Harry Potter: Crucible

Disclaimer/Plot/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this story to my good friend ArlyssTolero: my recommended reads are Harry Potter and the Shadow of the Demon and The Summoned Champion by ArlyssTolero, Damaged Raven by JustBored21, Dark Prince Rises by Ronin2106, Rise of the Wizards and Be Careful What You Wish For by Teufel1987, Harry Potter and the Grim Heritage by shinobikarasu, Fueled Anger by Kaitabi, Phoenix Insurgent by BolshevikMuppet99, Bellatrix's second chance by Winmau, Harry Potter and The Power He Knows Not Book 1 The Reluctant Champion by ACI100 and There Be Dragons, Harry by Scioneeris

Key Pairing: Harry/TBD

Other Pairings: To be determined

Normal Speech

'Thoughts'

/Parseltongue/

Review Answers:

Winged Seer Wolf: Oh, don't worry, there'll be plenty of pieces of mind to give around, my friend, I assure you

ArlyssTolero: Sometimes, change can be a good thing: also, I think you'll like this chapter

Lowering his hand, Harry looked back to the mirror, which showed his somewhat-disjointed self and the fractured, broken mindset he felt inside of him as well as any euphemism would feel. He also saw the hole in the centre of the mirror, where the broken pieces had fallen out of the wall and onto the floor, but, when he saw the hole, Harry saw more than just a hole in the wall.

He saw a hole in him.

One that nothing, no food, no drink, no love nor friendship, no amount of classes, Quidditch or distractions would fill.

In fact, he highly doubted he would ever feel right in being able to fill that hole again.

Chapter 2: New Moon

'One…two…three…four?'

He didn't mean to seem so surprised, but he was; normally, he couldn't skim any stones beyond two, maybe three times, but now, Harry could only look marginally-impressed as his stone skimmed across the surface of the lake for a fourth consecutive time before it finally sank to the bottom.

Admittedly, he didn't know why he'd chosen to leave behind the warmth of Gryffindor Tower for the cool, open space of the edge of the Black Lake, where he willingly surrendered himself to the task of skimming stones on the water, using the effort and the splashes as a sort of self-induced therapy in a bid to try and feel anything other than the emptiness he'd felt after smashing the bathroom mirror.

However, the only thing he'd managed to feel was surprise for his new record on reaching four times before the stone sank to the bottom of the lake; as for his wounded hand, it was still numb to him, and his pain was virtually non-existent. His makeshift bandage, which he'd wrapped as tightly as possible around his hand, was reddened from the blood he'd spilled, but, other than that, there was nothing that seemed to work to make him feel anything about anything.

No love, no joy, no remorse, no sorrow.

No…he felt…hollow.

As Harry lowered his hand to the ground, intending to retrieve another stone from the gravel around him, he stopped suddenly when a familiar voice cut through his pea-soup-thick mist of self-denial and numbness, as only the owner of that voice could do.

"Hello Harry Potter."

"Hi, Luna," said Harry, not even reacting as Luna sat down next to him, both of them now seated at the base of one of the trees by the edge of the lake, even as Harry continued fishing for his next stone.

"Ow, that looks painful."

"Not really," said Harry, looking down at his right hand, which meant he saw Luna take his hand in hers before she lifted it up; as she did so, Harry was a little surprised to see his newest of new friends pull a blue cloth from her pocket before she wrapped it around his hand.

As if that wasn't enough for her, the kind, if mildly-eccentric blonde then kissed the top of the cloth before she petted it gently as she looked up to Harry, "There, all better now…although, you probably shouldn't make a habit of punching things stronger than you, Harry."

"I guess not," agreed Harry, looking back out across the lake while he sighed softly as he added, "I'm glad to see you're doing okay, Luna."

"No, you're not."

As Harry looked back to her in surprise, Luna offered him a smile that only she seemed able to pull off, while she caressed the back of his bandaged hand in a gentle manner as she told him, "It's all right; I know you're numb to sensation, Harry. You don't have to pretend with me: you can be whoever you want to be, however you want to do it. I won't judge."

