Out in the Countryside

Harry woke up to a dark house. He panicked for a moment, worried that everything had just been a dream. As his vision adjusted, he remembered he was still in Sirius's flat.

It's alright. Still in Sirius's flat, just like the last few nights.

"I still don't see why you couldn't have taken him."

Harry sat up when he heard voices in the other room.

"No one wants to be raised by a werewolf, Sirius."

He checked the clock, straining to see it in the dark. It was nearly midnight.

"Twelve years, Moony! He was with those people for 12 years!"

Harry strained to listen to the voices. He was sure they were in the kitchen, and it sounded like Sirius and Professor Lupin were talking. What was Professor Lupin doing there, especially as late as it was?

"Keep your voices down," a new voice said. "Lord Scarface will hear you."

"Why does she have you call them 'Lord' and 'Lady'?" Professor Lupin asked.

"It is not my place to question My Lady's orders."

Harry crept over to his door, and cracked it open just enough to see what was going on. Beyond the open living room, lay the kitchen, where Professor Lupin, Sirius, and Alavel sat around the table.

"Did you know how they were treating him?" Sirius asked Professor Lupin. "Like he didn't exist. I bet my family treated Kreacher better than those people treated him, and Kreacher was punished with the Cruciatus Curse!"

"If you call them 'Those people', it makes you just as bad," Alavel said.

Alavel standing up for the Dursleys, Harry thought. Sounds about right.

"Alavel's right," Professor Lupin said. "As horrible as they are, they're still his family."

"Why? Because they share blood with Lily?! So what?! We're his family too!"

"You're his family, Sirius," Professor Lupin said. "Lily and James were my friends too, but–"

"But what? You'd rather he stayed with them than with you?"

"Yes! He'd have to go to bed scared every night during the full moon!"

Alavel glanced over at Harry, who jumped back in surprise. Alavel had looked right at Harry, as if he'd known Harry was awake.

How good's Alavel's hearing?

"So take your potion. You're harmless while you've got it. It's no reason to ignore your responsibilities to Harry!"

Harry found his pack in the dark and pulled his invisibility cloak over him. After he was sure he wouldn't be seen, he returned to the door.

"You're not one to talk about ignoring responsibility."

"Wormtail tricked us and got me locked up! I've hardly been ignoring responsibility! You're the one who quit the job you've always wanted for no reason."

Harry's heart skipped a beat when he heard those words. Professor Lupin quit? He was Harry's favorite professor, not to mention the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor they'd had since Harry'd been at Hogwarts. Why would he quit?

"Sirius, you know the reason."

"No, I don't know the reason, Moony."

Lupin rolled his eyes, looking agitated for the first time Harry could remember. "Please stop calling me that."

"Why? It doesn't matter anymore. The girl said–"

"The girl being My Lady Rose," Alavel said, glowering as if to tell something to the others.

"And I trust her, but this necklace she made me doesn't cut it for people. I'm still a werewolf, and if people ever found out that I was teaching, Professor Dumbledore would go down in flames. I'm not going to do that to him."

"What are they gonna do? Analyze your blood or something?" Sirius laughed at the idea. "You won't change anymore, remember? You proved it last week! If anyone says you're a werewolf, you can prove you're not."

"But I am! Tons of people have given me miracle cures, and some of them even stop me changing for one night, but none of them are permanent, and none of them change what I am."

"My Lady Rose made the New Moon Amulet herself." Alavel's deep voice echoed through the empty flat. "It will never fade or stop working. Doubting her is pointless."

"I don't doubt that she thinks it will work, but this isn't the first time someone's done something like this. I've learned not to get my hopes up."

Harry crept out of his room towards the kitchen. He wanted a better view of what was going on. When did Rose make Professor Lupin a necklace? Was it like Sally-Anne's necklace that Rose made?

"If you need more proof, wait until the next full moon," Alavel said confidently. "After that, any concerns you have will be dashed."

"See?" Sirius asked. "Nothing to worry about. Pomfrey herself said Sally-Anne would've died if not for–"

"Gentlemen."

"What?" Sirius asked, turning to Alavel.

Alavel nodded towards the entrance to the kitchen where Harry stood. Sirius followed his gaze, frowned, then looked back to Alavel.

"What?" he repeated.

"Lord Scarface, while we may not be able to see you under that, as My Lady Rose has pointed out, we can still hear you."

