Author's Note: Okay, so I had a lot of fun writing this chapter because I finally decided it was time for a secondary ship to shine. Consider this chapter my contribution to the HMS Red Moon. Have fun!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
RED MOON RISING
Partially because he didn't want to upset Ron and partially because he didn't want Ginny to know that he inadvertently eavesdropped on her, which would probably anger her to the point of using the Bat Bogey Hex, Harry decided against telling Ron and Hermione about what he had overheard when he got back to the common room. Instead, he settled down and did his homework, earning an approving smile from Hermione and a roll of the eyes from Ron.
"Whatever happened to the Harry that did his homework at the last possible second?" Ron asked.
"He keeps getting suppressed by the Harry that continuously seeks the approval of one Hermione Granger," Harry replied.
Hermione beamed at him. "Hermione Granger is pleased that the new Harry continuously seeks her approval."
"While Ron Weasley thinks it sucks. Blimey, why the hell are all of us talking in the third person?"
"Dunno," Harry said. "Perhaps we've finally lost it."
Ron shrugged. "Well, it was bound to happen one day."
Harry and Hermione chuckled appreciatively. "So, what d'you want to do this weekend after I finish my homework and Ron continues to procrastinate?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Do you have any ideas, Ron."
"Er-I dunno. Go outside and have a huge snowball fight?" he said.
"All weekend long?" Hermione asked.
"We can ask Ginny and Neville to join us. Luna, too," he added. "We can get the Creevey brothers in on it, too, so that Harry can finally pummel them."
"Why would I want to do that, beside the obvious?" Harry asked.
"Because it would be fun."
"Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"It would! I've wanted to drop that camera of theirs down a toilet for years," Ron said.
"Why? They never really bothered you," Hermione said.
"Yeah, but they annoy my best mate a lot, snapping pictures of him whenever they get the chance. A little revenge would be good," Ron said.
Hermione gave a little laugh. "I'm sure that made a lot more sense in your head."
"Thanks for volunteering to be my first target tomorrow, Hermione," Ron said, grinning.
"Good luck trying to get me. You do know that you'll have to take down your best mate to get to me, right?" Hermione said.
"Why would I have to do that?" Ron asked.
"Because I'll be protecting her," Harry said, also grinning. "It's what you do for your girlfriend-before you dump snow down their shirt."
"Harry!" Hermione cried as Ron roared in laughter.
"I'm only joking, Hermione," Harry said. "Whoever throws a snowball at you has to deal with me, even though you're pretty good at defending yourself."
"My hero," Hermione said in a mock breathy voice.
"Merlin," was all Ron could mutter.
*****
It wasn't anything Harry had expected. Ron had invited Luna to join them, while Harry and Hermione told Neville and Ginny and requested that they'd invite whoever they wished, yet somehow, when they walked down to the flattest part of the snow-covered grounds, a lot of Gryffindors, several Ravenclaws, and even a handful of Hufflepuffs were already down there, milling about and waiting. Harry gave Ron a look, who simply shrugged.
"Don't ask me how this happened," he said.
Luna, who was already down there, ran up to greet them. "Hello, Ronald! Hi, Harry-Hermione!" she said, her eyes dreamy. "Word spread fast about this snowball war you're conducting."
"Conducting? Snowball war? What? How did they find out?" Harry demanded.
"Some people overheard Ronald asking me if I wanted to join in on a huge snowball fight. After he left, they asked me for details. I guess they wanted to fight, too. The next thing I know, I became very popular in the Ravenclaw common room with people asking me about it. Rumors spread around Hogwarts faster than a Firebolt flies. I think that's why so many Ravenclaws are here. Maybe a few of the Hufflepuffs, too," Luna said, looking around. "It is a nice turnout."
"It was never supposed to be this big," Harry said, spotting Neville and Ginny amongst the crowd of people, already preparing snowballs. He marched down to them with Ron, Hermione, and Luna in his wake. "Who, exactly, did you invite?" he asked when he reached them.
