Wow you guys never disappoint me! I was once again very happy with the response to the chapter! Im so sorry its been so long since I updated , the holidays have been so busy. One of my resolutions this year is to try and update weekly. T hank you guys! Oh just an extra, I am offering my beta skills! Heh heh. If you would like me to beta your stories I would be happy to do it.
"Ah…Hermione Granger…What a lovely surprise." A pair of grey-blue eyes twinkled at me as one of my best friends in the world stood before me with her crafted wand pointed straight at me. I grinned.
"Luna! How nice to see you." She lowered her wand and embraced me. "Sorry about that. Safety precaution. With Voldemort on the prowl…got to be safe eh?"
I was welcomed into her home, which was true to every sense of the word. The entire living room was basked in a warm orange glow…with the aroma of cinnamon and sugar wafting from every corner.
There was an endless amount of pictures of Luna and her parents hung and set everywhere in oddly shaped frames. Regardless…it was definitely an extremely comfortable atmosphere.
"Luna? Who was at the door dear?" I soon came face to face with and older, possibly more beautiful version of Luna. She was average height, with an attractive sculpted face, and silvery hair pulled into a messy bun.
"Oh Mother, this is one of my very good friends...Hermione." (A/N yes…Luna's mother is alive in this story and she should be dead…but this is my story! XD)
"Oh! It's nice to meet you Hermione. I'm Christa Lovegood. I don't know where my husband has gone off too. He's probably in that messy, old office of his trying to fix that dodgy printer. When will that man quit? My goodness look at me rambling! You must be tired standing there. Would you like a biscuit?" I had to stand in silence to process all she had said.
"Oh, no thank you Mrs. Lovegood. I just came to pay a visit to Luna, and ask her a little question." I turned to Luna with a grin on my face. "I was wondering if you wanted to do a little one-on-one combat practice. We have to stay in shape you know."
Luna's response was a shocking one. She bounced on her toes and clapped her hands. " Oooh I love combat practice! There's a big field behind my house. Lets go!" Then I was promptly drug by the hand and pulled into the back yard, Christa's tinkling laugh filling the air.
~*0*~
"Alright, let's set the rules. Rule number one, no serious injury. OK let's go!" I smiled as I fixed the hem of my tank top and pulled out my fingerless gloves from my pocket. They had a strip of metal that stretched across my knuckles, making my punch quite hard. I changed into more comfortable shorts, and pulled my hair up.
Luna was basically in the same attire but there was much more light to her face. "Hurry up you old croon, I want to fight!" I smirked and crouched. "Then bring it!"
Third person pod
Luna crouched down, one leg straight behind her, the other bent to where her knee touched her chest. Her hands were poised directly on either side of her body, fingertips barely touching the ground. She sprang with an excited yell and pounced at Hermione spot only to slide in a full circle on clean ground.
Hermione was a few feet away laughing with her hands on her hips. With a growl, Luna launched herself once again at Hermione and barely caught hold of her shirt to throw her on the grass.
Hermione hooked her shoes in the dips on the side of her opponent's stomach, and pulled down to the side pulling Luna with her on the ground beside her place on the ground. Then she rolled over, dug her knees in Luna's sides and wrapped her fingers around her throat, not tightly, but not loosely.
Luna hooked her arms around Hermione shoulder and yanked, flipping them over again, except Hermione was on her stomach, her arms twisted behind her. "I win!" Luna shouted gleefully. With a yell, Hermione flung her legs into Luna's back, getting an oof form said kicked person.
Hermione jumped up and flipped her long hair behind her while Luna was still on the ground. Before Hermione could lunge back into the fight, a small voice stopped her. "Hermione? What exactly are you doing?" Hermione whirled around to see Ginny, Harry, and Ron's heads peering above Luna's wrought iron fence.
Luna got up from her position in the dirt and brushed off her legs. "I do believe you two did not receive an invitation to my home." Ginny looked shocked. "But-but which two? Last year you said that I-" Luna waved Ginny's sentence off.
