Xenophilius Lovegood was not a person one could easily ignore. It wasn't his beauty, although he was quite good-looking. It wasn't his stature either, despite his height. It was mainly because of the way he was dressed. While he didn't wear the multitude of clashing colors that Dumbledore liked so much, his robes showed large stretches of pure colors that could easily make a watcher tear up. That evening, he was wearing robes of deep, vibrant purple with some bright yellow butterflies moving along the hem. Harry had to force himself to look only at the man's face, or his eyes would water.
Luna made a very informal introduction that was quite redundant. "Dad, this is Harry Potter, my husband as of last night. Harry, this is my Dad, Xenophillius Lovegood, whom you can call Xeno or Dad. He's the publisher of the Quibbler, if I forgot to tell you."
Xeno grabbed Harry's hand in both his hands and shook warmly. "I'm so glad to meet my daughter's love. I hope you'll be as good to her as she saw in her visions and give me a few grandchildren after you both finish Hogwarts. I believe you both prefer not to be burdened with children while at school."
Harry felt his face heat at the mention of having children. Xeno seemed to misinterpret that, as he added hastily, "Of course, that doesn't mean you should refrain from sex. It only means you should make sure to regularly use the contraceptive means of your choice. My wife prefers the potion. She says that it's less of a bother than the spells, especially the potion that can be taken only once a month. It works well with her period, she tells me."
Harry could hear Luna whispering in his ear, "He sometimes forgets she's already dead." He heard the sadness in her voice.
Xeno didn't notice. He continued talking. "Of course, she's so busy with her research nowadays that it may take some time for her to learn about your marriage, but I'm sure she'll welcome you just the same."
Harry replied just as politely. "I'm sure she'd be glad for our marriage. I wanted to let you know before it reaches the Prophet. I think it's politer that way."
Xeno nodded. "That's very considerate of you, but you didn't need to bother. Luna is mature enough to decide on her own. Actually, she has been running the household by herself since Selena got involved in that research. I wish it didn't take all her time, though."
Harry nodded. He was becoming quite convinced that Xeno had very little connection with reality. He wasn't sure what he could say.
This didn't bother Xeno. "Have you started learning Ancient Runes? Luna told me you may need that for the third task, or was it the fourth? The last task, anyway."
"I had no time to learn yet. We were busy with the preparations for the Ball. Luna had to teach me how to dance, if only to save her feet from being stepped on." Harry wasn't sure what else he could say.
"That's very nice of you, although she could use reinforcement charms on her shoes and spend the time on runes. It would have been more productive."
Luna thought she needed to intervene. "I'm going to help him with runes, but now we need to go back to school. As students, we're supposed to be there."
Xeno waved her comment off. "Lord and Lady Potter don't need to stay at school or attend any lessons, as long as they take the exams, but I understand if you want to study with your friends. You may go now."
Luna kissed his cheek, and Harry shook his hand again before they used the Floo to go back to their apartment.
Luna looked sad. "I thought he was finally back, before I went to school. I think that living alone doesn't agree with him. We should find him a lady-friend, I think. He had no sex at all since Mum died — almost five years. I'm just not sure how to make him accept another woman."
Harry hugged her comfortingly. "There's not much you can do while attending school, even if our new position allows you to skip lessons and leave the school as needed." Another question popped into his mind. "Can he even cook? He looked a bit too thin to me."
Luna waved his concern off. "He's been that thin since I can remember. He also cooks quite well. Mum was too busy for that, and he cooked instead. I'm only not sure if he remembers to eat too, now that he's alone."
Harry failed to hide a yawn. "It's really late, and we need to sleep, if we intend to learn anything tomorrow."
She smiled understandingly. "Sure, we need to go to bed and have some shags before sleeping. That's just as important."
She grabbed his arm and helped him to the bedroom, where she quickly undressed and then helped Harry take off the rest of his clothes. She then cast a spell on herself. Harry didn't recognize it, but was quite sure it was a contraceptive spell.
