CHAPTER ONE: RETURN TO REAL LIFE

This immediately follows the events of my story "Harry's Happiest Christmas."

Warning: this is smutty.

January 4th, 1997

"You forgot to pack your books again, mate."

Ron's voice made Harry jump for the fifth time that morning.

"Er, right, thanks," said Harry, and once again started repacking his things into his trunk. He was deliberately avoiding eye contact with Ron, but he still felt his best friend narrowing his eyes at him studiously.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked. "You seem….distracted. You were acting funny at breakfast."

Harry nodded his head too vigorously. "I'm fine," he squeaked in a high voice. Knowing he wasn't being convincing, he steeled himself and turned to look at Ron's face, hoping his own wasn't too red.

"I'm just….not wild about going back anymore, you know?" said Harry, "There's classes, and Snape, and whatever the hell Malfoy is up to, it just feels like I could use a bit more time off here to just—"

"Snog my sister?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow, "that's mostly what you've been doing here, and you can do that just as easily back at school. So don't start with your sulking again."

Harry shrugged and smiled nervously. "Yeah, you're right, I'm being stupid."

"Come on," said Ron, "if we don't leave soon, Mum's going to make us stay for lunch, and before we know it she's pulled us out of school entirely." He grabbed his packed trunk and left his bedroom, leaving Harry letting out a sigh of relief.

Harry had to stop being so jumpy or someone would definitely suspect the real reason why he couldn't look any of the Weasleys in the eye all morning: the amazing night he had spent in Ginny's bedroom the night before. It really wasn't fair, he was supposed to be able to boast and high-five his best mate when he shagged a beautiful girl, right? But this best mate had to also be the girl's brother, so he had to keep his mouth shut like a kid who got into the cookie jar.

He shook his head and carried his own trunk down the stairs after Ron. When he entered the sitting room, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins, and Bill were already standing around the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley was already embracing Ron with tears in her eyes. Admittedly, it took very little to set her off lately; she had been crying on and off ever since Percy had stormed from the house on Christmas Day with his glasses splattered with mashed parsnip.

"Don't worry about us, Mum," said Ron, "or about Percy. He's such a prat, it's not really a loss, is it?"

Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever and Bill shot Ron a glare.

"Promise me you'll look after yourself," said Mrs. Weasley as she enfolded Harry in her arms, "Stay out of trouble…"

"I always do, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. "I like the quiet life, you know me."

She gave a watery chuckle and stood back. "All right, we're just waiting for — oh, there you are, Ginny!"

Harry turned to see his girlfriend descending the staircase, Fleur helping her by levitating her trunk. As soon as her face was in view, her eyes locked with Harry's and she gave him that same smouldering look that she had been shooting at him all morning. Harry fought the urge to break into what he knew would be a very guilty-looking grin.

Harry's warm feeling vanished, however, when he looked to Fleur giving him a very smug, knowing look, and he was uncomfortably reminded that there was another person in the room that knew what he and Ginny had gotten up to the night before, since it was Fleur sneaking up to Bill's room that had given them the opportunity.

As soon as Ginny hit the bottom step, her mother pulled her into a crushing hug and sobbed into her shoulder.

"Don't cry, Mum," said Ginny, patting her on the back, "It's okay…"

Mrs. Weasley stepped back and tried to get control of herself. "Well, be good then, all of you. Have a good term."

Ginny caught Harry's eyes and she smiled. "Oh, I'm sure I will."

She climbed into the green flames, turned around to give Harry a wink, shouted, "Hogwarts!" and vanished in a flash.

As Harry picked up his own trunk, he spotted out of the corner of his eye Bill frowning deeply. He looked between the spot where Ginny had been, to Harry, to his own fiance, who was still bouncing on her feet like a girl with a good piece of gossip, and Harry saw a connection form in Bill's brain. He gulped loudly as Bill's eyes locked back onto him with murderous intent.

"Well-thank-you-for-having-me-Mrs.-Weasley-it-was-a-wonderful-Christmas-HOGWARTS!" Harry spilled out as he practically leapt into the fireplace and sent himself spinning through the quick glimpses of fireplaces before stumbling out into Professor McGongall's office. She barely glanced up from her work.

"Morning, Potter. Try not to get too much on the carpet."

"No, Professor." He crossed the room and waited with Ginny by the door for Ron's appearance. It was several seconds before he emerged from the fireplace, however.

