Enjoy.
Luna couldn't believe her rotten luck. All this year, she'd thought her fellow Ravenclaws had finally grown beyond such childish behavior, and yet, here she was once again.
Locked out of her own house.
Despite Ravenclaw doing it many times her last two years of Hogwarts, Luna had yet to find herself locked out so far this year. She'd been attributing that to everyone's focus and excitement about the tournament, that nobody had been too bothered to put too much focus on Looney Lovegood other than business as usual.
Apparently, business as usual wasn't funny or entertaining enough, tonight. Somebody must have really needed a good laugh, or just picking on mild-mannered Luna made someone feel big. Oh, we locked a third year out of where she sleeps, aren't we such tough and strong people?
Ugh…
Not for the first time, Luna wondered if it was possible to switch houses. She'd heard it might be possible, but never did get around to following up on that particular mystery. Might be time to do so, if this was going to start back up again.
You never heard of such travesties being committed by the Hufflepuffs, hell, even the Slytherins wouldn't do something like this to one of their own, not unless they really screwed up and deserved it. And the Gryffindors? Ha! They'd be breaking down walls, literally, if one of their own got locked out.
That last thought brought a frown to Luna's lips. Well, they would do something like that, normally. Unless your name was Harry Potter or Hermione Granger, in which case, you were practically persona non grata. At least nobody so far was stupid enough, or brave enough even by Gryffindor standards, to pick on or bully Harry or Hermione.
The thought of her two dear friends had Luna smiling again. While it also warmed her body somewhat, the chilly nights of Hogwarts wouldn't be brushed aside simply by happy thoughts.
Luna couldn't repress a shiver as another cold draft washed over her, her hands rubbing her bare arms for any kind of warmth. Not only had she been locked out, but her housemates didn't even have the decency to lock her out when she was fully dressed!
A thin nightgown could do little to ward oneself from the cold.
Luna's fingertips came up to the string of butterbeer corks wrapped around her neck. At least her precious keepsake from her mother was safe. Even if it was the reason she was out here in the first place.
The blonde had almost gone crazy when she misplaced it, but now she was absolutely positive someone had snatched it when she wasn't looking. It hadn't occurred to her at the time because she was so scared of losing such a precious tie to her mother.
Again, alarm bells would have been ringing when another Ravenclaw said they saw it outside in the halls, but Luna wasn't in the right enough mind to question. She'd already sprinted out the door before the rational part of her brain could regain control.
The necklace was found instantly, on the floor on the hallway, but the reality of her situation began to register when she discovered she couldn't get back inside.
Now, here Luna was, standing in the middle of the hallway, trying to ponder her next course of action. All the while, the seconds ticked away until the curfew. By her reckoning, she had about another three and a half minutes.
Had Luna not known her fellow Ravenclaws and their behaviors so well, she might have assumed they would let her back in seconds before curfew, but alas, she knew better. Getting her into trouble by being out past curfew would be far more humorous and satisfying to the bullies than anything else. They'd get to point and laugh, either way.
Seeing as how her normal sleeping arrangements would be unavailable tonight, Luna was forced to find other accommodations. The empty classrooms were still available, although they would be really uncomfortable with the uncommonly chilly night, something she'd be able to do something about if she had her wand. Unfortunately, said wand was back in her dorm on her bedside table.
Luna had already resigned herself to a night of little to no sleep on the cold, hard floor when another thought came to mind.
Harry told her she should save it for emergencies, or if she had nowhere else to go. Something of a last resort he'd said he hoped she would never need, but it did always pay to be prepared.
With a proper destination in mind, Luna began the trek through the darkened halls of Hogwarts. Luckily for her, nobody was on patrol in her path and she was able to reach her destination not only quickly, but without being waylaid.
"Umm… hello?" Luna greeted the portrait of the Fat Lady.
The Fat Lady continued to snore, rather loudly, while she slept but she did start to stir. A second attempt, a bit louder, got her attention.
The painting started to go off on a rant, just as Harry had warned her. The Fat Lady was rather infamous for her temper whenever someone woke her up or otherwise annoyed her, but something changed in the woman's demeanor when she got a good look at Luna.
"Password?" The Fat Lady asked, obviously skeptical about getting it but still curious.
Luna wasn't sure what did it. It could have been that Luna had the proper password, or it could have been the fact that Luna knew she was a pathetic and sorry sight standing there in the middle of the hall in her nightdress shivering and huddling in on herself from the cold.
