WILOW-Ch.419: What the Hell?
Water Gardens, Dorne
POV of Domeric Bolton
"I want to know what you meant by both being Harry and not being Harry," Luna said.
"Because of the Multiverse. Apparently, there are many versions of one world. And the same for the world we lived in before. I am Harry James Potter, but not the same one that exists in your world," he explained.
Luna was lost in thought for a while. Then she looked into his eyes and asked, "How do you know all this? And you speak with such certainty. How can you be so sure we're from different worlds?"
Domeric sighed deeply and then said, "Because I spoke with the person who sent us here. She told me all this."
"What? Who?" Luna asked, suddenly standing up.
"Death," Domeric said.
"Death? Like Death in The Tale of the Three Brothers?" Luna asked strangely.
"Yes. But she prefers to be called Lady Death. And she's one of the Old Gods of this world. Please sit down. As I said, it will take some time to explain everything."
Then Domeric told her everything about his meeting with Lady Death and what they had discussed.
Luna listened to Domeric in amazement, without interrupting him throughout the entire story.
After Domeric finished his story, Luna couldn't help but ask, "So, the reason Hermione, who is currently waiting to descend to this world, and I were sent here is to deliver the power that belongs to you?"
"Lady Death also said it wouldn't hurt to have a few friends, but yes, that seems to be her main goal. I'm sorry." He said.
"Don't be. You didn't do anything. Besides, I still remember very clearly the moment I was thrown into The Veil, and now, as I've learned, the Soul Destroyer. If Lady Death hadn't rescued me and sent me here, I wouldn't even have a soul left." She said.
Then, for a while, they both waited in silence. After some time, Luna broke the silence. "Can you tell me a little about your previous life? How old were you when you were thrown into The Veil?"
Domeric had mentioned that he, too, had been rescued from the Soul Destroyer by Lady Death, but he hadn't said how he got there.
And apparently, she assumed that Domeric had also been thrown there like her.
"I... I wasn't thrown into The Veil. I... I walked into The Veil myself. And I was 32 then," Domeric said, a little embarrassed. He wasn't particularly proud of his depressive state at that time.
"Yourself? Why... Wait, you were 32? What happened to the Battle of Hogwarts? Didn't you go into the forest alone to confront Voldemort?" Luna asked in astonishment.
"I did. Voldemort attacked me with the Killing Curse, but instead of killing me, he destroyed the Horcrux on my forehead. Then I pretended to be dead, and when I arrived at Hogwarts, we all fought together and defeated Voldemort." Domeric explained.
Then, somewhat cautiously, he asked. "Didn't it happen that way in your world?"
"No. You... You never came back from the forest, Harry. And we never won against Voldemort. Voldemort took over Great Britain. Very few of us secretly continued to fight against him."
Luna said, and paused for a moment. It was as if she didn't want to reveal much about what she was about to say.
But she continued anyway and said. "My parents and I were among the last of the resistance. But eventually, they caught us. My parents were punished with the Dementor's Kiss, but I was thrown into The Veil as the leader of the resistance. I was 28 years old then."
Domeric sat silently for a while, unsure of what to say. Then, in a low voice, he asked, "What about Hermione? Ron? What happened to them?"
After a moment of silence, Luna said, "Apparently, after you went into the forest to confront Voldemort, Ron attacked Hermione. Hermione said that… Ron had gone to the dark side, and he had tried to rape her. She ended up having to kill him with her own wand. And then..."
"Then what?" he asked.
"Hermione went into the woods after you. And she didn't come back either. I wanted to go after you as well, but you forced me to promise I wouldn't before you went into the woods." She said.
"Did I force you to promise? Why?" he asked in astonishment.
"You don't remember anything about this, do you?" Luna asked.
"No. Luna, exactly what..." Domeric began to speak, but Luna interrupted him.
"Anyway, after the Battle of Hogwarts, the survivors joined the resistance, which I led, and for about 11 years, we tried to inflict as much damage as possible on Voldemort. And with my parents' and my death, the last people of the resistance have died." She said.
Domeric could see Luna trying to change the subject, and for some reason, seeing her like that made his heart ache.
"Luna, what was the relationship between us in your world?" he asked. He didn't know why, but he felt he needed to clarify this.
"What difference does it make if you don't remember? Besides, you're not the same person as Harry in my world, are you?" Luna said, her tone slightly angry.
Domeric knew for sure that Luna didn't have an ordinary relationship with Harry Potter in her world.
But before he could say anything, Luna extended her hand and said, "You need to touch me to take your powers, right? Here, you can touch my hand. It's getting late, I need to go back to my room."
"Luna..." Domeric began, but was interrupted again by Luna.
"I'm sorry, but I can't pretend we're friends while I'm talking to you, so please take your powers and leave me alone," she said, reaching out and touching Domeric's hand.
And at that moment, the Deathly Hallows tattoos appeared on Domeric and Luna's hands.
Domeric's tattoo had a black circle and line, while the triangle was red.
Luna's Deathly Hallows tattoo featured a black triangle and circle, with the red line.
Then Luna's tattoo glowed golden, detached from her hand, and, in a beam of light, merged with Domeric's tattoo.
Luna's tattoo completely disappeared. Now, in Domeric's Deathly Hallows tattoo, only the circle was black, and both the triangle and line were red.
After a while, Domeric's tattoo faded and became invisible again.
But neither Luna nor Domeric paid any attention to what was happening because both were frozen for other reasons.
Domeric felt a connection building between them, somehow, when Luna touched him. And this connection wasn't a small, weak one.
Domeric could now feel what Luna was feeling. But before he could dwell on this, he suddenly felt a slight pain in his head.
It wasn't a very severe pain, but after it, many memories flooded into his mind.
Many of the memories initially seemed quite familiar to him. It was as if someone was playing snapshots of his past memories before his eyes.
But first, small, subtle details in these memories began to catch his attention. Over time, he realized they were transforming into something entirely different from what he had initially remembered.
His meeting with Luna in his second year at Hogwarts, spending time with her frequently, inviting her to be his partner at the Yule Ball in his fourth year, asking her out after the ball, and their first kiss after she accepted to be his girlfriend.
And a soul bond was formed between them at that moment.
And then many other different memories followed.
Lastly, his confrontation with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest.
Voldemort first struck him with the Killing Curse and then sent Narcissa Malfoy to check on him.
But this time, Narcissa betrayed him, and then, with another curse, he truly died.
Domeric initially thought he had somehow obtained Harry Potter's memories from Luna's world, but then he realized that wasn't the case.
These memories weren't just images in his mind. He had actually lived them. When he remembered them, he recalled the feelings he had then.
And at that moment, he caught something being spoken to him within his memories.
A conversation that shouldn't have been there. Because these words were spoken to him after he died.
[Another failure, Harry. We have to try again. Good luck. Again.]
And then Domeric understood. These newly acquired memories didn't belong to someone else. These were his memories. Memories of the life he lived before he died and was sent to another world.
Domeric heard many system notifications, but he ignored them.
He lifted his head and looked at Luna, and a word involuntarily escaped his lips. "Moonshine..."
As soon as he heard this word, Luna came to her senses, her eyes wide open. "You... You remembered!"
Then Luna threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "You remembered. I knew it was you," she said. "But now I can feel it. You're not another Harry. You're my Harry. Our soul bond has been re-established. And now it's stronger than ever."
Domeric froze for a while.
And then…
'What the hell is going on here?' was the only sentence that crossed his mind.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.420: Message from Lady Death
Ch.421: Essence of Nightshade
Ch.422: Seizing the Throne