So here is chapter 9!
And to anyone who is interested in time travel, I am beginning a HP time travel story called Conversions in Time. I will be posting the second chapter next week, so check it out! (:
-EmLights
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The Next Great Adventure
"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)
Chapter 9: Enter Luna
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Harry woke up very groggy. His body felt like stone, and he even failed to wiggle his fingers. Thankfully, he was able to open his eyes despite the inability to move the rest of his body. He peered around the room, taking in the white walls and plain bed sheets, and for a minute, he thought he was back in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. But instead of finding Hermione sitting next to his bed with a book in hand and Ron lazing about eating his chocolate frogs, he found himself all alone.
I will forever hate hospitals.
A nurse came in and smiled brightly when she saw he was awake. She looked like a regular civilian except for the callused hands and light scarring on her forearms. It seemed even the healers saw battle at some point, regardless of working in the confines of the hospital.
She shuffled over to check his temperature and his vitals. She had to physically open his mouth to put the thermometer under his tongue, much to his embarrassment. She then took out a rather large needle and for a second, Harry panicked. That was not an ordinary needle. She instead took the syringe and slowly inserted the liquid into a small tube connecting the saline bag to the back of his hand.
"Don't you worry, child, you'll be fine. We have great doctors at this hospital, and they will be sure to figure out what is wrong with you." Harry tried to nod but couldn't, and the nurse gave him a sympathetic look.
"Poor dear," he heard her say as she left the room, presumably to get his doctor.
Harry closed his eyes, trying to gauge the damage of his body. He felt a small stinging sensation entering through the needle in his arm and assumed that was the medicine keeping the pain at bay. He groaned pitifully.
Why is this happening to me?
Whether it was from exhaustion or just the medicine taking effect, Harry slipped back into a dreamless sleep.
What seemed like only moments later, though it could have been hours for all Harry knew, Gai and Genma appeared in the doorway.
"Hari-chan, how are you holding up?"
"Yosh! My rival told me to let you know that he has escorted the one called "Luna" to the T&I building and will be coming over here after."
Luna. Luna Lovegood was his sibling.
He would have broken out into a wide grin if his mouth weren't paralyzed.
Weird wonderful Luna who always found the beauty in life and never let her love of fantastical creatures fade away. Even through the war, she kept such a positive outlook on life and influenced others to follow suit. He remembered her small funeral, burying only a picture and her precious belongings because her body was never found. How poor Neville never got over his feelings for the eccentric Ravenclaw.
She deserved better than that, he thought bitterly. If anyone deserves a second chance, she does.
Then Harry's eyes widened with fear.
What if she tells them something contradictory to my story? Would they do something to hurt her?
Gai misread the fear in Harry's eyes.
"Not to worry! If she is your sister, I am sure she is filled with the same youthful fire as you are, and that will bring her to you soon! If not, I will do one thousand push-ups!"
"So, Harry, is that girl your sister? I know you said you don't remember her, but Kakashi said you recognized her before you passed out." Harry tried to nod but instead grimaced in pain. Genma looked apologetic.
"Sorry, I forgot you couldn't move. Uhh, okay, blink once if she is your sister." Harry blinked once, feeling rather silly communicating that way.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be fine then. And Kakashi is there, and he cares about you, so I know he'll make sure she is all right. And maybe later on she can help you recall your memories." The two sat with him for a while, talking about nonsensical things to keep Harry calm and alleviate his worries. But Harry couldn't help but worry.
Did I do this to myself? By being so desperate to bring my magic back, have I put myself in a paralytic state? What if this is irreversible? What if… what if Kakashi doesn't want me anymore? He could feel the tears forming in his eyes and was unable to brush them away. Genma, who noticed the tears, sat next to the bed and stroked Harry's hair soothingly.
"It's gonna be okay, Hari," he said softly. "I promise, we are going to do everything we can to find out what's wrong and fix it."
They don't know anything about magic. What if this isn't something a ninja can fix? Despite Genma's comforting words, tears continued to cascade down Harry's cheeks.
This is all my fault. I was an idiot for not stopping when my body told me to.
….
….
….What am I going to do now?
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A tall cheerful man with a pepper colored beard came through the door in a long white coat and thick black glasses. Genma and Gai automatically shifted to one side of the bed, leaving the other side accessible to the doctor.
"Well, if it isn't our mysterious little wolf-boy!" he said with a grin. He placed his hands above Harry's torso, and they began to glow green.
"I'm just running a diagnostic right now to see what the problem is. Our first medic couldn't find anything wrong, but I am the head medic in this hospital so I am confident I'll be able to discover what is causing these symptoms."
Harry studied the head medic as he ran his glowing hands slowly across Harry's body, watching his brow slowly crease in confusion.
"Hmm," the medic said finally, and his hands receded back to their normal state. "Well, the good news is there isn't anything wrong physically with your body. Bad news is, I don't know why you are in this paralytic state and in pain." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I think I have an idea. Fugioka!" The nice nurse from earlier hastily entered the room.
