London, Diagon Alley, September 24th, 1999, 07.34 hours

"Luna! Over here!" Wand-Leader Hermione called when she saw her friend step out of the Floo connection in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hermione! Antoine! Good morning!" Luna beamed at them. "Here!" she said, dropping a special issue of The Quibbler on the table at which Hermione and Ron were eating breakfast. "Personal delivery just for you!"

"Thank you." Hermione picked the magazine up while Ron grabbed the Daily Prophet in case Luna tried to 'accidentally' vanish it - sometimes the blonde took the competition among Britain's leading publishers a bit too far. Today she didn't try anything, though, and seemed to be barely able to sit still on her seat. Which, in Hermione's experience, meant that the Lovegoods had scooped the Prophet.

A quick glance on the magazine's cover proved it. Next to the headline 'The Return of the Exiles' - she didn't know why Ron, reading over her shoulder, snorted at that, it was a catchy line - was the announcement of an exclusive interview with Albus Dumbledore.

"Very nice, Luna," Hermione said. Compared to the Prophet's coverage of Dumbledore - half hastily rewritten articles published under Lucius Malfoy's rule, half slightly polished articles dug out from the archives dating back to before 1981 - that was outstanding journalism. And clever propaganda. She was certain that the interview hadn't taken place last night, but had been done a few days ago.

Luna nodded several times, a wide smile on her face. "And the next regular issue will feature an interview with Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter!"

"You're milking this for all that it's worth, aren't you?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luna grinned shamelessly. "Daddy always said that doing good is nice, but doing well at sales is better!"

Ron chuckled. "And after them, Sirius Black?"

Luna pouted. "I would love to, but Daddy said he'll do that interview personally. So I'll be doing the Weasleys."

Ron coughed at that, and Hermione snorted. "I think you mean 'covering the Weasleys'," she said.

"Yes. At least the family members who will be coming over to Britain." Luna looked at Ron pointedly.

"That would be Arthur, Fred and George I believe," Hermione said.

"What about Ron? I hear he's an attractive young wizard. He could seduce you away from Antoine!" Luna grinned, but then pouted when she saw Hermione and Ron were wincing. "Sorry, I forgot." She smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "It's just…"

Hermione nodded. Luna and her father would be meeting the ghost of Pandora Lovegood today. The blonde witch was acting happy and carefree, but she was nervous, Hermione could tell. And the Wand-Leader was certain that her friend had been far more affected by the killing of Malfoy than she let on. She took Luna's hands in hers. "It'll be alright, Luna."

Luna sighed, but didn't say anything. Hermione felt for her friend - compared to what the Lovegoods were facing, Ron having to keep his real identity secret didn't seem to be that big a problem.

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Beauxbatons, France, September 24th, 1999, 08.05 hours

"You are returning to Britain then."

Olympe stood in the door to Albus Dumbledore's office and looked at the empty shelves. "Not just to fight your Dark Lord, but to stay," she added.

Albus nodded. "You knew that when you hired me."

The Headmistress of Beauxbatons sighed. "You couldn't beat him twenty years ago. What makes you think you can beat him now?"

"Experience?" Albus smiled, then grew serious. "Things have changed. Lucius knew the Dark Lord would return, and has raised an army in preparation. An army that desires to avenge his death at the Dark Lord's hand."

"And you're taking your own army with you." The witch stepped inside. "Back to the war from which you fled so long ago."

"A few friends are following me. You know that most of the exiles will not fight in the war." Albus knew that all too well. And not all of those who would be fighting should be fighting.

"But they will leave for Britain as well."

"Not all of them. Many have taken roots here in France. Found love, and families."

"The younger generation, yes. But your friends never really settled. You've always dreamed of returning to Britain. And taking revenge." Olympe looked at the desk, which was emptying itself into a chest, then back at him.

"Not many remain upon whom anyone here would wish revenge." And most of those left were now fighting for the Dark Lord.

"At least the Ministry will be happy that the threat of you and your friends launching an invasion from our soil is now gone. The English invited you back." Olympe snorted. "How fickle they are. Their Minister dies, and at once they forget that you were considered their enemy for a generation. Aren't you afraid that once you have defeated the Dark Lord, they'll turn on you again?"

Albus chuckled. "I doubt that. Britain loves its heroes. And Lucius took care to not let anyone grow into a leader able to threaten him."