Harry didn't move. He took small breaths, making as little sound as possible.

Professor Lupin raised his wand and a burst of flour sprang out, covering Harry in white powder, rendering his cloak useless.

Harry pulled the cloak off and bunched it up in his hands. He looked down at the flour in disgust.

"Harry, I'm sorry," Sirius said. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"Hello, Harry," Professor Lupin said.

"Hello, Professor Lupin."

"I'm not a professor anymore, Harry," Professor Lupin said. "You can just call me Remus."

"Or Moony," Sirius muttered, looking away from Remus.

"Don't start," Remus said.

"I don't like it when Rose calls me Scarface either," Harry said. "Alavel said I had to earn a different nickname if I want one."

"Have you got something against flour?" Sirius asked, seeing the look of disgust on Harry's face.

"One of Rose's training exercises involved covering the room in flour," Harry said, glowering at the flour until Remus banished it. "When I still didn't get the point, she blew it up. Apparently, flour explodes."

Remus's eyes darted to the ceiling and his brow bunched up. His odd expression drew the attention of Sirius and Alavel, and after a moment during which he tried to recall something, his eyes returned to Harry. "How did I never notice that?"

"Rose always fixed us up before letting us go so no one noticed."

"How'd you sleep?" Sirius asked.

"Well…"

"Apart from us waking you."

"Fine," Harry said.

He caught Alavel eyeing him, not quite glaring, but not just staring. Harry had worked out that it was Alavel's way of telling Harry to tell the truth.

"Alavel's giving you that look," Sirius said, picking up on it too. "Mind telling me what's bothering you?"

"It's fine," Harry said. "Just… nothing."

"Do I need to get Sally-Anne in here to slap you again?" Sirius asked. "Cos I will. Don't think I won't."

Harry laughed, and Remus smiled.

"I had this weird dream," Harry said. "That's what woke me up, actually. I think Voldemort was there, and this man I didn't recognize. They were talking about some plan. I couldn't make out most of it."

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks.

The dream worried Harry, as did the look Sirius was giving him.

"Let me or Alavel know right away if this happens again," Sirius said. "Okay?"

"Sure," Harry said.

"I don't mean to frighten you, but it might be important," he continued. "It also might be nothing, but better safe than sorry."

Harry nodded.

"Professor… erm, Remus, did you mean what you said? You quit?"

Remus nodded, his face dark.

"I did."

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

"No it isn't," Harry said. "You were the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor we've had, even one of the best professors. How could you quit?"

"Yeah, Moony," Sirius said. "Why'd you quit?"

Alavel glared at Sirius, but Harry held fast. If he could convince Remus that quitting was a bad idea, maybe he'd come back.

"Harry, even with Rose's help, I'm still a werewolf, and Snape–"

"Professor Snape," Alavel corrected him.

"Really?" Sirius scoffed.

"He's right," Remus said. "Professor Snape knows, and he's never liked us. I don't think he'd risk Professor Dumbledore, even to get back at us, but it's still better to air on the side of safety."

"What happened to make him hate you so much?" Harry asked.

"It's a long story, and you need to get back to bed," Sirius said.

Harry looked to Alavel for help, but the construct shook his head.

Figures.

"Good night, Harry," Remus said. "It was good to see you again."

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Night," Sirius said as Harry returned to his room.

He tossed the cloak on a chair and climbed back into bed. He was having dreams about Voldemort, and Remus had quit. Worse, Sirius wouldn't tell him anything. Harry didn't know why, but he wished for a moment that he were back at the Dursleys. It had to be better with Sirius than with them. Until that night, Sirius had treated him like a normal person.

Why was Sirius now treating him differently? Had he done something, or would it always be this way?

"So I hear you've had an interesting time at Hogwarts," Charlie said as he made yet another attempt to fend off his brother's attack.

"That's one word for it," Ron said. "Check."

"Yet somehow, you've still had time to improve."

Charlie moved his last bishop to block Ron's castle.

"Let's see if I can remember this," Charlie said. "A troll broke in, you stopped You-Know-Who from rising to power, nearly died against a basilisk, then you and Ginevra killed that basilisk, then stopped some sort of earthquake."

"Not really," Ron said. "It wasn't an earthquake, and we didn't stop it. Scabbers was really Peter Pettigrew in disguise, and he set up exploding runes so he could distract everyone long enough to escape because he framed Sirius Black and didn't want to die. Rose said he needed something big to keep her occupied so he could escape with a time turner, but she stopped him before he could use it."

