For Shug, whose birthday came and went so long ago that I'm deeply embarrassed to say that this is the ficlet I promised her on that occasion.

Luna didn't bother with the house. Her father would call on its occupants, staying long enough to give Mrs Weasley the casseroles she had spent yesterday preparing. Luna made straight for the orchard and he was there, his back against a tree, head bowed, arms wrapped miserably around his knees, just as she had expected. She hummed quietly as she approached him, taking time enough that they could both pretend she hadn't seen the way he swiped at his face.

"Hey," she greeted him as she sat down crosslegged on the grass and settled her brightly coloured burden in the hollow between her legs.

George sniffed, and when he looked up his eyes were not just red-rimmed. The skin around them had been roughened by days of exposure to salt water. "Hi," he replied softly. For minutes he gave no other acknowledgement, but his eyes occasionally seemed drawn to the lime green fuzz in Luna's lap, as if his grief-numbed brain found it some sort of puzzle. Finally, he asked. "Is that what I think it is?"

"What do you think it is?" Luna asked calmly.

"It looks like my old toy Fwooper, but I don't know how it can be. I lost that when I was just a kid," George answered.

"And if I said that it is Mister Fuzzlebutt?" Luna asked.

"I'd ask you how."

Luna shrugged. "Do you remember coming over to The Tower when you were younger?" she asked.

George nodded. "The summer your mum died. Mum would leave Bill and Charlie in charge of the others, but she didn't trust me and Fred out of her sight."

"I had a place I went down by the stream and Fred and you would sometimes come down and try to cheer me up while your mum made sure Dad was alright and we had everything we needed."

"I remember," George admitted.

"One night, after you'd all been over and gone, Fred must have talked your brother, Bill, into bringing him back. It was just getting dark and I knew I'd have to go back in, but I was trying to put it off as long as I could. There was this crack and the two of them were there, just a bit up the hill. Bill just waited, but Fred came down and he had Mister Fuzzlebutt with him. He said he was for when I needed someone to talk to, that he was too old for stuffed toys now and Mister Fuzzlebutt was lonely. He said because Fwoopers are always sold with Silencing Charms that I could tell him all my secrets. Anything I thought would make people laugh at me, or if I was sad and didn't want to tell anyone in case they felt sorry for me, even when everybody else thought I should be feeling better and they got annoyed with me for feeling bad for so long, Mister Fuzzlebutt would never say anything."

When Luna looked up, tears fell unimpeded down George's face. "Trust him," he said with a sad little smile.

"He was kind of wonderful, underneath," Luna acknowledged. She lifted the stuffed bird, with its vibrant, inches-thick, softly huggable fuzz from her lap. "I think Mister Fuzzlebutt needs to come home." She crawled over to George's side and tucked the bird between his arms and kissed George's tear-stained cheek. "I would never say anything either," she whispered, "but in case I'm not here when you need someone, or maybe you'd just be more comforta—"

Her words were silenced by the pressure of George's lips on her own, a chaste kiss that spoke more of sadness than passion, but one that seemed heartfelt just the same. "Is it alright if I don't want to talk yet?" George asked as they broke apart.

"Anything..."

George sighed and when Luna shifted to rest next to him with her back against the tree, he took her hand.

Later, when the sun had shifted in the sky and Luna had made no effort to excuse herself, he curled his body around her and rested his head in her lap as she stroked his hair. When twilight turned to dusk and George knew his mother would come in search of him, he picked up her gift and his eyes found hers. "Will you come again tomorrow?" he asked.

"Tomorrow, and every day from now till the first of September... if you want," Luna offered. "Here or wherever."

George took her face in both hands and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I want."