Well I'm back, woohoo and as you can tell by the chapter name; I'm keeping Christmas alive for a little longer. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed over the last three days. As promised I have delivered chapter twenty seven on the twenty seventh, and things are about to get very dramatic, but this I must admit is a bit of a filler chapter that will lead us to the drama. I will hopefully have the second chapter of my other George/Luna fic up either later today or sometime tomorrow, and thank you to anyone who has given it a look or even better a review :D
Well JK Rowling was a very greedy woman and I am sad to report that I still own nothing...but to be honest if I did own HP I wouldn't feel like giving up any of it either...especially not Fred or George.
''Mrs Weasley, you haven't seen my shoes have you?'' Luna shouted downstairs from her place just outside Ginny's bedroom door.
''Which shoes dear?'' Molly shouted back up at her.
''My blue high tops, I put them under my bed when I took them off yesterday''
''No, sorry dear I haven't seen them.''
Luna sighed and began to walk down the stairs; this was not how she had wanted to start her day. Today was one of the days where George was at the shop and Luna was planning on using it to go Christmas shopping, despite having no idea in the world of what to get George yet, and as she reached the ground floor of the Burrow, she hoped to get an answer.
''Mrs Weasley, has George asked for anything in particular for Christmas?''
''Oh well, I haven't really spoken to George about Christmas considering...'' Luna didn't need to ask if she was referring to the fact that George was facing his first Christmas without his twin.
''I understand, I was only wondering because I have no idea myself'' Luna sat on the bottom step and watched Molly put up a small number of Christmas decorations with a wave of her wand. ''Do you need me to fetch down anymore decorations?''
''No thank you dear I think this will do'' Molly continued to put up the last piece of tinsel as she spoke. On the bottom floor the only decorations was a sparsely covered Christmas tree, a few strings of tinsel around shelf edges and a few decorations hanging off the roof.
''Just because he isn't here in person doesn't mean you can't celebrate for him'' Molly turned to Luna, confusion written all over her face. Luna elaborated. ''Fred may not be here to celebrate with you, but you can celebrate for him; so that when he's watching over you, he will see that you happy and having fun; the things that Fred lived for doing.''
Molly looked lost for words, and Luna could only offer her a soft smile.
''So...tell me dear, where did you learn all these smart things to say.'' Molly asked when words finally came back to her.
''Dad; he told me the same sort of thing when I lost Mum; the first Christmas without her I didn't want to do anything, but Dad told me that Mum would be very sad if she saw me not having fun at Christmas, so me and Dad made sure that we did everything the same, as if Mum was still with us because, even though she wasn't with us in person, she never really left us.''
Molly felt tears sting her eyes; at the sadness of facing Christmas without Fred, and in pride for the brave girl sat in front of her who had lost her entire family and continued to be so strong. As the tears subsided, Molly returned Luna's smile ''I think I will go upstairs and get the rest of the decorations''
Luna beamed up at Molly as she shuffled to the side for her to walk up the stairs.
''Um...Luna...'' Ron called from part way up the staircase. ''do you happen to know why your shoes were hanging off the shower rail by their laces?''
Luna jumped up from her seat and followed Molly part of the way up the stairs before stopping as she reached the same floor as Ron.
''Not exactly Ron, but I'm fairly certain Nargles had something to do with it. I left my charms at Hogwarts so they are very likely to be a nuisance to me until I make some more.''
''Right...well...watch out for those Nargles then'' Ron muttered, before wandering off wondering what on Earth she was on about.
As Luna sat on the step and slid on her shoes, Molly came back down carrying a large cardboard box. ''Mrs Weasley, I'm going to go shopping, I'm not sure what I'm going to get so it's best that I go as early as possible.''
''Alright dear'' Molly stopped and stood on the step Luna was sat on. ''And about a present for George. Frankly I believe that you know my boy better than he knows himself; if you find a gift and think it's the right one for him, then it will be the right one.''
''Thank you Mrs Weasley'' Luna jumped up from her seat and ran downstairs to get her things before she apparated away.
Molly spent a couple of minutes making her way down the stairs with the box in her arms, wishing that she had just used the levitation charm on the box rather than attempting to carry it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the bottom step.
''Is Luna here?'' George's voice came from behind her and in her surprise; she dropped the box on her toe. ''Sorry Mum''
''Oh I'm sure you are'' Molly said sceptically, hearing the smile in George's voice. ''What did I tell you about apparating so close to people like that?''
''Do it; it's always guaranteed to be a laugh'' George joked. His grin was removed by a stern look from his mother.
''Didn't you tell Luna yesterday that you were working today'' Molly asked as she picked the box up from off her toes and placed it down on the sofa.
''I did and if she asks; that is what I'm doing'' George said, peering around for any sign of Luna. ''Is she here Mum?''
''No George, she left a few minutes ago to go Christmas shopping'' George's head snapped back to his mother.
''What!'' Molly took several steps back as George shouted in her ear. ''Oh bloody...great, do you know where she went?''
''Probably to Diagon Alley'' Molly replied ''she was after a gift for you''
''Bloody brilliant, now I have to get her a present without knowing what she wants or being able to go to Diagon Alley'' George slumped back on the sofa in grim defeat.
''George Weasley you never give up this easily'' Molly stood in front of where George was sat and looked down on him.
''I don't want to give up, but I've been thinking about this gift for weeks and I've come up with nothing. I was wondering if you could help me'' Molly took a seat opposite George and felt as though she was repeating herself ''George you know Luna better than anyone else, if you can't find a gift for her no one can.''
