#hypah you are an INCREDIBLE writer and honestly i absolutely love all of this

[calmturquoise]

Wrackspurts

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Summary: Where Luna is, indisputably, the absolute w o r s t study partner Ginny had ever known.

Setting: Alternative Book Timeline

Word Count: 3,651

A/N: I’m also the absolute w o r s t with deadlines I set for myself. This is my thank you slash love letter to Calmturquoise for being generous with her time as to host Squealing Santa now two years in a row. Yes, I’m aware that it’s almost April, back off. ANYWAY, this took me a long long time to write, longer than necessary, but shout out to Wordstrings for being so kind as to beta this mini-monster for me. Lacey, I sincerely hope you enjoy this <3

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~~~ YEAR TWO ~~~

It made sense with Hermione, all books and notes, but the year gap made it feel more like tutoring than a collaborative effort. Unless it was a devastatingly dull or difficult subject, Ginny would opt for sitting in the study hall rather than scuff her pride. Which was already in fairly short supply, as her peers tended to avoid her after her infamous first year. It does nothing for your reputation when everyone retreats from your end of the table except the class loon.

“Why don’t you just go away, too?” Ginny said icily.

Luna didn’t even look up from the parchment she doodled upon. “You repel wrackspurts,” she replied simply, as if it were the most obvious answer. Her large grey eyes met Ginny’s, a faint smile on her lips. “You’ve no idea what I’m talking about and still you’re clear as crystal.” Luna resumed her drawing. “It’s most convenient for studying.”

The youngest Weasley was sure that she had just met a prankster that would give Fred and George a run for their galleons from how flawlessly she delivered the ludicrous explanation. Only Ginny knew better; Luna wasn’t playing, she was genuinely bonkers.

~~~~~~

“Morning, children.”

“Good morning, Professor Lupin.”

Ginny often wondered if her Dark Arts professor was constantly in the Hospital Wing as he rarely wasn’t paler than a sheet. She had a soft spot for him ever since he gave her a massive hunk of chocolate on the train after the dementors had invaded.

“Now, since holiday break is around the corner, and an exam at the end of the week, I figured we could all use a bit of a breather, hm?” Professor Lupin shoved his hands casually in his coat pockets and gave a side smile when the other students got excitable.  “Now I heard that there was a Dueling Club established last year, though not a successful one from the sounds of it. Nevertheless, as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, it is my honor to continue the tradition of formal dueling with you young witches and wizards.” He waved his wand and student-occupied desks went sliding into the nearest wall.

Ginny clambered over the furniture, as equally delighted as her classmates, and joined the line that naturally formed facing the students on the other side. Professor Lupin strode down the length of the aisle as he explained the history of the dueling stance and bow. He also had everyone showcase their understanding of Protego, a basic shielding charm.

“Very good! What we are going to do now is put what you’ve practiced into action. Those most to the right-hand side facing me will spar.” He waved over the first two students, Collin from Gryffindor and Matilda from Hufflepuff, to join him in the center. “After the bow and stance, you can then choose to defend or attack. I suggest using a less problematic jinx or curse if you wouldn’t like to escort your partner to the Hospital Wing and end up explaining yourself to Madam Pomfrey.”

He stepped back and instructed on Collin’s form and reminded Matilda that it’s more honorable to take longer strides than short ones. She used a Bogey-Bat Hex which Collin successfully deflected. Professor Lupin encouraged them before sending them to the end of the line and bringing the next pair forward.

The class cheered and laughed and cringed as their peers faced off. Some duos were straight offensive, sending bright lights harshly into each other and making wands fly across the room. Only one pair both defended sheepishly much to the amusement of the rest. Before long Ginny gripped her wand tightly and marched to meet Professor Lupin and Luna in the aisle.

“Miss Lovegood, Miss Weasley,” he addressed them before resuming his spot in the crowd.

Ginny whipped her wand up before her face, filled with determination. Luna was a tortoise in comparison, delicately dragging her wand out from behind her ear, along with a few strands of wispy hair. They turned on their heels and took ten steps, turning again to face each other. Luna held her wand out loosely between her fingers with her chest high, the rest of her body in a low curtsy. Ginny’s wand arm was drawn back and pointed at Luna, and her legs poised as if to sprint at her.

“Locomotor wibbly!” Ginny shouted confidently, having used the spell before on (and with the help of) her brothers.

“Titillando,” Luna said liltingly at precisely the same moment.

Both of them hit the ground hard, though for entirely different reasons. As Luna’s ankles and knees lost their ability to hold her weight, gasps of shocked laughter poured from Ginny’s smiling mouth. She didn’t even know that there was a second tickling charm, and an even more devilish one if she hazarded to guess. Terrible scribbles into the balls of her feet and vibrations of her lower ribs would’ve been the worst of it if it weren’t for the soft swishes on her ears and neck. Ginny squirmed and squealed, flipping onto her stomach, desperately trying to block sensations that physically weren’t there.

Somewhere, Professor Lupin said, “Great form, both of you.”

As swiftly as the tickling had come, it ceased, and all around Ginny could she hear the giggling of her peers. Thankful for already being flushed, she squeezed her eyes shut and caught her breath. Ginny pushed herself onto her knees and came face to face with Luna and her outstretched hand. She begrudgingly took it.

“I hadn’t realized how under appreciated my legs were until they stopped working properly,” Luna stated casually, linking arms with Ginny, leading them both down to her end of the line. “It’s a mistake I shan’t make again. Thank you, Ginny Weasley.”

“You’re welcome?” The flames of Ginny’s embarrassment had been doused in an instant by Luna’s strange, calm sincerity. Apparently satisfied, Luna hugged Ginny (gently squeezing her sides) and left to resume her position at the back of the line. Mystified, Ginny quickly made her way around to the back of her own line.

