Harry and Luna dried off and dressed after their shared bath and joined Ron and Ginny in the kitchen. They ate some of the cake and after talking for a bit, Ron and Ginny watched as Harry and Luna cleaned up the kitchen by hand while Harry also used magic to clean the dishes.

Ginny kept her opinion of the whole situation with Luna and Harry being so close, to herself. She also wondered how she was going to try and become someone that Harry needed in his life. Little did she know that she didn't have to do anything to stand out. That wasn't how Harry thought. They were all friends and that was what mattered to him.

They went to the living room and Harry brought out the second year books and made copies for Ron, Ginny, and Luna. Ron was more than happy to accept, especially since it was going to save his family that much more money. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone, though. Harry didn't want to get in trouble for it.

Luna quickly asked for copies of his first year books as well and checked them against her list. It was the same and she gave Harry a long and lingering hug. “Thank you so much, Harry. You don't know what this means to me.” She said softly.

“You're welcome. Do you want them shrunk as well?” Harry asked as he held on and didn't try to let her go. For some reason, he didn't mind her hugs. He wouldn't be able to make sense of his feeling until he was older and realized it was because Luna was completely non-threatening. “You just tap them with your wand and cast the general counter spell to enlarge them.”

“Please.” Luna said and Harry did so. “Can you give Ginny a set, too?”

“Easily.” Harry said and quickly did so. “I'm sorry that I didn't give you these as soon as I knew that you were going to school.”

Harry was getting really good at the copy spell and it didn't take much of his energy at all now, since he had done so many of them and was practising the spell all of the time. He also knew that Hermione would have a few more for him to do when they got to school. He would keep any books she gave him in pristine condition and would use the copies instead.

“I can't believe you can copy them so easily now.” Ron said and held up a copy of the newest hex spell book that Harry had bought. “Thanks, mate.”

Harry chuckled. “I figured I wasn't getting it back unless I gave you a copy anyway.”

“That's true.” Ron said with a grin. “Some of these are great!”

Harry nodded. “I only flipped through the index and I thought the nose reversal spell looked interesting.”

“Just wait until Malfoy has to breathe through the back of his head!” Ron said with a laugh. “That's going to be so funny!”

“Don't get caught using it.” Harry warned. “You know what he's like.”

Ron nodded in agreement. “That git is going to suffer for what he did to you.”

“Why did he get away with kidnapping you?” Ginny asked, confusion on her face. “He should have been suspended at least.” She didn't see the slightly angry look that Luna gave her.

“Money.” “Politics.” Ron and Harry said at the same time.

“It doesn't really matter how. All that matters is where you go from here.” Luna said, wisely.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Harry said and turned to smile at her. “Thanks, Luna.”

Luna waved his thanks away. “As long as you don't let it interfere with your schoolwork.”

“Ugh! Not another one!” Ron groaned.

Harry had to laugh. “She's a potential Ravenclaw, remember?”

“Don't remind me.” Ron said and ducked his head down into the book to study that nose spell.

“We need to study if we want to stay ahead of our subjects anyway.” Harry said and Luna beamed a smile at him, which made him feel warm inside.

“Can you give me a hand, Harry? I haven't had a lot of practical experience.” Ginny asked.

“Maybe later. I need to study up a bit first.” Harry said and picked up the revised potions book that Professor Snape had recommended instead of the basic potions book for the school. He also grabbed several pieces of parchment and sat down to start doing out the calculations he would need to modify the potions with and for the adjusted times that his gold cauldron would need.

Almost an hour later, Harry had three of the potions reconfigured and then realized that he hadn't given Luna and Ginny their cauldrons. He closed his book with the parchment inside and went to his bedroom.

“Harry?” Ginny asked as he passed her.

“Just a second.” Harry said and disappeared into his bedroom for a minute. He went down into his trunk and retrieved the case of the shrunken cauldrons with cakes inside that his friend Nicolas Flamel had sent him to give to his friends. He grabbed two of them and tucked them into his pockets. He closed the case and then left his trunk to go back out to the living room.

Luna caught her breath and stared at him with wide eyes. “H-Harry! You can't!”

Harry barked a laugh. “You're really smart.” He complimented her and pulled out the two small gold cauldrons. “Chocolate or double chocolate?”

Luna looked like she was going to cry. “D-d-double chocolate, please.”

Harry handed the one he had in his right hand to her and her hands shook slightly. “Hey, it's all right. All my friends have one.”

“It's true.” Ron said when he saw what he handed over. “Mind you, he gave me mine before he figured out that he could shrink the damn things.”

Harry laughed. “Professor Snape sure was surprised, wasn't he?”

“So was my back! That thing was huge!” Ron exclaimed, then they both laughed at the remembered look that had been on Snape's face at the time.

“Here you go, Ginny.” Harry said after he calmed down and passed the other small gold cauldron to her. “Don't enlarge it until you get home. It really is quite heavy when its full size.”

Ginny stared at the glittering cauldron in her hand. “Harry, are you serious? You're giving this to me?”

