Discovering a lost heart

by Shantari

Ron witness something he shouldn't have seen, and runs later in to Luna, who has something she must confess. But to whom? And who's hiding in the shadows?

4. Chapter 4

Discovering a lost heart.

Author's notes: This turned out to be the longest chapter yet, which makes me fairly proud of myself. You may have noticed that I write way too short chapters, but this will probably hold you for a while. I have no idea when I'll get the next chapter finished. Also, a little note for you Luna-lovers, she doesn't show up in this chapter. Just thought I should tell you so that you don't get your hopes up. This fic is mostly about Ron, and his way of dealing with his feelings, so the story has to focus on him a lot. As a compensation, the next chapter will focus a whole lot more on Luna.

Disclaimer: No, I still don't Harry Potter. I still don't own myself. Yes, microsoft is still robbing me off my soul. But only threehundred and forty seven more pay off's and I'll be the sole propriator of my own soul again. I am not making money on this. If I did, it'd be only threehundred and forty pay off's left...

Chapter 4, Revelations.

Ginny looked around in the empty common room. Now, where could Ron be? Maybe it had been a dumb idea to go look for him in the common room, almost everyone else was out on the school grounds in the sunny weather. Just as she was about to leave to look for Ron outside, Hermione showed up in the girls' staircase.

"Ginny?" She seemed rather surprised to see her, and quickly looked around in the room looking for something. "Where's Harry?"

"I don't know. Have you seen Ron?"

"No, not since this morning. That's strange, " her mind appearently still on Harry. "I thought he said that he was going to stay inside today to catch up on his studies."

"Well, you know Ron, he isn't much for studying."

"I was talking about Harry. Oh, where could he have gone to?" Hermione looked frustrated. "I wanted to talk to him about... something."

"Something?" asked Ginny. "What kind of something?"

"Nothing for you to think about, Ginny," said Hermione blushing.

"Uh-huh." Ginny grinned with delight. It looked like she would get to question two of her girl friends about their love affairs. Luna could wait, she just had to know what kind of progress Hermione had done on Harry. And anything else she had done on him.

"Anyway!" exclaimed Hermione. "It shouldn't be too difficult to guess where both of them have gone off to."

Ginny looked questioningly at Hermione, who walked resolutely up to the boys' staircase. After a moment she returned with a satisfied smile.

"They're off at the quidditch field," she said happily and made her way to the portrait.

"How do you know?" Ginny followed her.

"Their broomsticks are missing. Also, your hint about knowing Ron, reminded me that anyone knowing those two should know where they are when people or trouble are looking for them." Hermione looked a bit strange to Ginny as she made sure that she had her wand with her. What would Hermione need her wand for? Hmm, if both Ron and Harry are at the quidditch field for extra practice, and Hermione, most likely, will single out Harry, there might be a good chance of questioning Ron. Merrily she skipped along after Hermione, only slightly bothered by the thought that she forgot her own broomstick. Practice would have been nice for afterwards.

Ron felt elevated by flying, and decided to take his broom for a real spin. Doing a couple of somersaults, he pointed his broom straight upwards and flew as high as he dared before he turned the nose back down and made a stomach twisting dive. Feeling more alive than ever, he let out a shout of exhilariation. Just before he was about to crash into the ground, he straightened up the broom and zoomed upwards. Taking a moment to hover while he listened to his heart racing, he noticed that Harry was laughing.

"I thought we were going to practice your goal defending." Harry laughed as he said this.

Ron looked a bit sheepish.

"Well, ehh, I thought that I should see what my broom can really do. "

"Fine, whatever." Harry grinned. It was good to see Ron in a good mood. A troubled Ron was the last thing that he wanted to see, next to a disheartened Hermione. Considering the situation as it was, Harry decided to try and avoid thinking of Hermione as of now. He didn't want to upset Ron. And yet, he had the strange feeling that Ron wasn't upset about that. In fact it seemed that something else was on his friend's mind, something that Harry knew nothing of. Lost in his thoughts it took him a while to hear someone calling his name.

"HARRY!"

Finally hearing it he turned so suddenly around on his broomstick that he almost fell off of it. Hermione?

"Get down here! Now!"

"And take my brother down with you!"

