The Girl Beyond The Masks

by Phobbers

When Harry goes over to console Cho after a D.A. meeting, what if it was all another plot to upset Luna, a girl in love with the boy who could see beyond the masks. With one week to prove himself and for Luna to trust him again, how will they cope in the long run? *warning: some swearing and a lot of mistletoe and Cho bashing*

Here is a Christmas one-shot for all those Larry lovers out there ;).

A Merry Christmas to all and I hope you all enjoy this fanfiction and have a great day!

D.A. had just ended and as everybody was leaving the requirement room in groups of threes, Harry was looking around calmly to see how many people were left to go and noticed that there was someone hanging around by the mirror, seeming to be looking at the picture of Cedric Diggory. As Harry neared the girl he saw it to be none other than Cedric Diggory's ex-girlfriend Cho Chang, his previous crush. The girl was obviously still grieving so Harry decided to go over and console her, against his bad gut feeling, this went unnoticed by all except a pair of large pale blue eyes who had been asked to wait behing.

"Are you alright? I heard Umbridge gave you a rough time the other day."

"Yeah, I'm okay… Anyway it is worth it… It's just learning all this, makes me wonder if he'd known it."

"Cedric did no all this stuff, he was good… It was just that Voldemort was better."

"You're a really good teacher Harry, I've never been able to understand anything before… Mistletoe."

"Probably full of nargles though."

"What are nargles?"

"I have no idea bu-"

Harry was broken off by a kiss from Cho much to the upset of the girl hidden in the doorway. Once it had began, she ran off with her light blond hair billowing in the wind behind her. As Harry broke the kiss off, due to noticing this, he saw that Cho may have cost him a chance of a relationship with this girl, someone who truly meant a lot to him. Seeing her run off he whispered, "Luna...", much to the older girl's contempt.

"I just kissed you and you called me Luna."

"I did not ask for you to kiss me, for a matter of fact, I was trying to distract you from that possibility. I only came over here because you looked upset."

"Nargles? Nargles, is what you come up with to distract me? You are just like Luna using silly thing like that."

"How is being like Luna a bad thing?"

"That girl is insane, half the things she says are made up and illogical! I have no idea how she got into Ravenclaw with how she flipping acts!"

"Then you obviously aren't paying enough attention to what she says, how do you even get into your common room? You take her riddles literally and don't look for the real meaning, nobody in this school does."

"Wow… That girl is such a liar, I can't believe how wrapped around her finger you are. When you discover how truly insane she is don't come running back to me, I gave you a chance of a relationship and you blew it! I was trying to make you forget about that lunatic so you could have someone worthy of yourself like me."

"What a load of bull. I'm sorry I came over here to see if you are all right and you pull this shit? I'm leaving, I need to make sure LUNA is okay."

With that Harry turned and ran out of the room looking for the beautiful blonde with the hidden sanity but, he was unlucky in his search. As it was nearing curfew he had to get back to his dormitory, the only thing keeping him somewhat sane about this was that he could check the Marauder's map to see if she was back in her tower. Luckily she was in there even though that place was no where near safe for her. Unknown to Harry, the poor girl was crying to herself with several sound proof charms on her curtains, she had never felt this alone in her entire life. Harry was the one of the only ones who saw through her masks and had proper conversations with her on a daily basis. It was fair to say that she had fallen hard for him, only for him to be snatched up by the girl she absolutely loathed.

The next day, the tears had yet to stop properly. Even though Harry had refused Cho, she was boasting in the common room, to those who were D.A. members or sympathisers, at how she had kissed Harry Potter whilst listing all of his positive physical attributes, not mentioning anything about his true personality at all. That morning Luna had left her common room with the normal dreamy/absent look on her face and went searching for her best friend Ginny Weasley.

After a short search, Luna found her on the way to the Great Hall for an earlier breakfast and had pulled her aside into one of the alcoves. Ginny knowing this situation was a private one from the acute wand gestures Luna had done she began the interrogation, finding out who she would have to humiliate and find a reason for humiliating for.

"Mask or no mask problem?"

"No mask."

"What happened?"

"Cho and Harry."

"Luna what happened?"

"Cho kissed Harry, knowing I was there and waiting behind for him. Harry knkows how much pain that girl causes me but, he just let her kiss him."

"Did he try to stop it?"

"He was talking about nargles at the time and she broke him off. When that happened I ran."

"You fancy Harry don't you."

"Yes."

"Were you going to tell him?"

"I'm not sure, I just w...wanted to speak and relax with him bu...bu...but she grew mistletoe with a charm and k..kissed himmmm."

"Luna, honey, calm down. This will sort itself out okay."

After several minutes of quiet tears, her shaking had stopped and she had calmed down a considerable amount. Once this was going on, Ginny was happily planning the demise of Harry James Potter. After a few quick jokes and a lengthy chat, Luna readopted her mask and walked into the Great Hall with Ginny to get breakfast from the food that remained.

Throughout the day, Harry had been trying to get close to Luna however, as soon as he caught sight of her someone would congratulate him on his new relationship with Cho or he would be distracted and hauled in the opposite direction by both his friends and nemesis, who did not know the full extent of the situation and were sure that 'it's probably not that important, just wait until the next meeting.' However, whenever Harry caught sight of those round doe-like eyes he was entrapped in the sadness and betrayal they portrayed meaning two things. One, he was going to pay dearly in public for this down the line and two, he is going to have to do the damn most romantic gesture ever in chance of winning Luna back either in terms of being friends or better, partners. However, this planning was going to have to wait as he was confronted by a very angry redhead, the only other person in the school to see past Luna's masks.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER JUST WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"Hi Ginny, could we please not talk about this in public?"