“Sure, why wouldn't I? You're my friend.” Harry said, completely missing the point.

“Thanks.” Ginny said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Harry saw the look on her face and put a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, I know what you're thinking... and yes, you can sell it if you want. It's yours and you can do whatever you want with it.”

Ginny's eyes nearly bulged out of her head and her eyes snapped to his. “Harry, I... you gave this to me and...”

Harry pat her shoulder and walked back over to the big comfy chair where he had left his book. “You don't have to use it. If you do, it's more work.” He said and quickly wrote out the formulas that he had memorized for use in the potion conversions. He walked over to Luna on the couch and handed her the sheet. “These are the formulas you need for the different brew times and other things that change when switching between a normal pewter cauldron and a gold cauldron.”

Luna's eyes lit up at the new information and put the cauldron down to take the paper. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” Harry said and went back to his seat.

It was quiet in the apartment for the rest of the afternoon. Harry stopped working and studying when it was time for supper. He had already made several dishes and brought Ron, Ginny, and Luna into the kitchen to eat. He used the switching spell and set out the different dishes, just like the house elves did at Hogwarts.

“Eat up.” Harry said and sat down after setting out the different drinks. “It's not like I don't have a lot for you to choose from.”

Ron nodded and helped himself. “You need to tell the elves how to make mashed potatoes.”

Harry barked a laugh. “Are you sure you want me to tell them some of my family secrets?”

“Yeah! Everyone will love this new creamy deliciousness and won't miss the old lumpy version.”

Ginny took some and had to agree. “If they don't taste this good, you really should tell them.”

“It's better than mum's.” Ron said and took another scoop before pointing the large spoon at Ginny. “You better not tell her that!”

Ginny snorted. “I'm not stupid. She'd kill you.”

“She really would.” Luna commented and helped herself to some of the mashed potatoes. “I agree, Harry. I think if you helped the elves make better food for the castle, it can only benefit you... and everyone else in the castle.”

Harry sat back and thought about what she said. “All right. I'll see if I can find the kitchens and see if they want to listen to my tips and tricks.”

“Just ask Fred and George. They've been going to the kitchens for ages.” Ron said and bit into a pork chop. “Oh, this is tender!”

“I'll do that.” Harry agreed and the four friends enjoyed the food. They finished their meal some time later and it was time for them to go home.

“Thanks for having us over, mate.” Ron said and clapped Harry on the back. “It's been fun.”

Harry nodded and followed them to watch them get their things. “I'll see you next week?”

“Yeah, sure. I don't think we're doing anything else next weekend.” Ron said and tossed some powder into the fireplace before he stepped in. “The Burrow.”

Ginny went next and seemed to glare at Luna before she disappeared in the flames.

“Is she angry at you or something?” Harry asked.

“Kind of.” Luna said with a dreamy smile. “She's nervous about leaving me here.”

Harry chuckled. “I don't want to know why, do I?”

Luna's smile became a bit bigger as she stepped close to hug him, showing him why. “See you later.”

“See you.” Harry said and hugged her back. He held on for some reason and her grip tightened after a moment.

Luna eventually let go and stepped back, then she tossed some powder into the fireplace and disappeared after the two redheads.

Harry let out a sigh and looked around at the place. It was untidy after having four people staying there, so he got to work fixing the place up. He didn't want to go to bed with the place out of sorts. It always bugged him when Vernon and Dudley did that on purpose to give him more to do before going to bed and also when the boys at school did it to the dorm room.

Ten minutes later, the fireplace flared up and he turned to look and see who it was.

“Luna?” Harry asked, more than surprised to see the little blonde girl standing there with a big suitcase.

“Hi, Harry.” Luna said and walked over to the second bedroom. She put her suitcase inside and came back out. “Daddy's going on another trip.”

“But...”

“He's pretty happy that I have somewhere other than the Weasleys to go to now.” Luna said and smiled.

“Luna...”

“It's okay. I went home first and got some actual clothes.” Luna said and plucked at the normal top she now wore instead of the too tight blue top she had worn before. “I used the floo from home and not from the Weasleys.”

“They don't know you're here?” Harry asked, slightly concerned.

“Nope.” Luna said and beamed a smile at him.

Harry opened his mouth to tell her that she shouldn't be there when no one else knew where she was... then he looked around at the now straightened up apartment... that had been empty of everyone but him. His protest died before he could voice it, because he really didn't want to be alone for a whole week.

Luna let out a yawn and stretched her arms over her head. “I think it's bedtime.”

Harry looked at the time on the living room clock and it was getting pretty late. “You're right, Luna. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Luna said and went to the second bedroom to get changed.

Harry went to his bedroom and didn't bother changing the bed back to its normal size. He changed into his night clothes and climbed under the blanket. His door opened and Luna came right in, as if she owned the place.

“Luna?” Harry asked.

Luna didn't say anything as she climbed into the bed and slid under the blanket with him.

“Luna? What are you doing?” Harry asked.

“Sleeping.” Luna responded and turned onto her side and stared at him.

