Harry and Ginny entered the darkened bestiary cautiously. Wind whipped cold rain into their faces. Ginny illuminated her wand tip, but the glow barely reached ten feet around them. Harry did the same with his wand, but even his added illumination did not pierce the murky darkness. Harry looked down to make sure that he could still see the cords connecting them.
"Harry, can you see the cords?" Ginny asked nervously.
"Yeah, I can see—," he started to say, but stopped as he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. As he watched, two large pulses traveled from the cord in his chest that connected him to Luna, lost somewhere in the bestiary. Harry concentrated, picturing a bank vault surrounding Ginny, and spared her being drained as well.
Harry stood with an effort, gratefully grabbing Ginny's hand.
"The Dementor's with her right now and it's doing something to drain her," Harry said. "I can feel Luna resisting, but she's weak right now."
Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they ran, throwing all caution aside as they traversed the darkened soulscape. Ginny suddenly fell, screaming in agony, her hand ripped from Harry's. Harry saw Ginny's wand flash by him before it went dark and was lost to the murky darkness. Harry's momentum carried him on a few more steps before he could wheel around. He ran back to where Ginny lay on the ground, with her leg bent back at an impossible angle and blood beginning to pool underneath her.
Ginny shrieked in pain, her face contorted with rage as she screamed, "That damned thing put a cinder block in the road!" She gritted her teeth, wiped her eyes and screamed again as Harry lifted the hem of her robes to get a better look at her leg.
Harry flinched back when he saw the white tip of bone sticking through the skin, blood flowing quickly down the leg to join the crimson pool below.
Harry said, "I'm sorry, Ginny," as he pointed his wand at her and said, "Stupefy." He sat down for a moment, gathered his thoughts and calmed himself before pointing his wand at Ginny's leg. "Episkey," he intoned, waving his wand in what he hoped was the correct manner, relying on fuzzy memories from when Tonks fixed his nose on the Hogwarts Express. His shoulders visibly relaxed when he saw the tip of bone retreat beneath the skin and her leg straighten. The wound where the bone had burst through still oozed blood slowly. Harry ripped off the hem of his robes, and bound them around Ginny's leg in a makeshift bandage before he awakened her with an Awakening charm.
Ginny groaned groggily and looked at Harry in confusion. "Why did you stun me?" she asked.
Harry answered, "I knew it would be painful when I tried to mend your leg and I wanted to spare you the pain."
Harry stood, offered his hand to Ginny and helped her stand. Ginny gingerly took a few steps, cursing under her breath at the pain.
Harry pointed his wand in the direction that Ginny's wand had whipped passed him and said, "Accio wand." Ginny's wand flew into his hand. Harry handed Ginny her wand, which she took gratefully. Ginny relit her wand, took Harry's hand again, and together they made their way more cautiously down the path.
The wind whipped up suddenly, sending leaves twirling off the trees onto the path, almost completely obscuring it. Harry paused, checked the cord connecting him to Luna again, and he and Ginny set off again down the leaf strewn path. Suddenly, Ginny shouted, "Stop, Harry!"
Harry stopped in his tracks, and looked at Ginny curiously.
"Look at the leaves on the path, Harry," she said.
Harry took a closer look at the leaves covering the path and noticed what Ginny had seen: The leaves were all aligned one direction, and there seemed to be something binding them together. Harry pushed Ginny back a few steps, then stepped back himself, before blasting the leaves with his wand, "Reducto." The leaves exploded into the air, revealing a thirty foot pit with a growling, tiger-like monster in it. Harry looked at the strange beast and shook his head, wondering at Luna's imagination. The beast had a tiger's body, six monitor lizard-like legs, and large tusks that jutted out from behind its eyes. As he leaned over the edge, the beast hunched up and leapt at him, swiping with a taloned foot, just barely missing Harry's head. Harry lurched back from the pit, now unsure if the beast could leap out.
He grabbed Ginny's hand again and they skirted the pit cautiously, listening to the fierce growling. When they reached the other side of the pit, the house that Luna shared with her father arose suddenly from the mist. Harry looked and saw the cord that connected him to Luna went into the building through its open front door. Harry and Luna approached the rook-shaped building cautiously, wands out and ready. As they approached, Harry noticed that the gardens were well-tended and flourishing, and that the tower was scrupulously clean and neat.
