DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and it's Universe belong to J. K. Rowling and associates.

A.N.: Hmm, I think apologies are in order. Sorry to all the readers for such a LATE update. Especially one of you who had PM'd me to know when I was going to update. I told that person that I was going to do it in the last week of June or the first week of July. But I didn't, or couldn't would be more prudent, for reasons that I will keep to myself as I don't want to sound like I'm giving excuses. There's also the matter of small mistakes in my previous chapters. All I can say about that is I do my best, but in the end, I'm but a human. That being said, read and enjoy...

Chapter XII- "What did you do, Principe?! "

15th September, 1997

"In my office. Both of you. NOW!"

Now, David never gets scared easily; unless, of course, some moron lets a fucking Black Mamba loose in his living room. But aside from snakes with unnatural speed, David was most terrified of very few things; unfortunately, those few things included an angry woman.

He had learned very early in his life that an angry woman was capable of destroying nations. Who the hell was he to challenge such an entity. Plus, after knowing what his own mother and adopted mother had done to keep him safe, his respect for woman and their prowess had increased exponentially.

And so it would be a monumental understatement to say that David was scared when he found himself face-to-face with a very angry Lily Potter. But that was not all; aside from being terrified of the woman, he was embarrassed at the same time. He could imagine what it must have looked like, from a teacher's point of view no less, to see two teenagers of different sexes-not that that matters, nowadays-coming out of a room that is virtually nonexistent.

So the bottom line was that David was not a happy camper as he followed the professor alongside Hermione.

Speaking of Hermione, when David caught a glimpse of her face as he turned his head to scratch a nonexistent itch behind his neck, he noted that it looked like it was the only part of her body where her heart was circulating blood to. Her face was burning red as she followed Professor Potter's lead with her head bowed. David concluded that, just like him, Hermione also must be pretty embarrassed at being caught alone with a boy by a professor. That made him feel even worse because it was him who had dragged her to the Room. He decided that he would make everything clear as soon as the professor asks for an explanation.

What seemed like an eternity-at least, for the teenagers-later, Lily Potter arrived at the door to her quarters with her two late night visitors in tow. After touching the mahogany surface of the door with her wand, which responded with a loud click before opening, she admitted the two teenagers inside before closing the door behind her. She lead them into the living room of the quarters and told them to take a seat on the couch while she started the fire in the hearth. After making sure the room was comfortable enough, she moved her favorite armchair in front of the occupied couch and sat on it while pinning the two teenagers with a furious expression. She was going to interrogate them into the wee hours of the morning.

"You know", Lily started, "I had just returned here after dinner was concluded and was about to grab a bundle of third year homework to mark when I decided to check whether my trouble-magnet of a son had made it to the Common Room without getting involved in an adventure." Lily finished with more than a little hint of sarcasm at the end.

David was sitting solemnly beside Hermione as Prof. Potter teared into them, or was about to. He had thought that she would give them a chance to explain themselves, but he concluded that God wasn't in the mood of granting small favors. So, resigned as he was, David decided to just let the Professor vent herself before offering an explanation.

"Turned out", David heard the Professor begin again, "I shouldn't have bothered as he got there safe and sound."

Here, she turned all her attention towards Hermione and all but forgot about David's existence in the room.

"But just as I was closing the Map, I saw your name on the seventh floor for just a fraction of a second before it disappeared, along with his", Lily said while pointing her thumb at David. "Do you know how worried I was when you just disappeared off the Map! You very well know what it means when the Map stops showing someone's whereabouts on it!" She all but hissed the words at Hermione; which caused Hermione to shrink further into the couch, which in return caused Lily to regret her words-or at least, the way she delivered them- and David to scoot closer to the brown haired girl and glare at the Muggle Studies Professor, something that didn't go unnoticed by the observant professor. But Lily let it rest as she was still not done with her rant. However, she did soften her voice as she continued.

"Hermione, do you have any idea how worried I was when I couldn't find you anywhere on the Map, or anywhere near the spot you had disappeared from once I got there?", Lily said with as much passion as she could muster, while looking straight into Hermione's eyes. "What do you think I would've said to Richard and Charlotte if I hadn't eventually found you? You know very well that the only reason why they didn't pull you out of here five years ago was my guarantee of your safety", her voice cracked here, but she continued on. "I thought something had happened to you, child. You shouldn't go wondering around the place on your own, Hermione; especially in these troubled times", Lily finished tearfully, which was enough for Hermione to get up and envelope the older witch in a long, reassuring embrace.

