Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
This chapter is a little odd. I try to keep my fic in the same style as JKR's, so I mostly keep it to Harry's point of view. I had to add a little bit from other people in order for this chapter to make sense but I think it's still okay.
Replies:
LilyFlower14—Happy Belated Birthday!
Miss_Padfoot003—Thanks so much. Hope you like this chapter.
HPBeatles—Thanks.
Sofy—Thanks. What did you mean by "How often you actualized it?" I update at least once a week when I'm able but it mostly depends on homework and my muse.
BlackBishop—Hehe. The point of it isn't even for the Slytherins and everybody to become friends (though I'm sure the Hat wants it to happen) they just need to act civil to each other.
DarkLuna—Thanks.
Jbfritz—Thanks.
Zeromaru: Chaos Mode—Look at it this way: it's a prophecy, whatever will happen has kind of already been decided. If Harry backs out, it was meant to happen that way, wasn't it? I dunno if I'd call Dumbledore evil. He's concerned. He's trying to do the right thing (though whether he is or not, I don't know).
Phoenixdreams—Thanks.
Athenakitty—Yes, Dumbledore is tired of their fighting and so are all the teachers. The Hat is very enlightening to them about the Founders. As for whether or not they'll get their badges back, only time will tell.
ILOVETOWRITE456—Thanks.
Kraeg001—Thanks. I'm starting to love that Hat. I think he should have a bigger role in the books.
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CHAPTER 65: Let the Healing Begin
Harry stuck his brush in the paint remover and applied the brush to the wall.
"What's Dumbledore playing at? He can't just take away our badges! We earned them," Ron said, angrily scraping glue off wall.
"I'm not rooming with any bloody Slytherins!" Hermione said angrily. She was on top of the stepstool taking care of some of the higher up paint.
Ron and Harry were shocked at hearing such language from her.
Ron said, "I don't mean to sound braggy or anything but the three of us are Dumbledore's favorites. We all know he plays favorites. He wouldn't do anything that horrible to us. He won't."
"He could, he would, and he will, if I know anything about his nature. He wants to see the houses cooperate. He things putting us all in close quarters will force some bond of friendship, but it won't!" She stamped her foot angrily on the last word and lost her balance. She started to fall backwards. As quick as Harry's Quiditch skills and reactions were, this time Ron was quicker. He was there in a flash and caught Hermione in his arms. His knees buckled only a little at her initial drop and now she clung to him with her arms around his neck.
"Shouldn't you be working?" asked a voice.
"Yes, Professor." They gritted their teeth. What could Snape possibly want?
"I word of advice, the quicker you learn to place nice with the other houses, the quicker your lives can get back to normal around here." He moved off after a sneer (though it was possible is advice was sincere for once). Ron and Hermione glared at Snape's retreating back and Ron set Hermione gently on her feet.
"He's probably right," Harry muttered darkly. "I wonder if our favorite Headmaster sent him to us?"
As they worked, Dobby passed by several times to check their progress and moved them down to another corridor when they finished that one. After several hours of work, Dobby led them to a room and told them to wait outside of it and warned them not to touch anything while he got the others. Ron, ever curious, tried to open the door and received a minor electric shock for his attempt. He scowled at the doorknob viciously.
When Dobby came with the next three (2 Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw) he reproached Ron, "Dobby told Mr. Weezy not to touch the doorknob."
Ron shrugged and looked embarrassed. How had Dobby known?
When everyone was there, they went inside. The room was bare except for a wooden crate and a table and chairs. The table was circular with seating for 26 and a delicious array of food assembled on it. The catch was that there were place cards at every setting. Harry found himself seated with Luna on one side and Pansy on his other side. On Luna's other side was Draco.
With sudden clarity Harry determined Luna's significance in the entire scheme. She was there to act as the peacemaker and to be the mediator among the quarreling students. And she was supposed to do it in such a manner that made it seem as though she wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Tricky, but certainly something Luna was well suited for. Harry wondered whether this setup was her idea or Dumbledore's. It had to be Dumbledore. It was just his sort of style too.
