Author's Note:

This crossover will follow the events of Inkheart. [Pairings: (HP: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Neville/Luna. For now.)(INKHEART: Meggie/Farid, Mo/Resa, slight Dustfinger/Resa. For now.)]

And many more characters to appear! The italicized quotes are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. And Inkheart to Cornelia Funke! Enjoy! (:

Loligo7687

Author's Note (9/26/11):

Will be editing as I go, and I will probably end up adding more to the beginning chapters. Rushed into the plot a little, may add details to lengthen the chapter. Nothing major to complain about, but I am conflicted on who to kill. Even if it's a temporary one. I don't really want it to be about deaths, but if I want to head in the direction I've been planning all along, I just may have to. xD The chapter I'm currently working on is the longest I've written, by far, and it doesn't want to type itself!

~Lucy

Out of Context
By: [Loligo7687] lucy quinn fabray

Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting

It was a bright and sunny Italian day at the house of Elinor Loredan, Meggie's great aunt. Meggie and Mo Folchart, her father, had come to her as a safe haven on the advice of the curious Dustfinger. But the feeling of safe had melted when Meggie had heard the voices in the library; the voices took with them her father, and she was as helpless as a newborn kitten. Elinor tried to reassure her that they would find Mo again, but Meggie wasn't listening. She didn't want to listen to the woman who had prevented her from saving her father two times by holding her back from the dreaded library and swapping Inkheart. He was in grave danger and Meggie had no idea how to save him.

Walking out of the kitchen after shoving down her breakfast, she immediately held Inkheart to her chest as she looked for another book she could drown her misery in. Escaping from Elinor had been easy enough and getting lost in a book was no harder.

Meggie's eyes wandered around the assorted piles of books yet to be placed on a bookcase. None held her interest, so she moved on to the next bookcase she could see. This particular one had been hidden behind a large stack of books higher than herself. Removing the top ones carefully, her heart almost stopped when she read the titles lined next to each other. All seven Harry Potter books stood together as part of Elinor's collection. The last book had only been published recently, but Meggie had stayed up all night to finally see what would happen to Harry and Voldemort at last. Of course Harry had triumphed over evil, ridding the Wizarding World of fear spread by the Death Eaters. It had made her cry on multiple occasions, but she couldn't help but swell with happiness when Harry got his happy ending. But unfortunately for her, her own story wasn't looking too optimistic.

Taking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off its shelf, Meggie did not care if Elinor yelled at her for snatching it without permission. It was slightly thicker and heavier than Inkheart, but all the same she juggled both books in her arms. Sneaking quietly past the kitchen, Meggie escaped to the bench in the backyard. A crab apple tree blossomed next to that bench, littering it with white and soft pink petals. Brushing a spot for herself, she began to inspect the foreign book.

Mo's handiwork was evident from the bound cover that hid the deadly title. She was almost afraid of opening it in case the words would hold a certain power over her. But more so, it reminded her of Mo's kidnapping. Tears sprang to Meggie's eyes as she placed Inkheart on the seat next to her. Her head fell to her open palms, steadying it as she cried. Crying was useless she decided - tears would not bring her father back. But what would?

Meggie searched for the other book, which had fallen to the grass below. Picking it up quickly, she breathed a sigh in relief that it was not damaged. Her own copy was in perfect condition, but it had to be sacrificed for the quick move (it had been essentially futile, hadn't it?). Hopefully she could immerse herself in the book to forget her sorrows. Meggie decided to turn to one of her favorite parts in the whole book. Toward the end it was located; it was the part where Neville Longbottom greeted the trio in Aberforth's bar. Locating it in less than a minute, Meggie's heart started to pound against her chest. She was so proud of Neville and his transformation of character; it was why she loved that part.

Since she was alone, Meggie decided to read aloud to herself. The characters sounded much more real when a voice was placed behind them. Mo's voice she longed for; but he'd always insist that he shouldn't. His voice was beautiful and she had never understood why her father had never read to her. And so she began:

But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: One of his eyes were swollen yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough. Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"

Meggie had not noticed that the birds keeping rhythm in the background had vanished all of the sudden. The words were virtually springing to life before her eyes, but she still took no notice. The birds were replaced by the four very characters she had been talking about in that chapter. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom stood right in Elinor's backyard! Meggie had only looked when she heard Hermione's distinct voice yelling at Ron.

