Overdue, overlong HP Fic!! At Long Last my Luna Fic for LJ's Helmet Fest!!
Written for
helmet_fest2008
Title: Fallen From The Sky
Summary: Luna makes an unforgettable impression on her boyfriend’s family and their friends.
Rating: PG-13 (for some kissin’)
Warning: Just a LOT of fluff
Pairing: Luna/George
Word Count: A whopping 7,272!!
Prompt: Luna meets her significant other’s family for the first time, and it is not likely an event that will ever be forgotten by anyone in attendance.
Author’s Note: I want to apologize to everyone in the
helmet_fest2008comm, who had to wait such a long time for this fic - in particular to the person who submitted the prompt. As to why this took so long, I can only claim a crazy summer in RL and a plot bunny that kept whispering more ideas to me….Since it’s so late, at least it’s substantial!! It took me so long to finish that I’ve lost all sense of perspective on how it has actually turned out, but I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you all enjoy!! (Oh, and Neville and Charlie get brief featured mentions, since it took all of Neville and part of Charlie’s months for me to get this done!!)
Early June, 1999, the Great Hall of Hogwarts…
The warm morning sunshine of an early summer day spilled lazily through the high arched windows of Hogwarts’ Great Hall, splashing brightly over the four House tables inside. Breakfast dishes reflected a golden glow, students’ robe clasps and bag buckles flashed blindingly in the light as their owners walked between the tables, and owls were criss-crossed with latticework patterns as they hung suspended in the air before swooping down to make their deliveries. And at the far end of the Gryffindor table this glorious morning light burnished the hair of three seventh year girls, surrounding each of their heads with a nimbus of color. The three sat, heads bent together in conversation as they ate, one with locks of blazing copper, one tawny chestnut, and the last a shimmery platinum blonde.
It was the Saturday that fell in the middle of the two weeks of final exams, O.W.L.s, and N.E.W.T.s, and as breakfast drew to a close most students were preparing to head to the library or their common rooms for more revising - though a few looked to be making a break for the doors and the beautiful weather outside.
A few students, Ginny Weasley included, had brought their textbooks with them to breakfast. Currently she was scowling at her Potions notes while taking occasional bites of her scrambled eggs. Hermione Granger, surprisingly, was not studying; instead she was reading through the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. Luna Lovegood was not reading anything at the moment. She was simply enjoying the warmth of the sunshine as it fell on her shoulders and observing the goings on of her fellow students. She had joined Ginny and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, as had become common for her on weekend mornings, and was taking the time to enjoy one of the last Saturday mornings of her time at Hogwarts before diving into the stack of revising work she’d left back in her dormitory.
“Eeeurgh,” Ginny grunted, shoving away her notes in disgust. “I cannot believe that Slughorn is seriously making us review every bit of our practical potion-making from fifth year forward. It is cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Actually Ginny,” Hermione began, “I think Professor Slughorn is going a bit easy on us. I heard that Professor Snape used to slip in a randomly selected potion from any year on the practical - in addition to the three N.E.W.T levels you have to brew…so you had to review all seven years just in case.”
Ginny grimaced briefly, but then she looked intently at Hermione for a moment and smirked. “You revised for all seven anyway, didn’t you?”
Hermione declined to answer, but her cheeks were tinted slightly pink as she returned to reading the paper. All was quiet for another few moments when Luna suddenly noticed a very small, very speedy owl flying erratically towards them with a late post delivery. Pigwidgeon landed on the table in front of them - skidding a bit where someone had dribbled their juice - and came to an ungainly halt in front of Ginny’s plate.
“Ooo,” he cooed cheerfully.
“Oh come here you,” Ginny said, reaching out to take three small rolled scrolls from Pig’s outstretched leg. “Hm…there’s one here for you, Hermione…and you too, Luna.”
Ginny handed out the messages, then unfurled hers and scanned the contents. She held two pieces of parchment in her hand; one looked like a party invitation, the other was a quickly scrawled note. Ginny glanced at this first. “Huh, it’s from George.”
“Really?” Luna asked. Outwardly, she showed no sign that anything was unusual about this but her stomach fluttered, the anticipation making her feel as though several Billywigs had taken up residence inside.
Ginny continued reading aloud, “he says that Mum asked Ron if she could borrow Pig to send out party invitations, but Ron and Harry have been too busy with their training this week so he sent them for her.” Ginny snorted. “How unusually helpful of him.”
