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Everyone was surprised when the girls told them the news. Ginny’s family thought she was going through a mid-life crisis before realizing that, even though they just went through a war, she’s still just seventeen, thank you very much. Now that a month has passed, Ginny recalls with amusement the reaction that, at the time, filled her with nerves.
“I am dating Luna Lovegood.”, stated clearly Ginnerva Weasley: “We have been dating for quite some time and thought you should know”.
Her boisterous twin brothers, Fred and George, were, of course, the first to react with a series of exclamations.
“Luna Lovegood, what a gal!”, exclaimed Fred
“Yeah, covered up for us a couple of times-”, interjected George
“You know, when we were escaping Filch after setting some dungbombs in his office-”
“Show us a secret passage, that witch-”
“Said something about an infestation of tambles-”
“Nargles”, muttered Ginny smiling, but her brothers were to busy narrating how her wonderful girlfriend had aided them with their Great Escape from Filch (a feat worthy of capital letters).
“I think it started with an n not an t”, said George, his loud voice overshadowing Ginny’s.
“Whatever it was, she said its strong smell led her to the passage-”
“Though I don’t remember there being any stink at all-”
“Quite the secret passage that one-”
“Sad we didn’t find it ourselves before-”
“Yeah, specially with how extremely useful it became…”
Fred and George could have probably kept on talking for eternity to come, as they often did when pranking and mischief was involved (Ginny knew it through first-hand experience: they had been her teachers in the important art of misbehaving as a small impressionable child), if it hadn’t been for Ron’s loud shout. Oh, it seemed his brother had finally recovered from his shock. This is going to be interesting, she thought.
“YOU ARE DATING LOONY LOVEGOOD”, exclaimed Ron, with the emotional range of a teaspoon that Hermione so often annoyed her by grumbling about (honestly how those two were not yet a couple remained a mystery to Ginny…).
Thankfully, her mother was soon to reprimand his behaviour (if only she had acted similarly when she came out…, oh, well, that was a story for another day):
“RONALD WEASLEY! Don’t you dare speak ill of the neighbours! The Lovegoods have always been really kind to us, though a bit eccentric at times… You know, you used to play as a kid with Luna Lovegood yourself, until you decided “girls had cooties”… bet you don’t think that now, do you?”
After her mother had succeeded at rendering Ronald Weasley speechless, as well as making him as red as his hair (or her hair, or just the Weasley’s hair in general), Ginny looked expectantly at the four remaining members of her big family. Her father was the first to take the word.
“Well… as your mother said, honey, the Lovegoods are good people. If you are happy with Luna, then I am very happy for you, Gin.” Arthur bestowed her only daughter a kind smile, “I am sure the rest of the family shares the sentiment.”
“Yeah, Ginny. We are happy as long as you are.” stated her oldest brother Bill, quickly followed by Charlie: “Yeah, I have never talked to the Lovegoods, aside from the occasional visit mom made me do to ask for a certain plant or ingredient… they had a huge garden, that family… Anyways, what I was trying to say is that you know best. We love you, little sis.”
Percy was the last to speak. He had remained silent since even before her sister’s proclamation and Ginny would be lying to say she wasn’t nervous about what he would think. Even though he had been very supportive when she came out (the most supportive one, actually, though it was no surprise given him and Oliver Wood), she had heard him comment on Luna’s “weird” behaviour more times than she would have liked during his time as a prefect.
“Well… I certainly would have never thought to date someone that… outgoing… but I guess your personalities must match each other alright. I am happy for you, Ginny.” muttered Percy in a quiet voice, almost as if talking to himself, but Ginny was able to hear him alright.
The youngest of the Weasley children smiled. It could have gone better, there was no denying that, but things were always a bit of a spectacle at the Burrow, specially when the whole family was around. It certainly hadn’t been as bad as her coming out and now she could invite Luna and her father to Christmas dinner without worries. She was aware that everyone who knew Luna and her separately would probably be extremely surprised by their coupling. Nevertheless, for her and her girlfriend it had felt everything but surprising (it would have been a happy surprise had there been any).
Anyone who would have dared peek on the private moments the two girls spent alone together would agree with her. As shocking as it had been for outsiders that they were now a couple, for the two of them it had just seemed inevitable.
Luna was something out of this world. Ginny knew that. Everyone knew that. However, she meant it in a completely different way that she knew most of her classmates meant it.
Luna Lovegood was just so unique and wonderful. The way she could stay optimistic, having such a positive outlook of the world despite its grievances and the darkness that often haunted its residents. Her things got stolen and, instead of breaking down crying, she turned finding them into a game. She just never gave up trying to live her best life, which Ginny found to be one of her most beautiful qualities. There was an aura that surrounded her (just as mystical as the creatures she talk so fondly about), almost like a halo, marking her as one of heaven’s lost creatures (okay, maybe she was exaggerating, but Ginny was a girl who had an amazing girlfriend and was utterly in love, so sue her). She was to be protected at all costs (even though, obviously Luna could protect herself with no problems).
She, on the other hand, was another completely different matter. Ginny could be considered optimistic (after all, one doesn’t win the Quidditch Cup or survive a war without a sense of perseverance and optimism), but she was strong-willed instead of soft in her approach. She didn’t mince her words or turn away when people picked of them (not the anyone dared to do it anymore; people knew not to get on the wrong side of her winning Bat Bogey Hexes). She often had problems expressing her feelings and talking in a way that lets her walls down (probably due to living in a huge family, as the only girl with a bunch of older brothers), as Luna often did very well. Luna, saw the world as a place feel and enjoy with wonder and passion, while Ginny was passionate about how wonderfully rotten the world could be.
They may not be similar at first glance, but that was what may them so good together. They resemble each other in the things that really matter: their values, goals and desires. True, they may have disagreements sometimes regarding certain opinions (such as Luna thinking wolves are naturally harmless; they are not) and actions (aka Ginny staying up until midnight practicing drills at the Quidditch Pitch, which she herself might admit was a bit excessive, but Gryffindor did win the Cup so whose to say…), but they always came together at the end and when they did, it was something truly magical.
They were two opposite forces, like magnets or whatever that muggle ‘scientie’ **thingy was that her Dad had been ranting to her about during Easter dinner. Maybe that was the reason they worked so well together. “Opposite forces attract each other”, or something, her father had said.
Yeah, that was it. That’s why, for Luna and Ginny, falling in love and getting together hadn’t seem a surprise at all as it had been for outsiders. It had just seemed inevitable.