Luna's Quarters

Harry and Daphne entered Luna's quarters, hand in hand, where the mood was somber. Luna was sitting on her bed, looking resolute, while Kamiko and Hermione were sitting in a corner, cuddling with one another. Hermione's face appeared tear stained, while Kamiko just looked pensive.

"Daphne. Harry.", Luna said, somewhat dispassionately, and both Hermione and Kamiko jumped up and ran over to Harry, almost knocking Daphne over in the process. Daphne smiled, smooth her skirts, and went to sit next to Luna, while the other two girls clung to him. Hermione was openly sobbing.

"We thought we'd lost you, Harry", she whimpered.

Luna sighed. "I told you he would be alright. Why didn't you listen?"

Hermione glared at Luna. "Not all of us have access to unseen prophets that tell us important things," she snapped.

Luna's eyes flashed, and she began to open her mouth, but all mouths snapped shut as Harry raised his hand. "Girls, I'll tell you all what happened, but don't fight. Luna is right. Hermione is right. You should have listened to Luna, but it's understandable that you didn't. Now can I tell you what happened?"

Daphne glared at all of the other girls. "I, for one, am very interested to hear Harry's story. You can bicker when he's gone. Before you do, though…" Daphne concentrated. "There. I needed to tell my… our… father that you were okay."

Harry winced. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that."

Daphne huffed. "Well, I did. He's not concerned, anyway. He listened to Luna. Now spill." All of the girls made themselves comfortable, as Harry began to tell his story.

After he was done with his story, the room was quiet. Very quiet. Hermione and Kamiko were quietly sobbing, Luna looked pensive, and Daphne clung to Harry almost possessively.

Luna spoke first.

"Chosen," she said. "You are not just the chosen - you are Chosen. That is now your name." Luna's face took on a puzzled appearance. "And I am Beloved", she said quietly.

The room was quiet for a few moments. Finally, Harry spoke. "She was innocent."

Hermione seemed lost in thought. "So are you, Luna. No wonder your lessons don't take sometimes."

"She didn't know what a tear was," Harry said quietly. "She tried to put the tears back in when Yeshua explained that they were my 'superpower'".

"I know what tears are," Luna said softly.

"I don't think you need to not know what tears are to be innocent," Kamiko said, not breaking the quiet mood of the room. "But I think you have to not let the tears corrupt you."

They were silent for a little while longer, when there was a soft knock on the door. Luna looked surprised. "I'm not expecting anyone," she said.

The door opened and Petunia was standing there, looking confused and a little sad. Everyone's mouths dropped, and Harry mouth formed a thin line.

"May I… come in?", she asked.

Luna shook her head. "Well, I would be rude if I said no, wouldn't I?". But she made no effort to stand up.

Petunia walked in, the hostile gazes of all of the girls boring into her. To her credit, she did not flinch, but instead stood in front of Harry.

"I don't know why I am here," she said quietly. "I felt like I should be here."

Harry jumped up, rolled his eyes, and threw his hands up in the air. "Yeshua, really?!", he said, exasperatedly.

"All must forgive, and all must be forgiven," he heard in his head.

He sat back down, his expression carefully neutral. "Well, then, say what you need to," he said.

She glanced at all of the other girls with a look that was a mixture of longing, jealousy, and sadness. Finally she met Harry's eyes briefly, before lowering her head.

"I don't remember all of it," she said quietly, playing nervously with the hem of her robes. "I do remember being jealous of my sister - your mother," she said. "I thought if I were just magical, I could have anything I wanted - the boys, the power, the… attention of my parents. My sister was everything to them," she said bitterly, "and I was nothing."

She was quiet for a moment, and Harry did not break the silence. "When I was judged, and given magic, I thought I had everything I ever wanted. And it was everything I ever wanted. And now, it's… nothing." Her lips quivered a little. "All of this, because… because I wanted what I didn't have. And now I have it, and I find out… I find out that I would have been jealous anyway, I would have been envious anyway. I would have found a reason."

She looked up, and finally met Harry's eyes. "He was wrong," she said. He did not need to ask who she was talking about. "He met his judgement, and his was much more harsh… no. It was actually kinder, in a way. Perhaps it is less painful to die, never realizing you're wrong." Her lower lip trembled a little. "And I was wrong too. I see that now. I looked at your eyes and saw my sister. Now I am everything she ever was… except for what counts." Her eyes were moist. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Your mother was a better person than I could ever hope to be."

She turned around and started to walk slowly out of the room. Finally, as she reached the door, Harry spoke. "Petunia," he said. She stopped, but did not move.

