August 24th, 1994 cont.

Ginny was trembling, hugging herself and looking around. Fred and George had their wands out on either side of her, keeping alert incase someone wanted to sneak up on them. She stood shakily to her feet and pulled her wand as well. She didn't know many defensive spells yet, but she'd learned a pretty impressive bad bogey hex that would At least distract any would be assailant. They decided to walk slowly back towards camp to see if they could figure out what was happening. It was eerily quiet, the sound of snapping twigs and rustling leaves as they walked filling the air.

Suddenly, someone yelled in the distance whay sounded like a spell, and their eyes shot up to the sky as an ominous image of a skull and snake appeared above them. They all froze again when they heard the echo of many cracks of apparition, and shouting from the same direction. Ginny felt her mouth go dry, wondering what their next move should be when all of a sudden they could hear someone stumbling toward them.

They turned, wands raised poised for defense, George stepping almost imperceptibly to the side, partially shielding Ginny. Fred did the same, flanking her back. They waited a moment more when out from a mass of trees strolled Luna. Ginny gasped and launched herself away from her brothers and pulled the blond girl into a tight armed hug.

"Oh my god, Luna I was so worried! I thought something happened to you! I'm sorry I didn't hold on-" Ginny sobbed into the girls neck. Luna gently pat her on the top of the head bit held her tightly in return.

"I'm alright Ginny. When we got separated, a nice boy led me to a tree to hide. There were Death Eaters, you see. He hid me, and then felt bad when he said he had to leave me to find his parents. So, I came looking for you." Luna replied and Ginny sobbed harder.

Fred and George both wandered over and pat Luna on the back and shoulder. "Glad to see you're not hurt, Lovegood." said George. Fred picked out some twigs from her hair and nodded. "Do you reckon it's safe to go back?" he asked.

Just as everyone shrugged, Arthur Weasley popped beside them and hurriedly pulled all four of them into a massive hug. He let out a shaky breath of relief when he stood back and looked them over, making sure they weren't hurt. "Come along now. Lots has happened and we need to get back." They all nodded and followed him out of the woods.

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Ginny and Luna were sat huddled in the tent with Harry and Hermione as they recounted what happened. Her dad and brothers were outside, helping pack their things up and clearing any debris so they could head back to the Burrow first thing in the morning.

Ginny felt distracted and kept looking at Luna. She felt awful for losing track of her friend, and she felt even worse that she was reduced to a crying, confused and a panicky mess because of it. She silently promised herself she would never let that happen again.

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December 25th. 1994

Much of the school year was taken up by the Triwizard Tournament, to which Harry was mysteriously entered into without his knowledge, naturally. Ginny was beginning to believe there was no such thing as a normal year at Hogwarts anymore. Ginny did her best to be supportive of her friend, but she also began falling behind in some of her classes. She was very clever, and usually did pretty well, but her mind was too distracted with Luna. She was constantly wondering what she was doing and if she was alright. The other Ravenclaws seemed to be increasing the amount of pranks they played on her, hiding her clothing and shoes being the favorite. Ginny had even gone to Flitwick himself, but all he did was say he would keep a look out. What bloody good was that supposed to do!?

Regardless of that, today was the day of the Yule ball, and Ginny was lucky enough to be allowed to attend, as Neville had somehow managed to pluck up the courage to ask her. She politely accepted the invitation, but was sad to hear no one had invited Luna. She tried to ask her head of house for the permission to allow Luna to attend, but she simply stated that rules were rules, nevermind that Harry Potter was underage and allowed to participate in the most dangerous event held at Hogwarts in quite some time...

Luna wasn't phased at all, and even offered to keep Ginny company while she got ready that evening.

"I love the dress you have chosen, Ginevra. The ruffles are fun." Luna said, inspecting the dress that was splayed across Ginny's bed.

"Thanks, Luna. I wasn't sure about getting pink. I might alter the color a bit." Ginny replied, running her wand over her hair, murmuring a simple charm for all the fly aways to lay flat.

Suddenly, Hermione burst into the room looking rather frazzled. She shut the door and threw herself onto Ginnys bed.

"Nervous about Krum, then?" Ginny asked, smiling in the mirror while continuing to get ready.

Hermione moved her face to the side so she could look absentmindedly at Luna, who didn't seem to be bothered by her staring. "I just... what was I thinking?! He's a boy. I don't talk to boys."

"You talk to Harry, Neville and Ron." Ginny replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but they don't count."

"Oh? I thought the thing between their legs was a dead giveaway." Ginny said, and laughed at the mortified expression that crossed over Hermione's face, while Luna simply giggled.

"I just mean, I've never seen any of them as anything other than friends... well, maybe Ron a bit, but... this is Viktor bloody Krum..."

Ginny turned to look at her properly, crossing her arms over her chest. "My, my. Miss Granger, do you mean to say you're interested in the bloke?"

"He's rather nice to look at." Luna said while Hermione huffed and groaned into the mattress.

"I don't know. He lives in Bulgaria. It's not really like anything can come of it." She tried to reason, and Ginny scoffed.

"Just enjoy it, Hermione. Shut your overactive brain off for once and just try to have a good time with him." She said and turned to spell on some light make up. Hermione groaned again and Ginny laughed under her breath. She glanced back at Luna through the mirror to see she was petting down Hermione's wild mane of hair, and couldn't help but feel a slight twinge in her stomach. She shook off the feeling and focused on herself in the mirror again.

"Well, I suppose I should get myself ready as well. This hair will take ages." Hermione grumbled as she stood and collected her emotions.

"I'll help, I'm done anyway." Ginny said, and waved Hermione over. She began charming her hair into sleek ringlets, having to go over each several times to make them maintain the shape amd avoid frizzing out. Eventually she was able to move onto Hermione's makeup, and allowed her to leave to get dressed and pin her hair how she wanted when she was satisfied.

Ginny sighed and walked over to her bed, and picked up her dress. She looked over to Luna who was now laying upside down, with her head over the edge of the bed and the Quibbler in her hands hovering above her face.

"You're not upset at me, Luna? For ditching you?" she asked.

Luna dropped her hands and magazine to the floor, framing her face with her arms. Her eyes twinkled up at her red headed friend.

"Of course not, silly. I am happy Neville asked you to accompany him. You'll have loads of fun and come tell me about it tomorrow." She placed her hands flat on the floor, and in a fluid movement, her legs lifted off the bed and she curled in on herself to roll gracefully from the mattress to take a seated position on the floor. Her hair fell around her shoulders and her face had a light pink flush. She smiled up at Ginny who had a half smile and amused look on her face.

"Luna, why did you just... nevermind. Well, I suppose you're right. I'll tell you everything tomorrow... so now, I'll get dressed."

Luna hummed happily and scooted over to her messenger bag to pull out a jar of various nuts to snack on while Ginny finished up. Ginny smiled again and headed to the bathroom. She really did wish Luna had gotten invited.

End ch 7.