Disclaimer; I own nothing.
AN: This takes places right before Ron joins Harry and Hermione again in DH. I have an incredible soft spot for both Ron and Luna and love reading stories about them being friends.
Reviews are very much appreciated. A fair warning though; this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. I do hope I stayed in character for both Ron and Luna, although I think people will say Ron is a little OOC. I always thought Ron's emotional range exceeded the teaspoon, so I think he's quite capable of all this. Anyway, please go easy on me?
Summary: Ron is trying to find his way back to Harry and Hermione when he runs into Luna. Takes place before she gets taken by the Death Eaters. Ron/Luna friendship.
Ron stood on the far side of the lake, in the snow-covered banks, his eyes fixed on Hogwarts. Despite the fact that he could think of a million other things that were more fun than going to school, Hogwarts held a special place in his heart.
It was home away from home. It was where Harry, Hermione and he had spent so much time together. Where he had gotten to know Luna, Neville and Hagrid. Where he had played Quidditch and roamed the halls at night, more often than not under the cover of the invisibility cloak, trying to dodge Filch and Mrs. Norris. It was where he had experienced some of the best days of his life.
But those days were gone. He wondered if he would ever return to Hogwarts as a student and take his N.E.W.T.s or if he would just try to find a job with only his O.W.L.s once this war was over. If the war ever really would be over and if he wouldn't be dead by the time it was.
His eyes moved to the tower on the far left, the one where Dumbledore used to have his office. Well, the office would still be there of course, but now Snape occupied it. Ron shook his head, trying not to think about that filthy traitor. He had never trusted him and neither had Harry, but everyone in the Order seemed to and so they went along with it. Looking back, Ron often wondered if there was something they could have done.
He noticed the sun getting lower and lower in the sky and knew he would have to find a place to stay the night. Hogsmeade was out of the question, what with Dementors and Death Eaters wandering around there freely, so he opted for pitching a tent a little further down in the forest instead. He realized he was taking a big risk by staying this close to Hogwarts, but he was too tired to apparate anywhere else.
He grabbed his rug sack off of the snow-covered ground and turned around.
"Hello, Ron Weasley," a soft voice spoke from somewhere between the trees.
"Bloody hell, Luna!" Ron growled, recognizing the voice immediately, "What are you doing here?" He walked towards the forest and stopped in front of the girl, whose eyes were as big and bright blue as ever.
"I'm sorry, Ron," Luna smiled at him, "I didn't mean to scare you. I've been watching you for a while now and wondered if you were going to stand there all night, but then you turned around and I thought I should make my presence known."
Ron shook his head at the perfectly logic explanation Luna had given him, "I'm sorry for shouting at you, Luna."
"That's ok, I'm used to much worse." Luna looked up at him, "Can I give you a hug? It has been an awfully long time since I last saw you, Ron, and I have been quite worried about you and Harry and Hermione."
"Er, yeah, sure, why not." Ron put his rug sack down and held out his arms.
Luna threw her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, letting out a sob, "I was so worried."
Ron, not sure how to respond, kept quiet, and instead put his arms around her tiny frame. They stood like that for a while, until Luna let go and took a step back.
"Thank you." She dried her eyes with the sleeves of her robes and took a deep breath before she asked, "Are Harry and Hermione also here?"
"No," Ron debated whether or not to tell Luna what happened, but decided that he would tell her the truth, as she was always so honest herself, "We've had a bit of a row a couple of weeks back and I left them."
"Oh." Luna took a step forward and grabbed his hand, "But they are…" she hesitated, "They are ok?"
"I think so, yes," Ron replied. "I mean, I'm sure we would have heard something if anything had happened to Harry, right?"
"I guess so." Luna agreed and squeezed his hand, "I'm sure you will find your way back to them, Ron. That's why you're here, isn't it? To find them?"
He had always been amazed by how Luna's mind worked, figuring things out so fast and often being right, and couldn't help but smile, "Yes."
"Yes, I thought so." she muttered, more to herself than to him. She let go of his hand and sat down between the trees, where no snow had reached the ground and gestured for him to sit next to her.
Ron sat down and leaned against one of the big trees. He looked at the girl sitting next to him, "Why are you here, Luna? I mean, are you even allowed to leave school grounds these days?"
She smiled and shook her head, "Not really, no. But whenever the moon is in it's waxing gibbous phase, the wrackspurts like to come out and they seem especially fond of making the Death Eater's brains go fuzzy, which allows me to get out of the castle without anyone noticing. As long as I am back before the moon sets, they won't notice that I'm gone. I have been really lucky these past two days, with the moon rising so early during the afternoon and setting so late in the night."
"I can imagine." Ron mumbled, not knowing what to say. He gave her a worried look, "Just be careful, Luna, ok?"
Luna nodded, "Always am."
"Good."
"Ron?" Luna moved so that she was sitting a little closer to him. "Have you and Harry and Hermione found…" her voice dropped to a whisper, "what you were looking for? I have often thought about you since the wedding and I do hope you have made some progress."
