บท 50: Reunion

Rose felt she could finally relax. After so many weeks of stress and one crisis after another, simply living life like the Saami was a wonderfully relaxing situation. The Saami people fascinated her. They lived as nomads, moving after their reindeer flocks. This group, which had some of the last magical people of Saami descent, held fast to the old ways, doing things the way it had been done for hundreds of years, if not longer. Or so they claimed anyway. They moved in the border areas of Sweden, Finland and Norway, but no one controlled them at the borders. She doubted anyone from the Norwegian magical government would look for them here.

She and Scorpius had never really been on a honeymoon. Everything had been a bit chaotic, so they had postponed it. This felt like a honeymoon of sorts. They had a small lavvo, a sort of tent, to themselves, and it was such a relief to feel his body next to hers when she woke up every morning. That was where it belonged. They should never be apart again. Scorpius seemed to feel much the same. Draco and Albus gave them some space when they wanted it. Albus claimed that there was only so much snogging he could stand, but he always had a smile on his lips when he saw them together. Draco had an even larger smile. He spent most of his time with the Saami people.

Rose had talked to many of the women of this tribe and was fascinated by their ways with magic. It felt more… natural in a way than the way she had learned it. They didn't even need a wand for some types of spells.

Right now, she was helping the tribe herd one group of reindeers away from another group of reindeers. She had given up trying to understand how and why they did that, she mainly helped in any way she could.

She was so focused on the reindeers that she didn't register the newcomer at first. Then she saw Scorpius freeze on the other side of the herd, looking at someone behind her. She turned around. It was her mother!

"Hello, Rose," Hermione said. "It was about time I found you. I was beginning to think I had the wrong place after all." Rose gaped and fell down on the ground in shock, startling some of the reindeer. What was her mother doing here? Then all her worries from before the escape came back. Had her mother come to arrest her? She saw Albus and Draco come over from the other side of the camp. Scorpius was already making his way through the herd of reindeer. All three were clutching their wands. Rose hoped they wouldn't start to use them. No matter why her mother was here, she didn't want to have assault added to the already long list of things they could be charged with. But would her mother smile, if she was here to arrest them? She was definitely smiling.

"How did you find me?" was all Rose managed to say. Her mother just continued to smile mysteriously as she helped Rose to her feet.

"If you don't know, I think that will remain my little secret. But don't worry, I come with good news."

Just then, Scorpius made it past the last reindeer. He quickly held on to her hand.

"I think you will be pleased to know that we have sorted out the situation with the Norwegian government. Once we confronted Lagasete with his obvious bias in the case, and mentioned it to the Norwegian Minister, they eventually agreed that you were a victim in the case, not an accomplice. They have cleared you of all charges."

Rose felt a huge sense of relief. Some of the worry that she had pushed away was gone. She felt tears of relief coming. She went in and gave her mother a hug.

"I am sorry that I ran away," she said. "But I was afraid I would never get out of there."

"Technically," Albus said from behind them. "You didn't run away, we got you out of prison. You did not ask us to come."

"There is no need to assign blame." Hermione said whilst still holding on to her daughter. "I think all the parties involved would like to simply forget about this incident and move on. Unless you want to make a fuss about it?"

"No, that sounds like a good solution to me." Rose said. "I mean, if I started making a fuss about this, they could still prosecute me for escaping custody."

"What's going to happen to Lagasete?" Draco wanted to know. "I mean, I suppose he didn't technically do anything wrong, but he definitely thought about it."

"That is not any of our business. But I can tell you that the Norwegian Minister is not best pleased with him. Even after we confronted him with this evidence, he refused to back down. But he may feel differently now, and he didn't have a choice, in the end."

"Why?" Rose wanted to know. "What did you say to make him back down? He does not sound like the person to back down easily."

"Well, first off, he is in a bit of trouble regarding the way he handled the confrontation with the Death Eaters." Hermione said. "He shouldn't have let his own pride and dislike of Brits get in the way of tactical decisions. And it did help that we gave him some actual bad Malfoys to arrest. You see, after I heard your story, Draco, I started looking through the archives. Hidden amongst many other things were a few details about how the boat with the Norwegians had been expected, but never arrived. They sent out search parties. Then the boat was discovered in Iceland. But before they had time to do anything about it, Voldemort's government fell and nothing more was done."

"So, you're saying that the Norwegian Malfoys have been living in Iceland for all these years?" Draco asked, surprised.

