Unofficial Portkey Archive

What is Love?

A/N: WARNING: There is a small spoiler from DH, regarding the Deathly Hallows, but it doesn't follow strictly what the book says about them.

Also, don't point out that I have messed up the timeline of HBP and DH, because I started the fic after OotP, and in this version, Dumbledore dissappears during the Final Battle at the Ministry before Harry faced Voldemort for the last time (it was all said in previous chapters).

Chapter XXVII

Bonds and recoveries

Making somebody happy

is a question of give and take
You can learn how to show it

so come on, give yourself a break
Every smile and every little touch
Don't you know that they mean so much
Sweet sweet kisses so tender
Always will return to sender

(.- Bang-a-Boomerang by ABBA)

2004 - Old Ministry of Magic, London

Twenty minutes and countless hexes later, the yells of the Falange Death Eaters died down and breaths of relief were exhaled from three different places within the walls of the destroyed and abandoned old Ministry of Magic.

"You reckon they left?" Ginny asked her partner when they had reached Level Six's lift door and climbed out. "Why-ever did we get the climbing exit?"

Neville laughed for a moment. "I suppose because we were the ones with the less injuries…" he said, amused and then turned serious. "I'm not sure if they backed away, but we should still keep going. It should be safe to go through the levels now; hopefully we'll find Harry soon." He stopped for a moment and looked around, groaning a second later.

"What is it?"

"I don't know the fastest way out," he said, frustrated. "Wish I knew the plans of the Ministry as well as Harry. I think we turn left here."

"Sure?"

"No, but have you got a better idea?"

"Left it is then," Ginny responded in an effort to lighten the mood. "Hope we don't have to stop for food and water though."

He came to a sudden halt. "The kitchens! They are bound to have a supplies entry. Great thinking, Ginny!" he congratulated the redhead.

She frowned and shrugged. "Uhm… sure! Anytime!" she replied with a smile.

Neville scanned the surroundings. "I think it's safe to cast some light now." He was about to give it a wave, but Ginny said the Lumus bulba incantation first. As soon as the words left her mouth, a small orb drenched the corridor with a warm blue light.

"That was fast," the auror pointed out with a smirk.

"I was in the war too, remember?" Ginny replied annoyed. "I don't forget so easily," she added a moment later.

"Yeah? I don't, either…" Neville retorted vaguely, a touch of bitter in his voice.

* * *

At last, Harry ran out of energy and had to reach over to the wall for support. Luckily for an unconscious Hermione, Draco was right next to them and caught the two before Harry's knees bended completely to hit the hard stone wall and, consequently, the floor.

"Potter! What the hell?" he exclaimed while directing the two to the floor, gently.

"Nothing!" the green-eyed auror started fiercely, "I'm just… tired," he added weakly, his eyes starting to close.

It was only then when Draco noticed that Harry's navy-blue auror battle robes were drenched in blood, and he groaned. "Damn you, Potter! You are NOT doing this, not during my guard!" he said and started slapping the other not-so-gently.

Harry reacted a bit and opened his eyes, focusing in the person in front of him and what he was doing. His eyes blazed with fury and the silver-haired young man had to retrieve his hand as if shocked.

Draco let out a surprised yelp and launched forward, to hit Harry for real this time, only to be stopped by the small hand of an awakening Hermione.

"Draco? What- why are you so close?" she asked curiously, incorporating after Harry's spell had worn off and noticing the deadly stares the two men were exchanging. "What's going on here?" she angrily surveyed the both and her eyes widened in shock upon realizing her clothes were soaking red…and it wasn't her blood, for she had barely received a few cuts and bruises.

"Great Merlin! Why didn't you do anything, Draco?" she asked in panic, trying to look for the source of Harry's bleeding.

"Gee, I don't know, maybe because we were trying to get you and ourselves out of there in one piece?"

She stayed silent for a moment, flushing bright pink, and then turned her attention back to Harry. "Are we safe now?"

"As safe as we can possibly be here," Draco responded quietly, looking around for any movement.

"Good, that should give me some time," she talked to herself and then directed a half-unconscious Harry: "Please, stay with me, Harry," she whispered.