"What took you so long?" asked Ginny.

"Right after Harry left, Bill got angry at Fleur about….something," said Ron in amazement. "He was being vague, but I got distracted by it just out of curiosity. I didn't think those two were even capable of fighting, or doing anything else besides making lovvy eyes at each other, they're even worse than you two."

"I'm sure any Weasley family gossip can wait until you're out of my office," said McGonagall impatiently. "Wait — 'you two'?" she actually looked up from her papers in interest and saw Harry and Ginny's intertwined hands.

"Are you — nevermind," she said, catching herself in her moment of impropriety and looking back down, "You're all dismissed!" she said, waving her hand, "this office will get crowded if we don't keep the flow going."

The three of them left the office and headed towards Gryffindor Tower, with Ron rolling his eyes and Ginny smiling proudly.

"Did you catch that? She approves," said Ginny.

"I seriously doubt that she cares one way or the other," said Harry.

Both Ron and Ginny laughed at this.

"You kidding?" said Ron, "Everyone knows you're McGongagall's favorite."

"What!?" Harry laughed, "That's ridiculous. McGonagall's not the type to have favorites, and if she were, it would be Hermione. She's a way better student than me."

"Yeah, but Hermione isn't a tragic, wayward orphan in need of firm guidance," said Ginny dramatically, "What, you think my mum is the only witch whose maternal side you bring out?"

"She probably feels like it's her duty to give you some Scottish tough love, since she knows your other mother figure would let you get away with murder," said Ron.

"I'm not so sure about that, she'd definitely have something to say about last night," Harry whispered to Ginny, falling behind Ron, "You got too brazen just before you left, Bill figured it out."

"Ah, but he can't say anything to Mum without revealing that he also broke her precious rules," said Ginny slyly, "and besides, even if she did find out, Ron's right, you can do no wrong, it would be me getting yelled at for corrupting you."

"That's not—" began Harry, but he cut himself off as they caught back up with Ron when they arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait, with her looking rather paler than usual

"Baubles," said Ron confidently. She winced at his loud voice.

"No," she said.

"What d'you mean 'no'?"

"There is a new password," she said. "And please don't shout."

"But we've been away, how're we supposed to—?"

"Harry! Ginny!"

Hermione was hurrying towards them, very pink-faced and wearing a cloak, hat, and gloves.

"I got back early this morning, I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck — I mean Witherwings," she said breathlessly, "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yeah," said Ron at once, "pretty eventful, Rufus Scrim—"

"I've got something for you, Harry," said Hermione, neither looking at Ron nor giving any sign that she had heard him. "Oh, hang on — password. Abstinence."

"Precisely," said the Fat Lady in a feeble voice, and swung forward to reveal the portrait hole.

"What's up with her?" asked Harry.

"Overindulged over Christmas, apparently," said Hermione, rolling her eyes as she led the way into the packed common room." She and her friend Violet drank their way through all the wine in that picture of drunk monks—"

"Harry and Ginny are going out now," Ron cut in bluntly, crossing his arms and daring her not to react.

Hermione stopped mid-sentence, and for a half second Harry saw that she clearly wanted to launch into a million questions, but that would require acknowledging Ron's existence. The latter quickly won out.

"Anyway," said Hermione, clearing her throat. She rummaged in her pocket for a moment, then pulled out a scroll of parchment with Dumbledore's writing on it.

"Great," said Harry, unrolling it at once to discover that his next lesson with Dumbledore was scheduled for the following night. "I've got loads to tell him — and you. Let's sit down—"

But at that moment there was a loud squeal of "Won-Won!" and Lavender Brown came hurtling out of nowhere and flung herself into Ron's arms. Several onlookers sniggered; Hermione used the opportunity to grab Harry and Ginny harshly by their sleeves and drag them over to the spare table and plant them down on two chairs.

"Okay, what the hell was Ron talking about?" she hissed, sitting down across from them.

"Hermione, language!" said Ginny, smiling. "What, do you not approve?"

"What — no, of course I do!" Hermione stammered, "I've always hoped you two would get together, I was the one who suggested dating other people so that Harry would notice you!"

"What?" said Harry.

"Nothing babe, don't worry about it," said Ginny, patting his arm.

"It's just….it's rather sudden, isn't it?" said Hermione, "I just expected there to be signs beforehand."

"Why?" shrugged Ginny, "We both liked each other, so we started snogging. Seems pretty straightforward to me."

