Harry Potter and the House of Meditation

Chapter Seven: A Very Happy Birthday

As they were being checked out by Filch on Saturday morning, Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls saw Harry and Luna together.

"Potter and Lovegood! Urgh, Potter! I don't think much of your taste! At least Cho Chang was good looking."

"Not very original, are you Parkinson?" Harry replied, taking Luna's hand in his. As they walked toward the Quidditch stadium, Harry thought about how many things had changed since he'd gone into Hogsmeade with Cho Chang.

Luna shook her head and smiled. "You took care of Pansy, didn't you Harry?"

"She's an idiot," Harry said. "She'll never forgive me for what happened to Draco Malfoy. As if it were my fault his father joined the Death Eaters, got arrested and his mother took Draco out of school!"

"She really liked him," Luna said.

"She liked the idea of him. I don't think she really knew what sort of person he was. It's like me and Cho. I thought I liked her, but I didn't even know her."

"She was very beautiful," offered Luna.

"Yes, and she was a good Quidditch player. But I never knew anything else about her. I was an idiot about her, when you get right down to it. I don't know where she is now and it doesn't matter."

"You stopped thinking about her after she was gone?"

"I stopped thinking about her when she was here!"

They entered Hogsmeade and headed up the High Street.

"Do you know who the first boy I ever liked was?" asked Luna dreamily.

"No..."

"Ron Weasley."

"Get on!" exclaimed Harry.

"He was. We live near them, you know. When I was a little girl, I used to sneak up the hill and watch him and his brothers practice flying."

"Did he ever know you liked him?"

"I don't know. It doesn't matter anyway. It would never have worked out. I love that family, but it's easy to get lost in that crowd, and after my mum died, Mrs. Weasley used to fuss over me whenever she saw me. I didn't like it."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I love Mrs. Weasley too, but she does tend to smother me sometimes."

They went into several shops, spending a long time in Gladrags, where Luna examined all of the clothes, but didn't buy anything. Harry sighed. "Tell me the truth, Luna. Why do girls do this?"

"Do what?"

"Go into shops, look at everything and then they don't buy anything."

"We just like to see what's out there. I would like to buy things. This, for instance," Luna said, holding up a leather handbag. "But I don't have the money. I guess I just like to think about what I would buy if I could."

Harry suddenly felt ashamed. He had all the money his parents had left him, and all of the money Sirius had left him, and Voldemort would likely as not kill him before he put a dent in it. And nice people like the Weasleys and the Lovegoods, had next to nothing. He sometimes forgot how unfair life could be.

"Can I help you?" A saleswitch, who had been watching them for some time, asked, looking down her nose at Luna.

Luna looked embarrassed and started to turn away, but Harry caught her hand. He felt a sudden mad possessiveness. No one was going to look down on Luna in his presence, ever again. "Yes," Harry said firmly, pointing at the handbag. "I'll have that. And can you gift wrap it, please? It's a birthday present, for someone very special."

The saleswitch's whole attitude changed. "Certainly, sir. Back in a moment."

"Harry, tell her you've changed your mind!" Luna, blushing furiously, tugged at his arm urgently. "You can't buy that. I bet it costs a lot."

"Never mind. Everyone should get one thing they ask for on their birthday. When I live with the muggles, I never do."

The woman returned with the package, and Harry fished the galleons out of his pocket to pay for it. He handed the bag to Luna, who was looking totally overwhelmed.

"Thank you, Harry," Luna said softly, giving him a one-armed hug.

"You're welcome. Now, how about lunch?"

The found a café that wasn't too crowded, and got a table at the back of the room. After they had ordered, Luna thanked him again most sincerely for her present."

"That's just one, actually."

"One what?"

"That's the present you chose for yourself. This one was my choice." Harry slid the small purple box across the table. Luna picked it up slowly, and looked inside.

"These are for me?" Luna asked, incredulously.

"They're your birthstone," Harry said awkwardly. "I thought they might be nice to have."

"They're beautiful. I love them, and I'll wear them often."

"Well, they'll be change from your radishes."

Luna laughed. "I'll never give up my radishes completely, though. They were my mum's."

"Your mother wore radishes?" Harry said, surprised.

