Sorry-Not-Sorry
Her smile drove her nuts.
The upturned corners of her mouth, the two canines that glinted dangerously, enticingly at her. The sharp look she gave with those bottomless silver eyes, that look which conveyed a thousand words and emotions. that amazing stare she gave just for her when she entered the room.
She loved it.
The Italian restaurant was always crowded in the evenings, a mark of its popularity dictated by its patrons. The mood was relaxed, with live music in the form of a duo of smooth jazz playing musicians, one on a sax, the other on a piano.
At the door of the homely restaurant always ready to greet his costumers was Ted, the short but jovial Italian middle aged man who ran the establishment. Ted ran the restaurant with his wife and son, Mary and Alfonzo, who both embraced the love Ted had for the small nook of Italian cuisine. They helped serve, set and cook for the patrons who gathered in the friendly sanctuary.
Harry gave a nervous smile at the portly man as she entered the well-lit restaurant. The small girl was dressed in a buttoned up blue chequered shirt and some nice black jeans she had found tucked away in the bottom of her draws, she was never one for dramatic fashion and makeup.
Her short course black hair moved with her head, bits and spikes of it jutting out at every angle, her bright emerald eyes shined as she glanced around the restaurant. judging from the height of the patrons gathered, she was the shortest one here.
Ted included.
She gave a grimace at her choice of clothing, she had thought that her choice of apparel complemented her looks, but was beginning to doubt that assumption. plus, she had promised her that she would come wearing something simple.
she was beginning to regret that promise.
Ted gestured her to an already set table near the window of the restaurant.
"Harry!" the short Italian man laughed, throwing his arms up towards the ceiling.
"Right this way, here, some extra breadsticks, I know how you love them" he smiled brightly at her revealing his yellowed teeth in an otherwise charming display
"now but to wait, until they arrive!" his face turned almost wistful for a moment before it passed, too quick for Harry to make a comment on. Ted gave another full belly laugh as he was leaving, throwing his head back up towards the ceiling. With another flourish and a charming smile he sat her down with some napkins. judging from the mischievous glint in his eyes He knew just how nervous she was about this date. she fidgeted with her hands and gave another nervous smile
"Thanks, Ted, and…" she hesitated "can you maybe, uh, keep a look out for… well you know"
She finished the sentence lamely, too embarrassed to voice her query, gods she was a Gryffindor, where had all her courage gone? He gave a playful wink, seemingly understanding what she was trying to communicate before gliding gracefully away to set another patron at their table.
Her hands continued to tap, move and otherwise play, seemingly ignoring the messages she was sending them with her brain. Finally, with a force of effort, she forced herself to stop, 'for Morganas sake! what on earth has gotten into me?'. She glanced around looking at the other seated patrons, many of them enjoying their meal with their significant other.
'This is not a date!', she enforced to herself fiercely, it was a girls night out, 'A simple meeting of convenience between friends, that's all', she gave a nod, unaware that she had technically told herself off.
She glanced at the clock above the band, it was a quarter to eight she realised with a start, her friend was late. She shook her head again as Ted glanced over at the seemingly odd woman, 'nothing bad has happened potter' she scolded herself, 'she's probably just gotten held up with… something', she frowned as images of violent scenarios flashed through her head, scenarios containing a particular Silver haired and eyed beauty in dangerous situations.
"Harry!" a whisper called from Ted, but Harry, being lost in her thoughts paid no attention, her mind filled with horrific scenes of her crush (though she wouldn't admit it) being accosted or otherwise harmed.
"Harry!"
She frowned at the small noise that drew her from her thoughts, glancing over to the annoyed Italian she saw him nervously wringing his fingers while gesturing at her.
"Harriet Potter!" the short Italian hissed at her nudging his head towards the door, 'he looks as if he has a nervous tick' she remarked amusedly in her head, after all what was so important tha…
"Oh"
Luna Loovegood walked through the door dressed in tight grey jeans and a bright yellow loose woollen cardigan, her ears held her patented purple turnip earrings, which swung every which way as she slowly walked towards her.
