Halcyon Fugue

Ch. 1: On Top of the Hogwarts Express

"Y-you're kidding right?"

"No, not at all," she said in a breathy voice, scooting toward him on the seat and putting her hand on his knee. "Haven't you ever... thought about it?"

"N-not especially," he muttered. Harry wanted to say "Not in a million years," but somehow he couldn't with her face this close to his. "Where are my best friends when I need them?" Harry thought frantically to himself, before remembering Ron and Hermione were receiving their prefect instructions. He was left alone in his compartment until she entered and this whole nightmare began.

"Well then, what do you think of it now?" She stared with wide eyes into his, awaiting his answer.

"You're in Gryffindor, you're in Gryffindor," Harry repeated to himself, and then looked her firmly in the eyes. "Look, the truth is I just don't feel the same way about you."

It may have been harsh, but it was true, Harry reasoned. However, his statement didn't have the effect he had hoped as she swung her leg his so she was straddling him on the seat. She smirked and whispered, "I know how to fix that," before leaning in...

In a flash, the young Ravenclaw found herself on the floor of the compartment and Harry was in the corridor with the door slammed shut behind him. He gasped for breath as he looked left and right, then took off at a run toward the rear of the Hogwarts Express. Harry didn't have a plan; he could have stopped and hid in any compartment, as it was unlikely she would follow him now. But since the events in June Harry felt little desire to see anyone. He and the students on the train were each members of separate realities, one in which they led normal lives (well, for witches and wizards anyways) and another in which sixteen year old boys are called on to save the world. Instead he ran to the end of the train, pulled open a steel door with a mighty heave, and walked through it.

Harry found what was clearly the caboose nearly empty except for some scrap metal and storage boxes. The floor was scattered with what appeared to be sawdust. He crossed to the back and tried another steel door, but it wouldn't open, even to "Alohamora." Only when Harry turned around did he notice a ladder, affixed to the wall, and a discolored circle where it reached the ceiling. He climbed a few rungs and inspected the circle, which appeared wide enough to be a trapdoor, yet had no discernible means of opening. Harry pulled out his wand, touched it to the ceiling and said, "Alohamora," and met a similar degree of success. Not one easily discouraged, Harry reached out, jabbed the circle and uttered, "Evanesco."

Instantly, the circular area vanished and the wind rushing over the train filled the vacuum and consequently Harry's face. With only one hand on the ladder, he barely managed to hold on in his surprise. Nevertheless, Harry pocketed his wand and stuck his head out of the trapdoor. He gasped.

The view was somehow much different from this vantage point. Harry knew that the Hogwarts Express passed through some unplottable regions and wondered if this was such a moment. Harry looked out and saw mountains- but the tallest, spindliest mountains he had ever seen. They seemed to be inclined in places at mystifying angles. He was pondering what sort of creature could live in those mountains when,

"Beautiful, aren't they?" sung a dreamy voice over the rushing wind.

Harry, who still had only one hand on the ladder, whipped his head around and in that motion lost his grip, smacked the back of his skull on the edge of the trapdoor, and crumpled to the floor of the caboose. He rolled over and groaned. Staring down at him through the trapdoor, her wide blue eyes filled with amusement, was Luna Lovegood.

"Hello, Harry," she said in an even (for her) voice, as though they ran into each in the Transfiguration corridor, and not while she was sitting on top of the train.

"Er, hello Luna," Harry said, as he struggled to his feet and tried to brush the sawdust from his jeans. Luna giggled above him, but stopped instantly when he looked up.

"It's not often anyone comes to join me up here, you know," she called down. "You were coming to join me, weren't you?"

Once again Harry felt the impression that she was joking with him, but her face was painted with a keenly interested look. "On the roof? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Don't be silly, it's all enchanted." Luna was smiling slightly now, and Harry found himself reluctantly returning her smile. He grabbed the rungs and made his way up and through the trapdoor. He found Luna sitting about five feet away, her legs swinging absently over the side of the train. As Harry took a tentative step toward her he realized the roof surface was indeed enchanted- his tread and balance felt sure even as the air whipped around his lithe frame. He settled down next to her.

"How was your summer?" she asked conversationally.

A shadow passed over his face as Harry recalled the months of torment locked in his bedroom at Number Four. "I got to go to the Burrow for the last week," he replied. "What about you?"

