Luna continued to hum, and they arrived at the alcove. She stepped into the space, and pulled Luna in behind her.
"Grandfather."
The sleeping portrait of Orion Black gave a snuffling sort of sound and slowly opened his eyes. "Alexandra." He sounded surprised. "I hadn't expected to see you again so soon." He eyed Luna, and raised an eyebrow. "And this is?"
"Grandfather, this is Luna, the future Lady Lovegood, and consort of Lord Slytherin."
Luna gave an elegant curtsey. "Portrait Orion Black."
"Lovegood, eh? I remember the Lovegoods of my time. Minds so sharp they went past eccentric, and into full on insane. Just about the only noble family I could have a discussion about blood purity with where we disagreed but could still be polite about it." He frowned. "My condolences for your grandparents. It was a real shame when that bastard went full megalomaniac. One of the biggest regrets of my life, supporting him."
Luna's voice quieted. "Thank you, Portrait Black. I never knew them."
"No, I don't suppose you'd have got the chance… and they never had paintings made?"
Luna shook her head. Orion Black sighed. "Ah, well, enough about sad matters… Congratulations on your future consortship with Lord Slytherin."
Luna brightened. "Thank you, Portrait Black." "You must be quite nervous about it. Being contracted to someone so important and yet of whom so little is known."
"Not really."
"Oh?" "I have full confidence in my lord." "Mmmm…" Orion Black stroked his beard. "Is he a pureblood, your lord?" "Both of his parents are magical."
Orion Black nodded, slowly. Alex watched the exchange, fascinated. Grandfather was a lot better at this then she was, that much was obvious. So, Lord Slytherin was a half blood with two magical parents. That would mean that any of his children would qualify as pureblood according to the law. She could almost see the wheels turning in her grandfather's head.
"And what are your lord's intentions towards my granddaughter?"
Her ears and face burned. She sat down and buried her head in her hands. She'd wanted to ask Luna that question herself, but not just yet, and not like that.
Luna tilted Black?"
her
head
slightly.
"Portrait
Orion
Black
narrowed
his
eyes.
"It
is considered polite to formally declare your intentions — a note, an in-person proclamation, a piece of courtship jewellery… something.
"Portrait Black, I am but a humble instrument of my lord's will"—Orion scoffed.—"and I couldn't possibly speak for him, but if I were to guess, I would suggest that your son's attitude to parental influence and my lord's political alignment might make him cautious in making any such declaration, less he put your son on the defensive, and further restrict your granddaughter's movements."
Silence. Then her grandfather's voice filtered through to her as a whisper from where she still stared at the wood floorboards.
"…And you're ten years old. Dear Merlin, you put even your grandparents to shame. I wonder if that means you're even more insane then them too…"
She looked up.
Luna beamed. "Why don't you ask Alex? She can tell you."
"She's insane," she said without hesitation. Luna turned and hugged her. "Thank you." "Umm… you're welcome?" Orion Black chortled. "Oh very well. I can't say I fully approve of all this cloak and dagger business your lord is engaging in, but I can see you're going to grow up to be an intelligent lady."
Luna bobbed another shallow curtsey. "I just have one question."
"Oh?"
"Does your lord support the pureblood cause?"
Luna paused for just a moment. "My lord understands the frustrations many in magical Britain have with the noble house system since the loss of the rituals, and he recognises the dangers posed by first generation magicals to the international statue of secrecy."
Her grandfather seemed to search Luna's face for several seconds. "Damn, he has trained you well."
Luna's face was a picture of serenity. "That's all down to Lord Slytherin's super secret motivational technique." "Which is?"
"Hugs."
Alexandra face palmed, again.
The cake was white and had ten candles in it. Alex blew them all out while the assembled wizards sang happy birthday, lead by Lady Potter. She sliced the cake into even pieces, and doled them out onto conjured plates. Luna accepted hers with an enthusiasm normally reserved for global sporting events. Susan politely accepted hers then proceeded to demolish it. John seemed to have gotten over Lord Slytherin's oneupmanship. He accepted politely and ate slowly, chatting with Susan.
The grown-ups all took their own slices, and she directed her attention to her own slice. She sighed. There were many costs associated with magic, and sometimes the cost was high. She took a bite and pretended she was loving it. It tasted like a sponge.
Every ritual has a cost.
Ever since Harry had pointed out that she should have waited for her thirteenth birthday for the best effect for the strength ritual, she'd felt a bit melancholy when eating sweet things.
She was a witch. She would never have all the power that wizards held in the wizarding world, but with the ritual of krazenkart she'd at least been able to narrow that power gap a bit. The ritual gave the witch who cast it both the strength of the man she could have been, and the potential for strength of the man she could have been. The cost was her ability to taste sweetness. She didn't regret it. Not at all. But if she'd a bit less headstrong, she probably would have waited a few years first.
.
.
.
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