Inevitable out-take: Hallways (Ron, Luna)

[mhalachai]

Hallways
An Inevitable missing scene

Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. JK Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Inevitable is mine, however.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: While there are teasing hints about 65 in here, it's really a separate entity. Contains spoilers for all chapters of Inevitable to date.
Note: A missing scene. Takes place during the yet-unwritten chapter 65, the day after the Saturday in chapter 64.
- Another Ron POV. I realized that the Luna and Ron dynamic has never been properly examined, and frankly, it needs to be.
- We start with a liberal dosing of Ron/Hermione. I wanted to focus on Ron in this, but Hermione wanted to talk at me a bit.
- Luna may be OOC. She's dealing with stuff that's outside of the canon material.
- 2,608 words.

~~*~~

Through narrowed eyes, Ron watched Harry leave the Great Hall, Luna at his side. "Ron, you're ruining your toast," Hermione said from his side.

He glanced down to see his mangled toast clenched between his fingers. He made himself drop it to the plate and wipe his buttery palm on his napkin. "I'm not hungry."

Hermione laid down her Daily Prophet and turned to him in concern. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"Him!" Ron gestured at Harry's disappearing back. "You saw how he was with Ginny yesterday, all cuddly in the common room, and now he's leaving the Hall with Luna?"

Hermione glared at Ron. "Ronald Weasley, you know Harry!" she said in an angry stage whisper. "You know he would never, ever do anything to hurt Ginny!"

"He's my best friend, but she's my sister!" Ron whispered back, glancing around to make sure Ginny hadn't appeared in the last minute. "Now he's running around with Luna? He's just so stupid with girls!"

"Ron, I'm a girl," Hermione said, trying to calm him down.

"You're not a girl!" Ron said dismissively, tossing his napkin to the table.

Hermione made an impatient sound in her throat. "Would you stop this and tell me what you're on about?"

Ron made himself take a breath, not liking where his head was going. Harry was his best friend, they'd done all kinds of things together, but that didn't change the fact that Ginny was Ron's little sister. He was supposed to be on her side if anything went wrong. He knew how she had pined after Harry in those first few years at school. Now, if she thought Harry liked her, all the while he was going after Luna...

In a very quiet voice, staring at his empty plate the whole time, Ron told Hermione exactly what he was thinking. He half-expected her to be angry with him; after all, Harry was her friend too, and she didn't have any blood connection to Ginny. But when he was done talking, Hermione squeezed his shoulder and kissed him quickly on his cheek.

"Ginny's going to be fine," she said. "And it's Harry. If he's doing anything, it's not going to be because he wants to hurt anyone, it's because he's an idiot."

"That's what I just said," Ron pointed out.

"Yes, but you didn't say it well." Hermione said. She patted his hand. "Luna is Harry's friend."

"But what if she's more?" Ron asked. "What if Harry likes her too?" This whole mess was giving him a headache.

"Then we'll sort it out," Hermione said practically. "I'll talk to Harry when he gets back to the Tower."

"No, I'll talk to him."

"No, Ron, you won't." Hermione closed her newspaper. "He'll react badly, and so will you, and things will be... unfortunate."

"I'm not going to do that!"

Hermione gave him a look. "It's Ginny. You will. I'll handle it."

Ron wanted to argue, but she was right. Like always. He settled on smiling at her. "How do you know so much about me?"

Hermione picked up her book bag and stood up, then put her hand on Ron's shoulder. "Because I love you," she said matter-of-factly, kissing him on the top of his head. "I'll see you later!"

Ron wanted to ask her to stay, to never leave, to marry him, but none of the right words would come, and he just watched her leave.

Finally, he turned back to his plate, to see Neville staring at him across the table. "What?" Ron said crossly.

Neville shook his head. "Nothing."

Standing, Ron hurried from the Hall. He needed to not be around anyone right then. Hermione was going to a prefect's meeting, and Harry was off to see Dumbledore, or at least he had been before he met Luna on the way out of the Hall.

Stop thinking about Harry and Luna! the voice in Ron's head said, sounding too much like Hermione. Just find something to keep your mind off things until Hermione gets a chance to talk to Harry. She'll set him straight. And if that doesn't work, I can talk to him.

He toyed with the idea of goofing around for a few hours, but grudgingly turned himself in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. He had a Transfiguration essay due on Wednesday, that Hermione had unequivocally told him that she was not going to help him on. He figured he could write it and ask for her opinion afterward; that usually worked. But first, he needed to start the essay. It was sunny outside, so the Gryffindor common room should be empty enough for him to concentrate.

