The Burrow, Broomsticks, and Bottom Beatings (For Konmnire)

[FrankFly]

Well, it was sort of unofficially official now, wasn't it? A good number of people seemed to whisper about it when they thought he was out of earshot... Harry Potter was dating Luna Lovegood. He had asked to go to Slughorn's Christmas party as friends. Then again, what reason was there not to be more? After all, Harry really was quite fond of Luna, and when she wasn't wearing a necklace made of Butterbeer caps, she was admittedly quite attractive. She had certainly looked different the night of the party...

Either way, the rumor was that the two young students at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry were now a couple. Harry himself wasn't sure if it was true or not. He supposed he would talk it over with her next time he bumped into her, but being seen with her in public would probably not help their cause, especially if Luna wanted to be nothing more than friends. Harry could never really quite tell with her. The sixteen year-old man walked alone through the sixth floor corridor. Classes had ended for today, and he was wandering, lost in thought, hoping that he'd bump into a friendly face, yet at the same time hoping that he'd be left alone entirely.

[Konmnire]

Throughout the day Luna kept hearing rumors about herself. This was never out of the ordinary -- people thought she was absolutely, well... Loony! It was even her nickname, even if she didn't particularly like it. These rumors were different, however. 'Harry Potter was dating Luna Lovegood.' The truth was, she didn't even know if these rumors were correct. Harry had invited her to go to Slughorn's Christmas party as friends, not as boyfriend and girlfriend. Even though, that idea was pretty nice to think about...

She continued to think about it too, as she wandered around after classes as she was known to do. If anyone asked her, she would say she was looking for her shoes again. Unless, of course, she bumped into Harry. She wasn't sure what exactly she would say...

She was walking down the sixth floor corridor when she suddenly bumped into someone from behind, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up curiously, silvery gray eyes twinkling.

"Oh, hello Harry," she said quietly, in that dreamy voice of hers.

[FrankFly]

Harry, who had been so lost in his own thoughts, was a tad startled when he was jostled from behind. Never before did he think it would be so shocking to hear Luna's calm, serene voice... He whirled around and looked at her.

"Hey, Luna," he said, nervously checking around to see if anybody was watching. Under normal circumstances, he didn't mind being seen with her, but after last night, the castle's view on the two had changed. Seeing no one within earshot, he looked at Luna. She was dressed in the very-Luna way she normally dressed, a sharp contrast from the very pretty, sensible dress she had worn to the Christmas party, but Harry saw this in a new light after last night. "I suppose you've heard the rumors too?" he asked, after several painful moments of silence between them. Of course, the silence was only awkward to Harry.

[Konmnire]

The first thing that Luna noticed was how tense Harry looked and acted. He even addressed her nervously. Did she do something wrong? Had she said something that crossed the line? She thought back for a few moments, her mind absolutely racing with what she could have done wrong. Then it hit her. She hadn't done anything wrong. It was the rumors... Harry always paid too much attention to those -- he always let himself get worked up over them. She realized that he wasn't immune to them as she was.

"Yes, I have... What do you think of them?" Her voice was still soft, but genuine curiosity and a small dash of concern was evident in her tone. Was Harry upset that people thought she was his girlfriend? Ashamed, even..? She felt her chest tighten at this idea.

[FrankFly]

Luna's tone communicated a lot to Harry. He knew he'd have to choose his words carefully. Running his fingers through his untidy, jet black hair, he looked to the floor.

"I... I dunno," he mumbled. He suddenly noticed that his cheeks were growing very hot... He was certain that this was visible to Luna. Great. "I mean... What do you think?"

Harry decided that he actually liked the prospect of dating Luna Lovegood. A year ago, he never thought he'd think that, but the dreamy-eyed girl had grown on him a tremendous amount in a short period of time. However, he couldn't simply admit this to her. After all, she was most definitely not enjoying the rumors, and probably wanted the relationship between them to be platonic and nothing more... After all, Luna didn't buy into all of this talk about Harry being "The Chosen One". She knew him better than that.

Harry waited for an answer, waiting for his fears to be confirmed. In just mere moments, she would tell him that she thought they were very silly rumors, and how he and her were just friends. If he didn't get his hopes up, he couldn't be disappointed...

[Konmnire]

Luna's silvery eyes looked Harry up and down twice in a quick fashion -- that was all she needed to see into his emotions. His cheeks were getting hot, he kept his eyes fixed to the floor, stammering and hesitant with his sentences... He did like her...

Luna never had an infatuation with Harry. She saw him just as a normal person, as anyone should be. But between the thestral and the Christmas Party... Something quickly changed within her. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to be infatuated with Harry Potter. He was one of the only people who was nice to her, who didn't think she was weird or scary or loony.

Her lips quirked upwards into a smile and she stepped forward, lightly grazing her fingertips on Harry's arm. She never had a boyfriend before, she wasn't sure exactly the correct way to go about this, but she felt she needed to trust her heart.

"Harry," she said very softly, trying to get him to look at her. She had to be open with him. She knew very well what kind of person Harry was, she had to open up to him to get him to open up to her. "I think that the rumors just might be true."

[FrankFly]

Harry felt his muscles tense up as Luna's fingertips gently touched his arms... Harry was not ticklish, but it seemed as if he was more sensitive to her touch than he was to anyone else's. Finally, he was able to look up into her silvery eyes with his sparkling green ones. He could feel his blush disappearing... Somehow, all of a sudden, this seemed natural.

"I think so too," Harry said. He was surprised that he actually said it and didn't just mumble something incomprehensible. "If you want them to be... Do you?"

This certainly hadn't gone the way Harry had expected it to... However, he wasn't complaining! At this point, he was almost certain that she wanted them to be true as much as he did... But, he needed that final confirmation.

[Konmnire]

Luna smiled radiantly as Harry seemed to suddenly change as well, not seeming as nervous. He seemed borderline confident for once! His voice wasn't a whisper, nor did it waiver.

Her own cheeks were tinted with the finest shade of pink, still smiling.

"I do want them to be," she said after a moment, eyelids fluttering.

[FrankFly]

Harry was quite surprised when he saw color in Luna's face... That was certainly a first, and it was all because of him. The fact made him swell with confidence, although this didn't really show when he tried to speak.

"They're all true," he said simply, if not a bit awkwardly.

What was not awkward, however, was when he moved his hand and took her right hand in his, giving it a firm squeeze. He looked down at her pale hand; it was smaller than his. Then he looked back up at her face. She was still smiling that serene smile.

[Konmnire]

She breathed out happily, closing her eyes for a moment.

She, Luna Lovegood, had a boyfriend. And if that wasn't enough, it was Harry Potter! One of the most famous wizards of all time... He didn't despise her, or think she was weird. He actually... liked her!

She felt Harry grab her hand and give it a squeeze and she opened her eyes and looked down. His hand was bigger than hers... nice and warm -- comforting. She continued to smile and looked back up, unsure of exactly what to say next.