"What are we supposed to do, spend years dancing around it and play sadistic mind games on each other? That would be stupid," said Harry. Both he and his girlfriend looked very pointedly at their friend.

"Well…." said Hermione weakly, shrinking into her chair, "Sometimes it's not that simple."

"Look, Hermione," said Harry, "can't you—?"

"No, I can't," she said flatly. "So don't even ask."

"Oh, Hermione, you're both being ridiculous!" groaned Ginny.

"I'm being ridiculous!?" Hermione responded, "He was the one who decided to play tonsil hockey with—"

"He seemed genuinely surprised that it upset you that much," Harry said diplomatically, "And honestly, how was he supposed to know?"

Hermione scowled at him. "I had already asked him to the Slug Club party," she said through clenched teeth, "He can't claim ignorance."

"Oh yeah, because nobody ever asks a friend to be a plus-one to an event just as a friend, right?" Ginny chuckled, "That's why I'm dating Neville and Harry is dating Luna. Yes, he should have picked up on everything you were sending him," Ginny continued, more kindly, "but remember: he's an idiot. But you knew that he was an idiot already, and you like him anyway."

Hermione looked fiercely between Harry and Ginny, not at all happy with this new two-pronged attack she had to deal with, so Harry thought it was best to change the subject and recounted everything he had heard between Malfoy and Snape at the Slug Club party. But that just led to another argument as Hermione still doubted that Malfoy was working for Voldemort, even after Harry mentioned Greyback and Hermione told him he was with Malfoy in Knockturn Alley.

"Well . . . there is the possibility it was an empty threat."

"You're unbelievable, you are!" said Harry, shaking his head, "You can't honestly believe that!"

"She doesn't," said Ginny scathingly, "She just can't admit to even possibly being wrong about something."

Hermione's mouth grew thin, while Harry resisted the urge to smile adoringly at his girlfriend. He had been thinking that, but he never would have said it to Hermione's face. After a term of feeling like no one was taking him seriously, it felt good to have someone he loved in his corner.

But he didn't want to push Hermione too hard, so he excused himself so the subject would be dropped.

"Lunch should be starting soon," he said, "you guys want to go down?"

"I'll meet you there," said Ginny, "Let us have our Girl Time."

Harry laughed and kissed the top of Ginny's head, and exited out the portrait hole.

Hermione was still crossing her arms and glaring at Ginny. "Is that how it's going to be from now on? You're just going to enable him in everything?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, Hermione, I'm just a stupid little girl who says whatever my man wants, I can't possibly actually agree with him over you, I'm just lovesick."

"That's not what I — wait, what?" Hermione stopped and her face lit up, "You're….what?"

Ginny smiled at her friend. "Yes, Hermione, I love him. And he loves me. We've said it."

Hermione pressed her lips together, determined to stay stern, but quickly failed and exploded into a cheer that turned a few heads in the common room. She lunged over the table and pulled Ginny into a tight hug.

"To be clear, it is absolutely insane that you said it this quickly," Hermione said into Ginny's shoulder, "and it will probably blow up, but for now I'm so happy for you."

"Yes, I know," said Ginny, returning the hug, "thank you, Hermione."

Hermione released her and conjured two goblets filled with water.

"I can't conjure wine, so this will have to do," said Hermione, "I need to make a toast."

Ginny picked up the other goblet and raised it, "To finally getting through to dumb boys!" and clinked hers against Hermione's.

"I suppose that explains your face," said Hermione teasingly, "I swear, that dreamy smile has been on it since I first saw you." She took a sip.

Ginny waited until Hermione's mouth was full before replying, "Actually, the reason for that is probably because Harry made me cum six times last night."

The spray of water hit some passing first years. After drying them off and apologizing profusely, Hermione rounded back on Ginny — who was laughing uproariously at finally earning a real spit-take — with more indignation than the redhead had ever seen.

"What were you thinking!" she hissed, "You had sex after, what, a week?" She didn't seem as happy about Ginny's new relationship now.

"Ten days, actually," Ginny corrected. Hermione continued to gape at her.

"What!?" said Ginny defiantly, "We both wanted to, we were safe, we enthusiastically consented, we're not going to deny ourselves something that makes us happy just because of some idea of how our relationship is 'supposed' to play out."

Hermione's look softened, but she still looked uncertain. "Well….as long as you're sure. I hope that it was….nice?"

