Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, books 6 and 7 would not exist. Since they do exist, it means that I do not own them, and everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. For now.

Author's note: Okay, it took almost two days, but even so, here it is, faster than any other chapter to date.

Chapter 7

Encounter in the moonlit corridor

Harry Potter was currently in a peculiar environment, he was in what appeared to be a forest clearing, in the centre of the clearing was a small pond and in the centre of it all on a rock that was above the pond, sat Harry with his legs crossed and his palms pressed together against each other, while his eyes were closed. The ambient light indicated that it was near dusk as the sun slanted down one side of the clear sky causing the shadows of the trees to be cast in the centre of the clearing.

All was quiet and no background noise could be heard, it was such a silent scene for a forest that it gave an unnatural feeling, it was then that Harry opened his eyes, he suddenly pulled his hands apart quickly as if they had been burnt, the moment he did so a blizzard shot out from the gap left by his hands separating, it spread out in all directions with his hands as the centre. The wind blew some of the water from the pond to the surface and lifted some of the grass around the clearing, the leaves of the trees that appeared to be some sort of pine trees around them moved a little.

It didn't last long a few seconds from when the light blast of wind came out until it was over, when it was over Harry dropped his upright posture, he held his chest with one hand while his head was down and he was breathing heavily.

He had sweat running down the sides of his face and looked frustrated, it wasn't until his breathing regulated that he was able to relax, he dropped onto the rock he was on and lay on his back looking up at the sky.

"Bloody hell, I'm supposed to control this and keep it around my body constantly?" Harry thought as he relaxed.

What he was doing right now was the technique of constantly expelling his magic so as to expend it and make it grow that Grindelwald had taught him. At the time he had told him that he should be able to expel his magic and keep it around his body constantly, after what it had taken him just to get to feel his magic he had decided that he should practice more, so before sleeping and a little when he woke up he practiced his meditation for magical sensitivity.

In his confrontation with Malfoy he had managed to expel a slight, very slight amount of magic, it served to scare Malfoy because Malfoy was already scared and very nervous, but it was no different to blowing in his face. Since then he hadn't managed it again and just kept practising.

"If you were in a completely natural magical environment it would be easier for you, being surrounded by so much magic would make your senses more sensitive and more receptive to feeling your own magic."

As he relaxed against the hard surface he began to lose himself in his memories and listen to Gellert's words.

"So, while the forbidden forest would be quite useful, unfortunately for you the year you're going back to is the year they would least let you leave the castle to do what you want, with Dementors roaming around the castle I wouldn't even recommend it, their very presence would negate what we're looking for, so it'll be up to you to find a similar environment

At that moment when Gellert was teaching Harry about magical sensitivity, a question crossed Harry's mind, one that he did not hesitate to ask his mentor.

"This method, you tell me practically as if you created it, but you also don't seem to like it at all when you talk about it." Harry waited a moment before continuing with his idea.

"Did you use this method to increase your magic?"

The former dark lord let out a sigh, he knew this question would come at some point.

"You see boy, this method, although it works in theory, in practice it is completely different, first you need to have great magical sensitivity, second you need to have great control of your magic and lastly the level of your magic will increase depending on the amount you already have." Seeing that the point he was trying to make was not very well understood the dark lord took a moment before continuing.

"Suffice it to say that having great magical sensitivity and having control of your magic are very difficult things to achieve, you for your part Mr. Potter, you have great magical sensitivity but your control does not reach the same level, so it will take you a while to reach the key point of this method." Seeing that the young wizard was not taking this as an insult and simply assimilating the information Gellert allowed himself to continue.

"Even past all the obstacles to accomplish this method, a normal mage would fall from exhaustion due to not being able to withstand the amount of magic his body would expel, it may be dangerous for most mages to attempt." As the dark lord was explaining his theory he began to get excited, his words were beginning to gain power and he let out an emotion that was out of his old monotony.

