As Luna pulled Victor toward the garden behind the house, she tilted her head and looked at him with open curiosity.
"I thought witches and wizards only learned Apparition after they turned seventeen," she said thoughtfully.
"You're definitely not seventeen, so how can you Apparate?"
There was no suspicion in her voice. Luna simply wanted to know.
"Would you mind keeping it a secret? A secret between us."
Luna immediately nodded. "Of course."
Victor wasn't surprised. Luna was probably one of the few people he could say that to without worrying about rumors spreading through Hogwarts afterward.
They continued walking through the garden while strange plants grew around them in seemingly random places — some ordinary flowers, others unusual enough that Victor wasn't entirely certain whether they were magical or simply things Xenophilius Lovegood had decided to cultivate.
"So, did anything interesting happen during your second year?"
Luna thought about it seriously. "Not really. This year was nice." A quiet year was probably worth more to her than exciting adventures.
Unlike Harry, who attracted trouble as naturally as breathing, Luna seemed perfectly content reading strange magazines, helping her father, and searching for creatures that may or may not exist.
"That sounds like a good year."
"It was."
As they continued through the garden, Luna suddenly turned toward him. "Do you mind accompanying me to visit a friend?"
Victor glanced at her. Luna wasn't unpopular because she was cruel or unfriendly — most students simply didn't understand her, and she rarely made any effort to change their opinions.
The fact that she was using the word friend genuinely meant something.
"Sure. I don't mind."
Luna smiled faintly and headed back toward the house. A few minutes later they found Xenophilius reading the latest edition of The Quibbler.
When Luna told him she was going out to visit a friend, he looked over the edge of the magazine, spotted Victor, and seemed completely unconcerned. "Have a pleasant trip."
"We will," Luna replied.
A short while later they were walking along a countryside path beneath the afternoon sun. Victor walked quietly beside her while working through the possibilities.
The number of wizarding families living near the Lovegoods wasn't particularly large, and one location stood out immediately.
The Burrow. Ginny Weasley and Luna were in the same year.
Victor glanced sideways at Luna. She was humming softly to herself, watching clouds drift across the sky.
He had a very bad feeling about this.
The problem wasn't meeting the Weasley children. The problem was Molly Weasley.
Explaining why Lucius Malfoy's son had suddenly appeared at her doorstep alongside Luna Lovegood sounded like the beginning of a very unpleasant conversation.
As the distant outline of a crooked house slowly became visible on the horizon, his suspicions only grew stronger.
Victor's eye twitched as he stopped in front of the house.
There was absolutely no mistaking it — the crooked structure before him was definitely the Burrow.
As if to confirm his suspicion, he could already hear Ron Weasley's voice coming from somewhere inside.
He briefly wondered if it was too late to leave. Unfortunately, Luna had already walked up to the front door and knocked.
A few moments later the door opened. Ron appeared on the other side.
When he saw Luna his expression remained normal — the two had become friends during the previous school year. Then his eyes shifted toward Victor.
Ron froze. For several long seconds he simply stared, his expression suggesting that reality itself had personally offended him.
"Wow," Ron said slowly. "I must be dreaming. Otherwise there is no way I'd be seeing this guy standing outside my house."
He pinched his own cheek to prove the point.
Victor sighed. "Then Ron, would you mind if I also slapped some sense into you?"
The smile that followed immediately made Ron abandon the dream theory. His imagination was many things. It was not capable of producing Victor's particular brand of unpleasantness.
"Nope. Definitely real."
Still looking unconvinced, he stretched out a hand and poked Victor's arm.
Victor looked down at the finger. Ron poked him again. Victor continued staring. Ron poked him a third time.
"Stop poking me, Ron." Victor swatted the hand away. "I'm real."
Ron took a step back. "Bloody hell." His expression became increasingly horrified. "You actually are."
"I appreciate the warm welcome," Victor said flatly.
Ron ignored that and looked between Luna and Victor several times, trying to understand how this situation had come to exist. Then he pointed at Victor.
"Why is he here?"
Luna tilted her head. "I invited him."
That somehow made Ron even more confused. Victor could practically see the gears in his head struggling to function.
After several seconds, Ron stepped aside. "I don't know what's going on anymore."
Luna entered the house. Victor followed.
The interior of the Burrow was exactly as chaotic as he remembered — voices drifting from different parts of the house.
Ron closed the door behind them. "I thought you'd spend your summer with rich kids from other pure-blood families," he said, looking at Victor suspiciously.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Ron, but I don't enjoy spending my time with immature and spoiled brats."
Ron looked offended. "Oi!"
Victor raised an eyebrow. "If the shoe fits."
Before Ron could argue further, curiosity got the better of him. His gaze moved between Luna and Victor. "What is the relationship between you two anyway?"
Luna answered before Victor could. "Victor is my fiancé."
Ron nodded automatically. "Oh, fiancé..."
Then his brain processed the sentence.
"WHAT?"
The shout echoed through the entire Burrow. A loud crash followed immediately from somewhere upstairs, and a moment later another voice called down, "What happened?"
Ron ignored it completely. He stared at Luna as though she had just informed him she was secretly a dragon. "Fiancé?"
Luna nodded calmly. "Yes."
*****
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