Chapter Two - An Unpleasant Surprise
For the rest of that warm October afternoon, Harry and Ron de-gnomed the rose garden and took care of other household chores; Hermione was busy writing a proposal for the fair treatment of house elves and other magical creatures. The infestation of gnomes at Ron and Hermione's cottage was nearly as bad as it was at the Burrow. Harry remembered the summer he turned twelve, the first summer he stayed at the Burrow, when Ron and Fred and George rescued him from the Dursley family, his last living relatives.
So much had changed since then. Harry hadn't seen his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley since a couple days after the Battle of Hogwarts, where he found them and told them it was safe to move back into their home. They were on better terms now; Harry knew that Petunia was thankful that Harry had destroyed the wizard who had killed her only sister, and she had finally begun to show Harry affection, like an aunt should. However, they never went out of their way to see each other, and since he had been staying at the Burrow for the majority of the past two years, he hadn't communicated with them in a long while.
His mind drifted back to his first summer at the Burrow. That was where he met Ginny. She was shocked to see him and couldn't bear talking to him for a while. She treated him like he was some huge celebrity, like he was her idol. Well, that much has changed, Harry thought. Ron seemed to sense that Harry was thinking about her, as he subconsciously scowled.
"Let's go inside," Ron suggested, looking up into the sky at the setting sun. "It's getting late, they'll be coming any second. I'd better clear out the fireplace."
As soon as Ron and Harry had stepped inside, there was a loud crack! and Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan appeared a few yards away.
"Harry! We didn't know you'd be here!" Dean said, shocked.
Harry smiled. "Nice to see you, too," he replied, and they both laughed.
"It's been too long," Seamus said. "Me girlfriend - er, fiancé - Lavender, she's a bit clingy, you know her, you know how she is," he added, winking at Ron, who groaned. "I got rid of her for tonight, though, she's going shopping with me mam for wedding things, she was glad to leave me out of it."
"Dunno how you put up with her," Ron grumbled.
"It's not too hard to put up with the snogging, mate," Seamus said, chuckling. "Dean's got a girl, too, haven't you, Dean?"
"Well, Katie Bell and I-" Dean began.
"Katie?" Ron said loudly. "You're serious?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Dean asked defensively.
"Oh, nothing-" he said, noticing the look on Dean's face, "-It's just that I've seen her a lot, y'know, she's a good friend of Angelina and George, and ever since… Well, she's been visiting us a lot, and she hasn't mentioned anything about…" Ron finished awkwardly. Ron had never exactly been great at being subtle.
"Let's go inside, shall we?" Harry cut in, attempting to break the silence. He knew that the entire Gryffindor house had been crushed over Fred's death. Dean, Seamus, and Ron nodded and followed Harry into the kitchen.
"Hermione," Ron called. "Dean and Seamus've arrived. You can take a break from that paper, you've got the whole week to finish it, the Ministry doesn't need it until Thursday. It's only Saturday, you know that, right?"
Hermione squealed and shot up out of her desk in the corner of the kitchen and quickly greeted Dean and Seamus. The cottage was rather petite - the front door led into the kitchen, and a hallway to the right led to two comfortably-sized bedrooms and a bathroom.
"I'm so sorry!" she began. "I lost track of time - writing an important paper - the rights of magical creatures-"
"It's all very important, we know," said a voice from the fireplace. George and Angelina had arrived, hand in hand.
"George! Angelina!" Harry said, smiling. "It's been too long."
"I didn't think you'd be here, Harry! It'd be lovely to catch up, but first, wanna help us get out of the fireplace, mate?" George asked. "Ron forgot to remove the cover, I 'spect." Hermione frowned in Ron's direction, and with a flick of her wand, it was gone. George and Angelina stepped out of the fireplace, covered in soot, which Hermione quickly fixed with another wave of her wand.
"Last time we use the Floo network to get here," George said jokingly. He seemed back to normal, no longer as solemn and melancholy as he had been for much of the past two years.
"Lovely to see you two," Hermione said graciously, hugging Angelina.
Dean and Seamus shook George's hand, and Ron wrapped him in a brotherly embrace. "D'you know when Lee and Luna'll be here?" Ron asked George.
"Lee sent me an owl this morning, he's coming by broomstick. Never liked apparating, got splinched nearly every time," George said, and everyone chuckled.