"NO, WE ARE DISCUSSING THIS RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW OR DOESN'T THAT BODE WELL FOR YOU PRINCESS ASSHAT."

"It isn't me I'm asking for."

"Oh, okay then."

Much to the curiosity of the onlookers, Ginny Weasley pulled Harry into a curtained alcove and they both cast privacy spells around themselves. For the onlookers this meant something juicy was happening but, for those closer to Harry, they know something bad or secret was happening.

"They're up Ginny."

"Okay… YOU ABSOLUTE TWO FACED DICKHEAD! I FOUND HER CRYING THIS MORNING! CRYING! WE ARE THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE SHE FUCKING TRUSTS AND YOU TREAT HER FEELINGS LIKE THIS? HOW COULD YOU? SHE FUCKING LOVES AND TRUSTS YOU THEN YOU GO AND PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS? I MEAN REALLY, WHAT THE FUCK!-"

"She loves me?"

"YES YOU ARSEHOLE, WHY ELSE WOULD SHE LET YOU PASS THE MASKS? SHE ONLY LET ME THROUGH AFTER EIGHT FUCKING LONG YEARS OF KNOWING HER! I GREW UP WITH HER FOR GOODNESS SAKE! THEN YOU WALTZ RIGHT THROUGH THEM IN UNDER TWO YEARS? WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

"She actually loves me?"

"HAVE YOU NOT BEEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I HAVE SAID YOU PRAT? I'M GOING TO-"

"I've really fucked this up… I've wanted to confess to her for so long..."

"WHAT?!"

"After THAT happened yesterday, I searched for her up until curfew but couldn't find her anywhere… The only way I was able to get at least some sleep was by checking the Marauder's map to check that she was safe in her tower.."

"She is never safe there..."

"I know, I'd rather she be in her tower where she can cast charms around her bed if she isn't aloud to stay here with us…"

"You really love her?"

"I do Ginny, I know now that this isn't a stupid crush like I had on that bitch last year, before Luna enlightened me to how she was in the tower..."

"How are you going to make it up to her?"

"I don't know..."

"Anything romantic?"

"I was going to but Cho messed that up, anything romantic I do will look like I am manipulating her feelings and exposing her weaknesses… I can't do that to her..."

"SHE'S RUINED EVERYTHING! I AM GOING TO TEAR HER LIMB FROM LIMB-"

"Ginny, this is going to get us no where. I think I am going to get her a really good christmas present and hopefully regain her trust and love before the end of term."

"You have literally given yourself a week and a lame plan-"

"Hogsmede is tomorrow and then I have a week to prove myself to her before she blocks me out again. I will need your help. Also can you get word around that there will be no D.A. on Thursday."

"Is this all some sort of joke to you?"

"No. If she trusts me by then I am going to confess or deepen my bond with her. If not I will need to let off some steam and plan my final day out."

"Okay then, you are forgiven by me but you really need to tell Hermione, Ron and Neville about your crush so that they can help you in Hogsmede tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you for the help Ginny."

"It's alright, just don't screw up AGAIN!"

With that, they dropped the charms and left the alcove in an amicable fashion, much to the shock of the gathered crowd. Especially Ginny's brothers who had never been able to control one of Ginny's rants like this, let alone survive it in the same manner, Harry truly was the boy-who-lived, especially in the sense of being the-boy-who-lived-and-survived-Ginny's-temper.

Over the course of the day, no one quite understood what had happened between the two in that alcove, the only people who were going to get a somewhat reasonable answer were Ron, Hermione and Neville. When they asked, they got the time of 8pm and the meeting place of the room of requirement.

Coming up to eight, the four people walked there separately. Harry went first to organise the room and set wards up to only let his three friends in, who needed to know about his crush, according to the real Weasley demon anyway. He had fifteen minutes to go until utter scrutiny and instead of sitting there planning what he was going to say, he paced the room until he knew every corner, thinking of an escape route he could use once they all got there or the insults that might be thrown his way for crushing on yet another person 'he didn't know'. The minutes passed quickly and all of his closest friends sat before him looking extremely worried but, pleased he was actually going to tell them what was going on. As Harry was not going to start talking any time soon, if it was down to his own free will, Hermione started the interrogation for the benefit of the others.

"Harry, please tell us what is bothering you."

"Well that is what you are here for..."

"So tell us, I'm guessing that was a condition of Ginny letting you off so easily earlier today."

"You're right Hermione, that was a sort of condition."

"Is it something bad?"

"Not our type of bad but, bad in the normal teenager kind of way..."

"For, example..."

"Well..."

"GOD DAMN IT HARRY! STOP STALLING AND TELL US! WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS AND I WOULD BE THANKFUL IF IT IS ONLY NORMAL TEENAGER PROBLEMS FOR ONCE, AT LEAST WE WON'T BE AT THE RISK OF DYING THIS TI-"

"I have a crush on Luna."

"What? Could you repeat that a little louder?"

"I HAVE A CRUSH ON LUNA!"

His three friends sat there in shock as they didn't quite understand what was so bad about that. However, the puzzled looks on their faces gave Harry the impression that they didn't believe him or they didn't think it was right for him to have a crush on the girl they all thought was loopy. He started pacing again with an angry look on his face, he knew they wouldn't accept it as none of them really knew Luna and then, he finally had enough of their penetrating glances and erupted.

