Disclaimer: Check first chapter for full disclaimer and other warnings.

Chapter 32 – Thou Shalt Kiss And Learn

To reach home, Luna took another train toward Cardiff, and found an empty compartment rather easily. Once the train left the station, Harry turned back into himself, and they spent the afternoon ride talking about their families. Harry learnt that Luna's mother was a muggle, and that she had been dead for several years, now. He also learnt that her father was directing the wizarding magazine The Quibbler. Speaking in depth with her, he came to realize that her dreamy attitude was a carefully designed appearance. She had certain weird comments, but the faraway looks and general forgetfulness were designed to keep people at bay. Harry wasn't a psychiatrist, but he could note that Luna had never coped well with her mother's disappearance.

Once the train pulled over at the station, he vowed to himself that he would respect Luna's confidence, and not talk about his findings to anyone. Well, except Ron, but he surely already knew.

When Harry saw her father, he instantly recognized the trademark way of dealing with things. If that was possible, Elijah Lovegood had taken his wife's death worse than Luna, and his journal had plunged with him in a placid folly. There were still buyers, but less than before. However, Luna had shown Harry the edition speaking about his death, and Mr Lovegood's recounting of the "events" hadn't been that far from the actual truth.

Of course, nobody had believed him.

Harry thanked him for his warm welcome, and helped Luna hauling her trunk in her room. There, Luna plopped on her bed.

"Here we are, Harry."

"Yes." he answered uncertainly. "Here we are. What do you want to do?"

"I think I should guide you half a day each week, and the rest of the time, you'll practise by yourself. If you have questions, you will ask them in our meetings. Unless they're urgent, but you know how to owl, right?" she asked with a smile.

"Okay. We start now?"

"Yes. But before, you should add... well... this corner, there, to your set of destinations."

"Speaking about this, we could spend our time in the hideaway itself. Did I tell you about its properties regarding time?"

"I don't remember."

"Well, for each hour we'd spend there, only fifteen minutes would have passed here."

"Interesting... I guess we could make use of that. However... is it grounded in a way or another?"

"Well... I don't know."

"Try to find that information quickly, because without it, you can't really practise in it."

"Okay."

"However, we can go there today, as I don't think that you'll use much power in the first lessons."

He then walked to the previously indicated corner, and she looked at him curiously while he whispered the according words. Once the corner was registered as "house of crumple-horned snorksacks", he went back to her with an apologetic smile.

"I have to find unique names for each places, and ones I won't use in regular conversation, you know."

She shrugged. "Why wouldn't you use crumple-horned snorksacks in conversation? They are very important creatures for the ecology of the fjords, I'll have you know."

He looked at her for a moment, before remembering that a great deal of knowledge had been pressed unto her by her lunatic father. He sighed, before taking her hand and uttering the activation word for his hideaway.

After Luna's customary exploration of the place, he engaged the conversation on the proper track. "I read your book, but I couldn't practise what it said."

She smirked. Luna smirking was quite an unusual sight, and he felt... strange. "It's normal." she said, after having recovered her usual facial expression. "I didn't include the exercises." She lost her smile, and absentmindedly twirled her wand in her hair. "I need to be there, so that you wouldn't cause damage around you." Looking up, she added "Unless you own a grounded metal cube in which you can practise?"

At his shake of the head, she continued. "I thought so. Now, there are several fields we need to train you on. The first is elemental attack and defence. The second is improved senses. The third, and most difficult one, is elemental travel."

"Wow." was all what Harry could muster.

Luna wasn't finished, though. "The booklet I gave you merely repeated more formally the things I already told you, with explanations about the theory behind it. Each time we will progress, I'll give you another. Now, sit, and concentrate."

He did so, while she reclined in her bed, still keeping eye contact with him.

"The elemental attack can be done by touch, at a distance, or through material. It depends on your element. I know that, for Air, the touch and distance attacks can suffocate someone. We can also use our utilities to levitate ourselves or others."

"I'm sorry... your... utilities?"

She giggled. "I forgot, didn't I?"

At his confused expression, she elaborated. "There are several powers which depend on the element. They are seldom used for anything else than utilitarian work, so they are called utilities. We Air elementals can gather air around us, allowing for underwater breathing, call forth a wind, or read minds, among other stuff. As it depends on the element, I don't know about your utilities. Perhaps it's a mix between Air and Fire, unless it's something entirely new. In fact, most utilities are mastered once you learn elemental Vision. This way, you can see the flow of your element around you, and change it."

Harry was barely following Luna, as an insidious little voice in his mind kept telling him that she was a loony. Something called for an explanation, though, and he interrupted her.

"Wait!" He thought about what she had just said, and asked "What does the mind have to do with Air?"

She took a deep breath, kept it for a second, and exhaled loudly. "I don't know. All Air elementals have a slight control on people's mind. Judging by my few experiments, it's linked to the fact that unguarded thoughts flow in the air. I didn't like the feeling, so, don't worry, I won't read your mind. There are other Air elementals, though, who are specialized in it. They are our Brigade of Secrecy."

"What do they do?"

"They are like the Wizarding Ministry Obliviators. Whenever a stray elemental burst is felt, they erase the memories of the witnesses. You know, this power over the mind also reflects in the elemental political system. Most politicians are Air elementals. Not because they can read others' thoughts, but because they are more able to hide them. Are you interested in this?"

Harry nodded. Tamara had told him vaguely about politics, once, but he had felt that it had been a sore topic. Luna being able to explain, he wanted to know.

She sat up, while continuing her speech. "Most elementals belong to the four elements. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Most elementals tend to share attributes with their elements, and it's the same in our politics. I could picture Earth elementals as athletic but slow, and they generally don't intervene in our political system. Water elementals are thorough in their actions but always changing opinions, which makes them difficult to follow at times. Fire elementals are easy-going but hot-tempered, and always challenge people around them. Air elementals are dreamy and focussed, and they hold most of the political power. Air is always challenged by Fire for the power and they tie fleeting alliances with Water, who themselves are strictly against Fire. Earth doesn't intervene. It's quite simple, in fact."

