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Chapter Two: In Which Harry Gets All /Verklempt/, and Urges His Friends to Talk Amongst Themselves

It did not matter that it was still morning when Harry stumbled drunkenly from the Room of Requirement. He was not hungry. He was exhausted.

He ignored the questioning looks from the other students. Classes were over, the OWLS and NEWTS were done. It was next to the last day of term, and in two days the train would take them home.

Harry moved like a zombie, his eyes bleary and his mind numb, until he reached his rooms. As he pulled off his clothes, he became aware of the acrid taint of old sweat. There was a new smell as well, but his mind was unable to decipher what it was. He stripped and stepped into the common shower long enough to clean himself. Once that was accomplished, he paused long enough to throw on a pair of clean boxers and collapsed into bed.

He had no idea how long he slept before he felt a hand shake his shoulder.

"Ger'off," he muttered.

"Harry." It was Ron.

Harry rolled onto his back and stared up at the top of his bed's canopy. He saw from the side Ron sitting on the bed next to him. "You okay?" he finally asked.

Ron nodded. "You? Looked pretty scary there for a bit."

Harry became aware of another presence, and saw Neville standing nearby. He sat up and looked out the window. From the light it looked to be early morning. Did he sleep all day? "Hey, Nev. How 'bout you?"

"I'm alright," the other boy said with a slightly oafish grin. "We were worried about you, Harry. You slept a long time."

Harry nodded. He should have felt deadening pain, but for some reason the dark emotions just wouldn't come. It wasn't that they weren't there. Thinking about Sirius gave him a profound sense of sadness. But it felt, somehow, as if he'd already grieved for his godfather.

Harry felt better than he should have, he just couldn't say why. "Any injuries?" he asked.

Ron looked down at the scars on his arm. "I just got out. Bloody brains. Hermione's still in the hospital wing. She's doing better, but said she'd have to take ten different potions every day for a month."

"How 'bout Ginny and Luna?"

"They were brilliant," Ron said proudly of his sister. "Ginny's ankle's all fixed up."

"You were all brilliant," Harry said. He noticed Nevblush. "You were," he said again. "I led us into a stupid, obvious trap. Icould have gotten us all killed, but you fought back against inner circle Death Eaters long enough for help to arrive. I can't even begin to say how..." And he couldn't.

But the other boys understood. So, Ron hit his shoulder. "Yeah," he said."Well, you slept all day yesterday and last night. You've got to be hungry."

Harry's stomach growled loudly, but he shook his head. "You guys go. I need to see Hermione."

Ron nodded. "Okay, mate. We'll save some food for you."

"Really?" Harry said archly. "Will you really save food for me, Ron?"

"Maybe?" Ron said.

"Hey, Harry, when did you get those tattoos?" Neville suddenly asked. "Did Umbridge give you those?"

"What?" Harry looked at his hands, and saw the crest of Ravenclawhouse on the back of his left hand. He turned and saw the Gryffindor crest on the back of his right hand. "What the hell?" He pulled the sheets back and stared at his feet. Slytherin on the left, Hufflepuff on the right.

"You didn't have those last time I saw you," Ron said. "Blimey, 'Arry, what have you been doing?"

"I don't know," Harry said. He remembered his dream from that morning."Doesn't matter," he said quickly as his body also remembered the dream from that morning. "I'll see you guys in the great hall, okay?"

He threw his clothes on quickly and left the deserted common room. Everyone was at dinner. By the time he arrived at the Hospital Wing, he could see it held only one occupant.

Hermione Granger was sitting up in her bed clad in a pair of comfortable looking pajamas with a large book on her lap. She looked very pale, and very small. Fragile. He stifled an urge to go and stand guard over her. She stayed unnaturally still.

He walked through the hall until she noticed him. Her face lit up with abrilliant smile, and he paused a moment, caught in the memory of yesterday morning's dream. Only, he knew this Hermione was not the same woman from his dream. This Hermione was a sixteen year old girl with a teenager's body. His Hermione. But for the first time since that one moment at the Yule Ball last year, Harry realized that his friend was a very beautiful young woman. "Hi," he said simply. He pulled a chair out from the wall and sat down beside her. "How are you?"

