Hello everyone… we're both excited to see you're enjoying this story so much… there is more H/Hr in this chapter and we had several people ask for the scene between Ron and Luna during their stargazing so we wrote that.
Also, please remember that we've increased the winners of the CD's to three instead of one :)
Rain by Madonna
Waiting is the hardest thing
(It's strange I feel like I've known you before)
I tell myself that if I believe in you
(And I want to understand you)
In the dream of you
(More and more)
With all my heart and all my soul
(When I'm with you)
That by sheer force of will
(I feel like a magical child)
I will raise you from the ground
(Everything strange)
And without a sound you'll appear
(Everything wild)
And surrender to me, to love
Ron walked silently alongside Luna, stealing glances every once in awhile at his companion. The moon made her dirty blonde hair look even lighter and it shimmered in the light. At that moment she tripped over a raised root and went stumbling forward, but he caught her just in time.
"Thanks," she said, looking up at him as she regained her balance. "Really graceful, aren't I?"
Ron smiled. "My sister is like that too, pretty hopeless with staying upright. That's why they hired her as a lifeguard instead of a dancer."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing it's not me filling in for Cho at the Sheldrake," Luna said with a laugh. "I'd probably tumble off the stage."
"Why are you so afraid of performing before people? You have no troubles teaching me," Ron said as they reached the lake.
Luna's cheeks turned a little red. "Well, you're not going to believe this, but I actually don't like to dance in front of large groups of people. I'm terrified of it. I know it's crazy. I have no problem teaching dance, but put me on a stage and I can't remember which foot is which."
Ron was surprised. "You don't seem like the type to let people bother you," he said as they sat down. "I mean... not to... sound rude or anything but at school you always just sort of... drifted in and out and people made fun of you but you never paid attention."
"Well," she began, looking up at the sky, not meeting his gaze. "After awhile, you develop a thick skin after you hear the same old comments time and time again. Just because I didn't act like it bothered me, doesn't mean it didn't. I just got very good at blocking it out."
She leaned back on her palms and tried to focus on the starry sky. She hadn't planned on spending this night reliving her Hogwarts days. Noticing out of the corner of her eye that he was still staring at her, she looked over at him and smiled. "What?" she whispered.
"Nothing..." Ron replied. "You just surprise me is all."
Her cheeks reddened a bit at this. She honestly didn't know what to say. Luna shivered and honestly didn't know whether it was from the cool breeze off the lake or from the way he was staring at her as if he'd only just really seen her.
Ron looked at her a moment longer before staring back up at the sky. "Well… so what constellations can you show me?" he cleared his throat.
"Since you're a beginner," she teased, looking up once more at the sky, "we could start with the simple ones. Right there, see?" She pointed to a cluster of stars. "That's Ursa Major." She noticed the confused look on his face, and found it quite endearing. "Also known as The Big Dipper."
"Oh!" Ron's face cleared. "That's neat how they all stay that way, I mean, the way things are supposed to move around out there."
Luna nodded and her trademark dreamy expression came over her face. "If I tell you something, you promise not to laugh?"
"I promise," Ron replied immediately.
Her cheeks reddened and she laughed nervously. "Okay," she began. "When I was a little girl, I used to think the moon followed me."
"You did?" Ron asked curiously. "Why?"
"It just seemed like everywhere I went, there it was," she said with an embarrassed grin. "I know it sounds stupid, but give me a break, I was five years old. My dad still teases me to this day about it."
Ron smiled. "It doesn't sound stupid. In fact..." he never got to finish before he saw something huge and many legged crawling towards them in the sand. "AHHHHH!!" he screamed.
"WHAT?" she asked, startled.
"It's a SPIDER!" he shouted, scrambling up and behind her.
She stifled a laugh and looked at him in disbelief, not sure if he was joking or not. "It's probably more afraid of you than you are of it, Ronald."
"I hate them!" Ron declared passionately. He stayed behind her as the spider scurried away. "When I was a kid, my brothers used to torture me with spiders... and then in second year of Hogwarts..." he shivered as he remembered Aragog. "Let's just say Harry and I had a not so pleasant encounter with a bunch of them in the Forbidden Forest."
"You can come out from behind me," she said, turning around to look at him. His hands were on her shoulders. "He's gone now. If it makes you feel any better I'm not all that crazy about them, either."
"Well I just hate them," Ron said with a little scowl. "The further they are from me, the happier we both are."
Luna giggled. "So, I guess you wouldn't be for the man should have to kill the spiders rule?"