"It's windy out, so it might take him a bit longer," Angelina observed, looking outside the window, at the shaking trees and flowers. She looked older, more mature, and so did George.
All of a sudden, there was a quiet knock at the door, and a muffled singsong voice said, "Ooh, gnome footprints! I wonder if I'll get bit!"
"Luna!" everyone said at once, a contagious grin spreading amongst them all. Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. Harry quickly opened the door.
Luna stood there smiling, her milky skin and wide silver eyes glowing in the darkness. Her dirty blonde hair had gotten longer since Harry last saw her at Ron and Hermione's wedding; it now skimmed the bottom of her waist, nearly at her hips. "It's nice to see you," Harry said, and she smiled.
"Your owl's not very trustworthy. I could see it in her eyes. I met her when I was in a forest looking for Blibbering Humdingers last week. I wrote a letter for her to send you. She didn't send you the letter I wrote, did she?" Luna asked.
"No, she didn't," Harry said, scowling. "She's gone now, and I don't really care if she comes back." Harry didn't bother asking how Luna knew what Harry's owl looked like - they never had exchanged messages and only spoke when Harry and Ginny had visited her, as she didn't live far. However, Luna had gone on an expedition to search for rare fish specimen in various European bodies of water, and Harry hadn't seen her since around July.
"I knew she was your owl because there aren't very many white owls in England, and even the owl's head was full of wrackspurts, Harry," she said, giggling. "Your head's always full of them, but now more than usual. They can be contagious, you know."
Harry was happy that at least someone in his life hadn't changed a bit. He led her inside, and Hermione conjured more chairs. The kitchen wasn't too small. They all fit comfortably, but only just barely. Dean, Seamus, Ron, and George sat on one side of the table, and Luna, Harry, Hermione, and Angelina on the other.
"Who else are we expecting besides Lee?" Dean asked after they had all caught up over steaming mugs of tea. A dusty grandfather clock next to Hermione's desk in the corner of the kitchen struck six.
"Well, Alicia and Dennis both told me they couldn't come-" Hermione began.
"Katie's not coming," interjected Dean. "Quidditch practice."
"What about Ernie and Hannah, seeing as they're married now?" Ron asked.
"They're on their honeymoon, mate, they're definitely not coming," George responded.
"What about Zacharias Smith?" Seamus asked.
"Hermione, you better've not invited that humongous-" Ron started, and everyone laughed.
"Of course I haven't invited him, Ron, I haven't spoken to him in years. He deserted Hogwarts right before the battle, remember? I haven't heard from him since," Hermione said reassuringly.
"Good riddance if you ask me," Seamus grumbled, and Ron nodded vigorously.
Suddenly, there was a thunderous thud at the front door, and Harry could hear someone hit the ground with another bang, and begin to curse under his breath.
"Well, Lee's arrived, all right," George noted. Hermione jumped up from her seat, and with a gesture of her wand, the door opened. Lee Jordan limped inside, a mangled Nimbus 2003 in one hand and a wand in the other.
"You look like hell, mate," George said to him as he sat down in the last remaining chair next to Angelina. Lee's short dreadlocks were tangled with leaves and twigs, his face scratched and bleeding, and his robes torn.
"Thanks, George, lovely to see you," he said sarcastically, grimacing as Hermione was healing his wounds. Luna fetched him some tea, and Ron was studying Lee's broom.
"A Nimbus 2003? You'd think it'd work better. Glad you're here in one piece," he joked.
Lee finally noticed Harry. "Harry! I didn't know you'd be here! They say you're in hiding and all-"
"Let's have dinner, then, shall we?" Hermione quickly suggested. "I've made shepherd's pie and steak and kidney pudding."
"Hermione's cooking is delicious, it is," Ron added. Hermione blushed.
Angelina, Luna, and Hermione helped bring it all to the table, and the steam from the freshly cooked foods blurred Harry's glasses. They all dug in, Ron stuffing his face with more than it looked like it could hold, his cheeks swelling like a chipmunk's.
"Ron, d'you think you're eating enough? I'm worried, you've barely touched the food," George piped in between mouthfuls of pie, and everyone chuckled except for Ron, who glared at George while swallowing a colossal amount of steak and kidney pudding.