While the two ladies were reassuring each other, the other occupant of the room was using his not-so-little brain to make complete sense of the redheaded professor's words. He filed down the information that something had happened in Hermione's second year that had prompted her parents-or whoever Richard and Charlotte were to her- to consider pulling her out of Hogwarts. He decided to do subtle inquiries about that to find out what had happened. Then there was the last part which was more confusing than anything else.

'Whatever the hell did she mean by especially in these troubled times?'

David decided that he would have to wait for clues to present themselves as he knew neither ladies will answer any of his questions regarding these troubled times. That was when a realization hit him. There was no reason for him to be embarrassed now, as the professor wasn't angry at them for what he thought she thought, but because she was worried about Hermione.

That fact helped him get his mind under control, and eventually he recalled some of the bits of Professor Potter's earlier rant; in particular, the bit about a certain Map.

It took Lily a few more moments to collect her thoughts enough so that she was able to extract herself from Hermione's embrace and resume her seat. Just as she saw that Hermione had also taken her previous seat, she got back into her inquisitive mode.

"Now, who is going to tell me about wherever that was that you two had disappeared to?" Lily asked while sporting a stern expression-something she never thought she would have to use while dealing with Hermione.

Instead of Hermione, though, it was David who replied with a question of his own.

"I'll tell you where we were if you tell me about this Map of yours?"

"Mr Principe, in case if you've forgotten let me remind you that, even if you do not take my class, I am still a professor, and will appreciate it if you will treat me as such the next time I ask you a question", Lily retaliated briskly using her no-nonsense tone, swiftly diminishing David's confidence about coaxing the information out of her. "Now, I will ask again", Lily said as she locked her eyes with David's-as if to further emphasize the fact that her next words were for him and him only-and continued, "Where were the two of you?"

This was testimony enough to David's earlier thoughts: Angry women were formidable. He knew he was busted, and that he had to tell them something that will satisfy their curiosity. But their was another concern, and that was this curious Map of the professor. He knew he had taken all the precautions that he could before entering the Castle while keeping the worst case scenario in his mind. But still, he wanted to make sure that he didn't leave any loose ends which might be used to uncover his true identity. He had to take a peek at this Map. Decision made, he started his explanation.

"The family of a friend of mine owns a house elf who was previously employed here at Hogwarts", David started, "During a visit to their house, I struck a conversation with that elf. After talking about nothing in particular for a while, she told me that she had worked here for about five years. I'd always been curious about Hogwarts, so I started asking her about her tenure here..."

"You keep talking like House elves are employees or some such. Why is that?" Lily questioned.

"Well... I don't know. Maybe it's because of the way my Mom and I treat the elves working in the Chateau..."

"And how is that?" This time it was Hermione who provided the interruption.

David sighed, more in resignation than in frustration, and said, "You ladies really are in the mood of interrogation, aren't you?" All he got in response to that question was a careless shrug from Hermione and indifference from Lily. Heavily sighing again, David said in a bored voice, "We give them gifts of all kinds to show them our appreciation to the work they do for us", then he saw the look on the professor's face and hastily added, "And before you ask, if you try giving them money, they'll just buy you a gift from that money. So that kind of renders the effort useless."

For the first time since she left the Great Hall that evening, Lily quirked her lips into a small smile at the antics of the Salem student. Granted, he seemed a touch arrogant, but she had seen through his deeds that he was a nice person. And then there was the fact that... "Oh, Mr Principe! I totally forgot about it!" All she got in reply to that exclamation was two confused teenagers. To simplify the situation, she went on, "I should be thanking you for agreeing to help Selene with her Occlumency." Then realizing how absurd the statement sounded to her own ears, she shook her head slightly and went on, "I mean, I am thanking you for what you will be doing for Selene. I mean what you are going to do, I mean..."

