"Harry, what are you thinking about?"

It was Moaning Myrtle. Myrtle had long ago left the U-bend in one of the toilets in the girl's bathroom, but nobody had really noticed until recently, when the newest Hogwarts class had discovered this 'new bathroom' that nobody ever used. With the Basilisk gone, and the doorway to the Chamber of Secrets sealed, it was just like any other girl's bathroom. Only a few, like Hermione, remembered seeing Moaning Myrtle there. Many even began to believe she didn't even exist.

"Oh, hi Myrtle," Harry replied, nonchalantly. Myrtle's help during the Triwizard Tournament had been invaluable, but lately, Harry was almost sorry to see her. Still, it was not in Harry's nature to be rude, especially because he truly felt sorry for Myrtle. Like his parents, and even Sirius, Myrtle had been killed because of Voldemort.

"You seem awfully quiet today, Harry."

"Yeah, well, I've had a lot on my mind. Sirius, 'Advanced Potions' with Snape, more Occlumency lessons, and, well, lots of things."

They were alone in the Gryffindor Common Room. No one else was there, what with Quidditch practice, and Hermione's extra-heavy work load this term. Harry thought that maybe Myrtle would stay with the Ravenclaws, since she was a Ravenclaw, but she preferred to stay in the Gryffindor tower. She preferred staying with Harry. After all, Harry had avenged her, by killing the Basilisk, and by defeating Voldemort, and uncovering the Chamber of Secrets. And Myrtle had helped Harry with the Triwizard Tournament. Of course she wanted to be with Harry.

But Harry didn't really want Myrtle to be with him.

Oh, sure, there were times when Myrtle could be helpful. She told Harry about Snape's surprise exam last week. And then she tried to kiss him on the cheek, but it didn't work out very well. Harry felt a cold chill, and Myrtle had almost passed through him. That was an experience that Harry almost regretted, but it was strangely comforting, having Myrtle care so much about him.

Harry's 6th year had begun well. Even with the war and all, things were beginning to look much brighter from Harry's perspective. Luna had written him several times during the summer, though Harry only replied once, and his time at The Burrow had been happy, relaxing, and memorable. Ron and Hermione got over their differences about Viktor, particularly when Viktor came to visit, bringing Fleur Delacour with him. It was a very happy reunion for them all. Fleur had entered the Madame LeFevre's School of Magical Remedies, to train as a Healer, and after her first year, all she could think about was vacationing abroad. Viktor had been in Paris for a Quidditch match, and they met up with one another and planned on a visit to England. And Ron and Hermione were both delighted to see them. It was happy times, good memories, and the rivalries of the past were over.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron had also visited Luna Lovegood, and met Luna's father. Hermione's opinion of 'The Quibbler' notwithstanding, she found Mr. Lovegood to be an intelligent, inquisitive, and generally honest person. But of course, his persistence on the importance of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the face of the war against the Death Eaters kept Hermione sitting on needles the entire time.

Luna had (in many ways) taken over the responsibilities of the home, after her mother died. But Mr. Lovegood was no housekeeper, and domestic skills were hard to pick up at such a young age, and Luna's taste in decorating (and general lack of cooking and cleaning skills) kept the mansion in a perpetual state of 'neo-post-hurricane' with a touch of 'psychadelic color mismatch' (though Hermione certainly appreciated that no house-elves were being exploited). And Luna's tendency to place Harry in her close proximity was nearly embarassing for everyone, except Luna's father, who surprisingly didn't seem to notice.

Luna kept her attention entirely on Harry while he was there. Sure, she tried not to show it, but both Ron and Hermione noticed immediately. Harry didn't, of course. He was still focusing on the death of Sirius, and had no room for anyone else in his life at the moment. But Luna was attracted to this sort of thing. Her tastes were always a bit peculiar. And she had a natural liking for anything unusual, and for people who wanted to be alone.

And so the friendship between Luna and Harry slowly grew, without either one really noticing, as Luna became stranger than usual, yet more comfortable, in Harry's presence, and Harry began to be more of a recluse, more and more likely to be by himself at the oddest of times. Luna would frequently look for him, and more often than not she would find him. And nobody else really knew what happened when she did find him, but it was rumored that they were romantically involved. And Harry never confirmed it, though he didn't deny it, either.

Harry treasured the birthday present that Luna had given him that summer. It was the most bizarre-looking example of artwork anyone had ever seen. Luna had seen it during her trip with her father looking for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, and had insisted on getting it for Harry's birthday. Nobody could figure out what it was, but it kept vigil at Harry's bedside, occasionally doubling as a rack for Harry's wizard cloak. It was much too large to fit anywhere else, anyway. Nobody was really sure what it was, but Dean had commented that it looked like a phallus. Neville refused to look at it at all, after becoming a bit red faced the first time.

Dinner that evening was somewhat uneventful, except when Luna made her daily appearance at the Gryffindor table. She always came by to talk to everyone there, saying that she had little in common with the other Ravenclaws, but of course her attention was fixed on Harry. And of course, Harry's attention was fixed on nothing at all.

And Myrtle saw this happen, every day, from the rafters, carefully not being noticed by anyone.

One evening Harry was awakened by a cold sweat, from a very unusual dream. He had been falling, backwards, down a long shaft, which seemed to take forever, and the light from the opening above him was slowly, slowly, fading away. Myrtle was standing there staring at him, while he had been asleep. Harry put on his glasses, saw it was Myrtle. "Myrtle, have you been staring at me the whole time?"

"Harry... are you mad at me?"

"Well, I don't know, maybe a little. NO, Myrtle, don't start crying. Please, I don't want you to be upset."

Myrtle was close to tears again, something that always happened too easily. It was worse when she was in the girl's bathroom, because whenever she cried about Harry, the toilets would erupt, along with their most recent contents. Myrtle's anger was explosive, to say the least, and she seemed to want the entire world to know about it, like a child having a tantrum.

"You just don't want to clean up the mess again," griped Myrtle.

"No, really, that's not it. Honest," Harry only lied slightly. He did care about Myrtle. But the messes her anger created smelled of the sewer she used to live in. So in a way, Myrtle had already figured Harry out.

"Myrtle, if you want, you can stay here while I sleep. I don't mind, really I don't." Some things were less unpleasant than others, Harry reminded himself.

"Really Harry? Thank you!" Myrtle wanted to kiss him again, but then Harry closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Myrtle stayed there the entire night, until the others began stirring from their sleep. Then she left, to wherever it was she stayed hidden in the Gryffindor tower. Harry got up, put his glasses on, looked around, and (not seeing Myrtle) put his clothes on and went down into the Common Room.

Everyone was laughing as Harry walked downstairs. Harry's eyes and glasses were still fuzzy, so he took his glasses off, cleaned them well with his wizard robe, and put them back on. And then he wanted to do it again, just to make sure that what he saw was really there.

A large number of items had been re-arranged in the room, and up near the ceiling, a large heart had been painted with what could only be guessed, but it had a dark unpleasant color to it. Inside the heart, MM + HP. Harry went bright red, and those who saw couldn't stop laughing for several minutes.

Harry knew that MM didn't standing for 'Moaning Myrtle', because Harry had heard that Myrtle got her nickname before she had died. It was a play on her real name, which apparently started with 'M', but Myrtle never told anyone what it was. And Harry hadn't wanted to look over any of the class rosters from the time when Tom Riddle was there. But the coincidence of 'MM' and 'HP', combined with the somewhat frequent mention of the sightings of Myrtle in connection with Harry, just left everyone rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter, for the obvious reasons.

And in Snape's Advanced Potions class, it couldn't have been worse. "Hey, Potty, you find any girlfriends in the bathroom lately? Do they write you love notes in 'poo'?" The other Slytherins in the class gave Harry the Bronx Cheer, but of course Crabbe and Goyle weren't there. Their scores had been too low on the O.W.L.s.

Harry couldn't stand it any more. "Cut it, Malfoy. Just because you're father's a total arse, doesn't mean you have to act like you came out of it." Then Snape walked into the room, catching the latter portion of Harry's retort to Malfoy. "MISTER POTTER! I will have none of this loathsome talk in my class." Then, with an unusually high level of malice, Snape added "And anyway, you're not one to speak about other people's parentage." It was all Harry could do to avoid doing something rash. So instead, he spent the remainder of the class rehearsing in his mind the various curses he would apply to Malfoy, as soon as he had a chance.

Myrtle beat him to it. When Malfoy was on the loo, it blew up its contents beneath him.

Harry spent his afternoons studying in the library. Studying to be an Auror was hard work, and his classes were worse than he could have possibly imagined. It was as though his career choice doomed him to a life of constant study, with little or no time for anyone else, and the prophecy about him and Voldemort kept him even more focused on succeeding. "No wonder everyone thinks I'm a recluse," he thought. "I'm always somewhere studying, or thinking about what I've been learning, going over it in my mind." Luna even helped quiz him a couple of times, having discovered Harry's frequent use of the Room of Requirement. Harry gladly accepted the help, but shunned what appeared to be Luna's romantic interests. "I don't have time for this," he thought. "I have too much going on, and the last thing I need is someone else in my life that Voldemort can hurt to get to me." He recalled Ron's father, Sirius, his parents, even Cedric. Voldemort would hurt anyone that was in Harry's life, if he could. Maybe that's why he kept distancing himself from Ron and Hermione, he thought to himself. "No, I just have too much to do, that's all" he concluded, and went back to his studies.

Myrtle knew this. She could read Harry's thoughts on this matter, which were very strong. Voldemort couldn't hurt her, after all, since she was already dead. "I am perfect for Harry," Myrtle thought to herself. "And if Voldemort kills Harry, we'll be together forever." She blissfully thought about herself and Harry, drifting throught he halls at night, going for romantic moonlight walks on the rooftops, dancing to the music at the Deathday Party.

"But I don't want to see Harry die," Myrtle suddenly said to herself, out loud this time. "I love Harry, and Harry is nice to me, when nobody else is." She started crying, and quickly flew to the attic in the Gryffindor tower, which began to smell like a sewer from her frequent crying spells. At least in the tower she cried as quietly as she could. She didn't want to disturb her love, her reason for leaving the U-bend, her one and only Harry. She was becoming somewhat schizophrenic.

"How odd," Harry thought. He didn't know what it was, but it was like someone was watching him again. He looked around carefully, but didn't see Myrtle anywhere. Harry sighed. Myrtle could REALLY be a pain sometimes, worse than Peeves even. Harry had found the perfect place to hide and study, in the Room of Requirement. The desk and study materials that appeared there were ideal for Harry, and he could study for hours without feeling sore, or tired. And he remembered more afterwards. Then, suddenly, Luna walked in, like she often did. Luna was the only one who seemed to be able to get in while Harry was using the Room of Requirement for his studies. "Why can't I just get some time to study, things are bad enough as it is" Harry thought. "Hi Luna," he said, putting his friendliest smile on. He didn't want to offend her, after all.

"Harry, what's with Moaning Myrtle and you anyway?" she asked. "Everyone's talking about something she wrote in the Gryffindor Common Room."

"Myrtle's behaving strangely, that's for sure," replied Harry. "She was watching me when I was asleep last night, and when I woke up, she'd written that message. If she knew how much that sort of thing bothered me, you would think she'd stop. But I can't say anything like that to her, or she'll start crying again and leave pee-water all over the place."

"I've never been haunted like that before," Luna said, matter-of-factly. Then she paused for a bit, and said "Harry, people talk about us, too." At this, Harry turned a bit red. "How so?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer, because he already knew. "They say we're lovers, that we go somewhere to 'make out' which is why we disappear all of the time." Harry didn't know what to think at this point. His reputation was always being tarnished or ridiculed at every possible turn, and he didn't want to appear angry at Luna for saying this, because deep down he really did like her a LOT. The sudden realization that Luna had been stalking him, a bit like Myrtle even, left a panic sensation somewhere near his duodenum, and it wasn't very pleasant.

"Heh, yeah, imagine that..." Harry blundered, not sure of what to say or think any more. He had grown accustomed to talking on eggshells around Myrtle, and now he found himself doing the same thing with Luna. "I hate my life," Harry thought.

Then, suddenly, Luna threw her arms around Harry, knocking some of the books off of the study desk, and somewhat clumsily, like an oversized dog trying to sit in his lap. Harry almost fell over backwards in the chair, but some fast wand-work kept the chair balanced on its back legs for a moment, then on all fours again.

"Luna, I," Harry began, but Luna sort of snuggled up to him and he found he couldn't talk any more. Then he didn't want to talk any more.

And Myrtle was watching, from the rafters. Myrtle was PISSED.

It began to rain in the Room of Requirement. And it smelled FOUL.

"Myrtle, cut it out!" yelled Harry.

"LET GO OF MY HARRY, HE'S MINE!" screamed Myrtle, tears gushing from her eyes like an overflowing loo. Luna clung to Harry even tighter, not caring whatsoever about the smell, nor about Myrtle's somewhat obvious disapproval. This just infuriated Myrtle, who screamed like a child throwing a tantrum, and flew out at a terrifying rate.

Conveniently, the Room of Requirement provided Harry and Luna with a potion to deodorize their clothing, and the room magically cleaned itself, in a manner of fashion. "Here, Harry, let me do yours for you," Luna said. She did a fair job of deodorizing Harry's clothes, after she had done her own. Meanwhile, Harry continued to study as best as he could, amidst the obvious distractions. Then Luna sat down in a chair opposite Harry, quietly thinking.

After a time, Luna asked "Can I help you with anything else, Harry?" Harry looked at Luna, and couldn't help but show how much he truly cared for her and appreciated her at this moment. For the first time Harry saw Luna differently. He no longer saw her as the quiet, unusual, but loyal friend. Nor did he see her as a somewhat regular study partner. Harry now saw her as someone who made him feel uncomfortably warm inside. It was as though Myrtle had accomplished the opposite of what she intended.

Neither of them had noticed until now that there was a comfortable-looking couch at the far end of the room. "Why don't we take a break for a while, and relax a bit?" Luna suggested. Harry thought he could use a break, and a shower too, but the potion had relieved the smell. So a break would be fine. Harry went over to the couch, and sat down, leaving plenty of room for Luna. Luna plopped herself down almost on top of Harry's lap, leaving him very little room for his arms. He had no choice but to put one of them around Luna, or risk getting a cramp. "I can't believe I'm doing this," Harry thought to himself. He remembered Cho being in this very same room, the first time he had risked hugging her, but Cho had been like a river of tears, always thinking about herself... not unlike Myrtle, in a way.

