Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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SnowAngels

Chapter Seven

Flight

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George and Luna were greeted by a circle of grins when they returned to the house. Not for the first time in his life, George lamented the fact that he and Fred had not been born into a family where they were the only children.

"Did you get the corks all purified?" Ron said with a caustic smirk in George's direction while he helped Luna remove her cloak.

"Yes we did." George pulled the snow covered jar of corks from his pocket and set them on the table. Despite Luna's protests, he had insisted on dropping them into the snow as a cover, conceding only that they would leave them in the jar. Luna apparently, was much less annoyed by Nargles than she was by being teased by Ron and the others.

Luna decided to ignore the exchange completely. She sat at the table and opened the jar of corks, poured them out and began to sort them into piles according to size and color. George finished hanging their cloaks and then sat next to her. Luna smiled at him and showed him how to sort them.

"Shut up Ron." Ginny hit him with a nasty elbow as she passed. "Leave them alone."

Luna looked up in surprise. Ginny had been teasing them as much as any of the others; what could have brought on this shift?

"Would you like some more help?" Ginny pulled out the chair across from them and pulled a pile of unsorted corks towards her. Ginny was an old pro at making Nargle charms, she had helped Luna make them the last three years, even though she didn't believe in them either.

"Thank you, that would be nice."

Luna looked up in time to see George and Ginny exchange a look that seemed very much like gratitude.

"I could help too." Harry pulled out the chair next to Ginny's "If you show me what to do."

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but she was slowed when Hermione and Ron joined as well.

"Aren't you decorating the Christmas tree?" George asked suspiciously, his eyes on Ron.

"It's almost done." Ron shrugged. "Let the others finish it."

"You don't have to help." Luna smiled around at them" I know you think this is silly, I am sure there must be about a hundred other things you would rather be doing."

Ginny shrugged "Can't think of any off hand."

"Me either." George smiled at her and Luna felt a foot slide up along side hers under the table and then gently caress her toes. Her arms burst out into a riot of goose bumps and Luna was incredibly thankful that she was wearing long sleeves.

Despite his words, the look in his eyes was clear … there was one thing he would rather be doing… not that he could do it in front of his family.

Luna felt as though she had entered a whole new world in the past few days. She had never experienced a life like this, being around a big family, planning a big family Christmas…not to mention falling in …

No, she couldn't even think the words. They were too huge, too full of meaning, too all encompassing. Even if she did feel them, or at the very least, something very much like them…saying…even thinking them was just too audacious.

Even for Loony Lovegood.

If she was completely honest with herself, and it seemed as if she had no choice but to be now, she was scared to death of how she felt about George Weasley.

It was strange, being this afraid of something that, on the surface at least, wasn't frightening at all. On the surface at least … therein lay the problem. She wasn't afraid because of what she could see, she was afraid because of what she couldn't see…and what she couldn't see was how he felt about her.

How he really felt about her.

George had said that he never wanted to kiss anyone else ever again… but how could she be sure? How could she know that this wasn't some passing whim? How could she know that his feelings for her weren't some momentary thing brought on by the season; that they wouldn't fade away like the sparkle of the wings from the Christmas fairies in the evergreen? When Christmas ended evergreen became old and died and the fairies went away … when Christmas ended and she went back to Hogwarts; would what George felt for her go away as well?

Really, what did she know about George Weasley? Maybe he brought a new girl home every Christmas, maybe he bought them all expensive gifts and had told them all they were the only girl he ever wanted to kiss again.

Maybe… maybe she wasn't special at all.

Something terrible and fearful clenched in Luna's throat. She felt sick, like at any moment … if she so much as dared to look up … she might vomit.

"I think I need to go to bed." She said, standing abruptly and refusing to meet anyone's eyes … George's eyes in particular.

"Luna?" He stood and took her hand, not caring in the least if the others were watching. He didn't like the look on her face, Luna was afraid of something… she was very afraid of something.

"I don't seem to be feeling very well." She pulled her hand from his, doing her best to not seem obvious. "I think I spent too much time in the cold tonight… it effects me badly sometimes. I should go to bed, I'm sorry."

Ginny rose from the table, a look of concern on her face. "I'll walk you up."

