Chapter Text
Dull. Drained. Utterly numb. There was a lot that Harry thought he should be feeling in the wake of so many revelations and tragedies, but as he sat in the infirmary bed, he just couldn’t seem to find the energy to even think, let alone process the things he had gone through. Turning his head left and right, he looked at his friends in the beds around him: Ginny’s leg was in a sling with healing compresses wrapped around it, Ron was passed out from the various potions he had to consume to counteract the curse he had taken as well as the injuries he sustained from the tentacle, Hermione’s entire torso was wrapped up in potion-soaked bandages to heal the magical burns, Neville was sedated with painkillers to numb the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse, and Luna had bandages wrapped around her head to help heal the head injury she had suffered from being thrown into a desk.
Of the group, only Harry and Luna were awake, since both of them had received concussions and couldn’t safely be put to sleep. Madam Pomfrey had also placed them next to each other so they could keep an eye on each other and keep each other awake while the potions they had taken worked on healing their concussions. When Harry looked over at her, though, he thought that she had fallen asleep, since she was completely still and had her face turned away, so he reached out and gently shook the mattress.
“Luna, don’t fall asleep,” he whispered urgently. Luna jumped a bit in response to his words and rolled over to look at him, revealing that her eyes were very much still open and alert. She sat up a bit in bed and shook her head.
“Don’t worry, Harry, I wasn’t asleep,” she whispered back, “I was just thinking about… well, about what happened today. I’m sorry I couldn’t help much in the fight. I insisted on going, but I think I just got in everyone’s way instead.”
“No! You helped a lot, seriously. Dropping the planet on them in the Space Chamber was a brilliant move, and if it weren’t for your idea of riding the Thestrals to get to the Ministry of Magic, we never could have gotten there. Of course, if it weren’t for my stupidity , we never would have been there in the first place, and none of you guys would have gotten hurt at all.”
“You were tricked, Harry. One of the most powerful wizards to ever live got into your mind and fooled you. That’s not your fault, that’s Voldemort’s.”
Harry grimaced at this and turned away from Luna a bit. Although her words rang true, the guilt in the pit of his stomach wasn’t so easily quashed and he couldn’t help but to lapse into a bitter silence. Before he could sink too deep into his own mind, though, a warm touch on his hand brought him back to reality, and he looked down to see Luna’s thin hand on top of his own.
“Harry… I think I know what you need,” she said, a glint of empathetic understanding in her eyes, “You need to get away from here. Right now, everything reminds you of your so-called mistake, and of… well, of the loss of Sirius. It was the same way when I lost my mother a few years ago. I couldn’t even sit in my room at home without crying, let alone my parents’ bedroom or my mother’s workshop. Even the smell of food reminded me of my last meal with my mother.”
“That summer, my father took me on one of his expeditions for the first time. Perhaps it was simply because he couldn’t leave a child at home alone, but the point is, he took me with him to Sudan to search for Ivory Brush-sprites and Corkscrew Horned Snorkacks. That was the first bit of happiness I can remember feeling after my mother’s death, and when I came back here, I was able to deal with my thoughts and feelings much better. Right now, that’s exactly what you need, isn’t it?”
Harry lapsed into silence again as he listened to Luna’s explanation, but this time, it was a thoughtful and pensive pause. A vacation certainly sounded very inviting, especially since he hadn’t ever been outside of the British Isles, but the only problem was figuring out how to go about “getting away.” Transportation, lodgings, food… the logistics were beyond the level of a fifteen year old boy, especially one who had never traveled internationally either. Besides, he felt like it was doubtful that Dumbledore would ever let him leave the country alone like that.
When he tried to tell this to Luna, though, she just dismissed his worries with an easy smile. Patting his hand patronizingly, she said, “Don’t worry about all that. Would I suggest this without a plan in mind? If you don’t have anywhere to go, and you don’t think Dumbledore would let you travel alone, then the solution is simple.” Her smile grew wider as she proudly placed a hand on her chest.
“Just come with me and my father on our expedition!”
It can’t be as simple as that, right? Harry thought to himself. Surely Dumbledore would object, or Luna’s father would disapprove of a stranger joining them in their travels. As such, Harry refused to see any hope in this plan, and as dawn arrived, he was still wallowing in anxiety and depression.
However, it would turn out that Luna was completely correct in her convictions, a recurring fact that Harry would slowly become more and more accustomed with. As they were breaking their fast that morning, the Headmaster and Assistant Headmistress came by, bringing with them the legal guardians of each of the injured students, where possible. So, Arthur and Molly Weasley came to see Ron and Ginny, Lady Augustus Longbottom came to check on Neville, and Xenophilius Lovegood came to visit his daughter. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall went around checking in with each of them and speaking briefly with them to make sure they were alright, and ended their rounds at Harry’s bed.