"But this is where the injustice of the world comes in, people are not equal, there are people with talents that others don't have, no matter how hard people try there will always be someone who was born better than someone else, You Harry Potter have incredible magical talent and potential, and the amount of magic you had as a teenager was a testament to that, that's why, although you will have obstacles this method will only benefit you." But then all the excitement he exuded from the former dark lord was suddenly extinguished.

"Especially now that you'll have the opportunity to do it as a teenager." And this seemed to be the main point Harry was getting at when he asked his mentor the question.

Seeing that Harry was coming to the right conclusion, the dark lord simply let out another sigh before continuing.

"There is a limit to when one's magic stops growing Mr. Potter, it is just like a person's body stops growing when they reach adulthood, it is what I call magical maturity." Then Geller conjured up some sort of Wand, it had a curious shape that Harry recognised.

"It was not until I had the elder wand in my possession that I invented this method, the wand taught me a different way of seeing, of feeling magic, but it took me years to come to understand this, to create a way to improve, unfortunately by then it was too late, I had already reached magical maturity, even if I did this method my magic would not increase as much as it would have done if I had not yet reached that maturity. I had in my hands an incredible knowledge but I could never use it". It seemed that this was one of the older wizard's biggest regrets, Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for his mentor, if he had managed to have this method at his disposal, how powerful would the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald have been then, would anyone have been able to stop him?

The dark wizard regained his composure and his proud bearing and looked again at the young wizard before him, the apprentice who could accomplish what he never could.

"Yet I was already a powerful wizard on my own, I didn't need more power than I had, and unlike Voldemort I didn't feel the need to resort to dark rituals that altered my body for greater power."

"So even Tom thought that his power before submitting to such things was not enough to face his enemy, did he?" asked Harry, but, though it was a question in his mind, he knew the answer.

"That's right Mr. Potter, that's why this method is part of the deal we have, you will reach heights that no one has ever reached by your own talent and effort, and only then will the time come when you will fulfil your promise to me. Then Geller looked directly into the young wizard's emerald eyes, as if trying to see his very essence, his soul.

"Do you think you're up to the challenge, Mr. Potter?" With that last question Harry's memories ended and his mind returned to the present where he was.

You ask for nothing old man, thought Harry as he remembered that last question, Harry had big goals to achieve, but no doubt his mentor cared more about his promise than anything else, no pressure Harry thought.

What is this place? Harry Potter was in the Room of Requirements, fortunately the room was capable of reproducing almost anything a person would need and out of it came this sort of clearing in the forest.

Unfortunately, although Hogwarts is a magical environment, it is not a natural one, it is because of the high concentration of magic and wizards in one place that there was so much magic around, so you could say it is a highly artificial magical environment.

Luckily for Harry it had helped him achieve his goal, Harry was now able to sense his magic fully and expel it, the first time it was a gentle wave, this time it was the blizzard that came out with him at the centre.

Harry had already achieved magical sensitivity, and after several days of trying after his encounter with Draco he was finally able to expel the magic he felt whenever he wanted, now the problem was that he had to keep the magic expelled in constant control around himself it took him a long time to reach this point and now he had to control it and that was just the beginning to start exercising his magic constantly so that it would grow more.

In the end he opted to call this method Aura magic, since at the end of the process what he was looking for while expelling his magic, but keeping it close to him in a complete control surrounding him, was that, as an aura, it would be easier to teach it anyway now with a short name to sum up the method.

"It's going to take me a while to get her under control when it comes to expelling her and longer to do it constantly" thought Harry speaking to himself before letting out a sigh "I guess Hermione should be done by now."

Harry thought as he stood up and stretched his numb limbs.

Susan had asked Hermione for help with an essay for Muggle Studies class, Harry didn't know Susan was in that class with Hermione, but it didn't surprise him. She was the niece of the headmistress of the DMLE, surely she was genuinely curious about the non-magical world.

The bad thing was that the class was so backward and uninformed that it was useless, Hermione had constantly complained about the class and how it was a waste of time.

