Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Hmm, reviews were down last chapter and it was my favorite chapter of the story so far! :( My sad! Are people losing interest or just busy? Last week was my birthday too. :( Maybe it is time to refresh the Imperious curse. "IMPERIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Review Review Review!

For those who are also reading The Year After...I am off to work on chapter 19 now. I had a family crisis this past week and I was able to get next to no writing done...I apologize for this. I will get the next chapter up as soon as possible. -CJ

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Snow Angels

Chapter Eleven

Traditions

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Luna felt herself eased from sleep by the sensation of being watched. There was no danger in the feeling, not even the slightest bit of unpleasantness, just a touch of oddness. Despite this feeling she was reluctant to open her eyes, her dreams had been so sweet, so very, very beautiful. In her dream, George Weasley was in love with her and said that he wanted to marry her someday; he had even given her a silver and garnet promise ring.

It couldn't be real of course, it was just a lovely dream, it had to be. Luna knew full well that people thought she was strange…Loony they called her, Loony Lovegood. George Weasley's did not fall in love with the Loony Lovegoods of the world, whether they were really loony or not.

It was the nature of dreams, particularly sweet ones, that they did not want to let go. They could be so cruel at times, heartbreakingly beautiful and they often seemed so real…but in the end they were just illusions. Waking…the realization that it hadn't been real was like a punch to the heart with a flaming fist. Luna knew this well; she felt it every time she dreamed her mother and father were still alive, only to wake and find that it had all been a dream…it was the most brutal form of blasphemy.

Yet this awakening felt oddly different. As she became more alert the dream refused to fade, if anything, it became more real.

And then she felt it… soft, warm fingers brushing over her cheek bone, warm breath on her cheek.

"Merry Christmas."

Her eyes flew open and it hit her then… it hadn't been a dream at all…the dream was real!

"George!" She sat straight up in bed, her eyes as big as quaffles. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't say a word but kissed her instead, then he pulled back and smiled. "I came to tell my …" He stumbled for a moment, trying to find the appropriate word.

"promised…Merry Christmas."

"Promised?" Luna couldn't help it, he was trying so hard to be sweet and romantic, but it was just so … funny. She started to laugh, and then laughed harder and harder, until she fell back on the bed.

"If you can do better…" George rolled his eyes and sat next to her, picked up the ends of her braids and tugged them. "… you figure out what I am supposed to refer to you as."

A look of pure mortification crossed her face as she realized how she must look. Luna tugged her braids out of his fingers, pulled the ties off the ends, and then began to finger comb out the long plaits.

"Promised is fine." She blushed and pushed her way down to the end of the bed, slid out and then went to her bag for her brush.

"Does your mum know you are in here?" She turned to him with a mischievous grin. "Wouldn't want to see a repeat incident now would we?"

"Actually smarty pants." He reached down onto the floor and picked up a squishy, bright silver package. "She sent me up here to give you this, and to tell you breakfast is almost ready."

"Oh." Luna sat next to him on the bed and began running the brush through her hair. "Presents, already?"

"This isn't just any present." He picked up her hand and kissed her fingers just above the garnet ring. "This is a special one."

"So, I should open it…"

"Yes, now." George laughed and pulled the brush out of her hand. "And just so you know, you'll be expected to wear it now too. It's tradition."

"Oh...okay." Nervously she pulled the package out of his hands and put it in her lap. She worked slowly, peeling off the seals and ribbon.

"What is this? You ripped into mine like the hounds of hell." George teased. "Come on, breakfast is getting cold."

Luna relented and tore into the package, inside was a soft midnight blue sweater.

"I knew it would be blue." George sighed and picked up the long fluffy sleeve. "Mum always knows what color will look best."

"She does?"

He closed his eyes, then began reciting as if from a list while he counted each off on his fingers. "Scarlet for dad, brown for Bill, tan for Charlie, grey for Percy, cream for me and Fred, maroon for Ron, mauve for Ginny, red for Hermione, green for Harry, pink for Fleur…and now" He smiled contentedly "Blue for Luna."

"She does this every year?" Luna smiled, happily brushing her fingers over the soft fluffy wool "That's so sweet."

"Your very first Weasley sweater." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "So, lets see it then." He pulled it away and held it up and Luna's breath caught….

…stitched on the front was an angel.

"Did you tell her?" She turned to him, an expression on her face that was somewhere between pleased and embarrassed.

"I didn't…but" His eyes were as wide as hers. Then he grinned, lifted her hand and traced over the angels with a finger. "…she saw your ring."

He shook his head "Mum always knows."

