FIC: Going Home (Luna, Neville, Ron, Harry, Hermione, G)
Title: Going Home
Summary: They return home after the war.
Characters: Luna, Neville, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: None, well, canon.
Word Count: 1318
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
There was no house for her to return to, but she did have a father still, standing by the ruins of what was their lovely flat.
"Luna!" he cried out, and she'd never seen her father this way before, all dirty blond hair and streaks of dried tears down his cheeks. He was far from the happy, loving man she had always known, and it almost scared her, seeing him like this. She took a slow step forward, the movement pained by the number of aches and bruises in her body, and he rushed to her, closing the distance between them.
He enveloped her in a fierce hug, and she knew this was her father still. She clung back, letting herself curl up against him, letting him carry the weight of the last few months of her life.
"Dad," she whispered, a choked sound that broke the dam within her. She sobbed, broken and scared. "Dad."
"Shh, it's alright, Luna," he told her, rubbing her back and soothing her hair. "My baby girl, it's alright. You're here now. We're safe. We're okay."
How does one leave home a boy and return a man? Truth be told this wasn't foremost on Neville's mind-- all he wanted, on that train ride home, was a nice cup of soup and the blanket his Gran had made him when he turned six-- but as it turned out, it was what had been on his Gran's mind.
"There he is," he heard her say, her voice loud and strong as it always was, carrying its authority through the throng of people despite what many might say was her feeble age.
He gave her a tired smile, the most he could handle that moment, and a small wave. "Hullo, Gran," he said, already ready to apologize for the state he was in, and the mess that was his trunk, and oh, god, had he forgotten Trevor in Hogwarts somewhere?
"There's me hero, there he is," Gran said instead, and Neville thought that was the first time he'd seen her smile. Her eyes looked especially gray, he thought just before he was crushed into a hug, the scent of her perfume filling his nose with a kind of comfort he never thought he'd miss. "Just like his parents, he is, what a brave young man, oh, Neville..."
And her words broke, and Neville was alarmed to find hot tears running down her cheeks as she all but howled, hugging him still. He found himself patting her back, hugging her back. "I'm here, Gran," he said, and clung.
They didn't take the train back themselves-- they could all Apparate back, once they reached Hogsmeade. Nearly all of them, that is, with Ginny clinging to their mum to Side-along Apparate. So they were back at the Burrow in no time, the Weasleys.
Almost all of them, at least.
"Now," their mum said, because she was the only one who knew what you were supposed to do after a day like this, "everyone get ready for a bath, you all deserve it, and quite frankly, you all rather stink something wicked. Let's get dressed and clean, take your turns as we do, and I'll get supper going."
"Yes, mum," they all murmured, and just before Ron went up the stairs he saw his dad wrap his arms around her shoulders, saw her lean heavily against him, curl into him as her shoulders began to shake.
Ron turned away, almost bumping into George, who was frozen where he was.
"Move it, tosser," Ron grumbled out of habit, shoving his brother lightly so he'd go, but George didn't move. George didn't even look like he'd heard him. "George--"
Ginny's hand was on Ron's arm, shaking her head at him to tell him to be quiet. Their older brothers, who'd been ahead of them, had paused were they were, glancing back down at where the three youngest Weasleys stood.
Without quite meaning to, Ron realized, they'd all made space for where Fred would've been.
Ginny didn't say anything, but she moved up a step to go closer to George, took him in her arms and whispered something in his ear. Ron thought she said she was sorry. George was still for a long moment, and Ron wondered if he'd shrug Ginny away, but then Charlie came down and squeezed George's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Georgie," Charlie said, blinking back his own tears. "We'll all miss him."
And then George crumpled, taking Charlie and Ginny down to a pile on the steps, and Ron didn't think twice, just sat where he could and held George too. Bill and Percy came after, all five of them holding George where they could, and Ron didn't know how bad George hurt but there was a hollowness in his stomach, an ache in his chest, and it hurt the worst anything had ever hurt, but it must be a thousand times more painful for George and this was all they could do, the rest of them. They could try to share the pain with him, every day.