"Not you Gin. I meant Ronald and Harry." Ginny looked relieved. With that, she grabbed the top of the fence and swung herself over it, much like Hermione did.
She went to stand by Hermione who was still in shock, completely avoiding Ron and Harry's stares. Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and tugged it up and down, looking like a five year old. "Hermione that was fantastic! How did you get the strength to do that?"Hermione snapped out of her reverie and shook her head.
"What did you say Gin?" Luna frowned. Hermione never lost her focus like that. She must really be uncomfortable with Harry and Ron here, but why? Then it clicked. They must not know about her!
"Yes well like I said, you two can show yourself out. The three of us have things to discuss, so…" Harry turned to Hermione, as if expecting her to have them stay, but she still refused to look him in the eye. His expression became hurt, and he shook his head and stepped down, his unruly hair disappearing from sight.
Ron's face was red, and he opened his mouth to say something harsh, but was stopped by Ginny's hand. "Just go, Ron." He growled and stepped down as well.
Hermione took a shuddering breath and sat down hard. She couldn't understand what made her freeze up. She was afraid of anything, let alone two teenage boys. Luna crouched down next to her, and Ginny flopped down on her stomach playing with a blade of grass. Luna cleared her throat and looked up at the clear sky. Not a cloud in sight.
"What a lovely day. I think it hasn't been this clear yet this season!" Luna exclaimed. "Oh yea! It's been so breezy!" Ginny replied. Hermione smiled. They were trying to clear the awkwardness in the air. What good friends she had.
*~0~*
A few hours later Luna was waving enthusiastically from her front door. "Don't forget we're going shopping tomorrow!" She yelled. Ginny and Hermione turned around to smile. "We won't!" Hermione yelled. The two girls hooked arms and continued the trek to The Weasley home. It was almost dusk, the sky was filled with orange and purple hues, the crickets starting to come out, and enjoy the night that was approaching.
"Hermione," Ginny said hesitantly. "There's something I'd like to know." Hermione nodded slowly. She didn't like where the conversation was going. "Today, when you and Luna were fighting, I-I was surprised. You, you were so good. I'd never realized you were that skilled. And- and your, how shall I put this, aura, is so different around me, around my whole family. You seem so…guarded. But today, with Luna, you were so free, and light," Ginny paused, her voice became thick and she sniffed.
"I-I don't understand. What-what did I d-do?" Hermione stopped and unhooked her arm from Ginny's grasp and instead hugged the distraught girl. "Oh Ginny. I didn't realize you would be affected this way. Im-im sorry. Let's get back to your house. I'll explain everything later." Ginny nodded and let Hermione lead her back down the grassy hill.
~*0*~
The two girls entered through the back door and headed up the creak steps. The turned to Ginny room and shut the door. Meanwhile, Harry, and ron were curious as to what was happening. " Merlin, I wish we knew what was happening." Ron said.
Harry stayed silent, staring out of the window. Then Ron perked up. " Hey! Fred and George are home! Lets see if they have some spare extendable ears!" The two boys made their way to the twins' room. After some convincing, the brothers decided to be generous.
" Here you go. A pair of our new and improved extendable ears. These actually attach to your ears, making a 75 percent increase in hearing reception. Much clearer." So with that, the boys headed upstairs to Ginny's room.
Bad mistake.
Just as Hermione opened her mouth, she frowned. Something wasn't right. Her senses were on alert.
They were being spied on.
She started to look around the ceiling to look for a bug, but realized the wards around the Weasley house would only defect them. That's when she noticed the flesh toned tube creeping beneath the gap under the door. She smirked. Though she wasn't aware of the Weasley twin's improvement she figured what she was about to do would still stop the reception.
She walked over by the door, and with her tennis shoe clad foot, lifted up her leg, and flung her foot upon the extendable ear. There was a satisfying squish beneath her shoe.
" YOW!" Ginny jumped and ran to the door. The sight in the hall was quite..interesting. Harry and Ron were clutching their ears, rolling on the floor. Ron let loose a string of curse words. Hermione laughed.
" What a colorful vocabulary you have Ron."