David decided to take pity on the poor lady and said, interrupting Lily's babbling, "Mrs Potter, it's quite alright." Then to bring some more normalcy to the situation, he said while transforming his gentle smile into a smirk, "You know, you could always let me have a peak at this Map you've been talking about if you want to thank me properly..."

That enabled Lily to take charge of the situation once again. "Thank you for bringing us back on track, Mr Principe", she had to ignore a groan her crisp statement generated as she went on, "Now, where were we before we were sidetracked by the matter of how your family treats House elves?" Lily asked while staring straight into David's piercing blue eyes.

David looked up skyward and glared as if he was angry at the Creator for putting him in this gruesome ordeal, then resigned himself to lie some more to keep his little secret just that, but that didn't mean he was going to surrender easily.

"Oh! I can't seem to remember where I was in my, err... story before I was interrupted, Professor Potter", David said without blinking an eye.

Hermione, seeing right through David's trick, rolled her eyes and said, "You and I both know, David, that you were about to tell us how you asked that elf questions about her time here before you were interrupted." Ignoring his withering glare, she added insult to injury by saying, "So, ignore that little blip of you brain's and get on with your story."

Lily herself was barely able to conceal her smirk as she gestured David with her hand to continue with his explanation, which he did.

"So yeah, like the all mighty Hermione said", David said while giving Hermione the evil eye-in reply to which, he only got an innocent blink of an eye from the said witch-and continued, "I started asking Titi many questions about the Castle and what not", he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Then he paused as if to add some more suspense to the situation before continuing, "While Titi was telling me about how the Kitchens work, she mentioned a place where all the elves go if they are out of cleaning supplies; and that was how our conversation turned from Hogwarts to the Come and Go Room", David finished, not unlike some people do while telling bedtime stories to a child hellbent on staying awake all night; something that didn't go unnoticed by the two ladies.

Hermione huffed and said, "But that is not possible. House elves can't reveal their current or previous Master's secrets to anyone."

"Are you saying that I am lying, Hermione?"

"No, I am saying that it is logically not possible, David."

David sighed and looked at Hermione as if she was a seven year old, much to Hermione's indignation. Then he said, slower than normal, "Hermione, House elves aren't allowed to spill the secrets their Master expressly forbids them from. That means if Titi's former Master-in this case, the estimable Supreme Mugwump- had ordered her not to tell anyone about the Come and Go Room, she wouldn't have been able to tell me without causing bodily harm to herself."

Hermione appeared a bit confused after David's little speech, so Lily decided to question Mr Principe further herself.

"What you mean, Mr Principe", Lily started, "is that the Headmaster never bothered to tell Titi not to reveal the Castle's secrets outside of its wards? Is that what you are suggesting?"

David shook his head negatively and replied, "Oh, I never said anything that far-fetched; and please let it be noted that I said far-fetched, because I have absolutely no means of knowing how the Headmaster manages his House elves, if at all."

"Then what were you suggesting, David?" Hermione asked, coming out out her shell of confusion.

David took a deep breath before answering. "I was suggesting that maybe, by some chance, the Headmaster didn't count the Room as one of the Castle's secrets." That statement proved to be counterproductive as, instead of reducing the confusion from the situation, it fueled it further judging by the faces of the two ladies. So David continued, "You see, the bond of the House elves is a tricky one, to put it mildly. One of the trickiness of that bond is that the Elves will consider something as their Master's secret if and only if their Master thinks of it as a secret. That leaves us with two possibilities: A. Dumbledore doesn't think the Room is important enough to be considered a secret, or B. He doesn't know about the Room's existence, altogether."

Lily knew for a fact that the Marauders had uncovered so many secrets of Hogwarts during their time in the school that their tally had long surpassed that of Dumbledore's, and he had been in the school longer than anyone. So judging by the fact that the Come and Go Room was not plotted on the Map, she deduced that neither her husband nor his best friends knew anything about it, and if they didn't then the chances of anyone else finding it were negligible. Unless...

Hermione saw her idol's face turn white as snow and knew she had uncovered something that had filled her with dread. She thought hard to figure out what might be the thing that put Mrs Potter in such a stupor until her mind made a reasonable connection between the Room and a certain Tom; so reasonable was the connection that her eyes widened for a second before she promptly fell unconscious, her head on David's shoulder.

