I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: I wanted to take a moment and talk about my portrayal of Hermione. One of the things I care a lot about for fanfic is authenticity. If I am borrowing someone else's character, I want to try and stay true to their natures unless it's a radically different universe or setting. I hope people aren't turned off by my depiction of Hermione. I honestly like her as a character and I was hoping to show her in a believable and true way. That's not to say I want people to like her, there's plenty of reasons to not like her as a character. I generally don't love bashing fics either so just wanted to share my mindset.

As always, thank you for reading and your kind words and reviews!

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 36 – Muffled Voices

Harry stopped walking, looking confused.

"What's wrong Harry?" Katie asked. The pair were walking back to Gryffindor tower after dinner and Harry had been distracted on the way back. She could tell because he kept looking around and at one point started walking in another direction, as if following some kind of signal. She had followed him without thinking but when they stopped, she realized how confused he looked. "Are you alright?"

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?"

"I swear I heard someone talking. It was really faint and I couldn't understand it all, but I definitely heard something."

Katie tried to focus on listening. "Do you hear it now?"

Harry concentrated. "Not really. But I really did hear something."

"I believe you. Where did you hear it?"

"It sounded like it was coming from the walls."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "The walls? Like inside them?" She looked thoughtful when he nodded. "Maybe it was some of the castle ghosts?"

"I don't think so. When they talk they have that echo quality to it. This one was much lower. Almost…silky."

She giggled. "Silky?"

He blushed. "Like the sound you hear when someone drags something over something smooth, like silk. You know, a noise that sounds slippery or slidingly."

She giggled again but patted his shoulder to soothe him. "I do know, I just wasn't expecting you to say that."

He frowned at her but then turned his head. "Wait, I hear something now. It's not the same noise but…"

"I hear it too." Katie listened hard and she could hear a soft rustling accompanied by coughing. "Sounds like it's coming from over there."

The duo continued to walk and they rounded the corner, looking into an alcove. They saw a small girl hiding there, curled up in the shadows.

She saw them when they peeked in. Large blue eyes looked startled behind a curtain of pale blonde almost white hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Katie said softly, "didn't mean to scare you. We just heard something and were looking."

The girl did not reply. She sat there, staring at them.

"Are you okay?" Katie asked. There was something about this girl that was achingly familiar. She did not know her though. The blue and bronze tie identified her as a Ravenclaw. At least it was not a new Gryffindor first year that Katie had not paid attention to.

The girl did not speak but nodded slowly.

"Are you hurt?" Harry asked.

Katie looked surprised. Normally Harry was reluctant to speak to anyone he was not familiar with first. Yet he had spoken easily to this stranger.

The girl looked at Harry, her eyes flicked up to the scar on his forehead. She shook her head. After a moment she spoke. "You're Harry Potter."

Normally Harry hated being identified that way. It was always the scar that people noticed first. Then they would state the obvious, as if he needed any help reminding him of who he was. But for once he was not annoyed at the usual form of introduction. The girl had not spoken excitedly, or accusatory, or impressed. She stated it like it was a fact. Which it was.

"Hello," he said instead. "Nice to meet you. This is Katie Bell," he gestured at Katie and she waved to the girl. "May we know your name?"

"Luna Lovegood." The small girl blinked for the first time and very slowly. "Ginny told me about you."

"I'm friends with Ginny too," Harry said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded. "Things are overwhelming out there," she said, gesturing vaguely at the castle around them.

"Like it's too big right? Too much pressing down on you?" he asked knowingly.

Luna smiled for the first time. It transformed her utterly, like a flower blooming. "Yes, exactly," she said. "There's too much."

Harry smiled shyly. "I know what you mean. I felt like that when I came here." He blushed and looked up at Katie. "I was lucky that I had help, making sense of everything." He pointed down the hall. "If you go towards the staircases, there's a tapestry of a field of flowers. There's a bench and corner hidden behind it. It's very comfy there, more comfy than here I'm sure. Not many people know it."

