Unofficial Portkey Archive

Anything for Harry: Chapter 9

Harry spent nearly ten minutes searching his trunk for his old swimsuit before he remembered to look in the shopping bags still in Hermione's. Once he had it on he grabbed a towel from the bathroom and walked through the study room and into the practice hall. Luna was already swimming; he could hear splashing water as soon as he opened the door. He had to walk across the room to get to the pool so it was hard to see just what was going on but there was a definite rhythm to the splashing. Luna reached the end closer to him then started back the other way in a turn he couldn't quite catch, he wasn't close enough. He reached the closest corner and dropped his towel onto the ground a few feet away from the water then put his wand atop it. It looked like the pool was about three and a half feet deep, maybe a little more but he didn't see it dropping towards the other end.

Luna was reaching the other end now; he could see a lot of skin as she swum. Was she wearing anything? He vaguely recalled catching some of the '94 Olympics on the telly and recognized that she was doing freestyle. She flipped as she got to the far wall and he glimpsed something red, good, she was wearing a suit. She stayed under the water after she pushed off from the far wall then came up and started the rhythmic strokes again.

He jumped into the corner of the pool, out of her path. The water was slightly cool and came up to the middle of his stomach as he stood there getting used to the water. He caught a hesitation in her stroke then she coasted to the wall and stopped. She hung on the wall, breathing heavily, her long blond hair, still tied back in a ponytail, was plastered to her back. He caught a glimpse of red straps across her back under the hair as she caught her breath.

Still mostly out of breath she looked at him and said, "It's been ages since I swam laps." Finally she stood; she had on a very skimpy bikini top.

He gulped; there was a lot of the sides of her breasts exposed there. Her nipples were hard and poking the tight material out further. At some point he realized she wasn't moving or talking any more. How long had he been staring at her? He dragged his eyes up to her face; she was pink with embarrassment but hadn't flinched to hide herself.

"Harry? If you're going to stare I might just do something about it. I know I can't compare to her but, my original offer stands."

She was again offering to have sex with him and as appealing as he found the offer he was far more serious about his commitment to Hermione. He shook his head no. "I can't, not that I don't find you appealing. Merlin! Luna you're practically naked here." He gestured and turned to look back towards the door. Maybe Hermione would come in and rescue him? He didn't think he could concentrate on learning how to swim with that suit in front of him.

She sighed, "Sorry my suit is so small, I bought it small for- Well that isn't important anymore. I have grown a lot in the year since I bought it." She cleared her throat and he heard her move a little closer, "Now do you think you can concentrate on learning to swim properly for a little while?"

Ugh she could read his mind too? Must learn Occlumency! He took a breath and turned back to face her. But his eyes were again drawn to her perky nipples straining beneath the small top. EYES look at the eyes… He croaked out, "yes, I want to learn. It- It looked easy enough."

"Ok, what I was just doing is called freestyle. You kick in a scissor like fashion while your arms rotate like so." She pretended she was swimming up into the sky, turned first in profile then facing him as she continued to move her arms. "You breathe every third stroke, alternating sides, under your arms as they go up." She stopped moving her arms, "the flipping takes some practice but first you need to get the kicking down. We need-. Ah, I love this room." She hopped right next to him and reached behind him. Her breast skimmed his shoulder. She came back around in front of him with two tombstone looking things. "These are called kickboards. They will float and hold up your arms as you practice kicking."

She handed him one of them and kept the other, "Do you know the bubble head charm?"

"Yes, I learned it after the second task." How Hermione had missed it in her research still bothered him a bit. It was a chink in her perfect record.

"Ok, cast it on yourself then go under the water to watch while I demonstrate how to kick."

He got his wand and cast the spell then put his wand back on his towel.

"When you kick you keep your knees straight and point your toes." He went under the water, the bubble head charm was a crystal clear lens. Her bikini bottom was doing a worse job than her top was. He pulled his eyes away lest she notice them and decide she had to do something about it.

She moved to put her arms on the kickboard and shoved off from the nearest wall, heading across the width of the pool. Her legs quickly churned up the water. He moved further along to catch the movement of her legs. She stopped at the far side and he came up out of the water.

"Can you do that?"

"I think so it looked simple enough."

"Yes but your legs are going to burn!"

He canceled the bubble head charm and pushed off from the wall. Five minutes later he knew what she was talking about. Once he had shown he could indeed do the kick close to correctly she redirected him down the length of the pool. She kicked along with him and he had to bear down and really work to make it to the other end without stopping to rest.

"While you rest your legs I'll demonstrate the arm motion again." This time she climbed out of the pool and lay down on the edge of it. Her right side was over the water, left balanced on the wall. She held her hand in front of his face; it was cupped like she was going to use it to drink water. "You keep your hand shaped like this, put it into the water at an angle and pull the water towards you, then push it along your body." She brought her arm down the length of her torso, just missing her dangling breast.

He got stuck there as she kept moving her arm. He finally turned away saying, "Stop."

A moment later she said, with a catch in her voice, "You can turn around Harry." He did, she was sitting Indian style on the side of the pool rocking herself with her arms held over her stomach.

He asked, "Can you transfigure that suit and make it less revealing?"

She looked almost mad about something for a moment then it was gone and she answered, "No, I'm not that good with clothing. Can you?" He shook his head no. "Would it bother you if Hermione was dressed like this?"

"Probably not but, that's different."

She shook her head sharply, her wet ponytail swung around spraying water about. "No. Not to what she made me swear. I must support you fully as she does. If she would do something for you then I must at least offer to do the same."

He shook his head, "That's too much."

She laughed, there was no humor in it though, "Talk to her about it. She is aware of the extent of my promise. She was adamant about making me commit myself to supporting you, as she said, fully as she does." She put her legs back into the water and held onto the side of the pool. "Look, I'll ask Hermione if she can transfigure it or I can buy another one next time we are shopping. Just try not to look."

He splashed the water in frustration, "I can hardly avoid looking. I'm a teen-aged boy with a mostly naked woman in front of me."

"I'm not saying you can't look. You most certainly can look, or touch if you desire. I told you we could have sex and I will even bear your child should I become pregnant. That still holds true, that's not my point though. There is a big difference between checking me out and staring. Staring implies desire and I want to act on that."

"But-"

The door to the room opened and Harry twisted around. Hermione was striding across the room. She wore a red bikini with gold ties and had a towel draped over her arm. She bounced pleasingly with every step. Her hair was also pulled back into a ponytail. She waved at them, Harry waved back. She dropped her towel and dove into the pool towards them. She surfaced and swam smoothly over beside Harry before stopping and standing up next to him.

Luna was the first to speak. "You better take your top off now. He can't stop staring at me. It would be best if he stared at your breasts." She sighed. "I keep offering him mine but he won't touch them."

