Title: "Not Yet"
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Hermione/Luna
Summary: Sometimes love comes calling gently, and uncertain.
Warnings: Fluffyness
Word Count: 4750
JKR's characters...
Author's Notes:Set right after Rita Skeeter interviews Harry for "The Quibbler" in "Order of the Phoenix" Prompts - "Valentine's Day", "I wanna hold your hand". I drew the line at conversation hearts. Written for Femmefest 2012
"Not Yet"
Hermione and Luna remained at the table after Rita and Harry had left. Rita was anxious to get her story completed and get back in the public's eye, even if it was just "The Quibbler".
"I really appreciate your helping with this, Luna," Hermione said earnestly, "I hope it doesn't cause trouble for you and your father." Luna shrugged.
"Daddy always prints the truth," she replied, "it's up to people whether they believe it or not."
"Yes, well I appreciate it anyway. Not many people are willing to stand against the nonsense the Ministry is spouting. To say nothing of that horrid Umbridge woman."
"She is rather horrid," Luna agreed. "Didn't anybody ask you out for Valentine's Day, Hermione?"
"What? Err, no, what makes you ask that?" Hermione answered, nonplussed.
"Well, you're smart, and you're attractive, and Viktor Crum asked you to the ball last Christmas so you're sort of famous," Luna shrugged again.
"Yes, well that was last year, and – you think I'm attractive?" Even Viktor had never told her that, as much as he had seemed to like her.
"Very. You are a loyal friend, and you stand up for what you believe in," Luna replied.
Hermione sighed inwardly, she was glad that Luna admired her for those things, and she knew that she wasn't beautiful like Fleur Delacour or Cho, but just once she-
"And you have the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen," Luna continued, "a person could drown in them, and they go so well with your gorgeous hair."
"Wait – what - my hair? Gorgeous? What was in your drink, Luna?" a flabbergasted Hermione asked.
"Gillywater and cherry syrup, would you like one?"
"Sure, thanks," Hermione said, still a bit flummoxed. Luna waved her glass and held up two fingers when she had Rosmerta's attention. "My hair is a mess, Luna," Hermione countered when she had gotten over her surprise.
"Don't be silly," Luna returned, "it's thick, and shiny, and your shampoo smells so nice. I just want to bury my face in it." Hermione had no idea how to respond to that, the very last thing she had expected out of this day was Luna Lovegood confessing that she wanted to bury her face in her hair.
"Umm… thank you?" Hermione said cautiously, and Luna beamed at her. Luna had a wonderful smile, Hermione realized; she put all of herself into it.
"Here you are, ladies," Madame Rosmerta said, setting their drinks in front of them, "and a little something from me on Valentine's Day for you both. I'm not Madame Puddifoot, but I'm still a sucker for romance." She put a heart-shaped cake in the center of the table. Hermione turned scarlet.
"Luna, Madame Rosmerta thinks we're on a date" Hermione whispered. Luna stirred her gillywater.
"I don't mind," Luna said casually, "it does no harm. Cake?"
Hermione stared at Luna as she offered her a bite of cake, and her mouth slowly opened to accept it. Luna got her own bite after and chewed happily.
"It's a lovely cake, don't you think?" Luna asked. Hermione hurried to chew and swallow, and washed the cake down with her gillywater.
"Yes, it's very nice," she answered honestly. Hermione was a little uncomfortable, although she was not sure precisely why. Luna had merely given her an unexpected, if unconventional, compliment. Of course, unconventional and Luna shared closet space, so it might be considered perfectly normal after a bit of thought.
"I suppose I should be getting back to school," Hermione said tentatively.
"Whatever for? It's barely after lunch, and she's there," Luna replied. There was no need to spell out who Luna meant by "she".
Hermione had to admit that Luna had a point here.
"What would we do? I can't drink gillywater all day," Hermione asked.
"Well, there's Scrivenshaft's, and Gladrags, and the Owl Office. I always enjoy those," Luna suggested.
Hermione liked those shops as well, and she could really use a new quill. She could nearly always use a new quill, come right down to it.
