069. Thunder
It had only taken one week for Luna to seriously consider leaving Hogwarts forever and never looking back. Exactly one week ago she had been kissed for the very first time by the boy she loved and no happiness or excitement had weaseled its way into her body. Before Fred had been approaching her in the hallways every day to try and apologize and now he was avoiding her like the plague.
This year was not going well at all. Her classes were fine, she was able to make small talk with a few of her roommates, and Sirius Black attacks were slowly becoming a thing of the past. Those were the only upsides though. She hadn't had a real conversation with Fred since November and she missed him terribly.
Mid-March meant that all of their core lessons were slowly coming to a close and that review was going to start for the final exams in June. This also meant that summer was a lot closer than she had anticipated. The least she wanted was for her and Fred to act civilized toward each other.
Civilized so that he wouldn't run away from her whenever he saw her.
After classes Luna had been looking forward to taking a walk outside to clear her head when she noticed that it was storming. Instead of heading toward Ravenclaw Tower Luna headed for the Astronomy Tower instead. It was very likely that no one would be up there because of the storm and alone time and fresh air were just what she needed.
As soon as she opened the heavy doors to the tower she knew she had made a mistake. Fred was leaning against the railing and getting soaked in the process by the falling rain. Thunder clapped in the background so Luna surmised that he hadn't heard her.
Slowly Luna walked toward him and leant against the railing next to him. He turned his head to see who had joined him when he saw that it was her. Without wasting any time he promptly turned around and started to walk quickly toward the doors.
Luna dashed after him and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.
"Fred, we need to talk," Luna said.
"I can't hear you," Fred shouted. "I can't hear over the thunder!"
"That's a terrible excuse and you know it!" Luna yelled back at him. "Please, talk to me. I want my best friend back!"
Fred finally stopped struggling and turned around to face her completely. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. It also appeared that personal grooming had been forgotten over the past week as well.
"Talk to me," Luna said, taking one of his hands in hers. "Why did you kiss me?"
"Thunder," Fred said again, this time breaking the eye contact. "I can't hear you, we should do this later."
Taking his hand from hers, Fred started to walk toward the door, but this time Luna was ready. She moved toward him again but this time wrapped her arms around his abdomen.
"Fred, please," she said softly.
He tensed visibly and didn't turn around but Luna heard him exhale slowly.
"I've been trying to avoid you so I wouldn't ruin our relationship," Fred said.
"How would you ruin it?" Luna asked.
"By showing my feelings for you," Fred explained as he turned around.
Fred placed his hands on her elbows as she repositioned her arms to be around his lower back. There was no way she was letting him run. Not when she had him this close to a confession.
"I like you, Luna," he said, giving a little smile as he said the words. "Kissing you was completely on impulse. I don't even know where it came from."
"Did you want to kiss me?" Luna asked slowly.
"No," he said, giving a small shake of his head. "Not now. Not when you're only twelve."
"Thirteen," Luna corrected.
"What?" he asked.
"January 15th, my birthday," Luna said. "We weren't really talking back then."
Nodding his head in understanding, Fred wrapped his arms around Luna and pulled her close to him. Resting his chin on her head, he released what seemed to be the hundredth breath of air.
"When you're older I have every intention of kissing you," he said, happy that she couldn't see his face. "But right now I just want to be your friend. I feel like-."
"We're best that way?" Luna finished as she released herself from his arms and looked up at his blushing face. "I think so too."
Fred gave a grin of relief.
"So, back to being best friends?" he asked.
"You got it," Luna nodded with a smile.
The two continued to look at each other with smiles on their faces until there was another burst of thunder and Luna jumped about ten feet off the ground. Fred laughed and wrapped an arm across her shoulders as they walked to the doors leading to the stairs.
"I'll walk you back to your common room," Fred said as they began walking down the stairs.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Luna said truthfully as she followed him down the stone steps.
Sure she wasn't going to be Mrs. Fred Weasley anytime soon, but she really didn't mind. She was just happy they were back to normal again. Even though they were never exactly normal to begin with.
"So, what about Angelina?" Luna asked as they descended the last few steps leading to the bottom.
"What?" Fred asked as he turned around to face her and stumbling on the steps in the process.
Luckily he was able to maintain his balance and land safely on the last step. Luna laughed and joined him on the bottom step.
"You like her," Luna said simply.
"Well, yeah," Fred said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "You know a normal girl would be jealous that I like another girl."
"Being normal never appealed to me," Luna shrugged as she opened the door leading to the hallway.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Fred mumbled as he followed her.
