It was midnight.
The trees were swaying to their natural tune, the melody of the wind. Every star shone brightly against the velvety black sky. He glanced up, letting himself dissolve into the blackness, forcing his mind to take hold of everything he saw, storing it in the depths of his memory.
He watched the water flowing delicately below. He saw faces in the shallows, among the lilies and the reeds, haunting him...
...
He wanted so desperately to stop those images, but he knew that it was not choice that dictated. He needed to utilize those images. They were the only reminder of everything that was lost, every soul, every breath, and every life.
As they let out their dieing breath, he would remember time and time again, why he had to fight, why he might possibly loose everything that he held dear.
The war had intensified since his fifth year; once the ministry had recognized that Voldemort had returned to exact his revenge, once there was nothing more to hide. The Aurors were on the lookout, Hogwarts installed new protection, the Daily Prophet reported attacks daily, many of them involving Harry himself.
The Prophecy had remained secure up until a few months ago, when Voldemort employed Archaic Dark Magic to secure the complete copy out of Dumbledore's office. That was when it was decided that the final battle would have to take place.
Harry was suddenly awakened from his reverie by a soft hand resting itself on his cheek.
"I hoped you would come..."
She drew him into a passionate embrace, tears flowing steadily down her cheek.
He smoothed her hair.
"If we never had the chance to say goodbye..."
"Don't say it, don't say anything..." She whispered
He reached out to comb his fingers through her long tangled blond hair, across her cheek, and around her neck only to find the trademark butter beer necklace.
His lips twitched into a small smile.
She glanced up at him....
"Harry...?"
"Yeah...?"
"Do you believe in Crumple horned Snorkacks?"
"Does it matter...?"
With that, he felt tears of his own forming out of the corners of his eyes.
"Can I kiss you Luna Lovegood?"
"Only if you help me find my stuff..."
She stifled a giggle as he pressed her gently against the tree to submerge her in a passionate kiss.
It was a symbol of fortitude, something that would never change.
While breath may cease, and life may end, Love always endures.
That's what they were fighting for. It was why the reflections persisted, the memories replayed. All a reminder of what was worth fighting for, an aching prompt not to forget.
Everyone deserves immortality, but it was the one thing that Voldemort would never achieve.
Immortality is memory, something stored safely in the hearts and minds of loved ones.
"Why you...? Can't you stay here, with me? Forever..."
"There's no such thing as a physical forever Luna..."
There was a pause as she looked down, staring intently at the grass. She tightened her embrace around his chest, laying her head a few inches below his chin.
She suddenly broke free, took his hand and dragged him to the earth surrounding the vast willow tree that they were standing under.
"My father told me that the dead never truly leave us, but I know that you'll come back. You always do..."
She began to scoop up dirt into her hands, letting particles filter from in between her fingertips.
She grasped both of Harry's hands, brought them closer to her, and formed them into the shape of a cup.
Another plot of earth was scooped, and sifted into Harry's outstretched hands.
He looked at the newly scooped black earth in his hands, and then up at Luna who was staring at him intently.
"I don't understand Luna Lovegood...what does this mean?"
"Not everything is meant to be understood Harry Potter. But I know what I know, and that is the fact that I will always love you, no matter what..."
He lifted his hands into the air, letting the dirt fly away with the wind, every particle on its own individual predestined path.
He shivered.
"Are you scared..."?
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. But what will come will come right?"
She proceeded to draw pictures in the plot of earth in front of her, and sighed.
Harry glanced at his watch. He felt his breath sharpen, his mind seize, and a familiar tremble find its way down his spine.
"Its time..." his voice was shaking slightly. He looked over her and around the park attempting to catch every detail and every flaw, the magnificent beauty that was life.
He stood up, and grasped the trunk of the tree, and once more he found himself submerged in embrace.
He lifted her chin.
"Can you promise me something?"
"Anything..." Tears were flowing freely once more.
"If I do not return, I need you to promise me that- that you will go on. Find someone else, someone better, someone without an x on his back. You deserve better than this, better than me."
When he finished she was shaking her head incessantly, as if she was trying to erase the realization that this was goodbye, possibly until the end of eternity.
"No, no. no...There is no one-"she faltered, shaking. "There is, and never will be anyone else..."
"Luna" his shoulders shaking now...
"Luna you have- you have to promise me. I can't leave without knowing- knowing that you'll be all right... For me Luna, you must promise me..."
"I promise" she whispered her pleas once more as she felt Harry loosening the embrace.
It was time for him to leave; the hour had come.
He turned around to catch sight of Dumbledore waiting at the edge of the Park.
"Im not going to say goodbye..."
He planted a kiss on her forehead as she sunk to the ground, taking in her scent, body language, laugh, and smile...remembering.
Harry was finding it difficult to hold himself together, almost impossible. It felt as if his soul was being torn into two.
As he walked away he took one more glance around the Park, but he would not look back he could not look back. If he dared, he might never sum up the courage to step away.
He felt the wind tousling his hair, he heard the trees whistle in the wind, the stars were still glowing brightly. That much never changed.
"Are you ready Harry?"
"Does it matter professor, does it really matter?"
Dumbledore nodded, and apparated to the prescribed destination that was to stage the coming of fate..
He looked up at the moon, and smiled in spite of himself.
"Hello Luna Lovegood, and Goodbye. Tomorrow and today will come again, and the future will last to our liking. For memory is immortality."
With that he apparated after his old headmaster, leaving his soul behind him under the tree, under the stars, subordinate to the wind.
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Author's Note- Hello Readers! Thank you for reading. I have one request, possibly a demand...REVIEW!!!
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