CHAPTER ELEVEN
A/N - Thanks to all who have continued to read and review, long may it continue! This chapter is a bit shorter, because the next one I've got a whole new twist that I want to devote the whole chapter to. Enjoy…
Most of the following day was consumed by Ministry reports and debriefs, tying up Ron, along with David and the other Aurors, for hours upon end. Harry and Hermione had found themselves rather sitting on their hands, but took the time to fit in some more practice, as a way for Harry to take his mind off it as much as anything else.
Somehow, by the time of the following morning from that, rumors had begun to trickle down into the remaining student body. As a result, Luna seemed to be following Ron around as if in reverence of his supposed heroism, with a puppy dog-like look in her eyes. Hermione had noted that on their way to the Defense classroom following breakfast, but Harry wondered if Luna just looked like that anyway. He'd never looked that closely before; probably in fear of getting turned into something…weird.
Harry was sure, however, that Ron wouldn't be doing anything to play down his part in the action. That made him smile; the predictability of it. But good on him, he thought. As they entered the classroom in twos and threes, Luna had pretty much dragged Ron over to Neville and Seamus, and from the wild gesticulations she made with her arms made it look like Ron had fought off an entire legion of Death Eaters. Ron looked slightly embarrassed, but still nodded once or twice.
David entered the classroom after a few minutes, a long thin cut running down one of his temples, on the side of his forehead. Harry knew all about what happened; of course, Ron had told him and Hermione everything, and David had copied his report and sent it to Harry by owl.
The two added nights of sleep Harry had enjoyed since the Legilimency experience with David had greatly helped in ordering his thoughts, and making sense of a lot of the new pieces of knowledge that had been implanted there. As such, he took to the exercises David introduced with ease, perfecting them almost straight away much to Hermione's annoyance. Still, he was patient enough to help Hermione find her technique; secretly he relished the opportunity to lecture her on something, as much as she probably hated it.
From talking with Ron, Harry felt surprisingly upbeat; four of the Horcruxes had now been destroyed, and there were two left; the diary of Tom Riddle, the ring of Marvolo Gaunt, and the locket of Salazar Slytherin (the real one, supposedly), and now the fourth: Tom Riddle's first wand, it had turned out, had been taken care of. David had been the one who actually destroyed it, slicing it in half with his wand-conjured magical blade. This had to put Voldemort on edge, and in his haste to protect the remaining two, just may get overzealous and make a mistake, enough to pounce on.
Hermione had done some quick research on this development, and had come back from the library with a theory; the discovery of Voldemort, or Tom Riddle's, first magic wand as a Horcrux disproved the notion that Voldemort had sought a relic from each of Hogwart's four founders, or at least had failed. She did, however, come across an old legend connected with the Holy Grail. There were four 'relics of saints', the four treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan, Hermione had told Harry and a really confused Ron; the Grail itself, which was essentially a cup or chalice, a sword, a spear, and a pentacle.
Harry thought about that as they continued;
Okay, we've got the pentacle…that was the locket…
…We've got the spear…Tom Riddle's wand…
…No idea about the chalice, that must be one of the two left…
…And a sword…
"Harry?" Hermione asked, regarding the faraway look on his face as he stood still, rooted to the spot.
"Yeah?" Harry said, snapping out of it after a couple of seconds.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, "it's starting to make sense."
* * * * *
That afternoon, Harry and Ron found themselves alone in the common room, and took the opportunity to lay out on a couple of the comfortable red sofas, resting up from the morning's training. Harry noticed that Ron had knocked off the whole 'walking wounded' between. He guessed that it wouldn't fit now, Ron being a hero and all…
"So what's the deal with you and Luna?"
Ron's head snapped round so fast Harry thought it might break off, "What?"
Harry shrugged, trying not to look like he was enjoying putting his best friend on the spot, "You guys are spending a lot of time together lately."
"We train together," Ron replied quickly, "Sometimes after class we'll put in some more practice, but…nothing else is…ya know?"
"What do you mean?"
Ron shook his head, "Now you're just taking the piss, mate."