"I don't know why you are all staring at me. Well actually I do, none of you have tried to get to know her better! She says one thing that is out of the ordinary and you all dismiss her like she is a lunatic and even call her 'loony Luna'! You're all bloody hyprocrites! None of us are normal! We're wizards for goodness sake in a world controlled by muggles who think we are no more than either freak or fantasy! Also what does normal even mean? We each have our own definitions yet every pokes and prods people they don't understand and label them as outcasts! It stupid! Everybody questions how she got into Ravenclaw? How can they? She understands the world ore than any of us do. She has experienced death but has moved on. She created a whole persona to escape bullying about her mother's death and her dad's breakdown. Instead of seeing her genius, you all think it is insanity as you do not understand. Every comment someone makes against her and her family seem to brush off her as she sprouts 'nonsense' about nargles but, they never do, they are just added to the collection of insults and betrayal hidden behind those big doe-shaped eyes, that long, silky blond hair, that porcelain skin and those bright colours she wears so well to make herself and others happy. Nobody understands her and because of that they shun that girl into a forced existence, I've seen her true personality and it is so beautiful, prettier than any mask she could ever wear but, people force the real her away in favour of a scapegoat, someone they can blame for every freaking obscenity there is in this freaking magic school… A MAGIC SCHOOL. I mean seriously! In a magic school they ridicule the person most in-tune with their magic, with more experience then most have in their entire life just because they don't agree with her decisions… I mean come on, she is braver than any Gryffindor with what she has had to put up with in her life, more loyal than any Hufflepuff for staying on our side of the war even though we have made her life a living hell, sneakier than any goddamn Slytherin for managing situations that are not in her favour and brighter than any Ravenclaw could ever hope to be as she can do all that, understand nearly everyone else and still smile that beautiful smile of hers."

At this point Hermione was crying, tears shinning on her face, as that was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard, whilst Ron and Neville were sitting there with smiles on their faces and prideful glares as Harry had fallen quite hard for the girl and had shown her to them in a new light. Ron, being Harry's other best friend, and seeing that Hermione was quite indisposed at the moment, took over the interrogation. It was time to make Harry angry, as he kept no secrets when angry and in this manner.

"This crush probably isn't even real, you remember how it was last year with Cho right?"

"Yes I flipping do bu-"

"Well even though you notice all that about her, what is it to say you weren't shown another mask as you said, she is sneakier than any 'god damn' Slytherin."

"You don't know shit about her Ron. How fucking dare you, I thought you were supposed to be my friend! What about you, when you were druelling over He-"

"Prove it to me then."

"I don't have to prove anything to you you blast-ended asshat, the only one I need to prove anything to is Luna. I came in here trusting you to help me but now I just see that you're acting like you have shit for brains just like last year with Her-"

"You pass."

"What the..."

"You pass. Last year, you just said you fancied Cho, you didn't get into all this bother and argued against us in favour of her. Hell we couldn't even have this conversation as you knew diddiley-squat about her. So how are you going to confess? I'm assuming that's what you brought us in here for?"

"Hmmm..."

"Harry?"

"Thanks for the chat, I take back everything I said about you, especially the shit for brains part, if you can help me to get Luna to trust me again within the next week."

"What did you do?"

"Why do you assume it was me? I would never hurt Luna."

"You missed out intentionally so what the fuck happened that made you finally confess to us?"

"You know I went over to see if Cho was all right after training last night?"

"Yeah..."

"Turns out that Luna and I have been crushing on each other for a while, Cho knew this and got jealous or something, I don't know but, Luna was waiting behind for me so we could go and talk without masks..."

"Go on mate..."

"Luna loathes Cho, she is one of the ones that bullies her the most, especially about her placement in Ravenclaw. I knew it was a bad idea to go over there but I saw that she was crying and ignored my gut instinct. Once I got over there, I could see clearly that her eyes were darting between the mirror and the photo. Once I got there we started talking and then some freaking mistletoe appeared, probably charmed by herself, and she leant in to kiss me. I tried to stop her by talking about nargles as it was the first thing I could think of, and Luna said that they seem to annoy her the most but then she asked me a damn question about them to distract me and whilst I wasn't concentrating, she kissed me, in front of Luna."

"I get the feeling that there is more..."

"Oh yes, Cho had realised that we were both crushing on each other and said and I quote, 'I was trying to make you forget about that girl and focus on someone worthy of yourself like me'. After I told her that she was a lot of bull and went looking for Luna but as you can probably tell, I haven't been able to speak to her and every time I see her, she either runs in the opposite direction with her head down or some Ravenclaws decide to congratulate me on my new relationship with Cho right in front of her, making her cry."

"Wow… I never knew it was that bad for her."

"That's the thing no one does and then she gets it from other houses as well. She used to trust two people : me and Ginny but, now, I'd say she only trusts one and I'm sure as hell it isn't me."

"Wow… I'm sorry mate..."

Now they were all sitting down in a circle, digesting the new information. Harry, even though he knew the extremities of Cho kissing him were, he had just admitted to himself the biggest problem he had ever faced. He had lost Luna's trust. It had been near impossible to gain in the first place and it was going to be a billion times worse to get it back. Whilst his inner turmiol was turning more depressed by the minute, Hermione just sat there crying, happiness had turned to anger quite quickly but when the facts set in, she just sat on the edge of dispair. Ron, her opposite, had just settled on righteous fury. Even though he was not as nice to the girl in the past due to her somewhat supernatural tendencies, no-one, NO-ONE deserved that kind of behaviour. The three settled in their chosen emotions, sulking and falling into dispair, not noticing that Neville had got up, gotten a blackboard and set to work. After a minute, the usually calm boy berated them all.

"Will all of you stop sulking and help me, this is your blooming love life we are talking about Harry not some bloody Muggle television programme. You want Luna so bad? Well got your sorry arse up and work for it instead of moping around!"

Jaws dropped everywhere. Neville, the calm, reliant shoulder to lean on had just berated them and put them straight, using the Gryffindor courage they all supposedly had. It took a while to get out of their chosen states but, when they did, they were going to win over Luna Lovegood, or Harry was at least.

