Redivivus

Chapter 6: Facta, non verba

AN: Apologies for taking such a long time to update. As usual real life has gotten in my way but I decided to sit down and finish this chapter before I could let it sit too long and forget about it. I hope you like it. :) I'm halfway through this story now, only three chapters and an epilogue to go!

It was an uncommonly sunny and warm day for October, as if Mother Nature wanted to give everyone one last warm autumn day before all the rain and cold. Most people were out walking, enjoying the fiery sky and the falling of orange leaves. Yet all the curtains at the Burrow were drawn and shielded its inhabitants from sunlight and curious eyes.

Hermione unfolded a large sheet of parchment, revealing a hand drawn but detailed map. Standing by her side was Ron as always and gathered around the kitchen table stood Luna, Cho, Parvati, Cedric and Neville. They all stared at the map gravely and studied it while Hermione handed out copies of her own notes to each of them. She glanced towards the windows one more time and after seeing that there was no way anyone could eavesdrop or see them, she decided to go ahead with the meeting.

"This is the main entrance and the lobby," she explained, pointing at a rather small area of the map. "We have set up three portkeys on these three places from where we'll each make our way to the main broadcasting room. Ron and I will take this one." She pointed at various spots on the map as she spoke. "Luna, Cedric, you'll take this one. Neville, Parvati, Cho, you three take this one."

"What about Ginny?" Neville asked.

"Not a word to her about this," Ron answered automatically.

Neville gave him an odd look, as if he wanted to say something but was not sure how to. But in the end he decided to keep quiet, the tone Ron had used had signalled the end of that short discussion and perhaps it was better for Ginny to not know anything about this.

"How do we handle staff and witnesses?" Parvati asked. "There'll probably be a few of them left there even though it's Saturday night."

"Stun of petrify them," Hermione answered. "We don't have to hurt anyone..."

"But we will if we have to," Parvati finished for her. Hermione looked like she did not want to but in the end she nodded in agreement.

"Like I said before, our target is the main broadcasting room. We need to secure both floors and buy ourselves enough time to execute the plan. As you all know the plan is to get our message out using WWN. I suggest you all get some rest, we have a lot to do on Saturday. We'll meet at my place at six and go through everything again just to be safe."

"So much for getting this weekend off," Cedric said jokingly.

"You'd just be watching the Quidditch game anyway!" Cho gave him a playful slap on the arm while Parvati studied the map closely and Hermione handed out smaller copies of it to each member of the group.

"I guess the meeting is over then," Parvati said casually and put the smaller map in her pocket. "I'll see you all on Saturday."

She left the kitchen and a few minutes later they all heard the familiar "BOOM" of someone using Floo powder. Shortly afterwards Hermione gathered up all the notes and maps, put them neatly in a folder and headed upstairs. Ron silently watched her leave, not looking away until he no longer could hear her footsteps. After that he turned to the members of the group who were still there. Cedric and Neville were busy discussing something while Cho sat next to them reading a magazine and occasionally contributing to the discussion. With everyone else busy or out of the way, Ron turned to Luna, who was looking out the window and humming a song to herself as if she was unaware of everyone else's presence.

"Luna, could I talk to you for a second?"

She was staying in Percy's old room, sitting by the desk and writing feverishly on a long scroll. Ron stood by the doorway and decided to stay there and watch her for a while rather than just walking right in. Hermione was practically bent over the desk and her hair, as bushy and wild as usual, was gathered in a messy knot. It was one of her small habits that Ron had noticed years ago. Sometimes when she was stressed she would bite her bottom lip. When she had a sudden case of writer's block she would stare at the parchment for minutes or hours until she figured out what to write. Ron saw it as another example of Hermione's stubbornness. It was as if she was refusing to lose to an empty space on the parchment.

Things had been somewhat tense between them lately, with Hermione refusing to go with his plan and insisting on letting her own heart rule over her mind. She was more intelligent than him, there was no doubt about that but she was always so clouded by her own habit of thinking that she always knew best. But Ron knew in both his mind and heart that her version of the plan was flawed and if she would not think straight, he would do it for her.

"What are you writing?" he asked casually and sat down on the bed behind her.

"A letter to my parents," Hermione answered without looking up. "It's been a while since I wrote to them and they worry too much when I don't write."

Ron just nodded. He had seen it before. The constant worry his mother would display when one of his brothers were on a mission. It did not matter if owls came regularly and on time, his mother would not or could not stop worrying. It was the same with his father although most of the time he tried to hide it and stay calm. But Ron knew from the way his father absent mindedly stared out the window or accidentally spilled tea on himself that he was just as worried.

