A/N:
Written for The Houses Competition, Year Two, Round One.
House: Hufflepuff
Year: 5th
Category: Drabble
Prompt: "Nothing can be that important"
Wordcount: 497 (Google Docs)
Thank you to Jetainia, Aya, and 1917Farmgirl for the wonderful beta eyes!
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Neville stood above the bank with Ginny, the two of them a private distance away from Luna Lovegood and her father, sitting at the river's edge. Just last week, Luna's father lay immobile in a hospital bed - suffering, she'd said, from the drab, colorless walls. The old man's mind was fading, his body not far behind—aftereffects of the Second Wizarding War. The St. Mungo's Healers had desperately cast experimental spells which miraculously made him appear whole. Luna immediately insisted that they take him outside, to sit by the water.
Luna didn't know that the effects of the spells would fade within days. Neville struggled with his words. "We can't keep them in the dark, Ginny. It's too important."
"Nothing can be that important." Ginny gestured to the two people by the stream. "Look how happy they are. She's probably telling him that story about the plimpies and the Merpeople."
"I know the one," Neville grimaced. He'd heard it so much that it was hardly funny anymore.
Ginny pointed. "Oh, he's laughing. She must be at the part about the knotted legs."
It was so good to see Mr. Lovegood in high spirits again. He could breathe. He could laugh. He could remember.
For now.
Luna had always had a big heart, but it would break when she found out her father's days were numbered. The Healers could calculate the remaining days of lucidity if they wanted to do the Arithmancy.
Neville swayed. "You're right, they need this."
They'd buried so many after the war. It was too soon for another funeral. The world swam before his eyes, and Ginny pulled him into a tight hug.
"I can't do it," he said. "I can't tell her."
"You don't have to," Ginny comforted. "Not today."
The river wasn't home, but it was close enough. Luna looked up at the bank where Neville and Ginny had gone. "I don't see them anymore."
"They'll be back soon enough. No one will leave an old gaffer like me to himself for too long." Her father's chuckle faded. "I regret all that you went through for me."
"I don't," Luna said. "It let me have you back."
She tapped a finger to her temple. "If it only lasts a little while, it doesn't matter."
Her father's eyes glazed over, like the sun fading behind the clouds, then he blinked the haze away.
"It's good to be alive," he said. "But I feel it. Slipping away."
Luna felt the damp from the grassy bank through her pants. But she didn't mind. She would do anything to be here, now. "If it only lasts a little while, it was worth the effort."
Her father took in air shakily, and Luna wondered if she should say something to Neville. But before she could get up, a frail hand clasped hers.
"Not yet," her father smiled. "It's such a perfect day."
"Yes it is," Luna said, staring down at the sparkling water. "You're right. They need this."