Warning: Please notice the change in rating. This chapter is very sexual, but not smutty. But don't read it if it bothers you. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything else associated with Harry Potter. I do, however, enjoy playing with them and putting them in compromising situations.

"Every time I hold you I begin to understand, that everything about you tells me you're my best friend."
--Anonymous
Chapter Twenty: Everything I'm Not

The next few days leading up to Friday blended together for Tom. Each second was an hour and each day was a minute. Time was a flimsy idea that held no real significance to him any longer.

The other students of Hogwarts all knew within a few hours that Tom had given Luna a necklace, and they all simply assumed that the two were together. There were brief plots by some of the Slytherin girls to knock Luna off, but Tom put an end to those fairly quickly (and threateningly).

Tom still did not hold Luna's hand in public. He rarely kissed her, and he had yet to say that he loved her, yet Luna did not need these things to let her know. She knew in the way the oval stone around her neck was constantly red.

He was not gentle. His words were still biting, sarcastic, and often downright cruel. He was not a lover, nor did he let his care for her show on his face. Only when someone else would attack Luna, be it a mocking remark or an annoyed glare, would anyone have guessed that he gave a damn about her at all.

On Friday, Luna had awoken knowing that it would be a special day. She took special care getting ready that morning. She had tried to do something with her hair, but after Othello repeatedly attacked her hair and destroyed whatever she had done, she gave up. She did, however, wear her favorite blouse and blue skirt, as well as her radish earrings and a pair of teal stockings.

Tom was not a morning person, and therefore did not say much when he saw her before breakfast. Luna mildly thought that Tom would have been better on a nocturnal schedule. During breakfast, Luna's friends, who had been peppering her with questions for the last few days, resumed their interrogation. Luna escaped much of it after breakfast when she headed to Ancient Runes with Cat and Lorraine.

The day breezed by up until Arithmancy. Tom had sufficiently woken up at this point to notice that Luna had gone all out when getting dressed.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked as she plopped into the seat beside him.

"Clothing," she replied, furrowing her brow with a look as though she was concerned for his mental health. "Isn't that what people normally wear?"

Tom scowled as the professor walked in to begin the class.

After Arithmancy, the two split up, Tom retreating to his dormitory, and Luna drifting off in the general direction of the library.

She had almost reached the library when she heard a voice calling her name. "Miss Lovegood!"

She turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking up the corridor towards her. She smiled. "Hello, Professor. That was a very interesting lesson, yesterday."

"Thank you, my dear. Now, will you please come with me to my office? I believe I have made progress on the reverse time-turner," he said, peering at her over his half-moon spectacles.

Luna's smile faded. "Oh. Yes, of course."

She followed him up flights of stairs and through corridors until they had reached his office. He immediately began to bustle about to make tea, and Luna found herself once again in the chair on the opposite side of his desk. A strange silver instrument was resting on the polished surface of the desk, and Luna prodded it questioningly.

Dumbledore placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her and took a long sip from his own cup. "Now, then," he began. "I have not yet perfected this time-turner, and of course, there's no real way to test it." He chuckled. "However, I am getting quite close, I believe, to figuring it out."

Luna forced a smile. "That's so wonderful, sir. Thank you."

"Is it?" he asked.

Luna felt her head nodding. "Oh, yes."

Dumbledore watched her for a long moment, then continued. "I think that if all goes as planned, we'll have you back to your own time within the next week or so."

"That soon?" Luna stammered.

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "I have been working diligently on this project for several months now."

"Of – of course, sir. And I thank you for it. I hope you know that I truly am grateful," she said earnestly.

He smiled sadly at her from over his teacup. "You are a million times welcome, Miss Lovegood."

He stood to show her to the door. "I will let you know as soon as I have succeeded."

"Thank you again, sir," she said, before opening the door, exiting, and closing it again quietly behind her.

Dumbledore stared at the shut door for a moment. "If I were a fool, I'd let her stay in a heartbeat," he muttered, before turning back to his office.

Luna walked towards the Great Hall, deciding to pick up an early dinner so that she could retire to her dormitory. She was on the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall when she spotted Tom about to enter the Great Hall.

"Tom!" she called, and hurried down the stairs. She threw her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could.

Stunned, he awkwardly patted her on the back. "What's happened?"

She buried her face in his chest. She was shuddering, but not crying. Finally, she said, "Let's not go to dinner. I just want to be with you."

"But what's the matter?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "Don't. Please just kiss me. Right now."

He briefly considered arguing with her, but instead just put his hands onto her waist, tucked a hair behind her ear, and kissed her.

After the kiss had been broken, she once again buried her face into his chest.

Tom was vaguely aware that students who were filing into the Great Hall were staring at them, but he was mostly focused upon the way Luna's body was still shaking like a leaf in his arms.

