It's starting to warm up, just a little

[alt_luna]

Pea-planting time, my mum always said.

(Mrs Weasley, do you think you could plant any this year? In the vegetable plot behind our house, I mean? Daddy loves them so, and I hope he'll be home from the hospital by the time they're harvested. And of course, I won't be able to come home to plant them at Easter.)

Comments

[alt_molly]

Of course I will, dear. I'll also get some chard and spinach and all the rest of the early spring crops in for him. It's no trouble, because I have plenty of seeds this year. Arthur's home quite a bit now so he can help me turn the garden over. Fortunately, there aren't too many garden gnomes this year.

[alt_luna]

Have you seen him at all?

[alt_molly]

I'm...I'm so sorry, dear. They won't allow me to see him. But I did try, I promise.

But you know he's in the best possible place, to keep him safe, I mean?

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[alt_molly]

Absolute rubbish, of course. It hurts to have to lie to her like this.

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[alt_bill]

Well, you have tried to see him, haven't you, Mum? At least that part is true, isn't it?

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[alt_molly]

Of course I have! But they still keep giving me the same maddening tale: "Oh, he's quite sick, and he mustn't be disturbed."

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[alt_bill]

Then you mustn't berate yourself for what you have to tell Luna. The poor kid's going through enough without having to wonder what they're really doing to him.

Are they still giving her a hard time at Hogwarts? I mean, with all the lies about her blood status?

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[alt_molly]

I'm afraid so. She makes light of it in her letters--well, the last letter, before all owl posts stopped. But I can read between the lines. And Percy mentioned it, in one of his letters, too. He was quite indignant about the hazing she was receiving. He doesn't believe it for a minute, although he more charitably characterises it as 'all an unfortunate misunderstanding, really, and I'm sure she'll be vindicated.' Which is a mixed blessing at best. On the one hand, I'm pleased to see that Percy doesn't automatically believe everything he hears from the Ministry.

On the other hand, it's painful to see him write as if someone is slurring Luna by insinuating that she's a half-blood. As if being a half-blood is somehow less acceptable.

I thought we raised our boys to know better than that.

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[alt_arthur]

On the other hand, it's perhaps a good thing that they will still admit that poor Xeno is there, and under their care. I'd rather have them say that then to tell us that he'd died or something.

Then we'd never know what happened to him--whether he's actually contracted the disease there at the hospital and succumbed to it, or was killed, or perhaps worst yet, was spirited away to be buried alive at Azkaban.

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[alt_bill]

Good point.

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[alt_molly]

Oh, dear. I never thought of that.