"So Nev, what's the plan?" Harry asked, feelign rather cheeky although he was still in his depressed state. Neville's mouth quirked up at the nickname but nether-the-less, took the lead.

"I'm guessing you planned to get her a good Christmas present tomorrow and try to talk to her throughout the week."

"Um, yes… What's wrong with that?"

"That is the most boring and stereotypical thing to do ever, I thought Luna was supposed to be special to you."

"She is, so what do you suppose I do Mr Love Doctor?"

"Well obviously you have to publicly declare that you and Cho are not in a relationship so that everyone gets the message that you are not in a relationship and that she is lying."

"Oh yeah..."

"You seriously didn't think out that? Um...okay… You have to make her feel special as well, not seek her out around school as if this was some sort of tiff between friends."

"Ah… I get where you are coming from..."

"Harry I know this might sound quite intrusive but, have you had a proper girlfriend before?"

"Um..."

"That's a no. Okay, we will give you a couple of minutes to plan something to do for Luna..."

Harry was gob-smacked, he calmly sat back down, not believing that he didn't think of these things! He racked his mind for all of the romantic gestures he could think of… He came up with many clichés like chocolates and roses but both he and Luna hated these things as they were so stereotypical… He knew that she would definitely prefer something with more specific meanings like… gardenia's for 'secret love', purple hyacinth for 'I'm sorry' and red tulips for 'believe me' or a secret declaration of love. Knowing that she believed yellow was good luck, he would tie them together with a yellow bow. One thing down… ad about two more minutes before he is jumped by his friends for ideas then he had a great idea…

"DOBBY."

"Yes Mr Harry Potter Sir?"

"What is the extent of your apparating abilities in Hogwarts?"

"Yes sir, I can goes anywhere!"

"Do you think you could get something to Luna Lovegood for me every morning up to the last day of term."

"Of course I can, anything for you Mr Harry Potter sir."

"Thanks Dobby, you can go now."

"Mr Harry Potter is so nice, thanking little Dobby like that..."

And with a snap of his fingers, Dobby was gone, singing the praises of Harry Potter, much to Harry's utmost delight! Not even a second later, Hermione was on him, demanding answers!

"Why did you ask that Harry."

"I had an idea."

"I thought we were going to share it first."

"Its my relationship and I am confident that this will work."

"What will?"

"I'm going to first publicly announce that I am not dating Cho-"

"Yes, that part was already agreed on!"

"Let me finish Herms, I am going to act as a secret admirer."

"That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"I said act not be. I am going to give her the things secretly yet my name will be signed in my handwriting with my magical signature so she know it is legitimate."

"That is less stupid so what are you going to do for the gifts?"

"I've planned out a bouquet of flowers wrapped in yellow ribbon then I am going to give her a present or letter each day. I am going to see if she lets me talk to her, if not I will give her some space until Wednesday. If she doesn't come near me by Wednesday, I will initiate a conversation with her. If she tells me to leave or adopts a mask I will, by the way training is cancelled on Thursday as I am going to need stress relief and will not be able to teach anything, then if we are not made up by Friday, I will find her and talk to her, in private, and show her that I love her."

"You're not going to kiss her that day are you?"

"No, I was going to share with her my memories and how I feel about her, if she doesn't stun me and run, and get her to trust me again. I can wait for a relationship, I just can't bare the fact that I have lost her trust."

"That's so sweet Harry, of course we'll help you! Everybody had better be up by nine for Hogsmede tomorrow as Harry is going to need all the time he can get to find the presents he needs for Luna."

And that is when Harry knew, he had awoken the devil that is a Hermione with a mission. He was just thankful that the outcome wasn't something like him needing a haircut or her finding a new school bag again because that was a nightmare!

They were all up and ready by eight, managing to leave Hogwarts at the earliest time possible. The previous night they convinced Ginny to spend time with Luna at the castle. She was going to anyway as nearly all of the older years would be gone but once Hermione told her Harry's plan, she was all up for whisking Luna away and locking her in a dungeon to wait for her prince charming, even though Luna really hated clichés… They arrived in Hogsmede at nine am and went directly to the Magic Neep green grocer's to buy fresh flowers and place them in a status spell, luckily they had all the flowers Harry needed and the yellow ribbon. So far it was off to a good start.

After that, Harry was unsure what to get Luna so they just trailed around the shops. First they went to shops they needed to go to like the owl post office for Hermione and the Herbology shop for Neville however, after that, Harry sat down and made a list of shops that could hold potential gifts for Luna : Dominic Maestro's ( a music shop), Honeydukes, 's Potions, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Tomes and Scrolls book shop and Zonko's gift shop. He got many questions over his chosen shops but just waved them off, tapping the side of his nose to annoy Hermione but, they were due to privately shared information.

They decided to do the shops in that order, leaving the heaviest things to last, excluding the music shop as they were all curious at what Harry was going to buy. After looking around feverishly, he found an exquisite and mysterious wooden flute which had similar markings as Luna's wand on and a music book with several of Luna's favourite songs in. After buying them, he was met with, "Luna plays the flute." Which he answered with a slight nod. The truth is was that she used to before her mum died but after her mum's death she just stopped, it was too painful to play the flute for both her and her father as it was her mother who insisted she play it and who was the one who taught her. Luna had admitted to Harry that she always wanted to play again, but she didn't know if she had enough courage. Harry had always believed she had from that day onwards and tried to get Luna to play for him even though she had told him that her flute was at home and hadn't been touched for over five years!

