Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Don't sue!!!
A/N: Once again, at the bottom!!!!
Chapter 6: Can You Help Me?
Harry sat up in bed with a start, sweat running down his face. Of course it had been a dream. He had been with his friends, so it had to be a dream. Any time lately that he had been with his best friends was in a dream. It was so cliché, of course it had to be like that.
Harry glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It read 3:30 a.m. Knowing that attempting to get back to sleep would be pointless, he rolled out of bed, pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt, and headed down into the common room. He sat in a chair next to the fire, which was now nothing more than a pile of glowing red embers. He stared into the hearth for a moment, remembering this time about two years ago, when he had sat in this very spot and spoken to Sirius's head in the fire. A lump formed in his throat. Tearing his gaze away from the fire, he stood up, retrieved his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk, and headed for the kitchens.
He made his way leisurely through the halls, enjoying the loneliness. For once there wasn't anyone skirting around him as if he were going to burst into flames. No students in the hall to see him pass and whisper feverishly to their friends behind their hands. No groups of three or four walking around, laughing and talking and making Harry burn with longing.
So intent was he on reaching his destination, and so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't notice the other person coming toward him until he ran smack into them, and they both ended up on the floor. Harry sat up quickly, and, after making sure that the cloak was still covering him completely, looked around to see who he had plowed over. He looked right into the misty blue-grey eyes of Luna Lovegood, who, of course, could not see him. She was glancing all around her nervously, trying to figure out what had knocked her down. Harry smiled slightly and stood up.
"Hey, Luna," he greeted her. She stood up quickly, pulling out her wand and whirling in all directions.
"Who's there?" she demanded. Harry backed up, confused at her behavior. Then he realized. She couldn't see him. He mentally banged his head against the wall at his own stupidness. He pulled off the cloak and moved toward her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she spun around, pointing her wand at his chest. She relaxed when she saw who it was.
"Oh, Harry, it's just you," she said, sighing in relief. "I thought it was some crazy ghost stalker or something."
"How do you expect to curse a ghost?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows and looking down at her wand. Luna blushed and shoved her wand back into her robes.
"Well, with all that's going on, do you blame me?" she said defensively. Harry smiled sadly.
"Of course not," he told her. "I was just on my way to the kitchens. I couldn't sleep. Care to join me?" he asked, offering her his arm. She grinned and laced her own arm through his.
"I would be honored," she said, smiling slightly. Harry led her the rest of the way down the corridor until they reached the painting of a giant fruit bowl. He glanced at Luna.
"Do you know how to get in?" he asked her. She shook her head. Harry grinned. "Ha ha, I do." Luna narrowed her eyes and playfully slapped him on the chest. Harry reached up and tickled the pear, causing it to squirm and turn into a giant green door handle. With a pang, Harry remembered how it was Hermione that showed him and Ron how to get into the kitchens in the first place. He shook off the negative thoughts and led Luna inside.
The two of them were immediately greeted by dozens of bowing house-elves, all of them jostling each other with their small elbows, trying to serve Harry and Luna before their neighbors. One tiny brown elf won, however, and pushed his way to the front. He looked up into Harry's face, and Harry had just enough time to register the large, green, tennis ball-sized orbs that belonged to Dobby before the elf had thrown himself around Harry's knees.
"Harry Potter, sir!" the elf squealed, hugging Harry so tightly that Harry was sure that his kneecaps were going to shatter. "It has been so long since Dobby has seen Harry Potter! What is you doing down here so late at night?" Dobby looked up again, and, to Harry's great relief, released his grip on Harry's legs. Harry smiled down at Dobby.
"Hello, Dobby," he said pleasantly. "I was just hungry, so I came down to see if I could get something to eat." Dobby beamed.
"Of course Harry Potter can get something to eat!" he exclaimed brightly. His luminous eyes turned on Luna, who was hiding behind Harry, and his smile faded a bit. "Who has Harry Potter brought with him?" he questioned. Harry turned and pulled Luna up next to him.
