Summer Sights
-fragment of a journal entry
...Well, I'm back, safe and sound. Draco held his bad mood long after I returned but then I told him the good news about the runic ritual! At least, I think it's good news. Luna, should I be worried about repercussions? Why am I asking a book? -
Luna felt an uncharacteristic frown pull at her lips. She hadn't gotten much time at the service to speak to Hermione which was reasonable since Luna had the journal in her possession and therefore probably received more information than even Ron and Harry.
So, at the service she of course deferred to Hermione's desires to visit with them, to converse with Blaise and Theo. She of course didn't view it as being overlooked as a second-rate friend.
Luna released the thought before it could root in and create unnecessary insecurities. On a more relevant note, she probably shouldn't tell Harry and Ron about the journal. It would hurt them terribly.
Luna scanned the words again, snagging on the ominous ones.
Runic ritual -
- Repercussions… the entry left her wishing she actually had gotten some time at the
service with her friend. It seemed like it would have benefitted them both. For different reasons.
Exhaling disappointingly, Luna settled her face back into the perfect mask of serenity. Her loving, eccentric father would be upstairs soon and nothing would be accomplished by worrying him.
Nothing was ever accomplished by worrying, except attracting the wrackspurts.
Luna lay back on her bed, shoving the art supplies aside in order to get comfortable, and then levitated the whole mattress until she was six inches from the ceiling. After casting a stasis charm, she regarded the set of eyes in front of her; she painted them ages ago when Hermione had first introduced her as 'Loony' to Ron and Harry.
She was charmed by Hermione's slip up, rather than offended, and knew immediately she'd like the girl as her friend.
Enemies didn't feel guilty over nasty nicknames.
Pursing her lips, Luna noted that after all this time, Hermione's eyes still weren't right. She squinted- it could be they were too multifaceted to accurately capture… that, or she was waist-deep in loneliness and thus, clouded by emotion.
She left Hermione's eyes alone for the time being and picked up a quill. Clenching it between her teeth, she uncapped a pot of shimmering gold ink. Luna dipped the quill, carefully knocked off the excess, and started to scribe the word 'friends' in a calligraphic chain around the heads of her three painted portraits, like an unbroken halo of light.
The task being tedious for her hands opened up her mind to re-explore the journal entry, the fragments of which beat restlessly in her mind.
Runic rituals… her hand swirled steadily from an 's' to an 'f', then the 'r' and so on… runic rituals...what kind of good comes from such things? Unless…
Luna's writing hand went limp, falling onto her torso and blotting her with ink. Suddenly her eyes rolled into the back of her head. A murky apparition formed on her eyelids, greatly resembling the black and white static-filled pictures that adorned the Daily Prophet.
It made the vision difficult to distinguish and Luna's eyelids fluttered, trying to sharpen the edges of the picture. She caught the colorless face of Draco Malfoy, mouth slack with relief… maybe… and then an arm, a male one based on the looks of lean, corded muscles, with a set of runes tattooed into the forearm's skin.
The picture dissolved, like twilight surrendering to the black of night and gingerly Luna opened her eyes.
The delicate chain of words barely materialized in front of her before she heard a knock on her door. Xenophilius stepped through, gaze already trained on the ceiling.
"Luna bug, I hope you cast a stasis charm before settling yourself up there." He tutted and she exhaled to try and steady her still-erratic heartbeat, the runes' image held fierce in her mind.
Luna could hear him moving about beneath her as he lacked the discipline to stand still; finally composed, she lowered the bed and smiled somewhat serenely up at her father.
It was times like these she was grateful for his lack of intuition.
"Ah, Luna bug, splattered with paint as usual," the man said affectionately without making any effort to remove the gold flecks from her shirt. "No matter. You've a guest waiting."
A flutter of impatience heated her chest. She had no time for guests, or hospitality served with tea. She had a vision to dissect. Her very first.
It deserved the proper attention.
Luna's father seemed not the least bit aware of her silence as he moved toward the door.
She stood, steadfast.
The man gestured over his shoulder to follow. "Come, dear. Mr. Night won't wait forever. He's likely done with his gurdyroot tea!"
The man disappeared but Luna still stood. The flutters in her chest changed direction, from impatient to curious. A Ravenclaw didn't disregard curious.