"Fine then, let's go," she agreed, and they left money on the table and stepped into the street. Most of the students were still in town; nobody seemed to want to go back to Hogwarts. There were even a couple of students gazing longingly at the train station.
Hermione took a deep breath as they entered Scrivenshaft's, she simply adored the dusty smell of parchment and the slightly spicy odors of the multitude of quills. From the corner of her eye she saw Luna do the same thing. Of course she likes quills and parchment, she's a Ravenclaw," Hermione reminded herself. Luna turned to her and smiled.
"I love this place, it smells like knowledge, and secrets. Ohh! Look!" Luna seized Hermione by the hand and dragged her over to a display. "Isn't it just beautiful!" Luna exclaimed.
It was. Floating in a glass case was a quill that was unmistakably made from a Phoenix feather.
"Genuine Phoenix Feather Quill – Never Needs Sharpening" read the card in the case.
"It's so expensive, though," Hermione said when she could speak. It was.
"How many quills do you use up in a term, Hermione?" Luna asked.
"About a dozen," she answered. Luna raised an eyebrow. "Okay, more like three dozen," Hermione admitted, once again reminded that Luna was a Ravenclaw. This quill cost more than three dozen of her usual quills, but less than five dozen, and she would always need a quill, and her parents were dentists and gave her a generous allowance, and – "I'll take it," Hermione told the hovering clerk, who gave a smile that did not match Luna's for beauty, but exceeded it in width.
"Thank you for encouraging me to get this, Luna, it's so beautiful, and really quite practical in the long run."
"You're welcome, let's go and see the owls now!" Hermione found herself running to keep up with Luna, the girl's enthusiasm was contagious.
Dozens of yellow eyes regarded them with benign disdain as they wandered about the Owl Office. Luna knew the species of all of them, and Hermione was very impressed with the depth of her knowledge.
"I'll just send daddy a note," Luna decided, and she took up a form and wrote –
"Happy Valentine's Day, daddy! I'm spending the day with my friend Hermione, I hope you're having fun too! Love, Luna." Luna paid her fee and they watched the owl swoop off. Hermione thought that was sweet of Luna, and briefly considered sending her own parents a message. The image of a post owl interrupting a root canal made her reconsider.
"There's Gladrags," Luna announced, and once again Hermione scurried to keep up.
They had a good time looking at the clothes, and the clerk was indulgent. One never knew who was going to buy, and the dressing rooms were there for a reason.
Luna emerged from the dressing room wearing a robe of Ravenclaw blue and silver, and Hermione's jaw dropped. The colors were perfect for her, and the happy look on her face that contrasted so sharply with Luna's usual distant expression completely transformed her.
"You look beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed, and Luna's face shone with pleasure. Luna's joy did not seem to be diminished even when she decided that she could not afford the robes, and Hermione considered offering to buy them for her but was afraid that Luna would be offended somehow.
"Hermione, look, you have to try this on!" Luna exclaimed.
"This" was a robe of Gryffindor Red with gold metallic trimming, and Hermione had to admit that it was impressive, but she had already spent too much on this trip.
"Go on and try it, Miss," the clerk said kindly, "it will look a treat on you."
Even Hermione thought that the robe looked good on her, and when Luna tucked the Phoenix quill into her hair the clerk broke out in applause. Hermione had never felt so beautiful in her life, not even at the Ball, not even with her hair tamed with liters of potion, and Luna's happy face behind her in the mirror made it even better.
The clerk gave them her card, and promised them a nice discount should they later decide to buy.
"It's good for business when our customers look as lovely as you girls did in those robes," she explained.
Hermione did pick up some new underthings, and Luna bought a pair of socks.
"Mine tend to stray a bit," Luna explained.
"Where to now?" Luna asked when they were back outside.
"Not the Hog's Head or the Shrieking Shack," Hermione decided, "Honeydukes?"
"Grand!" Luna said happily.
