Old Wounds, Long Shadows
Harry climbed what must be the thirteenth flight of stairs on his way up to the VIP box. He looked up and saw at least ten more and let out a sigh.
"Bloody hell, how many damned flights of stairs are there?" Ron complained, as he joined Harry and looked up.
"Oh stop complaining Ron." Hermione replied as she grimly continued her ascent.
"Why couldn't they get some of those muggle moving stairs, what do you call them Eskeraptors?" Ron replied.
"They are called Escalators Ron and they aren't something you can put anywhere willy nilly. There's a lot of complex moving parts that go into those moving stairs." Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes.
Harry just silently continued to climb, his time in the Dursleys didn't exactly make him strong considering how little they fed him but they did make a good runner on long distances. That plus him taking Physical Efficacy for Males classes seriously because he wanted to be a good seeker made him rather physically fit. Ron on the other hand hated the running, saying that it hurts his chest. The girls had different classes of course, their classes were much less vigorous unless the girls wished to take the advanced classes which held the same curriculum as the Male classes. Physical Efficacy and Muggle Combat Principles were the only two classes taught by muggles in Hogwarts, with the latter being only available in the fourth year for those that performed well both in Physical Efficacy and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry himself had opted for that class, as it was a requirement for being an Auror which allowed him the usage of Magic Amplifiers and other combat focused Magitech Artefacts. After his experiences with Quirrell, the Basilisk and Dementors he keenly felt the importance of combat abilities. Afterall, with Voldemort lurking about and with the eventuality of a confrontation, Harry had no plans to be easy prey.
He looked behind him to see Xenophilius Lovegood having a hard time with Luna struggling to support his father up the stairs. Harry seeing this turned around and walked past Ron and Hermione.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"Lending a hand." Harry replied.
Harry extended a hand to the panting Xenophilius with a warm smile.
"Need a hand? Mr Lovegood?" Harry offered.
Xenophilius looked up at Harry and looked down at the sweaty Luna propping him up.
"Thank you, Harry." Xenophilius said gratefully as he took Harry's hand. As he put Xenophilius's arm over his shoulder he saw Cedric calmly walking up the stairs with his father. Who although seemed to be a bit worn out from the climb was doing as well as could be expected.
Harry steadied himself and raised his body up taking the most of the weight off Xenophilius's aging frame. With that the pair made much better progress with Xenophilius only having to maintain his balance and Harry bearing most of the weight.
"You're very strong Harry, thank you for your aid. I wish they would let us use magic here, but those Section 10 fellows always refuse to back down when it comes to magic use." Xenophilius said with a sigh. Not noticing his surroundings Xenophilius didn't realise he was walking past a Section 10 soldier on guard on one of the stairwells. The pair realising this froze and looked up at the Section 10 soldier with his Black helmet, glowing blue goggles and black perfectly ironed uniform. In the soldier's arms was clutched a three barreled Magitech rifle and on his right arm Harry recognised their famous Nullfite gauntlet inscribed with roman numeral X.
"Move along sir." the soldier said stiffly, betraying no emotion in his voice.
Harry sensing his que, quietly continued to help Xenophilius up the stairs.
"Strange ones aren't they, can't tell what goes on in their heads behind those glowing goggles." Xenophilius muttered.
"Yeah, I've never seen one of them do nothing but stand in place and scowl." Harry replied.
"Be glad you have never seen them fight, Mr Potter. I have seen what they are capable of, they offer no mercy in combat. They say pity stays the hand of the merciful, but I suspect to the likes of Section 10… pity is a foreign concept..." Xenophilius said quietly.
"Or perhaps they are trained to never let emotion control them." Harry replied.
"An interesting theory Harry, what makes you say that?" Xenophilius asked.
"That's what muggle soldiers do, their training camps try to remove their emotions so they know no fear in times of war. The officers command and the soldiers obey." Harry replied.
"What horror! Why would anyone subject themselves to something like that? Emotion is the fire of life! What are we without our hearts?" Xenophilius said.
"Good soldiers apparently… The muggles don't need emotions as much as witches and wizards, they can't cast magic afterall." Harry replied.
"You are an interesting young man Harry Potter. I do not know many muggle borns, few advertise that fact, fewer share their knowledge for fear of reprisal." Xenophilius said.
"Fear is the kindling from which the flames of hate feeds." Harry replied.
"Wise words from one so young." Xenophilius said.
"The fruits of hatred are bitter lessons, I learned those lessons and learned them well." Harry replied darkly, thinking of Voldemort, his parents and Dursleys.
Finally Harry helped Xenophilius to the top and with a grateful nod from the aging man. Harry took his seat on Ron's left, he turned and found Luna seated on his left. He looked at her slightly red face, sweaty skin and reached into his shirt pocket looking for his Ice Cool Flask 1 litre that was filled with pumpkin juice.
"Hear you must be thirsty." Harry offered kindly.
"Thank you Harry." Luna said as she took the flask gratefully before taking a swig of the ice cold pumpkin juice.
The flask, although small enough to put in his pocket, could actually hold one litre of the desired beverage thanks to some clever enchantments. It also cooled the drinks within to an ice cold temperature. He also had a Hot Steaming Flask 1 litre that he used during winter. They were not cheap, each costing 80 galleons but Harry was quite well off. His grandfather had several patents on some commonly used potions that were still valid for another ten or so years. What's more, his parents had received the Fallen's Comfort Pension that was granted to the family of Aurors who lost their lives in the battle of Voldemort. This meant Harry essentially had three sources of income that was deposited into his vault every month. To put it plainly Harry was filthy rich as compared to the average witch and wizard.
The idea for the pension came from the muggles who had pensions and stipends for fallen soldiers. Which incidentally made most of the Aurors across the world grateful and by extension generally muggle collaboration supporters. This plus the fact most of the equipment that gave the Auror's their edge against dark wizards were made through wizard muggle cooperation further deepened this allegiance. They afterall reaped the most rewards of muggle wizard cooperation in the wizarding world. Having the most capable combatants in both the muggle and magical worlds as supporters of muggle wizard cooperation meant that the Aurors acted as a stabilising anchor that kept the peace. This was and is much to the chagrin of anti muggle groups as the Aurors outclassed splinter groups both in terms of skill and equipment.
"Thank you Harry that was very refreshing." Luna replied, her eyes soft, it wasn't a common thing for her to receive kindness from someone other than her father.
"Don't worry about it." Harry replied with a laugh.
The group waited and chatted excitedly about the coming match. Fred and George were placing bets on who would win. Ron was explaining to Hermione the massive amount of quidditch statistics of the Irish team, which left Harry talking to Luna.
"Do you play quidditch?" Harry asked.
"I don't play, but I like watching, I was never good on the broom." Luna replied.