It had taken surprisingly quickly for Harry to excuse himself from the reporters, the Ministry officials, everyone else who wanted to speak with him. Kingsley had helped, somehow, because he'd taken all the questions and talked to everyone else, and by the time they'd realized Harry Potter was missing he was well on his way.
He'd never flown such a long distance by broom alone, but he'd wanted to, just this once. It took him hours but he had the time in the world now, didn't he?
All the time in the world.
The fields they often passed whilst on the Express looked different from where he was now, a few hundred feet in the air. Even when he'd passed over them riding a flying Ford Anglia he couldn't say they looked familiar.
Perspective was a funny thing.
He found his way to Islington, eventually, hopping off his broom in an empty alleyway before realizing a broom was an odd enough sight around the neighborhood still. He was lucky he'd got his cloak with him, and nobody batted an eyelash as he passed them by, walking up to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and stepping inside.
He wasn't sure what he was doing next, but he'll be doing it from here, now.
From home.
King's Cross was only the first leg of her journey. There was no one to pick her up this time, and she'd used some charmwork to make sure she could carry all of her things and store them in a safe place in her pouch. It made it easier hailing a cab that way, letting them know where to take her.
The Granger residence was deathly, eerily quiet, but she ignored it. She couldn't even sit down on it, couldn't look at anything when-- it wasn't right, she wasn't there yet. She packed what she could and Apparated, this time, closer to Heathrow. She only hoped her mum wouldn't mind that she'd used her card to book herself a same-day flight, but it had been too long.
She couldn't go to Australia soon enough.
They were still at the hotel she'd sent them too. They were still holidaying innocently. It didn't take her long to undo the memory spell, and she thought she would cry from the way their faces were awash with recognition, with the flooding of memories she thought were too dangerous for them to know.
"Oh, my darling," her mum cried out, hugging her hard. "What've you done?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed, clinging to them both. "It was the only way I could keep you safe."
Her father was a comforting presence behind her, her mum was a strength she found she needed, and after she'd explained and after they'd caught up, her mum gave her a smile. "Shall we go home, then?"
Evyclaw//44 pts for Ravenclaw!
Summary: They return home after the war.
Characters: Luna, Neville, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: None, well, canon.
Word Count: 1318
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
There was no house for her to return to, but she did have a father still, standing by the ruins of what was their lovely flat.
"Luna!" he cried out, and she'd never seen her father this way before, all dirty blond hair and streaks of dried tears down his cheeks. He was far from the happy, loving man she had always known, and it almost scared her, seeing him like this. She took a slow step forward, the movement pained by the number of aches and bruises in her body, and he rushed to her, closing the distance between them.
He enveloped her in a fierce hug, and she knew this was her father still. She clung back, letting herself curl up against him, letting him carry the weight of the last few months of her life.
"Dad," she whispered, a choked sound that broke the dam within her. She sobbed, broken and scared. "Dad."
"Shh, it's alright, Luna," he told her, rubbing her back and soothing her hair. "My baby girl, it's alright. You're here now. We're safe. We're okay."
How does one leave home a boy and return a man? Truth be told this wasn't foremost on Neville's mind-- all he wanted, on that train ride home, was a nice cup of soup and the blanket his Gran had made him when he turned six-- but as it turned out, it was what had been on his Gran's mind.
"There he is," he heard her say, her voice loud and strong as it always was, carrying its authority through the throng of people despite what many might say was her feeble age.
He gave her a tired smile, the most he could handle that moment, and a small wave. "Hullo, Gran," he said, already ready to apologize for the state he was in, and the mess that was his trunk, and oh, god, had he forgotten Trevor in Hogwarts somewhere?
"There's me hero, there he is," Gran said instead, and Neville thought that was the first time he'd seen her smile. Her eyes looked especially gray, he thought just before he was crushed into a hug, the scent of her perfume filling his nose with a kind of comfort he never thought he'd miss. "Just like his parents, he is, what a brave young man, oh, Neville..."
And her words broke, and Neville was alarmed to find hot tears running down her cheeks as she all but howled, hugging him still. He found himself patting her back, hugging her back. "I'm here, Gran," he said, and clung.
