Chapter Seventeen: The Enemy Within
Saturday, 16th October 1999.
Padma found herself floating in empty darkness, fear gripping at her as her eyes glanced around, trying to find something to latch on to. She took a steadying step and paused at the sound of water underfoot. She glanced down and saw the black floor on which she now stood was covered in a tiny layer of water, but it did not ripple when she moved. There was no visible light nearby, but now she could see her own body, oddly dressed in her old school uniform. The robes shifted about her as she moved her arms and glanced about the emptiness.
She went to speak but was interrupted by an intense shock of pain running through her body and a deep rumbling sound filled the air around her. She cowered in place, feeling the water against her knee as she covered her ears with her hands and trembled under the weight.
As suddenly as it had appeared, the pain vanished and silence retook the emptiness. She slowly stood once again and looked about and this time she noticed something in the distance. Something in the blackness surrounding her was moving. Her breath accelerated along with her heart rate and she searched her pockets for her wand. But it was nowhere to be found. She was alone and she was unarmed.
The shape in the darkness surged forwards and Padma yelled, falling back to the floor, her hands splayed wide behind her. It was still too dark for her to make out any detail on the object, but she could sense that it was moving in some way, and that it was not friendly.
"What are you?" She asked, her voice hollow and weak in the massive dark space.
"I am you now." A deep rumbling replied.
"I am me," Padma yelled back, with more courage than she felt. The idea of courage reminded her of her Gryffindor sister. "What did you do with Parvati?"
The darkness chuckled and Padma winced at the evil sound. It filled the air around her and threatened to overwhelm her. "The weaker one? I had no use for her. You will lead me to freedom."
"Never." Padma returned, panting softly.
"So you may think. Your kind is different. But I shall soon have what I need."
"Who are you?" Padma asked, the voice sounding oddly familiar to her, but unable to trace where she had heard it before.
"I am," the rumbling voice paused for a moment, the sound echoing in her ears menacingly. "Anubis."
As the last word filled the space the dark cloud that had been undulating in place in the air took form and Padma gasped out loud as she was now staring into her own face looking back at her. But it also looked nothing like her at the same time. The eyes were all black pupils, and there was no compassion or love in those eyes. The thing before her was devoid of emotion. An empty shell made of her face.
"I know you." Padma mused, softly to herself as she searched her mind for the connection. The darkness around her pressed in harder and she felt her breath struggling against the weight.
"It matters not." The voice now matched her own, except it was deeper still. "Soon you will be mine, and I will walk out the front door of this marvellous place."
Padma blinked in pain as the darkness was suddenly replaced with the atrium of Fundamenta and many memories rushed painfully into her mind. That was where she knew of Anubis from, he was their prisoner.
"Not anymore. Soon I will be free. And more powerful than ever, thanks to you."
"I will not let you out," Padma growled, rushing to her feet, a sense of strength filling her at the sight of familiar territory.
"You are pitiful. You cannot stop me. I will learn your mind and I will have your body." Anubis smirked and Padma recoiled at the hateful look on her face.
"The others will never let you out."
"The others will do whatever is necessary to save your worthless life. Your kind are always so predictable. Compassionate. Yeck." Anubis spat on the ground as it circled her slowly. inching ever closer with each spiral. "And I do so delight in turning that pathetic emotion into my weapon."
Padma closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. She might not have her sister's courage, but she had her mind. She had her wit.
"Think you can push me out?" Anubis hissed, and Padma recoiled as she opened her eyes and found her mirror standing right in front of her face, an evil grimace spread over its face. "You humans are pathetic. You don't have the fortitude to take me on, little girl. I am millennia-old, I have tasted the heights of other planes."
Padma smirked in return. "And been cast back down like a dog."
Her mirror darkened and lashed out at her, striking her hard across the face and sending her flying through the room. "Silence."
Padma massaged her face as her cheek throbbed painfully. "Touchy subject?"
"You've no idea what you're speaking of. But, thanks to you and your friends, I do." The image gave a dark laugh and Padma felt her spirit wilt at the look on its face. "Not only will you free me, but you have given me the tool to remove the Others from my way."
Padma looked confused for a moment before it became clear. "No."
"YES! Myrddin's Weapon will be mine, and the fools who thought they could limit me will be gone. I will be free to act once more. And this galaxy will bend to my will. Or I will wipe it clean and start again."
