It was their fourth year when Luna discovered the magical ink.
Ginny had been helping Luna sift through her mother's old possessions, which neither Xenophilus nor Luna had touched since Pandora's death. Between Ginny telling Luna about the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Luna humming an old lullaby, they found the bottle, buried under heaps of robes and jars and dried flowers. The bottle was small, and blue, and had a faded label with doodles of vines and herbs. In a messy script were the words: "Ink. For tattooing, of course."
Ginny had frowned, having never heard of tattoos, but Luna had closed her eyes and smiled. "I remember this, Ginny," she sighed. "Mum used to do tattoos. They're a muggle creation, where you put ink on your body in beautiful designs," she said, in answer to Ginny's unspoken question.
"That sounds nice," Ginny said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and picking up another one of Pandora's leather journals to flip through.
Luna twirled the bottle in her fingers. "Hmm..." she mused, and Ginny glanced up at her.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I think..." began Luna, "Magical tattooing would be a nice thing to bring back."
"Bring back?'
"I believe I recall Mum saying once that she was the one of the only magical tattooists in England. Rather, non-Death-Eater tattooists. The other was her mentor, Somnus Peakey, and I don't think he's alive any more..." Luna's sentence trailed off.
"Well," said Ginny, unsure where she was going. "You seem like the right person to do it."
Luna's face shone. "Do I really?"
"Of course," Ginny said, confident now and grinning at Luna. "You're creative, and very gentle, and your mind has the most wonderful ideas. If anyone were to paint—or ink, I guess—designs onto peoples' bodies, you would be the one."
Luna spun a lock of hair around her left index finger and balanced the bottle in the opposite palm. "Thank you, Ginny. That's very kind," she said, locking eyes with Ginny, who smiled.
"It comes naturally with someone like you."
Luna's eyes twinkled, then lost their focus, and Ginny knew she was off somewhere in the clouds, searching for skybirds and ancient oak trees and small magic.
She stood up, brushed the dust off her jeans, and left Luna to her dreaming.