He looked at her pointedly. "The way you described them... these terms are opposites, Luna."

She smiled. "I know. Isn't it wonderful?" At his nonplussed look, she sighed. "Alright alright. Well... the opposites I spoke about are the two ends of the scale which is used by each element. It's a caricature, right? Anyways, it doesn't apply to you." She looked at him with a dreamy expression. "I never met a Lightning before. I wonder which scale applies. Air, Fire, both, or a whole new one?"

He looked uneasy, but his mind rebounded on something she said. "You said you never met a Lightning before, but... did you meet other... unusual elementals?"

"Well..." She blushed. "I said I didn't use my mind reading power... It's true, but... I used it to... feel others around me, especially at Hogwarts. Our rule of Secrecy forbids me to interact with them, though, and only when you repeatedly shocked people with Lightning was I forced to intervene."

"Wait a minute! You knew I was one? From the start?"

"Yes. And I just told you why I didn't tell you before. Now, if you want more information, you have to swear on your powers that you won't tell any Unoriented at all, and any Untrained without a good reason."

"Untrained?"

"Those who don't master their power. Like you were before. Now, do you swear or will I have to wipe your mind?" The sentence was uttered matter-of-factly, and Harry didn't know if that was loony Luna or the serious one speaking.

"I... I swear. Who are the others?"

"The first I noticed was the blond Slytherin, you know? The one you constantly bickered with... The name's Dragon, or something... He is a Cloud one."

"Wait a minute! You mean to say that Malfoy... Draco Malfoy... is an elemental? A Magius?"

"Yes. And a mixed element, like you."

"And..." Harry thought about it for several seconds, before looking up with a wide smile. "And that means he has to have at least an elemental in his family tree."

"Obviously."

"Elementals being seen as Muggles by wizards, that means he isn't as pureblood as he wanted us to believe."

"Probably."

Harry stood up and started to pace excitedly. "When I'll tell Ron, he'll be-"

"Harry?" called Luna, effectively interrupting Harry's pacing and ranting. "Your oath?"

He looked at her without seeming to understand, before realization dawned on him. He wasn't to speak with Ron about it. "Oh. Okay, right." he said, before slumping back on his chair.

"Besides," she continued, "Drago-"

"Draco."

"Whatever. Are you done correcting me?"

"Sorry."

"Well, then. First, DraCO doesn't know about it, and won't suspect anything before either someone trains him or he releases power accidentally like you did."

"Speaking of this, how did I do it?"

"Like accidental magic..." she started, before noticing Harry's impressed look. "What?"

"You know very much."

She snorted. "I'm a Ravenclaw, I'll have you know."

"True. Sorry. Go ahead."

"Like accidental magic, accidental elemental surges are directed by emotions. When you met Ginny, that one time in the Great Hall, and Ron told me about the alleyway too, you were obviously happy. More than that. If I might, I'd say you were in love."

Ignoring Harry's blush, she continued. "From the very thin cloud of stray thoughts around his head, I gathered that Draco had been raised strictly. Even the few anger scenes I witnessed, most of them directed against you, weren't completely genuine. In his case, it could be centuries before he releases an accidental surge." Noticing Harry's look, she amended "Well, figuratively speaking, of course. Like I thought Neville would do."

"Neville?"

"Yes. He's not shy anymore, is he?"

"Well, I didn't meet anyone apart our little group, so I don't really know."

"Well, he's not. Rumour has it that Snape healed his parents. After Voldemort's fall, twelve years ago, Death Eaters had subjected them to the Cruciatus for so long that they lost their mind. They woke up last summer."

"How do you know? Neville was my dorm mate and he never spoke about it."

"When it's the only thought gravitating around someone's head for a whole year, you can't prevent from picking it at one point. That's also why I acted gently with him during the trip back to London, last year."

Imagining the year he missed, Harry smirked. "If it's really Snape who healed them, Neville must have been quite angsty around him, no?"

"Actually, no. Ron told me that he thanked him during the first Defence period, embarrassing both of them to no end. Snape didn't take points and he even comforted him."

Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "I didn't know people had changed so much in a year. I always discover new things about... about everything." He stayed silent for a few seconds, before bringing the conversation back in its track. "So, what about Neville?"

"Neville is an Earth Magius. He hadn't been trained, but I guess that, with his parents around, he will come to it."

"No wonder about the element. He has always been good in Herbology."

Thinking back about what Luna had told him, Harry wasn't quite happy about people being able to read his mind. "Are there ways to block someone, to prevent your mind from being read?"

"Yes, there are, and they work against all the mind-related attacks, whether elemental or magical." she smiled. "The first one is to concentrate, but you can't concentrate all the time. You can also sort your thoughts before going to sleep, that'll help your subconscious to organize your mind, and that'll diminish the number of stray thoughts. Air elementals can build an Air bubble around their heads, impenetrable for thoughts in both ways. Or you can do it the wizards' way."

He looked up. "The wizards' way?"

"Yes. Wizards have dabbled in the mind for a long time already. Ron told me about Lockhart, so you already know about a spell to modify people's memory. There are other spells, as well as meditation techniques, to invade one's mind or to protect oneself."

"How... how do you know about that? Hermione has never talked about that, and she is always ahead in the curriculum."

"I got every possible documentation about wizard things related to my element before going to Hogwarts. And it is not on the curriculum, you wouldn't think that Hogwarts would teach people to invade each other's minds? Or teach them ways to circumvent the Ministry spells and potions? After two years in Hogwarts, though, I was happy to have read all of this, because I saw several people probing and invading others' head." She looked down suddenly and muttered "Nobody cared about mine, though."