"It's delicious, Hermione," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "Next week, you must come to my house, and I can make freshwater plimpy soup! Everyone wants the recipe!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione instantly made eye contact, remembering the day when Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father, claimed that Luna was out fishing plimpies when in reality, she was being held captive at Malfoy Manor.
"That sounds splendid, Luna," Hermione finally managed, barely able to cover up her frown. Harry was sure Luna knew Hermione was lying - if there was one thing Luna did exceptionally well, it was reading people. Harry had not forgotten the time when he was disguised from Polyjuice Potion at Bill and Fleur Weasley's wedding and Luna instantly could tell it was Harry, simply from his facial expressions.
As everyone except Ron finished their food, they began chatting about how their lives had been since the end of the Second Wizarding War.
"You guys are all invited to me wedding," Seamus said, smiling from ear to ear. "It's in December, in the church in Godric's Hollow, where Lavender grew up. Me mam was crying that we're not having it in Ireland, but personally, I don't want all me family being there, and neither does Lavender."
Everyone laughed, and Dean and Ron patted Seamus on the back, congratulating him, and Harry began thinking about the church, about Godric's Hollow, about his parents, when out of the blue, there was another knock on the door.
"No one else should be coming," Hermione said worriedly, but cautiously stood up to answer it. Ron followed, putting his arm protectively around her waist and raising his wand.
"Ron! Hermione! It's me! Open up!" a young woman's voice called. Harry recognized it too well. He couldn't believe it.
"Neville's with me! Hannah told him about the reunion, so we thought we'd stop by. Can't believe you didn't invite us, I ought to Bat-Bogey hex Ron, I bet it was his idea to leave us out," Ginny continued.
Ron and Hermione, who still hadn't opened the door, swiftly turned around to look at Harry. Hermione's eyes were tear filled, and she mouthed the words, "I'm so sorry," while Ron whispered, "Bloody hell…"
"Open up or we'll blast this door apart, Ron, I heard you," she said, laughing.
"C'mon, who else is there?" Harry heard Neville ask.
Without thinking, Harry stood up, and with a last look at everyone's shocked faces and an earsplitting crack! he disapparated. He didn't even think of where he would go. He didn't wait long enough to think. He felt like he was being squeezed to oblivion through a tiny tube - all he knew was that he needed to get out - he couldn't see her, or him, and -
THUD. He landed in front of a church. His head was spinning, his eyes watering from the forceful gusts of wind. Getting up on shaky legs, he finally realized where he was. It was the church in Godric's Hollow, the place where he was born, the place where his parents had lived, and of course, the place that Seamus had just been talking about. No wonder it was the first place to come to his mind. He saw a graveyard in the distance, but didn't have the heart to go sob over his parents' graves right now. He already felt too fragile and vulnerable. The last time he was here, he was with Hermione, and he almost got killed by Voldemort's snake, Nagini.
He sat down on the church steps. That was a quick escape. He wondered if Ginny and Neville knew he'd been there. Or could Hermione quickly dispose of the evidence, a plate full of food scraps and his trunk and owl cage in the empty bedroom? What would everyone else think? Should he have stayed there and taken it like a man? Or was it better for him to leave, to make the whole night substantially less awkward?
He pressed his hands over his face, and sat there for some time. He didn't know how long it was. It could've been seconds. It could've been minutes. To Harry, it felt like hours. It was as though his heart had been re-broken, just hearing her voice, hearing her with him. His eyes were tearing from the wind, but for a second, he wondered if his eyes would be wet even if there was no wind. He pulled his wand out of his pocket. "Lumos," he whispered, and the tip of his wand ignited. He held it up and looked around. The area seemed empty at first, but Harry thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, to the left of the church, near the graveyard.
"Homenun Revelio!" he whispered.
There was definitely someone else in the area.
"Who is it? Who's there?" Harry called. It couldn't've been a Muggle. No Muggle would walk around without a flashlight at this hour, he thought. Then, a beautiful idea appeared in his head. He had his invisibility cloak in his pocket; he was never without it, even if the most evil wizard of all time was dead and gone. He quickly swaddled himself with the silver, fluid-like cloak, whispered, "Nox," and walked towards where the person was. It was very dark now, but Harry didn't have a clue what time it was, nor did he really care.
"Harry? I know you're nearby. I can see the wrackspurts!"
Luna, he thought. Luna's here. What's she doing here? How the hell did Luna know I'd be here?
