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The Black Lake; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 10, 1995; 5:17 p.m.

Harry and Luna sat admiring their surroundings. The horses were playing with each other, on the grass, in the air, and in the shallows of the lake. The giant squid lifted one of its tentacles once, as though stretching. I wonder what it's like to wake up when you're a squid, Harry thought. He imagined the squid lying on the bottom of the lake, then swimming up a little and shooting all its tentacles out like a giant pink asterisk or a surprised cartoon cat.

He shook his head and turned his attention back to the girl in his arms. Luna was sitting sidewise in his lap, her arms wrapped around his side, her head resting on his shoulder. In all of about an hour or so, they had gone from acquaintances to . . . what? Dating? But they were already married, sort of.

"Confusing, isn't it?" Luna said, shifting slightly to look up at him. "It took me a while to sort it out in my mind; visions of the past and future are a lot for a six-year-old to deal with, don't you think?"

"I guess," Harry replied. They turned back to the lake. The wind was blowing from the West, creating small waves in the water, and chilling their faces.

"I think we should go, Harry," Luna sighed. "It's about time for dinner, and people will wonder if you don't show up."

Harry frowned. He didn't know why—maybe it was the sight of her standing alone with horses no one else could see and riding in a compartment on the train alone—but he found himself asking, "What about you, Luna? Won't your friends miss you?"

"No, I don't have any," Luna said without a moment's hesitation.

"What?" Harry choked out. Unconsciously, his arms pulled her closer to his chest. "Luna . . . what do you mean?"

"I mean there isn't really anyone I can really say I'm friends with," she answered, shrugging a little.

"But, but," Harry sputtered. "What about the other students in Ravenclaw? What about . . . Ginny?" he cried, remembering that Ginny at least knew the girl well enough to introduce her to him, Hermione, and Ron.

Luna was quite for a moment. "Ginny and I were friends when we were little girls," she said at last. "But, as we grew older, she stopped coming over to play. I haven't spoken to her since she introduced us on the train."

". . . why?" Harry asked.

Luna shrugged. "People grow apart, Harry; it happens. Maybe she, or her mother, didn't like how different I was becoming. It's all right; I don't hold it against her."

But Harry felt her arms tighten just a little more around his torso. He chose not to mention it, however; he understood more than most how painful rejection was. So, instead of confronting her, he pulled her closer into his embrace, trying to let her feel his love for her. They could talk about Ginny another time.

That didn't mean he was letting the conversation go . . .

"What about your Housemates?" Harry asked.

". . . Some of them are polite, Padma and Su Li. They're nice enough."

"But, they're not your friends?" Harry asked.

Luna shook her head just a little. "No, they're nice, but they don't really go out of their way for me."

". . . And the others?" Harry asked quietly.

" . . . They don't like me very much," Luna admitted. She spoke differently. It wasn't that sing-songy sense of wonder she usually used, and it wasn't the soft wisdom she showed when he had been about to collapse under his guilt. Luna sounded hurt and defeated, and Harry decided at that moment that he hated that sound.

She continued on, however, "They're the ones who started calling me 'Loony' Lovegood. They used to make fun of me, but I stopped crying so they stopped, mostly. They started taking my things instead."

"They steal your stuff?" Harry cried.

"No," Luna said. "They don't ask, but they don't take my things to keep them. They just hide them for me to find. It's a game we play . . . except they like it best when I can't find what they took."

". . . How . . . how much have you lost?" Harry asked.

"Not much," she replied. "Nothing important," she added, one arm letting go of his chest to touch one of her radish earrings.

"Why didn't you tell someone? Like Professor Flitwick?" Harry knew he was being a little harsh, but he couldn't help it; having spent much of his life with so few possessions, theft hit a nerve with him.

Luna just sighed and leaned into his embrace a little more. "I did, early on, but he couldn't stop all of them. It only encouraged them to be worse, anyway. So, I just pretend like it doesn't bother me. Sometimes, they just give up and leave me alone."