~~~ YEAR THREE ~~~

Somewhere deep in the castle, Peeves was warbling Valentine Grams that students had sent in previous years to their reluctant recipients and remorseful givers. Ginny was no exception as the horrible poltergeist had burst into the Gryffindor common room when her brothers, Hermione, and Harry were enjoying some Hogsmeade sweets they had brought back. Mortified, she fled before anyone could stop her.

Ginny relished how the blanket of snow silenced the noise and instead focused on the crunching under her boots as she made her way to the far end of the lake. February in Scotland left the air sharp and, since the sheet of ice was beginning to thaw near the edges, deterred most from leaving the comfort of a fire.  After shoving off the snow, Ginny sank into a bench and sighed heavily. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there, quiet tears carving hot creeks down her cheeks, when she heard footsteps approaching  from behind. She dried her face hastily.

A familiar lilt called out from a short distance. “That you, Weasley?” Ginny nodded in response. Luna appeared from the other side of the bench in a bright yellow jumper and purple knit cap tugged over her ears. “May I join you?”

“Yea, sure.” Ginny helped clear the rest of the bench as her mind began to boggle. “Why are you out here?”

“Oh -” Luna hunkered down right next to Ginny “- the snow is lovely, but the Thestrals, in the Forbidden Forest, they have such thin hides so I stole some blankets for them.” She rubbed her hands together, leaning her arm and leg into Ginny’s space. “Pity, though, I should have brought an extra. I hadn’t expected company.”

“That makes two of us,” Ginny said. Part of her tensed at the unexpected closeness, yet another yearned to cuddle up to the absolute warmth that radiated from Luna. She muddled up the snow at her feet to avoid a decision.

Ever since the mock duel last term, she and Luna were becoming better friends. Usually with a very solid table and a mess of parchment between them. Not that Ginny minded; it was nice to have someone to mull questions over with and endlessly entertaining to listen to Luna go on about mythical magical creatures. On occasion, Luna linked arms with Ginny as they walked if they shared a route, and that was really nice too.

