The following morning Harry went down to the Great Hall for some breakfast.
As he walked down the center aisle he spied Ron already hard at work on a
stack of pancakes. He sat down opposite his friend and grabbed himself a
pair of toast.
"Mornin' Ron," Harry said as he searched the table for a jelly jar.
"Mornin' 'arry." Ron said, his words muffled through a mouthful of pancakes. Swallowing quickly, he handed Harry a nearby strawberry jelly jar. "You're up late this morning," he said.
"Yeah, well," Harry said, buttering his toast. "I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up quite a while...almost had a run-in with Filch too."
"Whoa - " Ron exclaimed, "how'd that happen?? Why'd you leave the dormitory?"
"Well you're not going to believe this," Harry began, "but Luna was taking a walk in the forest last night...I saw her coming back around midnight. I thought I could run down with my cloak and help her sneak back in, but Filch caught her anyway."
"She what?!?" Ron said, incredulous, as Harry saw Hermione entering the Hall and coming to join them. "Does she have a death wish or something?"
"Does who have a death wish?" Hermione asked as she sat next to Ron. "Good morning, by the way," she said as she started to fill her plate with blackberries and baby carrots.
"Luna," Harry answered her. "She was out in the forest last night, I saw her coming back from my room and thought I could help her sneak back in with my cloak, but she got caught anyway."
Hermione held the milk pitcher tilted, completely oblivious to her overflowing cup as she ogled Harry. "Are you serious?" she said, a look of shock on her face.
"Oh yeah," Harry said, "Your cup - " he pointed his finger at her overflowing goblet.
"Oh!" Hermione hastily raised the pitcher back up and proceeded to wiping up the overflow with a napkin. She was dividing her attention between the mess and Harry: "She went into the Forbidden Forest? At night?? What on earth for?"
"No idea," Harry answered, "she mentioned she likes to take long walks, but I didn't think she'd go in there, of all places."
"She is so weird," Ron muttered in between bites.
"Ron!," Hermione turned on him with such a fierce expression that he recoiled from her, "it's her 'weirdness' that helped us so much last year! You and Ginny probably wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for her! Can't you show her even a bit of the loyalty she's shown us?!"
"Okay okay okay!!" Ron said, apparently fearful that he was about to get slapped in the face. "I take it back!"
Hermione angrily threw her milk-soaked napkin at Ron, who managed to avoid the worst of it by ducking forward. "You don't know anything about her," Hermione snapped, "If you heard the things Ginny tells me...." she looked thoughtful for a moment and looked across at Harry, "That brings to mind, Harry," Hermione continued, "Ginny told me that whatever Luna did to muss up Malfoy's hair like that, she did it without using her wand."
"Well, I've done a few things without a wand, mostly when I was angry," Harry said. "I made a pane of glass disappear once."
"Yes, but Harry," Hermione retorted, "you were really angry and you were making eye contact too, weren't you?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, come to think of it, I was."
"Well Malfoy was sitting behind Luna," Hermione continued, "and Ginny said she never turned around and never made a sound...that does seem rather odd, Harry."
"Yeah, a little I guess," he admitted, "but she told me once her mom was a really powerful witch that experimented with spells, maybe it's just something she learned through her mother?"
"Hey, maybe she works for the Ministry, maybe we can get Luna to ask her about that door we couldn't get into," Ron suggested.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Oh yes, Ron, by all means: 'Excuse me, Mrs. Lovegood, but we were just wondering what secrets the Department of Mysteries is guarding, we're just curious.' "
Ron shrugged sheepishly. "Well, was just a thought," he muttered.
"We couldn't anyway," Harry said, "her mom died 6 years ago."
"Oh, no, really?" Hermione asked, looking downcast. "How?"
"She died while working with some sort of experimental spell, right in front of Luna, apparently." Harry answered.
"Blimey," Ron said, looking genuinely thunderstruck, "that's...that's bloody awful...I guess that's why she can see those Thestrals, then." Harry nodded.
"Come to think of it," Hermione mulled, "she always talks about her dad, doesn't she? I never noticed she never talked about her mom..."
Harry wondered if he should tell them about Luna seeing through his invisibility cloak, but thought better of it, at least for now...the last thing he wanted was for Ron to overreact.
"Well," Ron said, getting up from the table, "I'd better get going, I promised Ginny I'd help haul some boxes for her down to Binns' office this morning. I'll see you guys at the Pitch later, all right?"
"Yeah, all right, see ya later, Ron," Harry said. Hermione had her mouth full and so waved at him.
Once Ron was out of sight, Harry turned to Hermione, who was now buttering herself some toast.
"Hermione, can I ask you something?" Harry asked.
Hermione glanced up at him from her toast. "Sure, Harry, what's on your mind?"
"Well," he began, "I was just wondering...I'm not complaining, or anything, mind you, it's just that, well - "
"Harry," Hermione laughed, "Just spit it out, I won't bite!"
"Well, I was just wondering," he continued, "How come you're so big on Luna all of a sudden? I mean last year you and her didn't exactly get along...don't get me wrong, I'm happy and everything, I'm just wondering what made you change your mind about her?"
"Oh," Hermione said, looking disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Well, I just thought you were going to talk to me about something else," Hermione said, then paused. She seemed to consider Harry for a moment, bit her lip slightly and continued. "It's just that you've never talked to anyone about Sirius' death last year, Harry, it's not good to keep that bottled up inside...Ron and I agreed to let you talk about it on your own terms when you felt ready, but it's been almost four months now..." she looked at him, her brown eyes compassionate and worried, "you know we're here for you if ever you need to talk about it." She put her hand on his and smiled warmly.
He smiled back at her, "Actually, I did talk about it with Luna a little last year..." he said, "she kind of gave me food for thought, made me feel better, actually." To his surprise Hermione leaned closer, her eyes wide with interest, "What did she say?"
"Well, this is going to sound crazy, I know," he began sheepishly, "but she said she could also hear voices behind that Veil...she seems to think that he's not really gone, just that we can't see him anymore."
