Harry stared at Luna in complete and utter shock. Sitting back in his chair, he ran his fingers through his already messy hair as he tried to find anything to say. Luna's smile widened as she reached out to grasp his other hand with a small laugh. "I think I've broken you Harry." Luna teased with a sweet smile as Harry shook his head and turned to stare at her with still wide eyes. "Are you being serious Luna? Is Helena really Helga Hufflepuff's daughter?" Harry asked breathlessly as Luna tilted her head and smiled. "Yes I am Harry. Helena told me everything about it all. How she found out, how she dealt with it..." She trailed off with a sad smile on her face. "she told me about how beautiful her mother was. And how she regretted telling her she hated her." Harry's brow furrowed as he asked, "Why did Helena tell her she hated her?" Luna looked at him with a 'why do you think?' look causing Harry to flush as she giggled.
Sighing, Luna smiled sadly as she stood up from her bed and walked to her cupboard, laying her hand against the wood. "She felt like Helga didn't want her Harry. Thought that Helga just wanted to be able to stay free without a child burdening her." Turning back to face Harry, she smiled and added, "But it was the exact opposite. Helena found that out when Rowena showed her some of Helga's memories. Saw how much Helga loved her, saw how much she wanted to be her mother... She did it to protect Marcellus and Helena." Pulling open the door to her cupboard, Luna reached in and pulled out four picture frames. They were roughly about the same size as her 13 inch photo frame on her bedside table and Harry watched as she cradled them almost tenderly in her arms.
Walking over to him, Luna grasped one of the paintings and handed it to Harry and smiled when he grasped it hesitantly. When he rested his eyes on the figure in the painting, Harry's eyes immediately widened with recognition. The woman in the painting looked just like Helena! There were a few obvious changes, but Helena held a rather striking resemblance with the painted woman. Glancing up at Luna, he asked quietly, "This is her? This is Helga Hufflepuff?" Luna smiled and nodded her head, laying the remaining paintings on her bed as she turned to sit down and face Harry. "Not really what you would expect is it? From what other's said, I thought Helga looked much different." Luna stated softly as she studied the painting with him. Harry couldn't help but nod in a dazed manner as he continued to stare down at the true face of Helga Hufflepuff.
Helga was a very beautiful young woman in the painting, with bright and warm deep brown eyes and smooth tanned skin. She wore a simple auburn dress which brought out her eyes and shone against her skin. Her facial features were very beautiful and she had a warm grin on her face, which suited her wild burgundy curls. Harry couldn't help but feel warm as he stared at her and smiled down at the painting. Many people spoke of how Helga had long golden hair, soft pale skin with doll like blue eyes and a serene smile. Harry had always felt that something felt missing with that version of Helga. And now that he had finally seen her in her true appearance, he could gladly say that this was what he imagined her to be.
"Very beautiful isn't she?" Luna questioned him softly as she too smiled at the painting. Glancing up from the painting, Harry couldn't help but smile slightly as he stared at Luna. "Yes. She is." He murmured as Luna looked back up at him, staring into his eyes. "Luna?" The sudden sound of Xenophilius' voice caused the two to snap out of their staring and flush as they looked away from each other. "I'll be back in a bit Harry." Luna whispered, standing up from her bed and walking over to the door. Harry watched her go out and when the door closed with a light click, he sat back in his seat and rubbed his hand against his forehead. Taking a deep breath, he sat back up and looked over at the painting's that lay on Luna's bed. Standing up from his chair, Harry placed the painting of Helena down on the bed and picked up the painting next to it.
"This must be Rowena." Harry muttered to himself as he studied the painting in his hands. Much like Helena, Rowena was very beautiful. She had short dark blond hair that reached the nape of her neck and possessed intelligent bright blue eyes. Her facial features were very beautiful as well and she had her diadem arranged elegantly on her hair, while her dress was a bright sapphire blue. She had a warm smile on her face which made her seem less austere than her statue in Ravenclaw Tower. Placing her portrait on the bed once again, Harry reached out and grasped the portrait of Salazar Slytherin. Salazar was completely different to what Harry expected. Salazar was a handsome, broad shouldered and slightly muscular young man with a wide smile on his face. His glowing green eyes were eerily similar to his and his golden hair made him seem like what most women would want in a man. He wore glowing emerald shaded robes and had a silver neckpiece around his neck.