"Yes, Yakushi-san?"
"I would like for you to ask Hyuga Ko to spare a few moments to check our patient here." The girl nodded and quickly left.
"Well, Genma, Gai, could either of you explain the types of activities Hari has been doing the past week?"
About thirty minutes later, a young man with black hair and white eyes came strolling into the room. He briefly glanced at Harry before turning his attention to the head medic.
"What can I do for you, Yakushi-san?"
"I'd like for you to look at this child's chakra coils and see if there are any anomalies. He is unfortunately unable to move and in great pain, but we cannot find anything physically wrong with him." The Hyuga looked puzzled but heeded the medic's request. The man stared down at Harry and suddenly had protruding veins extending from his eyes.
After a few moments of scrutinizing Harry's chakra coils, the Hyuga's eyes returned to normal.
"Well, Hyuga-san?"
"I'm not really sure how to describe it," the Hyuga began slowly, "but it seems as though there is a second set of chakra coils settling in. It appears as if it is merging with his main chakra coils, which is likely the cause of his immobility and the pain the child is in."
"A second set? How is that possible?" Genma asked astonishingly.
"I'm not sure. A kekkai-genkai of sorts?" the head medic responded. "Hyuga-san, how long do you think until the two coils will have completed this merger?"
"Give or take a few days, maybe. It's hard to judge the pace of the coils fusing. I will come check on them in a few hours, and then I'll have a better idea of the duration."
After Gai and Genma thanked him profusely, the Hyuga left them, promising to return later in the day.
"Well, this is good news indeed, Hari-chan. And what an interesting discovery! I can't wait to see how this turns out." The head medic looked positively gleeful, making Harry feel uncomfortable.
"Now, we just have to wait."
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A girl, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen years old, sat in the cold metal chair, humming happily in her seat. Kakashi and the Hokage sat on the other side of the window with Ibiki, studying the girl claiming to be Harry's sister. There wasn't much of a resemblance between the two; her long, dirty blonde hair, pale gray eyes and delicate features, compared to Hari's dark hair, bright green eyes, and somewhat more angular face.
"She seems… very comfortable for being in an interrogation room," Kakashi commented. The Hokage nodded in agreement.
"Anko!" Ibiki barked out the door. She appeared instantly.
"Yes, captain?"
"I'd like for you to bring your snake in there and talk to her for a bit. See if this girl has the same snake-speaking ability as Hari. It would narrow down the possibility of them being related."
Anko entered the room with Habu across her shoulders. Luna jumped up excitedly and cried, "Oh, so you must be a friend of Harry's! It's so nice to meet you!" She shook the snake's tail vigorously, completely ignoring Anko, and then sat back down with a bright smile across her face.
"…What?" Anko stared slack jawed at the blonde in front of her in disbelief. Ibiki echoed Anko's sentiments. Yes, the girl spoke to the snake…. But not in the snake-language Hari had spoken but in Japanese.
The girl is not a speaker, Habu stated to his mistress. But she does smell like him. They are from the same foreign place I do not know.
"So, ah, Luna right?"
"Yes, I am her. And she is me."
Anko hesitated at the odd response. "Ah, okay. So you are Hari-chan's sister?"
"Yes, Harry and I are now siblings. He came here to look for me, but I wasn't awake yet. Now I'm awake so he can find me."
"You've been asleep this whole time?"
"Well, the fataes called it the in-between, and I did a lot of dreaming while I was in the place they had taken me. So you could say I've been asleep for a long time." Anko stared at her incredulously.
"Who are the fataes?" Luna tilted her head slightly.
"The fataes are just who they are. They let me come here finally so I could be with Harry again."
"She is telling the truth," Ibiki stated, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not sure exactly what it is that she is saying, but it is the truth.
"Poor child," the Hokage said sadly. "Look underneath the underneath. It seems as if these "fataes" were her kidnappers and kept her confined for a long time. That must be why she was separated from her brother. It might have been some traumatic experience with them that caused our Hari to lose his memories."
Kakashi made a promise to himself to give Hari an extra long hug when he went to see him at the hospital. He never realized that the young boy's life could have been so terrible before his arrival in Konoha.
"These "fataes" must have controlled what this Luna could do for the extent of her captivity. But why would they finally let her go after all this time?"
"That is what I intend to find out," Ibiki stated, getting up from the chair and heading into the interrogation room.
"What does your snake have to say about our guest?" Ibiki stated as soon as he entered the room.
"Habu says even though she isn't a speaker, she smells the same as Harry does."
"Hmm. So girl, why were you released from your captivity, and how long were you there for?"
"They said it was finally time I could join Harry. I'm not sure how long I was there; time flows differently than it does here." Luna flashed a huge smile. "I'm just glad I'm able to finally be Harry's sister."
"Do you mean any harm toward our village or the Hokage?"
