Disclaimer: Characters, places, stuffs, and other whatnots that has something to do with the Harry Potter series mentioned in this story does not belong to me, but rather to J.K. Rowling.

Third chapter: yay for that! I'm quite groggy from sleepiness, so please do the honor and review it for me. Please tell me what you think of the break up line in there. :) Thanks~!


The Black lake has its usual color and calmness, much like the girl who sat under the middle aged tree beside it. The sky was half filled with clouds –such a pleasant weather. Wind blew occasionally, brushing her dirty blonde hair. A book lay motionless on her lap, guarded by her left hand rested upon it. The other hand lies beside her, holding a bright red colored quill.

She had been sleeping for a couple of hours after she ended everything with her girl friend. The young Hufflepuff came to her, crying. She told her about her brother threatening her, how she was so afraid of what might happen.

So the Ravenclaw did the honor. She hugged her tight, caressing her back and uttered the words that initiated their break up.

"I love you, Paige. But maybe love wasn't enough." She said serenely.

"What do you mean?" The girl responded in between sobs.

"It's not really working, you see. Besides there are far too many-"

Paige broke the hug before Luna managed to finish. "Not working? We've been together for a year now –well, almost a year if only you hadn't left early this term." Her soft beginnings turned into a rowdy complaining. Luna stood there, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Yes, I was away. But as to why, I cannot tell you." She cupped the Hufflepuff's face. "It's me protecting you, Paige. Just trust me."

The younger girl looked down, tears streaming down her face. Luna let go of her face and hugged her instead. There was a brief moment of silence until Paige broke it.

"Many times you pleaded for me to trust you." She looked up at the blonde, their face barely an inch from each other. "But you don't seem to trust me as well." She wiped her tears with the side of her hands and sat on the grass.

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on? I mean, it's your life, I know. But I am your girl friend, I have to know. It's my concern too."

Luna sat beside the younger girl. The wind blew harder and darker clouds engulfed the sky, the lake darkened in synch with it. Few birds flew by, chirping on their way up.

It was true. Luna couldn't tell Paige what happened that day she disappeared. It was the day the death eaters took her to the Malfoy Mansion. No one seemed to notice it except Neville and Ginny. Everyone else thought she just didn't want to come back to Hogwarts.

Luna couldn't tell her girl friend, because Paige's father was among those who took her. None of the Dozram children knew their father was a death eater. Technically, he worked in the ministry. But soon after the death eaters' took over, he switched sides –out of fear. He left his family behind to serve you-know-who, hoping for dark lord to spare his life.

Both Ambert and Paige spoke of their father boldly which made it hard for Luna to confess the truth. Until now, none of the two knew that their father was in Azkaban.

"Knowing, or not knowing the truth would hurt you just the same. I chose not to explain anything because I shouldn't be the one to tell you that. And I'll stand by my decision. I'm sorry Paige."

The Hufflepuff didn't spoke although her expression explained she disagreed with every word Luna said.

"A circle has no beginning," Luna turned to Paige and continued. "… and it has no ending too. I'm afraid we're going in circles Paige. Everyday we're gonna end up hurting each other." There were signs of tears on her eyes. "I wanted so much to keep you, to care for you, to love you. But our lines don't seem to rhyme, our colors don't seem to blend and our scents don't seem to harmonize." Tears now streamed down her pale cheeks. There was a bitter smile on her face. "You're still young, Paige, beautiful and just. I hope you find someone who-"

Paige turned to Luna and firmly slapped her face. Her pale cheeks turned red instantly, with marks of the younger girl's hands.

"You think it's funny? Playing with words as you break someone's heart!" She stood and stepped backwards. "So what if you don't like my scent? You think I like yours? You smell like a tree! I feel like I'm in the forest when I'm with you!"

Lune crossed her brows as the younger girl holler at her. "It's Gum Benzoin, pretty useful to easily get rid of Wrackspurts."

"Shut up! I don't care about your imaginary friends anymore!"

"Paige, don't take it so literally. I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, yeah? Well then fuck off. We're done talking."

Paige dashed out of the scene, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. Things ended differently from how she'd imagined it. She did thought of the slap though, but the scent part was just amusing. She was supposed to cry since there's no one around her. Instead, she laughed at what happened. It would bring Ginny a good laugh too, she thought.

Yes, I'll tell her. I'll tell her later. The blonde closed her eyes and dozed off.


The sky was perfect, Ginny thought. The practice started well –exclude McLaggen who wouldn't stop protesting about not being the Team Captain. Sitting on the audience's bench was Hermione, who brought a book with her knowing that she wouldn't enjoy a bit of what's about to happen.

She agreed to support Ginny on the practice, but only for an hour. It was because she couldn't take Cormac lustily glancing at her as he passed by. There were a lot of new members, but Ginny gives her impression that she could handle everything just fine.