Padma found herself no longer in the comforting halls of Fundamenta, but on another world. Orangey-red sand stretched out in front of her, through the ruins of an ancient city. A rim of structures carved into the circular rock face around her looked abandoned and decrepit. To her left was a platform with an astria porta glowing, but it was the sight to her right that took her breath away.
An enormous mountain stood before her, beautiful and terrible at the same time. It looked unnatural, the tip sticking out further than it rightly should. Through the ages of dirt and debris, there seemed to be some sort of image in the rock face but she couldn't make it out from down here. She noticed movement near the bottom of the mountain and rushed to follow. In an instant, she was inside, and her mirror smiled evilly at her from over the top of a moderum.
The image began to toy with the controls and Padma rushed forward, fighting for control of the device as her counterpart growled at her in return.
"You cannot stop me, child. I am as inevitable as the dawn. I am the twilight of this universe. All shall tremble before me."
Suddenly, Padma felt a surge of energy run through her, bolstering her body. "You are a parasite. One with delusions of greatness."
Anubis struck out at her in anger, but Padma dodged the swipe, further altering the controls of the moderum, doing her best to keep Anubis from completing their task. Several more surges filled Padma and she smiled. With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she leapt over the moderum and tackled Anubis to the ground.
Shock registered for a moment as she realized they were back in the dark place, Anubis laying flat on the watery surface, Padma straddling her own mirrored form. "This is my body and my mind. And you are not welcome in it."
Anubis caught her off-guard and the punch to her face sent Padma reeling. Her ears rang and her whole face throbbed painfully. Never had she felt something so punishing in her life. Anubis stood and towered over her, menacingly.
"Everything in this universe is mine to use as I see fit. But the first thing I'm going to do once I am free…" Anubis advanced on her prone form and Padma struggled to move backwards on the slippery floor. "I'm going to use your own two hands to choke the life out of your precious twin sister. Then you're going to watch as I slaughter your friends and take your technology for myself."
Padma didn't feel strong anymore, whatever had been filling her with energy seemed to have vanished. She felt so frail and scared, alone in the advancing darkness. Powerless to stop the evil force bearing down on her.
"NO!" A shout came from her right and before she could even look to see what it was, a figure tackled Anubis to the ground once more. The new arrival began to pummel the figure and Padma finally realized who it was.
"Parv?"
Her sister turned and looked at her before she jumped to her feet and rushed over. As Parvati pulled her to her feet, she saw the mangled face of her mirror on the floor looking up in shocked horror at the two of them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Getting that thing out of my sister." The pair turned to stare at the prone form and it trembled slightly under their withering gaze.
"This form is mine. I will conquer you both if that is what it takes." Anubis roared as the now disfigured body leapt to its feet and charged at the twins.
Padma glanced uncertainly at Parvati but her sister stood fast and raised her left fist, clutching Padma's hand with her right. Padma mirrored her sister's stance and raised her own fist as well. And when Anubis was close enough, the two girls struck, hitting in unison and knocking the shade out of its stolen form.
A deep rumbling scream of anguish filled the air, but with her sister beside her, Padma was no longer afraid of it. Instead, she turned her will against the scream and with a shout of anger, she pushed as hard as she could. Parvati squeezed her hand and she felt her sister's other hand on her shoulder.
"Do it. Come back to us, Pad."
Padma clenched her fists, one around Parvati's hand and felt the energy surge within her once more. She forced it all forward, hammering the shuddering cloud with every bit of it and suddenly a thunderclap filled her senses.
She jolted up and nearly headbutted her sister who lurched back suddenly. Padma tried to scream, but instead of air, a dark shape forced its way out of her mouth and up into the air. When it was clear of her body, Padma took a deep shuddering breath and fell back onto the floor, her body feeling like she had just run a marathon.
She choked on the air as Parv pulled her into a tight hug, the arms squeezing her body making it harder to try and pull in the fresh air she needed. "Parv…" She squeaked.
"I was so worried about you, Pad."
"Air…" Padma coughed and Parvati pulled back, finally allowing her to pull in several thick breaths of relief.
When at last she felt her heart rate settling, she opened her eyes to look at her sister, but her attention was immediately drawn to the hovering cloud of darkness behind her. Padma recoiled and rushed backwards on her hands and bum until she hit something solid. "Get me away from that thing!" She yelled. And before she could move, a white light encompassed her, depositing her in the medical room of the base.
Parvati was still beside her, but now the others were there as well, all looking drained and exhausted.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" She asked the others as another figure appeared and walked briskly over to her.
