Luna Lovegood gradually made her way up the uneven streets of Ottery St. Catchpole. It was a rather warm and bright morning, and it would have been a perfect day to search for Blibbering Humdingers. But unfortunately, Luna already had other things to do, because her friend Ginny had invited her to the Burrow for the day. And it would be the first time ever Luna had visited Ginny during summer holidays apart from the one time she went to Bill Weasley’s wedding. Luna had never been invited to any of her friends’ houses to spend a whole day before, and she had been quite amazed to receive the owl from Ginny the previous day.
At first, Luna was slightly apprehensive about visiting Ginny. She hadn’t seen any of the Weasleys since Fred’s funeral a few weeks ago, so she was unsure if she had done the right thing in accepting Ginny’s invitation for a visit. It seemed rather unusual to visit them now, when they were going through such tough times, but Luna was glad to know that Ginny considered her close enough to share her troubles. Luna was very fond of Ginny’s family, and she was willing to help the Weasleys in any possible way. She had tried to help George on the day of Fred’s funeral, but she had been unable to explain things properly to him. She didn’t know if she would have the chance to do so today. She certainly hoped she would.
After some time, Luna realised she had reached the front steps of the Burrow. She had been there a year before for Bill Weasley’s wedding and it had been buzzing vibrantly that day. But today, there was an unwonted silence about the house that made Luna feel awkward. She knocked on the front door uncomfortably and after some time, a slightly pale Mrs Weasley came rushing to open the door with a soft creak.
“Hello, Luna dear,” said MrsWeasley, as she tried to put a soft smile on her face that Luna could tell it wasn’t a very genuine one. “Ginny told me that you were coming over for the day, and we’re all really pleased to have you here. ”
“Thank you, MrsWeasley,” replied Luna, taken aback by Mrs Weasley’s warmth even when she was going through such difficulties. She had never been spoken to in such polite manners before. “It was very kind of Ginny to invite me.”
“Not at all, dear,” MrsWeasley said gently. “You are, after all, a very good friend of Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione now. They are all inside waiting for you.”
She led Luna to the living room where everyone was supposed to be, and returned to the kitchen in no time, leaving Luna to survey the interior of the house. The interior of the Burrow was quite fascinating to Luna, who had never been inside the house. The furniture and decorations were very different from her house, and there were some rather interesting objects in the living room that Luna hadn’t seen before, and she observed each of them curiously. She had grown very fond of the Burrow in just a couple of visits because of its uniqueness and for the Gernumbli Gardensi that resided in it. She decided to say hello to them before leaving or else it would be rude.
“Come on, Luna,” called Ginny, as Luna was surveying parts of the living room.
Luna caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who greeted her with a faint smile. Luna walked across to join them.
Ginny was pointing at the vacant seat beside her. “Take a seat.”
“You have a very unique house, Ginny,” Luna complimented Ginny after she sat down, before turning her attention to the others gathered in the living room.
Harry looked rather drained as though he had just come back from a very long and tiresome trip. Luna giggled as she reminded herself that he indeed had.
“How are you, Luna?” asked Hermione, who sat beside a rather unusually quiet Ron.
“I’m well, Hermione,” Luna replied rather comfortably. “I’ve just been slightly busy helping Daddy get The Quibbler back up and running. There have been some marvelous stories to deal with. This lady sent us pictures of herself with a Snorkack while she was hiding in Sweden during the war. And what about you?”
Ron smirked slightly and Hermione looked slightly incredulous. Luna wondered what she had said to amuse Ron.
“Uh - I’m doing well, and I’m planning to go back to Hogwarts to finish my NEWTs,” Hermione said in a serious tone. “I’ve been talking to Professor McGonagall about it, and I asked Harry and Ron to think about it as well, but they don’t want to go. ”
“Well, that’s really good,” said Luna warmly. She was pleased to know Hermione would be at Hogwarts with her this year. “I guess it won’t be such a bad year now.”
Luna spent the rest of the morning talking to her friends about almost everything. She had never talked to any of them so freely before, but she was enjoying her time with her friends. She had lunch at the Burrow, which was a delicious treat and she was introduced to Ginny’s entire family. However, there was no sign of George Weasley anywhere, and somehow Luna really wanted to have an encounter with him. She didn’t really know if he was indeed at home, but since all of the Weasleys were indeed there, he should’ve been present. When Ron went up to call him upon Mrs. Weasley’s orders, Luna couldn’t help but wonder why he had been hiding from everyone, especially when there was a guest at his house. However, Ron returned without his brother and lunch was taken very quietly and in rather low spirits. Luna thought it was quite rude of George not coming for lunch, and she could tell his behaviour had hurt his family, because no one spoke much during the meal.
After lunch, Luna went to the Weasley’s garden to take a look at the Gernumbli Gardensi, whom she had become very good friends with at Bill’s wedding. She found them to be very interesting creatures just as she had always heard from her dad. She was gently running her fingers over one of the gnomes when she heard a soft thud behind her. She turned around to see George standing quite a few feet away from her, and staring at her in disbelief.
“Hello,” Luna murmured, continuing to play with the gnomes. They were all dancing in circles around her.
