Chapter 17: Reunion and Renewal

After dinner, Petunia had wanted to stay longer. Apparently she, Albus and James had got on well together. Lily, who was two years younger, had attached herself to Tunie like a big sister and she had made sure the boys did not leave her out of anything. However, Luna and Dudley wanted to get to Luna's place so that they could get their things put away and get some time to themselves.

They felt that a lot had happened that afternoon and they needed time to reflect on it. Particularly as it could be a repeat of today as Ron and Hermione would probably want to hear all the news of their coming together. Dudley expected there would be more searching of his background as he remembered that Ron was one of the trio who had liberated Harry from his bedroom in a flying Ford Anglia. Dudley's father had imprisoned him there and put bars on the window to stop him going back to Hogwarts. He realised now that it had been a stupid thing to do anyway. Harry's importance in the wizard community was such that Dumbledore would have come to free him in a trice.

As they approached Luna's place the car had to climb a steep hill to where the house perched on the top. It looked like a huge soup can as it was totally round and had four floors. It had a kitchen with a shape like a D with the fittings including the cooker shaped around the curve. In the straight wall was a door that led to a sitting room similarly shaped and a staircase which ran up to the second floor. The room on this floor was the full width of the house. It had previously been the room which had held the printing press and office for the Quibbler. It was here that Hermione spotted the Erumpent Horn which Luna's father had claimed belonged to a Crumple Horned Snorkack, a purely mythical creature.

The Erumpent Horn on the other hand was highly dangerous and likely to explode. In a fight between Harry, Ron, Hermione and the death eaters it had been hit by a spell from one of the death eaters and had exploded destroying the whole floor and staircase. In the renovation it was now an office come study and at the other end it held the computerised equipment for printing the paper. It was much more orderly than it had been in Xenophilius' day.

The walls were lined with books and two comfortable chairs gave a splendid view over the valleys which dropped away from the house on all sides. Again a staircase led off from the middle of the floor to a large bedroom and equally large bathroom which also had a separate shower cabinet. All the rooms were similarly shaped to the ones on the ground floor. This was repeated on the top floor which held two D shaped bedrooms. Though D shaped, because of the diameter of the house was so large, all the rooms were a good size, and all the Windows gave the same magnificent views.

Dudley and Petunia were amazed when they looked at the house and even more so when Luna gave them a tour. On the top floor, Luna had said to Petunia that she could have one of the two bedrooms there. She picked the one which had windows that almost ran round the full curve of the room and gave a magnificent panoramic view. By the time they had seen round the house it was almost Tunie's bed time. They all had a nightcap cup of hot chocolate and Luna took her upstairs to bed while Dudley studied the shelves and fittings of the office. In the bedroom, Tunie excitedly told Luna that she thought the house was wonderful,

"Don't you think it is a bit odd to have a round house," asked Luna.

"Oh yes," said Tunie, "that is what makes it so great. Lots of people have houses with straight walls but yours is the only one with round ones. That is so cool."

"I am glad you like it," Luna replied. "I have lived here all my life so I have grown used to its shape and the fact that it is so different."

"If you and daddy get married could we come and live here?" Tunie asked excitedly.

Luna explained that the house might be a bit small for that. She said this would be true if brothers or sisters arrived to keep her company. Tunie was even more thrilled by that prospect and started to ask when this might happen. The discussion that followed took the place of a bedtime story and Tunie dropped off to sleep dreaming about new visions of a future she had not previously thought about.

When Luna came down stairs, Dudley was ensconced in one of the easy chairs in the office reading a book. He looked up and said, "That must have been a long story tonight,"

Luna explained that it wasn't a story but a discussion. She related about Tunie wanting to live in the house if they got married and had been told that it might be too small if brothers or sister came along to increase the size of their family. She then told him that this then led to an excited discussion about when this might happen and how good it would be when it did. A further discussion ensued about how many brothers and sisters there might be.

"So you can see," Luna ended, "It was a long and complicated and taxing kind of question and answer session interspersed with equally complex explanations about the randomness of reproduction."

Dudley laughed, "Better you than me," he said. "I am surprised she did not get so excited you would have found it difficult to get her to sleep."

"Oh she was anxious to get to sleep after I told her she could dream about how many children we were going to have and then she let us know the number in the morning."

"Well I just hope that she does not come up with a number that is more than we can afford." Dudley replied still smiling.

"You agree then that there will be more," said Luna putting aside his book and sitting on his knee as she put her arms round his neck and kissed him.

"Most certainly," said Dudley. "I was an only child. Although Harry was with us for my entire childhood it was never possible for us to act in any way like brothers. I would like Tunie to have a sibling of either sex before she is much older."