Midnight strolls, Popularity, and Surprise
A/N: Ok, so here's the second chapter of Look for the Girl with a Broken Smile. Hope it gets more interesting as we move on. On with the show! (As I'm known to say XD hahaha) Oh and uh I lied earlier. There's a bit of slash but it's only in the background and only there because I was bored? Sorry to deceive you...
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm just a big fan. I don't own Stargirl, either.
Luna looked at him without surprise. She knew it had been him somehow. And she didn't seem interested in his invisibility cloak. She regarded him with curiosity, though.
"You followed me here."
It wasn't a question. She knew. He nodded anyway.
"Why?" She asked, truly wondering.
She stepped toward him and looked into his eyes. Again, Ron had the impression that he was swimming in the depth of her eyes. He mentally took a step back from her eyes.
"I was curious. I wanted to know where you were going so late at night," he said honestly.
She nodded understandingly.
"I know about curiosity. It's a wonderful thing. It's only when you feel curious that you know you're alive!" She said, throwing her hands in the air and spinning wildly.
Ron stood, looking dazedly at her, not knowing what to say. She stopped abruptly and staggered a little before grinning up and him and gesturing to the clearing.
"I come here nearly every night," she confessed.
"Why?"
"It's kind of hard to explain..." She said, looking a little embarrassed.
Ron sat on the ground just as she had been doing earlier.
"Then show me," he said genuinely.
It was true that he had no idea why he was there or why he had come out of hiding or why he was now sitting on the floor of the Forbidden Forest. It just felt right. Luna sat down next to him and told him to close his eyes.
"Now, try not to think about breathing. Try not to think about anything. Make yourself disappear. I like to pretend that I have a giant eraser and I start erasing a little bit of me at a time. I start from my feet, up my legs, to my chest, and then to my eyes. My brain is always the hardest to erase. There's always so much going on in there. But, in the end, I always manage to erase my whole self." She ended happily.
"And then where are you?" He asked worriedly.
He wasn't afraid of melting away into nothingness, he just didn't know where nothingness was. And that's what really scared him. His silly, almost childish question was met with a small chuckle.
"Everything. You suddenly become part of the air, the trees, the mountains beyond, the oceans further than that, and, eventually, the whole world," she said matter-of-factly.
"So, I sit like this, close my eyes, and 'erase' myself?" Ron asked, demonstrating.
"Yes, just like that."
They sat side by side. After a while, Ron opened his eyes, frustrated. He couldn't do it. He could barely erase a single pinky toe before it popped back into place. He never was really aware of his body before that time. He glanced over at Luna. She seemed a little washed-out, even transparent, like she had before. He watched her with jealousy. He tried it again. He sat very still, letting his body breathe automatically. He let his whole foot disappear. Then his leg. Then another foot. And then, a scuffle happened nearby and Ron's feet and leg came back almost painfully as he wrenched open his eyes to look around.
He looked over to Luna and she was gone. He gaped for a while at the place where she should have been. Then he heard a giggle. He turned around and there she was, watching him.
"I got you," she said laughing heartily.
Ron stood up, embarrassed.
"I suppose you play that trick on all the boys you lead into these woods," he said slyly.
That stopped her giggles. She looked down at her feet and shuffled them in the dirt.
"You seem to think that I have a lot of friends, Ronald."
He simply looked at her, amazed. He was unable to comprehend the fact that the girl everybody talked about had no friends at all. He merely could not believe it.
"Don't you?" He asked without thinking.
She looked up at him and tried to smile, but there were tears in her eyes. Surely someone such as her could never cry! Ron was taken aback at the amazingly human tendency that she showed. Of course, he knew she was human – didn't he?
"I'm sorry, Luna. I just thought – well, with you being so popular and all..."
He scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to do or say. He felt awkward in his own body. She finally shook her head and smiled at him, the dreamy state back on her face.
"That's all right. You know, I think you nearly had it, Ronald. When we were erasing ourselves? I felt your presence following mine. Just a small part, mind you, but enough so I could tell it was you," and she was off, wandering through the trees.
Ron picked up the invisibility cloak and hurried after her.
They talked and walked. They walked and talked. Luna would see something, anything, and grab Ron and say "Look! Over there!" The first couple of times he jumped and pulled out his wand. After a while, he would simply turn and look at whatever she saw. One time it was a tree that reminded her of a small house. She wondered openly if some small, magical, unknown creature lived in it and if he was glad she remarked on its excellence. One time it was a leaf that had fallen. They watched it fall slowly until it met up with another falling leaf and they fluttered down together, as if chasing each other. She mused that they were leaves from different trees that had fallen in love, doomed to look upon each other, but never be with each other until they fell together happily, dead, from the tree that tethered them to life and misery. Ron hardly noticed when the sun rose over the mountains and gave new life to the forest. Although, it made it easier to see the things she pointed out. He found he was enjoying himself a lot, walking and talking and looking with Luna Lovegood, the weird girl at school.