He paused for a moment, trying to get his thoughts together, and she did not move. She did not go towards the door, but she did not turn around to look at him either.

"It's hard for me to do, Petunia. My back is scarred due to your jealousy and inaction. I'm not sure that will ever heal. The scars on my back might, someday, but the scars in my heart…"

She lowered her head.

"They may not heal. But I forgive you anyway."

Petunia's chest heaved a little, and then she brought herself under control. Finally, she choked out, "I don't deserve it, Harry. But thank you." She walked out the door and closed it behind her.

"Harry?", Daphne said, grabbing his hand. "Are you okay?"

He lowered his head. "I will be, someday. This is the cost of bringing what I saw today into being. I didn't understand that then, but I do now. This is the price. I pay for the misdeeds of others."

He squeezed her hand. "But others pay for mine too. I suppose it all balances out." He stood up. "I'd like to be by myself for a while."

Daphne nodded and released his hand. Harry opened the door and shuffled out, as slowly as Petunia did. The door softly clicked shut behind him.

"Is he okay?", Hermione asked, softly.

"No," Daphne said. "That was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, and may be one of the hardest he will ever do." She paused, deep in thought. "But he will be," she said. "He will be okay. Maybe for the first time, my Harry will be okay." She stood up and also walked out of the room.

Luna looked around at the remaining two girls. "Will you stay with me tonight?", she said quietly. "I don't think I want to be alone."

Hermione nodded. "I think, tonight, none of us should be alone." Kamiko nodded as well, and soon they were all snuggled together in Luna's big bed.

"Thank you for being my sister," Luna said, "and my friend, Kamiko." Taking comfort in each other, they fell asleep, their dreams fitful. Even in their dreams, Harry's tale was affecting them deeply.

For his part, Harry faded to the front steps of the school, and wandered out onto the path to the Black Lake. It was chilly outside, but it didn't bother him. The sky was otherwise clear, and he looked up to the stars, each one colored slightly differently and flickering in the night air. He sighed and breathed in the smells of the night air.

The moon caught his attention - shining down on earth like a silver lamp, bathing the world in its ethereal glow. As he made his way to the lake, the moon was reflecting brilliantly off of the still waters, appearing almost like a warped reflection of the sea of crystal that he saw in God's realm. He remembered Beloved, who had never seen a tear, and how happy she was - he was jealous of her, in a way - never having to taste the pain of destruction. He remembered Petunia, and understood somehow that her treatment of him was a symptom of the same sickness that permeated mankind from the very beginning - the very first act of selfishness created the first damaged child, and the world had never healed from that tragedy.

He sat down on a bench, and looked out on the moonlit lake, and sighed morosely. It had been a difficult day, full of emotional highs and lows, and he was frankly just exhausted of it all. He had seen things no human (of this age, anyway) was meant to see, and he had fought with his - girlfriend? - and made up.

Girlfriend, he thought. I like the sound of that. Maybe someday we'll make it official.

Someone sat down next to him.

"Penny for your thoughts," Rowena Ravenclaw said softly.

Harry sighed. "I was hoping to be alone."

She nodded. "Sometimes that is good. But nonetheless, I am here now. And I don't feel like being alone."

"Suit yourself," he said, and stared at the lake.

She sighed wistfully. "I was trapped in the castle for a thousand years. I had forgotten how beautiful this is."

"It is but a shadow…", he said, without finishing the sentence.

"Perhaps," she said. "But once the extraordinary becomes ordinary, the ordinary does not become extraordinary, it just becomes more ordinary."

He sighed. "Look, it's been a rough day -"

She raised a hand. "I know. Something happened today that made Hogwarts' sensors go haywire. And, as always, you were right in the middle of it all."

"What did you detect?", he asked. He was genuinely curious.

"For a while, it was as if you were both here and not."

"Then they didn't go haywire. That is exactly what happened. I think, anyway."

She shifted next to him, and he felt arms snake around his waist, pulling him to her. He looked up at her questioningly.

"It's cold," she said. "You look like you need a hug." She lifted him onto her lap and held his head to her chest.

He sighed in spite of himself, as the warmth of her body penetrated his bones. She was very unlike Daphne - soft in very different places, but he could hear her heart beating just the same. She smelled good, too.

"Rowena -"

"Sssh. I like my men a bit older than you anyway. And by 'a bit' I mean 'a lot'. I'm cold and you need a hug. Don't think more of it than that."

She stroked his hair gently, and he relaxed into her. She smiled down at him.

"Be a child for once," she soothed, and a kind of comfort washed over him that he'd never known before. "You have many adult responsibilities, Harry, but you are still a child."

