'Never a goodbye' A Lunarry fanfiction

'We're with you whatever happens,' said Ron, as they stood in the Hogwarts grounds. The assorted mourners had almost all filed back them on their way up to the castle from Dumbledore's funeral. 'But, mate, you're gonna have to come round my mum and dads house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow.'

Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Why?'

'Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?'

Harry looked at Ron, startled. It amazed him that something as wonderfully ordinary as a wedding could take place, even when everything else seemed to be collapsing in around them.

'Yeah,' he eventually exclaimed. 'We shouldn't miss that.'

'Exactly,' Hermione said, nudging Ron softly with her shoulder as she continued to lean on him for support. Harry fought back an urge to smile as he watched Ron and Hermione lock eyes. Maybe, after all this time, things had finally changed between them. But he wouldn't press them about it; they would tell him when they were ready.

However, Harry was brought back to reality by Ron's voice, as the tall redhead appeared to notice something behind Harry.

'Incoming.'

Harry turned and his heart seemed to fail.

Luna Lovegood was walking towards them, followed closely by Neville and Ginny.

'Hi' he muttered lamely, as they approached. Ginny was still sniffling slightly. She wiped her nose noisily on her sleeve, and Neville gave her a brotherly pat on the shoulder, his own eyes slightly red. Harry gave them both a nod, and Ginny smiled at him weakly, her usual toughness reasserting itself.

As they passed him, Ron and Hermione gave each-other a knowing look.

'We'll see you inside, Harry.'

Ron put his arm back around the bushy-haired witch's shoulder, and Harry watched as his two best friends began to walk slowly up towards the castle doors, followed by Ginny and Neville.

Luna stayed by Harry's side. She was wearing sober dress robes, which was very unusual for her. However, her long blonde hair was still as eye-catching as ever, and Harry could smell her signature vanilla on the wind as it swept across the grounds around them.

Harry's eyes met Luna's, and his heart gave a dull ache. She hadn't cried during the funeral, but her enormous grey orbs betrayed a quiet burning sadness that she could barely control.

'People are saying that Hogwarts won't be open next year.'

Her voice was firm but delicate, with an edge of steely resolve, as if she was trying not to cry.

Harry nodded. 'Are you coming back if it does?'

Luna turned to look at him.

'Will you?'

A large gust of wind whipped through the grounds, piercing their dress robes and making Luna's long hair billow beautifully around her face.

Harry looked at her sadly, and shook his head.

'I half suspected as much,' Luna said, looking down at her feet. 'I'm going to miss you.'

A great burning sensation was moving up from Harry's stomach into the back of his throat. An urgent need to tell Luna…everything. What she meant to him. How much he had come to rely on her, how much he liked being around her, and…

'Luna…I…I—'

Luna raised a hand to stop him, and, for the first time since he had known her, Harry heard her voice shake with barely controlled sobs.

Luna blinked her enormous grey eyes hurriedly, as if the sunlight was burning her. Her lips trembled.

'P-please don't, Harry,' she whispered, not looking him in the eye. 'Don't say it. Please.'

That final word seemed to pierce Harry's heart, and his resolve broke.

Without stopping to think, Harry moved forward and put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. She started at his touch, but settled into his chest, and Harry could feel sobs begin to rack her body.

He didn't know how long he held her for, but, as he held her tight to her, he was reminded of when she had comforted him after Cedric's death. In the distance, he could make out the same circle of trees on the opposite side of the lake. It had been over two years since then, but it felt like a different universe. So much had happened since then; so many deaths, so much heartbreak, and so much despair.

The only things that had remained a constant in his life were the people around him; those who still stood by him- Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, the Weasley family, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and so many others.

Luna.

Harry's relationship with the girl who now stood sobbing quietly into his chest had changed so much since that chance meeting in his fourth year. They had gone from two people thrust together by circumstance, to close friends, to…more.

And yet, by some cruel twist of fate, he was now looking at a future full of darkness, hate and uncertainty. A future that would surely end with death; either for him, or for the man who had marked him as his equal at the age of one. There was no other way.

It was as if his path had broken away from that of the amazing woman that he held in his arms, and, with every passing second, with every beat of his heart, he knew that this moment was slipping through his fingers. That it would have to end, and there could be no coming back.

Luna gave one last shuddering sob, and pulled herself away from Harry.

'Do...do you remember what I told you under the trees?' she asked, her still-watering grey eyes fixed on his face. 'After the Triwizard Tournament?'

Harry nodded.

'I believe because… because I believe in you, Harry,' she breathed, her dirty blond hair blowing softly in the breeze. 'And…I always will.'

Luna reached forward, and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Her lips felt soft and wonderfully cool on Harry's skin, and he felt the dull ache in his heart again.

She moved her head slowly away, but lifted her hand to softly stroke Harry's cheek with her thumb.

'This isn't a goodbye, Harry,' Luna's mouth lifted slightly at the edges, revealing a sad smile. 'It's just…'

Harry lifted his hand to hers, and squeezed gently.

'…Another way of saying hello,' he finished. He didn't know how he knew that. The words seemed to have appeared in his head as he looked at her.

Luna smiled at him, the same smile that she had always shown him; a mix of kindness, honesty, bravery and goodness. But this time it was mixed with something else. Something that seemed to radiate out of every fibre of Luna Lovegood.

Something that Dumbledore had once told Harry was the most powerful, the most terrifying, and the most wonderful thing in existence. The same thing that had saved Harry on that fateful Halloween night in Godric's Hollow all those years ago.

Harry gave Luna's hand once last squeeze, before letting her hand drop reluctantly and sadly out of his.

Luna smiled sadly at him one last time, and turned to walk back up to the castle, her long dirty-blonde hair swaying softly in the breeze.

Harry's heart continued to beat achingly against his chest, as he watched her walk away from him. In the far distance, he could see Ron and Hermione waiting just inside the large front doors of Hogwarts Castle.

He knew that he-they- would have a difficult journey ahead. Voldemort still lived, and there were still several horcuxes scattered somewhere in the world that needed to be destroyed, before Harry had any hope of defeating the sorcerer who had destroyed countless lives,

His last protector was gone, and he could not allow anyone else to die for his sake. Harry felt the wind ruffle his hair, and he felt vulnerable and isolated in an enormous, dark world.

But Luna's parting words came back to him, floating in the breeze with that vanilla scent that he had long come to associate with the incredible Ravenclaw girl who had turned his world upside down without him realising it; the girl who now stood as a beacon of hope in a world that seemed to offer little but death and despair to him:

Nothing was ever a goodbye; it was only another way of saying hello…


(Yes, I know you all probably hate me right now but, trust me, things are going to get better for Harry and Luna.)