The Dreamy Redhead (A Linny fanfiction)

Chapter 20

Luna POV:

"Ugh, I wish I could play Quidditch, but Hufflepuff has the Quidditch pitch booked today. It's the perfect day to practice, too!" Ginny says.

"Yeah, but the Hufflepuffs need the Quidditch pitch, right? You've said it yourself, Hufflepuffs are dreadful at Quidditch," I snort. 

"Hey, don't let the Hufflepuffs hear that! And anyways, they aren't that bad. They've gotten better over the summer," Ginny says defensively.

"Are you just saying that to hide the fact that you've gotten worse at Quidditch or something?" 

"No!" Ginny exclaims, tossing a notebook at me. I dodge it, laughing along. 

"Yeah, well, you aren't the only one annoyed about the day. I wish there was a river I could go to, I could catch freshwater plimpies."

"You know, sometimes I don't really know how I decided to date the girl everyone calls weird."

"Well, sometimes I don't really know how I decided to date a girl obsessed with Quidditch!"

We laugh again, before laying down in the afternoon sun. It's the perfect day, with a cool breeze and bright white clouds dotting the sky. We were going to study here, but after a long hour of not being able to study with the beautiful weather, we decided to lay down and watch the clouds pass. Ginny even got a picnic blanket and pumpkin pasties to eat. I suddenly remember something that happened that I want to share to Ginny.

"Hey, remember when I went to the Quidditch pitch to watch you practice in our 6th year? And then you gave me your jacket!"

"Oh yeah! I thought I was being stupid, doing something that only couples would do. And look at us now!"

"Yeah, and you even let me try to shoot goals, before asking me if I wanted to stay at your house. I mean, looking back at it, it was a nice invitation, but I can only think of how awkward the timing was now," I say, giggling.

"I know! I was being so stupid," Ginny exclaims. "I just wanted to make my move before someone else did."

"You were right on that, Neville would've asked me first."

"True."

We gaze at the clouds a little longer, before Ginny pipes up.

"Do you think you would've dated Neville if you weren't dating with me in the first place?"

The question throws me for a loop, but after stalling for a while, I shrug.

"I don't know. On one hand, I would've loved to be in a relationship with him, but on the other hand, I've only ever considered him as a friend."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you would say," Ginny says.

"I mean- I never really thought that I would end up dating you. I've only thought of you as a friend too, but I think that's because I've never imagined myself dating someone. I've always thought that everyone would only like me as a friend, until you got closer with me."

"To be honest, that's kinda what I thought of you too, until I started having weird behaviors when I was with you."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It's just that until the end of the battle of Hogwarts, I've always felt the same about you: A smart, kind person to be around. And I always stuck up for you because of those qualities you have. But after the battle of Hogwarts, I started feeling butterflies in my stomach, or whatever that phrase is, and I felt my heart drop, and my knees get sweaty. At first, I just claimed that it was just the temperature, or that it was just platonic or something, but the more I hung around you, the more I realized my feelings for you. I guess it might just be a gradual thing, you know?"

"Maybe," I answer, "I'm just glad I'm with you."

"Me too. Oh look! That cloud looks like a heart!"

Ginny points at something in the sky, and I gotta agree, it does look like a heart.

"And this one is a chicken!" I exclaim, pointing at another muddy shape in the sky. We look at the indistinct shapes for a while, squinting at the light every now and then.

"I love being around you, Luna, you know that?" Ginny says happily.

"Yeah, me too," I say.

I don't remember much about the rest of the day, only that it was the happiest day of my life, because of Ginny.