Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: I've been on a roll writing lately and this was just one that I wanted to jot down. Little did I know what impact it would have on me. I hope it does the same to you. I hope you can feel the emotions I tried so hard to portray. The song that made this possible was Undying Love by Andrew Landon. Please review. --Delta
Happily Ever After
Dean was not just a regular boy.
At least, not the kind Luna thought she would find at Hogwarts.
He wasn't ashamed to take her out, rather delighting in the unusual garb she preferred.
And he loved every word she spoke.
Her father couldn't even make that claim but she had gotten used to that.
Gotten used to not being understood, in a much more literal sense that usual.
But Dean, he did understand her.
Instead of brushing off her claims of nargles and wrackspurts, he questioned them.
"Why do they like Mistletoe? What's it about that plant?"
Or…
"Why do they cause your brain to go fuzzy? Why do they like some people more?"
And of course she would always have an answer.
"They're rather perverted nargles are, like watching the kissing, you see. They also have a nasty habit of getting too close."
And…
"They're attracted to deep thinkers. They're rather philosophical, they think that if they can take some time off your mind, you'll be less stressed about what youre always thinking about, and often deep thinkers are worriers too."
She blew his mind.
And if you didn't pay attention to her, you'd miss her completely.
And she surpassed everyone he knew.
But of course, Luna had always thought the same about him.
--
One day, they were out at the park, enjoying a brunch they had cooked together after a rather wonderfully pleasurable morning.
She was practically glowing, and Dean couldn't help but say what was on his mind, because he knew she wouldn't hesitate in the least.
"Did you ever hear the story of the King and the Queen?"
"King and Queen of what?"
She held out a grape for him, and he took it into his mouth, smiling happily.
"Nothing really, they were just King and Queen."
She smiled, still a little oblivious but curious nonetheless.
"I don't believe I have."
He looked up at her through thick, dark lashes.
His chestnut eye smoldered.
"Would you like to hear it?"
She was stunned by the look on his beautiful face.
All she could do was nod to answer.
"Well, the King was a tortured man. He was jealous, possessive, and extremely over-emotional. His kingdom did not flourish because of this, and he was forever with the weight of his actions upon his shoulders."
He paused for effect, looking deep into her stormy eyes.
She shivered.
"He was wrought with grief over the Queen, whom he believed had no affectionate feelings for him at all. He felt no solace when she came to him at night, and could not feel the love her held for her in her own eyes. It drove him crazy with sorrow, and so he left for the creek down by the draw bridge and drown himself."
Luna's eyes widened.
"He drown himself with her picture clutched between his fingers. He drown himself because he wanted to tell her how much he loved her. But once the water took residence in his lungs, he had no breath left to speak of his love with."
She gasped softly, her slender fingers touching her lips in surprise.
"But woe is for the Queen, herself. For she did love him, loved him madly with every beat of her heart. Yet, she had no way to express the words, for words did not come to her kindly. And in her desperation, her love died in his own. And so she flung herself from the balcony of the castle they had once shared, for if the man she had loved had died for her, she would die for him. And while she fell, one single thought came to her head.
'All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy.'
And when her body met the ground her last thought was regret. The king would have wanted her to live, but in her grief she was blinded. And they both perished; unhappy, and with unspent love buried deep in their hearts."
Dean heard Luna sniffle softly and he turned to her, also enraptured in the story he told.
"That was so sad, why did you tell me that story."
Tears were budding in her eyes and he felt guilty for that.
"I'm sorry love, that wasn't what I wanted."
He wiped his calloused fingers under her glassy eyes.
"I didn't want you to ever go about thinking I don't love you."
He grabbed her hand, looking deep into her eyes, intensity laced in his words.
"I wanted to ask you to fall, fall not like the Queen, but fall in love."
He smiled heartbreakingly.
"Fall with me. Fall with me in love."
She could do nothing but pull him close and kiss him.
She couldn't help but fall in love with him.
Or more appropriately, she smiled, fall with him in love.
And they lived on, together, happily ever after.
--