Over the next three days, the village of Ottery St Catchpole was in a flurry of excited activity. Harry had lost the company of his soul mate on the Wednesday to the Florist, who had struck up a surprisingly strong friendship with the young Witch. Harry had acted a little put off by Luna's desertion, but soon assured her that he was thrilled she had made a new friend. After Harry had visited the Jonathan Burke at his bakery, he and Luna had covertly paid visits to all the other shops in the small village, and had extended them the same offer after telling them who he really was, and the true nature of Dumbledore – only after placing them under a Fidelius Charm with Luna as the secret keeper of course.

Luna had been equally as shocked as the baker when she discovered what Harry had in mind. He had secretly been in contact with Gringotts over the past three weeks; fortifying his vaults, moneys and rights against Dumbledore's snooping eye; investing in numerous businesses under the advisement of the head goblin, which had virtually doubled Harry's already substantial fortune overnight; and organized the contracts for the village. With absolutely no strings attached, Harry had singlehandedly paid off the debts of the village people, and had given them enough capital to restore their businesses to what they used to be.

Harry was prepared for retaliation from Lord Goldstein, and so was completely set up for the confrontation on the last day of the holidays. He had taught Luna how to temporarily disguise herself as he had with 'Artemis', and he laughed when he realized her disguise looked very much like Professor McGonagall – save for the unbelievably flamboyant clothing choice – and so it was Artemis Coleman and Jennifer McLeod that faced the rather intimidating private force of security Wizards. Clearly, the man who was covered in woven gold clothing was the instigator of what Harry considered to be a disgusting crime against the village people, and he stepped forward from his masked companions. "Who dares stand against me, Lord Henry Malik Detrius Goldstein?"

Artemis valiantly attempted to contain his laughter, but it was all too much and he clutched at his sides – giggling mirthfully. Jennifer was equally as amused, and found herself clinging to the blonde-haired Wizard's arm to stop from falling over. Their laughter lasted for quite some time, and had they bothered to look up then they would have seen the pompous man's face darkening. Harry's laughter promptly stopped when a dark curse was deflected by his shields, and Jennifer's laughter caught in her throat. They both straightened themselves, and Artemis pulled his coat back onto his shoulders. "I can see that you have virtually no sense of humour Mr Goldstein."

"IT'S LORD GOLDSTEIN TO YOU!"

"Are you sure you don't want us to call you Lord Henry Malik Detrius Goldstein?" The corners of Jennifer's mouth quirked slightly, and it was blatantly clear to all parties present that she was straining to hold in her laughter. Harry continued, well aware of the anger he was causing. "We, Lord Goldstein, are the two that stand against you."

"Nobody stands against me!"

Harry cocked his head to the side, "Yeah, except us… and two teens that passed through here recently that dealt your son quite a sound defeat."

It looked as if the Head of the Goldstein family had about had enough, and he thrust his hand forwards. "Attack them!" Both Artemis and Jennifer sprang into action at that moment – holding their powers back enough so that they only came off as top aurors. Their fighting was brutal; a devastating combination of deadly accurate curses, startlingly strong defensive charms and martial arts cutting through the enemy like a hot knife through butter. While Artemis cursed an assailant that was aiming at Jennifer, Jennifer defended Artemis against a curse at his exposed back. It was exactly as they had practiced with Dilys and Armando – though they both knew that the enemy they were facing didn't hold a candle to the cunning of their true enemies. Eventually, Artemis and Jennifer emerged from the other side of the battlefield, completely unscathed and unharmed – barely even having broken a sweat.

It was a familiar sight to Artemis as he approached the bumbling and defeated Lord in front of them; but he allowed Jennifer to deliver the final blow – she needed it to heal herself. Artemis stood two paces behind the grey-haired woman, and watched as she leant down to the terrified man. After barely ten seconds of whispering, the man screamed and looked wildly around himself before leaping to his feet and running away as if he was being chased by the devil himself. Artemis frowned, and touched Jennifer's shoulder inquiringly. Almost instantly the world around them dissolved into flames, and the buildings turned to ruins – evil, horrifying demons flying in the air above them. On instinct alone, Harry shielded Luna and screamed the safe word in his mind before letting loose with a blast of pure white light. The world around them was smashed away, and when the light faded Harry found himself standing once again in the middle of the calm, country road – with scared faces looking at him through the windows of the shops.

