A Bad Feeling
The war hadn’t been easy on anybody, especially not the heroes who ended it. Harry was flipping through the pages of books in Grimmauld Place’s vast library. Looking away from the book, he glanced to the couple opposite to him on the table. Hermione was deep into the book, not sparing a moment to look away, the pile of books she had read continued to grow. Ron, who was beside her was the opposite. He was rubbing his eyes, doing his best not to drop the book and doze off. Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Harry’s face, before it was replaced by a frown.
After the battle against Voldemort, Harry had never been at ease. He felt that something wasn’t right. For most of his life, Voldemort was always a threat. A peaceful childhood was a foreign concept to Harry. From the cruel Dursley’s to the terrors of Voldemort, Harry’s life was dangerous to say the least. But now here he was, with his companions. Reading books, teasing each other, drinking coffee. It was great. And that’s what made him uneasy.
The boy who lived—that was a title he had heard so much his entire life. After defeating Voldemort, people had begun calling him a savior. Harry closed the book he was reading and slumped back on his chair with a sigh. Then he heard the door open, making him quickly turn his head. A girl with long, ginger hair entered the library carrying four cups of coffee. Ginny walked over handing their cups of coffee.
“Come on now bookworms, take your eyes off those books and have some coffee.”
Ron immediately brightened at her words, setting the book he was reading, well at least tried to. He accepted the coffee graciously.
“Ginny my savior. It’s at times like these that I think about how lucky I am to have you.”
“I agree with Ron. Thanks Ginny. I’m lucky to have you.” Harry chimed.
Ginny’s cheeks colored pink at Harry’s words. Harry’s chuckled at this, his gaze towards the three was warm. Harry had begun to feel lost ever since his victory against Voldemort. He spent his entire life under constant threat, he could hardly believe that he had found peace. Looking at the scene in front of him, Harry felt safe. Too safe. Ron and Hermione, who had stuck by him from day one. Ginny, his lovely sweetheart, who he loved most. Almost everything he cared about was right here—yet he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he might lose them. He sighed and took a sip of coffee as Ginny sat beside him.
“So, have you discovered what you were looking for, Harry?”
“What are we actually even searching for?” Hermione asked.
Harry pinched the bridge of his and rubbed the scar on his forehead. “Honestly… I don’t even know anymore. It just feels like something is wrong. I thought maybe Grimmauld would have the answer, but we’ve been here for days with no luck.”
Ginny ran her hand though Harry’s hair. “I know, Harry. It’s not easy getting used to life after experiencing such a war. But you’re not alone. We’re always here with you. Me, Ronald, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasly family will be there for you.
“She’s right, Harry. We’re your family. We’re always here for you. No matter what.” Putting the book she was holding with the others. Hermione smiled as she sipped her coffee
“Well, as long it’s not reading anymore of these bloody books.” Ron added.
Hermione gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. Their laughter echoed through the library. Harry shook his head. “Thank you. And don’t worry, Ron. Just a little more and you’ll be free of this suffering.”
Harry stood up from his chair and walked towards the shelf, looking through the various books and tomes. In the corner of his eye, something caught his attention. Dust had gathered on one of the shelves. Although the library was quite old, Kreacher had always made sure to keep the entire Grimmauld Place spotless. Harry walked towards the shelf and blew away the dust covering the books. Harry was sure the diligent elf would’ve made sure to clean every nook and cranny. He reached out, grabbing one of the books. On the cover, a single word was displayed. Demonics. Harry’s eyes widened, his hands grasping the book trembled. He didn’t know the reason, but Harry had feeling that he once he saw the contents this book, the life once knew would fall to disarray.
“Harry? What do you have there?”
The words of Ron woke him from his stupor. He walked to the table and slammed the Demonics on the table. “I think I may have found what I was looking for.”
Their gazes shifted towards the book. It’s cover was made from onyx black scales, on it the words Demonics was written in crimson.
“Demonics? As in... Demons from the myths of muggles?” Ron sent him a questioning look. “Mate, are you sure that this is what we’re looking?”
“I don’t know. But it probably is. It has to be. I found it in a shelf over there. There was dust all over it.”
“Dust? I though Kreacher was supposed to clean the entire place.” Ron moved closer to Harry. “Well, come on then. Open it up and let’s see.”
Placing his trembling hand on the scaly cover of the book, he slowly flipped it open. On the first page of the book, a gruesome picture was depicted. A creature, body like that of a man, attached to it instead of a head was the skull of a goat. It’s bat-like wings blocking out the sun. Beneath it various horrors were shown. Snakes devouring children whole, men feasting on the bodies of their wives, mothers drinking the blood of their children, wolves tearing apart people limb from limb, men chained to burning trees, but the most terrifying part of the image—was that it was not illustrated or drawn. Everything about it was realistic. The blood, the faces of horror and madness. They were too real to have been drawn with imagination.
