Work Text:
- II -
Luna was currently perched on top of a pile of rocks that looked out over the lake, daydreaming. She’d found this secluded safe harbour last year, not long after coming to Hogwarts, and laid claim to it immediately, since not many students tended to drift this far away from the castle. It had an excellent view of the lake, the castle, and she could even see the paddock where Hagrid often went to tend to the thestrals.
It was the perfect spot. But best of all, no one bothered her here, when she didn’t want to be disturbed. She could think and idly draw doodles of nargles on her class notes while she watched the clouds drift lazily by overhead.
That is, until today.
Today Luna was startled from her daydreams by the sound of clumsy footsteps in the underbrush very close to her location. She turned to glance into the woods behind her, at the very edges of the Forbidden Forest, just in time to see Ginny Weasley come crashing loudly through the trees.
“Oh,” the other girl said, visibly startled at having company.
Luna gave a little wave.
“Uh, hi. Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to be out here.”
“It is a lovely spot,” Luna hummed in agreement, her eyes drifting placidly towards the lake again.
“I’m Ginny,” she said as she walked over and sat beside Luna on the rocks.
“Oh, I know.”
She got a raised eyebrow at that.
“It’s Luna, right?”
“Mmhm.”
Silence fell between them as they sat gazing out across the water, until Luna broke the spell.
“Aren’t you the girl who-”
“The girl who was kidnapped and taken to the Chamber of Secrets?” Ginny bit out, her face twisted with bitterness. “Yes, I am. What do you want, an interview for that ridiculous paper?”
“Actually, I was only going to ask if you’re the girl who sent that charmingly unique valentine to Harry Potter last year. But I think I did hear something about a Chamber of such-and-such.”
Looking up to see Ginny’s pole-axed expression, Luna continued with a touch of regret: “I’m not sure your story would be quite right for my father’s magazine anyway.”
“Oh, and why is that?”
“Well, it’s not nearly as interesting as some of the articles that were published last month. There was one story about a wizard who found a nest of blibbering humdingers in a dragon sanctuary in Romania! So I’m sure you can see, your story would be a fluff piece at best, filler at worst.”
Ginny was looking non-plussed, like she had no idea what to make of Luna and no clue how to respond. “Alright then. Thanks? I think.”
Luna beamed at her. “You’re welcome.”
“Maybe I’ll just go find another spot,” she muttered and turned to leave.
“There’s a lovely clearing about five minutes that way!” Luna called after Ginny’s retreating back. She wasn’t sure if the other girl heard her or not, but she simply shrugged and turned back to her doodles of nargles.
They were easier to understand than people anyway.
- III -
It was always bitterly cold this time of year, but Luna couldn’t resist the temptation of wandering outside when the grounds were all decked out for the holidays. The other girls in her dorm hadn’t stopped gossiping about which of them might be asked to the Yule Ball by an older student, right up until the dancing had already begun, but Luna had little interest in these things. She had heard a rumour that the fairy lights in the gardens were actually real fairies, and had decided to go investigate what else might be hiding in the shrubbery.
Walking serenely through the gardens, she was investigating some suspicious noises coming from a particularly uncooperative wiggenbush when someone came sprinting around a turn in the path and ran right into her.
"Merlin, I'm sorry!" came the exhaled apology through a veil of red hair. The owner hastily brushed her hair aside, revealing Ginny Weasley.
"Oh, I'm alright. I think," Luna replied, steadying herself with one hand on the surrounding hedges.
"I really am sorry, it's just that I'm in a bit of a rush. I was at the Yule Ball with a friend and we decided to go for a stroll through the gardens-"
"That must be nice."
"- but... sorry, what?"
Luna dreamily answered: "Going to a Ball with a friend; it must be nice. I don't like dancing though."
"Right. Well," Ginny gave an exasperated shake of her head. "My friend brought his pet toad with him and now the stupid thing's gotten lost somewhere."
"We could search together? Two pairs of eyes are always better than one when hunting any kind of rare creatures; like wrackspurts."
"I-" Ginny started and stopped. "Like what?"
"Oh, you know: wrackspurts. They're invisible creatures that-"
"If they're invisible, why does it matter how many pairs of eyes you have looking for them?"
"I would expect both parties to be wearing their spectrespecs, of course! You should never go anywhere without them: here, you see?" Luna pulled an outlandish pair of glasses out of a pocket in her robes. Once they were settled on her face they gave her the appearance of a surprised, rather garishly coloured owl.
Ginny blinked in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I'm not on the hunt for wrackspurts, but maybe your glasses will help us find Trevor. I do appreciate your help, though. I'm sure you have better things to be doing."
"Well yes, but I think all this noise has scared away any crumple-horned snorkacks that might have been hiding in these gardens."
The other girl seemed to be trying to decide if she was being serious or not. In the end, Ginny just grinned and led the way down the path, tossing a final comment over her shoulder: "You're not so bad, Luna."
Luna spared one last glance for the wiggenbush, but whatever had been making the strange noise was definitely long gone. Oh well. Perhaps next time.
- IV -
For Luna, fourth and fifth year seemed to pass by in a blur, even when she was in the midst of them. There were DA meetings to prepare for, Quidditch matches to attend, her trip to Sweden with her father over the summer, and OWLs to study for. Through it all, Ginny Weasley wove herself more and more extensively into the tapestry of Luna's life.
