Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (18)

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Chapter Eighteen: Long Time Coming

After the sudden departure of the Slytherin students involved in the attack on Draco, Hogwarts went on virtual lock down for the remainder of the year. For those students who were old enough to have been there, it reminded them of the time four years earlier when the castle was locked down in order to try and trap a supposed Death Eater.

This time, it was being done to keep out the real ones.

Dumbledore had, admittedly, not put much energy into trapping Sirius Black, but he had needed to give the appearance of it. This time, there were no false appearances. His drive and commitment to keeping his students safe verged on the maniacal. Professor McGonagall took over most of the Headmaster duties at that time, as Dumbledore spent the bulk of his time divided between strengthening the wards set up to protect the school and meeting with Order members about locating the students that had fled. So far, they had not been able to find any trace of them.

Owing to this heightened level of security and the stress of worrying about what might happen at any moment, the remainder of the term brought little cause for celebration. Gryffindor had bested Hufflepuff for the Quidditch Cup, but even Ron's elation over that was tempered by the general mood in the school. He, along with the rest of the group, turned to each other for support and did their best to help out the rest of the school, as well.

Still, despite the situation, Hogwarts continued to be a place of learning. Seventh years were still required to take their N.E.W.T. exams, and that meant long hours of study and research. By the time the last day of the term came, even Hermione was tired of being in the library.

"If I have to look up one more obscure witch who did something to some even more obscure witch eight hundred years ago, I'll go mental!"

Ron laughed.

"You mean even more so?"

Hermione gave her boyfriend a nasty glare and held up the back of her right hand to him.

"Very funny, Ronald. Pick a finger."

The rest of the group all laughed as Ron shot an even nastier glance at his sister.

"Gee, I wonder where Hermione learned that from?"

Ginny took on an angelic look. It was a truly remarkable feat for her.

"Don't look at me. My virgin ears are simple appalled. Luna must have taught her that one."

Hearing her name, Luna raised her head off her own boyfriend's shoulder.

"Oh, no, that was Ginny. I'm much more fond of the two finger salute combined with a loud raspberry. I find that to be much more English. The middle finger seems much more lowbrow to me. I'm sure the Americans must have come up with that."

Ginny laughed at her blonde friend.

"Oh, believe me, I can get a lot more lowbrow than that, Luna. Growing up with Fred and George has provided me with a mastery of lewd and crude humor. One of my personal favorites involves a hermit named Dave..."

Ron quickly interrupted his sister.

"Ginny! You are NOT going to tell that story in front of Hermione and Luna!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked closely at Hermione and Luna's chests before examining her own.

"Sorry, I forgot I wasn't a girl, too. Silly me. It is encouraging though that you are starting to figure out what they look like, Ron. Although, to be fair, anyone could tell Hermione is a girl a mile away with the set on her. And Luna, although not overly blessed in the chest, has a lovely arse on her. Those are usually dead giveaways."

Ron's face went bright red.

"Ginny! You shouldn't talk like that! Harry and Neville are sitting right here!"

Harry and Neville emphatically shook their heads and motioned for Ron to be quiet.

"No, please, we're not embarrassed in the least. Tell us more about Luna's arse. Talk slowly and use as many descriptive words as you can."

Neville pretended to wipe sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"I whole heartedly agree with Harry. I'd love to hear more about Hermione's chest. Feel free to mention letters, or combinations of letters in referring to them."

Madame Pince barely caught a red flash when she looked up to see Ron run out of the library. Normally, she would have banned him from the library for running, but this was the last day. Besides that, she could still well remember the things his parents had done when they were in school. She still got a funny turn every time she was behind the reference desk.

That night an end of the year party was held for the seventh years in the great hall. Admission to the party was restricted to seventh years, although they could bring a younger date. It was not a formal occasion, but many of the students dressed up anyway. This was their last night at Hogwarts and they wanted to make it memorable.

Harry was dressed in jet-black dress robes with emerald green cummerbund and handkerchief. He arrived with Luna on his arm, both of them looking very happy and very much in love. Some of the students still looked upon her as strange, but no one could deny her beauty any longer. Her normally straggly blonde hair was done up in an intricate braid that showed her long slender neck. She wore no makeup whatsoever, as per usual, although her neck and shoulders were lightly powdered. She wore a long flowing violet colored dress, which was accentuated by her use of actual violets in her hair. Lavender immediately commented to Parvarti that the green and violet combination was a "criminal fashion faux pas", but also agreed that it seemed to suit the eclectic couple.

Neville entered the party wearing navy blue robes with a wine colored cummerbund and handkerchief. At his arm was a perfectly radiant looking Ginny wearing a rather form fitting black silk dress. Apart from accentuating her modest curves; the contrast of her flame red hair, pale white skin, and the deep black of the dress made it nearly impossible for the men around her not to stare lustily at her and jealously at Neville. Neither of them stopped grinning all night.