"Get off me, Ron!" Hermione said crossly, pushing him off of herself. Ron looked sorry enough, but only helped Hermione to her feet. The two of them were the only ones to become tangled on the ground. Neville and Harry stood next to each other, each expressing the same look of confusion. Only when Harry and Meggie's gaze met did four wands point at her. Protectively, she held the closed book against her chest.

"Who are you?" asked Harry, but Hermione's gasp distracted him.

"Look at Neville!" she exclaimed, causing the rest to turn. The injuries on his face had vanished and he looked like regular old Neville again.

"I'm Meggie Folchart," she replied coolly, bringing the attention back to her. Though completely shocked and afraid, Meggie kept her composure calm.

"Where are we?" asked Ron.

"In Italy," Meggie replied. "You're all from my book. I was just reading out loud when..."

"Accio Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," said Harry, causing Meggie to frown as the book sailed away to Harry's hands. So their magic still worked in her world! The experience was still scary, but it was becoming better and better.

"Blimey, she's right!" exclaimed Neville, reading various pages. Meggie snatched it away before they flipped to the end.

"That's right!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

"So, we're not real?" asked Ron, looking astonished.

"Now you are, now that you're in my world. It's also about nine years in the future for you, in case you were wondering. Could you care to lower your wands, please?"

They obeyed reluctantly, but they felt no threat with Meggie. So now what? She had brought them out of their story - what was she supposed to do? An idea struck her quickly. Meggie would ask them to help find Mo in exchange to return to their rightful story. It had to work of course!

"Where are your parents?" asked Ron, knowing she looked no older than twelve.

"My mother went away when I was about three and my father recently got kidnapped," replied Meggie. Ron looked like he had just gotten slapped. To save his embarrassment, she continued with her bargain.

"If you promise to help me find Mo, I'll figure out a way to send you back to Hogwarts," she concluded, glancing at them expectantly.

The four turned away from her to discuss her deal, which was promising. Not even their magic could bring them back. In the meanwhile, Meggie had felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped when she saw the familiar face of Dustfinger.

"You've got Silvertongue's ability too? And Inkheart as well," mused Dustfinger, pushing his shaggy hair out of his face. He held the book in his hand, letting Meggie snatch it away quickly.

"Where have you been?" Meggie exclaimed irately, her eyes narrowing angrily.

"Chasing after your father."

"What ability? How would you know?"

"Hasn't your father told you?" Dustfinger said, with a confused countenance.

Meggie held Inkheart closer to her instinctively. "No, he hasn't."

"Well, it wouldn't be my place to tell you."

"We accept, Meggie," Harry announced, distracting her from her conversation with Dustfinger. She smiled for once since Mo's kidnapping.

"Do you know where they have taken him?" Meggie asked Dustfinger. He nodded.

"Yes, to Capricorn's village a little ways from here. I can take you there," Dustfinger replied, casting a glance at the new guests.

"Great! Let's tell Elinor," said Meggie, waving at the wizards and witch to follow them inside.

"Oh, and if there's anything I can do for you, just tell me," she added.

"Could you 'read' others here?" asked Neville, inquisitively. Meggie shrugged, not knowing the extent of her ability.

"Well, possibly…"

"If we brought Luna and Ginny here…"

Harry turned a little red. Two more helping hands wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Okay, after we tell Elinor. I have to think of proper passages, after all."

The passage she had read had certainly mentioned the following characters in her backyard. If only Dustfinger had told her, or even if Mo was here to tell her, since Dustfinger had told her that he knew. So long as she read passages containing the characters, they might fall into her world. Literally.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville followed Meggie and Dustfinger inside to the kitchen where Elinor was sipping her tea and reading the daily newspaper. She looked up at the sound of Meggie's voice and got much more than one surprise. Dustfinger had returned and four new strangers were standing in her kitchen. Elinor almost fainted when she recognized Harry by his scar.

"How did they get here?" asked Elinor in utter shock.

"I read them here," Meggie said, flatly. "Anyway, they are going to help us find Mo. Dustfinger knows where he is."

"Oh," Meggie added, pausing. "This is Elinor."

"Hullo," they greeted her politely. Meggie shook her head as her great aunt couldn't speak. "Let's go outside again," she added, leading them away from the adults.

"Make sure they don't touch my books!" they heard Elinor yell, but they clearly had no intention of ruining her books.

"Okay," said Meggie, grabbing their attention. "What passage would make sense to bring Luna back? Something really Luna-ish?"

