I absolutely love Luna (as anyone who even remotely knows me knows), and her and Ginny's friendship is such a beautiful thing that does not get quite enough appreciation, in my opinion. So why not rectify that with a series of oneshots?

This first one is so dangerous, because this is basically me indulging my love of metaphor, symbolism, and story, with far too much whimsy and description. It's probably a very bad idea, but I'm publishing it anyway.

So, without further ado, here you are! These two lovely ladies!

...

Ginny is fire, and Luna is air, and it takes them a long time to discover the balance between them.

When they are six years old, their mothers arrange a play date for them. They are neighbors, after all, and they are the same age. The idea is that the girls will play together while their mothers talk in the shade.

Ginny will remember it as a vague annoyance, a distraction from what she really wants to do. She is fire, after all – life, brightness, vibrancy – and she wants to run, to fly, to chase her brothers on their brooms and make them play with her.

Luna wants to lie on the grass and look up at the clouds, finding shapes in them and making up stories. She is air, is mystery and whispers and sometimes stillness, and Ginny is bored.

Ginny does somersaults and cartwheels in the grass; Luna watches her and blows dandelion fluff and hums to herself.

Afterwards, Ginny's mother comes to fetch her and they part. Molly brings Ginny home, raising her eyebrows about Luna's mother and mumbling something about nice people, but a bit . . . strange. There are no more play dates.

They see one another next when the Weasleys attend Luna's mother's funeral. Luna and her father wear silver, sparks standing out against the black, because it was her mother's favorite – the color of mystery, the color of beyond. They wear it to honor the place she is now, the place that they're sure is that beyond she has always sought. Luna thinks that she would like to seek the beyond as well. There perhaps she can see her mother, and learn from her all the mysteries that are hidden in the universe, both in the places that she does not yet inhabit and those she does.

Ginny is nine, standing with her family in the back, wrapped in a heavy black shawl that is too big for her. She sees Luna, and wonders at the faint smile on her face. She doesn't know that Luna has wept for weeks, that she has used up all her tears and finally decided to seek what joy she can find in the life that she still has left. That she believes that this is what her mother would want.

After that, they don't see one another again until they are eleven years old.

Their first year at Hogwarts, Luna sees Ginny in the Great Hall and in her classes and wonders about the girl with the brilliant hair and the pale, drawn face. She remembers their time together, long ago. She remembers the fires that burned in Ginny's eyes and asks herself what has happened to dull them. She doesn't know what she can do to help, so she settles for smiling at Ginny when they pass one another in the corridors, leaving the occasional pressed flower in Ginny's Transfiguration textbook in the hopes that it will make her smile. She looks up creatures who can steal or restore flame, tries to slip cures into Ginny's pockets and whisper offerings to them in her dormitory at night.

Ginny does not notice. The truth is that her fire has not dulled, but it has been corrupted and it has turned itself inward. The fire burns her insides clean, allowing Tom Riddle to slowly pour his poison into her ashy shell. On the outside she is falling to pieces; on the inside she is empty of herself and full of him. Luna's gentle breeze only brushes by her. It does not touch her, because the fire is in the wrong place.

(The truth is that air can feed fire, bring it to life – but only if the fire can be reached)

Although Tom Riddle is abolished, it takes some time to restore her fire. The flames are still low-burning during her second year when the dementors are stationed at Hogwarts. On the train, when she encounters them for the first time, Ginny experiences something she never has before: her fire is completely doused.

She doesn't call it that, of course, but there's an empty coldness in her body and it's as though her life-force is completely gone. As though nothing remains to keep her burning bright, as though rather than being scorched clean, her insides have been soaked with cold water and then frozen over. The dementors bring Tom Riddle to the forefront of her mind, mock her shame, bring up the poisoned, sick feeling of being filled with him – in addition to the coldness that freezes her deep within.

When she is not around the dementors, some of her warmth comes back, but not all. Still not all.

This is the year that the nickname "Loony" comes into fashion. Last year, the problems with the Chamber left everyone fearful, and strange cures and protective measures were seen all over the school. No one thought Luna was particularly odd – except for every now and then. This year, though, her fellow students come to know and to scorn her. They take her things and hide them, point at her wand behind her ear, at her Dirigible Plum earrings. They call her "Loony Lovegood," and the name sticks.

She has always liked to wander around the school at night, peeking out the windows at the moon and trying to find beauty in the dark and quiet. This year, though, the dementors prevent her from doing that. The first time she passes them alone, she feels them closing in on her, surrounding her. Darkness pulls close around her and she can't escape, can't breathe, can't drift away and find another place to occupy. Loony, Loony, Loony rings in her head, and she sees her mother's life spark out over and over again, and she has nowhere to go.

