-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I have been insanely busy between trying to find out what was wrong with me and the loss of a cousin recently. My hands have been a bit full. Oh....and I got the complete set of Fruits Basket anime...so....ummm....yeah. You get the picture right? LOL

This isn't exactly the chapter I had planned. As I usually say, the previews are just an outline, they are often subject to change due to inspiration, my urges and whimsy. I want to explore a few more things and I was rushing to the end a little too fast, so I needed to slow things down slightly.

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Loony for Luna: Forever from the Ashes

Chapter Ten

Baby Steps

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George Weasley was definitely living in hell now, and worse, it was a hell of his own making.

But...wasn't hell suppose to be a terrible place? One wasn't suppose to enjoy every moment of eternal punishment, one wasn't suppose to spend every moment of that punishment wanting to kiss their tormentor, and one definitely wasn't suppose to want to make love to that same tormentor so badly that every inch of their body ached!

Since the talk with Luna that patched things up between them, a few changes had been made. Now, instead of being able to escape outside alone to work on the house, Luna more often than not went with him. But he couldn't blame Luna. It had been his brilliant idea. Looking for a way to further prove to her that he didn't hate being around her, he had issued the invitation for her to 'keep him company' while he worked. And Luna, of course, not being someone who could say no to anyone, had agreed.

Now he found himself in her near constant presence.

But it wasn't being with her that made it hell...it was having to refuse his own desire.

Luna, on the other hand, was happier than she had been in a very long time.

Since patching things up with George she had worked tirelessly on getting better. Healer Kenning had visited two days later and had given her the go ahead to start exercising again. It was she, not George, who had insisted on starting that very moment.

It was painful, even more so than it had been in the beginning because the tissue was now inflamed. But still Luna didn't complain. She stiffened her lip and refused to whine, even though George saw more than one tear fall down her cheek.

But finally, after two weeks, the exercises had become much less painful. Now Luna could bathe completely on her own, though George still had to lift her in and out of the tub as she still couldn't walk.

They had fallen into a comfortable routine. George would wake her bright and early and they would share breakfast in her room. Once the trays were cleared it was exercise time. At the two week mark they worked out for an hour, stretching Luna's muscles back into shape after being dormant for nearly a month. As Luna's pain lessened these sessions became more enjoyable. Luna, eager to gain back her freedom, pushed herself hard. George encouraged her, while always watching for signs that she was overdoing it.

After her time in the hot tub, she dressed and George pushed her out into the bright sunlight to spend the morning working on the house. Now and then she helped him, offering a suggestion or using simple spells to move things around. By the end of July the house was completely closed in and George had reached the limits of his knowledge.

"Oh George." Luna smiled happily as she looked at the outside of the house. "It looks like a real house now doesn't it?"

"It's starting to. Once the professional housing wizards come next week and put in the plumbing we can wall everything up. Then it will look more like a house I think."

George smiled as he picked up his shirt, having taken it off when the heat got to be too much. Luna tried not to stare as he mopped himself off, but that was a losing battle. George's shirtless body was like a finely sculpted work of art. Beautiful, magnificent...

breathtaking.

"Luna?" George waved a hand in front of her face

"Hmmm?" She looked away from his pecs and up into his wildly smirking face.

"If you're done ogling my body" He smirked "I was wondering what you wanted for lunch."

Luna blushed and looked away hastily "I wasn't ogling."

George raised an eyebrow

"I wasn't!"

"Okay okay! You weren't ogling." George laughed as he went behind her to push her into the tent. "Call it admiring if you wish."

Luna shot him a nasty glare over her shoulder "I hadn't realized you had gotten so arrogant."

George just laughed as he used his wand to pull the flap on the tent open then pushed her inside.

"Who needs to be arrogant when a young lady ogles as openly as you do."

Luna was admitting nothing. "You smell, go take a shower." she said tartly.

George laughed loudly and a look of pure devilishness came into his eyes.

"Care to join me? I'm sure you could ogle much more thoroughly that way." George teased.

'Wouldn't he just soil his pants if I said yes!' Luna thought with a small grin.

"Is that an invitation?" She said with a saucy smirk.

"Er..." George backpedaled. 'What the hell was I thinking!? She's kidding right? Trying to get back at me for teasing her...'

Teasing she may be... he still couldn't let her get away with it.

"And what if it is?" He said, hoping fervently that she had only been teasing and unable to believe he had gotten himself into this mess.

"I'd say you are more arrogant than I thought if you would make such a lewd suggestion." She grinned in victory. No way could George top that.

