Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
"Dean!"
The voice is so different from the one he's been expecting. It's quieter, less sure of itself than the one that's been woven into every daydream he's had for the past three months.
He catches her in a bear-hug and holds her tight, once again incredulous that he ever let her go in the first place. He buries his face in her soft hair. It's wet from the summer rain, the tiny globes shine amber in the soft light of the pub.
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
He holds her at arm's length. She's taller than he remembers, some type of elegance around her that hadn't been there before, some style that only she could pull off, the fly away blonde hair and huge eyes, still full of child like amazement.. She cocks her head.
"Yes?" she asks.
"How was it?" he asks. "You've changed."
She gripped his hand. "You haven't."
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey
They sit down and order drinks and talk and talk. Dean wants to know everything, Sweden, Finland, St. Petersburg, Svalbard… places he's dreamt of, of seeing the colour in the dark water, watching rainbows appear in ice. Distant places. Luna tells excitedly of them, a smile of memory working itself onto her face at every different breath taken, and he's there with her as she describes her experiences, and feels it all the way the light shone through the pine needles, the soft undergrowth beneath their feet, and Luna right at home wherever she is.
Then she stops and asks him how London has been. How London's been… dreary old London, stuck in constant November. He can hardly think of one think to tell her, but her face is so intent and at every new detail she lights up, as if it's as new and exotic as the North Pole is to him and suddenly there's a thousand things to say.
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
But he draws breath and realises his experiences aren't nearly as interesting as they should be. She wasn't there. So he asks her a million questions. What about the Northern Lights and all the other wonders up there? What was the boat to Svalbard like? Were the stars brighter?
Was it everything she dreamed of?
She smiles and digs in the bottom of her glass and begins again. She pauses for a moment and asks "Am I boring you?"
He shakes his head. Luna could never possibly bore him. "Polar bears?" he asks.
She takes a small gasp and begins again.
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
He asks what he's been wanting to. "Find love?" he asks.
"Apart from you?" she asks completely casually. He grins, she always answers that in response to his question and it gives him some kind of security. Seamus and Lavender have been telling him for months to go out with a girl he works with. Three months to be exact, ever since Dean began spending so much time alone. But for some reason he knows that she wouldn't like him, maybe because of the dreamy quality Seamus teases him about he's had since his stay at Shell Cottage, maybe because of the scar that stretches itself like a cat across the side of his face.
Or maybe because he's in love with somebody else.
There's another burning question he wants to ask her,
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there?
But it can wait.
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellations, hey, hey
He's been counting the days really, by the moon. It seems so appropriate for Luna. He smiles at the thought it's a new moon tonight, a new beginning. He tells her that he's gotten into Astronomy after leaving school, bought a better telescope, been mapping out new star charts, looking at all the constellations in a new light.
She checks out Mozart while she does Tae Bo
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey,
In return for this, Luna says she's gotten into a million new things, classical music, martial arts, new methods of fortune telling. He just stares at her, as she draws pictures in the air with her hands. She pauses for a second and questions him.
"I could never do any of it," he admits.
"You've never tried," Luna says bluntly.
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain old Jane
Dean pauses for a moment and wonders how Luna sees him. Does she just see plain Dean Thomas, who doesn't take risks, even if he's red-and-gold. He's just afraid to take risks to do something new. He leaves it all up to Luna, lets her do it all.
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land
She seems to read his thoughts.
"Once you jump Dean, whenever you finally do, you'll never stop. I can tell," she says in a comforting it's-alright-I-know tone.
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
"Was it windy?"
"Very. Even more than Shell Cottage. I nearly got blown over."
He thought back to that blustery April, how whenever they went down to the beach he would put his arm round her stick-like frame, afraid she was going to be blown away into the sea. He didn't think that he could bear that.
"I got up every morning to watch the sunrise. It was wonderful."
Dean smiled. He had found her so many mornings in the Shell Cottage garden. The two of them had just sat, hand in hand, without a word, and watched the new dawn begin.
"I have to take you back someday to see the Aurora Borealis."
Take him back…
And head back to the Milky Way
"I'd like that," he smiles.
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
"Plus, the sky is so clear up there, you could see Venus with the naked eye."
Dean grins. "I could bring my telescope."
He sees the two of them in his mind's eye, in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, wrapped up in the same blanket and watching the stars wake up.
Was it everything you wanted to find
He asks the obvious question
"Did you find the Snorkack?"
Well, it's not actually the most obvious.
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
"No."
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong.
He doesn't really believe in Snorkacks. He was Hermione's classmate for seven years, part of her has rubbed off on him. But he'll never tell Luna that. She looks so hopeful when he mentions it.
"Maybe we'll find it together."
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone
Conversation
He hopes so. Long distance doesn't work for him. Norwegian fjords seem so distant. He puts himself on hold until she returns. Three months is long time.
He won't say "no" next time.
The best soy latte you ever had… and me.
"When we go back," he tells her. "You can show me everything."
She shakes her head. "There'll be so much more to find. We can't go back. We have to keep going ahead." Her pale eyes find his. "We'll make a good team."
He knows that already. He covers her hand with his.
"The best," he says solemnly.
"Except for the Northern Lights. We have to see them."
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
"You won't be annoyed with boring old me, will you?"
Luna frowns and cocks her head. "Why would I? You're one of the most interesting people I know."
"Really?"
"I never lie. Not to you," she says, staring at him. "There's nothing there that wouldn't be a thousand times better if I had a friend to share it with."
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
"And we can fly," she says, eyes widening at the thought. "There's no broom restrictions. We can go on your broom, and fly into the Midnight Sun."
"I'd like that." He can imagine it, Luna's arms around him, both of them freezing cold gliding over huge expanses of beauty, wonders. They can share them together.
"I'd like that a lot," he murmurs.
And head back toward the Milky Way
"Do you regret coming home?" he asks. "It sounds so amazing."
"No," she says thoughtfully. "Home is just as interesting. Everything you told me, I wish I had been here."
"It wasn't that great."
"Neither was the North, if you think like that," Luna points out. "Plus, everybody I love was still here."
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
"It doesn't seem dull here then?" he asks, looking round the pub. People are sitting as they have done all their lives. There's nothing special about it.
"Nothing ever seems dull to me," Luna says and Dean knows she's telling the truth. Immediately he can see the story behind each of the pub's inhabitants, see how Luna sees them.
And that heaven is overrated
"The North doesn't really compare," she says, looking to where Madam Rosmerta is talking to Horace Slughorn. "Not really. Nothing compares to home."
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
She turns back to him and rubs her thumb along the welt on his face affectionately.
"Nothing compares to you," she says grinning.
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there
"Did you miss me?" he asks suddenly, unable to help himself.
"Every single second," she says, as if it's the most natural and honest thing in the world -because it is- and then her lips are on his and Dean's thoughts are disappear except for Luna Luna Luna…