Leaving Hogwarts: The After Math

By: Combat Babe(CB)

Disclaimer: I only own the story itself, not the characters, setting, or anything else.

Summary: At the end of his seventh year Harry pursues his true love. After Hogwarts, he finds himself with new friends, a job, and a few unexpected events.

Chapter 1

As the sunlight drifted through the room, a boy of 17 lay on his stomach at the foot of his four-poster bed holding a black velvet box. He gently opened it and peered at the silver ring with an emerald set in the center. He smiled. The sun nearly up, Harry pocketed the box, grabbed his broom, and headed to Ravenclaw Tower. Once before the entrance, he mumbled the password Hermione had given him. He entered the common room, noticing its apearence rather similar to Gryffindor's other than the color. Harry gazed at the dormitory staircases, not sure which one to take. He tried one, and sure enough the stairs became a slide. Mounting his Firebolt, he gently flew up the stairs. At the landing he got off and slid open the door, entering as quietly as possible. As he took in his surroundings, he noticed that there was something oddly different about this dormitory than the boys. Then he figured it out. It was the atmosphere. It was somehow sweeter, richer. He went along the isle looking for it. Then he saw a copy of the magazine he had been looking for. This was it. He went alongside the four-poster and opened the curtain a sliver.

He saw her hair. That beautiful hair. He got beside her bed so that the curtain was around him so only she could see him and he was all she could see when she woke. He then gently kissed the lips of his love of two years, Luna Lovegood.

Okay, at this point I realize that a lot of you people are sitting there with your mouths hanging open. You are probably thinking "LUNA! ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?" Well, no, not really. You see I am going to explain to you through out the story how he could love her of all people. There will be explanations of how he could start dating her in the first place, and how these -um- feelings developed. I will tell you now that you should keep an open mind. VERY open. I will also tell you that this is not the same Luna we left in the fifth book. Well, physically it is, but not in her -uh- aura, I geuss you would say. She is no longer the creepy, nutty, and possibly sychopathic Luna we knew before. An explanation of this comes later. Anywho, back to the story.

The kiss woke her, and she kissed back, then woke to stare into the beautiful green eyes of her precious boyfriend. As they looked into each other's eyes, Harry thought about the task before him, which didn't seem as though it would be so hard after all. Luna then noticed the curtain behind Harry, and remembered where she was.

"Harry, how did you get up here, the stairs have that spell-"

She was cut off by Harry and the second kiss of the morning.

When the kiss was over Harry said "It doesn't matter."

"But Harry," she paused briefly gathering her thoughts, "Why did you come?"

"I-uh-Had to tell you something."

"Like what?"

"Well, I had to say.um." isn't it sweet? Our Harry here is rather nervous. Well, see he had been sort of avoiding her eye and now looks toward her. He sees that she seems very intent on listening and stares into her eyes. He looks at her with great affection as he says these next few words.

" Luna.I love you."

Luna smiles and gives harry the exact same look.

"Oh Harry! I love you too." It wasn't as if they had never said these three little words to each other before, but it was the first time they had really meant it. Before they had always meant it in a playful and flirtatious way, even though they both really felt it in their hearts. Anywayz, after these words they hugged, and then Harry remembered the little black box in his pocket.

"Luna, there's something else, another reason I can up here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. He opened it and gave it to Luna.

"Harry, it's beautiful. Does this mean-are you-"

"Proposing?" She nodded. "Sort of. It's a promise ring. It means that if you accept it, I promise to marry you, when we're ready. It's like proposing to be engaged to get engaged someday, when the time is right." Luna was speechless. After a short silence, Harry said, " So, will you marry me? Someday?"

Luna looked at Harry, with such joy and affection she thought she might burst. "Yes! Of course!" Then they kissed, both so happy they couldn't stand it. Luna then lifted her blanket so harry could lay down with her. He climbed in and she rested her head on his chest. We'll be like this forever now, thought luna.

"Why haven't you ever done this before?"

"What, proposed to you? It's kind of a once-in-a-relationship type thing."

"No, silly! I meant why haven't you ever come up here."

"Oh. Well, I've wanted to for quite some time, but I didn't know if you wanted me to or not. You never asked, and I figured if you didn't want me to it would make you rather uncomfortable for me to ask."

"Hmm. How long have you known?"

"Known what, that I was going to propose or that I love you?"

"Both."

"Well, I knew I liked you time I saw you in the summer before sixth year. I knew I loved you the first time we kissed. I knew I was going to propose last summer. What about you?"

"I knew I fancied you the first time I saw you, in my first year. I never did believe you were behind all that rubbish, by the way. I knew I really liked you a lot in my fourth year. I knew I loved you the first time you kissed me. I had no idea you were going to propose. In fact, I half expected you to dump me."

"I could never dump you."

"Would you be willing to come up here more often?" She asked him.

"I'd do it every day if you asked." He replied.

"Well guess what. Im asking."

Laying there, Harry thought about that time before his sixth year. After being threatened by the Order, the Dursleys treated him very fairly, so he pretty much did what he wanted. Besides, a camera had caught Dudley shoplifting cigarettes so they were pretty distracted anyway. It was rather ironic really, while they became nice to Harry, they became strict to Dudley. Anywho, while abroad, Luna's father met a half-muggle witch and fell in love. It turned out that Luna had come to love as well, in a daughterly way, though not the same way she had loved her own mother. This woman (whose name is Roxanne, by the way) also took an immediate liking to Luna. Well, it was found that the only reason Luna was so un-girlish was because because she didn't have anyone to teach how to be like most girls. Roxanne did this for her. She got her a completely new wardrobe, taught her to do her hair, wear makeup, choose jewelery, choose perfume, and pretty much every thing else possibly needed to make Luna more sophisticated and beautiful. This was done both in muggle way and using magic. Well, she turned out looking more beautiful, in Harry's opinion as well as many other guy's, than even Cho, ((evil!!!!!) who turned a lot of heads.