Ron, eyes wide in shock, looked at her, "How do you know about…" he shook his head, "Who told you?"
Luna shrugged, "Nobody. But it's obvious, isn't it? Dumbledore died, Death Eaters ruined your brother's wedding and all of a sudden you three are gone and you don't even return to school for your final year. At first I thought you had only left because of the Death Eaters and was quite looking forward to seeing you on the train again, but when you weren't there…" Luna sighed, "I figured you must be on some sort of mission from Professor Dumbledore."
Ron closed his eyes for a second; again deciding that he should be honest with her. "We found one thing."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Luna replied happily.
"Yes and no." Ron fixed his eyes on the lake in front of them and went on, "Harry thinks there are at least three more things we need to find and destroy."
"Oh. I suppose that changes things, yes." Luna agreed.
"I really need to find them again, Luna," Ron sighed, "The moment I stepped out of the enchantment that protected our camp I realized I was wrong and wanted to go back, but I couldn't find them anymore. I guess Hermione really is the best at those spells. And now, I have no idea where they are or what they are doing or if they are ok and it is driving me mad."
Luna took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, "You will find them again, Ron, sooner than you think. I am sure of it."
"Thank you."
They sat in silence for a moment, each of them in their own thoughts when all of a sudden Luna giggled.
Ron looked at her, surprised, "What is it?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about what I have gotten Daddy for Christmas," Luna explained, "It will be quite the present."
"It's almost Christmas?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Next week, yes." Luna smiled, "The train is taking us back to London this Saturday."
"I had no idea." Ron sank back against the tree, wishing more than ever that he hadn't left his friends. He slipped back into thoughts again and didn't notice Luna had let go of his hand and had gotten up until she said his name. He looked up at her and smiled, "I'm sorry, Luna, what did you say?"
"I said that I really have to go, I promised I would help Hagrid feed the Thestrals."
"Of course." Ron got up as well and nodded, "Wouldn't want to disappoint him."
"He is really worried about you three, Ron." Luna said, a sad smile crossing her face, "I don't suppose I can tell him I saw you tonight?"
Ron shook his head, "No, better not."
"In that case," Luna stood on her toes and kissed Ron's cheek, "I wish you all the luck in the world with your quest Ron Weasley, both finding Harry and Hermione and those other things you are looking for."
"Thank you, Luna." Ron smiled at her and watched as she turned around and started walking back towards the castle.
Shell Cottage. A couple of days after the escape from Malfoy Manor.
Ron watched Luna as she wandered through the garden, sometimes stopping to pick a flower, which she added to the ones she was already holding.
She had explained to them that Death Eaters had taken her off the train when she went home for Christmas, but didn't want to tell how she ended up at Malfoy Manor or what happened to her there. She seemed unaffected by the awful things that must have happened to her when she was held captive, but Ron knew better; he had heard her scream in her sleep every night since they had escaped.
"You should go talk to her." Harry's voice interrupted Ron's thoughts, "She did a very noble thing by not telling them we were out looking for horcruxes."
"But she didn't know we were, though." Ron replied. He didn't know why he was arguing Harry's statement when he knew Harry was right. Part of him blamed the sheer exhaustion he was experiencing, the other part was ashamed for doing so.
"Oh, come on," Harry sighed, a little angry with his friend's attitude "If she had told them what she knew, that we were on a mission from Dumbledore, looking for things, don't you think they would have figured it out? They would have captured us months ago."
Ron sighed, but got up, giving Harry a nod. He opened the back door and walked through the garden, not surprised to find Luna standing next to Dobby's grave. She had placed the flowers on top of it and stood silently, her hands folded and her head low.
He watched her for a while; giving her the time she needed before he quietly cleared his throat, "Luna?"
"Hello, Ron," she replied, her head still low, "I was wondering when you would make your presence known."
He smiled, remembering what she had said that day at the lake. He took a few step forwards and stood next to her, taking her small hand in his, "I wanted to thank you, Luna."
Luna kept silent, so Ron continued, "I can't imagine what happened once you were captured and I really, really wish you hadn't gone through all that. I'm sorry that you did."
He could feel Luna squeeze his hand and felt a tug at his heart when he heard her quiet sobs. Ron took a deep breath, "Thank you for not telling on us. Thank you for giving us more time to look for those horcruxes. Thank you for being such an incredibly strong person. Thank you, Luna, for everything."
From beneath her sobs, Luna whispered, "You are a good person, Ron Weasley."
Ron let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, "And you are the best friend anyone could ever ask for."
- FIN -
AN: After receiving the review from Gag Hafrunt I made some changes to the story. The part in shell cottage, where Harry is telling Ron to go talk to Luna was originally a talk between Bill and Ron. However, as the reviewer was kind enough to point out to me, the trio never told Bill or anybody else about the horcruxes. Thank you, anonymous reviewer, for helping me there :)