Honeydukes was as busy as one would expect, and Hermione and Luna wedged their way through the press of students, searching for their favorites. Hermione got some chocolates, and Luna picked pepper imps and an ice mouse. Neither of them were inclined to linger.
Back out on the street they looked around for somewhere else to go, as the idea of avoiding Umbridge for as long as possible had really taken root.
"Have you ever been to Madame Puddifoot's?" Luna asked Hermione.
"No, it doesn't seem like my sort of place, to tell you the truth," Hermione answered her.
"They have very good sugar cookies, and how do you know it's not your sort of place if you've never been?"
"Won't it be full of couples snogging and making moon eyes at each other?" Hermione asked.
"Probably," Luna admitted, "we'll just ignore them, come on."
Hermione followed her, she was a little hungry and she did like sugar cookies.
It was pretty much what Hermione had expected, a riot of pink and infested with cupids. Luna appeared not to notice any of it and led Hermione to a table at the back of the shop. Hermione took a chair on the side away from the room and was so spared the sight of the couples engaged in swallowing each other's faces.
"Shoo," she said to the hovering cupid.
"Tea or chocolate?" Luna asked.
"Tea, I think. Chocolate might sort of overwhelm the cookies," she decided.
"Tea and sugar cookies, please," Luna told the server. "Thank you for spending time with me, Hermione. I hope you don't get picked on too much because of it."
Hermione started to deny that such a thing would happen, but Luna's open and honest face stopped the protest. Luna might be a little different, but she was surely no fool.
"Anyone who would do that is simply not worth listening to in the first place, Luna. Besides, it's not like I don't get picked on plenty all own my own, and I've had a lovely time today."
"So have I!" Luna said happily. Their order arrived just then.
"Here you are ladies, enjoy," she said.
"These really are good sugar cookies," Hermione commented after her first bite.
"You don't mind that they're shaped like hearts? People might think we're on a date," Luna asked, her eyes twinkling.
Hermione thought about that, and she thought about how much fun she had had with Luna.
"I don't mind if they do, either. It does no harm, just as you said, and frankly I can't recall when I've had such a good time. There always seems to be some sort of crisis when I'm with Harry and Ron. Ginny is fun, but Ron is always checking up on her and sticking his nose in her business. Honestly, one day she is going to hex his freckles off. So no, I don't mind if people think we're on a date, at least it will give them something to tease me about other than my hair."
Luna beamed, and they talked about Hermione's new quill and the beautiful robes they had tried on. Hermione was surprised at how much they really had in common, how comfortable she was with Luna.
Hermione picked up the last cookie, "Want to share?" she asked, poised to snap it in two.
"Please no, this is scarcely the day to break a heart," Luna said softly. Hermione felt a little tingle at the tone of her voice, and wordlessly handed the cookie to her.
"It's nice to have customers with manners," their server told them as she cleared the table, "most of the other kids today… I mean, I know it's Valentine's Day and all but there was more tongue in here today than at the butcher's. Will there be anything else?"
They were finished, and after paying their tab and leaving a nice tip for the long-suffering server they made their way back to the street.
"Is there anyplace else you want to go, Luna?"
"Not especially, I don't really want to go back to the castle just yet, though."
"Come with me then," Hermione said, and she turned away from Hogwarts and led Luna towards the outskirts of the village.
"Where are we going?" Luna asked when they passed the last building.
"There's a nice view of Hogwarts from the hills, I thought you might enjoy it."
"Oh, lovely," Luna responded.
The climb was easier than Hermione remembered; nevertheless, she got a little out of breath. Luna might have been strolling in the garden for all the strain she showed.
"Here, see?" Hermione pointed into the distance where the castle windows glittered in the afternoon sun. She turned to Luna, fully expecting to see the bright and happy expression that she had worn most of their day. Instead, Luna looked troubled, nearly in tears. "What's wrong, Luna?"
"I haven't been honest with you, Hermione. I'm sorry. Please don't hate me."
"I can't imagine ever hating you, what do you mean?" Hermione asked gently.