Ron's arrival with Hermione was met with even more open staring. Nearly everyone there remembered three years previously when Ron had come to the Yule Ball wearing the most ghastly robes they had ever seen. Even more of them vividly remembered Hermione's transformation from an asexual bookworm into a very attractive and very definite female object of desire. Ron now wore tailored black robes with the symbol of Gryffindor stitched in gold thread over his heart. Upon seeing him, Padma cursed herself for not working harder to keep Ron for herself. They way he looked now would have made that disastrous night worth it. Hermione also caused a lot of people to curse their own misfortune. As divine as she had looked then, she looked positively beatific now. Her formal gown was not designed to be seductive, but it didn't need to be. Hermione herself was seductive. Her normally bushy hair had been tamed enough to put into a loose bun with a few stray tendrils hinting at it's usual wildness. Her dress was a royal blue in color and showed off her long toned legs nicely.

In short, all three boys found it hard to sit still. The girls giggling as they danced didn't help, either. Ron in particular was grateful for the anti-stain charm he had placed on his robes.

During one of these dances, Harry decided he had apparently died in his sleep last night. The feel of Luna's warm body against his, the look of love in her impossibly beautiful eyes, and the smell of the violets in her hair and the similarly scented powder on her creamy white shoulders all added up to give him a feeling of unrestrained euphoria. While taking in yet again the sight of her shining multi-colored eyes, Harry remembered something he had wanted to speak with her about.

"Luna, can I ask you something?"

Luna raised her head from Harry's shoulder and smiled sweetly up at him.

"Of course you can, Harry. If it helps, I can assure you that I would accept your offer."

Although an immensely powerful wizard, Harry was still woefully ignorant on some matters. As a result, he failed to recognize what an opportunity he was missing out on.

"Huh? I wasn't going to ask you a yes or no question."

Luna sighed deeply and placed her head back on Harry's shoulder.

"Well, I guess that does narrow things down a bit."

Harry had no idea what had just happened but pressed forward.

"I wanted to ask you about what happened that night you and Hermione saved Draco. What caused you to glow like that?"

Luna didn't answer right away. Harry was about to repeat the question, thinking she had not heard him, when she pulled away from him.

"Let's go somewhere more private."

Luna's tone of voice was uncharacteristically free of emotion and caused Harry to regret his asking. Still, he could not help the strange feeling that he should know about it.

The two slipped out of the great hall and found an empty classroom. Actually, it was the second they had come to. Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones had occupied the first engaged in a much more than friendly embrace. Harry had been reluctant to leave, but his feelings for Luna won out. Eventually, once they had found a non-occupied room, Luna motioned for Harry to sit down. Luna remained standing before him and began her tale.

"Harry, I've never talked about this with anyone before. Not one soul. Dumbledore knows about it, but only because he knew my mother."

Harry sat up in his chair.

"This has something to do with your mother?"

Luna nodded.

"It has a great deal to do with her. You remember me telling you that my mother died when I was young?"

Harry nodded. He remembered feeling an affinity with Luna when she had told him about that.

"Yes, I remember you telling me about that. She was killed in an accident."

Luna stopped pacing and bowed her head. Harry thought she might start crying, but she didn't.

"Yes, she was. What I didn't tell you was that I caused the accident. My mother died because of me."

Harry's heart sank. He knew how it felt to blame yourself for the death of someone you loved and jumped up to embrace her tightly in his arms.

"No, it couldn't have been your fault, Luna. You were just a child, like I was. Accidents happen, ok? It wasn't your fault."

Luna began to relax in Harry's arms but then tensed up and pulled away from him.

"No, it was my fault, Harry. My mother was known as Jorda Guddine. In her native Norwegian, the name meant 'Earth Goddess'."

Harry couldn't help from laughing.

"Her name was 'Earth Goddess'? Wow. That's quite a name. Was she a flower child?"

Luna didn't laugh. She soberly shook her head.

"No, she wasn't. It wasn't really her name; it was more of a title. Her family, my family, is from a long line of Druids. They have long been pledged to preserving the Earth and all aspects of nature. Because of that, my family has always had heightened powers involving nature, along with the ability to commune with animals. What set my mother apart were her more advanced abilities. Along with her closeness with nature, my mother also possessed the rare ability to perform empathetic magic, as well as other rarely found magic."

Harry was confused. A part of him had always known there was a lot more to Luna than anyone knew, but he had no idea of the true extent of it. Professor Binns had lectured about Druid magic once, but he had slept through the bulk of it. He wished that Hermione were here to help him understand.

"What kind of magic did she have, Luna? And what exactly do you mean by, 'empathetic magic'?"

Luna finally stopped pacing and took a seat directly across from Harry. To do this, she had to adjust her dress in order to sit down. Harry immediately noticed the flash of a long shapely leg. He was, however, able to push the thought from his mind in order to focus on what his girlfriend was saying. It wasn't easy.