He cringed with every word. He was going to die now.

Hermione grinned, "Have you been a bad boy Harry?"

"But she - look - she's hardly wearing anything!"

She looked appraisingly at Luna. "I suppose you're right."

He let out the breath he had been holding but froze when Hermione reached to her top and lifted it over her head. She tossed it to the side of the pool and looked back at him. "There now you shouldn't feel compelled to leer at Luna.

Breasts! Hermione… YES… Ohhhhhhhhhh He moved closer hands coming up.

Luna said, "Now I see the problem. You're much bigger than me."

Harry made contact and squeezed gently, water… dripping… nipple hard… ohhhh

Hermione looked over his shoulder at Luna, "I used a time turner for all of third year. I'm actually nearly twenty years old, biologically that is." She sucked in a breath as his mouth closed on her nipple. "Oh, Harry…."

Luna stood, "I'll lock the front door so you won't be disturbed. I'll be reading in my room."

His mind had gone almost blank, his hormones had taken over.

Hermione didn't hear a word she said as she reached between them and untied his suit.

*

An hour later he knocked on Luna's door. She came out already dressed in her muggle clothes. Without a word she placed a bookmark into the tome she was reading and put it on the table beside Godric's sword. How had she known they were going back to the hotel this morning? He didn't remember telling her, he shrugged, Hermione must have. "There's a tunnel that goes from here to the basement of Honeydukes. We'll follow it until we get outside of the anti-apparition wards." Luna nodded and headed for the door. She unlatched the heavy bolt and swung it out of the way before opening the door. That hadn't been there earlier had it?

He shrugged and led the way to the witch with a hump and opened the passage. He jumped inside and when he landed pulled out his wand and cast, Lumos. Luna came next; he helped her balance when she landed with his free hand. She stepped aside and lit her wand as well. Hermione followed a moment later and he was also ready in case she fell. She stumbled and he grabbed her around the waist. She gave him a grin and a quick kiss on the cheek.

Pulling out her own wand she added more light to the passage and Harry headed towards Hogsmeade.

They felt a slight barrier as they passed through Hogwarts wards. Hermione put out her wand and pocketed it. "Be right back Harry, don't go anywhere."

Luna put away her wand as Hermione came next to her. A moment later they vanished. He started counting slowly, how long did it take to apparate from here to London and back? …twenty eight, twenty nine, pop. About thirty seconds, he stepped beside Hermione and pulled her against his waist and then put out his wand and fumbled a moment in the dark trying to get it put away. Finally he managed and Hermione hugged him, he felt the familiar squeeze of apparition and then they were in there hotel room.

Hermione said, "Look around, make sure we didn't leave anything here. Especially under the beds, stuff always seems to hide there."

He pulled his key from his pocket and handed it to her. She headed out the door; Luna was waiting in the hallway and gave Hermione her key. Hermione said, "See you two downstairs, I'll go start checking out."

Harry had his head under the bed reaching for his socks at the time. He saw Luna's shoes come into the room and the door close. She started looking in the drawers of the desk. He scooted out from under the bed and sat up. Luna looked at him and he held up the wet socks like they were a prize. She shook her head but went back to looking in the drawers. He carried them to the bathroom and wrung them out in the sink. He didn't want to put wet socks in his pocket so looked around for something to put them in. Inside the small trashcan he found spare bags. Safely protected from the wet socks he stuffed them into his pocket.

Luna stood in the doorway, "I don't think there is anything else in here."

"Good, are you sure your room is empty?" He turned to face her; she was holding onto the doorframe and looking rather miserable. Without thinking about it he stepped close to her and hugged her. She tried to say something but he was hugging her too hard. Finally her arms went around him and her head went onto his shoulder. He began to relax his hug, she took a deep breath and he felt her shudder, she seemed on the brink of tears. He stayed where he was, arms about her in a light hug, head not resting on her. Simply providing support for a friend.

She hugged him again, he tightened his arms briefly, and then she pulled back and said. "Thanks Harry."

He gave her a warm smile, "Welcome, I'll talk to Hermione about relaxing that oath. It seems far too extreme to me. We need-"

She nodded, dropped her arms to her sides and headed out the door. His sides felt surprisingly cool.

They were silent in the elevator going down to the lobby. Harry really was unsure how to approach Hermione about Luna. She would not be easy to convince, she usually had everything so reasoned out there was nothing he could use to change her mind. Could he tell her he trusted Luna? Would just that work? The problem was he didn't trust Luna as much as he trusted Hermione, his trust in her was absolute. His instincts told him he could trust Luna but he just didn't know enough about her and her motives to really judge her and she had started by lying to them so Hermione's oath to not lie made perfect sense. Hermione was just finishing at the desk when they got to the lobby. They walked into the London morning together, Harry in the middle.

Hermione and Luna went into a bathing suit store, it was almost an hour later when they finished looking at suits. Hermione patted his hand and thanked him for being so patient. They then went into a women's toilet and only Hermione came back out. It took Harry and Hermione almost ten minutes to find a place they could apparate from without being seen. Luna was standing within the Hogwarts section of the tunnel, her wand was lit and she was practicing her Patronus charm, sending it down the corridor leading back to the school, her Patronus looked less defined than he remembered. Harry said, "Sorry it took us so long, we almost got caught in the alley we ducked into and had to snog for a bit before they went away."

She turned back to them and shrugged. She had a pair of wet streaks on her cheeks, "I need happier thoughts, it's all fuzzy these days."

Hermione and Harry stepped through the Hogwarts wards and lit their wands as well. Hermione put her hand on Harry's chest and held him back for a moment then walked on to Luna. She put her left arm across Luna's shoulders and started talking softly to her as they walked back towards the school.

Harry kept back so he could still see them but couldn't understand what they were saying. Hopefully Hermione was doing something to help with Luna's situation. He reminded himself that he had talk to Hermione about it but again what approach could he use? There was no sense in releasing her from the oath to tell the truth, she had lied to them and he did like knowing she couldn't lie. Then again he knew Hermione could lie, did he need to do something about that? He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about asking her for an oath. No He did trust her and would accept what she said at face value.

By the time they reached the other end Luna was, if not actually smiling, at least had stopped crying. He waited until the girls had climbed up before he followed them. They went straight to lunch, in the great hall.

They had actually gotten there before McGonagall, or she had eaten and left. Flitwick and Vector were in their seats and looked nearly done. They took their usual seats and tucked in.

Several minutes later Professor Flitwick said, "I'll be by before tea and would like to talk about applying Apparition in combat."

He smiled, "Thanks, I think that has a lot of promise."

Just as they were getting ready to leave the Headmistress walked in. "Oh, good I caught you. Bill will be coming this afternoon. I took the liberty of letting him know you were here for a bit."

