Harry wasn't looking forward to Astronomy class that afternoon; Ron had
been on his case all through lunch about making amends with Hermione, and
had been so unusually persistent that Harry had ended up uttering a feeble
excuse in order to leave early, abandoning his plate of half-eaten food at
the table. The thought of sitting with both of them through a whole hour-
long class was beginning to make him feel distinctly uncomfortable...but
then, he'd only had himself to blame, really...
And to compound it all, he hadn't seen Luna all day, which in truth was a mixed blessing; though he enjoyed her company, at the moment this was tempered by the knowledge that he'd so blatantly broken his promise to her about the fairies, barely hours after making it. His stomach twisted at the thought of having to tell her he'd betrayed her trust...yet to pretend otherwise was unthinkable. She deserved to know, after all, she'd brought him there for the express purpose of making him feel better...and for a few sublime hours, he had. And now, thanks to his blunder, he'd lost not only his cheerfulness but possibly one of his best friends, as well. Especially as Harry got the distinct impression that Luna was a person of her word; he recalled quite clearly her strange, closed-eye vow to herself when he'd made her pledge to keep their little escapade into the Slytherin Common Room secret...she'd clearly considered that promise a sacred trust; how on earth would she think of him after this?
He was making his way up the staircase to the second floor, hardly noticing the other students as he trod heavily along, heading for the library to wait out the rest of the lunch hour; just as he put his foot on the bottommost step of the second flight of stairs, he realized that Hermione would more than likely be there, given that she hadn't been at lunch. He halted in hid-step, a couple of Slytherins following behind walking up around him in annoyance, evidently thinking he'd deliberately made himself an obstacle in their path.
He sighed, deciding that the library was probably not the best place to be right now. He was just considering going to the Gryffindor tower for awhile, as the chilly January air was making the warmth of the fireplace very enticing; he'd just made up his mind when a someone called out his name from above.
"Harry! Harry!"
He glanced up to see Colin Creevy rapidly making his way down towards him. His shoulders sagged. At the moment, he really wasn't in the mood to be giving Colin scoops to use in his school news gazette. "Um...hi," Harry said blankly.
Colin had never really outgrown his penchant for hyperactivity. Although, thankfully, he rarely carried his muggle camera around with him anymore, relying mostly on word of mouth to use in his paper.
"When's the next D.A. meeting?? Everyone's asking, now that Christmas break is over and all, and - " "Shhhh!!!" Harry said harshly. Even though Umbridge was no longer around to promote her gulag version of a school, they'd still kept the DA secret, as he really didn't trust the Slytherins. He had to admit, however, that the thought of the DA lessons had completely slipped his mind. "Keep it down, Colin!"
"Oh, of course!" Colin beamed, "Hush-hush and all that, right?"
"Yeah, look," Harry said tiredly, "I'll get together with Ron and...Hermione...tonight and we'll work out the time for the next meeting, all right? We'll send it through the galleons before the end of the week." His stomach lurched at the thought of having to go to Hermione for that, given their spat the previous day.
Colin's hand reflexively reached into his pocket, evidently trying to detect wether his galleon was warm or not.
"We haven't done it yet, Colin," Harry said, "Before the end of the week though, all right?"
"Righto!" Colin said brightly, "Till then!"
Harry watched the young Gryffindor scamper away down the staircase out of sight, secretly glad he'd gone...he wasn't in much of a mood for socializing at the moment. He was about to climb the second flight of stairs before realizing that he wasn't going to the library after all, just as a familiar sight above him caught his attention.
Luna was walking down the staircase, gazing at him, her small pinecone earrings dangling with every step. He might have laughed at the sight, given better circumstances, but as it was, Harry felt his stomach tighten...he hadn't expected to see her this very moment!
"Um...hi, Luna," he said as she came before him on the landing, staring up at Harry with her large silver eyes, her expression unusually earnest...he briefly wondered if...no, she couldn't know already, could she?
She kept silent, continuing to stare up at him expectantly...he felt his stomach give a heave within him. "I'm...going to the Gryffindor tower to warm up a bit...would you like to..."
Luna cast her gaze downward; Harry saw a look of disappointment cross her face...she seemed almost resigned to something, it seemed to him. He felt his insides give another sickening twist, and he knew that he couldn't put it off, he had to be honest with her.
"Luna...I've...there's something I have to tell you..." he began hesitatingly.
She looked back up at him, her large, silvery eyes seemingly sad and slightly hopeful all at once.
"I just...slipped up, last night," he said heavily, "I don't know why...I just shot my mouth off, in the middle of an argument - "
"I know," Luna said softly, looking back up at him, "I just had a talk with Hermione, about the fairies."
Harry blinked. He felt his head spinning, as the sickening realization hit him that Luna already knew, and she'd had to hear it from someone else...
"I...didn't mean - " he said, his voice sounding strangely disembodied to his own ears...he felt the colour drain from his face, as though hit by a weak disillusionment charm. Luna took a step closer to him. "Harry..." she said sadly.
This was it. He was about to lose a friend who'd been such a godsend to him. His dizziness increased to the point where he thought he might lose his balance, his vision blurring around the edges...
Then suddenly, he felt a mass of sandy blonde hair brush up against the side of his face...Luna was standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek...Harry felt a strange surge of energy run through him, feeling slightly tingly; it was a magical, almost transcendent sensation, really...
She drew back, still looking up at him with clear silver eyes, all hints of dreaminess noticeably absent. "That was really sweet of you, you know..." she said gently.
Harry felt lost, his dread now intermingling chaotically with intense confusion. "What..." he stammered, "I don't understand...I...I broke..."
"Your promise, yes," Luna finished for him, though Harry thought he saw hints of a smile playing across her face, "Hermione told me what you said...how you stuck up for me and Daddy...but you really shouldn't have, you know."
Harry gaped at her. "B-but...aren't you..."
Luna tilted her head slightly to one side. "Harry..." she began, "I wanted to see if you would tell me, and I'm so glad you did. Last night, your heart and your brain got into a fight...and your heart just happened to win, that's all. But then, it always does with you, doesn't it?"
A sense of overwhelming relief overcame Harry; he grabbed hold of the corner banister to keep his legs from giving out.
"Harry, it's all right," Luna said as she quickly took hold of his arm, evidently thinking he'd been about to fall over. "No one knows where the fairies are, you know..."
He looked at her. "But...aren't you upset?" Harry said sombrely, "How can you just..."
She tilted her head and looked at him with her large, clear silver eyes, smiling slightly. "Because I believe in you, Harry," she said quietly, "I know it was an accident...you are rather prone to them, after all, if I may say so..."
His vision clouded again, though this time with tears...the terrible weight lifted from his conscience at last, filling him with a rather exuberant giddiness.
He abruptly reached out and wrapped his arms around Luna and drew her close in a deep hug, burying his face in her long, dirty blonde hair. Luna briefly stiffened as he'd obviously surprised her, and at first her arms remained at her sides, though after a few moments he felt her hands move hesitatingly and gently pressed themselves against his back. She felt almost ethereal, Harry thought.