Harry, however, wasn't going to let that conversation fall. "Who? Who does that? I don't want to be... probed or invaded."

She looked up, frowning in concentration. "I know there was Drag... Draco, during my first year. He was far, but I saw him use a spell on a first year Slytherin girl, and my elemental vision showed that he had completely overridden her thoughts processes."

"He obliviated her?"

"No. The Obliviate curse blanks parts of the memory. What he did was imposing his own will. I was too far to hear the incantation, though."

Harry reflected about what he knew, and his mind directed him toward the Unforgivables. He gasped. "He... he used the Imperius?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, before nodding. "You know? That could be possible."

"But... but... it's illegal! And Unforgivable! And... if he's not in the school anymore... is the girl still under his control?"

"I don't know. Apparently, judging from several press articles, he had isolated himself in his Manor and has even cut his Floo access."

"Did you see others? Other wizards probing others' mind?"

"Well, I shouldn't say this, but professor Snape did it a few times in the Potion class, during my first year. It mainly helped him to prevent accidents, I gather. He also does it in the Defence class, for the same goal it seems. And then there is professor Dumbledore."

"What about him?"

"I saw him discussing with people several times, and he was visibly reading their mind at the same time. Well... visibly for me."

Harry chuckled darkly. "I'd bet that the twinkling in his eyes is a way to draw people's attention so that he can read their minds more easily. Luna," he looked up, "this is the first thing I need to learn."

"I won't be able to teach you Occlumency. I'm an Air elemental, so I don't need it. Thus I didn't learn it."

"Occulmancy?"

"Occlumency. It's the wizards' way to build a shield around one's mind. I can lend you a book about it, though. It explains the techniques, and we can use some of our time with me testing your progress."

He smiled. "I'd like that. Thanks."

Luna coughed, then continued her teaching. "As I can't guide you very well despite your element having a part of mine, I'll start with the elemental Vision. Once you master it, everything will be easier."

They spent the few remaining hours before sunset with Luna introducing him to the theory and Harry concentrating hard. Unsuccessfully. Yet.

Afterwards, he brought her back home, thanked her, and used the ring to reach Diagon Alley. He had discussed with Ginny about the summer, and they had decided that, if he was going to arrive in the evening, he would hide himself under someone else's appearance. He spent several seconds reviewing in his mind who would be the most innocuous person, and the only face he came up with was Luna's. As he didn't know who was at the Weasleys' at the moment, she was the surest bet. He then used the surrounding darkness to concentrate, discreetly transforming his features into the Ravenclaw's. He then entered the Leaky Cauldron and used its Floo access to reach the Burrow. He couldn't have done it from Luna's place because it simply didn't have a chimney, something which had helped his choice of face.

Harry stumbled through the Weasleys' fireplace and, not used to his new body's balance, barely prevented his fall by grasping the nearest redhead. Unfortunately, his momentum was such that he pushed said redhead through the room until they fell on the couch, still grasping each other.

In the stunned silence that ensued, Harry felt the blood rushing to his face as he noticed the whole Weasley clan staring at him and... Charlie.

The Dragon Keeper smirked. "Thanks for the attention, young lady, but... weren't you Ron girlfriend?"

The question and the strong arms around his female body reminded him of his uncomfortable position and he blushed some more while pushing on Charlie to stand up. Unfortunately, Charlie released his grip too suddenly and Harry found himself taking a few steps back, arms flailing, until he stumbled and fell on his behind, bewildered at the turn of events. His wide eyes looking the room's occupants were the last straw, and everyone started to laugh at the humour of the situation. He grumbled and stood up, before straightening his clothes.

Still blushing, and still with Luna's appearance, he took the cup of tea that Molly Weasley had filled during the incident and that she was handing him under a amused gaze. He thanked the matriarch and, not thinking about it, sat next to Ginny, putting his free arm around her shoulders.

Everybody looked at him strangely, except Ron and Ginny who had noticed the strangeness and who knew more about Harry than anyone else.

"Err... Luna, it's our sister that you're holding, there-"

"-not our stargazing brother you should go out with."

Harry looked at the twins, at Ginny, and at Ron, his eyes wide. That elicited another round of laugh, until his female voice could be heard.

"Well, I thought that, with you all mocking me, I was going to stay on the women's side."

That was intended to calm the atmosphere. Alas, the double meaning wasn't lost to Ron and Ginny, and the two youngest Weasley laughed until tears were falling from their eyes while Harry blushed even more. The others didn't quite understand, and tried to, but Ron and Ginny couldn't think about it without sniggering again. Harry simply muttered "private joke."

After the commotion, Harry sipped his tea, slowly coming to grips with his new body. He hadn't thought about that when he had shape-shifted into Luna, but it opened a whole new pathway for disturbing thoughts, most of them jarred unto nothingness when Ron stood and told everyone he was going to bed. That wasn't a disturbing fact, but the ensuing conversation would stay in his memory for eons.

"Ron, don't you kiss Luna goodbye?" At Fred's jab, Harry silently cursed his lack of forethought again. Of course, what did he imagine, arriving in a household as someone's girlfriend?

Harry wasn't moving, quite believing that if he didn't move, they would forget about him. He didn't hate Ron, no, but nowhere in his education was the concept of two males kissing put in a good light. Intellectually, he knew that homosexuality existed, and the very few openly gay people in Hogwarts didn't look like they were monsters or whatever. But this was different.

His immobility didn't have the wanted result, as George took him by the hand and shoved him in front of Ron. "There, you see? She was waiting anxiously for a proper nightly greeting."

The situation was quickly becoming extremely uncomfortable, but Ron looked in his eyes, and, shrugging, he bent toward Harry, and kissed his cheek lightly. Then he left, pushing his way through his twin brothers. Harry was still standing, sporting a Weasley blush, a hand covering the kissed cheek, not quite understanding what had happened.

The twins hooted at Ron's departing back, and at Luna's blush, before calming themselves as their mother decided it was time for a sharp yell.

