A/N: I received a review recently from Falena Eledhwen which caught my attention, both for her very uplifting and encouraging review, and with a few names she used when referring to Ron, Dumbledore, Ginny and Molly. Most aptly, these names caused me a bit of amusement, as I do so love a bit of 'bashing' when referring to the aforementioned characters - and so all credit in the use of the more imaginative namecalling efforts in regards Dumbles, Ronniekins, Gin-Bot, and Mollywobbles goes to Miss Falena Eledhwen - thank you once again for the review.
But on with the story! I hope you enjoy it.
"Harry, how have you been?"
"Good sir, I feel a lot better now that Madam Pomfrey is done with me." Harry walked beside the old Headmaster, acting as if nothing was the matter, and making sure that he was projecting the false mind that Luna had instructed him on producing. He grinned when he felt Dumbledore slip inside his construction and root around for a while before pulling out when he found nothing out of the ordinary.
When they entered the Headmaster's office, the old Wizard laughed jovially, but now that Harry knew what to look for, he could hear the hidden annoyance in the man's tone. "I tried to see you when you were in the hospital wing, but Poppy firmly told me that she didn't need me stressing you by visiting." Harry nodded and smiled in what he hoped what a convincing manner, but the smile turned genuine when he saw the slight scars of his and Fawkes' message on the back wall. "Lemon drop?" Harry nodded and went to pluck one of the sweets from the offered bowl, but froze when his vision flashed and he looked at the lollies in a new light; glowing faintly blue, and instinctively he knew that they contained the love potion that he had been fed by 'Ronniekins' for the past year. Seeing Harry's hesitation, Dumbledore frowned. "What's the problem Harry?"
The young Wizard in question withdrew his hand and sent the aging Headmaster a troubled look. "I have an ulcer sir, and I think it would be a little painful if I had one."
Seeing nothing suspicious about the boy's explanation, he chuckled lightly, placing the bowl back on his desk and motioning for Harry to take a seat. "Not to worry Harry, perhaps next time."
Sitting down and facing the Headmaster, knowing who – and what he was, was a rather new experience for Harry, but he found himself reminding himself to not get cocky because of his newfound power – Dumbledore was still considered the most powerful Wizard alive. "So Headmaster, what did you want to speak to me about?"
The white-haired Wizard leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him, a friendly smile on his face. "I noticed that while you were in the hospital wing Luna visited you frequently."
Harry nodded and replied with a smile of his own, for other reasons however; the fact that they had spent the last two nights in the hospital wing together in the same bed snuggling making up a fair portion of the grin. "Yes, Luna came and talked with me to give me some company – I was beginning to get a little bit bored but she certainly brightened my days."
Dumbledore's eyebrows raised a fraction. "Oh, did she now?"
Harry nodded and Dumbledore sighed. "Ah m'boy, I really hate doing this but…OBLIVIATE!" Harry sunk back behind his defensive barrier and allowed his eyes to glaze over while taking a back-row seat and listening to what the manipulative old sod was going to do to his false mind. He found out a moment later, and it took all of his self-control to not break out of his act and throw every curse he knew at the scheming old man. "Harry, you will forget how much you like Luna Lovegood, and you will start insulting her and treating her badly. You will have the sudden urge to go and see Ginny Weasley once you leave this office." After Harry gave a small nod, Dumbledore snapped his fingers a couple of times and put a concerned look on his face as Harry 'came back'. "Harry, are you alright? You looked a little distracted."
Harry forced a look of confusion onto his features and dulled his thoughts to imitate tiredness. "Sorry sir, I guess I'm just a little bit worn out from all the healing."
Thinking that his ploy had been accepted by the 'unsuspecting, clueless' young Wizard, the Headmaster smiled and nodded to the door. "Well you had probably better go and get some rest then; you've missed out on two weeks' worth of classes and you'll need to start back tomorrow."
