Night falls and the boys sit in the tent alone, catching up.
"How long do you reckon she'll stay mad at me?" Ron asks.
Harry stares out the tent entrance at the two girls that they love, "Well, just keep talking about that little ball of light touching your heart and she'll come around," he chuckles.
Ron chuckles with him, "It was true. Every word. This is gonna sound crazy, but I think that's why Dumbledore left it to me, the Deluminator. I think he knew that somehow I'd need it to find my way back, and she'd lead me."
Harry nods slightly as his thoughts drift back to Sam. Ron quickly picks up on it.
"She'll come around, mate. If there's one thing I know about Sam, it's that when she loves someone, it never fades and it never dies. She's been lost for awhile now."
Harry nods, "We both are. I feel lost without her, like half of me is lost with her."
Ron looks outside the tent, "You're lost without each other. You're close to each other, but you don't see each other anymore."
Harry nods and they watch as Sam and Hermione enter the tent. They both stand in front of Harry and Ron who promptly stand up.
"We need to talk," Hermione states.
Ron nods, "Yeah, alright."
Hermione rolls her eyes slightly, "I want to go see Xenophilius Lovegood."
"Sorry?" Harry asks incredulously.
Sam opens up a book, "See this?" She holds it out to Harry, "It's a letter Dumbledore wrote to Grindelwald. Look at the signature."
Harry looks at the way Dumbledore had signed it and Hermione states, "It's the mark again. It keeps popping up. In Beedle the Bard, in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow."
"It was there too," Harry points out.
"Where?" Sam inquires.
"Outside Gregorovitch's Wand Shop."
"But what does it mean?" Ron questions.
Hermione never looks away from Harry, "Look, you've got no idea where the next Horcrux is, and neither do we," she nods towards Sam, "but this, this means something. I'm sure of it."
"Yeah. Hermione's right," Ron notes as he steps forward, "We ought to see Lovegood. Let's vote on it. Those in favor?"
Ron slowly raises his hand as the others look at him with amused expressions at his desperation. Hermione raises her brow slightly and rolls her eyes in amusement before preparing to depart. Sam turns to pack up their things, but Ron steps in front of her.
"Are you still angry with me?"
Sam looks towards her feet, "I'm happier you came back. Right now, that's what matters."
Ron looks down and nods slowly, as he brings his head back up, he notices Harry packing up his own things across the tent, "You know, he's doing the best that he can."
Sam looks over her shoulder and momentarily locks eyes with Harry before turning back, "I never said he wasn't."
Sam looks away and begins packing up the rest of her things and Ron helps, "I've known you for almost my entire life, Sam, and I know when something is seriously wrong."
She bites the inside of her cheek, "These past few weeks without you have been painful, for all of us. I can always talk to Hermione, but we've all lost so much. I've changed, Ron, and not for the better. We've all had to do what's necessary to survive, but I just don't feel like the same person anymore. Relationships fall apart in less stressful times..."
Ron looks at her in utter confusion, "If you think that something as strong as what you and Harry have can just fall apart, you're not using your head."
"I don't feel anything, Ron," Sam whispers, mostly to herself, "I'm numb to everything and everyone around me."
Ron gazes at her from the side, concern pooling in his eyes, "I don't think you are..."
She turns to face him, but he continues, "You feel more than anyone I've ever met. I don't think you're numb, I think you feel everything. It's just too much, you can pin anything down."
She blinks several times, trying to process his words. He gives her a small smile, "Come on, we've got to get going."
She nods and finishes packing everything up. They Apparate to the Lovegood's home. They stand in front of the house and notice how much it resembles Luna's personality. Sam knocks on the front door and takes a step back as the door opens to reveal Xenophilius Lovegood.
He looks between all of them, "What is it? Who are you? What do you want?"
Harry steps forward, "Hello, Mr. Lovegood. I'm Harry Potter. We met a few months ago. Could we come in?"
The man nods slowly and allows them to enter. He leads them upstairs to a small sitting area. Sam and Hermione sit together on the small couch, while Harry and Ron sit on some adjacent chairs. Mr. Lovegood brings them all a cup of tea, and they sit in momentary silence. Sam's mind wanders back to all the good memories the four of them have shared, her own form of escapism.
"Where is Luna?" Hermione finally speaks up.