He had to admit that he was slightly worried about them himself. Not so much about his elder brothers but more about his parents. They were not young anymore and neither deserved to live in times like these. For a moment he wondered whose parents worried most, Ron's for knowing everything about the danger of being in the Resistance or Hermione's parents for knowing next to nothing.

Hermione finished the letter and got up. Once she moved away from the desk and sat down next to Ron on the bed he saw several ink spots on her fingers. Pulling out his wand, Ron waved it over her hands and performed a simple cleaning spell. Hermione looked at her hands, now completely clean, and then smiled at Ron.

"Thanks."

His ears a little redder than usual, Ron murmured a "You're welcome" and put his wand back into his pocket. They sat together in silence for a while, something that would have been impossible a couple of years ago. Back then they had never been able to stay quiet around each other. It was difficult to imagine that they used to constantly bicker about big and small things and how they had found silence to be something boring and negative. Then again, they did not use to carry around the same burdens and responsibilities that they did now.

"Do you remember that time I got in a fight with Malfoy?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Which time?" Hermione retorted, a smile tugging at her lips.

"The first time. In our first year, when Malfoy was being his usual stupid self."

"That time when he insulted me and you tried to fight him because you hadn't learned hexes yet?" Hermione laughed, the memory coming back to her quickly as if it had been yesterday.

"That was one good fight," Ron said seriously and beamed with pride. Hermione raised one eyebrow at him.

"Ron, you ended up being mauled by Crabbe and Goyle and two months later you were still limping," she reminded.

"Still a good fight."

Laughing, Hermione patted his head as if she was complimenting a small child. Ron caught on to her laughter but then gently took her hand into his own and laced his fingers with hers. The affectionate gesture surprised Hermione and she stared at him somewhat nervously although he did not notice. His conversation with Luna was still fresh in his mind.

"I would do it again, you know," he said quietly, still holding Hermione's hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

"Do what?" Hermione wondered.

"Try to save you. I know I'm not that good at it… I guess I'm just trying to be the knight in shining armour."

It felt a little odd to reveal that but in a way it seemed the right thing to do. Ron was somewhat aware of the fact that she was probably trying to analyze and understand what he had just said or his reasons for saying it, it was Hermione after all. But at the moment he did not need her understanding even though he wanted it.

"Ron, what are you..."

At the same time they both heard a faint "pop" from the next door, signalling Ginny's return and that she was in her room. Ron jumped up from the bed, mumbled something incomprehensible and left straight away. Alone with her thoughts, Hermione waited for his return and mostly an explanation but none came.

Sticking his hand in his pockets, Harry sighed and left Gringotts. He was relieved to be on his way away from there after spending the last two hours discussing his finances with the goblins. Money was not something Harry had ever been concerned about and he could think of better ways to spend an afternoon than arguing back and forth about which was the best way to invest them.

As he walked through Diagon Alley, he noticed the abundance of people looking at him and some even dared to stare. No one was foolish or rude enough to point or whisper but it still made Harry feel somewhat uncomfortable. Among Lord Voldemort's followers and their families he was used to being recognised by everyone but the public eye was far greater than that. Ever since the article had been published there was hardly anyone who did not know what he looked like. He was about to fold up the collar of his robe in a futile attempt to hide his face a little when he suddenly caught sight on someone who was not staring at him.

The wild blonde hair was what he saw first and instantly he recognised that it was Luna. She was standing by the owl cages just outside Eeylops Owl Emporium. Her lips were moving, she was talking to someone although as far as Harry could tell she was standing there by herself. Forgetting all about uncomfortable stares, he made his way through the crowd and over to her.

"Hey."

Luna's large eyes turned away from the owl cages and fixed themselves on Harry instead. For some reason, he smiled nervously at her.

"Oh hello, Harry," she greeted calmly although she looked mildly surprised to see him. "How are you?"

"Great, you?" He looked towards the caged owls briefly. "Thinking about getting an owl?"

"Yes, perhaps this one," Luna answered and turned to a snowy white owl. The owl seemed to have lived through better days although her eyes were alert and sharp. "She's been here for quite a while I think... no one seems to want her." She turned back to Harry. "I hope your eyes have been alright."

Harry stared at her blankly.

"My eyes?" he repeated dumbly.

"From the camera flashes," Luna replied. "The Prophet has sent out quite a few photographers to try and find out what you're up to these days. After what happened at the ball and all."

"They're alright," Harry chuckled.

He remembered vaguely how he had been informed by his staff that there was a mob of Daily Prophet reporters waiting outside the Hogwarts grounds for a chance to snap a picture or two of him. Ever since then Harry had used the Floo network to leave Hogwarts, as there were charms against apparation there.