"Which one's Rose?"

"The one with the red hair, not like ours, but red red. The nutter."

Charlie looked down at the board and grimaced.

"And who's your chess partner?"

"Hermione."

"Right, your girlfriend."

Ron flushed and barked an order at his pieces, many of whom snickered.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ron snapped.

Ron glanced down and caught some of his pieces nodding at Charlie.

"Oi!"

"Of course she's not," Charlie said, traces of a grin appearing on his face. "You just had me ask Rupert for an advanced copy of Christine's next book for her. And the Twins said they've never seen you so upset…"

Ron knew his brother was teasing him, and it was beyond annoying.

"She's not–"

"I'm just saying, you seem awful fond of her," Charlie said. "Even Christine knew who she was, and that's saying something."

"So?" Ron said. "Checkmate."

"Women like her will get snatched up quickly," Charlie said, unphased by his defeat. "You'd best figure out how you feel, cos one day you're gonna look up and she'll be in the arms of someone else."

"How would you know?" Ron asked.

"You learn these things when you're a dreamy, hopeless romantic like myself," Charlie said in a voice that dripped of arrogance.

Ron began snap at Charlie, but he stopped when he remembered sitting with Hermione near the Whomping Willow. It was one of his happiest memories, so much so that he'd finally conjured a ball of light with the Patronus Charm with it. He'd been too embarrassed to say anything about it to anyone, so no one knew what memory he'd used. Still, over the past few months, the same question danced around Ron's head: I don't like her, do I? It wasn't long before Ron realized he didn't know the answer. He kept telling himself she was just his friend, but something still seemed off about it. Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

"Hermione's just a friend," Ron said. "No different than Harry or Sally-Anne or Rose."

Charlie pressed his lips together, an expression with which Ron was intimate. Ron glared at Charlie in anticipation of the condescending remark that would certainly follow.

"You don't sound so sure," Charlie said without the slightest hint of condescension.

"I–"

"You don't have to be defensive with me. You've always been my favorite sibling because you know better than anyone what it's like to grow up alone in someone else's shadow. I went through that too, and what you might not know is that it makes it hard to trust people. You never want to show weakness because you're afraid people are going to jump on it the second you do."

Ron didn't know how to take that. Charlie was the coolest! Everyone talked about what a great Seeker he was, or about how popular he'd been, or how clever he was. Even Wood had said Charlie could've gone on to play Quidditch for the national team if he hadn't chosen Romania instead. How had he ever had problems living in someone else's shadow?

"You?" Ron asked.

"Bill," Charlie replied. "I got to Hogwarts and everyone immediately pegged me as 'Bill's kid brother'. I had to live up to that, and I didn't get to be me."

"Tell me about it," Ron muttered.

"It wasn't as bad, being only Bill and I for a while, but I still hated it. Any mistake made me feel like a kid again, and Bill lecturing me was the worst. Still, I got by and made a name for myself."

Ron thought about that for a moment. He didn't like the thought of being "Harry Potter's friend" or "Rose Peta-Lorrum's friend", but it was how things always went. No one saw him as a real person, just a sidekick. Even Rose called him "Cohort", although he'd almost grown used to it.

Hermione didn't see him like that. She saw him for him. She was the best.

"Yeah," Ron said.

"You killing the Basilisk was brilliant, and it's amazing how good you are with summoning. Do you realize how hard it is to summon another person?"

Ron thought back to all the books he'd read on summoning. None of them mentioned trying to summon another person, only ever objects.

"No."

"The Summoning Charm's only supposed to work on objects, not people. Only a few people can summon another person, and you're one of them."

"Really?"

"It doesn't surprise me, actually. There are theories that suggest it's tied to a wizard's chess abilities. Something like they've got to think about everything in terms of moving pieces on the board. That's what a lot of magic is in the end, the way you think about it."

Charlie stood up and stretched.

"Being so serious for so long is giving me a headache. I think I'll go find Ginny and harass her. Are there any boys I can pick on her about?"

Ron shrugged.

"Challenging, but I can work with it," Charlie said. With a grin on his face, he called, "Oh, Ginevra!"

A week later, Hermione and Rose arrived at the Burrow. When they arrived, they found Ron, Ginny, and another boy they didn't recognize waiting for them.