She didn't like doing it, but Luna may have somewhat played up her voice a bit to sound more frail and younger than she actually was. It was a bit underhanded and devious, but Luna was desperate for somewhere to go.
The Fat Lady gave Luna a rather strange look before promptly swinging open, much to Luna's surprise. Luna knew better than to look a gift owl in the mouth, though, so hurried inside before the Fat Lady could change her mind.
Luna had been hoping the Gryffindor common room would be empty. The last thing she wanted to do was attempt to explain her presence to some stranger demanding to know why she was trespassing in their house.
She highly doubted anything she could come up with would be good enough, anyway.
As it turned out, the common room was not empty, but the single person present was one of the last Luna expected to find at this late hour.
"Luna?" Hermione's head appeared on the other side of one of the couches when she heard the portrait open. "What are you doing here?"
Luna was still trying to get her thoughts in order to explain her presence, in a way that could hopefully keep Harry out of trouble, when the pajama clad Hermione came around for their customary hug in greeting. Except this time, Hermione recoiled away as if burned.
"Bloody hell, Luna!" Hermione's hands went to grab Luna's for a moment. "You're freezing!"
Hermione rubbed her own hands together quickly for a little friction heat before taking Luna's hands again. It was when Hermione brought their joined hands up to her lips to blow warm air on them that Luna felt the faintest flush rising to her cheeks. Said flush grew much stronger when Hermione moved Luna's hands up to her own cheeks, cupping them and placing her own hands over top of them.
Luna's hands had to be uncomfortably cold on Hermione's noticeably warmer skin but she didn't seem to mind. All that mattered was Luna and getting her warmed back up.
To give more credence to this, Hermione was even abstaining from asking a single question. Luna would have imagined the Gryffindor to be rattling off queries at a pace Merlin would be hard pressed to keep up with.
While they'd shared many hugs until now, Luna had never noticed just how soft Hermione's skin was. The feel of it under her fingers was oddly… nice. The kind of nice she always felt when around Harry. Before anymore thoughts could attempt to follow that path, the blonde brutally squashed them down.
No… no, no, no. Not the time.
Luna didn't know what else to say. While she was growing accustomed to somebody caring, thanks to Harry, the feeling was still a little alien to the blonde. While Hermione had been open and friendly to her thus far, Luna hadn't seen her so concerned about her wellbeing. Then again, Hermione had to have a big heart for Harry fall for her.
Without another word, Hermione pulled Luna by the hands over toward the roaring fireplace. Once Luna was seated on the nearby couch, Hermione wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close into her side. As warm as the fire was, Hermione was far warmer and inviting, so Luna didn't feel the least bit bad about snuggling into her older friend.
While Hermione's arm encircled Luna's front, the brunette's other was on her back, rubbing into her skin through the thin nightdress. Between the fire and her friend's ministrations, it didn't take long for Luna to quickly regain most of her feeling.
Hopefully if Hermione asked, Luna could blame the fire for her deep flush.
"Feeling better?" Hermione asked, her the back of her hand coming up to touch Luna's cheeks and forehead. There was no way she didn't notice her skin was warmer than it should have been. Yet, once again, Hermione didn't question all that hard.
Unsure what else to say, Luna could only nod.
"Good." Hermione pulled away, much to Luna's displeasure, but she kept a firm lid on that. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."
Luna kept a calm and stoic front, but internally she was having a bitter laugh. Don't go anywhere? Where the hell did she have she could go? Ravenclaw was going to no doubt be closed until morning, and while glad to see one of her friends here, Luna came to Gryffindor out of desperation.
Once Hermione was gone and out of sight, Luna allowed her shoulders to slump as she gazed upon the dancing flames of the fire. It was somewhat funny, in an ironic sort of way. She'd only been inside Gryffindor a couple minutes at least, and yet she'd felt more welcome than she'd had with years in Ravenclaw. Not to mention the overall air and aura of the Gryffindor common room was a lot more relaxed and happier, too.
While this could have something to do with the company, Luna could tell a large part was still due to Gryffindor's atmosphere. Almost as if the room itself was offering a welcome of its own that had nothing to do with its members.
Luna was still gathering her thoughts, and figuring out how best to answer the inevitable questions, when Hermione announced her reappearance by draping a blanket around the blonde. Just when Luna was worried Hermione wasn't going to rejoin her, the brunette put paid to that by sitting down and resuming her position holding Luna.
"Thank you." Luna managed to choke out, rather impressed with herself for not crying.
