When Victor and Abigail appeared at the Flamels' residence, he immediately turned to the house-elf:
— Missy, where are Adele and Luna?
— They're still in the training room, — the elf replied.
Victor looked at her in surprise:
— What, still?! They've been in there since early morning! Did they even have lunch?
Missy gave a firm nod:
— Lady Flamel forced them to take a break for lunch, but right after that, they went straight back to training.
— Hmm... Well, Adele makes sense, but where is Luna getting all this enthusiasm from?
— I think she couldn't care less about what she's actually doing, — Abigail said with a soft smile. — As long as it's fun and she gets to do it with her friend.
— Hmm, I suppose you're right, — Victor mused thoughtfully. — I still remember that sad look on her face when I went to pick up Adele. She was clearly bored out of her mind there. It really was a good thing I took her back then.
Abigail chuckled:
— "Took her"?
Victor looked at her and gave a firm nod.
The word "took" was a bit of an understatement for that situation! Victor had spent half a day arguing with Luna's father, and when he realized Xenophilius was as stubborn as a mule, he simply pulled out a small calendar and drew up a schedule. According to it, Luna would now stay two days with Victor and two days at home. After that, he simply set the paper on the table, took Adele and Luna by the hand, and silently vanished into thin air. In short, what he referred to as "taking her," normal people called "kidnapping."
At first, Luna's father was absolutely furious. However, after two days, when his daughter returned home impossibly happy, glowing, and full of energy, Xenophilius caved in and accepted the strange arrangement. He understood full well that the two of them got lonely on their own, so he decided that if his little girl enjoyed staying with Victor and Adele so much, so be it. Even so, he had harbored a strong dislike for Victor ever since.
— Alright, let's go see what they're up to, — Victor strode resolutely toward the training room. The moment he crossed the threshold, Luna rushed up to him with a beaming smile. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, looking up into his face, and giggled cheerfully:
— You're back!
Victor smiled and gave a warm nod, affectionately stroking the girl's head as usual:
— Yep. So, what are my lovely ladies up to?
Luna closed her eyes in delight at his affection:
— We're doing magic! Well, we were. I'm already tired of it, but Adele still doesn't want to leave.
— Ooh, my poor girl, stuck here because of her! But no worries, I'm here now. Come with me — I'm going to get some sleep.
Luna pondered the options for a brief second and decided that an afternoon nap sounded fantastic right about now. Without a second thought, she quickly scrambled onto Victor's back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck:
— Let's go! — she nodded decisively, pressing her face against his shoulder.
— I'm coming with you! — Adele announced, marching over. Seeing Luna hugging her brother, she frowned with jealousy, stood on tiptoe, and gently tugging Victor by the hem of his shirt, gave him a long kiss on the cheek. She shot Luna a meaningful look, as if saying: "You can cling to him all you want, but don't forget he's mine!"
Victor merely burst out laughing and, taking Adele by the hand, headed for the exit.
Abigail, who had been watching them from the side, bit her lip thoughtfully:
— Hmm... Since my boss is going to rest, I, as a model and loyal employee, am simply obligated to do the same. Quick shower, then — sleep. — She nodded to herself, thoroughly pleased with her decision, and made her way out as well.
Adele showered quickly, changed into cozy pajamas, and stepped out of the bathroom. Looking over at the bed, she saw Luna, who had washed up before her and was now lying next to Victor in her pajamas, resting her head on his shoulder. They were both engrossed in whatever they were holding in their hands.
Adele let out a heavy sigh, though she had long grown used to this sort of thing. On the very first night Luna stayed over, she had declared she would sleep in Adele's room. Adele, however, slept in the same bed as Victor. When she mentioned this to Luna, the girl hadn't hesitated for a single second before announcing they would all sleep together. Adele had flatly refused at first, of course, but Luna stubbornly insisted she didn't want to sleep alone. Adele was left with only two choices: either sleep with Luna in a separate room (which was unacceptable, considering she already spent months at school sleeping away from her brother), or let Luna join them. In the end, she chose the latter. Typically, she would lie on one side of Victor, with Luna next to her. But every morning upon waking up, Adele would discover that Luna hadn't just crept closer—she was shamelessly sprawling right on top of Victor.
