A New Beginning

A New Beginning

Luna sat quietly in the Ravenclaw common room, in her own little island of peace. Of course, the peace was just a mask - a mask she had worn ever since she entered Hogwarts, one that she had taken off only in his presence.

They strolled along the roads in Hogsmeade, splattered with snow from their recent snowball fight. She turned him around and looked into his eyes. As she moved her hand to brush the powder off his jacket, he captured her hands and lips in his own.

Harry...was there no way you could live...?

She smiled at a third-year who caught her eye, giving no trace of the grief which tore her apart. She knew her 'indifference' was becoming the subject of much discussion almost all over school, but she honestly could not care. They did not know the tears she cried at night, or when she sat alone in the common room while the rest had departed to Hogsmeade.

She had not visited Hogsmeade since the Final Battle, and no one questioned why. She did not care to wonder why she was spoken to even less than she used to be.

"Some call me 'Loony Lovegood' actually..."

She had not cared then, and she cared even less now. But then, he had been there for her, to trust her. He had needed her, and she had been able to comfort him. But now, who would reach out behind her barriers, even as she had done for him? Was he happy, wherever he was?

Part of her reason for putting on this façade was a half-hearted belief that he was watching her from Heaven, where she had no doubts he would be. She did not want him to see her sorrow.

The first time she had cried in front of him, she had seen the naked shock on his face. He had just held her close, saying nothing, not even knowing what made her lose her smile. In her, he had had absolute trust...

She got up and left the common room, unable to restrain her tears much longer.

And cannoned into none other than Draco Malfoy.

She eyed him with open dislike. Turning against his father and joining the Order had not made him much less obnoxious. But then, he had killed his own aunt, Bellatrix.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Two voices shouted simultaneously, and two more casualties were added to the Death Eaters' book. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange both lay dead, their conquerors taking a moment to seethe over their dead bodies. But then, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had wrought vengeance on each other's behalf, rather than their own. Harry would not forget Sirius' death much before Draco forgot his Mother's.

Luna greeted him with a wide-eyed stare, completely devoid of expression. To her surprise, he returned her look with an equally blank sidelong glance, instead of the taunt she had been expecting.

"What would bring you out of your domicile?" he asked, somehow making the innocent question quite repulsive.

"Whatever would drag you away from your friends," she replied, totally unperturbed.

"Was it...was it Harry?" he asked, the tone of his voice changing completely. It was somehow rather more human than she had ever heard from him before. Harry must have changed him as well - they may not have been the best of friends, but they definitely understood each other on a level that belied their previous enmity.

"Oh no!" she said with a toss of her head. She could never have spoken like this before, but in the past year she had imbibed quite a few attributes of Harry's, not least his habit of giving bullies as good as he got. "Just Voldemort, Dementors, and heliopaths roaming in Ravenclaw Tower. After all, I managed to smuggle quite a few Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in myself!"

"If you need food for the Dementors, I'm sorry I can't help you there. No souls in the Slytherin camp, I can assure you."

She did not know when her mask had snapped, but her smile was suddenly twisted. "Had there been Dementor fodder in the Ravenclaw dorms, I would not have come out searching for some here, would I?"

"Lovegood..." he said, and stopped.

"Luna." She corrected, disliking his use of her surname.

Though she would never love again, the friendship of Harry Potter's closest companion might still be hers. From that moment, she knew she could live.