He was pacing back and forth.
It was too much.
Everything looked so… imposing. The door looked three times bigger than him, let alone the house itself. The flowers and vines twisted and coiled against the metal fence, threatening to overgrow and perhaps if he’s lucky it would drag him away deep underground.
What was he to do, all the courage he gathered up for months, all that hard work, it’s all going to dissipate at this point. How many days has it been since he’s been pacing in front of their house?
The neighbors probably think he’s some kind of creep, and quite frankly he’s surprised there haven't been cops called on him already.
He’s a Gryffindor, he could do this. The house of red and gold with the heart of a lion is not known for their cowardice and yet he’d rather repeat his horrid days of being in detention with that awful toad.
Yes, he would take doing that over this anytime, but he has to, he possibly couldn’t put it off any longer.
He checked the time on his wristwatch, fuck, they’re about to come back already and his heart of a lion has been thorougly chewed out for- well he’s lost count. He’s not going to make it this time.
Tomorrow. He promises himself amongst many other broken promises.
He’s going to be courageous and finally meet them face to face and not be a creep that's just been stalking their house.. His poor mother would probably have a heart attack if she saw him now, may she still be at peace, not much of that with his father there.
Well, he’s not going to wait here any longer. He certainly cannot get caught before he’s thoroughly ready to meet their eyes and actually talk to them. So as any normal person, he will be putting it off again.
So goodbye for now brick house but not forever.
He let out a breath of relief, turning to face the wobbly cracked cement sidewalk, that is close to being overthrown by the grass and soil sticking up from under. He was just about to take a step before he heard a shout… a familiar one at that.
No, no, no this couldn’t possibly be happening. That was the last voice he wanted to hear, for now- his nerves are too fried for this unplanned encounter.
He turned his head slightly to see if it really was her, and it was. So he started sprinting, if he can outrun them then there is no confrontation to be had. Yes, that sounds like a bloody brilliant deduction.
“Oi! Get back here!”
Normally he’s a very fit person, but damn does he feel slow right now. The road seems to stretch on forever and ever…
His adrenaline is making him delirious right now, all those laps he had to run are definitely not paying off right now. Those days of slaving away under the blistering sun and frigid winter had definitely not made him ready for a chase, what a bunch of bullcrap.
“Ron, catch him! He’s not getting away again!”
Damn, his heart felt like it was about to explode in his very ribcage. And he’s definitely not getting enough oxygen for this excursion, he felt so lightheaded. How much longer can this sidewalk stretch on for, the further he runs the farther it gets, what kind of witchcraft is this.
He could hear the two footsteps getting closer and closer to him. As he looked up he could see he was at the corner already, if he could just get to that turn he’d be able to get away.
Right as he was nearing the corner, his body already angling itself to make a left turn, he felt something hit him straight in the back. He almost fell straight into the cement, but was able to catch himself stumbling a bit for balance. Just as he righted himself, about to make his escape, something wrapped around him as he went tumbling, the bush and grass breaking his fall.
As he forced his focus back, he noticed four gangly limbs wrapped around him, he struggled a bit, but to his disappointment it was unrelenting and strong like a boa that has caught its prey.
As much as he hated to admit defeat there wasn’t much he could do. His adrenaline rush is finally dying down and his breathing is hard, each inhale feels like a sharp stab to his heart.
Even if he could somehow get free and run again, he would not be getting anywhere. So he gave into his fate as much as he hated to because he clearly was just not ready for this no matter how many times he has practiced in front of the mirror.
The next he saw was a pair of black heels stepping closer to his direction, a few inches away from his face. But wow, running in heels, that’s really something else, anyone that could do that is actually quite terrifying.
Literally in heels on a cracked wobbly cement sidewalk, it’s amazing she hadn’t twisted her ankles or tripped.
“Ron! I told you to catch him not maim him. Do you want him to have a concussion before we even talk!”
He could hear a groan somewhere near his head, as Ron shuffled a bit to get up, taking him up as well. He tried to move a bit, but really the hold on him was unforgiving.
“Mie, what would you have made me do? You know how slippery he is, if I hadn’t caught him like this, he would have been gone faster than the wind. And you, stop struggling already, forget about even trying to get away.”
