December 31, 2002

The next three days were a blur for Ron as he continued wrestling with his feelings. He could admit that he looked forward to seeing her at Harry's, and could even admit that he fancied her a bit. But what he was going to do with that? He hadn't the faintest.

And then of course, there was Hermione and Bran. He wasn't jealous (well, he was pretty sure he wasn't jealous), but there was a stone in his stomach when he thought of meeting Bran. It felt like a bit of protectiveness, just as he felt when Ginny dated Michael or Dean. And a bit of uneasiness. What if Bran was a knob? Or worse, what if he wasn't? Ok, maybe there was a bit of jealousy…

When he got off work at half ten on the 31st, he made his way to George's floo with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. And about a hundred more feelings that Ron couldn't place.

Damn Humdingers, he found himself thinking. The thought surprised him so much that he nearly fell into the fire before yelling out "Grimmauld Place."

Due to Ginny's insistence that the party started at a "respectable" time, Ron was the last to arrive. The four other Gryffindor boys were already gathered around the table, deep in a game of Exploding Snap, Seamus looking mutinous regarding his sober state. Ginny must have followed through on her plan to hide the harder spirits.

The girls (Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Hannah) could be heard laughing in the sitting room, along with a deeper, slightly-accented voice.

As he shook off the ash, Ron raised his eyebrows to Harry. Harry nodded and mouthed "yep, Welsh."

Seamus was less discrete. He stage-whispered, "I've got a slew of sheep jokes lined up if you'd like them."

"I'll introduce you. And Seamus will stay here," Harry said, with a glare at the Irishman. Neville, Seamus and Dean followed them into the sitting room anyway. Harry and Ginny had worked hard to make Grimmauld habitable. They had deprived the sitting room of its stuffiness by filling it with squashy Gryffindor-inspired sofas and bright colors. Now it was a frequent gathering place for their friends. Laughter alone seemed to chase away the dark magic that used to imbibe the house.

Ron's attention was immediately drawn to Luna. She sat on the red loveseat across from the sofa, her blonde hair shining in the candlelight and bare feet tucked under her. Her blue eyes met Ron's when he entered the room, and his stomach dropped a bit.

"Hi!" he said, mostly in her direction.

Everyone in the room greeted him, but for a moment he really only comprehended that Luna smiled back at him. Some of the confused emotions in his head began clicking into place.

"...and I thought I should introduce you to Bran," finished Harry. Ron struggled to turn his attention back to the rest of the room.

Ron sized up the newcomer.

Bran sat next to Hermione, his arm casually slung across the back of the couch. His curly dark hair was cropped close to his head, and he appeared to be slightly below average height. He wasn't particularly good (or bad) looking, but he somehow had the attention of everyone in the room.

Tosser.

Bran finished the story he was telling (something about Herbology and Bowtruckles) and rose slightly from the couch to introduce himself, "hullo, Bran Owens." His handshake was confident but casual. Ron attempted to make his just as assertive.

"Ron Weasley." Ron glanced to Luna. She smiled from her spot on the loveseat, so Ron moved to sit next to her, and was almost immediately cut off by his sister.

She glared at him as she settled in next to Luna. Ron's brow furrowed as he plopped himself in an armchair near the corner. What's Ginny's problem, anyway?

He missed the moment when Luna tried to catch his eye.

Hannah explained the conversation, "Bran was just telling us about his Herbology NEWT. Their practicals were much more in depth than ours, since they happened our fourth year." Hannah said. "Ours were much more focused on the written tests, what with Voldemort around and the war and all."

"I didn't know Unspeakables needed Herbology," Luna said.

"I wanted to keep my options open. I assume you did a NEWT in Divination, correct? Probably for similar reasons; I seem to remember rumors that the blonde 3rd year was a Seer."

"Oh, the Sight can't be taught, and I don't have it. I Observe well, and people often mistake Observation for Seeing, but that's because they don't watch well enough themselves. Outside of rumors, I'm not sure why one would think I'd take Divination?" Luna's eyes were wide and questioning.

Bran seemed at a loss for words and cleared his throat, looking to the others in the room. Ron refused to meet his gaze (or Luna's) and felt his ears redden on her behalf. Bran finally asked, "So what did you NEWT in? Not even all Ravenclaws are up for some of the more difficult subjects."

"Oh, this and that…I intended to help Daddy with the Quibbler, so I just studied what I fancied. Mostly Runes and Arithmancy. DADA, Charms, Transifguration. I skipped out on Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, but that's because Sprout was giving inaccurate information to the class, and I could learn much more from my father about creatures. Oh! And Muggle Studies, since Daddy is usually sure that most of their Airline Pilots and TV Repairmen are actually Imperioused by the Magical South American Government."

