This came out a lot more wholesome than I expected. This is mostly filler, though. Next chapter, we're back to the main plot, I promise. I just wanted to put some angsty/fluffy content before we're back to normal.

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Sirius didn't even try to pretend anymore that he was anything other than Remus' lover anymore. As he helped Luna move her things into the boarding house's bedroom that Lyall rented, he wore his boyfriend's jumper and was quite happy to ignore the odd way Mrs Wright would peek at the group of men coming in and out of Luna's bedroom as they all helped. He also ignored how hot he was feeling as he carried another box, refusing to take off the jumper through the summer heat and physical labour.

Remus was carrying the lightest boxes and only because he insisted on helping somehow, but with the August full moon less than a week away, the group had silently decided to spare him the hard labour regardless of how much he wanted to help his sister. Thankfully Peter, who was organising who would carry what, was smart enough and a decent enough actor to make it look very natural the way he would delegate the work and James, ever so eager to help and please, was more than quick to jump in front of Remus as he reached for another box in the car's trunk, taking it before his friend could understand his real intention behind his rapid movements.

Luna, also feeling the effects of the full moon approaching, had been discreetly helped by Lyall into the room. She had shrugged off Lyall's hand on her shoulder and arm but pretended not to notice how he hovered right behind her as she went up the stairs. She had been left organising the books while the boys worked and Lyall went to Mrs Wright to explain the first aid Luna might need in case of a seizure (Mrs Wright was a retired nurse, so she was quite quick to understand).

The bedroom started to look remotely like it belonged to someone by the time James brought over the last box in. He sighed, putting it near the door and looked around.

"You got a lot of work to do, gudiya," James said, somewhat pitying her.

She looked at him over her shoulder from where she was sitting on the ground, organising her books into piles.

"Are you trying to imitate your mother? Only she calls me that," she said.

"I've called you that before," he said.

"Jokingly."

"Well, you did look like a doll at the time," he said.

"Are you calling me ugly now?" she asked, turning her full body towards him.

James' skin turned pale for a moment before he flushed and shook his head, uncomfortable with the mere idea.

"No! I'm trying to say that you were dolled-up," he corrected himself.

Luna smirked, knowing she had caught him in the very trap that her brother had fallen into many times. James, understanding her intentions far too late, narrowed his eyes to make sure she knew that her joke hadn't been funny.

He walked further into the room and sat on her bed.

"You'll be living alone now. Quite the chance," he started.

She shrugged. "I suppose."

She didn't really care about the idea of living alone. She had so much to do that the room would be certainly just to sleep, at least for the first few months. Loneliness would come later on, when boredom would take over her daily life.

"Well, I'm only a letter away and Sirius and Remus are just a coach ride away," James said kindly.

"Why are you so worried about it?" she asked.

"You never lived alone before; you always had your brother nearby. This is a big change, even if it's something that you wanted. It's alright to take some time to get used to it, that's what I'm saying," James said. "I don't think I can live on my own. I don't think I would survive."

"Is cooking too hard for you?"

"Being alone is too hard for me," he corrected. He crossed his arms and put his back against the wall. "Not everybody can drown their minds into their work, some of us drown and dwell too much."

He raised his eyebrows, as if trying to say that he knew that was something that she also did, even if she pretended otherwise.

Trying to ignore the weight in her stomach, dragging her Occluding walls down and bringing her dread and fear back up, Luna narrowed he eyes at James.

"Isn't this the talk that Remus should give me, being my older brother and all that?" she teased.

She was far too aware that Remus wasn't connected enough with his feelings to communicate with anybody about them, let alone with her. He could barely admit that he had feelings to his own reflection in the mirror, and she still thought that him dating Sirius was a miracle. James was the very next best thing.

"Should I start calling you 'Behan'?" he asked.

"Joke's on you, I have no idea what that means," she said, smirking.

"It means 'sister'," James translated. He gave her a genuine smile. "Maa would be happy about that one. I already call Sirius 'Bhai' sometimes. It made her cry the first time; perhaps I should keep it until you come to visit us again, just to see her reaction."

Unsure as to why the word made her hear speed up and why her eyes seemed to burn, wanting to shed tears, Luna had to dismiss her feelings. It was something happy. It was something good. She saw no reason to cry.

"I'm not your sister," she said.

She looked away.

"You're the closest thing to a sister I have," he said with a dramatic shrug. "Maa loves you. Papa adores you."

Luna gave him a smile, glancing at him before looking away again. She turned her back to him, going back to her books.

