As she went off to where the Weasley Matron was, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. If there was one thing I was proud of, one thing I could say had been worth everything I'd gone through, it had been saving Pandora Lovegood's life.
Luna lost her mother to an accident as a child in the books, but not here in this world. I wasn't sure why, but butterflies being the way they are, I knew it had something to do with me and my presence. Had it been the time I'd scolded her parents for neglecting her that'd changed things?
Both Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood were… airheads. They were quirky but good people, but I don't think they'd been ready for children. They were often both caught up in their own work. Xeno with his newspaper, Phyllis with her spell-studies. That left Luna alone far too often. Sometimes they even forgot to feed her!
After the dozenth or so time it'd happened, I'd angrily confronted Luna's parents about it. A four-year-old girl should not have been eating grass in the yard because she hadn't had breakfast or lunch! Thankfully, it seemed to have worked. They were more attentive, and that also seemed to have resulted in Phyllis not dying. Perhaps being away from the lab more often had helped in some way?
I'd all but forgotten the Lovegoods after I'd moved out, and it hadn't clicked with me until I'd begun reviewing my knowledge of the Harry Potter-verse after I'd met Harry and begun focusing more on the individual people in the story and not the overarching circumstances behind the plot.
Regardless, when I realized what had happened, I'd been shocked, and then elated. More than anything, it proved to me that while things were similar to what I knew from the past, there was still a chance to change things. Fate was not immutable. It could be altered. For better or worse. Though in this case, a loving mother not dying horribly in front of her daughter could only be a good thing in my book.
Now that everyone had gathered up, we went to the floo, where Mr. Weasley was waiting for us. He would be our chaperon for the day, while Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Lovegood would stay behind and whip up a big ol' feast for when we got back. And it was gonna be a big one, since everybody we were going to meet for shopping would be joining us.
As the flames in the fireplace turned a brilliant green, we all stepped through one after the other, whisked away to the Leaky Cauldron.
We all emerged one by one from the pub's fireplaces, some of us staggering a bit or outright falling onto faces from the disorienting trip.
As one of the first ones through, I immediately spotted the other Gryffindors at a table. How could I tell it was them? Well, for one, there was a lot of 'em, and no other group had as many children. Secondly, there were two very noticeable people among them. One a pudgy boy with a nervous disposition, the other a grim-faced, hook-nosed woman who wore a stuffed vulture in her hat.
By that alone I was able to immediately tell they were Neville Longbottom and his battle axe of a grandmother. Which meant that the group they were with had to be the other Gryffindors.
The Halfbloods and legacy students (I refused to call them purebloods) all waved eagerly as the Muggleborns and Weasleys tumbled out after each other.
"Hey, guys!" Harry said, waving cheerfully at the other Gryffindors as he got back onto his feet.
"Still haven't gotten the hang of floo travel, huh?" I teased, and he pouted.
"It's not my fault! Everything just starts spinning so fast!"
"I find it's easier to just keep one foot in the air, like you're about to take another step. Treat it like walking through a doorway," I suggested, giving him and the other Muggleborn some advice. "Or, do what the twins do, and just jump through. You land on both feet that way."
Said twins flashed the pile of children thumbs up, while Percy grumbled about them being bad influences.
"We're all here, then?" Arthur Weasley asked as he appeared from the fireplace. "Oh, hello there, Augusta. I didn't expect you to be here today."
"And why wouldn't I wish to meet my grandson's friends?" the matron of the Longbottom family inquired haughtily.
Mr. Weasley laughed weakly and wisely decided not to respond, less he incur her wrath. Instead, he turned to the other adults who'd shown up.
"Tammy! Rupert! My, it's been a while, hasn't it?" he said, greeting a pair of people, their proximity making it clear they were a couple. The man was short and stocky with a large amount of, while
"Yes, it has," the man of the group confirmed. "I was surprised to hear my Hannah had become friends with so many people! Why, I remember when she refused to play with anyone except Susan."
"Dad!" Hannah Abbot whined, punching her father in the arm. He just chuckled, unaffected. At her side, Susan Bones giggled.
The other adult there was an Indian woman, with a pair of twins of her own. Parvati had brought her Ravenclaw sibling Padma along with her, it seemed. Mr. Weasley greeted her polite, and Mrs. Patil smiled, expressing her own joy at the fact that her daughters had made so many friends as well.
"Seems like everyone is here," Mr. Weasley said. "Let's get some shopping done, then!"
That spurred everyone on, and the group of children spilled into Diagon Alley.
We wore through the shops on the street, buying the supplies and burying the storeowners in a veritable tidal wave of gold. Well, not literally, but there was a lot of spending happening.
Eventually we made it to Flourish and Blotts, the final stop on our shopping spree. Inside, the parents and myself were given a brief moment to relax as the children were able to more or less pick out their own books. And a few extras in Hermione and Padma case.
"So, Mr. Weasley, I hear you've been cracking down on Dark artifacts. How's that been going?" I asked as I stood beside Arthur as the children browsed the bookstore.
"Yes, it's been a bit tricky, but it's rewarding work. Still, I'm glad to have time off at least," Mr. Weasley said fondly.
"Lucius Malfoy causing any troubles?" I inquired, and he grimaced.
"He has been helpful and cooperative. Which just makes me suspicious," he admitted.
"Yeah, I can see that," I muttered.
"As suspicious as I think it may be, sadly, not much I can do about it. He's an upstanding citizen, after all," Arthur said, though I could hear the sarcasm in his voice. It was as thick as treacle.
"The founder of their lineage would be ashamed to see what the Malfoys have become in this day and age," I sighed with a disgusted shake of the head.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, and I noted I suddenly had an audience. Mostly red-heads, but there were other colors mixed in thanks to Harry and his friends.
I was surprised that they'd heard me, but decided to roll with it and give a bit of context.
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