"Empathetic magic is not unheard of, but is very uncommon. Most of those who do have it become accomplished Healers, and all are females. Empathetic magic allows the user to absorb emotions and to alter them. I have done that for you many times when you have been depressed. It can also absorb the physical pain of others in order to heal them. I did that with Draco, and my mother did it with me.

"My mother also had the ability to project herself into more than a single mind at one time. The process could be compared to Legillimency, but on a larger scale. During our battle at the ministry, all of the Death Eaters attempted to use Legillimency to gain control of our minds. Up until I was knocked unconscious, I was able to reside in all of our minds and set up barriers to keep them out. If I hadn't, I fear our campaign would have turned out much worse than it did."

Harry continued to sit in stunned silence. He had never given a thought to why none of the Death Eaters had tried to attack his mind in order to force him into giving them the prophecy. He certainly wouldn't have been able to stop them at the time. He now realized that he had Luna to thank for it, along with a lot of other things.

"I also have a limited ability for precognition, and the ability to know when someone is lying. With these powers, however, come limitations. I am, as you know, incapable of lying. I also have an unbreakable bond with nature that requires me to feel the sun's warmth and the moon's glow daily. If I were to ever go longer than twenty-four hours without being outdoors my health and magic would begin to fail. After a few days, I would die."

Harry nodded. He had known she could not lie, and he had suspected that her love of the outdoors stemmed from more than just wanting to hunt for potentially chimerical creatures.

"Your mother must have been a very powerful witch, Luna. What happened that caused her to die?"

Luna took in a slow deep breath and told the story for the first time to anyone.

"Mother had been working on strengthening her abilities of empathetic magic. She had been able to absorb the effects of two out of the three unforgivables. She and daddy were working for the Auror Division of the Ministry at the time doing research. She had been able to counteract the effects of Imperio by projecting the influence of the control back into the mind of the caster, effectively giving control to the intended victim. She had also been able to counteract Crucio by absorbing the pain it was intended to cause and projecting it back at the attacker. The Ministry was very anxious to utilize her power to help its Aurors defend themselves from Death Eaters.

"The last obstacle was the killing curse. She and daddy had been working on a safe way to experiment on it for months. One day, while daddy was on another assignment for the Ministry, mother felt she had come up with a solution. I distantly remember her sitting at her desk writing something very lengthy on parchment. Afterwards, she conjured an ape to test her experiment on. Since apes are so closely related to man, and because she could communicate with them, she felt the choice was a perfect one. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice me watching her. I used to watch her and daddy all the time when they were working on things. From reading her notes later, I discovered that she had planned on using the killing curse on the ape and then, with her ability to communicate with it, block the spell from killing it. Her idea had been to lessen the effect enough that the ape would only be rendered unconscious, as opposed to being killed instantly. From there, she planned on perfecting the process so that no harm whatsoever would befall the victim of the curse. If successful, she would take away the most lethal of curses that the Death Eaters had at their disposal. Unfortunately, mother was never able to finish her research.

"When mother conjured the ape, I had no idea what she planned to do with it. In my young mind I thought that she might have intended it to be a pet for daddy, since he had always had a great love for animals. I was able to enter the apes mind to communicate with it myself. Apparently, having two different voices communicating with it caused it to go into a rage, because it charged me upon sight. Mother had already cast the killing curse, but she had not anticipated that it would move, or that I would appear. The curse that had been intended for the ape hit me, instead. As I felt the rush of death hit me, I could actually feel my soul escaping from my body. As the world went black, however, I could feel my mother's hands upon me. My eyes then flew open to see the life draining from my mother. She had died for me, and it had been all my fault."

Luna then burst into tears and began to shake violently from the emotions that were being released for the first time since it all happened. She had held onto her survivor's guilt for nearly ten years now and it had finally become too much for her. Alarmed by the intensity of her anguish, all Harry could do is to gather her in his arms and attempt to console her.

"It's ok, Luna. Let it all out. It wasn't your fault, ok? Your mother gave her life so that you could live. She loved you, Luna, she still does. She wants you to live. I love you, Luna. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Your mother made that possible. She would want you to be happy."

After nearly an hour of fitful sobbing, Luna began to quiet. She felt emotionally drained from the experience, but she also felt her burden of guilt beginning to lighten.

"Thank you, Harry. You're right, of course. Mother has told me over and over that she would do the same thing if given another chance. And, yes, she does want us to be happy."

Harry was rubbing small circles on Luna's back when he realized what she had just said.

"She said she wants 'us' to be happy? Does that mean, you know, you and me in general, or you and me...together?"

Luna actually laughed at Harry's bumbling question. He grinned at the sight of the smile on her face it caused.

"My mother was very gifted at Divination, Harry. She knew about 'us' before we ever met."

