"I don't think you should be with her."
The voice snapped Harry out of his daydream about walking by the lake with a certain someone.. "Huh?" he asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he turned. Looking up at him with her typically dreamy blue eyes was none other than Loony Luna Lovegood. "Oh, hey Luna." He blinked when he noticed that Luna had a very different look on her face than she usually did. If anything, the eccentric Ravenclaw looked upset. "What's up?"
"I just told you," Luna said, a definite edge in her voice.
"Didn't quite catch it; sorry."
Luna sighed, her eyes almost darkening with irritation. "I don't think you should be with her," she repeated. "At all. No one does, really."
Harry blinked slowly. "Who?" he asked, not sure if Luna even knew what the hell she was talking about. It wouldn't have been the first time.
"She has hair that looks like fire when the light touches it," Luna explained, a dreamy expression on her face once more. "And eyes more wonderful than those of the elusive Knickentil." Harry was about to point out that there was no such thing as a Knicken-whatever, but then Luna's eyes narrowed and she shoved a finger against his chest.
"Ow!" Harry yelped, stepping back. "Bloody hell girl-"
"You, on the other hand, have eyes like a boring clover, and that irritating scar. What's so special about you?"
"I, you… what?!"
Luna let out an irritated sigh. "Dense boy, don't you understand anything? Of course not, you don't even believe in Crumple-Horned Snoracks!"
"Luna, if you don't tell me what the hell you're talking about then I'm walking away right now. I have Quidditch practice soon."
"How can you not know?" Luna demanded. "I mean Ginny you dolt! You don't deserve her at all, and you don't fit with her either."
Harry stiffened, having heard something like that several times already since word had spread that he and Ginny were going out. "That's none of your business, Lovegood," he said, using her last name out of irritation and spite. "Now move, I think we're finished." He raised his hand up to push her aside.
A slender wand was suddenly pointing at his face, serious blue eyes regarding his from the other end. "I know really good curses, so don't try it, just listen to me for once instead of dismissing what I say as 'loony'. You and Ginny may seem like a good match on the outside, but everyone who knows the two of you knows better." She tilted her head to one side. "You fit much better with Cedric, or don't you remember all of that?"
All of the blood drained out of Harry's face and a lump formed in his throat, but he somehow managed to choke out, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh yes you do," Luna corrected, her wand pressing against Harry's cheek. "Everyone knows, Harry. I know how hard you're trying to make yourself like Ginny so that the rumors don't start up again, despite how obsessed you're becoming with Malfoy. You and Cedric, you and Malfoy… see a pattern? I do, we all do, except maybe you." She leaned in closer, her voice so quiet that Harry could hardly hear her. "And I also know that Ginny's only going with you because of all that you've been through. She doesn't really want to be with you, she got over you back in our third year." Harry's temper was beginning to rise, but Luna kept on going. "She never could quite find a boy who fit her. She found someone that did, though, until you kissed her and made her feel obligated-"
"Shut up!" Harry shouted, knocking Luna's wand away from his face and reaching for his own. His hand had only just touched the smooth wood when he heard Luna shout, "Petrificus Totalus!" His entire body went rigid and he toppled forward, his nose making an awfully familiar crunching sound as he landed on the ground.
"I warned you," Luna said.
"Miss. Lovegood!" If he had been able to, Harry would have grinned in relief at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice. Or tried to stem the sticky blood flowing from his nose to pool around his face. "What is going on here?"
"Petrificus Totalus, Professor," Luna answered calmly, and Harry could practically picture her placing her wand back behind her ear without a hint of emotion on her face.
There was a moment of silence. "Why?" McGonagall asked, sounding at a complete lost. If he hadn't been so pissed off, Harry would have been too. Luna read things upside down, talked about things like nargles as though they were real, but she didn't go around cursing people.
"Harry refuses to see that he would be better off with Draco Malfoy than with Ginny, just like he was better with Cedric than Cho. He got upset because I told him the truth and he went for his wand, even though I warned him not to. So, I had to curse him. That was when you showed up, professor. I think we should not dally over this long, though. Harry appears to have broken his nose and he has Quidditch practice soon." She said the whole thing in that same calm voice, and Harry found himself awed in spite of what she had just done.
"Oh. I see. That is all?" McGonagall still sounded like she had been told day was night and she'd been getting it wrong all her life.
"Yes."
"Umm…" It was the first time in his six years at Hogwarts that Harry had heard McGonagall at a loss for words. "Twenty points will be taken from Ravenclaw for your actions, Miss. Lovegood, and you will report to my office for detention for the next three Fridays at eight o'clock where the rest of your punishment will be determined. Now use the counter-curse and be on your way."
Luna mumbled something and Harry, having gained back control of his limbs, pushed himself up off of the ground, scrubbing the blood off of most of his face while determinedly avoiding Luna's eyes. His nose was throbbing as he resettled his sidebag and started off for the infirmary.
"You know I'm right," Luna remarked from his side, apparently intending to see him to his destination.
Harry, knowing how ridiculous he sounded with a broken nose, decided that he wasn't going to answer her question. He just wished that he could curse her back, but he had a feeling that McGonagall wouldn't be very lenient with him if he did. So he just held his tongue and kept walking, doing his best to ignore the blonde girl following him.
"You would probably like to know who it is that she found who suits her so well," Luna continued, "even though you're acting like you don't care. It's alright, people do that to me all the time, and I've learned how to handle it." She fell silent then, much to Harry's relief. She had said one of those things that was painfully true again.
When they reached the infirmary he stopped, noticing that Luna wasn't beside him anymore. "You'll be fine now," she said from behind. "And the person that Ginny found? It's no one special or important or even very popular, not like you. Ginny loves you like a brother, and she wants to help you. Someday, if this farce goes on long enough, she might manage to trick herself into forgetting about them and having eyes only for you."
Despite claiming that he didn't want to know, Harry was overcome with curiosity. So he turned, sleeve still pressed to his face, and asked, "Who?"
Luna looked up at him, her eyes glistening with what could have only been tears. "Me," she said softly, holding his gaze for a moment before turning and walking off quickly.
Harry could only stare after her with his mouth hanging open. It explains a few things, he thought a little later as he turned to find Madam Pomfrey tsking at him. Like why she's so bloody jealous… but am I supposed to believe her?
"That's for you to decide, Harry," Hermione told him later that night when he told her about what had happened, far out of Ron's earshot.
"I guess," Harry mumbled, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to see Ginny curled up with her Transfiguration book in a corner. And, for the first time, he noticed the single butterbeer cap dangling from a thin silver chain around her neck.