Rose of the Hogwarts Castle...

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: Harry Potter/Utena crossover madness

Pairing: Ginny/Luna

Rating: PG (K+)

Summary: Ginny has a strange dream.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This is what happens when you've started going back into Harry Potter mania, then get an anime you've been waiting for for weeks finally in the middle of that HP craziness...

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Everything was hazy at first before the fog seemed to lift. I didn't know where I was. There was something wrong. Many something's... I tried to rub my eyes and found glasses there. I do not wear glasses. What is going on? I looked down. I was in a red dress that flowed freely around me. Two roses were in my hands, a pink one in my right, and a green one in my left. I didn't know what I was to do with these, where I was, or anything. I- "The roses?" I looked to my left. There, standing tall was Luna, or at least, I thought it was Luna. She usually wasn't so tall, focused or pink haired. She wore some sort of dark blue men's uniform, but looked almost handsome in it. She looked at me expectantly, and I felt I had to do something. It was then I noticed that there were pins on the roses, and so I went to Luna and put it on her breast pocket. I looked up at her, looking for something familiar, but she was staring at me, concerned, and I was sort of uncertain how to take this. Where was her 'gone for the day but leave a message' look in her eyes? What was suddenly so great about reality for her? "Are you okay?" I nodded, even though I wasn't. I wanted to shake my head and ask- no, demand what was going on, but I said and did nothing. It was like I couldn't move on my own except for what I was told to do.

"And what of MY rose?" asked a snooty voice behind me. I turned to see Malfoy standing tall and arrogant as usual, only his hair was so very... green. I was tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you just going to stand there all day?" I looked down at the remaining green rose in my hand, and walked to him when I didn't want to go near him. I didn't want to have to touch him, but I couldn't stop myself from pinning the rose to him. I couldn't even force myself to purposely prick him with it either, as I would've done had I been in control of my own movements. I found myself speaking, yet it wasn't what I wanted to say.

"If you lose your rose, you lose the duel."

"Yeah yeah, just draw the Sword of Dios already!" he shouted.

"Hey! Don't speak to Anthy that way!" Anthy? Sword of Dios? What was this place? Who am I as this Anthy? What was with the roses? My hands moved to my chest.

"Rose of the Hogwarts castle..." A light came from between my hands over my chest. It seemed to swallow all of us in the soft glow, and I felt a slight force, almost like wind sweep over us all, making Malfoy and Luna's hair fly around them. "Power of Dios that sleeps within me," I continued, "heed your master and come forth!" The light got bigger and brighter as it became a white orb, which forced me to lean backwards. I didn't realize Luna was behind me until I felt her arm around my waist to support me. The handle to what I guessed was the Sword of Dios appeared from the glow, from me, but I felt no pain.

"Grant me the power," Luna slowly drew the sword from me, "to bring the world revolution!" Somewhere around us was the sound of bells, and I knew to stand back.

"You think putting on a pair of men's trousers is going to make you a prince?" Malfoy asked as the two duelists circled each other. Luna smirked in that familiar way that told the world that she had an inside joke with herself, one of many. Still, she seemed too confident, and that wasn't at all like the girl I knew.

"No," she responded simply, "but I'm sure beating you for a second time will be a good start." I wanted to grin at that even though Luna wasn't one to crack such witty remarks, but all I could do was stand there looking over the duel, my fingers linked in front of me. Malfoy sneered. I don't think he liked that remark. He lunged at her, their swards clashing loudly, and a hint of sparks came at the contact. Luna's smirk didn't falter. "I think I see a bruise forming on that ego of yours."

"Oh shut up and duel!"

"Heh, this isn't a duel, this is one step up from naptime. Come on, Saionji. Give me a real challenge." Saionji? What kind of names-

"We'll see who gets to laughing once the Rose Bride is back in my possession!"

"Yawwwwwn," was all Luna said in return, which only angered Malfoy further. She ducked under the sudden swing. "Ooh, better." Nothing else as said after that, as Malfoy or Saionji or whoever was launching a series of attacks, and Luna did as she could to block them. Then their swords were connected again, and Malfoy was pushing the blade, using his strength to overpower Luna. Finally, Luna spun to the left, swinging her sword towards Malfoy's rose, but he jumped back just in time. He tried to force his sword tip at Luna's rose in return, but her hand batted at the side of the blade, and then that same hand hovered over her rose. Malfoy jab towards her again and nicked her thumb. She jumped back so there was some room between the duelists. Malfoy hunched down little bit, then charged again at Luna, who jumped to the side. Was he even aiming for her rose that time? She crouched to the ground, her body went still for a split second.

