This oneshot was written for the Harry/Luna April Fools Collection on SalTalStudios discord. Check out the other submissions by looking in the FFN community or the AO3 collection. Please feel free to join using this link: discord. gg / hq5ZvYYMA7 (remove the spaces).
The first time Harry noticed her, he thought she was lost. A lone first year Ravenclaw girl wandering around the seventh floor around the Gryffindor tower.
Apparently a friend of hers from before Hogwarts had been acting different lately, and the girl wanted to check up on her. She seemed quite strange herself, Harry thought, but she also seemed loyal to her friend. Harry assured her he would check up on her friend for her, which seemed to satisfy her and she turned around and wandered off. She hadn't even told him who her friend was, or her own name for that matter, Harry thought, bemused.
'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'I'll just ask Hermione to see if the first year girls are all adjusting okay.' With that decided, Harry put the strange meeting out of his mind.
Harry didn't see the strange Ravenclaw again until the end of the year. In the hospital wing, after fighting the basilisk and saving Ginny, he noticed the door open and a blonde head peek in. He watched her scan the room, and upon seeing Ginny sleeping on a bed next to him, made her way over sitting on a chair between them.
Realizing Ginny must have been the friend she spoke of when they last met, Harry thought he'd comfort her some and said "Ginny will be okay. She's just a bit worn out right now."
The blonde girl looked over and studied him for a few moments. Harry thought she'd say something, or at least continue staring, when she saw his scar, but she just nodded to herself and pulled out a magazine of some sort to read as she sat at her friend's bedside.
Surprised by her actions, or rather how different they were from what he was getting used to in the wizarding world, Harry found his attention regularly returning to the girl as she sat silently reading.
Her hair was shoulder length, blonde, and slightly wavy. She looked to be on the smaller side, even for a first year, and her eyes were a bright blue. Other than her standard Ravenclaw robes, Harry saw she was wearing a necklace that appeared to be made out of bottle caps. Harry couldn't make out what magazine it was she was reading, but whatever it was it seemed to hold her full attention as she sat beside her sleeping friend.
Harry thought about starting a conversation with her to pass the time, but he couldn't think of anything to talk about and thought it might be rude to distract her from reading. Instead, he decided to stay silent. As he rested on the hospital bed, Harry found both his thoughts and his gaze occasionally wandered to the mysterious girl to his left.
The third time Harry met her, he finally learned her name. Ron wanted to accompany Ginny on the carriage ride to Hogsmeade, and help her find a carriage even if they didn't plan to spend the whole train ride 's how Harry and Hermione found themselves joining Ron and Ginny as they made their way out of the Great Hall.
On their way to the carriages, they ran into Ginny's Ravenclaw friend walking alone. Ginny, wanting to seem a bit independent from her currently overprotective brother, quickly ran over to join her.
"This is my friend Luna, she lives near The Burrow, so we would play together growing up," Ginny introduced as Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked over.
"Hello Harry Potter. Hello Hermione Granger. My name is Luna Lovegood," Luna said, looking at each person in turn. "And hello, Ronald."
"Erm, hi Luna," Ron said awkwardly, shifting somewhat. If Harry had to guess, he'd say Ron probably didn't like her very much. Deciding to ignore it, Harry acknowledged her back, "Hello, Luna." as Hermione did the same.
Together, they made their way to the carriages, Ginny and Luna walking in front and talking to themselves, with Harry, Hermione, and Ron following behind. Upon arriving, Harry found himself looking at the same skeletal-like winged horses he saw when they took the carriages to Hogsmeade at the end of first year. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all seemed to think nothing of them as they walked right past one to step in the carriage it was attached to. Harry knew from experience that Ron and Hermione didn't see anything, so Ginny was probably the same.
Luna, however, paused upon seeing the creature. She walked up and gave the horse-like thing a few pats before following the others into the carriage. Curious, Harry mimicked her actions and found it felt quite leathery as he patted its snout. Deciding he wanted to know more, when he too had entered the carriage he asked "So, Luna, do you know what those creatures pulling the carriages are?"
"Are you on about this again, Harry?" Ron cut in before Luna could say anything. "There's nothing pulling the carriages."
"Ron's right, Harry. There isn't anything pulling them. The carriages probably have a locomotion charm on them that moves them." Hermione added in.