It seemed that Divination class alone was more annoying to Hermione than Muggle Studies, Harry didn't want Hermione to put herself under any more pressure than last time, so he was waiting for the right moment to suggest that she drop the cards, he knew he could do it, he just had to find the perfect moment.

So as Hermione went to help Susan, Harry decided to continue training while they finished, Harry had already told Hermione that he would teach her anything he knew that could help her improve as well, Merlin knows she is already past her school year and Harry suspected she had similar magical potential.

The reason he didn't teach her about the magical Aura yet is because he didn't control it himself and it could be dangerous, so he wanted to be able to control it perfectly so he could help Hermione if something happened or just make it easier for her and avoid the problems he's having.

So, his plan was to get the Aura magic under control before he suggested she drop the useless subjects Hermione has taken.

Picking up his things that were lying on the side of the pond and leaving the Room of Requirement he set out to find Hermione, he had an idea where she was, but not for sure. This made him think of another of his goals and plans he was currently working on, the marauder's map, this time he wasn't going to sneak off to Hogsmeade, so no the twins

wouldn't give him the map, although he wanted to get the map back from his father that could wait, the map was just a tool which made him think of his next target, Petter Petigrew.

The rat's days were numbered, he had a simple plan to capture Peter and for that capture to help free Sirius, the idea was quite simple really, no complications and the perfect date to do it would be Halloween, it always seemed that on Halloween something bad happened, well this time Harry would take control that day, it would be a perfect day he would see to that.

As he walked through the corridors it seemed that daylight had ended, the corridors of the old castle were dark and the torches that lit the way did not generate enough light to give a sense of security for people who have problems with dark places, it gave a rather enigmatic and gloomy air to the castle at night, at least in these corridors that do not seem to be frequented by many people.

It was then that he heard voices nearby, it sounded like they were turning the corner, he didn't think it was important and thought it was just some naughty students looking for privacy, he was about to pass by when he heard a voice he recognised immediately.

"I'm not sure what you mean," said a voice, a light voice, very soft, but it sounded both distracted and dreamy.

"Listen Loony we warned you what would happen if you kept talking about your nonsense when you went back to class," said another voice that sounded like it was annoyed.

"It seems you need a lesson to stop talking about things that don't exist," said another voice that seemed to have a different accent.

"Just because there is something you can't see doesn't mean it doesn't exist," said the dreamy voice, but it seemed more focused than I expected, and seemed to have conviction in its statement.

Luna Lovegood's voice sounded like the one Harry remembered but, the conviction in her voice was something he didn't remember, when he first met her it seemed like nothing was taken seriously as if every time you spoke to her she was with you but at the same time present somewhere else, even after getting to know her better she still didn't sound with the conviction he heard a moment ago.

"It's not my fault that your eyesight is so limited that you can't see beyond your nose," said Luna, relaxed as if she didn't seem to be in trouble, and with a bit of sass in her tone.

"You know what Loony, last year we were very nice to you because it was your first year, but apparently that just made you not get the message," explained the voice I didn't recognise any more irritated.

"Then I guess there's only one way to make her understand, when a child misbehaves you have to punish him," said the second voice without recognising it.

And it made sense to Harry then, Harry had had an idea at the time, but never voiced it, as someone who had suffered similar things in his childhood he should have recognised it but didn't know what to do at the time, but now it was all too clear, Luna had been bullied, and for what seemed like quite some time, when Harry met her she should have been starting her 4th year at Hogwarts, meaning that unlike now who only experienced her first year, at the time she had 3 years of constant bullying.

No wonder Harry was surprised to hear a more defiant Luna, that part of her personality was destroyed or hidden by so many years of bullying, she simply lost the will to resist.

And it seems that this was the point at which it all escalated, if what he heard was true in her first year they should have bullied her a bit, but from this point just starting her second year was when they should have moved on to more physical bullying which made the poor girl shut herself up in a shell.

"Would you attack a student two years younger than you?" asked Luna, understanding what the older girls meant, now with a visible fear in her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about, we'll just teach a stray cat who misbehaved a lesson," said the hateful voice and for Harry that was enough.

