(A/N): Nine reviews! Yey! Thanks! lol. In celebration, I made you all cookies. Both vegan and otherwise.

Lily Evans Potter Black Lupin: yeah, I know. It'll get better, eventually.

willowvilya: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you like it.

yoyoyo123: lol thanks.

Lady Lestrange: I usually have issues with the whole Luna/Harry ship. Far-fetched as people think it, this is the only way I can see them ever getting together. Plus, I like my Luna. Thanks for reading my story, I haven't had much time recently, but when I get a chance I'll read yours. Ginny and Tom, thats a ship I haven't ever really pursued in the past. Most of what I read is HG/SS or slash.

Harpy Prince: I've personally never seen Luna as clueless. She has to be intelligent, as she is in Ravenclaw, and at the end of the fifth book other than Harry she was the only one who escaped almost unscathed. I can't just ditch Ginny! Though she isn't technically in this chapter...

Absolutelyfabulous: I'm writing as fast as I can!

GOLDEN-CAT-EYES1: thank you!

mysockisonfire: Lol. We can all thank you and the others on the HP boards for getting me to post, ever. You know how bad I am at writing, or sitting down long enough to do it. And so therefore we all thank you for annoying me. Not that I find you annoying.

Zesuit: I heart angst!

Harry sat in stunned silence, staring in the direction of Luna. He had no idea how to react. Dementors, dragons, Voldemort, all he could handle, but this? How does one handle this?

It didn't seem to be much of an issue though, as Luna quickly stood up and walked away, towards the street, trying to figure out what had just happened. She'd only told the truth to one person, even her father still believed it to be an accident, why would she tell now? And of all people to tell, why him? He already felt bad for her, even before all this mess. She didn't want him to feel bad for her; she just wanted him to understand.

It took Harry a while to register what Luna had said, and even longer to realize she had left. He looked to his right and left, than spun around, but failed to see her. He didn't think she would head back to the party, not in the state she was in, but where else was there to go? He stood staring around the yard, expecting her to appear, and than decided to climb onto the railing of the porch to look around. Everyone was still in the backyard, so no one would see him.

With one hand on the iron rail, and another on the house, Harry lifted himself on the thin banister, and carefully stood. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her walking down the street past the hedges, headed for town. Harry jumped off the railing, a stupid move- he landed on two separate steps and twisted one ankle. He gritted his teeth against it though, and went after Luna.

He was quickly surprised at how far she had gotten just by walking, or maybe he was just slower because of the pain in his ankle. Fate or his athletic build was in his favor tonight though, as he caught up quickly enough. She turned and looked at him, and sighed as though in defeat, though of what he wasn't sure. Now that he was next to her though, he wasn't sure what to say.

She kept walking, down the narrow windy lane onto a slightly straighter road, as though she knew exactly where she was going, and how to get there. Harry followed her, lagging slightly behind, waiting for someone to say something, anything. She continued on, her pace increasing, and twenty minutes later Harry wondered if she hadn't gotten lost, or if anyone was worried about them yet; it wasn't polite to skip out on your best friend's brother's wedding, and to be honest, they were a bit closer than that.

Harry considered stopping Luna, asking if she knew where she was, or where she was going, but suddenly she stopped. Harry looked around; they were at a children's park, and across the street was a school for muggle kids. Two swings stood apart from the jungle of slides and ropes. Luna sat on one, Harry sat next to her. She stared at her hands for a few seconds, than started pulling on a loose thread on her skirt.

"Don't do that, it will all unravel" Harry said, surprising even himself; what, could he not come up with anything cooler to say that that?

"Do what, pull the thread or talk to you? The latter seems to have more dire effects. Anyway, shouldn't you be at the wedding? They're likely to start looking for you, you know, they'll be worried if you've gone missing. And there's cake." Harry turned to look at her.

"Cake?"

"Yes." It seemed reasonable enough to her, who doesn't like cake?

"I can't eat the cake. Its strawberry shortcake."

"You don't like strawberries?"

"I don't know; I'm allergic to them."

"Oh," Luna looked down, and fiddled with her charm bracelet.

"So what did you do?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"When she died, your mother, what did you do? How did you deal with it?"

"I don't know, I didn't really think; I walked out, I had no where to go, and no idea what to do. My father was at work; he worked for the ministry then. I wasn't allowed to use floo, I didn't know how. So I just started walking, and ended up here.

I always loved this park, my mother would take me here, we'd have picnics, and she would read to me and climb trees with me looking for nargles.

When I came here, I sat on the swings for hours. I thought that maybe if I sat on the swings long enough, swung high enough, maybe she would catch me on her way to heaven and take me with her.

Bill found me, Bill Weasley. He was nineteen I think, at the time. He brought a girl to the park; I think he was rather surprised to see me here, alone. It was getting dark; I'd been there for hours. He promised not to tell anyone, he's the only one I've ever told; until you that is. It's why I was invited to the wedding, he writes me letters sometimes, treats me like a sister. I talk to him, when I can't talk to anyone else. I told him when I… I talked to him when… He writes me letters sometimes."

Luna looked down again, and went back to fiddling with her bracelet, looking up only when she felt the weight of Harry's eyes on her. She raised her eyes to meet his, held his gaze. She was by no means pretty; her eyes where large and round as an owls, her hair straggly, her skin pale, as though she didn't spend nearly enough time outside. Yet she was absolutely and utterly beautiful; she radiated with power and compassion, her vulnerability and innocence only intensifying the attraction Harry undeniably felt for her. He didn't know where this feeling was coming from, he felt as though he needed to do something for her; to protect her. But she didn't need protecting, she needed… a friend. And by sleeping with her he had taken the one friend she had had away from her. What had he done?

Harry stepped away from her, disgusted at himself. She asked for so little, she did so much, and he had single handedly made her life even harder. He was revolting; he was as bad as the Death Eaters, ruining other people's lives for a night of pleasure. He couldn't look at her, he was too ashamed. He turned around and ran, ran back to the street, and up to the party, thinking maybe if he ran hard enough, he could escape the truth.

Back at the park Luna watched him run from her, her eyes saddened. She muttered under her breath, and watched a silver owl fly from the tip of her wand, into the night. She was going home; he father needn't worry about her whereabouts.

(A/N): In case I wasn't completly clear at the end, Luna communicated with her father through her patronus. For those who are unaware, the Lovegoods live nearby the Weasleys, so Luna knows her way around, etc.