Chapter 12

Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling, so I don't get anything besides enjoyment for writing these chapters.

"Talk"

'Thought'

"Phoenix telepathy"

~ quotes from the book ~

~~ letters or notes ~~

A/N: I apologies if this feels rushed and awkward, I attempted to add drama and a build-up to romance, despite not having experience to draw from. Plus, has anyone ever thought about how little happens in third year without the Sirius Black drama. I still hope you all enjoy.

With Harry and his friends returning on Sunday the Second, everyone enjoyed the feast before meeting Ron in the Room. Ron was happy to see them, especially as the Room had been increasing the challenge of the chess matches. Ron had finished his homework during the first night, so he'd been playing Quidditch and chess the entire time he could get away from his siblings. He could compete in professional chess tournaments if he didn't have to fight to Room's pieces.

The next day, Hagrid gave a lecture on Magical Salamanders, providing them all with a bonfire while having their outside class. Harry wasn't really affected by the cold, but he had the effect of increasing the heat of the bonfire. The salamanders all gathered closer to him whenever he approached to add kindle. Hagrid finished the class by assigning a foot long report on Magical Salamanders.

Ancient Runes and Arithmancy both taught heating runes/equations. The rune KENAZ () for heat and fire, when used with other runes, created heating charms to fill the room with comfortable heat when used correctly, or in one case of a mistake caused sweltering heat that turned the rune sequence into a puddle of magma. Professor Babbling quickly had that situation under control, with the student responsible being assigned with a report five times longer than the rest of the class.

In Arithmancy, Sinistral taught about the basic structure of heating charms. From the blue-bell spell to the incendio charm. The spells all had the same base design with the variables as an increase of power to cost. The homework for that lesson was to write out the arithmetic equations of the standard fire and heating charms. Harry was lucky it wasn't all the fire and heating charms they knew.

The month continued as the months before had, though everyone could tell something was on Harry's mind. The kiss from Luna before being forced to have The Talk with his father's portrait was stuck on his mind. Harry had already liked Luna before she kissed him, but after she had he couldn't the events of that night out of his head." Being forced to learn about how babies are made and being made to read those instructional books, puberty was in full force and it took a lot of concentration not to constantly blush when around his female friends, especially Luna.

Hermione wanted to ask Harry about it, but Luna took her aside and explained about her kissing him and that she had seen Sirius with a knowing smirk. After that, Hermione was blushing and giggling for a few minutes before she smirked and got back to reading. By the end of the month, despite Harry being distracted, everyone but Hermione had finished their school books for the year. Hermione would catch up within the week, as she had two extra classes to finish reading through.

During the month, the only thing of interest to some was the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Draco managed to catch the Snitch before Cho Chang, but not before the Ravenclaw Chasers had taken a large lead. They won 240 to 230. Harry could tell the Ravenclaws would fight like crazy on the pitch for the next match. The match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would take place on February 5th.

Harry was right; the Quaffle was stolen back and forth, goal for goal. Cho was on Harry's tail after the first dash for the Snitch. A Bludger was the distracting force for the first dash, by that time the score was 60/30 Gryffindor. Harry managed to shake her the second time by leading her into a partial Wronski Feint. She followed him bellow as he searched for the Snitch until she was scared by three large cloaked figures making their way onto the field.

Harry was about to act before five Patronuses came shooting out of the crowd. It was quickly revealed to be 6 students, three on top of each other. The distraction was enough for Harry to rocket towards the Snitch. Harry catches the Snitch, much to Ravenclaw's disappointment, 300 to 100. Harry quickly descended to the ground, near Professor McGonagall who was dressing down the six Slytherins. It was Draco, Goyle, Crabbe, and three of the Slytherin Quidditch team. They each had lost 50 points and a month's detention. That firmly took away any chance of Slytherin winning the house cup, losing 300 points at once.

Everyone congratulated Harry before the teams headed to the changing room. After everyone was cleaned up and dressed, they headed up to Gryffindor tower and found the entire house waiting on them. The moment they entered, the entire house exploded with cheers as they congratulated the team on their victory, throwing a massive party. The party lasted till midnight, when Professor McGonagall came in to break it up; though she was still smiling from the victory herself.

The next day, life returned to normal, or as normal as Harry and his friends could do. Harry was good at keeping what he was thinking about locked behind his occlumency, but everyone could tell when he had made up his mind. The expressions that slipped while he meditated changed from confusion, embarrassment, and worry to determined with hints of embarrassment and worry. When his friends who were observant enough noticed the change, Neville was confused but glad Harry had worked out what was bothering him while the girls smiled at each other.