"Good." Luna nodded.

Suddenly hearing his name, Harry looked over his shoulder to see two old witches standing a few yards behind him. The moment they noticed that he was watching them, they ceased their whispering and pretended to admire the owls instead. Sighing, Harry turned back to Luna.

"I hate it when people talk like that," he muttered. To be more specific he hated how people constantly talked about him and Luna. The dinner with the Malfoys had been enough.

"So how are things going at Hogwarts?" Luna asked suddenly, looking genuinely curious rather than wanting to change the subject quickly.

"It's going well I suppose... everyone is still busy cleaning and there are lots of things to do. But I think the astronomy tower has been cleaned, the glass ceiling is much more clear now."

Luna smiled.

"I'd like to go back and see it sometime."

Upon hearing this, Harry felt something inside him jump. He boyishly stuck his hands in his pockets again, attempting to look more casual than he actually was.

"If you don't have anything to do now, you could come back with me to Hogwarts. If you want, that is."

Immediately after speaking he scolded himself. The way he behaved reminded him of an old classmate who during the most awkward teenage years stuttered his way through asking the prettiest girl in school to a ball. Harry had never had that problem and not until now did he understand why his old classmate had been so nervous. He dared to look at Luna's face and felt weight fall off his shoulder when he saw that her smile had widened.

"Yes, I would love to."

About an hour later Harry and Luna were both holding on to the railing of the staircase, which had suddenly decided to move on its own again and totally disregard the fact that they were going the other way. Harry sighed, seeing as this time the staircase did not seem to be moving in the direction of the astronomy tower. Luna, however, seemed as delighted with Hogwarts as usual.

"I wish we had these at Valhalla," she said and leaned over the railing to look at the staircases underneath them which were moving around erratically as well.

"It's a miracle people have been able to move around here," Harry remarked as the staircase took a sudden turn and caused him to almost lose his balance. But Luna just smiled.

"What is life without a few odd turns here and there?"

The staircase stopped moving and looking over his shoulder Harry saw that they were actually pretty far from the corridor that led to the astronomy tower. He sighed again and searched his memory for another way to reach the astronomy tower without waiting for the staircases to take them there. Unfortunately he had never found another way and a map of Hogwarts seemed to be nonexistent.

"Let's go," Luna suddenly said and took Harry's hand lightly, causing something inside his stomach to jump slightly. "Let's see what's here instead."

"Don't you want to go to the astronomy tower?" Harry asked.

"Aren't you curious about what we might find this time?"

Remembering that their discovery of the astronomy tower had been accidental and due to the whims of the moving staircases, Harry smiled back her Luna and let himself be led into yet another dark corridor. Somehow, it felt like they were on their way to yet another discovery of something old, dusty and forgotten.

"Mrs Carter and Mr Phillips want to know if we're engaged."

Harry almost stumbled on his own feet.

"En-engaged?" he repeated and stopped. Luna stopped as well and turned around to face him.

"Yes, so that they will have something to write about," she explained calmly in such a clear contrast to the shock and confusion on Harry's face. "It's a shame really, I thought writing for mysterious sightings would be more fun. I've been wanting to write something about heliopaths for a while, I heard they have been sighted again."

"They exist?" Harry asked curiously as they continued to walk on.

"Of course they do," Luna answered without any hint of doubt. "Most people just don't believe in them because they don't believe in anything that they don't see within a five feet range."

She suddenly turned to the right, startling Harry with her sudden turn. When he looked around he saw that she was pushing at a door, trying to get it open. Seeing as the door looked rather heavy and that Luna was not the biggest person, Harry smiled at the sight of her pushing at the door and looking totally convinced that it would open any moment. He walked over to her and with all his strength he pushed at the door. It fell open with a loud BANG and nearly caused both Harry and Luna to fall over.

At first glance the room was just an ordinary classroom, with desks and chairs no different from all the others in the castle. But in the middle of this classroom stood a large mirror with a gold frame, dark from the dust that it had gathered over the years. On the top of the frame was an inscription. Harry tried to read it from where he stood but it was a little too dark. He stepped in front of the mirror and Luna joined him, standing by his side.

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," Harry read out loud, raising his eyebrow at the odd inscription. He tried to relate it to other languages but could not find one that was similar to what he had just read. Then for the first time he looked into the mirror and nearly jumped from what he was seeing.