Ron shuddered. "Sorry, no." he replied. "Anyway... where were we?"
She patted the empty space beside her. "You were right here and I was showing you the stars, remember?"
"Right," Ron said, sitting back down on the earth. "We were looking at the Big Dipper, and you were talking about the moon following you."
She mockingly glared at him. "Is that a laugh playing on your lips, Weasley? Because if it is, remember you promised me that you wouldn't laugh. And I promise you if you do, I will tell the entire staff about your arachnophobia."
The start of a smile disappeared from Ron's face. "You wouldn't dare," he replied.
"Oh, but I would, Little Miss Muffet," she said, trying to look menacing, but failing miserably. She started to laugh. "It is pretty funny when you think about it."
Ron glared at her. "It is NOT," he replied. "A lot of people fear spiders!"
"And I'm sure a lot of children think the moon follow them," she replied, her eyes twinkling at him.
Ron opened his mouth and then snapped it back shut. "Alright, you win." he finally said.
She gave him a satisfied grin. They sat there in silence looking up at the sky and Luna shivered again. She rubbed her arms for warmth and regretted her decision to not bring her cardigan along.
"Are you cold?" Ron asked. Without invitation he slid his arm around her shoulders. 'What am I doing?' he thought. His head argued uselessly with his heart, nothing short of another spider was making him take his arm down.
"A little," she admitted shyly. Feeling a little bold, she rested her head on his chest, feeling quite content.
They sat together in silence a little while longer- Ron had to admit he liked sitting so close to her; her hair was soft against his skin. He was about to ask her about another cluster of stars when he noticed they were disappearing rapidly. "Uh oh," he said.
"What is it?" she asked, at the same time a loud rumble of thunder answered her question, followed by a flash of lightning.
"We'd better get back," Ron said. He helped her up and they hurried back on the path to the employee cabins. They had just gotten to hers and were under the overhang when the sky opened, pouring down rain.
"I guess this is good night," Ron said sheepishly.
"I guess so," she said, a hand on the door. "Well, aside from the sudden thunderstorm and spider attack, I had quite a lovely evening, Ronald."
"I did too," Ron said, surprised to find that he was being entirely truthful. He squeezed her hand and gave her one last smile. "I'll see you tomorrow for lessons."
She didn't know what caused her to do it, but something in her made her grab his hand. He turned around surprised and they looked at each other and Luna did what felt like the most natural thing in the world. She hesitated for a moment before pressing her lips to his.
Ron's eyebrows shot up in surprise as Luna kissed him, then his eyes closed as he leaned into her. She pulled away a minute later and smiled again. "Good night Ronald," Luna disappeared into her cabin. Ron stood there a moment longer then stumbled off towards his own cabin. He really needed to talk to Harry.
*** The Next Morning***
"One two, step!" Harry said. Hermione was pressed tightly against him as he dipped her low. "Back up, then one two step- OW!" he shouted as she stepped on his foot.
She looked at him sheepishly and then at Cho, who gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. I was thinking I was supposed to step on the two?"
"No, you're on the one!" Harry snapped. He let go of her and rubbed the top of his foot. "Let's start again," he said, in a long suffering tone. "Cho, you go behind her and make sure for once she steps when and where she's supposed to."
Cho got up from her seat and stood behind Hermione and placed her hand on the small of Hermione's back. "Stand straight, Hermione. Don't look at your feet. I know it's hard especially when Attila the Dance Hun is barking orders in your ear." She smirked at Harry over Hermione's shoulder.
Harry didn't crack a smile as the music started again. He concentrated on Hermione making the right steps rather than look at her large brown eyes which were trained solely on his face. "Better," he conceded as they bypassed the step she always had trouble with. "But you need to learn to do this without Cho standing behind you."
"See, Hermione?" Cho said, with a laugh. "He can offer compliments, too."
Hermione giggled, but her laughter faded when she saw the irked expression on Harry's face. He obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes today. She felt Cho walk away and she felt like a little girl again when her father was teaching her how to ride a bike. She didn't want her Dad to let go then, and she obviously didn't want Cho to walk away from her now.
"That's it," Cho said, encouragingly. "Don't look down, Hermione."
Harry took a deep breath as their dance began again. This time, Hermione managed to do the parts he'd taught her perfectly. "Good," he said briskly. "Now the next part, after you step..." he pulled Cho over and demonstrated. "Just like this..."