"Fred! George! Behave yourselves! If you act like this when you're invited, you won't have any friends in no time! Now go hide your shame in your room!" After the twins had left, she turned toward Harry and spoke gentler. "I'm sorry for these sad excuses for sons. If you want to stay the night, I will open the guest bed in Ginny's bedroom. Do you agree?"

Harry nodded, too embarrassed to speak properly. He was blushing even more than before. If only they knew! Thinking about it, it would be better that they don't know about it. He would be the end of every joke for the next decade if they did. However, here was his girlfriend's mother, practically sending him in her room. Not knowing what to answer, he stayed there, looking at her, barely acknowledging that Charlie and Arthur had left too, leaving the "girls" by themselves, Arthur telling his wife that he was going to prepare the guest bed.

Seeing that Harry was reflecting, Molly put her arms on his shoulder. "If you have issues with Ron, we can talk about it, you know? Girls' talk?"

Harry stuttered. The evening had been rich in surprises, and he hadn't been able to speak properly for the whole time. Thankfully, Ginny, who had been holding her laughter the whole time, took pity of him. "Mum, I think Luna is really tired." she managed to say in a barely controlled voice.

Harry could only nod dumbly, and mutter incoherent good-night wishes, before being dragged through the stairs toward Ginny's room. There, Ginny quickly put some pillows under the bed linens, to simulate people sleeping, before looking intently at Harry's hand, visibly having breathing difficulties. Understanding the message, he took her hand, making her touch the ring, and they portkeyed to his hideaway.

There, free to express her mirth, Ginny gave a new dimension of the expression "rolling on the floor laughing". Harry transformed back into himself, and Ginny howled in laughter some more at his pouting expression.

"If you say anything..." he started, but couldn't continue, as she visibly wasn't listening to him, still laughing and holding her stomach.

Twenty minutes went by, before she was too cramped in the stomach to laugh anymore. Breathing with difficulty, she started to recover, but still couldn't look at him without giggling some more.

"Phew... you should try it someday." she said, speaking about her laughing fit. "It really helps your breathing."

"Yeah. You should try my stunt, too." he smirked, fully knowing what would happen.

She couldn't hold it, and fell back on the floor, laughing again.

"Stop!" she managed to pant through her fits. "Don't... don't say things like this."

He went to the bathroom and, after putting water in the glass, returned to the main room and held it to her.

"Thanks." she told him, and drank.

They looked at each other, small smiles still floating on their mouths. Even if the scene had been difficult for Harry, Ginny's mirth had propagated to him, and he wasn't blushing or pouting anymore.

"Seriously, Harry. Of all our friends, why did you choose Luna? You could have chosen any of Ron's dorm mates!"

"I didn't really think about it. I had just left her, so she was the only one that I knew wasn't visiting the Burrow at that moment."

"Well. Anyways, thank you for the laugh. I'm sorry about it, but-"

"Don't be. I understand. I guess we will be able to laugh about it again in the future. But don't tell the others, okay?"

Her eyes lit up mischievously. "Why not? Fred and George would be sooo interested..."

"Oh noooo..." groaned Harry. "I've created a monster."

"I'll show you what is a monster, monster." she retorted playfully.

"Which one?" He held his hands up and wiggled his fingers. "The tickle monster?"

And, with that, he lunged toward her, and they spent the next thirty minutes playfully tickling each other. When they stopped, Ginny was on the bed, lying on her stomach, her head sideways, and Harry was lying atop her. He had been tickling her, but she had captured his hands in hers, and they were stuck. If she released his hands, he would tickle her, but if she didn't, he couldn't move. Stalemate.

Well... not quite. Harry's brain, fully in the game, found another way to tickle her. Not immediately understanding the possible consequences, he approached his mouth to her ear and nibbled her earlobe. He had expected her to buck, to shout about the unfairness, or to laugh. He was surprised when she closed her eyes and sighed. Curious about her reaction, he stopped and looked at her. She was breathing deeply and unevenly, and he was frightened about her health for a split second.

She then opened her eyes and looked at him. Chocolate pupils met emerald ones and held them prisoner. She released his wrists, and turned around in his arms, still looking deeply in his eyes, their souls so close that it was almost painful. Harry's arm began to tire, and he allowed himself to lower his body even closer to hers. When their faces were less than an inch away, she raised her head, closing the distance.

Even if they had felt closer before, even if they knew they loved each other, they hadn't tried love's physical manifestation yet. The first kiss they shared felt like nothing existed anymore. Their lips sealed, they spent a long time unmoving, their hearts beating together furiously. Their blood rushed in their bodies at great speed, energizing them, and their ears buzzed from the shared feelings.

"I love you" he heard her say despite the buzzing.

"Mmmm mmm" he tried to answer, before jolting upright, realizing something. Several things, in fact.

First of all, she had spoken while kissing him, and without moving her lips. How was that possible?

He blinked several times. The second thing he realized was that he was now blind.

Well... not exactly blind. Rather colour blind. And even this was inexact as everything he knew about colour blindness couldn't apply to what he was now seeing. Or not seeing. Ginny was in front of him, but he wasn't seeing her. The only close thing related to what he was seeing came from a memory of a muggle biology class, when they had overviewed the nerves.

With a shock, he realized that he was seeing a Ginny's neural system. And it moved. Little sparks shot from places toward others. It was in only one colour, but he noticed differences in intensity in the head and around the heart. Tentatively, he reached out with his hand to stroke her cheek, and gasped at the sight of his own arm's nerves.

He looked around him, and noticed something else. The room had disappeared. Well, not exactly, again. He distinctly saw the still-unopened box that lied on the bookcase, and the general shape of the floor, ceiling, and walls. The furniture, though, were almost invisible. Only the bed was visible, because it was inside a...