Harry didn't care about the looks they were getting from some passers-by, who he couldn't recognize in any event through his tear-stained glasses; he was so ecstatic at the moment that nothing could dissuade him from expressing his happiness.
Finally he let Luna go, and as she drew back she was looking at him strangely, almost as though she was at a loss, though it lasted for just a brief moment before her dreamy countenance returned and she smiled serenely up at him.
"Well," she said, "I'll see you later, Harry. I have to bring some notes to Ginny, before History class..."
She drew away and was about to walk down the staircase when she paused for a moment before turning back to him. "Hermione's in the library, Harry," she said thoughtfully, "She's still in a rather bad way, really..."
"I'll go talk to her," Harry promised, suddenly wondering why he'd gotten so upset at Hermione the day before...it all seemed so ridiculously overblown now...
Luna smiled brightly at him. "That would help, I think," she said, before turning back and disappearing down the stairs.
As he watched her go, he suddenly realized how powerful his reaction had been...he'd never reached out and just hugged someone with all his might like that before...
* * *
"Mind if I join you?" Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "Oh...Harry..." she seemed to take a few seconds to wake from her reverie before indicating the chair Harry was standing behind, "Yes, of course..."
Harry smiled at her as he took his seat, though he felt a pang of guilt as he caught sight of her tear-reddened eyes, knowing full well that he'd been responsible for them. He honestly wondered why he'd reacted so harshly to her the night before; in retrospect, it now seemed a very minor incident, yet he couldn't deny the anguish he'd caused her.
"Um...how are...I noticed you didn't come down for lunch," he said uncertainly.
"Well...I didn't think you would've appreciated that..." Hermione said, swallowing hard.
Harry sighed, his shoulders sagging. As much as he hated to think so, she was right; he'd felt so on edge through lunch that he likely would have left had she arrived. "Hermione, I'm sorry for what happened," he said sincerely, "I shouldn't have blown up at you like that...I was a real git, I know..."
Hermione reached out and took hold of his hands in hers, her eyes once more welling up with tears. "Harry...thank you..." she whispered. "I can't tell you what a relief that is to me..."
"I don't know what got into me," he admitted, "I just wasn't thinking straight, I guess..."
"Well, Harry, isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, "I've never seen you react quite that way before."
Harry blinked at her. Over her shoulder he could see several students making their way out of the library; lunch hour must be nearly over, but something about what Hermione said made him ignore such things as trivial as schedules. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Hermione bit her lip, clearly not wanting to upset him again. "Harry, you're very, well, protective of Luna...haven't you noticed?"
Harry drew back. "Well, yeah, but she's done the same for us, I mean just look at what she did in the forest, and at the Shack - "
"Harry, please don't get upset," Hermione said pleadingly, "It wasn't meant as criticism...there's nothing wrong with that at all, really, it's just, well, I think it shows how you really feel about her..."
Harry felt his stomach go into convulsions. "Er...I like her, I mean - "
"Oh Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head and smiling at the same time, "Well, anyway...I suppose it took me some time to really see past my preconceptions too. I used to write her off as a flake, remember?"
"Yeah..." Harry said, grasping at the chance to change the subject. "I think Ron still does sometimes."
"He'll come around, Harry," she said, "At least, I hope so...she's not at all like the first impression I got, you know. She did get sorted into Ravenclaw, after all..."
They sat in silence for a short while; Harry noticed the library was mostly empty now, the clock on the wall indicating only a few minutes remained before the start of class. Either Hermione wasn't aware or didn't care about being late for class, which seemed highly unlikely, Harry thought.
"We had a little heart-to-heart, Luna and I," she said carefully, "I'm beginning to at least understand her way of thinking, a little..."
Harry blinked. "You do?" He asked, stunned. "Does that mean you believe in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack now?"
"Oh, no!" Hermione said laughingly, "No, I can't bring myself to go quite that far...but at least I'm starting to understand why Luna does." She mulled thoughtfully: "You know, her, well, 'philosophy' on life, I suppose is the best way to describe it...it's actually rather sensible, in a way...well, at least for someone who can believe the things she does."
Hermione ran her hands back through her brown hair...she looked exhausted, Harry thought. "I just have to keep from snapping back when she comes out with those theories of hers," she said softly, "Honestly, I don't know why I do it...but then...Goblin Pies..."
Harry smiled. Much as he didn't like to admit it, that particular story did seem so far-fetched as to border on the preposterous. He was just about to mention the time when Hermione caught him completely off-guard.
"You know, I get so upset when Ginny tells me some of the things they do to her," Hermione said, "The other Ravenclaws, I mean...but am I any different, really?"
"Sure you are," Harry said comfortingly, "I mean, they pick on her because she's...well...different, and all that." Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'odd'; although she still did and said things that continued to stupefy him on occasion, he had absolutely no doubt as to Luna's sanity.
"Yes, but, Harry, I do that too, much as I'm ashamed to admit it," Hermione said self-consciously. "Even after everything she's done - " "Don't torture yourself," Harry said, "Maybe you're not putting Luna down as much as defending your own beliefs; it's just that you tend to defend by attacking, sometimes..."
Hermione looked stunned. For several seconds she just gaped at Harry before gradually assuming an air of introspection. "You know, you might just be right about that?"
"Uh...I am?"
"Harry, do you think I'm narrow-minded?" she asked seriously.
It was Harry's turn to be stunned. Hermione had always been so sure of herself, a tower of certainty and confidence in her own being, and yet at the moment she seemed to be doubting herself and reaching out for reassurance.
"Er...narrow-minded?" Harry asked uncertainly, "Um, what makes you ask that?"
"Oh, I won't get mad, Harry," Hermione said, giving a dismissive wave of her hand, "Tell me what you think."
"Um...well, no...I don't think - "
"Be honest," Hermione said, "I really want to know."
"Well...now don't get mad...but...you do get a little on the skeptical side sometimes," Harry said with baited breath, though Hermione looked more introspective than upset.
"But I don't know if I would call that narrow-minded...and anyway, that's not a bad thing, really," he hastened to add, not wanting to make her think any less of herself, "It's really helped us out a lot in the past...I mean, I don't even want to think of where we'd be today if you weren't here, Hermione," he said sincerely.
She smiled sadly at him. "Well...thanks, Harry, that's nice of you to say. But still...I really should try to be more open-minded, for Luna's sake at least," she sighed, "She really has a good heart, you know..."
"I know," Harry said.
* * *
"Will you come off it?" Ginny said heatedly, "Do you always have to be such a git?? We weren't trying to trick you!"
"How stupid do you think I am??" Malfoy shot back, as they wandered further into the Forbidden Forest in search of Snape's exotic ingredients. "You planned it so I'd get caught in the tower! I'll get you back for that - "
"If that's true," Luna said vaguely from behind them, "Can you explain why we went to the tower and waited to be caught as well?"
