After the Rebirth
The infirmary of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was always a slightly dreaded area, mostly because of Madam Pomfrey's unrelenting and unwavering stance on caring for her charges, but there was always an air of warmth and safety inside the medic witches domain.
Today it was not so.
Fawkes had flashed them into the infirmary and Dumbledore had left immediately to contact Luna's parents. Harry and Vanessa had stayed by her side since then, not moving an inch since Madam Pomfrey allowed them to remain. Vanessa was fidgeting with her fingers, finding it exceptionally hard to sit still while waiting for Luna to wake up. Despite the assurance of Pomfrey that she was fine, Vanessa just couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't completely out of the woods yet.
The wound in her stomach had healed up nicely, but Pomfrey had warned them that if she moved around too much it might reopen.
"It was too close this time, Harry." Vanessa mumbled into the palm of her hand.
He nodded without looking as he kept his focus on Luna's sleeping form. "You're right, it was way too close. It has to end next year, even before preferably. No more scooting around issues, no more waiting and seeing. We end this as soon as possible," he muttered darkly.
"We destroy the last few Horcruxes, then what?" Vanessa asked.
"I don't know. If he is still a wraith then I imagine he dies, his spirit taken to hell. If he has already taken his homunculus body, he might live," Harry replied with a tired sigh.
"And if that happens?"
"Then we have to hunt him down, I'm not waiting for him to complete the ritual to remake his body. There will be ways to track him and we will get it done, then we kill him and deal with the rest of our lives."
Vanessa smiled weakly as she reached over and grabbed his hand. "You sound worried about that."
"I am worried," he clarified, "I think there's more for us to deal with in the future, sure. But after Voldemort… I don't know what to do this time."
"We'll figure it out. Together."
"Yeah… together." He finished with a smile.
Anything else they planned to say stopped when the doors to the infirmary flung open and two people ran inside and towards them. Harry recognized one of them as Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father. The woman, he figured, must be Luna's mother. Pandora Lovegood was a lot like the images he had seen of her in their Italian mansion. Long silver hair much like her daughter, in all matter she looked like an older Luna with the glaring exception of the woman's brimming silver eyes, they shone fiercer than Luna's gray had ever done.
"Mr. Potter, I presume?" Xenophilius asked as his wife began checking over their daughter.
Harry nodded. "I am, good to meet you sir." He put his hand forward and shook Xenophilius'.
"Dumbledore informed us that we have you to thank for her rescue." Xenophilius said with a thankful smile.
"I wasn't alone, sir. Both Headmaster Dumbledore and Vanessa was with me in the chamber, we all did our part." Harry rebuffed with a grin.
"And for that we are eternally thankful." Xeno said under his breath as he turned and looked upon his little girl as she slept.
Dumbledore gave a nod towards Harry that was returned. They would discuss further once young Luna was awake and they found out just how much she remembers. With a small gesture, Dumbledore brought Harry to the other side of the room.
"It would seem we are in the clear for now." The aged Headmaster said with a tired tone.
Harry nodded in response and took a glance towards the two parents watching over their girl. "Though now that we have had time to calm down, I'm worried about something Luna said before passing out."
"Hmm?" Dumbledore didn't have to ask.
"She said I was hero even the second time around. I don't know much about Luna's family, but she's always been special. But being able to see through time streams or alternate futures? There has to be a limit somewhere." Harry explained his thoughts without looking away from the family.
"The indication that young Miss Lovegood might remember you is indeed a troubling one. However, that does not mean that she will pose any kind of danger. The Lovegood family has always been special, lots of seer's and truthsayers in their family. Perhaps young Luna is just extraordinarily gifted in the art?" Dumbledore proposed as he wrecked his memories for similar happenings regarding people he knew.
"So we'll observe, just like everything else." Harry stated.
The gasp of Luna and the quiet sobbing of her mother as the two embraced cut off Dumbledore's response. Moving over, they listened in as Pandora asked every possible question she could about Luna's condition, surprisingly she asked about some of the weird creatures that Luna also often spoke about.
"Pandora, let Dumbledore ask his questions for now. We'll bring Luna back home and check her over afterwards." Xenophilius said while placing a hand on his wife's shoulder.
Pandora nodded and moved back to allow Dumbledore to take place on the small stool next to the bed.
"These chairs seem lower and lower each year…" Dumbledore mused as he sat and his old bones creaked in protest. "Now, Miss Lovegood, what do you remember?"
Luna looked a little rustled, but the dreamy look in her eyes let them know that at least she was partially okay. She seemed to gather her thoughts for a few momets before staring Dumbledore squarely in the eyes.
"I remember everything." She stated calmly.
Harry flinched, knowing first hand what possession feels like. The fact that she remembers everything means that she remembers freeing the basilisk and what it might have done while it was free.
"I see…" began Dumbledore, "what can you tell me about how you acquired the diary?"
