Friendship is the Greatest Treasure

HP fanfic for kasumicc on LJ for the '09 Himitsu Santa exchange

HP and Co. belong to J.K. Rowling. Written for entertainment purposes only.

It was quite brilliant, really. Hermione Granger had to hand it to herself.

Celebrating Luna Lovegood's birthday was something that all of them had wanted to do. Ginny came up with the idea first, followed by Hermione, Neville, and Harry. Ron agreed, but he wasn't quite as enthusiastic.

"Don't get me wrong, I like Luna. She's great, but how would we possibly throw a party for her? Not saying that surprising her wouldn't be easy; it would be, way she's off in her own world sometimes, but how would we celebrate it? Go to her house? You all have to remember what that's like."

Hermione had understood that. None of them had very fond memories from that time. Not wanting to think about it, she had gotten them together to sort it out a couple of months prior to the actual event. They were huddled in a booth at the Three Broomsticks Inn, Pumpkin Juice in front of each of them. Ron had protested mightily that he was old enough for a Butterbeer, but Hermione put her foot down that "no foolishness would be allowed while planning Luna's birthday party," and that was that.

They had each come up with ideas, only to have another of the group argue against it for some reason or another. Ron had suggested traveling around Hogsmeade, but Ginny and Hermione said that there wasn't anything that was new and they had all seen everything in Hogsmeade already. Having a quiet party at the Burrow was shot down by Ginny immediately.

"Oh, come on! I love Mum and Dad, but the house isn't exactly the best place to have a party. I'm sure Mum would love it, and she'd go all out for it, but NO!"

"Well, what else should we do? Harry and I have some experience with birthday parties, but only the Muggle versions. Luna couldn't want that." Hermione did have a point, but Ginny's shout of "THAT'S IT!!" stopped Harry from opening his mouth saying so.

"Why don't we just go around to certain Muggle spots for Luna's birthday? She's always going on about odd things, and Ron, Neville and I haven't ever been to a Muggle type birthday. It'd be brilliant."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. They could do it, and they were old enough to do magic out in the world now if they needed to.

"All right then, it's settled; a Muggle sightseeing party for Luna."

That was how it started.

They had all met up at Hermione's house, since it was her idea and her parents were partially funding the party. Luna and Ginny were the last to arrive, the former being greeted by rousing-yet-off key "Happy Birthday". Neville and Ron looked a bit nervous at the thought of going around London not using magic, but Ginny looked at it all like a new adventure. There was some confusion at the tube station into London; Neville had panicked when his revolving bar got stuck without the others noticing and he muttered on about "faulty Muggle things" as they all grouped together on a bench.

"So, Luna, what do you think about spending your birthday in the Muggle world?", Harry asked.

"I'm excited," she replied. Looking around, reading a few of the posters for up coming movies, Harry wondered what other people thought about the six of them. Dressed in casual clothes, they didn't stick out, but Luna did have on her odd radish earrings again. She had gotten a few curious glances because she had been looking around with a dreamy smile on her face, going on about how she'd never ridden the tube before and how she liked how colorful all the advertising was, but she preferred the moving pictures of Hogwarts much better.

Neville kept glancing around, clearly nervous about the trip, even though Hermione assured him it wouldn't last much longer. It was mid-afternoon and they were all stopping for tea at the Camden Arts Centre. Hermione, being Hermione, had done a lot of research in order to find places Luna would like, and the contemporary art museum seemed like just the place. When asked about what she would like to do, Luna had shrugged and replied, "Oh, I just want to be with my friends. I've never had anyone other than Father host a party for me, so I don't have a preference. You know the Muggle world better than I do, so as long as I'm around all of you, I don't mind."

Harry could tell they were all excited about the trip to the museum. Hermione has sent them all information by owl, and she said that Luna had been very enthusiastic about some of the art that had been included. Ron thought it sounded dull -"too much like being back at Hogwarts," he'd said, but Neville and Ginny had written back interested, Ginny adding that Mr. Weasley was sad he couldn't go along to "experience Muggle life to the fullest" and "seeing what all Muggles consider art." She was relating such a story to Luna and Hermione.

"So, Dad was all, 'You are so fortunate to see Muggles up close while you're in London. You must use a camera to take photographs of everything you see...' I tried telling him that it would put people off, me taking random pictures of them, but I said that you were bringing a camera, Hermione, so he seemed satisfied enough. We've got to document everything we do, he promised me new broom polish if I could tell him anything about rubber ducks."

Hermione patted her beaded bag, which Harry recognized from their time searching for the Horcruxes. Knowing Hermione, it had a lot more than just a camera inside. Catching his glance, Hermione grinned.

"Yes, I've got a camera. I've also got Luna's gifts. She'll be able to open them at the museum. Oh, this is us. Let's go."