“Umm, h-hi.” He meekly answered, barely looking up to meet any of their eyes, more interested in looking at the dandelion sprouting from one of the crevices along the sidewalk.
“Hi? That’s what you’re starting with Harry.”
He couldn’t help but give a smile at that, old nostalgia and habit coming out to the surface.
“Really Hermione, you’re chiding me on my greeting when I received a,” he looked down to see a rather large book lying innocently on the ground like it hadn’t just been used by its owner to hit him straight in the back, “book as a hello, I guess some things never change.”
He looked up a bit to see her raise an eyebrow like she always did when they were in school, and received a snort from the one holding him captive.
“Well, that’s not the only thing you’re going to be receiving today.” Now he was fixed with a very unpleasant looking Hermione and probably Ron as well. Hermione by herself is already terrifying and now Ron as well, doesn’t bode well for him. He took one last terrified gulp and resigned to be dragged away.
__
Harry now sat comfortably in one of the armchairs, as comfortable as he can when he’s being stared down by the two who're seated in the loveseat facing him. This is all very unnerving, and he was right when he said he was unprepared for this.
“Wow, just in time for my favorites, butterbeer and treacle tarts.” Harry attempted to lighten the mood, and even to his ears he could hear how very weak it sounded.
He clutched the cup in his hands, nervously looking anywhere but the other two in the room. Just wishing the armchair would engulf him completely so he would not have the talk that’s to come. Because as of now all the lines he’s practiced have simply disappeared and his head is empty safe for the dread.
“Where have you been?” Although Hermione’s voice was at a steady level, it sounded very oddly close to what Mrs. Weasely had said in his second year when the twins and Ron basically broke him out of his relatives' confinement.
Harry dreaded this conversation because he didn’t know how it would go. If he knew for a fact that they would accept him back with open arms he wouldn’t have waited even a second to come running back. But he’s scared of the rejection that may come, and he’d rather not hear it from their mouths.
“Umm, where to start,” he mumbled out, unsure what to even say, his mind was in disarray. He did not feel very confident at all.
“Well, you can start from where exactly happened after graduation. No goodbye, phone call, or even a letter. Nothing at all for years, and then out of nowhere we both receive a letter from you and-”
Hermione’s voice cracked a bit, clearing her throat she continued on now her tone was tinged with sadness, cracking at every word.
“We were so worried, not knowing at all what happened to you. That letter broke my heart, but I was s-so happy, it was the only hope I had that you were alive.” she finished as she broke into soft sobs, Ron moved closer, softly rubbing her shoulder in a soothing manner.
“Her-Hermione.” Harry stuttered out, he wanted to go over there and hug her but he felt like he didn’t deserve to do that, afterall she’s crying because of him.
His eyes stinged and his throat suddenly closed up and it felt like there was a huge lump stuck. He was desperately trying to hold back the onslaught of tears he could already feel coming that his brain didn’t register the part about the letter at the moment.
“I’m sorry Harry,” he was startled by the raw emotion that Ron normally didn’t display since… since that day they had their falling out.
Ron choked back a sob, “I was such an utter fool. I was jealous, over something that feels so trivial now that I looked back on it. I stayed away, distancing myself from you. And I pushed you away when you came to me, you came to me in hopes of helping me but I was so consumed by my own self pity that I fought back harder. I said such hurtful things and tho-those wo-”
Ron struggled to get the words out as tears streamed down his cheeks, he covered his face with his hands, facing down too ashamed to even utter the words. In a barely audible tone, “such hurtful words.”
“Ron I,” tears that had already been threatening to fall, started to spring from his eyes uncontrollably.
“No matter how stupidly envious and hurt I was, I shouldn’t have said those awful words.” Taking in a stuttering breath, he continued, “I felt miserable after saying that, it was our last week together in Hogwarts. It should have been a happy time for us.”
Ron’s face twisted in what could only be agony, “ I wanted to apologize, to take it all back because I took out my anger on you when you didn’t do anything to deserve it. I never forgot the sorrow and dejection on your face when I had said those words. I tried to find you after that day but I could find you anywhere no matter how hard I searched.”
He took in a stuttering breath. “I hoped that I would see you at graduation, yet you weren’t there. All these years I lived unable to forgive myself and so scared I would never be able to see you again, some nights were so hard to sleep.”