He gasped when he finally noticed the globe around him. He was, with the bed and the now gawking Ginny under him, inside a crackling sphere of electricity. Understanding dawned on him and he silently thanked Luna. He hadn't fallen unconscious this time, nor had destroyed the room or shocked Ginny. Well, that was almost incorrect again, because she was plainly shocked at the sphere, not knowing about his other realizations.

As his conscious mind was slowly taking control of his body again, his subconsciously formed sphere began to falter, threatening to actually do the destroying and shocking it avoided earlier.

Harry looked at Ginny, flesh and tissue slowly coming back in his view of her. "I..." he panted, trying to control the massive amount of energy that was crackling around them. He realized that it was due to their kiss, and smiled briefly. He also noticed that the room was helping him, absorbing as much as it could in its spellwork. The surrounding light shone brighter. The walls began to display a kaleidoscope of colours. The bed hummed audibly. But it wasn't enough and he had to release it soon or it would destroy him.

Ginny noticed the strained smile and the changed surroundings, and asked "What? What is this and-"

He closed his eyes, not noticing her hand creeping over his. "I have to go... somewhere safe... I'll be... back. Lakelogliewarts!"

He arrived right next to Hogwarts' lake, barely lit by the crescent moon. But he wasn't alone. He groaned. Ginny had grasped his ring hand, and was now with him, looking around with wonder in her eyes.

He was thankful that the sphere of energy had followed him, but concerned about Ginny's well-being. His first intent had been to simply make the ball of energy explode, but with Ginny there, he thought it could be highly dangerous. He looked around him, panicked, until he noticed the ground.

Ground. Grounding. Lightning conductors protecting houses from lightning by sending it to the ground. Luna's explanations.

Still holding Ginny's hand, he put his own bare hand on the soil, digging a little for better contact, and concentrated.

The time was eleven in the evening, and most of the few people living in Hogwarts during the summer vacation were sleeping. Argus Filch was sleeping, as he was recovering from the numerous nights spent stalking the corridors in search of students to punish. Sybil Trelawney was sleeping in the fumes of her lavender-scented incense. Rubeus Hagrid was sleeping, his massive dog Fang at his feet. The half-giant teaching Care of Magical Creatures was exhausted from his day spent in trying to subdue another dangerous creature. Pomona Sprout was sleeping, in her quarters overlooking the greenhouses. Severus Snape was not sleeping, occupied with several delicate potions which he couldn't start during the year.

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall weren't sleeping. The current and previous masters of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were looking over the summer paperwork while sipping some tea and maintaining a light conversation. Incidentally, they were speaking about Harry Potter.

"Now that we know he's alive, we ought to bring him back to the school." started McGonagall.

"Of course, of course. However, he missed a year. He will have to start in third year."

"Albus... couldn't we bring him up to date during the summer? From what Miss Granger tells us, he's quite advanced in several subjects."

"We could if he wasn't avoiding us. Do you remember that he specifically asked for us not to be present during his meetings? If it wasn't for Hermione, we wouldn't know what they talk about. I had half the mind to go there anyway once or twice."

"The boy has been scarred, Albus. He's slowly recovering, and finds solace in his friends. I'm not sure that he would have taken our presence well. He might have left not to come back, staying hidden in the muggle world. After all, Miss Granger told us that he was fine, even after having lived as a muggle for a whole year."

Dumbledore sipped his tea and grimaced. He then took several yellow balls and dropped them in his cup. Offering one to the Headmistress, he asked "Lemon drop?"

She shook her head annoyingly. Even if she had liked the man to the point of almost asking him out several decades ago, he always turned around the topics he didn't want to talk about. Harry was physically elusive, true, but then, the old wizard was conversationally elusive. And sometimes mentally, too. Like now... it's dark outside, so why in the hell was he looking through the window? Why was he...?

Even with his old bones, Dumbledore jumped from his seat, unceremoniously spilling his cup on the floor. The old man practically ran to the window while the Headmistress followed him with her eyes. He had almost reached it, fumbling with his glasses, when, suddenly, a bright white light came from outside, forcing both of them to shield their eyes. The light was immediately followed by sound like a hundred thunderclaps, and the resulting shockwave caused the window to explode inwards, showering the office and its occupants with glass shards, and blowing every candle.

After five minutes of recovering their eyesight, both looked at each other.

"What-" started McGonagall, before being interrupted by the door opening. In quick succession came the summer's resident teachers. Snape entered first, clothes torn and completely covered in a gooey and greenish slime. He had been carefully pouring griffin blood in his Peppering-up potion batch, and the shockwave had made him drop the full beaker in the cauldron, resulting in a rather large explosion. The Potion Master was furious, but couldn't ask anything as he was pushed aside by a frightful looking Herbology teacher, a grumpy caretaker, and a wide-eyed Divination professor.

They all talked at the same time, and Dumbledore held his hands up.

"Wait, wait, wait! I know you wonder about what woke you up..." acknowledging Snape's state, he amended "or caused an accident. I don't know either, and I propose that we investigate the place."

"The place? Which place?" asked McGonagall.

Dumbledore went back to the window and pointed outside. They couldn't see well because of the night, but they still noticed that a large circle of ground was darker than usual. Wondering about that, they followed the old wizard outside, wands drawn in case of danger. On their way, they found an anxious groundskeeper, rather fetching in his striped pyjama.

Ignoring Hagrid's questions, they exited the castle and inspected the darker ground in the light of several Lumos spells. The grass was burnt, and even the soil beneath it was damaged. The earth had turned solid, and was still warm to the touch.

"Albus," whispered professor Sprout, "what did that?"

"I don't know, Pomona, but the source of this is behind this... tree."

The aforementioned tree wasn't a tree anymore. Whatever happened had blasted the branches and a good part of the trunk. Only its core was still standing, but it wasn't even looking like wood anymore. Bypassing the tree, they noticed a circle of untouched grass, the diameter of which was roughly four feet.

