"Luna, do you know about Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem?" Harry asked, moving just in time before the stairs moved. You leaped over a few steps and you landed right next to Harry right on your feet.
"Oh," Luna said dreamily, "I do know about it. I guess you need help with knowing where it is?"
Harry nodded and you pleaded, "Yes, please. Can you help us with that?"
"Sure," she replied walking up the stairs without looking back at you and Harry. You grabbed the railing of the stairs, grime and broken pieces of the wall sticking to your hand. You continued to walk up the stairs, Harry right next to you looking up at the empty portraits where the people in them have evacuated. You wondered how they would be affected by this since they aren't real living people but you decided you would've done the same if you were one of them.
"I believe Helena Ravenclaw is still in the tower," Luna resulted, looking up at the tower. Her hair was in a loose ponytail, above her blue sweater that was dirty all over. She had some dirt on her face but by the way she held her wand, you knew she was helping the others in the battle. She waited on the stairs, making you and Harry walk up before you realized she wasn't following you anymore.
"Luna?" You asked, turning your head to look at her. She was at least two flights of stairs below the both of you. Harry stopped next to you.
She made a humming sound and looked up at you in question.
"Are you not going to come with us?" Harry asked, his throat tightening as he closed his mouth that turned to a flat line.
"Oh, I can't Harry," Luna replied, her smile returning on her pale face, "I'm going to go with Neville and help him with the battle. I believed he wanted to tell me something, but he was stuttering a lot, so I couldn't comprehend. Have fun." She left, her face turning a slight shade of pink as she was consumed by the dark and gloom in the castle.
You smiled and commented, "I never thought Luna and Neville would you know, have something for each other."
"Really?" He asked, interested in why you thought so.
"Yeah, I always thought that Luna would like someone else," you replied, chuckling softly.
Harry shrugged and said, "Well, love is very unpredictable..." He stole a glance at you and the both of you turned away rapidly. Warmth spreading through the both of you rapidly. "Er, um, we should probably go over there now."
"Good idea," you replied, the both of you clearing your throat. You grinned as you stepped up the stairs, your mind already knowing what was settling between the both of you.
"We're here," Harry announced, looking up at the tower that was destroyed, "I guess we don't need to answer a riddle to get in."
"Thank goodness," you replied, relieved. "We would've stayed all day here trying to answer it."
"Speak for yourself," Harry said, a slight grin at your surprised mocking face.
"Are you serious right now Harry," you grinned, ready to say something Harry dreaded. He was prepared as he whispered, "Oh no."
"Oh yes," you replied, laughing. "Says the one who couldn't grab a Hogwarts letter from the floor instead of trying to catch one in the air!"
He chuckled and said, "I know, I was eleven, y/n, give me a break."
"Or," you continued, holding your stomach because you were laughing so much. "When Seamus was doing that one spell in first year... He literally said 'turn this water into rum' and you asked what he was trying to do with that glass of water."
Harry started to chuckle a little embarrassed but enjoying how you were laughing so much. "Okay, that's enough bullying you for today," you said, wiping some of the tears that escaped.
"I'm starting to believe that is one of your hobbies," Harry stated, walking over to the tower.
"I guess so," you replied, smiling because you knew he liked to be teased, just he didn't want to admit it. "I might pursue that after I graduate from Hogwarts, what do you think?"
"You want to graduate? But, we didn't go to our seventh year," Harry talked, walking with you down the hall, ignoring the shattered windows that let in a chilly air.
"Yeah, I might have to talk to Hermione about it. She would know," you said, smiling. "But, in reality, I might work in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"Really?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
You shrugged. "I don't know really, thought it could be fun. But, I might want to become an Auror."
"Like Mad Eye Moody?"
"Yes, actually. I think it would be really cool."
"I think you will be amazing," Harry replied, in an encouraging tone.
"Thanks," you said, smiling at Harry.
The two of you were in front of what used to be the eagle knocker, now it was just bits of walls and ceiling thrown onto the floor. The whole castle was illuminated by the moonlight that peeked through the dusty windows or the vacant parts where windows used to be. It seemed that the mood of the castle made its way to the moods of the students. Fear, gloom and despair was leaking through the atmosphere, it was horrible. The smiles of the both of you disappeared as fast as they had appeared.
"It looks horrible," you stated, observing with a frown on your face.
"It does," Harry agreed but the both of you didn't waste time to observe. The both of you walked towards the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room. The both of you made your way down the common room, well you would imagine how that would look. What once used to look like a beautiful library on the dark blue walls, looked like an abandoned one. No books were left on the shelves, they were all thrown on the floor, burnt, thrown or ripped. Absolutely obliterated. The room looked like it was haunted, the last breaths of the words on the pages ripped out of the books they were from. You sighed in despair.
"I doubt she will be here," you sighed, not wanting to look at the mess anymore.
"But, Luna said that she will be here," Harry countered, making his way towards the corridor of the common room. "Y/n, she's over here."
A ghost, pale and oddly gray, stood there, holding her hands in a grasp above her torso. She turned slowly at the voice who said that and she hmphed when she saw it was Harry and you. She made a disgusted face, as if she could smell the weeks the both of you spent without showering.
"Um, hi," Harry greeted, looking a little troubled at her expressions. "Are you the Grey Lady? The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"
"I don't respond to that name," she responded, swiftly moving towards the end of the corridor.
