-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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Loony for Luna: Forever from the Ashes

Chapter Two

Truth

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George Weasley's feet drug as he walked the familiar path to the property of the Lovegood's. He'd walked it many, many times during his many trips back and forth over the year and a half he and Luna were together and by now he could walk it with his eyes closed.

He'd once enjoyed the journey, knowing what...rather, who was waiting for him on the other end was only part of it. The other part was that it was incredibly peaceful and quiet, far from the noisy village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Both sides of the road were covered in high, lush green grass with honeysuckle and apple trees on each side. In early spring there were lilac bushes too and the combined fragrance of the three was sweet as it blew around him.

Even as the lovely fragrance wafted around him, George was finding the journey less than pleasant. He was incredibly grateful at the moment for spells that minimized weight and space, even so he shifted the heavy hamper of food from hand to hand irritably, wondering why his mother hadn't just forced an entire grocery shop inside.

As it was she had added a entire fried chicken, a small roast of beef, and a pan of lamb chops complete with sweet mint jelly. There were potatoes in three different forms, and vegetables, green, and yellow and leafy salads. And of course, no meal would be complete without breads and rolls, fresh rhubarb crumble, and pies, three different kids. She had even added a huge jar of fresh squeezed lemonade...not content with forcing him to deliver the food, she'd made George squeeze the lemons himself.

Also in the hamper was the thank you card she had forced him to write.

Even so put upon, his mothers overindulgence was far from the reason he was feeling irritable. He wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of spending time alone with Luna.

They hadn't been ALONE alone since that day in the cavern when she had ditched him and George wasn't thrilled with the idea of being alone with her now. It had been bad enough talking to her at Fred's funeral. Every bit of him had been effected and he remembered with alarming clarity just why he had fallen in love with her in the first place.

She had always had a knack for cutting to the center of things and knowing him and Fred as she did, her insights were stunningly accurate. It hadn't even occurred to him how Fred would have taken the medals he had been awarded until Luna brought it up...and she was right...they were quite a prefect-ish thing to be given...Fred would have hated that. Neither George or Fred were big on pomp and celebrity and they had scoffed at those who were...like their brother Percy.

After the funeral, Percy had gone on and on so much about Fred's awards that George had gotten angry and accused him of thinking they were a suitable replacement for Fred.

But it wasn't just Luna's insight that had effected George. It was everything about her. They way she had cried when she bent to kiss Fred's cheek, the scent of her perfume that he caught when she had hugged him briefly after they turned away from the casket, how he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off her at the gathering after wards. She was still so beautiful, even more so than he had remembered.

Before she'd left she'd come up to him to say goodbye and he was overcome by the desire to ask her to stay with him, to forgive him for the things he had said to her that day in the cavern, to allow him to love her once again. But her manner had been too warm and loving and it reminded him of why he was better off without her.

He loved her too much ever be involved with her again. Sure, the war was over now...but people died everyday. He didn't need to look for proof any father than Luna's own mother who had been killed by a badly backfired spell.

George stopped abruptly as the Lovegood property came into view. The house lay in ruins, largely obliterated by the explosion. Luna had obviously putting some work in as most of the debris had been moved off to the side and all that remained now was the heavy stone fireplace and some furniture that she had salvaged...a sofa, a couple of wardrobes and an old chair that appeared to have seen better days even before the explosion rested under a tree covered by a tarpaulin.

In the middle of all this sat a tiny peacock-blue tent, a long yellow sash came from the top and ended in a deep blue tassel that rested in front of the entrance. George decided this was likely a kind of doorbell and he gave it a firm tug...instantaneously, a sound like a enormous brass gong echoed from inside. A second later, Luna's face appeared in the tiny window and she pushed the flap open.

"George." He voice sounded surprised and her eyes were huge. "What are you doing here?"

"Mum sent me..." George would wonder later if he had imagined the small flash of disappointment in her eyes upon finding that he hadn't come on his own. "She sent food..."

Luna only stared at him in confusion and George shifted from foot to foot nervously "...enough to feed an army it seems."

"I'm sorry." Luna smiled a little then "That looks quite heavy...would you mind bringing it in? I'm afraid I'm not quite up to it myself."

"Of course." George swallowed nervously...he really hadn't planned on going inside "Just show me where."

Luna smiled softly and pulled the flap on the tent open wide "This way."

Upon stepping inside George discovered that the tent was much like the one his family had used at the Quidditch world cup. It was roomy, about the same size as the downstairs of the burrow. The walls were the same color as the outside of the tent, a lovely peacock blue, but the inside fabric had a satin like sheen. Every few yards there were magical windows, loads of them, to allow bright sunshine inside.

In the middle of the room were four long squishy looking beige sofas covered in multicolored pillows. A Japanese style table with cushions sat in the middle of the sofas, and smallish white, yellow and blue Japanese paper lanterns hung from the ceiling overhead, some bearing a character of the Japanese zodiac, others laughing geisha's and dragons on altering sides.

