- Chapter 7 -
"I was only supposed to introduce you to this world. I wasn't supposed to stay," Luna says when they're eating breakfast.
"Why not?" Hermione asks with trepidation in her voice, because she doesn't know what she would have done if Luna hadn't been there this morning.
"Because it could interfere with your healing process if I stay."
"How so?" Hermione asks, but she thinks she already knows the answer.
"There are some people, like me, who stay in this world longer than others. I've been able to see this world since I was a little girl, as has my father. When we lost my mother, we lost our anchor, and we came here," Luna says as she slices through the pancake on her plate.
"You can't heal properly if there is someone else alive with you in this other world for too long. A day or two, that's okay, but any longer than that, and you began to form an attachment. That attachment keeps you from wanting to leave this world, because here, you can be with your anchor in some form, and you can keep your humanity and your sanity, because there is someone else with you to keep you sane."
Hermione doesn't know what to say to that, so they eat in silence for a while. She fears that this means that Luna will leave after breakfast, and Hermione will be back to facing Ron alone. She doesn't know how to heal in this world, only knows that that was why it was built, and she can't imagine going back to being alone.
She can't imagine Luna leaving, and Harry returning, and having to pretend that she isn't crazy because she knows Harry will never understand.
Then Hermione remembers what Luna said about being able to see this world since she was a little girl.
"What does it mean, to be stuck here, like…like you are?" Hermione asks, only she fears that this will offend Luna and she will lose her company far too soon to please her.
"It doesn't really mean anything. I coexist in our world, and the other world, and I am most often the greeter of new arrivals like you. It doesn't happen as often as you would think. Few people come through here. It's a lonely place, now that my father has passed away. I think, the only reason I still keep my sanity, is because of how long I have been here."
Hermione spends the rest of the afternoon with Luna playing with the creatures from the other world, but Hermione finds it hard to enjoy that time spent with Luna because she knows that Luna will be leaving soon.
She tries hard to keep it from her mind, but the knowledge taints the day in dark browns and smudges of black where there is usually only hazy pink, and makes it hard for Hermione to keep from crying when her special Kneazle comes up to her as the sun begins to set.
It goes unsaid, but Hermione wouldn't mind being stuck in this world with Luna if it meant that Luna would stay. If it meant that someone believed in her and didn't think she was crazy.
They eat dinner in silence, as Luna seems to sense Hermione's melancholy, and Luna tucks Hermione back into bed again, sliding the blankets up over her breasts and pressing the covers into her sides so that it holds tight, and keeps the warmth in.
Luna sings to her, quiet and soulful, and Hermione tries to keep her eyes open, but around the second run through, her eyes slide close and she falls into a peaceful sleep.
When morning comes, Hermione wakes in a state of panic, tears already sliding down her cheeks, because she's alone again and she just can't take it anymore.
Sobs rise in her throat and she wants to throw up, wants to scream, wishes that she'd died in that fire with Ron. She's so distraught that she can't even think to try and force herself back to sleep, can't even think to force herself back into her state of numbness, because it's all just too much.
She sobs, and hiccups, and finally, to her surprise, someone wraps their arms around her and pets her hair to try and calm her.
When she struggles to pull away, and the person lets her, she find's Luna's face, and her kind eyes, and realizes that she isn't alone.
From then on, Luna stays in Hermione's cottage, taking care of her and nursing her back to health. Every day is tinged with a nervous despair that tomorrow, Luna will be gone, and every morning that Hermione wakes up and can't find Luna in her room, she cries until Luna comes and finds her.
Hermione doesn't ask, and Luna doesn't explain, but they spend each day in each other's company, despite the fact that this is a practice that's taboo.
Hermione doesn't care. She just can't lose Luna, can't lose the person who is quickly becoming her new anchor to this world, to both worlds, because she is the only person who doesn't look at Hermione and think that she is crazy.
When Ron arrives, Hermione still finds herself sobbing. But she isn't alone anymore. Luna is with her.