"How did you know it was here, Albus?" asked Snape, prodding the grass as if it was a dangerous creature.

"I saw a sphere of light there from Minerva's office," McGonagall gasped, understanding the old man's attitude earlier "and when I wanted to see it better, it... it exploded."

"Do you think it's a Death Eater attack?" asked Sprout. Trelawney and Filch looked at Dumbledore expectantly, as they had wanted to ask the same question but didn't dare, although for different reasons.

"I don't think so." answered Snape. "Nothing they do usually can reach that far. Have you seen the blast's radius? Besides, if it has been, they would have attacked the castle right afterwards, which is useless to them right now, as deserted of students as it is."

"True." commented Dumbledore. "And the centre of the blast is also inside the newly-built wards, so they couldn't have reached there without warning us."

"Did you adapt the wards to animagus, like you said?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, I did. And they didn't detect anything. I don't think it's a natural event, but I don't understand it nonetheless."

The others shivered in the cold night, quite frightened at the man's statement. Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard alive, was helpless in front of an unknown event and they feared that it would happen again.

"What was that?"

He didn't answer and slumped on the bed, shivering despite the room's comfortable temperature.

"Harry! What was that?" Ginny's tone was clearly showing her fear and worry.

Harry closed his eyes and motioned her closer with his good hand, his other one still smoking.

"Don't worry... I'll explain... do not..." he muttered, before passing out.

Ginny wanted to lie against him to comfort him, wanted to help him, to heal him, but the bed prevented it, mechanical arms raising and tearing his clothing. She wanted to interfere, but his last words came back to her mind. Don't worry.

At that moment, she noticed two things at the same time. Two things that sent her to the bathroom, although for different reasons. The first was that the mechanical arms were tearing through his clothes. All his clothes. Despite her curiosity, she wasn't ready to watch her boyfriend nude yet.

The second reason for leaving the room was revealed when the arms began to actually remove the clothes. She had been frightened when she had noticed the state of his hand. But his hand wasn't the only problem. Her eyes watering, she could only bring her hands to her mouth in shock, her stomach retching at the sight of the charred state of his skin. The right side of his torso was burnt, and his whole right arm was blackened and still smoking from whatever had happened earlier. The clothes, ripped by the bed arms, left Harry's body with a sickening sound, and Ginny's last sight before leaving the room was the arms buttering Harry's blistered tissues with an unknown cream.

Why was he always stuck in such situations? Why did he have to suffer that much? Merely evoking this, she slumped against the wall, and began to sob uncontrollably. She was exhausted, though, and despite the uncomfortable posture, she cried herself to sleep.

Harry groaned, and tried to sit. The pain that shot through his arm, though, brought him back down with a gasp. His mind was still foggy, and he lifting his right arm, trying to see what was wrong with it. Staring at its heavily bandaged limb in wonder, he suddenly remembered the events of the day before, and gasped again.

His movements woke Ginny, and she sat up on the desk chair where she had collapsed previously.

"Awake already?" she asked with a feeble smile.

"Why 'already'?" he couldn't help but be worried by her unkempt appearance and red-rimmed eyes.

"Harry, you slept for three days. Three days!"

He could only gawk at her, while his stomach confirmed her statement by growling loudly. As if on cue, a mechanical arm erupted from the bedside with two cups of a smoking brown substance on it. She sniffed it suspiciously and, recognizing the smell, opened her eyes wide. After verifying the taste by sipping a mouthful from the cup, she turned toward Harry, smiling widely.

"Chocolate!"

Propped on his left arm, he tried to take the cup with his right, but simply couldn't operate it. Ginny saw his pained wince and, putting her own cup down, helped him to swallow the hot beverage. The drink must have been laced with something, though, because they both fell asleep soon afterwards.

Harry was the first to wake after several hours, and, wincing, he succeeded in sitting up before Ginny woke up too. He looked at his watch, but the small device had stopped working a long time ago. He glanced at the waking form of Ginny, but remembered that the young witch never had a watch.

"How long?" he asked, before noticing his sticky mouth. He would sure use a breath freshener some time soon.

She blinked, not fully awake yet. "How long what?"

He swallowed with difficulty. "...did I sleep?"

She looked around. No sun to tell the time, no clock either. "I don't know. I know you slept for a long time, though, because I spent the equivalent of three days waiting."

"I'm sorry, I..." he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. "I'd use a glass of water."

She fetched it, and, once again, helped him drink from it. During this, he suddenly took into account his state of dress. Or rather undress. And he spluttered, sending water everywhere.

"What?" asked Ginny, worried at his reaction.

"I'm na... where are my clothes?"

Her eyes apologetic, she designated a pile of wide ribbons on the floor, with a suspect red-black tinge to them.

He looked at her inquiringly. "Did you do me? I mean..." he tried to explain, blushing, "did you undress me?"

"No!" She was positively shocked, although it could have been possible. If the bed hadn't done the deed, she would have had to do it in order to heal him. With a trembling voice, she explained his state and the bed's reaction to it. She also told him that she couldn't sleep in the bed, because every few hours, the mechanical arms would reach out and change his bandages, buttering him with more cream in the process. The two times she had fallen asleep on the bed, she had been promptly thrown out of it by the arms, although gently. She had then chosen to sleep on the cushioned bench from the sports room. Hearing this, he promised himself that he'd buy a bed for her soon.

Because he asked, she also recounted what she did while she was awake. Most of the books were useless for her, and she had focussed on reading the books about creatures. Blushing, she also admitted browsing through his sketchpads, and congratulated him on his drawing skills. When he told her that the first drawings had been drawn when he was amnesic, she could only gape at them again, while he also admitted that drawing her had been helpful to start recovering his memory.

Afterwards, they laid contentedly next to each other, while making sure not to strain Harry's recovering arm. After several seconds, Ginny reflected aloud about the bed not ejecting her during the chocolate-induced sleep, and suspected that Harry's arm might be completely healed.

