Word: Mooch

"Oh hello, Harry," said a voice that belonged within mountain mists, enticing travellers into dancing with the will 'o' wisps. Luna Lovegood smiled widely, creasing her big moony grey eyes.

"Luna," said Harry, startled at meeting her in between a row of bookshelves. In the dark, sheltered alcove of the silent library, he felt like they were the only two people left in the world. "Homework?"

"Oh no," said Luna happily. "I'm looking for pet words. 'Mooch' is a nice one, don't you think? Sweet mooch is to smooch."

Breathlessly. "Are you suggesting..."

But clutching her dictionary, Luna was gone.

Word: Snowball

**

You wouldn't think she disliked winter. She may look like a slightly pudgy ice maiden with her pale coloring, light hair and grey eyes; but Luna loves summer. The sharp, tangy air, the sunlight, the color.

When she's with Harry, she feels better, she can’t figure out why though. She goes out snowballing with them, flinging cold stinging missiles left and right.

Luna skids, wobbles and falls.

"You alright?" Harry's the nearest, he helps her up.

Luna looks into his eyes. Green, the color of leaves, of life. She smiles broadly. "I'm fine," she says, brushing snow off her robes.

Word: 8. Potions

***


"Oh hullo, Harry," said Luna impertubedly, emptying a bottle of Butobur pus into the potion. She tossed in what Harry recognized as carrots. "I'm making a trap for Crumpled Horned Snorckacks." She didn't ask him what he was doing in the dungeons. Maybe she already knew he looked for her.

"Luna, I - are you sure that's safe?" he squeaked, getting ready to throw his arms around her and pull them both to safety when the potion exploded. Hm. Put it like that and he rather hoped it would, actually.

The potion merely gurgled and gave off a foul smell.

Word: 97. Dictionary

**

The dictionary Luna uses is called Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words*. "It belonged to my mother," Luna will say without a trace of sentiment or sadness in her wide, dreamy smile.

She uses the book a lot, but Luna is a bit surprised at herself because these evenings she spends a lot of time leafing through it to find words that could describe Harry.

Epitonic - strained.

Coriaceous - tough

Creancer - guardian

Gegenschin - a faint glowing spot in the sky exactly opposite the sun.

Lodestar - a guiding star.

Jenna - the Mohammedan paradise.

* A real book, written by Josefa Heiftez Byrne.

Word: 53. Chase

***

There's no other word for what Harry's doing now. It's not wooing, or courting or flirting. It's running, trying to catch up, laughing and crying alternately. It's reaching out for her hair and ending up with a handful of pale seaweed. It's catching her eyes and realising it's just the moon's reflection over the dark lake. It's hearing her voice near his ear and finding out it's just the wind.

"Luna," he says finally, irritably. "I can't get you out of my head!"

"Oh really?" she replies, wide-eyed. "Well, fair's fair. You've got my heart in your hands after all."

Word: 48. Leprechaun

**
Something green loomed up at him through the darkness, terrifying him. Harry yelped and reached for his wand, more scared by those gleaming silver eyes in that mass of green than he'd ever been in his life. Except maybe that time Ron had accidentally dropped a dungbomb into a potion.

"Don't," said Luna's voice.

"Luna! Where are you?! Stand back, I'm blasting that thing -"

"It's me. I'm being a Creature from the Black Lagoon for St. Patrick's day."

Harry lowered his wand slowly, incredulously.

"...so I thought to myself," continued Luna, "'why do leprechauns get all the fun?'"

Word: 89. Past

***
Harry often thinks of the past, Luna can tell. His green eyes darken, his mouth tightens. His arm comes around her and pulls her closer. Luna knows he's vowing to himself that he won't let anything harm her, hurt her. Never.

Luna often thinks of the past, Harry can tell. Her grey eyes grow melancholy, her face saddens. And then she presses her face into his shoulder. Harry knows she's vowing to herself that whatever happens, she'll do her best to remind him that good things still happen to good people. She'll do her best to make him smile. Always.

Word: 15. Room

***

"Well, this is nice," said Luna gaily, sitting on Harry's bed. He had invited everyone to come to his post-war bought flat. Ron and Hermione had gone to inspect the kitchen (that's what they said anyway. Harry suspected that they were just snogging).

"I'm glad you think so," he told her, smiling

"You must invite me over sometime," Luna said. "The bed is nice."

Harry's eyes widened. "Do you mean -"

"This bed is so bouncy," said Luna, ignoring his interruption blissfully. "I love jumping on beds, don’t you? - Harry, are you alright? You’ve gone a very funny color.

Word: 69. Slap

***

Her hand came out faster than Harry anticipated. But when the slap came, it wasn't his cheek that stung painfully. Luna looked evenly at Ginny Weasley.