"Time for that later." Poppy instructed, pushing her down onto the bed and drawing her wand. "I need to look you over first."
Padma lay still, her sister's hand still firmly clenched in her own as the Hogwarts matron checked her from top to bottom. The others just stood watch as the woman worked and Padma tried to settle her frayed nerves.
Poppy soon pulled away and sighed softly. "Well, you're utterly exhausted, so obviously no magic. That goes for all of you. I don't need to check, I can see it in your stance. And that elf of yours, don't let him cast anything for the next week, he's lucky to be alive after that trick. Otherwise, you seem to be as healthy as one could expect."
"Why are you all exhausted?" Padma asked.
"We fed Parvati our magic so she could use her love for you to shove Anubis out," Hermione explained, looking rather ragged, her hair a chaotic mess. "Harry had a bit of practice doing the latter part a couple of years ago."
Padma turned to her sister and gripped her hand tighter. "Thanks, Parv."
"Anytime." Parvati returned, smiling at her softly. "Just, let's not make a habit of it."
Poppy nodded and moved over to where the Grangers were standing, looking far better than everyone else in the room. "Here."
She handed Natalie a roll of parchment. "What's this?"
"Contact details and references. As much as I like you all, I have a school to handle. I am afraid I cannot be your full-time medical aid."
Natalie unrolled the parchment and noticed the remote Harry had provided the woman with was inside. She nodded in understanding. "Keep this." She returned the remote to Poppy. "Press it anytime you want to visit. You're always welcome."
Padma allowed the conversation to fade away from her thoughts as she laid back on the bed, her head and chest throbbing from the apparent exertion she had subjected them to. And she tried her hardest to push the painful images swirling in her mind away as sleep threatened to take hold once more.
ϟ
Hermione sighed as she snuggled deeper into Harry's shoulder, his arms wrapped around her as they lay in his bed quietly. It had been hours since they had left Parvati and Padma alone and still, the experience wouldn't allow Hermione to relax.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked and Hermione silently cursed his new powers of observation when it came to her.
"I'm afraid, Harry." He did not reply and she knew he sensed she wasn't finished. "My mother and now one of our closest friends have been attacked by Anubis. And he is only one of thousands, perhaps millions of those things in this galaxy."
"You're worried about what will happen if we ever encounter one of the parasites in person," Harry noted and Hermione nodded.
"Thor said one taking an Asgard host would kill it. They'd crush its mind in an instant, but for us? Harry, we're just humans. And my parents… they don't even have magic, we could never repeat what we just did for Padma with them."
"I know. I've been thinking about it too." Harry trailed off and now Hermione was left knowing there was something more in that sentence than he was letting on.
She leant up on her elbows and looked down at him. He looked like he was struggling with an idea that was pressing down on his brow, obscuring his green eyes even without his glasses. "Talk to me, Harry."
"Snape. Well, Occlumency really. It's supposed to harden the mind. But we need to find a way to do it that works with muggles as well. Maybe we can train our minds to resist possession like we can train a muscle with a workout. Build up the strength needed to do what the Asgard can do."
Hermione looked at him slightly stunned for a moment before she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. It wasn't their first kiss. They had shared several since the moment they had finally shared their feelings a couple of weeks before, and the thrill of it still ran through her every time they did it.
"I love it when you get all clever." She said as she pulled back.
Harry smiled at her and blushed slightly. "It balances out all the recklessness, I suppose."
Hermione tucked herself back into place, quickly getting comfortable once more. "Once we can move without aching, I'll have a look through the database, and see if there is any form of Alteran technology that would work that way. I'd rather not use the mirror for such a thing. It would be exhausting standing up long enough to do it."
"Hmmm," Harry mused softly, "maybe the chair. At least it's comfortable." She smiled as Harry drifted off and let her thoughts wander through her options. She'd worry about it when they woke up, for now enjoying her time snuggled up with Harry, which was quickly becoming her favourite way to fall asleep.
ϟ
Wednesday, 27th October 1999.
Neville blinked wearily as the chair ended his session and he heard the sound of several beams indicating the arrival of someone nearby. He rubbed his eyes, his head pounding after the intense workout that he had been doing on the training program Hermione had devised utilising the Alteran's research into memory technology. After the Anubis scenario, the team had all agreed to do at least one session on the course every week.
It had taken Hermione four days to create, but Neville could already feel some of the benefits, even after completing only his third session, some of his former insecurities rearing their heads and driving him to do more than they'd estimated to be necessary. His memory was already improving and he found ideas coming to him quicker. He glanced around the bright room and noticed the others looking at him.
