Skating

"You're late."

Harry grinned at her. She was standing in the courtyard, a thick woolen scarf around her neck, and a smile on her face. "I'm not late. You're early."

"I'm never early. I always arrive precisely when I mean to." Luna held out her ice skates in front of her and gave him a questioning look. "Where are your skates?"

Harry blushed. "Er, I don't have any." Truth be told, he'd never been skating before, and he'd never even thought about it much before yesterday.

Yesterday.

"Yes, Harry. I would love to go out on a date with you. How about ice skating on the lake tomorrow?"

Ah, yesterday. A very good day in his book.

"Well, don't worry," she was saying. "I brought an extra pair just in case." She reached into her bag and pulled out a larger pair of ice skates.

Harry looked curiously at the tiny bag. "How did you fit those in there?"

"Just a little charm. Are you going to take them or not?"

He nodded and reached out, his fingers brushing hers as he took the skates from her outstretched hand. It was like an electrical current running through his arm and straight into his heart. Good thing he'd brought some gloves to prevent this sort of dangerous thing in the future.

Luna smiled at him before turning and heading out onto the school grounds. Harry followed, enjoying the feel of the snow crunching beneath his shoes. "Do you think the lake is frozen enough for skating today?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it is," she answered. "And if not, I'm sure the Squid will be kind enough to rescue us." She laughed at his panicked expression. "Don't worry, Harry - there's nothing to be scared of."

Oh, but there is.

As they sat down on a bench by the edge of the lake and strapped on their skates, Harry felt the butterflies in his stomach take flight. He knew it wasn't about the skating - breaking a leg or falling through the ice wasn't what was bothering him - it was the fact that he was on a date with a girl that he really liked.

He'd been on dates before - plenty - but this was different.

She was different.

She was the first girl he'd dated whom he didn't feel a need to impress. Sure, he'd treat her with respect, but with Luna he really felt that he could be himself. Just Harry. Not Harry, The Boy Who Lived. Not Harry, Quidditch Captain. Not Harry, Brave Wizard and All Around Good Guy.

Just Harry.

And that was completely terrifying.

"Don't be afraid, Harry."

Was she reading his mind?

Luna laughed at his startled expression. "Of skating. Don't be afraid."

He had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what he was really thinking. Shaking his head, he shot her a sheepish grin and finished tying the laces on his skates. Luna was already on her feet, and she offered him a hand up. "Thanks," he mumbled, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't make a complete fool of himself today.

"Come on, slowpoke," she laughed as she pulled him towards the ice, "it won't be that bad!"

His legs felt like jelly - how was he supposed to stand on these stupid things? "Are you sure about this?" he questioned, stepping out gingerly onto the slippery lake.

"Very sure. Just hold onto my hand and take it one step at a time."

"Easier said than done," he muttered nervously.

Once they were both on the ice, Luna turned around and faced Harry, taking both of his hands in hers. "It really is easy, Harry," she grinned happily. "Just slide one foot forward at a time." She started to skate backwards, pulling Harry along as she went.

His ankles felt like they would break at any second. But she was smiling at him, and she looked so hopeful...

Harry carefully slid his right foot forward, surprised when it actually moved farther than he expected. He gripped Luna's hands more tightly and moved his right foot, then his left, then his right again... "It's working!"

THUD.

Luna laughed as Harry's feet flew out from under him and he landed hard on the ice. "Are you alright?" she giggled, offering her hand.

"Do I have to get back up?" Harry moaned as he struggled to his feet.

"Don't be such a baby. Surely this isn't the first time you've failed at something."

Harry couldn't help but laugh with her. "Very funny," he countered, grinning. "I'll have you know that I fail at lots of things."

She placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter - unfortunately, it was the same hand that was keeping Harry on his feet.

THUD.

~~~~~~~~

He really is cute when he's frustrated.

Luna grinned to herself as Harry sat on the ice, his face red and his pants completely soaked. It really was quite amusing. He was trying so hard, and yet failing miserably. "Sorry about that," she laughed.

"You dropped me," he muttered, but she knew he wasn't really upset. She could see the laughter hiding in his eyes.

"You brought it on yourself, making me laugh when I was the only thing keeping you from hitting the ice." She smiled at him, enjoying the sheepish grin that spread across his face.

She helped him to his feet again, making a valiant effort not to laugh at the way his legs wobbled about. "Hold onto my arm this time," she instructed, offering her right arm, which he took. "Don't let go, whatever you do. Just watch my feet and try to match the way I move."

She pushed her right foot forward, pleased when Harry did the same. He was watching her intently, determined to do this right. "You're going too fast."

She laughed. "And you're going too slowly. Don't be afraid, Harry. It won't hurt."

THUD.

