Chapter 2: Seeker and Snitch

Luna had finished her gift for Harry's party and was now had the equally challenging task of deciding what to wear. Ginny had let her know via owl that Harry's birthday cake was going to look like a Quidditch PItch, so she wanted something with maybe a little bit of a gold sparkle since he was a seeker. The problem was that she didn't have any dresses that had that quality she was searching for. After thinking about the matter for a few more minutes she remembered a pair of delicate broomstick earrings that had gold for the handle instead of wood like real brooms. When she thought of them she remembered why she didn't wear them often, they had been her mother's. Since her death she had only wore them once, and that was at her funeral. Thinking about her mum wearing them brought a few tears to her eyes. She would always miss her, but she was glad that at least her mom had died doing something she loved inside her own home. It was a small comfort, but one she held onto fiercely. Hopping off her bed, she went down to talk to daddy about borrowing them for the party. A lot of time had passed since her mum died, and she was fairly sure he wouldn't mind her borrowing them too much. They would both always miss her, but that didn't mean they had to stop living their lives.

Normally when she wanted something from him she would give him a hug and tell him how much she loved him, because it was effective and also very true. However, this was a matter that needed to be handled with more care. Luna only knew her mum for a relatively short period of time before she had passed away, and even though she loved her quite a lot she was well aware it paled in comparison to how much her daddy cared for her. Walking down the stairs she found him preparing his gurdyroot infusion that the two of them drank. It didn't have the best taste, but she knew it was good for her so always drank it down. "Hi daddy. Umm, I know this is a touchy subject but I had a favor to ask of you." she said, taking her cup of the gurdyroot drink when he handed it over and taking a good-sized gulp before waiting to hear what he said.

"A favor about a touchy subject, is it?" Xenophilius Lovegood asked, eyes narrowing as he tried to piece together what that could be. When he looked closer he noticed a bit of a tear track she hadn't quite rubbed away completely and slightly red eyes. "Oh, Luna dear...this is about your mum, isn't it?" he asked, opening his arms. "Come here, and give me a hug. You can ask me anything dear, I love you and I would never hold it against you." he assured her.

Luna blinked in surprise at how quickly he guessed oddly close to the mark, but quickly recovered. She was more than happy to go and give him a tight hug, Merlin knew she needed one badly. "I miss her so much. People say time is the greatest healer, but there's still a gaping hole where she used to be. You do a great job, it's just...sometimes a girl needs her mum." she said, breaking down into tears again. Every once in a while it felt good to have a cry about things, and she knew that holding it in didn't do anybody any good so she let it out. This was a safe place, here at home.

It took a few minutes before Luna calmed down enough to talk, and by then Xeno was in tears as well. Both felt a little better afterwards, though, and were grateful to have the support of someone they knew loved the other unconditionally. Often times they were both a bit of a mess, but they were a mess together and that made all the difference. She took a few deep breaths before standing up and letting out a laugh. "We're both a right mess, but I'm glad we're in it together. Now for my question...I-I was hoping to borrow mum's broomstick earrings for Harry's party. The ones that have the gold instead of wood. Ginny said they're doing a Quidditch themed cake for him, and I just thought that it would make my outfit pop. Plus Harry's a seeker, and I could of wanted something that would remind him of a snitch." she said, looking down at her feet. "If you don't want me to wear them I understand, I just wanted to ask." Luna told him quietly.

The response wasn't long in coming, and she felt her father's hand lifting her chin so she had to look up at him. He met her eyes before giving her a wink and a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Oh Luna, of course you can borrow them. Yes, they're quite special; but, both your mum and I would agree that they are better off being worn by her daughter than sitting in a box and never being used. You can keep them if you like even after the party, I really don't mind. Wait here and I'll grab them." he said, before going to retrieve the earrings. His words had her letting out a sigh of relief and she nodded happily, glad he wasn't too upset that she had asked to borrow something of hers.

Luna was beaming when he came back with them and gave him another big hug around the waist. "Thank you so much, daddy. I know everybody's going to love them, even if not quite as much as we do. Also, thanks for the help with the disillusionment charm, there was no way I could've learned it in time without the help. That runny egg feeling is so weird to get used to, but I think I finally have it down pat. They'll never know what hit them." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before running up to her room to pick out a dress.

