The report was given to the Lord and Lady as instructed, without a hint of tension or urgency. They were both pleased and let Harry leave. Something ate at him as he exited the large room and passed those seeking an audience. He directed his feet away from the library, where he was supposed to study independently for an hour, and began to search the corridors. He had never skipped a study hour before, but Harry knew the feeling inside him would only swell and torment his conscience until he was honest with someone.

It took great effort not to run down each stretch of hallway. Harry kept his face as expressionless as possible while his eyes darted back and forth, scanning all of the rooms visible through open doors. He felt frantic as he searched the first two floors. Skipping steps to reach the next level faster, he nearly flattened the person he collided with.

"My apologies, Harry," a soft voice spoke. "Are you running from something? Should I be running too?" Luna had backed against the bannister of the staircase, but her eyebrows came together in curiosity.

"No, Luna, not a thing." Relief coated his words. Harry looked around him and saw no one, but voices were being carried through the hall from below. "Come with me." Unthinking, he grabbed her hand and led the way up two more sets of stairs and to a large tapestry. He looked again and found no one else nearby. Without an explanation, he pulled back the edge to reveal an opening in the wall just wide enough for a person to fit through.

"I've never been told to clean this room," Luna said with only the faintest amount of surprise.

Harry laughed. "Well, you wouldn't. I wonder how many people even know it exists. I discovered it by accident." At the end of the dark hallway there was a perfectly round room with a small circular window near the ceiling. "I have never seen anyone use it and I have no idea what it could have been for." There was no furniture or signs of use. It looked to be an accidental addition to the castle, a forgotten room.

Luna circled the small space once, looking at the walls and then returned to where Harry stood in the center. "Are you certain we aren't hiding from something? This seems to be a good place to do so if we needed to."

Harry recalled that he hadn't yet told Luna why he went looking for her. "Actually, I just wanted to talk to you in private for a moment. You see…" He launched in to the tale of his trip to the south and the fight that broke out in the woods. Luna nodded politely and gasped when he got to the part about Draco jumping down on him. With each word Harry felt the weight of the information leave him, and he ended with, "I feel as though I have lied to my own parents for not telling them the whole truth."

Luna thought on that a moment, looking from the ceiling to Harry and back. "I think you are a very good knight for having such a noble heart." A smile broke across her previously serious face. "How many times have I told you to keep your eyes up?" She put her hand gently on his shoulder and smiled. "You could have been hurt."

She hadn't offered much to help him, but Harry realized that wasn't what he had been after. The only thing he could possibly do was return to his parents and tell them everything, which might lead to the fear Draco had mentioned. He had sought out Luna in order to have someone to confide in, not to speak strategy with. "Thank you," he told her.

They stood together for a long moment, long enough for another secret Harry had been keeping to rise to the surface and nearly spill out his lips.

Suddenly, Luna's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, Harry, I must get back to my duties." She sidestepped him gracefully and disappeared through the short tunnel and out of the tapestry.

Harry vaguely felt the sting of the missed opportunity, but he pushed it away and stormed out of the secret room once he was certain she was out of sight of the entrance.

The evening was usually a subdued affair unless there was a festival or holiday to celebrate. Harry sat across a long table from his father. His mother sat on Lord James' right. Occasionally they were joined by Professor Snape, but Harry was pleased that the overgrown bat-like man was absent the evening of his return. In fact, supper was remarkably pleasant for a full week.

Seven days after the confrontation in the south, the greasy-haired instructor graced the Potter family with his presence, bringing with him more than an atmosphere of gloom.

"I have word from His Majesty," Snape said, looking at Lord James before panning his gaze over to Harry. "It would seem your son has attracted his notice." Snape's tone dripped with menace that caused Harry's stomach to tighten. He gripped the chicken leg in his hand so firmly that his thumb dug into the tender meat. Had word of his cowardice in the forest reached King Arthur?

"It is my understanding," Snape continued, "that he wishes to meet this brave young knight, who has been praised by none other than Sir Albus himself."

Dumbledore had given him away! Blood coursed through Harry's ears, making it impossible for him to comprehend the next few words that were spoken between his tutor and his father. Why would the old man do such a thing? If it had been so bad, he could have pursued Draco himself. And to let Harry believe everything would be alright; it broke the core rules of chivalry and being kind to your brother-in-arms.

The hall had fallen silent and Harry realized he must have missed something directed at him. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?"

Lord James announced that Harry would leave first thing in the morning, accompanied by five guards on horseback. "It is a little less than a two day's journey," James finished, reaching for his goblet. "You should be back within a week."

If they expected him to return then he wouldn't face death, at least not in a foreign city before dozens of people he didn't know. Harry nodded, his parched mouth unable to form words, and looked back to his half eaten dinner. His stomach suddenly felt full of lead and he couldn't make himself take another bite. He was silent for the remainder of the meal, until his father bid them all goodnight.

That evening, Luna was present in his dreams. They were very young again, no more than five and six years old, and just outside the castle walls. In his hand was a daffodil, which he held out for her to take. She did, and in return she handed him a yellow flower, one that attempted to mimic the colour of her golden hair. He turned it in his hands and saw that it was a tulip. When he looked back up, she was gone.