On Your Side
So no one told you it don't matter where the road leads
'Cause where we're going, no we won't need anything
And this is not goodbye
.
"You know I'm leaving," he says, and she manages a smile.
"Yes, I know."
"And you know you have to stay."
"Yes, I know."
He sighs. "I wasn't expecting you to take it this well."
"And why not?"
He isn't sure how to answer this, actually, because he guesses he was expecting her to cry, or beg, or fight. He realizes, now, that none of these are Luna. "You are always surprising me."
"Hmm," she says. "I guess I'll work on not doing that as much."
He smiles back at her. "I have another one for you."
"Yes?"
"You know we can't be together anymore."
Only a very small look of surprise crosses her face, which is quickly replaced. "Why not?"
"Voldemort won't stop at torturing you to get to me. He'll take anyone he knows is close to me."
"I can take it."
"But I can't." He leans down and holds her close. "I can't take losing you."
"Hmm," she says again, more quietly. "So you're leaving to have some grand adventure? To destroy Voldemort?"
It is the first time she has said his name, and Harry realizes this. He sighs. "I'm sorry."
She smiles. "It's alright, Harry. This isn't goodbye."
He wants to disagree but he can't find the right words. "You know that I love you."
A very small tear swims to her eye. "Yes, I know."
And then he kisses her, deeply, and it says everything he can't say. And then he turns because he can't bear to see her face when he goes. "Goodbye, Luna."
"This is not goodbye," she insists.
He thinks for a moment, then turns and catches her eye. "Farewell, Luna."
"I'll see you soon, Harry," she answers, a small smile on her face, and he leaves before he can turn to her again.
Later, when he sees her running into the Great Hall, her wand out, her mouth forming a hex, he realizes that maybe it wasn't goodbye, after all.
And then she falls, her head hits the floor with a terrifying thud, and he cries out because he never had the chance to say goodbye.