Then something happened that I never thought could happen. A shadow seemed to fall from the sky. It looked like the shadow or spirit of Neville, and he was handsome in a white suit. He looked just like he could be a prince, and his slightly shaggy silvery purple (?) hair swayed as he fell. the spirit seemed to possess Luna's body. Luna suddenly shot off, running so quickly, Malfoy could do nothing to block or avoid any advance Luna had planned. Suddenly, there was a small shower of green rose petals, and Malfoy just stood there in shock as if he couldn't believe someone, a girl no less, had beat him twice. Luna turned around slowly to face him, her arms limp at her side, and the Sword of Dios looked as if it was close to falling from her grasp. She approached me and slipped an arm around my waist protectively. I was her engaged once again, and I fell into her arms. "Anthy may be the Rose Bride, but she's nobody's possession, especially yours. So challenge me all you want, but I'm going to make sure it stays that way." With those words, we walked away from him as he glared after us. "Are you okay?" she asked me again. Other than the fact that I couldn't speak for myself, I was peachy. Though an odd circumstance, seeing Luna kick Malfoy's arse was the coolest thing I had seen in a long time.

"Yes, Miss Utena," I replied. Miss Utena? Together we walked back to a dormitory of some sort, where a small blue monkey type creature slept on the bed I knew was mine. I had suddenly developed the strong desire to make shaved ice and some explosive curry. I instead went to work fixing tea, as I knew my engaged wanted something to relax after a duel. She always did. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did, besides, it wasn't as if I could stop myself from making the tea, anyway. I knelt at the table with her as she drank her tea, and she was silent. When she went to bed, I prepared myself
as well. I wasn't going to see my brother tonight. He told me to keep watch on Luna to see if she was conjuring the power of Dios on her own or if he was just drawn to her strength. As I lay in bed, Luna sat on the floor next to the bottom bunk where I was and grabbed my hand. "Is something wrong, Miss Utena?" I asked. Luna, her name is Luna, and I am Ginny. What the heck is going on? Why aren't we getting our names right? Who are these people we thing we're talking to? I asked myself frantically. Luna looked up at me, worry and sadness was there in her eyes, but my face remained almost emotionless, though I was inwardly worried.

"I know that there is a final duel, and I plan to continue to fight for you," At this, I smiled. I had hopes for her. I hoped she would free me. I knew it was selfish, but she seemed to be the one who just might be strong enough to do it. After all, she had beat Touga-er... huh? Touga? She had beaten him, and he was the president of the student council and the second best duelist next to Juri. Juri? WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?! It was like I saw these people in my head, Juri and Touga, but their names weren't Juri or Touga. It was Harry and Hermione, only Harry had really long flowing red (I mean RED, not like me and my family, but apple red) hair, and Hermione's curls were a light orange (again, not like mine, like actual arrange, and her hair was curly in the front). Harry or Touga or whatever had no glasses in my mind when I thought of him, and his white suit was open at the shirt showing his chest. Hermione or Juri also had a white suit and looked just as much like a prince as Neville and Harry did. "-but I'm scared, Anthy." Luna continued, drawing me out of my thoughts of these weird characters that were the people I knew. "I- I don't know why." I shifted and looked at her fully, giving her my full attention. "I don't want to revolutionize the world and then find out that you don't even remember me. If I free you from all this, would you still be my friend?"

"I'm sure I will never forget you, Miss Utena, and of course I will still be your friend." My response felt too automatic and 'Yes Utena' to me.

"Would you call me by my name and drop the 'Miss'?"

"Now or when you free me?" I asked her. She smirked.

"Pick one."

"If that is your wish." Luna sighed and tightened her grip on my hand. She was quiet for a little while longer.

"And if I set you free and something happens to me... If you remember... would you return the favor? Not if it would do the same to you- I don't want a vicious cycle between us or anything, but if it could be done..." There was something in her eyes I don't think I had seen before, this fear and terror. Not ever on Luna. The part of me that wouldn't let me speak and move on my own saw this as well, and I knew somehow that I as this Anthy never saw this in her as Utena, either. She wanted to be my prince. She wanted to save me from this Rose Bride role I put myself in, but she was truly afraid that it would in turn kill her. In fact, she was almost sure of it and she was still going to do it without a doubt in her mind about it. Still, if there was that chance that she wouldn't die, that she would be stuck in some eternal prison as I am now, and she feared that more than death. "No matter what happens, I don't want to be apart from you."

"If you brought the world revolution and manage to save me, there is no force to stop me from doing the same. You won't lose me," I told her. She didn't seem convinced by that. "I told you that I belong to you, Miss Utena. I mean it." I didn't know what happened or why I had done this. I was her bride and she had yet to have me do any of the nightly aspects of the role, but it was still in my right to show affection to her. I leaned into her and kissed her. Part of me wondered if it had given me control long enough to do that, or if perhaps I had tricked myself into doing what I wanted, saying it was what I should do as the Rose Bride, but I didn't quite feel as if I was fighting my body. I wanted to kiss Luna, and who I was as Anthy wanted to kiss Utena. I felt her tense, and she backed away quickly. She was breathing a little quicker.