"I picked it up easily enough, Madame Hooch says quidditch skills are in your blood. She says the talent lies in your mind's eye's ability to imagine your position in the air, your gauge of speed, your gauge of distance and your sense of balance. But I feel if that's the case I had a lot of practice before I ever got on a broom." Harry said.
"Practice? How so?" Luna asked curiously, as she cocked her head.
"You see when I was younger my cousin and his friends always liked to bully me and chase me around." Harry said.
"That's horrible." Luna replied.
"Well… yeah, but you see the thing is he was always bigger than me. I could never win in a fist fight seeing he was built like a boar. Boars may be strong and tough in a fight... however, they aren't fast and not so good at climbing." Harry said with a grin.
"Climbing?" Luna asked.
"You see Luna, where I lived, every house had a tree in their yard. In the neighbourhood of Privet Drive, if your yard didn't have a tree you would have less than your neighbours. If you had more than one tree you weren't fitting in, you weren't Normal enough. It turned out all the trees had to be in the same place too, which happened to be close to the house. So, I could climb the tree and hide on the roof. Have you ever seen someone fat try to climb a tree?" Harry asked.
"I would assume they wouldn't be that successful." Luna replied with a smirk.
"You bet, so the branches, the trees and the roofs were where I ended up hiding. You need to have a good balance and a good sense of distance if you want to jump from a tree to a nearby slanted roof." Harry said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Did your cousin ever try to climb up to the roof to catch you?" Luna asked.
"Oh he did once, didn't end that well though. He managed to get up the tree and find a branch that wouldn't snap under his weight. I'm not going to lie, I was worried for a moment, until he actually tried to jump the gap. He ended up landing on these gutters at the edge of the roof designed to help with rain water. Usually I don't land on the gutters because I know they can't take that much weight let alone someone landing on them. My cousin ended up landing right on the gutter, he managed to collapse the entire thing and took two dozen roof tiles with him." Harry said with a laugh. I got hell for it afterwards but the sight of him on the ground with shattered roof tiles and moldy leaves all over him was worth it." Harry said with a laugh.
Luna let out a laugh as well. Luna herself found Harry very pleasant and interesting. He had a type of dry humour that she enjoyed. She was never one for punch lines, she never could get those. Plus he seems to genuinely want to talk to her, she didn't like pity which was what she often got from the nicer students of hogwarts. Ginny tried her best but she knew at her core Ginny felt bad for her and seeing as she was a family friend she had a kind of obligation to be nice.
Not with Harry though, he doesn't see Loony Lovegood, the daughter of the author of the crazy Quibbler. He sees Luna Lovegood for who she was and he didn't seem to mind. At the Burrow she had told him about Dabberblimps and he just listened. She sensed no judgement, no veiled ridicule, she could always tell when people felt like that. Maybe he just didn't know much about the magical world, maybe he would eventually like everyone else, decide that she was weird. She didn't think Harry would be cruel but remaining her friend? That was an entirely different thing…
"Any souvenirs ladies and gents?" a voice said, tearing Luna from her thoughts.
Luna turned to see a man holding a tray filled with merchandise for the Quidditch World Cup. There were luminous rosettes that cried the names of the Irish and Bulgarian players, shiny hats with colours of the competing nations with their national symbols swirling on the fabric and then there were these strange binocular-like devices.
"What are those?" Ron asked as he pointed at the devices.
"Ah a new invention sir, created for this very event! I present to you Omnioculars the fruit of muggle wizard cooperation, it allows you to zoom in, slow down the action, it automatically tracks the players as they fly and it even records the action for you to watch later at your leisure. If you want to never miss a moment of this historical event then you need a pair of these Omnioculars. Yes you can have the very best Quidditch World Cup experience for the low low price of ten galleons!" the man said eagerly as he ended his sales pitch with a dramatic gesture at the Omnioculars.
Harry looked at the Omnioculars, these would definitely make the experience better if they performed as advertised. He looked to Hermione and Ron who were counting their Galleons with strained expressions on their faces. Ten Galleons wasn't exactly going to break anyone's bank but for a student on an allowance it was quite a bit to spend on something you were only going to use once. He saw Hermione pout as she looked away from the Omnioculars and began perusing the other wares. Ron let out a sigh and did the same, giving the walking figure of the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum a prod, making the small figure slap his finger away in indignation. He turned to Luna who was in a similar situation as she shifted her gaze from the Omnioculars.
Harry counted off the other teenagers who were seated with him, himself, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, the twins, Percy and Cedric. That made nine, so nine Omnioculars it was then.
"I'll take nine Omnioculars please." Harry said, he watched as Hermione paused and did the math in her head.
"No Harry you don't have to." Hermione said hurriedly.
"It's fine, after all we have no idea if we'll ever get to come again, let's make tonight one to remember." Harry replied as he dug into his pouch where he kept his Galleons.
"Harry… could it be? Are you Harry Potter?" the man said in shock, almost toppling his entire tray.
"Don't think about it too much." Harry said hurriedly as he placed the Galleons into his hand.
"No, for you Master Potter seven Galleons each, it is the least I can do to the one who vanquished You Know Who!" the man exclaimed.
"It's fine just give a discount to my friends, I'll pay full price for the Omnioculars." Harry said as he reached into the tray and began passing out the Omnioculars before the man could reply. He knew there was no sense arguing about this, the faster this exchange ended the better.
"Of course Master Potter, please everyone have a look at my wares." the man said hurriedly as he began showing his wares to the rest.
"Thanks Harry!" Fred said with a wide beaming smile and a thumbs up from a few seats down the row.
As he handed the Omnioculars to Luna she looked at it like it was some foreign creature, before looking up at him eyes wide.
"You didn't have to buy me this Harry." Luna said softly.
"No I supposed I didn't but I wanted to, besides I wasn't exactly going to buy one for everyone except you." Harry replied with a grin.
Luna let out a smile herself as she took the Omnioculars and gently held it. She ran her thumb over the smooth metal surface. This is the first gift she had ever received from someone around her age. All her gifts were either from her father or other adults. She never had someone from Hogwarts give her anything…
"Anything for you young miss?" the man asked as he approached her with the tray.
Luna paused for a moment and looked at Harry. She saw him waving away the protests of a red faced Cedric with a cheery laugh as Harry put on one of the green hats with a green rosette pinned on his chest.
"I'll take one of those green hats and a green rosette." Luna said softly.
Luna pinned the rosette on her chest and wore the hat, as she did so she never took her eyes off Harry as he laughed and joked with the rest. Even if Harry would eventually want nothing to do with her, she wanted to remember this. So she raised her Omnioculars and took a short recording of Harry laughing with the rest…
"Hello Potter, I was wondering where that stench was coming from, oh sorry Potter didn't see you there Granger." a snide voice said from behind.
