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AN: Once again, a huge thank you to my beta, Jori, for beta-ing this for me and taking time out of her busy week to do this! Next chapter will be the last and sadly, it'll be the end of this little ficcy. I'm in the process of writing it and you can expect it to be out soon in the next week or so. In the meantime, happy reading!
Chapter 4
In a bedroom sitting atop the many floors of the Burrow sat Ron hunched over his desk reading. Under the warm orange glow cast by his Chudley Canon posters, who were merrily waving and playing Quidditch, Ron sat not doing his summer homework as one would expect but instead poring over what looked to be a series of letters written in a flowery slanted script.
This was the sight Ginny stumbled upon as she stealthily crept into Ron's room. He was so deeply immersed in the flowery script before him that he did not even hear the slight creek of the floorboards nor the changed movements of the Chudley players who turned their attention to the new occupant in the room.
Silently creeping upon him, Ginny quietly leaned over to see what had captured his attention so completely. Recognizing the flowery handwriting, Ginny grinned at the sight of her dear brother studying Luna's letters.
"I didn't know you and Luna wrote love letters to one another!" Ginny pretended to wipe away an imaginary tear, "Our ickle Ronnikens is all grown up and in love!"
With a yelp of surprise, Ron turned and upon seeing Ginny franticly moved to hide Luna's letters from her prying eyes.
"They're not love letters and I'm not in love with Luna!" Ron automatically blurted out defensively, his ears turning pink.
"A bit too quick to deny it there, Ronnikens but anyhow for what it's worth, I think it's extremely cute. The two of you would be really good for one another," Ginny added with a knowing glint in her eye.
"We are not dating! We're only friends!" Ron replied hotly, a blush staining his cheeks.
"Friends with benefits I'm sure," Ginny added wickedly.
"It's not like that! We're only good friends, that's it!"
"Oh but don't you wish it was more?"
"Shut up, Ginny and get out of my room!"
Seeing that Ron's face had gone beyond blushing and was slowly turning purple in anger, Ginny decided to tactfully drop the teasing. "I suppose you won't be interested in where I'm going this afternoon, then?" Ginny asked while casually inspecting her nails.
"I don't care where you're going as long as it's out of this room!" Ron said, still angry.
"Oh, I guess you won't want to go to Luna's house with me?" Ginny paused letting her question sink in. "I suppose I can always go alone…Ginny casually pondered all the while knowing that Ron had gone very still at her question.
"Y-you mean Luna's back from her trip?"
"Yeah, she just owled me a couple of minutes ago inviting us to come over for a visit but I guess you wouldn't be interested in going then?"
"Of course I want to go!" Ron answered quickly.
"I thought so," Ginny replied with a satisfied smile.
***
Ron stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying vainly to look somewhat presentable without obviously being so.
He had showered and dressed in a clean blue jumper with matching shorts and had used Bill's cologne, who had guaranteed him the witches would be most definitely impressed. Ron, who had never really paid much attention to his hair, was currently trying to style his hair to look somewhat sharp.
"Ron! Would you please hurry up! I'd like to leave some time this week!" Ginny called up the stairs, apparently fed up with the unusual amount of time Ron was taking to get ready.
"Give me five minutes!" Ron called back down the stairs.
Heavy stomping could be heard coming up the stairs and a moment later Ginny appeared in the bathroom doorway looking impatient and angry.
"You know its witches who are suppose to spend their time primping and getting ready, not wizards!" Ginny paused a moment to calm down while looking over Ron and thoughtfully said, "That slicked back look doesn't do anything for you, you wouldn't want to look like a red-haired Malfoy would you?"
"WHAT?" Ron sputtered indignantly, all the while frantically combing his hair out of his current hairstyle.
After watching Ron styling his hair for a few moments, Ginny decided to take some pity on him and put him out of his misery. "You know Luna like the natural look on a wizard, she doesn't really go for wizards who obviously spend too much time on themselves."
"Oh? How would you know?" Ron asked while staring thoughtfully at this reflection.
"Luna's my friend and we talk…Just leave your hair like that." Ginny replied knowingly.
