Chapter 2
He leaned against the stone wall beside the portrait of the Fat Lady and sighed. It was the dead of the night; he had no invisibility cloak, and nowhere to go. Deciding it was better than just standing there, he let his feet carry him off to wherever. He walked by the Trophy Room, but those painful memories of the slug incident were too hard to bear, so he moved on to the staircase which would lead him into the west side of the third floor. However, suddenly, the staircase started shifting and turned a whole 360 degrees.
"Uh oh..."
He braced himself and ventured onto the unfamiliar hallway that appeared before him. Strange, to think he hadn't found this hallway in his first five years at Hogwarts. He walked slowly, noticing that there wasn't much in this hallway, except for one small door located at the very end. As he got closer, he noticed that the door was opened slightly, and through the crack, a soft light came streaming out. Ron, feeling a little on his adventurous side, opened the door a little further, and prepared himself for whatever might be inside. He heard slight movement, and closed his eyes tightly, before opening them a crack to see what was moving. Instead of facing another ferocious beast like Fluffy, he was surprised to see...
"Luna?"
She was sitting in a comfortable looking armchair reading a book. The room was very cozy looking indeed, almost like the Gryffindor common room, except the walls were enchanted to look like a Hawaiian beach. She looked up at Ron, her facial expression looking somewhat surprised that Ron was there.
"Hello Ronald. What brings you here?"
"Er...well, the staircase just kind of...shifted on me and I was just walking down this hallway when I saw the door."
Luna smiled in her daydreamy way. Suddenly, the walls that were made to look like the beaches of Hawaii changed into a whole different scenery – a meadow with rolling hills, green grass and a blue sky on a bright spring day. This caught Ron off guard, causing him to jump back in surprise.
"How'd it change?"
Luna sighed a dreamy sigh, and replied, "It changes depending on your feelings. For example, if I were angry and needed to calm down, it would look like those beaches. But now, I'm calm, and at peace, so it's a meadow." She explained this like it was the most obvious thing in the world and was surprised that Ron didn't know the answer.
"Oh," was all Ron could say. Luna patted the armchair next to her's, and said, "Come sit." He did as he was told, and at once, the meadow scenery changed into that of a dark, stormy night, with lightning booming in the distance. Ron shrieked, while Luna sat there laughing.
"Its not funny!"
"I'm sorry Ronald, but that shriek was priceless."
However, her laughter died out in mere seconds, and her face was now full of worry and concern.
"Why are you gloomy?"
He didn't want to tell her, did he? Or maybe he did. After all, she probably did deal with a lot of "feeling left out" stuff. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, so instead, he closed it, only to open it again to try to find his voice once more. When he did find it, it came out cracked, like he was going through puberty again.
"Well...I...uh...lets see..."
Luna cut in. "Is this about Hermione and Harry finally getting together?"
"Yeah...I don't know...I mean, I'm really happy for them, I am! But sometimes I can't help but feel that you know...I'm the third wheel or something."
Ron could feel a burning sensation in the back of his nose and eyes, and knew that tears were going to show up soon. He gulped, and looked away.
"Its not shameful to cry, Ronald. Let it all out, you'll feel better."
She patted him on the back comfortingly, and that's all it took for Ron Weasley, manly Quidditch player extraordinaire, to start bawling his eyes out like he used to when Fred and George turned his teddy bear into a spider when he was five. Luna, quite shocked by his sudden outburst, cautiously wrapped an arm around his shoulder and stroked his hair in a motherly way.
"Oh god!" he wailed in between great hacking sobs and big sniffs to keep his nose from overflowing. A monster size tissue box appeared on the little table in front of his armchair, so Luna, being the thoughtful one, grabbed a couple giant sized tissues and gave them to Ron. He took them, blew his nose loudly and continued to bawl, burying his face into Luna's chest. She blushed crimson at this, as she had never had a boy so close to her personal belongings.
"I...(sniff) don't...know...(sob) how to...cope! I've...(aah!) got...no one!" He bawled, his sobs now coming in short as though he's lacking oxygen. Luna looked downright scared now; she had never known Ron to be so...emotional. She stroked his hair and cooed, occasionally whispering the, "It'll be all right", and "Ssh, don't worry".
After about what had seemed like eternity, Ron had regained his composure, and, glancing at Luna's flushed face, decided that now would be a good time to leave. They left the room together, just in time to see the staircase shift again. As they got off to return to their respective dormitories, Ron spoke in an uncomfortable tone.
"Luna, I'd really appreciate it if you – you – wouldn't tell anyone about this."