"Oh, Harry," Cho said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Don't spin me around like that." She patted her stomach. "The little one doesn't like that too much." Cho noticed the concern in his eyes and she shook her head at him. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'm supposed to get sick like this, remember?"
Harry was still concerned as Cho gave him a small smile, and then nodded at Hermione and left, presumably for the bathroom. "All right, you'll have to do this without her." he started the music himself. "I'm going to turn you around here," and then you come back up against me like this..." he pulled Hermione roughly towards him.
"A little warning when you do something like that, please," she said crossly. She hadn't expected him to do that. "You nearly tore my arm out of its socket."
"Get used to it," Harry snapped. "You're here to learn this, you offered to do it. So stop complaining and do what I tell you to do!"
Hermione pulled away from him. "I'm not complaining! You're being unreasonable! You know that I've never done this before! You could at least be a little understanding."
Harry glared at her momentarily and then restarted the music. Without another word, he pulled her up against him tightly. "Let's just start over," he said, forcing his tone to sound more reasonable. "Do what you can, and then we'll work on more."
She nodded. She honestly didn't know what his problem was. He was at least a little bearable when Cho was there to buffer his criticism and mood, but the moment she'd left, he was back to being a certifiable arsehole. His demeanour was making her regret ever offering to do this.
Harry was pleased that she was catching on so quickly. At night when he was alone in his cabin, he'd think about her and wonder why he was treating her so badly... but it was as if something else was taking control of his body and mind and he had no control over being so nasty. He chalked it up to being concerned about Cho but he wouldn't admit to himself that it ran much deeper than that.
"Good," Harry said. "You're catching on a lot quicker than I thought you would." he offered.
"Is that a compliment or another insult?" she asked, not sure what to make of what he'd just said due to the expression on his face.
Harry looked at her, for what seemed like the first time that day. Her face was beet red, even though the air was cool and he had thrown all the windows open that morning to let the damp, rainy breeze inside. Her hair was also sticking out of the ponytail she had it pulled back in. "A compliment," he finally said. "Do you need a break?"
She shook her head. She didn't want him to think she couldn't handle it. Though, to be honest, she was a little knackered. They'd been at this since just after breakfast. She also wasn't sure if she could endure another half of the morning listening to him bark orders at her and critique her every movement. "I don't need a break," she said, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. Harry's eyes warmed over with something that looked like respect at that moment.
"All right then," he said. "Look... I'll try to be more gentle all right? Just tell me when I'm being rough."
"You mean you can't tell when you are?" she asked, still a little upset with how he'd treated her earlier. "I'd hate to see you when you knew you were being rough."
Harry narrowed his eyes a moment. "All right, I deserved that." he stepped forward. "All right, let's run through what you know again and we'll hit the next few parts before we call it a day."
"Okay," she agreed. "Can you show me that spin combination, again?"
As Harry and Hermione danced intensely, they failed to notice a redhead peeking in the window.
Since it was raining that day, so Ginny was relieved of her lifeguard duties and she'd planned to use the time to persuade Harry into more dance lessons. This time she'd take things slow and by the end of the summer he'd be eating from her hand.
What Ginny did not expect to see was that same girl dancing with him again. Harry was dipping her back and his hand ran down her front; he then pulled the girl back up so closely their foreheads were touching, his finger now running tenderly over her cheek.
"What the..." Ginny felt her anger surge inside her. The music stopped at that moment and the two people inside parted breathlessly.
"That was much better," Harry said.
"Yeah," Hermione whispered, feeling a little dazed at being so close to him just then. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd felt something like that, too. Just as soon as the thought came into her head, she cursed herself for thinking something like that.
Harry sat down in the corner of the room and gulped down some bottled water. He watched Hermione take out a small white towel and mop at her forehead before taking out some bottled water of her own. "You're doing a good job today," he said gruffly.
"Thanks," Hermione said, as she took a sip of water. "Listen to that rain?" She looked out the window and saw it was still coming down quite hard. "Do you mind if I stay here for awhile until it lets up?"
"Sure," Harry replied automatically. He arched his back, stretching his tight muscles. "I've not got a whole lot to do today- just some other lessons and such, but not for a few more hours."
"Sounds a lot more interesting than playing cards all afternoon with Lavender," Hermione mused as she walked back over to him and sat down directly across from him.
Harry watched as she crossed her legs, stretching her back in the same manner he had just used. His eyes were involuntarily attracted to her breasts as they pushed forward. "So uh... what would your... boyfriend think of you dancing with another guy like this?" he tried to sound candid.