"I'm not -" he protested weakly. But he could feel himself surrendering.

"You're not my son. I know that. But you never had a mother."

He shifted in spite of himself to make himself more comfortable, and he felt her chest heave as she sighed. If it had been Daphne he would have responded differently, but those thoughts were far from his mind. She was warm, and he could feel his mind drifting.

"It must have been hard to not have a mother."

"It wasn't," he said quietly. "How can you know what you're missing if you never had it? It was hard, yes.. But…" her warmth and soft voice was lulling him to sleep.

"Ssssh," she said. "Now you know," she said, and his eyes finally closed. She smiled, and gently stood up as if he weighed nothing, and cradling him to her bosom, she took him back to his bed and tucked him in.

"I can't be a mother for you, Harry," she whispered sadly. "That ship sailed a thousand years ago, and eleven years ago besides. But I will do what I can." She kissed his forehead and quietly walked out of the room.

The next morning a very rested and very thoughtful Harry padded to the Room. He walked in, and Yeshua was already there, staring at a particularly bright stellar feature.

"Ah, there you are," he said jovially. "I was just observing one of my Father's more amazing creations."

Harry looked up from the surface of what appeared to be a rocky and icy planet, and saw a very bright blob in the distance. It appeared to be pulsing, and the center appeared pitch black.

"What is it?", he asked.

"The non-magicals call it Sagittarius A, a singularity at the center of the galaxy. It's a place where all of the physical laws of the Universe break down. And yet, still, order is maintained."

They both watched the colorful jets of gas whirling around the feature at an incredibly high velocity, before falling in with a huge burst of light.

"If we were really this close, the radiation would incinerate you where you stand. What an amazing room," he said.

"Why are you here?", Harry asked. "Surely you can't be here just to look at dark spots in the sky."

"Why not? And don't call me Shirley."

"Huh?"

Yeshua chuckled. "People think I don't have a sense of humor. And in some ways, they're right. I don't think very kindly of jokes that tear people down. But not all jokes are like that."

Harry sighed. "I take things too seriously, don't I?"

"Just a little." They both watched as the accretion disk rippled with an unseen gravitational disturbance. "Rowena was right, you know. You have a lot of adult responsibilities, but you're still a child."

"How do I be a child?", Harry asked, frowning.

Yeshua smiled. "That one's easy. If an opportunity comes along to be a child, take it." And he faded out.

The door opened. "Hey you," he heard, and he heard the footsteps of his betrothed walking softly behind him. "Today's a Hogsmeade outing and you're taking me."

"I'm… what?"

She grabbed his hand and looked him square in the eyes. "Today. Is. A. Hogsmeade. Outing. And. You're. Taking. Me."

"But you're not a third year!"

"And you're not a student. Do I have to repeat myself a third time?" She crossed her arms over her chest. He swallowed as she tapped her foot impatiently and gave him the stink eye. It was terribly cute, he thought, in spite of himself, and he fought to hold down a giggle.

He remembered Yeshua's voice. "If an opportunity comes along to be a child, take it."

He rubbed her cheek with the back of his other hand, and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "You're so cute when you're vicious."

She blushed in spite of herself and lowered her eyes. "Sweet talker," she said with some affection in her voice. "Are you going to take me or not?", she asked, the look on her face making clear that there was only one correct answer.

He deflated. There was only one correct answer. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

She smiled. "Why, Chosen, I'd love to." Her eyes shining, she dragged him out of the room by his hand. "Now get yourself cleaned up and meet me here in half an hour."

He facepalmed. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Live what down? It's your name now, isn't it?"

He turned around and pulled her towards him. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "If you call me Chosen, I will call you Gorgeous". His breath tickled her ear and she shivered involuntarily. Her eyes closed slightly in spite of herself.

Pulling herself together, she smiled and whispered back, "I'll take that deal, Chosen. Now go get cleaned up so you can take me to Hogsmeade." Smiling brightly, she turned around and started the walk back to her dorms.

He watched her receding form, until she looked over her shoulder, her hair flipping around behind her. "Go", she mouthed, and flounced exaggeratedly around a corner.

Harry sighed defeatedly. And then he thought about it. He couldn't be happier with the situation. He trudged off to get ready for his first date with his betrothed.

A few months later

Harry sat in a nondescript room with Rowena and Nick. They were seated around a small, circular table.

"It's been a while since I checked in," Harry said. "There is a lot of knowledge to slog through."

Nick nodded. "There is. It will be decades before we manage to internalize most of it. Nearly all of the students and staff, though, have picked up the basics, and I feel comfortable enough to loosen the restrictions on experimentation somewhat."

