“Where are we going?”
Ginny asked, looking nervously at the rushing cars, flinching slightly as a huge red bus screeched to a stop, parting the traffic and allowing them to cross. Luna, who was focused on the zebra crossing, hopping from white line to white line , obviously hadn’t heard a thing.
“Where are we going?”
Ginny asked, a little louder.
“Why, to get breakfast of course,”
she Replied, hopping onto the opposite curb.
“Yes Luna. I know that. But where?
Ginny sighed exasperatedly.
“A cafe Neville recommended,”
said Luna, setting off down the road, humming to herself. Ginny hurried along behind her, weaving between crowds of muggles on the busy street.
“What Cafe?”
she asked, wondering why on earth Neville would recommend a cafe in muggle London. Especially to Luna of all people.
“It’s called… let me think. Oh yes,”
she stopped and turned to face Ginny, her eyes shining.
“Fly a Garlic!”
she stated confidently.
Ginny snorted and drew level with Luna, walking by her side through the crowded street.
Luna turned sharply into a thin, dark alleyway. Ginny froze at the entrance. It reminded her of Knockturn Alley.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?”
“Of course,”
replied Luna, passing by a large pile of bin bags and what looked like a dead cat. Ginny reluctantly followed, past the bin bags and the “dead cat” which was actually just a very dirty fur coat.
“Here we are,”
said Luna happily, side stepping a scorched bin and pushing open a rusty door. Instantly the dismal alley was flooded with warm light and the faint but unmistakable buzz of magic. Ginny sighed with relief.
“I thought we were going to a muggle cafe,”
she said, stepping into the cafe. It was incredible. The whole cafe had been fashioned into a sort of forest. The ceiling was draped with leaves and vines of deep green and the honey coloured light was radiating from floating balls of fireflies, which were bobbing lazily through the leaves. The floor was an uneven patchwork of grass and soft moss, out of which grew huge flat mushrooms of all colours and shapes, forming round tables.
“Luna this is incredible!”
Ginny exclaimed, pulling off her coat.
“Welcome girls!”
Ginny jumped. She hadn’t noticed the green robed waitress creeping up behind her. Neither did Luna, who was looking up at the balls of fireflies, without the slightest knowledge that there was someone talking to them.
“Hi. A table for two please, and-”
Ginny lowered her voice, glancing at Luna to check she wasn’t listening. But the blond girl was now crouched down slightly, looking at something under the table-
“What’s the name of this cafe?”
The waitress looked a little confused
“The Fly Agaric…,”
she said, gesturing to the mushroom tables. Ginny snorted loudly, causing the waitress to look positively alarmed. She called Luna over and they followed the waitress to a corner of the room, next to a hammock holding a grey haired witch. There were no chairs around their mushroom table, which was a large chanterelle, so Ginny lowered herself carefully onto a particularly soft patch of moss.
“Thank you,”
said Luna sitting down on the grass opposite Ginny and taking her jacket off, revealing a pair of pink dungarees. Ginny felt herself blush.
“That suits you,”
she said, looking nervously at the menu.
“Thank you,”
Luna replied.
“So what made you decide to pick here?”
asked Ginny, still staring blindly at the menu.
“Nevil said you would like it,”
she said happily.
….
“Why won’t you look at me?”
asked Luna.
“Because…,”
Ginny gulped,
“I’m nervous,”
she finished, trying to force herself to look up from her menu.
“Why?”
“No reason,”
said Ginny, finally forcing her eyes to meet Luna’s; who was smiling widely at her. Ginny fished desperately for a conversation topic, trying to distract her beating heart.
“How’s your eye?”
she asked stupidly, though she had asked this question hundreds of times over the past years.
“Oh. It’s good! I mean, I can’t see out of it but what can you do?”
she lifted a hand up to touch the thick scar that ran from her temple to her cheek, cutting through her eye like a river through land. It had been two years since the war had ended, but the cursed eye was still a dull grey, a souvenir from Amycus Carrow.
“Do you not like it?”
asked Luna curiously, Ginny shook her head furiously.
“No, it's still beautiful,”
she said earnestly, worried that she had offended her friend, but Luna was beaming.
“Beautiful?”
she asked, her uninjured eye dancing in the firefly light. Luna reached out a hand and placed it in Ginny’s.
“No one’s ever called me beautiful before.”
Ginny took a panicked breath and pulled her hand away quickly, blushing furiously.
“I didn’t mean... Just your eyes..,”
she mumbled, looking at her hands, which were now resting on her lap. The forest cafe had suddenly become very warm.
“S..So have you spoken to Neville recently?”
Ginny asked somewhat desperately, still looking at her hands.
“I’m confused Ginny,”
said Luna.
“About what?”
Ginny mumbled nervously. Her heart was beating fast, as if it knew what was coming.
“Did you not want to come on a date with me?”
asked Luna. Ginny sighed, unable to avoid the conversation any longer.
“No- I,”
she stuttered, bringing her eyes up to Luna’s again.
“Do you even know what a date is?”
she asked wildly, her hands twisting like snakes beneath the table. Luna began to laugh.
“Of course I do!”
she giggled. Ginny felt her heart flutter a little as she looked at her friend. Pushing the feeling away she plunged desperately on.
“What is it then?”
she demanded. Luna looked curiously at her, then said, without a shred of embarrassment,
“It’s when you take someone you fancy out for breakfast of course!”
Ginny felt herself grow redder still.
