The Sun, Moon & Stars

27. Summer, 1993

And so the summer of 1993 had begun.

Everyone seemed to be having a marvellous time. After all, after the previous years events they all deserved it. Ron's family had won the lottery, it was only a couple hundred galleons, but it was enough for their family to take a trip to Egypt to visit Bill. Ophelia had heard about it in a letter from Ron, but she also saw their picture in the Dailey Prophet. She really couldn't think of any family more deserving of the money. The Weasley's were kind, and warm-hearted but most of all; they were also poor. They deserved this much needed vacation.

She had also been informed Percy had been named Head Boy. She couldn't say she was surprised, but she could only imagine what the rest of his siblings were thinking. Percy was...a little bit different than the rest of them. Not in a bad way necessarily, he just had different priorities—school and rules meant a lot to him, and they just didn't to the others.

Hermione on the other hand, was having a quiet summer with her muggle parents in France. She communicated with the three of them by writing lengthy letters, describing in vast detail every moment of her summer. Hermione, also being a procrastinator, had sent Ophelia her birthday present weeks in advance to ensure it got there on time. It was a deluxe edition of Wizard's Chess, and she could hardly wait to crack it open at Hogwarts with Ron in September.

Harry however, didn't seem to be having too good of a summer at all. After a nasty incident, which Ophelia heard about in a letter, regarding Ron trying to call him at the Dursley's; he had been locked in his bedroom since. The Dursley's didn't seem too keen on letting Harry's magical life interfere with their very boring one, so they kept him away. To make him feel better, the three of them wrote to him as much as possible.

Ophelia on the other hand, was having quite possibly the best summer she had ever had.

She dove into the fantasy worlds of her books, observed sunsets and sunrises, baked pasteries with Ginger, had dance parties with Remus; she picked flowers, ran throw the meadow that backed off their small cottage, Ginger braided her hair, she dipped her feet in the chilly creek in the woods and in her spare time she sometimes ventured down to the muggle village to buy chocolate and sweets for themselves. She did everything she had taken for granted. Having near-death experiences gives you newfound appreciation for seemingly mundane activities, it seemed.

She had never been so happy.

She spent two days in July with the Lovegood's. She had been invited via a letter from Luna. Their house was even better than she could have ever dreamed of; with plums, and various types of unique fruits growing in their garden. The inside was even more amazing. Luna's room was a complete dream; with vines, and flowers, and paintings she had done herself covered the white walls.

It felt good to see Luna again. They hadn't had much time to spend together last year, not with the entire Chamber of Secrets thing, so seeing her at a time where the whole world wasn't falling apart; that was a nice change.

She was back in time for the July full moon, which was a relief, and as usual; she took care of him the morning after, bringing him chocolate and tea, along with all the bandages and ointment she needed to piece him back together.

'Your cuts don't look too bad this time.' Ophelia noted, as she pressed a damp cloth to a gash on his right forearm.

Remus grunted a noise mixed with pain and exhaustion.

'Was is easier this time?' She asked, as she began to apply the ointment to his various cuts.

'It's—never—easier.' He managed to spit out, between the grinding of his teeth from pain, 'I morph into a bloody werewolf, it's never easy. Sometimes I just don't scratch myself as much, okay?' He snapped.