a/n: Thanks to everyone who takes pleasure in reading this fic. It makes me very happy that there are people out there who wait anxiously for an update of this fiction. I love all of you.
Special thanks to bslehofer who chooses to be known by that name. Thank you, you give me ispiration and provide great relief when I'm not in the mood to write. Also loads of love to sharon smith, who I was missing a little. Also hello to fallenwitch who's helping with can love survive it all who gives me precious time from her schedule. And hugs to Prachi- a friend who makes a great fan. I love all of you.
"So what are your plans for today?" asked Ron, as he bit into his cheese sandwich, which didn't seem to taste too weird after five days of continuously eating it.
"You sure you're not bored of that cheese sandwich?" asked Luna. "You could try something else. Or you can eat those eggs you've been eying," said Luna, smiling softly, before taking a sip from her cup of coffee.
Ron realized that she had caught him staring at the food that the people sitting near them were enjoying. "What and miss all this carrot?" asked Ron, quickly shoving the remains of it in his mouth.
"You sure?"
"Want to know the truth?" asked Ron, bending closer to her, conspiratorially. "I can't bring myself to order something else (delete comma) and get used to another vegetable," said Ron screwing his nose at the word `vegetable'.
Luna burst out laughing, choking slightly on her coffee. "How do you manage to eat an omelet without any vegetables in it? Or beans, or other things?" asked Luna.
"Now that would be letting my secrets out. Can I trust you with them?" asked Ron.
"I swear I won't let your secrets out," said Luna.
"I don't really eat any of the vegetables in the omelet either. Disguised as some curry, I can tolerate vegetables, but as a separate entity, nah," said Ron. "Potatoes, onions and beet are the only vegetables I can digest," he said.
"Really? I hate beetroot," she said.
"Are you kidding? I love beetroot," he said, a smile lighting his face.
"Wow, that's quite interesting," said Luna, giggling behind the cup of coffee she held onto for hiding.
"So, what is the plan for the day?" asked Ron.
"Well, I have the day off. Maybe you could take me to your practice, and I can get some words out of your fellow team mates," said Luna.
"I don't have a practice today. I'll take you along tomorrow," he said, picking up his cup of coffee. "Here's an idea. We could go visit the muggle zoo today," he said.
Luna looked at him and felt a grin tug at her lips. "I would have loved to, but not today," she said. Ever since they had started meeting everyday, Luna had found it impossible to deny the attraction she shared with Ron. The more time they spent together, the more she felt as if she were being pulled into a pond of quicksand. She wanted to put some distance between herself and Ron.
Ron felt her hesitate. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, that reminds me, I could use some time to catch up with Dad," she said, trying her best to politely decline any time spent with his family.
Oddly disappointed at her denial, he tried one last time to convince her. "Please come along. I'm going with Ginny and Draco and all the Weasley grandchildren. I'll go mad all alone. Seeing the ferret with my sister is bad enough, not having you come along will just break my heart," he said, giving her the best puppy dog face he could master.
"Ginny is coming too?" asked Luna, avoiding the comment about the broken heart and reasoning that if they had company, a lonely moment might be hard to find, which meant more time to think. "Are you sure they won't mind my tagging along?" she asked.
"You mean you'll come?"
"Oh, alright".
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"Hello Luna," said Draco, acknowledging the odd girl. She wore a baby blue T-shit with blue jeans. Oddly decent wear for Luna, it was still unusual thanks to the fact written across the front in red bold letters was `Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most'. Draco couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as Ginny covered her mouth before she could emit the loud snort that was threatening to burst out.
"Hello Draco. I see you still have a knack for making people feel as if they've got banana peels all over them," said Luna, nodding at Ginny.
Ginny's eyes rounded in shock, as she turned to study Draco's expression. She had expected him to be offended or angry, nobody messed with Malfoy honor. However, he seemed rather amused. Ginny's eyes narrowed as she warned her boyfriend to be nice.
"Glad to meet you too. I see you still have a flair for the truth," he said, a twinkle in his eyes.
"Wish I could say the same about you," said Luna, quietly moving away from him, to Ron's side.
Draco saw her mutter something in Ron's ear and felt, more than see Ron stiffen. Well well. He turned to Ginny, to find her looking at her brother and friend too. "You think they realize what's about to happen?" he asked, nudging her in the side.
