Just to give a quick, proper run down of what I want this story to be, since anyone reading this is on chapter two now without having been dissuaded by the lack of a summary: This is me doing my best to practice writing, specifically discovery writing as opposed to plotting out all the story beats like I normally do in order to help keep me from losing motivations. The traits Harry has taken on in this fanfic are ones that a character in another (original) story I've written have, so this is also a chance for me to explore that in a setting and story unrelated to my own. In terms of pacing I expect this whole thing to be a bit meandering, for lack of a better word, since I'm not writing it all out and then trimming the fat afterwards. But it's fanfiction, I don't think anyone's been crucified for not keeping a high and tight narrative in the space before lol.

I'm going to be playing a bit fast and loose with timeline stuffs, I'm trying to supplement my memories of the series with some google-fu, but there're some things that will be wrong, and we're all just gonna have to blame it on time travel shenanigans in terms of continuity.

As a whole, the story is about a sort of anti-protagonist. Typically (at least for YA, like HP is at its base) your main character is a good, well-moraled individual whose journey involves their skill levels going up, and overcoming or accepting one or two negative quirks like being afraid or something like that. This is supposed to be sort of the opposite of that, a character who's incredibly powerful, having to try and overcome his personality flaws. This is a Harry who is arrogant, angry, battle hungry, childish, and even a bit cruel at times. Add in a healthy dose of lechery and alcoholism, and you've got a guy who's set up for a moral character arc. As for a summary itself, I mean, its time travel fic. I'm sure we'll hit some well-traveled story bits, hopefully some new ones, and some jokes sprinkled throughout.

#

"Harry?" Someone shook him. "Harry."

"Gerroff me," he mumbled. "I'm tired."

"I know, dear, but this probably isn't the best place to nap."

Harry blinked away the sleep and glanced around. Luna was kneeling over him, beautiful as ever. They were in an alleyway of some sort, surrounded on every side but one with brick and mortar. The air smelled of smog and the general stink of too many people crammed into too small a space. He sat up and allowed Luna to help him to his feet.

"Where are we?" A thought occurred to him. "When are we?"

"Not sure, and not sure." Luna gave a sheepish grin. "I guess we'll have to find out."

"What did you want?" Harry asked. "He wouldn't shut up about trying to find out what I wanted, so what did you want?"

Panic was starting to set in. His knowledge of time travel was limited, to put it nicely. The most hands-on experience he'd had with it came from his third-year misadventure, and even then he'd defaulted to Hermione's judgments. One thing he was certain of though, was that the more you messed about with things, the more it affected the future.

For all he'd lost, they'd still won in the end, and he didn't want that to change.

"If I really did get what I wanted…" Luna said slowly. "Then we're in 1977."

"Why 1977?" Harry asked. "What's so special about that year?"

He was born in 1980. He started Hogwarts in 1991. They'd won the war in 1998, or was it 1999? It was hard to keep track of the years as they went on.

"It's when my parents got married," Luna said. "Even if you and I, the you and I that's here and now, won't disappear based on our changes, I still wanted my father to be happy."

It suddenly struck Harry that, just like Snape had told him countless times, he wasn't the center of the world.

"What did you want, then?" Harry asked. "Merlin was showing me times I could return to which would fulfill various desires. What was the desire for this place?"

Luna shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Its a time when you and I don't exist, so we can live however we want without expectations. There's still the problem of You-Know-Who, but—"

"Voldemort." Harry swished his hand through the air in a dismissive wave. "Don't start calling him that just cus he's alive again"

"Right." Luna glanced down at her feet. "I'm sorry, not about that, well about that too, but I'm sorry to drag you into all of this."

"I was the one who chose not to pick a 'wish' or whatever." Harry scratched at the stubble on his jaw. "If I'd known the prick was just going to ignore what I wanted, I would've picked one and been done with it."

"What should we do next?" Luna asked. "Where should we go?"

"Hogwarts." There really wasn't anything to decide in Harry's mind, if anyone would know what to do, it would be Dumbledore. "Come here, I'll get us there."

Luna linked her around his own and leaned her head into the crook of his neck. "Can you hold on just a moment?" she asked. "I want to enjoy this."

"Luna—"

"Come on," she said. She pressed her weight against him. "Think about it, we're off in a new timeline, no one but each other to rely on, and a whole world of possibilities before us. We could apparate to some far off corner of the world and just live normal lives, everything would play out the same way it already did, and no one would be any the wiser."