Harry nodded wearily and stood from his seat, making sure to put on an act of swaying slightly. "I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. I'll see you soon sir." Dumbledore quickly dismissed the young Wizard and Harry only kept the act up until he was halfway back to the Gryffindor common room before beginning to curse the old man under his breath. He looked out the window at the dark sky and sighed as he climbed the steps to his dormitory, having passed through the empty common room moments earlier. As soon as he opened the door to his room, he was immediately assaulted by questions from Seamus, Ron and Dean asking how awesome it felt to have gotten two whole weeks off school. Harry noticed that Neville didn't join in with that question, and smiled – proud that at least one person in his dorm had some sense of education. "Well guys, I had a broken leg, a broken arm, two fractured ribs and a cracked skull – it felt great."
Taken aback by his snappy answer, Harry managed to get dressed in his pyjamas and pull the curtains around his bed before they begun pestering him again. He fell back onto the silk covers and-
He froze and opened his eyes to look around him, and gasped at what he saw. The bed had been expanded to at least three times the size it had been previously, and the sheets were a rich green that seemed to ripple like water – the silk reflecting the small amount of light present. When he looked at the end of the bed and saw a smirking Fawkes, it all began to make sense. "Welcome back Harry; do you like the new room?"
"Like it? I love it! How did you do it?"
Fawkes preened his feathers pompously for a moment before – with a very pleased tone to his voice – he explained the process to Harry. When he was done, Harry sat his back against the headboard of his bed and let out an impressed whistle. "Well thanks a lot Fawkes, this is really cool – and it's good that I won't wake up the guys when I wake up screaming from a nightmare."
"Oh I highly doubt you'll be having nightmares Harry."
Said Wizard sent his Familiar a confused look, but his question was answered by a blur of motion flying through the curtains surrounding Harry's bed. On pure impulse, Harry suspended the intruder in mid-air and paralysed them. A giggle reached his ears, and when the words, "This is even more fun than when the Blibbering Humdingers get angry!" reached his ears, he immediately released the giggling Ravenclaw from his spell. She fell onto the mattress with a laugh, and then crawled up beside Harry, looking appreciatively around the new room. "Wow, this is really nice!" She winked at Fawkes. "Thanks for setting up the wards so I could get in."
"Anytime Luna; after all, you are Harry's bonded."
Harry was still sitting with his mouth hanging open and the blonde Witch frowned at him. "If you keep that up, the Tonsil-snatching Frogwamps will get you."
Snapping his mouth shut at once, he managed to construct a reasonable sentence a moment later. "What are you doing here?"
"Sleeping with you."
"What?"
She frowned again before answering bluntly – as she normally did. "I don't mean having sex Harry, I just meant like we did when you were in the Hospital Wing."
"Oh." A happy smile spread across Harry's face as he remembered the feeling of waking up to Luna, and the wonderful sleep he had managed to get when she was with him. "Really?" She nodded and he pulled her into a hug, muttering into her ear. "Thank you Luna; this really means a lot to me that you would care enough to do this."
"How could I not, I could feel how happy you were when you woke up beside me, and to tell you the truth: I enjoyed waking up to you too." She pulled back and slid down under the silk covers, soon followed by Harry who moulded himself to her back like they had down back in the Medical Wing. "I love you Harry."
Harry felt his chest swell and a huge grin spread over his face as he put the room into darkness with a wave of his hand. "I love you too Luna – so much."
The next morning, Harry thought that they had a dilemma. When he awoke to Luna he smiled lovingly into her happy ash eyes, and they shared a small but meaningful morning kiss. She snuggled up to his chest for a few minutes before moving off the bed and getting changed into her school uniform. Harry turned his head while she changed into her underwear, but raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of her wearing one of his white shirts. She simply shrugged and stated the reasoning behind her clothing choice. "You can't like me in public from now on, so I want to wear your shirt so I have the real you close to me all day."
Harry felt guilty for not thinking of her feelings before, and moved behind her before wrapping her in an apologetic hug. "You'll always have the real me Luna, I'll always be here for you – no matter what." At his words she gave a small sniff, and Harry smiled softly before placing a chaste kiss on the top of her head, and then waving his hand at their robes, transfiguring her Ravenclaw patch into a Gryffindor one, and his to a Ravenclaw.
He slipped her newly transfigured robe over his head and shrugged slightly to get comfortable, and then smiling at her confused face. "I love you as well Luna, and I want a piece of you with me as well." Her eyes lit up and she smiled again, causing Harry to grin as well, and pull her into one final hug before moving to the curtain and-
He froze, and then turned around, a panicked look on his face. He whipped around to face Fawkes. "Oh hell Fawkes, how is Luna going to get out of here without anybody seeing her?"