She looked up at him, shrugging simply. "I just hope they realize that there's no turning back. Both are stubborn and can't think straight sometimes," she said. "I hope they know what they're getting into," she said praying for the happiness of both.
"Relax. They're adults. Let time take its course," said Draco, smiling at Ginny. "Let's enjoy the zoo. I have some nuts, the monkey's here love them," he said. Realising that Ginny was smiling , he blushed furiously as what he'd just said registered. "Oh, come on."
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"Get up you fat monkey," said the youngest Weasley, the son of Percy and Penelope. He hitched his pants up for the hundredth time that day, and tried to shout a little louder. "Why don't you move you useless thing," he said. The sleepy ape merely opened one eye, gave a yawn and went back to sleep. "Why doesn't it move Uncle Ron?" asked the desolate child.
Helpless to find an answer to the child's question, Ron shrugged, moving closer to the cage. "Oy pea-brain," he shouted, clapping his hands to draw the primate's attention.
"The only pea-brain I can see from here is you," said Draco, moving closer to the cage. He bent down to carry little Eric in his arms. "Do you want that monkey to move?" he asked the little child. When he nodded Draco smiled, "Then you got to give it something. Everything in this world works by this principle," he said.
Putting the child down, he extricated some nuts, showing them off to the sleeping monkey. "Do you want these?" he asked, in a soft seductive voice. The monkey opened his eyes wide, and Draco gave a small smirk. Ron huffed in exasperation, and felt the ladies move beside him.
Draco inclined his head towards Ginny, and offered his hand to the monkey, who was looking no where else.
"You think he'll move?" asked Luna, careful to speak softly, lest she broke the spell. She place a hand on Ron's shoulder, to see better. The little contact sent a thrill down her spine, but she needed to see.
"Who knows?" said Ron, sulking. "I bet he's moving since Malfoy knows his language," he said earning a soft "spoilsport," from Ginny. He stuck his tongue out at her and saw Draco's smirk widen.
"Come get the nuts," said Draco, extending his hand further.
It seemed for a moment that the monkey was going to move after all, but it went back to sleep, giving Draco a small wink, before closing his eyes. "Did the chimp just wink at me?" asked Draco, confused.
"I think he likes you, sorry, she likes you," said Luna, moving forward to stand beside Eric.
"Back off, he's mine," said Ginny, hugging Draco, while laughing at the monkey's antics.
Luna smiled at the couple before bending low and saying something in Eric's ear. The child's face lit up instantly, and he offered Luna his arms. Luna easily picked him up and moved a little closer to the cage.
"What's going on?" asked Ron, intrigued.
"Stay quiet, and watch," said Luna. Quickly scanning the surrounding, she set Eric securely on her hip and continued to watch the monkey silently. Feeling their eyes on him, the monkey opened his eyes. Luna looked him in the eye and slowly, scratched her head.
"What is she doing?" asked Draco.
"She said to stay quiet," said Ron, turning to give Draco an angry look.
Slowly, Eric also started scratching his head. They continued scratching their head together, watching the monkey intently. After what seemed like a minute of watching them scratch their heads together, the monkey too started scratching his head. Luna gave a small triumphant smile. She picked up her hand and waved at the primate. Eric following her lead did the same. Almost instantly, the monkey followed. Waving out to them, all signs of sleep now gone.
Quietly turning around, with Eric still in her hands, she looked at each one of them "Not everyone does things in return for something. Sometimes it's just nice to feel like you fit," she said to Draco. "So,what do you want him to do?" she asked.
"Make him dance like a monkey," said Draco, challenging Luna.
Luna gave an infernal grin, and muttered something in Eric's ear. The little boy smiled, nodded and then stepping away from Luna's arms, moved towards Draco. Draco saw him approach, suspiciously. As he reached the adult, Eric started tickling him. And soon, so were Ginny, Ron and Luna. Extremely ticklish, Draco was hopping around, trying to stop the tickling by jumping here and there. In no time, they had the monkey jumping around too, and it seemed like the chimp almost enjoyed it.
"Thanks for that," said Ron, looking at the happy face of his nephew. Luna inclined her head in acknowledgment and continued with the tickling.
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a/n- I hope you enjoyed reading. No review.
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