Harry lifted his hand with a great effort and placed it on Hermione's forearm. "I'm always with you Mione, will always be," he said weakly and tried to measure the damage to his own body. "This doesn't look too good," he said when seeing his own pale hand, stained with blood.

She stared at him for the longest time, oblivious to the other person in the room with them, oblivious to the Death Eaters that had been chasing them a mere quarter hour before, oblivious to the world around. Looking into his bright green eyes, she tried to read the truth in his words… she shook her head and nodded. "I'll get you fixed up in a second, baby," she said lovingly as she made some complicated wand movements and silent healing spells she remembered from years ago.

Draco watched in quiet surprise how after so long, and after so much pain, they could still have that lingering love between the two, and as Hermione finished up the temporary spells that would allow the three to get out of there, he wondered if he would ever find someone like that.

His mind drifted to each of the women that had been part of his life and couldn't really remember one as significative as Hermione was to Harry. He couldn't even place a woman with a look so sincere and tender as the one Hermione was giving Harry at the moment - except... what? What was Harry's ex doing, appearing in his mind? Draco shook his head and pictured Potter's former fianceé to identify exactly what had brought her image to his mind at a moment like this... indeed, she had those kind and sincere eyes he'd seen in Hermione. Lucky bastard, he thought, eyeing the reincorporating Harry with a trace of envy he had forgotten he had for The-Boy-Who-Lived. The calling of his last name, brought Draco from his reverie and he blinked several times. "What?" he asked annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Harry replied more slowly, as if speaking to a three-year-old.

"Saving your arse, of course." Draco drawled, styling that insufferable look and trademark smirk on his face.

"My arse was just fine, thank you!" he retorted and launched towards Malfoy once again, only to be stopped by Hermione's small hand.

"Harry! Stop it! You are acting like a teenager!"

"Me! I. Am acting like a teenager? You've GOT to be-"

"No, I'm not, now stay still for a moment, will you?"

"Fine, but I still don't trust him," he pouted.

"I do, and that should be enough for you."

"At least make him explain how he got back from the world of the dead."

"I'm still here, if you didn't notice."

"Shut up, Malfoy!"

"Harry!"

"Fine!" the young man in question agreed, earning an approving nod from Hermione.

"Thank you."

"Actually, I want to know too," Hermione placed her light brown eyes on the blond boy as she spoke, her wand moving effortlessly over Harry's wound.

Draco sagged and sighed. "I don't think this is the best place or time."

"It is the best you'll get if you don't tell us now," Harry threatened and Draco rolled his eyes.

Hermione looked around. "He is right, Harry. We are in no shape to face Falange Death Eaters if they manage to trace us. Let's go to the Department of Magical Transportation. I identified two reprogram-able portkeys.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, befuddled.

"Well, we came here after you guys did and I did the incantation. Honestly, it's not that hard to figure it out," she said matter-of-factly.

Harry laughed. "No, that wasn't what I was talking about. I did the exact same thing when we entered the Department," Harry laughed, and quickly Hermione joined him with a small blush in her cheeks.

Draco cleared his throat. "So, should we get going, or you want to catch up?"

"Ha-ha, very funny, Draco. Let's go." Hermione said and helped Harry up.

A good fifteen minutes later, they were standing on Level Seven of the Old Ministry and made their way to the Portkey Management office.

"I think Neville left the Coca-Cola bottle over there," he pointed somewhere on his left and Hermione accioed the device.

"You remember how to re-program it?" Hermione asked out of curiosity.

"It has saved my life more than once," Harry responded and made a couple wand movements so the bottle glowed light blue and the light sunk inside its contents.

"Ready?" They all touched the bottle in some part. "Thee, two, one..."

And the world vanished in a swirl of colors.

When Harry felt the hard floor materialize under his feet, he slowly opened his eyes, incredible relieve washing over him when he identified the familiar surroundings of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

2004 - Department of Mysteries at the Old Ministry of Magic, Downtown London

To Ron's surprise, Luna was light as a feather and he could even run the flight of stairs with the younger woman in arms. He looked at her pale face and wondered, anger boiling inside his guts, what the bastards could have done to her, to leave her like this.

Through the long corridor following the stairs, Ron finally reached the round room and saw double and triple marks on the doors. "Won't do much good to mark them anymore," he commented to himself, trying to record the slight differences between the marks in order to remember which one to follow.