Harry's relieved grin turned into a look of wonderment. What else did Luna's mother know about them? Before he could worry more about that, another thought came into his head.

"Luna, you said your parents were both working as researchers for the Ministry. What caused your dad to leave them and start up a newspaper so opposed to them?"

Luna's face turned grave again.

"After mother died, daddy resigned. He said that the Ministry was responsible for her death and the ruin of his own life. He spent most of the next year in mourning before focusing on doing his own research. He started up The Quibbler in order to publish his research and to fund his traveling. He was offered a post at The Daily Prophet but he declined it, saying the Ministry too heavily influenced it. For daddy, The Quibbler is a true labor of love. Something to occupy his mind with besides the memories of mother and his fears for my own safety."

Harry smiled and kissed Luna slightly on her soft lips.

"I can't help him with the memories of your mother, but I can help protect his daughter. I'll protect you with my life, Luna. I promise."

Luna smiled back at him and returned his kiss.

"He knows you will, Harry. They both do. He's very fond of you, you know. Mother and daddy both agree that I've made an excellent choice of lovers."

Harry blushed a bit at the term "lover", but he liked the sound of Luna saying it.

"I'm glad they approve, Luna."

Luna's eyes twinkled as she kissed Harry again, this time much less chaste than the last one had been.

"I am, too. That's why I've invited daddy to graduation so he can speak with you about our future."

Luna nearly choked on the amount of anxiety Harry suddenly felt.

**********

The next morning, Harry was awoken by the sound of Professor McGonagall calling out his name. It was rather embarrassing since he was clad only in his boxers at the time. His Professor seemed to understand his problem.

"Come along, Potter. I doubt very seriously that there is anything about you that I haven't seen before."

Harry, mostly in fear of invoking the wrath of the fiery Transfiguration professor and Head of House did as he was told and got out of bed to get dressed. As was most often the case, Harry had dreamed of Luna the previous night, along with a stunning cameo by Fleur, and the lingering effects were blatantly obvious. To refute what the professor had said before, she had NEVER seen anything quite like that. She immediately turned around and took a few deep breaths until Harry said that he was now quite decent.

"Yes, well, Potter, yes, you are to report to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately. Miss Granger is waiting for us in the common room."

Harry suddenly became concerned about more than just the fit of his robes.

"What's wrong, Professor? Has something happened?"

Professor McGonagall motioned for him to be quiet.

"All will be revealed in due time, Mr. Potter. Come on, Miss Granger is waiting for us."

Harry followed the professor down the steps from the boy's dorm and met up with an equally uninformed Hermione in the common room.

"What do you think is going on, Harry?"

"I don't know, Hermione. Maybe it's something to do with us being Head Boy and Girl?"

Hermione doubted it, but Professor McGonagall gave them no information on their trip to the Head Master's office. Once there, the professor gave the password to the gargoyles and sent the two teens spiraling upwards. Truth be told, Professor McGonagall was as curious as to what the Head Master wanted to speak with them about as they were.

Once outside the ornate door of the Headmaster's office, Hermione stepped forward and rapped upon it.

"Come in."

Harry opened the door for Hermione to enter first and nearly pushed her down from behind when she froze in the doorway. Although she had never seen the couple standing before her in person, she knew instantly whom they were. Harry also froze in his tracks when he caught sight of them.

"Well, don't we at least get a hug?"

Harry snapped out of his state of shock and ran forward to hug his mother for the first time he could remember. Hermione was more hesitant in her enthusiasm. To her, they were still "Harry's parents." James noticed her apprehension and held out his hand to her.

"Hello, Hermione. I realize this must be an awkward situation for you. Lily and I don't expect you or Harry to act like the last sixteen years didn't happen, ok? This is something all of us are going to have to get accustomed to. Just know this, your mother and I love you, both of you. We did what we had to do in order to keep you both safe."

The tone of the man's voice was a near exact replica of Harry's. The man even looked like a replica of Harry. The fact that his hair stood up at seemingly impossible angles made Hermione realize why Harry couldn't do anything with his own. Somehow knowing the honesty in the man's... her father's... words, she shook his offered hand and returned the smile he gave her. She then turned to look at the tall redhead who was still hugging Harry tightly.

She could hardly believe her eyes.

The hair on Lily Potter's head may have been similar in shade to a Weasley, but the body of it easily explained Hermione's own. The length and style of it reminded Hermione of Carole King, one of her mother's favorite singers.

"My Muggle mother," she reminded herself.

And then there were her eyes. She had heard so many times from so many different people how much Harry's eyes resembled his mother's. She now knew how true that was. They were just as green, just as comforting, and just as beautiful. She felt her awkwardness dissolve greatly as the familiarity of those eyes gave her a deep feeling of calm. She hurtled herself forward and hugged her birth mother tightly.

