Life didn't just resume after the war, at least not for those who fought. Celebrations broke out over the island, loud parties could be heard just about anywhere you went. Hiding from niggles became a whips of a memory and those loyal to the ministry had their hand full trying to keep everyone hidden. Luna wanted nothing to do with the celebrations, she went home after the final battle feeling spent and broken. Looking into her fathers eyes was difficult. He was her only family but it was hard to forgive what he had done to her friends. The ruins of her childhood home was a constant reminder of it. Understanding him was easy, but forgiving was difficult. Luckily there was enough work to keep Luna preoccupied. She helped put the house back together, reassembled the pieces of their lives, tended to her mothers garden, painted her new room. Anything to keep herself busy.

The days were getting shorter, the weather cooler and despite not keeping track Luna knew summer was coming to an end. There was a chill to the air blowing in through he window, Luna use to enjoy this time of year. School would be starting soon but there was no way it would be the same. Hogwarts had been destroyed and rebuilt. And half of her classmates wouldn't be back.

She didn't want to think about that, didn't want to think about the families. Fred funeral had been hard enough and there were so many more families like the Weasley's. She picked up a paintbrush putting the finishing touches on the sunset above her bed.

Her bedroom door slammed open. The paintbrush dropped from her fingers and her heart raced. It wasn't a surprise, she had heard her father coming up the stairs. He had never been light on his feet, she heard him shuffling just outside her door, that knowledge did nothing to calm her down. Her chest tightened and she couldn't suck in a breath of clean air. Before she realised it she had her wand out from behind her ear and held tight in her hand.

"Luna, Luna it's me," he fathers said holding his hands out in front of him. He glanced around the room, desperation in his eyes. A forever passed in the beat that they stood there, at an impasse while Luna's fight response dwindled down. Her breathing coming easier and the stance in which she held her wand pointed into her fathers chest slacked. She let her arm drop to her side, her wand hanging loosely from her finger tips. Luna racked her other hand down her face as she took one more ragged breath.

Her father did lower his hands, he didn't take a step closer. He stood there, 3 feet away from her, his deep blue eyes laced with worry and shame. Shame that he couldn't protect her from what had happened, it was because of that forgiving him was easy.

"My Darling Moon," he said softly his voice quivering as he lowered his hands slowly. "Is everything okay?" Luna had worked so hard to keep all of this from him. Her little episodes of blind fear were vast but so far she had managed it all by herself. She disliked that anyone would see her like this. Now people had a reason to call her Looney. She nodded her head softly and forced a small smile on her lips. Reassure him, don't alarm him was there only thought running through her head. In a few moments he would come up with some reason this had happened as he had when she first came home. She didn't have the heart to tell him Nargles were not to blame for any of this.

"Must be the Nargles again. I think we've got an infestation. Should we go on a hunt for them tomorrow?" He asked, but Luna could see he himself didn't really believe his own words. Anything to keep from talking about what was real. "Your friends are here. Ginevra and that awkward lanky boy." He said with a wave of his hand.

"Neville, dad, his name is Neville." She said with a shake of her head. No matter how many times that man met Neville he'd never remembered his name. It was a constant struggle but Neville never seemed to mind her fathers quirky nature.

"Ah yes little Nettle, though he's not so little anymore." He said pronouncing Neville's name wrong again. At least it was closer then his normal tries. Luna didn't bother trying to correct him, her father was just never going to get it. Neville was no Harry Potter...

She moved around her father and ran down the stairs. Her blonde hair cascading behind her from the speed in which she moved. All summer she had spent fixing this place and avoiding the two people in the world who knew her best. Euphoria spread through her as she burst through the front door and spilled outside. Her friend waiting in the front yard, Luna's trek slowed as she noticed the two of them engaged in a heated conversation. From where she stood in the yard she could only see Ginny's face as Neville's back was turned to her. The Gingers expressions were full of rolling clouds and storms. Her eyes knitted as she mouthed something else to the boy in front of her, but then she spotted Luna and everything changed. She smiled brightly and pushed Neville around to face the house. His eyes were clouded, he never could change in an instant like Ginny could.

