Tales of a Spiritual Warrior

Chapter Two: Going to Diagon Alley

One afternoon another owl came to Privet Drive with Hedwig. Harry had gotten quite a lot of mail that week, and he knew Uncle Vernon was dying to say something but didn't want to risk a row with his wife. Aunt Petunia, who had been quite pleased with Luna's gift, seemed to be giving Harry a bit more leeway than usual.

This time Harry had received his Hogwarts letter. When he opened it, he found, besides his book list for sixth year, a small sealed package and a short note from Professor McGonagall scrawled across the bottom of her formal letter.

Harry gave the school owl and Hedwig a couple of owl treats, and Hedwig allowed the brown barn owl to drink from her water tray. He opened Luna's letter.

Harry, who had spent some of the happiest days of his life living in Diagon Alley, couldn't image anyone not wanting to live there, but after giving it some more thought, he could see Luna's point. She was definitely not a city girl. It was a wonderful chance for Mr. Lovegood, though. He seized a quill, and began to write.

It was the first time he'd ever signed a letter to her that way, but he felt Luna needed and deserved to hear that someone was on her side. He quickly wrote a note to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron, and asked him to reserve a room for Harry for the week before school started. Then he gave Hedwig both notes, and went down to speak to his aunt and uncle. When he told them he was planning on leaving a week early, they looked very pleased. Harry then seized his jacket and walked over to Arabella Figg's house.

"Harry! How are you?" Unlike the Dursleys, Arabella Figg usually looked very glad to see him.

"Fine." Harry stepped into her hallway, and stopped to give Mr. Tibbles a fond pat.

"Had a good summer? No dementors? No elves smashing puddings? Come and have a piece of cake."

"No dementors. It's been fairly quiet." Harry followed her into her kitchen, where she bustled around, making tea and cutting him chocolate cake.

"Yes, You-Know-Who seems to be lying low, thank goodness. Here...since it's your birthday, I'll give you an extra big slice."

"Thank you! I had almost forgotten!"

"Forgotten? Those Dursleys! They didn't do anything for you again, did they? I don't know what's the matter with them. I really don't."

"It's okay. At least I got cards from Ron and Hermione and Hagrid this week. I also got a letter from Professor McGonagall. She says I can use your fireplace to floo to Diagon Alley to buy my school things. I wanted to ask you a favor."

"Ask away!" Mrs. Figg looked at him keenly, her carpet slippers shuffling on the floor as she sat down across from him.

"I want to go to Diagon Alley a bit early. I would like to spend the last week of my vacation there. I want to do some shopping, and see some of my friends. That would be all right, wouldn't it? Diagon Alley is pretty safe. I would stay at the Leaky Cauldron. I've already written to Tom to see if he has a room free."

"Well," Mrs. Figg said slowly, "I expect that would be all right. But we'd have to clear it with Dumbledore first. See if he has any other plans for you." She hesitated. "Are you sure those muggles haven't been horrid to you? Because if they have..."

"No, it's not them." Harry looked at her, trying to decide if he could trust her or not. Then he decided he could. She had always been on his side, deep down. "It's just, well, there's someone special I'd like to spend some time with. You won't tell anyone that, though, will you?"

Mrs. Figg's eyes twinkled. "This special someone's a girl, isn't it?" Harry blushed, and Mrs. Figg smiled even wider. "Good for you, Harry. You've been alone too much for someone your age. As long as she's a nice girl, I don't see a problem with it. You're not going to get up to anything you shouldn't, are you?" She suddenly looked stern.

"It's not like that at all!" Harry blushed even brighter. "I don't know how it will work out, but I'd like to at least try."

"Who is she?"

"Luna Lovegood. She's a Ravenclaw, and a year younger than I am." Harry braced himself for the usual "Loony Lovegood" backlash, but to his surprise, Mrs. Figg looked extremely pleased.

"Ah, well, that's all right then. I can see you two having a lot in common. She's a dear child, and sharp as a tack, but she's had a hard life and no mistake. I remember when her mother passed away. She was a brilliant witch, but she got in way over her head. It was a shame, and that's the truth. That's another little one that had to grow up right quick. Yes, you can trust her all right."

