Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

A/N Hey All! Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season so far! Updates might be slowing down a little bit after this one...I am getting close now to being down to my last finished chapters...I will be having to write as I post again soon. I have it all pretty much plotted out in my head though, so worry not. Hope you enjoy the chapter and hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great! Thanks for the reviews...that Imperious curse kicks ass!

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Snow Angels

Chapter Eight

Unexpected

Luna found it incredibly embarrassing facing the Weasley's after having run off and it was made even worse by the fact that she couldn't explain why. Despite her urges to run and hide in her room…leaving George to come up with an excuse…she stood her ground and sucked it up; citing a need to be alone as her only excuse.

To George's somewhat bemused annoyance, his family … in particular his parents… believed Luna's lie without reservation. Luna's story had more holes in it than a mini baby Swiss and had George tried to pull the same he wouldn't have gotten away with it in a million …no, a trillion years.

It was still early when they returned, only nine o'clock, so they gathered around the table again; there were still all those Nargle charms to make. George grumbled good naturedly about Luna's fib sliding by so easily and cast her mildly annoyed looks that made her giggle when no one was watching. Her skin tingled while his foot caressed hers under the table. It was a silly little gesture, one that would have made Luna laugh had she seen others doing it only days before, but in the aftermath of all that had occurred that day it made her feel happy.

To their surprise the others found that they quite enjoyed making Luna's Nargle charms. Normally, she told them, they were left as plain corks but this year she felt something special was called for. Ginny dragged out a set of seldom used paint and they spent a lovely two hours painting them. They added rosy Santa Claus faces, and silver paint to make them look like bells. Ginny, the best painter of all, covered them in Christmas roses and Poinsettia leaves while Ron painted them to honor the Chudley Cannons and Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione painted a row of books with Christmas titles and Harry a set of golden snitches.

George found himself painting the faces of angels while Luna, looking over with a small smile, realized that she had painted their twins. It seemed for them, it was always going to come back around to angels.

Finally, as the night grew late, Luna showed them how to screw the little silver loops carefully into the top and attach tiny strings. Last, they piled all their charms in the middle of the table for Luna to charm.

"Nargiwaggi!"

A soft gold glow shot from the end of Luna's wand, whished around the corks and then was sucked into each one. The others stared at one another, shocked and surprised that something had actually happened. They had been expecting the spell to be as invisible as the Nargles themselves.

"Well…" Luna smiled triumphantly "Now all that's left it to hang them."

"Shall we do the ones outside?" George suggested, sorting theirs from the others in the pile. Luna looked up to see the others grinning at them. They knew something was going on between the two. Heck yeah they knew.

"Err, sure." She allowed him to help her into her cloak then with a last look over her shoulder at the others, she followed George out the door.

"Merlins sweaty butt crack they're going out to hang Nargle charms." Ginny giggled and raced Hermione to the kitchen shade to look out. "They are SO running out to snog."

"You think?" Hermione peaked through the shade "Move over Ginny."

"George and Luna Lovegood." Ron sat at the table shaking his head and looking befuddled. "It doesn't make sense does it?"

"Why not?" Harry sat across from him, sorting his and Ginny's corks from the others.

"Luna's a good person, and George seems happier than he has been in a long time. Drat." Hermione turned, a huge grin on her face. "They've gone around to the other side."

"Definitely snogging." Ginny grinned, then turned a glare on her brother. "And don't talk bad about Luna."

"Who's talking bad?" Ron lowered Ginny a nasty look. "They barely know each other, they didn't know each other until a couple days ago. Not really."

"But if she makes him happy, what difference does that make?" Ginny wanted to know. She was angry that Ron seemed to be so against the idea of George being with Luna.

"It is a bit sudden." Harry agreed

"Look who's talking about sudden." Hermione smirked "One minute you were all about Cho the ho, the next you were mooning over Ginny."

Harry grinned and took Ginny's hand. "Can I help it I developed taste overnight?"

Ginny leaned closer, giving Harry a sloppy looking kiss.

"Do you two mind?" Percy came in from the other room en-route to the stairwell "I have to sit there to eat."