Draco reached for a drumstick, but a stern voice said, "Remove your hand."
Harry looked and saw Professor McGonagall standing behind Draco. "Do not eat yet," she said icily. "Well, everyone, take out your wands and place them on the table."
Colin, seated next to Ginny who was next to Draco, opened his mouth to say that he didn't bring his. He clearly had an idea about what McGonagall wanted and he was unwilling to cooperate.
"And don't say you didn't bring it," she said sternly. "As if any of you troublemakers have gone anywhere this week without your wand close at hand."
Grudgingly, every last one of them (Colin included) put their wand on the tabletop.
Professor McGonagall picked up Colin's wand. He started to protest, but she simply moved on and picked up Ginny's wand, then Draco's, and so forth all the way around the table. When she had 26 wands clutched in her fists she put them in the crate in the corner. She locked it. "Now, you may enjoy your dinner." She departed, confident that worst they could do now would be get a couple of punches in. Although she supposed they could always stab each other with forks. At least they couldn't hex each other.
The meal was quiet. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws talked to each other, pointedly ignoring the Slytherins. Ginny and Colin talked, ignoring Draco. Ron and the Hufflepuff Quiditch captain talked, ignoring the Slytherin prefects on either side of them. Luna attempted to include Draco and Pansy on the conversation in her dreamy abstract manner. Draco and Pansy both pointedly ignored her and ate in silence though Luna kept up the chatter anyway and Harry sometimes made comments to her.
When they had all finished eating, Professor Flitwick came for them. He hustled them down a corridor that was only vaguely familiar to Harry and read names off a list. Five people, Ron among them, were sent away into the room he stood in front of. The door shut before the others could see inside. Flitwick led them to the next room and called five more names. When they were at the fourth room he called 6 names. When they got to the fifth room, there were only 5 people left. Despite that obviously all of these people would be going in the same room, Flitwick read the names anyway, "Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Terry Boot, and Ernie Macmillan."
Harry had seen this coming. Of course he and Draco would be paired together and of course Luna would be with them to keep the peace. Harry and the others went inside. The room was empty. T stone walls, floor, and ceiling were all bare with nothing anywhere. There was no window and the only door was the one they entered by. Flitwick shut the door quickly and the five of them knew for certain that he had locked it.
"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Terry.
"I think we're supposed to stay here and try not to kill each other," Harry said.
Malfoy looked disgusted, "I suppose it could be worse. I could be stuck with the Mudblood or more of you annoying goody-goody Gryffindors."
"How long do you expect we'll be kept here?" asked Ernie.
"Until we can sort out our differences would be my guess," Terry replied.
"Fat chance of that. What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" asked Ernie.
"I think the fact that there are no distractions mean we're supposed to talk. I'm not feeling very chatty. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when they come for us." Terry lie down on his side, tucked his arm under his head, and went to sleep peacefully.
"It's too early to sleep." Ernie paced back and forward. The rooms were rather small for classrooms (if they'd ever been used for classrooms) so 8 paces and he had to turn around and pace the other direction.
Harry couldn't stand the pacing and thought Terry had the right idea. If they weren't conscious, none of this could bother him.
Harry stood in the opposite corner from Malfoy. They glared at each other. Luna sat in the center of the room and hummed to herself.
Harry thought he would go crazy. Luna hummed. Ernie paced. Terry snored. He and Malfoy glared. His feet were starting to hurt, but he'd stand all night before showing any weakness in front of Malfoy. Things continued this way for an hour.
Finally Malfoy broke eye contact. He stormed up to Luna and grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to her feet, shouting, "Stop that infernal humming!"
She smiled placidly at him for a moment, oblivious to the fact that he was threatening her. She took up her humming right where she left off.
