Harry sighed as he entered the Sphinx Club room following his normal rounds. He walked over to the chalkboard they had set up and crossed off a hidden passage on the third floor. His attempts to find the lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw had continued going nowhere, and it was starting to get to him. Sighing, Harry cast the spell that allowed the chalkboard to cycle through the various 'saved' diagrams they had made, moving up and down the various levels of Hogwarts as he tried to find something, anything that would stand out to him as a place that Voldemort would have hidden the Diadem.
'It shouldn't be that hard.' Harry thought as the images spread out before him, his mind constructing a representation of the castle before him. 'I know a lot about Tom, more than almost anyone should, but… it still feels so difficult, how could he hide so much from me?' Harry wondered. His hand subconsciously drifted to the scar on his head. It had been fading steadily for the past couple years, still readily visible in the light, but no longer the sharp red it had once been. Now it was a light pink, and seemed to get lighter and lighter each day. Some appearance of it was likely to always stay, but it wouldn't be the brand it had been before. It was the mark of his connection to the Dark Lord, a symbol that he had once tainted Harry's body with his own soul. It was perhaps far too ironic that it was through Tom Riddle's own actions that Harry's body had been cleansed of that blight. Harry's mind raced, wondering what he could be missing. What more could he do to find the lost Diadem?
"A knut for your thoughts?" Luna asked as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his back. She took a deep breath as she held him, squeezing him ever tighter. "I imagine I can guess them though."
"Probably, you are far too perceptive for your own good sometimes." Harry said with a light chuckle as he turned around and wrapped his arms around his youngest lover. "I'm just worried we haven't found the Diadem yet. We're so close, but until we find it… well everything else will be kind of pointless."
"I know you're frustrated Harry, but we are doing all we can." Luna said, as she stood up on her tiptoes and placed a quick peck on his lips. "I believe I'll call in my privileges as your betrothed. When was the last time you took a day off searching for the Diadem?"
"Valentine's Day." Harry responded, looking down at her. "I was a bit too busy making sure each of you had a nice day that I didn't even look around the castle at all."
"Harry, that was over a month ago." Luna said, lightly bonking her fist against his head. "You're taking another day off tomorrow, and you will not be searching anymore tonight. You need to rest, to think about something else. You're more than this hunt, more than just a weapon against Voldemort. You're my dearest betrothed, the love of my life, and I do not want you to drive yourself to obsession out of some sense of duty. I'll not have you become so focused you die and haunt these halls. Ravenclaw already has our own house ghost, we will not be getting another." Luna pulled him to the couch, pushing him down on it, and covering his body with hers like a blanket. "Now, you are going to cuddle me, and if I hear any mention of work, I will bonk you."
"But…" Harry started, but Luna's fist bonked his head. It wasn't a rough gesture, truthfully she barely tapped him, but the message was clear. "Alright, you win."
"Good. I'm glad you understand." Luna said, as she snuggled into him. "You're very warm you know."
"So you girls keep saying." Harry muttered as he wrapped his arms around the younger girl, letting her settle into his embrace.
The next day, Luna made sure to tell Hermione, Padma, and Daphne that Harry was not allowed to search the castle at all, and that they were to make sure he didn't. Daphne was, of course, more than happy to direct Harry's attention elsewhere for the day, and with Hermione and Padma's help, they were able to keep him rather busy. Luna was ever so grateful for her sisters, as that was what they were to her now. Sister-wives might be slightly more appropriate as a term, but the core was there. Hermione, Padma, Daphne, Susan, and Fleur were her sisters, her family, just as Harry and her father were her family, and someday she would have some children of her own, and they would be family too. Harry had given her all of that, and she constantly found herself unable to repay him for that. Today though, she had an idea of something she could do to even the scales just a touch.
