My Last Breath (part 10/11 of the Fallen Series)
Series Title: The Fallen Series
Chapter Title: My Last Breath
Author: Tonya
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The battle begins, and no one is safe.
**********
“Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light
It ends here tonight”
-- “My Last Breath” by Evanescence
********
Harry stared down at the list in his hands and exhaled deeply.
For over a month, schoolwork had been the furthest thing from his mind, and for the most part, the teachers had been accommodating to his situation. Even Snape, who Harry figured was being forced to be pleasant by the Headmaster. But now the accommodating nature was beginning to wear off, and Harry unfortunately found himself attempting to catch up on all the assignments he had been pushing aside for weeks.
And leave it to Hermione to create for him a list of said assignments separated by class, length of assignment, references needed, and due date. Not to mention color-coded.
Noting the reference book highlighted in bright yellow (meaning extremely important) for one of his five Transfiguration assignments, he turned into the necessary aisle of books. He was lost in his search when he heard a whispered conversation coming from the other side of the wall of dusty books.
“I hear they almost killed him.”
His attention caught, Harry peered over the edge of the shelf nearest to the top. He couldn’t make out the students across from him as they had their backs to him as they searched for their own books. He could, however, just barely make out the slight glint of yellow in their robes.
“Who’d you hear that from?” the second girl asked, incredulous.
“Ricky Belfield. Sixth year. He heard that Harry used the Cruciatus curse on Draco.”
Harry frowned as heard the second girl make an audible gasp.
There had been many rumors circulating the past few weeks about what had happened to Draco Malfoy. After their hallway encounter, Harry hadn’t seen the Slytherin return. The last time he had seen the other boy had been in Dumbledore’s chambers, as the Headmaster informed McGonagall to take him to the hospital wing and stay with him until he handled Harry and Ron.
In all honesty, Harry hadn’t given Malfoy a second thought since that night. He probably could have asked Dumbledore what had happened, but he simply didn’t care. He could only hope that somehow, somewhere, Malfoy was experiencing the most painful, bloody punishment of his life.
Too busy eavesdropping, Harry nearly knocked the books off the shelf when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Luna watching him with a curious expression. He placed a finger to his lips and nodded towards the other side of the shelves. She studied him a moment longer before stepping up to him and sliding slightly in front of him to get a better view. She carefully stood on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the books, Harry placing a balancing hand at the small of her back.
“Ricky heard that afterwards they turned him into a toad,” the first girl continued.
“A toad?”
The first girl nodded her blonde head. “Harry keeps him in a box and practices his unforgivable curses on him.”
Luna glanced at Harry, and he simply rolled his eyes.
“Why a toad?”
“Who would suspect a student of wrong-doing if they had a pet toad?” the first girl shrugged.
At this, Luna snorted quietly. As the girls turned to the sound, Harry quickly pulled Luna down with him until they were kneeling on the floor, out of sight. Harry tried not to laugh himself as she placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from snorting again. They kneeled silently across from each other for what felt like an eternity before the two gossiping Hufflepuff girls decided to move their conversation to a different aisle.
Once alone, Luna finally dropped her hands with a laugh. “A toad, Harry?”
He shrugged with a smirk. “I thought about turning him into a snake.”
She returned the look of amusement. “That wouldn’t be very practical, Harry. Keeping a former Slytherin as a pet snake.”
“Which is why I went with a toad,” he replied seriously.
Luna laughed again, returning her hand to her mouth to quiet herself. Harry watched her with an amused smile before speaking again. “How’d you find me?”
She dropped her hand away from her face, smiling warmly. “I was working on a horrific Potions assignment when I saw Ron and Hermione. She mentioned you searching for references for an assignment so I decided to take a break from my studies and help you.” She nodded softly. “The library stacks can become a bit overwhelming at times.”
“Not with Hermione’s special color-coded chart,” he replied with a laugh as he waved the paper in his hands.
“Perhaps we should put her chart to use then.”
“Perhaps.”
Harry nodded and stood, offering her his hand. He gently took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She thanked him like she always did, and he leaned over and kissed her softly, his hand wrapping gently around the nape of her neck.
If anyone would have told him a year ago that he would be willingly snogging Luna Lovegood (and not Cho Chang for that matter) in the library, he would have thought they were mental. But yet, here he was, and for the past few weeks, his best moments had been in her presence. Sure, she had a tendency to be odd and eccentric, but that was what made her *her*. Her personality was a welcomed change in his world.
The sound of a throat clearing pulled Harry from the moment. He and Luna froze mid-kiss, and he slowly pulled away from her, his hand still lingering around her neck.
Madam Pince, a small stack of books in her arms, watched them with a raised eyebrow.
“Mister Potter,” she said, “may I ask what you and Miss Lovegood are doing?”
Harry cleared his throat quietly as Luna, her back still Madam Pince, lowered her head with a quiet laugh only he could hear. With his free hand, he quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf beside them.
“Just getting a book we need,” he said with the most innocent smile he could muster. “And we’ll be on our way now.”
He grabbed Luna’s hand with his free one and pulled her down the aisle and past Madam Pince, who continued to eye them like a hawk. Luna managed a “have a good evening” to the librarian before disappearing around the corner with Harry.
“New rule,” Harry laughed as they made their way over to Hermione and Ron’s table, still hand-in-hand, “no kissing in the library.”
“A sensible rule it seems,” she agreed with a quiet laugh of her own.
Harry smiled over at her as they took their seats across from Hermione and Ron.
********
Harry sat alone in the room of requirement, surrounded by books he had pulled from the shelves that continued to line the room. He flipped through a book on defensive spells, jotting down random information about ones he crossed that could benefit him and his friends.
When Luna had first suggested that Harry retrain his friends, he had been hesitant to say the least. Training meant that he was preparing them for battle, preparing to put them in harm’s way again. But training also meant they would be better able to defend themselves against another attack, able to prevent another incident like what had happened to Ginny.
He couldn’t let that happen again.
Harry didn’t look up when the door opened; he simply kept writing.
“You realize that if you approached your studies in a similar fashion, your grades would improve exponentially, correct?”
Hermione and Ron joined Harry in the middle of the floor, Hermione picking up one of the books as she and Ron got settled. Harry looked up to acknowledge them with a “hey” before returning to his work.
“So when are we starting?” Ron asked, glancing over Hermione’s shoulder to see what she was reading.
“As soon as Luna gets here,” Harry replied.
“So you and Luna are really…?”
At this, Harry finally looked up with a curious raise of an eyebrow. “Luna and I are really what?”
“You know,” Ron fumbled, his ears growing a shade of red Harry hadn’t seen in a long time, “with the snogging and stuff?”
Hermione rolled her eyes in Ron’s direction before flipping to a new page in her book. “I believe what Ron is so delicately trying to ask is whether or not you and Luna are a couple.”
Harry blinked at them. It had been a few weeks since his and Luna’s encounter by the lake, and though he had been spending more time alone with her, he never figured that Ron and Hermione had been paying much attention. Not enough attention to tell that their dynamic had changed, but apparently, he had underestimated his two best friends.
“Um, yeah, I guess we are,” Harry finally replied when he found his voice.
“Well, I think it’s nice,” Hermione spoke up as Ron tried to find the right words. She nodded and continued to flip through her book as she spoke. “She’s a bit eccentric, and I still don’t believe half of those creatures she talks about exist, but she’s very nice. Much better than Cho if I must say.”
“At least she doesn’t cry as much as Cho, right?” Ron chimed in with an amused smile.
“No,” Harry said, laughing quietly.
Harry was relieved upon hearing their reactions to him dating Luna. He knew that they each had had their reservations about the girl and her oddities since they had first met her; even Harry had to admit that he had had a few. But during the last few months, Luna had become an integral member of their circle, and when Harry hadn’t been paying attention, she had won over his two best friends.
As if on cue, the door to the Room of Requirement opened and Luna entered with a smile, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder.
“Evening, everyone,” she said as she joined them on the floor.
“Hey, Luna,” Harry replied as Ron and Hermione offered their own hellos, Hermione finally closing her book. Once everyone was settled, Harry spoke again. “Okay, so for tonight I was thinking we could--”
Hermione raised her hand.
