Tales of a Spiritual Warrior

Chapter Three: Dinner at the Lovegood's

Mr. Lovegood turned out to be a tall, thin wizard with graying hair, and pale, shiny eyes like Luna's. He was absolutely delighted to meet Harry.

"I never got a chance to thank you before, Harry. That article in the Quibbler about you and You-Know-Who really turned things around for us. I know we print a lot of unusual items, but there's a lot of truth in there, too."

"I really appreciated you running it. It made all the difference in the world for me." Harry began to understand Luna better, now that he was seeing her with her father. They both used eccentricity to cover up deeper thoughts.

The dinner was excellent, and they all had a pleasant talk. Mr. Lovegood mentioned that he had seen the Macmillans earlier in the day.

"How's Ernie?' asked Harry.

"Didn't look happy," Mr. Lovegood replied. "His parents are trying to bind him to the Abbott girl."

"Hannah?" Harry asked, surprised. "I've never seen him look twice at her."

"If your parents want you to marry a pure-blood," Luna said, pouring tea, "sometimes you don't always have a lot of choices."

"Poor child," Mr. Lovegood sighed. "A very old-fashioned idea to my mind." He looked at Harry fondly. "I remember when your dad first took your mother home, Harry. Your grandparents adored her from the start. They were quite impressed by how bright she was."

Harry was very interested. So few people talked to him about his parents. All too soon, however, Mr. Lovegood looked at the clock, and gasped with alarm. "Is that the time? I must go! I promised to meet some advertising people for a drink."

"Oh, Dad! Do you have to work at night, too?" cried Luna.

"Just until things get sorted out," Mr. Lovegood assured her, planting a quick kiss on her cheek. "I hope to see you again, soon, Harry. Why don't you stop by the office in the morning and I'll show you how we run things at the Quibbler."

"I'd like that," said Harry, rising to shake Mr. Lovegood's hand, and he meant it. When the older man had gone, Harry turned back to his dessert. "Do you think Ernie's parents will force him to marry Hannah?"

"They can't force him against his will, but they can lean on him until he agrees," Luna answered, gathering up some dishes to take into the kitchen.

A bit embarrassed, Harry followed her. He explained, "I just don't know much about these things. It seems kind of early for Ernie to be pressured into thinking about something so serious. I never think that far ahead...because I'm still a target you know. I'm happy that you care about me, but I still don't know why you do, as dangerous as it is."

"The Death Eaters have known since I went to the Ministry with you that I'm on your side. So what's the difference if I'm a little closer now than I was then?"

Harry had no answer for that, except a grateful kiss.

Luna came to the Leaky Cauldron early the next morning and she and Harry had breakfast together before she took him to the Quibbler office. Harry had no idea of what was involved in running a magazine, and found it fascinating. He enjoyed meeting the articles editor, and the art director, who seemed just as excited to meet him. The photo editor was a young woman named Libby, who dressed very fashionably, and reminded Harry a lot of Tonks when it came to attitude. She was trying to decide which of Luna's photos from Sweden they were going to use in the next issue. Some of the photographs of the ancient burial grounds were ready to print. They were trying to see if they could tie them in with their monthly rune puzzle, and they were doing a piece on the lifestyles of foreign wizards.

"Did you give her the sauna picture?" Harry whispered to Luna, his breath warm in her ear.

Luna giggled. "Knowing Lib, I'd never get it back."

It turned out to be one of the best weeks of Harry's life. He and Luna would get together every morning, and go hang about with her father at the Quibbler office. In Mr. Lovegood's opinion, Harry seemed to have a natural talent for publishing. The two of them discussed several ideas that Mr. Lovegood had come up with and Harry not only could grasp the problems Mr. Lovegood faced, he came up with some legitimate suggestions. Mr. Lovegood was also fascinated by muggles, though not nearly as much as Arthur Weasley had been, and he coaxed many stories of life with the Dursleys out of Harry, without Harry even realizing how it was happening.

Luna's father would either take the two teens to lunch, or they would go out alone, and then they would spend the afternoon exploring Diagon Alley together. Harry either took Luna and her father out for dinner at night, or had dinner at the Lovegood apartment. Mr. Lovegood obviously knew that his daughter was becoming more than just a friend to Harry, but he had become comfortable enough with Harry as a person that he could tactfully manage to ignore it when he saw them holding hands or came upon them kissing each other good night.

The first time Harry realized they'd been spotted doing this, he was extremely embarrassed, but Luna had just waved to her father nonchalantly as he passed them standing in the shadows outside the Leaky Cauldron. "How can you be so calm?" Harry asked her, after Mr. Lovegood had waved back and gone on his way.

" If I have to have a boyfriend, I'm sure he thinks I could do much worse than you," Luna said calmly.

"Oh, thank you so much!"

"Oh, come on, Harry. Dad trusts you. He likes you because you're polite and honest. You've been through so much that he thinks you're bound to be mature for your age. And you've been incredibly patient about the Quibbler, which is the love of his life since mum died. That doesn't hurt."

Harry smiled wryly. "I know this might be hard for a lot of people to believe, but I honestly like it at the Quibbler. I think it must be fun to run a magazine."

"I just wish he wouldn't try to do so much at once. He expects to be the leading magazine in the wizarding world within three years. He's planning French, Spanish and German editions, besides the Scandinavian one. His assistant editor is already in Paris looking for office space and staff. Dad's going too quickly and working too hard."

"Maybe you'll be a publishing heiress after all," said Harry, giving Luna another quick kiss.

"Doubtful," Luna said, smiling. "Very doubtful."