"Wait! He's sorry! I'm sorry!" You exclaimed, scared that she wouldn't want to help anymore. "You're Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter." You gulped as she turned slowly towards the both of you again, a little intrigued that you said her name instead of what they usually called her.
"Are you acquainted with Luna?" She asked, her voice soothing a little.
"Yes, we're friends actually," Harry answered, his hand shaking a little as he was starting to get a little frightened at her sudden outbursts.
"She said that you could help us," you said, finishing Harry's exact thoughts.
She breathed in, she rose up in the air a little more, her face a blank stare. "You seek my mother's diadem," she commented, a chill spread through the both of you.
"Yes," you said, after a moment's pause.
She looked at you finally, as if you just appeared in the room next to Harry. Her piercing eyes met yours and you felt your heart go to your throat.
"Luna is kind, unlike so many others," she spoke with her voice raising, "But she is wrong, I won't help you." She flew towards the both of you and she went in between of Harry's chest. You watched as how he turned a sickly pale gray and it went away as quickly as it had happened. You grabbed his hand and the both of you turned to look at her fly closer to the open window.
"Wait, please!" Harry exclaimed, running with you towards the end of the tower. She halted and you were able to see through her the sky full of spells. The stars were shining on the midnight sky, but the spells bouncing on it made the stars look like little diamonds. You stared down at the castle grounds, a sea of black cloaks were right in front of the castle and you were worried as it was almost midnight.
"I want to destroy it," Harry continued, placing his hands on the end of the vacant window.
She halted, her shoulders tensing and her gray color turned a little darker. She was looking away, fixing her gaze, you could see, on the black cloaks you saw earlier. You squinted your eyes to look and as if you could see them right next to you, they raised their wands and pointed at the sky. You gasped softly and Harry looked at you. You pointed at them, knowing that Helena's back was turned towards you. Harry saw it and beads of sweat fell off his forehead. She started to fly away, and the both of you ran towards where she was going, momentarily stopping to find out she continued to escape.
A loud sound. You turned to look up at the sky, that's where it seemed to be coming from. It looked like the sky was a glass dome, the spells that were casted from the dark wizards, struck onto the glass. The sky had cracks, as if it was shattering and soon a loud BOOM blasted through the castle. They broke the protective barrier.
"That's what you want to do Helena," Harry urged, trying to grab her attention, "You want to destroy it."
"Another sought to destroy it many years ago," she said, floating farther away from the both of you, not breaking her gaze from Harry. She had turned to face him after the Dark Wizards broke into Hogwarts. "A strange boy with a strange name."
"That's Tom Riddle," you commented, your voice sure of it.
"But he lied," she said, ignoring you.
"He's lied to many people," Harry replied.
She seemed outrage at his comment, she zoomed her way towards Harry, her eyes glaring at him. "I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE. I KNOW WHO HE IS!" She shouted, this made Harry fall back a couple of steps and you stood, frozen by fear. "HE DEFILED IT WITH DARK MAGIC!" She yelled, looking at you and you could see on her ghostly eyes, filled with anger and resentment. She stood glaring at you, her teeth flaring and her shoulders pushed back. She then turned away rapidly and floated towards the middle of where the outside window joined the corridor down the hall. The both of you walked around the corner, hoping that she gathered herself together.
"I can destroy it," Harry said, with an eerie calm tone as if trying to calm a child. "Once and for all." The moonlight highlighted Helena's black hair and her gray dress perfectly. Accentuating her long arms and feminine shoulders. She turned her head slowly as Harry said with a little urgency, "If you just tell me where he hid it."
Her breathing increased, you saw as how her chest lifted in sudden breaths.
"You do know where he hid it, don't you, Helena? You just have to tell me."
"Please," you said, holding Harry's hand as he started to shake staring at what used to be the Great Hall.
She turned, not surprised at you holding Harry's hand. She circled slowly around the two of you, observing Harry with flooded eyes. "How strange," she spoked while lifting her eyebrows slowly, "You remind me of him a little. It's here, in the castle." She gave the both of you a riddle, something that even you could understand where she meant.
"Thank you," you and Harry said in unison.
She flew away turning into a gray ball of wispy cloud.
You and Harry momentarily stopped moving, just staring and trying to figure out what happened. You turned to look at Harry, his face droopy from exhaustion and fear. "I think she's wrong," you told him.
"What?" He asked, turning to look at you worriedly.
"I'm not saying she is wrong about where the diadem is," you explained hurriedly, watching him ease but his curiosity still written on him. "I think she's wrong when she says you are like him."
"What makes you think that? I'm no less than he was," he said, his eyes dropping down to the floor.
"I'm not saying you don't have the ability to be like him, but there's something he can never have that distinguishes the both of you. You are surrounded by people that care about you and you have the ability to do the same. That's what makes you so different, Harry. You are absorbed by love and you do the same for others. Don't ever think you are like him because you are absolutely not," you explained, squeezing his warm hand on yours.
He smiled and stared into your eyes. "You always know just what to say, don't you?" He orated, chuckling softly.
"I try, Harry,-sigh- I try," you replied, sharing a soft laugh with him.
After a moment, the both of you knew where to look. "It's the Room of Requirement, isn't it?" You asked, sighing at Harry's silent nod. "Let's go then, hopefully Ron and Hermione found the cup and destroyed it already," you mentioned, Harry's face lighting in hopes they did so already. You both ran down the castle, hand in hand.