"No, really…" Luna tried, and failed, to work up a smile. She looked at George for the briefest of seconds, her face in abject misery, so much so that it left him shocked.

"I wouldn't want to spoil your fun. I'll be fine."

It took all of her restraint to go up the stairs rather than to follow her urge and run for the door.

"What do you suppose brought that on?" Ron asked with a bewildered look, his eyes still on the stairs.

"Luna's always been … flighty." Hermione looked at George nervously. His emotions had been tied so tightly to Luna since her arrival; she worried about how George would react to whatever it was that had just happened. She wasn't the only one.

"George, maybe you should try talking to her." Ginny suggested.

George was barely able to think, much less comprehend what the others were saying. He had no idea what, but something had just gone seriously wrong. He didn't have the slightest idea what it was about, but he knew it had something to do with him; or rather, it had something to do with them.

"George?" Hermione touched his hand where it still lamely held a handful of Luna's butterbeer corks. "Ginny is right, you should go … go and talk to her."

George nodded mutely and then rose from his chair. He took the stairs slowly and then stopped and stared at her door. He had no idea what he was facing on the other side; how could he when he had no idea what had frightened her in the first place?

Was it him? Had he moved too fast, was she upset because he didn't want to tell his family about them yet? He had thought that she had understood. The more he thought the more he realized that it couldn't be that, Luna had been fine when they came back into the house.

George took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Standing there on the landing with his conjectures about what may or may not have been the reason for Luna's upset wasn't doing anything to resolve the problem. He needed to face it head on; he needed to talk to her.

"Luna?" He knocked softly on the door, not at all surprised when his knock went ignored. He was fairly sure that it had something to do with him, even though he had no idea what that reason may be.

"Luna, please talk to me. If I did something, let me make it right."

George realized then that she wasn't about to answer the door…not under her own power anyway. Thankful for the fact that his parent's had never allowed locks on the bedroom doors he reached for the knob, twisted it, and then swung open the door.

"Luna, will you please …"

He stopped dead halfway into the room. Luna and all of her things were gone; the only evidence of her ever having been there at all was the open bedroom window.

Luna trudged through the growing snow drifts, her temptation to apparate growing with each step. If not for the fact that she was unsure about her ability she would have gone back to her flat in Diagon Alley.

Truth was, she was feeling more than a little silly about her hasty departure from the Burrow and even sillier about her fit of panic. She had no reason whatsoever to doubt George, in fact it was the exact opposite, and she had every reason to trust him.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn't realized this until she was closer to the rubble of her former home than she was to the Burrow. The snow was picking up and she needed fire and shelter before she froze to death.

Luna came to the bottom of yet another hill, but at the top of this one lay the ruins of the formerly rook shaped house that had been her home for sixteen years. It was a dark, sad blot on the blue-silver snow covered landscape, yet Luna felt an odd sort of peace when she looked at it. This lonely, shattered place was steeped in happy memories of her life with her mother and father. It may be rubble now, but Luna loved it still.

Not minding the snow, Luna made short work of climbing the hill that lead to the top, gathering bits of wood as she went. She knew from previous visits here that most of the lower floor remained, including the old stone hearth and fireplace. Surely George or one of the others would see that she had gone and come after her before long. It would be terrible, admitting to George why she had run off, but she knew that he would understand. He would be hurt that she had doubted him, that she had thought the things she had, but he would understand.

George always understood…that was why she…

No, it was still too soon, much too soon for that.

"Lumos" Her wand tip lit up the night around her, illuminating what remained of the front door. Luna pushed it open, ducking when some bits of wood and stone rained down around her from the shattered ceiling above. The room was no longer completely closed in, here and there snow lay in piles, but the west side of the room was still closed off and that was where the fireplace was.

"Winguardium Leviosa" Planks of wood, bits of stone and scatterings of paper all flew away from the hearth as Luna waved her wand over the west edge of the room. It wouldn't matter if the chimney was clear; there were enough holes in the ceiling to funnel out the smoke.

Luna piled the wood she had gathered in the stone fireplace, adding in some broken bits and pieces that lay along the stone floor, then cast incendio…setting the wood ablaze. A further search found several blankets and the best find of all… laying askew and tipped on its side was her father's favorite chair. She righted it, blew it as clean as she could with her wand and then pulled it next to the fire.