Harry had heard enough to be able to confirm that it was going to happen and that it had happened before, he would have a defence and a case to make in front of any professor he cared about, so Harry could go out now and help her former or future friend?

The two senior witches raised their wands to look at a Luna leaning against the wall of the corridor, her face was now marked with fear and that amused them quite a lot, they were about to cast a spell when suddenly the torch behind them went out taking with it the lighting in the corridor where they were.

Alarmed, the two older girls looked at each other, barely visible in the darkness of the place, when suddenly there was the sound of footsteps that somehow echoed with each step.

The sound came from the left side of the corridor where they were standing, they both turned in fright to where the footsteps were coming from and raised their wands.

When suddenly two bolts of lightning flew straight towards the newly raised wands and knocked them out of their hands, the surprised girls were unable to react as a voice could be heard talking about where the footsteps were coming from, getting closer and closer.

"It is an interesting scene I have before my eyes," said the voice with a touch of amusement.

When the footsteps came close enough to a light night light coming from a window the person became visible to the three girls present, although the light was light and only hit one side of his body making the rest covered in darkness, it was enough to recognise the person in front of them, after all he was a very recognizable wizard.

"Potter?" asked the girl Harry didn't recognise so far, now that he could see her a little, though not much due to the lack of light, it was enough to recognise them, Marietta Edgecombe and another student he didn't recognise, she had Asian features, but he couldn't remember her name.

"Ladies," said Harry calmly.

"What do you want Potter, this is none of your business, you'd better go on your way, would you!" Marietta spat when she thought she could handle the situation, after all despite the rumours about him, Potter is only a student a year below her, even though she tried to convince herself a part of her was afraid, the atmosphere certainly didn't help.

"Ah, but this does indeed concern me," Harry said before looking at Luna, "the little lady you're bothering is my dear friend Luna," this surprised all three girls, including the aforementioned witch.

"So, I'll ask you a favour, if you'll be so kind as to leave my friend alone from now on we can make this incident water under the bridge and get on with our lives." Harry said as he kept his arms tucked behind his back.

"And I'll give you the password to our common room too!" replied Marietta in a voice laden with sarcasm.

"Listen Potter this is our house's business, so be a good boy and stay out of it, don't be a big deal and go away" shouted Marietta waiting for her friend to back her up, but for some reason her friend hadn't spoken in a while and just looked on in fear of the situation.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Edgecombe, if you don't promise to stop bothering my friend Luna I will have no choice but to take action." Said Harry with a tired tone as if he was feeling regretful.

"What are you going to do, accuse us to a professor? You have no proof," said Marietta.

"Unfortunately, in my time at Hogwarts I've come to realise that relying on professors to fix problems doesn't help," said Harry before letting out a sigh.

Then he looked at the two girls and his face suddenly became stoic; all signs of emotion began to fade from his features before he continued.

"No, I'll take it upon myself to take action on my own" when he said that Harry raised his wand quickly and just as in his confrontation with Malfoy he again non-verbally used his Illusionary Flames spell.

This time it wasn't as huge and flashy as before, no its target this time was different, several blue flames appeared around the far floor of the girls, and behind where Harry was standing, the fiery spots seemed to elongate like lines and the girls were wondering what was going on when they heard a loud noise.

It sounded like a hissing sound, and before they could wonder what that was, the patches of blue fire on the floor began to move, then behind the girls and Harry they began to move closer to surround the girls.

It was then when more hissing noises started to be heard when the girls realised what was going on, they were snakes, they were snakes that were wrapped in some kind of blue fire, then they realised what it was they heard earlier.

Parseltongue, they hadn't forgotten Harry thought, the incident with the Heir of Slytherin was still fresh in their minds, when everyone thought he was responsible for the petrifactions everyone condemned him yes, but they were also afraid of him, Even though the problem had been solved it was still a short time later and the fear that gripped the castle was still present in several students, Harry took full advantage of that subconscious fear to make the girls in front of him grounded, he had to make them think that he could cause the same problems as the mysterious Heir if they didn't leave Luna alone.