Harry was torn about that announcement for a moment, Hermione and Luna were silent so he finally nodded, "That's fine. I wanted to check in with him. Did he say if Fleur or Ron were coming with him?"

She shook her head, "Neither was mentioned in his reply. The wedding is in two days in France. It is likely that Fleur has returned home to finish preparations with her family."

Harry nodded and headed out of the great hall; Hermione directly to his left and Luna a half step back on the opposite side of him.

Once they got back to the common room Luna went and sat at the table with the tome she was reading earlier and opened it to her bookmark.

He asked, "What should I be reading?"

Hermione thought then said, "How about collecting those memories. We need to see what Dumbledore actually told you. Specifically I want the prophecy and everything from the DoM after I fell."

He hadn't expected to be tasked with remembering his godfather's death and just stood there for a bit. He wasn't sure quite how long it was but Hermione was on the small couch, her legs tucked under her while she was reading. Did Hermione have a smile on her face? He couldn't quite tell as her face was bowed into her book and her hair did a good job of hiding her.

He walked over to the stoppered glass vials on the opposite side of the table; sat before them and started thinking. Department of Mysteries, well better start where she said and go in order. Dolohov's curse cut into Hermione and she fell with a soft sound. He was frozen there at that memory, barely able to breathe. The emotion of it all was so raw, now he understood it for what it was though. He knew in his heart, at least as far back as that, that he loved her and couldn't function without her. He sat there for a good five minutes before he remembered he had to pull his wand out to extract the actual memory.

It took him nearly an hour to fill all the empty vials, he was careful to keep them organized so they could do them in order later. He went and sat beside Hermione on the couch, not bothering to take a book with him. She rotated and put her head square in his lap, her feet up on the arm of the couch propped the book up. Her right hand was held slightly above her, near the center of his chest; like she was waiting for him to hand her something. He made a guess and put his hand in hers.

She took his hand and put it under her shirt, all the way up until it was atop her left breast, she wasn't wearing a bra. She gave a contented sigh and pulled her own hand away to turn the page of her book. All his worries and anxiety fled for a moment, she gave him a level of contentment he hadn't thought possible.

Luna put down her quill, "Should I start on viewing the memories?"

Hermione sat up and closed her book, "Excellent idea, I'll view them with you. Harry? I've read about using a pensive, can you give us any advice though?"

It took him a moment to get his brain functional, seconds before he had been contentedly massaging Hermione's breast and thinking interesting thoughts. "Yes, when you are done just think yourself out of the memory. I don't think you physically go into the memory, just your mind. It will look like you are a part of the scene but you can only interact with one another, not the actual events." He stood while Hermione and Luna moved in front of the bowl. "These are in order: When you fell; When Neville and I confronted the Death eaters in the room of the veil; and when the Order showed up; Sirius's death; the destruction of the prophecy; When I chased after Bellatrix; Dumbledore's duel with Voldemort; and him telling me the prophecy back in his office. Do you need me to stay or would you mind if I go swim for an hour while you two view these?"

Hermione bit her lower lip then said, "Go swim, we will certainly have questions but there is no reason for you to sit here and wait. We'll make notes and then catch up with you after your swim."

Luna had poured the first memory into the bowl and had pulled parchment, ink and quill to her side of the pensive. She wrote something on the paper as he walked past them and into the bedroom he shared with Hermione. When he came back out they were looking intently into the bowl; neither looked at him so he kept going.

*

An hour later he struggled to pull himself from the pool. He was shaking from the effort of swimming. He was getting awfully hungry. Swimming sure worked up an appetite. He started drying off as he walked back across the exercise room. When he went inside, they were still in the pensieve, he looked at Luna's paper briefly. She had filled two sheets with notes and questions. He continued on into the bedroom and took a quick shower then got dressed.

They were talking quietly when he came back into the room this time. There were now three full pages of notes and questions. He sat at the end of the table, where Hermione had set her tome earlier; ready for the questioning.

Luna asked, "Could I view your memory of these through Legilimency?"

He shrugged, "You saw everything in there but, if you think it's important sure."

Hermione was biting her lower lip again, "This is to get more of your thoughts and feelings. Those are not included in the memory. We can see what happens externally, but don't know your thoughts as they happen. I wish I knew enough to see them directly but will have to do that after I learn how."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess." He stood and went to sit comfortably on the couch.

Luna looked at her notes on the first page and then slid the sheets to Hermione. Luna then came and joined him on the couch, sitting sideways to face him fully. "Like we did earlier Harry, relax and find your happy place. Once you are there I will join you and then think about the first scene. Hermione was struck down by the purple flames, Neville tells you she is alive and then he carries her as you two go along."

He would remember that scene until he died; it was so etched into him. They needed his thoughts… Luna wasn't going to like his thoughts on this but so be it. He nodded and closed his eyes to find that happy place. It took him a lot longer than earlier but the girls were patient. Once he was there he opened his eyes again and Luna cast the spell and gently fell into his happy place. The lakeside shifted to the room at the DoM and he shared a quick smile with Hermione, Dolohov came around the corner, Hermione silenced him, he made a slashing motion with his wand and a jagged purple flame shot through Hermione and she fell. His world went with her, please don't be dead, please… it became a continuous whine in his head as he petrified Dolohov and turned back to Hermione. It would be his fault if she was dead, he shook her shoulder and told her to wake up, please don't be dead. Neville made it to them and asked what Dolohov had done, neither of them knew but Neville checked her neck for a pulse then the words came that made him nearly faint in relief, "Dat's a pulse, she's alive."

Luna pulled out of his head, he felt her leave. She threw herself on him in a hug that would have knocked him back if he had not been sitting against the side of the couch. She hugged him fiercely then said, "Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry to make you go through that again."

He patted her back then felt another pair of arms embrace him and he tilted his head to rest it on Hermione's shoulder. Luna retreated back to the middle of the couch while Hermione knelt beside him. She looked at Luna.

"Yes, you were right. He loved you then. Boys can be so bloody dense though."

He held up his hand, "Hey, I had a very repressed childhood and I am not dense."

Hermione patted his thigh, "It's ok, Harry. We think this is important for what happened later."

"How can my feeling be important later?"

Instead of answering him she turned to Luna, "Do the next one."

Luna nodded, "Harry I need to see what was in your head when Voldemort possessed you later, during his duel with Dumbledore."

They were skipping ahead, that caught him by surprise but he shrugged and closed his eyes again. He felt Hermione sit on the arm of the couch behind him and put her arms on his shoulders. His happy place came very easily, this time though Hermione was holding him while they watched the sunset at the lake. He opened his eyes and Luna again slipped into his head.

His scar burst open; he was dead, pain beyond enduring. Voldemort had fused himself with Harry. He used his mouth to speak to Dumbledore, Kill me. He thought of being with Sirius and his heart filled with love for his fallen godfather. The coils which bound Voldemort to him loosened and he was alone again inside his body.