Luna had known that Harry had spoken to a few of the ghosts about places Tom Riddle may have been as a student, but she also knew that his meeting with the Grey Lady hadn't gone very well at all. Truly, she had all but refused to speak with him, as she did with many students of Hogwarts. Luna had noticed that the Grey Lady tended to hide herself away from those students who seemed too ambitious. Not just in the Slytherin sense, but the kind that seemed as though they might one day change the world. Those who could wield their intelligence, cunning, and charisma towards their ends. Harry wouldn't have noticed, given that he surrounded himself with people like that, and he himself was one. Harry would do great things, Luna knew, and she also knew that all the tools he needed to do so were already in his grasp. When Harry spoke, people listened. He had this charisma and gravitas to him that meant that people were naturally drawn to him. Luna knew that without Harry, the Sphinx Club would have never formed, as no one else could manage to unite them in quite the same way. Such made him exactly the kind of student that the Grey Lady would avoid. Such a thing had always piqued Luna's interest, as to her mind, Harry represented some of the best of what a Ravenclaw would be, and would certainly be something that the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw would be happy to see.
Her words last night had brought the Grey Lady back to her mind. She was the Ravenclaw house ghost, and the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, as well as someone who had owned the Diadem in her life. If it was in the building, there was certainly no way she would not know where it was. The Grey Lady would shy away from Harry, but Luna enjoyed a rather cordial relationship with the ghost, and would see if she could succeed where others had failed.
Helena Ravenclaw's ghost had a deep fondness for a specific alcove on the third floor, one that had a lovely view over the lake, and could also see the blue roof of Ravenclaw tower. It was truly no surprise that she loved this spot, Luna did as well. She made a mental note to bring Harry here for a snogging session at some point, but refocused her attention back to her current task. "Lady Ravenclaw, may I speak with you?" Luna asked, her tone cordial and respectful.
"I suppose you may." The Grey Lady spoke, her voice a thousand cold echoes of a tortured past. Long conversations with the ghosts were often draining, only Nearly Headless Nick managed to maintain enough life in his voice to not cause great discomfort during longer talks. "You are a special one. Mother would have loved you quite a lot. You would certainly be a favorite of hers."
Luna couldn't help but smile at that. Despite repeated praise from Harry, her sisters, and her other friends, Luna often found it hard to feel as though she was very special at all. She didn't think she was as smart as Hermione, as beautiful as Fleur, as passionate as Padma, as witty as Daphne, or as kind as Susan. She was used to them saying such nice things to her, but to hear it from someone else she admired certainly helped her. "I am grateful to hear that. I would like to ask you about something. My friends and I, we're looking for something, and I think you might know where it is."
The Grey Lady paused for a moment as she looked over Luna, the apparition's eyes digging into her for a moment. "What are you looking for?" She asked after a moment, the sad kindness gone, her tone now laced with an edge that sent a shiver down Luna's spine. She wouldn't falter though. Harry needed her to come through, and she would do anything for him.
"Your mother's diadem." Luna said simply. "We know that someone else found it in the past. We need to know where they hid it."
"I will not speak of it." The Grey Lady said, her voice gaining a much harder edge. The soft spoken woman was gone, a vengeful spirit in her place. "It is now a broken, twisted thing. Unfit for purpose."
"That is why we want to find it." Luna said, pleading with the specter. "We wish to see it cleansed. To remove the darkness within it."
"You say we, who is this other?" The Grey Lady asked.
Luna smiled as she twisted the ring on her finger. "Harry Potter. My betrothed. My love."
"He is making you do this, isn't he? That is all men do. They take, and take, and take, and give nothing in return. I've seen him speak with the Bloody Baron. I know he is just like him. Just like the boy who befouled my mother's diadem. Ambitious, more concerned with themselves than those around them." The Grey Lady spat, true distaste and disdain in her voice. "You should leave before he takes even more from you."
"I believe that is where you are wrong." Luna said, a quiet determination in her voice. "My dear Harry takes nothing from me, I give him my love freely, and he returns it. He's granted me friends, family, a future. All things I worry I would not have had without him."
"He's made you dependent. Shaped your world around him. He's groomed you to be his perfect little pet, hasn't he?" The Grey Lady said, concern and anger in equal measure. "I've seen this Harry in the company of many girls. He's been unfaithful."
