A Beautiful Beginning

~Chapter Nine~

WE'RE BACKKKKKK

Wanna hear a random quote that I thought about yesterday, and has absolutely nothing to do with the story? You do? Okay :)

"All you need to succeed in life is motivation, support, and food."

Inspirational right?

***

When they boys got to the wall concealing the RoR, Harry checked that Draco wouldn't fall over before he paced back and forth across the corridor three times nonverbally repeating the words "I need a place for someone who's just been injured." Harry wasn't sure if this was a specific enough request, but as soon as the door opened and they both stepped inside, he realized that it had been perfectly sufficent. Unlike before, this room was quite smaller, and more temporary. On one wall there were two medical beds covered in pure white sheets—which looked less comfortable than they actually were—with space in between and moveable curtains around each bed for privacy. Opposite the beds, appeared to be a setup similar to a normal muggle kitchen. There were four cabinets filled with any type of medical equipment Harry could need above a counter that went across the whole wall with a utility sink built in.
As Draco moved to cautiously sit on the left bed, Harry looked through the cabinets until he found what he needed: tissues, a washcloth, and an ice pack. "Here. Put this on your ribs, it will help soothe some of the pain, and this might help stop your nose from bleeding so much," Harry said while handing the smaller boy the ice pack and tissues. He didn't expect a reply, so he turned back around to dampen the washcloth, but just as he was wringing it out a quiet voice that was still a bit scratchy from not being used sounded from behind. "Thanks. For this. For everything really."
To say Harry was shocked would be an understatement. "Oh, it's not a problem. They were hurting you and I couldn't let them hurt you," he replied while turning back towards Draco with the washcloth. "Um, you don't mind if I wipe the blood off of your face do you? I don't want to do anything you aren't comfortable with."
Draco sighed, but nodded nonetheless. Harry slowly moved towards him, and gently swiped the cloth across his chin effectively cleaning up the blood trail that started from Draco's pink lips. After all the blood was removed from the blonde's face, Harry grabbed Draco a bottle of water that he happened across earlier while looking for medical supplies, and some pain killers. Harry took a seat on the other bed and simply watched Draco; you could learn a lot about someone just by observing—it's not stalking by Harry's definition, but rather taking in the sight in front of him. For about five minutes, the two boys sat in only a slightly awkward silence, until it was finally broken by Draco saying, "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you. Believe me, there's been a few times where I almost did, but something always stopped me."
"Everybody has reasons for their actions. I don't blame you for it and I never will," Harry replied trying to get Draco to look at him, but the pale boy kept looking at a spot that was up and to the left seemingly zoned out. He needed Draco to look at him; his eyes would tell Harry everything he never said out loud. Starting to get desperate he said, "You needed time to trust me and I respected that. It never mattered that you wouldn't talk to me, I didn't mind having one-sided conversations all the time y'know?" As a last resort Harry asked the other boy if he wanted to come to the RoR again tonight for a movie with snacks. Finally, Draco looked at Harry after he had thoroughly masked his emotions, and replied with a small smile, "I'd love too, but I can only take so much of this place in one day. I appreciate the offer, I really do, but not tonight. I need to be alone and sort a few things out. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." With that Draco gave Harry a tiny wave goodbye and left.

***

A quickly cast Tempus told Harry that it was 2:42 in the morning. Shit. Normally Harry wouldn't be scared at all about wandering the corridors of Hogwarts at night—or technically in the morning—but since the war, every shadow, every little noise, every whisper the wind makes causes him to flinch in fear and jump to the conclusion that a suit of armor could possibly be a Death Eater lurking around the corner, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Oh, if only he hadn't had a damn nightmare tonight. They had seemed to lessen when he spent time with Draco in the RoR, and it was almost as if Harry was becoming slightly dependent on Draco being there. Don't get me wrong, he hates being dependent on anything because it could just as easily disappear, leaving him shattered into a million pieces that no one wants to spend the time to pick up. It's kind of like when you've just finished putting the last piece of a puzzle with over a thousand pieces together that you've been working on forever, and you pull it all apart again (but not after you've taken a picture of it completed because that would be such a waste).