After some shallow pleasantries mixed with concerned questions that Harry couldn’t muster the emotional energy to properly answer, Luna interjected by bringing up the subject she had talked to Harry about the previous night.
“By the way, father, I was talking to Harry about something last night,” she said innocently, “Remember how, after mummy died, you took me on that trip, and I felt much better once I was back? I think Harry should take a trip like that too. Can we take him on our expedition this summer?”
To Harry’s surprise, Xenophilius nodded without an ounce of hesitation, declaring loudly, “Not a problem at all! Mister Potter, I’d be delighted to show you the wonders of the world through a magizoological expedition, if you’d like to join us.” Before Harry could even respond, he turned toward Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall and said, “What say you, Headmaster Dumbledore? I think it’d do the boy some good to get some fresh air and have a bit of a change of pace.”
Harry practically got whiplash looking from Luna to Xenophilius to Dumbledore. The conversation was progressing far too quickly for him to stay on top of it, and just as he managed to process what Xenophilius had said, Dumbledore responded.
“Well, I certainly can’t see why not,” he said cheerfully, “It should indeed prove quite healthy for Harry to visit some foreign lands. Besides, it may also prove far safer out there than here in Britain. Voldemort’s reach is great, but his dark influence does not yet extend beyond western Europe, so places like Africa and the Americas have not been tainted by him just yet. Yesterday’s battle put a dent in his immature forces, and it will take him time to recover. This is an excellent opportunity: Harry can safely leave the country and enjoy his youth for a while, and we can use his absence to our advantage by manipulating the information about his location so as to interfere with Voldemort’s plans. Yes, I believe your suggestion is quite sound. Miss Lovegood, thank you for the excellent idea.”
By now, Harry was completely dumbfounded. The words that came out of Dumbledore’s mouth seemed like well formed sentences composed of the Queen’s English, but at the same time, they seemed totally foreign to Harry’s ears. It… was THAT EASY?! He glanced over at Luna, shock and confusion written on his face, and the girl simply laughed.
The rest of the day passed in an absolute blur. Xenophilius sent a couple letters off by owl, gave his daughter a hug and a kiss, then left the school, stating that he had left a potion on the burner and couldn’t let it simmer for too long. The six students were all discharged in the early afternoon, Madam Pomfrey giving all of them clean bills of health while seeming quite proud of her own work, at which point they were free to go. School was over as well, and since the Hogwarts Express had set off earlier that day, they were the last students in the castle. The professors had already arranged transportation as well as contacted Hermione’s parents and Harry’s aunt and uncle to tell them that the children would be returning at a later date, so the students were simply back to their dorms to finish packing and were otherwise left to their own devices.
By evening, Harry had finished tucking the last of his belongings into his luggage and was just sitting on his trunk while staring at the flickering flames in the Gryffindor common room fireplace, trying to wrestle some semblance of coherence back from his mind. He had felt like he was on autopilot the whole day, just mechanically wandering through a gray fog, and even now, he still felt overwhelmed and almost more numb than the night before.
Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulder, two pointy elbows resting on his shoulders. Flinching a bit, he glanced down to see a pair of thin hands adorned with a thin golden ring on the right thumb and sporting dark blue chipped nail polish.
“Hello Harry,” Luna said, her airy voice drifting down from just above his head, “Are you looking for Ashwing Pixies?”
“Hello Luna,” he murmured back, “I’m afraid I’m not looking for Ashwing Pixies, though perhaps I ought to be. By the way, I’m fairly certain the Ravenclaw common room doesn’t have red walls or a lion head over their fireplace, so I must say I’m rather confused about how you ended up here, and why I’m serving as your armrest.”
“Oh, Hermione let me in. She and Ron just went down to eat dinner and I was passing by on my way back from doing the same, so she just held the door and let me come in. You and I are the only ones in Gryffindor tower right now.”
“Hm. Well, that certainly explains how you’re here, but you still haven’t said why you’re here -here, as in here on top of me.”
“That was quite a lot of ‘here’s.”
“It indeed was, thank you for the observation.”
“You’re quite welcome.” Their voices slowly grew lower and softer until they were both speaking in a quiet murmur, their words barely rising above the crackling of the fire. “Anyway, I’m leaning against you because you look comfortable, and if you’re comfortable, then naturally being with you must be comfortable as well.”
“An excellent example of the transitive property. I see you paid attention in Arithmancy.”
Luna laughed at his joke, then stopped leaning on him for a moment. Just when Harry began to miss the gentle warmth and pressure on his shoulders, it returned, and this time Luna was holding something. Before Harry’s face was a plate, upon which sat a large piece of treacle tart.