Hermione looked at him, her brown eyes seeming to consider the possibility. "Well," Hermione said carefully, "Luna believes in some strange things, I suppose, but...well, we saw a lot of things in there that did defy explanation, Harry. Who knows, maybe she's right."
"She seemed to think her mother was on the other side of that Veil too, or at least that's the impression I got," Harry said, "that's how I found out her mom died six years ago."
Hermione gently bit her lip, seeming to be considering all this. "You know, Harry," she said, "I might have criticized Luna in the past because of all those strange things she believes in, but really, if you asked a muggle if he believed in, say, wizards like us, I'm sure we'd get the same reaction." Harry nodded in silent agreement.
"What I'm trying to say, Harry," Hermione continued in hushed tones, "is that I really don't think she's the lunatic that most of the others make her out to be. And if she's right about Sirius, well..." she smiled tenderly back at him.
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said. "But what happened, though, I mean how did she convince you about believing all that stuff?"
Hermione glanced down at her hand. "Actually, she didn't really try to convince me of anything," she said. She looked back up at Harry, "I'm going to have a really hard time believing in those Crumple-Horned Snorkack creatures she talks about."
Harry chuckled. He couldn't really blame her there.
"But...she came to visit me last year, when I was in the hospital wing," Hermione said softly.
"She did? I didn't know that," Harry said, surprised.
"Yeah...and I'll tell you, Harry, she cares. In her own, strange, eccentric, loony, way, maybe, but she cares. She felt really bad about Ron and Ginny getting hurt in the Ministry...that opened my eyes a lot," she said softly.
"She opened mine too," Harry said, seeing Hermione giving him an inquiring look, he continued, "Yesterday, she told me I still had family here. I guess I've sort of forgotten that lately," he said, looking across at Hermione, who smiled.
Her eyes were glittering with tears.
**************************************************************************** ************************** That afternoon, Ron was helping Hagrid straighten out one of the Quidditch hoops he had accidentally bent during the morning practice. They had set it on a large, sturdy wooden bench just behind Hagrid's hut. He could have asked Hermione to cast a Reparo spell on it, but given its size, he wondered if the spell would have much effect. In any event, Hermione had just left minutes before Ron, is his haste to fly up to the top hoop to block Ginny's scoring attempt, hadn't realized how close he was to it and crashed his shoulder under the hoop, knocking it from the pole onto the ground below, giving its perfect oval shape a visible bend. He'd feel rather embarrassed to go and explain to Hermione why he needed her mending skills, especially as he was finally starting to come into his own now as a keeper.
Hagrid had done an excellent job hammering the warp out of the hoop, back into its original shape. As Ron looked closely, he could see clear marks where the large hammer had impacted, but he seriously doubted anyone would notice at a distance.
"How's 'at?" Hagrid said, setting aside his hammer and holding the hoop aloft, turning it around so that Ron could see it from all angles.
"Excellent!" Ron grinned. It was practically as good as new. "Thanks, Hagrid!" he said, starting to run off in the direction of the castle.
"Oy," Hagrid said, "ain't ye gonna put it back up?"
Ron turned back to him, "Yeah I am, I just gotta go get Harry, it took two of us to carry it over here, I don't think one broom is enough to take it back up there."
As he rounded Hagrid's hut he very nearly ran straight into Luna Lovegood, who was walking along the wall of the cabin, her air so dreamy that Ron wondered if she was wandering aimlessly. "Hello, Ronald," she said serenely as she looked up at him, as if only now realizing he was there.
"Um - Hi, Luna," Ron said, "are you, er, going for a walk again tonight?"
She looked at him with her large silvery eyes, "No," she said casually, as if she was discussing the weather over tea, "although maybe later tonight, it really is nice weather for one, isn't it?"
"Uh, well, I suppose," Ron said, looking at the sky.
Ron could feel her staring at him, yet she just stood there silently. Well this is getting awkward, he thought. Finally he looked back down at her, her clear eyes staring unblinkingly right at him. "Yeah, yeah, it's really nice weather for a walk," he said unconvincingly.
She was still staring at him! He didn't want to be rude and just run off, but this was driving him up the wall. "Um, listen Luna, I have to go get Harry, I need his help, to er, help me carry something. See ya."
"Well, I can help you," Luna said at last, still staring at him. "What do you have to carry?"
"Uh, well, we kinda need another broom," Ron said, "that's why I have to go get Harry, so..."
Ron was waiting uncomfortably for her assent, or any sign at all, for some reason he felt intensely ill at ease around her.
She tilted her head, staring at him even more intently, if that was possible. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" she asked.
"What?" Ron said, taken aback by the question. "No, not really, I just, no, it's all, you know, you're ok, I mean- "
Luna looked at him with the closest thing to a frown he had ever seen her use. She took a step toward him and he backed away hurriedly, "Why are you scared of me?" she said.
"I'm not!" he said rather more loudly than he would have liked. "It's just...I don't know, Luna, you're just...different from what I'm used to, that's all, it's nothing personal."
"Oh...okay," she said softly, still staring at him.
Now Ron felt terrible. Why had she put him in this situation?! He looked at her, not knowing what else to say. Her face was caught in the light of the setting sun behind him, her long dirty blonde hair moving slightly in the early evening breeze. She looked strangely ethereal standing there.on looks alone she could be considered strinking, if only she wasn't so determinedly bizarre!
"Oy," Hagrid said, emerging from behind the cabin. "You're still 'ere, Ron? Don't ye wanna get Harry 'fore gets too dark?"
"Yeah!" Ron said, thankful for the interruption, "I'll just - "
Luna had whirled around and was facing Hagrid, who looked even bigger standing in front of her. "Hello, Rubeus," she said pleasantly. "Er, hello, Luna, ain't it?" Hagrid said, smiling down at her, to which she nodded vigorously. "Professor Flitwick sent me to do my detention here," she said, almost proudly, Ron thought.
"Oy, so he has," Hagrid replied, bending way over so as to talk to her more or less face-to face, a friendly smile on his face. "But don' call me Rubeus, all righty? It's no' a name I ever really cared fer. Just call me Hagrid."
"Oh, okay, Hagrid," she said.
