At dinnertime, the sun sank toward the horizon.
Londo moved through the darkened house by memory, deftly lighting the kerosene lamps one by one. The dim orange glow pushed back the darkness indoors. When he finally lit the lamp on the dining table, the whole house was properly illuminated.
Leonard came in from outside with Claudia and stepped into the living room.
"Why did you take so long?" Londo glanced back at the two of them, his eyes pausing briefly on Leonard's head.
A few blades of grass were tangled in his hair.
"Oh, I took Claudia around to have a look. We went a bit far," Leonard replied casually. "What's for dinner?"
"You eat whatever's made. What, you're going to complain?" Londo snorted. "Grilled pork chops, creamy mushroom soup, and bread."
"That's a pretty decent spread," Leonard said. He pulled over a chair and helped Claudia sit down, then took his usual seat himself. When he looked at the table, he froze.
"Why are there only two sets of tableware?" Leonard asked.
"When have we ever had a third person living here?" Londo shot him a glare. "Where would a third set come from? Just make do."
"Oh. That works too," Leonard said with a shrug. He slid the cutlery over to Claudia, tied a napkin around her for her, and naturally began cutting up her pork chop.
Claudia didn't like meat very much. She preferred sweet pastries, and after that, fruit.
All of it was high in sugar. An ordinary girl would definitely gain weight eating like that, but Claudia didn't have to worry. It was probably a racial trait. At least, Leonard had never seen a fat Unicorn.
Watching Leonard handle everything so smoothly made Londo feel oddly uncomfortable, but he couldn't quite say why. In the end, he could only take it out on his pork chop.
Sure enough, after only a few bites, Claudia shook her head at Leonard. Leonard didn't hesitate. He picked up the utensils Claudia had been using and started eating, finishing everything she'd left behind.
"Oh, right," Leonard said suddenly, as if remembering something. He pulled out a stack of pounds from his pocket and handed it to Londo. "This is Claudia's living expenses. She likes fruit and pastries…"
"Why are you giving this to me?" Londo asked slowly.
"Huh?" Leonard blinked. "If I don't give it to you, where are you going to get money to buy things?"
"Haven't you always been the one doing the shopping?" Londo replied flatly.
That was true.
Leonard paused, then remembered that he'd always been the one going into town to buy daily necessities. He'd completely forgotten.
After dinner, Londo washed the dishes and put them away. Then he came out and said to Leonard, "Come on. Go upstairs and get the guest room ready."
He somehow produced a set of clean bedding and stuffed it into Leonard's arms. Before Leonard could refuse, Londo grabbed him and headed upstairs.
Claudia followed behind them curiously.
Leonard's house was fairly spacious. It was essentially a small villa with three floors. The first floor held the living room, kitchen, and other common areas. The second floor had the master bedroom, secondary bedrooms, and guest rooms. The third floor was an attic, with a skylight where you could watch the stars on clear nights.
Leonard struggled up the stairs with the bedding in his arms and said as he walked, "Honestly, there's no need to go to all this trouble. Claudia can just stay with me."
"Stop talking nonsense," Londo snorted. "If you said you'd take care of her, then act responsibly. You're already grown. Sleeping together like that, what does it look like?"
He lit the kerosene lamp on the staircase and led Leonard to the guest room.
The door opened, and a cloud of dust rushed out, making Londo cough repeatedly.
Leonard took a step back helplessly and looked into the room over the pile of bedding. "How long has this place gone without being cleaned? Is this even livable?"
This guest room hadn't been opened in at least two years. You could imagine how filthy it was inside. Forget letting Claudia stay here. Even letting Snape stay here… actually, forget Snape. Just thinking about it made Leonard feel sick.
Londo hesitated as well, staring at the dust-covered room. The layer of grime looked several centimeters thick. Even if he wanted to clean it, it would take a long time.
Wait. Why should he be the one cleaning it?
Londo suddenly realized something and turned to Leonard. "Didn't you learn magic? Use magic to clean the room."
"What?" Leonard stared at him blankly. For a moment, it felt like he was seeing all the stereotypical relatives from his past life during the New Year.
Well, Leonard didn't actually have those kinds of relatives back then. He'd seen the joke online. The one where if you studied a certain major, your relatives would use it as an excuse to ask you questions that sounded related but were completely off.
Like, "You study computer science? My computer's broken, fix it."
Or, "You're a psychology major? Guess what I'm thinking right now."
Then there were the truly absurd ones. "You study law? My uncle got caught drunk driving, can you get him out?" Or even worse, "You study law? Then can you fly?"
Compared to that, Londo's request wasn't that outrageous. Leonard really did know a cleaning spell. It was something taught in second year, and he only knew it because he learned unusually fast.
If it were someone with slightly weaker learning ability, the feeling would probably be about the same as those examples.
"I do know that spell," Leonard said seriously, "but underage students aren't allowed to use magic outside of school."
"Is that so?" Londo looked doubtful. He suspected the brat was just making excuses because he wanted to sleep in the same room as a little girl.
"It's true," Leonard said solemnly. "Under the Underage Wizard Protection Act, if an underage wizard uses magic outside school, the first time they get a warning letter. The second time, their wand gets snapped and they're expelled from Hogwarts."
"Then forget it," Londo said at once. Hearing about snapped wands and expulsion, he immediately abandoned the idea of making Leonard show off magic.
Still, he complained, "This law is really something. If they truly wanted to protect underage wizards, shouldn't they be encouraging students to practice magic? What happens if a student runs into danger?"
"Who knows," Leonard replied. Hidden behind the bedding, a faint cold smile crossed his face.
Wasn't the current Ministry of Magic, led by Cornelius Fudge, practically synonymous with incompetence? No matter how brain-dead their decisions were, Leonard wouldn't be surprised.
Even if the Underage Wizard Protection Act didn't actually have much to do with Cornelius Fudge and instead came from the Statute of Secrecy…
Whatever. In the end, it was all Fudge's fault anyway.