"Well, I don't know if she ever actually wore them. My dad gave them to her the summer before she died. He was just starting the magazine, and they were even poorer than we are now. We had just moved into our house. Mum wanted to have a garden, but the ground was full of rocks. Nothing came up but the radishes. Dad gave her the earrings as a joke, and she did laugh. I remember." Luna suddenly looked thoughtful.

"Oh, Lu, I didn't mean to make you sad. I'm sorry," said Harry desperately, hoping she wouldn't cry. He had an annoying habit of driving girls to tears.

"I'm not sad, Harry. It's rather a nice memory, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry said. "I guess it is, really. I wish I remembered my parents."

The waitress brought their food, and Luna waited until she'd gone to reply. "You can't remember anything?"

"I remember how they died," Harry said bitterly. "I wish I had some more of my parents things. All I've got is my dad's old invisibility cloak."

"Did you really use it to sneak into the restricted section of the library? Ginny told me you did. She heard it from Ron."

Harry had to laugh then. "I sure did." And he told her the story as they had their lunch.

As they left the restaurant, Luna kissed Harry lightly on the mouth. "This is the best birthday I ever had." She tasted like cinnamon.

When they got outside, they found that the wind had picked up.

"Brrr," it's cold, isn't it?" Luna shivered, and impulsively, Harry put his arm around her. Her head fit right against his shoulder, and he found her walking exactly in step with him, her arm around his waist. They walked and talked for hours, never noticing the cold again.

Harry and Luna found themselves talking about things that had been buried inside them for a long time. He told Luna about some of the shabby gifts he'd received over the years, like the time Aunt Marge had given him dog biscuits for his birthday, and the time the Dursleys had sent him a tissue for Christmas. Luna told him about her childhood, which seemed to have been quite miserable at times.

"After my mother died, none of my friends came over anymore," she confided at one point. "Their parents always thought my mum was a bit strange, being an unspeakable, and when she died most of them just didn't know what to say to us, so they left us alone."

That must have hurt," said Harry. It was one thing to not have any friends, but to Harry, it seemed it would have been even worse to suddenly be shunned. He pictured a lonely nine-year-old Luna, and his heart ached for the child she had been.

Finally, as it was growing dark, they got to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds, and Harry stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked Luna, looking up into his eyes.

"I wish we didn't have to go back. This is the best day I ever had in Hogsmeade. I mean, I really had fun."

"I had fun, too. I mean, any girl would have. I love my handbag, and my earrings, and my lunch was wonderful, but it's not just that. You just made me feel good. I can't believe I told you some of those things. I've never told anyone."

"Me, too," said Harry, and not knowing what else to say, decided he didn't need to say anything. She was still in his arms, but it didn't seem awkward with Luna. It seemed good, and natural, and right. He kissed her, and her mouth felt very warm. She leaned into him, kissing him back, and it quickly became a different sort of kiss than either of them had ever had before.

Chapter Eight: Advice for the Lovelorn

Harry never remembered exactly how he's gotten back into the castle, or how he'd said goodbye to Luna, or gone back to Gryffindor tower. He just found himself wandering, dazed, into the common room. Ron and Hermione were there, sitting in front of the fire.

"Harry, where were you?" asked Ron. "We thought we'd catch up to you at the Three Broomsticks."

"I went to lunch at the Wonderful Wands Café. I took Luna Lovegood out for her birthday."

"Loony Luna? What is with the two of you?"

Harry flared up. "Nobody should be alone on their birthday, and you should quit calling her that. I've been telling you for a year! You even did it at the Ministry! She was risking her life just like the rest of us. We were a team, Ron and she deserves better! She's our friend!"

"I think she likes you as more than a friend, Harry" Hermione said.

"Oh, here we go again," said Harry, irritated. "Hermione's advice for the lovelorn!"

"Who's lovelorn? You? Or Luna? Did I miss something?" asked Ron, confused.

"I'd say so! Never mind! I'm going to bed!"

Thanks to Pansy Parkinson and her friends, the story of how Harry Potter had been holding hands with Luna Lovegood on the way to Hogsmead was all over the castle.

"I've got to hand it to you, Potter," Blaise Zabini said one day, as the Slytherins and Gryffindors went to double Potions. "You picked the perfect girl. Lovegood's as weird as you are!"

"Ignore that, Harry," said Hermione under her breath. "They used to say the same things about me when Rita Skeeter wrote in the Prophet that I was your girlfriend."