“It looks like you're keeping an eye on me, not sleeping.”

Luna smiled and did a long and slow blink of her eyes. “There. I'm no longer staring. Happy?”

Harry had to laugh at her breaking eye contact for only a second. “Surprisingly.”

Luna's smile slowly disappeared and she shimmied closer to cuddle in. “Goodnight, Harry.”

“Luna.” Harry whispered as he felt her all down his side.

“You can hug me if you want.” Luna said. “It was really nice the last time.”

Harry blinked his eyes several times as his slightly sleepy brain processed that statement. “You... really...”

“Uh huh.” Luna breathed and lifted her head. “Arm, please.”

Harry didn't resist and put his arm around her shoulders. She rested her neck on it and easily tucked the pillow in close to not make either her or Harry sore.

The two of them stayed there and were quiet for some time before Harry turned onto his side to face her. He took a shallow breath to speak and Luna beat him to it.

“Thank you and you're welcome.” Luna whispered as her arms went around him to hug him close. “You should send more letters out to the people you were there with.” She said and closed her eyes, as if she knew that he didn't want her to see his face.

“Luna...” Harry whispered back and closed his own eyes to try and stop the tears. After a few moments, he stopped fighting the feelings he had repressed since the night he had died and let the tears flow down his face and onto the pillow. He started to sob and cry silently, and all the while Luna held him tightly and added her own tears to their shared pillow.

Neither of them said another word before the both of them had cried themselves to sleep.

By the morning, the both of them felt much better about everything.

*

The days went on in almost the same vein after that for the rest of the summer. Harry and Luna would study for several hours, do practical spells for several hours, then they would cook and share meals. They quickly fell into the familiar and comfortable pattern that they had established, including sleeping in the same bed, and they were both enjoying it more than they thought they would.

Letters were exchanged with their friends and Harry had also taken Luna's advice. He sent letters to Amelia, Sirius, Ela, and Remus, the four people that he knew the best that had also been there that night. He told them how he was dealing with everything and how Luna was helping him by being there to support him.

Ela responded first and praised him for taking it in hand and for letting her know that he was dealing with it. She visited when she had gotten off work that day and Luna tried to give them privacy. Neither Harry nor Ela were having that and included her in their therapy session. The three of them benefited from it, especially Luna. She liked Sirius' not-yet-wife and her hugs were almost as nice as Harry's.

Ron and Ginny visited the next weekend and had no idea that Luna had been there the whole time. In fact, they only visited once more a week before the end of the summer.

*

The incident at the ministry with Harry and the horcruxes was easily covered up, much to everyone's relief, especially when it was all attributed to the Unspeakables. No one questioned it at all. Sirius had been right that no one would come looking for the dead Unspeakable agents, which was fantastic, because without anyone to look into it, nothing that happened had been discovered.

It took two weeks for Amelia to sort through all of the messes that the old minister had left in the ministry and to root out all of the corruption, bribery, misplacement of funds, and promised favors that were either broken or undone because of all of the arrests. Restructuring the different departments to get all of the outside influences removed from everyone's offices was going to take much longer than that, though.

The trials were going to take a while as well. The depth of the corruption in the Ministry of Magic was deep and pervasive, with some things being years and sometimes decades old. For every person that was brought to light in the conspiracy to cover it all up, it only revealed several more members to be implicated. The domino effect would be something that Amelia would be well acquainted with by the time it was all said and done.

*

Summer came to an end, as did Harry's sequestered time at the Dursley's. He had only seen them once, when they had gone for a drive and had looked into the window when they were coming back into the house.

Needless to say, the Dursleys were not happy that Harry's apartment was much nicer than the rest of the house. Harry never heard the bangs on his cupboard door or the demands to open it up. He also never heard the threats they made to kick him out if he didn't let them in.

The Dursleys didn't know that he wouldn't have answered, even if he did hear them, because he had promised himself that he would ignore them. He had to call the place home until he was of age, which was seventeen in the wizarding world. Harry wasn't going to do anything to mess up the protections that had been set onto the house, not for the next five years. Until then, they were kind of stuck living under the same roof.

“I can't believe it's that time already.” Harry said as he shrunk his trunk and tucked it into his pocket.

“I know. I'm really going to miss sleeping with you every night.” Luna said and pointed to her trunk.

Harry let out a laugh and shook his head. “That's not what I meant.” He said and shrunk her trunk.

“You're going to miss your cuddle-buddy.” Luna said pointedly with that dreamy smile of hers.

Harry took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I can't miss you if I see you every day.”

Luna's smile turned a little sad. “Harry...”

“Hey, it's okay.” Harry said and stepped close to give her a tender hug. “We might be in different houses when at school; but, that doesn't mean you aren't still my friend or that I'm going to ignore you.”

Luna sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “I miss your food already.”

Harry laughed and rubbed her back. “I swear, the first thing I'm doing is getting Fred and George to tell me where the kitchens are.”

“Okay.” Luna said and let him go. “Come on. The Knight Bus waits for no one.”

