AN: If a tree falls down in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does anyone care?
The common room was unnecessarily large. So large, in fact, Harry almost considered allowing Thana to come live there, but that was quickly dismissed when he considered the waste problems and the fact that they were a few stories up from the floor. Besides, Harry could still visit Thana, as well as Norberta, in the Forbidden Forest. Luna would enjoy that.
The fireplace on the right wall had a fire going and was decorated with the Ravenclaw colors. In front of the fire was a small couch that Vernon would have called a loveseat. There was an identical one facing the opposite direction behind it. In front of that couch was a table and on the other side of that table was a big couch. Across from the table from Harry's perspective, there was a big table with chairs. Harry guessed this was a table they could use for eating and doing work. On the other side of the room was a hallway that had three doors at the end. The ones on the left and right led to bedrooms and the one down the middle led to a bathroom. The bathroom had a sink, shower, and toilet. Luna spoke in an airy voice
"Well, this is cozy. I wonder what the other common rooms look like." They found their things on the couch next to the fire place.
"I'm going to put my things in my room."
"Okay, Harry." Luna said, doing the same. They walked down the hall, and then felt something when they parted ways into their rooms.
"Do you feel that, Luna?"
"The prickling in your fingers and toes? The anxiety?"
"Yes."
"That's one of the symptoms of the bond settling. The further apart we are from each other, the worse it gets. Do you think you could go to sleep feeling it?"
"No."
"Well come out here, then." Luna said, walking back to the common room. Harry found her on the loveseat across from the fire. She patted the seat and he sat. Luna held his hand and he held hers back. Something had changed about her appearance, and Harry looked at her.
"Whoa, you're-"
"Beautiful? Yes, I just let my veela aura loose. I've been holding it in for the whole day because I didn't want you to recognize me as veela." This made Harry pause. Then he said, gripping her hand a little tighter
"Why would you want to hide that from me?"
"For the same reason you wanted to hide being a werewolf. I feared you would reject me."
"Well, I would never reject you. Of all of the people to choose me, you happened to be the most like me. To reject you would be like rejecting me." She blushed at this, laughing a little as she did.
"I'm glad you think that way. So, you're a werewolf, huh? Any other strange things I would want to know about you?"
"Well, it would take a while to explain."
"Explain what?"
"OK, let's begin. My first year here I made a class that I taught in the Room of Requirement. Its main focuses were dueling and protective Unaided Magic. I held a separate class for only me, Hermione, and Neville, which explored all of the ways Unaided Magic could be used, effectively making us the most dangerous students in school, possibly the most dangerous people. Hermione took these classes over for me because I had acquired a Mother's Love Bond with a Norwegian Ridgeback called Norberta after seeing her hatch. This bond also pulls me to spend time with her-"
"Wait, what?"
"Do not worry. She is in the Forbidden Forest. There are no people around."
"That's not what I'm asking about. How did you get a Norwegian Ridgeback?"
"Someone used it to convince Hagrid to tell him how to steal the sorcerer's stone. Hagrid let me watch it hatch because I shared his enthusiasm for dangerous creatures. My training in soul bonds acted as a catalyst for the bond that followed."
"You sure had a busy year last year."
"You have no idea. Anyway, I share simpler bonds with most of the other creatures I've come in contact with, including an entire acromantula colony, most of the people I taught at this school, Hagrid, My pet snake, that bony flying horse that drew the carriage I rode to the castle-"
"That's called a thestral. Only people who have seen death can see them."
"That explains why no one else can see them."
"Except for me, Harry." Harry grew silent at this, then said,
"Who did you see die?" The bonds around them grew faster now.
"My mother. She liked to experiment with spells and one day one of them went terribly wrong." Harry felt sorry for her. He said quietly,
"I'm sorry, Luna." She squeezed his hand, saying,
"There is no reason to be sorry, but I appreciate it." The bonds around them were practically flying at this point, and all they did is remain silent and stare at the fire, thinking about what was said. Harry could feel Norberta's sorrow for Luna as well as his own. The night grew old and they grew very tired. Harry fell asleep first, slumping on the arm of the loveseat. Luna fell asleep leaning on Harry only moments later.