She pulled back slightly to look him in the face. "I just want to be with you," she repeated.

Tom still had his hands on Luna's waist. Without saying a word, she placed one of her hands over his, intertwined the fingers, and began leading him away. It was a while before he realized where she was taking him.

She released his hand by the picture of the ballet-dancing trolls. She silently walked back and forth in front of the opposing wall until a door appeared. Luna smiled, took Tom's hand again, and led him through the door.

Inside the Room of Requirement was a cozy sitting room with a roaring fireplace. There were a few squat, squishy chairs, and one large, inviting sofa.

Luna drifted over to the sofa and sat primly down. She looked back towards Tom and patted the seat next to her. For once in his life, he did as he was told, and crossed the room to sit beside her.

She curled her legs beneath her and leaned against Tom's shoulder. He allowed this, and he mindlessly twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers.

Tom gazed into the fire and was lost among its flames. What was this feeling? Was it love, as Luna suggested? Tom had always considered himself immune to the utterly human feeling of love. Women had always been another tool at his disposal to get what he wanted. Luna was a danger from the start. He had known it from the moment he had met her. Yet his magical abilities, his mind, his perseverance seemed to have no power next to her.

When she touched him, he felt like that boy of many years ago, the one who had crawled beneath his bed in the orphanage, clutching a thin blanket around him; the one who was lonely and afraid; the one who had cried the only time in his life when he had realized that this was all the world offered him; the one who had bitterly believed that love still existed, just not for him. When she held him, he was a child again.

After several quiet minutes, Tom turned his face away from the fire to look at the small girl next to him. The stone around her neck was a gleaming, brilliant red. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and his, hiding the boundary where she ended and he began. Her eyes were shut, but she was not sleeping. Tom noticed the way her long lashes gently rested upon her cheeks.

A million thoughts raced through his mind. He was still convinced that this would never last. He would never change, could never change, and she certainly would not go along with his ways. Tomorrow, he thought. I'll fight it tomorrow.

He pulled her closer to him. Her eyes fluttered open and looked up into his face. He once again felt as though he were drowning in her eyes, as though they had invisible hands that had reached out and were making it difficult for him to breathe. It certainly didn't improve the feeling that her eyes seemed to be growing larger and larger with every second.

And they were indeed growing larger, as he realized a split second later. She was bringing her face towards his again. He wanted to turn away, to free himself from the eyes. He failed.

Her lips pressed against his. His eyes slid shut. Without first consulting his judgment, a moment later he had one hand tangled in her hair and the other cupping her face. He kissed her for everything that had been wrong thus far in his life; he channeled as much of his ferocious passion as he possibly could into that kiss.

As he deepened the kiss, Luna stiffened for the briefest of moments, but then relaxed into his arms again, snaking her own arms around his neck. Suddenly she was on her back, and Tom was above her, gazing down at her with an undecipherable expression on his face. She watched him for a moment as he inspected her, but then she put a hand on either side of his face and brought his mouth to her own once more.

After a moment, he was at her neck, peppering her with kisses, gently biting, and simultaneously beginning to unbutton her blouse. To his surprise, Luna gave no protest, instead shrugging the shirt off. Tom was entranced by her milky white skin. She was so small, so thin. Tom suddenly had an overwhelming fear that he would accidentally shatter her. She looked so fragile. He backed away from her, retreating to the opposite side of the sofa. Then she was at his side, breathing into his ear, "I love you."

With that, he returned to her. He ran his fingers up and down her sides, savoring the feel of her soft skin. She then was tugging at his shirt. Without bothering to unbutton it, he tore it over his head with some difficulty. She stared at him for a long moment, taking in his lean muscle and slender frame.

A few minutes later found them completely disposed of their clothing. Outside, a light rain began to fall, pattering against the windows of their room. Tom gazed at her naked body, with shadows from the firelight dancing across it, and thought wildly that he had never seen anything so beautiful. In turn, Luna gently traced the dips and contours of his torso.

Tom eased into her as gently as she could, allowing her to control every movement. Occasionally she shuddered or clenched her eyes shut in pain, but she did not stop until it was complete. For a moment they lay still, and Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Luna hushed him. "Don't be a blabbermouth, Thomas," she whispered.

He lowered his mouth to her collarbone, and a breath escaped her lips, brushing by his ears. Tom marveled at how different this was. He was no virgin, but somehow this felt like an entirely new experience nonetheless. Every touch was a sensation, every sound she made like a beautiful symphony to him. He had never felt so whole before, and he made love to her late into the night.

When Tom woke the following morning, he had to think for a moment to remember where he was. Then he opened his eyes to see Luna right next to him, curled closely to him, wearing only his shirt that was far too large on her. The sunlight shone off of her skin, and even after the night they had shared, she still seemed perfect, flawless, pure, and unmarred. She was still everything that he was not.