The train ride soon ended and the students piled out of the train. When Hagrid called for the all of the first years to come over to him, Luna ignored him and took Harry's hand to lead him to the carriages.

“The thestrals are looking a bit thin.” Luna said and pointed to the front of the closest carriage.

Harry caught his breath at the skeletal winged horses that were attached to what he was going to ride in.

“It's all right, you're not going crazy.” Luna said and looked at the carriage.

“I'm not?” Harry asked and helped her to climb up inside.

“No, only those that have seen death can see them.” Luna said and ignored the looks on everyone's faces as they stared at her. “I'm not riding a tiny boat across the lake to walk up hundreds of stairs when I can ride right up to the castle with my friend.”

“She does have a point.” Harry said and climbed in, only to have Luna resume her seat on his lap. He wasn't sure why he wasn't uncomfortable with her doing that, even after sleeping in the same bed with her for most of the summer.

When Luna's arms went around him, Harry remembered that she had been holding him like that, completely undemanding, since that night. His arms hugged her close and she let out a soft sigh. Before he could ask her what she was feeling, the others climbed into the carriage and they were off towards the castle at a fast trot.

They arrived only a few minutes later and piled out with the other students and Luna held Harry's hand as they entered the castle. No one questioned why someone not wearing Griffindor colors was with them, as if they didn't notice her, and she even sat next to Harry at the Griffindor table. Hermione was conspicuous by her absence and was now sitting at the far end of the group of second years and pointedly not looking at Harry.

It took another fifteen minutes before the first years were brought into the Great Hall following Professor McGonagall. As they passed where Harry sat, Luna stood up and slipped right into the group with no one the wiser. Harry thought about asking her how she always did that when she wanted to remain unnoticed, then realized he didn't want to ruin her mystique.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Luna turned to give him a wink. Harry had to hold in his laugh and waved at her to pay attention forward. She rolled her eyes and nodded before looking back at McGonagall. Almost no one was significant in the names as they were sorted, as if their mere existences mattered little to the overall situation, until it was Luna's turn.

The hat sat on Luna's head for several minutes, as if they were having a lively conversation because everyone could see Luna's happy face. The hat suddenly opened its brim to speak. “GRIFFINDOR!”

Harry was shocked, because Luna was as Ravenclaw as they came, not including Hermione. Also, her sorting had been nearly as long as Harry's, which meant that she must have convinced the hat to sort her where she wasn't really supposed to go and where she wanted to go instead.

“Nice talking to you, Kevin.” Luna said and handed the hat to McGonagall. “Could you tell Headmaster Dumbledore that there's a spider's next to and under Kevin's shelf because he's worried he might get infested if it's not dealt with soon?” She asked and McGonagall nodded. “Thank you.”

Everyone stared at her as she skipped back over to the Griffindor table and her robes changed colors.

“Luna, what happened?” Harry asked as she sat down beside him again.

“Kevin is a cunning hat. He tried to put me in Hufflepuff.” Luna said and Harry snorted. “I know! Just because I'm a hard worker and loyal to you, doesn't mean I'll stay that way if we're not in the same house. He eventually came to the same realization.”

“What about Ravenclaw?” Ron asked.

“He mentioned something about the smartest witch of your year.” Luna said with a shrug. “If the brainiest student, whom I won't mention by name, doesn't have to go to that house... why should I?”

“That's a good point.” Ron said. “I never could figure out how she managed to get into Griffindor.”

“She asked, just like Neville and I did.” Harry said and saw their surprised looks. “No, I'm not saying where I would have been.”

Luna smiled and leaned in close to whisper. “You can tell me later.”

“Why? I know you already know.” Harry whispered back.

“Because I want to hear you confirm my guess.” Luna breathed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

Hermione turned to glare at them for talking and she saw Luna resting on Harry. She huffed and frowned before looking back at the sorting.

“She'll understand what she did soon.” Luna whispered. “When are you going to sign it?”

“In the morning.” Harry whispered back. “I just... I wanted one more night where my friendship with her means more than what she's reducing it to.”

“Friends fight sometimes.” Luna offered.

“I know. It's just that she was my best friend and I thought we were going to be... maybe we...”

“It's too late now. You already know the damage is done because you said 'was my best friend' and not 'is'.”

Harry took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “This sucks.”

“I know, Harry. I know.” Luna said and closed her eyes. “Wake me when Ginny comes over.”

“Of course.” Harry promised.

The rest of the sorting happened and Harry nudged Luna when Ginny ran over to the table to start pestering her with questions as the starting feast appeared on the table and everyone started eating.

Luna didn't comment about how Ginny's face showed anger and belied the impassive tone of her voice. “Hermione gave up her friendship rights over money. If I didn't make sure that Harry still had a friend that he could trust implicitly, he might have become reclusive and cut off all of his friends.”