After a quick glance at the pair, Harry ignored them and looked back to Luna to see if she knew. "Oh, yes. They are called Thestrals. Quite sweet animals, really." She said after another moment's pause.
"Really, Harry! Now you're getting impressionable first years to go along with your delusions," Hermione admonished.
"Oh, thestrals are quite real. They are just special, you see?" Luna countered. Hermione looked like she was going to argue more when Luna continued, "Only those who have witnessed death can see them."
That caused the rest of the carriage to go quiet as they looked between both Harry and Luna, who could see them. Seemingly unaware of the now stilted atmosphere, Luna pulled out the same magazine she had in the hospital wing and went back to reading it.
Not really knowing what else to say, the others remained quiet for the rest of the ride to the train station. Harry, though, spent the ride lost in thought. He must be able to see them because he saw Quirrell die, as strange a death as it was. But that thought made him curious as to who in her life Luna had seen die to allow her to see those strange creatures pulling the carriages.
Harry sat there in his compartment, absently finishing one of the chocolates that the man from their compartment, Lupin, gave him to help recover from the encounter with the dementors, wondering why they affected him so strongly.
'Maybe because I don't have as many happy memories?' He thought. Harry hadn't been the happiest growing up, but he didn't think that alone would cause him to react so much stronger to dementors than Ron and Hermione did. Hermione had mentioned being fairly lonely growing up, after all.
Feeling somewhat better, Harry glanced down at the chocolates still remaining. He still had quite a few, and didn't think just stuffing his face with more would change anything at this point. As he was considering whether to have another anyway or to save the rest for another time, an idea struck.
Harry could check some of the nearby compartments to see if anyone else had reacted badly too, and hand out the chocolates to help as an excuse. After explaining his idea to Ron and Hermione, they joined him, though Ron grumbled about how he would have kept the chocolates.
Five compartments later, and no one more shaken from the closeness of the dementors than Ron and Hermione were, though Harry gave one to a still pale Neville anyway, and Ron had completely lost interest in giving the chocolate away. "Honestly Harry, why do we have to give it away? We could just keep them for ourselves and eat it later since you feel better now. Yeah, they were scary to be around, but no one reacted to them like you did. Just let it go!"
Hermione, though, was glad Harry was thinking of others, and bit back "Really, Ronald? Don't be so insensitive! We were lucky we had a professor in our compartment! Others definitely weren't as lucky! What if Ginny reacted badly to them? What if the dementors made her think of last year and she reacted poorly?"
Looking cowed, Ron grudgingly said "Oh alright! Fine! Let's look for her, then go back to the compartment. We'll probably arrive soon anyway."
With a new purpose, the trio continued down the train, though Harry kept looking for anyone else who might have reacted extra badly to the dementors. Eventually they found the compartment Ginny was in, shared with her friend Luna. Ginny looked fine, similar to nearly everyone they had passed on their way to her compartment. Seeing this, Ron crowed "See? Ginny looks fine. Now let's just head back to our compartment and keep the chocolate."
Harry heard Hermione chiding Ron for not bothering to even ask if his sister was okay, but wasn't really paying attention. He was focused on the pale, still form of Luna, a magazine of some sort left forgotten in her lap as she just stared ahead. It was then that he recalled she could see Thestrals, just like he could, which meant she had seen someone die. Maybe that was why she reacted worse?
Deciding some chocolate would help her regardless, Harry brushed past the still bickering Ron and Hermione and opened the door to the compartment with the two still oblivious second years inside. Startled by the unexpected intrusion, Luna snapped out of her reverie to look at the door.
"You lot okay?" Harry asked. "We had a professor in our compartment with us, and he gave us some chocolate to help feel better after he drove the dementors off." Harry continued, taking the chance to study Luna some more as he waited for their response.
She still looked quite small, though perhaps a bit taller than she was at the end of the previous school year when he last saw her. Her blonde hair was still slightly wavy, though it now reached a bit past her shoulders, and it looked like she had some kind of radish earrings on. Her skin seemed quite pale, probably from the dementor exposure, as brief as it was, and her eyes seemed to lack a certain brightness he had seen in them before.