"Morning." He offered as he shuffled forwards on the chair.
"Afternoon, actually. You've been in there for hours today." Hermione mused.
"Well, that's good to know then. What's everyone else been up to?" Neville asked, standing up and swaying slightly as his legs got used to being functional once more.
"It's finished," Merlin stated before anyone else could speak.
"Eh?" Richard asked.
"The Sangraal is complete," Merlin replied.
Silence reigned for several long moments, everyone seemed surprised that after all the work to get to this point, the actual manufacture of the device had taken almost no time at all. They had only recovered Myrddin a couple of weeks ago. Neville had assumed that with the process requiring the piecemeal acquisition of the information from Myrddin while in stasis, it would take far longer.
"Wow." Harry finally said, breaking the silence.
"Incredible," Hermione added. "Can we see…" Her sentence was cut off as once more, Merlin beamed them all away mid-sentence.
Neville found himself once more in the Glastonbury Lab, standing around the integration pad Merlin had assembled to build the weapon upon. Except now it was not empty. Now there was a strange amalgamation of crystal and carapace. The lower part of the device looked as if it was made of the same material as the mirror devices, a hard domed chitinous biological material that he assumed housed the technical parts of the weapon, protecting them from harm.
It stood about a foot thick and about two and a half wide. It had eight equally spaced 'limbs' Neville thought was the best description that seemed to grow out of the pale crystalline centre and flow over the shell and down to the surface of the integration pad. He shuddered as he noted how much they looked like something the Xenomorph monsters from that movie Harry and Hermione had shown him might make.
And yet, in stark contrast to this horror show of a base, four beautifully intricate flat clear crystal curves grew up from within the edges of its form. Their surfaces were etched with what appeared to be circuit pathways and each had two semi-circular cutouts, the first a third of the way up on the inside, and the second a third further up on the outside. The four curves almost met near the top, where a small square of space remained open between their ends, capped with more black chitinous material.
Hovering between the ends was a dull red orb, the Bloodstone. It sat completely separate from all other pieces, directly above a cluster of more traditional smokey white crystals, gathered in the concave centre of the device itself. It was both beautiful and terrifying, not only for its design but for what it could theoretically accomplish.
This device, only a few cubic feet in all, could supposedly annihilate higher beings entirely from existence.
"Am I the only one terrified to turn that thing on?" Natalie asked with a shudder.
"It is rather awe-inspiring," Padma noted, sounding almost back to normal after her most recent encounter with Anubis.
"Never even crossed my mind," Harry mumbled, and the others turned to face him. "Nothing, it's just… One hundred and seventy-nine days. If I knew then, standing in this very empty cave in the south of England, that we'd assemble probably the most insanely destructive force on this Earth. It beggars belief."
They all took a moment to consider how they had each joined this quest now that the endgame sat before them.
"So… how exactly do we do this?" Hermione whispered, still clearly audible in the still cave.
"We have to restore Myrddin," Merlin noted, drawing their attention.
"Why?" Luna questioned.
"The schematic was rather simple to acquire. It was forefront in his mind during the stasis. But his plan for execution was deeper. Shielded from my access. I could get at it, but I would likely damage the brain in the process."
"Of course." Harry moaned. "There is always another step."
"Stop it," Hermione whispered and Neville smirked at the pair.
"What do we need to ensure we don't lose him?" Neville questioned the hologram.
"We have the supplies, thanks to your friend Poppy. And the medical equipment is now all complete and operational as well. We're in as good a shape as we can be for his revival." Hopefully, he feels well enough to help us complete our goal. And then… I know not what to do next. My purpose was the creation of this device and its firing against the Ori."
"Don't worry, Merlin. We like you, so stick around." Luna smiled at the image that seemed baffled still by her oddities.
"We're absolutely certain that no ascended being can access this cavern?" Richard asked.
"As we can be without one testing the defences," Merlin replied.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Padma asked impatiently. "Let's go wake us a ten-thousand-year-old Lantean."
ϟ
Myrddin moaned as his body ached and he felt a soft surface come to meet his back once more. Comfort was a distant memory to him now, but it was nice not to be on his feet after so long. He wasn't sure he remained sane after all those miniscule snippets of lucidity that had come and gone over so long a period that he had lost count. Never long enough to do anything but stew on his mission.