Ginny snorted. "I'm sorry, Hermione, did you not catch 'made me cum six times'?"

"Okay, okay, I don't need to hear details," winced Hermione, putting up her hands. "Let's just….follow Harry to lunch."

They got up and left the common room. As they came down the stairs into the entrance hall, they saw Luna coming in from the other direction. Ginny felt a bubble of excitement grow in her chest.

"You go on ahead," she told Hermione, "I'll catch up. HEY LUNA!"

Ginny practically skipped across the entrance hall to see her best friend. Of all the people at school she intended to brag to about snogging Harry Potter, Luna was the one she was most excited about. There was no one else she trusted more to be happy for her and not question if she was good enough for him. And Luna had never been one for normalcy or restraint, so she wouldn't judge them for moving 'too fast'."

Ginny ran up to Luna and tackled her into a tight hug.

"Oh, hello Ginny," said Luna pleasantly, "did you enjoy your Christmas?"

"You can say that," said Ginny, pulling back and giving Luna a mischievous smile, "something wonderful happened. Guess what it is!" she squealed in an admittedly girlish, gossipy way, but dammit she was entitled to it.

"Hmm…." hummed Luna thoughtfully, tapping her chin, "Rufus Scrimgeour tried to turn Harry into a vampire?"

"No — well, not exactly," laughed Ginny.

"You found a nest of snorkacks under your house?"

Ginny shook her head, still smiling adoringly at Loony Lovegood. "I'll just tell you. Harry and I got to talking and….I kissed him! We're boyfriend and girlfriend now! He says that he loves me!"

"...Oh," said Luna quietly.

Ginny's giddiness faltered. There was neither the manic excitement nor the dreamy, not-quite-there approving smile that were the two possible reactions she expected from Luna. Instead, her silver eyes fell and her mouth grew thin as she seemed to consider something.

"Do….do you not approve?" asked Ginny hesitantly.

Luna jumped and became present again (well, as present as Luna ever was), and she smiled. "Oh no, Ginny, of course I do! You and Harry are meant for each other, this is wonderful!" but Ginny thought that her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I'm rather hungry, Ginny, I'd like to go to lunch now," said Luna stiffly. Ginny fell in next to her and they walked into the Great Hall together, but then Luna headed toward the Ravenclaw table without another word to her. Ginny felt a little hurt, but tried to just accept that she would never completely understand Luna Lovegood.

She made her way down the Gryffindor table until she saw her boyfriend, sitting next to Hermione, and with a strange mixture of fury and amusement, Ginny noticed that Harry was talking to (or rather, being talked to by) Romilda Vane, standing next to him and looking as brazen as ever as she was no doubt asking Harry if he had eaten those spiked Chocolate Cauldrons yet. Harry caught her eye and she melted at the adorable "help me" look on his face.

"Oh hey Ginny, I was just leaving," said Harry pointedly, interrupting Romilda as he began to stand up, "I can help you with...er….that thing if you want."

Oh no you don't, she thought gleefully. "Oh, not right now, Harry, I still need to eat lunch!" she shoved him back down onto the bench by his shoulder.

Harry's eyes widened in panic, but she mercifully gave him an alternate escape. Without giving him a chance to squirm away, she planted herself down onto his lap, twisted her fingers into his hair, and kissed him fiercely.

Harry's body stiffened in shock at first, but soon began kissing her back. He sighed through his nose in a way that clearly said "Seriously?" and she smiled against his mouth in a way that said "Don't question me, just roll with it."

An explosion of gasps, giggles, and murmurs erupted away from them like a ripple in a lake, until the entire Great Hall was clamoring with gossip.

After several moments (or possibly half an hour, but hey, who was counting?) Ginny pulled back from him. She heard a wolf whistle and turned to see Seamus cheering and clapping, even as Dean sat next to him, glaring down at his plate and stabbing his pie like it had killed his mother. She then noticed Romilda Vane looking like she might throw something, and cocked an eyebrow at her, daring her to say anything, but Romilda just turned around and skulked off. Yeah, keep walking, bitch, Ginny thought with satisfaction.

Harry, meanwhile, was looking around nervously at all the heads turned in their direction. Some students at other tables were standing on the benches to get a look at them. Harry was afraid the commotion would prompt the teachers to call for silence, which would be even more embarrassing, but thankfully Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to be absorbed in their own conversation. They appeared to be trying not to laugh.

