Disclaimer: I do not, have not, will never, and will have never owned Harry Potter.

A/N: Thank you to those of you that reviewed. This story was originally intended to be a one-shot. However, from the reviews, it seemed that a majority of people wanted to see an epilogue. It took me a while to determine how I could make an epilogue that I would be happy with and still fit in with the primary story. The following is what came up from your feedback and gets into a bit more detail as to what happened with Harry, Luna, Neville, and Hermione following the events of the primary story.

February 29, 2008

Luna sat in her room at the Rookery looking at the picture that Harry Potter had drawn for her a figurative lifetime ago. The image was beginning to fade, as the magic used to create the drawing weakened, but it was still one of her most prized possessions. Anytime that she was back in England she did her best to spend some time at the Rookery to meet with her father and keep her connection to her past.

The ceiling of the room still contained the images of Ronald, Hermione, Ginevra, Neville, and Harry that she had painted up there during the summer between her fourth and fifth year. Even though she had tried not to show it, she had been near a breaking point when Harry had brought her into his group and became her friend. The others followed along after and had made for her best year at Hogwarts, even with Professor Umbridge. It was also a terrible year in that it ended with all her friends injured and the death of Harry's godfather, Sirius. This was followed closely afterwards by the apparent death of Hermione and Harry's incarceration.

Putting her morose thoughts aside, she turned to look in the nearby full-body mirror, she looked forward to her future. Today she was getting married to the love of her life.

As she continued to look into the mirror, she caught sight of the door opening behind her, letting in her Maid of Honor, Hermione. In the last nine years, Hermione had grown more into herself. Her hair was still bushy, but was now easier for her to tame as she wanted. Her internal self-confidence was projected outwards for everyone to see.

Since Harry had brought Hermione into the future, saving her life, Luna had built an ever-growing friendship with her. At this point, Hermione was the sister she never had growing up.

"Welcome, Hermione," Luna greeted without turning around. "Everything going well out there?"

"As well as can be expected considering the seating arrangement that you came up with. Honestly Luna, seating guests by birthdate? People aren't used to sorting themselves like that. Hopefully everyone properly sent in their reservations so that they are shown to the correct seat!" Hermione sat next to her heavily. "Thankfully, people are taking it well, considering they know you, and that we were able to promise that they would be next to their families for the reception."

The pair sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Are we doing the right thing Hermione?" Luna asked in a near whisper.

Hermione looked at Luna with concern etched on her face. "What? Where's this coming from? You've been looking forward to this ever since your engagement. Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy. But, I'm also nervous and allowed a little bit of doubt, right?"

Hermione turned Luna's head side-to-side, looking into her ears. "Huh, strange; I don't see any wrackspurts. Must be butterflies in the stomach, then. Swallowing butterflies could certainly explain your symptoms, and some are poisonous. Want me to floo the healers at St. Mungo's? I'm sure we can get someone out here quickly."

Luna let out a small laugh. "If we hurry they might even live through it. We can document the procedure and publish it as a new technique. We'll call it 'Procedure to Help Lepidoptera Extraction from Gastro-Membranes'."

"I don't know, Luna. Using the scientific order Lepidoptera would probably just confuse most people. Also: Phlegm? I haven't started a movement like S.P.E.W. in years. When are you going to stop reminding me of that?"

"Probably when you stop calling it S.P.E.W. and start calling it Spew like everyone else. So, never."

Hermione let out a dramatic sigh. "Such is my life. The things I put up with for the people I care about." She moved closer to Luna and pulled her into a hug. "You're the best sister I never had, Luna Lovegood. I love you and believe me when I tell you, you're doing the right thing."

Luna gave her a hug back. "Thank you, Hermione Potter. I love you, too."

July 1, 1999

She awoke early this morning. Much earlier than she would have even if she'd still been at Hogwarts. Considering summer had just started, she'd just graduated, and currently wasn't employed or even looking for a job, she thought it was impressive that she was up before noon. Instead, Luna looked out the window at the just-rising sun as she waited for the water to boil.

Today was the day. Yesterday she'd left Harry a few hours after Madam Bones' interrogation. She was expecting to be expected again today. First, all she had to do was stay awake; a prospect that she was obviously having trouble with since the loud whistle of the kettle boiling startled her awake again.

Black tea: the nectar of the gods. Or was that the amount of honey she added? Either way, thirty minutes later she was much more awake when she was alerted by the house wards that someone was approaching the front door.

Her father had installed the wards so that he could appear eccentric. He loves opening the door just as someone approaches it to throw them off their usual rhythm. If nothing else, Luna was her father's daughter. Just as the Auror reached the front door, Luna yanked it open dramatically. "Glad you're finally here. Please step inside while I grab a few things. We can then take my floo to St. Mungo's."

The Auror opened her mouth as if to say something, but was unable to comment before Luna scuttled away to gather her pre-packed bag. The Auror's mouth was still hanging slightly open when Luna returned back to the foyer.

"Well, come along, I don't have all day! And be sure to close the door behind you," Luna directed as she stepped over to the floo and promptly left for St. Mungo's. Deposited into the receiving area, she had to wait an agonizing minute before the Auror stepped through.

Before Luna could continue on, the Auror stopped her, asking, "Where are you going?"

"Harry Potter's room. You're here because Harry's room has someone else in it. He's claiming that it's Hermione Granger. He won't let anyone in the room and is asking for me. At this point, the head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, should be standing outside his room waiting for the two of us. So, it's a good thing I was able to get here so quickly. Or did you want to sit down and discuss how the Rotfang Conspiracy has contracted with Muggles to achieve their goals of taking over the Ministry through gum disease? I am happy to do either."

"Uhh, right," the Auror stammered. "If you'd please follow me."

When the pair stepped through the security wards, Luna needing to check her wand, they saw the organized chaos that was the Auror department. Various agents were scurrying around while others were standing around, looking bored. It appeared that a team of curse breakers was currently standing outside of Harry's door, trying to take down a ward.

Amelia Bones did not appear to be having a good morning. She was standing in the middle of the common area, with a look of impatience on her face, her usual monocle conspicuously absent. As the pair approached her, a brief frown crossed her features. She cocked an eyebrow at the Auror, "You got here quicker than I expected, Andrews."

"She was already awake and waiting for me when I arrived, ma'am," Auror Andrews reported. "She actually led the way here."

"Really? Why would that be Miss Lovegood?"

"The Blubbering Humdingers told me to expect trouble here this morning. I've learned to listen to their advice," replied Luna sweetly.

"And would that Humdinger's name happen to be Harry?"

"You know, I've never asked its name, which I now realize is quite rude of me. I'll endeavor to remember the next time I see it. Would you like me to send you an owl when I know?"

Madam Bones let out a soft sigh. "No, that won't be necessary. Mr. Potter has somehow erected some wards in his room, and has stated that he will only allow you through right now. Please go in and talk to Mr. Potter. Get him to at least allow some healers in there to check on the girl."

Luna saluted her and quickly made her way to Harry's room. The pair of curse breakers took a step back as she approached and Madam Bones waved them back to take a break. Luna rushed through the wards and forward to Harry, grabbing him in a hug and gave him a kiss, both of which he returned enthusiastically. "How are you this morning, Harry?"

Before responding, he leaned back down and gave her another quick kiss. "I'm doing quite well. Last night went as expected." Harry glanced over to the bed where Hermione was laying. "Sadly, Hermione's in pretty much the shape that I remembered. I really don't think she'll recover on her own. Honestly, I don't know if she will want to recover. I'd kind of forgotten just how bad things were that night."

Harry drew in a deep breath. "I'm going to have to heal her," he said as he turned his gaze back to Luna. "But, before I do that, two things. First, did you bring the vial?"

"Yes, here it is," Luna said, pulling a glass vial out of her handbag and handing it over to Harry. "I also brought the paperwork for you to sign if you still want to do it."

"I want her to have the option. Don't force her into it, just make sure that she's aware that the option is available," he said as he pulled out Hermione's wand and held it to his forehead. A brief moment of concentration crossed his face as he pulled a silver memory strand from his head. "Here's the memory to play at the wedding reception. Oh, you may also want to bring the Longbottoms here to talk to Hermione. As they've gone through a similar circumstance, they may be able to help her out."