Harry grinned, "Yeah, maybe. Come on, I need a distraction."
Ron raised his eyebrows, "She sure is…"
"…you're talking about Luna again?"
"Yeah," Ron said, "she's…well, you know how she is; random, crazy, always seems to be happy…but there's more to her than that…"
Harry noticed the faraway look in Ron's eyes.
I think all this training's doing him in.
"Ron?"
"Yeah?" Ron said quietly.
"Your voice trailed off there at the end…"
Ron snapped out of whatever it was he was having, "Yeah, erm…I was just thinking, you know, we should give Luna a bit more credit. She's good at all this stuff, and…"
"…Ron, you did it again."
"I need a lie down," Ron said, quickly getting up and making for the stairs. As he started to ascend, he stopped for a moment and turned back towards Harry, "Oh, by the way, what's the deal with you and Hermione these days?"
Harry's head snapped round, "What?"
The corner of Ron's mouth curled upwards, "I'll catch ya later, mate."
As Ron moved out of sight, Harry was suddenly wide awake.
It's not that obvious…is it?
* * * * *
"David?"
"Up here," David replied, as he knelt down in front of the wireless, grappling with the panel on the front as he tried to find the right station. He had found modern-day stereos back in London hard to deal with, but they were nothing on this.
Sarah stepped into the room; for the moment, David's office as the interim Defense teacher, up the stairs from the classroom itself. Sarah shook her head as she looked around at the mess she had come to associate with her English boyfriend, but still found heart in the way he had made it feel like home.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, as she sat down on an old brown leather sofa to the side.
"Writing my memoirs," David replied shortly.
"Ha ha, very funny," Sarah replied sarcastically, glancing at her watch, "Is there something good on?"
"I'd have more luck getting this thing to cook my dinner," David said through gritted teeth, "How was your meeting with your fellow Yanks?"
"Fine," Sarah said, ignoring the dig, "Salem's getting pressure from the Department of Magic for information about what's going on over here."
"What did you tell them?" David asked.
"Nothing they didn't already know, but apparently Salem wants me to act as a liaison here between Hogwarts and the Department, so I guess I've got to pick sides."
"Ah ha, got it," David said triumphantly, picking himself up off the floor and collapsing back onto the sofa.
The wireless squawked through a few seconds of static before the signal clarified…
"…Seaman throws out to Dixon on the right…passes infield to Adams, who's looking for Vieira down the middle…"
"Do you ever think about anything else?" Sarah asked, trying not to smile.
"Occasionally," David replied teasingly as he shifted on the sofa, pulling Sarah down on top of him and putting his feet up on the sofa, beneath hers.
"So, me and football…what else could you want?" Sarah teased, smiling down at David.
"Wouldn't say no to a…"
"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed, cuffing David across the chest as he laughed.
"You look pretty cute when you're mad," David said, grinning.
"Don't I look pretty cute anyway?"
"Yeah…"
"…and?"
"…is there a way out of this conversation for me?"
"No."
"Didn't think so," David said, wrapping his hand round the back of Sarah's neck and pulling her down gently for a kiss. His lips brushed against hers as if they were made to fit there.
Sarah pulled back with a smile, "No fair!"
David shrugged, "That's how I win arguments,"
Sarah smiled down at David, her brown eyes lost in his hazel.
"What?" David asked, his arms wrapped protectively around her back.
The smile slowly faded from her face, "I was worried about you…going off and fighting those people…"
"It's my job," David said reassuringly, "I'm good at what I do, that's why they sent me."
"What about Harry?" Sarah asked, "I thought this was meant to be his quest."
"I know," David replied, "but if we can help him get there, we will. If he resents me for that, there's not much I can do about it."
"When this is over you're coming back with me to America," Sarah said, quiet yet firm, "We need a break away from all this…"
"Done," David replied, "Now, can I get back to my football?"
Sarah laughed, "You Englishmen and your football!"
"You'd better believe it," David said, pulling Sarah down again for another kiss. This time, he didn't let her up for air for a long while…