"He has not. Unfaithful would imply I do not know of his relationship with them, that I do not approve and support. Those girls are my sisters, not by blood, but by love. By the love we share for Harry, by the love we give each other. They are my family, my support. They took me in, gave me the tools to be a better me than I could have been without them, and expected only my friendship in return. I was not groomed to be Harry's lover. I fell for him of my own desires. I was not forced to view his other betrothed as my sisters, I loved them all on my own. Harry is not Tom Riddle. He is not the Bloody Baron. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. I love him wholeheartedly, and it is for him, for all of us, that I wish to find the Diadem, so that we may have a future together. That I may one day have children of my own that I can watch grow and fall in love. That I may watch them ride the train to Hogwarts, so they may become whoever they will become." Luna said, her gaze locked on the Grey Lady, her petite body coiled and ready to pounce like a panther.
The Grey Lady could feel her determination. Could see the love and care she had for Harry and her sisters. She looked down for a moment in reflection, before turning back to Luna. "Bring him to me. I shall speak with him alone. Should I deem him worthy… I'll tell him where the Diadem is."
Luna's eyes widened, and a massive grin stretched across her face. "Of course, my lady. I'll bring him, and I know he will pass your tests. Thank you so much." Luna bowed, before rushing off.
When Luna told Harry she had found the Diadem, he was wrought with many emotions. On one hand, he'd felt inadequate, which then made him feel angry that it was among the first things he felt. Truthfully he should feel ecstatic that it was found, and happy for Luna for doing so, but he couldn't help that monster inside of him that still made him feel useless for not doing it himself. That Vernon shaped self-doubt monster that still ran through his head, that despite all the good he did, all the friends he made, all the love he found, told him he wasn't deserving of it. That he wasn't doing enough to earn it, that he could never do enough to earn it, because he simply wasn't born worthy of it.
Luna's smile though… well it pushed the Vernon away. It told him that regardless of deserving it, he had it. He had this beautiful, ethereal angel of a girl who loved him, and knew that there were five other equally stunning girls who loved him just as much.
Harry steeled himself as he made his way to the Grey Lady's alcove. Truthfully, he had no idea what her tests would be. Luna hadn't known, and while Harry could make some guesses, Daphne had, probably correctly, realized that if left to his own devices, Harry would imagine a much more difficult test than what would be put in front of him, and enter an anxiety-filled overpreparing rampage. That was deemed unnecessary at this time. The hard part of their quest was over, they knew, by proxy, where the Diadem was, and it was only a matter of getting someone to reveal that information. With it being within Hogwarts, that limited the difficulty of getting it from wherever it was quite a bit. Hogwarts was many things, but it wasn't likely to personally injure its students. Even the moving staircases always made sure students were safe on them.
The ghost of Helena Ravenclaw glowered at Harry, and he stood as tall as he could beneath her gaze. Truthfully, she wasn't quite as good at glowering as McGonagall or Snape. Maybe it was her soft, beautiful features that made it sting less. Truthfully, Harry thought she looked a lot like an older Luna, and only dissimilar to the pictures Harry had seen of Pandora Lovegood in that the Grey Lady had dark hair compared to the platinum blonde of the late Lovegood matriarch. "You've come, I see." She spoke softly, an edge to her voice. Not harsh, but uncomfortable.
"I have, my lady." Harry said, maintaining his respects. This was his House Ghost after all. Theoretically meant to be the spectral guide for students of the house, the everpresent ethereal caretakers who watched over students, providing assistance in navigating the castle, or being sources of advice for things they would never tell a living soul. The Grey Lady often discharged her duties more indirectly than Nearly-Headless-Nick, who was considered the most outgoing of the house ghosts, preferring to subtly guide her charges as opposed to directly take action. To that end, this encounter Harry was having with her was unique. He could hardly remember her ever speaking to him in his five years here. "Luna has told me you know the location of your mother's diadem."
"Indeed I do." She said, her voice clipped, although it still maintained its ethereal echo. The air seemed to drop multiple degrees, and it was all Harry could do to not shiver. He wouldn't back down though. He wouldn't let her scare him. Looking at her face gave him all the power he needed to go on. In her face, he saw Luna, an older, wiser Luna, and he knew he had to succeed here, so he could live to see Luna herself bear that face. "What I do not know is whether I should allow you to know its location."