— Adele, hurry up! You missed it! — Luna exclaimed happily upon noticing Adele walk out. She pointed at the open comic book: — Jughead just won a year's supply of pizza in an eating contest, but he accidentally ate the trophy too!
Adele rolled her eyes, walked over to the bed, climbed in, and snuggled up comfortably on Victor's other side:
— You do realize I can just read it myself later, right?
Luna paused thoughtfully and gave a cute nod.
Victor suddenly closed the comic book, causing Luna to instantly pout:
— Victor, come on, let's read a bit more!
Luna was head-over-heels in love with the comic books he occasionally read to her, especially captivated by the stories of the super-fast blue hedgehog, Sonic.
— You can read more later, time to sleep now, — Victor smiled, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
The girl merely gave a contented nod at the gesture. Victor adjusted himself on the pillow and affectionately wrapped his arms around both girls as they snuggled up tightly against him on either side. Since Victor had spent the entire previous night awake, and Adele and Luna had woken up early for training, all three drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep in no time.
Daphne arrived at the Flamels' house looking thoroughly displeased, clutching a fresh copy of the newspaper in her hands.
— Thank you, Missy, — she nodded to the house-elf and headed straight for the living room.
Noticing Perenelle writing intently at her desk — likely another letter — Daphne greeted her briefly:
— Hello, Mrs. Flamel! Where's Victor?
Perenelle looked up and smiled:
— Hello, Daphne. I believe he's in his room... Did something happen—
She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence or ask about the annoyance written all over the girl's face, as Daphne was already storming up the stairs.
Pushing the bedroom door open, Daphne froze for a moment, completely forgetting why she had even come in the first place. Victor was fast asleep on the bed. Luna was sprawled out right on top of him, and Adele was snuggled up on his other side — both girls had their arms and legs wrapped tightly around him.
At the sound of the door opening, Victor and Adele opened their eyes simultaneously.
— Oh, Daphne... Come on, join in, — Victor mumbled sleepily, gently stroking the back of Luna, who was still asleep on his chest.
Daphne quickly collected herself and said indignantly:
— "Join in"?! You threw all of magical Britain into chaos and now you're sleeping like a baby! Here, take a look! — With those words, she tossed The Daily Prophet right onto the bed.
— Adele, what does it say? — Victor asked, squinting against the light.
Adele nodded, propped herself up on her elbows, picked up the paper, and immediately caught sight of a moving photo of her broadly smiling brother on the front page.
— "The True Owner of Hydra Company Revealed! — Adele began reading with flair. — And it isn't the Greengrass family at all. As it turns out, the entire enterprise belongs to third-year Hogwarts student Victor Moss. Having secured funds from his adoptive father, Nicolas Flamel, the youth decided to play businessman..." Blah-blah-blah... Oh, now this is interesting! — She squinted at the text more closely. — It says Hydra won't last long and will likely go bankrupt before Christmas because it has a child as its owner.
Victor nodded and turned a calm gaze toward Daphne:
— So what? They're just words in a newspaper. What's the issue?
Daphne stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds, then let out a heavy sigh. Approaching the bed, she sat on the edge and, with a soft, somewhat tired smile, began gently stroking his cheek:
— Victor... Remind me, why did we strictly forbid all employees from talking about you?
— So that no one would find out who the real boss of Hydra was before the right time.
Daphne gave an approving nod:
— Right, good boy. And why didn't you want them finding out in advance?
— Because I wanted to make a grand reveal out of it with an eve... Oh-h-h. Right. I wanted to throw a massive festival in Diagon Alley where they'd announce it... Ah well, whatever, so they found out a bit earlier. We'll skip the whole thing and save some money.
— Mmm, skip it? Oh sure, of course... But what about the people?
— The people? — Victor blinked, confused.
— Yes! The wizards, musicians, dancers, pyrotechnicians, and everyone else who has been rehearsing this program for three weeks without a break?!
