Disclaimer: The following is a work of fanfiction written for love, not profit. All I own is the story.
A/N: This was originally meant to be one-sided Hermione/Luna, and then pre-Hermoine/Luna, but you have to want to interpret it that way. I wrote this because I love the characters and I love their relationship, and because the biggest thing I took away from HBP is that either Malfoy calls for higher security than Snape or that Luna and Hermione are worth at least Ginny, Ron and Neville. I'll keep my bet on that gamble to myself, out of respect and love for the other three.
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"Okay, look, who knows where Harry and Dumbledore even are by now, we need to get going."
"But- but don't you think we ought to wait for the others?"
"Look, Neville, we sent out those messages over twenty minutes ago, no one else is coming."
"Don't try to take charge of this, Ron, you and Hermione don't even believe that anything's going on."
"Ginny, if you can't mind yourself, I'm sending you right back to your bed-"
"Ha!"
"Ron, Ginny, please-"
"I think Ronald is right. If anyone else was coming, they'd be here by now."
"There, see? Luna, er... Luna agrees with me..."
"Go on, Ronald."
"Er, right. Right, well, Ginny and I'll watch the Room of Requirement, then-"
"I don't need you to baby-sit me, Ron!"
"You're staying where I can keep an eye on you, Ginny, and that's-"
"That's supposed to make me feel safe, is it?"
"Ginny, please! Just indulge him, won't you? We can't just hang around here, we'll get caught out of bed."
"Thanks so much for your support, Hermione."
"Ron-"
"So, er, if Ron and Ginny are up here watching Malfoy-"
"You, Hermione and Luna will watch Snape in the-"
"Well, see, about that, er-"
"Come on, Neville, don't be a-"
"Ron! It's okay, Neville, you stay with Ron and Ginny. Luna and I will watch Snape."
"I don't know, Hermione. Two students on a teacher, let alone Snape..."
"Luna and I will be fine. Anyway, this whole thing is all just... Well, really, when have you ever been right about Snape?"
"Yeah... We'll hang onto the Map, shall we? No one would be bonkers enough to be wandering around in the Dungeons at this time of... oh, right. Er, good luck."
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Cold clung to the still air like a parasite, and Hermione had to wrap herself in a tight hug to keep from pacing. Something heavy had long ago settled into the pit of her stomach, and she found herself swallowing constantly to keep it from climbing up her throat and bringing her dinner along for the ride. Fear played along the edges of her consciousness, but she bitterly maintained that it was an effect of the Dungeon. After all, it wasn't exactly meant to be cozy, was it? She found herself wondering, not for the first time that evening, why Snape hadn't taken an office closer to his new classroom.
"Hermione?" Luna asked quietly beside her, voice like a warm breeze in autumn. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Luna, why d'you ask?"
"It's just that your muttering is getting a bit loud."
Hermione blinked at that, and clenched her jaw for all that it stopped the flush crawling over her cheeks; she hadn't been aware of muttering at all, let alone increasing in volume. Shooting Luna an apologetic and, she hoped, reassuring smile, Hermione allowed herself one quick pace either way past the classroom door. They'd almost immediately rejected the idea of stationing directly outside Snape's office, but Hermione was beginning to wonder if it was really such a bad idea. The classroom was sure to be warmer, at least.
"Yes, but suppose Professor Snape comes out for something?"
Turning sharply to Luna, Hermione felt her face growing hot. She'd been talking aloud, then. What else had she said without realizing it?
"Only that you think this a bad idea, and that the Dungeon is unpleasant," Luna said mildly, looking sympathetic. "It is rather drafty."
"Yes, yes, it is," Hermione answered, holding herself tighter. "And we've been down here ages."
"It feels that way, but I think its only been a few hours."
"Oh, well, if that's all," Hermione answered waspishly, but Luna just kept on with her gentle smile and Hermione immediately felt bad for taking a tone with her. After all, she, Hermione, should be the level one here, the responsible one. She was a year older than Luna, and a prefect besides. "I'm sorry, Luna."