She discarded George’s note and the three girls opened Molly’s invitations, each reading silently for a moment. As Luna unrolled her parchment, a smaller piece of paper fell out. Though it appeared to be blank, she quickly scooped it up. Her eagerness only increased, because she knew the scrap of paper carried an invisible message for her from George, and she couldn’t wait to find a moment alone to reveal and read it.
“How lovely of your mum, Ginny!” Hermione exclaimed. “She’s asked me to bring my parents along too.” Luna finally looked more closely at her own invitation, seeing that it was for a party to be held at the Burrow in three weeks’ time to celebrate Ginny and Hermione’s graduation, and Harry and Ron’s formal instatement in the Auror department. At the bottom of the invitation, Mrs. Weasley had jotted a short note - Luna dear, please be sure to ask your father to join us as well!
Luna was delighted and made a mental note to owl her father later. She tucked her invitation into her schoolbag, but continued to hold onto the other, blank parchment. I can’t wait any longer! Quickly excusing herself to Ginny and promising that she would meet Hermione in the library in half an hour to revise for their Charms N.E.W.T., Luna exited the Great Hall as quickly as she could without arousing suspicion.
She went directly to her room and searched her nightstand for the Revealer she kept there. It was a special Wheezes Revealer, charmed only to work for her and only on messages sent using George’s special ink. He had made it just for her, and it looked exactly like an extra-large Dirigible Plum.
Finally locating the Revealer under a pile of recent editions of the Quibbler, she quickly rubbed it over the seemingly blank paper. The message that finally appeared in bright magenta ink was brief, but enticing:
I’ll find you in Hogsmeade at 1 o’clock next Saturday. I can’t wait to see you. I’ve got a big surprise.
~*~
One week later, the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year…
The week had passed very strangely for Luna. Sometimes the hours seemed to crawl so slowly she could barely stand it, especially because she wasn’t able to share the source of her frustration with her friends. Other times, especially when she was revising or actually taking her N.E.W.T.s, days passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
When the following Saturday finally arrived, Luna set off down the path ahead of most of her fellow students. She could no longer contain her eagerness to see George. I wonder what his surprise could be. If Luna were fully honest with herself, she was a little bit nervous as well as excited.
She and George had been seeing one another in secret since the Christmas holidays when they had struck up a conversation over a couple of butterbeers at an impromptu gathering of past-and-present Hogwarts students at the Leaky Cauldron. He had quite gallantly offered to protect her from the most definitely Nargle-infested mistletoe that had been strung up all over the tavern, and they found themselves still there chatting and laughing with one another long after most of the other partygoers had gone home. He had offered to Side-Along with her to her doorstep due to the lateness of the hour, and Luna had accepted. She fondly remembered what had happened next.
They arrived at her home a little after one in the morning, Luna Apparating with a soft pop and George with a much louder crack that resounded in the crisp early morning air.
“Thank you for the lovely evening, George,” she said, smiling as she turned to face him. “It was awfully nice of you to see me home, though I don’t think I was in danger from the Nargles any longer.”
“No, I don’t reckon you were,” he replied with a smile of his own. “To be honest, I just didn’t want to say goodnight yet…I had a really nice time tonight, Luna. And I was wondering…” He looked at her intently and took both of her hands in his, rubbing her knuckles with the pads of his thumbs.
“Yes George?”
“Well, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I…” again he trailed off, but this time it was because he had leaned in and kissed her slowly, releasing her hands and bringing one of his up to cup her face gently. When they parted, his cheeks were flushed a shade of pink that Luna found immensely appealing.
“Oh,” she breathed, “that’s something new.”
George appeared startled. “You mean you’d never…?”
“No…I- no…”
He ducked his head, a wide smile spreading lazily across his features. “Well then,” he said, “I’m honored that you let me.”
“Well,” she said, “Of course I let you. I have been waiting for about two years, you know.”
“Waiting? For me?” He looked even more flummoxed than when she had said she’d never been kissed before.
“Oh yes,” she nodded seriously. “But don’t worry George, you’re right on schedule.” And with that, Luna curled her fingers tightly in the wisps of hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him down gently for a second kiss. Just before their lips met, she heard him chuckle lightly - to Luna’s ears it was a sound of stunned disbelief mixed with astonished, but honest, admiration.
