Four days before her wedding, Luna did not need another problem. She still had not finalized the instructions for running The Daily Quibbler while she would be off on her ten day honeymoon. However instead of doing real work, she was in her office arguing with a caterer. The whole thing had begun so innocently when an owl, from Fleur Weasley, delivering a last minute request that Luna invite Fleur’s sister Gabrielle to the wedding. Luna was fine with having the young woman at the wedding, but now she found the caterer making noises about additional costs and violation of agreed upon terms. She looked into the woman’s eyes, hoping to find common ground for a compromise. What could she give the woman other than more galleons? And then a solution came to her: publicity. Luna promised that a story in The Daily Quibbler would mention the caterer by name and give her business address if she’d just go away and leave her alone.

As the satisfied caterer left the office, a folder with the name Neville Longbottom on it flew from the archives and landed upon Luna’s desk. She opened the folder and tapped one of the runes inscribed on the folder with her wand. Suddenly, all of the papers rearranged themselves into the desired order, with the most recent stories on the top of the pile.

Luna reached down and looked at a sports story detailing how the Durmstrang champion had won the Tri-Wizard Tournament this spring. The story included a photograph, which showed from left to right: Viktor Krum and his champion, Madame Maxime and her champion Gabrielle Delacour, and Neville with the Hogwarts champion. Luna smiled at picture of Neville. He wore on his dress robes the little Aquavirius Firefly pin she had given him as a graduation present. The article, while very well written, still gave her no clues as to Neville’s current whereabouts.

Luna turned over the page and looked at the previous story in the file. The story was a Daily Prophet society page article about the Yule Ball held at the Beauxbatons Academy. She saw that a picture also accompanied the article. The photo was nearly the same as the Quibbler’s Tri-Wizard Tournament picture. In the second photo was Krum, the Durmstrang champion and his Beauxbatons date, Madame Maxime standing next to Gabrielle, Neville standing next to the Hogwarts champion and her date a Beauxbatons boy. She started to flip to the next previous article when something odd about the photograph clicked in her mind. She looked again at the Yule Ball photograph and smiled. In the picture something very obvious was missing, and something almost as obvious was present. That combination made it all finally make sense to her. Neville would be at her wedding.

Luna felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had not realized how much having him at the wedding truly meant to her. She called in her secretary, Millicent, and told her to cancel all of her appointments for the afternoon. She would make a surprise trip to Hogsmeade to see Neville. She wondered if he might just try to surprise her in return.

After her Monday morning Charms class, Luna stood patiently in the queue behind the more pushy seventh-years that were looking for guidance from Professor Flitwick for their upcoming Charms N.E.W.T. exam. She had passed the time in line by marveling at how the morning sunlight was illuminating a spider’s web in the corner of the Charms class room when she heard someone clear their throat. Luna turned to her right and saw Neville dressed in the dusty coveralls he wore as a groundskeeper at Hogwarts. He was wearing a grim face and obviously struggling to find the right words to say something difficult.

She beat him to the punch. “Is it Ginny?” she asked.

“No. Luna, your father collapsed at The Quibbler and he has been taken to St. Mungo’s,” sputtered Neville, trying his best to sound reassuring.

“Is he alive?” Luna heard herself say.

“Yes,” answered Neville, “The headmistress has arranged for a Portkey to take you straight to St. Mungo’s. I can go along with you, if you want. “

Luna didn’t answer. She had already lost her mother. Ginny was alive, but just hanging on thanks to the dragon’s blood elixir. Now, her father was in the hospital. “Do I curse everyone I care about?” she thought to herself.

Luna didn’t recall much until she arrived in the entrance lobby of the hospital with Neville. He led her to an office where a silver haired healer in a green smock greeted her.

“You can tell me the truth. He’s going to die isn’t he?” said Luna.

“No, the poor man’s heart just had an attack caused by stress and fatigue,” said the reassuring voice of the attending Healer. “From what I was told, he lived in your hospital room for over a month while trying to run his business,” explained the doctor. “I’ve given him a potion and sleeping draught. He’ll be awake in the late morning at the earliest. You’ll need to tell him slow down for a while.”