"I - that's - " Malfoy began, evidently unable to come up with an explanation to satisfy himself, much less the others. "Don't confound the issue!" he said angrily without turning back.
"Oh, well...I forgot you're not in Ravenclaw," Luna said dreamily from behind him.
Malfoy stopped in his tracks, turning on his heel to come face to face with the Ravenclaw, who had almost walked straight into him in her dreamy state. Ginny took a couple more steps before coming to a stop, finally noticing Malfoy was no longer next to her.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Malfoy said hotly, glaring at Luna.
"Hmmm? Oh...well, you did express some difficulty in understanding the question, didn't you?" Luna said, gazing at him serenely.
"Watch your mouth, Lovegood! You were deliberately trying to confuse me!"
"No," Luna said innocently, "though I do agree you were confused."
"Okay, that's enough, you two," Ginny interrupted, "Let's move it, the quicker we can get out of here the better."
Malfoy spun back around to face her. "Who appointed you leader, Weasel?"
Ginny's face flushed with irritation. "No one," she said, trying to keep her anger from rising to the surface, "But somebody has to remember why we're out here in the first place!"
"Well, I'm the prefect here, so obviously I'm in charge," Malfoy drawled, pointing at his badge. "Now, we'll - "
"If you're a prefect," Luna chimed from behind him, "It's rather odd that you received detention for being out after curfew, isn't it?"
"They're going to hear about that!" Malfoy said, turning back to her, "If they think my father is going to sit still and let this - "
Luna tilted her head slightly. "Isn't he in Azkaban?" she asked conversationally.
Malfoy gaped at her, a look of fury crossing his face. He wagged his finger threateningly at Luna. "You'll pay for that when he gets out, you weirdo, just you wait!"
"Actually, we heard that Voldemort fellow wasn't really inclined to get him out," Luna said dreamily, her hands reaching up to straighten her reindeer hat.
"What? Liar!" Malfoy said.
"Oh, so you're admitting your father has ties with You-Know-Who, then?" Ginny countered.
"I...I didn't say that!" Malfoy stammered. "Look, are we going to get those vine things or not??"
Ginny shot a shrewd grin at Luna as they turned back to the task at hand, that of obtaining the rare Skankegg root for Professor Snape; she looked at the tiny crystal orb he'd given them as it lay in her hand, and saw with satisfaction that is was glowing a brighter green than before...they were heading in the right direction, due east as he'd said.
They walked for a while in relative silence, only Luna's soft humming of 'Weasley Is Our King' providing any relief from the stillness of the woods. Ginny had a fleeting thought back to the Burrow during the holidays, when Luna had suddenly enchanted them with a impromptu and heartbreakingly beautiful rendering of Silent Night...it was the only time she'd ever heard her sing out loud; she wondered how the Gryffindor version of 'Weasley Is Our King' would sound...
She glanced at Luna and took heart in her friend's dreamy demeanor; she seemed perfectly at ease here, which suggested to Ginny that there was likely nothing to fear, at least for the moment. This must be something very much akin to one of her late night strolls through the forest, Ginny thought. Even so, she nevertheless couldn't quite dispel her wariness; and by the looks of it, neither could Malfoy, who kept glancing around them nervously.
"Will you bloody well knock it off already?" Malfoy shot back angrily a while later. "You're going to alert every filthy creature out here!"
"How uncouth," Luna said, "You don't have to be frightened, you know. The giant spiders are still hibernating at this time of year, and - "
"I'm not scared!" Malfoy protested rather unconvincingly, as he was looking all around nervously. He glanced back at her. "What giant spiders?"
"Oh, nothing..." Luna said vaguely. Malfoy's head began snapping left and right with even greater frequency. They walked on in silence, every once in a while Ginny catching sight of Luna playfully spinning in a circle as she walked, wondering what could be going through the young Ravenclaw's mind. The light from their wands was casting multiple shadows of themselves on the forest floor, frequently causing illusions of movement in the woods which served to startle Malfoy to no end. At least the snow cover on the ground was rather light, Ginny noticed thankfully, as it also meant they wouldn't have to clear very much to get at the roots Snape wanted.
"Did you owl your mother?" Luna asked Malfoy dreamily, out of the blue.
"What? What are you talking about?" Malfoy answered without slowing his pace.
"Your mother," Luna said airily, "Did you hear back from her yet?"
"I - what business is it of yours, Lovegood?" he practically spat.
"Well, we sent an owl to her last night, you know, I was just wondering - "
"You're the one!" Malfoy spun on his heels, pointing an accusatory finger at Luna. "My owl's been missing all day! You sent him off!"
"We had to get an owl that knew your address, Malfoy," Ginny interrupted, coming to stand next to Luna, "It didn't matter who it belonged to!"
"What are you playing at?" Malfoy spat, "What trick are you going to pull on her? Tell me now!"
"It's not a trick!" Ginny exclaimed, exasperated, "How many times do we have to tell you??"
"You're being rather close-minded, you know," Luna said.
"Close-minded?" Malfoy blurted, "You expect me to believe that you overheard a Death Eater, in the school, telling Professor Snape they were going to knock off both me and my mother?"
"Yes!" Ginny said.
"Yes," Luna said, at the same instant, nodding vigorously.
"If that was true, then why didn't Professor Snape warn me?" Malfoy shot back.
Ginny and Luna exchanged glances. Ginny knew full well that were Snape to warn Malfoy and his mother of Voldemort's plans, his cover would be blown. But, she didn't dare tell that to Malfoy... "Well, why would he warn you? If he's in contact with Death Eaters, why would he side himself with someone who's been branded a traitor?" Ginny lied, hoping it would come off convincingly.
Malfoy's eyes widened. "Me?" he said, "Branded a...but how - "
"You-Know-Who seems to think that you gave that portkey book to Harry," Ginny said, "So he thinks you're a danger to him now."
"What?? Potter!!" Malfoy spat, "He stole that book from me! I know he did! I knew something was fishy when the trunk ward charm went off! Damn Crabbe and Goyle, those lazy - "
"Well, that's a confession if I ever heard one," Ginny smirked. "So you're admitting you did have that book, and you were helping You-Know-Who, after all."
"What? No, I meant - "
"Oh, give it up, Malfoy!" Ginny said, "You're not fooling anyone!"
"Orb," Luna said serenely, pointing at Ginny's hand.
"Eh? What?" Ginny said, her train of thought momentarily disrupted. She looked at the tiny crystal sphere in her hand; it was glowing very brightly and pulsating. "Oh! I think this is the spot," she said, glancing around and looking for the wooden stake in the ground that Snape had told them marked the area where the Skankegg root could be found. They lowered their wands closer to the forest floor as they searched, Ginny being the one to find the old peg near the base of a dead hemlock tree.
"Well, come on," she said as she and Luna got down on their knees and started digging away the topmost layer of soil in search of the exotic roots. "You too, Malfoy."
"I'm not digging through dirt like a common gardener!" he spat at them, "I'll supervise."