David was watching the professor with an amused curiosity until he felt Hermione resting her head on his shoulder. He knew the girl was attracted to him but she was being a little too bold and forward for his liking. This train of thought extinguished the moment he felt Hermione's head in danger of lolling down his shoulder. He looked sideways at her, only to realize that she was unconscious. Instead of freaking out, David put his arm around Hermione's shoulders to steady her gait and simply gazed at her peaceful face for a while before he looked up to see whether Professor Potter was in need of his services. But he found her position unchanged. She was still ash-faced and looked as if her mind was either shut down or working double time. David had enough logic in his magic to figure out that it was too much of a coincidence for Lily Potter to look like someone had walked over her grave and for Hermione to fall unconscious within a matter of seconds. Deciding to coax some more clues out of the one that was still conscious, David cleared his throat a little to loudly and said, "Hey professor, are you done interrogating me?"

"Huh?", was the most eloquent reply that the dazed mind of Lily Potter was able to produce as she turned towards her questioner. But as soon as she saw the slumped form of Hermione, her mind was alarmed; however, her mind remained alarmed only for a few moments as she figured out that maybe Hermione had put two and two together and made the connection before she fainted. That thought helped her calm down and think properly once again. Finally, she decided that a late night visit to Albus's office was in order.

Receiving no coherent answer from the professor, David had to repeat his question.

"Hey Professor Potter, are we done for the evening?" He asked, garnering Lily's attention once again. But he didn't stop there. "Because methinks Hermione here is dead on her feet at the moment", he said in a lighter tone, gesturing at the said witch.

Lily bobbed her head slowly in the affirmative before saying, "I think that would be all, Mr Principe. Would you mind too much if I asked you to escort Hermione to the Tower?"

"Not at all; but isn't that your job to escort us as we are out after curfew?" David asked cautiously, as he knew it was crucial how he worded his question if he wanted to get what he desired.

"I think we can make an exception tonight as I have a meeting with the Headmaster about something important", Lily managed as sternly as she could before she nodded at him once and turned on her heels, already on her way to the meeting.

David gave himself a congratulatory pat on the shoulder for a job well done as he watched Lily Potter's retreating back and wondered whether the Room's connection to the old man had anything to do with these troubled times; but he filed this information as a food for thought for a later date as he had an important errand to run later that night.

That was when his eyes flickered back to Hermione's face and he remembered that he had one another errand to run. His eyes had a mischievous glint in them as he settled Hermione on the couch without jostling her more than necessary. Then he stood up and turned to face the couch. As he saw her peaceful form slumbering away, even if he wanted to he wouldn't have woken her up.

'And anyway, the professor didn't tell me if I had to wake Hermione before escorting her to the Tower', David thought with a smirk on his face before he bent down and carefully picked Hermione up bridal style.

16th September, 1997

As the sleep slowly left her eyes and she begun to have coherent thoughts, the first thing Hermione noticed was that she was still wearing the clothes she had worn the day before except for the cloak, which was laying at the foot of her fourposter. She wouldn't have suspected that anything was amiss at all- as she had fallen asleep in her school uniform many a times in the past- if it hadn't been for the neatly folded cloak laying innocently on her bed. Because she never folded her cloaks unless she was packing.

Trying to remember what she was doing before she fell asleep, she sat in her bed for about 15 seconds before everything that she had figured out last night came back to her, terrifying her again-but not enough to make her faint again. After a few more minutes, she calmed down and decided to ask Mrs Potter if her suspicions were even a possibility. After making sure that she hadn't slept in, Hermione extracted herself from the tangle of blankets and went into the bathroom to do her morning rituals. In all the information overload, the need to find the cause of the folded cloak fled her mind.

As she entered the Gryffindor Common Room, and went to the spot where she knew she would find Emi, a very unusual sight greeted her. There on the couch in front of the fireplace sat Emi with a book in her lap; but on her right was none other than David, in his midnight blue pajamas, sleeping soundly with his head resting on Emi's shoulder.

As she sat herself on the other side of Emi, Hermione turned and gave the Japanese witch an incredulous look, which the said witch must have sensed because without looking up from the book Emi said, "Good morning to you too, Hermione, and yes-you guessed it right- the creature sitting beside me is none other than David Principe himself."