"This must be them," the boy said, walking over to great them. "I'm Charlie. Nice to meet you."

"Rose," Rose replied, curtsying.

"Hermione."

"What an honor," Charlie said. "Ronald's told me all about you."

"Has he?" Hermione said, shooting a look at Ron.

"Only that you got the highest score on the Arithmancy O.W.L. since Dumbledore himself," Charlie said.

"They didn't say that," Hermione said, blushing.

"Faster than any student in generations," Rose said, beaming with pride, "without touching quill to parchment, and without a wand."

"That was a mistake!" Hermione protested. "I've been so used to doing things without a wand, that–"

"Who cares?" Ginny exclaimed. "You're brilliant, and now everyone knows it."

Hermione blushed, but she was saved by Rose, who once again stole the spotlight.

"Nice meeting you," Rose said, waving. "Bye, Hermione!"

Rose skipped away across the grass.

"Really?!" Hermione called after her. "That's it? After everything we've been through, that's it? 'Bye, Hermione!'"

Rose stopped running, and turned back to her.

"You're right," Rose said.

She walked back to Hermione, and folded her hands in front of her.

"Don't worry, Dear, I'll only be gone for a few weeks. I promise not to get into too much trouble, and I won't mess about with other girls. Make sure to take good care of Cohort and Firecracker. Feed them three times a day, and don't forget to water them and let them out for exercise."

"Isn't she the charmer?" Charlie quipped.

"Alice taught me all about how to talk to girls. Well, boys, but the principles are the same. How to care about them, how to tie them up, how to keep them too weak to run off, how to help them eat when they're too weak to chew food. The usual."

"Thank you, Rose," Hermione said. "I'll keep all that in mind. Give Luna my love."

"I will!"

Rose kissed Hermione on the cheek before running off again.

"Boundaries, Rose!" Hermione called as Rose ran off.

"Sk'lar can tell me how much he hates hugging all he likes, but I'm still going to hug him!"

"Looks like you've got some competition!" Charlie stage-whispered to Ron.

"I heard that!" Hermione called, still watching Rose run off.

"Me too!" Rose called.

Rose turned away from the Burrow and ran in the direction of the rook that housed Luna and her father. Fields of grass and groups of trees flew by as she raced as fast as she could, eager to see her little sister.

Unlike the last time she'd visited, Luna was waiting for her outside.

"Luna!"

Rose tackled her "little sister" in a hug, sending them both crashing to the ground.

"Salutations, Rose."

"Salutations, Moon."

Rose lept to her feet, then helped Luna to hers.

"How's your summer been?" Luna asked.

"Wonderful," Rose said as the girls went inside. "We went camping, and I visited Professor Dumbledore, and I wasn't supposed to tell you that, and I met the rest of Cohort's brothers, and– Tutela!"

Tutela ran across the floor to greet them as soon as Rose opened the door. She wagged her tail in excitement as Rose picked up her homunculus.

"There she is," Mr. Luna's Dad said, poking his head in from the kitchen.

He wore an apron, which remained untouched by the storm of flour that had stricken the rest of his clothes and part of his face.

"We were making cupcakes, but until about five minutes ago I hadn't realized that you don't eat."

"Can I help?" Rose asked. "Sk'lar never lets me cook. He always said I'd blow it up or bring it to life."

"We've already done all that," Mr. Luna's Dad said. "All we've got left is the frosting."

"Is that apron enchanted to repel flour?" Rose asked.

"Yes, it is. Brilliant, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Rose replied. "I always end up covered in flour and blood whenever I cook."

"What have you tried cooking?" Mr. Luna's Dad asked as the girls joined him in the kitchen.

"Pancakes, cupcakes, cookies," Rose replied. "The usual. Did you know flour explodes? Cos I didn't!"

"We've discovered that firsthand, haven't we Luna?"

"It was rather exciting," Luna said, "and it was a lot of fun getting to put everything back together afterwards."

Mr. Luna's Dad took the cupcakes out of the oven and placed them on the table. The tray floated in midair, suspended a few inches above the table.

"You could probably use magic for this," Rose said as she was handed a knife.

"We could, but there's something to be said for doing things without magic. It helps us appreciate what we've got, you know."

He placed a large bowl of frosting beside the cupcakes. It floated to each of them in turn, and all three of them spread frosting on the cupcakes.