Ginny? What did she want with Ron? Ah, well, it's probably sibling stuff or something. He turned aroud to look for Ron, and finally spotted him doing all kinds of maneuvers around the goal posts. He turned his Firebolt around and flew towards him. After a few shouts, he managed to get through to Ron.

"RON!"

"What?" Ron stopped in midair.

"Your sister wants to talk with you."

"Eh? Ginny?" What had he done now?

As they both landed on the ground, Hermione was looking peeved and Ginny was looking satisfied. Ron didn't really want to talk with either of them in these states, but he knew that he would have to talk with both of them. Better take Hermione first, since that would be the more difficult matter to deal with. But before he even had the chance to open his mouth, Hermione strided towards both Harry and Ron, turning to face Harry.

"I thought you had some studying to catch up on?"

Harry looked very embarrassed, and fidgeted a little.

"Ahh, well Hermione. You see ... Well, you know that there are some things that ... What I mean is..."

"I'm glad that you took some time off to make up with Ron. But you could have told me. You're not the only one he's friends with."

"Well, the thing is, you seemed to be very angry about it, and Ron was feeling bad enough about it..."

"Be that as it may. You should still have told me that you were going off to play quidditch, and not leave like that without telling."

Harry was blushing a little, but saw this as his golden opportunity. As long as Hermione got to be right, she would be happy about it.

"You're right, Hermione. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

Hermione grabbed her chin with one hand and pretended to ponder it a while.

"Oh, sure, why not?"

Then she quickly turned to Ron.

"And as for you..."

"Hermione, I had no right to explode on you two like that. Or to storm out and leave you behind to feel embarrassed. I am truely sorry for what I did."

Hermione looked a bit incredulous. She was about to say something, but stopped herself. A quick flash of emotion displayed on her face. Was it sadness? Or regret? But as soon as it was there it was gone. And replaced with a genuinely happy smile. She started to say something else, but she quickly stopped herself again. At which Ginny turned up. Ron remembering himself, turned to her.

"Harry said that you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Ginny looked taken aback for a second. But she was soon wearing that look of satisfaction that had Ron worried, slightly disguised under a look of feigned modesty.

"Well if it is alright with you, could we go over there and talk about something. It isn't that important, and I can understand if you don't want to ... "

"No problem, Ginny!" Ron knew that when she had that look on her face, there was no escape. The only thing to do then was to take the bull by the horns. He turned to his two friends.

"If it's OK with you guys, we'll just be on our way."

"Go on you two. Harry need to do some studying anyway. Don't you, Harry?"

"How can I refuse when I have such a lovely studying comrade by my side? Shall we?" He stretched out his bended arm to Hermione, who delightfully hooked her arm to his. The couple went on their merry way off to the Gryffindor tower to continue their studies.

Meanwhile Ron was left with his little sister in her up-to-no-good-mood. With a sigh he resigned himself to fate.

"Now, what is it that you want from me?"

"What makes you think that I want something from you?" Ginny's eyes were tindering very much like the eyes of a puppy begging for food. The look on her face was so studiously innocent, that it just had to be fake.

"No reason. Just tell me."

"I was only going to ask you if you had run into Luna today, that's all." Ginny was picking at a straw of grass, trying to tie it into a elaborate knot.

"What makes you ... I mean, why would you wanna ask that." Ron's voice was breaking slightly, evident of the fact that he was still shaken by the revelations that Luna had made him face.

"Well, she is one of my best friends after all. And she had something that she wanted to talk with me about, and I haven't been able to get hold of her today."

"Why would I know of where she is? What makes you think that I've even met her today?"

"Because that was what she wanted to tell me about. She had something to tell you, and then she was going to tell me." Ginny flashed her teeth in a wide grin, and giggled a little.

"Te-tell me? Tell you?" Oh boy, there was just no way out of this one. Except ...

"Well, would you look at the time. Gotta go, bye." But as Ron was making his rapid gettaway, Ginny nonchalantly tripped his legs so that he fell flat on his face. Air going out of his lungs, he had no chance to get away before Ginny simply sat herself on his back.

"Don't even think that I'm gonna let you get away with this. You did meet her, didn't you? "

"Yes." Ron was fuming at being in this ridiculous situation. He hoped for the love of God, that no one was watching them.