FG

February 12th came, and Harry with the rest of the third years in the group decided to visit Hogsmeade. Luna had breakfast with them before searching for Professor Lupin. She giggled to herself when she remembered finding him casting detection charms on her assignments for a while after she pranked him. He wasn't the only Professor she'd pranked though; she really didn't like Professor Trelawney and used these days without Harry to prank the charlatan before spending the rest of the day with Professor Lupin, who just smirked and offered her tea. Luna's favorite prank on her was to switch her sherry with sobriety potion.

Professor Lupin never tried to prank her back though, not after hearing what happened to those who had before. They had tried to bully her after a class and Harry had shown up and convinced them to stop in a way his father would be proud of before walking off with her. He'd once heard it happen right outside his classroom; by the time he got out the door Harry was walking off with Luna while her bullies were stuck to the wall with 'Bullies' fire written about their heads while they couldn't stop laughing from a tickling charm, their wands at their feet.

While Luna spent her day with Professor Lupin after transfiguring all of Professor Trelawney's incense into air freshener sticks, Harry and his group were enjoying Hogsmeade. After walking around with his friends, Harry said he wanted to check out some Zonko's products, which they hadn't visited because Hermione didn't like the shop. Neville volunteered to go with him while Ron wanted to visit the Shrieking Shack and dragged Hermione along with him. While at Zonko's, Harry found Sirius, just like he'd hoped from their last letter.

Harry and Sirius walked around the store, talking about the wares and how they could or would use them. Neville followed behind them and grinned at his godbrother (12). By the time they had seen everything, both Harry and Sirius had their arms full. Neville had a half full basket. When they checked out, Sirius insisted on paying, much to Harry's annoyance. As they were about to leave the shop, Sirius passed Harry a small box. Neville raised an eyebrow, but Harry just put a lip to his finger. He returned an unsure nod but didn't ask.

After they left the shop, Sirius while Harry and Neville rejoined Hermione and Ron when they saw them entering the Three Broomsticks. The boys tried to talk about what Harry and Neville got, but Hermione quickly shut that conversation down. They enjoyed the rest of their day in the village, having been there only twice before there was still lots of places to explore. Harry subtly checked on the little box every couple of minutes, a little smile on his face.

FG

February the 13th was an extra special for one of their group, although they doubted anything would come of it. They hadn't shared with anyone that today was their birthday. That is why they were very surprised to see a change in the usual layout of the Room. When Luna opened the door, she was truly surprised, which was getting much rarer for her, to find streamers and a banner over a cake in the middle of the room reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUNA LOVEGOOD!

While she was stunned from seeing the décor, Harry and the rest of her friends all shouted out, "Surprise!" Her friends all came out of hiding, each holding a present for her and smiling. Luna couldn't help but smile and hug each of them as they came over.

"The is amazing. Thank you all, but how did you know? I don't remember telling any of you it was my birthday today." Luna asked. Neville shyly raised his hand. "Gran made sure I knew the names and birthdays of all the heads of houses and their heirs. She said it would come in handy when I was older. I remembered yesterday, so we all went shopping for gifts for you after lunch yesterday. Hope you like it and don't mind."

That earned Neville an extra hug before the five teens swarmed the rainbow cake. It was a seven-layer cake that Maple and Dobby had made, with each layer being a different flavor. At the top was cherry, then orange, then lemon, then apple, then blueberry, with plum on the bottom.

After they enjoyed the cake, with Luna promising herself to give both elves a hug next summer, they all gave Luna her presents. Harry gave her a set of self-cleaning paint brushes. Hermione gave her a book on famous magical painters; they would both be surprised to find several famous painters known in the muggle world were magical. Neville managed to find seeds for magically fast-growing roses. Ron reluctantly handed over a box of Honeydukes chocolate frogs.

Given it was a Sunday, they couldn't spend all day in the Room. They spent an hour before heading to the library, where they studied for their classes the next day. After lunch, Luna shared her birthday presents with her friends, much to the appreciation of Ron. Once night fell, they all returned to the Room, where Luna started on her first magical portrait.

FG

The next day, Valentine's Day. Harry asked Hermione, Neville, and Ron to leave before him and Luna. The boys didn't get it, but Hermione did and started pulling the boys out of the Room. Once they were the only ones left, Luna turned to Harry in curiosity and smiled shyly. Harry pulled at the collar of his robes before steeling himself.

"Luna, I know I have been a bit distracted for the last month, and I appreciate you and the others not asking or pushing. Ever since that kiss on Christmas, I haven't been able to keep it out of my mind and it's made me think about how I feel when I'm around you. It also doesn't help that Sirius noticed and decided to have dad's portrait give me The Talk." Harry said, blushing heavily. He took a deep breath, hoping to get his blush under control, before saying, "I have found that I feel happy when I'm around you, that I feel a warmth in my chest when you laugh and smile. I feel like the world lights up when you smile, and that when you are hurt or threatened by someone, I feel a towering rage."