Ron rolled his eyes at her. “We’re not in class, Hermione.”
“Yes, I know,” she shot back in a dignified voice. “I just had a question, and since Harry is in fact in charge of these lessons, I felt it would only be polite.”
Harry smirked. “Go ahead, Hermione.”
“Thank you.” She lowered her hand and cleared her throat. “Harry, have you thought about opening this up to other students? I’m sure the others would be more than thrilled to start having official DA meetings again.”
“No,” Harry replied with a determined shake of his head.
“But, Harry, I really do think these lessons could be an asset to everyone,” she continued adamantly. “To learn how to fight Voldemort when the time does come.”
“I’m not teaching you to fight,” he declared. “I’m teaching you how to defend yourself.”
“Which is one in the same, Harry.”
“The answer’s still no.”
“But--” she began again.
“Hermione,” Ron interrupted quietly, “drop it.”
Hermione glanced at him and then back at Harry, giving up with a quiet sigh.
“Okay,” Harry said as soon as he felt they were all in silent agreement about the end of that discussion. “So I was thinking tonight we started with something different.” He stood and made his way to the bookcase, pulling three similar books from the corner of the middle shelf. He returned to his friends and handed each of them a book.
Ron stared at the cover of the book for a moment before looking back up at Harry, who remained standing, with wide eyes. “Harry, mate, we-- you’re not suggesting we--” He stammered over his words.
“Learn to use Unforgivables?” Harry finished for his red-headed friend. “Yeah, I do.”
“But, Harry,” Hermione said in a quiet voice, “these--these are….” She trailed off.
“I believe the word Hermione is looking for is deadly,” Luna finished with a slight frown.
“That’s the point of them,” Harry replied darkly. He looked at each of his friends. “What sort of curses do you think Death Eaters are going to use on you?”
“You’re not honestly suggesting that we practice these, do you?” Hermione gaped. “Because that’s--”
“Completely mental!” Ron finished.
Harry rolled his eyes in response, more amused than annoyed. “Do you actually think I’d want you lot to practice these on each other?” He sighed before continuing. “We’ve already learned about them once, but we need to learn about them again. This isn’t about the actual curse-casting itself. This is about knowing each curse inside and out and using the right one for the situation presented to you.”
“You’re assigning reading?!” Ron replied with a disgusted face. “Now I *know* you’ve gone mental.”
“You want to be prepared, right? Well, to be prepared, you need to know the curses better than *they* know them.” He frowned deeply. “Believe me, you’d rather be throwing the curse than being on the receiving end of it.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to quiz us, are you?”
“If I have to,” he replied seriously.
“Bloody hell,” Ron muttered under his breath as Hermione decided to speak again.
“Harry, I’m just not sure about this whole Unforgivable thing,” she replied with a frown.
“Which is why I’m making you read up on them,” he replied, not backing down.
Luna, who had begun flipping through her book, looked up finally. “These curses are quite serious, Harry.”
“I know they are, which is why I want you guys prepared.” His eyes turned from hers as he looked at each of his friends. “Look, guys, Death Eaters aren’t going to hit you with Bat-Bogey or Jelly-leg hexes. Their goal is either to kill you or torture you a bit *before* they kill you. In the end? Those three curses are going to be what you need to know.”
Luna, Ron, and Hermione remained silent.
“Okay so if there aren’t any other questions about my lesson plan or my sanity, let’s get reading.”
*********
Two hours and, to Ron’s utter dismay and horror, one quiz later, the Room of Requirement was empty with the exception of Harry and Luna, who stayed behind to help him reshelve books the group had used throughout the night.
“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight,” Harry said as he watched her study the cover of a book before gently placing it back into its spot on the shelf.
“Yes, I suppose I have,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him with a sad smile.
“You alright?” he asked, a wave of concern washing over him.
She nodded and reshelved another book, but then as quickly as she made her affirmative response, she turned to face him. “Actually, no. I’m not.”
Harry studied her with a frown. “What is it?”
“I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to deliver an Unforgivable when the time comes.”
“Luna,” he said, stepping up to her, “you’re a natural when it comes to your wand.”
“That’s not it,” she replied, her lips curling into a frown. “I’m not afraid that I *can’t* cast it. I’m quite afraid that I won’t.”
Harry returned the frown. “You don’t think you have it in you,” he understood.
She simply nodded.
“Luna,” he sighed, placing a hand gently on the side of her face, “I don’t want you to be in the position to ever have to use any of these, but if you are? You have to believe in using it, or it won’t work. I know.”
Luna studied him with those silver eyes of hers for a moment before finally speaking. “You’ve used an Unforgivable?”
“I tried,” he replied darkly, his hand slowly dropping from her face. “It didn’t work. I didn’t have it in me either.”
Luna gave a quiet, shocked laugh. “And you honestly believe I’ll be able to if you couldn’t? Harry, you’re an extraordinary wizard beyond your years. My skills are nothing compared to yours.”
“But I know you can do it. You just have to be in the proper mindset.”
Luna frowned again. “And how do I do that?”
Harry thought about that for a moment before giving her a tentative nod. “Tomorrow, we’ll try something,” he said.
She blinked at him. “I thought we weren’t meeting tomorrow.”
“We’re not. This is a private lesson.”
“A private lesson for what?” she asked, obviously a bit confused.
Harry took her by the hand and led her out of the room. “I’ll show you tomorrow,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile.
**********
Luna was patiently waiting in the Room of Requirement the next evening when Harry entered, carrying in his arms what seemed to be a package covered by a cloth. She watched him curiously as he placed the covered object on top of the lone desk in the room.
“May I ask what that is?” she asked, reaching a hand out to lift the cloth and peek underneath.
His seeker skills kicking into gear, he reached out and took a quick yet gentle hold of her wrist. “This is today’s lesson,” he replied.
“Harry,” she frowned, “I’m very confused.”
He released her wrist, placing his hands on the object on the desk. “You’re afraid that you won’t be able to cast an Unforgivable cause it requires a certain amount of darkness. So I want you to practice.”
Her frown only deepened. “Harry, I don’t think it’s wise for me to be practicing Unforgivables on you.”
“You’re not practicing on me,” he stated simply.
She blinked at him in response.
Harry pulled the cloth off the item, revealing underneath a small cage. Inside, a plump gray mouse scampered from corner to corner, its whiskers twitching nervously, as if it had a slight idea of what was to come. Luna knelt slowly until her eyes were level with the mouse inside the metal cage. She watched it pace back and forth before throwing a cautious glance up at Harry.
“Where did you get him?”
“I didn’t. Dobby did. Saved him from becoming a meal for Mrs. Norris,” he replied. “Believe me, this is the better of the two for this fellow.”
Luna’s gaze focused back on the mouse. “I can’t curse a mouse, Harry,” she said in a slightly disgusted voice.
Harry knelt down to her level, his gaze trained on the mouse as well. “You need to practice, Luna. Better a mouse than you.”
She glanced over at him. “But he’s defenseless!” she replied. “That seems very unfair.”
“War’s not fair,” he replied simply, his eyes still on the mouse. When Luna didn’t reply, he turned his gaze to her finally. She stared at him incredulously. “What? Would you prefer he had a wand?”
“Harry, this is not a joke,” she replied in a stern tone. “I can’t do this.” With that, she stood and began to make her way to the door.
“Luna!” Harry called out, stunned.
She stopped and turned back to him. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I can’t curse a poor creature just to make sure I’m properly trained. It’s cruel and pointless.” She pursed her lips angrily. “And I am quite stunned that you would even suggest such a thing to begin with.”
“Luna,” he said quietly as he stepped up to her, “I just-- I just wanted you to be able to practice, and I didn’t know how else to go about it.”
“Well,” she replied, folding her arms, “if my practice requires poor defenseless mice then I’d prefer *not* to practice if that’s perfectly alright with you.”
“Luna, you *need* to practice. You can’t be uncertain about these things. When you give the curse, you have to mean it.”
Luna shook her head. “I know, Harry, but I can’t do it this way. Not to that poor mouse.”
“Then use me,” he said after a moment.
Luna shook her head fiercely. “No!”
“Look, don’t worry about me. I’ll be able to handle it.”
