On the Monday after the vernal equinox, a parchment frog hopped across the Great Hall and leaped into Hermione's lap. She looked up from "British Witches and the Catholic Church, Volume 17: St. Hilda of Whitby" as the frog jumped up onto the table next to her plate of shepherd's pie.
The frog unfolded. Afternoon alchemy was canceled. Meet in the library during your study period?
Hermione glanced over at the Ravenclaw table to see Luna watching her. Hermione nodded and turned back to her book, moving the frog aside. It squirmed on the table and hopped back onto her book.
"Might want to write her back," Ron suggested. "Fred sent Angelina a paper lion once and she hollered back at him instead of writing. Thing followed around grabbing onto her socks and hunting feathers for about three day before the charm wore off. They're a bit specific when they're told to wait for a response."
"Or kill it," Ginny pitched in. "Colin kept sending me parchment pigs last year. He thought it was funny until I enchanted a copy of Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women to transform into a dragon and shred any paper he put his wand to."
Hermione laughed. She took out her quill and scribbled a quick response. The frog flicked out it's paper tongue and turned to return to Luna. Hermione followed it with her eyes until Luna scooped it up, read her response, and smiled.
Afternoon Muggle Studies crept by at a snail's pace, and as soon as class let out, Hermione rushed to the library. She found Luna in the magizoology section, tucked back in the stacks away from any of the study areas. Luna sat on a window ledge, watching something skimming over the trees of the Forbidden Forest.
Hermione dropped her school bag at the end of the row and slipped over to join her by the window. Whatever held Luna's attention, it wasn't visible to her and - as Hermione approached - it didn't hold her attention any longer. Luna turned away from the window. "I missed you," she said.
Hermione stepped in. Her hips fit comfortably between Luna's thighs as she leaned in for a kiss. "I missed you too. Have a good trip to Inverness with your dad?"
Luna nodded. "We found some Blibbering Humdinger burrows and I caught a Moon Frog. You should come with us next time."
"I'd like that," Hermione said. She hadn't met Luna's dad yet; they hadn't even talked about meeting each other's families. But something warm spread in her stomach at the invitation.
Hermione wrapped her arms around Luna and leaned forward, until Luna's back pressed against the window frame.
Luna squirmed at the cold chill of the glass against her back. She looked up at Hermione with wide, clear eyes, pupils dilated with desire. "You're beautiful," Luna said.
With anyone else, Hermione might have brushed the statement off as a line, a flirtatious ploy. But Luna was never anything less than straightforward. What she said she meant, and whatever she thought, she said. She flushed, not sure how to respond.
Luna traced her hands up the back of Hermione's neck and ran her fingers through tight, brown curls. She pulled Hermione down to her. "Now come here and kiss me."