"Dobby, this is my friend Luna Lovegood," Harry said. "I don't think you've ever met her before, but I invited her to come down here with me. I hope that's okay."
Dobby's large smile returned. "Of course it is okay with Dobby. Any friend of Harry Potter is a friend of Dobby!" Dobby looked around, as if he were searching for something. "But where is Harry Potter's other friends? Ron Weasley and Miss Granger?" Harry's smile disappeared. Apparently, the elves had not been kept up-to-date on the goings-on of the castle.
"They're not here, Dobby," Harry said quietly. "I don't think you'll see them down here with me anymore." Dobby seemed to realize that he had upset Harry somehow, because he shut up and scurried off to get Harry the food he had asked for. Luna glanced quizzically at Harry, who smiled slightly in return
"That's Dobby," he said, answering her unasked question. "He used to be the Malfoy's house-elf, but then I 'accidentally' set him free. Now he worships me like some kind of hero or something. He's really nice, though, and really helpful. He helped me get through the second task in the Triwizard Tournament back in fourth year, remember that?" Luna nodded. "I wouldn't have been able to survive in the lake without him and his gillyweed…" Harry trialed off, lost in his memories. Luna nudged him in the arm and brought him back to the present. Harry suddenly felt a tug on the bottom of his shirt.
"Dobby has Harry Potter's food, sir!" the elf exclaimed. "This way!" Dobby grabbed Harry's hand and practically dragged him down to the other end of the kitchen, Luna only just managing to keep up. Dobby shoved Harry down into a chair at a small table that had been set up, and Luna, completely out of breath, sat down across from him. Dobby scuttled out of the way, and around a dozen other elves bustled up carrying a tray loaded with food. They placed the tray down in front of Harry and Luna and ran back to their duties. Dobby, however, stayed right at Harry's elbow, watching him eat with shining eyes. Harry glanced down at him.
"Um, Dobby? Do you think you could…I don't know…leave us alone for a bit?" Harry asked. Dobby nodded fervently and ran off. Harry sighed and turned back to Luna, who was still trying to catch her breath.
"Fast little bugger, isn't he?" she gasped. Harry gave a small chuckle.
"Yeah, he is," he agreed. "But don't ever let him try to save your life," he cautioned her. "You might not live through it." Luna giggled, though she looked a little confused. Harry looked at her.
"So, what were you doing out this late?" he asked the girl. She sat back in her chair and sighed.
"The girls in my dorm were up practically all night, gossiping," she said. "I guess they thought I was asleep or something, I don't know, but I heard them talking, and they were talking about me. I got fed up with it, so I left. I was just going for a walk; I didn't really have a destination in mind. Just aimless wandering. You?"
It was Harry's turn to sight. "Well, I was asleep, for a short period of time. But then I had a dream, or I guess you could call it a nightmare if you wanted to. But it was about me, and being with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, just like old times. It wasn't a memory, because I hadn't ever done any of those things that I saw before. You know?" Harry then proceeded to tell her about the other dreams that he had had. Luna looked vaguely thoughtful the whole time.
Finally, Harry got to the part in his latest dream, when Hermione gave him an idea of what was possibly happening to him. "And in the dream, Hermione thought that Voldemort is trying to control my thoughts, and making me think that this is all real, and that the dreams are just dreams. She seems to think that this is all a dream, so what we're doing right now, sitting here talking, is just me in my dream dreaming. Does that make any sense at all?"
"No, not really," Luna said, shaking her head. "But I think I kind of see what you're getting at. You think that Voldemort is controlling your mind, so that this right now is just a dream, and Ron isn't really…dead, and Ginny is speaking to you, and Hermione didn't run off with Malfoy, but he wants you to think that it's real, and that your actual real life is just a dream. Right?"
Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah, that sounds about right," he said thoughtfully. "But I don't know how it's happening, or how I'm going to figure out if that is what's happening, or how I'm supposed to stop if from happening. What do you think?"
