Unofficial Portkey Archive

Pairing: R/LL, H/Hr

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: None really, but it's good to have read up to the fifth book to know what I'm going on about.

Disclaimers: Harry Potter and his world belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. They are her creations and her little babies. Nothing belongs to me.

Summary: With Christmas only days away, Ron doesn't feel so good about anything. He feels different than everyone else and it's tat fact that makes this story worth exploring.

Of Snow and Leaves

Hogwarts was a picture. The old castle was covered in snow by the first days in December, the students playing in the snow outside as the days leapt forward to Christmas. Already, they were leaving to visit their families over the holidays, watching the picture perfect school fade into the distance through the window of the carriages. Classes were cancelled regularly because of the snowstorms, especially in the Dungeons. No one wanted icicles dropping down onto their heads in the middle of Potions. The Slytherins were in danger of being moved to another room in the castle for fear that their common room would flood and to Ron and Harry, that was immensely funny.

However, even as the snow was falling and everyone was at their peak of school time happiness, Ron was distant. He didn't talk that much and liked to sit in his bed and think endlessly. It was extremely unusual. When it was a Hogsmeade weekend, he drifted away from his two best friends and walked around the town, thinking to himself as he drifted on his own. Harry couldn't work it out and neither could Hermione, not that she wanted too anyway. Perhaps something was wrong with him, but he'd tell them in due time. There was no need to push Ron because these things always sorted themselves out with him.

But, it lasted a little longer than everyone expected.

And one day was just the tip of the iceberg that sank the battleship.

The 23^rd of December; one day before Christmas Eve and two before Christmas Day and everyone was joyful. Harry and Hermione had spent majority of their time together and in light of this, were smiling way too much to be classed as normal. Ron actually witnessed Hermione blush when Harry smiled. He didn't care though.

Harry and Hermione were in the Great Hall when Ron walked in. They were sipping Pumpkin Juice and talking avidly, Hermione chuckling every now and then. As Harry looked up from Hermione, he saw Ron standing in the doorway to the Hall.

"Ron!" Harry called, a beaming smile on his face. "Come on!"

Ron sat down beside Harry as he poured him a glass of Pumpkin Juice. They indulged in some idle chatter for a while before Dumbledore stood up at the front of the Great Hall, smiling as ever and holding a red candle in his right hand. He held a green one in the other and as he stood, he tied the ribbon around the candle.

"There aren't as many of you as there was last year," he chuckled to himself, counting ten student bodies and then four teachers. "Nevertheless, the Yule festivities must continue."

He lit the candle and placed it down on the table in front of him. "Dig in!"

With a wave of his hand, platters of food appeared in front of everyone and Harry and Hermione spent no time in digging into the platters with the ladles and forks. If there was something Dumbledore knew how to do, it was throw a good dinner party. However, as they spooned large quantities of mash potato onto their plates, Ron didn't move. He simply watched the food in front of him as if it would jump off the plate, if he gave it chance.

After a little while of watching Harry and Hermione enjoy their Yule Dinner, Ron stood up and pushed himself away from the table.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," he said when Hermione asked him what was wrong.

What was wrong with him? He couldn't tell you. He'd felt this way since school had started but it seemed to get worse up until the Yule holidays. He felt so alone each and every day, he saw Harry and Hermione with each other days after day, and even though they wouldn't admit it, they were in love. Maybe accidentally after time, but it was there. He saw Ginny with Malfoy, and even though it made his blood boil, she was happy with him. And he had no one. He was alone.

He walked slowly up to the Gryffindor common room and spoke the password to the Fat Lady. She didn't question his mood, or throw some sort of joke his way. He casually walked inside and up to the boy's dormitory. He found his winter clothes underneath the pile of normal clothes that he had thrown into his trunk after a long day and wore his large jumped with the `R' in the centre. He loved the jumper, he loved each and every jumped his mum made for him. He grabbed his scarf and wrapped it round his neck and grabbed the small hat from his bedside cabinet, he wore it bed sometimes to keep his head warm.

When he was walking out of the common room, he grabbed his coat from the hanger and jogged down the flights of stairs to the front door. He threw it open and walked outside.

The cold hit him instantly as he walked onto the stone steps. He stepped off the last one, shoving his hands into his pockets to find his gloves. He slipped them onto his hands as he stepped onto the crisp snow. He felt the snow crunch under his feet and he kicked some up into the air and watched it fall back down to be with it's siblings.

