Title: Truth or Dare
Author: Moonstruck (silverjedi)
Rating: G
Pairing: R/L
Summary: Ron decides to play a Muggle game of Truth or Dare. When he finds he can't tell the truth about the Yule Ball, he finds himself on a date with someone he least expected.
Ron Weasley had a problem. Christmas time was coming up and he still had not gotten a gift for Hermione Granger. She was one of his best friends and he secretly liked her. He had not told her about it because he was not sure how she would react. After what happened at the Yule Ball, why would she want to go out with him? I had to go and open my big month, he thought in despair.
He sat on his bed in the empty dorm room, looking at the bag of wizard money. He did not have a lot. He hardly had enough money to get gifts, but he wanted to get Hermione something special. Not just perfume like last year. He was not even sure she liked it due to her wording. Nevertheless, this year had to be better. If only he knew what to get?
The door open, breaking Ron out of his trance, and Harry walked in. Seeing Ron, he walked over to where his trunk laid in front of his bed. "Hey, Ron. What are you doing?"
"Nothing." He took the money bag and put it away. "Just thinking about Christmas gifts to get. What are you doing?"
"Dean and Seamus are playing Truth or Dare downstairs in the common room. Do you want to play?"
It was rare to see Harry interact with people other than Ron and Hermione, more so this year than in other years. For him to be playing a game with their other friends meant that he was feeling better. That made Ron happy, seeing his friend slowly come out of the slump he was in, however, confusion crossed Ron's face. "What's Truth or Dare?"
"It's a Muggle game," explained Harry. "I've never played it, at least not like this. Basically, you are asked a question and you're given the choose of answering it or taking a dare. You lose if you don't answer the question or complete the dare." He then made a face. "Don't even ask what Dudley made me do."
Ron smiled a bit, knowing how Harry hated his Muggle family. This game, though, sounded interesting. And it would take his mind off finding a gift for Hermione. "Sure, sounds like fun."
Getting off the bed, he followed Harry down to the common room.
____________
Ron was enjoying this game. Harry flinched quite obviously when Ron asked him what was the worst moment he had that concerned a dog. They had not had many dares yet. Seamus was dared to set fire to Snape's hat and Harry was given the choose of telling about his first kiss or eating a bit of undiluted bubotuber pus (Madam Pomfey had him better in a hour), but that was it. So far they had just been answering questions, somewhat afraid of what the dare would be.
Sighing greatly, Harry related the tale of being chased up a tree by his Aunt Marge's bulldog. Dean and Seamus snickered while Harry was turning red. Ron, who knew about how horrible his aunt was, did not laugh.
When he was done, Seamus put his hand in the pot where they had their questions. It was Ron's turn. Seamus grinned wickedly when he read the question to himself. "Ok, Ron. Here's your question. You have to tell all the details about your first date."
Ron's face fell. His mind went directly to the Yule Ball. He took Padma Patil to it, but that was terrible. He was far more interested in Hermione and her date. His face burned as he thought of it. I can't tell them what happened! Not only would I reveal what happened with Padma, but I would have to explain why I was mad at Hermione! No way! Anything but that! "I think I'll take the dare."
Dean whistled. Seamus was smirking. Harry was gazing at him curiously. Ron looked down at the floor as Seamus worked out the dare. Finally, he said, "All right, mate. You'll going on a date with a girl." Ron's head jerked up. Seamus was searching through a basket where they kept names of people in the school (a separate basket had the names of items they could use). He pulled out a name and his grin, if possible, became wider. "And the lucky girl is Luna Lovegood."
Both Seamus and Dean burst out laughing. Ron turned bright red. Her? He had to ask out Loony Lovegood? He recoiled in horror. To think he thought finding Hermione a Christmas present was hard. How was he supposed to go on a date with Luna?
Seamus laid out the conditions of the date. He had to ask her now (or answer the question) and the date had to be this weekend (Hogsmedge weekend). Harry was very quiet as he and the other two followed Ron to find Luna.
They found her outside reading the Quibbler upside down. Seamus, Dean and Harry stayed some distance away while Ron worked up the courage to ask. I can't tell the truth about the Yule Ball, I can't tell the truth about the Yule Ball, I can't tell the truth about the Yule Ball. He kept repeating that over and over, hoping it would ease the fear of asking Luna out. He walked up to her, his face still bright red.