"Today, all the places we've been, well, I've been pretending that we really were on a date. I just wanted to know what it would feel like, and you've always been kind to me, and you looked so pretty with the quill in your hair, and…" Luna's voice trailed off.
Hermione was at a loss for words. This was a new sensation for her, and she studied it carefully. Luna seemed to think that her silence meant that she was angry.
"I'm sorry, I'll go now," Luna said, and she turned away.
"Wait, please," Hermione said, shaking off her reverie. Luna turned back to her, tears filling her eyes. "I'm not angry, Luna, not at all. I'm flattered, actually, that you would want to go out with me. I mean, I never pictured myself on a date with another girl, but I've had a lovely day with you. So maybe we can pretend together, just for a little longer, just to see how it feels." She held her hand out, and after a moment's hesitation during which Hermione could plainly see the fear on Luna's face, the expectation of yet another cruel trick being played on her, Luna took it.
Luna's hand was small and warm, and Hermione thought that it was quite a nice hand to hold here high on the hillside, looking over the village at the castle with its glittering windows. The wind picked up a bit, and there was an edge to it so they drew a bit closer against the chill.
"Thank you," Luna said quietly, and Hermione squeezed her hand in response. "This is the best Valentine's Day I've ever had, but my nose is cold now."
It was indeed a bit red, Hermione saw, but the smile was back on Luna's face even if it was a bit guarded and fragile. Hermione remembered what Luna had said about her hair earlier that day.
"Here then," she said, and she put her hand behind Luna's head and gently urged her face towards the crook of her neck where her hair lay thickly over her shoulder. Luna nuzzled into it and sighed contentedly, her arms going around Hermione and holding her gently. Hermione found herself stroking Luna's hair as a warm feeling grew inside of her.
"Luna," Hermione said softly after a time, "we need to go back now, I'm afraid."
"Oh, yes, of course we do," agreed Luna, and she released Hermione and stepped back. "Thank you again, Hermione, for spending the day with me, for not being mad, for letting me pretend."
"You're welcome Luna, but maybe – I mean, it might not be easy, and it's certain to cause trouble for us with some people, but maybe, if you want to, maybe we could try it without the pretending, just to see how it goes?" Hermione fidgeted as she waited for a reply.
Luna's face lit up, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the sight.
"I would like that very much, to try, to see how it goes."
Hand-in-hand they descended the hill, and when they entered Hogsmeade to join the reluctant line of students trudging back to the castle and Dolores Umbridge Luna tried to turn loose of Hermione's hand.
"Please," Hermione said to her, "I want to. I mean, if you do as well."
"I do, I love holding your hand."
"Wait up!" they heard, and they turned to see Ron hurrying to catch them up. Hermione flinched inwardly, but kept hold of Luna's hand. Ron joined them and raised an eyebrow as he looked at their linked hands. "So, you two been off snogging in Madame Puddifoot's?" he asked with a laugh.
"Certainly not, Ron, that would be vulgar. We haven't even kissed yet, but we did have a lovely tea at Puddifoot's on our date," Hermione answered.
"Huh? Really? You and Luna…"
"Me and Luna," Hermione confirmed, "do you mind?"
"Mind? I dunno, I mean you're both girls and all – you haven't kissed? When did this happen? Does Harry know? Does Ginny? 'Struth, Hermione, I…"
"Breathe, Ronald," Luna suggested.
"You two know you're going to catch it for this, right?" Ron asked them.
"Likely, yes, but really, it's not like we didn't catch it before, especially from Pansy and her gang of –"
"Well, well, well, look at the Mudblood and her crazy girlfriend. Honestly, I'm not surprised you two are dykes. I mean, what boy would want either of you?" Pansy's gang laughed along with her. "You two deserve each other."
"Thank you Pansy, and how are you and Draco getting along?" Luna asked sweetly. Pansy turned red and stomped off, followed by her entourage.
"Well, if you're happy I'm happy for you, I just hope you two know what you're getting into," Ron told them.
"Of course we don't know what we're getting into," Luna answered, "neither of us has ever had a girlfriend before, but we do like each other, and we had fun together today." Ron worked on that one for a moment.
