A/N: This is another Harry/Luna Christmassy ficlet. I love her character so much and I still think she would've been great for Harry.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the HP franchise.
Enjoy!
His winter robe billowed in the frosty winter air. Having it open as opposed to closed really defeated the whole object of wearing it, but Harry hardly cared. Since winter had begun, he'd failed to feel the harsh icy breezes. His cheeks had barely grown rosy because of them and not once had his lips chapped.
Leaning on the rotting fence, scattered with barbed wire which was intended to protect the Shack and its grounds, he peered into the bleariness ahead as the sky threw down sheets upon sheets of sleet and snow. His vision blurred as his glasses steadily becoming completely covered in the snow. It was because of this that he did not recognise the blur that seemed to be snooping around the Shrieking Shack several feet below, tapping at the wooden beams. Nevertheless, he knew he'd go after them no matter who they were, well, so long as they weren't Malfoy. Not many people knew it, but Lupin was at the school for the Christmas Holidays and unfortunately for him, tonight was the full moon. He'd be transforming later or even now and therefore anyone near the building could potentially be in danger.
Annoyed at being disturbed, interrupted from his reverie, Harry opened the rickety gate and made his way down the slope, sliding, not exactly steadily. Just as he was about to reach the bottom he fell flat on his backside, having slid too far. His glasses now completely covered, he heard the anonymous person giggle. Taking off his glasses, he squinted, seeing only the muffled blur. The girl, her laugh was feminine, giggled once again and shook her head, "It's me Harry, Luna..."
Feeling his glasses being taken from him, he watched as she charmed them dry and handed them back to him. Placing them back on his nose, now able to see clearly it was Luna he smiled at her haphazard slightly inappropriate dress sense. She was stood in a bobble hat, scarf, gloves, dungarees and a woolly jumper. "You must be freezing..." he commented, knowing his words were rather contradictory seeing as all he had on was a shirt, trousers and an open outer robe. "No," she simply said, matter-of-factly, "After being in the Alps for several weeks, you start to really learn what cold is. And it definitely isn't this." she grinned, turning her attention back to the Shack.
"What are you doing down here?" asked Harry, watching her as she traced her fingers over the wood, fingering every indent, every crack. He knew he should be pulling her away from the building but there was something about watching her, it was bewildering, befuddling but entrancing at the same time. "Looking for the Pinminks. Cho Chang and her friends said they saw some down here, although I'm beginning to suspect they were lying."
Harry frowned deeply, feeling his hatred for Cho burn stronger. How could she take advantage of Luna's good nature and curiosity like that? He knew all too well she and her friends had been mocking her and felt bad that Luna, by the sounds of things, knew that also. "Yeah well, I'd suspect anyone who told me Pinminks existed, was lying."
"Oh, they do exist alright," she responded. "But not usually in this cold temperature. I thought they would've been well into hibernation by now that's why I was so keen to come down here and have a look when they told me. Only now I feel a fool, I should've known better than to listen to her."
Harry nodded, if it wasn't for the fact that Luna was still there he'd have probably marched straight back to the school to give Cho a piece of his mind. Thinking back to the situation at hand, Harry took her by the elbow. "We have to go Luna."
"Oh." she responded, a quizzical look on her face. "Why?" Thinking on his feet and knowing he couldn't tell her about Lupin and the Order and the aurors being at the school, no matter how much he wanted to, he replied, "Because it's getting really cold and it'll start to get dark soon. Besides, we have to go to the Three Broomsticks, there's a DA meeting in just under an hour."
Accepting his answer, she slipped her notepad and quill back into her pocket and linked her arm with Harry's as they climbed up the short slope. As they reached the top, Harry found he had to close his robe, tightly. Letting go of her, he pulled the robe closed; it seemed he felt the cold now.
Arriving at the Three Broomsticks, the pair walked to the bar together, the hustle and bustle of the pub and the noise level meaning their entrance wasn't really noticed. It only served to remind Harry how foolish they'd been to hold their first ever DA meeting in the Hog's Head, where they were bound to be over heard.
Ordering several bottles of butterbeer, the idea being to conserve energy once they were sat with not having to get up and down for more drinks, the pair carried six bottles between them and sat in a cozy nook out of the way towards the back of the pub. There was plenty of room around for more people to sit, which was a good thing considering they were expecting more than twenty people to arrive within the hour.
Luna took the lead and opened two of the bottles, pulling an elastic from her hair, she snapped it in half with the aid of her teeth. Harry watched, on the verge of being mesmerized, as her hair cascaded down and framed her face with its straggly light curls. Smiling, as she saw him looking at her, she took the quill from her pocket and stabbed holes through the corks. Threading them through the elastic, she tied the two ends together. Taking Harry's hand, the one not holding an already half empty bottle of butterbeer, she flattened out his palm and placed the bracelet with two corks on it, in his palm.