"I've certainly been better," she admitted. Her smile lessoned and he could see that she was in pain. "I'm so sorry for Sirius, Harry."

"Thank you." He visited his thoughts of his grandfather again, and smiled sadly. "It's so strange," he said. "At first I was so mad, 'Mione. I thought I was going to just explode. Mad and sad and all these other emotions. And I couldn't hold them all in. Then I had the strangest dream, and now..."

"Now?" she prompted.

"I still miss him," Harry said. "It still makes me angry that he's gone. He was the only thing close to family I had. But it just doesn't hurt like it did last night. It's like I know he died doing what he believed in. I just...it's hard to explain."

"Must have been some dream."

His eyes slipped down from her face for a split second. "You have no idea,"he muttered. He realized that his cheeks were hot.

"Harry?"

He looked back up at her. She was looking at him, really looking. He could see her eyes focused solely on his face, as if nothing else mattered. Of everyone he had ever met only she would do that. "Hermione, I..." He couldn't say it. The words just didn't come. He reached down and took her hand in his. "What you did for me..."

"It's what I told you before, Harry," she said. "I'm on your side. I always have been."

"That's just it," Harry said. "You always have been, even when I didn't deserve you. You were always there for me, for all of us. Somehow I get the credit, but it's always because I was listening to you. Ron may be my best mate, but you're...you're my best friend, Hermione. More than that. I just don't know how to..."

He paused, flustered. Her own cheeks were flushed, and looked even more so against her otherwise pale and weakened complexion. He took a deep breath. "I love you," he finally said. He did not blurt it out or rush it. He said the words slowly and deliberately. "You, and Ron, are the most important people in my life. And I love you."

He then did something he had never done before. He leaned forward and very carefully wrapped her in a hug. "Be well, Hermione," he whispered into her ear."Be well, because I don't know how I could ever go on without you."

He felt a pressure in his head, and once again remembered that incredible dream. Then the feeling seemed to flow out of him. He leaned back and saw her staring at him, mouth agape and cheeks flaring brightly. "Harry...."

"It's okay," he said. "I understand. I know about Ron. It's just...whatever else happens, I wanted you to know that. I...gotta go now!"

He stood and walked quickly away from her, pausing only a moment to wipe his eyes on the back of his sleeve before he left the wing entirely.

--

--

Hermione stared at Harry's back as he walked away. She saw how he paused long enough to wipe away tears. His eyes were tearing up as he hugged her!

It must have been the battle at the Department of Mysteries, she reasoned. He was distraught over Sirius's death and so just didn't know what to do with his guilt and anguish. And yet she had to admit to a little seed of warmth in her stomach at his words. Other than her parents, no one had ever used the "L"word with her.

It must have been because of the battle. That was why he told her that he loved her. Why he said she was more than just his best friend. Why he, for the first time since she had known him, leaned across and hugged her. Why that hug felt better than anything she'd felt in a long time. Why it felt so safe and so right. It had to be from the battle. Because, why, otherwise it would mean something. Yes, that had to be. Because of the battle.

She sat up and put her book down, then swung her legs over the bed to use the loo. Her mind was so busy obsessing about the conversation she just had that it took a long moment for her to realize one very important fact.

The pain was gone.

She froze. The pain was completely gone. She lifted her shirt and stared down at what should have been a huge blackened bruise on her ribs from Dolohov's dark curse. The bruise was completely gone."Madam Pomphrey!" she cried.

The mediwitch came running promptly, as she did everything. "What is it, child?" she asked as she came running.

Pomphrey's steps slowed as she saw Hermione holding up the side of her pajamas. The pause lasted only a heartbeat before she pulled her wand and stepped quickly to her patient's side. She quickly began performing diagnostic charms. "How does it feel?" she asked.

"The pain is completely gone," Hermione said. Suddenly she laughed. "In fact, I feel really good."

"That's impossible," Pomphrey said. "There's nothing I could think of that would heal that wound so quickly."

However, there was nothing else to say. Somehow, Hermione was healed. Harry had hugged her, she'd felt a strange warmth that she attributed to him whispering into her ear, and then she was completely healed.