Luna took the filled vial and deposited it back into her purse, pulling out some paper work and a self-inking quill. "I know Harry. We went over this yesterday, and last week, and every time I have been here for the last month."

Harry quickly flipped through the paperwork, signing and initialing as necessary. He finally handed everything back to Luna. Hidden discretely in the documents was the wand Harry took from Voldemort.

"Well, it's now or never," Harry stated with a resigned air. "Can I get a kiss for luck?"

"You can have two," Luna replied. After applying her luck to Harry, she quietly murmured, "You better come back quickly this time. I don't like losing you."

"I don't like losing you either, Luna… But this needs to be done."

"I know, I just don't need to like it," Luna finished as she stepped back outside the room.

She walked back to the common area and addressed Madam Bones, "Harry is about to heal Hermione. If you remember what happened with the Longbottoms, the same type of thing will be happening here. Once the magical pulse passes, you and the healers are free to enter. All I ask is that you allow me to be there when Hermione wakes up so that she sees a friendly face."

While Luna was talking with Madam Bones, Harry stepped up beside Hermione, sliding her wand into her pocket as he laid his other hand on her forehead. "I'm so sorry Hermione. This is going to hurt like hell, but it's the best way I can help you. Hopefully I'll see you in a few months." With these final words, Harry activated his magic and both he and Hermione began screaming.

Luna was seated on the edge of Hermione's bed as the latter's eyes finally fluttered open. The effect was immediate. Hermione desperately began struggling, attempting to get away. She violently shoved Luna off the bed and into a heap on the floor.

"Ow," Luna complained to herself as she stood back up. "I really should've seen that coming."

Hermione was now sitting up on the bed, as far from Luna as she could get. The pupils of her eyes were dilated and an expression of pure terror was on her face. Luna did her best to start trying to talk to her and calm her down. "Hermione, it's okay. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you." Luna held up her hands and started to slowly approach the bed. "It's okay, Hermione. Everything's going to be okay." As Luna continued to attempt to calm Hermione down, she noticed that the panicked look on Hermione's face was slowly receding.

In a weak voice, Hermione questioned, "Luna?"

"Yes, Hermione, I am Luna."

Hermione spent another a minute staring at Luna as the panic lessened more. "You look different. Older."

Luna nodded, "There are some things that I need to talk with you about. Is it alright if I sit on the edge of the bed here with you?" After a slow nod from Hermione, Luna slowly sat down on the bed, "Some of this is going to be hard to explain and some will be hard to understand. You stop me at any time if you want me to leave or if you have a question, okay?"

Hermione sat looking at Luna for a long moment before giving another slow nod.

"First things first, I suppose. You're currently in a room at St. Mungo's." Luna paused as Hermione took a minute to truly examine her surroundings. The room was sparse, with the single twin-sized bed, a small bedside table, and a single uncomfortable-looking chair. On the wall near the chair there was a small window which was currently letting in some meager sunlight; most of the light in the room was coming from the glass orbs in the ceiling. The wall opposite contained the door to the room.

When Hermione's eyes once again settled on Luna, she continued, "The healers already examined you while you were unconscious and you're physically fine. They asked me to be here with you when you woke up so that you'd see a friendly face. Right now there are more healers just outside the door over there. If you want me to bring them at any point, just let me know. When we're done talking I'll need to call them regardless, okay?" Hermione again gave a slow nod.

"The healers gave me some questions they want me to ask you. If you don't feel like answering one, or even any, let me know and we can move onto the next question or we can talk about something else entirely. Sound good?" With a final nod, Luna started asking the questions given to her by the healers.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Hermione. Granger," she replied slowly.

"Do you have a middle name?"

"Jean."

"Do you remember your birthdate?"

"September 19, 1979"

"What school do you go to?"

"Hogwarts."

"What kinds of things do you learn there?"

"Last year I had classes in Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Muggle Studies."

"That's a lot of classes. I'm surprised you didn't go for all of the available classes and also take Divination."

Hermione finally let a small smile loose, "I did take it, in my third year. Ended up dropping it as Trelawney couldn't teach her way out of a wet paper bag."

Luna smiled a bit herself, "Who are your friends at school?"

"You know the answer to that, Luna."

"Yes, I do, but I need to ask. It's on the list."

"I don't see you reading from a list."

"That's because I memorized it. I had nothing better to do while you were lazing about in bed. But, since you asked so nicely," Luna reached into her pocket and withdrew the handwritten list of questions she had received from the healers. She folded the parchment to only show the questions asked so far and showed the list to Hermione. "See, right at the bottom there, 'Who are your friends at school?'."

"I see there's more to the parchment there. What other questions do you have?"

"Nope. First you have to answer the current question."

With a slight 'humph', Hermione responded, "I thought you said I could skip questions if I wanted to."

"Not this question. That star next to it means that you can't skip the question."

"There isn't a star next to it."

"Oops, my mistake," Luna dug into her purse and pulled out a quill, marking a star next to the question. "Problem solved. Now, the star says you have to answer the question. Don't make me go back and add stars next to earlier questions. I'd hate to have to go back and have you re-answer them. What if your answer changed?"

With a good-natured sigh, Hermione finally answered, "My best friends are Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. I would also consider myself friends with you, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. I'm on good terms with most of the rest of my year in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, as well as a smattering of other students outside my year."

"That wasn't so hard, now was it," Luna said with a wide grin on her face. As she looked at the next question, she had to work to keep her grin in place.

"What's today's date?"

"Well, I believe that it should be July the first."

"And the year?"

A frown slowly started to crease Hermione's face. "1996…" She studied Luna's face intently and let out a small gasp, "Oh no, how long have I been unconscious? You're asking what year I think it is and you look older than I remember… I must have been out for quite some time. How long?"

Luna's smile disappeared, "Well, at least you're still clever. That question is harder to answer than you think. I can answer you now, but I think it will work better if I answer you later. Which would you prefer?"

"Now, please."

A small sigh escaped Luna's lips, "Alright, I'll give you the short version. The long version will need to wait until later, okay?" Receiving a quick nod in response, she continued, "Today's date is July the first, but not 1996. It's 1999."

"I lost 3 years? I missed my NEWTs?!"

"Kind of, yes."

"Kind of?"

"That's part of the long version which needs to wait until later."

Hermione fixed Luna with a piercing stare. Luna stared back, not blinking. Finally, Hermione conceded, "Okay, as long as we get back to it later. What's the next question?"

"This is the penultimate question. Answer as best you can. Remember, no one's going to hurt you and I'm here for you, okay?" Luna paused for a brief moment to steady herself, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Luna could only watch as Hermione played through the events of that terrible night in her head. It started with a frown and slowly expanded to a look of pure horror. As the tears started to stream down Hermione's cheeks, Luna scooted closer to Hermione and held her in a tight hug.

In her grief Hermione sobbed, "They're dead. They're all dead! Mum, dad, Harry; all dead. All because of me!"

Luna continued to hold her tight, "It's not your fault, Hermione. It's not your fault."

With sounds of sobbing, one of the healers that had been standing outside came into room and set a Dreamless Sleep potion on the bedside table, letting Luna know they had all of the information they needed and to have Hermione drink the potion after she had settled down a little.

July 2, 1999

Luna awoke with a crick in her neck. Sleeping in a hospital bedside chair was even less comfortable than it looked. Hermione didn't appear to be awake yet, but after a quick check of the time, she'd likely be waking up soon.

After Luna had given Hermione the Dreamless Sleep potion to drink, the Longbottoms had made their first appearance. Luna had filled them in briefly on Hermione's situation and asked them to stop back in again once a bit more time had passed.

With a quick glance back at Hermione, Luna moved out to the Healer's station to see about getting a Calming Draught for Hermione. There were a number of topics that Luna needed to discuss with her, including correcting the misunderstanding of Harry's "death".

Twenty minutes later, Hermione woke; thankfully without throwing Luna to the floor for the second day in a row. However, the grief over her situation was quickly becoming apparent on her face.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. The healers gave me this to give you to when you woke up," Luna stated as she handed Hermione the potion.