"I don't like to see you go, Albus. And not simply because it spells the end of the Alchemy course at Beauxbatons."

"Nicholas has agreed to teach until the end of the year," Albus said. He was honouring his obligations; he wouldn't simply leave the school and his students hanging. Beauxbatons would have the most famous Alchemist alive replacing him.

"And he'll not teach a day longer?"

Albus nodded, acknowledging that. "There are others though." He had been teaching Alchemy here for almost twenty years. There had been several students who'd be able to teach by now.

"They're young. Inexperienced."

"They are talented, and willing. With the exception of Nicholas, none of us will be living forever. And even the Flamels might one day decide to go on the next great adventure. At my age, looking for a successor is the responsible thing to do."

"I expect you will be taking over Hogwarts then?"

Albus sighed.

Olympe raised her eyebrows, surprised. "You will not?"

"It might sound arrogant, but I think I'll be needed more at the Ministry. Hogwarts is in capable hands." It would need some changes, of course. But the most important ones wouldn't be possible without the support of the Wands. And Albus didn't know if they would agree to equal rights for muggleborns. It would mean the end of the Corps in its current state.

"I can but wish you luck then."

"Thank you."

He watched as the tall witch left his office.

"Is she gone now?" Behind him, the ghost of Pandora Lovegood floated. "Can we go now?"

He took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes."

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London, September 24th, 1999, 18.45 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione watched as the bus they were on passed through the streets of London. Diagon Alley would be growing darker now, she knew. Sunset was a few minutes away, and soon you'd need a wand to see where you were going. Muggle London wouldn't grow that dark, ever.

"Are you certain that you want me to be there when you meet your mother?" she asked Luna, who was sitting at her side. She didn't want to intrude on what was certain to be a very private, very emotional meeting. She had no experience with those kind of meetings. Due to the Obliviators, she couldn't even remember her own family's faces.

"Yes, I'm certain." Luna smiled at her.

"I just mean…" Hermione bit her lower lip. "I'm not exactly…"

"You're like my sister, Hermione." Luna hugged her. "I want you there, with me," she whispered into Hermione's ear, "when I meet Mummy's ghost. I need you," she added, sniffling.

Hermione rubbed the blonde's back. "Of course." Luna was putting on a brave face, but her friend was not doing well, she knew. And if she needed Hermione, then the Wand-leader would be there for her. Anywhere. Anytime.

The two were on their way to the safehouse with which Hermione was familiar. Ron was already there - he had taken the Vanishing Cabinet back with him in the morning. Hermione knew that Dumbledore was keeping it a secret. A wand up his sleeve, probably in case the Ministry didn't honour the agreement. She didn't know exactly how it would be used though - to provide a secure line of retreat, just in case, or to allow them to move around without getting tracked within Britain?

Luna released her, and returned to her seat on the bus. "Oh… did you see that? All the streetlights just went on. Do you know how they do that?"

Hermione knew that this wasn't Luna's first time in the muggle world. The blonde had been on expeditions with her father, after all. But if Luna wanted to change the topic, she would oblige her. "I think it's controlled by electricity," she said. She'd have to learn more about all that, she realised. She owed it to her own dead parents. And she didn't want to rely on Ron for that sort of knowledge forever.

"Ah." Luna nodded. "Did you meet your boyfriend's parents yet?"

"I saw his father. But I didn't talk to him."

"Maybe they'll be there as well. They haven't seen their son in a long time, have they?"

Hermione wasn't certain how to feel about that. Meeting Ron's friends and siblings was one thing, but his parents? That was different.

"I'm sorry…" Luna said, sucking on her lower lip. "I didn't want to remind you of your own parents."

"It's OK, Luna." She forced herself to smile. "I don't remember them."

Luna nodded. For a while, they sat in silence, watching as the night fell on the city.

"I'm nervous," Luna suddenly said.

Hermione looked at her.

"What if dying has changed her? What if she's not the Mummy I remember? What if… "

Hermione pulled the smaller girl into her arms. "She loves you. She wants to see you, and your Daddy." Who had gone ahead to interview Sirius.

Luna nodded, but she saw tears in her friend's eyes.

This wasn't a good idea, but she couldn't stop it. She could just hope her friend wouldn't be hurt too much.

