Written for Flying Lessons at Hogwarts .Prompts were: one member of the pair tells a big, meaningful lie, and four poster bed.

Words: 1929

Questions

A Hogwarts dormitory, decked out in silver and green, sighs softly through the gently snores of five boys. Candles burn softly, high on the walls, giving the room enough light to make out shapes and shadows, but nothing more.

The four poster beds look grand and imposing, impossibly large, as one of the boys rouses, opening his eyes. He sits up a little, looking around the room, his eyes settling on another boy. He lifts himself out of his bed, drawing in a sharp breath as his feet connect with the cold wooden floor, and makes his way over to the other boy's bed. He lets himself in gently, slipping beneath the covers and squeezing in tightly, before waking the other boy with a kiss.

"Good morning," he whispers as the other boy stirs, "Or, good night. I'm not sure." He smiles at his lover, who opens his eyes and smiles back.

"Why am I awake?"

"Because I wanted you to know I love you. And because I got cold all on my own."

"I love you too, Barty, but not so much in the middle of the night," the boy says with a breathy laugh.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it," he says, leaning in for another kiss.

The scene faded, replaced quickly by blackness, and Luna opened her eyes to remind herself of where she was. Her breath was quick as her pulse jumped in her neck. It was just a dream, she told herself, but she knew it was more than that. She knew Regulus had been right. He was working his way between her and Barty even now. Luna, in the darkness, under the crescent moon, admitted that it might only be a matter of time.

Barty sat at the breakfast table in silence. Luna tried to start conversation more than once, starting by asking his opinion on a Daily Prophet article that would usually rile him up and resorting to passing remarks on the weather. None of it worked.

So Luna, too, resolved to eat in silence, knowing that she would have to go to work anyway, and she'd been late often enough recently. Besides, they went to print in a week, so things were busy while they finished this issue and began work on the next all at once.

Barty finished before her, so stood and left the room in silence, heading upstairs. Luna rolled her eyes and finished her breakfast in no rush.

She made her way upstairs soon after, ready to finish sorting her things and adding the finishing touches to her outfit before leaving. Stepping into the bedroom, the first thing she noticed was the letter on her bedside table, where she'd left it last night. Her father had written to her, and she needed to summon the energy to write back. It made her a little sad that that was what had become of them, now. Writing to each other to keep them up to date on their lives. She blamed him, of course, but a part of her wondered if she was right to do so.

"What does your dad want?" Barty asked, and the sound startled Luna. She didn't think she'd hear anything from him today.

"Er, he's just asking a lot of questions. The usual. He's talking at Hogwarts on Friday. Something about meeting Harry during the worst of the war, and being on the side lines, and seeing it all unfold. Making sure people don't forget and all of that." Luna shrugged. It had all become so pointless to her over the years, through her desire to forget.

Barty, of course, said nothing.

Luna grabbed her handbag, shoving the letter from her father inside it, and made to leave, but Barty stopped her with a gentle hand.

"I'm going out today. I need to speak to someone. About the past. Someone who knows. Someone… someone who was there."

The hairs on the back of Luna's neck stood on end as she considered him. "Who?"

"Adhara," Barty admitted.

"The woman you slept with?" Luna asked.

Barty rolled his eyes even as he nodded his head.

Luna turned from him and headed towards the door. "Okay." The word was flat and emotionless – the opposite of how she felt.

"So, what's this all about?" Adhara asked, glancing around nervously as she clutched her coffee.

"I know this isn't… ideal. I'm sorry. I just had to talk to someone. Someone who isn't Luna. Someone who was there."

"You know, a girl reaches an age where vagueness becomes more or an annoying time-waster than a sexy mystery."

Barty smiled. "Reg came to visit Luna and me," he explained.

"Shit, he's alive?"

"Yeah, apparently. And I think he wants me back. He seems more dangerous now. Volatile. He stuck around for a while and perfected his penchant for cryptic statements and keeping you second guessing and on your toes. It didn't do much good for my mental health."

"Why do you think he wants you back?" she asked, frowning as she sipped her drink.

"He told Luna about him and me. She didn't know. He just kept trying to come between the two of us, reminding me of what we had when we were kids." Barty sighed, looking down into his espresso with a furrowed brow.

"You two really loved each other back then, didn't you?" she asked.

Barty nodded.

"And now?"

"And now what?"

"Do you love him now?"

Barty was silent as he took the words in, considered them. He considered both sides, let him feel his way around them, searching for the truth he wasn't sure of. "Yes. What should I do?"