He opened his eyes and for a moment he thought he must have finally expired. In his incredibly long life, it had been eons since he had beheld architecture of this sort. It was as though he were back on Atlantis, long since abandoned to the ravages of the Wraith.
His eyes drifted over the machinery that swept up and down his form and he noticed several figures standing about him. It took his aged eyes a while to focus properly but soon they steadied in his vision.
"Welcome back, Myrddin." The wee yellow-haired one spoke, her voice oddly melodious, and her accent tinged with something odd.
"Relax, you've been asleep a very long time." The dark-haired one beside the first added.
It had been such a long time since Myrddin had heard his own language, that the usage surprised him. The accent was almost familiar and yet different. But he felt as though he had also been hearing it for some time now. His mind whirred once more as he analyzed the words and realized that these were not native speakers of his language. The highly advanced synapses of his adopted form fired rapidly and they soon made the necessary jumps to fill in syntax, informing him that he was indeed returning to himself once more. Perhaps these were the descendants of those he had interacted with so long ago when he had last visited the Earth.
"Where am I?" he asked softly, his voice scratchy and harsh from so long without use.
"Fundamenta." The dark-haired lad said with a soft smile.
"The plague?"
"Run its course. Any samples are properly contained." The yellow-haired one noted confidently.
"Who are you?"
The dark-haired lad stepped closer. "My name is Harry. This is Hermione, Luna, Hermione's mum and dad Natalie and Richard." His arm swept from one to the next as he spoke, indicating them each in turn as he made his way around to himself once more. "And this is Padma and Neville, and I hope you recognize yourself. Or your creation at least."
Myrddin felt the shock on his face as he saw a replica of it looking back at him. The obvious distortion of a hologram allowed him to settle and identify the image.
"It worked then." He sighed as he laid his head back on the pillow. All that work had paid off, but he had not been able to test it before he had been forced to abandon the planet. "I feared the worst when I left."
"Why did you leave?" Luna asked.
"Later," Padma replied in what he assumed was their native tongue, seeming agitated.
"True, we hope you're feeling well, but you have been in stasis for over a thousand years," Natalie said. "We've picked up your clues and Merlin here has completed the Sangraal. But we don't know how you planned to deploy the device into a galaxy so far away without also affecting the local population."
"The Ori," Myrddin noted, a deep hatred mixed with heavy fear swelling within his heart at the memory. He had almost forgotten why he had begun this journey. "Of course."
Despite the protests of his body, Myrddin sat up and the two lads rushed forward to aid him. He allowed them to shuffle him to the end of the bed and he allowed his weary legs to hang over the edge.
"I trust…" He paused and looked at the hologram for a moment, "Merlin, was it? Has given you the context?"
"He has. Ori and Altera were once one. Altera fled here, then Pegasus. Ori really bad." Richard summarised in a disturbingly concise manner given the timespan involved.
"Indeed. And my former associates' absolute rule of non-interference, as twisted and oft broken as it is, will not allow them to ever act against the Ori in the way required. Though it apparently didn't stop them interfering in my experiments."
"You've no idea." Natalie quipped quietly.
Myrddin nodded at her and closed his eyes, steadying his rushing thoughts. He'd been asleep so long and had so much in his weary mind. "Never enough time," he murmured.
"We can give you time if you need it." Hermione offered.
"No. If the device is complete, we must act. Especially if my body betrays me as badly as I feel it does. I will need the Loquor."
When no one responded, Myrddin opened his eyes and saw confusion. "Sorry, we understand the language, but we don't know all the ins and outs yet," Harry explained. "You need to Speak?"
Myrddin sighed slightly, reprimanding himself for leaving important information out of his repository. He closed his eyes for a moment as he visualized the item before he replied. "The… communication terminal, I believe, would be another way to describe it. It's a small… vase-like blue…" He held his hands about a parnat apart. "It's about this wide. Round, has a slender neck that leads to a pale blue crystal."
"Oh," Luna shouted, drawing Myrddin's attention. She tapped several times on the inside of her wrist and a new hologram appeared in front of Myrddin. "This?"
"Yes." Myrddin let out a rush of relieved breath. "That is the Loquor. It will allow us to send the waveform of the Sangraal through subspace over the enormous distance between Avalon and Origin. There are many more of them in our former home galaxy which will act as receivers and amplifiers. Provided the Ori and their worshippers have not destroyed them all."
"Excellent. It's in the vault. I can go and get it right away." Luna said to the others as with a smile and Myrddin began to assume that she did that a lot. While her words were still somewhat foreign, he understood her tone to mean she knew where to find the device.