“Harry wouldn't do that.” Ginny said and looked at him. “Would you, Harry?”

Harry was going to say no, then his eyes went to Hermione. She was trying to not look at him and was listening intensely, as if she wanted him to do exactly that.

“I think... if my best friend could so easily toss me aside, I... I wouldn't know who to trust that much ever again.” Harry said and saw the smug look on her face. He shook his head. “It doesn't matter now, though. Luna's right. She sacrificed her entire future to change house affiliations, just to be with me. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.”

“I was sorted into Griffindor.” Ginny said, smugly.

“You were always going to go into Griffindor.” Luna said and Ginny frowned at her. “What I did, Harry had done it for Hermione after only knowing her for a few hours, because she was already his friend and he didn't want to leave her alone.”

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath at the reminder that Harry had asked to be in the same house as her.

“It's just too bad she has completely forgotten how dedicated he was to her.” Luna said with a shrug.

“Well, we're going to be bunking together from now on.” Ginny said with an odd look on her face.

“Ginny!” Harry said in a stern voice and she winced. “Don't you dare do anything to Luna! No pranks, no teasing, and definitely no talking down to her or telling her to leave me alone!”

Ginny's eyes widened as his voice rose and the others at the table turned to look at them. “I... I didn't say anything about...”

“I've seen Fred and George enough last year to know when they are planning something, so if I hear even one word about you doing anything at all to Luna, including ostracizing her or saying things behind her back to make others not like her...”

Ginny's face paled at being so easily figured out. “I... would never...”

“...you are not going to like it if the same thing happens to you.” Harry said and squinted his eyes at her. “Promise me that you are going to forget everything about getting revenge for whatever problems you have with Luna.”

“Harry, I... I just...” Ginny started to pout.

“Promise me, or our friendship can go the same route that mine and Hermione's is about to.” Harry said, his voice flat and without emotion.

Ginny and Hermione gasped at the same time, because that didn't sound good at all.

Harry took out the scroll of parchment that Hermione had given him, unrolled it, and started scribbling on it. He changed a few things, signed it, and stood up with a determined look on his face. The others sitting around them stared at him as he walked several seats down to where Hermione sat.

“I was going to wait until the morning when it was a bit more private to give this back to you.” Harry said and held out the scroll to her. “Read it.”

Hermione looked at his face and saw that it was blank. He wasn't angry or sad, and that made her heart wither a little. Her mother's words came back to her about this being a mistake that she would regret. She couldn't help but realize that her mother was going to be right.

She took the scroll and unrolled it to read it. She saw that he had changed the terms of repayment to only a galleon a week, two a week during the summer, and the remainder was due in larger payments as soon as she had a job that paid enough to do so.

“I certainly hope that cutting me off and losing me as a friend was worth the cost of me buying you a floo to have permanent access to Diagon Alley and all of the books you could ever want or need.” Harry said and his voice sounded pained this time.

Hermione gasped again, not realizing he hadn't only done it to be selfish like she thought, and her eyes went to his face. “Harry, I never said that...”

“...you told me that we couldn't be friends if I didn't sign that and I had to choose what meant more to me.” Harry said.

“...and you signed it.” Hermione said, only her voice wasn't as convincing or as confident as she thought it would be when she finally got what she wanted.

“No, Hermione. You made me sign it.” Harry said with a shake of his head. “That told me exactly what my friendship meant to you, which is apparently less than what I paid for the floo. It was a present so that we could stay in contact during the summer breaks and also to escape any trouble that might happen at your place. All of my other friends have one and you were the only one that didn't.”

Hermione blinked her eyes and looked around at the other people at the table. She saw their sad faces and she didn't know what to say.

“You wouldn't have to rely on mail to talk to any of us if it was an emergency, like the one I had over the summer.” Harry said.

“Wh-what e-emergency?” Hermione asked, her voice cracking, and the others winced.

“Exactly.” Harry said and walked back to his seat. “If you hadn't stormed into my compartment and...” He stopped and shook his head again. “Never mind. You were so concerned over your own self-importance and self-righteousness that you didn't even bother to ask me if anything happened. You came in, made your demands and argued without listening to anything I said, and left. If someone else wants to tell you, I won't stop them or tell them not to.”

“Harry, what happened?” Hermione asked.

“It doesn't matter now. My real friends were there for me and... I'm... fine.” Harry said and looked down at his half-eaten food. “I'm not hungry anymore.”

Luna hopped up and gave a peculiar look to Hermione, who flinched. She gave that same look to Ginny, who also flinched, and she took Harry's hand. “Let's ask Percy what the password is.”

Harry nodded and they walked down the table, stopped briefly to talk to the only prefect they knew, and left the Great Hall.

“Now that he's gone, I can finally say how stupid you are.” Ron said.

