FicWad

Harry entered Flitwick's office to see the professor pouring himself a glass of firewiskey. "Luna's not taking all this well is she."

Harry sighed as Filius poured him a glass as well. "She keeps repressing her grief, it's not bloody healthy."

"Luna's magic is becoming more unpredictable," Filius said. "One moment she is invincible, the next moment Draco Malfoy gets the upper hand on her. Then before the confrontation is over she shields us all from a colliding reducto explosion. From what I've seen there are only two things that could have weakened her enough to let Draco get the upper hand. First she could have lost her magic a little sooner than anticipated, but as we all saw she gained it back to stop the explosion from killing us. This leaves option two, that she was weakened by her own emotions. Anger for all its flaws cannot do this and judging by the look in her eyes when we arrived, she experienced fear."

"What made her so scared then?" Harry asked.

"Judging from what Lupin told me back when he was teaching DADA, Luna had a nasty reaction to the Bogart. Next to Dementors, it is the only thing that was able to get a genuine fearful reaction for most of her time in Hogwarts." Filius eyes glazed as he took another drink. "The Bogart took the form...of Pandora."

"Her Mother?" Harry muttered almost to himself. "Why?"

"Her last words she said to her mother was 'you are mad'. On the surface it wasn't that bad, Pandora most likely found her nine year old saying this quite amusing. However minutes later Pandora was dead and Luna...changed." Filius whispered.

"Luna's greatest fear is being alone. She lost her mother and was completely alone. Even though she still had a father, she still hardly sees him. After Pandora died Luna would be hard pressed to find anyone who did not call her Loony. A part of her feels that she deserves to be lonely for what she said to her mother."

"She shouldn't be!" Harry blurted out. "She shouldn't feel guilty, she shouldn't be called Loony, and she shouldn't have to carry all these burdens. She should have a mother who loves her, a father who is always there for her, and friends who stand by her. Luna deserves to be happy. She doesn't deserve all of this, it's just not fair."

"It isn't fair that you became the Boy-Who-Lived but you did. It isn't fair that I am a second class citizen because I'm a Halfbreed but I am. Life isn't fair but I find the world has a funny way of giving us what we need to live. I think tonight Luna will get what she needs." Filius spoke calmly.

Harry's eyes narrowed curiously. "What do you mean?"

Filius leaned forward and whispered with an ancient look in his eye. "Harry we both know why tonight is so important. We both know what shall happen tonight and what needs to be done. Harry, I know that you know what you must do."

A dark look appeared on Harry's face. "It may have crossed my mind. I made my own vow Filius, to never use it again."

Filius raised an eyebrow, "Was it an unbreakable vow."

"No..."

"Then stop being a baby and break that breakable vow. This is more important than your fears." Filius yelled with mirth. "Vows like rules are made to be broken!"

Filius could see the fear and worry in Harry's eyes as he spoke, "But its dangerous Filius..."

"Danger? Since when did you care about danger dear boy?" Filius scoffed.

"Since I took YOU up on YOUR offer to look after LUNA! TO PROTECT HER!" Harry shot back. "Since I befriended, then fell for her. She's been through so much already and the danger involved..."

"Life is dangerous!" Filius squeal. "By all odds I should have died years ago and you have escaped death so many times it's maddening. But we didn't die, we survived! We're survivors Harry, it's what we do!"

Filius slowly hopped off his chair and walked through a small door at the back of the room. Harry followed him as he crawled through the comically small door. When he returned to his feet Harry's jaw dropped at what he saw.

The room was full of wands as far as the eye could see...actually the room was rather small but it sure felt big. The shelves where all labeled along with each wand. Harry looked at one of the closer wands and read the name out loud, "Folior the Warrior."

Filius grinned "Yes, I remember him. He tried to use a nasty curse on me but I was able to tie up his legs and hoist him up to the ceiling. I never heard a crowd laugh like that. And this wand belonged to Olaf the Awful. He was...just awful. The Daily Prophet called it the mismatch of the century but he had money and wanted to duel. It was easy money."

"These are wands you won from dueling?" Harry whispered in awe.

"Mostly, I also started collecting more famous wands over the years. Mostly wands of Dark Wizard's since the Light Wizards are usually buried with theirs. People are too paranoid to let a Dark Wizard near his wand even when he's dead. That said, most of these I won by right of conquest."