''Okay...well...I know Luna loves those charms and things that she and her dad use to make; so maybe something homemade''
''That sounds like something Luna would like'' Molly commented as George rose from his seat and walked over to the window.
''The problem is; what do I make, the only things I've every really made well is expolsions'' George smiled to himself as he stared out of the window and looked across the countryside that surrounded his house, in the far distance he could make out the outline of what was left of Luna's home.
''I don't know George, but I'm sure that whatever you make will not matter; as long as you are the one that's giving it to her, she will love it'' Molly rose and patted George's shoulder before walking into the kitchen, leaving George to stare outside at his girlfriend's ruined home, and suddenly, an idea appeared in his head.
''Hey Mum, do you know if Luna's sold her old house yet?''
Luna strolled down the reasonably quiet streets of Diagon Alley, waving her arms; causing the shopping bags she was holding to swing high both in front and behind of her.
She had found a book of wizard fairy tales for Hermione; they had both shared conversations over The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and after Luna had mentioned a few other stories that were around and Hermione had become fascinated with them. For Ginny, Harry and Ron; Luna had bought broomstick repair kits, as the three had been constantly damaging each others with their unsupervised and near barbaric version of Quidditch that they had been playing in the back garden of the Burrow. She had also apparated to Hogsmeade to stop off at Honeydukes for boxes of chocolates to give to the other Weasleys; however in amongst the various bags she held she still did not carry a gift for the most important person of all.
She had covered around twenty three shops and nothing had even slightly stood out to her, and frustration was building up in her, along with the cold from the snowy English weather that surrounded her.
No frustration could stop her from peering into the window of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, but she was upset to see no sign of George in the shop, only Lee could be seen nearly falling asleep at the cash desk.
''I thought joke shops were funny'' Luna swivelled round to see Rolf Scamander standing behind her.
''Umm...I was...errrm...sorry what?'' Luna found herself much more uncomfortable around Rolf outside of Hogwarts than she was in it, and now she found herself lost for words.
''You're looking into the window of a joke shop; you're boyfriends joke shop I might add, yet you look surprisingly sad''
''I was sad because said boyfriend is not in his store, and I cannot find said boyfriend a Christmas present and...'' Luna stopped when she realised that she was mentioning the fact that she had a boyfriend every two seconds.
''Ah well that explains it then'' Rolf took a step closer to her, looking not in the least bit affected by the cold; he was only wearing a thick jacket over his usual clothes, yet he showed no physical signs of the cold. Luna was wearing a jacket, scarf, gloves and a hat, yet she couldn't stop shivering.
''Well I should get going. I must continue the search so...'' Luna made a step to the right to walk off; now uncomfortable in every possible way, but Rolf stepped with her.
''Why don't you take a break from 'the search' and come for a drink with me in The Leaky Cauldron''
''I don't know...I think I should really be...''
''What's the worst that could happen?'' Rolf gave her a persistent look.
Realising that the sooner she agreed; the sooner she would get away, Luna nodded and indicated for Rolf to lead the way.
''What is the worst that could happen?'' Luna thought again to herself.
''Bloody hell, it's colder now than it was that day me and Fred tried shoving Percy into that frozen lake'' George muttered to himself, after arriving outside the front of the Lovegoods former home. The mix of frost and northern winds gusting into his face was making his limbs ache from the temperate (or lack thereof).
As far as George was aware; Luna had not yet sold her old house, but she had not actually said anything either way so it was merely an assumption, and he did not want to actually ask Luna as she would want to know why he was asking. His mother seemed to think the same as him; so he came to see for himself.
If, as he hoped, the house was still in the condition he and Luna had left it in on her father's birthday, he would search to see what he could possibly use from there as a personal gift to Luna.
As he pushed the door open, one of the hinges snapped and the top half of the door became detached from the wall. 'Repairo'
In amongst the musty air and dusty appliances was the charred remains of various items; some George recognised, some George hadn't the foggiest idea of what they were.
A fallen bookcase blocked the staircase; although someone would have had to have threatened him with a dementor's kiss before he would have dared try going up them, but George still pulled out his wand and spoke 'Wingardium leviosa'
As the bookshelf floated to the other side of the room, George nearly chocked on the dust that flew around him. The bookcase dropped back to the ground with a thud; which only brought up more dust.
George walked to where the bookcase had laid, scattered across the ground was various books and boxes that had once occupied the shelves. George knelt down beside a box with its lid half off with various squares of paper having fallen out of it.
George picked up the box and turned it the right way up and then attempted to collect what had fallen out of it. Curiosity getting the better of him; he turned over the squares to see a adorable baby girl smiling back up at him, and with her big silvery-blue eyes and golden tufts of hair; she was undoubtedly Luna. Flipping through he found that that entire box had contained pictures of Luna, her father and a woman who George guessed was her mother, either individually or together.
George spent the next ten minutes finding and picking up any of the photographs that had fallen astray, while coughing away the masses of dust that surrounded him. Finally convinced that he had found them all, George rose, wincing as his stiff legs ached as they straightened, and apparated away.
George wasn't sure what would be the perfect Christmas gift for Luna, but he knew that in that little box of wonders, he would find something.
Next chapter; George asks Molly for help with his present, but as it gets late, there is no sign of Luna.
So everyone will now press that button below that says Review and make me very happy...and when I'm happy I write the next (hopefully) exciting chapter.