Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character, story element or plot item originally published in the Harry Potter books or movies that I may refer to in this story. I'm merely playing in the sandbox.

Algernon took them back to his house, telling them to behave themselves, that he'd be back in a few hours. Harry watched as Luna looked at the clock. "It's almost five o'clock. I'll talk to Minty about dinner."

He nodded. He wasn't hungry, but he knew he needed to eat something. There was stability in the whole process, three meals and study. I could go back to the Chamber. Leave this behind for a while.

Instead, he sat on the couch, running through the facts in his head. Dumbledore dropped him in a house, and at some point, he made the occupants hate him. Dumbledore likely arranged for Molly Weasley to risk exposure of the wizarding world to make herself seem like a safe person to be around. Was Ron involved in that? Hermione? After the initial incident with the troll, maybe. "Everything goes back to Dumbledore."

The fire was lit, lighting the room, but gave off little heat. In the end, he found it comforting to watch. The pop and crackle of the wood was relaxing.

"Harry?"

He looked up, jumping slightly. "Oh, hey."

Luna sat beside him, keeping a space between them. "I'm sorry."

"You just startled me. No big deal."

Luna shook her head. "I was part of the lie."

Harry watched her for a moment. He didn't know how to respond at first, watching as she finally began to lean away from him. "Luna, you lied to everyone to protect your family. You told me that it was part of your cover. That's different. You didn't just lie to me."

"I just saw how you reacted to it all. I was part of it."

He held out an arm and she fell against him. He held her as he whispered. "If it helps, I don't find fault in your actions."

"Thank you." She was silent. "Minty told me to tell you that dinner's not until six. So…how about I tell you a story?"

Harry made a face, then realized he'd said the same thing before. "Is it a happy story?"

"Not really, not until the end." She looked at him, taking a deep breath. Harry turned in his seat, gesturing in an invitation for her to start. She smiled and pushed into his hold. "You know I hate being weak."

"You held me after I told you my story. The least I can do is return the favor." He was quiet. "It's not weak to need help. I think my weakness was before, when I tried to go alone."

Luna nodded, then she began, talking about how things were normal until she was four. Then her parents pulled her aside and explained that they were going to play a game of sorts. She had to pretend to see things. They were going to give her names for the animals and things to learn. Harry learned that Pandora was an artist as well as an Enchantress and Potioneer.

Luna's head was on his chest as she talked about how she'd learned from flash cards her mother had made, pictures of the creatures and so much about their habitats. Then there was meeting Ginny, who seemed to take her weirdness in stride. She glossed over her mother's death, a Potions accident. Harry tightened his hold on her as she talked about the day her mother died, just saying enough so that he knew now why she could see the thestrals. She had been there.

Soon came school and how she had been bullied and ignored by everyone. The more the story went on, the more Harry could recognize his past in hers. Finally, it came to this summer. "Daddy sent me to collect from the garden. Death Eaters came. I didn't hear them at first, not before…not before the Mark went up."

She choked back a sob, then continued. "Daddy was dead in the lawn. They saw me and captured me…I…I can't talk about when I was in custody."

"Little steps, Luna. Was it just torture or did they…?" Harry couldn't finish the sentence, even knowing the obvious answer from his medical scans. Luna could finish it for him, though.

"They didn't rape me. Pettigrew and some of the others wanted to, the younger ones. Pettigrew specifically said he liked younger girls, which made me want to vomit. Bellatrix made him stay away because there were rituals that required blood from a virgin and I would be of greater value as a sacrifice for their Lord." She clutched him tightly. "She didn't care if they drove me to insanity like they've done before. Like Neville's parents. They bragged about it."

At this, her resolve failed and she let out a torrent of sobs, curling over on herself. Harry turned her, cradling her so that he could lift her into his lap and hold her tightly. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him like she had when she'd first realized he was real, not a hallucination. He wondered if they'd done something like that. Shown her someone, maybe one of her parents. He didn't understand why she thought they'd pick him, but it didn't matter now.

"I still wake up scared this was a dream."

"It's not, Luna. It's real. You're with me and you're safe." A black kitten jumped on the couch, Harry wondering where she'd been earlier. "You missed the waterworks, Whisper."

The kitten meowed and leapt again, landing in her owner's lap, who smiled. "I think she was trying to get up here, she just is too little to jump that high."

"She made it then." Harry spoke quietly, reaching out to let the cat sniff him. It did, then rubbed against his hand. He scratched behind the kitten's ears as Luna stroked its fur. The kitten promptly rolled on its back, surprising him. "Huh."

"Very eloquent there, Potter." The tone was watery, but the humor was there.

"Oh, hush, you," he said, rubbing the kitten's belly. "I'm surprised she trusted me."

Luna snuggled against him. "I trust you. My familiar trusts you. What's so shocking about that?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Just don't ask me to rub your belly. That would be weird."

Luna laughed, a musical sound that Harry loved to hear. "Maybe. I might ask you to rub my back again. That felt really good." She laid her head back down, playing with Whisper as she rested. "Can we sit like this for a while? Daddy used to hold me like this when I was really upset."

Harry rested his head on hers. "I'll do the best I can to fill the gap." They sat in silence, the crackle of the fire and the purring of the kneazle the soundtrack to their ponderings.

He was surprised to see Algernon standing over him after blinking. "I must have dozed off."

"What happened?"

"I didn't…"

"The fact that you're both clothed is enough for me to know that. Besides, I doubt Whisper would be able to nap undisturbed in her lap through that." He gestured. Whisper, hearing her name, yawned and stretched, looking up at Harry with bright green eyes.

"Don't look at me, I just woke up."

