Thanks for those who review, i really appreciate that.

It was Wednesday afternoon, and Luna was on her way to a hill not far from her home. She noticed something moving in the tall grass, and it looked like a very ugly gnome, similar to the ones at the Weasley's residence. Was the gnome lost? Or had it been expelled by its gnome friends due to some rare, incurable disease?. Luna couldn't fathom what kind of disease that might be. She decided to ask her father about it when she got home.

She glanced back at her house, which had been rebuilt. Not much had changed. It had a nice shape for a house, with no corners. That way, no uninvited guests could hide in corners if you didn't have any. It was a brilliant idea from her dad.

Before leaving the house, Luna scrubbed her hands and face until they glistened. She stood in front of the mirror, combing her hair meticulously, leaving it long and flowing. This afternoon, she wore a long, flowy skirt with a floral pattern and a short-sleeved blue blouse with white buttons. She also wore her favorite earrings. As she examined herself in the mirror, she couldn't decide—did she look twelve or thirteen? What was her name again? Oh, yes, Luna, Luna Lovegood. Her father even stopped at the door to admire his daughter, poking his head out from the doorway. Xeno, who was just delighted to see his daughter, held back a million questions. Going out with friends is what she had told him.

She quickened her pace towards the hill, and there was Harry, still in his black uniform, waiting for her under a tree halfway up the hill.

"I like your hair, Luna," he said, smiling, reaching out to take the picnic basket.

"Thank you," she muttered. "I wish I didn't smell like I worked with blubber all day. Blubber and grease."

"Really? You're making multipurpose blubber paste again?" Harry held the basket with one hand and reached for her hand with the other.

"I even have some for you."

"Thank you," he said, accepting a can of Blubber paste and stashing it in one of his uniform pockets.

As they walked, Luna raised her head to look at the sky, trying to find a distraction, knowing that Harry kept glancing in her direction and smiling.

They finally found a spot under an apple tree. It wasn't the ideal place for them to sit, Harry thought, as the ground felt uneven and the tree wasn't quite shady enough. But surely nothing magic couldn't fix. With a few wand swings, the tree's branches bent to provide more shade, and the ground became more level

Luna had brought a bottle of wine, some bologna ham, and white bread. She also brought a jar of pickles and a box of chocolates. Harry was quite hungry, and his experiences living with the Dursleys had made him a fast eater. He had already finished his sandwich while she was only halfway through hers. Luna told him to have all the chocolates. He protested at first but eventually gave in. After he'd eaten half the box, Luna, who had folded her legs beneath her and sat next to him, started on another bologna sandwich. Harry decided to wait for her this time.

He took a gulp of wine straight from the bottle and stared at the bottle while contemplating the ceiling of his mouth. "Not so bad," he thought. He had never drunk wine before, but it would be rude not to try it after Luna had brought it. Luna laughed at him, took the bottle from his hand, and took a sip. "I've never drunk this either," she said, "I brought it because I thought just water wouldn't be suitable for a picnic. I forgot to bring glasses, though."

Harry furrowed his brow, unsure of what to say. He reached for his wand and conjured two glasses.

"Oh, right," Luna said when she saw what he had done, and Harry could see a faint smirk on her lips. "You can laugh."

He wanted to laugh at the fact that Luna had forgotten they could conjure any object they wanted, but he took a deep breath to calm himself. "It's okay, I won't laugh." With a flick of his wand, he made both glasses disappear again and took the bottle from her hand.

A smirk appeared on Luna's face, but she tried to hide it by taking another bite of her sandwich. She then dropped her head onto Harry's shoulder.

"Luna?" Harry asked gently. "Is the sandwich really that good?"

She didn't answer but simply took another annoyed bite. Harry managed to kiss the top of her head before she lifted it again. He changed the subject, asking where she had gotten the wine if she had clearly never had it before. It was from her dad. Xenophilius Lovegood, who had the idea that all great editors, if not chain smokers, were heavy drinkers. He tried his hand at tobacco a few times but decided he didn't like it, so alcohol it was.

Putting down the bottle, he looked out at the empty expanse of the hill. "Do you think one day this hill will be full of people?"

"I don't know... I hope it doesn't get too crowded. I like being up here with not too many people," Luna replied while nibbling on a small piece of chocolate.