Harry Potter was neither the most intelligent man in history nor the most intuitive, but he did have a certain level of empathy, and it was telling him to drop it. So, he did—for the moment. This too, would be address at another time.

Instead, he allowed Luna to get up out of his lap, despite the sharp sting he felt as she did so and the phantom weight as though she were still sitting on him. The lithe witch held out her hand to him, and, smiling, he accepted it and let her help him up. Still holding hands, the young couple began to walk back to the Castle.

He was silent for moment before asking something that had nagging him for a while now. "Luna . . . my memories of Rand are kind of sketchy, but, from what I remember of Min . . . she didn't have any powers aside from the viewings . . ."

"So, you're wondering how it is I'm a witch?" Luna asked. When Harry nodded to her, she shook her head in reply. "I'm not entirely sure myself. For all the knowledge my viewings give me, there is still so much I don't know about either the past or the future." Harry frowned a little at that but didn't say anything. "Still," she continued, "whatever Wyrd we share, I'm just happy to share it with you."

"'Wyrd?'" Harry asked.

"It's an old word for Fate or luck. Really, it's a little hard to translate it into English; I've never really felt either of those was an adequate translation, nor did it correctly convey my understanding of the universe. Ka, I think, is a much better synonym."

"What?"

"Ka is a word from the Dark Tower books by the American Muggle author, Stephen King. Have you ever read them, Harry? Personally, most magical fiction is very boring in, my opinion."

Harry thought. "I've heard of him. Didn't he make that movie, Salem's Lot? My cousin, Dudley's watched it about a dozen times, and The Shining now that I think about it." Of course, Dudley had to be careful that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't find out about his watching them. They would certainly not have approved.

"He wrote the book the movie was based on, along with a small army of others. In the Dark Tower books (the ones so far, anyway) Ka is translated as "Destiny, duty, life-force, consciousness,' and even 'a place one needs to go to.' That feels like a more proper definition for . . ." here Luna waved her hand a little at nothing in particular . . ." whatever is going on."

"The Pattern," Harry whispered.

Luna beamed. "Yes, Harry, the Pattern(1)."
/]
[/The Gryffindor Commonroom; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 10, 1995; 11:30 p.m.

Harry sighed as the potion Hermione had made began healing his hand. Well, maybe not healing, per se, he still had the scars, but they were sealing up faster, and the pain was lessened. That was enough for him.

Hermione herself sat across from him. Her face buried deep in her Arithmacy book. Every so often, she would look up to examine his hand, then return to her reading without saying a word.

Harry bit his lip as he observed this. Hermione was his soulmate; he truly loved her, but she was pushing him out. All because of those dreams! On one hand, he wanted to curse them, but, he realized he might never have understood how much she meant to him if it hadn't been for those memories of his past lives. But what am I supposed to do? Walk up and say, "Hey, Hermione, I'm in love with you, BUT, I'm in love or will be in love with some other girls, too. I don't know who or how many, but Luna Lovegood's one of them. It's all part of Destiny, or Ka." . . . That will go well.

On the other hand, he would have to tell her eventually . . . and this separation was . . . "Hermione?" he asked.

She didn't respond. Harry was about to ask again, when—

"Yes, Harry," she said. Hermione didn't look up from her book, but Harry could see that she was no longer reading; she was just staring at the page, her eyes unmoving.

Harry decided to do what he did best. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm sorry I dragged you into this. If I hadn't told you about those first two dreams—"

"It's not your fault, Harry." She said. The bushy-haired witch took a deep breathe. "I'm the one who's at fault. I was . . . scared. Scared of something I didn't understand, that I couldn't explain." She bit her lip. "I still can't explain it, and I still don't understand it. But, I realize now, you're not to blame, Harry." Now, she looked up at him. Her eyes were moist. "I'm sorry I pushed you away, Harry. Can you forgive me? Please?"

