Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter. And yes, I missed releasing this for Christmas… by a lot.

Northern Scotland on Christmas Eve was an endless, empty expanse, quiet and still. The monotony of the landscape was broken only by a solitary castle, surrounded by a foreboding forest on one side and a frozen lake of dark water on the other. Even the castle was less lively, with only a few windows illuminated by candles. Most of the students and staff had gone home for the holidays, full of expectant cheer. Those few that remained were unable or unwilling. One student, Harry Potter, was both.

Harry wandered aimlessly down the hall, his fingers brushing along the old, cold stone. Warmth fled from his fingers, leaving them chilled. The sound of each step reverberated off the walls through the emptiness. Even the air felt still and musty, trapped too long in these confines. The only other things near were dusty, empty suits of armor continuing their eternal, silent vigil. The shadows grew closer as the light faded.

As he walked, he imagined his friends. Hermione was on a sunny beach with white sand and deep blue ocean waters. He could see her laughing as she splashed among the waves, before settling down under a parasol with what she no doubt considered light reading. The Mediterranean sun warmed his mind. He could almost feel its heat — but the pleasant feeling soon faded to the biting cold of a Scottish winter in a castle.

Neville was likely at one of the holiday balls his grandmother had dragged him to. The poor boy was probably a nervous wreck, trying to hide by the buffet table, listening to the music, and trying to ignore everyone else. Laughter and music rang in his ears as he pictured the two of them keeping each other company. He even began to wrap his arm around his friend, before he remembered no one was there. He wrapped his arms around himself instead.

Harry could see Luna sitting on the edge of a pond surrounded by tall, green grass. She was staring in joyous wonder at something beneath the water. And those blue eyes… bright, boundless, brimming with life and light. The memory of them made his chest ache, a dull pain he couldn't name. The image of those eyes stayed with him, even as he closed his own.

A sigh rattled out of his chest. It echoed down the hall and back to him, undisturbed. What energy he had had vanished with that breath. He stopped at a window, peering out at the looming dark forest and lake gleaming like polished obsidian. He turned away, his chest tight and the ache worming its way deeper. The castle offered no solace. It had always seemed vast, but it now felt cavernous and full of shadows. Those shadows seemed to reach out for him, hands of monsters reaching out for him. He shivered at the memory. Everything he saw seemed to be a reminder instead of comfort. Was this his lot in life — wandering in the silent dark while others bathed in warmth, light and love? The thought was a heavy stone in his heart.

He groaned, loudly. Frustrated, he shook his head, his fingers raking through his already messy black hair. He knew his friends felt guilty and would feel worse if they knew he was morosely trudging around the castle. Hermione was going to scold him again if, when, she found out. Luna would… do something. It was hard to predict what the little witch would do. No doubt it would leave him smiling, confused, and a little wiser.

He froze when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a ghost, floating its way down the corridor, a pale sickly light in the shadows. This was not peculiar; Hogwarts was home to many such specters. This, however, was not one Harry had ever seen. It was ragged and unkempt, with chains and shackles weighing down its limbs. The ghost said nothing, but it stared at Harry with wide, empty eyes as it passed. Something about that gaze felt hungry, as if it was pulling him in. He shivered again, and patted the pocket with his wand, reassuring himself it was still there. Harry knew that all such beings were benign and suddenly felt being in this empty corridor was unwise.

Harry thought of the Room of Requirement. Whether by ignorance or some magic, he had never known ghosts to enter. He set off down the hall at a more brisk pace than before. He looked back and forth, searching the shadows for anything. A sound rang down the hall, like rattling chains. Harry froze and turned with his wand drawn. There was nothing. He stared into the dark, looking for any hint of a pale ghostly flow. After a few heartbeats, Harry remembered the breath and kept walking.

As he reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, he noticed that the door to Room of Requirement was already there. Harry's heart skipped a beat. The door was only visible if somebody was already using the room. As far as he knew, he was the only one still in the castle that knew how to find the Room. Green eyes narrowed as his mind raced through several nefarious possibilities. The time he spent at Hogwarts had given him plenty of material and paranoia to work with. Could it be the ghost? Was he wrong about the Room being a safe harbor?

Taking a deep, slow breath, he wrapped the fingers of his right hand around his holly wand. He leveled it at the unopened door and moved his left hand towards the knob. His pulse was pounding away in ears. With a quick twist, he wrenched the door open and stepped into the Room.

He almost dropped his wand in shock.

The Room had transformed itself into a library. Not like the school's library, but something smaller and cozier. It had a lovely time-worn quality to it, a mix of stone walls and warm wood shelves and paneling. There was a beautiful old fireplace bathing the room in warmth and light. A large arched window took up the far wall, made dark by the night outside. Had the Room ever made windows before? Harry considered this briefly, but another sight drew his attention away.

In front of the fireplace was a large chair, and in that chair was none other than Luna Lovegood. She wore a red Santa dress with candy cane striped stockings, and a smile. Her sky-blue eyes glittered as she launched herself at him. Stunned, with his heart pounding, he barely caught the petite young woman. She was light, and warm, and beautiful. He breathed in the scent of her, lilacs and something he could never name. Harry tried not to shiver when he felt her breath on his ear as she said, "Surprise."

Harry didn't want to let her go. Her being in his arms warmed his heart, soothed that deep ache. But he knew he had to, so he set her down and felt the loss.

