I do have to admit, when I started this one, much like most of my multi-chapter works, I had no clue where I was going with it and I still don't. So I'm somewhat making it up as I go.
Also, I've noticed Lunar Harmony seems to have a far smaller audience than I previously thought. However, this might be because of my Lunar Harmony works being somewhat… lackluster, compared to my only Harmony work so far. So I might in the future just stick with Harmony, but I do prefer writing poly works. We'll have to see.
Enjoy.
"You know…" Luna began, still trying hard to contain her glee. Good thing Harry still held her by the arm while they walked, otherwise it was very possible she might float away. "This night actually went a little better than I expected."
"Tell me about it." Harry wore a dreamy smile that put Luna's normal one to shame. Hermione already had to reassure him three times now that this was indeed real and he wasn't dreaming.
Luna did have to admit, she'd have a hard time believing Hermione Granger was his girlfriend too if she were in the boy's shoes. People like Luna and Harry didn't have good things happen to them very often, if at all.
"Not according to plan…" Hermione squeezed the hand she held on Harry's opposite side. "But I'm happy with how things turned out."
"Indeed." Viktor added from Hermione's far side.
"Still not too late to return to the party, Viktor." Harry looked past Hermione at his fellow champion. "Pretty sure their night is still going to go on for a while."
"Nonsense." Viktor shook his head as he walked in step with the other three, but he maintained a polite distance from Hermione. "Von should always see a lady home. It is also a… as you might say, convenient excuse to not to return to the ball. I have had enough of such things for von evening."
Hermione was right, Viktor really was quite the gentleman. There would be many a girl in Hogwarts devastated to learn he wasn't all that interested in romance right now. Then again, far too many witches drooled over him like a fresh piece of meat. It made Luna uncomfortable on her new friend's behalf.
Sure, Viktor was handsome, but why was it so difficult to look past the celebrity and champion to see the person beneath? Was it seriously that hard?
Luna did exactly that with Harry, and found her best friend. She found it crazy, by her standards no less, that nobody else, save Hermione, was able to do so, but the blonde let thoughts like that drift away. It was everyone else's loss. Harry was a one in a billion friend, and the rest of Hogwarts was the poorer for it.
"Here we are." Luna chirped happily as she walked up to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, disguising her disappointment that the night was over. "Thank you so much for the lovely evening, Harry. And thank you, Viktor, for the pleasant company."
Before actually talking to the Bulgarian, Luna would never have dreamed he was someone so insightful that she'd enjoy talking to. Not as much as Harry, but it was still nice.
"The pleasure vas mine." Viktor gave her a small bow and a half smile before gently taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.
How odd. While Luna was undoubtably touched by the gesture, it didn't provoke that much of a reaction from her body. She got a stronger one when Harry simply brushed against her arm.
Speaking of whom, Luna imagined Harry doing the same and that thought alone certainly provoked one hell of a reaction from her insides. Maybe that was what girls meant when a boy made them 'melt'?
Viktor stepped back and Harry took his place, immediately pulling the blonde witch into a warm embrace, one that Luna was all too happy to return.
Luna bit her lip hard, she had no other way to prevent the noises that threatened to escape her mouth as she found her lithe body being held flush against Harry's. If she thought her mental images from a moment ago were bringing reactions, they didn't have anything on the fireworks going on inside her now.
It took most of Luna's willpower, and reminding herself that Harry's new girlfriend was literally two feet away, to get her to release the boy. Even so, her arms did so reluctantly.
Thank Merlin the portraits current riddle was a simple one, or at least simple for her, tonight. Luna wasn't sure if she was capable of the customary Ravenclaw higher intellect at the moment.
"Good night." Luna managed to force out before disappearing inside and sealing the way behind her.
Luna could contain herself no longer.
Luckily for her, the bulk of Ravenclaw were still at the ball, or fast asleep in their beds. The sight of Luna Lovegood hugging herself and letting out a rather loud unladylike squeal of joy while stomping her feet would have been weird even coming from one such as herself.
The end of the world probably wouldn't have been able to wipe the ecstatic grin off the witch's face as she skipped and twirled toward her dorm for bed, the ideas of possible pleasant dreams making her grin even wider.
Luna sighed to herself as she looked down at the plate in front of her.
A pair of scrambled eggs for eyes, a few tiny hash browns for a nose, and a few strips of bacon aligned for a smile. Most mornings, when she was feeling particularly down, the sight of her breakfast arranged in such a way would usually lift her spirits.
