J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
Written for the I Love You Challenge by the infamous dollface.
23. I love your respect for me.
46. I love the way we glance at each other across the room and say 'I love you'.
I will admit it: I was the one who stole Pansy Parkinson's romance novel.
And even worse than that?
I read it.
I left it on a table in the common room for her to find later, though I would have preferred burning it.
I learned some valuable things from that book.
You see, I have another secret, worse- or better, depending how you look at it- than the first one.
The secret? I have a secret best friend.
And my secret best friend- or SBF-, well, her name is Luna.
Luna Lovegood.
It all started at the beginning of my sixth year, her fifth year.
I was walking from the Great Hall with Malfoy and Crabbe, and I saw her for the first time.
Well, I had seen her before, but this...this was different.
Luna gave me a small smile as we walked past, but no one noticed.
No one except me.
That night I was banging my head on the wall for not smiling back.
Everyone thought that I was "just being Goyle," as Malfoy would say- or has said.
Because that's what Malfoys do: they disrespect everyone, because they think everyone is below them.
Fat chance.
No one respects me, it's like I am a Hufflepuff or something.
I wish I had been in Hufflepuff, just so that i wouldn't be in this situation.
Or in Ravenclaw. That would be a nice situation.
A few days later I was walking from the Great Hall again, it was after dinner.
Malfoy and Crabbe had gone ahead to chat it up with Daphne and Astoria Greengrass.
And then she passed by, and she gave me that same, dreamy smile as she walked past me.
And I forgot how I had sworn to myself that if she ever did that again that I would smile back.
I just stared at her, and then I followed her.
It must have been obvious that I was there, but she didn't show any signs of recognition.
We walked outside, and the sun looked like it was just about to set, and then she stopped.
Luna stopped in front of a tree, and she climbed the tree.
Without magic, without pulling out her wand, she just climbed the tree.
By then I had forgotten that she could likely see me watching her through the branches.
Maybe I just didn't care.
And then she turned to me, looking me straight in the eye as she said it.
"Want to come up?" was what she asked.
I nodded, as I was incapable of speech at the moment.
Luna smiled at me in encouragement.
If anyone had seen us, they would have been seriously surprised.
There she was, high in the tree, watching me as I somehow clawed my way onto the lowest branch.
And there she was, still watching me, as I climbed onto a second branch.
And there she was, pulling out her wand and saving me as the branch I was standing on was about to break.
And there she was, sitting next to me.
We talked for a while, and she told me about nargles and wrackspurts and blibbering humdingers and such.
All I can say is that after that I was a believer.
And now we see each other every few days, sometimes in our tree and sometimes by the lake.
It's always outside, maybe because there are less people outside, maybe because she likes fresh air.
And that's how it all started.
And now I'm sitting in the Great Hall. I'm sitting and eating, at the Slytherin table, of course.
And I am finding myself thinking things like "How do I tell her that I love her?"
All because of Pansy Parkinson's stupid romance novel, the one that I stole.
I figure that I should go right out and tell her the next time I see her, today or tomorrow, maybe.
But I am too idiotic for words if I should think that Luna Lovegood wants something done the average way.
And so it goes on like this:
One minute I'm sitting here, shoveling food into my mouth like it's Christmas.
And the next? In the next minute, I am staring at her like I have never stared at her before.
Because she is smiling at me, and though she says nothing, I understand.
She has just told me that she loves me.
And suddenly everyone is watching me, wondering why I'm not eating, as I am Goyle.
And then one girl turns and sees Luna, her radiant smile still shining at me.
And then aother person turns, and another, until they are all glancing between Luna and me.
And now? Now, I have a choice.
I can tell her what I want to tell her, and I can do what I want to do.
Or I can lose my SBF and wallow in sadness for the rest of my sorry life.
I think I'll go with the first one, I say to myself, but then I wonder.
Why do I love her? I ask myself.
Because I can't help it, I just have to, that is he first thing that comes to my mind.
She respects me, she doesn't look down on me like Malfoy and Crabbe and everyone else.
Because she is so unique, and she has chosen the perfect moment...
For me to smile back, just like I am now.
And, believe it or not, this whole revelation has taken less than a minute.
And now?
Now it's all over, and guess where I'm sitting a half hour later?
I am in our tree, with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Kissing her blissfully.
A/N- The end! That was so fun to write! Reviews appreciated, hint hint.