"Malfoy Manor?" suggested Ron, but it was disagreed on.

"Shell Cottage?" suggested Harry, remembering that she was truly a good person at Dobby's funeral. Meggie nodded and proceeded to find the correct passed without hesitation. She read:

"I think we ought to say something," piped up Luna. "I'll go first, shall I?"

And as everyone looked at her, she addressed the dead elf at the bottom of the grave.

"Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now."

Meggie loved this part as well. It was truly a reflection of Luna's ever likable character. At first nothing happened. The five of them sat in silence until a loud noise interrupted the scene and was accompanied by a bright flash. Two shutters from the house disappeared - Meggie didn't like them anyway. But why did two go away in exchange for one?

The answer was soon clear. Luna Lovegood stood with a dreamy smile on her face as a small elf swayed beside her. Was Dobby going to die again?

"Dobby had missed Harry Potter, sir!" said the excited elf, running over to hug his leg. Harry was relieved most of all, especially since he knew Dobby the elf had escaped death.

"Can you change death, Meggie?" asked Hermione, tearing up at the sight of Dobby. Again, Meggie was stumped.

"Nothing's in black or white I'm afraid. I don't know," she replied.

"Hello, everyone!" announced Luna, as if changing stories did not bother her. Neville filled her in with all the missing details. Luna didn't look fazed.

"Where's Ginny?" she asked, innocently enough.

Meggie wasn't sure if she could handle more than six of these characters. It just meant she had to send that many back. Yet, she wanted Harry to be happy with Ron's sister ever since they had broken up. Hopefully she could find a proper passage but for now, her tongue was tired.

"Later," Meggie said, closing the book. "In the meanwhile, think of parts with Ginny in it. I mean, what you remember. I have to figure out when we're leaving."

Elinor's rising voice escaped from the house, followed by a door slamming. Dustfinger trailed behind the angry woman with Gwin resting on his shoulder.

"We're taking the car," Elinor said, defeated.

"How are you going to fit nine people in a car?" challenged Meggie.

Hermione spoke before an argument could ensue. "Why don't we Apparate there?"

Ron vehemently disagreed. "No, I'll splinch myself," he said quickly.

"Don't be such a baby, Ron. You'll do fine. Let's see, Neville you can bring along Luna. Good heavens, Neville, it's not illegal now. Harry can bring Dustfinger, I can bring Elinor, and Ron can bring Meggie," she replied, in what seemed like one breath. Once it was somewhat agreed upon, Dustfinger drew a picture of the destination since Hermione had asked.

"Dobby, can you meet us there?" asked Harry, and the elf nodded.

In a blink of an eye, Dobby had Apparated. Now the rest need to, and Meggie was stuck with Ron. Not that she didn't like him; it was just that she wanted to make it to Capricorn's village in one piece. At the end of Hermione's countdown, Meggie closed her eyes reflexively as Ron held her arm firmly and proceeded with the spell. The feeling of being squeezed through a narrow tube was the very same feeling Meggie felt in the real world. Once the world stopped spinning, she held onto Ron to steady herself. Elinor and Dustfinger didn't fare much better, but they recovered just as quickly.

As Dustfinger's picture had described, the ominous bridge looked scary in the twilight hours. Though Apparition took less than a second, it seemed like Meggie's world had fast forwarded ahead. The rules were not clear - but everyone had made it safely.

Elinor handed Meggie a bag with enough room for two books. "I wouldn't like to see Inkheart fall into the wrong hands," she said, and that was all.

Dustfinger pulled the barrier away from the entrance of the bridge.

"Capricorn doesn't like visitors much as you can tell," said Dustfinger.

"How would you know?" snapped Meggie, following behind Neville and Luna.

"I've had the misfortune to visit him more than once," he replied.

Harry quietly walked alongside Meggie. Ron and Hermione walked beside each other behind them, followed by Elinor and Dustfinger (who had replaced the barrier after they all had passed).

"I wonder where Dobby is," said Luna, dreamily. Harry didn't even hear her, as most of the group had not realized that Dobby had been missing.

"So, Meggie," started Harry, causing her to tear her gaze away from the books in her arms. "If you can bring Dobby back from the dead, could you, ah, bring my parents back?"

Harry's beautiful green eyes were filled with sadness and longing; something pulled her in the two separate answers. Yes, so Harry could truly be happy and see his parents. Yet no, because something else told her to not mess with the dead.