"There is something about the unexpected that moves us. As if the whole of existence is paid for in some way, except for that one moment, which is free." ~Rose Tremain
Ron took a deep breath as he stood waiting in front of the Great Hall. He looked at his watch again.
The least she could do is be on time, Ron grumbled to himself, checking the corridors for a glimpse of Luna. Harry, walking out of the Great Hall with Hermione, Neville and Ginny, mouthed, "Good luck!" Ron nodded back. Neville shot him a sympathetic glance, while Ginny and Hermione ignored him completely.
"Weasel!" Ron groaned as he heard Malfoy's voice. "When's the wedding?" Malfoy had nearly been beside himself with glee when he'd heard about Ron's date.
"Ron!" Luna appeared beside him, breathless. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's all right," Ron mumbled, hoping she hadn't heard Malfoy. "Ready to go?"
Luna nodded, smiling at him. "Sure."
Seeing how happy Luna seemed to be, Ron felt some of his embarrassment and irritation trickle away. After all, it was kind of cool that she liked him enough to ask him out.
~*~
"So where d'you want to go?" Ron asked, trying to remember the advice everyone had given him. Neville had been the only one he could ask at first, as Seamus and Dean were too busy laughing their heads off and Harry had been busy writing a letter to Lupin.
"Act like a gentleman," Neville had told him. "Girls like that...I think. After all, I've never been on a real date...I did go out with Ginny, though," he added brightly. "So that counts..."
"How about the Hog's Head?" Luna suggested.
Ron stopped in his tracks, staring at her. "Uh, Luna, I don't think--"
"Just for old times' sake?" Luna looked at him beseechingly. "Please?"
Ron could just hear what Hermione would say to that idea...
"The Hog's Head! Ron, don't you dare even think about it! We only went there so we could form the D.A and avoid Umbridge...prefects aren't supposed to be in such a dodgy area without a really good reason..."
"Oh, what the hell," Ron said suddenly. "Why not?"
And instead of scolding him for swearing, like Hermione would have done, Luna just grinned and said, "Let's go."
~*~
"D'you think Millicent Bulstrode's ever thought of shaving her mustache?" Luna asked innocently.
Ron held back a smile. "Don't think so," he said gravely.
"That's what I thought when I told her that she should consider it..."
Ron choked and spit out his butterbeer all over the table. He looked at the mess in horror.
"Don't do anything disgusting, Ron," Dean told him. "Whatever you do, don't do anything gross or weird. They'll never talk to you again and tell every single girl they know that you're the most disgusting bloke on the planet."
"I'm so sorry," Ron mumbled as he frantically mopped everything up. "Don't know what came over me--"
"Oh, it's okay," Luna said cheerfully. "I've done the same thing myself...only I spit it all over my nanny...ex-nanny really."
Ron looked at her. "So you're not freaked out?" he asked suspiciously.
"Why would I be?"
"Right," Ron said slowly. "Right. Okay, what happened after you suggested it to her?"
"Well, after the teachers pulled her off me, I had to go to the hospital wing, then I got a week's worth of detention from Snape."
"You should have been put in Gryffindor," Ron declared, grinning. "It takes serious guts to do that."
~*~
"So let me get this straight," Ron said, staring at Luna in shock. "You're a fan of the Chudley Cannons too?"
"Well, I definitely sympathize with the poor team," Luna said. "After all, it can't be nice, being cursed to lose for all eternity."
"Excuse me?"
"Didn't you know?" Luna asked, blinking at him. "Why, I thought it was common knowledge...Daddy even published a full account of it in the Quibbler..."
Ron didn't have the heart to tell her he hadn't even heard of the Quibbler until he'd met her. "Er...must have missed that issue," he lied quickly, then went on. "So, what happened?"
"Well," Luna began, "it all started when the captain of the Cannons attracted the attentions of a wealthy young woman who lived in the town where the Cannons practiced. The problem was, however..."
~*~
"Wow," Ron said when Luna had finished. "And here I thought it was just a case of bad luck."
"Nope," Luna said breezily. "They're just cursed to lose. Forever."
"Well, that's not fair," he grumbled. "It's not their fault that stupid wizard cursed them ages ago. You think they know?"
"They should," Luna said. "Daddy sent seven copies of that issue to the team, completely free. If they didn't read it, it's not our fault."
"True," Ron agreed. "Want another butterbeer?"
Luna shook her head. "No, thanks."
"Okay," Ron said, getting out of his chair. "I'll go pay our bill--"
"Why don't we split it?" Luna suggested.
"Ron," Seamus warned, chuckling, "trust me on this: pay for everything. Girls never want to pay for anything. They might say they do, but believe me, they never mean it." He shook his head. "I had to learn that the hard way with Lavender."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?" he asked suspiciously. If this was because he was poor or something...
Luna shrugged. "It isn't the 19th century. I can pay if I want. Equality for women and all that." He wasn't an expert on girls or anything, (in fact, quite the opposite) but as far as Ron could tell, Luna seemed to mean what she was saying. And years of being poor had taught him to notice when people felt sorry for him. She didn't.
Ron nodded, smiling. "Okay."
~*~
"So how was your trip to Sweden?" Ron asked as they walked around Hogsmeade.
Luna shrugged. "Bit of a disappointment, really. No Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to be found...we were hoping that if we found any, there would have to be revisions to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." She heaved a sigh. "Oh well."