"Of course not. You took Harry in when he was vulnerable and alone and have cared for him this whole time." Luna bowed her head. "Because of this, I have nothing but love for the Hidden Leaf Village. And because the Hokage reminds me of Headmaster Dumbledore." Ibiki wasn't sure what a Dumbledore was, but the girl's sincerity was apparent. She was no threat to the village or their leader.
She seems harmless, Ibiki thought, rubbing his chin. But just like her brother, I'll be watching her.
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Harry woke up to Luna sitting attentively at his bedside.
"Luna!" he cried excitedly, and then gasped. He was able to speak again! He tried to move his left arm, and it slowly responded to him. His fingers and toes felt like they were on pins and needles, but he grinned regardless. He was going to be able to move again.
"Well, Harry, it's good to finally see you again. Seems the nargles have been here to keep you company." The twinkle in her eyes warmed Harry to the core. She looked exactly the same, her blonde hair filled with wild waves down her back and piercing blue-gray eyes. She only needed her radish earrings and butterbeer necklace to complete her look from her Hogwarts days. Finally a piece of his old life was here right in front of him, and he couldn't be happier.
"Why do you look the same and not like a little kid?" Harry asked with a hint of jealously.
"Well, the fataes said it was because I died. So I stayed exactly the same, unlike you, who came here alive and went through the side effects." Harry wished for a moment that he had died before coming here, and then realized he wouldn't be with Kakashi if that had happened. And he probably wouldn't have been trusted to enter into Konoha in the first place, so saw the benefits of his younger body. He breathed deeply and finally decided to get some answers about his physical state.
"Why haven't I been able to use my magic except for my animagus form?" Harry blurted out, voicing his ever-growing fear that had started as soon as he arrived in this world. "I've been learning how to use chakra, but it's not the same as magic. If I can't perform any spells…."
"Perhaps you couldn't perform any spells, because magic doesn't exist here. Only Cha-kr-a." She said the word slowly, as if she wasn't sure of the accuracy of her pronunciation. "All of this was explained to me, but it's all very confusing so I'll try my best to answer it."
She hummed for a moment, tilting her head slightly.
"That's probably why it caused you pain when you attempted to bring it outside your body. When you tried to bring your magic outside your body, it came in contact with the chakra in the air." She waved her hand, gesturing the air around them. Harry stared at her, still confused, so Luna attempted to explain more clearly.
"Apparently there is chakra everywhere. In the air, the plants, the people. I was told Chakra and magic are not supposed to mix, so when you tried to put magic into chakra-filled air, it must have backfired and caused you pain. You have both chakra and magic now, but they were separate.
"Maybe using magic inside your body for your animagus was okay, because it didn't come in contact with any chakra in the air?" She shrugged a shoulder.
"The fataes said your chakra and magic would merge eventually, but because you have been learning chakra while attempting magic, it must have caused it to happen more suddenly."
Harry instantly felt ashamed. He should have known to stop attempting the lumos charm. His nineteen-year-old self saw the stupidity in his actions; however, the five-year-old part of Harry wanted to be able to complete a spell so badly that he forgot to think. The outcome was ending up temporarily immobile and stuck in a hospital bed.
"So, I'm never going to be able to use magic again?"
"Of course you will be able to, Harry. Didn't you forget? You have a bloodline limit."
"My bloodline limit was never explained to me!" Harry winced. He hadn't meant to yell. It wasn't Luna's fault the Fates were so tightlipped about everything.
"Oh… well I guess that does answer why you've been worried about this then." She paused, and then gave Harry a warm smile. "Sorry, it took me so long to get here and explain things. It took a very long time for me to wake up from all those dreams. They were very interesting dreams though." She seemed to daze off for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Harry cleared his throat softly to catch her attention.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Your bloodline limit, our bloodline limit, causes your magic and chakra to merge together. This is why you haven't been able to move. It takes a while for the two coils to merge, though in my unique case, mine merged instantly. I guess that's one good thing about dying."
"So, you'll help teach me how to use the bloodline once I can move again?"
"Of course," she replied softly, patting Harry on the hand delicately. "As long as you teach me how to become an animagus."
"Of course I will, Luna. But why do you want to become an animagus all of a sudden?"
"Well, it seems the Hokage thinks that transforming into an animal is an attribute of our family so it only seems appropriate if I learn. And anyways, I've always wanted to be able to fly."
"… But what if your animagus form isn't an animal that flies?"
Luna gave him a small smile before stating, "I've already died so aren't I supposed to have wings?"
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End chapter 9
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Yay, I'm so happy to have completed this chapter! It was difficult. Please write any feedback you have, good or bad. It definitely helps me grow as a writer and see how the readers feel about certain aspects of the story.
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ATTENTION! Everyone, please check out my brand new story, Conversions in Time. It's a Harry Potter time travel story, so if you enjoy those, you should definitely give it a look. I have the first chapter posted, and the next one will be in the next week.
Thanks so much for sticking with my story!
-EmLights