She looked up from her magazine. "Hello, Ronald," she said serenely.
"Er…hi….hmm…" He tried to think of a way to phrase it. Now that he thought of it, how do you ask someone out?
"Is there something you want, Ronald?" She stood up, closing the magazine. "You can ask me anything you want, you know."
Sweat started to break out across his forehead. He looked down at his feet. "Yeah…well…."
He jumped as Luna leaned forward and glanced at his face. "Well?"
"Hmm this weekend…" Yule Ball! "Will…" Yule Ball! "You…" Yule Ball! "Go…" Yule Ball! "Out…" Yule Ball! "With…" Yule Ball! "Me…?"
Ron braced himself, hoping, for once, for rejection, but he was mistaken. Luna merely smiled serenely again and said, "Of course, I'll go out with you this weekend."
Ron blushed. Great. Now he had a date. What did he do now?
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"I can't believe you asked her!" crowed Seamus. "I figured you would be spilling about Padma than ask Loony Lovegood!"
Dean and Seamus broke into laughter again, collapsing on Dean's bed. Harry still was quiet. He had not spoke since the game.
Finally, Dean and Seamus went down to dinner and Ron (still quite red-faced) asked Harry, "What do you think?"
Harry avoided Ron's eyes. "I don't like it. I don't think you should play with her feelings. Luna is nice. Can't help it if she's different."
Ron felt guilty now. Sure, Luna may be loony and all, but she was still a person. Harry, of course, would understand how she felt. "I know, but I don't want to tell about what happened at the Yule Ball! That was a terrible."
"So bad that it's worth hurting someone else for?" murmured the Boy Who Lived.
It was under that cloud of guilt that Ron met Luna in the Entrance Hall. Everyone else was getting leaving for Hogsmedge, but pointed and laughed quietly at Luna. Ron, in a way, could see why. She was wearing a necklace of butterbeer caps again. Her messy hair was pulled up on her head, almost like she had walked out of the greenhouses. She was wearing a green top with purple pants. The top had mossy-like sleeves and the pants had yellow stars. Ron was not sure if this could get worse, but he pulled himself together and said, "Ready?"
"Always, Ronald!" She took his hand and led the way, nearly skipping in delight.
Ron had never felt worse.
____________
"Isn't this great, Ronald?" They were standing at the edge of Hogsmedge. They had gone to Zonko's, the Three Broomsticks and just gotten back from the Shrieking Shack. Ron had to admit he was having fun. Sure, Luna had done some strange things on their date, but he found he did not mind them like he once did.
Luna twirled around in the snow, staring up in the sky, laughing. The snow fell in her hair. Ron stood at a fencepost, watching. He had never seen her like that before. The only times he saw her excited was when she was talking about some wild tale. But here, at the edge of the village with the December snow falling around them, she just seemed like a normal girl.
She skipped over to him and peered into his face. "What's next?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He thought about Harry's date with Cho last year. They had not gone where those two had gone, but Harry had hated it. It was worth a try. "What about Madam Puddifoot's?"
Luna frowned and started intently at him. Ron felt his face get hot at her stare. "No, I don't like that place." She folded her hands behind her back and turned her back on him, looking up at the trees.
Ron felt relief. He had not liked the idea of going into that place. It was too girlish for his taste. "Why not?" he asked, thinking he would just continue the conversation.
"It's a bit too pink, don't you think?" She faced him again. "I don't like pink. But if you want to go there, I'll bear the pinkness then."
"Oh, no! It's ok. I don't like it either." He stepped away from the tree trunk, closer to Luna. "I just didn't know if you did or not. Some girls do."
"I'm not some girls, through," she said, smiling.
"I know." He looked into her queer eyes and felt butterflies explode in his stomach. He did not know what he could say next. "Uh…why don't you choose what we do next?"
She stared at him for a bit and then turned around, twirling on her toes again. "I like it here. Why don't we stay here and let the snow fall on us?" She stopped twirling. "After a bit, we can go back to the Three Broomsticks? What do you think, Ronald?"
He smiled. "That sounds nice."
"Well, well, if it isn't a Loony and a Weasel," drawled an unpleasant voice.
