A Shot At Happiness

WOUNDED SOULS

"Where's Gin?" asked Neville

"She's in the room. She was going through some old stuff." replied Luna

"What stuff?" asked Neville with furrowed eyebrows. But before Luna could answer Ginny Weasley herself showed up in the living room.

"Hey Nev" greeted Ginny.

"Hey" said Neville "Luna said you were going through some old stuff?"

"Yes actually. But it wasn't mine though. It was Hermione's." There was a brief pause as the three thought of their dear friend. Then Ginny continued "You know, Hermione carried a beaded bag with her last year. It apparently has an extension charm. I know I shouldn't go through it but I'm curious as to what exactly that were doing"

Neville and Luna nodded. Then Luna asked "So, did you find anything?" "There were their clothes" her voice wavered a bit before she swallowed and continued.
"there was also a portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black"

"What did they need that for?" asked a surprised Neville

"My thoughts exactly" said Ginny

After a pause, Ginny continued, "I also found a journal, a diary of sorts. It was Hermione's. I'm not sure whether to read it or not. I knew Hermione never wrote diaries but the existence of this one says that she did last year. She may have mentioned something about their mission in it considering all the charms and password I had to break through in order to make her entries visible."

"Hmm, so what are you gonna do?" asked Luna.

"I think-I think I'll read it. If it is anything of personal nature, I'll just leave it there but if it has got anything to do with their mission, I'll continue reading. They were anyway planning on telling us" Ginny stated.

"Ok then, let us know when you are gonna start, we'll join you too" said Neville.

"Sure" said Ginny and returned to her room to get ready for the day. A few minutes later she joined them in the kitchen. After breakfast, they gathered in the living room and spread out on the couch and floor getting lost in their own thoughts.

This was a daily occurrence for the three. The battle had cost a lot of lives but it caused a lot more pain to the ones who survived. These three were among those few who had survived but had lost everyone they loved except each other. How they had survived was a mystery to them. So was why.

They often felt guilty about it too. They had always wanted to join their deceased family and friends in the afterlife but something or perhaps the faces of their loved ones and the fact that they sacrificed themselves so that they could live always stopped them. But that still didn't stop their guilt.

Neville lifted his head from where it had been resting on the arms of the couch, staring upwards, and looked at his companions. Luna sat on the other end of the couch looking particularly at nothing with the same dreamy expression she always wore.

She looked thinner, her cheekbones standing out. Her dirty blonde hair was tied into a messy bun. But her dreamy look didn't hide the pain and grief which stayed under the surface of her eyes. Luna had very little people who loved her and she loved and cared for them dearly. Her father, Ron, Hermione and Harry were included in that list. Their deaths was a heavy blow to her and Neville knew that she will definitely crack if something were to happen to himself and Ginny, for they were the other two left in that list of people she loved.

He had only seen her cry once. It was for her father's funeral. The others', she stood strong because she believed that, that's what they would have wanted of her. 'Being an empath would have toughened her up' that's what he liked to believe. Being exposed to people's emotions would have made her prone to them. Luna had not yet found the love of her life and in a way Neville was glad for it. He knew what it was like to lose the one he loved and didn't wish that upon anyone.

Neville turned to survey the other person in the room. Ginny was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch and staring at the window across the room. It hurt Neville the most to see Ginny in the state she was. This was not his vibrant best friend who was always bursting with life. Her lively nature was what attracted many people to her. Her vibrant red hair, another feature of hers which made her stand out in a crowd had grown long. She hardly bothered to do anything with it. The black bags under the eyes were visible for her too along with red puffiness which gave away the fact that she still cried herself to sleep.

Unlike Neville and Luna who had very few family members, Ginny had quite a big one. She had six older brothers and her parents, all of whom she lost in just one day. That along with the loss of her friends, best friend and the boy she had loved since a very young age only added to her misery.

Neville and Luna hadn't known what to do at first with the overly-distraught Ginny who had to attend the funeral of her loved ones. The day of the Weasleys' and Harry's funerals is something Neville wishes to never relive because of the state Ginny had been on both days. It hurt him to see his best friend's devastation. Her cries of anguish and grief still plagued his nightmares.

It took weeks for Ginny to finally become someone who had a bit of life in her. Till then she had walked around like an imperioused inferi. Even now she was not her old self but he suspected that she ever would be, in the near future atleast.
They had lost a lot. Family, friends, the DA and the Order members.

They had no idea what to do for their future. Future. He didn't even want to know what it held for them. The three of them sat there for how long, they didn't know but definitely a long time when Luna suddenly exclaimed, "I wish I had a humming beetle. It would have helped me travel back in time!"