Harry nodded at that. "I've heard stories about the Diadem. How wearing it would supposedly bestow the wisdom of Rowena Ravenclaw herself on its wearer." Harry said, locking eyes with her. "You are worried what someone with ill intentions might do with this power, I assume."
"Half-correct, but still half-incorrect." The Grey Lady spoke, as she swooped around him, the ghastly beauty sizing him up. "My greatest fears in that regard have already come to pass. It has been misused, corrupted beyond measure. By a boy much like you." She settled herself in front of him. "I have seen you for many years, boy. I have watched as you followed in the footsteps of the one who corrupted it so. I watched as you gained power, corrupted people to your side, made yourself indispensable, with a small army incapable of telling you no. You're a danger. The kind of ambitious slime who I have hated for so long. Like that Bloody Baron. Like Salazar. Like Riddle."
Harry couldn't help but feel hurt by her words. He knew there was, in some capacity, truth to her words. He knew far too well the ways he was like Tom Riddle, the ways he was like Barty Crouch Jr., the ways he was like Salazar Slytherin. Those very connections had haunted his dreams for a long time. Since his encounter with the diary, his time in the graveyard, and even more so in the time since the fight at the ministry. To hear Tom Riddle, Barty Crouch Jr., and even Voldemort repeat that rhetoric to him, that he was so much like them. That he could be great like them, if he would only give up his principles. It had filled him with a great anxiety, a great anguish, a dark iciness in his heart that even the warmth of his friends' love found hard to thaw. To hear the daughter of one of his greatest idols repeat it to him, to reinforce that idea… it was almost too much to bear.
Almost.
Harry stood tall again, as he warmed his heart with his memories, like a patronus casting. He remembered meeting Hermione on the train. He remembered Padma playing the sitar with him as they celebrated their engagement. He remembered dancing with Daphne at her debut. He remembered Susan holding him after the fight with the memory of Tom Riddle. He remembered Fleur at the Yule Ball, and he remembered holding Luna in his arms as he told her the stories of his first year. He remembered the thousand minor things that filled his heart with love, letting it reinforce him. "I suppose in some ways, I am like them. But there is one major way I am not. They did things for themselves. They were always number one in their own hearts, could never put another before themselves. I have no such issue. In my own heart, I am number seven at best, even if it is a six way tie for first."
That seemed to stump the Grey Lady for a moment as she gave him a withering glance, trying to read him. "You put them before yourself?" She asked, unsure whether or not she believed him.
"I live for them. If it took my death to keep them safe, I'd only hold it on long enough to say goodbye." Harry said, as he took a seat in the alcove. "I almost had to make that choice, actually."
"That is why you seek the Diadem then? To gain the wisdom of how to avoid that fate?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.
"No, I seek to destroy the Diadem, or at least break it." Harry said with a sigh. "I know it is corrupted. Made into a monstrous thing. A container for a soul, something I'm all too familiar with."
The Grey Lady paused for a moment as she looked over him, surprised in both his knowledge of the curse afflicted to the Diadem, and his forthrightness in his intention. "How do you know?"
"To know what it is… we've found others. He made seven, we've found five, and know of the other two, one of those being the Diadem." Harry said, sighing. "I myself was one. To defeat him, to stop his madness… we had thought it would mean my death. That I would need to die for him to be stopped. I'd agreed to it. Told them I would hold on until the last one other than me was found and destroyed, so I could help, and give the girls enough time to say goodbye. To give them a future, I'd have gladly sacrificed my own. I still would, even if the situation no longer explicitly requires it." Harry subconsciously brought his fingers up to rub at the scar on his head. The rapidly fading memory of what he once was. What might have been necessary.
"You are one no longer?" She asked, her voice softer.
"We have theories of how that came to pass. To be a soul container requires you to be whole. Unbroken. We've broken it by shattering only parts of an item, making them broken, even if we could one day fix them. I was… broken once. Basilisk venom flowed through me… it killed me. I was brought back, but for that moment, I was no more. In that moment, it seems the fragment of his soul left me. Unable to occupy a soulless body like mine." Harry said, moving his hand back down. "Everything we know about these containers says that I WAS one, but am no longer. That moment is the only instance we can think of that I would have been unfit, and it lines up with everything else we know."