The two turned and saw Draco Malfoy and his two cronies, Crabble and Goyle, right behind him. His face was shining with malice. "It seems we interrupted a romantic moment." The three laughed and Ron felt his face slowly grow red.
"Stuff it, Malfoy!" he shouted.
Luna stared at Malfoy for a bit and then grabbed Ron's arm. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks, Ronald."
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks, Ronald" mimicked Malfoy. Crabble and Goyle howled. "Really, Lovegood, is this dare really worth your time with a Weasel?"
Ron froze. Malfoy knew about the dare. No. If Luna found out… "Malfoy…" he started, trying to free himself from Luna's grasp.
But Luna had turned and keeping a tight hold on her date, she looked Malfoy straight in the eye. "I am on a date, please, and if you would be ever so kind, I would like to finish it," she said coldly. She turned and started dragging Ron away.
But Malfoy wasn't finished. "You really think Weasley asked you out willingly? You really think that?" His eyes were glittering, just like they did whenever he was ready to ruin something. "Weasley just asked you out because Finnigan dared him to. He didn't want to answer some stupid question and rather ask you out."
Luna stopped. She did not turn around, but held Ron's arm loosely. Ron glared at Malfoy and looked concerned at Luna. He wanted to run back and punch Malfoy's face, but he felt like he should comfort Luna. Then a thought came to his mind and he hesitated at whatever choice he made. Why did he care so much about Luna's wellbeing? Sure he did not want anyone to be made fun of by some vile like Malfoy. But Luna was far down his list of favorite people…was she? Why did he care so much about her feelings?
For he found himself regretting the dare he took. He saw he hurt Luna's feelings. She had enjoyed her time with him and really seemed to like him.
And what did he do but string her along all because he was dared to.
He felt sick. A wave of nausea swept over him and he stumbled. He looked down at the ground. "Luna…I…It..wasn't…At first…"
But she let go of his arm, her head hanging slightly. "You didn't really want to go out with me?"
"Luna, let me explain."
"No."
"What?" He thought he heard her voice crack.
"No."
Then she ran off. The moss-like sleeves flying behind, almost like a cape. Ron stood, feeling despair overtake him for some reason with Malfoy and his friends standing behind, silent laughter shaking them.
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Ron was sitting at the fire. Harry was behind him in the chair, reading up on a potions test he had next week. The common room was strangely empty for this time of day. Of course, Ron yelling for a good hour at Seamus had certainly helped in clearing out people.
He did not know what to do. How could he make it up to Luna? For that matter, why did he care? He was not exactly friends with her. Harry was. Ginny was. But Ron still felt like he had to do something.
If I never took that dare, she wouldn't be hurt! Blast it Seamus! But Ron knew somewhere deep down, he was at fault, too. He took the dare. He asked her out. All because he did not want to talk about his date at the Yule Ball. And Hermione.
"RON! HOW COULD YOU?" He jumped as Ginny stormed in almost like he had when he came back. She stood in front of him, her face already red. "How could you take that dare and do that to Luna??? You are so heartless, Ron! I dare say you have the emotional range of a teaspoon!"
"Well, I could have told you that," spoke up Hermione, walking up behind Ginny. She, too, did not look happy. In fact, it was the first time Ron did not feel anything for Hermione. He was too worried he was going to be hit by the book she held in her hand (it was huge).
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it to be like that!"
"Well, guess what?" said Ginny while glaring. "It did!"
"You should go and apologize to her, Ron," scolded Hermione. "It was very rude of you and I'm surprised at you Harry, that you let him do this."
Ron saw Harry's face go red. "I told him he would hurt her, but I can't control people," he muttered.
"Well, you should have done better," retorted Ginny. "Luna is in her room crying. She's refusing to come out except for classes and meals."
A new wave of guilt swept through Ron. How could he have been so stupid? I hurt her. For some reason, he felt very protective of her. He wanted to hold her and prevent people from harming her. Now the insults he knew were often thrown at her (some even from himself) felt like insults at him as well. He wanted to stop it. She did not deserve all that.
He had watched her for a good two hours. Spent time with her. She was nice. And pretty. Not like girls he normally liked, but she was pretty. Yes, she had weird ideas, but then again, he did, too. And he was fine, now was he? He saw Luna spend two hours being happy. And he ruined that. He felt tainted. Stained. Like dirty robes. How could he do that to her?
