A/N: First, thanks for everyone that has reviewed so far. Like I stated in the first chapter, this could have easily been a one-shot. I'm happy that everyone seems to be liking this so far.

So… who should Harry end up with?

There is Hermione, of course… but what about Ginny? And then there's Luna, who should be just as betrayed feeling as Harry… but ten there's the older woman, Nymphadora Tonks. Just typing the name feels naughty… : grin : And there's a whole world of canon characters out there… Hannah. Susan. Katie. Daphne.

Any suggestions?

And on a completely different front… who put the tainted cookies in the room? Ah… we're looking for a criminal, but what was the crime? And better yet, what was supposed to be the crime?

Well, in the meantime, on with my idea of where things are headed…

O X O X O X O X O X O

THE PROMISE

Praying to Merlin for a miracle, he rapped his knuckles on the window pane for possibly the two-hundredth time. "Luna! Luna? Please… talk to me…"

"Son…"

Ronald Weasley looked down in surprise from his position on his broom towards the ground two stories below. Standing on the back porch, a robe loosely tied around his bulging middle, stood Eugene Lovegood… his hands on his waist and his teeth firmly clamped around the bubble pipe he constantly had with him. Ron noted that he didn't seem too happy at the moment… a fact that he could only guess might have to do with the sun having just barely cracked over the horizon in the east.

"Sir, I'm sorry but I…"

The man closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ronald. You see a good lad, truly you do… and while you and my daughter were happy, I would've welcomed you in this morning for a spot of tea or the like." Ron slowly drifted down allowing gravity to reassert its force over his broom. "But Luna's not happy… and not happy with you, for certain. "

"But…" Ron tried to interject himself, but the older man shook his head and held out his hand, palm up, indicating for Ron to stop… which he did, immediately.

"I know, son. Those twin brothers of yours came over yesterday afternoon or so, bringing Luna's belongings seeing as how she wasn't going to be staying over with you and your folks for the rest of the summer like she had planned. And while she didn't talk to 'em, I did. I know about what Harry found… about the fight… I even know about the cookies, Lady Circe below, do I know about those cookies. But none of that makes two differences to a Shornback's tail right now."

Ron dropped his head and stared at the ground, his feet finally touching the grass and earth. He felt the tears coming back as he looked up into the hard blue eyes of his girlfriend's… maybe ex-girlfriend, he sighed sadly… father. The man puffed out a stream of soapy bubbles from his pipe as he laid a hand briefly on Ron's shoulder. "You have ta respect her, lad. She's upset and, whether you want to admit it or not, you have some part to play in why her heart is broken. It's only by the grace of them cookies that I haven't hunted you down me'self."

Ron's eyes opened wide as he jerked his head back, his whole body trembling under the man's scrutiny. He considered saying something… a joke perhaps, but words failed him.

"I see we're having an understanding, then." Eugene smiled, not unkindly. "Now, why don't you go on home now… let Luna figure out if she is wanting to talk to you or not. She's a smart lass, though few are able to understand the way she thinks. Give it time… if it was meant to be, it will."

"Yes, sir." Ron turned and pushed off from the ground, the broom quickly lifting up. He started to turn, to look one last time into the second floor window whose curtains were drawn… a window that Luna had snuck out of more than once for some midnight snack or rendezvous by the lake between his and her house… instead, however, he kept his eyes forward and flew slowly back home.

Ron never saw the flutter of the curtains, nor the tear-stained cheeks of the pale-eyed girl who watched him fly off.

O X O X O X O X O X O

Drawing a finger lazily across the pages of the Witch Weekly on her lap, Luna looked up from the couch as the hearth of the fireplace suddenly burst into life, the green flames rushing out to fill the entire area in front of her. Gazing intently at the dancing fire, the image of the current headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall suddenly appeared.

"Hello? Miss Lovegood? Might I come and speak with you, dear?"

