FicWad

Disclaimer: I still own none of the characters of the Harry Potter series, which are the property of JK Rowling and her publishers. This chapter will not see as much action, but is needed to set up what we’ll be seeing later.

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Hermione was pulling Harry up the stairs from the Great Hall, and Harry had a good idea of where they were going. This was confirmed when they reached the seventh floor and Hermione dragged him in front of the picture of trolls with tutus.

“Harry, will you let me choose what the room will look like?” Hermione pleaded. Harry simply nodded. With that, they walked back and forth across the room’s entrance and then went in.

Harry didn’t recognize the room, but knew where it had to be. Two tall bookshelves, crammed to capacity, occupied most of one wall. A window between the shelves showed a view of rolling hills with the occasional house, with a desk and two chairs beneath it. A closet was open to the left, and to the right lay a queen-sized bed, onto which Hermione sprawled. Harry took one of the chairs.

“Welcome to my room, Harry. Well, I guess you know my secret now,” Hermione muttered.

“Um, who else knows about her?” Harry asked.

“Just Luna and now you. No one else knows about the Empress. I, um,” Hermione sputtered, for once at a loss for words.

“Hermione, please look at me,” Harry cajoled. Hermione did so, apparently on the edge of tears. “I’m very sorry for what I did. I didn’t know I was looking into your dreams. It was part of my Occlumency and…”

“Part of your Occlumency?” Hermione seemed to brighten. I should have known that there was nothing like learning something new to perk Hermione up, thought Harry.

“Yes. Snape’s been teaching me about the Palace of Memory method, and when I followed one of the corridors, it led to your dream,” Harry explained.

“I’ve read about Occlumency, but that doesn’t sound like the methods they used to use here,” Hermione said, pondering.

“When did they last teach Occlumency here?” Harry queried.

“Back in the ‘30s, when Grindelwald started to rise in Germany. It didn’t seem to work very well, and it was discontinued after the war. I figured that anything would be better than nothing,” Hermione explained. “But the books don’t say anything about entering other people’s dreams, just about defending your own mind. If you can do what you obviously did, then the distinction between Occlumency and Legilimency may not actually make sense.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought this through. I’m glad that you care enough to do all that work to learn about Occlumency,” Harry said, moved.

“Oh, it wasn’t entirely for your sake, mind you,” Hermione said, smiling. “I want to be able to protect myself, and maybe let some of the DA in on this.”

“All of it, or just your ‘Generals’?” Harry needled.

“Probably just them at first… Harry!” Hermione yelled. “No fair making fun of my dream!”

“I’m sorry, Hermione. It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about it. It was rather… interesting, from an outside point of view, don’t you think?” Harry asked, moving to join Hermione on the bed. Hermione didn’t seem to mind.

“I guess you want to know more about it, don’t you?” Hermione queried.

“If you can tell me,” Harry said, patting Hermione’s shoulder. “If you think it’s too private for me to know about…”

“Alright. I know you won’t talk. I haven’t told Luna, although maybe it’s safe,” Hermione answered.

“You think she won’t talk?” Harry asked.

“Oh, she might talk. It’s just that no one would believe her,” Hermione responded, grinning again.

“Anyway, I’ve been dreaming about the Empress off and on for a couple of years now. How would you describe her?”

“Tall, strong, beautiful, sexy…” Harry said slowly.

Hermione nodded and responded, “Even more than that, she is in control. Of herself, her generals, and her world. I’ve always wanted to be in control, and when I was doing accidental magic before I came here, I was terrified that I was losing control. I don’t like things I can’t explain.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Harry smiled.

“But the Empress doesn’t need to explain things. She goes out and does them. You would have enjoyed some of her other dreams- battles where she takes on a whole army of enemies and beats them with her sword, kicks, and magic.” Hermione threw a couple of punches at the air in front of her to emphasize her point. “Seeing her escape from prison or dominate a roomful of enemies just by her presence. I wish I could be more like her. Instead, I’m just… me.”

Harry took a close look at Hermione’s “me.” She was about five feet three, with soft brown eyes and her brown hair in its usual frizz. Her body was slim, with smallish breasts and a decent pair of legs beneath her skirt.

Harry said, “But I’d rather be friends with you than with the Empress. After all, you’ve done so much to help me over these last five years.” Hermione hugged him tight in response. “Besides, she doesn’t seem to like me very much, if that whole keeping me in chains thing is a hint.”

“Oh, she does, Harry. She finds you fascinating,” Hermione said in a saucy voice, before breaking out laughing as they separated. “I think you’re the only person in the world that she can’t see how to control. And that worries her, but it also excites her to test her will against yours. That’s why she wants to keep you around until you change your mind. And she’ll wait forever if she has to.”

“Well, you don’t have to wait any longer.” With that, Harry bent his head down toward Hermione, and their lips met in a kiss.

It wasn’t a thing of legend. No duel of tongues, no ripping clothes off. Just a simple kiss between two people who saw no reason not to. After a minute or so, Harry pulled away.

“Wow, Harry. That was worth the wait. There’ll be some interesting dreams tonight.” With that, Hermione giggled. Harry usually didn’t like it when girls giggled around him, but her voice was sweet music to his ears.

“Can I meet you there?” Harry inquired.

“Any time you want. Maybe we’ll see Luna again,” Hermione said, chuckling.

“Does she visit you often?” Harry asked.

“About once a week or so. I don’t know how she does it, but I’m glad to see her. There’s something odd about her visits, compared to yours, though,” Hermione mused.