He felt Luna leave his mind and he reached to hug her as she again gave him a fierce hug. Hermione's arm was around his shoulders, her head pressed tightly against his shoulder. They both pulled back and Luna said, "Yes, he felt love for Sirius and that drove Voldemort out."

He twisted around to look at Hermione for an explanation. "You can hurt him when he is in you by thinking about your feelings of love. It all fits with what Dumbledore told you later in his office. If you can push those emotions back into him you could hurt him a lot I think." She stopped and bit her lip in thought again.

Luna said, "This could be the power he knows not. As Dumbledore said, Tom has no ability to love and you have it in abundance. Sorry, yes I know those were not his words but it all fits; I don't understand why he was deliberately vague though."

Hermione said, "He didn't want you to figure it out just yet. Luna when was that prophecy made that got Dumbledore to send you to us?"

Luna shrugged, "Flitwick would know the date, supposedly it was made to him thought, I still do not believe it is real. They talked about it like it was a while ago though, sometime in your fifth year I would think."

She nodded and Harry's stomach growled. Hermione said, "We'll have a snack here. Swimming can really make you hungry; Dobby?"

The little elf appeared on the floor before her, "Yes, Mistress?"

"Thank you for coming so quickly Dobby, Can you inform the kitchen staff we will need a large snack here Harry is hungry. Soon please, before he implodes."

Dobby bowed and vanished. It was less than a minute later that the small empty table began filling with food and drink.

After the second lunch, Harry picked up one of the smaller books and sat on the couch to read it. He was anxious about Bill coming today. Well, not about Bill himself, but about Ron finding Luna here with them. Well he wasn't going to tell her to hide. They would work it out if Ron showed up and questioned it. At least she had her own room and Hermione could show him her engagement ring to assure him he was not actually engaged in every boy's fantasy world.

He wasn't really reading the book he realized so he put it down and went to thinking in earnest. What would Ron say about Luna living here with him? Well he wasn't about to tell Ron that he had a standing offer for sex with the brilliant Ravenclaw. Hermione, on the other hand, made it obvious by her every move that they were intimate. She was lying sideways on the couch, her head was in his lap, book held so she could read by her legs. She had placed his free hand under her shirt to cup her breast again.

She kept reading, used to his breaks. Luna was sitting at the table near them writing some notes down from the book she was reading.

He asked, "So why can't I just smash them with Godric's sword and be done with it?"

Luna and Hermione both said, "No." Neither of them looked up from what they were doing.

He wasn't going to give up easily this time; he had a comeback for them. "But that's basically what I did in the chamber with the diary. Granted I used a basilisk's fang that had my blood on it. I could put my blood on the sword first if you think that would help." They were looking at him now, that patronizing look they saved for when he was being dense.

Hermione shook her head, which did interesting things inside his pants. She said, "Doesn't apply." He tweaked her nipple gently and got a soft squeal in reply.

Luna added, "That one was mostly outside of the diary. We must understand what happened to Dumbledore's hand when he destroyed the ring. We must avoid that kind of possible outcome."

Hermione grinned and nodded, causing him to grow stiff inside his pants. She smiled wickedly at him as he squirmed. Since his hand was there already he squeezed her breast firmly.

"Ok, I think I'll go practice my Apparition before Flitwick gets here." Harry had not apparated since he had side-alonged Dumbledore.

Luna half stood, "Wait." She quickly finished the sentence she was writing and stoppered the ink. "I don't know how to do that yet; can you give me the basics?"

Hermione shrugged and sat up. He had been given permission. She twisted to lean against the couch in the proper direction. He stood, "Sure, you probably shouldn't try it until Flitwick gets here though."

They walked into the practice room. Harry had grown a little more comfortable around Luna. Whenever she thought he might be staring she would just call Hermione who promptly pulled up her shirt, she had given up wearing a bra. At least Luna wasn't stripping and Hermione didn't seem to mind being topless around Luna. He still meant to discuss this virtual slavery Hermione had placed Luna under but she kept distracting him.

"Harry?"

Luna had been talking, "Sorry, I was thinking. You were asking how I learned it. During your sixth year you will have an instructor from the Ministry who will teach you and test you if you are of age. He said it took three D's: Determination, Destination, and um, just a tic, Ah Deliberation. So you have to be determined about making it. You must clearly visualize your destination. You must be very deliberate in your execution so that you remember to appear as you disappeared. Remember your eyebrows etcetera."

"Dad has side-alonged me a few times. He always seems to grow quiet and serious just before he does it."

"Yes, if you forget something it's called splinching. Now an eyebrow might be kind of funny but an arm wouldn't be. The instructor said splinching was caused by not being determined enough. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, it seems it should be the deliberation one, as in you need to take your time and make sure you remember all your body parts."

She nodded, "good enough, let's see it then?"

He looked around the exercise room; then concentrated on vanishing and appearing over by the free weights. He pushed himself there, then turned and pushed himself by the pool, and again back next to Luna.

"Excellent Harry you barely made any noise."

*

Hermione's reading was disturbed by a soft knock on the door. She stood, still reading to the end of the sentence and placed the book flat on the table nearest her. She noted the page number, 439, and headed towards the door. Once there she pulled her wand out and asked, "Who is it?"

She heard Professor Flitwick's voice answer, "I have come for the lesson we discussed at lunch."

She threw the lever unlocking the door then opened it with her left hand. Her wand was at her side as the door came open. Flitwick bowed slightly and walked inside. She pushed the door closed and threw the lever to re-lock it.

Flitwick looked around the room and asked, "Misses. Sorry, Hermione, is there any chance of releasing Miss Lovegood?"

Again? Would she ever be able to stop explaining this? "I suppose you feel responsible for getting her into this? The answer is no. The situation is entirely of my making and it will remain. There are two things that will allow me to release Luna. Both must be met, only then will I release her."

His lower lip trembled as he spoke, "She is suffering-"

"We are talking about- Sorry. Yes. I know she is suffering. This is too big, though. I know what has to be done to keep Harry functioning if I die. She is a part of that. She now knows most of our secrets, enough to help him finish this."

He seemed to be near tears in sympathy, "Is there nothing we can do to lessen your burden child?"

She shook her head sharply, "No. It is far too late for that. He has suffered too much, been betrayed too many times. He trusts me, only me Professor. I cannot allow anything to break that trust. Maybe, just maybe he can learn to trust Luna. Her oath opens the door to that trust."

The small professor, head of Ravenclaw house, appeared confused.

"Here, maybe this will help you understand. Harry's fear is losing that which he loves. He lost his parents, Sirius and Dumbledore. Now he can't remember his parents. He knew Sirius for a few years and Dumbledore even longer. Now that-" She held up her left hand, displaying the ring upon it. "He has allowed himself to love fully and be loved in return. What would happen to him if I was killed?" She was silent, letting the professor think it through.