Luna launched into a fevered account of her trek through Sweden with her father in search of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Harry could see her clearly now from this vantage. She was wearing her trademark butterbeer cap necklace and a pair of large, green plastic sunglasses perched on top of her head. Harry grinned as she began waving her hands emphatically to gesture as if looking through either bushes or rocks for the Snorkacks. "She's raving," thought Harry, although he found it pleasant nonetheless.

"And so Dad and I are wading through the riverbed, so as not to leave tracks, you know. We'd been following this river for a week and it's just wretched cold, but I know we're getting closer to the herd so..."

Harry lost the thread of conversation as his eyes wandered. Luna's hair, which usually hung unkempt past her shoulders, was now flowing horizontally away from Harry, supported by the wind. She faced forward and Harry's eyes focused on her long, supple neck and proper posture.

"So we concluded that Sweden must have been an abandoned breeding ground and that the Snorkacks have moved on." She finished suddenly, and Harry wondered if she had caught him staring. Luna revealed nothing, of course, and settled into silence.

"Er, Luna, do you... usually sit on top of the train?"

"Sometimes, when I want some air," she said without elaboration. "How did you find your way here?"

"Like usual, just stumbling blindly ahead," said Harry absently. He certainly didn't want to tell Luna about the sure catastrophe he avoided with Cho Chang back in his compartment.

Luna nodded as if she approved. Neither spoke for several minutes, sitting in companionable silence. Harry didn't feel nervous nor did he desire to leave, and Luna for her part seemed satisfied with the state of affairs. The Hogwarts Express sprinted over the English countryside.

"What NEWT classes are you taking, Harry?" Luna asked suddenly. Harry turned to find himself hooked on her wide-eyed stare and suddenly had difficulty forming sentences. At first he was surprised at the question, but then reminded himself she was after all a Ravenclaw.

"Oh, erm, just those necessary for the Auror Academy. Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, and Potions."

Ick

"You got an O in Potions? " she asked breathlessly, her eyes, if conceivable, growing larger. "I'm rubbish in that class. I can never seem to keep track of all those silly little details..."

Harry chuckled. "Well, I had a lot of help from Hermione."

At the mention of Hermione's name Harry thought he heard Luna give a small snort, but before he could remark she replied, "But Harry, don't most students take more than four NEWTs?

Harry flinched at the decidedly Hermione-like shrewdness of her question. Could he tell her? In Harry's mind, Luna had proven herself many times over in the Department of Mysteries. "Well, it's kind of a secret, but I'm going to be studying Occulumency with Dumbledore. I studied some last year- with Snape- but now I will have more... structured lessons. "Harry turned to look at Luna and received a sudden surprise: in place of the whatever look Harry might have expected, he hadn't counted on Luna's expression of deep skepticism. "What?"

Luna, as usual, didn't reply immediately, and her brow furrowed, as she seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Harry, do you really think Hogwarts is the... best place... to study Occulumency?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry snapped, harsher than he intended. He lowered his tone before continuing, "I mean, Luna, it's the only school of witchcraft and wizardry I attend."

"No, no you misunderstand me. It's just that I can't fathom Hogwarts has the... magical culture... to train you in Occlumency, that's all," said Luna, as if she were letting him down easily.

"So what, I should go to a school like Durmstrang, up to its ears in the Dark Arts, now should I?" huffed Harry, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ha-rry," she crooned, drawing out the two syllables in his name and smiling as if he were being silly on purpose. "Occlumency and Legilimency aren't Dark Arts. And there are more kinds of magic than just the Dark Arts and that which we learn at Hogwarts."

"More kinds?" he managed, as he stared at Luna, utterly baffled.

"Let's play a game," she said dreamily, pulling her wand out the collar of her shirt. "I'll perform a spell. You'll tell me what language the incantation came from. Alright?"

Harry nodded. Now he was sure Luna was raving, but wanted to know where she was going with this nonetheless.

"Incendio." A plume of scarlet flame rose from the tip of her wand and was instantly snuffed by the wind.

"Latin," said Harry.

"Orchideous." The flowers shot out of the wand and were carried away by the air currents.

"Latin."

"Accio! Impervius! Diffindo! Expecto Partronum!" Luna was swishing her wand back and forth rapidly, dueling an imaginary foe as Harry burst into laughter.

"Alright, Luna, I-"

She swiftly raised her wand at arms length and shrieked, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry, stunned, watched as her wand seemed to buzz and then Luna immediately clutched her hand tightly to her chest as if electrically shocked from the attempted spellcasting. Harry recovered first:

"You know, that's probably a reassuring response," he said with a ghost of a smile. Her mouth was still shaped in an "o," then she turned and smiled at Harry.