Harrys eyes caught a glimpse of something at Lunas feet, it was her shoes, white fluffy slippers which, every few seconds or so, glinted as if encrusted with thousands of tiny bits of metal, 'no doubt some sneaky magic that Luna charmed' she mused to herself, grinning at the odd girls choice of clothing.
Luna spotted the short emerald eyed woman sitting at the table and, after a flourish from Ted to indicate where to sit, gracefully floated over to her and sat down across from Harry, who, suddenly found the table cloth fascinating.
A few awkward seconds of silence filled the table when Luna finally seated herself comfortably. Harry, unwilling to break the oppressive silence, began tapping her legs and otherwise fidgeting.
Luna, in a similar state of mind, sat with her head up, looking at the ceiling and humming a low tune jaunty tune. 'This, is… fine… absolutely, fine… yep' She swallowed thickly, trying to keep the pretence of calm serenity and confidence.
It was a dismal performance at best
The silence soon became unbearable to the two girls and Luna, finally, turned her head down to look at Harry, her large silver eyes searching for something on her face. A few emotions flittered across the usually pensive girls face before resting on one of curiosity and… sadness? Harry gave an involuntary frown, she didn't like seeing Luna sad.
They sat still for a few moments more before Luna opened her mouth to say something. Unfortunately, Harry had opened her mouth at the same time as Luna, leading to both of them quickly closing their mouths to allow the other to speak.
"uh, n-no you go first… please"
Luna gave a high pitched tinkling laugh before giving a small shake of her head to the black-haired beauty.
"my thoughts can wait"
She had said it with another of those smiles, which of course caused Harry to blush. Luna seemed to noticed the look of insistence growing across Harry's face because she quickly added, "please, I insist"
Her silver eyes caught Harry's in a silent plea, which was cheating cause she knew Harry had nothing like that to use against her.
Harry panicked, she wasn't prepared for this, not at all, all the carefully constructed arguments she had created flew out of her head, as she was finally faced with actually talking to the object of her recent crush. Luna, seeing the panic that ran rampant on the girl's face, gave a small odd smile at the girl.
"Wackspurts are common this time of year, aren't they?" she finally said, seeing as Harry was too busy imitating a fish to initiate the conversation.
The fish imitator herself nearly melted into a puddle in her seat when Luna finally spoke. her voice had a soft lilt that felt like honey on her ears, as if she was always singing the tune of a song that no one else could hear.
"u-uh, y-yeah, I suppose, uh, it's this time of year, t-they come out then?"
Harry felt her face heating up in embarrassment at the butchered attempt at conversation.
She groaned internally at her blunder, the only thing she could do to make the situation worse was spill her drink on Luna at this point. She dared a glance up at the elfish girl, expecting to see a confused stare or pity for the clearly madwomen, but she quickly felt her embarrassment fade at the shaking mirth of Luna as she attempted to hold in a laugh.
Her silvers eyes danced with tears as she drew in shuddering breaths to calm herself.
"glad I could be this evenings entertainment" Harry said dryly, forgetting her earlier embarrassment.
Luna simply smiled in response, her laughter subsided for now.
"They come out in summer mostly, but winter can draw out just as many. You, Harriet" she paused, considering her words
"you, seem to be infested all year long, no matter the season"
The sparkling smile she beamed at her drew out any offence Harry might have taken to the accusation. Then all of a sudden, Luna's smile suddenly became small and almost, shy?
"I'm not sure if I can allow that anymore, you see?"
She looked straight into Harrys eyes and gave a small smile, causing the usually boisterous mischief maker to blush a deep crimson.
"allow wh-wha...uh... w-why would you say that, Luna?"
The usually confused girl suddenly laughed loudly, drawing the attention from the other patrons in the restaurant. 'Strange', for a second Harry had forgotten she was in a restaurant, so entranced by the girl who sat in front of her. Luna suddenly stopped laughing, but a large grin remained on her face.
"I'm a bit selfish like that" she sung the words, her soft lilting voice giving it an ethereal quality.
Harry smiled confusedly at her and relaxed into her chair. taking a tentative bite into the exquisite Italian cuisine, she nearly moaned in enjoyment at the taste, she loved Italian food.