The laughter of the males present caused Hermione to blush slightly and ease up on her grip. Harry knew from experience about Hermione's bone crushing hugs and decided he would be the one to ask the questions, at least for the time being.

"Mum, I don't understand. In all the pictures I have of you, your hair is straight. How did you pull that off is your hair is actually like Hermione's?"

Lily ran a hand through her daughter's unruly hair.

"Sleakeazy's has been around a long time, Harry. I started using it regularly when your father and I got married. We Evans women have always had very thick hair. Petunia seems to have been the exception on that one. Professor Dumbledore tells me she and her husband have had a change of heart this past year. I had always hoped that she would. She really was very sweet to me, up until I got my Hogwarts letter."

Harry nodded.

"There's a lot more to that than you may know, mum."

Dumbledore beamed at the scene in front of him and felt a tear slide down his cheek. He had always hoped that something good like this would happen for Harry, and now it had. Conjuring enough plush chairs to give them all a place to sit, the five of them settled down for a night full of catching up.

James started by inviting the two of them to come visit them in Ireland. Dumbledore explained that, since they were both of age now, they could do as they wished. Harry and Hermione both agreed, but also made it clear that they wanted to spend some amount of the summer at "home." James and Lily were both surprised that Harry would actually want to spend time with his aunt and uncle, but they were pleased that things had finally seemed to work out between them. Hermione stated that, as far as she was concerned, the parents she had grown up with were still as much her parents as James and Lily were, and that she had no intention of saying anything to them on the contrary. All of them agreed that was a good idea, and that the term "family" meant a great deal more than simple genetics. She claimed that she had learned that idea from Harry long before they found out they were related.

When the topic turned to that of Luna and Ron, Dumbledore excused himself for the night. He could still well remember when it was James and Lily talking about each other to their own parents at graduation. It all seemed like mere moments ago to the aged wizard.

In the end, Harry and Hermione got very little sleep that night. As they sat down for their last breakfast as students at Hogwarts, Ginny and Luna came running in looking very concerned about something.

"Hermione, we need your help with something right away!"

Ron looked at his sister with annoyance.

"What is it now, Ginny? Can't you and Luna figure it out on your own? Some of us are graduation today, you know!"

All three of the girls ignored Ron as Hermione got up to go with them.

"Is it ready?"

Both of the other girls nodded.

"Yes, and it has to be done now. There isn't any time to waste."

The boys picked up on the urgent tone Ginny was using. If it was something big enough to worry her, it must have been something very bad. Harry quickly got up to help.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Hermione turned back towards the boys and beckoned for them to lean in so she could whisper.

"Listen carefully. You three are to meet up with us at the Room of Requirement in fifteen minutes. Make sure you aren't followed."

Neville nervously looked at his watch.

"Hermione, graduation starts in less than two hours! We can't be late for that!"

Instead of Hermione, Luna stepped forward to answer.

"Neville, some things are more important than graduation, or anything else. You will all understand the situation shortly. Be careful, and we will see you in fifteen minutes."

The three girls walked off as the remaining boys stared open mouthed at their retreating backs. Ginny or Hermione telling them off was normal, but Luna? Whatever was going on, it must be a matter of life or death.

Fourteen minutes later, the boys hurriedly made their ways to the Room of Requirement. With the supposed direness of the situation, Ron half expected to see Voldemort himself inside. Harry thought that it might be a secret meeting of the Order. Neville had a horrible image of another attack by the missing Slytherin students.

They weren't even close.

Inside, the room reminded Harry of the game show he used to watch late at night when the Dursley's had forgotten to lock his door under the stairs. There were three doors set into the wall in front of them with one of their names on each door. All three boys looked at one another in complete confusion. What was this all about? Was there some kind of final challenge required before graduating? Ron had never heard any of his brothers mention anything about it. Of course, the twins had told him he'd have to wrestle a troll during the sorting ceremony.

"What's going on, Harry?"

Harry waved his wand over each of the three doors.

"I don't know, Ron. I can't sense any dark magic, but there are traces of the girls using their magic. I wonder why, though?"

Neville moved to stand close to the door bearing his name and put his ear to it.

"I don't hear anything, but I can smell something very faint. Do you think this might be a prank of some kind, or maybe they wanted to tell us each something in private?"

Ron paled.

"In private? Shit. When girls want to tell you something in private it means you're in trouble. Every time my mum says it to dad he always comes back rubbing the back of his head and swearing. I say that we make a break for it."

Neville appeared to agree with Ron's way of thinking and moved to follow him out. Harry grabbed both of them by the arms to halt their retreat.

"No, I don't think that's it. Luna said it was important, and she wouldn't say that unless it was. Whatever this is, we owe it to them to listen to what they have to say. Let's go."

Harry released the two boys and walked through the door on the far left that bore his name on it. Neville still looked like he would rather spend a week in detention with Snape, but he managed to go through his middle door. Ron spent a long moment looking anxiously between the exit door and the door bearing his name. Finally, his courage won out. He was a Gryffindor, wasn't he? Gryffindors don't run. So, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he opened the last remaining door and stepped through.