Luna twisted her hair, ignoring the fact that it was still unwashed after the past few days since Ron and Hermione's tryst had come to light, silently nodded. The older witch, seemingly mollified with the bare assent, seemed to vanish momentarily before she stepped out of the fireplace, the whoosh of air exploding outwards in a rush of air being moved filled the room.

"Thank you." The transfiguration professor smiled briefly as she used her wand to quickly remove all traces of ash from her robes. Finally satisfied, the woman looked up and unflinchingly met the gaze of her student. I am sorry to arrive so, unannounced, as it were, especially with your father out of the house, but I had need of your… unique advice and was hoping you could assist me."

Luna closed the magazine and set it on one of the empty cushions of the sofa and stood. "Of course, professor. How might I help you?" She looked around for her wand, the entire time forgetting that it was perched behind her right ear. "Has there been an early migration of cycloptic imps spotted near Hogwarts again? Such hasn't occurred in nearly three centuries."

If Minerva was perturbed by the younger girl's question, she didn't show it, and instead moved away from the now cool fireplace. "Actually, Miss Lovegood, I was hoping to gain your thoughts about… well, how should I put this?"

"Oh." Luna's voice seemed to lose some of its earlier enthusiasm. "You want to know about Ron and Hermione."

"Well… yes. I do."

The blonde-haired girl nodded as she sat back down, a puppet with its strings suddenly snapped. "If you're wondering about the cookies, Ginny has kept me fairly well informed. It does seem, especially from some of the ones not eaten, that they were laced with several mood altering substances, not the least of which were a muggle… something." Luna's eyes seemed to lose focus. "She called it a hypo… hypno…" She shook her head. It changed what they were seeing and feeling."

Minerva seemed rocked back on her heels. "Really?"

"Oh, yes." Luna nodded. "That doesn't even take into account the derivative of a very unusual love potion… actually, a lust potion might be more appropriate as a description."

"So, Miss Granger and Mister Weasley…"

"Were completely unable to control their actions?" She shrugged. "Daddy took the information that Ginny had brought by yesterday and did a few tests." Luna covered her mouth as she giggled. "There were some very happy people after they tried it."

"He tried it on people?" McGonagall was shocked.

"It's quite all right. They were married and knew that… uhm… physical reactions might occur. They all agreed to it."

Minerva sat down in the chair next to her. "So, it was a deliberate set up."

"That would seem to be the case."

She looked at Luna, her eyes suddenly full of sympathy. "What are you going to do in regards to Mister Weasley?"

Luna looked down at her hands lying idly in her lap. "I've not spoken to him since that morning. I'd like to say that everything is forgiven, that I don't hold him responsible…"

"But you can't."

She shook her head. "No. I can't."

"And if your forgiving your Mister Weasley mi…"

"Not mine."

"I'm sorry?"

Luna smiled softly. "Not my Mister Weasley."

Now Minerva seemed flustered. "Yes. Right. Well, as I was saying… if you could forgive Mister Weasley this… circumstance, then we might find a way to push Mister Potter to let the Order back in."

Luna regarded her. "I thought Tonks was with him."

"Well, yes. She is. But we have had no contact other than a brief message from Nymphadora that she was inside Grimmald Place with mister Potter and that she would make sure that he was unharmed. That was two days ago. We are still no closer to actually speaking with him."

"You're worried about whether they are going to complete Dumbledore's mission."

Minerva nodded. Yes. The Order still has no idea of what we were going to be told. Mister Potter has secluded himself in that… house. Even Remus, the Secret Keeper, has been unable to breach the magics keeping everyone out. Mister Weasley is not talking to anyone outside of his sister and parents… though we feel he might speak with you if you would give him such an opportunity. And, well, Miss Granger is refusing anyone that isn't a muggle."

"How is Hermione?"

"Frankly, I must say that I am surprised you care, especially seeing that she was a part of what occurred involving Mister Weasley."

Smiling, Luna finally found her wand behind her ear and seemed pleased with herself in her discovery. "Not really… I don't blame Ron or Hermione, especially now that I've had time to think about everything and with Ginny explaining the potions and the drugs. I just can't forget."

