March 2007

Luna appeared in the middle of her living room and in her haste to get away, had misjudged her landing and currently stood on the splinters of her old coffee table. She began to shake as she stepped away from the wreckage and became numbly aware that several small shards of wood were lodged in both of her ankles. As Luna sank into a chair and began the work of pulling the splinters out of her body, she was darkly thankful for the adrenaline pumping through her body. Everything was currently numb – her shredded ankles and legs and the emotions that she knew would wreck her the moment that she could regain her bearings.

Luna yelped in surprise as Harry Potter appeared out of thin air and landed in the exact spot that she had occupied merely moments ago. Luna stared at him in shock while Harry spun to find her, his face contorting in panic the moment that he saw her.

"Luna," he began, breathlessly. "Let me explain." He stepped towards her and Luna watched him, wearily. "It wasn't what it looked like. Elodie is just…" Luna felt the woman's name on his voice like a punch to the gut. "She's nothing. Hermione had this crazy notion that I wanted to be set up and I went along with it because I am an idiot. But I'm not seeing her or anyone for that matter. I just…" Harry paused his manic tirade and stared at Luna for a moment. "I just wanted you to know that."

Luna glanced down at her right ankle, which was currently propped up on her left thigh, and tugged at a rather nasty splinter. She gasped as the wood came loose and pressed a finger over the hole left in its wake, stopping the blood before it could begin to pool. Luna looked back at Harry and felt the adrenaline beginning to ebb away. Her head began to pound and she felt sick to her stomach.

"You don't owe me an explanation. You set yourself free, remember," Luna said meanly, fully aware that she was twisting Harry's words against him. All she wanted in that moment was to render him as lost and hurt as she currently felt. Three weeks had elapsed since Harry's speech at the baby shower and since that day, Luna had been moving through the motions like an automaton. Ginny's visit with her had opened her eyes to how she still felt about Harry and for the first time in a year and a half, she had begun to hope again…

But everything came to an agonizing halt when Harry confessed that he was stepping back and allowing Luna to move on with her life… and apparently Harry had given himself permission to begin his life anew as well. Luna found a thread of anger amidst her turbulent emotions and held on to it, convincing herself that he had wronged her once again. Hadn't he promised that he could love no one but her… that there was no one for him but her? And yet she had found him… clearly on a date with a beautiful woman who seemed to be in the league that Luna had so desperately wished to be in since the moment she realized that she was in love with Harry Potter. Whoever that woman was… Luna was convinced that she was on equal par with Harry… and she felt her heart breaking again.

Harry blanched at her words and stepped even closer to her. "No," he whispered. "I set you free." Harry dropped to his knees in front of Luna and looked at her battered skin. His hands closed around her fingers, which were tugging at yet another splinter, desperately yanking and pulling, hoping to induce a pain that would distract her from her current despair.

At the unexpected contact, Luna felt her resolve break and she suddenly began to cry. "You promised me," she accused, through her tears. "You said that there was no one else for you but me. You said that you loved me. And then I see you with her and… you're a liar."

Harry watched her, waiting for her to get it all out. And when he began to shake his head back and forth, Luna felt herself get mad. "I meant all of those things. I meant them all," he began to say and Luna ripped her hands out of his.

"Then why didn't you come back for me? Why did you step aside like a coward and say that you were moving on?" Luna yelled and Harry watched her. He moved his hands to either side of her arms and Luna felt his grip tighten marginally, as though he were afraid that she would Apparate away from him again. At least if she did try to run, this time he would be taken with her.

"I never said that I was moving on… I said that I wanted to give you the chance to move on. Aren't you and Rolf together? Doesn't he make you happy? Luna, all I want is to make up to you all the horribleness that I've caused. I ruined everything and when I saw that you had a chance at a genuinely happy life… I wanted you to have it, even if it meant that you and I couldn't be together." Harry watched Luna, waiting for her reaction and was surprised when he saw anger over take her sadness.

"You don't get to decide anything for me!" Luna's voice became even louder and she began to fight against Harry's hold on her. "You ruined everything ! I was finally happy and then you screwed it up. And when I thought that maybe we could finally be okay again, you decide to take the damn high road?!" Luna voice dropped to just above a whisper. "Damn it, Harry. Why couldn't you fight for me… just this one last time?" And Luna felt the tears begin to pour down her cheeks in earnest. She stopped her thrashing and fell back against the chair, suddenly exhausted. Harry watched her.

"I had no idea what you wanted. Merlin, Luna, you left for a year without a single word and the next time I saw you, Rolf Scamander is hovering over you like a mother hen. What was I supposed to think or do? I've done a lot of things wrong… Hell, I've done most everything wrong. But you could have given me any sort of indication that you were feeling the same… I gave you two hundred letters that poured my soul out to you, I told you how I felt at your Dad's funeral, and to top it all off, my ex-fiancée even came to you. All of that… all of that and I heard nothing," Harry spouted off. He spoke in a steady, even voice, studying every single minute reaction from Luna. He began to trace patterns on her arms with his thumbs and he felt goose bumps erupt under his touch. "I can't read your mind, Luna. You didn't give any indication that I was wanted and so I made the most educated decision that I could with what I had."

Luna stared down at her hands as she cried and felt even more lost as the truth of Harry's words registered with her.

"If I knew that I was wanted by you, even in the smallest and most insignificant way, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Harry whispered. "What do you want, Luna? You have to tell me now so that I know how to move forward from this point. What do you want?" Harry repeated himself and Luna looked up to him, studying his face. Luna was struck by how vulnerable he looked, kneeling in front of her, and she moved towards him, almost unaware of herself… as if her body was acting by its own volition.

Luna hands came up on either side of Harry's face and she pulled him to her, and when their lips met, Harry's mouth opened automatically. Luna became breathless as she tried to convey all of her feelings and all of her emotions into that one, single kiss. Her pulse began to beat erratically under her skin and just went she thought that she may not be able to, she broke the kiss and pulled back from him. Harry looked at her and narrowed his eyes.

"Just so we're clear," he said softly. "Just so we can avoid any further miscommunications… that meant that you want this right?"

Luna suddenly burst into laughter and wiped at the tears on her cheeks. Harry smiled at her, puzzled, and she began to nod her head. She leaned close to him once more, coming so close that their foreheads touched.

"Yes. I love you, you idiot," she whispered before kissing him again.