-oOoOo-
Luna woke up to Harry's night terror. He was still stuck in the dream, but he was thrashing and yelling at the top of his lungs. Luna was thrown off the loveseat and woke up falling. It took a few seconds to realize what exactly was happening, but Luna successfully shook Harry awake.
"Harry! Harry! Wake up, Harry!" She yelled at him, shaking him, yet was calm the entire time. He woke up quickly, and calmed after a few minutes of shivering and quiet. After those minutes, Harry said in a tired, regretful voice, head in his hands as he lay on the loveseat in the fetal position,
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that, Luna."
"Why did that happen?" She said, angry and calm at the same time, though not angry at him. Harry could see flames play on her hand. He sat up and tried to explain calmly,
"It's one of the small conditions of a Mother's Love Bond. Every couple days or so, I get a night terror that I've never encountered before. It involves Norberta being harmed. I haven't bothered to get rid of it, because I've found a way to forget everything that had happened after I wake. Now I suppose that it needs to change, since I'll probably be waking you up that way a lot if I don't. I think the Room of Requirement could help me with that. However, we need to do that later; right now we need to go to Norberta."
"I'm sorry that you go through that, Harry."
"It's no problem. Do you want to see a dragon?" Her eyes widened, if that were possible,
"Yes, but we should eat first." At the word 'eat', several plates, two of them empty, appeared on the big table that Harry had thought was for work. Many of them were desserts. Luna seemed glad at this, eating much of the sweets after finishing her main course. The bond seemed to be giving her a sweet tooth. Or maybe she always had one. Her veela aura was practically glowing and she looked better than last night. Did that have something to do with the bond, or perhaps the sweets? Maybe both.
Set aside for Harry were two big, bloody steaks. They were warm, but not hot, as if whoever prepared the food only recently cut it off of an animal and then just sent it to him. Harry didn't eat any of the sweets or veggies because they seemed to give him indigestion. So did wheat, which cut the toast and desserts off of his diet too. So, Harry ate the steak, which he basically inhaled because of how good it tasted.
"I wonder how they make this steak." Harry asked.
"They probably just cut it off of the cow and give it to you as-is. Does it taste good?"
"Very." He said between bites. "Do you like your dessert?"
"Yes. I haven't tasted some of these." She ate leisurely, choosing her deserts carefully and calmly, a constant smile on her face. Harry, however, ate like his meal would run away if he didn't eat fast enough. An instinct that had probably bled through from the beast within. Stopping briefly to breathe, Harry said,
"You look more beautiful than last night, which is saying something. Why is that?"
"It gets stronger with the bond." She said simply, eating a unique-looking chocolate muffin. "Mmmm. You need to try this."
"Sorry. Every time I try to eat anything that isn't meat, I get really bad indigestion."
"It's your loss." She said calmly, finishing off her muffin and grabbing another sweet that he wasn't able to identify. They ate close together and didn't seem to be bothered by the eating noises or the mess that resulted, although most of it was caused by Harry. Luna, rather than being disgusted, smiled like she was watching a child do something rather amusing. After the meal, Harry cleaned up all of the mess, which wasn't hard at all. All he had to do is say,
"Looks like we're done." and the mess disappeared with the leftovers and dishes.
-oOoOo-
They went down to the Forbidden Forest after that, visiting Norberta and Thana. Luna liked them, and apparently shared Harry's liking for dangerous creatures. They found the Thestrals that had pulled the carriages. Harry, remembering Ollivander's request, bonded with them and asked the leader of the herd for a tail hair. The thestral freely gave it and Harry put it into a plastic bag labeled; Thestral Hair, Freely Given. When Luna found out about the request, she gave him one of her hairs. So, now he had a Thestral tail hair and a veela hair, both freely given.
Harry and Luna later went to the Room of Requirement, which generated a book that was called, How to Guard Your Mind from Night Terrors, by RoR. It was all written in green ink, something that seemed to only happen when the room itself writes in the books. Harry noticed that some books, though not entirely written by the room, say, in green ink, co-authored by RoR. In these books, there are sections that could be the length of some lines to the length of several chapters, all written in green ink. These sections had knowledge that Harry and Luna had never heard of and provided insight on something that they would have otherwise completely missed. Harry wondered if it could cure his being a werewolf. They tried it, but the room gave him nothing. Just an empty room. Oh, well.