It was a sound that as recently as the previous May, she had feared George Weasley would never be happy enough to make again. That he could laugh so freely again, here with her, filled Luna’s heart with warmth and a fierce joy.
This kiss was the culmination of everything she’d wanted, everything she’d hoped - no known - was coming since the moment she’d first seen him and felt that prickle of primal recognition race through her.
This kiss was the culmination, but Luna knew it was also merely the beginning.
And so it had been. They had spent a little more time together that evening on her front steps, talking and snogging. George Apparated away with a promise to owl her the next day. He kept his promise, and over the rest of the holidays they found ways to see each other several times.
Once they went for a long walk in the fields around Ottery St. Catchpole and Luna pointed out some of her favorite places to look for unusual creatures. Another time Luna helped George take inventory at the shop while Ron was taking Hermione out for the evening. One day they visited the village’s Wizarding cemetery and left flowers for Fred and for Luna’s mum. And still another time, George spent the afternoon at Luna’s house while her father was out for several hours hunting down a lead for a Quibbler story. They went sledding on the steep hill behind her house that day, and when they were too cold to stay outside any longer she made cocoa for them from her mother’s family recipe. Some of these times they snogged, sometimes they were silly together and sometimes they were serious, but through all of it, they talked.
On some instinctive plane, Luna had always felt that she knew George, but the time they spent together over the holidays expanded her feelings for him in ways she had only dreamed of. He seemed to need her too, seeking her out when time with his noisy, boisterous family became too overwhelming. Luna knew he loved them all, but she also understood all too well that sometimes after a great loss the things that are most familiar to you are the things that are the most painful. If she was George’s solace - if she got him to smile even slightly the way he used to - then she was happy.
They hadn’t intended to keep their relationship secret from everyone. In the very beginning, they had hidden on it on purpose because neither of them was really sure exactly what was going on between them. Also, at the beginning George was still grieving too deeply for Fred and Luna knew that it would take time for him to fully open his heart. Their time together during the Christmas holidays had a kind of idyllic quality to it, but neither of them were certain if the fragile bonds between them would last after Luna returned to school for the spring term.
They quickly discovered that their feelings didn’t wane despite the separation, but by that point they had kept the secret so long that revealing it seemed too difficult, especially while they were carrying on the relationship long-distance. And so it became a kind of game with them to see how creative they could be in finding ways to keep their relationship a secret. They both thrilled to the challenge of trying to outdo one another and so they found more and more innovative ways to stay in touch and continue to see each other as the months rolled on into spring.
She and George often exchanged notes by owl, sometimes using the special invisible ink as he had for his most recent message. Once, the week after Luna returned to Hogwarts, she received a note from George asking her to dress warmly and be in the Ravenclaw common room the following morning at 2 a.m. She had complied with the strange instructions, finding him hovering just outside the common room window on his broomstick.
They had gone for an all-too-brief, entirely-too-cold, completely wonderful fly above the school grounds. It had snowed the day before, and the entire landscape was blanketed in crisp, white drifts. George had kissed her so deeply she thought she almost might slide off the broomstick. That night was among Luna’s most treasured memories.
Often, they had managed to meet during Hogsmeade weekends. One would send the other a message with a predetermined meeting time and a place that was away from the prying eyes of Luna’s fellow students and the town’s residents. Usually, Luna would walk to their favorite clearing in the trees that bordered the town and George would Apparate there to meet her. Sometimes they would go for a walk in the fringes of the Forbidden Forest, other times George would Side-Along Luna to a place he wanted to share with her, and on other occasions they would simply set privacy spells around the clearing, conjure a fire, and stay there all afternoon.
After several months of this writing back and forth and snatching time together whenever they could, both Luna and George had realized that they weren’t going to give each other up anytime soon. And, happy though they were to be together, they now had a problem on their hands…how would they break the news to the Weasleys and Luna’s father? Neither of them wanted their loved ones to be hurt that they had kept the relationship secret, but they hadn’t yet thought of the best way to bring it up.