"When Wizard's duel, a wand can change its loyalty if beaten. So it is common place that the winner of a duel wins the wand." Filius said smugly. "As you can see I own a lot of wands."

"I heard you were a champion." Harry said.

"A champion? I was the best," Filius whispered with a faraway gleam in his eyes. "They all thought that they were better than me. They thought I was inferior because I was small, when it only made me harder to hit. They thought me inferior because I was a Halfbreed, when my Goblin blood only made me more viscous when I needed to be. I was champion for ten bloody years and I would have been for longer. Unfortunately I had been dueling for fifteen years before the Wizengamot allowed non-Purebloods to fight for the title. Hell I was dubbed Filius the Freak! Oh how I loathed that name. The Daily Prophet seemed to find it rather amusing. In hindsight I'm quite grateful for it. It was the kick in the nose I needed to succeed...to prove them wrong."

Filius picked up another wand "I remember when I finally fought the Pureblood's champion, Kaylor the King. He tried an illegal killing curse on me, calling me a disgrace to dueling. I immediately responded with a normally illegal but justified cutting curse that dislodged his wand arm. Now he is known as Kaylor the Failure because he failed the Purebloods. Ha! he wouldn't be the last."

"Official wizard duels have not been to the death in two hundred years but it's still a dangerous sport. Collin the Confused tried to stun me in a rematch and spontaneously com-busted, poor fellow. I accidentally blasted the legendary dueler Richard the Poor with a simple blasting hex but the poor man fell on his neck. I felt terrible for him but I never felt anymore guilty than any other dueler would have. You learn very early on that in a sport like dueling, danger is a part of the territory."

"Hell I should know, I nearly died in my first loss. His name was Harold the Pharaoh, and we didn't like each other much. He cursed me so bad that I had to use Skele-Gro on the missing part of my skull. Most painful month of my life. Harold visited me in St. Mungo's and actually apologized to me. I told him that dueling was like life, dangerous. You never know which duel will be your last, like the way you never know which day will be your last. In the end you have a choice, live with your fears or face them.

"I retired after losing my title to Darin the Daring and I have never regretted a single moment of it. My only regret was that it had to end. It was the happiest time of my life. Dueling made me feel big. It made me feel...alive." Filius whispered, a far off look in his eyes. "You only live once Harry Potter. Don't live your life with regret. Live in the moment...like Luna does. Take risks and don't be afraid to face your demons, they will only hold you back. She needs to face her demons and let go of the past. You know his Harry Potter."

Harry relented as the two wizards returned to the Half Goblin's office. "I know what I have to do Filius, but what about Luna? Is she ready?"

"I'm afraid she has to be, Harry. Time is running out." Filius sighed before disappearing in the green flames.

Harry was walking through the forbidden forest. It was something that became most common for him these past few months. However unlike the other times he was not looking for Luna. That didn't stop him from finding her, surrounded by Thestrals that they could both see. Harry chuckled as Luna peacefully fed them disgusting chunks of meet.

"Here is one for you Sparkles, here's one for you Golden Joy, and here's one...NO! Down Paul you've had yours." Luna scolded the bigger creature as it hung its head in shame.

Harry sat down and watched Luna for five minutes before she spoke. "I know your there Harry, I've known since you've arrived actually. That cloak of yours is quite amazing but I can still hear you."

"I know but it was nice seeing you so peaceful." Harry whispered as he approached the girl in white.

"I'm not the reason you are here." Luna hummed dreamily.

"How did you...never mind. In a way I was but no I wasn't looking for you. I'm glad I found you though." Harry said as he gently kissed Luna.

"Why are you here then, looking for Snorkack's?" Luna giggled. "I've already tried, I'm certain that there are no Snorkack's south of Japan."

"I think it's best if I show you Luna." Harry whispered as he took her hand and led her through the Forest.

They had been walking for thirty minutes and already Luna was certain she had never been in these parts of the woods before. It was darker than dark, blacker than black yet she could see. It felt colder than a Dementor and older then the first tree. There was something off about this place...something unnatural.

"Harry...where are we." Luna whispered.

Harry didn't reply as he stopped and looked ahead. "Luna, wait here I will be back in a second. Don't Move." With that he let go of Luna's hand, leaving her in complete darkness. Suddenly blind Luna started calling out but heard no answer...from Harry.

"Run little girl, run away from this place." Said a cold hissing voice. "Run or we will eat your soul."