"I found it when daddy brought me out to buy my school books. I was looking through some of the back shelves when I found Draco getting scolded by his dad." Harry and Dumbledore already looked suspiciously towards one another. "Draco was getting scolded for wanting such a wasteful book as an old diary. When they left I found the book they talked about and looked in it. It was blank but I liked how it looked so I snuck it into the pile of books daddy was buying for me." Luna explained everything with an apologetic look towards her father for, sort of, ratting him out to her mother. Pandora certainly wasn't looking all that favorably towards her husband.
"Then I came to school and began writing in the Diary and it wrote back. It told me a lot of interesting things and before I knew it I began having blackouts and woke up in strange places."
"Why didn't you go to Professor Flitwick with this?" Dumbledore inquired.
"I was worried that he might take away my diary." Luna mumbled weakly. "Then all the weird things began happening and when I saw myself opening the chamber and releasing the large snake, I began fighting back. After that it becomes slightly blurry, the last clear thing I remember is waking up in the chamber and seeing yours and Harry's face before passing out again." She looked around a little, as if trying to find someone, "I'm sorry about the girl that died… I didn't mean to!" she began crying and Pandora was at her side instantly, holding her little angel tightly as she cried.
"I think that is enough, Dumbledore." Xeno said as he moved to join his wife in consoling their daughter.
"I think you are right, Xeno. Take Luna home and care for her, I shall inform Filius that she is home." Dumbledore agreed with a nod as he rose from the chair and gestured for the two other youths in the room to join him.
Once they were outside of the infirmary her turned to them. "The danger has passed for this year I assume, Harry?"
"Yes, sir." Harry replied with a nod. "We should be able to relax for the rest of the year and then begin our plans come summer."
Dumbledore smiled tiredly. "Then I'll expect you both in my office around the end of the year, we'll discuss our plan in greater detail by then."
The two nodded in reply and they split up as Harry and Vanessa headed back towards Ravenclaw tower, fully intending on falling face first into their beds and sleeping until Flitwick came to wake them up.
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
It was the day before the leaving feast when Harry and Vanessa found themselves sitting in a pair of comfy chairs in Dumbledore's office. They were watching as the old Headmaster was finishing a conversation on the floo with an old friend of his.
"Ah yes of course, I'll tell Filius you said hello. Give Melissa my best and thank her, once again, for the lovely pie she sent over last month." Dumbledore finished his conversation and the fire died down, allowing him to take a slight breath as he took his seat behind his desk.
"Good Merlin... ole Alexander might mean well, but he talks more than Fudge during a campaign ball!" looking over his two young guests, Dumbledore gave a sheepish laugh, "of course that is not why you two are here. How has the year treated you?"
"It's been good. Ever since we passed, Professor Flitwicks test and freed ourselves from homework for the year... well... I've managed to get really close to an "acceptable" level, as Harry calls it, in my training. I've also done a little more studying in Arithmancy, Professor Vector is really happy with my progress!" Vanessa explained cheerfully. She had enjoyed having another peaceful year of schooling, if they just kept clearing all the troublesome things in the first half of the year... she could get used to it.
"Yes, yes. Professor Vector has been trying to get me to let you into the fourth year Arithmancy class this coming year, instead of the third year class. I suppose this has your interest?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, of course!" Vanessa practically yelled in excitement.
"Perhaps a small exam before the year begins..." Dumbledore mused, "it's not unheard of for a student to take classes a year ahead if they show extraordinary progress. Most notably some of the more prodigious masters did so in the past. Merlin, supposedly, took Enchanting since his first year. Mind you, enchanting wasn't taught until sixth year back in those days."
"If I could take that test, it would be amazing!" Vanessa exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Of course. What about you, Harry?" Dumbledore turned his old eyes upon the younger wizard.
"Oh I've studied a few things here and there. Mostly getting reacquainted with some of the classes. When I wasn't training Vanessa, I didn't really have much free time with all the studying. So a calm year, the second calmest I've ever had I suspect." Harry replied with his own grin.
"Good, good. Now as for our summer plans," Dumbledore began as he pulled out a sheet of paper. "I've arranged for us to go to Paris in the middle of June and we shall be staying there for as long as we need, or until school starts once again. A few friendly contacts have let me know where to start our search and we have room and board prepared for us."
"That's great. I think me and Vanessa might have an extra little benefit that will allow us to move around a bit more freely, too." Harry explained and looked at Vanessa with a knowing grin.
"Oh ho? What could that be?" the aged wizard asked in curiosity.
"I know a spell that allows me to age myself or someone else a few years, that way we could both walk around in our adult forms and mingle with some of the other couples in Paris. This would allow us to travel some places that you most likely couldn't go sir… no offense." Harry replied with a grin that showed he wasn't sorry for the barb against the mans age.
