Rebuilt

When Luna awoke, she was surprised to see that the Willow had wrapped two of its branches around her overnight and she was cradled in them like a makeshift bed. She stretched and smiled. It seemed she'd made a fine choice by deciding to stay here.

Yesterday afternoon felt like a distant memory to her; she remembered watching the sunset from Willow's highest branch and that had cheered her up a bit, but she didn't remember ever going back into the castle. So perhaps she hadn't. Maybe she should go in today to help with the rebuilding since she'd done such an awful job yesterday--it was only fair.

She sat up to hear the chirping noises of early morning. Willow unfolded one of its branches and carried her up higher until she could almost touch the birds. She held on to the wood, her finger tracing patterns in the grooves.

"You know," said Luna airily to no one in particular, although she felt that Willow was listening, "when my mother was alive, sometimes we'd go out into her garden and we'd plant food for the Blibbering Humdingers. I never saw a Humdinger. But my mum always said they were there."

She sighed. "That was such a long time ago. Sometimes I think of her, but not as much as I used to. She was such an extraordinary witch."

The branches jerked beneath her, as if showing their disapproval and threatening to throw her down. Luna held on tighter until it stopped moving. "She really was extraordinary; I can see why my father liked her. But I don't see why she liked him. Unless she didn't know..."

She took a deep breath, then shook her head with a smile. "No, that's not a nice thing to say. I'm happier now, so I should say nice things, don't you think? Yes. And I should head back to the castle--"

As soon as she tried to move another branch snapped around her waist and held her in place. She pushed and struggled against it until her hands ached and the bark started to scratch her palms, wiped the blood on her shirt, then tried to free herself again. The branch was too strong.

Luna didn't understand. Why wouldn't it let go of her? Moreover, it was getting hard to breathe because it was squeezing her so tightly. "Please let me go. I only want to go down and see my friends. I think I can really talk to them today without feeling as sad as I was yesterday. Please. You've helped me feel better, but now I need to go--"

Willow squeezed tighter. Luna thought she felt one of her ribs pop, but she shook her head and the pain disappeared. Willow wouldn't hurt her, not again.

"You know I like staying here and you're such a sweet tree, but you're hurting me very much." The branch relaxed, but just enough for her to suddenly slip through it and scramble to the grass. It wasn't going to let her escape that easily, however.

Luna heard it before she felt it: Another branch cracked across the back of her head. A loud noise like a fire cracker burst in her ears, and then her temples pounded as all the blood rushed to her head. This time when she fell down, it was hard to get up.

She touched her hand to the back of her head and felt something a little sticky: blood, but she hoped it wasn't a lot. Luna didn't think she was ready to die yet. She pulled her fingers back and stuck the bloody part of them in her mouth, trying not to gag at the metallic taste.

Slowly, so slowly that it was almost a crawl, she managed to get herself back on her feet, but everything was spinning so much that it took a few moments to realize she was no longer on the ground. Her stomach, though it wanted to throw up, was too empty.

There would be no point in trying to run from Willow, she knew, because if it wanted her that badly all it would have to do was knock her unconscious and drag her lifeless body into its branches. If it was angry with her it would probably kill her, but if it was pleased it might continue to be her home.

Her feet dragged her over to the base of the tree, whose limbs were moving wildly as if not knowing what to do. None of them came near her as she placed her bloody hand to the tree bark to support herself and kept it there while she caught her breath. The throbbing in her head started to die down.

Something snaked around her waist again and lifted her up, and when she got to the highest branches it was all she could do not to hurl herself to the ground and end the pain right then. Death, she'd heard, was like sleeping forever. Once the branch set her down, however, she gripped for it and held tight; death might be pleasant, but the prospect of dying somewhat unnerved her.

Luna gave Willow the same stern look she'd seen on McGonagall many times before. "Do you want me to stay?" Leaves shook, which she took to be a yes. "I want to stay, but I don't like it when you hit me. It makes me feel bad." She placed one hand over her heart so it could understand, but when it didn't move anymore she sighed and leaned back on the branch. Another one supported her back so she wouldn't lose her balance.

A long time passed in silence. Finally, Luna whispered, "I want to stay here. I like it here. I don't even know if my father is at home, and I'm not sure I want to find out. But my friends are all in the castle, and they might be... They might be getting worried about me." Though while she said it, she had to wonder if that was really true.

She touched the back of her head to find the bleeding had stopped, but an echo of pain remained. One of the smaller branches pressed the sore spot--it started to sting immediately. Tears welled in her eyes. It was like her skull was being ripped open, like she was being set on fire from the neck up, like her flesh was being burned away. She bit open the cut on her lip.

Then within seconds it was all over, and a cool sort of calm settled over her. Luna didn't understand what had happened, but when she touched the same spot it no longer hurt at all. But now everything seemed to spin in front of her and she couldn't find her balance at all, feeling so dizzy that she might have spun off the branch.