“Ron!” Lavender and Parvati gasped.

“For someone that's so smart, she does really dumb s... stuff.” Ron said, correcting himself at the last second. “He's never done anything but be your friend and gave you everything you've ever wanted. I'm not the smartest guy around; but, even I'm not stupid enough to spit in his face when he gets me a present that would benefit my whole family.”

“Ron, do you even know how expensive an attached magical room with a floo is worth?” Hermione asked.

“Of course I do. My dad works for the Ministry. Plus, like Harry said, we have one.” Ron responded. “You were his friend long before I was. What did you think he was doing?”

“I thought... he said he was buying it for himself, and...”

“...and that he missed his best friend.” Ron said and she winced. “Yeah, he's such a bastard to want access to you when he was trapped at home and unable to go anywhere.”

“RON!” Ginny, Lavender, and Parvati yelled.

“Do you know how guilty Ginny and I felt because we could only be there for a couple of weekends during the summer when he was there all alone?” Ron asked and she didn't answer. “You know how he grew up. You know he's never had anyone to depend on before. You know how caring he is and how much he likes you.”

Hermione felt the tears forming in her eyes and she ducked her head to stare at the scroll in her hands.

“You also didn't think about any of that and did what you wanted and got what you wanted.” Ron said and started eating again. “I know he'll eventually forgive you for thinking he was trying to buy your friendship and for hurting him so much, because that's who he is. The only problem is, he's never... ever... going to forget.”

Hermione finally let the tears go and they dropped onto the parchment she held. It was soon soaked. Now she knew that her mother was right. She really regretted what she had done, because she realized that she had just lost something that was much more precious and valuable than galleons.

No one said a single thing for the rest of the feast.

*

“Are you sure this is safe?” A ministry employee asked as they went through the transfer records and procedures for prisoners.

“I've confunded the clerk and cast the Immobulus spell at the alarms. We'll be long gone before they activate.” The other employee said.

“How much are we getting for this?”

“We already got a thousand galleons and will get another when... ha! Got it.” He said and pulled out the apparition coordinates that only Aurors used and their security procedures. “Let's go!”

The two of them ran to the door out of the restricted section of the records office and then calmly walked out as they shut the door behind them.

They made their way through the Ministry to the main atrium and used the floo to go to the Leaky Cauldron. They sat and ate supper, like they did nearly every day, and went up the stairs to one of the rooms when they were finished. They knocked three times and waited. A single knock was returned and they entered.

“Do you have it?” A disguised voice asked from a cloaked figure and one of the men handed over the paper with the information on it. “Excellent. Thank you, gentlemen.”

The second man rubbed his hands together. “I can't wait for my part of the reward.”

“Yes, I have that right here for you.” The voice said and raised a wand. “Avada Kedavra!”

“No!” The first man exclaimed and stared as his partner dropped to the floor, dead.

“I'm just giving you what you rightly deserve, blood traitor.” The voice said. “Avada Kedavra!”

The man dropped dead to the floor like his partner and the cloaked figure snatched up a hair from the man's collar. They took out a vial of ugly potion and added the hair to it, then let the Polyjuice Potion do its work.

“Ugh, that's disgusting.” The transformed man's voice said and stripped the other man of his clothing and valuables, spelled the clothing items clean, and dressed. He changed the two bodies into a suitcase and a pile of clothing, packed them together, and left the room. The man went down to Tom the bartender, paid for the room as he mentioned going on a trip abroad, and left.

Once outside, the man apparated back to his residence and tossed the suitcase at one of the men standing in the meeting room. He opened the case before dumping it and the clothes onto the floor and transfigured the bodies back. They would be needed for what was to come.

“Any trouble?” He asked.

“None.” The transfigured man said and quickly stripped to toss the clothing to him, and the other man switched them onto the body. The naked man walked out of the room and into a side room, took the antidote to Polyjuice Potion, then dressed appropriately. The figure walked back into the meeting room and smiled.

“As I promised him, I will do anything to get my husband out of prison.” Narcissa Malfoy said and handed the paper with the information on it to the men. “We will strike at noon tomorrow just after the guards have changed shifts.”

The men smiled and unconsciously rubbed the spots on their arms where the Dark Mark used to be.

*

Harry laid in bed and he fought hard to not cry. He had cried over Hermione enough that day and he didn't want to do it anymore. He hurt so much and he didn't know what to do about it.

The curtains of his four poster bed opened and a nightgown wearing Luna climbed inside. He didn't ask her what she thought she was doing sneaking into the boys dorm and only held his arms open for her. She climbed under the blanket and into his arms.

“It's okay, Harry. I cast Silence on the curtains.” Luna said in a normal voice.

Harry's face crumbled and he pulled her in close and started crying again. “Why? Why can't I stop?”

