Chapter Eight
ASTROLOGY: Witches are From Venus, Wizards are From Mars.
"Harry, do you think Luna Lovegood as loopy as she appears to be?" Ron asked me as he sat at the bar in the Happy Gryff.
I paused, not understanding what Ron meant. "Appears to be?"
"You think maybe it might be an act?"
Now I was really confused. "Why would anyone act loopier than they are?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because it seems cuter?"
"Cuter?!" What the-"You think Luna's cute for acting loopier?"
"Well, don't you?"
I set my butterbeer down on the counter, my brows knotting at the inanity of this question. "I wouldn't exactly describe her as cute…"
At this, Ron frowned. "Why not? What's wrong with her?"
I liked Luna. I really did. She said strange things, and I always felt I could tell her things without having to worry about what she would think. I don't think "judging" was in the scope of her vocabulary, but if I was going to give an entirely honest opinion, I thought Luna was just a bit out of her mind. That opinion might have been a direct influence of Hermione, who thought Luna as mad as a hatter, but that was beside the point.
I fidgeted uneasily and gave Ron's thoughts some consideration. I had a feeling Ron wouldn't be too keen about hearing my assessment of Luna Lovegood's mental state.
"Nothing's wrong with her," I said without conviction. "Maybe you're right." For the Savior of the Wizarding world, I could be such a wimp. "Maybe she's cuter… why do you ask?"
"I don't know." Ron fidgeted on his seat. "I recently had an interesting conversation with her… again, but this time I asked her out to dinner for tonight…"
At that point, I had to ask myself if I heard right. "You-? Well, erm, wow. That's-" I grappled to find an inoffensive word to describe it. "-unexpected."
Success.
"Yeah, I reckon so."
"D'you, erm… fancy her?"
At that, Ron looked immensely irritated, and I felt colossally stupid.
"Of course you fancy her," I immediately said, answering my own question. "What I meant to say was-erm, are you sure?"
Now Ron was beginning to look confused, and I thought maybe this question was no better than the first one. I wasn't sure why I found the idea of Ron and Luna so difficult to comprehend. It wasn't as if he didn't know Luna had liked him for ages, and really, if I didn't think mental stability was important in a woman, I could admit that Luna was actually quite attractive. All things considered, this was a highly natural thing, wasn't it?
I cleared my throat. "This date-it is a date, isn't it?"
"Ask a woman out to dinner… she says yes… a date is what they usually call it, yes."
"Right. So… that's good, yeah? You finally asked someone out."
"Yes. I was getting tired of you all shoving women down my throat. I figured I'd like to ask someone I actually fancy, for a change."
This was definitely a shock, but now it was sinking in, and I began to realize the implications of what Ron was telling me.
He was going out on a date; a date he arranged.
This was big. This was-this was huge.
I was going to burst from excitement.
That night, Hermione dropped by the Happy Gryff.
I didn't even bother with the dinner crowd. I sat with her at her table and said, as casually as I could, "So Ron's asked Luna out on a date."
Hermione had stared at me like I had gone mad. "What?"
"Ron. He asked Luna out. Of his own free will. I think he fancies her. In fact, I think he actually said he did. Yes, I distinctly remember him telling me so."
Another few moments of staring, I was beginning to wonder if she was ill. I was absolutely sure she understood the magnitude of this event, yet there she was, unmoved.
But then she smiled. The smile was real. Not affected. Not forced. It was that lovely, joyous smile of hers that spoke of many wonderful promises. "Well, I'm glad, Harry. I really am. I think they make a lovely couple, don't you think? I hope their first date works out."
Please let their first date work out.
Please, for all things magical, let their first date be a smashing success.
Hermione and I talked all night, enjoying one another's company. I held her hand; didn't let it go, and I dared to kiss it once, twice. She blushed, but she let me do it, and she might have brushed her foot on my leg deliberately that one time.
We had our wine, our seats moving closer the later it got, and I couldn't move away. Close. So close.
Her fingers were running idly through my hair. Playfully. Affectionately. Lovingly.
The wine was gone. The Happy Gryff was closed. We were the last people there.
I wanted to kiss her and let it all be. Ron was going to be happy, wasn't he? Ron had finally began to move on-really move on.
But then, we didn't know that for sure.
We could be deluding ourselves, wanting him to be happy when he might not be…
I stared out the windows of my restaurant. The grills had been pulled down at the front. We'd have to go out through the back.
From the outside, the Happy Gryff would be caged and locked.
Until the morning, the locks weren't going to be undone.
Sighing, I clasped her hands in mine and bent over to press my lips lightly over her knuckles, then I laid my cheek against them on the table, closing my eyes.
Her other hand came up to smooth my perpetually tousled hair back.
"You will let me know how Ron's date went, yes?" she whispered.
"I will. I'll ask him and I'll let you know immediately."
"Good. Not a moment later."
I felt her kissing the top of my head before she left for the back door. I stayed in the Happy Gryff for a while before I finally retired for the night.
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A/N: Another too-short chapter that made a two-chapter release reasonable. ^_^