~~~~~~~~

"Ow."

Harry couldn't help but laugh this time. His feet had flown out from under him, but unfortunately, he had followed Luna's directions and not let go of her.

Well, maybe not quite so unfortunately.

Luna was clutching her sides with laughter. "You were supposed to let go!" she gasped, trying unsuccessfully to untangle herself from where she lay sprawled across him. "You weren't supposed to take me down with you!" She shifted so that her legs were spread across the ice and she was lying sideways across his chest.

Harry grinned. "You said not to let go - 'no matter what', I believe your words were. I was just being a good student."

Luna sighed and brushed her hair from her face, her elbows pushing against his chest as she moved. "You are enjoying this entirely too much."

He couldn't deny it, so he just grinned.

Luna blushed - the first time he'd ever seen her turn that color - and just rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, let's finish this skating lesson." She pushed against his chest and tried to sit up, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Do we have to?"

~~~~~~~~

She hesitated. Since when had she ever been worried about saying what was on her mind? Why had she pulled away from him?

Because he sees who you really are.

She'd never had qualms about being herself - in truth, she prided herself on her honesty, on her ability to be free with her ideas and opinions. If that really were the case, why was she so scared?

She knew why. She knew that there was a part of her soul that she had never shared with anyone else. It was the part that held her most secret dreams, her most delicate hopes. It was the part that had always remained locked away, guarded until someone came to open it up.

Until he came.

From the first moment she'd met him, she knew he was special. Not in that "he's the most famous wizard of our times" kind of way, not even in the "he's my hero" kind of way. She'd known about him ever since she was a child, but when she'd actually met him, she'd known. She had just known.

He was the one who understood her - truly understood her - and that was a rare thing to find.

She had found it and it scared her to no end, but she didn't want to look anywhere else.

~~~~~~~~

He watched the emotions flit across her face. Had he said the wrong thing? As soon as he'd said it, he wished he could take it back. He really did want to stay right where he was... but what if she wasn't thinking along the same lines? What if he'd said too much?

He held his breath, ignoring the intense cold that was seeping through his jumper. He could handle a bit of frostbite as long as she was honest with him. That meant more to him than he ever thought it would.

She understood him - he knew she did. After he'd lost Sirius, she'd been the one to sit and listen to him rant and rave without trying to "fix" things or make him feel like it wasn't his fault. She'd just sat by his side as he yelled and screamed and cried his eyes out - without censure, without judgment. She had just listened and understood.

It scared him out of his mind.

How was it possible that someone understood him so well? How was it possible that he hadn't noticed it until recently?

From the first moment he'd met her, he'd known she was special. Not in that "she's the most wonderful person I've ever met" kind of way, not even in the "she could be the girl for me" kind of way. It was just a certainty in his soul that she would play an important role in his life.

She was the one who truly understood him, and now - finally - he saw it for what it was.

She was the one he'd been looking for, even before he'd known that he was looking at all.

She smiled. "You really don't want to learn to skate?"

"Well, I'm not completely opposed to it," he replied, trying to sound casual, as if his heart weren't beating out of his chest. He hoped she couldn't hear it, although, seeing as she was lying on his chest...

She looked at him, her eyes intense. It seemed like hours before she spoke again. "I suppose we could go back inside and warm up with some hot chocolate."

Harry grinned. That was definitely more promising that freezing to death in the middle of the lake - even if there was a girl keeping him warm out here, he was pretty sure she wouldn't be resistant to keeping him warm inside the castle, either...

"I like hot chocolate," he said stupidly. Oh, for the love of... can't you come up with something better than that? Think before you speak, Potter!

Luna just laughed. "I like hot chocolate too. Almost as much as I'd like sitting by the fire with you."

As they helped each other up from the ice, Harry grinned to himself and took her hand in his.

I'm glad she understands.

FIN