Hermione didn't answer with words, rather with a nod and a gentle squeeze of her arms around Luna.
It finally dawned on Luna that Hermione wasn't going to ask. She wanted to know what was going on, badly, but knew Luna better than to force the issue. Luna wasn't injured and neither was she screaming for help, so Hermione wasn't flying into a panic, but otherwise was letting the blonde come to her in her own time.
Luna couldn't help it this time, a slight sniffle escaped and a single tear tried to pry its way out of her eye.
"Luna?" The sheer concern in Hermione's tone had a second and third tear attempting to join their fellow, but Luna refused to let herself cry in front of Hermione.
"I'm fine." Luna sucked in a breath and blinked a few times in an attempt to clear the moisture. "Just… give me a moment."
Hermione nodded but said no more.
"They locked me out." Luna spoke barely above a whisper, eyes still on the fire.
"Again?" Hermione's voice was flat, but the sudden extra pressure of her hold had the blonde witch well aware she was angry. That, and the fact that out of the corner of her eye, Luna could see Hermione's hand clenching into a fist so tightly, her knuckles were turning white.
"Yes… what do you mean aga…" Luna started to ask but felt stupid for doing so. "Harry told you, didn't he?"
"Yes." Hermione admitted. "He also said your head of house was useless about this and that it hadn't happened since last year."
Luna wasn't upset at Harry, honestly, she wasn't sure if such a thing was physically possible for her. Being Harry's girlfriend, of course he'd tell Hermione almost anything. Seeing as how Luna knew how trustworthy the brunette witch was, she saw no problem with this.
"Harry gave you the password for Gryffindor, too." Hermione wasn't asking, rather thinking out loud. Her next words almost had Luna worried until she saw the proud smile Hermione was wearing. "That's just like him, he could get into big trouble giving out the password, not to mention how the rest of our house might react, but he doesn't care."
"He really is wonderful like that." Now Luna was smiling, too. Thoughts of Harry tended to do that, whether she wanted them to, or not.
"Faculty being useless, where have I heard that before." Hermione audibly sighed. "I know it's not what you'd like to hear, but not even I know what to do about this."
"I didn't expect you to." Luna freely admitted. Hermione might be the brightest witch of their generation, but that didn't mean she could, or did, know everything.
"It's times like this, I think Harry might have the right idea about going to a different school other than Hogwarts. This place seems to be a magnet for problems."
"What?" Luna jumped, unconsciously breaking out of Hermione's embrace.
"Harry made the comment the other day about how it might be better for us to look into other schools after this stupid tournament. Examine our options you know…" Hermione, at first, completely missed the look of utter horror and terror on Luna's face. Her voice began to trail off when she did.
"You… you… you can't leave Hogwarts!" Luna lost all pretenses of control after hearing that. The tears were falling in rivers now, her sobbing uncontrollable. "I… I can't lose my only friends!"
Hermione didn't try to answer verbally. Her arms were already being thrown around the wailing girl and pulling her close. Luna didn't hesitate to return the hug and bury her head into her friend's bushy locks.
"I hate this school." Luna whimpered. "It's been hell since I started… it started to become bearable only after I met Harry. If I lost you both… I don't know what I'd do. It'd break me, Hermione…"
Hermione didn't try to offer empty reassurances and platitudes. She didn't once try to say 'it'll be okay' or some drivel like that. Instead, she let Luna speak and get it out of her system, all the while holding her tightly and rubbing soothing circles into her back.
"I can't go back to the way things were before…" Luna gripped fistfuls of Hermione's pajamas, as if her hold was the only thing anchoring her down. "I… I just can't…"
"Luna." Hermione spoke gently, a warm smile gracing her lips. "It was an offhand comment by Harry that I'm not sure he even meant or took all that seriously. But you want to know what the next words out of his mouth were?"
"W… what?"
"He said if we did transfer, and I'm quoting here, we have to make sure it's a school Luna could join us."
"He said that?" Luna shot up in disbelief.
"Of course." Hermione said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Luna, Harry adores you. Do you honestly think he'd consider leaving you behind, even for a second?"
"No…" Luna looked away, ashamed that she'd once again doubted Harry. She couldn't help it. The very idea of them leaving, leaving her, had all of her past fears and insecurities return with a screaming vengeance.
"Hey." Hermione lightly held Luna's chin, gently forcing the girl's head to face her again. Once she was, Hermione used her sleeve to wipe away the streams of tears that had stained her cheeks. "I'm sure Harry has already said it, but just in case, I'm going to say it, too. You will never be alone again, Luna."