"My God," she mused aloud, "Harry healed me."

--

--

The great hall seethed with whispers. The rumors had already spread like fire through the student population. Everyone knew that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna had gone to the Ministry of Magic and fought Death Eaters. Everyone knew that Ron, Ginny and Neville were all injured. Everyone knew that Voldemort had been seen, not just by those who fought him, but by Minister Fudge himself and several aurors.

Everyone knew this.

When Harry stepped through the doors to eat, he realized very quickly that they knew this. At the head table, the staff sat in silence, watching him. Professor McGonagall still looked pale from the stunners she took trying to defend Hagrid from Madam Umbridge.Hagrid himself looked flushed and tired.

Dumbledore's features were carefully schooled to give nothing away, while Snape looked...like Snape, Harry admitted.

He ignored the looks and the silence and sat beside Ron. He was not surprised to find Ginny, Neville and even Luna all at the table. The lone Ravenclaw sat sandwiched between Neville and Ginny, but was watching Harry very carefully as he approached.

Once again, that damnable dream flashed in his mind-this time of Luna Lovegood shrugging off a sheer gown. He shook it off and sat down. "Hi," he said to the girls. "You okay?"

"We were going to ask you that," Ginny said.

"She was," Luna said. She linked owlishly at him. "I was going to ask what happened to you yesterday morning. You're different. Did you get a married?"

Ginny snorted pumpkin juice out of her nose. Having done that before, Harry sympathized with her. "What?" the red-head asked.

"I don't think so," Harry said. "Why?"

"You have flubberglubs all around you," she said, as if that explained everything.

Not quite knowing how to respond to that, Ron took the safe approach. "Here, Harry, have some bacon!"

Just then Hermione came rushing through the doors. "Blimey!" Ron said. "You aren't supposed to be up yet!"

She grinned and gave him a hug. "I'm feeling much better now," she assured him. "Now scoot over."

He scooted, and she settled between him and Harry. Once settled, she leaned over to Harry and whispered, "I don't know what you did or how, but thank you."

Harry blinked, as mystified as she was. He was mid-way through a very large breakfast when he felt a twinge in his scar. It was still sore from the fiasco two nights ago adventures, but the twinge was nothing but that.

Still, he felt something coming through it. A face-aristocratic and arrogant, with long white-blond hair. A feeling-utter rage and a threat of violence.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"It's nothing," he assured her. Compared to the attack in the ministry, it was nothing. Just a ghost of a feeling. He knew what it meant, though. He looked over his shoulder at the Slytherin table. Immediately he locked eyes with Draco, who sat before an untouched plate of food glaring death at him.

The Headmaster eventually stood and uttered a few meaningless words about unity and safety, but Harry didn't listen. He felt something inside that he was having a hard time coming to grips with. Every time he looked at his friend's faces, he just wanted to cry. Not in sadness, but in joy. He felt so...emotional. He didn't understand why he just couldn't get a grip.

"I'll catch you later," Harry said when he was finally finished.

"Are you going to be okay?" Hermione asked.

All of them were looking at him-all five of the best friends he had ever known. He knew his answering smile must have been silly and childish. He knew his eyes were growing a little moist and he wanted to be embarrassed, but he just couldn't. "I have you," he said to all of them. "I'll be okay, as long as I have you." He chuckled and shook his head. "Listen to me, a sound like alittle girl."

"You say that as if it is a bad thing," said Luna, who by stature if not by age was a little girl.

Harry laughed. "It's bloody embarrassing, though."

"It's okay though," Hermione assured him.

"It really is," Neville said.

"We do understand," Ginny added.

Luna simply stared at him.

"Thank you," he said. "For everything." Afraid he was going to start crying, Harry turned and left the great hall. He was planning on going to the owlery just for some quiet when he heard the step of hard-soled shoes behind him.

"You're dead, Potter!"

He turned and saw Draco Malfoy glaring at him with a wand pointed at his chest.

Harry should have felt fear and rage. He knew very well that Malfoy would hex him, and it wouldn't be a nice hex either. Instead, he thought of the images he received through the scar at lunch.