The bond only took about three days to settle, so Harry and Luna were back at classes. The prickling sensation didn't occur at the exact moment they left each other. Now it only took a couple of hours, so they could sit separately in classes but needed to hold hands in between classes.
Their first notable class was with Gilderoy Lockhart himself. He was dressed in all black and reminded him of Snape. His hair was cut military-short and he had little body fat. He didn't smile, and he eyed everyone in the room as if they were going to try to attack him. Despite this, all of the windows were open to let in the sunshine and outside air. The room was dead silent and when he spoke, the tension in the room increased.
"Who here has ever encountered an agent of the dark arts?"
Harry was the only one to raise his hand.
"Come here, please." Lockhart said with a slight scowl. He seemed disappointed that he only had one. Harry approached quickly. When he got there Lockhart asked, "What did the agent look like?"
"Professor Quirrell, sir."
"Yes and how did he act?"
"Like a coward. He would jump at the smallest sounds and was scared of everyone."
"Did you ever suspect him?"
"No."
"Exactly. Go sit back down." He said. His frown deepened and his eyebrows scrunched together. He began pacing. "You will never expect it. You cannot avoid it. You will always encounter it. Agents of the dark arts are all around us. I am one such agent."
Everyone in the room except Harry and Luna gasped. Dumbledore invited this man into the castle?
"But do not worry. I am not alone here. You are one," at this he pointed at a seemingly random person in the second row, "and you are one," another random person, last row this time. "And even you, Harry Potter." He said, pointing right at Harry. "Tell me, Harry, what is the one thing that separates those that are good and those that are evil?"
"Hate, I believe."
"Wrong. It is love. Hate is simply the absence of love, and not a thing itself. Love cannot be entirely defined, but we know that it is characterized by empathy and understanding. One time, I was able to understand my enemy in all of his feelings and ways. The very moment I felt this, I loved him. I knew exactly how to destroy him. I knew every one of his weaknesses. However, I could not bring myself to destroy him because I knew not only the rational reasons as to why he did what he did, but I could feel exactly why he did what he did for me. The only thing I could do is prevent him from ever harming others again. I did this by showing him love."
"Wait, if hate is an absence, then how come we can feel it?" Asked Hermione, who briefly received a deadly look from the professor.
"Because we are all, by nature, loving. It is our natural social tactic to love. As children, we are full of love, exploring and discovering new frontiers. Appreciating beauty, gathering memories. However, as we age, that love starts to fade. Pictures become paintings on canvas rather than a window into a person's soul, and then they just become images. Animals become mindless machines rather than lively works of beauty, and then they just become items for sale. When that happens, when the love fades away and you stop caring about the people around you and you stop seeing the beauty for what it is, you take your first step into becoming an agent of the dark arts."
At this point, many people felt skeptical, but none dared interrupt. He continued, "We are all beginning to become such agents. All of us are beginning to lose our love of the world around us and those with us. The only two people who I would think would be the last ones in here to be corrupted are Harry and Luna, there. Can anyone tell me why?"
A boy Harry didn't recognize raised his quivering hand in the air. He was picked, "Um, is it because they are boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"No. Such relationships may steadily grow one's appreciation for beauty, but one bad break-up is sometimes enough to make life seem empty of all of the beauty one once saw before. Any other takers? Hermione, give someone else a shot. Yes, Harry?"
"Luna and I share a powerful Soul Bond."
"And what, exactly are the properties of said bond?"
"We can share feeling, thought, and memory with each other, we are within each other's minds constantly. Sometimes I can't even feel a difference between me and her, but that's only when we are just sitting there and sharing thoughts, not really focusing on anything."
"Yes, good, Harry. How do you feel when you consider leaving Luna?"
"I haven't yet, sir."
"Excellent! Now try to."
"I don't want to sir."
"How did you feel when I asked you to do that?"
"Disgusted, sir. I hate the idea, sir."
"Why?"
"Because to consider leaving her is like considering whether I should cut off a limb, except this limb is much more beautiful than the rest of my body. She makes up the best part of me, and I could never imagine leaving her. If I were to leave her, sir, I would live a cursed life. A half-life. A life empty of Joy, Peace, and Love."