Since no one in the school other than those involved knew the truth about the Slytherin heir, or how it all came about, there were people who still looked at Harry Potter warily, and Harry used that to help create this scene of terror for the girls in front of him.

But of course, Harry didn't do all this instantly, no, for a scenario to be executed properly half the credit comes from the prep work. When Harry heard where the conversation between Luna and her bullies was going he worked quickly, quietly, quickly transfigured his shirt buttons into snakes, luckily thanks to a sweater he was wearing and his robes it wasn't noticeable, he used the geminio charm to double the group of snakes, and then used the serpensortia spell to summon a few more, when Harry had his mini squadron of snakes he made the flame of the torch that lit the corridor disappear.

He then used the echo of his footsteps to attract the girls' attention, so they did not pay attention to the snakes moving in the darkness, nor to the noise they made as they slithered.

The last step was to use the illusory flame spell, to invoke the fire that did not burn, but was very showy on the snakes, and to use parseltongue to tell them to advance to a certain point.

All in order to create this scene in which he portrayed himself as a likeness of the memory, or the idea itself, that these girls have in their heads about the heir of Slytherin.

As the snakes got closer and closer to the girls, Harry began to advance as well.

"This is the only warning I will give you, leave my friends alone, or you won't even be able to find their petrified bodies."

Harry said as he stood in front of the girls, looking them straight in the eye.

"Are we clear?" asked Harry now with a calm smile, as if he was talking to a close friend and there wasn't a horrible scene around him.

The two girls could only nod their heads as they did not trust their voices not to betray them out of fear.

"Perfect, here," Harry handed the girls their wands. "You can go now and remember, we'll all move on with our lives as if none of this has happened, is that clear?"

The girls could only nod again before turning and running off, waiting a few seconds until they were gone Harry let out a sigh and waved his wand, immediately everything was gone, the fire was gone, the snakes vanished and others turned into buttons that were left on the floor of the corridor, Harry threw a small fire to re-light the torch before approaching young Luna who at some point in the confrontation had sat on the floor with her back against the wall.

She looked up at him with wide eyes that had that dreamy touch she remembered but that like her voice were more focused on this plane than they had been before.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but I don't think they'll be bothering you any more for now," Harry said as he held out his hand.

Luna stared at the hand and then at him before commenting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Harry Potter, that was some fascinating magic you did there." Said Luna who had yet to take his hand.

"Oh, you know a bit of this a bit of that, add a few silly tricks to the act and presto you've got a scene worthy of an award" Harry joked while still looking at Luna, who looked as if she was debating something in her head.

"You said I was your friend, and I have a feeling we're friends, but I'm sure this is the first time we've met." Luna said as she looked into Harry's eyes as if searching for something in them.

Harry was a little surprised but didn't show it, she was Luna, she always acted like she could see things that others couldn't, like she knew more things that mere mortals couldn't, he just accepted her thought.

"Well we can get to know each other from now on, it's always good to have more friends," said Harry smiling sincerely as he really wanted to be friends with Luna.

As if Luna sensed the truth in his words she finally smiled and took Harry's hand to help her to her feet as she spoke.

"I'd love to!"

Luna was small, true she was small before, but a second year Luna looked very young, but this may be because in the last few days Harry had grown a few inches, Tett had said that without the parasite in his scar, he would eventually return to the height he should have been originally, because thanks to malnutrition and the parasite that fed on Harry's magic, Harry himself struggled to grow properly.

So Tett told him to fix his diet and without the Horcrux he would have a nice quick growth spurt when he returned to the world of the living.

Then Harry, who had grown from a small stature to one of the tallest in his year group, had to look down to meet Luna's eyes.

"So, I was on my way to rescue my girlfriend from the clutches of the evil puffs," said Harry amused. "Would my new friend like to join me?"

"It would be my pleasure," said Luna, amused by Harry's antics, and they both left the scene.