Harry had to admit, it was tempting. What was not as tempting, though, was missing out on the chance to duel Voldemort as a grown adult with none of the same protections he'd had last time.

"There'll be time to settle down later," he said. "For now, there's a dark lord to kill."

With a crack, they left the dirty alley behind.

Dumbledore's office was the same as the last time he was in it. The portraits of previous headmasters were staring down at him with shock, Fawkes was perched on his stand behind the desk, and Dumbledore appeared almost exactly as Harry remembered, if with a bit more greys than whites in his beard.

"Bloody hell!"

Harry turned and realized they weren't alone with the headmaster. Sitting before the desk were the Marauders: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. They were all staring at him with open mouths and wide eyes. Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the headmaster who had managed to keep his cool.

"Albus," Harry said. "Would you mind dismissing the children so that we can talk?"

"And who might 'we' be?" Dumbledore asked. "I can't say that I recognize you, nor do I know anyone who could apparate through Hogwarts' wards."

Harry waved his hand. "I'll tell you everything once we have some privacy. What I have to say has to do with a certain Tom Riddle."

At last Dumbledore's expression mirrored the shocked boys'. Harry figured that would get the old wizard's attention, but he hadn't expected such a blatant display of interest. It seemed 70's Dumbledore was a great deal less restrained than the one who'd mentored him.

"Of course." The headmaster turned to his students. "All four of you are to serve detention, as delivered by Professor McGonagal. If I find out that any of you didn't report things accurately to her, I assure you the punishment will be far worse."

A chorus of mumbled yes sir's was his answer, and the boys filed out, though not without copious amounts of staring and gawking at Harry and Luna. Harry took the same seat his father had been sitting in, and Luna took the one to his right, all without letting go of his arm.

"Now then," Dumbledore said. "I do think an explanation is in order."

"First." Harry drew his wand. Dumbledore's hand moved towards his waist, no doubt where his wand was holstered, but Harry wasn't aiming any sort of spell at him. "Absconditus!"

The portraits along the walls suddenly faded away into pitch black. It was a simple privacy charm, but it had the unique benefit of covering portraits and paintings so that prying eyes couldn't spy on them. He wasn't sure about the majority of the former headmasters, but he knew for certain that Phineas Black was a liability.

"Right then." Harry put away his wand, and bolstered his occlumency shields as he stared into Dumbledore's eyes. "My name is Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans, born on the 31st of July, 1980." He gestured towards Luna. "This is Luna Lovegood, born a year after me. She's my… companion, for this sudden and unwanted time-traveling expedition.

"As far as I know, there is no way back into our correct time lines, and thus we're going to need your assistance to prevent as much pain and bloodshed as possible in what is your future, but our past."

Again Dumbledore's (comparative) youth was on full display as he leaned back in his chair and blinked rapidly at the declaration. Harry could almost see the cogs and belts turning in the legendary wizard's mind as he absorbed it all.

"I see." Dumbledore began to stroke his beard. "That's… Quite the proclamation. Do you have anything to back up your claim?"

"I don't suppose you could do a DNA test?" Harry asked. He had no idea how far along muggle technology had progressed at this point. "Or anything else to prove I'm my parents' son?"

"Nothing that wouldn't involve looping the Potter family into what you say," the headmaster said. "Something tells me you'd prefer that not happen."

If his grandparent's home was anything to go off of, they probably wouldn't be the worst people to have 'in the know', but he'd prefer to keep things simple. "Probably not. Truth be told we weren't exactly expecting to be launched into the past, but here we are, and the first order of business is to deal with Tom, or Voldemort, or whatever else you want to call him."

"Harry's parents were killed by him," Luna added. He was suddenly reminded of the fact that she still hadn't let go of him. "And he was the one who won the war against him, both times."

"Both times?" Dumbledore's brows furrowed. "I don't—"

"Do you have a pensieve yet?" Harry interrupted. "As much fun as it would be to tell my former mentor about the future, I think we could get through this much faster."

Dumbledore pursed his lips. "It would put me into a vulnerable position, allowing myself to delve into a stranger's memories."

"Then Luna and I will go in first." Technically there wasn't much of a rush, but Harry had never been called patient before. "At least for the first round of memories. Unless you lost a gargantuan pensieve in the time before I knew you, the one you have won't be large enough for everything I need to share."

