Chapter 3

It had been a month since Ron's emotional breakdown in front of Luna, and needless to say, he was a bit embarrassed by it, so he avoided her at all costs, just in case she'd bring it up around Harry or Hermione. But, he wouldn't let this thought stop him from enjoying his first Hogsmeade trip, on a bitterly cold November 21st.

Harry and Ron were just coming out the door of Quality Quidditch Supplies (Hermione didn't come with them, on account of saving her sanity), when they both noticed a group of sixth year Slytherins gathered around something in a huddle, levitating what seemed to be a gold pocket watch. From the middle of the group, they heard a small squeal of "please give it back!" followed by a mop of blonde hair bobbing up and down, apparently trying to catch the object. The Slytherins just howled with laughter.

"Catch it if you can!"

The blonde hair looks very familiar, Ron thought, while he and Harry just stood there staring at the scene in front of them. Just then, a particularly chunky boy moved, and Ron was able to catch a glimpse of the person in the middle of the huddle – Luna. Should I do something? he asked himself. Of course you should, you moron, she was there to listen to you cry! another voice commanded. DO SOMETHING! Ron felt a twinge of guilt run through him as the last memory came to his mind. That was true, Luna was there in his time of need. Without telling Harry what he was up to, he whipped out his wand and yelled the Full Body Bind curse on the boy who was doing the levitating. His arms and legs snapped together, and while the other boys were too dimwitted to notice what had happened, Ron had put the Bat Bogey curse on the remaining lot, (which he had learned from Ginny) with the help of Harry, who eventually caught on. Luna scrambled to pick up her pocket watch, stood up, and walked over to Ron, making sure to step on at least the hand of every boy that fell to the ground. She looked up at him with gratitude written on every square inch of her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, and flung herself forward on Ron, embracing him in the tightest hug he had ever experienced in his life.

"Your – (grunt) – welcome," he managed to say, his eyes wincing from the force she exerted on him.

"You truly are a King," she whispered, when she had let him go, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She walked away, humming "Weasley is our King", which sounded suspiciously like a cross between La cucuracha and the ice cream man theme song. His face blushed the colour of his hair, and Harry eyed him with a hint of humor.

"How does it feel to be King? Hmmm?"

"Oh, shut up." They walked back to the Three Broomsticks, where they were supposed to meet Hermione for some Butterbeers. Relieved to be inside after walking in the nippy wind, they quickly found Hermione, sitting with Ginny and Neville.

"Where have you two been? I've been waiting for half an hour!" Hermione screeched, although they could tell she wasn't really angry.

"Something came up," Ron replied shortly, dumping his bag of candy of Honeydukes and running off to get them all a bottle of Butterbeer.

"Something came up? Like what?" Ginny asked with interest, while Neville sat there looking frightened like they had spotted some Death Eaters.

"Oh, nothing, just this and that, you know, the usual – Ron helping Luna in her time of need." Ginny's eyes lit up and a smirk illuminated her features. Holding a tray with five bottles of Butterbeer, Ron placed it upon the table and took a seat next to Harry. He took a sip out of his bottle, when he noticed that all of them were staring at him with mild interest written on their facial features.

"What?" Ginny's smirk grew bigger.

"Well, King Ronald, we hear you just saved a damsel in distress." He choked on his Butterbeer, sending him into a fit of mad coughs with tears leaking from his eyes.

"WHAT?"

"You know, saving Luna in her time of need," she went on, obviously thrilled by the reaction she was getting from him.

"Harry! Did you tell them?!"

"I had to – it was just so noble of you," he replied, quickly downing a gulp of Butterbeer, so he would have an excuse to look away.

"Look, its not what it sounds like! I was just helping her get this pocket watch thing back from the Slytherins."

"Ooh, so you do admit you were helping her in her time of need!"

"Er...well...it was the right thing to do."

"Of course, so noble!"

Ron was trapped, whatever he would say from this point on would somehow screw him over, so instead of answering, he took a long swig from his bottle, and ignored Hermione and Ginny's little squeals of, "ooh, he's so noble!", "he's so kind!", and "how did it feel to receive a hug of gratitude?"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the safety behind his curtains of his bed in the boys' dormitories after dinner, Ron had to admit to himself that the hug did feel nice. It felt nice to know that he had done something to make someone that happy – even if it was Luna Lovegood. As he replayed the memory of her tight hug through his head a million times, he dozed off somewhere in the night.

Author's note: Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I kind of ran out of ideas, and because I'm a little stressed out about final exams (eep!). Thank you for the 4 readers who have reviewed my story! It makes me feel really good and boosts my self-esteem! (haha!) So I will try to update more, and I'll be starting a shorter R/L fic soon! Keep on reading!