Why Don't You See Me?

Everyone thought Fred was in love with one of two people: either the Know-It-All Hermione Granger, or Angelina Johnson, his fellow quidditch player and date to the Yule Ball the year before. It was true he liked to flirt with them, but that was usually to get him out of trouble, especially now that Hermione was a prefect. There was only one girl that Fred really wanted to flirt with, but he never did for multiple reasons. One was the fact she was three years younger than he was, at age 17 she was only 14. Another was that she was one of his sister, Ginny's, best friends. The last reason was the worst; she didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about her. Fred Weasley had feelings for Luna Lovegood, and she had feelings for Harry Potter.

One night, after the D.A. meeting before the Christmas break, Fred saw Luna wondering around with tears in her eyes.

"Hey Luna. What's wrong? Did Nargles steal your belongings again?" asked Fred, knowing that Nargles could be blamed for everything.

"No Fred. It wasn't the Nargles. You want to know how I know it wasn't?" replied Luna

"How Luna?"

"Because Nargles don't exist Fred! Everyone knows that! Everyone except for me and my daft father." Luna was sobbing now, her head resting on Fred's chest. He didn't like her to see in so much pain, but at the same time he like that it was him she was talking to, confiding in, rather than Ginny or even Harry. "Maybe if I had learned to be normal sooner, if I had let go of my mother's and father's silly stories before I came here, maybe people would like me more. I know they call me 'Looney' and other things. I never really paid attention because at least some people were nice to me. Like Ginny, Neville, even Harry weren't laughing at me behind my back." Fred knew where this was going, and even though he still had his "comfort face" on, his heart was starting to break. Luna was crying because she had saw Harry kissing Cho Chang. Fred just pulled Luna in closer into his hug. "I thought he liked me. I thought he really saw me more than just the weird girl. I thought he saw me."

Luna was still sobbing, and Fred was starting to tear up as well. Ironically it was for the same reason. They were both stuck in the "friend-zone" of the person they wanted to be with.

"Luna, do really believe that there are no Nargles? Even though that for all of your life you have been looking for them?" lifting her chin to look into her eyes.

"If it makes people like me more. Yes I do."

"Luna Lovegood that is the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. And I grew up with Ron and Percy!" Luna just stared at Fred, a bit flabbergasted. "Luna, your belief in Nargles, and Heliopaths is what makes you, you! If Harry hasn't actually seen you by now he's an idiot! Luna you are perfect! You're sweet, kind, creative and so bloody brilliant it would've been an outrage if you weren't in Ravenclaw! Blimey Luna, you deserve someone who can see that without needing any help!"

Fred hadn't meant to say those things. He just wanted to make her see that she was perfect the way she was, the way he saw her. But he said too much. He might as well come out and say he was in love with her. He turned away from her, trying to hug her while sort of… keeping her at a distance.

Luna just looked at him. She wondered why he had said those things about her. No one ever has, besides her dad, but he had to say those things because he was her dad. Fred didn't have to say any of those things! So why did he? Is it possible he liked her? As in, liked, liked her? She had ever only thought of Fred as a friend, or even a big brother because of her friendship with Ginny and hero crush with Harry. But is it possible that Fred was the real deal? That he was the one who saw her as more than the weird blonde girl? She tried to make sense of this, but she wanted to look into his eyes now to try and see what he was thinking. Fred however wasn't looking anywhere near her. In fact it looked like he was trying to find Mars his head was so tilted back.

"Fred? Fred?! Fred Weasley!" Luna was trying to make him look at her. Finally she grabbed the top of his head and pulled it down to look at her.

His eyes were sad and scared. Like he wanted to share a secret, but at the same time knew what might happen if he did. But he looked. And she looked. They both looked into the other's eyes for what seemed like forever. Luna, searching for answers she thought she knew until now; and Fred doing nothing to stop her from getting the answers she so desperately desired. They looked and looked, until finally, Luna saw what she wanted. What she needed. She saw acceptance, and she saw love.

In that moment it was as if something was awoken in her. She saw Fred in a new light, a different way even than how she saw Harry. She realized now that the crush on Harry was nothing more than hero worship. Both for being Harry Potter, "The-Boy-Who-Lived" and for being nice to her when so many others weren't. But now she looked at Fred. He said everything in his eyes. How he actually saw her, how he was in love with her, and how much it hurt him when she talked about Harry. She realized she didn't like seeing him in this pain, and it wasn't just because she thought of him as a friend. She realized he was more than a friend, more than a brother to her. She realized she didn't want him with anyone else. She realized all those times he had flirted with Hermione or Angelina had irked her, although she didn't realize it until just now. So she looked again, but this time she was telling him something.

He seemed to understand, because his face lit up, he put on a wide smile, and kissed Luna. He had wanted to since he saw her just before the Yule Ball (she was asked by a Durmstrang boy), he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the hall. Of course he tried to fight it at first, him being 16 and Luna being 13; but he couldn't, so after a while he stopped trying. Now he was kissing her. And what was even more wonderful was that she was kissing back! He loved that she was unsure, yet wanting to go further (which for now just meant the use of tongue). She loved that he was being so patient and not irritated with her inexperience. He took it slow, waiting for Luna to give the go ahead to take it to the next step (still just the use of tongue). Finally she opened her mouth to let Fred's tongue in, this was her first kiss, and Fred knew that and wanted to make it unforgettable. After a moment, she seemed to press into him more, running her hands through his hair and grabbing the back of his neck. She enjoyed this kiss, and so did Fred.

They kissed and got tangled up in each other for nearly 15 minutes, and only stopped because they were nearly caught by the Head Boy that year. After they ran in the opposite direction the Head Boy was coming they saw they were right in front of where the RoR. It had been a while since Harry was seen kissing Cho, but just to make sure, Fred covered her eyes, and then thought of everything he could think of that has to do with Christmas and Luna. He saw a door appear, and slowly opened it. He took Luna into the room, and opened her eyes. The room was filled with wreaths, Christmas trees, and weird looking creatures that he had no idea what they were.

Luna gasped at the sight. She didn't see any mistletoe; he obviously listened to her saying that Nargles usually infest them. She was looking at one of the Christmas trees when a she saw a creature she never thought she would see. They were all over the trees, just watching the two students. Luna looked at them, and suddenly got a huge smile on her face.

"Fred! Fred look at them all!" shouted Luna shaking Fred's arm like an excited child.

"Luna I see them! But what the bloody hell are they?" asked Fred, completely lost.

"What do you mean Fred? They're Nargles of course!"

"So these are what Nargles look like. I wondered what they looked like. And I wanted you to see them and believe in them again. So I thought about them. I guess it worked."

"You thought of them for me? Oh Fred that is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me! This is the best Christmas ever!" Luna exclaimed while jumping on Fred to hug him.

Fred was almost knocked down by Luna's force, but he steadied himself, and hugged Luna back. He smiled, and smelled her hair as he hugged her. Then as she started to pull away Fred pulled her back in, and kissed her with passion. She was started for only a second, and then gave into the kiss with her entire being. As Fred and Luna kissed each other, completely oblivious to the world, the Nargles created mistletoe for them to rest in and watch the two students fall in love.