After a few minutes, a house elf that Harry didn't recognize left a familiar wooden bowl on Dumbledore's desk. Harry drew his wand, ignoring the patronizing 'awww' from Luna as he pulled his arm away, then began unspooling memories from his mind. He skipped over many of the details, instead focusing on the things that would both verify what he'd said thus far, and implied his dedication for destroying the dark lord. Before too long, the pensieve was nearly spilling over with memories.

"Luna and I will go in first," he said. "Keep in mind that we, or at least I, am capable of leaving at any time, and am able to maintain a certain level of awareness of what's going on outside of the memories. If you don't join us shortly after we enter, I will leave, and we'll find another way to earn your trust."

Dumbledore nodded. "I swear to enter as soon as you do, assuming the pair of you don't have any lice."

The older wizard's eyes twinkled and Harry couldn't stop himself from snorting at the joke. "Deal."

He plunged his head into the bowl.

The headmaster's office was replaced by a dim and dusty classroom. The desks and some other objects were covered in cloth sheets, and the only thing that stood bare was a tall mirror that nearly reached up to the ceiling. Like a ghost in the night, Luna appeared beside him. A few seconds later, Dumbledore joined them.

"This is the first time I properly met you," Harry said. "I won't be giving commentary for the rest of it, cus I'd rather forget, so save your questions for the end of the tour."

He plopped down on the ground and was surprised when Luna joined him by settling herself into his lap. Dumbledore politely ignored the one-sided display of affection as an older version of himself appeared behind Harry, and began to lecture the child on the desires of one's heart.

"Comfy?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Very." Luna wiggled herself into an even comfier position. "Don't think just because I drug you into the past that you're going to be able to escape my seductive ways."

"Luna…" Harry sighed. "I don't think now's the best time for this."

"I hope you aren't about to say that you don't feel comfortable with this," Luna said. "Your ex-wife hasn't even been born yet."

Harry flinched. "She might never be born. We might never be born either."

"Maybe we won't." Luna shrugged. "But your parents will still have children, the Weasleys will still have kids until they have a daughter. We've shifted over to an entirely new timeline. We can live our lives however we want here."

"Right, but still." He grimaced. "There's a lot to be done."

A few memories had come and gone, and now they were sitting in the cave he and Dumbledore had thought a horcrux lay in. The headmaster had forced himself, with Harry's help, to drain a basin of cursed water by drinking it. The younger version of himself stared aghast at the sight of the legendary wizard weeping and begging for mercy.

"And we'll do it together," Luna said. "Or we'll do it until you decide to break up with me."

"We're not even dating." Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Luna."

"Oh c'mon," she said. "We're kind of dating."

He forced away the grin that was spawned from her own playful smirk. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Is there someone else you were planning on dating?" Luna asked. "Some 'milf' in our time that you'd always had a crush on?"

A blush spread across his face. "Of course not, but still."

"But still what?"

"But still this is a bit much!" It hurt to admit he was whining. "Seriously Luna, I didn't even recognize you yesterday, and now you're saying we're dating."

"You still haven't said we're not."

Before he could respond, they were tossed out of the memories back into Dumbledore's office. Harry blinked. Apparently he'd kept the memories more abridged than he'd realized. He collected himself before speaking.

"Hopefully that should earn us some credence," Harry said. "Any questions thus far?"

"What were we there for?" Albus asked. "Back in that cave? Before… Before Severus killed me."

Harry winced. He hadn't even noticed them transition to that memory. "A horcrux." Dumbledore paled. "Voldemort has created…" He tried to remember how many the dark lord would've made by now. "Well, at least one, but certainly more than that. I just don't know how many at this point he would've made. I know what all he was planning to use though. Did he happen to come in for an interview to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor yet?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Then there's at least two, with certainty, and an unknown amount more, also with certainty." Harry shook his head. "We can delve through my memories in more detail to figure out how far along he'd be with his project later."

The headmaster fell back into his chair with a pained look on his face. Harry almost pitied the man. It was hard to imagine the sort of pain that came from learning just how depraved one of the school's former students had become, but in the previous timeline the headmaster had at least learned it slowly over the years. Having it all dumped on his desk like this was probably a bit more of a shock.

"I believe you," Albus said. "If only for the first memory, no one else would know that."

Harry's brows furrowed. "Know what?"

"That what I truly desire is naught but a pair of socks."