"But, my dear boy, you have only been with her for three days! You can't seriously expect me to believe that you will spend your life with her until one of you die!"
"This is where you need to understand the magnitude of a Soul Bond, professor. With a Soul Bond, we are able to completely appreciate the unique beauty that the other holds, and are able to understand the other better than we understand ourselves. This prevents anything coming between us and corrupting the relationship while simultaneously making this relationship as rewarding as possible. Where other relationships fail with communication and other things, Soul Bonds prevail. That is why it took me only three days to know that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Luna." Several witches in the room looked envious of Luna. Luna was simply beaming. The blue bonds between Harry and Luna grew thicker and denser at an extreme rate.
"Exactly. Soul Bonds prevail where simple communication cannot. It tears down the brick walls we build around our hearts and joins us with another living thing to completely know the beauty of that thing. Now, Harry, I am aware that you have taught many here about Unaided Magic. Have you taught them about Soul Magic?"
"Not very much, sir. I mostly focused on combat."
"Oh, this can be used for combat as well, Harry. Anyway, I am now going to teach the class Soul Magic. Everyone stand up and move to the wall on your right." Everyone did, and Lockhart waved his wand, causing all of the desks to stack along the opposite wall. Then he said, "Good. Form a line along that wall you're standing at." Everyone did as they were told. "Now, I am going to give each of you an animal that I have enchanted with a waste-clearing charm. This animal will be chosen based on your personality. Your job is to take care of it. If you neglect it, another enchantment I've put on them will return it to me. If you do not neglect it, you get to keep it. But, you have to feed it, spend time with it, and grow a bond between you two. Harry, what ways do you know of to form a simple bond between you and an animal or friend?"
"Umm….just spend time with it and show it appreciation. Basically, be something to it and a bond will form to match what the relationship is."
"Yes, that is the common way, but I have found a way to start a bond that makes forming a strong bond much easier to do. When you get your animal, get out your wands and point it at your animal, saying the words; Eder Jakitea." [pronounced eeder jack-eet-ae-uh]
Harry got an astoundingly beautiful pure white wolf, which he called Asmund, while Luna got a young boa constrictor, who she called Cuddles. Harry and the wolf began bonding immediately, the bonds growing thick within minutes. Luna grew a bond as well, but it didn't get thick as fast as Harry's did. It did, however, become much more powerful than everyone else's bond. No one else, not even Hermione, was able to form a bond very much stronger than what Lockhart's spell had allowed, although a few of the women in the class did grow theirs a little. Lockhart spoke again.
"Now, as you are the last class today, I will say this. Your progression was better than Slytherin. For some reason, only one or two of them were able to successfully make their bond grow larger. Gryffindor wasn't much better, sporting only three or four. This class did better than I had expected, considering that it contains about seven kids who have made their bond grow. Hufflepuff outstripped you all, having all but one student make their bond grow, quite a few of them being almost as powerful as the one's that Harry and Luna are developing with theirs. It seems that there is a link between Soul Bonds and loyalty. Also, as there are many more females than males making these bonds, it seems that their socially open nature helps them appreciate another living thing, while the male tactic of being closed-off and 'tough' seems to weaken their ability to bond, and, by extension, weakens themselves. In growing these bonds, you must return to when you were young and life was full of wonder and mystery and beauty. You must feel this way with your animal and only your animal. For your animal, there must be a passion that you feel for nothing else. Now, this assignment will be the final for this section. As soon as you are all able to form a system of communication between you and your animal, we will be exploring using these animals as a form of attack or defense on various fields."
One woman, who was holding a guinea pig, asked, "How can my pet attack or defend?"
Lockhart said, "Bonds allow a mind to become more powerful than the original complexity that a brain allows, yet the self remains as two people. Because of this, your guinea pig will gain your intelligence, yet will be able to act as a separate entity. You can use this to your advantage by training your Bondmate to defend your mind while you cast spells in battle, and since the bond, when powerful enough, isn't affected by distance, you could be in another country fighting death eaters and your Bondmate will be able to independently set barriers around your mind or attack the minds of your enemies without risking his or her health. I have used this technique and have discovered it to be highly effective, as your enemy is incapable of fighting a dueling war on two fronts. Now, in the meantime we are going to be exploring dueling itself. I will be teaching you a few spells and techniques next class and will probably be able to squeeze a duel in there. I will be making a club for the same purpose. Harry, you up for a duel?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. You will be against me. Maybe we can fit in another dueling couple later. For now, class dismissed."