"Rose, Luna says you… well, you know about…"

"I know about her dreams?" Rose asked.

"Yes, that."

Rose shrugged.

"Not the strangest power about which I've heard," Rose said. "There are classes with abilities I wouldn't have thought real, but now I don't care."

"That makes me feel a lot better. Her mum was terrified to tell me about them."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they put icing on the last of the cupcakes.

"I don't suppose… that is, she's got… other dreams. She doesn't think they're about her."

"They're not," Rose said. "They're about me. I worked it out after I found out that she's been dreaming about other versions of her, but she's got dreams about which Ref won't tell me. That meant it had to be about one thing in particular, and he only exists in my world."

"Is that… the dragon?" Mr. Luna's Dad asked.

"Valignatiejir," Rose said, her voice cracking on the name. Both she and Luna visibly flinched at the name. "He's called Valignatiejir."

"Luna tells me about all her dreams, but she always said those sounded off."

"I think I know what happened," Rose said. "I… When Pettigrew tried to use the time turner, I broke it, and time broke around us. In that weird, broken time, I found Luna, and she wanted to help. When I tried handing her my half of the time turner, it caused my past to be blurred with hers. For anyone else, it wouldn't have mattered, but for her, she'll get dreams from my life. That Luna said they got better after third year, so I think handing her the time turner actually made them worse. For what it's worth, I am so, so sorry."

"It's alright," Luna said. "It wasn't your fault. She was the one trying to help."

Rose smiled, admiring Luna's optimism. She'd been like that once; always happy, always positive. If it hadn't been destroyed with her parents, Valignatiejir had taken what was left.

"I've heard some of Luna's dreams about you. They sound horrible."

"Has Luna told you where I'm from?"

"No."

"A place called De'rok. It's another world. I got stranded here a few years ago while traveling between planes."

Mr. Luna's Dad's eyes grew wide.

"Amazing," he said. "Truly remarkable. What's it like there?"

"On the surface, it's not that different from here," Rose said. "Humans look about the same here as there, but we've also got Elves, Halflings, Spellscales, Dwarves, Gnomes, and a bunch of other species."

"And they're all treated the same?"

"They've all got different cultures," Rose said. "Halflings and Dwarves don't mind much. Halflings are incredibly accepting, and Dwarves don't care. Humans and Elves can be a little close-minded, but they're not bad. Spellscales are one of the minorities, but you see so many people all over the place, you stop worrying about it after a while. Especially if you live in Sentrum, the capital. It's brilliant there. I was born on Thars, the capital of the continent of Luna with the Halflings, grew up all around Rontus among Dwarves, and went to school at Arcrel, which is on Faera, the Elven continent."

"I think Luna's had some dreams about those."

"I have," Luna said. "I like Professor Ozerl."

"He's the best, but the other Elves are… imagine being the only house-elf to attend Hogwarts. That's what it was like to be a Human in Arcrel."

"What kinds of creatures are on your world?" Mr. Luna's Dad asked.

"I could spend all day listing them off and not get through half of them," Rose said.

They spent the rest of the day discussing various creatures and cultures from De'rok. Rose was thrilled to talk about her home, and Luna and her dad were happy to listen. She talked about anything from her world that popped into her head while they finished making cupcakes, and then while they ate the cupcakes.

Rose felt as if she'd been holding in some great secret for three years, and it was the first chance she'd had to talk about it. She was upset when Luna's dad told her it was time for Luna to go to bed.

"We've got the rest of the summer to talk about it," Luna said. "It'll be a lot easier to understand the dreams now. Thank you, Rose."

"You're welcome."

Rose sat in Luna's room while she waited for her friend to get ready for bed. After her dad tucked her in, he wished them both good night.

"I am really sorry, Moon."

"People make mistakes. Just because you made a mistake yesterday doesn't mean you're going to make one today, or tomorrow, or the day after that."

Rose frowned and wracked her brain for Luna's words. They sounded familiar, but she couldn't think why.

After a few rounds, the answer came to her.

"Carolina said that."

"I like Carolina. She's got pretty eyes."

"I know, right? I liked her so much until I realized Sk'lar was in love with her. Also, she's not my type. She lectures me too much."

Luna giggled.

"Good night, Rose."

"Good night, Moon."

Xenophilius was on his way downstairs when he heard his daughter laugh. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard it. Like her eyes and many of her facial expressions, it was almost identical to Pandora's.