Looking at her naked body, he remembered his dream from the previous night. Real Luna looked even more enticing than her dream version, although that was quite true to form. He also found out that real Luna was even more fun to have sex with than the dream version, and not embarrassing at all.
Despite their enthusiasm, they were both quite tired. After the second shag, they cuddled into each other. Luna moved his hand to her crotch and fell asleep. Harry fell asleep a moment later, still wondering if he would be able to remove the scent before breakfast. He liked keeping his hand there, but he didn't think it would be right to smell of sex when out of their apartment.
–..–
Luna insisted on some good-morning-sex before they quickly showered and joined the other students in the Great Hall for breakfast. Luna sat at Harry's side. Hermione took the other side, followed by a scowling Ron. "She should eat at the Ravenclaw table," he insisted.
"She's my wife and she's at my side whenever possible," Harry said, quite forcefully. That made Ron shut up, but he didn't look convinced.
–..–
Although it was the winter break, Harry had quite a bit on his shoulders, and the most pressing problem was the second task. Well, deciphering the clue for the second task, to be exact. Whatever he tried, he only got a loud screeching noise that made no sense. Luna and Hermione tried to find any runes on the golden egg, hoping they could help decipher the message, but found nothing. If it had any runes, they were probably inside the egg, making them practically unreachable.
Then, one day after lunch, Cedric called him.
"Have you deciphered the clue already?" he asked Harry.
"Not yet. Nothing I tried made it intelligible."
Cedric smiled understandingly. "Try taking a bath with it. You may like to do that in the Prefect bathroom. The password is 'Pine Fresh' this week. You'll enjoy the bath, if nothing else."
Harry smiled thankfully. "I may just do as you say. Thank you, Cedric. I appreciate your help."
The older boy dismissed the thanks. "Your help with the first task was much more significant. It's the least I could do for you now."
He then smiled. "And before I forget, congratulations to you and your lady for your magical marriage. I think it surprised everybody at school."
Harry chuckled. "It surprised me too, to be honest, but I like it."
Cedric smiled again, and they parted.
–..–
"We can just do it in our own bathroom," Luna told him.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Luna rolled her eyes. "Of course, dear. It's deep enough and you can do it immediately, if you like. We may later use the prefects' bathroom for more enjoyable activities." There was an implicit promise in her voice that Harry liked.
It then proved almost too simple. With the golden egg immersed, they only put their heads in the water and were able to hear the clue and write it down. With that done, Harry took the egg out. Luna was already naked when he lifted the egg out, and he joined her a moment later. It really was more pleasant than just listening to the clue and more satisfying, too.
Later, after drying themselves and putting some clothes on, they returned to the clue. "They're going to take something I value and hide it. I then need to find it within an hour. I can't really believe it would be lost forever if I fail, though. That would be theft, or worse," Harry said.
Luna gave it some thought. "I don't think they intend to take an inanimate thing. I suspect they will take hostages."
Harry frowned. "Can't we prevent it?"
Luna gave it some thought. "Normally, there's not much you can do. Luckily, our marriage emancipated us and allowed you to take your position as Head of the Potter house. As such, it's your duty to ensure the safety of your family. Since your legal and social position is higher than the Headmaster's, you can demand that nobody from your family be put in danger. What's more, since you didn't willingly enter the tournament, once you demand it, they can't even endanger you, forcing them to make the task safer for all four champions."
"But where will they hide whatever they take?" Harry asked.
Luna sighed. "I'm not sure. I had no vision about that, but I have a feeling it's in water, at least based on the fact that you needed to hear the egg in the water."
Hermione, who had joined them during the discussion, had her own idea. "It's probably in the lake. Before the champions' choosing, there were quite a few books in the library in which the tournament was mentioned. They were all taken out on Halloween. Still, it looked like the second task usually involved some water body. I suspect that they would ask the merpeople for help with the task. Or maybe the giant squid, although I'm not sure it is intelligent enough to cooperate."
"That means you'd probably need to swim to the merpeople village and rescue a hostage from there," Luna said.