Ron was fully crying, wiping away the tears with his forearms, Hermione was shedding tears as well, silently trying to comfort her boyfriend. Harry looked down, muffling his own strangled cries that wrecked through his body.
No matter how much he’s afraid of rejection, he wanted to just just jump out of this chair and hug them. So he gathered all his courage just to ask, hoping, “Ple-please, could I,” he struggled to get out, yearningly looking at the two in front of him.
Hermione and Ron were startled a bit in shock, before both cried out, opening their eyes. Harry didn’t wait any longer, going straight into their arms, repeating, “I’m sorry,” over and over again.
Ron and Hermione hugged Harry between the two of them, firmly placing their arms around his body scared to loosen up in the slightest. So scared that this wasn’t actually happening, that when they opened their eyes, he would remain gone again.
Breathing in a gasp of relief at the solid body in their arms, content at the warmth radiating off of it. Their friend and brother is back and they are so grateful to be able to hold him again.
Harry melted into the embrace, taking in the smell of nostalgia that he yearned for so long all those years without them. A mixture of scents that was home for him, it felt almost too good to be true.
The feel of Hermione’s frizzed up curls against his face, the brightness of Ron’s fiery ginger hair in his peripheral vision. He clutched onto them like his lifeline because they were, even after all these years apart they were still his salvation.
“Plea-se, please Harry, don’t leave without saying anything again. Please don't leave again, I’m so sorry, I’ll do better, so please stay.” Hermione begged, her words coming out faster than she could speak, jumbling over each other.
“Hermione, why are you apologizing, I-I should be the one who should apologize to you guys. I left without even saying a single word, I just disappeared and ran away from you guys. I was such a coward,” Harry gave a small snort, “so much for being a Gryffindor.”
This was able to coax a laugh from the oldest two. They shifted back, so they could get a better look at Harry, still not letting go of the hug. “I was so absorbed in my studies to be at the top of my year, that I made no time for you guys. I also distanced myself from both of you. And it took you leaving and my relationship with Ron almost ending to realize that I needed to get my head out of my ass.”
Harry’s head shot up, turning from Hermione to Ron, eyes wide in surprise not knowing whether to be surprised by her language or the other news, “You guys almost broke up?”
“We were frustrated after you left and we couldn’t find you at all. We both felt like we failed you and we took it out on each other. Each day it got worse and worse, a fuse just waiting to blow up.”
Ron let out a sigh, relieving the tension in his voice, “and it happened. We blew up, yelling at each other, blaming the other, faults and mistakes. But then we realized we couldn’t fall apart, I realized I was repeating what happened with you.”
Ron and Hermione shared a comforting smile with each other, “We realized that we needed each other. If we also fell apart, then what would be left, I realized that if I ended it there then it may truly be the end. The same mistakes were repeating itself, and so we decided to just sit down and say everything we have been bottling up. And that’s how we saved our great love story.”
Harry sat up straighter, a frown marring his face, “I don’t even know what to say. I played a part in your relationship almost ending. I feel so guilty for just leaving without a word, how can I ever make up to you guys?”
Hermione didn’t even hesitate or miss a beat, “live with us.” She looked at Harry straight into his verdant eyes. The colors she had missed so much, an aching in the heart whenever she sees anything close to those colors, fear that she would never see them again.
“Wh-what?” Harry stared back at Hermione, not believing what he just heard.
Ron answered him, “She said live with us.” He smiled, amused at the confusion on Harry’s face.
Harry huffed a bit, “I heard her, Ron, I just don’t understand. I don’t want to impose.” Suddenly he was smacked upside his head, rubbing the sore spot he looked up to meet Hermione, her lips pursed and brows furrowed.
“No! No, we are not doing that anymore. Harry imposing? You could literally cling onto me all day and night, and I would let you be. You were gone for so long exactly for that reason that you thought that you didn’t belong anymore. You will always belong with us, never forget that.”
Hermione cupped Harry’s face, staring straight into his eyes, her own eyes bright and fierce with determination, “Always.”
“What if you get tired of me,” he whispered, the sound barely audible.
