Notes: Another lengthy chapter. There are tiny glimpses about Harry's disappearance and something most of you wanted to know about Ron and Luna's past.
Although it'd be cute (and maybe funny) if John had a crush on Luna, the answer is no. She's just the first female "stranger" that doesn't overwhelm him.
Chapter Twelve - The Departure
I got to spend the next day with Uncle Ron, at the Leaky Cauldron. The landlord, Tom, let me explore the place, and even help my uncle in the kitchens. The ad for the job had been taken down two days before, because Uncle Ron had really impressed Tom.
However, something caught my attention. It seemed that the customers were very aware of me. They talked amongst themselves, and some even pointed at me, when I passed by. I managed to find a copy of the Daily Prophet, and found out what it was about. It read:
Our Savior's Son? by Rita Skeeter.
As everyone knows, Harry Potter disappeared eight years ago, after the end of the Second War. A month later, one of his best friends, Muggle-born Hermione Granger, also disappeared. Ronald Weasley, the last one of the famous Golden Trio, was left on his own. Most of us can remember his pitiful nights of drunkeness, shouting in Diagon Alley.
Fortunately, for his family, the youngest Weasley man apparently seems to have given up on his drinking habits. He now has to take care of a little boy: John Granger. As most of you can sadly remember from last week's news, Hermione Granger died in a Muggle car accident on Christmas night, leaving behind her only son.
It is my theory that this boy is the son of Harry Potter. You can see it in his eyes and face. He looks exactly like his father in his young days. This doesn't surprise this reporter, since she has witnessed the relationship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in their fourth year at Hogwarts, just before our hero claimed that You-Know-Who was back.
The question is, why didn't we know about this boy before? Does Harry Potter know he has a son? Is that why he left? Did our hero truly abandon a pregnant woman? Where is Harry Potter? Why hasn't the Ministry of Magic found him? Is he dead? We can only speculate, and hope that he is well, and that he will return to take care of his son, since leaving little John in Ronald Weasley's hands does not look promising for the young lad.
I felt angry at those horrible accusations to both my father and my uncle. I didn't care if Uncle Ron had had problems with alcohol. He was a nice man, and he was responsible enough. He didn't even drink cinder the night before.
I went to the kitchens with the newspaper and gave it to him. When he finished reading the article, he looked upset but he also looked at me warily. "What do you think about this, John?" he asked me.
"I think I hate that Skeeter woman," I said indignantly. "I think you're the best uncle in the world. And my father really didn't know my mother was pregnant, she told me so."
Uncle Ron nodded slowly, and folded the newspaper. "Ignore this woman, John," he told me after a few moments of silence. "She has always been one to twist facts or come up with ridiculous stories. She gave your mum and dad a hard time when we were in school."
I sighed and nodded, taking the Daily Prophet back to an empty table, so anyone else could read it.
We had been at the Leaky Cauldron for three hours, when Luna came to see us. "Luna!" I exclaimed excitedly, as I hugged her. She chuckled softly and patted my head.
"Hello, John," she said calmly.
"Uncle Ron is already working a lot," I said as she helped me sit at the counter. The chairs were too high for me to even climb. "And I helped him."
"I'm sure you did," Luna said merrily.
As if he had sensed her presence, Uncle Ron came out of the kitchen to greet her. He was slightly sweaty and smelled of food. "Hi, Luna!" he said, grinning goofily. "Came to see the man in action?"
I snickered and buried my face in my hands, feeling slightly embarrassed by his blunt question. But Luna seemed to have taken it seriously and nodded. "Of course!" she said, smiling.
Uncle Ron blushed and cleared his throat. "Well, what do you want to eat - for lunch?" he stammered, looking at both of us. I didn't understand his quick correction, but Luna's smile widened, and she looked very amused.
"Oh, I don't know, Ronald. Surprise me," she said.
He nodded, embarrassed, and turned to me. "What about you, John?"
"Beef and mashed potatoes!" I said, eager to eat that. With a chuckle, Uncle Ron went back into the kitchen, to work on our food.
When he returned, the three of us sat at an empty table, to eat comfortably. There weren't too many people, and Tom had let Uncle Ron take a break. While he and Luna talked about things I really wasn't interested in hearing, I looked around.
A woman, who seemed to be in her late fifties, walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Her hair was a mix of golden blonde and white, very curly but weak looking. She had jeweled spectacles, and dressed elegantly. Some people turned to look at her and smile, others scowled at her. Amongst those were Uncle Ron and Luna.
"Who is she?" I asked curiously.
"That's Rita Skeeter," he whispered, and I understood then why he had glared at her. She was the woman who said those horrible things about my father, my mother and my uncle.
I turned back to see where she was heading, and almost groaned when she seemed to have spotted me, since she was already walking towards us. "Why, isn't this little John Granger?" she asked in a fake-surprised tone.
