Disclaimer: Except for the plot, it all belongs to J.K.
Summary: Sometimes life has an odd way to provide us comfort.
When a hero falls
Ron stared blankly at his grave. Even though it had been two months ago, his death was something he couldn't get used to. His absence was almost unbearable. The fact that he had to die in order to save the world was something that Ron would never understand.
The cemetery was completely empty, and the autumn leaves following the course of the wind made it look rather morbid. The sound of the wind made it all look unpleasantly calm.
Ron remained standing in front of Harry's grave, absolutely no expression on his face. It had been two months ago, and he still hadn't been able to cry over the loss of his best friend. His mother kept saying it was okay to cry, that he needed that to finally feel relieved somehow, but it didn't matter. His tears wouldn't bring Harry back and he doubted that they would provide him any sort of relief. Nothing seemed able to comfort him right now.
He wasn't trying to be strong, he was simply doing what he learned best: ignore his own feelings. It didn't matter if he was sad or angry; what did matter was that other people needed his support. Hermione was terribly shaken and she needed him to help her going through that. Ron couldn't simply break down, not now. He remembered when he shed a few tears in Dumbledore's funeral, but even so, he never allowed himself to break down. And with the losses in the following year, crying and mourning over someone wasn't really an option. They had to immediately recover themselves and be ready to avoiding another loss. Or at least trying to.
With a sigh, he placed the flowers his mother had bought on the grave, staring sadly at the names of the Potter family engraved on stone. He inhaled deeply and tried to say something. Like one of those sentences that people usually say when they're visiting someone's grave. They seemed to be some kind of ease.
When he finally realised that he didn't know what to say, he decided to leave, but noticed someone approaching. He turned his head shortly, and to his immense surprise, he saw Luna walking towards him.
"Hello, Ronald," she said, standing beside him.
"Hello, Luna."
"Have you been here long?"
"No, not really," he lied. Had been probably more than an hour since he got there.
After a few minutes standing in silence, Luna kneeled down and placed a white flower on the grave. She sighed, and ran her hand lightly through the stone.
"I suppose it's a good thing that we're here at the same time," she said airly, watching the grave.
"Yes," Ron said vaguely. "Wait, why?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ronald, I wasn't talking to you."
Ron looked around only to see that there was no one else in the cemetary.
"Who were you talking to?"
Luna stared at him as if he had asked a very silly question.
"Harry, naturally."
Ron looked at her, confused. He didn't wonder why she was doing another thing that didn't make sense. At first, nothing about Luna did really make sense, but eventually, one would end up enjoying her unusual attitudes. In the past year, Ron and Luna had became closer. While he, Harry and Hermione were trying to figure out ways to defeat Voldemort, Luna, Ginny and Neville were keeping them informed about what was happening inside Hogwarts.
Neville didn't write too much, but he usually gave them useful information. Ginny, on the other hand, used to write several pages, but most of them were loaded with random things. Luna's letters were the only ones that really called his attention. Her way of talking and writing about things was absolutely the same. In fact, it was almost like having her beside you once you were reading her letters. And it felt good. Everytime her letters came, the mood seemed to lighten up a bit, no matter how bad was the situation they were in. He and Harry used to sat to watch Hermione while she read Luna's letters, but later on, Ron started to read them when he was alone.
At first, she mailed all of them with a single letter, but later on, she started to mail Harry a private letter as well. Ron wondered what they could be writing about. He noticed that Harry always picked a quiet place to read Luna's letters, and he seemed somehow happy everytime he finished one. He used to give a smile that he reserved for special people, a smile that he didn't give too often: a sincere smile.
Ron felt terribly silly when, a few days later, he wrote a private letter to her. He wanted to know the feeling of having a private letter from Luna. Three days later, he had his answer. He was afraid to open the letter, wondering if she thought that was needy of him starting to mail her privately, just because she was mailing Harry privately now.
All his fears went away once he started reading the letter. She seemed awfully happy that he was mailing her as well, and her unique honesty was unbelievably clear.
From that day on, they started mailing each other as often as they could, and he understood why her letters made Harry feel better. Why Luna made him feel better.
"Why is it a good thing that we're here at the same time?" He blurted, finally coming out of his thougths.
She stood up, watching the grave again.
"Because he can see us both now, which will leave him time to do other things after we're gone," she replied, casually.
"Other things?"
"Yes, I assume he's very busy right now," she said, looking slightly too formal. "Which is good, I suppose."
Ron didn't even bother trying to understand why Luna thought Harry would be busy. He merely watched her, feeling somehow amused. Harry had always said good things about Luna, and Ron himself had changed his mind about her in their sixth year. And with the letters, he ended up concluding that Luna was, in fact, an oddly fascinating girl.
"How are you feeling?"
Silence. Ron continued to watched her and he only realised that he was actually staring at her when Luna turned to look at him.
"Ronald, did you hear me?"
"Oh, were you talking to me now?" He asked, sounding rather stupid.
