"Luna!"
The shriek greets her ears as soon as she's entered the Great Hall, and a heavy weight hits her hard, almost knocking her flat. Her vision is obscured by a mass of red hair, and the smell and feeling of the person's arms around her is so familiar, though they were apart for so long – Ginny.
"Ginny," she gasps, half-sobbing, burying her face in Ginny's long hair, allowing her weight to slump into Ginny's shoulders. Holding each other up.
And then, her eyes fall on something behind Ginny's head, over her shoulder, and she stiffens, her arms fall to her sides in horror.
"What?" asks Ginny, pulling aside, pulling away to look at Luna's face, at her fixed eyes, and slowly she turns around to look over her shoulder.
"Ginny," whispers Luna, putting a comforting hand on Ginny's shoulder – she feels helpless, useless, and Ginny shakes it off right away, and she begins to walk slowly, as though hypnotized, towards the other side of the hall. To where her older brother is lying motionless on the floor, surrounded by the rest of his family.
"No," whispers Ginny. "Fred." Her voice is so faint that Luna can barely hear her, but she can feel the words just as well, and her heart breaks along with Ginny's. She wants to follow her, but this is a moment which only family should share.
Then something beside Fred catches her eye, and she walks forward, slowly, dreamlike almost, dragging her right leg behind her, to where the bodies of Professor Lupin and his energetic young wife – Luna never met her, but Ginny adored her, and spoke of her all the time, enough that Luna can recognize her on sight – lie.
She drops to one knee beside their bodies; their faces are calm and peaceful, and smooth to the touch. She thinks with a stab of pain about their young son – barely born, less than a month old –
They must win this war today, there is no other option. For Teddy Lupin, and for all the other children who are now orphaned, to save them for growing up like Harry has. They must win.
Madame Pomfrey is on the other side of the hall. The House tables are gone; instead, the wounded are lying on the raised platform. She, and assorted students and Order members are bustling around between the tables, occasionally bending over the students, pointing their wands, administering potions – Luna hobbles over to them; perhaps she can do something to help.
"Miss Lovegood!" exclaims Madame Pomfrey as soon as Luna shuffles over to her; before she can get any words out, the matron has embraced her tightly. "You're here – I'm so relieved – I hadn't seen you since December – what have you been doing to yourself?" Her sharp gaze falls onto Luna's injured leg, her ripped sleeve – Luna didn't even notice, but her bare shoulder somehow accumulated dozens of scratches – her face – "Miss Lovegood!" She hurries to her potions store, begins rifling through the bottles there –
"Oh, Madame Pomfrey, no," insists Luna. "There are others much worse off than I am. I can wait."
"No" – Madame Pomfrey begins to speak, but Luna interrupts her.
"Madame Pomfrey, please." There are too many others, injured so badly, too many people lying almost motionless on the stretchers – she looks around and spots Seamus Finnigan, bending over Padma Patil, tipping potion into her mouth; Parvati is standing beside the crumpled form of Lavender Brown; Firenze is lying limply on the dais, bleeding profusely – how can Luna justify fixing her leg, when so many others are so much worse off than she?
"Can I help?" she asks.