When his face changed she knew he had it. He said, "He could be much worse than Voldemort."

She smiled and shook her head, "No. I doubt it would come to that. He would probably kill Tom out of revenge, then-" She grew silent and looked sadly down at the professor.

He asked softly, "What?"

She cleared her throat and wiped the lone tear from her cheek. "Then he would kill himself."

He made a noise that sounded very much like a squawk.

She sat in the lone muggle style recliner. "I know him better than he knows himself professor. So Luna is bound to us in a faint hope that she can keep him going. I can't live with myself knowing he may end up alone or doing himself in."

He patted her hand as it lay on the arm of the chair, still clutching her wand, "Maybe some other girl?"

Again she shook her head sharply, "No. I don't believe in prophecy but she and Harry do have a connection; something that can be built upon. Forget it professor. This, as painful is it is for all of us, will continue."

"Very well. I still say that you would have done excellently in Ravenclaw but, Gryffindor has certainly made you an incredible witch."

She gave a dry humorless laugh, "Gryffindor had nothing to do with it I'm afraid. It was Harry who dragged Ron off to look for me at the Halloween feast of first year and saved me from the troll. I've been his since that night."

He acknowledged her correction with a nod. "I will go begin my Apparition lesson. You have already passed your exam but Luna hasn't been introduced to it yet. Take a few minutes to compose yourself before joining us."

She smiled her thanks. "Don't be surprised by what you see in there. Harry took Luna to show apparition to her and he is an excellent instructor."

*

Harry was talking intently to Luna out in the middle of the room; three wooden circles lay around them on the mat. "You have to be really determined. Concentrate on being there, within the ring in front of you. Then push yourself there. You know how it feels, remember that feeling. Make it happen!" He heard the door open and glanced over his shoulder. He saw Professor Flitwick come into the room and close the door. When he started walking towards them Harry held up his hand and the diminutive professor stopped to wait.

He put his arm over Luna's shoulders to keep her from seeing it was Flitwick. "It's just Hermione, remember, sink into your center, your happy place, whatever allows you to concentrate absolutely. Wait… how about your testing mode? I know you have to have one, Hermione does. Think like you do when taking exams. Utter concentration and determination will enable you to do this. I know you can, I believe you can. Now you just need to."

She was looking at the ground a few feet in front of her, at the wooden hoop to be precise. She asked, "What If I'm not strong enough to do this?"

"You are. I know it. Remember what I said… make it happen." He squeezed her shoulders as she nodded once. He stood up straight and let his hand linger between her shoulder blades for a moment before pushing on her slightly and turning to walk to Professor Flitwick.

When he reached Professor Flitwick, fifty feet from Luna, he asked, "Is there a way to measure magical strength?"

Flitwick looked uncomfortable but finally answered, "Yes. But, it's outlawed."

The door opened almost silently and Hermione slipped into the room. She closed the door with a minute click and joined them, glancing briefly at Luna who stood stock still in the middle of the room.

Harry asked, "Why would something useful be banned?"

Flitwick glanced at Hermione, "Wizard Protection act of 1764."

Hermione recited, "Specified that no witch or wizard could be discriminated by their degree of magical power."

Flitwick looked back at Harry, "Precisely."

Harry said, "Well, I need a comparison here, Professor. Do you know the spell?"

Flitwick came to a decision quickly. He nodded, "Yes, and I will teach you. Promise me you will not use it in public and you will get the permission of the person before you use it."

Harry said, "Excellent, Yes, thank you." He looked back at Luna; she was sitting Indian-style with her head bowed in concentration.

Hermione slipped into his embrace and his arms went around her. He put his chin on her shoulder and they watched Luna for several minutes. He saw her back straighten just before it happened. BANG! She was in the circle in front of her.

The three of them clapped and hurried to where she was sitting. She rolled out of the circle onto the floor and he heard her giggling happily. He saw Professor Flitwick stop and look carefully at the spot Luna had been sitting in. Harry and Hermione knelt on either side of Luna and congratulated her success. They each took one of her hands and pulled her to her feet. She was grinning broadly and laughing.

Flitwick said, "No splinching. It looks clean. An excellent first go Luna."

She beamed a smile at him then turned to Harry, "Thanks for teaching me how to do this. Now you guys won't have to side along me to London all the time."

Harry nodded and patted her shoulder, Hermione said, "Aww, but I liked taking you with me." Her pout was quite exaggerated.

Flitwick said, "You side-alonged Luna to London? From where?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, I did both Luna and then Harry, since they are not of age yet we didn't want to take any chances of them getting into trouble. Oh, to and from here, well Hogsmeade actually."

The little professor stood there looking quite stunned by this announcement. "But that's hundreds of miles in a single go? Side along?"

Hermione said, "Yes Professor. I know it's a long jump but honestly, it wasn't tiring at all."

Flitwick looked at Harry, "Is this why you wanted to learn to measure magical power?"

He shook his head, "No. Luna said she wasn't strong enough to apparate. Well we just saw that she definitely is. I wanted to prove to her that she was quite strong."

Flitwick shook his head, "How did you know she was strong enough? We don't usually know until it's done or failed."

Harry shrugged, "I just knew, sir."

Luna asked, "Can you cast that on me now, sir? I would like to know the numbers please."

Flitwick looked seriously at her, "Do you mind if the rest of us see the results? Do you give your consent?"

Luna nodded, "Sure. I have no fears regarding that information."

"Very well." He took out his wand so fast that Harry was sure he had summoned it wandlessly. He trained his wand on Luna's chest and incanted, "Habere Magica"

A series of runes appeared hovering in front of Luna's chest. Flitwick, Luna, and Hermione studied them intently for several minutes. Harry was being quite patient, obviously unable to actually understand what the runes meant. To him, they were a series of almost random slashes that also almost looked like something. But no it was totally worthless for him to look at them. Instead he sat down to think and wait. Wonder where my Firebolt is?

*

Finally, Hermione nodded, 673, "Got it, tell me when you two are done. I don't want to influence your results." When they both nodded she turned and found Harry sitting a few feet away lost in thought.

She sat beside him, facing the other way. He looked at her, smiled and reached towards her. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. Finally he raised his eyebrow which she interpreted to be, "So, what did you find out?"

She shrugged and looked back to where Flitwick and Luna were still looking at the runes. Thus telling him, "gotta wait for them."

Flitwick was the next to look away.

Luna got it about thirty seconds later. She said, "Ok I got 673, how about you two?"

Hermione said, "Yes, same."

Flitwick said, "So what do we compare that to?" He flicked his wand and the runes vanished.

Hermione said, "Well, cast it on me, let's start there."