"But how…?" Hermione asked, too astonished to say anything more.

Emi closed the book and turned to face Hermione with her trademark smile gracing her face. Then she said in a quieter than normal voice, "I went to the Salem boys' dormitory earlier to pick up a book to read from David's collection when I found him in a half-sitting, half-sleeping position with this", she held the book that she was reading moments earlier up with its back cover facing Hermione, "plopped open in his lap. I woke him up to see if he was okay; but as soon as he opens his eyes, he smiles at me, says 'It's a good morning, isn't it Emi?', hands me the book and leads me here before falling back to sleep."

"Strange", Hermione said, while looking at David's sleeping face.

"It would be an understatement to say that", replied Emi.

Hermione had opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get the words out, a very irate looking Ray passed by her and Emi and stood in front of David for a moment before he violently shook him awake and yelled, "What did you do, Principe?!"

"What's wrong with you?" Emi and Hermione yelled at Ray simultaneously as they both scrambled up in alarm.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with him?" Ray hissed at both of them while pointing at David.

'At least, he lowered his voice!', Hermione thought as she gave Ray a dark look. She was about to say something to him when she heard David's voice.

"What's wrong with me?" David asked in a dazed voice, smiling just as dazedly-which worried Hermione even more.

"David, are you alright?" Emi asked with just as much worry in her voice.

"Alright?" David said, as if it was the most ridiculous word in the World. "Why, I am more than alright, Emi. I'm amazing", he said, with a smile that could lit up the whole Great Hall.

"I think", Linda said speculatively, startling Hermione and Emi as she was standing unnoticed behind them, "that David needs a healthy dose of caffeine."

"Yeah, me too, seeing as I've missed my day's dose of endorphin", Hermione heard Ray say, but wasn't allowed time to dwell on it as everyone started walking towards the portrait hole.

Ray was leading their entourage down the many stairs and corridors leading towards the Great Hall, scaring anyone who dared to come in his way. As they were walking, Linda explained to Hermione and Emi that the reason behind Ray's crankiness was that the Room had denied them entrance, and so all they had been able to do was run a few miles around the Lake. Plus, Ray's suspicions that David either knew this was going to happen or caused it himself to prank them made him even more cranky.

As soon as David's name was dragged into their conversation, all three pairs of eyes gravitated towards him to see him walking a little behind Ray.

"Do you know what's wrong with him, Emi?" Linda asked worriedly.

"Except for the fact that he seems exceptionally happy? Nothing at all."

"Hmm…" was all the reply Linda gave.

They reached their table without saying anything else to find Ron, Charlus and Selene sitting on one side of the table while Roselyn was sitting across from them. Ray and David, being ahead of the girls, reached the table before them. Ray sat beside Ron and started piling his plate with whatever that was within reach. David, however, chose to sit beside Roselyn. But before he took his seat, he ruffled Roselyn's hair; and if that wasn't enough, Hermione heard him saying, "Good morning there, Scout."

"What did you call me?" Roselyn asked David as he sat down on her right. He turned and gave her a bright smile that oddly put her at ease; so much so that she returned it with a small smile of her own. But as he opened his mouth to say something, someone slid in the seat to the left of her. She instinctively turned to see who it was, only to come face-to-face with a smiling Emi who asked, "Do you like to read, Roselyn?"

Perplexed, Roselyn replied only with a cautious nod to imply that she did. Still smiling, Emi showed her a book with only its back cover in sight.

"Good, because the reason why David called you Scout is in this book." Then Roselyn saw Emi lean in to look at David as she said to him, "I have to say, David, this nickname is much better than the last one."

In reply to that comment, David stared at Emi for a few silent moments before saying, "That's all good and well, Emi, but don't you think you should consult with Roselyn's Mum before giving her that book to read."

Emi touched the tip out her tongue to the corner of her mouth-the way people do when they make an error-before she said, "I should do that, shouldn't I?"

"Why does Mum have to know about it? It's just a book, right?" Roselyn asked, her childhood innocence making an appearance.