Victor finally realized the cause of her intense irritation: Daphne had been the one handling all the massive organization for his spontaneous whim.
— Well... It doesn't matter much now. Just pay them all for their work and let them go.
Daphne sighed again, leaned down, and kissed him impulsively on the lips. In doing so, she accidentally pressed down on Luna lying on his chest, instantly waking the girl up. Pulling her head out from under Daphne with a grumble, Luna sat right up on Victor's stomach and began rubbing her sleepy face with her fists.
Daphne's voice, meanwhile, turned far more strict and serious:
— Darling, please, be at least a little serious! This isn't the Slytherin faction where you can pull whatever stunts you want. You are now the owner of a huge, bustling, thriving company! Although... fine, I'll be honest: I knew from the start it would end like this. You are physically incapable of constantly acting like an adult, sensible businessman! But...
She gripped his shoulders in frustration and began giving him a light shake, finally letting her pent-up emotions run wild:
— Do you have any idea how much time, effort, and nerves I spent organizing this festival that you asked for in the first place?! There were only five days left until the performance! And you just went and ruined it all yourself! Now all my hard work has gone completely down the drain!
— Ha-ha-ha! Look, I'm sorry, really, I'm terribly at fault! — Victor laughed, throwing his hands up in defense. — My bad... Ah, now I understand where you were disappearing to all this time!
Having let off some steam, Daphne gradually calmed down. With a soft sigh, she climbed fully onto the bed, rested her head against Victor's chest, and wrapped her arms tightly around him:
— I absolutely hate you... — she muttered discontentedly into his neck. — I can't wait to go back to school just to get a little break from all this.
Victor smiled and began gently stroking her back, shifting his gaze to Luna, who still hadn't climbed off his stomach and was now watching them with curiosity.
— Hermione has already picked an assistant for herself. When are you going to choose yours? — Victor asked.
— Soon. Just let me rest a little bit first, I'm honestly exhausted... I've barely slept at all lately because of the festival prep, — Daphne sighed. — But I've already selected and appointed managers for the shops, as well as the head of security. As for my personal replacement... I have two candidates right now, still deciding which one to leave in charge.
Victor gave an understanding nod:
— Staying for dinner?
— No, I need to go cancel everything. I'll tell them someone leaked information about you to the press, so the secret performance no longer makes sense... Besides, I'm afraid your sister might murder me if I stay any longer.
Victor glanced over at Adele and chuckled. The girl was indeed glaring at Daphne with a look that could kill. Even though Adele had come to terms with the fact that Victor was growing up and had girlfriends, it certainly didn't mean she enjoyed watching them flirt right in front of her eyes.
Daphne got up from the bed and gracefully smoothed out her crumpled clothes:
— You know... In a way, it's actually a good thing it got canceled. I definitely would have gone crazy before that concert even happened. This way, I can go home and finally get a proper night's sleep.
— I wouldn't have minded at all if you went crazy! — Victor grinned. — We would've made a great pair of mad lovers.
Daphne merely rolled her eyes with playful irony:
— I'm already surrounded by way too many crazy people without adding to it. That's it, I'm off! Drop by my place tomorrow around lunchtime — by then I'll have picked my assistant.
She walked gracefully toward the door, swaying her hips with deliberate slowness — fully aware that Victor was watching her leave.
The moment the girl stepped out into the hallway, a pillow flew after her with a dull thud.
— Hussy! — Adele hissed angrily, right after throwing the pillow.
Luna next to her merely nodded in agreement. However, her attention immediately shifted: the girl's eyes fell on the colorful comic book lying on the nightstand. Quickly scrambling off Victor, she grabbed the book, propped her pillow up against the headboard, made herself comfortable, and eagerly opened the first page.
Victor smiled at her behavior, got out of bed as well, and tenderly kissed Adele on the forehead. Stretching until his joints popped, he unhurriedly walked out of the room.
Adele looked at Luna after he left:
— Hey! Don't read without me!
— You said yourself you could read it later, — Luna said with the most innocent look on her face, without taking her eyes off the pictures.
Adele merely let out a resigned sigh and lay down next to her friend, nudging her to move over and share the pillow.