Harry stood in one smooth motion, he said, "Me. You all think I'm so much stronger, get my score and then Hermione's. I would like to have your information for comparison as well, Professor."

The little man nodded and pointed his wand at Harry's chest and incanted, "Habere Magica." Again a strange series of lines appeared, this time in front of Harry.

She spun to face him squarely and began calculating the runes total. The combination of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes was fascinating. There were more runes here, she was stretched a bit but finally remembered what the last rune meant and reached her total: 986? She stopped and started from scratch again, could that be right? Finally she finished recalculating for the third time and had the same number: 986. "Done, I triple checked it."

Luna threw up her hands. "I'm baffled. What does this one mean?"

She answered, "It means to re-add the last two again and add them to the total. I'm positive."

Luna started muttering under her breath and Flitwick rubbed his eyes.

Harry was looking quite bored, it had been nearly ten minutes she was sure. She stood and slid behind him and started massaging his shoulders. We need places to sit. She glanced over her shoulder and there, right behind her legs was a two person sofa. Two comfortable chairs had also appeared by Luna and professor Flitwick.

"Sit everyone." She sat, pulling Harry down by his shoulders with her. He almost landed in her lap but they managed at the last moment to slip tightly beside one another instead. She continued rubbing his shoulders and neck. He closed his eyes.

Harry let out a slow breath and rubbed his thighs, they had probably started cramping after standing still for so long. She felt the tension leave his neck and rested her head on his shoulder and thought about the two numbers she currently had for comparison. Harry's was substantially higher than Luna's. Was the scale exponential or merely sequential? Wonder if Flitwick even knows, may need to discuss this with Professor Vector.

Luna grunted in frustration and leapt to her feet to walk quickly out the door. Flitwick barely glanced at her; he must be near the end. He looked away and pulled a cloth handkerchief from his belt and wiped sweat from his face. "I got 1016 but I think I missed something, or did something twice."

Hermione lifted her head, "I got 986 on three tries so I'm pretty sure it's right."

Luna came in with a large thin book, parchment, paper, and ink. In front of her chair appeared a small desk just before she got there. She wrote the equation in front of Harry carefully at the top of the parchment. "Ok, I have it written down. It's too complex for me to do in my head I'm afraid. I'll work on it later. For now let's continue though, what did you guys get on Harry?"

Flitwick cleared his throat, "I think I went wrong somewhere. I came up with 1016. Let's go with Hermione's calculation for now. Maybe we can have Professor Vector look at the equation?" He looked at Hermione quickly, "Not that I don't believe your Arithmancy but this is as complex as I've seen them."

Luna asked in a puzzled voice, "So, what did you get Hermione?"

"986, I checked it, Got the same answer three times."

Luna nodded and jotted that number off to the side of the equation.

Hermione asked, "Is the scale empirical or sequential Professor? Does it get harder to move up the scale the higher it goes or does every incremental step move it up?"

Clearly they were at the edge of the professor's knowledge here. He finally said, "I believe it is empirical though I have no scale to reference. As we age, it should continue to climb until age finally begins to take its toll and the score will drop. So a wizard or witch peaks at some point then begins to weaken."

Hermione turned that around for a minute then asked, "So the scale is relatively dynamic. One day you could test different than the day before, either slightly higher or lower." Flitwick and Luna nodded.

Harry hid a yawn behind his hand and asked, "Do Hermione next please, Professor."

Flitwick nodded and flicked his wand at Harry first, making the runes vanish. Then turned to her and cast the spell. She could tell immediately that she was between them, considerably closer to Harry. She went to work on the equation, barely noting that Luna was carefully writing it all down. She rushed through it the first time and came up with 884. She tucked that number into the back of her mind and dumped everything else to have a second try at it. This time more carefully. The second and third time through she got 894 and decided that had to be the correct one. On an empirical scale that was an amazing number, considerably higher than Luna, but still put Harry leagues beyond her in raw power. And she was almost two years older than he was so that meant in two years he could be much higher. How long would they continue to climb?

Dumbledore had died at 153. He had appeared much stronger and confident in their first few years at school. She had come to the conclusion earlier that his dead hand and arm had been a result of him being unable to react quickly enough to the released spirit of Tom Riddle. It had attacked his wand hand and been destroyed in the process of killing Dumbledore. That likely meant he had passed his prime. But at what age did that happen?

She pulled herself back to their present, Flitwick seemed to be done and Luna had gone to work on the paper, she seemed to be near the end though. Harry had fallen asleep, his head draped back onto the couch. Since he wasn't snoring or disturbing anyone she decided to let him continue.

Finally Luna looked up, seeing Flitwick and Hermione looking at her she said, "I got 894, how about the two of you?"

Hermione smiled, "Yes, the same; Filius?"

He nodded then banished the floating numbers before Hermione.

She pulled her wand out and pointed it at him, "May I, Professor?"

He inclined his head and she cast, "Habere Magica." The runes appeared before Flitwick. Ahh he was past his prime. The equation added then began subtraction towards the end. "Sorry sir but, how old are you?"

Professor Flitwick answered, "I am 124 years old. I believe I passed my prime about sixteen years ago."

She said, "Thanks," and went to work on the equation. The equation climbed to 767 before the subtraction began and dropped all the way to 621. So she had the four of them to compare now. Filius was weakest but also more than 100 years older than them, then Luna, who was the youngest among them at 673 and Hermione herself, at 894 with Harry just below 1000 at 986. So taken sequentially in power that's how they ranked. It wasn't a very good comparison though since Flitwick knew an awful lot more about spellwork, especially charms and dueling.

Flitwick had passed his peak at 108. Was that typical? No, she didn't think so. If she was right about Dumbledore then he had not begin to decline until 150. Could the stronger you were make that point of decline further in the future? Everyone had always said that Dumbledore was the greatest wizard alive. Now she supposed that title had fallen to Tom Riddle. How in Merlin's name was a relatively untrained child supposed to beat him? Love… Well she had a practical way to apply that now, get Harry into Voldemort's head or get Voldemort's body destroyed and Harry possessed by him again. Then Harry thinks about his love, for her, and her love for him. Together, that should do more than just drive him out. Could it destroy his remaining fragment of soul though?

Luna pulled Hermione out of her thoughts when she said, "Got it, I think. It should be 621, is that right Professor?"

Hermione answered, "Yes, I got the same. But sixteen years ago he would have been 767."

Professor Flitwick said, "I arrived at the same numbers ladies. Now you have your information for comparison. Can we drop this subject for now? I would still like to discuss Apparition in combat before Mr. Weasley arrives."

Hermione said, "Yes, sorry Professor." She flicked her wand and vanished the runes hovering before Professor Flitwick and put her hand on Harry's shoulder and he snapped awake. "Have a good nap, dear?"