Harry at last recognized the tune. It was the song she'd song to him after the D.A. meeting when he'd felt so helpless in regards to getting through to people. Harry was not just going to stand there and watch Malfoy threaten his girlfriend. "Malfoy, if you've got a fight to pick, leave Luna out of it." He stalked up to him.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
Draco let go of Luna as Harry gave him a good shove. Malfoy tumbled to the floor. He was in a rage and got up and started at Harry. Harry was used to guys much bigger than Malfoy beating him up. Things were a little different when you were fighting a guy who was your size and it was more or less a fair fight rather than trying to outrun bullies who wanted to hold your arms behind your back while they took turns hitting you. They traded blows and blocks until Luna suddenly stepped forward and held them both firmly at arms distance. Luna didn't seem to be exerting any great effort but despite Malfoy's struggles, he couldn't get any closer.
Ernie had stopped his pacing to watch with interest. Terry pretended to sleep and watched through half-closed eyes. They watched with interest.
Luna put her arms around Draco (Draco shuddered with a look of disgust but couldn't take his eyes from hers) and Harry's necks and brought them over to the wall. With one hand each she pinned them to the wall not hard, but with some sort of mysterious power she held them there. She managed to stare into the eyes of both at once. All the while, she still hummed. Her hands shifted and she wasn't pinning them, she'd grabbed a handful of robes from each of them and pulled them to the ground until the boys were sitting against the wall almost side by side. She sat in front of the two of them and started singing. She didn't sing the song she'd been humming; instead she chose another song.
"The
moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little pray for you
While combing my hair, now,
And wondering what dress to wear, now,
I say a little pray for you
"Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, and ever, we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.
"I run for the bus, dear,
While riding I think of us, dear,
I say a little pray for you.
At work I just take time
And all through my coffee break-time,
I say a little pray for you.
"Forever, and ever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.
"My darling, believe me,
For me there is no one
But you."
As Luna's song ended, so did her power over the four boys in the room (Ernie and Terry hadn't moved since she started to singing). It wasn't so much the words of her song that had kept them enchanted, just the tone of her lilting voice. But now it was over.
Draco turned his eyes to the floor. "Keep away from me."
"Why?" she asked, pure Luna innocence.
"Because I said so. And I'm a Malfoy." He said it as though being a Malfoy made him royalty.
"Not that it matters, but most of us here are purebloods. Why should being a Malfoy make you special?"
"You're a pureblood too?" he scoffed. "So it's everybody but scar-head," he sneered.
"Look at me," she said, a hint of command in her voice.
He ignored her.
"I said look at me."
Slowly, reluctantly, Draco raised his head. He held Luna's stare defiantly.
She spoke slowly and softly, but everyone in the room heard it. "You are no better and no worse than Terry, Ernie, Harry, or me, no matter what blood runs in your veins. We're equal, you understand?"
Draco looked like he desperately wanted to tear is eyes away from hers, but he couldn't.
Harry knew the feeling. Luna had an overpowering personality when she let it show. If she didn't want you to look away, you couldn't even blink. Harry didn't know what it was, but something about her commanded the utmost respect, even when she used to wear radishes in her ears and Butterbeer caps around her neck. Harry blinked. Why hadn't he noticed sooner? For the first time since he'd given them to her, Luna wasn't wearing the stars and moon jewelry. Her hair wasn't the shiny and nicely combed hair that it had been since the first time they'd been to Hogsmeade together. It was wavy and straggly. She was the very epitome of "crazy Loony Lovegood" as Harry had first seen her last year on the train, except that at the moment there was no wand tucked behind her ear and no strange magazine upside-down in her hands.
Luna was persistent. "I asked you a question. You'd better answer me. Do you understand?"
Draco's face was a mask of pure unadulterated hatred. "No," he hissed.
"We'll just have to fix that," she said softly. She stood up, and Draco was forced to still hold her gaze from his place on the floor. At last, she broke eye contact.
