Faery Heroes

Chapter 25: Mistaken Memory

Disclaimer: Was the Quidditch season canceled during the Triwizard Tournament, even though there wasn't a single good reason for it? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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Harry had already entered the Room of Requirement when he took notice of its appearance. He backed out slowly, shutting the door with care.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, her face a study in consternation.

He raised a finger to ward off her questions. Closing his eyes, he paced in front of the door three times; he was unhappy but not at all shocked when he looked again to discover that it had not changed from the wide wooden circle they had first spotted. He squared his shoulders and walked in once more. "Luna, love, you are never getting to configure the Room again."

"Aww," the blonde groaned from her bubble bath in the middle of the forest clearing. "Why not?"

He slapped away a fist-sized winged acorn that flew in front of his face and pointed at the pink and gold mushroom that had been hollowed out to form the tub. "Because I feel like I'm in bloody Wonderland."

"And that's a bad thing... why?"

"This is what I like to call the 'rejection stage'," Hermione piped in as she began stripping off her uniform. "I'm surprised you're only just now experiencing it, but this is the first time she's ever had control of a room that can make whatever she imagines real. That is more than just about anyone can handle on short notice."

"So why are you so relaxed?" he retorted.

She shrugged placidly. "You have a greater tolerance for the Lovegood brand of insanity than I do. I went past rejection and straight into denial. As far as I'm concerned, either the hallucinations will end on their own like they normally do, or I'll finally find myself safe in a straightjacket and surrounded by padded walls." Now nude, she walked past him and climbed into the mushroom.

He sighed before shucking off his clothes and joining the girls as well. The water was just short of scalding, guaranteeing that they would look like steamed lobsters when they climbed out. In short, the perfect temperature for a magical hot tub. Though not generally a fan of bubbles, Harry was quite glad they were there; he had no desire to see what water sitting inside an overgrown fungus looked like.

His second sigh was much more content.

Luna giggled on his right and reached over the brunette at her other side to grab a wooden goblet from the lurid orange caterpillar... hand... thing holding it. "Thank you, Constance." The major domo inclined its six-and-one-third heads before melting away in a river of loud sourness. "So, did Snape have a stroke when you declared blood feud?"

"No, unfortunately," Hermione responded, relaxing into her girlfriend's shoulder. "Though he did get so mad that he tried to cut off Harry's head."

"The big one or the important one?"

He snorted. "You would say that. Luna, maybe you can clear something up for us. When Snape was casting, he screamed and grabbed his chest —" The girl's sharp nod cut him off.

"Like he was about to have a heart attack? I sometimes forget that there are still things about the Wizarding world you two don't know. What you saw was his magic reacting to him working against his life debt. Since he owed your father, and now owes you, his life, he can't actively try to kill you. I'm guessing whatever spell he used missed you?" At his affirmation, she continued, "Had it connected, even if you only got a scratch from it, his heart would have literally exploded in his chest. As it is, he got a stern warning not to do that again."