Harry closed his eyes and took another breath; not noticing the blush on Luna's cheeks, the small smile on her lips, or the tears in her eyes. She knew he had something planned for today when his expression changed, but couldn't see what. It took all her willpower not to interrupt him.

Harry started speaking again, his eyes closed in fear he'd see rejection. "What I'm trying to say Luna, is that I really like you. I'm sorry I can't say love yet, not having experienced any as a child. I would really like it if you teach me what it is to love and be loved, by becoming my girlfriend." Harry said, his face flushed and his eyes squeezed shut in fear. When Luna didn't respond after a few moments, Harry was about to run away in tears but opened his eyes to see her reaction, not wanting to mess this up by giving up early. What he saw shocked and worried him.

Luna had her hands covering her mouth, her cheeks ruby red, and tears in her eyes. Harry had thought he'd seriously messed his confession. He was about to speak again before Luna ran at him and threw her arms around him and then kissed him soundless on the lips. Harry was scared and confused before his hands moved on their own to wrap around her and his mind relaxed from the surprise of suddenly being kissed and returned it with equal fervor.

After nearly a minute, they broke apart for air. Both teens blushing scarlet. Luna had a brilliant smile on her face before saying, "Yes Harry, I would love to be your girlfriend." After saying that, Luna dove back in for another long kiss, which Harry readily responded to this time. Shortly after, both teens broke the kiss and grinned.

Harry pulled out the box he'd had Sirius collect for him and presented it to her. Luna was blushing with wide eyes, but let Harry continue. "Thank you so much, Luna. I hope I'm not being to forward, but I had Sirius retrieve a set of promise rings from the family vault. They are enchanted, so I hope you do me the honor of always wearing one. If you focus your magic on it, it will point one ring to its pair. If your ever in trouble, you can focus your magic on the ring and knock on a surface, the other ring will tug towards its pair. And finally, if both rings are worn and the wearers hold hands, there is supposed to be a low-level empathy charm, which lets both wearers know how the other feels."

By the time Harry was done explain the rings, Luna was able to get her blush under control and was smiling caringly. She held out her left hand, allowing Harry to put the ring on her left ring finger, which she wiggled gently. Harry was confused for a moment before quickly realizing the meaning of her outstretched hand and removed the ladies ring from the box before placing in on her wiggling finger. As soon as it was on her finger it resized to fit her and she moved to grab its partner to place it on Harry's left ring finger.

Once she got the ring on his finger and it resized to fit him, she interlaced her left hand with his and as the magic of the rings triggered. The next moment, she was holding him tight with the warmest smile she'd had since her mother died. She could feel Harry's love for her, he may not be able to identify this feeling as love yet but it was blazing and pure, and made her feel safe and happy. Harry's knees gave out as the magic of the ring's empathy effect triggered, a couch appearing behind him for them to fall on. The feelings he could feel from her was pure happiness and a sense of completement. It felt like the first time he saw his parents' portraits, while being enveloped in a blazing fire that doesn't burn you.

As they embraced on the couch and started to snog again, they didn't notice the reactions their magic was having. If anyone was in the room, they would have seen sky-blue magic surrounding Harry while hearth-fire red surrounded them both.

FG

After another hour in the room, roughly several minutes on the outside, Harry and Luna left to return to their dorms for a change of clothes before heading down to breakfast. It honestly surprised them that they had yet to be caught away from their dorms during the night. Of course, most of her house mates paid little attention to her.

She quickly got her new clothes, before heading down to breakfast. She joined her friends, and finally boyfriend, for breakfast. She had waited all year, waiting for him to finally ask. She smiled as she thought, 'Leave it to Harry to ask on Valentine's Day.' She sat down next to him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek as she sat down. It wasn't long before those close to them at the table noticed the rings and the girls asked for a closer look. The ring was white-gold with a heart at the top, a single emerald resting at the center of the heart. Harrys was the same without the heart, the emerald slightly bigger.

They leaned on each other while they ate before separating for class. They were all ready for their classes and passed them with flying colors. After the reveal of the morning, Harry asked his friends if they would eat in the great hall while Luna joined him in the Room for a dinner date. While Hermione was hesitant, they all agreed and Harry headed for the kitchens. He quickly sets up the dinner plans before meeting his friends for the next class.

When it's time for dinner, Harry and Luna went up to the Room while the rest of their friends went to dinner. Harry opens the room and stands aside for Luna to enter. When Luna sees the set table, she turned to Harry, gives him a wide smile, and kissed him.

A/N 1: I'll be honest, Arithmancy makes no sense to me.

This is the first time I have attempted to write a Valentine's Day scene. I hope it wasn't too cringe.

HAPPY VALINETINES DAY!