Harry tried to say yes, tried to tell her it was all right, but he couldn't. His mouth couldn't form the words. Instead, he got up, walked over, and wrapped his arms around her. The book fell to the floor as Hermione returned the embrace, shaking as she cried into his shoulder. This prompted Harry to tighten his grip on her as steady streams streaked down his own face, too.

The Ravenclaw Dormatories; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 10, 1995; 11:30 p.m.

While Harry was repairing his relationship with Hermione, Luna was already deep in sleep. One would think that being reunited with her soulmate would be enough to keep anyone awake, but that would be underestimating Luna Lovegood. The blond witch was sound asleep, with her sheets tucked up to her chin and, for once, her feet firmly resting on the mattress. She was horribly prone to sleepwalking.

Another thing one might suspect is that, given her personality, Luna's dreams would be . . . different from most people's, and, in this case anyway, that assumption would be absolutely correct . . .

Luna was walking through a garden—not the school garden. Oh, no, it was much too nice to be one of the gardens at Hogwarts. Not that those gardens were bad, mind you—Professor Sprout worked hard to keep those gardens the most beautiful in Magical Britain. But this garden was more beautiful than any on the face of the Earth. The flowers were indigo and blue and white and gold; they stood out well in the starlight. The leaves were dark green with silver and gold veins, that sparkled in the night. Birds flitted from one bush to another as small animals walked through the brush and insects played in the distance. One that looked like a fox but wasn't walked up to her. She smiled and reached down to pet it. In real life, of course, this would have been a very dangerous move, but this was a dream. And, because Luna knew she was dreaming, she was not afraid.

After a moment, the fox-creature let out a yowl and scampered down the path. It stopped before disappearing from view, and Luna understood that it wanted her to follow it. It led to what must have been the center of the dream-garden, for all the flower beds and hedges converged in a circle around it. In the center, was a silver tree with dark green leaves and silver flowers. The flowers seemed to shine like moonlight and dew fell ceaselessly from them, like shooting stars, coating the grass in a shining, silvery sheen.(2) The fox ran up to a bench beneath the tree; on it sat a woman dressed in a Japanese Kimono. It was black with a white sash and white lilies were sown onto it. The woman who wore it matched the color-scheme. She had hair as black as ebony and skin as white as snow. Curousily, given her Japanese outfit, she had the tattoo of the eye of Horus and, dangling from her throat, was a silver ankh(3). She turned to face Luna, and the witch saw that her eyes and lips were black as well, and seemed to shine like water. She was smiling.

"Hello, Luna" she said. "I've been expecting you." Her voice was beautiful, warm, and made Luna smile in return.

"Hello, My Lady," she responded, curtseying to the woman. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but I wasn't expecting to see you here."

The woman sighed but kept smiling. "Well, no one's ever really expecting to see me but I'm glad you're happy to see me." She reached down to pet the fox-creature. "So many people are unhappy, it gets a little annoying after a while."

"Their only unhappy before they get to know you, My Lady," Luna said, frowning a little. She was all too accustomed to being misjudged.

"You can stop with the 'My Lady' stuff," the sitter replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I don't really care for it; it interrupts your speaking and sounds awkward." Then, laughing a little, he added, "Besides, I don't need it to get people's respect. Now," she said, patting the bench beside her, "please, come sit with me. We have much to discuss." When the young witch had complied, she spoke, "You have reunited with your soulmate, I see."

Luna nodded. "Yes, and soon, I hope to bring the others to us."

"Soon would be preferable," the woman said, sighing now. "You have a lot of work ahead of you, I'm afraid."

Luna, for once, looked confused. Then, her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened and closed in silence. Her hands clasped themselves over her heart. "Tarmon Gai'don," she breathed(4).

The woman nodded. "It's coming. Not soon, as you count the years, but it will be here much too soon for your comfort."

Luna nodded. ". . . When?"