“Some wounds don't heal right away.” Luna said and wiped at his face as he cried. “Some are so deep that they are always going to hurt.”

Harry looked into her eyes and understood as she started to cry, too. “I think... I think I would have liked your mother as much as I like you.”

“M-more. Daddy says I'm... just like her.” Luna said through her tears. “She was the best and I miss her every day.”

Harry nodded and they cuddled into each other to share their pains. They had both been touched by death and sometimes there wasn't really anything to say when a pain so strong overwhelms you to the point that nothing else can console you, except sharing that pain with someone else who knows.

Before they realized it, they had drifted off to sleep. After a very cathartic sleep, morning came bright and early.

Harry woke first and checked the time. “Luna, you need to go back to your dorm room before...”

“Don't care.” Luna whispered and clutched onto him tighter.

“I don't want to get in trouble.” Harry responded.

“Not me?” Luna asked.

“No one would blame you.” Harry said and then sighed. “Except Ginny.”

“She's focused too much on you and doesn't understand that she's only pushing you away with how she's acting.” Luna said and her hand lightly caressed his neck.

“I know. That's why I said what I said to her last night. If she doesn't stop being angry at you for something that neither of us want to control, I don't want her to be my friend anymore.”

Luna released her hold on him and sat up. She looked down at his calm face and smiled. “You don't want to control our friendship?”

“Why would I want to strangle something so great?” Harry asked and saw her smile go wide. “I mean, look at what happened with Hermione when she tried to control it, and we've been friends for a year. If Ginny keeps trying to do the same thing...”

“I'm too young for you to tell me that you love me.” Luna said and Harry's eyes widened in surprise. “Maybe you can tell me tomorrow?”

It took Harry a couple of seconds to have that register, then he started laughing. Luna laughed as well for a few moments, then she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

“I'll see you in the common room before breakfast.” Luna said and rolled over to get to the curtains and slipped out through them.

Harry didn't see or hear anything, probably because of the silencing charm, so he rolled over and left through the curtains as well. He grabbed some personal things from his trunk and went to get a shower. He needed to get cleaned after a night of crying and to wash away some of his shame. He had enjoyed having Luna in his bed and felt guilty that he was taking advantage of her in his time of need, which seemed to be a lot lately.

Harry dressed and went downstairs to see Luna sitting in a chair facing the stairs. The longing look in her eyes disappeared when she saw him. He knew that she was using him for comfort as much as he was using her and his guilt about taking advantage of her lessened some.

“No one else is up yet.” Luna whispered and Harry nodded. “Do you want to read a little or...”

“Whatever you want to do is fine.” Harry said as he walked over to her.

“Can you show me that advanced opening spell again?” Luna asked.

“Sure. Let's go over to the window.” Harry said and the two of them walked over to the small couch that let you look out over the grounds and sat down.

Luna cuddled in and put his wand arm over her shoulders. “Okay, I can see it up close now.”

Harry chuckled and did the wand motion slowly and whispered the spell. The window popped open and made a loud creaking noise. “Oops! I forgot the silencing charm first.”

Luna giggled and she cast the charm. “There.”

“Thanks. This is the advanced locking charm.” Harry said and did the wand movement slowly and whispered the spell.

The two of them sat there for nearly an hour as Harry made sure that Luna could do both spells.

“You're a really great teacher, Harry.” Luna said.

“I've just had a lot of practice with those spells. A lot of practice.” Harry said with a smile.

Luna smiled back. “We should go down to breakfast soon.”

“Good idea. We didn't get to eat much yesterday.” Harry said and Luna stood to let him up. He didn't want her to think he didn't want her close, so he took her hand and they walked out of the common room while ignoring the comments and staring from the other students that had filled the room while they were busy.

When they reached the Entrance Hall, a voice called out from off to the side that made them stop walking.

“Already got yourself a new little slut after breaking up with the mudblood, Potter?”

Harry let Luna's hand go, flicked his wand out of his sleeve, pointed it in the direction of the voice, let off a spell with a very loud bang, and had his wand back up his sleeve and Luna's hand back in his own in barely a second.

“GAHHH!” Draco's voice echoed through the Entrance Hall and several gasps came from around him.

“You may need to get someone to look at that, you nasty little insect.” Harry said, his voice full of disdain, then he continued to walk into the Great Hall with Luna beside him.

Luna had seen it and she barely believed it, which was saying something. She hadn't known that anyone could move that fast, let alone a twelve year old. Also, the spell he used, whatever it was, had changed Draco's face into the shape of a beetle's.

“Harry...” Luna whispered.

“I know. I just didn't want to deal with his idiocy this early in the day.” Harry said and sat her down at the Griffindor table like a gentleman should, and sat beside her. “Actually, I didn't want to deal with him at all today.”

“You're going to get in trouble.” Luna said and took his hand again.