"What is it?"

"Just a Calming Draught. There are some things that we need to go over today, and this will help us get through it all."

The frown deepened on Hermione's face as she considered the potion. Reluctantly, she drank it down. The effect was pronounced and quick, all emotion drained from Hermione's face.

"Alright. With that out of the way, I have good news, bad news, odd news, great news, and terrible news. We can go over them in whatever order, but I recommend that one."

"Why?"

"Because I like good news."

"Whatever order your feel is best is fine, Luna."

"Good news first, it is then!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "The good news comes in two parts. First, you're alive!" She waited for a response from the other girl, but got nothing in return. "Well, I think that's pretty good news. Second, Voldemort is dead!" Luna again waited for a response that never arrived. "I'll just mark down your lack of response as a side-effect of wrackspurt exposure.

"So, bad news then: you're legally dead."

Luna finally got a small reaction out of Hermione, "What?"

"Oh yes, this links right into the odd news. For the last 3 years, everyone was convinced that you were dead. The reason that everyone thought you were dead was because a body was found that night. The body was dead and it looked like you. You have a death certificate, tombstone, and everything."

"That still makes no sense."

"Doesn't have to make sense to be true," Luna stated with a smirk. "Continuing with the odd news, you're both 18 and 15. When the healers scanned you yesterday, they discovered that you hadn't aged a day since 1996, you're still biologically 15 years old. Chronologically, though, you're 18 years old. This could create problems with attempting to bring you back to life legally."

"Does this have anything to do with how I 'kind of' missed 3 years?"

"Yep!" Luna exclaimed joyfully. "I can tell you more once you get out of the hospital. This brings us to the great news, and there's more here than you might expect.

"First off, you were not the only one to survive that night; Harry is actually still alive and—"

"Wait," Hermione interrupted. "I saw him get hit by the Killing Curse. I saw the light leave his eyes. I watched him die." Luna was a little disturbed at how the Calming Draught was making Hermione say this in a near-emotionless manner. "How is it that Harry is still alive?"

"Would you believe that Harry's immune to the Killing Curse?" Hermione glared at Luna. "No? Didn't think so. Basically, he got better."

"He got better from being dead?" Hermione deadpanned.

"Yep! That's why it's great news and not just good news! Continuing with the great news—"

"Sorry to interrupt again, but if Harry's alive, how come he isn't here?"

Luna's happy face dropped. "That's an excellent question and ties into the terrible news. There's actually a lot of terrible news, too," Luna continued dejectedly. "Harry was tried for the use of underage magic, use of unforgivable curses, and the murder of you and your family." Hermione continued to look at her like when she read The Quibbler out loud. "Sadly, you're the only member of your family that made it through that night, both of your parents are dead, killed by the Killing Curse."

Luna leaned forward and gave Hermione a hug as the poor girl nodded her head. "Damn this potion, I want to cry so much right now, but I just can't."

"I know. That's part of the reason why we gave it to you, we still have a lot we need to get through. I promise that you will get your chance to grieve. I know what it's like to lose a parent and will do everything I can to help you through the process.

"Now, I need to get back to what happened to Harry. While he was tried for those crimes, his attorney, the prosecution, and his magical guardian all reached a plea bargain for Harry to plead guilty to Apparition without a license and assault with the intent to do harm on two of the Death Eaters that were attacking you. He was sentenced to 3 years internment here in St. Mungo's as he was in a dissociative state due to exposure to Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse. No one thought he'd ever recover.

"Thankfully, this brings us back to some great news. Harry did manage to recover. However, right now he's still in the secure wing in a dissociative state," Hermione was giving Luna a blank look. "You see, when you arrived at St. Mungo's yesterday you were also in a dissociative state from Cruciatus exposure. Harry managed to heal you, but in doing so, entered into a dissociative state himself. We're currently hoping that he'll recover from it in about 6 months. We'll know more in a couple days when we can more accurately gauge his current state."

"The way you talk about this it sounds like this has happened before."

"It has. Were you aware of the situation with Neville's parents?" Hermione shook her head, so Luna explained, "Neville's parents had also been held under the Cruciatus Curse and had entered into their own dissociative states. About a year and a half ago, Harry had mostly recovered from his own exposure and was risking being sent to Azkaban. He was looking for a way to ensure that he was not moved so he broke out of the secure wing in the hospital here, found Neville's parents, and healed them. In doing so, he re-entered his own dissociative state; this one started worse than the previous one, but ended up resolving about as quickly. Now that he's healed you, the hope is that the recovery will be much quicker."

Hermione nodded, "That sounds a lot like Harry. Always rushing off and getting into trouble."

"Yes, I believe he said you referred to it as his 'saving people thing,'" Luna said with a small smile. "It's amazing what Harry will go through for his friends."

"Yes, it really is," Hermione agreed with a whisper.

"Just a little bit more great news for you, Harry's put forward an offer for you, one that both the Lovegood and the Longbottom families have also put forward for you. Since you may still be considered a minor in the magical world due to your biological age, all three of our families are willing to adopt you into our families. I know that I'd love to have you in my family as I've always wanted an older-younger sister, or a younger-older sister… Well, really just a sister. However, you can do whatever you want, including looking for emancipation. We just thought that you might like to have the option available to you."

Luna then pulled out the documents that Harry had signed yesterday, as well as similar documents from both the Longbottom and Lovegood families. "Here's the documentation that you can look through on what the offers entail. Basically, you'd be adopted as an orphan into one of the families. The benefit here is that it would effectively create a new identity for you and potentially allow for an easier re-integration into the wizarding world after your 3-year absence. I'll leave them here and you can look through it as you have time since it will probably be a couple of days yet before the healers let you leave."

Looking Hermione in the eye, Luna finished, "Now, that completes everything that I needed to go over with you right now. Would you like me to go see if there's an antidote for the Calming Draught or do you want to wait for it to wear off? If I had to guess, I'd say you probably still have an hour or two before that happens."

"Antidote please."

Luna nodded her head and went back to the healer's station to help her friend.

July 11, 1999

Things had settled down since Harry and Hermione had both moved into the Rookery last week. Hermione was helping her with Harry, a gift for which Luna was extremely grateful. It also served as time for her and Hermione to talk, letting Luna fill Hermione in on the last three years.

When the front door wards had gone off, Luna had planned to let her father answer it. But when a knock sounded, it became clear that her father was either not home or too busy with the Quibbler; leading to the current situation.

Standing in front of her was someone she once had considered a close friend: Ronald Weasley. However, after he felt that she, along with Ginevra and Neville, stole the DA away from him, they had drifted apart and he had never really talked to her again. The surprise on her face must have shown as a blush crept up Ron's face as she stood there staring at him.

"Uhh… Hi. Luna," Ron stuttered. Luna was still too shocked to respond to him. After a few awkward moments Ron finally continued, "Can I, uh, come in? I heard Hermione was here and I was hoping to talk to her…"

Luna stood there considering the request for a full, silent minute. She was watching Ron, looking for any outward show of anger or frustration as she would have expected. However, he managed to surprise her once again by waiting patiently for a response. She finally gave in and gestured him indoors without saying a word.

She led Ron into the living room and gestured for him to take a seat before making her way back to Hermione. Hermione had remained in Harry's room, sitting next to his bed in a chair that Luna had conjured for her. She was once again reading through the contracts Luna had provided a week ago. Without looking up, she asked Luna, "Who was at the door?"

"A most unexpected visitor. One Mr. Ronald Weasley would like to talk with you. He is waiting in the living room."

With the pronouncement, Hermione jerked her head up in surprise and raised an eyebrow, "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No, and I didn't ask. He and I haven't spoken a word to each other since he left Hogwarts. I didn't see a reason for me to break that streak today."

Hermione shot her an annoyed glance, "So, you want me to deal with him?"

Luna smiled, "Yep!"

Hermione was grumbling to herself as she walked out the door, heading toward the living room. Luna sat in the now-vacated chair next to Harry.