"I've often wondered what might happen," said Luna reverently as if casting the most unforgivable of Unforgivable Curses on the school train was a longstanding goal she had just accomplished.

"So tell me- what language is it?" Harry enquired.

"Aramaic." She met his blank stare. "The language of the Semites." More staring from Harry. "The Hebrews?"

"Okay, them I have heard of."

"Well, yes, it was spoken about two thousand years ago when the Muggles were crafting some of their holy books." Luna said in one breath, and Harry noted that she seemed to be picking up steam while going off track. Her resemblance to Hermione was uncanny, so he decided on a familiar tactic and tried to head her off.

"So, you're saying Hogwarts is.... limited to some kind of Latin-based genealogy of magic and that there are other... kinds of magic originating from other cultures," said Harry, now resting back on his elbows.

"Yes and no. The magic we learn at Hogwarts will make you a fully competent wizard, but it really only consists of seven or eight fields and two theories of magic. There are many other kinds of magic, yes, but there are also many other ways of doing magic. That's Hogwarts biggest failing, really, teaching everyone to perform magic the same way. Like wands- you wouldn't make everyone use the same wand, would you?"

Harry remained silent for a moment to reflect on what she said. It seemed Quibbler worthy, but did he really know better? Then he asked, hesitantly, "So what does this all have to do with me learning Occlumency?"

"Occlumency and Legilimency," she resumed, for all the world as if Harry hadn't spoken at all, "are derived from an ancient Chinese wizarding discipline. And I can't imagine our rote-and-repetition education will be any good at teaching you, from what I understand." Luna folded her hands in her lap as if to signify she was finished.

"So how come Snape and Dumbledore can do it then?" Harry challenged, nearly raising a finger to her face.

"Perhaps they didn't learn it at Hogwarts?" Luna replied evenly. Harry was stumped, and shook his head while Luna grinned.

"Did you get all this from The Quibbler?

"No," she said simply. Harry didn't press her.

"So does this mean I'll never be an Occlumens?

"Oh, I'm sure there are alternative methods of... getting you in the right frame of mind," said Luna mistily, with a sly grin.

Luna didn't elaborate and this made Harry a bit uneasy. Plus he was getting a bit cold sitting on top of the train as he had fled his compartment without his cloak. Thinking of his compartment, he remembered Hermione and Ron should be back by now. "How did I forget all about my best friends?" he thought.

Yet Harry felt he wasn't ready to depart Luna's company yet. His time at the Burrow was not exactly pleasant, with Hermione absent and the Weasley family tiptoeing around him as if he were either a ticking bomb or a porcelain doll (well, really just Molly for the latter). And the less thought of his time at the Dursley's, the better. Harry realized that this was the best conversation he had had since... since... the last conversation he had had with Luna during the Leaving Feast. As this thought resounded in his head, Harry gradually became aware of a tug on his sweater. Looking down, Harry observed that Luna had taken a bit of his hand-woven Weasley sweater between her thumb and forefinger and was absently rubbing it back and forth, feeling the texture.

Harry bolted to his feet. Luna looked up at him with her sparkling blue eyes and he felt suddenly awkward. Did she not realize what she was doing? "Er, Luna- Ron and Hermione will be back and, um, do you want to come join us in our compartment?"

Luna smiled serenely. "Thank you, Harry, but I think I'll stay and enjoy the view a little longer. Perhaps later."

"See you," said Harry and he crossed to the trapdoor and climbed down the stairs. As he dropped to the floor Harry felt the sudden and unpleasant sensation of four walls and a ceiling surrounding him once again. It was like claustrophobia... but Harry wasn't claustrophobic. He shook his head vigorously as he pushed open the steel door and headed down the corridor to his compartment.

* * *

Luna did not show up in the Trio's compartment for the duration of their journey. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the journey reliving playing wizard's chess and telling stories they had told a hundred times, with Harry privately wondering why Luna hadn't come by and why he was wondering about it so much. Harry did not breathe a word of his encounter with Cho.

* * *

After Harry descended the trapdoor, Luna sat for several minutes with her head tilted to the side, dreamy smile on her face, reliving and preserving for memory her conversation with Harry. Gradually her smile, faded, flickered, and died. Luna dropped her head into her hands and moaned, "Don't be silly. You know how this story always ends."