"They have a way of doing that don't they?" Luna smiled dreamily, her eyes a million miles away. "Dad always knew what I was thinking, sometimes even before I did."

"Fred and I were like that too. We always had a connection that felt like it was more than brothers."

"You weren't just brothers, you were twins." Luna smiled and put her hand over his. "What you have here, this huge wonderful family, is so beautiful and so precious…I envy you. You don't know what's like to grow up an only child. It could be so…lonely at times. Dad did the best he could, he spoiled me rotten, but I would have liked to have had a sister to share secrets with, or a brother who went out of his way to annoy me." She sighed and looked away. "I watch all of you and it's so beautiful and wonderful…it makes me feel a little jealous."

George watched the emotion flicker across her face while he tried to imagine Luna's childhood. A sad image came to mind …a tiny girl with blonde hair and sad silvery blue eyes, sitting in a room all alone surrounded with toys but no one to share them with.

His own childhood had been so loud, he and Fred had been like the eye of the storm, damaging nearly everything that lay in their path. They had terrorized Ron and Percy, idolized Ginny and looked up to Bill and Charlie with awe and respect…not that it protected any of them from a practical joke. When it came to having a laugh, Fred and George played no favorites…not even their parents were exempt.

One of the most amazing things about his family, the thing he loved the most about them in fact, was that they had good, kind hearts. Harry Potter had been one of them since the first moment Ron had sat across from him on the Hogwarts express and though her relationship with Ron had had its moments of incivility, Hermione had become one of them the night Ron fought a mountain troll on her behalf. As big as the Weasley family was…there was always room for more.

"You don't have to be jealous." He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. "You're one of us now."

Luna smiled up at him wanly "You keep saying that."

"Because it's true." He lifted her chin until their eyes met. "Have you missed all the teasing since you've been here? How they have been antagonizing the both of us? That's what brothers and sisters do to one another, it means your one of us." He reached down and teased the ring on her finger "This only makes it a little more official."

Luna smiled and then groaned. "They're going to be revolting about it, aren't they?"

"Oh yes." George laughed softly and let her go, standing to go to the door. "Yes they are." He turned around again and grinned "I don't so much mind that they will be teasing us about being together. Hell, let them tease me about it, I'm a far cry from being embarrassed about it."

"Me either." Luna raised her chin and stood, her face set bravely.

George nodded and opened the door. " It's all that gloating about having been right that's going to be a right pain in the arse."

He winked, stepped out and closed the door.

Luna fell back on the bed with a deep sigh. She had been awake less then thirty minutes and already this was shaping up to be one of the best Christmas's of her life. She thought back to five days before, the day the ministry official had met her when she came off the Hogwarts Express. Because it was the first Christmas after the war, no one was staying behind and none of the Prefects would be there to stay in Ravenclaw Tower. Even Professor Flitwick would be gone, off to spend the holiday with his sister and brother so staying behind at Hogwarts wasn't an option.

Professor McGonagall, the new Headmistress, had made arrangements with the ministry to find her a flat in Diagon Alley… she was close enough to being seventeen that no one felt she needed to be placed with a guardian for the short two week holiday…besides, she would need a place to live when she finished in the spring.

The first few days had been fun and exciting, decorating and furnishing her new flat had been an exhilarating challenge. Her father had raised her to be thrifty and money wise, so despite the fact that she could have done everything by catalog …tapped a few pages and had everything appear…she haunted thrift stores and second hand furniture stores. Still, that could only last so long…eventually, she ran out of things to do.

The ministry official who came daily to check on her never lingered long, a quarter of a hour at the most. She was a starchy, stiff woman anyway… not someone Luna could draw into interesting conversations. Luna stopped trying the day she looked at Luna like she was insane and started scribbling notes in her folder when she asked if they might put a special screen in the fireplace to keep out Fire Eating Wigglewhams.

During the day she busied herself by going out and walking among the busy shoppers. She bought roasted chestnuts and hot frothy Butterbeer in the Leaky Cauldron, losing herself in the observations of the people around her. One day, she had wandered into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because she had been thinking about buying a pygmy puff … thinking maybe a companion would help erase some of the loneliness. She had even caught a glimpse of George, struggling with some boxes in the back. Ginny and the others hadn't been in that day and when she glanced in the tank where the pygmy puffs were supposed to be, the tank was empty and she left empty handed.

Night time was the worst. There was no one to talk to, nothing to do and no where to go. Diagon Alley became eerily quiet once the shops closed down for the night so there were no people to watch from her windows. She had no neighbors, her friends were spread around the countryside and she'd had no idea that Ginny and the others were working in George's shop…she certainly didn't know George well enough to attempt a conversation with him. He and Fred had been so popular, so larger than life.

