A Moment in Time
By Allison Carroll
A/N: This was written for a contest on Third Floor Corridor. I hope you enjoy it!
The sun was setting beyond the trees, casting long shadows on the large lawn that covered the ground around the castle. A cool breeze ran across the lake and into the dark hair of a boy standing at the lake's edge. He was alone, his eyes lost as he stared out at the sunset, but wasn't really seeing it. It was if time and space collapsed together and the world was frozen in place. Perhaps that's how he wanted it. Yet, no matter how long he stood there, the world seemed to keep moving taking him with it.
A soft patter in the background caught this boy's attention. He spun around, his glasses almost falling off of his face while his right hand dug into his pocket. The source of the pattering only laughed. "Hello, Harry," the soft voice greeted.
Harry straightened the glasses on his face and took another look at the person. "Oh, hello, Luna," he answered, taking advantage of the moment to scan the grounds for any other guests who threatened to enter his vicinity. There was no one else on the grounds; he and Luna were quite alone. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was going to ask the same of you," she returned, eyeing him quizzically. "Oh, there's a yadiburkle on your shoulder. You might want to brush that off before it bites you. Those bites have the worse itch to them."
Harry swiped his hands at both of his shoulders, only to realize that nothing was there. Nothing ever was there. "Why do you do that?" he asked her.
Confusion passed over Luna's face. "Do what?"
"Do…that," Harry spat.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Harry," she concluded, brushing away a lock of hair from her face. "It's cold out here, anyways. Ron and Hermione are in the common room with Ginny; they're waiting for you."
A strong desire to be back in the common room with his two best friends and the girl that haunted his dreams passed over Harry, but he quickly dismissed it. He couldn't go back there. Not yet, anyway. "How did you…" Harry began without realizing what he was saying.
"How did I what?" Luna asked when he did not continue.
"How did you…cope…when your mother died?" he stammered carefully while trying to sort out a multitude of thoughts all at once. Between all of the turmoil that life had dealt him at that particular moment, there stood a girl who had faced the same destruction in her life and still stood strong, appearing unaffected by the world.
As the last bit of sun disappeared into the horizon, Harry wasn't able to observe the Ravenclaw's face turn pale, but the tense silence that followed was enough to tell the young man that her battle with life was not over. "My mother?" she repeated grimly. The unusual tone struck Harry by surprise and he quickly apologized.
"No, no, don't," Luna protested, grabbing Harry's arm with her hand. "It's a fair question. You want to know how I was able to get over my mother's death and still be the way I am—right?"
Lighted by the soft glow of the castle lights, Luna observed a small nod mixed with a pained expression. "Death is never easy," she proclaimed with a serious look atypical to her usual nature. "I am the way I am because my mother died. I live in my own world now and believe what I want to believe. It's the only way I can keep some control over my life and not have it slip away through my fingers. My mother is gone; my father could die, too. In a single moment of my life, I could be left alone in this world. How have you survived?"
The sixteen-year-old boy was silent, pondering Luna's words carefully, but not answering. Her words hung in the air, heavy with profound meaning that he barely understood. "I don't know," he finally murmured, his voice soft in the warm air. "Sometimes I don't feel alive at all."
Luna peered at him from the corner of her eyes. His head hung from his shoulders, his posture bent over as if the weight of the world was finally pulling him down, down into the earth where it threatened to bury him forever. While some would feel pity and offer sympathy, Luna could not. She could only stand and listen to his suffering. Before coming Hogwarts, Harry Potter was something of a legend to her. Now, standing and listening to him, she was able to glimpse the tired boy that underneath the mask of bravery and pride would look very similar to herself.
"You know you are alive, Harry," Luna reassured. "You are alive, but you are lost. What you want is a hope that you see in me, but that you cannot have. I can't give it to you, Harry. This is something that you are going to have to find yourself."
The finality in her tone told Harry that the conversation was over. As she moved away from him and began to head towards the castle, Harry called out to her. "Luna!"
She turned around, her turnip earrings hitting her cheeks. "Yeah?" she answered.
"You're not as weird as you think you are," Harry told her. "You do make…a lot of sense."
Luna laughed, her voice ringing across the grounds. "It's good to hear that," she said, pausing for a second. "Are you going to come back inside or what?"
Harry smiled; something he hadn't done since Dumbledore died. Yet, something clicked inside him—something Luna said made sense and now he knew more than ever what he needed to do. "Yeah, I'm coming," he answered, moving until he was by her side and together they made their way back to the castle. Even in the darkness of night, the world continued to spin and time went on. But in the distance, there was the light and the more they walked, the closer the light became until they reached the castle. Yes, there was still hope.