They had been 'talking for bit' for nearly twenty seven minutes now. That was roughly sixty seven point five percent of the Charms period. That most certainly exceeded Luna's definition of 'a bit'. She tried the deep breathing Muggle exercise she'd read about in a spiritual magazine. It did not help in expelling her negative thoughts; she still wanted to commit homicide against a certain Eddie Davies.
That stupid waste of space Eddie Davies, whom everyone in their year had been crushing on regardless of gender, Luna hated that bloke. And Ginny Weasley, who also conveniently made jaw drops and eyes glaze over, was talking to him? Ginny Weasley, in all her infinite wisdom, was talking to Eddie owl-dropping-covered Davies, that bloody codger for the better part of the only period Luna had with her on Tuesdays? Why, in the name of Merlin's snotty runny nose, would she do such a thing? Were they together now? Come to think of it, Ginny had been acting weird these past few days.
Such was the state of crisis in Luna's head. But most girls around her age had greater problems such as get themselves a date for the most coveted weekend of the year to Hogsmeade. Yeah, but those girls also had a) friends b) a social life and c) a desire to maintain a) and b). Not like Luna was a fourteen year old too. Not that she cared. Not that she was being too clingy.
She fumed silently in her seat and wished no one could see the steam shrieking out of her ears. They continued their 'little talk' for the rest of the period. Luna decided she's going to be mad. She decided she will ignore Ginny for at least the rest of the day. And she'll try to subtle hex Davies at the first opportunity.
Thus, she began building her plan. She sketched out a map and all alternate routes she could use to avoid seeing Ginny the whole day. She realised she would also have to sacrifice dinner if she truly wanted to keep herself up. After much calculation, she approximated that she would be the centre of Ginny Weasley's attention by Wednesday afternoon at the latest. She considered putting off her plan and giving Ginny a chance to redeem herself once, but with three minutes to go and Ginny showing no signs of concluding her conversations with the Owl-Poop-Head anytime soon, Luna grimly let Ginny lead her down.
The bell rang. Like a soldier marching to war, Luna picked up her bag and determinedly walked out of the class without sparing a glance to Ginny.
Ignoring Ginny was hard. Four minutes into her plan of action, Luna was tempted to break protocol and wave back to Ginny who passed her in the hallway on her way to Herbology (Luna had learnt Ginny's time table by heart). Several times during the day, Luna almost called a truce to herself. Like when Ginny expectantly raised her eyebrows at her during Quidditch practice (which Luna had a good excuse to attend because her dorm mate was practicing too), or when Ginny called her out while exiting the library, which made Luna pivot in the opposite direction.
But she finally found purpose in her silent one-man battle campaign when she came down for dinner at the latest hour possible because she didn't have enough self-control to sacrifice food after all. Only two people were sitting at the Ravenclaw table, and they were Ginny and Davies. And Ginny didn't notice Luna even after she sat down two seats away from her. Not when she dropped her fork under Ginny's seat. And not even when she grabbed a treacle tart from the platter right in front of Ginny. To recompense, Luna threw a jelly-leg jinx at Davies from under the table and walked away.
Because her heart betrayed her when she needed it the most, Luna wiped away her tears silently as she climbed up the stairs.
Luna's wonderful revenge plan lasted two more days. On the third day, there were tiny Lunas running around in her head waving white flags and screaming for peace. The reason for this second crisis was a Ginny Weasley standing with her heart-melting, heart-stopping, heartbeat-increasing and various other cardiac-problems-causing puppy eyes expression.
'I'm so sorry Luna. I've been a horrible friend, and nothing can justify it,' She said, her voice like candy to her Luna's ears. 'Please forgive me and I know you're mad at me. Maybe you'll let me explain it?'
Luna's brain temporarily blanked out. All logical thought processes had shut down. 'Of course. I not mad- I am not mad at you. Of course not mad. Not mad at you at all.'
Then Ginny hugged her and she melted into a metaphoric puddle of goo.
She sat down next to Luna and looked at her expectantly. 'So, this Saturday is the last Hogsmeade trip before the holidays and obviously everyone wants to go out. And I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me?'
It was a full minute before the impact of Ginny's words hit her. And then there were rainbows and unicorns raining everywhere. Before she could reply Ginny continued, 'It's completely okay if you're not comfortable or anything I'm sorry if made you feel awkward. About Eddie Davis too, he is actually going out with his boyfriend and he just wanted us to come along so people don't ask too many questions and judge him and you know, he isn't comfortable just yet. I completely understand if you don't want to come or-'
'I want to. I really want to go out with you, because I really like you. I like you, a lot. I just really like you-' Luna said everything before she could regret it. She didn't get the time to regret it either, because at that precise moment, Ginny kissed her. 'Me too, Luna.'
And it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. So much for Eddie Davies and ignoring Ginny, and this is what she got. Luna felt like she would explode.
My writing is getting rusty, but thanks for reading! This is for the Secret Santa event at TGS!