"I won't."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
He leaned against the stone wall beside the portrait of the Fat Lady and sighed. It was the dead of the night; he had no invisibility cloak, and nowhere to go. Deciding it was better than just standing there, he let his feet carry him off to wherever. He walked by the Trophy Room, but those painful memories of the slug incident were too hard to bear, so he moved on to the staircase which would lead him into the west side of the third floor. However, suddenly, the staircase started shifting and turned a whole 360 degrees.
"Uh oh..."
He braced himself and ventured onto the unfamiliar hallway that appeared before him. Strange, to think he hadn't found this hallway in his first five years at Hogwarts. He walked slowly, noticing that there wasn't much in this hallway, except for one small door located at the very end. As he got closer, he noticed that the door was opened slightly, and through the crack, a soft light came streaming out. Ron, feeling a little on his adventurous side, opened the door a little further, and prepared himself for whatever might be inside. He heard slight movement, and closed his eyes tightly, before opening them a crack to see what was moving. Instead of facing another ferocious beast like Fluffy, he was surprised to see...
"Luna?"
She was sitting in a comfortable looking armchair reading a book. The room was very cozy looking indeed, almost like the Gryffindor common room, except the walls were enchanted to look like a Hawaiian beach. She looked up at Ron, her facial expression looking somewhat surprised that Ron was there.
"Hello Ronald. What brings you here?"
"Er...well, the staircase just kind of...shifted on me and I was just walking down this hallway when I saw the door."
Luna smiled in her daydreamy way. Suddenly, the walls that were made to look like the beaches of Hawaii changed into a whole different scenery – a meadow with rolling hills, green grass and a blue sky on a bright spring day. This caught Ron off guard, causing him to jump back in surprise.
"How'd it change?"
Luna sighed a dreamy sigh, and replied, "It changes depending on your feelings. For example, if I were angry and needed to calm down, it would look like those beaches. But now, I'm calm, and at peace, so it's a meadow." She explained this like it was the most obvious thing in the world and was surprised that Ron didn't know the answer.
"Oh," was all Ron could say. Luna patted the armchair next to her's, and said, "Come sit." He did as he was told, and at once, the meadow scenery changed into that of a dark, stormy night, with lightning booming in the distance. Ron shrieked, while Luna sat there laughing.
"Its not funny!"
"I'm sorry Ronald, but that shriek was priceless."
However, her laughter died out in mere seconds, and her face was now full of worry and concern.
"Why are you gloomy?"
He didn't want to tell her, did he? Or maybe he did. After all, she probably did deal with a lot of "feeling left out" stuff. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, so instead, he closed it, only to open it again to try to find his voice once more. When he did find it, it came out cracked, like he was going through puberty again.
"Well...I...uh...lets see..."
Luna cut in. "Is this about Hermione and Harry finally getting together?"
"Yeah...I don't know...I mean, I'm really happy for them, I am! But sometimes I can't help but feel that you know...I'm the third wheel or something."
Ron could feel a burning sensation in the back of his nose and eyes, and knew that tears were going to show up soon. He gulped, and looked away.
"Its not shameful to cry, Ronald. Let it all out, you'll feel better."
She patted him on the back comfortingly, and that's all it took for Ron Weasley, manly Quidditch player extraordinaire, to start bawling his eyes out like he used to when Fred and George turned his teddy bear into a spider when he was five. Luna, quite shocked by his sudden outburst, cautiously wrapped an arm around his shoulder and stroked his hair in a motherly way.
"Oh god!" he wailed in between great hacking sobs and big sniffs to keep his nose from overflowing. A monster size tissue box appeared on the little table in front of his armchair, so Luna, being the thoughtful one, grabbed a couple giant sized tissues and gave them to Ron. He took them, blew his nose loudly and continued to bawl, burying his face into Luna's chest. She blushed crimson at this, as she had never had a boy so close to her personal belongings.
"I...(sniff) don't...know...(sob) how to...cope! I've...(aah!) got...no one!" He bawled, his sobs now coming in short as though he's lacking oxygen. Luna looked downright scared now; she had never known Ron to be so...emotional. She stroked his hair and cooed, occasionally whispering the, "It'll be all right", and "Ssh, don't worry".
After about what had seemed like eternity, Ron had regained his composure, and, glancing at Luna's flushed face, decided that now would be a good time to leave. They left the room together, just in time to see the staircase shift again. As they got off to return to their respective dormitories, Ron spoke in an uncomfortable tone.
"Luna, I'd really appreciate it if you – you – wouldn't tell anyone about this."
"I won't."
"Promise?"
"I promise."