Stuck with Me [Harry Potter]

Chapter 13 - A Conversation at the Sea Cottage

We have another setting shift, and a few days have passed since the battle in the Manor in the previous chapter. I hope I'm portraying the characters in a pleasing way.

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Setting: Shell Cottage during the Battle of Hogwarts, spring, 1998.

The clouds were lovely. That one looked like a grindilow.

Luna stared up at the sky as she sat on a sand hill near Shell Cottage, the home of Ron's older brother Bill and his wife Fleur. The cool, salty sea wind was blowing through Luna's long blonde hair, and the warm sand was awfully comfortable to sit in, but not nearly as comfortable as the grass she sat in as she watched the clouds with Draco.

She noticed a cloud that resembled the shape of a ferret. She smiled, remembering the annoyed look on Draco's face when he found out that his patronus was a ferret. She laughed. He was so adorable then. And handsome. And happier.

"What's so funny?" she heard and saw Harry walk up and sit next to her in the sand.

"Oh, hello, Harry. Nothing. I'm just laughing at my thoughts."

He smiled, not sure he if wanted to ask farther on that. He remained silent.

"How many horcruxes do you have left?" Luna asked him.

"Just two."

"Congratulations for destroying the other ones."

"Thanks. It wasn't easy."

The wind continued to blow, sending a salty and fishy sea breeze their way, and the waves crashed the shore. "Things have been really difficult for you, haven't they? I'm sorry about Dobby."

The two friends looked over to their left at the flat rock sticking out of the sand, reading Dobby on the front. "Yeah..." he let out with a sigh.

"He was quite a lovely house elf."

"He was. He was a good friend who saved my life a time or two."

Silence ensued as the two looked out over the blue sea. Luna turned her head to Harry. "Harry, would you mind fetching Hermione for me? I would like to talk to her."

"Oh." He nodded. "Okay."

He got up and trudged down the sandy hill, and a few minutes later, Hermione sat down next to Luna as Luna had her legs up to her chest. "Hey, Luna," Hermione greeted her. "Harry said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"Yes," Luna said, staring at the sea. She asked, not wanting to waste a moment, "Hermione, are you in love?"

Hermione coughed at the sudden question. "What?"

"Are you in love?" she repeated simply.

Hermione's cheeks started to turn pink. "Well, um... no, I can't say that I am." She gasped and stared at her friend in shock. "Why? Are you, Luna?"

Luna picked up some sand and watched it seethe through her fingers. "I don't know. I mean... I think I am."

"With who?" Hermione asked excitedly, surprised that Luna could actually feel that way about someone.

Luna smiled dreamily at the sea as the wind blew. "Someone who is internally a good person, and caring, but is seen by others as arrogant and a bully. He doesn't know what kind of person he is... a good one or bad one. Actually, he's very conflicted with regards to what kind of person he is. He is also a grand chess player and wizard." Her smile broadened. "And he's tall... and very handsome."

Hermione nodded and cleared her throat. "He sounds like a... lovely person."

"Yes. He is." She paused for a moment. "What's it like to be in love, Hermione?"

Her friend let out laughter in embarrassment. "Well... I told you that I'm not in love with anyone."

"I think you are," she said lightly. "Your nervousness tells me it's obvious."

Hermione didn't answer. She fiddled with the hem of her deep-red sweater.

"It's Ron, isn't it?"

Hermione looked at Luna with wide eyes. "It's not..." Luna gave her a look. "Oh, alright, you caught me. Just do not say anything to anyone, understand?"

"I promise."

Hermione nodded. "So... I guess to answer your question, I believe you are in love when you never want to part with that person, and you want to be with them all the time. You accept them as a person and love them for who they are. They make you happy and sad and sometimes very frustrated."

Luna smiled. She knew that Hermione was talking about Ron and their bickering. "I see."

The two girls sat in silence as they watched the waves. An anxious Hermione slapped the sand, only creating a puff in it.

"Oh, c'mon, Luna? Who is he?"

She met Hermione's brown eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."