Harry and Ginny broke apart, both wearing huge goofy grins.

"You just don't like Luna." Ginny winked at Percy then turned her glare on Ron. "That's what this is really about."

"What?" Ron looked indignant. "I like Luna, very much so in fact."

"Then why don't you want her with George?"

"I never said that! All I said was that it didn't make sense to me."

"It could be taken as your not liking the idea Ron. Not saying that's what you meant." Harry pointed out, wondering why he had bothered to speak at all. The last thing he wanted was to get into the middle of a fight between his best friend and his girlfriend. He knew from experience… that was not a happy place to be…it never ended well…it could even be dangerous.

"I just meant that it seems so unlikely." he shrugged, desperately trying to find the words. "They're so different from each other. George is George…and Luna is…"

"Loony?" Hermione raised an annoyed eyebrow. "I hate it when you call her that. "

"Would you stop putting words in my mouth?" Ron stood angrily "Look at the two of them. Could two people be more different?"

"They're really not that different, they both love to laugh and are quite funny." Ginny pointed out, ignoring the obvious thing they had in common…the pain of loss.

"You know..." Harry grinned and looked back and forth between his two best friends in the world. "George and Luna have much more in common than…oh say… you and Hermione, you two started out hating one another and you seem to have made it work out fine"

"Most of the time anyway. You certainly do fight a lot. But, maybe that's part of the attraction." Percy smirked at his own little bit of wit. It was coming back a little at a time. Ron glared at him and Percy grinned and turned back for the stairs. "Don't mind me, I need to be up early in the morning."

He paused for a moment, his hand on the rail, then he turned back around.

"I can't speak for any of you of course, but as miserable as George has been since summer, I don't care who is responsible or why he is doing better. I am just glad he is. If being together makes them happy…who are any of us to judge? More so, who are any of us to begrudge them that happiness?"

He had expected an answer, a rebuttal from Ron at the very least…he was the one who had brought this all up in the first place. He was greeted with silence instead.

"Well, goodnight."

They were silent for a moment, then Ron let his arms drop to his side. Truth was, he was hurt by their words. He was tired of being second guessed, of always having his words twisted and used against him.

"I never said I didn't like Luna, I never said that I didn't think she and George should be together… only that it was unexpected. Can any one of you say that you're not the least bit surprised by it? If you can you're a liar."

He looked around at them before going to the bottom of the stairs himself.

"Goodnight."

The house had gone mostly dark by the time George and Luna finished hanging the charms outside. It wasn't a development that George would have been particularly displeased with if not for the fact that he had to be up very early the next day. As it was it was going on midnight by the time they came in, stamping their feet to free them of the snow that was still piling up outside. It seemed mother nature was pushing for a snow fall record this year; it had been snowing everyday for the past five days in a row.

"Oh." Luna sighed as she looked at the pile of yet to be hung Nargle charms on the kitchen table. "They didn't hang them. I wonder why not?"

"Too busy discussing us maybe?" George grinned and helped Luna take off her cloak. "You know they know; I saw Ginny and Hermione run to the window as soon as we walked out."

"Of course they know, was there ever any doubt?" Luna grinned "Well, I can hang these, it won't take long."

George hung their cloaks on the pegs by the door and then reached for a handful of the charms on the table.

"You should go to bed." Luna stopped him with a hand on his arm. "You said you have to be up early."

"It won't take more than a few minutes." He shrugged and picked up the pile of charms before turning to the mantle. He was willing to do anything to squeeze out a few more minutes of this day with Luna; it had been the strangest, most wonderful day of his life.

The worked together in companionable silence, moving from one room to the next. At last they met in the middle … in front of Ginny's enormous Christmas tree. For one reason or another, neither had actually seen it since it had been fully decorated. It was breathtaking, but then it always was. Ginny might be a pain in the ass when it came to getting it done, but once it was complete the results were always worth it. When George reached her side, Luna stood mesmerized, looking up at the tree in awe.