"You can… cleanse it?" She asked, the smallest amount of hope in her eyes.
"It will lose any magic it once had… be merely a piece of jewelry… but we can remove the evil from it, and in doing so, be one step closer to ending his madness for good." Harry said, as he looked at her. "Please, tell us where it is. Tell us so we can know peace again. So that there is the chance that another generation of kids will get to see these hallowed halls."
"The Room of Requirement." She said after a moment. "He hid it there. Simply ask for it… and it shall appear. Hogwarts herself wants it to be found, but has no other way of delivering it."
"Thank you." Harry said, simply, as he moved to stand up.
Her hand gripped his shoulder for a moment, the ghostly touch sending goosebumps down his arm. "Destroy it, and make sure there are more children for me to guide. With four brides from my house, I expect to see a number of yours in the coming years."
Harry could only smile, as he nodded at her.
"We're going with you then." Padma said as Harry told the girls about where the Diadem was, and that he was going to go destroy it. "It's dark magic, and I don't want you going there alone. Who knows what it could do to you?"
"That's just the thing though, it's dark magic. I don't want to expose you girls to it if I don't have to." Harry said, as he sighed, looking over them all. His loves, his memories, his reasons for fighting. He remembered the dark, deep depression being in contact with the other horcruxes made him feel, in the brief moments he'd been with them. He didn't want them to feel that at all. "You haven't been near them. They're… dark. Soul crushing. It's like the air itself is heavy, and it twists your emotions, making you into a worse version of yourself. Even aside from what it might do to you, I KNOW what it will do to me… and I don't want you to see that."
"Then I'll go with you." Susan said, speaking up. The normally timid girl locked her gaze with him. "I've got more experience being in direct contact with one than anyone, since I held one for an entire year." She added, a determined look on her face.
Harry looked at her, and sighed. He didn't want to reopen that wound for her, but she seemed so determined… he couldn't tell her no. He could rarely tell any of them no, really.
They paced in front of the entrance to the Room of Requirement, the mantra of what they needed echoing through their minds. They wanted a room they would find a horcrux inside of, and in an instant, a door appeared that hadn't been there before.
"You know… it's odd that it's here of all places." Susan said as they entered the room, the pair of them immediately feeling a deep chill. "Normally when we come in here… I feel so safe. So loved. Now it's… painful."
"You didn't have to come." Harry said, allowing a small ball of light to appear at the tip of his wand, and Susan mirrored the motion. "I… I didn't want you to have to deal with this again."
"I love you dearly for that, but what kind of lover would I be if I let you tackle something so dangerous alone?" Susan said, as she took his free hand in hers. "We haven't said marriage vows yet, but I believe they tend to end with 'until death do us part'. I held you in my arms as you died once already, so even that isn't enough to get me off your tail." Susan said, pulling him in and planting a deep, passionate kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a moment. "I needed that. Now, come on. We need to find it."
Shelves on shelves filled the room as the moved through it, centuries of lost items filling the space. "Feels like we could search in here forever and never find it." Susan said to herself, squeezing Harry's hand. "But… I feel like I can feel it."
"I can too." Harry said. He could feel something deep inside of him pulling him down the corridors, guiding him where he needed to go. "It's like it's calling out to me." Harry could only describe it as a resonant din. An echoing in his very soul that seemed to tell him where to go, that seemed to pull him, make him aware of what was near. It was dark, it was terrifying, but in many ways it was familiar. It was a devil he knew.
At the end of the corridor, resting atop a crate, they found it. The beautiful gleaming silver circlet, with a brilliant blue sapphire at its center. Looking at it, Harry knew why Snape had gone pale when he'd seen Slytherin's locket. In front of him, was the enchanted artifact of his patron founder. The legacy of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, laid before him. The diadem represented a creation of Ravenclaw, the magical item most in tune with the legacy he was a part of. To destroy it would be a blow to Ravenclaw one could never truly recover from, but there was no choice. Once the diadem was destroyed, only Gryfffindor would have his artifact remaining. Voldemort will have, in some way, forever destroyed part of the legacy of Hogwarts. Slytherin's locket supposedly contained the secrets of the ages. Hufflepuff's cup could duplicate any liquid placed within it, and this Diadem was meant to grant its wearer wit beyond measure. Three items that displayed the greatness of those who created them, and now they'll all be destroyed.