They then went into Honeydukes and did the customary sweep, Harry picked up some cauldron cakes for Luna as a back up gift and they carried on. The third shop was a potions shop, here Harry simply brought some glasses cleaner and potions that let you see in other environments. Again his friends were confused so he reminded them of the pink Spectrescopes she wears and of her interest in animals as that was well-known to anybody who had a conversation with her. The next was the quill shop where he brought her a rainbow coloured quill with self-refilling, colour changing and anti-stealing charms on it, something perfect for her. This also reminded him to ask Hermione to put anti-stealing charms on the gifts as hers were the strongest in the year, meaning Cho and her hoard would have a hard time messing with Luna's things, this also encouraged him to ask the twins for some of their 'protection charms' on the gifts. After this they entered the book shop: Tomes and Scrolls.

This shop amazed him every time he went in as although it wasn't as big as Flourish and Blotts, it had so many rare pieces crammed into one place. Knowing better than to ask the shop keeper for advice, Harry began his search for anything in relation to rare, magical creatures. After thirty minutes, Harry was very impressed with the two things he found. One was a rare book with animals in which weren't taught at Hogwarts the other was a scroll with pictures and writing about 'The question of the crumple-horned Snorkacks'. This devoted essayist, had drafted some pictures of what he believed they looked like and argued about their existence. Even though Luna used these animals as part of her façade, they were quite and truly real, just extremely rare and nearly extinct, that was why there was lacking evidence of their existence. This gift was sure to interest her. A purchase and casting of anti-stealing charms later, they were leaving and making their way into the final store for the day before getting a Butterbeer from Madame Rosetta and heading back to Hogwarts to plan more effectively.

Last but not least, Zonkos. Here Harry was looking for a squirty flower in the shape of a sunflower as he knew that even though Luna was upset with him, she would appreciate the joke a tinsy bit and it would convince her that the presents were legitimate. Luckily he was successful even though Hermione was looking at him disdainfully. He explained it to her but she didn't accept that as a reasonable excuse but as Harry had proved to her over the day, she really did not know Luna Lovegood.

After returning, Harry wrote the notes and wrapped the gifts, giving them to Dobby for safe-keeping and delivering everyday after Luna had left her common room but before she had entered the Great Hall meaning she could open them undisturbed and have the option of Dobby taking them to her room for her. After finishing the gifts, he went to bed swearing about the homework he had forgot to do and had to do tomorrow.

Sunday morning, after a peaceful day in the castle with Ginny, Luna had woken up early much to her happiness and had escaped Ravenclaw unseen. On her way to grab a quick breakfast before meeting with her red-headed friend again, she was intercepted by Dobby the house elf. After a quick, "Miss Luna Lovegood, I has a gift for you from your admirer." He snapped away after handing a confused Luna a bouquet of flowers wrapped with yellow ribbon that had a note card tied to the end of it. Before she got to into the mystery of the flowers, she went to one of the alcoves to analyse the gift, seeing it was given to her by Dobby, it was probably from Harry. And after reading the notecard, she knew she was right as the message was quite metaphorical.

'The ending of a phoenix is not always pure, or true. HP'

This was basically to tell her that the kiss didn't mean anything and he didn't want her, while that warmed her heart, she just couldn't get the image of those two kissing from her brain. She ignored the notecard and went back to the flowers, they were an unusual mixture, perfect for her mask but she knew what the flowers meant as she was the one to teach Harry the meaning of flowers. However, she was a bit confused of the yellow ribbon as although it meant luck, that was typically in terms of weddings… She put that to the back of her mind as she saw the gesture behind them and was touched but, 'that' image made her distrustful. Harry knew how she felt about Cho and probably knew that although she would happily start talking to him again soon, that Cho had ruined the chances of that being anytime soon. Just as she was wondering where to put the flowers, she accidently pressed down on something and was met with a squirt of water from the sunflower. A look of shock was soon changed as she laughed, thiswas definitely from Harry! Only he would put something like that in it to prove it wasn't a pretend gift. She then noticed the back of the card saying, 'if you don't want to carry them just call Dobby and ask him to put them some where for you'. She briefly smiled as he had thought of everything, she just hoped they wouldn't be stolen.

"Dobby?"

"Hello Miss Lovegood, is there any thing I can do for miss?"

"Can you put these somewhere for me sir?"

"Oh you is too kind Miss, where would miss like these?"

"Can you put them next to my bed, I just wish nobody steals them like they steal my shoes."

"Of course I can Miss Lovegood! And Mr Harry Potter already thought of that and got Miss Granger and the twin Messers Weasley to put anti-stealing charms on them."

"Did he really?"

"Yes miss Lovegood, Harry Potter be thinking of everything for you. Expect me everyday this week."

"Thank you Dobby. You can go now."

"Yes Miss Lovegood. She called me sir and said thank you, I like this one, I must go see Mr Harry Pott-"

And with that he snapped away in excitement. She just stood there glancing at where the flowers had once been with the note card in her hand, she couldn't believe what trouble Harry had gone through for her, this was probably why Ginny hadn't let her leave the castle even though they both wanted to escape Umbridge.

Throughout the day, whenever Harry and Luna saw each other they locked glances for a few moments but neither started a conversation. It was only when the Ravenclaws started to congratulate Harry on his relationship with Cho that he spoke in front of Luna. Whilst doing his homework in the library, some sixth years had come over to Harry to congratulate him on his new relationship in front of Luna and he had snapped, so much that Madam Prince told him off and warned him. Though the words he yelled were stuck in Luna's mind for the rest of the day.

"I AM NOT GOING OUT WITH CHO CHANG! SHE CHARMED FLIPPING MISTLETOE INBETWEEN US AND THEN KISSED ME AS I WAS TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO DIVERT HER USING NARGLES. SHE FLIPPING KISSED ME IN FRONT OF A GIRL I CARE ABOUT A LOT JUST TO SPITE HER!"