"That's very kind of you to share it," Luna said softly.

Harry blushed again. "It's hardly just mine. It is nice though. I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will."

He coughed in the slightly awkward silence. "It was very nice meeting you. Hope to see you around."

Luna nodded slowly. "It was nice meeting you too. I would like that. Thank you Harry and Katie."

Katie and Harry walked away, back up the corridor. Katie smiled widely at Harry. "That was very good of you Harry."

He felt like his blush would never fade. "I just thought I'd act like you and Angelina. She looked like she needed a kind word."

She felt incredibly touched. "Well isn't that flattering." She draped her arm over his shoulders. "I'm proud of you."

He stopped and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, starting to panic over his facial expression. "Do you hear the sound again?"

"No, I mean, nothing's wrong." He looked at the ground. "No one's ever told me they were proud of me before."

She embraced him, once again cursing the Dursleys in her mind. "Well I am and I know the team is too. It's really impressive that you can be so kind."

He sniffled a little, trying to keep control over his emotions. "Thank you," he said shyly. "She reminded me of…me. She looked really lonely."

They continued walking and Katie kept her arm over his shoulders. "She did. I'm sure you helped her feel better too."

"So did you."

She shook her head. "I didn't really do anything though."

"You didn't ignore her, like you didn't ignore me. Plus I'm learning from your example."

It was her turn to blush. "You're turning into quite the flatterer."

"Only when it's true," he said earnestly. Then his demeanor shifted. "Do you think she's like me? You know…" his voice faded into a whisper, "like…how I was? How I am"

Katie thought for a long moment. "No. Not quite like you. She doesn't have the same…feeling like you did. If that makes sense."

"A little bit," Harry said. "I'm glad you think so though. I'd hate for someone else to be like me."

Her heart thumped painfully. "Your heart is in the right place though. She does look like she could use a friend."

"Hopefully she has her own Katie in Ravenclaw," he said seriously.

The entire trip back to the tower, Katie's face never lost its crimson hue.

-0-

Harry wandered about the castle. He knew he should be doing many other things than wandering somewhat aimlessly. While he was slightly ahead on homework, he still wanted to maintain his good marks so it never hurt to be ahead. He could be playing chess with Ron or working with Hermione. He could be chatting or working with the girls, messing about with the twins, talking tactics with Oliver, tutoring with Percy, among other worthwhile things.

However, he could not get the muffled voice outside of his mind, quite literally.

Every so often he would hear it again, something just beyond decipherable. He thought it sounded strangely familiar, the quality of the voice reminding him of the Zoo of all things. The one time he went to the Zoo anyways, with the Dursleys shortly before his eleventh birthday. He had no idea why he thought of it, but the voice made him think of it inexplicably.

He was a little concerned that no one else had heard it. Whenever he was with one of his friends he would bring it up. Ron believed him but did not hear it. The twins thought it was a ghost but then they got an idea for enchanting objects to speak to prank people. Hermione said she believed him but he could tell she was humoring him. She had a certain look that she got when she had to trust something she did not read herself.

At least no one had been rude to him about it, outright disbelieving him.

He stopped at the alcove behind the flower tapestry, slipping behind the fabric. He smiled at the note that was tucked into the corner, the corner slid into a small gap between the stones. After telling Luna of his favorite hiding spot he left her a scrap of parchment with a drawing of Hedwig on it. When he came back after leaving it the parchment was gone.

Luna had left him a piece where she had drawn a sunflower. It looked remarkably life-like and he had happily taken it with him, leaving it resting against the globe stand that Katie had given him last Christmas.

He enjoyed leaving these little notes for her and he imagined she did the same. It was fun, having a secret place to leave a note for a friend from a different House. Harry did not really have friends outside of Gryffindor students. He was friendly with the Hufflepuffs for the most part, but not friends with them. He and the Ravenclaws interacted pleasantly enough, of his year anyways not including Luna. In principle he did not really get along with anyone from Slytherin. Draco and his closest friends, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, loathed him and went out of their way to antagonize.