“Harry,” she replied, shocked that they were even having this conversation. “I am *not* using an Unforgivable on you. I quite honestly refuse to do such a thing.”
“Luna,” he frowned, “I need to know you’ll be able to do it when the time comes.”
She shook her head fiercely again, her long hair flying about.
“Luna--”
“No!” she protested again, her voice cracking as she was on the verge of frustrated tears. “Why does it matter so much that I practice, that you’re sure?! You didn’t ask Hermione or Ronald to curse mice or you, for that matter!”
“Because they’re not who I’m afraid to lose!” he yelled back.
In that moment, all the yelling in the room came to a standstill. The only sound came from the mouse who continued to pace his cage, searching for some sort of exit.
When Luna spoke this time, her voice had returned to a more normal, Luna level of volume. “What?” she asked quietly.
Harry shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “I’m afraid of losing all of you. Afraid that all of you will get hurt or killed. But--” He shifted his weight again on his feet. “But I wouldn’t be able to handle losing you.”
Luna stared silently at him for what felt like an eternity. When she finally found her voice, all she could utter was a stunned, “Oh.”
Harry nodded slowly before turning and heading back towards the desk. “You’re right actually,” he said as he draped the cloth back over the mouse’s cage. “This isn’t a good idea. A stupid one, really.”
“No, Harry, it’s not,” Luna replied, making her way over to him. “It’s a good idea, but it’s just not you.”
Harry chuckled bitterly, running his fingers over the cloth and not meeting Luna’s eyes. “Being me isn’t exactly working to my benefit here.” He looked up at her. “If I don’t start doing things like they do, I’ll find myself standing at a few more funerals. The Harry Potter way of doing things is going to get everyone I know killed.”
Luna frowned, tilting her head at him. “The Harry Potter way of doing things is the main thing that keeps you from becoming him. It hasn’t gotten any of us killed, if anything, it’s kept us all alive this long.”
“Except Ginny,” he mumbled, dropping his gaze from hers.
“Ginny died a fighter because of you.”
Harry remained silent in response.
“Now, I won’t be practicing my Unforgivables on anyone or anything,” Luna began, and Harry finally looked up, “but I can promise you that when the time comes, I will put everything I have behind my words.” She shrugged her shoulders gently. “That will just have to be enough for you.”
Harry watched her for a moment before nodding. He gathered up the covered cage with a quiet sigh. “I better go release him somewhere Mrs. Norris can’t find him.”
“Perhaps Dobby would like a pet?” Luna suggested.
Harry smiled, the image of Dobby attempting to take care of a pet mouse entering his mind. “Perhaps.” He shifted the weight of the cage in his hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Luna.”
She nodded and smiled warmly at him before leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. She pulled away, her lips still forming that familiar smile. “Thank you by the way.”
He blinked at her, confused. “For what?”
“For caring.” With that, she gently tapped the cage in his hands and waved goodbye. “Night, Harry.”
“Night,” he smiled as he watched her walk out of the room, adjusting her wand behind her ear as she strolled away.
**********
“Have you thought about it anymore, Harry?”
“Hermione, will you leave him alone about it?”
Harry sighed at his friends as they made their way into the Great Hall for dinner. It had been two weeks since they had started their special training, and though Harry had to admit that they had all been catching on far better than he had expected, he still found himself hesitant to extend the invitation to other students. He had only agreed to train Ron, Hermione, and Luna because they were the closest to him; they were the weakness that Voldemort would not hesitate to use against him. Training them was a necessary evil. An evil that he didn’t want to inflict on the rest of the school.
“The answer’s still no, Hermione,” Harry finally replied as they all took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
“Honestly, Harry, what harm could come from it?” she said quietly from her seat across him, trying not to draw attention to their conversation.
“You keep it up, and he’s gonna quiz us again,” Ron warned her as he piled food onto his plate.
Hermione ignored him. “Really, Harry, we’ve done it once before.”
“This time is different,” he replied simply
Hermione frowned and gave up for the moment, deciding to fill her plate before Ron ate everything she wanted. Harry held in a sigh of relief that he was able to get her to drop the subject, if only for an hour while they ate in the Great Hall. He listened to Ron and Hermione bicker over the importance of Quidditch practice versus the importance of a Potions essay due the same afternoon, but he would never find out who would be the victor of the debate as a distinct screech filled the air.
The large eagle owl seemed to come from nowhere as it swooped down into the Great Hall, gliding just above the Gryffindor table. The bird circled once before making its final descent, landing gracefully amongst the plates and goblets. The students watched as it hopped its way over to Harry and then proceeded to thrust out its leg. Harry glanced at the bird and then to the message attached to its leg, reaching out with a reluctant hand to remove the rolled up piece of parchment. Once untied, the eagle owl spread its wings and with a hard beat of his wings took off, disappearing into the night.
“What is it, Harry?” Hermione asked as he unrolled the note and began to read.
“Harry?” Ron asked when he didn’t respond.
Harry looked up at them, folding the letter and slipping it inside his robes. “It’s nothing,” he said, his face expressionless.
Hermione gave him a cautious look. “Harry….”
With that, Harry quickly stood. “I’m going back to the common room,” he insisted before making his way from the table and out of the Great Hall.
Ron turned to Hermione with a frown. “What do you think it was?”
Hermione‘s gaze was fixed towards the doorway through which Harry had made his abrupt exit. “It could be another message.”
“But the first one came by raven.”
Hermione finally tore her eyes from the door to respond as Luna made her way over to the table to join them. “What’s going on?” the blonde asked simply.
“That’s a good question,” Hermione frowned.
“And Harry?”
“He went to the common room,” Ron replied.
Luna frowned at that and shared a look across the table with Hermione. As if reading her mind, Hermione stood. “We should probably go make sure of that.”
**********
Harry ran through the halls as fast as he could (ignoring the yells from portraits to slow down and Peeves and his taunts of “Potter Potter, you have to Potty?”). He panted the password to the Fat Lady, who gave him a concerned look, before allowing him inside the tower.
Harry dashed through the common room and up the stairs to his room. He needed to act fast before the others came looking for him which he knew that they would. He pulled the note from inside robes, opening it, and glaring down at it.
Forbidden Forest.
Two simple words scrawled in the familiar black handwriting he had come to loathe.
This was it.
Slipping the note back inside his robes, he quickly pulled open his trunk. He rummaged through his belongings for a moment before pulling out his Marauder’s Map. He debated for a moment before hastily slipping out of his school robes and tossing them onto his bed. The less he carried on him, the better. His wand slipped into his pocket, Harry made his way quickly out of the room and tower.
**********
Ron, Hermione, and Luna quickly made their way to the Gryffindor tower; none of them aware that they had just missed Harry and his exit.
“I’ll check and see if he’s upstairs,” Ron said as the three of them stood in an empty, Harryless common room.
“It had to be Voldemort,” Hermione mused aloud as she and Luna stood alone in the common room. “Who else would send him a note in the middle of the night?”
“If it was Voldemort, which I’m very sure it probably was,” Luna replied with a frown, “then you realize Harry is more than likely gone.”
“Hogsmeade, you think?”
Luna shook her head. “I’m sure after Ginny’s death, he wouldn’t stay. People would be looking for him there. Perhaps we should speak with the Headmaster?”
“And in the meantime, Merlin only knows where Harry has gone off to….”
“I do,” Ron said as he returned from the boys’ dormitories. He held up the slip of paper he had found in Harry’s discarded robes. “He’s going into the forest.”
Hermione blinked at him. “The Forbidden Forest? Are you sure?” She snatched the note from his hands to see for herself. She looked up with wide eyes. “He’s going to get himself killed.”
“No, he won’t,” Luna stated matter-a-factly.
Hermione and Ron both gave her an incredulous look.
“Because we’re going to help him,” she continued and started out of the common room, Hermione and Ron hesitating for only a moment before quickly following after her.
**********
Hermione didn’t fear many things.
Failing marks on her assignments, giants that referred to her as Hermy, flying. But there was something about the forbidden forest, something that made her flesh crawl, leaving trails of goosebumps up her arms. And as she stood flanked on each side by Ron and Luna, she felt that familiar fear in the pit of her stomach.