So the two of them spent what seemed like the next few minutes relaxing on the couch, Luna leaning comfortably up against Harry, almost sitting in Harry's lap, Harry with his arm around Luna, not saying anything. Then, Harry wondered what time it was, and a clock appeared on the wall. "TWO FORTY FIVE!" he yelled. Luna jumped up, a bit scared. "And I don't have my invisibility cloak, or the map! We're going to get detention, for sure!" He dared not use a Summoning Charm, for that would have received more attention than sneaking about the halls, way past everyone's bed time. And Luna needed to get back to the Ravenclaw dormitory.

"I can help you, if you like, Harry."

"Myrtle, is that you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry. I'll even help your friend." Myrtle had a snide look on her face.

Harry had no choice but to trust Myrtle. "Alright, Myrtle, but we take Luna back first. Can you bring me my invisibility cloak? You know which one it is, right?"

"Sure, Harry, I've seen you wear it before." Myrtle left, then a moment later, entered the room with the invisibility cloak.

"You weren't seen, were you?"

"Oh, no" she replied. "I don't even need to use the cloak to be invisible. Nobody notices moping, Moaning Myrtle, even when Myrtle is sad." Myrtle was pouting a bit, but at least she wasn't crying this time.

And so, Myrtle led Harry and Luna towards the Ravenclaw Common Room. She would occasionally lead them quickly into an empty room to wait for the coast to be clear. Finally they reached the Ravenclaw Common Room. Then, Luna parted company with them, giving Harry a quick kiss on the cheek, and Harry's face turned red. Myrtle said nothing. Then Myrtle led Harry towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Myrtle wasn't saying anything, and that made Harry nervous, not knowing what to expect. Yet they never ran into anyone else, so there were no incidents along the way.

After Harry arrived back at his dorm, he was thinking about Luna. "I hope Luna got back ok," thinking to himself that Myrtle might try something horrible. He really wished he had another invisibility cloak for her. "But Hermione had managed ok before, when she Ron and I had been wandering about the halls a few times under similar circumstances. Luna's a smart witch, she'll manage." Yes, Luna was smart. Very smart. 'Hermione smart,' even. Harry couldn't stop thinking about Luna, until he drifted to sleep, and even for a bit after that.

That morning, however, things were even worse than the day before. The heart-shaped drawing on the wall from the previous night (cleaned off by the house-elves) had been re-drawn, with a large X through it. Another one like it had been drawn on the opposite side of the room, said "LL + HP." The laughter was only exceeded by the smell of pee that permeated the room. "Myrtle was crying again," Harry thought. And of course he was right.

"What a mess my life has become," he thought. "Moaning Myrtle, acting like she's in love with me... won't leave me alone... and now Luna... and I can't afford anything like that right now, not with Voldemort and the prophecy and all."

Nearly Headless Nick had once said that ghosts became ghosts because they couldn't pass on, possibly because they feared death, but there seemed to be other reasons, too. Myrtle had wanted to haunt the girl that tormented her, and had already once been dealt with by the Ministry of Magic. Too bad about Myrtle, but why did she have to behave like this now? And what could Harry do about it, that wouldn't seem cruel for Myrtle?

Harry left the Gryffindor Common Room, and headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. When he arrived, Hermione and Ron were unusually quiet, even with each other. "The last time they were THIS quiet," Harry thought, "Ron had been angry at Hermione over Viktor Krum. I hope it's nothing like that. I have too much going on already." He remembered how bad things really got before, when Ron and Hermione weren't speaking.

Harry tried to start up a conversation with Hermione, asking her about a particular charm he was reading about that would help to repel certain types of curses. But Hermione only said, "Yes, I believe that could be very helpful to an Auror," and that was about it, uncharacteristically curt for Hermione, who loved to demonstrate her limitless knowledge, especially to Harry or Ron. Ron said absolutely nothing at all, which just made Harry more nervous about the situation than before. Harry couldn't figure out what it was that was bothering them, aside from the brown writing on the wall. "But that couldn't be it," he thought.

Then, Harry overheard one of the Ravenclaws talking nearby. It was worse than he could have imagined. Nobody knew where Luna Lovegood was! She wasn't in the Great Hall, and nobody had seen her the previous night, or that morning. At first Harry was afraid to ask anyone about Luna, because of all of the rumors, but he screwed up his courage and went over to the Ravenclaw table to ask about her, expecting the worst.

"Luna wasn't in her bed last night, or this morning. We don't know where she is."

Harry was in shock. Luna didn't make it back to her dormitory? What could have happened to her? Harry could only think of one thing, and it wasn't pleasant. The sudden thought of losing another one of his friends just tore him up inside, beyond all logic or reason, and he ran out of the room and back up to the Gryffindor tower, not caring who noticed (which meant that everyone did). Fortunately, nobody was in his dormitory, and he yelled "MYRTLE, WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH LUNA?"

"Hello, Harry." Myrtle looked a little smug. "I haven't done anything with your friend. She just didn't want to go to sleep last night, so she left her dormitory. Something kept bothering her." Myrtle's occasional sadistic nature had surfaced once again. It happened before, with Hermione. Now it was Luna's turn to be recipient. Harry was furious!

Then he suddenly realized where Luna might be, so he ran over to the Room of Requirement, nearly knocking over some late-rising Gryffindors on his way through the Common Room. He went inside, and sound asleep, on a very comfortable looking bed, was Luna. Her clothes had been nicely folded and placed on a chair, and had been cleaned for her as well. Harry was still breathing hard after the run, but Luna continued to sleep, rather soundly. A nearby clock chimed and then she awoke, and saw Harry standing there. "This room knows everything," she commented. Harry was afraid to guess what she meant by that.

"Apparently Luna really needed a place to sleep last night," Harry thought. "The Room of Requirement doesn't work unless you have a real need, and of course it's been allowing me to use it to study, but it's also been allowing Luna to enter while I'm in here." Luna started to get out of bed, and Harry quickly noticed she didn't appear to be wearing a night shirt of any kind. He carefully turned around, not too quickly but quickly enough, and said "I'll see you later, ok?" and hurried outside. Oddly, Luna didn't seem to mind at all if Harry happened to see her changing clothes. It was almost like she wanted Harry to see her.

"This is just too much for me to deal with right now," he thought. "I need to stick with my studies... I have to defeat Voldemort... I can't let Voldemort kill me or any of my friends... the world is depending upon me and I have to succeed, I have to. I have to. The prophecy..." Harry had a single focus in his mind most of the time, one that drove him to spend nearly all of his time studying, and he wasn't about to deviate from it for even a second. But last night was nice. It was too nice, in fact. He can't afford that kind of thing again. It was too much of a distraction, and he had to stay focused. The weight of the world was on his shoulders, or so that's how it seemed to Harry. And he was willing to bear it.

Harry went back down to the Great Hall, just in time to scarf down the rest of his breakfast. Luna arrived right afterwards, and poured herself some strong tea. Everyone was alternating between watching Luna, and watching Harry. By now, the entire school knew about Luna's unexplained absence from her bed, for rumors were flying faster than bats escaping from hell. The worst of them seemed to involve Myrtle as well as Luna, in a twisted and grotesque way. And Harry hadn't been seen by anyone until that morning, which made everything worse. And with Luna apparently gone all night, it was everybody's guess where the two of them had been, and most of them were closer to the truth than Harry wanted them to be. Harry already had a reputation for wandering the halls at night. Luna didn't, at least not until now.

"Harry, is something going on between you and Luna," Ron asked, breaking his silence from before. He was honestly concerned about Harry, but also very curious. And before Harry could answer, Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall, "Mr. Potter, Miss Lovegood, my office, now!"

Harry thought he could hear snickering, from the rafters. And it wasn't Peeves. They had been 'set up.'

Harry and Luna followed Professor McGonagall to her private office.

"I won't take long," Professor McGonagall said. "I don't think we need to discuss the preliminaries, nor the details. Neither of you were in your dormitories for a good portion of the night. Would you like to tell me where you were?"

"I was in the Room of Requirement, studying, and Luna came to help me," Harry said. "I go there several days per week. It's easier to study in there, and I think you know why I have to study as much and as hard as I can, any way I can. Luna seems to be the only one who can come in while I'm in there. And whenever she comes in, she's been very helpful to me."

"I'm sure she has," said Professor McGonagall, with a hint of cynicism. "And I appreciate your honesty. From now on you should have the room summon an alarm clock to make sure you both make it out of there on time. Professor Dumbledore and I have no problem with you using the Room of Requirement for your studies, but I will tolerate no more wandering about the halls after hours." Then she looked at both of them, very closely, and added, "But you should also keep in mind, that 'Discretion is the better part of valor.' You should not lead people to believe things about the two of you, whether they are true or not. 'He-who-must-not-be-named' would like nothing more than to find another way of manipulating you, Harry. You don't need to hand him any more opportunities."

"I understand, Professor," Harry said, dryly. He couldn't stop thinking of this, every day of his life.

Professor McGonagall's expression changed slightly. She stopped being 'Professor' for the moment, and began to speak more openly. "If I were either one of your mothers, I'd sit you down and have a talk with you. But I think you've both seen your share of difficulties and have grown up a bit more than the average Hogwarts student. In many ways I'm quite proud of both of you. Just make sure you show some self-restraint, and don't let anything get out of hand." Then she put her 'Professor hat' back on, and gave the standard lecture. "I'm sure you are both aware of the rules at Hogwarts regarding the conduct between boys and girls. You will reserve any 'Extracurricular Activities' for your time spent in Hogsmeade. If you must spend your study times together, then you should do just that. Study."

Harry thought he saw a smile on Professor McGonagall's face. She was trying hard to be stern, so it was difficult to see. But Harry knew her well enough, at least. And he tried to make it look like he didn't notice.

"Professor, I think Moaning Myrtle was harassing Luna last night," Harry added. "Luna slept in the Room of Requirement after I left. You probably know about Myrtle writing on the walls in the Gryffindor Common Room." Professor McGonagall frowned, her glasses slipping on her nose a bit, and thought to herself for a moment. She had a look on her face like that of an unpleasant memory, or at least one best forgotten.

Luna had remained quiet while Professor McGonagall and Harry discussed the situation. She appeared to be lost in thought, and a little disturbed. She didn't try to defend herself with Professor McGonagall, though she was likely to hear something about it from Professor Flitwick later. Professor Flitwick could be formidable, despite his small stature. But he usually avoided this sort of thing, and probably appreciated Professor McGonagall's involvement. That way his lecture could be on a more intellectual level, perhaps some good advice. Still, Luna took it all in stride. "Harry is doing a good enough job for both of us," she thought. Yes, Harry was doing quite well at dealing with things, and Luna enjoyed seeing him do it.

"Well, I'll have a talk to the ghosts, and see what's going on," Professor McGonagall said. "Myrtle's death, as you know, was very traumatic, and she may have taken a liking to you after the Chamber of Secrets was re-opened. I understand she even helped you during the Triwizard Tournament." Professor McGonagall paused for a moment. "It wouldn't be the first time one of the ghosts had haunted someone out of infatuation or jealousy. It's part of my job here to play ecto-psychologist to pitiable ghosts like Myrtle. Some ghosts are born out of sheer terror over dying, and it's especially true for those whose death was so horrible, like Myrtle's. And in Myrtle's case, she had an equally horrible life. Even ghosts have problems coping, and Myrtle is no exception to that. Muggles would call her a paranoid scizophrenic, if she were alive. So try to be as understanding and forgiving with her as you can, and I'll see if I can get her to calm down."

So Harry and Luna left Professor McGonagall's office and went to their separate classes. Harry was barely on time for 'Advanced Potions' with Professor Snape, and arrived with Snape's penetrating stare boring a hole in him all the way to his seat. And his concentration was worse than usual, even for one of Snape's classes. Hermione was also in Advanced Potions, along with Neville, who had studied extra hard last year. Neville wanted to become a Healer, and was also willing to endure more of Snape's ridicule to achieve his goal.

Harry's mind focused on Luna for most of the class, and his notes reflected it. He couldn't help himself. Of course, Malfoy noticed that Harry was unusually glass-eyed, and kept muttering "Looney Potty" when Snape wasn't looking. Then he would glance over at Harry, to see if he'd noticed. Malfoy's smirk always bothered Harry, but today Malfoy was being unusually obnoxious. Yet, Harry didn't want to say anything to Professor Snape, for even if Snape had heard Malfoy, he wouldn't have cared. It wouldn't be the first time that Malfoy had taunted Harry during one of Snape's lectures, and Harry always received detention whenever he said anything. Snape was still angry with Harry over last year's incident with the pensieve. And having to do his occasional Occlumency lessons with Snape wasn't making things any easier between them. Harry decided to let it go, and hoped that ignoring Malfoy would somehow motivate him to stop.

On the way out of Snape's class, Malfoy jeered at Harry again. "Hey Potty, you tired of ghost-girls already? Or do you just like the looney ones? Well, now you've got BOTH of them!"

Harry answered coolly, "I'm sorry Malfoy, were you saying something? I thought I heard another one of those Bronx Cheers." Harry hoped that Malfoy would understand the reference, but he did have some doubt. Others leaving the class started sniggering in response, but Malfoy just glared at him with hate, and slunk away. Crabbe and Goyle couldn't take Advanced Potions, their O.W.L. scores were too low. So Malfoy didn't have his usual cheering section present. The other Slytherins only took his side when they saw an advantage. They were just as happy turning on him as they were cheering him on, especially since his father was in Azkaban. And now they were sniggering at Malfoy. Most of the Slytherins thought that stirring up trouble was a lot more fun than taking sides, and Malfoy was always good for a laugh whenever he and Harry went at it. They would have some fun with Malfoy in the Common Room later. Then Malfoy would be angry enough to spit venom, and would have to find another way to one-up his rival. He couldn't stand looking bad, even for a moment. And the other Slytherins knew exactly how to push his buttons. That is how they kept the feud warm, just below the boiling point.

Harry was glad that Voldemort hadn't been in his dreams for a long time. Studying Occlumency with Snape had helped, after all. He continued studying in the Library that evening, instead of the Room of Requirement. Harry went out of his way to avoid the 'appearance of impropriety,' as McGonagall would have put it, at least until things cooled down. After studying, he took a long shower (in case any of Myrtle's "tears" had remained from the night before) and went to bed earlier than usual.

That night, Harry had a very strange dream. It had nothing to do with Voldemort. After all, Harry had been doing his Occlumency exercises before going to sleep each night, and Voldemort no longer invaded his dreams. But he kept hearing a girl crying, and didn't know who she was. But it was definitely a girl, and she was definitely crying. And he didn't know why, but he thought it involved him somehow.