We’ll have to think of something soon…when the school year ends, I don’t want to have to hide this anymore…
Luna whistled a slightly off-key tune to herself as she turned all of these memories and thoughts over in her mind. Before she knew it she had arrived at the center of Hogsmeade’s main street, not too far away from where Zonko’s stood, still boarded up as it had been for some time now. She paused and looked quickly around her. George’s last message had been unusual…normally, she would know where and how to meet him beforehand. She fiddled with the sleeves of her robes and waited, thinking of his cryptic note. I’ll find you in Hogsmeade at 1 o’clock…
Suddenly, a movement a little distance ahead of her caught Luna’s eye. A small, silvery shape was peeking around the corner of Zonko’s old shop. It quickly bounded out, crossed the street, and scampered up to Luna so she could see that it was a mischievous looking squirrel monkey; when it reached the spot just in front of Luna’s feet, the Patronus opened its small mouth and spoke to her in George’s voice.
Follow me…
~*~
Luna smiled as she followed the small monkey along the street, and she laughed outright as it performed a quick somersault as it went around the corner of Zonko’s old building. The Patronus led her around to the back door of the shop which, unlike the front door and most of the windows, was not boarded up. In fact, it was actually ajar.
Watching as the little monkey squeezed in through the small crack where the door was not quite shut, Luna wondered if she should just go in or if she should knock. Well, it did tell me to follow it…she thought as she opted to simply push the door open. Zonko’s was quite dark inside, and she cast a quick Lumos so she wouldn’t trip over anything that still happened to be lying about.
As she stepped into the shop, Luna noted that it was not as dusty or dirty as she would have expected a place that had been closed for more than three years to be. She also thought she saw what looked like several new boxes stacked up along the wall towards the front of the room, but as the front windows were still boarded shut and her wandlight didn’t cast quite that far it was difficult to tell.
Before she could venture any further to try to get a better look she felt a presence behind her, and a pair of warm arms slipped around her waist. She was quickly enveloped in the scent of rainwater and peppermint; a scent that she would know anywhere. She spun around quickly, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him to her.
“George!”
“Hello love,” he smiled at her and bent his head to greet her with a kiss. It started out light and playful, but it quickly deepened and by the time he pulled away they were both slightly flushed and panting heavily. Luna felt distinctly dizzy and more than a little giddy. She took a small step away from George in order to regain her breath.
Looking around again, she began to see that the shop was in even better shape than she had thought upon first entering. Curious as always, she turned back to George.
“George?”
“Mmm?” he appeared to be still getting his breath back as well.
“Was this your ‘big surprise’?” she gestured around the interior of the shop with the tip of her wand. “Have you gone and bought Zonko’s after all?”
He came forward and took her free hand in his. “Can’t ever get anything by you, now can I?” He smiled at her and went on, “you got it in one. You are looking at the proud owner of the new Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes - due to open next September.”
“That’s wonderful George!! When did you decide to go ahead with it?” she asked wonderingly. Luna knew that George had been considering buying Zonko’s former site for quite some time. It had been something he’d wrestled with, and they’d talked about it often. Moving forward alone on something he had planned with Fred was extremely difficult for him, and Luna understood the struggle he’d gone through.
“A few weeks back. It…it was just time.”
“I’m so glad you’ve done it!! Can we look around a bit?” she started for the front of the store, still holding his hand, but George didn’t move and Luna was abruptly jerked to a halt. She turned back to face him questioningly. “George?”
“I’d be happy to show you around, love, not that there’s much to look at yet…but first I have something for you,” he ducked his head a little, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant. His cheeks were even faintly pink when he looked at her again. Luna thought that it was adorable. “It’s…erm, over here.”
He stepped aside slightly and it was at that moment that Luna noticed a small, white box sitting on what used to be the checkout counter, right next to the old register. The box was tied with a deep blue ribbon and it seemed to glow slightly in the dim shop, though Luna thought that that was probably just a trick of the light.
George tugged gently on the hand he was holding and Luna stepped up to the counter. She released George’s hand in order to pick up the box and pull off the ribbon. Just as she was about to lift off the lid, George blurted, “wait!”
She simply looked at him.
“Luna, before you open that I need to say…this is going to probably sound…um…well the thing is,” George sputtered around for a moment, but Luna waited calmly for him to organize his thoughts. Finally, he seemed to gain his bearings, and he continued. “Right. Right then. Y’see, the thing is this. This past year has been…well, you know it’s been rather a crap year for me…to put it mildly. But since Christmas my life has taken a distinct turn for the better, and pretty much all of that is down to you. I don’t think I can ever say what you’ve meant to me these last six months, love, but I hope that somehow you know….how much I love you,” His speech over, he leaned closer to her and briefly rested his cheek against her temple. They stood there for a moment together, simply sharing the quiet and breathing each other in, before George pulled back and gestured for her to continue opening the box.