“We stick together,” Ron said, his voice wavering a bit, much like the butterflies that flittered about in Hermione’s stomach.
“If we get separated, send up a red sparks with your wand,” she instructed.
“I don’t know if that’s really a good idea, Hermione,” Luna spoke up. Hermione turned to the girl with a bewildered look, and the blonde continued before Hermione could even form a proper protest. “We don’t know who, or what for that matter, is in the forest. For all we know, a signal of that sort could alert others to where we are.”
“I never thought I’d say this,” Ron replied, “but Luna has a point.”
“Well, do either of you have any other suggestions?”
Neither Ron nor Luna replied.
“Then the plan stands as is,” she replied. “If you get lost, send up sparks.” She swallowed hard as her gaze turned back to the dark line of trees in front of them.
“Then come on,” Ron ordered, a firm grasp on his wand, “we have to find Harry.”
Hermione shared a glance with Luna, who looked as calm and collected as she ever did, before they both started after Ron.
**********
The three followed the trail until there was no trail to follow, three separate wands lighting their way through the darkness. Ron stopped suddenly, forcing Hermione and Luna to collide into him with “oomphs”. He turned to them with a sheepish look. “Sorry,” he said in a hushed tone.
“Why did you stop?” Hermione asked in her own quiet voice.
“This forest is huge,” Ron replied as if the realization had just hit him. “Where do we even begin?”
“A clearing,” Luna stated. “Voldemort wouldn’t challenge Harry somewhere like this.” She motioned to the trees that surrounded them. “Too many obstacles.”
Hermione nodded in agreement. “We’ll head towards a clearing.”
Ron frowned a bit, spreading his arms out. “Which is in what direction exactly?”
Hermione pointed her wand over his shoulder, in the direction they had been heading. “Eventually it has to clear out.”
“The forest is no place for children at night.”
The trio froze, each looking at the other, and each wore the same expression of fear, even Luna. They each turned in opposite directions, their shoulders bumping, as they held out their wands, illuminating the darkness around them.
“Come to help, Potter, I take it,” the disembodied voice drawled.
“Where the bloody hell are they?” Ron whispered harshly.
In response, Hermione shushed him, closing her eyes and trying to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. Unfortunately, in the vastness of the forest, it sounded as if the voice completely surrounded them.
“Brave bunch,” the voice continued. “Too bad you won’t live to see another brave adventure.”
Hermione felt a chill slip down her spine as her eyes shot open, and she said the only thing that came to her mind. “Run.”
And they did.
It wasn’t until Hermione looked over her shoulder to make sure the others were close behind that she realized they were, in fact, not. They had all run, but in the dark, they had all taken off in opposite directions.
“Bloody hell!” she panted, allowing herself this one moment to be remotely vulgar.
Her attention still focused over her shoulder, Hermione didn’t notice the figure in front of her until she plowed into them. She lost her balance with a yelp, falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. A groan escaped her lips as the back of her head collided with the solid soil of the forest floor, and for a moment, the stars that peeked through the treetops swirled in front of her eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning, and when she opened them, all she saw was the end of the wand pointed at her.
“Crucio!”
Hermione had never felt a pain so intense in her life. Her body felt as if it were on fire, the pain traveling through every single nerve in her body. She heard screams, and it took a moment for her to realize they were her own. Her eyes squeezed tightly together, she willed for the pain to end, and somewhere in the fogginess of her mind, she wondered if this was what it felt like for Harry. The screams turned to whimpers, and she heard a voice that sounded far-off to her ringing ears. And as soon as she heard the familiar voice, the pain began to subside.
Hermione heard footsteps approaching and could feel someone’s hand gently touch her shoulder.
“Hermione?”
Luna. She recognized that voice, and somewhere in the pain that still coursed through her body, she felt a strong sense of relief.
She opened her eyes, trying to focus on the fuzzy image of the girl leaning over her. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a squeaked attempt at words formed. The fuzzy image of Luna shook her head.
“It’s alright, Hermione. You don’t have to speak. You’re okay now.”
Hermione blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision more, but that only helped to make her feel more lightheaded. As she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, something about the fuzzy images surrounding her shifted. She opened her mouth to try and warn Luna that someone was coming up behind her, but her voice refused to work with her. The last thing Hermione saw before she slipped away was the wand raised in Luna’s direction.
*********
Harry stopped in his tracks.
He thought he had heard screams. Screams with a chilling familiarity to them. But now he was surrounded by silence again, and he was beginning to think that his nerves, combined with the darkness of the forest, was starting to play games with his mind.
“Get a hold of yourself, Harry,” he muttered as he unfolded his map, hoping to get a glance of Voldemort’s location. What he had not expected to see were three familiar names staring back at him from the parchment. Luna and Hermione’s names laid side by side on the map while Ron’s headed in their direction, in what Harry imagined was a fast pace.
The familiarity of the screams he had thought he had heard earlier hit him. Hard.
Suddenly forgetting about his original mission, Harry took off running towards his friends.
*********
Hermione awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright. Her head continued to pound as she glanced down beside her, and the pounding only intensified at the sight. Laying beside her, on her side, her blonde hair fanned across her face, was Luna.
“Luna?”
Hermione turned and knelt in the dirt next to the girl, reaching out and touching Luna’s shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest.
Merlin, don’t let her be dead.
“Luna?”
She gave Luna a gentle shake, pushing the blonde tresses out of the girl’s pale face. Hermione placed shaky fingers against Luna’s cool throat, feeling for a pulse. She held her breath, her lungs burning and screaming for oxygen, until she felt the faint beat of her heart. It wasn’t as strong a pulse as Hermione would have been comfortable with, but it was something.
“Thank Merlin,” she sighed.
Hermione reached for her fallen wand and aimed it at the sky. She knew that it would be risky to send up a signal in a forest apparently full of Death Eaters, but she had no choice. Without Ron, there was no way she was getting Luna out of here, and Hermione wasn’t sure how long the girl could go without medical attention of any sort.
She opened her mouth to utter the spell, but stopped short when Ron came crashing through the trees towards them.
“Ron!” she cried in relief, lowering her wand.
“I heard screams,” he panted as he jogged over to them. “I--” His gaze fell on Luna, an he studied her with wide eyes before turning to Hermione. “Is she…?”
Hermione shook her head, gazing down at Luna and touching her arm. “She’s unconscious. But we need to get her back to school.” She looked up, the fear evident in her eyes. “I don’t know what they used on her. If we don’t get her to Madam Pomfrey….” She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of more footsteps quickly coming in their direction grabbed his attention. Both he and Hermione turned to the noise, wands drawn and ready to curse whoever was coming up on them.
“Guys?”
They heard Harry’s voice before they saw him. He finally emerged from the trees, his map clutched in one hand and his wand in the other.
“Harry!” Ron said, lowering his wand. “Merlin, I thought we were being attacked again.”
“Attacked?” Harry asked.
“Death Eaters,” Ron replied with a nod as Hermione got to her feet.
Hermione made a move to explain what had happened, but by then, Harry had already caught a glimpse of the fallen figure behind her and Ron. He quickly forced himself by them, kneeling down next to Luna, his wand and map falling to the ground beside him. With a tentative hand, he reached out to touch Luna’s face.
“She’s not--she’s unconscious,” Hermione amended with a deep frown. “I was attacked. She came to help me, and she was attacked as well.”
Hermione watched as Harry brushed away a stray strand of hair from Luna’s face with a shaky hand. For a moment, she wondered if he had even heard a word she had said. Then she watched the muscles in his jaw clench, and she knew nothing she said would matter to him.
“He’s going to pay,” Harry said in a darker tone than Hermione had ever heard come from her best friend.
“Harry…” she began, though she wasn’t sure how exactly to finish that thought.
He stood, reaching down for his wand and map, his eyes never leaving Luna’s form. “Tonight it ends.” He looked up at them with a nod. “Go back now. Take her to the hospital wing.”
“What about you, mate?” Ron asked.
“I want you guys gone,” Harry replied as he moved past them, going back the way from which he had come.
“But Harry,” Hermione said to his retreating back, but it was too late by the time she had finished getting his name out. He had already disappeared into the dark, and Hermione wondered if that would be the last time she would ever lay eyes on her friend.