~*~

Hours later, an annoyed Ron stomped out of the Gryffindor Tower, school bag slung over his shoulder. Everyone was bothering him! First years sniveling about something stupid, the Quidditch team members wanting to know about the next practice. All he had wanted to do was to write his bloody essay! Was that so much to ask?

That probably meant he needed to go to the library. Ron hated being in that place by himself. He always felt vaguely guilty, like he should be studying more. When Harry and Hermione were there, he could at least focus on them.

Turning down a corridor, Ron heard raised voices off in the distance. He didn't pay them any attention until he heard the words "Harry Potter," said by a familiar male voice, that Ron recognized as Michael Corner.

Ron slowed to listen, his worn shoes moving silently over the stone floor.

"... told you what I would do!"

"I told you that I was finished with this!" Luna's voice replied, with more force than Ron had ever heard her use. "I don't care who you tell!"

The boy laughed, such an ugly sound that Ron let his bag slide to the ground as he pulled his wand. "No one? It won't matter if I tell Potter, but what about Ginny's brother? What would he do when he found out, if his sister hasn't told him already?"

The silence was profound. "Did you tell Ginny?" Luna asked a little breathily.

"I told you I would, and it was even better than I thought it would be," Michael snapped. "Telling Potter's little princess, that her perverted 'best friend' fancied her? She didn't know what to do with her mouth, which for Ginny was quite unusual--"

"Shut up!" Luna shouted. "Don't talk about her like that!"

Ron's head was spinning. He was so busy thinking about what Michael had said, that he almost missed the implied insult to Ginny. Luna fancied Ginny? But they were both girls! Girls didn't like each other, it wasn't done.

Although, there were those friends of Charlie's who worked down at the dragon reserve in Romania, those two guys who were close like that. They'd seemed normal, when Ron visited the place. Charlie was at ease with them both. That was fine, Ron supposed. He didn't know of any guys who were like that in England, but then everyone seemed to think it was wrong, so maybe they'd hide what they were.

Like Harry tried to do with his vampire grandfather.

Michael's snort drew Ron's attention back to the hallway. "Although, Luna, if I knew you had liked boys too, I might have asked for something more interesting than you doing my homework last year." The innuendo was barely masked.

Ron didn't think; he just rounded the corner, wand clenched in his fist. The scene surprised him. Luna was facing him, and as he came into view, she had just finished pulling her wand. She didn't spare him a glance, keeping her eyes firmly on Michael, whose back was to Ron. "That is never going to happen," she said, her voice shaking slightly, but her hand was steady. "You are a bully, Michael Corner, and if you ever even suggest that again, I'm going to hex you!"

"You really think you can do that?" Michael said, although he'd taken a step back when she pointed her wand at him. "Who'd believe why you did it? What would you do, tell? They'd all believe me, over someone like you!"

Luna swallowed hard, her eyes never straying from Michael's face. Ron took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down before he cursed Michael in the back. "I'd believe her," Ron said. Michael jumped and whirled around, a sickly expression on his face. "And so would everyone else!"

Michael's eyes darted between Ron and Luna, like a trapped animal. "You don't know what's going on," Michael tried to say.

"Shut it!" Ron made himself keep his wand lowered. What kind of an utter pervert would try and blackmail a girl with sex? "I heard you, I know what you've been doing, and you're going to stop it!"

"What, are you going to step in and protect her?" Michael said sarcastically.

Forget wands; Ron wanted to punch Michael. "She doesn't need anyone to protect her!" Ron shouted. "She took on a whole crowd of Death Eaters at the Ministry a year ago! She's brave and she's smart and you're nothing!"

Michael stared at Ron for a moment, then bolted down the hallway, giving Luna a wide berth. Shakily, Luna lowered her wand and stared at the place where Michael had been.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked urgently, putting his wand away and retrieving his bag. "That berk didn't hurt you?"

Luna shook her head. "I'm not hurt," she said, giving Ron a tired look.

"Good." He stood awkwardly, not sure what to say now. "Is there anything that you need me to do?"

Luna shook her head and turned her head to stare down the corridor. "I didn't think he'd ever really tell Ginny," she said softly.

Ron slowly crossed the hall, without a clue on what to do. After a minute, Luna looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and resigned. Ron really didn't like that look; it made him feel like he should have been able to do something more.

Something about Luna's gaze made Ron flash back to what was lying under all this: Luna liked Ginny. He'd always known that Ginny liked boys, but standing here, with Luna staring at him, Ron suddenly wondered if Ginny might like a girl too.

That's crazy! he thought, trying not to look as flustered as he felt. Ginny liked boys! Like Harry! He couldn't think about this, not now, not until he'd dealt with the mess Michael Corner had created.