"Look, Ronald!" She said, remarking on the sunrise.
They clambered out of the forest and found themselves very far from the castle indeed. But they didn't care. They sat in silence upon a smooth, flat rock, watching the sun paint the sky. He heard her sigh and she leaned her head o his shoulder.
"I like watching the sunrise with you, Luna," Ron remarked, amazed at his own casualness.
Actually, to tell the truth, he didn't know when he had ever in his life watched the sunrise, alone or with another person. It was nice. He felt as though he had no problems in his life in that moment. It wasn't until after the sun was over the mountains and had turned the sky a pale blue that he realized where he was.
"We have to get back," Ron said, not making a move to get up.
"Yes, it's Friday. Can't miss that Arithmancy test," she said dreamily.
She stood up quickly and they chased each other back to the castle. They entered the Great Hall laughing and gasping for breath. He smiled and gave her a wink.
"I'll see you later, Luna. Thanks for last night," he said.
She gave him a small, very chaste kiss on the cheek and walked calmly over to the Ravenclaw table. As soon as Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table, the fact that he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night caught up to him. He yawned hugely and felt his eyes droop. There were roughly three Gryffindors at the table. The early risers. They looked at Ron and whispered behind their hands to each other. They had never seen him at the table this early. He laid his head down on the table for only a second...
BANG!
Ron's head shot up and he looked at the great doors, which had been thrown open. Hermione was walking with an irritated Harry. She seemed to be mumbling in his ear. Draco Malfoy and his lackeys came in not three seconds later, taunting Harry with words that didn't reach Ron's ears. He did hear Harry shout back "Sod off, Malfoy!" before Hermione dragged him to sit over by Ron.
"Hiya, Harry. Here's your invisibility cloak. Sorry I never returned it," Ron said, handing it to him under the table.
Hermione looked at Ron suspiciously. Harry shoved the cloak into his bag rather forcibly.
"What happened?" Ron asked Hermione, motioning to the Slytherin table.
"Oh, it's just Malfoy taunting Harry as usual," Hermione said, going pink.
Harry didn't say a word. He continued to glare at the Slytherin table. He apparently didn't notice that he was turning his biscuit to crumbs. Ron didn't mention it again. They ate in silence as the Great Hall filled and emptied itself of students. Finally, Harry turned to Ron.
"Where did you go last night? I think I remember you asking to borrow my cloak, but where'd you go?" He asked.
Ron shot a look to the Ravenclaw table, and then at Hermione, who was eavesdropping conspicuously.
"I'll tell you later."
Harry was content to leave it at that. Ron ate everything in sight that had sugar in it. Hermione... well, Hermione just glared at Ron. All breakfast. Finally, the bell rang. Ron and Harry and Hermione headed to the dungeons for double potions with the Slytherins. Harry was positively shaking with anger as he watched Malfoy out of the corner of his eye. Ron had never seen Harry so angry. However, his fabulous night with Luna made it impossible for him to understand that other people were having a bad day. Even his potion turned out as good as, if not better than, Hermione's.
Next was Charms. They worked on their new spell quietly, which was a first for them. Ron asked Harry about any news from Sirius, but he only grumbled something about Hedwig and 5 days. After that, he decided to stop trying to make small talk.
Instead, he looked around at stuff. He never realized how much stuff was in the castle before! A simple tapestry that he used to pass on his way to Transfiguration without a second thought now stood out to him, begging to be pondered over. Portraits seemed to stand out to him and he longed to have conversations with the people in the paintings, to find out why they were so important to be put in the castle.
Every time he saw Luna, she always stole away from anyone she was talking with to plant that small, chaste kiss onto his cheek. Then he would walk away, half bemused, half embarrassed, and 100 Luna-fied, as he liked to say.
"Luna-fied?" Harry asked with disbelief and a smidgen of disgust.
"Yeah, I like it. It's perfect," Ron said, trying desperately to defend himself.
Harry chuckled, "What's your damage, Ron? Never thought I'd see the day when you'd fall for Luna Lovegood!"
He walked away, still chortling. Ron sank into a chair by the fire. Was he falling for Luna? He didn't know. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. And yet, it felt as though it was years ago that she had sung to him in the Great Hall. He sighed, watching the flames dance merrily in the hearth, pondering his dilemma. He sat watching that fire for what he guessed to be hours, though time flew by easily, like the whisper of a second. He sat and wondered, trying to understand what he felt for Luna. He supposed there was attraction, yes. There was also a fondness for her proximity. He just liked being around her.