Chapter Title: My Last Breath
Author: Tonya
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The battle begins, and no one is safe.
**********
“Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light
It ends here tonight”
-- “My Last Breath” by Evanescence
********
Harry stared down at the list in his hands and exhaled deeply.
For over a month, schoolwork had been the furthest thing from his mind, and for the most part, the teachers had been accommodating to his situation. Even Snape, who Harry figured was being forced to be pleasant by the Headmaster. But now the accommodating nature was beginning to wear off, and Harry unfortunately found himself attempting to catch up on all the assignments he had been pushing aside for weeks.
And leave it to Hermione to create for him a list of said assignments separated by class, length of assignment, references needed, and due date. Not to mention color-coded.
Noting the reference book highlighted in bright yellow (meaning extremely important) for one of his five Transfiguration assignments, he turned into the necessary aisle of books. He was lost in his search when he heard a whispered conversation coming from the other side of the wall of dusty books.
“I hear they almost killed him.”
His attention caught, Harry peered over the edge of the shelf nearest to the top. He couldn’t make out the students across from him as they had their backs to him as they searched for their own books. He could, however, just barely make out the slight glint of yellow in their robes.
“Who’d you hear that from?” the second girl asked, incredulous.
“Ricky Belfield. Sixth year. He heard that Harry used the Cruciatus curse on Draco.”
Harry frowned as heard the second girl make an audible gasp.
There had been many rumors circulating the past few weeks about what had happened to Draco Malfoy. After their hallway encounter, Harry hadn’t seen the Slytherin return. The last time he had seen the other boy had been in Dumbledore’s chambers, as the Headmaster informed McGonagall to take him to the hospital wing and stay with him until he handled Harry and Ron.
In all honesty, Harry hadn’t given Malfoy a second thought since that night. He probably could have asked Dumbledore what had happened, but he simply didn’t care. He could only hope that somehow, somewhere, Malfoy was experiencing the most painful, bloody punishment of his life.
Too busy eavesdropping, Harry nearly knocked the books off the shelf when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Luna watching him with a curious expression. He placed a finger to his lips and nodded towards the other side of the shelves. She studied him a moment longer before stepping up to him and sliding slightly in front of him to get a better view. She carefully stood on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the books, Harry placing a balancing hand at the small of her back.
“Ricky heard that afterwards they turned him into a toad,” the first girl continued.
“A toad?”
The first girl nodded her blonde head. “Harry keeps him in a box and practices his unforgivable curses on him.”
Luna glanced at Harry, and he simply rolled his eyes.
“Why a toad?”
“Who would suspect a student of wrong-doing if they had a pet toad?” the first girl shrugged.
At this, Luna snorted quietly. As the girls turned to the sound, Harry quickly pulled Luna down with him until they were kneeling on the floor, out of sight. Harry tried not to laugh himself as she placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from snorting again. They kneeled silently across from each other for what felt like an eternity before the two gossiping Hufflepuff girls decided to move their conversation to a different aisle.
Once alone, Luna finally dropped her hands with a laugh. “A toad, Harry?”
He shrugged with a smirk. “I thought about turning him into a snake.”
She returned the look of amusement. “That wouldn’t be very practical, Harry. Keeping a former Slytherin as a pet snake.”
“Which is why I went with a toad,” he replied seriously.
Luna laughed again, returning her hand to her mouth to quiet herself. Harry watched her with an amused smile before speaking again. “How’d you find me?”
She dropped her hand away from her face, smiling warmly. “I was working on a horrific Potions assignment when I saw Ron and Hermione. She mentioned you searching for references for an assignment so I decided to take a break from my studies and help you.” She nodded softly. “The library stacks can become a bit overwhelming at times.”
“Not with Hermione’s special color-coded chart,” he replied with a laugh as he waved the paper in his hands.
“Perhaps we should put her chart to use then.”
“Perhaps.”
Harry nodded and stood, offering her his hand. He gently took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She thanked him like she always did, and he leaned over and kissed her softly, his hand wrapping gently around the nape of her neck.
If anyone would have told him a year ago that he would be willingly snogging Luna Lovegood (and not Cho Chang for that matter) in the library, he would have thought they were mental. But yet, here he was, and for the past few weeks, his best moments had been in her presence. Sure, she had a tendency to be odd and eccentric, but that was what made her *her*. Her personality was a welcomed change in his world.
The sound of a throat clearing pulled Harry from the moment. He and Luna froze mid-kiss, and he slowly pulled away from her, his hand still lingering around her neck.
Madam Pince, a small stack of books in her arms, watched them with a raised eyebrow.
“Mister Potter,” she said, “may I ask what you and Miss Lovegood are doing?”
Harry cleared his throat quietly as Luna, her back still Madam Pince, lowered her head with a quiet laugh only he could hear. With his free hand, he quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf beside them.
“Just getting a book we need,” he said with the most innocent smile he could muster. “And we’ll be on our way now.”
He grabbed Luna’s hand with his free one and pulled her down the aisle and past Madam Pince, who continued to eye them like a hawk. Luna managed a “have a good evening” to the librarian before disappearing around the corner with Harry.
“New rule,” Harry laughed as they made their way over to Hermione and Ron’s table, still hand-in-hand, “no kissing in the library.”
“A sensible rule it seems,” she agreed with a quiet laugh of her own.
Harry smiled over at her as they took their seats across from Hermione and Ron.
********
Harry sat alone in the room of requirement, surrounded by books he had pulled from the shelves that continued to line the room. He flipped through a book on defensive spells, jotting down random information about ones he crossed that could benefit him and his friends.
When Luna had first suggested that Harry retrain his friends, he had been hesitant to say the least. Training meant that he was preparing them for battle, preparing to put them in harm’s way again. But training also meant they would be better able to defend themselves against another attack, able to prevent another incident like what had happened to Ginny.
He couldn’t let that happen again.
Harry didn’t look up when the door opened; he simply kept writing.
“You realize that if you approached your studies in a similar fashion, your grades would improve exponentially, correct?”
Hermione and Ron joined Harry in the middle of the floor, Hermione picking up one of the books as she and Ron got settled. Harry looked up to acknowledge them with a “hey” before returning to his work.
“So when are we starting?” Ron asked, glancing over Hermione’s shoulder to see what she was reading.
“As soon as Luna gets here,” Harry replied.
“So you and Luna are really…?”
At this, Harry finally looked up with a curious raise of an eyebrow. “Luna and I are really what?”
“You know,” Ron fumbled, his ears growing a shade of red Harry hadn’t seen in a long time, “with the snogging and stuff?”
Hermione rolled her eyes in Ron’s direction before flipping to a new page in her book. “I believe what Ron is so delicately trying to ask is whether or not you and Luna are a couple.”
Harry blinked at them. It had been a few weeks since his and Luna’s encounter by the lake, and though he had been spending more time alone with her, he never figured that Ron and Hermione had been paying much attention. Not enough attention to tell that their dynamic had changed, but apparently, he had underestimated his two best friends.
“Um, yeah, I guess we are,” Harry finally replied when he found his voice.
“Well, I think it’s nice,” Hermione spoke up as Ron tried to find the right words. She nodded and continued to flip through her book as she spoke. “She’s a bit eccentric, and I still don’t believe half of those creatures she talks about exist, but she’s very nice. Much better than Cho if I must say.”
“At least she doesn’t cry as much as Cho, right?” Ron chimed in with an amused smile.
“No,” Harry said, laughing quietly.
Harry was relieved upon hearing their reactions to him dating Luna. He knew that they each had had their reservations about the girl and her oddities since they had first met her; even Harry had to admit that he had had a few. But during the last few months, Luna had become an integral member of their circle, and when Harry hadn’t been paying attention, she had won over his two best friends.
As if on cue, the door to the Room of Requirement opened and Luna entered with a smile, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder.
“Evening, everyone,” she said as she joined them on the floor.
“Hey, Luna,” Harry replied as Ron and Hermione offered their own hellos, Hermione finally closing her book. Once everyone was settled, Harry spoke again. “Okay, so for tonight I was thinking we could--”
Hermione raised her hand.
Ron rolled his eyes at her. “We’re not in class, Hermione.”