They entered the tower through its open door and immediately the smell of sandalwood incense mixed with patchouli assaulted their noses. As they entered the kitchen, the door slammed behind them, and a scene from Luna's memory began to come into focus. The kitchen looked different than Harry remembered it, and it took him a moment to realise the difference: The bright, primary coloured nature paintings that had adorned all of the surfaces in the kitchen weren't there. Harry assumed that they had gone deep into Luna's childhood memories, to a time before the paintings existed.
Harry and Ginny watched, fascinated as the scene suddenly snapped into focus. The cord that connected him to Luna terminated just short of a beautiful, honey-blond woman of indeterminate middle-age who sat at the table, quill in hand, tapping it gently on the table. Harry assumed it that the woman was Luna's mother. She seemed deep in thought for a moment. Suddenly, she tossed the quill in the air, flipped it end over end, then she caught the quill out of mid-air and started writing furiously on the parchment spread on the table. Harry moved a little so he could make out some of the words on the parchment. He stared amazed at the beautiful, gracefully looped penmanship.
Harry read: …memories. The Dementors seem able to pluck the happy thoughts directly out of our heads and feed on them in some manner. Why then do the happy memories from a Patronus Charm scare them? Why would they not merely absorb the Patronus and grow stronger? I theorise that the Patronus Charm is too concentrated for the Dementor to absorb. I believe that if the Enveloping Patronus Charm had not been lost when Gren the Younger perished at the hand of Grindelwald that we today would not face the scourge of Dementors guarding our prisons. It is cruel that a society that bans capital punishment would sentence our criminals to a slow, torturous death by Dementor, for death is what it is when your mind is slowly drained of all happiness, all rational thought, and all joy.
I believe that I have found the correct path to redevelop the Enveloping Patronus Charm, and I am preparing to try it in the next few days. If it should go wrong, I want my notes to go to the Department of Mysteries, where they may be able to find where I went wrong. If I succeed, we no longer need fear Dementors, and I would propose that we find some other way to treat our prisoners at Azkaban.
Harry looked at the staircase when he saw a shape coming down the metal stairs. He watched as Luna, aged about eight, walked down the staircase, dressed in pyjamas with cartoon bears on them. Luna walked over to the sink, grabbed a glass from the dish drainer next to the sink, and filled it. She skipped over to her mother, sloshing water over the edge of the glass as she skipped. Her mother looked up from her writing and smiled. She stood, moved quickly over to where Luna stood, drinking from her glass and scooped her up. She hugged Luna tightly to her chest, jumping slightly as Luna spilled water down her back. She kissed Luna wetly on her forehead, put her back on her feet and swatted her bum gently, obviously urging her to go back to bed.
Harry could see Luna's mouth move, but he could not hear anything. He only now noticed the odd, cottony silence that pervaded the scene. As he watched, Luna stamped her feet petulantly and started to cry. Luna's mother picked Luna up again and carried her up the stairs out of sight. As Harry and Ginny started to follow, the scene faded to black and another scene started in the kitchen.
The scene looked much the same as the first: Luna's mother sitting at the table with quill in hand and parchment on the table. Luna's mother finished writing on the parchment, powdered the ink so it would not smear, then folded the parchment and stuffed it in an envelope. Harry moved a little until he could see that the envelope was addressed to, "Xenophilius, my love". She reached under her robes and pulled out a necklace strung with ivory beads and put it over her robes, stroking it gently as she did.
Harry turned as he again as he again caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Luna, again dressed in her bear pyjamas, watching from the staircase. Luna lay draped over one stair, near where it disappeared into the dark ceiling, and watched her mother curiously.
Luna's mother stood and pulled her wand from behind her ear. Harry could see her concentrate as she waved her wand in the pattern used for the Patronus Charm. Harry again saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see Luna fall from her precarious perch on the stair. Luna's mother obviously saw this too, as she stopped her Charm in mid-wand wave and instead pointed her wand at Luna. Bright silvery gas shot from the wand, enveloping her mother's head. She gasped involuntarily, inhaling some of the gas. At the same time, a pillow appeared under Luna's falling form, cushioning her fall. Harry could see Luna giggle as she climbed off of the pillow.