"You'll dig right along, or else I'll tell Snape you didn't, and then you'll have to do another detention."
Malfoy glared at her, though he seemed to consider her threat meaningful enough that he roughly drew out the small spade they'd gotten from Madam Sprout's greenhouses before coming. He reluctantly dropped his knees to the ground and started digging away.
Locating the roots wasn't difficult; Snape had given them a small sample of one, and its telltale bright olive colouration was easy to distinguish it from the other, more mundane, root systems. They worked quickly, and it had taken them only about twenty minutes to collect enough of the Skankegg roots to fill up Snape's bag; which was quite long enough as Ginny was concerned, as the ground, although thankfully not frozen, was still cold enough to be permeating her legs to near-numbness by now.
"Okay, that's enough," she said, as Luna dropped one last root into the bag. "Let's get back, I'm freezing."
The moment they stood, Ginny realized with a start that they were being watched by a group of centaurs, so concentrated had they been with digging up roots that they hadn't noticed the new arrivals until this very moment. She noticed with dread that several of them held bows at the ready, trained directly on them.
"AUGHH! HALF-BREEDS FREAKS!" Malfoy yelled, stumbling backwards and reaching for his wand.
"No! Don't - " Luna called out, a moment before an arrow was loosed at the Slytherin. "Impedimenta!"
At the literal last instant a flash from Luna's wand hit the arrow inches from Malfoy's face, sending it spinning harmlessly into the forest; the Slytherin was standing rigid as a tree, his wand not yet raised into the ready position, and yet Luna had somehow managed to draw hers from behind her ear and fire off a spell in the same amount of time. Ginny stared at her open-mouthed...
The other centaurs who hadn't fired all trained their bows on Malfoy, who paled visibly. Ginny drew her wand but didn't point it at them, just as Luna stepped in front of Malfoy.
"Luna! No!" Ginny cried, fearing for her friend's life. Why does she do that, she thought furiously...not in a million years would Ginny trade Luna's life for Malfoy's.
"Stand aside, child," One of the centaurs holding a bow at the ready said darkly, "Our quarrel is not with you."
"I know," Luna said calmly, holding her wand at her side and evidently being careful not to point it at the creatures before them. "But it's not with him, either."
Ginny swallowed hard. There were a good dozen centaurs before them, and even if all three of them managed to get spells away, there was no way they could possibly overcome all of them before getting struck by arrows in return. She decided it was best to let Luna be their voice, as the only centaur she'd ever met had been Firenze, who, with his tolerant view of humans, was hardly representative of his species. She walked slowly over to stand next to Luna, being very conscious not to make any sudden movements.
"He was drawing his wand for battle, and has committed a grave insult," the lead centaur said in a deep voice, "Not only has he defiled the forest with his presence, he has insinuated that we are half human!"
"He is...rather ignorant of such things," Luna said. Ginny noticed that Malfoy was hardly in a position to protest, even had he been so inclined...Luna had only to step out of the way...
"Do not attempt to protect him," the lead centaur warned, "while your presence is tolerated, we will not be dissuaded from exacting retribution for his offense."
Luna spun around and faced Malfoy. "Apologize," she said quietly but firmly.
"Wh - what?" The Slytherin stammered.
"Will that really satisfy them, Luna?" Ginny whispered.
"I don't know," Luna said gravely, "But Ronan isn't here, I don't think I can convince them otherwise," she turned to Malfoy, "And best put your wand away."
"B-but..."
"Apologize to them," Luna repeated, "And be sincere." Ginny winced at that. She could hardly imagine Malfoy doing such a thing.
Luna turned around to face the centaurs, though didn't move from her position in front of Malfoy. "He would like to apologize for his lack of wisdom," she announced.
Ginny saw a few of the centaurs glance at each other uncertainly, though they all kept their bows trained. "Let him come forth, then, and do so without hiding behind another," the lead centaur said.
Luna spun around once more to face the Slytherin. "All right, are you ready?"
"W-what?" Malfoy said, his terror-filled eyes growing wider, "They'll kill me! They're just itching to - "
"Draco, listen to me," she said, "We're right here with you. We won't let that happen. Anyway, centaurs aren't generally treacherous by nature, you know. Now please put your wand away..."
"No!" Malfoy said, drawing back, "That's just what they want!"
"Don't back away!" Luna warned, "I can't - "
"Malfoy!" Ginny snapped, "Get back here If you don't want to get turned back into a ferret - "
Ginny felt more than heard an arrow fly right between her and Luna, hitting Malfoy's scarf with such force that it pulled the grey and green Slytherin garment clear off his coat to land amidst the trees beyond.
"AAAUUUGGGH!" Malfoy screamed as he turned and bolted into the darkness.
Luna spun around to face the centaurs. "STOP IT!" she called, now pointing her wand directly at them.
"Luna, don't!" Ginny said, though she held her place at her friend's side, their wands parallel.
"You dare to protect those which defile these woods?!" the lead centaur said loudly, clearly becoming very agitated. Ginny saw with consternation that the arrowheads were now pointing directly at them. "We have allowed you to wander this land without reproach these many years, and you now seek to defend those who desecrate our sanctity??"
Ginny thought she heard a distant noise in the woods, though she realized it was most likely Malfoy running back to the castle. At least she hoped so; the last thing they needed was more centaurs.
"I'm sorry," Luna said, "But I couldn't let him come to harm, he really wasn't here of his own accord, you know."
"The reasons for his presence matters not!" the centaur rebuked, "In protecting him, you have made yourself an - "
A much louder crash in the forest cut him off, and this time everyone noticed. Ginny could now hear a veritable cacophony of snaps and cracks, quickly becoming louder. Judging from the centaurs, who were now all glancing towards the north nervously, whatever was coming clearly wasn't Malfoy.
"What is that?" Ginny whispered.
Luna shook her head. "I don't know...it sounds large..."
Ginny was startled by the sudden sound of galloping, turning to see the centaurs quickly disappearing into the forest...her sense of dread multiplied tenfold...if a dozen centaurs armed with bows fled in fright at whatever that was...
"Luna! Let's go! Nox!" she said, extinguishing her wand. "Come on!" she whispered harshly, tugging hard on Luna's sleeve, as her friend finally followed and turned off her own wand's glow.
They slowly made their way back whence they came, all the while hearing something huge in the area they'd vacated. Whatever it was, it made absolutely no attempt to disguise its presence, as it sounded almost like whole trees were being snapped in half; this was actually fortunate, as it also served to hide the noise they were making groping around the woods in the dark...they didn't dare light their wands until they were far enough away that the noise behind them was barely detectable.
When they finally decided it was safe enough to re-light their wands Ginny could see with relief they'd managed to stay on course; their old footprints in the sparse snow cover reassured her they were at least not going to get lost.
"What was that thing?" Ginny said as they walked back, "Have you ever heard anything like that out here before?"
"No," Luna said simply, looking thoughtful.