"It is, Roselyn. But there are some things in it that most parents don't want their eleven year old daughters to know, magical or otherwise", David told Roselyn, smiling gently at her, before he looked up at Emi and said, "Don't worry about talking to her Mum about it, Emi. I need to talk to her about something, anyway. I'll broach the subject to her while I'm having that conversation", David said as he held up his hand, in which a smiling Emi put the book in question with a "Thank you, David".

But just as David went on to put the book in the inside pocket of his jacket, he realized that there was no inside pocket to put the book in. As a matter of fact, there was no jacket at all.

"Um, Emi? Will you hold on to it for me?" David asked gingerly as he held up the book for Emi to take back, which she did while giggling and saying, "Sure, David."

Ron, noticing the reason behind this interaction, incredulously said, "You actually came down to the Great Hall in your pajamas?"

"It sure looks like it, doesn't it?" David said grinning, as he waved his hand over his torso.

Nobody knew who started it, but all of them-including Cranky Ray-were laughing until tears came down their eyes.

Same Day- 3.37 pm

Lily Potter had just returned to her quarters from the staff room-where she had retreated to after her last class of the day-and was about to, 'Finally!', start grading the the third year homework when there was a knock on the door. She, actually, had to make an effort to stifle a growl as she went to see who it was. She eventually lost the battle, and growled when she saw who it was.

"What can I do for you, Mr Principe?" Lily asked, barely composing herself enough so as not to hiss the question at the teenager.

Lily watched David curiously as he simply stood there for a few moments before visibly shaking his head.

"Um…"

That was the first time Lily had seen the young man stumble with his words without being subjected to any kind of intimidation. So to make sure that he was well, Lily asked, "Are you alright, Mr Principe?"

He didn't give answer to her question, but just stood there looking her in the eye. Getting more worried, Lily invited him in and lead him into the living room, where he wordlessly resumed his seat from last night. She, too, followed his example and sat on the armchair, which was still situated right in front of the occupied couch.

"Now, Mr Principe", Lily said after sitting down, "it's not like I don't appreciate the company, but what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Lily finished a little suspiciously.

At that, her unexpected guest smiled brightly and said, "I don't take Herbology, professor. So I'm free before 3 every weekday."

Lily nodded as if to say 'Continue'; a hint David took and suddenly his features changed to that of a businessman.

"I have a business proposition for you, Mrs Potter", he said.

"Oh?" Lily managed, barely masking her surprise at the transformation of Lost David into Cold David.

'The boy must be proficient in Occlumency. Maybe he'll be able to help Selene, after all. And probably Hermione too, if she has taken my advice', she thought.

"Someone told me that it was you who invented the Messenger Charm. Is that correct?"

This time, it was Lily who was incapable of speech for a few moments. Many a emotions of varying characteristics crossed her face in a matter of seconds, suspicion being prominent among them.

"And may I know where you got your hands on information like that, Mr Principe?" Lily asked, with a hint of steel in her voice.

David merely looked up at her and gave her an amused glance, before saying, "I think it would be safe to say that we both know my sources, professor…"

The reason that David left that sentence hanging was Lily's right hand, which she'd raised. When he looked up into her eyes again, he saw fire in them. He knew if he didn't placate the situation sooner, he will be in trouble.

"IF", Lily didn't care if her words came out in the form of hiss anymore, "you plan on using that girl's affections in the future, I warn you, Mister", her right hand became a first with only its index finger out, pointing at David's face and only inches from his nose, "you will NOT like the consequences."

David-instead of cowering, which he would have done mere 24 hours prior-merely touched Lily's finger and requested, "Mrs Potter, please?" Lily removed her finger but didn't allow the fire in her eyes to die down. David knew it was his job to make the fire go.

"Do you really think so lowly of me that you'd even consider the possibility of me using Hermione, of all people?" David asked, his sapphire eyes boring into Lily's emerald ones.

That did what it was meant to as the fire in Lily's eyes vanished slowly. She didn't, however, opened her mouth until she knew that she had completely calmed down. Once she knew, she took a deep breath before proceeding.

"I would like to apologize to you for my moment of presumptuousness, Mr Principe. But I think you would understand it if I say that you are still an unknown variable to me."

David smiled enigmatically before saying, "I understand, professor, and I'm really looking forward to changing my status as unknown variability in your eyes."

