The Funeral
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is a work of imagination and is directed solely at readers of this website. No infringement of any rights is intended and no criticism of J.K. Rowling or her work should be considered to be stated or implied.
Part 7. Luna explains
After Ron's funeral and the revelations from Hermione's diary, Harry had plunged into a depression. His relationship with Ginny continued on a hesitant, uncomfortable basis which, as neither of them wanted to discuss the future, they both tried to ignore. To Harry, therefore, their conversations seemed formal and superficial and he longed for the depth and involvement of his old relationship with Ron and Hermione. Harry saw little of Hermione or of the other Weasleys. He still felt uneasy when in Hermione's presence; gazing at her too obviously and wishing for an intimacy that he now knew was impossible. The tension between Harry and Ginny was only too obvious and, not unexpectedly, her family had taken Ginny's side against him and had effectively broken off any form of contact. He occasionally came across Percy at the Ministry, but their working relationship was now cool and professional and personal issues were ostentatiously ignored. James, Lily and Albus were still away at school but all of the children were very close to their mother, partly due to Harry's frequent absences for work, and Harry worried about how he would retain his rapport with them if the seemingly inevitable split with Ginny occurred.
With an unsatisfactory home life and a rapidly diminishing social circle, Harry had tried to concentrate on his work. There were still numerous cliques of Death Eaters at large and Harry volunteered for as much active service as possible, travelling throughout Europe and behaving recklessly, taking unnecessary risks, careless of his own safety. When there was no field work available, he spent long hours at the Ministry, leaving home early and arriving back later and later. After work, he could often be found passing time in the bar at the Leaky Cauldron, delaying his return home and his consumption of fire whisky increased alarmingly. Harry and Ginny's sleeping arrangements remained unchanged and were not even a subject for discussion any longer. As a result, on some nights, Harry would find that Ginny had already gone to bed before he stumbled up the stairs to the guest bedroom and so their only contact was a brief liaison in the kitchen the following morning before Harry once again left for the office. It was during one of these fire whisky-induced, sessions of melancholic introspection in the Leaky Cauldron that Luna Lovegood came across Harry one night.
The large bar area at the Leaky Cauldron was made up from a number of smaller rooms that had originally formed the ground floor of the property. Now, the area was divided into compartments of various sizes connected by rectangular archways, topped with supporting exposed, dark timber lintels, which had been enlarged from the original doorways. The rough, cream-painted plastered walls were adorned with wizarding bric-a-brac ranging from autographed broomsticks to ancient, framed potion recipes. Much to Harry's embarrassment, several prints of him receiving various awards and pertinent clips from the Daily Prophet, published soon after Voldermort's demise, enjoyed places of particular prominence. A few threadbare, faded, dull-coloured rugs were spread over the uneven, polished wooden floors, to help deaden the sounds of scraping chairs and shuffling footsteps. There was a small alcove towards the back of the building that was only big enough for three or four tables and Harry had developed a habit of retreating to this area, as it usually remained empty and guaranteed his privacy. Sitting with his back to the wall one night, studying the clear, amber contents of his glass as he swirled them distractedly in front of him, Harry was surprised to hear the floorboards creak under the weight of approaching footsteps. He looked up, annoyed at this unwanted disturbance, to see the long, untidy blond hair and bulging deep blue eyes of his friend Luna Lovegood. Winter was now approaching and a prolonged chill had descended since the warm weather that had attended Ron's funeral. For this reason, a crackling, log fire had been lit in the main bar and Harry could hear the popping of air escaping from the burning firewood over the sound of muffled voices drifting in from the more populated areas of the pub. The flickering flames of the fire cast shifting shadows on the walls through the archway against which Luna was silhouetted, giving the girl an almost spectral appearance.
"Hello Harry. What a surprise to find you here," she greeted him.
"Oh, hi Luna! What are you doing here?" Harry replied, pointedly ignoring her sarcasm.
"I've just been having a meeting concerning an article that we are going to run in the Quibbler," Luna answered with enthusiasm. She had recently taken over the editorial position at the sensationalist publication started by her father Xenophilius some years before. Although subjected to considerable hardship, Luna and her father had both survived the excesses of Volermort's brief reign of terror and after Volermort's demise, Xenophilius had once again taken up the reigns of the Quibbler. At first, the publication adopted a more solemn, factual tone than had been the case before the troubles, but it soon returned to its' previous radical approach, searching out the most improbable and generally irrational stories. Luna revelled in this environment and her eyes sparkled as she outlined the substance of her meeting.