"Not completely, I assure you." he said, wincing.

"Still, with the time you spent sleeping, you can be quite healed now."

"How much time, again?"

"I gather that, with this last night, at least three full days passed by. Perhaps four."

"That makes... one full day! Your parents! They will be worried!"

"You're right, we should head there. You're ready?"

He tried to move, and winced again. "Perhaps I should stay here for a few days. You can go."

"But... Harry, how?"

He held his good hand out. "Take the ring."

"I can't! Harry, it's yours, and if I can't go back here, you'll be stranded, right?"

"Yes, but don't worry. I trust you not to forget the simple word I'll teach you. But first, remove the ring, please. I can't do it myself."

Still unsure about it, she did it nonetheless. To her surprise, Harry then grasped it, and, his eyes locked in hers, he put the ring to her finger. No word was exchanged for a long time, until both turned around, blushing.

"Well..." Harry stuttered, before speaking correctly again. "The activation word to come back here is 'safehaven'. You'll remember it?"

She nodded, her face still red.

"If four full days passed here," he reflected aloud, "I guess that one full day passed outside. Your parents must be worried, and... Oh my god!"

"What?"

"I hope they didn't owl Luna!"

They looked at each other with eyes wide.

"If they did," she said, "they will discover that she wasn't there. If Ron doesn't tell them, they'll believe I've been abducted! Oh my god!"

"Best to go back quickly, then, and ease their fears. I trust you to invent something on the spot, though. As soon as everything is cleared, come back here, please."

"Of course, Harry."

She approached him, intending to kiss him good-bye, before stopping dead in her tracks.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know... why this happened?"

He stayed silent for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully. After a long pause, she started to move around restlessly, and he answered. His voice was so low, though, that she had to bend to hear it.

"I might have an explanation." Raising his head, he continued. "I will think about it and tell you everything when you'll be back. You should go to your parents, now."

"But..."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Besides," he smirked, "without the ring, it's not as if I could leave the place, isn't it?"

She smirked evilly, before answering "You know, I might let you rot in here, alone."

"You wouldn't dare!" was his shocked answer.

"Why?"

He reflected about it, and then smirked. Lending toward her using his good arm for support, he placed a fugitive kiss on her lips. "Because you love me."

She blushed, her face turning a deep red at his recognizing her feelings for him. However, interacting with her brothers for so long had given her the need for the last word. "And?"

"And I love you too."

She lunged to him, kissing him on the lips again. They stayed like this for a few seconds, before Harry nudged her away. "You..." he gasped, "you have to go, now."

She looked at him reproachfully, before taking in the crackling sphere of electricity around them. It was smaller and less bright than the previous time, but she remembered what had happened, and gasped, shaking his arm distressfully.

"Harry! What is happening?"

He winced, trying to control the phenomenon. Sweat beads began to appear on his forehead.

"Ginny... I don't have time now... repeat what I say..."

She nodded. Pushing her a tad away, Harry uttered two words, which she repeated.

"Preceding strut."

Harry's hideaway disappeared around her, to be replaced by her own bedroom, back at the Burrow. The light coming from her slanted window told her that the sun was already up. Knowing her room very well, she judged that it was around eight in the morning already. Has it been four days already?

She opened her door carefully, looking in the stairs. Nobody. She tiptoed out of her room, and went to close the door when she remarked something. The guest bed was still in her room. How strange...

Not having time to check about this, as she heard sound from the kitchen, she closed the door and went downstairs without making a sound. Approaching the kitchen, she saw her mother preparing breakfast for everyone. Surprised, Ginny looked at the scene carefully.

Her mother was whistling happily. How could that be if she had disappeared? Or didn't she care about her?

Then, there were the plates on the table. Nine. Except if the twins brought some girlfriends home, there weren't nine persons at home. And those troublemakers would have to wait a long time for Molly Weasley allowing them to bring girls home. Ginny smirked, but shot in the air when her mother addressed her.

"Come in, Ginny, come in!"

She was smiling her usual way, but shot her a concerned look. "My my my! Did you sleep in your clothes? You forgot where the hamper is, perhaps?"

At Ginny's look of incomprehension, the Weasley matriarch huffed. "I guess Hogwarts disturbs my children more than usual. Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't want to hurt you."

Molly Weasley had seen Ginny's frown and had interpreted it as the result of her first year's bad memories. Hideous memories. She hugged her lastborn in earnest, before Ginny reacted.

"Mum. Mum!"

"Hmmm what, darling?"

"Your pancakes are burning."

Molly turned around with a shriek and ran to the stove, several choice words tumbling out of her mouth. Ginny smirked, before frowning again. She hadn't frowned because of memories about her first year. She had frowned, because...

"Ginny, dear?"

"Hmmm... yes, mum?"

"What does your friend eat for breakfast?"

"My friend?"

"Yes, your friend, Luna."

That floored her. How was that possible? Her mind constructed several weird scenarios of what had happened, the strangest being Luna arriving in the night with a metamorphmagus friend, and taking Harry's place and hers. But her room had been empty.

It was only when Molly addressed her again, dropping another pancake on the pile, that she started to understand.

"Ginny, dear. Did you forget that your friend came yesterday and stayed the night?"

Realization hit her like a high-speed train. It was the only explanation, but it meant that Harry was wrong in his calculations. The time difference factor between his hideaway and the outside world wasn't four anymore. Could he be wrong about something else? She started to wonder about the best moment to go back to inform him about it when she felt a hand on her arm. She raised her eyes to meet her mother's worried ones.

"Are you alright, dear?"

She smiled. "Yes, mum. I was just thinking about Luna. You see, she had forgotten that she had something to do, about her father's journal, and she left early." Looking at herself, she smoothly continued. "It was really early, and I was dressed, but I guess I fell asleep again. Hence my rumpled clothes. Sorry, mum."

