(Author's Note: This chapter involves no Draco, sorry! But it was necessary to keep the story flowing naturally. Also, two more characters come into play. I added them just for fun so please don't hate me!)
Despite her words to Draco, Ginny did not return to Harry. She could not return to her flat and apologize with Draco's words so fresh in her mind, calling her pathetic and cowardly. She could not look Harry in the eye right now with so many questions swirling through her brain and so much anger wrapped around her heart. She just could not.
And so, Ginny found herself on Luna's front doorstep.
She blinked in surprise at the familiar wooden door, though she should not be surprised. If her last thoughts dictated her choice in location, then it made sense to wind up at Luna's door. Aside from Hermione Luna was possibly the only one who would know how to remove the stupid tattoo that Draco had so graciously reminded Ginny of. His parting words had struck her mind in that last instant and the much more practical need overtook her anger.
She needed to get the mark removed, and for obvious reasons, she did not want Hermione to do it. Oh, she had heard the muggles had a way to remove tattoos, but she had also heard that the process was lengthy and very painful. She wanted the mark gone now.
Ginny raised her hand to knock but then froze with her hand in the air.
Luna was a much better choice than Hermione for the actual removal, but Luna's husband posed almost as much a problem as Ron would have. Just as Ron would ask questions and demand to know what Ginny needed, so would Luna's husband, and just as Hermione would tell Ron, Luna would probably tell her husband.
Ginny sighed and lowered her hand only to let her forehead drop against the door. She was screwed. She knew of no one else inside her circle of friends who would have this knowledge, unless Neville and his plants had another miracle hidden within them. Ginny snorted at the mental image of showing Neville the tattoo. He would probably faint.
So then obviously the next and most obvious choice would be to go to Saint Mungo's. Ginny frowned at the door. This plan was fine in most respects. Ginny did not personally know anyone who worked there other than the occasional acquaintance from Hogwarts, but the odds of someone like that being assigned to her were miniscule. The real problem lay in that it was entirely too possible to run into someone there. People were forever going and leaving the hospital and two of the most frequent visitors happened to be Narcissa and Draco. Narcissa had an old friend there that she liked to visit, a friend who had been badly hurt in that last battle. And Draco, well the hospital was one of his favorite charities. He was forever going to see what was being done to it.
But Ginny had no other choice. She could not remove this thing the muggle way, and she could not risk the questions of her friends. So she must brave the hospital and pray for a miracle.
Ginny moved to thwack her head soundly against the front door once more before apparating away when it was suddenly yanked inward. Ginny's momentum caused her to stumble forward a step and she found herself eye to eye with Luna.
Luna, for one, looked positively delighted to see Ginny on her doorstep. Her blue eyes gleamed and she smiled brightly. "Oh, Ginny, I thought I heard you out here. Don't worry Blaise isn't here."
Luna's dreamy voice helped soften the shock of Luna knowing exactly what was keeping Ginny outside, that and Ginny was fairly used to her friend's ability to just know certain things.
She heaved a sigh of relief at her good fortune to have come at a time when Blaise Zabini, Luna's husband, was not home. The marriage had first shocked her, as it had the rest of the wizarding world. Though Blaise Zabini had never been a death eater his family was nowhere close to the good side, not to mention Blaise had been in Slytherin. Ginny had known that Luna had been seeing someone throughout their horrendous sixth year and on through seventh, but she had never guessed it to be Blaise. But after seeing the two together for the first time, she understood completely.
For some reason, Blaise's somber manner and dry humor perfectly complimented Luna's vacant innocence and abnormal ideas. He understood everything she said perfectly with a clarity of mind even Ginny had not yet mastered, and Luna, for her part, always understood exactly what Blaise meant when his tone was ambiguous. It was that understanding that their relationship grew on, but it was also very clear that the two did care for each other and deeply. They loved each other, just as much as Ron and Hermione or Bill and Fleur did.
So of course, Ginny had quickly accepted Blaise and she had been a bridesmaid at that very strange but very cute wedding. Over time she had grown to even like the man, to appreciate his dry sense of humor. It was not personal aversion that kept her on the doorstep, but rather the fact that Blaise Zabini also happened to be Draco's best friend.
