:Sigh: It's been a while since I've written a fanfic, over a month actually.

I don't own these Harry Potter characters. This contains femmeslash, meaning two girls paired together romantically. Don't like, don't read.

I wrotethis for my friend, Chez!

Hope you enjoy!

Dana

"Luna!" Hermione called and began to sprint down the fairly empty stairwell. "Hey, Luna, wait up."

The dirty-blonde girl halted in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face Hermione who was one step above her. She wore a lopsided grin and waited patiently for the bushy haired girl to catch her breath.

Luna always admired Hermione; she didn't care that other people called her a know-it-all or that they thought she was too smart for her own good. She kept on being herself no matter how unpopular it made her.

Luna was a different matter. She knew she was unpopular, she knew she was wacky, odd, and downright weird. She would give anything to be like Hermione. To be as strong as her, as confident as she was.

At least that's what she thought. Hermione's mere presence gave Luna chills up and down her spine. At first Luna thought it was envy. Jealousy even. But as the year progressed she realized it was nothing of that sort.

It was a crush. A crush on Hermione Granger.

A crush on another girl.

It made her miserable. If anybody else found out, they would torment her even more than they already did. It was already horrible enough being Loony Luna. Just last week they stole her favourite pair of earrings. Her radish earrings.

The earrings her mother gave a week before Luna watched her die.

"Is everything all right, Luna?" Hermione's lovely voice snapped Luna back to reality.

No, everything is not all right. I'm in love with you. So in love with you, and I can't tell you.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. "What did you want?"

"Oh, right," Hermione stammered as if she had forgotten why she had chased Luna down the hall. Luna looked down, and as she did her eyes came across Hermione's right hand, which was clenched around something so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"What's that in your hand?" Luna asked and pointed.

"Oh, this," Hermione lifted her fist so that it was eye level with Luna. As Hermione unfolded her fingers, Luna gasped in surprise. There, in Hermione's hand, were her radish earrings.

"I found these in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, I figured you dropped them or something." She smiled sadly and Luna knew that Hermione was aware that she did not drop them. She knew someone had stolen them.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione," Luna whispered, then looked the bushy haired girl in the eyes. "So that's why you chased me down the hall?"

Hermione's eyes appeared to be contemplating something before she spoke. "Yes," she said monotonously, a hint of sadness behind her words. "That's why I chased you."

Hermione turned, crestfallen, from Luna without saying another word.

She had stolen Luna's earrings so she could have an excuse to talk to her, to finally confess her feelings towards the younger girl.

She could never do that to Luna, it would cause even more teasing on her part. To know that another girl had a crush on her would tear Luna apart from the inside; Hermione told herself that that was the reason behind not confessing to Luna.

But in reality, she had chickened out.

OK, so it is out of character for Hermione to steal Luna's earrings, but her intentions were good, and she did give them back.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Reviewers get the cookie of their choice!

- Dana