“Take it, Harry, it’s a bit heavy,” Luna said, “I know you haven’t eaten yet, so I brought you some food.”
Harry took it without a word, the corners of his lips twitching a bit. On one hand, he felt rather touched that Luna had brought him some food, but at the same time, the gentle care she showed in the gesture began to loosen the iron chains around Harry’s emotions. His hands shook as he lowered the plate into his lap, and as he tilted his head down to look at the treat, he watched a couple drops of liquid fall onto the white porcelain. Bringing his hand up, he wiped away the tears on his face with his sleeve and tried to take a deep breath, but when he breathed back out, he involuntarily sobbed a bit.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back: the tears began pouring out, and Harry was powerless to stop them. At first, he tried to muffle his sobs, but Luna gently held his wrists and pulled them away from his mouth, then hugged him tightly, holding him as he cried.
The tears were therapeutic, and after a few minutes, he felt a lot lighter. As the tears winded down, he hiccuped through a few last sobs, then dried his tears again on his now-soaked sleeve. Clearing his throat, he said hoarsely, “Thank you Luna. I needed that.”
“Oh, hush,” she said, “I didn’t do anything but give you some treacle tart. If I knew you hated it so much, then I wouldn’t have picked it.”
Harry laughed at her joke, and the laugh soon turned into delirious giggles. Leaning back, he brought his hand up to her forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze, then tipped his head back against Luna’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I very much like treacle tart. As a matter of fact, I think it’s now my favorite dessert… especially when it’s served to me by one of my favorite people in the world.”
Luna stiffened a bit, then spoke slowly, clearly picking her words carefully, “Well, I’m happy to take the compliment, but I don’t think I’m the right person for you to be saying that to. I mean, I’m sure Ginny wouldn’t like you saying that to other girls.”
Harry leaned forward again, then turned around, confused. “What’s Ginny got to do with anything?” he asked, bewildered. Luna just raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Harry,” she huffed, “I know that you two are going out.” She hesitated for a moment, then loosened her pose a bit. “You… are right?”
“No! No, I’m not dating Ginny!” Harry said, shaking his head quickly, “I could never! First of all, I could never do that to my best mate: dating your friend’s sibling is just awkward. Second, Ginny absolutely does not like me that way. After her first year, when the whole Chamber of Secrets stuff happened, she did have a bit of a crush on me, but that disappeared within a year, and now she thinks I’m as gross as Ron is. I swear, there’s nothing going on between us.”
Now, it was Luna who was caught off guard. Blinking owlishly at Harry, he could see her reeling a bit at having this revealed to her, and for a moment, he thought that he saw a glint of relief and happiness in her eyes, but it disappeared a moment later as she turned away to pull a fork out of her bag. When she turned back, her eyes were back to their usual unfocused and dreamy stare, though Harry thought he saw a bit of a dusty pink blush on her cheeks, though it was hard to tell in the dim light of the fire.
“W-well… good to know. Anyway, you should eat. Here’s a fork,” she said awkwardly, shoving the fork into Harry’s hands. He pursed his lips, but decided to drop the topic and focus on eating. For the first time all day, he actually felt a little hungry.
While Harry slowly munched on the sweet dessert, Luna pulled her wand out of her satchel and began casting drying and cleaning charms on Harry’s damp sleeve. He shot her a grateful glance and mumbled a garbled “thank you” though a mouthful of food, but she just told him to chew with his mouth closed, so he went back to concentrating on eating. Once he was done, he set the plate aside, then let out a sigh of satisfaction. Looking up at Luna, he again gave her another grateful smile.
“Anyway, I already said this but it bears repeating again,” he said, his voice dropping into a soft and sincere tone, “Thank you, Luna. Truly, I appreciate your help. If it weren’t for you, I’d be roasting by the fire until I burnt to a crisp… and I wouldn’t have discovered my newfound love of treacle tart. You saved me tonight.”
This time, Luna definitely blushed, and she sighed dramatically. Shaking her head, she said, “Save the compliments for the vacation, Harry. You’ll have plenty more to thank me for once we’re through this summer. I intend to make sure you have fun.”
Harry put his hands up in surrender, then paused for a moment and looked up at her curiously. “By the way,” he asked, “where exactly are we going?”
Luna’s face immediately lit up with a bright smile, and she sprang to her feet. Raising her hand up, she twirled her wrist in the air before finally pointing off to the side.
“We’re going east, Harry, far to the east,” she cried, “We will visit the land of dragons to search for Qilins and Pixius and Rui Shis… We’re going to China!”