“Get tired? Of you?” Ron asked incredulously, “Harry, it would be the other way around, now you definitely have to stay. I’m not above kidnapping, and Hermione can help hide the evidence.”
Ron raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, receiving an assured smirk in return.
Harry couldn’t help but fully laugh out, the sound so nostalgic and welcoming to the other two, wiping his tears, “I’m guessing I’ll never be found again if Hermione’s involved.” He received a playful smack from Ron.
“What are you tryna say, that I can’t kidnap you and get away with it?” Harry just shook with more laughter, in between gasps for air, “remember scabbers? Amazing work, really.” Harry tried to say it seriously but couldn’t help but laugh more, Hermione joining him.
Ron huffed in playful indignation, “Hey! For your information I was able to keep him for three whole years at school without getting caught. Three!”
Hermione gave a pointed look in return, “and we all know how that ended.” Ron looked away sulking a bit. Harry’s heart enveloped in warmth at the sight and sound of his friends bantering.
How he yearned for this to be reality, sleepless nights wallowing in misery of bygone days. Memories that started to blur at the edge, and the all consuming fear that he would forget Ron’s laughter, the sound of Hermione’s lectures.
Even now it feels surreal. Scared that this may all be just a figment of his imagination. That this dream will end when he wakes up.
“I really, really missed you guys.”
Ron and Hermione stilled, their lighthearted argument ending abruptly. “Harry,” they both started, and Harry shook his head.
“Thank you for not giving up on me. For continuing to search for me and thinking about me. I never really had much growing up, nothing that ever truly belonged to me.”
He took in a shuddering breath then, blinking away the tears. “But for the first time in a long time, my friendship with you two. It was something that I could truly call my own. My own little makeshift family that I hold very dearly to my heart.”
Harry felt it before he saw it, the other two released him from the hug. The two steady weights left him and in place they each took one of his hand in their own. He turned towards the earnest look in Hermione’s eyes, “and we still are.”
“That is, if you'll have us, of course.” Ron added on with such a vulnerable smile that Harry wouldn’t have the will in him to say no. But there was no such thing as ‘no’ it would always be ‘yes’.
For the first time in many years, Harry was able to truly smile, beaming like the sun on a summer day. “Well I can’t really say no after being threatened with kidnapping now can I?”
Ron barked out a raucous laugh whilst Hermione fondly shook her head with a smile before pulling at his face, “what a cheeky brat.” Harry could only grin wider, he was finally home.
“Ah, that’s right. I would need to write a letter to my mum. She’ll have my head if she found out you were back and we didn’t tell her.”
Harry’s eyes widened a bit at the reminder, Ron and Hermione had mentioned something about a letter hadn’t they? In the midst of having a heart to heart talk, he’d almost forgotten.
“Speaking of letters, you guys did mention receiving one yourselves from me?”
At the confused look on his face, both Ron’s and Hermione’s face was comical in the way their brows lifted upwards, “you didn’t know!”
“If you didn’t send the letters, then who did!”
__
Luna walked along the shore, the myriad of seashells clinking against each other, creating a wonderful melody she hummed along to.
She walked further along the sand towards where the rocky part of the beach started. A cove well hidden behind the tall rock structures, people were warned to stay away from.
She smiled softly at the memory of how she met a new friend there.
Harry.
She was surprised when she first saw the lonely figure, she had never seen that many wrackspurts float about one person before. Her eyes could not stray away from him, who bathed under the setting sun, casting such a small shadow.
The closer she got, the more apparent it was of how sorrow embraced him like a cloak. Like a string being pulled, she went along to him as the tides would brush along the shoreline before receding once more.
He looked so tired and Luna wondered how he would look with a smile. It was right then that she promised herself that she would see him smile.
And he did.
Harry did.
The first time he did, it was the sun embracing the day after a long cold winter night. It was wonderful.
And she hoped he would always continue to be happy and smile because his smile was the prettiest.
Luna’s smile stretched into a beaming grin at the memory of how she met Harry and came to be friends.
She was mindful of her steps as she made across the slippery rocks, squeezing through the boulders to get to the flat bedrock that gave her access into the cave.
She stopped when she saw someone standing at the edge of the rock which served as a cliff from that end. She was getting a sense of deja vu, weird indeed.
