Chapter 6 – A Subtle Kiss
The rest of the week passed smoothly. Harry spent the days playing Quidditch with Ron, Ginny, and Fred and George when they could get out form work or play chess and lose horridly. Harry felt much better now that Ron had started talking to him again, but that unfortunately had brewed up another problem in his mind. He kept on asking himself the same question whenever he was in Ron's vicinity: What if he died too? Harry had lost one of his close friends already, and he knew he wouldn't be able to look at himself if Ron left him as well. What and who would he live for? At the end, Harry decided that he would never let Ron join him on one of his trips to find some Horcruxes, and if he insisted on coming, Harry would leave without his knowledge.
Every few days Harry received a letter from Luna asking him about his day and shared some of her anecdotes about peculiar objects and creatures with him, being the part where she would be ecstatically excited about. Harry responded rather blandly compared to her letters and told her that everything was going smoothly and that they had to hear Bill and Mrs.Weasley's arguments everyday. The subject of most of the rows was his hair, and one morning, Mrs.Weasley had snuck up on Bill when he was fast asleep in bed and had threatened his hair with a pair of scissors. Luckily, Fleur walked right in at the moment and shrieked in horror, causing Bill to jump up as if he'd encountered an electrical shock. They hadn't talked for days after that incident.
Finally, the morning of the wedding arrived. Everything and everyone was in utter chaos, from Mrs.Weasley trying to rummage through the kitchen to find some plates, Ginny looking all over the house for her bonnet, to Fred and George bewitching Charlie to appear ass if he had a dragon head. The rest of the morning Charlie spent chasing the twins as the called in beauty experts were fumbling over Fleur's hair and makeup. When she made her appearance, Harry had to admit that she looked positively stunning. Her strapless dress was pure white, caressing down to the floor with a hemline decorated with gossamer roses and soft pearls on the ivory leaves. She hadn't worn her veil yet, making it possible to see her face surrounded by her hair in a long French braid (very symbolic of her nationality) with curly bangs accented in front of her eyes. Harry thought she had overdone it in the makeup department because she wore bright red lipstick and light eye shadow. It reminded Harry of one of those cherry girls on television back at the Dursleys.
They left for the church at about eleven o' clock in a few cars that Mr.Weasley had borrowed from the Ministry. It was an hour or so away so Harry had to be trapped in the car with Fleur's heavy perfume suffocating him like a gallon of carbon monoxide. When he opened the window she yelled at him to close it or it would ruin her hair. Ron rolled his eyes in great frustration.
"Are we there yet?" Ron whined, moving uncomfortably between Harry and Ginny. Mrs.Weasley just turned around and shot him a dirty look.
"I swear we're never going to get there and I'll just die in this car." Ron mumbled so only Harry could hear him.
"When does the ceremony start?" Harry asked calmly.
"At one, if we're lucky." Mrs.Weasley answered, "We're just going to leave a free hour so people can meet and talk."
"I see."
They reached the church after an additional fifteen minutes and Harry stepped out of the spacious car. In front of him was a gigantic church with three stretched stained glass windows and underneath lay a two panel door ornamented with flowers, circling a banner that announced Bill and Fleur's wedding in vivid red. They walked in to find the main room, the largest of them all, decorated also with flowers and scented candles that Harry could smell from far away. In front of the altar stood an arched doorway for the bride and groom to stand by, trailed down by an alley consisting of rose petals.
Harry and Ron glanced at each other said at the same time, "Too many roses."
"No, I think it's beautiful! Roses make everything look so pretty." Ginny said giddily, taking out a bouquet of them from the nearest vase and sniffing them, a pleasant smile coming on her face as she did.
After a few minutes, a pretty young lady came up to Harry from behind. Harry turned to find Luna smiling at him. She looked even nicer than Fleur with her pasted red lipstick. Luna sported pink dress robes that reached a little past her feet, which were enclosed in white low heel sandals, and the robes had a white hem line to match her sandals. She had pulled her usual free dirty blond hair back into a bun with two sticks stuck in the middle of it.
"Er-you look pretty."
"I'm glad you think so. You're not looking so shabby either." Luna patted his emerald robes and grinned.
"Thanks. You want to get something to drink?" Harry said, trying to ignore Ron's constant smirks across the hall.
"Sure thing."
They remained silent for a few minutes as they drank their cocktail while standing. Harry finally thought of something, "This is weird for me, you know. I've never been to a real wedding before." Great. Why did he have to open his mouth only to sound like a lonely little orphan?