The girls were still telling him why he was wrong. Finally, he burst, "I know! I was wrong! I was wrong to take up the dare! I know I was wrong!" He took a deep breath as he surveyed everyone. Ginny looked a cross between pleased and shocked. Harry and Hermione just looked shocked. It was likely the first time they had heard him admit that he was wrong about something.
He stared down and saw the money bag he had brought down. He had hoped that thinking of Hermione's Christmas present would ease the pain he was feeling, but now he wanted to take all the coins and buy Luna something. He wanted to be back in her good graces. Her opinion of him now meant a lot. She liked him before. Now she likely hated him.
He did not want to be hated by her. "I love her," he whispered, almost under his breath.
Ginny, Hermione and Harry stared at him, hearing his admission, but he paid no mind. Now he felt confused. He loved her? What about Hermione? Did he not love her as well? He stared at one gold gallon and still felt that urge to go buy something for Luna, not Hermione. He looked up. "Hermione. What would you do on a date?"
Hermione looked surprised. Harry turned to her in interest as she started speaking, "Well…I guess I would like to spend some time in the library. The Three Broomsticks would be good as well. Spending time around the lake sounds very good to me as well. I did those things with Krum when we had time in our fourth year." She added the last part, blushing greatly.
Ron realized then he and Hermione just were not meant to be. The library just sounded boring. The Three Broomsticks sounded ok, but he would rather spend time at Zonko's than the lake. And he felt nothing when she mentioned Krum. Of course, they were not dating anymore, but he felt something last year. Faint, but it was something. Now he felt nothing.
He really did not love Hermione. He looked back down at the gold gallon and scooped the lot back into the bag. He started toward the portrait, but Ginny grabbed his arm. Before she could speak, Ron did so first, "Look, I thought I loved Hermione…" Everyone gaped at him. Hermione looked like she had been struck. Harry looked very protective for some reason. Ginny just gave him a look that said, "I thought you loved Luna!" "But now I don't," he continued, "I love Luna. Seriously. And I'm going to make it up to her. I promise."
He broke free of Ginny and left the Gryffindor Common Room. He ran all the way to the library (groaning the entire time). He carefully making his way to where the Quibbler was often held, took one issue and started leafing through it, trying to find what he needed to make up to the one girl he now cared for the most.
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It was time for Hogwarts students to go back home for Christmas. Ron was running down to the entrance hall. His package had finally arrived. It was wrapped and everything. He had to give it to Luna before she left.
He found her standing off to side, Ginny, Hermione and Harry the only ones standing with her. They broke off and waved to her as the carriages arrived. Luna gave a sad smile and started out, but Ron caught up to her. "Luna!" He stopped to catch his breath as Luna turned coldly to him.
"Yes, Ronald?" she asked. Ron missed her serenely voice. He liked it.
"Here. It's your Christmas gift." He held out the small package. Luna stared at it and looked at him oddly. "Don't open it until Christmas, ok? Please?"
She looked at the gift one more time and reluctantly took it. Then she turned and walked out. Ron waited alone until the carriage that held her left the gate.
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It was January. Ron waited with Harry, Hermione and Ginny for Luna to come back. Students were filing back in by fours. Finally, a young blond girl with straggly hair walked in and looked around. When she laid her eyes on the four, she shouted, "Ronald!" She ran toward him, smiling, and Ron took a couple of steps, grinning. She jump in his arms, the letter she had been holding fluttered to the ground and the new moon earrings that had been Ron's gift and she was currently wearing swung around.
Dear Luna,
I'm sorry for our date. It was wrong and I definitely told Seamus off for it. I promise you this: I won't be playing any more games with him.
I would like to take you out on a more proper date. We can do whatever you want. I am doing this willingly and everything. I want to take you on a date. I don't care what others think.
I love you Luna. I want to protect you and I want you to be happy. What I did, did not make you happy and it hurt you. I never meant to hurt you, but it did anyway. I was very wrong.
I will understand if you still hate me, but please forgive me. I want to love you the way everyone else in the world does: together.
Hope you enjoy the earrings. I think they are made from the rare stone called the Sreaklae. It's supposed to bring good feelings to those who are given them. That's what the Quibbler said, anyway.
Now Yours Always,
Ron.
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