Luna looked into the healer’s eyes looking for deception. She saw none. She thought about the healer’s words. Telling her father to slow down was one thing, but getting him to do it would be another.

In the hallway just outside her father’s ward, Luna met Millicent, her father’s grey-haired secretary. Millicent had found him on the floor near his desk and, along with Cuthbert had gotten him to St. Mungo’s. Luna hugged the older woman. As they separated from the hug, the Millicent reached out and took Luna by the hand.

“He’s been pushing himself too hard! After you went back to school, he practically lived in his office. I told him: Linus Lovegood, now that your daughter is back at school, go take a holiday and not work so hard. You know how he gets when he’s been told not to do something,” Millicent said, nodding her head at Luna to emphasize her opinion.

“I’d just been in there not twenty minutes earlier to give him a special owl post. Then I heard a crashing sound,” the older woman said catching her breath. “I wouldn’t know what we’d do without him. Without him there would be no Quibbler,” Millicent added as she absent-mindedly patted Luna’s hand.

Luna excused herself and slipped quietly into the ward where her father was. She stepped around the wall of off-white linen partitions and found him fast asleep. Luna crept over to the bed, kissed him on the forehead and sat down on the visitor’s chair. He seemed so small and strangely frail lying in the bed. She suddenly realized that she could not see him breathing! In a small panic, Luna dug through her purse and pulled out an old pair of Quibbler spectrespecs. She slipped them on over her ears and through the glasses, she saw the ripples of energy caused by his shallow breathing pass through his multi-colored aura. She watched the ripples from each of her father’s breaths echo around the room, touching everyone in the ward. The universe always seemed so much more alive and the life in it so much more interconnected when she wore her glasses. Luna felt the slight trickle of a tear on her left cheek, but she did not have the energy to remove the glasses to wipe it away. As she sat, she slowly pulled her feet up off the floor, folded her legs and nimbly tucked them under her hips. As she watched, she began unconsciously to make little rocking motions with her body. She kept watch with an unblinking stare, feeling somehow safe and hidden behind the gaudy spectacles.

Luna didn’t even realize that she was no longer alone at the bedside until Neville waved his hand in front of her eyes. He started to talk, but she did not dare to turn her gaze away from her father. A small part of her was afraid to take her eyes off of him; she feared that if she did he’d somehow disappear.

Neville started talking even without any acknowledgement of his presence, “Luna, I know this place just up the street. The food is okay. You need to eat or else you’ll be in a ward up the hall. I can’t have all my friends in the hospital, now can I?” When Luna did not move, he took a deep breath and spoke again.

“Please at least come and watch me eat. It’s so boring eating at the staff table at school and it would be nice to have some real company for once,” Neville added, searching for any argument that would revive Luna and get her off her chair.

The little café near St. Mungo’s was filled with hospital visitors and staff members. Luna picked over a vegetable dish that Neville had recommended. He tried repeatedly to get her to talk about school or how she was feeling. She could not answer; it was like her brain was numb. She no longer wanted to do anything. She just wanted to go back to the ward, sit in her chair, and watch the world pass them by through her spectrespecs.

The duo finally left the restaurant and returned to the hospital. Neville helped guide Luna into the lift. When the doors opened, they stepped out. It took about three steps down the hall before Luna realized that they had somehow gotten out on the wrong floor. She started to turn back when Neville took her by the arm.

“I thought we ought to stop by and see Ginny. After all, neither of us can help our parents right now, so maybe we can help her,” he suggested.

As the two of them walked up the hall toward Ginny’s private room, they saw Fred Weasley leaning against the white tiled walls outside a closed door.

“Well, if it isn’t Loony and the Professor,” Fred said. “How are you doing Luna? Feeling all right?” he asked with a wary tone in his voice.

Luna didn’t answer, so Fred looked to Neville for an explanation.