Harry spun Luna around, having dispelled their disguises with the burst of power, and looked frantically into her eyes. "Luna, what was that, I know it was an illusion – but how did you-"

"It was a memory."

Luna's quiet voice broke through his panic, and instead morphed it into horror. "How Luna? How is that a memory?"

She slowly walked over to a seat by the side of the road and sat down before taking Harry's hands in hers – almost as if taking strength from his presence. "After I visited you in the hospital wing, Dumbledore took me to his office and invaded my mind. Even though he didn't get inside my sanctuary, I still had to live through the memory he placed there." She looked deep into his furious green orbs. "He did it so that whenever I tried to be nice to you, I would have that nightmare." Harry's eyes widened in worry, but she shook her head, a comforting smile on her face. "I've only had to see it twice before – and the second time was with you beside me; I felt safe alongside you."

Harry pulled her into a hug and buried his head into her hair. "Share it with me Luna."

Her head whipped up to face him, a horrified look on her face, and she shook her head violently. "No, I won't!"

"Luna, I know it gets far worse than what I saw – but if you share it with me, and you let me understand what you've felt, then we can work through it together. I know you don't want to hurt me, but not trusting me will hurt much more."

She looked torn, and Harry hated forcing her to do something she didn't want to do. He saw the indecision in her eyes, but he nodded reassuringly to her. Wordlessly she slid inside his mind, and mentally hugged him before implanting the memory and pulling out. Harry took a deep breath, looked into her eyes one last time, and then forced himself into the memory she had grafted. Luna watched as Harry's face turned from frightened to horrified, and hugged him tightly to her as the blood drained from his face. After five minutes of terrified shaking, the memory ended, and Harry collapsed off the chair before vomiting into the gutter; tears streaming down his face and frightful shivers still shaking his body. Luna rushed to his side and banished his sick with a wave of her hand before cradling his head in her arms – her own tears streaming down her cheeks at having put him through such a memory.

Slowly the townsfolk exited their stores, and the florist kindly led the pair into her shop before sitting them in the back room and leaving them alone to get some tea. Slowly Harry's shivering stopped, and some of the life returned to his eyes when he smelt the pleasant fragrance of the sweet tea. The elderly woman quickly left the pair alone to talk, but it was at least ten minutes before the young Wizard could finally form the words in his mouth. "I'm so sorry."

She worriedly looked at him – aware of his tendency to take the blame when it wasn't his fault. "You shouldn't be Harry; you had nothing to do with that; I decided to visit you – not the other way around."

"Bu-"

She pressed a finger softly over his mouth, replacing it a moment later with her soft lips. She opened her eyes a second later and smiled warmly up at him. "There is nothing you could've done, and you've already helped me heal that scar by loving me."

He sat still for a moment, before nodding slowly and pulling her into his lap. For the next hour the lovers sat, silent; Harry gently running his fingers through Luna's silken hair, and the young Witch tracing ancient runes on Harry's chest with her delicate fingers. Just before Harry moved to stand up from the chair, he frowned. "Luna, what did you tell that man?"

She stood from his lap and pulled him to his feet before answering, a cheeky grin on her face. "I told him that I'd set a Crumple-Horned Snorkack on him if he came back."


All good things had to come to an end however, and so Harry returned to Privet Drive the morning of his departure back to Hogwarts, thanked his other self for keeping the Order busy, and then dispelled all of the wards he had erected at the beginning of the summer break. Within three hours of arriving at Privet Drive, he was leaving, and he could not have been happier. On the train he was reunited with his friends, and subtly dropped a hint about Hermione learning Occlumency – with a very pointed stare, and a statement that it would be 'awesome' if she managed to be a 'master' of it by the start of the next year.

She seemed to get the general hint, and gave him a subtle nod to show that she understood, and Harry had settled back for the rest of the train ride, grunting noncommittally as Ron talked about the Chudley Cannons, and chomping down – much to the red-head's glee- several laced mince pies, the love potion being purged from Harry's body as soon as it entered his mouth.

For the rest of the year, Harry continued his secret life with Luna, and his public life in the Golden Trio. Dumbledore carefully followed his progress – or rather lack of- with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye; not once noticing Harry's or Luna's immensely powerful auras restrained beneath equally powerful secrecy charms. Harry and Luna both whizzed through their defensive and offensive courses by sharing their memories with one another, and quickly proceeded to the most advanced section of their course – the Dark and Light spells.