Minerva nodded in understanding. "From the reports we've gotten from the Order members that are protecting her, she is well, at least, as far as can be expected. I fear there is little outside of either speaking with Harry or allowing time to heal the wounds that will help."

Luna scrunched up her nose. "So, my talking to Ron will do exactly what?"

"In honesty? Possibly nothing." She sighed. "What we want is either for Mister Weasley to let the Order in on what they were supposed to be doing over the upcoming months or, in the better scenario, Mister Potter might see you handling the situation in a way that could inspire him to let us back in."

Luna shook her head. "I don't think that either scenario would work, but I would be willing to try talking to Harry if you'd like."

Minerva's eyes popped open instantly. "Do you think…"

The younger woman shrugged. "I don't know, but I bet if you could get me to the front door that he'd let me in."

"I'm not sure."

Luna stood, ignoring the skepticism in the Headmistress' voice. Calling behind her, she started towards the back of the house. "Just help yourself to anything in the pantry. Give me a few minutes to get cleaned up and then we can go…"

The older witch tried to call out after the girl, to tell her that they couldn't go right then, but as she considered how the whole Light Side of the war seemed to be stuck, Minerva realized that they had nothing to lose by trying.

O X O X O X O X O X O

Mad-Eye Moody and Bill Weasley stood on the other side of the street, as Luna seemed to almost skip up the lane leading to Number Twelve. Her hair was piled on top of her head, her wand used as a tie to hold the heavy waves back from her face. She was wearing a bright, sky blue sundress and brown sandals on her feet. Hanging over her shoulder was a heavy canvas book bag, holding who knew what.

Without even a sideways glance to where the two Order members were watching, Luna turned up the crosswalk and skipped up to the front door. After ringing the doorbell, an odd melody that played so loudly that many in the Order had wanted to find the source of the chimes to blast them out of existence. With nearly everyone holding their breath, the seconds seemed to tick along steadily until finally, slowly the door opened to reveal a very wary looking Tonks.

It was all Bill could do to gesture for Moody to not announce his presence and order the girl to leave the door open.

They talked for a few moments, Tonks constantly looking over her shoulder, most likely to confer with Harry Potter hidden somewhere inside, before finally nodding and allowing Luna Lovegood to enter.

Bill let out a sigh, the first part of this insane plan that had been concocted less than an hour ago, having succeeded. As he turned to leave his post, he noticed that Tonks was still at the door, her gaze aimed directly at him. Looking up at her, he watched as she waved a small little hand gesture before making it a point to deliberately turn her back to him and shut the door firmly.

Tonks' loyalty had just been announced in a way just as loud as if she'd had yelled it from the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts.

O X O X O X O X O X O

"Is there a message?" Harry asked, his demeanor in a much better state than Minerva had led Luna to believe.

Sighing, she moved over to sit down in the chair by the old rug by the closed off hearth.. Settling down into the cushions, she took a moment to look at the old house. It looked almost nothing like what she remembered. To say that it was completely different would be a lie… it still was dark and foreboding. But it wasn't dirty. Everything was polished and clean. The gloomy pictures and portraits were off the wall, leaving bare spot that were lighter than the surrounding area.

It looked lived in. Cared for.

Luna watched as Harry moved to sit in the middle of the couch, putting his feet up on the ancient coffee table that sat in the center of the rug. That, in and of itself, wasn't unusual. It was that Tonks sat next to him, her hand interlinked fingers with Harry's as they both regarded Luna.

"Well?"

Luna chose to ignore the obvious closeness between the two sitting in front of her and leaned back. "Professor McGonagall wants to know what you and Ron and Hermione were doing for Dumbledore. What you were planning on telling the Order before it all fell apart."

Harry had flinched at Hermione's name, but, other than that momentary slip, his expression remained cool. Detached. "I won't tell them. I can't. She and… Ron… they both convinced me to include the Order, but I can't. Won't."

She only nodded.

Tonks' other hand moved to his arm, the fingers rubbing along the bare skin of his forearm. Harry flicked his eyes towards her, a small upturn of his lips, before he returned his gaze to Luna. "Anything else?"