“It was worth it.” Harry said and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “No matter what anyone says, it's just whispers on the wind and it doesn't mean anything.”

“Harry, you... you're too good.” Luna whispered.

Harry chuckled. “No, I'm not. I'm an attention seeking delinquent. I've spent more time in detention last year than Fred and George combined since they started school.”

“Almost none of that was deserved.” Neville said as he sat down across from them. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Harry and Luna said back.

“Did you sleep okay? I didn't hear anything last night.” Neville said.

“Silencing charm.” Harry said and as Ron sat beside him.

“You're probably not going to see Hermione until just before McGonagall hands out the schedules.” Ron said and filled his plate with food.

“She was crying a lot, too.” Lavender said as she and Parvati sat on either side of Neville. “It took her a few minutes after you left last night before she finally understood what she did.”

Dean and Seamus sat down on the other side of Ron.

“Ron pretty much told her what she meant to you and how much she hurt you.” Parvati offered and started to take some of the scrambled eggs from the large bowl. “She's not very happy right now.”

“Neither am I.” Harry said and sighed.

“At least she knows now, mate.” Ron said. “She'll come around and apologize.”

“I hope so.” Harry said and Luna squeezed his hand, then she let it go and they all started eating.

About halfway through breakfast, the owls showed up and delivered the mail. Not surprisingly, Hedwig showed up with a letter for Luna.

“Thank you, Princess.” Luna said and handed over three strips of bacon in exchange.

“I'm not going to ask.” Ron said and kept eating.

Harry chuckled. “Hedwig was chosen by the other owls as the Princess of the Owlry. Luna won't call her anything else.”

“HOOT!” Hedwig responded. Favorite!

“Luna is also her favorite, apparently.” Harry said and everyone laughed.

Luna pet Hedwig's feathers before she opened her letter. “Daddy's glad that I was sorted where I was needed and not where fate said I should go. That was nice of him.”

“How did he know?” Lavender asked.

“Now you've done it.” Ron groused and took some more eggs.

“Daddy's an investigative reporter for our magazine, the Quibbler.” Luna said and then launched into the extensive sales pitch for the magazine to try and drum up subscribers, which pretty much stunned the others.

“Told you.” Ron said when Luna was done talking. He sat back from the table with his belly full.

Hermione walked by them, her eyes red, and she sat at the end of their group without talking to anyone.

“Miss Lovegood.” McGonagall said as she approached. “Do I need to ask why you are not sitting with your fellow first years?”

“No.” Luna said and held a hand out for her schedule.

McGonagall handed it over and sighed. “You should be more sociable with your classmates.”

“I'm not part of their pride.” Luna said and looked at her schedule.

McGonagall looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Lions roam in prides. There's always a strong leader and others gather around them. They prosper and always move and hunt together.” Luna said and saw everyone's surprised faces. “It's basic animal behavior.”

“Then why are you here with Mister Potter... oh.” McGonagall said. “You should have been in Ravenclaw.”

“I know.” Luna said and folded the letter up. “My king needed me more than my pursuit of knowledge did.”

Harry let out a choked sound and then coughed.

“It's just a metaphor, Harry.” Luna said with a dreamy smile and pet Hedwig. “It fits perfectly with Princess here, however.”

“Hoot!” Hedwig said. Right!

“She... agrees.” Harry said and cleared his throat as he rubbed it. He was very glad that he hadn't been taking a drink at the time. Neville would have had a face full of juice.

“For now, please join the other first years. A prefect will show you to your first class.” McGonagall pointed at the end of the table only ten feet away.

“Okay. Bye, Harry.” Luna said and stood. “Bye, guys.”

A chorus of 'bye' answered her and she walked six feet away and sat.

“Here are your schedules.” McGonagall said and handed Harry and the others their schedules.

“Double potions today and on Friday? Are you trying to kill us?” Ron asked.

“I assure you, Mister Weasley. Teachers rarely allow a student to die in their class.” McGonagall said and walked up the table to the third years and handed out their schedules.

“Rarely!” Ron whispered and his face paled a little.

Harry and Neville chuckled, Dean and Seamus grinned, while Lavender and Parvati rolled their eyes.

The prefects took the first years past them and Luna waved with a wiggle of her fingers at Harry. He responded in kind and she smiled as they left.

“We should go, too.” Neville said and they all stood.

Hermione walked past them with her head down and they followed her. For some reason, they all thought that today was going to be a long day.

*

That afternoon, Sirius sat on the couch and cuddled with his soon-to-be wife, Ela. They always enjoyed her days off this way and they couldn't have asked for a better day to do it. It was dark and dreary and they had already cancelled their plans for a day trip to visit her parents. This was fortunate, because the fireplace burst into red flames and not green.