They didn't take the train back themselves-- they could all Apparate back, once they reached Hogsmeade. Nearly all of them, that is, with Ginny clinging to their mum to Side-along Apparate. So they were back at the Burrow in no time, the Weasleys.
Almost all of them, at least.
"Now," their mum said, because she was the only one who knew what you were supposed to do after a day like this, "everyone get ready for a bath, you all deserve it, and quite frankly, you all rather stink something wicked. Let's get dressed and clean, take your turns as we do, and I'll get supper going."
"Yes, mum," they all murmured, and just before Ron went up the stairs he saw his dad wrap his arms around her shoulders, saw her lean heavily against him, curl into him as her shoulders began to shake.
Ron turned away, almost bumping into George, who was frozen where he was.
"Move it, tosser," Ron grumbled out of habit, shoving his brother lightly so he'd go, but George didn't move. George didn't even look like he'd heard him. "George--"
Ginny's hand was on Ron's arm, shaking her head at him to tell him to be quiet. Their older brothers, who'd been ahead of them, had paused were they were, glancing back down at where the three youngest Weasleys stood.
Without quite meaning to, Ron realized, they'd all made space for where Fred would've been.
Ginny didn't say anything, but she moved up a step to go closer to George, took him in her arms and whispered something in his ear. Ron thought she said she was sorry. George was still for a long moment, and Ron wondered if he'd shrug Ginny away, but then Charlie came down and squeezed George's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Georgie," Charlie said, blinking back his own tears. "We'll all miss him."
And then George crumpled, taking Charlie and Ginny down to a pile on the steps, and Ron didn't think twice, just sat where he could and held George too. Bill and Percy came after, all five of them holding George where they could, and Ron didn't know how bad George hurt but there was a hollowness in his stomach, an ache in his chest, and it hurt the worst anything had ever hurt, but it must be a thousand times more painful for George and this was all they could do, the rest of them. They could try to share the pain with him, every day.
It had taken surprisingly quickly for Harry to excuse himself from the reporters, the Ministry officials, everyone else who wanted to speak with him. Kingsley had helped, somehow, because he'd taken all the questions and talked to everyone else, and by the time they'd realized Harry Potter was missing he was well on his way.
He'd never flown such a long distance by broom alone, but he'd wanted to, just this once. It took him hours but he had the time in the world now, didn't he?
All the time in the world.
The fields they often passed whilst on the Express looked different from where he was now, a few hundred feet in the air. Even when he'd passed over them riding a flying Ford Anglia he couldn't say they looked familiar.
Perspective was a funny thing.
He found his way to Islington, eventually, hopping off his broom in an empty alleyway before realizing a broom was an odd enough sight around the neighborhood still. He was lucky he'd got his cloak with him, and nobody batted an eyelash as he passed them by, walking up to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and stepping inside.
He wasn't sure what he was doing next, but he'll be doing it from here, now.
From home.
King's Cross was only the first leg of her journey. There was no one to pick her up this time, and she'd used some charmwork to make sure she could carry all of her things and store them in a safe place in her pouch. It made it easier hailing a cab that way, letting them know where to take her.
The Granger residence was deathly, eerily quiet, but she ignored it. She couldn't even sit down on it, couldn't look at anything when-- it wasn't right, she wasn't there yet. She packed what she could and Apparated, this time, closer to Heathrow. She only hoped her mum wouldn't mind that she'd used her card to book herself a same-day flight, but it had been too long.
She couldn't go to Australia soon enough.
They were still at the hotel she'd sent them too. They were still holidaying innocently. It didn't take her long to undo the memory spell, and she thought she would cry from the way their faces were awash with recognition, with the flooding of memories she thought were too dangerous for them to know.
"Oh, my darling," her mum cried out, hugging her hard. "What've you done?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed, clinging to them both. "It was the only way I could keep you safe."
Her father was a comforting presence behind her, her mum was a strength she found she needed, and after she'd explained and after they'd caught up, her mum gave her a smile. "Shall we go home, then?"
Evyclaw//44 pts for Ravenclaw!