"Ron told me to invite the Creeveys," Ginny said. "Neville and I invited Seamus and Dean but that's it. I suspect this whole mess is Colin and Dennis's fault. You know how they are."
Harry groaned. "Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair and turned back to Ron and Hermione. "What d'you reckon we should do?"
"I say have the snowball-er-war," Hermione said. "It'll be good for school morale."
"Let's make it a House competition!" Ron said.
"No! We can't do that," Hermione said.
"Why not?"
"Because it goes against everything Dumbledore's trying to promote-House unity!" Hermione said.
"Maybe we could make it a free-for-all," Harry said.
"Why don't you just intermix the Houses?" Luna suggested.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at her for a moment. Then Harry smiled. "Good thinking, Luna."
Ron laughed. "She's not in Ravenclaw for nothing, is she?" he said, causing Luna to glow.
"Okay, so-erm-how do we want to start this?" Harry asked.
"Simple," Hermione said, taking out her wand and pointing it at her throat. "Sonorus," she said before turning to the crowd. "Hello! It's nice to see all of you on this fine winter day. I guess all of you heard about the snowball fight that some of us were organizing. It's great to have you here with us. I'm very pleased you decided to join us because that just adds to the fun! Anyway, I'm not quite sure how many people are here, but the Head Boy and I, along with a couple prefects, thought it would be a good idea for everyone to just form some teams. No more than six to a team, I think, and, for a little more excitement, no more than three people from one House on a team, got it? So, let's divide up and get this thing started!"
"Brilliant," Ron said to Hermione. "So, let's see. You, me, Harry, Luna, and two others-sorry, Ginny. Sorry, Neville."
"It's okay," Neville said.
"Yeah. I'll get to cream you that way," Ginny said with a wink before she and Neville walked away to find a group.
"She wishes," Ron muttered.
Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott ran over to them. "Hey, great idea!" Hannah said. "This is a great way to relax after a hectic week back in classes. Those professors are laying it on thick now, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Ron said. "Pretty thick."
"Hannah and I were wondering if we might join your team," Ernie said. "You only have four and the two of us will make six."
"That would be great," Hermione said.
"Come on, let's get to making an arsenal," Harry said, looking around. "We're going to need it."
They spent the next few minutes using their wands to create a small pile of snowballs. Finally, Hermione put her wand to her throat again and said, "Everyone ready? GO!"
Snowballs went flying through the air in every direction. Some threw them, while others charmed theirs to fly through the air like white, powdery Bludgers. Others were creating snow walls to help protect them.
Harry threw a few snowballs as hard as he could in different directions. Hermione was behind him, bewitching a good seven or eight to fly around until they hit someone. Ron was working with Luna on constructing some sort of snow catapult, while Ernie and Hannah busied themselves by working on a wall with their wands.
Clearly through the flying snowballs, Harry could see both Ginny and Neville, who were working with a group of Ravenclaws, throwing and laughing. Harry was even able to pick out Hunter, who looked like he was working with both Ally and the first year Tara Ryder, fighting against Dylan and their other friend Laura MacKenzie. Dean and Seamus were trying to get their snowballs to attack a group of fourth years, while the Creevey brothers worked with a few Hufflepuffs to make a sort of snow fort.
Suddenly, a two third-year Ravenclaws began to lob big, fat snowballs at them. One of them was heading straight for Hermione.
"Duck!" he cried and pointed his wand at the snowballs, firing off a few spells to destroy them.
Hermione ran over to Harry's side. "Which way did those come from?"
"Over there," he said, pointing at the Ravenclaws.
Hermione waved her wand in a looping sort of fashion. Ten perfect snowballs rose from the ground and zoomed off for the third years. They watched idly for a moment as the third years shrieked and ran for it, causing them to laugh.
The battle continued. People were laughing and getting pelted with snow. Ron and Luna finally got the catapult working and were firing off gigantic snowballs every ten seconds. Everyone seemed to be having a great time until Harry noticed a group of figures looking down on them.
When the figures started to walk toward them, those engaged in the fight stopped to watch. Eventually, Harry recognized exactly who was walking their way and scowled.