With a determination that neither Dilys or Armando had ever seen, the two teens studied themselves to sleep every night, trained all day when they could, and even practiced in their bedroom behind several highly powered silencing and protective charms. The two lovers trained and trained, their bodies adjusting to their increased magical flow and physical requirements – and Harry had been the talk of a large portion of the female Hogwarts population due to his clearly noticeable changes. Both Harry and Luna had been subject to very intrusive interrogations regarding a number of pranks and incidents that seemed to befall the young Wizard's fans, but Dumbledore could find absolutely no sign at all that either of them had played a part in it.

It was one night in December - the second last week of Harry's sixth and Luna's fifth year at Hogwarts in fact – in which the oddest thing happened. Harry and Luna had just drifted off to sleep when the young Wizard had the most interesting and shocking dream. He looked about himself in wonder, the white space surrounding him, and the white mist flowing over his shoes seeming slightly too familiar to what he regarded death would be like. Suddenly a very familiar voice came from behind him, and he spun around to find an equally amazed Luna staring at the space around them. "Harry, where are we?"

She walked over to his side in her white nightgown and took his hand as he shook his head in wonder. "I haven't a clu-"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The pair spun around and Harry's jaw dropped when he saw his rather angry looking godfather standing there in a smart, black suit. "Sirius?"

"Yes Harry, but neither of you should be here!" He strode over to the couple and placed his hands on their shoulders before shaking them violently. "Why the hell are you dead?"

Harry pushed his godfather's hand from both his ad Luna's shoulders and stared at him. "We're not dead!"

"He's right Sirius." Harry spun around again, and froze in shock. Lilly and James Potter stood in front of Harry with matching grins on their faces.

They walked towards the young Wizard, and unconsciously tears begun to stream from his green eyes. Luna respectfully stood back as the family embraced, but Lilly pulled her into the hug as well, a dazzling smile on her face. "You're part of the Potters now Luna."

After quite some minutes of hugging and crying from all parties present – even Sirius who had joined the hug after getting over his shock – James and Lilly pulled back slightly and looked around the space that surrounded them. Lilly looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on the corner of her lips. "You're just like your father; no imagination. Well, when you two finally join us here, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised that it isn't actually like this."

Harry swiped a few lingering tears from his cheeks, but couldn't keep the joyous smile from seeing his parents again from his face. "How is this possible?"

James explained to the three confused Witches and Wizards, and Sirius' eyes widened as he realized just why it was happening. "The exact same thing happened when I was about to ask Lilly to marry me." Luna's eyes widened and James laughed, while Harry just blushed. "Yes Luna, my son has been searching for the right ring for quite some time." She swung her head up to look at Harry and he embarrassedly nodded. James waited until he had their attention again before continuing. "My parents who had passed away ten years beforehand called us here to pass something on to us, exactly what we are about to do for the two of you."

Lilly slowly pulled two platinum rings from her pocket, and Harry nearly cried when he saw that they were his parent's engagement rings. Harry's mother gently gave the shocked Witch one of them, and then placed the remaining ring in Harry's palm. He glanced at Lilly with a question in his eyes and she nodded; a delighted twinkle in her eye. He quietly knelt down on one knee, and Luna gasped when she realized what was happening. Her eyes flicked from Harry to his parents, before finally coming to rest on the man she loved. "Luna Marie Lovegood, I've loved you ever since I met you. It was hidden from me, but it wasn't strong enough to obscure it forever. When I truly opened my eyes, I found that you were perfect in every way. Everything that was, is, and will be you, I love. I can't see my life without you in it, and although we are already bonded for eternity I want to be with you – your husband - for all of time. Will you marry me?"

Tears were falling from the blonde girl's eyes ever since he had begun speaking, but the smile on her face told him the answer he wanted to hear. She tackled him to the soft ground and pressed her lips passionately to his. He wrapped his strong arms around her back and pulled her body closer – his body as well as his soul seeming to merge even deeper with his bonded's. The adults let the two teens have their happiness, but Sirius loudly cleared his throat when he caught a look from Lilly. The two slowly broke apart, an all-consuming love in their eyes, before the adults watched the sight that they had been waiting for. The slim, silver band slid onto Luna's finger – fitting as if it was made for her – and the same happened to Harry – all the while staring into his lovers eyes. Once they had finished, Sirius pulled them both to their feet with an excited laugh, and pulled the entire group into a tight hug.

