Hello all. I fear that I have not been able to break the curse of updating every other week rather than my initial promise of updating every week, but ah well. I'm sorry. Maybe I'll type two chapters today, that way, I'll definitely update on time next week! No promises, though. 8P. I have no idea what's going to happen in this chapter; I'm just going to write what comes to mind. So it'll be as much of a surprise for me as it will be for you. nervous smile
Oh, also, wow! I got over fifty reviews for the last chapter! Yes! Wahoo! I never thought I would be able to get fifty reviews on a chapter but you guys did it for me! Wahoo! Thank you guys so much!
So a BIG thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!
Also, as always, I dedicate this entire story to the one and only, Gabriella Malfoy-Potter! You rock! I'm so glad you got better!
Alright, so, on to the chapter!
Chapter: 7
A Surprise at the Supermarket
"Harry, why are you calling me?" Hermione asked with a voice which told that she clearly knew what Harry was trying to do.
"Because, Hermione. You are one of my very closest friends in the entire world! Can't a guy speak to his very close female friend?" Harry asked, feigning innocence.
"Mm-hmm. Harry, you wouldn't be trying to stall for time while you put off your date with Luna, would you?"
"What? Hermione, how could you accuse me of such a horrible thing?" Although Hermione couldn't see the emerald-eyed teen, he clutched at his chest, as if his heart ached painfully.
"Harry," Hermione said in a stern voice.
"Yes?" Harry asked meekly.
"You do realize, of course, that it is already 5:45, don't you?"
"Oh, really? My watch says it's only 4:40, and my watch has never failed me before, so I think I'll just stick with-"
"Harry! I cannot believe what I am hearing! If you didn't want to go out with Luna, then why on Earth did you even ask her?"
"Well, I…" Harry couldn't exactly tell Hermione the real reason as to why he'd asked Luna out. He could just imagine how that would turn out.
Yes, Hermione. Well, you see, the thing is that I am currently quite confused about my sexuality. Therefore, to ensure that I am a straight male, I decided to ask out a fellow female. Now, you're probably wondering why I asked Luna Lovegood, of all people. Well, as it turns out, not only am I insecure about my sexuality, but I also have a very low self-esteem at the moment and was too scared to ask anyone else out, for fear of rejection.
Yeah, that would go well.
"Well?" Hermione asked, expectantly.
"Err…I um… I do want to go out with Luna. It's just that I'm a bit nervous, is all."
"Well, I suggest that you get over your nerves quickly unless you want to be late."
"Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't it show that I'm cool if I arrive fashionably late?" Harry tried to reason, hoping Hermione would give in.
"No, it shows that you are an idiot, because I will kill you if you are late to pick her up, and don't you think I won't, Harry. I will find out. I have my ways." Obviously, she was not willing to go along with Harry's little plan.
"I know you do, Hermione. I know you do." Harry answered with a slight chuckle.
"Well, good-bye, then. Now go pick her up."
"But-" It was too late. Hermione had already hung up.
"Well, the was pointless. You're no help, Hermione!" Harry whined aloud to the empty space in his room.
With a sigh, Harry forced himself to finally get up. It would be best to just get this date over with as soon as possible. Grabbing his wallet and throwing on a light jacket, he headed for the door. Just as his hand reached for the doorknob, however, his phone let out a long ring.
Silently thanking God for one more very welcome delay, Harry jumped for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Harry," Ron's voice sounded through the phone. "Hermione just called me to make sure not to pick up the phone if you called, since you were only trying to stall off your date with Luna. So naturally, I decided to call you myself, and help you out." The red-headed teen finished with a chuckle at his own slight insolence.
"Thanks, Ron. It's not that I have anything against Luna or anything; it's just that…well, maybe asking her out was a mistake. I mean, I did it on the spur of the moment just to help clear up my head a bit, but that didn't really end up working out too well. Now he's mad at me, and I can't help but be sort of mad at myself, too. I mean, I don't know why, because I really shouldn't be. I mean, I didn't do anything wrong by-"
"Harry, Harry! Woah! Slow down. What are you talking about? Who's mad at you? Why?"
Harry's eyes went wide with shock. Had he really just let those words slip out to Ron?
"Um…you know, Ron, I really have to go! I don't want to be late for my date with Luna. After all, she's such a nice girl. I have to go. Bye." Harry garbled out, all in one breath, before quickly hanging up.
Phew. That was close. Harry thought to himself.
DHDHDH
Ding Dong
Looking around nervously, Harry waited for Luna to come to the door.