The woman shrugged. "Even we don't know that. The Age will end within a few decades, but as to when . . . he will make his move." She shook her head. "Sadly, however, our side won't have much time to prepare. The next few decades will be quite chaotic, I'm afraid. Your Voldemort's only part of the problem."

Luna nodded. "I knew it was coming," she said, "but, I thought we had more time, time to deal with the Death Eaters, time to train, time to . . . to live," she said, turning to the woman. "I thought we could have some time to ourselves, to get married and raise children, and, and just be ordinary."

The woman wrapped her arms around Luna's tiny frame. "I understand, Luna, I truly do. You could never be 'ordinary,' of course; that comes with the territory, I'm afraid, but I do wish that you and your family could enjoy your youth a little longer, could have the time you wish for . . ."

"Unfortunately," a new voice said, "that's not the way the worlds work." Luna looked up and saw a new woman walking through the garden. This one wore a Roman-style gown, but blue rather than white. Her hair was black, also, held out of her face by a golden tiara. On her arms were gold bangles and armlets, and around her neck was a pendent, a blue jewel with a black butterfly on it. She stood tall, but walked gracefully; her eyes looked intently at Luna, but her brow was soft and relaxed. She gave off an aura of beauty, power, intelligence, authority, and compassion.

Luna hastily attempted to get up, but the first woman's arms were still holding on to her. Instead, she merely nodded her head and said, "Good evening, Lady Vaire."

Vaire shook her head. "I wish it were, my child, but we are risking much by speaking with you like this. Remember, our place is to watch and guide, to protect the Balance of Law and Chaos, not to solve all the problems of the mortal worlds(5)." As she spoke this last line, her eyes were not fixed on Luna, but on the first woman. The victim of the gaze ducked her head a little and blushed.

"She's right, I'm sad to say," she said to Luna. "We can aid in the battle against him and his servants from . . . the Void, but we cannot do battle in the mortal realm, not unless one of your enemies is foolish enough to try to engage one of us in direct confrontation."

Luna chuckled a little. "Forgive me, Lady Nienna, but I think you may be underestimating Voldemort's ego."

The kimono wearer snorted. "Please, I have seen infants enter my realm with less fear of death than that fool. It is always the same, no matter how many times he is reborn he is always arrogant, power-hungry, and utterly afraid of dying(6)."

Luna looked at her and spoke slowly, "If I ever needed proof of how terrible he is, hearing you condemn him . . ."

"She is capable of it," Vaire said. "Her anger is even slower to arouse than Orome's, but it can be done. I would pity him, but I know that anyone who can arouse such feelings does not deserve pity." They were all silent for a moment before she spoke again. "We risk overstepping our place, but know this, my child, the one who now calls himself 'Voldemort' is becoming aware of the link he shares with your soulmate. I would suggest that Harry relearn the art of warding his dreams quickly. Very quickly."

Luna nodded. The world around her began to fade. The starlight and the background were blurring. The fox disappeared. When she turned to Nienna, however, Luna saw that the woman was smiling again, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Before you go, dear," she said. "I almost forgot to tell you, your mother sends her love, as do Harry's parents." She held Luna's hand tightly and said, "They're very proud of you, and they believe in you. They always will."

Luna's eyes filled up with tears again, and before she left she cried, "Thank you, My Ladies! Tell them we love them too! And we will win!" Before she woke up, Luna saw the Valar, the true goddess of dreams and the Queen of the Dead nod in accent to her wish.(7)

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Well, that was another lore-heavy episode. I apologize if anyone was annoyed by my changing POV. Originally, I wanted this whole story to be in Harry's POV, but it came to the point where that untenable. I could have put this off if I had turned the dream sequence into a flashback between Harry and Luna, but that was only delaying the inevitable. Additionally, I don't feel that would have gone with the tone of the preceding paragraph. Besides, while I could skirt around to the whole "switching-POV-thing," I don't think I could do without putting off elements I really want to introduce, lessening the emotional tension, and creating a convoluted mess (potentially involving an exposition dump somewhere down the line-shudder).