"So you were a Ravenclaw, too, then?" Ginny asked Bran, trying to change the subject.

After a baffled look at Luna, Bran ignored her and responded to Ginny instead. "Yes…um…I was Ravenclaw. I was surprised when I got to know Hermione that she wasn't sorted there, too."

Luna snuck a glance at Ron who looked away quickly when he saw the confusion in her eyes.

Hermione looked slightly flustered, but encouraged him with a smile, "show them what you've been working on. It's pretty impressive."

"Doesn't Unspeakable mean he literally isn't supposed to speak about what he does?" asked Ron, slightly annoyed.

"Well yes, but—"

"She's talking about the independent research I do. You're right, Ron, I can't talk much about my work for the Ministry. I'm in the Nature of Magic division, which is pretty big. But as an offshoot, I spend my own time researching what I'm interested in. Let me demonstrate."

Bran pulled his wand from his cloak and handed it to Hermione. "She's going to hold this so that you guys know there's no trickery." He sat back a bit and put his hands on his knees

"I think everyone here has taken at least one Wand-based, NEWT-level class, right?"

There were nods all around.

"So you know that silent casting is difficult. Most Wizards and Witches only manage it for charms, defense and hexes, and even then only the easy ones they use most commonly. Accio, Protego and the like. Some of the more powerful Witches and Wizards can do some transfiguration. A few, like Dumbledore or McGonagall can even conjure things without speaking. But usually that takes a great amount of skill, and they're still limited in what they can do."

"Like Dumbledore could conjure chairs, but only a specific type, right?" asked Harry, suddenly interested.

"Exactly. What I can tell you about my unspeakable work is that I research wands. And that got me interested in another topic. Wandless magic. The ministry doesn't think it's worth the resources because it's such a rare skill, but I've been doing some work on my own..."

The grin on Hermione's face grew as she muttered, "do Seamus" in his ear.

Bran nodded and looked toward Seamus, raised his right hand and muttered, "vi vader". Bran's wand was still in Hermione's hand when the impossible happened.

Seamus seemed to be lifted from his chair, his eyes wide with surprise. He clutched at his neck for a moment, almost in a panic before he was lowered slowly back into the chair.

"Merlin's Barley..." Harry muttered, earning him a glare from Ginny.

"Life Father?" translated Luna in confusion.

"Force Vader...he bastardized a Muggle movie gimmick," Hermione explained

"You're muggle-born!" declared Dean with a grin.

"I'm a half-blood, but I was raised in Muggle schools," Bran said to Dean. Then he looked to Seamus, "you OK, mate? In the movie that kills a guy, but I mostly focused on the levitation." Seamus, had been (for once) speechless.

"Yeah," he replied, finding his voice, "that was brilliant! The Aurors will be all over you if they catch wind of this."

"Well, that's about all I can do, so they'd be buggered."

The party then dissolved into lively debate regarding Bran's research and the possibilities for wandless magic. Ron watched Luna closely. She seemed to be withdrawing from the party and refusing to meet his gaze. Thought this kind of thing would interest her...

Ginny tried to get Luna involved in the conversation a few times, and even mentioned Luna's conjuring abilities. Hermione enthusiastically told Bran about the shoe incident on Halloween, and he asked for a demonstration. Luna conjured herself a pair of trainers with a halfhearted wave of her wand and retreated back to the loveseat with Ginny.

"I never would have put that over on ya!" Bran responded. "I guess there is a reason you're a Ravenclaw!"

Had Ron not spent most of his life annoying Hermione, he wouldn't have noticed the elbow she nudged into Bran's side, or how she quietly chastised him.

He also noticed Luna withdraw further as the evening went on, even in the face of Ginny's efforts to involve her in the conversation.

As midnight approached, Ron found himself alone in the kitchen, grabbing another butterbeer. Damn Ginny and her campaign to keep us all sober, he thought.

Ron briefly entertained himself by listing all the ways she was turning into mum.

As he stood thinking, he didn't hear the barefoot witch enter the kitchen until she was right next to him.

"Ronald."

"Oh, hi Luna!"

"I thought you were going to come sit by me," she said, fixing him with a curious look.

"Well, you seemed busy with everyone, and Ginny…"

"Ok, I just wanted to say hello to you."

"Hello, Luna," Ron said with a grin. "Having fun?"