"And why were those centaurs in such a snit?" Ginny asked, " I mean, I know Firenze isn't like most of them, but good lord - "
"They're not really very tolerant of humans, really," Luna said as they stepped over an old fallen log, "And, well, Draco's comment about they being half-breeds..."
Ginny nodded in understanding. She briefly wondered where Malfoy was at the moment, but then put the thought aside. He'd gotten himself into this mess, he could bloody well get himself out, so far as she was concerned.
"They didn't seem to mind you being here, though," Ginny remarked.
"Oh...well...they did at first, you know," Luna said, "I think they were surprised though when I started arguing with that Ronan fellow about the meanings associated with the movements of Mars...Mum would have had a field day pointing out how they'd misunderstood so much of it, she was really much better at that than I am...anyway, after awhile he said I could come and go as I please, but now..."
"What do you think will happen?" Ginny asked, ducking under an overhagning branch as Luna did likewise.
"I don't know," Luna answered, "They were really quite upset."
That's an understatement, Ginny thought.
* * *
"Ohh, that Snape!!" Tonks exclaimed, holding a half-eaten chocolate Snorkack in her hand as she lay in bed. "Is he insane? Sending students in the forest for detention??"
"Not insane," Hermione interjected from her chair next to the bed, "Just really nasty." She glanced at Luna, who had been quietly reading the latest edition of The Quibbler on the other side of Tonks' bed as Hermione had been bringing the young Auror up to date on the latest happenings. Ginny had told her of the encounter the previous night; it had been a harrowing experience, to say the least, and yet Luna was back to her dreamy self, as though nothing had happened. They'd decided to keep it from Harry for the moment, otherwise he might well go and try to challenge Malfoy to a duel, Hermione thought. She envied her Ravenclaw friend's ability to not get stressed or flustered; it would certainly make life less harrowing, she realized.
She wondered if Luna kept a batch of her chocolate Snorkack treats on standby these days...it seemed highly unlikely that she would have gone straight down to the kitchens in the middle of the night to bake them up right after an encounter such as she'd had. But then, Luna was a most unlikely personality.
They'd gotten up early that morning to come pay Tonks a visit while she was recovering in the hospital wing, and while Hermione questioned the choice of treats for a morning visit, there was no denying that they were as delicious as ever, having finally yielded to temptation and helped herself to a couple.
"Well, I'm going to have a talk with him about that," Tonks said, "If not here, then for sure at the next Order meeting."
"Actually," Hermione said, "Maybe you'd better not...knowing Snape, he's likely just to take it out on us afterwards."
"I swear," Tonks said in frustration, "I don't know why Dumbledore keeps him on staff. He hasn't changed at all since I was here, by the sounds of it. I mean, having him work for the Order, fine! But he's a terror as a teacher!"
"Oh, I agree," Hermione nodded.
Tonks nibbled on the rest of her Snorkack, glancing at the open box full of the chocolates next to her. "I could really get addicted to these," she said. "What are they supposed to be, anyway?"
"Oh, well, they're supposed to represent Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Hermione said quickly, "They're myth - er, they're endangered animals, Luna and her dad sometimes go out looking for them in Sweden."
"Oh yeah?" Tonks said, looking interested.
"Happiness is a Swedish sunset," Luna chimed melodiously from behind her paper.
Tonks turned to Hermione, looking slightly bemused, who smiled slightly and gave a half shrug.
"Well, that's...nice," Tonks said, "How's Harry doing, anyway? I haven't seen him since I've been locked up in here."
"Oh, well, he had...things on his mind," Hermione said, glancing at Luna, who was still reading her paper, "But I'm sure he'll drop by now that he's feeling better."
"Well, good," the young Auror said, seeming to consider whether it was wise to indulge in another Snorkack so early in the morning. Her indecision lasted only a few moments before she picked out another one from the box. "Remus has been asking about him too. He hasn't had much of a chance to keep in touch, with the Ministry and all; he was really looking forward to seeing Harry at the Burrow during the holidays, actually, especially after Arthur Weasley had managed to convince him to drop by for Christmas. But you know Remus, he hates to tear himself away from his desk when he thinks there's still something left to do...he's going to work himself to an early grave that one, I swear."
Luna's large silver eyes pooped up over the top of her newspaper. "You know Minister Lupin?" she asked.
"Oh, sure," Tonks said, smiling at her, "He was in the Order before becoming Minister, you know. I still can't bring myself to call him 'Minister' though!"
Luna continued to stare at Tonks, the sight of her intensely fixed eyes just barely visible over the top of the paper making Hermione work hard at suppressing a giggle. After several moments it became clear Tonks was beginning to feel distinctly awkward. "So...er, why do you ask?" she finally said in an effort to get Luna to do something other than gaze at her .
"Oh well, I thought maybe he would know..." Luna said before raising the paper back up.
"Know what?" Tonks asked before Hermione could warn her.
Luna's eyes popped back up over the paper again. "Well, about the goblin pies, of course," she said dreamily, "I thought that since he must have access to the previous minister's old records..."
"Goblin..." Tonks turned to look at Hermione, apparently not comprehending Luna's reference. "Oh I get it! Yeah, oh absolutely! There were mountains of goblin pies in his office when Remus went in and - " "She's serious," Hermione said, biting hard on her lip in an effort to keep a straight face. "She...believes that Fudge had goblins assassinated and stuffed into pies when he was trying to take over Gringotts."
"It was in The Quibbler," Luna said proudly, pointing unnecessarily to the paper's logo.
Tonks gaped at Luna, then Hermione, then Luna again. "Oh...well, I haven't heard Remus make mention of it...but, I'll, er, make sure to ask him next time I see him."
Luna's paper rose up to cover her face once more. "Thank you," she said happily.
The moment the paper obscured Luna's face Tonks turned to Hermione and gave a look of total bewilderment, to which the young Gryffindor had to stuff her knuckles into her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
A short time later they were interrupted by a rapping noise on the door to the hospital wing. It was early morning; Hermione couldn't understand why the person didn't just open the door and come in. "It's open!" Hermione called out after hearing a second burst of rapping at the door.
Madam Pomfrey had gotten up from her desk at the far end of the wing and was making her way down towards the door, the intermittent rapping continuing all the while. "Yes, yes," she said impatiently, "You'd best have your hands full when I get there, whoever you are - "
The moment she pulled on the handle she gave a start when she saw the black form of Nevermore standing at the foot of the door, having just been interrupted in his pecking by the sudden absence of a surface to knock on. "No flying in the hospital wing!!" Madam Pomfrey ordered as she saw the large black bird spread its wings expectantly.
"Oh, look, it's a crow," Tonks remarked.
"It's a raven, actually," Hermione corrected her.
Luna dropped her paper and spun around. "Nevermore!" she cried happily, jumping up from her seat and running over to the door, crouching down to retrieve the letter from the raven's leg. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you...I don't have any treats with me at the moment, though, oh wait, yes - "
She ran back to Tonks' bed and snatched a chocolate Snorkack from the box.