"Professor Flitwick said he would leave your detention up to me" Hagrid said cheerfully, "so just between you an' me, why don' ye just pick an' clean the cabbages in the garden ou' back? Shouldn' take too long, and then we'll say ye were workin' till the wee hours of the mornin'. "
She was staring back at him with her large silver eyes; Ron suppressed a chuckle when he saw Hagrid didn't seem how to react either.
"Isn't that rude, though?" she said questioningly.
"Er, what?" Hagrid asked, confused, glancing at Ron. "Isn't what rude?"
"Calling someone by their last name," Luna said conversationally. "Daddy calls that Fudge man by his last name because he doesn't think very highly of him."
"Er, well," Hagrid said uncertainly, "I s'pose, well, if ye did it without permission, maybe, but I'm givn' ye permission. In fact, you'd me makin' me feel better by not callin' me Rubeus," he said smilingly.
"Oh, all right, then," Luna said, smiling.
"In the meantime," Hagrid said, straightening back up, "I'm going to go in an make us a spot o' tea," he said as he climbed the steps into the cabin.
Luna looked back at Ron. He thought she was about to say something, but instead she smiled vaguely at him. She turned and walked to the back of the cabin, out of sight.
Ron stood and stared at the deserted pathway for a moment. He hadn't intended to hurt her feelings, but she was so, well, loony, what he couldn't bring himself to be comfortable around her. I wonder how Harry manages it, he thought, as she spun around and ran back to the castle.
**************************************************************************** *********************
I took Ron almost an hour to find Harry. He had finally tracked him down in the kitchens, apparently he had gone down to ask Dobby about where he had found the gillyweed a couple of years before. While looking for him Ron had thought about going to ask Ginny for help instead, but she had laughed so much at his accident with the hoop he didn't really need to be reminded.
When they finally emerged from the castle heading towards Hagrid's shack, the sun had set and darkness was quickly setting in. If they hurried, they just might be able to fit the hoop back on the pole before it became really dark...they could always use their wands to illuminate themselves, but Ron really didn't want to draw any attention...a glowing bright light floating above the Pitch would almost certainly be noticed by anyone standing near a window.
As they walked towards the cabin, they saw Hagrid sitting on front steps, a large mug in his hands, scratching Fang behind the ears. "Hi, Hagrid," Harry said as they passed by, walking to the back to fetch the hoop. "Hiya, boys," Hagrid replied, taking a large sip of tea.
"There it is," Ron said, pointing at the large wooden workbench. As he and Harry each grabbed a side of the hoop and heaved it off the table, Ron noticed that there was no one in the garden.
As they passed by Hagrid for the second time, Ron said in passing, "I guess Luna's finished detention then, has she?"
"Aye, that she has," Hagrid said, "said she was off fer a walk after that."
Harry stopped in his tracks, almost making Ron lose his grip on the hoop. "She went for a walk? Did she say where?"
"Well, I dunno," Hagrid said, "I was in me cabin at the time, she just came in to tell me she'd finished with the cabbages, and was gon' to take a walk," he looked at Harry, "why, are ye lookin' for her?"
"Well, no," Harry said, "It's just that last night she went for a walk in the forest, she wouldn't do that again, would she?" he looked back at Ron, who shrugged.
"She what?" Hagrid asked, disbelievingly. "She wouldna go into the forest on 'er own, would she?"
"She might," Harry said worryingly, turning back to Ron, "Listen, Ron, we've got to make sure she's all right, let's put this back up when we get back, okay?"
"Yeah, all right," Ron said grudgingly, as they leaned the hoop up against the cabin.
By now Hagrid was standing and hurrying back into the cabin. A few moments later he emerged with his crossbow. "All right," he said, "I'll go lookin' aroun' the woods, you guys look around 'ere, all right? If any of ye find 'er, just send off one of these," he handed each of them what Harry thought looked like a big firecracker. "Ye just pull the ring at the bottom there," he said, "and it'll shoot straight up and give off a bunch o' noise and sparklies, I'll be able to see it or hear it even in the woods 'ere," he tilted his head towards the forest.
"Okay," Harry said, "but maybe one of us should go with you?"
"Hogwash," Hagrid said, patting his huge crossbow. "I'll be fine, nuttin's gonna come after me while I got this in me 'ands." he turned and walked briskly into the forest, Fang following at his side.
"Okay," Harry said, turning back to Ron. "I know she sometimes walks along the trail between the forest and the lake there," he pointed to the path heading away from them towards the lake. "I'll go check that out," he looked in the opposite direction, "Ron, why don't you go check out the road to the train station? I don't know if she ever goes there or not but we'd better make sure."
"Yeah okay," Ron said, as they both walked quickly away from Hagrid's hut.
After maybe a couple of hundred feet down the road, Ron realized he was still carrying his broom. Quickly mounting it, he started flying along the road, perhaps just a dozen or so feet above the ground. It was too dark to fly very high, until the moon rose higher in the sky he could easily miss someone below him if they were in the shadows.
He was moving at a jogging pace, making good time, though after a few minutes he did a double take as thought he saw movement on the road below him. Quickly turning back, he dropped to the ground near where he thought he saw something, though the road seemed deserted now. He looked back and forth, wondering if maybe his eyes had been playing tricks on him in the darkness. He was about to remount his broom when he heard rustling just off the side of the road. Moving closer, he saw a small trail, heading off into the brush...it was so narrow that he wasn't surprised he had never noticed it before.
He could see something small moving away from him; quickly taking out his wand, he held it aloft and uttered "Lumos!"; as his wand burst into light he saw a small hare bound into the brush a few feet ahead of him.
So much for that, he thought. But then he looked closer, seeing barely noticeable prints of someone's shoes...he moved along the trail a few meters, seeing very few of them as most of the trail was packed hard, but every once in a while in a sandy part he could see some more...he decided to check it out, seeing as how it was the only thing to go on at the moment. He decided to walk it, in case he came across other small trails along the way, but after awhile it seemed to him that this was a well-worn pathway. After a few more minutes the trail longed the rock face, and Ron was beginning to think he was on a wild goose chase, until something startled him.
"Ronald?" he heard an airy voice say; it seemed to be coming from above.