“How’s that?”

“Well, you remember that you were different from your character in the dream, so there were two of you in there at the end,” Hermione explained. Harry nodded.

“When Luna comes, she falls right into the role that she has, like being the Marshal last night. She throws herself into whatever role she’s given and she does anything that I ask, if ask is the word. There’s only one of her in any dream. I don’t know how she does it. You’d have to talk to her.”

“And the kiss?” Harry asked before his brain caught up with his mouth.

“It was… oh, heck, it was wonderful. She kisses very well,” Hermione gushed.

“Does she kiss like…” Harry’s brain finally censored his tongue.

Hermione knew what he was asking, and didn’t mind. “I wouldn’t know, Harry. Not that I’d mind finding out, but it’s kind of hard for me to approach a friend in that way.”

“When did you become friends? You always seemed so skeptical of her and her animals and her other ideas,” Harry wondered.

Hermione thought for a few seconds before explaining. “Over the last few months, I’ve been thinking. The reason I haven’t gotten along with Lavender and Parvati is that they don’t seem to want to learn new things. Luna does- she just chooses a different way to learn. I don’t really understand it myself, but I recognize it as a valid approach. Plus, she’s surprisingly easy to talk to, once she decides you’re interesting.”

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Harry didn’t meet Luna that day. That evening, just before he went to bed, Harry did his sleeping exercise, finishing by visualizing Luna. Luna was an inch or so shorter than Hermione, but a little more curved despite being almost eighteen months younger. The Marshal, of course, was a different story.

He dreamed of the black corridor again. This time, there was a gap in the stone to the left, with the letters LL visible in ever-changing colors. Harry went through the gap to find Luna standing there and waiting for him in an open space.

Harry’s jaw dropped. Luna had the same body that she had when she was awake, but that wasn’t the surprise. She was wearing the gloves and boots from the Marshal’s outfit the previous evening… and nothing else.

“Hello, Harry. How do you want me?” Luna asked breathily.

“Luna? Why aren’t you wearing more?” Harry sputtered.

Luna walked forward, placing a gloved hand on a bare hip. “Because, Harry, you haven’t told me what to wear yet. And I will do whatever you tell me to do.” She took another stride forward, close enough to reach out and touch Harry.

“Luna, I’m not sure that I…” Harry paused and stepped back.

Instead of following Harry, Luna stopped and smiled. “Congratulations, Harry,” Luna beamed as a uniform appeared on her body.

“For what?” Harry asked, befuddled.

“You’re not just here for my body. If you were, you’d have never seen me again. I talked with Hermione this evening, and she said she’d mentioned me to you. I wanted to find out what you wanted to do with me,” Luna explained.

“Actually, Luna, I’m wondering how you got here,” Harry stated. “I’m here because of my Occlumency lessons.”

“I’m here because of my mother,” Luna said sedately. “She was a great Seer and made many predictions. She was working on a way to make prediction more reliable, and then…” Luna’s face fell.

“Since then, I’ve been trying to make sense of her notes. So far, I’ve learned how to enter dreams, but not how to control them. So I find myself at the mercy of whomever I’m dreaming with, which limits the effectiveness of my dream walking,” Luna said. “I learned that I can trust Hermione, and now I think I can trust you.”

“You seemed a bit more confident with Hermione last night,” Harry smirked before fully realizing what he’d said. What was it that prompted him to say things like this?

“We’ve known each other for a while. And I find the Empress hard to resist. You seemed interested too.” Harry had to give it to Luna- she responded in kind to his gibes.

“I’d like to learn more about you. Can we travel together for a while?” Harry asked.

“I’d love nothing more,” Luna responded.

Harry was used to the palace of his memory- a system of rooms with relatively regular corridors connecting them, doors that blocked paths, and torches to light the way. Luna’s mind was very different. Some areas were like cartoons- run off of a stage to the right and you’d reappear on the left side. You could jump down from a balcony and you could drift randomly toward a dozen landing spots. It was like nothing Harry had ever done or seen before, and he was enjoying himself massively.

“Luna, thank you for the tour. I loved it. I’d like to come back sometime,” Harry laughed some time later.

“My pleasure, Harry. You’re the first person I could ever imagine sharing my mind with, and it’s at your disposal from now on,” Luna pronounced.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, more seriously.

“Walking through dreams is supposed to increase your understanding of the world and of magic, and how the two are linked together. I know what you’re meant to do, Harry, and I want to help you in any way that I can,” Luna stated, as seriously as Harry had ever heard her speak.

“How do you know?” Harry asked, shocked.

“My mother was a Seer, remember? The prophecy is quite famous among researchers, apparently.”

“I thought you could only see prophecies about yourself,” Harry responded, perplexed.

“You have to take all kinds of special precautions and have a license from the Department of Mysteries, but my mother did it,” Luna continued.

“It reads: ‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...’ “ Luna’s voice had turned singsong while she was reciting this.

“How do you know?” asked a dumbfounded Harry.

“My mother told me about the prophecy before she passed on. But enough of this, Harry! The three of us need to get together soon,” Luna said brightly.

“You and Hermione and me, you mean?” Harry sputtered.

“Yes, Harry. We’ve got to join forces. And I think we’ll have fun, too.” With that, the two returned to the corridor where Harry had met Luna.

“Good night, Harry. I’ll see you soon.” With that Luna kissed Harry and walked away, and Harry soon slipped into dreamless slumber.