Deciding she definitely needed some, Harry hummed and said, "You look like you could use a pick-me-up. Here, take some, they will make you feel better." Not wanting to give her the chance to refuse, Harry quickly shoved all of the remaining chocolate into Luna's arms before saying, "Nibble on one or two for now, we'll be getting to Hogwarts soon. Finish the rest after supper if you still aren't feeling well, alright?"
Luna looked at Harry, before looking down at the chocolates now in her arms, and then looked back at him. She seemed quite surprised someone appeared to be thinking about her, and said "Thank you, Harry Potter." quietly before opening one of them.
Harry watched her take a bite out of it, and satisfied she had accepted the sweets, nodded and left to return to his own compartment, Ron complaining about how they could have kept them and Hermione arguing what Harry did was very kind as they followed behind him.
'Well, now what am I going to do?' Harry thought to himself. Cho was already going to the Yule Ball with Cedric, and he still had to find himself a date for it. He just didn't know who else he could go with. Hermione was a possibility, but he was fairly sure someone had asked her already with how upbeat she'd been over the last week since the ball had been officially announced.
Ginny might be a possibility, but would probably make for an awkward night, since she still could barely speak to him. Harry didn't think Lavender had been asked by anyone yet, but he was not sure he'd enjoy spending the whole night with her. They could get along fine in classes, but Harry didn't know what they could talk about, and he definitely didn't want to talk about divination all night. That meant Parvati was out too.
Harry made his way down from the owlery as he continued to ponder who he might be able, and willing, to ask to the ball. Deciding to wander the grounds to clear his thoughts, Harry wished he was on better terms with people in other houses. Slytherin was a no go from the start. While Harry was pretty sure most of the house probably didn't actively hate him like Malfoy did, there was too much animosity between the houses for Harry to be willing to subject a girl to that.
Hufflepuff was a possibility. Or at least, it would have been, if he hadn't gotten chosen as champion. While they no longer seemed to hate him since the first task, though whether that was because they saw the dragons and realized how dangerous the tournament was or because Cedric said something after Harry told him about them, Harry didn't know, but Harry still wasn't their favorite person. Besides, the two female Hufflepuffs Harry knew best, Susan and Hannah, he was fairly certain already had dates.
'Which leaves Ravenclaw or Gryffindor,' Harry thought as he walked up to the lake. He'd already ruled out Lavender and Parvati, though. The quidditch team was of no help, Angelina and Alicia were going with the twins and Katie was going with Lee. Maybe Padma didn't have a date yet? Though, that could also annoy Parvati, especially since Harry knew she didn't have a date yet and did know her better.
It was while thinking about other Ravenclaws he could ask, and also debating himself on if he was fine having an awkwardly silent night with Ginny, that Harry thought of a solution.
He hadn't spoken to her too often, but Harry knew Luna was a nice girl. And she seemed to be fairly knowledgeable, so conversations with her probably wouldn't be dull. His decision made, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and started looking for her name. It took him a minute, but he eventually found her dot wandering around the seventh floor. Absently wiping the map, Harry changed course and headed back to the castle.
'This is going surprising well,' Harry couldn't help but think. Luna had thankfully agreed to go with him, and she had certainly made the dinner interesting. They had arrived outside the Great Hall a few minutes early and been held back by McGonagall to enter with the rest of the Champions. Fleur was already there with her date Roger Davies, and Cedric and Cho walked up a minute after Harry and Luna had.
Harry could tell Cho was a bit surprised by his date, and as they talked while waiting for Krum to arrive with his date he got the feeling Cho didn't really like Luna. Harry wasn't sure what to make of that, but before he could think of it more Krum walked up with his date. Harry was shocked to see that it was Hermione. 'So that was why she was so happy after the Yule Ball was announced' Harry silently confirmed to himself.
McGonagall had led them in soon after. Harry saw Percy at the table they were being led to, and made sure to grab a seat away from him so he wouldn't be brought into a conversation with him. He was sure anything he and Luna talked about would be more interesting than cauldron bottom thickness.
It turned out that Luna's father was the owner of the magazine's he'd seen her reading before, The Quibbler, and Luna was quite fascinated with magical creatures. After ordering their food from the menu, they had spent an enjoyable dinner talking about all sorts of magical animals Harry had never heard before. Harry wasn't entirely sure that every single one she mentioned was real, as they sounded quite ridiculous, but he also knew there was a lot of the magical world he didn't know, so he entertained her anyways.