That was why she was so shocked to turn and find that it was him that had been following her around Diagon Alley. She had been tempted for days to go out and walk at night…it was something to do at least, but she had been warned that there might still be death eaters in the area. Luna had always loved snow and once it started falling…it was just too much to resist. She loved the feel of the cold biting her nose, the tickle of the flakes hitting her cheeks as she walked and her hair blowing in the breeze. She was loving every minute of it…

…until she sensed that someone was following her.

She quickened her step, anxious to get back to the main district and back to her flat. As she neared the play park, she dared a glance back and saw that he had closed the distance…and then, he called out to her.

Nothing could have prepared her for the fact that it was George Weasley…THE George Weasley behind her. All of this was like a dream come true, but not…because even as dreamy as she was, Luna would never have dared to dream that she would be promised to George Weasley.

Luna sat up again, giggling over the silly description of their commitment. George had a point though, what else were they supposed to call it?

"Luna!" Ginny banged loudly on the door and stuck her head inside. "Breakfast is getting cold, come on."

Luna looked up, a silly grin on her face as she quickly hid her left hand in the folds of her first Weasley sweater. She was no more ashamed than George was…but she was in no hurry for the teasing to start either. "I'm coming, just need to get dressed."

"Let's see it." Ginny laughed and stepped in wearing a beautiful mauve sweater decorated with white poinsettia leaves.

"What?" Luna flinched and her hand clenched into a fist. "See what?"

"Your Weasley sweater."

"Oh." Luna laughed with relief, slid her hand out of the sweater and handed it to Ginny with her right hand, sliding her left into the folds of the blankets. Ginny held the sweater up and appraised it, shaking her head.

"What is it with you and angels?" Ginny smiled and handed the sweater back. "It always seems to be about angels with you."

Luna smiled dreamily, a flash of memories from that first night in her mind. George's face as he reached out and brushed a bit of hair out of her face, the striking sight of snowflakes in his red hair and the way he smiled when she handed him half of her poinsettia pin. The memories were so sweet she felt like she could cry again. Like how she wanted to cry when he took her hand, the feel of his lips on her cheek…the adorable blush on his cheek when he told her he had thought she was an angel sent from heaven to ease his pain. All of it had lead her to where she was now, and teasing or not, she wasn't going to be embarrassed by it.

Luna raised her left hand from the blankets and lifted it to take the sweater back; Ginny's widened eyes making Luna giggle.

"Yes, It certainly seems so."

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Despite continuous stares, the group assembled around the Weasley's breakfast table said nothing about the addition to Luna's finger. On the part of the male members, it was perhaps because they didn't realize the significance. Arthur knew that it was a promise ring, Molly had attempted to explain the concept, but it was a hazy sort of thing…a little like knowing that muggles had ingenious devices that allowed them to fly as if they had brooms…yet he had no idea of what made them work. Ron, Harry, Percy and Charlie had no concept of promise rings and so, had no idea why Hermione, Ginny and Molly…who did know what they were ….were grinning so dreamily when they looked at the ring. Also, for some reason, George and Luna couldn't stop blushing. This, the men figured, was likely because they had stayed up later than the others and so had probably put in some serious overtime under the mistletoe.

Somehow, the confusion only increased the merriment around the table. There was of course, the joy of Percy's return to the table in his Weasley sweater. This didn't erase the sadness caused by the Weasley sweater that was missing…but it did go a long way towards easing the pain. All had come into the holidays with a sense of dread, they had barely began to feel a sense of normalcy again and feared the season would tear the scabs off once again. It was partly true, more than once during breakfast they found themselves looking around the table, almost as if they were looking for the missing face. Their faces would lower to their laps for a moment, just long enough to take a deep breath and regain their strength. Always, a hand found it's way into theirs, offering comfort and understanding.

It was after one of these times, just after Luna had reached over and taken his had in hers, that George stood and picked up his orange juice.

"Everybody, I have an announcement to make."

Luna blanched…surely he wasn't going to…

"Luna and I are together."

Luna breathed a deep sigh of relief…announcing they were together was much better than announcing they were promised…there were sure to be less questions involved.

"Thought you had an announcement." Percy rolled his eyes

Hermione grinned "Tell us something we don't know."

Ron turned to Harry, a huge grin on his face. "You owe me a galleon, hand it over."

"No way." Harry replied "The bet was by breakfast, we're at the end of breakfast. You owe me."

"Aww." Ron dug in his pocket and pulled out a coin, then handed it to Harry with a sour look on his face. "Couldn't you have been a bit faster George?"