Harry had indeed said it, and just like when he did, Luna didn't doubt the conviction in Hermione's voice, either.
"R… really?"
"Absolutely." Hermione said resolutely, as if daring the world to argue with her. "You're with us to the end, until you don't want to be around us anymore."
"That's never going to happen." Luna countered, her response automatic and without any other thought.
"Come on, it's getting late." Hermione stood up, helping Luna to her feet at the same time seeing as how the blonde was loathe to relinquish her hold on the other girl. "Give me a hand with these."
"Why?" Luna wondered aloud but moved to assist Hermione with moving the couches, anyway.
"Because I'd rather keep you in my sight, tonight."
That struck a chord in Luna. "Wouldn't you rather sleep in your own comfy bed?"
"No." Hermione made a dismissive noise. "Sure, the bed's nicer, but you can't sleep in my dorm, and I'm sure as hell not leaving you down here on your own."
"Won't we get into trouble if anyone find me here in the morning?"
"Maybe." Hermione nodded. "But what are they going to do? Take house points away, give us detentions? Please, as if I care about either of those things, anymore. And I know you could care less if Ravenclaw loses points."
"Well, yes, but… what if we get expelled?" She honestly didn't know if that severe of a punishment would be meted out for something like this but Luna was having trouble finding fault in Hermione's logic. She was simply wary about getting her only friends in trouble for her sake.
At that, Hermione actually laughed. "They wouldn't dare go that far."
"How do you know?"
"Luna, say they expelled us both, what is the first thing that will happen after that?"
Luna's eyes went wide when she figured it out after a scant few seconds. "Harry would drop out of Hogwarts."
"Exactly." Hermione's grin was almost predatory. "Can you imagine the bad press Hogwarts would get if the-boy-who-lived left the school? They'd go nuts. Granted, I'd rather not test that theory out, but what I'm saying is, don't worry so much. Okay?"
"Okay." Luna took a seat on what was going to be her bed for the night. As much as Luna wanted to keep talking, her exhaustion was rapidly catching up with her.
"We'll wake up early once the curfew is lifted and I'll come with you back to Ravenclaw. Hopefully they'll let you in again so you can get your stuff. If not…" Hermione stopped abruptly before he eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hermione?"
"If not…" Hermione was grinning again, and Luan was intensely thankful it wasn't directed at her. "I'll blast the door open, and then you get your stuff."
"But what about…"
"Would you rather Harry gets involved?" Hermione arched a single eyebrow.
"Merlin, no." Luna shivered at the thought. Knowing him, he wouldn't settle for blasting the door open. He'd probably curse every Ravenclaw he could get his hands on. While she certainly liked the mental image, Ravenclaw wasn't worth the trouble he'd get into.
Once glance at Hermione's evil smile had Luna amending her previous imagined scenario with Hermione right beside Harry cursing the academically orientated Ravenclaws while they fled in terror. Luna briefly wondered if she'd be able to enjoy that particular dream tonight.
"We won't tell Harry about this, tonight." Hermione said after returning with more blankets and a couple pillows. "But if it happens again, all bets are off."
While Hermione made up her own impromptu bed, Luna took the time to let her thoughts free range a little. She couldn't help but wonder if Hermione had the slightest inclination of what Luna was thinking right now, or the direction her mind was going.
Only within the sanctuary of her own mind did Luna admit Hermione was making her question many things she thought about herself, or maybe she just thought she knew.
Luna should tell them, they'd done their best to be as open with her as possible. It would only be fair for her to return the favor, and yet… Luna was terrified how they'd react. They'd never once called her a freak, or weird, or any other derogatory word that everyone else did. They trusted her, included her in almost everything.
Yet, this could be the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. What if this was the thing that finally made them realize she was too strange to be around? What if they finally had enough of her?
No, she was being foolish again. Harry and Hermione were not like that, and she needed to finally get herself to understand that, but old habits died hard, as the muggles say.
Luna would talk to them, just as soon as she figured out how to broach the subject.
"Hermione?" Luna hesitated before reaching out.
"Yes?" Hermione's hand found hers in the space between the couches.
"Thank you." Luna lightly squeezed their joined hands. "For… just for everything."
Hermione returned the squeeze with interest and, much to Luna's joy, didn't pull her hand back.
It was, quite possibly, the second greatest night's sleep Luna ever had at Hogwarts.