A/N: I'm so sorry! Wow, I don't even know how long it's been since I've updated. I just know that I'm really sorry. I've been pretty busy doing stuff and writing has had to take a back seat. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update regularly but just know that I'm never going to abandon this fic. So keep hanging there! I've also been having a bit of a block with this fic, and I've been writing Always as a result.
Title: Moondance
Author: hpjkrowling4ever
Chapter Fifteen
Black tentacles grasped and clawed at him, and he shook with fear, writhing desperately on the ground to avoid them, but they hunted him down, pinning him to the floor and he screamed in anguish as they tried to swallow him alive. Suddenly, he was catapulted awake by a blast of fresh water and his eyes flew open, pinning themselves onto an anxious sea of eyes.
"You idiot, Ron! Use Enervate, don't pour a bucket of water on him!" Hermione's shrill, annoyed voice broke through Harry's nightmare and he smiled wanly.
"It's okay. I probably wouldn't have woken up with the spell."
"You were very ill." Luna, sitting on the bed beside Harry, said matter-of-factly. Harry smiled wider. "I think that you were affected by the Horcrux."
"No kidding," Ron murmured, looking disgruntled. Hermione elbowed him in reprimand and turned to Harry.
"Are you alright? Professor Dumbledore is trying to find out what happened and until he has you're not allowed near the Horcrux."
"But we have to destroy it!" Harry tried to move, but found himself pinned to the bed by his surprisingly strong friend. Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Oh no, mate, you're not going anywhere. Not while Hermione or Dumbledore have anything to say about it." Ron looked towards his girlfriend pleadingly. "That good enough for you?"
Harry lay back heavily on his pillows, closing his eyes and blocking out the chatter from his best friends. He felt something trying to grab at his mind again and he fought to block it out, his breathing becoming ragged. He fought inside his mind for hours, his magic and his strength slamming itself against the intruding force.
Feeling drained, he opened his eyes again to see that Hermione and Ron had left and the Infirmary had been plunged into darkness. Luna was sitting on the chair next to him, her head to one side and her eyes closed.
Trying to flee from the darkness in his mind, Harry looked at his girlfriend. Even in sleep, she looked ethereal, further away from this world and it scared Harry. Scared him that the one person who made him feel sane could leave him, could go back to wherever she had come from. As he looked longer, he could see the defining traits that made Luna who she was; the wand behind her ear, the angelic blonde hair framing her face, and the mouth that was smiling even in her sleep. She grounded Harry and he knew it.
"You are looking at me too intently, Harry." Luna's voice broke the silence, and he looked away, his face going a bit red. "Don't be embarrassed, I think I should be flattered!"
Harry extended his hand towards her.
"Take the darkness away, Luna. Please," he murmured, and almost at once Luna changed from teasing and half-awake to something completely different. She stood up from her chair and gently pushed Harry over on the bed and lay down beside him, kicking her shoes off. She pulled Harry closer to her and he laid his head over her heart. There was a short silence and then Harry took a shaky breath.
"Oh Merlin, I thought I was done for. I can't sleep, Luna. It's still there. Please don't leave." He rambled, tightening his hold on his girlfriend, who kissed his forehead soothingly.
"It's okay, Harry. I won't let anything take you away, not even evil."
For a moment, Harry allowed himself to sink into those comforting words, almost wrapping himself around Luna, trying to pull him closer to her. He needed it. He needed the reassurance that he wasn't alone and that she would stay there and be with him. Her hands ran through his hair soothingly and for once, Harry collapsed and allowed himself to break down. To hand over the reins of control to someone he trusted more than he trusted himself. And that was Luna. She could soothe the blackness in his mind, she could soothe the fear thrumming through his veins. She was his balm.
"Shh, I got you. I got you." Luna murmured, moulding herself to her boyfriend and knowing instinctively that this was what being in a relationship was about –the giving as well as the receiving. And she was drunk on that feeling of trust pulsing around them, glowing a deep, satisfied green. It was more than she had ever had in her entire life and she loved it. She loved how she made Harry feel safe and how he also made her feel safe. Suddenly, something slammed into her at the speed of the Hogwarts Express.
"Harry…" she murmured, feeling overpowered by the epiphany.
"Yes, Luna?" Harry asked, looking up, his eyes soft and relaxed and it took Luna's breath away.
"I have something to say."