"It's lovely isn't it?" She breathed, her senses dazzled by the stunning beauty that stood inches from her fingers. The smell of pine, one of Luna's favorite in the world, was heavy in the air and the dancing lights from the Christmas fairies reflected off the decorations like a billion stars around her.

"Yes, it is." George reached out and touched a branch, the tree was beautiful, but it wasn't the most beautiful thing in the room. Not that he was corny enough to actually say that out loud. "The final result always makes putting up with Ginny worth it."

"It's hard to believe Christmas Eve is the day after tomorrow." She turned to him and smiled. "I thought this time would go slow, but now it is passing so fast it is almost a blur."

"You were alone before." He took the last four Nargle charms from her, all four angels that had been painted by them, and then hung them on the tree under his mothers antique Goblin made angel. He turned to her and took her hands in his. "You're not anymore."

"I know." Luna smiled at him with soft eyes, a smile so sweet it made his heart long to burst from his chest and dance. How could he have not seen it before, he wondered, how could he have never seen her before?

It seemed now as if his life had been lived in two parts. Life before the war, and life after the war… or to be more succinct, life with Fred, and life without.

George had been riotously happy in that other life. He had been carefree, he had no wounds, no scars… he lived free of pain. Most importantly, he had lived a life with his twin brother by his side.

In this new life it seemed pain was his constant companion. Scars and wounds ran deep, the perfect partner for his despair. With each passing day he had lost a little more hope that it would ever get better. He had hung on for his family, he had hung on because he knew it was what Fred wanted him to do and because he had made a promise. The thing that was absent was the thing that was the most important of all… hope.

Life after the war, life after Fred… held no hope.

Until the night he had followed a mysterious woman in white down the deserted streets of Diagon Alley. A woman he had thought was an angel… a woman who was an angel, if only in his heart.

In this life, he had Luna.

He had been a boy in that former life, filled with selfish desires and crazy dreams. He should have known that it couldn't go on, that it was too simple… too carefree. Fred had known… there was no way they could all come away from the war unscathed. Chances were, one of them would die…the only question really had been who it would be.

In this life, George was a man. He knew his limitations, he knew that life wasn't fair, that people died for no other reason than that simple averages made it glaringly so. If you took ten people and put them in a highly dangerous situation… there is little chance that all will walk away from it.

Life was fragile … and he knew that now…the man knew that now. Carpe Deum… Luna's mother was absolutely right to believe in that. In the end, it didn't matter that he had never seen Luna before… what truly mattered…was that he saw her now.

"You're beautiful." He spoke softly, not wanting anyone else to hear, but wanting to be sure that she did…that she knew where the words were coming from. The very deepest part of his heart…the deepest part of his soul.

Luna's heart thumped madly in her chest. How could this be happening to her? How could she be standing here in the twinkling light of thousands of Christmas fairies with George Weasley… how could he think she was beautiful? She was still Luna Lovegood after all, the girl best known as Loony Lovegood….resident Hogwarts nutter.

"No one has ever told me that before."

"They should have." He twined their fingers tightly together and pulled her closer so that their bodies rested against one another. "They should have told you that a lot."

"Maybe no one else thinks I am."

"Maybe no one else can see you." He brushed her lips with his, leaving his forehead to rest on hers. "Maybe they were stupid for not looking closer."

She was going to explode. That was all the was for it. Surely now one could possibly be this happy without some sort of physical repercussions. Any moment now, her chest would be split in two and her heart would burst forth… there was no way her tiny rib cage could contain so much. How could she have ever doubted him; how could she have ever believed that he could say such things so casually… that anyone could?

"I'm sorry George, for before I mean. I … was foolish."

"Yes, you were. But…" He kissed her again, more firmly this time. He knew that at any moment any wayward member of his family could peak into the room… but he didn't care. This moment was too special, it was too important… it was too theirs to ruin with worry. "…you were afraid; how we react to fear is seldom rational."

"This is all just so … unexpected. I never thought I would …"

There they were again… those words… the words that were so close, yet had no place, not now, not yet.

"I never thought that I would find someone, least of all that you would become so important to me."

"You think I did?" He laughed softly. "All I was doing was trying to escape …I found you instead."