George looked around, aghast. His eyes fell on Ginny and Hermione…he was fairly sure he saw Hermione hand Ginny something under the table too.

"You bet on us?" Luna looked at them, flabbergasted. "That's so.."

"Mean?" George added on "I'm shocked."

Harry looked at George as if he were the worlds biggest hypocrite "You ran a betting pool when I was in the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"That was different." George shrugged

Ginny lowered him with a look "You bet against him."

"Not where it really mattered." George grinned, he was totally busted and he knew it. "Not in spirit."

"Karma's a bitch George." Charlie grinned "Get used to it."

"Watch your mouth." Molly shook her finger around the table. "And stop teasing your brother, I should think you would all be nicer; it's Christmas."

"Thank you Mum." George smiled triumphantly, unable to stop himself from smirking smugly at the others. He rose from the table, taking Luna by the hand. "Now if you'll excuse us, I think I would like to go for a skate with my promised. ..Alone." He stressed the last word…knowing Molly would assure that it stay that way.

They left them sitting, the men confused, the women eyes wide with curiosity. George knew they were going to pay for his being so flippant…but later. Right now, he wanted some time alone with Luna. Besides, let his mum explain the concept…she was a lot more patient than he was.

He helped her into her cloak, then grabbed their skates on the way out the door. Hand in hand they walked through the snow to the pond in the back.

"So…that went well." Luna grinned "I can't believe they made bets on us."

"I can." George laughed. "They were right, it's the exactly what Fred and I would have done. How can I be mad when they learned by our example?"

"That's terrible."

"I know, I feel so wretched over it."

Luna looked over at George, if his grin was any indication…he wasn't feeling that wretched.

"Liar, liar pant's on fire, hanging from a Flameroot Spire."

"I know." George, not quite ready to ask what a Flameroot Spire was, pulled out his wand and began blowing snow off the pond. "Isn't it terrible?"

Luna took out her wand and moved to his side, blowing snow in the other direction. "Despicable."

"Well, if you really feel that way maybe I should…" George stopped abruptly, his eyes on the house.

"Should what?" Luna turned back "George?"

"We're being watched." He shifted around so his back was to the house. "They're all at the windows, stuck there like those window sticky things you see in muggle shops."

Luna turned towards the house and sure enough, two windows were filled with Weasley's, a Potter and a Granger. George felt a flash of annoyance that he didn't dwell on. 'It could be worse' he reasoned, at least his parent's weren't there.

"Well, if they are going to watch, maybe we should give them something to see then." Luna grinned and moved closer to the edge of the pond so she was in better view. An only child her entire life, Luna wasn't used to so much invasion of her privacy and quite honestly, she was fed up with it. It was time for a little pay back. "Come here George."

George's heart thudded in his chest; this was so unlike Luna…usually she was much shyer, but he wasn't about to turn down a kiss…even if she was about to blatantly kiss him in front of everyone. Then again, it was something they would need to get used to. Now that were out in the open, he planned on getting a lot more use out of that mistletoe.

"Take your cloak off." She ordered when he reached her side. "And do what I do."

Nervously, George pulled his cloak off, tossing it to join Luna's on the snow bank next to the pond. This didn't seem like it was going to be what he thought it was. Luna turned around so that her back was to the window and gave George a wink…and then she dropped her pants…flashing their onlookers on a full moon.

George's eyes went huge…then he laughed loudly, and followed her lead.

Inside the house, one by one each face turned a spectacular shade of red. Ginny and Hermione were horrified, the last thing they had ever wanted to see was George's bare butt…and they weren't particularly thrilled with seeing Luna's either. The males didn't mind seeing Luna's too much…but George's…well, that dimmed out any enjoyment they might have derived from seeing Luna's.

They stepped away from the window and let the curtains fall closed. Through the small gap, Ginny just caught sight of them pulling their pants back into place and sliding away on the pond, laughing and holding their stomachs. None of them were able to move, they were stunned silent and immobile.

"What in the world." Molly looked from Charlie on the end, to Hermione on the other. "What's gotten into you?"

"Erm…" Harry gave a half turn and pointed to the curtains.

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

Ginny, Ron, Charlie and Hermione were stunned speechless, instead they stood...red faced and gulping.

"Mum." Percy spoke in a semi-whine "George and Luna mooned us."

"They what?"

"You know…" Harry spoke, his face a surprising shade of green. "Flashed us their bums."

Molly stepped to the window to look out.

"Don't look out there mum!" Ron warned, stepping in front of the gap to protect his mothers innocent eyes. "It's scary!"