He tried the first door and kept repeating "slightly curvy third mark" to himself. He noticed the long corridor and excitement burst inside him for a moment, until he made out some destroyed clocks. "This is not the way out," he commented groggily and stepped back. "Too good to be true." As soon as he'd closed the door to the Time Room, the main room spun two, three, four times, and stopped.

Ron looked around, trying to place the door he'd just tried and thought he recognized it so he decided to open the door on its left and studied it closely. "First mark longer than the second," he said to himself and pushed the door open. To his dismay, when he looked inside the room he saw a huge tank, full of brains. The gasp that followed resulted in him almost letting Luna fall, but it quickly changed into a rapid hand motion that closed the damned door.

"Bloody hell! I hate those things!" He stepped back and the room started spinning again. "Oh, fuck, what was the mark again?" He sighed and slid down the now still door. His eyes landed on the pale girl in his arms and gasped. "The spells!"

Quickly, Ron lay Luna in front of him and cast the few diagnose and healing spells he remembered from the war. "I wish I'd read that book Hermione gave me more throughly," he muttered between spell effects.

Apparently, nothing in her condition declared her an emergency patient and Ron let out a relieved breath. Then, why wasn't she waking up? He started feeling around her stomach and back and found bruises and cuts everywhere. "I'm going to kill them all."

He then moved to the head and felt a strange protuberance there. Looking closer, he noticed that a piece of the chair he'd blown up earlier that night had hit her before Ginny's spell reached Luna. "Oh. Bloody hell." He knew he had to take the piece off, but found it anything but appealing.

"I have to do it." Ron said to himself and pulled two small potion vials he had in the belt Harry'd given him before leaving. "Blue one is pepper-up, and yellow-ish is anti-inflammatory... I think... I hope."

Gathering all his courage, he placed both his hands above the wound. While one got the chair pierce out, the other one cast the provisional suture spell. "Got it!" he exclaimed upon seeing only little blood coming out of her head. "Now, the potions," Ron instructed himself and poured the contents inside Luna's mouth. "This should take some minutes." He continued muttering the procedure as to not forget what came next.

Ron stood, took her in arms again and opened the nearest door: the time room again. He groaned in frustration and stepped back for the room to spin yet again. "First door in sight," he announced to the air and pushed the door in front of him. It was locked and Ron threw his head back in protest. "A little help here?"

"Why did I get the Department of Mysteries? That git..." he mumbled grumpily as he entered, for the third time yet, the same room with the destroyed clocks all around.

"Because it was closer."

Ron looked down upon hearing Luna's weak voice. The potions and spells finally worked and he let out a relieved breath. He smiled at the girl in his arms, "hey, welcome back," the redhead muttered almost like a lover talking to his partner.

"Thank you, you can put me down now," Luna offered.

"No, it's all right, you're not heavy, I wonder why."

"They put a spell on me, to make me lighter so they could throw me around."

"What?"

"Yes, they seemed to find it funny to throw me around while they asked me all these weird questions."

"Those scum!" Ron growled.

"It's all right now, they are gone, right?"

"Uhm... sort of."

"That's good enough for me..."

Ron stared at her, amazed at her strange ways, had it been Hermione, she'd be freaking out right now. He laughed and Luna cockedher head to the side.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, you're just different... I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"I take that as a compliment, Ronald, so thank you," she said sweetly and took a hand to her head. "That wasn't there before."

"Uh... that was kind of my fault. I'm really sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to, but Ginny's spell, and I just saw, and it..."

"Shhh, don't apologize," Luna said tenderly, raising a finget to his lips. "You saved me, and that is all that matters."

"But I..."

"It's ok."

"Ok," Ron responded, alack of another word.

"Though I am not sure I can walk yet."

"I… I know. I was trying to find the way out, but no luck."

"Uhm... maybe we can camp here until the Humdingers open the doors... you know they do that every night."

"Why would they do that?"

"For the air."

"The air?"

"To recirculate, otherwise we would be breathing the crumple-horned's breath all the time..." she said simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ron just looked at her and nodded.

"All right then, you want to move?"

"I'd rather not."