Ginny scooted off of Harry's lap and sat on his other side from Hermione, and ignored the commotion she had caused and started helping herself to lunch.

"Well I guess that answers the question I was going to ask you of what you were comfortable doing in public," said Harry.

"Do you have to turn everything in your life into a chance to show off?" asked Hermione with disdain.

"Yes," said Ginny plainly, "besides, might as well get it over with now. Everyone will find something else interesting to talk about by the end of the day, you know how quickly the rumor mill finds new targets."

"Um...no, actually, I don't," said Harry, "I've pretty much been the target since I got here."

"Well yes, because you're always involving yourself in all of these important things," said Ginny, stroking his hair, "You've finally got your first normal, boring piece of bathroom gossip. People have better things to worry about."

"Well okay, I thought people would have better things to worry about," Ginny admitted at dinner. "I mean, there was another dementor attack in the paper this morning! And all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest."

Hermione roared with laughter from across the table, but stopped on a dime when Ron walked up and tried to bond with her over the joke he hadn't heard, and quickly declared that she was full and stormed off to the library.

It was true that the fact that Harry Potter was going out with Ginny Weasley seemed to interest a great number of people, most of them girls, yet Harry found himself newly and happily impervious to gossip that day. For once, he was talked about because of something that made him happy, not for being insane or getting into trouble.

For Ginny, however, she had never felt so many eyes on her in such a short time. Every time she walked past a group of girls (especially the lower years), they would either dissolve into giggles or glare at her as if she stole Harry from them (despite the fact that most of them had never spoken to him before).

Then there were the Slytherin girls who mockingly accused her of trying to escape her family's poverty by whoring herself out to Harry. She brushed those aside easily, she had already expected that bit of fiction (and, if she were being honest with herself, concocted some elaborate fantasies about it).

The worst bit was when Lavender and Parvati cornered her late in the afternoon, blushing furiously and giggling so hard they could barely speak, and asked her if Harry was a good kisser. At first, she smugly and proudly confirmed he indeed was, but when Lavender started comparing Ginny's descriptions to how her Won-Won kissed, Ginny moved away so fast she wondered if she managed to Disapparate.

But despite receiving all these unwanted questions and comments, she still hadn't been able to see the one girl she actually wanted to talk to. Since getting dismissed by Luna at lunch, Ginny had realized that she couldn't brush it off as Luna being Luna. Ginny had encountered her a few times in the corridors, but Luna had quickly averted her gaze and disappeared into a crowd, or curtly excused herself and slipped into a bathroom.

"This is just so….un-Luna," sighed Ginny with exasperation at the dinner table, "She's usually the most honest person I know, you know how she has no filter. If something's wrong, I don't understand why she won't just tell me."

"Do you think she's okay? Do you think something happened over Christmas? You want me to try talking to her?" asked Harry. Ginny turned and saw his eyes filled with worry, and she couldn't help but kiss him again. One of the things she loved about him was how protective he was toward Luna. When he asked her to the Slug Club Party, it didn't just make Ginny a bit jealous, it made her heart melt from how happy he had made her best friend.

"I'm sure it's all right," Ginny reassured him, patting his arm, "I'll just have to corner her and not take no for an answer."

But she didn't spot Luna over at the Ravenclaw table, and didn't lay eyes on her for the rest of the day until it was close to curfew. The one place in the castle she hadn't been to yet was the Library, but classes didn't start again until tomorrow, so Ginny didn't see a reason why she would be in there. The only explanation would be if she really was trying to avoid Ginny at all costs, which she didn't want to consider. But, out of options, here she was, prowling the rows of bookshelves, feeling entirely too much like a predator.

She reached the most remote corner in the entire library — a place she wouldn't expect to find people even if there were a single other living soul in the whole place — but as she turned the corner around the last bookshelf, there Luna was, sitting on a sofa with a single book open on the coffee table in front of her. But she wasn't looking at the book, instead just staring vacantly into space in front of her.

Ginny approached Luna from the side, ready to go for the "shock and awe" approach, but she gasped and stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed that Luna's eyes were red and puffy and she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She had clearly been crying for some time.

All of Ginny's frustration evaporated. She walked up to her friend slowly and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Hey….Luna? Are you alright?"

Luna jumped and turned her face to wipe away her tears with very un-Luna like shyness. "Oh yes, of course, Ginny. What brings you here? We have no school work yet."