The way he said it, Lily couldn't help but laugh out loud. After a few moments of laughter, both occupants of the room sat up in their seats once again with their 'I'm working' expressions adorning their faces.

"So, Mr Principe", Lily asked crisply, "what is this business proposition that you are here to present to me?"

"Mrs Potter, do you know what an email is?" David asked just as crispy.

Lily looked perplexed for a moment, before she nodded her head, saying, "I have never used that technology but yes, I have heard of it and about how it works."

"So you know how fast they can be delivered from one place to another if the conditions are ideal?"

"Ideal conditions?" Lily asked curiously.

"You know", David started, "if the person on the receiving end checks his inbox as soon as they can, then the email will be delivered faster than a phone call."

"You have my interest, Mr Principe", Lily said, sounding amused, "but I have a question?"

"Shoot!", David exclaimed, his previous crispness all but forgotten.

Lily looked at David with even more amusement in her eyes as she took in his excitement about the subject.

"Hasn't there been any inventions across the pond in this field already?" Lily asked with pure curiosity in her voice.

"Unfortunately, no", David responded in a gloomy voice, "not because of lack of trying, though. I mean there are many magical ways of communication; floo, for example. But none of them are fast and portable at the same time like this over here" he said while taking out his mobile phone and holding it by its antenna for Lily to see.

"Hold it", Lily said while holding her hands up in the air, "if you can use Muggle devices in a magically concentrated area like Hogwarts, then why are you looking for other ways of communication? I mean even if your goal is money, surely you can cash in this idea of using Muggle devices in magical households and earn a fortune here in Magical Britain alone."

David sighed, as the thought of only him having to deal with intelligent woman with a penchant for not leaving behind any loopholes crossed his mind, before he started talking.

"For one" he said, holding a finger up in the air as if counting, "there's no fun in that. Two", he said-ignoring the snort that his previous comment garnered-and raised a second finger before continuing, "that's not my idea, so I could face a lawsuit. Three", another finger went up, "and most important, I want something that is purely magical. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to sound like a pureblood snot, but I really do want something that is pure undulated magic", he said, sounding as passionate as he ever could.

"And you think you can create something like that?" Lily asked, doubtfully.

In response, David gave her a cocky smirk and said, "Mrs Potter, the only reason that the American researchers were unable to find such a method was because there was no medium to store the message in."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, her curiosity peaked once more.

"Meaning", David said while keeping the cocky smirk in place, "the Americans never thought that a Patronus could be used to store a message temporarily; add to it the fact that Patronuses aren't that popular in the States and the chances of anyone even thinking about using a Patronus to develop a fully fledged magical communication system are null."

"You sure have given it some thought, haven't you?" Lily asked, looking impressed. David merely gave a shrug in response. But she still wasn't fully convinced.

"Just one last question, Mr Principe", she asked, to which David simply nodded her to continue. Which she did.

"Why did you bother to come to me? I mean you already seem to know about the Messenger, you could have just recreated the whole thing without bothering to inform me. Why did you, then?" Lily asked, narrowing her eyes.

David smiled at Lily knowingly and said, "Because I don't work that way, professor. I'm many things: sneaky, manipulative, a cheat, a liar. But I'm also an honest man, professor. I am my mother's son."

Lily didn't know why, but she believed his words immediately. And so she decided to go through with it.

"Alright, Mr Principe", she said, nodding at David, "what do you have in mind?"

"Currently", a very happy looking David said, "nothing."

"What?" A very perplexed Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah", David said, still smiling, "You see, I couldn't plan anything as I knew I would have to look through your notes about the Messenger Charm in order to know how to proceed."

"Oh, okay. I will get them for you in a day or two", Lily said. "If that will be all, I think I will get back to work. You know the way…. What?" Lily asked when she caught David looking at her incredulously.

David shook his head before saying, "You've never done this kind of business before, have you?"

"Is it that obvious?" A sheepish looking Lily asked.

"Quiet", a smiling David replied. "Someone else would've started grilling me about ownership stakes and what not immediately, regardless of whether the project will be successful or not."

"Oh, I don't need any ownership in this", Lily said, furiously shaking her head, "It is your project. You will be the one who will do all the hard work..."