"I don't blame you." The words sounded muddled in her head and like a puzzle on her tongue. "In fact, I think you healed me. Maybe. But I am feeling a bit strange."

Luna lay down on the branch and closed her eyes. She liked that she could only hear her breathing, only feel the warmth and strength of the branches that wrapped themselves around her.

From the distance came what first sounded like music. But after forcing open her eyelids, she could see a string of colorful birds flying towards her, carrying something in their beaks. They flew closer, and it became apparent that together they were carrying a string of flowers in colors of reds and yellows and blues. They seemed to soar from the clouds. The chirping sound of music grew louder.

But before the birds got any closer, Willow struck.

His branch lashed out violently. The music stopped; the bird that had been hit barreled toward the ground and Luna could see blood trailing through the air after it; its friends scattered in opposite directions, flying lopsidedly with wings beating frantically; the string of flowers floated down, forgotten.

Luna shoved against the branches and Willow, apparently realizing it had done something wrong, let her go. She hurried from one branch to the next and leapt to the grass, then ran immediately for the fallen bird.

Cradling it in her hands, Luna saw with a terrible sinking of her heart that it was already dead. One of its eyes was closed, and the other was missing. Almost all of its feathers were splattered with blood. Her wand was in her bag, which was hanging on one of Willow's branches, but she didn't feel like asking the tree for anything right now. So she set down the bird and dug her hands into the earth.

Digging a grave wasn't as easy as it had seemed, even a small one, but Luna relished every moment of the work. After half an hour she barely felt the aching of her wrists and the bites on her fingers. It was about that time that two of her friends came down from the castle.

"What the hell are you doin' in the dirt under the Whomping Willow?" said a familiar voice, and that same voice exclaimed almost immediately, "Ow!"

Luna turned and realized that she was glad for the break. "Hello, Ronald, Hermione," she said pleasantly, while Ron muttered under his breath that Hermione hadn't had to elbow him and Hermione declared loudly that he needed to have a bit more tact.

Luna smiled, not minding at all if they still thought she was a bit strange. "I'm burying a friend." She placed the bird in her palms and lifted it up to show the newcomers. Ron, though he had seen many corpses in the last few days, made a face like he was going to be sick. Luna looked up at him. "I think it looks like a boy, don't you?"

"Er, yeah. Definitely a boy if you say it is. Blimey, I can't tell!"

Luna gazed expectantly at them both. "So what should I name it?"

"Name it? It's dead! And no, Hermione, I think I have enough tact, thanks!"

Luna let her eyes flicker down to her hands then back up to the pair before her. "What do you think? Maybe he looks like a Herbert...Or a Francis...Or a Plugonia-- "

"Hugo," blurted Hermione, whose cheeks turned red. Ron stared at her. "I've...I've just always liked that name, is all."

Luna nodded and lay Hugo back down. "All right, Hugo it is. Where are you two headed?"

"The lake," said Ron, and Hermione's cheeks reddened even more. Ron took her hand and started to yank her away from the tree, as if weary of the conversation and wondering when they'd be hit by a branch. He called over his shoulder to Luna, "Don't follow us."

She just nodded again and kept digging until her fingernails turned black and the hole was deep enough, and by then she'd lost track of the time. A pat on all sides around the grave evened it out a bit. When she thought it was ready, Luna placed Hugo in the bottom and made sure he wasn't crooked, then tried to think of a few words to say.

The flowers had floated close by the grave, so Luna held one end of them in each hand. "I really like your flowers, they're beautiful. And you were lucky to be a bird. Sometimes I wish I could fly."

There, that's good, she thought, filling in the grave, and rested the flowers around it. Even though she hadn't known him very well, he reminded her of Dobby and it was hard not to cry. So she did.

A branch lowered itself in front of her and when most of the tears had subsided she climbed on. It carried her back up. She got off at one of the higher limbs and hugged Willow tightly. "I know you didn't mean to hurt Hugo. Were you just trying to protect me? Hugo was a good bird, he would never--"

At the mention of the bird's name, one branch crashed down on the grave. A deep indention that Luna could see even from her perch showed the earth that had sunken. She hoped Hugo hadn't been crushed.

This time though, she thought it better to say nothing.

After a few minutes she spotted Harry and Ginny walking hand in hand around the Willow in the same direction that Ron and Hermione had gone in. Oh dear, she'd better warn them.

"Hello, Harry!"

It took a moment for him to look up, even with Luna waving so it would be easier for him to see her. He said nothing. "Ron and Hermione haven't returned from the lake," she told him, "so if you and Ginny were planning on going there for a walk or something..."

Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, then walked straight back into the castle.

Luna settled satisfactorily back into her branch and closed her eyes. She really didn't understand what was so special about the lake. What did couples do there, anyway?