Ginny smiled weakly. "I was just about to ask you the same thing. You're sitting back here where no one ever goes. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hiding from someone."

Luna shook her head. "No, I actually come to this spot quite often."

"Luna, we study together all the time. I've never been back here," said Ginny skeptically.

"Oh no, I only come back here when I have to study by myself," explained Luna calmly. "You see, when I'm alone in the library many people take the opportunity to say unkind things to me, or steal or break my belongings. When we're studying together however, no one bothers me. Many people find you quite intimidating, you know."

Ginny couldn't hold back. She flew to the sofa, sat down, and pulled Luna into a fierce hug. "Oh, I'll show them all how intimidating I can be," growled Ginny into Luna's hair.

"I'm sure you will," said Luna dreamily, "You are certainly very comfortable with physical affection today, Ginny." Though she wasn't complaining, as she returned the hug and stroked Ginny's hair.

"Well, I guess I'm in a good mood," said Ginny happily, pulling back from Luna, "I guess it's also because Harry has shown me how much can be communicated with touch," she teased. But Luna seemed to shrink again and avert her eyes.

"Lu, please talk to me," pleaded Ginny, grasping Luna's hands in her own, "Don't try to deny it, you've been avoiding me all day. I thought you trusted me."

Luna brought her eyes back up to meet Ginny's. "You're right, Ginny, and I'm sorry. That wasn't a very kind thing for me to do."

"You seemed put off when I told you that Harry and I are going out," said Ginny, "Are you worried that all my time will be with him? You know how important you are to me, Lu, I promise that I'll never abandon you."

"I know you won't," nodded Luna, "Or at least...I know that's how you feel now. I predict that you will be rather upset with me when I tell you how I've been feeling."

"Luna, you need to stop being ridiculous," urged Ginny, "I think I've become fluent in speaking Luna. I promise I'll understand."

Luna took a deep breath. "Well….let me say again that I am happy for you and Harry. It's been very obvious that you two were always going to fall in love, your auras can't help but interlock. What I incorrectly theorized was that it would take several more months for Harry to remove the nargles from his brain and tell you how he feels."

Luna's fingers were fidgeting at the hem of her skirt. "So...after Harry asked me to attend the Slug Club party with him….even though he said it was just as friends….I began to hypothesize that I might be able to actually experience romantic affection."

A long silence fell between them. The Luna-esque way Luna had phrased her confession meant Ginny had to pause to process it, and then she really didn't know what to say.

"You...you wanted Harry to ask you out? For real?" Ginny asked gently, "You fancy him?"

Luna's brow furrowed again thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose I do. I don't have much of a frame of reference to draw that conclusion, you see. It's true that he's very beautiful, and brave, and he's one of the few boys who doesn't find joy in mocking me. Even Ronald says cruel things sometimes, because it's how he shows affection without exposing emotional vulnerability, but that can still hurt."

Ginny was taken aback, then shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's kind of a family trait."

"But more than that, Harry understands me better than anyone besides you, Ginny. I realize how unusual I am, but he never tries to steer me to behave as anything other than myself. Even patient people like Hermione and Neville are often uncomfortable around me, not knowing what to say. Harry speaks to me the same way he speaks to everyone else."

"Yup, that's my man," said Ginny with a smile. She realized that it was strange to feel this sense of pride and affection while listening to another girl explaining why she fancied her boyfriend.

"I know you may not understand this," Luna continued, "since you've always been popular with many eager suitors, and you and Harry have already made love—"

"What!?" Ginny squeaked. "How did you know that?"

Luna tilted her head to the side. "Oh, it was quite obvious, I thought everyone knew? When you speak about him, your pupils dilate, like your body is remembering an intense pleasure that you experienced with him."

"You can say that," Ginny giggled, blushing furiously.

"But anyway," said Luna, "unlike you, well….I've never even kissed anyone. When Harry asked me to the party, I thought I might be able to get some experience with physical intimacy that night."

"Oh, Luna, love," cooed Ginny, squeezing her friend's shoulder, "You wanted Harry to be your first kiss?"

Luna shook her head. "No," she said casually, "Well yes, I did, but I was also hoping he would accept my virginity."

Ginny drew a sharp intake of breath that caused her to choke on her own spit. She started coughing violently, which steadily turned into hysterical laughter. She collapsed against Luna, clutching her sides.