Without thinking, he shed his cloak and stuffed it into his pocket. He lit the tip of his wand again so he could see, and sure enough, there stood Luna, porcelain skin shining in the darkness, wearing a long, mint-green dress that seemed to make her glow even brighter against the rich, velvety darkness.
"How?" he mumbled. It was all he could manage. He felt broken, humiliated, confused, angry, miserable, and upset all at once.
"You were born here. Your mum and dad died here; they're buried here. Seamus mentioned it, and then I knew, as soon as you left, that this is where you would be. It's simple, really," she explained.
Harry was astounded. He didn't remember ever mentioning Godric's Hollow to Luna, but then again, he was the world-famous Boy Who Lived. "Why - why'd you come? Here? For me? You're her friend. One of her best."
"Not anymore," Luna said, frowning. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. What Ginny did really wasn't very smart at all. Stupid, actually."
"I suppose," Harry murmured. He couldn't find the energy in him to speak clearly, or to do much of anything. Just as he was forgetting her…
"You want to know what happened after you left, but you want to forget about her, too, don't you?" she asked Harry. "You might think you can't have it both ways, but maybe if you knew what was going on, it could bring you to some closure. That's how you feel, isn't it?"
He nodded. He was drained with every thought about her. Nodding was all he could manage to do. His overgrown hair masked his vision, yet he couldn't lift up his hand to push it to the side - he had forgotten how to live - he forgot every time he thought of Ginny.
"Hermione started crying the second you left, and of course Ronald was comforting her… Ginny and Neville didn't know what was going on, but she blasted the door open, and they walked in, but, well, it was awful timing, but Aspro flew in right behind them, and of course then she knew," Luna elucidated. Harry groaned.
"Dean and Seamus apparated on the spot. I can't blame them… The tension was making the cottage a bit stuffy," she said in her distant voice, yet something told Harry that she was closer to him than ever. "I don't know anything else. I left right then."
Harry couldn't speak, due to what felt like a massive object caught in his throat, so they stood in silence for some time until Luna spoke softly, "You want to sit. Let's find somewhere to sit."
She gently placed her hand in his and led him to a small wooden bench on the other side of the aged, red-brick church.
"How do you feel?" she asked Harry kindly.
"Can't you tell?" he croaked. "You can always tell. If I was half as good as you at understanding people, maybe none of this would have happened. I feel like I've changed. I feel so different. I feel like I don't belong."
"I could tell, but I wanted you to tell me."
"I hate her. I hate her so much."
"You're getting over her."
"Maybe I am."
"Closure?"
"Maybe. Maybe not quite yet. But hearing her, so happy, with him, like she was with me… Not knowing why she cheated… I thought everything was perfect… But now she's replaced me, with him!"
"It hurt, didn't it? You feel as though you'll never be happy again, but worse than dementors, because you'll have to wake up every morning and feel it all again."
"How would you know what it feels like?" he said bitterly, then instantly regretted it. Before he could apologize, however, she spoke.
"Don't apologize."
"I'm being a git."
"I was dating Neville."
Harry immediately sat up straighter, completely shocked. "I had no idea, Luna, I'm so sorry, I can't believe - that - trollop - Ginny - ruined -"
"Harry Potter, calm down!" she ordered, though Harry thought he could see the corners of her lips twitch upwards.
"Sorry," he grumbled, flushing a bit.
"I wore green tonight because daddy told me that the color green represents family. That's what I thought it would be, meeting up with Dumbledore's Army after all this time. But it didn't feel like family, Harry. You see, I haven't had a whole family in a very long time," she said. Harry knew she was trying to cover it, but he could hear her dreamy voice become more serious, shaking with each word.
Without saying a word, Harry wrapped his arm around Luna.
"You're my best friend," she whispered. "It feels nice to have a best friend."
Harry felt happier than he had in a while. He was, for the moments they sat in front of the church in Godric's Hollow together, content, at ease, a very much less broken man. Luna understood him, simply put, like no one else could. She had a way of calming him, of understanding what he wanted to say without him having to say it. And for a while that evening, Harry didn't care about Ginny, Neville, or anyone or anything else; it was just Luna, and his arm wrapped around her, and her protuberant, gleaming eyes that seemed to stare right down to his very complete, entire soul.