Don't worry, I won't be switching back and forth every other page break (at least, I don't think so). This will still be mostly focused on Harry, but not entirely. Especially, I think in the next chapter (where, hopefully, I'll be able to reveal who the mysterious spy was from the last chapter).

Footnotes: Be warned, some of this will contain information which will eventually appear in the first chapter of the World Tree guide book. I will mark spoilers [*{]Like This}*.
(1) "The Pattern" is another reference to The Wheel of Time series, basically the Wheel weaves the lives of people into a Pattern (Fate, basically). {While this is sort of how the Wheel works in the I universe/multiverse, it's not totally accurate. Stephen King's concept of Ka, is more akin to what I had in mind. People do have a certain degree of free is more akin to how I believe the real world works, anyway}

If you're wondering while Luna talks about "the books that are out already," remember this is happening in 1996. The fourth book, Wizard and Glass won't be for another year, and the next last three books won't come out until 2003. As of 2012, the eighth book, The Wind Through the Keyhole, was published, continuing the series after everyone (including King himself) thought the series was complete.

Fun fact, I've already figured out that's kind of what's happening here. I originally thought The World Tree was just one series of stories, but there's so much potential in this world (or group of worlds) that I came to the conclusion that I am going to have to write a few spin-offs after the core series is finished. I suppose that a little hubrus, considering I'm not half-way done with the first book yet, and the series is projected to have at least nine books (yeah, I've actually made an outline of this craziness).

Another fun fact, my first Harry Potter fanfic was Harry Potter and Harry Potter, a bizarre mash up of Harry Potter, The Dark Tower, and the Stargate franchise. I had high hopes for it, but it had a lot of problems, and, as I went back to revise it, I lost interest as well as a sense of where things were going or what I was supposed to do to fix my mistakes. So, its abandoned. Eventually, I'll stick the original chapters (as King himself once said), "warts and all" back up. Maybe someday I'll return to it, or let someone else adopt the convoluted mess I've spawned. Can't really say for sure now.

(2) If you've guessed, yes, this is Telperion, the silver Tree from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Or, at least, it's the closest facsimile I could create.
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[*(3) I don't think this is a spoiler, considering how some of you have already guessed who this is, but this lady was inspired, a great deal so, in fact, by Niel Gaiman's Death of the Endless, one of the coolest characters ever. Also, the line about her skin and hair is a lift from classic Snow White, of course, Snow's lips were red as blood, but what you gonna do?

(4) This is another thing I stole from The Wheel of Time. Unfortunately, I can't talk about it without putting up the spoiler warning {Basically, Tarmon Gai'don is the Last Battle, the final fight to determine the Fate of the world. See why I made this a spoiler?}

(5) This is something I stole from Michael Moorcock's fantasy and science fiction stories. Basically, Law and Chaos are two opposing forces in the multiverse who constantly fight for dominance, but, if one were to achieve dominance, it would result in either universal formlessness (Chaos) or universal stagnation (Law), thus there must be a force of Balance between them to ensure neither outcome occurs. You'll have to wait to see what kind of spin I put on this idea.

(6) Fair warning, this may not strictly be true. Well, it will be true in these stories, but if you've got any ideas about who Voldemort's past lives were (and they will come up in this story), don't let this deter you if it contradicts what you know about them.

(7) Okay this whole thing may qualify as a spoiler. {Basically, the gods of this multiverse-as in, not just Harry's Earth but all Earths, even if each individual one has its own gods (hint, hint)-are based on the Valar of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Their not exact copies, for one thing, there will only be nine gods in the World Tree setting, and they will have certain differences from their literary counterparts. For example, the ruler of the dead in Tolkien's world is male. You'll find out who these people are in the first chapter of the World Tree guide book.}