"Yes, I realize it's rather silly," admitted Luna, thinking Ginny was laughing at her instead of the situation. "But people say your first time should be with 'someone special'. I'm not sure what 'special' means in this specific context, but Harry certainly meets the usual definition. I know I could get many people willing to fulfill the role, but I thought I could trust Harry to try to make it enjoyable for me.

"I realize that I'm not what people call Harry's 'type'," said Luna weakly, her eyes getting wet again as she looked down at her knees, "and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore—"

"Loony," Ginny sternly. She gently put a finger under Luna's chin and turned her head back to look Ginny in the eyes. "What did I tell you? You're stuck with me. I'm not upset."

It was the truth. After all, she obviously agreed about how wonderful Harry was, she couldn't hold it against Luna that she had noticed it as well. She already knew that over half the girls in this school fancied her boyfriend, and now that she actually had him, she wasn't troubled by those pangs of insecurity that used to plague her.

"And secondly," said Ginny, scooching closer to Luna so that their thighs were touching and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Stop with that nonsense about not being Harry's 'type.' I wouldn't say that Harry has just one type. He's wiser than that, he understands that different things make different people special."

Ginny wished she knew how to make Luna see herself the way Ginny saw her. As mental as it was, she found herself considering Luna's hope for her first kiss, without any jealousy. Maybe Luna was right, and sharing the milestone with someone who cared for her would help her feel more sure of herself. If Harry really could make her friend that happy, then who was Ginny to hog him all for herself? What harm could one little kiss do?

Ginny brushed the last traces of Luna's tears off her cheek with her thumb and tucked a strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear.

"You know Luna," said Ginny playfully, "If you really do want to have your first kiss that badly….I think I would be open to helping you with that. It may not be the way you imagined it, but I think it would still be nice."

Luna gasped and her dreamy eyes widened with excitement.

"Really?" she breathed, "You would do that? Harry wouldn't mind?"

"Oh, I guarantee you he won't," Ginny chuckled. As noble of a prat Harry was, he was still a bloke, it wasn't like he was going to pass up a chance to kiss a beautiful girl with his girlfriend's permission.

Luna smiled dreamily and squeezed Ginny's hand on her own cheek. "I would like that very much, Ginny. Thank you."

For several long moments, Ginny just looked into Luna's storm-gray eyes. Those eyes that could seem half-vacant, but just hint at a whole wonderful world happening in that head of hers.

Then, those eyes closed. And Luna's face was moving towards her own. And Ginny felt a jolt of shock as Luna gently pressed her lips to hers.

No, shit, that's not what I meant! Ginny's brain ordered her mouth to say, I meant with Harry! Besides, I don't even like girls! But instead, Ginny's eyes fluttered shut and she relaxed into Luna's feather-light touch.

They sat there, sharing the soft kiss for several seconds, but when Luna began to pull back, Ginny leaned forward to chase her and capture her lips once again. This kiss was more eager, and Luna let out a delicious moan as their lips started moving against each other. Ginny wrapped her arms around Luna's back and held her close. After all, this was Luna's first kiss, they should make it a real kiss.

Ginny was in a daze. It wasn't just that kissing Luna felt good, with her incredibly soft lips that tasted delicious as Ginny sucked and nibbled on them, or how silky smooth her hair was as Ginny ran her fingers through it, pulling Luna's head harder against her own lips. Kissing Luna simply felt right. Ginny felt safe, like no matter what happened, this girl would catch her if she fell, just like how it felt with Harry.

Ginny bit down hard on Luna's bottom lip, and the blonde girl gasped. Ginny took the opportunity to slip her tongue into her friend's mouth, and Luna responded enthusiastically. Ginny was the more experienced one, and she felt it was her duty to give this gorgeous woman training in all kinds of kisses. But Luna proved to be a delightfully fast learner, and opened her mouth wide in welcome and swirled her tongue around Ginny's, invoking shivers of pleasure in the redhead.

Ginny's body seemed to be acting of its own accord. She pushed Luna onto her back and laid down on top of her, continuing to kiss her fiercely.

It was like something had awoken inside Ginny. Some dam had been breached. Her hands roamed all over Luna's feminine body, from her hips, sneaking up her blouse and kneading her full breast over her bra. Ginny had always been a bit jealous of Luna's figure, but perhaps it wasn't just jealousy that caused her to rake her eyes over the other girl's body.