Before he had a chance to stop himself, Harry let out a weak, dry laugh before he sagged further down onto the ground, slouching in a casual manner while he scoffed as he remarked, "You know, this isn't the first time you've made me feel like I can understand you, Luna, not to mention how you seem to be the only real supportive person out there."

"Maybe because I know what it's like to lose family," suggested Luna, earning an alarmed, if not annoyed look from Harry, while Luna just toyed with her necklace as she added, "It's okay; you can yell at me and hurt me, if you want. I'll still forgive you later."

"No," said Harry, rising from his position as he told her, "You don't have to…what I mean is, I would never be able to hurt my friends. I guess it's just strange hearing someone else admit the way Sirius was with me."

"Well, I am Loony Lovegood."

"Don't say that!" snapped Harry, rounding on Luna with more rage and fury in his eyes than he might have meant to show, especially to her.

Judging by how Luna recoiled in shock, his rage hit the desired effect too, even as Luna added, "Oops…sorry…I just…what I meant was…"

"You're not Loony anything, Luna," insisted Harry, turning back to the lake while he continued, "You're a very special witch who has as just as much a right to be herself as any of us do! So don't you ever call yourself that name ever again, do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Harry Potter," said Luna, rising from the ground before she walked forwards, taking his hand in hers as she added, "And it's nice to see you again too. I've missed you these past few days."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Harry, scoffing softly, even as he looked to Luna, "I'm still me; I've just…well, I've just been in a bit of a bad spot lately, that's all."

"Not quite," argued Luna, shaking her head while she tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear as she looked into Harry's eyes as she went on, "It might have looked like you, Harry Potter, but it was not you. That you was someone who was not the same as he was before…that Harry…the Harry I knew as Harry Potter was much more…muchier…but now, that Harry lost his muchness."

"My muchness?" asked Harry, earning a slow nod from Luna before she cupped the spot where his heart was located.

"In here," said Luna, looking into Harry's eyes again as she told him, "You'd lost so much already, Harry Potter, but this was worse because you'd lost your muchness…and when you lost that, you…you lost your smile."

"My smile?"

"Well, you're not smiling now, are you?" asked Luna, lifting her hand from Harry's heart as she cupped his cheek before, to his bemusement, she began toying with his lips and his cheeks as she asked, "Where is he? Where's the real Harry Potter gone? I know he's here because he can never be beaten down; he has a light all his own, which empowers him and draws others in. And when it shines brightest, he's…he's Harry…Just Harry."

Moving her hand back to his lips, Luna cocked her head to one side before she asked, "So where's that Harry?"

Taking Luna's hand in his, Harry shook his head as he lowered her hand from his mouth as he told her, "I'm not sure that Harry ever existed."

"Bullshit."

Suffice to say, Harry was beyond surprised to hear such a violent curse word escape Luna's lips, though he couldn't help but keep one hand in hers as he stared at her in abject disbelief while the blonde looked out across the lake before she spoke again. "When I joined forces with Harry Potter, learning from him, standing with him and being a voice, and an ear, when he needed it, I did it because I believed in that Harry Potter. With me, he didn't have to be the Boy-Who-Lived, the Golden Boy, the Liar or anything else like that; with me, and with those who care about him for who he is and what he wants to be doing, all he ever needed to be was Just Harry."

"Luna…"

"That Harry always existed," said Luna, looking back to Harry before she told him, "That Harry led his friends into the darkness, even though he was the one to tell them to stay behind, he still embraced his role as the Alpha Male and led his Pack into certain damnation. But he did it because he knew we believed in him, not his titles, and we knew he was always going to be our Harry."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because," said Luna, lifting her hand back to Harry's heart as she told him, "That Harry…my Harry…the Harry I stood with because he needed someone who would hear him and say, hello Harry Potter, come and sit: would you like some tea?"

Another weak laugh escaped Harry, even as Luna went on, "That Harry was my guiding light too…just as you were Ginny's, and Neville's…and yes, even your godfather's, Harry…that Harry…my Harry wouldn't let the darkness win because he wasn't prepared for what was going to happen. He would rise up, like a phoenix from the ashes, and he would take charge of his path and he would be that Harry again…no matter what."

