Love takes everything that you are and rips it in two, unevenly, then gives the larger part to the person who you fell for. When it's all over, it leaves you as only part of a person.

Love hurts. It's messy and frustrating. Just like this story.

Before we begin, however, I will give you a warning. You can hope for a happy ending, but don't expect one. This is a love story, not a fairytale.

"Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common sense." —Helen Rowland

SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1998 – KING'S CROSS STATION

"Harry, we need to talk." Ginny Weasley flipped her long ginger over her shoulder as she spoke to her confused boyfriend. When they saw each other, she had denied his kiss and wouldn't even hug him.

"What's wrong?" Harry Potter furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore," she said simply.

"What? Why?" He demanded, freaking out, but trying not to show it. "If we could get through last year, we can get through anything, Gin! Why do you want to break up? J-just tell me! We can work it out—I swear we can!"

Everyone around them began boarding the train for the school year that should have happened the previous year. Many kids were too occupied with the Second Wizarding War to pay much attention to their educations at that time, so every seventh year that was still alive, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione, was retaking the year.

"No," She stated. "I don't want to work it out. I'm going through too much—my whole family is. With Fred gone and all…it's just too much. I can't have a boyfriend right now. Especially not one that gets so much attention. I just can't handle that right now. I'm sorry."

"Look, I know what Fred's death did to your family, and what it did to me for that matter, but I can help you through this. I think you need someone—"

"Don't tell me what I need," Ginny snapped. "And don't give me any of that 'he was a brother to me, too' shit, okay? He wasn't your brother and I am not your girlfriend anymore." And with that, she boarded the train without another glance at him.

Harry just stood there. Not even the train's last-call-for-passengers whistle could unfreeze him. He thought she loved him. He was wrong.

"Harry? Harry Potter?" A drifting, dreamy voice rang. Harry turned his head only slightly to see a round porcelain face with two big crystal blue eyes in the center starring up at him. Her long, messy blonde hair framed her face, angelically, and ran down to her lower back.

"Oh. Hi Luna," Harry muttered passively, barely acknowledging the sixth year girl.

"Thank goodness," she exhaled. "If you didn't respond, I'd think that the Whimsy Winglers had gotten you. They take all of your senses with just one bite, you know."

"Okay, Luna." He was used to her rambling but honestly wasn't in the mood for it right now. So, just like many times before, he decided to block her out.

"Harry? Harry?"

"What, Luna? What do you want? No, I haven't been attacked by any imaginary creature lately, if that's what you're wondering."

She tilted her head to one side, not understanding his irritability. "I was just going to say that the train will be leaving soon, in around two minutes and thirty four seconds or so, and I was wondering if you planned on boarding."

There was no sarcasm or pushiness in her voice. She was too sweet for that. It just wasn't in her nature.

Harry nodded, walking toward the train entry. "Yeah, I mean, of course."

Luna raced to keep up with him, watching him with admiration in her eyes. With his long legs, one step of his was equal to about three of hers. "Harry?" He couldn't hear her over the sound of the bustling train station.

She caught up with him once they were on the train. Her hand lightly tapped on his shoulder while she stood on her tip-toes and had her arm stretched out all the way up to reach him.

"What, Luna? What on Earth do you want now?" Harry demanded, twirling around to face her once again. His patience was thinner than a strand of unicorn hair.

"I was wondering if you wanted to possibly sit with me." Luna stared up at him hopefully.

Her heart was pounding rapidly against her ribcage as she spoke to him. She had been thinking about Harry Potter all summer—how brave and kind and modest he was. In all honesty, Luna had been in love with him since her fifth year.

There were a variety of reasons why she fell for him.

He saw thestrals and understood what it was like to lose a parent (Or, in his case, two). Dumbledore's Army was the best thing to ever happen to her, and he had founded that. He took her to a Christmas party when most people would be too embarrassed to do so.

She always tried to be a good friend, in hopes that he would one day love her.

Luna convinced her father to support Harry through the Quibbler. She comforted him after the death of his Godfather, Sirius Black. During the time when Death Eaters took over Hogwarts, she was rebel for one reason: Harry Potter. And he would never know.