“Yes, I know,” she shot back in a dignified voice. “I just had a question, and since Harry is in fact in charge of these lessons, I felt it would only be polite.”
Harry smirked. “Go ahead, Hermione.”
“Thank you.” She lowered her hand and cleared her throat. “Harry, have you thought about opening this up to other students? I’m sure the others would be more than thrilled to start having official DA meetings again.”
“No,” Harry replied with a determined shake of his head.
“But, Harry, I really do think these lessons could be an asset to everyone,” she continued adamantly. “To learn how to fight Voldemort when the time does come.”
“I’m not teaching you to fight,” he declared. “I’m teaching you how to defend yourself.”
“Which is one in the same, Harry.”
“The answer’s still no.”
“But--” she began again.
“Hermione,” Ron interrupted quietly, “drop it.”
Hermione glanced at him and then back at Harry, giving up with a quiet sigh.
“Okay,” Harry said as soon as he felt they were all in silent agreement about the end of that discussion. “So I was thinking tonight we started with something different.” He stood and made his way to the bookcase, pulling three similar books from the corner of the middle shelf. He returned to his friends and handed each of them a book.
Ron stared at the cover of the book for a moment before looking back up at Harry, who remained standing, with wide eyes. “Harry, mate, we-- you’re not suggesting we--” He stammered over his words.
“Learn to use Unforgivables?” Harry finished for his red-headed friend. “Yeah, I do.”
“But, Harry,” Hermione said in a quiet voice, “these--these are….” She trailed off.
“I believe the word Hermione is looking for is deadly,” Luna finished with a slight frown.
“That’s the point of them,” Harry replied darkly. He looked at each of his friends. “What sort of curses do you think Death Eaters are going to use on you?”
“You’re not honestly suggesting that we practice these, do you?” Hermione gaped. “Because that’s--”
“Completely mental!” Ron finished.
Harry rolled his eyes in response, more amused than annoyed. “Do you actually think I’d want you lot to practice these on each other?” He sighed before continuing. “We’ve already learned about them once, but we need to learn about them again. This isn’t about the actual curse-casting itself. This is about knowing each curse inside and out and using the right one for the situation presented to you.”
“You’re assigning reading?!” Ron replied with a disgusted face. “Now I *know* you’ve gone mental.”
“You want to be prepared, right? Well, to be prepared, you need to know the curses better than *they* know them.” He frowned deeply. “Believe me, you’d rather be throwing the curse than being on the receiving end of it.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to quiz us, are you?”
“If I have to,” he replied seriously.
“Bloody hell,” Ron muttered under his breath as Hermione decided to speak again.
“Harry, I’m just not sure about this whole Unforgivable thing,” she replied with a frown.
“Which is why I’m making you read up on them,” he replied, not backing down.
Luna, who had begun flipping through her book, looked up finally. “These curses are quite serious, Harry.”
“I know they are, which is why I want you guys prepared.” His eyes turned from hers as he looked at each of his friends. “Look, guys, Death Eaters aren’t going to hit you with Bat-Bogey or Jelly-leg hexes. Their goal is either to kill you or torture you a bit *before* they kill you. In the end? Those three curses are going to be what you need to know.”
Luna, Ron, and Hermione remained silent.
“Okay so if there aren’t any other questions about my lesson plan or my sanity, let’s get reading.”
*********
Two hours and, to Ron’s utter dismay and horror, one quiz later, the Room of Requirement was empty with the exception of Harry and Luna, who stayed behind to help him reshelve books the group had used throughout the night.
“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight,” Harry said as he watched her study the cover of a book before gently placing it back into its spot on the shelf.
“Yes, I suppose I have,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him with a sad smile.
“You alright?” he asked, a wave of concern washing over him.
She nodded and reshelved another book, but then as quickly as she made her affirmative response, she turned to face him. “Actually, no. I’m not.”
Harry studied her with a frown. “What is it?”
“I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to deliver an Unforgivable when the time comes.”
“Luna,” he said, stepping up to her, “you’re a natural when it comes to your wand.”
“That’s not it,” she replied, her lips curling into a frown. “I’m not afraid that I *can’t* cast it. I’m quite afraid that I won’t.”
Harry returned the frown. “You don’t think you have it in you,” he understood.
She simply nodded.
“Luna,” he sighed, placing a hand gently on the side of her face, “I don’t want you to be in the position to ever have to use any of these, but if you are? You have to believe in using it, or it won’t work. I know.”
Luna studied him with those silver eyes of hers for a moment before finally speaking. “You’ve used an Unforgivable?”
“I tried,” he replied darkly, his hand slowly dropping from her face. “It didn’t work. I didn’t have it in me either.”
Luna gave a quiet, shocked laugh. “And you honestly believe I’ll be able to if you couldn’t? Harry, you’re an extraordinary wizard beyond your years. My skills are nothing compared to yours.”
“But I know you can do it. You just have to be in the proper mindset.”
Luna frowned again. “And how do I do that?”
Harry thought about that for a moment before giving her a tentative nod. “Tomorrow, we’ll try something,” he said.
She blinked at him. “I thought we weren’t meeting tomorrow.”
“We’re not. This is a private lesson.”
“A private lesson for what?” she asked, obviously a bit confused.
Harry took her by the hand and led her out of the room. “I’ll show you tomorrow,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile.
**********
Luna was patiently waiting in the Room of Requirement the next evening when Harry entered, carrying in his arms what seemed to be a package covered by a cloth. She watched him curiously as he placed the covered object on top of the lone desk in the room.
“May I ask what that is?” she asked, reaching a hand out to lift the cloth and peek underneath.
His seeker skills kicking into gear, he reached out and took a quick yet gentle hold of her wrist. “This is today’s lesson,” he replied.
“Harry,” she frowned, “I’m very confused.”
He released her wrist, placing his hands on the object on the desk. “You’re afraid that you won’t be able to cast an Unforgivable cause it requires a certain amount of darkness. So I want you to practice.”
Her frown only deepened. “Harry, I don’t think it’s wise for me to be practicing Unforgivables on you.”
“You’re not practicing on me,” he stated simply.
She blinked at him in response.
Harry pulled the cloth off the item, revealing underneath a small cage. Inside, a plump gray mouse scampered from corner to corner, its whiskers twitching nervously, as if it had a slight idea of what was to come. Luna knelt slowly until her eyes were level with the mouse inside the metal cage. She watched it pace back and forth before throwing a cautious glance up at Harry.
“Where did you get him?”
“I didn’t. Dobby did. Saved him from becoming a meal for Mrs. Norris,” he replied. “Believe me, this is the better of the two for this fellow.”
Luna’s gaze focused back on the mouse. “I can’t curse a mouse, Harry,” she said in a slightly disgusted voice.
Harry knelt down to her level, his gaze trained on the mouse as well. “You need to practice, Luna. Better a mouse than you.”
She glanced over at him. “But he’s defenseless!” she replied. “That seems very unfair.”
“War’s not fair,” he replied simply, his eyes still on the mouse. When Luna didn’t reply, he turned his gaze to her finally. She stared at him incredulously. “What? Would you prefer he had a wand?”
“Harry, this is not a joke,” she replied in a stern tone. “I can’t do this.” With that, she stood and began to make her way to the door.
“Luna!” Harry called out, stunned.
She stopped and turned back to him. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I can’t curse a poor creature just to make sure I’m properly trained. It’s cruel and pointless.” She pursed her lips angrily. “And I am quite stunned that you would even suggest such a thing to begin with.”
“Luna,” he said quietly as he stepped up to her, “I just-- I just wanted you to be able to practice, and I didn’t know how else to go about it.”
“Well,” she replied, folding her arms, “if my practice requires poor defenseless mice then I’d prefer *not* to practice if that’s perfectly alright with you.”
“Luna, you *need* to practice. You can’t be uncertain about these things. When you give the curse, you have to mean it.”
Luna shook her head. “I know, Harry, but I can’t do it this way. Not to that poor mouse.”
“Then use me,” he said after a moment.
Luna shook her head fiercely. “No!”
“Look, don’t worry about me. I’ll be able to handle it.”
