Hufflepuff
Seventh Year
Additional
Prompt: [Theme] Following a dream
Word Count: 1234
MC4A Challenges: Gryffindor MC; Ravenclaw MC
Bonus Challenges: Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Rediscovery)
~o0o~
Luna hummed as she packed a backpack full of the necessities: clothes, toiletries, dirigiplum solution to ward off wrackspurts. All her life, she had longed to visit the island where her mother, Dione, grew up. It was said to be in Greece. She had been planning this her entire seventh year, saving and practicing for another, and she knew she didn't want to go alone. She had carefully considered who to bring with her and finally made her decision.
The door opened.
"Luna?"
"Hello, George," she said pleasantly. "You know, you should really organize your socks and underwear. It will give your dresser a better energy."
"Right, I'll keep that in mind," said George, leaning against the door jamb. "Now, what are you doing in my flat?"
"I thought I'd help you pack," she said. "It's not good to grieve so long and an adventure would be just the thing, I think."
George just stared at her, a million thoughts running through his head. She couldn't read them. She'd been studying legilimency, but it only seemed to extend to empathy and outermost thoughts.
"Luna," said George. "I can't just leave my shop."
"Sure you can," said Luna. "What are you going to do, fire yourself?"
"Well, I—" he paused. "I… uh…"
"I have a proposition for you George Weasley," said Luna. "You are clever, witty, and you can think outside the box. Would you like to go to Greece with me to find an unplottable island? I'm inviting Harry, too. I know he's going through Auror training, but I think that he needs a chance to live. The last time he went backpacking he ended up dying."
"You really expect to crash in unannounced, pack a bag for me, and I'll just drop everything and go to Greece? Just like that?"
Luna fastened his bag and held it out to him. "It will be fun."
George stared at her incredulously and sighed. "Alright, let me change and we'll go tell Harry."
"Wonderful," said Luna, exiting the room so he could change out of his brown suit.
Once he was comfortably dressed in layers, George and Luna apparated to Harry, Ron, and Neville's place. Ever since the war it was rare for someone to be able to live alone. Luna, herself, was flatmates with Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Luna wrapped her knuckles against the door and sniffed lightly. Corn chips…
Neville opened the door and flushed pink. Oh dear, he was still crazy about her. She really was fond of him. It was a shame their relationship didn't work out.
"Hello, Neville," she said pleasantly. "Is Harry here?"
"Yes, of course," said Neville. "Come on in. Pardon the mess."
Luna studied their living room and drew her wand.
"You do know there are household spells, right?" she said, tidying up a bit. "Honestly, Neville. If your grandmother could see this."
"It's not all me!" he said defensively. "Ron doesn't clean up after himself."
"Hey!" said Ron from the kitchen. "I do the dishes."
"Yeah, last week! We don't have house-elves cleaning up after us anymore."
While the two Gryffindors bickered, Luna and George stepped out onto the balcony where Harry was sitting and reading a book.
"Hello, Harry," said Luna pleasantly. Harry would take a bit more convincing than George. She could tell. "I want to ask you something."
"Anything."
"Will you go backpacking with me across Europe to Greece so we can find the island where my Mum grew up?" she asked. "It's always been my dream to go there and I would prefer to go with someone who is like a friend."
"I am your friend, Luna," he reminded her and noticed their backpacks. "You mean to leave right now?"
"Hey, I was surprised myself, mate," said George. "I had to owl Lee and Verity, tell them I was going on holiday."
"I can't just up and leave," said Harry, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I've got… er—work, and I promised to help Hermione with some stuff, and I can't just leave Ron and Neville. They'll kill each other! That wouldn't've happened until Neville did all that stuff for the DA."
"Yes, confidence suits him," said Luna cheerfully. "I'm still not hearing a good reason, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you haven't given an answer that involves what you want," said Luna. "If you think that you wouldn't be able to stand me and George for an extended period of time or… backpacking across Europe doesn't appeal to you is one thing. Your excuses involve obligations to someone else."
Harry stared down at the ground contemplating her words. Luna smiled and set her backpack down. She removed her mummy's journal and the map she plotted to get to Crete.
"I've been working and saving," she said. "I also learned how to drive so we can save money on portkeys. I had considered trains, but I thought it might be better if we weren't restricted by time tables. Mr. Weasley was kind enough to adapt my car to run without gasoline. Unfortunately, it doesn't fly."
"Unfortunately," said George, cracking a grin.
Harry picked up the map and studied it, mouthing the names of the cities and countries they were going to be passing through.
"Oh, look," said George pointing to the route in Romania. "This is near where Charlie works. Can we stop by and see him?"
"Of course," said Luna. She penciled it in and snuck a peek at Harry. "Where do you want to go, Harry?"
"I… Well… when I was little I would try to listen when Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon watched the telly. One night, they were watching a documentary about Notre Dame in Paris. And it was mentioned that people would take sanctuary there. I sort of clung onto that image. Wished that I could find sanctuary somewhere beautiful."
Luna nodded slowly. She knew Harry had it rough. Even now, she could see that child. Too scared to be selfish. Trained by Dumbledore to die like a lamb, tortured by his only living family, and everyone too blind to see the effect and getting angry when he finally got angry. He'd seen so much pain.
"I think we can work in Paris," she said. "Mummy spent her seventh year of school at Beauxbatons Academy you know." She flipped to the page in the journal showing three women in powder blue robes, raising their wands in the air to copy Beauxbatons' crest. "That's Mummy, that's Auntie Bel, and that's—"
"Your mum was friends with Fleur's mum?" George interrupted, fascinated.
"Oh, yes," said Luna. "They were champions in the team division of dueling."
"Wicked," George breathed.
Harry was still looking at the map.
"How long will we be gone?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," she replied honestly. "But it's autumn, so there won't be a lot of tourists or traffic. I didn't think you would like the crowds."
He was silent once more.
"Think about what you want to do," Luna gently pushed.
Harry turned his green eyes to her.
"Okay," he said.
Luna squealed with delight and hugged him. "Thank you!"
Harry chuckled and patted her back, signaling for her to let go.
"I'll help you pack," she said, clapping her hands. "I'm so excited to share this with you!"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Me too, Luna. Besides… I've always wanted to go on a road trip."
~To be continued~
…
Eventually