Luna’s Eyes
by
Redbeargrl

Some of them thought she was crazy. She wasn’t.  Some of them thought she was simply daft.  She wasn’t.  Two of them thought she was beautiful.  She didn’t know that, and probably wouldn’t have believed it, but she did believe that they were.

It wasn’t that the other students actually talked about her.  On the contrary, most of them tried not to talk about her, or be seen with her, or even think about her.  And, if questioned as to why, most would respond the same way; it was “Those bloody eyes.”  The eyes that were too pale, the eyes that seldom blinked.  The eyes that always seemed to be in an other-when and not in the here and now. The eyes that were always watching, always observing, but so skillfully that only a very, very few knew that they were being watched. 

But there is an inherent flaw in always being the observer, one that she had not discovered until it was too late. When all of the observer’s attention is spent on observing, there is often too little energy spent on noticing that others may be observing her with the same skill set that she possessed. In her defense, it should be noted that in this case there were two of them and only one of her.  However, in her wildest dreams she never would have suspected that somebody cared enough to ever watch her with the same enthusiasm as she watched them.  It had, of course, all started many years ago with Ginny.

They had met for the first time when they were very young as was inevitable in a small town with only a few Wizarding families.  Their mums had known each other from Hogwarts so it was understandable that each wanted the other to meet their only daughter. However, the girls lives had been so differently shaped that they had little in common as children.  Luna’s was formed by her love for her father and his unusual take on the world and all that it contained, at least, in his version of it.  Ginny’s was formed by being the only girl amongst six brothers, with whom she felt a compelling need to compete to feel accepted. 

Both girls may have had the same grimy faces and skinned knees, but with Luna, those were usually the result of looking under things in dark and damp places for her father’s creatures, while Ginny’s were the result of secretly teaching herself to fly and tussling with her brothers.  The differences between them did not lend them to forming a fast friendship, but it did not hinder Luna from memorizing the exact position of every freckle on Ginny’s usually smiling and sunburned face.  Nor did it stop Ginny from becoming fascinated with Luna’s eyes.

Ginny could never decide exactly what color Luna’s eyes were.  At times they were the color of the morning sky; the pale blue gray just before the sun rises.  At other times, they were a stormy gray; the color of a leaden sky above an angry wind tossed ocean.  When she was happy, which was most of the time, her eyes sparkled with the blue clarity of a pristine mountain lake.  When she was angry or upset, which was almost never, Ginny swore that she could see lightning flash within the storm gray orbs. 

The best part about them though, at least to Ginny’s way of thinking, was that they weren’t brown.  Having been born into a family where almost everybody had brown eyes including herself, Ginny thought that eventually when she finally fell in love with somebody, she would never choose somebody with brown eyes. In those early years of her life never did she expect that her heart would someday indeed be given to a pair of brown eyes, and those eyes would belong to a girl.

Luna however, found brown eyes really quite attractive.  Especially if they were Ginny’s, and even though she was known for her bluntness, there was one secret that Luna never reveled to another soul.  Luna loved Ginny Weasley and had since they were children.  The fact that her love was not reciprocated didn’t seem to bother her in the least.  If Luna was nothing else, she was the most patient of creatures.  So she watched when she could, talked with her when she could and waited for the day that perhaps Ginny might feel the same about her. 

Her pale eyes had watched Ginny over the years, watched her grow and mature into a striking young woman.  A young woman with a heart as brave as any lion, a wicked sense of humor and an impish grin that when flashed, lit up Luna’s heart with all the thoughts of what might be.  Her hidden love for the red head never wavered as Ginny went through a succession of young men at Hogwarts, for Luna knew that were only the dalliances of youth.  She felt only slightly worried during the brief time that Ginny was infatuated with Harry, but somehow she knew in her heart that it wouldn’t last. 

However, it was a pair of brown eyes, not pale gray, that took Ginny’s heart now that they were no longer children.  So Luna continued to watch, without remorse, without anger, without jealousy; just with infinite patience and the firmly held belief that someday Ginny would notice her as well.  Notice her not as the childhood friend, but notice her for the brave and loyal woman she had become.  Luna was very patient.  And, she reckoned, watching Hermione was almost as pleasant as watching Ginny.