“It's an emergency!” Ela jumped to her feet. She ran from the living room and up the stairs, used a switching spell to exchange her casual clothes for her uniform, and ran back downstairs.

“Be safe, love.” Sirius said and gave her a quick kiss.

“Thank you for understanding!” Ela said and tossed some floo powder into the red flames to change them to green and she jumped in without having to call the destination. Only St. Mungos used red flames and she disappeared with the flames.

“I wonder what kind of emergency would require everyone to go in?” Sirius asked himself. He sat down on the couch and thought about how he could find out. It took him a couple of minutes before he smiled and went over to the fireplace and tossed in a pinch of floo powder. “Longbottom Residence.”

After a very short conversation with Frank, who was actually on his way out to go to the Ministry, Sirius ended the call and sat back on the floor.

“Oh, no.” Sirius whispered and pulled his knees up to his chest. “No no no. It's not true. It can't be.” He said and started to rock slightly forwards and backwards. He started doing the proper breathing exercises and the mental visualization that Ela had told him to do whenever he was having a panic attack about the worst place on earth.

He was justified in his panic, because Azkaban prison just had a massive break-out.

*

All of the students at Hogwarts sat down to eat supper that night. Just as the food appeared on the tables, a deluge of owls flew into the Great Hall to everyone's surprise.

“What's going on?” Harry asked as an owl landed in front of Neville.

“It's a special edition of the Daily Prophet.” Neville said and paid the owl before unrolling the newspaper. He barely read a single sentence before he reacted. “NO!”

His shout made most of the students around him jump, except for Harry and Luna.

“That can't be good.” Luna said and put some food on her plate and Harry's plate.

“It's not true! It can't be!” Neville said, eerily copying Sirius' words from earlier.

“Can I see that?” Harry asked and Neville handed it over as his hands shook. “Easy, Neville. Whatever this is, we can deal with it.”

“Harry, read that and try to tell me the same thing afterwards.” Neville said as his hands became fists.

Harry spread the paper out so that he and Luna could read it at the same time. “Oh, no.”

“I was right.” Luna said, her voice sad. “Does it say who escaped?”

Harry skipped over most of the article and shook his head. “It only mentions the seven high profile prisoners. Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and her brother in law, Barty Crouch Jr, Avery, Dolohov, and Lucius Malfoy.”

“I think that's bad enough, don't you?” Ron asked and shivered a little.

Harry could only nod. He remembered how unphased Draco's father had been about Harry being kidnapped by his son. Harry also saw the look of loathing on Neville's face. Lavender's hand touched Neville's and he grabbed onto it and held on tightly. She didn't wince, even though it hurt a little, and she leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder.

“We should eat.” Parvati said and nudged Neville, then looked across the table at Harry.

“Good idea. We need to keep our strength up if there's this much danger out there.” Harry said. “Neville, you can borrow Hedwig after supper to send a letter to your parents. She can stay there until they respond.”

“Thank you, Harry.” Neville said and started to eat after he whispered a thank you to Lavender as well.

The meal was a sombre affair with the horrible news of the Death Eaters and their escape from prison hanging over everyone's heads. When the food was gone, all of the students went back to their common rooms. Harry sat Luna on one of the small couches and ran upstairs to get the special mirror his Godfather had given him. He came back down and sat on the small couch.

Harry pulled her in close and cast several privacy spells before holding up the mirror. “Sirius Black.”

There was no answer for several minutes, then the mirror cleared of Harry's reflection and a pale looking Sirius stared back at him.

“Harry, this... this isn't a good time.” Sirius said.

“I know. I just read about the breakout in the paper.” Harry said and Sirius looked a little surprised. “It was a special edition of the Daily Prophet.”

“It figures they would get it out as soon as possible.” Sirius said and wiped at his face. “This means...” He sighed and shook his head. “Merlin! My cousin was crazy before she went in there and I can't even imagine what she's going to be like now.”

Harry saw over his godfather's shoulders that he was in the living room. “Where's Ela?”

“Emergency at the hospital. I can only assume it's for the Aurors that were guarding the prison.” Sirius said and then shivered as his eyes drifted away from the mirror.

“Sirius! Do your breathing.” Harry advised and Sirius nodded before he took several minutes to calm down. “How are you doing?”

“I'm a wreck.” Sirius admitted. “I haven't left the living room since this afternoon. I don't want to be away from the floo in case something else happens.”

Harry sighed and it was his turn to rub his face. “I don't think I can get away from the castle until tomorrow morning.”

“No, Harry. You stay there. It's safe there.” Sirius said.

“You need me there.” Harry said.

“I... I do.” Sirius said and rubbed his face again. “I don't know what to do! When I was younger, I could handle things like this as if it was nothing. It was just another day. Now, though...”

“I know.” Harry said and tilted the mirror to show Luna's face. “We both found someone that understands us almost better than we understand ourselves.”

