I sat in my dormitory thinking about what had just happened. My mind was racing; all thoughts were in a blur. Short clips of moments before flashed in my eyes: the room full of hidden possessions, my beating heart, sweaty palms, soft lips, her crimson hair. All pointing towards the one person who had broken my protective spell and entered my soul as easily as if it was a front door swinging wide open. I had never let anyone else get that close to me, not even my best friends. As I thought about what had happened, there was something inside of me that wondered if I was doing the right thing, or if I was making a huge mistake.

"Harry, what are you doing?" called a low voice from outside the door. It was Ron, probably wanting to go down to the Great Hall for dinner, or whatever they were serving at the moment. "You've been in there all day!" Oh if he only knew. "I told Hermione to meet us down in the Great Hall for dinner," I knew him too well, "she was going to find Luna so we could meet her too. She seems rather out of it, so Hermione suggested that we try and cheer her up, useless in my opinion. Come on, Harry! Let's go already!"

My heart leapt at the mention of her name, Luna. Put I forced the thoughts invading my mind out. I was with Ginny now, and there was nothing that was going to change that. She was the one who pulled me into the Room of Requirement. She had made the first move. I knew that I had been having feelings towards her for quite some time, but I refused to act on them. I felt that they were just lustful tendencies wired into my brain ever since I was born; like every other male in the world.

She was the one who offered to hide the book for me, so that I would never get to it again. I let her take the book from my hands, and then she told me to close my eyes. I did, but before the realization of what she had asked me to do had sunk in, I felt her lips pressing softly against mine. She had tilted her head just so, so that our lips had lined up perfectly. I could feel her anxiousness in the contact, and I could also tell that she had been preparing this for a long time. I felt her tongue tap the outside of my closed lips, knocking to come in. I parted my mouth slightly and she gently pushed her tongue into mine.

As if she was exploring the insides of my soul, I answered back to the messages she had been sending. My tongue flitted across the roof of her mouth and I could feel her tense up in pleasure.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and I her waist. She took in a deep breath through her nose and slowly pulled away. A smile started to form on her face, and I grew worrisome. I had been hoping that she had only had this kiss in mind, because that's all I was thinking about. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sensing what I was thinking, she whispered, "Don't worry, Harry. I won't force you into this. But I can make all of your dreams, and fantasies, come true. So, whaddya say? Want to be my boyfriend?"

How was I supposed to answer that? I didn't open my mouth to speak, only because I didn't trust my voice to stay at one steady tone. I merely nodded my head in a way that was supposed to mean 'I guess so, but it's not life or death', but she took it as 'Of course, my love. I can't survive in this world without you'. Her eyes lit up and her smile widened. She jumped up slightly, kissed me lightly, and ran off with my hand still in hers; so I was dragged along behind her.

We left the Room of Requirement and I felt as if a brick had been laid in my stomach. I didn't know if I had made the right decision, or even if the idea of dating Ginny was logical! Ron was my best friend! How was dating his sister supposed to be the way to stay on his good side? I had no idea what I was getting into. But I had a feeling it wasn't good.

"Harry! Would you just hurry it along? The food will probably be gone by the time you get your sorry butt out of that room! Now let's go!" Ron was growing impatient. I quickly stood up from my bed and opened the door to a very grumpy, very irritated Ronald Weasley. He made it quite clear to me that he had been waiting for a good ten minutes for me to leave the dormitory with a string of well thought out profanities. I shrugged my shoulders when he asked me what was wrong, and he just rolled his eyes and said in an annoyed voice, "Hermione is probably thinking we stood her up or something."

He shoved my arm, and inside I knew that everything was going to be okay. But on the outside I was as nervous for this meal as I was the first time I stepped foot into this castle. Ron must not have noticed, because he kept on walking and yammering away about something with Dean or Shamus, or someone else; I wasn't paying attention. I was dreading what was going to happen as soon as I sat down at that Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

We arrived at the table soon after that and I took my normal seat next to Ron and across from Hermione. This wasn't a feast, so Houses could mix tables. Luna Lovegood was sitting adjacent to Hermione and diagonal from me. The bench spot to my right was empty, and I looked up at the doors to the entrance of the Great Hall and my heart skipped a beat as Ginny walked in. Her scarlet, waist length hair brushed her back ever so slightly as her hips swayed gently while she walked. Her eyes seemed to bury themselves into mine. She smiled at the sight of me at the table and rushed over to greet us. She happily waved at everyone else but she saved a kiss for me. Her hand brushed the side of my head as she held it lightly, and her breath smelled of honey and lilac. As she pulled away Hermione gave her a look saying 'Ginny, not now'. Ron just stared.