"Do you want to go tell somebody?" Ron asked, wanting to fidget under Luna's stare. "Maybe Hermione, or..."

His voice trailed off as Luna stared at him. "You've changed," she said finally. "A year ago, you would have been different if you heard what Michael had to say."

Ron didn't look away, even though he knew she was probably right. "That was a long time ago," he said. "What's happening is happening now." He winced at how stupid that sounded, but he pushed himself on. "You can't let Michael do this."

"It's not as simple as that," Luna said quietly. "There are other people involved, who--"

"If you're talking about Ginny, then don't worry about that," Ron interrupted. "She's your friend, she'd never stop being your friend because of this!" And as he said it, he realized that it was true.

Luna let her eyes drop to her wand. When she looked back up, the resignation was gone, replaced by something far more solid. "Would you go with me to see Professor Flitwick?"

Ron nodded, relief washing over him. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was glad that Luna wanted to go to a teacher. If anyone could set Michael Corner straight, or at least make sure he didn't hurt Luna, it was Flitwick, Ravenclaw's head of house. "Let's go."

Ron shoved his uncertainty to the back of his mind over whatever it was Harry and Luna had happening. That wasn't important any more. Privately, however, part of Ron wanted to run into Michael on the way to Flitwick's office. Sometimes, people just needed to be taught a lesson.

~*~

Sitting in Flitwick's office while Luna slowly and methodically told her story, Ron realized that he had never seen the tiny professor look so... intense. Even in class, with students accidentally blowing things apart with charms, Flitwick had always approached the situation with a sort of resigned amusement.

He wasn't amused now.

When Flitwick asked Luna if anyone else knew about the situation, Ron was surprised to hear Luna say that Harry knew about the whole thing. Was that why the two of them were spending time together? Somehow, Ron would have thought that Harry would be a lot angrier about the situation. So why hadn't he said anything to anyone?

Ron answered all of Flitwick's questions honestly, but it seemed as if the professor had already come to a decision. Flitwick had just started to speak when his office door opened without notice, and McGonagall strode in.

"Professor, might I see you for a minute?" she asked without preamble, looking rather pale and severe.

Flitwick dropped his quill. "Of course," he said, sliding off his chair as if noting was wrong, but Ron had seen that first tiny look of surprise, and dread.

McGonagall motioned Flitwick out of the office to talk to him, leaving Ron and Luna to look at each other, wide-eyed. "What's that?" Ron whispered, straining to hear. Luna only shook her head.

Within moments, Flitwick was in the doorway. "Miss Lovegood, Mr. Weasley, a matter has come up," he said quickly and far too calmly. "Could you come back tomorrow during my office hours to discuss this further?"

Luna stood up quickly, while Ron struggled to his feet. "Of course, professor," Luna said. Flitwick bundled the two of them out of his office, shut the door, and hurried away down the hall after McGonagall. Any other day, Ron might have laughed at seeing the tiny Charms professor trying to keep up with the tall head of Gryffindor, but not today.

"What happened?" Ron wondered.

"Perhaps a Ravenclaw was hurt," Luna said doubtfully. "That's the direction of the infirmary."

Ron couldn't shake the sense of foreboding he felt in her words. "Maybe." He glanced over at her. "Need company to Ravenclaw?"

She gave him a look. "Michael's not going to hurt me," she said. "I'm going to tell him I told Flitwick about what he's been doing."

"He might tell people about.... you know, what he threatened to tell them."

Luna squared her shoulders. "He might." Her voice didn't waver anymore. "But you were right."

Ron blinked. "I was?"

"I can protect myself. He may say things, but I'm not going to let him hold this over me. It's not right."

Ron hated himself for this, but he had to point it out. "It might not just be him being after you, if he tells people."

Luna shook her head, standing painfully straight. "He probably won't tell anyone," she said. "He's a bully, and he might not go on, now that Flitwick knows."

"Luna--"

"This is my problem," she said suddenly. "I don't need someone to protect me. I know what the wizarding world thinks of this, of people who are… like me. I'll just handle it." Without looking at him, she turned and walked away down the hall.

"Do you want me to talk to Ginny?"

Luna stopped suddenly, but didn't turn around. "You don't need to do that," she said, head held high, and started walking again. Before Ron could decide what to do, she had rounded a corner and was out of sight.

After a minute, Ron hefted his bag up higher on his shoulder, and set off toward Gryffindor. Harry was probably still with Dumbledore, but Hermione would be around. Ron needed to tell someone about what happened with Luna.

Hermione would understand and know what to do. She always did.

Ron just wished he could shake that feeling that something bad was happening at Hogwarts.

--fin