A/n-
All my gratitude to my beta reader Sharon Smith, also known as trutonks on the portkey forums. Thankies dear, I'm glad that you're enjoying the first few chapters.
Disclaimer- The various characters from the book Harry Potter are not my creation and do not belong to me. They're JK's property and legally belong to the publishers and JK. I'm merely using them for creative satisfaction. No infringement is intended.
Orange nail varnish.
Five years after graduating, Luna Lovegood now works for the Quibbler. When her father's pride and love runs into financial trouble, Luna comes to the conclusion that only a miracle can help save the magazine. What she didn't count on was Ronald Weasley trying very hard to become that miracle and herself wishing that he succeeds. What happens when a meddling sister, an angry ex lover and a whacky friend make it their business to see that this love story ends happily?
Chapter one
"Luna, are you sure about this dear?" asked Mr. Lovegood scanning the paper before him intently. "Dumbledore doing the tango! Isn't it well below the standards of our stories?" he asked. He looked up at his daughter. Luna Lovegood, 5ft 5inches tall, with a slender figure, long sunny blonde hair and big luminous eyes behind bigger glasses, she was his pride. His only daughter had always shown great interest in the workings of the Quibbler. He had been ecstatic when she had offered to help him out with his other pride- The Quibbler.
Recently the magazine had been quickly falling out of public interest, and his inability to pick it up out of its dive had left him feeling tired and helpless. Now that he had his daughter working with him, he felt a little better.
Luna sniffed the air in disapproval of his statement. "I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't mind," she said. She looked around at this office that held very special memories for her. Before she had started attending Hogwarts, she had spent many afternoons in this very office, playing with her toys or just watching her fascinating father conduct business. The office was nothing out of the ordinary. It had a small window to one side, which now was turning brown, thanks to the fact that they didn't have the finances to pay for maintenance. The only color in the room was provided by the yellow, slightly peeling wallpaper. And it was finished off with very simple wooden furniture throughout the room.
Luna's gaze finally landed back on her father, who was watching her with concern in his eyes. She leveled her gaze with his and said. "It's all I could manage this month."
Her father gave a small sigh, shaking his head lightly. "But it's not sufficient. It won't help bring in any revenue. Besides, compared to the news about Diamonds curing acne and Fudge turning out to be Gay, this won't look halfway decent on the cover," he said, a panicked note in his voice.
"Nothing big seems to be happening dad." said Luna angrily. She banged her hand on the table top before her and cursed loudly, withdrawing it immediately as it throbbed painfully. She settled herself in the chair before him and rubbed her hand slowly. Her father shook his head in disapproval.
"Luna dear, you've always been so gifted with the truth. I'm sure you'll find something soon." he said, nodding his head at her. "In the meanwhile, I'll accept this for this month's issue. But please get me something bigger next month," he said. Luna nodded her head in understanding and left her father's office quietly.
As she stepped into the outer office, the level of noise was the first thing that she noticed. Compared to her father's office, the activity in the outside was very high. People running the length of the hall, tying loose ends together before that month's issue was out. The outer office was decorated in similar fashion as the inner one. Wooden furniture and peeling yellow wallpaper gave the entire office a uniformed look and made everyone feel that they were equals. She liked that fact about the office. They couldn't lose all of this!
"I'll have to do something." she said to herself. "Talking to yourself again babes?" she heard from behind her, in a soft and melodious voice. Luna recognized it immediately and turned to greet her friend Samantha. Samantha was in charge of the '10 Ways to Do' column, which had been an addition Luna herself had suggested. So far Samantha had written great articles about dealing with double chins and running noses. "I presume you've submitted your article?" she asked. When Samantha nodded her head, she sighed. "What was it about?" asked Luna. "10 ways to commit suicide without experiencing pain," said Samantha, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Luna knew how many hardships her friend had faced to get that issue out. "I'll need to read that one," she said.
"I think what you need is to get out of here. You're getting too normal for your own good," said Samantha with a small smirk. "I know," said Luna thinking out loud. It had indeed been days since she had felt like herself. It was like she was running on auto control. "Maybe I should take a vacation. Probably after next month's issue is out, I'll speak to dad," she said.