"Your father's in trouble," he said.

"Those charges won't last a day!" Malfoy spat."Without dementors at Azkaban, he'll be out before the end of summer!"

"I'm not talking about the ministry." Harry touched his scar and Draco paled for a moment. "I felt Voldemort's rage at your father's failure. Things aren't going to go well for the House of Malfoy."

"I will make up for my father's failure," Draco hissed.

"He'll kill you too," Harry said. "He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody. You're all just tools to be used. I've always hated you, Draco, but I never thought you were a fool. I don't know if he's going to kill your father or not, but I know you're going to pay for your father's mistakes."

"Shut up!" Draco yelled. He sent speckles of spit flying in his rage. He thrust the wand spastically, but did not fire any hexes. "Just...just...shut up, Potter! He's going to kill you!"

"Maybe," Harry admitted. "Probably. But will that make your life any better?"

He turned his back to Draco's pointing wand, and continued toward the owlery. Somehow, he knew no hexes would come.

Hedwig was one of the few student-owned owls still at the owlery when he arrived. The rest were school owls. "Hello, girl," Harry said as he rubbed her behind her left eye feathers. He absently fed her a few pieces of bacon he saved from breakfast.

After making sure his owl knew he still loved her, he stepped to the edge of the tower and looked out over the lake and forbidden forest. It was so beautiful, he found himself weeping again at the sheer intensity of what he saw. "What is wrong with me?" he muttered.

"Flubberglubs, of course," a calm voice said behind him.

Harry turned around and saw Luna Lovegood standing a few feet away at the entrance to the stairwell. She was barefoot, he saw."Aren't your feet cold?" he asked.

"Very much so," she said as she wiggled her toes at him. She had a stack of parchment under one arm-he caught a few words and realized it was a flier for her many missing things.

She stepped to his side and looked out over the valley. "It is quite beautiful, isn't it?" she asked. The breeze played with her hair as she looked out over the lake. Harry found himself following the line of her jaw, and her porcelain skin. She turned then and looked at him, and he could not look away from those silver-gray eyes.

Delicate fingers, of skin so pale he could see her veins, touched the tattoo of Ravenclaw on his hands. She did not say anything, but he could see the question in her eyes.

"Luna, have you...has anyone close to you ever died?"

"Yes," Luna said in a normal, conversational tone. "My mother. She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she liked to experiment, and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. I was nine."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"Yes, it was rather horrible. I still feel sad about it sometimes. But I've still got Dad. And anyway, it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?"

Harry stared at her. "Isn't it?"

She shook her head and smiled. The smile reminded him of a famous muggle painting. "Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?"

And she was right. He was sure that he had heard the voices, even if no one else did.

"I loved Sirius," Harry said. Once more, he amazed himself by his incessant need to talk. "He was my dad's best friend. It felt like I was connecting with Dad every time I jugged Sirius. But it doesn't hurt as much as it did. Sometimes I don't think it hurts enough."

Luna smiled gently and gripped his hand a little tighter. "Something happened to you."

As much as he loved Hermione and Ron, he had never felt comfortable divulging his heart and soul to them. In fact, he never felt comfortable divulging his heart and soul to anyone. But it was different with Luna. She knew just what to say and when to say them.

"I had a dream the morning after the battle," he admitted.

She nodded but said nothing. She simply waited, without judgment, without pressure.

"It was..." he felt his cheeks flaring. "Intense. I had just heard some things from Professor Dumbledore that I had a...they were hard to hear, I guess. And then I saw my mother. Not like a vision. She was there and I could feel her arm on my back. She led me to the room of requirement and started taking my clothes off."

"That sounds interesting," Luna said, her eyes widening.

Harry's cheeks grew so hot they hurt. "She wasn't Mum anymore, though. She changed, and suddenly it was Hermione. Then it was you. Then Daphne Greengrass, and finally Susan Bones. She kept changing. And we...er, did...things."

"I see," Luna said. He noticed her slightly quickened breath.

"But that's just it; your faces kept changing until it wasn't any of you anymore. She said...she said she was Hogwarts. She said she was waiting for me, that I was the Heir of the Founders and that she had bonded with me."

