A/N: Well, we made quite a few changes in the 1rst chapter as we were not satisfied with the previous one. Hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it.
Chapter 1
Hermione was smiling. Harry was standing next to her and Luna by his side. The war was over at last and all the four house banners filled the room with joy. Hermione was waving with one hand and was holding strongly onto Ron's arm with the other. She was wearing a simple red robe with golden embroideries and proud to represent the Gryffindor colors. She looked amazing...
"Ron" called a familiar voice that he could hear across his bedroom.
"Food's ready." A woman spoke dreamily.
"I'll be there in a second" said Ron. He took a last glance at the picture he was observing and sighed putting it back in his drawer.
She was sitting in the kitchen waiting for Ron to join her for lunch. She was looking at him with big blues eyes, watching every move he made. Ron simply closed his door; he walked towards the kitchen while looking at the table and thought "Omelets for lunch again!"
This scene occurred practically everyday for the last two years. After Ron left Hogwarts to start his career as an Auror, Fred and George let him stay at their place. They had upgraded their joke shop to an international level and had to travel a lot leaving their apartment empty most of the time.
Then one day, Ron met Luna Lovegood, one of his friends from 5th year during the Quidditch Cup and she was looking for a place to stay. Ron offered her a helping hand and thought that it would be nice to have someone to talk to from time to time. Ron saw little of Harry who started his career as a Seeker and Hermione who was studying abroad to continue her higher studies at Witchcraft College of Vauganhord nevertheless he did receive a lot of owls from them.
Luna and Ron became closer until finally they were inseparable. She quit her job as a reporter of the Daily Prophet to continue in her father's footsteps as the editor of the Quibbler. It was a dream come true for Luna. Ron and Luna used to wake up in the same house, go to work, come back for lunch (Luna insisted on cooking everyday even though Ron preferred her not to) and discussed anything they felt like.
Ron took a seat beside her and played with his fork.
"So, were you looking at that old picture again?" asked Luna with a sly smile even though she knew the answer.
Ron blushed and preferred to concentrate on the texture of his weird looking omelet.
"So, when was the last time you saw her?" she asked.
"A few years back. I think the last time I saw her was when she left for College but we do write to each other a lot." said Ron as if it was an excuse for keeping her picture.
"Ron, I just can't believe it. After all these years, you still couldn't go to her and tell her that you wanted to be more then friends." Ron furrowed his eyebrows as Luna added in a boring voice. "Even I dug up some courage to tell Harry."
"Yes, you did," laughed Ron as he poured some juice into his mug. "I was quite surprised that you fancied him instead of me with all your singing about "Weasley is our King" said Ron thinking about those days.
Luna smiled "I did fancy you in the beginning but I quickly lost interest in you" she winked at him.
Ron replied, "Yeah, I noticed in seventh year you were more into Harry. Didn't you go out with him 'til his graduation?"
"No, actually we broke up during the year. With the war and all, it was not working out, but we went to the Senior Ball as friends, just like you and Hermione did. We had so much fun and-"
A loud tapping suddenly interrupted the couple's conversation and Ron quickly opened the window to let the little black owl inside. Luna let it drink from her mug as Ron took the sealed letter it was carrying. "It's from Hermione."
Ron unrolled the scroll and immediately read the letter. The further down the parchment his eyes traveled, the more his smile disappeared and Ron could feel heat rising in him. When he finished, he look as if someone had ripped off his heart. The letter lightly slipped out of his hand and Luna picked it up. She read it and then looked up at Ron. His eyes were almost in tears; one could see different feelings bubble inside of him: hurt-betrayal-confusion.
"Hermione...wedding...to another man" he muttered.
Luna thought it was better not to tell Ron to calm down but then again felt deeply for her friend as she read the letter again. Hermione was getting married in two weeks. It was every girl's dream and she wanted her best friends to share her joy with her by being there.
"She wants me to be there for her. Why can't I be happy for her? I am one of her best friends and she is my best friend too. Then why am I feeling uncomfortable with the idea of her getting married to someone?" Ron thought.
He shook his head as something snapped in his brain and said, "Wow...Uh that was really unexpected. I guess I feel happy for her."
Luna reached for his hand looking into his eyes then asked "Ron, are you ok?"
"Me?" said Ron in an upset voice. "Of course I'm ok. Why do you ask? I mean, Hermione is getting married. It's not a big deal."
Luna stared at Ron speechless. She knew him well starting from his sleeping habits to his favorite Quidditch team to understand his feelings. She asked him tentatively if he was going to attend it.
Ron taught about it and murmured "I don't really know..." and finally blurted "I do want to...but...but...I have all these...um...works. Yes, piles of works to finish."
"Ron" said Luna as she raised her eyebrow "Do you really think I'd believe that your work means more than your friends? Or is there something more to it? "
"What's that suppose to mean?" Ron asked puzzled.
Luna stood up from her chair and cleaned the table while saying "You've got to admit that you've been mad about her for ages. Everybody -"
"Wait a minute" interjected Ron. He took a sip of the water from the glass in front of him and said "Are you saying that I am in love with Hermione? I am positive I am not!"
"So why are you so disappointed?" asked Luna as she performed a spell to wash the dishes.
"I don't know. Maybe it's just because she is the first one of the trio to get married." He realized. "I guess I am still in the shock and all..."A voice inside him has telling him that he was lying to himself nevertheless he quickly buried those thoughts and told himself. ' No, it's definitely the shock. It has to be.'
"Um, I suppose you do have a point there" said Luna simply. "So I guess that nothing is holding you back to attend the wedding now, when are you leaving?"
"I am not attending the wedding." He said determined as he pushed his plate of omelet that he hadn't touched. He knew that Hermione wanted him to be there and that she would be very disappointed that one of her best friends couldn't make it but something didn't seem right. 'There is still Harry' he convinced himself.
"Ron..." she said as she placed her hands on her hip and looked at him confused.
"That's final" said Ron irately. Luna stared at him trying to understand why he got so snappy all of a sudden. After staring at each other for a moment she smiled. 'There is definitely more to it.' Ron on the other hand was in a bad mood; he got up from his chair and stormed in his room. He decided that it would be easier to skip this discussion and calm down.
A few days later
Ron was packing his bags. Luna entered to his room looking not at all surprised.
"I thought you'd change your mind."
"Well, I am all done" said Ron determined.
"Yeah, if you need help, you know you can always owl me" said Luna hugging Ron.
"Thanks Luna," said Ron as he wondered why he would need help.
He took a deep breath, grabbed his wand and his bag then finally said,
"Hermione's house"
Luna waved at him watching him go, and then he disappeared. She closed Ron's door and went to her own room to get changed for work. She was worried about Ron but after a moment she shook her and smiled.
"I am sure he will be alright" she thought.
A/N: A special thanks to Aznos, my beta and also to all the readers.
