Midnight passed in silence, and its eternal song of longing and forbidden love faded away over the sleeping world.

  Side by side, they y close together. Everything was different now and yet, it remained the same.

  Tom had propped himself up on his elbow, pying with a long, blonde strand of her hair that had been kissed by the moonlight.Luna gazed up at the endless starry sky, where the moon looked down silently upon the world.When they returned to Hogwarts, she would no longer be just Luna Stone. And Tom would no longer be just Tom....

  "What do you want to hear now? That I will renounce the dark and hidden arts? That I will change my pns to become the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen?"

  He paused for a moment. "I am sorry that I id your world - our world, for Hogwarts was my home as well - that I id this world to ashes. That so many witches and wizards had to lose their lives there," he breathed, infinitely low.

  She looked at him, their gazes meeting for a moment. "I know... I know that," she whispered just as softly.

  "What will happen now? Will you kill me here and today?", The words sounded strangely foreign coming from her mouth.

  "No. No, I will not. But you are now, and for all time, a part of me."

  For only a fraction of a second, a deep red fsh flickered in his eyes.

  "You and I, we have come so infinitely close... for a moment, I was one with your memories - with your life - with your body...", he whispered these st words into her thick hair.

  His longing for her was insatiable. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers... slid down to her small, firm breasts - beginning to kiss them passionately, while his hands glided hungrily down to her p to touch her most sensitive spot as light as a feather.

  A low moan escaped her lips. His short, midnight-bck hair y in soft waves across his symmetrical face. He was beautiful.Her hands ran through his thick hair, pulling him up to her lips where she stole a kiss from him... her feminine instincts had awakened. In that moment, Luna and Tom ceased to exist. There was only man and woman, surrendering to a feeling as old as humanity itself...

  This time, it was not the gentle, spiritual union. Instead, hard and deep, he entered her hot tightness again and again... while the night slowly gave way to the morning and the light.

  The first rays of sunlight had gently touched the nd as they both - cd in their dressed in their robes made their way back to the tent.Luna was just about to enter when Tom pulled her toward him by the hand. "Stay with me. Sleep in my room. Dippet thinks we’ve already gone to the extreme anyway... and for once, he’s actually right," he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  "I can't. I want Menie to know that we are together now," she tilted her head and looked at him briefly. "I know, Tom Riddle, that you don’t understand this. But she has become like a real sister to me. She’s the only one I have in this time."

  He raised his eyebrows. "No," he said simply. "Whether you like it or not... Luna Lovegood," he deliberately used her real name. "Now you have me by your side in this time as well... so you aren't quite as alone as you might think."

  He gently cupped her chin and breathed a kiss onto her forehead.

  Then they entered the tent together. The familiar snoring of the Headmaster could be heard. Menie, too, was still fast asleep. With a silent gesture, they said their goodbyes to get a little more sleep.

  For a while, Luna y awake. Despite everything, a delicate glimmer of hope blossomed within her - hope that the bond they now shared would bring the goodness, still buried deep within him, to the surface. She still felt the light inside him...

  The midday sun y warm over the forest as the small group once again made themselves comfortable outside at the small round table, with coffee and a few light snacks.

  Director Dippet was almost unrecognizable after only a few days; chatting away cheerfully, he shared anecdotes from his long life.

  Menie, on the other hand, kept gncing over at her little "sister" and the audacious boy.The two of them seemed like April weather. At times, everything was fine between them, but then, a thunderous tension would prevail, just like yesterday. Only to shift into something even stranger - something intangible - that Menie found almost uncanny. Something must have happened between the two of them again st night. And slowly but surely, the suspicion began to dawn on her that Dippet’s assumptions about them being a steady couple were not so far off after all. But she would ask about that in a quiet moment.

  The day flowed slowly in the river of time. Luna and Menie had gone deeper into the forest to gather bckberries, while Dippet kept an eye out for a mushroom or two. Tom stayed a little apart from the others - seeking the silence of the forest.

  Luna gestured for Menie to follow her. Eventually, the two of them were completely alone.Luna settled onto the soft moss, and her Mel did the same. With her hands resting in her p, she whispered softly, "There is something I have to tell you...", her gaze losing itself somewhere among the trees.

  "You and this Tom are really a couple now," Menie cut her off directly. Luna looked at her, briefly surprised.

  "Oh! Is it that obvious?"

  "More than that," the young teacher replied with a gentle smile.

  Luna was gd that her "sister" finally knew. Only Tom's true identity was something she could not reveal to her for reasons of protection; even though she did so reluctantly, not wanting to have any secrets from Menie, she had no other choice for the time being.

  "I must confess, I find him exceedingly audacious. But if he has enchanted your heart...", she winked at Luna, who smiled dreamily to herself.

  From somewhere deep within the forest, hasty footsteps broke through the undergrowth, startling the two young witches...