Nothing unusual seemed to happen that night. But in the morning, the other Gryffindors didn't forget what had happened before, and kept looking under things, and sniffed around the Common Room, expecting to find another message written in something that belonged inside of a sewer pipe. Moaning Myrtle was nowhere to be seen, and Harry wasn't sure whether or not she was up to something. "I hope Myrtle didn't bother Luna again, last night," he thought. Professor McGonagall would have talked with her by now. And Myrtle had been very quiet since yesterday morning. But Harry was in no mood to think anything but the worst of Moaning Myrtle. Fortunately, Luna had also turned in early, and had a decent night's rest, without incident.

And so today went like any other day, except when Harry and Luna ate lunch together at the Gryffindor table, sitting next to Hermione and Ron.

"So I take it Myrtle didn't bother either of you last night?" Hermione asked. "Oh, don't worry, I figured it out. Myrtle is the only one who would write messages about Harry in poo. And I asked Nearly Headless Nick about it, and he filled me in on the rest of the details." Hermione had been victim to Myrtle's cruelty before, and knew how cruel Myrtle could be. She also knew how sad and pitiful she was. Myrtle really was a psychological mess. And now that Myrtle was out of the second floor girl's bathroom for good, she was becoming more like Peeves.

"And I thought Peeves' jokes were bad," commented Ron. "Mate, you got a real problem on your hands, haunted by a love-sick ghost with a streak of jealousy, and a looney one at that..." Ron hesitated. He thought about what he had just said. He was about to say "and she was the least popular girl at Hogwarts before she was killed," but with Luna there, he didn't want to offend her by accident. Luna hadn't been very popular, either. And Ron believed that she was Harry's girlfriend now, and she was a loyal member of the DA, having fought against the Death Eaters and everything. And he'd just said 'looney' without thinking.

Ron sat quietly for a bit, contemplating how to remove his foot from his mouth. He listened to Hermione and Harry, and observed that Luna wasn't speaking much, either. She spent most of her time looking at Harry, even when he wasn't speaking. Ron began thinking about Harry's preference in girls. "Harry likes the smart girls, like the ones in Ravenclaw. And he likes Hermione. Cho is smart, and of course she's in Ravenclaw. But Cho couldn't stop crying about Cedric. Luna gets picked on by everyone, but she never cries about it. Myrtle was a Ravenclaw, and was picked on by everyone, and never stops crying. It's almost like Myrtle could have been like Cho if she'd been more popular. I bet Myrtle wants to be Harry's girlfriend, even though she's dead."

Ron entertained similar thoughts for a while. "I don't think Harry could deal with anyone that cries all of the time. He always said that sort of thing bothered him when he went out with Cho." Ron looked over at Luna, sitting next to Harry. Hermione was between Ron and Harry, and they were discussing something from Advanced Transfiguration. Ron had to admit that Luna was VERY pretty, despite the butterbeer cap necklace, and the unusual earrings and hats she would often wear. "And Luna's a lot braver than any Ravenclaw I've ever known," he thought. "That's what Harry likes. Cho is like Myrtle, they both spend their time crying and sulking. No wonder he dumped her." Ron never considered that Cho might have dumped Harry. And then he began to think of Hermione and Harry. The thought bothered him, for he didn't want to be a rival with his best friend. Ron kept thinking to himself while Hermione and Harry kept their conversation going. Luna was listening intently, quite interested in the subject. "Hermione's sure talks a lot more than Luna does, or even Cho. But Harry said that Cho would talk about Cedric all of the time, and then start crying. Harry seems to prefer the quiet girls. And Hermione is anything but quiet!"

Ron wanted to justify to himself that Harry wasn't going to attach himself to Hermione any time soon. That left the door wide open to Ron, and Hermione wasn't rejecting any of Ron's subtle advances. Ron still wasn't sure how to approach Hermione. Fleur Delacour was now dating Viktor Krum, and there were no other suitors standing in line, waiting to jump ahead of Ron. Hermione didn't take the news about Viktor and Fleur very hard, when she found out. In fact, she was quite happy seeing them together. Ron had blatently displayed his jealousy over Viktor during the Triwizard Tournament, and was very happy with the current situation And Ron didn't want it to change, especially not with his best friend Harry. Ron was more than happy to see Luna sitting with Harry, a lot closer than Harry was to Hermione. Yes, Ron had nothing to worry about from Harry, when it came to Hermione.

Hermione had the unusual ability to discuss something she enjoyed while thinking about something completely unrelated, without seeming uninterested in the discussion. She saw Luna's proximity to Harry, and drew the obvious conclusions. Luna was practically sitting on Harry, or so she thought. And Hermione really liked Harry, but she didn't think Harry thought of her as more than just a friend. Her mind started digesting the situation. "Harry has been studying so hard lately, that he's becoming the most dedicated scholar at Hogwarts. I never really saw how serious he could be about his studies before. He's been hiding in the Room of Requirement a lot. I hope Luna doesn't interfere with his studies." Hermione couldn't force herself to admit what the real issue was, so she focused on Harry's studies instead. "Harry really does need to study as hard as he can. And Harry is so focused on defeating... 'him.'" In spite of her bravery against the Death Eaters, Hermione couldn't even force herself to think of Voldemort's name. "Dumbledore believes the Prophecy, and if it's true, it's no wonder Harry wants to study all of the time. He's going to have to face... 'him', and kill him. We're all depending on you, Harry." Hermione couldn't help herself, feeling a little awe towards Harry at the moment. Yet there was still something more.

Hermione thought of Harry's 'fan girl club' that consisted of nearly all of the Gryffindor girls, and nearly half of all of the other girls in the fourth and fifth years. There were also a few 'members' from the sixth and seventh years, though they were usually too embarassed to show it. Many copies of Colin's photos of Harry had been pasted on the walls in the girls' dormitories. There was even a picture in one of the Slytherin dormitories. One of the Slytherin girls admired Harry's Parseltongue ability so much that she would carry pictures of snakes with her, and would often ask Harry to show her what it sounded like. And a few of the 6th and 7th year girls would occasionally tag along behind Harry, for no particular reason, as he walked between his N.E.W.T. level classes. Hermione saw it all, and heard them whispering, and acting silly whenever Harry was around. But Hermione had never seen Luna acting like one of the 'fan girls.' Hermione, of course, would never lower herself to that kind of behavior. At least that's what she told herself. But the truth was, she had unlimited access to Harry without having to fawn all over him to get his attention. Had the situtation been different, she may have become a secret member of his 'fan girl club' too.

Hermione was surprised when she found out that Luna had been the only one who could enter the Room of Requirement when Harry was in there studying, and had often been very helpful to him. "Maybe I should help him study?" she asked herself. "Luna's only in her fifth year, so I would be much better at helping Harry than she is. Why didn't the Room of Requirement let me in those times?" Hermione suddenly realized her reason for wanting to 'help Harry study' would have little to do with studying. The thought of Luna Lovegood being Harry's study partner had more of an affect on her than she realized. Suddenly Hermione knew what it was. She scolded herself, privately, for entertaining such an idea. She remembered how much she hated Ron's jealousy over Viktor, and she found herself doing the same thing! Hermione checked her feelings on the matter, realizing of course that she could not have both Harry and Ron to herself. She, like Harry, would have to choose one, and let the other go. And she resigned herself to the idea that Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood would be study partners, and would probably end up romantically involved. "Harry seems to know what he's doing with Luna," she thought "He won't need any more coaching from me, this time. She's nothing like Cho, and won't play games with him like Cho did. I wish I knew what to do about Myrtle though, but I can't stand the thought of being around her. Poor Myrtle, she's such a mess. Now, if I could just work on Ron..."

Several of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls looked at Luna with obvious envy. Like Hermione, they thought they were better suited for Harry than Luna, for a number of reasons. Some thought they were prettier, others thought they would be better study partners. Others just wanted Harry for themselves, and didn't care much for what he wanted. Harry had secretly become the most eligible boy on campus. It was no wonder that he had to go to the Room of Requirement to study so often. But it was far less apparent to Harry, for he never saw the giggling girls trailing him from a distance, nor heard what they said to one another when he wasn't looking. Some of the Slytherin girls thought he was very powerful, taking on the Death Eaters and Voldemort like that. Most of the Hufflepuff girls thought Harry was a showoff. But the few Hufflepuff girls that admired Harry did so for his dedication to defeating Voldemort, and for his loyalty to their beloved Cedric. But it was mostly the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor girls who formed the basis of the unofficial Hogwarts 'Harry Potter Fan Girl Club.' Even Cho felt a little jealousy at the idea of Luna Lovegood being Harry's 'new lover.'

Without Harry's knowledge, he had accumulated a huge number of 'fan girls,' waiting in the wings for all kinds of romantic escapades, should he ever express any such desire.

Since the very beginning of the term, everybody kept asking Harry about fighting the Death Eaters, and Dumbledore's battle with 'you know who.' Fame certainly had its disadvantages. Last year's streak of infamy had indeed rebounded with a vengeance, and Harry was more famous than ever before, and Colin's obsession from previous years was nothing compared to this. And unfortunately, the death of Sirius sparked the kind of sympathy reactions that Harry didn't want, nor need. Harry had remembered seeing an old movie where a group of musicians were being mobbed by young girls everywhere they went. The thought of this kind of thing happening to him was a real concern. More than once he had heard comment of a trail of girls behind him, though he never seemed to see it himself. Harry avoided the possibility at all cost, just in case.

Harry spent the rest of that day uneventfully attending classes, and studying in the library. He spent the evening studying in the Room of Requirement again, and then went back to his dormitory. He never questioned why the Room of Requirement was always open to him. He figured he just needed it the most, what with the Prophecy and all. Harry took advantage of it as often as he could. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore had given their approval, for they both knew he was making good use of it. They were often like proud parents, but rarely showed it.

Harry did his Occlumency exercises, then went to sleep. He hoped he wouldn't dream about anything again tonight, regardless of whether it had anything to do with Voldemort...

Harry dreamed he was hearing a girl cry. He walked through dark halls, looking to see who it was. He walked into a bathroom, and a girl was sitting in the toilet stall, crying. He didn't think anything of it, and opened the door to see who it was. He couldn't see her face. She stood up and said, "It's your fault."

"Do I know you?" asked Harry.

The girl didn't answer. But then she walked out of the bathroom. Harry followed. She walked up the flights of stairs to where the Room of Requirement should be. Inside it was like an exotic hotel room, with a heart-shaped bed. She invited Harry into the room. Harry hesitated, not sure what to think. She drew him in, slowly. Harry resisted, but it had no effect, and he wasn't sure what to think at this point. The girl kept pawing at him, in places he'd rather she not touch, over, and over again. He tried to say something, tried to scream, even, but his mouth moved without making a sound. He couldn't even breathe, and the girl became more like a monster, clawing at him, pulling him into the room, onto the bed even, and still he couldn't see her face. He wanted to scream, but couldn't.

Harry woke up, suddenly. His pajamas felt a little wet. He knew why. And he thought he could hear Myrtle, humming to herself.

Harry went back to sleep, quite shaken up by this time. He didn't even want to consider what had just happened, and hoped he would just forget about it, like a bad nightmare. But when he awoke, it was all he could think of. And it wasn't pleasant thoughts that ran through his head. Harry had never been more disgusted in his life. He quickly made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, hoping he wouldn't see anything with his name on it again.

To think that Myrtle had succeeded in invading his dreams like that! "If Myrtle can do that, maybe Voldemort can." The double-entendre thought that entered his mind for a moment was so appalling he outwardly exclaimed "Ugghh!". Everybody looked at him. By now he was used to it, so he didn't even react. He just kept eating and left, waving and smiling at Luna on his way out of the Great Hall. And just then Harry thought he caught a whiff of something unpleasant. "I hope I'm just imagining things," he thought.

If Harry had experienced any really bad days at Hogwarts, then today would have been the worst. The teachers seemed unusually aggravated with everything he did. Even Professor McGonagall took notice of things that were unusually nit-picky, even for her, and took the opportunity to openly scold him during class. It was almost as bad as being in one of Snape's classes. Harry couldn't believe it! "Was Myrtle affecting everybody? Or is something wrong with me?" He became somewhat sulky, and by evening just sat by himself in the Gryffindor Common Room, not talking to anyone, not studying. He just sat there for a long time. "A shower and a good night's rest is what I need," he thought.

While he was in the shower, Harry had the distinct impression that Myrtle was watching him. "She admitted to doing that kind of thing before," Harry thought, "In the prefect's bathroom, during the Triwizard Tournament." Only this time, it turned out to be worse than he expected. Myrtle appeared through the wall, from behind the spigots, eyeing him with a look of hunger.

"I really enjoyed last night, Harry" she said.

"Myrtle, you have to stop this. PLEASE!" yelled Harry, and Myrtle disappeared back into the wall.

"What are you screaming about, Harry?" said Dean, who had just walked into the shower.

"Nothing," said Harry. He didn't need to get the entire school involved in his ghostly daytime drama. So he washed the rest of the soap off, dried, put his night clothes on, and went back to his dormitory, without saying anything to anyone.

Harry did his Occlumency exercises extra long that evening. They seemed to work, this time. He slept soundly, without dreams.

Hagrid was out walking the grounds. It was Saturday, and it was one of his duties as a Professor at Hogwarts. Harry was walking with him, and they had been talking about things in general. Ron had begged Hermione for more help with Advanced Transfiguration, and they were both in the library, surrounded by a neck-deep pile of books. And Luna got up early that morning and borrowed one of the classrooms for a 'top secret project.' She was quite good at getting Professor Flitwick's permission for just about anything. And today was no exception. But if anyone asked Luna what she was working on, it was always 'top secret,' or else she would just smile and hum to herself. But Harry had wanted to spend at least part of the day with Luna. He was a little ahead in his studies now, and Professor McGonagall had suggested that he take some time off once in a while.

Harry understood Luna rather well now, and her need to be creative. This kind of thing was very important to her, so Harry left her to complete her project. Luna's mother had always loved to experiment, and it seemed Luna had inherited that quality. Harry didn't want to even imagine what her 'top secret project' might possibly be, and rightly guessed that it was probably for him, so he was sure to find out soon enough. "With Luna, ANYTHING is possible," he thought. And his birthday present had been no exception.

Since Luna would be busy for most of the day on her project, Harry decided to take advantage of an opportunity to speak with Hagrid, alone. Hagrid had known Myrtle when she was at Hogwarts, and had even been blamed for Myrtle's death, until Harry succeeded in uncovering the truth. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to bring up such a painful subject again, but Hagrid's insight would be too valuable for him to pass up the opportunity.