Harry casually stretched his legs out in front of him and closed his eyes, lying back and using his arm as a pillow. "Luna," he said quietly.

"Hmm?" Luna responded.

"Luna,... Ginny and I weren't serious." They didn't speak for a minute.

she removed her earring and carefully lay down next to him, making sure not to touch him. "Not serious for you, but she's serious about you," she finally said. Harry turned his head to look at Luna, who continued to gaze at the sky.

"Luna... I will tell her."

"No, you don't need to," she replied. "We're both just friends who like spending time together."

"Friends?" Harry felt something inside him die. "Ginny will understand," he said, trying not to raise his voice in disbelief.

"If you knew her like I do, you'd know she won't understand that easily. At least not for now," Luna said, breaking off, unsure of what to say next. "Listen, Harry, we also need to make sure this isn't just a phase. Giving it some time to be sure is better than being sorry in the future."

"Am I really that hard to trust?"

"No, it's not you, Harry, it's me," she said, raising one hand to touch her chest. "No one has waited for me since forever. What happened before, everyone was scared of me. To be sure that you're not just taking pity on me..."

"Don't say something like that; I'm not taking pity on you,"

"Then you won't mind waiting a while," she finally turned to look at him. "And if it turns out we're just friends, you still have Ginny. And for me, there will be other boys."

"What makes you think there will be other boys?" It was like a flashback for him, like the day he imagined Ginny wearing a white dress and getting married to someone he didn't know, but this time, all he could think of was Luna.

"Because half of this world is men; surely there will be someone for me." When Harry didn't comment, she ventured further, "I like you, Harry, but please give it some time. If we really love each other, we will be together in the end." Even though Luna said she liked him, sadness crept into his expression. "I'm not seeing someone else other than you, Harry, so don't worry.

"This actually reminds me of a story about a wizard who complained to his mistress that she wasn't wearing the dress he had given her and told her she was getting fat. But he wasn't angry or anything; in fact, he loved her and gave her a gentle kiss before he went back to his wife. Watching the wizard leave, she wondered if he had truly grown to care for her, strong enough to marry her... and if she was brave enough to tell the wizard that the reason she was getting fat was that she was carrying his child."

"Am I the wizard in that story?" Harry asked.

"I didn't say anything about you or me in that story," she furrowed her brow. "I just said I remembered that story."

"I really don't think that's appropriate when we're still having a conversation about us."

"We've already resolved it, Harry. Give it some time. It's best for you, me, or even Ginny."

They didn't speak again for sometimes, and finally, Harry said, "You're right, I'm sorry. Sometimes I really..." He broke off.

"That's okay. You're just confused. Daddy said, That place where you work has a lot of bad influences."

They spent half an hour talking about the future. Harry guessed that Luna still wanted to be a Magizoologist, just like what she had told Professor Flitwick during career counseling. It turned out that the idea of being a Magizoologist had just popped into her head when she was asked. She had never been far from her father before, and she didn't plan to be. Even if she wanted to do something else, she said she'd want to be like her mother, making potions or just continuing the family business, the Quibbler.

When Luna was the only one talking, Harry was able to gaze at her, his eyes roaming her face. He noticed a small scar that was almost imperceptible below her lip, and he wanted to ask her if she had ever used makeup to conceal it. However, he decided it wasn't something he should ask, not because he wanted her to wear makeup but because he didn't want her to think he wanted her to wear it. He just wanted her to put away that soft, smiling look in her silvery eyes.

And its about time luna start to tell another story. "So," Luna began, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, "there once a wizard, let's call him Thaddeus, had always been curious about Muggles and their peculiar customs. One day, he happened upon a Muggle campfire in the woods, and he was drawn to the melodic sounds of their music. You see, he had never encountered Muggle musical instruments before."

Harry nodded.

"Thaddeus thought that the music was emanating from the Muggle who was playing it, so he approached the campfire. But the moment he got too close, the music stopped abruptly. The Muggles looked at him in shock, wondering who this strange person was."

Harry chuckled at the image of Thaddeus's awkward encounter with the Muggles. He remembered when he was at the Quidditch World Cup, and many wizards always chose the strangest clothes to wear.

"Thaddeus didn't understand how the sound was produced, and he mistakenly believed that the music was coming from the Muggle who played them. So, in a misguided attempt to replicate the music, he ended up breaking the bones of the Muggle to make a flute."