"Terry, come here," it was her dreamy, far-off voice, but there was still a slight note of command. He came forward a few steps. "Come here." He moved close enough so that if she could reach out her hand, she could touch him. She did. She reached out her hand and pulled him by his arm back to the wall where Draco and Harry were still sitting. She made him stand very close to where Draco was sitting. "Ernie," she said softly, turning back around.
Ernie looked at her warily and Harry couldn't blame him. Few people had ever seen Luna in one of these moods.
"Ernie, come here."
He came forward with reluctance and was placed next to Harry.
She looked at the four of them. Harry and Draco had not moved from their spots on the floor. She reached out a hand to each of them and helped them to their feet, Draco loath to let her touch him again.
She paced back and forward in front of the four of them. "You boys really need to learn to get along. You have much more in common than you think. Selfishness. Vanity. Shyness. Arrogance. Different qualities that each of you share."
"I'm not like him at all!" Harry and Draco both shouted at her.
"It's not polite to shout at people, Harry, Draco," she said as if talking to six year olds.
"I will not be talked down to!" Malfoy said, he pulled back his arm, ready to punch her.
She grabbed his fist and stayed it, staring straight into his eyes. "That's not nice either, Draco. It's not the fact that you're hitting a girl that's the problem. It's the fact that you're hitting anyone that disturbs me. It's not polite."
He sneered at her.
In the blink of an eye, she was pulling him across the room by his ear.
Draco gritted his teeth and refused to scream, no matter how bad the pain in his ear was.
She made him stand in the corner, facing the wall. "Stay there until I say you can leave. By the way, you don't have a choice in the matter. If I say you're not going anywhere, you're not."
He seemed unable to move.
Harry laughed. Nice to see Draco was being punished.
Luna heard his laugh and sent a dagger-like glare at him.
Harry quickly shut up. Now was clearly not the time to provoke her.
But it was too late, she had heard him and it was too late for him to do anything about it. She crossed to his side of the room and took him by the ear just as she'd done with Draco.
Harry gritted his teeth. This hurts. But there's no way I'm going to let MalFerret know. I can outlast that bloody Slytherin at anything.
She put him in the corner across from Draco's and gave him the same speech. "Stay there until I say you can leave. By the way, you don't have a choice in the matter. If I say you're not going anywhere, you're not."
Terry and Ernie were careful not to make a single sound.
Luna stood in the center of the room. "As you can see, if someone acts like a little boy, they will be treated like a little boy. If things get worse, I believe I will have to find timeout stools. The little ones smaller even than the sorting stool. Maybe painted bright pinked with the letters, 'You're in trouble' painted on them in a dark gray. Can you too behave yourselves in a discussion group?"
There was no way Terry and Ernie were going to disagree with her. Not after all she'd done so far. Why was she so unlike the Luna she normally was?
Harry stood in the corner facing the wall. So this was what it was all about. Luna was there to teach them to get along. How was she doing it though? Harry knew that his feet couldn't move if he tried and he didn't think it'd be a good idea to try. Was it just her overwhelming Luna-ness that had this affect on them all? No, he didn't think so. But then what was it?
Ever since he'd really gotten to know her this year, Luna had seemed special and different, but what was up with this? One minute singing sweetly enough to charm Draco Malfoy himself and the next dragging the boys to separate corners by their ears. Four boys, four corners. She could get them all if they misbehaved. Harry couldn't even remember having this sort of punishment as a child. He'd always just been locked in his cupboard instead.
He wondered what to do. There was no telling how long they'd be locked in here together. Maybe if the others were distracted, he could try to talk some sense into her. The youngest one there and she was completely in charge. He wondered if this was part of her deal with Dumbledore. His words echoed back now, "Miss Lovegood already has her instructions."
Of course it was part of her deal. Why was she wearing her old jewelry instead of what he'd bought her? And why wasn't her hair properly brushed? Maybe she went back to her old self to avoid any though of favoritism. No, that didn't sound like her. Anything she did she did for her reasons alone, not because of what anybody else would think.