-oOoOo-
The next day was as he had said. Lockhart taught them a few simple blocking spells and then, near the end of class, said,
"You can all do those spells, then? Good. Harry, stand up and move to the front of the classroom, everyone else move to the back." He waved his wand when his orders were followed and all of the desks and chairs moved to the walls, giving them quite a large amount of room to work in. They readied their wands, bowed to each other, and then assumed the positions they wished to fight in.
Lockhart spoke first, "We are only to disarm. Do you understand?"
"Yes professor."
"Good. 3...2...1...go."
Lockhart and Harry both fired their spells, both of them were offensive. Harry caught Lockhart's with a spell siphon while Lockhart dodged Harry's and fired another spell, which Harry got with the siphon again and it collapsed, giving off a bright flash of light. Lockhart was stunned only for a moment but the moment was enough, as Harry disarmed him with his 'Expelliarmus.'
"Good, Harry, good. Now things will get a little harder. Again. 3...2…
Lockhart started on '2' and silently fired a spell, barely twitching his wand. Harry ducked, barely dodging it. Suddenly, Harry felt a pressure around his mind, and it was prying violently. Lockhart fired another spell directly at Harry's chest. Harry siphoned it off and began rooting so that he could siphon off more. He sensed the pressure release from his mind as Norberta and Asmund helped fight back the intruder. Lockhart's eye twitched as he fired off three spells in quick succession, all of which Harry siphoned and retaliated with another 'Expelliarmus', which Lockhart attempted to block with 'protego', but the spell had too much strength behind it. The ward shattered and threw Lockhart back, effectively disarming him.
There was a round of applause. Lockhart got back up and said, "I had underestimated you, Harry. You're doing very well at this for someone as young as you. Now, I will not be holding back. Again. 3…"
He began on '3' this time, firing a spell that split to attack him at both sides, preventing him from siphoning them both. Harry assumed his shadow form, allowing the spells to pass right through him and collide in a flash of light that forced him back into his regular form. When he entered his regular form, Lockhart had already fired three spells aimed at different parts of Harry and was now attacking his mind again. Norberta and Asmund both did their duty, now giving it their all. Harry blocked all three spells with one 'protego' and it shattered. It would have thrown Harry back if he hadn't put air pressure behind the ward. Because of the extra pressure, the shock wave went forward instead. Lockhart neutralized it with a lazy flick of his wand, smiling as he did so.
"You'll have to try harder than that, Harry." He said in a nonchalant tone as he launched a silent spell at him again, which Harry blocked with his patronus aura. Harry figured that fighting him on his own terms was useless. He put his wand back in its holster and simply radiated calm feelings in waves of the brightest light. He floated and grew a sphere of protective light around him, maximizing his shielding. Lockhart was now launching many spells at him, which Harry ignored, sending out waves of calm and submissive feelings so powerful that he could see them. The pressure on his mind returned as Lockhart could now focus entirely on attacking with his mind, but Harry's thoughts became blank and he felt Lockhart being affected by the waves he was sending out. Everyone was being affected. Everyone around Harry stopped caring about much of anything and just wanted to go to sleep. Eventually a few did. Lockhart stopped attacking Harry, succumbing to the peace Harry gave off. This was eventually mixed in with joy as Harry's thoughts awoke and turned to Norberta and Luna. Those who felt these waves began to feel the urge to cry in happiness. It slowly faded and Harry slowly settled back onto the ground. Lockhart holstered his wand, tears threatening to leave his eyes.
As he wiped his eyes, Lockhart said in a tired voice, "That….That was good, Harry. I wonder what Voldemort would go through if he felt that."
"He already has. He turned to dust when the single wave I launched hit him. I don't think he's going to make the same mistake again."
-oOoOo-
The days passed to the weekend and Harry decided to wake early. He had finally made a full recovery from the last full moon and he guessed he was up this early because all of the energy that his sickness had prevented him from using to rest was now ready to be dispensed. Harry walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Luna and Hermione. Ron and Neville met them there following the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and sat with them below the area where they would play. Harry, having not seen Ron for the better part of half a year, asked him questions about his summer.