Ron bent down and picked up handfuls of snow, rolling it into a ball. Wit the ball, he threw it at a tree trunk and loved the crunch it made. He continued walking into the grounds, seeing four students building a snowman and one young man trying to start a snowball fight with his friends by randomly chucking snowballs at them while they were readjusting the snowman's hat.

It was when he reached the copious amount of trees that he stopped. He was near to the greenhouses. He leaned against one of the trees beside the greenhouse and watched the castle from there. He could see the glow from the Great Hall and figured that Harry and Hermione must still be in there, joking and laughing and loving over Pumpkin Juice and gravy.

"Oh, shoot!"

Ron looked over his shoulder at the large pile of leaves that were now on the ground and at the person that had just dropped them. He grinned to himself as he stood up properly and walked over.

"Hey Luna," he said, watching her try and grab handfuls of snow from out of her blonde hair.

She looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, hey Ron! Would you mind giving me a hand?"

Ron walked over to her and was just about to grab some snow from out of her hair when she moved away from him and laughed.

"I meant with the leaves! You had your dinner today? You seem a bit, you know…" She made a cuckoo sound.

Ron laughed, "Nah, I wasn't hungry."

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Not hungry? This from the human dustbin?"

"Could you eat while Harry and Hermione are making goo goo eyes at each other?"

Luna thought for a second, "Probably not. But it's sweet isn't it?"

"Not while you're eating," Ron laughed. "You wanna hand then?"

Luna sighed. "I wouldn't mind. Oh, hold on!"

She slipped her hand inside her large fleece coat, which looked like it could double for a quilt and pulled out her wand. She quickly pointed it at the leaves and whispered something. They gave a bit of a jiggle and all snow was free of them. She put the wand into her back pocket, making Ron think of Mad-Eye's comment on burnt bum cheeks.

"Okay!" she said, bending over and grabbing all the leaves from the floor. She handed some over to Ron. "We've got too take these to the Greenhouse for…um…some sort of Potion but I can't remember what it's called. Never mind, I'll remember when we get there."

"So, why'd you come all the way out here, partner?" Luna asked.

Ron shrugged, feeling that his nose was itchy. "Just needed a walk. You?"

"Gathering these for Professor Sprout," she motioned to the leaves. "I thought I'd get some work done over the holidays, not that I've anyone in my House to spend the time with anyway. They've all gone home for Christmas and my dad's away as well so it's not like I can go - would you stop fidgeting?"

"My nose is itching!" Ron said, squirming a little.

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, but she leant over and scratched his nose. He writhed under her nail and sighed happily.

"As bad as this is going to sound, that's really good," he said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Luna smiled.

Ron noticed that Luna's face had become a little red from the cold weather. She had that dreamy look in her eyes again but this time it was pointed directly at him. Maybe things were going his way after all. He grinned at her and she grinned back.

"Come on," she laughed walking on to the Greenhouse.

"You think, if we could, you might wanna spend the holidays with us in our house?" Ron asked as they walked together, side by side. "You said that no one's in yours and there's only Ginny and Hermione in ours."

"Maybe," Luna smiled. "Thanks for the offer, Ron."

They managed to make it the Greenhouse and dump the leaves on the table in between giggling and laughing at each other's faces. They'd both gone permanently red from the cold and it was only when they finally got back up to the castle that their faces had managed to be a normal colour. Still, they kept grinning at one another as they walked through to the Great Hall. True enough, Hermione and Harry were still sat at the table, across from one another. Hermione was holding a mug of warm Pumpkin Juice in her hands and harry was holding his hands over hers, keeping his warm.

Ron and Luna sat down beside them; Luna sat with Hermione while Ron sat beside Harry. But it was only when all four of them started chatting together avidly that Ron actually had chance to notice anything. Usually, he wasn't observant. He never noticed anything other than when it flew straight past his nose but this was blatantly obvious to him. He watched Luna pick up a mug of warm juice that had appeared in front of her and hold it to her cold cheeks. She leant across the table and held it too Ron's cheek and smiled.

"Feel better?" she asked.

Ron grinned. Maybe, just maybe, on this day, the 23^rd of December, he'd accidentally fallen in love.

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