Disclaimer: Poo.

A/N: You may all now take 30 seconds to mentally tar and feather me for taking forever to update. I must apologize for any typos/errors in this chapter as I mulled it out like a machine and haven't checked over it carefully or had it betaed. I also have the next chapter 3/4's of the way written. That'll be up by Tuesday. Thanks to all of you who are still reading this story!

"What is the difference between love and obsession? ... Love was like rain, it turned to ice, or it disappeared. Now you saw it, now you couldn't find it no matter how hard you might search. ... Obsession tasted like something familiar. Something you'd known your whole life. It settled and lurked; it stayed with you."
--Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen

Chapter Twenty-Five: Hogsmeade

A week and a half later, the charm was successfully in place. Harry had chosen the password "Raskolnikov," a name only Hermione and Luna recognized as the main character in Crime and Punishment. Harry had read quite frequently while shut up in his cupboard, mostly the classic novels the Dursley's felt obliged to keep in the house yet never read themselves; Crime and Punishment was one such novel. Luna's father had always encouraged her to explore the muggle world. Having few opportunities for study of live muggles, Luna had instead done so by reading everything from Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, and Bronte to the Grimm brothers. Hermione, as the resident bookworm, of course recognized the name as well.

Harry had chosen the name, hoping it was sufficiently random and muggle enough to erase the chance of Voldemort ever guessing it. The only draw back was having to teach Neville how to pronounce it.

Harry also reported a sudden spike in the number of time Voldemort tried to enter his head. It became obvious when this was happening, as Harry would suddenly fall silent, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration, his hands balling in fists. Each time this happened, Luna felt her heart do a strange leap-plummet – leaping at first at the thought of Tom; plummeting with guilt and worry. She had come to mentally call the feeling simply, "The Leaplummet," referring to it as such only in her quiet moments alone with Othello.

After a few days of quiet conversations with Luna, Harry began to consider the idea that maybe Voldemort had truly loved her, or at least cared something for her. Luna sensed this change, as well as the new respect it brought, and appreciated it immensely.

She and Harry had both silently come to the conclusion (self-deprecating and slightly unsure on Luna's part) that the sudden, fervent energy Voldemort was putting forth into his attacks on Harry's mind had to do with the fact that when Voldemort had broken through, Luna's face was all he could see.

While sleeping, nightmares began to plague Luna. In her dreams, the Death Eaters were attacking the castle. Luna was running frantically in search of Harry, trying desperately to find him before one of the Death Eaters or Voldemort found him. As she was rounding a corner in the corridors, she saw Harry. He wasn't all right, though; he was lying down in the middle of the corridors. Trying to shout to him, she found her voice wouldn't work, and as she neared his body, a tall, ugly snake-man that only extremely vaguely resembled her Tom would step out of the shadows. "I knew it was you," the snake-man would whisper, and then Luna would jolt awake to find herself in tears. Ridiculous as the dreams were, she could not help but fear them. Should anything happen to Harry now, she would forever blame herself for it.

A Hogsmeade visit was scheduled in the second week of October. Luna had finally agreed to go after much prodding from Harry. "You need to go!" Harry had said. And secretly, hardly even understanding himself, he needed for her to go. He seemed to always want her by his side. Part of this was because Harry had grown attached to Luna, more than he would ever admit. And, deep down, in a place in his heart he never explored if it was avoidable, Harry needed her there because, should Voldemort ever break through again, he wanted Tom to see Luna. He wanted him to know that Harry had the one person that Voldemort may have ever truly cared for. He wanted Voldemort to see it, to know it, and to feel the loss all over again. Several times, Harry had considered letting Voldemort see Luna's face clearly, if only for a moment. But he hadn't done so, and he knew he never would. It was dangerous, reckless, and selfish. It would likely hurt Luna as well as Voldemort. Still, the thought was strangely tempting.

On the way to Hogsmeade, the group of six was laughing gaily in a way they hadn't done in far too long. The group bustled into the crowded Three Broomsticks to get away from the chilly October air. Seating themselves at a table, Ron went off to order butterbeers for them all, smoothing his hair along the way to make himself presentable for Madame Rosmerta.