"Hagrid," Harry asked. "I've been having a lot of trouble with Moaning Myrtle. I think she's seriously jealous of Luna, and she is really starting to bother me, more than before, even trying to get into my dreams. Did you know her well when she was alive?"

"Myrtle? She was killed by, 'you know who', wern't she?"

"Of a sort, yes. The Basilisk."

"Ah, yeah. Tragic, that was. Poor girl." Hagrid shook his head, looked down, stopped for a moment, then picked up his pace again. "I remember Myrtle. Th' others wouldn' leave her alone, not fer a moment. Kept callin' her ''Mopin' Moanin' Myrtle,'' wouldn' give 'er no chance to get away, 'cept in the upstairs bathroom. I tried talkin' to 'er once, but all she did was cry, 'cause o' me stature and all. And..." Hagrid stopped.

Harry realized what Hagrid was thinking of at the moment. "She was afraid of you?" he asked, trying to steer the subject away from Hagrid's part in that whole unfortunate incident.

"I reckon she was, yeah, consid'rin how she behaved around me and all. She acted like was afraid o' most folk, now that I think of it, and fer no reason most o' the time." Then Hagrid got quieter. "Poor girl had somethin' traumatic happ'n to 'er, ev'n before she came to 'ogwarts. Wouldn' say what. 'Er appearance 'n all, that'd be part of it. It's like she made 'erself look that way, as 'omely as she could. I tried to talk to 'er, even told 'er she was pretty once, but she wouldn' have nothin' to do with the likes of me."

"Nobody ever said what it was that happened to her?"

"Nope. Y' know, it's strange how Myrtle chose that partic'lar bathroom to do her cryin' in, what with the Chamber o' Secrets 'n all. It was almost like 'you know who' planned it." Then Hagrid stopped again, "Or maybe... maybe she went there 'cause she WANTED to die."

Harry wasn't sure what to think at this point. Myrtle had been an emotional basket case from the day she arrived at Hogwarts, and kept hiding out in the same bathroom that had the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in it. And at the moment she died, Myrtle had wanted to get back at the girl who had teased her the most, and so she haunted the girl after her death. Since being dead would give her the advantage, could she have wanted to die to make it easier to get even? And did the presence of Dark Magic from the Chamber of Secrets draw Myrtle to that very place, where she eventually died? Myrtle might actually be psychotic! But that's how Myrtle's behavior had been lately. Harry couldn't think of anything about Myrtle that wasn't disturbing.

"Hagrid do you know of any way to keep a ghost like Myrtle from getting inside my head? The Occlumency that Professor Snape has been teaching me might not be enough."

"That'd be a question for Professor Snape." Hagrid didn't even hesitate in his reply. And he seemed all too glad to divert responsibility from a somewhat painful subject.

So Harry had no choice but to ask Snape about it. Thanking Hagrid for his time, Harry left and went inside Hogwarts Castle. He headed towards Professor Snape's office. The door was open, and Snape was inside, working with some complex potion that appeared to be very important. Harry knocked on the door, but Snape didn't deviate from his work.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape?" Harry asked, cautiously remaining in the doorway.

"What is it, Potter, I'm busy." Snape's voice was unusually cold.

"Is there a way to keep a ghost from invading your dreams?"

"Is that all you need to know, Mr. Potter?"

Harry had no intention of angering Snape any further. He thought he'd try being more polite. "Well, sir, it seems to be related to Occlumency."

Snape turned away from his work, and looked at Harry for a moment. Snape's answer was all too predictable, and not very helpful. "Then you'll just have to do your nightly exercises properly, won't you Mr. Potter?" And Snape quickly went back to his work, nonverbally communicating an obvious "stay away" to Harry.

"That was a lot of help," Harry muttered sarcastically, as he left Snape's office. But for a moment, he thought he heard a noise like the sound of breaking glass, followed by a yell. It came from the direction of Snape's office. And there was now a faint smell, like a sewer. Harry dared not investigate, fearing that Snape would involve him, somehow.

Most of the afternoon Harry spent in the Gryffindor Common Room, listening to other people's conversations, and thinking about recent events. Mostly he thought about Luna. He couldn't help himself. Many members of the unofficial 'Harry Potter Fan Girl Club' tried to engage him in a number of activities, sometimes in groups of two or three, but he thanked them kindly and remained as he was, sitting quietly. He was inexplicably moonstruck over Luna Lovegood, and it was obvious to everyone.

Harry went to dinner a little early, a bit anxious about seeing Luna. "It's the first Saturday I spend relaxing in a long time, and Luna's busy all day," he thought. "I hope her project is worth the wait." He tried not to show it, but Harry was getting a bit of a butterfly sensation. He still had some difficulty dealing with girls, and now Luna was keeping him waiting. Harry knew that she wasn't just playing some manipulative game with him, but it didn't make things any easier. Feelings of anticipation and dread remained. He felt anticipation because he wanted to spend the evening with Luna, and dread because he was afraid of what her 'secret project' might actually be.

When Harry arrived in the Great Hall, Luna was already there, waiting for him. "I have a surprise for you," she said, in a rather inviting manner, almost suggestive. And her voice had a hint of anticipation in it. A fourth year Ravenclaw girl overheard, and quickly whispered to two of her friends. All three began to giggle and gave sly looks at Harry. Luna didn't seem to notice, and began telling Harry about her intended plans for the evening. "It's almost finished, but I'll have to wait to show it to you until later tonight. The sky is supposed to be clear tonight, and that would be perfect. Meet me at the observatory at 9, ok?"

Of course, Harry agreed. He had been waiting for an opportunity to spend time with her all day. And it seemed that Luna could not have picked a better time to show him what her project was. Harry tried asking Luna about her project, but she wouldn't give up any secrets. She'd just smile at Harry and not say anything. "She's keeping me guessing," he thought. And he was right. Luna knew the value of a good surprise.

As soon as they were done with dinner, Luna returned to her dormitory to 'take care of some last minute details' on her project, and Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. He sat by himself for a while, just relaxing, while other Gryffindors passed through on their way to and from dinner. Neville came through once, asking if Harry had seen his 'remembrall' recently. Ron and Hermione passed through a little later, on their way to Hagrid's. Harry stayed in the Common Room, thinking to himself, appearing a bit distant to everyone who passed through.

The weather had been excellent that day, and there would be a new moon tonight, and a cloudless sky. It would be an excellent time for stargazing. But on a clear winter night, it would also be very cold. So very few people would be taking advantage of the opportunity, except for a few romantically inclined couples looking for an excuse to 'keep each other warm.' "I wonder what she has in store for me?" Harry thought. He recalled the birthday present Luna had given him, which Dean thought looked like a large phallus. "I can't even imagine what it might be," he thought. Then Harry realized that he didn't know when Luna's birthday was! "I need to find out!" he told himself, as a wave of desperation overtook him for a moment, and transformed into a feeling of guilt. He cleared his mind a bit, and told himself, "I'll just wait until this evening, and ask then. If I missed her birthday I'll get her something special when we go to Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day."

Then Harry thought about what kind of birthday gift he might give to Luna. She wouldn't be embarassed at all if it were expensive, nor would she be unimpressed if it weren't. He pondered for a while, thinking about what to give her, still hoping that her birthday had not already passed by. And he thought about the Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip, and where they might go. Unlike Cho, Luna wouldn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's. Perhaps they would spend time at The Three Broomsticks with Hermione and Ron? Harry considered sending Hedwig to ask for reservations, but decided to ask Luna first.

Several members of the unofficial 'Harry Potter fan girl club' took notice of Harry's uncharacteristically distant behavior, and assumed the obvious. They kept the rumor mill running at full capacity, occasionally whispering to each other in front of Harry, and it seemed as though they wanted Harry to overhear what they were saying. Of course Myrtle got wind of everything that was going on. She had been hiding among the rafters, listening in on the girls' conversations. She even passed through the Common Room a couple of times when nobody was looking. At first she just sulked, sobbing quietly. But after a while she grew angry. "How dare that trampy little vixen steal my Harry away!" she thought, crying quietly until people began to notice the smell. Then she moved on, her sobs barely audible within the background of normal activity.

With nothing else planned that evening, Harry decided to clean himself up early. Shaving one's beard by use of a wand was much easier than with a blade, but Harry only needed to shave his scanty facial hair a couple of times per week. Still, he shaved anyway, took an early shower, and put on some of his nicer clothes. He grabbed his best wizard robe, which had been inexplicably cleaned and laid out for him while he was in the shower. "The house-elves are amazing," he thought. "I'll have to thank Dobby personally. I bet it was him." It was now shortly after eight o'clock, so Harry spent a little time going over his notes again, until it was almost nine. Then he walked over to the observatory to meet Luna, arriving a little early. Thankfully, nobody else was there. It would be much better this way. He felt a little cold from a breeze that was coming from across the lake. As expected, there were no clouds, and the stars shone brightly against the dark background of the cold night sky. A meteor streaked across the sky. It was a beautiful night.

Then Luna arrived. She came up the stairs so quietly that Harry didn't notice until he turned around to see if she was coming up, and it made him jump slightly. Harry had only been standing by himself for a few minutes, and had spent most of that looking up at the various constellations. Luna was wearing a very nice mid-calf evening dress, and a full length coat that resembled a regular wizard's robe, but much heavier. In her left hand was a large black bag with something round inside. Harry thought she had overdressed a bit for the occasion. "She looks quite nice," he thought. Harry kept thinking of how he might tell Luna how nice she looked, but kept fumbling over the right words.

But Luna wasted no time, and immediately began telling Harry about her day-long project. "I read about it during one of the lessons on ghosts and werewolves, when we had to turn in papers. It seems that on the night of a full moon, there are many magical creatures affected by the moonlight. It seems that a few of these creatures could actually pose a danger to ghosts, though I never found out exactly what that danger was." Harry looked a little glazed over, like he wasn't following. Did she have some magical creature in the bag? Luna continued, "So I figured that the light of a full moon might help to drive ghosts away."

"But there's no moon tonight," Harry said, nearly interrupting her.

"That's what THIS is for," Luna added. She opened up the bag she was carrying, and pulled out what could only be described as an 'artificial moon.' "I used a special light spell to duplicate moonlight. See?" And she held it up over their heads, and the light looked just like moonlight. "So all you have to do is hang this over your bed, when you're sleeping, and Myrtle should stop bothering you."

"How did you know she was bothering me when I was asleep?" Harry asked. "I never mentioned it to anyone until today, and you've been busy since before I said anything to anyone about it."

"Myrtle told me yesterday. She said that you had been having 'lots of fun in your dreams together.' I think she was trying to make me jealous. She had that look on her face again, like she had that night when I slept in the Room of Requirement." This was the first time that Luna ever gave Harry any hint of what Myrtle had done that night.

"Well, obviously she was lying," Harry replied, hoping to change the subject. He couldn't stand the thought of Myrtle's intrusion into his dreams. Not only did he want to avoid the subject, he wanted to leave no doubt in Luna's mind that Myrtle's attempt at dream invasion had thoroughly disgusted him. "I had hoped my Occlumency lessons with Snape would help me to keep her out of my head, and I think I succeeded last night. I will be spending a lot more time doing the exercises from now on."

"So, she didn't exactly lie about it then, or at least, not from her point of view." Luna's insight on the matter was frighteningly accurate. "I should have expected something like that from her." Harry hoped she wouldn't ask him any detail, and was quite relieved when she seemed to drop the subject, obviously satisfied with her own insight on the matter.

Luna was difficult to surprise about anything, despite the 'surprised look' she always seemed to have. And she always knew a lot more than she let on. That's what Harry liked about Luna most of all. But now he wondered exactly what it was that Myrtle had told her. He dared not ask, but his curiosity still remained. Just how much embarassing detail did Myrtle disclose? Harry didn't even want to think about it. The mental picture of Myrtle discussing her version of the 'intimate details' of their dream encounter was far too embarassing to entertain. Harry wanted to be able to enjoy their time alone, under the clear night sky. And the light from the artificial moon added an element of mystery and intrigue. Harry considered suspending it above their heads for a while with a Levitation Spell.

Harry was about to ask Luna to hold up her artificial moon, so he could levitate it. Suddenly, Myrtle showed up, ruining the moment. She was visibly angry, tears streaming from her eyes, and green vapor blowing from her nostrils. Her face had changed color to a disgusting greenish purple, and huge hairy warts continually popped out at random all over her face and arms. Her eyes bulged out of her head, and her teeth slowly became large and yellow, with hints of tooth decay.

"YOU CAN'T DRIVE ME AWAY WITH THAT THING YOU LITTLE HUSSY!" Myrtle screamed, as loud as a foghorn at close range, green smoke billowing from between her yellowed teeth. The wind from Myrtle's voice blew Luna's hair backwards like a flag in a hurricane, and she nearly lost grip on her artificial moon. Her black bag went flying, landing on the roof of the castle below them. And the stench of a sewer permeated the air around them, and even got into their clothes. Several people on the ground looked up to see what the noise was all about. And the light of the artificial moon fixed their gaze upon the events taking place at the observatory.

Myrtle grabbed the artificial moon and tried to yank it out of Luna's hands, screaming and crying and yelling the most obnoxious of insults at her. But Luna wouldn't let go of the project that she had spent all day working on, and wrapped her arms tightly around it. Luna had made it for Harry, and wasn't about to let Myrtle take it away! Myrtle and Luna continued their tug of war, until Myrtle began lifting Luna into the sky, while Luna gripped the artificial moon tightly to her chest, both arms wrapped around it. She was hanging on for her life.

"I'm going to have Harry all to myself," Myrtle screeched, in a very nasty and cruel way. She began to drag Luna towards the edge of the observatory tower, and Luna hooked her feet around the wall that surrounded the observatory. Harry instinctively grabbed onto Luna's feet, before she cleared the wall.

Harry yelled at Myrtle. "STOP IT, MYRTLE, YOU'LL MAKE HER FALL!" He was looking up, both arms wrapped around Luna's legs. A wind began to whip around the tower, and Luna's skirt was now flapping about. Then suddenly the wind flipped Luna's skirt over Harry's head. He turned bright red, for he could clearly see that Luna wasn't wearing any underwear! The light from the artificial moon was illuminating Luna's body through her clothing. Harry uncontrollably froze up for a second as Luna's skirt flapped around his head. Then he quickly looked at the ground, his face beet red, hoping she hadn't noticed. But the recent vision was now burned into his psyche and was unlikely to ever be forgotten. "What was she THINKING?" he thought to himself, too embarassed at the moment to think of anything else. But he couldn't blame Luna for his own reaction, nor for what Myrtle had done. And Harry thought his nose might have started to bleed a little.