"Will it eat that?" Tonks asked Hermione as Luna scampered back to give the treat to her raven.
"It'll eat just about anything, I think," Hermione said. "Hey, when am I going to get out of here, by the way?" Tonks asked Madam Pomfrey as she walked by her bed, heading back to her desk. "I feel fine!"
"Would you rather be at St. Mungo's?" the nurse called back.
"No," Tonks said self-consciously. Hermione couldn't blame her; while rather deserted, the hospital wing here was infinitely more enjoyable to spending time in an actual hospital.
"Letter from your dad?" Hermione asked as Luna took her seat and joyfully unrolled the parchment.
"Yes, Finally! I've been waiting..." she said, as she started reading the letter.
It took only moments however, for Luna's joyful expression to slowly fade from her face. In fact, her already pale colouration drained away as her eyes slowly widened, a look of horror coming over her features. "...no..." she whispered hoarsely.
Hermione's felt her insides grow cold at Luna's expression. This was definitely not normal behaviour for the young Ravenclaw. "Luna, what is it? What's wrong?" she said, becoming very concerned.
Luna slowly looked up at her, her face as white as the Grey Lady's, her large silvery eyes welling up with tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but her trembling lips voiced no sound. She very slowly extended a shaking hand to Hermione, who took the letter and quickly began to read:
Dear Luna,
I'm sorry it took so long to reply to your letter of the 21st instant,
however your raven was very reluctant to part with it, seeing as I was
not the intended recipient.
I must confess to some confusion as to the contents of your letter, as
from what I gathered you seem to be under the impression that your
father is here; in fact I haven't seen him in years, last time being
the Quidditch World Cup when it was held in the Netherlands, as I
recall. I held onto your raven for several days, thinking he might be
on his way and your letter simply outran him somehow. I didn't want to
send your bird back without an answer from him, but since he hasn't
shown up I'm assuming he must have realized his mistake and headed
back home.
Which brings me to my second item: I deduced from your letter that you
are under the impression that I am deceased! I assure you, you have
been most certainly misinformed. I expect that your father was on his
was here to attend my 'funeral'? Well, rest assured if your father
does show up I'll give him your letter and let him know about the
misunderstanding...though I imagine the moment he sees me up and about
he'll figure it out for himself!
At any rate, it's nice to hear from you. I really should keep in
better touch, I know, I wasn't even aware that Andrew had a daughter!
Take care, and say hello to your mother for me,
Uncle Randolph
Hermione dropped the letter onto her lap and looked at Luna, who looked about ready to break down.
"Oh...no...Luna..."
And to compound it all, he hadn't seen Luna all day, which in truth was a mixed blessing; though he enjoyed her company, at the moment this was tempered by the knowledge that he'd so blatantly broken his promise to her about the fairies, barely hours after making it. His stomach twisted at the thought of having to tell her he'd betrayed her trust...yet to pretend otherwise was unthinkable. She deserved to know, after all, she'd brought him there for the express purpose of making him feel better...and for a few sublime hours, he had. And now, thanks to his blunder, he'd lost not only his cheerfulness but possibly one of his best friends, as well. Especially as Harry got the distinct impression that Luna was a person of her word; he recalled quite clearly her strange, closed-eye vow to herself when he'd made her pledge to keep their little escapade into the Slytherin Common Room secret...she'd clearly considered that promise a sacred trust; how on earth would she think of him after this?
He was making his way up the staircase to the second floor, hardly noticing the other students as he trod heavily along, heading for the library to wait out the rest of the lunch hour; just as he put his foot on the bottommost step of the second flight of stairs, he realized that Hermione would more than likely be there, given that she hadn't been at lunch. He halted in hid-step, a couple of Slytherins following behind walking up around him in annoyance, evidently thinking he'd deliberately made himself an obstacle in their path.
He sighed, deciding that the library was probably not the best place to be right now. He was just considering going to the Gryffindor tower for awhile, as the chilly January air was making the warmth of the fireplace very enticing; he'd just made up his mind when a someone called out his name from above.
"Harry! Harry!"
He glanced up to see Colin Creevy rapidly making his way down towards him. His shoulders sagged. At the moment, he really wasn't in the mood to be giving Colin scoops to use in his school news gazette. "Um...hi," Harry said blankly.
Colin had never really outgrown his penchant for hyperactivity. Although, thankfully, he rarely carried his muggle camera around with him anymore, relying mostly on word of mouth to use in his paper.
"When's the next D.A. meeting?? Everyone's asking, now that Christmas break is over and all, and - " "Shhhh!!!" Harry said harshly. Even though Umbridge was no longer around to promote her gulag version of a school, they'd still kept the DA secret, as he really didn't trust the Slytherins. He had to admit, however, that the thought of the DA lessons had completely slipped his mind. "Keep it down, Colin!"
"Oh, of course!" Colin beamed, "Hush-hush and all that, right?"
"Yeah, look," Harry said tiredly, "I'll get together with Ron and...Hermione...tonight and we'll work out the time for the next meeting, all right? We'll send it through the galleons before the end of the week." His stomach lurched at the thought of having to go to Hermione for that, given their spat the previous day.
Colin's hand reflexively reached into his pocket, evidently trying to detect wether his galleon was warm or not.
"We haven't done it yet, Colin," Harry said, "Before the end of the week though, all right?"
"Righto!" Colin said brightly, "Till then!"
Harry watched the young Gryffindor scamper away down the staircase out of sight, secretly glad he'd gone...he wasn't in much of a mood for socializing at the moment. He was about to climb the second flight of stairs before realizing that he wasn't going to the library after all, just as a familiar sight above him caught his attention.
Luna was walking down the staircase, gazing at him, her small pinecone earrings dangling with every step. He might have laughed at the sight, given better circumstances, but as it was, Harry felt his stomach tighten...he hadn't expected to see her this very moment!
"Um...hi, Luna," he said as she came before him on the landing, staring up at Harry with her large silver eyes, her expression unusually earnest...he briefly wondered if...no, she couldn't know already, could she?
She kept silent, continuing to stare up at him expectantly...he felt his stomach give a heave within him. "I'm...going to the Gryffindor tower to warm up a bit...would you like to..."
Luna cast her gaze downward; Harry saw a look of disappointment cross her face...she seemed almost resigned to something, it seemed to him. He felt his insides give another sickening twist, and he knew that he couldn't put it off, he had to be honest with her.
"Luna...I've...there's something I have to tell you..." he began hesitatingly.
She looked back up at him, her large, silvery eyes seemingly sad and slightly hopeful all at once.
"I just...slipped up, last night," he said heavily, "I don't know why...I just shot my mouth off, in the middle of an argument - "
"I know," Luna said softly, looking back up at him, "I just had a talk with Hermione, about the fairies."
Harry blinked. He felt his head spinning, as the sickening realization hit him that Luna already knew, and she'd had to hear it from someone else...