Sirius saw the girl blush slightly and nodded. “Ela should be taking a break soon. When she calls, if it's something important, I'll let you know.”

“Thanks, Sirius.” Harry said and leaned back to pull Luna in closer. “Do you mind if I leave this thing on for a while?”

“Not at all.” Sirius said and leaned back on his living room couch and copied Harry's pose. “It's nice to have a familiar face to keep me company.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Harry said and used a sticking charm on the edge of the mirror to stand it up on the arm of the couch.

“Good idea.” Sirius said and copied him. “So, how has school been?”

“Okay.” Harry said and looked over at one of the study tables to see Hermione sitting there all alone. “I did have a falling out with Hermione on the train here.”

Sirius chuckled. “Most friends argue at some point, even over something stupid. What happened?”

Harry retold the whole thing to his godfather and to Luna, who hadn't really heard about it all. By the time he was done, Sirius was holding his head in his hands and pulling on his hair while Luna had somehow cuddled in so close that Harry could feel her breathing with just his body.

“I thought she was supposed to be the brightest witch of her age?” Sirius asked and sounded confused.

“We thought so, too.” Luna said. “Even though I didn't know what she said in the train compartment until now, I did call her an idiot when she came out.”

Harry smiled. “You also came right in afterwards and held me while I cried my eyes out.”

“She hurt you. I didn't know how, just that she did.” Luna said and lightly touched the side of Harry's face. “I couldn't let you face that alone.”

“Luna, I... you'll never know how much I appreciate that.” Harry said and closed his eyes as her hand caressed his cheek.

“I've been there for you all summer. Why would I stop now?” Luna asked.

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked.

“Luna's been staying over to keep me company. She would have been at home alone, just like I was, so she stayed with me.”

Sirius blinked his eyes several times. “Harry, you... you're too young to...”

“If you finish that sentence, I'm hanging up.” Harry said and Sirius clamped his mouth shut. “I don't know if I could have made it on my own after... you know.”

“Harry, we tried to get you out of that house to stay here. Dumbledore...”

“...has no idea what happened. At least, he better not.” Harry said and Sirius nodded. “He is still working with the knowledge that I'm hiding my scar and that I'm still a horcrux.”

Luna sucked in a sharp breath. “Harry!”

“Shh. It's okay. I'm not one anymore.” Harry reassured her.

Luna gasped and put a hand over her mouth, because she just realized what happened. Tears flooded out of her eyes and she sat up to stare into Harry's eyes. “You... you... that's what happened that night! That's why I felt... why there was so much...”

“Shhhh.” Harry hushed her and cut off what she was going to say. “If you know what a horcrux is, then you know what has to happen to them.”

Luna's tears didn't stop as she whispered. “You... had to... die.”

Harry nodded and felt her entire body as it started to shake. He smiled and spoke. “I got better.”

Luna let out a loud sob and lunged at him to bury her face into his neck and hugged him tightly while she cried and cried. Harry rubbed her back with his hands and whispered sweet words into her ear.

Sirius stayed quiet and let the scene play out, because he knew if the girl reacted like that, she really cared for Harry and needed to get those feelings out of her system. He had learned to do the same because of Ela and he didn't bottle anything up, positive or negative. He had to vent and Ela was a wonderful woman to help him with that.

“T-t-tell me.” Luna whispered as she moved back slightly to look into Harry's eyes again. “Please.”

Harry was just as emotionally strung out as she was and his mind went over everything they had gone through with comforting each other. “You have a special place in here.” He said and touched his chest above his heart. “You earned it the hard way.”

“The words.” Luna said and wiped at her face with Harry's sleeve.

“I love you.” Harry said, sincerely.

“I love you, too.” Luna said and leaned in to kiss him. It was her first real kiss with him while he was conscious and her mind immediately discarded the one that she had stolen weeks ago while he was asleep. It didn't compare at all. Not at all. Her mind exploded with feelings, images, and ideas that a normal eleven year old girl shouldn't have so soon in her young life.

However, Luna was a powerful witch. She also had an uncanny ability to give people the things they needed. Right now, she knew with all of her heart that Harry needed her more than anything else in the world and she was going to make sure that he was never going to be without her. She started to glow softly, as did Harry.

Sirius watched through the mirror and it was like a train wreck, because he knew he should do something to stop it and all he could do was watch it happen right in front of him.

The privacy and concealing spells hiding Harry and Luna from everyone in the common room failed and made several popping sounds as they were broken. Everyone turned to look at the noise and saw Luna on top of Harry. She was also snogging him silly, as if they were much older.

“Oh, my god!” Lavender exclaimed, fairly loudly, then she fell into the same trap that Sirius had fallen into. She knew she should do or say something to break it up and all she could do was watch. Parvati was right there with her and stared at the kissing duo, along with a shocked Neville and a slack-jawed Ron.

