Harry raised his hand to the door, hesitated--and then knocked, quickly, so he wouldn't have time to change his mind. The door's upper panel slid open to reveal Luna, who waved at him from behind the glass.
"Hello, Harry! It's quite nice to see you, unless you're not actually Harry, in which case it's not nice to see you at all. And also I'd have to attack you, which would be rather unpleasant on both our parts, really, so can you prove that you really are Harry?"
He grinned and, wordlessly, pushed a ring through the circular imprint on the door, which promptly absorbed and spat it out on the other side.
"Oh, dear, I have mahogany finish on my shirt now. Let's see...well, you seem to be Harry. I suppose you could have stolen the ring from him, but you'd have to kill him to do that, and if you had, you'd probably have more interesting things to do than attack the Quibbler's offices, so you really must be him." She smiled. "In that case, it's nice to see you, Harry--oh, I already said that, didn't I? Come in." She opened the door.
"Hi, Luna. Er...do you still have a spare room?"
"I always keep one or two spares, but you don't have to ask, you know. You'll always be welcome here."
"Thanks." He looked around. "This place is...different."
"We've cleaned out some rooms since the last time you were here--it was right after the last attack, you know, so things were rather disorganized--and moved in most of the remaining staff. We can't afford to lose people, not when we're doing such an important job." Since the war had started in full force, and especially since Luna's ascension to chief editor, the Quibbler had become one of the wizarding world's most important sources of news--and a means of communication for the Order, as well. Between the Snorcack exposés and conspiracy theories still included lurked a whole lot of coded information, if you knew where to look.
"But you still go out," he pointed out. "And aren't you the most important person in this outfit?"
"Well, I have to, you know. Someone has to go out and find out what's happening, and it might as well be me, don't you think?"
"Luna, you could die out there."
"So could you," she pointed out. "And you don't seem to mind. We all have our jobs in this war."
"You shouldn't. None of you should have to--"
"It isn't just your war, you know, Harry. Anyway," she said softly, "truth isn't a bad thing to die for, is it? My father died for truth, you know."
Harry swallowed. "Luna--"
"I think we've passed the empty room." She paused, turning around to check. "Yes, we have, isn't that funny? I suppose we were talking and didn't really pay attention?--oh, wait, here it is. I'll see you later, Harry."
---
"Hello again, Harry. I don't suppose you want to come down and eat with the others, so I brought this up for you."
Harry turned abruptly at the sound of her voice. "Thanks. Luna--you didn't need to do that. I could have gone down myself."
"Yes, I suppose you'd like that better, wouldn't you? That way you wouldn't even have to talk to me," she said sadly.
"What do you..."
"Well, you don't seem to like being around other people, do you? Even your friends. We're all worried about you, you know."
"I--"
"And I suppose you didn't go to the Burrow because you didn't want to see Ginny? I don't mind you coming here, of course, but you should talk to her. And Ronald and Hermione too. They miss you, you know."
Harry swallowed. "I--I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, okay?"
"But there are different kinds of hurt, don't you think?" Luna replied absentmindedly. "Goodnight, Harry. I hope you find the answers you're looking for."
He stared after her for a long while, unable to dislodge the lump in his throat.
---
Somehow (he pushed down the voice in his head that was trying to tell him exactly why) he'd ended up at her door. As he examined the gold plating reading Luna Lovegood, Chief Editor,he began to feel oddly like a petulant schoolboy.
He knocked anyway. "Luna?"
Somehow, what bothered him the most was the look of surprise on her face. "Hello, Harry. Did you need something?"
"Yes--no--I'm not sure, actually. I--I wanted to talk to you."
She smiled. "You already are, aren't you?"
"I--" and the words all tumbled out at once-- "am I really being so--do you really miss me?" His voice cracked slightly at that last part.
"We do. Are you really so surprised?"
"Well, I didn't think--I don't know, that you'd--care so much?"
"I understand. We tend not to think much about other people when we have a lot of problems ourselves, don't you think?"
He looked down. "Do you really think I'm--"
"Good intentions can so often get lost in the chaos of war," she mused, as if she had not heard him at all. "Oh, sorry, Harry, I wasn't quite listening. I tend to drift off sometimes, you know."
"I'm sorry, then. And--thank you."
"You don't need to thank me. I haven't done anything for you that any friend wouldn't do."
"No. That's--that's why I want to thank you. For being a friend."
She looked at him as if she understood, a little. "You're quite welcome, Harry."
"I just wish--"
"You can tell everyone else when you get back."
He forced a smile. "I--right. Goodnight, Luna."
Luna paused, then smiled. "Goodnight, Harry."
---
Luna carefully peeked in the bedroom. As she'd suspected, he'd left without saying a word. It was as though their conversation had never happened. How strange.
She walked in. The room was spotless; Harry had evidently cleaned up after himself. The only signs that it had been slept in were the suitcase and a note on top, written with a harried hand.
Dear Luna,
I feel kind of bad about leaving without saying goodbye, but knowing you, you'd try to stop me. Don't get me wrong, I still remember what you said earlier, but this is an opportunity I just can't pass up--and I can't let anyone come with me.
To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I'll make it. If I don't, I want you to know that it's over. By the time you know, Voldemort will be effectively mortal again. The stuff about that is hidden under Psychology of the Socially Repressed--I trust you know how to break the spells on it. Ron and Hermione will know more.
Lastly, I'm sorry. And that isn't a lie, I mean it. I never thought I was having such a huge impact on the people around me, and I'm sorry to worry all of you. This is just something that has to be done. And I can't let anyone else do it.
Harry James Potter
PS: I'm glad I had the chance to talk with you. Even if I don't come back, I wouldn't regret coming here.
Luna smiled sadly. It really was as though their conversation had never happened.
FIN