This sent Whisper leaping off of the couch, heading for the kitchen. Harry turned back to Algernon, who's gaze was on Luna. He followed it for a moment, seeing her still asleep. "She told me her story. She felt really guilty, thinking she was lying to me just like everyone else, but it was different for her. At least, I think so."

"She hasn't told me about being held captive." Algernon said, rounding the coffee table to sit in a chair near them. "I didn't want to push."

"She said she couldn't. I know some things because of things she's said to me. She was tortured, I know the Cruciatus was used. She told me in the camp I'd set up that they kept her in the dark and even up to the last night we were together, she kept a lamp lit. She hinted that they might have tried to trick her, showing her people that weren't real. When she first met me, she thought I was an imposter."

"I knew that. She felt terrible that she took your wand." Algernon laughed quietly, leading Harry to question how he felt about the situation. "I'll add some hand to hand to your training. With the added wrinkle of your biological family, I think we should be able to get you both in disguise and leave here for a vacation to a nice quiet part of the United States for a while, to help you with your cover."

Harry nodded. "I've never really gone on vacation before."

"We'll make sure to include some fun in things, as well." Algernon stood. "I'll check on dinner. No need to wake her until we have to."

He walked out and Luna shifted. "I was awake," she said, speaking through her long yawn. Again, with her curled up against him like that and yawning, he couldn't help but compare her to her new pet.

The next morning, the pair woke early. Luna vanished on her own and Harry found himself walking out with Algernon. The older man tossed him a staff. "I've always liked the staff for an overall exercise. It works on core, balance, upper body strength. We can work on other aspects, too, but overall, we have to get you in shape now that you're healthy."

"Wizards don't typically exercise, though."

"True, most don't. And you'll notice most are lazy, too. I don't expect you to be a Hitwizard or an Unspeakable. Frankly, Luna has more experience in the last than you do and I can't train you up to either standard in two months, much less considering you're going to have to work on becoming your new identity." The mention of time seemed to make him think and he made a face, some strange cross between annoyed and interested. "I might have a solution to that."

Harry nodded, ignoring the man's diverted train of thought. "Makes sense. I need to be able to protect myself and Luna." He thought for a moment. "Maybe some others."

"The baby league of the Death Eaters getting out of hand?"

"I was just thinking that if the teachers ignored what Luna had gone through, what else are they ignoring? I may not want Granger in my life anymore, but I can name three major incidents she was involved with and she always made it pretty clear that her parents knew nothing."

Algernon nodded. "Being ready to help others is a good motivation." Without warning, he swung with his own staff and Harry found himself in a fight for his life.

Hours later, Harry had cleaned up and was laying on his bed. There was a knock and he called out. "Reaper? Come take me."

"Sorry, only me." Luna walked in and sat on the edge of the bed next to Harry. "Good workout?"

"I don't know how to answer that. Good for me, probably. Did I enjoy it?" He snorted rather than answering. As he glanced over to Luna, she had a troubled look on her face. "I'm not ungrateful. I just don't think I'm going to enjoy this for a while."

"You don't have to do this. I can go back alone."

Harry sighed, then sat up. "I'm going to help you and you help me. I'm going to make sure that you're safe. Most importantly, I'm going because it's my task. I told you about the Prophecy. I have to kill Voldemort."

"Is that what you were told? Exactly? He never said anything else?" Algernon stood at the door.

Harry shrugged. "No, there was just what Dumbledore showed me in his pensieve."

"You didn't show us this part, though I should have had you do that." Algernon looked perturbed, but Harry was still figuring the man out. "Did you actually enter the memory or did he just show you?"

Harry frowned as he thought. "He tapped the pensieve, causing it to kinda rise up, in a haze."

"That's a method of hiding the flaws in a constructed memory or the details if some other bad behavior is being performed." Algernon frowned. "The Prophecy team heard the text you gave me and is concerned…but for now, break's almost over, then you have your next lesson."

"No more, I can't survive it."

"Not with me. You will learn something with your partner." He turned and left.

"That's right. I'm going to teach you to dance. It's a major difference between Brahm and Harry. You'll have confidence if there's a dance or something. You didn't know how before. Besides, it's good at building trust." She frowned for a moment, then smacked him in the back of the head. "I don't need protection."

"Yes, you do." Harry waited long enough for her to take the breath to argue, then spoke again. "So do I."

This stalled her, as he intended. "Luna, I'm a target to many people, so are you. Four eyes are better than just two."

Luna nodded. "Sorry, Hermione used to complain about your saving people thing. I just thought you were doing the whole 'Gryffindor's save the day' thing you always seem to be involved with."

Harry nodded. "I do seem to do that. I never wanted to be in the middle of things, but I always end up there. I already saved you once. I don't want to have to do it again, but I certainly hope to give you a chance to even the score."

"Why?"

He sighed. "Everyone that was friends with me was someone I saved somehow or Ron. Now, I'm…"

"No, Harry." Luna rolled her eyes. "I don't owe you my friendship. I have a life debt, which thankfully you haven't abused. That doesn't mean we have to be friends. That's not how it works. Imagine if Draco owed you a life debt."

Harry made a disgusted sound. "I'd rather not."

"I understand that. I can imagine what I'd have to do if I had that much contact with him." Luna shivered. "But if he did have a debt to you, do you think he'd suddenly start wearing t-shirts that say "I love muggles!" or something like that?"

Harry stared upward, then flopped backward, laughing at the image. "I needed that, Luna, thank you."

Luna playfully punched him in the gut, then pulled him up. "C'mon, eat and then you're mine." She looked back and grinned evilly at him.

"I'd doubted that you and Algie were related until now…"