He looked around, disoriented for a moment and adjusted his glasses, "All done?"

Luna showed him her parchment, "Got it written down. We can discuss it later." He looked at her confused. She added, "Apparition - combat?"

He sat forward on the couch, "Oh, yes. Sorry for taking all of your time on a side adventure Professor."

He gestured vaguely, "I was once young Mr. Potter, though that was before the invention of the automobile I'm afraid."

Luna gathered her supplies and headed back into their common room. The rest of them stood and the furniture vanished.

Flitwick said, "You showed Luna how to apparate in under an hour. Quite an impressive feat, Harry."

He shrugged, "She knew the basics; I just had to give her the confidence. I knew she could do it, I told her how to do it and then left the doing to her."

Hermione wrapped her arm around Harry's right arm and hugged it tightly, "Well done love. I told you that you were a great teacher. Learn to take a compliment when it's given."

He blushed and nodded as Luna re-entered the room. Once she was back in the middle with them she came and stood on Harry's left side. The three of them stood facing Flitwick.

"As you saw in my demonstration, you can use apparition to disorient your opponent. You cannot however use it in any specific pattern. For example, do not always appear behind someone. Jumps to their non-wand side rear quarter are the most effective as it takes longer for their wand to traverse the distance. Again do not always jump there though, alternate it with the wand side rear quarter or even jump away for a moment then back to your precise spot. Your opponent will be whirling about and unsuspecting you to return to your original position."

He paused and started pacing back and forth in front of them, in full lecture mode, "As you know, apparition itself makes a noise which can be minimized or even masked. Masking is quite difficult so usually once you have learned to minimize the sound that's what you use. As I am so small there is very little noise to begin with thus making my technique more effective. But Albus was able to make his sound equivalent to my own and he was nearly twice my height and, um, four times my mass."

He stopped pacing and faced them again with a small smile on his face, "Now to the practical side of this, you need to setup a series of hoops and jump between them as rapidly as you can. Speed and accuracy are more important than noise at this point. I have never tried the technique with another person to assist, if you can come up with a way to prevent you from trying to appear in the same spot as you duel someone, you could be devastating to any opponent."

He pulled his watch from one of the inner pockets of his robe, "I have an appointment with Minerva for tea, must be going now." He started walking towards the door but called out, "Practice, we will discuss this again tomorrow." Then he reached the door and hurried out.

Harry was grinning, "Think of the possibilities, we get this down and he won't stand a chance."

It killed her to be the devil's advocate but she had to. She uncoiled her arm and took one step away spinning to face them. "No Harry, don't start relying on one specific thing."

He looked confused.

He wasn't following her again, "What if we end up dueling somewhere with an anti-apparition ward in place? Our whole strategy would be nullified. Remember what Flitwick said during his demonstration, moving, was the key. Yes apparition is the most effective method but that cannot be our only way, we must have others."

Luna said, "Like brooms!"

Now that's something she wouldn't have thought of, "Yes. Like brooms, if the room was like this we could certainly use brooms to move around quicker. Not sure if either Luna or myself could dodge spells effectively though. It would be like dodging bludgers, you have a decent though not perfect record at that Harry." She shrugged, "We can practice it."

Harry said, "We'll need to go buy the two of you good brooms." He turned to Luna, "How well do you fly?"

She splayed her right hand in front of herself and rocked it back and forth, "I'm in no danger of falling and can get from here to there, never played Quidditch, though I have done some gnome tossing from broomstick."

Gnome tossing? That sounded interesting, later Hermione later…

He turned back to Hermione, "I haven't seen you on a broom since our exam first year."

She flushed a little, "Well I don't own one and I can't go flying it around Kent when I'm at home now can I?" Ohh, That was a bit too defensive Hermione.

Harry had that knowing smile as he answered, "Well best get you one then. You were quite decent but that was five years ago. Now what I need to know is: Where is my Firebolt? Last I knew it was being held by security trolls in a dungeon here, with the twin's brooms. Now that gives me an idea, maybe I can get it the same way they got theirs?"

Hermione grabbed his arm as he headed for the door, "Ask McGonagall first. She probably has it in her office. I doubt the trolls have been allowed to stay in the dungeon for the last year."

He spun to face her, "Yea, I bet you're right."

Luna got them back on track, "So we need to practice apparition, flying and avoiding bludgers. The other thing Filius mentioned was simply dodging the spells."

Harry looked at her curiously, "Like ducking and such?"

"Well yes, most spells have a small target area, avoid it and you avoid getting hit."

Hermione felt the need to make a list, "Come, we'll make a list of things we need to do and buy. Remember we only have a couple of weeks here, then we go back in time and go muggle for 18 months. Any spellwork practice needs to be done now, the physical training, dodging etcetera can wait until later." She strode to the door, they hesitated a moment then she heard their footsteps following her.

Half an hour later they had compiled the list. For now Occlumency and silent casting were at the top. Even Horcrux research could wait, that was just reading. Likely they could even use the pensive as that required no spell casting. So their places in the books were marked and they were all put away.

Harry and Hermione were sitting comfortably on the couch, eyes closed, they had settled into their happy place and Luna was talking softly to them. "Now, build a wall or shield around you, you must believe it to be impenetrable, nothing can penetrate it, no spell or object, no light or sound. Make it solid in your mind. My voice should fade away and stop all together once you reach that point.

Hermione was in a library so she closed the shutters on the windows, and then filled them with brick. The doors were also bricked up, and then a spell shield appeared just behind the stacks of books, protecting the books as well as herself of course. Then the spell shield turned grey as she made it block light, finally it was pitch black and looked like obsidian.

She didn't know if Luna was still talking or not but she couldn't hear her. She could only hear herself breathing and that was calm and even. She knew the Harry here was not the real thing but merely her vision of him. He looked up from the book he was reading on defense and grinned at her. His arm reached out, beckoning her to join him on the couch. She smiled and did, curling up into his embrace. His arm wrapped around her and even the library vanished. This was her true haven; In Harry's arms nothing could ever harm her. Her belief in that was so absolute she could no longer even hear her own breathing. Now her world shrunk until it was just the warmth of Harry and his steady heartbeat. Her eyes were closed and nothing could intrude.

She drifted then gradually became aware of another presence, small and faint. It wasn't her own, she focused on it more, and it grew just a little as though her attention had made it stronger. It wasn't in the library that no longer existed to her. Where could it be, ah, her son? She focused inside herself and reached down, there. It was fleeting, barely capable of any brain activity but it was there. She gave it love; this was Harry's son, instantly her most precious possession. He stirred as she felt him responding to her affection.

She had never really thought of having her own children or being a mother. The reality of it suddenly hit her; this was not just some object to keep Harry alive if she died. This was her flesh and his combined in the absolute miracle of life. Luna had told her, she had even cast the detection spell; neither was as real as this was. She had to tell Harry!