Luna shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have to say that I have absolutely no idea. But don't worry, Harry, we'll figure something out. I promise."
Harry smiled. "Thanks a ton, Luna. It really means a lot to me that you're going to help." Luna's eyes widened.
"I didn't say that!" she exclaimed. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Luna giggled. "I'm just kidding, honestly, Harry. Calm down!" Harry closed his mouth and smiled at her. Luna stood up and held out her hand to him. "Come on, we should be getting back to our dorms." Harry took her hand and stood up.
"I have a better idea," Harry said. "It's almost morning anyways, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be able to sleep again. So let's just go down to the lake and watch the sun rise." Luna smiled.
"That's a great idea!" she said brightly. "Come on, let's go!" She ran out of the kitchens, dragging Harry behind her.
They arrived at the lake and Harry led her around to his favorite spot under a weeping willow tree. It's long, drooping branches reached way out over the lake, and sitting back against it's trunk provided a beautiful view of the eastern sky, while also providing an excellent hideaway from prying eyes. Harry settled down underneath it, laying back and looking up at the sky. Luna sat down next to him.
"This is great, Harry!" she cried. "How did you figure this place out?" Harry winked at her.
"Well, Luna, being the Boy-Who-Lived can be a bit trying at times, especially when my fan clubs are chasing me around, asking if they can have my socks." Luna giggled and Harry smirked. "No, actually, I usually came here when Ron and Hermione would start arguing…again…and I'd hide out until they came looking for me. They knew about it, but I don't think anyone else did. It's my little getaway from the trials of the world."
"It's beautiful," Luna commented softly. She lay down next to Harry and closed her eyes. "It's so peaceful, too. I could just fall asleep right here." She lay in silence for a few moments, and soon her breathing evened out, and Harry knew that she was indeed asleep. He closed his eyes as well. Luna was right, this was peaceful.
Harry felt the tendrils of sleep tugging at his mind, and he gave way to them, falling into a gentle slumber. And that was where Draco Malfoy found him, right there under the willow tree by the lake, side-by-side with Luna Lovegood.
A/N: Whew, sixth chapter done! Finally! I guess you could call this a cliffy if you want to, but I really don't think it is one, because they're not really going to be confronted about it by Draco. It's more of just an ending to a chapter, and now Draco has something on Harry and Luna, even though he doesn't really have anything at all, he just thinks he does. I know, I'm confusing myself too. LOL!!
Anyways, I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've last updated. The FanFiction site is being upgraded again, so it won't let me log on to review or update or anything. And also I've been really busy. I'm doing horrible in Biology, so I've been studying to get my grade back up. And finals are at the end of this week, so I'm studying for those as well. And I don't have a study hall this semester, so I can't study during that time. I have to study at home. But I will have a study hall next semester, so when I'm not doing homework in there, I'm going to be writing new chapters for my stories. So I'll be updating much faster in the next few weeks.
I'm also in the process of writing a new story, called "Life's Funny That Way." It's a Lily and James story, all about their time at Hogwarts. I know, so many people have done it, but I'm doing it in kind of a different style, one I have seen in a few other stories, but not any Lily-James stories. I'm not quite finished with the first chapter, but it's still not going to be up for a while. I'm going to be putting it up in 2 chapter intervals, so I still have to write the second chapter, as well as finish up the first one. It might be a few weeks, because as I said before, finals and everything.
Oh, and I finally got a review for "Living a Charmed Life." So I'm going to be working on updating that one as well, but I don't know when it will be up. I'm really stuck on "And Then the Wheels Came Off", and I really need some help on that one. So, if you have any ideas for pranks, any at all, PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME!!!!! You can email me, or send it in a review, or even IM me if you want to (my sn is short tinny613), but please, GIVE ME IDEAS!!!! I'm also in the process of writing a new chapter for "So Yesterday," but I'm not getting as many reviews for that one as I would have liked. So, please, read the rest of my stories, and don't forget to REVIEW!!!!!!!