"That actually makes sense," he said, "I'll see you later then, ladies." Ron's long legs carried him up the path ahead of them.
"Ron was actually nice about it," Hermione said in surprise.
"He was, rather," Luna agreed. "Hermione, do you mind if I tell people we were on a date? I don't suppose that anyone will ask, but…"
"Of course I don't mind, Luna. I'm sure that Ron will have told Harry and Ginny at least, even before we get back. I don't plan on putting up a notice on the board or anything, but I'm not hiding us either. We'll just have to see how things go, this is new for both of us, who knows where it will lead? But your hand feels like it belongs in mine, and you have the most wonderful smile I've ever seen." She saw it again, and it was better than ever.
There was a bit of whispering when they entered the castle together, but on the whole it was less than the usual taunting.
"Would you like to study together after dinner?" Hermione asked. Luna smiled and nodded, her eyes dancing, then she gave Hermione's hand a squeeze and turned towards Ravenclaw. Hermione stared after her for a moment before making her way to Gryffindor's common room. Ron, Harry, and Ginny had their heads together at one of the tables and Hermione went to join them.
"So, big day in Hogsmeade, Hermione? Get anything new?" Ginny asked.
"Indeed, look at the marvelous quill I got," Hermione said, showing it off.
"Yeah, it's great. What else?" Ginny pressed.
"Would anyone like a chocolate?" Hermione asked. "I got a nice box of them at Honeydukes." Ron snickered, he knew that Ginny was about to burst.
"I was thinking of something a bit more personal," Ginny hinted.
"Well, I did get some new underwear, but I'm hardly going to put those on the table." By now Harry was stifling a laugh too; Ginny was starting to get a little red-faced.
"Did you, or did you not, go on a date with Luna Lovegood?" Ginny asked through clenched teeth.
"Oh, yes, sort of."
"How does one 'sort of' go on a date?"
"Well it started at the Three Broomsticks when Madame Rosmerta assumed that we were on a date and brought us a little cake, then we toured Hogsmeade and had a really nice time together. It turns out we have loads in common."
"That's nice, sounds miles better than my date with Cho," Harry said.
"Yeah, it's nice, but it doesn't sound like a date," Ginny told her.
"We did have tea at Madame Puddifoot's."
"Did you kiss?"
"Of course not, we weren't even officially on our date then, and anyway I'm not one for kissing in public. I'm sure Ron already told you we didn't kiss."
"A lesson you should learn, Gin," Ron said seriously.
"Shut it, Ron. Yes, he told us that, but you might have lied to him about it. So no kiss, anything else?"
"Well, I took her up near Snuffles' old cave to show her the view of the castle, and we talked, and we held hands, and we hugged a bit. She likes my hair." Ginny knew there were things Hermione was leaving out, but she also knew there was no way to get them out of her with Ron and Harry there.
"That's a nice view, worth the hike. Bet it was cold up there," Ginny commented. Ron shot her a suspicious glance, she ignored it. "And it sounds like a very good day, I'm glad you had fun, but doesn't "date" imply some sort of planning or mutual agreement, or something?"
Hermione was not about to tell even Ginny what Luna had said about pretending to be on a date, that was something just between them. "We decided that since people had assumed we were on a date, and that we had had such a good time, that we would consider that we really had been on a date and see how things went from there."
Ginny, Harry, and Ron stared at her.
"You're right," Ginny said at last, "that's 'sort of' a date. So is she sort of your girlfriend now?"
Hermione thought back to how she had felt when Luna held her, nuzzling into her hair, and the warm glow returned.
"No," Hermione said softly, "there's nothing 'sort of' about that."
"Great. Harry, we'll talk later about what you did wrong with Cho. You're going to have to give that a little time. Ron, I'm proud of you for not giving Hermione the business about Luna, even though you know you'd have bats coming out your nose for weeks if you did. Hermione, come with me, I want to see your new knickers."
"Women," Ron said after they had gone, "if I'd said that to Hermione she'd have hexed me."