The eyes of the four widened at the horrific scene. It was like glimpsing into hell itself. A heavy silence enveloped the entire library, until Ron broke the silence. “Bloody fuckin hell… what in Merlin’s name is that?” He covered his mouth, gagging as his lunch nearly rose from his stomach. Normally, Hermione would’ve scolded her boyfriend for his uncouth choice of words; right now though she couldn’t agree more. Her quivering gaze remained on the book, her mind unable to come up with any words to describe the image other than nightmarish. Ginny gripped Harry’s hand intensely, and much like her brother, she covered her mouth, as the food nearly rose out her mouth.
The gaze of the four couldn’t leave the book. Eventually Hermione spoke up, “Harry, whatever knowledge this book holds… it can’t be good.”
Ginny nodded her head at Hermione’s words. “How did the family of Black even acquire such a book? It feels like it’s looking straight at us.”
A heavy silence hung over the library, thick with unspoken fear. No one moved. No one breathed. The horrors on the page seemed to pulse, almost alive beneath their gaze.
And then—
“That’s not very safe to have lying around.”
The sudden voice made them all jump, raising their wands at the source of the voice. Standing behind them with a friendly smile, Luna Lovegood waved her hand and greeted them.
“Hello, Harry. Hello, Hermione. Hello, Ron. Hello, Ginny.”
Her wand was tucked behind her ear, and she wore a set of mismatched earrings—one shaped like a star, the other like a tiny silver crescent moon. Her wide, unblinking eyes flickered from the book to Harry, then to the others, as if nothing about the situation was unusual. They lowered their wands, letting out sighs of relief at seeing their friend.
“Luna? How did you get here? We almost hurt you.” Ginny was the first to speak up.
Luna tilted her head slightly. “Kreacher let us in. We thought we’d visit. I told him we’d find something… peculiar.” Her gaze fell back to the book, and for the first time, her usual airy expression shifted—just a fraction. A proud smile plastered on her face.
“Wait, wait, wait. Luna—you know what this thing is? And what do you mean we?”
“She means me.” A voice came from the shadows beyond the doorway. A tall figure stepped forward. His posture was relaxed, almost lazy, but there was an unmistakable sharpness in his gaze as his eyes flickered across the group before settling on the book.
The eyes of Harry and his friends widened at the arrival of the figure. They recognized him. Lumian Dante. Their old Griffindor housemate. His long, black hair, tied into a ponytail. His red eyes sparkling like rubies, still radiated the same confidence they had when they were at school.
“Hello there, fellow griffins.” He greeted with a nod.
“Lumian!” Harry exclaimed running a hand through his message hair, his face displaying his confusion at the situation. They had never interacted much with Lumian. He mostly kept to himself, with only a few friends he usually hung out with. Still he was quite popular among the ladies. His aura of mystery and confidence had a way of drawing in women. One of their memorable interactions was during Tri-Wizard Tournament’s Yule Ball, when he along with Fred and George, attempted a prank that would dye everyone’s clothes a bright green from head to toe. Though this ultimately, as they were caught by Snape before they could even attempt it. Before the beginning of the final battle he had wondered what had become of him. He wasn’t present during the battle, nor did he see him evacuate. He simply vanished. But now here he was, standing before them, appearing from thin air.
He turned his gaze towards the two Weasly’s, his gaze turning sympathetic. “I’m really sorry about what happened… to Fred. He was a great friend, one of the few that I liked.”
The siblings eyes shook at his words. “Thanks, Lumian. It means a lot.” Clutching Harry’s hand, Ginny questioned Lumian. “Where have you been this whole time? George thought that … you had died as well.”
“How did you even get in? Kreacher should’ve informed me first before letting someone in.” Harry asked.
Kreacher stepped out from behind Lumian, head drooping, eyes guilty. “Kreacher is sorry, master. They just barged in here and Kreacher was glued to his place by some sort of invisible force.” Luna looked down at the elf’s guilty expression, then shifted her gaze to Lumian, her eyes narrowed. “See, I told you we should have just knocked on the door or used floo powder. But you just had to show your magic off.” She crouched down beside Kreacher, giving him a warm smile, “Sorry about that, sir. You see this man here just has that effect on magical creatures. So, you don’t have to feel guilty about that.”
Kreacher’s ear perked up at her words. “Kreacher likes this girl, master.”
Looking at Luna’s kind demeanor, Harry’s lips curled up into a smile. Harry was relieved that despite the loss of her father, Luna remained the kind and gentle person she always had been. Though one thing did take Harry by surprise—that was the way Luna had scolded and glared at Lumian for his behavior. Even towards her bullies Luna hadn’t displayed any sort of ill intent, instead treating them with kindness and respect. This was the first time Harry had ever seen the girl display her discontent with the way someone else acted. He didn’t know if that meant they’re relationship was close enough for Luna to act like that or if it was so bad that even Luna reacted to his actions.