~ for Elaine ~
Hermione didn't know what had drawn her to Luna Lovegood - more specifically she couldn't narrow down the list of things that made Luna Lovegood so entrancing. Perhaps it was because Luna was unusually gifted at all the classes Hermione wasn't the best at - the fact that she prefered hands on learning opposed to book-based knowledge. They were polar opposites in almost every way - from something as simple to their hair color, to the more complicated aspects of their personalities.
Because while Hermione was fire and courage - a woman filled with a fierce and unbridled determination, whose eyes were razor sharp and steely - Luna was the opposite. Luna was ice and wit - a woman who was calm and calculating, a woman with endless creativity and a smile that could light up any room. Hermione hadn't really believed it before - but maybe opposites did attract - maybe that's what was pulling her in.
It was true that they hadn't been on the best of terms before the war had started, but they grew closer through Dumbeldore's Army - even when Hermione had left the castle they'd never stopped keeping in touch. Because they both agreed life was too short to waste on missed moments, too short to not say exactly what you needed to say. Life would keep going with or without them - and they both understood that. Their last message before being reunited was an agreement - that if they both made it out of this war alive, they would get into a real relationship.
Hermione had searched tirelessly after the battle was over, through wreckage and rubble to try and locate Luna. She knew that - logically - the first place she should have looked was the Great Hall. Where all the dead had already been lined up - but she just couldn't face that first thing. She needed hope - and where there was hope there was almost always Luna Lovegood. The woman who sat peacefully staring out the window of the Astronomy Tower - looking out at their broken down school with the same distant look that was always in her eyes. Hermione was relieved that Luna was alright - overjoyed that they would get to be a couple now.
Now they sat watching a Muggle Movie on their small little television in their London apartment - peacefully leaning back onto their blue and gold couch, sipping tea from their mugs and just letting themselves be content. Allowing themselves to finally live in the moment - a moment not filled with fear but instead with happiness. This was it - their 'happily ever after'. After so many years of turmoil and hardships they were finally safe.
All was well.