Author: Emmie
Title: Coffee
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing(s): Ginny/Luna
Rating: G
Continuity: Meh.
Author's note: This was meant to be a drabble, but it had other ideas.
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue, plzthx.
Summary: Luna doesn't drink coffee...
Luna doesn't drink coffee; she never has. The bitter taste does not agree with her, nor does the sudden, jittery burst of energy that comes with the onset of the caffeine. She watches her father buzz about the house under the influence of the stuff, aimless and grasping for things that may or may not be there, and does not understand why. She loves him, but she does not understand him, a fact that has only grown more obvious with the passing of time.
For years Luna scoffed at the pots of coffee present on the House tables in the morning, hot and fresh and steaming, strong and dark like sludge. She turned up her nose and wondered how anyone could drink that stuff, and, more mysterious still, how anyone could like it.
And then she met Ginny Weasley.
Well, granted, Luna had known Ginny for quite some time. They were in the same year, after all. But it wasn't until fourth year that she came to know her, right down to the smallest details – such as the fact that Ginny loves coffee. Or perhaps "is addicted to" would be a better phrase. Ginny seems to practically run on the stuff. Last Christmas for a joke, Hermione gave her a mug only slightly larger than one of Hagrid's tankards. Ginny uses it on a regular basis.
Luna watches people a lot. It's something of a pastime for her, a misfit's version of a social life. Mostly now, she watches Ginny.
Unlike her absentminded, nearly frantically grasping father, Ginny seems to move like liquid, never in one spot for more than a moment, yet always fluid, always with a purpose. They do not move on the same time, but perhaps their worlds are parallel. But no, that's not quite it either.
Luna wanders alone through the streets of Hogsmeade. Today she is not watching; today she has a purpose of her own. She scans the shelves of Honeydukes, off in a corner most Hogwarts students don't even notice. There are no trick sweets here, but Luna selects a package she hopes will prove magic anyway.
Ginny returns to the Gryffindor dormitory to discover a surprise on her pillow: a package wrapped in white and gold, a red ribbon tying it together. She turns the package over. Chocolate covered espresso beans. Pricey. Who would have sent her these? Hermione again? And why? It's still weeks early for Christmas. Her only clue is in the form of an unsigned note dangling from the ribbon. Words swirl over the parchment, ink dry but still shimmering wetly.
Meet me at the place where we intersect.
No signature, only a heart in that same fascinating spelled ink.
And just what that means, Ginny is left to puzzle out for herself. Possibilities cross her mind, several quite likely, a few outlandish, at least one truly fantastical.
The one, that is, that she keeps coming back to. And of course it's crazy, of course there's no way –
Doesn't stop her from being out on the Quidditch pitch in under three minutes flat. And apparently crazy is the order of the day, because there in the stands is a small bundle of blue topped with pale blonde hair – Luna, wrapped in a cloak that almost perfectly matches the hangings.
Ginny climbs up the stairs, unable to contain her excitement. Pale eyes meet hers and she grins almost manically. Luna stares back, a matching smile spreading slowly across her face.
"I didn't expect you —" she blurts out, then hastily amends, "so soon."
"I seem to be extra-caffeinated today," Ginny says, holding up the bag of chocolate covered espresso beans.
"Merry Christmas," Luna starts to say, but never finishes.
When Ginny kisses her, Luna finds that just maybe the taste of coffee isn't so bad after all.