Through His Mother's Eyes

Chapter Nine - I Feel Pretty

"What was all the commotion about?" asked Hermione warily.

"Oh, the usual, but it's all settled now. And Ron's nose is back to normal, which probably isn't cause for rejoicing, but..."

Hermione's eyes bulged. "Ron's nose!" she exclaimed, clasping both hands over her mouth.

"Yes," said Ginny calmly. "James decided to get rather animated with his feet, and Ron provided quite an ample target with that nose of his."

"James kicked Ron in the nose?" said Hermione in awe, her eyes still large and horrified.

"He did," said Ginny apologetically. "And you'd better believe he's going to be sentenced to quite a few hours of domestic servitude for it as well...along with a lifetime ban from Quidditch."

Hermione's eyes - if possible - got even larger.

"You're joking!" she exclaimed.

"Well, yes," said Ginny, unbuttoning and removing her blouse. "I am, but you'd better believe he'll have forgotten what Quidditch is by the time he gets those blasted robes back!" She kicked off her shoes, yanked off her socks, wriggled out of her jeans and stepped into her Dusk dress robes. "Merlin knows I was never that stubborn as a child!" Ginny secretly hoped Hermione would never decide to have Ron elucidate for her the vast degree of Ginny's stubbornness as a child. Certain incidents popped up in her mind as examples, but Luna's emergence from the bathroom wearing a fluffy violet dressing gown cast them conveniently aside.

"It's time to do your hair," said Ginny brightly, all thoughts of having once been a pint-sized mule vanished from her mind.

Luna had washed her blond mane of hair and it was currently resting limply, draped over shoulders, sopping wet and dripping a little flood onto the carpet.

"If we must, we must," said Luna serenely. She took the length of blond tresses and twisted them tightly, wringing a deluge on top of the puddles that had already formed there.

Hermione cast an odd look Luna's way, whipped out her wand and sighed before saying, "Evanesco!" The pond at Luna's feet evaporated.

Ginny tossed a pale green towel over to Luna and said, "Towel it off before I dry it...it always helps to get all of the excess water out." Plus, I don't want my dress robes ruined with water spots, thought Ginny.

Luna obliged, then sat down in a chair next to her vanity table. Ginny stood beside her, raised her wand and muttered an incantation. Soon, a strong whoosh of warm air was gusting from the tip of the wand and, within seconds, Luna's hair was dry.

Ginny rummaged through the paltry selection of hair-care products adorning Luna's vanity table. None of them looked of much use to the cause and they all looked to be quite a few years old - probably things aunts or grandmothers gave her when she was younger, and which Luna found absolutely no use for, since she never did more than wash and brush her long locks.

Ginny sighed, realizing Luna's assortment wasn't going to suffice.

Hermione poked around her bag and lifted out a tiny blue bottle. "Try this," she said proffering the bottle to Ginny. "All you'll need is one squirt."

Ginny took the lid off, held the bottle over her left hand and pressed the small dispenser. A tiny amount of clear, oily liquid landed in the palm of her hand.

"The potion is an emollient," said Hermione. "It'll give Luna's hair quite a nice shine, but be careful not to use too much or else..."

"...she could end up looking like Professor Snape?"

Luna snorted with laughter at Ginny's remark.

"Yes," said Hermione, grinning broadly. "Something like that."

Ginny worked the Lustre Potion into Luna's normally dull hair for a few moments, then stood back to admire the result.

"Not too shabby," Ginny said, grinning. "Now to the style." She tapped the end of her wand thoughtfully on the back of the chair, then - as a scheme for a hairdo popped into her mind - she lifted the wand and slid it under the top portion of Luna's hair, sectioning it off from the rest. She set the hair in motion of its own accord and it twirled itself into a graceful knot and perched itself carefully atop Luna's head, glistening like gold. Ginny then lightly brushed her wand over the other section of hair (which was flowing gently down Luna's back to her waist), right down to the edges. The sunshiny strands immediately rearranged themselves so that they were no longer straight, but so that they had soft rippling waves of curl.

"I think it was the right choice, doing without the veil," said Hermione approvingly, looking over Ginny's effort. "I'll just put some flowers here and there--" Hermione flicked her wand around the knot of hair balanced on the pinnacle of Ginny's Cosmetological Masterpiece and deposited a sampling of the trio of flowers to enhance the 'do.

"Smashing!" said Ginny, admiring Hermione's handiwork. "You know, if the teaching profession ever gets dull, I think you may have a second calling as a florist...those flowers are quite lovely."

Hermione blushed and looked at the clock. "You'd better get your palette ready, Miss Artiste," she said, all of a sudden sounding a little panicky. "We only have a half hour 'til the ceremony begins!"

Ginny opened up a cosmetics bag and began to peruse her color palette. Her media of choice would not have been rouge, lipsticks and eye shadows, and her canvas preference wasn't the human face, but Ginny was going to give her best effort to coax some exuberance from Luna's features by means of a little cosmetic application. After short deliberation, she decided on sheer, natural colors - she tapped her wand on the little tray of light, neutral eye shadow, tinting it a bit darker, rationalizing that defining Luna's eyes wouldn't be such a bad thing. She tried a few things, erased what she didn't like and improved what she did. After finally tinting Luna's lips a soft shade of rose-petal pink, Ginny was satisfied.

"Now...it's time for your gown," said Hermione, handing the beautiful dress over to Ginny, who was ready to help Luna slip into it.

Luna truly did look angelic when she was finally in her mother's ivory satin wedding gown. The gown may have been considered unfashionable or outdated by Witch Weekly's standards, but Ginny thought the simple sophistication of it suited Luna quite adequately, especially with the adornment of her long luminous hair gently draped over her shoulders. The tiny crown of flowers made her look akin to some sort of nature deity, and Ginny was sure Neville was going to be rendered speechless at the sight of his bride.

"You make quite a fetching bride, Luna," said Ginny, beaming. Hermione nodded her head in agreement.

"You really think so?" asked Luna seriously, staring at her own reflection in the old mirror that hung above the vanity table.

"Indeed," murmured the mirror in response. "Rather pretty you are, m'dear...as pretty as I saw your very own mum on her wedding day."

Tears welled up in Luna's eyes and Ginny suddenly remembered she'd better put a Water-Proofing Charm on Luna's eye make-up.

"We'd better get prepared to clear off," said Hermione in almost a whisper.

"Wait," said Luna, sniffling slightly. "There's one more thing." She reached inside an old wooden box on her bedside table and pulled out an old pendant that hung from a very fragile-looking golden chain. Her hands were shaking a bit as she handed the necklace to Ginny. "Will you help me fasten the clasp?" she asked.

All of a sudden, Ginny felt her own eyes grow moist. She fastened the delicate gold clasp and Luna straightened the pendant so that it gracefully rested on her breastbone. She sighed as she took one last glance into the mirror.

"How do you feel?" asked Hermione quietly.

Luna sighed serenely. "I feel--" she paused as she pondered her answer "--pretty," she said finally. She smiled, her rose-petal pink lips glimmering with the sheen of fairy dust that Ginny had powdered on her during the cosmetic application earlier. "Shall we go then?" she asked, and when Ginny and Hermione nodded their consent, they all Disapparated to their rendezvous point on the side of Stoatshead Hill.

Tomorrow, Luna would probably go back to her no fuss manner, but for today - her wedding day - she was radiating like a star.