Now, though, it was about time for the opening dance, and Harry was nervous. "Listen, Luna, I'm not that great at dancing. I know we have to do the opening dance, but I don't want to embarrass you for the rest of the night." Harry said, hoping she would let him get away with only dancing the required dance in the beginning.
It was not to be, however, as Luna replied, "Oh, that's okay. I won't be embarrassed." His excuse blocked, Harry resigned himself to a longer second half the night than the first.
The opening dance went better than he expected, however, despite being just a basic waltz, and Harry found he was enjoying himself a few songs later. Luna was no expert dancer either, but neither of them were stepping on each other's feet, and after the pressure of the first song with everyone watching them, it was much easier to dance in the crowd of people.
They took breaks occasionally, returning to the champion's table for some refreshments and some discussion on classes or creatures or her father, but much of the time was spent on the dance floor. It was during one of those breaks that Cedric and Cho were also taking a break at the same time that Cedric gave Harry a hint about the egg. When both Cho and Luna seemed somewhat surprised at them sharing information, Cedric informed them it was thanks to Harry's warning he was able to do as well as he had against the dragon.
Harry, blushing furiously and trying to brush off the praise, quickly grabbed Luna's hand and led her back to the dance floor. He might not be that great at dancing, but it was definitely less embarrassing than staying at the table right then.
Eventually, the night came to an end as the dance wound down, so Harry led Luna back to Ravenclaw Tower. As he headed from Ravenclaw Tower to the Gryffindor common room, Harry could not help but be glad he chose to take Luna to the dance.
'This date couldn't possibly go any worse than it already is.' Harry could not help but think.
It had started off normal enough, Harry had met Cho in the Great Hall after they both finished breakfast and they made their way to the carriages to go to Hogsmeade after an awkward greeting. The walk to the carriages was fairly quiet, aside from some initial small talk that quickly died out.
As the silence continued on to the carriage ride, however, it became oppressive. Cho wasn't saying anything, and Harry wasn't sure what to say to break this heavy silence between them.
Harry's hopes it would get better after they got to Hogsmeade were quickly dashed as well. The town wasn't very large, and both had already seen the Shrieking Shack. Harry did tell her the truth behind it, and how it was where Lupin had gone for his transformations when he was a student, but Cho seemed disinterested in that tidbit, and the awkward hush between them soon returned.
When it came time for lunch, Cho pushed for going to Madam Puddifoot's. Harry felt reluctant to go anywhere near the pink monstrosity of a Tea Shop, which somehow looked even pinker for Valentine's Day, but this had been the most animated Cho had been all day, and so he acquiesced and followed her in.
Just being in the shop made Harry feel uncomfortable and out of place, which was made even worse by Cho talking about both the times Cedric took her there and by how Roger Davies had offered to take her here. Harry had no clue why she was only talking about other guys, and it served to put him into a dour mood, not helped by the fact that Harry knew soon he'd have to meet with Hermione for the interview he really didn't want to do.
As Harry checked the time with a muttered Tempus, Cho noticed and said, "Are you even listening to me? You seem distracted. It's like you don't even want to be here."
"I do want to be here," Harry lied, before continuing, "But I made a promise to meet with Hermione soon, and I can't be late for it."
This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Cho got visibly annoyed. "What do you mean, you need to leave our date to go see another girl!?"
Realizing he had inadvertently stepped in a pitfall, Harry attempted to dig himself out of this mess, saying "It won't just be Hermione! Luna will be there too."
Rather than reassuring her that he would not be alone with another girl, Harry's statement seemed to make Cho even angrier. "Loony? You want to leave our date to meet up with your female best friend and Loony Lovegood!? Why are you even meeting with her?"
Now Harry was annoyed. "Don't call her that. Luna is very kind, and one of the smartest people I know. Yes, she believes in strange creatures, but before I was eleven I didn't even know unicorns were real, so why can't a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or a Nargle be real too?"
"You're defending her? She 's obviously crazy! Loony! They aren't real, no ones ever seen one! And why are you defending her?" Cho bit back.
"Because she's a friend! Why wouldn't I defend her?" Harry retorted.