Luna's mother struggled to breathe, but the silvery gas clung to her head and prevented her. Luna noticed her mother struggling and ran to her. She grabbed her mother by the leg and started shaking her. Her mother looked down at Luna helplessly and mouthed, "I love you." She began to turn blue. Harry moved to help, but found that like in a memory in a Pensieve, he had no true form here. Ginny stood horrified as they watched Luna's mother stumble and catch her necklace on a bust of Merlin that stood on the kitchen counter. Finally after what seemed an eternity, she fell, the necklace holding her up for just a moment before it shattered and sent ivory beads flying. Harry noticed that one of them landed in the shrieking Luna's hair.
Harry felt the cord connecting him to Luna pulse again and could feel strength leaving him. He stumbled a bit, leaning on Ginny for support. Ginny called out as Harry put weight on her injured leg and they both fell to the ground in a heap. As they struggled to stand, the scene started over again with Luna's mother writing her treatise.
Harry spoke, "Ginny, I think the Dementor is trying to weaken her by forcing her to relive her most painful memory."
Ginny asked, "But why? I thought that Dementors fed on happy memories, and left their victims with only bad memories."
Harry answered, "I—I think that this Dementor can feed on both happy and bad memories. I think this might be the same Dementor that tried to stop me before I went down to the forest to fight Voldemort. I could feel how much it hated me. I think that whatever Voldemort did to communicate with them and understand them, that whatever he did changed the Dementors."
Ginny spoke again, in a quiet voice, "Harry, we need to stop this cycle of memories, or Luna will be drained, just like Dean, and we'd follow pretty quickly after that."
Harry turned to Ginny, grabbed both of her hands and gave her a gentle kiss before speaking, "Ginny, I'm going to try to replace this memory with a happy one that Luna and I shared. It might hurt you to watch this, but I think it's the best chance for Luna to survive."
Harry sat down, closed his eyes, reached into his robes and grabbed the ivory bead that he knew was there and began to rub it. He opened the connection between him and Luna. He could feel her anger and sadness at the terrible death of her mother. He pushed that to one side and began to form an image in his mind. He pictured Luna as he had seen her just the night before in his dreams. He pushed the image of himself and Luna in Ron's bedroom into the kitchen.
Ginny watched as the scene changed to Ron's bedroom. She saw Harry sleeping in his bed in Ron's room, tossing as if a bad dream chased him. She saw Ron sleeping in his bed, mouth moving silently as he snored. A glimmer of light came from the hallway as Luna snuck into the room, dressed in her school robes. She watched as Luna closed the door and crept into bed next to Harry. Tears flowed gently from her eyes as she watched Harry and Luna share their passion. She closed her eyes, but only left them shut for a brief few seconds before she reopened them, determined to see the truth.
She continued watching as their passion built, and then suddenly they stopped and looked over toward Ron. Ginny turned and watched as Ron turned, flipped over, mouthed something that ended in, "Hermione," and fell back asleep.
She turned her attention back to Harry and Luna. They both clung to each other, laughing gently. Harry turned to look into Luna's eyes and Ginny could see that Harry was lost to her forever. Harry and Luna's passion intensified and they began to disrobe. Ginny resolutely turned her back then, not wanting to see the final act.
Harry concentrated on his memories, one part of him glad that Ginny had seen how much he loved Luna, and the other part wishing that he could have spared her this pain. A single crystal tear fell from his eye as he pushed that thought aside and kept focusing on his memories.
Luna began to glow, her silvery shine illuminating the bedroom eerily. Ginny turned to see what caused the glow and watched as Luna bent over Harry to kiss him. She watched horrified as silvery threads flowed from Harry's mouth into Luna's. Harry gasped and struggled for a moment and started to shove Luna off. Luna began to pull back.
Sitting on the floor, concentrating on his memory, Harry began to reshape it. He knew that the love he had shared with Luna was just a dream, and he could reinterpret it, shape it to his whim. He forced himself in the dream not to pull back from Luna.