Myrtle kept yanking on the artificial moon, and Harry's feet quickly started to lift off of the ground! Myrtle was lifting both of them up and over the wall that surrounded the observatory. Luna kept her grip on the artificial moon, and Harry kept his grip on Luna, fearing the worst if he dared to let go. Myrtle suspended them in midair above the walkway that led into the Great Hall. It was a very long drop. But if Harry were to let go, Myrtle would surely let Luna fall to her death.

Myrtle didn't even seem to care if Harry died. In fact, she wanted it! "If I let go, my Harry will be with me," she said, in a nasty tone. Then she started screaming directly into Luna's face. "We'll just stay in the Gryffindor tower together, or maybe we'll share the U-bend. And YOU aren't invited!"

Harry would have laughed at Myrtle's unintentional pun, had the situation not been so serious. Myrtle was actually trying to kill them! And they were quickly gaining altitude, more than a hundred feet above the ground. A fall of that distance, onto a hard walkway, would surely have killed them both. A crowd was forming on the walkway below, for it was a spectacular sight. Myrtle was grasping the artificial moon from above, Luna was desperately hugging it from underneath, and Harry was dangling by Luna's legs, trying hard to keep his head out of Luna's skirt. The light from the artificial moon shone brightly, making them visible for at least a mile in every direction. A few people in Hogsmeade had mounted their rooftop telescopes for viewing the night sky, and now they were all trained on Harry and Luna.

But Luna was beginning to lose her grip, for she was much smaller than Harry and now had both of their weight on her arms. It was time to act. Harry let go of Luna with one hand, grabbed his wand, and summoned his broom. "Accio Firebolt," he yelled, and his Firebolt quickly reached him, as it had during the Triwizard Tournament. He released his grip on Luna and grabbed onto his approaching Firebolt with his free hand, and swung onto his broom in a spectacular move that brought cheers from the crowd below. He stuffed his wand into his pocket so he wouldn't accidentally poke Luna's eye out with it, then rose up quickly, before Myrtle realized what had just happened. Years of Quidditch had made him very skilled at handling a broom. He grabbed Luna with his wand hand, swinging Luna onto the broom in front of him, and quickly regained control of the situation. Then Luna let go of her artificial moon, causing Myrtle to fly upwards at an incredible rate, still holding onto Luna's project. Completely frustrated, Myrtle let the artificial moon drop to the ground. It nearly hit one of the onlookers when it fell, shattering into an indeterminable number of pieces on impact with the ground. The moonlight quickly faded. Only the light from the stars and from Hogwarts Castle could be seen in the clear night sky.

"Luna, are you ok?" Harry asked?

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, a bit out of breath. "But my moon-orb didn't work."

Now that the confusion was over, Harry suddenly realized that he had been holding one of Luna's breasts in his hand. He VERY quickly shifted its position, hoping that Luna hadn't noticed. There was really no worry, for Luna was busy thinking about her artificial moon (and wouldn't have minded anyway). She wasn't unhappy about the loss of her project, nor about her 'near-death experience' with Harry. The fact that the artificial moon didn't work was bothering her. She had spent the entire day making it, only to discover that her efforts had been wasted. She regretted not spending the afternoon with Harry, but tried not to show it.

"The moon-orb must not have been enough. I guess moonlight alone isn't enough to drive Myrtle away. I'm sorry, Harry, I think I just made things worse for you." Luna didn't seem to be at all shaken by Myrtle's attempt to kill her. Quite disappointed, she leaned back against Harry and sighed. Then she gently wrapped both of her hands around his, as they slowly flew away from the castle.

"It was a very nice moon-orb. I'm sure it would have worked, if Myrtle hadn't broken it. And I know how hard you worked on it. I really did like it. Thanks for trying." Harry didn't want Luna to feel like she'd wasted her time working on it. It was a very impressive project, after all.

Still flying slowly, Harry dropped his altitude and made a made a low, slow pass through the Quidditch Pitch. Luna quietly sat on the broom in front of him, intentionally leaning her body against his. She occasionally turned her head to look at him, smiling. They both felt very comfortable riding Harry's broom on a nice evening like this one. Luna's eyes were a bit wider than usual, and she had a permanent smile engraved on her face. Harry kept a tight grip on Luna, even though he really didn't need to. They circled once around the inside perimeter of the stands that surrounded the Quidditch Pitch, just above level of the goal rings.

"I miss Quidditch, terribly," Harry said. "It was the best thing I was ever able to do at Hogwarts." He paused for a moment. Realizing what he had just said, he added, "But this is nice, too. Maybe even better."

Luna was being characteristically dreamy as they left the Quidditch Pitch, and flew back towards the castle, still flying slowly. "A rose, by another name..." she said, softly. She looked up at Harry again, still smiling from ear to ear. Harry actually understood what she meant. He had already grown accustomed to Luna's poetic nature and her frequent use of cryptic metaphors.

Myrtle kept a close watch on Harry and Luna as they flew away from the castle and towards the Quidditch Pitch. She saw how Luna was snuggling up to Harry, and how he responded. They were obviously taking their sweet time getting back! As they left the Quidditch Pitch, she quietly flew up behind them. Myrtle began tailing them so that she could see and hear everything that was going on. And now her anger became an inferno! Myrtle suddenly flew above them, then came down hard, aiming directly at Luna like a bludger. But in her zeal she knocked both Harry and Luna off of the broom. If Harry hadn't been flying just a few feet from the ground, they might have been seriously injured. Instead, Harry landed on a soft patch of grass, and then Luna landed right on top of him, causing Harry to nearly lose bladder control. But they were both ok, even though the wind was knocked out of them a bit. Harry was used to that sort of thing from Quidditch practice in his previous years at Hogwarts. And his Firebolt obediently fell to his side, bouncing only once. It was undamaged. Unlike his Nimbus, the Firebolt would always stay with the rider if he ever fell off. There was no danger of his broom getting caught in the Womping Willow, like before.

Laying on the grass was almost as nice as flying. Harry kept both arms around Luna for a moment, catching his breath. Then they started laughing, while Myrtle floated above them and scowled. Luna rolled off of Harry and onto the grass. Then she suddenly jumped on top of him, knocking the wind out of Harry's lungs a second time. Luna's face was now an inch from his, as she supported herself by her elbows and Harry's chest. And Luna's hair formed a tent around Harry's face. He stared up at Luna's huge grin, unable to see anything else. Myrtle fumed, and smoke repeatedly blew from her nostrils.

Harry and Luna stayed on the grass for nearly a minute, just looking into each other's eyes in the dim evening light, until they could see a small crowd of people walking towards them. So they got up and walked back towards the castle. Harry held his broom over his shoulder with one hand and held Luna's hand in the other. Harry thought that they might retrieve Luna's black bag later. It would give them another excuse for taking a broom ride after breakfast.

Now Myrtle was absolutely furious. She bolted towards Harry and Luna, overtaking them, and barring their way. Myrtle stood there for a moment, visibly forming words with her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. So she just screamed, a long, loud wail. A few nearby students held their ears, and several others started laughing, for Luna's hair was streaming behind her head again. Then Myrtle saw them laughing at her, and a few new names like 'Madcap Myrtle' and 'Maleficent Myrtle' were overheard from the crowd. She angrily darted away from Hogwarts Castle towards the Forbidden Forest, screaming and crying the entire way.

"Poor Myrtle," Harry said. He felt a little sorry for her, though happy to see her gone.

"She really was trying to kill us, though," Luna observed.

"And not doing a very good job of it, thankfully," added Harry. Neither of them needed to mention the obvious fact that Myrtle had once again accomplished the opposite of what she had set out to do. She had brought Harry and Luna closer together than they had been before.

For a while they walked in silence, until they stood by the gate that led into the Great Hall. "Luna," Harry asked, "where did you get your name from?" He had imagined that she may have had a distant relative with that name, and the 'moon-orb' had prompted him to think of her name. After all, 'Luna' was an unusual name, even in the wizarding world. But it fit her perfectly.

"My mother and father liked to spend time together in the light of the full moon. So when I was born, they named me 'Luna' because I reminded them of their wonderful times together. That's what my father told me once, a long time ago, after my mother had died. It was a nice story, so I remembered it."

"When is your birthday, anyway?" Harry finally remembered to ask her! He considered himself lucky that Luna had already steered the conversation that way.

"Why, does it matter?" she evaded, with a hint of a smile.

"I didn't want to miss out giving you a birthday present. I keep yours next to my bed."

"I don't expect it would fit anywhere else." Luna had effectively evaded the question.

They both laughed, and Harry forgot to find out when Luna's birthday was. But Harry had already missed it, and Luna didn't want him to feel guilty about it. She would wait to tell him on Valentine's day. Luna had already made plans for them, and was only waiting for Harry to finally ask her. But she was happy to wait for as long as necessary. So they entered the castle, forgetting that both of them now smelled a little like a sewer. But a few of the students made faces and one of them held his nose as they walked by.

Eventually Myrtle returned to the attic of Gryffindor Tower, angry and wanting revenge. But Myrtle wanted Harry too. Myrtle had tried to kill Harry so that Harry would always be with Myrtle, but now Harry was angry with Myrtle. Myrtle was all alone, now. Myrtle sulked. Poor Myrtle. Her pitiful wails kept several students awake for most of the night, prompting a few of them to don the same kind of earmuffs that were often used when handling Mandrakes.

"Nick, can I talk to you about something?"

It was Sunday morning. Last night Myrtle had tried to kill Luna, and Harry as well! So Harry sought advice from Nearly Headless Nick, the official Gryffindor ghost. Something had to be done, and Nearly Headless Nick had always been very helpful. Last time Harry had spoken with Nick, it was about the death of Sirius. This time the situation was a bit more serious. Seriously.

"Myrtle can't leave me alone, and I'm actually afraid she'll try to hurt Luna. Myrtle has even tried to get in my dreams, and she, well..."

"I think I understand, Harry. Myrtle's death was very hard for her to understand. She was so young, and her life so horrible, that dying just left too many things unresolved. Poor girl, I've tried talking to her already, but she won't listen, not even to an old ghost like myself. After trying to take your lives like that, the Ministry of Magic won't go easy on her."

"Professor McGonagall said something about being an 'ecto-psychologist,' but I thought she was joking."

"Ah, yes, Minerva... God bless that woman! She's the most beautiful of people. I've known her ever since her first year at Hogwarts. That woman has been nothing but a dear friend to me, and to several of the other ghosts at Hogwarts. Your friend Hermione is a lot like her, you know. Brave, strong, intelligent, creative, and... ah, to be young, and alive again! But that, I think, is Myrtle's problem too. She has always been young, but is no longer alive."

"Great," thought Harry, sarcastically. "This is just what I need." "Nick," he said out loud, "Is there anything you know of that I can do to keep Myrtle out of my dreams?"

"Keep her out? Whatever for? You can communicate with her infinitely better if you were to willingly let her into your dreams." Harry was shocked to hear this. Willingly let her in to his dreams? Would his only choice be to endure more of Myrtle's perverted dreamscapes?

Nick continued in spite of Harry's obvious reaction. "Just don't let her take control of your dream. That is the key! For if you let her control them, she'll feed off of your emotions, and twist your dreams into the kind of grotesque imagery that you so obviously don't want to endure again. To a ghost, this kind of dream invasion can be as addictive as the strongest of intoxicating potions. But if you keep control, and use your opportunities wisely, you can gain a loyal friend and a powerful ally."

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with this. Letting a ghost into his dreams wasn't his idea of a fun time. But it was worth a shot. Something had to be done.

Harry spent the remainder of the day with Luna. At Professor McGonagall's advice he was taking some well-deserved time off. Today, Luna had insisted on 'making up for the day before,' though Harry never blamed her one bit for the outcome of her day-long project. Her moon-orb was actually an impressive bit of wizardry, and Hermione had even mentioned something about it at breakfast, asking Luna what charms she had applied and what material she had made it from. Few people understood just how intelligent and powerful Luna really was, more ready to write her off as being 'looney' than to recognize her talents and abilities. But Harry had always treated Luna as a friend, and had also seen her in action against the Death Eaters. And Luna had never behaved like a member of the 'fan girl club,' and that impressed Harry even more. And the two of them found that they could spend the afternoon just touring the grounds, talking about nothing in particular, occasionallly stopping for a while to enjoy the view.

Today they decided to walk over to Hagrid's hut to see what new magical creature he was attempting to raise at the moment. Ron and Hermione had joined them, and the four of them spent the early part of the afternoon there. The topic of Myrtle never came up.

Luna whispered an unusual idea into Harry's ear. Harry turned a little pink at first, but decided it would be worthwhile. So the two of them bade goodbye to the others and headed back to the castle. Luna had heard of the Marauder's map when Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been discussing it one afternoon during lunch at the Gryffindor table. She had walked over and quietly listened to them while standing behind Harry. None of them had even noticed that she was there, for it was one of Luna's talents to be able to blend into the background. Today, Luna had suggested to Harry that they do a little exploring with the Marauder's map. She was mostly interested in the secret passageways that were clearly marked on the map. Harry had once told her that most of them appeared to be blocked, and Luna thought it would be fun to try and gain access to some of them.

So at Luna's prompting, they explored the castle with the Marauder's map, wearing Harry's invisibility cloak to avoid suspicion. Luna thought that by remaining invisible they wouldn't draw any attention to the entrances for the various secret passages, and it would help to keep them secret. "If Professor Snape ever found out," she said, "he would surely close them all." They tried a number of different spells, but none seemed to work. Luna attempted various charms that were supposed to reveal whether a secret password had been changed, but the passages themselves seemed to no longer exist. The Marauder's map appeared to reveal the password to any secret passage, as long as it was possible to open it. But none of the 'closed' passages seemed to work any more. Harry guessed that perhaps the passwords had been changed since the map had been made.

It wasn't until they arrived at the statue of the humpbacked witch, which concealed the secret passage that led to Hogsmeade, that Harry and Luna managed to open up any of the secret passages. Luna kept suggesting one passage after another, sometimes looking at her watch, until she suddenly decided to try this one. Harry had thought this one would be blocked off or the password changed by now, but it still worked perfectly! Luna insisted that they go inside, and Harry couldn't say 'no' to her. So they entered the tunnel, then quickly closed the entrance behind them, before anyone noticed it was open. Harry lit his wand, and they removed the invisibility cloak. He handed the map to Luna, and rapidly folded up the invisibility cloak and tucked it under his arm. Luna insisted on keeping the Marauder's map with her, so Harry relented. Luna was starting to demand quite a bit today, and Harry was getting slightly annoyed. But he didn't say anything, and was thankful for it later. In the mean time, Luna was fascinated by the map, even more so because she knew that Harry's father had helped to create it. She often commented about how fun it was to see where everyone was walking throughout the castle, and monitored their own progress down the passageway to Honeyduke's, in Hogsmeade.