"S'alright," Luna answered without the slightest indication that she knew why Hermione was apologizing. "I understand that you're worried. Professor Snape can be rather frightening, can't he? And it would be nice to know what's happening with the others."
"Yes, he can be. It would be," Hermione said absently, giving in to the urge to pace but careful to keep her footfalls soft. What was happening with the others? Anything? For all she and Luna knew, they'd been caught, punished and sent to bed, and this was even more pointless than before.
A sharp shriek startled them both, and Hermione whipped her head around for the source before she realized that Moaning Myrtle had gone by through some nearby pipes, and actually sagged in relief. Putting on hand to her forehead, Hermione wasn't entirely surprised to find that she was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Shaking her head, she wiped her hands on her robes, dragged a sleeve across her face. And then, Myrtle's shriek echoing in her ears, she remembered.
"Um... Luna?" Hermione wasn't sure that she'd spoken out loud- and wouldn't that be a laugh- or if she'd been loud enough at that, until Luna's dreamy gaze was on her, smile encouraging. "Oh, well, just... Thank you."
Luna looked genuinely surprised, a rarity, and tipped her head curiously. "You're welcome, but... For coming, you mean?"
"No, not- Well, yes. But, I meant before. Back before Christmas, you know, just before Slughorn's party," Hermione couldn't help cringing at the memory. "The, er, the bathroom incident, I mean. I never thanked you, so... Thank you."
It was another moment before Luna understood, but then her smile took on a new light and warmed her eyes.
"Oh, yes, that. Well, that's what friends do, isn't it?"
The words, or maybe the tone, settled comfortably over Hermione like a blanket, and she felt some of the weight in her stomach lift away. She should say something probably, smile back at the very least, but moving might shake the warmth off, and the Dungeon was some degree past drafty, after all. When some of the light dimmed in Luna's eyes, Hermione knew she had waited too long to react.
"I hope you don't mind," Luna said, and if Hermione hadn't known her she wouldn't have caught the undercurrent of hurt running through the words. "I know we don't always get on, but I like to think of us as friends. It's alright that you don't feel the same."
Except that it wasn't alright at all- not just because Luna was wrong, because Hermione did consider Luna a friend, but because what sort of person wouldn't? Hermione opened her mouth to say as much, to reassure Luna, when there was a clatter and a shout and they both spun to face it. Whatever this was, it was no ghost.
"Wands at the ready, d'you think?" Luna asked calmly, one hand going for her wand already.
"Wands at-? Yes, yes, I think so-" Hermione said breathlessly as she reached for her own wand, heart pounding in her ears over the ruckus that was echoing ever nearer.
"Death Eaters! Severus, Death Eaters in the castle!"
"What?" Hermione stood ramrod strait at the exclamation, wand held tight to keep it from falling out of her sweat-slick fist. "Is that- Professor Flitwick!"
Sure enough, their tiny Charms teacher was sprinting toward them in his night clothes, pale-faced and looking rather wild about the eyes.
"Good evening, Professor," Luna said pleasantly, lowering her wand.
But Professor Flitwick blew right past them, barely seeming to register their presence, throwing the class door open with a bang and, from the sound of it, giving Snape's office door the same treatment.
"Well, that was rather rude," said Luna, looking mildly taken back- which, when adjusted for Luna-reactions versus normal-person-reactions, indicated that she was two steps and a stumble from shell-shocked at being ignored by her Head of House.
"Luna, shh!" Hermione admonished off-handedly, already moving forward into the classroom, stopping just short of Snape's door with her back to the wall, knuckles white around her wand. Luna was close at her elbow, and she couldn't find it in her to be surprised at the strength this meager company offered. Neither of them said a word, and Hermione, for one, kept her breath, as they listened to the hurried conversation just out of sight.
"... the meaning of all this?"