"Hello Malfoy, what ill did I commit to run into you here?" Harry replied coldly.
Luna watched as the blonde haired boy's face curled into a snarl at those words.
"Hard to believe the company you keep Potter, I had hoped you would have the decency to keep the filth out of the VIP box at least, but I suppose I was being too naive." the boy replied.
"Now now son, we should be civil despite the sorry state of our company for this occasion." a tall sinister looking man said as he appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Lucius." Mr Weasley said coldly.
"Arthur, and to think I thought you could sink no lower, colluding with creatures like this." Lucius Malfoy said as he sneered at Hermione.
"I thought the lunatic that runs the Quibbler was bad enough, now you would drag muggles into the VIP box. You bring shame upon us all Arthur." Lucius sneered.
"You and I have very different definitions as what constitutes shame to the wizarding world Lucius." Arthur replied coldly.
"You must that Loony Ravenclaw I've been hearing so much about. Pleased to finally meet you Loony Lovegood." the boy said a cruel smile curling from his lips.
At those words, Luna flinched, now Harry would know what everyone thought of her. She had hoped this night at least she could have a friend who didn't know her as the rest of Hogwarts did.
"Come now Draco, no need to trade petty insults. Such paltry exchange of words is below our station." Lucius said, placing a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"Your father's right Draco, your insults are getting worse every year. What's next? Hairy Harry? Potty Potter? Hairy Potty?" Harry replied sarcastically.
"Watch yourself Potter." Draco said coldly.
"Judging by your insults and my past experiences with you, I don't think there's much to fear. I've seen butter knives sharper than you." Harry replied with a laugh.
"Come Draco, we waste our breath with the likes of them." Lucius drawled as he motioned Draco follow.
"Lucius what's going on here." another voice said from behind.
"Minister, just having a chat with my colleague Arthur." Lucius replied calmly.
"Oh is Arthur already here?" a man said as he stepped into view, he was a portly man with fading grey hair and on his head he wore a lime green bowler hat.
"Good evening Minister." Mr Weasley said rising to his feet.
"Good evening Arthur. Fantastic job on the horde of Magic Capacitors you found by the way, I heard from the Magitech Engineers that the pile you found could have leveled a city block if it went off." the Minister said.
"Yes that was my onsite assessment as well." Mr Weasley replied with a nod.
"Well good catch over all Arthur, enjoy the match you certainly earned the right to be here after that fiasco." the Minister said wearily.
"Harry, I thought you might be here." the Minister said as he caught sight of Harry.
"Good evening Minister, I wanted to thank you for helping me at the Leaky Cauldron last year." Harry said politely.
"Think nothing of it Harry, with Black on the loose it always pays to be cautious considering… your history." the Minister said with a cough.
"Well I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary over the holidays, I think the dementors spooked him last year." Harry said.
"Yes well that is good to hear, pity he slipped out of our clutches. Then again he is the first person ever to escape Azkaban, so I suppose it's not that surprising in hindsight." the Minister said with a sigh.
"Sirius Black is not your average criminal Minister, it makes sense conventional methods won't work on him." Harry said kindly.
"You are very kind Harry, but fear not we will get him eventually. We have our best Aurors on the hunt, Dementors are good jailers but they lack the mental capabilities to pursue as cunning a criminal as Black." the Minister replied with a nod.
"That is heartening to hear, Minister." Harry replied with a polite smile.
"Well enjoy the match Harry I hear you are the best seeker in Hogwarts much like your father was in his time. I am sure you can learn something interesting from the display today. I should attend one of your matches at Hogwarts one of these days. Not this year though, maybe the next." the Minister said with a smile.
Luna noted that Mr Diggory looked a bit cross at that comment and the sight of the treatment that Harry was receiving.
"I am sure you are very busy Minister." Harry replied with a nod.
"Well I will certainly be busy this year Harry, enjoy the match, and enjoy the coming school year." the Minister replied with a warm cryptic smile.
"Of course Minister, always a pleasure to speak with you." Harry said, returning the smile.
"Likewise Harry. Oh yes Arthur, I invited Lucius and his family seeing as he made a very generous donation to Saint Mungo's Hospital." the Minister said as he gestured to Lucius.
"Think nothing of it Minister, I take the welfare of Witches and Wizards very seriously." Lucius said as he gave another distasteful look at Hermione.
"On that I can wholeheartedly agree with Lucius." Arthur replied with a false smile.
"Oh Mr Malfoy, I just wanted to let you know that Dobby is doing very well. He offered me his services after your dismissal, he is a very capable house elf. Not surprising considering he was in your service until recently, I can tell the standards are very high in Malfoy Manor." Harry said with what looked to everyone else as a warm smile but to Luna it was a very false smile.
"You dismissed your house elf Lucius?" the Minister asked, surprised.
"I felt a change of personnel was required, my previous house elf was not as satisfactory as I would like in certain areas. My family only deserves the best, I am sure you understand Minister." Lucius replied with a false smile of his own but his eyes were as cold as boreal night.
"Naturally Lucius, if you need any help with finding a replacement feel free to let me know." the Minister offered kindly.
"That would be most appreciated, Minister." Lucius replied as he shot a glare at Harry, who just calmly smiled back.
Luna watched as the group took their seats far away from the Weasleys, all the while Draco giving the group dirty looks.
"That was bloody brilliant Harry, did you see the look on that greaseballs face when you brought up Dobby." Fred said gleefully.
"Well played Harry, well played." George said as he gave small little polite claps.
"The nerve of some people." Hermione said, shaking her head.
"Don't worry about what Draco said Luna, being a git is just his natural state. You get used to it after a while. Not that his jabs actually hurt mind you, I mean honestly, Loony? That's just lazy, if you want to take a jab at least put some effort into it." Harry said with a snort.
"Thanks Harry." Luna replied warmly.
"No problem Luna, you let me know if Draco and his minions give you any trouble at Hogwarts." Harry said, flashing a smile.
"Yeah, we've got loads of ideas for some mischief this year Luna, just give us a reason." George said with a wicked grin.
"We've been testing them out on Ron and Percy all summer." Fred added with a laugh.
"I KNEW IT WAS YOU TWO!" Ron roared in rage.
"Ron shush, everyone's staring." Hermione chided in a hushed whisper.
Luna watched as Ron deflated and kept his silence, muttering dark threats under his breath. Luna let her gaze wander over the group and another smile graced her lips.
Soon the opening ceremony began and Luna watched as the Irish team sped along the edges of the arena. They were quickly followed by the Bulgarian team, Luna looking through her Omnioculars saw one of the lead Bulgarian do an aerial trick mid air to the ecstatic cheers of the crowd.
"Who's that?" Ginny asked.