"You think?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. You suppose Lee has any firewhiskey?"
"Okay Hermione, this is your business, but come on, there has to be something you didn't want to say in front of them that you can tell me. You guys really kissed, didn't you?"
"No, we really didn't, but Luna – she said that I had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and that my hair was gorgeous, and that she just wanted to bury her face in it, and…"
Ginny was staring. Her mouth might have been hanging open a little bit.
"Well, her nose was cold, and I sort of pulled her to me a bit, and she kind of put her arms around me and nuzzled her face into my hair and against my neck, and maybe I stroked her hair, and – and we might have stayed that way for a little while..."
"Uh-huh." Ginny shook herself. "You should have seen the look on your face when you were telling me that, Hermione. You're right again, there's nothing 'sort of' about this. I know you both know that you're going to catch some grief about this, but you're not going to catch any from me, that's just about the most romantic thing I've ever heard of."
"It really was," Hermione whispered.
"But you didn't kiss?"
"Not yet."
When Luna had entered the Ravenclaw common room there were several girls clustered around Cho, sympathizing and comforting her. The boys had gathered just as far away from them as they could get, and there were empty chairs near the fire. Luna plopped down in one and opened her box of pepper imps.
"Hi Luna," Sarah Fawcett greeted her.
"Hello, would you like some pepper imps?" Sarah reached over and Luna poured some into her hand.
"Are you just getting back from Hogsmeade?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, it was a lovely day, I had a marvelous time."
"Umm, Luna, I overheard some Slytherin girls talking earlier, they were talking about you holding hands and kind of maybe being Hermione Granger's girlfriend…"
"And?"
"Well, is it true?" Sarah whispered.
"Yes," Luna said happily. Sarah gnawed her lip thoughtfully, Hermione was generally respected in Ravenclaw, and while most of them thought that Luna was a bit odd, they all knew how smart she was. Sarah thought they might actually make a pretty good couple.
"What's it like to kiss a girl?" Sarah asked her.
"I don't know," Luna answered, "not yet."
Hermione waved to Luna at dinner, and ignored the catcalls from the Slytherin table, really, it was not much different than usual. Hermione figured it wasn't any worse being called queer than it was mudblood. Luna maintained her accustomed serenity.
Madame Pince might have had to shush students in the library a bit more than normally that evening, but Hermione and Luna studied quietly together and found that they made very good study partners. Luna was even able to explain something about Ancient Runes that had been puzzling Hermione for some time.
"How are things going, Luna? Has anyone been giving you trouble about us? In Ravenclaw, I mean, Parkinson and Malfoy and their lot don't count," Hermione asked Luna when they had left the library.
"Not really, Sarah asked me what it was like to kiss a girl. She seemed disappointed when I told her I didn't know."
"Do you want to? Kiss, I mean," Hermione asked her.
"I suppose so, sometime, but I'm quite happy holding your hand and hugging like we did this afternoon," Luna replied.
They had reached the point where their paths separated, and it was close to curfew.
"Goodnight, Hermione, I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for a wonderful day," Luna said, and she gave Hermione her very best smile.
"Wait, please," Hermione said, and she led Luna into an alcove behind a statue. "Here," she whispered, and she guided Luna's face to her neck and sighed happily when Luna put her arms around her and buried her face in Hermione's hair.
Luna fit perfectly against her, and Hermione held her and felt the warmth of her body and the softness of her cheek where it pressed against Hermione's neck. She stroked the cool silk of her hair and slipped her fingers through it to find the skin of Luna's neck where she could feel the racing heartbeat that paced her own.
The curfew warning sounded and they reluctantly parted.
"I'll see you at breakfast," they said at the same time, and Hermione watched Luna until she was out of sight before ascending the stairs.
Ginny broke into a grin when she saw the expression on Hermione's face as she came through the portrait hole. She walked up the stairs with Hermione.
"So, study date with Luna, huh?"
"Yes," Hermione replied, clearly miles away.
"So, did you kiss her?"
"Not yet."