Quickly, she grabbed a self-inking quill and as she blindly descended the stairs, Luna sketched the runes from her vision on her own arm before they left her mind entirely. She twirled around the bannister and ran right into a chest. It was lean and firm and most definitely not her father's as her head landed perfectly to hear a heartbeat, Nope. Not Daddy. He's too tall.
Luna looked up as two hands suddenly gripped her arms, shoving her back. Theodore let go hastily. Their gazes clashed and for the space of a moment, Luna marveled at the deep, dark shade of his eyes.
She smiled and he stiffened and Luna found it an odd reaction to such a benign facial expression unless were all Slytherins so defensive? Inwardly shrugging, she expressed her more pressing thoughts.
"Night suits you, as a name." She raised a finger to her own eyes to indicate her connection. "Why did you lie, though?"
"I didn't." He immediately replied, his face closing. Luna cocked her head, even more curious now.
They stared in the silence, several meters apart, and each took the time to assess the other. Since leaving school a week ago, Theodore had already cut his hair which brought the rich brunet strands to fall in a styled fringe atop his head.
Luna didn't really think it suited him; her opinion hardly mattered, though.
She perused his clothes and upon further inspection, found he was fully adorned from his fresh-pressed silk trousers to his black satin waistcoat, buttoned fully which only emphasized the trimness of his waist.
Luna's gaze skittered back up to his eyes, ignoring the skipped beat of her heart, but she found Theo's attention elsewhere- on the black marks she scribbled onto her arm before meeting him.
She did so love a puzzle and based on the crease between Theodore's eyebrows, he did too, but first-
"Why?" She repeated.
His eyes connected with hers again, curiosity fading to a reluctant sort of resignation.
"Nott means nights, you said so yourself." A pause, where Theodore insolently twisted his hand, wandlessly undoing the buttons of his waistcoat.
Luna's gaze barely flicked at his clever little piece of magic and when Theodore realized that his act of deflection proved ineffective, he huffed theatrically, shedding his waistcoat in the process. It flew through the air and landed on one of her father's sculptures of some fossilized horn before he admitted impatiently, "I lied because I wasn't sure if your father would allow a Nott entry."
Luna wanted to reply that lying was much worse than being a Nott but Theo left her no space for debate as he moved back to the runes. "What are those?"
She looked at them herself. "Runes."
He groaned and attempted to pull at his shorn locks. "Must you always be so literal? Can you not just assume I have a modicum of intelligence and can therefore discern for myself that they are runes?"
"Then why ask the question?" She retorted with a hint of challenge, the breath backing up in her throat. There was something immensely invigorating about riling up Theodore, the way he quickly turned from irreverence to ire, and as he stomped across the room toward her Luna felt a thrill trace up her spine.
He ignored her question for the moment in favor of craning his neck in attempt to see the entirety of the runes.
Luna playfully crossed her arms behind her back and she was rewarded with a withering look.
"I asked," he gritted, "because the question has many subtexts. Something you've proven to be adept at reading."
The compliment, no matter how reluctantly it was given, brought a smile to her face. He took that as permission to pull her arms back around and fully consider the runes. His fingers were warm as they ran up her forearms.
Sensing his need for concession, she offered, "I don't know what they mean yet but I imagine it has something to do with Hermione's entry."
At that, Theodore's eyes snapped up to her.
"I was wondering if she'd written. That's why I'm here."
Luna tilted her head toward the stairs, then headed back up to her room. "I know. What else would bring you here?"
The words, thrown over her shoulder as she climbed, had her missing the melancholic tilt to Theodore's lips, gone again before they even crossed the threshold. Luna grasped the journal and turned to give it over but Theodore's gaze was away from her and on the ceiling.
"The gold stains make sense now," he observed, bringing his eyes back down.
Tossing him the journal she quipped, "I always strive to make sense."
He smiled slightly, and then perused the journal starting at the very beginning.
And Luna read him the way he read the entries- voraciously, intently, like he was part of a series of clues to a riddle not yet fully revealed.
She watched as his thumb paused on a page and the rest of his fingers fanned through the blank section.
The inevitable was imminent.
Theodore's eyes were trained on the journal when he ventured, "There's no indication in her entry about specific runes- only a ritual. So…" he drew the word out, as if he were uncertain of the question he wished to ask.
