Chapter 36 - That Night
"I'm still not sure about this" said Luna, "I still just kinda want a quiet night to bask in the sadness that is my forgotten birthday" and she sighed a big sad sigh, like Bill Sigh the Sad Guy. "Please just trust me, once we're sat down and having a few drinks everything will be okay, plus we can go back and watch more films later on if you want" said Rincewind encouragingly. Luna stopped feeling shit for a few seconds and took this proposal on seriously. She had really enjoyed spending time with Rincewind and maybe they could spend the rest of the night watching some films. She figured that they'd forget about the time and accidentally stay in her room beyond the curfew and that he would have to stay the night. Esk would be away wherever she was. Luna didn't really care, she had been a shit as a friend with this hole party and Luna didn't care where she stayed overnight. "Yeah, okay then" she said, looking forward to a nice couple of quiet drinks with Rindwince at the pub before going back to her room. She felt a warm feeling in her sole that she wasn't used to as she opened the door to the sleepy quiet pub.
"Suprise!" they all shouted at Luna in perfect unison. Luna was surprised as intended. "I am so surprised" she said in a very literal way which was a bit quirky but no more than everybody had come to expect, "can I smell beef? AND POTATOES?" she shouted as the excitement got the best, the best of her. "Yes indeed" said Esk, "why are you so surprised" continued Esk privately to Luna, "I did mention this to you before". Luna didn't want to be a bitchy dickhole and admit that she didn't think that Esk was good enough as a friend and person to actually give her the birthday party that she promised, so instead she lied and said "oh yeah, silly me I forgot", and then gave herself a playful slap on the forehead and headed over to the beef. Rincewind walked over to the bar and sat down. "Hullo there stranger, what can I get yer fer?" asked Neville. "I'll have a drink of alcohol" said Rincewind like the adult he was. "Coming right up" said Neville as he scooted back and made a world class Hokey Pokey. Rincewind took a sip and sighed a little as he looked over at the party. There was such marvelous frivolity, but a part of him just wanted to go and watch some more films. "You alright there?" asked Neville, always looking out for his friends. "Yeah, just a little tired is all" Rincewind replied as he had another sip of his drink. Hermione came over to the bar and sat down next to him. "Hey buddy, what's crackin?" she asked with a little bit of energy. "Not much, just sitting back and enjoying the party." he replied. Hermione ordered a Long Russian which Neville dutifully made. "My first year at Hogwarts was a bit awkward and perilous", she startered "I was cast about as a bit of a weirdo myself. I wasn't really the easiest person to get on with and took myself way too seriously. I feel very lucky with my friends but I guess I had to realise that it's okay to just be me without having to impose me on others." she said. "Like this party", as she took a sip of her Russian, "I can tell by the look on your face that you're not a huge big party type". Rincewind shook his head, impressed at her deduction. "You would much rather just have a chill. It's nothing personal against anyone, in fact, you really do enjoy our company, just not this party atmosphere". "How do you know this?" asked Rinceinwd. "Because I feel the exact same way" answered Hermione as she chinked their glasses together and took a long hard drink. "So then" said Rincewind, "the big question is, why do you do this then?". "Because it makes Ron happy. He is willing to give up a lot of things for me, and to even get huge a muscly. The least I can do is make the odd appearance at the bar. It's a working compromise that we both ultimately benefit from." she explained with wisdom far beyond her ears. "Where is he now?" Rincewind asked. "He's over on the pinball machine trying to beat Harry's score." she replied as she rolled all of her eyes at the situation and they both took in a drink.