George felt the vice loosen around his heart. She had only been teasing...thank GOD! He went into his room and rummaged around for a clean change of clothes, then returned and leaned over the wheelchair.

"I'd only be arrogant if I had actually believed you'd take me up on it." he said with a small wink and disappeared into the bathroom.

He stripped out of his clothes, turned the water on and stepped under the ice cold spray without allowing it time to warm. He shuddered, not from the cold, but with his close call. He should have remembered that it was never wise to make Luna blush...she would only pay him back for it. He had learned that lesson fairly well a little over a year before.

-Flashback-

Luna's Easter break was nearly over, the next afternoon George would be taking her back to school. The night before he sat on her bed watching her pack. A loud click alerted them to the fact that her father had left the house; the click still echoed around them as Luna launched herself into George's arms, her lips on his. George fell backwards on the bed, Luna cradled tightly in his arms as he kissed her like a thirsty man would drink a glass of water.

They stayed like that for a long, long time. Lips and tongues meeting in greedy adoration, matching one another in ardor. It was George who broke it off.

"Luna..." His breath was heavy as he sat up and attempted to catch his breath. "We have to stop."

"No" She launched herself at him again "No we don't." Her mouth took his and she tried to push him back on the bed.

"Yes." he said laughingly as he pushed her gently away from him. "Yes we do."

"but why?" Luna literally whined

"Because if we don't, your father will walk in and see us and then he will castrate me."

Luna giggled "Daddy won't castrate you for kissing me."

"No." George reasoned "But in another minute we would have been doing a lot more than kissing, and he would surely castrate me for that."

She grinned and pulled herself up to sit in his lap. "Think so do you?"

"Definitely."

Luna laughed loudly and threw her head back.

"What's so funny?" George demanded

"You're just so...so..." Luna grinned hugely "So arrogant and sure of yourself."

George raised an eyebrow and pulled her close against him, shifting her so she now straddled him. Then he kissed her hard, with all of his desire. Luna returned his attentions, her hands fisted in his hair as she moved against him and tried to push him onto his back again. Then, George started laughing and broke off the kiss.

"Judging by your reactions just now..."He grinned "I think I have a right to be a bit arrogant and sure of myself."

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "You want me...I know you do, I can feel it."

Luna, blushing madly, stood and went back to her packing. Her face a mask, hiding her thoughts and leaving George wondering what kind of storm was brewing in Lunaland. A moment later her father returned, closing the door loudly behind him. A mischievous smirk curved her lips suddenly and she took George's hand and pulled him down the stairs into the Lovegood family room where her father sat working on a piece for the Quibbler.

"Daddy?" she said, the grin on her face making George incredibly nervous.

"Yes dear?" Xenophilius didn't look up from his papers

"If you found out that George and I had sex, would you castrate him?"

Xenophilius didn't look up, nor did he drop his quill or falter in his writing.

"My dear." he said plainly, still absorbed in his work. "If I found out that you and George had sex, I would most definitely castrate him."

"Thanks daddy." Luna said as she turned and smirked at George "You were right George, so I guess we better not have sex."

She patted his arm and went back up the stairs to her room, leaving George alone with her father. He just stood there, his face now beet red, almost afraid to follow Luna back upstairs.

"It's okay, you can go." Xenophilius had yet to look up from his papers. "I believe you know the consequences of any possible actions you might, or might not be considering taking with my little girl."

George nodded "Right sir." Then he turned and ran up the stairs where he found Luna laughing so hard she was nearly having hysterics.

-End Flashback-

George grinned with the memory. That was what had drawn him to Luna in the first place. Her free spirit and sense of humor, not to mention the fact that the girl had no fear of anything.

The smile wiped from his face as he remembered that it was that lack of fear that had lead to the end of their relationship.

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"Luna, are you sure you're ready for this?" George asked two days later as he set the brakes on Luna's wheelchair. Since they had run out of work temporarily on the house, Luna had increased her efforts on her recovery and started insisting on exercising as often as possible. That afternoon she had told George that she would like to try to stand, and if that went well, she wanted to try to take a step or two.

As healer Kenning had given her the green light, George had no ground to stand on in order to stop her.

"Don't be such a nervous Nelly George." Luna smiled at him as he bent over her legs to move the leg rests.

"I am NOT being a nervous Nelly, nor any other kind of Nelly, thank you very much." He looked at her with a grin "I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened the last time you tried this."

Luna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was afraid too, afraid that despite the strength she knew she had grown in her back and legs, that it wasn't enough and she would fall on her face again. But that was impossible. George was here with her now, and despite all her uncertainties where he was concerned, she knew one thing without hesitation...George would never allow her to fall. He would always be there to support her, both physically, and emotionally.

