Learning to Love Good

Chapter Thirteen - Welcome to Mystery

The Christmas festivities at the Lovegood home were, as expected, thoroughly odd.

Xenophilius invited only his coworkers from the Quibbler and it was quite a small crowd, though Harry was sure that the neighbors never would have guessed it. Fireworks were exploding from the moment the sun went down in a brilliant splatter of yellow and pink, and there was plenty of Steaming Strawberry Sorbet to go around as a substitute for Butterbeer, which resulted in the melting of snow within half a mile. A band was playing covers of Celestina Warbeck, including A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love, and the Christmas dinner included plimpy soup, which made Harry a bit nauseous, and a thick, creamy pink mixture that tasted oddly citrusy. For dessert, there were usual things, like Chocolate Cauldrons and a Christmas tree shaped cake that Hermione had prepared for Harry to bring, but there were also Lovegood-esque dishes such as Plimpy Pot-Pie and a Nargle-Repelling bright purple fruit Harry didn't dare touch and toxic-green tarts that Luna ate eagerly, though they turned her ears a bright shade of orange.

Harry and Luna decided to sit and talk and play wizard's chess (which Luna easily won), Exploding Snap, and a Muggle game Luna had gotten her hands on that Harry reckoned was called something along the lines of Monopolice upstairs for most of the night rather than dance, seeing as neither of them enjoyed dancing very much, but Xenophilius insisted that they come down for the slow dance and to see the final fireworks display, a great, vivid explosion of colors and shapes and swirls.

Harry and Luna had planted the engagement ring Harry had bought for Ginny so long ago and planted it at the core of the blazing magical rockets (another one of Luna's great ideas; Harry had immediately complied) and the gold ring and huge, once-sparkling diamond adorning it were successfully smashed into oblivion, leaving Harry even more refreshed than usual.

As the party was approaching its end at around midnight, Harry took Luna to the backyard, which was empty and quiet (or at least, quieter), as there was one last piece of unfinished business before she departed for her trip to see her cousins in Ireland until the beginning of February.

"Thanks for inviting me, Luna. This has been great," he said genuinely, her hand clasped in his, her thumb absentmindedly rubbing the back of his hand soothingly.

"The pleasure is mine, Harry! Did you enjoy the fireworks? Daddy and I have been working on those since August," she replied with a smile he could nearly feel through the thick, cold darkness.

"They were wonderful," he said. "There's just one problem."

"I knew we should have set them up more to the west... They align better with the stars that way," she sighed.

He shook his head, chuckling. "It's nothing to do with the position of the fireworks, Luna. It's just that... I won't be able to see you on New Year's. So we won't get to have our-"

"New Year's kiss," they finished in unison.

Saying things simultaneously was something they had been doing quite a bit lately. Who knew his mind was on the same track as Luna Lovegood's?

Well, he told himself, great minds think alike. And we do understand each other better than anybody.

"Hm..." Luna thought for a second. "I've got it!" she exclaimed happily.

"What?" asked Harry anxiously. "I can't go to Ireland, Shacklebolt would fire me for missing so much work. And you're not going to leave your cousins for me, don't even think about it. You haven't seen them in ages!"

"No, silly. We'll just use our imagination!" she said.

"I've been told I don't have one," Harry frowned.