"I...didn't mean - " he said, his voice sounding strangely disembodied to his own ears...he felt the colour drain from his face, as though hit by a weak disillusionment charm. Luna took a step closer to him. "Harry..." she said sadly.
This was it. He was about to lose a friend who'd been such a godsend to him. His dizziness increased to the point where he thought he might lose his balance, his vision blurring around the edges...
Then suddenly, he felt a mass of sandy blonde hair brush up against the side of his face...Luna was standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek...Harry felt a strange surge of energy run through him, feeling slightly tingly; it was a magical, almost transcendent sensation, really...
She drew back, still looking up at him with clear silver eyes, all hints of dreaminess noticeably absent. "That was really sweet of you, you know..." she said gently.
Harry felt lost, his dread now intermingling chaotically with intense confusion. "What..." he stammered, "I don't understand...I...I broke..."
"Your promise, yes," Luna finished for him, though Harry thought he saw hints of a smile playing across her face, "Hermione told me what you said...how you stuck up for me and Daddy...but you really shouldn't have, you know."
Harry gaped at her. "B-but...aren't you..."
Luna tilted her head slightly to one side. "Harry..." she began, "I wanted to see if you would tell me, and I'm so glad you did. Last night, your heart and your brain got into a fight...and your heart just happened to win, that's all. But then, it always does with you, doesn't it?"
A sense of overwhelming relief overcame Harry; he grabbed hold of the corner banister to keep his legs from giving out.
"Harry, it's all right," Luna said as she quickly took hold of his arm, evidently thinking he'd been about to fall over. "No one knows where the fairies are, you know..."
He looked at her. "But...aren't you upset?" Harry said sombrely, "How can you just..."
She tilted her head and looked at him with her large, clear silver eyes, smiling slightly. "Because I believe in you, Harry," she said quietly, "I know it was an accident...you are rather prone to them, after all, if I may say so..."
His vision clouded again, though this time with tears...the terrible weight lifted from his conscience at last, filling him with a rather exuberant giddiness.
He abruptly reached out and wrapped his arms around Luna and drew her close in a deep hug, burying his face in her long, dirty blonde hair. Luna briefly stiffened as he'd obviously surprised her, and at first her arms remained at her sides, though after a few moments he felt her hands move hesitatingly and gently pressed themselves against his back. She felt almost ethereal, Harry thought.
Harry didn't care about the looks they were getting from some passers-by, who he couldn't recognize in any event through his tear-stained glasses; he was so ecstatic at the moment that nothing could dissuade him from expressing his happiness.
Finally he let Luna go, and as she drew back she was looking at him strangely, almost as though she was at a loss, though it lasted for just a brief moment before her dreamy countenance returned and she smiled serenely up at him.
"Well," she said, "I'll see you later, Harry. I have to bring some notes to Ginny, before History class..."
She drew away and was about to walk down the staircase when she paused for a moment before turning back to him. "Hermione's in the library, Harry," she said thoughtfully, "She's still in a rather bad way, really..."
"I'll go talk to her," Harry promised, suddenly wondering why he'd gotten so upset at Hermione the day before...it all seemed so ridiculously overblown now...
Luna smiled brightly at him. "That would help, I think," she said, before turning back and disappearing down the stairs.
As he watched her go, he suddenly realized how powerful his reaction had been...he'd never reached out and just hugged someone with all his might like that before...
* * *
"Mind if I join you?" Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "Oh...Harry..." she seemed to take a few seconds to wake from her reverie before indicating the chair Harry was standing behind, "Yes, of course..."
Harry smiled at her as he took his seat, though he felt a pang of guilt as he caught sight of her tear-reddened eyes, knowing full well that he'd been responsible for them. He honestly wondered why he'd reacted so harshly to her the night before; in retrospect, it now seemed a very minor incident, yet he couldn't deny the anguish he'd caused her.
"Um...how are...I noticed you didn't come down for lunch," he said uncertainly.
"Well...I didn't think you would've appreciated that..." Hermione said, swallowing hard.
Harry sighed, his shoulders sagging. As much as he hated to think so, she was right; he'd felt so on edge through lunch that he likely would have left had she arrived. "Hermione, I'm sorry for what happened," he said sincerely, "I shouldn't have blown up at you like that...I was a real git, I know..."
Hermione reached out and took hold of his hands in hers, her eyes once more welling up with tears. "Harry...thank you..." she whispered. "I can't tell you what a relief that is to me..."
"I don't know what got into me," he admitted, "I just wasn't thinking straight, I guess..."
"Well, Harry, isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, "I've never seen you react quite that way before."
Harry blinked at her. Over her shoulder he could see several students making their way out of the library; lunch hour must be nearly over, but something about what Hermione said made him ignore such things as trivial as schedules. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Hermione bit her lip, clearly not wanting to upset him again. "Harry, you're very, well, protective of Luna...haven't you noticed?"
Harry drew back. "Well, yeah, but she's done the same for us, I mean just look at what she did in the forest, and at the Shack - "
"Harry, please don't get upset," Hermione said pleadingly, "It wasn't meant as criticism...there's nothing wrong with that at all, really, it's just, well, I think it shows how you really feel about her..."
Harry felt his stomach go into convulsions. "Er...I like her, I mean - "
"Oh Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head and smiling at the same time, "Well, anyway...I suppose it took me some time to really see past my preconceptions too. I used to write her off as a flake, remember?"
"Yeah..." Harry said, grasping at the chance to change the subject. "I think Ron still does sometimes."
"He'll come around, Harry," she said, "At least, I hope so...she's not at all like the first impression I got, you know. She did get sorted into Ravenclaw, after all..."
They sat in silence for a short while; Harry noticed the library was mostly empty now, the clock on the wall indicating only a few minutes remained before the start of class. Either Hermione wasn't aware or didn't care about being late for class, which seemed highly unlikely, Harry thought.
"We had a little heart-to-heart, Luna and I," she said carefully, "I'm beginning to at least understand her way of thinking, a little..."
Harry blinked. "You do?" He asked, stunned. "Does that mean you believe in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack now?"
"Oh, no!" Hermione said laughingly, "No, I can't bring myself to go quite that far...but at least I'm starting to understand why Luna does." She mulled thoughtfully: "You know, her, well, 'philosophy' on life, I suppose is the best way to describe it...it's actually rather sensible, in a way...well, at least for someone who can believe the things she does."
Hermione ran her hands back through her brown hair...she looked exhausted, Harry thought. "I just have to keep from snapping back when she comes out with those theories of hers," she said softly, "Honestly, I don't know why I do it...but then...Goblin Pies..."
Harry smiled. Much as he didn't like to admit it, that particular story did seem so far-fetched as to border on the preposterous. He was just about to mention the time when Hermione caught him completely off-guard.
"You know, I get so upset when Ginny tells me some of the things they do to her," Hermione said, "The other Ravenclaws, I mean...but am I any different, really?"
"Sure you are," Harry said comfortingly, "I mean, they pick on her because she's...well...different, and all that." Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'odd'; although she still did and said things that continued to stupefy him on occasion, he had absolutely no doubt as to Luna's sanity.