The lights buzzed and flashed on and off as Ron neared Harry's score. Quite a few people had gathered around them to see if the prince of pinball would lose his crown to some random ginger guy who also happened to be his best friend. Ron was down on his last ball and was nearing a multi-ball phase which would almost guarantee him the high score. He just needed one last ball to lock into place. Harry was trying to act cool but was actually a sweaty boy as Ron neared his high score. Luna walked over to the crowd with a big plate of potatoes and looked over at the pinball. "I didn't know that you were such a pinball wizard" she said to Ron. Ron didn't really want to reply or to talk to anyone as he concentrated on keeping his ball intact. He was now within a few hundred points of Harry's score and it looked like he would surely beat it. Luna stood still with her mouth agape, but not too much as to attract bothersome flies, and watched. "What is all of this trivial, fruitless, insignificant, purposeless, desultory, and ultimately improper and nefarious activity?!" howled a bemused Percy. Ron got into such a frightened rage at this that he lost his attention briefly and the ball fell down the central avenue. The bonuses appeared on the screen as everyone ignored Percy. "I asked you previously about your wrongful doings and I have received not a jot in response. I declare that more than precisely zero of you peasants communicate the purpoise of this at once!" he schreeched. "Percy, will you please just fuck off!" shouted Ron, filled with manly brotherly hate. "No, for I am still head boy of Gryfindoor and prefect and you all are-" he started back before Luna interrupted, "no, you are precisely shit all and have no power here. Gryfindoor is no longer a fucking house and all you are is a big ginger unemployed prick that nobody likes and the only way that you can get the slightest stiffy that you need to stroke yourself off at night, is to make us all feel like shit" she barked, letting out all of her pent up womanly rage. People started to get behind Luna and said good things like "yeah" and "woop" when they suddenly heard a robotic voice. "Game over" it said like Stephen Hawkins. They all looked over to the pinball screen. First place was Harry with 40,149,300 and also in first place tied was Captina Arr with 40,149,300 also.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. They weren't sure waht to do about the tie. Should they be happy? Should they be angry? The were unsure. They just knew that they wanted to be angry at Percy. "Yeah, why are you even here?" they asked angrily. They wanted to either be happy or sad, but this emotional ambiguity just made their blood boil. "I'm here because SOMEBODY must look over you all and keep you away from mischief" he said. "What sort of fucking mischief do you mean? And how did you even get here?" asked Harry, "you weren't in brill and you sure as fuck didn't get here on no dragon." Percy paused and thought for a second. He then sighed and said, "well...let's just say I have some friends who are more important than any of you" and he stuck his tongue out. Ron suddenly became like a big cat like a leotard and pounced on him snarling, "You will tell me who sent you or I will break every bone in your body and cut every fibre of muscle myself". "Ha aha aah ha" laughed Percy as he was pinned to the ground, "you think I didn't have a plan of action for this situation" and he laughed some more and disappeared in a smoky poof. Ron fell to the ground as Percy was no longer there and the smoke that he left could not reliable hold his bulk and keep it from falling to the ground, so he fell to ground. Once on the ground he started cursing more, and Ginny used her sisterly ways to calm him down. "This shit is ruining my birthday" said Luna who was clearly getting upset. She really hoped that Rincewind would hear this and help her out but he didn't as he was too engrossed in his conversation with Hermione.
"And then the tree fell on him?" shouted Hermione in disbelief. "Yeah," laughed Rinciwend, "you should have seen what it did to the pudding as well" and they both chortled and generally guffawed at the banter. Rincewind was entertaining Hermione with stories of his previous life that she found really exciting. Rincewind was of course aware of all the shit that Hermione and all of them had been through. Harry and Ginny took Captain Arr away round the back to cool down. They figured that placing him near the fridge would be a good start at this. Luna and Esk walked over to Rincewind, and Hermione, and Neville of course who was being a generally good egg and manning the bar. "Everything okay there chaps?" said Neville referring to his friends, and not their legwear. "Yeah, it's just all this shit with Percy and everything, stressing me out" said Luna, "and then Ron has to go and be rage Ron". "Oh shit, I'll go help him out, I'll be back" said Hermione like the worried gf she was and ran off to soothe her rageful bf. "Shit sorry dude, I didn't notice" said Rincewind, feeling bad that he hadn't been there to help, "why is Percy even here?" he asked, echoing the sentiment felt by others prior. "I think he's been sent by someone to 'watch over us'" said Luna. Esk seemed mighty concerned. She silently pondered this situation whilst the rest of them talked. She was aware that there would be spies for Snape's friends following them, but she was sure that they would have been safe in Riverrun. Luna was in part wishing for some quiet times watching films, and also partly wanting to drink some more. Rincewind was a middle ground between the two. He had been thinking about the spy situation for a bit. He was thinking about the actual sound of the howling and of his weird experiences with X, but he quickly reminded himself of the fact that it was Luna's birthday, and that they should be celebrating it currently. "Ooh" said Neville to Esk, "can you follow me for a second...I've got something for you to help me with" he said with a wry and dry smile. Esk quickly remembered that there was something needing done and scooted off with Neville. "How was this for a surprise then" said Rincewind trying to be cool despite some of the shit going down. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting this. You's are all such good friends" replied Luna with a smile in her face and heart. "It was largely the rest of them though" said Rincewind being a great friend, having taken lessons from the school of Longbottom, "they had some issues getting everything ready so I invited you to watch some films to distract you for a bit, but they managed everything in the end" he said. "That's super cool" said Luna with a smile as she took a sip of her drink. She suddenly had a dark and disturbing thought. What if Rincewind didn't actually give a shit about watching films with her? What if he was actually just sitting about bored and waiting for a text from the rest? Luna had really enjoyed all of that film time but now questioned it's authenticity. "I'm gonna go and...get some more potatoes" she said, wanting to get a chance to spend some time by herself to clear her mind from all of these emotions, and she walked off, leaving Rincewind alone in his stool at the bar. "Wait no! There's something you must know!" he said, plucking up his courage. He felt everything coming to a head. He was going to suggest that they go back after the party and watch some more films and stuff. Luna turned around, hair in her face, which she soon moved out of the way, and said "yes?". Suddenly the kitchen door sprung open. Everyone came out singing Happy Birthday to Luna as they paraded out with a big tray of brownie. Luna turned away from Rincewind and greeted the crowd. Ron had been calmed and was walking out as happy as Larry. Larry was sitting at a table nearby with a drink in his hand and a big cheesy smile. He was always such a happy chappy that peopled measured their personal joy against him at any time. "Make a wish" said Esk to Luna who closed her eyes, thought of something that would make her really happy and blew out the candles. "So this is how you remain inconspicuous?" said a voice from the door. They all looked over to the door and saw a man who looked like John Lenin. He had cool long wavy hair like a rad mutt, and wore a pinestripe suit. "Sirius" shouted Harry, who ran over to give his big uncle a hug. He of course hugged back as he was a fan of hugging as he was a reasonable human being. "I asked you to make sure to keep low!" he said angrily, midhug. "I know, but things happened" said Esk to him. People were surprised and amazed at this. Nobody knew that Esk and Sirius had even met at any stage, never mind being in cahoots with each other. "I see that" said Sirius, looking around to the rest of the party. "We must talk tonight" he said, "after this party" and he went to the bar to join the fun. Luna wanted to continue the conversation with Rincewind, but she was constantly preoccupied with the games that Ginny had setup for her to play, and Rincewind had been drawn into the massive pinball tournament between the lads.
The evening was coming to a close. Rincewind had beaten Harry and Ron's scores, but they had since overtaken him back again. He went over to the bar to get a last drink. Neville wasn't there, he was a sleepy boy who needed his bed and had clearly went off some time ago, so Rincewind got his own drink instead. Luna was gone as well, she was away with some of the people, playing some games outside. Rincewind was tiring and wasn't as enthusiastic about pinball as Ron and Harry so he finished his drink, said his goodbyes and walked off to bed. On his walk back he remembered the conversation that he never had with Luna. He realised that he was glad that he hadn't brought it up. If she didn't feel this way about him then he would completely ostrich size himself from the group and she would have lost a friend. The air was brisk and chill and he got back into the warmth of the inn, went upstairs and climbed into bed.
Luna had just finished her birthday games. They were all a bit too much for her but she won anyway as she was truly competitive. She went to say her goodnights to everyone but found that the bar was empty, so instead she turned off the lights, locked the door and went back to her room. She got in from the cold and into the inn and went upstairs to her room. Once outside she reached for her key to put it in the door when she heard a noise. The noise sounded like moaning and groaning, like someone taking a huge shit, but a really satisfying one clearly. She then quickly realised that the sound was from Esk who was currently having sex with someone. "Oh fuck" she thought, "I can't go in there and cockblock, not even on my birthday". And she had a brief panic, but then thought that Rincewind might still be awake and might be game for watching some more movies. So she walked over to his door and slowly creaked it open. Once inside she crept round the corner and saw Rincewind lying in bed behind a book. "Psst" she pssted, "you wanna watch a film?". There was no response so she tried again. Still no response. Luna then walked over to him slowly and lifted back the book to find that Rincewind was fully asleep and not awake at all. She laughed to herself about the whole situation, gave him a wee stroke on his bread and went over to his couch and went to sleep.