“Harry,” she replied, shocked that they were even having this conversation. “I am *not* using an Unforgivable on you. I quite honestly refuse to do such a thing.”
“Luna,” he frowned, “I need to know you’ll be able to do it when the time comes.”
She shook her head fiercely again, her long hair flying about.
“Luna--”
“No!” she protested again, her voice cracking as she was on the verge of frustrated tears. “Why does it matter so much that I practice, that you’re sure?! You didn’t ask Hermione or Ronald to curse mice or you, for that matter!”
“Because they’re not who I’m afraid to lose!” he yelled back.
In that moment, all the yelling in the room came to a standstill. The only sound came from the mouse who continued to pace his cage, searching for some sort of exit.
When Luna spoke this time, her voice had returned to a more normal, Luna level of volume. “What?” she asked quietly.
Harry shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “I’m afraid of losing all of you. Afraid that all of you will get hurt or killed. But--” He shifted his weight again on his feet. “But I wouldn’t be able to handle losing you.”
Luna stared silently at him for what felt like an eternity. When she finally found her voice, all she could utter was a stunned, “Oh.”
Harry nodded slowly before turning and heading back towards the desk. “You’re right actually,” he said as he draped the cloth back over the mouse’s cage. “This isn’t a good idea. A stupid one, really.”
“No, Harry, it’s not,” Luna replied, making her way over to him. “It’s a good idea, but it’s just not you.”
Harry chuckled bitterly, running his fingers over the cloth and not meeting Luna’s eyes. “Being me isn’t exactly working to my benefit here.” He looked up at her. “If I don’t start doing things like they do, I’ll find myself standing at a few more funerals. The Harry Potter way of doing things is going to get everyone I know killed.”
Luna frowned, tilting her head at him. “The Harry Potter way of doing things is the main thing that keeps you from becoming him. It hasn’t gotten any of us killed, if anything, it’s kept us all alive this long.”
“Except Ginny,” he mumbled, dropping his gaze from hers.
“Ginny died a fighter because of you.”
Harry remained silent in response.
“Now, I won’t be practicing my Unforgivables on anyone or anything,” Luna began, and Harry finally looked up, “but I can promise you that when the time comes, I will put everything I have behind my words.” She shrugged her shoulders gently. “That will just have to be enough for you.”
Harry watched her for a moment before nodding. He gathered up the covered cage with a quiet sigh. “I better go release him somewhere Mrs. Norris can’t find him.”
“Perhaps Dobby would like a pet?” Luna suggested.
Harry smiled, the image of Dobby attempting to take care of a pet mouse entering his mind. “Perhaps.” He shifted the weight of the cage in his hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Luna.”
She nodded and smiled warmly at him before leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. She pulled away, her lips still forming that familiar smile. “Thank you by the way.”
He blinked at her, confused. “For what?”
“For caring.” With that, she gently tapped the cage in his hands and waved goodbye. “Night, Harry.”
“Night,” he smiled as he watched her walk out of the room, adjusting her wand behind her ear as she strolled away.
**********
“Have you thought about it anymore, Harry?”
“Hermione, will you leave him alone about it?”
Harry sighed at his friends as they made their way into the Great Hall for dinner. It had been two weeks since they had started their special training, and though Harry had to admit that they had all been catching on far better than he had expected, he still found himself hesitant to extend the invitation to other students. He had only agreed to train Ron, Hermione, and Luna because they were the closest to him; they were the weakness that Voldemort would not hesitate to use against him. Training them was a necessary evil. An evil that he didn’t want to inflict on the rest of the school.
“The answer’s still no, Hermione,” Harry finally replied as they all took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
“Honestly, Harry, what harm could come from it?” she said quietly from her seat across him, trying not to draw attention to their conversation.
“You keep it up, and he’s gonna quiz us again,” Ron warned her as he piled food onto his plate.
Hermione ignored him. “Really, Harry, we’ve done it once before.”
“This time is different,” he replied simply
Hermione frowned and gave up for the moment, deciding to fill her plate before Ron ate everything she wanted. Harry held in a sigh of relief that he was able to get her to drop the subject, if only for an hour while they ate in the Great Hall. He listened to Ron and Hermione bicker over the importance of Quidditch practice versus the importance of a Potions essay due the same afternoon, but he would never find out who would be the victor of the debate as a distinct screech filled the air.
The large eagle owl seemed to come from nowhere as it swooped down into the Great Hall, gliding just above the Gryffindor table. The bird circled once before making its final descent, landing gracefully amongst the plates and goblets. The students watched as it hopped its way over to Harry and then proceeded to thrust out its leg. Harry glanced at the bird and then to the message attached to its leg, reaching out with a reluctant hand to remove the rolled up piece of parchment. Once untied, the eagle owl spread its wings and with a hard beat of his wings took off, disappearing into the night.
“What is it, Harry?” Hermione asked as he unrolled the note and began to read.
“Harry?” Ron asked when he didn’t respond.
Harry looked up at them, folding the letter and slipping it inside his robes. “It’s nothing,” he said, his face expressionless.
Hermione gave him a cautious look. “Harry….”
With that, Harry quickly stood. “I’m going back to the common room,” he insisted before making his way from the table and out of the Great Hall.
Ron turned to Hermione with a frown. “What do you think it was?”
Hermione‘s gaze was fixed towards the doorway through which Harry had made his abrupt exit. “It could be another message.”
“But the first one came by raven.”
Hermione finally tore her eyes from the door to respond as Luna made her way over to the table to join them. “What’s going on?” the blonde asked simply.
“That’s a good question,” Hermione frowned.
“And Harry?”
“He went to the common room,” Ron replied.
Luna frowned at that and shared a look across the table with Hermione. As if reading her mind, Hermione stood. “We should probably go make sure of that.”
**********
Harry ran through the halls as fast as he could (ignoring the yells from portraits to slow down and Peeves and his taunts of “Potter Potter, you have to Potty?”). He panted the password to the Fat Lady, who gave him a concerned look, before allowing him inside the tower.
Harry dashed through the common room and up the stairs to his room. He needed to act fast before the others came looking for him which he knew that they would. He pulled the note from inside robes, opening it, and glaring down at it.
Forbidden Forest.
Two simple words scrawled in the familiar black handwriting he had come to loathe.
This was it.
Slipping the note back inside his robes, he quickly pulled open his trunk. He rummaged through his belongings for a moment before pulling out his Marauder’s Map. He debated for a moment before hastily slipping out of his school robes and tossing them onto his bed. The less he carried on him, the better. His wand slipped into his pocket, Harry made his way quickly out of the room and tower.
**********
Ron, Hermione, and Luna quickly made their way to the Gryffindor tower; none of them aware that they had just missed Harry and his exit.
“I’ll check and see if he’s upstairs,” Ron said as the three of them stood in an empty, Harryless common room.
“It had to be Voldemort,” Hermione mused aloud as she and Luna stood alone in the common room. “Who else would send him a note in the middle of the night?”
“If it was Voldemort, which I’m very sure it probably was,” Luna replied with a frown, “then you realize Harry is more than likely gone.”
“Hogsmeade, you think?”
Luna shook her head. “I’m sure after Ginny’s death, he wouldn’t stay. People would be looking for him there. Perhaps we should speak with the Headmaster?”
“And in the meantime, Merlin only knows where Harry has gone off to….”
“I do,” Ron said as he returned from the boys’ dormitories. He held up the slip of paper he had found in Harry’s discarded robes. “He’s going into the forest.”
Hermione blinked at him. “The Forbidden Forest? Are you sure?” She snatched the note from his hands to see for herself. She looked up with wide eyes. “He’s going to get himself killed.”
“No, he won’t,” Luna stated matter-a-factly.
Hermione and Ron both gave her an incredulous look.
“Because we’re going to help him,” she continued and started out of the common room, Hermione and Ron hesitating for only a moment before quickly following after her.
**********
Hermione didn’t fear many things.
Failing marks on her assignments, giants that referred to her as Hermy, flying. But there was something about the forbidden forest, something that made her flesh crawl, leaving trails of goosebumps up her arms. And as she stood flanked on each side by Ron and Luna, she felt that familiar fear in the pit of her stomach.