Ginny continued to watch as Harry moved his hands behind Luna's head again and pulled her mouth down to his. The silvery threads intensified and their bodies moved in rhythm. Ginny could feel strength returning to her and turned to Harry, sitting on the floor, rolling an ivory bead between his fingers and breathing deeply as he concentrated.
She turned back just in time to see Luna roll off Harry and pull the covers up over them both. Luna snuggled her head into the crook of Harry's neck and whispered something into his ear. Harry nodded happily and kissed Luna on the crown of her head.
Ron's bedroom disappeared with a crash and the kitchen tower reappeared around them. Harry focused with his newly gained strength and forced Ron's bedroom to appear again.
In the brief interval between the kitchen disappearing and Ron's bedroom reappearing, Ginny saw Luna. Luna lay motionless on a block of stone, the Dementor with its mouth pressed up near hers. Ginny concentrated and tried to see past the memory of Harry and Luna, but she couldn't clearly see the Dementor. She turned to where Harry sat and shouted at him, "Harry, we need to get rid of all the memories. The Dementor is hiding itself among the memories."
Harry nodded imperceptibly and started concentrating on smothering the Dementor's control of Luna's memories. Sweat stood out on his forehead as he strained with effort. Slowly, Ron's bedroom dissolved and the kitchen appeared, fuzzily, out of focus. Harry pushed the kitchen firmly to one side and the Dementor appeared, hovering over Luna's body. Harry opened his eyes and stood.
Ginny and Harry reacted in the same instant, and both cried, "Expecto Patronum!" Harry's stag bounded from his wand and began savaging the Dementor with Ginny's horse Patronus at its side. The Dementor hunched up its body defensively, as Harry's stag and Ginny's horse threw inky black and silvery sparks off its body with their attacks. It pressed its mouth all the way down on Luna's and attempted to force its way inside. Harry noticed the Dementor shrinking as it pushed its way inside Luna. Harry shouted for Ginny to continue to keep her Patronus on the Dementor.
Harry let his Patronus dissipate and ran to Luna. He reached down with his left hand and forced the ivory bead in between the Dementor's mouth and Luna's mouth. Immediately, he could feel the Dementor stop deflating. The Dementor turned its face to Harry as it hunched, absorbing blows from Ginny's Patronus. It howled at Harry and pushed its mouth over Harry's.
Harry let his mind fill with the Enveloping Patronus charm. He forced his stag Patronus to remain within himself. As he did, he felt his father's presence, helping to protect him. The Dementor pulled back from Harry as he began to glow and attempted to flee.
"No you don't," Harry said, grabbing the Dementor's cloak with his glowing hand. Where Harry touched the Dementor, it began to dissolve into noxious green gas. The Dementor howled again, its eerie voice echoing. Harry stashed his wand in his pocket and grabbed the Dementor with his other hand, enveloping the Dementor in a bear hug. Harry could feel both icy cold patches and burning hot patches as the Dementor dissolved against his glowing body. The Dementor's howl increased in fury and volume as it tried to escape Harry's iron grasp.
As it howled this time, answering howls came from the enclosures around them. Harry looked down and saw that Luna had awakened and saw understanding in her eyes. Harry kept his hug on the struggling Dementor, his strength redoubled by seeing Luna awake. The howling of the animals in the bestiary grew louder as the Dementor's howls continued. Harry looked down at Luna again and noticed her motioning him let the Dementor go.
"No!" he shouted. "We can't let it escape again!"
Luna began to glow and gestured around her. Harry looked up in wonder. All of the animals in the bestiary surrounded them, Ginny's flaming hair barely visible amongst all of them. As Harry watched, the animals all began glowing with the Enveloping Patronus charm. Harry let go and stepped back as the ravening, Patronus clad animals fell upon the Dementor. It tried to escape by flying up, but a glowing phoenix harried it down, back into the waiting pack.
The Dementor's shrieking continued for only a few seconds more. As it died, Harry could see the glow surrounding Luna and the animals intensify until it became painful to watch. Harry averted his eyes and blinked. When he reopened them, he could still see the cord connecting him with Luna and the smaller one connecting him to Ginny.