When Ginny slipped her fingers under Luna's bra to lightly pinch her nipple, Luna broke their kiss as her breathing grew faster.

"Oh, yes," Luna whispered, "Wonderful, Ginny. That's wonderful."

"Mmmm, you're wonderful," Ginny cooed into Luna's ear as she moved down to kiss and suck on her neck. Feeling emboldened, Ginny slid a hand down to between her friend's legs, tracing up her thighs underneath her skirt. She grinned devilishly when her fingers found the cotton of Luna's panties and discovered that they were already soaked through.

"Oh, Lu, you're so wet," growled Ginny.

"Oh — Oh yes," Luna moaned, "I am quite aroused."

"Oh, no you're not. Not yet." Ginny dipped her fingers beneath the fabric and began swirling circles around Luna's clit.

Luna dissolved into a string of incoherent whimpers. Ginny would do anything to hear more of those whimpers.

The blonde was gazing worshipfully into the chocolate brown eyes of her best friend. Her brave friend. Her amazing friend. "You are very beautiful, Ginny."

"Oh, you're beautiful, Luna." Ginny claimed Luna's mouth again to resume their wet, sloppy snogging. Luna shifted her leg so that her thigh came up Ginny's own skirt and applied pressure to her clit, which sent a shockwave through the girl on top. Ginny seized at the chance and started grinding her hips against the girl under her, chasing more friction, and soon it wasn't just the girls' mouths that were wet and sloppy.

The two young women became more and more passionate and desperate, until they were delirious from each other's touch. The taste of their tongues. The feeling of their legs tangled and their breasts pressed against each other. Their arms clinging to each other tightly, instinctively trying to fuse their bodies together in sapphic bliss.

But Ginny tried not to get too lost in her own pleasure. She was a woman on a mission, and that mission was to make Luna cum. She wanted to show Luna once and for all that she was deserving of love, and more than that, she had it. She had to make it clear that Ginny Weasley would always be there for Luna Lovegood, to dispel that ridiculous fear that Luna had that Ginny would stop being her friend just because Luna fancied Harry—

HARRY!

Ginny's eyes flew open and she launched herself backward away from Luna, flipping backward over the armrest of the sofa and falling on the floor.

"Ginny! Are you alright?" asked Luna earnestly, as if they hadn't just been moments away from fingering each other.

Ginny leapt to her feet, her heart pounding. She felt like she had been thrown into a tub of ice water.

"No. Nonononono!" Ginny started rambling. She had never felt so angry and disgusted with herself. This couldn't be happening. There was simply no way that, just weeks after finally getting together with Harry, she was snogging and groping someone else behind his back. Contrary to her brothers' accusations, she wasn't that kind of girl. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't lose him.

"Ginny….is something wrong?" Luna asked behind her in a quiet voice. She tentatively reached out her hand and brushed her fingers on Ginny's elbow, but Ginny flinched away from her touch.

"What did you do to me?" said Ginny harshly, rounding on Luna and causing her to step back in fright, "Are you experimenting with some kind of potion, or carrying around some kind of aphrodisiac horn of an African Buzzing Snornack or something?" Ginny was grasping at straws. Luna's experiments with that kind of stuff never actually worked.

"N-no, Ginny," Luna stammered, "I simply felt very good, I thought you did too. Was it something I did? Like I said, I've never even kissed someone before, I hope you can forgive me if I didn't do something properly."

"No...that's not….that is so incredibly not the point!" said Ginny in a panic, feeling uncharacteristically impatient with Luna's Luna-ness.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I've misunderstood something again, haven't I?" said Luna sadly, and somehow, even now, Ginny suppressed an urge to take her best friend into her arms and comfort her.

Luna looked a mess, a classic "just been snogged" signal to anyone who would see her. Her blouse was undone, her hair messed, and her lips were red and swollen from kissing. Ginny's eyes drifted further down to the stain on the front of Luna's skirt, caused by the wetness that had pooled there. Wetness that Ginny had caused. Wetness that was practically begging for a finger or a tongue—

Ginny clenched her eyes shut and shook her head hard. She turned her back toward Luna.

"I need to go."

She walked quickly away, not looking back. Once she rounded a corner, she broke into a run as her tears began to fall.

Some people might think that this jumps the shark and defeats what people liked about "Harry's Happiest Christmas" in the fist place.

And they're probably right.

But...fuck it, it's porn, don't take it seriously.