Blunt
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would've totally rewritten the sixth book.
A/N: The rating is because of one measly comment about making out, nothing major :)
…
Ron Weasley paced back and forth in the last section of the Hogwarts library. Usually, this area would be filled with young wizards and their girlfriends who needed a place to make out, avoiding the watchful eye of Filch and Mrs. Norris.
But it was the dead of night, and only an idiot would have been there at the risk of being caught by Irma Pince, the librarian and dictator.
That's the reason Ron agreed to meet Luna Lovegood there; no one else would see them. Not that he had anything against her…it was just that he didn't want to be seen with the school nutcase. He knew that this made him shallow, and he was fine with that.
Just as long as Hermione didn't find out.
She had been giving him enough grief when he merely tolerated Luna whenever she talked to him; he was afraid of what Hermione would do if she found out Luna was tutoring him for his Care of Magical Creatures class. Not only would she be insulted that he went to someone else for academic help, but it would be hammering another nail into the coffin if she found out it was Luna, who she couldn't stand.
Ron continued this frantic pacing as he waited for her to show up; it was nearly an hour after the time they had set to meet, and he was getting impatient.
Finally, he heard the door behind him open. Unfortunately, the door was as old as the castle it was in, and it squeaked—loudly. Ron could hear Ms. Pince scuttling towards him, and he knew that if he stayed in that spot for much longer, he'd be scrubbing trophies in detention for the rest of his life.
He sprinted to a dark area in the opposite corner of the room, watching the door from behind a bookcase. Ron saw Luna come into the library, only to be stopped by Ms. Pince. He said a silent prayer for her—she would need it.
"Miss Lovegood, may I ask what you're doing here at this hour?" Ms. Pince said, her tone far from the polite context of her words.
"Oh, Ms. Pince, I won't take long," Luna started. "I just wanted to check out a book about Snorfle-loopers."
Instead of ripping Luna's head off, like Ron expected her to, Ms. Pince smiled.
"Of course, Miss Lovegood. Take as long as you please."
Ron's mouth hung open like a dog awaiting a kibble treat. Luna smiled back at Ms. Pince and walked directly towards Ron. When Ms. Pince turned the corner, walking back to her desk, Luna poked him.
"You know, if you think that's a good hiding spot, it's not," she informed him, and strode over to a nearby table. Luna set her books down noisily, and sat. After a few moments, she stared at him.
Looking back at her dewy, blank eyes, Ron said bluntly, "What?"
"Aren't you going to sit down?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Uh, yeah," he said, and plopped down into the seat opposite her. He dropped his notebook onto the table unceremoniously, and waited for her to start lecturing.
She didn't.
Ron cleared his throat. "Um, Luna, I'm pretty sure…well, I haven't really gone to a tutoring session before, but isn't…isn't the tutor supposed to…talk?"
"Oh, right. Sorry, I spaced out there for a moment," she apologized, and Ron stared at her incredulously.
Luna flipped her book open to the first page. But instead of the fancy writing that Ron expected to see, he saw scribbles and drawings that looked like they had been finished just moments ago.
"Is that a real book?" Ron asked, motioning towards the paperback in her hands.
She shook her head, laughing. "Oh, heavens no. You can't find any of the good stuff in a real book, Ronald."
"Than what is it?"
"These are some of my father's notes. You know…for The Quibbler," she stated.
Ron nodded. "Right. Okay, well, I'm really having trouble with memorizing the characteristics of magical creatures."
"Oh, that's simple. All you have to do is make up pneumonic devices."
"Huh?"
She looked at his study sheet for creatures he needed to know.
"Like for Nargles, it's P.I.M."
"I'm still not getting it," Ron said, rested his head on his chin.
"Pest infests mistletoe. P.I.M. And Lobalugs are sprays attackers with poison. S.A.P."
He was still confused. "But if every creature has one of those things…how do you keep them all straight?"
"That's easy," Luna said, grinning. "You make up a song."
"Oh God," Ron mumbled, and his head slid down, making contact with the desk.
Luna opened her mouth wide and started singing, in a terribly high-pitched voice:
"I once had a Nargle named PIM
He left me on a whim
So I got a Lobalug named SAP
But he tried to kill me, quick as a snap
So I got a—"
Ron thrust his hand out to cover her mouth. "Um, thanks for the song," he said, awkwardly taking his fingers off her face. "It was…great."
"Thanks so much," she said, beaming with pride. "I worked really hard on it."
"It shows."
"I wish I could be as wonderful as you."
If Ron had been drinking anything at that moment, he would have spat it out all over her.
He managed to gargle out another blunt comment. "Huh?"
"Well, you're so brave. You risked your life to save your friends…I'd be too scared to do that. Just laying it all on the line, for another person…and you don't even know if you're going to make it? I'm not a fearless person."
There was long quiet after that. Luna doodled in her notebook while Ron just stared at her. He had subtlety issues.
Finally, Luna broke the silence. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" she asked, being blunter than Ron, which was earlier thought to be humanly impossible.
"Uh," Ron thought for a moment. He was pretty sure that if he agreed, he would face ridicule, embarrassment, and possible shunning from Hermione. That isn't exactly a bad thing.
But his opinion of Luna changed in the last twenty minutes. Before, he thought of her as that weird girl in Ginny's class that followed him around, reciting made-up 'facts' and annoying the hell out of Hermione. Now, he wasn't so sure.
"Sure," he finally answered, smiling at her pleased expression. "But, you know, just as friends."
"Right. So, I was thinking, we could go to Madam Puddifoot's…" she suggested, getting up and gathering her books.
"Isn't that the date place?" he asked, following her.
She shrugged. "We could always throw sugar cubes at the couples."
"Wicked," he agreed, and the made there way out of the library, making sure to avoid Ms. Pince.
…
What do you think? It was kind of an implied Luna/Ron thing. I don't know, I just think they would make a really cute couple.
