Ch.4
Harry opened his bleary eyes for the second time that morning. His mind didn't catch up for a few seconds, his hangover still a best friend with his brain. But when it all did, Harry tensed, eyes shooting open as he stilled himself again to assess the situation. Moody did always imprint in to his mind to stay vigilant, which Harry had failed last night. Shit, I'm getting rusty, only after four years.
Harry couldn't stop berating himself. After the impromptu party that lasted until 2, everyone left safely. Harry could remember putting very inebriated Luna to her room, who was softly giggling to herself, telling Harry "to give in tomorrow, Har- hick!-ry. Your… sprites… telling me… that- yawn- Fate has put him… together", and other such gibberish. But Harry knew Luna had an uncanny skill to predict things, and maybe he shouldn't have disregarded it last night. For after putting her to bed, Harry, wizard extraordinaire, decided to take a walk in his state. After that, Harry could only remember stumbling into a passing man and saying, "whY are YOu so pretty? I am Going to MaKE …U. MinE." A man, who now clearly thinking, looked a lot like Tom Riddle.
Harry's eyes widen. Oh. WAIT. Merlin's goat and saggly balls. Did I-?! To HIM?! Harry nearly groaned out loud at his stupidity. Well, that was one way to pick up a guy. But Voldemort? Of all people? Harry was such a dunderhead. He could just hear Luna laughing at him or Hermione nagging him as Ron berated him. Harry sighed. He couldn't even differentiate the past and new world sometimes, so why would he even want to go into a relationship?
Harry could feel a laughter bubbling up through his chest. It almost made him seem sane until the sound escaped and made Harry sound maniacal. "Typical." Sometimes Harry's mind did that. Instead of panicking, he slipped into a trance-like calm, only breaking down at the end. Harry idly knew that he was in one now. Should he panic?
He shrugged, casting a wandless locator spell for Riddle. His magic told him that Riddle was far, far away and most importantly, not at home at all. Stretching himself fully, Harry was only glad that Riddle wasn't in the room also and that it was high noon. Riddle must've gone to work or something, Harry thought to himself as he bent down to pick up his clothes.
Now that he was more well rested, Harry felt more like himself. He could assess and react. Looking at his clothes, albeit wrinkly and slightly smelling of sweat and booze, nothing else seemed amiss. His body wasn't aching in that late night of action way and he almost wanted to laugh at his reaction that morning.
"If Riddle thought I'm that simple…" Harry smirked. It wasn't his first round of the awkward morning routine after all. But it certainly beat most, even the time that he ended up in Malfoy Jr.'s bed. Waking up to your other world enemy and having magik-bonded surely put it at the top of the list.
Harry made his merry way to the large bathroom that Riddle had adjacent to the room and whisted in appreciation. It was almost on par with his. Gleaming marble and a clean, white and grandiose tub called invitingly to Harry, for him to forget his troubles for now. Harry looked conflicted for a bit, chewing on his bottom lip in uncertainty, before saying "Screw it", and turned on the warm spray. He could leave his worries for after.
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After having a great and long bath time, Harry got out of his impromptu bath session. A quick Tempus told Harry that it was already 1. "Wow. An hour bath time," Harry said, before shrugging it off again.
He transfigured his old clothes into a decent pair of black jeans and a white button up with a dark blue vest with gold buttons lining it. His hair was a lost cause, so he didn't spend much time on it, just using a simple comb spell he learned in 5th year. It ended up making his wet bed head into a windswept look. Still, his eye bags were prominent and eyes slightly dazed. Nothing a good coffee wouldn't fix though. At least his headache was gone.
Then a owl knocked on a nearby window, pulling Harry out of his musings. It was Selene, Luna's grey owl. Once, Harry wanted to bring Hedwig with him for a split second, but he knew that Hedwig wouldn't survive the travel. Harry couldn't find Hedwig here, but it was for the better Luna said. This Hedwig wasn't the same. Nor would be either.
And now a angry Selene was knocking on the window even more now, for Harry making him waiting.
"Haha, sorry, sorry Selene. I'm coming!" Harry laugher, opening the window.
Selene swooped in and landed on the bed, extending his tied leg. A small parchment was tied to it with a pink ribbon.