“Luna’s father was admitted this morning, and I thought we’d check up on Ginny. How’s she doing?” Neville said.

Fred shrugged and asked Luna about her dad. Again, she couldn’t find the willpower to respond. Neville gave Fred a short version of Mr. Lovegood’s prognosis.

While Neville talked, Fred scratched a finger nail into the white tile and said to no one in particular, “I hate this place. I’ve spent too many hours walking these damn halls. Do you think we’ll ever be normal again?”

Luna’s all-too-loud laugh caught the two men off guard. “Since when have the three of us ever been considered normal?” spoke Luna, struggling to hold onto her regular voice.

“I’ve always been normal! It’s George that’s the nutter,” replied Fred, acting for once like the old Fred. Neville laughed, and Luna let a small smile escape.

Fred teased Neville about his groundskeeper position at Hogwarts and brought up a rumor he had recently heard, “Is it true that old McGonagall asked Hermione if she’d like to eventually come back to Hogwarts and teach Transfiguration? I wonder what Ron will do if she says yes?”

Neville’s only response was a half a smile.

“Maybe, Ron should put her on the spot by asking Hermione a question first,” Luna spoke blandly. “Hermione has always liked answering questions.”

Neville’s chortle was interrupted, as Ginny’s hospital room door opened and Healer Albus Pomfrey stepped into the hall. He started by telling Fred that Ginny had been given her dragon blood draught and she would be asleep for an hour or so. It was only after he finished his update that he seemed to notice Fred’s companions.

“Hello, Luna. You look,” he paused, “tired.” It was obvious he had been ready to say something about her looks but the strain of the day must have been obvious on her face.

“Father was admitted this morning. The healer says stress got to his heart,” described Luna.

“I’ll drop by later and check in on Linus, unofficially, if you don’t mind. Your father, Neville, and I became acquainted while we waited on you to come out of your coma,” said Albus. As Luna and Albus talked, a nurse approached the doctor with a question about a potion.

Luna couldn’t help but watch him talk to the other woman. Albus was not only easy on the eye, but the sight of him seemed to truly awaken her for the first time since she had received the news about her father. Luna wondered if all women felt this way about their doctors or was it something about him that affected her so?

As Luna watched the nurse and Albus walk down the hall, she heard Fred say, “Nice bloke, Pomfrey. He really takes a personal interest in his patients doesn’t he?”

Luna felt her face warm as she turned back to faced him. “Well, he is a rather talented healer,” asserted Luna. She saw Fred and Neville smirk at each other.

Fred, having gotten the update on his sister, slapped Neville on the shoulder and departed. Luna told Neville not to wait for her and that she’d be back later to see Ginny. She felt much more awake as she took the lift to her dad’s floor and noticed Millicent and Cuthbert were seated in the waiting room. Luna went over to them, hugged the older man, and thanked him for helping Millicent get her father here.

“Anything to help, Miss,” stated the ever-formal accountant. “However, there is a bit of a problem, Miss. You see, I’ve got some papers that need to be signed today. Now I checked with the barrister, and he said you could sign them for your father with a witness,” Cuthbert added.

Luna felt a wave of annoyance at such cheek. “Can’t they wait?” she asked, not caring how she sounded.

“I’m afraid not, Miss. The papers are for Gingotts, and you know how the Goblins are about their deadlines,” said Cuthbert very apologetically. “If we don’t get the paperwork to the bank, they’ll repossess the magazine. Luckily, you just came of age and are listed as an officer in the family business. You can sign for him, Miss,” he explained.

Luna knew her father trusted the man. He would have signed any amount of paperwork that that Cuthbert recommended without even pausing to reading it. However, if she was going to sign something she wanted to have at least a minimal knowledge of what she was signing.

“Do we have time for you to explain what I’m signing?” she asked, bowing to the inevitable.