"None taken, I'm quite done with the dating scene thank you very much. But I would like to see this spell in action before deciding if it is something we can use. If it is too easily detected, then there is a good chance it could bring us more trouble than help." Dumbledore said with a benign smile.
"Of course." Harry nodded and pulled out his wand and swung it over Vanessa's head before doing the same above his own. In a few short moments their twelve year old forms had bled away and their twenty-five year old forms sat in their place.
"Oh fuck me…" growled Vanessa as she grabbed her head and sunk a little into her seat.
Dumbledore looked slightly alarmed when Harry mimicked his love and sunk into his seat while clutching his head in obvious pain.
"I take it the very obvious headache's you both are sporting is not meant to happen?" Dumbledore inquired as he began weaving a diagnostic spell over the pair.
"No, it isn't…" Harry growled. "It's never been this bad before, usually I'll just feel a slight pain in my limbs from them growing but this… this is something else."
"Hmmm…" Dumbledore hummed to himself as he looked over the results of his scan. "It would seem you both suffer from some physical exhaustion. I'm detecting a bit of magical interference, but that might be because the spell wasn't designed to be cast upon to people simultaneously. If I may ask, Harry, is the spell draining?"
"Not really." The younger wizard ground out.
"Then I imagine your side effect is a cause of you casting it upon two people at the same time, in the future I suggest doing it one at a time to avoid this again." Dumbledore chided good naturedly. "Aside from that, I'll agree that the spell could be quite useful to us. Detecting it is almost impossible and it would require someone of my own power level or above to do so. I say it would seem we are ready as we can be for now, all that remains are for the two of you two pack your things and then we will see each other at the leaving feast tomorrow."
Vanessa nodded as the spell faded from her and she rose from her seat. Harry did the same but gave a thoughtful look out into thin air, his head running a few thoughts.
'The spell has never caused me physical backlash of this magnitude, and it has never been focused around my head before. I'll have to look into this, but no need to worry these two unnecessarily if it turns out to be nothing.' He thought as he followed his lover back to the common room where they proceeded to finish packing the last of their things and got ready for dinner.
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
The leaving feast was as beautiful as ever. Dumbledore held his usual speech and once more congratulated all the seventh year students on their work. The traditional walk out of the great hall was followed by loud applause as the teary-eyed seventh years bid goodbye to their home of seven years and waved at all the younger students for the last time as the great doors slowly closed behind them.
Harry and Vanessa enjoyed the rest of the meal and left the next day, both having a few things they needed to prepare before going to Paris with the headmaster.
Harry would square it with the Dursleys'; they already knew about his situation and wouldn't stop him from going after the monster that killed his parents. He suspected that there wouldn't be much of a problem with Vanessa's parents either, they were both remarkably cool with Harry, more so than he remembered, and seemed to like him well enough. They might have to lie a little and say it was a summer study trip to France, but as long as they promised they would be safe and that their Headmaster would be "one of the teachers looking after them," he figured they wouldn't have that many objections to the idea.
That is how it came to pass that the three of them now stood in the French Ministry of Magic and waited for their turn on the security check. Part of the ICW he might be, Dumbledore still had to go through security like every other wizard and witch. A small thing Dumbledore privately enjoyed, it ensured that he would always remember he was just another wizard.
Once they were clear they headed off to their hotel and were lodged in, Harry and Vanessa had a room together with a great view. They figured they could have a few days to themselves if they found the Diadem quickly enough, otherwise they would just take whatever chance they had to enjoy the city when they were searching.
The very first morning they met Dumbledore down in the restaurant of the hotel where he was enjoying a bit of breakfast. He greeted them with a smile and handed Harry a newspaper, translated into English, as he sat down. The front page was displaying a fantastic gem that was supposed to be an absolute steal for the magical part of the Louvre to have acquired; after all, it was the gem that had sat in the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw herself!
"Well how about that…"
A/N: Yeah, sorry about how late this is.
Honesty time; I ran out of steam with this story for quite a while, I still am out of steam, honestly. There's another chapter completed, I'll post that later, but after that I have hit a nasty snag. I feel like I've lost control of what I tried to do here, I'm sure many of you have noticed it too (and some of you have called me out on it, some subtly, and some of you were just asses about it) and I've begun work to rectify it.
After the next chapter is posted, if and that is a huge IF, I decide to continue this story, then it will be rail-roading straight through to the end after this. I've got about 2 more major things that will be resolved and then this story is ending.
I suppose that is it. I've given clear words of my intentions for this story. Past this point, if you choose to remain and read the rest, the story might accelerate towards the end. From what I've currently planned, the story will end somewhere in the Fourth Year, and that's that I guess.
Don't expect too many more Author's notes after this. I sadly think I might have run my course for now.
Best of the best to all of you, thanks again to all of you for bearing with my nonsense.
-TheLemonsWillSeeYou
(Those of you that hate my "before the rebirth chapters, rejoice, I'm done with them)