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Luna's father was sitting in the living room, scribbling on a long scroll of parchment when they arrived at the safehouse. "Luna!" He jumped up, and the scroll fell to the ground where it started to roll itself up while he embraced his daughter.

Hermione herself was hugging Ron. "Everything went well?" she asked.

"Yes. We've been shifting supplies through the cabinet all day. Well, most of us," he added, with a glance at Mister Lovegood. "Sirius was busy getting interviewed."

"Ah." She smiled. "I saw your father last evening."

"I thought so." He grinned.

"Did you tell him about us?" she asked, starting to bite her lower lip.

"Well, my parents know I have a girlfriend. Ginny told them." He winced. "She didn't mean to, but they were having a row about her involvement in the attack on the Malfoys."

That was understandable.

"So… they want to meet you. For dinner. Tomorrow." He smiled weakly. "I'm sorry to spring this on you without warning, but… once you meet my mum, you'll understand."

That sounded ominous. "I guess so," she said. "We'll be travelling to France then?"

He nodded. "It'll be a family dinner. Apart from Percy, everyone will be there."

"I should disguise myself then." She snorted. "You can remove your disguise, and I'll pose as Ron Weasley's girlfriend."

"Merlin! But you're right - if it gets out that Dumbledore had agents in Britain for months, rumours will start that could threaten the agreement." He cocked his head to the side and made a show of studying her. "Would you rather be a blonde or a redhead?" Then he shook his head. "No… we already have enough redheads, and Mum's still not over how 'Fleur snagged Bill'. Dark hair would be best."

Hermione wondered even more about Ron's family. Before she could say anything, she heard steps on the stairs. A moment later, Dumbledore entered the living room.

"I see everyone has arrived. I have prepared a private room for the Lovegoods."

It was time.

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London, September 24th, 1999, 20.13 hours

Hermione did her best to hide her anxiety when she followed the Lovegoods and Dumbledore into the next room. The furniture was scarce - a seat, a couch, a low table - and didn't match. It didn't look new either, though she was certain that the room had served as a bedroom when she had visited the house for the first time.

Luna looked around, hesitantly, while even Xenophilius seemed to have grown more serious than usual.

Dumbledore smiled. "Mrs Lovegood will be with you in a moment." He nodded at them, then left, closing the door behind him.

Luna rubbed her arms, almost hugging herself. Before Hermione could move to her and touch her, a ghost floated through the door.

Luna gasped, and her father seemed frozen. For a moment, no one moved or said anything. Hermione looked at the ghost. The resemblance to Luna was obvious. The same hair, the same figure, just the face looked different. Not just older, but harder too, somehow.

Then the ghost smiled, and that hardness disappeared. "Luna."

"Mummy!" Luna sobbed, tears running down her face, then rushed towards the ghost, opening her arms, then stopped. The look on her face when she realised she couldn't touch her mother's ghost tore at Hermione's heart.

"Darling." Xenophilius stepped closer, putting his hand on Luna's shoulder. He was crying as well.

"My love." Pandora didn't cry. Ghosts might not be able to; Hermione didn't know.

"H-How are you doing?" Xenophilius asked.

The ghost looked surprised, then she chuckled. "You mean, how am I doing, being dead?"

Luna's father nodded. He was forcing himself to smile, Hermione thought.

"You would ask that," Pandora said. "I can talk and fly, but I cannot touch anything. I could have explored the world, but I was bound to a place. It was rather boring." Hermione felt that the ghost was understating things, for her family's benefit. Spending years bound to Rookwood must have been far worse than simply boring.

Luna sniffled, but wasn't crying anymore. "Mummy… were we the reason you became a ghost? Or were you afraid of dying, as the Headmaster said at Hogwarts?"

Pandora shook her translucent head. "No, my dear. I didn't choose this. I was summoned as a ghost by Rookwood, so he could force me to tell him about Malfoy."

Luna hissed, and her father scowled. "We did our best to avenge you, but we were not able to personally kill Lucius. We helped."

"And I killed his son!" Luna said.

"Very well done!"

Pandora smiled and for a moment, she looked very, very different from Luna. Cruel even. Luna's tales of her mother had painted a rather different picture, Hermione realised. Her friend's mother hadn't been that nice. At least not to everyone. And, she added, when she saw Luna beam at her mother's praise, maybe Luna might have more of her mother than she had thought as well.