Luna lifted the lid off gently to reveal a delicate silver ring nestled in the center. The band was made of infinite small silver strands that appeared to be woven together. In the very center, where most rings had a stone, there was a small round glass oval. As Luna looked at the ring more closely, she saw that behind the glass there was a depiction of the night sky in miniature, complete with a full moon. The scene was animated and as she watched, the moon set slowly and the sun rose in a blaze, turning the picture to daytime.
“This ring…it’s a promise. That I’ll always be there for you like you’ve been for me.”
“Oh George, I love you and I always will,” she sighed dreamily. “It’s beautiful…thank you.”
Luna understood George completely. Though this wasn’t an engagement ring, the covenant that bound them together pulsed within her as strong and as true as her heartbeat; and it had sparked to life deep in her soul long before last Christmas. She also understood better than most others would - perhaps even better than George himself - that when George promised always he didn’t just mean in this life. But now was not the time for discussing such weighty matters. It was the first time they had both named what they were feeling for one another as love, and in light of their mutual declaration Luna could think of a much more pleasing way to spend the afternoon.
She gazed at the ring and then back up at George, and with an innocent expression asked, “now Mr. Weasley, would you show me around the shop?” She was pretending to be serious, but she had an exceedingly difficult time keeping a mischievous grin off her face. She knew she had failed when George wrapped his arms around her and reeled her in close, bending his head low towards hers.
“Oh, I’ll show you the shop, alright Miss Lovegood,” he whispered in her ear before trailing a slow kiss along the patch of skin just behind it.
There was very little talking for quite some time. But eventually George did actually show her the rest of the shop. It was slightly smaller than the one in Diagon Alley, but the floor layout was more open, and the front window was wider. Luna could tell that when the boarding was removed, it would get the most wonderful late afternoon sunlight.
There was a lovely flat above the main part of the shop. It was in quite good shape despite a small cluster of Doxies that had taken up residence in the drapes of the back bedroom. Luna made a mental note to bring George some of her father’s supply of homemade Doxycide the next time she saw him.
After far too short an afternoon together, Luna kissed George goodbye and was about to slip out the back door when he caught her hand in his, pulling her back.
“I can’t believe I almost forgot, but I wanted to ask you if…well when you come for the party in a couple of weeks, I’d like to…uh, go public as it were.”
Luna was elated, but she was slightly nervous as well. Their relationship had been secret for so long and she wasn’t sure how their families would react to finding out that they’d been kept in the dark. She was fairly sure her father would be glad, but there was only one of him to worry about and there were an awful lot of Weasleys.
“Are you sure George?”
“I am…I’m ready to start doing normal things again, and buying this shop, introducing my family to my girlfriend…it’s normal…and I just, I don’t want-”
“-to hide anymore,” she finished for him before realizing the importance of what she had just done. For a moment they were both speechless, staring at one another; they both looked slightly shocked, and Luna’s face bore a trace of guilt and uncertainty, but George’s expression was harder to read. An indefinable something that mixed incomparable sadness with extreme joy flitted across his features briefly before being replaced with a genuine smile.
“Well,” he said, “that’s something new.”
It was then, hearing what she’d said to him at Christmas mirrored back to her, that she knew they really would be alright, come what may. That he would be alright someday. She smiled so widely at him that her cheeks began to hurt, “yes, let’s tell them at the party.” She couldn’t help but tease him a little though, saying “but if you want to be normal George, I think you’re in the wrong line of work.”
Luna stretched up on her tiptoes, pressed a quick kiss to George’s laughing mouth, and glided out the open door.
It was going to be a long two weeks…
~*~
Two weeks later, the Burrow…
Despite - or perhaps because of - the degree to which Luna was anticipating the Weasleys’ party, the two weeks since she’d seen George in Hogsmeade simply flew by and before she knew it, the day of the party had arrived.