"Let's see what Luna has to say, Selene." Harry said, untying the letter.
Unfurling the paper, it read,
"Harry- Did you have fun? Don't forgot to not have TOO much! The gnarys told me that you are with the brownies, who told me that you still haven't left yet. Did you take a bath yet? That good? Don't forget to come home by 6 to prepare the store! And congratulations on getting bonded!
-Luna"
Sometimes Harry didn't know if he wanted to question her, throttle her, get mad at her, or be relieved that she was such a seer. Harry had his suspicions that she really was a seer, but if Luna said she wasn't, she wasn't.
Now that that was out of the way, Harry was still stuck with his problem. Bringing his ringed hand to the late afternoon light, the gold gleamed brightly in contrast to the softer glow of the emerald. He cringed at the implied bonding effects: it meant that Riddle was the dominate in the relationship. Woah Harry thought, his eyes widening again. I'm in a relationship, albeit drunkenly made, with Tom Marvolo Riddle. My past enemy. This world's rising dark political figure. And I'm so not doing this. Harry sighed again, slightly irritated at his ringed state. While Harry simply wouldn't scream in fear at Riddle anymore (because it was so tiring to be scared of a not-Voldie- crazy-Riddle), he still had apprehensions.
"Great. just great."
Harry turned to Apparate away to his house, only to realize that he couldn't.
"Really? No wand and I can't Apparate her?" He threw an imaginary Riddle the bird, before turning and going to leave the house by foot to find a Apparatable location.
What a day and night for Harry.
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"Harry! You're back!" Luna exclaimed, sitting at the dining table, eating a lunch.
Harry's stomach growled in remembrance in hunger. Luna pointed to a covered plate.
"Your lunch."
Harry tiredly sat down, his tranquil calm breaking in the safety of their home. "...Lun...I-" Harry tried starting, his hands gripping the table tightly.
Luna put up a hand to stop Harry, then got up to get the covered plate and placed it before Harry. "Eat before you speak, brother."
Harry pauses in reluctance, only picking up the sandwich when Luna flared at him. The quiet crunch of food filled the silence for a bit until Harry finished his meal, as Luna started at him, sipping her tea slowly as she finished before him.
"Luna, last night..you know already but…" Harry trailed off, unsure to even say what. He himself didn't even know what happened.
Luna put her porcelain cup slowly before reaching for Harry's hand to admire the ring. She couldn't take it off, typical of a bond ring. They could only be removed with betrayal of the worst kind or death.
"Harry. I know a lot of things, but this? I don't know." Luna's voice took on a uncharacteristic somber tone. "It might be because we've traveled through space and dimension and landed here that I just can't read you like other people or most things anymore. But last night, I felt a clarity and knew you would have a turn of fate. It felt familiar, but I wasn't sure what. But...give it a chance, yeah?" Luna ended, her aura turning bright again.
Harry grimaced, pulling a sour face, but nonetheless relented to Luna. "I guess… but, Luna, you don't know who it is. You...It's Riddle." Harry fiddled with the hem of his shirt, his appetite lost as he confessed to Luna.
Luna's eyes widened slightly in shock. "I...can't say that I didn't see that from coming."
"What?" Now it was Harry's turn to gape in shock.
Luna giggled, her mood finally turning back to normal now. "Harry, remember your talk with Old Merlin and Dean in the Mid-Land?"
"You mean Dean a.k.a. Death? Yeah." Harry said, slumping into his seat. He really didn't like Dean.
"Well, I had a nice tea party with Lady Faire while you guys had your boy chat." Luna chirped, sipping her tea again. "She liked to go by Faire instead of Fate."
"What the H-!" Harry exclaimed. "How come you've never told me!"
Luna brushed off the question, instead deciding to continue her response. "She said she was sorry. We were ment to actually go to the past in our word after the ritual. But she, Death, Merlin, and Hestia knew it wouldn't turn out well at all. So now we're here as an apology for having such shitty lives in our past one."
Harry was quiet for a few moments before groaning and letting his head fall on to the table with a thump. "I'm too old for all of this."
Luna hummed in agreement.
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A/N: Oof. School and AP testings are really killing my vibes to write now. I feel like this chap is a mess buttt since I haven't uploaded in a week...here you go?