Behind the sofa's were three doors. On the other side of the doors was a small kitchenette, complete with all the appliances and another table with chairs. This was the direction in which Luna was pointing.

"Bring it over there please?" She smiled

"You'll want to put things in right away...almost all of this is perishable." George said as he crossed the room. He glanced through the only open doorways and saw that it led to a bathroom...Ginny had been right, Luna did have a hot tub, and it wasn't quite as small as she'd let on. It appeared to be just the perfect size for two people to get very, very, cozy.

"You're mother is so kind to send this...I see she's gone overboard. You're mother is very, very, kind." Luna smiled, remembering the beautiful sweaters Mrs. Weasley had knitted for her at Christmas and her birthday. She bent to open the hamper and George tore his eyes away from the hot tub just in time to see her wince, her hand going to her back and he rushed forward.

"Why don't you let me do that?"

"I really think I'd better." She said straightening up "it's one of my bad days today I'm afraid...I guess I over did it yesterday."

"Here, sit down." George pulled a chair from the table and Luna sat. He turned from her and pulled a stack of pies from the hamper "How'd it happen?"

"My back you mean?" George nodded

"It was silly really." she shook her head "It happened when things went so crazy after Harry miraculously came back to life after Hagrid brought him from the forest."

A shudder went through them both as they remembered the sight of Harry Potter, apparently dead in the half-giants arms.

"I was just so shocked..." She continued "I guess I was still shaken by his 'death', you know? He hadn't reappeared yet, so nobody had any idea...I thought maybe..., well...you-know-who, had done something terrible to destroy his body...you know, so we couldn't give him a proper burial."

She took a deep breath and looked up at George holding the huge flagon of Lemonade.

"Would you like to have some with me? It's the least I can do after you dragged that all this way." She began to get up but George stopped her.

"I'll get it, just tell me where."

Luna pointed to a cupboard "There's ice too...:" she nodded at the refrigerator.

George got two glasses and dumped ice into each, then poured lemonade into them before putting it away. He set the glasses down on the table and collapsed the now empty hamper, then he sat down across from her at the table.

"Go on." He urged

"Well, like I said, it's silly really." She blushed a little "After Neville broke free from the binding spell and killed the snake, you remember how everyone kind of stampeded into the great hall?"

George nodded.

"Well, I ended up being crushed against a wall...and you remember that huge gargoyle? A curse hit it and the head broke off. It landed on me...on my back I mean."

"I'm sorry." George's voice was soft.

"Don't be sorry..."Luna laughed lightly "It's not as if it was you who cast the spell. Or was it?" she teased

George's head shot up "Well of course it wasn't! You think I would..."

"I was only teasing George." Luna looked up at him with soft eyes "I saw who it was, that bloke Yaxley...the same one who took me off the train at Christmas. I imagine he quite resented the fact that I escaped after all the work he went to to capture me." Luna laughed lightly.

George failed to see the humor. "I don't see how you can joke about it...you could have been killed."

"If I couldn't laugh about it I would be insane by now." she grinned "Of course many are sure I was insane before."

"It's not funny." George forced himself to be calm, though her nonchalance over her own death was riling him as much as it had that day in the cavern.

Luna shrugged "What else am I to do? Cry? Why cry when it feels so much better to laugh?"

"Because!" He narrowed his eyes angrily "Because there is nothing funny about dying! I know that better than you can possibly imagine!"

Luna was taken aback. "You're right..."

She reached across the table and put her hand on his. "I wasn't thinking..."

"That's just your problem." He jerked his hand away "You never bother to stop and think! Did you bother to listen to me that day in the cavern in Hogsmeade? No...you just ditched me and walked off."

Luna felt her own anger rising "I only ditched you because you were about to ditch me!"

"Who says I was going to ditch you?"

"Oh, let me think...'I'm not going to stand around and watch you kill yourself' Sound familiar George? If thats not ditching I don't know what is!"

"I was never going to ditch you, you might know that if you hadn't cut across me...but no, you were more concerned about ditching me before I supposedly ditched you! Damn it! You sit there and just glibly laugh off your own mortality and your probably wondering why it is I haven't asked you to come back!"

"I never..."

"Oh you never?" George laughed

"No!" Luna stood, slamming her fists on the table as she did so "Of course I never...and do you know why?"

"Oh..."George stood and bent over the table to glare into Luna's eyes "And why is that?"

"Because George Weasley...I -am- over- you!" she jabbed her finger into his chest with each word "I am so over you that I don't even know what I ever saw in you!"

"Well..." He paused, her words cutting him deep. But he was damned if he would let her know. "I'm glad...you have no idea how happy I am to hear that...to be well shut of you. And do you know why?"

