For Audrey (halcyon epochs).
(Prompts are at the end.)
Her voice was soft and sweet, the dreamy tones coming through as she sang. The sound, unbeknownst to her, traveled far from her bedroom as she sat by the window and contemplated life.
A maiden in the woods — a fierce redhead who lived alone, fending for herself — heard the mellifluous voice singing and stopped, entranced. She blinked and then quietly followed the trilling notes.
She stopped when she reached the high castle walls. After scaring the wits out of several people as she hung on a ribbon hung from the ceiling and shot flaming arrows at targets with her feet, she had been escorted from the kingdom by a whole entourage of guards and told never to come back. It had been her way of rebelling against her parents — even though they hadn't heard of her exploits. And she'd gotten kicked out because of it.
But how would she find what was making that noise if she obeyed their orders?
Sighing, she slung her bow over her shoulder and her dress over her head. She placed it in a hollow tree trunk sadly. It had been the finest one she had ever owned — but she couldn't climb well in it. She was just grateful she didn't have to wear corsets or petticoats. No one was there to see her anyway; she lived too deep in the forest for that.
Instead, she wore a dark green blouse and tight black pants. If her mother saw her, she would be horrified!
She quickly scaled the wall. Even though it was nearing four yards high, her bare feet found good purchase on the rough bits of stone.
When she reached the top, she found a wooden ladder just leaning up against the side. She smirked and climbed down that. She peered around; no one was in sight.
And the music had stopped.
She frowned and strained to hear any sound at all.
And her sharp ears, so atuned to the sounds of nature, picked up on a faint noise coming from somewhere to her right.
She crept along the walls, peering around all corners to make sure no one was there. It was nearing evening, but no guards or servants were in sight.
She followed the noise and came to a second floor bedroom of the castle. The wall was covered with ivy vines and there was a trellis with climbing roses growing around it leading up to a window, through which she could see a light shining.
She climbed up the trellis and peered over the windowsill. She spotted a blonde girl around her age sitting on a four-poster bed, with what looked to be satin sheets, but she was crying — sobbing, in fact.
She jumped through the open window, landing on her feet silently. The crying girl looked up and her eyes, swollen with tears, broke the redhead's heart.
"Wh-who are you?" she asked, wiping her eyes.
"Ginny. What's your name?"
"Luna," returned the blonde.
Ginny's eyebrows shot up. "The princess?"
Luna nodded.
"Oh, Merlin, I'm going to be killed for daring come in the princess' room," Ginny groaned. "Not to mention the fact that I was escorted from the kingdom before and told not to come back again."
Luna's lips stretched into a smile, and Ginny wanted to see more of it. "You're the girl who shot the bow with fiery arrows!"
Blushing, she nodded.
Luna clapped her hands in excitement — like a child, Ginny thought fondly. "May I have your autograph? Please?"
Ginny frowned. "I know not how to write." She was lying through her teeth, but no way could Luna discover her true identity.
"Oh!" Luna sounded surprised. "Then I shall teach you."
They spent many nights together, Ginny pretending to learn how to read and write, Luna patiently walking her through everything.
One night, as the moon rose high in the sky and the stars twinkled merrily down at the girls, they sat at the window seat and watched the last glowing, burning embers of the warm fire made for the winter go out.
Ginny watched Luna. The blonde's plum-colored dress cast dark shadows over her face in the pale moonlight.
"What are you not telling me?" Luna asked suddenly in her soft voice. "I know there is something. What is it?"
Ginny stayed silent for a moment. "Luna...I'm not who you think I am."
Luna turned to her red-haired companion of many lonely nights. "Then who are you?"
Ginny didn't get a chance to answer, for just then the door was flung open and someone shouted, "There she is! Off with her head!"
A man in rich velvet robes of a dark red rushed forward to embrace a bewildered Luna and drag her away from Ginny, who had been captured by two guards. One held each arm in a painful position.
"Father, no!" cried Luna. She twisted away from her father's tight grasp and darted forward to vainly try to make the guards let go of Ginny. "She's my friend — don't hurt her!"
The guards let go of Ginny in bemusement. Luna gently rubbed the circulation back into Ginny's arms where the guards' handprints had been pressed into her flesh.
Once they had all calmed down, the king asked, "Who are you and what are you doing in my daughter's bedroom?"
She stared at the floor, head bowed. "My name is Ginny, Your Majesty."
His eyes narrowed. "Ginny who?"
She lifted her chin. "Weasley," she said. "I'm Ginny Weasley."
Chaos ensued.
"You can't be," said one guard blankly, staring at her.
Ginny stood tall, like the lady she had been raised to be. "I assure you, I am."
"But she —"
Ginny cut the guard off: "I am Lady Ginevra Molly Weasley. I was born on the eleventh of August, I have six brothers and two sisters-in-law, one of whom married my brother Ron in secret, and I ran away when I was promised to the prince of Gryffindor, Harry Potter."
Luna smiled. "Ginny, that is wonderful news. You are a lady and fit for me to be with. No one can come between us now!" She looked to her father, a pleading look on her angelic face. "Daddy..."
Xenophilius knew what his daughter wanted. "Luna, you know I only wish you to be happy. Are you happy?"
She nodded furiously. "Oh, daddy, very much so."
He took her small hands between his own and looked straight into her eyes as he said, "Then I give you my blessing."
Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood were married two weeks later in Ginny's beloved forest. Lady Molly had had a fit when she'd heard about the close wedding date and barely slept while she planned the ceremony. Harry Potter thankfully didn't have any hard feelings towards Ginny, and he even brought his girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass, to the wedding.
They recited their own vows — Ginny promised to take care of 'her moonshine,' as she called Luna, and Luna promised to always be there. They spoke together towards the end of their vows and swore to never part, to be there during everything, to support and comfort one another. Many tears were shed, but there was so much laughter at the reception afterwards that it made up for it.
They were perfect for one another: Luna made Ginny laugh and her sweet side come out, while Ginny was the tough other half of dreamy Luna.
And they were happy.
HPFC Monthly One-Shot Exchange:
Prompts:
• Ginny/Luna (pairing)
• Romance (genre)
• Royal!AU (AU)
• Mellifluous (word)
• Plum (color)
• Ember (word)
Hogwarts (Challenges and Assignments), Assignment #5.
Muggle History: Terrible Muggles In History — Task 1 — Thutmos I — use the phrase "off with his/her head!" in your story in a serious, non-humorous manner