"Isn't that dangerous?", Harry asked.

"Maybe," Nick said. "But it's like taking the training saddle off a broom - eventually people have to find out for themselves. I did my best to warn them, but eventually they will experiment with or without my okay. Best to give them some leeway."

Rowena nodded. "I've been spending the past few months, along with leading the development and research teams, teaching Hogwarts how to monitor physical phenomena that it didn't know how to monitor before. Anything untowards happens, we'll know about it, and fast."

"Some reactions can happen very quickly," Harry frowned. "Like those nuclear weapons the non-magicals built - the whole place will be gone before you can blink."

Nick nodded. "There is always a risk, but Hogwarts is pretty good at sorting things out. It will be able to give us warning and put a stop to things before they get out of hand. We're about as safe as we can be, given the Pandora's box Yeshua opened."

"What about risks outside the grounds?"

Rowena sighed. "We always knew that there would be some risk in letting this knowledge get out. Hogwarts' shields can withstand all but the most powerful of nuclear weapons, and even then they'd blunt most of it. But outside the grounds, we'll just have to rely on the ministry to do their job."

Harry frowned. "A year ago, I wouldn't have trusted them to tie their shoes. But Madam Bones has been pretty evenhanded. And there's also Yeshua - I hear a potential Dark Lord was found dead amongst a failed ritual."

"It's just like before," Rowena said, "except Yeshua is being far more hands-on".

The room was quiet for a moment. "Why don't you tell us how things are going with the Champions, Harry, and then we'll give you an update on our efforts."

Harry shrugged. "That works as well as anything." He thought for a moment. "Things are going about as well as can be expected. Some countries are taking it well - in fact, I think some think it's well past time this happened. Some… some aren't. MACUSA, for example, is really dealing with a lot of pushback. Of course, this is somewhat to be expected - Yeshua's rule is not just a shot across the bow, but a full broadside assault against isolationism."

"It sounds like things are going to get pretty bad," Nick mused.

"I don't see how they couldn't. About all we can do is trust Yeshua and his champions over there to see it through."

"Champions?"

"The UK is very small. The USA is very large. For large countries, several champions were chosen. They have one for each state. Which was very wise of Yeshua, actually. Each state has its own culture and has to be dealt with in its own way. Initially, Yeshua had chosen only a couple, but that proved unworkable."

"I thought Yeshua didn't make mistakes."

Harry frowned. "He doesn't. But his plans aren't always immutable. his champions quickly got overwhelmed, and he listened to their prayers, and he allowed them to raise sub-champions, for want of a better word. It works out this way. Sometimes he'll toss people into the deep end to see how they'll react."

"That hardly seems -"

"It's his way," Harry said quickly. "Anyway, those are the problems we're encountering in this stage. We think there will be worse problems as we start the non-magical integration - the more 'liberal' societies will probably take this in a direction that isn't healthy, and the more 'conservative' societies will object to the whole thing. Yeshua hasn't told me how he plans to deal with that situation, but it would surprise me if there were war."

"That is concerning."

Harry sighed. "It is. But Yeshua hasn't steered us wrong yet. I have to trust that he has a plan for this."

The room was thoughtful.

"So that leads us to your update. What's going on on your side?"

Rowena returned to her slightly bubbly personality. "Well, we've managed to create a few products, but we're deliberately holding some back. If we flood the market with too much, we're going to push the rate of change too hard. We're starting with, believe it or not, children's toys. We figure if we can make toys that never run out of power, have a rudimentary intelligence of their own, and can behave in a somewhat lifelike manner, we can get some inroads into many non-magical households and build brand trust. If people associate us with children and fun, then perhaps our products can't be that bad."

Harry nodded. "Seems sensible. I trust you're taking precautions to ensure the toys aren't dangerous?"

Nick spoke up. "Yes, that's where it gets a mite tricky. What we create, other magic-users can alter, and we have to plan for the possibility that someone tries to turn the world against us by causing the toys to malfunction in a harmful or even deadly way. We're not entirely sure how to fix that, but we've taken some measures. The toys are self-protecting - they become bonded to their young friends, and thus will protect them - even from themselves. Getting that right was tricky, but we have what we think is a production model ready, and we want to show it to you soon."

Harry nodded. "What's next?"

"Then we start dealing with the actual problems of the world. We are planning to slowly start introducing products that are more and more fantastical to the non-magical world."

Harry frowned. "Why's that?", he asked. "I really just want to get on with it."