"Apparently, this man knows the whereabouts of a whole herd of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. He has a horn taken from a dead animal that he is going to show me. I'm hoping that I might get to keep it and possibly get the first ever photograph of one of these fabulous beasts. Isn't that amazing?"
As always, Harry was enchanted by the guileless susceptibility of Luna and the sense of excitement in her voice.
"You take care," he advised, trying hard not to slur his words too noticeably. "Make sure it isn't an Erumpent horn like last time." Harry reminded Luna of the incident where a Death Eater's curse, hitting the offending article mounted on a wall at her father's old house, had caused an explosion that partially destroyed the property.
"That was not an Erumpent horn and it had nothing to do with that explosion," Luna responded irritably. "Anyway, I'm not going to argue with you, I just wanted to talk. Do you mind if I join you?" She gestured towards the vacant chair opposite Harry.
"No, be my guest. Would you like a drink? I was just going to get another."
"Don't you think that you've had enough?" Luna was suddenly looking more serious as she eased onto the seat. "Why don't you go home?"
Harry didn't reply but just picked up his almost empty glass and thoughtfully swirled the contents again.
"I saw Ginny the other day," Luna began tentatively. "She said that things are a bit difficult between the pair of you and that you've been drinking too much. It's not like you Harry. What's the matter? Is it Ron?"
Harry shook his head. In his partially inebriated state, he was less guarded than usual. "Partly, I suppose. It just seems like such a waste; but it's a lot of things actually. I know it's not really fair on Ginny, but it's complicated. You wouldn't understand. There are things that you don't really need to know about; things that should remain private."
"Perhaps that's the case and I respect it," Luna replied. "But I wouldn't worry too much about Ginny. She's tough and she seems to be coping. Ginny's a survivor and she always has her family to depend on. I'm more worried about Hermione. She seems to have withdrawn completely into her work. I think that Ron's death has affected her very badly. She really needs her friends at a time like this."
Again, Harry didn't speak. He sighed and continued to stare at the contents of his glass.
"You and Hermione were always so close. You are probably the one person who could help Hermione get over this."
Harry grunted and shook his head again, but made no other response.
"The funny thing is," Luna continued thoughtfully, "we all expected that it would be you and Hermione who would end up together, not Hermione and Ron. Do you remember back in your fourth year at Hogwarts - my third - when there were those articles in the Daily Prophet about Hermione and you? Well Padma Patel - you remember, she was in Ravenclaw, my house, while her sister Parvati shared the girl's dorm in Gryffindor with Hermione - she told me that Hermione was happier during that time than Parvati had ever seen her before. I think that she really liked the idea of being thought of as your girl friend."
This statement finally provoked a reaction from Harry.
"You're wrong there Luna," he said bitterly. "Hermione never wanted to be my girl friend. It might have looked like that from the outside but she was actually just using me to get a reaction from Ron. I happen to know that she even gave me a kiss at King's Cross when we broke-up for the summer, just to try to make Ron jealous."
"Oh! I remember seeing that!" Luna replied gleefully, clapping her hands together. "I was just coming up the platform, struggling with all of my things and you and Hermione were right in front of me. From the look that Hermione gave you afterwards, I don't believe that she was thinking too much about Ron though. Well, not unless she wanted to make it clear to him that she wasn't really interested. I mean, it was obvious to everyone by that time that Ron fancied her. Anyway, Hermione would never have used you in that way. You must realise that, surely?"
"Luna, you weren't as close to Ron and Hermione as I was back then," Harry responded crossly. "There was always this tension between them. Anyway, things simmered along during our fourth and fifth years, but they really kicked off in our lower-sixth year, at least as far as Hermione was concerned. I haven't ever told anyone this, but Hermione actually confunded McLaggen just to get Ron onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now, why would she have done that if she didn't fancy him?"