Now that she had the earrings to plan off of, it made finding a dress she liked to go with much easier. After some careful thought she pulled out a brown skirt that had a gold trim pattern at the bottom, a turquoise top, and a white cardigan to wear over it in case she stayed late and it started to cool off. It had enough gold to highlight the earrings, but wasn't too over the top. Smiling as she imagined the looks of surprise on all her friends' faces save Ginny, she got dressed and grabbed her carefully wrapped present before heading downstairs. "Bye daddy, I'll see you when I get back later." she said, before quickly heading out the door.

Xenophilius looked up when she was on her way out, smiling at her. It was clear that she was rather excited about the party and he was glad to see her having fun with her friends. "Remember to stay hidden, your disillusionment charm is good but it isn't perfect and sunlight tends to give it away even if you did it properly. You're not invisible, you're just camouflaged so you'll still have a shadow." he reminded her, calling after her before finishing the rest of his gurdyroot drink.

It was only when she stepped outside that she took the earrings and carefully put them in. Somehow it felt like they were heavier than they should be, almost like the weight of her mum's memories she'd made while wearing them had a tangible presence. That thought was nearly enough to make her turn back around, take them off, and cry on her bed until she could cry no more tears. Instead, she straightened her shoulders and forced her chin up. "I love you mum, and I won't let you being gone stop me from being the daughter you raised me to be. Strong, smart, and fearless is what you always said. I do my best to live up to that." she said to herself, before casting the disillusionment charm on herself and walking towards The Burrow. Remembering her father's advice, she tried to stick to the trees and their shadows on her way over so that no blurry shadows appeared behind her that would get her caught before the surprise.


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Since she was carrying a birthday present, Ginny and her had prearranged for her to leave it at a specific tree so the present wouldn't give her away. Once she laid the gift down, she should be camouflaged save for a bit of a shadow that should be difficult to notice. All she had to do was get out of the sun and she would be in the clear unless somebody was combing the area and bumped into her by accident. She was light on her feet though and had worn practical sneakers for this endeavor, and quickly made her way to the garden where she had planned to hide until she gave them all a surprise. If somebody were to cast a homenum revelio she would be revealed, but there should be no reason to do so at a birthday party for a good friend of the family. After all, aside from death eaters who would want to interrupt the Boy-Who-Lived's birthday. It was a bit of a sobering thought, reminding her of her anger towards them and their leader. Luna forced herself to close her eyes and take deep breaths until she calmed down, and decided to lie down for a while and simply bask in the summer sunshine while she waited for the right moment to appear.

It wasn't until she woke up from a nap that she realized she'd accidentally fallen asleep in the first place. If she'd fallen asleep that meant her spell must've failed, and she scrambled for her wand to recast it. Luckily for her she had fallen asleep between some of the bushes in the Weasleys' garden and nobody had immediately seen her. Before she could find her wand to recast the spell though, two sets of identical length shadows appeared above her. "Well, well, well, Fred. It would seem we have a party crasher here for our ickle Harrikins' birthday bash." one of the twins, presumably George said. Luna let out a groan and immediately cast a silencing charm so nobody would hear them talking.

Of course it would be the twins who caught her out, and she shot them a look. "I'll have you know that I was invited by your sister. It was meant to be a surprise, and since Harry wasn't the one who caught me napping in your garden, it still can be. Please don't tell anyone." she said, looking from one to the other. "Look, I'll make a deal. If I get a promise that you won't spoil the surprise, I'll owe you a favor. No matter what the favor is, as long as it doesn't involve harming somebody my considerable talent is at your disposal." she offered, crossing her arms. "Well, boys, what'll it be?" Luna asked them. The twins had known her long enough to know that a favor from her was no meager offer and she hoped that would be enough to keep them from ratting her out.

The twins looked at each other, some form of silent communication passing between them. This time it was the twin on the left, Fred who spoke up. "I speak for both George and myself when I say those terms are agreeable. You're one of the only true Ravenclaws out there, and have enough courage to be in our house as well. We would be honored to get a favor from you, Lady Lovegood." he said, giving her a small bow that George mirrored. "You're a good friend to ickle Harrikins. Anything that can help him have a better birthday is fine with us. Continue with the hiding, Luna." Fred told her with a wink before they both walked away. "At least we finally know why Ginny was so adamant on clearing those gnomes yesterday and this morning." he said to his twin, both laughing as they went back inside The Burrow.

