Disclaimer

I don't own HP ;.;

Chapter Two

'Bound at every limb by my shackles of fear

Sealed with lies through so many tears

Lost from within, pursuing the end

I fight for the chance to be lied to again.'

'Lies' by Evanescence

For once she just needed to be late, for his sake. Of course, that wouldn't happen anytime in the near future. At exactly ten-o-clock a.m. Luna Anne Lovegood walked in the door of a quaint muggle coffee shop just off Central Avenue. She checked her watch just to be sure, gave a bright smile, and made a b-line straight towards the table where Harry Potter sat sipping a double shot.

"That'll stunt your growth, you know?" She situated herself in the seat across from him, gently smiling. He merely offered a grunt in return, continuing to sip slowly at his coffee. "What is that, anyway? How much caffeine?"

"Double shot, and I dunno." She had changed, immensely. She still believed in many crazy things, she still held a 'loony' reputation. It was in her eyes. That had to be it. She had always had that unnerving knack for seeing the truth for what it was and pointing it out. She had always had a very studious gaze, but now, as he sat staring intently into her bright blue orbs, he felt as if he was being examined, inside and out.

She had changed in the way she presented herself. She almost resembled a professor, dressed curtly but not enough to take away from her natural beauty, stiff yet carefree enough to show her true spirit. In a way, that's what he had expected of her ever since he had first met her, but to see it now, it just seemed so wrong. Was this truly Luna?

He found himself wondering just what she had done with her life. After leaving Hogwarts, Luna had quite literally disappeared. True, he had received a letter, but he had seen neither hide nor hair of her since attending her graduation. Perhaps she had taken some undercover position with the Aurors, she did seem to have amazing insight into his affairs.

Seeing her at the crime seen of the late Mr. Gregor had been both thrilling and disappointing for Harry. This was one of the largest investigations since Voldemort's reign, and she had skipped in and snatched it right out of his hands. He was excited to have seen her for the first time in the past year, yes, but did she have to take his case?

But had he really been that happy to see her?

He had a well-established life after graduating. So sitting around and doing nothing wasn't quite enough for him, no matter. He had settled nicely into the routines and quirks of being an Auror. He had a welcoming ground floor apartment just south of the local train stations. The quiet rumbling of passing trains would ease him into sleep each night.

He hadn't slept last night, not after seeing Luna at least. The entire night he was up tossing and turning, trying to figure out why the hell she had taken the case. He'd never heard of such a service as secret Aurors. He did a background check on both victims and found no relations tying them to Luna. Hell, he even background checked Luna.

Of course, that's where the trouble lay. Luna's background check was flawless as ever. Apparently she had taken a job overseas as a naturalist. Her business lay in Sweden on a search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack that was, so far, fruitless.

It explained her seeming disappearance, her detachment, and it even seemed a very 'Luna' thing to do, but it didn't explain her involvement in the case. That's why he had called this meeting with her. He would get to the bottom of this, even if having coffee with Loony Luna Lovegood and discussing Two-Toothed Trouble Trampers was what it took.

"Shall we make small talk?" He grinned playfully as she raised an eyebrow at him. It wasn't until she had perused her menu for ten minutes and finally ordered plain, black coffee that she spoke up.

"Lovely weather?" A small giggle escaped her. This would be fun.

"Quite. Although, I think it's going to rain." She glanced out the window at the brightly shining sun. Not a cloud in sight. "It's possible. What do you think?"

"I think it already is." She shot another glance his way as the waitress came with the coffee. He had an almost smug grin on his face. She knew he hadn't called her here for just small talk, but he didn't seem to want to be outright about it. It was against her nature, but his game was to fun to pass up.

"Oh? How bad?" That was a little more blunt. More to her liking.

"You decide." They exchanged sad glances. It was no secret that whatever was going on with the latest two murders didn't bode well for anyone. When even the finest of medics at St. Mungo's couldn't find out what exactly had caused these deaths, people knew something was seriously wrong.

Of course, the ministry was doing everything within their power to keep the nature of the deaths quiet. However, as with all truly serious happenings, the public could get the general gist of the situation. There was not a single person within the ministry, or even the public for that matter, which had any clue what was going on. Harry had the sinking feeling that perhaps Luna did.

"Why were you there yesterday, Luna?" He put his cup down perhaps a little to hard on the table, openly glaring at his teatime companion.

"Come now, you're cheating!" She was laughing. She was actually laughing when he was being completely serious.