"Did she tell you?"

"About what?"

"You know fully well what I'm talking about!" She couldn't be sure that Luna had told Ron yet, but it seemed on his behaviour that she had. And Ginny just had to hear how her brother had handled the love confession.

"I don't!" Ron wasn't sure if he could hold on much longer. But anything was better then telling Ginny about what a fool he had made of himself. Especially before he even knew for sure how he felt about it all. He was glad that he had settled things with Harry and Hermione, but at the same time he knew that he had mostly postponed the moment when he would have to evaluate how he felt about Luna and her love for him. Once more he saw for his very eyes how Luna told him that she loved him. He blushed at this inner image.

"Liar!" Ginny didn't know how long she should keep the bluff up. Her brother could be stubborn at times, but not even he could be this stubborn.

Ron thought it through. Luna told him that she loved him. He wasn't sure on how he felt, so he didn't say anything to her. He didn't want to string her along, in case he didn't feel the same way back. At the same time he didn't want to reject her at once. She had walked away without saying anything else, did that mean that she was sad about him not answering? Ahh, he had to focus his thoughts. If he told Ginny what Luna told him, she would get off his back. But she would also demand to know what his response to Luna had been. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he couldn't lie about it either. Luna's face appeared once more in front of his eyes. She looked pleadingly at him.

"Luna," mumbled Ron, his mouth pressed to the grassy ground.

Ginny wondered if she had gone to far. Maybe she shouldn't force her brother to talk about it. But then again, that was what little sisters were for. She decided to give him some air, though, and sat herself on the grass. Gasping for air, Ron sat up next to his little sister.

"I did meet Luna today, and she did tell me something very important." Ron was breathing heavily, but it got easier and easier to breath for every moment.

"Go on," said Ginny. She was glad that Ron was telling her finally, but she had to control herself so that she wouldn't put any more pressure on him.

"She told me that ..."

"Yes."

"That there are Spotty-Striped Waterspiders in the Great Lake."

Ginny stared at him. Then she fiddled a little more with her grass straw. Which she promptly threw away. Grabbing her brother by both of his arms, she shouted in to his face.

"COULD YOU BE SERIOUS FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because this is none of your business, Gin."

Ginny straightened her back. Ron only called her Gin when he was really serious. She didn't know how to respond to his statement, or if she even should respond. But Ginny being Ginny, couldn't resist an opening when she saw it.

"So in other words, she did tell you the real deal." She put on a big, conniving smile as she said it.

"Like I said, it's none of your business." Ron was blushing furiously. Why did his sister keep insisting like this? He couldn't understand why it was so important for her to know, she didn't have anything to do with it. Unless...

"Ginny, did you tell Luna to say that?"

"What? Of course not!" Ginny was just happy that Luna after all of this time, had finally got out with it, after having kept it inside of her for so long. Ginny had been encouraging to Luna, but she hadn't made her do it. This was Luna's decision afterall.

"Because if you told her to lie to make me feel happy or something like that..."

"You idiot! Is it that difficult to believe that Luna would say that to you?"

"Of course it is! No girl has ever told me that they loved me before, how was I supposed to react?"

"React? What are you talking about?"

Ron clasped his hand over his mouth. His big and stupid mouth. Turning scarlet all over his face and ears, he turned around so that Ginny wouldn't see him.

"Ron! What did you do?"

"What makes you think that I did anything?"

"Because the last time I saw that shade of red was when I cut myself and started bleeding. Now, tell me!"

Ron fidgeted a little more. He could refuse, but he had the feeling that Ginny wouldn't be as lenient now as she had been before. He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. Then he stood up, his back still turned to Ginny.

"I didn't do anything. And therein lies the problem. I didn't answer her when she told me how she felt about me. I didn't even give her the faintest of responses."

Ginny looked at her brother. She knew that he must feel bad about himself, having ignored a girl's feelings like that. But still...

"You idiot!"

She transformed into a human storm cloud. Ron turned around to look at her, and jumped back at the sight. Standing up, her hair was fizzling and her face had turned a bright red colour, the Weasley trademark, and her face was contorted into a scowl that reminded him of their mother.