"Harry, we need to hurry, I think Dean's slipping away," Luna said wearily. She sat down and closed her eyes. Harry could feel her trying to separate out Dean's consciousness from hers and Harry's and all the other victims of the Dementor from the past. Dean's consciousness felt strangely mixed with all of the others and Harry struggled to help her, closing his eyes and concentrating with Luna. As they separated out a large chunk of Dean, Luna attempted to send it down the cord connecting her to Dean. Harry felt the lurch as the lump of power stopped, something blocking it.
"Luna, it's the wards on the quarantine chamber in the hospital," Harry said. "We've got to get back to the hospital and out of the quarantine chamber."
Luna nodded, held out her hand to Harry and stood with his help. They both went to Ginny, and took her hands in theirs. Harry and Luna closed their eyes and pushed, pushing their consciousness back into the hospital room.
Both Healers slept still in their patient's beds, oblivious to the world around them. Harry pointed his wand at the blackened window to the room and shouted, "Reducto!" The spell hit the glass, then rebounded onto the wall behind them, ricocheting crazily until it blasted a bedside table into flinders.
Ginny shrieked at Harry, "Don't do that again! These rooms are designed to house the insane and the contagious, they're reinforced against escape." She rifled through the matronly Healer's pockets, coming up with an oddly shaped key. She moved to the door and unlocked it with the key. She looked up at Harry smugly as Harry and Luna ran through the door, hospital gowns flapping in the breeze of their passage. When they had passed through, Ginny followed them, closing the door behind her.
They quickly got their bearings and raced to the closed ward. A sallow-faced, wizened old woman of a Healer sat at the door. As they ran up, wands out, she stood, pulled out her own wand, cursed and said, "Stop right there. This is a restricted area. We've already had one escape this week; they don't need any more help."
Harry spoke first, "We don't want to hurt you. We just need you to open the door. One of our friends is about to die, unless we save him."
The Healer answered him, "Boy, you've got some nerve. How could you possibly know that your friend's about to die?"
In answer to her question, Dean appeared on the other side of the glass, staggering toward them, barely able to stand. Luna ran to the glass and pressed against it. The Healer turned and saw Dean. She moved faster than Harry thought possible for a woman of her age and opened the door. Harry grabbed Luna and rushed passed her into the room, with Ginny on their heels.
The Healer reached Dean first and laid him gently on the floor. She started checking him over. Harry reached down and pulled the Healer gently aside as Luna began to glow. Luna knelt down beside Dean and pressed her mouth to his. Harry could feel the strength leaving Luna and returning to Dean. Harry could feel Dean's body absorbing all of its old strength back. Even after Luna stopped pushing, Dean kept pulling strength from Luna. Harry could feel Luna begin to weaken and pushed his own strength into her, touching her gently on her hair as he did.
Ginny knelt down on the other side of Dean and grabbed his hand as Luna continued to kiss him. Harry felt a lurch as the bond that connected him to Ginny disappeared. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then reopened them. He reached out with newly awakened senses and smiled as he felt a bond start to begin between Ginny and Dean. He could feel Dean gaining strength not only from Dean's returning memories, but through Luna's memories of Dean and Ginny's memories of Dean.
Luna stopped glowing suddenly. Dean coughed and twitched, his body spasming with a seizure. He thrashed and shouted for a few seconds, then lay still. He opened his eyes and looked around with amazement.
Dean spoke, his voice hoarse, "Is this another dream? Did the Dementor get all of you, too?"
Luna collapsed at his side, her eyes rolling back. She fell right into Harry's waiting arms. Ginny leaned over Dean and hugged his head to her lap.
"No, Dean," Ginny said in a near-whisper, "The Dementor is dead, it will never harm anyone again."
Dean answered, "I—I could feel Luna reach out for power to save you, Ginny. I could feel her taking it from me, but it wasn't enough. I gave her all that I had. I'm so glad to see you alive, glad to see it wasn't in vain." He turned to Harry, "Thanks for saving me from the Dementor, Harry. When Luna wakes up, thank her for me for saving Ginny."
