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Surely that had to have been a magical tree root. Probably it was from some Indonesian equivalent of a Whomping Willow. Because it was absurd to think that Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the One Who Vanquished the Dark Lord, had somehow completely on his own and without any reason clumsily tripped. What’s worse was that he thought he’d heard a snap while he was falling. Maybe it was just a branch of some sort, but more likely it was his leg.
Shooting pain raced through his leg from foot to thigh. The pain was so blindingly intense that he couldn’t even figure out what part of it was really hurting. Had he broken something or was his ankle just badly twisted? Was it a sprain or a compound fracture? It was anybody’s guess at this point. All Harry was sure of was that it absolutely hurt more than anything he’d felt in a long time. And there he was, out in the middle of the jungle after a six hour walk, utterly alone. He should have agreed to have a guide come with him, really, but no magical ones could be arranged and Harry didn’t want to go on a trek to see the Indonesian magical government without his wand.
His wand. Harry dug it out of his robes and thought about what healing spells might work. He didn’t want to assume it was broken if it wasn’t… but it most probably was. And there was no way he would be able to utter a spell now anyway. The pain was too sharp and real. He’d have to wait for it to subside a little before he could get the words and emotions right. “Ow ow ow ow!” he said, pounding the ground with his fist in frustration. This was going to take forever.
“Here, let me help.”
Before Harry knew what was happening, someone came out of nowhere, swooped down in front of him, and put a hand on his leg. He yelped in pain and his body jerked instinctively, which made him cringe and suck in breath.
“Hold still. I need to determine how bad it is.”
Harry blinked. The voice was just a slight bit deeper then he’d remembered. Still dreamy and breezy, yes, but with something different he couldn’t quite place. Nonetheless, he recognized it at once. And when she shifted to put a hand on his calf, her long, blond hair swayed back further than her cheek so he caught a glimpse of her face. “Luna?”
He must have misheard or not seen properly. It was the pain doing funny, tricky things to his mind, that was all. How in the world could he be halfway across the world to have Luna of all people suddenly appear and come to his rescue? It didn’t make a bit of sense. Unless… unless either she was following him or he was hallucinating. Harry wasn’t really sure which of the two he wanted it to be.
But then she turned her head towards him. A Luna Lovegood six years older than the last time he saw her but nonetheless beautiful. “Hello Harry Potter.” Her large, soft eyes smiled but she did not. “Hold still,” she said again, and he did, despite the fact that he was in excruciating pain and his body told him that writhing about would help.
She rested the tip of her wand on his ankle and said a few words. At once the pain vanished. He sighed with relief and she held her hand out to him. He took it and they helped each other to their feet. “Thanks,” Harry said, as casually as if they were back at Hogwarts and she’d picked up a quill he’d dropped on the floor. Then out came a question in a slightly different tone. “Um, I don’t mean this exactly how it probably sounds but… what in the world are you doing here?”
She smiled at him and blinked. “Fixing your leg up, of course. Why, did you hurt yourself elsewhere when you fell?”
Harry brushed bits of plants and mud off himself. He took stock and found he felt better than he had in a long while. Confused, definitely, but physically better. “I’m fine now,” he said. “But I meant, why are you here in this jungle, in Indonesia?”
Luna Lovegood always told the truth—or, at least, the truth as she saw it. He didn’t exactly expect her to come right out and confess to stalking him, but it certainly wouldn’t have surprised him if she had. However, he answer was less personal. “I’ve been staying in a temporary home not too far from here while I work on my research. Did you know I’ve discovered three new magical species since I got here?”
“You don’t say.”
She began to regale him with the stories of her finds and they started walking. Harry was only vaguely aware of putting one foot in front of the other. It felt as though he’d been walking all day already. Fatigue and repetition could definitely be at fault for the embarrassing trip and fall earlier, though he still preferred to believe the tree root had had it out for him. It took him some time for his brain to catch up to what was going on, let alone with what Luna was trying to say. He broke her off in the middle of an explanation about Neon Diffleudders. “Where are we going exactly?”
“To my home,” she replied sweetly. “You look like you could use a rest and I need to get home to my Xandie.”
