Into Your Gravity ( Luna Lovegood & Tom Riddle )

Chapter twenty-four: Secret Keeper

Luna stared at him. "Are you congratulating me for slapping Harry?"

"Er, yeah," Seamus replied awkwardly. "It was sort of funny."

"Oh?" Luna's eyebrows went up, and she showed signs of genuine interest.

"Harry's just a boy, Seamus, that's all," Hermione interrupted suddenly. "Boys do stupid things." She cast a withering look at Ron.

"Huh." Seamus appeared to know there was more to it than that, but chose not to oppose Hermione and instead wandered off with Dean.

The night wore on with no sign of Harry returning. The common room slowly emptied again as the other Gryffindors went up to their dormitories. Neville's head had long since dropped onto his shoulder and he had begun to snore. Sometime after eleven, Ron and Ginny's eyes began to droop as well, and no matter how hard they tried to stay awake, they too fell asleep. Ron rested his head in Hermione's lap, who gently stroked his hair. Luna was struck by the tenderness of the gesture, in contrast to Hermione's usually bustling and crisp personality. Ginny curled up like a cat in the corner of the sofa and drifted off as well. Only Hermione and Luna remained awake, though one of them would occasionally yawn in the silence.

Finally, well after midnight, Harry reentered the common room flanked by Professors McGonagall and Snape. Hermione prodded Ron to wake him up, and Luna gently shook Ginny and Neville awake. Ron sat up in a hurry, saying quickly, "I didn't! I don't even know that spell!"

"Calm down, Mr. Weasley. We all know your less than impressive aptitude for spells," Snape said icily.

McGonagall intervened before Ron could retort. "After several tests by Healers and Aurors, and I believe an Unspeakable was there as well, Mr. Potter has been deemed safe, at least for the time being. As far as we can judge, this link between He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Harry only allows the Dark Lord to see what Harry is seeing at any given time. He cannot, as of yet, control Mr. Potter."

A collective sigh of relief was issued about the room. "Oh, Harry," Hermione breathed, clearly relieved.

"However, this sort of connection between wizards is unprecedented so we must keep a close eye on Harry. If any of you notice any change in his behavior, any at all, report it to either Professor Snape or myself immediately. Do not ask Harry about it. If he is indeed being controlled, he won't be honest," McGonagall said.

Harry looked extremely disgruntled at the suggestion that he couldn't take care of his own mind.

"But now every time Harry's tired or stressed or in any other way acting a little off we'll have to report it?" Neville said questioningly.

"Indeed, Longbottom, an astute observation for once. This was my qualm with the plan as well. I suggested the Aurors just lock the boy up rather than force me to get to the bottom of his adolescent problems once a week," Professor Snape replied.

"Severus, you know that could never work," McGonagall admonished. "We need him."

"So it seems is the general consensus among the Order," Snape mused quietly, looking equally as annoyed as Harry did.

McGonagall's lips formed a dangerously thin line before turning back to the students. "Please follow those instructions. Do not feel silly about coming to us. Harry may not be entirely pleased with the arrangement, but he does understand the necessity."