“Perhaps I should have brought the centaurs sweaters.”

Ginny snorted. An image of her mum’s handknit holiday garments, complete with large embroidered letters emblazoned upon the broad chests, worn by a herd of very stern centaur had popped into her mind.

Luna’s smile grew. “Now that’s more like it. Wrackspurts don’t suit you.”

A deep rumbling under the ice broke the comfortable silence that grew between them after the statement. Fissures splintered across the surface as it arched and buckled unnaturally. A massive black tentacle burst through the weakened shoreline a few meters off, causing them both to shriek as frigid water sprayed and caught them off guard.

“That was uncalled for!” Luna scolded the great aquatic beast, drying her face with the inside of her sleeve. She began to shiver.

Ginny had been luckier than Luna, having only gotten some water splashed on her shins and boots. “Here,” she offered, opening her thick coat so they could share. Luna, contrary to what Ginny had expected (which was to sidle up to her), turned fully and hugged her under the warmth of the wool. Splotches of icy fabric brushed against her body, and Luna’s freezing face tucked into her neck. Surprised by both the chill and the butterflies in her stomach, a string of giggles broke through Ginny’s lips in a visible puff.

She decided this was nice as well.

~~~~~~

“You are supremely awful at this.”

“No thanks to you, Lovegood.”

As she glared at the brown glob lumped at the bottom of her tea cup, Ginny now understood precisely why Hermione removed herself from Divination the year prior. Professor Trelawney’s magnified eyes had been looking down the bridge of her nose when she sighed aloud how if only Ginny were born a son that she would truly bear the gift. Not only was it rude, it was entirely unhelpful.

“This is ridiculous, there are too many leaves to do anything with.”

“Yes, it does appear that way.”

“But I followed the instructions to a tee.”

“True, both to the statement and the pun.”

Ginny toed the line of anger. “Well if I did everything correctly, then how come there are so many leaves left?”

“Perhaps there are precisely the correct amount of tea leaves for this reading.”

Ginny’s gaze slowly lifted from the muck to Luna. When Luna blinked back, seemingly unaware of how close Ginny was to exploding the cup, she took a deep breath. “Fine. You do it then.” She nudged the glass toward Luna with the backs of her fingers.

“It doesn’t help that the leaves have begun to dry.” Luna poured some warm water into the teacup and swished it around. “Drink.”

Ginny obliged as Luna moved seats to sit beside her. This had become routine during their study sessions - one of them becoming annoyed at the subject matter and the other moving to sit beside them. Usually it was herself, though she worried that Luna could sense that some of it was exaggerated. It was a habit that Ginny had been subconsciously developing to the point of chastising herself about it within the drapery of her bed.

Luna plucked the porcelain glass from her fingers and set it upon the table without so much as a tap. “It appears to have three omens for you, which explains the additional leaves and confirms my suspicions.”

Ginny stared at the streaks of muddy remnants and still failed to make out anything beyond a circle, and that could mean anything. She took comfort in knowing she wasn’t faking it this time.

“Here, at the top, is fire,” Luna said. “Contained as it is signifies the passing of old unto new beginnings. Particularly your thoughts and views - a full internal transformation.” Her lips lifted at the corners in her classic soft, barely there smile as she explained. Her finger traced the circle Ginny saw in the air above the teacup.“That’s not all that’s changing,” she continued. “The full moon suggests a romantic attachment is in your future, a happy one, too, based on the straight lines. Congratulations.”

Heat rose to Ginny’s face. Her eyes blinked away from the trance of watching Luna speak to glance between the tea leaves and Luna’s eyes. “Don’t be silly -”

“Ah, yes, well that’s encouraged.”

“What are you going on about?”

“Feather. There, in the middle of the moon, that larger leaf?”

“How is that any different than just a leaf-shaped leaf?”

“It’s not leaf-shaped -”

“Oh shut it.”

“- it’s feather-shaped, and it demands levity in your life. Lighten up. Have a laugh.”

A flash in Luna’s eyes caused Ginny’s heart to skip. It was the same look her friend got when they would sneak into the Forbidden Forest or climb out onto the castle parapets during their free hour. Only, Ginny felt that the rule Luna would be breaking was her.

She spilled clumsily from her seat, hands out before her, both thankful and cursing that they were the only ones in the study hall. Luna smiled wider, bouncing slightly with each step toward her. “Luna, come on, is this really necessary?” Ginny asked nervously. She gasped quietly as her back met the stone wall.

“Don’t you trust the tea leaves?”

“Not at all.”

“And me?” Luna stood very close, fingers lazily curled, palm up; poised as an offering rather than a threat.

Ginny’s blush deepened. Unable to look her in the face, she settled on studying the shape of Luna’s nails. Short and rounded, hardly peeking past her slender fingertips. Different than her brothers large hands, all toughened from gripping broomsticks and slinging garden gnomes. Like they could have more finesse since they were so much smaller and softer and in a way sharper. Goosebumps rippled down her body as Luna thumbed along the nails edge.

“Hello?” Her eyes snapped to meet Luna’s. Her friend inched back, hands balled at her chest. “I’ve upset you.”

Ginny laughed in relief, realising she had been holding her breath. “No, honest, more taken off guard.” The tension that had coiled in her shoulders began to melt away. “I’ve never been asked to be…well-”

“Tickled?”

“I’m used to people just going for it,” Ginny finished, blush still dusting her cheeks. She took Luna’s hands. “I trust you far more than some stupid tea. If you think I need ‘levity’, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Luna’s small smile returned, gently taking back her hands after a squeeze. “I don’t think I will now that you’re expecting it.”

Ginny exhaled away the anticipation and relaxed against the wall. “Thank Merlin for tha-ack!”

Luna’s hands latched onto her ribs with a rhythmic pulse that made her involuntarily dance and sing. “Still charming,” Luna affirmed, crawling her fingers along her sensitive rib cage.

Ginny shimmied to the floor, twisting and curling her body to no avail; her song a few keys higher than her usual register, all staccato noises and vocal breaths. Luna’s petite hands were precise. They applied just enough pressure to confuse her body into a ticklish frenzy she wasn’t accustomed to. Each gasping breath allowed laughter to relieve Ginny rather than panic her. She had never hated the experience when her brothers would gang up and tickle her until Mum shoo’d them away. This time was different; each touch sent a zing of thrill up her spine or sparked unadulterated joy in her heart. Before long, she was left only with the ghosts of Luna’s fingertips and a yearning that it had ended too soon.

“Better?” Luna asked.

“Much.”

