Accidentally In Love
PROLOGUE
The television flickered a little as Dudley hit the little red button on the remote control.
"Load of bull!" The round boy muttered under his breath and marched noisily up the stairs, still cursing about the lack of quality programs on TV. "Love is all around!" He mimicked the narrator in an annoyingly high- pitched voice, rolling his eyes. "I'll show 'em! Love is all around! Indeed!"
With this final light put out, Privet Drive entered into a state of slumber, and all were asleep save one – a somewhat skinny, bespectacled boy with remarkably messy hair still lay on the lawn of No. 4, staring into the brilliant night sky.
"Love..." Harry murmured softly to himself. His face was sad, and his brows furrowed together a little as some memory spurted through his mind. His chest tightened. "I need some sleep."
He got up and, with the silence and agility of a skilled cat, admitted himself into the house, and into his room.
Sirius was dead...
---
"Happy Deathday, dearie!" Mr. Lovegood spoke cheerfully to a somewhat dreary looking grave. Moss and weeds had attached themselves to the stone, and underneath the grime one had to look closely to see the engraved words:
"Beloved wife and mother."
"Well – been a long time eh, darlin? You've been gone almost a decade now. You don't have anything to worry about, our Luna's growin' up just fine and beautiful, ain't ya Luna?" Mr. Lovegood gave Luna a little nudge.
"Yes mother," Luna said in an impatient voice, as if the manner of her growing up was trivial and unimportant. "How are you in the beyond?" She continued in a dreamy voice. All was silent for a moment, before she nodded her head in understanding. "I'm glad to hear that. But do come visit me often still, I haven't been seeing you very much."
Mr. Lovegood smiled wryly as his daughter continued to converse with someone he couldn't hear and couldn't see. So much like her mother... Luna's flyaway blonde hair that fell about her pale face, and a pair of dreamy, empty blue eyes staring into nothingness. The resemblance was so strong.
He ruffled her hair lovingly and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Can you really see her, Luna?"
"She's right here."
"Well that's, uh, good! Tell her I love her, won't ya? And I've been missing havin' her around and all that."
Luna looked up at her father, frowning.
"She knows. I don't have to tell her."
"Oh, uh, right! Of course she knows." Mr. Lovegood said, smiling, and then continued somewhat sadly, "I only hoped I said it enough."
---
Ron Weasely stared transfixed on the television screen in horror.
The haunting, melancholic words seemed to echo throughout the Grangers' living room.
"I'll never let go, Jack, I'll never let go..."
"He's going to die!" He exclaimed, mortified at the idea, and sniffing a little. "No, don't let go – oh! So sad!"
Hermione turned to look at Ron. "Ron," She said impatiently, "It's just a film."
Ron recovered a little, indignant. "It isn't JUST a film!" He retorted. "It's a film about –"
"– a ship." Hermione cut him short. "It's a film about a ship, Ron, that isn't even historically accurate! Like the part where – "
"It's a film about love, Hermione. God, how thick can you get?"
At the mention of the "L" word, the quarreling duo fell quiet, both a little red. The silence between them grew thick, and they were suddenly very aware of an extremely noisy non-existent gust of wind.
"Well," Ron began awkwardly. "They did name the film Titanic – "
"Oh yes, they did." Hermione replied quickly, thankful for the silence to be broken.
"So, uh, this Titanic was a ship, then?" Ron asked stupidly.
"Yes, it was a ship, a huge ship."
Ron's thought raced furiously for something intelligent to say.
"So I suppose it sank?" He blurted out desperately.
"Yes, just like in the film."
"Well, uh, people drowning and all that, can't possibly be a l – "He stopped, struggling to say the dreaded L word. "lo – "
"I'm going to bed now." Hermione said hurriedly.
"Yea, me too." Ron replied, relieved.
Once safely inside the guest room of the Grangers', Ron set out to write a letter to Harry:
Dear Harry,
How have you been? I'm over at Hermione's – sorry you couldn't join us. Stupid Dursleys. But it's just as well that you're not here, you won't believe how boring it is, having Hermione rambling on about random facts all day. I mean, who could care less about the history of Gringotts? Honestly!
...
---
"Draco dear," Mrs. Malfoy called in a drawling voice, "a letter for you." She pointed at a pink envelope on the table.
"From Hogwarts?" Draco Malfoy asked lazily, stretching himself to full comfort on the soft couch. "Just open it and read it to me mum."
"Of course, Draco honey. Well, it says: Dearest Draco, I just wanted to remind you that I love you, and – "
The world seemed to stop for a few seconds. The wind stopped blowing, the damned mosquito buzzing around him froze, the radio stopped playing, and, well, the world just stopped, in general. Draco blinked.
Then it started moving again.
"What the?" Draco blurted out incredulously. "Who is that?!"
"– I think you're the cutest. I love your slick blonde hair – "Mrs. Malfoy continued.
"Oh, STOP, mum." Draco groaned, his arrogant face twisted in a mixture of disgust and surprise.
"Yours forever, your P.P. Now who is this P.P., Draco?" Mrs. Malfoy peered at him through curious eyes.
"A stupid girl." He replied, rolling his eyes a little. "She has fine taste though. After all, I am the single most attractive guy in school." He continued, satisfied with himself.
"Yes, and attractive guys should find themselves attractive girlfriends – this P.P., how is she?" She asked protectively.
Draco shivered in disgust. "I don't fancy her in the least."
"Well, love will catch up with you one day, and – "
"Right." Draco said sarcastically. "I'm going to go ride my Nimbus now – tell dad I want a Firebolt, won't you? That Potter has one."
---
Harry stared at the ceiling, blinking. The night was wearing away but his faculties were still quite awake, thinking about things – about Sirius, about Cho...
And then he remembered what Luna had said, that evening at the corridor.
"Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you? In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them."
Although he didn't fully understand, her words were comforting, like an only hope when all else had despaired.
He remembered something Dumbledore said: "The ones who love us never really leave us."
And then he understood. Love transcends everything – even life and death, and love, really, is all around.
---
A/N: Not much going on, it's just a prologue – however I hope it was enjoyable enough for you to continue reading beyond this chapter. My aim for this fic is basically for each of the characters to realize love – but definitely not in the cheesy, fluffy kind of way.It will be a light-hearted fic about love – that means no dramatic Romeo & Juliet tragedies or whatever. I was greatly inspired by the movie Love, Actually, so that about sums up what you can expect!
Will update soon.
Cheers,
Helena