"Luna," Harry started to say, reaching to cradle that bruised cheek. Then he remembered Ginny and stopped.

"I'm sorry," said Luna. "It's very selfish of me, but I'd go through more for Harry."

"I trusted you," hissed Ginny. "Both of you."

Michael Corner raised his eyebrows as Ginny passed him, sobbing painfully. He watched smugly. "Good work," he purred at Luna.

Harry’s eyes flashed but Luna’s fist moved first. She nearly broke Michael’s nose.

Word: 90. present

**

Things are unpleasant now. Ginny is hurt. Ron isn't speaking to him. Hermione is doing her best, but she clearly can't see why Harry fell in love with Luna when he could have had Ginny, goddess-like Ginny with her long fiery hair, her chocolatey brown eyes.

She can't see like Harry can; the glasslike quality of Luna, teaching him that vulnerable and weak are not the same thing. Moon-like Luna with her soft, fine hair, her dreaming eyes. With her there are no roaring monsters, racing for the trophy. There is laughter, and warm afternoon naps together. There is peace.

Word: 70. teem

***

"This’s your doing, Luna Lovegood-Potter," Harry growled through gritted teeth. Gritted because he was about to laugh and he would not do that. He’d a legitimate reason to be annoyed with his wife right now.

Their garden teemed with rabbits.

"Well, you know what rabbits think about all the time, don't you?" Luna was saying.

Harry shot her a look. The obvious answer was of course - but then, Luna had very weird ways of watching the world. "Do tell, Luna love."

"Grass, grass, grass. So I thought, 'a non-noisy lawnmower!' but-"

Harry groaned, "Only you," as he kissed her.

Word: 16. Dragonhide gloves

***

"He's going stake out the corridors tonight, Hermione."

"Oh, honestly, Ron! He needs his sleep. Can't you stop him?"

"Will he listen? You know Harry!"

The eavesdropper smiled to herself and slipped away.

--

The small figure bathed in moonlight made him stop, his eyes never wanted to stop looking. Harry stuttered:

"L-Luna? What’re you doing?"

"Ghooming."

"?"

"It means to 'hunt in the dark'. It's an Anglo-Indian word."

"...you shouldn't be out. It's after curfew."

"What about you?"

"I - well, I - You've got no dragonhide gloves on, or anything. What're you hunting?"

She smiled at him. "You."

Word: Authors choice/eyes

**

Harry noticed a lot about eyes. Dumbledore had twinkling blue eyes. Hermione's eyes were wide, expressive hazel. Ginny was red-brown, like an autumn bonfire. Malfoy's were cold slate.

And Luna ... Luna changed like the sky... One day her eyes would be limpid, watching the world with an appreciative smile. Tomorrow those eyes would turn in on themselves, and she'd seeing something other people couldn't. Her eyes were like snowflakes, Harry thought. Silvery and different every time, to the practised observer.

Hold on a minute - practised observer?!

Luna smiled, watching Harry watch her. He was cute when he was flustered.

Word: 18. Whomping Willow

***

Harry watched aghast as Luna, smiling dreamily and not paying attention to her surroundings as usual, walked right into the Whomping Willow.

"Luna - NO!" he yelled, as the blonde head disappeared into the leaves. His heart exploded. It was pain, it was loss, it hurt. Realisation - too late - "Luna, come back!" he ran towards her, reaching out, "This is stupid, but I can't - I don't want to live without - Luna?"

Luna stared quizzically. "Join me, Harry?" She patted the grass.

Harry stared. The Whomping Willow, far at the other end of the lake, lazily walloped an acromantula. "Oops."

Word: 37. Animagus

***
Harry always thought that Luna's animagus would be a nightingale. A brown, unremarkable specimen until it sang. But Luna nearly beaned him one day with her dangly vegetable earrings. Odd, how her insane accesories didn't intrude on his consciousness anymore. When her eyes shone and her mouth smiled and her hands moved as she talked about singing blueberries, she was just... Luna.

He wouldn't've had her any different.

"So?" he asked impatiently, when she exited the examination room, face unreadable. "You did it! What animal are you?"

A beam played around Luna's mouth and broke through. "I'm a Crumple-horned Snorkack!"

Word: 20. Hogsmeade

***

Luna walked into Hogsmeade, a hat pulled down over her face, jingling with spanish coins. Multicolored feathers hung from her ears, and there was rainbow ribbons laced through her robes.

"L-Luna?" squeaked Harry as she passed him. Ginny stifled her giggles.

She turned, the coins making a medley of every move, smiling. "Hullo Harry," she said distantly. "Thanks so much for the robes you gave me. I just... jazzed them up a little." Then she was gone.

Ginny turned to him. "You bought her clothes?!"

Harry just stared after Luna, a slight smile in his eyes. "My money wasn't wasted."