He held his wand aloft, when his eyes caught sight of something moving about ten feet above him. Looking up higher, his wand's light illuminated the familiar figure of Luna Lovegood, who was sitting alone, a copy of The Quibbler on her lap, her feet dangling loosely back and forth from the rock ledge. Her wand was tucked in its usual position behind her ear, its tip illuminated ever so slightly, giving off just enough light to read by.
"Luna!" Ron said, relieved, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm reading," Luna said, holding up The Quibbler and pointing unnecessarily to the paper. "It was getting impossible to try and read in our Common Room, you know, and Madame Pince won't allow me reading this in the library, so I came here. Anyway," she said, looking down at him with her luminous silver eyes, "what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, of course," Ron said irritably, "we're all out looking for you."
Luna stared at him for several long moments, making Ron feel uneasy again. "Why? It's not even curfew yet, is it?"
"No," Ron said, "Harry thought you were out walking in the forest again, Hagrid's in there looking for you right now, Blimey, that reminds me - " Ron took the big firecracker Hagrid had given him and pulled the ring at the bottom, and held it vertically at arms length. Several moments passed. Great, he thought, he gave me a dud.
Luna was looking down at him curiously, her head tilted slightly to one side. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tinged with amusement, "You look like a statue."
Ron kept the stick at arms length for a while longer. He looked at the bottom part, he had indeed removed the ring as Hagrid had told him to, but evidently nothing was going to happen. He finally gave up and dropped his arm to his side, turning to look up at Luna.
"I - " Ron began but at that moment there was a large flash and the firecracker shot rapidly from his hand, hitting the rock just below Luna and bouncing back at him, emitting a shrieking fizzing sound and shooting off brilliant multi-colored sparklies in all directions.
"Aaugh!" Ron yelled as he tried to dodge the violently bouncing firecracker, jumping up when it hit the ground at his feet and trying desperately to scamper away, but as luck would have it, it kept bouncing seemingly back at him, hitting him several times. Finally he threw himself to the ground and covered his head as the firecracker eventually started sputtering out next to him.
When the firecracker finally died out he became aware of another loud sound above him. He looked up to see Luna laughing hysterically, arms clutching her sides and rocking back and forth on the ledge. It reminded him very much of the first day he saw her on the train a year before, although this time he had almost been blown up by some infernal bomb, and here she was laughing at it all!
Luna rocked back and forth, consumed with mirth, The Quibbler dropping to the ground below her. Ron slowly got back up, aching from the spots where the thing had hit him with surprising force. "That wasn't funny!" He yelled at her angrily.
"Yes - it - was!" Luna said breathlessly, doubling over with laughter.
"That could've hit me in the head!" Ron yelled back, but Luna's laughter seemed unstoppable. All right, he thought to himself, fuming, I'll just wait for her to regain her senses, then we can get out of here.
"Okay, let's go," Ron said after a minute, quickly losing patience. Luna was still giggling considerably, slowly climbing down the slope on the far side of the rock and coming to join him at last after picking up her paper. She was looking at him, her eyes filled with tears of laughter, both hands pressed into fists together in front of her mouth in an attempt to stop from laughing out loud.
Ron bit his lip and sighed. "Okay, let's get going," he said, leading the way back along the path.
"Do another one," he head Luna say merrily behind him, a minute or so later.
"I only had one." Ron said, without turning, as he continued along the trail. "It's some sort of signal flare Hagrid uses, I was supposed to shoot it into the sky if I found you."
"That was so funny," she said cheerfully.
"Look!" Ron said, spinning around to face her, "I didn't come here to make you laugh, all right? I'm doing this as a favor to Harry, he thought you were in trouble so that's why we went looking for you!"
Luna stopped in her tracks, her smile gone, her eyes wide and looking at Ron in an unfathomable stare. Oh not this again, Ron thought to himself.
"Well, you aren't being very nice," Luna said.
"Me?!" Ron said angrily, "You're the one who goes wandering out at night forcing us to drop everything and go looking for you! Then I almost get killed and you find that hysterical!"
"I didn't force you to come here, Ronald," Luna said, her voice so low he could barely hear her. "Like you said, you're here because Harry asked you."
Ron opened his mouth to speak, but lost his train of thought. He suddenly realized what he'd said and how it must have sounded like to her. He hadn't meant to make it sound like she didn't matter, but that was clearly the meaning he had conveyed.
"You can leave, if you like," Luna said, "I come here quite often to catch up on my reading, it really is quite safe, you know. You can tell Harry you found me and I'm fine," she was speaking conversationally but Ron noted her voice didn't sound the same, almost like she had something stuck in her throat.
With that, she turned around and started walking back along the path in the direction of the rocky ledge.
This was going from bad to worse, Ron thought. He ran forward and caught up with her. "Luna, wait," Ron said, as she stopped and faced him again. "I didn't mean it to sound like that, it came out all wrong."
She was staring at him, and at this distance Ron could see by the wand light her silvery eyes were misty. His stomach felt rather heavy now. "Look, when we get back, I'll take you to a secret door I know and show you the kitchens, okay? I'll bet the elves would love to meet you."
"Oh, it's okay," Luna said, a vague smile on her face, "I already know how to get there anyway."
"You do? Oh - " Ron was surprised, but not exactly shocked. Luna did seem to know a lot, even if most of it was weird.
"Well, I'll take you there anyway," Ron continued, "Dobby makes what he calls cocobombs, they're really awesome, I'm sure you'd like 'em." He tried to give Luna a reassuring smile, unsure of how convincing he was.
"No, that's okay, really," she said, a sad smile on her face, "I know you don't like me much."
Ron stood there with his mouth open, at a total loss of what to say. "That's not true! I - "
But Luna's stare was enough to make him shut up. He doubted he could convince her of anything now. "It's okay, Ronald," she said very softly. After a few moments, she walked around him and started walking towards the main road. "Let's go find Harry, shall we?" she called back to him.
It was the longest walk Ron had ever taken in his life. He felt downright terrible, he kept trying to think of something to talk about along the way, but everything felt so artificial, he got the distinct impression that if he tried to make things better they would only get worse. So they walked the entire way back to Hagrid's cabin in silence.