As it turned out, the reason why he wasn't on the train to Hogwarts was because the doorway from King's Cross station to the Hogwarts Express station had closed on him after the rest of his family went through. He then told Harry a crazy story about how he had taken his parent's enchanted Ford Anglia and flew it to Hogwarts, effectively causing the biggest infraction of the international statute of secrecy of three decades. He also told Harry that he broke his wand by crashing the car into the Whomping Willow, which then proceeded to smash the crap out of the car that landed on it. Harry grabbed onto this detail, asking if it had very many long, straight sticks that grew off of it. Ron affirmed this, saying that he had, however, caused significant damage to it. Harry had to visit that tree, bond with it, and then figure out some way to tell it to give him one of its sticks, so that he had some wood for Ollivander to make him a new wand.
A few moments later, Harry noticed the Slytherin Quidditch team entering the field. Harry and company, as well as the Gryffindor Quidditch team, went to them. Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, was very angry about it, talking about how they had booked the field. Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, gave Wood a note from Snape about training a new seeker. Wood asked,
"Who's your new seeker?" Malfoy stepped up, brandishing a new broom. All of them did. Wood continued, pale now, "Are those nimbus two thousand and ones?"
Malfoy spoke, "Yep. It's a brand new gift from my father." He held himself like he was already the greatest seeker of the age. Hermione spoke,
"Wow, bribing your way into Quidditch? And I thought you had some integrity, Malfoy."
"No one asked you, you filthy little Mudblood!" Malfoy spat. At that moment, Harry knew two things. Not only did Malfoy just insult Hermione in front of all of her friends, but Ron was going to curse Malfoy with a broken wand to defend her. Ron raised his wand and shouted,
"Eat sl-!"
Pushing Ron's wand down, Harry gave him a look that said, 'not a good idea' and then began speaking to Malfoy,
"I assume that you called her that because you are pureblood and she's Muggleborn?"
Malfoy stopped for a second, taken that Harry was the only one besides Hermione and Luna that looked calm, "Um, yes."
"I assume that what you just called her is an insult?"
"Yes. I thought that was obvious." A few of his friends laughed a little.
"Do you think you are a better sorcerer than Hermione?"
He paused, and then said, "Yes." With some degree of uncertainty.
"Then a little duel between you two shouldn't be a problem, right? Or are you a coward that can't deal with a Mudblood?" Everyone looked at Harry, Malfoy, and Hermione with curiosity, many of them probably thinking, 'you gonna take that, Malfoy?'
After a few moments' hesitation, "I'll duel," said Malfoy, looking nervous. He drew his wand and so did Hermione. Harry said,
"This is to be a fair game. If I catch any of you cheating, those watching are to take it that the cheater finds themselves incapable of defeating his or her opponent fairly, and the opponent officially wins. The aim of this duel is to disarm and all spells used will only be capable of disarming. If your opponent is hurt by a spell that you cast, I will personally and severely punish the individual that cast the harmful spell. The game begins on my go. 3….2….1….go."
Malfoy, as expected by Harry, Ron, and Neville, was creamed. Harry had personally taught the three of them dueling techniques, and Hermione surpassed even Harry's skill. Draco cast the first spell, a tickling curse, and Hermione lazily waved her wand and said, 'Protego', cancelling the curse and answering with her own, 'Expelliarmus.' As Malfoy was about to cast his next. His wand flew out of his hand and Hermione caught it with a small, calm grin on her face. All in all, the match took about three seconds. It seems that Harry's classes were doing some good.
Harry spoke in a calm and honest tone, "Wow. It seems that ancestry isn't everything, Malfoy." They gave back his wand and left Malfoy without allowing a retort from him. Slytherin did their practice, of course, they still had a year of Quidditch to get through, but Malfoy looked a little in need of motivation throughout the day. Harry went to the Whomping Willow and tried to bond with it. Surprisingly, it was slow-going. By the end of the hour, Harry had a strong enough bond with it to tell it to give him a wide and strong stick. Although the sticks all bent fairly easily when connected to the whole tree, they grew very straight, rigid, and durable when they fell off of the tree, making perfect wood for a new wand. Harry put it in a plastic bag labeled, "Whomping Willow Wood."
