Ron looked around furtively at the corridor. No one was around.
He paced in front of a certain spot on the wall, chanting, "I need to go the meeting. I have to see the Boss." A grating sound signaled his success in conjuring the doorway. He stopped his movement to find an iron door with a slit near the top.
"Oh, come on," he groaned. "Not this again. Open up."
When no movement behind the door was heard, he sighed and knocked out a complex rhythm. The small flap opened up to reveal blue eyes. "Say the password."
"I'm the only bloke in Hogwarts with hair this red! You know who I am, let me in!" he hissed.
"Can't let you in without the password," the person replied in a chipper voice.
Ron was unsure if he was supposed to be mad or amused. He sighed, "Elvis lives."
The door opened slowly to a grinning Luna. "You're clear."
"Why do we have to use some Muggle singer that's one of your favorites, but I've never heard of?" he moaned as he walked through the door.
"Because I'm the Boss. Now come on, you're late."
He decided not to mention that he wouldn't have been late if she had just let him in. She keeps me on my toes, I guess, he thought with resignation.
The Room of Requirement had morphed itself into a planning room. Shelves, charts, and a large chalkboard took up the space. The only chairs available were gathered around a small, round table. Luna had been right to say that he was late; "Other Options" and the beginning of a bullet were on the board.
"Way to be on time, Ron," Ginny said tartly from her seat next to Luna.
He took his seat, glaring at her the entire time. "At least I came last week unlike some people."
"My apologizes if I'm trying to pass my Care of Magical Creatures class."
"Here we go again," muttered Lucy, who sat next to Ron.
Luna bustled to the front of the board, humming. "Let's save all sibling rivalry until after the meeting. We were on the subject of what else to do. Operation Harmony has hit a snag."
"Those stupid cows from Slytherin…" Ginny left off and tried to regain her composure.
"Immediate expulsion was only the beginning for them. Daddy told me that the Wizengamot trial won't be for a few weeks and until then, they have to stay under house arrest," Luna added cheerfully. "I only hope that they don't judge unfairly because of Pansy and Millicent's last names." After the nods and murmurs of approval faded around the table, "Of course, they have caused the whole mission to come to a grinding halt."
"I've got good news and bad news for this week," Ron started. "I'll start with the good." At Luna's nod to continue, he said triumphantly, "Hermione's acting funny."
Silence greeted his announcement.
"That's it?" Ginny stared at him. "How is that good news?"
"Don't girls act funny when they like someone? Like the whole world stops when they see a guy they like, heart-stopping moments and stuff?"
"Er, no," corrected Luna. "Where'd you learn this?"
"Read it in a book once," he coughed as he flushed. "Anyway," he said loudly, ignoring everyone's puzzled expressions, "she goes red every time Harry comes around. And then we he leaves to go do stuff, she always sighs. And then I caught her making a list about something. She covered it up before I could read it, but I saw Harry's name on it."
"Well that is good news," Luna beamed. Sitting down across from Ron, she reasoned, "Maybe the Late Night Yahoos stopped disrupting her thinking pattern. She does stay up late after all. But what's the bad news?"
Ron rubbed his temples. "Harry's avoiding me and Hermione."
A collective groan went around the table.
"Again," Lucy growled.
"Unfortunately. It started when he talked to me a few nights ago about Hermione and how she should be safe from stuff like what happened two weeks ago. And then he started on how I should be safe and then the next day, he didn't come to breakfast. He hasn't come down or talked to us or hung out since."
"I'm going to hit him with a very heavy book," Ginny proclaimed.
Luna leaned back in her chair. "This will certainly make it harder, but that's what we came together to do in the first place. We will meet adversity with cunning." She stood at board and asked, "Any ideas?"
"We could try the `Push them together in the hallway and hope that they kiss' routine," Lucy suggested.
"Idea's sounding better all the time," Ginny agreed as Luna wrote it down.
"Or we could lock them in the Room and not let them out until they're together," Ron said.
"How would we lock it? The Room is beyond anyone's control. It does what it likes," Ginny reminded him. With Ron's defeated look, she comforted, "Cheer up, it was a good try."
Luna chimed in, "She's right, you know. Think a little harder, Ronald."
They continued in this way for an hour until a list of ideas took up the board.
"All right, we've done enough for tonight. Does anybody have anything else they'd like to add before we adjourn?" Luna asked.
"I have a question," Ron yawned. "Is it true that-well, when girls see a guy they like their vision gets all blurry and all they see is him?"
The girls stared at him in shock. "Where are you getting this stuff from," Ginny snorted.
"Read it in a book once." His ears were the same color as his hair.
Luna and Lucy groaned, but Ginny started to tap her chin in thought. "A book, a book, a…" Realization flooded her, and she grinned. "Ron, could you tell me when you read this book?"
"Ah, um, can't remember. Nope, wiped from my mind. Drawing a blank."
"Could it have been during the summer?"
"Perhaps," he answered evasively. "What of it?"
"I was missing one over the summer. Looked for three days and then I found it on my nightstand. It hadn't been there before; I combed the entire house for it. Now, you wouldn't know where it was, would you?" she finished with a pout.
"N-no, not at all." The quickening blush spreading across his face begged to differ.
"Wait, do you mean that book you told me was a Muggle romance book?" Luna interjected. "What was the brand you told me? Clown, Joker-
"Harlequin?" Lucy asked incredulously. "Those trashy novels with the half-naked men on the cover?"
Ron scratched at the table, his entire face red. The simultaneous laughter of all three girls caused him to blush even more. Ginny shouldn't have left it sitting on the kitchen table. It had just been for a laugh and then the book got so good, he couldn't put it down. Oh, was Ginny in for it once he could think of a way to get her back.
Luan wiped tears from her eyes. "I think-oh goodness, I can't breathe--the meeting's over. Next week," a wave of giggles escaped her and she had to fight them down to resume, "at the same time."
Ginny and Lucy left, snorting and laughing the whole while. Luna put one of the diagrams in a cubby, her shoulders shaking with mirth. Ron didn't say a word, even when Luna hugged his shoulders.
"Come along, Ronald. You have to walk me to my common room before curfew, remember?"
"I'm too embarrassed to walk," Ron said meekly.
"Are you mad because I laughed?"
"A little. But hey, I'm the butt of the joke, right? Let's all laugh at bloody, stupid Ron." He kicked a chair.
She sat in his lap and kissed his forehead. "No, you're not. I love the fact that you can make me laugh. I'm sorry I upset you. It's just that-well, it's best if you don't take what those books say to heart. Most of them are written by people who wouldn't understand if it they tried."
"And you do?"
"Of course, I'm with you, aren't I?"
Despite his bad mood, Ron had to smile and gave her a peck on the lips. "Thanks, Luna."
"If it makes you feel any better, my ears stop popping when I see you walk down the hall."
"Ah-thanks?"
"You're welcome. Are you ready to go now?" She stood up and offered her hand.
He stood up and took her hand. "Yeah. I think I am."
Once they were down the hall, Ron asked, "So I'm that sexy that your ears stop popping when you see me, huh?"
"Yes, but the bloke on the cover of Ginny's book is better."
"Hey!" he whined over Luna's chuckle.
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