Padma Patil couldn't sleep. She was sitting up in her bed, posture as flawless as ever, and staring at her small alarm clock, which was faintly illuminated by the starlight peering in from between her voluminous blue curtains. There was complete and utter silence, save for the almost inaudible click as the second hand slowly made its way around the face of the clock.
It was painstakingly slow to watch, but it was the only thing in the room worth watching.
As the hour hand and the minute hand met at midnight, Padma decided that she shan't waste time. Stepping nimbly out of bed, she smoothed out her nightgown, tugging at the place where static had the delicate fabric clinging to her leg. She grabbed the robe that had been draped over her headboard, then thought better of it and changed, out of her nightgown and into a simple dress. She fastened on a sapphire-colored cloak, and slipped her feet into a pair of flats.
There was no need to wear her school uniform, not for a nighttime stroll.
The common room was empty as she made her way through, stepping out of the tower, down the spiraling steps and making her way towards the more central part of the castle. Where she was going, she had no idea. But sometimes, even now, in the dead of the night, it was nice not to know.
What was nice to know, though, was that she would at least have some solitude at this hour. It was odd to see the corridors so empty, odd to actually hear the click of her feet against the stone floors for once, instead of it all being drowned out by the sheer number of students and teachers alike that so often overtook Padma.
Tonight she was able to be heard.
Tonight she could pass by one of the vast windows and actually see her silhouette within it.
It was bittersweet, however.
For she may have been seen, but it would only ever be by herself.
She reminded herself that she liked it that way.
She should savor her seclusion, the few moments of it she got.
"Hello?" a voice bounced through the corridor, hardly more than a whisper. But it had Padma on the tips of her toes, pressing herself against the wall as so not to be seen.
Merlin, if she was caught here, caught like this…
She'd never hear the end of it. And her hopes of becoming Ravenclaw prefect in the coming years would be dashed as well.
Padma held her breath, though she was acutely aware of how loudly her heart was beating. The logical side of her knew it was irrational, but she was sure that the entire castle could hear it.
"Is anyone there?" the voice called again. It was closer this time, close enough for Padma to notice how young- and decidedly feminine- it sounded.
Padma wasn't quite sure what drove her next to release her breath, all in one go.
She wasn't quite sure what drove her to step out of the shadows and peer around the corner.
And she had no idea what drove her to smile, eyes brightening, when Luna Lovegood's face, a hazy, dreamy expression on it, met hers.
"Aha!" Luna said triumphantly, and this time, she took no care to whisper.
Padma's eyes widened, and she pressed a finger to the other girl's lips as she shushed her. "You have to be quiet! We'll get caught." Scandalized, she dared to look around the corridor, tugging Luna into the shadow of the curtains as so not to be seen.
Blessedly, they were still alone.
Luna lips quirked into a smile beneath Padma's hand as she carefully removed it from her mouth. "Don't worry," she said in a tone that would have been reassuring had she still not been speaking so loudly. "We won't get caught."
"I don't believe you," was Padma's reply, stubborn as ever. She crossed her arms over her chest, turning on her heel.
"Come on, let's head back to the dorms," she called brusquely over her shoulder.
Clearly, this had been an awful idea. They were risking everything. Why had Padma even left in the first place? She should be asleep right now, or, at the very least, still in her room.
Her pace quickened down the hallway, heedless to whether or not Luna was behind her. It was only when she noticed the absence of footsteps that her conscience surfaced enough for her to stop and turn around.
Luna had not moved from their spot against the wall. Upon catching Padma's eye, she waved. "Come on, don't be a spoilsport," she said, blush-pink lips flipping into a small pout.
"I am not a spoilsport," Padma proclaimed, somewhat indignant.
"Then-" But Luna's next comment was cut off by the sound of footsteps. Heavier this time, Padma's heart skipped a beat when she realized that they were not the footfalls of a student.
She pressed her lips tightly together to suppress a gasp, silently padding back over to Luna. She was apprehensive about staying with the other girl- after all, it was her careless chatter that had probably alerted whoever was coming for them- but the only feasible hiding spot was behind the curtains nearby.
"What if it's the Bloody Baron?" Luna whispered morosely, so close Padma could feel her breath on her ear
"Or worse- Professor Snape," she continued.
Padma felt a shiver run through her. "Don't say that," she chided.
Luna's reply was genuine, but all the more perturbing for that fact. "Speculating won't change who it is, will it?"
The footsteps drew closer. "It's probably just Filch," Padma decided, though even that thought had her heart racing.
For if Argus Filch caught them, two second-years scurrying around the castle at half-past midnight, who knew what would become of them?
Perhaps speculating wouldn't change the outcome, but that didn't mean it would make things any better.
Padma was breathless now, partly from sprinting through the halls, cloak wound tightly around her hands as so not to trip over it, and partly from trying to do so as silently as possible.
In a split-second, horribly reckless decision, she had decided they make a run for it, hoping that Filch wouldn't hear them, or that, if he did, the caretaker would be too slow to follow.
She took the stairs up to the Ravenclaw tower two at a time, and it was only when she nearly slipped and fell in the process that she realized that Luna's hand had been in hers, fingers intertwined, the entire time.
It was only then that she realized that perhaps her heartbeat had nothing to do with fear of being caught.
"Journey without it and you will never prevail, but if you have too much of it, you will surely fail," the knocker singsonged to them.
Merlin, Padma had forgotten about the knocker. She was usually an expert at solving its riddles, one of the first students to find the answer, despite her young age, but now-
Now she was dizzy with adrenaline and fear and… something else.
So when Luna said, "Confidence," Padma could not help but offer a small, grateful smile before they both stumbled into the common room.
"That was delightful, wasn't it?" Luna said, her own smile effervescently bright.
"Delightful," Padma echoed in a deadpan. She opened her mouth to start on a tirade of how it had most certainly not been delightful, they'd nearly gotten caught, for Merlin's sake- but the words fell away at her lips.
"I guess you could call it that," she said instead, the statement surprising herself even more so than Luna.
They settled onto one of the chairs facing the window, gazing out at the magnificent views it offered. Padma recalled watching the starlight from earlier, from the solitude of her own dorm.
But sitting here, Luna's hand in her own, she decided that perhaps solitude wasn't always the best thing.