“We stick together,” Ron said, his voice wavering a bit, much like the butterflies that flittered about in Hermione’s stomach.
“If we get separated, send up a red sparks with your wand,” she instructed.
“I don’t know if that’s really a good idea, Hermione,” Luna spoke up. Hermione turned to the girl with a bewildered look, and the blonde continued before Hermione could even form a proper protest. “We don’t know who, or what for that matter, is in the forest. For all we know, a signal of that sort could alert others to where we are.”
“I never thought I’d say this,” Ron replied, “but Luna has a point.”
“Well, do either of you have any other suggestions?”
Neither Ron nor Luna replied.
“Then the plan stands as is,” she replied. “If you get lost, send up sparks.” She swallowed hard as her gaze turned back to the dark line of trees in front of them.
“Then come on,” Ron ordered, a firm grasp on his wand, “we have to find Harry.”
Hermione shared a glance with Luna, who looked as calm and collected as she ever did, before they both started after Ron.
**********
The three followed the trail until there was no trail to follow, three separate wands lighting their way through the darkness. Ron stopped suddenly, forcing Hermione and Luna to collide into him with “oomphs”. He turned to them with a sheepish look. “Sorry,” he said in a hushed tone.
“Why did you stop?” Hermione asked in her own quiet voice.
“This forest is huge,” Ron replied as if the realization had just hit him. “Where do we even begin?”
“A clearing,” Luna stated. “Voldemort wouldn’t challenge Harry somewhere like this.” She motioned to the trees that surrounded them. “Too many obstacles.”
Hermione nodded in agreement. “We’ll head towards a clearing.”
Ron frowned a bit, spreading his arms out. “Which is in what direction exactly?”
Hermione pointed her wand over his shoulder, in the direction they had been heading. “Eventually it has to clear out.”
“The forest is no place for children at night.”
The trio froze, each looking at the other, and each wore the same expression of fear, even Luna. They each turned in opposite directions, their shoulders bumping, as they held out their wands, illuminating the darkness around them.
“Come to help, Potter, I take it,” the disembodied voice drawled.
“Where the bloody hell are they?” Ron whispered harshly.
In response, Hermione shushed him, closing her eyes and trying to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. Unfortunately, in the vastness of the forest, it sounded as if the voice completely surrounded them.
“Brave bunch,” the voice continued. “Too bad you won’t live to see another brave adventure.”
Hermione felt a chill slip down her spine as her eyes shot open, and she said the only thing that came to her mind. “Run.”
And they did.
It wasn’t until Hermione looked over her shoulder to make sure the others were close behind that she realized they were, in fact, not. They had all run, but in the dark, they had all taken off in opposite directions.
“Bloody hell!” she panted, allowing herself this one moment to be remotely vulgar.
Her attention still focused over her shoulder, Hermione didn’t notice the figure in front of her until she plowed into them. She lost her balance with a yelp, falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. A groan escaped her lips as the back of her head collided with the solid soil of the forest floor, and for a moment, the stars that peeked through the treetops swirled in front of her eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning, and when she opened them, all she saw was the end of the wand pointed at her.
“Crucio!”
Hermione had never felt a pain so intense in her life. Her body felt as if it were on fire, the pain traveling through every single nerve in her body. She heard screams, and it took a moment for her to realize they were her own. Her eyes squeezed tightly together, she willed for the pain to end, and somewhere in the fogginess of her mind, she wondered if this was what it felt like for Harry. The screams turned to whimpers, and she heard a voice that sounded far-off to her ringing ears. And as soon as she heard the familiar voice, the pain began to subside.
Hermione heard footsteps approaching and could feel someone’s hand gently touch her shoulder.
“Hermione?”
Luna. She recognized that voice, and somewhere in the pain that still coursed through her body, she felt a strong sense of relief.
She opened her eyes, trying to focus on the fuzzy image of the girl leaning over her. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a squeaked attempt at words formed. The fuzzy image of Luna shook her head.
“It’s alright, Hermione. You don’t have to speak. You’re okay now.”
Hermione blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision more, but that only helped to make her feel more lightheaded. As she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, something about the fuzzy images surrounding her shifted. She opened her mouth to try and warn Luna that someone was coming up behind her, but her voice refused to work with her. The last thing Hermione saw before she slipped away was the wand raised in Luna’s direction.
*********
Harry stopped in his tracks.
He thought he had heard screams. Screams with a chilling familiarity to them. But now he was surrounded by silence again, and he was beginning to think that his nerves, combined with the darkness of the forest, was starting to play games with his mind.
“Get a hold of yourself, Harry,” he muttered as he unfolded his map, hoping to get a glance of Voldemort’s location. What he had not expected to see were three familiar names staring back at him from the parchment. Luna and Hermione’s names laid side by side on the map while Ron’s headed in their direction, in what Harry imagined was a fast pace.
The familiarity of the screams he had thought he had heard earlier hit him. Hard.
Suddenly forgetting about his original mission, Harry took off running towards his friends.
*********
Hermione awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright. Her head continued to pound as she glanced down beside her, and the pounding only intensified at the sight. Laying beside her, on her side, her blonde hair fanned across her face, was Luna.
“Luna?”
Hermione turned and knelt in the dirt next to the girl, reaching out and touching Luna’s shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest.
Merlin, don’t let her be dead.
“Luna?”
She gave Luna a gentle shake, pushing the blonde tresses out of the girl’s pale face. Hermione placed shaky fingers against Luna’s cool throat, feeling for a pulse. She held her breath, her lungs burning and screaming for oxygen, until she felt the faint beat of her heart. It wasn’t as strong a pulse as Hermione would have been comfortable with, but it was something.
“Thank Merlin,” she sighed.
Hermione reached for her fallen wand and aimed it at the sky. She knew that it would be risky to send up a signal in a forest apparently full of Death Eaters, but she had no choice. Without Ron, there was no way she was getting Luna out of here, and Hermione wasn’t sure how long the girl could go without medical attention of any sort.
She opened her mouth to utter the spell, but stopped short when Ron came crashing through the trees towards them.
“Ron!” she cried in relief, lowering her wand.
“I heard screams,” he panted as he jogged over to them. “I--” His gaze fell on Luna, an he studied her with wide eyes before turning to Hermione. “Is she…?”
Hermione shook her head, gazing down at Luna and touching her arm. “She’s unconscious. But we need to get her back to school.” She looked up, the fear evident in her eyes. “I don’t know what they used on her. If we don’t get her to Madam Pomfrey….” She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of more footsteps quickly coming in their direction grabbed his attention. Both he and Hermione turned to the noise, wands drawn and ready to curse whoever was coming up on them.
“Guys?”
They heard Harry’s voice before they saw him. He finally emerged from the trees, his map clutched in one hand and his wand in the other.
“Harry!” Ron said, lowering his wand. “Merlin, I thought we were being attacked again.”
“Attacked?” Harry asked.
“Death Eaters,” Ron replied with a nod as Hermione got to her feet.
Hermione made a move to explain what had happened, but by then, Harry had already caught a glimpse of the fallen figure behind her and Ron. He quickly forced himself by them, kneeling down next to Luna, his wand and map falling to the ground beside him. With a tentative hand, he reached out to touch Luna’s face.
“She’s not--she’s unconscious,” Hermione amended with a deep frown. “I was attacked. She came to help me, and she was attacked as well.”
Hermione watched as Harry brushed away a stray strand of hair from Luna’s face with a shaky hand. For a moment, she wondered if he had even heard a word she had said. Then she watched the muscles in his jaw clench, and she knew nothing she said would matter to him.
“He’s going to pay,” Harry said in a darker tone than Hermione had ever heard come from her best friend.
“Harry…” she began, though she wasn’t sure how exactly to finish that thought.
He stood, reaching down for his wand and map, his eyes never leaving Luna’s form. “Tonight it ends.” He looked up at them with a nod. “Go back now. Take her to the hospital wing.”
“What about you, mate?” Ron asked.
“I want you guys gone,” Harry replied as he moved past them, going back the way from which he had come.
“But Harry,” Hermione said to his retreating back, but it was too late by the time she had finished getting his name out. He had already disappeared into the dark, and Hermione wondered if that would be the last time she would ever lay eyes on her friend.