At first, Harry felt a little shocked when he heard it, but when he remembered the kinds of things stored by the Black family in Grimmauld Place, he began to think that maybe he was the one who didn't know much about the dark stories in the wizarding world.

"He thought that was the only way to replicate the music. But you see, he didn't realize that the music came from the instruments themselves and not from the Muggle. He was quite puzzled when the Muggles started screaming and running away from him."

"So, what happened next?"

"Thaddeus was left alone by the campfire, holding his newly created bone flute," Luna continued. "He tried to play it, but it just produced strange, eerie sounds. He realized his mistake and felt quite embarrassed. Eventually, he decided to return to the wizarding world, leaving the Muggle campfire behind."

"And did Thaddeus ever learn music properly?"

Luna shrugged "Who knows? But he did learn that breaking Muggles' bones wasn't the way to go."

When it was time to head back, Harry walked Luna only as far as the tree where they had met earlier. It was even harder knowing that he wouldn't see her for another six months. He held her hand even tighter as they stood there.

"I have to be there in 10 minutes," he said, "otherwise, I'd walk you home—"

"No, no, I'll be fine, don't worry. Thank you for taking the time for me," she replied, still not looking into his eyes, her gaze fixed on the buttons of his uniform. Her father had told her that every uniform was designed to exude intimidation, but Luna wasn't afraid of his uniform.

Harry said nothing for what seemed like minutes.

Luna began to walk backward from him, and when she was about five meters away, she turned to look at his face. She stopped, and both of them just stared at each other without saying a word. The silence was tormenting for both of them. She couldn't hold back any longer, so she walked back toward him and straight into his open arms. They shared a long kiss, holding each other tightly.

Harry smiled when they broke apart. "You are very beautiful, Luna," he said.

She wanted to believe that she was beautiful. She wanted to believe that Harry was telling the truth.

"Stop, you have to go now," she whispered.

That night, Luna couldn't sleep. She went downstairs. Where her father was reading quietly in his chair by the fireplace. She curled up, squeezing herself in to fit into the chair with him.

"What's the matter, dear?" her father asked. "Don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid, Daddy," Luna replied. "I'm just very, very confused."

"About the infected gnome?" he inquired.

She shook her head. "Daddy, you always said that there is so much still ahead of me, to be patient with life."

"Yeah, I remember saying that," he replied, glancing back at his book.

"Do you still feel that way?"

Her father stopped reading and looked at the fireplace. He didn't reply immediately, and she waited patiently.

"Oh, my Luna," he said rubbing his daughter's head. "Being patient and waiting for your turn is always good, but life doesn't get easier just by being patient. Maybe you should be less patient."

"That's what I thought, Daddy," she nodded. "I think patience is overrated at some point."

Back in her bed, Luna lay quietly and thought about Harry. She wondered if she was being selfish by not admitting that she also loved him and whether all this waiting was necessary.

Six moths later, during Christmas break.

In the darkness, Luna Lovegood slept in her room. The quiet of the morning was broken only by the faint ticking of a wall clock. Luna's tired face, with her eyes closed, was covered by a blanket to shield her from the morning chill

She didn't sleep much longer.

There was a noise at her window, like tapping, and for a moment, she didn't register it. Then, upon hearing it again, she pulled the sheet over her head, ignoring the sound, thinking it might be a bird.

But something flapped into her room. An origami swan pecked at her face from beneath the covers. Luna gathered her energy to open it.

"Can I come in? H"

She immediately got up, searching for her wand in the folds of her bed. "Lumos," she said, raising her wand and waving it in the air a few times before quickly extinguishing it. She looked around, waiting to see where the figure would appear. A few moments later, Harry flew into her room on his broomstick.

Luna, still standing by her loft bed, rushed down to meet Harry, who had his arms open. She leaped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry tried not to lose his balance.

"I miss you," Luna said. "I didn't know you were coming tonight."

"I miss you too," Harry replied. "I came just to say goodbye. Can't stay long. How's the trip?"

"It's good," Luna replied. "We had fun visiting Aunt Polly. They're really nice." She furrowed her brow. "You said you're still in training. And if that's true, you know you're not supposed to be here, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wanted to see you before you go back to Hogwarts... Orrrr... if you don't want me here, maybe I should go then."