"That's very kind of them," she said under her breath.

"There's no kindness there, Luna, they just really like you," James said, moving his back away from the wall and uncrossing his arms. He put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "They care. I care."

She once more felt the dread pooling on her stomach.

There it was. Another person so deeply concerned for her that they made sure to leave their 'caring' on the way, explicit in their fondness for her, as if that would stop her from destroying herself slowly. They didn't seem to understand that she didn't want to destroy herself either, but that her body seemed to be rejecting everything that it needed to survive the heartbreak that was slowly happening. They didn't understand that her heart had become wet paper, slowly unmaking itself by its mere existence.

"I care too, James," she said.

There was a moment of uncomfortable, long silence.

Slowly, James got up from her bed.

It was like he listened to the footsteps that she took a second more to hear, because in the next second Peter was smiling in the doorway.

"Everything is done down there, Luna. Need any help up here?" he asked.

Peter was always so eager to help her in any capacity even before she had been emotionally destroyed that his offer was the only one that seemed true enough for her to accept, so when Luna nodded, it didn't feel like she was using her situation to make things exploitative.

"Sure thing, Pete. I got, like, three or four boxes with book. Would be nice to get some help. I want to separate them in styles," she said.

"Like, romance, fiction, textbook?" he asked.

"Exactly!"

"I love that!" he said.

He was quick to help her separate the books in piles.

James tried not to look too uncomfortable. He knew that Peter absolutely hated organising things; he had always been the messiest one of them (competing with Sirius), and the fact that he had jumped at the opportunity to help Luna with something that he hated only reminded James that Peter's everlasting crush on Luna. He knew it was there, and it was embers if compared to the fire that it had been before, but he feared Luna's attentions would rekindle it accidently.

While James liked Luna (even loved her, if he so admitted to himself, but feared admitting to her), he knew that she was oblivious to the way most people saw her, either it be because of her insecurity or because of her lack of interest in other people. If something were to remotely make Peter gain hope, it would be only a reason for him to get hurt at the end of the day, and Luna would be guiltless of it.

Soon enough Lyall, Remus and Sirius walked up.

Sirius, James and Lyall built the one furniture that Luna had brought with her: a bookshelf. Remus and Peter helped her separate the several boxes of books.

By the time they were done and ready to leave, the sun was threatening to hide itself and bring the night.

James was the last one to leave, taking the empty boxes with him as he explained the need of recycling to Peter, who rolled his eyes.

"James?" Luna called suddenly.

He froze on the spot, ignoring the way Peter also stopped.

"Yeah?" he said, turning to look at her.

"How do I say 'brother' in Hindi? I forgot," she asked.

The warm feeling that spread from his chest towards his whole body made James smile, all teeth and happiness.

"'Bhai'," he answered.

"Well, thank you... 'bhai'. I'll wite," she said with a tentative smile.

She had not gotten the perfect pronunciation, but it was good enough for making James' heart swell with pride.

"I'll answer," he said.

Luna gave another weak smile.

Mrs Wright looked Luna up and down as she fixed her bag around her shoulders, walking down the stairs.

"Where are you going, lovie? You just got here yesterday," Mrs Wright said.

Luna knew she wanted to ask where Luna was going while wearing that, but she wouldn't dare. Luna knew that it wasn't what she would normally wear, the skirt was shorter than her usual and her shirt tighter than usual, but there were some bright sides in losing so much weight in her depression. She liked how she looked. Besides it was so hot that August that there was no way that Luna could put trousers on this time around.

Mrs Janet Wright, widower, was far too bored to do anything other than annoy the tenants at her boarding house. It was probably her only form of entertainment when she was ever so alone. Her children had all gone to other cities for better lives, leaving her alone in London for the better part of the last decade or so. While Luna pitied her, there was some part of her that had already understood that Mrs Wright was hardly a saint, because in the one day that Luna had been there, she had seen her already make another girl cry.

She had always thought that everybody in the hospitality business would be like Meera, but apparently that had been wishful thinking.

"I'm going to meet my friends and then we're coming here. They don't know London very well, so I promised to meet them near the station and walk them back here," Luna said.

Mrs Wright gave a long, suffering sigh.

"I already told you no boys unless they're accompanied," she said, as if she had been tired of explaining that to Luna already.

Clearing her throat, Luna walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Allow me to correct myself. I'm going to meet my female friend and her husband, and they're coming over later. We might grab something to eat before coming back and shop for my first day of classes," Luna said.