Seeing as how her mother once did this, it always gave her thoughts of happier times. Until now, the memories of such times never failed to raise her back up mentally and emotionally.
Looking down at the happy smiling face, Luna's own countenance fell into a frown. Flipping the bacon over, her once happy plate now wore an expression to match her own.
It was her own fault really.
The previous week, Harry would meet her outside the great hall so they could have breakfast together over at the Gryffindor table's end. It was one of Luna's favorite parts of the day, mostly because she got to spend time with her best friend.
Alas, today, the boy had been nowhere to be found.
Now Luna sat once again at the Ravenclaw table, the other students of her house keeping a large distance. The blonde didn't mind, for the most part. At least this way, nobody mocked her choice of breakfast design. Yes, it was quite lonely, and oddly quiet despite the conversations echoing all over the hall, but Luna preferred it this way. Better to be lonely by oneself than to be lonely when surrounded by people.
Harry had a girlfriend now, and surely he would want to sit with her, instead. Luna was not surprised at all, but that didn't make it sting any less.
Now that the Yule Ball was over, Harry probably didn't need to hang around her anymore, especially since he got his other best friend back, whom had been upgraded to girlfriend.
Something strange, though. Why did that last thought leave Luna's stomach so unsettled? It was certainly an odd feeling, once that Luna was unaccustomed to. It was a bit like how she felt when she saw other students chatting away with their friends, somewhat like loneliness, but not quite. Her only clue to this mystery, was that she felt it whenever she thought about Hermione being Harry's girlfriend… and there it was again!
To a seeker of knowledge like Luna, an unsolved mystery such as this was maddening!
Whatever direction Luna's thoughts were planning to go next would continue to be another mystery, because a certain familiar pair of hands landed on her shoulders.
"Harry?" Luna titled her head back until the boy in question behind her was upside down.
"There you are." Harry smiled, which again found Luna with butterflies in her belly. "I've been looking all over, for you."
"You have?" Luna squashed that feeling down, but she couldn't ignore the hands, especially the way they warmed her skin even through her clothes.
"Of course."
"Why?" Luna had to swallow past a sudden lump in her throat.
"I didn't realize you didn't want to eat together, anymore." Harry's smile faded but the words had Luna panicking. She didn't want him ever thinking that!
"I couldn't find you this morning." Luna explained while gathering her things together, keeping her eyes focused on that instead of those green eyes that was having strange new effects on her body. "I didn't think you wanted to, anymore…"
"Not a chance." Harry laughed, the sound reassuring Luna's fraying nerves. "Sorry I was a bit late this morning, I'll make it up to you."
"You don't have to do that." Luna stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder, giving the boy a smile of her own to match his. She was so relieved, she didn't even have to fake it. "I'm just happy to see you."
Harry said no more as he led her away from the frosty Ravenclaw table and in the direction of its Gryffindor twin. Most of the hall carried on their conversations, but some refocused on the walking two like they always did whenever Harry walked around the great hall. At the same time, they received more than a few stares, nothing Luna wasn't accustomed to.
It was easier than normal to tune out everything today, mostly because of Harry's hand on Luna's lower back as he guided her along. He didn't have to, Luna had been having her meals at the Gryffindor table for the past week, but it was still nice. It was like a reminder that no, Harry hadn't forgotten her, and yes, he still wanted to spend time with her.
The blonde girl did have to stifle a small shiver at the feeling. While Hogwarts robes were not all that thin, somehow Luna could still feel the heat of Harry's touch through them. It wasn't just Luna's back that was warming, it was the girl's entire body.
Since when was the great hall so hot in the morning?
Luna was so busy basking in the pleasant warmth, that Luna had missed the approaching boy until he was right in front of them.
"Potter!" Draco Malfoy, wearing his customary sneer that was like a Malfoy trademark. He said something else, too, but Luna wasn't really paying too much attention to the boy. More than likely it was some snippy or insulting comment that Harry and Luna both had heard a million times each across their lives.
In truth, Luna had a different boy she was focused on.
Harry just gave the blonde Slytherin a blank look.
Right before he promptly walked right past him, not even giving the ponce a second glance.
"Hey!" Draco shouted, being ignored wounding him harder than any words probably could. "I'm talking to you. Hey!"
Any other pest, Luna might have been worried about being cursed in the back, yet Draco might be a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them. He wouldn't be dumb enough to try something like that in the middle of the great hall, in full view of the staff table.