"And I'm your girlfriend! And not only are you defending another girl, but you're ditching me on our date to go meet with her! The girl you took to the Yule Ball last year! How could you!" Cho snapped, her voice raising in volume.
Somewhat confused, Harry said, "Are you forgetting Hermione will be there too? And what does me taking Luna to the Yule Ball have to do with anything? I asked you first, but you were already going with Cedric, and as champion I had to go with someone."
Cho, however, seemed to not be able to let it go, practically yelling, "Of course it matters!" before continuing in a more normal volume, "you're still leaving our date to go meet up with Loony."
"I told you not to call her that! Her name is Luna, not Loony. And it's not been much of a date, now has it? All you've talked about has been Cedric and Roger Davies, or you've not said anything at all!" Harry said angrily, though aware enough to keep his voice at a low volume. He could see they already had the focus of quite a few of the other patrons at the nearby tables, and didn't want any more attention.
"Fine. Leave." Cho hissed, barely more than a whisper.
Realizing his mistake, Harry tried to comfort her and said "Cho, I-"
"I said leave!" Cho said, before starting to cry. Harry moved to comfort her anyway, but all she did was glare at him, and seeing that they now had even more attention from the other patrons now that Cho was crying, Harry decided he'd just cut his losses and leave. Checking the time again, he saw that he needed to be leaving if he wanted to be on time for meeting Hermione anyway, so he made his way out of the cursed pink shop.
'Well.' Harry thought. 'I guess it did get worse after all.'
"Alright, today we will be learning the Patronus Charm." Harry said, and the DA burst into cheers. This was the spell they had all been looking forward to learning, after all.
"The incantation is Expecto Patronum. There are no wand movements. Many people will get nothing at all. Some can get a shield of mist to appear from their wand. But to truly master it, you must have a corporeal form. The form is different for everyone, and takes the shape of an animal." Harry lectured.
Seeing he had their full attention, Harry began speaking again, "Despite sounding easy when put like that, this spell is extremely difficult. To summon anything at all requires a happy memory. And it must be a happy memory, simple contentment won't be enough. Doing well on a test, flying a broom, winning a quidditch game, none of these will be strong enough emotions to power the Patronus."
"If it's so difficult, can you really do it so easily then?" A voice cut in from the back. Zacharias, probably.
In response, Harry simply said "Expecto Patronum" and a silver stag burst forth from his wand. Seeing the group was suitably awed, Harry continued, "but summoning one with nothing around, as difficult as it may be, is nothing compared to trying to summon one when in the presence of a dementor. You must think of your most powerful happy memories, to feel the emotion as if you were experiencing it again, while the dementor's mere presence saps you of them. Now everyone spread out, and try to think of your best, most treasured memories."
Harry looked around the room as everyone split off to start working on the spell. Even Fred and George seemed to be taking it more seriously, rather than their usual joking about in a corner while practicing. Angelina and Alicia were near them, and it looked like Angelina had some mist already.
Hermione looked determined to get the spell first, but Harry thought that very determination would keep it from happening. He told her to stop thinking about doing the spell and more about a happy memory when he passed by her.
As Harry made his way around the room, giving people pointers here and there, he eventually came to Cho. They hadn't spoken much since their ruined date on Valentine's Day, but she did thank him for sharing his story after she read the interview in The Quibbler. She managed to produce a decent sized mist as Harry watched before he moved on.
Continuing his rounds, he eventually found himself with Luna, who unlike everyone else, seemed to just be standing there, lost in thought. "Do you need some help thinking of a happy memory, Luna?" Harry asked gently. They had gotten closer since he took her to the Yule Ball the year before, and talked occasionally when they were able.
Harry thought she might struggle with this spell, since he knew she was bullied often at Hogwarts and had lost her mother when she was younger. She had been affected by the dementors more than most two years ago, and he thought she might struggle to find a happy enough memory to power the spell.
Instead, Luna surprised him by smiling serenely and, pointing her wand in front of her, said "Expecto Patronum." Silver light burst from the tip of her wand before coalescing into the form of a hare, which began bouncing around her head in the air.
Seeing this, Harry was briefly stunned, before clapping. This drew everyone else's attention, and soon the whole room was applauding her for successfully casting it. "Great job, Luna," Harry whispered. "I knew you could do it."
