A Memorable Tale

62 | Sun and Moon

I'm not a repellent for bad things. As a matter of fact, I attract them. Those who know me, those who have stood by my side, have felt the rain that has been hitting my back and soaking my clothes, and only a select few were smart enough to put up their umbrella.

Others seemed ready to jump into a lake for me, even if they know that there's a monster too big to handle beneath it.

It wasn't even that they were brave. Just selfless. Utterly horrified of the storm I brought, yet they hopped on their boat and rode the waves because of the slim chance that I might actually break the surface of the water as I held out my hand seeking help from drowning.

"I need a glass of wine."

"Nice try, but no," Padma said.

I walked into our dorm and groaned, collapsing onto the bed, only to bounce back onto my feet and pickup a different, lighter bag full of parchment, two quills and ink. "I have an essay."

"Good luck with that."

"You're so encouraging, it's almost nauseating." I sighed and walked back out of the dorm to the common room, where Michael and Terry were playing exploding snap. They definitely had homework, but it'll take the due date the next day to actually get them to worry about it.

"Anthony, take my rounds today, I have work to do," I said to the boy studying in the corner, who gave me a thumbs up before I left.

The school day had just finished and people were rushing to hide away in their dorms or finish homework in the library; anywhere that wouldn't draw attention to the hag that was our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who prowled the halls looking for rule-breaking students to prey on.

I walked into the library and found a table in the back, where I spread out my papers and began to work.

About an hour later, the tall doors of the library opened and I saw a group of Gryffindors standing at the entrance, Neville among them. He waved to them goodbye and walked in, at first perusing through the plants section before spotting me hunched over my work, admittedly nodding off.

"Y/N?"

I lifted my head. "Ah, Neville. Here to do work as well?"

"No, I finished it back at my dorm. You look tired. How did you sleep last night?"

"Ugh, the horrid small talk." Terrible. "Why not ask about the movement of the clouds while you're at it?"

"Sorry," he chuckled. "You just don't look well rested. That's what my gran always says when I'm about to sleep while reading."

"Well, I'm fine. Tired, sure, but my sleep last night was adequate." Adequate is such an irritable word when it's not true. "Although I would kill for a good cup of coffee right about now."

"I can get it for you."

"Oh, don't go through the trouble."

"I really don't mind. How do you like it?"

I took a breath, knowing he wouldn't let up no matter how many times I refused. "Go to the kitchen where the house elves are. Dobby should be there. Just tell him that it's my cup of coffee and he'll know exactly what to do."

Neville nodded and left for the kitchen. Winky still worked within the kitchen, and every so often I feel her eyes on me. Like she was waiting for me to tell her something.

She knew that her master, his wife, and his son were all dead. What would be the next thing for her? The son's best friend?

I couldn't help but share her grief. Not over those who were dead, because I never knew them, but for the unknowing. The guilt.

Sometimes I found myself staring across classrooms at who was once my best friend, and I wondered what it would be like if I still was able to open that notebook and write to him as casually as I did before.

What do you think of this? I would ask, and he would respond with something I wholeheartedly disagreed with, but at least we were talking.

I wondered if Dobby, had he not been freed, would be like Winky if Draco's family were to be put in the same position as Barty's. A lost son; a secretive father; the gone wife; and the son's best friend. Would I have spotted him staring at me from around the corner in the same way?

Sometimes I passed the Room of Requirement, seeing the wall morph beside me, and I knew full well that what my heart desired was not the same thing anymore, but that was the most the Room of the Requirement could give me: other worlds to stick myself in, to forget about the cruel reality that I could be surrounded by people and still feel like someone is missing.

"I got your coffee," Neville said, placing the mug on the table where my papers weren't covering it. "Lots of homework you have."

"Yep. Thanks Neville."

He sat across from me. "So, what are you working on?"

"Just Astronomy." I sighed, staring at the strings of words that described those that resided beyond our planet, unable to use the colourful words that the stars demanded. I was tired of the tediousness of it all, but what is one to do with a life that was just destined to be either tragic or boring?

I'd rather the latter.

I stared at the title. Astronomy, it read, underlined.

"...Want to go for a walk?" I turned over the papers like the words describing planets and moons were at fault for my mind and faced Neville, who said nothing while I worked, watching me like it was entertaining to watch someone ramble on and on about space on pieces of parchment.

He nodded and stood, holding out his hand like I couldn't do the same.

I flicked my wand and the papers flew into my bag before I picked it up and swung it over my shoulder, walking beside Neville as we left the library and the smell of old books.

The halls were emptier than usual, probably from Umbridge, and suddenly I was missing Lockhart. Sure, he was a dolt but at least he wasn't a pompous toad who sucked the happiness out of those around him. The braincells, maybe, but I'd rather be dumber than depressed.

The windows revealed the pink hue of the sky as the sun began to set that day and the moon began to take its place. The moon needed the sun to shine, I knew, but the sun did it all on its own. It couldn't care less if the moon existed or not. It was the waves that knew of the moon. Yet the moon never got near the ripples.

"Y/N? What's got you all quiet?" Neville's hand rested itself upon my shoulder.

"Nothing. Just..." My eyes left the window and went to the disappearing shadows as the halls went dark."...missing the sun."

Neville looked at the window. "I don't know... the moon's just as pretty as the daylight to me."

I hummed as stars began to appear in the sky. "You think so?"

Of course, it wasn't that I missed the sun. It made the days uncomfortably hot, burnt those that never hurt it, damaged what sat beneath it for too long.

No. I missed my sun.

The one that lit up the day with his smile.

And I knew it was unfair to think about that sun when a perfect star stood beside me, walking me through the night.