"Luna! I'm not kidding. I need to know. Why were you at my crime scene yesterday?"

"A bit possessive are we? I could very well ask how it's your crime scene, Mr. Potter." There she went again. She had never since he'd known her called him Mr. Potter. Why did she feel it so necessary now? It was almost as if he could visibly see her click over from a friend to a professional.

"You know what I meant."

"In these times, Harry, I can't assume anything, even if you're a friend." She gazed sadly at him through foggy blue eyes. Harry merely nodded and resumed with his coffee. A silence pregnant with understanding and muddled thoughts fell between them then. They had both thought that the days of wondering which of their family would be dead the next day were over.

Harry's thoughts consisted mostly of Luna. He could tell she was bothered. He could tell she wasn't going to release any information voluntarily, and there was no way he would force it out. Just from her eyes he could convey something was terribly amiss. How she knew about it almost seemed irrelevant now. Of course, he would find out in due time, but for now he could settle for understanding her silence. He could find out by gaining her trust.

Luna's thoughts consisted mostly of mistakes that didn't have to have been made. The guilt she felt would never fade, never, and she knew that. This conversation wouldn't be happening if she had let things be. Sure, she had wanted to see Harry, but she hadn't wanted people to die in the process.

-;-'

"You really need to calm down." Brayden Charmicle tried to calm the infuriated Harry Potter down whilst trying to avoid being hit with flying paperweights. Upon entering his office after his little tea party with Ms. Lovegood, he had seemingly flown into a rage.

"Calm down? Don't tell me to calm down!" He threw a pink, sand-filled weight at the nearest wall, watching it shatter upon impact. "Something is really wrong here, Brayden, and she won't tell me what the hell it is?"

"It can't be that serious." At this Harry stopped, aiming his livid gaze at his partner. "They assigned that loon to the case."

"That's just it!" He collapsed into his office chair, stretching his aching legs as it rolled back a few feet, massaging his temples with his fingers. "What the hell does Luna Lovegood have with this case? She's not an Auror. Hell, according to her records, she's a naturalist is Sweden."

"Maybe they feel an animal is behind the deaths?" Sometimes Harry seriously thought the ministry had purposefully chosen the dumbest person to pair him with.

"There would have been marks of some kind." He leaned his head back on the black cushion of his chair. "I can tell you this right now, if she really was looking for a Two-Toothed whatever, she wouldn't have burnt the house to the ground."

"Maybe they mate in fire." Brayden found himself incapable of dodging the flying paperweight that came hurtling at his head.

"Speaking of that fire, did you find anything?" Harry looked over at his partner, laughing lightly as the man massaged a very bright red spot mid forehead.

"No, nothing." Harry played idly with the scattered papers all over his desk. She had really made it difficult for him. "Oh! I forgot to tell you. The note that was found at the scene, the one that we took back to the ministry, it's gone." Brayden once again found himself dodging a flying object, but he felt less inclined to be hit with a laptop than a paperweight.

-;-'

She was right on time. Ten-o-clock p.m. rolled on and Luna was sitting in Harry's destroyed office, tense and shaky, looking close to tears. When Harry walked into his office ten minutes late he felt all feelings of anger fade away when he saw her. Something really was wrong.

"A rose is an interesting thing, Harry." She looked up at him; eyes glazed over with unshed tears. "It can seem flawless, beautiful, but you have to go through an entire bush full of thorns before you can reach it. Some roses, Harry, have more thorns than others."

"What's going on, Luna?" He hated it when anyone skirted around the subject.

"Sometimes, you spend years trying to pick through the thorns of a rose, knowing that what you will find at the end is as beautiful as any of the others." She stood from his black office chair, walking across the room to grab his hand tentatively, as if at any second he would rip it from her. "You spend all these years looking for it, and in the end it's ugly, deformed."

"Luna, tell me what happened." He squeezed her hand gently, wiping the tears that were slowly beginning to leak down her face.

"I made a mistake, Harry." He could see the Remorse in her eyes, the Fear, the Guilt.

"What did you do?" He narrowed his eyes, gazing purposefully through the windows that were once her eyes.

"Ron is dead."

- - - -

A/N-

Those Two-Toothed Trouble Trampers can be vicious. They tend to sneak into your bedroom at around midnight and eat any possible ideas you have for the next chapter of your story.

They're pretty good at eating homework, too.

Anywho, I love reviews, really I do. Even if you don't like it, it would be nice to know where I can improve. Constructive criticism is muchly appreciated.