**A/N** Hey everyone! Wow, the New Year's almost here! Due to popular request, here's the train scene from Harry's point of view. Keep reviewing! The next chapter will be up soon!
Harry nervously followed Ginny and Neville into the compartment. Why? he thought to himself, why was the only compartment with empty seats her compartment?
Harry didn't dislike Luna Lovegood. In fact, he liked her too much. That was the problem, wasn't it. With all the recent events, Voldemort's return, Cedric's death, and the Ministry's refusal to acknowledge the danger the wizarding world was in, it bothered him that lingering in the bottom of his mind were feelings for a dreamy-eyed Ravenclaw who seemed to see right though him.
Since the Yule Ball, Ron had started dragging Harry to the library to "prepare for the second task," objecting whenever Harry suggested that he only wanted to spy on Viktor Krum and Hermione. He vehemently denied that he felt anything for her, though Harry knew otherwise. Ron was not very good at hiding his emotions.
Harry could read him like an open book. He went along with it though. He didn't like to see his best friend so glum. If stalking Hermione made him feel better then so be it.
Harry flipped through a book of advanced charms half-heartedly while, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that Ron was distracted by the sight of Hermione, playing with her hair while she and Viktor laughed loudly.
Madam Pince shot an annoyed look at them and they quieted down.
"Her-my-own-ee" she enunciated, her face red from giggling.
"Hermowninny." Viktor attempted.
The two burst into laughter once more.
"Traitor." Ron muttered, "Fraternizing with the enemy!".
Harry, distracted, didn't notice. His eyes were on another girl, who had far away grey eyes and wore earrings that looked strikingly similar to radishes.
Harry observed the strange girl intently. She leaned back on a large armchair. Her mysterious grey eyes were absorbed in a thick book that she was holding upside down. Her long blonde hair fell over her face, past her wand, which she kept behind her ear. She made no effort to pull it back. She was softly humming a tune that Harry recognized but couldn't name.
Harry didn't know why, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was attractive, but not in the conventional sense. She wasn't stunningly gorgeous, like Cho Chang or Fleur Delacour, yet she was pretty her own way.
Harry tried to think of words to describe her, the kinds of words that Hermione would use, like "mesmerizing" and "captivating."
There's something different about her, he thought, besides the fact that she wore earrings made of radishes and a necklace made of butterbeer corks.
"Who's that?" Harry finally whispered to Ron, pointing at the girl.
"That's Loony Luna Lovegood." Ron said, "A Ravenclaw in my sister's year. She's insane!"
She doesn't seem insane, Harry thought, Now, Mad-Eye Moody, he's insane.This girl is just...quirky.
Suddenly, a mischievous glint appeared in Ron's eyes, one Harry hadn't seen since before the whole Yule Ball incident. "Harry," he said, excitement in his voice, "I dare you to ask her on a date!"
"No!" Harry protested. "I don't even know her!"
"Come on! It's funny!"
"Isn't it a little... mean?"
"No, if anything, she'll be flattered that the famous Harry Potter asked her on a date."
Harry still wasn't convinced.
Ron flipped him a silver coin and gave him a pleading look.
Harry hadn't seen Ron laugh in days. He finally gave in because it would cheer him up.
He approached the girl as she looked up from her book. He found himself looking into her bottomless gray eyes, feeling strangely dizzy.
Harry took a seat next to Neville, across from Ginny and Luna, who seemed to glaring at him. He met her eyes for a brief second and looked away.
He had decided he didn't want to lead her on.
Harry knew the perfect place to take Luna for their "date." Dumbledore had mentioned, in passing, that there was a room that changed to fulfill the user's needs. He had discovered it by chance.
He saw the expression on the face of a rather disappointed looking Luna change as she entered the room to find a table for two. She was in awe.
Harry chuckled a little as he thought to himself that he must have appeared the same way when he first learned he was a wizard.
The girl, a third year, was still amazed by magic.
Harry didn't know the first thing about being on a date. Still, he didn't expect to feel so nervous. Why do I feel like this? he thought, this isn't even a real date!