A team of Healers, flanked by burly orderlies entered the room, all with wands out, pointed at the group.
The big orderly that had refused permission for Harry to queue jump the previous day said, "Put all your wands down, now."
Harry dropped his wand, reached into Luna's robes, grabbed Hermione's borrowed wand and dropped it as well. Ginny threw her wand next to Harry's and Hermione's.
The Healers approached the group cautiously, an orderly standing beside each of them. The quickly checked over the group and consulted each other briefly, before sending them all off to the quarantine room again. As they Apparated into the room again, Harry noticed that someone had repaired the shattered table and fixed the obscured glass.
"Please, ma'am, what about the Healer that tried to stop us, is he going to be okay?" Harry asked.
The Healer looked down at Harry and said, "He's got a splitting headache, but we think he'll be fine. You just worry about getting better."
One week later, Harry sat in an office with Luna, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Lovegood and a white-haired Healer with an enormous Fu Manchu style beard and mustache. The Healer spoke, "Your story checks out with your memories, you both seem in remarkable health and we're ready to release you soon."
Harry asked, "Please, sir, what about Ginny and Dean?"
The Healer answered, Luna's eyes twinkling at his flapping mustache as he talked, "We're all set to release them today."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley smiled and grasped each others' hands more tightly.
The Healer looked at Luna and said, "We have just a few more tests for you, young lady, and we would like Mr. Potter to stay for those as well."
Luna tore her gaze from the Healer's mustache and looked into his eyes, her own eyes blazing with curiosity.
"What sort of additional tests do you need to perform?" she asked.
The Healer looked at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and said, "If you would leave the room, please, so we could discuss this matter in private?"
As they started to rise, Luna said, "No, don't leave." She turned to the Healer and said, "They can stay. Whatever you have to tell me, I waive my right to confidentiality in the matter."
The Healer nodded, consulted his notes and said, "Ms. Lovegood, we would like to keep you for some prenatal screening. Our examinations show that you're pregnant and are about ten weeks along. We would like to make sure that both you and the baby are okay, considering your recent ordeal." He turned to Harry, "Congratulations, young man, it looks like you're going to be a father."
Harry spluttered, "But, I, we. We've never had sex, not in real life, only in shared dreams."
The Healer turned to Luna, "Is the Thomas boy the father then?"
Luna shook her head imperceptibly and spoke in a small, scared voice, "No, I've never had sex with anyone. I've only shared that with Harry in a dream. I don't know how this happened."
The Healer thought for a moment, consulted his notes again, then he steepled his hands before he said, "In that case, Ms. Lovegood, we should like to keep you for observation for the entire length of your pregnancy. Mysterious pregnancies like this are extremely rare, but not unheard of. If you would be so kind as to consent, it would save the trouble and expense of obtaining a court order."
Luna looked at her father, who had turned purple and started to rise, and spoke gently to him, "It's okay, Daddy. I want to stay and make sure that my baby and I aren't a danger to anyone."
Mr. Lovegood looked down at his daughter and slowly regained his composure, "If you think that's for the best, then I'll do anything to support you." He looked at Harry, "If this baby is yours, will you do the honourable thing?"
Harry looked at Mr. Lovegood, then he turned to Luna with a questioning glance. She nodded at him as her eyes filled with joyous tears.
Harry turned back to Mr. Lovegood and said, "Sir, we'd already agreed to get married. I love Luna. She and I have a connection that goes deeper than any connection either of us has felt before. We were just waiting until we got out of hospital to make the announcement."
Mrs. Weasley stood and moved to Harry, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kissed him. She put a hand on either side of his face and spoke directly to him, "I always thought that you'd marry Ginny, but I'm happy for you and Luna, Harry. I can see how much she means to you, and you have my blessing, for what it's worth."
Mr. Lovegood stood next to Harry and extended his hand. Harry grasped it and shook it heartily. Mr. Lovegood said, "It'll be good to have you as a son-in-law, Harry."
Harry broke free of Mrs. Weasley, shook Mr. Weasley's hand quickly and went to his new fiancée. He grabbed her hands and helped her stand in front of him.
"I love you, Luna," he said, simply.
She answered, "I love you, too, Harry."