A/N: For the Houses Competition.
House: Ravenclaw
Year: 5
Category: Standard
Prompt: Gold
Word count: 843
Ginny is bronze. She knows this, and doesn't mind it; likes it, even. Bronze has an edge to it, a sort of don't-mess-with-me vibe - or, at least, that's how Ginny sees it. It is imperfect, flawed, tarnished, what you will, but that's okay. Ginny has never wanted to be perfect, and if being imperfect means getting the job done, well. She's perfectly happy being bronze.
But Luna.
Ginny takes one look at Luna Lovegood and knows immediately that she is gold. Beautiful, shining, perfect; this is what she is, and she immediately attracts Ginny's attention. But Ginny is not looking for perfect, so she tries to keep things friendly with Luna, and nothing more. Try as she might, though, she can't help but be drawn to this golden girl, even if she can't quite fathom why.
There is just something about Luna that makes Ginny's heart ache and her breath catch in her throat. It's her innocence, Ginny thinks. She doesn't seem to realise the effect she has on people - or perhaps just Ginny. She radiates an untarnished, golden glow, and it's fascinating to see, when there's so many others who could never even dream of shining so purely or so brightly, Ginny included. She speaks with a quiet simplicity with words that are unique and golden and wise. Ginny could spend hours just listening to Luna talk in that dreamy, far-off voice of hers without growing tired or bored.
It's a shame that they're in different houses. Ginny can only imagine how it would be to share a room with her, to occupy the next bed. Perhaps they would stay up all night, talking about everything and nothing, or perhaps they would play games with the other girls in their dorm - Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, it doesn't matter. Perhaps they would wait until the girls were asleep, then climb into the others' bed, and talk and laugh and -
Perhaps it is better that they are not in the same house after all.
In any other circumstances, with any other person, Ginny might be jealous of someone so pure and golden and innocent, especially in times such as these when innocence is almost dead. She tells herself that perfection is not something she is after, and it is true to some extent. But, whilst others' shine might block out Ginny's own, dark as it is, Luna's spills over, illuminates Ginny and, for brief, shining moments, makes her golden too. And Ginny… Ginny likes it.
She loves these glimpses into Luna's golden world, yearns for them, craves them when Luna is gone. Her heart, her mind, her entire body longs for Luna, to see her, to be with her every hour of the day and night. Perhaps they were only supposed to be friends, once upon a time, but that time has long since passed, Ginny accepts this now.
(And were they ever really friends? It is hard to tell now)
It is when the Death Eaters come to Hogwarts that Ginny first feels that thrill of fear, the way her heart pounds in her chest at the very thought of Luna getting hurt. This is when she realises something - she cannot lose Luna, and she is terrified that that is exactly what will happen.
Of course, she worries for her family too, and for Harry and Hermione and everyone else, but it is Luna that she cannot help but focus on. Sweet, golden Luna does not belong in this black world of death and darkness; perfection can only be destroyed here.
(She knows that Luna has already seen horrors beyond count, that she is not afraid to fight and bleed)
(She knows, but still she worries)
After the battle, when they both make it out alive, they go and sit by the shore of the Black Lake. Luna asks if Ginny should be with her family, but Ginny says that she needs time away from them, to mourn properly. She half expects some sort of reproach from that, but this is Luna. She just smiles and nods.
"I understand," she says, and Ginny's heart swells at that.
They slip into a silence for a while, watching the sun set. Ginny looks over at Luna, and notices with a start that her beautiful, golden glow is still intact, as it always has been. She watches it for a moment, and she realises that perhaps golden never meant perfect, after all. Perhaps it just meant good.
Luna's blonde hair falls over her face in a sheet of gold as it reflects the dying sun. Ginny's heart stutters to a halt in her chest as Luna turns to look at her, and she can't hold back any longer.
They kiss in the fading light of day, hair tangling together, and glows becoming one.
They are no longer simply gold and bronze. They are both, they are neither, they are flame and light and darkness, all at the same time. This love of theirs is perfectly golden, and they know without question that it is destined to last.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review if you have a moment!