"For me?" he asked, taking another sip from his bottle before placing it down so that he could hold the gift in both hands.
"Yes. I mean, if you want it, that is." she replied modestly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, scowling as if her loose curls annoyed her. "I know some people think they're silly so if you don't like it you can always give it back and I promise not to be offended."
Harry laughed. "No, I'll keep it. It's wonderfully eccentric and it reminds me of you. Besides, presents with this much thought in them are always much nicer than say, shop bought ones which require no creativity."
Luna seemed satisfied with his response and grinned as she swallowed several gulps of her drink. She watched as he slipped the token onto his wrist and admired it by stretching out his arm. As his arms reached forward, so did his eyes and they met Malfoy's. For a second, he became on edge, he could see that leer in Draco's eyes; the boy was on the verge of saying something. It was down to pure luck, or maybe fate, that Pansy walked in that moment and instantly distracted Malfoy's attention. Luna saw Harry's train of sight and sighed heavily. "You shouldn't be bothered by him. He's just a bully."
Harry knew she was right but he still irked him. Just his presence managed to affect him, Draco had this way of getting to him without even having to do anything. Sensing he was tense, Luna brought him sharply back to reality.
"Was this all you brought me away from the Pinminks for?" she joked, looking at Harry intently, intending to bring his eyes away from Draco and back onto her.
"Oh, no." he responded quickly, delving into his satchel that was under the table, bringing out several sheets of parchment. "I wanted your opinion on these potions. Everyone seems to do poorly in that subject, no doubt because of the teacher but at the same time we can't do any remotely dangerous potions within the DA because they could go disastrously wrong."
She nodded as she flicked through the pages; Harry seemed to have picked out quite an array of choices. "You seem to be going for the protective element..."
"Well yeah. Seeing as we, well the DA, have no particular person we can poison, no matter how much we might want to poison some people, I figured we'd be pretty much making the potions only for ourselves. If worse comes to worse, we can brew the potions together and just give them to the others."
She nodded once again in agreement. "You know, Harry, I really don't see why you need me; you seem to have it all sorted..." In the silence that hung in the air thereafter, Luna's expression changed from confusion to comprehension. "You didn't bring me here because you wanted help, did you Harry?" she asked, her blue procumbent eyes peering into Harry's. He knew he couldn't lie.
"No, I didn't..." he sighed dejectedly, knowing admitting that may very well lose him Luna's friendship as he couldn't possibly tell her the real reason, at least, not there. "Look, I can't tell you why I brought you away from there, not now. But later, I will, I promise, just don't hate me for lying, please?" he asked, pathetically, cringing while also knowing how pathetic he sounded. He also knew if he were in her position, he'd be hesitant as to what he'd do about it.
Luna seemed satisfied with his answer and surprisingly, didn't press the matter. Although, Harry did reason, she wasn't the sort to do that type of thing. Unlike Hermione, she knew when he wanted to talk and when he didn't and reacted appropriately.
As they'd finished their first bottles, Harry opened the next two, nowhere near as easily as Luna did. Both corks scattered to the floor. Ever so slightly tipsy, Luna giggled and bent down to help pick them up as Harry simultaneously did the same. Both went for the same cork, the other seemed to have slid somewhere far off. They lifted their heads back up as Luna let go of the cork which Harry now held.
Legs crossed, a stern expression on her face, arms folded, Luna declared, "I do believe you have my cork, Mr. Potter."
Smirking, catching on to the joke, Harry grinned, "I'm awfully sorry, Miss Lovegood, but you appear to be very wrong for I believe this is my cork."
Luna looked abashed, a mock expression of disgust on her face.
"However, I am willing to overlook the fact that it's mine..." spoke Harry, in a far too proper voice, "And allow you to have it, if you so desire."
"How perfectly amiable of you, Mr. Potter." she replied, their giggles becoming contagious.
"On one condition." added Harry, holding the cork up to the height of his right cheek. "You have to come and get it."
"Why? Lost the use of our legs have we?" observed Luna, her giggles now faded, settling back into the act.
"No, I just don't see why you should get something for free. After all, it is my cork. You should have to work for it." he insisted, almost losing it at the last moment.
Grinning Luna seized the challenge and slid closer to Harry, wrapping her right hand around his left which held the cork, slipping it from his fingers and into hers. As she was about to move her hand from his, she found she could not. His grip seemed to tighten, his palm started to sweat. Her eyes flickered to his, he didn't seem any the wiser than her as to why he was holding onto her but she felt certain that they both felt that, for whatever the reason, it just felt right. Already inches from his face, Luna began to feel as if Harry were a magnet, drawing her closer. As instantly as the thought occurred, she felt Harry's right hand touch her face gently, slowly, lightly. Looking back into his eyes, she felt hers droop in automatic, uncontrollable reaction to his closing. The next instant, she felt them kissing.