“Hmm, I wonder if there is a wrackspurts colony here,” she mused to herself unknowingly catching the attention of the stranger. The man looked towards her, she could tell he was perhaps annoyed with her intrusion on a moment that was meant to be private.
She wondered idly if she should just leave him by himself. Luna felt a tingle along her ears, and she tilted her head at the sensation. Curious.
Her eyes caught what the man was holding onto, a bottle. A message bottle at that. “If you were thinking of throwing that, it would be best to do it from somewhere else. I'm afraid it would break against the rocks before the sea hears your soul.”
The stranger’s brows furrowed in confusion before it gave way to that of contemplation. Strangely enough, the man huffed out a small laugh, eyes reminiscent as he looked over the letter in the bottle.
Before he turned back to her, a small tilt to his lips in a gesture of smile that only came across as something vulnerable, like an open raw wound.
“Would you like to hear a story?”
Luna’s hand came up to rub at the edge of her ear lobes, so that’s what the sensation was about. Curiouser and curiouser.
She made her way towards the edge of the cliff, plopping down a few feet away from the man to assure him of his space. He seemed like someone who values their bubble.
He looked hesitant, lips tugging down in a brief frown, looking elsewhere before coming to a decision and sitting down himself. The man held the bottle between his two hands, twirling it with his fingers. Solemnly mulling over something.
Luna took the time to take out her conch shell, it was large, something that needed to be held with both her hands. She had never seen a shell quite like this before, it was beautiful and iridescent. Something she treasured dearly.
A gift from Harry when she had gotten severely sick and could not come to the ocean. Her spirits uplifting like the surging waves when Harry had visited her, and he gave her the shell, something by her side for whenever she misses the ocean. If she listened close enough she could hear the lulling sound of the ocean.
She looked back at the man to see him raising a brow in question at what she was holding. Luna smiled, “so that the ocean may hear your message as well.'' In response the man only gave her a quirk of the lips before looking back at the twilight sky.
After a moment of silence the man began his tale.
“He was so lost and lonely when I met him and he willingly fell into my hands so easily. I thought he was a fool to be so blinded by love. It is a detestable thing that even the strongest of humankind has fallen for. To lose one's inhibitions and sense of self even.”
The man let out a scoff, his face lowering as the tall rocks set planes of shadow over his face.
“He just seemed happy and content to be there by my side. I didn’t understand nor did I want to, to chain yourself down and just stand by. It was unthinkable for someone like me. So I kept him at a distance out of spite.”
Luna’s brows lifted in concern when the man took in a shuddering breath.
“And I went about my life as before but he was always there at the precipice of my world, always lingering in my peripheral. I ignored him but for some reason, as time passed, the distance between him and I slowly but surely lessened.”
“And one day, he stood right before my eyes. I had never seen something so bright in my life before, I felt blinded. It was seeing daylight after years of complete darkness. I felt adrift in a stormy sea with no control. It was maddening, looking at him was to look in a mirror. We’re so similar yet couldn’t be more different.”
“Perhaps that's why I pushed him away every chance I could because of how similar our upbringings were, whereas I fought my way up, dragging down anyone that got in my way. He was fine with being someone’s stepstone. Giving and giving even when he had nothing. I hated it.”
“People are selfish, having a relationship is to give and take. Yet he was selfless, profoundly so. I never had someone that loved me unconditionally, it was beyond my comprehension. And unbeknownst to me, like a flower that turned towards the sun, I turned towards him. Soaking up everything he felt for me. And I took and took.”
The man shifted, his forehead resting upon his arms as they laid on top of his bent knees. His face hidden from view.
“I found myself noticing things. Infinitesimal and insignificant to anyone else but not to me. I wanted-no, I needed to know more, every single last detail about him. I craved for the first time in my life, to me he was a raindrop upon the dry desert. I was disturbed by these new emotions.”
A trembling exhale.
“He was a vine that grew, spreading and getting between any crevice it could find. I felt suffocated from the overgrown vines but it was a welcomed pain. The world shifted and nothing made sense but perhaps it did because it felt right. It was the sweetest taste of ambrosia and I felt my heart bleed for the first time as flowers bloomed along the vines that dug into my very being.”