Uncle Ron growled, and Luna actually glared at the woman. I never thought I'd see her angry at anyone. "Skeeter," she said in a cold tone. "Is there something that you need?"
The older woman didn't even flinch. "I've actually come to see little John here," she motioned over me with a dismissive gesture. "I wanted to know more about your mother. You know, John, she and I were very good friends," she said, with a sickeningly sweet smile.
Uncle Ron stood up abruptly, the fork and knife loudly clashing against the plate, and the chair nearly falling over. "Get away from him, Skeeter. As John's guardian, I am ordering you to keep away from him," he said hoarsely. People turned their heads, watching the scene with morbid interest.
Skeeter actually grinned, eyeing his glass, which had cold water. "Back to your drinking habits, Ron Weasley? Is that why you're so angry?"
Luna also stood up, albeit more quietly. "Leave us alone, Skeeter."
"And back to your old girlfriend, I see," the old woman said, her fake cheerful exterior never faltering. "I wonder, Weasley, if you'll ruin your relationship with Miss Lovegood again."
Uncle Ron nearly jumped at her, and for a moment, I thought not even Luna would stop him. Tom quickly came to intervene, grabbing Skeeter by her arm and dragging her out of the Leaky Cauldron, seemingly not caring if she was a woman. "And don't come back here!" he shouted after her, closing the door on her face.
Luna was still clutching Uncle Ron's arm, as he stood rigidly, with his eyes closed, trying to calm down. As I opened my mouth and the words were being said, I wondered if either my mother or my father were prone to asking embarrassing things. "You two were a couple before?"
Both of the young adults before me blushed, sitting down again and chuckling. "Um, yeah," Uncle Ron said after a while. He smiled timidly at Luna, and then looked at me. "Well, it was my fault it didn't work out... at that time," he explained.
Luna sighed, but didn't object. "Fortunately, our breakup wasn't... argumentative. We still stayed good friends. Though... for a few years we didn't see each other," she said, looking back at my uncle with a sad expression.
He reached over the table and took her hand in his. I blushed, feeling a bit out of place. But then something came to my mind as I remembered Skeeter's words. "So, Uncle Ron, if you don't mind me asking..." I stammered a bit. "Why did you... um, drink?"
Uncle Ron sighed, and rubbed his face with his hand. "Well, I don't need to tell you that taking too much of anything can be bad for your health," he said awkwardly. I nodded. While I wasn't experienced in that particular situation, my mother had explained to me about addictions of any type. Mostly to recognize any dangerous strangers, and to treat those who seemed to want to change, with respect. "At the time your dad had saved us all, I had a wonderful girlfriend, and my family didn't suffer any loss, despite the close calls... We were all happy.
"Harry seemed fine for a couple of weeks," he said with a sigh. He looked around, as if to verify that no one like Skeeter could overhear. "He had plans, your father. He made me promise not to tell anyone, but... he wanted to marry your mother."
I frowned in confusion. "So, why did he leave?"
Uncle Ron shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. He spent those weeks coming and going, making plans... Then one day, he seemed to change completely. He seemed depressed, but he wouldn't tell me or even Hermione what had happened. The next day, he was gone.
"Anyway," he continued, and I was reminded of the original topic. "Your mother, and the rest of us, took it very badly. He hadn't left a note or anything. Then, one day, she left too. Fortunately, she was a bit more thoughtful, but she didn't let us know where she had gone to.
"They had been my best friends, both of them," he said sadly, looking hurt. "I felt betrayed, I turned my back on those who loved me." At this, he glanced at Luna, for a moment. "I hurt myself and them, I did very stupid things. Bottom line, I did it out of self-pity."
I didn't know what to say to him. Part of me felt disappointed, but another part of me had already put together all the pieces that told me something like that had happened. Mother let me watch too many movies based on real life events, I thought. Most of those movies involved some sort of American courtroom, and family issues.
"John," I heard Uncle Ron saying, as he started gathering our plates in a pile. "Remember your wish from last night?" he asked, his expression was unreadable. I nodded. He leaned over the table, so Luna and I did the same, as he whispered. "I've been talking to Dad and my brother Percy... We're unofficially opening an investigation."
"About what?" I asked, almost hopeful.
He smiled slightly. "We're going to find your father."
Notes: It seems for every word I look at the translator, I find myself going off-topic as I navigate through references and synonyms. I had also gotten quite obsessed with a 50-chaptered story (Keeping A Promise, on PKorg), so I didn't have too much time on the last two days.
Well! It seems our "heroes" will go Harry-hunting sometime soon! I must say, "about damn time!"
Originally, Arthur and Percy weren't going to be involved, but it would seem unlikely for our trio to do much without some guidance. As much as I love Luna and Ron, they're quite lost by themselves (in this particular case.)