Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

Author's Note: Some Soulmate AUs just beg for kid soulmates.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 11); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Misunderstood; Hola, Bonjour, Jambo; Sett to Destroy; Lion's Moon & Shadow Bribery (Y); Summer Vacation; Shipmas; Seeds; Tissue Warning; Golden Times; Interesting Times; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A [Love] (Y); Themes & Things B [Protection] (Y); Feeling So Logical []; Lovely Triangle; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Tiny Terror; Quiet Time; Rian-Russo Inversion; Flags & Ribbons; Letter of the Day; In a Flash; Two Cakes! (Y); Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux (Y)
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 11 – Assignment 02
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Romance Awareness D10 (Meeting in Dreams)(Celebrating a birthday); Insane House Challenge [22] (Ebullient); 365 [102] (Trouble); Scavenger Hunt [82] (Write a fic set within a dream.); Galleon (bronze)
Space Address (Prompt): n/a
Representation(s): Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini; Autistic Harry & Luna; Creature Blaise
Bonus Challenges: Most Human Bean; Abandoned Ship; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Unwanted Advice; Three's Company; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union); Chorus (Pear-Shaped; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Terrarium); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); LiCK (); FR (Satisfaction); O3 (Oath); HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary)
Word Count: 722

(^^)
The Best Birthday
(^^)

It was a tradition of sorts. He had the dreams the for as long as he could remember, but it was the birthday ones that were the best ones. There were always three of them a year, one for each of them-even him, Harry! Today was going to be Harry's birthday, and for once, he had an excellent day to share with them! He had been worried about telling his dream friends anything about what had been going on the last week, because the letters and Uncle Vernon's erratic behavior had been frightening and Harry hadn't wanted to frighten them.

Well, that wasn't quite true. Luna may have ended up being a little bit afraid, and with her ebullient nature, Harry absolutely hated anything that brought her enthusiasm down, including worry about him. But Blaise tended to react angrily when Harry mentioned any of the Dursleys. That was kind of refreshing, given that the reason for the anger seemed to be that Blaise didn't like how the Dursleys acted. While it was a little scary to see Blaise get angry, knowing that it was on his behalf was actually...nice.

But today!

Today, Harry had learned that magic was really real! It wasn't just something that his dream friends had made up for their adventures! There really were owls that carried mail and potions that actually did things and goblins that did the banking! It was all as Luna and Blaise had been telling him for years! And Harry couldn't wait to see them, not just because their entire dreamscape was bound to be decked out in purple (Harry's favorite color) for Harry's birthday.

"Happy birthday!" Luna cried as soon as he arrived. She punctuated the greeting by pouncing him into a hug. Just as happy to be there, Harry spun her around as they hugged. The peals of her laughter filled the space around them in that strange way produced by the odd physics of the dreamscape, which was simultaneously infinite and finite. Harry could have continued that hug for the rest of the night, but he had things to tell them! So he forced himself to set Luna back on her feet, taking just a moment to admire the heather of her dress and the matching ribbon braided into her pale hair.

"Magic is real," Harry blurted. Luna blinked her gray eyes at him. They were close enough that Harry could see the thin streaks of pale purple mixed into them. Then Luna looked at Blaise who was also staring at Harry in confusion. His violet eyes met and held Harry's with an insistence that he didn't normally show, because for as much as he could act different in their shared dreams than in real life, that had been one habit that he usually kept. Uncertain now, Harry repeated himself. "Magic is real."

"Yes," Blaise said slowly. "It always has been."

"But it's real the way you describe it to be! Really real!"

"Harry," Luna asked, "are you saying that you didn't know before?"

"Well, of course not," Harry replied. "The Dursleys had always said that magic was hogwash and tripe. I thought magic was just something that we made up here, for fun. But magic is real! And I have it!"

Bronze wings burst from Blaise's back, arching over the three of them. Harry would have cowered back at the sudden movement, but Luna grabbed both his arms to keep him close. With a carefulness that belayed the anger clouding his face, Blaise gathered both Harry and Luna in his arms. The instinctive fear of punishment evaporated at the embrace.

"I'm sorry," Blaise murmured into his hair. "I frightened you, and I should have better control than that. I just...to punish you for heritage while denying you the truth of it? One or the other are unforgivable, but both is simply diabolical. I hadn't even realized that you thought we were making up the magic part of our adventures, so I'm also mad at myself."

"I say we punish him by making him let us have the first pieces of cake," Luna whispered as if sharing a secret. Her eyes twinkled merrily, not letting the seriousness get to her. On impulse, Harry leaned in and rubbed their noses together, making her grin even more.

It was the best birthday ever.