That friendship had also shocked Ginny when she noticed it in her seventh year. Not that Zabini and Malfoy had ever been hostile toward each other, they were in the same house after all, but they had never seemed close. She supposed it made sense though, that Malfoy would change his friendships. Crabbe and Goyle were long gone with the ending of the war, and Zabini was spotlessly innocent of any war crimes.
But just as Luna and Blaise's relationship went beyond logic, so did Malfoy and Zabini's friendship. Ginny had seen the two together only once, but she had known instantly that their personalities suited each other. They did not balance each other the way Blaise and Luna did, but they mirrored each other in a lot of mannerisms and such, and Draco appreciated Blaise's dry humor in a way beyond what Ginny could manage. Blaise, for his part and more surprisingly, thoroughly enjoyed teasing Draco.
"Ginny?" Luna called with another gentle smile perched on her lips as if she knew she was interrupting reminiscence into the past.
Ginny shook her head quickly dispelling the thoughts. She smiled at her best friend. "Sorry Luna, I was just thinking," she stepped quickly into the house and embraced her friend. "And I don't mean to be rude about Blaise either," she added quickly once Luna released her. "It's just…"
"Private," Luna filled in, turning her back to lead Ginny away from the door and toward her workroom as if already knowing they would need the space. She probably already did, Ginny mused.
"Yes, private."
"And it has to do with Draco," Luna added, nodding to herself as she swung open double doors.
She spoke it as confirmation of her own thoughts not as a question, so Ginny did not bother answering. Luna's perceptive abilities sometimes overwhelmed Ginny with their reach, but they never frightened her. Luna was far too kind to mean harm by seeing so easily into a situation. She simply used what she knew to help herself understand better and to put others at ease. Ginny thought Luna would have been rather suited to a career as a Healer in this aspect, but Luna had chosen instead to become a potion maker.
The career choice had not surprised Ginny, seeing as the bright Ravenclaw was both exceptionally good with potions, and that the career allowed her freedom to experiment with her wild and crazy ideas. Luna's job was a boon to Ginny, and occasionally so were her inventions, like the cream that smoothed skin out so perfectly.
"You're just in luck actually," Luna smiled as she made her way into her potions room. "Blaise just left. Imagine that coincidence?"
Ginny ignored that coincidence and instead gazed at the organized mess within the room with appreciation. There were stacks everywhere and overflowing cauldrons, but the mess made sense to Luna and every once in awhile to Ginny. Blaise could navigate it easily and often assisted his wife when he was home. Watching them together in this room was a great satisfaction to Ginny. It was concrete proof that her best friend had ended up exactly where she was meant to.
"So Ginny what is it this time?" Luna asked in a not unkind way. Her curiosity often made her forget to word her sentences carefully so as not to sound clipped. "Rug burn cure? Scratch mark eliminator? Hickey cover-up?" as Luna listed some of their past inventions together, all necessary because of Draco, her smile grew.
Ginny blushed on her part. It was always mortifying to have to explain to Luna how such injuries occurred, and the first time had been the worst. Of course Ginny had sought out her best friend after the horror of sleeping with Draco for the first time, and during their conversation where Ginny freaked out about what to do, Luna had noticed the marks all over Ginny's neck. She had calmly come up with a potion that managed to cover-up the marks for a week without having to be reapplied. It was a big seller now in George's magic shop.
"Something new, I'm afraid," Ginny muttered.
Luna turned away from her shelves of full vials, her eyes alight with curiosity. "A new one? I can't imagine what Draco did to you now."
Her light laughter was not mocking, but still Ginny flushed again.
Luna noticed the reaction, and stopped her laughter though a light smile remained. "What is it, Ginny?"
"Do you know what a tattoo is?" Ginny blurted out quickly before she lost her nerve.
To Luna's credit she did not break out into hysterics as others would have, as Blaise surely would have. A twisting of her lips to keep a grin from spreading across her face indicated that Luna did in fact know what a tattoo was. Ginny wanted to die from embarrassment. And she knew it would only get worse as she explained.