"Yes, and making bloody nuisances of themselves. Two of them have been arrested for the attack and torture of a Muggle boy, and the rest are no saints. Once I gave this information to the Norwegians though, they could arrest them for the heinous crimes they did in Norway. The Icelandic government was very pleased with this outcome."

"So, you traded that information for my freedom?" Rose asked. That wasn't exactly what she had imagined.

"No." Hermione said with a smile. "I wouldn't let them get off that easily, by being able to call it a form of compromise, or a trade. No, I gave them the information as I confronted Lagasete and arranged with the Ministers in Norway and Iceland for an international law enforcement operation to take them down. Once that was done, and all the people responsible for the death of the Lagasete family were in prison where they belonged, I brought up your situation again. They then had to issue a formal pardon and an apology. Lagasete didn't sign the apology, though he verbally agreed with the pardon. All they asked for in return was that you do not return to Norway for a period of three years. That goes for all of you, though there is no proof that the rest of you did anything wrong. As far as I know, they still don't really know who helped Rose escape, though Scorpius is their top suspect, if they were to guess." Scorpius smiled at that.

"I suppose I can live with that. As long as "Norway" is not including this area." Rose said.

"I doubt it. The northern part of Norway is mostly under Saami magical governance. I also doubt that they will actually dare to arrest any of you if they encounter you. It was more of a request than a demand. I also got this back." Hermione held out Rose's wand. "You should try to hold on to that this time."

Rose took it with a smile.

"I'm afraid your wand is lost Scorpius. I couldn't be sure which of the Death Eaters had your wand, and I hadn't seen it often enough to recognise it on sight." Hermione explained. "All the Death Eater wands were burned, in sight of their owners. It is apparently a tradition for convicted Dark wizards. I am considering adopting that tradition, actually. It makes for a very strong symbol."

"That is okay. I got a new wand before I left London. I think this one suits me better anyway." Scorpius said, holding up his new wand.

They went back to the lavvo and talked for a while longer. They all wanted the details about what everyone had done. Hermione told them all about the operation in Iceland that had involved volcanic caves. Just a few days after their action, the volcano had become active and sprouted out a lot of magma, but they didn't know if their magical battle in there had caused the outburst or not.

"Well, it sounds like the net result of all this is positive." Rose said when they were finished catching up. "I mean, the Death Eaters are once again arrested, and Azkaban should be secure again. And we even managed to find and capture another group of Dark Wizards."

"Yes. Looking back at it, it is a good result. But I would have preferred to have the same result with less suffering. Especially what you three have gone through. I just hope this is the end of it."

"So do I," Rose proclaimed. "I feel like I have had enough adventures for a lifetime."

"You say that now." Albus said with a knowing smile. "But I have a feeling you might feel differently in a few months."

Rose ignored his comment. "Do I have to go home now?" she asked her mother. "I know that I can, and I miss you all a lot, but this is the most relaxed I have been in months. I have mentally prepared myself to have to stay here for a long time, I don't want it to end so suddenly."

"You don't have to come home right away. There is nothing preventing you from staying here for some time. We all miss you of course, but they will understand."

Rose looked at Scorpius. "Do you want to stay here for a little longer? I don't want to decide for you."

"I want to stay. I feel the same way. This felt like exactly what I needed, after the month we had. Besides, there is little for me in Britain if you are not there."

"It sounds like we are staying for a bit then." Albus said. "Though I suspect that I will at least be heading home when winter comes. I must admit, I did not look forward to the temperatures here in winter. They say it goes down to -30C often."

"It really is a lovely country in the summer though," Hermione said. "Maybe you can show me around? I have no other plans for today at least."

Rose smiled and led her mother out of the lavvo. They spent the rest of the day together. Rose showed Hermione all the ingenious ways the Saami people adapted to nature. Hermione was of course fascinated and wanted to know everything. She talked to the Saami leaders and ended up staying for another day just to learn more. When she eventually had to leave, she received an open invitation to come back whenever she wanted. Very few people ever got so close to the tribe that fast. It had taken Rose many days to gain acceptance. They had only been allowed to stay because of a blood debt they owed the Malfoy family. But now, they were treated as members of the tribe, though there had not been any official ceremony for it.

This is exactly how my mother is at her most genuine, Rose thought. Always wanting to learn more and see new things. And always open and respectful towards other people and other cultures. She hoped her mother would come back soon. Rose figured she could use some quiet relaxing days as well.