For some reason, Mrs Wright looked somewhat relieved. Oddly enough, she looked happy that Luna was friends with someone that was already married, as if she wasn't sure Luna knew that the possibility existed for someone as young as her.

Another thing that Luna had noticed was that Mrs Wright disapproved of most girls studying. She had been somewhat understanding of the two girls in the boarding house studying nursing, but anything beyond that and teaching, she thought it to be beyond the scope of womanhood. The fact that Muggles thought Luna was studying Chemistry really did not comfort Mrs Wright at all.

"Regardless, you should really put on something –"

"Bye-bye, Mrs Wright!" Luna said, raising a single hand in farewell.

Quickly, she walked out of the boarding house and sighed in relief.

She walked through the city, hurrying her steps once she got closer to the park. Luna was already smiling to herself when she finally arrived at the alleyway beside the station, and all because she could see the very blonde short haired woman jumping up and down in excitement, waving her hand above her head.

The good thing about London is that nobody cares. Nobody even looked at Pandora when she started running.

Luna squealed, opening her arms in preparation. It was the first time Pandora just hugged without asking for a hug beforehand, even though Luna's permission had always been there. Regardless, she held back on screaming when Pandora landed in her arms, hugging her tighter than she ever did.

"Panda," Luna sighed in satisfaction.

"Lu! Lu!" Panda repeated time and time again against her shoulder.

Xenophilius, ever the gentleman, made no comment on how his wife seemed to be vibrating on Luna's arms or how Luna's eyes were wetter than normal. He didn't understand the extent of the female friendship they had built and would never understand how a few days for them could feel like forever. But he understood and loved the way Pandora was completely devout to Luna, who was just as in love with Pandora. Had Luna been a man or Pandora been interested in women, Xenophilius would've been jealous of such true love.

Slowly, the girls pulled apart.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Luna said, reaching over and touching the side of Pandora's face.

Panda's skin was just as soft and beautiful as always. She looked brighter, however, happier. But such shine disappeared when Pandora watched Luna with a bit more of attention, narrowing her eyes in concern.

"You look... awful," Pandora said.

Xenophilius cringed, thinking about how Pandora's honesty could be brutal sometimes.

"I know," Luna said, giving a little smile.

The exhaustion was obvious and so was the resignation.

"What happened to you?" Pandora asked.

"Nothing."

"Regulus –" Panda started.

"Love of my life, why don't we get a move on? I fear we shouldn't waste sunlight. It's getting dangerous to stay out past sundown," Xenophilius said.

"It's August, Xen. I think we're fine," Pandora dismissed, turning back to Luna. She did not understand why Xenophilius had cut her off. "Regulus looks just like you. Pale, sullen. I believe the breakup was not for the best for either of you."

Regardless of what Pandora believed, both parties were aware of the good side of breaking the bond.

"It would happen sooner or later. We chose to let it happen sooner. We both have more to focus on rather than a relationship," Luna said.

"I'm sure he'd much focus on the relationship," Pandora said, slightly bitter.

It was difficult for her to find a place to stand between the boy that had been her only friend before Hogwarts and the best of friends she had ever found in her life afterwards. He was still Evan's best friend and the only boy that she could bear to talk for longer than a few minutes about anything other than her own interests. She feared she would hurt one of them in the end if she chose sides, but staying neutral was doing nothing for her nerves. In the end, Pandora feared that Regulus loved Luna more than Luna had ever loved him, and a small part of her was hurting because of it – but now, seeing Luna's situation, she thought herself a bad friend for ever wondering something so mean about her.

"Well, I can't bear it," Luna said, looking down at her feet. She took a deep breath before changing the subject. "But do you know what I can bear? A quick travel to Diagon Alley for my school supplies."

Xenophilius gave her a kind smile. "You have your list?" he asked.

"On my bag."

"Let's go then!"

She got back with Xen and Panda on her tow with at least five bags of supplies and not a single pound less on her back account after Xenophilius insisted on paying for everything, in exchange for one tiny thing: that Luna made a quick visit to Scotland to see their cottage one more time, this time without a party happening.

And when Pandora left, both of them cried for hours afterwards. Pandora found comfort in her husband's arms, Luna lied alone in her bed to sleep and tried to be as quiet as possible to not annoyed the neighbouring bedrooms.

They all heard her. None made a single comment about it.

Sad in general, but not as sad as my usual writing. I hope you all liked it! I wrote it instead of studying for the test I got tomorrow :)

Anyone want to guess what you will see here soon enough?