Canary Creams and New Yellow Paint - (DRARRY)

Chapter Twenty-One

"What about the kids?" Weasley demands. He's pacing.

"Your parents will watch them," Granger grumbles from the sofa. "They raised seven. I'm sure they can handle a few more."

"'Sides," Potter mumbles, yawning, "they're too old to be dropped on their heads at this point, so what's the worst that could happen?"

Weasley doesn't seem comforted.

When Lavender despairs that she's going to get fired, Weasley counters with, "Not as fast as I am."

Everyone seems to have already accepted the truth of this.

"Are you sure we can't send any letters until tomorrow?" Parvati asks. "Maybe we should try convincing the Aurors again."

"They won't let us get any letters through until they've got someone to check them all and make sure we're not sending out sensitive information," Weasley says. "That's standard protocol."

Parvati throws her head back against the sofa. "How am I supposed to tell the clinic I won't be in for work? What'll they do in the meantime? The pet owners need time to find a proper replacement vet."

"Do you think I'd look good with long hair?" Blaise asks Draco.

"Ravishing."

Luna sits on the floor beside Rolf, where he flopped down earlier. She runs a hand up and down his back.

"I think he needs a Healer," she says quietly. "I think you all need Healers."

"Maybe the Aurors will let one letter through," Draco says. "If it's for a Healer on staff. Do they have one of those?"

Weasley shakes his head.

"Pomfrey, then?"

"It's not ... impossible," Weasley says. "It'll be hours, but it's not impossible. You'd probably have to dictate the message to them."

"Can you do it?" Draco asks Luna. "We'll need five Invigoration Draughts."

She stands without hesitation.

"Will she send those over without seeing us first?" Granger asks. "That doesn't seem particularly legal."

"It's over the counter," Draco reminds her.

"And if the Aurors won't agree to send the message?"

He hesitates. "Have you got the ingredients here, Potter?"

Potter turns his head towards him. "I haven't even got a cauldron."

"Let's figure that out when the time comes," Draco says.

While Luna doesn't seem as concerned as she might, she isn't her usual self, either. She hasn't once told them to be proud of themselves or rejoice for the work they've accomplished. Still, she says, "It will all work out in the end."

"What makes you think so?" Scorpius asks drearily. "We're on house arrest. The Ministry will be working to turn the Prophet against us. All of our goals are dashed. We can't even finish helping the Wallygagglers, because all we have to work with is right here."

Luna says over her shoulder, "There are some things you just know," as she leaves the room.

The rest of them stay quiet.

Teddy's legs are drawn up to his chest, his pale cheek resting against them. He scans the room and seems to decide it needs a bit of brightness.

"I, for one, am just glad to have my eye back to normal," he says.

That was the first thing they noticed once they were inside, Teddy, Lavender, and Potter all at once, it seemed. With the ward separating them so powerfully from North Moor, the Wallygagglers can no longer project their magic into the outside world. Everyone's prostheses are working again, and the moving portraits are perfectly alive-not-alive once again.