When the dementors are around, Luna Lovegood is held down, forced to face the heaviness that drags so many people to the ground – the heaviness that has never restrained her before. The dementors tell her what other people always have – that there is no beyond, that the world has limited possibilities, that there is nothing more to be discovered – but when they tell it to her, she believes them.

The dementors don't attack her, but they feed on her, and when she escapes and runs away from the entrance she collapses against a wall, shaking and pale. She slides to the floor and sits there, breathing, until she's able to find herself again. Then she creeps quietly off to bed and dreams of her mother's body.

She wakes up weeping into her pillow. No one notices.

She stops wandering at night, for fear of seeing the dementors again, and no one notices that, either.

When Ginny faces the dementors, her fire is gone. When Luna meets them, her soul is confined to the earth.

Their third year is when Ginny's fire truly begins to return. It's a slow burn, so far, but coals spark in her eyes and her skin is hot to the touch. Soon she will burst into flame again – bright and radiant. She is only hovering on the edge of potential, waiting for the smothering ashes to blow away.

When she finds out that she's missed her chance to take Harry to the Yule Ball, she wanders the halls aimlessly, trying not to feel empty inside. Luna finds her standing in an empty corridor and asks her if she's having trouble with Wrackspurts.

"Trouble with whats?"

"Wrackspurts," explains Luna. She flaps a hand in the air, trying to banish them. "They get in the way of thought, make your brain blurry."

"No," Ginny sighs. "I'm just disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Luna faces her earnestly; something in those large silver-gray eyes pulls at Ginny, and she finds herself telling all.

When she finishes, Luna nods slowly. "I see. Harry Potter seems like a lovely person. But I've noticed him attracting a lot of Wrackspurts this year."

Again with the Wrackspurts. Ginny sighs, realizing it was a mistake to ask Loony Lovegood. "Never mind."

"Yes," Luna says. "I think not minding is a good idea. Wait until the Wrackspurts have left his brain, and it becomes clear. Wait until he can really think."

Ginny, about to leave, freezes. Turns back around. "Wait, what?"

"If he is confused," explains Luna, "then what he has for you will also be confused. Find yourself – find your life, find your spark – and let him find his. And then it will be right. Whether it works or not, it will be right."

Ginny realizes what Luna is saying. She needs to live her life on her own terms, not to wait. And so does Harry. Only then can they find a real connection.

"Thanks," she says, meaning it. "I'll do that, Luna."

After the Yule Ball, Michael Corner asks her out. He's handsome and funny, and she says yes. And at that moment, her coals burst back into flame.

From then on, when she sees Harry, her heart is calm. She knows that if things are to work out, they will. And if not, then she will move on and be happy and her life will be good no matter what.

On the Hogwarts Express, she is with him and Neville; they are searching for a compartment and they find one in which Luna is sitting. Ginny winces at the way she looks; her magazine is upside down, her eyes crazy. She almost feels the need to apologize for her association with her.

"There's only Loony Lovegood in here," she says.

Neville flinches back, mumbles, "Didn't want to disturb . . ." and Ginny feels bad. She knows how Luna looks, but she is a good person – and a lot saner than she looks. So, as if to make amends to herself, she chides him.

"Don't be silly," she says; "she's all right." And they join her in the compartment.

Luna is surprised when the door slides open; she's gotten used to traveling on the Hogwarts Express by herself. She tries to let it slide by her, leaves in the breeze, but it still hurts sometimes. People don't trust drifters like her. But when she looks up at the compartment door and sees the magnificent, flame-wreathed figure of Ginny Weasley standing there, it all comes clear.

When they ask to come in, she nods.

Ginny cringes at the impression that Luna makes – although she takes a vindictive satisfaction in the knowledge that the company that he keeps has temporarily scared the pretty Cho Chang away from Harry. She feels bad about thinking that moments later, though. Resolves to continue giving Luna a chance.

That year, they gravitate towards one another. Perhaps after her introduction to Harry, Luna feels more comfortable around her . . . or maybe Ginny has just started spending more time with Ravenclaws because of Michael. Or maybe it's their shared belief in Harry, in Dumbledore, uniting them against the rest of the school . . .

Ginny invites Luna to the defense meeting at the Hog's Head. She's walking with Hermione when she catches sight of Luna and thinks of her. She remembers hearing about her bold declaration to Harry, telling him that she believed him and trusted him. She remembers Luna's general honesty about her beliefs. Perhaps it is her dreamy, airy nature – or perhaps she can just see more than anyone else.