"No worry, dear. No worry. Too bad your friend isn't here today, though."

"Why so?"

"Don't you remember yesterday's planning? We are going to visit Charlie's dragon reserve in Romania for a fortnight. That is, except Percy who got a starting job at the Ministry again. The trip will be a bit long, because we have to sign at the Ministry before they can make us a portkey for the round trip. We could have taken the international Floo network, but it's difficult enough to use it nationwide without getting too dirty... With such a long distance, we would land somewhere else, covered with inches of soot. However, your dad and I went there once, and it has been interesting, and... Darling? Are you alright?"

Ginny wasn't. She had completely forgotten about that visit, and now knew that she wouldn't have a moment of freedom before arriving in Romania, late at night. She sighed, and hoped that Harry would understand.

She nodded to her mother, before seating at the table. "I'm okay, mum."

Grasping a few pancakes, she made a show of eating them vigorously, and Molly smiled. Ginny smirked internally. Nothing was better than one's apparent appetite to convince her mother about one's good health. She really was hungry, though, and stayed at the table for the best part of an hour, satisfying her mum's prying mind by telling stories that Luna supposedly told her before sleep.

After Ginny's departure, Harry was quite distraught. But not because she wasn't there anymore, even if it tugged at his heart somewhat. He was having enormous difficulties with his sphere of electricity again. He had tried to absorb it, and the ball lost some more power, but it wasn't sufficient. Once again, he was seeing the electricity around him, and he reflected that it must be the Elemental Vision Luna had talked about. Glancing around him again in search of an outlet for his overflowing power, he noticed something new. In the ceiling, hidden from the normal view, there was a square different than the rest. In his vision, it was brighter than the surrounding tiles, as if it held some power in it, although Harry didn't know which power and to what use. He also didn't know how to activate it.

Concentrating on the energy sphere again, he looked around again, and decided to pass the overflowing energy onto something not magical and not dangerous to break. After all, he could always conjure or transfigure something to replace the item should it break. The only thing in his whole hideaway matching this was the bench in the sport room. The poor bench was already marked from previous tests of his element, and he didn't feel bad about it.

He stood up with difficulty, struggling to keep the lightning ball under control, and slumped over the sport room. Once there, he avoided the overly-enlarged trunk hosting his Basilisk skin depot, and approached the bench. Not wanting to repeat Hogwarts' mishap, he didn't merely touch it. He grasped it in his valid hand, and, using all the muscular strength he could muster, lifted it. He then concentrated, although in a different way than in Hogwarts.

There, he had had difficulties holding the sphere together, and had concentrated to expulse all the sphere power through his hand in one go. That's why his whole right side, not used to managing that much energy, had burnt.

Holding the bench, he split his concentration, still trying to control the sphere and passing its power to the bench. Instead of passing it through his hand like he had always done, he tried to pass it directly, unsure about the possible result. To his surprise and delight, it worked perfectly. The bench's material wasn't metallic, so it didn't conduct electricity very well, but it was also having a greater resistance to the power. Harry could send more and more power into it without melting it.

However, every material has a breaking point, and, after passing most of his excess energy to it, the bench suddenly disappeared. It didn't disappear by Apparating, or by portkey, or by any magical mean. In fact, it didn't disappear at all. It was vaporized. The sturdy wooden bench was transformed into a puff of smoke in a split second.

Harry looked at where the bench was, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He hadn't envisioned this suddenness at all. Wincing in pain, he also realized that holding something which was being vaporized was very painful, although his burnt arm had been worse. He went back to the bed, knowing what would happen there, and, true to his prediction, the bed's mechanical arms applied some more cream on his welts, and gave him another dose of sleeping potion. He downed it, and went to sleep again, whatever energy remaining from his sphere of lightning dissipating harmlessly into the bed's structure.

While waiting for Ginny's return, Harry spent his time healing, reading, and thinking. Well... of course, he did eat, wash, sleep, and all other necessary human activities. He started with re-reading the chapter on wandless magic, and tried to apply it to transfigure pillows into benches, but failed to even start changing the pillows' texture.

His thinking mostly revolved around his elemental abilities, and he used his free time to evoke a ball of lightning again, although a small one, and absorb it. In this way, he accustomed his body to the energy travelling through it. During these exercises, he also succeeded in bringing forth his elemental vision again, and Luna had been true in saying that it helped the elemental manipulation.

Thinking about everything Luna had said, though, made him realize the reason behind the two spheres' appearance. He had had an inkling when the second one appeared, but, thinking about it, he was quite sure, now. Besides, the biggest spheres of lightning he called were when he thought about her.

His feelings for Ginny were blossoming.

After his first day, he became restless.

After the second, he grew worried.

After the third, he spent several hours a day working his muscles again with the weight bar.

After the fifth, he switched to sword practise. These exercises helped his muscular development, and made the time pass swifter.

He wasn't angry at Ginny or anything but, when she appeared again, after a full week, he couldn't help himself and snapped at her.

"Hey! Did you forget me?"

Noticing her hurt expression and generally tired state, he forgot about his restlessness and approached her.

"Errm... sorry, Gin. I..."

"It's okay. I have several things to tell you, though."

"Me too."

She was sitting on the bed already, and he sat beside her, taking her hand in his.

"You seem to have recovered pretty well." she started uneasily.

"Well, you know... it has been a week..."

"I thought so. That's what I wanted to speak about." She looked him in the eye, and recounted her day. He was flabbergasted upon realizing that the time factor had changed so drastically, and could only elaborate that it was his fault somewhat. He was also surprised about the family trip for Charlie's reserve. Absently stroking Ginny's hair during her recounting, he smiled at a wild thought. If he could study dragons...

...he could transform into one.

To be continued in next chapter: Strange Beasts Indeed...

I'm not partial, but first kiss
Had to display such a bliss.
Enjoy heaven while you can,
They'll soon hit the frying pan.