Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Pairing: H. Granger, L. Lovegood
Series: Harry Potter
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,274
Length: One-Shot
Warnings: F/F
Prompt: Slash the Rainbow Challenge; Black-Night
Hermione was one of those people who hated to tell others what she was afraid of. No matter what it was, she felt that it was just her own to be bothered by. That's why she didn't tell anyone that she was afraid of night.
Everything about the night scared her; the darkness, the possibility of something being out there, the unpredictability of it all...she knew her books, and she knew it was stupid to feel the way she did, but that didn't help anything. She was still scared by it.
She resented her favorite color, now too a reminder of the night. Black had lost it's appeal to her for a number of reasons, but that was the most prominent. She didn't need anything more to remind her...
The nightmares were starting to really bother her now. Her, Harry, and Ron were all risking their lives every moment they spent unprepared, every second not spent trying to ready themselves for the battle that was ultimately awaiting them.
She burrowed further underneath her maroon bedsheets, the only part of her head above the covers being her eyes and a bit of her curly brown hair. She spent all the time worrying about Harry and Ron these days; they were taking things seriously, but she still couldn't find it in her to relax. Her nightmares now contained various possibilities of their deaths.
Harry, losing to Voldemort...Ron, getting hexed into oblivion by Bellatrix Lestrange...the list went on and on and on and on for what seemed like forever. Before Hermione had been able to go to Hogwarts, she had never had a friend. She'd always been teased for being so into books at that age, but she hadn't been able to help it.
What she knew now as accidental magic had outcasted her from everyone. She'd been the weird girl of her school, and her parents had no idea why she was so upset all the time or why she didn't have anyone over to play. She'd spent every bit of her time for years and years trying to read and find out what was wrong with her, but it didn't matter what medical encyclopedia she got her hands on, or who she asked.
Until she got her letter from Hogwarts, she'd had no idea that magic even existed. Even at eleven, it already strayed so far from her thoughts of reality that she'd had a hard time accepting it. After that, though, she had grown accustomed to it, welcomed it as a part of her life. It had brought her to her two bestfriends, but now there was a part of her that wished she'd never been born with it at all, if only that she wouldn't have to worry so much about the possibility of her friends being murdered at the slightest wrong step.
Hermione didn't know when she started tearing up, but she let out a slight huff of breath, wiping them away harshly. It wouldn't do to cry now, she knew. She didn't need to do that. She found herself repeating that every time, but it still managed to bother her. What about Luna? What would happen if she got hurt?
On top of everyone she knew, if anything happened to Luna, she wouldn't know what to do. Luna was her opposite, everything she was not; wacky, bright, off-the-handle, rash... Luna meant so much to her. It had taken so long for her to finally see Luna's way of thinking, and even though she didn't agree with it, she could smile whenever Luna mentioned Wrackspurts or Nargles or Dabberblimps.
What she felt for Luna had come across almost accidentally, and she hadn't ever really noticed how fond she had felt for her until she was hurt in the Department of Mysteries. She hadn't really had any time to reflect on it then, but her sudden anger at that point had not been because of just the mere appearance of Death Eaters. Nor had her sudden fright at having a wand at her throat; oh no, she had been more afraid for the girl directly across from her. She didn't find herself regretting what she felt, no matter what evidence was slammed in her face.
She felt herself begin to drift off and she embraced it this time around, thoughts of her lovely Luna occupying her mind. Her and Luna at Grimmauld Place, cuddling up in their shared room...Her and Luna baking things together for Mrs. Weasley...her and Luna in front of the fire, talking about how hard it would be for them to see eachother at school.
She had almost been asleep when she heard the movement on the stairs, and her breath stilled for a moment, all thought and proper action being stolen from her mind. As she heard the footsteps stop at the door and threw the covers off the top half of her body, reaching over and grabbing for her wand with one hand, leaning on her elbow with the other.
Her heart ached as it ran in overdrive, her mind jumping immidiately to Death Eater, but crossing that thought out as quickly as it had come. They'd have gone for Harry first; she would've heard them fight. Hogwarts was magical, but it was nowhere near that silent.
The doorknob twisted, and a head of pale blonde hair appeared and Hermione automatically let out her breath, placing her wand back on the side table where it belonged. As her favorite Ravenclaw crept past Parvarti's bed and towards hers, Hermione lay back on her side, scooching over so that she would have room.
Luna made her way over to Hermione's bed, dressed only in her small sunshine yellow nightgown. She smiled at Hermione as she caught her eye through her opened curtains, avoiding all the creaky floorboards she knew the room had.
Luna's circular earrings seemed to glow in the darkness, and Hermione closed her eyes as she felt the side of her bed dip and those small little fingers run through her hair. She felt the other hand come to rest on Hermione's back, rubbing small circles.
Luna had snuck into the Gryffindor dormitories before; her and the Fat Lady had quite the friendship, so she found no issue letting her in, especially since she knew her reasoning behind her occasional visit to Hermione.
Hermione let a smile grace her features as she felt a kiss on her temple, and the movement of the covers so that Luna could settle into bed with her. Luna kept herself propped up against the headboard of Hermione's bed, silently calming her enough to let her drift to sleep. Hermione loved how the younger girl could calm her with a single touch or look, and she loved how Luna had no complaints about it.
Hermione let herself be cuddled into sleeping, and Luna began to hum softly, only aiding the process as she knew she would. Hermione mumbled something, and Luna paused her humming to quietly reply, a smile able to be heard in just her voice.
"Goodnight. I promise I won't let the bed bugs bite."