Just a Kiss

Another free period before dinner for Harry Potter. He flew out of Charms class and headed down the corridor, head swiveling in all directions, looking for the one, the only Luna Lovegood.

He hadn't even planned on doing this, but as soon as the bell rang he found his butt lifting out of the seat with such speed that he heard Hermione gasp next to him, but with one thought going through his brain: Get to Luna.

A part of his brain that wasn't thinking about firework kisses reminded him that Ginny had not had her last class with Luna, and her next class was Transfiguration, which she had with Hufflepuffs, not Ravenclaws...

Jogging down the hallways, and up and down some stairs, Harry realized he had lost five minutes and started getting desperate. Why? Even he didn't know, but as the students only had a ten-minute period to go to and from classes (though he knew Luna had made her own extended time) and the castle of Hogwarts was huge with seven floors. Fairly sweating, Harry had taken off his robe and crushed it in his bag, loosened his tie, rolled up his sleeves, and let his shirttails hang out.

This simple task of finding someone started to seem impossible to Harry. So he went for his last resort, and began asking people if they'd seen her. He knew this would cause rumors to start up again, but at the moment he didn't really care.

"Have you seen Luna Lovegood?" he asked a group of fifth-year girls walking by. They all looked at each other, giggled, and shook their heads no.

"Have you seen Luna Lovegood?" he asked a larger group of Hufflepuffs going to their next class.

"You mean Loony?" one of the girls asked, making the others snicker.

"Her name's Luna, perhaps that bit of information hasn't settled in that empty head of yours yet," Harry told her snappishly, and the girl, looking scandalized, shut her mouth.

"Hey, we haven't seen her," said one of the boys in a tough-guy voice, puffing his chest out in defense of the girl. "So why don't you--"

Too late. Harry was on his heel and going down the hall. "Have you seen Luna Lovegood?" he asked a small boy, probably a first year, promptly realized he was wasting his time and walked away.

"Hey, I know who she is!" the boy's voice squeaked behind him. "She wears a butterbeer cap necklace, right?"

Harry turned and went back to the boy in a flash. "You saw her, then?" he asked eagerly.

The boy nodded. "She was on her way to the grounds."

"How long ago?"

"About a minute or two."

"Thanks!" Harry was off, running downstairs to the first floor, tapping his foot impatiently at Filch, who was taking his sweet time checking him for Dark objects. Once cleared, he ran out, streaking across the grass.

Not even one minute later, Harry's foot hit something hard and he fell flat on his face. He heard a scream of mirth and some laughter, but luckily it sounded like it was coming from far away; he wouldn't have to deal with close-up embarrassment.

"Oh, hello Harry."

"Luna!" Harry gasped, looking up at the girl standing over him. His mouth dropped open--he realized he could see right up her skirt in this position, and she happened to be wearing a pair of lime-green panties with a pattern of what he just knew were yellow, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.

"I made them myself, you know," Luna told him vaguely, and Harry jumped up in alarm, turning bright red in the process.

"Made what?" he questioned hastily, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. His brain was running overtime. I just looked up Luna's skirt, I just looked up Luna's skirt--

Luna seemed confused. "My undergarments, I'm sure you saw them, quite by accident, really, didn't you Harry? I learned how to sew over the summer, and I made all sorts of things--"

"Luna--I'm--I--I didn't mean to--" Harry stuttered, in a perfectly non-intentional Professor Quirrel imitation.

"Did you like the pattern?" Luna asked, and actually waited for an answer. She twirled a daisy in her left hand that Harry had not noticed before.

Why, why oh why did this kind of stuff always happen to him? "Uh--yes, they were--um--very nice," Harry answered truthfully, blushing hard. (Even if he had really thought so, was he supposed to say they were ugly?)

"It's better to go when your mind is in its prime than to be at hand and out of mind," Luna said in a sing-song voice.

Harry stopped and scratched his head. Pushing all thoughts of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks out of his mind for the time being, he remembered why he had been searching for Luna in the first place. "Luna, I wanted to ask you about... about this kissing thing."

"What kissing thing?" said Luna promptly.

Harry nearly facefaulted. "You know, what you said about fireworks, and drinking in the person and everything that they are, and feeling like you could do anything in the world when you kiss the one you love?"

After some thinking, Luna nodded. "Yes, I recall that. What about it?"

Here Harry realized he had not thought of an exact question, and took a few moments to formulate one. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"My mother told me," she replied dreamily. "She said kisses with the one you truly love made you feel like you could fly, and feel fireworks going off in you and... well, more nice things." She looked at the sky, thinking. "But I suppose it only works for the one you do love, doesn't it? Because you said that you didn't feel such things when you kissed Ginny..."

"Hey, that's not fair," Harry found himself saying.

"What isn't?" Luna scratched at her leg with her free hand and watched him.

"That... that..." This was hard. "Just because I don't... love Ginny that I can't experience something like that, if it's even true," he added bitterly, turning away from Luna. He put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, feeling frustrated. "I wish you had never asked me that question," he confessed. As dumb as it was, he wanted this fireworks kiss, wanted it with all his stupid teenage boy being. He couldn't explain how it had consumed him so quickly, could only be sure that it had.

"I'm quite sorry then, Harry," Luna told him quietly, and made a move to leave.

Harry heard this rather than saw it, spun around, and quite by chance his left hand caught Luna's, which was still holding the daisy. She stopped. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault I won't... that Ginny and I..." He swallowed hard. Why does it bother me so much?

Luna's peculiar, silvery-blue eyes held his gaze. "Harry, love is complicated; and it takes time to love someone. Perhaps it's a different time frame with everyone... but either way love doesn't happen just because you want it to," she finished, shaking her head to emphasize this.

"Why not?" Harry challenged, taking a step closer to her and shrinking the gap between them.

"Because the stars said so," Luna told him with a smile. "It's simply the way the universe works."

"What if I won't follow their rules?" he contested again, the warmth of her hand filling him with a sort of strange determination. "What if I don't want to?" Their faces were only inches apart. He could only hear the sound of his and Luna's own breathing, as if a filter had been placed around them that kept all outside noises out.

Then, unexpectedly, Luna leaned forward and closed her eyes. Harry drew in his breath sharply, but it was inaudible, and he closed his eyes as well, his heart pounding so hard in his chest he thought it would burst, and a kind of electricity running through him; his arms were ready to wrap around her waist and pull her into him when her lips touched his--

But she passed his lips, only brushed her cheek against his as she whispered in his ear, "If it's strong enough, Harry... Amor vincit omnia."

Luna left him.

Harry stood there for a few moments while the shock wore off. Harry's thoughts upon the un-numbing process were as follows:

What in bloody hell does "amor vincit omnia" mean?

I thought Luna Lovegood was going to kiss me.

Gods, what would Ginny say if she heard? She's my girlfriend!

I wasn't about to be very faithful... I almost lost it there.

And Ron and Hermione and everybody, what would they all say?

...I wanted to kiss Luna too--maybe just because I've been thinking about the fireworks kiss too much, and wanting it too much.

With Ginny.

Yeah...

That thought still lingering in his mind, and Luna's daisy, its stalk now crushed, still in his hand somehow, Harry headed back to the castle.

...Without noticing all the whispering going on as he went by.