"I figured as much." Harry smiled, trying to make Luna feel more relaxed. Obviously the decision she had come to was huge.
"I…I think…I think…I love…I love you."
Harry sat up, his face slack with shock and surprise. He cupped Luna's face, his eyes locking with hers and drowning in their depths. He seemed to be fighting an internal battle and he leant his head against Luna's.
"I love you too." Their face broke into identical smiles. "Don't ever forget that."
Two days later found the four of them sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office again. Harry and Luna were almost wrapped around each other, Luna with her arm linked with Harry's and her head leaning on his shoulder. Both Ron and Hermione hadn't been told what made them so glued to each other but it had obviously been big. Harry had been going around with a huge grin on his face and Luna's comments had been more indecipherable than usual, only Harry seeming to be able to understand some of the things she said.
But as they sat in the Headmaster's office, there were no smiles to be seen.
"Harry, how are you feeling?"
"Better, thank you, sir." Harry answered politely, clutching Luna's hand tightly in his.
"I'm not sure what happened with the Horcrux and your reaction to it. It's most likely something to do with your scar."
"What do you mean, sir?" Hermione asked, worry leaking into her voice. "Why would the Horcrux affect his scar? It's only a scar."
Professor Dumbledore jumped up from his seat.
"But that's just it! It's not just a scar, it's a curse scar. And somehow it feeds off the evil inside the Horcrux, transferring it to Harry."
"But it was like this last term." Harry took a deep breath, images of Sirius flashing through his mind. "I was seeing Voldemort in my mind. What has my scar got to do with Horcruxes, though?"
"These Horcruxes are in essence Voldemort's soul. Harry, these are the most intimate parts of Voldemort's body and your scar is linked to Voldemort. There's something I'm missing, though."
Hermione sat heavily into her seat, her mind running through every option possible. She wasn't able to say anything, though, because Luna came up with something instead.
"Professor, why don't we just destroy the Horcrux? Surely it's complicating things by remaining here?" Luna was very forthright and matter-of-fact, and Harry chuckled, squeezing her hand harder.
Professor Dumbledore looked steadily back at Luna.
"Your brashness shocks me for a Ravenclaw."
"Do not place boundaries on what we should or should not do, Professor. Not many people live within the confines of what they are supposed to be. Some people try to knock down the barriers. Don't you find it odd that I was sorted into Ravenclaw yet I find solace in a Gryffindor?" Luna attacked the Headmaster with just as much fire as he had attacked her. "You may hide too many secrets to tell us, but the ones you can tell us you must. What is holding you back from giving the control to Harry? You know that you cannot be the Destroyer in this War. It must be Harry or it will be the death of what we know."
Once again, Luna surprised the room by using her powerful logic and wielding it to their advantage. Harry was so proud of what his girlfriend could achieve and kissed her hand. She smiled gently and turned back to Professor Dumbledore.
"We must have all the Horcruxes before we destroy this one. If we have them all in one place, we can bring them to one of the rooms made especially to withstand Fiendfyre and destroy the Horcruxes all at once without burning down Hogwarts. It would also weaken Voldemort substantially and leave us with the time to attack him in surprise and destroy the last Horcrux, his snake."
"Where will you find all the Horcruxes?" Ron asked.
"You will help me do that."
"You're mad! You can't send off four teenagers to find these Horcruxes!" Harry jumped up, his face flaming.
Professor Dumbledore looked at him steadily, calculatingly.
"The Prophecy says that you have to defeat him, Harry. I think we'd like to defeat him sooner rather than later, don't you think?" Professor Dumbledore smiled gently. "I care for your safety, Harry, but we all know that we can't leave the Wizarding World in this place. Now, let me tell you where you should go."
Reluctantly, the four of them creeped up to his desk, aware that it was their lives and the lives of thousands of wizards they were placing on the line.
They just hoped that they could live up to the pressure.
A/N: I'm so sorry for the crap chapter, I felt so bad for leaving you for so long that I needed to update. I know it's not very good at all, and that it's a rubbish ending, but I'm not in a great place at the moment and I know that I can't leave you all hanging without an explanation. I have a hell of a lot of work to get done, and real life is steadily catching up with me. I'm working more on Always at the moment because that's my latest plot bunny, and I need to get it finished before doing too much with this fic. I won't abandon this, I am very aware of how annoying it is when authors never complete their fics, but I'm going to be leaving it here for a while. Sorry guys.