"All right," he repeated, not really sure how to act around Luna anymore; it had been over six years since he'd last seen her.

Silence fell between the two and Ron's face burned redder every time. "What's the matter, Ronald?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look like a volcano about to erupt."

"I do? I'm sorry..." he said and his face turned an even darker shade of red.

"Don't be, it's cute."

If there had been yet another shade of pink or red, then Ron's face would have turned that, but as it was, he just looked away and muttered a 'thank you' to the blond girl.

"Ronald?"

"Yes?" he asked, almost scared of her calm demenor.

"Why are you so angry?"

"What do you mean, angry?"

"Well, I heard you talking bad words before I woke up, and from what I've heard from Ginny, you are always angry..." she asked innocently.

"I- I don't know what you mean," he stuttered.

"Why did you call Harry a git?"

"I didn't."

"Yes you did, right after asking why you'd gotten the Department of Mysteries."

"I didn't say it was Harry."

"He was the one to tell you to go this way, so you were talking about him," she said evasively.

"I- I-" he started defensively, "I don't know," he sighed, "he's always beaten me, in everything, you know?"

"That is not true..." Luna retorted.

"Always better grades, he got into the team in first year, he got the patronus right in third year... he got Hermione first..."

"He didn't beat you in chess..."

"And how is that relevant? It's just a game," Ron responded, his shoulders sagged and a frown on his face.

"Oh, no, not at all. Being as good as you are in that game says much more about you than all the things you've mentioned before..."

"How come?" Ron asked, straightening us, now truly interested.

"Well, chess is not just a game. Playing chess requires intelligence, strategy, intuition..."

The redhead cocked his head to a side. "You're right," he said reflexively.

"Of course I am, I'm a Ravenclaw, remember?"

Ron smiled and nodded. "Of course you are."

"And you have so many things Harry doesn't and won't ever have..."

He was tempted to ask her again 'how come?', but there was a bigger curiosity in his head right now. "Why are you being so... normal?"

"Normal? You might be confusing me with someone else..." Luna said, incorporating from the lying position she'd been on.

Ron stared at her and all he could do was let out a laugh and was soon joined by the other girl. The two laughed for a while, and Ron felt, for the first time in a long time, the feeling of liberation only a good laugh, with the right person, could give you.

"Also, Harry wasn't asked to become resposible for the strategy-building for the aurors..."

"Well, he is the second in command at only 24, so... wait, how do you know?"

"I run the Quibbler, remember?"

"Yes, but as far as I rememeber, it never came out to the press..."

It was Luna's time to turn an impossibly intense shade of pink, and she looked away. Ron continued staring at her, waiting for her answer, and she bit her bottom lip. "Well, I... I like to keep track of what's going on with you..." she said in almost a whisper and went back to biting her bottom lip.

Stunned, Ron was wordless, his face turning a matching pink to the blush on Luna's cheeks.

"I'm sorry if it bothers you, I shouldn't have said..."

"Don't- it is nice to hear it," he said and lifted a hand to her cheek. Caressing it, Ron leaned forward and his lips touched the corner of Luna's pink ones. "Thank you," he said quietly, not pulling away. It is nice to know someone cares for me that much, he added in his head.

"I do," she said out of nowhere. "I care about you very much..."

Ron frowned and pulled away. "How did you-?"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm really sorry, Ronald, sometimes I can't control it."

"Control it?"

"I- I'm- forget it, please."

"No, what are you talking about? Control what?" Ron asked, every trace of lightness gone from his features

"I- I guess you could say I'm a sort of seer."

"A SORT of a seer? Is that why they wanted you?" Luna looked away and fixed her clear eyes on the far end of the round room. "Luna, please tell me, it is important," Ron pressed, pulling her face so she was looking at him. Luna nodded.

"I can't really control the visions. I can see and hear the thoughts of people... now and in the future."

"In the future?"

"Yes, well, it is quite hard. I haven't been able to do it on will. It's happened only when I've been under a lot of stress..."

"That's why they threw you around without letting you get killed by the impact," Ron provided and Luna nodded again. Instinctively, Ron wrapped his arms around the young woman's fragile frame. "You'll be fine now, Luna, I promise."

