A/N: Written for the Best Friends Competition Take Two at the HPFC forum. I was given the characters and the quote, which I used as a great inspiration source for this ficlet.
Many thanks to my beta mew-tsubaki for betareading.
The first & last sunrise
Friendship is the comfort that comes from knowing that even when you feel all alone, you aren't.
It was the soft wind that blew through their hair, and it was the light that bounced up from the lake's surface and made them close their eyes so as not to be dazzled. It was the feeling that told them that they had all the time in the world.
When the birds chirped behind them in a little tune that was full of vividness, they could almost close their eyes completely and pretend that this was just another day after school when they had walked out here to forget about everything. Pretend that they had not suffered a single moment back in the castle, that they hadn't still the pressure on their chest that made it awfully hard even to talk.
Luna suddenly grabbed Neville's hand. He smiled at her, and he knew it must've looked crooked, half-heartedly, but it didn't matter, because she knew what he meant by it.
"I don't want to go back in there, Neville," she said.
"We don't have to," Neville answered with another strangely strained smile. "Not yet."
Luna nodded. "Not yet," she repeated.
"Eventually, but not yet," Neville mused, and he stroked with his thumb over Luna's soft skin on her hand. "Let's walk, okay?"
He rose from the ground without waiting for an answer, because the question was actually unnecessary. Luna didn't let go of his hand and was thus pulled up with him. She giggled softly when she flew up, and so did Neville, but then it was as though someone put a blanket on top of them, and the laughed died out, quickly, as someone pushing them into a river filled with ice cold water or burning lava, anything that could fill their throats and make it impossible for any sound to come out.
Their eyes met, and even though the silence had arrived abruptly, that didn't really matter, because it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. They walked down the beach, not so close that they bumped into each other, but close enough to sense the other's presence and feel safe.
The water in the lake was black and hardly moving, and Neville felt almost intimidated by it. He didn't know why, so he turned to Luna so as not to have to see it anymore. "Hey, Luna, have you heard from your dad?"
She lifted her head and stopped. "No, not yet."
Neville nodded slowly. He was just about to say something when Luna suddenly tugged on his arm.
"We should go back now, shouldn't we?" Her eyes were sad and round and Neville breathed in heavily.
"We should."
Luna let her hand slide down his arm and grab his hand. Her fingers were warm against his skin, and the two of them turned around so that they could see the castle.
They walked back in at the same second that the sun's beams fought their way through the clouds, and they knew that this was it. They were going to come back, and they weren't doing it by themselves.