Slowly Harry begun to notice the world around them start to turn colder, and with a look of regret, both his parents and Sirius broke away. "Well Son, it looks like our time is up – but I think you'll do fine without us until we meet again; the love you have for Luna, and hers for you will keep you both very happy."

Harry nodded, and pulled Luna to him – placing a loving kiss on her forehead before turning to face his rapidly fading family. "I'll see you in a few hundred years."

Sirius laughed and waved. "It'd better not be any sooner Pup!"

Harry cracked open his eyes at the exact same time Luna did, and smiled as he hugged her to him. "Good morning love."

She smiled into his chest and hugged him back. "I had the nicest dream last night." He raised his eyebrows at that, and stroked her cheek. She nuzzled it and purred before continuing. "Mmm, I got to meet your parents and-"

"They watched me propose to you?" Luna froze, and her eyes widened when she saw the silver ring on her hand which was resting on Harry's palm. He slowly brought his left hand and placed it over hers, and there was no denying it anymore. The platinum ring glinted on his finger, and he smiled softly. "I had a feeling…"

For the entire day, the two lovers stayed in bed – Harry telling Ron that he felt a little bit under the weather – and simply enjoyed the company of one another. As Harry held his fiancé, he smiled softly at the way he had proposed. It was exactly as he had wanted it; with his parents and godfather there to witness the moment and he was glad that they had accepted Luna without even a second thought. At the end of the day, the couple decided to remove their rings until their return the next year, and instead conjured each other delicate silver chains to keep them around their necks. The last two weeks of term were crusy – even with Armando and Dilys. The two mentors had congratulated their two students on their engagement, and had been working on their coordination in combat for their training sessions instead – an activity that both Harry and Luna enjoyed.

It was on the train ride back to King's Cross station that Hermione spoke to Harry, making sure to keep her words hidden from the red-head who was also in the compartment, casting nasty glares towards Luna who was talking to Neville. "Harry, I looked up that book you talked to me about, and I think I've finished it. I don't think even Dumbledore would find anything useful in it."

Harry nodded noncommittally. "Ah well, I thought it might contain something thought-provoking; I guess I'll have to modify it soon and make it more interesting."

"You won't be able to Harry; it has shields around it."

He hummed thoughtfully for a moment before smiling at her. "I'm sure you'll remove them for me."

She humphed convincingly, and then muttered that she'd probably end up getting forced into it anyways – and so she might as well do it. Harry nodded and sat back in his chair, getting comfortable before staring into Hermione's chocolate brown eyes and entering her mind. Luna made sure that nobody else in the compartment knew what was going on with a compulsion charm, and over the next half an hour watched as Hermione's face paled. Harry finally stopped the stream of memories and pulled out of her mind, watching as she sat stock-still in her chair. "Oh my god…" After a few moments she turned to Harry. "I'm so sorry Harry, I didn't know!"

He smiled knowingly and nodded. "I know – but I'm glad you're free from his meddling now."

After another long moment, Hermione gasped and her eyes flicked between Harry and Luna. "You two…" They both smiled, and stealthily flattened their shirts against their bodies, making the outlines of the rings stand out under their clothes.

Hermione gasped again and Harry laughed, releasing the secrecy charm Luna had placed over Ron and Neville. "Yeah, I'm really happy - we both are."

Ron turned to him, an eager look in his eye. "You and who mate?"

"Me and Ginny, Ron, I really think we're getting closer." He forced a mock-scared look onto his face and glanced at his red-haired companion fearfully. "You're not going to throttle me, are you?"

Ron grinned and clapped Harry happily on the back. The raven-haired boy made a mental note to obliterate the jacket as soon as he got home. "Nah mate, you're the only bloke who's good enough for my sister – I say go for it Harry!"

The famous Wizard nodded enthusiastically, and waited until his 'mate' had turned back to his book on Quidditch before letting the expression drop off his face and a disgusted look spread across his features. Luna stifled a giggle, and Hermione looked shocked at Luna's lack of hurt at Harry's act. The green-eyed Wizard winked at her. "We know each other inside out – we wouldn't let such a playact come between us."