Chapter 3:

Luna's Interrogation

Ginny couldn't believe Neville had said no, five times, about her going to talk to Luna. She could've found out if Luna had the same certain feelings for Neville. She could've found out what Luna really thought of him. She could've found out a lot of things. But Neville had said NO (times five)!

Disregarding what he had said, Ginny left the common room and headed toward the library. She usually always found Luna there, huddled in a corner, reading the Quibbler. And, also disregarding what he said five times, she was going to ask her questions about him. Ginny thought he'd thank her for this later.

When she got to the library, she saw Madam Pince fussing at little Dennis Creevy about the proper care of the Hogwarts books. She also saw Hannah Abbott, researching for a History of Magic report. And then finally, after passing bookshelf after bookshelf, Ginny saw Luna Lovegood, in a corner with a table full of Quibblers.

Ginny approached the table where Luna sat. Without even looking up from her Quibbler, she said, "Hello, Ginny Weasley."

Ginny sat down across from Luna. "Hi Luna."

Luna put down her Quibbler and smiled. It was a kind of far off smile that told Ginny she had something on her mind.

"So," Ginny began, not wanting to make her reason for being there very obvious, "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Luna responded. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing," Ginny said, feeling like Luna would look right through her cover story, that she was here studying for her Transfiguration test and just happened to see Luna. She decided against it and cut straight to the chase. "I heard you met my friend Neville today."

Luna blushed and looked down. "Oh, him…."

Ginny felt a smile growing on her face. If only Neville could see how she reacted to just hearing his name! "Yeah, I know Neville. He's one of my friends."

Luna looked up, surprised, and said, "Really?"

"Uh-huh. So, tell me, what do you think of him?"

Luna's face got almost as red as her beet earrings. "Oh he was quite nice," she said.

Ginny raised her eyebrows and said, "And?"

Luna looked at her and shrugged. "He didn't call me Loony."

Ginny laughed and got daggers from Madam Pince. She lowered her voice and said, "Is that all? You just think he's nice and didn't make fun of you?"

Luna smiled. "No. He also actually listened to me when I was talking, and he was funny." Her eyes lit up. "And I could tell he wasn't just another boy at Hogwarts. I could tell… he was different."

Ginny looked at Luna with eyes full of wonder. "Different? How?"

"Well, he seemed a little… unsure of himself. He's a shy Gryffindor, which I've never seen. And," she said, half laughing, "he likes plants."

Ginny giggled, thinking about how much Neville liked plants. "Yeah, that's Neville for you. You didn't think that was strange or anything, did you?" Ginny said, now growing worried.

But Luna just shook her head and smiled. "No, I actually like that. It's nice to have the boys at Hogwarts do things other than Quiddicth."

Ginny sighed with relief. "Is there anything else you think of him?"

Luna suddenly blushed and said, "Well, between us girls, I thought he was rather cute."

Ginny grinned and said, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Luna smiled.

Ginny looked at her watch, it was ten minutes until they had to be back in their common rooms and wouldn't be allowed to leave until the next morning.

"Oh, Luna we have to go. It's ten minutes till curfew."

Luna nodded, picked up her Quibblers and followed Ginny out of the library.

They parted ways when Luna had to go the other way to get to the Ravenclaw common room.

"Goodnight Luna," she said.

"Goodnight Ginny." And with that, she was off, skipping down the corridor.

Ginny smiled to herself. "Mission Accomplished," she whispered when Luna was out of sight.