"I suppose you're going to tell me." Luna said sarcastically as she turned and walked away from the table, George followed behind closely.

"Because you are the most selfish person I have ever known."George's face was a mask of rage as he bent to prevent her from hiding from his eyes.

"Selfish? You call me selfish?" Luna snorted "You who wanted me to allow my friends to fight in my place while I hid like some little coward...and you call me selfish..."

"Yes you!" George yelled "All your talk about being so brave...

You never bothered to stop and think about how dangerous the things were that you were doing, you never bothered to stop and think about how much it would hurt to lose you!"

"George..." Luna was shocked by the truth of his words. He was right...she had never thought of him when planning their escapades. ..only that she had to do the right thing...the brave thing.

"Just leave it out." He growled at her, his anger making her angry again.

"You had no right to try and force me, or even to ask! None! I never asked you..." Luna was near tears.

"No. You're right...you never asked me. But you see, you're forgetting one thing in your self-righteous indignation." George leaned further so their faces were nearly touching.

"I offered to stop." He backed away "I offered, and do you know why? Because I loved you, I loved you so much that your happiness was more important to me than getting back at Umbridge."

Luna felt her throat close, a long ago conversation filtered into her conscientiousness.

-Flashback-

"Please tell me. Why are you so sad Luna?"

"I..."

"It's because of us isn't it? Me and Fred. The thing's were doing at school. I'm sorry it's making you sad."

"I don't want you to get expelled and have to leave school."

"It's not like that's exactly what we want either."

"But you don't care if you do... I understand...But, you have to realize too that my understanding doesn't make it any easier to lose my two best friends."

"But you have other friends..."

"But they aren't you. I'm just...I'm going to miss you so much when you've gone. It won't be the same here without you..."

"Hey...it's okay."

"No it's not! This is it, once you're gone, you'll never come back...ever."

"But...the summer holidays are only a little over a month and a half away. We'll see each other loads over the summer. You'll probably be sick of me and Fred by the time September 1st comes around."

"Never. I could never be sick of you."

"Do you want us to stop? I don't know if Fred will...but I will, if it is what will it will take to make you happy..."

"You really mean that don't you?"

"I want to see you smile again."

-End Flashback-

Luna felt her nose and eyes sting with the beginning of tears. He had offered to stop, him and Fred both...for her.

"You're right." her voice was incredibly soft, she was deeply ashamed of herself. "You did offer...and I wouldn't allow it."

She reached a hand towards him but he jerked away from her and headed for the door.

"George..." He stopped without turning around.

"What were you going to say ...in the cavern, before I cut across you."

George sighed and turned back toward her, exhaustion taking over as the anger drained from him.

"What does it matter?" His voice was so full of pain that it caused the last of Luna's resolve to falter and she allowed the tears to fall.

"It matters..." she stepped towards him and put a hand on his arm "Because I've missed you."

"Well..." His grin was bitter as he pulled away and walked toward the door. "I'm sure you'll get over that too.

He stepped through the flap and was gone.

Luna moved her head in a circle, loud crackles popped along her neck. Her back was throbbing and the tensing of her muscles wasn't helping matters in the least. Looking longingly to the bathroom she decided that a hot soak was in order.

As she crossed the room her eyes fell on the empty hamper resting against the counter. She would have to find some way to returning it to Mrs. Weasley...since George had left it behind.

She looked up from the hamper to the white envelope sitting on the counter. She snatched it up just before crossing into the bathroom.

She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it, then stripped down and stepped into the tub. She stared for a minute at the envelope, the burgundy ink spurring memories in her that were best left forgotten.

"Oh stop being so ridiculous" she said out loud as she picked it up from where she'd left it on the commode. She hadn't noticed the handwriting before, assuming it was just a thank you card from Mr and Mrs Weasley for the flowers she had sent to Fred's funeral.

The handwriting was unmistakably Georges. She ought to know... he'd been a surprisingly faithful letter writer and she'd gotten letters from him unerringly two times a week...sometimes more.

With a deep sigh she tore the envelope on the end and reached a finger in to slide the card out. On the cover of the card was a picture of Fred, she recognized it immediately, taken during a fishing trip the summer before he died. At the bottom was the date of his birth, and the date of his death. Luna brushed a finger over his face.

"I miss you so much." she sighed sadly as she opened the front of the card.

Dear Luna,

Thank you for the flowers, and for

being there yesterday. It meant a lot to

the family, and, it meant a lot to me too.

I am glad you came out of

Malfoy manor okay. It would have

been a terrible tragedy if the world

had lost you too.

George

Luna let the card slip from her fingers and onto the floor. She put her hands over her face and then allowed the tears to over take her.

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Chapter Three Preview

George, fighting all the way,

is sent on yet another errand to Luna's.

But what he finds there forces

him to make a difficult

decision.

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