Draco Malfoy and a group of Slytherins entered the foray and marched straight toward Harry. He stood his ground, glaring at them.
"What are you doing here?" he growled when Malfoy and his gang stopped in front of them.
"We've come to enter this so-called battle you've got going on here, Potter," Malfoy said with a sneer. "We'd like to teach all of you how it's done."
"We were doing fine before you came along, Malfoy," Harry said.
"Yes, you did look like you were doing a spectacular job," Malfoy said sarcastically.
"Thank you," Harry said, using just as much sarcasm.
He glanced over at Ron and Luna, who had stopped in the middle of putting one of their gigantic snowballs into the catapult. "Nice catapult, Weasley! Does it launch snow or itself?"
Ron's ears went red.
Ginny marched over to them, followed closely by Neville. "If you want to play, Draco, then ask. Don't insult any of us just because we're having fun."
Malfoy stared at her. "I'm surprised you aren't embarrassed to be seen with the likes of him," he said, glancing up at Neville. "Certainly you can do better."
"Quit showing off for your henchmen," Ginny snapped. "Quit trying to be like one of them. Do you want in or don't you?"
Malfoy's gray eyes ran over the crowd. "Yeah, we want in. All of us."
"Then start making snowballs," Ginny said, turning around and walking away, Neville right behind her.
Malfoy smirked. "You heard her," he said to the Slytherins. "Let's show these wimps how to have a real snowball fight."
Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder before they turned back to their arsenal. "Since when does she call him Draco?"
When the battle resumed, Harry and Ron made it their personal responsibility to take Malfoy and his cronies down. They directed all of their snowballs at the Slytherins, completely ignoring the others out there. One time, Hermione shoved Harry out of the way just as a large snowball whizzed past his ear.
The Slytherins took Harry's momentary distraction and tried to strike both him and Hermione down. Harry heard rather than saw the plethora of snow heading his way. He grabbed onto Hermione and dropped to the ground, taking her with him as both snow and, to his disgust and anger, sharp icicles landed a few feet away from them.
"Those bastards!" Harry growled and looked down at Hermione, who was pined underneath him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said. "Now, are you going to move or were you just getting comfortable?"
With a little laugh, Harry rolled off of her. "Sorry."
After that, things got dirty. The Slytherins kept throwing ice along with the snow, hitting people hard in the face. Harry saw Ron do a particularly noble thing when an ice ball headed straight for Luna; he jumped in front of her and let it hit him instead.
Angered, Harry fought back, blasting the snow near them and causing a huge, dense curtain of the powdery stuff to hang in front of them. Silence rang over the crowd as they waited. Apparently all of them had taken on the task of defeating the Slytherins. When the cloud started to settle, all of them launched an attack, throwing snowball after snowball at the Slytherins until he finally heard one of them yell, "RETREAT!"
The intermixed crowd cheered as the Slytherins ran for it. Harry watched Malfoy scowl as he slowly walked away and back up to the castle.
When Harry turned back to the crowd, all of them were staring at him expectantly. He looked over at Hermione, who was smiling, and Ron, who just shrugged. Then he turned back to the crowd and cleared his throat. "I guess we're all winners!" he yelled, causing the crowd to cheer.
They walked back up to the castle, soaked and very cold, but happy nonetheless. Beating the party-crashing Slytherins had put everyone who had participated in such high spirits that some broke out singing the school song. Feeling cheerful enough, Harry joined in, followed by Hermione.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot!"
Everyone headed back to their dormitories to go change into a fresh pair of clothes. Harry didn't fancy getting a cold and needing to see Madam Pomfrey for some Pepper-Up Potion. As it was, he had been to see her too many times that year already.
When he sat back down in the common room beside Hermione, he looked around. "Where's Ron?" he asked.
"I don't know. I thought he was with us. Wasn't he?" Hermione said.
"Come to think of it, no, he wasn't," Harry said. "We should find him."
"Yes. The longer he stays in those clothes, the more likely it is that he could get sick," Hermione said.