"Sorry dead sounding voices, Harry told me to wait here." Luna replied calmly.

"Oh she's with the Master! Welcome to our home. Would you like something to drink...like your own blood?"

Ha I like these guys. They are as twisted as us!

"Not now Nargles!" Luna shouted to herself before speaking to the spirits. "Where am I?"

"Incendio"

Luna suddenly found herself surrounded by a circle of fire forming a pentagram. On the other side of the circle was Harry.

"Harry!" Luna called as she began to move forward.

"LUNA DON'T MOVE!" Harry yelled in fright. Luna froze as she saw the flames flair from her slight movement. Harry ran through the flames untouched before grabbing Luna's hand.

"You'll be ok once we reach the center." Harry said as they made their way through the flames.

"What is this place?" Luna whispered as they reached the center of the pentagram.

"This is where I died Luna," Harry whispered with a haunted look in his eyes. "This is where a part of me was buried. This is where I let Voldemort kill me during the battle of Hogwarts."

"Why?" Harry returned his gaze to Luna. Her eyes were wider than normal and her face was pale.

"I didn't have a choice Love, I had just found out about the Horcrux in my scar. It was the only way to destroy it. I felt...hopeless. I guess I had a choice but the second choice wasn't an option. I would not leave you all to die." Harry said has he wiped a tear from Luna's cheek.

"I intended to die for all of you but I didn't, Voldemort resurrected himself with my blood. Neither can live while the other survives, yet because of his mistake we could not kill each other. He could kill himself though, and he ended up doing it twice. I died for all of you because somehow along the way despite everything I have been through...I learned to love. I'm not talking about romantic love but the love that all beings share. Hogwarts was my home and all of you were my family."

"You once said that I would die for you. You said it like it was an epiphany, but the truth is...I already died for you Luna."

Luna lunged into Harry's arms and kissed him like she never kissed him before. Despite the unholy setting the two lovers experienced a moment of pure bliss. "Harry, promise me one thing."

"What love?" Harry whispered.

"Don't die for me again." Luna hummed as she continued to kiss him.

"I'll try Luna." Harry chuckled as he turned to face the center of the pentagram.

"Harry...why are we here." Luna whispered as she looked into the flames. A sense of foreboding creeping under her skin.

"This is the where it truly ended for Tom. The face-off in the great hall was just him realizing it. Only a handful of people know this and now you do too. It makes it the perfect place to hide what I have hidden here. This was all my design...along with Hermione actually. The spirits and the pentagram are protections. We probably watched too many Muggle movies. We are here because you need what's in here. Only I can get it, I made sure of it. Rise."

With that single word spoken in parseltongue a light appeared from the center of the pentagram. Harry reached into the light and took a small box.

"What is it?" Luna gasped mesmerized.

Harry grimaced as he focused on her. "Something very powerful, and tempting. It has driven people to madness which is why I keep it here. It is too tempting. I swore to never use it again, but I am not the one using it tonight Luna."

Luna's eyes widened as Harry handed the box to her. Harry continued to speak, his voice uneasy. "I'm sorry you have to hold the burden I have given you but understand you will only be using it this one night. I understand that this will be cruel, but it is too dangerous. You need to do this Luna not only for your work but for yourself. I see the way you try to hide it Luna. You've been empty for a long time and you will never be truly whole until you learn to let go."

"Harry..." Luna hummed breathlessly.

"Do you know what tonight is?" Harry spoke with haste.

"October thirtieth, twenty past nine...Devil's night...the Prophecy!" Luna gasped.

"It shall be fostered by the dead who shall rise on the Devil's night." Harry quoted as Luna slowly opened the box.

Luna stared at it with amazement and awe. "Merlin...it IS real. It's amazing. It's..."

Then it hit her, more like, it struck her. It was a realization, a fact that could not be ignored. Luna realized what she could do with the object in her hand. She looked up at Harry with pale and wide eyes. He slowly nodded to her unasked question.

"Oh...I...Her...No...Yes...Can't...Harry...Help?" Luna stuttered as she dropped to her knees. It was the answer to her prayers and the cause of her nightmares. She never believed in a million years they would ever come true.

"I can't do this Harry." Luna squeaked with fear.

"Maybe not alone but I will be there with you." Harry answered.

Luna wanted to throw it away but a small part of her she had long suppressed came to the surface. She slowly nodded as she picked up the sacred Deathly Hallow...The Resurrection Stone.