A Shot At Happiness

WOUNDED SOULS

Amidst the eerily calm atmosphere whose air smelt of blood and loss stood an ancient castle. Well, what was left of it anyway. To a normal person, it might look bombed, haunted even. But to people with magic running in their blood, this was a place of despair.

The towers and turrets which once stood high, now had their tops blown off. Where once had been a castle door was now a large gaping hole that looked like an entrance. The doors too seemed to have been blown up as shreds of stones and wood were still evident nearby.

This wasn't the case for just the entrance of the castle but many other parts too. The lake which surrounded one half of the castle was now black with soot and blood. A large portion of land, a little away from the castle which might have been a pitch looked like it was completely burned down. All in all, the place looked like disaster had struck it.

'And that is exactly what happened' thought a lonely figure who stood by the Forest that surrounded another portion of the castle.

The figure had a long travelling cloak draped over them. He, as the figure definitely was a he from his body frame, was looking over at the ruins of the castle; the place where he had made friends for life and learnt the vast knowledge of magic. His home, for the better part of a year, his school. For that was what the castle was, a school. And not just any school but Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The young man was tall and looked like someone no older than eighteen. He had broad shoulders with a frame good enough for someone his age. He had blonde hair growing long and unruly. His eyes were brown and had dark circles around them. He had a bit of a stubble growing on his face that looked like it hasn't been taken care of for ages. The look on his face, which was of great melancholy as he took in his surroundings, made him look like someone too old for his age.

His name was Neville Longbottom. Neville stood there like he did every other day and surveyed the scene. Though his eyes where looking around, his mind was replaying all that happened which was reason the place looked like it did now. 'Six months' he thought and sighed. It had been six months back that they had hoped for things to end well. And end it did, but not well.

He looked towards where once stood the Astronomy Tower. It had been there that he had found the love of his life, dead, about half an hour after the legendary battle had ended. He felt fury erupt within him as he thought of the battle. The one where he had lost majority of his loved ones. How he wished it never happened.

It was the same everyday. He would come spend an hour or more in that very place, just outside the first, not daring to go into the castle and think of his life in the past, with his love by his side. He missed her. Oh, he really did, but there was nothing he could do which turns his fury into deep grief. He sighed again and looked at his watch which was his grandmother's gift for him on his seventeenth birthday. It brought another wave of memories which he deliberately pushed down.

He decided it was time for him to go back. With one last look for the day, he turned and began walking towards the castle gates. Once outside he looked back again before apparating.

Neville appeared in an alleyway between two houses. He walked out towards the main road, crossing it and taking the usual path towards the small flat where he lives with two of his best friends. A couple of muggle repelling charms and protection wards were enough to keep them from potential threats.

He knocked on the door and soon enough Luna Lovegood opened the door, let him in after the security question and closed the door behind them. She appeared to have been working on breakfast in the kitchen. Their flat had two small bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen attached living room. It wasn't difficult for them to find this place. A couple of confounding charms on the owner (speciality of Luna's) and the house was theirs. They had been living here for the past six months.