on the surface, the two couldn't have been more different.
he was cruel, arrogant, and cold; she was quiet, mellow, and kind.
however, the two students would soon be made aware of how they wore matching scars on their skin and in their souls.
//
"...
After a full day of classes, Lorelei wanted nothing more than to collapse into her bed and sleep for the rest of eternity, but she had promised Luna she would meet her by their tree after classes. So, with as much energy as she could muster, Lorelei made her way to the tree where Luna was already waiting with a collection of flowers in her hair.
"Hello, Lorelei," she greeted when Lorelei approached the base of the tree with its tall grasses and flowers ever-growing around it.
"Hi, Luna," Lorelei said back and dropped her school bag onto the soft grass next to where she planned to sit. Her bag matted down some of the taller grasses, which would help to keep some of the scratchier grasses away from the exposed skin on her arms.
Lorelei had changed after classes ended, so she was just in a t-shirt and her faded jeans without a single rip in the smooth fabric. Her soft t-shirt didn't cover her forearms though, which left her arms exposed to the swaying grasses that liked to tickle her skin when a breeze blew by.
With a faint smile, Luna put another blue wildflower into her hair and asked Lorelei, "Would you like to share what letter you got?"
"O... It sorted out some Hufflepuffs in my year, but I'm not sure how much it helps me overall," Lorelei admitted and brought her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms loosely around her legs, and the sensation of coiling her body into the smaller space slowed her heart rate and her too quick breaths.
"And you're feeling overwhelmed about this all?" Luna was hyper aware of Lorelei's anxious tics at this point, so her friend didn't even need to say so for Luna to know she was spiraling.
Lorelei just nodded and stared in the direction of the castle. There were a few students messing around on the grass outside, and two redheads who Lorelei knew to be called the Weasley twins seemed to be at the center of the ruckus. When one of the twins shoved the other over, Lorelei shook her head and was grateful to be sitting in her peaceful spot under the tree with Luna.
Then, her mind began to turn over their names in her mind. She knew that one of them was named Fred Weasley, so he couldn't be her soulmate, but the twin named George could be. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's best friend, also could be her soulmate. As could Colin Creevey, a Gryffindor in her and Luna's year. She huffed and buried her face in her legs.
"There are just so many people it could be, and I just can't stop thinking about it," Lorelei sighed and rested her chin on her joined knees. After a few beats of silence, she tipped her head to the side and asked, "What letter did you get?"
"An F," she said in a dreamy voice and plucked another yellow flower from the ground beside her.
After more commotion broke out, which led to an unsourced scream in the group collecting in the courtyard, Lorelei chuckled, "Fred Weasley could be your soulmate."
"I don't think so."
"You don't think so?"
"No," Luna confirmed and slowly shifted herself, so that she could lay onto her back. The grass flattened beneath her but still rose up all around her like her own little green fortifications, and Luna was the castle nestled inside, blissfully unaware of the outside world's judgements.
Lorelei continued to watch the hysterically laughing group from across the open area. She fell into the comfortable silence and expected the two of them to sit silently for a little while, but within a minute or two, Luna spoke again.
"I have something to give you," she said, but she made no effort to move to retrieve it for Lorelei. She was living in her own little world, and Lorelei just had the privilege of being on the outskirts of it.
"You do?" Lorelei was shocked. What would Luna have to give her? Did she forget something in Hagrid's hut or something last year?
Without moving a single finger, Luna instructed, "Yes. You can go into the pocket of my robes. There you will find a gift that reminded me of you."
"A gift?" Lorelei released her arms on her legs and shifted to reach Luna's abandoned robes at the base of the tree, where she had been sitting before she had shuffled a couple steps over into the tall grasses.
Lorelei reached into the left pocket of the robes and carefully cupped her palm around the small objects inside. When she pulled her hand back out, it was a pair of sun earrings.
"You said you liked my earrings last year, and you always looked at them a lot. I figured it was only fitting to get you your own pair of special earrings," Luna sighed in an airy voice that seemed much farther away than the couple steps between them.
It was true. Lorelei loved Luna's earrings. There were dark blue crescent moons hung on thin, silver lines of metal, and Luna wore them every single day after her dad got them for her for Christmas. They were utterly beautiful, and they matched Luna perfectly.
Now, Luna had gotten Lorelei her own earrings to match her best friend's, but they weren't the same. These earrings were a golden yellow in color, depicting the sun with a smiling face carved delicately into the face of the brilliant star. This sun pendant hung on a silver line of metal with a white pearl in the place between the hook and the sun.
"The sun and its little moon, always together. Some say the sun and the moon are enemies or rivals, but I don't think so. I think they are best friends, and their differences only make that stronger. Don't you agree?" Luna mused with a half grin on her lips. She had closed her eyes and was basking in the sunshine pouring down on her since the clouds had drifted away, letting the sun shine brilliantly down on them.
Lorelei didn't know how to reply at first. She was in shock over the sweet gesture. She just stared at the earrings with her mouth slightly agape and her eyes slightly glossing over. She had never been given a gift from a friend before.
Because Luna's eyes were still closed, she blinked them open in shock when Lorelei attacked her in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Luna! I don't know how I'll ever repay you for such a kind gift."
"A gift is unearned and has no strings attached. You owe me nothing, Lorelei," she said with a dazed smile consuming her face.
"Well, you've earned the position of best friend," Lorelei laughed when she sat back on her heels with the earrings still gripped in her right hand.
"A best friend is a vague and confusing term, isn't it? ...I think I like it," Luna said softly.
Lorelei put the earrings into her ears and grinned at Luna. Lorelei knew she liked the idea of having Luna as her best friend. She truly could think of no one better for the role than her gentle-voiced and slightly odd friend. Besides, Luna was the moon, and Lorelei was the sun. Without their friendship, the world could not carry on its existence, and so the moon and sun decided their best friendship would never end after that day.
//
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