She then frowned. "Well, you should use your position to eliminate the possibility of hostages. They could just use some boards with your names written on, instead. The lake is still freezing at this time, and there may still be some dangerous creatures in it."
"Yes, like grindylows, of which we learned last year," Harry said.
"You may demand not to be exposed to them. They'll have to keep everything to the surface, where the grindylows don't come. It may also make it more interesting for the audience," Hermione said. "Whoever thought that watching a freezing lake in the middle of winter is interesting needs their head checked," she added.
"Then, what is the plan?" Harry asked.
The two smart girls consulted with each other for a short while, and then Hermione answered for them both. "First, you need to speak to the headmaster and make him understand that as Lord Potter, it's your responsibility to prevent danger from any members of your house, especially since you're currently the last male of the line. Therefore, as the head of the house, you can't allow them to endanger your life or that of any other member, namely — your wife. Doing so will automatically invoke a blood feud. Dumbledore should know better than to risk it. "Then, for fairness, the other champions shouldn't get any worse treatment. I'm sure they would appreciate it."
That made Harry laugh. "It would become merely a swimming race in freezing water. I may not like it, but it's much less of a life threat than whatever they originally had in mind."
–..–
Harry didn't wait. He immediately contacted the headmaster, using the Floo in the apartment. Dumbledore was surprised, but agreed to meet him at once. Luna joined him. Hermione left for some more research.
"To what do I owe this surprise meeting?" Dumbledore asked in greeting.
"We've just deciphered the clue, and I don't like the implications," Harry said sternly.
"The task was agreed on by all the judges," Dumbledore said.
"As I understand it, you intend to take hostages. Were they and their guardians asked if they agreed?" Harry asked. Just watching the expression of the old man made the answer very clear. "Without their agreements, it would be a crime of kidnapping and illegally imprisoning, you should know."
Dumbledore didn't like it, but still tried to control the situation. "The plan was to get their agreement before the beginning of the task," he lied.
Harry didn't believe him. "I doubt that. Still, as the Head of a Most Ancient and Noble house, it is my duty to protect the family, and I forbid taking anybody from my family as hostage. Furthermore, since I'm also the last scion of my house, illegally entered into this tournament, I also forbid putting me in any life-endangering situation. Disregarding my demand will immediately invoke a blood feud between House Potter and the offending parties."
Dumbledore paled. A blood feud of such caliber could strip him of all his positions, to start with. "Aren't you acting in a bit of haste?" he asked. "A blood feud is something very serious."
"As is an unbreakable contract imposed on me against my will," Harry responded. "As my supposed guardian, at the time, you should have objected and prevented me from participating. You did nothing of the sort. It looks like you actually wanted me to participate. I could invoke a blood feud for that only, you should know."
Dumbledore paled some more. The brat was right, unfortunately. He could have opposed that and removed Harry from the tournament without penalty, but he wanted to draw Voldemort out, and he needed Harry for that. Could that be a mistake? For too many years, he didn't even contemplate the possibility of being wrong, and he dismissed it this time, too. He could no longer accept not always being right. Still, he had to respond somehow.
"The way I understood it, I could do nothing once your name came out. As for the task, what do you suggest?" It was his way to deflect the conversation to a different topic when it didn't go his way.
Harry didn't mind the diversion, although he would keep the idea for another meeting. It seemed to have some merit. "First — no hostages. You can use some inanimate objects instead. Dolls, plaques, poles — it doesn't matter. Second — nothing life-threatening. That means that going deep into the lake is out. Once out of sight, nobody can know what dangers may be lurking in the deep. Let me know and approve the new plan before implementing it."
Dumbledore didn't like a snot-nose brat dictating to him, only this brat was now a powerful Lord, so he had to comply. And since his lady was also present, and not sitting very close, he couldn't even stealthily cast some compulsion for the brat to change his mind. It wouldn't have helped anyway, he felt, since that Granger girl would have suspected some foul play if the boy abruptly changed his mind after meeting with the headmaster. He sighed internally, reigned in his feelings, and nodded sagely. "Of course, Lord Potter. It will be as you requested."