It was evident when Hermione reached the living room as Ron's voice carried up to Harry's room. "Hermione! I'm so glad that—"

A resounding smack echoed through the house. Luna couldn't help but wince as she could only imagine how much that slap must have hurt both of them.

"Ow!" Ron cried indignantly, "What the bloody hell was th—"

After another smack, Luna cast a silencing charm so that she and Harry could wait for Hermione in peace.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione opened the door and entered the room, seating herself on the foot of Harry's bed. All three of them sat quietly for another few minutes before Hermione led things off, "So, I suppose you heard all of that, huh?"

"Actually, no. After you slapped him the second time, it seemed likely that things would get heated. I didn't want the wrackspurt situation up here to get any worse, so I put up a silencing spell."

"Oh," Hermione blushed slightly, "Sorry about the noise."

"I understand, Hermione. What did Ronald want?"

So, Hermione gave Luna the quick version of their talk. "Well, shortly after my second time slapping him, we started talking about why Ron had felt the need to abandon Harry for the last 3 years. Ron had started with a half-hearted excuse about wanting to be an Auror. However, we," she gestured between Luna and herself, "had already talked about how Tonks had managed to keep apprised of Harry's situation and passed messages back and forth through you. So, if an active Auror had found a way, surely Ron could have, too.

"It turned out that the real reason was that he had started thinking that he might have feelings for me," here she scoffed. "I don't know where that came from since we were constantly bickering with each other. Anyway, when I was attacked, Harry came to rescue me, but failed in his rescue attempt. Instead, he was left holding a wand that had cast the Killing Curse, making it look like he killed me. While Ron didn't truly believe that Harry had done the deed, Ron still blamed Harry for my death.

"Once Ron had found out that I was alive, he wanted to come right away, but was stuck in Auror training. When he got away last weekend, he ran into the Longbottoms in the St. Mungo's welcome area. They suggested that he wait at least another week; which was why he waited until today to talk.

"For me it feels like I saw him a few weeks ago, while for him it has been years. It some ways, he's still the friend that I had with me during the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries. So, I decided to give him another chance. I'm going to try recovering my friendship with him while Harry recovers. After that, I may work as an intermediary between Ron and you and Harry to try rebuilding that friendship, too."

With a sigh, Hermione looked down at the bed, "I've lost enough people recently. Please don't hate me for wanting my friend back."

Luna was a little bit surprised, "Hermione, I could never fault you for wanting a friend back. If he has truly changed, I would want him back as my friend, too."

Luna looked down at the contracts that were sitting on Harry's bed where Hermione had left them. "So, have you made a decision on what you want to do about these contracts?"

Hermione nodded her head, "Yes, I believe I have."

February 29, 2008

Luna broke off her hug with Hermione and looked at her with a pout, "You know, I'm still upset with you and your choice to be adopted by the Potter family rather than my family. I really did want you for a sister."

"This again?" Hermione asked. "You keep bringing this up even though you seemed to agree with my choice at the time. I've always seen Harry as a little brother and I thought, 'What better way to make that official?'"

"But he isn't your little brother, legally he's now your father!"

"Ugh, don't remind me of that little awkwardness. Rita had a field day when the news broke. If I'd known that was going to happen I may have taken you up on your offer."

"Really?"

"No. Just thought I'd be nice to you since it's your wedding day," Hermione teased and stuck out her tongue.

Luna rolled her eyes, "Well, regardless, you certainly act like a good sister. Thank you for that."

"My pleasure," Hermione said with a wide grin. "Now, would you like some help putting on the finishing touches?"

As Hermione finished getting Luna ready for the ceremony, the door opened and a blond figure walked in. "Everything going well here? Most of the guests are seated and we're pretty much just waiting on our beautiful bride to get things started."

Hermione gave a quick nod and Luna responded, "Yes, Mum, I'm ready."

March 3, 2003

Harry was standing in front of Luna, looking with concern into her eyes, "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes. Go back, save mum," she replied.

"That's not a plan, that's a goal.'

"But no plan ever survives contact with the enemy."

"What enemy? You're going back to save your mum."

"I am my own worst enemy?"

"On that we can agree. Stay safe, Luna," Harry stated lovingly. He gave her a quick kiss before he retreated to a corner of the room.

When the alarm on her watch went off, Luna pulled up the hood of her cloak and incanted, "Tempus Tredec-Transluto."

March 3, 1990

Luna had 3 minutes until the spell wore off. She'd been kidding with Harry, she did have a plan; it just wasn't a very good one. Unfortunately, it was the best plan that she could come up with even with the years that she had to think about it. There was a chance that not only would her mother die, but worst-case scenario, she could, too.

Luna was once again in her mother's spell laboratory. The naturally large rectangular room was located in the basement of the Rookery. While the space could have been expanded magically, since Pandora Lovegood worked on spell creation, it was best to work in as a magically-neutral environment as possible. The only exception to this was the numerous wards set up in the room to protect the rest of the Rookery in case there was a problem. The warded section comprised of a perfectly square area at the back of the room. It covered the whole width of the room, but left several feet between the door to the rest of the basement and the warded area. It was within this safe area that she could make out Little Luna.

On the far wall from the entrance stood a large wooden desk. Research notes and papers were scattered over the desk in some semblance of order that only made sense to her mother. In just under 3 minutes, the desk, papers, and everything else inside the warded area would be ash.

Standing in one of the back corners near the desk, Luna was inside of warded area wearing Harry's invisibility cloak. Her eyes focused on her mother, who was standing in the middle of the warded area. Her mother was surrounded by a faint, magical glow as she was working on constructing her new spell.

Keeping a close eye on her watch, Luna observed the building magic swirl around her mother. Little Luna was also watching the magnificent maelstrom of color that was the spell. Luna felt bad for her younger self, she had no idea what was about to happen; in thirty seconds, she'd be without a mother.

There. That fluctuation was the start of the end. Luna's mother had noticed it as well and a look of panic was now visible underneath the look of concentration that had been present moments earlier. Frantic wand movements were made in an effort to stabilize the reaction, but it quickly became obvious that it wasn't going to work. As the cascade began in earnest, her mother desperately turned toward Little Luna to ensure that she was safe.

"Luna, honey," Little Luna moved her focus from the swirling colors to her mother, "Please remember that I love—"

Just before the reaction went critical and imploded, Luna ran forward into the impending conflagration grabbing hold of her mother. The flames were rushing inward just as her watch hit the 3-minute mark.

March 3, 2003

"—you?" her mother's final statement of love turned into a question of confusion.

Luna removed the invisibility cloak and looked lovingly at her mother, "I love you too, mum."

Pandora Lovegood stared at Luna for a moment before collapsing unconscious in emotional and magical exhaustion. Luna jumped forward to catch her as she fell. Guiding the collapse, Luna pulled her mother into a hug as they settled on the ground, Pandora held in Luna's lap.

"Well, I see you were successful," Harry stated from his location in the corner. He moved forward and checked the vitals of Luna's mother. "If you don't mind telling me at this point, what was your plan? I know you had one, you've had years to work on this."

Luna blushed as she buried her face in her mother's hair. "It wasn't a good plan, which is why I didn't mention anything earlier. Basically, grab my mother just as the implosion occurred so that we were transferred back here before she died. Since I only had a single shot, I went with the plan with the best chance of success—it just also had the highest risk associated with it."

Harry stared at Luna, dumbfounded. "I thought you were in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor. I mean, really Luna; that sounds like one of my plans. And I make really, really bad plans!" Taking a moment to calm himself, he moved beside Luna and pulled her and her mother into a tight embrace, "I'm really glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if you died."

"Make a really, really bad plan in an attempt to save me?"

"Too soon, Luna. Too soon."

February 29, 2008

The bride's party stepped out of Luna's room, starting to make the trek downstairs to the hall where the ceremony would be taking place. Standing at the bottom of the steps was Colin Creevey, the official wedding photographer. Before they could head into the hall, Colin insisted on taking some pictures of the party descending the stairs: Luna in front with her mother, holding arms, while Hermione walked behind making sure that the dress did not get caught on anything.

The bright flash from the camera nearly blinded Luna.