The Quibbler, which had always run on a shoestring, was in deep financial trouble. Ever since the Harry Potter interview, many of the Quibbler’s larger advertisers had stopped or cut back their dealings with the magazine. Only Fred and George’s W3 Ltd. had recently increased their advertising. In spite of record circulation, advertisement receipts were down. The facts didn’t make sense to Luna. The paperwork that needed signing was an attempt by Luna’s father to mortgage their house to keep the business going. She read it and with some misgivings signed where the barrister had indicated on the document. Cuthbert quickly added his name as a witness to the signing and used an ink drying spell on the signatures.

“Sorry about the rush, Miss. It’s this strange downturn in revenue; your father says it’s not natural, but you know your father, Miss. It was all going get better with the next issue,” he instructed. “Oh, and here are the other papers he had on his desk. I figured he’d want them even if the doctor forbade it,” said Cuthbert, shaking his head.

As her father’s employees rushed off to Gringotts, Luna glanced at the papers. They included a rough draft on an article with about the Ministry using Thestrals to locate and kill the remaining giants; an envelope addressed to Fred and George Weasley; and a scroll with a broken seal from the Ministry of Magic. Luna looked at the scroll. She remembered that her father had received a special owl post prior to his attack. Was this document that triggered her father’s attack? Luna did a spell to detect any magic, but found that the scroll to be neither cursed nor blessed.

Luna sat at the side of her father’s bed. She looked at him several times trying to gather enough courage to read the document. Finally, she unrolled the parchment and began to read it. As Luna read the scroll, she became angry. The more she read, the angrier she got.

What surprised her most was the signature. After reading the signature, Luna read the scroll a second time looking for signs of hidden agendas or traps. She found none. Luna had to tell someone, but whom? To give her self time to think, she pulled her wand from behind her left ear and unsealed the envelope her father had prepared for posting. The letter to the Weasleys was not a thank you letter or an invoice; it was an invitation to a council of war. Luna gathered the papers, kissed her father on the forehead and headed for Diagon Alley.

Luna went to the address on her father’s envelope. At the address was a simple unadorned oak door next to a golden nameplate that had been embedded in the brick: W3 Limited. Across the street stood Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, which had spread out of their original street front space to become the largest and busiest business in Diagon Alley. The stores included the original joke shop, a clothing store, and a small Quidditch supply shop. Luna was impressed. Fred and George had built a budding business empire and found the time to fight Voldemort on the side.

She took a deep breath, turned the knob and entered into the building.

“May, I help you?” asked a blonde young woman who was clearly the receptionist.

“I need to speak to Fred or George about urgent personal business,” asserted Luna.

“Sorry, their calendars are all full for the rest of the day. I can fit you in with Mr. George Weasley on Wednesday at two,” said the woman after checking the brothers’ calendars.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” lied Luna, feigning deafness.

The receptionist looked up into her eyes and Luna summoned the Wrackspurt. “I’m sorry I can’t remember what I was doing,” the confused young woman said.

“You were about to announce to your employers that Luna Lovegood was here to see them,” instructed Luna, feeling a bit uneasy because she had never used the Wrackspurt this way.

The receptionist raised a wand to her throat and announced Luna just like she’d been told.

Fred came out of an office into the reception area. “Verity, we told you no interruptions,” said the exasperated man. Spotting Luna, Fred asked, “Is it something to do with Ginny?”

“No. It’s about Percy and the ministry. All I need is a half hour; I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t urgent,” begged Luna.

Fred looked at Luna and smiled. He took her by his good arm and escorted her back to the office he’d just left. The glass in the office door bore the names Fred and George Weasley on it.

“We’ve got company,” announced Fred

“Luna, good to see you,” George said looking over what seemed to be a small flying broom. “It’s not about Ginny is it?” He asked.

“It’s our prodigal brother, she said,” piped Fred.

“My father received a special post owl from the ministry. Inside was a letter from your brother. The letter was about discussions between Scrimgeour and the Daily Prophet. The scroll claims that Scrimgeour is worried about Harry’s popularity and what might happen if one of the trio were to decide to enter into politics,” stated Luna.