“Luna-,”
she began, looking nervously around the cafe, making sure no one had heard them. The witch in the Hammock made a jerking movement, the newspaper a little too close to her face. Ginny scowled, she was definitely listening.
“What can I get you two?”
Ginny jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t noticed the waitress, who blended seamlessly into the mossy surroundings, sneak up on them again.
“Uhh.”
Ginny grabbed her menu, clinging desperately to the change of subject. She looked at the menu for as long as humanly plausible, before pacing her order.
“I’ll have a strawberry tart and some mushroom tea please.”
She passed the menu to Luna.
“A strawberry tart as well please. And some gully pettle water if you have it.”
Ginny choked slightly and looked up at the waitress, who was staring at Luna, confusion painted on her face. A wave of laughter bubbled in Ginny’s chest, and it took all her willpower to keep it from spilling out.
“Do you mean uh… Gilly water?”
The waitress’s eyes darted from Luna to Ginny with concern, taking in Luna’s vacant expression and Ginny’s red cheeks and watery eyes.
Luna sighed dramatically.
“I suppose. If that’s all you have.”
Ginny couldn’t hold it in any longer. She began to laugh, harder still at the look of horror on the waitress’s face as she scurried away, throwing concerned looks over her shoulder.
“Oh Luna you funny little weirdo,”
she giggled.
“What were you saying before? About dating?”
Ginny stopped laughing, and stared at Luna with disbelief. Couldn’t she tell that Ginny did not want to talk about this? Well, of course not, it was Luna after all.
“We can’t date Luna!”
she said exasperatedly.
“Why not?”
Luna asked stubbornly.
“Because we’re both girls!”
whispered Ginny. The Hammock witch was staring at them with interest, no longer bothering to hide behind her daily prophet .
“So? Harry and Draco are dating,”
said Luna, matter of factly. Ginny froze.
“They… they are? Harry’s gay?! Wait. MALFOY?”
she spluttered, struggling to process the information, a little offended that she didn’t know. It had been over a year since they had broken up, but Ginny still considered him a friend, and thought that he considered her one as well. But obviously not.
“Yes. They are. So why can’t we?”
Ginny opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying desperately to say something. Anything. But she couldn’t.
“You agreed to come to breakfast with me after all. And I said date,”
Luna pressed. Ginny groaned and covered her face with her hands.
“Luna. I thought you were talking shit,”
she mumbled through her palms. Luna didn’t say anything. The mushroom table underneath them creaked slightly in the silence.
“I thought you still had brain damage.”
the silence grew thicker still.
Ginny could hear the sniggers of the witch next to them. She felt uneasy, like she was lying about something. But she wasn’t! She didn’t like Luna, not like that.
“My brain is fine now,”
Luna said. Ginny nodded, feeling a little guilty about her outburst. She had come with her best friend to every St Mungo's appointment, and knew perfectly well that Luna was fine now. She was actually the one that had to convince the healers, who wanted to keep treating Luna, that she was back to normal, or as normal as Luna could be.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“So you don’t like me?”
Luna asked sadly.
“No…,”
replied Ginny. The word made her feel sick.
“You don’t think I’m pretty?”
“....N.. No”
her heart turned to lead,
“Not even a little,”
pressed Luna,
“...N… URGH I DON’T KNOW,”
Cried Ginny as her heart grew heavier and heavier. She dropped her hands and looked at Luna, sitting calmly opposite her, elbows on the table, long blond hair draped over her light pink dungarees, and it all came crashing down on her.
She thought of Luna in St Mungo’s learning to walk again, realising that what she had felt then wasn’t just platonic. She pictured Luna’s birthday, remembering how her heart had fluttered as they danced to the weird sisters. Just that morning hadn’t her stomach jumped painfully when Luna led her through the busy muggle streets? Did she think Luna was pretty?
“Maybe a little,”
she mumbled.
“Even with my scar?”
asked Luna curiously.
“Of course,”
Ginny mumbled again, looking at Luna, who was shining in the honey light.
“Well I think you are very pretty as well,”
she said happily. Ginny laughed, her heart fluttering like a butterfly in her chest. The hammock witch let out a quiet “Awww”.
“Even though I’m ginger?”
She joked; Luna didn’t get it.
“Of course! I love your hair, it reminds me of Budgelies!”
Ginny sniggered, about to ask what on earth a Budgely was, but noticed that their breakfast had arrived.
“Oh look!”
She exclaimed, pointing up at two plates and two steaming mugs that were being lowered slowly from the ceiling by thin green vines. They stopped just short of the table, hanging steadily in the air.
“Good service,”
Commented Ginny, reaching up and grabbing her breakfast.
“So is this a date then?”
Asked Luna. Ginny sighed, thinking carefully. She took a sip of mushroom tea, savouring the taste of sweet earthy moss.
“I don’t know.”
she said, putting down her mug and cutting into her tart, the filling was the exact shade of pink as Luna’s dungarees. Her heart jumped up into her mouth, convincing her of what her mind could not.
“You know what. Yeah. This is a date,”
She said, smiling at Luna.
“So are you my girlfriend now?”
She asked, her eyes dancing in the firefly light. Ginny laughed, but shook her head.
“Not yet. We’ve only been on one date.”
Luna continued to beam at Ginny,
“So we can go on another one?”
She asked excitedly, Ginny nodded.
“Yeah, but I’ll pick this time. What about a movie?”
“What’s a movie?”
Asked Luna curiously, sipping on her gilly water,
“It’s basically a muggle play,”
Began Ginny, taking a bite of strawberry tart.
It was beautifully sweet.