"Great idea. But for now, go out, get a cup of tea, snog a guy," said Samantha. She pushed her friend towards their shared cubicle. Luna smiled as Samantha handed her the orange coat and bag Luna carried regularly with her. It matched the shade of nail varnish she used. Something on the side of her table caught her eye. She turned to look at the photograph of her own 16 year old self with Ginny and the golden trio. Ron was waving out to her, while the Luna in the picture was laughing hysterically. Luna blushed slightly as she remembered her school girl crush on the youngest Weasley male.
Samantha's elbow in her side broke her reverie. She looked up and smiled before quickly exiting the office.
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Ginny Weasley was highly miffed. Her brother, the new star of the Chudley Canons was late, again. He had promised to meet her at the Leaky Cauldron, and was now exactly an hour late. Ginny sighed loudly and shook her head. Some things never change. She had often discussed with Ron his attitude problem, stating in no uncertain terms that his inconsideration for everybody else's feelings was not fine anymore. Sometimes she felt that her brother's star status had gone to his head.
"I've got a job too, you know," she had said and then added, "you're not the only one busy around here!"
Fact was she still couldn't believe that her brother, the reason behind the invention of the `Weasley is our king' batch, had actually improved his game enough to make it to team selections. It was a shock to hear that he was not only on the team, but was being considered for team Captain.
If his profession was great, his love life was pathetic. Her brother had dated every girl Ginny would have advised him not to and then some. But he never seemed to get involved beyond a certain limit. Sometimes Ginny felt that her brother was afraid of falling in love. Either ways, he was one of the most eligible bachelors around. Taking a small sip of her butterbeer, Ginny looked around the pub curiously. Suddenly a movement to her left caught her eye. A small person with sun blonde hair was waving frantically out to her. Ginny tried to look closely as the person made a trip to her table, all the way to the back. The woman was definitely someone she knew, perhaps from work.
As the girl came closer, Ginny caught sight of something in her hand. It was a copy of the Quibbler. Her eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. This was Luna Lovegood. She stood up, as the girl finally reached her table. "Luna?" Ginny asked, shocked. "Luna Lovegood?""Yes," said Luna, her eyes sparkling, giving her a brilliant smile.
Ginny took a small step back examining her friend. They hadn't met since Graduation, five years back. As Ginny quickly scanned her companion's inexpensive looking business suit, she realized that none of them had actually bothered to look at Luna apart from her weird tastes and her habit of laughing at everything Ron said. Beneath all that, Luna really was just a normal girl."I know suits aren't really my thing, but I had an official meeting," she said. "May I join you?" she asked.
"Oh yes, yes. Have a seat," said Ginny stepping back. Ginny still couldn't believe that the girl in front of her was actually Loony Lovegood. Her gaze went to Luna's nails and she noted, with a slight grin, the orange color nail varnish her friend still sported. Something's truly never changed.
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"So now you're a big shot reporter," asked Ginny, giggling like a school girl. Luna looked at her normally sane friend and gave an impish grin. "That's what I let people believe. I'm just working with my father. Besides, it's not like I'd fit well in any other profession. Nor did I have dreams of becoming a rocket scientist," she said and shrugged. She smiled at Ginny's confusion of the muggle term and just waved it off. "Anyways, dad needed help at the office and there I was," she said simply.
Ginny nodded in understanding. She felt sorry for her friend, who had long forgotten how to live for herself. "What about you?" asked Luna, taking a small sip of her own butterbeer.
"Well, I work with the ministry now. I took over dad's department after he quit. Although, it was a conscious decision on my part. I realized that I share the same fascination for muggle things as my father," said Ginny."And what about the golden trio?' asked Luna.
Ginny laughed softly at Luna's insistence of calling her brother and his best friends golden. "Harry is a top notch Auror, as I'm sure you know. Hermione was working as a healer for sometime, but is now working on the invention of a stronger Wolfsbane. And Ron..." Ginny suddenly stopped speaking as a commotion started out at the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.
Both the girls rushed out, only to give a small anticlimactic sigh of relief as they spotted Ron Weasley surrounded by a bunch of female admirers asking for autographs. He looked up spotting Ginny first- "Can't get anywhere on time, can I, eh Gin?" he said, giving her a small wink. His eyes then turned to the figure standing next to his sister. His eyes widened as he spotted a copy of the quibbler in her hand- "Luna?!"
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a/n- thanks for reading. Review!
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