They walked down the passageway for a while until their position on the Marauder's map indicated that they had officially left the Hogwarts grounds. Harry wanted to turn back at this point, somewhat fearfull that they would get themselves into some kind of trouble. Myrtle's antics had kept him on his toes recently. He really didn't want to break any more of the rules, and was also somewhat concerned about the Death Eaters. Outside of Hogwarts, he was vulnerable. Peter Petigrew knew of these tunnels too, and was still at large. But there were no other footprints but their own on the map, and Luna had other things in mind. She folded up the map, then suddenly lunged at Harry, throwing him off balance until he fell against the wall. Luna dropped the map and grabbed him with both arms, giggling at him.

"What's the matter, Harry, you seem a little shy today," she said, in an uncharacteristically giggly voice. She put one finger on his chest in a playful manner, drawing a small circle while she said "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Then she leaned up against him in a way that made Harry a bit uncomfortable.

Harry didn't know what to say. He was now at Luna's mercy, and she knew it. Dinner in the Great Hall was still at least an hour away, and they wouldn't be missed until then. So whatever Luna had planned for him, she had planned it well. Harry looked at the ground, and could easily see that it was clean, and there would be no tell tale dirt marks if they were to sit down for a bit. So Harry slid down the wall into a sitting position, and Luna went with him. Then Luna planted her lips on his and Harry responded in kind. He didn't know what else he could do at the moment, except to go along with whatever she wanted. And they really weren't technically breaking any school rules, except for actually having left the school grounds to engage in their 'extracurricular activities.' But this was a technicality he was willing go with at the moment.

A thought occurred to Harry at one point. Had his father used this passageway for the very same purpose? Had his father brought his mother here? And what about Sirius Black and the other Marauders? It seemed to Harry that perhaps this tunnel had more than one use besides making secret trips to Hogsmeade. There was a slight opening at this point, and sitting here was surprisingly comfortable. Harry and Luna spent the next half an hour or so enjoying each other's company a bit more than they otherwise could have, in the solitude of the secret passageway that led between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

A tiny bell sounded. Luna had set the alarm on her watch so that they would know when it was time to return to Hogwarts, so they wouldn't miss dinner. She had set it while they were at Hagrid's, shortly before whispering to Harry that she wanted to explore the tunnels. They both came up for air at the sound of the alarm. They had long since allowed the tunnel to go dark, so Luna lit her wand to check the time and silence her alarm watch. Harry also noticed what time it was, and they both stood up, ready to go back.

The idea had already occured to Harry, and he confronted Luna. "You planned all of this, didn't you?" he said.

Luna didn't respond. Of course she had planned it. She just smiled at Harry in a rather coy way, then took Harry's hand in hers and led him back towards the statue of the humpbacked witch in Hogwart's Castle. Harry unfolded the invisibility cloak, and checked the Marauder's map one last time to see if the coast was clear. Then he tapped the map and said "Mischief Managed," and they re-entered the castle underneath the invisibility cloak. They ducked into a nearby room for a moment, removed the invisibility cloak, and then headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Dinner time was only a few minutes away, and most people were heading towards the Great Hall. But the smiles that Harry and Luna were wearing would have told everyone that they had been up to something, though few people seemed to notice.

Several Gryffindor students were lounging in the Common Room when Harry and Luna walked in. A couple of them were a bit shocked to see Luna there, but nobody objected. Guests were allowed, except after hours. Harry quickly ran upstairs to put his cloak and the Marauder's Map away. Then he rejoined Luna, and the two of them headed towards the Great Hall together. By now, more than a few of the Gryffindors observed the faint 'glow' that both of them were emitting at this point, particularly the members of the unofficial Hogwarts 'Harry Potter fan girl club.'

But Myrtle had already known about their 'extracurricular activities.' Myrtle hadn't been seen all day, and was trying very hard to remain undetected. Neither Harry nor Luna had noticed any unusual smells in the tunnel to Hogsmeade, for it had always smelled a little musty. And neither of them had heard any noises, though they had been a little 'pre-occupied' and probably wouldn't have noticed if a train had passed through. Myrtle kept her anger to herself this time. She didn't want anyone to suspect a thing.

That night, Harry practiced his Occlumency exercises as usual, but carefully avoided focusing on keeping Myrtle out. Instead, he focused on not letting Myrtle take control. "Hopefully this will work," he thought. It was a risk worth taking, as nothing else seemed to help. Harry didn't want to have to see Professor Dumbledore and get the Ministry of Magic involved. At least, not yet.

Harry's dream took a predictable turn that night. Myrtle was in his dream again, in the bathroom, crying. "Myrtle, come out of the bathroom, it's Harry."

"GO AWAY!" Myrtle yelled. She kept blubbering. It was much louder than before.

Harry walked into the bathroom and threw open the door to her stall. This time, he could see Myrtle's face.

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you any more."

"Yes you do, Myrtle, or you wouldn't have come into my dream. I'll wait for you outside." Harry was doing his best to take control. If Myrtle did what HE wanted, things might work out after all.

Harry left the bathroom, and waited outside. When Myrtle finally came out, she was stark naked! Harry stood back a bit, not sure what to do. He remembered what Nick said. He couldn't let Myrtle control his dream.

"Myrtle, you forgot your clothes in the bathroom."

"I didn't need them, Harry. I wanted you to see me like this." Myrtle began to approach him, to touch him again like last time.

"This is a dream, after all," Harry reminded himself. But no matter how hard he tried to stay in control, Myrtle kept twisting his dream in her favor. Harry calmed his thoughts, focused on maintaining control, blocking out Myrtle's attempts to alter his dream. His Occlumency skills were starting to pay off. He wouldn't give Myrtle the 'satisfaction' she was looking for.

Harry had already planned out what he might do. Like the 'First Task' in the Triwizard Tournament, he would concentrate on his strengths. "Accio Wand," he said, in his dream. His wand appeared in his hand. This was encouraging! Harry hadn't actually learned Conjuring yet, so he used a Summoning Charm, for that was what he knew. And in his dream, his subconscious mind applied his intent to the outcome. "Accio clothes," he said, waving his wand. Myrtle's clothes suddenly appeared on her. Then Harry looked down and noticed that he was now in his underwear, which embarassingly revealed something he didn't want anyone to see, especially not Myrtle. "Accio clothes" he said again, and this time his own clothes appeared. And now the dream was completely under Harry's control.

"Harry, you're cheating," Myrtle whined. "You can't cheat like that, it's NOT fair!"

"Myrtle, can we talk? I mean, you're a nice ghost most of the time, but lately you've been very difficult." Harry was trying to be kind. He wanted to give Myrtle one last chance.

"That's because you've been MEAN to me, you and that, that, GIRL you've been snogging. Rotten little tramp, stealing you away from me, that horrible little HUSSY! SHE stole you away from me, and dragged you into that tunnel, and, and..." Myrtle began mouthing words, but no sound came out. She stopped and regained her composure. "And SHE can't have you! I've seen her dreams! I KNOW what SHE wants! SHE can't hide anything from ME! And SHE can't have MY HARRY!"

Harry quickly changed the subject, for this was obviously going in a direction that he didn't want to pursue. Myrtle had been monitoring Luna's dreams about him? What else could she be up to? Harry had been dreaming about Luna lately and wouldn't have wanted Myrtle to see those, but it seemed all too likely that she had.

"Luna and I are both still alive, Myrtle. You have to accept the fact that you are dead. There are just some things you can't have any more. You have to STOP behaving like this!"

"I don't have to do ANYTHING you tell me! YOU can't make me! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO ANYTHING DO YOU HEAR!" Myrtle was now screaming as loud as she could inside Harry's dream. But Harry had the upper hand. Harry was in control. It was Harry's dream, after all, and he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he remembered that, and kept his mind focused.

"Myrtle, calm down!" Harry exclaimed. "You can't keep doing these things, it's embarassing me and it's embarassing Luna. It's embarassing everyone! And anyway you're giving the house-elves too much work, cleaning up after you, and you know Hermione doesn't like that sort of thing, and you don't want someone like Hermione angry at you. Please, just be a HELPFUL ghost like you've been before, and everyone will like you. I like you a lot when you're helpful. But PLEASE, don't be like another Peeves!"

Suddenly, Myrtle was infuriated! "HOW COULD YOU COMPARE ME TO THAT HORRIBLE PEEVES!" Myrtle screamed. Her personality had switched to something completely out of character, with more malice and cruelty than she had evern shown before, like a "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" transformation. And her appearance began to change also. Her color had changed again, and smoke was once again billowing from her nostrils. But the expression on her face became one of rage and hate, and her head grew to four times its normal size. Her teeth were disproportionally large, now jagged like those of a shark. They were also a foul yellow, pocked with blackened areas of decay. Myrtle's appearance was truly frightening!

Harry kept his composure. It was still HIS dream, after all. "Myrtle, stop! Please, STOP!" he said, nearly yelling. "I'm sorry Myrtle, I really am, but I can't talk to you any more if you keep on doing these things. I don't want to have to ask Dumbledore to remove you from the school, or get the Ministry of Magic involved with you again." Harry's serious tone had a visible affect on Myrtle.

"You... you would do that?" Myrtle sobbed. Her head shrank back to its normal size, and her teeth shrank in proportion. Her personality switched back, and she had a look of both fear and concern.

"Not if I don't have to," replied Harry. "You have helped me before, and I'm grateful. I think of you as a friend, like Nearly Headless Nick, even like Hermione and Ginny and the others. But you are hurting me and hurting others that I care about. Myrtle, you have to get over your death, and recognize where you are. There are just some things you can't do now. Not any more. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is."

Myrtle's temporary return to sanity didn't last for long. She just couldn't take it any more. Inside Harry's dream she changed into a horrible gigantic monster, slightly resembling a female version of Hagrid, except for the purple and green color. Harry guessed right that Hagrid must have frightened Myrtle, for she appeared that way whenever she wanted to frighten others. Myrtle's voice got deeper, and she stank like the open end of a sewer pipe with a bad blockage. "HARRY POTTER, HOW DARE YOU!" she bellowed, like a large foghorn. Hurricane force winds shot past Harry's head. Harry would have to end this, NOW.

Forcing himself awake, Harry reached for his wand and his glasses with both hands. He did so partly out of fear, and partly out a desperate desire to end this. He saw Myrtle gliding down from the roof towards him, her eyes red and glowing, her teeth several times bigger than normal, green smoke hissing from her nose and teeth. He wouldn't have needed his glasses to know she was turning into what he had already seen in his dream. Harry waved his wand at Myrtle and used a special 'ghost banishing' spell he had learned in his study of Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was primarily used against ghosts of 'dark wizards' or those who had become insane, like Myrtle. Myrtle was quickly driven away from him. The spell forced her through the wall, as she let out a prolonged, terrifying scream. Harry hated doing that to her, but he had no choice. She was starting to turn into an evil kind of ghost, something they didn't need at Hogwarts. And he had already been given permission to use that spell on her, if the need arised. Harry knew all too well from his required studies in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes what evil ghosts were capable of, and Myrtle's escapades with the moon-orb were mild by comparison.

Ron woke up from the noise and asked what was going on. "Go to sleep, Ron," Harry said, just above a whisper so that the other's wouldn't wake up. Ron started to respond but didn't finish what he was saying before it ended in a snore. None of the others seemed to wake up, though Neville rolled over.

Harry woke the next morning, unusually refreshed. It appeared that there had been no unusual events that night. "Thank goodness nothing else happened," he thought. But of course, he was wrong. He wasn't going to get out of trouble that easily. Not with Myrtle, anyway. Heading down towards the Great Hall, Harry overheard some Ravenclaw students talking about something that had happened last night in their dormitories. "What happened?" Harry asked, with a stereotypical cluelessness. Everyone suddenly became quiet.

"It's a good chance it involves either me or Luna," he thought. "I hate to imagine what it is this time. I thought it couldn't get any worse."

Harry headed towards the Ravenclaw Common Room to find Luna. He met her halfway there. "Harry," she said, "We'd better talk before people start asking us questions."

She handed him a black and white photograph. It had obviously been doctored, and bore a resemblance to Harry and Luna 'snogging' in a rather unflattering manner. The view was badly out of focus and had many obvious inconsistencies, but looked a lot like it had been taken in the tunnel to Hogsmeade! The people in the photograph were moving in an endlessly repeating pattern, and both appeared to be naked. But with the poor focus and black and white photography, nothing could be 'seen' other than shadows. Only the faces were clearly visible, and had the look of being 'pasted' and stretched. The intent was obvious. On the back of the photograph a note had been written in a handwriting style similar to Harry's, though it was badly forged. "Dearest Luna, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! Your face, like the back side of a boar. Your lips, like the underside of a mare." And on it continued, getting progressively worse, until at the bottom it was signed 'Harry' which obviously meant him.

"Someone found it in our Common Room this morning." Luna's voice was characteristically calm, though she was visibly bothered by it. Luna was often victimized by relatively harmless pranks, and normally shrugged them off without a second thought. Apparently Luna's infinite patience had been worn thin by this latest prank.

"Malfoy..." Harry said. "He has to be connected to this. It has gone beyond simple spite. And Myrtle had to have seen us yesterday, and then told Malfoy about it. Malfoy's definitely behind it, that's a fact. But who in Ravenclaw would do his dirty work?"

"Perhaps it was Myrtle?" Luna suggested. "If she would go so far as to tell Draco about us in the tunnel, there's no reason that she wouldn't take the next step and help him to do something like this." Luna had remembered the last time Myrtle tried to 'set them up,' when Luna had to spend the night in the Room of Requirement.

"Yes, I think you're right," Harry replied. "I wouldn't have thought she would go so far as to recruit Malfoy for anything, but apparently she's not herself any more. Nearly Headless Nick suggested I allow her into my dream last night. He said that as long as I was in control, I could talk to her better, and try to resolve things. And I tried to explain everything to her, to put a stop to her attempts to control my dreams. I wanted to 'let her down' easily, but now it looks as though I might have made things worse this time."

A snyde comment flew their direction. "Hey Mr. and Mrs. Potty, nice love note." It was Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle attached like a couple of abnormal growths. They were sniggering as usual, and Malfoy's cheering section always made Malfoy even more obnoxious.

