Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies is not mine.

A/N: Okay, to be completely honest with you, I'm pissed off about this story. (Sorry about the language, but it's the only way to express how horribly angry I am) It's not the story itself that I'm mad about, it's my pen-pal writer, Rudulo. To be simply blunt, I'll just tell you that she's abandoned the story because of an argument we had. So now, it's in my hands to finish this up and I have no earthly idea of where this was going. So I'm going to improvise. If you have any ideas, please feel free to leave them in a review. They'd be much appreciated.

And someone asked what the title of the story meant - the definition (directly from the dictionary) is: 1. Going beyond nature: exceeding what is normal in nature (formal or literary) 2. Supernatural: supernatural or uncanny (literary) Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Thanks to all who has continued to read this story, and to all of those who had read it. I'm so sorry about the long delay. I just hope that I can provide a good storyline - and I know this chapter sucks hardcore, but please try not to maul me. Critisism would be much appreciated. (I haven't written much in a while, so my writing is off by a bit. -sigh-) - Min

Preternatural
By: xScenex

Chapter Nine: Oh No's and What's

The day passed on and Harry didn't find any sign of Hermione. Where could one girl hide in a place like Hogwarts, when he knew most of her normal hiding spots? It just didn't make any sense!

Eventually, tired and worn out from the long adventure of searching the castle, Harry found himself sitting down on a large boulder by the lake. The sun was setting and streaks of orange and gold lay spattered against the pastel sky. He stared up distractedly, his hair swaying around his face in the breeze.

He vaguely noted that it felt nice outside. The weather he remembered was always stifling, with either heat or with fear. There was no end to the discomfort in the atmosphere. But he liked how the air tasted now - he had no worries. The burden of the war was not placed on his shoulders.

But after a few moments, Harry realized that he had something else to worry about - the fact that everyone thought he was mental. His thoughts wondered back to that day at the infirmary. Why had Madam Pomfrey acted so strange? And what did his Godfather and Dumbledore have to do with it? He knew that there was something odd going on with the three adults and he was desperate to find out.

Harry shook his head and reclined back on his elbows, ignoring the scraping of the rock against his flesh. He was at the point where he didn't care - what was a little bit more hurt? No one would think twice if they saw the scrapes - he already looked like a wreak. He knew it. They knew it.

He shook his head, his eyes closing momentarily. His lips twisted into a small smile, "I'll be damned if they didn't."

"Who are you talking to?"

Harry stiffened. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Who was it? He opened his eyes slowly and turned around while answering, "No one."

His eyes landed on pale grey ones with a distant look to them. It was Luna Lovegood. She gave him a mocking smile, "But I did hear you speaking to someone. Unless the Ruosenots are here; they are tricky and sometimes get into others minds and mimic them aloud."

Same old Luna. Harry felt amusement bubble up in his chest. "And how do we keep them from mimicking us?"

Luna gave him an odd look, "You know, no one has ever asked that. But daddy said in his article that wearing a necklace of pickled peppers will keep them away for a while."

"I see," was Harry's only response to that. "So what are you doing out here?"

"The same as you. Watching the sky. I think it's pretty."

Harry nodded slowly and turned away. "Have a seat, then."

A few minutes passed by after Luna settled herself awkwardly on the boulder next to Harry. She kept fingering the butterbeer cork necklace that hung around her neck. The boy noted that she looked the same and acted the same, from the wand stuck behind her ear to the very odd creatures she spoke of. He found comfort in the fact that she was herself.

She turned to look at him, her faraway and dazed look leaving her for a small moment. "You're different."

Harry's face turned sour, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not our Harry. You're Harry."

"Uh. Sure"

"I know your secret, but I wont tell."

"You… you know?" Harry stared at her unsurely. Did she really know?

"Of course. The adults think your just having a mental breakdown but I know that's not it. So what happened to the other Harry?" she gave him a lopsided smile and Harry noted that her voice was not derisive.

The Gryffindor sat up and faced her. "You're not joking, are you?" She shook her head. Harry felt relief spread through his body. "So I can trust you, right?"

"Of course. Even the Ruosenots wont be able to get me to tell anyone about you."

Harry breathed out heavily and slumped over. Why couldn't he have spoken to Luna earlier? He knew he could trust her.

"I'll be honest with you, Luna. I have no idea of what happened to the other Harry," he said slowly.

"Oh. Will he ever come back?" she asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

The odd change to her voice caused Harry too look up at her. "I… I'm not sure, Luna."

"Oh," her eyes were unfocused. "Well that's alright. He always told me that if something happened that he wanted me to be happy. It's just like with what happened to my mother."

Harry held his breath. He'd heard from his Luna that her mother loved messing with experiments. He felt a connection with Luna because of their small speech before he left the castle last year in his world, and her talking about her mother was something considered sacred between them.

The girl continued, all the while messing with her necklace. "She told me as well that if something happened to her, that she wanted me to be happy and to stay with papa. Then she disappeared after that experiment. I wonder where she went?"

