HEATHENS - Harry Potter ✔

CHAPTER FOUR

Though the sun had set long ago, and most current residents of the Burrow were already getting ready for bed, Kiera sat outside in the garden by one of the blooming peony bushes, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn open in her lap. It had become too dark for her to read at least an hour ago, but she had not returned inside, and was currently gazing up at the night sky. It was clear of clouds and the world became illuminated by thousands of stars shining happily.

There was nothing in the world that Kiera would take in replacement of her friends – that said, she couldn't help but feel exhausted by them and everything else that came along on occasion. A small part of her missed having all her time to herself to do whatever she wanted to, and a rather big part of her missed not having to worry about any Dark Lord or Chosen One business (though this she would never say out loud).

Approaching footsteps sounded from behind her but Kiera did not move to look who was coming. Only when Harry sat down on the grass next to her, did she turn her head to look at him. He glanced up at the sky, she could see the reflection of the stars in his eyes.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, almost reminiscent of Luna and her dreaminess, turning back to the open space above them. "The night."

"Yeah," replied Harry, though he really didn't care for the starts – overromanticized, that's what he thought they were. He cleared his throat. "Er – look, Kiera, I'm sorry. I was scared that Malfoy would hurt you and I was cross with myself for letting you put yourself at risk like that, but I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Kiera turned to him once again, smiling sweetly. "Though I must appreciate the irony of Harry Potter, the king of Gryffindor impulsiveness to preach to me about thinking before I act," she said with a cheeky grin, "it's alright."

The scent of peonies was infiltrating Harry's brain, and the oceans of her eyes mixed with the reflection of the sky, creating a brilliantly new dimension which hypnotised him. Then he realised he was staring, and he instantly blinked and looked away, pretending to suddenly be intrigued by Mars.

"I shouldn't have brought up last term, it was harsh."

"Yeah, it was," said Kiera. "But never mind it, really."

Harry still seemed a little disheartened and she rolled her eyes slightly.

"Has – er – has your scar been hurting at all?" she asked, changing the subject. "It's just that I haven't been having any weird dreams or things of the like, so I was just wondering if you had –"

"No, I haven't," said Harry. "I actually asked Dumbledore about it. He reckons Voldemort is using Occlumency against me."

Kiera grinned. "That's rather ironic, isn't it?"

They settled into a somewhat comfortable silence, both looking up at the sky and thinking of wholly different things.

Then Kiera broke the silence. "Harry, I'm really sorry about Sirius."

She hated herself for bringing it up, not wanting to force him to think about it, but she couldn't help it; she wanted to console him somehow. Tearing her gaze away from the stars, their eyes met, pain evident in hers and surprise in his.

Harry had not been expecting his deceased godfather to come up in this conversation. His heart broke slightly further at the raw sorrow and regret on her face. "Um ... it's okay. It wasn't your fault."

Kiera sniffed slightly, quickly wiping her cheeks with the heel of her palm and turning away from him a little. She didn't want Harry to see her cry and think that she was overemotional because she remembered his frustrations with Cho's weeping the year prior and though she had no plans of kissing him, she still feared scaring him away.