Luna couldn't believe that he had spoke up against one of the most popular girls in the school who was supposedly in grief and that he had gotten away with it with no more than a warning from Madam Prince. However, after he said that he cast a sad glance at Luna as he knew she would be hearing it later from the Ravennclaw hoards and that he wouldn't be there to console her afterwards. He quickly sent a message to Ginny via Gryffindors to tell her what had happened and what might happened later on.

The rest of that day was full of confused glances, from people outside of Cho's cohort, towards Harry due to him denouncing the relationship in the library and not getting kicked out for it. Whilst, Luna's day was filled with Ginny being at her side at all times from the point of the library scene and glares and hateful glares directed towards her by Cho's cohort.

Monday morning Luna went to the great hall early again, hoping for the 'admirer' campaign to be true. She was not disappointed! Dobby showed up at the same place, and handed her a book. This time, instead of looking at the title straight away, she eagerly looked for the note card, after thanking Dobby of course, and was not disappointed. She read the notes, 'unlike yesterday, this is not a commotion and as you will find, this book is bigger than Hogwarts. HP' A disguised apology and an escape. After reading this she picked up the book and scanned the cover, 'Further discoveries of the Magical World.' Curious she flipped open the cover and read the contents, near to all the animals in the book were not taught at Hogwarts and were specific to a certain country. For this she did not call Dobby, she eagerly made room for it in her bag alongside the notecard from yesterday and made her way to the Great Hall mentally preparing herself for the day.

Luckily the day was uneventful, it was near to the same as yesterday. The only thing different was Harry's spirits as Luna did not approach him once, they just continued to share glances. The only thing different was that Cho seemed persistent to spend time with him, thankfully he was flanked by his friends all the time so, they couldn't get close. However, this just created an inter-house rivalry between the fifth year lions and the eagles due to preference of relationship.

Tuesday saw the arrival of the rainbow quill with a note of, 'Changes other cannot see must continue. HP' This made Luna giggle as she knew what Harry was talking about, she thanked Dobby once again and walked to the Great Hall with a near to real smile, much to the shock of some of the teachers who were already present. Harry arrived early with his friends to escape the other Ravenclaws and to see what sort of reaction Luna had had. His face shone when he saw a near to real smile on her face in public, much to the amusement of his friends.

That day ended with a few more scathing comments made in both of their direction and a deeper need on both of their halves for a conversation. They came closer to having one but every time Luna got close, she would spot a Ravenclaw glaring in her direction almost promising for something to happen if she even said, "Hello." A sad glance later, she would walk in the opposite direction, whilst Harry looked on upset but knowing.

Wednesday introduced Luna to her spectrescope cleaning potions and other potions to help her see in different environments. This could be a homage to both of her personalities or it could mean for her to try and see the situation in another perspective. Could Harry be giving up hope? Probably not, it was probably a call for her to find another solution to the situation she was in. Either way, it heightened their desperation to speak with each other. She looked at the note, it simply said, 'Time to find another perspective. HP'. It was so true it hurt both of them. However, she readopted her mask and walked to lunch after a charming conversation with Dobby.

Again, Harry was early to breakfast but this time his face dropped as the mask was up fully. That either meant something bad had happened or she was planning. He prayed to Merlin for the second option. However, as soon as Luna sat down, Cho entered with her friends and sat down right next to Luna. Harry was itching to go over and help her but was held down by Hermione. She knew what was going on and knew that it would also get worst if he went over to help her.

On the Ravenclaw table, the bitchiness factor was high as a jealous, 'grieving' woman did not make the best judgement choices and neither did her idiotic friends who followed her every word.

"Good morning Luna."

"Morning Cho."

"No need to get snarky with me, after all I'm not a man stealing lunatic."

"My, there seems to be many nargles floating around your head today, I think you need to go see someone about that."

"Why you little skank, can't you see that no one likes you?"

"Not just nargles then..."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I am merely attuning to the spirits of the conversation."

"Ugh… why do I even waste my breathe..."

"I honestly do not know."

An ugly glare passed Cho's face at that and she just turned away to talk to her friends. Luna thought she was safe for now but then, Cho reached across her and knocked Luna's food all over her robes. After a shocked gasp and laughs from her friends, Luna stood up, cast cleaning charms with a tiny flick of her wrist and left the Great Hall. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were restraining Harry from making a scene and going after Luna but they could not stop him from calling Dobby to cause some mischief.

"Dobby?"

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter sir?"

"You know those sweets from the business I invested in?"

"Oh yes, the prototype ones?"

"Please give Cho and her friends a taste. I'm sure they will appreciate it but remember to do it in secret okay."

"Mr Potter sir, have they done something wrong?"

"They hurt Luna."

"They deserve it then. Bad people must be punished just like bad elves."

"Thank you for understanding Dobby."

"It is my pleasure Harry Potter Sir."

With that Dobby flashed away and Harry's friends groaned. They knew what business he had invested in and they were not envious of the Ravenclaws. They watched as someone put little pills into the food of the Ravenclaws quietly and as they consumed them. Over time, the girls slowly grew dog tails and ears and could not speak in anything other than woofs. So fitting, Harry was glad that Dobby had chosen those ones out of the packet and as the girls looked around for a culprit, Harry just raised his glass and smirked. This did not go unnoticed by the hall and Umbridge wanted to put him in detention for that so bad however, Harry did not move from his seat all he did was call a house elf and asked it to get something for him as Dumbledore so kindly reminded her.

That's when it was clear to everyone that Harry liked Luna and hated Cho for everything that she had done to him. This is also when most people turned on the fifth year Ravenclaws as one thing you did not mess with was a relationship in the wizarding world as prosecutions can be as serious as line theft.