She suddenly paused, shocked at her verbalised pleasure at the food, afraid at how Luna might react to it, 'Oh gods' she moaned embarrassingly at herself 'she's going to think I'm a freak'. Harry glanced worriedly at Luna for a reaction, but the girl simply hummed at her and smiled, soon following suit and taking a bite of the food.
Her eyes widened noticeably as her face morphed into an 'O' of shock and pleasure as the food hit her taste buds.
"This is rather good" she mumbled. She seemed to catch herself immediately though as she gave a light blushed at Harry's endearing smile.
'she's too cute like this' she thought contentedly to herself, Luna was just… something, alright.
She startled when she realised the of direction her thoughts, 'cute, like in a friend way! …not the…other, way'. She was interrupted from the internal denial by Luna questioning her.
"So… Harry, do you frequent this place often?" and with little fanfare, the conversation turned comfortable, and they talked until they had finished their dinner and drunk their water (they were underage after all).
Harry and Luna continued chatting whilst they finished off their dinner, both were perfectly content to take their time and savour the moment they were in. But All too soon they found themselves finished and ready to leave, but both hesitated, unwilling to part with each others company.
Walking out into the street in silence they waited for the other to speak, similar to how they had entered the restaurant.
'maybe she could…? Yeah, Yeah!' Harry gathered up her courage.
"uh, if you want, we can go back to Grimmuald, for a bit?" Harry said nervously.
She wasn't entirely sure Luna would want to go back to the usually dark and damp house, but she wasn't ready to leave her addictive presence, just yet.
Luna cocked her head and smiled at her
"I've got a better idea" she grinned conspiratorially at the short witch.
"Uh" Harry stuttered her face growing redder
"What would tha-" Harry didn't get to finish her sentence as Luna, suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the startled girls arm.
There was the familiar pulling sensation in Harrys navel and then suddenly, they were gone, leaving the street a little bit more empty, and a little bit more darker.
The park was silent when the two girls apparated in, its trees and foliage giving long shadows under the bright moon.
Harry heaved a gasp as her feet found the grass, she felt the bile beginning its upwards ascent. With a massive amount of effort she swallowed it back down, its vile taste leaving its mark on her mouth.
"What the hell Luna" she gasped as she fell onto the cold ground.
Luna was impulsive at the best of times, but even this was a bit too impulsive for the odd girl. Besides, apparating was dangerous even with a license, never mind that Luna was two years younger then what was legally allowed!
She looked up from the ground, expecting to see the familiar witch standing over her.
Instead there was nothing.
Confusedly, Harry looked around the dark park, searching for her enigmatic friend.
She heard an ethereal giggle that seemed to reverberate around the park, a flash of silver caught the corner of her eye.
"Luna, wait up!" Harry called anxiously, she jumped up from her seated position, momentarily forgetting her earlier queasiness, and stumbled towards the direction she thought she saw the girl go.
'how can she have disappeared so easily' she thought confusedly 'her cardigans bright yellow for heavens sake!' she was interrupted from her irritated thoughts by a laugh.
"Come on Harry!" Her giggle reached Harry's ears teasingly, enticingly, giving promises she had no right to give.
Harry gasped at the cold air that hit her as she ran, her feet creating muffled thuds as they hit the cold dirt. Every once and a while she would catch a glimpse of her quarry, her target, as her silver hair glided among the trees and bushes, never for a moment stopping.
Harry could feel her body reacting to the adrenaline that flooded it, the exhilaration at running was giving her Goosebumps!
"I think i see some Romanian delishpixies!" The excited voice called her, beckoned her.
Harry could do little to resist its call.
Although Harry was a tad peeved at the circumstances to her arrival, she still couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped when she heard the airy voice answer. For all the talk of imaginary creatures, Harry suspected that Luna used these wonderful creatures as a source comfort.
A source of levity in a dark world.
Harry's running was a constant rhythm, invigorated by the giggles of Luna, urging her to find the source of the lilted tinkling. Soon, the light foliage of the park began giving way to the denser brush of a forest. Harry struggled getting through the brush, her arms instinctively coming out in front of her to swat away branches and leaves that lay in the path of her destination.