Luna laughed. "I'm glad to know we won't have trouble finding a Christmas gift for you then, sir."

Dumbledore gave a weak smile. "There wasn't too much beyond your school years, what else should I know?"

"Not much." Harry tried to keep himself from sneering. "Once Tom was in the ground, the world became rather peaceful, leaving a man like me to sit on my thumbs and try not to die of boredom."

"But how did you defeat him?"

"From an advantageous position, with 'the power he knows not' or something like that," Harry said. "This time I'll have much less prophetic advantages."

"What can I do to help?" Dumbledore stared him down. One part of Harry was intimidated by the fact that the man who'd led him to defeating the dark lord in the first place was suddenly asking him for guidance, another part was far too proud for a supposed hero. "What do you need?"

"Identities," Luna jumped in. "For all intents and purposes, we don't exist in this world. We'll need some sort of 'lives' in order to get by."

Harry nodded his head, and was viscerally reminded of the fact that Luna had once been a member of the Ravenclaw household. She might've been a flighty, head-in-the-clouds dreamer girl, but she was furthest thing from stupid. Maybe he should let her take the lead in all this.

"That can be arranged." Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I have contacts in the ministry who can get everything you'll need. What sort of names would you use?"

"Our first names shouldn't be a problem," Luna said. "Luna's not the most common name in the world, but Harry might be. You'd have a better idea of what our last name should be."

"Last names," Harry corrected. "I'm not swearing off a relationship yet, but I'm certainly not going to let you go around and say we're married."

Luna smiled and his heart fluttered a bit, much to his annoyance. "Just a slip of the tongue," she said innocently. "I'm glad to know you're coming around to my way of thinking though."

Harry decided his best move was to ignore the blonde, and turned towards Dumbledore. "You already know my parents, and Luna was a pureblood, daughter of Xenophilius and..."

"Pandora," Luna finished.

"Right, Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood, they run The Quibbler. Any ideas for names?"

"Well, one of you could be my nephew or niece," he said. Harry blinked. "Or grand-nephew or niece as the case may be. I have a reclusive brother who could probably be talked into 'adopting'."

"I've had worse parental figures than Aberforth." Harry snorted. "For chivalry's sake, I can say I have more goat-like features than my companion here."

"Girlfriend." Luna leaned against him. "Come on, at least give me that."

Harry's argument was cut short by Dumbledore. "Harold Dumbledore, and Luna… Marigold. A muggle-born witch who studied at Beauxbatons. Harry was homeschooled by myself and Aberforth, though if anyone asks we'll make it clear who really did the heavy lifting there."

"Do you have the contacts to forge a Beauxbatons transcript?" Harry asked. "I can't say I know much about international relations of this time, but back in the day the entire magical French-English relationship hinged on my friend's marital connection with the ambassador's daughter."

The familial web that led Hermione to Michel Delacour, Fleur's father, was a bit more complicated than that, but it didn't make a particular difference.

Dumbledore waved away the concerns. "I can make it work. With identities made up though, what's next?"

It suddenly struck Harry that he was stepping into a full on war. In a more peaceful era, Dumbledore might have been filled with more gentile curiosity and amazement, but as things stood, there was only one thing on the headmaster's mind.

"Next, I'm going to need a rooster." Harry stood and moved towards one of the cabinets along the wall. He opened it and took out the sorting hat. He felt around its insides for a moment, ignoring the cap's protests, before discovering the sword that had been by his side for countless encounters. "A rooster, and some time from our beloved phoenix over there."

#

Harry and Luna were digging into their dinner at the Three Broomsticks Inn. A few wizards and witches were helping to fill the tavern, but the place was never as busy as it would be during the nearby Hogwarts' weekend trips to Hogsmeade. The place was lively and warm, and Harry had to admit he was enjoying his 'girlfriend's company.

"I'm so excited to see them," Luna said. "Wombles went extinct in 1980 when the last known pair died in an awful grotto fire. We absolutely have to see them, Harry, we have to save them!"

"I'll see what I can do," he said. Despite his best efforts to come off as disinterested, it was hard to imagine himself not doing whatever was needed to help the excited blonde. "It'll depend on how everything else plays out."

"My father told me that they're just beautiful," Luna said between bites of her steak. "Purple scales with tufts of fur between them, two pairs of miniature antlers, and the tails are nearly twice as long as their bodies!"