As she watched them disappear a quiet sigh of relief escaped despite her trying to contain it. "That was too close, I need to be more vigilant." she chided herself. Luna decided to simply sit, watch, and listen to her surroundings after casting the disillusionment charm once again. About a half hour later the setup began and soon after that the party was underway. Both her and Ginny had agreed that the best time for her to make an appearance was when he was blowing out his candles. When he was closing his eyes to make his wish she would reveal herself, and then he would have one more friend to celebrate with. She just hoped Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be too upset about it, because that was definitely where Ginny had gotten her temper from. Anybody who met Arthur Weasley could tell instantly he was a gentle soul, not weak but strong in a different sort of way.

While she watched the Weasleys and Harry she could tell that while people were still a bit nervous about what was happening with the world at large they also knew how to focus on the present and have fun. There were plenty of smiles and laughter, some due to the twins' antics but also from general conversation and the odd jokes thrown in. It was nice to see that even though he didn't have a family of his own (well, that he liked), she corrected in her head, that he was certainly not without a surrogate family. One other thing she noticed was that both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny did not seem happy with the engagement of Fleur and Bill. They didn't make it overtly obvious, but she noticed some mumbled remarks after having to talk to her she was sure weren't too kind. Plus one time when Ginny passed her a food item she was sure she saw her friend elbow her, which wasn't really like her at all. Do they think he's bewitched and not making his own choices? She is part veela, but...he looks perfectly normal. She hadn't seen a lot of Bill growing up but from time to time she'd met and talked to all of the Weasleys since they lived so close. Percy had always rubbed her the wrong way because he was a tad full of himself, but he'd never been mean to her or anything like that. It was while she was thinking about those things that another unexpected guest at the party chose to make their arrival.

Remus Lupin, who had hands-down been their best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher by far came rushing into the party, a little out of breath. Before anybody could ask what the matter was he raised up his hands and straightened up. "Just give me a moment, and I'll explain." he said, getting himself a drink before finding a chair for himself. "Alright, sorry about that delay I was in a rush to get over here. Happy birthday by the way, Harry." he told him with a wink. "We've just gotten news that Igor Karkaroff has been murdered, and because he snitched on as many as he could we are assuming it was done by the Death Eaters. On top of that, dementor attacks are increasing all over the place so make sure to keep practicing your Patronus charms and keep a bit of chocolate on you to help if the need arises. It warms my heart to say that you lot are in much better spirits tonight than I'd expected, so please...we can talk about more news another day don't let me interrupt the young man's birthday." Remus told them all with a smile, before placing his own present on top of the pile.

It seemed that in spite of Remus' advice to hold off talk about the Death Eaters and Voldemort that Bill simply couldn't help himself and chimed in. "I heard that they got Florean Fortescue. An ice cream maker of all people, it's ridiculous. Shops are closing all over Diagon Alley. I don't know why they would take him, other than the fact that he makes people happy." he said with a shrug. Remus grimaced but didn't stop it. It wasn't his place to chide Bill, and he knew he had inadvertently gotten the ball rolling as it were.

Molly looked over at him with a sharp look, though. "Enough of that Bill, we're here to celebrate not speak of the doom and gloom being caused. Having a nice night like this is more important for everyone's morale than you realize." she said, dishing Remus up a plate of food and passing it over. "Eat up now, dear, you always look so thin." she said, unable to stop herself from mothering him a bit. It happened without her even thinking after raising so many children. Remus took the plate of food and the chiding with a good-natured smile and dutifully dug in.

"While I do agree with Molly that this should be the last talk about what's going on, I do have one more piece of news that I feel is important to share. We've all met him at least once, the old wandmaker Ollivander has disappeared. He's not the type to hide in the shadows, he never did during the first war. We suspect foul play. The only thing we don't know is why Voldemort wants him, he loves the wand he already has. Dumbledore says it's because of the Priori Incantatem thing that happened with Harry during the battle at the graveyard, but why not just borrow a Death Eater's wand and leave it at that?" he asked them, shrugging. Everybody froze upon hearing that Ollivander had been taken, because many suspected him to be far more powerful than people realized. Nobody could say how old he really was for one thing, not to mention his uncanny ability to read people's personality types and pair them with a fitting wand. He was a bit of a mystery, but for them to target him specifically they would probably need more of a reason than just that.

