Chapter Four; A New Hope
Everyone had slept very well that night and the next morning Harry woke up, showered, and dressed before he went down to breakfast with everyone else. That is everyone except Luna went with him. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know by any chance where Luna is this morning?" he asked Neville as they headed towards the elevator.
"No. Maybe she's with Ginny." He told him.
"How can she be when I'm right here?" she questioned him as Harry and Neville both turned their heads to look back at her.
"I wouldn't worry about her too much. She probably just went for a flight or something." Hermione told them as they stopped and waited for the elevator doors to open for them.
"I can't wait until I learn how to ride a broom." Heather said.
"I can teach you if you want me to." Eve began. "After all, I don't mean to brag, but I am the best chaser on the Gryffindor Qudditch team." She said beaming proudly at her.
"Sounds like bragging to me." Teddy said when suddenly there came a ding and the doors opened for them.
"Can she teach me Daddy? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" she questioned him.
"I don't know Heather, you're still a bit too young and the whole entire reason that your sister got picked to be a chaser for her house team in the first place is because she's pretty fast." He said.
"I'll go slow, I promise. Besides, she's going to Hogwarts herself in a few years anyway. It would sort of be nice if she already knew how to fly before she got there so she wouldn't have to take flying lessons." Eve told him.
"Well,.. alright. You can teach her how to ride as long as Harry goes with you." He said as they all stepped inside the elevator together.
"Please Harry?" Heather pleaded. "You've got to!" she cried as Harry simply just shrugged.
"It's alright with me. What about you Teddy? Do you want to learn to ride?" he wondered while he turned his head and looked at his younger brother as the doors finally shut. However it appeared as Teddy had ignored him. "Teddy?" Harry questioned him again before he turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry Harry, did you say something?" he asked him back as Harry gaped his mouth open at him.
"I just asked if you wanted to learn how to ride a broomstick." He repeated. "Are you alright?" he questioned him with uncertainty.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Teddy began feeling his cheeks suddenly flush pink. "I think I want to wait to learn how to fly with everyone else in my class when I go to Hogwarts though. After I turn eleven." He said as Heather simply just shrugged at him.
"Alright, it's your loss." She told him as a sly and mischievous grin stretched a crossed Eve's face.
"If I didn't know you any better I would say that you were scared Theodore." She told him.
"That's ridiculous. I'm a wizard, why would I be scared of a broomstick?" he wondered.
"I'm not sure. I mean, how should I know? All I do know is that you'll have to face your fears sooner or later." Eve said.
"Yeah, or we could do like Harry does and hug it out." Heather suggested.
"Ew! Gross!" Teddy exclaimed while shooting her an angry glare of disgust and quickly backing away from her. "Don't touch me! Besides, I already told you that I'm not scared!" he cried indignantly.
"Alright girls, that's enough. Leave your brother alone. Nobody is forcing him to learn how to ride." Their father told them as the elevator dinged again and they found themselves entering the lobby.
"No, but considering that we won't learn how to apparate and disapparate or drive a car until we're sixteen and seventeen years old, he's going to find it hard to be able to get from one place to another. After all, floo powder doesn't work for everything." Heather pointed out as they entered the breakfast area.
"Too bad your brother doesn't have your confidence." Ron said quietly to Harry once he was sure that Teddy was out of earshot. "You're a natural on a broom and were the youngest seeker that Gryffindor ever had." He told him but Harry wasn't paying attention to a word that he was saying and neither was Hermione. They both suddenly froze inside their tracks and stared out into space. Ron waved his hand in front of Hermione's face and snapped his fingers.
"This is earth calling Harry Snape and Hermione Granger. Please come back to us." He said.
"Look." Hermione said while she pointed over to one of the tables and Ron quickly turned his head to see where she was looking. "Luna." She whispered softly. Sure enough, the twenty year old witch was hanging her head down over her table with her head propped up inside her hand. Harry, Ron, and Hermione silently mutually agreed to walk over to the table and sit down just as she gave a sniff and wiped away her tears.
Since she wasn't giving them any eye contact whatsoever, Harry couldn't tell whether or not she knew that they were there until Hermione spoke. "What happened?" she asked her as Luna gasped and quickly glanced up at them.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you." Harry apologized.
"No it's alright. I'm the one who should apologize for losing control of my emotions." She told him.
"Listen Luna, Harry's given sermon after sermon. I'm sure that he would be able to help you." Ron told her.
"Yeah, I could. But only if you told me what the problem was first." Harry said.
"It's nothing." She began with another sniff while she wiped away her tears again. "It's just that, I got a text message from Brittany and she told me that Katie was too sick and she had to be put to sleep." She explained.
"Oh Luna, I'm so sorry." Hermione told her with a horrified gasp while she placed a hand over her mouth and covered it. "Man, that's got to be hard on you." She said.
"I know. But the worst part was that I wasn't around to say goodbye. Harry, do you believe that dogs go to Heaven?" Luna asked him as he smiled warmly at her.
"Of course I do. In fact I have such a strong belief in it that I'm sure that I'm going to see Cowboy, Diamond, and Hedwig again." He told her.
"And don't forget Cosmo." Hermione reminded him.
"Who's Cosmo?" Luna wondered.
"Oh, he was my mum's cat and the very first pet that she ever owned. She got him as a kitten before I was even born. He ran away the night you-know-who attacked when I was a year old, but he came back four years later. I liked him alright, I can't even remember when he died though. The twins might not even have been born yet. Hermione just brought him up because she's always been more of a cat person than me." Harry explained with a grin as Ron rolled his eyes at him. "What?" Harry questioned him with a laugh.
"You're starting to sound like Hermione. That wasn't an essay question Harry." He told him as Harry laughed again before he took Luna's hands inside his own.
"Look the point is, if there wasn't any use for animals in Heaven, then God wouldn't have created so many. After all, He has a purpose for everything and everybody. That's why He's the Lord and king of all of creation. Do you understand?" he asked her as she nodded sadly at him and sniffed as another tear rolled down her cheek.
"I think so. But I'm still really going to miss her." She said.
"I know you will and I'll always miss my mum and dad. But I know that I'll see them again someday and that's exactly the reason why I wear my cross every day and that I'll probably end up wearing it until the day I die and get buried with it." He told her as she smiled at him before she stood up and Harry quickly got to his feet.
"Thanks Harry. I know that Lily and James probably can't wait until you're with them again." She told him as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"You're welcome," he began with a pause. "and thanks."