Luna beamed up at him, before starting to dance and play with her Patronus as it continued to hop around her head.
Soon, others started to get the spell too, with creatures of silver light like Hermione's otter, Ron's terrier, and Ginny's horse joining Luna's hare. Harry noticed that Cho seemed to be doing worse after Luna's success, though. He was about to go over and check on her when Dobby appeared with a warning that Umbridge was coming.
Quickly getting everyone's attention, Harry ended the meeting and told them to scatter as best they could before Umbridge found them.
When Harry arrived at the Burrow, he was surprised to see Fleur again. Apparently she became a curse breaker for Gringotts, met Bill there, and they started dating. He could easily tell from their attitudes that Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were not happy about her being there, but whether that's because they didn't like that she was dating Bill or because she was part veela, Harry wasn't sure.
What surprised Harry even more, though, is that they hadn't checked on Luna at all this summer. She had not been invited over to the Burrow, and Ginny hadn't gone over to the Rookery to see her. Luna had been with them at the ministry, she was just as much a target as the rest of them now, and yet they did nothing?
Infuriated, Harry made it his mission to sneak out and visit Luna as much as possible. If he got caught, he decided he'd ask why Luna wasn't just as safe, because surely they were protecting her too, right? And if he didn't get caught, then they obviously didn't think Luna was close enough to him to need protection, so neither would Death Eaters think to attack her.
Harry knew he made the right decision when the first time he visited, Luna's face lit up at the sight of him. She happily introduced him to her father, Xenophilius, and showed him around her house. He was even further vindicated when Luna showed him her room, and he saw the amazing portrait of him and the others who were at the ministry on the ceiling. It was only half done right now, but that she considered those who went there such good friends spoke volumes to Harry, and it made him even more angry that none of the others had bothered to visit her.
So Harry came up with a plan. He regularly told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny he was going for a walk in the woods, or sometimes for a fly on his Firebolt, and that he wanted to be left alone to think. He knew they thought he was wallowing over Sirius and so let him be, but he was actually making his way over to Luna's. They'd sit and talk for hours about everything and nothing. She'd tell him about all kinds of creatures, and places she thought some might be. Harry would listen, and eventually began to talk himself, first about Hogwarts, before eventually he opened up and began to talk about growing up with the Dursley's, about Sirius, and even about the prophecy. She had gone to the ministry with him, after all, he felt she deserved to know.
In exchange, Luna opened up more as well, branching out and telling him about her mother and what she could remember of her, and how her mother's death had affected her and her father, and even about the bullying she faced in Hogwarts.
Sometimes, though, they wouldn't talk at all, and Harry would sit and watch her as she painted the rest of the portrait on her ceiling, just keeping her company. As he watched her paint, he couldn't help but notice she had grown. She was still on the small side, probably just a bit shorter than Ginny, and her hair had grown out. Now reaching the middle of her back, the waves from before remained, exaggerating into larger curls near the ends. When painting, she would tie it up into a ponytail to keep it out of the way, but otherwise she left it free.
Soon enough, summer was coming to an end. They received their book lists for the next year, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione got their OWL results. After all his talks about creatures with Luna, Harry decided he'd continue with Care of Magical Creatures. It would probably make Hagrid happy too, to know that Harry was continuing his class.
After a trip to Diagon Alley to get their books and visit Fred and George's new shop, and a strange encounter with Malfoy, they had their supplies and were ready for yet another year of schooling. Finally, it was time to return to Hogwarts.
Harry had done his best avoiding Slughorn's parties, scheduling quidditch practice to conflict with them as much as possible and saying he was too busy doing homework to avoid the rest, and now Dumbledore wanted Harry to get a memory from Slughorn. Worse still, Slughorn had made sure that Harry would have nothing conflicting with attending his Christmas Party, so it seemed that going to the party really was going to be Harry's best shot at doing so.
Since Voldemort was confirmed to be back, Harry was no longer 'insane' and was now 'The Chosen One', and so was constantly being accosted by fan girls. Now that it was Christmas time, he had to be on the lookout for mistletoe to avoid getting trapped under one by someone. Even worse, word got out he was going to be at the party, so Harry was inundated by girls who wanted to go to the party or who wanted to be with Teen Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Bachelor, or both.