DOOR ONE: HARRY

There was a roaring fire in the hearth. This wouldn't normally be a focal point for Harry's attention, but this one did. The reason for this was because it was the only thing he could easily recognize before him. The door had opened into a house of sorts, but none like Harry had ever been in before. One entire wall was taken up with a bookcase, but books made up only a small amount of its contents. There were also an uncountable amount of other things: tennis rackets, hockey sticks, umbrellas, a spade, a notebook computer, a wooden leg, several mugs, dozens of shoes, pairs of omnioculars, a small log, six glove puppets, a lava lamp, various cds, records, dice, toy cars, assorted pairs of dentures, watches, flashlights, four garden gnomes of assorted size and poses (two fishing, one of them mooning, the last one smoking a cigar), piles of newspapers, magazines, three legged stools, a box of cigars, a plastic bobble head of Winston Churchill, socks, a huge collection of butterbeer caps, and even more things not even vaguely recognizable. Just as Harry was about to go back through the door to escape the apparent madness, the sound of running feet made him turn back towards the room. Instinctively, he drew his wand in preparation for a possible attack.

Instead of Death Eaters or an angry mob, Harry was confronted with four young children. The two girls, who looked to be around seven and nine respectively, were hot on the heels of the two younger boys, who looked to be around two and five respectively. The girls both had hair the color of midnight and eyes that seemed to change color according to the light. The boys, on the other hand, both had white-blonde hair and deep green eyes that caused Harry to gasp at their familiarity. Another thing of note to Harry was that the two boys looked to be fresh from the tub and were devoid of clothing. They also seemed to want to stay that way. All four of the children were laughing as they raced past Harry as if he wasn't there, which, he supposed, he wasn't. As he continued to watch the chase unfold, a soft voice next to him brought him back to his own reality.

"This is what I asked the Room of Requirement to become, Harry. I wanted it to be both our heart's desire in one. A place where I could feel at home, and a place for the loving family that has always been your greatest wish. I wanted it to be a place where we could both be happy, together. I wanted a place to have beautiful children and a beautiful life. I love you, Harry. We both know that there are few certainties in life, but one of them is that I will always love you. That will never change. I realize we are young, and that your love would fulfill the dreams of any woman alive. All I can truly offer you is my life, my love, and my soul. All things you already have."

As Luna spoke she walked closer and closer to Harry. All the deeply touched boy could do was to stand and watch her approach him. It may have been the light, but he was sure at that moment that he was in the presence of an angel. When Luna was positioned directly in front of him, she suddenly knelt down on one knee and looked up at him with her large eyes virtually radiating love.

"Harry James Potter, I pledge myself to love you, and to honor you, always. I shall want no other, and I shall cherish you all of my days. With you, I am strong, without you, I am weak. You are my lover, my friend, and my reason for being. Will you marry me?"

Harry felt as if he had been portkeyed a dozen times at once. All he could hear was his heartbeat. All he could see was the beauty in front of him. All he could feel was his love for her. If he had been more to his senses, he would have given thought to the idea that it was normally the male who was the one that did the proposing, but since the female in this case was Luna, normal simply didn't apply. Lifting her from her kneeling position, Harry lifted her light body from the ground and held her as tightly as he could. He had wondered how anyone could laugh and cry at the same time, and now he knew.

"Of course I'll marry you, Luna! I love you so much. You're everything to me. You are my angel, and my inspiration. It would be an honor to marry you."

Luna had now joined her fiancée in laughing and crying.

"I'm so happy, Harry! I know that you love me, and that you've been afraid to propose because of Voldemort and all that ugliness. So, we had to take matters into our own hands. I don't care what happens, Harry. As long as we're together, we will prevail. I know we will."

Harry had occupied himself with burying his head into Luna's hair and was beginning to trail kisses down her neck when he suddenly stopped. The suddenness of his stopping caused Luna to moan in disappointment.

"Wait, did you say, 'we had to take matters into our own hands'?"

Luna smiled.

"Oh, yes, I did. I'm not the only one who was tired of waiting. Now, why don't you get back to what you were doing before? I'd like to have a chance to return the favor, if you don't mind."

DOOR TWO: NEVILLE

For a moment, Neville thought he had somehow been transported to the school's greenhouses.

Looking around, he discovered that he had actually been transported to an even more familiar location: Longbottom Manor. However, something wasn't quite right. Although he recognized the general layout of his personal observatory, many things seemed to have been altered. One thing he noticed immediately was all of the miniature gardening tools lying about. Why would someone want to shrink his equipment?