-oOoOo-
A few months later, on Halloween, Harry and Luna were sitting and eating together when Harry began hearing a rather disturbing whispering sound.
"...Kill…." This made Harry listen, but it slowly faded away. He got up and ran out of the common room. "...rip…..tear….kill….". How strange it sounded. It was coming from his left. He began running and heard Luna say,
"Harry? Where are you going, Harry?"
"Something's going to kill! I hear it!"
"Hear what?" She said, following him. They were racing along several corridors, getting lower in the building, following the direction of the voice Harry heard.
"A voice it's-"
"...Kill!...Kill!..." He was getting close now. Just around another corner or two. Seconds passed by and he ran into water. Something banged in the distance. Harry ran, followed by Luna, into the hallway. At first it looked empty, then Harry recognized Filches cat hanging by its tail on a torch bracket. Above it were words written in blood.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN
OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"Oh," said Luna. "I wonder why there's water on the ground." She began wandering off, following the water. In the distance, Harry could hear a crowd coming from both directions in the hallway. The Halloween feast has just been finished, and now there was no way they were getting out. At least, there was no way Harry was getting out. When Harry tried to look back at Luna to ask her a question, she was gone.
"Luna?" That's when Harry saw a door. He went in and found a girl's bathroom, which was flooded with water, and found Luna. "Why did you go in here?"
"The water came from here, Harry."
"Did it? How do you know?"
"It's where the trail ends. It goes right into this bathroom."
"Hmm. What is the chamber of secrets, anyway?"
"A chamber that no one knows where the entrance is and only the heir of Salazar Slytherin can open."
"Ok, what do we know of that only Slytherin could do that his sons and daughters could do as well?"
"Well, he could speak parseltongue."
"And so can I."
"Yes."
"Am I the heir of Salazar Slytherin?"
"Probably. Who knows? But I know that there is at least one other heir in the school." Then they heard through the door.
"Enemies of the heir, beware? You're next Mudblood!" It was Malfoy's voice
Harry stormed out of the bathroom, Luna following. "I thought I told you not to-!"
"Eat slugs!" Ron yelled, pointing his wand at Malfoy. The broken wand blew the spell backward, sending him sprawling on the floor. Only a few people paid attention to Ron, the rest of them looking at Harry in fear. Filch blew a gasket about Harry killing his cat, and Dumbledore demanded 'SILENCE!' telling Harry and Luna to follow him to his office. Lockhart, McGonagall, Snape, and Filch came (he brought his cat) as well. When they got to his office, Dumbledore began,
"Do not talk unless I address you. Harry. Talk and tell me everything no matter how strange."
"I was eating with Luna in our common room and heard a strange voice saying 'kill'. I, being the tactical genius that I am, started running toward the sound. I followed it to that hallway with Filches cat and the writing on the wall. Luna noticed that there was water on the floor. She followed it to the girl's bathroom and I followed her. Then I heard that Malfoy called Hermione a Mudblood, saying that she was next. I stormed outside, telling him not to. You know the rest."
Dumbledore looked to Luna, "Anything else to add?"
"Yes, only that the water seemed to come from the sinks, but the bowls of the sinks were dry. Harry asked about the chamber, and I said that it was a place that only an heir of Slytherin could enter. He asked me if those in the Slytherin line demonstrated an ability that only they had, and I said parseltongue. Judging from this information, I would say that only those capable of speaking parseltongue could ever enter the chamber of secrets."
Everyone in the room except Filch seemed intrigued by this. "My cat is dead. I want to see some punishment!"
Dumbledore interrupted, "Not dead, Filch; only petrified. At a very fortunate time, as well. Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of mandrakes that, when they mature, will be used in a potion that Snape will brew to restore Mrs. Norris."
At this point, Filch seemed to be so happy that he was going to get his only friend in the world back from what he had thought was death that he completely forgot that he was angry at Harry for the whole episode. Harry felt very sorry for him, thinking that he wanted to give him something to make his life easier.
"Mr. Filch, do you care about that cat?" He looked angrily at Harry
"Of course I do, and you know that you would-be murderer!"
"What if I told you that I can give you two the ability to communicate to each other and feel each other's feelings? Not only that, but I can ensure you that the cat will only ever die of natural causes when you die if you accept this bond."