Thankfully, unlike the Yule Ball where Harry had to wrack his brain to think of someone to go with after Cho rejected him, Harry knew just who to ask this time. He hadn't gotten to talk with Luna near as much now that they were back in Hogwarts. He had NEWT classes, the Quidditch team to run, and his meetings with Dumbledore, while she was going through her OWL year and the homework that comes with it, along with being in separate houses.
Harry missed some of the closeness he had gained with her over the summer, along with having enjoyed her company two years ago for the somewhat similar Yule Ball made it easy for him to ask her to be his date. Luna agreed, and though Harry hated to admit it, a part of him was actually looking forward to the party now.
The Christmas Party had gone well enough, Harry supposed. Getting the memory from Slughorn had failed miserably, and Malfoy had crashed it and been sneaking around doing something suspicious, but Harry had also had a great time with Luna. They danced together some, and Harry enjoyed seeing the confused faces of all the people Slughorn tried to introduce to him whenever Luna brought up another creature they had never heard of. It was nice to be able to talk with her again, and Harry was sure he wouldn't have enjoyed the party near as much with anyone else.
Slughorn had started avoiding him after the party, though, so he still hadn't gotten that memory. And Harry was also sure Malfoy was up to something, though he couldn't figure out what exactly it was.
Right now, however, Harry had bigger issues than Malfoy or that memory. Valentine's Day was tomorrow, and he'd spent the last week once again avoiding fan girls trying to ask him to Hogsmeade. They had been relentless, which made what Harry was trying to do right now all the more difficult.
He was currently hidden under his invisibility cloak. After confirming his target was still alone in the library, Harry waited for someone to open the doors so he could slip in and then made his way to an isolated table towards the back. There Luna sat alone, working diligently on what looked like some Transfiguration homework.
Harry slowly walked up behind her and gently whispered her name. She looked up, and despite being behind his invisibility cloak he could swear she could see him, as she immediately focused on where he was. "Hello, Harry." She whispered back, smiling slightly. "It's good to see you."
Harry couldn't help but smile back. He knew she couldn't actually see him right now, and he knew she purposefully said that. That was her way of saying she wanted him to take the cloak off. Harry had other plans, however. "Think you could come with me, or are you too busy? I have something I want to show you." He said instead, hoping she would follow along.
Luna stared at where Harry was under his cloak for a few seconds. "Of course! I'd be happy to!" She chirped, and quickly gathered her things and put the books she had out back. "Where to?"
Smiling, Harry said, "It's a surprise. But I also don't want anyone else following us, so here, you can get under my cloak too." as he lifted the cloak some. Luna nodded and slid beside him beneath the cloak. Now properly hidden, Harry led them out of the library and up to the Room of Requirement. The invisibility cloak thankfully ended up being an unnecessary precaution as they ran into no one after leaving the library.
Harry paced in front of the room thinking of the set up he had prepared with Dobby earlier. Opening the door, he was glad it worked as a small room with a table set on one side and couch sat in front of a fireplace on the other side to keep it warm appeared in front of them. "I thought we'd have a nice dinner together, we haven't been able to talk since the Christmas Party." Harry said.
Luna beamed up at him and skipped over to take a seat at the table. It was true, they hadn't been able to talk since the party, and Harry had missed her, but he couldn't help but wonder if she suspected the real purpose for all this. If she did, she made no mention of it as they ate dinner and talked. Once their meal was done, they moved from the table to the couch, continuing their conversation. Before long, they drifted into a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company and relaxing.
It was then that Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, flat box he had wrapped. "Happy birthday, Luna!" Harry exclaimed as he handed the box over. Looking at her face as he pulled it out, he saw she was both surprised and delighted he got her something. She quickly unwrapped the box and opened it to see a bracelet with a pendant on it.
"It's a hare." Luna said as she pulled it out, studying it.
"For your Patronus," Harry replied, gently taking it from her and putting it on her wrist. "Sitting on a crescent moon."
Luna held up her wrist with the bracelet on it, admiring it in the light, before softly saying, "Thank you, Harry. It means a lot. This has been the best birthday ever."
It was there, sitting next to him on the couch, illuminated by the fire in front of them and smiling brightly as she played with the bracelet he just gave her, that Harry realized he loved Luna Lovegood. Rather than say anything and possibly ruin the moment, though, he just put an arm around her and held her close as they sat in front of the fire.