Harry had no ill will towards the other second year Slytherins but they did not really speak. Harry was glad that Grimshaw and Yorely, the two stand out older students that had hurt him last year, were gone. He still shivered when he thought of the time he had been ambushed by them. It had taken him a while to be comfortable moving about the castle on his own.

He tried to stop by the alcove every other day or so and was always happy to see a note from Luna. He had not seen her much aside from occasionally in passing or at mealtimes. He always tried to exchange a word with her and he felt like she was doing better. She always looked a little happier when he saw her anyways.

With a grunt he sat on the stone bench, drawing his legs up so the tapestry fell flat, hiding the alcove once more. He lit his Lumos orb and opened Luna's note to read. It was not very long. She made an allusion to something called a 'nargle' but she said there were less of them so he imagined that was a good thing. She wrote that she thought Ginny was also having some difficulty adjusting.

That made Harry pause. Truthfully, he had not spent that much time around Ginny since school started. The times he saw her she seemed fine but that could have been misleading, especially if she was trying to hide her troubles from her brothers. He resolved he would check on her when he could.

Soon the sound of a scratching quill filled the alcove as Harry wrote a reply. He thanked Luna for telling him about Ginny and asked how she was doing with her classes. He finished it by retelling the funny story of how Ron's broken wand had somehow multiplied the beetle in Transfiguration class into a swarm and they had spent the rest of class trying to contain them. He folded the finished note and placed it carefully between the bricks.

After making sure the hallway was empty, he slipped out from behind the tapestry. He did not want to be caught out of his House after curfew so he started to walk back to the tower.

Hunger

Harry stopped. He looked around. Dumbly he looked at his stomach.

Blood

His head turned around and he crept towards the sound. He definitely heard it this time and it said words he could understand this time. They were still somewhat indistinct, a lot of hissing obscured them slightly like wireless static, but this time he could hear them.

He wished he did not given what the words were. They sounded quite menacing.

Curiosity drove him on and he followed the whispering voice. He snorted softly to himself. He had spent years trying to run from the hissing whispering voice in his head, doing everything he could to dampen it and muffle it. Now he was following a whispering hissing voice that only he could hear wishing he could make it clearer.

Where was the sense in that?

He eventually lost it, could no longer hear it nor follow it. The sound had ended at a juncture between corridors and he resisted the urge to kick the stone wall in frustration. With a defeated sigh he walked back towards Gryffindor tower.

-0-

"Alright there Harry?"

Harry looked up at a grinning but concerned looking Oliver. The younger boy smiled wanly. "I'm alright."

"You sure?" Oliver sat beside him. "You're looking like you got something on your mind."

Harry thought about Luna, about Ginny, the mysterious voice, his upcoming Potions test, the Charms essay, and a host of other things. "Only a few things," he said evasively.

Oliver chuckled. "Anything you want to talk about?"

Harry shrugged. "We haven't had practice yet so I don't have any Quidditch questions."

Oliver looked faintly offended. "I talk about other things you know." He snorted and threw a pillow at Harry's look of shock and surprise. "This is what I get for being concerned."

Harry laughed. "I'm kidding. I really appreciate you checking on me. Just…so much is going on and I'm having a bit of trouble organizing it all."

"Yeah I know what you mean. N.E.W.T.s classes are already doing that to me and the tests aren't until next year. Then I have to juggle Quidditch plans and other things, gets all jumbled. Want to hear how I deal with it?"

"Make a list?" Harry suggested with a smile.

"That too," Oliver chuckled. "I also organize things in my head in order of ease. Like, what'll be the easiest to do or what things you can do together. That way you can bounce between responsibilities and get them accomplished bit by bit."

"That makes sense. Thanks!" Harry thought and was slowly collecting some of the things togethers in categories like Oliver suggested. "Think that helps."

"See, I know a few things beyond Quidditch."

"Better tell Alicia that."

"I've tried Harry."