Hermione was in the library with Susan, Hanna and at some point, a Slytherin student from her year, Daphne Greengras, had joined the study group, the latter had had a question in Arithmancy and went to the library, seeing Hermione Granger with a couple of Hufflepuff girls she decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

Despite the beliefs of several purebloods in Slytherin, deep down they all knew that the best student in their school group was Hermione Granger, they would never say it out loud and many would deny it but, Daphne was a person who took advantage of the opportunities that life gave her, she knew that talking to Granger would be more enlightening than reading a book and since she had joined Potter she was no longer close to the younger male Weasley, so it was easier to get close to her.

She also seemed more relaxed on her own, and didn't look like she was going to shout at anyone who interrupted her study who wasn't Harry Potter.

So, Daphne had come up and asked to join the varied study group, Hermione didn't hesitate and let her sit in, Susan was a little wary at first, but that passed quickly, Hanna just didn't think anything of it.

They had been studying and had managed to answer both Susan and Daphne's original questions, until Hanna got tired and asked for a break, then started asking Hermione about her relationship with Harry.

"So, Hermione, what's it like dating Harry Potter?" asked Hanna happily.

"Of course, you don't have to answer" Susan quickly added as she tried to look at her friend angrily for her obvious indiscretion.

Daphne said nothing, but all three could see that she was quite focused on the conversation.

Hermione hesitated for a moment, she had always dodged questions like this with her gossipy classmates, but these girls were different, she didn't think they were going to go and tell the whole school and they seemed to respect her not saying anything if she didn't want to.

Hermione had always spoken to her mother, but since she had arrived at Hogwarts it had been difficult to do so, letters weren't the same and catching up on holidays was good but very time consuming.

Hermione accepted that she could talk to these girls now, even if it wasn't much. "That's wonderful," Hermione said as she smiled, unable to contain her smile. "The smile on your face says it all," said Susan amused.

"To be honest, I thought boys our age wouldn't be good partners for years," Daphne commented, trying to appear disinterested, but not fooling anyone.

"Merlin knows they've all got a lot of growing up to do," complained Hanna.

"Harry is different, he's very mature for his age, but he also understands when it's time to have fun," said Hermione before continuing to look nowhere in particular.

"What surprises me isn't his maturity or his ability to be laid back like that, no what surprised me most of all is that Harry is very romantic" Hermione said feeling a slight blush on her face.

"Yes yes, it looks incredibly romantic, watching them in class is so satisfying that I can't help but smile when I look at the two of you," said Susan with a little squeal.

"Certainly, of our age group Potter seems ahead of the curve on several points," commented Daphne to which the others nodded.

"Aaaah, what do I have to do to find a Harry in my life?" complained Hanna as she leaned back against the table. "The only other boy who looks just as good and acts just as good too is Cedric Digory, and he's older!" finished Hanna as she covered her face with her hands.

"And he seems to be interested in a certain older Ravenclaw girl," Susan commented, amused by her friend's complaints.

"I guess it's still too early to expect to find a mate for the rest of us," Daphne commented, surprising the three girls, it was one thing to participate in the conversion, but openly declaring her interest in finding a mate was something they hadn't expected from the stoic Slytherin.

"I guess I was lucky to find Harry," Hermione said as she relaxed.

"Tell me, the way you look at each other it seems safe to say you'll get married one day," Susan said.

Hermione hid her surprise at Susan's conclusion perfectly well, for it was entirely correct, more so than Susan realised.

"I ask to be a bridesmaid," said Hanna raising her hand as if asking for permission, which made the three girls laugh, who were silenced by Mrs. Pince shortly afterwards.

"I guess it's almost time to go back to our common rooms," said Daphne.

"Tempus" Hermione said a spell and some kind of clock appeared in front of her.

"Yeah, it looks like we should start picking up, I told Harry I'd be in the library, if I know him well he should be here to pick me up soon.

At that comment two girls let out an "aawwww" while the third was impressed by the Muggle-born student easy handling of upperclassmen spells - it was one thing to be clever in theory, but Granger was surely just as good in practice.