Luna found herself gazing back at the mural of her friends; Theodore wasn't painted up there. Only three faces graced her ceiling and they were of the people Luna implicitly trusted… maybe she should consider adding Ginny and Neville to the ranks since nothing quite bonded like shared combat…
Nevertheless, Theodore wasn't one she trusted.
Luna was silent for so long that Theodore tried again, this time forming an actual question. "So, where did you learn about the runes?"
Yet. She so hated to lie. Carefully skittering past his face, Luna studied the runes on her arms. They were already starting to bleed.
Lightly she said, "I haven't yet. Do you know what they symbolize?"
Another drawn out pause, as if the oxygen were too thin to sustain them with a single breath, or the words too complex to fit in the space between them.
Finally, Theodore decided on something because he started rifling through the supplies on her bed- an act so intimate that it made Luna fidget- and unearthed a sheet of parchment with quill and the pot of gold ink.
He braced himself against a wall, gesturing that Luna should take the ink. She moved closer and then uncapped the pot so Theodore could meticulously dip the quill. His loopy, extravagant handwriting stretched across the sheet.
"Blaise will know," he explained. "Hold out your arm."
Dutifully, Luna thrust it out and Theodore tipped his chin down so he could accurately sketch the runes. When he was complete, he blew lightly to dry the ink before snapping the parchment into a scroll.
"I'll let you know once I have an answer," then without a look or by-your-leave, the boy shocked Luna by disappearing down the stairs and out the house.
She couldn't say she particularly liked the feeling.
She couldn't wait to repay the favor.
oOo
When Theo received the letter from Blaise just a short 24 hours later, he didn't immediately hie off to the Lovegoods' place. His initial visit left much to be desired- and that included the awful Gurdyroot swill Mr. Lovegood served him. But fuck it if he didn't last even three days past the end of school before he broke down and visited in the first place.
The letter sat sealed on his dark, walnut desk since he believed in some good manners and felt despite the unpleasantness of the first visit, he should read the letter with the Queen of Crazy.
He didn't know how she got those runes and that fact was driving him mad.
On second thought… Theo was halfway to justifying an evening visit when he heard the familiar pop of a house elf.
"Master Nott is waiting for you for dinner," the little mite squeaked before popping away again. Theo's hand dropped, hitting the wood dispiritedly, and the sound of his cufflink clinking had him gritting his teeth.
Donning his dress robes, he took a moment to look in his full-length mirror. The ostentation required for a dinner of two boiled his blood and with the amount of layers he had on just to eat, a cooling charm was necessary if he hoped to be even slightly comfortable. He cast it and then, before pulling away from his reflection, he impulsively pulled at the short brown locks until they spiked away from his head.
Satisfied, he exited his chambers, disapparating across the manor to the dining room. Theodore Nott Sr. stood inside, already waiting rather stiffly by the head chair. Theo left the one on his father's right open, the view always sending a little pang through his chest, and opted for the left chair.
They seated themselves in unison as the first course appeared. While young Nott didn't tarry in consuming the chilled cucumber soup, his father brooded in Theo's direction.
"If only you took the amount of care with your hair as you did your clothing, Theodore," he chided.
Theo stiffened at the full moniker, then thought he may proceed to glamour the tips green for tomorrow's meal.
Knowing there was no use in replying, Theo continued as quickly as possible through his first course… just not too quickly. He wouldn't want to give his father another excuse to point out his uncouthness.
The rest of dinner went on well enough and by 'well', Theo meant that father and son did not converse. Theo learned early on one did not speak unless spoken to, so he savored the duck glazed with gooseberries and the last of the spring asparagus, slurping his wine between bites as he tried to not conspicuously stare at his father for some reaction.
By the cheese course, Theo was thoroughly buzzed and still feeling the sense of disquiet prickling underneath the silent affair. He nibbled on a slice of Irish cheddar, despite being too full to truly enjoy it, and then felt it stick as his father cleared his throat.
"Care for a nightcap, Theodore," but the words weren't framed as a question. He followed his father at a snail's pace. Nothing the man had to say could bode well for Theo.
The drawing room decor was even darker against the drawn curtains, even though a fire lay cackling in the hearth. Nott Sr. moved toward it, resting his hand atop the stone.