Harry gave one last look around to make sure he had everything put away and packed up, then he cast the fire escape spell to make the single window enlarge into a screen door. The notice-me-not charm on the outside made sure that no one saw this and both he and Luna stepped out onto the front lawn. Harry locked the window and cancelled the fire escape spell while Luna summoned the bus.

There was a bang and a flash of light down the street a few moments later. The Knight Bus swerved several times, making a hedge and two parked cars jump out of the way as it passed.

“One day, I'll learn what spells do that.” Harry commented and Luna nodded in agreement.

The bus picked them up and the two students cast the Spongify spell on everything. They had a blast rolling around and bouncing off of everything as the bus did its normal erratic driving to take them to Kings Cross Station.

“Thanks, Stan and Ernie.” Harry said and pulled out a shrunken box and enlarged it. “I made this for you when I knew I'd be taking the bus.”

“Harry! You da man!” Stan said happily as he opened the large box and it had two dozen small cauldron cakes inside. “Oi! Ern! Harry's got more cakes for us!”

“He's not riding free again. Bribes work one time only.” Ernie said with a stern voice as his hand grabbed a random cake.

Harry did his best to not laugh. “It's not a bribe. I know you guys like them, so just enjoy them.”

“Thanks, Harry.” Stan said with a big grin on his face.

“Bye!” Luna said and took Harry's hand to lead him off the bus. The two young people went inside the train station and waved at the ticket man at the security station.

“Catching a train, are you?” The man asked and peered at them.

“Yep! Same time every year. Boarding school, you know.” Harry said.

“Ah, so that's why there's so many kids and adults coming through. I figured it was something like that, considering I never see the kids coming back.”

“Not until Christmas for the holiday break...” Harry then added the correction. “...or June.”

“Well, good luck and have fun at school.” The man said and waved them through.

“Thanks.” Harry said and it was his turn to lead Luna through the crowds and to the right spot between platforms 9 and 10. “There's a magical barrier between the platforms.” He whispered to her and moved her to the side and to a good watching spot. “You can see it when the next person goes through it.”

The two of them stood there for nearly ten minutes before a man and two children walked by them with a cart and two trunks on it. The man didn't even pause as he led them through the barrier.

“There must be a notice-me-not charm on the area just around it.” Luna whispered.

“That's my guess, too.” Harry said. “Do you want to head over now?”

“Okay.” Luna said and followed Harry over to the barrier. “It's not going to hurt, is it?”

Harry shook his head. “It's more visually jarring, since I assume it's not just a barrier and actually transports us to another track.”

Luna blinked her eyes and then smiled at him. “I see. Thank you for explaining.”

Harry held her hand and led her through the barrier. After a second of disorientation, they appeared on the other side of a brick wall and on the side of the platform they needed to get to.

“You're right, Harry. That was a displacement spell that was covered by an illusion spell.”

“Two, actually. One's on this side as well for some reason, as if we didn't know it was a doorway going back.” Harry said with a bit of a chuckle.

Luna smiled and had to agree. It didn't make a lot of sense to conceal the magical side at all. Her thoughts were cut off when she caught sight of the large steam engine that they were going to ride behind.

“Wait until you see inside.” Harry said and led her along the outside of the train to let her take it all in. “I didn't get to see it all up close like this last year.”

“Why not?” Luna asked, curious.

“It was hectic and too busy for me to do more that get a glance.”

“That's why we're here so early.” Luna said in understanding.

“You got it on the first guess again.” Harry responded and Luna beamed a smile at him. “It gives us time to check things out and also to get a good compartment to wait for our friends in.”

“Not to mention getting a bit more studying in.” Luna said and he nodded.

Harry led her down to the engine and knocked. The door opened and a man wearing a conductor's uniform stood there with a bit of a perplexed look on his face.

“Can I help you?” The man asked.

“Hi. I'm Harry and this is Luna. It's her first time and I was hoping we could get a look at the engine.”

“Ticket, please.” The man said and held a hand out. Luna handed over her ticket and the man examined it for precisely two seconds and used a handheld hole punch on it before the ticket disappeared with a soft glow. “Welcome aboard, Miss Lovegood.”

“Thank you.” Luna said with a happy smile.

“We don't normally let students tour the engine room.”

“That's okay. We just thought we'd ask.” Harry said.

“We really want to know everything about magic. It's all so fascinating.” Luna said.

The conductor gave them each a brief look, the same look he gave the ticket, then he nodded. “It's early enough that it shouldn't cause a disruption. If you will come this way?”

Both Harry and Luna had huge smiles on their faces as they followed the man inside the engine compartment and then gasped as they beheld the magical controls. The conductor showed them around and then opened the main chamber. The room seemed to be very thick with ambient magic and Luna had to grip Harry's arm tightly to not be overwhelmed by it.

“Wow.” Harry whispered and reached out to wave his free hand through it.

“You can feel that?” The conductor asked, slightly surprised.

“We both can.” Harry said and put the hand on Luna's cheek. “Are you okay, Luna?”