"No, no, don't go," Luna said quickly. "You just got here." A smirk appeared on Harry's face. "I still can't believe you wanted that job after I told you what they do."

"Well, maybe I just like being part of a conspiracy, or maybe I just like to annoy you,"

She gasped. "Congratulations, you succeeded in annoying me."

"Really? Sorry about that, but if I'm so annoying—," Harry's hand rested on her hip now.

"—which you are."

"Then why do you still want to be with me?" His hand played against her clothing.

"Actually, I don't think we are together, are we?"

"Well, that depends." He leaned in and kissed her. "Do you still love me?"

"I'm the one who should ask you that," Luna exclaimed, and it was her turn to kiss him.

"I still love you as much as yesterday." His other hand found its place on her back.

"I still love you, just like the last time you were about to die."

"How is that supposed to be better than mine?"

"Like I always wanted you to run back to the castle with me after I left you on the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

"Let's hope that never happens again."

"By the way," she mumbled, her mouth pressed against his.

"What?"

"You need to brush your teeth."

"I don't mind if you don't."

"You smell horrible," she laughed. "You taste like cigarettes."

"Well, you taste like fish."

Her head snapped away, breaking off the kiss.

"Do I? Must be Plimpy soup from last night."

"I don't mind. I like Plimpy," he said, releasing her embrace and walking toward the door. "Where are you going?"

"Won't be long. Don't go away."

She left the room. Harry looked around Luna's room, waving his wand to light the candles and floating them to the center of the room. Her new loft bed, complete with a ladder, was different from Luna's room before the Snorkack horn incident. Portraits of Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville, all new, hung right next to her bed. Under the loft bed, a bookshelf with several thick books and scrolls. A study desk adorned with various colorful quills, ink bottles, and parchment was near the window where Harry had entered earlier. A small cauldron sat next to the desk, surrounded by a row of colorful self-made potion bottles.

He pulled a chair to sit and found a book on the table, curious about what she had been up to lately: "Esoteric Brews: A Guide to Unusual Ingredients," explaining the colorful stock of potions. Harry hoped he wouldn't be the test subject, or worse, that she would experiment on herself. He really needed to talk to her about this. He found another book with many notes sticking out of it: "The Boy Who Defied Darkness: Harry Potter's Battle Against Voldemort," written by Eldred Worple, a writer he had met at Slughorn's party. The potion master was, of course, very happy with Harry's decision, feeling that he had done something to be proud of by bringing together his two talented students. This didn't include all the gifts he had received from Worple.

In the bathroom, Luna wiped away the toothpaste crescents from the corners of her mouth and wondered if she had done something wrong. Here she was, six months after the war, with someone she really liked in her bedroom while she still wasn't sure if her close friend still had feelings for him or had already moved on. She liked Harry but didn't want to hurt Ginny's feelings. She couldn't imagine how Ginny would feel if she found out about her and Harry. She looked at herself in the mirror, she sometimes wondered if she was really alright; she seemed paler, but she felt alright. Maybe she should listen to Harry and get herself checked in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey. Scratching her messy hair with her fingertips, she pulled a face and headed back into the room.

From the room, Harry watched her appear in the doorway, wearing blue pajamas. She spun around for a moment before continuing to walk. Harry always said he liked it when she spun; he said it made her hair look 'funky'.

"Like the improvement?" Luna asked, sitting on his lap.

"You don't need to buy it; I can get you one for free." Harry flipped through the pages of a book.

"It's called an investment... You literally bought me ice cream with my own Galleon now."

He chuckled softly. "You must send me a copy when you're done improving it."

"Don't worry, I already asked Daddy to include it in The Quibbler, but I'm not sure when he will print it."

"Where's your dad anyway?"

"Oh, he's just next door."

He flinched. 'Merlin's beard, really?' Harry pointed his wand at the door. "Muffliato!"

She laughed, "It's okay if he hears something; he would have been here by now if he did."

"I have to get back soon; Ron will have noticed I'm gone," said Harry after kissing her cheek

"Ahh, really? I just brushed my teeth, and now you're leaving."

"But—"

"Just cuddle for a second, please."

"We both know it won't be a second."

"Hehe."

"Fine, the training won't start until eight anyway."

