"Oi! When did you get here?" Ron questioned; his focus on Harry suddenly shifting in whole to Hermione who had one baby in hand and another stuffed inside an inflated stomach.
"What does it matter to you!" Hermione snarled.
Ron looked taken aback. "I wasn't- I just-"
"Just what? Just running away from the fact that you can't seem to hold yourself up and talk straight at the same time? Or maybe it's the fact that you decided to leave Hugo just sitting on the stovetop so you can have your little sidebar with Harry!"
"Oh, I'm sure he's just fine. I was gone for one minute!" Ron retorted.
"Does this look fine?" Hermione scowled as she turned the baby cradled in her arms carefully on its backside to reveal char marks on its rump.
"I- You know… You can be a real…" Harry could see the silence slowly saturate itself into Ron, proving him immobile. All of a sudden, Ron's anger instantly replaced itself into pathetic worry once again.
Harry took this deep-seated silent tension as a chance to distance himself. As he inched away, yells echoed down the hallway: "I HEARD HIM CRYING FROM ALL THE WAY UPSTAIRS! YOU MUST'VE BEEN DEAF YOU BLOODY TWIT! I CAN'T-"
The yells inside the Burrow slowly faded away as Harry stealthily made his way outside. He propped himself down on the dirt-ridden ground, sighing in exhaustion as he pondered his current situation. Katie has to understand that I'll always love her, right? Doesn't Ginny understand that the only way to move on is to confide in the ones you love the most? She's pushed me away, pushed Molly away, pushed everyone away really! Why should I feel bad for her if she can't make her own step forward in recovery? And yet… I do feel bad. Don't I? I guess- no- that maybe- no-
"Hello, Harry Potter." A soft, glistening voice echoed in front of Harry.
"Heya Harry!" Another voice exclaimed.
Before Harry looked up in excitement, he already knew who it was. He met eyes with Luna Lovegood, sporting her normal unique apparel (this time a rainbow kilt-dress with a rainbow sweater vest in honor of muggle pride month) and Neville Longbottom, looking quite better than he ever did in his Hogwarts days. Their matching engagement rings shone like wildfire, until Harry realized the ring was actually on fire! Harry stood up and greeted Luna, heaving her a heavy hug. Then turning to Neville for a weak handshake whose pathetic nature was entirely his fault.
Backing away, Harry stated, "That's a brilliant ring! Where'd you find it?"
"It was my mothers." Luna said. "My father gave it to me when I told him of the engagement. It's been passed down since the beginning of our bloodline; the porrywogs inside the cornea of the ring represent the current nature of our couplehood."
"The fire means passion!" Neville exclaimed, looking away from Harry to Luna, the fire in the ring reflecting in his eyes. Luna giggled softly, looking back at Nevilled with her rainbow kilt prancing in the golden sunset. Nevilled grabbed her on the hips, in complete juxtaposition to Hermione's anger Harry laid witness to a few moments ago. Harry admired their connection, only fueling his struggle for his lacking attachment he felt with Katie. As Neville and Luna kissed, Harry looked away, feeling as if he was peeking at a love that he would never deserve. Luna and Nevilled gently parted lips, reverting their attention back to Harry.
"How are you, Harry?" Luna inquired.
"Oh. You know. I'm fine." Harry remarked vaguely. Harry then looked at the ground again, turning his vision away from Neville and Luna. There was a momentarily silence.
"You don't look fine, mate." Neville said, stepping closer to Harry. "Are you sure everything is okay?" He put his hand on his shoulder. "We all went through the war together…" His voice lowered to murmur, "...we had to take lives and see lives taken. Me and Luna are here for you if you ever need to talk."
Harry felt comforted enough to open up to them, but before he could open his mouth he heard a voice from behind.
"It's Luna AND I, not me AND Luna, Neville." Hermione stated, as she ducked under Ron's arm who held the Burrow's front door open for her, his other Arm had Hugo in his grasp. Ron seemed to be agitated playing the role of Hermione's manservant.
"Hello Ron and Hermione Granger." Luna said. Lifting her sincere attention away from Harry to greet the new arrivals to the conversation.
"Luna! Neville!" Ron exclaimed excitedly, nearly dropping the Burrow's rickety door on Hermione's very-pregnant belly. "I thought you were showing up next week?" His agitation seemed to wear off completely.
"Well, about that." Neville muttered, now taking his turn to look at the ground just as Harry did before. His foot began to kick aimlessly into the ground in the form of a nervous tick.
"Neville, would you like me to inform them?" She asked nicely.
"Erm- no. It's fine." Neville whispered, slowly gathering his courage back up after a quick-seconds silence. He straightened out his body and stopped kicking at the dirt. He looked Harry in the eyes. "Me and Lu- Luna and I came here early because I'm in a spot of trouble. You see, I might've- well, I DID- I-" Neville seemed to lose his confidence again, then he looked at the inviting eyes of his old friends, regaining his confidence for yet another time. Neville took a deep breath then finally blurted out, "The Janus Thickey Ward in St. Mungo's just had a mass breakout. Nobody knows where any of them are, and I think it's my fault." Neville momentarily paused, anxious to see the reaction of his friends. Harry was calmly waiting for Neville to tell the whole story, though Ron seemed to look quite the opposite; his look of optimistic excitement just a minute ago seemed to completely deflate into pessimistic anger.
"Neville, what are you saying?" Hermione interrogated.
Neville took a highly visible gulp, then choked out, "Well, you see, I was seeing mum and dad -there doing loads better these days- uhmm, anyways, I was talking to them when I realized the door to front of the ward was left open. And so, I stood up and made to close the door when I felt a piercing pain run up my back and everything suddenly went black. When I got up, everyone in the ward… was, well, gone."
There was a loud silence. Luna looked at the three with a gentle smile, her head tilted ever so slightly to the left.
"'Everyone' you said? 'Everyone'?" Hermione cross-examined in shock.
"Yes. All of them. Gone." Neville stated heart-rendingly.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all met eyes in a silent understanding, then looked back at Neville.
"Inside. Now." Hermione ordered, eyeing Ron to open the front door back again.
The group quickly made their way back to the kitchen table, with an angry Ginny, Katie, and Molly in different corners of the room. The holy trinity of anger couldn't pierce the rush of anxiety and excitement Harry was feeling. Finally, something other than love to worry about.
"You didn't tell me you had more guests, Ron!" Mrs. Weasly said, hopping off her feet back to the pantry. "Would any of you like anything? We have-"
"Hello Mrs. Weasly." Luna interrupted in a voice gentler than normal. "We won't be needing anything, thank you though." She smiled into the heart of Molly, then quickly diverted her attention back to the table where everyone was gathered.
A voice from behind them suddenly appeared, "Well well well, look who it is! Loony Lovegood and his betraying, pathetic fee-ahhnce-ay, Neville Longbosom!" Ginny drawled, pointing a shaking finger with one hand at Neville with a bottle of firewhiskey in the other. "Do you even remember, you danced with me at the Yule Ball, then left me out to dry!" Ginny licked her lips, her eyes crossing naturally in her deep drunken state. "Y'know, I loved you SOOO much! Soooo soooo much! And I- I wish that Voldemort's snake took your life!" She yelled profoulsy and pathetically, looking Neville in the eye, a tear streaming down her cheek. Her glare transferred from Neville to Harry, another tear forming, this one just as strong as the one dedicated to Neville. She then got up and stormed away upstairs.
Author's note: This is a collaborative piece. Let us know which chapter you like the most, we are competitive. (:
Author's note 2: We apologize for the grammatical and spelling errors. This author lacks in the English deparment unfortunately, unlike the previous author.