She Apparated into the Weasleys’ backyard with a quiet pop. She was alone at the moment; her father would be along soon, as he had stayed at their home to wait for the current edition of The Quibbler to finish running through the printing press. As she looked around to see where everyone was, Luna carefully smoothed down her robes and then tucked her wand behind her ear. She wanted to make a good impression, so she had opted for robes rather than Muggle clothing; after all, even though she had met most of George’s family before, she hadn’t been his girlfriend then and that made everything different.
No one else was in the yard, but a long table was set out and covered in dish after dish of sumptuous-looking food. She could hear movement from inside the kitchen, and was about to head in that direction when she heard someone Apparate rather loudly behind her. She turned to find Neville standing nearby and holding a clay pot with a large odd-looking plant inside.
“Hullo Neville,” she said brightly.
“Oh! ’lo, Luna. Did you just get here?”
“Yes…oh, is that it?!” Luna had just gotten a good look at the plant Neville was carrying. It was medium-sized, but lumpy looking and had large, bulbous bumps dotted here and there across its surface. It looked almost exactly like a Mimbulus mimbletonia, but instead of being gray the skin was variegated in color with alternating stripes of light and dark green. The bumps were also dark green and some of them seemed to pulse a bit.
“Yeah…I’m calling it the Mimbulus mimblemintia for now, but I’m trying to think of a better name. I managed to get it right though…it sprays edible mint…uh, sap…and it smells minty too,” he said proudly. “I thought Mrs. Weasley might like it for her back garden.”
“That’s very sweet of you Neville,” Luna said. “And you know, you might want to tell George about this too…he might be able to use the sap in some of his products.”
“Good idea,” Neville said. If he seemed puzzled that Luna had mentioned George so casually, he certainly didn’t show it. Instead he commented on the package Luna clutched tightly in her own hands. “What did you bring?”
“Daddy and I thought Mr. and Mrs. Weasley might enjoy some of our homemade Dirigible Plum wine. We can only make it when-”
But before Luna could finish her thought, Molly herself came bustling out the back door of the Burrow, levitating a tray of desserts in front of her and followed by Ginny and Harry who were levitating plates and glasses, respectively.
“Oh my dears, how good to see you!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she guided the platter of desserts to a graceful landing on the long table. “Luna, my dear thank you for coming! And Neville, oh my…oh, look at that. Ginny always did say you had a knack for Herbology.”
Neville beamed at Mrs. Weasley’s compliment and began to explain the advantages of his new hybrid plant to her, while Harry and Ginny finished setting the table. At the same moment, a series of pops in a variety of pitches and tones filled the air and various guests began appearing all around the backyard.
Luna looked around, watching the arriving guests and surreptitiously trying to see if she could spot George, but he didn’t seem to be anywhere in her line of vision. She needed to find him quickly; between the end of the school year, graduation, and his preparations for opening the new shop, they hadn’t had time to decide exactly how they were going to break their news to everyone today and she wanted to have some idea.
Continuing to survey the backyard, she saw her father near the buffet table talking and gesturing animatedly at a somewhat bemused looking Charlie Weasley. Daddy must be going on about the pair of Porlocks he swears he saw playing Shuntbumps in our lower meadow last week…she turned to scan more of the rapidly filling yard…oh, it’s no use!! Where is he?!
Luna knew she needed to give her gift to Mrs. Weasley and then slip away quietly somehow to search for her missing boyfriend. Turning back to where Molly was now fussing over a nearly two month old Victoire, who was squirming a bit in her father’s arms, Luna approached the small group and held out the large bottle of wine to her hostess.
“Mrs. Weasley?”
“Hmm?” Mrs. Weasley turned her attention away from tickling Victoire’s chin, “oh Luna dear, oh isn’t that lovely wine.” She took the bottle from Luna, “thank you, dear. Is it homemade?”
“Oh yes! Daddy and I make it from Dirigible Plums…they’re very good for inner clarity. You won’t believe some of the things you’ll see after only a few sips!”
Mrs. Weasley managed a small, “ah…” and looked down at the bottle with a slightly concerned expression. Luna glanced at Bill, who looked as though he was valiantly trying to avoid smirking, and winked at him as the corner of her own mouth twitched up into a quick half-grin. Bill did laugh then, but covered it up by turning back to his daughter, who was trying to wriggle out of the lacy bonnet that had been placed upon her small head to protect it from the sun.
