Tales of a Spiritual Warrior

Chapter Six: A trip to Hogsmeade

The first visit to Hogsmeade was coming up on the third Saturday in October, and Harry was looking forward to it. He hadn't taken a girl to Hogsmeade in a long time, and he was anxious to spend the day with Luna, simply enjoying her company. Unfortunately, nothing concerning Harry Potter was ever simple.

The afternoon before the date, Luna was clearing up after Herbology when an unexpected figure appeared in the greenhouse door. Draco Malfoy smiled at her, and she felt a strange chill run down her spine, as if she had suddenly come across a deadly serpent. She stood very still, anticipating his next move.

"What are you doing, Lovegood? Isn't your boyfriend waiting for you somewhere?"

"Harry does what he has to do, and so do I. I couldn't leave the verbena like this, even for Harry! And the foxglove plants were in a dreadful state!" Luna said calmly.

"And why do you have to be with Harry Potter anyway? You're playing a very dangerous game. Are you sure you're up to it?"

"How kind of you to want to live my life for me. Why do you care?"

Draco smirked again, and leaned against the frame of the door. "I just don't understand it. You're a pure blood. You should know what it means to be better than the rest. And you should know better than to bet on the wrong side. You're sinking awfully low. You're a Ravenclaw, descended from Rowena herself on your mother's side."

Luna blinked. "You know that? I thought no one here knew that."

"Family history is very important to me, Lovegood. Does Harry even know? Does he even know about the Potters and Gryffindor? Did those muggles he lived with even tell him? Although you'd think he'd put it together. Godric's Hollow, for Salazar's sake! Is that why he's interested in you? Is that the plan? To link the two houses again?"

"There's no plan. Harry is too honest to allow himself be used that way, and too honest to use someone else. Time and their own hearts will link the souls who are destined to be together. If Harry and I are meant to be, we will find our way."

"Have you even tried another way? Even considered it? Harry Potter may be Dumbledore's favorite boy and he may have harnessed a bit of power, but the Dark Lord will win in the end. He alone knows true power, and he alone has the will to use it. Dumbledore concerns himself overmuch with the weak and useless. So do you."

Luna shook her head. "You are overconfident, Malfoy. You will soon learn better."

"A lesson does need to be learned, but which of us will be taught remains to be seen. I am inclined to favor myself the winner. Don't place your hopes on false desires, Lovegood. They will lead you nowhere but down." He put out his hand, and cupped her chin. Steel gray eyes met wide, misty ones. "The strong may have lost a few battles, due to bad luck, or lack of planning, but their strength remains. And I will take great enjoyment from my winnings." She flinched as he gave her cheek one last pat before sauntering away.

She waited until he was truly gone before she put on her cloak and left the greenhouse. Before reaching the castle though, she was forced into another confrontation. Pansy Parkinson stepped from the shadows and blocked her way.

"What happened with you and Draco?' Pansy demanded. "I was looking for him and I saw you together in the greenhouse door."

"Nothing that would interest you," Luna said, carefully, "but I did finish clearing up around the verbena plants, just like Professor Sprout asked me to do."

"Are you throwing yourself at him, you pop-eyed little bint? Did you finally manage to get one boyfriend and feel like trying out a few more? Isn't skinny Harry Potter enough for you?"

"Harry Potter is everything to me! He's considerate and kind. He's loyal to his friends and he's overcome a lot of things that would have broken other boys. You couldn't have asked anyone to get through it better than he has. How can you think I would ever want to dump him for Draco Malfoy? You can keep Malfoy with my blessing!"

"Draco has more to offer. He's better looking, and he's rich. His family is important."

"Pansy, his father is in Azkaban!" Luna was astounded at the other girl's logic.

"He'll be free soon enough. The Dark Lord will reward him for being a faithful servant, and tomorrow will belong to us. You need to decide where your loyalties lie. I understand that. You're a pure blood, but your father messes about with muggles like the Weasleys do. You have to get back on track, but I'm warning you, Lovegood, stay away from Draco Malfoy. He's mine. He was promised to me."

Pansy stalked away, and Luna was left with many things to ponder. Luna waited until she and Harry had checked out of the castle the next morning, and had started walking past the Quidditch stadium before she spoke. Harry had noticed how quiet she was being, and asked her if anything was wrong.

"Draco Malfoy stopped me after Herbology yesterday. He wanted to know why a pure blood like me was getting mixed up in the battle against Voldemort."

"That little ferret! I told him to leave you alone. What did you tell him?" Harry was livid.

"I told him that I had made my choice and I wasn't going to change it. He really thinks they will win in the end, though." Luna took Harry's hand, and leaned against his shoulder. They walked in step together for a few moments, silent, then Luna added gently, "Malfoy said something else, something that may be important." She hesitated, then admitted, "Harry, I haven't been totally honest with you about something. My mother was chosen for the job she was doing for a reason. They needed someone with a lot of power, because the spells she was working on were so risky. She was the logical choice. I'm not just in Ravenclaw because I'm exceptionally brainy or anything. I have a busy mind, but they couldn't have put me anywhere else if they had wanted to. My mother WAS a Ravenclaw, a direct descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Are you serious? I didn't know that!" Harry exclaimed.