The rest of the day was uneventful and quite pleasing to Luna as some people apologised to her for their actions over the past days, she accepted their apologies and both parties moved on. She even heard less people calling her 'Loony' Luna even though she was not helping that nickname to leave as it was like a security blanket being ripped from her. On one hand she was relieved but on the other, she was quite scarred that people would see the real her.

It was Thursday morning, today he was going to go near the place Dobby met Luna every morning and see her open her gift. Today's note was 'Now you have the proof? HP' and he wanted to see how she was going to react. He got changed quickly and went to the required place in his invisibility cloak, waiting to see Luna's reaction.

Luna took her normal route to meet Dobby yet again. This time he had a large scroll in his hand and a note. Curious, Luna sped up a bit as so far the gifts nor the notes had disappointed her. When she got close, Dobby handed it to her saying, "You'll like this one." and flashed away. Her curiosity sped up and before she opened the scroll, she took the note card out and smiled at, 'now you have proof?" This related to both their love for each other and something else by the sounds of it. After taking a quick look around, she opened the scroll and positively beamed at the title 'The question of Crumple-horned Snorkacks'. She silently chuckled at the title and started to look through it but as soon as she heard footsteps coming in her direction, she ran into an alcove and called Dobby. From where Harry was standing he saw it all. He saw he run in at the sound of a footstep and he saw her slip the note card into her bag with others. After he saw her give the scroll to Dobby, he left and made his way back to his common eoom to be ambushed by questions from his friends.

Throughout the day, nothing happened to Luna which she thought was quite uneventful but made the hairs stand up on her skin as it was too uneventful. Something always happened around her, though she was happy she had people like Harry and Ginny on her side especially after the episode yesterday when Cho and her friends had been partly turned into dogs, it was very fitting to their personalities. Luna walked around, trying to keep aware of her house however, through doing this, she missed Harry trying to get closer to her and finally strike up a conversation. However, throughout the whole day she successfully evaded him without even trying however, this meant that Harry was quite annoyed and was definitely going to the requirement room to let off some steam later.

Once Harry had entered the room, he set up many duelling stations and began annihilating them going right through his spell arsenal. He was just about to come to his patronus charm when he caught the time and returned to his common room but not before sighing and walking dejectedly there. However, if he had been paying closer attention, he would of noticed that he was being watched by Luna as Ginny chose not to tell her that just in case it didn't go to plan so Luna knew that this would have to be resolved quickly.

Throughout his 'training' session, Harry had not noticed Luna's presence, something which she was thankful for. She quietly took a seat and watched him go through all of his spells, leaving his patronus close to last. She had always loved seeing his patronus but just as he was about to cast it a timer went off and he left after letting out a huge sigh. Her heart broke when she heard that sigh as it sounded so defeated, something Harry had never had to experience alone before. She was going to go after him but, due to thinking it was probably her fault, she didn't call out to him.

Once Harry got back to his common room, everyone knew that whatever Harry's plan was, it failed. Few offered condolences for whatever it was what was wrong and Harry went to his bunk. Whilst he was sitting in his depressed state, Sirius contacted the Gryffindor common room to talk to Harry, Ron and Hermione. However he was quickly met with the number, "Twelve." from Hermione and stopped trying to fire call them.

At five to twelve, Harry was prodded until he followed Ron back into the common room. When he arrived he saw Hermione sitting on the sofa by the fire waiting for something. This meant that Sirius wanted to talk. This would give him information on what is going on in the real world then it would turn to his current relationship status where he would most likely be given advice by a bachelor. Just then his godfather's face flickered into sight and began to speak.

"Sorry but I can't talk for long, Molly is on to me. At the moment everything is quiet but Arthur is being roped into doing a night shift but, I think Dumbledore is going to pull him out of it for some sort of Order thing. Anyway what's going on at the school."Hermione answered straight away, "5th Year Gryffindor's and Weasley family versus Cho Chang and her followers." Sirius was highly confused and answered with "Um… why?". At this, Harry was getting poked into answering his godfather. "Oh okay, I'll answer… Me and Luna fancy each other, Cho got jealous and said that I needed someone worthy of myself like herself so she charmed mistletoe to grow and kissed me whilst I was speaking after I asked Luna to wait behind for me." Once again Sirius was gobsmacked, "Why didn't you ask me for guidance? Tricks and love? Anyway why Luna?" The last question was the one that people had been asking him all week and he was just plain pissed off. "Luna is a beautiful girl who has had to hide behind masks for her whole god damn life to even get notice from people or to escape notice from people. She is the most intelligent girl you could ever meet and she will always tell you what she feels straight to your face, either in riddle or not. I am absolutely fed up with people asking me this..." "Wow you got it hard..." To that Ron and hermione just replied, "We know!". After that it was just useless pep talks whilst Harry just dreamed of being in bed as he had an important day tomorrow. Around 1am, he bid Ron, Hermione and 'mini-Prongs' goodbye and ended the fire call. Then they all went to bed preparing for the last day of the school holiday.

In the morning, Harry got changed right away and dashed down to the hall dragging an exhausted Hermione and Ron with him. After they sat down, Harry waited for Luna to come in and her reaction. He was not disappointed. When she came in her look was one of betrayal and anxiety. Not what Harry was going for. Today he had given her the unique flute and the music book. Her expression said it all and so did Ginny's when she came in as she had taken one look at Luna's face and knew that Harry had done something. She sat down opposite him and kicked him under the table into confessing what the last gift was.

"What was it."

"A flute and music book."

"She told you what that meant."

"I know."

"What did the note card say."

"Be brave and happy."

"I don't know whether to call you crave or stupid."