Suddenly, without Harry really noticing, the forest became a clearing, a circle of peace amongst the loud forest. The clearing was surrounded by dense underbrush thick enough to hide the secretive area from any unwanted eyes.
In the centre of the peaceful sanctuary stood, proudly, a tall Elder tree, far taller than any other Elder that Harry had ever seen. Surrounding the bottom of the giant tree was moss, bushes and other foliage, arrayed around its mighty roots and trunk as if to hug a parent.
That's where Harry found Luna laying, across the roots of nature, peering up into the stars and her namesake. The blonde Raven claw noticed Harry entered the clearing and slowly sat up against the tree trunk, smiling with wide eyes, she seemed completely unaware of the fear and annoyance she had put harry through.
"Come" she said softly, her voice reverberating across the space "sit down and… Watch"
Harry didn't really want to sit and, watch, whatever that meant. Really, Harry wanted to give Luna a piece of her mind about what the hell had just happened, and about why they were even out here!
But there was something in her tone that caused Harrys verbal argument to simply come out as air, it was a tone of vulnerability and need.
She needed Harry to sit down with her, she needed Harry. The thought caused her heart to flutter anxiously.
She slowly walked towards the seated girl, her feet made soft crunches against the damp soil. Cautiously she sat beside her, and glanced over at Luna.
The girl was staring up at the stars when Harry had made herself comfortable, her eyes, reflecting the sparkling lights that danced in the sky.
In that moment Harry realised how lost Luna looked, she was quiet and still, not even acknowledging Harry's presence even though just moments ago it was she who hadcalled her down.
"L-Luna I-I…" she didn't know what to say, all her annoyance vanished in the face of the elfin beauty's silence.
Harry didn't know what to do, she wasn't exactly an expert in comforting people or even talking and socialising in general!
So in lieu of anything else she simply sat with Luna, hoping her presence was at least comfort enough.
The silence stretched into a few moments, then a few minutes, then five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes until finally with little more volume than a summers breeze, Luna spoke.
"I'm sorry"
Harry swallowed and gave a jerky nod at the pixie.
"It's, uh, fine. I-"
"I'm sorry for feeling this way" she interrupted, Those piercing Silver eyes now Spearing Harry's, causing her mouth to shut decisively.
"I'm sorry for wanting to touch you, to hold you. I'm sorry"
Harry couldn't help the gasp that escaped her at the girls declaration, and of the tears now gathering in her eyes.
"I'm sorry fo-for watching you, s-smiling at you, for thinking you're sweet and kind a-a-and." She hiccupped the last bit, her composure dissolving. With a force of will she righted herself and stared straight into Harry's eyes.
"and I'm sorry, for doing this"
Harrys barely had time to react to her words before, for a second time tonight, Luna Loovegood lunged forward. But this time she wasn't aiming for Harry's arm, she was aiming for Harry's lips.
Luna Loovegood kissed Harriet Potter, and Harry could only think one thing, well two things, one being 'ohmygodthisissogoodmhmhm'.
And the other being, 'I don't think she's sorry at all"
For the record, Luna wasn't.
The End
(Of the first chapter, depending if people actually like this or not so, WHO KNOWS!)
If you liked this and want other people to like this, review and all my dreams will come true, maybe yours too if you're good.
(seriously, reviewing is the best thing for new writers like me, i am not above whoring myself out for this)
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BTTM here and guess what?
my first fanfiction, that's what!
YAY!
so this is a bit of a stumbling mess but, its made with love and tears, and a weird fascination for Luna.
Don't judge me.
So i'm looking for betas, i guess, if you think you can improve the language and add bits to it feel free to give me a message!
Other than that i just have to say, i'm a small time Author who doesn't update regularly and has spotty language at best.
So not that original i guess.
If you see anyplace that i missed an italics or doesn't seem quiet... Right, give me a Pm and let me know.
OH! check out this story as well, it's like the better more adult version of my tiny baby story.
s/11251745/1/The-Power-of-Love
right, later losers.