"Hang on," Harry said. "Let me get the Marauder's Map and we'll go get him."
He ran back up to his dorm, rifled through his trunk, and found what he was looking for. Pocketing it, he ran back down into the common room, where Hermione was waiting.
"So, where is he?" Hermione asked.
"Let's go out in the corridor first," Harry said, "so people can't see."
Hermione led the way out of the portrait hole. When they were far enough away, Harry took out the map and his wand, tapping the former with the latter and murmuring, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
When the map fully formed, Harry searched it quickly. He wasn't in the entrance hall, the Great Hall, the Owlery, or the kitchen. Then, suddenly, he spotted the little dot labeled "Ronald Weasley" heading up the staircase to another tower.
"There he is," Harry said. "Let's go."
They took off, walking as quickly as they could without looking suspicious. Harry watched the map. Ron's dot had stopped. "Come on," he said to Hermione, breaking into a run.
When they were closing in on where Ron's dot had last been, Harry slowed to a stop to check the map again. He was still in the same spot, much to Harry's relief.
"Harry? Did you not notice who he's with?" Hermione said, examining the map.
"What? Who?" Harry said, looking down at the map harder. He had been so focused on finding Ron that he hadn't noticed that there was another dot next to his labeled "Luna Lovegood."
"Luna? What's he doing with her?" he asked.
Hermione rolled his eyes. "We should probably leave them alone."
Comprehension dawned as he saw the amused expression in Hermione's eyes. He laughed. "He's still in sopping wet clothes, though."
"We should go back," Hermione said.
"But they're just down the next corridor," Harry said, sighing. "What d'you reckon they're doing?"
"I don't know," Hermione said.
"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Harry asked.
A guilty little smile wormed its way onto her face. "A little."
He felt something vibrate in his pocket. Harry pulled out the pager. "I think you're more than a little curious," he said, grinning.
She closed her eyes, but the grin didn't fade. "We shouldn't. We've had our lesson on the bad things that happens when one eavesdrops already, haven't we? We should go back to the common room and interrogate him the moment he gets back."
Harry glanced down at the map. Something interesting was happening on it. Ron's dot was moving very close to Luna's. "You're right, we don't need to peek. Look," he said, thrusting the map at Hermione.
She examined it and giggled before clearing her throat. "Very interesting," she said.
"Let's go back to the common room and interrogate him like you said," Harry said, trying to hide his laughter. "I look forward to him explaining this."
Laughing together, they both headed back to the common room, awaiting their chance to corner Ron.
*****
Corner him is exactly what they did an hour later when Ron walked into the common room looking very cold but also very pleased with himself. Harry and Hermione got up from their game of Gobstones, seized him by the arms, and forced him into a chair in the corner of the room.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ron said, trying to get up, but Harry forced him back down.
"Enjoy your chat with Luna?" he asked, grinning.
Ron paled. "My what?"
"Your chat with Luna," Hermione said, also grinning.
"How did you…" he began before trailing off as Harry waved the Marauder's Map in front of him.
"When you didn't return to the common room, we got worried, mate," Harry said. "Everyone's clothes were soaking wet and cold. We didn't want you to catch anything, so we took a look at the map to find you and lo, who did we find you with?"
"A Miss Luna Lovegood," Hermione answered.
"I-er-well…I was just walking her back to her common room," Ron said.
"You took over an hour to walk her to her common room?" Hermione asked incredulously.
Ron went red. "Er-yeah."
Harry and Hermione gave each other knowing looks. "I couldn't help but notice, Ron, how protective you were of Luna during the snowball fight," Hermione said. "Much more so than with either me or Ginny."
"Well, I invited her to the thing. It was my responsibility, I thought," Ron said, sinking in his chair.
"Ron," Harry said seriously. "We know."
"Know what?" Ron asked, his eyes darting from right to left.
"We watched your little dot get very close to that of Miss Lovegood's," Harry said. "I doubt very much you were giving her a hug."
Ron's face was really red now. "Oh all right," he said, throwing his arms into the air. "I kissed her, is that what you two want to hear? She's grown on me. I fancy her a bit, she fancies me, so I kissed her. Are you satisfied?"