"That sis is the best seeker in the world!" Fred shouted as he cheered the amazing aerial tricks on display by the Bulgarian player.
Krum! Krum! Krum!
The crowd cheered as the Bulgarian Seeker Krum punched into the air to even greater cheers from the crowd.
Then Luna heard a loud roaring sound as the spotlights panned up revealing a pair of muggle flying machines with spinning blades whirling above them. From the machines hung the flags of Ireland and Bulgaria as the machines did a circuit around the arena, each of them flying at opposite ends of the circuit. At the end of the circuit the two machines rose up over the stands and flew out of sight.
The machines were then followed by hundreds of Veela from the Bulagrian national mascot team. The Veela danced in the air and many of the males in the audience started going quiet. Luna turned to see Harry abruptly stand up, Ron who was next to him was doing his best to shred his green Irish hat. Thankfully Mr Weasley, snatched the hat out of Ron's hands with a knowing smile on his face. Luna knew all about Veela of course, they did funny things to boy's minds like the Wrackspurts did.
"Harry? What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
That seemed to snap Harry out of it as he suddenly began looking around clearly disoriented. He lightly slapped the sides of his face and gave his head a vigorous shake before looking around sheepishly and sitting back down.
"It's ok Harry, Veela have that effect on a lot of people, just look at the referee." Luna said as she pointed at the referee down below.
Luna watched as Harry looked down to see the referee trying to smooth his hair and puff out his chest at the Veela. This was of course very funny considering the referee was basically bald. A female ministry official ran out onto the pitch and gave him a slap across the face snapping him out of it.
Harry let out a laugh at the sight before he realised he had no idea what he was doing before Luna snapped him out of it.
"Wait... Luna what was I doing before Hermione snapped me out of it?" Harry asked, face going red.
"Oh you just stood up is all, don't worry Ron was shredding his hat." Luna replied with a small laugh.
"MY HAT! WHO TORE UP MY HAT!" Ron shouted on cue, to which both Harry and Luna laughed, their laughter echoing over each other.
Luna looked at Harry and felt a warm feeling in her chest as she did so, she hoped this night would never end. It was nice to have a friend to laugh with, she would always remember this night no matter what the Wrackspurts did.
After the match Luna lay in her tent with her father, she had her eyes glued to the Omnioculars as she watched the replays of the match. Then she came across a recording of Harry wincing as the Irish seeker planted into the ground from Krum's Wronski Feint. She paused as she looked at the recording and felt the warm fuzzy feeling in her chest as she looked at him. She thought about how nice this night was and how something this nice would probably not happen again for a long time, that is if it even happens again.
With that thought she let out a sad sigh as she put away the Omnioculars.
"Something wrong Luna?" Xenophilius asked.
"It's nothing papa." Luna replied as she rolled over and tried not to think of Harry.
"Come now Luna, you can tell me." Xenophilius said as Luna felt her father take a seat at the edge of her bed.
"Tonight was nice…" Luna replied wistfully.
"So why the sighs?" Xenophilius asked
"Because this is probably the last." Luna replied.
"What makes you say that?" Xenophilius asked as he placed a hand on Luna's arm.
"Friends all leave eventually." Luna said.
"You think your new friends will leave you once school starts?" Xenophilius asked.
Luna didn't she reply as she pulled her knees into her chest.
"Harry may surprise you Luna, he is not your average young man." Xenophilius said gently.
"No he isn't…" Luna replied.
As if on cue a voice said from outside.
"Mr Lovegood? Is Luna still awake?" Luna heard Harry say.
"Yes she is, Harry please come in." Xenophilius replied.
Luna sat up and turned to see Harry brush the flaps of the tent and walk in. He caught sight of Luna on the bed and a smile appeared on his face.
"Hey Luna we're playing some exploding snap in the Weasley's tent, you want to join us?" Harry asked.
Luna didn't say a word she merely looked at Harry, she was almost afraid to accept. They say all loss is born from blessings and their absence. If she doesn't go then later it won't hurt as much when she eventually ends up alone.
"Erm Luna? Are you alright?" Harry asked, his brows suddenly creased in worry.
Harry looked at Luna with that strange look of longing in her eyes. She seemed troubled by something, maybe it was what Draco said? Or was she just tired? It was a long day afterall, maybe she was feeling a little under the weather. Was it flu season? No, that's during spring and it's August… yeah she must just be tired.
"If you're tired, we can play some other time in Hogwarts, you get Hogsmeade visits in your third year, we can meet up and play then ." Harry said with a smile. At those words he watched as Luna's eyes widened slightly before her silver eyes softened ever so slightly.
"No, I'm fine, let's go." Luna said with a smile as she hopped off the bed and skipped over to the entrance of the tent.
As Harry walked with the skipping Luna past the rows of tents on the way to the spot given to the Weasley's, he noticed Luna seemed perkier than usual. The Weasley's were given the one of the better spots in the camp, their guests like the Diggorys and Lovegoods were given the less optimal spots.
"You seem happy, you were looking a bit bothered back there. You alright?" Harry asked kindly.
"I'm fine Harry, thanks for asking." Lune replied with a wide beaming smile.
"If you're bothered by what Draco said, don't worry. If he starts having a go at you I'll just catch the snitch before him at the next quidditch match and rub it in his snotty nose afterwards. That'll redirect all his snide remarks right back at me." Harry said with a smile.
"Thanks Harry." Luna replied smiling warmly as she gently played with her long blonde hair.
The pair chatted as they approached the Weasley's tent. That was when Harry noticed a pair of British Aurors rush past in the direction from where the pair just came from. They were wearing their Mark VII Magic Amplifier gauntlets, Harry caught sight of the wands inserted into the area of the gauntlet covering the forearm. The gauntlet was glowing with magical power and the Auror's faces were grim as they rushed past.
Harry paused for a moment and watched as the Aurors rushed away towards where the Lovegood's and Diggory's tents were. Something was wrong…
"Come on Luna let's hurry up." Harry said as he grabbed Luna's hand and began pulling her quickly towards the Weasley's tent.
Right as they reached the flap of the tent he saw a grim faced Mr Weasley emerge. His face switched from recognition to relief as he laid eyes on the pair.
"Harry, Luna thank Merlin you two alright." Mr Weasley said as he grabbed Harry's arm and dragged the pair into the tent.
"Mr Weasley what's going on?" Harry asked.
"Some kind of riot. Stay here." Mr Weasley said as his hand reached for the tent flap.
"Do not leave this tent, am I clear?" Mr Weasley said severely, to mute nods from the gathered teens.
Seeing their assent, Mr Weasley stormed out of the tent. Then Harry heard someone speak to Mr Weasley speak right outside the tent.