She felt strong arms around her, she settled into them. Why had she been flailing around? Harry was talking to her, "It's alright love, I'm here, you're safe." It was a continuous litany; she wiped her tears and took several deep breaths. Another hand was solidly in the middle of her back, rubbing small circles, Luna.

Finally she looked up to him; he was so concerned it was painful. Her voice was a mess but she shoved the words out, "I'm pregnant."

He pulled back and focused on her, slowly he grinned. In a very hushed voice he said, "I'm going to be a father?"

She nodded, "I- When I was at peace I could feel another presence. I found it." She reached down and rubbed herself, "Here."

He slid back and looked down at her, "No, he's still too small to see, it hasn't even been a week yet."

He was smiling, he was happy and he wasn't upset. Relief flashed through her and she grinned at him.

Luna spoke softly, just beside her ear, "Congratulations, I will help all I can."

She saw Harry glance at Luna sharply then seemed to remember something and gave a brief nod. He had just accepted that Luna would be with them through the whole process. She was so proud of him. She kissed him and then relaxed into his embrace; her own arms went around his shoulders. Luna kept her hand on Hermione's back, pressing gently.

She heard Harry announce softly, "I'm going to be a dad." She looked at Luna, tightly tucked into Harry as she was she couldn't look at her properly. She gave Luna a small smile of thanks and saw her take a calming breath.

"Well, if you want to try for another, just let me know." Luna didn't wait for a reply, instead she patted Hermione's back once and walked back to her own chair to sit and try to meditate.

She felt Harry go stiff and he hugged her convulsively. He didn't say anything though or move.

Hermione at last moved to stand; she was filled with restless energy. She stood; maybe she should go for a run or swim some laps?

Harry finally said something, "Let Luna out of her oath."

She turned to him, focused entirely upon his presence, he meant it. It wasn't a request; he was ordering her to release Luna. She answered simply, "No."

He leapt to his feet, not used to her denial of anything.

He yelled at her, "DO IT!"

She refused to back away; she could and would stand up to Harry bloody Potter. "No, I will not."

He spun in frustration, his hand twitched for his wand. "Violence will get you nowhere, Harry."

He pulled his wand out and dropped it on the table before turning back to her. "Please Hermione. I don't want her forced to be here. I don't want her forced to make offers like that."

Luna was sitting, she hadn't moved, she was focused intently on their argument though.

"No Harry. Her oath only keeps her honest and with us. I suspect she was merely reminding you of her original offer. I cannot free her from this as I am not compelling her to make that offer. Her oath stands, I will not give a fraction on this."

He glanced at Luna he whispered, "Why?"

Luna looked desperate to say something to appease him but unsure as to what.

Hermione answered him. "You must have some protection from me. I alone anchor you emotionally. I am your one vulnerable place Harry. Nothing Voldemort or anyone else can do to you will break your spirit. If you lose me it will break you!"

He dropped to his knees, "no."

Luna moved. She leapt across the room to kneel beside Harry. Her arms went around his waist. He didn't move or react to her, his entire being was focused on what Hermione said next.

She pointed at Luna, "That is why I cannot release her. She loves you as I do and will support and defend you, even from me." She stepped back, locked her eyes with his. She burned her next words into his soul. "I am yours Harry, body and soul. I-will-never-hurt-you! If I am killed in this war I need to know you will still have love."

She fell to her knees with them, not touching Harry, "Do you understand? I cannot permit anything to stop you. If there is the slightest chance that you learn to trust or love her it is because you know without doubt she honestly loves you."

Harry took several slow breaths and then spoke softly and clearly, "Modify her oath I cannot accept her as a friend if I know she is a slave."

Their eyes were still locked; she would concede that point to him. It made perfect sense but presented great risks as well. He was barely holding it together; just the threat of breaking him had come close to doing it. She would have to trust Luna to be honest even without the oath. She stood, "Come Luna." She turned and walked into Luna's bedroom as is was the closest.

Once they were alone in Luna's room she turned to her and pulled her wand from her pocket. "I have argued with my husband over this. Logic dictates that I am a fool for what I am about to do. But I nearly broke him there and I cannot allow anything to cause that. Luna Lillian Lovegood, I hereby release you from your oath to me. You will remain with us at all times until Tom Riddle is confirmed dead for the last time. You are free to tell the truth or lie as you choose from this point forward."

There was a brief flash around Luna and she started crying then launched herself at Hermione, hugging her desperately. Hermione matched the intensity of the hug. Several minutes later Luna said carefully, "Thank you for trusting me."

Hermione gave her a crooked smile, "I've trusted you since our trip to the DoM. Now, I have to trust you with Harry. This is between us, I ask you to never tell a soul." Luna nodded, "I suggest you keep a tight rein on your emotions for now. Harry will need to see that you can lie. Tell him your name is Reginold or something ludicrous like that."

Luna smiled, "Sure."

Hermione stepped past her so she was facing the door but did not open it. Luna blew her nose and took a minute to compose herself then said, "Ready."

Hermione didn't look back but opened the door she had been looking at and walked out into the common room. Harry was pacing near the door. He stopped when the door opened and looked at them expectantly. Luna walked out behind Hermione. Hermione stepped near Harry and spun to face Luna. "Test her, she is no longer compelled to tell the truth."

Luna looked directly at Harry and said. "Hey there Jill, my name is Reginold the brave." He looked bewildered, Luna broke into laughter. "See I told a lie and am not dead." She giggled briefly and then turned serious. "I must apologize for trying to push my way into your relationship. I'm sorry for causing stress on it and I will work hard to earn your trust from this moment on."

Harry gave a small nod and looked at Hermione.

Hermione thought about what Luna had just done, it wasn't a violation of the oath she had taken. That oath had been not to lie to Hermione, there was nothing restricting her from lying to Harry. She decided to let it go unless Harry brought it up later. She knew Luna was free. She also nodded at Luna who gave a small smile and went back into her room. Hermione took another step closer to Harry. "I never meant for it to come to this. Your nobility has overridden my logic. You mean more than life itself but, as I am your weakness you are mine."

He nodded, seemingly unable to speak. He took the last two steps between them and engulfed her in a hug. "I know you had solid, logical, unassailable reasons for it but: Thank you."

Hermione felt hot salty tears falling as she whispered in his ear, "I don't want to share you. I like her and maybe in time we can…"

He pulled back, his mouth was slack and his eyes were wide. She was leaving the door open for the future. "Not unless you want to but I don't want to torture her."

She shrugged, "She already loves you maybe she can find someone she likes better though that isn't very likely as long as she stays with us."

He wiped her cheeks dry then carried her into their room. That was a problem for another day, now he needed to show her how much he loved her.

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