Harry tried, and failed, to picture the imaginary beings. At least he hoped they were imaginary. If one or more of the things that Luna gushed about turned out to be real, he'd have a lot more questions than he was already dealing with.

"It's them!" a voice called in the distance. Harry's head whipped around to see his father and godfather rushing towards them. "Look!"

Harry winced. 'Should've known they wouldn't be constrained to the school, Hogsmeade Weekends or not.'

He really didn't want to deal with this right now. Despite said wants, the two seventeen year olds practically ran over to his and Luna's table with matching grins that promised nothing but mischief.

"How did you do it?" Sirius asked. "I thought it was impossible to apparate inside Hogwarts. I tried it myself right after you did it!"

"Do I know you?" Harry turned back to his food and stuffed another bite of potatoes into his mouth. He chewed it slowly. "If not, go away."

"Aw, come on." His father flashed a smile that made Harry wish they looked less alike. No one would peg the two as family, let alone father and son, given Harry's more… well-worn, appearance, but still. "We won't tell anyone, we've just got to know."

"If the two of you were capable of it, I'd tell you." Harry flicked his wrist at them in dismissal. "But you're not. So please leave myself and my companion—"

"Girlfriend."

His eye twitched. "Companion alone."

"We'll trade." Sirius leaned in close. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually from a pretty rich family." He winked. "If you teach me how to apparate in and out of the school, I promise to make it worth your while."

Harry snorted. "If you had access to your family fortune, I might be tempted. But we both know you're about as likely to get a kiss from your mother as touch a single knut from the Black vault."

Sirius reeled back as though he'd been slapped. Harry was confused for a moment, but quickly realized the same thing he'd learned from Dumbledore.

These weren't the same people he'd known in his own time. They hadn't been through the trials and tribulations that they someday could, and still had certain innocences and prejudices that he'd missed out on in his own time. This Sirius might've still held out hope for his family, somehow.

James frowned. "Who the hell do you think you are?'

"I think I'm the man who already told you no." Harry might've felt a bit of guilt from hurting his godfather, but he wasn't about to show weakness. "If you continue to pester me, you'll find I've got even more barbs up my sleeve."

"Harry," Luna said. "Relax, they're just kids."

"Oi." It seemed Sirius had recovered from the verbal low blow. "We're both seventeen you know, we're adults."

Harry snorted. "You just made out like a whipped dog because I told you that an evil family won't love you. You've got a long way to go before you're considered an adult."

Sirius drew his wand and James grabbed his wrist. "Sirius."

"Both of you should leave now before I make it clear just how I managed to have enough strength to ignore the ancient wards of Hogwarts." Harry stabbed his fork into the rapidly cooling steak on his plate. "Someday you'll be powerful wizards in your own right, but it's not this day, and it's certainly not this night."

"Harry!" He flinched and his fork fell into his potatoes. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but threatening teenagers is simply ridiculous."

"Luna—"

"Don't you 'Luna' me." She gave a loud huff. "Honestly, I expect this sort of behaviour from Aberforth, but not you."

"Aberforth?" James said incredulously. The teenage boys wore mirrored expressions of confusion. "As in Aberforth Dumbledore?"

"Yes." Luna gave them a warm smile. "My name is Luna Marigold, and this is my boyfriend, Harold Dumbledore, Aberforth's son."

"Luna—"

"We wanted to surprise our Uncle Albus with a visit, and Harry wanted to show off how good he was at apparating." She reached over and placed her hand over one of his. "He really can't show you though, it's just a matter of brute forcing his way through the wards."

"Luna!"

"Don't let his bad attitude scare you off," she continued, unperturbed. "I promise he's as sweet as they come."

Harry glowered at her, but the blonde woman didn't seem to mind. She was too busy trying to interlock her fingers with his own.

"I do not 'brute force' my way through the wards, I just have enough magical ability to make my way through them. If all it took was brute force then Herm—"

He cut himself off this time. Neither one of his father figures knew who Hermione was, and neither one should know. They should just go about their lives as though nothing was wrong, because he was going to make sure nothing was.

"Yes?" Sirius urged. "How do you use your magical ability to get through the wards?"

Harry scooped up a bit of mashed potatoes, then pulled the fork back and flung it at Sirius. The spuds gave a wet slapping sound, then started dripping down his face and nearly into his mouth. "Go away."

James snorted and turned away to snicker at his friend's situation. The potatoes were starting to fall onto the floor and the young wizard's robes, but he still refused to move.