Man, what am I doing here? Harry thought to himself. I should just run. Run, Harry! Run, set yourself free! Run before it's-
"Too late," Harry quietly muttered under his breath as the door opened to reveal a slender, middle-aged man smiling happily, though his blue eyes held a sorrow, worsened through years of age. Slightly thrown off by his deeply emotional eyes, Harry simply stood quietly for a moment, just staring into his eyes.
"Please, do come in. You are Harry, correct? Luna's date?" The man asked, opening the door wider and gesturing for Harry to enter.
"Yes," Harry answered after a brief shake of his head to bring him out of his speculation.
Walking into the living room and sitting down on a plush, beige couch and signaling for Harry to do the same, the man began to speak again. "I'm Luna's father; it's such a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Lovegood."
"Yes, well, I simply can't tell you how happy I am to know that you've asked my daughter out on a date. Luna just about never goes out, and it was beginning to seem to me as though she didn't have many friends, but I am more than happy to say that you have proved me wrong."
Harry was beginning to feel worse and worse about his intentions. He hadn't really considered Luna's feelings during his whole emotional crisis, and had just asked her out to help him feel better; he felt as though he was, in a way, using Luna, and her feelings, as well.
As horrible as Harry felt, he could do nothing but look at his feet while offering a small smile. "Luna's great." The brunette whispered quietly.
"I'm glad you think so. She'll be down in just a moment. She takes her time when doing things; sometimes she gets distracted by little things."
"Yeah," Harry said, smiling a bit more at the truth of the statement.
After a bit more small talk made between the two male occupants of the room, Luna came down with a true smile on her face. (1) She walked over to her father and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, before turning to Harry and greeting him pleasantly.
"Hey, Luna. Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. Bye, Dad."
"Good-bye, Mr. Lovegood."
"Good-bye, you two. Have fun."
As the door closed behind them, Harry turned to Luna and figured he should compliment Luna for their date and smiled saying, "You look great."
"Thanks, you too."
"Hey, Luna, can I ask you something?" Harry asked, slightly timid, as they walked to The Shack, where he planned to take Luna.
"Sure."
"Well, sorry if this is rude to ask, but your dad…he seemed so…sad. I mean, he was smiling, yeah, but he just…he still seemed sort of sad. Is he alright?"
"Oh." Luna's walk faltered a bit before she continued with her normal pace by Harry's side and put on a look of wonder. Looking out into the setting sun and letting the colors reflect in her eyes for a moment, Luna stayed quiet in thought before answering slowly. "Well… he and my mom were high school sweethearts. The two of them used to tell me stories of how they knew they loved each other from the moment they met. I suppose…" Luna stopped with a soft sigh before continuing. "I don't think he's ever fully accepted the fact that my mother has passed away."
"Oh." Harry replied dumbly. He was at a completely loss for words. He'd known that Luna's mother had died as a young girl, but he'd never really thought too much of it because it had happened before he'd even met Luna, and there was really no point in reminding Luna of such a horrible time in her life by asking questions about it.
If he had known that this is where is question would lead him, he never would have asked. Harry couldn't, however, bring himself to regret asking the question because he had been curious, and in some odd way, he felt just ever so slightly closer to Luna in a way that he couldn't explain. Perhaps this date wouldn't be as unbearable as he'd thought.
"Well, I'm sorry, Luna." Harry said, wrapping and arm around her and rubbing her arm soothingly.
"Oh, it's fine. My dad just has a hard time letting things go. I can't imagine what he'll do when I go off the college, but…thank you, Harry." Luna smiled up at him happily and leaned into him comfortingly.
DHDHDH
"I'll have a coke to drink and a cheese burger with fries. How about you?" Harry asked, as the waiter waited, chewing on a piece of gum patiently.
"I think I'll have the same." Luna said, tilting her head and watching with a look of fascination as the waiter wrote down their orders with a pen that lit up with a red light as he pressed down on the tip, before her spectacular show ended as the waiter tucked his pen away behind his ear.
Blinking twice, Luna stared after the pen as the distance between her and the ink-yielding stick increased. Harry let out a small chuckle, bringing back Luna's attention.
"What's so funny?" Luna asked, completely unaware of her previous actions.
"Nothing, Luna." Harry answered with a smile, which was answered with an identical smile that sprung up on Luna's lips, as well.
DHDHDH
"Harry," Luna began, as Harry walked her up the steps to her house.
"Yes?"
"This date was…fantastic." Luna said, looking out into the stars. "But I know that you don't feel for me, the way that I had been hoping you would at the beginning of this date."