"Really? I've been to a couple myself. One was of my aunt and one of my Daddy's friends, well, he was actually the one who introduced him to her, but they unfortunately divorced. Another was my Uncle but, come to think of it, they divorced too. Funny, isn't it? And then there was…"
Luna's rambling went on for quite a long time and Harry had to admit that he stopped listening through a minute of it. No one could stand that for long. His eyes drifted to Ron, who was laughing animatedly about something with Charlie, and then he witnessed Mrs.Weasley playing with Bill's hair, occasionally moving a lock of it to the left and then attempting to tie it into a ponytail to see how that looked.
"Harry, are you listening to me?" Luna captured his attention as he looked back at her again.
"Huh? Oh…to be honest, no. I'm sorry." He stared at the floor.
"It's quite understandable. I know I ramble a lot so I don't blame you. Let's sit down."
Harry knew he was blushing, so he tried to hide it with his drink as they sat down in the last row of chairs settled in front of the altar. Why couldn't he be like Luna, a free sprit and never worried about anything, that would ramble on and on at any minute?
"So, what's on your mind, Harry? You seem lost. Are things okay with Ron?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I thought you two weren't speaking to each other."
"Is it me, or do you know everything going on in my life?"
"It was quite obvious when I looked at Ron while I was at their house and he didn't look so happy…I knew you guys were close, so…"
"Alright, I get it." Harry said, twiddling his fingers, "But that wasn't what I was thinking of. I thought about my life and why I couldn't just be like any other normal kid, about why this had to happen to me."
"Well, you are the Chosen One. You're meant to be different."
"There could have been a chance for me to be normal, but Voldemort changed all that."
"Ah, yes. Do you always have to say his name? It frights my veins and I get little Durmies around me telling me to get away from you."
"Right," Harry frowned, "Well, I just don't see why anyone shouldn't. That's his name. Do you want to be called She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named every time someone mentions you? I don't think so. There's nothing to be scared of."
"He is."
"That's a different story. You don't have to face him, though. Why should you be worried?"
"We should all be worried. It's a worrying world out there."
"Everyone is dependent on me. Everyone. Imagine how I must feel."
"But you get the attention for it too." Luna pointed out.
"Do you actually think I want it? People gawking at my scar every second. Calling me the Chosen One, although I have to credit them for the prophecy."
"Yes, I was surprised when I saw that in the paper too. How did they find out?"
"Well, we were in the Hall of Prophecy and I'm assuming they saw all the toppled shelves of prophecies."
"True. Did you ever find out what was in that prophecy?"
Harry opened his mouth, planning to say no, but he ended up saying, "Yeah, I did, just that night. Dumbledore told me."
Luna raised her eyes, "You never told us that. You said that Neville crashed it that night."
"Well, Dumbledore told me not to inform anyone else. Only Ron and Hermione know. Knew." Harry added with a sadder note.
"I'm sure she still knows it, she's probably watching down at us, cheering you on right now."
Harry laughed and Luna looked at him questioningly, "That's what I said to Ron a few weeks ago. It's funny that you mentioned it."
"I think she is. I've always believed in heaven." Luna said, straightening her robes a bit.
"I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it, which hopefully won't be anytime soon."
"It won't be. You'll live and you'll defeat You-Know-Who."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. You're very powerful Harry." Luna said truthfully.
"Thanks..."
"Come on, everyone! It's time for the ceremony!" Mrs.Weasley scrambled down the hall to alert everyone. Harry and Luna got to their feet and joined the rest of the Weasley family in the front row while Fleur's father stood near the first sit in the middle of the aisle. By a few minutes, everyone had arrived and Bill and Charlie were standing in front of the flowered arch, waiting for Fleur. When the hall door opened, the wedding music chimed, putting the hall into a romantic atmosphere as Fleur appeared at the doorway. Slowly she walked down the aisle step by step, and Mr.Delacour went to escort her halfway. Fleur smiled vibrantly under her veil at everyone. Everyone's eyes were on her, and it wasn't just because she was a veela. Fleur looked beautiful.
The ceremony lasted an hour and a half long, while Harry was bored after the first twenty minutes. The priest read excerpts from the Bible and then asked Bill and Fleur to repeat after what he said. They recited their vows to each other, which was the sweetest part of the ceremony. Bill's vows were so deep that they left Ginny in tears.
Harry had to say that dinner was the best part. It consisted of a combination of French and English food, and Harry recognized the bouillabaisse that Fleur had asked Ron and Harry for back in their fourth year at Hogwarts. From crumpets, wedding cake, steak, and to all varieties of deserts, Harry was full by the end of dinner. Harry was sitting next to Luna and across form Ron and Ginny. When the dancing began, Ron and Ginny wandered off somewhere else to leave Luna and Harry alone.