"Walking up and down Diagon Alley like a mad woman in the snow." Luna laughed.

"And looking like an angel." George closed his eyes and the memory came alive. So beautiful, so very, very, beautiful. "My Angel."

"Do you realize George," Luna pulled away and laughed. "How disgustingly schmaltzy this whole thing is becoming?"

"Unfortunately," He grinned sheepishly and pulled back, the brim of his nose tainted pink now. "I am afraid I do realize. It's going to be next to impossible to hide this from my family."

"Because we did so well before." Luna let her hands drop and turned away. It was now very late and she was beginning to feel the emotion of the day taking it's toll on her. Luna yawned widely….she needed a warm bed and a soft pillow…and she needed them now.

"Bedtime." George took her hand and pulled her towards the stairs. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

"It's almost Christmas." Luna sighed "It's sure to be mad."

"For you," George smirked and took her hand as they stepped onto the stairwell. "I'll be in Hogsmeade doing interviews and meeting with the man I hired to renovate the new shop."

An entire day apart…she wasn't fond of that idea in the least.

"Can't I come with you?" Luna stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout. "I have lots of good idea's you know, Dad always said I am a wonderful decorator."

George turned to her, his hands on either side of the wall by her head, and then leaned in close. "Wonderful idea, but…I actually need to get some work done."

Luna sighed as if she were being horribly put upon…in a way she felt as if she were. A day apart from George felt like the worst thing anyone could do to her. "I suppose if I have to stay in Diagon Alley…"

"If you're with me …" George nuzzled her cheek with his nose and whispered in her ear. "…how will I shop for your Christmas present?"

"Oh no!" Luna pushed against him so they were facing one another. "No, no more presents. You already got me one."

"That's not a gift, the skates were a necessity."

"George!" Luna gave him the stubborn you're-not-going-to-win look…George wasn't buying it, not this time.

He kissed her, and then flashed a grin that Luna remembered from the past … it was reminiscent of the grin he and Fred wore the day they exploded a swamp in the fifth floor corridor at Hogwarts. He leaned forward again and then whispered in her ear. "Stop me if you can."

With a devilish wink George turned away and left her standing on the stairwell.

"Oh…just…just lovely." Luna whispered in annoyance. "You are so not going to get away with this George Weasley."

Mildly fuming, Luna went up the remaining stairs, still glaring at the dark stairs above. George was up there, just a above where she stood now…and she was pretty sure she could hear him laughing at her. If not for the fact that she had been raised better, Luna would have loved to follow him, to bang on the bedroom door, and then make it perfectly clear that their discussion was far from over. As much as she hated it at the moment…she had been raised better, there was no getting around it.

Luna stepped into the dark bedroom and used her wand to light the lamps. She stood still, her head tilted towards the ceiling to see if she could hear anything through the floorboards from the bedroom above hers. Once again, she was fairly sure she heard laughing.

"Urgh." Luna tossed her wand on the table in irritation and pulled the blankets back on the bed. She pulled her nightgown out of her bag, tossing her dirty clothes atop it and sliding into the soft flannel gown, and then slid between the crisp cotton sheets.

If Luna knew one thing about George Weasley it was that he was going to do whatever he wanted, no matter how frustrated she got with him… and so trying to talk him out of it would be an exercise in futility…but that didn't mean she had to like it. It wasn't that she didn't think it was sweet, and she was totally charmed…it was just a bit overwhelming. Luna wasn't used to so much attention…and George had been giving her nothing but attention since the moment they had run across one another in Diagon Alley. Obviously though, it was something she needed to get used to.

Luna sighed and rolled over to stare out the window. If the past was any indication, whatever he got her was sure to be extravagant. There was no stopping that either.

Maybe though… just maybe… she could beat him at his own game. Her lips curved into a smile and she rolled over to stare out the window at the falling snow…her mind flooding with plans for sweet retribution.

Chapter Nine Preview

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George and Luna

endure the most wonderful part of the season...

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

But what do you get for that special

someone for whom you want to give everything

they've ever dreamed of?

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