She pulled a blanket from her bed and widened the reading chair near the window to make it big enough for both of them. Harry didn't really like cuddling; it gave him cramps, but it seemed like all women liked it, including Luna. He didn't complain too much as long as it made her feel comfortable.

"You should get some sleep."

"Yeah, I really don't want to fall asleep in the compartment. Someone needs to keep an eye on my stuff."

"Don't want Nargles to take it again in my last year and not give it back."

"Hmm," she rested her head on his upper chest. "I really don't want to spend a lot of time collecting it all again."

"You can always find it... it's just one more year, well, just another six months. I wonder what Hogwarts is like now?"

"After you graduate? Education, for sure."

"?... Okay, I get it. No one tries to kill anyone, so student just there to get an education."

She nodded.

"Just try to get some sleep; I'll stay here."

"Don't go without telling me," Luna said, while gently stroking her head against his shoulder, looking for a comfortable position.

"Lun... you know I love you, right?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him for a second, then raised her head and kissed him on the lips. "I know... I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry." She sounded like she wanted to cry, and she hugged him tightly.

He kissed her forehead and wished her goodnight.

It was starting to get bright outside. Harry could see the pink of the new day seeping through the window shade. He really didn't want to wake her; there wasn't much time left to fall asleep again. Maybe he should go; it would be difficult to explain to her dad if he walked in and saw Harry hugging his sleeping daughter. "At least they're not in bed," Harry thought. Both scenarios were equally unpleasant because they were still keeping their relationship a secret.

He examined her face as she slept. She was pretty. Her long blonde hair always looked sweet to him and felt cold against his fingers. Her pale face sometimes made him wonder if Luna was sick or if it was just her skin tone.

This reminded him of when he was alone in his room, thinking about the past.

'War is really a crazy thing,' he told himself. War is hell, but that's not the half of it because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.

Eldred Worple was right.

War is like a big, thick, permanent fog of ghosts. There's no clarity. Everything is spinning. Right spills over into wrong. Order blends into chaos, love into hate, ugliness into beauty, law into anarchy, civility into savagery.

He didn't want to fight another dark lord, but when they asked, 'What do you want to do after the war?' all the answers seemed extraordinarily ambiguous, nothing really certain.

Once again, he got carried away and forgot about the conversation he was supposed to have about those colorful potions. Harry didn't really stop Luna from doing something because it was just a pointless act if Luna didn't think Harry made sense. He often just said to be careful most of the time. He would just owl her when she was at Hogwarts.

It was time for him to go. He guessed Xeno would wake up any second now. The sun had begun to penetrate the window. Harry carried Luna and placed her in her loft bed.

"I need to leave," he whispered while kissing her forehead.

Looking at her again, he never thought he would fall for a witch who was considered crazy and called Looney. To him, she was like a big fog of war itself. He hoped their love was strong enough to unite her world and his. If only her mother were still alive, he would learn a lot about how to deal with both Lovegoods. Luna was okay compared to her father. Her father really drained his energy and patience; it was better to just read his writings than to talk to him directly. He hoped that one day he could face Xeno without thinking he was a danger to Luna and ask for his blessing.

If not, eloping was starting to make sense.

The trolley lady's voice chimed, and the compartment door slid open, "Anything from the cart, dear?"

Luna leaped to her feet and crouched down to examine each of the items. "Nothing new," it was a statement, not a question. "Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm..." She thought aloud. The trolley lady didn't pay much attention, as Luna did the same thing every year. "Hmmm..." The humming continued for another minute. "Just a chocolate frog, a screaming pie, and pumpkin juice, please."

She paid the lady and sat back alone in the rear compartment, as no one was likely to join her anyway. Only a few first-year students were wandering about with curiosity, looking at what the Hogwarts Express was like after the holidays.

After placing her food in her seat, she pushed up her owl-shaped spectacles and examined her eyes in the window's reflection. She rubbed her eyes a couple of times, checking for any signs of Wrackspurt symptoms. "All good."

She sat back by the window and stretched her legs along the empty seat. She took out a sheet of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of self-balancing ink.