"They want me to tell you what's been learned about what happened."

Harry's brow lowered over his eyes. "What do you mean? I saw them. I know what happened."

Luna pursed her lips. "Ronald and Hermione were drugged. A love potion. Some muggle things added in for flavor. McGonagall wanted you to understand that they didn't mean to betray you."

If anything, it was their reactions that told Luna more than anything they could have spoken aloud. Harry's face ran through a myriad of emotions. He looked positively sick. Tonks, on the other hand, looked scared, almost afraid of what the news might mean… that she might lose something that had become important to her.

It was at that moment that she realized that Tonks and Harry were sleeping together.

"I'm sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but…"

Harry cit her off, his voice hard. "No. It's okay, Luna." He paused for a moment. "In fact, I had already come up with something like that being a distinct possibility."

Tonks was suddenly very animated. "What? You knew!" She threw Harry's hand out of hers as she stood abruptly, her hair changing from it's soft brown to a hard cherry. "And you didn't say anything?"

Harry was calm. "No. There was no need, Dora." Dora? "It doesn't matter…"

"How can you say it doesn't matter? This could change everything." She was almost crying, her voice reaching a pitch that women often took when extremely emotional.

He stood, his posture non-threatening, as he walked over and brought her tightly into an embrace. "Dora… Dora… there's nothing to worry about. No, I'm not happy about how things played… and I know that you would like a better reassurance for what you feel could be a huge mistake… and while I can't say that I'm happy with how things happened, I can say that I am happy with where I am… we are, right now."

Tonks was crying, tears falling down her cheeks. Luna felt like she was intruding, but there was no where for her to escape to. "I'm sorry if…"

Harry never let her finish the apology. "No, Luna. It's fine. I wasn't sure how to bring this up since I thought of it, and I used you to bring it out into the open. I actually owe you an apology."

"What are you going to d, then?" Tonks sniffed.

"You and I are going to destroy Voldemort and try to live free and happy.

Tonks grinned, her face radiating a light of a woman falling hard and fast. The cherry red slowly bled to a raven black, matching Harry's own hair. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know."

Harry nodded.

"Uhm, not to intrude, but…" Luna sighed. "What do I tell the Order?"

Both of them turned to look at her then. They shared a brief look before two pairs of emerald green eyes focused on her. Luna wanted to squirm, but there was nowhere to go. Finally, Tonks disentangled herself from Harry's arms and approached her. "Whose side are you on, Luna?"

Ron would have given a flippant answer. Hermione would have huffed. Ginny would have rolled her eyes. Luna tilted her head as she glanced at both of them. Finally, she took her wand in her right hand as she slid to her knees in front of both of them, her face earnest.

"I pledge unto you, Harry James Potter, as a witch of the Light, to honor each and all of your orders, to place my magic, my soul and my very life into your hands, to do as you command, unto such day as you release me from your sufferance or unto the day I die. Thus do I swear, upon my honor to be yours in all things as you might require. So mote it be."

Bowing her head, Luna waited as the two of them stood over her, their jaws both wide open. Into the silence, she took a breath, surprisingly strong. "You can trust me, Harry Potter. I freely offer you my Unbreakable Vow, that you know that I am yours to command in the coming far and thereafter."

Her wand glowed brightly, more than any normal Lumos spell she could ever cast, as a faint aura surrounded Luna and then lightly blinked onto Harry's.

Harry cleared his throat, catching Tonks' attention. At the auror's shrug and then silent nod, Harry steppe forward and touched his hand lightly on the back of Luna's head. "Thank you. I accept your Vow and offer mine that I shall never willingly betray the trust you have offered me."

Unashamed of the tears that were falling down her face, Luna looked up into his face, her blue eyes meeting his green ones. "What do you need me to do, Harry?"

Suddenly the room seemed to lose all of the tension that had seemed to permeate the air around them. Harry looked quickly at Tonks before he smiled down at her and helped her off of her knees. "Luna… I have a few ideas…."