Harry had probably been standing there half an hour, half-listening to Luna chatting with Terry and Ernie. He felt something change. She raised her voice, "Harry, Draco, if you feel you can behave yourselves now, you may come join our circle."
Harry and Draco both started back to the center of the floor at the same time, both feeling equally humiliated. "You do not have leave to call me by my first name," Draco said stiffly.
"Sit, Draco," she said pleasantly. "Oh, and, Ernie, if one word comes out of your mouth, you'll be sent off to that corner over there." She tilted her head slightly and Ernie bit back the sharp comment that Harry saw had been about to come from his mouth.
Draco and Harry sat cross-legged on either side of Luna. "Now the healing can begin," she said pleasantly. "Time for everyone to state everyone else's faults and talents."
Draco snorted. "I'm not going to—"
"Draco, and I don't need your leave to call you by your name; we're all equals here. This room has been enchanted by powerful magic. You an only speak words that are true. Words that are unkind will earn you a timeout." She smiled dreamily, "Who first?"
By now, the other boys had recognized that the dreamier Luna looked, the more attention she was really paying.
No one volunteered.
"Harry, first then. Terry, I want you to tell Harry one fault he has."
"Sometimes, he doesn't think before he acts and it gets him into trouble."
"Ernie, one fault that Harry has."
"He's cocky. He thinks he's best Quiditch player at the school." He was remembering the game when Cedric had beaten Harry; Ernie obviously felt that since he was not undefeated (the circumstances didn't matter) Harry was not the best.
"Draco, one fault that Harry has."
Draco grinned. "He's…" He had to think for a moment. He always had plenty of insults for Potter, why was this so hard now? Reckless and arrogant had already been used. Being famous didn't count as a personality fault and Potter wasn't stupid. "He's illogical. Some things he does have no logic or reason behind him."
"I suppose that is a flaw, though it seems like something a Ravenclaw would say rather than a Slytherin. Did the Hat ever consider putting you there?"
He was silent but looked at her defiantly. Then he said in a low voice, "I'm a Slytherin through and through. You remember that."
She nodded. She looked Harry in the eyes when she said, "I'd have to say one of Harry's flaws is that he almost never takes advice when it's given to him." She released his gaze, "Terry next. Harry, what is one of Terry's flaws?"
"He's afraid. He draws beautiful pictures but he doesn't show them to people and when he does, he doesn't let them know that they're his. He's worried about what other people will think, when he shouldn't bother worrying about that at all."
"Ernie, name one of Terry's faults."
"He's too shy. He needs to be more outgoing."
"Draco, name one of Terry's flaws."
"He's too quiet. I never trust the quiet ones."
"You've never seemed to be much of a talker yourself, Draco." She turned her eyes to her housemate, "One of Terry's faults is that he is too logical. He lacks confidence in his work, in his emotional side, and so he resorts to cold logic." She dropped Terry's gaze, "Ernie next. Harry, what is one of Ernie's faults?"
"He's pompous. He makes a big show of everything and thinks it's great that way."
"Terry, name one of Ernie's faults."
"He's bossy."
"Draco, what's one of Ernie's faults?"
"He's a liar. He acts brave sometimes when it's really all bravado."
She turned to Ernie and looked him in the eyes. "One of Ernie's faults is that he's arrogant. Nearly the same thing as pompous, but different too." She dropped his gaze and turned to Malfoy. "Draco next. Harry, you first."
Harry tried not to grin, knowing that it would cause her to get angry again. MalFerret had so many faults it would be impossible to choose! "He's a snob. An absolute prat. Thinks he's better than everybody else."
"Terry, what is one of Draco's flaws?"
"He bullies people. He's not even a fair bully, he usually gets somebody else to do his fighting for him and picks on weaker people."
"Ernie, name one Draco's faults."
"He's an elitist. He's prejudice against anybody who's not a pureblood or who doesn't believe purebloods are better than everybody else.