~~~ YEAR FOUR ~~~

The Room of Requirement never failed to leave Ginny in awe of its versatility. She’d stumbled across it unintentionally once during her first year while all turned about from the moving staircases. Then, it was a broom closet with a foot of parchment detailing the various patterns of the stairs in a hasty scrawl. Now, it was an enormous room of wall to wall mirrors and grate flooring to keep incinerated dummy ash from littering the place.

She turned the warm galleon in her hand that signaled there would be a meeting today. The enchanted coin had “DA” etched across the face, and the time, 4:25, hidden along the grooved edge. According to the clock, Ginny arrived roughly an hour early. She indulged the solidarity by flopping gracelessly into an enormous plush blob that were apparently commonplace in the Hufflepuff dorms.

“Never pegged you as the napping type.”

The clock read 3:45, though Ginny could’ve sworn she’d only just blinked. “Umbridge is a nightmare, and Babbling is a ruinous drag. I can’t believe I let you talk me into that class.”

“Clever yet inaccurate; Ancient Runes is fascinating.” Luna unceremoniously dropped her rucksack and crawled into the blob beside Ginny. “Unlike that sham Grubby-Plank - she has no fathomable idea how to handle Hagrid’s creatures. I’ve written to Newt Scamander, you know -”

“I do.” Ginny grinned as Luna ranted.

