Autumn hung around the castle like a thick blanket, wrapping the grounds in splashes of colour and weak sunlight.
Down by the lake it was relatively warm, especially after he'd put a warming charm on the blanket he was wrapped up in.
The lake looked stunning in autumn, the trees surrounding the quiet shores a mixture of red, brown and yellow coloured leaves.
"Hello Ron." He looked around to see Luna Lovegood stood there. She looked different somehow; she didn't have her normal crazy jewellery on and she was dressed in normal muggle trousers and t-shirt. It made her look different, pretty even, very different from Luna 'Loony' Lovegood.
"Hello Luna." She carried on standing there, watching him as he looked out over the lake, watching the giant squid raise a tentacle out of the water, as though it was waving to them.
"Hogwarts is beautiful in autumn isn't it?" Ron just nodded, he hadn't really noticed, and he didn't really care, not right at that moment, not when the only girl he loved was in love with someone else, his older brother ironically, a prankster.
"You alright Ron?" He just nodded, trying to ignore her stood there, but Luna didn't seem to take the hint that he wanted to be left alone.
She sat next to him on the rock, looking sideways at him, concern in her eyes, even if her face didn't show it.
"It's not easy, watching someone you like fall in love with someone else."
Ron just grunted and wrapped himself deeper into his blanket, wanting to shrink away. Why did everyone have to know about his feelings for Hermione?
"I've never been lover, not in the sense of a boyfriend loving me. My father loves me and I know my mother loved me, but the man I love doesn't love me. I'm too loony."
Ron looked at her, really looked at her, deep into her eyes. She was a little loony, but if you looked past that you saw a person who was very pleasant and friendly and loyal.
"I'm sure some out there is the person for you. People just need to see you for who you really are." She smiled at him, resting her chin on top of her hands.
"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." He felt his ears turning pink. "So, who has your love fallen for?"
Ron just shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it, but the way Luna was watching him made him feel safe enough to tell her and know that she wouldn't tell anyone else. She could keep secrets secret.
"She's fallen in love with one of my older brothers. I saw them this morning, before Quidditch practise, in one of the corridors. He, he was cupping her face and … and she was just smiling up at him. They didn't even notice me."
Luna gently rubbed his arm, as though reassuring him, comforting him, like he was crying. He was inside; inside, he was weeping rivers.
"The guy I like loves this other girl a lot. They're best friends, rare to see them apart and I know I don't stand a chance because I'm too weird and not intelligent enough, even though I'm in Ravenclaw."
Ron looked down at her up turned face and he knew who she was talking about. Him. She was in love with him, Ronald Weasly, best friend of Harry Potter.
She got to her feet, smiling at him, a sad smile; as though she knew she had lost something that was nearly impossible to retrieve.
"It's not so bad Ron, I'll wait." He sat there, watching her leave before coming to her senses and running after her.
"Luna!" She looked around, coming to a stop so he could catch up with her. "Luna, would you like to get a butter beer together in Hogsmeade next weekend?"
Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"I'd love to Ron." He grinned and they walked up to the castle together, unable to keep the smiles off their faces. Stuff Hermione and George, he had his Luna and he knew that they would be just fine.