"I hope so. So you'll find out if I can go?"

"Indeed I will."

A week before Harry would normally have found himself on the school train, he found himself instead hauling his trunk to Mrs. Figg's house. He flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the toothless old manager met him and showed him upstairs. To Harry's delight, he got room eleven, which is where he had stayed when he had come to Diagon Alley right before his third year at Hogwarts. He took that as a good omen.

Harry had arranged to meet Luna at Flourish and Blotts at ten o'clock, and he made one more stab at trying to flatten his hair before he left. "You'll never learn, will you dear?" his mirror sighed. Harry grinned sheepishly at his untidy hair. He wound up outside of the bookstore ten minutes early, and kept scanning the street for some sign of Luna. When he saw the familiar blonde head come weaving through the crowd, he called to her, waving excitedly.

"Harry! Oh, Harry, you came!" She ran up to him, and Harry hugged her hard.

"I promised you that I would, if I could. I'm so happy to see you. I'm really very happy." And with that, Harry leaned in, and touched his lips to hers. Luna looked at him, startled, and Harry's heart fell. Why couldn't he ever do the right thing with girls? What ever had made him think she'd want to kiss him straight away? They were supposed to be friends.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Harry. Did you bring your book list?"

They went into the store and got what they needed, chatting casually about their lessons. Still feeling a bit awkward, Harry offered to treat Luna to lunch. They went to Mother Munnings, where you could get lots of food without paying a lot. They sat at the back of the room, and while they were waiting for the lunch to arrive, Luna pulled a huge stack of pictures out of the reindeer leather backback she'd gotten in Sweden, and began to tell him more about her trip.

Luna had taken unusual pictures. She had a good eye for detail that made looking at her pictures a lot more interesting than the other holiday pictures Harry had seen while living with Vernon and Petunia. They had an annoying habit of just sticking Dudley in front of one landmark or another. Luna's pictures were unique.

She had a picture of the decorative ironwork on the gates of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, in which the gold crown gleamed. She had a picture of a warship called the Vasa, that she explained had been built in the 1600's and expertly restored, that caught the true beauty of the carved wood. She had taken a picture in the underground in Stockholm, just because she had liked the blue designs painted on the ceiling. She had photographs of little girls in traditional costumes that made Harry smile because the children themselves were so filled with mirth. Luna had taken a picture of a telephone box, just for the sake of the folk art that decorated it, and her photographs of lakes and mountains, rivers and rocks, were powerful in their beauty. One picture, of five men walking with their bare bums clearly visible, caused Harry to choke.

"You took a picture of THAT?"

"I needed something to remember them by."

"Oh, yeah, like you could really forget something like that!"

"Harry Potter, do you know how cute you are when you're blushing?"

Harry blushed even more. "Oh, you think so, do you?"

"You know," Luna said thoughtfully, "I really do."

"Luna," said Harry very fast, "I'm really sorry I ran up and kissed you. I shouldn't have done that, and if it made you angry, just forget it ever happened, okay? I don't know why I did that first thing when I saw you."

"Well, I would hope it was because you like me. Don't be sorry, Harry. I'm not."

"Oh, well, okay. Then I'm not either." Their food came and Harry was glad, because he had the distinct feeling that he was making an idiot out of himself. The waitress set down the plates, and walked away. Luna watched her go and then leaning over toward Harry, put her lips against his. They were warm. Harry could literally feel the warmth of her breathing. She drew back and smiling, picked up her fork. Harry could still feel her kiss for a long, long, time.

"So," Harry said awkwardly, "do you feel better about what your dad is doing now?"

"Yes," Luna said, "But I still miss being at home. It's noisy and crowded here, and my dad is working all of the time. He'll be home tonight for dinner, though. Will you come? I'll make whatever you want to eat."

"You can cook?"

"Of course I can. After my mother died I had to do all of the cooking. Dad is hopeless in the kitchen."

"I don't care what you make for dinner. I'd love to meet your father, if he doesn't mind meeting me. I know he took a big chance publishing that interview. I'm glad it worked out for him."

"It made a huge difference for all of us. He believed you all along though. He thinks you're pretty special."

