When Harry left the castle this morning, he wasn't sure what he expected the day to bring. Luna Lovegood, a horse, and a basket of mushrooms that appeared to be speaking to one another in hushed voices were not at the top of the list, he was sure. And yet, in the end, this was exactly what he ended up with. He didn't know how it came to pass, if he was honest. One moment he had noticed that Luna was walking along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, followed by a horse. The next he was walking alongside her in companionable silence.

"Are those mushrooms whispering to one another?" he asked at length, after he and Luna had taken a turn and walked a ways into the forest.

She turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. "You can hear them, too?" she said. Harry blinked. That didn't exactly bode well. But he nodded and she looked very happy about that. "They're hush-a-mushes. The louder their whispering gets, the closer you are to the fairy circle they migrated from. I'm glad you can hear them from where you're standing, it means we're getting closer."

"Oh," was all he could manage to say. He had never heard of hush-a-mushes before, but the fact that he could hear them whispering made them more real than any other creature Luna had ever mentioned. "I didn't know mushrooms could migrate."

The horse let out a whinny that Harry could almost say was a laugh, and Luna looked just as amused. "Of course they can, silly," she said. "Hush-a-mushes wait for the wind to blow in a certain direction before they put out their spores. They can only put out spores for so many generations, though, so you're never too far from the fairy ring."

Harry found that that almost made sense and he looked at Luna for a long moment, studying her. He would admit that this was the longest conversation they'd had in quite a while—perhaps ever, now that he thought of it. And, if he were being totally honest, he'd never paid all that much attention to her creature ramblings to begin with. Perhaps they'd always made this much sense. Perhaps he should have been paying attention since the beginning. Or, perhaps, it came with knowing her. He wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter.

"What about the horse?" He looked behind them and it was still there, pausing every now and then to sniff at something on the ground or peer between the trees. He looked back at Luna and she seemed a bit startled. He started to worry again. A little urgently he added, "Please tell me that you can see the horse."

"I can see the horse," she said and he relaxed. "I didn't realize he'd followed me this far. His name is Arthur."

That, it seemed, was all the explanation she thought he needed. Harry, about to ask more, decided that he probably really didn't want to know. He finally shrugged and jogged a bit to catch up to Luna. A few more moments passed in silence, or near silence as the mushrooms were still whispering to one another. They didn't appear to have gotten any louder or softer since they'd entered the forest, something which seemed to disappoint Luna. Harry realized abruptly that he really couldn't stand the idea of Luna being disappointed.

"Maybe we should try another direction," he suggested. Luna looked up at him curiously and he shrugged. "It's worth a try, isn't it? If they get quieter we know we've made a wrong turning."

For a second he thought he saw something in her face, something unfamiliar but wholly welcome. Her eyes shone brightly and then her face broke out in a brilliant smile. She took his hand gently and tugged him along behind her. If he heard a distinct giggle escape her, well, it was covered by the sound of the ever-louder hush-a-mushes and Arthur's trotting behind them.