I didn't get a chance to ask how he felt about us because as soon as Ginny arrived she sat on the bench next to me, sliding in close to me as soon as she made contact with the wooden seat. Her arm wrapped around behind my waist and she pulled me as close as humanly possible. I could feel my face start to warm and she mistook the physical sign as a sign of fondness for her greeting. When in reality it was something far different.

Clearly uncomfortable, Hermione cleared her throat and attempted to start a conversation. "So, Harry, how is Quidditch going?"

I just looked at her with a puzzled stare. "Hermione, you've been to all of our games. I don't know what you mean. Of course you would know how it was going. So, why are you asking?"

She huffed and turned back to her dinner plate. "Well I'm sorry for trying to make conversation with my friends. Maybe I should just leave," she hissed.

Feeling sorry for the way I reacted to her ridiculous question, I quickly apologized, "No, Hermione, don't. I'm sorry for that, but it just seemed as if you were digging for any possible thing to talk about. Don't worry, you don't have to leave. Ok?" I smiled to hopefully show her that everything was alright. She smiled back and nodded, and then joyously started eating her supper. I turned slightly from Ginny's embrace to look at Luna. She looked dazed and tired, as if her eyes had glazed over and she was just drifting in and out of reality. I cautiously asked her a question that had been on everyone's mind. "Luna," I hesitated when she looked at me straight on with those silvery grey eyes that seemed to penetrate my heart with sympathy, "can you tell us what happened to your father?"

Hermione, Ginny and Ron all gasped at my question. I ignored their intakes of breath and continued to keep eye contact with Luna. She slowly took in a breath and started to speak. "Well, it isn't really 'what happened', but more of a 'what's happening'. A couple weeks ago, over Christmas break, I went back home to visit my father and spend the holidays with him. He seemed fine, from what I could see, and I thought that nothing was wrong. He was acting the way he normally does. But then, one night, things were different than they usually were. I could sense that something was abnormal about the atmosphere surrounding my house. I was alone in my room when I heard a small yell. I went to go investigate and I decided to check my father's study first. I walked into the room and I felt my heart skip a few beats. I walked in on him with someone; I couldn't tell who she was. They were holding hands and he was kissing her neck and it was as if," she paused slightly, "as if he was on a date in our own home. I know that he's been trying to find someone else since my mother died, but it all seems so rushed.

"I confronted him afterword to see who she was, how long they had been together, you know the usual questions. He told me that she was a worker for the Ministry of Magic and that they had been together for quite some time. This obviously was news to me, so you can imagine that I was a little shocked-slash-upset at his 'announcement'."

Ron looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and a confused look on his face. With a mouth full of meatloaf he started to talk to Luna. "So he's dating someone from the Ministry. Why would that have you all glum and such?" Hermione shot him a horrified look and slugged his arm. He dropped his fork with a clatter and shouted causing food to spray all over our table section; wonderful. "What?" he shrieked, "I just asked a question!"

Hermione just pursed her lips and turned to Luna. She gently said, "You know he didn't mean that. What he was trying to ask was: what's bothering you? We're worried about you, Luna. We want to get the old Luna back, but we need to know what's wrong before we can fix anything. So can you please tell us what's bothering you?"

Luna sighed slightly and continued her story. "Well the problem is; when I found out that she worked for the Ministry, I also found out that she was in charge of supervising the things published in the wizarding world. Like the Daily Prophet and other things. She was talking to my dad about ending our magazine, you know The Quibbler? Well as it turns out our magazine hasn't been 'appropriate' for the public recently. So the Ministry sent her to my father to try and get him to stop making The Quibbler. He was crushed to find out that nothing between the two of them over the time they had been together had meant anything at all. Since then he's been shutting himself up in his room and rarely comes out. I've sent him countless owls, but nothing's worked."

She bowed her head and I could see a tear slowly forming in the corners of her eyes. Hermione placed her hand sympathetically on hers, and Luna smiled at her. She turned towards her and gave her a small hug. Sniffing slightly, she excused herself from the table and Hermione shook her head and let out a breath of frustration. Ron put down his fork and tried to look the same as Hermione, just to show that he did actually care and not that he was just blowing Luna's hardships off. "I just wish there was something we could do to help," Hermione said, "this all seems so horrible."

Ron touched her arm softly and answered, "There's nothing we can do. No matter how much we'd like to, we can't sway the Ministry like that. I mean, I could talk to my dad but that really isn't his area of expertise. The best we could do for her was to be there for her and be her friend."

