"Hi"-Normal
"Hi"- spell
"Hi"-demon or other supernaturally powerful being
"Hi"-Code
"Hi"- Thoughts
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Dreamy eyes gaze up as me as the clearly exhausted and injured individual smiles up at me as though nothing were wrong, "Hello, Zinnia."
I scowl at the sight of her injuries, though the scowl fades into a smile when she stands and hugs me, carefully mindful of the wounds on her body. Tears spring unbidden and unwanted to my eyes, blurring my vision as I start sniffling. The young woman holds me tighter, and I hear her own voice, normally so detached, choke on the ghost of tears.
"It's so good to see you again, my friend."
I smile despite the tears, knowing what those words mean to her. To dear, sweet, utterly mad Luna Lovegood, a friend is the greatest treasure on earth. She gets SCARY when protecting her treasures, otherwise she is fairly whimsical.
I finally pull back and laugh, wiping the tears from my face and grinning like Bellatrix (as in, completely madly). The bright look on both of our faces doesn't leave the entire time we are treating her wounds. Thankfully, she only has a few cuts and a LOT of bruising, so she doesn't need a whole lot of patching up, just a couple Episkeys. As we start walking back, I begin regaling her with the tale of what has happened since I got here, gushing over my temporary students' abilities and whining a little about how they already know more about chakra than me, so I'm just bullshitting and teaching them control while I attempt to find out things to teach them.
When I finally shut up (God bless Luna. Somehow, she knew that I just needed to talk and be heard, and she waited for me to finish my rant), she asked me a question I'd rather have avoided.
"What happened in the war after I left?"
I fall silent, then tersely reply "'Left' is a strong word. I still can't forget how… never mind. Don't worry about it. You're here, alive. That's all that matters. The war doesn't matter anymore. So let's just drop it for now, ok?"
Luna shoots me a sympathetic look, "Okay, flower. Let's go to your home now, please. I'm rather tired."
When we get back, the boys are gone. All of them. I frown. None of them leave before five on training days unless there's an emergency. I cast a quick Tempus and frown at the numbers 3:57. I peer at the sun and blink when I can't see it.
"That's a very large storm," Luna states as she basically floats towards my home, "Perhaps we should retire as well?"
I nod and begin reinforcing the wards on the clearing, buffing then up so as to block any tree shards (I learned my lesson about fire country storms a while ago when I was almost pegged with splinters from a tree that had gotten hit by a lightning bolt) and making sure to include light rain wards just in case the rain gets too heavy. Satisfied, I go into my house and start making dinner.
-Elsewhere-
Weary eyes fluttered open at the gentle caress of rain on his face. One attempt to get up reveals that he can't move. His eyes roam over his form, categorizing every bruise and bump. His face twists into a grimace as he finds the poorly stitched up gash on his leg. With one trembling hand, he grasps his wand and casts several wards before the wand slips from his gradually exhausting hand and he rests his head on the moss under his head. He idly wonders what his hair must look like, then quickly dismisses that thought in favor of wondering where the hell he is now. Maybe in yet another twisted nightmare? Do nightmares hurt? He decides that he doesn't care much about that as he drifts back into unconsciousness.
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A/N: Hooolllllyyy shit, I am SO SORRY! I didn't know I'd be gone for so long! I swear, if I'd have known, I'd've warned y'all! I know this chapter is super short, but I hope to make up for it soon with a longer update. I just really wanted to get this one out because it's been sitting in my drafts for so long.
Question of the Chapter: Have you ever pulled an EPIC PRANK on anyone? What was it?
Quote of the Chapter: "She's always there for me when I need her; She's my best friend; she's just my everything." -Ashley Olsen