~I See You But You're Not There~

Voldemort was taunting them. After embracing a petrified Draco Malfoy, he scanned the crowd and was pleased by the lack of numbers the enemy had. He laughed and held himself at full height in the space between sides.

"See how powerful we could be together?" he said, "A force too great for words! Join me now and your life will be spared!"

No one moved. Harry scanned the crowd as Voldemort tried again.

"This is your last chance. Surrender yourselves or prepare to say your final goodbyes!"

"No."

Harry's head snapped towards Luna when her voice penetrated through the silence. The girl he loved with his whole heart; with everything he had. She was standing behind Neville with a look of grim determination on her face. When she spied Harry looking at her she touched her heart-a sign to say "I love you." Harry's heart was racing. What was she doing?

"Who said that?" Voldemort growled.

Luna pushed past Neville, past the crowd, to face him.

"I did, sir," she said.

"Would you like to repeat it?" Voldemort looked amused.

"Yes. Not one of us will surrender to you. So many lives have been cruelly ripped away simply for the sake of existing and standing up for each other. Your friends are dying as well, but would any of them die for you? Or are they just cowed by fear? I don't think any of your followers love you."

Voldemort's lips curled back in a snarl, "Of course they don't. Fear is what instills obedience, not love."

"I feel sorry for you."

By this time there was a buzz of excitement through the Hogwarts' ranks. Luna's last stand, though doubtlessly futile, was courageous and inspiring.

"You what? " Voldemort didn't sound angry. He sounded absolutely incredulous.

"I feel sorry for you," Luna said again in her feathery voice: "I feel sorry because you do not, and will never, have anyone who truly loves you."

Harry screamed when the dark wizard threw the spell he recognized as Snape's sectumsempra spell. The lithe blonde flew backwards with such force several other students fell down as well. Her body slammed against the wall with a sickening 'thwack!'

The world around him slowed to a complete stop. Harry could feel, from somewhere, Ron grabbing him and Hermione trying to placate him. He was dimly aware of other people moving around him to make a clear path to Luna, murmuring apologies, weeping into each other, turning away with empathy.

He ignored them all.

When he reached Luna he immediately took her hand in his, dismayed by how cold it felt. He pulled out his wand but his mind drew a blank.

"What's the reversal?" he cried. If only Snape were there! Anyone!

He tried apisky but nothing happened, and it only made him feel worse when remembering it was Luna who had first used that spell on him.

With tears in his eyes he repeated the spell over and over again, hoping, praying, wishing that something would happen. That someone would come.

"Help! Please!"

There was blood. So much blood. Too much blood. Blood on his hands, blood on his clothes, blood on the ground. Blood in her beautiful hair and between her lovely lips. Her skin was nearly ashen. She looked up at him without saying anything; no words of comfort, no false hopes. At one point she pressed her small, cold hand to his jaw and smiled.

"I love you, Luna. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone! Please don't leave me! Don't leave me all alone! I can't...I won't do it without you!"

"Harry,"

Someone reached for his shoulder but he shrugged them away. Unless they were here to help, they were only a hindrance. Why had no one come? Why couldn't he remember the words to heal her? Why was he so weak!

"Harry."

Voldemort's low rasp couldn't even send the proper shivers down his spine. For this, the 'Boy-Who-Lived' would never forgive. For Luna, he would never let go. There were so many people he'd lost! His parents and Sirius and Dumbledore and Snape...there were so many people he'd give anything for one more moment with.

"Harry."

Luna's soft voice. Her gentle smile. The tears on her cheeks. She never cried out in pain, though he knew it must have been agonizing and her whole body shuddered beneath him.

"I would do anything for you!" Angry at himself and at the world, Harry felt as if this was what truly dying felt like. Actual death would have been a relief. A peace.

" Harry! "

"Take me with you! Please!" She was slipping through his fingers, fast-too fast! This was not what life was meant to be! Had she stopped breathing? Had she stopped seeing him with her luminescent eyes? What had been their last moment? He had wasted his time left and his last words screaming spells that didn't work.

"HARRY!"

*!*

He lurched out of sleep, cold and disoriented. Sweat had drenched his pajama bottoms and was dripping down from his chest and from his hair. He gasped and coughed and trembled from his spot on the floor. He must have fallen out of bed sometime during the night, though he was still partially-wrapped up in the top sheet. Luna was in bed with the blanket, peering down over the edge at him with lips parted in worry.

A dream. Harry forced himself to take a deep breath.

A dream. That was all it was.

"Harry?" Luna reached out a hand as if to touch him then drew back at the last minute, her hand shaking. His heart was beating erratically in his chest so heavily it pounded in his ears.

"My Love, are you all right?"

He could count on his hands how many times she had called him that. Each was in a time of extreme emotional distress or fear. The last time had been when Felicity fell out of a tree and broke her arm. As she got older, Luna became less of a master at disguising her fear. It didn't happen often but it was happening now. The room was afire with her terror.

"Where are we? " Harry asked. His throat ached from yelling in his sleep.

"America. Disney World. The hotel." Luna's words were succinct. She didn't move from her position but she reached for him again.

"The kids," reality was slowly coming back to him, "What...where-"

"They're with Arthur and Molly, probably asleep by now. We came back early for dinner with just us, remember?"

Yes, Harry did remember. He remembered Teddy whining about his ice cream portions and Percy's daughter, Lucy squabbling with her mother over which souvenir she should get. Felicity had ridden on the back of Harry's shoulders pointing out all the rides she wanted to go on next. Ned and Rose talked non-stop about Disney movies and which characters were their favorites (Rose liked Sleeping Beauty for the dragon at the end but Ned was partial to 101 Dalmatians). Despite having spent the whole day in the park the kids were still giddy with energy. When everyone started getting hungry, Molly suggested the rest of the adults "have a nice dinner together!" while she and Arthur had more fun with their grandchildren.

They'd gone to a fancy restaurant with the rest of the Weasley Clan and had a nice time catching up. Both Harry and Luna had several glasses of wine to drink (and being alone was exciting), so they'd said goodnight early and giggled their way to their hotel room like teenagers. They hadn't even reached their door when Luna started kissing him and nibbling at his ear. They ravished each other and it was just like the first time. Better.

"Harry, are you feeling alright? You were having a nightmare." His wife's worried voice brought him back to the present. His heartbeat had calmed and his skin no longer felt so prickly. Her hand was still stretched toward him so he took it and heaved a sigh of relief.

"I thought I'd lost you," he murmured against her palm.

"You have not lost me," she said matter-of-factly. She still looked nervous but her voice was strong.

"Voldemort...he was-he tried to take you away." The words came out much more garbled than he intended. Luna's fingers flexed against his face and she drew him closer.

"I am right here, and Voldemort is dead."

"You were-" Harry's face crumpled and he ran his free hand over his face.

"I am right here." Luna touched her nose to his cheek, kissed his forehead: "You are right here with me. We are together."

"He-"

"Come back to bed, My Love, it's been a long day." Her voice was soothing and her touch was a comfort. Already he felt pulled back to sleep. He followed directions and climbed in beside her. She wiped his arms and his face with the sleeve of her eclectic pajamas.

"Ack, such a sweaty boy you are, darling," she purred, "Now I know for sure it was me you were dreaming of."

He laughed and snuggled into her and breathed in her familiar scent and let her drape her leg on top of his. And the memory of the nightmare faded away.