What Luna Said (before chapter 45)

Hermione didn't look up from her parchment where she was taking notes for her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. "Something on your mind, Luna?"

She had been working on her report in the Library when Luna sat at the table to work on her own. "I'm happy to see you put back together again."

Hermione finished writing her word and looked up, her brow lifted in question.

As ethereal as ever, Luna seemed to look right down into your soul. "Earlier this year you were quite broken."

The other brow joined the first in surprise. "Yes, well, it had been a rough day."

"I don't mean what Bellatrix did to you. It was horrible, but she didn't break you. Actually, I think that was when you finally started to heal."

Her brows couldn't go further into her hairline if she tried. "How do you figure that?"

There was that smile Luna was famous for. The one that said she could tell you the secrets of the universe if you could only come up with the right question. "You finally started letting Ron fix you."

Yes, definitely keeper of the universe's secrets. Hermione's brow returned to its normal position as she straightened her back, taken off guard.

"No one is without damage, some more than others. You both have been broken for so long. It's funny how you were both broken in the same way. Convenient for you of course, you can fix each other now." Luna tipped her head to the side and her smiled broadened. "I can see the difference in you."

"I know. I can feel it, too." Hermione returned her smile and chuckled a little. "So you're saying I still have a bit to go?"

"The damage will never truly go away. There will always be cracks and scars." Luna's eyes flicked to the place on Hermione's neck where the scar was hidden. "But sometimes the right glue can make us stronger than we were before."

Hermione thought about the changes she'd made over the last five months compared to the previous seventeen years and realized that the majority of them were due to one person. Prior to last spring she had been fragile. For all of her strength of will and desire to fight for what was right she had been a china doll. Unwavering in her logic, unwilling to see beyond the obvious. Pushing herself past exhaustion to excel because the alternative was unthinkable. To think, her worst fear had been failure. Not loosing a loved one, or Dementors or giant man-eating spiders, but failing an exam. Its no wonder Luna saw her as broken. She had been.

Ron was her glue. She could feel it. She felt more resilient. Accepting that books didn't hold all the answers, and even then weren't necessarily accurate, allowed her a freedom she didn't previously enjoy. Accepting that because something was unknown did not make it impossible gave her flexibility. And finally, accepting that without laughter, lazy Sunday mornings in bed and silliness, the world was a dark and lonely place.

She smiled warmly at Luna, a person whose friendship was as unlikely as loving someone such as Ron. "Luna, I honestly think you're the smartest person I know. You're absolutely right, I was broken and, thanks to Ron, I am stronger." Hermione reached across the table to take Luna's hand in hers. "I am so fortunate and happy you're my friend."

Luna's face shone like a sunrise and she squeezed the hand in her own. "Likewise."

A/N: as mentioned in my last AUF chapter- here is the excerpt from the 'frightfully accurate' thing Luna said about Hermione. I hope I got her right- y'all will tell me if I did or not.

Upholding my tradition, this drabble is un-beta'd unless you count MS Word. Seeing how many errors Slug catches in AUF, Word is a terrible beta and I can't recommend it.

Everyone knows that Evanna Lynch is actually Luna, and she gave her blessing for this drabble. No, really, honest. At least she said her name was Evanna...