“Harry enters politics! No way! We can’t even get him to publicly fly one of our new racing brooms. All Harry wants is a quiet peaceful life..,” started George.

“And Ginny by his side,” finished Fred.

“You can’t blame him. He’s been under the old microscope since he was a tot. Now Hermione, she might try it just to push through that S.P.E.W. rubbish,” suggested George.

“Can you imagine our little Ronnie drinking tea and eating cucumber sandwiches with all the other first ladies?” snorted Fred.

“Stop it you two! This is serious! Scrimgeour and the Prophet are going to use the paper to rewrite history and they’re going to use Rita Skeeter to do it. In return, the ministry is going to put pressure on businesses to only advertise in the Prophet. Their circulation has fallen since the smear campaign against Dumbledore and Harry. And they are threatening to name ministry names unless Scrimgeour helps them,” spoke Luna.

“And Percy sent a warning to your father?” pondered George. “If he has anything to do with it, it’s got to be a ministry plot. Percy is out for Percy and no one else,” he added.

Luna took a deep breath; there was no time for secrets. “The Quibbler is failing. Our circulation is up, yet advertisers are canceling out right and left. I talked to a couple of our oldest advertisers, and they seemed very unwilling to say why they switched from us to the Prophet. It all fits with Percy’s letter,” explained Luna.

Fred and George started speaking to each other in what almost seemed a code to Luna. One would start a thought and the other would finish it.

Finally, George spoke to Luna, “You arrange a meeting with our beloved older brother. Do it through our new sister-in-law, Penelope. That should draw less attention. If he seems to be on the up-and-up, come back and we might have something to talk to you about.”

Luna pondered George’s comment on her way back to the hospital. As she came back into her father’s ward, Luna saw Albus Pomfrey waving his wand over the sleeping man.

“I thought it was an unofficial visit,” prompted Luna, holding in a surge of excitement.

“It is. I was just waiting and thought I’d check on his progress. No charge,” replied the doctor.

“You were waiting?” wondered Luna. She smiled. Was he waiting here to see her?.

“Father won’t be awake until tomorrow,” stated Luna, adjusting the hair around her wand. “So you’ll have to settle for me as company,” she added.

“Well, I’m off my rounds and I’ve got these two tickets to a Muggle play tonight in the West End. The play is about a boy and some horses. I thought it would be good for my patient to get some fresh air and take her mind off of things,” the young healer announced in a bad attempt at being nonchalant.

“I’d be glad to go, but first I have to run back to Hogwarts and tell Professor Flitwick that I’ll be staying in London for a while,” Luna replied.

Pomfrey seemed to smile at Luna’s mention of staying for a while. Luna borrowed Albus’ hospital owl and sent a note to Flitwick. She used the Floo network to get back to Hogwarts. After arriving at Hogwarts, she had to interrupt Professor Flitwick’s first-year Charm’s class to update her head of house. She rushed to the Ravenclaw dorms and back to the Professor’s office with her trunk and Andromache’s cage. Suddenly, Luna stopped and looked around at the room. A sense of finality swept over her, and she wondered where it had come from. Luna thanked Professor Flitwick, who had arrived after his class was over, for all he’d done for her and stepped into the green fire.

On Tuesday afternoon her father woke up. Luna hid the fact that she knew everything about the financial trouble the family business was in. She mentioned in passing that Cuthbert had her sign something, but she claimed that she hadn’t even read the documents before signing them because Cuthbert had said that it was just ordinary some paperwork. Linus Lovegood’s face seemed to relax because his ‘little girl’ was ignorant of all of his problems. If it would help her father heal and get out of the hospital, she was willing to let him believe anything.

Luna did have one uncomfortable moment that afternoon, when Albus asked her out on another date in front of her father. He suggested meeting for a Friday night supper, but Luna declined. She had never had an evening like the previous night’s date. She had never been so alive as she had been while being with Albus. However, she had already set up the meeting with Percy Weasley for Friday evening. Luna begged off telling him she’d already promised Ginny to go to The Burrow to visit with Molly since she was living alone now. The statement was true, except for the lie at the heart of it. Luna would be at the Burrow with Molly but so would Percy and Penelope.

