Secrets To Keep

3rd Year

"Did she just compare you to a dog?!"

"Just wait it gets worse." Harry hissed.

" 'If there's something wrong with the..." he frowned.

"What? Why'd you stop?" Asked Ron.

Harry shook his head.  "I can't call my Mum that. I'd rather die than call her that."

"It's not you, saying it." Arthur soothed.

Harry nodded. He swallowed and repeated, " 'If there's something wrong with the...b-bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup.' "

Harry was glaring so fiercely, they thought he might explode. He excused himself for a moment. He left and they saw him going to a target, making his own, looking like Marge, and repeatedly punching and kicking it.

"I-I don't know what to say." Fleur said quietly.

"How is that woman alive? I mean the one out there, well it has to have seen better days." Charlie said.

Harry came back in, went to the sink, and washed his hands free of blood. Their eyes widened when they saw the now red sink.

"Sorry about that. Needed to let that out."  He sighed. Quickly casting a smell on his hands, presumably a healing one, he sat down again.

After several minutes of silence, he spoke again. "Why can't I know the real Lily and James Potter? Everyone says they were brave, and all that, which they were, but that's all they say. Sirius and Remus promised I could see a few memories, but they're gone, I don't have any links to my family. They're all gone! Arghhh!" He ranted, until he laid his head down. Hermione went over to him and started rubbing his back, ignoring his flinch. After a few seconds, George asked, "Want me to Floo Luna, have her come over?"
  Harry nodded.

About an 10 minutes later, Luna came in. She went straight to Harry and started whispering stuff to him, giving him light hugs, and finally just putting her head next to his, rubbing his hair.

He sat up eventually, and continued his story, his hand intertwined with Luna's. Though everybody saw, nobody commented.

"So, her wine glass broke, she blamed it on her tight grip, and I left for my room. I was pretty scared the Ministry was gonna get me in trouble, because last time it wasn't my fault, and now I was doing accidental magic.

Days later, she continued her earlier rant  about my family, saying it was bad blood, Mum was a bad egg, my Dad was a wastrel and I was the result."

"Well," Luna said softly. "then we should start breeding wastrels and eggs much more often."

Harry smiled.

"Err-Right. Now she was really making me mad.  She asked what Dad did, Vernon said nothing, she said she knew, he was a no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger. At this point I disagreed. Vernon yelled very loudly, 'MORE BRANDY!' sending me to my room. Marge wouldn't let me leave. She continued insulting my dad, saying it was his fault about the car crash. I said they didn't die in a car crash. She argued back, and started inflating like a balloon."

Mostly everyone started laughing.
  "Then I ran away, went on the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley. Found out about Sirius, Fudge caught up to me, I stayed in the Leaky Cauldron, I was taken to Kings Cross, I sat in the same compartment as Remus, sleeping like a baby, by the way."

They all chuckled.

"A Dementor came in, and I heard my Mum, dying."

They gave him sympathetic looks, but he quickly continued.

"Remus helped us all out, then classes as normally, I had lessons with Remus to make a Patronus, and I finally did it, months later. Hermione, can you explain the rest, I don't really know how to. It was complicated."

Hermione nodded and took over. When she was finished, they directed their attention to Harry, who had fallen asleep in a chair, with Luna on his lap. He was holding his wand.

"It's a habit," Luna said, indicating to the wand. "If he doesn't go to sleep holding it, he'll whip it out in the middle of his nightmare. He's not having one...yet. He's not going to want to talk about his fourth year today. You should all relax. It's hard for him to talk about, even after all the other trauma. Don't push it." She continued stroking his hair.

Bill came over after everyone else had left to their own devices.

"Luna?" He asked quietly.

She looked up, "Yes, that is my name."

He chuckled.
"Uh, I don't have a problem with it, but are you and Harry, y'know..."

"Dating? No. I don't think he likes me. I don't think he thinks he deserves love. He does, of course." She sighed, reaching up to rub Harry's arm, revealing a tattoo, very small, on her left wrist.

"Luna, what does your wrist say?"

"Oh. It says 'The Boy Who Loved' "
She said simply.

"But, isn't Harry the Boy Who Lived?"

"Not to me. He never lived, not really. He didn't live in a way many others do. See, he lived, for his love. He lived to make his parents proud. He lived to be the friend that holds the Trio together. He lived to have a family with Sirius. He lived to help Professor Lupin through his grief when Sirius died, although no one helped him grieve. He lived to make everyone else have a better life, filled with what he never could keep. Love. Why did he do those things? Love. He sacrificed himself to You-Know-Who.  He could have joined his parents, Sirius, everyone he loved who had died. But he knew You-Know-Who wouldn't be vanquished without him. He made another sacrifice, being with his true family, for everyone else's happiness. He was constantly sacrificing everything he wanted for others. Never for himself. Harry is a wonderful man. I don't think many people realize that, if it weren't for Harry, why, we'd all be dead. Not just because he fought You-Know-Who either. He sacrificed, and loved. But never lived. I will never consider him anything other than Harry, but he is the Boy Who Loved."

Bill was astounded and just nodded.

"Damn." He thought. "That girl's gonna be amazing for Harry."