Before anybody could comment on Ollivander's disappearance and really get talking Molly shushed the lot of them and brought out the birthday cake. "Enough of that, we can discuss all of this another day. It's time we got the cake sliced and after that we can do presents." she said, setting down a large oval cake that really did look like a\Quidditch Pitch. There were carefully molded thin milk chocolates to make the hoops at either end, green frosting to make the pitch with white frosting for the marked lines. For the sand around the hoops there were two identical heaps of crushed graham crackers. The stands had been the trickiest part, and she had eventually settled on using chocolate covered pretzels, slowly assembling it to make sure the structure didn't fall over. In gold icing on the grass was written, 'Happy 16th, Harry! Our favorite seeker!' She placed 16 candles carefully into the cake, and lit them up with a wave of her wand. "Time to sing, everyone."

As the happy birthday song got underway, Luna grinned wolfishly and slowly crept closer and closer to the party. There wasn't an opening at the table because there was such a good turnout, so she decided to stand a couple feet back from the group but directly across from Harry so he would see her when he looked up from blowing out the candles. She got into place without being noticed and by then the song was over. Harry closed his eyes to focus on making his wish and she let her disillusionment charm fall away, and when he blew the candles out she smiled. She'd done it, her and Ginny had snuck her in without her being noticed by Harry. Not a total success because of the nap she'd taken and the twins spying her out, but still not too shabby. As he started to look up she let out a yell. "Surprise!" She did a little twirl to make her skirt flare out beautifully and simply beamed at the lot of them.

However, the reaction wasn't what she was expecting. Everybody except Harry and Ginny had turned on her with wands drawn at the yell of surprise. Hermione let out a gasp and put her hand over her mouth when she realized who it was, wand being repocketed instantly. Remus took charge of the situation though, coming over to her with a sense of purpose in his stride. "Do not lower your wands, not yet. Luna...I need to ask you a question to prove your identity. What was the first creature I taught your class about in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he asked.

Luna thought about the matter, mind reeling as she hadn't thought about her surprise being received like this at all. She was shocked by the reaction she'd gotten from people she considered friends but she knew they had to be careful. A dreamy look appeared on her face as she tried to think back that for before she smiled and snapped her fingers with a grin. "I remember now, you taught us about Augureys, also known as the Irish Phoenix. You told us that they were often used to predict the weather and are rather accurate to boot" she told him, proud that she managed to remember something from nearly three years ago.

"Indeed I did, sorry about the rough welcome but we had to be sure. Constant vigilance! That was drilled into me by the real Mad-Eye." he admitted, before returning to his seat and motioning the others to do the same. Seeing no other reason to really question it, the others followed his lead and sat back down.

Harry looked surprised but happy to see her, and Ginny mouthed a small sorry when she gave the rest of the group a scan. Luna merely waved it off and went up to Mrs. Weasley. "I'm sorry that I made everyone jump, Mrs. Weasley. Ginny and I had planned it as a surprise, we didn't really think about how everyone is so on edge at the moment. Is it okay if I join?" she asked. To be honest, at this point she was a little worried she might just get kicked out and sent home. While she would understand them doing that, she knew it would be rather disappointing after going to all the work of practicing and learning the disillusionment charm to pull this off. She was only trying to celebrate a birthday with one of her good friends after all, was that so wrong?

Molly could tell that Harry was happy she was there, though; and, even if Luna was a little strange she had always been a great friend to Ginny and a sweet girl. "Oh, it's alright dear, nobody can predict everything that happens. Come, have a slice of cake. We need to get those candles out before wax starts dripping all over." she said, barking out orders and giving her a smile since she could see the girl was a little nervous after what had just happened. Luna might not have spent as much time as Harry had with them recently but she was still a rather good friend of the family, and it's not like they were all perfect either.

The candles were soon out and the cake cut and dished out to all. Luna found a spot to sit next to Ginny after some shifting around, and before you could say snitch they were onto the presents. There were some nice gifts, but nothing like what she had made for him and she really hoped he liked it. Hers was the second-to-last one to be opened, and her fingers twisted in her dress a little as she waited nervously to see his expression. She hoped it wasn't too sad of a gift to think about, because they were hand-made picture frames. She'd made two frames that had room for multiple photos in each of various sizes, one with Harry's and his parents' initials, and another with the initials of the group that had went to the Ministry with him recently. She didn't know if he had pictures of their group yet, but she was hoping maybe somebody could loan them a camera sometime so they could take some. Her real fear was that he would think about all that he'd missed out on with his parents, she'd had her mum long enough to remember her. If the rumors she'd heard about the Dementor attacks in third year were real, than the only memory he had was of his mum screaming and then being killed by Voldemort. That thought alone without even the memory to accompany it was enough to make her shudder, and made her worry even more about the gamble of a gift she'd made.

