Pickled Pears

By Sashi Mizumoto

A/N: Well, I thought about abandoning this story, but after the two kind reviews, I decided to keep going. I've been a little busy lately, making up schoolwork from being sick recently, but I'm back on the ball and writing again! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! By the way, did anyone else notice my knowledge about ties:D

Chapter 2

The rest of the train ride was uneventful, other than the tense silence in the compartment. After the argument between Harry and Hermione about Luna's entrance to their House, they had decided to sit opposite each other. Hermione was now sitting next to Ron and Harry was sitting next to Luna. Ron felt extremely nervous about this seating arrangement, but said nothing. Harry could tell there was something bothering him, but he couldn't understand what it could be.

'God this is pathetic. I've been his best friend for six years and I can't even tell what's wrong with him anymore! And if I ask him, he'll just deny it all. What should I do…?'

While Harry was lamenting over his problem, Ron was having one of his own. Hermione just looked dreadfully upset, and Ron wasn't sure what to do. Was a hug not friendly enough? Was a kiss on the cheek too friendly? Ron didn't know what to do! He could feel his ears burning in embarrassment, so he did the only thing he could think to do: pretend to be asleep.

As he covered his head with his robe and started making fake snoring sounds, Luna glanced over at him. She may not have been his best friend for six years like Harry, but she was in love with him. And it was obvious (well, at least to her) that Ron was in love with Hermione.

'If Ron is happy, then I am too. Who cares if I end up with him or not?' Though no matter how many times she said it, she couldn't help but feel that she was lying to herself.

"God I'm such a loser…" she muttered it pitifully and let out a small sigh. Harry looked over at Luna and grinned, hitting her gently on the head with the back of his hand.

"Hey Luna, anything good in the Quibbler lately?"

Luna looked up at Harry with a surprised look, though it was only there for a second before her normal dreamy expression took over. "Actually, there was a story about you in there over the summer. I was so appalled, I kept thinking what made my father print it!"

Hermione perked her head up and looked over at Luna. "Oh? Was it that bad? What was it about?"

Ron twitched slightly on hearing Hermione's voice, though this only made him increase the volume of his fake snoring.

"God Ron quit it! I know you're faking it!" Harry playfully kicked him and Ron snorted, falling out of his seat onto the ground. Hermione let out a small gasp and glared over at Harry. Luna kept her eyes focused carefully on Ron, wondering when he was going to quit whining and get off the ground.

"Harry, one of these days you're going to end up really hurting someone!" Hermione let out a small huff and pulled her book out again. Harry looked at her innocently, but she just shook her head.

"That's not going to work, Harry! You need some reprimanding!" Harry grinned playfully at her and Hermione blushed and let out a frustrated shout.

"Oh, I give up! Sometimes you're so insufferable Harry!" She slammed her book shut and got up.

"I'm going to find Ginny and sit with her. You can sit here and talk with Ron." She opened the door and stormed out. Harry looked over at Ron and shrugged.

"Women!" He looked over at Luna and felt a twinge of guilt. "Sorry you had to see that Luna. And I didn't mean all women!"

Luna shook her head and smiled. "That's alright Harry, I know what you meant." She looked back down at the issue of the Quibbler she had taken out during the little skirmish between Harry and Hermione. Harry looked over her shoulder and Luna looked up at him. She closed the magazine and handed it to Harry.

"I don't like it when people read over my shoulder. Besides, this is the issue you were in. I thought you would be interested, so I decided to bring it along for the train ride. Not that we haven't been having any entertainment so far…" Luna trailed off and spaced off, staring at the wall in front of her. Harry held out the issue and Ron held one of the pages up while Harry scanned it, looking for his name. He finally found it and pointed to indicate to Ron as well, as Ron had been preoccupied with the article focusing on the troll protest in Gringotts. His eyes roamed the other page and gasped when he saw what Harry was pointing at. The picture was one of Harry and Hermione during the summer vacation, while they had been walking together in Diagon Alley. She had been laughing and he had had the liberty of putting his arm around her shoulder. The headline was simple and direct:

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Hermione: A Couple?

Ron let out a small gasp and glared down at the magazine. "What the? Luna, this doesn't seem like something your dad would publish!" Harry nodded in agreement and sighed. "Ugh, why did they have to drag Hermione into all of this? Why couldn't they leave her out of this and just say that there were rumours that I was going out with someone? Really, they should ask a person before publishing stuff like this!"

"But, it's true, isn't it Harry?"

Harry looked over at Luna, who had been acting differently so far since he had last seen her. Normally, she wasn't so…ready to pick a fight! Harry scanned her face with his bright eyes and decided to talk to her about this fact later. He didn't want anyone to hate him, and he had a feeling that deep within, Luna had more emotions than she cared to reveal.

Harry decided to put this in the back of his mind for now before returning to the matter at hand. "Yes, it is true Luna! But that doesn't mean that they have to publish it! I never wanted my whole life to be open to the public! As if I were a zoo animal, locked away from humanity yet stared at by everyone! I just want… to be a normal kid!" Harry stood up, suddenly feeling angry. He knew within his heart that this wasn't Luna's fault, but he felt that he needed to blame someone. Harry decided to leave before he said anymore. "I'm… going to go look for the food cart. I'm in the mood for some chocolate frogs." Harry walked out of the compartment, leaving Luna and Ron alone. Ron looked down at the ground, wondering what could possibly be wrong with himself. He had felt a little odd for awhile, though he couldn't place why. As he was contemplating what he had done, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ronald?" Ron looked up at Luna, who smiled dreamily at him.

"Are you feeling alright Ronald?"

Ron shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off her. "I've been feeling a bit… wonky. For awhile now actually. I don't know why though…Maybe it was a little virus I caught or something!"

Luna smiled. "Don't worry Ronald. She'll understand how much you care for her, eventually. Until then, just keep believing in her." Ron's eyes widened, but before he could say anything more, the train stopped.

"Ronald, I'm sure this year is going to be an interesting one." As Luna stood up, Ron stopped thinking. He didn't know what was happening, but Luna almost looked like an angel, the way the moonlight was shining in her thin golden hair, and the way the lake and stars shone so brightly.

'Argh, stupid hormones. Making my thoughts all screwy.' He dismissed the thought quickly and picked up the forgotten Quibbler. As he made his way to give it back to Luna, he stopped. He quickly folded it and put it in his pant pocket, and started running off to find Harry.