"Maybe," Ron said as seriously as possible, given that they were discussing Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, "--they're in hiding or something. There are a lot of magical animals that avoid humans--"
Luna looked up at him, her over-large eyes even wider in shock. "You--you actually believe me?"
"What d'you mean?"
"Most people just laugh when I mention things like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Or worse, they seem to agree, but in this annoyingly condescending way. Like, 'Oh, it's just Loony going off on her mad theories. Might as well humor her to get her off our backs.' " Ron didn't miss the bitter undercurrent in her voice. "But what you just said right now...you acted like you meant it. Like you didn't think I was crazy for believing in things like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."
"I don't think you're crazy to believe in that stuff," Ron told her, and was surprised to realize that he actually meant that. "I mean, some of the stuff you say is definitely out of the normal, accepted ways of thinking, but I don't mind that."
"Why not?"
He only had to think about it for a minute. "Hanging around with Harry for the past six years has taught me that if you think something's impossible or that it can't happen, the chances are that it is possible or it will happen."
Luna smiled up at him. Encouraged, Ron continued. "I don't know if Crumple-Horned Snorkacks exist. But I don't know that they don't exist either. So I guess I'll just keep an open mind about it all."
Luna's smile grew wider. "Thanks," she said softly.
Ron smiled back at her. "You're welcome."
Of course, seeing as things were going so well, Malfoy just had to interrupt.
"Well, well," Malfoy said, a smirk spreading across his pale, pointed, malevolent face. "How disgustingly sweet." He looked Luna up and down with an expression of disdain. "God, Weasley, you're that desperate? Going out with Loony Lovegood? Well, of course, as the Mudblood's been shagging Potter, I suppose you have to take it where you can get it--"
Ron's wand was pointed between Malfoy's pale eyes. "Say--that--again," he ordered through gritted teeth. "I dare you. Say it again."
Malfoy's mouth was slightly open in shock. "Go on," Ron continued, his eyes glittering. "Say it."
He felt Luna tugging on his arm. "Please, Ron, don't. It's not worth it. Just don't."
Ron took a long, shaky breath and the red haze faded from his eyes. But as he lowered his arm, Ron's hand was still gripping the wand tightly.
"You," Ron said slowly, "--are very lucky she's here."
Malfoy tossed his head back in a gesture of arrogance, but his eyes flickered nervously to Ron's wand. "Whatever."
"Go," Ron ordered. Malfoy slinked off.
Ron took a deep, calming breath and turned to Luna, embarrassed. "Sorry 'bout that,' he muttered, staring at the ground.
"Don't be," Luna said quietly.
There was an awkward pause. The relaxed atmosphere of before had vanished.
"Maybe we should get back," Luna suggested finally. "It's getting late."
"Yeah," Ron said, feeling somehow as if a door was starting to close, and he didn't know how to stop it.
~*~
They were walking across the grounds on the way back in silence.
"Why did you say yes?"
Ron looked at Luna. "What?"
Luna looked up at him, her misty eyes wary and distant. Fearful. Of what, Ron wasn't sure. "When I asked you to come. Why did you say yes? Was--was it because you felt sorry for me?"
For the first time, Ron was really able to relate to Luna Lovegood. To find something they both had in common.
They both hated to be pitied.
"No," Ron objected, and realized at that moment that it was true. "I didn't and still don't feel sorry for you."
Luna's eyes were boring into him. "Why did you say yes?" she repeated.
Ron took a deep breath. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "When you asked me, I just said yes without really knowing why I did."
"Oh," Luna said, looking down at the ground.
"But then we came here, and...I had a really good time," Ron told her, trying to get her to meet his gaze. "You like the Cannons, you're willing to split the bill, and it's really easy to talk to you. Not to mention the fact that you had the nerve to tell Bulstrode she should shave her mustache," he added, trying to get a laugh out of her. It worked, because she started to giggle. She looked up at him, smiling widely.
"I like you," she told him.
Ron could feel his ears turning red. "Well--I--uh--I like you too."
"Girls," Harry had warned, "--will never say anything straight out. They'll go round and round in circles and play mind games until you're about ready to go bloody mad."
Ron's forehead furrowed. Luna wasn't doing any of the things he'd been warned about. She'd paid her half of the bill, hadn't minded him being disgusting, and most importantly, had actually told him straight out how she felt.
"Ron? Is everything all right?"
Ron quickly smiled at her. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just--I'm not quite sure what to do now. You say you like me--"
"I do like you," Luna interjected.
"Right." Ron was still having a bit of trouble accepting this fact. A girl actually liked him and was admitting it to his face. Reality had just turned on its head. "And I like spending time with you...does this mean we're a couple?" he asked nervously.
"Do you want to be?" Luna asked him seriously.
Ron's eyes grew huge. "Well--er--I--that is to say--"
"Ron, we don't have to put a label on it. We can just hang out, like we did today," Luna told him gently. "No pressure."
"No pressure," Ron repeated slowly. No pressure...it meant no guessing, no mind games, no emergency conferences with the other guys...no wishing there was a guidebook to the inner workings of girls' minds...
He grinned. "Okay."
Luna smiled back. "Good."
~*~
Ron was humming a song by the Weird Sisters as he walked over to the Fat Lady's portrait.
"You look happy," she observed, raising an eyebrow at the wide smile on his face
"Had a good day," Ron replied, still smiling.
"Password?"
"Birdseed," Ron told her.
Ron stepped through the portrait hole just in time to witness Harry and Hermione having a huge, flaming row.
TBC...