Beach Birthday

Luna dug her bare toes into the sand and sighed happily. Suddenly, her vision went dark as someone put their hands over her eyes. She laughed. It wasn't hard to figure out who was behind her—she and Harry were the only ones there.

"Happy birthday, Luna," he whispered, removing his hands and slowly turning her around.

Her eyes widened and she let out a delighted gasp. Harry had covered a patch of sand with a large purple blanket. Bright, lime green streamers and sunny yellow balloons were suspended above it, while a cheery blue bucket crammed with a plethora of wildflowers and a picnic basket sat on top of it. It was as though he had decorated in a frenzy—the effect was rather chaotic, but it was also so perfectly her.

Her gaze drifted to the sand just below where the blanket sat. In it, in his endearingly untidy scrawl, Harry had written, "Happy birthday, Luna! Love, Harry." He had used a twig and a small stone to make the exclamation point. She smiled at that.

"Do you like it?" Harry asked, watching her closely.

"I love it," she said happily. Careful not to disturb his writing or step on any sharp rocks, she ran towards the blanket and plopped herself down. From here, she could see a large stretch of beach, all deserted in the February weather. It was eerie, yet beautiful.

Harry sat down next to her and shivered slightly. "Bit chilly, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Luna hadn't really noticed the cold. She was too busy enjoying the sensations that came with being on a beach—feeling the sand beneath her feet, listening to the waves crash upon the shore. It brought her a sort of peace she didn't experience often enough.

She looked over at Harry and saw that his teeth were chattering. "Oh! Here." She quickly conjured a thick, red blanket and draped it gently around his shoulders. "That should warm you up."

He smiled gratefully at her. "That's wonderful, Luna, thank you." He gestured to the picnic basket. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat, certainly," she replied. "This is so lovely, Harry. I can't believe you went to all this trouble."

"It was no trouble at all, I assure you," he said softly. He unpacked the basket and showed her all of the food and drink he had brought, including two flasks of pumpkin juice, a staple from their Hogwarts days that he knew she still liked. She was always so thrilled when he remembered little details like that.

They ate their way through the meal in relative silence, only asking the other about work or friends occasionally. Finally, they had both eaten their fill, and Luna decided to stretch out on the blanket and stare up at the clear winter sky. Harry joined her a moment later, offering his chest as a pillow. She snuggled up next to him and smiled.

"I think I see a mushroom in the clouds," she said a few minutes later.

Harry pushed his glasses further up his nose and squinted. "I don't see a mushroom."

"It's right there, see?" She tried to point it out to him. He laughed.

"Oh, that. I guess it does look like a mushroom. What do you think that is?" He pointed to a cloud a little to the left of where they were lying.

She tilted her head, considering. "I'd say it looks like a rabbit. There are its ears, and that little poofy bit there is its tail." Harry agreed.

They spent the next quarter of an hour pointing out shapes before falling asleep in each other's arms.

When they awoke, they found that the wind, which had been a slight breeze earlier, had picked up in strength, and dark clouds loomed overhead.

"Looks like a storm is on it's way," Harry said, jumping up. "I'm sorry, love. We should probably pack up."

"It's okay," Luna reassured him, getting to her feet as well. She quickly wrapped her arms around him and inhaled deeply.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"I'm trying to commit this to memory," she murmured. "All of it—the blanket, the flowers, the waves, the clouds, but most of all, you."

Harry dropped a kiss on her temple. "As much as I'd love to keep standing here, it's going to start raining soon."

Luna let him pack everything with magic—there was still no one around to see, as far as they could tell—but she insisted on leaving the bucket.

"In case someone forgets theirs in a few months," she said, slipping her shoes back on.

Harry put his arm around her. "That's my Luna, always thinking of others. The world needs more people like you."

"The world is already full of people like me," Luna said, smiling. "Sometimes we just don't notice them right away."

Harry nodded and held out his arm. They Disapparated just as the first raindrops began to fall.


Word count: 823