"Ooh, can I see the pretty picture?" he added, with a fake 'surprise' tone in his voice. "That's a great likeness!" If his voice had been any sweeter, Harry and Luna would've needed insulin shots. "But you shouldn't let too many people see it. That sort of thing can get you expelled, you know." Harry would have reached for his wand but Luna had carefully pressed herself against him and was now gently holding onto his hand. It was obvious that she didn't want him to face off with Malfoy. At least, not yet.

Lacking any kind of favorable response from either Harry or Luna, Malfoy and his sycophantic entourage walked off, sniggering louder than usual. "Morons," Harry said, a bit under his breath, but loud enough for Luna to hear. He could feel Luna shaking slightly. This was even testing her patience.

As if things could not have been any worse than they already were, it seemed like a number of other 'compromising photographs' were now being circulated among the students. Some were copies of the one that Harry had already seen, complete with the fake note on the back. A few showed Harry with different girls, or Luna with different boys, none of whom were recognizable. A few others had even suggested 'other kinds' of pairings, most of them very unflattering, and all with the appearance of being significantly altered. Luna brought Harry with her into the Ravenclaw Common Room, where Filch had been desperately searching for his cat, Mrs. Norris. He had finally located her in a locked closet, along with several piles of altered photographs. They unceremoniously spilled out onto the ground as Filch opened the door.

Filch's priority had been to rescue Mrs. Norris, so many of the photographs began to circulate among the students before Filch could recovered them. And apparently there had been photographs placed in many other locations where they could easily be found. This was no simple prank. It had turned into some kind of conspiracy.

Harry rhetorically asked, "Who could have produced such things?" Luna shook her head, as if to say 'I don't know.' Harry continued his running commentary. "Obviously that wasn't us. This is just unbelievable, even for someone like Malfoy. I can't believe that anyone could be this cruel."

"I can," said Luna. "My father has seen a lot of fake photographs before, even magical ones. People often try to destroy others' reputations through his newspaper. They think it's like one of the Muggle tabloids." Harry already understood how serious Luna's father was about his paper, even though many in the wizarding community considered it to be worth far less than the parchment it was printed on. It was more like 'out of the ordinary' news, and not the kind of trashy reporting that people expected.

The only student that was known to be an expert in photography was Colin Creevey. But Colin was a big fan of Harry's, and wouldn't ever consider doing anything this repulsive. Luna had a camera of her own, a miniature one, which her father had given her. It took magical photographs that were suitable for use in a newspaper, and was very easy to conceal. But Luna's camera hadn't gone missing, and she would never have done this kind of thing herself.

Needless to say, Professor McGonagall was not pleased. She had Harry and Luna sent to her office again. Professor Flitwick was already there, carefully examining one of the photos through a magnifying lens. Harry and Luna were sure they were going to receive detention for their trip down the tunnel yesterday evening, and tried hard not to 'look guilty' when they entered Professor McGonagall's office.

"Well, Harry, Luna, there's no need to concern yourselves. Neither of you is going to get into any kind of trouble. We want to find out who is responsible for the photographs." Professor McGonagall was being unusually frank with them, speaking to Harry and Luna with her 'Professor Hat' off. Harry wondered whether she had already guessed where they had been the day before. He would probably never know.

"Professor McGonagall, the only person I know of who would do something like this would be Malfoy," Harry said. "But Myrtle might have been helping him get the photos into the Ravenclaw Tower. I have no idea why Mrs. Norris was involved, unless she was going to report it to Mr. Filch." Then Harry told Professor McGonagall about Myrtle's most recent activities. He began with the incident involving the moon-orb, and what Nearly Headless Nick had recommended. Then he described what he had attempted to accomplish within his dream, and how Myrtle had reacted. Luna's ears picked up during this last part. She seemed unusually concerned about Myrtle knowing what had been happening in her dreams.

Professor Flitwick was thumbing through the various photographs, occasionally using some kind of magical device or a spell of some kind to try and uncover anything helpful. He shook his head at one point, apparently disappointed by something he saw. For a while, Professor McGonagall kept a thoughtful expression on her face, while Harry and Luna sat in silence. Finally, she spoke. "Nearly Headless Nick and I went through something similar, long ago, when I was about your age, Luna. Oh, it was harmless. He was more of a father to me than anything else, always looking out for me. His over-protectiveness kept several of the Hogwarts boys at bay for quite a while. It was not all unlike what Myrtle has done. I had a talk with Nicolas about it, and he saw the error of his ways. After that he kept his distance. He had only been looking out for what he thought was my best interests. But Nicolas is a much more mature ghost than Myrtle. And we all know that Myrtle has never responded well whenever she has been asked to behave. The Ministry of Magic threatened to punish her, and she hid herself in the bathroom for a long time afterwards. And now she's out, and bothering the students again."

Harry thought that maybe Nick understood Myrtle's problem too well. Had Nick given him bad advice because he considered his own history with Professor McGonagall first?

Professor McGonagall continued. "I'll have to speak to Professor Dumbledore about this. He may have to send Myrtle to a place where she can get treatment. There are such places for ghosts that can't deal with their death properly. It is much better to treat Myrtle's problem than be forced to 'bind' her at the Ministry of Magic."

"A nut-house for ghosts," Harry thought. That's not something Harry would have considered, but Myrtle was certainly on her way to becoming psychotic. Harry wondered if padded cells were even possible for a ghost. Then he tried to guess what 'bind' meant, and it didn't sound pleasant. Could evil ghosts even end up in Azkaban? Harry didn't want to be responsible for anything like that, and felt quite sorry for Myrtle.

Frequent whispering and occasional jeers greeted Harry and Luna as they walked through the hallways. Everyone seemed sure that they had received detention, or worse. But it didn't last for long, and had mostly been from the Slytherins anyway. They seemed to know a bit too much about the whole affair.

Valentine's day was coming, and Harry hadn't yet asked Luna to go to Hogsmeade with him. And he still needed to find out about her birthday! At lunch, Luna sat with Harry at the Gryffindor table again, so he made good use of his opportunity. But Myrtle was in the rafters again, still furious at Harry. She was no longer thinking clearly, and was about to do something rash. Peeves had been unusually cruel to Myrtle for most of the morning, while Myrtle had tried to follow Harry to his classes. Peeves had overherd Myrtle talking while she was inside Harry's dream, and heard her screaming about being compared to him. And it delighted Peeves to bother Myrtle a bit more than usual because of it. Now Myrtle was caught in a downward spiral of psychotic behavior, and was about to explode.

"Luna, where would you like to go on Valentine's Day?" Harry asked. He wanted to check with her first, but had already hoped for The Three Broomsticks.

"Anywhere is fine with me," Luna replied. It was a typical 'girl answer.' Of course what she really meant was 'pick a place first, then ask me.' It was also Luna's way of seeing whether Harry understood her well enough to choose a place that she would like to go to.

"How about The Three Broomsticks? I can send Hedwig to get reservations."

"That would be lovely," she replied. Then she added, "I'm SO glad you didn't say Madame Puddifoot's. The decor of that place makes me a little sick to my stomach." Harry laughed in response, along with a couple of other students that overheard. But several of the girls glared at her for daring to say something like that.

"But I would have gone anyway," she added. She didn't want to leave Harry with any doubts. Harry thought that Luna's blunt honesty was quite refreshing. They both started laughing, particularly when some of the girls at the Gryffindor table had given them strange looks. They would certainly have appreciated a trip to Madame Puddifoot's, just like Cho had once wanted Harry to take her there. Yet Harry's memories of that place weren't very fond, to say the least. He was quite glad that Luna hadn't set her heart on going there.

Myrtle heard the entire affair. She had often wanted to go to a place like Madame Puddifoot's, when she was alive, and she didn't like Luna toying and flirting with Harry. She didn't like Harry spending time with Luna on Valentine's day. She didn't like how close Luna was sitting next to Harry. And she especially didn't like how happy they seemed together at the moment. Then Peeves started annoying Myrtle again. Myrtle was already way past the boiling point, but she was a little afraid to do anything at the moment, especially with Professor McGonagall nearby. She had been listening in when Professor McGonagall had been talking, and didn't like the idea of being punished by the Ministry of Magic.

Not to be undone by Harry, Ron overcame his fear and asked Hermione if she would also like to go with him to The Three Broomsticks for Valentine's Day. Of course Hermione thought it would be a great idea, and they quickly decided for the four of them to go. Harry would arrange for reservations, and send Hedwig that afternoon. This time they wouldn't be going as a group, but as a pair of couples. And the four of them were quite happy about their plans.

Then Myrtle entered like a gigantic train wreck, spoiling the moment, as well as everyone's lunch. She appeared directly over the Gryffindor table, right in front of Harry. Her head began to expand again, and the green smoke came back. She screamed at the top of her voice, "HARRY HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" and cried rivers of tears all over everyone's food. She started kicking things off of the table towards Harry, and then towards Luna. Harry tried to use his wand to deflect everything, and Luna stood up and moved directly behind him. And Myrtle's smell was fouler than usual. One of the first year students almost started vomiting, which might have generated a cascade of sympathy pukes if he hadn't choked it back. It forced an early end to lunch, and angered the professors who were still there at the time. Professor McGonagall was the first to come to their rescue, and she aimed her wand at Myrtle. Myrtle fled in terror.

Harry and Luna had to leave immediately so that they could change clothes, but didn't have nearly enough time to clean up properly. Luna bore a slight strawberry stain in her hair for the remainder of the day, and they both smelled a little like Myrtle's tears. And just to make things worse, a few of the Slytherins kept throwing dungbombs behind them as they walked between their classes, or held their noses as they passed by.

It was another quiet Friday evening. Harry had finished his reading assignments, and was taking a well-deserved break from his studies. There was a paper due on Monday, but he could easily finish it in a few hours. Harry's performance had begun to slip again from overwork, and Professor McGonagall once again insisted that Harry make some time for himself. Luna had invited Harry to walk with her in the courtyard, an appropriate name for a place where other young couples like to spend their Friday evenings. The weather was slightly warm, and it was nearly Spring now. And they had eaten a quick dinner so that they could watch the sun set.

Hogwarts was supposed to be a highly disciplined learning environment, absolutely necessary for studying magic. Managing a school filled with hormonally challenged rabbits would have been impossible, so the rules of propriety kept the students' romantic activities within reasonable limits. The Hogwarts professors wanted to spend time teaching magic, not dealing with the aftermath of social interactions and students' feelings towards one another. The usual daytime dramas that upper class students typically went through would have to be dealt with on their own time, and outside of Hogwarts. This wasn't a Muggle school, after all. The recent troubles with Myrtle had resulted in some unusual shifts in the students' behavior, causing the professors to become unusually strict.

Harry and Luna walked along a path near the cliffs, where the setting sunlight reflected in interesting ways off of the lake. Ron and Hermione joined them for a bit, until the sun dropped below the horizon. The four of them were often seen together nowadays. They had joined up as a 'foursome' at The Three Broomsticks on Valentine's Day, and spent a good portion of that afternoon touring Hogsmeade together.

During lunch at The Three Broomsticks, Luna finally 'let the information out' about her birthday. Harry had been the first student at Hogwarts to ask Luna about her birthday. It was no great secret, but her birthday had just passed, and Luna didn't want to create any unnecessary tension over it. So she skillfully evaded the question. And during lunch on Valentine's day she casually mentioned it as if it were some kind of 'interesting fact.' After all, Luna's birthday was astrologically opposed to Harry's birthday, to the very day. It was something that Luna found intriguing. Professor Trelawney had recently been going over the use of astrological birth charts in Luna's Diviniation class, and had taken the time to privately point this fact out to Luna, predicting the usual doom if she spent any more time with Harry Potter.

Luna wasn't big a fan of Divination class, though she usually managed to avoid any unnecessary attention from Professor Trelawney. But the astrological position of their birthdays intrigued Luna enough that she did a little digging, and found some interesting facts. Luna gave the appearance of being rather detached about this 'matter of fact,' and never gave anyone any impression to the contrary. But Harry was pretty sure that there was more to it than Luna had let on. Luna was evading something again. Ron joked that Professor Trelawney considered everything a 'bad omen,' and they all had a laugh over it. Still, Luna knew exactly what it meant. It meant that she was Harry's 'compliment.'

After learning about Luna's birthday, Harry bought her a special 'belated birthday present,' a gold chain with a magical heart-shaped locket on it. Luna had seen it in the window of a magical jewelry shop and had stopped to gaze at it for a moment. It was one of those ''typical Valentine's Day gifts'' that so many other wizards would give to their 'significant other' at some point. And it had a special significance that Harry didn't know about, but of course Luna knew. It let the wearer re-live a special moment.

Luna was wearing her birthday present again tonight, as they toured the castle grounds in the twilight of the setting sun. Whenever she wore it, the locket would store up her feelings and the memory of her experiences. So she chose those times that she spent with Harry to be stored in the locket.

When it began to grow too dark to see properly, Ron and Hermione returned to the castle, leaving Harry and Luna by themselves again. They continued their slow pace, heading away from the castle. The nearly full moon soon began rise in the eastern sky over the height of the forbidden forest, casting eerie patterns of light over the lake. Harry recalled Luna's story about how she got her name. "It IS nice to be together like this, under the moonlight," he said.

"You would get along great with my father," Luna replied. Of all the things that Luna could say! Why would she say something like this? Harry knew all too well about the cryptic meaning that was so often behind Luna's words, and suddenly dreaded the list of implications that were entering his mind. And she had meant it exactly the way Harry had most feared. His obvious reaction let Luna know that the message had clearly been delivered.

A cool wind started blowing across the lake, and Luna began to shiver slightly. Harry began to look around for a place that would be somewhat sheltered from the wind. Then Myrtle showed up.

Myrtle wasn't angry anymore, having learned her lesson when Professor Dumbledore's had persuaded her to behave herself, for she feared the business end of his wand, and it was pointed in her direction. Professor Dumbledore had been one of Myrtle's favorite instructors at Hogwarts, but had also been involved in the Ministry's last dealings with Myrtle. He could be stern, as well as understanding. And Myrtle's memory of prior events had shaken her back to sanity. She immediately ran back to familiar ground, spending quite a bit of time sulking in the U-bend. Now, nearly a month and a half later, Myrtle had come out to meet with Harry on the grounds.

Myrtle had been working up the courage to apologize for days. With her head and eyes lowered, Myrtle quietly floated over to Harry. "I'm so sorry for the problems I caused for you, Harry," Myrtle said. She still wasn't openly acknowledging Luna's presence, but this was a lot better than before.

"It's ok, Myrtle." Harry tried not to make a big deal out of it. "We can still be friends, like before." Myrtle didn't say anything, so Harry and Luna kept walking. Myrtle quietly followed them for a bit.