A sudden sound down a corridor to Harry's left snapped him out of his thoughts, and his wand automatically was raised within seconds. He thought he had heard footsteps coming towards him. Harry stood there with his wand pointed towards the noise, debating whether or not he should go down there to see what it is when a familiar dreamy voice gently said, "Harry? Is that you? I thought I sensed Wrackspurts. Are you okay?"
Harry lowered his wand then shakily replied, "Y-yeah, Luna, it's me. What are you doing down here? It's almost 3 in the morning." Sure enough, Luna came strolling out into the wand light, her blond hair in a plait while wearing a plum colored sleeved dress with radishes once again dangling from her ears, and a pair of high top Converse with a pink plaid-checkered-like pattern to complete her look that only she could make work.
"Oh, I was just going to see if I could spot any Moon Frogs. Peculiar little things. They love being out most when the moon is 8 days from being full. Would you like to join me?"
What was there really to lose? Harry would much rather be with Luna—who somehow managed to make him feel normal and momentarily forget all of his problems—looking for some non-existent creature than wandering alone with his incessant thoughts. "Sure, just lead the way." To Harry's great surprise, Luna serenely took his hand and guided him outside to a flat patch of land near the greenhouses—he'd never paid much notice to it honestly—where the moon and stars were clearly visible from where the two teenagers were positioned. Luna let go of Harry's hand to lay down on her back with her hands interlocked across her stomach, and her feet crossed at her ankles. Harry copied her, but he put his hands behind his head. They both stared up at the night sky for quite some time, neither breaking the silence; Harry liked it that way. The silence was something like a comfort that erased everything that happened to him over the past 24 hours.
"It's amazing really how some people can still find happiness and love through everything that's happened. I admire them for that," Luna said in her dreamy voice.
This took Harry by surprise. "Who? Everywhere I go people are grieving, or still recovering from losing a loved one."
"Lots of people actually. Like Neville and Blaise, but then there's Hannah Abott and Ernie MacMillan, there's also Dean and Seamus, and then of course since you and Draco have been spending time together, you've seemed happier. That's a good thing, you being happy. Out of all of us here you deserve it the most since you've been suffering the longest. I can tell that you don't feel like you deserve it, but you do."
A tear escaped Harry's eye, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. "Has anyone ever told you you're a really great person, Luna?"
"No, but maybe they're just intimidated by the Nargles," Luna said with a thoughtful smile. Harry weakly chuckled and looked back at the stars. They were quite beautiful tonight. Harry supposed they might have always looked beautiful, but he hasn't taken the time to truly acknowledge their beauty. He always thought that each star represented someone who'd died. Harry liked to believe they were looking down at him and watching over as he forged his way through his uncertain life.
For the rest of the night Harry sat side by side with Luna admiring the wonders of the night sky. Soon—too soon in Harry's opinion—the sun was peeking over the horizon, forcing them to make their way back to the castle. Luna said goodbye to Harry and went in the direction of the forbidden forest, while Harry took the familiar route back to the castle. As he walked he kept thinking about how it was nice to not be alone. It was nice to have a friend by your side that would understand you wanted quiet, but would make conversation when necessary; to have someone who wouldn't try to push you over the limits, but respect that you don't want to share your thoughts and feelings every minute of every day; to have someone you could be normal with without all the heavy expectations. He was also thinking about how he, Ron, and Hermione should spend time together. Harry had not necessarily been avoiding them, but more like trying to give them—and himself—space. He always felt bad though whenever he'd catch Hermione's sad eye, or Ron would feebly attempt to start a conversation with Harry before Hermione would nudge him in the ribs to compose himself. Right now though, what he really wanted was to sleep. He'd been awake since about 2:30 a.m., so therefore was completely exhausted, and his bed in Gryffindor tower was sweetly calling his name for some heavenly rest. That's how he ended up outside of the fat lady's portrait giving her the new password (Fibius). Before he could enter, however, a nervous looking Draco exited, almost running into Harry. "Oh! Harry, I'm sorry, I was just going, but I'll see you later, yeah?" And with that Draco was speed walking down the corridor. Something wasn't right.

***