The recently awakened Phoenix raised a questioning eyebrow at Harry, and his voice sounded slightly disappointed. "You didn't think I thought of that? I've erected a ward around the Gryffindor Tower which will make Mrs Po-" He cut himself off at Harry's glare, and then corrected himself before continuing. "Miss Lovegood invisible to all of the students present."
"Invisible?"
"Well admittedly she won't be invisible; it's more of a very powerful not-notice-me charm."
Harry opened his mouth in an understanding O-shape, and then nodded. He took Luna's hand in his and then cast his own not-notice-me charm around himself so that he could evade the inevitable onslaught of questions regarding his absence from classes…and so that he could hold his girlfriend's hand – the girlfriend and boyfriend status being a step in their relationship that they had happily agreed upon and taken the previous night. The couple deftly navigated the students in the common room, and then, just for the sheer excitement and rebellious nature of it, Harry leant down and pressed his lips lovingly against Luna's, who – after getting over the shock of the moment – smiled and returned the kiss in kind, breaking off and resting her head against his shoulder, her arms around him, and his around her in a tender embrace.
After cooling off, the two exited the Gryffindor Common Room and – with a last, quick kiss – went their separate ways to breakfast. Well aware of the watchful eye of Dumbledore at the head table, the couple refrained from looking at each other, which led to a most interesting and surprising discovery. Harry called to Fawkes while chewing his way through his second piece of toast, and saw Luna go rigid at the Ravenclaw table.
"Harry?"
At the sound of his girlfriend's voice, Harry too stiffened, but quickly relaxed before Dumbledore's gaze could sweep over him again. "Luna? Is that you?"
"Wha- why can we hear each other Harry?"
"I don't know love, but I'm about to find out: Fawkes?"
A moment later the Phoenix's voice came into Harry's head, and the young Wizard could feel Fawkes' shock at feeling Luna listening in to their conversation. "Harry, can Luna hear us?"
"Yes Fawkes, I can hear you – Harry; you have a colony of Mugwumps making nests in your hair." Harry unconsciously reached up and ran a hand through his hair – causing Luna to giggle slightly at the Ravenclaw table – triggering a few odd looks from her fellow house-mates.
"Well this is odd…"
Harry kept eating his toast and hummed in agreement. "I assume that this wasn't really meant to be a side-effect of the bonding ceremony?"
"No, it was never mentioned."
Luna joined in the conversation at that moment. "Perhaps it's because he communicated telepathically with you, and when we bonded he passed that trait along to me?"
Taken aback by the young woman's well thought out theory, it took a couple of seconds for the Phoenix to reply. "It's a definite possibility – but if that carried across then you should also have inherited Harry's Parseltongue.
"Well I'm not going to try it here; I think I would get a few more odd looks than usual if I did receive Harry's talent for talking to snakes."
Neither Harry nor Fawkes could fault her logic, and the Phoenix informed the two of them that he would be gone for a day or two trying to figure out the full extent of their bond to one another, and closed his link after reminding the couple about their training session with Dilys and Armando that afternoon.
As Harry, Ron and Hermione walked to potions together, Luna walked past them, and Ron passed a comment that damn near made Harry want to punch the rotten git in the mouth. "She's a real loony that one – a bit funny in the head I'd say."
Harry replied to that comment twice – once verbally to the red-haired twat, and once over his telepathic link to Luna. "Yeah, she's a bit screwed up in the head, eh Ron?" To which the Weasley grunted enthusiastically. Even knowing that Harry hadn't meant it, it still would have hurt Luna to hear it – but Harry had made sure that his comment in her head completely dismissed his hurtful comment. "Shut up you back-stabbing little sod, she's the most wonderful woman I've ever met; she's smart, she's beautiful, and I'm HERS."
While Hermione thought that the smile on Luna's face was simply to cover up the hurt from the two boy's comments, Harry knew better, and smiled to himself when she replied lovingly in his mind. "I'm yours as well Harry – I love you."
"I love you too Luna, I love you too."