It was only a matter of time she knew, before George would come demanding answers. She was ready to give them to him… to admit that she had been silly and stupid and had thought the very worst of him. But for now, just for the few moments that she had in this place of wonderful memories, she wanted to remember and so, she closed her eyes.

In her memories, her eyes moved to the fireplace where a warm fire crackled, next to the fireplace stood a dazzling a Christmas tree. It was amazingly sparse, the very worst tree in the whole forest per her mothers tradition. It was covered in popcorn and cranberries and so many fairies and Nargle charms that there wasn't room for ornaments. A bright array of boxes and bows lay stacked underneath in piles so high that when Luna was young, she could have gotten lost in them.

The mantle was covered in red velvet, beneath it golden tinsel sparkled. Three stockings hung side by side, with Luna's … the largest of all … hanging in the middle between her father and mothers.

And behind her closed eyes… they were there too…her mother and father. Her father sat in his chair smoking his pipe, the sweet smell of cherry tobacco drifting through the room. Her mother fussed with the bow in Luna's hair, making sure it was tied just right before they all went to visit her muggle born grandfather. It was Luna's perfect world, a world where she had everything and everyone she had ever wanted.

A world where she hadn't had to invade another family's Christmas…she had her own.

Luna abruptly opened her eyes, her parents, the mantle and the tree vanished. It had all been an illusion…this empty destroyed place was all she had, the only things she had left in this world. It struck her then, with blatant and horrible clarity, just how alone she truly was.

"I don't have anything left." She whispered to the empty room, her lips trembling. "I'm all alone."

Luna pulled her knees up under her chin, burying her face as the sobs over took her. She had always thought it was a silly exaggeration when people talked about being so sad they wished they could die … but now she realized that she didn't feel that far off from it herself.

She lifted her head, realizing just how dangerous her thoughts had become. This was a road she wasn't going to go down…not in a million years. She had dropped her bag next to the chair and she reached into it now for a handkerchief. Instead, her fingers wrapped around something hard, sharp, and cold…an ice skate…an ice skate, she knew without seeing, that had a golden blade.

Luna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She was wrong… she was so very, very wrong. How was it possible? How was it possible that twice in one night… she could have been so fucking wrong?

She stood and spun from her chair, knocking it back on its side in the process. A loud nearly manic bubble of laughter escaped Luna as she stuffed the skate back in the bag; she spun around again…and came face to face with George.

"I'm glad one of us thinks this is funny." He stood framed in the dark doorway, even with his face partially obscured by darkness, even though she couldn't even see his eyes, Luna could see that he was upset. Guilt crept up her spine as she realized that she was the one to blame.

"George." She paused, unsure how to go on. A simple apology seemed so inadequate, yet anything else would cheapen it and seem phony. "I don't know what to say."

"I'm stupid?" George shouldered off the doorway and walked into the light. "I'm selfish maybe? I'm out of my fucking mind?"

"You are angry."

"Oh...yeah, that about sums it up." George laughed bitterly, his face twisted into a painful grimace. "How could you just leave like that? After everything that happened; didn't it mean anything to you?"

"It meant everything to me."

"Then how could you just leave like that? No note, no … nothing. You didn't even say goodbye."

"George…" Luna dropped her bag on the floor, righted the chair once again and sat, her face buried in her hands. "I've never done this before. Before today, I'd never even kissed anyone. We were sitting there talking and it just hit me… how new it all was, how unfamiliar. Then I started to wonder if …" She looked up at him, ashamed to admit the rest. "If maybe it was a little bit more familiar for you."

George looked at her blankly for a minute, then her words truly sunk in and anger filled in the blankness. "You think I do this all the time? Is that it? That this is … what … some fucking Christmas tradition?"

"I didn't know what to think." She looked at him, trying desperately to catch his eyes, to communicate through them what she didn't seem to be able to with her words. "George… you don't know what this is like for me. One minute I am just … just Loony Lovegood, resident Hogwarts nutter, and the next George Weasley is kissing me and saying that I am the only person he ever wants to kiss again. It's confusing, and surreal and… and… a whole lot of things that I am not used to having happen to me!"