"Don't- I mean, I'm- I'm waiting for my prince," she said. 'Sure you are,' both myself as Ginny and myself as this Anthy thought. I knew the truth, and I knew who she was really here for. I knew why she fought, and she was so blind to it all, thinking it was my brother who was the prince all this time. No. I knew the truth, and if she did as well, she would have accepted my kiss. She got up quickly, and let my hand drop. She climbed the top bunk and said, "It's been a long day. We should get some sleep."

"Yes, Miss Utena," I said softly and got comfortable. I pet the monkey on his head with one finger and he snored louder, letting out a little, 'Chu,' type chirp every time he exhaled. Then I, too, closed my eyes.

~~~

I gasped when I felt a nudge on my shoulder. Standing above me was Luna, vacant eyed, blonde Luna. Never had I felt more relief, even when I saw that Harry had come to save me. Luna didn't say anything to me, but tapped her empty wrist, signalling the time or whatever. I got the hint, but looked around anyway. I saw the clock of the Burrow, which told me that everyone who occupied the Burrow then was sleep except for me. Everything seemed in place, and I was still on the Burrow sofa, where I had fallen asleep not long after Luna had turned on that Muggle device dad always got worked up about called the television. She was watching something with me, a television show called Charmed, which was supposed to be about witches, but I got bored as soon as I saw there were no wands or robes except for on the bad guy. Luna at the time didn't even seem to care one way or the other for the show, but when I tried to switch the channels (not that we got more than three or four on this television), she tapped my hand and I kept it there. She must have gotten completely bored with the television set, as she'd awaken me, and it could have been more than an hour since it was turned on. "I don't know how to turn it off," she told me in her soft voice. I stretched and got off of the sofa, then looked at the channel. I recognized this station, but it wasn't what Charmed had been on. It was the station that played nothing but cartoon shows. So apparently, Luna had figured out how to change channels, but not how to turn it off. Either that or she tried to turn it off, but ended up switching the channels instead. I looked at the animated show that was on at the moment, and saw that it was called Pretear. I hadn't heard of it, but it looked to be one of those cartoon shows from Japan. I watched the beginning titles of this show, where the subtitles had a song about snow and love and such as this girl appeared on the screen wearing five different dresses, which looked to represent the elements or something. Then I turned the television off. Luna had been silently waiting as I did so. She didn't impatiently tell me to hurry up and turn it off as Ron or even Hermione may have, but then, Hermione and Ron would've known how to turn it off.

"How long have I been asleep, exactly?" I asked her as we walked up the stairs to my room where I had to step over her small trunk and a pile of clothes that I hadn't put away after mum washed them.

"Long enough," she replied. Simple, as was her way. I shrugged and accepted that as an answer, even though I didn't know what my amount of sleep was long enough for. She sighed, and the sigh turned into a yawn. I copied her yawn and looked down. No red dress, but then, I knew that. It was all a crazy dream. One where people had unnatural colored hair, and Neville was a graceful handsome prince. Not that any of that couldn't happen in real life, but still... Like in my dream, though, there was a bunk bed, which I knew would be there, but I couldn't help thinking about Luna there on the floor holding my hand as I lay on the bottom bunk. I couldn't help but think about the dream and how my dream self as both me and Anthy, whoever the bloody hell that was, wanted to to kiss Luna and Utena. Luna, the girl I knew, climbed to the top bunk already in her pajamas, and I crawled on the bottom. Part of me wanted to look for the little monkey, knowing he wouldn't have been there, which was a shame, as he was so cute. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes drooped shut. I didn't realize how tired I was. I heard faintly the movements of my friend, and she seemed to sigh in contentment. I wondered what sort of dreams she would end up having, and hoped they were weirder than mine had been, as that was what Luna would have wanted. "Goodnight, Ginevra."

"Don't call me..." I mumbled, and Luna giggled lightly when I couldn't finish scolding her. "Good night... Miss Utena." I hadn't meant to say that. I meant to call her Luna. It was on my brain and at the tip of my tongue. I was even in control of my movements, yet still, I called her that. I actually wanted her to be my Utena, my prince, knowing that wasn't to happen, yet still, for a split second it was all I longed for. I inhaled deeply and let if out slowly. Maybe that dream will continue, I thought sleepily.

"Miss Utena? That was the cartoon I was watching on your television just before I woke you up," she murmured, but I fell back asleep soon after that and couldn't respond.

End