Harry stared at her, unsure of what to say. He couldn't just say that she probably died in an explosion, although that was the most likely thing to have happened. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I bet wherever she is, she's looking out for you."

"Oh, she is," Luna smiled slightly. "I wonder if Harry is, too?"

"Were you and… and the other Harry good friends?" he questioned slowly.

Luna shook her head, "No. He was my boyfriend."

The boy nearly jolted away from Luna. It came as a complete shock that his other self had dated her - not that she was a bad girl. He had just never thought of Luna in any other way but as a friend. But then again…

He calmed down slightly as he thought back to how Neville acted around Luna. There was definitely something going on with them… and since his other self was supposedly just like the Neville in his world, maybe…

"Ugh…" he rested his face in his hands. "Luna, I…"

"Don't worry," she stated matter-of-factly. "You're not like the other Harry. You're not my boyfriend; I feel no connection between us. Although your aura seems the same, you're too depressed."

"Really?" Harry asked, ignoring the part about the depression and she nodded. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Nothing against you, Luna, but I've only ever seen you as a friend."

"We were friends?"

"Yeah," he told her, looking back up. "We met in fifth year. And I'm glad we did - I'll never regret it."

Both of the students smiled at one another. They sat in silence for a while, and soon, twilight was upon them. Harry listened as the night creatures took up symphony and sung their night song that wove into the wind. Luna sat as well, looking up into the stars.

There was comfortable silence between them before Luna asked Harry randomly, "What happened to you? I doubt the Heliopaths had something to do with it. Unless you've angered the minister."

"What do you mean?" he asked, unsure of what she was asking.

"You look sick," she stated bluntly. "You're too skinny and you don't eat. I've watched you not eat - I noticed it the first night you didn't show up for our discussion of the Warnopolius'. And you are too depressed."

Harry turned away from her, "If you saw what I did, you wouldn't want to eat either. I can't help the way I am, alright?" For a moment, he wanted Luna to just go away but after a moment, he realized that she was his only outlet.

"But you can help yourself, you just haven't tried."

"If you saw people die like I did…"

"Oh, I've seen it," she cut him off as he trailed his sentence into quietness. "I see the thestrels, but you have to accept that death is the balance of life. If we didn't die, then we couldn't live - we just wouldn't fit here on the Earth. It's rather horrible, but we have to just go with it."

Harry didn't say anything to her words. He knew what she said was true, but why did all the good people have to die first? It just didn't seem fair. He shook his head slowly before something clicked into his mind.

"Luna!" he jumped up from the boulder and lent over, grasping onto her shoulders. The girl looked quizzically at him. "You mentioned the Earth! Do you - I mean, that is, have you ever heard anything about an item called Gaia's Mirror?"

She looked blankly at him for a long moment. Then she replied, "My mother told me once about it. It was like a bedtime story."

"Please, you have to tell me all that you know," he told her urgently. If Hermione couldn't tell him, then Luna could. He knew something was up, and as soon as he figured out what that mirror was for, he would be able to start cracking down on what was happening at the school.

"Well," she cleared her throat and ran a hand through her long, dirty blonde hair. "I have some notes on it from a long time ago when I went through some of mama's old books."

"Could you show me?" Harry asked, interest flaming into his mind.

"It's a bit personal," Luna said sadly. "But I can tell that this is important, so I can show you. I have some of it right here," she pulled a book out from her pocket. Harry thought at first that it was just a small, pocket notebook but when she opened it, it proved to hold more pages than he would have thought. "This is the book that I keep with me with the most important things in it."

The Ravenclaw flipped through pages for a while until she stopped. She scanned the pages herself, then handed the book to Harry. "Read that page, and the next one."

Harry took the book unsurely and began to read the neatly placed writing, his hands shaking slightly.

Document 1: Gaia -- The Earth. The prosperous land, green and luscious for leagues. Those tall mountains, so high in the sky that they touch the very heaven's that are forbidden until the afterlife. Water -- stretched across Eve's land for as far as the eye can see. Gaia is home to all living creatures. Created after chaos, she provides peace to all who dwell there but was soon cast away into an ancient artifact; she was said to keep all humanity in check with this object. It reflects life. But with life comes death, and soon, Tantalus brought upon a new item to balance the Earth. Gaia and Khaos have been chosen.

Document 2: They perished in their greed and were taken to Tartarus to live the rest of their lives in 'a place of the underworld' to redeem for their sins. The only clues to where they have been taken by the Greater Chosen lie in these words: "Across the vast blue cold and into the perilous red abyss - find us where the sand burns like fire's of hell and the burning God forsakes us."

Harry looked up, his eyes swimming with confusion.

"Luna, what does this mean?"

"Don't you get it?" she asked melodiously.

"No, I don't. What's this about Tantalus, Khaos, Tartarus… What are the Greater Chosen?"