"Too much change at once is generally a bad thing," Nick said. "Let let them have a good feeling about us and our products first, then we can set about changing the world. It'll be a lot easier if they trust us."

Harry sighed. "Every since I had that image of the Kingdom, I keep wanting to push it along."

Rowena leaned forward. "That's understandable, but you can't. The more you push, the more people resist. Change works best when you can convince people it was their idea in the first place."

Harry was thoughtful. "Can I see the toy?"

Nick pulled a small object out of his robes. It was a small hamster, with a waffle between its paws. He pushed it across the table to Harry, who picked it up and looked at it from all angles. "It's just a stuffed animal," he finally said.

"It's not just a stuffed animal," Nick said a little impatiently. "Give it a squeeze."

He squeezed is, and the little animal came to life. "I'm Chewy, what's your name?", it said.

Harry looked at it askance. "This is the toy?", he said skeptically to Nick.

"Name", it said, and cutely tapped its foot impatiently. "We can't get to know each other until I know your name."

"Harry," he drawled slowly. The hamster cocked its head. "Don't lie to me, Chosen. That's not a good way to start a friendship!"

"You put it up to that!", he said accusingly, putting the hamster on the table. It walked over to Harry and sniffed his hand. "Waffle?", it said cheerily.

Nick laughed. "No, we did no preparation. We built it to be able to read a child's surface thoughts and emotions using a rudimentary form of legilimency. It can't talk about them to anyone but you except for in an emergency."

"What's an emergency?," he asked skeptically.

"Imminent danger of life, limb, or significant mental or physical trauma. Why don't you ask it what it can do?"

"Do you mind if I keep it? I'd like to chat with it in more detail later."

Nick nodded. "I thought as much, this one's yours. But don't go showing it around right away. We still need to ramp up production."

Chewy had gone to sleep, and Harry put it in his pocket. It murmured something about waffles, and went back to sleep.

"What else do you have in the works?" Harry asked.

"Well, we've got electricity generators, carbon dioxide scrubbers (some of the scientists thought this might be a good idea and we didn't see why not), personal and freight teleportation devices that are much more comfortable than current wizard methods of transportation, and a few other goodies too. Best part is, they require no obvious source of energy. Obviously there is energy being consumed from somewhere, but it'll take them years to figure it out."

Harry thought. "I like the toy idea," he said finally. "It's not how I would have done it, but I can see the value in earning trust, especially when we have so much to throw at the world. "Maybe it would make sense to introduce ourselves to the world as a toy company, and then when we put out toys that are far more advanced than they have any right to be, we won't have to explain quite as much."

Nick nodded. "I was thinking that way as well," he said. "Much wizardry can be hidden in frivolity."

Rowena frowned. "I can see that, but at the same time, we might not be taken seriously."

Nick's smile grew. "All the better!", he exclaimed, and slammed his hands on the table, making Rowena and Harry jump. "That's a smashing idea, Harry!"

Rowena's frown deepened. "What idea?"

"Don't you see?", Nick enthused. "If we're a toy company, you're exactly right that no one will take us seriously. So as we introduce products that are more and more 'magical', if we can cloak the magic as a children's toy, no one will pay much attention. Then when we 'decide to use our production facilities for the betterment of mankind', and release one of our more potent inventions, they'll be so busy trying to figure out how a toy company pulled that off that they'll forget where it all came from!"

"Nick, I see where you're coming from, but -"

Harry stood up. "I'll leave you to fight it out now. I'm going to spend a little time with Chewy."

They didn't even hear him, as they continued bickering. Harry smiled. Those were his friends.

Harry wandered back to the Room, which was empty, set it to Luna Configuration #1, and set Chewy on the clearing. Chewy shook himself awake. "Where am I… oh. What an amazing place."

Harry laid down on his stomach and got eye to eye with the little toy. "We need to have a little talk, Chewy."

"What about?" the hamster said, and gnawed a bit on its waffle. Harry had to admit it was very cute.

"I don't know where you keep your brain," Harry said flatly.

"I don't," Chewy said.

That was an answer Harry was not expecting. "You don't what?"

"Keep my brain. I'm a manifestation of magic."

Harry nodded. "Finally, something makes sense." He heard Yeshua laugh softly in his head. He picked up Chewy, put him in his robe pocket, and walked out of the room.

A/N: this was another really hard chapter to write. It took me a very long time to get something I was happy with, and there were several false starts.

Chewy is based on a real toy I have, and he made an appearance in another of my unfinished stories as well.

I really do like how Daphne's character is forming, and all the girls have their own personalities too. It's cool how that works out.

Happy New Year.