Posy in his Pocket
Part Nine - Everything
She staring at nothing, her hands gently resting in her lap. The night is dark and the moon but a slim sliver of glowing rock. The stars seem brighter than usual.
Harry watches her for some time, he isn't sure how much exactly. Time passes without him knowing, and Harry isn't saddened by the loss of time. He was after all, just watching her.
Long dirty blonde hair, still straggly as in her Hogwarts days. Pale skin, small hands and the usual unusual nose. She's slim, if only from lack of attention. When she does eat, it is in large gulps and lots of it.
Pretty in her own way, with strong eyes. She's brave and smart, loyal and eager.
Luna Lovegood. Loony. The deranged Raveclaw. Outcast of Hogwarts. Harry heard the rumours about her, how people would dismiss her because she was simply Loony to them. A little too odd for conventional people. They would whisper behind her back. Sometimes he offered a word or two. People watched her, waiting for her to fall and so they could laugh at her.
He knows how that feels, seeing people stare at you, taking it for granted that they know you, even if you have never spoke.
It took a while for him to realise that. How similar they were, how they still are.
Was it so strange that he feel in love with someone who knew what it was like to be different yet accepted herself in a way he could never?
She's wasn't normal, she didn't see things as other people did, and he knew that. Didn't mean he always understood why she felt a particular way, or why she had to act so.
That made some things hard, having to explain, try to, some of Luna's oddities.
Sometimes it was fun, to see other people's brows rise above their headlines and their chins fall below their waist lines, no matter how bulging.
Other times he felt the hot glare of embarrassment light him cheeks, as Luna stared of dreamily, promptly forgetting what was the big deal.
But he knew. That was enough for now.
"Come here," she calls, and he comes.
"The stars," he says, and smiles. "They look very beautiful tonight Luna." Feeling that she made them so.
She nods, as if she was one who put them there and made them shine so brightly, so stunningly. "I wonder what they mean... Stars have meanings."
He attempts not to groan. "They're stars," he shrugs, "I can't explain them."
"Hmm, I wonder, what it would be like to be a centaur and be able to see so far." She tilts to one side. "Is walking on four legs hard? Better than two?"
"I'm not sure," he smiles weakly at her. He follows her gaze. "What are you looking at?"
She breaths out, a soft gasp, there is a lovely peaceful smile on her face, "Everything," she whispers. "The universe, so big and wide. You could easily get lost."
"Just like a maze." And shudders at old, never truly forgotten memories.
"There's always a way out. You just have to find the right path. Right right right, or left left right. That's what I read in a book, do you think I should lend it to Hermione?"
He catches his breath, and does not laugh, but he wants to.
"Maybe, I'll ask her."
"But then it wouldn't be a surprise!"
"Hermione doesn't like surprises, she would like them to be regular and she would have to know what was happening before."
"I wouldn't like that at all!" Luna declares.
"I know," he says, pressing his lips against her temple, loving the way her eyes light up when a certain emotion is felt. "I know, Luna."
"Surprise me, one day," she murmurs. "But make it a good one, a surprise that I'll never forget."
"A planned surprise?"
"No! A surprise that's random, but, I can't know. So don't tell me."
He shakes his head and promises not to tell.
She carries a small duffel bag that he knows if she were a Muggle, would be several large suitcases. She hauling it along, chatting happily to a regular contributor to the Quibbler. An excited old man with large spectacles on his face, who vaguely resembles Albert Einstein. Sometimes, Harry really wonders.
Crumple Horned Snorkacks.
She's on a mission to find them, a usual thing for Luna that she does every summer break. He looks around. There's at least ten other people carrying bags and what not, it seems that Luna's ideas are infectious.
He'll miss her.
Harry wonders if, after year after year of not finding them, she regrets wasting her time.
Luna smiles and greets a middle aged woman with bright pink hair and an easy going grin. They embrace and start talking rapidly. Luna has friends here, who understand.
Shaking his head, waving goodbye to the group, he doesn't think so. It's become a social occasion, where she can talk and people will understand her.
He's glad that she has those people, he can't fulfill everything, and sometimes he can suspend his belief to make it seem real. Before the group disappears, Luna blows a kiss in his direction.
She's a little bit cold, and smells like a forest when she embraces him, but Harry welcomes the touch anyway. Kissing him on the lips, she starts giggling, her eyes wide and excited.
"We spotted it Harry! The film didn't develop, but it was there." She nods and Harry allows himself to believe, she continues her babbling. taking a deep breath.
"It was so wonderful to see one up close and in it's natural habitat. There were construction sites there, we're thinking of starting a protection society. They need it." She nods and Harry wonders what Hermione will think about protecting creatures that supposedly don't exist. He smiles, at imagining her expression. Raised brow, mouth twitching and eyes daring him not to agree with him. Ron would just say 'bloody hell' leaving it at that.
Her lips spread, "It was marvelous, Harry! Simply fantastic!" She wriggles out of his grip, and grins, he finds himself beaming back at her.