"Well, that much is obvious," Luna said. "Flubberglubsgather 'round newlyweds and newly bonded. Newly bonded couples are always very emotional. I saw a cousin of mine crying because of how pretty a bird was on the day he married. Are you feeling really emotional?"

"I...maybe..."

She stepped close enough that her shoulder touched his side. So close, he realized she was a very petite girl. She took his left hand in both of hers and lifted the tattoo up before their faces. "You don't remember getting this, do you?"

"In the dream, she gave me an amulet," Harry explained. "It burned through my hand, but then was gone. It really hurt."

She nodded, and then before he realized what was happening she brought the crest on his hand to her lips. She brushed her lips very gently across the hand in a kiss, but the sensation was so powerful Harry fell to his knees. Luna actually went down with him, flushed brightly about her face and neck. "What was that?" Harry whispered.

"I'm sure I don't know," Luna said breathlessly. "But I rather liked it. Was that what your dream was like, Harry?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"You know that wasn't a dream now, right?"

"I'm beginning to wonder."

She gathered herself to her knees. "What did it feel like, Harry? When you loved her?"

"Incredible," he admitted. "What does it mean, though?"

"I'm not sure, Harry, but I know who could help us find out."

"Hermione."

Luna nodded. "She was in your dream too, wasn't she? She was the first face you saw. So you obviously care for her."

"I care about all of you. But what about Greengrass?I don't think we've said five words to each other in five years."

Luna shrugged. "You have tattoos for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Do you have them for Huffleputt and Slytherin?"

Harry nodded.

"And in your dream you saw Hermione, a Gryffindor; me, a Ravenclaw; Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff, and Daphne Greengrass, the prettiest of the Slytherinsand one of the few, if I'm not mistaken, who has not been mean to you or your friends."

"Well, no more than anyone else," Harry said.

"And if you had to choose anyone else from Slytherin, who would it be? Pansy Parkinson? Millicent Bulstrode?"

Harry shuddered, but then paused. "What do you mean, choose?"

Luna smiled and then gathered herself to her feet. "I'm not sure I know what I mean," she said. "It is quite exciting, though, isn't it? I suddenly find Ihave a very strong desire to kiss you." She giggled. He had never heard Luna giggle. "Shall we go find Hermione and ask her?"

"After we find your things," Harry said firmly.

"That is good too," Luna said with a more normal laugh. "Do you feel strangely happy, Harry?"

"Considering everything I've been through, yeah I do. I loved Sirius so much, Luna."

She took his left hand again. "I loved my mum very much too. But I know she's still with me. The ones we love always will be."

Her hand simply felt right in his, and together the two of them walked down the tower to fetch the rest of her things. When they reached the Gryffindor commons, Harry recruited Neville, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to the task as well, and the six of them scoured the castle until they finally found the rest of Luna's things.

After the end of term feast, in which Dumbledore once again said a few words on unity and safety, Harry pulled Hermione aside and led her to the library. He wasn't surprised when he saw Luna already there, waiting for him.

The three of them walked into the completely empty library and picked atable as far from the entrance as they could get. With a surreptitious glance at Madame Pince, Harry cast a series of silencing and privacy charms around their table.

"Okay, what's going on?" Hermione finally asked. "Is this about what you did the morning after the battle? Madam Pomphrey said it should have been impossible for me to be healed, but somehow you did it."

"Tell her about your dream, Harry," Luna said.

"Yes," Hermione said, cautiously. "Tell me about this intense dream you had. A dream that made you blush. Was it naughty, then?"

"Er..." Suddenly Harry couldn't speak.

"Oh yes," Luna gushed. "He dreamed that Hogwarts turned into a woman with all our faces and had sex with him."

"All our faces?" Hermione looked pale.

"Yours and mine, Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass,"Luna said. "I was quite flattered to be in the list. You, Susan and Daphne are all so very pretty."

"I bet," Hermione said with narrowed eyes. She returned her attention to the brightly blushing Harry. "You're a teenage boy, Harry. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised or harsh with you. But if you think..."