But, so did a lot of people these days. It seemed as though overnight, every girl in the school decided they wanted to be just like Luna. Suddenly everyone knew how to make music come out of their wands. Lowerclassmen talked easily with 6th and 7th years. When it rained, at least a dozen girls joined Luna's dancing. And Luna was happy because she had an array of friends from girls who wanted to be just like her to guys who wanted to be with her.
Ron tried in vain to tell himself that the burning in the pit of his stomach was from indigestion or something, but even Ginny could tell he was suffering from jealousy. He couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled Luna aside one day, kissed her on the cheek, and said softly in her ear "Meet me tonight at the place," and strode off quickly. He was fairly sure she knew what he meant.
When he arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he had to kick himself to motivate the energy to go into the place. He waited in the clearing, nursing the back of his leg as he sat. A few minutes later, Luna came in through the bushes, looking as if she had stumbled across the clearing by accident. Ron walked over to her and smiled.
"Hi, Luna."
They walked and they talked like they had before. He didn't get to spend much time with her, so he didn't really know what her reaction was to the sudden onslaught of friends and admirers.
"It's really nice. Everyone is always talking to me or trying to talk to me. It's so much different than it was before. I like it," she mused.
Ron nodded, feeling guilty that he had been jealous of her affections to other people. And then he realized that he didn't know much about her at all. He looked at her differently, as if she were suddenly bathed in a new light.
"Luna, where did you come from? I mean, were you going to Beauxbatons or something?" He asked inquiringly.
"No. I was home-schooled by my parents. My mother died when I was 9 and I continued to be taught by my father until this year. I begged him to let me come here. At first I thought it was a dreadful mistake." She turned to look at him, "No one liked me, you see." And they kept walking.
Ron blushed at her bluntness. It was, truly, one of Luna's finer qualities, though. He loved how she said what she meant and what was true without thinking about what others would think of her.
"And now?" He asked.
"Now I'm glad I came." She replied.
..
Everything was going splendidly for Luna and Ron. They had begun to be closer in public and the student body started to make assumptions that were mostly true. They were seeing one another and they did really like each other. They never did more than just a simple kiss on the cheek, but it was enough for Ron.
One day, as Ron was sitting quietly in the common room, humming a happy tune to himself and reading a Quidditch book, Harry came storming in. He looked like everything that could go bad just had. Ron put his book down and looked over at the fuming Gryffindor.
"Harry, what's going on? This isn't the first time I've seen you stomping around, moping and grumbling to yourself. I figured you'd tell me when the time was right and I think that time is now," Ron said sternly.
Harry shot Ron a glare that could have frightened even Voldemort away, but Ron merely lifted an eyebrow.
"I just had a row with bloody Malfoy again, that's all," Harry said.
If Ron wasn't Harry's best mate, he wouldn't have noticed how the insult to Malfoy's name came out more bitter than usual. If he hadn't been Harry's best mate, he would have missed the slight blush that crept up Harry's face. If he weren't Harry's best mate, he would have assumed Malfoy had come up with a brilliant insult that Harry hadn't been able to come back from and hexes had been thrown. As it were, Ron knew there was something more that Harry wasn't telling him. He smiled, remembering how Hermione had once remarked on his inability to understand human emotions.
"That's all, eh?" Ron asked softly.
For a moment, nothing happened. And then, suddenly without warning, Harry leaned forward and grabbed Ron to face him.
"I have a serious problem, Ron," he said quietly and strained.
Ron looked around but only Fred and George seemed to be remaining in the common room.
"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked back, equally as quiet.
Harry bit his lip and shyly looked down at his feet. He then shot Fred and George a quick look and, feeling they were good and preoccupied, he leaned in a tad closer.
"I think I'm falling for someone," Harry said.
Ron threw his head back and laughed. Fred and George looked up from their latest project to give him a cursory smile before turning back to the table. Harry blushed slightly again and that set Ron roaring with laughter again.
"You needn't be so dramatic about it, Harry! It's not the end of the world," Ron said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"It is!" Harry hissed.
"I assure you, it can't be that bad, Harry, you're just overreacting and –"
He pulled Ron close again and opted to whisper in his ear.
"I'm falling for Draco Malfoy."
A/N: SORRY!! I told you it was gonna happen, though. But I didn't know it was gonna happen and it has nothing to do with Ron or Luna but I just wanted something to happen besides Ron/Luna (as cute as they are...)