Just a Thank You [Ginny/Luna - PG - 900]

[mini_fest_mod]

Title: Just a Thank You
Author/Artist: josephinestone
Pairing(s): Ginny/Luna
Prompt: Really any two girls that would have been students during the Triwizard Tournament.
Yull Ball. Two kissing holding hands for the first time. This would be also lovely as art.
Word Count: 900
Rating: PG
Contains: Fluff
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Thank you, d, for looking over this for me!
Summary: 'When did you get together?' was a common question people asked all couples, and for most couples it was an easy one to answer.



'When did you get together?' was a common question people asked all couples, and for most couples it was an easy one to answer. It was instant for Bill and Fleur from the moment they met each other. Ron finally got the nerve to ask Hermione out after the war, but most everyone suspected it was instant for the two of them, as well. It just took forever for them to notice it. Percy and Audrey were set up on a date by Percy's mum.

But for Ginny and Luna it was more complicated.

Ginny would just mumble, 'it sort of happened,' and moved on.

If you asked Luna, she'd say, 'it started at the Yule Ball. Which would turn into a conversation about how no one even noticed she was at the only Yule Ball held when the girls attended Hogwarts, and kept anyone from actually hearing the story.

When Ginny thought about it, she had to agree that it all had started at the Yule ball, even if it took her forever to notice it.

Everyone knew that Ginny went to the Yule Ball as friends with Neville Longbottom, even though she had a huge crush on her brother's best mate, Harry. Few people noticed Luna there with a Hufflepuff boy most people, including Ginny, couldn't remember the name of.

But Ginny had noticed Luna.

It had been the night they had officially met. They were the same year, but in different houses so they only had a few classes together. Ginny had noticed her—Luna was hard not to notice—but they'd never spoken before. Luna was an impish girl with platinum blonde hair and a far away smile.

Even though, everyone teased her and she didn't have many friends, Luna always smiled. Ginny always liked that about her.

It turned out that Neville was friends with the Hufflepuff boy that no one quite remembered the name of, including Neville. So they sat with them at one of the tables.

'How are you friends with him if you don't know his name?' Ginny asked later while the boy had run off to get something to drink for himself and Luna.

Neville shrugged. 'We just talk. It's not like you need to say someone's name that often unless you're talking about them instead of too them.'

Ginny nodded. Neville was not a gossip.

'His name is Henry,' Luna said, poking her head into their conversation.

'Thank Merlin,' Ginny said. 'It was so awkward not knowing.'

'Oh, he doesn't mind. He knows his name is so common it's easy to forget.'

Ginny and Neville shared a look at Luna's forwardness. It was just how she was, open and honest always. Ginny liked that about her, too.

They spent the whole evening together, dancing as couples next to each other or dancing in a group all four of them together. Luna would grab Ginny's hand and spin her around, until they accidentally hit a few people and decided it was much too crowded for that. They sat together when they sat and laughed and talked together, forgetting about all the people around them.

After the dance, they left Neville and Henry to find their way back to their dorms on their own and sneaked around the castle to catch people snogging in the hallways. Luna was quick to find them in their hiding spots and Ginny would creep up on them and scream, 'Gotcha!'

Then they both ran away before the couple could chase them down. Ginny was the youngest of seven children, after all. She knew the best ways to get on teenagers' nerves. Ginny and Luna were almost caught a couple of times themselves by a teacher, but Luna was quick to take Ginny's hand and pull her into safe hiding spot.

'You saved me,' Ginny said, joking. Their dresses were bunched like waves around them, Ginny's green dress slowly turning into Luna's blue.

'I saved us,' Luna corrected. 'I was in just as much danger as you were.'

They were still holding hands and Ginny's heart was pounding in her chest. Ginny's second year at Hogwarts she'd been the girl that Harry Potter saved. It came with its own celebrity status.

As simple as it was, that night was Ginny's first taste of being part of the saving. Because later, after they'd moved on from that hiding spot, they'd come across Madam Pince and Ginny was the one to grab Luna around the waist and pull her to safety in an alcove as the librarian walked past.

Once the corridor was quiet, Luna shifted around to face Ginny. 'Now you saved us.'

Ginny had the sudden urge to kiss her. And because Luna didn't make Ginny too nervous to move or feel as if she were dumber than a troll for thinking the thought in the first place, she did. She leaned in and brushed her lips against Luna's.

'What was that for?' Luna asked.

'Just a thank you.'

Later on when they left each other on the staircases, Luna kissed Ginny back.

It took Ginny a long time to get over her first crush and an even longer time to realise that kissing Luna had been more than just a thank you.

Now all their kisses were thank yous.

Thank you for being there.

For never walking away.

For waiting.

And all their kisses were more than just thank yous.