"Severus, Minevera's sent me for you. There are Death Eaters in the castle, we don't know how many or how they got in-"
Professor Flitwick cut himself off with a strangled gasp and then there was a loud thud. Hermione and Luna had just enough time to exchange an uncertain glance before Snape was standing in front of them. To be fair, he may not have noticed them at all if they'd stayed still, off to the side and out of his way; he may have been prepared to overlook them just as Professor Flitwick had done. But the sight of him, eyes dagger-sharp and wand held at the ready, prompted something in Hermione that lay triangulated somewhere between her head, her heart and her gut, and before she could tell herself it was a bad idea, she was moving, putting herself bodily between Luna and Snape as if protecting the younger girl from intensity that wasn't directed at them. Only then it was, and they were trapped beneath his gaze like bugs beneath glass.
"Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, what are you doing out of your beds?"
Frozen, Hermione opened her mouth with no words to speak, and so it was Luna who answered, rock-steady, "We were checking the Dungeons for wrackspurt, sir."
Snape's eyes flicked over Luna and Hermione stood straighter, clamping down hard on the hysterical laughter she could feel bubbling from every frayed nerve in her body; she could see the question as it crawled from Snape's eyes to his parted lips in spite of himself, could actually see him bite down to keep it from escaping before he covered it over with what probably would have been severe point deduction if it had come out before Luna could speak again.
"What's happened to Professor Flitwick?"
"He isn't as young as he once was," Snape answered, somehow smooth and snappy in one breath. "He's fainted. You heard what he said about Death Eaters?"
"Yes, sir, we heard him," Hermione finally found her voice, taking a more careful grip as she spoke and trying to look like just another soldier ready for battle.
"Then you know that I must hurry. The two of you will stay here and look after Professor Flitwick."
"But- but, Professor!" Hermione sputtered almost before he'd finished issuing the order. She couldn't stay here, not when Ron and Ginny and Neville were upstairs, no doubt already part of the fray. "We'll go with you, Professor, we can help fight."
"You are treading on dangerous ground, Miss Granger, I suggest you do as you're told."
Drawing up to her full height, meeting Snape's dark gaze head-on, Hermione prepared to argue the point against her better judgment. But then Luna's hand was curled around Hermione's upper arm, and Luna was saying, "Of course, Professor, we'll look after him," and then Snape was out the door in a swirl of black robes while Hermione just gaped at where he'd been standing the last time she'd blinked.
"Let's look in on Professor Flitwick, then, shall we?" Luna said softly, her grip on Hermione becoming a gentle but firm direction towards Snape's open office door.
"I- he- wha- why did you do that, Luna?" Hermione demanded, wrenching herself free with more force than necessary and turning on Luna, who remained unfazed. "We shouldn't be down here playing nurse, we should be up there with the others! I just- I can't believe he- it's because we're girls, that's why he-"
"More likely it was because we're students, Hermione," Luna said, not unkindly. "It wouldn't be very responsible for him to take us into battle, would it? Could be that the others have already been sent to bed."
"Or it could be that they're fighting for their lives, Luna, we don't even have any way of checking! The castle could fall to the Death Eaters, and we would be the last to know, stuck down here! We- Snape's gone, we can-"
"We should go and have a look at Professor Flitwick, I think," Luna interrupted smoothly, sounding as close to irritation as Hermione had ever heard her outside of defending the oddball beliefs that the Quibbler spewed forth from every issue.
Not ready to give in, Hermione argued, "We'll get Madame Pomfrey on our way up, Luna, she'll know what to do for him."
"We should get Madame Pomfrey out of bed when there are Death Eaters about?" And Merlin be cursed if Luna didn't sound honestly curious as to the answer.
Hermione's mind was screaming, gruesome possibilities playing before her eyes, and Luna's distant, dreamy eyes felt cold now. Looking into them was like being lost in a thick fog with no light, no way to navigate, stranded in the dead of nowhere. There was none of the Weasley fire, none of Neville's frightened determination, none of Harry's hot sense of take-charge. What there was gave Hermione a chill that she couldn't quite explain; there was... calm, almost disinterest, as if this were just a movie that Luna had watched too many times to bother keeping with. It was as though there was a secret kept somewhere in the depths of those misty eyes, and as their gazes held, the grey softened and warmed, as if offering to share. Off-handedly, Hermione was aware that Luna had taken her shoulders warmly into hand, that she was smiling at her as a mother might to reassure a child.