Squished between Harry and Neville in a booth originally intended for four people, Luna felt warm, loved, and safe. At one point halfway through their butterbeers, Harry's hand wove itself into Luna's beneath the table. Luna looked up bemusedly, but Harry made no sign that he had done anything at all; he only continued to speak candidly with Ron and the others. Luna wondered briefly if he was unaware that they were holding hands, but decided he must know. Giving Harry's hand a quick squeeze, she tapped Neville on the shoulder and excused herself to the bathroom, sliding her hand away from Harry as gently as she could.

Luna stood in the bathroom, staring at her image in the mirror. Cocking her head to the left, then to the right, she considered how she felt about Harry. The hand-holding-under-tables-for-no-reason way? She frowned and made a face at the mirror, causing it to huff indignantly at her. Suddenly a scream came from the direction of the street. This was quickly followed by more screams and the sound of a terrible commotion. Apologizing quickly to the mirror, Luna flitted out of the bathroom to see what was going on. She found the Three Broomsticks in turmoil, with people on the street struggling to get in and people inside struggling to get out. Luna saw Harry, standing on one of the tables looking for her. Squeezing in between the mass of bodies fighting each and every way, Luna made her way to Harry and the others.

"What's going on?" she shouted above the noise, benignly confused. A huge bang outside caused many more to scream.

"Death Eaters, Luna!" Ron cried. He had his wand at the ready and was fighting to get outside. "They're attacking the village!"

Finally comprehending the noise and terror around her, the color drained out of Luna's already pale face. Just when she'd finally relaxed, her worst fears were being realized. She hung on a moment of fear before setting her jaw. She wouldn't let them get Harry. Not this time. Not ever.

Using her small size to her advantage, Luna nearly crawled over the other patrons of the Three Broomsticks to get to the door. She vaguely heard Harry and Ginny crying after her, trying to get her to come back, but her mind was set. She was also vaguely aware that her foot had hit Justin Finch-Fletchley in the face, giving him a bloody nose, but she had a hard time caring. Just as she reached the door, the glass on one of the large showroom windows was shattered, offering her a convenient exit. Stumbling into the street, she saw a scene of perfect chaos. People and students were running, screaming, fighting. There were terrible figures in black – that's what people were running from.

Luna saw that the nearest Death Eater was bearing down on two third year girls, undoubtedly on their first trip to Hogsmeade. The girls were clinging to each other and crying. Luna had time to wonder if they would ever come back before she overheard what the Death Eater was saying to them.

"Where is Luna Lovegood?" inquired the rather deep female voice.

Luna froze in her tracks for a split second. So he did see me.

The girls were shaking their heads frantically, unable to speak. "You don't know?" the Death Eater cackled. "That's too bad." The woman crept closer to the girls, raising her wand.

"I'm right here," Luna heard herself say. "I'm right. Here."

The Death Eater turned. "And you are?"

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna replied, her voice not shaky or frightened. "What do you want with me?"

The woman appeared to be looking Luna up and down from behind her mask. "You're Luna Lovegood?" Suddenly the woman erupted into a fiendish laughter that sent shivers down Luna's spine. "Crucio!" screamed the Death Eater.

Luna fell to the ground with unbelievable pain. She felt herself writhing on the floor. Then the curse ended as quickly as it had begun. The woman grabbed Luna by the chin and examined her more closely. "Why don't you scream?" the woman queried.

Refusing to answer, Luna looked away indignantly.

From behind her, Luna heard her name being called. No, no, Harry, stay away. For once, you might not be what they're after.

"What do you want?" Luna asked, surprised by the venom in her own voice.

Luna could almost see the smirk through the mask. "You're coming with me."

The sounds of Harry and, Luna discerned, at least Hermione, probably the others as well, were coming closer through the din of the ongoing battle. Luna felt herself growing frantic. If they were going to take her, they needed to do it now, before Harry could get himself in trouble.

The Death Eater gripping her shot green sparks into the air. All of a sudden, the other Death Eaters began to Disapparate in the middle of their battles. The woman then pointed her wand at Luna's temple. The last thing Luna saw as she keeled over backwards and into unconsciousness was Ginny's terrified face about fifteen yards away.