"Mornin' Ron," Harry said as he searched the table for a jelly jar.
"Mornin' 'arry." Ron said, his words muffled through a mouthful of pancakes. Swallowing quickly, he handed Harry a nearby strawberry jelly jar. "You're up late this morning," he said.
"Yeah, well," Harry said, buttering his toast. "I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up quite a while...almost had a run-in with Filch too."
"Whoa - " Ron exclaimed, "how'd that happen?? Why'd you leave the dormitory?"
"Well you're not going to believe this," Harry began, "but Luna was taking a walk in the forest last night...I saw her coming back around midnight. I thought I could run down with my cloak and help her sneak back in, but Filch caught her anyway."
"She what?!?" Ron said, incredulous, as Harry saw Hermione entering the Hall and coming to join them. "Does she have a death wish or something?"
"Does who have a death wish?" Hermione asked as she sat next to Ron. "Good morning, by the way," she said as she started to fill her plate with blackberries and baby carrots.
"Luna," Harry answered her. "She was out in the forest last night, I saw her coming back from my room and thought I could help her sneak back in with my cloak, but she got caught anyway."
Hermione held the milk pitcher tilted, completely oblivious to her overflowing cup as she ogled Harry. "Are you serious?" she said, a look of shock on her face.
"Oh yeah," Harry said, "Your cup - " he pointed his finger at her overflowing goblet.
"Oh!" Hermione hastily raised the pitcher back up and proceeded to wiping up the overflow with a napkin. She was dividing her attention between the mess and Harry: "She went into the Forbidden Forest? At night?? What on earth for?"
"No idea," Harry answered, "she mentioned she likes to take long walks, but I didn't think she'd go in there, of all places."
"She is so weird," Ron muttered in between bites.
"Ron!," Hermione turned on him with such a fierce expression that he recoiled from her, "it's her 'weirdness' that helped us so much last year! You and Ginny probably wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for her! Can't you show her even a bit of the loyalty she's shown us?!"
"Okay okay okay!!" Ron said, apparently fearful that he was about to get slapped in the face. "I take it back!"
Hermione angrily threw her milk-soaked napkin at Ron, who managed to avoid the worst of it by ducking forward. "You don't know anything about her," Hermione snapped, "If you heard the things Ginny tells me...." she looked thoughtful for a moment and looked across at Harry, "That brings to mind, Harry," Hermione continued, "Ginny told me that whatever Luna did to muss up Malfoy's hair like that, she did it without using her wand."
"Well, I've done a few things without a wand, mostly when I was angry," Harry said. "I made a pane of glass disappear once."
"Yes, but Harry," Hermione retorted, "you were really angry and you were making eye contact too, weren't you?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, come to think of it, I was."
"Well Malfoy was sitting behind Luna," Hermione continued, "and Ginny said she never turned around and never made a sound...that does seem rather odd, Harry."
"Yeah, a little I guess," he admitted, "but she told me once her mom was a really powerful witch that experimented with spells, maybe it's just something she learned through her mother?"
"Hey, maybe she works for the Ministry, maybe we can get Luna to ask her about that door we couldn't get into," Ron suggested.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Oh yes, Ron, by all means: 'Excuse me, Mrs. Lovegood, but we were just wondering what secrets the Department of Mysteries is guarding, we're just curious.' "
Ron shrugged sheepishly. "Well, was just a thought," he muttered.
"We couldn't anyway," Harry said, "her mom died 6 years ago."
"Oh, no, really?" Hermione asked, looking downcast. "How?"
"She died while working with some sort of experimental spell, right in front of Luna, apparently." Harry answered.
"Blimey," Ron said, looking genuinely thunderstruck, "that's...that's bloody awful...I guess that's why she can see those Thestrals, then." Harry nodded.
"Come to think of it," Hermione mulled, "she always talks about her dad, doesn't she? I never noticed she never talked about her mom..."
Harry wondered if he should tell them about Luna seeing through his invisibility cloak, but thought better of it, at least for now...the last thing he wanted was for Ron to overreact.
"Well," Ron said, getting up from the table, "I'd better get going, I promised Ginny I'd help haul some boxes for her down to Binns' office this morning. I'll see you guys at the Pitch later, all right?"
"Yeah, all right, see ya later, Ron," Harry said. Hermione had her mouth full and so waved at him.
Once Ron was out of sight, Harry turned to Hermione, who was now buttering herself some toast.
"Hermione, can I ask you something?" Harry asked.
Hermione glanced up at him from her toast. "Sure, Harry, what's on your mind?"
"Well," he began, "I was just wondering...I'm not complaining, or anything, mind you, it's just that, well - "
"Harry," Hermione laughed, "Just spit it out, I won't bite!"
"Well, I was just wondering," he continued, "How come you're so big on Luna all of a sudden? I mean last year you and her didn't exactly get along...don't get me wrong, I'm happy and everything, I'm just wondering what made you change your mind about her?"
"Oh," Hermione said, looking disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Well, I just thought you were going to talk to me about something else," Hermione said, then paused. She seemed to consider Harry for a moment, bit her lip slightly and continued. "It's just that you've never talked to anyone about Sirius' death last year, Harry, it's not good to keep that bottled up inside...Ron and I agreed to let you talk about it on your own terms when you felt ready, but it's been almost four months now..." she looked at him, her brown eyes compassionate and worried, "you know we're here for you if ever you need to talk about it." She put her hand on his and smiled warmly.
He smiled back at her, "Actually, I did talk about it with Luna a little last year..." he said, "she kind of gave me food for thought, made me feel better, actually." To his surprise Hermione leaned closer, her eyes wide with interest, "What did she say?"
"Well, this is going to sound crazy, I know," he began sheepishly, "but she said she could also hear voices behind that Veil...she seems to think that he's not really gone, just that we can't see him anymore."
Hermione looked at him, her brown eyes seeming to consider the possibility. "Well," Hermione said carefully, "Luna believes in some strange things, I suppose, but...well, we saw a lot of things in there that did defy explanation, Harry. Who knows, maybe she's right."