“ - twice now, in case my first owl got lost across the Atlantic. He would implore Dumbledore remove her post-haste and the Headmaster would do so on principle!” It wasn’t often that Luna’s passion showed, darkening the apples of her cheeks and crinkling the space between her fair brows, but Ginny cherished when it did.

She turned on her side to face her friend, sinking close enough to smell the soil from the Herbology greenhouses that clung to her robes. “Have you began the actual writing part of your Charms paper?”

Luna gave a sheepish grin. “I find it a less practical use of my time.”

“You need to stay on Professor Flitwick’s good side, Loon,” Ginny chided. “You need his class for any field occupation.”

“Only for Ministry field work. I could wander the world right now, free to research and document as I see fit, without miles of paperwork. Dad always said bureaucracy is the death of discovery.”

“The essay is less than a foot of parchment on the methods of infusing muggle art mediums with magic.”

“And I demonstrated my understanding by doing it on less than a foot of parchment.”

“That was part of the assignment, lazy.” Ginny chuckled, prodding Luna’s side.

Luna laughed and clapped the sound back with a hand over her mouth. She laughed; a wild, unexpected, loud noise had escaped the confines of her quiet voice. It differed from her breathy chuckles and light giggles, which Ginny had mistaken for laughter due to her reserved nature.

Luna’s eyes crinkled with impish delight.

Without a word more they became a tangle of limbs; fingers flew and endorphin’s soared. Luna felt so small with Ginny’s hands squeezing along the length of her soft sides. And still, the scrabbling at her belly made her weak, forcing her to curl her head into Luna’s shoulder and knees under her kicking legs. Both sunken so deep within the plush bag chair that they couldn’t flee had they wished to. Their playful grunts, victorious cackles and surprised squeals filled the space around them with simple happiness.

It was impossible for Ginny to decide which aspect she was enjoying more. Luna’s spastic cooing breaking up boisterous peels of laughter as Ginny drilled her thumbs into the crease of her thighs amused and endeared her to no end. Then again, the wicked fast, insightful fingers that wormed their way into the hollow of her underarm and tender nook of her neck broke down Ginny’s resistance brick by bloody brick, leaving her a hapless, hopeless, hysterical mess. Every pull of mirth seemed to drive Luna to return the favor. Tears blurred her vision; her body began to burn with bliss and fatigue. It was intense and intoxicating and if only she had the stamina then she’d wish it’d never have to end.

“Okay!” Ginny pleaded, wrapping her arms around Luna in a tight embrace. Luna held her back, breathlessly panting. Together, their giggles petered out, though they didn’t help by sneaking in a one-last poke or scritch to keep the other bubbling.

“That was fun.”

Ginny chuckled at Luna’s admission several minutes later. Bold and comfortable as ever. She nodded her agreement with happy eyes and a goofy smile that matched Luna’s. Their fingers idly twining the fabric of the others blouse, and Ginny was unwilling to leave the warmth of Luna’s body.

“We should do this again sometime.” Blush dusted Luna’s face adorably and had darkened the pink of her lips. And for the first time it was she who broke eye contact from Ginny, and something about that benign act thrilled her to no end.

Gently, Ginny guided Luna’s chin back to face her. Daring nerve allowed her to indulge herself and cupped Luna’s cheek. “Yes, absolutely.” Luna relaxed, smiling wider with appeared relief and pressed her forehead to Ginny’s. Her daring slinked back to wherever it had come from and left Ginny breathless at the closeness. Engulfed in twinkling silver and pale yellow and the most lovely shade of pink. Ginny didn’t even like pink. She had never wanted anything more.

A thunderous click from the door shattered the infinity between them. They jumped apart at the sound, reduced to embarrassed giggles while Neville, Seamus and Dean entered the room. As the boys set down their bags, more DA members filed in.

Luna smiled at her before climbing out of the blob and joining their ranks. Ginny watched with a feeling of she couldn’t quite place.