A Hogwarts Surprise

Harry watched as Voldemort's lifeless body slumped to the ground, his dying sneer still etched on his face. Then, it was as though someone had unpaused life- everyone who had gathered to watch that final battle rushed toward him, pounding his back, congratulating him.

Harry broke free from the crowd and started to walk back toward Hogwarts. Amidst the crowd, he could vaguely hear Professor McGonagall encouraging the students to proceed quietly back to the castle- though no one paid much attention to her.

Smiling to himself, for what seemed like the first time in ages, he started to simply walk around the castle. As he neared the front gates, he began to reminisce about all the fun times he had had at Hogwarts: saving Ginny from the basilisk (and destroying the first Horcrux), his many Quidditch matches, the Tri-Wizard Tournament... As he neared the castle, he heard an all-too familiar voice behind him.

"Hem, hem."

Harry turned, dreading who it was he thought had snuck up behind him- and sure enough, he found himself eye-to-eye with the one person he loathed more than anyone else.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," said Dolores Umbridge. "It seems as though Hogwarts is having quite the party in the castle."

"Yeah," replied Harry.

"Well, now. what's the matter?" asked Umbridge. "I thought you'd be happy, now that You-Know-Who is gone."

Harry looked up at the sky. "Voldemort's dead. Why do you still insist on calling him that?"

Umbridge looked shocked, as though, even though Voldemort was dead, she still couldn't believe anyone would dare say his name. She was soon snapped back to reality, though, by Harry's voice.

"I'm leaving now, Professor. Have a pleasant evening."

As Umbridge looked up, Harry was beginning to walk away. "What about your parents, Mr. Potter?" she called out.

Harry stopped and turned to face Umbridge once again. "What did you just say?" he said angrily.

"Well, I merely wondered if you considered what your parents must feel about you defeating V-V-Voldemort. I mean, he killed your parents, and now you've avenged them..."

Harry was about to say something but, turning around, he found that Umbridge had already left. He turned around to walk back to the rear of the castle.

Losing himself in thought once again, he was surprised to find himself back in the castle in what seemed to him to be mere seconds. He passed by the Gryffindor common room and began to make his way to the Great Hall, when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey, Potter!"

Harry turned around once more, this time finding himself facing Draco Malfoy.

"Listen, Draco, I'm not in the mood for-"

"You did awesome tonight, Potter."

Harry stood there, stunned. Before he could speak, Draco continued. "You don't know how badly I feel about agreeing to try and kill Dumbledore... Anyways, you did a great job tonight... you know, against Voldemort. See ya around... Harry."

Draco went down a flight of steps, as Harry turned back and went up the stairs that led to the Gryffindor common room. Bypassing a small group of second-years, he went up to his dorm. He sat down on his bed and, glancing over, saw a purple-and-yellow candy on his pillow. There was a note beside it.

"Fred wanted me to give this to you, Harry, before he... well, you know. He wanted you to use it on ol' Umbridge if you ever saw her again. Great job tonight. Mum says hello. Best wishes, George"

Harry smiled, then got up and went down to the common room, then exited and made his way to the Great Hall. All the way down, he found himself thinking about someone, though (and it pained him to admit it) it wasn't who he ought to have been thinking about.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Harry stepped into the Great Hall. He just stood in the doorway for awhile, staring at everyone- all his friends that he knew so well. There was Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, cracking jokes as usual. There was Ron and Hermione, who were secretly holding hands under the table; Harry silently wished them both the best of luck. There was Neville, and to his surprise, Ginny was beside him, holding his hand and congratulating him on killing Nagini. Just then, Ginny looked up and saw Harry; she turned bright red and started to head towards him, but Harry quickly shook his head, and Ginny went back to Neville's side. Harry's look said it all: "Don't worry, Ginny; I know you'll be much happier with Neville. And that's all I've ever wanted for you, is for you to be truly happy..."

Smiling once again, he turned and headed out of the castle, this time going toward Hagrid's cabin. His mind wandered again, and his thoughts turned again to her; this time, instead of trying to banish them from his mind, he savored them as he would an especially delicious treacle tart. Before he knew it, he was at the cabin. He knocked three times.