“M'fine.” Luna said a little lazily as she rested her head on Harry's shoulder. “There's just so much.”

“I know! We never thought it would be like that. Thanks for showing us, sir.” Harry said and turned around as he eased Luna back out of the compartment. “Let's find somewhere to sit down.”

Luna nodded slowly and let Harry take her into the train proper and to the passenger compartments.

Well, it looks like I was right to keep an eye on him. The conductor thought as he watched the two young people leave. It's pretty rare to find one child in a year that's sensitive enough to feel the poweful enchantments. His eyes darted to the girl with the long blonde hair and smiled. He just happened to bring the one from this year, too!

*

The platform started to fill up with families seeing their children off to school. Most stood around to chat, as if it was a social gathering and not them dropping off their kids for boarding school. The kids mostly did the same thing, except there was a lot more noise and running around.

“You know he's here already.” A very familiar woman's voice said as she followed her daughter towards the barrier that kept the muggles from seeing anything magical.

“Oh, I'm sure he is.” Hermione said, her voice a bit sterner than usual.

“Hermione, please don't do this.” Emma Granger warned her daughter. “You need to...”

“I know what I need to do.” Hermione said, determined.

Emma managed to not sigh at her daughter. “It's not really a legal document that can be enforced.”

“Not on this side of the barrier.” Hermione whispered just loud enough for her mother to hear.

Emma actually sighed this time.

“I know what I'm doing.” Hermione said.

“No, you don't. But, you'll learn that not all things need to be handled this way.” Emma said and gave her daughter a hug. “Be good and be safe.”

Hermione gave her mother a hug back. “See you at Christmas.”

“Alone?” Emma asked, even though she knew what the answer was going to be.

“If he doesn't agree to the terms.” Hermione said.

If he's smart, he won't. Emma thought and let her daughter go. Unfortunately, I'm sure that Hermione is going to force him to... and that's not going to end well for anyone. “Bye, sweetie.”

“Bye!” Hermione said as she walked over to the barrier and then went through it.

*

“Hey, guys.” Neville said as he entered the compartment with his trunk. He didn't comment about Luna resting her head on Harry's shoulder and put his trunk up on the rack.

“Hi, Neville.” Harry said with a bit of a wave. “Luna's a bit tired after we visited the engine room.”

“WHAT?!? You got to see it?” Neville asked, shocked. “No one's allowed in there!”

“Really?” Harry asked, surprised himself. “The conductor only said that they don't normally give tours.”

Neville shook his head and almost laughed. “That's the polite way to tell you off for asking.”

“Oh.” Harry said and gave Luna an apologetic look.

“He let us in anyway, so it's okay.” Luna said and closed her eyes. “So much magic.”

“What was it like?” Neville asked as the compartment door opened.

“HI!” Lavender yelled and hopped into the compartment, her trunk tumbling in after her. She quickly gave Harry a hug and sat down next to Luna.

“Let me get that for you.” Harry said and levitated the trunk to the rack.

“Thanks, Harry! You're the best!” Lavender gushed. She was really easy to please.

“Hi, there.” Parvati said with a normal voice and closed the door before she put her trunk down. “What was what like?”

“Harry and Luna visited the train's engine.” Neville said as Parvati sat beside him and Harry took care of her trunk, too.

“You're kidding! Trying to get in there is worse than getting into the restricted section in the Library!” Parvati said, just as shocked as Neville.

“It's not that big of a deal.” Harry said and tried to downplay the visit. He hadn't known it would be that big of a deal.

“It's like finding the ancient Chamber of Secrets!” Lavender said, not realizing that Harry was the one that had found that very thing. “I didn't even know you could get in there, let alone look around!”

“Yeah, it's been a mystery for years.” Neville said and Parvati nodded in agreement.

“Spill! I wanna hear all about it.” Lavender said and turned on the seat to face Harry and Luna.

Harry looked around at their expectant faces and relented to the peer pressure. “All right, it was...”

*BANG!*

“Whew! We made it!” Ron said loudly as he stumbled into the compartment after slamming the door open. “It was close, but we did it.”

Everyone stared at him and his face flushed a little red.

“Uh, sorry. I kicked the door a little hard.” Ron said and hefted his trunk up to the rack.

“Anyways...” Harry started to say.

“I need to go find Ginny.” Luna said and cut him off. “I'll see you later.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked, concern clear in his voice.

Luna lightly touched his cheek and nodded, then she walked to the door and slowly closed it. She started to walk away and suddenly stopped to turn and leaned against the wall. She stood there and waited for several minutes until a head of bushy hair appeared at the door of the next train car entrance.

Luna didn't have to look to see that the face under that hair was angry. She didn't move or say anything as Hermione practically stormed through the train car and looking into the compartments, until she found the one she was looking for just passed where a practically invisible Luna stood.

“Of course it's the very last one I check.” Hermione grumbled in a whisper. She took a deep breath to try and hold her anger in, straightened her shoulders, and opened the door.