"Luna?" Lovegood remarks, "She'll be along."
At his words, Sam looks up. She feels it in the air, as if she's tapped into a new form of power. Feeling everything so deeply gives her insight to the emotions of others. He's lying. Luna isn't here. She tilts her head and studies him, but he quickly looks away. Sam turns subtly towards Hermione and she shakes her head to indicate something wrong.
"So how can I help you, Mr. Potter?"
"Well, actually, it was about something you were wearing around your neck at the wedding. A symbol," he responds.
Mr. Lovegood, pulls a necklace from his cloak and holds it up, "You mean this?"
Sam looks at the necklace and recognizes that it's an exact replica of what was written in the book.
"Yes, that exactly," Harry notes, "What we wondered is, what is it?"
"What is it?" He asks incredulously, "Well, it's the sign of the Deathly Hallows, of course."
"The what?" Sam, Ron, Harry and Hermione all ask in unison.
"The Deathly Hallows," he repeats, "I assume you're all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers.'"
"Yes," Sam, Ron and Hermione answer, but Harry shakes his head, "No."
Hermione begins to pull a book out of her bag, "I have it in here."
She opens the book and begins to read it aloud, "There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too treacherous to pass. But being learned in the magical arts, the three brothers simply waved their wands and made a bridge. Before they could cross, however, they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. It was Death, and he felt cheated. Cheated because travelers would normally drown in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him. The oldest asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. So Death fashioned him one from an elder tree that stood nearby. The second brother decided he wanted to humiliate Death even further and asked for the power to recall loved ones from the grave. So Death plucked a stone from the river and offered it to him. Finally, Death turned to the third brother. A humble man, he asked for something that would allow him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And so it was that Death reluctantly handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility."
Sam looks at Harry for a moment as Hermione continues, "The first brother traveled to a distant village, where, with the Elder Wand in hand, he killed a wizard with whom he had once quarreled. Drunk with the power that the Elder Wand had given him, he bragged of his invincibility. But that night, another wizard stole the wand and slit the brother's throat for good measure. And so Death took the first brother for his own. The second brother journeyed to his home, where he took the stone and turned it thrice in hand. To his delight, the girl he'd once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared before him. Yet, soon she turned sad and cold for she did not belong in the mortal world. Driven mad with hopeless longing, the second brother killed himself so as to join her. And so Death took the second brother."
"As for the third brother," Hermione adds, "Death searched for many years but was never able to find him. Only when he attained a great age did the youngest brother shed the Cloak of Invisibility and give it to his son. He then greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly, departing this life as equals."
Hermione closes the book and Xenophilius nods, "So there you are. Those are the Deathly Hallows."
"I'm sorry, sir. I still don't quite understand," Harry points out.
Lovegood mumbles to himself before scrambling around for paper and quill. He sits down in front of them and begins to draw a single line, "The Elder Wand. The most powerful wand ever made," he then draws a small circle at the base of the line, "The Resurrection Stone," and finally, a triangle that encompasses it all, "The Cloak of Invisibility."
He stands once more, "Together, they make the Deathly Hallows. Together, they make one master of Death."
Lovegood begins to rummage around the room, looking for seemingly nothing, suddenly announces, "But your tea's gone cold. I'll be right back."
He rushes down the stairs and Ron states, "Let's get out of here. I'm not drinking anymore of that stuff, hot or cold."
Sam nods and they all head downstairs to say their goodbyes.
"Thank you, sir," Hermione says, startling him, "We really should be going."
Mr. Lovegood drops what he's holding and shouts, "No, you can't!"
He runs over to the door and slams it closed. Harry, out of instinct, grabs Sam's hand.
"Sir?" He inquires.
The man hesitates before whispering, "You're my only hope. They were angry, you see, about what I'd been writing. So they took her. They took my Luna."
Sam's eyes widen in understanding and fear as he steps closer to her and Harry. He lifts up Harry's hair to show the scar of his forehead and then looks into Sam's eyes, "But it's really you they want."
Harry squeezes Sam's hand in reassurance as he asks him, "Who took her, sir?"
Mr. Lovegood struggles with his thoughts, "Voldemort."
As the name leaves his lips, black smoke begins to bombard the house. The windows shatter and Harry tackles Sam to the ground. She grabs his hand and then Hermione and Ron's before Apparating back to the forest.