“I would find myself lost in the evergreen forest of his eyes. Drunk from the sound of his laughter that echoed like the beating of my very own heart. And I embraced the sun as I felt my flesh melt so I could feel that warmth and burn his very touch upon my soul.”
Luna looked down upon her conch as she heard him let out a wheeze that sounded painful, tracing along the ridges of the shell. She closed her eyes and listened to the confession in place of who it was meant for.
“But I am a creature of habit, I covet and I consume until there is nothing left. I must completely own and make mine and lock it away from anyone else who would dare take what's mine. But he's..”
“How can you lock away the sun?”
And understanding dawned on Luna and she felt her lungs burn.
“And for the first time, I thought about someone else’s well being more than my own. What would happen to the sun if it was locked away, what would become of its purposes? The world cannot survive without the sun and the sun would go cold and dormant if left alone in the darkness.”
“I told myself that I would be fine to watch the sun from afar as it always should have been. If anything he was resilient, and I did it the only way I knew how, what I'm great at. By being cruel and breaking his spirit.”
“I watched the light fade from his eyes as I gave the love he craved to someone else. I openly poured out my affections to someone that wasn’t him, affection that was only possible as my head was filled with memories of him, only him. In the daytime I thought of him, I reminisced about him and at night time, I dreamt of him as I slept.”
A shuddering inhale followed by a minute of silence before the man was able to regain his voice.
“Even the sun would turn away in the face of such callousness. Gradually I felt the flowers wilt and the vines wither away and in its place left punctures in my soul that is still raw and open. And I watched on as his hope faded away and the distance stretched on while I stayed rooted when every cell within me ached to chase after him.”
“I felt the sun fade away that day. Everyday since, the sky always seems so cloudy to me. I can never find the sun no matter how hard I look. Always so cold. Winter never ceases to end for me. But the sun is strong and I hope its rays would reach the darkest of corners and that I could feel its light once more.”
They stayed like that for a while, the sky turning a deep purple with touches of dark blue. Luna took the moment to calm her heart, breathing in sync with the crashing waves.
The sound of fabric shifting caught her attention, the man stood up. Even now, she has not once gotten a good look at his face. His face was once more claimed by shadows cast on by the dimming light.
She saw the hesitation etched into the lines of his body, back stiff and arms rigid, finger clenching and unclenching around the bottle. He seemed to be at odds with himself, uncertain of which path to take.
Luna got up, securing her conch shell away in her bag. Then giving all her attention to the curious but sad man. “May I deliver the message for you?”
The man stilled, caught unaware by her. His lips tugged down in a frown, she was worried he would get wrinkles early on, it was something Harry did often as well. After a moment of pensiveness, Luna waited patiently for the man to decide.
It was not a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but what she heard was, “here.”
But the man's hands seemed to betray his will, as his hand was unable to let go of the bottle, fingers twitching against the glass. Luna smiled, “it will get delivered, I promise.”
Something shifted in that moment, as the bottle easily slipped out of the man’s hand and onto her awaiting palm. It was warm, it was frail and delicate. A sliver of the man’s soul itself.
She handled the bottle with care as she brought it closer to herself. The man had now turned away from her now, she could see the slightest tremble to his shoulders.
“Thank you,” it was a silent whisper, and it reverberated through her and her eyes softened. Even knowing he wouldn’t see, she lowers her head and takes her leave.
__
Tom stood watching the horizon line, the night creeping in and with it the cold that seeped into his bones. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. That was unlike him, to just pour out his emotions to some strange kid.
But the girl listened nonetheless and patiently waited for him to continue everytime he stopped. A quiet comfort like the warm ocean breeze. He smiled to himself, what a curious kid.
He made his way to jagged rocks that surround the flat plateaued stone, and he wondered if the kid knew that there were steps to get up here instead of climbing up the slippery rocks.
He was about to take his first step when he felt something, a tug in his chest, like a magnet being pulled. Tom rubbed at his chest, was it unease or anxiety. He felt unsettled, something within urging him to just follow.
He rolled his eyes, this was stupid. Unbidden a memory came to the forefront of his mind.
“Tom, you should always follow your gut feeling. After all, mine led me to you.”
