Written for Round Six of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Season Nine):

Position: Keeper

Team: Chudley Cannons:

Prompt: Ron x Luna

(This is a chain; our Seeker chose Tonks for her character, and paired her with Charlie, and next, our Captain chose Ron to put him in a platonic fic with Charlie. I'm pairing Ron with Luna, and so on…)

Chudley Cannons Team Challenge: Choose a song from one of your favourite artists/bands to inspire your story. I chose 'Be Alright' by Ariana Grande.

Word count: 1231

Note: I've taken my liberty with the timeline of Deathly Hallows for the sake of this fic :D

For Now

"...Midnight shadows

When finding love is a battle

But daylight is so close..."

March 1997

Of all people, Ron had not really thought that it would be Luna Lovegood who came to visit him in the hospital wing. She was standing near the foot of his bed, and he almost did not see her until he propped himself up on his elbows.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, moving to his side. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Ron was still in a bit of a daze from all the potions, and it took a bit of time for her words to register in his brain.

"Yeah, of course — I mean, I don't mind."

Luna took a seat and for a moment, she only peered at him. It was not bothersome, even though Ron wished he looked a bit better. Not because it was Luna, he told himself. He just liked to look presentable at all times.

"Does it hurt still?" she asked quietly.

"Not anymore," he answered.

She nodded, and Ron shut his eyes. But then he had a sudden question, so he opened them again and looked at her.

"You're not at the game? With everyone else?"

"I thought I would visit you. I'm sorry I didn't come earlier."

"No — no, it's alright. Good thing you came here now, today — I'd rather not spend my time staring at the ceiling. Honestly, everything is so bloody white in here — "

She laughed. Ron could not help but grin.

"Also," she said, her smile fading away as she reached deep into her robes, "I wanted to give you this — " she pulled out a medium-sized lumpy package " — for your birthday. I know it's been two days since, but is now a good time to give you this?"

Ron tried to get a good look at what she held in her hands. It was a bit larger than Pig, and bright blue with orange spots. Knowing Luna, it could very well have been something related to the mystical creatures she always talked about.

"What's inside it?" he asked. "Not something of the Blibbering Humdinger sort, I s'pose?"

"No," she said, laughing. "I know you don't like Blibbering Humdingers. You'd like the Moon Frogs, though. But this is not that either. This is something else. You'll like it very much. Do you want me to tell you now?"

Ron weakly raised an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe not," he said at length. "I need something to live for."

Luna frowned at him, and the expression made Ron laugh.

"Very well," she asserted, keeping the package on his bedside table.

"Hey, Luna," he began in an attempt to placate her, "when's your birthday?"

She looked at him strangely, then said, "It's in February. The thirteenth."

"So it's passed, then. Happy belated birthday, Luna. You should've told us before."

"It's alright. I don't celebrate it anyway."

Ron looked at her face; she looked distant, sadder than he had ever seen Luna Lovegood be. In fact, he did not think he had ever seen Luna sad. She was always bright and chirpy and, well, too dotty to be sad.

"Why not?" he asked tentatively.

"I used to," she replied. "When my mother was still around. She and Daddy used to make the best cakes. And the best Plimpy soup. But then she died, and Daddy was especially miserable. We haven't celebrated ever since. Not that I resent anyone for it."

He reached for her hand.

"I'm sorry, Luna," he said sincerely. "Really. But you should've told us still; I, er, we wouldn't want you to spend your birthday all by yourself."

Luna gave him a small smile and squeezed his fingers.

"Thank you, Ronald. I — "

But then the door swung open, and Madam Pomfrey emerged from her chamber. If he was being very honest, Ron had never been more annoyed with anyone as he was then at the kind matron's appearance.

*.*.*

February 1998

The thirteenth of the month dawned cold and windy. Not a surprise — the last few days had all been like this. It was probably because she was up so early, and they were so close to the sea. Luna could practically smell the sea from inside the Shell Cottage.

It was almost five in the morning, and Luna had scampered outside an hour ago to see if she could spy any of the baby Erklings that haunted Bill and Fleur's garden. So far, she hadn't had much luck, but at least she got to see the gnomes.

The sun had risen already, and the sea in the distance was a dull blue today. The house was suspiciously quiet, even for this particular time of the day, so much so that Luna could even hear the waves. She wondered if it would be a good idea to go back inside, but she was rather enjoying the glum weather today.

Until she couldn't anymore because her stomach had started to growl. So she stood up, brushed the bits of grass and dirt off her skirt and went back inside.

The floorboard creaked when she pushed the door open, and Luna was starting to get a bit alarmed — something that didn't happen very often.

But it was OK, she told herself. She was going to go up to her and Hermione's bedroom, and wake her up.

Except she wasn't there in their room. Luna frowned at Hermione's vinewood wand on the nightstand.

She picked it up, and hers too, and decided to make her way back downstairs. Luna vaguely wondered if all this had something to do with the fact that it was the thirteenth.

"Happy birthday!"

Luna almost dropped the wands when she entered the living room. Everyone was crammed into the tiny room — Ron, Harry, Hermione, then Dean, and Bill and Fleur, and they were all standing there, beaming widely at her. There was a banner hung across the window; Dean had painted what she suspected was his rendition of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack and there was 'happy birthday' written in round, loopy letters, and the whole thing was charmed to change colours.

"I — "

"Zere will be time to talk later," said Fleur, floating over to Luna and taking her hand. "You must first 'ave ze cake!"

And then Luna was swarmed by all her friends before she could register what was happening. She hadn't had cake on her birthday in years, and more than that, she didn't remember feeling so loved. Only a few weeks ago, she was stuck in the dingy dungeons of Malfoy Manor, wondering if she would make it out alive to see her next birthday, and now she was here surrounded by her friends and feeling better than she had in many months.

Luna finally managed to escape Fleur's fussing-over and caught Ron's eyes. He grinned at her, and she immediately knew that this was his doing. She'd told him about her birthday over a year ago in that hospital room, when he was half-asleep and dosed with analgesics. Her stomach swooped, and she beamed at him over everyone else's shoulders.

We'll talk later, his answering look seemed to say, and a wave of hope washed over her. They were still in the middle of a great war, she still didn't know where her dad was, and there was still more loss to come, but for now, that hope was going to keep her going.