"And in his dream," Luna continued as if Hermione had not spoken, "Hogwarts gave him an amulet that burned into his hand, and suddenly he had tattoos of the four house crests."

"What? Let me see!"

Harry showed her the back of both hands. "The other two are on my feet," he said. "Ron and Neville saw them yesterday morning."

"Maybe it was something you did in your subconscious while you were dreaming," Hermione speculated.

"Oh, he did have sex and bond with someone, though," Luna said. "You can see it on him."

"It was a dream!" Harry said.

"I don't think it was, Harry," Luna said. "You changed that morning. You have all the after affects of a bonding. You're very emotional. I think Hogwarts really has bonded with you."

"Luna, that's just silly," Hermione said. "I know he's been emotional, but there are a lot of good reasons for it. You're talking about this castle as if it were alive." Suddenly she cried out and disappeared from view below the table. A moment later her hand reached up to grip the edge of the table and her startled face followed.

Harry jumped to his feet. "Hermione, are you okay?"

"My chair disappeared," Hermione said. She glared at Luna. "Why did you do that?"

"I didn't," Luna said.

"Hermione, look," Harry said.

The three of them looked down at the floor. The stones had somehow gone completely transparent. In plain view was Hermione's chair, floating just under the surface of the floor. As they watched, it rose back up as if breathing the surface of a pond, until everything returned just as it had been.

"Er," Hermione said. She gingerly sat down and looked around the room. "Sorry?"

Harry's head jerked up. "Do you hear that?"

"I think I do," Luna said.

"Hear what?" Hermione demanded.

"It sounds like the castle is laughing," Harry said.

"Great," Hermione muttered. "It's not enough that all the boys make fun of me, now the castle is too."

"The boys do not make fun of you," Harry said.

"Do they make fun of me?" Luna asked innocently.

"That's a trick question," Harry said. "Everyone makes fun of you."

"Not you."

He smiled. "No, never me."

"So what else about this dream?" Hermione said.

"She said I was the founder's heir. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,Ravenclaw, and because of the scar, Slytherin."

"The Founder's lines are all dead," Hermione said. "The last surviving line of any of the Founders was the Hufflepuffs, and they died out in the 50s."

"Perhaps the direct male line," Luna pointed out."It's been a thousand years. It's quite likely that anyone with pure blood is related to a founder in one way or the other. The House of Potter was an old line."

"I don't understand what it all means, though," Hermione said. Her eyes looked far away and her lips pursed together in thought. "I guess I could do some genealogy research over the summer," she said. "The Ministry has very through genealogy records going back even before the founders."

"Hermione, could you do one more thing for us?" Luna asked.

"What's that?"

"Could you kiss the back of Harry's hand?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"His right hand, please," Luna said.

"What on Earth for?"

Luna batted her eye lids. "Would you rather I kiss you instead?"

"What kind of choice is that? Why do you want me to kiss his hand?"

"I want you to kiss the Gryffindor tattoo," Luna said. "It was interesting when I kissed the Ravenclaw one."

"You kissed Harry?" the last came out as a flat statement.

"I kissed the back of his hand," Luna said. "I would kiss him on the lips, if you thought it would help you decide." She turned to Harry. "Would you like me to kiss you? You could tell me if it compared to that dream that wasn't adream."

"Oh hush!" Hermione said. It just so happened she was sitting across from Harry on his right side. "Let me see the hand."

Blushing furiously, he held it out. "Hermione, you don't have to, it's not like..."

She brought it up and kissed it. The electricity of the moment shocked them both. He was instantly grateful that he was sitting down, and noticed a flush that spread quickly down Hermione's face below her shirt line. "My God!" she whispered. "What was that?"

"Does that mean you want to kiss Harry too?" Luna said in a dreamy tone."I've been wanting to kiss him since I kissed his hand too." She paused. "I wonder if this means Susan and Daphne are going to have to kiss your feet? I'm rather glad Ravenclaw was on your hand, I would think kissing your feet could be troublesome."

"I just don't understand any of this," Hermione said. "But I'll figure it out."

"If anyone could, it would be you," Harry said.