"I, you…." Sirius's nostrils flared. "Are you serious?"

James jumped in, "No you are."

The glare his father's best friend leveled James with only seemed to double the boy's mirth. Luna giggled along, but this was still the last thing Harry wanted to deal with.

"Come on." He stood. "Let's get out here."

He waited for Luna to join him, then resigned himself to holding out the hand she'd been trying to hold which she took with a teasing smirk. With a whip crack they disappeared and reappeared in the middle of an empty field.

"How romantic," Luna said. "It's too bad we already ate, or else I'd suggest a picnic."

"Luna." Harry was finally going to get the chance to reprimand his companion. "We can't go around associating with the people in our past. It could be disastrous."

"It could also be fun." She said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could change everything!" How could she not see this? "What if our interactions cause all that we expect to happen to wind up in completely different ways and places!"

"Then we'll just have to deal with that." Luna finally let go of his hand, and wrapped her arms around him. "Come on, isn't this what you wanted? The chance to stand toe to toe with a dark lord worthy of your time? Sure things won't play out the way you expect them to, but if they did, wouldn't that make things too easy on you?"

Harry wanted to take the high ground and fight with her, say that the defeat of Voldemort took priority over his feelings, but it was hard to argue that this wasn't what he wanted. He'd already won once, did everything the wizarding world had asked for, didn't he deserve his own time to live the way he wanted? Even if it meant risking said world in the wake of his desire?

No, he didn't. Harry Potter was an infamous, powerful, well-lauded if not respected playboy who was rich beyond his wildest dreams and more than capable of doing anything he'd ever wanted. Protecting the world around him was the absolute least he could do to give back.

"We have to keep things simple," he said. "We're not here to play games. I need to bury Tom, and let the world go about its business."

"Or." It was hard to ignore the way Luna's chest felt against his own, and the way her lips moved against his neck as she spoke. "You could be selfish for a little bit. Just you, and me, doing whatever we want."

"I already told Merlin that what I want is to do my duty."

"Duty this, duty that." Luna trailed kisses up his collar until she broke away and looked into his eyes. "You do realize we could just go back to Mexico and redo this all, right?"

He hadn't realized that.

"This is everything you ever wanted." She pushed herself against him suddenly and Harry was forced onto the grassy earth, Luna on top of him. "You can fight against Yo-, I mean, Voldemort, without worrying about anything else. You can just live your life. You can start fresh without the entire world monitoring and journalizing everything you do.

"You can date a pretty girl like me."

Harry smiled at his self-proclaimed girlfriend. "You really won't give that up, will you?"

"Nope." Luna chirped. "You're all mine."

"What if I'm not?" Harry teased, though a part of him hoped she'd take offense and put an end to this. "I've slept with countless women over the years, maybe I can't be satisfied with just you."

"Then I suppose I'll have to seduce them away from you." He rolled his eyes at her parry. "Or at least, seduce them towards both of us."

"Ah yes, I shall become a true scion of the Potter and Black families, dedicated to rebuilding our lineages."

"I call dibs on being the Potter matriarch," Luna said. "We'll find some other woman to mother the Black line. Do you happen to have any other families depending on your loins?"

He was growing tired of this. "I'm not going to be some perfect, scenic husband who will build some happy-go-lucky family with you. All I want—"

"I know."

Luna pressed her lips against his, and Harry almost surprised himself with the intensity he responded with. His mouth opened up, but before he could extend his tongue, Luna forced her own in. He slid one hand down her back and grabbed her ass, the other curled itself between her locks of hair as she grabbed either side of his face. He couldn't stop himself from grinding his hips against her.

Finally she broke away and immediately pressed her head against his. "Harry, I'm not Ginny."

He stiffened.

"I'm not going to try and change you. I'm not going to demand you get me pregnant as soon as we start dating. I'm not going to try and change your life in any way that you don't want, and I mean really want. … I will still call you an idiot when you try and shove your dad and pseudo-dad away.

"All I want is to be yours. And for you to be mine. I don't care if you disappear for weeks on end to slay some evil. I don't care if I have to worry about your well being. I don't want anything from you but who you are." She kissed him again, a violent pressing of her lips against his that only lasted for a few seconds. "Just say yes, and we'll follow our dreams to wherever they lead us."

Despite every ounce of fear, caution, and worry that tried to force itself through he couldn't stop himself.

"Yes."