He watched as Luna poured herself a glass of butterbeer.
"Do you mind if I keep the cork?" she asked, "for my necklace."
Harry examined her necklace and noticed that it was handmade. She must have spent time on it, he thought. "It's, er, lovely." That sounded stupid, he thought to himself.
"I can make you one if you like." She grinned.
What to say? Harry's mind was blank. "So, Luna," he managed to get out. "Tell me something about yourself." Stupidest. Line. Ever. he thought, that was lame.
Luna didn't seem to notice. "I'm head chairperson of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack Preservation Society." she said proudly.
"You're the only member, aren't you?" Harry said, bemused.
Luna gave him a look that made him regret it. It was the same look Hermione had given him when she convinced him to join S.P.E.W, or as he liked to call it, spew. "Not if you join!" Luna said, a gleam in her eyes. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a button with a picture of a rather odd looking creature. Something about her enthusiasm made Harry want to smile.
Luna spent what seemed like hours discussing the plight of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack while Harry tried to find a polite way to turn down her offer to join her club.
"Sorry Luna," he started. "I would join, but with the Triwizard Tournament and-"
"You joined spew!" She interrupted.
She called it "spew." Harry noted. He decided he liked this girl.
She went on describing the Crumple-Horned Snorkack for another 10 minutes or so.
Harry found it hard to believe that anyone could think that such a creature was real. The fact that it became invisible in the presence of wizards seemed too convenient. Yet, Luna seemed so passionate about protecting the imaginary beasts.
He felt sorry for Luna Lovegood. She was innocent, blissfully naïve. Someday, she would learn that what she believes is false. Harry knew the feeling of taking off one's rose-tinted glasses an seeing the world for what it is for the first time all too well. He knew, the longer you wait, the more it hurts.
"Luna," he interrupted slowly, "I don't believe Crumple-Horned Snorkacks exist."
"How can you say that?" she asked, in disbelief.
"Is there any evidence of their existence?" He asked. He noticed that he sounded too Hermione-ish for his taste.
"Well actually..."
"That isn't from the Quibbler," he added, referring to the magazine she was always reading.
Luna's next words surprised him. She shook her head, as if trying to explain something to a small child.
"You don't need to see something for it to exist," she said. "You of all people should know that."
He stared at her incredulously as her words sank in.
"You lived with muggles for ten years! Tell me, Harry, do most muggles believe in wizardry?"
"No, they don't." Harry conceded.
"And yet, here we are." Luna said calmly.
The words echoed in his head, "Here we are," But where exactly was "here"? They were in Hogwarts, a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry,in the midst of the Triwizard Tournament. They were in the Room of Requirement, on a fake date. No- not fake. It didn't feel fake.
She wasn't fake.
She was more real than anyone he had ever met. He realized what it was about her that had made her stand out in the library. She didn't try to be anything she wasn't and she was confident in who she was. She was purely Luna, nothing else. But could he tell her that?
He raised his glass."Here we are." he said. They toasted and she took a sip.
As her glass refilled itself, she asked, "This place is magical, isn't it?"
Her grey eyes shone and her skin was glowing in the candlelight. In the silence, she hummed the same familiar tune that she hummed in the library. She was hypnotizing.
She made him smile, and for once in his life he wasn't worried about dementors, Death Eaters, or any sort of danger. He, like most teenage boys, was thinking about a girl.
Luna. he thought. She's something else. He was confused as to how a third year who wore radish earrings and believed in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, how she, of all people, could get in his head. Magic, he thought, and laughed to himself.
"Luna, you're magical." he said. He noticed that he was inches away from her face.
He wanted to kiss her.
Suddenly, reality came crashing down. What was he doing? Don't lead her on, a voice in his head nagged. No, he told himself.
He got up quickly and raced for the door. "I have to leave! So sorry!"
As he left, he saw a wide eyed Luna mouth, "Why?" His heart nearly broke when he saw a tear roll down her cheek.
"You're Harry Potter." Luna said.
"I know I am." He said nonchalantly. So this was how it was going to be.