This isn't going to be good. Luna thought as the door closed and she felt the silence spell be applied to the door.

Barely five minutes later, the door opened again as the silence spell dropped. Hermione huffed and closed the door, barely restraining her need to slam the thing, and started to stalk away.

“You are an idiot.” Luna said as she stepped out in front of her.

“Excuse me?” Hermione asked, her confusion of Luna's sudden appearance was muddying her anger temporarily.

“I don't know what you just did; but, you hurt him.” Luna said, her voice sad. “You don't know what he's gone through...”

“It doesn't matter! He has no right to spend all that money on me for no reason! I swear I'm going to pay him back every knut, even if he doesn't sign the loan agreement I drew up.” Hermione almost spat.

Luna had to take a moment to process the meaning behind the words and she took a step forward. “I changed my mind. You are a stupid self-righteous idiot.” She said and walked around her to go back to Harry's compartment.

“You can't talk to me like...”

“Ignoring you.” Luna said and opened the compartment door. She went inside and closed it, just as Ginny entered the train car.

“Is Harry in this car? I've looked everywhere else.” Ginny said and Hermione pointed to the right compartment. Ginny went over to it and looked in the window of the door. “Merlin, dammit! She beat me to it again!”

Hermione gave her a questioning look. “Beat you to what?”

“Come and see for yourself.” Ginny said with a sigh and motioned to the window.

Hermione walked over to the compartment and looked inside. She gasped when she saw Luna practically wrapped around Harry and Harry had his head ducked down onto her shoulder and had her in a tight embrace. Anger filled her, only it was a different kind from what she had felt moments before. She wasn't sure why she was feeling it or why it was different, though.

Hermione didn't know that it was jealousy and she was a bit too young to understand why she was feeling it. She steeled herself and let out a huff. “I wonder how long he can go without having me around to help him study all the time.”

Ginny gave her a surprised look for a moment, then quickly replaced it with a blank face. She didn't say anything and watched as Hermione walked away. When she was gone, Ginny gave the compartment another glance before she made her decision. She turned and walked away to go back to the other first years that she had met. Luna was supposed to meet them as well, only she was now occupied comforting Harry after whatever Hermione had done.

*

“Shh.” Luna whispered as she held a sobbing Harry and she pressed her lips to his ear. “She doesn't realize what she's done.”

The others in the compartment were quite uncomfortable after witnessing the argument between such good friends like Harry and Hermione. To argue so much over some gold that was given as a gift, then to threaten to break off the friendship if he didn't agree to change the gift into a loan... it wasn't a good thing to witness.

Lavender's normally happy demeanor was as subdued as it had ever been and Parvati was close to tears herself. Neither of them had thought that they would ever see their friend be so quickly reduced to tears by another friend. That was mainly because they didn't know that Harry didn't have any friends before coming to school and that Hermione had been his very first one.

For Hermione to threaten to break their friendship over something he thought wasn't even worth mentioning between friends, hurt him more than anything else she could have done. He thought that he meant more to her than that and all she could see their friendship as, was a bargaining chip.

It took Harry a long time to recover his composure and eased his hold on the young blonde that had held onto him the whole time. He took several shaky breaths and pulled out a tissue to wipe at his own face, then took out another to wipe at Luna's face. He vanished both used tissues and used a drying charm on her top and on his shirt to clean up the large wet spots that his sadness had left behind.

“Thanks, Luna.” Harry said sincerely as he put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his side.

Luna cupped the side of his face and leaned in to place a light kiss on his other cheek. “I only did what any good friend would do.”

Neville saw an opportunity to lighten the mood and jumped on it. “Don't hold me to that standard, Harry.” He said with a forced grin. “I mean, we are good friends and I like you... but, there's no way I'm crying on your shoulder or kissing you afterwards!”

Ron barked a laugh. “Me neither! I don't kiss my sister's cheek after she has a crying fit, so I sure as bloody hell ain't kissing your cheek after you have one!”

Neville laughed and Harry rolled his eyes, even as a smile slowly appeared on his face.

“That's because boys are terrible at stuff like that.” Lavender said with a shake of her head.

“My brothers are the worst.” Parvati added, then she smiled. “They pretty much laugh if Padma or I try to cry on them.”

“Was it always sincere?” Luna asked, curious.

“Well...” Parvati started to say and then grinned. “...sometimes.”

That made everyone laugh a little and the tension in the room lessened just enough that no one felt uncomfortable, not even Harry after his breakdown in front of them. He shifted his gaze to each person and looked at their faces.

“I'm sorry about all that.” Harry said, his voice back to normal. “I don't usually cry like that.”

“Or at all.” Ron offered.

“Don't worry about it. We all have our moments.” Lavender said. “I had a horrible hair day just last week and nothing I did could fix it. I cried for an hour!”

“That was why it was a hat day?” Parvati reached over and pat Lavender's knee as the girl nodded. “I had mine three weeks ago and not even my mother could avert my sorrow.”

“Is that why you keep it in a braid at school? You're worried about bad hair days?” Neville asked.

