want her to see my back."
"Why not?"
"Because I was bad."
She stopped, and picked him up, and held him for a moment, whispering soothing words. Rosamond waited patiently. When she saw Harry relaxing in Selene's arms, she led them to a bedroom. She asked Harry to stand still and brought out a wand. He cringed when she approached him, so she made colored bubbles appear from its end. Then she made sparks appear, then different color lights. Then she cast a diagnostic charm, and moved it all around him. This wasn't as interesting as the other things she did with the wand.
Selene asked Harry to take off his shirt, but Rosamond told her it wasn't necessary. They then walked Harry back to the living room. Selene gave them a book she had brought along for this situation, and stepped into the dining room with the Croakers to discuss the situation.
"So, your seven year old daughter kidnapped Harry Potter to have her way with him," Algie joked.
"Oh, quiet you. More like rescued, if what I diagnosed was any indication," said his wife.
"That's my feeling, too. The home life he told me about! Those people ought to be locked up! I can't let him go back there."
"But you can't keep Harry Potter, even if you change his name. Everyone knows about his green eyes and the scar. You just won't be able to get away with it."
"I was thinking about that. We can use some Eye-Die (TM) to change his eyes' color. I was thinking we can check with an opti-mage while we're on vacation and see about corrective eye magic, too. That would help with people who know Harry Potter wore glasses. Can you do anything about the scar, Rosamond?"
"Sorry, no."
"I may be able to get you in contact with someone who can help. I know one of the cosmetic mages of the Federal Bureau of Inquisition in the New World. That's where you'll be on vacation, right? He may be able to do something."
"Oh thank you. . . ."
"Don't thank me yet. He's a by the book kind of guy. He won't help unless you have legal rights to Harry."
Selene went from happy to sad in less than a second.
"You better have some plan about that, after raising her hopes like that!" his wife threatened.
"We could avoid the Ministry if we went through the Muggle system. We'd need to talk to the boy's guardians."
Rosamond and Selene brought Algie up to speed on what they knew and suspected about those guardians.
"Well, we'll still probably have to get them to sign some papers. Do you know where they live?"
"No. And when I tried to find out, I found that that Harry's information is only available to the head of the Wizengamot and the Minister of Magic. I did find out that Lucius Malfoy, Brandon Nott, and Walden MacNair have tried to gain access to it, too. I'm heartened that they failed, but worried that they tried. How can we find them if we can't get into the file? And I certainly want to involve as few people as possible -- especially people in the ministry."
"There's another avenue of research, if you're willing to use it." She looked like she would reserve judgment until she heard it, so he continued. "The Goblins. They probably hold his parents' will. They would know the address of his guardian."
"But would they give that information out? I would think if it were that easy, the Death Eaters would have already found him."
"Bring Harry with you when you ask. . . ."
- - -
Harry and Luna read for a few minutes, and then started looking around the strange room. There was a definite eagle motif to the room. They could see the adults in the other room, but couldn't hear anything. Luna said they used a silencing charm on the doorway so sound could get through.
"So we could make as much noise as we wanted and they won't know?" Harry asked. Luna giggled, and then became serious.
"Harry, I found out something from Mr. Croaker. You're not my husband."
"I'm not?"
"No. We have to be married and then you become my husband."
"How do we get married?"
"He said it takes a lot of time and work, and you get all your friends and family together, then the man and woman take a vow and then they're husband and wife. And afterward they often have a party. But it sounds like the vow is important."
"So how do you vow? Uncle Vernon used to vow all the time, mostly about punishing me. And he made those vows come true. What do we vow?"
"We vow to love, honor, and obey each other for our whole lives."
"OK, I vow that."
"No, silly. That's not how you vow. Hold hands and say it like this: I, Luna Sulva Lovegood vow to love, honor, and obey you for the rest of my life. Now you say it."
"I, Harry James Potter. . ."
"Lovegood."
"Lovegood, vow to love, honor, and obey you for the rest of my life."
They felt dizzy, but neither of them noticed the slight blue glow that surrounded them. It was probably too late, but the adults in the other room didn't notice it either.
- - -
In the bottom draw of the Headmaster's desk, an old, magical artifact puffed out red smoke. This wasn't the red smoke that Dumbledore had seen before. That was rather rust colored. This was a bright red. If anyone had seen it, they would have been reminded of Valentine's Day. However, no one saw it.
- - - - - -
manaphobia - Wizarding term for "fear of magic."
AN - Bollywoggles and their hair snarling attributes were first reported in the stories of michelle-31a Read her stories -- they're good.
The Federal Bureau of Inquisition came from another story that I didn't note; However, that author claimed it had come from another story, which I know I never read. To the originator, whoever you are, thank you.
Thanks to Hermione Green for being my beta reader.
Sign up to rate and review this story