Title: Walking With A Ghost
Challenge: Even though Harry's off searching for Horcruxes and not at Hogwarts, he seems to be running into Luna everywhere.
Summary: He believes in her too.
Warnings (if applicable): This contains a very vague DH spoiler. So if you haven't read that yet..what are you doing here?
Other pairings (if applicable): One coy H/G mention. That's it.
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: This is my very, very, very, very, very late entry for the Harry/Luna ficathon over at LiveJournal. Um.. I know, I have absolutely no excuse. I really didn't know what to do with the prompt..two years later I finally got it.
There are a couple of things to note.. One - Biffles and Gragonas are my weird creations. Please don't steal them, okay. I like them and they like me. Two - for all intents and purposes of this fic, Ron and Hermione didn't accompany Harry on the Horcrux hunt. Three - this is my first attempt at Harry/Luna so..hopefully I didn't butcher it (or the pairing itself). And lastly...Ron and Hermione are not together in this fic(let).
I'm ashamed of myself. I won't say anything more. Except this.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter's not mine. He's all J.K. Rowling's and other related companies'. I don't intend any copyright infringement. The only things that belong to me are this fic, Biffles and Gragonas. That's all.
- - -
He finds her everywhere he goes.
It's almost as if she's following him - making sure he isn't alone.
She comforts him in a way no one else can. Talking about creatures he's never heard of and she's seen calms him.
(He's too cynical to think of their constant meet ups as mere coincidences.)
She takes him away from fear and doubt and rage and grief and pain. He fills himself up with hope and love and courage and confidence and strength instead.
She picks him up when he falls down. As he breaks she mends him.
He knows he's putting her in danger and she says she's never going to leave him. So he lets her stay.
He's selfish.
-
At first their meetings didn't faze him.
It's when they see each other for the fifth time in a rainy October that he starts to wonder. She tells him she's exploring, searching for Biffles and Gragonas.
(There are many things yet the world doesn't want to reveal.)
-
One day he asks her how she can believe in him so unconditionally.
She smiles serenely and says, "You're truly a hero. You let people see they can have a better life, a better future." It's a compliment, not a bitter critique.
He believes in her too.
-
She's always looked at everything very differently from "normal" people.
She's honest, she's true, she's real.
He likes (no, loves) that about her.
-
She's not looking for Biffles and Gragonas.
She's here to save him.
-
"I lied," she tells him cheerfully on a Sunday evening in March. "I'm not here to explore and search for Gragonas and Biffles."
He raises an eyebrow, clearly confuzzled. "Are you here to make sure I don't do anything stupid?" His eyes are sharp as they burn into hers.
(Green reminds her of envy - such a strange emotion! - and the ivy that stretches itself all around her house.)
"No." A pause. "To make sure you don't fall."
-
Her name keeps him fighting.
-
When he sees Ginny once they're back at Hogwarts, he doesn't know what to think anymore.
They never could have months or years, he realizes.
Ginny once had a place in his life . . now she doesn't belong in it.
He'll always be the Boy Who Lived to her. Never Harry, just Harry.
-
Coincidences don't exist in his life.
Neither do miracles.
Luck does.
-
The Happy Ending:
"Thank you for always saving me," he whispers into her skin.