"Good to see you Luna!" Neville shouted to be heard with the dove between them. The petite girl flinched slightly as the loud noise, and she wondered if that reaction would ever go away completely. She walked towards her friends, the look in Neville's eyes told her that he had seen her reaction. As she got closer she heard the tail end of his and Ginny's conversation.

"... Believe you!" Her voice was harsh but it was clear Neville was done with this conversation.

"That still happens huh?" He asked ignoring whatever Ginny had just been saying. The fiery ginger turned her unforgiving gaze towards Luna. Whatever Neville had done Luna couldn't blame him for wanting to change the subject, even if it was at her expense.

"What still happens?" Ginny asked, her heated gaze turning into something much kinder as she looked at Luna.

"Nothing," Luna said in a soft breath as the three of them walked further and further away from the house. She glanced behind them and saw the curtains shuffle and her father peer out at them. "How are you doing?" Luna asked, directing her question to Ginny as they walked. The girl smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Pretty good actually. Harry is over with Ron and Hermione all the time so we can really make up for lost time." She said her voice light and airy, like a girl in love. "Ron and Hermione are together now so I don't really have to share Harry much, it's nice." It seemed like the girl was avoiding talking about Fred and her family. Luna understood though. Pain didn't really need to be shared. "Plus Percy is around all the time now, when he's not picking up the pieces of what is left of the ministry."

"Well, hopefully with the rebuilding of our government we have gotten rid of what was left of the rotfang conspiracy. Your brother doesn't need to get mixed up with that." Suddenly Ginny was pulling the girl in for a hug, laughter falling from her lips.

"Don't ever change Luna." She said pulling back.

"I can't say I planned on it." Luna said smiling softly. Ginny lingered and when the hug finally ended she took Luna's hands in her own. Their walk did not end there.

"So your last year," Neville had been pretty quiet up to this point in their walk. His Aura was slightly off from normal but Luna dismissed it. No ones Auras looked the same after the fall out of the war. Everyone was ringed with darkness now. "Are you guys ready for this?" He asked. Ginny scoffed slightly, almost inaudible. There was some obvious tension and Luna didn't know how to address it. So she didn't.

"I'm ready to go back and move on with life. Nothing just stops right? What about you Gin, still want to be a Quidditch star?" She asked trying to pull the girl into the conversation, maybe if things rolled smoothly the tension would dissipate.

"Merlin yes!" Ginny shouted into the empty void in front of them. Nothing but fields until her home miles away. Luna twitched slightly at the noise but was able to brush it off. Feigning a shiver to save some face. "More now then ever. I am going to grab life by it's bollocks. The Hollyhead Harpies are going to beg me to join their team." Her face was full of arrogance, and it was astonishing to see the girl so full of hope, like nothing had changed. Luna knew this was going to be Ginny's year.

"You've got this Gin, no one will stop you from reaching your dream." Neville said smiling brightly for the first time since they had arrived her. The joyous smile fell from Ginny's face. She tore her hand out of Luna's grasp and advanced on Neville. Her finger jamming into the boys chest with a force that could be heard. With each thump a look of pain spread across his face but he didn't move away. He stood his ground and Luna could do nothing but stand there. Confused.

"You don't get to talk about my dreams." Ginny spat out, her words doing nothing to ease Luna's confusion.

"Bloody hell Gin!" Luna screeched attempting to pull the girl away and out of poking distance but she wasn't budging.

"Look I know you aren't happy with what I've decided but this is happening." Neville responded. His assertiveness surprising both girls. The last year had been good for him but sometimes it was still strange to hear or see him standing up for himself. Luna's head began to spin. None of this made sense. Ginny and Neville never fought, they just didn't. It was impossible to wrap her head around what was going on.

"Will someone tell me what is going on?" Luna asked. Maybe what her father had said about the Nargles was right. Maybe there was a swarm nearby. It would explain the change in her friends. Ginny paced a couple feet away from Neville, fire erupting from her core.

"He's giving up on his dream, Luna. He's decided to go travel to America." Ginny spat out, her voice dripping with venom. Luna didn't understand, traveling to America sounded like a great idea. Get away from of all this for a little while, it wasn't like he had to worry about going back to school. Why did this have Ginny in such a tizzy?