What he saw in the mirror puzzled him exceedingly. Rather than just reflecting his current state, Luna and their surroundings, the mirror reflected something of great contrast. He was standing in the middle of a field, with grass that was overgrown and wild flowers everywhere. It was the ultimate image of a perfect summer day. The sky was completely blue behind the parting clouds and the sunlight that shone down on him was so strong and warm that he could almost feel it in his face. Harry himself was standing in the middle of the field, wearing the same clothes and physically looking the same as he did now. But there was something different about himself, something that he could not exactly put his finger on.

It took a minute for him to discover that his reflection was actually smiling.

"What is this...?" Harry asked, although he did not expect anyone to answer him. He took a few steps closer to the mirror, attempting to get a better look at this reflection. But it remained the same as what he had seen before, still as puzzling. There he was, in the perfect summer day and smiling. What did it mean?

"Desire," Luna finally said.

Harry turned to her and she pointed at the words on the mirror frame. It took him a second or two to realise it but the Erised was the word desire backwards.

"I show not your face but your hearts desire," she continued by reading the inscription backwards. "Perhaps the mirror shows us things we desire."

"Things we desire?" Harry repeated and chuckled. He thought the idea was laughable considering what he had seen. "That can't be it."

"Why not?" Luna was staring at the mirror as well, just as intensely as Harry had been a few moments ago.

"Because all I see is... sunshine and daises," Harry answered and shook his head lightly. He could still see his reflection, one who stood in a surrounding that seemed so alien to him. His reflection was smiling and practically bathing in the warm sunlight.

"And why is that so wrong?" Luna questioned.

"Because it's ridiculous," Harry retorted. "Everything about this mirror is ridiculous. If it even does what you say it does, it doesn't actually do anything. It can't help people getting what they want, all it does is show it."

Upon hearing his words, Luna cast a wistful look at the mirror and it struck Harry that if it was true, Luna was probably seeing something completely different in her reflection. He wondered briefly what she was seeing.

"Perhaps... what you need is to be shown what it is that you really want," she said quietly. "What if you were mistaken before in knowing what you want? What if you have been fooling or lying to yourself all this time?"

Harry felt himself tense slightly, something he always did when he felt uncomfortable. It was not because of Luna, it was because of the questions she asked and the thoughts that they brought up. He suddenly thought about Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix, the Malfoys. He thought about Lucius Malfoy and his constant political scheming, Bellatrix's devotion to the Dark Lord and finally Lord Voldemort himself and his plans for immortality. A little voice in his head that sounded very similar to Luna's asked him where he fitted into all of this.

"I think we should leave," Harry suggested, his voice colder and a little deeper than usual. The thoughts were making him more uncomfortable and he felt as if someone had placed heavy weights on his shoulders.

But Luna did not move or show any signs of hearing what he had just said. She just stood there, looking at him with those large eyes. Even in her silence Harry almost tell what she wanted. She did not want a direct answer or words from him. The look in her eyes convinced him of that what she really wanted was for him to think and think beyond his usual boundaries.

"I don't want to see what you see," Harry said suddenly without even thinking about it.

"Why not?" Luna questioned. Her voice was still calm while Harry's own voice was shaky as he spoke.

"Because it's too much! I don't want to think about these things! I don't want to question them, question the ones who have raised me! They are what I know!"

"It's not about questioning them Harry, it's about questioning what you know."

"Why should I!" Harry snapped. "Why should I care about finding out more than what I already know?"

Two seconds after he spoke those words he realised that he had just proven Luna's point. She had not said a single word about it, yet Harry knew exactly what she was talking about. His position in life, the adopted son of the Lestranges and most importantly the heir of Lord Voldemort. His part in the giant chess game that was the war between the Death Eaters and the Resistance. His part in everything. The lives torn apart, the families who disappeared... his own biological family was merely one of them.

Suddenly he felt like shutting his eyes tightly, as if it would help him shut his thoughts out. His biological family was of no importance. They were causalities of war, they had simply been stupid enough to make the mistake of trying to fight Lord Voldemort. He had nothing to do with them, with any blood traitors who had gone against Voldemort. They were not his concern, they were not even worth thinking about.

He found himself getting more upset as he kept thinking and his cheeks reddening slightly. At the same time it infuriated him a little to see Luna just standing there and saying nothing, doing nothing. She was calm while others would have cowered in fear over the risk of angering Harry Potter. What was she? How could she be like that, so eager to question him and everything she saw? Why did she insist on making him question himself?

"Why are you like this?" Harry asked but what he really wondered was how she could be this different from anyone or anything else he had ever known.

"Because it's who I am," Luna answered simply. "But I wonder why you are like this."

Unable to find an answer or even wanting to search for one, Harry suddenly felt cold. He took one last, long look at Luna, then turned around and left as quickly as he could.