Author's Note: So this took a slightly… heated turn at the very end. It's nothing too extreme, but if lots of kissing and implied [eyebrow waggle] doesn't crank your tractor, then maybe just stop reading about a half dozen lines until the end. Also, I'm sorry if this feels like a filler chapter because, well, it kind of is. I wanted to put the one major plot element from this chapter in the last one, but it was just soooooooo long already. And so this little chapter was born! Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Warnings: Extensive discussion of piercings; mention of a piercing gone wrong; implied smut

Today had been… strange.

First, they'd gotten a shipment of iridescent inks Luna had been eyeing for a while but didn't remember ordering. Ginny would have to telephone the company later to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but all the paperwork seemed to be in order. Next, they looked at the schedule and realized the morning appointments, which were the hardest to fill, were all taken and their afternoon was completely clear. If they didn't get any walk-ins, they might be able to sneak out a bit early—something that never happened these days. To top it all off, they hadn't seen Neville all day. He usually popped in to say hello an hour or so after they opened, but when Ginny popped over to the Leaky Cauldron to pick up lunch, they hadn't so much as heard a noise from next door. Yes, today was a strange one.

And it seemed the universe was bent on making it even weirder. When she got back to the shop, Ginny found Pansy Parkinson standing over the display case.

"Hello," she said, dropping the takeaway on the counter, "how can I help you?"

The brunette straightened and gestured toward a set of sparkly diamond-esque studs. "I'll take six of these, three for each side."

Ginny crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the display case. "And what, pray tell, are you going to do with them?"

"I want you to put them along my collarbone."

Ginny's eyes widened a bit. "You mean you want a dermal piercing?"

"If that's what you call them, then I suppose so," Pansy sniffed. "I saw them in a Muggle magazine a few months ago, and they would be a perfect compliment to the dress I'm wearing to the spring Ministry Ball."

"When is that happening?"

"Spring. Duh."

Ginny took a deep breath. "How many weeks until then, Parkinson? You have to give them time to heal."

"Why can't you just heal them as soon as you're finished? If I wanted them done the Muggle way, I would have gone to a Muggle establishment," she sneered.

"Somehow I very much doubt that," Ginny retorted. "I can't heal them right away because there's a good chance your body could over-heal itself and completely close the hole with the jewelry still inside it. I tried it on Luna once and had to turn around and cut the stud out of her. It wasn't pretty."

Pansy shuddered at the thought. "Fine. Will there be anything I can't do while I wait for them to heal?"

"You'll need to wear loose, breathable clothing, keep the area clean, and be watchful. If it appears to be moving or if your skin turns red, come back in and see me immediately," Ginny explained.

"I can handle that," Pansy said with a dismissive wave. "I've got about three and a half months until the ball. Is that long enough?"

Ginny did some quick mental math. "That should do fine, but you'll have to be careful. You really have to baby dermals because you can pull them out if you're not mindful of them. If that happens, you'll have to come back here and let me redo it, which means starting the healing process from square one again."

Pansy sighed. "That's fine, the house elves live to baby me. If you can't heal them, can you at least use a Numbing Charm? I know some people are into the whole pain thing, but that's really not my style."

"That I can do," Ginny chuckled.

When they were finished, Ginny and Pansy walked back to the lobby where Luna was tucking in to her bangers and mash.

"Hello, Pansy," she said, offering an easy smile. "What's brought you in today?"

She tugged aside the neck of her blouse and showed off her new jewelry.

"Those are lovely!" Luna exclaimed.

"Thank you," Ginny and Pansy said at the same time.

Pansy rolled her eyes and dug the appropriate number of Galleons out of her bag. "Thanks for not screwing up the Numbing Charm, Weasley. You said to come back in two weeks for a follow up?"

"Yes, unless you notice something out of the ordinary. In that case you need to—"

"Come in immediately, yes, yes." Pansy started to sling her bag over her shoulder and thought better of it. "I'll see you in two weeks then."

She breezed out of the shop, leaving Ginny and Luna shaking their heads in her wake.

"I hope she's proficient with the Numbing Charm," Luna muttered. "Mine hurt terribly if I let it wear off."

"I remember that," Ginny said, flushing a bit. "Having them between your boobs kept them out of sight, out of mind—at least for you. But she's got elves who take care of mundane things like that for her. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I suppose." Luna glanced over at the books. "We don't have anyone else on the schedule for today."

The two locked eyes.

"Want to leave early?" they asked in unison.

They laughed hard for a moment. Ginny couldn't help thinking how nice it was to be on the same page as the person you loved. Speaking of which…

As she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, she said, "What do you say we hunt Neville down and let him know we're taking him up on his offer?"

Luna whipped her head toward Ginny. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," Ginny said softly. "I wanted to agree immediately, and I knew you wanted that too. But when my mum just had to butt in, I couldn't help but want the opposite thing. I don't know, it's just that whenever she sticks her nose in my personal life I just get a little…"

"Stubborn?" Luna offered, shooting a Locking Charm at the front door and then slipping her arms around Ginny's waist. "Ornery? Spiteful? Ridiculous?"

"You don't have to be so honest about it," Ginny muttered, dipping her head to take Luna's lips in her own. She quickly deepened the kiss, and Ginny felt her knees grow weak.

"You're an arse, but I love you anyway," Luna whispered as she moved to nibble on her ear. "You know what I'd really like to do right now?"

"I'm not the Seer here, so you'll have to tell me," Ginny said, tangling her hands in Luna's long hair and pulling her lips back to her own.

Luna bit Ginny's lower lip and tugged gently. "I'd like to take you back to our flat. And then I'd like to take a good look at all the places you have left for me to tattoo. A good, long look."

Ginny shuddered as Luna's lips moved to her neck. "I think that would be a very good idea. Leaving, I mean. Can't very well do that here, and I definitely want to do that."

"Might have to put off sharing the good news with Neville until tomorrow," Luna murmured as Ginny's slipped under the edge of her blouse.

Without breaking their kiss, Ginny firmly gripped Luna's hips and started tugging her toward the Floo. Neville was definitely going to have to wait.

Stacked with: FPC; BAON; STL; Star; SF; ER; Shipping War; Summer Bingo

Individual Challenges: Short Jog; The 3rd Rule (Y); Lovely Triangle; Gryffindor MC; Ravenclaw MC; Slytherin MC; Red Moon Quindrabble; Witches Coven 2; Flags and Ribbons (Y); Inks & Stinks (Y); Times to Come (Y); Shipmas (Y); Themes & Things A—Love (Y); Themes & Things B—Surprise (Y); 3rd Rule Bribery (Y)

Representations: Luna Lovegood x Ginny Weasley; Pansy Parkingson; Dermal Piercing; Decisions Decisions; But Not Until After Sexy Time

Bonus Challenges: Deadliest Catch; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Clio's Conclusion); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Fizzy Lemonade; A Long Dog; Unicorn)

Tertiary Bonus Challenges: O3 (Oath); T3 (Terse; Thimble); LiCK (Narcissus); FR (Satisfaction)

Word Count: 1194

Shipping War

Ship (Team): Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley (Dreamy Redhead)

List (Prompt): Summer Micro 2 (Sex/Smut)

Summer Bingo

Space Address (Prompt): 2B (Heat)