Parvati gave him a knowing look. “You've been keeping that close of an eye on me all last year to notice that?”

Neville sputtered incoherently as his face flushed red, then he turned his head to look out the train's window without answering her. Pavarti and Lavender exchanged a different knowing look and slightly nodded to each other.

Several minutes of silence passed before it was broken.

“Who wants to play Exploding Snap?” Ron asked and took out the old deck he had been given by Percy. “You better be careful though. This deck is old and might just snap in your hand instead.”

“I'm in!” Neville said and moved over to sit beside Ron. He would do anything to distract everyone from Parvati's comment.

The rest of the ride passed by without the expected visit from Malfoy to antagonize them, which seemed a bit odd. What they didn't know, since the trial had been held in a closed Wizengamut session to keep it from the press, was that Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban prison for his crimes. The only people who knew this were sworn to secrecy.

There was a tense moment when the compartment door opened and a very frazzled Susan Bones stood there to stare at Harry. Her eyes took in Luna tucked into his side and the faint tear streaks on both of their faces. Word had already spread through the entire train about Harry and Hermione's argument and Susan had come right to him, after getting the story and Harry's location from Ginny.

Susan didn't say anything as she stepped into the compartment. Luna sat up straight and Harry stood to take what he knew was going to happen. Amelia had warned him about it and he opened his arms to accept it. Susan stepped into his arms and the two of them hugged tightly.

“I'm sorry that I couldn't come visit.” Susan said. “You know with everything going on at the Ministry that the Bones House was on lock down all summer.”

“Yeah. I was, too.” Harry said and didn't look at Luna. They had agreed that no one needed to know that she had spent most of the summer at his place and with her father's blessing. In fact, her father hadn't bothered trying to see her off at the train station and let her go with Harry instead. Xenophilus didn't tell them that he was too saddened at the prospect of sending his little girl off to school, so he let Harry handle it for him.

“It's okay now, though. We're at school and I'm not letting you out of my sight!” Susan promised.

Harry had to chuckle as he let her go. “We're in different houses. There's no way you can keep that promise.”

“Just watch me.” Susan said, determination in her voice.

Harry's chuckle became a laugh, because he remembered Luna saying the same thing to him after Amelia charged her to keep an eye on him that fateful night. He sat down and saw Luna had a big smile on her face, so he knew that she was thinking the same thing.

“Budge over and let me sit.” Susan said and waved a hand at Luna.

“Okay.” Luna said and briefly stood. Instead of trying to squish up next to Lavender, she turned to the side and sat right down on Harry's lap. She put her arms around Harry's neck and cuddled into his chest.

“That's... not what I meant.” Susan said and wasn't sure what to do.

“I didn't want to squish Lavender.” Luna said as an explanation. “There's now lots of room for you to sit down, too.”

Susan saw Harry's face and didn't see any stress or objection to having Luna on his lap, so she shrugged and sat down in the available space. “So, what did you do all summer?”

“Ginny, Luna, and me stayed at Harry's for a couple of weekends.” Ron said and felt a card in his hand heat up. He tossed it in the air and it popped and fizzled. “See? The enchantments are getting weak and not holding a charge.”

“Want me to try fixing them?” Harry asked.

“Can you do that? It's not like they're broken or anything.” Ron responded and gathered them up.

“It's a pretty versatile spell. I fixed everything back at the house before I got my apartment.” Harry said as Luna took the deck of cards from Ron to hold them for Harry. Harry let his magic flow out and encompass the deck of cards, then cast the repair spell. “REPARO!”

The deck of cards glowed for several seconds. When the glow faded, the previously worn out deck of cards was now a pristine deck of cards that were fully charged magically.

“Woooow.” Lavender said as she stared at the cards. “I didn't know you could fix things like that.”

“Most wizards and witches have a different mindset than someone raised by muggles. Things we see as disposable and replaceable are seen as fixable and reusable by others.” Luna said and everyone but Harry turned their heads to look at her. “It's true.”

“How would you know? You're part of a magical family, aren't you?” Parvati asked.

“Harry's my friend.” Luna said, as if that explained everything.

“We need a bit more than that.” Lavender said and a few of the others nodded.

Luna glanced at Harry and he nodded slightly. “Most witches and wizards grow up in an environment of magic that can easily produce the things we need and in abundance when necessary. We learn from an early age that magic can give us almost anything we want.”

They all had a contemplative look on their faces.

Luna smiled a little and continued. “Muggles, muggle born, and muggle raised grow up in an environment where they have to work hard to get what they want and learn that unless you take care of it, it won't be easily replaced when it's gone... if at all.”

Lavender's and Susan's eyes widened at that realization.

“That does make sense.” Neville said and rubbed his chin. “I mean, I wouldn't even think of trying to repair a deck of cards and would just buy a new one the next time I'm in Diagon Alley or have Gran get it for me.”

The compartment fell silent and Ron kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything. He wasn't going to complain that he was poor in front of a compartment of people that he knew wouldn't understand what it was like to go without.