She had never been the kind of person who befriended others easily; this friendship with Ginny was something new. And she didn't seem to have the words to quantify it.
Sometimes though, when Ginny asked for advice concerning her relationships and dating, Luna had the sneaking feeling that she had nothing of value to offer in these conversations. She was always happy to listen, but uncertain how to respond to queries about her own romantic entanglements.
Luna had always known she was asexual and aromantic, even if she didn't always have the words to describe those feelings. She had never been interested in sex, and had never been more than idly interested in relationships of any kind. But suddenly she found herself wanting to share everything with the girl who had become her best friend, to take her nargle hunting, to confide in Ginny her hopes and dreams...
Sitting in her customary spot by the lake, Luna contemplated this change in herself and pondered.
In the end, she simply told Ginny that she didn't date, and that was that.
- Coda -
There was no lake for Luna to gaze whimsically into at Malfoy Manor, no giant squid to keep her company as she whiled the days away in the dark and the cold. There was only the slow drip-dripping of tiny drops of water from the ceiling to the rough hewn floor. There was food at regular intervals, sparse and unappealing though it may be. There was the occasional echo of noises from elsewhere in the manor, ominous sounds she had neither the ability nor the desire to discern.
Other than that, there was only silence. Silence and her memories of warmth and brightness and light.
- V -
“LUNA!”
She turned at once, startled out of her reverie by a shout from behind her, only to be tackled by a mass of bright red hair and freckles. Delighted, a huge grin spread across her face and Luna returned the hug enthusiastically, gladly leaning into the warmth of Ginny’s arms. “Ginny! It’s wonderful to see you at last!”
Her best friend released her after a moment and stepped back, face flushed and eyes bright. “I knew I’d find you here. You sounded fine from your letters, but I was worried... and it’s just nice to see you again.”
Luna simply smiled and sat down on her usual rock overlooking the lake, gesturing for Ginny to sit beside her. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I’ve heard. Although I don’t feel any fondness for the lack of crumple-horned snorkack sightings of late, so I’m not sure if the platitude really holds true.”
Ginny laughed in delight and the sound made something like a vice unclench from around Luna’s ribcage. It had been too long since she’d heard that laugh. They sat together in companionable silence, until Ginny turned to Luna seriously and began to speak in a low, urgent voice.
“Listen, there’s something I want to tell you. I’ve managed to sort things out with Harry. After the battle and the aftermath, we finally sat down and talked about everything. I think we understand each other better and we've got a good chance of making our relationship work.”
Luna nodded. “I’m glad for you, Ginny. You deserve to be happy.”
She couldn’t quite decipher the look Ginny gave her in return.
“Luna, stop me if I’m wrong here but... well, I've also been talking a lot with Hermione since everything settled down. I’m still figuring it all out, but she explained some things to me that I never knew before, things that resonated with me, like a piece of myself I'd been missing for a long time. I realized that I'm aromantic."
After a brief moment of surprise, Luna let out a bark of laughter. Ginny raised her eyebrow but she merely gestured for the other girl to continue, still chuckling softly.
"Harry is on the aromantic spectrum too and so we decided to give our relationship another shot, but as quasiplatonic partners. And uhhh, we're not exclusive," she mumbled the last bit under her breath but Luna still heard. "We're just trying to find a way of being together that meets both of our needs, and some of these needs are met by other people."
Luna realized she was still giggling giddily. “Oh.”
“Not quite the reaction I was hoping for,” Ginny teased, although her expression was sheepish and a light flush had risen on her cheeks. “I guess what I’m asking is... you said you don’t really date and I know I’m not inclined towards romantic relationships either. But I was wondering if this might be more in-line with what you want? Sorry,” she rushed to add, “I know that’s really personal and I don’t mean to put you on the spot. We can just go on just like we always have - you’ll never stop being my best friend. But if you’re interested, I would love to platonically date you.”
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Ginny. There is no one I'd rather share my life with than you,” Luna held out her hand, a huge smile stealing across her face. "I wish I'd told you that I'm aromantic and asexual ages ago, it might have saved us some time."
Ginny took the other girl's hand in her own. "Well, we'll make time now."
"Our final year,” Luna whispered, staring wistfully across the lake at the bright, warm lights of the castle.
Ginny grinned from ear to ear. “It’s going to be a hell of a year.”
- I -
“Are you afraid?” she murmured to the other first-year sitting in the boat beside her, a pale-faced girl with a shock of bright red hair.
The girl scoffed, but when she spoke her voice was uneven with nerves. “Of course not! I’ve had six older brothers tell me all about Hogwarts, there’s nothing to be frightened of.”
Luna simply nodded and turned her eyes back to gaze wistfully out over the lake. She wondered if the tales about the giant squid that lived under those calms waters were true.
“It’s alright to be a little afraid sometimes, you know,” she said after a pause. “And I’m sure if the boat capsizes, the giant squid will tow us to land. But we can hold hands, if you like?”
She didn’t turn to look at the girl again, taking her sullen silence for a response. But all of a sudden, she felt a small hand land carefully on top of her own and the warmth of it brought a smile to her face.
“I’m Luna, by the way.”
“Ginny Weasley,” the girl replied, staring resolutely up at the castle.
“Pleased to meet you, Ginny Weasley. It’s going to be an exciting year.”