A/N: Another one! Thanks muchly to Nicole for beta-ing this for me, and Mr. Twilight/Azure for reading it a few times. *curtseys*
Disclaimer: I don't own anything already copyrighted to J.K. Rowling, and if you decided to sue me you wouldn't get anything more than pocket lint.
Shimmering Terpies
By VirtualFaerie
Luna marched out into the Great Hall; she had on a large straw hat, the brim flopping around wildly, and a net swung over her shoulder. Her stride wasn't as languid as usual; she was walking quickly, with a purpose. She grabbed a muffin, then started back out of the hall.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron shared at glance at the table. "I wonder what she's up to," said Hermione, buttering a piece of toast.
Harry smiled. "With that net, I'm figuring that she's going to try and catch something."
"Probably some Snorkler-whatsit that doesn't even exist," said Hermione, shaking her head.
Ron frowned. "You don't know what for sure."
Hermione shot him a pointed look. "Oh please, don't tell me you believe in that too."
"I never thought I'd save a goal in Quidditch, but look what happened," Ron reminded her.
"I believed you could do it!" said Hermione loyally.
"I did too," added Harry.
Ron waved his hand. "Anyways, that's not the point," he went on. "The point is: don't knock something until you're absolutely sure."
"But books--"
"Any solid proof?" interrupted Ron, raising his eyebrows.
"No, but--"
"No buts about it," said Ron, getting up from the table. "I need to go to practice a bit early this morning to warm up."
After Ron had left, Hermione turned the Harry, slightly indignant. "Did you hear that? Ron was defending Luna and her snorkle-whasits! What's wrong with him? I thought he thought she was loony."
Harry shrugged noncommittally. "I don't know, but he did have apricot jam on his toast. He hates apricot jam."
Hermione let out a frustrated growl and went back to her breakfast.
--
Ron walked down a hill, heading towards the pitch, when he saw Luna on her hands and knees digging through a bush at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She reached back to push some of her hair out of her face, tucking it back in her hat, smudging dirt on her cheeks and forehead. He smiled and started walking her way.
"Luna?" he said, stopping behind her.
"Hm?" she said, not bothering to turn around, digging more furiously than before, only stopping to twist a small branch out of her way.
"What are you doing?" he asked, crouching down beside her.
"I'm looking for a terpie," said Luna, sitting back disappointedly. "But I'm not having much luck."
"A terpie? I didn't think those existed," Ron said, looking at the mangled bush.
"Of course they exist! Daddy did a piece on them for The Quibbler just last month," Luna said dreamily, picking up her net, straightening her hat and starting off towards another bush. She kneeled beside it and started digging again near the roots of the bush. Stopping, she looked back at Ron. "Well don't just stand there," she said. "You could help me, you know."
"Oh, right," said Ron quickly, starting to dig with her. She smiled at him; Ron felt his stomach do an odd flip, and his eyes widened.
Luna noticed the look on his face. "Something wrong? Terpies won't hurt you, if that's what you're afraid of. They're quite nice in fact, just shy."
"It's not the terpies I'm afraid of," Ron muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Luna asked, looking up, hair falling from underneath her hat again, framing her dirt smudged face. Ron had never seen her look prettier. His stomach fluttered again.
"Nothing," said Ron hastily.
They went on digging silently for another five minutes before Luna reeled back and a small flash of green appeared near her hands. "I found one!" she said excitedly, her large eyes shining. She reached for her net, and tried to catch the terpie with it.
Ron watched her, a large grin on his face. "Hey! Help me!" she shouted, chasing after the terpie. Ron got up and saw another terpie dart out from underneath the bush. He lunged for it, arms flung out in front of him. His hands clasped around the small terpie, and he fell back down to the ground. "Ouch," he grimaced.
Luna was still running around with her net, calling out to the terpie. "Come on," she said pleadingly. "I swear I won't hurt you! I only want to see you."
"I've got one, Luna!" exclaimed Ron, sitting up.
"You have?" said Luna, beaming. She cast one last look at the twittering terpie she had been trying to catch, and dropped her net, hurrying over to Ron. She plopped down beside him, "Let's see!" she said breathlessly.
Ron eased his hands open slowly, and Luna let out a contented sighed as a small face peeked out at them. The terpie looked like a tiny human, only it was two inches tall - with green skin, and even darker green hair that shimmering in the morning light, and a tail.
"It's beautiful," Luna gushed, leaning in closer to Ron. Her arm brushed up against his and he jerked slightly - his ears tingeing pink. Luna didn't notice - she just looked up at him and grinned. "Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?"
"Ye - er, no," said Ron, biting his tongue.
Luna reached out to touch the terpie - it twittered madly and flew off, translucent wings sparkling. "Aww," Luna said sadly. "Oh well, that was nice while it lasted; don't you think, Ronald?"
He nodded. "We could try to catch some more," he suggested.
"No," said Luna. Ron's eyebrows knitted together. "I only wanted to see one, just to say that I have."
"No one thinks they exist though, no one will believe you," said Ron, frowning.
Luna smiled. "But you'll believe me."
"Yeah, I'll believe you," said Ron, grinning.
Luna flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thanks for helping me," she said, voice muffled by his shoulder.
"Er, no problem," said Ron, wrapping his arms around her waist, patting her back awkwardly. "It was fun, really."
Luna pulled back and stood up, holding her hand out to Ron to help him up. He took it and hefted himself off of the ground. "I was thinking about looking from some wood nymphs next weekend," said Luna vaguely, eyeing a bush behind Ron. "Do you want to help?"
"Yeah," said Ron, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "It's a date." He squeezed her hand and they set off walking back towards the castle.