"I didn't have you with me last time did I?" Luna reached out her hand and put it on his cheek "I trust you to keep me safe."

George closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy her touch for a moment, then he stood. "Okay, ready when you are."

Luna smiled nervously and nodded. "I'm ready."

George bent down and put his arms loosely around her, pulled her to the edge of the chair and she shifted her feet into position. "Okay." he said encouragingly "Go."

He supported her weight as she pushed up with her knees. A small whimper of pain came as she straightened her legs and rose from the chair, standing at last under her own power for the first time in almost a month.

"Brilliant!" George smiled down at her as she steadied herself "Good job!"

"I did it!" She laughed "I really did it!"

"How does it feel?" George kept his arms around her and bent his knees so he could look into her eyes. "Are you in pain?"

"Some." She nodded, her hands on his arms gripping him tightly "Nothing unbearable though. It was much, much worse before the procedure."

"Are you ready to sit again?"

"No..." she smiled up at him "Let me try a couple steps? Please?"

"Luna...I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."

"George." She looked at him stubbornly "The longer you argue with me the longer it will be before I sit down."

George couldn't decide whether to be angry with her stubbornness or to admire her tenacity. In the end, admiration won out.

"Okay, okay." he sighed in resignation. He moved backwards and took hold of her arms. "Remember, just baby steps for now."

Luna smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath and attempted to move her foot forward. At first it didn't seem to be cooperating, then, it slid forward a tiny bit.

"George!" Luna looked up at him, her face a bright sunbeam of happiness.

George grinned back at her. "Try another. A little one."

Luna nodded and looked back down at her feet. A moment later the other foot slid forward a fraction of an inch.

"Luna!" George laughed "You're doing it! You're walking!"

Luna grinned "They certainly are baby steps!" Her foot moved another bit, a couple of inches this time.

"You're not falling on your face at least." George laughed as he moved forward and pulled her off her feet and up into his arms, hugging her tightly. He grinned and danced her around the room while she laughed, her happy face smiling up into his. Then, he backed into the sofa and fell backwards, sitting down hard.

"I thought I was suppose to be the clumsy one!" Luna teased, looking deeply into his soft brown eyes.

"I have my moments." She was so close! He breathed in her scent, she was fresh from a soak in the hot tub and the smell of the soap and shampoo she used was strong and heady. Her smell was so familiar to him, vanilla and lilac with an undertone of bright summer sunshine. His eyes were fixed into the silvery blue of hers and he was unable to look away. In that moment George was feeling every single reason why he had fallen so madly in love with Luna Lovegood.

"George..." she whispered, her hands going to his face as his tangled into her plentiful moonlight hair. Then, as if they had developed a will of their own, his lips crashed down on hers. Memory and need swelled up in him as the taste of her exploded in his senses.

For that moment, everything that had gone wrong between them was forgotten. Forgotten was the loss of his brother, the uncertainty of what lied ahead. The only thing that existed was her, the feel of her lips on his, the scent of her skin and hair, the need and desire for her that hadn't waned the slightest bit in the time they had been apart.

Luna felt like the world had just shifted on it's axis, surely it wasn't just her that felt like an earthquake was taking place inside of her soul. But then again, she felt like she was sheltered within a minuscule, safe cocoon. A beautiful, amazing place that only she and George occupied. His hands gently held her head to his while thier lips danced to the most beautiful music imaginable. His tongue slid gently over hers, awaking desires that until seconds ago, she was sure were better left forgotten.

But now it all came rushing back. The desire, the need...the love. Luna had been in love with George Weasley since the cold winter day she had been offered a seat between him and his brother in the Hogshead, and that love had only grown since that day. She could say that she was over him,she could tell that lie to him, tell it to Ginny, she could lie to the whole world...but now as he kissed her, the truth was exposed to the light of day.

Luna was still in love with him...she would always be in love with him!

"Luna..." George whispered as he pulled back, his breath hard in his chest. "I'm sorry...I...I can't do this."

He stood with her and carefully put her back in her wheelchair, then he moved to the front of the tent and pulled back the flap. "I'm sorry..." he looked at her for a second more, and then he was gone. A loud crack informed her that he had apparated away.

Luna sat, completely in daze while the feel of his kiss ghosted across her lips.

"What the hell just happened?" she whispered to herself as another loud crack echoed outside the tent.

Relief flooded her, he'd come back! George had come back!

But it wasn't George who opened the flap and stepped in.

It was Harry and Ginny.

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Chapter 11 Preview

In the aftermath of their

kiss George and Luna reflect on the past...

and ponder their future.

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