"How could you just ignore a girl's feelings like that? Do you have any idea of how long it took for her to gather up the courage to confess her feelings to you? Don't you know how a simple no would have been much more preferable than completely ignoring her?"

"Ginny. Listen."

"No, you listen to me. A girl's heart is very delicate, you can't go around breaking hearts like that. If you act that way, then you are the worst kind of person imaginable, and I would really hate having to know that I'm related to you."

"Ginny!"

"And Luna is my best friend. How do you think I will feel about knowing that my brother broke her heart every time I go and hang out with her? How do you think I will be able to face her like that? She's the most wonderful person in the world, and if you're gonna treat her like this, then you don't deserve to have her love you."

"Ginny! I know."

Ginny stopped herself. Not so much because Ron's words had affected her, more because she didn't have anything else to say.

"I know that I probably hurt her feelings. I just did what seemed to be the best and most honest thing to do."

"The best and most honest thing to do would have been to give her a straight answer."

"But if you don't have any straight answers, what are you to do then?"

Ginny looked at him.

"Say what?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders in a exasperant manner.

"When she told me, I was completely caught of guard. I had never even considered how I felt about her in any way. Plus, this morning I found out that Harry and Hermione are in love with each other, and a couple as of now."

"Really? Well that explains why they were being so lovey dovey." Ginny was happy that her brother had confirmed her suspicions, and decided to question Hermione for details later. "Of course, they took their merry time of figuring it out. Everyone else knew about those two."

Ron's ears turned a slightly deeper shade of red.

"I didn't," he said with a weak voice.

"Come again?"

"I didn't see it happening. I thought that Hermione and Harry were just friends. I thought that I was in love with her."

Ginny frooze. She had had an inkling as to how Ron had felt about Hermione, but she had for a long time hoped that she had been wrong. She hadn't wanted for him to get hurt. Looking more tentatively at her brother, she nudged his elbow to silently urge him to go on.

"Anyway. I was still feeling things for Hermione, and I didn't have a clue as to what Luna had to tell me. Now I don't really feel anything when it comes to Hermione. I felt betrayed because of her and Harry getting together, but now I don't feel that anymore. I only feel friendship with the two of them. And as for Luna. I don't know how I feel, because I don't know how to recognise my own feelings."

Ginny looked at him. It all sounded so sad. Like a tragic lovestory. She had had no way of knowing that Ron could feel these kind of things.

"I guess I've always been bad at knowing how I feel about things. Never knowing when I'm jealous or righteous. Angry or sad. As of now, I've been trying to resolve how I feel about Harry and Hermione, since they are my two best friends. But I don't know how I should feel about Luna."

"Don't think of it like that!"

Ron looked surprised at his sister.

"You shouldn't think of how you should feel about Luna, you should think of how you actually feel about her. As a girl, I can tell you that no one wants someone to pretend feelings they don't have. If you love her, then you love her and should be with her. If you don't love her, then you should tell her so and help her to move on in life. Until that you know for sure, you shouldn't pretend to feel things you don't feel. Trust me, I should know about this kind of stuff."

"Thanks, Ginny. For an annoying little sister, you sure know how to give good advice."

Ginny did a little curtsy and stuck out her tongue. Then she did a little pirouette and walked away from her brother.

"I just wanted to know about that, so now I don't see any reason to hang out with you any further."

Ron chuckled. He didn't want the world to know, but he sure was happy that he atleast had a sister who could tell him this sort of stuff. Five brothers on the other hand, was a tad bit overdone to him. Let's see now. Harry and Hermione were off studying, which Ron didn't feel like spending his Saturday doing. There was no scheduled quidditch training, no Hogsmeade visits. What to do now?

Figure out his feelings for Luna. It was all he could do. Even when he did his best to think of something else beside her, his thoughts returned to her. And he didn't want her to have to suffer from not knowing any longer than necessary. So he started to walk around the lake, trying to figure out how you figure out your feelings for a person. All the while as a mysterious figure was watching him from behind.

Author's notes: The third appearance of our mysterious stranger. Is the identity of this stranger tickling your inquisite minds? Please guess at who it might be, you never know, you may be right. You can guess, vote, decide who it is either by reviewing my fic (if you're reading this at some fiction-site) or by leaving a signature in my guestbook (if you're reading this at my site).