A/N: For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.
However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…
I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.
"Speak."
'Thoughts.'
Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.
Special Warning: In this chapter there is a little too much OOC and a little regression... just saying, don't read if you're easily offended.
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I only have a Slytherin necklace and a Hogwarts' wristband…
Chapter Seven - Mourn
"-'Hush!' said the Cabby."
The old witch smiled at the sight that welcomed her.
"They all listened. In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it. The horse seemed to like it too; he gave the sort of whinney a horse would give if, after years of being a cab-horse, it found itself back in the old field where it had played as a foal, and saw someone whom it remembered and loved coming across the field to bring it a lump of sugar."
The youngest girl was curled into a tight ball on the sofa. Her blonde head rested softly on one of the brunette's thighs, her locks sprawled all over her lap with her face turned towards the older girl's stomach. Her chest rose and fell lightly.
"'Gawd!' said the Cabby. 'Ain't it lovely?'"
The fifth-year witch's free hand was combing through the flaxen head, gently untangling it. The other hand, the non-dominant one, was holding the small book from where she was reading out loud, making sure that it did not bothered the resting girl in her lap.
"Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn't come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out—single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you could have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which-"
Hermione stopped reading when she finally sensed someone watching her. Lowering her book she peeked from above it, reddening when she saw a smiling Minerva watching them. "Er…"
"Good night, Neenie." The older woman smile widened when the teen reddened to look as a tomato at the use of the most hated nickname.
"Don't call me that!" The girl hissed. It had started with Sniffles calling her that, then Minerva had adopted it and used it as often as possible when they were alone. She feared what could happen if the name got to the rest of Hogwarts' population.
The old Headmistress chuckled and swiftly sat at what she liked to call her armchair. "It suits you, Neenie."
The teen simply growled. She knew by now that discussing with Minerva was a lost cause, so she simply changed the topic. "Have you eaten?" She asked. "We have some chicken and salad at the table, Sniffles brought us much more than we could eat." She offered waving at the mentioned table.
"I have, thank you." She nodded in gratitude, finally noticing that Luna had not moved as she was calmly napping. Shifting a little she could easily see how the youngest girl's nose was pressed firmly onto Hermione's tummy and how her right thumb was neatly placed in her mouth. The cheek she could see was stained with tear paths. "She looks comfy." She commented with an eyebrow raised, wondering how they had ended so, well, comfortable.
The brunette smiled sadly, her hand never stopped caressing the soft hair. "We had sort of a problem before dinner and she got a little upset." She eyed the older witch. "I was simply reading to her so she could fall asleep."
"A problem?" Minerva asked just a tad alarmed.
Hermione gently levitated her book to the table, knowing full well that she was not going to keep reading anytime soon. She started explaining. "Shortly after you left I ask Luna for some time to do our homework. I was finishing one of my essays when I noticed that she wasn't doing anything other than watching me, with something like an intrigued look on her face. I asked why she wasn't doing her own homework and she stated she haven't any… I, being me, didn't believe her." Minerva scoffed at that. Hermione could smell homework from a mile away.
"So I kinda forced her to show me her notes." She continued. "She didn't have any and that lead me to realize that little Luna here is behind in all her school work, both homework and classwork." The brunette winced a little. "I got angry and I may have scolded her a little too harsh."
She was not going to confess to her mentor how she had practically berated the girl to where the girl was crying and asking for forgiveness. It had taken the brightest witch in the century ten whole, tears filled, minutes to understand that Luna did not had a clue of why she was being chided. It had taken Hermione another ninety minutes to calm the girl down, ask for forgiveness and patiently explain why she had been so angry and what the word homework meant.
"Don't you say." Minerva deadpanned. And angry Hermione was something that could make even the Headmistress cry.
Hermione frowned. She still felt guilty of how she had exploded to the little thing sleeping in her lap, and it did nothing to ease her guilt when she realized that she had made the girl cry just a day before she was set to leave for the holidays. It also did nothing for the guilt she always felt when talking with Minerva. "I think she doesn't know that we are supposed to turn in work after class, or that we are assigned essays often."
The old witch sighed. "I know you are, indeed, right."
And for the next hour the Headmistress told her young friend what had happened at the staff meeting and what she had learnt about the little blonde.
XxXxX
The voice that had lulled her to sleep was no longer going on and on about some boy and his magician uncle, and another, scratcher one, had joined it. The mix was not unpleasant and she decided to let Minerva and Neenie talk while she went back to sleep in a place where she was safe.
She had a full tummy and a nice place to rest, coupled with a pair of soothing voices, why should not she take the chance she had been given?