"Dear Harry,

I'm writing this in the train compartment; it's still the same as last year if you ask me... I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

I know we just met this morning, but 'how are you?' and how is the training going? Have you found anything suspicious yet? You promised me you'd tell me if you found anything, remember? And I promise not to tell Daddy about it (fingers crossed - hehehe - well, maybe not if I print it myself... Just kidding, or am I? Surely not, I am a woman of honor, I think).

Just like your question last year, 'Am I alone here?' Yes. It's not that I don't like company; it's just that you've all already graduated. You, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. It's like an overcrowded party where your friends have already left, but for some reason, I have to stay. Ginny is still here, of course. I saw her earlier; I'm not sure which compartment she's in, but she's with her friends.

Well, I've also met some interesting students. A Slytherin, a year below me. I can't remember his name; it sounds like 'Oommbb.' Maybe 'Uummmbb'... not sure, but his name sounds like the noise a freshly emerged omotamus makes (you can tell from the sound of his name that he's not very nice, maybe not even trustworthy, like a omotamus). And she's quite pretty. I think, since Delphine is gone, she might become the Slytherin heartthrob, but I certainly don't trust anyone with a name like 'Ooommmmbb'... Clearly not trustworthy. I wonder if we can change our names even if they're already in the Hogwarts archives.

She stopped writing, took a sip of her pumpkin juice, and stared at the ceiling as if giving a chance for someone to play a game of hide and seek. She glanced back at her parchment in the hopes of finding something interesting to write to Harry.

She exhaled a long breath through her nose and made a disheveled expression, folding up the parchment and tucking it into her notebook.

She turned back a few pages and glanced at what was already there.

"**On the hill at 2 pm under the tree.**

We lay on the blanket and talked about the future. I let him make his guesses about mine, but that's just an excuse to stare at his mouth. He might think I'm lip-reading, maybe... or maybe he knows what I'm doing and just keeps laughing when it's my turn, even when I'm talking about Stenly Shacklebolt developing the same taste for goblin pie as ex-Minister Fudge.

Birds were singing, and the sun kept getting lower..."

She closed the notebook when the compartment door opened. It was Alea, one of her roommates.

"Hi, Looney, What have you been up to?"

Luna just stared at Alea with dreamy eyes, not entirely sure what she wanted to say. "Not much, just trying to remember things."

Alea walked to the window and then took a seat in an empty one across from Luna. "Any thoughts about the parole of Death Eaters?"

"Hmmm... Are we talking about the same 'the Eaters'? Because you shouldn't believe what they say. The Ministry is just looking for someone to blame and they take innocent people just for show, and release them after not finding enough evidence... Poor people... Wait, I have a copy my dad wrote about it." Luna reached into her bag, searching for something.

"..."

"Here, my dad explains it better than I can," Luna said as she opened an old issue of the Quibbler and handed it to Alea.

'Death Eater?'

'Innocent prisoners released,'

On the next page was a picture of Stanley, the Ministry of Magic, smiling widely with his hands raised above his head, his back to Harry Potter, who was sitting down, seemingly reading something.

'Potter in the Ministry's pocket.'

"No... I'm good," Alea said, looking uncomfortable.

"You're lost. It's a hot topic of conversation," Luna replied, putting her magazine away with a slight shrug. "We sold many copies of this; they are innocent."

"Don't all of them claim to be innocent?" Alea furrowed her brow.

"Well, it's true, but not all of them are guilty. The Ministry just picks to fill their quota, no matter if they're guilty or not. The Ministry even takes their money. It's like they're not satisfied with just punishing them; they're robbing them too," Luna argued .

"That doesn't even make sense," Alea remarked.

"It does!" Luna retorted, her voice slightly raised.

"So you don't like the Ministry then?"

Luna didn't answer; instead, she narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, anyway?" she asked, pulling her book over her face.

"Nothing, I just came back from the toilet and saw you here. I wanted to get a reminder of how unusual your mind is before we graduate... no offense, but I still can't believe you're a Ravenclaw."

"None taken," Luna mumbled, still not looking up from her book.

"I think I'll get going," Alea said, heading towards the door. "Sorry, but our compartment is full."

"It's okay, I know you don't want me there," Luna replied, still not raising her eyes from her book.

Alea left, closing the door behind her. Luna started to put the book away, reached for a screming pie, and began eating. She leaned her head against the compartment window, gazing at the sky, thinking about Harry. She imagined him showing up on his broom and waving to her.