He picked up his pace and sat down in his old armchair. It had a view of the entire main room of his house. He'd sat there and watched Luna play hundreds of times. Pandora would hold his hand and smile at him, just to make sure he was still awake.

Tears filled his eyes as he remembered the good times. He hated them because he knew they were just memories. The woman he loved could never come back. He couldn't begin to count the days that he'd wished she were there to help him with Luna. He missed having her to listen, to talk to, to hold. Some days he felt empty, like he wasn't a whole person anymore. Other days the pain was so constant he thought it'd never leave.

"Are you alright?"

Xenophilius jumped when he heard Rose's voice. She stepped into the candlelight from the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, drying his eyes before his daughter's friend could see. "I'm alright."

"You don't have to hide from me," Rose said, pulling up another armchair. "I only pretend to be happy and innocent. I know better than most how horrible the world is."

Xenophilius didn't know what to make of it. Ginny Weasley and Rose were Luna's only friends, so he'd never been sure how to act around them. Pandora would know, but he couldn't remember how she'd been around Ginny.

"I'm not sure I've heard her laugh before," Rose said. "She always seems so happy, but she never laughs."

"She doesn't," Xenophilius said. "I don't think Luna's laughed since…"

"Since her mum died."

Xenophilius didn't say anything. He knew if he said something, his voice would catch, and he didn't think a child should see a grownup crying.

"My uncle told me I changed after my parents died. He said I was a sweet little girl when he first met me, sort of like Luna is now. Now… we've got to stay strong for her, but not for each other."

"You're still just a child."

"I'm really not. No matter…" Her face changed suddenly, adorned by a false smile. Xenophilius had seen Luna do the same thing hundreds of times.

"Thank you, Rose. Really, thank you. I'm not oblivious to how other people perceive us. I know we aren't well liked or anything, but I don't want Luna to know. She's always been hopeful and happy, and I don't want her to know how awful the real world is."

"I'm sorry, but I think she already knows," Rose said. "It's all my fault."

"None of this is your fault. In fact, you're one of the best things to happen to her. I was terrified to send her to Hogwarts, and when she wrote back to me telling me her shoes were missing, I knew it was the other students."

Rose grinned.

"I took care of that."

"She told me. Honestly, Rose, thank you for everything you've done for her."

"I don't deserve it, though. Because of me, she's got to live through Valignatiejir. He hurts her, he kills her, he…"

Rose closed her eyes and stopped breathing for a moment. Luna had told Xenophilius that she didn't breathe, but that didn't stop him from panicking momentarily when she stopped.

"Sorry," she said at last. "I'm trying so hard to talk about it, but it's still so hard."

"It gets easier the more you do," Xenophilius said, hoping his words sounded as reassuring as they did in his head. "It was like that when Pandora died. It was hard to talk to Luna at all. She looks so much like her mother, it… it hurt simply to look at her. I forced myself to, because you can't just cut out your children. If I had done that when Pandora was alive, she'd have killed me, no matter what the circumstances. We do what we must for them."

"I never had a little brother or sister growing up," Rose said. "My big brother and sister raised me, and I always thought they were the best. People told me that siblings never got along, but mine always did." She laughed. "Turns out, they only did that when I was around. Alice told me about a time when she and Sk'lar met up at a town, and nearly got into a fight. Another Elf came into the tavern at which they were eating. He was from Arcrel, recognized them, and said just one thing about me." She smiled. "They won't tell me what happened after that."

"Luna's told me about them. They sound like quite the pair."

"They are," Rose said.

She looked down for a moment, then back at him.

"Would you please tell me about her mum?"

Xenophilius smiled.

"She was a lot like Luna. Both of them were brilliant. She always thought differently than everyone else. We were both sorted into Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, but she was a year older than I was. Truth be told, we didn't talk much in school." He sighed. "I wish we had. I wanted to talk to her, but I wasn't exactly popular in school."

Rose scoffed. "Popularity's overrated."

"She always kept to herself, so we never spoke. It wasn't until a conference a few years after I graduated that we really met. I attended, not as a speaker, but she was speaking on applications of runes. I couldn't believe my luck, and I managed to convince myself I'd never have another chance like that, so after she finished, I went up and I talked to her."

Xenophilius slipped back into the memory for a moment. He remembered every detail about that day. His heart pounding as he approached the podium, his hand shaking as he'd shook Pandora's soft, warm hands. Her smile had lit up his whole world.