"I didn't like it then," said Harry, "And I still don't like it. Why can't they mind their own business?"

"Is she your girlfriend, though?" asked Ron for the tenth time. "I thought you said you were just friends."

Harry shifted his book bag from one shoulder to the other. "I like her. I like her a lot. We have fun together, and we've had some good talks. But we haven't really discussed whether or not it means anything more."

"Maybe you should, mate," said Ron seriously. "If everyone's giving her as hard a time as they're giving you, she's bound to be wondering what it means. You don't want her taking it seriously if it's not, do you, Harry?"

But Harry had no answer. Luckily they reached the dungeon door at that moment, and an answer became impossible. He knew he and Luna would pass each other in the hall after class, however, and he wrote her a note quickly when Snape wasn't looking.

Meet me by greenhouse three after dinner. It's important.

Harry

When he slipped her the note, Millicent Bulstrode, walking behind him, spotted it.

"Oooh, a love letter from Potter! Are you going to put it under your pillow, Lovegood?"

Luna looked at her serenely, and continued down the hall. Harry had a sudden urge to turn Millicent into a flobberworm, but resisted it.

When he reached the greenhouse, Luna was already there. The greenhouse door was unlocked, and she had gone inside and was looking with great interest at a Venemous Tentacula, which was extending a long feeler toward a bag of dragon dung Professor Sprout had left lying open.

"Interesting things, aren't they, Harry?"

"Yes." Harry eyed the dark red, spiky plant cautiously.

"I've missed you, Harry. We haven't had a chance to talk in days. Look!" She held back her pale hair, and Harry saw she was wearing the amethyst earrings he'd bought her.

"They look nice, Luna. I just hope they didn't make things too hard for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not very popular with some people, and I was afraid they'd tease you about spending the day in Hogsmead with me."

"Oh, they've been teasing me a little, but there are lots of people here who have always teased me about one thing or another. And I've never wanted to be popular. Do you?"

"Well, no. I don't like it when people are mean to me, but as long as they don't bother me too much, I don't care what they think. I've never had a lot of friends at home, because of the stuff my cousin used to start with people to turn them against me. And since I've been at Hogwarts, there have been times when I've been lonely, but I've always had someone. Either Ron, or Hermione, or you." Harry hesitated. "I just worry that being seen with me will make things harder for you in the long run. It could be dangerous, you know."

"The Death Eaters already know I follow you, Harry. I made my choice when I went to the Ministry with you, if not before."

"Why did you?"

"It was obvious that the time had come to face the good and the evil in our world. It was even more obvious that you were destined to lead the way. I wanted to stand with you."

"Destiny," Harry winced, "is a good word for it. Just so you realize you're standing with a marked man." He brushed his fringe back, revealing his scar, and Luna smiled.

"I know it's a burden, Harry, but you mustn't let it consume your whole life. You're so much more than a means to an end."

"You've been a good friend, Luna."

"I want to remain your friend, if that's what you want," said Luna, looking down at a stack of empty pots.

"Is that all it is, though?" asked Harry recklessly.

"It can be anything you want it to be," said Luna, stepping into his arms.

Harry held her, and said quietly, "I don't know for sure what I want. The future seems a long way away sometimes. But I know I want to be with you, too. I want to be close to you."

"Then let's see how it goes." Luna tilted her face up to look at him.

"Can it go like this for awhile?" Harry, brought his mouth down to hers.

He kissed her, and murmuring, "Oh, yes," she began to kiss him back.

Harry was happier then than he had ever been at Hogwarts, and remained perfectly happy until several weeks later when another mysterious death made the headlines in the Daily Prophet.

"Some old witch in Bath," said Hermione grimly. "They can't find any connection between her and the others. It's just random and cruel"

"This is ridiculous," said Ron, furiously. "It's like when the order started getting picked off one by one."

"They haven't lost anyone from the order, though," said Harry. "This is a war against innocents."

"What does the Ministry say?" asked Ron, leaning over to look at the paper.

"They're just reprinting the same guidelines for home and personal defense that they've published a dozen times," Hermione replied. "It's not helping."

I've got to do something, thought Harry to himself that night. No one else can stop him. I have to do something, but Harry couldn't think what. Punching his pillow, he remembered all the people who had died for no reason. An owl hooted somewhere in the night, as Harry fell at last into a restless sleep.