“I’m hope you’ll enjoy it immensely, Mrs. Weasley,” Luna said. “Would you mind if I looked around the garden before lunch?”
Mrs. Weasley told Luna that she should feel free to look around and walked off towards the house, carrying the wine bottle at arms-length as though afraid to get too close to it. Luna whirled around and set off in the direction of the garden.
She glanced quickly at the gaggle of Gnomes that were committing Horklumpicide in the Weasley’s garden, but only lingered there for a moment as she strode purposefully towards the area where she knew the pond was located. Luna was interested in the Gnomes’ activity, because she was working on an anti-Horklump potion, but it was not her top priority at the moment. She had a hunch about where she might find George, and the red hair that had just flashed in her peripheral vision seemed to support her idea.
Quickly skirting around the party guests who were trailing over the lawn in small groups, Luna made for the oak tree at the far edge of the yard. As she rounded the trunk, she indeed came upon a redhead, but it wasn’t George.
Ron was oblivious to Luna’s presence behind him. But then he would be, I suppose, snogging Hermione so…thoroughly like that…up against a tree trunk…and her hand is…oh my!
Luna spun away from the entangled pair and began to walk in the opposite direction. I hope her parents haven’t arrived yet…it could be awkward if they saw that! The sound of Hermione’s happy giggles drifted through the air, unintentionally mocking Luna’s own current lack of a snogging partner. She followed the waterline of the pond for quite some distance as it wove through the rather reedy grass in a gentle curve, yet still there was no George.
She had just decided to give up and go back to see if he had appeared at the house when she spotted him. The tall grass had been cleared from a large area near the edge of the pond, and George was crouching low to the ground, leaning over a variety of small canisters and odd-looking objects. He was tapping several of them with his wand as though making adjustments, and though Luna tried to approach him quietly he seemed to sense her presence when she was still several paces away.
“Trying to sneak up on me are you then?”
She smiled, though he couldn’t see it, “well, you know the thought occurred to me that you might be up to something, so I decided to come and see what you were plotting.”
“Ah, came to stop me did you?” he said, finally standing and turning towards her, having finished whatever he had been doing to the canisters. Luna noticed that he didn’t even bother to deny that he was planning something sneaky.
“No, silly…I came to join in,” she laughed as he wrapped her up in a surprisingly gentle hug and dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. She turned a little in his embrace and peered beyond him to the canisters on the ground. All at once, something clicked into place in her mind. Excitedly, she continued, “two heads are always better than one, after all!! Are those some of your fireworks?!”
“Mmm,” he murmured. He sounded somewhat distracted, and when Luna looked back at his face, she noticed he was watching her intently.
“George, are you alright?”
He didn’t reply in words, simply leaned in and kissed her with an intensity that she had never felt in his kiss before…this was a kiss that spoke of grief and hope, death and renewal, emptiness and love, so much love. Luna recognized so many of the conflicting emotions that she and George had experienced together over the last several months, though now she felt them swirling into her through his kiss instead of his tears.
It is an honor to be trusted with so very much of him, she mused.
In turn, she attempted to send all her own deepest feelings back to him through their kiss. She wanted him to know that, as always, she understood him and felt the same.
Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, they pulled apart from one another and George clutched Luna tightly to his chest. Luna simply buried her face in the crook of his neck and panted, trying to catch her breath.
When she was finally able to speak, she moved back so she could look him in the eyes though his arms remained around her waist. “I’m very glad to see you too George,” she said, “but we actually do need to talk. I was looking for you everywhere.”
“Sorry love, I do like to create that air of mystery, you know,” he winked at her, “but I never meant to hide from you. What’s so urgent?”
“I-” she hesitated slightly, her concern over deciding how to break their news seeming slightly silly in the face of his warm presence and gentle teasing. But she needed to know that there was some sort of plan, and then she could relax. “I…how are we going to tell them, George?”
“Oh, is that all you’re worried about?”
“Well, it is important…and we never had a chance to talk more about it…and….” she trailed off with a slight frown on her face.
“What is it?” he asked.
All of a sudden she found words for the vague anxiety that had been plaguing her all day long. “What if they don’t like me!?” she exclaimed, turning away from him and taking a step towards where the fireworks were spread on the ground. She clapped her hands to her mouth immediately after speaking and kept them there…her fingers pressed hard against her lips as if to keep the thought from escaping yet again.