"She seemed to think her mother was on the other side of that Veil too, or at least that's the impression I got," Harry said, "that's how I found out her mom died six years ago."
Hermione gently bit her lip, seeming to be considering all this. "You know, Harry," she said, "I might have criticized Luna in the past because of all those strange things she believes in, but really, if you asked a muggle if he believed in, say, wizards like us, I'm sure we'd get the same reaction." Harry nodded in silent agreement.
"What I'm trying to say, Harry," Hermione continued in hushed tones, "is that I really don't think she's the lunatic that most of the others make her out to be. And if she's right about Sirius, well..." she smiled tenderly back at him.
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said. "But what happened, though, I mean how did she convince you about believing all that stuff?"
Hermione glanced down at her hand. "Actually, she didn't really try to convince me of anything," she said. She looked back up at Harry, "I'm going to have a really hard time believing in those Crumple-Horned Snorkack creatures she talks about."
Harry chuckled. He couldn't really blame her there.
"But...she came to visit me last year, when I was in the hospital wing," Hermione said softly.
"She did? I didn't know that," Harry said, surprised.
"Yeah...and I'll tell you, Harry, she cares. In her own, strange, eccentric, loony, way, maybe, but she cares. She felt really bad about Ron and Ginny getting hurt in the Ministry...that opened my eyes a lot," she said softly.
"She opened mine too," Harry said, seeing Hermione giving him an inquiring look, he continued, "Yesterday, she told me I still had family here. I guess I've sort of forgotten that lately," he said, looking across at Hermione, who smiled.
Her eyes were glittering with tears.
**************************************************************************** ************************** That afternoon, Ron was helping Hagrid straighten out one of the Quidditch hoops he had accidentally bent during the morning practice. They had set it on a large, sturdy wooden bench just behind Hagrid's hut. He could have asked Hermione to cast a Reparo spell on it, but given its size, he wondered if the spell would have much effect. In any event, Hermione had just left minutes before Ron, is his haste to fly up to the top hoop to block Ginny's scoring attempt, hadn't realized how close he was to it and crashed his shoulder under the hoop, knocking it from the pole onto the ground below, giving its perfect oval shape a visible bend. He'd feel rather embarrassed to go and explain to Hermione why he needed her mending skills, especially as he was finally starting to come into his own now as a keeper.
Hagrid had done an excellent job hammering the warp out of the hoop, back into its original shape. As Ron looked closely, he could see clear marks where the large hammer had impacted, but he seriously doubted anyone would notice at a distance.
"How's 'at?" Hagrid said, setting aside his hammer and holding the hoop aloft, turning it around so that Ron could see it from all angles.
"Excellent!" Ron grinned. It was practically as good as new. "Thanks, Hagrid!" he said, starting to run off in the direction of the castle.
"Oy," Hagrid said, "ain't ye gonna put it back up?"
Ron turned back to him, "Yeah I am, I just gotta go get Harry, it took two of us to carry it over here, I don't think one broom is enough to take it back up there."
As he rounded Hagrid's hut he very nearly ran straight into Luna Lovegood, who was walking along the wall of the cabin, her air so dreamy that Ron wondered if she was wandering aimlessly. "Hello, Ronald," she said serenely as she looked up at him, as if only now realizing he was there.
"Um - Hi, Luna," Ron said, "are you, er, going for a walk again tonight?"
She looked at him with her large silvery eyes, "No," she said casually, as if she was discussing the weather over tea, "although maybe later tonight, it really is nice weather for one, isn't it?"
"Uh, well, I suppose," Ron said, looking at the sky.
Ron could feel her staring at him, yet she just stood there silently. Well this is getting awkward, he thought. Finally he looked back down at her, her clear eyes staring unblinkingly right at him. "Yeah, yeah, it's really nice weather for a walk," he said unconvincingly.
She was still staring at him! He didn't want to be rude and just run off, but this was driving him up the wall. "Um, listen Luna, I have to go get Harry, I need his help, to er, help me carry something. See ya."
"Well, I can help you," Luna said at last, still staring at him. "What do you have to carry?"
"Uh, well, we kinda need another broom," Ron said, "that's why I have to go get Harry, so..."
Ron was waiting uncomfortably for her assent, or any sign at all, for some reason he felt intensely ill at ease around her.
She tilted her head, staring at him even more intently, if that was possible. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" she asked.
"What?" Ron said, taken aback by the question. "No, not really, I just, no, it's all, you know, you're ok, I mean- "
Luna looked at him with the closest thing to a frown he had ever seen her use. She took a step toward him and he backed away hurriedly, "Why are you scared of me?" she said.
"I'm not!" he said rather more loudly than he would have liked. "It's just...I don't know, Luna, you're just...different from what I'm used to, that's all, it's nothing personal."
"Oh...okay," she said softly, still staring at him.
Now Ron felt terrible. Why had she put him in this situation?! He looked at her, not knowing what else to say. Her face was caught in the light of the setting sun behind him, her long dirty blonde hair moving slightly in the early evening breeze. She looked strangely ethereal standing there.on looks alone she could be considered strinking, if only she wasn't so determinedly bizarre!
"Oy," Hagrid said, emerging from behind the cabin. "You're still 'ere, Ron? Don't ye wanna get Harry 'fore gets too dark?"
"Yeah!" Ron said, thankful for the interruption, "I'll just - "
Luna had whirled around and was facing Hagrid, who looked even bigger standing in front of her. "Hello, Rubeus," she said pleasantly. "Er, hello, Luna, ain't it?" Hagrid said, smiling down at her, to which she nodded vigorously. "Professor Flitwick sent me to do my detention here," she said, almost proudly, Ron thought.
"Oy, so he has," Hagrid replied, bending way over so as to talk to her more or less face-to face, a friendly smile on his face. "But don' call me Rubeus, all righty? It's no' a name I ever really cared fer. Just call me Hagrid."
"Oh, okay, Hagrid," she said.