"You aren't going to bully me out of this Ginny. I'm going and I'm leaving the day after your birthday." He held his ground, his face hard and tired. The war had broken all of them in different ways. Ginny looked poised to attack again. This couldn't continue, they were friends. Friends didn't treat each other like this. Luna took a step between them her wand already out before Ginny even reached for her own. The blond disarmed Ginny without a word. A look of betrayal crossed the pale girls face as she looked down at Luna.

"Ginevra Weasley, stop it right now!" Luna screamed, her heart beating fast. The thump beating against her rip cage like a conga drum. The world ceased moving. It stood frozen, Neville and Ginny glaring curses at each other over Luna's shoulders. Standing between them was wrong. These people were her best friends, the first people to ever treat her like a person and not just a side show attraction. They shouldn't be fighting like this. After a moment of tense anger Ginny's heaved a loud breath. Her legs crumpled underneath her and she fell to the ground. Her expressions held a child-like desperation as she looked up at the two of them. Strong stoic Ginny would never cry and even now when it seemed like she might, her eyes were dry. Luna kneeled down into the dry itchy grass and placed a hand on her friends shoulder. Luna should have known, she should have made Ginny talk more. Maybe the pain this girl held onto was the kind that needed to be shared.

"Everything has changed." Ginny said stating the obvious. "Every one is dead, Tonks, Lupin, Fred." Her voice wavered on the last name. The name of her brother. Luna wanted to kick herself. Of course this wasn't just about Neville. "And now you are going halfway across the world. What if you die!? How will we ever know?" She demanded focusing on the boy towering over the both of them. Her eyes glistened, tears were unavoidable and Luna didn't know how to comfort her friend.

Neville just shook his head, he looked like Luna felt, at a loss for words. He took a seat in the grass with them and grabbed both their hands. Neville always was one for affection.

"Come on Ginny. We survived so much. The ministry of magic," flashes of that battle came to Luna's mind. She remembered Neville pulling her out of the way of a nasty hex thrown at her by some masked death eater. "Umbridge." He said raising his eyebrow. Ginny chuckled softly by Neville wasn't done with his list. "The death of Dumbledore, everything the Carrows threw at us last year. We are strong and smart, I'm not going to die and even if I do I've got plans in motion. You two will be the first to find out." He said squeezing their hands. His speech unsettled Luna but apparently it was exactly what Ginny needed to hear. She sighed softly and wiped at her face, dispelling the tears that had started running down her cheeks.

"I'm going to miss you." Luna said softly when no one spoke.

"You are right Neville and I understand. We should have died so many times. We are still just teenagers and we took on the dark arts. We lived and that's more then some people can say." Ginny sounded sad. Luna leaned her head against her friends shoulder. This wasn't where she had thought this expedition would go.

"I just want to see the world Gin, be happy for me?" He asked. Ginny didn't answer him with her words and instead pulled him in for a hug. Ginny had been right. Everything had changed and nothing would be the same again. War had a way of making messes of everything.

They stayed there in the middle of nowhere until the sun had set. They talked and laughed while not talking about anything at all. Neville was the first to leave. Ginny's birthday was coming quickly and he had a lot of loose ends to tie up before he leaves for America. Each one of them knew that was why he was leaving even if Neville didn't mention it again. It was a touchy subject. After he left for home Ginny and Luna walked back to her house in silence. As they said their goodbyes Ginny made Luna promise to come to her birthday. The idea of all those Weasley's in one place making noise terrified Luna but she agreed. She couldn't tell Ginny no.

When Luna walked inside her house the darkness was overwhelming she was quick to get every room illuminated before it could swallow her up.

"Luna!" Her fathers voice sounded from the living room. His tone strained and confused. The girl sprinted towards the sound to find her father spread out across the couch, his eye blinking rapidly as he glanced around. Confusion in his features. It was like her was searching for her.

"I'm right here dad," she said softly walking into his line of vision. She could see the worry and fear in the aged lines on his face. Once he saw her he seemed to relax. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he manoeuvred into a more comfortable position before he went back to sleep. Snoring loudly a moment after his eyes closed.