“I didn't have anything of my own until just before coming to Hogwarts.” Harry admitted after a few minutes. There were a couple of gasps, two sad looks, and Susan's hand found one of his to give it a squeeze. Luna snuggled in again and one of her hands lightly stroked the back of his neck.

“You don't have to do this.” Susan whispered.

“It's okay.” Harry said and pointedly looked at Ron for a moment and nodded, to let him see that he understood, and then he looked at the others. “I was raised by my relatives and they hate magic almost as much as they hate me.”

Lavender covered her mouth to stop her yell and Parvati's face became a scowl. Neville's was blank, which meant he was either angry or about to strangle someone. Ron looked surprised and thoughtful at the same time.

“The beatings my cousin and his gang gave me weren't that bad, once I was big enough to run away.” Harry said and tried to ignore the sad looks on everyone's faces. “The verbal abuse by my aunt and uncle only came to blows a few times and they usually left me alone for a while afterwards.”

“Oh, god.” Lavender whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“They used to lock me up for days at a time in my old bedroom, the cupboard under the stairs.” Harry said. “It was the starvation that was the worst, though. Not eating for several days and having to do all the chores around the house and garden, really made me small and weak for my age.”

“That's why there was such a huge change in you during those first few months at school last year.” Susan said, finally understanding what had happened.

Harry nodded. “Healer Ela really came through for me with her special breakfasts last summer when I found out that I was a wizard. It gave me the strength to go up those boat stairs as if I was a normal person. I can never thank her enough for that.” He let out a chuckle. “I had no idea that she had arranged for the house elves to keep feeding me nutrient and growth potions mixed into my food all year.”

“Did she tell you that?” Susan asked.

“No, Sirius let it slip the last time we had a group therapy session.” Harry said and saw that several of them looked confused. “It's just us getting together and discussing things that happened to us.”

“Like Stubby Boardman being in prison for trying to choke a rat.” Luna said, which made Harry laugh.

“Yes, exactly.” Harry said and used the hand Susan wasn't holding to lift Luna's head from his chest. He kissed her cheek to thank her for making him laugh during such an emotionally sad conversation.

Luna blushed a little and ducked her head down again.

“Of course, thanks to me finding a few things out, like having some money that I had no idea about, I started to change everything that had been happening to me. New clothes that weren't Dudley's oversized cast-offs, a new haircut, a trunk that I could store things in, and some supplies.” Harry had to smile at that first shopping spree. He hadn't had a clue about how to do anything.

“Are you really rich?” Ron asked. He couldn't help himself and had to know.

Harry shook his head. “I'm not like super-rich or anything. I've got a bit of an inheritance from my parents and that should last me for a long time, especially since my schooling has already been paid for. If I'm careful about how I spend what I have and let the goblins handle some investments for me, I might not even have to work after I graduate.”

“Okay, wow. That's the best thing to know!” Lavender said and Parvati nodded. “You can work if you want, which means anything you do make will just be extra that you can spend on whatever you want!”

Harry nodded. “That's what I'm hoping for. I mean, I'm not going to be a miser and never spend anything...”

“We know.” Lavender said and blushed a little at remembering her very first expensive outfit that he had bought for her. “You don't have to explain any of that.”

“Says the girl that looked like a million galleons when she wore her outfit several times last year.” Parvati said with a laugh.

Lavender blushed a bit more and then she smiled happily. “I looked great, didn't I?” She asked and gave Harry a look that said 'thank you'.

“I liked it.” Harry said the default response automatically and both Ron and Neville nodded.

“The solid gold cauldrons are nice, too.” Luna added and everyone nodded, except for Parvati.

Harry noticed and whispered in Luna's ear.

“Sure.” Luna said and reached over to take Parvati's hand. “Harry said we just have to hang out a bit more and he can give you yours.”

“Wh-wh-WHAT?!?” Parvati gasped.

“He doesn't want anyone to call him a liar.” Luna explained and let her hand go. “He said that he had enough for his friends and he does.”

Parvati ducked her head and tried to stop the tears before they started. “Harry, you... don't have to...”

“I already have it, so don't worry about it. I have a few left.” Harry said and this made the others stare at him. “What?”

“You have a few left?” Susan pointedly asked. “How many is a few?”

“I actually have four more. When I give Parvati hers, I'll have three left.” Harry said.

“He's definitely not a miser.” Lavender whispered and everyone nodded.

The compartment fell into silence after that revelation and they were all thankful that it wasn't uncomfortable. Ron and Neville went back to their game of Exploding Snap and it was a much better affair than it had been. The crisp cards and the powered up enchantments really made the game that much more fun. They both got into it and used exaggerated moves and made a spectacle of themselves, to the amusement of the others in the compartment.

*

The train made its way along the tracks towards its destination and the occupants enjoyed the ride. Very soon, they were going to be in school and most of them would learn more magic than they knew before. Little did the students realize that there was a hidden conspiracy within the Ministry to commit one of the wizarding world's most dangerous crimes for the community.

A prison break.