"Can I just stay with you for a while?" Myrtle asked. She looked up at Harry now, and had a hungry look on her face. It was as if she wanted something desperately but knew she couldn't have it, or didn't know how to ask for it.

Harry didn't want to make the situation any worse with Myrtle. He looked over at Luna, who seemed to indicate that she didn't mind. So Harry agreed. Spring hadn't quite arrived yet, but the flowers and leaf buds were already starting to appear, and there was no snow on the ground. The moonlight reflecting off of the lake cast unusual shadows on everything around them. Myrtle quietly floated along behind Harry and Luna.

"I always dreamed I could walk in the courtyard with someone," Myrtle said. "It seems so romantic, walking in the moonlight."

"Maybe you can, Myrtle. Is there another ghost here at Hogwarts you'd like to spend time with?" Harry was hoping he might encourage Myrtle to find another love interest.

"Oh, no," Myrtle said, rather embarassed by the idea. "I couldn't do that." Then she started giggling.

Harry and Luna resumed their slow pace, holding hands. Luna walked as close as she could to Harry, in an attempt to stay warm, letting his body shield her from the cold wind from the lake. They tried their best not to look like they were ignoring Myrtle, not wanting to provoke any kind of outburst. Myrtle quietly followed behind them. But nobody else seemed to notice that Myrtle was there. Only Harry and Luna could really see her at the moment. The fading light, along with Myrtle's intent, kept Myrtle invisible from everyone else. They came to an outcropping of stones that provided a nice viewpoint over the lake, and a shelter from the wind. Harry and Luna sat down on one of the larger, flatter stones. Now they had an excellent view of the lake, and Luna snuggled up to Harry a bit to keep warm.

Professor McGonagall had always believed that a little relaxation would help your mind to better digest the material you were learning in school. And she had insisted that Harry take more time off to relax. Luna's affect on Harry was obvious. His attitude was improving along with his performance in class, and the sense of urgency that had plagued him all year was gone. Professor McGonagall didn't need to point it out to him, that without Quidditch as a helpful distraction, Harry had been slowly turning into a workaholic. Now Luna was giving Harry the kind of helpful distraction that he needed to keep him balanced, without tipping the scales too far the other way. She truly was Harry's compliment, a balancing force that made him stronger.

Mer-people had surfaced and were singing an unusual song. A unicorn was taking a drink from the edge of the lake, having ventured there from the Forbidden Forest. They could hear Grawp making noise in the distance. He stood up above the trees at one point, and the moonlight shone behind him and made him visible for miles around. Then he broke a few of the trees and went back to whatever he was doing before. Luna nudged up a little closer to Harry, no longer just trying to keep warm. But it made a nice excuse, if anyone asked.

Myrtle sat down behind Harry and Luna, far enough away that her presence was nearly forgotten, but close enough that she could easily sense their emotions. She was contemplating her next move, unsure how to go about it. She didn't want to upset Harry, and was willing to at least tolerate Luna. Myrtle began to think of ways in which she might wedge herself between them somehow, both literally and figuratively. If they were going to be together, it would have to be a threesome, at least for now. But Harry and Luna were sitting so close! Myrtle missed being alive, more than a little envious of the couples out walking in the light of the rising moon. She still hadn't gotten over her infatuation with Harry. And she was desperate for the kind of love that Harry and Luna so obviously had for one another. Myrtle's death came at the worst possible age, and like an abused child she had never really 'grown up.' She slowly floated towards Harry, thinking about how much she wanted to be Luna right now.

Without any warning, Malfoy showed up. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind him. Malfoy began by uttering his usual obnoxious commentary. "Look, it's 'the Pottys!' Did you bring your pet ghost with you this time, Potty?" They couldn't see that Myrtle was standing next to them in the shadow of a nearby tree, nor could they see how angry she appeared at the moment.

Myrtle jumped directly between Harry and Malfoy. Malfoy jumped back, looking a bit shocked. An uncomfortable silence passed. "What do YOU want?" Malfoy said, with an unusually arrogant tone. It made Harry realize that there must have been some past dealings between them.

"I want you to leave us alone, Draco," Myrtle said. She didn't even sound angry. She just said it.

"What do you mean, 'us?'" Draco inquired, with a snyde look on his face. "Is there some threesome thing you're all into now?" Crabbe and Goyle started laughing. They obviously thought this was quite funny. Draco turned and cupped his hand to his mouth, yelling "Hey, look, it's Potty and his two looney lovers!" A few students looked in their general direction for a moment. "You know something Potty? I just can't figure out how you can, you know, DO it with a ghost. Why don't you take a picture for us next time?" Crabbe and Goyle were now laughing hysterically.

Harry had mostly kept his back towards Malfoy, but now turned and looked straight into Malfoy's face. "You don't know when to quit, do you Malfoy?"

"You don't know when to speak, do you Potty?" Malfoy thought he had the upper hand at the moment, and there were three of them, and only one Harry Potter. Malfoy didn't believe that Luna was worth being concerned about, even though she was a member of the DA, and had once faced his father and the other Death Eaters. Like so many others, he believed she was just 'looney' and therefore an unworthy opponent. Both Crabbe and Goyle already had their wands out, though they tried to hide that fact by keeping their hands cupped behind their legs. Draco could quickly reach his own wand at any time, like a kind of 'quick draw' contest between gunfighters. Harry was still sitting with his back turned, not a good position for attacking or defending with a wand. It would be easy to take Harry Potter this time! Or, so he thought.

Obvious that Malfoy wasn't going to go away any time soon, Harry began reaching for his wand. He was more than confident that he could manage to jynx the three of them without even speaking a word. Dumbledore's wand work against Voldemort had impressed Harry so much that he had been studying 'wordless magic' on his own time. "Their next spell will backfire right in their faces," he thought. But Luna had already pressed her body against Harry, covering his wand like before. She had done this so carefully that Harry didn't even notice until his hand touched her shoulder. To Malfoy and the others, it looked a bit like she was trying to take cover behind Harry, as if she were afraid. But Harry clearly understood her message.

"This will be fun," Malfoy thought. He still wanted to get even for Harry's role in sending his father to Azkaban. He poised himself with his open hand to one side like a gunfighter, imagining his glorious victory.

But Myrtle wasn't going to allow Malfoy to stand there and say such things about her Harry! Her color suddenly changed to the familiar greenish purple. Her head and body swelled, her teeth grew even larger than before, and greenish smoke rhythmically blasted from between her teeth and out of her nostrils. She charged at Malfoy like a raging bull. Malfoy jumped back as Myrtle rushed him, obviously scared out of his wits. He nearly fell backwards over Crabbe and Goyle, who couldn't back up fast enough to get out of Malfoy's way. Smoke and stench blasted forth as Myrtle rushed towards them. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle turned and ran like frightened squirrels towards the castle, smelling a bit worse than Myrtle's characteristic sewer-smell. They had apparently created a smell of their own.

This time it was Harry and Luna's turn to laugh, and they did so, rather loudly. Luna hung onto her stomach, and fell onto her back at one point. Harry thought she might be concealing something in her hand. "That was excellent, Myrtle. Thanks!" said Harry, honestly complimenting her. Myrtle returned to her normal self, a bit surprised at Harry's reaction.

"Did you really like that?" Myrtle asked. She became quite pleased with herself, forgetting everything that she had been thinking about earlier. Harry was happy with her now! And that made Myrtle happy. Myrtle soon forgot about her other plans. Making Harry happy was better than all of them.

"You gave those 3 bullies a taste of their own potion," Luna remarked, "and rather brilliantly. Nice form!"

Myrtle's attitude towards Luna changed that day. Seeing Harry happy made Myrtle happy. From now on, she would only do things that made Harry happy. Myrtle smiled, hummed to herself, and returned to the castle, quite pleased with how things had turned out.

"Luna, how did you know?" Harry asked, after a prolonged silence. Harry saw Luna put something into a hidden pocket in her wizard's robe, and correctly guessed what it was.

"I had a feeling, that's all," Luna replied. "Ravenclaw isn't known for fighting skills like Gryffindor, but makes up for it with knowledge and intuition. I know you could have easily dealt with Draco Malfoy and the others, and they would have been very sorry for it. Even all three of them together are no match for you, especially from all of the studying and practicing you do." Her opinion of Harry's ability was obviously very high. "Like all bullies, Draco and the others are nothing more than cowards. Myrtle knew, and proved it the best way she knew how."

Just how much had Luna known beforehand? Harry marveled at Luna's keen insight and ability to remain cool in difficult situations. Because of Luna, everything had worked out quite well. Luna had somehow 'saved the day.' It was certain that Harry and Luna hadn't seen the last of Draco Malfoy and his entourage. But after witnessing that last scene, it didn't matter any more. And for some unknown reason, Luna had brought her miniature camera with her that evening, and had put it to good use.

"Angry Ghost Chases Death Eaters' Sons," read the headline in the following issue of 'The Quibbler.' It became one of the more popular issues among Hogwarts students. Along with the photograph was an article about Moaning Myrtle and how she died, and how the Dark Lord, aka Tom Riddle, had been involved. The article also mentioned Harry's involvement with the Chamber of Secrets, and the clearing of Hagrid's name. It ended with Myrtle finally leaving the U-bend and dealing with curcumstances surrounding her death. Myrtle's surviving family members even received a number of sympathetic letters, for the article revealed Myrtle's real name. And Myrtle had really been a member of Slytherin, not Ravenclaw, like everyone had once thought. And the article made it sound as though she were chasing the sons of Death Eaters as a way of avenging her death, for Myrtle never liked Draco Malfoy or any of the other Slytherins whose parents were Death Eaters. And there was never any doubt about who wrote the article, for Luna's name was in the byline.

Harry's unofficial Hogwarts 'fan girl club' kept following him as before, only now they were getting a bit voyeurish. For some reason, a rumor began to circulate that Harry and Luna were engaged to be married. It gave Harry's 'fan girl club' something to swoon over whenever he and Luna were seen expressing any kind of romantic familiarity towards one another. They even spent some of their time in Hogsmeade at the Hog's Head with their hoods up, to avoid being seen. And Harry was never sure who might have started that rumor. He suspected that it was Luna. Was it her way of 'dropping a hint' on him? But at least the worst of the gossip and the malicious pranks had finally stopped. Anything else would simply be 'normal.'

Harry and Luna often teamed up with Ron and Hermione, and they adopted the name 'Junior Marauders' and gained a reputation worthy of the original four. At Snape's insistence, Draco Malfoy left them alone, particularly after Malfoy had spent half a day in the Hospital Wing being cured of no less than a dozen different curses. Several DA members saw him trying to curse the 'Junior Marauders' behind their backs, and had taken the opportunity to test their new skills in a rapid-fire demonstration. Before Malfoy knew what hit him, he was coughing up slugs, breaking out in boils, growing hair all over his face, shaking uncontrollably, and his eyelids were swollen shut from a triple-dose of conjunctivitis. Of course, none of the other students had 'seen anything' and so there was no blame, and only Professor Snape was in any way upset by it. And Myrtle had been seen floating around the area, apparently pleased with herself for some reason.

Luna became very familiar with the Marauder's map, occasionally keeping it in her posession for days at a time. Harry could never say no to her, so Luna would often take advantage of him, borrowing his things or taking him on side trips around the castle. The Marauder's Map's ability to hide itself intrigued Luna very much. She often studied it, trying to discover its secrets, and more than once attempted to create something like it on her own. On one occasion, Luna managed to borrow Harry's invisibility cloak while Harry was studying for his end of term exams. She was supposed to be studying for her N.E.W.T.s. Instead, she carefully ran some extendible ears from the Main Entry Hall into the Slytherin Common Room. They provided excellent entertainment for a number of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students until Professor Snape found them and had them removed. Harry didn't ask where she had gotten them, either.

Malfoy never lived down having his photograph in 'The Quibbler,' and now hated Luna Lovegood as much as he hated Harry Potter. At that time Myrtle had taken an extra special 'liking' to Draco Malfoy, frequently exploding the toilet beneath him, or raining some foul-smelling liquid on his head when he was taking a shower. Malfoy's remaining time at Hogwarts would be regularly plagued with this sort of thing unless he apologized and stopped harassing Harry. Myrtle often went into the prefect's bathroom, forcing Malfoy to use the bathroom in the Slytherin dormitory to avoid her. But Crabbe and Goyle often received the same kind of 'special attention' as Malfoy did, so the Slytherin dormitory bathroom was no safer for Malfoy. When Peeves had misbehaved while Umbridge ran Hogwarts, the professors had a tendency to overlook it. Now they overlooked Myrtle's misbehavior when it came to Draco Malfoy and his goon squad.

Malfoy had annoyed Snape to the point where Snape would no longer stand up for him. Crabbe and Goyle were already on academic probation, and would get kicked out of Hogwarts after their sixth year if they didn't shape up. Snape simply told Malfoy that he would have to learn how to deal with Myrtle on his own. Malfoy would have to stop relying on other people to do his 'dirty work' for him. It was Professor Snape's opinion that Malfoy had exhibited the worst qualities of Slytherin, while Myrtle had exhibited the best. And Myrtle wasn't really doing anything worse than Peeves at the moment, so there was no need for Snape (or anyone else) to get involved. Nor did Myrtle need another counseling session from Professor McGonagall. Professor Snape had grown to like Myrtle's style, her way of remaining hidden in the shadows, and manipulating things in her own favor.

It seemed to everyone that Myrtle had finally gotten over the trauma surrounding her death. She stopped her endless sulking and even spent some time with the other ghosts. A new rumor said that Myrtle and Peeves had often been seen together, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was an unlikely match to be sure. Peeves had never been alive, so he wasn't really a ghost. But both Peeves and Myrtle enjoyed annoying Malfoy together, so they formed an interesting partnership that kept them together more often than not.

Everything at Hogwarts was finally returning to normal, the continuing war against the Death Eaters notwithstanding. The end of the term soon came, and Harry and Luna promised to write frequently and meet at The Burrow as soon as Harry could get away from the Dursleys. Harry's seventeenth birthday was approaching, and he would be able to get his Apparition license, and do magic unsupervised. He and Luna would spend a lot of time together this summer! And the Dursleys might even have to entertain some 'special guests' until Harry could finally move into the house on Grimmauld Place.

But Myrtle would still be waiting for Harry, hiding among the rafters at Hogwarts, listening inside the walls, standing behind closed doors. She had not entirely given up on him. She would continue patrolling the Gryffindor tower, watching, waiting, hoping that her Harry might someday change his mind. And there was still plenty of room for both of them in the U-bend, which she still considered to be her home. She would always remain at Hogwarts, and wait for Harry.