October 31, 2003

The bright flash from the camera nearly blinded Luna. Her eyes were still used to the relative darkness of the Weasley twins' shop in Diagon Alley.

She had grown closer to the twins after they had helped break Harry out of the depression he'd experienced a few months ago: the seven-year anniversary of Sirius' death. This one hit Harry harder than usual as he now had a spell that could send him back in time. Unfortunately, both Moody and Dumbledore were present when Sirius fell through he veil, and both had the ability to somehow see through Harry's invisibility cloak. The tight confines of the room, and the fact that many eyes were upon Sirius as he fell, led Harry to the inevitable conclusion that nothing could be done for him. It took awhile, and many friends visiting him, but he finally finished letting Sirius go.

These morose thoughts filled her head as she made her way down Diagon Alley. Meanwhile, reporters surrounded her looking for the latest scoop on Harry Potter, and incidentally, his relationship with her; all were shouting questions simultaneously. She tried to ignore them, but she was unable to completely block them out.

"Miss Lovegood, when are you going to settle down with Harry Potter?"

"Miss Lovegood, are you planning to have children with Potter?"

"What are you cooking Harry for dinner tonight, Miss Lovegood?"

"Bad things happen to Potter on Halloween, are you breaking his heart this year?"

Luna loved Harry; they both hated his fame with a burning passion. They had worked together in numerous attempts to reduce the amount of press they had to deal with. They went as far as working with The Quibbler to attempt to secure an exclusivity contract. However, Harry was considered a public figure due to his status as the Boy-Who-Lived. As such, the Ministry declared the contract null and void, allowing anyone to print whatever they wanted about Harry.

Dealing with the paparazzi was something that she would never really be able to get used to. Why would people care when any wedding would take place, or whether they would have kids, or, for Merlin's sake, what they were eating for dinner?

Forcibly shoving her way through the throng of people, she made her way to the disapparation point in Diagon Alley, intent on returning home for a nice dinner with Harry (which he was planning to cook)—the questions dogging her every step. Finally reaching her destination, most of the crowd dispersed. However, as she began to disapparate a man grabbed her right arm while shouting at her, "The people have the right to know!"

Luna had already begun the process to leave, and she desperately didn't want to bring this photographer inside their wards, wards especially created in part to keep these people out. Her intent carried through and she appeared at the apparation point inside the wards of the house she shared with Harry.

Their house was located in the countryside of Worcestershire, abutting a section of the Wyre Forest. It was a new, custom-built two-story home situated on plenty of land. This allowed Harry to set up a small Quidditch pitch for when he wanted a chance to play or fly. The nearby forest contained a warded off area in which various magical creatures could live. At Neville's suggestion and with his occasional help, they also maintained a small garden and greenhouse on the property, for when they needed or wanted fresh ingredients.

Taking a step forward, she fell harshly to the ground. She reached out to stop her fall, and awkwardly caught herself with only her left arm, causing her right side to impact the ground roughly, knocking the wind out of her. Panic briefly flared through her mind as she attempted to pull air into her lungs. Her panic heightened as she realized that she was missing her right arm. The thrice-damned reporter had caused her to splinch! Attempting to take stock of herself, while still attempting to draw in panicked breaths, she noticed the reason she had fallen in the first place: her right leg was missing as well. As if caused by this realization, her missing limbs began to throb painfully.

Fighting the pain, she knew she needed to think this through logically. First, get her breathing under control. Second, get inside the house, which was currently 30 yards away. Finally, since her wand arm was splinched she would need to get someone else to fix the problem. If Harry was home—which was unlikely since he wasn't due home for an hour or so yet—get him to fix the problem. Otherwise, get to St. Mungo's so someone with experience can deal with it. Attempting to apparate again would be foolish, so she would need to use the floo.

By the time she was finished, the panic had subsided slightly, and she had managed to get her breathing back under a semblance of control. Small tears running down her face, she slowly crawled her way up to the front door of the house.

February 29, 2008

Neville was seated in the wedding hall with the rest of the guests. The hall was large, and likely magically expanded to hold everyone. There were roughly 10 rows of 8 seats, 4 seats on each side of a center aisle, though no two chairs were alike. It appeared as though each chair was conjured by a different person, yet all of the chairs were already present when Neville arrived. The chair Neville sat in was quite plush, and also quite comfortable. The colors and patterns on the chair would have done Dumbledore proud: It was bright blue with magnificent yellow stars and moons on it.

Looking to his right, he took in his long-time friend Harry Potter. At least with Luna's seating arrangement, Neville was still going to be seated by a friend. His wife, Hannah, was seated a couple rows back and on the other side of the aisle, surrounded by people she barely knew.

Harry had come a long way since his convalescence. Unfortunately for him, the only thing that people love more than a hero is a fallen hero. His dissociative state and internment saved him from the brunt of the press up until his release, but it didn't save him from the backlash that occurred in the press after he was first incarcerated. During the week up to his release, the press had come back to the story, looking for blood. Until Hermione was found, the public was ready to crucify him for her murder.

After healing her, he then had his family adopt her. This action led to all sorts of other bad press, notably from Rita Skeeter. She'd gone through her back-issues and resurrected the nonexistent relationship between Harry and Hermione she'd reported during the Triwizard Tournament. This opened the door for talk of incest between 'father' and 'daughter'. Rita was and is a nasty piece of work.

Neville was interrupted from his musings by the start of the bridal wedding march. He along with everyone in the audience stood and turned to watch Luna enter.

When she entered the room, even Neville had to admit that she looked angelic. Sneaking a peak back at Harry, he could see an expression on his face that he was having similar thoughts.

Luna made it to the front of the chapel and the officiate started, "We gather here today to mark the joining of a loving couple, Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander…"

October 31, 2005

Bad things always seemed to happen to Harry on Halloween. Today wasn't really any different. The only difference was that instead of having someone else do something to him, he was going to be doing this to himself.

He still hated that he was a celebrity, wishing that the wizarding world would just leave him alone. However, if his incarceration and jaunts away with Healers Without Borders couldn't stop his celebrity status, nothing would be able to.

Healers Without Borders. A wonderful idea that he'd developed in conjunction with Hermione, based on a Muggle idea. After taking a few years to become a full-fledged healer, Harry was looking to travel the world with Luna. What better way than to take his healing skills on the road to help people in remote and war-torn areas of the world.

He worked with Hermione to create a pitch that he brought forward to the International Confederate of Warlocks. Partnered with them, Harry was able to get official backing for the group, and as such, get them access to areas of the world that they'd have had a hard time getting to otherwise; Harry would go in as a healer whilst Luna was going around looking for strange and mystical creatures to study. While sometimes stressful, the trips with Luna were some of the best times of his life.

Things changed after Harry put Rolf Scamander on the payroll for HWB. At the time Harry had been on the fence on whether it was a good idea or not to bring him on. With Harry's blessing at the time, Scamander rose quickly through the ranks, taking a leading role in HWB. Then, that fateful day happened.

The press had found Luna and Rolf out together and had taken some pictures. They then concocted a story about Luna having an affair with Rolf while she was still seeing Harry. This brought things forward to today. Today, he was going to confront Luna about the affair and ask her what was going on with Scamander. While he knew that there was nothing untoward happening between them, this was the chance to remove Luna from the public spotlight. After numerous events, including the paparazzi-induced splinching two years ago, he needed to do something to keep her safe. Removing Harry Potter from her life would see that happen. It wouldn't happen immediately, as the fallout from their breakup would be news for a while, but eventually things would calm down for her.

That was why Harry was now sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Luna to arrive for lunch. His usual "followers" were visible around the bar, hoping to catch wind of the conversation.

After a few more minutes, Luna finally stepped out of the floo and sat down across from Harry. He looked at her with love in his eyes as he said the dreaded words, "Luna, we need to talk."

The paparazzi looked on eagerly.

February 29, 2008

Sitting at a table in the reception hall with his wife, Hannah, Neville watched as the wedding party entered and festivities began. Sitting next to Rolf was a man that Neville had never met, presumably a colleague from HWB.

