Title: Pig's Flight

Author: Hanna

Summary: Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, has flown out of his cage and out into the field of Ottery St. Catchpole. Of course, Ron knows that Pig will come back eventually, but can't help but be worried, so he goes after him...running into someone he least expected. One-shot.

Disclaimer: All characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling, who has kindly brought the wonderful world of Harry Potter into our lives. I own nothing...except the plot (if you can consider it a plot).

"Damn owl..." Ron Weasley muttered to himself under his breath as he strolled along the pathway near the creek by his house in Ottery St. Catchpole. It was the second week into his summer holidays, and it was one of the hottest and humid days Ron had ever experienced. The sun was shining down on him, burning his back and neck, birds twittered around everywhere, and there was no sign of Pig anywhere. Once or twice, he thought he caught sight of a gray ball of feathers in the air, but it only turned out to be a sparrow or something else.

"Urgh..." Ron was sweating profusely and his shirt stuck uncomfortably to his body. He wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead, and decided that now would be a good time to get rid of the shirt that was bothering him. He swung it over his shoulder and kept on walking. Before long, he noticed he was right by the creek, and, deciding to take a little break, he crouched down beside it and stuck his head in.

"Ah! That felt good," he said to himself, shaking his mop of red hair, sending water in all directions. Ron couldn't help himself from taking off his shoes and socks and dipping his feet into the cool water of the creek, occasionally kicking water up so it would splash onto his bare legs.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a muffled kind of sound – the sound of something – or someone walking through the grass. He spun his head around, only to set his eyes upon...

"Luna?"

She smiled at him serenely, her blonde hair looking brighter in the sun, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Hello Ronald," she said, walking closer to him. "How is your summer?"

"Fine, I guess," replied Ron, who received a bit of a surprise when Luna sat down right next to him and took her sandals off, letting her feet cool in the creek as well. "How's your's?" he asked, not wanting to be impolite.

"Its fine, I've been spending more time with my father, helping him out with The Quibbler and all."

"That's nice..."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, both of them sitting there paddling their feet in the cool water.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself, Ronald?" Luna broke the silence, turning to face him.

"Er...Pig got away, and I – I – uh, came looking for him," he finished lamely, noticing that Luna's eyes had strayed away from his eyes, and onto his defined chest (well, not as well-defined as Harry's of course; that was another thing Ron was jealous of) which was lacking of a shirt. He felt just slightly uncomfortable, having Luna looking at him like that, but pride soon overtook that feeling when he realized Luna was checking him out...silently.

"Oh," she said, looking back up into Ron's eyes, "owls do have a certain homing instinct, you know. He'll come back before nightfall."

"Yeah, but still...I couldn't help but be worried."

Luna smiled at him sweetly, and it was then that Ron noticed how attractive she actually was. Their eyes locked and they stared at eachother for a few moments, before Luna looked away, blushing. Ron was beyond blushing – his face was crimson and resembled a very ripe tomato.

"Ronald, do you think I'm loony?"

"What?" Ron was taken aback by her sudden question, and was at a loss for words. As he was searching for the words to use in his answer, he didn't notice Luna was inching closer to him, still gazing up into his sky blue eyes.

"Well, I – "

Whatever he was going to say was drowned by Luna's lips grazing ever so lightly against his. Ron's eyes bulged (just a bit, mind you) and he was so caught off guard that his next sentence came out in a raspy whisper.

"Well, I – you're not that loony," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in closer for another kiss.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Stupid Ron...should have known that Pig would have come back eventually," Ginny said to herself, trudging up the hill that lead to the pathway to the creek. She was sent there by her mother, telling her to come back with Ron, as lunch would be soon. As she got within sight of the creek, she saw the thing she was expecting the least. From her angle, she could see her half- naked brother Ron, lying down next to a girl with blonde hair in a yellow summer dress, who she assumed was Luna. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that Ron had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. A smile spread across Ginny's face, and for the first time in her life, she was glad that Ron had been so insistent to do something that would prove a waste of his time later.

Oh, sure, Ginny often heard Ron complaining that Pigwidgeon was too small, or too hyper, or too stupid, but she knew that if Pig were to die, Ron would be miserable. Well, more than often, Ron had told her his opinions on Luna, and how loony he thought she was and how he didn't think he'd ever date her...but she knew otherwise.