"Luna-" Harry began, already feeling ashamed.
"Wait, Harry." Tearing her gaze away for the never-ending sea of jewel-like stars, Luna looked up, directly in Harry's eyes for the first time that night. "I felt really comfortable with you tonight, and I had a lot of fun. I felt happier than I have in a really long time, but only because you're such a great person. You're really nice to me, and it makes me feel good, so I always just assumed that I fancied you as a boyfriend, but after tonight, I realized that we're meant to be friends; just friends. I really want to be able to hang out with you again some time; maybe just during lunch at school. So you don't have to feel bad about not thinking about me as a girlfriend." Luna finished with a small smile.
Harry stood stunned for a moment. This was so unlike Luna. He had learned a lot about Luna that night. She could be just as smart as Hermione and just as funny as Ron. She paid attention to him when he spoke, and didn't zone off as much as he thought she would. Maybe he'd just never noticed this because he'd never taken the time to actually get to know her.
"You know, you're very different from what I've always thought you to be." Harry said, with an amused smile.
"Well, I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but you're not at all different from what I've always thought you to be."
"I'm hoping that's a good thing."
"It is."
"Tonight was great, Luna."
"Yes, it was."
Harry leaned in to give her a friendly hug before Luna pulled away, slightly, from the embrace and closely examined Harry's neck.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, confused.
"Looking at this birthmark you have. You know, this looks exactly like the mark of the invisible hippo clan."
"Well if they're invisible, how can you see them?"
"Oh, isn't it obvious! They're invisible except for their birthmark!"
"But still, then how do you know that they're hippos?"
"Well, I'd have to go into deep detail about the history of-"
"Never mind, Luna," Harry stated, pulling away with a slightly frightened look. Conversations about nonexistent creatures? Now this was the Luna Harry knew.
"Oh, alright, but if you decide you get curious later on, just let me know."
"I will." Harry answered with a small chuckle, knowing that he would never actually get curious.
"Well, good-bye, Harry." Luna said, unlocking the door to her house.
"Yeah, see you on Monday."
And with that, Harry walked away and headed to his home.
DHDHDH
"Ron, I was just talking about my dad. I said that he was mad at me because he found out from my mom that I was taking Luna out on a date, when he knows that I don't really like him. He told me it wasn't nice; that's all." Harry reasoned, the next morning.
"Ok, if you say so, Harry."
Harry felt so very glad that Ron never went into things too deeply.
"So, Harry… you're going to help me with Hermione's surprise, right?" Ron had whispered the last part so quietly that Harry had had to lean his ear extra close to the phone in order to hear.
"Yes, Ron, but you know, you have got to be more careful about how you go about dealing with these things next times. I swear Hermione got really curious about it last time when you didn't show up for lunch. Although, the excuse about your project, priceless."
"I know; I'm a genius."
"Well, I didn't say all that, now." Harry chuckled.
"Harry, you're so lucky I'm not there. I would smack you right over the head if I could."
"Well, too bad, because you can't." Harry stuck out his tongue quite childishly, and then quickly pulled it back in, thankful no one had been there to see his completely foolish act of immaturity.
"So are you coming over, or what? I did not miss my lunch period by getting put on hold by the store's manager half the time, for nothing!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
"Good. Be here in five minutes," Ron ordered, before hanging up the phone with a 'click.'
DHDHDH
"Bloody hell, Ron! How many flowers did you order?"
After arriving at Ron's house and greeting Mrs. Weasley with a quick "hello" and a peck on the cheek, Harry had entered Ron's room, only to be bombarded with a bonanza of flowers.
"Well, I actually didn't want all of these, but the manager was this old lady who was so thrilled when I told her why I was buying the big, stuffed teddy bear and flowers, that she threw in a couple of dozen extra flowers for free and told me to call back to buy more any time."
"Ron, you do realize, of course, that there is no way we can get call these to Hermione's house on one trip, don't you?"
"Unless we take my dad's car." Ron supplied, with a sly smile on his face.
"And who's going to drive, because I most certainly am not!"
"Oh, come on, Harry! Please! You're dad had let you drive his car loads of times! You told me so!"
"Well, I lied! You had just told me about all the cool stuff you get to do with Fred and George and I didn't want to feel like a loser, so I lied."
Ron let out a heavy sigh and said, "Fine. New plan. I want you to go to Hermione's house, ask her to go to the library and-"
"What for?"