"Without your intellectual contribution, this thing wouldn't even start. Please...?" David pleaded with Lily.

Lily seemed to be visibly struggling with herself until she finally came to a decision.

"Alright, David", she sighed before continuing, "but I am only going to accept because I don't want you to feel indebted. And then again I am only going to accept a reasonable amount. Is that clear?"

"Don't worry, Mrs Potter", David said as he kept smiling benignly at her, "I will always be indebted to you." When Lily looked perplexed, he went on, "for agreeing to let me start this project, of course."

Lily's face was still wearing the mask of perplexity as she kept looking at the smiling face of David but after a few silent moments, she decided to let the matter go. But it seemed that David was still not done talking.

"And as for the reasonable amount", he went on, "it is only fair for you to get as much as I'm going to have..."

"But I can't take that much...!" Lily interrupted him, horrified at the idea of basically robbing the young man.

David just smiled wider and then, as if he had read her mind, said, "I can guarantee you that you'll not be robbing me, professor. And please keep in mind that this is all happening because of your discovery. Without it, there would have been no project, whatsoever."

When he saw that Lily was still going to argue with him, he went on, "Professor, the project is not done yet. This is just a formality; something I do with whoever is working with me on projects like these. Sometimes, the terms remain the same, sometimes they change. Don't fret, until it is all done, ownership stakes will remain a moot point, right?"

Seeing the logic-and a way to continue this argument in the near future-Lily grudgingly nodded her head, accepting the terms. But David was still not done.

"Airtight. So 40% will be owned by you and 40% by me..."

"Wait, what about the remaining 20?" Lily asked, surprised by the teenager for maybe the seventeenth time in the last half hour.

"Oh, that. That will be owned by my assistant", David said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Oh! And do I know this assistant of yours?" Lily asked curiously.

"Why, of course you do", Lily was about top to ask who that might be, before David answered her nonverbal question. "It's the same person who told me who the creator of the Messenger is."

"Hermione!", Lily exclaimed, pleasantly surprised, "Does she know that you're planning on paying her?"

"No, but I'll tell her when the time is right."

"Good luck on winning the ensuing argument", a smiling Lily said, shaking her head and showing David how much the professor knew the brown haired witch.

"I did win the one with you", David said triumphantly.

"Hey, we are not done yet with that, Mister", Lily said, wiggling her index finger at David in warning.

"Sure sure", was the only response a still triumphant looking David gave.

"Alright, so I will see you later..." Lily begun but was cut short.

"There's one another matter, professor."

"One more?" Lily asked horrifically. "Remind me who is the professor between the two of us", she went on jokingly. David smiled mirthfully before saying, "It's about Roselyn."

Despite David saying it in a lighter tone, Lily's eyes widened in fear as she frantically whispered, "She didn't do anything again, did she?"

"Calm down, professor, it's nothing like that", David said in a reassuring voice that instantly had a calming effect on Lily, who asked, "Then what is it?"

Instead of answering her question, David pulled the book from earlier out of his inner jacket pocket and showed it to Lily and then proceeded by asking a question of his own.

"Have you ever read this book, professor?

Lily had read the book for the first time when she was 10, her parents and older sister were ignorant of this fact, as she had nicked the book from her father's collection and had read it with Sev under their favorite tree. She remembered how fascinated she had been with the book, especially with the six year old Scout.

But she also knew that this particular book had been one of the reasons behind her mind's early maturity. That made her sigh for bittersweet reasons.

"How fast children grow, don't they David?" She asked, forgetting the fact that she was talking to a teenager, something she had done only once before.

"That they do, professor", David said just as solemnly.

For a while, the both of them sat in pregnant silence, neither saying anything. Then after a few more minutes of silence, Lily broke the silence.

"Give her the book, David. But", she paused, then went on, "tell them to come to me if they have any questions about the contents in the book."

"Them, professor?", David asked as he returned the book back into its haven.

This time, Lily smiled mirthfully at David before she said, "Do you honestly think Selene would keep her hands off a book?"

And with that, the both of them fell into fits of laughter. Soon after that, they composed themselves and David took his leave. Just as Lily settled into her desk chair to grade those thrice damned papers, she repeated her words from earlier with unshed tears in her eyes.

"How fast children grow, indeed."