XxXxX
"Luna, honey, wake up." The blonde girl frowned. She did not want to wake up! She was playing with the little Riogpakds, running around and chasing one another… the monkey like creatures were fun to be around!
"Luna, please, wake up."
"No." She mumbled around her thumb. She sighed contently and burrowed deeper onto the warm body that lay beneath her.
A soft groan. "Please Luna, I need to pee!"
The blonde whimpered, she knew that need to well, too well that it was not even funny. Without opening her eyes she simply let herself roll away from a top Hermione's warm body, falling softly in the mattress below. She felt how the older girl practically sprang from the bed and dashed out the room, sounding as an avalanche was taking place.
Luna half opened one eye, debating with herself if she needed to wake up or nor. It was still dark and the room was chilled. From her spot on the bed she could see the dorm's window and the moon that hung clearly in the sky. It was still night, then, and she could easily keep sleeping. She closed her eye and forced herself to return to her dreams.
The only problem was that she just could not.
Several minutes passed before she finally gave up. Sitting up she looked around and was not surprised to find herself in Hermione's bedroom. She frowned. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep resting on the older witch's lap, lulled by a story she was rather enjoying, though it was fairly strange.
A shiver passed her body. The air was too cold and she gathered the blankets to cover herself more thoughtfully. Maybe Hermione had carried her to bed, then, because she did not remember being tucked in. And, if she considered that she was now wearing one of her flannel pajamas, then the older girl surely had done it while she was dead to the world.
Said girl chose that moment to re-enter the room, she was dressed pretty much the same as Luna remembered from the night before, a thin see-through camisole and a pair of, strangely enough, boxers. The older girl's chest was easily visible and it showed the blonde that it was indeed a very cold night. Her slightly darkened areolas made the younger girl stare and the oldest one blushed, making a conscious effort not to cover herself.
"Sorry I woke you… I really needed to go." She climbed to the bed again, swiftly taking a sip from a bottle that was at her bedside table and grimacing at the taste. She settled herself beneath the covers, sighing softly when her freezing feet made contact with the warmth she had to escape in order to relive herself.
"It's okay." Luna mumbled, her thumb still firmly placed in her mouth, wondering what the girl was drinking. The brunette had taken a larger sip before going to bed the first time they slept together and now she was taking it again. She thought about that for a second before her eyes widened, alarmed. The finger was quickly pulled from her mouth and she promptly put the offending hand under her bottom, looking like any small child who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Hermione smiled, having seeing the girl sucking her thumb ever since the first night she had slept besides her. It was an unconscious thing, as she knew fully well that the blonde fell asleep almost without prompting, and minutes later, the thumb would found its way inside the ever sucking mouth. "It's fine, Luna."
The girl frowned. "You are not angry?"
Hermione blinked, truly perplexed at the way the girl had phrased the question. This was a first as Luna was not known to talk 'normally'. However, she could not think about it too much because the girl was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. "I'd never get mad for something that makes you happy, Luna."
The little girl's frown deepened, truly confused. "But…"
The brunette echoed her frown, knowing fully well why the girl did not believe her. "I confess there are things that makes me mad, some more than others, and schoolwork is often at the top of that list." She scooted over to the other girl, almost knee to knee, and took hold of the hidden hand. "But, I promise you, Luna, I'll try to never get angry at you again," she smirked and interlaced their fingers together, not caring about the slight wetness she felt. "At least not until I've talk to you about it, okay?"
Luna blinked owlish, sudden tears filling her eyes. She hated the way this woman made her feel. Hermione had been the very first person to ever make an effort to talk to her, as even her mother had talked to her like a baby up until she had died, and her father still talked to her with strange references and crazy stories.
The brunette had been the first to seek contact with her ever since her mother had died, almost six years ago. She had been the first to defend her from an angry teacher, the first to make sure she had eaten, the first that had taken the time to find why she had so much trouble grasping the homework concept, the first that had read her to sleep in several years…
"And I swear, Luna Lovegood, that I will never, ever, get angry for something that makes you happy."
Hermione Granger was the very first person to ever make her feel truly loved ever since her mother passed away.
With a heavy sob the lithe girl launched herself to the older girl's arms, the tears that previously had fallen silently were now finally accompanied by the cries of her tortured soul. She had learnt to cry silently, as not to bother others, as not to give them more ammunition to torture her, but this witch, this marvelous human being, was safe to finally let loose and mourn.
Mourn for her mother's demise. Mourn for her father's indifference. Mourn for the normal childhood she had been denied. Mourn for the life she had let behind at the Rook. But more importantly, mourn for the love lost she had not have until Hermione had arrived.