Luna smiled. "Yes, I was."
"I'm sorry," he said, sheepishly. "I'm feeling alright, thank you for asking."
He immediately realised how forced he sounded and before he could think of something else to say, Luna spoke.
"Ginny told me you haven't cried."
Ron frowned a bit, wishing Ginny, and everyone actually, could stop acting as if it was a big deal.
"I haven't. But that doesn't mean I'm not sad. I guess I'm just not the crying type," he said, a little bit harsher than he intented.
"I supposed that's probably it," she said shortly, and without warning, she sat on the ground.
Ron looked down, wondering what she was doing now. Probably continuing in silence her conversation with Harry, he thought. Slowly and without saying a word, he sat by her side. Even though he was planning on leaving right before she got there, now he didn't feel like leaving anytime soon.
Luna didn't make any objection as she continued to peacefully watch the grave.
"Do you come here often?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"As often as I can."
Noticing that she seemed focused on the grave, Ron spoke again.
"What are you doing?"
With a discrete smile, Luna answered, "I'm keeping him company."
Ron watched her, feeling once again, amused. Harry was right, she was really one of a kind.
"I truly miss him," she said, with a sigh.
Ron sighed too, but said nothing.
"How is Hermione?"
"She's... Okay, I assume. Sad, but her studies are keeping her mind busy."
"I see," Luna said, thoughtful. "I hope she's careful, though."
"Careful about what?"
"She can't keep her mind busy all the time. And even if she could, it's not a bad thing to let your mind wander."
"Yeah, you would say."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he immediately regretted them. The last thing he wanted was to make Luna sound like a lunatic.
She looked at him, with an expression that he couldn't quite read. Either she didn't understand his commentary or she didn't mind.
"You should do it, Ronald."
"Do what?"
"Let your mind wander. You might end up finding out what bothers you so much about Harry's death."
He stared at her, completely taken aback.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I meant exactly what I said," she answered calmly.
Ron gaped at her. "Well, then how can you say that? What bothers me is that he is dead! That's what bothers me, Luna, and nothing else more!" He finished rudely, and got up.
Luna continued to stare at him, and didn't seem at all affected by his sudden outburst. She slowly got up and stood in front of him. Ron tried to avoid her gaze but he couldn't. There was something about the way she was looking at him that made him feel completely vulnerable. He sighed deeply, and in what was a big effort, he looked down, avoiding her eyes.
"He was unhappy."
Luna didn't say anything. She looked at him as if waiting for him to continue.
"But how couldn't he? He always had to deal with so much, and no matter how much me and Hermione tried... It was his burden, you know?" He looked up at her, sadly. "I wish we could have saved him."
"What makes you think you didn't?"
Ron watched her, puzzled.
"Is that what really bothers you?"
He looked away, and stared at the horizon. The sun was setting, and the temperature was getting colder. For a few moments, he merely stood there, expressionless. He let his mind wander, just like she suggested. And without realising, he started to speak.
"What bothers me is...that I don't think Harry was ever happy. He had good moments but I think he never had the chance to be truly happy," he paused, looking at her again. "What bothers me is that he died and he wasn't happy. I never made him happy."
"Ronald--"
"It's true, Luna," he interrupted. "Please, don't try to convince me otherwise."
She looked at him, with a look of sadness that definitely didn't suit her, but then her expression changed into a tender one.
"At least you know he's happy now," she said, calmly.
"How do you know that, Luna? How?" He asked, feeling an uncomfortable lump on his throat.
Luna gently placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him. "He's home, Ronald."
With a faint smile, she looked at the grave. At the graves. Ron followed her gaze, and in what seemed like the first time he was actually seeing them, he read the names on the three graves. Lily Evans Potter. James Potter. Harry James Potter. All of them. Harry's real family.
And for the first time since Harry had died, Ron felt the tears burning in his eyes. He didn't mind, and let them run freely. He felt that the tears weren't the reason why he was relieved. They were simply the consequence.
For those past two months he was feeling so terribly empty. He thought that there was no relief left for him to feel. And now, knowing that somehow Harry was okay, made him feel whole again. Luna was right. Harry was home.
She brushed some tears off his face and hugged him. He returned the hug, and allowed himself to break down completely in her arms. She tenderly caressed his neck and whispered in his ear.
"It's gonna be okay."
And for the first time in two months, he believed that. Because Harry was home. And unexpectedly, so was he.
A/N: Never thought I would write R/L, but look at that ;) Initially, it was meant to be H/L, but killing Ron's family and Ron in order to create the scenario didn't really seem convincing. This plot bunny definitely belongs to Ron and Luna, so there. Did you like it? Thought it was IC? OOC? Please, let me know what you think.
As usual, thanks to my wonderful beta Abigail, to whom I dedicate this story, since I know she's quite fond of Ron and Luna. And Rosie, I hope you're happy now that you've finally read a R/L piece written by me :)