Luna smiled pityingly. "Honestly Harry. Sometimes I think that you don't really know Hermione at all. Hermione and I have become quite good friends in recent years and so I think that I know a little bit about what makes her tick. In any case, although she always stayed fairly aloof at school, she did let some things slip to Parvati Patel and Padma was always more than willing to reveal them to anyone who would care to listen. It might surprise you to know, but your relationships with girls, and especially with Hermione, was always a topic for gossip around the school." She paused for effect, before asking, "What was one of the most significant things that Hermione did in her fourth year; apart from helping you with the Triwizard Tournament and dating Viktor Krum?"
Harry sighed and glanced at his watch, feigning boredom but Luna carried on doggedly.
"She started S.P.E.W., that's what," Luna announced. "All that stuff about the plight of house elves. Hermione always felt sympathy for the underdog and that is exactly how she regarded Ron. Poor Ron was always in your shadow and Hermione felt sorry for him. If she confunded McLaggen, as you say she did, that will be why she did it."
"No. That doesn't work," Harry challenged. "Hermione also asked Ron to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party in our lower-sixth year and she got really upset when he went off with Lavender Brown instead."
Again, Luna shook her head dismissively. "Oh, Harry! You are so clueless about women." She regarded Harry with the exasperated look of a teacher confronting a particularly dense pupil.
"I suspect that the reason that Hermione kissed you at the end of fourth year was because she was feeling far more self-confident. In fact, I know that she was because Ginny told me so. She had her teeth fixed, Viktor Krum had asked her to the Yule Ball and the Daily Prophet had, in effect, described her as a "femme fatale". She must have thought that she had a bit of a chance with you at last. And let's face it, the two of you were practically inseparable during your fifth year, even though you did spoil things a little by chasing after Cho Chang."
"I didn't chase Cho," Harry interrupted, "it was the other way around."
Luna waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, the point that I am trying to make is that Hermione must have had high hopes at the beginning of your lower-sixth year. Cho was out of the picture and the two of you had grown so close towards the end of the previous school year. I remember how upset you got when Hermione was hit by that curse at the Ministry. Ron had been jinxed and Ginny was hurt too but you completely ignored them, didn't you? Hermione was probably hoping that you and she would go to Professor Slughorn's party as a couple, but you acted like an idiot, as usual, and ignored her. She almost certainly invited Ron primarily to try and get a reaction out of you. So, of course she was angry and upset when Ron went off with Lavender and you asked me instead. Going with McLaggen was probably her last throw of the dice, as she knew that you hated him. But by that time, you were infatuated with Ginny and probably didn't even notice. Is it any wonder that Hermione was a bit emotional?"
"It still doesn't make sense, Luna." Harry was now puzzled rather than mocking. "When we were hunting for horcruxes and Ron left in a fit of temper, Hermione cried for days."
"Can you blame her given the situation?" Luna replied confidently. "Surely Harry, the point is that she stayed with you and didn't leave with Ron. What other proof do you need?"
"But during the battle in Hogwarts, with all of the mayhem going on around them, Hermione still found time to kiss Ron. That kiss was genuine. I know it was. I saw it with my own eyes."
"I suppose that you have never done anything on the spur of the moment without really thinking." Luna gave a contemptuous sigh. "In any case, what right have you to judge Hermione's emotions. Women can't just be obvious about their feelings for the opposite sex like men can, you know; well, most women can't anyway! We have to be more subtle and try to give broad hints to male creatures who are almost always unfailingly dense and unperceptive. You had ignored all of the signals that Hermione had been trying to send to you and, after flirting with Cho Chang, you had pretty much thrown yourself at Ginny. Ron had appeared to do the same thing with Lavender but, unlike you, he couldn't keep it up and it was obvious that he really liked Hermione. We all needed to feel close to other people at that time, staring death in the face. And you think that you can dismiss all of the intimacy that you and Hermione shared just based on one kiss!"
Harry was silent, his brow creased with concentration as he tried to assimilate Luna's words. It all sounded quite reasonable, but he couldn't have been so oblivious. Could he? Had he been so busy dreaming about Cho and then Ginny that he had never really noticed any signals from Hermione? Luna flinched involuntarily as a particularly sharp retort issued from the fire in the main bar.
"Look Harry, I'm not saying that Hermione didn't love Ron. Of course she did; as a friend," Luna concluded. "And, I'm not saying that in time her feelings didn't progress to more than that. But you were always her first love. You are the one that she really cared about. And, to be honest, I think that she still does."