After the space of only a heartbeat, she felt George step behind her and slide his hands lightly onto her hips. His chest warmed her back, and Luna felt him rest his chin on her left shoulder, leaning his cheek alongside hers. He spoke softly, and Luna shivered slightly as his breath touched her skin.
“But Luna, you know everyone here, and most of them are our friends…why would you think they wouldn’t like you?”
“They’ve never known me as your girlfriend before. What if-”
George didn’t allow her to finish the thought. He cut her off quickly, speaking with utter seriousness, all traces of joking gone.
“I’ve not got any doubts, love. You are amazing. And this is right…with you and me together, anything’s possible, yeah?”
His hands squeezed reflexively on her hips, and Luna finally felt a sense of calm flood through her. The relief she’d been searching for ever since arriving at the party settled over her and she turned back to face George, nodding in response.
“Alright then. I’ve got a plan for how we can tell them. Just follow my lead, okay?” he asked.
She nodded again and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. She drew back before he could deepen the kiss and took his hand, tugging him gently back towards the house.
“I trust you George…and now that we’ve got that settled, I need your help in procuring a few Streelers for an experiment I’m conducting. It has to do with Horklumps, you see…”
~*~
The rest of the afternoon passed in a whirl. The party guests meandered around the backyard and neighboring meadow, eating the wealth of food Mrs. Weasley had provided in her buffet, playing in or watching a pickup Quidditch game, and chatting genially with one another.
Luna spent a good part of the day sitting on a blanket under a large shade tree with Hermione, the Grangers, and Mrs. Weasley, talking pleasantly and watching the Quidditch players zooming above their heads. She was having such a good time with the Weasleys and all her other friends that she scarcely noticed the time racing by and before she knew it, dusk was falling.
But it seemed that no one wanted the wonderful day to end, so Mr. Weasley made a circuit along the perimeter of the yard, using his wand to light small torches at random intervals for the benefit of those who lingered in the backyard. Luna was still aware that neither she nor George had made a move to share their news, but contrary to the way she had felt earlier, she was now filled with a sense of delicious anticipation.
As she was walking back towards the buffet table, she saw George in her peripheral vision and turned to face him. He smiled mischievously at her and winked, before mouthing “stay here, I’ll be right back” and slipping off into the inky darkness at the edge of the lawn. He was heading in the direction of where she had found him earlier, and she instinctively knew that when he returned it would be time.
Before she could venture too much further down that line of thought a series of loud pops, bangs, and high-pitched crackling screeches split the air around the remaining guests.
I knew he was playing with fireworks before!
Luna stood near the now mostly devoured buffet and watched giddily as the bright displays lit up the backyard, splashing the faces of the bystanders with an array of vibrant and ever-shifting colors. Apparently, George had been working on several new designs, as some of the fireworks spelled out messages congratulating the recent graduates and others burst into shimmering representations of their faces. There were also several that replicated different locations on the Hogwarts grounds, including the Quidditch pitch, the lake, and the castle itself.
She was aware of movement off to her right side, but just as she was about to turn and look to see if George were returning, a particularly large and bright firework popped almost directly in front of where she was standing. Luna’s attention was transfixed as she watched the next set of shapes and words bloom in the night sky. She was quiet for a moment, taking in the magnitude of just what was hanging mid-air before her. Suddenly, she felt a gentle tug on her left hand and looked down.
George knelt before her, so that they were mimicking the pose of their firework-selves, but instead of repeating the question that was - quite literally - hanging in the air above them, he merely looked up at her with a burning gaze and waited.
Luna looked back at him, sure that the intensity in his expression was mirrored in her own. After what seemed to her like an awfully long time, but was likely only a few heartbeats, she spoke to him, giving him the only answer her heart would permit.
“Yes, George…I wi-”
She got no further, George having leapt to his feet and swept her up into an enthusiastic embrace and exuberant kiss. Their families and friends thronged around them as the sparkling display above them all continued to linger, its elegant script spelling out
Will you marry me, Luna?
And as they were mobbed on all sides and peppered with questions, good wishes, and even a few catcalls, Luna thought to herself that even though this was not at all what she had envisioned when she thought about revealing her relationship with George, she wouldn’t trade this moment for the world.
She knew that she - and everyone who witnessed it - would remember it always.
~*~ Fin ~*~