"Don't do it!" Harry cried. "No, Luna, don't do it… DAMNIT LUNA!" Luna grinned like the Cheshire cat, then disappeared.
"Fuck." Harry hissed. "Not again."
"Language." Hermione muttered, tapping away at TEMP, the Temporal Equipment and Materials Program on their magically modified laptops. "Aha! It's just space-time coordinates I'm afraid, so you're jumping blind." She slid the temport toward him. He eyed it warily.
"Last time I jumped into my parent's school years!" Harry whined, but picked the device up anyway. Hermione gazed at it wistfully.
"I wish I could come with you." She said. Only two people had been authorised to use the temports. Harry, because he was the Boy Who Lived, and Luna because she was the one who had invented the damn devices. Hermione was rather jealous.
"Hmm." Harry replied, unsure if he even wanted to be going in the first place. But, just like last time, Luna had jumped with a one way temport, and so now he had to go and rescue her, just like she knew he would. He double checked the contents of the moleskin bag that he kept around his neck; money, invisibility cloak, various potions and other equipment necessary for arriving in a potentially hostile environment, then palmed his wand. "I'll be back." He tapped the device to activate it.
Immediately he felt the familiar tug of a portkey, combined with the crushing pressure of apparition, and he span wildly through the time vortex, purple and blue clouds whipping around him, lightning crackling as he passed through. He arrived with a stagger, (he still hadn't mastered wizarding transportation) and began cataloguing his surroundings. They were in a manor house, judging by the opulent décor. He immediately covered himself in his cloak. They'd probably already triggered several wards.
"Luna!" He hissed, but she was nowhere to be seen. He tapped his communicator, activating the dormant tracking spell only the Head Auror had access to, and set off down a corridor toward where Luna's communicator was, and hopefully Luna was as well.
"And who might you be?" Asked a seductively calm voice. Harry froze.
"No one of importance." He heard Luna replied airily, and Harry released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He crept around the next corner.
Luna stood with a faint smile upon her face, inspecting whom Harry presumed to be the Lord of the manor they'd broken into. He was tall and slender, with piercing blue eyes framed by golden curls. For some reason Harry recognised him, although he couldn't put a face to the name.
"Is that so?" The man said, vaguely amused, but he held his wand loosely by his side. "However, you managed to enter my house without breaking my wards, only to be caught by simple proximity alert… and you brought a friend. Care to tell me how that happened?"
"Time travel, of course." Luna replied. Harry shuffled closer, preparing to grab her and activate the temport when the man's gaze narrowed, and the wand was pointed straight at him.
"I know you're there." The man said, his easy amusement gone as quick as lightning. "Reveal yourself." Harry grimaced and pulled off the cloak, folding it away into his pouch. The man's gaze fell onto it, and a greedy look appeared in his eyes.
"What is that?" He whispered in a reverent voice, and Harry, all of a sudden, recognised the wand that was pointed between his eyes. It went by many names.
The Deathstick. The Unbeatable Wand. The Wand of Destiny. The Elder Wand.
He tore his gaze away from it and met those blazing blue eyes. Understanding dawned in them, and Harry acted without a thought. A pulse of magic blasted the man away from him, catching him by surprise. It was a temporary advantage. Harry threw himself at Luna, wrapping an arm around her, and bring the temport into contact with the skin on her chest with his other hand. Spell fire flashed toward them, and Harry activated the temport with another pulse of magic not a moment too soon. They collapsed into the lab where Hermione was waiting.
"THAT WAS GELLERT FUCKING GRINDELWALD!" Harry shouted. Luna looked unperturbed. "Never again!" He growled.
"What?" Hermione asked. "Luna! Harry! Explain."
"He was quite pretty, wasn't he?" Luna said. Harry threw his hands up in the air, and collapsed onto the sofa.
"Next time, Hermione, you're going after her." Harry said, narrowing his eyes at Luna. She floated over to him, and perched on his lap. Harry grunted, but slid an arm around her waist. She brushed a kiss across his lips.
"You'll be the death of me." Harry complained, burying his face in the crook of her neck. Her warmth helped to remind him that she here, and real.
"Don't be mad Harry. We were quite safe. And it was fun, wasn't it?" Her voice was the same as ever, soft and melodic, a gentle reassurance.
"Fun?" Harry said gruffly, but his voice was devoid of any real anger. As if anyone, let alone him, could stay angry at Luna. "If you pull another stunt like that, I'm going to tie you to me and never let you go."
"Never let me go?" Luna pondered. "Do you promise?" She asked, a twinkle in her eye. Harry allowed himself to chuckle.
"Promise." He murmured into the fine strands of her silky hair. Never, not in a million years, for a million galleons, or a million other reasons. Never would he let her go.