Walking up into the sunlight was a bit disorienting, Neville actually stumbled into a woman who was going down into the station. After righting himself and apologizing, the rest of them made their short way into the museum. It was a very modern building, Luna didn't show any sort of preference. It was inside, actually viewing the art, where she came alive.

"Musical instruments as an art piece?" This was said at one point where they were looking at various brass instruments suspended on sticks, some above Ron's head, others at hip level. She enjoyed some of the oddest pieces the best, often saying it reminded her of something that was mentioned in The Quibbler. Ron would just roll his eyes.

A couple of hours later, they were sitting in the cafe; tea in front of Harry, Neville and Hermione, cappuccinos in front of Luna and Ginny, coffee for Ron. They had gotten a few tables together and, while no one was looking, Hermione produced Luna's presents out of her bag. There was a considerable pile, presents from the Weasleys, Hermione's parents, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and a few former students from Hogwarts rounded out the presents from the five at the table. In the center were various treats: scones, cupcakes, cheesecake squares with strawberry drizzle, and other sweet things to go with their drinks.

Luna sat between Neville and Ginny, directly across from Hermione, a smile on her face as she lifted a large rectangular package, Hagrid's messy handwriting on the note attached. Tearing the paper carefully, the smile grew wider as she lifted up a copy of The Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: A to Z, 6th Edition. Inside the front cover on a sheet of parchment was a note from Hagrid stating he thought she would enjoy the book, and it took him quite a long time to find it. Also, he hoped she wouldn't mind the few scorch marks on the corners, but he'd just gotten in a pygmy dragon from China and was trying to teach it proper manners when it had sneezed and the book had accidentally caught fire. Professor McGonagall had gotten her magical paints that would change colors depending on the subject matter.

The gifts from the Weasleys were the usual fare: Mrs. Weasley had made Luna a purple sweater with an "L" on the front in silver thread. Mr. Weasley gave her wand polish, and George gave her a gift certificate to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Biting down into some cheesecake, Ron made a comment that there were only five presents left. Wrapping paper and bags littered the floor surrounding the table so the five were easy to spot.

"Well, of course there are. I saved the best for last. Hmm... which one should I open first?" Looking over the small grouping very seriously, she picked up a small, long box wrapped in dark green paper with a very fancy ribbon around it.

"Th-That's from me. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to get you. I'm not very good at picking out presents for girls, but Gran said that a girl would enjoy this." Neville looked down for a minute, his ears a bright pink, but he looked back up at Luna's gasp of delight.

Inside the box were two silver hair sticks with purple stones strung from silver thread. They were very nice, and Luna rewarded him with a peck on the cheek, carefully setting the box on the table.

Next, she chose a bag with stars on the front that, upon closer inspection, twinkled when the bag moved. It was from Hermione and it contained a purple clutch similar to hers.

"I put a expandable charm on it, so you can carry around whatever you need."

"Thank you, Hermione! This will make taking my gifts home so much easier." Luna promptly began to put her things in the bag, smiling in delight at the fact the bag never bulged or stretched.

Ginny gave her a new sweater in blue, the same shade as Luna's eyes. Hermione captured them hugging on her camera, even though Ginny's face was hidden by Luna's hair.

Ron's gift was a deluxe size box of Chocolate Frogs, wrapped haphazardly in paper with dancing fairies on it. He got a hug, something that startled him. When Luna pulled away, he was pink. "Wasn't anything big...." he could be heard muttering with a slight grin on his face, clearly embarrassed about it.

Harry's gift was last. They were shoes, but nothing like any of them had ever seen before. They were rainbow colored, sequin-covered high-top sneakers. He remembered, after his fifth year, that Luna had lost her shoes, only to have found them later hanging by the laces above her head in one of the corridors at Hogwarts. He had found them, the last pair the store had or was going to ever get, not long after they had planned the party, begging the store owner to hold them while Harry had gone to Gringotts in order to exchange some of his wizarding money into Muggle money. He knew that shoes like those could only belong to Luna.

"Those are, without a doubt, the most amazing shoes I have ever seen."

Luna's soft voice was the first to break the silence. Her smile, along with the few happy tears in her eyes, were the best thanks Harry could get.

The ride back to Hermione's house was uneventful and quiet. They were the last ones in their compartment, so the conversation was at a normal volume.

"I want to find shoes like that somewhere, Harry. Those are amazing." Ginny was busy inspecting Luna's shoes, and demanding to know the name of the store where Harry got them. Ron and Hermione, sitting across the aisle, were busy looking back through the pictures on Hermione's camera; Ron laughing at something Hermione was pointing out. Neville and Luna sat beside Ginny talking quietly to each other, her head on Neville's shoulder. Looking at her friends, she felt loved and accepted. She had always been considered odd, and while not having friends never really bothered her, it was nice knowing she had people she could count on.

"This was the best birthday ever."

-End

November - December 2009