"Professor Flitwick said he would leave your detention up to me" Hagrid said cheerfully, "so just between you an' me, why don' ye just pick an' clean the cabbages in the garden ou' back? Shouldn' take too long, and then we'll say ye were workin' till the wee hours of the mornin'. "
She was staring back at him with her large silver eyes; Ron suppressed a chuckle when he saw Hagrid didn't seem how to react either.
"Isn't that rude, though?" she said questioningly.
"Er, what?" Hagrid asked, confused, glancing at Ron. "Isn't what rude?"
"Calling someone by their last name," Luna said conversationally. "Daddy calls that Fudge man by his last name because he doesn't think very highly of him."
"Er, well," Hagrid said uncertainly, "I s'pose, well, if ye did it without permission, maybe, but I'm givn' ye permission. In fact, you'd me makin' me feel better by not callin' me Rubeus," he said smilingly.
"Oh, all right, then," Luna said, smiling.
"In the meantime," Hagrid said, straightening back up, "I'm going to go in an make us a spot o' tea," he said as he climbed the steps into the cabin.
Luna looked back at Ron. He thought she was about to say something, but instead she smiled vaguely at him. She turned and walked to the back of the cabin, out of sight.
Ron stood and stared at the deserted pathway for a moment. He hadn't intended to hurt her feelings, but she was so, well, loony, what he couldn't bring himself to be comfortable around her. I wonder how Harry manages it, he thought, as she spun around and ran back to the castle.
**************************************************************************** *********************
I took Ron almost an hour to find Harry. He had finally tracked him down in the kitchens, apparently he had gone down to ask Dobby about where he had found the gillyweed a couple of years before. While looking for him Ron had thought about going to ask Ginny for help instead, but she had laughed so much at his accident with the hoop he didn't really need to be reminded.
When they finally emerged from the castle heading towards Hagrid's shack, the sun had set and darkness was quickly setting in. If they hurried, they just might be able to fit the hoop back on the pole before it became really dark...they could always use their wands to illuminate themselves, but Ron really didn't want to draw any attention...a glowing bright light floating above the Pitch would almost certainly be noticed by anyone standing near a window.
As they walked towards the cabin, they saw Hagrid sitting on front steps, a large mug in his hands, scratching Fang behind the ears. "Hi, Hagrid," Harry said as they passed by, walking to the back to fetch the hoop. "Hiya, boys," Hagrid replied, taking a large sip of tea.
"There it is," Ron said, pointing at the large wooden workbench. As he and Harry each grabbed a side of the hoop and heaved it off the table, Ron noticed that there was no one in the garden.
As they passed by Hagrid for the second time, Ron said in passing, "I guess Luna's finished detention then, has she?"
"Aye, that she has," Hagrid said, "said she was off fer a walk after that."
Harry stopped in his tracks, almost making Ron lose his grip on the hoop. "She went for a walk? Did she say where?"
"Well, I dunno," Hagrid said, "I was in me cabin at the time, she just came in to tell me she'd finished with the cabbages, and was gon' to take a walk," he looked at Harry, "why, are ye lookin' for her?"
"Well, no," Harry said, "It's just that last night she went for a walk in the forest, she wouldn't do that again, would she?" he looked back at Ron, who shrugged.
"She what?" Hagrid asked, disbelievingly. "She wouldna go into the forest on 'er own, would she?"
"She might," Harry said worryingly, turning back to Ron, "Listen, Ron, we've got to make sure she's all right, let's put this back up when we get back, okay?"
"Yeah, all right," Ron said grudgingly, as they leaned the hoop up against the cabin.
By now Hagrid was standing and hurrying back into the cabin. A few moments later he emerged with his crossbow. "All right," he said, "I'll go lookin' aroun' the woods, you guys look around 'ere, all right? If any of ye find 'er, just send off one of these," he handed each of them what Harry thought looked like a big firecracker. "Ye just pull the ring at the bottom there," he said, "and it'll shoot straight up and give off a bunch o' noise and sparklies, I'll be able to see it or hear it even in the woods 'ere," he tilted his head towards the forest.
"Okay," Harry said, "but maybe one of us should go with you?"
"Hogwash," Hagrid said, patting his huge crossbow. "I'll be fine, nuttin's gonna come after me while I got this in me 'ands." he turned and walked briskly into the forest, Fang following at his side.
"Okay," Harry said, turning back to Ron. "I know she sometimes walks along the trail between the forest and the lake there," he pointed to the path heading away from them towards the lake. "I'll go check that out," he looked in the opposite direction, "Ron, why don't you go check out the road to the train station? I don't know if she ever goes there or not but we'd better make sure."
"Yeah okay," Ron said, as they both walked quickly away from Hagrid's hut.
After maybe a couple of hundred feet down the road, Ron realized he was still carrying his broom. Quickly mounting it, he started flying along the road, perhaps just a dozen or so feet above the ground. It was too dark to fly very high, until the moon rose higher in the sky he could easily miss someone below him if they were in the shadows.
He was moving at a jogging pace, making good time, though after a few minutes he did a double take as thought he saw movement on the road below him. Quickly turning back, he dropped to the ground near where he thought he saw something, though the road seemed deserted now. He looked back and forth, wondering if maybe his eyes had been playing tricks on him in the darkness. He was about to remount his broom when he heard rustling just off the side of the road. Moving closer, he saw a small trail, heading off into the brush...it was so narrow that he wasn't surprised he had never noticed it before.
He could see something small moving away from him; quickly taking out his wand, he held it aloft and uttered "Lumos!"; as his wand burst into light he saw a small hare bound into the brush a few feet ahead of him.
So much for that, he thought. But then he looked closer, seeing barely noticeable prints of someone's shoes...he moved along the trail a few meters, seeing very few of them as most of the trail was packed hard, but every once in a while in a sandy part he could see some more...he decided to check it out, seeing as how it was the only thing to go on at the moment. He decided to walk it, in case he came across other small trails along the way, but after awhile it seemed to him that this was a well-worn pathway. After a few more minutes the trail longed the rock face, and Ron was beginning to think he was on a wild goose chase, until something startled him.
"Ronald?" he heard an airy voice say; it seemed to be coming from above.