I raised my eyebrows in shock. This was the most Ron had ever shown feelings for except for hunger, tiredness, and the occasional stubborn-grumpiness. I glanced the way Luna left to see if I could catch up with her. I felt bad for not saying anything prior to her leaving. I made the motions to get up, but Ginny stopped me. I looked at her confusedly and made a gesture saying 'what are you doing?' and she answered: "You don't need to go after her, Harry. She's fine. Come, sit down and enjoy supper, she'll be alright." Hermione and Ron shifted uncomfortably but continued to eat, trying to not listen in on our spat.

I stood up regardless of Ginny's reasoning and continued to walk away. She leapt up behind me and grabbed my hand. "You can't just go follow her and intervene in her time alone Harry. She needs a little time alone, she's clearly upset," she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. Cat calls and wolf whistles erupted from the students near us and she pulled away with a sly smile on her face, blush reaching across her cheeks. She whispered softly in my ear and said "You know, there's a lot more where that came from," and she giggled. She presented the bench seat I had previously sat in and motioned with her head for me to sit again.

I took my arm away from her and said in a quiet voice, "I'm not staying here. I knew that it was a mistake going into that room with you in the first place. I'm going after Luna, because she is one of my friends and she needs someone at a time like this." I walked away, a look of surprise on her face. She tried running after me and once again grabbed my hand. I turned sharply and said louder this time, "I'm not staying Ginny! Now let go of me and leave me alone! I don't think this will work out for the both of us." I pried my hand out of her grip and stalked off. I stole a glance back at her and saw a girl with a stunned look on her face. Honestly I felt bad for the way I acted. I mean, she was just trying to keep me from leaving her; she had good intentions at heart. Maybe if things didn't work out I would come back and assure her that I was just not myself today, and that everything would be back to normal.

I felt horrible for the way I had treated Ron's sister, but I had no choice. I jogged out of the Great Hall to see if I could find Luna before she went to the Ravenclaw common room and I wouldn't see her again until the next day; if that.

I noticed her bright white-blonde hair slowly walking away and I pushed through the crowd of hearty stomach filled students over to her. I arrived behind her just as she was about to turn a corner into the mass of students leaving to go to their individual rooms, or maybe to a hidden corner to be with their special someone; or perhaps an empty classroom to practice their magic. Although I doubted that last option.

Grabbing her arm softly I turned her to face me and I saw her silver eyes staring back at me; those eyes that contained little flecks of a dark gold and glittered with the tears welling up inside. I felt my heart seize up at the sad expression in her face, empathy coming into play. I could tell that she was on the verge of crying and I quietly told her, "Come on, Luna. Let's go." She didn't try to resist my grip, and followed obediently behind me. I led her up to an empty hallway where I found a room that was full of old desks and dusty textbooks. Cobwebs were forming in the windows and doorway.

Closing the door tightly and quickly behind me, I turned to Luna who had fallen into a chair in the corner of the room. I saw the tear leave her eyes and roll down her cheek; and rushed over to her. I pulled her into a standing position and placed her shoulders square in front of me. Brushing a blonde stand of hair from her face I lifted her chin and said, "It'll be alright, Luna. I'm right here," I pulled her in close and wrapped my arms around her. I felt the protective walls breaking inside her as she sank into my chest and the tears flowed freely.

I stroked her back and murmured words of consolation and care in her ear. She took a breath and looked up at me; her eyes glittering with tears and her cheeks with tracks of salty remains. I tenderly took her chin and tilted it closer to me. As she got closer I leaned in and kissed her softly. She answered back lovingly and I could tell that this was different from Ginny. With Ginny I had felt an electric charge that had gone to my toes and back. With Luna, it was different. I could feel the sadness emitting off of her, and I was using every ounce of my being to try and reverse that feeling from her. My heart started to flutter, and my palms started to sweat. I knew that something was starting to form inside me that I had never experienced before. I cautiously tapped my tongue on her lips and she opened them more than slightly, and I my heart stopped beating for a few milliseconds when we connected once again.

In my head I had always known that Luna would be the one that I would be happiest with, but it had taken just a simple nudge to remind me of it. Ginny was fire, life and energy that no one could live without. But Luna was love and softness, a glow that was elegant and warm. I pulled away and her eyes were closed. She slowly opened them, and I smiled down at that pretty face. She smiled back and leaned in for another round. I closed my eyes too, and became lost in her blonde hair and all of her affection. As the moment progressed, I had a feeling all throughout my body that everything was going to be alright in the world; even if it involved fiery red-heads, demanding Ministry workers, or even saddened friends. Because as long as Luna was there to guide me, and I was there for her, nothing could slow us down.