She shrugged lightly, "All I know is that mama thought highly of these documents."

"Do you know who the people mentioned in the second document are?"

Luna shook her head, "Mama did, though. She told me in the story that there were hundreds of them. They were taken away, one by one to serve time in the 'place of the underworld'. They're never seen again, of course, but that's because the Dolumens wont let them out of the palace."

Harry was completely lost, but he stored all the information to the back of his mind. "Do you remember the story, Luna?"

"Of course I do. Would you like to hear it?" Harry nodded and she smiled. "Alright. Sit down and I'll tell you."

Harry sat down across from her, in the grass this time. The sky was dark now and the only light around them was from what was reflected from the lake. "So?" he asked eagerly, looking up into the girl's face.

She waved her hand slowly, as if telling him to be patient. She began in a distant, melodious, "Well, mama said to me while tucking me in that when the Earth was once new, there lived a civilization of men and women known as the Civilians.

"The Civilians were given their life by Gaia and soon they made life of their own. Gaia loved her children and all they provided, but soon, they were taking too much of the space - they began burning her nature, drying up her water and polluting the air she offered. So the Greater Chosen sent Tantalus to equal the balance of the Civilian's."

"Tantalus is…?" Harry interrupted her.

"Tantalus is death, really," she told him keenly.

"So Gaia is life, and Tantalus is death? Is that the balance?" Luna nodded at his question. Harry motioned for her to continue.

"Gaia did not like the idea of Tantalus taking her children away from her, but the Greater Chosen had sent Tantalus on a mission and he never backed out when it came to an order. He stole the children from her day and night, leaving Gaia distressed and angry. The Earth rumbled with her fury towards the Gods and the sky darkened with Tantalus' determination to do what he was told. When, eventually, the world was in complete destruction from their distress, the Greater Chosen came down on their own.

"They were not happy, mama said. She said that they were mightily angry at them, and cursed them for their behavior. They said that since they could not do as they had be chosen to do, they would be forsaken to spend eternity in a object. That's how the artifacts came to be. Mama said she didn't know what the names were, but from what you said and what the documents say, I'm guessing that one is Gaia's Mirror."

Harry stared at her for a minute then nodded. "I believe so too. I.. I overheard someone saying something about it. Do you have any idea of what Gaia's Mirror can do?"

Luna shook her head. "She never told me what would happen if someone got a hold of the artifacts. But if they're guarded by the Dolumen's, they must be powerful."

"What are the Dulumen's?" Harry stumbled over the foreign word.

"They're creatures," she told him. "They're a bit like unicorns except that they aren't nice. They're huge and they could step on you."

Harry snorted slightly. "That's nice. Hagrid would like them."

Luna smiled, "He would. Maybe I can get my father to do an article on them for you."

He shook his head, "There's no use in going all out on this. But I appreciate it."

She nodded and looked up at the sky again. The silence settled between them once more, and Harry finally realized that dinner must have been over for a while now.

"We should be getting back," he told the Ravenclaw girl after a few minutes of listening to the waves of the lake splash against the shore near him.

"I guess. But I like it out here; it's more calm than inside the castle."

"I know," Harry sighed. He didn't really want to go back himself. He didn't feel like going back up into the common room, where he was bound to be on the receiving end of stares. Plus, he knew sleep wouldn't come to him that night, so it would be useless to try. "Someone's bound to come looking for us soon, though."

"We better go in at different times," Luna said. "They might think sometimes going on."

"You go first then." Harry told her. He wanted to make sure she made it inside safely.

She got up, her long skirt swishing against the rock, and bid him goodnight with a smile. Harry watched as she jumped down and started to walk down the grounds, humming something all the while.

The boy got up as well, but didn't start back. He stared at the retreating back of the girl and felt a sadness for her. How did she really feel about the other Harry being gone? She must have been confused and unsure… but she dealt with it well enough, he realized. But still…

"Luna?" he called out to her. She turned around but continued to walk. Harry knew she was listening. "Just so you know… I'll do my best to get your Harry back."

He couldn't see her expression from such a distance. There was a stretch of silence and just as he thought she hadn't heard him, she called out, "I'll be waiting."

And she disappeared into the darkness.

Harry sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. He was slowly learning more, but the more and more he found out about Gaia's Mirror and the world he was in, the more he hated it. Maybe his old life had been better…

Eventually, he set off to the castle, his mind filled with fears and questions. But the night would not be over for Harry.

Because He awaited the boy's return.

A/N: Wow. This was so. Hard. To. Write. Hate me, go ahead, you know you want to. I can't believe I even succeeded in writing such a short, crappy chapter! Without any idea of what is going on, and having to make up my own plot, this is going… okay. Lets just say I'm putting a lot of thought into this, but things are getting a bit muddled. I don't think the original plot had anything to do with Luna, but I like my idea of what's coming up.

What did you think? I know it sucks, but besides that, how do you think the plot's turning out?