Grateful to Harry for making all this possible, as well as liking him quite a lot, Luna wanted to invite him. So she showed up at the doorstep of Number 4, Privet Drive, dressed in very stylish muggle clothes and looking very beautiful. The conversation went something like this: "Hello?" said Harry, before he actually saw her.

"Hi Harry!" said Luna. Seeing her, Harry was shocked. He recognized the voice though it sounded-sweeter.

"L-Luna? Is that you?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess I've changed a bit, haven't I."

"I'll say!-I mean, You look great."

"Thanks."

"So-er-would you like to come in?"

"Oh no, I can't stay very long. I just dropped by to ask you something."

"Well, then go on, ask."

"Well, you see, while we were away my father met this witch and well, they fell in love so my father's getting married! And well, he said I could invite someone and, seeing as your responsible for all this, I want to invite you." She handed him an invitation. "Sooo..will you come? Please?" She looked rather anxious.

"Yeah, I'd love to."Harry replied. Then, something rather interesting happened. She temporarily lost control of herself and threw her arms around him. Surprisingly, he hugged back. He found that she smelled wonderful, and that it felt right to hug her this way. In turn she felt as though she could stay like this forever, and felt safe and secure in his arms. However, they both came to their senses and knew they should discontinue the hug, and did so.

"Well-uh-thanks for coming. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see you Luna." Harry then walked inside, realizing that he liked Luna Lovegood.

Reflecting on this, Harry noticed as he always did that Luna smelled spectacular, and that he truly loved her. Then he heard someone stirring.

"Luna are you awake?"

"Yes, Abby."

"Good, 'cause I need to ask you something." Abby then pulled back the curtain. "Oh! Harry! I didn't expect to see you! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just thought I come see the person I love most in the world before breakfast. Speaking of which, I think I'll go down. Luna, should I meet you there?"

"Yes, I wanted to speak to Hermione anyway."

"Alright then, see you in a bit." He kissed her and then departed to the Great Hall. As he sat down Ron asked him where he'd been.

"I had to talk to Luna." He said

"Oh so you finally dumped her. I was wondering when you'd get around to it."Said Ron

"I didn't dump her." Said Harry.

"What?!?! Well you'd better do it soon. We're leaving school in a few weeks. Although you could send her a letter. Or even better, a howler. We've got another Hogsmeade weekend coming, we could stop at the post office- " But Harry cut him off.

"For your Information I don't plan on dumping her at all!" He said coldy.

"Are you mad?" Asked Ron.

"No Ron, I think I'm quite sane." Replied Harry.

"Well you've got to dump her, I mean she's a year younger than you!"

"SO WHAT?" Said Harry, now yelling at him. "I DON'T CARE! I LOVE HER, AND GUESS WHAT, SHE LOVE'S ME BACK. IM NOT BREAKING UP WITH HER. IN FACT I GAVE HER A PROMISE RING- "

"Oh so she said yes?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah" said Harry, still looking at Ron. "Look I'm in love okay? Not that I'd expect you to understand." With that he headed out of the great hall, but met up with Luna outside the door.

"Harry where are you going?"

"I just need some fresh air."

"Did something happen between you and Ron?"

"How did you know?"

"It's called instinct."

"I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay, I'll meet you outside."She gave him a kiss on the cheek and entered the Great Hall. She sat next to Hermione and looked at Ron. "What did you do to him?" She asked.

"Oh he was an idiot as usual. So, let me see how it looks on you!"Luna showed her the ring.

"You had something to do with that didn't you?"

"Well, I helped him with the details, but the idea was his."

"It was really romantic. So, explain why he's not happy, Ron. He left my dormitory in perfect happiness."

"Oh Ron said he should dump you so Harry got mad since he loves you." Hermione answered for him.

"Well nice to know how you feel about me, Ron." Said Luna calmly. "See you later Hermione." She then got up and went after Harry.

"You idiot!" said Hermione, hitting Ron upside the head.

"Ow! What did I do! He's the one who started yelling at me!"

"Ron, when was the last time he yelled at one of us like that?"

"Well, when we were at the Order."

"Exactly! And it was because he felt betrayed and misunderstood. And that's probably how he just felt."

"What-Hermione there's no way he could have felt-"

"Are you sure Ron? You just told him to dump his girlfriend of two years. How would you feel?" Ron answered in silence. "You know Ron, you're really inconsiderate. Didn't you ever think about how much he needs someone to love and to love him back?"

"What?"

"Ron, think about all he's lost. The only family that really loved him. Sirius was his last chance to have that kind of love, and now he's gone. Imagine how it must be for him to finally have someone to love."

"I never thought of it like that."

"Well maybe you should have. Look I don't blame you for misunderstanding, but you really should apologize." With that she turned to leave, but then turned back. Ron noticed tears in her eyes. "Ron, I never told you this, but-I-I-I love you." She went over to him and gave him a kiss, then went running out." OK what do you think. Should I keep writing. Review, Review, Review!