"Is it… speaking to you too?" Susan asked as she looked at the Diadem. "It's… whispering to me."
Harry took a moment to listen. To let the sounds of the Diadem wash over him. It spoke to him. Spoke of how wearing it would make him wise. Make him powerful. How he would learn spells he could never learn on his own. Find spells to defeat Voldemort. To outshine anyone. To be the best, like he always wished to be. No more settling for being second best to Hermione in academics. No more settling for choosing between studying and dueling training. He could have it all, if he only put it on.
"It is… it wants me to wear it." Harry said, sighing. He squeezed Susan's hand more. "Its telling me about everything I could be if I wore it. How I could outshine everyone. How I would never be second best."
"It's trying to tell me that it can make me your favorite." Susan said, squeezing his hand back. "That it would teach me how to be prettier than Fleur. Wittier than Daphne. It wants to tell me how I can make Auntie proud of me." Susan's hand subconsciously reached for the diadem, but Harry caught it.
"She's already so proud of you." Harry said to her. "And I don't play favorites. You are ALL my favorite. You're already every bit as pretty as Fleur, every bit as witty as Daphne, and you've got a heart bigger than all of them." Harry pulled her in for a kiss, trying to ease the effects on her. Harry had, subconsciously, fought off the effects of a horcrux his entire life. Susan had succumbed to one for an entire year. She had defenses, but he would shore up where they faltered.
"Thank you." Susan said, placing her head on his chest and just listening to his heart for a moment. Letting the sounds of it drown out the whispers of the diadem. "How do we destroy it? You used a basilisk fang last time. We didn't bring one."
"They say that help will always arrive when one needs it at Hogwarts." Harry said, as he focused, reaching out with his mind. In a flash of flame, Fawkes appeared, the Sorting Hat in his talons. The phoenix sat the hat on Susan's head, before the bird himself perched on Harry's shoulder.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you two would need me again." The Sorting Hat said, its gruff voice filling the space between them. "I see you found the other piece of magical headwear. Never liked this one. Hit on it a thousand years ago and it gave me the cold shoulder. At least as cold of a shoulder as one can give when you have no shoulders at all."
A chuckle filled the space between Harry and Susan, as she pulled the hat off of her head. "We need the Sword of Gryffindor, will I be able to pull it out again?" Harry asked, looking to the hat.
"Only one way to find out. But let the lady try this time. You already know your answer, after all." The hat said. Harry locked eyes with Susan, nodding at her and flashing her a reassuring smile.
Susan's hand reached inside the hat, and her finger wrapped around something. She pulled it out, and in a flash of gleaming silver, the Sword of Gryffindor appeared in her hand. "But how… I'm a Hufflepuff through and through."
"Your house is more than just where you lay your head, dear." The Sorting Hat said, willing itself back to sit on Susan's head. "I gave this same talk to your betrothed here three years ago. You may best embody the traits of Hufflepuff, with your loyalty and patience, but there's no denying the courage within you."
"But I'm scared." Susan said as she held the sword. "I'm scared of the Diadem. Of losing Harry. Of losing everything."
"Of course you are scared. Everyone is. Bravery isn't that you are never scared, it's that even when you are, you still keep going." The Hat said, encouraging her. "You can do this, Susan. Take the blade, and end it. Close the book on what the diary started, and know that you overcame your fear."
With a loud clash of steel on silver, it was over. The diadem lay broken, shattered beneath the blade of Gryffindor. The final of the founders' individual creations.
Harry wrapped his arms around Susan, who cried into his chest, overcome with emotion at it being over. At Voldemort no longer having that spectral hold on her heart. She had long thought that she was over the diary. That it had stopped affecting her once Harry stabbed it. She was wrong, but now… now she might not be. She knew that there was another one of these atrocities out there… but there was only one. The others were destroyed, and the plans were in place to deal with the final one. Deep inside of her, Susan knew that the sun was going to rise soon. That the darkness that plagued the land would fall, and that she could soon bask in the light of her future.
A future she intended to spend with the man whose arms were wrapped around her.