Imagining Rowena and Salazar together was quite easy. Harry was surprised at how good the two seemed together. He would have expected the two to hate one another. Sighing, he placed Salazar's portrait down just as Luna walked back into the room with a tray in her hands. "Oh, I see you've been having a look at them." Luna exclaimed with a dreamy smile causing Harry to flush. "Yeah, sorry if I-" "It's perfectly fine Harry." Luna interrupted him with a teasing smile now on her lips. Setting the tray down on her bedside table, she gestured to it and explained what kind of food it was when Harry gave her a questioning look. "It's just some Freshwater Plimpies soup. Father was making it and wanted my help with it. We have some bread too." She reached to one of the bowls and passed it to Harry, who took it with a smile and a 'thank you'. As soon as the soup entered his mouth, Harry was overcome by the flavour. "What else did you put in?" He asked, taking another sip as Luna picked at some lint from her bedsheet. "Just some herbs. My mother grew them and we've kept them alive for her." Luna replied softly with a small smile. Harry was about to apologise when Luna laughed lightly. "You don't need to apologise for everything Harry. Its fine." She stated, letting them fall into a comfortable silence as they began to eat.
After they finished eating, Luna reached over and placed her bowl back on the tray before picking up the last portrait. "Have you looked at Godric's portrait Harry?" Luna questioned as she shuffled closer to Harry, who shook his head. "I was about to when you walked in with the food. So I haven't had a chance to." He replied as he leaned towards her as she held out the painting so they could both see it. Harry's eyes widened as he stared at his ancestor with wonder. As he had expected, Godric had fiery auburn hair but also had dark grey eyes and a smirk on his face. He was a very handsome young man and wore a warm golden robe with scarlet accents and had his sword holstered to his side. He was broad shouldered like Salazar, but possessed a more muscular frame. He also had his house emblem on the front of his robe in a bright blood red shade. "So thats what Godric Gryffindor looks like." Harry murmured as Luna passed him the portrait. Once he had finished studying it, Harry glanced up at Luna and asked hesitantly, "You don't have anything of Marcellus... Do you?"
Luna smiled and opened the drawer of her bedside table, pulled out a small hand size painting and handed it to Harry. Harry could immediately see how Helena said he looked like her father. Marcellus was a very attractive young man with shaggy pitch black hair that curled lightly at the ends and had the same eye and face shape as him. Marcellus' eyes were a different colour to his, a bright ice blue shade which Helena seemed to have inherited. He had slightly tanned skin and had a broader build compared to Harry, but he indeed looked very similar to Marcellus. "Woah." Harry whistled, placing the painting back in Luna's drawer and closed it before glancing at the blonde. "Luna, what were the Founder's like? With each other I mean." Harry questioned, causing Luna to tilt her head. "Well, Helga was best friend's with Rowena as they met as children at a ball Rowena's father had for her birthday. They met Salazar and Godric when Helga's father invited their families over for a playdate basically." Luna stated as she stood up to place the portraits back into her cupboard. "Helga ended up being engaged to Godric and Rowena to Salazar. Rowena was already in love with Salazar so she was overjoyed when their engagement was announced. Helga didn't really enjoy it that much because she viewed Godric as a brother." She added after carefully placing the portraits back in the cupboard.
"How did Marcellus and Helga-" "They met when they were kids too. I think it would be more simple if I just SHOW you Harry." Luna interrupted, her words causing Harry to pause before he turned to stare at her. "How?" Harry questioned as Luna skipped over to her cupboard once more and rummaged around in it. "Harry, you still have that pensieve right?" Luna replied, causing Harry to realise what she was meaning to do. "Luna," He began to speak slowly, his eyes becoming wide when Luna turned around with a small bottle filled with silvery strands that flowed with each other inside the glass. "You have Helga Hufflepuff's memories!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up from his seat to walk over to examine the bottle. Luna smiled at his enthusiasm as she explained how she came by them. "Helena gave them to me. She said someone would soon come to seek the truth and she wanted me to be prepared."