"I don't know! Make up a bloody reason! Now let me finish! Keep her there for at least two hours. Meanwhile, I'll sneak into her room, by the way, make sure you open her window while you go there to pick her up, and then I'll bring the flowers to her house little by little and then set them all up. Not, I was thinking that since I also got her a box of chocolates, that it would be nice if I put the teddy on her bed, in the center of her room, holding the chocolates, and surrounded by the flowers. You're the love master, so what do you think?"
"Wow, Ron. You really thought the whole set-up rather well. I think it's a fantastic idea!"
"Great, and when she gets home, she'll be so surprised and fall completely head over heals in love with me all over again!"
DHDHDH
After making up some boring excuse about needing to go to the library to try to look up the "invisible hippo clan", Hermione had reluctantly followed him to the library.
As expected, there was absolutely no information on them, and so, Harry used this as a way to make sure they used up an entire two hours, just as Ron had asked. He continued to force Hermione to keep searching and searching, until two hours finally come around.
Then, Harry had suddenly sighed and exclaimed, "I'm bored, Hermione! Why are you making me look for something the doesn't even exist?"
Hermione had huffed indignantly and scowled, "Harry Potter, you are unbelievable!" and then marched off, leaving Harry to laugh hysterically to himself. Hermione was just too easy to annoy.
DHDHDH
"Mom!" Harry whined on Sunday morning. "Why are you making me go shopping for groceries? I am a hero! I just saved Ron and Hermione's relationship yesterday. Ron told me so: he said that Hermione called him and was all lovey-dovey with him for hours. Now, that's not an easy task. I need some rest!"
"Harry Potter, you will get your rest after you buy the groceries I need for dinner. Besides, I don't know why you're complaining. It's not even a lot of food that I need you to buy; it's only some food for dinner tonight, and the supermarket is not very far away." Lily reasoned with her son.
"Dad!" Harry whined. He knew he was fighting a losing battle with his mother, but that's when he always thanked God for having two parents. When one refused to budge, he could always turn to the other one.
"Sorry, Harry, but your mom promised to make my favorite dinner tonight, and there's no way I'm turning that down."
"Well, what's this amazing dinner that she's going to make?" Harry asked annoyed, not believing that any dinner could be delicious enough to go against your own son.
"Lasagna."
"Where's the money, mom?" Harry asked eagerly.
The two Potter parents laughed at the sudden change in their son's mood. They new that lasagna was just as much Harry's favorite dinner as it was James's.
DHDHDH
"Tomato sauce, the big noodle-type things, umm…what else do I need for lasagna?" Harry asked himself as he stood in the middle of an isle at the supermarket.
"Cheese, perhaps?"
"Oh yeah!" Wait a second…Harry tensed up before slowly turning around, and in so doing, bringing into view a very handsome young man with platinum blond hair and piercing grey eyes.
"Draco."
A/N:
(1)- Ok, I didn't mention their apparel or anything because it's just a casual date. They didn't go to some fancy restaurant or anything. It's just a normal, teenage date, consisting of normal, everyday clothing. And Luna, being the (in my mind) plain girl she is, didn't cover herself in dramatic make up or anything. She went naturally, though it was still graceful in my mind. :)
Okay, I know I always make my chapters sound so horrible in my author's notes, but come on! I know that I would have been so bored if I were reading this story. This chapter took me longer to write than any of my other ones. It took like three freaking hours! I know that there were no scenes with Draco and Harry together except for the very ending, but it's only because I just wanted to get some stuff out of the way and accidentally ended up stretching them out way too much. Blame my teachers, though! My writing and reading teacher have both been teaching me how to stretch out my writing by adding lots of words and details. So, I'm really very sorry about that. I'm sorry I didn't show Hermione's reaction to Ron's gift. I was just starting to get annoyed and I started thinking that it was just wasting too much time, so I'll explain it a little better in the next chapter. Also, I hope you guys don't hate the new side of Luna. I just always thought that maybe she's the way she is because deep down, both her and her dad never fully recovered from her mother's death, and I thought I should bring that into the story just a little bit. I always pictured her dad as very sad, and her as very sad on the inside, and just aching for a friend. I know, I shouldn't go messing around with J.K. Rowling's characters, but I'm sorry! The urge was too strong! Okay, so anyway, once again, sorry for the lack of DH scenes, but I made sure to end on one so that I could start the next chapter with it and make sure I include lots of it. So please don't give up on this story. Please review!
PS- I can't make myself read this entire chapter over to check for mistakes because I'm just really, really tired, so please forgive any grammatical errors. I promise to read my next chapter for mistakes.
xoxo Spideria xoxo