When Harry saw the picture frames he simply stared at them, head cocked curiously to the side as he saw how the edges of where each picture would go had initials made out of a thin metal she had carefully decorated with gold paint. On one of the frame groups it was HP, JP, and LP repeating over and over, and on the other it was HP, GW, LL, NL, RW, and HG. It was all carefully fixed together and was made of thin iron so it should last over time, the gold was just to cover it and make it look pretty. A few tears started to fall down his face and Luna's face fell, sure she'd ruined the party with an ill-thought out gift. A tear started to run down her own face and she was getting ready to run away when Harry final spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "Oh, Luna...this is perfect. Thank you, I...there are no words." he said, causing her to stop and turn to look at him.

It was clear when she met his eyes that he was being honest. Yes, he was sad when he thought about what had happened to his parents but he was brave enough to want to remember them anyways. She smiled a little and nodded, wiping off a few more tears from her eyes that were threatening to spill over. "You're welcome, Harry. I didn't have enough money saved to get you a camera so we could take some of our battle group. But, I thought maybe we could borrow one or something like that before you find one of your own. Happy birthday, Harry." she said, resuming her seat. She was glad that he had really liked her gift. Harry was the type of person that gave a lot to people without any expectation of getting something back in return, which was part of the reason people liked and respected him so much.

Harry finished opening the last of his gifts before the party started to die down, and she found Ginny. She gave her a quick hug before letting go, knowing she needed to head back soon before her daddy started to worry too much. Ginny spoke up before she was out of earshot. "Hey Luna, those earrings look great on you. With that homemade gift too, I think you may have just caught our seeker's eye." she told her with a wink, making Luna blush a pretty pink. She was surprised by Ginny's comment, because it didn't sound like she was jealous like she had expected she would be about something like that.

"Oh, quiet. Don't just go calling out stuff like that." she said, before giggling and hurrying off towards home. Ginny and her had of course talked at length when they were little about the amazing Boy-Who-Lived. Ginny had more of a crush on him back then, but after they'd gotten to Hogwarts it had changed. Harry had done a daring rescue to save her from a terrible fate in the Chamber of Secrets. Her strange fascination had turned into a full-on crush. Harry had played the part of the gallant hero, and even though thinking back to what had happened back then was rather scary for her she was grateful to him for rescuing her. However, she had always been too nervous and shy to act on her feelings towards him. It's not that she wanted to steal away her friend's crush, but Harry was a rather special boy and as far as she was concerned fair play. For Luna it had been the opposite growing up, she knew the stories about the boy hero were all fanciful so she had been curious about the real Harry Potter but not much more than that. After he had taught everybody with the DA, and gone into battle with them...well, a part of her had indeed been secretly harboring a crush on him. Ginny knew her enough to recognize the signs, and even though she was a little embarrassed about being called out a small part of her hoped her friend was right. He was sensitive, and sweet...not to mention hansom. Luna felt her cheeks heat up as her thoughts started to wander and she refocused on the present. "Would you be okay with us if something did develop? I know you've always liked him." she pointed out.

Ginny paused as she thought about that before she eventually nodded. "I think I would, so long as you take good care of him. I've been thinking about possibly asking Dean Thomas out anyways and seeing how things go. Harry and I...well, I'm not sure we're really cut out to be anything more than friends." she admitted. While hearing that surprised Luna, she had to admit her friend had matured and she nodded.

"Well, whatever happens we'll always be the best of friends. Can't let any boys come between us. I really should be getting back though. I don't want daddy to start worrying too much about me." Luna told her, and Ginny smiled. She gave her friend a wave and they went their separate ways. As she began to walk, she let her thoughts start to wander and she thought more about Harry.

Maybe, just maybe she had caught the seeker's attention. Even if she had though, he would have to earn her heart. Just like a snitch, he would have to chase her down and beat out any other competition that might arise for her heart. Luna knew how precious and delicate a thing like love was, and it wasn't that yet but...with time anything was possible. For now it was a crush, and perhaps if she played it right it could be more than that. But, one thing she'd always disliked about Harry was how he refused to let anybody help him when he needed it, unless it was forced upon him. For a relationship to work both sides had to rely on and help each other, not just one carrying the burden of both. Honestly, she wasn't sure if he was ready for that. Perhaps she could get to know him better, and find out. After all, there was still some of the summer left before they headed back to school.