Years ago, Neville had expected that he would be standing as a best man for Harry and Luna's wedding; only for their relationship to die after that horrible news story was released. Harry had retreated into himself, no longer making as many public appearances. When he did, he either showed up alone, or escorted his daughter, Hermione. For Luna's wedding, he had come alone since Hermione was in the wedding party. Thankfully, he still had enough friends, and the seating arrangement was such, that Harry and Neville's table only seated people on good terms with Harry.

Many of Harry's friendships became a bit rocky after his breakup with Luna, as they sided with Luna instead of Harry. They all knew what the papers were like, making something out of nothing. That Harry listened to, and acted on, the papers' spurious claims upset many of their mutual friends. Ron, like Neville himself, was actually one of the few that still got along well with Harry—he had finally learned from his mistakes and stuck by Harry; something evidenced by Harry's current laughter coming from something Ron had spouted. With Ron sticking by him, Harry had in turn helped him out.

February 7, 2006

Harry stepped out of the floo, thinking back gratefully to the week that Luna had spent training him on how to use wizarding transport without falling over. Standing in the white room, he quickly made his way from the floo over to the Welcome Witch. "I'm here to see Ronald Weasley," Harry calmly stated.

Without looking up at him, the witch responded with a gruff, "Fourth floor, Spell Damage, Auror Ward."

As Harry passed by her, he stated with a small smirk, "Thanks, Iris." Normally he would stop to chat with the witch for a few minutes—as long as things weren't busy—but today he was in a bit of a hurry. As such, he missed the witch's longing look as she caught sight of Harry's retreating back headed toward the lifts.

Less than a minute later found Harry standing just outside the ward. With a final deep breath, he entered the room to find it empty, save for two occupants: Ron and his wife, Lavender. The two seemed to be having a quiet, but heated, argument. While, he didn't want to intrude, he didn't have a lot of time today, so he attempted to clear his throat to alert them to his presence. When this failed, he walked up to the pair, put on a smile, and addressed them both. "Good afternoon Lavender. Ron."

Ron's face started reddening, embarrassed to be seen publicly arguing with his wife, but Harry pressed on. "I'm glad I could catch you both here. I have something that I need to discuss with Ron, but it is probably for the best if you are here, too, Lavender. Do you mind if I sit down?" Without waiting for a response he sat down, while simultaneously grabbing Ron's chart from the end of the bed.

As Harry flipped open the chart, Ron finally gathered some of his senses together and attempted to address Harry, "What are you doing? That's supposed to be confidential!"

Harry just glanced at him over the top of the chart. "Ron, you know that I volunteer here at St. Mungo's when the regular staff feels the need to go to a conference, take some time off, or in case of emergencies. You are covered under the same oaths right now as if I was working today."

"Still would have been polite to ask…" Ron grumbled, more to himself than at Harry.

"Oh, right," Harry replied sheepishly. "Old habits and all that. Anyway, I heard that you had been pretty severely injured in the line of duty and came over to see how bad things were." Harry took a minute to really look at Ron and go over the chart notes.

For the most part, Ron looked fine. However, he had been hit by a dark cutting curse that had taken off his right foot, and worse, his wand hand. The stories that Harry heard put Ron as the first through a door breach on a dark wizard's home. As soon as he started to step through, the wizard, who had been standing to the side of the door, cast the spell that took off both appendages.

While the healers had been able to successfully reattach both the hand and foot, they were not able to restore all of the proper movement to either. Nor were they able to restore the magical flow from Ron's right arm to his right hand. Until Ron learned to cast left-handed, he would be severely impaired. Needless to say, this presented a problem for an active-duty Auror.

Harry looked up in sympathy at his friend. While they were not as close now as they had been while at Hogwarts, Hermione had been able to act as a bridge to partially mend their friendship. They would never be as close as they were, but they were friends again. "I'm sure that they already told you the news. How are you taking it?"

Ron looked at him like he had grown a second head. "How do you think I'm taking it? I was just told that, due to a stupid mistake on my part, my career is basically over! All I have ever wanted to do is be an Auror, but I don't want to sit at a desk all day!"

Lavender took hold of one of his hands in an attempt to calm him down. "Ron, the desk jobs are important, too. You would still be making a difference."

"I know, Lav. But, it isn't want I want to do. I want to be out there where the action is!"

Letting out a sigh, she backed away from the argument, likely the same one they had been having when Harry walked in. "Now's not the time, Ron." She turned to Harry, "So, you said you had something that you wanted to talk to Ron about. Was that it?"

"No, I just needed to know Ron's thoughts before I brought this up. If it sounded like things were going to be okay I was planning to leave it alone." Harry held up a hand to forestall Ron's interruption. "As it is, it sounds like this offer might be appreciated. Ron, I remember during Hogwarts that there was another profession that you seemed interested in," he prompted.

"What, Quidditch star? With a bum hand there is no way that I could be any good as a keeper. Plus, Ginny's already got that role covered for the Weasley family," Ron stated with a huff.

"True. While you wouldn't be able to play, I was thinking more along the lines of the General Manager of a team."

Harry's second head was apparently back considering Ron's staring. "Who would want to hire me as a General Manager?"

Harry met Ron's gaze for a moment before responding. "Me."

"What?!" Ron and Lavender both shouted.

"I decided to start a team with the money that I received as an inheritance from Sirius. I had been looking for something big and showy to spend it on, and this seemed perfect."

"You're starting a Quidditch team, and you want me to be your GM?" Ron sputtered.

"Yep," Harry replied with a grin. "I bought some land in Wyre Forest and am turning it into a Quidditch stadium. At this point the team is registered and I have started pulling together a roster, but I need help. My goal is to just be the owner, leaving the day to day running of the team and stadium to a pair of managers. Naturally, I thought of you, Ron, to run the team. I've asked Lupin if he would run the stadium, and Tonks helped push him into already accepting the offer."

"You're starting a Quidditch team, and you want me to be your GM?" Ron sputtered again.

Harry's grin widened. "The team name is the Wyre Wolves. The team colors are a deep, royal purple and silver. My plan is to have the backs of the jerseys show the current stage of the moon. The names and numbers of the players will be written on the moon."

Without even looking at his wife, Ron exclaimed, "I'm in! Where do I sign?"

"Hush, Ron," chided Lavender. "Harry, isn't this going to interfere with your work at Healers Without Borders?"

Harry ran a had through his hair. "No. This hasn't been widely publicized, but I have moved from active duty with the group to just being on the board. This happened about five months ago when I asked Rolf Scamander to take over normal operations while I moved into more of an advisory and fundraising role."

"But that would be…"

"About a month before I broke things off with Luna."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Harry waved her off, "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it wasn't widely publicized, so you wouldn't know about it."

Taking a quick glance at his watch, Harry brought them back on topic, "There is one other thing, and something that you should think about. I don't see it as a problem but some might. As I stated, I have Lupin on staff. However, he is not the only werewolf that I am looking to hire. The plan is to have most of the stadium staff be filled by werewolves, with all of them reporting to Lupin. Now, in order to be eligible to work for the stadium they must agree to a few provisions. First, every month they will be required to take the Wolfsbane potion. This will be provided to them by the stadium as per their contract. Second, they must have a secure location to be each full moon. The location can be at their own home if it has been certified by the Stadium Manager each year. Otherwise, a location under the stadium will be provided. Third, after starting with the stadium, they must never infect anyone. Breaking either of the first two requirements will result in their immediate dismissal. Breaking the third requirement results in immediate dismissal and them being turned over to the DMLE for prosecution."

Letting out a long breath, Harry continued, "My goal is to provide a safe and secure working environment for any werewolf that wants it. By not treating them like second-class citizens, my hope is that we can greatly reduce the number of new infections and hopefully also turn public perception from them being a blight on society to people that have a horrible, but manageable, condition.

"A few final points of interest. Since the stadium staff will mostly be werewolves, there will be no home games scheduled from 2 days before to the day after a full moon. Away games will be allowed during this time frame. If a home game lasts until the day of the full moon, the team will forfeit the game no matter the score.