"It'll be alright, Hermione," Luna said with no trace of uncertainty. "Everything will be alright in the end."
Luna gave Hermione's shoulders a bracing squeeze before disappearing into Snape's office and Hermione found herself alone, staring into empty space but somehow still seeing Luna when what she wanted to see was what Luna knew.
And she did, Luna knew, knew in a way that Hermione couldn't understand. Hermione had grown up using knowledge as a shield as well as a power. Every new bit of information was stacked like a brick in a wall, cemented with steady logic. It had served her well, had literally helped keep her and her friends alive for the past six years, and it would hold firm for the hardships to come. She knew this. But not the way that Luna knew; it wasn't something she could wrap herself in the way she saw Luna do; it was cold and harsh and sharp even as she clutched it to her chest for protection.
With a muted start, Hermione realized that she was standing in the doorway of Snape's office, watching. Luna was bent over Professor Flitwick, pale fingers ghosting carefully over his forehead. Even from the distance, Hermione could see the angry red and the beginning of a swelling near his temple. With a soft hum, Luna straitened up and looked to Hermione with a soft, reassuring smile.
"He hit his head when he fell, but he'll be okay," said Luna, and Hermione felt a chill that had nothing to do with the Dungeon.
"How do you know?" Hermione asked softly, not caring enough to hate how lost she sounded- and how insane was it that she was looking to Luna Lovegood to guide her?
"Well, he's got a nasty bump here," Luna indicated the swelling- quite unnecessarily, Hermione noted with a sympathetic wince, "but I've checked his eyes and his breathing and everything looks to be in order."
Lips parted for words that would not form, Hermione watched as Luna removed her tie and Transfigured it deftly into an ice bag and placed it carefully over the goose egg forming on Professor Flitwick's forehead. Her walls stood proud and firm but a draft played along her spine, cold wind seeping in from cracks that she could not fathom. And here was Luna, snug and secure in her optimism- or perhaps just another of her convicted delusions, but in any case safe from the cold that soaked Hermione to the bone. Stiff with it, Hermione sat gracelessly at Luna's side, and this time she was the one to take Luna's hand in hers; Luna's ever-quizzical eyes caught Hermione's and Hermione squeezed with all of the pressure and the antithesis of the cruel intention that closed around her fluttering heart.
"Friends," Hermione said in a whisper, then cleared her throat to speak again, because saying it so softly stung of shame. "We're friends. I'm glad- I'm proud we are."
It hurt to see Luna's eyes go so wide, her mouth so round, as though she could hardly believe what she was hearing. A bitter taste filled Hermione's mouth as it occurred to her that this might well be the highlight of Luna's day, as she saw the words being carefully squirreled away like precious treasure. Almost instinctively, and not about to fight, Hermione released Luna's hand to wrap her arm around Luna's shoulders and hold the younger girl tight, making a promise too important to trust to words. It was returned through Luna's arm wrapping snug around her waist, and through an open smile that kept a secret.
Luna's arm around her, and Luna's shoulders under her own arm, were secure handholds keeping her grounded even as every gruesome possibility of what was to come buzzed round and about her tired eyes. As Luna leaned into her, offering comfort and companionship even as she sought it, the tragedies seemed to ooze away, puss draining from the open gash of hope. Though still unsure, muscles tight and twitching, Hermione felt a pleasant fuzz settle itself around her brain like gauze around a burn, and some small part of her wondered if there weren't wrackspurt lurking about the Dungeon after all.
Of course she squashed the thought at once- if there were wrackspurt, Luna would have told her.
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Praise appreciated, concrit treasured, flames raspberried.