Remember when I last updated this one? It was January of this year… So it's only been six months since I updated it, and not seven, like last time.
Not only that, but I'm finally writing part two of my story The Only Valentine; you can find the first part of the story in chapter nine. I know, it's been too long, but I finally am up to writing this.
As always, read and enjoy!!!
As the sun came up and rose over the spires of Hogwarts, an animated chatter was beginning to spread throughout the student body.
And for good reason, too- that day was Valentine's Day.
Harry had just gone back to sleep, after a rough night of tossing, turning, and vivid dreams about Luna. He rolled over and shut his eyes tighter, when he was jolted back to reality by a scream of "Oh my… Harry, come look at this!"
Groaning, Harry rolled over to face Hermione. "Now?"
A pillow whacked Harry in the face. "Yes, now! Get out of bed- it's daytime."
Groggily, Harry sat up on his bed. "But, we don't even have a first-period class today. Remember- Trelawney cancelled class due to her 'aura being out of whack'?"
He heard someone laugh beside him, and turned to see who it was.
"I'd actually forgotten about that one, mate," Ron said, still smiling. "I'm glad you reminded me."
Hermione shook her head. "Ron, you'd probably forget to breathe if someone didn't remind you."
"Might be true," replied Ron, "which is why I'm glad you're around." He pantomimed blowing a kiss towards Hermione, who did the same in return, her face flushing a deep crimson.
Harry sighed; already, he could tell it was going to be a long day.
Looking around the room, he noticed that even the dorms had been decorated overnight; it now resembled the rest of Hogwarts, awash in everything pink or close to pink as they could find.
"Damn pink…" Harry muttered.
"I know," piped up Neville, who had woken up moments earlier. "I hate that color… And it's all over the place now."
Harry was glad that someone was actually agreeing with him, for once, instead of contradicting him and saying something about how the pink was cute, or pretty, or "indicative of the day."
He was about to say something else, but Hermione spoke first: "Harry, you have a Valentine, too."
Harry was a bit surprised; he wasn't expecting one. Luna had already given him a Valentine, and he wasn't expecting to get one from anyone else.
Warily, he made his way over to the massive pile of Valentines that had been placed almost in the dead center of the room. He saw that both Ron and Hermione had received a good number of Valentines- most of them, probably from each other- and some of the others had received a few. Neville, he saw, had only one.
"It's from my grandmother," Neville said, when he saw Harry glance over at him.
Harry smiled; Neville and his grandmother had always been quite close.
Finally, he reached the giant pile; Ron, who was sitting closest to it, plucked one from the stack and handed it to Harry.
"Well, what does it say?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Let the man read it first!" Ron retorted, and Hermione, flushing slightly, looked away.
Harry simply smiled, and opened up his Valentine. Inside was a silver ring, with very intricate patterns etched all around it. It looked very valuable, and Harry was in shock at receiving such a thing.
Lifting the ring up, he read the message that was behind it: Dear Harry, I was out shopping with my dad a few days ago, and I saw this in a shop we went into. The store owner said it was made by an Irish silversmith centuries ago, and I thought you might like this. I'm really looking forward to the dance tonight, Harry. I know we'll have so much fun. Love, Luna.
Harry was both touched and surprised, at this gesture. I never knew… She really does care a lot about me…
A new determination came over him, and he walked back over to his bed, striding with a purpose.
"What's come over you, mate?" Ron asked.
Harry just grinned. "I've got to get ready for the dance. Can't disappoint her, you know."
Later That Night
A transformation had overcome the Great Hall, during the time dinner ended and just a mere three hours later. Now, it was covered in Valentine's Day-themed decorations, a virtual river of pink covering the Hall.
Harry had to admit, he liked the Hall's look, better than he did the rest of the school. It somehow seemed to fit better here.
He stepped into the Hall, immediately starting to glance around to look for his date. There were a lot of people already in the Hall, though, despite the fact that the dance wasn't starting for an hour or so.
Thinking that Luna hadn't shown up yet, he found a place to sit down, then on a sporadic thought, took off his tuxedo jacket and lay it on the seat next to him, trying to save a spot for her.