That, and Hermione was now in sight, wand already in hand and giving the blonde boy a frightful death glare over his shoulder. Then again, Luna had no way of knowing if Draco even knew he was being watched.
Luna liked to think the best of people, even prats when possible, so she chose to assume Draco wasn't a complete moron.
"Finally!" Hermione greeted the two warmly at the end of the Gryffindor table, her glare from a moment ago changing into a radiant smile. "Was she…"
Much like Luna's oasis over at Ravenclaw, the other Gryffindors were giving Harry, and by extension Hermione now, a wide berth. If either Hermione or Harry noticed, neither cared all that much, just like Luna herself.
"Yeah." Harry sighed, ushering Luna to sit before taking his own seat beside her, strangely enough, leaving her sitting between himself and his new girlfriend. "Over at Ravenclaw, just like you said."
"Wait, why am I sitting here?" Luna asked before she could stop herself. Before Harry or Hermione could misunderstand, she pressed on. "I mean, here, between you two, shouldn't you two be sitting together?"
Hermione laughed at that. "Luna, I'm not so insecure that I'm going to be upset by another girl sitting beside my boyfriend."
"Don't worry so much." Harry lightly bumped Luna's shoulder with his own, the feeling bringing a lift of Luna's lips before she could think of doing so.
"Besides…" Hermione wrapped a single arm around Luna and pulled her into a nice, but brief, one arm hug. It didn't give quite the tingles that Harry's hugs did, but it did inspire fantasies of what a full hug from Hermione might feel like, and how different it could be from Harry's. "You were supporting Harry when hardly anyone else was, including myself."
"Don't sell yourself so short, Hermione." Harry lightly chastised as he slid a plate they'd apparently already prepared for her before Harry came to find her. "You were supportive, just not in the open where I could hear, plus you were busy planning."
"Still." Hermione attempted to counter. "I should have been more open and honest with you. We could have saved each other a lot of potential trouble and heartache."
"Well, I," Harry's arm found its way across Luna's shoulders again, a sensation Luna had already filed away before now as one of her favorites, "like the way things turned out. Sure, we could have avoided some problems, but then I wouldn't have gotten to know Luna, here. And that would have been a tragedy."
Luna heard couple's words traveling over her to reach the other but she couldn't bring herself to add her two knuts worth because she was caught completely off guard by the plate of food. Not really the food itself per se, but its shape. Harry, it must have been him because she'd told him about her habit of doing this during one of their discussions, had arranged her food into an exact copy of the smiling face she'd abandoned over at Ravenclaw, the only difference was slightly bigger portions. The food was arranged too neatly, too uniform, it would have been tossed on haphazardly and messy if he'd done it. The precision and organization screamed Hermione.
The food was not cold, but it wasn't hot, either. Meaning it must have been sitting on the plate for a bit. The two Gryffindors must have put it together some time ago. Maybe… they made it thinking she was going to show up at any time and were waiting for her?
They were… actually waiting, for her?
Luna couldn't believe that she had actually doubted Harry, one of the nicest and most loyal people she'd ever met. If he thought the world of Hermione, then Luna would too based on his word alone. The fact that she hadn't trusted in him and allowed her insecurities to run wild again her made her feel positively awful.
"Luna?" Hermione asked with concern, her hand finding its way to Luna's knee. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Luna shook her head, trying her hardest to suppress the tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. Luna couldn't help but wonder if these two realized how thoughtful they were being, and what an effect that had on the blonde witch. "Perfectly fine."
Harry, despite only knowing her for a week, had gotten quite adept at noticing when Luna had moments like these. The arm around her shoulders pulled her into his side, his head laying atop hers.
It might have been rude to do so in front of Hermione, but Luna didn't care when both her arms snaked around her best friend to hold him close.
Hermione opened her mouth, no doubt to ask some kind of question of clarification but it closed just as quickly and she shook her head before the witch's own arms wound their way around Luna to join in.
"Thank you." Luna was eternally grateful she managed to avoid actually crying but it was a close thing. "For… everything."
"Luna…" Harry rolled his eyes, but his words held no bite. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"You don't have to thank either of us, for anything." Hermione was the one who answered. When Harry gave her a strange look, the brunette witch shrugged. "You had to have said that by now a dozen times, at least."
Luna actually laughed at the look of indignation on Harry's face. "She's right, Harry."
Harry started to say something but stopped and thought better of it. "Okay, I'll give you that one."