Molly shoved him out of the way and pulled the curtain apart. All she saw was George and Luna, sitting side by side on a fallen log putting on their skates. Just before she turned away from the window, George leaned over and kissed her, Luna reached up, brushing her fingers over his cheek lovingly. After all the sadness and pain Molly knew George had suffered over the past months, to see him so happy was enough to make her cry.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but even if they did, it's nothing more than you deserve. You just leave your brother and Luna to themselves." Molly pulled away from the window, her eyes misty. "You lot just think about this, how would you feel if it was you out there with everyone watching."

Molly left them standing by the window, sure that she had them well cowed. "Let's get the table cleared and this kitchen cleaned up, I need to get dinner started or we'll be eating at midnight."

The assembled at the window looked at one another, then with guilty hearts, went into the kitchen.

"You're crazy, you know that?" George was laughing so hard he was having trouble lacing his skates. "I mean that in a totally complimentary way of course."

"Don't get the wrong idea George, I don't normally go about flashing my buttocks at people." She giggled, trying to force the end of the lace into the tiny hole. Her aim was off thanks to the giggle induced shaking of her shoulders. "Only people who deserve it."

"Have many people deserved it?"

"No, they were the first." Luna finally succeeded in threading her skate and tied it into a neat bow, then looped the bow over to double knot it. "But they were doubly deserving."

"So they got two moons." George finished his own skate and stood and offered his hand.

"You know George." Luna took the offered hand and rose to her feet. "My name means moon, so, they can now say they were mooned by the moon."

"I love the way you think." He shook his head, a little nervous by his use of the 'L' word, but not about to let it ruin the moment. "It's just so…"

"Loony?"

"No." A stab of sadness went through him. Her use of her school nickname was a reminder…very soon Luna would be leaving, going back to Hogwarts where she wasn't always treated very nice. Not only was he going to miss her, but she was going to be in a place where she might be unhappy. "You shouldn't call yourself that."

"Other people do."

"They're morons."

"Of course they are." Luna smiled and stepped onto the ice. "That's why what they say doesn't bother me. Dad always told me the only opinions that matter are our own and those of the people who are important to us.

"I've never had a lot of friends and I suppose in part that's because people think I am loony, but the truth is…I could have denied my beliefs a long time ago in order to fit in. I could have changed the way I dress, I could have been just like everyone else and had lots of friends. Thing is… they wouldn't have been real friends. They wouldn't have liked me for who I really was; they would have liked me for someone I wasn't.

"My real friends, as annoying as they can be sometimes…" She nodded towards the house, an amused grin on her face. "I know they really care about me, so that is the only opinion that matters."

She smiled then and reached down and took his hands in hers. "And yours."

George sighed and pulled her into his arms. Not for the first time, he wondered how he could have been so blind that he hadn't seen her before. He wished that they had come together before this, when Fred was still alive. He knew Fred would have liked Luna had he had a chance to know her. Under the strange surface that the world saw, she was just a normal girl trying to make sense of a world in chaos. But she was more, funnier than many, sweeter than most, kinder than almost all…at least those that he had known.

The words were closer to the surface than ever before, harder to hold back; George knew it wouldn't be long now before they came out. It wasn't about weeks anymore, it was about days…maybe even hours. Her words had erased the barriers, now his heart refused to deny the words. He loved her…he loved her with his whole heart, and even though they had only been together a short time, he knew they were meant to be together. Meant for forever.

George pulled back slightly and brushed her cheek with his thumb, then he smiled down at her, his eyes misty.

"Merry Christmas Luna."

Luna felt like her heart was going to explode. It was a good thing George had his arms around her, when he looked at her like that, her knees went weak. It was the look that made it nearly impossible to hold back the words that she knew it was far too soon to think…much less to say. Too soon or not, this Christmas morning, her heart was singing them loud and clear…a beautiful melody so sweet that it brought tears to her eyes. She loved him…she loved George Weasley so much her heart was going to explode into happy, singing pieces and take flight. She looked up at him and smiled, her arms tightening around him.

"Merry Christmas George."

George bent his head and their lips met, soft, lingering, and oh so very sweet. When he pulled back he wiped a tear from her cheek then pulled her into his arms again and pushed off into a backwards glide over the ice.

They would have to go inside soon, his parent's were sure to be livid over the mooning incident and there were still Christmas traditions that needed attention, but despite the big pile of Christmas gifts still waiting to be opened….

He had already been given the most precious gift of all.

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Chapter Twelve Preview

The day after Christmas, a

snowstorm forces George to face the past and leads

to an important moment.

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