The sun had sunk to level with the horizon and was painting the sky brilliant shades of pink and purple as Harry sat on a cliff just down the way from Shell Cottage. Ron, Hermione, and himself had spent all day stuck in the small room planning with Griphook and after dinner he needed a break and fresh air. Their plan was mad but it was also their only hope at getting another Horcrux so they had to try.
Half the battle was keeping the peace between Ron and Griphook rather than the actual planning. Today was particularly bad as Griphook continued to shoot down anything Ron said and muttered about wizard's selfishness any chance he could. Harry had been suffering a raging headache for the last few hours and the sound of waves crashing and the wind blowing were helping him to escape and feel better.
Beside him Harry felt the presence of another person, turning his head he saw the long waves of dirty blonde hair blowing against Luna's face. She gave him a smile before turning her head to look out at the sunset. They sat in silence for moments after, it was something Harry loved about Luna; she never pushed or asked questions when most people would. She had the patience of a saint letting others tell her when they were ready.
He could smell some sort of flowery scent picked up by the wind and he assumed it came from the girl beside him. Looking over he took in her serene features that were marked with scars and bruises from her time at the Malfoy mansion, which were much better than when they had arrived at Shell Cottage but still brought up intense anger in him. She had been captured and tortured at her closeness to him, her support of him. He had tried apologizing but she brushed him off and began talking about nargles and other apparently nonexistent animals.
"They give me character I think." Luna spoke in her airy voice as she turned to face Harry again and gave him a smirk. "I mean they are not lightning bolt but they'll do."
Her joke hung in the air for a second as they held eye contact and came to an understanding that despite the current state of things it was okay to laugh. Harry broke first and fell into himself as the action took over him and he couldn't stop for a few minutes. "Thanks Luna, I needed that."
Tucking her hair behind her ear she nodded. "I could tell, you had that far off look in your eyes when you left the house. Figured I would give you some time before I came and found you."
"How did you know where to find me anyway?" He had thought he was the only one who knew about this little alcove amongst the trees and tall grass hanging high above the sea. Harry had found it on one of their first nights here when he couldn't sleep and felt confined in the house and he had been coming here every few days since then.
Luna was caught up with watching the final seconds of the sun going beneath the horizon line before she turned her silvery eyes on him again. "Well when I am stressed I like to go looking for mimblfrings too, and this place is perfect to find them too because they love the sea near forested areas, so I just walked around the edge of the beach until I saw your feet dangling from up here."
A normal person would just laugh at her and ignore her mention of mimblfrings, whatever those were, but these conversations were highlights to Harry. Her eccentric tales and odd clothing that had at first made him uncomfortable were now some of the things that made Harry feel most comfortable and normal. "Alice." He murmured under his breath.
She cocked her head to the side and gave him a funny look, like he was the loony one. "Alice? What's that?"
In her eyes Harry saw a look of childlike curiosity and excitement. "It's a muggle fairytale that parents tell to their kids. Kinda like "Babbity Rabbity". You remind me of the main character, Alice, she had long blonde hair and was always believing in impossible things."
As he continued to tell Luna more about the story and Alice herself he watched the joy and fascination most kids got when their parents told them the fantastical tale. With each new character and outlandish plot development her eyes grew wider, and her laughter filled the air when he told her about Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Harry loved the idea that for once he could shock and entertain her, instead of always the other way around.
"I'll have to tell Daddy about this one and maybe he could find me a copy in a muggle store somewhere." She finished braiding her long hair to the one side and then turned back to him and for the moment Harry completely forgot about what was going on outside of this small piece of land. It was just he and Luna, sharing a story and a beautiful night by the sea.
For a moment he had an image of her sitting in her room under her large painting of them all and reading the classic tale; large eyes roaming from left to right in fast speeds to take it all in. But then he remembered that her home now lay in pieces and her father was likely in Azkaban, if not dead, and reality came rushing back. Had they even told Luna about their visit to her father? Had the Malfoy's told her in a way to torture information from her? How did she not resent him, Ron, and Hermione if she knew?
His mind was racing with all these possibilities and the familiar headache and stomach turning aches were beginning to return to him, but before he could get too carried away he felt a cool hand slide into his. Jerking his head up, he caught her staring at him with that calming look in her eyes again. "It's alright Harry, Daddy's in Azkaban for now but they know he wasn't lying to him when you were there. They told me while I was at Draco's home thinking it would make me tell them what I knew about you and where you were."
Somehow Harry had began to tremble and he wasn't quite sure how, but the knowledge that she and Ollivander and even Griphook had gone through so much all because of him filled him with shame and anger. The whole point of this war and search was to keep people from this, keep them safe from Voldemort's evil and so far he was failing at everything. The people in his life and the wizarding world deserved better. "When they told me I worried for a brief second before happiness and pride came to me."
Her words confused Harry and he lifted his head to stare at her. "What? Luna that doesn't make any sense, how?"
Another soft laugh left her lips. "When do I make much sense Harry?" Her smile was infectious and despite himself Harry cracked a grin at her. "But when they told me it let me know that you and Ronald and Hermione were still alive and safe and making some sort of progress. It also told me that Daddy was alive and trying to help you and believing in you, I know he was under a lot of pressure from the Death Eaters but something told me he helped you before calling them."
There had to be some sort of reason to her brilliance but Harry was positive he would never understand it. He nodded his head and took a moment to gather his thoughts before he answered. "You're right he did. He told us about the Deathly Hallows and who they might be linked to, it was a big help. And I know he only gave us up because he thought it would help him get you back, I understand."
All Luna gave him was a nod and Harry swore he saw a single tear race down her cheek, he had never seen her emotional before so he choose to pretend he didn't see. Instead he squeezed her hand that was still incased by his to let her know they were okay. "Tell you what, we make it out of all of this, and I haven't gone completely mad, I'll take you into a muggle place where we can watch the cartoon movie of "Alice in Wonderland."
He felt the pulse in her wrist quicken against his own wrist and he could feel her smile before he turned and saw it for himself. "Really? Oh that would be lovely." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before facing forward again and placing her head on his shoulder. "And we will make out of this, I know it."
It was really comforting to know someone had such strong faith in him, made even the upcoming Gringotts break in seem easy. Tomorrow would be a new, stressful, day of planning and then soon they would leave this place and carry on. So for now he relished in the relaxed moment with Luna and watched the stars dance across the sky over the ocean. "Oh and Harry, haven't you heard? All the best people are mad."