As a slight look of disappointment crossed Albus’ face, Luna was filled with the fear that he might miss interpret her declining his offer as disinterest in him. He’s leaving! Do something! Say something! She swallowed her insecurity and did the unthinkable.

“Albi, there’s this little café near here that Neville took me to. I was wondering. If you’re not too busy one day this week, could we meet for lunch?” As soon as she finished the sentence, Luna wished she could use a time turner to take back her impetuous remark. What were you thinking?

He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before a smile started growing on his face. “I’ve got no plans for lunch Wednesday. Can I pick you up here?” Albus asked. Luna nodded her head in total disbelief at what just happened, and the smiling doctor left the ward.

When Luna turned toward her father, she saw a new twinkle in his eyes. In the past, Luna would have died from embarrassment to have her father see her act so brazen. Loony Luna Lovegood had asked a boy, no a man, out on a date and he said yes! She couldn’t wait to go upstairs and tell Ginny what had happened.

“I’d like to thank you for letting us meet here,” said Luna to Molly Weasley.

“You’re welcome, dear. I mean after what you did for Ginny and the Order it’s the very least I can do. Besides, the old place is just so empty these days without Arthur,” Molly broke into tears. Luna, who had never been good with dealing with emotions, watched helplessly as the older woman tried to pull herself together. “Besides, it will be good to see Percy, even if he doesn’t want to see me,” sobbed Molly.

Molly’s sobs were interrupted by a light-rapping on The Burrow’s wooden back door. Molly jumped, blew her nose, and tried to hide the fact she had been crying before she answered the door. As the door swung open, Percy Weasley stepped cautiously into the kitchen. He looked more nervous and thinner than the pompous head boy Luna remembered. Following her husband into the house was a very pregnant Penelope Clearwater Weasley.

Molly shrieked, “Oh Perce, why didn’t you tell me?” as she summoned her own cushioned wooden kitchen chair for her daughter-in-law. “You’re what five, maybe six months along?” quizzed Molly, using her experienced eye on the bulge.

“Four and half actually, I’m just big because…it’s twins,” blurted out the young mother-to-be.

Molly’s smile threatened to leap off her face as she took Penelope in her arms.

“Twins! Oh, they’re a handful. Now you make sure Percy helps out. Arthur tried, but he was all,” Molly started as her face fell from ecstasy into sorrow with the reminder of the grandchildren her husband would never know. Penelope hugged Molly as tight as she could without her stomach getting in the way. Molly, now composed, stepped back, looked into the younger woman’s eyes and took Penelope’s hand into hers.

Penelope spoke first, “Percy and Luna have some business they need to discuss. Why don’t we go into the other room? You can tell all about raising twins and about Arthur. I never did get to meet him.” As she got up out of the chair, Penelope placed Molly’s hand on her belly where she’d just felt a slight movement. Molly’s wide smile blossomed again. As the two women left the kitchen, Molly started telling Penelope a story about the night Percy was born and how a nervous Arthur had stepped out the wrong grate on their way to the hospital.

“Thanks for suggesting that I bring Penny along. I don’t know how my homecoming would have been without her,” said Percy, watching the two women leave the kitchen.

“Penelope was a good Prefect. She kept some Slytherin girls from flushing my head in Moaning Myrtle’s toilet during my first year. She helped me through a lot that year,” reflected Luna. “Besides, they have a lot in common now. They are both mothers of Weasley children and they both really do love you,” she added, looking into Percy’s eyes.

Percy just swallowed and averted his eyes from Luna. “I know Ginny trusts you, but can I? If this gets out, I’ll lose my job. I just couldn’t stay quiet. Couldn’t have faced Penelope and the babies if I didn’t try and do something,” he said as he paused to remove and inspect his spectacles. “Skeeter and the Prophet came to Scrimgeour with an article saying Umbridge, Fudge, and Scrimgeour had bullied the paper into going after Dumbledore and Harry. It’s rubbish. They did it for circulation and because they could,” Percy spat, with a touch of his old judgmental tone in his voice.