Filches anger seemed to falter at this point, "You would do that for me?" He said, seemingly astonished that anyone would even think of helping him.
"Of course I would! Why, I wonder, has no one done it yet?!...We could do it right now if you want, but you may find that Mrs. Norris has no thoughts or feelings right now."
"Yes, do it now, Harry." Filch said, seemingly worried that Harry would forget and never do it.
"Very well, just don't flip out if you sense nothing yet. Now, set Mrs. Norris on the table….yes, good. Now come here and wait for me." Then Harry put the tip of one of his fingers on the cat's head, delving into her mind. All activity had stopped. Everything seemed suspended. Harry delved into the visual portion, and saw a big set of yellow, slitted eyes over a shimmering surface. Harry was immediately forced back into his own mind and he felt a shiver run through him and an extreme pain behind his eyes for only a second, but it was so painful that it forced him to the floor in agony.
Dumbledore and Luna asked immediately, "What was it, Harry?"
"I saw these eyes, and then pain." He grunted. Regaining his balance and tone, he said, "I don't think it's a good idea for you two to bond just yet, Filch, but I can assure you that your cat is definitely alive and none of her brain has been damaged."
Filch seemed ready to hug Harry, but restrained himself. They were dismissed by Dumbledore, who said that he needed time to think about this. Luna and Harry went back to their common room and resumed eating. Eventually they went asleep on the big couch together, something that they had made a habit of and didn't want to stop.
-oOoOo-
Eventually, another full moon came. Harry had been growing weaker and paler for a while. Even some hair fell out, though that could just be stress. People had been looking at him strangely and he had been acting strangely. The people making the food found out some way to give him bloodier meat, though it was a different kind of meat. It didn't have any of that juicy fat that he so loved, but it was the tenderest meat he had ever tasted. He had to give his thanks to whoever cooked, but didn't know where to look.
Luna took this opportunity to strengthen their bond. She helped Harry through not only the physical difficulties, but also the piercing questions and snide comments, to which Harry was completely helpless. Harry couldn't imagine doing it without her.
Soon, the night of the full moon came and Harry had to leave Luna for the first time in awhile, something that depressed him a little. Wearing Augusta's dead husband's old cloak, Harry assumed his shadow form and flew to the Room of Requirement. When he got there, he paced across the entrance three times, thinking, I need a secret place to be contained during the full moon.
The doors appeared and he entered quickly and quietly, not bothering to look behind him. The transformation came alarmingly quickly. And to think that, had Harry hesitated a mere two minutes at any time, he would be roaming the school, hunting humans. He needed to come earlier. Before him was a forest clearing. He looked around for a few moments, and then the change began.
His mind left him and things were just a blur for a while. Then, they came into focus on the last person Harry wanted to see in the room at any distance, let alone a few meters away.
'Luna, no.' the human part of his mind thought feebly. The werewolf part just caused him to growl. And pounce at her. In a few horrifying moments, the human part of him slowed the time in an attempt to stop the event from ever happening and watched as Luna calmly faced a werewolf that was likely going to kill her. Then, Harry felt a spike enter his mind and the werewolf was driven back, even as its jaws were about to tear out her throat.
And Harry, in wolf form, was in control of himself once again. That part of his mind that used to trouble him with aggressive instincts had died. The curse of mindlessness was gone. He was free to decide and the monster was dead and would never return. It was only later the next night that Harry found that he could change any time he wanted, since the wolf form was now of the human, and not the animal, mind.
That night, Luna and Harry were the best of friends, laughing (or barking) and even playing fetch (which was a strangely appealing activity to Harry, as it made Luna smile). Luna danced, radiating beauty, and Harry wished he could join her. They slept in that forest together, just a clearing of grass and flowers below and dazzling stars and moon above. They wondered at the room being able to do all this, and they enjoyed each other's presence, beauty, and, on the account of Harry, scent. Harry and Luna were happier and at peace than any other time they had ever remembered being, and each knew that it would be impossible for the other to forget it.
Alright, hit me with it. What did you think of that ending? Does it remind you of a romance novel you have read? Are there any tips you can give me? Any changes you wish were made? Any feelings you wish to express? Just comment. No restrictions. Just tell me how you feel about it.