A couple of minutes later, the soft glow around Luna and Harry faded away and the epic kiss that everyone had watched came to an end, finally. The younger girls were blushing hard and hoped to have a boyfriend that would do that with them. The older girls were also blushing a little, mainly because they had picked up a few tips and had learned from the experience.

The guys on the other hand were unsure if they had just seen something they could do some day with their future girlfriends or had seen something they wouldn't see again or get to do it for themselves.

“Woooow.” Luna and Harry whispered as one and stared at each other.

Sirius snapped out of the trance-like state he had been in. “That's enough of that, you two. If you haven't noticed, the silence spell was broken.” He said, because he could hear the talking in the common room now.

Luna gasped and slid off of Harry's lap to look around at all of the staring faces.

Harry sat up and saw Hermione's angry glare before she went up the stairs to the girl's dorm. “Just so you all know, in case no one caught it, Luna's my girlfriend now.”

The other people in the common room were quiet for barely a second before laughs, wolf-whistles, and a few congratulatory words were shared.

“Damn, Harry.” Ron said and looked from him to Luna. “You don't do things by half, do you?”

Harry shook his head and touched Luna's shoulder. She turned to look at him, her face still surprised at being caught doing something years before she thought she would be, so Harry put his arms around her and gave her several quick kisses.

“I believe you just became a fully qualified Griffindor.” Harry said and gave her another kiss. “Brave and bold and jumping in with both feet before looking.”

That comment made a few people cheer and clap before someone spoke. “You tell her, Harry!”

Luna's surprised face changed to happiness as she giggled. “Harry, I... didn't mean to...”

“I did.” Harry said and looked around at the common room to see everyone going back to their own business. “I was going to tell everyone tomorrow anyway. Now it's out there and we don't have to worry about it.”

“What about the Slytherins?” Luna asked.

“I didn't hear from any teachers about what happened to Malfoy, so I'm ignoring him. If he dares to come near me again, I'll see what else I can change his appearance to and have it match his personality.”

Luna nodded and cuddled into his side. “I'm really tired for some reason.”

“I think that kiss blew out the spells I cast.” Harry said and she nodded.

“You were glowing a little, too.” Parvati commented. “Was that accidental magic?”

Luna shook her head. “I don't think so. I was thinking that I wanted Harry to know that I would always be his.”

“I think we all got that message.” Ron said and pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “Ginny's never had a face that was the same color as her hair before.”

Harry sighed and leaned around Ron to look. Sure enough, Ginny looked as angry as he had ever seen her. He very distinctly pointed to where Hermione had sat moments before and then at the stairs. The anger faded slightly and she made a huffing sound before she looked away.

“That's not going to work for long.” Luna whispered. “She knows she already lost to me.”

“It wasn't a competition.” Harry sighed. “No one was competing for...”

“Ginny always was.” Ron said, to Harry's surprise. “Mum's got her convinced that she'll be Mrs. Potter one day.”

“Ron, I'm only twelve!” Harry exclaimed.

“Yeah. Loads of time to change your mind about who you're dating. Years, even.” Ron said and went back to the hex book he was reading.

Harry looked at Neville, who shrugged. He sighed again and turned his head to look at Luna. He was about to ask her what she thought and then her lips were on his again for several moments.

“I meant it.” Luna whispered, her face had a knowing smile on it. “I'll always be yours.”

Harry felt her sincerity and had to smile, too. “I know. I can feel it.”

“You're not angry about it?” Luna asked.

“What? That no matter what, I'll always have you?” Harry asked and she nodded. “I've always wanted a real family.”

“That has to wait until I'm older. I am only eleven right now.” Luna said. “Maybe ask me tomorrow.”

That made Harry laugh, because it was similar to what she had said the day before about him needing to tell her today that he loved her.

Sirius could see it all and he shook his head. Kids these days. He thought with a chuckle. With the calm that settled in the common room after Harry's and Luna's display of affection, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The students all eventually went to bed and Harry brought the mirror up to his dorm room after kissing Luna goodnight. Luna snuck into Harry's dorm again after a short time and they shared a much better sleep together. No tears and no emotional upheavals appeared, which was such a relief to them that they fell asleep almost immediately.

*

Ela came out of the fireplace just past midnight and she saw Sirius was sound asleep on the living room couch. The mirror showed Harry and Luna cuddled up in bed together, also sound asleep, and Ela held in her laugh at the sights. She ended the mirror call and used her wand to expand the couch out, then stripped off her uniform and laid down with her future husband.

She unconsciously copied Luna's position in Harry's arms and Sirius automatically grabbed onto her and held her close. She sighed in contentment and fell asleep, her hands clutching onto Sirius like Luna clutched onto Harry, and the both of them were completely comfortable with always staying that way.