It was when Ginny and Hermione had finally come out of the closet (or Filch’s mop cupboard if one was to believe the scurrilous rumors that circulated as fast as juicy rumors do within the old school) that Luna really started to study Hermione with the same intensity she had studied Ginny.  Hermione’s eyes were a big attraction to her; deep brown, much darker than Ginny’s, the smoky dark brown color of well aged Scotch whisky with just enough gold and green highlights to make them very interesting indeed.  Luna decided that they were very brave eyes as well as reflecting Hermione’s considerable intelligence, and to her surprise, they were very kind and loving eyes.  More so whenever she was with Ginny.

Luna loved watching the two of them together and she approved of Ginny’s choice.  She was fascinated with the changes that overcame her childhood chum now that she had a lover to call her own.  Until Ginny had fallen in love with Hermione, there had always been an edge to her, a sort of warning to anybody that Ginny, although petite in stature, was capable of almost anything once she set her mind to it.  Those who played Quidditch against her came to know this look very well and treated her with respect. The few that didn’t understand soon learned the error of their ways and some learned that Quidditch pitch sod tastes rather terrible and that broom handles were very tricky indeed to remove from ones bodily orifices.   However, when she was around Hermione there was a new softness about her as a fine furniture maker might gently sand the sharp corners of his latest creation.  The strength was still there of course, just below the surface, but there was a new softness to Ginny’s bright brown eyes that warmed Luna’s heart for her friend’s good fortune.  It took Luna quite a bit of time to realize that she was falling in love with Hermione just as she had with Ginny.

In time they all became fast friends and shared many adventures together, but it was always Ginny and Hermione and their friend Luna.  Two together and one close but separate.  This didn’t seem to bother Luna because she never gave up her belief that someday the two of them would notice her as more than just a friend.  She was blissfully unaware that this was already happening.

Hermione squirmed slightly in her seat at the library table probably due to Ginny running her hand gently up and down her thigh out of sight of the other students.  Her dark brown eyes flicked upwards and then focused again on the open tome in front of her.  “She’s watching us again,” she said very softly to her lover.

“Always is,” replied Ginny with a quick smile as she studiously scribbled notes on the roll of parchment in front of her.  Her eyes never left the parchment.  “She quite fancies you, you know,” she said flashing her impish grin.

Hermione snorted.  “Hardly!  I think it’s you she fancies.”

Ginny nodded and squeezed her lovers thigh briefly under the table.  “She’s fancied me since we were children Mione,” she said putting down her quill.  “It’s odd really.  I’ve known her forever but I’ve never thought of her as any more than a friend until recently.”

“Oh the shame of it all,” giggled Hermione in mock horror.  “My lover is going to dump me so she can shag a childhood friend!  What ever shall I do?”

Ginny’s face remained passive as she turned to face her lover, but her bright eyes flashed momentarily with a fierce burning passion that fair took Hermione’s breath away and caused a rapidly spreading warmth in her white cotton knickers.  “Don’t even say that in jest Mione,” said Ginny very quietly.  “I can no more be parted from you than the breath in my body, the blood in my veins.  You are my life, and always will be.  You know that.”

Hermione fought down the urge to throw her arms around the younger girl and have her right there on the library table.  Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded.  “As surely as you are my life as well Gin,” she said with a gentle smile.  “Even if I was a strong as you, nothing could tear me from your side.”

Ginny’s impish grin returned.  “My strength and your brains.  We could rule the world Mione!”

Hermione thought about this for a moment before shaking her head slightly. “Strength and brains aren’t enough.  We need love as well.”  She laughed gently at the confused look that flashed across Ginny’s face.  “Not that kind of love silly,” teased Hermione. “Although that kind isn’t a bad thing you understand.  It’s just not enough.  We need a powerful, universal love to mediate between brain and brawn.”

Ginny nodded immediately as she inclined her head slightly in Luna’s direction.  “If I’m not mistaken,” she said almost solemnly, “I reckon that behind those pale gray eyes and beneath that mass of blonde hair, you’ll find the one person that has an endless supply of love for all persons and all things.”

Hermione grinned and turned her attention back to her book as Ginny took up her quill.  “Should we say something to her do you reckon?” Hermione asked.

Ginny flashed a smile and shook her head.  “We won’t have to Mione.  When she’s ready, she’ll come to us.”

Hermione’s left eyebrow began a slow crawl upwards toward her hairline as she pondered Ginny’s statement. 

In time, Ginny would be proved correct.

The End