Like Harry before him, Neville immediately went into a defensive mode when he heard the sound of people approaching. Two identical red haired girls appeared first and took up two of the half-sized spades leaning against a wall. Four more flame haired girls who appeared to be no more than one year older than the other quickly followed the pair. They all took up their own gardening tools and set about tending to the large variety of plant life that surrounded them. A few minutes later, a very young and slightly portly blonde boy raced in and gamely attempted to pick up a normal sized watering can. The result was a lot of water being sloshed about, while very little of it actually made it onto the plants. Neville had forgotten about everything else as he joined in with the other children as they laughed at the comical sight of the now soaked but smiling little boy. Apart from the abundance of freckles, Neville was certain that the boy reminded him of someone. The feel of a warm hand clasping his broke his concentration.

"We seem to have broken the Weasley tradition all to hell, don't you think? I can only imagine what the twin girls must be like. If they're even half as lively as their twin uncles, we'll have our hands full with them."

Neville squeezed Ginny's hand in his own as he continued to watch the children enjoying their gardening.

"They're beautiful, Ginny. I have this great urge to scoop them all up and hug them. I've never seen them before, but I feel like I've known them all my life."

Ginny smiled as tears began to trace lines down her own freckled cheeks.

"You sound like dad. He's always said that his life never really started until he had a family. This is what I want for us, Neville. I want you to continue doing what you love and for us to have the family we've both always wanted."

Neville's smile faded.

"Wait, what if I can't do it? I don't know anything about being a father. My Gran raised me. What if I'm not a good father?"

Neville's eyes began to tear as Ginny forced him to look at her.

"Neville, you are the most caring, gentle, sweet man I have ever met. Any child would be lucky to have you as their father, just like any woman would be lucky to have you as a husband."

Before Neville had a chance to process all of what Ginny had said to him, she was kneeling before him.

"Ginny, what are you...?"

Ginny took both of Neville's hands in her own and kissed them.

"Neville, I love you. I've spent all my life trying to live up to all of my brothers, while also trying to discover who I am as an individual. I tried so hard to get people to notice me for me, and not for my hair color and last name. I grew up thinking that if I married Harry Potter, I would have everything I ever wanted. He was everyone's hero, and we would live happily ever after. When I came to Hogwarts, I worshipped the ground he walked on for the first three years I knew him. Then, one day, I realized he wasn't perfect. On that day I lost my faith in heroes, and I have up my dream of ever having that happily ever after.

"That's when you came into my life, Neville. You had always been so sweet and kind to me, but I had never let myself believe that you could really care about me. I know that I'm nothing special. I don't have legs up to my earlobes like Luna, or curves like Hermione, but, when I'm with you, I feel special. You make me feel that way, Neville, and I don't ever want to lose that feeling. I know this isn't very conventional, but you know better than anyone that I've never cared about that sort of thing. So, what do you say? Will you be both my hero and my husband? Will you marry me, Neville?"

Neville had convinced himself that he was dreaming. He'd been hopelessly in love with Ginny since she had agreed to go to the Yule Ball with him three years ago. She had been the subject of his first erotic dream, and now she wanted to marry him? After pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't sleeping, he picked up the petite beauty from the ground and spun her about as if she were weightless.

"Of course I'll marry you! You're my entire life, Ginny! I love you so much! You are wrong about one thing, though. You are special. I wouldn't change a single thing about you. How could you ever improve upon perfection?"

Neville's lips crashed onto Ginny's own like waves upon a beach. After several enjoyable moments, he pulled back enough to admire the flushed look upon her face.

"Do you really think I'll make a good father?"

Ginny's dreamy smile turned wicked.

"Absolutely, Nevy. You'll just need to follow the same rules that my own father does. As long as you agree to whatever I say, you'll do great."

Neville laughed before kissing his fiancée again.

"Yes, dear."

DOOR THREE: RON

Ron decided that his door had transported him to heaven.

The banquet table before him held more food upon it than any he had ever seen before. Even the luxury meals held for the Tri-Wizard tournament paled in comparison. Even better, he recognized it all. There were no odd stews with names he couldn't pronounce. Even better than that, the food present was not the regular food served at Hogwarts. His own mother unmistakably made this food.

The school's house elves, although dead useful, did some things he didn't care for. Who wanted the skins left on the mashed potatoes? Didn't they have time to peel them? And what kind of gravy didn't have lumps? The gravy they made was more like meat-flavored water to him. And had they ever heard of seasoning? He had to salt practically everything. And don't even get him started on not offering butter at all the meals.

Ron's salivary glands went into overdrive as he sat down at the table and began to tuck into everything within his reach. It wasn't until he raised his head high enough to grab the treacle that he noticed the other things the room seemed to have an abundance of.

"Whub da fug aral dese boogs dun har?"

"As articulate as ever, Ron."

Ron swallowed his filled to capacity mouth and turned around in his chair.

"Hermione! Hey, pull up a chair! The room must have known that I was looking forward to mum's cooking. I don't know what all these books are doing here, though."