"I, um, don't have a boyfriend," she said uncomfortably. She was glad that her cheeks were already red from the dancing so he wouldn't tell how much his question had affected her.
"You don't?" he asked. Hermione was surprised at his tone, his behaviour from the past few days seemed to indicate he didn't care one bit about her personal life. "Interesting..."
"Blokes just don't see me like that," she said, looking down at the hardwood floor. She wondered if he was deliberately trying to make her feel uncomfortable. She was contemplating telling him that he really need not try so hard, she already felt that way most of the time whenever he was around.
Harry simply nodded, thinking to himself that his self control was going to become even more non existent since he now knew she wasn't tied down with anyone. He unconsciously shifted closer to her and was about to open his mouth to ask her something else when Ron pounded his way into the room.
"Harry, you are not going to believe what happened--" Ron's voice trailed off when he saw that they weren't alone. "Oh, I didn't know you had company."
Harry looked at Hermione, who looked slightly put out that they were interrupted. "Well it looks like the rain has let up a bit," she said, getting up. "I'll just be going now..."
"You don't have to," Harry spoke, surprising even himself.
"No, it's all right," she sent him a short smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."
After she'd gone, Ron forgot his own problems temporarily as he watched his friend get up from his seat and walk over to the window to watch Hermione walk away. "Why do I get the distinct impression that I interrupted something?" Ron asked pointedly.
"It's fine." Harry replied. "What's wrong?" he failed to notice Ginny, who was still crouched under the window.
"Maybe I should be asking you that question?" Ron asked.
Harry crossed his arms. "I don't want to talk about me and Hermione," he replied tightly. Ginny gasped at his words.
"Alright," Ron conceded, letting the issue drop for now. "Well, how about helping me figure out something."
"Sure," Harry replied. "What's up?"
Ron leaned back against the mirror, trying to think of where to begin. "Last night, at dinner, you weren't around and neither was Cho and Neville was off doing Merlin knows what, so I was by myself for dinner."
Harry walked over to the stereo and began putting the CD's back in their cases. He looked up every now and then to let Ron know he was still listening.
"Well, Luna came in and sat down at my table and we started talking."
Harry raised his eyebrow. "You mean you allowed yourself to be seen in public with her?"
Ron glared at him. "Are you going to let me tell this to you or are you just going to make snide comments? Some best friend you are, Harry."
"Sorry, go ahead." Harry said, his tone unsympathetic.
"As I was saying, I don't know if I've been sitting in the sun too long or if I drank too much the night before, but I actually agreed to go look at stars with her," Ron said, shaking his head. He looked up to see Harry staring at him with an amused expression. "So, there we were right by the lake and we were having an okay time, just chatting, you know, and then this storm comes up out of nowhere and we rush back to the cabins. When we reach hers, I'm just about to turn and go when she up and kisses me!"
Both of Harry's eyebrows shot up this time. "Say what?"
"You heard right, Harry," Ron said, avoiding looking at his friend. "She kissed me...smack dab on the lips....right out of the blue...no warning...nothing...just bam!"
Harry looked at Ron for another moment and then snorted back a laugh. "Good for her," he said, still clearly amused.
"That's your answer?" Ron asked in disbelief. "'Good for her'? What's your advice? What should I do?"
Harry shrugged. "Ron, I'm sorry, but I have enough of my own problems lately to worry about. Cho's pregnant, or have you forgotten that? And that bloody Draco Malfoy won't own up to his actions, and apparently now he's after Hermione's cousin."
"Well, at least Draco's after her cousin and not Hermione," Ron said. "Then you'd be really angry, right, Harry?"
Harry's eyes blazed. "What's that supposed to mean Ron?"
"Don't act like you don't know, Harry!" Ron retorted. "I know you. I know how you are when you fancy someone. I personally don't see where the problem is."
"The problem isn't yours," Harry said through clenched teeth.
"You're damn right it's not mine," Ron snapped. "It's yours. And you're going to lose everyone you care about if you keep acting like this."
Harry stared after Ron as his friend stomped down the stairs and then looked back out the window at the pouring rain.
Ginny watched, unnoticed, as her brother stalked off. She stood up and looked at Harry, admiring his build and the way his white t-shirt clung to his skin. A little voice in her head told her that this might not be the best time to bother him, but she figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. She smoothed down her denim shorts and checked her reflection in the window before knocking on the door.
Harry smirked. "Forget to say something nasty before you leave Ron?" he called as he yanked open the door. "Oh... sorry I didn't know it was you Ginny."