"Speak of the devil," said Hana as they pointed to the entrance of the library, to which the rest of the girls turned and saw that Harry was entering the library.

"Looks like you were right about Harry, Hermione," said Susan.

"And he's got company," Daphne pointed out, to which the girls saw Harry enter with a petite Ravenclaw girl, she had blonde hair, the girl was walking around prancing lightly as she seemed to be talking to Harry about something.

He answered her as he looked around the library looking for something, or someone, when his eyes met Hermione's he smiled, she smiled back and waved at him, Harry looked back at Luna and pointed to where they were going.

When he reached Hermione's table, she stood up to greet him only for Harry to hug her and give her a quick, chaste kiss on the lips, Hermione blushed a little at having an audience, but didn't reproach him.

After hugging her Harry turned to the table and looked at the company he was keeping, then bowed exaggeratedly.

"My apologies ladies for not greeting you, but I was separated for so long from my beautiful lady that I couldn't resist" finished Harry as he used one hand to clutch his chest dramatically tightly as if in pain.

"Idiot," Hermione said, punching him lightly on the shoulder, but with an amused smile on her face.

At Harry's exchange and silliness, the three girls couldn't help but laugh. "Hey Harry, who's your friend?" asked Hanna looking at Luna curiously.

Harry smiled in amusement and turned to look at Luna, he smiled at her and she smiled back, then before anyone could react Harry grabbed Luna under her arms by her armpits and lifted her up as if she was a rag doll and was showing her to Hermione.

"Hermione look, I found her in the hallway, her name is Luna" said Harry smiling amused as Luna just kept her smile, the three girls sat there with their mouths open as they watched the strange presentation, before they could say anything Harry continued.

"Can we keep it?" Harry asked like a stray kitten, looking at Hermione, she looked at the Luna girl for a few seconds with a completely serious face.

"Meow?" Luna said as she tilted her head to one side and still held her smile, looking up at Hermione's serious face.

"Mmm... only if she relieves herself outside" Hermione said with the most serious countenance she could, the three seated girls were thankful to be seated as after this sort of introduction between the couple and the blonde girl they didn't know how to react, they had their mouths open and stared at them in disbelief when suddenly both Harry, Hermione and Luna started laughing amongst themselves.

Apparently, it had been a prank set up by Harry and the girl Luna and Hermione had immediately identified it and played along, after all, the pair knew each other well.

After Madam Pince shushed them again they sat down and really introduced themselves this time, since Harry didn't know Daphne outside of class.

"Pleasure to meet you all, my name is Luna Lovegood," Luna said as she gave a slight bow of her head and they began to talk about how she had just met a Harry Potter.

"So, you're saying that Harry just saved you from some stalkers?" Susan asked, her tone serious, she seemed to be really annoyed at people who could pick on this little witch who was now her friend.

"Yes, that's right, he did some impressive magic," said Luna.

"But I think that will be a story for another day, it's already late ladies and we should get back before curfew passes." Said Harry calling out interrupting the conversation and the attention of the female group.

"Harry's right, it was fun studying together, maybe we could do it again in the future, but for now we should go." Hermione said as they stood up and grabbed their books, the rest followed suit and they all left the library, they said their goodbyes and each went on their way, as they were reaching the Gryffindor stairs, Hermione who was one step above Harry turned around and kissed him in surprise, Harry was surprised, but it didn't take him any time at all to respond to the kiss.

It was the longest kiss they'd had since the one that brought their souls together and they broke apart only when breathing became a necessity, leaving Harry and Hermione flushed and breathing hard.

"What was that for?" asked Harry very flushed, but with a smile on his face.

"Just for being you, for being so kind to help Luna, why I wanted to, you know any excuse will do," replied Hermione just as blushing, but with a big smile on her face.

"No doubt it'll just be me, more often if I get kisses like that," Harry commented before giving her a quick kiss.

Hermione smiled and then took his hand and led him back up the stairs.

"Come on, I want to snuggle with you on the sofa for a bit before we go to sleep," Hermione said, and that was a request Harry would gladly agree to.