"There's something to be said about legacy," he postured to the dying flames. "It's the foundation of our histories and it's the priority of any family who wishes to command power and respect well into the future."
The older man turned sharply and Theo repressed the instinct to step back. Although he didn't share any features of his father- having been a carbon copy of his mother- he knew intimately the man's strength.
Far too intimately.
"Do you agree?" And Theo nodded because a good little snake knew when to go along if it hoped to make it back to its den in one piece. A fate which didn't appear to be in the cards for him as his father prowled toward Theo.
"That's difficult to believe," Nott Sr. murmured silkily, "since your best friend, junior Death Eater, and epitome of all things Pureblood went and defected."
Theo's heart pounded as the man bore down on him from his considerable height. His eyes, black from the dimly lit room, glittered maliciously.
"Where's the legacy now?"
Theo swallowed and replied in a measured tone, "I don't know."
The question had been asked of Theo a dozen times over, in all variations, since he returned home but the menace emanating from his father sharpened the present interrogation until it felt like the point was pressing into the hollow of Theo's throat.
After a time, the man grunted his dissatisfaction and said viciously, "The young Malfoy has chosen his fate. I'm sure he'll regret it when he meets it eye-to-eye." Nott Sr. sidestepped Theo, billowing his dress robes with a punctuated thrust of his hand as he headed for the door.
Pausing at the threshold, the man said in an undertone, "I can only hope my excuse of a legacy keeps that in mind when it is his turn to choose a side."
-Very early, the next morning-
Theo apparated, letter in hand, at the literal break of dawn to the Lovegood residence. He knew the hour to be ghastly, that no sane human would be awake, and therefore perfect timing to approach Loony Lovegood.
He studied the house more thoroughly than he did on his first arrival and was discombobulated by the lopsided silhouette it cut against the vermillion sky. It quietly defied logic in the way it slanted sharply to the left.
Suited for its inhabitants, I suppose. Theo remained rooted as a much darker observation unfurled inside him. What does that say about our deathly, isolated manor then?
Sun rays shot into the gray expanse above the roof line, briefly reminding Theo of Lovegood's eyes.
Untainted like the break of day.
His cheeks grew hot from the ridiculous thought. Stupid, bloody sunrises painting stuff poetic… it's why sane individuals slept in.
Theo strode toward the front door, dodging the floating fruit on the towering tree that hugged the front wall, and he rapped quickly. Silence prevailed. He held up his fist, considering, and then decided to retrace his steps to the grassy knoll.
From there, Theo stared closely at the logic-defying section of the house. Who else would decide to sleep suspended over just air?
Just as he was considering shooting sparks in front of her window, he heard the ruffle of grass behind him. Theo whirled around. The batty Ravenclaw herself was treading barefoot up the hill and toward the house, stopping only when she noticed Theo.
He honest-to-Merlin didn't want to know. Honestly.
"Why aren't you wearing shoes?" He blurted anyway. Damn him and his insatiable need for knowledge.
Lovegood smiled. "Good morning, Theodore," she greeted, shifting whatever she was carrying from one arm to the other. If Theo were any type of gentleman, he would offer to carry it… but 'it' looked suspect, indeed.
Also potentially alive.
He cleared his throat questioningly. Lovegood glanced down at her feet and then turned those daybreak eyes back to him.
"Better to feel the Earth's energy this way," was all she said. Closing in on him, she continued, "Fast reply, then?"
Too disconcerted by her proximity, Theo missed the question. He rocked back gently on his heels, attempting to put some space between them. "Hm?"
Lovegood entirely ignored him and all social convention. She stepped right up, chest-to-chest, and reached down, plucking the letter from his fingers. The smell of gardenia wafted up from her loose, fluttering strands and he inhaled swiftly.
"I didn't imagine you came for breakfast," she teased cheerfully as she held up the letter between them. "Do the honors?"
And the chit flopped down onto the dew-covered grass, soothing the wriggling plants in her hand with a few murmurs as she settled herself flat on the ground. Hesitantly, Theo took the letter back from her outstretched hand. He remained standing as he broke the seal since Italian silk wasn't meant to be rolled through the early morning dew. He read aloud Blaise's response, his lips unwillingly curling at the git's snark.
