We Open at the Close (Drarry)

Vengeance is Mine

Xenophilius Lovegood. It couldn't be.

Luna's father would never do such a thing. He was a bit of an oddball, but he was a kind man, he always meant well. But the evidence in front of Harry said otherwise. Harry's mind was racing. Why? Why would Mr Lovegood do this to him? He cast his mind back to the night of the party when Mr Lovegood had dragged Luna away from Draco and the look of utter contempt that he had drawn him. Harry knew that there was no love lost between the Malfoys and the Lovegoods, but to go as far as poisoning him? It just didn't make any sense.

But of course, it hadn't been Harry's daughter who had been held captive for months on end. And it had been Mr Lovegood who had alerted the Snatchers to their whereabouts in an effort to free Luna from her imprisonment. Harry knew from experience that Luna's father would do anything to protect his daughter, but Harry was still struggling to contemplate the idea that he would ever hurt anyone out of spite. There was only one sure way of finding out the truth.

Harry opened the door a little and peered out, watching Ron and Hermione chatting animatedly with Mr Weasley. They had followed him to hell and back, but ultimately, Harry needed to walk the rest of this path on his own. It was always The Chosen One, not the Chosen Trio , he thought with bitter sadness. It was a burden that he must carry alone. It was always the way.

***

"Well it's definitely something the Department would be interested in," said Mr Weasley. "What does George have to say about expanding the business to include research and development contracts to the Ministry?"

"I haven't spoken to him about it yet," Ron admitted. "I wanted to speak to you first and see if you thought it was worth pursuing."

"Well, speak to your brother first before I contact Kingsley on the matter. Although I think there could be a lot of potential—"

The rest of Mr Weasley's words were drowned out as a deafening alarm rang out. He and all the other Aurors jumped to their feet and pulled out their wands.

"What's going on?" asked Hermione.

"Someone's Apparated out of the Ministry," said Mr Weasley. "We had security measures put in place that are supposed to prevent things like that from happening."

Without another word, Ron pushed passed his father and sprinted towards Emlyn and Adofo's office.

"Ron, what's going on?" called Mr Weasley, chasing after him.

Ron burst through the office door without knocking. "Harry?"

Predictably, there was no reply. Harry was gone. Ron's eyes fell on the papers scattered all over the floor.

"Shit," he muttered.

***

Harry Apparated outside of the Lovegood's house. The wind violently whipped Harry's hair all over his face as he looked up at the steely grey sky. A storm was coming. Harry observed his surroundings for signs of life but saw none. The last time Harry had been here the house had largely been destroyed by an exploding Erumpent horn, but it now stood largely rebuilt except for some scaffolding on the roof. Harry felt strangely calm as he climbed the stone steps towards the front door, still not entirely sure what he was going to say, afraid to ponder what he might do if someone answered. He knocked firmly on the door and waited.

A few moments passed and the front door opened.

"Hello, Mr Lovegood," said Harry.

Xenophilius Lovegood frowned down at Harry for a moment, then said curtly, "Harry Potter? I'm afraid Luna's not here at the moment but I'll let her know you came by."