George wanted desperately to understand, but the truth was he felt betrayed. How could Luna have not trusted in him, how could she have ever thought that what had passed between them was something he did on a whim?

"George, since my mum died, there has only been one person that I have ever trusted. I know you don't remember me well from school, but you know enough to know that there is a good reason for that. I've learned to be careful, very, very careful." She looked into his cold, hurt eyes "Obviously too careful."

Luna felt despair well up within her again. She had had her chance, and she had ruined it. There was no going back now.

"I don't have any right to ask, but could you apparate me back to Diagon Alley? If you don't want to, it's okay, I understand."

George rolled his eyes.

"I just mean … I would never dream of staying with your family now… considering…"

"Considering what exactly?" His eyes narrowed into a look that Luna found shockingly sexy, considering how angry she knew he was.

"Considering how things ended between us."

"Who says things ended between us?"

"I thought…"

"You need to stop thinking so damn much." George stomped over and took her hand in his, then tossed her bag over his shoulder. "Just because you don't trust me, it doesn't mean things are over. It just means I have to figure out how to make you trust me."

Luna stopped and stared at him indignantly, her silvery eyes flashing angrily. "I never said I didn't trust you!"

"As good as."

"Okay fine, whatever. Just take me back to Diagon Alley and…"

George shook his head. "How the hell am I supposed to earn your trust if you are in Diagon Alley?"

"Wait…" Luna put her hand on his arm to stop him. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "You still want me to spend Christmas with your family? With you?"

George dropped her bag on the ground and put his arms around her to hold her close. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay angry with her. In a small way, even if he couldn't understand her doubts, he could understand her fears. He had plenty of fear of his own. In a little over a week she would be going back to Hogwarts. Even with him in Hogsmeade, they would only be able to see each other when she was able to come into the village. He was facing a time when he would be without her. But right now, his greatest fear of all was that now that he had finally found the person he had been looking his entire life for; he was going to lose her.

George wasn't going to let her go easily.

"The way I feel hasn't changed Luna, you are the one with doubts." He kissed her softly then brushed his thumb over her cheek. "You are the one who is afraid, not me."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You're afraid I am going to hurt you, it's the same thing."

"No, it's not." Luna shook her head and let it rest on his chest over his heart. The sound of his breathing and the steady heartbeat soothed her nerves and she was finally able to relax. "It's not the same at all."

"You could have fooled me."

"I trust you."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Not."

Luna pulled back and narrowed her eyes at him. "I do so trust you. Stop saying that I don't."

The corners of George's mouth twitched up into a smirk. "Stop acting like you don't trust me and I will quit saying that you don't."

"George!" Luna stamped her foot angrily

"You know, you're cute when you are acting all indignant and angry."

"Urgh!" Luna reached down for her bag. "Would you just take me back already?"

"In a minute." He pulled the bag out of her hands and let it drop on the ground, and then he lowered his face to hers. "I think we need to do a little more making up first."

George didn't give her a chance to respond, but this time, Luna didn't mind a bit. Besides, there were plenty of non-vocal ways of communicating that worked just as well.

Luna was still afraid, scared silly in fact…but not for the same reasons as before. She knew now, trusted now, that this was as new for George as it was for her. He would never hurt her, at least not on purpose. It was the unintentional that Luna feared now. Things happened to people every day, good things, bad things, things that took them away from the ones they loved and who loved them. Between her mother and father, Luna had learned this only too well.

She had learned a lot of things that she wished she didn't. How it felt to be sad and to hurt, how it felt to be a prisoner of war and watch a man suffer horrible torture. She had learned that it was possible to be plunged so deeply into despair that you were on the verge of wishing for death … only to be taken to the peak of euphoria moments later.

Luna had learned the last only moments before; the moment she had realized that even though she believed it to be true; she was never alone. Even in the darkness of night in the ruins of her childhood home; the light had come to her.

George was her light; and he had come for her.

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Chapter Eight Preview

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In the aftermath of Luna's flight,

George and Luna share a special moment, while the Weasley's ... one in particular,

ponder their growing relationship.

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