"A bit. There haven't been many parties like this whilst I was travelling with father. It was mostly he and I out there. It's nice to see friends."

"Yes, it is." Ron peeked back out into the sitting room and asked more quietly, "so what do you think of Bran?"

Luna's countenance darkened a bit. "I knew of him when we were in school, but didn't know him well. Some of his friends were…a bit unkind at times. It seems he believed what they said."

"And what was that?"

She stared directly at Ron. "That I'm barmy and an embarrassment to Ravenclaw, and I was only placed there because of my parents, and I must have some kind of special power to be allowed to stay."

"But Ginny always said you were brilliant in class, so they had to know they were wrong."

"The older kids weren't really in our classes…"

"I-I never thought you cared what other people thought? Isn't that what you told me? That I shouldn't listen to what other people say or think?"

Luna became thoughtful. "…I suppose I don't want to care, but it doesn't keep things from hurting. There's also a difference between caring and cutting out rude people. And frankly, I have no desire to be around people who put me down."

"Like Bran."

She nodded and said, "I think I'm going to floo home and turn in. See you soon, Ronald."

As she walked toward the Floo, Ron made a decision. He wasn't going to dance around the issue like he had in the past. And frankly, while he didn't understand why Luna was upset tonight, he didn't like to see her sad.

So he conjured some courage, reached out and grabbed her hand. Pulled her closer to him, and leaned in to kiss her in the darkened corner of the kitchen. For a moment, it made sense. Her lips were soft, and she still smelled like citrus. Her hand found its way to his chest and sat there for a moment.

Then, just as he moved one of his hands to her jaw, she pushed him gently away.

"What?" he asked, eyes wide, searching her light blue ones for a clue.

"You fancy me," she said, looking up to him.

"Well, yeah...that's why I kissed you."

She seemed to be searching his eyes for something.

"What?" he asked again.

"I just...I know it's genuine, it's not a joke or something..."

"Why would it be a joke?"

"You have to admit you don't have the best track record with how you treat girls. I don't think you're purposefully cruel or thoughtless, but I do think you're a bit daft about how to go about things."

"Okay? What should I be doing differently?"

"You ignored me earlier."

"I did?"

"You could have said hi, or come and sat by me, and I know it's odd because of everyone here-"

"Ginny -"

"Since when do you listen to your sister?"

"I dunno, she's your friend. You choose to be around her, I'm forced into it by blood and marriage. And lately she's slowly turning into my mum. She's a bit frightening."

As she often did, Luna seemed to be having a conversation which only she could follow. "Think about it, Ron. She was a World Cup alternate, so she didn't get to play."

"So? There's always '06."

"But in four years she'll probably want kids, or Harry will want kids, and you know that female Quidditch players are basically out once they have kids. She's trying to figure out what she can be without Quidditch. You've been Harry's friend long enough to know what it's like to live in his shadow. She's finding an identity, and right now that means managing everything around her. Give her time Ronald."

"So I should ignore my sister?"

"When she's trying to manage your life."

"Um...so does that mean you do or don't want me to kiss you?"

"I want..." Luna was fidgeting with her hair and looking to the ceiling, as if it held some answers. "I want you to kiss me, but not if you're ashamed to be seen with me."

"I'm not ashamed to be seen with you."

"Okay."

"So can I..."

"No."

Ron blinked a few times and tried to catch his thoughts. Luna simply gazed around the room, apparently unaffected by the awkwardness around her.

"So..." Ron finally broke in.

"Maybe someday. But not until you really think about it. I'm not going to change who I am. So if you really do fancy me, which I think you do, you're going to have to be okay with being seen with me in public or discussing the Quibbler or talking about the Muggle Postmen or sitting next to me at a party. I'm not asking you to believe everything I believe. I'm just asking you to keep an open mind and allow the possibility in your life without falling over yourself in embarrassment."

"I wasn't falling over—wait, all that just to kiss you?" Ron gaped at her.

"Well, yes. I fancy you, Ronald. I'm not the kind of person who settles for just a snog, particularly with someone who I feel strongly about. And I think you feel the same way." She stared at him some more, doing that weird thing where she didn't blink.

"So you want…" Ron tried to make sense of the situation.

"I want you to figure out what you want," Luna said softly, "I know what you want. I know what I want. I think you know deep down what you want, but you need to come to that conclusion by yourself."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to tell me what I want? I promise I'll believe you," replied Ron.

Luna simply cradled his cheek in her hand and whispered, "Happy New Year, Ronald," then stepped into the floo and was gone.