She shook her head; her big blue eyes full of tears. "You can't say that. They have been after me since I was little... my dad placed a spell on me, to inhibit my ability without taking it away completely so they couldn't track me, and it worked until he- until they killed him," she spoke without pausing for breath, without turning her gaze from the stone floor and without returning Ron's embrace.

Immediately, Ron pulled away and once again made her look at him. The two were only inches away and Ron whispered with a more steady tone than Luna had ever heard from him. "I promise you, Luna Lovegood, that I'll keep you safe... we'll keep you safe, all right?" his blue eyes pierced her, "all right?" he repeated and Luna nodded. Ron smiled and leaned forward, this time his lips did catch hers and he kissed her gently, the touch of a butterfly's wings, pulling away a minute later. "Good."

Number 12, Grimmauld Place - Outskirts of London

When they were finally settled in the big house, Hermione cornered Draco with a single look. "Now we are safe and we won't know anything of the others until they get here. Speak."

Draco started to protest, but found it would be useless so he sighed. "All right," he finally said after a few moments and took an encourgaing breath. "When I duelled my father, over six years ago, he did kill me."

This statement brought two dropped jaws from the listeners. Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Draco cut her off with his hand. "You remember the Deathly Hallows, right Potter?"

"Of course I do! I'm not stupid, Malfoy!"

"Please, Harry, calm down," Hermione told him softly and Harry sagged. "I'm sorry, yes, I do."

"And how Dumbledore told you he had never possessed them all to become Master of Death?"

"Yes."

"Well, he was lying. He did possess the three Hallows before you did."

"That is not possible... he was dead when I came to possess the Hallows."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean if I am sure? Of course I am! I saw him vanish!"

"You saw an image of Dumbledore vanishing in a sort of explosion - I imagine from afar."

Harry frowned and directed a glance at Hermione, who said nothing. She and Harry had never talked of the hours previous to the defeat of Lord Voldemort; more specifically, Harry had never spoken about that because it implied remembering not only the death of Dumbledore and Hagrid, but of so many more people he cared about.

Draco took the silence as a request to continue speaking. "Dumbledore got to possess the Hallows, and, as you know, the one he wanted the most was the Resurrection Stone. But, as you know too, he wasn't destined to posses the Deathly Hallows. Even though he was powerful enough to hold on to them, he could only do so for so long, and as he struggled with the power of the Hallows wanting to go for their real owner, he witnessed my father casting the Sectusempra spell on me for what felt like the twnetieth time-"

He shivered at the memory and his voice broke for a moment. Hermione started towards him but Draco shook his head and took in a deep breath in order to continue.

"Days before, I had struck a deal with Albus so he would keep me safe and let me avenge my mother; she was horribly murdered by the Death Eaters as a punishment for my failure in sixth year," Draco eyed Harry carefully, knowing full well what had happened that night.

Harry felt rage boil inside of him upon remembering that night. How he was petrified, unable to do anything to help Dumbledore and kill the Malfoy bastard. But luckily for Harry, Snape had barged into the Astronomy Tower at the time, startling Dumbledore and giving Harry the chance of freeing himself from the Petrificus spell.

He still remembered every word Snape had said to Dumbledore that night, before raising his wand and start to pronounce the killing curse's words. All he recalled after that was an explosion, Snape's body flying out the window and Draco dissappearing in the spot.

Draco examined Harry for a while longer and took another breath. "There is more."

Almost automatically, Harry wavedhis hand and a huge bottle of Ogden's Firewhisky appeared in front of him. He materialized a glass and poured some in it, downing it in the blink of an eye.

"Harry!" Hermione scolded at the same time that she wished she could have some as well in order to process all of this.

"What?"

Hermione shook her head and returned her attention to the blond in front. "Is that why the Falange wanted you too?"

Draco nodded gravely, and without even asking, Draco materialized another glass, filling it and drowing it just as fast.

"Great, and I can't have any," Hermione scoffed.

"I can always modify the confundus charm." Harry offered

"Maybe I'll ask you to..." she said resignedly and the turned her attention back to Draco.

A/N: You can kll me if you want, but that will only make the update even slower, lol. Stay tuned PLEASE. And please leave a review! You guys know I love reviews, don't you? *wink*