“Oh,” Harry said nodding as though he understood. He should have guessed that. And he should have known she’d have someone waiting for her. Just because he had broken things off with Ginny and not been able to hold down a serious relationship for years after didn’t mean others couldn’t go on and find the loves of their lives. Hermione and Ron were the perfect example. Or Neville and Hannah for that matter. Assuming, of course, that this fellow she named was her husband. Maybe he was just a steady, overprotective beau. Or, just as easily, he could have been a child. In fact, it made more sense that way. Slightly crestfallen but allowing his curiosity to motivate him, Harry followed her through some dense portions of the jungle.
Just as he was starting to doubt the existence of everything, he saw a dwelling up ahead. It was sort of a cross between a hut and a treehouse. “It has to be up high to keep the unwanted visitors out,” she explained. “And I don’t just mean beasties. There are a number of tribes in the area, both muggle and non-muggle alike. I don’t want potions ingredients or my notes to fall into the wrong hands. They might hurt themselves.” She said this last bit solemnly, and Harry was first reminded of Luna’s mother and then reminded of Xandie, whoever he was. Luna waved her wand and whispered a password in a soft but sing-songy voice. A rope ladder made of thick vines shot out from the lowest platform supporting the house. It slithered down and stopped when it hit Luna’s outstretched hand.
The climb would have been a long one, but as soon as both Luna and Harry were on the ladder, the vines retracted, quickly pulling them both up to the house.
Nodding in admiration, Harry walked in and took a seat on the couch, where Luna had gestured for him to sit. “I’ll go get a cuppa, shall I?” She vanished through a doorway and Harry heard water running into what sounded like a metal container.
Harry amused himself in the meantime by letting his eyes wander around the rooms. There were sketches of insects, flora, and animals plastering the wooden walls. There were shelves containing almost as many gadgets and knickknacks as books, and there were easily a hundred books in this room alone. He wondered how long she had been living here. It all felt very… Luna-like. He nodded to himself as he finished the look around. Something moved in the corner of the room, drawing his gaze. He narrowed his eyes then, embarrassingly, was startled into jumping in his seat.
The… whatever it was… waddled out from a nest of blankets in the far corner of the room, charging straight at Harry. Harry pulled his legs up onto the couch, hugging them to his chest, and the beast stopped just short of running into the couch. It lifted its head and blinked its eyes at Harry. It looked like a small rhinoceros, only with a number of significant differences. Its thick, tough skin was a lovely lavender color, from the tip of its snout to its thick, stumpy legs. And its horn wasn’t a full horn at all but something half the size it should have been and sort of shriveled. Harry stared in amazement. He had a feeling he knew what this thing was though he hadn’t thought it possible.
Luna came into the room just then with the tea and giggled at Harry’s scrunched position. “I see you’ve met Xandie.” She handed Harry a mug and reached down to pat the creature’s head. Harry found that he was strangely relieved to find out that this was Xandie, not the husband or child he’d been imagining. “Go on, Harry, give him your hand. He needs to know you’re friendly.”
“That I’m friendly?” Harry repeated skeptically. But he lowered his free hand all the same. The purple creature sniffed it. Then it snorted and snuffled and nuzzled its nose into his hand until the tickles were too much for Harry. He took his hand away and watched as it waddled over to Luna, who had settled into a rocking chair. It wiggled its hindquarters, snorted again, and flopped down onto her feet. Harry wanted to ask… but wasn’t sure he wanted the answer. “Um, Luna. Is that… a Crumpled-Horned Snorkack?”
Luna laughed. “Of course not, silly!” A moment passed where Harry felt sort of relieved and sort of confused. Then she followed-up with, “This is a Wrinkled-Horned Snorkack. Didn’t you see its straight tail?”
“Right,” Harry nodded. “Um, how could I have missed that?”
She shrugged as if she had no idea how anyone could confuse the two species. “He found me in Siberia a few years ago. I tried to lose him a half dozen times but he kept finding me. I returned to England to find out that he had stowed away in my trunk and eaten all the plant samples I’d brought back for Neville.”
This was nice. It was really nice, actually. Casual conversation, catching up with an old friend. He had a fired a barrage of questions at her how’s your father? What are you studying now? Have you written more books? Have you stayed in touch with anyone else?
After answering every question, she set her tea down on the floor and let Xandie slurp the remainder up. “Now, I have a question for you, Harry Potter.”