"He cowardly murdered me for simply stumbling onto one of his schemes."

"And he fooled us into believing he was our friend," Luna's father added. "It shames me to remember how much we trusted him."

Luna nodded. "He was almost an uncle to me. And it was all a lie." She looked close to tears again. Hermione almost ran up to her, but held back. This was the Lovegoods' moment. She shouldn't intrude.

"It might not have been a complete lie," Pandora said. "I doubt he felt guilty for murdering me, but if he had disliked you, he'd have kept his distance after some gesture for the public."

Luna nodded, slightly consoled it seemed.

"But enough of that scum-drenched offal of a Nundu! Please tell me about your lives. I could only catch the barest glimpses through the newspaper, when I chanced to find one open, and Dumbledore hasn't told me much."

Luna nodded. "I've finished Hogwarts. I was in Ravenclaw."

She went on to tell her mother about her life - her expeditions, her work at The Quibbler, her many pets, and her time at Hogwarts. "At the start I had some troubles with my housemates, but then I made friends with Hermione, and she introduced me to the other Wands, and I was happy there."

"Your best friend is a Wand?" Pandora sounded surprised.

"Yes, Mummy. She found out about the lies of the Minister too."

Hermione saw the ghost turn towards her, and forced herself to smile. "Hello, Mrs Lovegood."

"She's the girlfriend of Ron Weasley," Luna helpfully added. "Though he is a spy, and so has to disguise himself as a Québecois."

"Remarkable."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. She felt like a specimen under that close scrutiny. So she simply nodded. "Thank you."

"She also saved our lives, together with Arthur's son," Xenophilius pointed out, "when the Dark Lord attacked our home." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to say that the Rook didn't survive. We lost so much of what we built up together."

Pandora nodded. "But you two are still alive. Trust me, I'm in the unique position to know that that is all that really matters."

"And we have saved the animals as well!" Luna said. "Voley saved us too." She proceeded to mention all the pets of the Lovegoods, past and present. Her friendship with Astoria Greengrass, and her expeditions. "We haven't found snorkacks yet though, but we're close. Really close."

"Have you found anyone in your life?" Pandora asked when Luna had finished, and Hermione couldn't tell who she was asking - her former husband, her daughter, or both.

Luna's father shook his head. Luna said: "Not someone serious. Most of my friends are Wands, and with the exception of Hermione, they didn't look for marriage to a pureblood."

Hermione felt the need to defend the Corps. "It wasn't as if such thoughts were encouraged, Mrs Lovegood. Quite the contrary. My relationship to Ron wasn't received that well either."

The ghost nodded at her, but turned back to Luna. "You're still young, dear. You'll find the right one."

Luna nodded, smiling.

The ghost sighed then. "I wish I could say the same to you… but I'm not quite certain," she said, looking at her former husband.

Xenophilius smiled. "If it happens it happens. I know I'll meet you again, someday."

Luna gasped. "Does that mean you'll leave, Mummy? But I have still so much to tell you!"

"I shouldn't be here, dear. I was forced to return, in a way, by a cruel wizard. And my consciousness lingered a bit longer, so I might see my family again."

Luna sobbed, and while her father nodded in agreement, he was crying once more.

"Live long, live well, and find happiness. Pursue your dream, no matter what others say. And crush whoever means you or yours harm."

The ghost reached out then, her spectral hands touching her daughter and her husband, and she started to fade, growing dimmer and more translucent.

"Remember: I love you," Pandora said, before she disappeared completely.

Hermione stood there for a moment, hearing Luna sob and Xenophilius consoling her, before she jerked, and stepped over to her friend, wrapping her arms around her.

In another room, Albus Dumbledore ended the spells he had used to observe the meeting. He felt guilty about eavesdropping on such an emotional and private, intimate even, occasion, but needs must. And the result justified his means, at least in this case.

He glanced at the stone in his hand. As he had suspected, Pandora hadn't been a true ghost. She hadn't been a mere imprint of a witch's consciousness at the time of her death, like a painting, but a true soul, summoned back from the afterlife and bound to the Resurrection Stone. Something Augustus certainly would be paying for in his afterlife.

Albus had broken that bond tonight, and Pandora had passed on after meeting her family, who hopefully had been able to find some closure.

And he had found new hope that he might be able to save another soul.