Luna looked at Percy. She picked up the mug of cocoa that Molly had made for her and drank carefully, watching his face. She was desperately fighting the urge to summon a Wrackspurt to find out if he was lying. If he wasn’t lying, the use of the Wrackspurt could break any trust between them and the story would disappear.

“You mentioned talk about a series of upcoming stories,” prodded Luna.

“Yes. Cuffe, the editor, pitched an idea to Scrimgeour to have the Daily Prophet publish the ‘official’ history of Harry Potter and the final battle. I was only there for a little while, but they’re writing Dumbledore and Harry right out of everything,” continued Percy.

He stood up and walked a lap around the cluttered kitchen, nervously summoning a drinking glass and using his wand to fill it with water. With water glass in hand, he continued his pacing of the kitchen.

“They suggested having Scrimgeour and Lockhart discover the Chamber of Secrets and make it seem that Harry’s meddling that caused the Heir of Slytherin to erase Lockhart’s memory. Scrimgeour slays the Basilisk, rescues Harry and an unnamed girl. Ginny, Ron and Dumbledore aren’t even mentioned,” reported Percy.

Percy finished another lap of the room and sat down, looking Luna squarely in the face.

“I won’t be surprised if don’t they have ministry Aurors defeating the Death Eaters and not the Order. Dad and Charlie’s sacrifice could be erased, forgotten like they didn’t exist. How could I stay quiet about that?” explained Percy.

Luna believed him and his story made her worried. “Did they have an idea about when the stories would come out?” she asked.

“Cuffe wanted things to cool down. They want Ginny to be out of the hospital for a while. Later, the Daily Prophet would make a show out of demanding the true story to be told. The ministry would open up the ‘sealed reports’ and Skeeter would do ‘in depth research’,” proclaimed Percy.

Luna smiled at the idea of Rita Skeeter doing research. “A couple of years, maybe?” asked Luna.

“Scrimgeour suggested they start demanding the true story around the fifth anniversary of Dumbledore’s death. That way they can start erasing him from public memory,” advised Percy looking shamefaced. “And to think, I am one of them,” he said looking down at his hands.

“Would you be willing tell Fred and George this?” Luna asked.

Percy looked up at her with an expression like he had just been sentenced to a Dementor’s Kiss. Silently, he nodded and exhaled.

“Now, you go in that room and kiss your Mother. She needs the support of all of her children. And maybe somewhere in the stories about grandbabies and your father, the healing will start,” instructed Luna.

As Percy left the table and walked into the living room, Luna stood up and marched out of the kitchen door. She had to see Fred and or George tonight.

The twins had insisted on an out of the way meeting place, so Luna had opened up the family house just outside of the Ottery St. Catchpole. The house was rarely used, because Luna’s mother had died there in the solarium. After her death, Luna’s father had the house shuttered and moved himself and Luna into a flat above the Quibbler. The house was only opened for holidays and the very rare vacations from the magazine.

Fred and George sat together across the dining room table from their brother Percy, Luna and her father, Linus.

George spoke first, “We’ve all heard Percy’s story.” He looked at this older brother who squirmed very uncomfortably. “We only see two ways to react to it,” added George.

“Option number one, we denounce them now,” explained Fred.

“However, they’ll just deny everything,” said George.

“Percy will have to go public with his story,” said Fred.

“But it would look like we were after the Ministry for our own gain,” noted George.

”And Percy would lose his job with our nephews or nieces on the way,” added Fred.

“And Scrimgeour would wait and then go ahead and do what he wants anyway,” exclaimed George.

“While the ministry makes life difficult for W3 Limited,” sighed Fred.

“And they’d do it,” agreed Percy.

“Bloody politicians,” Linus grunted.

“So, we can’t openly denounce them now,” explained George.