"Mmm…This is good food, don't you think?" Luna said while having a bite of her lemon pie. Harry watched her in amazement as she kept on eating and eating, making him think she would never stop. Before long, he was staring at her and smelling her. She was surrounded by an aura of fresh peach scent that sent favorable breezes up his stomach. Harry stared at her long neck, not overshadowed by her long hair, which arched down like a beautiful swan's. Her gray eyes revealed the enticing enigma about her and Harry thought he could gaze into those eyes for eternity. Harry had to admit that she was gorgeous and was falling under charm…
"Do you enjoy staring at me?" Luna said as she took another bite from her pie.
"Yes, I do." For some strange reason, Harry couldn't lie to her. He would have liked to say no, but he couldn't. It was as if he was under her spell. This was why he had told her that he knew what the prophecy contained.
Luna giggled like a little girl and brought her hand to her chin and said, "That's so sweet, and call me crazy for saying this, but I think you like me Harry."
"Of course I do. Why would I have asked you if I didn't?"
"I meant more than a friend. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me."
"Oh, that way. Well…I'm not so sure. I do like you, but you're too…weird for me." Wrong answer idiot, Harry scolded himself. He knew she would be upset by that answer, but surprisingly, she wasn't. It was as if nothing fazed her. Instead, she chuckled some more.
"If you ask me, you're being the weird one. You're so shy. Just admit it. You like me."
Harry gazed at her and then nodded.
"Then let me let you in on a little secret. I like you too." Luna did something unexpected. Her face closed in on hers and her soft glossy lips found his cheek, leaving that peachy scent behind. Harry brought up his hand to his cheek and smiled strangely as if he would never be able to stop doing it. It felt good, what Luna had done. It was subtle, yet sweet, but then his foolish mouth opened, "What was that for?"
"You are so dense, Harry." She fell into intense laughter, rocking up and down from her seat. Harry blushed some more at this. Why did he always have to say the stupidest things at the wrong moments?
"No, that's not what I meant to say…it came out from nervousness. You should know that I'm not good at these…er…romance things."
"Yes, I can tell. It's fine. I know you like me. That's all I need, but know that you're not ready for a relationship."
"How do you know?"
"You always look as if you're in another world. I mean, you're here but your mind is somewhere else. I think the Durmies have gotten you too. You didn't even realize when I arrived because you were too busy in your other world. You're a guy with many barriers."
Harry almost chocked on his pink lemonade, "What? What barriers?"
"Well…one is that you blame yourself for everything. Whenever someone close to you dies, you blame yourself because You-Know-Who is always after you and people you love die, which would include your parents, Stubby Boardman, Professor Dumbledore, and now Hermione. Second is that you don't think you can kill You-Know-Who, and I assume that all the attention you get puts more pressure on you. If your parents or Dumbledore couldn't defeat him, then how could you? Third is that you believe that you don't have anyone to love anymore. You think that everyone you loved is gone and bye the end you'll be alone. Yes, three barriers. Three barriers of the Chosen One."
"Three barriers of the Chosen One, huh?" Harry thought about what she said. Half of those things he had never thought about, but now that he considered it, she was exactly right.
"So, basically, you're intimidated by your life. You want to run away from the harsh reality that you're in."
"You know, you scare me."
"I'm glad I do." Luna smiled, "It's fun to analyze you. You're a very interesting person, Harry."
"You understand me so well. I adore that." Harry said truthfully.
Luna turned to her left and observed all the couple dancing on the floor, "Come on. Dance with me."
"Are you kidding? I don't dance."
"Neither do I, but there's no harm in trying. Come." Luna pulled Harry's arm and he reluctantly followed her in the midst of all the couples.
"This is so awkward." Harry voiced his thoughts, making Luna snicker.
"Oh hold me…" Luna singed along with the song softly as she trailed Harry's hands to her waist and laid hers around Harry's wide neck. He felt comforted by being so close to her. They wavered left and right slowly and Harry got his chance to stare deeply into Luna's eyes. He longed to kiss her on the lips but felt nervous about doing it. He knew he Luna was expecting it, but by the end, he just couldn't. When the dancing was over, it was time for Fleur to toss her bouquet into the massive crowd. As she threw it, Harry followed it with his eyes as it came his way. The next second, Harry looked to his right and saw that Luna had caught it. In a sudden moment, every single person in the room's eyes were on Harry.