While Harry was stunned by Luna's words, the blonde lowered her eyes as she gazed out across the lake again before she added in a soft, but still-audible voice, "Maybe then, my Harry would be able to find his smile again…because that smile…his smile…it was my light…as I hope I was his when he needed me to be."

"Luna."

Looking back to Harry, Luna cocked her head to one side before Harry asked, "If I smile, will you feel better?"

"Only if you mean it," said Luna, lifting her hand up to Harry's cheek as she told him, "Smile because you want to, Harry; not because someone tells you to. Otherwise, you might as well be a portrait on the wall, a statue in a garden or just a leaf blowing on the wind. So, don't smile unless you mean it, Harry James Potter, because if I suspect otherwise, I swear, I'll sic the Nargles on you and infect you with more Wrackspurts than you can handle…and they'll make you crazy! Like really crazy; you know? Crazy, fruity, loopy, nutsy tonto bonkers…that crazy!"

That was when she heard it.

Laughter.

Real, happy, friendly, warm laughter, which filled Luna's ears with song, even as she looked up to see Harry smiling, really smiling, while he held his hands up in surrender as he told her, "All…all right, I get it…but…what am I supposed to do next, anyway? How do I find the answers?"

"Ask yourself a simple question," said Luna, earning a curious look from a still-smiling Harry as she told him, "Which one are you?"

"Huh?"

"Something a friend of my Dad's used to say," said Luna, looking back out across the lake as she cleared her throat before she continued, "Sooner or later, we all go through a crucible. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that yours was the Ministry and what happened to your godfather, Harry, but my point is this: most people believe that there are two types of people who go into a crucible. The ones who become stronger from the experience and survive it…and the ones who die."

A look of shock crossed Harry's face when he heard the seriousness in Luna's voice, even as the young girl held up three fingers, wiggling the third finger at him as she continued, "But, what isn't so well-known, or accepted, is that there is actually a third type. These are the ones who learn to love the fire and choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore."

Here, she looked up at Harry as she poked him in the chest with her third finger, "And that's what you're doing, Harry: that is how you are not our Harry James Potter. Our Harry wouldn't let himself stay in his crucible and suffer; he would seize control and take back his future, and his destiny, and he would survive. So, again, I ask you…"

Lowering her hand, Luna retrieved a single stone from the ground before she turned to the lake.

"Which one are you? When you can answer me honestly, I'll listen, but, until then, choose, Harry Potter…"

With that, she set her stone onto the water.

To Harry's surprise, Luna's stone never seemed to stop skipping across the surface of the lake, right up to the point where it seemed to vanish beyond the horizon.

When he turned to ask her how she'd done that, however, he saw Luna was gone.

Wow, talk about an emotional, but strange second chapter and it looks like Luna's been Harry's anchor to normality once again, but is that a good thing or should we be worried?

Also, what will Harry do with the information Luna shared with him? What kind of person will he choose to be?

The one who survives?

The one who dies?

Or the one who chooses to love the fire and stay in his crucible?

Keep Reading to Find Out

Next Chapter: Returning to Gryffindor Tower, Harry might not know which of the three types he's going to be, but he is going to make sure the other survivors understand what he's been trying to tell them for quite some time now: and if they don't like it? Well, that's their problem: our hero has more-important things to focus on now…

Please Read and Review

AN: Just In Case

Also, just in case anyone's wondering, let me say it now:

This story is NOT going to turn out to be a Harry/Luna story: in fact, I'm not even focusing on relationships in the romantic sense with this one; if Harry does end up with someone, it's a side-plot only and won't really affect the story, nor will it become the central focus for a load of stuff either.

But I can assure you: it's not going to be Harry/Luna and it's not going to be slash either.

As for anyone who might suggest pairings, rest assured…I WILL ignore you: this story is less-romance, more-drama and centred around the man Harry will become with the trigger of the Second War, little-to-nothing else.