Theo,
Firstly, what in the bloody fuck possessed you to write with gold ink? Were you trying to blind me or just practice your pretension from afar?
Lovegood giggled at that and Theo flushed with embarrassment. He kept reading.
Secondly, I'm a little surprised to be talking about these runes again, so soon. Medusa approached me looking for some advice on protective runes and what you sketched me is basically what I offered to her. The set stands for protection, light, and life. I wish I could say more but that's all I know. Now- what do you know?
Theo refolded the letter, only then letting his eyes settle on Lovegood's prone form. She was staring up at a sky, now infinitely blue. Her tongue dipped out from her lips to moisten them before she observed, "You Slytherins give terrible nicknames."
After that, she remained quiet, contemplative, in the wake of information while Theo's tongue burned to lash out with Blaise's question, over and over until Lovegood gave him what he wanted.
An answer, an honest one, filled with the knowledge behind her eyes.
Which would lead to vulnerability.
And maybe trust.
These aspirations had Blaise's question mellowing in his mouth, giving way to something a bit sweeter, something that tasted a bit like compromise. He so enjoyed the acquisition of knowledge and all that came with it.
So Theo crouched on his haunches, feet planted on either side of Lovegood's head and forced their gazes to clash.
Midnight blue and daybreak gray.
Her eyes widened at their closeness and a delicious tension bowed in his stomach. Theo's throat bobbed, then he said, "Why did you lie on the ground?" It's wet."
Her lips parted, so pale like frosted glass, as her eyes darted around his face.
Reading the wrinkle of his nose, calculating the curiosity in his eyes.
Devouring the sharp angle of his jaw.
His throat bobbed again, more painfully this time.
"Perspective," Lovegood finally answered and her eyes moved away from his face and back to the sky. "Everything's different from down here."
Theo's feet were really starting to go numb under his crouched knees but his perspective, as she would say, of Lovegood at this angle was too fascinating.
What's a little pain for a little knowledge?
He put his hands down and leaned forward, crowding her vision until it was only him that she could see. Not the landscape, the bloody blue sky, nor the steaming, summer sun sitting atop the trees- he would win her attention at least until he got his fill.
Or an answer, whichever came first.
"Lovegood, what could they need protection from?" He paused but she didn't rise to the bait. "Could the safe house they're in be compromised?" He tried again and this time earning that crease between her brows.
Theo wanted to press on it until it released all the answers trapped behind her skin. His hand twitched on the damp grass.
She drew out an answer. "I think," she started, the words low and tentative, "that it's Draco who needs protection because it's Draco who has a tie to You-Know-Who."
Theo felt the blood drain from his face. How the fuck could he have forgotten?
"The Dark Mark," he muttered to himself.
Lovegood's brow remained furrowed and she sucked her lip under her bright, even teeth and Theo knew implicitly that more information was caught there too, more knowledge of how she knew what she knew.
His eyes snagged on her mouth and he considered the multitude of ways to unlock those lips, to draw out the words.
And some of them were sounding surprisingly pleasurable.
He crept an inch closer as his trousers tightened uncomfortably. Lovegood tilted her head just so and the rush of imminent victory flooded his veins, pumping him forward until the flighty little witch deflected.
She fluidly dodged his descent by a hairsbreadth, the fucking tease, and brought herself to standing. Looking down, with the sun behind her, Lovegood's face was thrown in shadow as her unnatural hair glowed.
Theo cursed all pale blond humans to Hell. They clearly weren't worth the trouble.
He felt rather than saw the dimpling smile that creased her cheeks.
"Care for breakfast, Theodore? I collected these silver singing reeds fresh this morning. They go great with kippers." Theo stayed crouched and crabby.
Lovegood sighed a rare bit of acquiescence. "I'm worried for them too. Let's eat and then we can talk about the runes."
She offered a hand and because Theo seemed destined to be distraught over blondes, he took it, blatantly ignoring the warmth that tingled on his skin at contact.
A/N: I can't seem to hold to my word. Chapter 5 is just about finished and yet, I felt terrible letting it come to a month of no updates so HERE I AM! I hope you enjoy it and know that Dramione features in the next chapter, for those that are following from FIBH! Thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and extra thanks to anyone who reviews.