After an hour, Hermione gestured Ginny of her departure. As she made her way back up the castle, a figure of a girl lying down under the tree beside the lake caught her attention. As the Head girl, she detoured towards the girl to check if anything's wrong.

"Hello?" Hermione called out as she was approaching the tree. There was no response. "Excuse me…" She peaked behind the tree and found Luna fast asleep.

Of course. She hadn't thought of anyone else who would lie down outside alone but Luna. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. She's probably waiting for a Blibbering Humdingers, pathetic. The sky cleared out, with few white clouds floating in it. The black lake didn't seem to have the dark colors within it.

Hermione remembered the time she, Ron and Harry were out nowhere, finding Horcruxes. One time they spent time beside a lake way bigger than the one before her eyes. There was something about the Black Lake of Hogwarts though, like it has something to offer the other greater lakes cannot.

"The Giant Squid." A dreamy voice spoke behind Hermione.

She was lost in her thoughts, reminiscing those dark but somewhat happy times. "I'm sorry?"

"The existence of the Giant Squid differentiates the Black Lake from other bodies of water, even to the other lakes." Luna said, combing her dirty blonde hair with her fingers.

"Right, I didn't think of that." How the hell did she know what I was thinking about?

"You didn't consider it because you doubt its existence." The blonde picked up her stuffs and walked passed Hermione.

"Well…"

"It's wonderful though, for you to think that something magical lies within its depths -quite unusual for Hermione, but wonderful nonetheless."

The brunette blushed. She felt a pinch to her chest.

"Why, thank you." She looked away, hiding her pinkish cheeks. "I didn't really come down here for that. I was just wondering who was lying under the tree. I was worried that something might have happened."

"Of course, that's expected from a Head Girl. I'm afraid not everyone's like you though."

That was an awkward moment for Hermione. The first time she felt like that was when Ron and her inadvertently held hands as Harry was trying to introduce himself to Buckbeak, who's now better known as Witherwings.

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. This is nothing special. She took a deep breath to ease the tension in her chest.

"What are you doing here anyway? It's a bit cold out here." She stood beside Luna whose attention seemed to float above the Black lake.

Hermione and Luna weren't the best of friends. They barely clicked because they have opposing views and beliefs. Whenever Ron compliments Luna, she felt anxious at some point. She was too skeptic about whatever the blonde has to say. There was a peculiar feeling that makes her feel furious.

"What are you suppose to do next? Now that you found out who was sleeping under the tree?" The Ravenclaw answered as if she didn't hear what Hermione said.

"I'm supposed to, uhm." Hermione thought of a second. "Check if the person sleeping under the tree was fine. By the way, is anything the matter Luna?"

The blonde turned to her, showing the brunette her awful state –her eyes damp and deep, her face paler than the usual. There was a visible mark on her cheek that appears to be in the shape of hands.

There was a great twitch on her stomach. What happened to her? She gasped. Words seemed to evaporate away from her lips. Had she been crying? And where did that mark come from?

She couldn't say anything. All those time Luna spoke as if everything was fine. It was too much for her to take. The brunette's arms flew around the blonde's body, hugging her tightly. Hermione's warm body met Luna's, it was cold and motionless. A tinkling sensation stroke Hermione. She couldn't prevent the tears in her eyes from falling. Why am I feeling like this? Her body moved as if it has a mind of its own. Her thoughts were distracted clouds on her head. She couldn't think, so she didn't pursue it any further.

Luna rested her head on Hermione's shoulder. There's another brief moment of silence and stillness. The two of them have an obvious difference, but as for that time, that instant, whatever it was that comes between them, happened to disappear.


"You have always been a cry baby, Hermione."

The words knocked Hermione back to her senses. She opened her eyes and there they were, still holding each other, beside the lake. She couldn't remember how long had they been standing there, in each other's arms.

Hermione quickly let go of the blonde, her face as pink as her lips were. "I'm… I'm…"

"Please don't be sorry for making someone feel better."

Hermione nodded. She took a handkerchief from her robe's pocket and wiped her tears away.

"Why did you cry anyway?"

"I… I don't have the faintest idea why. I just kind of… sort of…"

Luna chuckled a bit. The usual, unusual, tone of her voice seemed to return. "You're blushing, Hermione. Oh, and shaking too." Conscious of herself, the Gryffindor turned away. Merlin's beard, Hermione!

"Do I make Hermione blush? Was it something I said?" Her voice softening.

"No, Luna…" She jerked farther away from Luna.

"I think we should go inside now, it's getting dark."

Hermione almost jumped in gratefulness for Luna changing the topic. She managed to relax herself before she turned back to Luna.

"It's getting dark and misty and…" Luna's voice trailed off. Her breath quickened. Luna tried to keep her eyes opened, but she didn't have the strength to do so. Slowly, she fell down on the grass from where she was standing. She could only open her mouth and spoke for the last time that afternoon, "Herm…"

And indeed, everything went all dark.