Harry looked confused. "Why would he think that?"

"Because that's what I tell him," Luna said simply. "How did you aunt like the bowl?"

Harry still wasn't used to the way Luna was able to go from one subject to another, but he was grateful she had changed the subject this time, because he was on the verge of blushing again.

After lunch Luna and Harry walked around Diagon Alley, looking in all of the shops, and picking up things for school. Fred and George were delighted to see Harry, and very cordial to Luna, although Harry could tell they were surprised to see Luna and Harry together. After that visit, Harry and Luna went for school supplies. They both needed potion ingredients, and Harry got a new quill. They stopped in Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the new brooms.

"Are you going to be on the Gryffindor team again this year?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Now that Umbridge is gone, I'm sure things will be back to normal."

"You're a good seeker," Luna said. "You should continue with that. Have you ever thought of playing professionally?"

Harry was startled. "Not really. I might be getting too tall for it. I was talking to McGonagall about being an auror, but now I'm not so sure. I don't really want to work for the Ministry any more."

Luna gathered her long blonde hair in her hands and smoothed it down the back of her head, but it swirled instead of lying flat. Harry smiled, knowing what it was like to try to tame hair that seemed to have a mind of its own.

"I don't blame you for that, but you do need to start thinking about your future. I'm quite sure you'll wind up doing something extraordinary."

"Like killing Voldemort?" Harry spoke bitterly, and Luna looked up, startled. Making a decision, Harry took her hand. "Come with me. I have to tell you something." He drew her out of the Quidditch shop and toward Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. He got a couple of ice creams, just to have something to do with his hands, and they found a small table, off to the side, where it wasn't too crowded.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Luna asked, sitting on the edge of her chair.

"I need to tell you the truth about what happened at the Ministry. Voldemort lured me there because he was trying to get that prophecy that had been made about me. He knew it existed, but he didn't know exactly what it said. The prophecy was made right before I was born. It said that a child was coming to parents who had defied Voldmort three times. It said that Voldemort would mark that child as his equal, but the child would have powers that the Voldemort did not know about. When Voldemort attacked me as a baby, he marked me, obviously, so I must be that child. Everything fits." Harry hesitated, stirring his sundae into soup, then added, "The prophecy said that one of us has to die at the hands of the other."

"So that is why he keeps coming after you? Because you are the only one who has a chance of defeating him for good?"

"I have to kill him, Luna, or he has to kill me. There's apparently no other way for it to end. I have to either be a victim or a murderer. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

"No, I don't. I'm sure no one does or can, and that must be isolating for you, but I know how it makes me feel. It makes me very proud to be your friend. I feel much safer, knowing this, because I know how strong you are, and I believe with all my heart that you will do what has to be done, as gracefully as you can."

"How can you want to be my friend? Being my friend is dangerous! Everyone who has ever loved me has gotten caught up in this, and it never turns out well!"

"But loving you is worth it. Because no one can love you without being willing to base their lives around the truth, and that is never wrong, no matter what the outcome." Luna leaned over and opened her backpack. "I bought you something while I was on holiday, and I think this is a good time to give it to you. Consider it a belated birthday gift." She pulled out a small leather pouch, and eyed it thoughtfully. "Since I was very small, I've always been fascinated by different types of runes. This was made in Bergslagen. It's one of the biggest mining areas in Sweden." She took Harry's hand, and held the small pouch upside down. A heavy silver chain slid out. Hanging on the chain was a silver charm, shaped something like an arrow, pointed up.

"Wow! It's...well...I don't know what it is, but it's amazing looking."

"It's a Viking rune called a Tyr. It's the symbol of the spiritual warrior. It stands for justice and truth, just as you do."

"Luna, I don't know what to say, but I promise you, nothing will ever mean so much to me."

"Here. Let me help you put it on. Perhaps it will bring you luck." Luna moved behind him, and slid the chain around Harry's neck, hooking the clasp carefully. The chain was cool on his neck, and her fingers were warm.

"I think I'm already lucky," Harry said softly, looking up at her. "Lu, did you or did you not just tell me you love me?"

Luna Lovegood blinked, and smiled.