"I still have the Pensieve." Harry replied, answering Luna's question from earlier causing the girl to smile. "Shall we got to view the memories then?" She asked, walking to her bedroom door to shout out, "PAPA, I'M GOING OUT WITH HARRY!" Causing her father to reply, "FOR HOW LONG?" "A WHILE." "ALRIGHT, JUST BE BACK HOME SOON AT LEAST." Luna then closed her door and dashed to her cupboard and pulled out her wooly jersey. Pulling it on, Luna grasped Harry's hand and looked up at him before giving a nod in permission. Closing his eyes, Harry willed his magic around him and Luna before thinking of Grimmauld Place. Feeling the magic suck him out of Luna's room, Harry grit his teeth when his feet touched the ground of the living room. However, when he couldn't feel Luna's hand in his, Harry couldn't help but fear the worst. Making sure he could stand, Harry turned to Luna and was about to ask her if she was ok when he saw her walking out of the room. "Luna!" He called out in surprise, rushing after her in a worried manner. "Are you hurt, did you get splinched?" He practically shouted, turning her around and grasping her shoulder's as he checked her. Luna burst into laughter at his behaviour, the sudden noise snapping Harry out of it.
"Harry, I'm perfectly fine." Luna reassured him with a warm smile on her face, causing Harry to flush in embarrassment. "O-Oh, ok..." He replied scratching the back of his neck in a nervous manner. Luna smile grew wider as she turned away and studied the new appearance of the once gloomy house. "Harry, you did a splendid job on keeping the wrackspurts out. I'm sure it has something to do with the new wallpaper." Luna stated in her normal dreamy manner, causing Harry to chuckle lightly. "I'm sure it does." He replied, walking to stand beside her. Turning to stare down at her, Harry smiled and added, "Shall we go to the Pensieve now?" Causing Luna to nod as she continued to stare at the warm green wallpaper. Rolling his eyes with a good natured smile, Harry grabbed Luna's arm gently and led her up the stairs, chuckling occasionally at her comments about wrackspurts and his wallpaper.
Once they reached the study, Harry walked over to the doors concealing the Pensieve and slid them open. The basin quickly floated upwards and into the middle of the room. Glancing at Luna who had the bottle of memory strands in her hand, Harry nodded his consent and Luna gently unplugged the lid and lightly tilted the bottle. The memories flowed out in a thin trickle of liquid into the water below. Luna and Harry stared in awe as the water became stained a bright, warm orange when the memories dripped into the water. Looking at each other, they both took a deep breath before plunging their faces into the water. Blinking their eyes open, Harry and Luna stared around themselves in awe as they found themselves surrounded by a small and beautiful clearing beside a river bank. "Wow..." Harry whispered in awe as Luna pressed her hand against the tree beside her. Suddenly, a bout of bright giggles rang out in the formerly quiet area, causing Harry and Luna to jump slightly.
Turning his head in surprise, Harry's eyes widened as they landed on two small figures running towards them. "Come on Rowena, don't be so slow!" The first figure shouted, as she became clearer to Harry and Luna. Harry gaped as Helga Hufflepuff ran past him, her burgundy hair messily tied in a braid and flowing behind her as she sprinted barefoot across the grass. Harry couldn't help but notice the slight accent twisting Helga's words as she glanced back and grinned at the panting girl behind her. Recognising the other girl as a younger Rowena Ravenclaw, Harry stepped out of the way as she shouted back, "Helga, you're going too fast again!" Her short dark blonde hair flying about her face as she clutched a book in her arms. Luna and Harry watched them continue to run before collapsing beside the river bank, before turning to look at each other. They had done it.
WOW! :D Two chapter's in one day! xD I feel so proud of myself haha.
The next chapter may not be as long as this one, but I will try to make them long.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^_^
Please R&R
Chiyuki5023