"Arthur the riots spreading from the east sector, reports say it's an anti muggle riot." the voice said.
"Damn…" Mr Weasley replied.
"The ministry are checking sectors now, we need everyone available on the east side. Remember green is safe, red is danger" the voice said.
"Got it, lets go." Mr Weasley said.
"Bloody hell what's going on." Ron muttered.
"No idea. I saw some Aurors rush off on my way here, they were headed…" Harry said before suddenly he froze as he put two and two together. The Lovegoods and Diggorys were camped in Sector E4… Sector East four...
"I need to get to papa." Luna said quietly her face going ghastly pale as she suddenly bolted out of the tent.
"Luna!" Harry cried as he bolted out after her catching her arm a few steps out of the tent.
"Let go of me!" Luna cried.
"Like hell I will!" Harry replied, holding fast.
"Luna calm down." Hermione pleaded as she and the rest filed out of the tent.
"Luna come on, have you heard of those riots? People get maimed or even worse KILLED!" Ron shouted.
"That's exactly why I have to go! Papa's not good at dueling, he owns the Quibbler, the Quibbler's pro muggle!" Luna shouted tearfully.
"What are you going to do Luna? You're only just entering your third year in Hogwarts, those Purist lunatics will tear you to pieces." Percy retorted.
"Let go! LET GO HARRY!" Luna shrieked as she desperately tried to pull free.
"Luna calm down." Harry pleaded.
At those words, Luna drew her wand and pointed it right at Harry's face. Everyone froze at that moment, it was then the group heard a hissing noise from behind them. Harry turned to see green flares started being fired straight up in waves. The waves of green flares, one by one began creeping towards them. Then a green flare fired off a few tents down from where they were.
"Make way!" a group of Section 10 soldiers shouted as they charged past running in the direction of where the Lovegoods tents were.
Then Harry saw the next flare in the direction of Luna's tent fire off, it was an ominous glowing red.
"Green is safe…" Fred began.
"Red is danger…" George finished.
Those words triggered another bid to break free from Luna.
"Harry please…" Luna whimpered as rivulets of tears began running down her face.
Harry took one look in her eyes and looked at her shaking wand still pointed at his face. He knew that look, Luna was going to hex the lot of them and run off if that was what it took. He knew that look all too well, he had seen in his own eyes when he saw his own reflection in a pool of water in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Alright…" Harry said.
"HARRY!" Hermione snapped.
Luna immediately turned and tried to run but she found her arm still held tightly in Harry's grip.
"You said alright!" Luna shouted.
"I did, but you're not going alone." Harry said a determined look on his face.
"Harry don't be stupid!" Percy shouted.
"I'm not going to sit by while Mr Lovegood gets lynched and I sure as hell am not letting Luna run in there alone." Harry retorted in fiercely.
"Then we'll come with you." Ron said.
"No." Harry snapped in response.
"But…" Ron began.
"No, look at the crowd, it'll take too long for a big group to move through. I'll go in with Luna, grab Mr Lovegood and get out. Meet me halfway, so you can help me carry him if need be." Harry replied.
"Then Fred and I will go with you, Luna should stay." George said with Fred nodding at the side.
"IT'S MY DAD OUT THERE!" Luna shouted in response.
"But…" Fred began.
"Enough we are wasting time, if you want to help, make sure we have an exit route." Harry snapped.
There was a pause of silence, before Hermione nodded.
"Alright we'll make sure you have an exit." Hermione said.
"Alright, Luna, wait here, I need to grab something." Harry said as he let go of Luna.
"What?" Luna asked as Harry bolted into the tent.
"You'll see…" Hermione said with an anxious sigh.
Harry emerged from the tent and on his right hand was his father's old Mark I gauntlet. It was old and weak compared to modern variants, it was also much safer due to its simplicity, which was why the Mark I's were not restricted by the ministry. Mark I style gauntlets were still used for construction and other non-combat roles. Harry's however was an old combat gauntlet and it had something that most of the other modern Mark 1 type gauntlets didn't have. It had a spell storing crystal that let him pre cast a spell and store it in the crystal.
"Lets go." Harry said grimly as he casted a Reductor Curse into the storage crystal of the gauntlet.
Harry and Luna sprinted towards the shouting and screams. Harry looked to Luna who was struggling to keep up, if he was alone he would move a lot faster. Her face was red and she was panting hard, but the adrenaline was keeping her going.
Soon they neared the Lovegood's tent amongst the crowd of panicking people. As they broke through the crowd of people he saw a group of wizards dragging someone out of the tent. Feeling a cold grip on his stomach, Harry didn't hesitate as he raised his arm…
Stupefy
A red streak that crackled with power, stronger than the typical wand casted version flew out and struck one of the wizards. The power was strong enough to knock the wizard off his feet. The spell caused screams all around him as the terrified crowd scattered to the winds. The other wizards wheeled and fired spells at Harry. Harry grabbed Luna and pulled her close to him with his left hand and made a sweeping motion in front of him with this gauntlet covered right hand.
Protego
A shield charm materialised in front of him deflecting the weak wand casted spells.
Reducto
Harry cried as he shot a Reductor curse at the ground near the other wizards. The blue streak impacted the ground blasting soil high up into the air amidst a crackle of blue magical energy. The wizards realising that Harry had a magic amp on his hand panicked and fled, never realising that it was only a Mark I gauntlet.
Harry and Luna sprinted over to Xenophilius. Luna rolled Xenophilius over to find his face beaten black and blue.
"Papa…" Luna wept as she looked at her father's beaten face.
"Come on Luna." Harry said as he tried to put Xenophillius' arm over his shoulder. It was then a Stunner flew past missing Harry by inches. Harry snapped his head up to see four wizards their wands pointed at him.
Protego
Harry said as he dragged the limp Xenophilius to his feet.
"Mr Lovegood can you hear me?" Harry shouted.
"Yessh." Xenophilius groaned.
"Try to stand with me, I'm getting you out of here." Harry said as more Stunners struck his shield charm causing it to fizzle out.
Protego
Harry said again just in time to block another wave of Stunners. The red streaks crackling and discharging against his shield charm.
"I need you to help me, try and stand!" Harry shouted.
Xenophilius groaned as he tried and Harry managed to heave his limp body to his feet. He could carry Xenophilius up the stairs because he was helping to maintain balance. Now Xenophilius could barely stand and was just dead weight. Not only that Harry had to defend himself at the same time. They got a few steps before, Xenophilius's legs gave way causing Harry to stumble and fall to his knees.
"Papa stand up!" Luna pleaded.
"I can't… Harry... take her and go…" Xenophilius pleaded.
"Like hell I am, I didn't come all this way to watch you die." Harry spat.
A moment later a Stunned struck Xenophilius in the back knocking him out cold.