"Finally, I have here a copy of a proposed roster for the starting lineup," Harry handed the still gobsmacked Ron a piece of parchment. "Think about the offer and what it entails. I don't want your answer right now as I would like for both you and Lavender to truly consider the pros and cons of the offer. Let me know at the end of the week on your decision." Harry stood up and placed Ron's chart back on the end of the bed. "Now I hate to run, but I have a few more people to visit and things to pull together to make this happen."

When Harry was nearly at the door, he heard a startled yelp from Ron. "HARRY!" Ron bellowed, "Do you really expect to bring in Viktor Krum, Oliver Wood, and Ginny to play for the team?"

"No, Ron." Harry looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "I expect whomever fills the role of General Manager to bring them in." He then opened the door and left before Ron could say anything else.

That weekend, a letter arrived from Ron letting Harry know that not only had Lavender and he agreed that this was a fantastic opportunity, but that Ginny had already agreed to transfer to the new team.

February 29, 2008

After dinner, the dancing began. The first dance and father-daughter dance were both beautiful, not that Neville would ever admit this to anyone besides his wife.

After a few more dances, Hermione called for everyone's attention in order to start giving speeches. Perhaps against tradition, but that could often be said about either Hermione or Luna, Hermione was standing to give her speech first. While it meandered a bit, it was heart-filled, causing Luna to start crying. Hermione had even managed to work in some of the fantastical creatures that Luna believed in, even though Neville was pretty sure that Hermione herself still didn't. When she wrapped up, Luna stood up and wrapped her a big hug as she continued to cry.

When the bride had calmed down and sat back down, the Best Man stood to give his own speech. At best, it could be considered a ramble, and seemed to be missing the heart shown in Hermione's speech. Letting the words wash over him, Neville reflected on his own wedding.

July 17, 1999

Neville's nerves had thankfully settled during the ceremony. Unfortunately, Harry had been unable to join the ceremony as he was once again dissociative after healing Hermione. He was therefore unable to handle one of the most important best man roles: calming down the groom.

Things were looking good for a quicker recovery than seen previously, as Harry was already exhibiting increased motor control. He was now seated in the audience in a device that Hermione said was a 'wheelchair'. Made sense, really. It was a chair with wheels. Hermione and Luna were seated on either of him as they were now taking care of him, taking him to Luna's home after his release from the secure ward rather than leaving him in St. Mungo's.

At the reception, Neville was surprised when Luna came forward with a pensieve and a vial that contained a memory. Luna set the pensieve beside Neville, between him and Harry, before pouring in the memory. As she positioned herself behind Harry, she called for everyone's attention, "Hello? Everyone. Can I please get your attention? Harry provided me with this memory that he wished to show everyone here today." Luna waited a brief moment before activating the pensieve in order to give people the chance to quiet down.

Upon activation, an image of Harry appeared above the pensieve, between the two men in the wedding party. "—Because it was too big!" Harry stood looking out at the audience as if waiting for a response. "Oh come on, that was funny! You see since the wrackspurt and the nargle are both—" Luna cleared her throat and the memory Harry looked sheepishly over at her. "Right. Anyway. Can everybody see and hear me?" Harry again paused as if waiting for a reaction. "I stand here before you today as a memory of watching myself give this talk in a mirror so that you can see me stand before you today. If that didn't hurt your head just a bit, please talk to Luna and she'll give you a headache for me." This actually got a small laugh from the audience. "Much better," the memory Harry responded.

"This man here, Neville Longbottom, wasn't always my best friend, although he did always want the best for me. I first met Neville on the Hogwarts Express when he was out looking for his lost toad, Trevor. Poor Trevor, what ever happened to him, Neville?" Harry waited for a response from Neville. The memory of Harry leaned over to Neville and mock-whispered, "This is your line, Neville."

Neville looked up in shock at the memory of Harry. The memory just gave him a brief nod, with a smile and wink. Neville then looked at his friend in his wheelchair looking blankly ahead. Finally, Neville responded, "He ran away to live with the rest of the wildlife around Black Lake. If you remember, that was where Hagrid found him when we got off of the boats first year."

"Ah, yes. Always had been curious about that. Anyway, Neville was always looking out for what was best for me, even when I couldn't see that for myself. He grew into a close friend during our fifth year when we created a defense club to practice the spells that we'd be using in our OWL examinations. He was also one of the ones that joined me in my quest to save my godfather from an attack by Voldemort." A number of people in the audience flinched.

"Finally, he grew into my best friend over the course of the next three years as he started visiting me in St. Mungo's. What most people didn't realize was that, while I'm unable to externally interact with the world, I'm still in here. Neville's talking to me helped ground me to reality and helped me to find my way back. For this, I'll always be grateful.

"Now, I don't really remember the exact circumstances that led to Hannah meeting Neville, but every time that one or both of them came to visit me it was plainly evident that they were in love with each other. Watching Neville as he was deciding to ask Hannah to marry him was incredibly cute." The statement produced a blush and a cough from Neville, to which Harry responded, "What? It was.

"Growing up, neither Neville nor I had as much love as we wanted. While there's nothing that can be done for me about that, Neville, I'm so happy that I was able to reunite you with your loving parents and that you've found Hannah, someone with whom you can share the rest of your life."

Harry turned toward Hannah, "Hannah, watch over him for me when I'm not able. You two together could take on the world, and I believe that you'd win, hands down."

Finally, Harry turned back to the audience, "If you would all join me in raising a toast. To Neville and Hannah, may you find happiness in each other." As everyone started to take a sip, Harry finished, "Oh, and get to work on getting me a godchild." Neville did a spit-take as the memory disappeared.

February 29, 2008

Years later, Neville had asked Harry how he'd managed to be so interactive in a memory. Harry had deadpanned, "Magic." When Neville pressed for more details, Harry got a serious look on his face, "I had Luna write down all of the responses and timings. Then, I went back in time to give myself the results of what Luna wrote down so that I could practice with those responses and timings in place."

Neville stared at Harry. Harry held his composure for another second before he broke out laughing, "Oh man, you should see your face. A much more plausible answer is that we modified the pensieve so that Luna could remotely control the pause so that it would look like I had everything timed perfectly. As for the responses, that just shows how well we know you." Harry finished explaining with a grin.

Even now, Neville still had no idea exactly how they'd pulled it off, but he wrote it off as a trick that neither Harry nor Luna wanted to share the secret to.

Polite applause broke Neville from his reverie. The best man had finally finished his ramble. Neville quickly joined in the applause, more glad that it was finally over than as to what was said.

With the speeches finished, the dancing resumed, Rolf and Luna mostly stayed together on the dance floor, dancing everything from a tango, to a waltz, to the chicken dance—something Neville had never seen before, but which proved quite popular.

The surprise of the evening, though, was a brief moment when Rolf stepped out of the room and Harry approached Luna to ask for a dance.

As they took to the floor, a slow song started up and they swayed together near the edge of the dance floor. Neville brought Hannah closer to them so that they could try to overhear anything that was said.

For the most part, they just danced quietly. It wasn't until near the end of the song that Neville heard from Harry, "I know that he makes you happy, Luna. Keep an eye on him, and don't let him make you unhappy. I don't think that I could handle knowing that he made you feel that way."

Luna just nodded with a smile and tear in her eye as the song finished, "Thank you for the dance, Harry Potter."

Harry smiled and appeared to drink in the sight of Luna. "It was a lovely ceremony, Luna Lovegood. You picked the perfect date for it." With the smile still on his face, he stepped away from her and briskly left the room.

As Harry was leaving, Rolf re-entered the dance floor, "Everything okay, dear?"

"Yes, Rolf, everything's fine."

Neville later found out that Harry had left the reception after his dance with Luna.

May 23, 2004

Luna was sitting next to Harry and across from her mother and Hermione.

Pandora and Hermione had started a research firm to look into the creation of new spells, enchantments, and potions. The two were co-chairs of the firm and they'd brought on a number of others to work for them. The firm also partnered with local businesses, such as Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, to cross promote ideas started by different groups.

The two had contacted Luna and Harry as they'd made progress on the project Harry had asked them to look into.

Pandora started things off, "Before we start anything else, I need to discuss some history. What do you two know about Newt Scamander?"