Either way, she approaches her and tells her about the meeting of what will soon become the D.A. Hermione raises her eyebrows skeptically at Ginny, but she knows they need people on their side and she just shrugs.

Luna's eyes brighten when they tell her, and she nods eagerly. It's Ginny's first sign that Luna might be more affected by people's perceptions of her than she lets on.

They start becoming closer. Ginny isn't sure how it happens, but one day she realizes that Luna has become the first person to whom she goes to talk. Maybe it's because she uses her peculiar worldview to find strange ideas for Ginny's predicaments – as though she has full access to the wind and can simply snatch a solution out of it, one so brilliant and crazy that it just might work. Maybe it's because she carries strange fruits and dried flowers in her pockets, and will rummage in them and offer Ginny some odd keepsake. Or maybe it's just because she's an amazing listener and Ginny feels safe talking to her – as though whatever she says is simply being whisked away by the breeze, never to touch the ground again.

Luna sees Ginny burning ever brighter – in the D.A. meetings, shining white-hot; with flames leaping over her head and crackling gently in the corridors. She basks in Ginny's glow and breathes gently on her flames to keep them radiant and bold. She has seen Ginny once before with no fire – and that is not a sight that should ever grace the world again.

They fight at the Ministry together, and end up in the hospital wing together afterwards, both immediately healed but staying for their friends. They grow closer to Neville – a boy like the earth, with warmth in his smile and kindness in his eyes. He does not trap Luna like the dementors: he lets her float as high as she needs to, but gives her a reason to come back down. The three of them form an unbreakable bond.

The next year, they sit together in the train. When a boy in Transfiguration jeers, "Loony Lovegood!" Ginny jabs her wand into his chest and snarls at him to shut up before I hex you. The Bat-Bogey Hex forms on her tongue; her eyes are an inferno and the boy backs down.

She squeezes Luna's hand, and Luna feels the warmth travel down her arm.

When Harry asks her to the party as a friend, Luna feels lighter than air. There – there – is the proof that the world is so eager to have, the evidence that someone loves her, that someone cares for her –

Ginny hugs her tight when she hears, her smile warm, and Luna knows that Harry is not the first to think of her as a friend.

When he and Ginny finally get together, she returns the hug and the smile and presses a chip of crystal into her hand. A fire agate.

Ginny looks it up later and grins. Smiling comes easier than ever before, now that she's with Harry, but this piece of stone is all Luna. She hides it in her pocket and carries it with her every day.

But then Dumbledore dies, and Harry takes up the hero's burden – as is his duty, of course, but it's a duty the rest of the world decided for him, not one he picked for himself. And Ginny doesn't stop him, doesn't hold him back. But a sudden coldness aches deep within her.

After the funeral, Luna comes to find her. She's sitting with her back against a column, staring off into the distance. Her flames are low, almost dulled to embers, and the fire agate is lying flat on her palm.

Luna slides down to sit beside her, folds her fingers around the stone. Ginny turns to face her, her teeth clenched together and her eyes glassy.

Luna sits and waits. Ginny will speak first – she needs to.

"It's too much for one day," she says finally, her voice trembling. "The funeral – then this – He wants to save the world!" she bursts out. "It's not like I can fault him for breaking up with me for that, can I?"

Luna doesn't respond, but Ginny throws her arms around her and she holds her. She holds her, exhales gentle breezes on her flames, coaxes them back to life.

When they are sixteen, they are fighting a war. They and Neville hold tight to one another; hands, lives, spirits linked. Neville is steady and strong, holding them together as the earth holds the roots. Ginny blazes, lighting the way. Luna is the wind – fanning Ginny's flames, wrapping around Neville's solid form, surrounding everything and open to all, impossible to pin down.

Until they do pin her down.

Until they capture her from a train and lock her in a dark cellar and hold her with that darkness pressing around her, close as a dementor, suffocating, alone –

But not alone.

Ollivander is her comfort, and she his, and she can't float out of the cellar on the breeze, but she imagines she could, if she only tried. She soars in the open air that is her mind; she tells him stories and listens to his; she keeps him alive and he keeps her sane, until the miracle arrives and she can feel the fresh air on her skin again.

And she and Ginny meet again on the field of battle, and neither of them is destroyed. They are sisters – one of fire, one of air – and they fill one another up. Ginny draws Luna in as a moth on the breeze; Luna fuels Ginny's fire. Together they burn bright; together they can soar.

Ginny is fire, and Luna is air, and they can survive apart, but together, they live.