"It's no problem," she said with a flirtatious smile. "I was just walking by and I saw Ron storm off. Is everything okay?"
"Fine," Harry stood back as she entered the room. "Is there something I can do for you?" He was still a bit wary of her after her attempt at seducing him in his cabin before.
"That all depends," she said with a wink. "You do still owe me a dance lesson."
Harry stared at her a moment. "Well I'm really afraid I'm all booked up, sorry." he turned his back to stare out the window again.
Ginny tried to hide her disappointment. "With that girl?" she asked. "The one you've been seeing? The one you're supposedly in love with? You know, Harry, I've gotten a chance to look at her and I really don't think she's your type. She's quite plain looking, really."
"That's really none of your concern," Harry replied hotly. "I don't especially fancy you thinking you know what type of girl I look for."
Ginny gave him a weak smile. This wasn't how she had hoped this would go. Deciding on another tact, she cleared her throat and walked over to him. "She's a guest, isn't she? I know your uncle wouldn't be too keen about you fraternizing with a guest."
Harry turned to her furiously. "You say one... fucking... word... to Hermione, to anyone, and I swear they'll find your bloody body at the bottom of the lake." He sneered at her. "Now stay away from me!"
Ginny jumped, startled at his tone and the positively scary expression on his face. She opened her mouth to say something else to him, but he turned away from her and walked over to the wall and sank back against it, glaring at her the entire time. As fast as her feet could carry her, she left the room.
Harry watched her leave, his anger simmering down as he looked at the spot where Hermione had been sitting. He sighed- as if his growing feelings for his new dance partner weren't enough, as well as Cho… now he had to worry about threats from Ginny.
"What the hell am I going to do?" he asked.
*** *** ***
The rain was showing no sign of letting up and for once, Lavender was glad to be cooped up in the cabin. She hadn't even gone to breakfast this morning because she couldn't face Draco. Though, to be honest, she missed him. She knew it was stupid to feel that way, but she couldn't help wondering how he could go from a perfect gentleman to a louse in such a short period of time. She was sitting on her bed, thumbing through a magazine, though her mind was elsewhere.
Aunt Elinore had asked if she wanted to play cards, but Lavender lied that she wasn't feeling all that well and just wanted to relax and take it easy in her bedroom. As she sat there on her bed, she couldn't help wondering what Draco was doing at that very moment.
Hermione burst into the room, her hair plastered to her head. "Bloody hell, is it EVER going to stop raining?" she asked, pulling open a drawer for some dry clothes.
Lavender looked up and gave a slight laugh at the state of her cousin. "Where were you? You're positively soaked through to the skin!"
"I um... went for a run, and got caught near the lake." Hermione lied.
Lavender raised an eyebrow at this. "Since when do you go running?"
"Since today," Hermione shot back, changing her shirt. She hugged the dry fabric to her still wet body. "What are you doing just lying around in here?"
Lavender shrugged. "Hiding out."
"Hiding out?" Hermione asked, her eyebrow raised. "From who, Draco? He wasn't even there at breakfast today; we had a much nicer waiter instead."
"Draco's a nice waiter, Hermione," Lavender said defensively. "He's really good at what he does."
Hermione snorted. "Yeah, he's really good," she thought about poor Cho. "Lavender, just trust me for once... you don't want to have anything to do with Draco. He's a complete git."
Lavender swung her legs around to where she could face Hermione. "You just don't know him, Hermione. When we're alone and just talking, he can be really sweet. He made me feel so special. I was thinking that if he's there at dinner tonight, I was going to apologize."
"Lavender, please!" Hermione sat down next to her cousin, her wet hair falling in her face. "He's a loser... he's NOT a sweet talker, and he's not nice!" She sighed. "You've known me a lot longer than you've known him... please just trust me on this!"
Lavender smiled. "I know you're only looking out for me, but really, Hermione. Out of the two of us, which one of us knows more about dating and romance? What do you have to possibly base it on? One crush on some guy you danced with one time this summer?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "This has nothing to do with Harry, or romance or dancing. If you don't believe me, then fine. But watch your step around him, and whatever you do, don't shag him." she got off the bed and went into the bathroom without another word.
Lavender stared at the closed bathroom door in disbelief.
"You have no idea what you're talking about!" she called out before grabbing her shoes and walking out of the room. She needed to go find Draco and apologize, sooner rather than later. She didn't want to take the chance that he'd moved on to some other girl. She hoped she wouldn't be too late.