Hermione sat down heavily in the chair and sighed.

"The books are here because of me, and the food is here because of you. Ginny, Luna, and I all asked the room to come up with the heart's desire of our mates and ourselves. We were able to see each other's rooms before you guys got here, and they both had children in their rooms. All we've got are books and food. Not very romantic, is it?"

Ron downed the rest of his glass of homemade lemonade.

"Oh, I don't know. Food can be sensual."

Hermione laughed.

"Ron, you do know you are talking about your mother's food being 'sensual', right? Freud would have a lot to say about that, I'm sure. And since when do you even use that term?"

Ron added a few more pieces of thickly cut bread to his plate in order to sop up the gravy. He had cut off the crusts, of course.

"Hey, I read! And why do you think Fred would have something to say about this? He's just as big on mum's food as I am."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Maybe there was a child in the room after all.

"I stand corrected, Ron, you do read. I just don't count Cauldron Cuties or Wands And Blondes proper reading material, although I'm sure you just read them for the articles. And I didn't say 'Fred', I said 'Freud'. Although, come to think of it, I bet Fred and George both would have something to say on the matter, as well."

Hermione then remained silent for a few minutes before looking deeply into Ron's eyes.

"Ron, do you want to have children?"

Ron looked, if possible, more elated by this comment.

"Are you serious? Right now? I wish you could have asked me that before I ate all this stuff. Give me about a half-hour to let things settle, would you?"

Hermione responded by smacking him soundly on the head with a cake fork.

"I'm not offering anything, you muffin! I'm asking you if you planned on having kids AFTER you got married!"

Ron rubbed his forehead but remembered not to swear. He knew that Hermione didn't like it when he swore, and that would likely earn him another clout round the mush.

"Of course I want to have kids, Hermione. I'm a Weasley, aren't I? I just... I don't think it's going to happen."

Hermione was caught off guard by Ron's sudden seriousness.

"Why do you think that it won't happen?"

Ron looked as if he would much rather remain silent, but he knew that Hermione deserved an answer.

"You said it yourself, Hermione. To have a family, you have to get married first. We're at war, love. We're at war, and you, Harry, and I are the three biggest targets. How can we plan anything with such uncertainty? I'd give anything to have a big family of my own with you, but it just seems like wanting something I can never have."

Hermione now saw that she was not the only one with tears in her eyes. She reached out and took Ron's hands in her own.

"Ron, nothing in life is guaranteed. None of us are ever promised tomorrow. Yes, we are targets in this war, but so are all the witches and wizards who oppose Voldemort. We have to have faith, Ron. This room has shown us that we need help with that. It really did show us our desires, but it also showed us our desire to hide our true feelings. I hide behind my books, and you console yourself with food. Well, I'm tired of hiding, Ron."

Hermione kept Ron's hands in her own as she got out of her chair to kneel beside him.

"Ron, I can't tell you that we have a future, but I can tell you that I want us to spend whatever time we do have together. You still piss me off... a lot... but there's nobody that I'd rather be pissed off at. Ron, I love you. Will you marry me?"

The plump chicken leg that Ron had been in the process of stripping fell to his plate with a clatter. This caused another splatter of gravy, but neither of them noticed under the circumstances.

"Are... are you serious, Hermione? You'd actually want to be married to me? Oh my god, seriously? YES!"

Ron suddenly jumped up from his chair and spun Hermione about the room. Like the two other couples before them, the two of them were alternating between uncontrollable laughter and crying. Finally, after several minutes of frenzied kissing, Ron placed Hermione back on her feet and gave her one more kiss that left them both short of breath and weak in the knees.

"I love you, Hermione Granger. Oh, by the way, when we tell my family about this, could we tell them that I was the one who proposed? If Fred and George found out that you were the one who proposed to me, well, I'd never be able to show my face at the Burrow again."

Hermione's smile turned wicked.

"I suppose I could stretch the truth. We wouldn't want you to be exiled from the Burrow now, would we? If your mum's food has this kind of effect on you every time you eat it, I can see us eating there quite often."

Ron would normally have been embarrassed by the truth of this comment, but he was currently too busy using his lips and tongue for more important uses.

As all three of the loving couples were enjoying their own versions of fantasy, one reality seemed to occur to them all at once.

GRADUATION!

Nearly simultaneously, all three of the numbered doors flew open as the six teens rushed out and ran flat out towards the main staircase. On the way, ties were being retied, hair was being smoothed down, and other incriminating evidence was being removed from collars. Progress was further slowed when a case of the giggles broke out after Sir Nicholas asked the fast moving teens what had been keeping them.

As they raced down the rolling green lawns to the Quidditch pitch in order to join the rest of the school, the feeling of love and happiness in their hearts threatened to burst out. None of them could imagine life being better than it was at that very moment. They were on top of the world. Nothing could possibly spoil this perfect day for them.

Or so they thought.