Soon, he was lost in imagination, enjoying just watching those around him. He was quite surprised to see Snape try to sneak in without being noticed; he thought it was odd that he would show up here, but then remembered that the dance was compulsory for all Hogwarts staff, teachers included. Harry tried to stifle a laugh, seeing the look of disgust on Snape's face; he could kind of understand his emotions, though- Harry didn't much like Valentine's Day, either.
Harry had just begun to think again, when he noticed that there were little pink hearts floating around above his head, each one a 3D image. He smiled, thinking that the Hogwarts Charms department had really outdone themselves on that one. When he began to glance around, though, he realized that the hearts were hovering above no one but himself.
Thinking that something was odd, Harry started to turn around, but was stopped by a voice from behind him: "You noticed my hearts?"
Harry turned, and saw who it was.
"Yeah," he said, smiling. "How did you do that?"
"A simple charm, actually," Luna said serenely. "If you'd like, I can teach it to you, sometime."
Harry motioned for Luna to come over to his side of the table, and she came willingly. He picked up his jacket and folded it across his lap, offering the now-available seat to Luna.
"Did you save that for me?" Luna asked, as she sat.
Harry nodded. "I didn't want anyone to grab your seat."
Luna had never had anyone really do that for her before, so she began to flush slightly. "Thank you, Harry. By the way, I got your Valentine- it was really quite good. I didn't know you were so good at using spellwork."
Harry smiled. "I wasn't, before I did that. I had to look up a lot of stuff to be able to do that. Though, I must admit, Hermione did teach me the charm I used to make it be able to fly around."
Luna laughed. "That was a nice touch. And she is a very good witch, Hermione is. I wish I were as smart as she is."
"I do, too," Harry agreed. "Though, I think you've got something that she doesn't."
Luna was intrigued. "Oh, really? And what is that?"
"You've got imagination. You can see, and accept, things that are outside what people think of as being 'normal'."
"I didn't think that was a good thing, though…" Luna replied. "It makes people think of me differently."
As usual, she was blunt and right on the mark.
"That shouldn't matter," Harry said. "Let me ask you something- what do you think of yourself?"
Luna paused for a moment, then said, "I think I'm myself, and no one else."
This, Harry was not expecting, but he recovered quickly.
"And that's all that should matter," Harry replied. "If you like yourself the way you are, then who cares what other people think?"
Luna smiled at him. "Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me, in a long time."
Harry was about to respond, when the music began to play.
"Is this where we're supposed to dance?" Luna asked.
"I guess so," said Harry. He stood up, and offered his hand to Luna. "Let's?"
Luna smiled, and took his hand. "Yes."
The two of them came out near the edge of the floor, and as one, they began to dance. Luna closed her eyes, just enjoying the moment. As the music played around them, they swayed to the beat, simply staying in place, mostly because neither of them knew how to dance well. As Harry looked around him, he saw that others were doing the same thing he was, and he felt much better about it.
He looked Luna full in the face, and for the first time, realized just how happy she was, being with him. And, he began to see, he was just as happy, being with her.
Smiling at that thought, he kept on dancing, his worries and fears sliding away from him like the darkness at the dawn…
---
A few hours later, the dance ended. Slowly, the students began to pile out of the Hall, satisfied but ready for a good night's sleep. Instead of going straight back to the Gryffindor dorms, though, he walked Luna back to hers.
"I must say," she said, "I had a very good time with you, tonight. I never realized dancing could be so fun."
Harry laughed. "I know, but I'm not all that good at it."
"Neither am I," said Luna, "but I still enjoyed myself."
Harry nodded. "Me, too."
The two of them stopped at the entrance to the Ravenclaw dorm. Harry was about to say goodnight to her, when he noticed something hanging above their heads.
"Is that… mistletoe?"
Luna looked up, then smiled. "Oh, it is. I put that up there for Christmas, but I guess I forgot to take it back down afterwards."
Impulsively, Harry pulled Luna close to her. "You said that tonight was going to be the best night ever. Was it?"
Luna smiled. "Now it is." And, surprising even herself, she leaned up and kissed Harry.
He responded warmly, and the two of them embraced. A minute later, they broke apart.
"Now," Luna said, smiling wider than ever, "now, it's the best night ever."
Hope you liked it, 'cause I really enjoyed writing this one. It was sweet, but (I hope) not too sweet.
See you next time!