She looked him squarely in the eyes. "Draco's problem is that he's afraid to be afraid and afraid of what people would think if they knew the real him. He has fears he'd never admit."
Draco's cheeks tinged the slightest pink. She had obviously hit a nerve.
"Now, we're going to name a good personality trait or a virtue and a talent of everyone's. Harry first. Terry, one virtue, one talent."
"Patience, like if he's trying to teach somebody something. A talent? He learns spells really fast and can react quick too if somebody uses a spell against him."
"Ernie."
"Harry's brave. Talent…he knows how to make friends."
"Draco."
Draco scowled. He hated Potter with all his guts but he knew he wasn't stupid or useless. Why did he have to join the goody-goods? Potter would have done well in Slytherin. "He's not stupid and he can fly bloody well at Quiditch," he muttered.
"I couldn't hear you, Draco."
"I said he's got brains and he knows how to play Quiditch, Lovegood. Don't make me repeat myself."
"My name is Luna. One of Harry's virtues is his love and commitment to helping others. One of is talents is knowing when to be quiet, most of the time."
Harry scowled at her. "Knowing when to shut-up is not a talent!"
"Yes, it is. Obviously one you're lacking at the moment," she said complacently. "Besides, would you rather me have said your talent was that you're good at kissing?"
Harry turned red and started muttering under his breath. The others succeeded, with great difficulty, at not laughing at him.
They went through Terry and Ernie's virtues and talents. Then, only Malfoy was left.
"Harry, name one of Draco's virtues and one of his talents."
This was not so much fun. What was the git good at anyway? "Er, leadership. He can take control of a group."
"And a talent?"
"He…er…always dresses neatly. He never wears wrinkled robes or anything always has his hair combed."
Luna nodded. Good enough. "Draco's virtue is his self-respect; he knows who he is and likes who he is. His talent is his quick wit. He's very good with comebacks."
"Did it just occur to anybody that there's light in this room and there's no source for it?" asked Terry.
"Yeah, I just realized that too." The room was fairly well lit without any apparent light source.
"Do you know why that is, o wise one?" asked Draco sarcastically to Luna.
"Sarcasm will not get you anywhere in life, Draco." She stood up and hauled him off to his corner by his ear. She made him face the wall on his knees holding his hands back behind his head. "Stay there." She sat gracefully back down in her place in the circle. "I think we should play a game."
"Like what?" Harry asked, trying not to sound sarcastic, although he didn't see how they could play any sort of game without anything in the room.
"Twenty questions. I spy. Guess that tune. All sorts of things," she replied.
Ernie said sarcastically, "Great. And if we had a bottle we could play spin the bottle. You could spin and whoever it landed on gets to kiss you."
Luna grabbed him by the ear and hauled him to his feet, "That is impertinent. It will not be tolerated." She dragged him to another corner.
He started to go down on his knees like Draco.
"Get up."
"What?"
"Draco has to stay that way because it was his second offence. This is your first. You're allowed to stand up." She went back to the circle. "Let's play 'guess that tune'." She started humming and over the course of ten minutes, Harry and Terry guessed 3 out of the 15 songs she started to hum. By then she called, "Draco, Ernie, you may come back now if you're willing to cooperate.
The came back, not looking at all pleased. Draco tried not to rub his sore arms or knees. He refused to show weakness in front of Potter.
Suddenly the light in the room dimmed and went out. They were in pitch-black darkness. Harry immediately searched for Luna and found her hand. "Luna?" he whispered.
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Disclaimer #2: I don't own that Aretha Franklin song I used.
You might think Luna was a little off in this chapter, but this is kind of the side of her that most people don't see in her very often. The commanding, controlling side that Harry noticed during his Occlumency and Legilimency lessons alone with her. As for her special powers in that room it's mostly because she's Luna and she's awesome. Further explanation will probably come in a later chapter.
Longish chapter! Review please. Let me know what you think of it by pressing the little Review button at the bottom. I'll try and get the next chapter up real soon but I've got to work on some neglected fics.