"Papa!" Luna cried.
Harry dropped him and cast a shield charm before returning with his own Stunners. He should have brought at least Ron with him, he didn't want them to come because he didn't want them to get hurt on his account. His conscious was going to get the three of them maimed or worse.
"Luna, drag him back." Harry said.
"What?" Luna asked.
"I don't care if you have to drag him like a sack of potatoes. I'll buy you time, GO!" Harry snapped in reply as he shot a Stunner at one of the assailants knocking him out.
Stupefy
A voice cried from his side, he turned to see Cedric and Mr Diggory run towards him.
"Harry! What the hell are you doing here?" Mr Diggory said as he took cover behind Harry's shield charm.
"Luna's dad." Harry said, gesturing at Luna who was struggling to drag Xenophilius.
"Harry you and Cedric…" Mr Diggory began, he was interrupted as another wave of spells flew in from the right.
"Crap those were the ones that were chasing us." Cedric said as he fired a reductor curse at the attacking wizards causing two of them to duck for cover.
"Harry you and Cedric take Xenophilius and run, I'll buy time." Mr Diggory said.
"With all due respect Mr Diggory…" Harry began as he casted another shield charm deflecting another wave of spells.
"I'm the only one with one of these and these shield charms are the only thing keeping us from getting slaughtered." Harry retorted as he waved his now steaming gauntlet. The Mark I was quickly replaced by the Mark II for a simple reason, the Mark I had a tendency to overheat in extended combat. Now Harry was starting to feel the heat creeping into the gauntlet despite the internal protective fabric.
As Harry was replying he lost focus for a moment and a Reductor curse flew past his shield charms and clipped Mr Diggory in the upper right arm blowing out a chunk of muscle.
"ARRRGHH MERLIN'S BEARD!" Mr Diggory roared in pain.
Harry quickly cast another shield charm cursing his inattentiveness, he returned a few stunners of his own at the attackers. The heat in the gauntlet was rising steadily to scalding levels.
"Dad are you alright?" Cedric asked now pale as parchment.
"I'm fine, just a flesh wound, eyes forward Cedric." Mr Diggory replied through gritted teeth.
Harry turned to see Mr Diggory's wand arm limp and twitching from the pain. He wasn't going to be firing off any spells for the rest of the fight.
"Cedric help get Mr Diggory and Xenophilius out of here. I'll cover." Harry said.
Cedric froze at those words and looked at his red face father, his features twisted in pain.
"Dad, can you get them both out?" Cedric asked softly.
"What?" Mr Diggory asked.
At the moment another wave of spells, a mix of Reductor, Incendio and Stunners struck the shield charm fizzling it out almost immediately after Harry cast it. Mr Diggory paused as he looked at Harry's steaming gauntlet as he recast the shield charm.
"You come back to me, you hear? I am not losing my only son…" Mr Diggory said through gritted teeth as he rose to his feet.
"I will dad, NOW GO!" Cedric replied as he deftly deflected another Stunner.
Harry turned to see Mr Diggory drag Xenophilius with his one good arm away from the fight.
"This shield charm thing isn't going to work much longer." Cedric said as he fired spell after spell.
"Yeah I can tell…" Harry said through gritted teeth as his right hand was now in searing pain from the heat.
"We need some cover." Cedric said as he pointed his wand at the ruins of some nearby tents.
Wingardium Leviosa
Cedric said as he lifted a particularly large piece of wood in front of them. The wood was quickly blasted to ash by reductor curses but it bought them a few seconds.
"How good are you at dodging?" Harry asked.
"I'm a seeker Harry." Cedric said with a strained smile.
"Good." Harry said as he pointed his gauntlet at the biggest group of wizards and fired off his stored Reductor Curse. However, due to the heat the cast wasn't stable, instead of a single blue bolt, it instead fired in a scatter of smaller bolts. This ended up working better as it forced more of the wizards to either cast shield charms of dive for cover.
Wingardium Leviosa
Harry roared as he dragged a large wad of shattered burning wood planks and furniture, he then proceeded to hurl the mass of burning wood at the assailants. Causing many of them to scatter. This was one step too far however, as Harry felt the burning in his right arm reach unbearable levels as he heard his skin start to sizzle. He looked at the gauntlet and saw it was now glowing hot in some places.
Harry sank to his knees as he clutched his arm, doubling over from the pain.
"Harry!" Cedric cried.
"Cedric… go…" Harry said through gritted teeth. Cedric froze as he looked at Harry, instead of running he lips curled into a snarl as he fired off another spell at the wizards.
"YOU WANT ME? COME AND GET IT!" Cedric roared angrier than he had ever been in his life as he started firing Reductor Curses left and right. He no longer gave a damn if his attackers lost limbs. His curses flew right at chests and arms, Cedric no longer cared if his attackers lived or died.
Harry looked up to see a stunning spell strike Cedric in the chest in the absence of his shield charms as he toppled over backwards, eyes closing shut.
Protego…
Harry groaned out as he raised his shaking right arm. He saw the shield charm materialise crackling and barely stable. Then he felt a hiss of scalding hot air flood the interior of the gauntlet and felt the searing heat rise even further, he could barely feel his fingers now and his vision was flashing white from the pain. He felt his consciousness start to fade as he propped himself up by his shaking arms. He felt a spell fly right past his ear and he knew his shield charm was gone. He saw the edges of his vision start to darken as the pain in his arm started to overwhelm him.
INCARSEUS
A deep voice roared as a dark skin man wearing blue robes appeared in front of him. On his right hand he saw him wearing a Mark VII gauntlet and on his left arm he had a Nullfite arm blade extended. The last thing he saw before he passed out was glowing blue chains emerge from the ground below the attacking wizards binding them.
"Kingsley!" Arthur shouted as he saw a stunner fly right at the Veteran of the second wizarding war, Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Kingsley batted the spell away with his Nullfite blade with barely a glance at the spell.
Stupefy Haila Maxima
Arthur watched Kingsley roar as his gauntlet crackled red with magical power. He fired a red orb at the space above the attacking wizards. The orb exploded mid air raining stunners down onto the attacking wizards stunning most of them.
Ursa Vulnus Maxima
Another voice cried as Arthur turned to see a Bulgarian Auror apparate in and swing his Magic Amp Stave. A giant glowing blue bear appeared as it raised its blue claw and swiped along with the swing of the staff. It smashed the attacking wizards away, making them tumble head over heels into the ruins.