"You're asking the wrong person for advice on love. But it seems to me you have a choice. You make your choice and then you stick to your guns and you damn well fight for it." There was a pause. Barty looked up to meet her eye. "Who do you love more?"

Barty frowned a little. "Luna."

Adhara smiled ruefully. "You don't seem so sure. You need to be. If you aren't certain what you want, you'll lose them both."

Barty sighed. "Her father hates me. My ex hates her. My illness is constantly getting between us. It's an impossible battle."

Adhara gave a knowing smile. "It's the impossible battles that are worth fighting."

Luna sat behind her desk, looking at the piles of articles in front of her. The pile on the right she'd proofread, and they were ready for printing. Throughout the morning, the pile had steadily grown. The pile on the left was the pile waiting for her approval. Unfortunately, this pile had also grown.

She decided it was time for a short break, so she picked up the letter from her father and began to plan out her response. She knew he was only in the next room, his office. She knew she should just walk in and talk to him. She just couldn't bring herself to. It was too awkward now, with her own father.

He'd asked about her relationship with Barty, of course. Actually, when she looked at the letter, he'd asked the same question about the couple five different times, in different words. It was clear they all translated to the same thing, asking if they were still together. He talked about himself, and the company, too. He made a fine job of listing all the recent successes she already knew through working there, and she wondered if he'd written them simply to fill up space. Either way, she decided short and sweet was the best way to respond, especially given there wasn't all that much to respond to.

Dear father,

Thank you for your kind letter. I hope this letter finds you well. Barty and I are still together and very happy for it. He really is getting much better now and his commitment to his new and better path remains steadfast, even when tested.

I agree it's wonderful news that The Quibbler has now officially overtaken Witch Weekly as the second most popular regular publication in the British Wizarding Community, second only to the Daily Prophet, though I did hear this news alongside your other employees on Monday morning's full team meeting.

Congratulations on your invitation to speak at Hogwarts. I am confident the occasion will pass wonderfully.

Perhaps we ought to enjoy lunch together soon.

Lots of love,

Luna

She folded the letter carefully and placed it with her father's letter in her bag, ready to send later. She didn't want to send it now for the owl to fly from one window to the next, so she would wait a short while. The hard part, at least, was out of the way, which left Luna's mind free to focus.

Half of her concentration went on her job, proofreading and approving the articles. The other half, however, wandered, and soon found itself halting on the thought of Barty.

Her mind went over everything Regulus had told her, every little sentence, and she tried and tried to figure out which were truths, which were half-truths and which were lies, but she found herself unable to. One thing Regulus said could not be denied – Luna didn't know enough about this time. Barty's past. The Barty she knew had once existed but who seemed like an alien concept. He'd told her the facts, she realised. The actions. The quantifiable. She knew nothing of the feelings. Not until Regulus showed up.

Everything else Regulus said, however, folded over everything else, making themselves into one convoluted mess of warped statements, some of which were true, but Luna could not work out which.

Luna closed her front door behind her, dropped her keys and handbag on the table and marched into her house in search of Barty. She had some questions for him, and she was not messing around. He was sat in the rocking chair in the living room with a book, though the leather jacket adorning the back of the chair told her he'd been out today, like he said.

"Did you love Regulus?" she asked him, not giving him a moment to welcome her home.

"What?" he asked, confused as he closed the book and looked up.

"Did you love him?"

"Well, yes," he answered, uncomfortable under scrutiny.

"For how long?" Luna asked.

"Years. Why are you asking?"

"Was it a secret?"

"To most. Some knew."

"When did you stop loving him?" she asked, determination on her face.

"What? I don't know. When he died."

"When he died? What does that mean? He died and suddenly you stopped loving him?"

"No, of course not! I just mean that's when it started. It took years, of course, but that's when I started to stop loving him, when I thought he was dead. Because I knew that it hurt, but it had to be, because he didn't exist anymore. You can't love something that doesn't exist."

"It took years?" Luna asked, parroting his words once again. "So you did stop loving him?"

Barty looked away for the briefest of seconds. "Yes, of course I did. When I was in hospital."

"And you don't love him now?"

"I love you now," Barty replied with a frown.

"That's not a direct answer. Do you love Regulus Black now? Today?" she repeated, eyes big and wild.

Barty sighed, closing his eyes. "No. No, I don't love Regulus Black."

"Good," Luna replied, and turned away. Barty stared after her retreating form, pursing his lips and furrowing his brow, as if in sadness.

A/N: I'd love it if you left me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter - the good and the bad! Thank you :)