"Hagrid? You in there?

Hearing no response, he turned to go back to the castle. Just then, he had a sudden and unexplainable urge to go see the thestrals. So he continued on past the cabin, deep into the woods. He had gone only a few yards when a young thestral came up to meet him. Harry held out his hand and the thestral nuzzled it calmly; he continued to walk, the young one by his side.

Finally, Harry reached the thestral's nest, seeing the winged horses and smiling to himself. Just then, a movement caught his eye. He turned to the side- and there she was, the girl he just could not stop thinking about. He silently walked towards her, not wanting to disturb her. When he was about three feet behind her, he stopped, just looking at her. Just as a tear was beginning to slide down his cheek, she turned around.

"Hello, Luna."

Luna appeared startled at first, but then she smiled and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Hello, Harry," she said.

Harry crossed the remaining distance between himself and Luna. He reached out to pet the thestral, and Luna turned around. Her blush grew more pronounced as she simply stared at Harry.

"I don't think I could have done what you did tonight, Harry,"said Luna suddenly. Harry turned to face her.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well... it took a lot of courage to do that, to kill someone. Especially since that someone was Voldemort." (Harry looked a bit shocked, as this was the first time he had ever heard Luna say Voldemort's name, but he soon smiled and turned away again.) "Me, I'm... a bit of a loner. I don't have nearly as much courage as you do. I don't even have the guts to tell someone that... well, I love them."

Harry faced Luna. "What exactly do you feel about this person?"

Luna turned an even brighter shade of red. "Well, he's been my best friend for the past two years. I've liked him since I met him, and... well, things just went from there..."

Harry took a step to the side and put his arm around Luna's waist. He had a fleeting thought that she would pull away from him, but instead she did the same to him. Harry then looked at Luna and said the words he'd been waiting to say to her for so long.

"Luna... I love you."

Luna spun around and faced him. "Please, Harry, tell me you're not just joking!" In response, Harry wrapped both his arms around her, pulled her closer to him, and kissed her. Luna returned the kiss, and they stood there for what seemed like an eternity before they finally broke apart.

"No," said Harry, "I was completely serious when I said that."

Luna turned her brightest shade of red yet. "Would you like to go up to the feast? I hope they have pudding."

Harry laughed and started to walk up to the castle, when Luna said, "Wait. I need to do something first." Harry turned around and watched as Luna pulled a picture out of her robe. She then set up an altar of stones, placing the picture on top. Then, taking out her wand, she muttered a spell, and the rocks and picture glowed a bright yellow, before returning to their normal colors. Putting her wand away, she turned and walked toward Harry; taking his hand, they began to walk toward the castle.

As they reached the castle, Harry had a thought. He turned to Luna and said, "So, Luna. Just who was that guy you said you were in love with?"

Luna turned and faced Harry. "You couldn't tell? It was you, silly!"

This time, it was Harry's turn to blush. He took her hand again, and they went into the Great Hall. They happened to pick the entrance, though, that everyone was staring at, and when they all saw Harry and Luna together, a collective gasp rang through the Great Hall. Suddenly, a shout rang out.

"You go, Harry!!!"

Turning, Harrry saw Ron on his feet, clapping. Soon, Hermione joined him, then Neville (though he looked a bit put out), then Cho, and pretty soon, the entire Great Hall was cheering for them.

Harry turned to Luna and said, "Shall we?" Luna replied, "Yes," and the pair embraced, then kissed once again. The tumult in the Great Hall grew louder and louder.

It was then that Harry remembered something that Sirius had once told him: "Don't you worry, Harry. Someday, everything will turn out just right." As they broke apart, Harry turned to face the crowd.

"You know," he said, " a friend who was very dear to me once said that everything would work out in the end." He took Luna's hand. "And I'd say it has."

The Great Hall erupted in cheers once more, and Harry and Luna walked toward an available table, both thinking that as long as they had each other, everything would truly turn out all right.