Harry was running out of time to get the memory from Slughorn. It was already mid-April, and he still had yet to acquire the real one from Slughorn. Hagrid told him during his Care of Magical Creatures class that morning that Aragog had died the night before, and he wanted to bury him. Harry was already planning to get the memory from Slughorn that night, and so said he'd think about attending, but wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it.
Hagrid seemed a bit disappointed, but also understood Harry was fairly busy with classes and quidditch. Feeling bad about ditching his old friend, Harry resolved to somehow make it up to Hagrid later.
That night, though, when Harry took a sip of his Felix Felicis he won from the first potions class, he felt the sudden urge to go to the funeral Hagrid was holding for his spider. Ron and Hermione both felt he was crazy, but Harry trusted the feeling he had and so made his way towards Hagrid's hut.
On his way down from the Gryffindor common room to the Great Hall, Harry came across Luna, and after hearing what he was doing she decided to join him. Harry felt butterflies start to form in his stomach, but acted as normal as they made their way out of the castle. Sadly for his alone time with Luna, but good for his original purpose in taking the potion, they came across Slughorn by the greenhouses as they crossed the grounds.
At first Slughorn thought they were sneaking off for a date and was gently chiding them for being out late, but when Harry mentioned Aragog he changed his tune and rushed off "to get the proper supplies for a funeral" and told them he would follow along shortly.
When they arrived, Harry knocked on Hagrid's door. Hagrid seemed surprised Harry showed up after all, even more so that he brought someone other than Ron and Hermione with him. After Hagrid got over his shock, they spoke for a few minutes and made their way outside.
Slughorn came rushing up as they all walked out, holding a couple bottles of wine in his hands and some vials sticking out of his pockets. Realizing his plan, during the funeral Harry got Luna to help distract Hagrid while Slughorn extracted some of the venom.
Later, while Hagrid and Slughorn were drinking, Harry used the fact he helped get the venom and memories of Harry's mother as leverage to get the memory from Slughorn.
Harry was tempted to rush straight to Dumbledore with the real memory, but a gut feeling instead had him lead Luna towards the lake. Dumbledore had been waiting for this memory for months, after all, a few more hours wouldn't hurt.
Luna followed along without a care, enjoying the nighttime walk. The full moon was the next day, and the nearly cloudless sky meant it was easily visible and made for a beautiful reflection on the lake.
They continued to walk, wandering by the waterside in the moonlight. Harry didn't even realize they were holding hands as they meandered along. Pausing to admire the view, Harry had another feeling in his gut. Luna skipped ahead of him and turned around. In front of him, Harry saw her looking back at him, the moon bright above her head illuminating the lake behind her, and the bracelet he gave her for her birthday bouncing on her wrist as she pushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear.
Harry stepped forward and his hands went to her waist. Luna looked up at him, and put her arms around his neck. She got on her toes as he leaned down. There, under the light of her namesake by the water's edge, Harry and Luna shared their first kiss.
A/N: Huh, look at that. I wrote something after all. First story, woo! Huge thanks to Keavs for the encouragement and beta reading this for me. Also thanks goes to Nauze and Cap, for being so fun to tease about whether I was actually working on something or not. As mentioned, this was written as part of a collection of one shots done by the SalTalStudios discord server. We are a crazy but fun group, and I probably never would have tried writing something without their encouragement. I love Luna as a character, but she is so difficult to pull off, so I'm glad they did this one shot collection to get me to attempt writing her and hopefully I did a decent job.
Fun fact: According to the Harry Potter wiki, Aragog died on April 20th and the funeral was on the 21st. According to Google, the full moon in April 1997 was on April 22nd. Also, Luna's birthday is February 13th according to the wiki. It's been a while since I've read the series, so I know I probably played a bit loose with the order of some things, but those at least are accurate!
I've got some other ideas for stories, and I do have some decent progress on another one shot. Who knows, maybe after I've written some more, I'll try my hand at an actual chapter story. Speaking of trying my hand at something, I'm also trying to draw some, which is where the story picture comes from. Probably hard to see, but it's Luna showing off her bracelet as she brushed some hair out of her face in the moonlight by the lake.
Lastly, please review. I'd love to know what you thought of it!
-Lupy