Harry glanced to Luna, she gave him a shrug and responded to her mother, "He wrote the book Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as a few other books on magical creatures. He's married and apparently lives in Dorset."

Pandora nodded, "Okay. And what, if anything, do you know of a woman named Ariana Dumbledore?"

This time Harry answered, "Nothing, really. We've seen her gravestone in the cemetery of Godric's Hollow, but that's it."

Pandora nodded again. "What I'm about to tell you is a family secret and I have to ask that none of you share this with others." The other three in the room all gave their promise of secrecy. "Ariana Dumbledore was born in 1884 and officially died in 1899. The cause of death was due to a spell fight between Albus Dumbledore, his brother Aberforth, and Gellert Grindelwald." Pandora held up her hand to forestall the questions she could see forming on Harry and Hermione's faces. "During the battle, Ariana stepped between the three of them in an attempt to stop them from fighting, but she was hit by spellfire and died before she could receive help. She was buried in Godric's Hollow where you saw her tombstone.

"Now, you may be wondering why I bring this up," she got nods all around. "It turns out that Ariana didn't actually die that day. She was hit by two different spells: one from Gellert and one from Albus. The two combined, and in a strange twist of fate, put her into a stasis that made her look dead for thirteen years. When she woke up, she was trapped in a coffin, underground, and began to panic. Thankfully, this caused a burst of accidental magic and she apparated, blindly, 15 feet straight up, effectively removing her from the ground."

Hermione was looking a bit disgruntled and muttered, mostly to herself, "Does anybody actually die in the wizarding world?"

"Not if we can find a way to save them, dear," Pandora said, patting Hermione's hand. "Ariana attempted to then track down her brothers before she finally found Aberforth working in a bar in Hogsmeade. Aberforth had blamed Albus for her apparent death, since one of the spells to hit her was his. As such, Aberforth was against telling Albus that she was, in fact, alive. Ariana, needing help, went along with her brother's request to limit the number of people that knew she was alive. This was when Newt Scamander was born.

"Aberforth and Ariana realized that the best way to give Ariana a chance to make it on her own was to create a new identity. Even in the wizarding world, it was slightly easier to move around as a single wizard rather than as a single witch, especially as you started looking at locations overseas. Making use of glamour charms, Ariana was trained in magic and magical creatures by Aberforth until she came of age and was able to perform magic sufficiently on her own. She then went on to publish her first book, Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Pandora paused the story for a minute to give her audience time to absorb the information and take a sip of water. Once they were ready she continued.

"With the publication of her first book, she was then looking for material for a second book. While she was in Greece, she met a wizard named Deucalion. They started dating and eventually got married. While Ariana takes the public face of Newt, Deucalion takes the public face of Newt's wife, Porpentina. Deucalion and Ariana are my parents."

Luna was shocked, "Granddad and Grandmum Arcadia are the Scamanders?"

Pandora nodded, "They decided to keep the nom de plume alive since it allowed for them to live their lives in peace. They only use the glamor charms now in order to make rare public appearances."

For Luna, this was a lot to process. Newt had been a hero of hers while she was growing up. In fact, her current career path was something she picked out early on after hearing about the adventures of Newt Scamander and his success as a naturalist. "Mum, when can we go see them? I want to talk to grandmum about everything!"

"We can go see them sometime soon; though I want to send them an owl to let them know we're coming and that I finally got a chance to tell you. I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier, but we were waiting until you were older so that you wouldn't accidentally tell anyone their secret."

Luna nodded as she continued to process everything she'd been told. Harry, though, had a question, "So, what was the point of the story?"

Pandora leaned back in her chair, "Well, you've had Hermione and I looking into making a modified version of the Fidelius Charm that would allow it to hide the identity of a person, and for the charm to be dependent on having an object on your person, such as a ring or necklace. We managed to make the modifications, but you'll need a new identity to go along with it. An identity for people that don't know the secret, someone for them to see and identify you as. From our testing, attempting to go without a new identity will cause the charm to quickly break down."

Harry thought about this, "And, since the Scamander name is already one that was created, and you know the family that created it, we can use it to create a new identity for me."

Pandora smiled at him, "Correct."

"So, then, what would my name be?"

"Rolf," Luna quickly replied.

"Rolf?" Harry asked weakly.

"It's short, easy to remember, and I like it."

Harry stared at Luna for a full minute, neither wanting to back down. Finally, with a sigh, Harry stated, "Fine, I don't really like it, but it's not like it's really my name. Rolf it is. When can we get started on this?"

It was now Hermione's time to shine, "Well, we can cast the Fidelius whenever you'd like, even right now. In fact, it would probably be best to do it before we mention the name Rolf Scamander to anyone else so that the magic requirement for the Fidelius Charm is less.

"However, there are other considerations that we need to make, Harry. Right now, there's no trail for anyone to follow that would create a reasonable history for Rolf. People may get suspicious if there's insufficient data available. I suggest that we spend some time working on building a paper trail before you attempt to actually start using the identity."

Harry had made his decision, "I understand. Let's cast the charm now and we can build the paper trail later. Luna, would you please be the secret keeper? I'd then like to have all 3 of us in on the secret. Since your grandparents are the 'original' Scamanders, we should also include them in on the secret, too. They'll likely be helpful in trying to develop the backstory."

With everyone in agreement, the Fidelius was cast on a necklace that Harry could wear whenever he wanted some privacy.

February 29, 2008

Harry Potter, in the guise of Rolf Scamander, side-along apparated Luna Lovegood, his new wife (who kept her name), to King's Cross Station in order to kick off their honeymoon.

"So, where are you taking me?" Luna questioned. "Most honeymoons are done somewhere exotic, but we've already travelled the world. Where would be 'exotic' for us?"

"I know just the place. We'll be starting our trip with a train ride. If you would kindly put on this blindfold?" Rolf said with a smirk on his face. Luna obliged, grabbing his hand to let him lead her to their destination. She shivered for a moment as she felt herself pass through a ward. Rolf then removed the blindfold from her.

In front of Luna was a gleaming red and gold train. A train that typically only ran four times a year: The Hogwarts Express. "How did you…?"

"I know Harry Potter. Harry knows the current Headmistress and is best friends with the Herbology professor. It wasn't hard to get permission to use the train. If you'll just step inside this car here, you'll find your husband waiting for you in the compartment where the two of you first met. I, however, have a wedding and a dance to attend." Rolf then removed the necklace from around his neck, handing it to Luna, letting the world again see him as Harry Potter. "See you in a few hours," he said with a wink as he pulled out another necklace, this one with an hourglass on it. Turning it six times, Harry disappeared from view.

Luna walked into the car and opened the door to the compartment where she first met Harry. He was standing there with a grin on his face. "So, Harry, where are you taking me?" Luna questioned again.

Harry's grin widened, "Well, I figured we should go somewhere truly exotic, someplace we haven't been to in years. Somewhere beautiful, but where there's still enough population that we can be pampered for a few days. That's why we're going to Hogsmeade!"

The whistle on the train blew, and the train moved off, heading towards its destination as the sun set.

A/N: And that's the end of the story. For real this time, this story is complete and there will be no further—

"Wait!" Harry suddenly interjected. "Luna, did you ever tell Neville the secret?"

"Of course not," Luna replied. "Were we not intentionally not telling him so that his reactions to the events were genuine?"

"Oh, that's good. We are definitely using that after you tell him." Luna stared at Harry, who eventually deflated and let out a sigh. "I got busy while attempting to lead two lives. After a few months I'd forgotten about it and just figured that Neville was keeping things straight and making sure to act the proper way when talking to Rolf."

"What made you think of it now, then?"

"Well, I figured after a couple of days in Hogsmeade we could head up Hogwarts and hang out with Neville for the day. That's when it finally struck me that we'd never discussed telling Neville and Hannah the secret."

The newlywed couple shared a moment of a silence.

"Neville's gonna be so narked."

A/N: Okay. That's really it. Thanks for reading! There is a short companion piece that will be posted shortly called 'Conversing with Hermione' that didn't really fit into the flow of the epilogue, but answers a question that I felt was worth answering. Please check it out if you enjoyed the story.