He felt himself turn before it even occurred to him what he was doing. And he walked towards the slippery rocks, water lapping against the rocks as the tide was higher now. He couldn’t believe he was taking the route he was going to tell that kid not to go to before she somehow vanished before he could even finish blinking.
But he walked on as if a man possessed, feet somehow nimble and light. Deftly, he climbed down, avoiding the sharp edges of the rocks. He felt lightheaded yet so focused and determined.
He could not comprehend what’s gotten hold of him but he let his feet guide him. He stopped a few feet away from the rock shore.
There like a beacon, whose brilliant sunlight beamed off in rays. Tom let out a painful wheeze, it felt so warm. He felt his chest congest, his eyes hurt, burning from the tears or from what was before him, he didn't know.
Then the wind blew past him, carrying with it the lilting sounds of laughter that he could only hear in his sleep where he dreams of better days. And he let the sound surround him and he felt lighter than he had in a whole year.
Miraculously seeing and hearing Harry, he felt his soul heal and patch itself up. He had never wanted anything more than he did his sun, whom he could only admire and love from afar.
His solace.
His savior.
__
With determined steps, she deftly made her way through the slippery rocks and onto the lowered shoreline. Welcoming the feel of the warm sand that slipped between her toes.
She walked towards the deeper end of the ocean along the shore. No one ever swims there because of how strong the tides are and the drop of the ground was meters deep.
As she made her path across the shoreline, she let herself get lost in the melody of the roiling waves that splashed against the unbending rocks.
“Luna!”
Her head snapped upwards at the sound of her name. Ahead of her stood a figure, the remnants of the setting sun casting a halo around them, rays of light beaming away. The linger touch of the cold air left her as she stepped closer towards the person.
Harry had a scowl on his face, a brow imperiously arched, the rays of lights casting myriads of oranges and yellow across his face. “I hope you know that you almost sent Mr. Lovegood into a cardiac arrest.”
She laughed, “don't worry Harry. You know dad is always so dramatic. I’m sure it is his way of inviting you over for dinner.”
She can see the way his eyes glimmer with mirth, no doubt already knowing what the phone call was truly about. Her dad has a rather uncommon way of inviting people over, outrageously so.
She still remembers the first time Harry had rushed over to their little humble abode in the rain, thoroughly soaked. Shivering in front of the door as her dad opened the door with a beaming smile towards Harry who had gaped on with shock.
“What! I thought you were getting attacked! With the-what!”
“Ah yes, thank you for coming over Harry. Luna and I made butter beer and your favorite, tee tart!”
“Treacle tart, dad.”
“Yes, yes. That. Now do come in Harry. Welcome, welcome!”
Luna softly laughed at the memory of her dad pushing a gobsmacked Harry into their house.
“Yes, well, that’s besides the point, Luna. You forgot your phone didn’t you. Your dad mentioned how he couldn’t reach you and that he was hearing a mandrake wailing each time he called you. Which I had of course assured him it was merely your ringtone.”
She had left behind her phone hadn’t she, “ah, so that’s why it has been so quiet.” Harry merely shook his head, “ it’s about to get dark soon, we should start heading back to your house. Plus , I have some people I would like you to meet. Whom your dad has also graciously invited for dinner.”
She had a feeling that this was a very important day for Harry, he seemed to be buzzing about with excitement. She nodded her head, “what is that?” He asked her, eyes catching the bottle in her hand.
“A message I promised to deliver.”
Harry tilted his head, “for who?”
Luna hummed, “I never got to ask but I’m sure the ocean will bring it to who it was meant for.” Harry smiled then, patting her head, “mind if I tag along?”
Luna returned the smile, “We can set it off near that end of the water.”
“Alright let’s get going-” Harry stilled, brows creasing as he looked back towards where she came from. Luna followed his gaze as well, not seeing anything, “Harry?”
He jolted as if breaking away from a spell, “oh, I…”
His face melted away to a wistful smile, “I thought I saw someone I knew.” He shook his head, “what can I say Luna, old people like me start seeing things at our old age.”
Luna giggled, “but Harry, you’re only twenty six.”
“Don't let my roguish looks fool you, I'm an old soul.”
Luna looked towards the sliver of moon peeking through behind the clouds, an old soul indeed.