Life At Hogwarts And Beyond
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry potter characters they belong to JK Rowling.
Chapter 4 - Just Tell Me Why?.
Ron browsed the jewellery shop. He had finally decided that tonight was the night, after a year of dating and, on their first anniversary, he was finally going to ask Luna to marry him. He couldn't quite remember when he had fallen in love with Luna; it had snuck up on him so gradually, but the closer he had got to her and the more he got to know her, the more he had fallen in love with her. He still remembered the day that he had asked her out on their first date; she had been shocked at first but then she had smiled at him and agreed to go out with him. Now they were celebrating their one year anniversary.
Ron sighed loudly. This was pointless. He would never find the perfect ring for her, he thought to himself. The jewellery clerk looked at him, and Ron knew that he had to ask if they had anymore rings available, just in case they had the perfect one for her. He didn't want to walk out the shop empty handed, but he wanted to find the perfect ring.
It was all his own fault, as he should have looked for the ring before now. He knew that. Ron looked at the clerk.
"Excuse me but do you happen to have any other rings in the shop? Any that happen to be a little odd or strange?" He asked, explaining a little what he was looking for.
The jeweller looked at him, puzzled, and shook his head.
"No, I'm terribly sorry, sir, but we don't." The man replied. He paused for a minutes, thinking, He held up his hand, signalling to Ron to wait for a few minutes as he wandered into the back of the shop.
Ron waited impatiently at the front of the counter, tapping his foot on the floor and looking numerous times at the clock on the wall. If he didn't hurry up, he would be late and he wanted everything to be prefect for tonight. Two minutes later, the man came back with a small, black box in his hand, which he set it down on the counter.
Ron reached over and picked it up. Opening it, he saw that inside lay a small silver ring with a blue stone in the centre, which was surrounded by more silver around the stone and when Ron looked more closely at the ring, he realised that the gems were meant to look like a eagle. He smiled. The man looked at Ron, questioningly.
"There has been no interest at all in this particular ring, so we moved it from the main display case," he explained.
He continued to stare at the unique ring; it was perfect for the ex-Ravenclaw. It suited Luna already, because it was nearly as truly unique as she was. Ten minutes later, he walked out of the shop with the black box tucked safely in his pocket.
He apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, and walked into the pub, where he immediately saw Luna sitting in a booth in the corner, with a couple of drinks already on the table, waiting for him. Ron waved to Tom, the barman, as he passed him on his way to the booth. He smiled when he noticed that she was wearing: her favourite pair of dirigible plum earrings although they looked more like radishes to him. Looking at her, Ron felt a rush of love.
When he approached the table, Luna turned and smiled at him.
"Hello Luna," he said gazing down at her.
"Hello Ron," she replied. Ron kissed her gently on the lips, then he sat down at the table, pulling his butterbeer towards him. Immediately, Ron took a gulp. He was nervous, but he had to do it tonight, before he lost his nerve.
After another few swigs of his butterbeer to calm his nerves, Ron reached over the table and took Luna's hand in his own.
Without speaking, he took a white rose out from inside his jacket. She smiled, and took it from him.
"Thank you, Ron." She looked at the white rose. "It doesn't have any nargles in it does it?"
Ron smiled, and shook his head. "No, I checked."
Ron reached into his pocket once more, and withdrew the ring box that he had purchased earlier. He opened the box, revealing the ring inside, then placed it on the table.
"I know that this is a bit sudden but I love you Luna and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me Luna?" he asked her.
Luna gasped. The silence hung between them for a few seconds. Suddenly, she reached over and closed the ring box.
She looked at him, sadly.
"I'm sorry Ron, but I can't marry you," she said, her voice unusually quiet.
Ron remained silent, and just stared at her. She loved Ron, and she knew that she truly did love him, but their relationship hadn't turned out like she had expected it to. She felt like there was something missing between them, which she had been contemplating for some time. She had decided that the best thing for both of them was for her to break up with him. Luna was positive that this reality wasn't as good as her imagination had made her hope, and she just couldn't go on pretending any longer.
Ron looked at her confused, and more than slightly shocked at her reaction. He didn't understand, and when he tried to speak, he couldn't find the words. Ron pulled his drink towards him again, and took a large drink from it.
"Just tell me why?" He asked her weakly, finding his voice once more as he looked at her. Luna winched slightly at the pain in his voice. She hadn't ever wanted to hurt him.
"I'm sorry, Ron. I do love you, but this relationship hasn't turned out like I thought it would. It just doesn't feel right," she explained.
Ron sat there, and opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say in reply to her explanation. Luna reached over and squeezed his hand gently.
"I am very sorry," she said again, as a tear began to fall down her face. The silence hung in the air between them, and after a few minutes Luna got to her feet.
She looked over at Ron. "Goodbye Ron," she said softly, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. Luna turned around and began to walk away. Ron watched her leave. He just sat, feeling like his entire world had suddenly crumbled around him.
Author note: This chapter was written for the forum wide challenge competition and also Mew's Because of love challenge which is based off of Amy is Rockin's idea. The quote was Luna Lovegood -Because Luna was positive that the real thing wasn't as good as her made-up fairytales. The quote is tweaked slightly to sound more like Luna, I hope this is okay?.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Jay for betaing this fic for me as she really helped me a lot with this entry. I struggled with this week's challenge, I don't think it is my best work but I like it a lot more now that I did. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.