"I know you didn't. But Malfoy did. Someone on the other side has been looking into bloodlines pretty carefully. He seemed to think that's the only reason you would be interested in me."

Harry stopped in the middle of the High Street to stare at her. "Luna, you know that's not true. You have to believe me."

"I do believe you. How many times do I have to tell you? Really, Harry, it's getting rather tiresome, but if other people think that, it may mean something. He said something else that I thought was strange. He mentioned Godric's Hollow and something about Gryffindor. Harry, were the Potters heirs of Godric Gryffindor?"

Harry stared at her. "I doubt it. The sorting hat almost put me in Slytherin! Can you believe it? I had to ask it not to. It wouldn't have done that if there was a link there, would it?"

"I don't know. Let's get out of the wind, and give it some more thought," Luna said, shivering. She and Harry turned into the Three Broomsticks, and found a table in the corner, where they hoped no one would notice them, and where the noise of the pub would drown them out. He got himself a butterbeer, and bought a gillywater for Luna. They sat close together, their heads almost touching.

"Tell me some more about your sorting. You say the hat almost put you in Slytherin, but you told it not to? Have you ever told anyone else about this?"

"Yes," said Harry firmly. "Dumbledore and I talked about it once. He told me it was our choices that really mattered in life, more than our abilities. I was concerned about some things that were happening to me. Dumbledore said that when I was a baby and Voldemort attacked me, he had accidentally transferred some of his powers to me. For example, that's why I could speak parseltongue, but Dumbledore said that had nothing to do with what would become of me. That's why I had a choice."

"But then the hat could have been confused by Voldemort's attack. If you had Gryffindor blood, but some Slytherin power, that would explain what happened." Luna looked at Harry thoughtfully. "I think you need to find out more about this. It doesn't matter if it's true or not. I agree with Dumbledore there. We each have our own destiny, and it isn't necessarily bound to any legacy, but if the Death Eaters think it is, it could wind up mattering a great deal to us. Just because we don't care about things like that doesn't mean other people won't try to use it against you."

"I'll think about it," Harry sighed.

They finished their drinks, and began to look in the shops. At Honeyduke's, Luna praised some chocolates, and Harry bought them a large bag to share, and she thought nothing of it, but she soon realized she had but to admire something, and Harry would buy it for her. He bought her a new quill, a book on Runes, and a pair of earrings shaped like crescent moons before she finally tried to stop him. "Harry, you don't have to buy me gifts to prove we're together. I love you for you. I'm not used to being spoiled like this. Some of these things cost a lot."

"I don't care about the money. My parents left me enough money to get by, but I never even knew I had any until I came to Hogwarts. When I was little, I had nothing. I never got the chance to buy anything I wanted, and I certainly never had anything to share, or even anyone to share it with. Don't spoil my fun."

He gave her a mournful look, and smiled shyly, in a way that melted her heart.

"Oh, Harry!" Luna said exasperated, leaning in to kiss him quickly, "just don't go overboard."

"But Lu, you need a necklace to go with the earrings. You got one for me. If I get one for you, we'll be square." He walked back over to the jewelry counter, and she followed him reluctantly. "Ugh! Look at the swastikas. What's up with that?"

"Swastika comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'it is well' and it dates from time beyond counting," Luna said seriously. "It was an ancient good luck charm in many societies before it became associated with Hitler's Nazi war machine. I think Grindelwald recommended it for that."

Harry stared at her. "I didn't know that!"

"That's because you sleep in Binn's class," Luna said with a smile. "It doesn't matter what it meant originally, though, I still don't think I'd want one now."

"What about this?" Harry held up a silver chain with a moon and star pendant. "It seems to suit you, Luna. It goes with your name and all."

"All right, but that's the last thing you buy today. Promise?"

"No. I get to buy lunch. Fair enough? A fellow has to eat, after all." Outmaneuvered, Luna stood very still as Harry hung the pendant around her neck, and she followed him faithfully to find a restaurant.

After lunch they walked up the road toward the Shrieking Shack, holding hands. Luna looked at it with interest. "Do you think that's really the most haunted building in Britain?"

"It's not haunted at all," Harry told her. "I've been in it."

"You have?" Luna looked at him, mildly surprised. "People have been trying to get into it for years. It's sealed with a charm no one has ever been able to break. How did you manage it?"

"There's another way in," said Harry, and trusting Luna, he told her the truth about the shack, Remus Lupin, and about Wormtail and Sirius. Luna was fascinated.

"I'd like to see it sometime. Poor Professor Lupin! He was such a good teacher, and he seemed so sweet. I wish life had been kinder to him."

"He was very good to me," Harry sighed, "and I treated him terribly. He wrote me over the summer, and I didn't even answer him. I didn't want to talk about Sirius. I was so upset I didn't care about how much pain he was feeling. I lost my godfather, but he lost his best friend. He must have been just as hurt as I was, and I deserted him, too."

"You should write to him now," Luna said. "It's time. This is not the sort of thing you want to have unresolved, Harry. We all have to express our feelings now."

Harry expressed his feelings by pulling her into his arms for a long hug. "I will. You're right. I will write to him, and if you want to see the shack, I'll take you tomorrow. We can go after lunch." He leaned his cheek against her hair. "Thanks, Luna."

"For what?"

"For being my conscience."