OOO

All of these high expectations could be stifling. They just built and built each year, leaving Harry no chance to decide what he, himself wanted to be. People expected him to be the perfect wizard, the perfect human being, and Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to go about fulfilling their expectations. He had defeated Voldemort, he had chased down the last remaining Death Eaters, he had helped the wizarding world feel safe again- wasn't that enough? But he was Harry Potter, so there was never such a thing as enough.

Sirius had expected him to be his father. How could Harry be someone he had never known beyond a few photos and one hazy memory? Remus had expected him to be both his mother and his father, to which Harry had helplessly tried his best- which, of course, had not been good enough. Dumbledore… well, Dumbledore had asked the world of Harry but had expected absolute failure. Or maybe he had expected nothing of Harry and Harry, in return, had imagined the disappointment in the old man's face at times just as a reason to be spiteful. It was confusing to look back now, because the faces of the dead had started to blur in his mind. Dumbledore became Snape, who in turn became Sirius, who morphed into Remus only to change back into Fred, for some reason. No, there was no telling what they had all wanted, and it wouldn't do to wonder about the wishes of dead men.

But still, Harry did. It was stupid to expect anything else. He would lie awake at night and wonder if they were all watching him, and if they were proud of him or shaking their heads in disappointment. Was he making his parents happy? They had been happy with him when he was in the Forbidden Forest, about to face his death, those eight long years ago, but things changed, didn't they? Maybe his father and Sirius were up there laughing at his confusion, exchanging jokes about how miserably Harry's life had turned out. Twenty-five years old and single, pining after the one girl no one expected him to care for.

But it made sense that he loved Luna; because Luna didn't expect Harry to be anyone but Harry James Potter, and he found that it was quite refreshing. It was nice to talk to someone without hearing that he had his mother's eyes, or that he looked exactly like his father, when the person in question had only spoken a few words to Harry's parents a few decades ago.

Luna was just fantastic, and Harry swore that she knew him better than he knew himself. After all, Harry was busy finding out who he wanted to be when he was twenty-five, and Luna had known who she wanted to be the day she was born. She didn't want to be anyone but herself; and Harry respected that, he really did. Because wasn't it wonderful that he had managed to find the one girl in all of England who was happy with who she was because she didn't know she had any other options? She was just a free spirit, someone who went through life determined to be as happy as possible and succeeded.

So maybe Harry Potter was well into his twenties and still single, in love with a girl who wore radishes as earrings and would rather stare at the clouds than shopping or to the spa. So maybe he had denied dozens of desperate and quite beautiful girls a date because he was finding a way to work up the courage to ask out the most beautiful girl of them all. At least he was happy while doing it.

OOO

I had nothing else to do, so I wrote this. I've always liked Harry/Luna, and I watched the fifth movie the day before yesterday for the billionth time and kept on remembering the part when Sirius shouts out "Good one, James" to Harry. So I sat down and wrote this. I hope you enjoyed it, although it was quite short! Please review!

Sincerely,

ItsOnMars :)