The remaining wizards still standing tried to flee but were swiftly caught by other Aurors apparating in and detaining them. The Aurors that apparated in were all wearing the famous white cloaks inscribed with a silver pattern of chains that seemed to wrap around the cloak. It was the cloak of the White Auror's. They were a special unit of Aurors specialised in one thing, lethality in magical combat. It was common knowledge that the ministry's campaign against the giants after the fall of You Know Who were mostly conducted by the White Aurors. Rumors said that ten years on the giants still feared the sight of that white and silver cloak. Arthur watch as one of the attacking wizards tried to fire off a spell at one of the White Aurors who promptly blasted the wizard's wand and the hand that was holding it apart with a Reductor Curse.
Arthur rushed over to where Kingsley as he saw him bend over the pair of limp bodies lying in the grass.
"Merlin's beard… Harry… Cedric…" Arthur said shakily.
"They are fine Arthur, Harry will have scars but he will keep his hand." Kingsley replied as he looked at the smoking gauntlet which was so hot some of the nearby grass was smoldering.
"Well at least Harry won't have to live up to that old Auror saying." Arthur said as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Yes, he will not have to give his right hand, the scars though will never fade." Kingsley said grimly.
"Damn…" Arthur cursed under his breath.
"It is both humbling and tragic to see one so young in this state, I never thought I would ever see another soul bear the Auror's glove, let alone one so young." Kingsley replied sadly.
"The Auror's glove…" Arthur said sadly as he looked at Harry's burnt flesh peeking out from the end of the gauntlet. The Auror's glove was a title granted to the Auror's of the second wizarding war who bore the magic burn scars of Mark I gauntlets.
Rennervate
Kingsley said as he casted his spell on Cedric. Cedric's eyelids fluttered as he sat up in a start scrabbling for his wand.
"Cedric, it's ok, it's over." Arthur said quickly as he grabbed Cedric by the shoulders.
"Over… HARRY!" Cedric said in panic as he turned to see Harry on the ground with the smoldering gauntlet still on his hand. He instinctively reached for it intent on ripping off. Cedric found his hand grabbed by Arthur.
"We can't remove it yet, we must let it cool to minimise the scarring." Kingsley said.
Luna was almost beside herself with worry when the pair didn't return. She was almost about to run back when Amos Diggory roughly grabbed her arm. Telling her her presence would only make the pairs job harder as they would have to defend both themselves and her. So she waited, anxiously for their return. Then she saw a flash of a green and green skull appear in the sky…
"What the hell?" Arthur said aghast as he looked up at the Dark Mark.
"Arthur you must take Potter back now, the fighting may not be over." Kingsley said grimly as some of the White Aurors took one look at the Dark Mark and disapparated, most likely straight towards where the Dark Mark was casted.
Arthur picked up Harry and beckoned Cedric to follow, this was the darkest day in recent memory. All Arthur could think of was the horrors of the Second Wizarding war as he ran under the long green shadow of the Dark Mark.
One week later, Saint Mungo's Hospital
Harry stirred as he felt his consciousness return. He opened his eyes and saw a plain white ceiling above him, he felt the warm sheets wrapped around him and he felt something soft resting on his left hand. He sat up slightly to see a head of messy blonde hair on his left hand.
"Harry you're awake." he heard a woman say.
He turned to see Mrs Weasley relief on her face as she cupped his cheek with her hand.
"You silly boy, what possessed you to do what you did…" Mrs Weasley said tearfully.
At those words the doors to the hospital room burst open. The Weasley's, the Diggorys and Hermione all filed in faces twisted with worry. Harry saw Mr Diggory with a sling on his right arm.
"Mr Diggory is your arm ok?" Harry asked anxiously, he remembered how big of a chunk that stray Reductor Curse took out his arm.
Mr Diggory paused for a moment before letting out a weary laugh.
"I'm fine Harry, it'll take awhile to heal since it's a curse wound but it'll heal in time." Mr Diggory said with a weary smile.
"Oh that's a relief." Harry said with a smile. After those words the room was silent as everyone looked away, everyone except Luna who was gazing intently at him.
"Erm what's up?" Harry asked as he tried to raise his right hand to scratch the back of his head but found he couldn't move it.
Harry surprised, looked down at his right arm that was strapped down, his forearm and hand was submerged in a light blue liquid and he felt a chill as he looked at the mangled scabby flesh that was his hand and forearm.
"It's a medicinal solution Harry, it paralyses your arm so you don't feel… your arm…" Hermione explained softly.
"Is this from my father's Gauntlet?" Harry asked, putting the pieces together.
"Yes, those are magical discharge wounds, they don't heal easy Harry. There will be extensive scarring but your arm should function without any issues. Or so the healers say." Mr Weasley said.
"Oh, well that's good I guess…" Harry replied, stunned at a loss for words. Until he felt something wet drip onto his left hand. He turned to see Luna clutching his left hand as tears dripped down onto the sheets.
"Thank you Harry… thank you for saving Papa…" Luna said through her tears.
"Luna… it's ok…" Harry said shocked at the tears.
"Your arm… the scars…" Luna whimpered.
"Don't worry, I can just get a glove or something. It's no problem." Harry said hurriedly as he squeezed Luna's hands that were wrapped around his left hand.
"I can help you with that, Mr Potter." a deep voice said from the doorway.
Harry looked up to see a tall dark skinned man in blue robes holding a wooden box. He recognised him to be the last person he saw before the pain made him lose consciousness.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt, senior Auror, pleased to meet you Mr Potter. I have some things for you." Kingsley said.
"Can't this wait Kingsley? Harry just woke up and…" Mrs Weasley began.
"It's fine Mrs Weasley, I am sure you are very busy Mr Shacklebolt, please what do you need from me?" Harry said politely.
"I don't need anything from you Mr Potter, I just have three things to give you." Kingsley said with a smile as he placed the wooden box on his bedside table.
He opened up the box and held up a purple medal that was hung on an ornate wooden plaque. He showed it to Harry who looked at it confused.
"What's that?" Harry asked confused, as he looked at the slack jawed expressions on everyone's face.
"Blimey Harry, that's an Order of Merlin medal." Ron said aghast.
"What?" Harry sputtered.
"It's not the usual Order of Merlin, it's the Order of Merlin Dragon's Heart. It's traditionally offered to Aurors who bear the Auror's glove." Kingsley said with a smile.
"But I'm not an Auror." Harry said.
"Yes, you are not, but you are the first non Auror to ever bear the Aurors glove." Kingsley said solemnly.
"Auror's glove?" Harry asked, getting more confused.
"That brings me to my second task." Kingsley said as he removed from the wooden box a black glove with gold accents.
"This is the Auror's glove, it is given to you to cover your right arm. You are not only the first non Auror but you are also the youngest to ever bear this title. I give this to you with pride and sadness, I am proud to present this to one so brave and sad for one as young as you to bear such scars." Kingsley said with a nod.
"Thanks…" Harry replied, still a bit stupefied.
"Finally, i am here to give you back your father's gauntlet. I have personally repaired it and now I return it to you." Kingsley said as he placed the gauntlet which was polished to a sheen.