When Luna had helped Harry find the diadem Horcrux, she was sure that he would fall in love with her. But he didn't. He loved Ginny, the only friend she had in her year. They were the couple.

Harry tried to think of a way around her offer, but decided that sitting with her definitely beat being in Ron and Hermione's compartment, watching them make out. Have you ever been a newly-dumped third wheel? It sucks. Plus, Luna was kinda cute and she was good company, no doubt a dependable friend.

"Sure, Luna." He tentatively accepted. Even though she was a nice girl, he knew that he just sealed the deal of listening to hours of her pointless jabber. At least it would get his mind off of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for a while, though.

"Magnificent!" Luna's eyes widened in excitement as she gently took him by the wrist and led him down the aisle of full compartments. Inside of each, Hogwarts students were chattering busily to their friends about their summer vacations.

Harry's summer had been nothing except reflective and gloomy. He spent nearly every day alone at number 12 Grimmauld sitting in a chair by the window, just thinking. His daily thought pattern consisted of:

Mom and Dad… and Sirius… and Remus… and Tonks… and Mad Eye… and Fred… and Dobby… and Hedwig… and me. but the difference is that I came back to life. But why me? It's not fair. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. No. Why me? Why just me? Why not mom or dad or…Sirius….or Remus…..

It repeated in a cycle endlessly.

He wouldn't make contact with the Weasley family. The war was his fault; therefore the death of Fred was his fault. Plus, he put the life of their youngest son at risk by selfishly bringing him along on the hunt for Horcruxes.

Harry didn't answer Hermione's letters, either. She had taken the memory spell off of her parents, but they still couldn't remember certain, minor things. Of course, in Harry's eyes, it was his fault, even though Hermione had admitted to messing up a small part of the spell, multiple times.

The only thing that made him want to come back to school for this year was the promise of the beautiful Ginevra Weasley faithfully waiting for him. And now even that was ruined.

They reached the end of the train corridor. Luna peered into the very last one. "An empty compartment? What luck we're having!"

Harry wanted to snort at the irony, but understood that it would be rude. She didn't deserve any of his built up bitterness. She sat down and he did the same.

"There aren't as many students this year," Luna observed, taking a crinkled Quibbler out of her trunk. "I suppose that th—"

"They're all dead," Harry interrupted her, completely unfiltered and sour.

At first, Luna stared at him in surprise. She knew that they were all deceased, but hadn't expected him to say it straight out. Then, she gave him a small, understanding smile, put the Quibbler away, and reached for his hand.

"You've been thinking about all of them a lot, haven't you?" She inquired in a murmur. He nodded, looking pained. Harry knew who she meant by 'all of them.' She really meant 'ALL of them.'

"Don't fear the unchangeable, Harry." She whispered, giving his hand a slight, comforting squeeze. "It will help nothing; only cause more grief and panic. No one needs that in their life."

She continued, releasing his hand and leaning back in her seat. "But death isn't the only thing on your mind right now, I see. I can feel it. Something else it wrong."

Harry opened his mouth, but then started chuckling at her therapeutic ways. "There is no way to hide anything from you, is there, Luna Lovegood? It's like I'm a sheet of glass to you."

Luna smiled distantly and shrugged her petite shoulders humbly.

Harry's smile vanished and he stared at the floor. "But, you're right. Something else is wrong. Ginny and I…we aren't going to continue seeing each other. She broke up with me."

"Don't say anything else," The blue-eyed Ravenclaw commanded after a slight pause in the conversation. "I'll talk to her. It'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Would you?" Harry asked, shocked and overjoyed. "Luna, you're amazing. You are the most wonderful friend. You have no idea how much that would mean to me."

Actually, she did know how much it would mean to him. And that's why she did it.

Yes, that's the kind of person she was. Luna Lovegood was such a good person that she would help a boy she loved get back together with his girlfriend, who wasn't her.

Why? Because it would make him happy. And that's all she wanted.

~~~ Please review, review, review! It'll get better, I promise!

Xoxo –ThatCrazyDreamer ~~~