"She recognized me," Xenophilius said. "I couldn't believe she'd known who I was, but she said she'd seen me on my own at Hogwarts. We stopped for a drink and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was researching exotic creatures, and before I knew it, I was telling her my life's story. The best part was that she didn't stop me, but she listened to me. My whole life people told me my ideas were pure fantasy, but… I'm sorry, I must be boring you."

Rose smiled back at him and shook her head.

"When I first met Carolina, I thought her eyes were the prettiest I'd ever seen. But she didn't understand me. She kept trying to convince me that violence wasn't the answer, which I guess it's not, but they were just words from her. I just wanted someone to talk to, and she wasn't that person. Later, I was showing Shadow some daggers I'd been working on, and said 'They're useful for stabbing people right in the chest.'" Rose pantomimed stabbing someone with a dagger. "I hadn't thought about it, but then I thought 'She's probably gonna chew me out like Carolina.' Then she said 'The chest is alright, but the neck's the best choice.' We understood each other. After a lifetime of being an outcast, I finally found someone truly like me."

Xenophilius began to cry because he knew exactly what that was like. He knew the indescribable feeling of meeting someone with whom he could share anything. Pandora had listened to every theory he'd had, and didn't criticize him for any of it. After a lifetime of searching, he'd found his true companion, and now she was gone. Every time he remembered that he'd never see her again, it was as if the world came crashing down around him. Now everything was in ruins, and he couldn't bring himself to put it back together.

"I'm sorry," Rose said.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. It's my fault because I can bring Pandora back."

Xenophilius stopped crying. In fact, it felt as if the entire world had simply stopped. It took a moment before his mind restarted again, and he stared at Rose.

"I could bring her back anytime I wanted, but I don't because I'm afraid of what people will do when they find out I can bring people back from the dead. It's not fair to her." Rose raised her voice. "She's my little sister, and I should bring her mum back."

Xenophilius didn't know what to say. His research over the past few years had focused around bringing people back from the dead. He'd spent a year attempting to recreate Ravenclaw's Diadem in order to stimulate his brain to help him figure it out. All he wanted was for Pandora to come home, and now he was being told that his daughter's best friend had the power to make it happen.

"I'm going to need some time to think about that," Xenophilius said.

"I shouldn't have told you about that," Rose said. "I'm sorry."

"For the past four years, I've wanted nothing more than to see Pandora come home again." Xenophilius paused. "Does Luna know?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "I haven't told her, but that doesn't mean anything anymore."

Xenophilius forced his mind to work, trying to think of any way to convince Rose to bring Pandora back to life.

"I could say I had a breakthrough in my research."

"If she comes back, you'll have everyone begging you to bring back their loved ones," Rose said, "even if they've got to use Pandora and Luna to get it."

"Then we'll keep it a secret," Xenophilius said, desperate to convince Rose. "She'll stay here, and–"

"Never see her friends or family again," Rose said. "I'm sure Professor Babbling would like to see her."

"Bathsheda can keep a secret," Xenophilius said.

"What if someone sees her?" Rose asked. "What if someone invades this house?"

"Then we'll leave here and start a new life," Xenophilius said. "We haven't got much, but we can figure it out. So long as I've got Pandora and Luna, I know we'll find a way. Rose, please. I'll do anything."

Neither of them spoke for a long time. Xenophilius could hear the clock ticking as Rose stared into space. What was she doing? Was she thinking? Was she asking her family back home what she should do? Xenophilius wasn't one for religion, but he was willing to pray to any deity if they'd convince Rose to side with him.

"You've already got Luna's supplies for this year," Rose said. "Let her stay for the year. I'll bring back Pandora at the end of it. Use that time to start saving up. Figure out a new life for yourself. You'll have to move somewhere far away, where no one's heard of the Quibbler or the Lovegoods. I'll handle the rest. Make sure you're prepared to leave it all behind."

"I'd do anything to see Pandora again."

"I know," Rose said. "I'd do anything to see Shadow again, too."

"Don't tell Luna," Xenophilius said. "In case something goes wrong."

Rose nodded.

"I'm going to go outside for some fresh air," Rose said. "Good night."

"Good night."

Xenophilius sat back in his chair and let his mind wander back to the days when he and Pandora were together. The memories weren't horrible anymore.

Now he couldn't wait to see her again.