"Harry gets to keep it?" Ron asked, surprised.
"The ministry is thinking of putting Mark I gauntlets on the restricted list of Muggle Artefacts, it wasn't done before now because no one has ever used a Mark I Gauntlet this heavily ever since You Know Who fell. However, robbing a wearer of the Auror's glove of his Gauntlet is grave insult, short of snapping your wand I can think of no greater slight. Thus the British Auror office has decided to allow you to keep it. You may not be an official Auror Mr Potter, but you are now one in spirit if not in name." Kingsley replied sternly as he removed his identical Auror's glove revealing a heavily scarred hand.
"Thank you Mr Kingsley for… all of this…" Harry said, overwhelmed.
"Do not let it trouble you Mr Potter, I have many tasks I loathe but this is not one of them." Kingsley said with a smile.
Harry could only look around slightly embarrassed at the proud and admiring gazes falling on him.
"I knew your father Mr Potter, James was a great Auror. I know he would be proud of you. You truly are your father's son." Kingsley as he inclined his head in a show of respect.
Harry could only smile at those words, he was at a loss on what to say. This was common when people lavished attention and praise on him that he felt he didn't really deserve. Yes his right arm is practically ruined aesthetically but what was he to do during that fight? Let him and Cedric get killed to avoid some scars?
"Thank you Mr Shacklebolt." Harry said politely.
"Well I must be off, take care Mr Potter." Kingsley said with a pearly white smile as he turned and left.
"Blimey Harry, you must be the youngest to ever receive an Order of Merlin." Ron said excitedly as he gazed at the purple medal.
"It's not a normal Order of Merlin Ron, it's just like a Purple Heart Medal given to Muggle soldiers." Hermione replied exasperated.
"Purple heart?" Fred asked flummoxed
"A medal given to muggle soldiers who were wounded in combat." Mr Weasley replied wearily.
"But still though Hermione, look at it." Ron said, pointing at the medal.
"Good on you Harry." Cedric said with a smile.
As Arthur looked at the group of teenagers excitedly discussing the events that just transpired all he could look at was Harry's arm and felt guilt claw at his heart.
"Arthur are you ok?" Molly asked softly.
"Yeah, a word if please Molly." Arthur replied grimly.
The husband and wife quietly slipped out into the corridor, they were followed by Amos Diggory who gave the pair a questioning look.
"Arthur you look pale, are you alright?" Amos asked.
"No, not really." Arthur replied.
"What's wrong dear?" Molly asked, getting more anxious and confused by the second.
"It's my fault." Arthur whispered in reply.
"You can't blame yourself Arthur, I was there with Harry. It was utter chaos, it's a miracle Cedric and Harry even lasted long enough for the Aurors to arrive." Amos said.
"The gauntlet, the parts were old, too old. I knew that, I checked the gauntlet for Harry just when he arrived at the Burrow, I should have gotten him some new parts for it. Mark I gauntlets with old parts overheat much more rapidly than one with new parts." Arthur replied.
"You couldn't have known dear, how many teenagers get caught in extended magical combat? Even then how many have the abilities to hold their own long enough for the Gauntlet to overheat to such an extent?" Molly said gently as he touched his arm.
"You can't blame yourself Arthur, how could you have known? That was the worst anti muggle riot ever since the days of You Know Who. Haven't you seen the news? Twenty-four dead, a hundred and eighty-six wounded. It's a bloody nightmare, the Council of United Magical Nations have the International Quidditch Association over a barrel. They are being accused of grievous negligence for putting so many families in such close proximity and allowing the Purity League to fully book out a section of the camping grounds." Amos replied quietly.
"Yes, but what has happened to Harry over these past three years? An attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secret opened and Sirius Black's break-in at Hogwarts. Harry almost got kissed by dementors Amos, I should have known something like this would happen. I hoped the troubles were behind us so I didn't prepare. Harry will bear the scars for the rest of his life because of me. Because I rather stick my head into the sand rather than see the potential dangers." Arthur replied bitterly.
"You couldn't have known dear, Harry is brave, stubborn and absurdly reckless, but he's tough Arthur, tougher than any of us when we were his age. He'll be fine." Molly consoled.
"I can't let this happen again, I'll give his gauntlet a full replacement of parts the next time he visits the Burrow." Arthur said bitterly.
It's fine Arthur, you do what you feel you must, come let's go back in before the children notice we're gone." Molly said as he held his hand softly.
The next few days were simple and calm ones. Molly herself naturally insisted on staying with Harry to take care of him. She told the rest to head back to their homes, they all listened except for one, Luna. She absolutely refused to leave, despite her usually dreamy disposition she was very strong in her beliefs. More than once she found Luna gently applying the healing salve that was given to Harry for his arm. Harry's arm looked ghastly, black scabs forming over the burned flesh that wept clear fluids from the gaps of the scabs. Most people would fight the sight horrendous but Luna showed no such thoughts.
Molly would often find herself standing at the doorway as she watched Luna carefully apply the salve into the gaps of the scabs after she gently cleaned the wounds with a wet cloth. The two were growing very close and judging by the way the pair looked at each other something more than friendship was starting to brew. Not that either of them knew it, they still behaved like friends but once in a while, Molly would catch a look of longing in both their eyes. It vanished quickly enough but Molly knew it was there, it was the same look she saw in Arthur's eyes when they were dating all those years ago.
Then the night before they were about to leave something that happened that would make Molly mentally kick herself for the rest of her days. She was carrying a jug of water into Harry's room, she not thinking, simply walked right into a most peculiar sight. She found the pair head turned and staring at her, their faces beet red. Both of them were leaning towards each other with their heads inches apart. Molly realizing what she had done knew the moment had come and gone. So she smiled and walked over before calmly pouring Harry a glass of water. She calmly bid Harry and Luna a good night as she left the room. Once she left she closed the door and waited outside. Then she heard giggling and laughing from behind the door, Molly smiled and walked off happy for the pair of them.
Despite all the horror at the Quidditch World Cup this at least was something good that came out of all of this. Hopefully, this was a sign for what was to come, maybe the two can enjoy watching the Triwizard Tournament together. Merlin knows Harry needed a break from all the near-death experiences…
Authors Notes:
Hope you guys liked this chapter, please leave a review if you liked it, I love to hear from those who enjoyed my stories. Every review is motivation unless it's completely not related to the story.
For the readers of my other story Primordials, don't worry it's not abandoned. I'm just writing this during my exam period because it's easier to write as compared to Primordials. To those reading this and don't know about my other Fanfic and are fans of Overlord (The anime and light novel not the game) you can check it out if you like. :)
So once again leave a review if you liked it and see you guys in the next chapter!