Ron decided to leave his hair as his sister advised and nervously smoothed out his clothes.
"You really like her don't you?" Ginny asked thoughtfully after seeing Ron's nervous movements.
"I already told you, Ginny, we're just friends!"
"Then why are you so nervous and spending so much time getting ready? I've never seen you take this long when you're going to go visit Harry and Hermione!"
"A wizard can look nice once in a while can't he?" Ron said defensively.
"Sure he can," Ginny replied dryly. "But spending an hour in the bathroom doing your hair is pushing it just a bit."
"I just want to look nice," Ron said in the same defensive tone he had used before.
After giving Ron a thoughtful look, Ginny replied, "You know Ron, you do look nice. The blue of that jumper really brings out your eyes and I'm sure Luna'll notice."
"You think so?" Ron asked quite eagerly. "I mean that's fine."
"Now that we've settled that, can we please leave before the day is over?" Ginny asked with a hint of a whine while grinning quite cheekily.
***
The walk to the Lovegood's house was pleasant enough for Ron and Ginny. Ron thought the warm August sun and cool breeze only complimented his good mood. Neither noticed the approaching dark horizon of storm clouds to the south nor the absence of birds who could be heard humming merrily at this time of the day.
It tuned out that Luna lived in a charming farmhouse with cheerful blue shutters and a lovely white wrap around porch perfect for lazy afternoons of reading The Quibbler or simply sipping pumpkin juice.
"Here goes…" Ginny said mischievously while looking sideways at Ron (who was looking nervous) as they walked up the flower lined path. "No need to be nervous, it's only Luna and she doesn't bite."
"Er, yeah I know that! I'm just nervous about seeing her again…it's been a while since we talked in person and what happens if she's changed her mind about me? What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore? What if she doesn't like me?" At this point Ron had stopped in the walkway forcing Ginny to stop as well.
"Don't be ridiculous Ronald Weasley! You know Luna's your friend otherwise why would she have written to her best friend's older brother all summer long on an expedition she's only been waiting her whole life to take! Besides I have in good authority to say that she likes you too, although you're hardly about to admit your feelings! Now hurry up before we make Luna think we aren't going to show up!" Ginny replied in exasperation taking Ron's hand to haul him forward.
Ron was prevented from replying as the great big blue front door burst open and a blond multicoloured blur flew past the stairs and jumped in Ron's arms.
To Ron, there was no mistaking the warm female body in his arms as he hugged Luna hello nor the familiar tingling feeling of holding her close.
They hugged for a moment longer than what most platonic friends would deem appropriate. With a throat clearing from behind them, they reluctantly broke apart, blushing and avoiding each other's eyes.
As Luna stepped back to greet and hug Ginny, Ron had a moment to drink in the sight of Luna in privacy. She wore a flowing summer dress, filled with a rainbow of colours melting and dividing into one another, with bell sleeves and a circular neckline. The blues and reds of her dress brought out her bronze tan she had gotten on her expedition while the oranges and yellows of her dress enhanced her silvery eyes and her hair seemed to be more blonde than usual with golden highlights glistening under the summer sun peeking through the dark clouds gathering above all their heads.
With a start Ron realized Luna had turned to speak to him and was now staring rather dreamily at him. Moments passed as they stood together with their gazes locked, blue clashing and melting with blue.
Ginny cleared her throat again for the second time on that flowery walkway breaking the intense moment between Ron and Luna and yet, they still stood staring at one another. "As nice as it is standing here together and staring at each other, how 'bout we head inside?"
"Oh! Yes, that's a lovely idea Ginny," Luna said dreamily still staring into Ron's eyes. "Yes," she said again, "We'd better head in, it looks like it'll start pouring pretty hard soon." Luna finally broke her gaze from Ron to look into the woods lining one edge of her house, "I just hope those silver-winged Betorkles find some shelter, they're dreadfully scared of the rain," Luna said in a vaguely worried tone. "I want you to meet someone," Luna said over her shoulder as the two Weasley's turned and followed her along the flowered walkway into her home.
Overhead the dark clouds obscured all remnants of the warm sunny sunlight.