"Before we do…" Harry noted, drawing his gaze once more. "We have an uninvited guest who attacked us on our journey to complete the Sangraal. A goa'uld named Anubis who we believe once ascended, at least a part of the way…"
"One cannot ascend part of the way." Myrddin corrected.
"Then he was definitely sent part way back by the Others," Hermione stated.
Myrddin felt the weariness overcoming him again. He had slept for too long. Lal had succeeded well in her interference. "I need rest."
Harry and Neville stepped forwards again and dragged him gently back up the bed to his chagrin. "No, we have work to do."
"No. We have work to do. We can gather everything while you rest." Neville instructed. "The mission has waited a thousand years, it can wait another few hours. Gather your strength. Once we have everything, we'll bring you to Anubis. He hasn't moved in days, but we think the Sangraal might be the way to get rid of him permanently as well."
Myrddin wanted to argue, but the strain on his body was too much for now. "Very well." He replied and allowed his body to win the fight, succumbing to sleep once again.
ϟ
Luna looked over the odd device, comparing it to Myrddin's description. A squat shallow dome about two feet wide, made of the same chitinous biomechanical material as most of the truly ancient Alteran technology seemed to be, with a central spire that had several thin pipes leading off it back to the dome. All topped with a majestic-looking pale blue crystal that looked as if it had been chipped from the Aggro Crag of that silly gameshow Hermione had watched a few times. Around the edges of the dome, it was split into sections, each section had a trio of small ovular cutouts.
It was at once the most incredible and most unusual design she had ever seen. And it had been sitting here for months, given no second thought after they had relocated it from the cavern as they had moved into Fundamenta full time. A key piece of the plan that had been in their possession since the beginning.
She considered what their lives might have been like had they activated this device instead of the mirror. It was designed to enable communication back to Origin, a place full of people who worshipped those they sought to destroy. Even her fertile imagination could not fathom the scale of what might have followed such a mistake. Would the Others have done anything to prevent the inevitable spread of the Ori into Avalon? A galaxy with billions of fresh souls to convert to worship.
She shook her head softly to clear the horrible thoughts from it. They had the Sangraal, and Myrddin was awake, though weak. They were mere hours from the completion of a mission that as Harry pointed out, had been months in the undertaking.
After clearing the space around the device, Luna tapped the destination into her remote and she and the Loquor disappeared from the vault under London, travelling once more to Glastonbury. With the Loquor resting on the plinth where she had pulled the sword so many months before, Luna couldn't help but compare its design with that of the Sangraal only a few feet away.
Their similarities were striking, and yet both gave off a completely different power. The Loquor felt passive, a tool to be used to send messages across great distances. Mundane almost, in a similar way to the astria porta. A simple device for a simple purpose. But the Sangraal had a meanness to it. This was definitely a weapon. A means to destroy. And on a scale that the human mind was ill-equipped to consider.
Were there Others in Origin who would be killed by their efforts? Did the plane these Ori inhabited contain other forms of innocent life, like the animals and plants of their own? What would happen to such beings when they triggered the device? Suddenly she felt every bit of the intense dread she had heard in Natalie's voice when they had beheld the Sangraal for the first time.
"Luna?" Harry's voice shocked her out of her thoughts as his hand touched her shoulder.
She gave a soft squeak and turned to face him. "Sorry, Harry. I was lost in thought."
"I know. I wish there were another way to do this too. But if anyone understands the consequences of what we're planning to do, it's a man who spent thousands of years living on that plane. If Myrddin thinks this is the only answer to the threat that the Ori pose, I for one, trust him."
Luna glanced at her friend, a term that still brought a smile to her face after her lonely early years. "And I trust you. That's why I am here."
Harry pulled her into a quick hug and Luna relished the action. The boy who had once been so resistant to touch now gave it so freely instead. "You give the nicest hugs. Don't tell Hermione. Hers are a bit too firm sometimes. But yours are always just right."
The pair stood in a soft silent embrace for several minutes, allowing the presence of the other to quell their fears over what they soon would do. "So," Luna said, breaking the silence, "how are you planning on telling Myrddin that you have an award named after him?"
"Oh, don't you dare, Missy!" Harry warned, and Luna smirked as she felt his arms release the hug and shift to her middle. "I will tickle the life out of you if you tell him that."
Luna squealed with delight as Harry's fingers dug into the flesh below her rib cage and the delightful feeling filled her body as she tried to get away from his expert tickling fingers.