When you go upstairs to bring Harry and Hermione their breakfast, you find Percy's room empty, but for two envelopes neatly on the pillow. The label on one reads, 'Ron and Hermione', and the other, 'Ginny'. Your stomach jolts once at each envelope, as though it can still be surprised by anything these days. You slip them into your pocket and carry on up the stairs.
Hermione is curled up on her side in Ron's bed, and somebody is lying behind her, you can see a lazy hand draped over her, and feet sticking out of the other end of the bed. You edge nearer, and of course it's Ron, who else would it be? You leave the breakfast and their envelope on the bedside table, and move to tiptoe out of the room again.
"Thanks, Gin," Ron says suddenly, making you jump.
"It's alright."
You sit down in the kitchen, where Luna is eating toast, and open the envelope with shaky fingers. All the parchment inside reads is, 'sorry thank you', three words with no real attempt at punctuation or structure, three words that seem to imply the Boy Who Lived actually owed you something.
"He's sorry," Luna says, ominously.
"But what for? For coming to stay, do you think? He does that every year, I know this is a bit different, but…"
"He's sorry because if this was a fairy story he'd marry you in the happy ending," Luna says, rather bluntly, but you can't tell what she thinks of this. "And he doesn't entirely feel the part of the hero."
"Even if he did…" you begin, hurriedly, not sure if Luna is looking for reassurance.
"Exactly," she says, "that's another reason why he's sorry."
---
Luna is bandaging Hermione's bruised fingers with a very serious look on her face, while Hermione, though quiet, seems a little impatient.
"Honestly, they're not as bad as they look," she insists, "I just need to rest them for a while."
"Exactly," Luna says, cheerfully, "And these bandages will help."
"How?"
"They'll remind you to rest."
Hermione stares at Luna doubtfully but to your relief, she doesn't say anything.
Ron is sitting on the bed, his ankle already bandaged, reading Harry's letter. He's been doing this for some time, longer than the short parchment seems to require, although you have no idea what it says. He looks troubled, somehow, his face creased in thought.
---
Some time in the afternoon, when you're wandering from room to room just to check that everything is alright, you bump into Hermione in a hallway. She immediately starts crying, as though she's been hiding the sobs inside for a long time, and hugs you very tightly. As you're patting her vaguely on the shoulder and wondering what to do, Luna appears in a doorway and waves an issue of the Daily Prophet at you, and mimes happily, so as not to interrupt Hermione's crying.
The Daily Prophet has a big picture of Harry on the front page, and he stares out at you, tired and bruised but determined, underneath a headline that reads 'Victory!'. Through Luna's pointing and waving, you establish that she is going home, and then she's gone before you can really do or say anything back.
After a few minutes, Hermione sniffs a little and straightens up. "I'm sorry," she says, awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it."
"It's just… Harry, you know. He's gone, I suppose you know that, I just worry that…"
You smile kindly.
"It's silly really, I suppose," she admits, turning back into sensible Hermione. "Shall we go and cook dinner?"
In the end, you sit watching her cook, because you feel as though you are getting in her way. She seems to take comfort in racing around the kitchen picking up different ingredients and pots and pans, doing everything the Muggle way instead of using Charms.
"So why are you here?" she asks, as she begins to slice up the vegetables. "On your own?"
"I was supposed to stay at Hogwarts," you admit, "But there was a bit of a mix-up so I ended up here, with Luna. Her father's missing."
"Probably in hiding," Hermione says, knowingly. You were expecting her to scold you for not going back to Hogwarts, or writing to a responsible adult, but she doesn't.
---
It seems like a long time since you last had a bed to yourself. In the end, you take some pillows from the twins' room, and fill one side of the bed with them, leaving you curled up on the edge of the bed fighting for the quilt.
Luna will come back in the morning, you're sure. Or she'll owl, or something. She won't just forget about you, like her father did about her... Surely?