He held his wand aloft, when his eyes caught sight of something moving about ten feet above him. Looking up higher, his wand's light illuminated the familiar figure of Luna Lovegood, who was sitting alone, a copy of The Quibbler on her lap, her feet dangling loosely back and forth from the rock ledge. Her wand was tucked in its usual position behind her ear, its tip illuminated ever so slightly, giving off just enough light to read by.
"Luna!" Ron said, relieved, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm reading," Luna said, holding up The Quibbler and pointing unnecessarily to the paper. "It was getting impossible to try and read in our Common Room, you know, and Madame Pince won't allow me reading this in the library, so I came here. Anyway," she said, looking down at him with her luminous silver eyes, "what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, of course," Ron said irritably, "we're all out looking for you."
Luna stared at him for several long moments, making Ron feel uneasy again. "Why? It's not even curfew yet, is it?"
"No," Ron said, "Harry thought you were out walking in the forest again, Hagrid's in there looking for you right now, Blimey, that reminds me - " Ron took the big firecracker Hagrid had given him and pulled the ring at the bottom, and held it vertically at arms length. Several moments passed. Great, he thought, he gave me a dud.
Luna was looking down at him curiously, her head tilted slightly to one side. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tinged with amusement, "You look like a statue."
Ron kept the stick at arms length for a while longer. He looked at the bottom part, he had indeed removed the ring as Hagrid had told him to, but evidently nothing was going to happen. He finally gave up and dropped his arm to his side, turning to look up at Luna.
"I - " Ron began but at that moment there was a large flash and the firecracker shot rapidly from his hand, hitting the rock just below Luna and bouncing back at him, emitting a shrieking fizzing sound and shooting off brilliant multi-colored sparklies in all directions.
"Aaugh!" Ron yelled as he tried to dodge the violently bouncing firecracker, jumping up when it hit the ground at his feet and trying desperately to scamper away, but as luck would have it, it kept bouncing seemingly back at him, hitting him several times. Finally he threw himself to the ground and covered his head as the firecracker eventually started sputtering out next to him.
When the firecracker finally died out he became aware of another loud sound above him. He looked up to see Luna laughing hysterically, arms clutching her sides and rocking back and forth on the ledge. It reminded him very much of the first day he saw her on the train a year before, although this time he had almost been blown up by some infernal bomb, and here she was laughing at it all!
Luna rocked back and forth, consumed with mirth, The Quibbler dropping to the ground below her. Ron slowly got back up, aching from the spots where the thing had hit him with surprising force. "That wasn't funny!" He yelled at her angrily.
"Yes - it - was!" Luna said breathlessly, doubling over with laughter.
"That could've hit me in the head!" Ron yelled back, but Luna's laughter seemed unstoppable. All right, he thought to himself, fuming, I'll just wait for her to regain her senses, then we can get out of here.
"Okay, let's go," Ron said after a minute, quickly losing patience. Luna was still giggling considerably, slowly climbing down the slope on the far side of the rock and coming to join him at last after picking up her paper. She was looking at him, her eyes filled with tears of laughter, both hands pressed into fists together in front of her mouth in an attempt to stop from laughing out loud.
Ron bit his lip and sighed. "Okay, let's get going," he said, leading the way back along the path.
"Do another one," he head Luna say merrily behind him, a minute or so later.
"I only had one." Ron said, without turning, as he continued along the trail. "It's some sort of signal flare Hagrid uses, I was supposed to shoot it into the sky if I found you."
"That was so funny," she said cheerfully.
"Look!" Ron said, spinning around to face her, "I didn't come here to make you laugh, all right? I'm doing this as a favor to Harry, he thought you were in trouble so that's why we went looking for you!"
Luna stopped in her tracks, her smile gone, her eyes wide and looking at Ron in an unfathomable stare. Oh not this again, Ron thought to himself.
"Well, you aren't being very nice," Luna said.
"Me?!" Ron said angrily, "You're the one who goes wandering out at night forcing us to drop everything and go looking for you! Then I almost get killed and you find that hysterical!"
"I didn't force you to come here, Ronald," Luna said, her voice so low he could barely hear her. "Like you said, you're here because Harry asked you."
Ron opened his mouth to speak, but lost his train of thought. He suddenly realized what he'd said and how it must have sounded like to her. He hadn't meant to make it sound like she didn't matter, but that was clearly the meaning he had conveyed.
"You can leave, if you like," Luna said, "I come here quite often to catch up on my reading, it really is quite safe, you know. You can tell Harry you found me and I'm fine," she was speaking conversationally but Ron noted her voice didn't sound the same, almost like she had something stuck in her throat.
With that, she turned around and started walking back along the path in the direction of the rocky ledge.
This was going from bad to worse, Ron thought. He ran forward and caught up with her. "Luna, wait," Ron said, as she stopped and faced him again. "I didn't mean it to sound like that, it came out all wrong."
She was staring at him, and at this distance Ron could see by the wand light her silvery eyes were misty. His stomach felt rather heavy now. "Look, when we get back, I'll take you to a secret door I know and show you the kitchens, okay? I'll bet the elves would love to meet you."
"Oh, it's okay," Luna said, a vague smile on her face, "I already know how to get there anyway."
"You do? Oh - " Ron was surprised, but not exactly shocked. Luna did seem to know a lot, even if most of it was weird.
"Well, I'll take you there anyway," Ron continued, "Dobby makes what he calls cocobombs, they're really awesome, I'm sure you'd like 'em." He tried to give Luna a reassuring smile, unsure of how convincing he was.
"No, that's okay, really," she said, a sad smile on her face, "I know you don't like me much."
Ron stood there with his mouth open, at a total loss of what to say. "That's not true! I - "
But Luna's stare was enough to make him shut up. He doubted he could convince her of anything now. "It's okay, Ronald," she said very softly. After a few moments, she walked around him and started walking towards the main road. "Let's go find Harry, shall we?" she called back to him.
It was the longest walk Ron had ever taken in his life. He felt downright terrible, he kept trying to think of something to talk about along the way, but everything felt so artificial, he got the distinct impression that if he tried to make things better they would only get worse. So they walked the entire way back to Hagrid's cabin in silence.