"More likely the second one."

"No shit Sherlock. Fix it,"

"I am going to."

"You'd better."

With that all conversation at the table was halted as the youngest Weasley had spoken, so mote it be. Harry knew what he had to do and waited for Luna to leave the Grand Hall. After she had curiously watched the Gryffindor table and had eaten a small breakfast, she got up and left just as the rest of her house had come in. Harry saw this and quickly followed, keeping out of sight of anyone who would want to intercept.

"Luna."

"It's been a week."

"I know, I thought you would want space to sort it out."

"You were correct… Why the gifts?"

"I don't fancy Cho."

"That isn't an answer."

"It wasn't supposed to be."

"Why the flute?"

"You said you wanted to play again but you weren't brave enough to as it reminded you too much of your mum."

"Please explain or are the nargles clogging your head."

"Please don't put your mask up Luna. 'Be brave and happy'. Don't give up the one thing that reminds you of your mum like nothing else, keep that connection and be happy. If you need bravery take any that you find within me. Please just be happy."

"Why should I? Everything which makes me happy is taken away from me."

"Don't let them take your happiness, they don't deserve it. You deserve it, you deserve happiness, why is that so difficult for you to understand?"

"Look at this school and how they treat me. It's not difficult to understand, it is impossible to dream that."

"You told me that you believe that nothing is impossible."

"I lie."

"No you don't, that's one of the things that is amazing about you. No matter how you phrase something, you never lie."

"Then why does no one notice it?"

"Because they don't want to. They are too ignorant."

"You know what, I wish I was ignorant to some times… What I wouldn't give to not see thestrals."

"I know what you mean..."

"So you're my admirer."

"Yes."

"It's as if your head is full of nargles."

"Why?"

"You don't love me."

"How can you say that?"

"Everyone I love dies."

"That's not true."

"Prove it."

"Your dad, Ginny..."

"My dad is dead on the inside from my mother's death, any mention of her and his mood flips. Ginny, how long until she finds someone better like you did."

"I can't find anyone better and neither can Ginny."

"Now you're talking like the crazy one! I'm Loony Luna, I talk to things people can't see, I talk about things people don't believe in, I choose to dream about the impossible and am shut down about it every. Single. Day."

"Luna, please don't talk this way."

"I'm sorry Harry but there seems to be quite a lot of nargles today. Have you put on your charms to block them from clogging your ears."

"Please don't do this Luna, don't put your mask on."

"Whatever do you mean Harry Potter. I can see them you know, mocking and jeering, they want to come closer to interfere but the nargles are preventing their good senses."

"Luna please… I love you."

"You love me?"

"I really do."

"I… do to… but, whenever I think or act on it all I can see is Cho, the mistletoe and her kissing you. I just can't..."

"Please trust me Luna. I love you… How long did you stay?"

"… Just up to the kiss."

"Oh… After the kiss she admitted that she had distracted me and kissed me to stop me thinking about you as apparently my love has to go to someone worthy like herself. When she told me this I replied that that was a lot of bull and went looking for you… for you Luna."

"Why?"

"Because I really do love you."

"Please prove it..."

"Okay… um… how do you want me to prove it?"

"Goodbye Harry..."

She walked away crying, the boy she loved more than anything, who loved her back, didn't know how to tell her. Harry was scarred, why couldn't he say all the stuff he had said to Hermione, Ron, Neville and Sirius? Why did he screw it up like that? As she walked away from him with tears rolling down her cheeks, he uttered, "Expecto Patronum." whilst thinking about her and everything he loved about her. He didn't know why he suddenly felt compelled to do that but when his corporal patronus came out he knew why he had felt the need. Out the tip of his wand sprung a hare. The exact same patronus as Luna. It sped towards her and danced around her shocking her. She turned around, tears still falling down her cheeks and whispered,

"How?"

"You."

"How?"

"Whilst you were walking away, I was screaming at myself inside wondering why I couldn't admit to you the things I said to Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Ron and Padfoot when they asked me the same question, 'why you?". I literally went off on one having a go at them, telling them how brilliant you were. Then I was just thinking about you in general and I suddenly felt compelled to do a patronus."

"Why… why isn't it a stag any more?"

"It changes when you fall in love. It's true form can be hidden, which must have happened to my as I wasn't admitting my feelings for you."

"Oh..."

"Um… yeah..."

Just then mistletoe started growing above them, it symbolised their love however, they both glared distastefully of it and then Harry thought it would be prime time to tell a joke, to lift both of their spirits.

"Oh mistletoe, probably full of nargles."

"Oh yes, we'd better take care of it."

"Incendio?"

"Don't mind if I do."

A spell later and they stood there smiling at each other, they were the best smiles they had worn all week. Looking at each other, their smiles grew as they leaned in gently for a kiss. Their mouths lingered for blissful seconds underneath the burning mistletoe. After they ended their kiss, they laughed at the scene around them. They were calmly hugging and kissing right underneath burning mistletoe. After several minutes of looking into Luna's light blue, doe like eyes he whispered, "Luna, will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" Luna cried tears of joy and answered, "Yes." After that they just stood there hugging, blissfully unaware of the scene they were causing. After finishing their hug, Harry felt it was time to ask, "So where are your shoes this time?", reminding her of the times they had searched for her things together, that had led to her telling him the truth. She just laughed and replied, "Don't worry, they'll turn up!" Taking them both back to the first day without masks.

For the rest of the day, they walked around with each other looking for the things the Ravenclaws had stolen from Luna and they became closer because of it. Before Luna had to leave and go home, Harry had convinced her to play her flute and she had never been happier. She was finally happy and funnily enough it was all down to Cho Chang, her main tormentor over her years at Hogwarts.