Chapter 4
"One hundred and ninety nine, two hundred," Luna counted, sweeping the monstrous pile of gold into her handbag. Luna appeared, empty handed much to Hermione's displeasure. After Harry, Ron and Ginny had seated themselves, scowling, in some wobbly, chintz armchairs that Neville had conjured, Hermione turned to Luna with a mix of intense excitement on her face.
"Why didn't you pick up your Dirigible plant?" Hermione questioned Luna, who was sitting back in her chair with her purse clanking heavily, smiling.
"I couldn't find one at the shop near the Leaky Cauldron. I've already owled Daddy and about our trip and the plum plant. Daddy said he'd help me find another one, in a half an hour we're going to a little place Daddy said sells excellent magical herbs and fungi. You could come along if you want; Daddy said he may have found a protective amulet for you. It'll ward off the liowonwaggles that are buzzing around your ankles." Luna said softly, squeezing Ron's hand as he held it tenderly in his.
"Hermione, what do you want with a dirigible plant?" asked Neville curiously. His love for anything plant-related was bigger now. With the death of his formidable grandmother he now spent more time reading about, and caring for his extensive and almost never ending plant collection. He also spent more time visiting his parents in 's. He visited them nearly every day, trying hard to make up for lost time now that he didn't have to wait for the holidays to see them.
Hermione thought sadly that Neville had been through too many hardships in his life. With his parents permanently incapacitated, although now they dimly recognized him, and his grandmother passing away, fate had been cruel to him. Hermione had always thought that Neville's grandmother had been rather harsh but knew that she had loved him fiercely and she had always tried to do the best for him.
Shaking her head from depressing thoughts, she looked over at Neville whom was having great difficulty with his chair. Neville's chair was exceedingly unsteady; one leg was an inch too short while another was nearly five inches too long.
"Here Neville, stand up." Hermione sighed. As he did so, she vanished his chair and conjured a perfectly proportioned chair. It landed softly where the rocky one had been moments ago.
"Thanks Hermione, it was getting quite uncomfortable. I can never get the legs to be quite the right length." As he said this he glanced around, noticing for the first time that everyone had vanished his badly conjured chairs, and had stealthily conjured their own ones. "Anyways Hermione," he continued, chuckling slightly at himself, "what were you getting the Dirigible plum plant for again? "
"I remembered Xenophilius saying that the dirigible plant had stabilizing properties. My potion has been off balance since I used a Reversal Incantation. I'm hoping it will act as a stabilizing ingredient. I've tried everything I can think of to make it work; this is pretty much a shot in the dark." Hermione explained in a rush.
"Dirigibles are fascinating plants. I've grown them for potion making before, they're very hard to use properly in potions. I know I'm not the world's best potioneer, I mean Snape would have died of heart failure I had made passing potion in class, but I know that dirigibles do have a few stabilizing properties, but the rest of them are usually explosive. Mess up one thing and more than your eyebrows will be singed" said Neville simply.
"You wear explosive earrings?" Ron nearly shouted at Luna, quickly scanning her ears for these bomb-like radishes.
"Don't be silly Ron. When they are dried out, brewed, stewed or cut they are highly dangerous. Kurlips always buzz around dangerous things, hoping for a clumsy victim. I only wear them fresh, that way Kurlips won't follow me around and make me trip over things." Luna said serenely, laying a placating hand on his arm.
"That's not all though," Neville continued, picking up on Luna's 'Things Not to Do with Dirigibles or You'll Be Blown to Jupiter's Third Moon' list. "If you throw them into a hot or cold potion it will just make the potion congeal. More often than not the potion is wrecked, yet if you throw it into a room temperature one we'll have to scrape you off the ceiling and into a casket. I only know of two ways you can safely used them in potions. You can either crush it with a marble sized acorn at quarter moon, clad only in frog spleens while humming a popular love song, although I think it must include some sort of cheese in the lyrics. The other more popular choice is to puncture the skin of the plum with a solid gold needle in some specific runes. The juices should then flow from the dirigible into the cauldron."
"For a moment there I was worried it may be complicated," Harry joked, pointing his wand at Hermione's eyebrows. "Hermione, could you lift up your fringe please?" As she complied he quickly re-grew her eyebrows, chuckling at the sparkle in her eyes. As he and Ron exchange amused looks, they both reminisced about a time she used to get that sparkle. Before the war Hermione would nearly always have that look when some exciting challenge had presented itself. Usually she was hurriedly making several solutions to it at once. After the war she was wearier and less passionate, less Hermione.
"I've got three batches left; I'll try the methods on the first two, and then make a good batch with the working method. Then I can test the third myself, maybe I'll go back and take my N.E.W.T.'s," she finished dreamily.
"Wow, N.E.W.T.'s, great choice of what to do in the past. It sounds so thrilling," said Ginny sarcastically. "I was wondering if I could see you do the first method? I swear I'll only take a few pictures of you covering in frog spleen in the moonlight. I'll take just enough for me to send a few to the Daily Prophet and all our friends, plus a few for later blackmail purposes." Ginny grinned wickedly at her.
"Ginny, everyone knows that you have to be on a deserted meadow hilltop for it to work," Luna said, smiling benignly at her, much like a teacher whose student asked an exceedingly obvious question.
As Ginny's expression turned to one of incredulity, she turned to Ron who, in response to her unspoken question of Luna's level of sanity, merely laughed weakly and squeezed Luna's hand. As Hermione watched the exchange she smiled to herself and turning to Luna motioned to her watch. Luna, picking up on Hermione's signal, grabbed her straining purse and stood up gracefully. She pecked Ron on the lips before hugging the remaining three and hurrying after Hermione. Hermione had already flow out the door and was pushing the lift button impatiently when Luna arrived.
Once they reached the Atrium, Hermione strode quickly to the apparition point. She had to keep tugging on Luna's arm, for Luna was sure she had seen a Quiggle Blench in an elderly woman's handbag. Wanting to stop and try to dance with the creature, Luna was hindering Hermione's progress and fraying her patience quickly. Finally reaching the apparition point, they turned on the spot into the compressing darkness.
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. First I was sick, and then I was away in Europe for a few weeks. (I love France!) Thanks again to my betas!