"Very," Harry said, grinning.
"I'm quite pleased for you, Ron," Hermione said.
Ron buried his face in his hands. "Bloody hell, I didn't tease you two like this when you got together."
"No, but you probably would have if you hadn't been so bloody mad at us," Harry said.
"You'll have to forgive us," Hermione said.
"But really, I'm happy for you and Luna. That's awesome," Harry said. "I bet you put her on Cloud Nine, kissing her."
"You don't know the half of it," Ron said. "She skipped back into her common room. Skipped. I had to bloody chuckle about it. But you know what?" he said, leaning in conspiratorially. "She's not a bad kisser at all."
Harry and Hermione laughed, falling down into seats next to Ron. "I'm happy she's a good kisser," Harry said.
"I'm just happy that you're happy," Hermione said.
Ron nodded. "Yeah. I am happy." He fold his hands behind his head and leaned back. "I think this relationship's going to work out a lot better than the one I had with Lavender. Easily."
*****
At dinner that evening, Luna waved over to them as she headed toward the Ravenclaw table. Ron waved back, grinning from ear to ear.
Ginny stared. "What's going on?" she asked, looking back and forth between Ron and Luna. "Did something happen?"
"You could say that," Ron said, still grinning.
"What?"
Ron shook his head.
"Oh for God's sake, Ron, tell her. It's not like she's not going to find out anyway," Hermione said.
Ron cleared his throat. "I have a new girlfriend," he announced.
Ginny's eyes darted back to Luna and grew wide. "Really?" she said, a smile creeping on her face. "Since when?"
"This afternoon," Ron said. "It's a very recent development."
Ginny laughed. "Recent? Merlin, I've been waiting for this to happen for awhile now. It's about damn time, in fact."
Ron reddened. "I can be a bit slow, I know."
Ginny snorted. "A bit?"
Before Ron could bite out a retort, Dumbledore stood up and looked down at his students contently, waiting for the Hall to quiet down. When it finally did, he smiled at them and said, "I believe today was a most unusual day for a non-Hogsmeade and non-Quidditch weekend here at Hogwarts. Unless I'm very much mistaken, a large snowball fight occurred and students from all four Houses partook in it. I am quite delighted by this and I thank whoever it was that thought it up." He stared directly at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "That said, I believe more hot chocolate than usual has been made, since I imagine that most of you are still very cold from today's activities. Enjoy!"
When the hot chocolate appeared, Hermione poured each of them a mug nearly to the brim.
"What? No marshmallows?" Ron said and suddenly they magically appeared at his elbow. He grinned. "Got to love those house-elves."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sipped her hot chocolate. "This has been a pretty good day, hasn't it?"
Harry nodded, blowing the excess steam from his mug. "Yeah, it has," he said and took a sip.
*****
What was a good day for the students of Hogwarts didn't turn out to be a good day for the wizarding world. People were still chatting about the huge snowball fight on Sunday morning when the owls flew in, delivering mail. Harry didn't bother looking up. Hedwig never brought him mail as everyone he ever felt a need to talk to was right inside the castle.
A tawny owl landed next to Hermione with that day's edition of the Sunday Prophet. She took it and slipped a Knut inside the pouch that was tied to the owl's leg. It took off. Hermione took a sip of pumpkin juice and unfolded the Prophet-then, spat the pumpkin juice back out, spraying Ron.
"What is it?" Harry asked, alarmed as Ron grabbed a napkin and started mopping his face.
"Oh no, not again!" she cried.
Harry noticed that the Hall became very quiet as those with Sunday Prophets were pointing the leading headline out to their friends. Then the Hall erupted with alarmed chatter.
Hermione tossed the paper down on the table so Harry and Ron could get a good look at the headline for themselves.
DEATH EATERS ESCAPE IN LARGEST AZKABAN BREAKOUT YET!
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all stared at each other. What Ron said next, Harry thought, perfectly described what each of them was thinking.
"Oh shit."