Luna felt confused. She thought she had been invited to the meeting so she could make sure her father didn’t overexert himself. Now the Weasley twins said they should not denounce the conspirators? If they weren’t going to do anything, why were they whispering to each other and stealing peaks at her?

“You mean we are just going to let them win? We can’t let them win!” announced Luna.

“We didn’t say that! What we propose is option number two, which may be the harder option,” stated Fred, eying the two Lovegoods.

“Option two, we secretly buy the Quibbler,” started George.

“And turn it into a newspaper to rival the Prophet. There are enough former Daily Prophet employees that are mad enough at Cuffe to start up a decent paper,” said Fred.

Luna’s father stood up with his hands raised in the air and his face enraptured. “The Quibbler takes on the Daily Prophet! That has always been my dream, and I know just what the first investigative series should be,” he announced.

Luna looked at her father. He had been told to slow down and take it easy for his health. He couldn’t start up a newspaper. The work load might kill him.

“Ah, there’s the rub,” Fred sighed, looking to George.

“The what?” said Linus.

“We would need the new Quibbler to be different from the old magazine. The paper will need fewer oddball conspiracies and more hard news,” added George.

“And a new editor-in-chief,” prompted Fred, looking straight at Luna.

“You’re going to take my magazine away and let a stranger run it? No, I’ll expose Scrimgeour in the very next issue of the Quibbler,” Linus roared, boiling with indignation.

“If you do that, Scrimgeour will just tell the public to look at the source and laugh it off,” quipped George.

“That worked mostly with Harry’s interview. Enough people don’t trust the Quibbler for real news. Sorry,” apologized Fred.

Luna looked at the twins. “You want me to run it don’t you,” she stated flatly.

“Yes, with guidance from your father and some of the Prophet refugees. Luna, you are a member of Harry’s inner circle. When it comes time to tell the real story, people will put more trust in someone like that,” started George.

“Someone who was really there and saw what really happened,” finished Fred.

“That’s our offer. W3 buys a controlling interest in the Quibbler on the sly,” offered George.

“The magazine closes for a short time because of Linus’ health,” added Fred.

“Luna reopens the Quibbler as a newspaper,” said George.

“And Percy stays at the ministry gathering intelligence for us,” noted Fred.

“All the while the new Quibbler starts to build a reputation as newspaper you can trust for real news,” said George.

“Just before they are ready, Percy quits his job and takes a middle management job with W3,” proposed Fred.

“That means working for us, Perce,” a smiling George teased.

“When they are ready to trash Harry, Dumbledore and the Order, the new Quibbler denounces them and prints the true story about Harry and the war against You-Know-Who,” Fred finished triumphantly.

Luna took a look at the men on both sides of her and saw their apprehension. “If I’m the new editor, Father will have a column where he can write whatever he wants,” she announced.

“The Ancient Quibbler,” proclaimed a grinning George.

“That’s what George and I’ve been calling it, but the actual name would be up to you, madam editor,” smiled Fred.

Luna looked at her father. He seemed to have recovered from the shock; he was looking back and forth between the twins and his daughter. The Quibbler was more than his magazine; it was his life. So Luna waited. Whatever he decided they should do, she would follow. George seemed to read Luna’s mind.

“If you don’t accept, Linus, the Goblins will take your magazine and this fine house soon enough. It would be really sad for us to have fought and won the war against You-Know-Who, and then lose the peace to a bunch of gits,” George noted, using the insight and negotiation skills that had probably closed many a deal for W3 Limited.

Linus Lovegood just nodded his head to the inevitable. Luna felt a little ashamed at her excitement at the possibilities of the offer. As she smiled, she was struck a flash of inspiration.

“We’ll call it The Daily Quibbler. Eventually to be published on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays,” announced Luna.

“It’s called The Daily Quibbler and it won’t be daily,” said a confused Percy Weasley.

“If it was published daily then The Daily Quibbler wouldn’t truly be the Quibbler now would it?” she said with a smile.

“Here, here!” spoke Linus Lovegood with his eyes full of pride at his daughter’s grasp of the obvious.