“I didn’t know you were here,” George whispered awkwardly as he turned his eyes towards one of the gnomes.
“Oh, didn’t you?” Luna asked simply.
George looked rather drained and sullen faced, and he had lost a lot of weight. He seemed very hesitant to speak. It was as though he had a lot of things to say but he was not sure if he should say them. However, he short period of pause was broken after a while.
“Hey, I was wondering,” he began cautiously, not looking directly at her. “What did you mean by your words at”I mean the other day?”
Luna had been expecting that he would ask her that question. She knew he was talking about Fred’s funeral, but he was unable to say that part, quite understandably. She could understand how much troubled he must have been after only hearing half of Luna’s suggestion.
“Oh, I was just telling you not to cry for Fred,” Luna began uncertainly, trying to find the right words to explain. “I don’t think he would quite like that, do you?”
George seemed slightly surprised by her words and stared at her thoughtfully. “Uh--no, he wouldn’t like it,” George said apprehensively.
“Your family doesn’t like it, either,” Luna pointed out. She wanted to let him know how much his behaviour was hurting his family. “I think they feel very bad to see you like this.”
“What should I do then? ” George shouted defensively, looking slightly irritated. “I’m not prepared to face anyone at this moment, and I never intended to hurt anyone. But it’s “ not possible for me to pretend “ like nothing happened.”
“Of course, you didn’t intentionally hurt them,” Luna replied tenderly. “I can understand what it feels like when you lose a loved one, George. I know it’s not going to be easy for you. Fred can’t come back, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted you to be sad because of him. You should try to move on from all this.”
“It’s not that simple, is it?” George began, slightly at a loss. “I never even imagined I’d be alone like this. He’s always been there and when you said I’ll be able to see him again, I thought …”
George didn’t complete his sentence, and Luna noticed a hint of disappointment in his voice as he was speaking. She felt rather uncomfortable seeing the miserable look on his face.
“You’ll see him again, just like I’ll see my mother. We always see our loved ones who have departed after our life has come to an end too. But until then, you have to keep going ahead in life.”
George seemed pensive and slightly stricken after listening to Luna, who was pleased to have completed her explanation. She was, however, unsure of the effect it had on George.
“I never really thought of it that way,” said George in a tone surprise. “I understand what you’re trying to say “ it’s just that I miss him every moment, and it’s like a part of me has gone missing.”
“You shouldn’t think like that. He’s not with you visibly, but he is always there with you in spirits,” whispered Luna soothingly, looking at George, who remained silent and thoughtful. “Would you like to join me in dancing with the Gernumbli Gardensi?”
George twitched slightly before narrowing his eyes. He gave her a confused look and said, “Dance with the what?’
Luna tilted her head in the direction of the little garden gnomes marching around the garden. George gave her an incredulous look, before his lips curled into a smile. “Are you talking about our annoying garden gnomes?”
Luna shook her head in disbelief. “They are called Gernumbli Gardensi, and they are very sweet creatures. Look, they love dancing with me.”
“They’re not dancing with you, Luna,” George said laughing slightly. “They’re encircling you to gear up for an attack.”
“But they’re such gentle creatures,” Luna said, amazed. “Why would they want to attack me? I was having so much fun dancing with them, George. ”
“You’ve just taken it in a different spirit,” George said with a smile. “They think you’re here to chuck them out, like we all do while de-gnoming the garden.
“Oh…”
Luna was slightly disappointed to hear that. She felt sorry for the little ‘gnomes’ as George liked to call them. They didn’t deserve to be chucked out, but she was pleased to hear George laugh and see a smile on his face.
“You’re not like what I used to think of you,” said George, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Well,” Luna replied seriously. “What did you think I was? Loony?”
“Err”yeah,” George said slightly embarrassed. “Everyone at Hogwarts said “ anyway, they were wrong about you.”
“That’s very generous of you,” said Luna with gracious smile.
“No, I mean it,” George said, lowering his gaze. “Thanks a lot, Luna, for everything.”
His words took Luna by surprise and left her lost for words, and before she could speak, she saw Ginny come out in the garden. She was walking very quickly and with every step she took, she looked more and more bemused.
“George?” Ginny asked with a surprised look on her face. “What are you doing here?”
“We were just dancing with the Gernumbli Gardensi,” George replied with a slight laugh. Ginny looked even more bemused. “I’ll get going then. Take care, Luna.”
George went back inside, leaving a very bewildered Ginny with Luna.
“Did George just laugh?” Ginny asked incredulously, as she tried to figure out what had just occurred. “And he was with you all along? What did you do to him, Luna?”
“Nothing,” Luna replied simply, as she did not want to disclose the subject of their conversation. “We just talked.”
“Really, you just talked?” Ginny said with a smirk. “Well it certainly seems like you two understand each other well. You should talk more often.”
Luna didn’t know what Ginny had meant by that remark, but it was rather difficult to deal with the mysterious looks she kept giving Luna throughout the rest of her time at the Burrow. One thing was certain; Ginny was not going to let this get away so easily.
Secret Mischief by ginny112
Chapter Endnotes: A big thank you to my beta Mudblood_and_Proud_of_it and Mistletoe for looking through this chapter.