"I thought you with your dad looking for…um…"

"Bowed tawny cnawds."

"Yeah, those."

"We considered it, but Daddy says they prefer eating the toes of young maidens. So we probably shouldn't risk it." She looked down and wiggled her stocking covered toes. "I like my toes."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. Of course, she wasn't wearing shoes while walking around a castle with stone floors in winter. "Good plan. I like your toes, too."

When she smiled at him, Harry wondered if he really saw some pink across cheeks or was just imagining it. Still, there was something else he had to ask. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, trying to keep the buried bitterness out of his voice.

Luna tilted her head to the side. "So, I could surprise you. Surprises are wonderful, especially when they are pleasant ones. Like when you find an extra chocolate frog in your trunk. And idn't you hear me say 'surprise'?"

That tight feeling in his chest loosened at the earnest look on her face. How could he have doubted her of all people? His relief was short-lived, however, when she narrowed her eyes. She then stood up on her tippy toes, studying him closely. Luna had an unnerving eye for detail, and seeing right through people. Especially Harry.

"You have bags under your eyes and your hair is messier than usual. Have nargles been nesting in your hair or have you been brooding, Harry James Potter?" Her normally unconcerned, dreamy voice rang with a serious edge.

His cheeks flushed as he turned his face away from her. Though he tried to resist, Harry found his eyes sliding back to her, drawn by an irresistible force. Her gaze pulled him like gravity. No matter how he strained to look away, the overpowering pull of her eyes won out. Soon enough, green met blue, and all his resistance vanished.

"Yes…"

She smacked his arm. "You promised you wouldn't." She stuck out her bottom lip like a pouting child, an adorable one. Yet her sky-blue eyes were unyielding, brimming with the peaceful earnestness that always took him by surprise.

Harry sighed. "I tried, I really did. It was just being here, by myself, in this empty castle. Without my friends… without you. The loneliness and the dark crept back in. I'm sorry."

Warm arms enveloped him as she rested her head on his chest. He returned the embrace, his head finding a home on hers. They remained in that moment, holding one another in body and heart. As his pulse slowed and tension unwound, she gave him a joyful grin.

"You know, Harry, that is one of the wonderful things about this time of year."

He looked at her quizzically. Was she saying being alone was a good thing? Not likely, but with Luna, it was hard to tell.

A delicate finger led his eyes to a bookshelf, where a single book was illuminated by a ray of light. Glancing out the window, Harry noticed the clouds parting just enough for the moon to shine through. Had Luna done that? Or was it the Room? Or…? He shook his head; it wasn't important. Luna would simply be Luna, anyway.

His eyes went from the book to her, and she nodded. Reluctantly leaving her embrace, Harry went to the book in question. It was old, covered in faded red leather. There were no letters or markings on the spine. As he lifted it, he noticed it seemed too light for its size and age. The book fell open on its own as if it had been read so often it remembered the page. The yellowed parchment was full of musical notes far beyond his comprehension.

A solitary snowflake fell onto the page. Then another. Then two more. Then a dozen.

Harry looked about and found the Room transformed. A dusting of snow covered the floor, and more were coming to join the fray. Evergreens dressed in ribbons and colorful lights grew in the corners, as if their roots grew from old castle stone. More lights lined the shelves, twinkling like stars.

And then there was Luna, beautiful Luna. She stood in the middle of shelves of books, bathed in the pale glow of the moon. She held herself perfectly still, as if waiting. That was when Harry heard the music. It was made by no instrument or voice, and yet came from all the room at once.

The music started slowly, a few solitary notes. Then the music rang out and Luna danced. Her arms swung out gracefully as her legs lowered, stretched out, and raised her again. She twirled, she leaped, she stood so high on her toes that Harry thought she must have been floating. Her movements were grace itself, the music made manifest. Fingers and toes would go dangerously near both shelf and book, then miss them as if the dance had been practiced for many an hour.

When the music softly fell into the silence of the falling snow, Luna stilled. Her head was lowered, blue eyes peering through gold. She played shyly with her fingers in front of her. A small, hopeful smile was on her lips. It faded a little as the silence stretched on.

Harry stood frozen in place, the ache in his chest replaced by an unfamiliar warmth. The room's transformation, the snowfall, the dance—each felt like a gift he hadn't dared ask for. And then there was Luna, standing so still, her hopeful smile faltering as the silence stretched on. He felt his pulse quicken and opened his mouth, but no words came.

"Luna," Harry finally managed to say. "That was amazing! You are amazing!"

The smile grew to fullness, and she raised her head. "You really think so?"

"Yes! That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

She stepped closer, stocking feet crunching the fresh snow. "Do you understand?"

"Er… not really? I mean, I loved it but…"

A delicate hand rested on his chest, a gentle heat spreading through him at her touch. "Even in the darkest days, you can find something beautiful, if you just look for it."

As Harry looked down on her smiling face, with those blue eyes, he knew he had indeed found something beautiful.

Soon after, the young man was sitting in the chair, being warmed by the fireplace. Luna was curled up in his lap, her head resting on his chest. Harry had his arms around her, keeping her close, as if she might vanish. He would later remark to her that his was the moment he learned the meaning of "home".

"Happy Christmas, Luna."

"Happy Christmas, Harry."

Neither noticed the Potter family crest above the fireplace.