Harry’s eyes widened just a bit. “All right.”
“It’s an important question,” she said. “One I would like an honest answer to.”
Harry’s heart fluttered a little. He nodded. His voice was slightly shaky as he repeated, “All right.”
She leaned forward and looked unblinkingly into his eyes. “Why have you been stalking me for the past year and a half?”
Taken aback, Harry spilled his tea. Harry apologized and took out his wand. But Xandie trudged over and helped clean up in his snorting, slurping kind of way. Harry cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. This was strange. “Luna? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” In fact, it was even stranger than strange considering he’d wondered briefly if maybe she had been following him. But he knew for sure it wasn’t the other way around.
She leaned back in the chair, letting it rock with a gentle creaking sound. “I was in Malaysia a year and a half ago, and so were you apparently. Then I went to Bermuda and found out a week later that you were going to be visiting the government there. The same goes for New Deli, South Africa, Sydney, two different cities in Mexico—every time my research took me somewhere, I heard that you’d be there or that you were scheduled to arrive. Once or twice would have been a funny coincidence, Harry. But twenty-seven coincidences?”
Harry was dumbstruck.
“I tried to contact you a few times, but for some reason I never got through the security measures. One official in the Ukraine actually thought I was crazy. Imagine that!”
Harry’s mouth felt dry. “This makes no sense,” he croaked. “I didn’t even know you were in any of those places. If I’d known, I would have welcomed a visit from you.”
Concerned, Luna cocked her head. “That’s a nice thing for you to say.”
“What can I say? I’m a nice guy.”
“A nice guy who’s stalking me.”
“Luna!” Harry laughed exasperatedly. “I had no clue. And I certainly wouldn’t have stalked you whether I’d known or not.” He rubbed his hand across his forehead. This was starting to make his head hurt, and not in a scar-warning kind of way. Shacklebolt had sent him to half of those places as a diplomatic envoy. But one had been Hermione’s idea. Another had just been a vacation. One had been a recon mission. And another had just been a hardly-scheduled stop as he went from portkey to portkey. There was no way anyone could have set this up. It had to be a coincidence. But how could it be?
And then it hit him. Harry leaned over and planted his face in a couch cushion with a groan. “I’m going to kill Percy Weasley when I get back to London!”
“Percy?” Luna asked. “Ronald’s brother?”
“He’s my assistant at the Ministry. He’s in charge of my schedule and has been a bit more persuasive than usual over the past year. Plus he has access to all magical transportation records. If he’s not to blame, I’ll…”He tried to think of the most absurd, impossible thing ever. As he looked at Luna, he blurted out, “I’ll eat a nargle.”
“Don’t do that,” Luna said seriously. “I think their scales have toxic properties.”
Harry stared at her for a moment, incredulous and uncertain.
Then he watched a slow smile spread across her face. “So we were being set up?”
“Looks that way.”
“Why would he do that? Aren’t you still dating his sister?”
Harry shook his head. “Ginny and I… went our separate ways. That was about a year and a half ago, come to think of it.”
“It all makes sense then,” said Luna.
“In a really weird sort of way,” Harry replied, shrugging.
Luna stood up and walked over. “Sometimes that’s the best sort of way.” With her blond hair loose and swaying, she bent over and kissed him.
There was nothing as spectacular and magical as a first kiss. The subtle nuances of lips against lips were exciting, unpredictable, and brand new. Tingles raced through him, simultaneously relaxing him and making his heart race. He reached up and cupped his hand against her soft cheek. She tilted her head, parted her lips slightly, and deepened the kiss. If this was the sort of thing a year and a half of stalking brought, Harry was ready to follow Luna Lovegood anywhere.
He slid an arm around her and pulled her down, onto the couch with him. She folded her curves against his sharp angles. He held her close and she snuggled into him. And they only broke the kiss when Luna began to laugh. She pulled back slightly, smiling at him. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait to kill Percy Weasley, because I’m going to give him a big thank you first when I get back to London.”
“When we get back to London,” he corrected her. He felt the snorkack snuffling at his ankle, where it hung over the side of the couch, and he wondered briefly what he was getting into. But then she kissed him again and that magical, memorable first kiss felt like nothing compared to this one.