"Yes, but, Harry, I do that too, much as I'm ashamed to admit it," Hermione said self-consciously. "Even after everything she's done - " "Don't torture yourself," Harry said, "Maybe you're not putting Luna down as much as defending your own beliefs; it's just that you tend to defend by attacking, sometimes..."
Hermione looked stunned. For several seconds she just gaped at Harry before gradually assuming an air of introspection. "You know, you might just be right about that?"
"Uh...I am?"
"Harry, do you think I'm narrow-minded?" she asked seriously.
It was Harry's turn to be stunned. Hermione had always been so sure of herself, a tower of certainty and confidence in her own being, and yet at the moment she seemed to be doubting herself and reaching out for reassurance.
"Er...narrow-minded?" Harry asked uncertainly, "Um, what makes you ask that?"
"Oh, I won't get mad, Harry," Hermione said, giving a dismissive wave of her hand, "Tell me what you think."
"Um...well, no...I don't think - "
"Be honest," Hermione said, "I really want to know."
"Well...now don't get mad...but...you do get a little on the skeptical side sometimes," Harry said with baited breath, though Hermione looked more introspective than upset.
"But I don't know if I would call that narrow-minded...and anyway, that's not a bad thing, really," he hastened to add, not wanting to make her think any less of herself, "It's really helped us out a lot in the past...I mean, I don't even want to think of where we'd be today if you weren't here, Hermione," he said sincerely.
She smiled sadly at him. "Well...thanks, Harry, that's nice of you to say. But still...I really should try to be more open-minded, for Luna's sake at least," she sighed, "She really has a good heart, you know..."
"I know," Harry said.
* * *
"Will you come off it?" Ginny said heatedly, "Do you always have to be such a git?? We weren't trying to trick you!"
"How stupid do you think I am??" Malfoy shot back, as they wandered further into the Forbidden Forest in search of Snape's exotic ingredients. "You planned it so I'd get caught in the tower! I'll get you back for that - "
"If that's true," Luna said vaguely from behind them, "Can you explain why we went to the tower and waited to be caught as well?"
"I - that's - " Malfoy began, evidently unable to come up with an explanation to satisfy himself, much less the others. "Don't confound the issue!" he said angrily without turning back.
"Oh, well...I forgot you're not in Ravenclaw," Luna said dreamily from behind him.
Malfoy stopped in his tracks, turning on his heel to come face to face with the Ravenclaw, who had almost walked straight into him in her dreamy state. Ginny took a couple more steps before coming to a stop, finally noticing Malfoy was no longer next to her.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Malfoy said hotly, glaring at Luna.
"Hmmm? Oh...well, you did express some difficulty in understanding the question, didn't you?" Luna said, gazing at him serenely.
"Watch your mouth, Lovegood! You were deliberately trying to confuse me!"
"No," Luna said innocently, "though I do agree you were confused."
"Okay, that's enough, you two," Ginny interrupted, "Let's move it, the quicker we can get out of here the better."
Malfoy spun back around to face her. "Who appointed you leader, Weasel?"
Ginny's face flushed with irritation. "No one," she said, trying to keep her anger from rising to the surface, "But somebody has to remember why we're out here in the first place!"
"Well, I'm the prefect here, so obviously I'm in charge," Malfoy drawled, pointing at his badge. "Now, we'll - "
"If you're a prefect," Luna chimed from behind him, "It's rather odd that you received detention for being out after curfew, isn't it?"
"They're going to hear about that!" Malfoy said, turning back to her, "If they think my father is going to sit still and let this - "
Luna tilted her head slightly. "Isn't he in Azkaban?" she asked conversationally.
Malfoy gaped at her, a look of fury crossing his face. He wagged his finger threateningly at Luna. "You'll pay for that when he gets out, you weirdo, just you wait!"
"Actually, we heard that Voldemort fellow wasn't really inclined to get him out," Luna said dreamily, her hands reaching up to straighten her reindeer hat.
"What? Liar!" Malfoy said.
"Oh, so you're admitting your father has ties with You-Know-Who, then?" Ginny countered.
"I...I didn't say that!" Malfoy stammered. "Look, are we going to get those vine things or not??"
Ginny shot a shrewd grin at Luna as they turned back to the task at hand, that of obtaining the rare Skankegg root for Professor Snape; she looked at the tiny crystal orb he'd given them as it lay in her hand, and saw with satisfaction that is was glowing a brighter green than before...they were heading in the right direction, due east as he'd said.
They walked for a while in relative silence, only Luna's soft humming of 'Weasley Is Our King' providing any relief from the stillness of the woods. Ginny had a fleeting thought back to the Burrow during the holidays, when Luna had suddenly enchanted them with a impromptu and heartbreakingly beautiful rendering of Silent Night...it was the only time she'd ever heard her sing out loud; she wondered how the Gryffindor version of 'Weasley Is Our King' would sound...
She glanced at Luna and took heart in her friend's dreamy demeanor; she seemed perfectly at ease here, which suggested to Ginny that there was likely nothing to fear, at least for the moment. This must be something very much akin to one of her late night strolls through the forest, Ginny thought. Even so, she nevertheless couldn't quite dispel her wariness; and by the looks of it, neither could Malfoy, who kept glancing around them nervously.
"Will you bloody well knock it off already?" Malfoy shot back angrily a while later. "You're going to alert every filthy creature out here!"
"How uncouth," Luna said, "You don't have to be frightened, you know. The giant spiders are still hibernating at this time of year, and - "
"I'm not scared!" Malfoy protested rather unconvincingly, as he was looking all around nervously. He glanced back at her. "What giant spiders?"
"Oh, nothing..." Luna said vaguely. Malfoy's head began snapping left and right with even greater frequency. They walked on in silence, every once in a while Ginny catching sight of Luna playfully spinning in a circle as she walked, wondering what could be going through the young Ravenclaw's mind. The light from their wands was casting multiple shadows of themselves on the forest floor, frequently causing illusions of movement in the woods which served to startle Malfoy to no end. At least the snow cover on the ground was rather light, Ginny noticed thankfully, as it also meant they wouldn't have to clear very much to get at the roots Snape wanted.
"Did you owl your mother?" Luna asked Malfoy dreamily, out of the blue.
"What? What are you talking about?" Malfoy answered without slowing his pace.
"Your mother," Luna said airily, "Did you hear back from her yet?"
"I - what business is it of yours, Lovegood?" he practically spat.
"Well, we sent an owl to her last night, you know, I was just wondering - "
"You're the one!" Malfoy spun on his heels, pointing an accusatory finger at Luna. "My owl's been missing all day! You sent him off!"
"We had to get an owl that knew your address, Malfoy," Ginny interrupted, coming to stand next to Luna, "It didn't matter who it belonged to!"
"What are you playing at?" Malfoy spat, "What trick are you going to pull on her? Tell me now!"
"It's not a trick!" Ginny exclaimed, exasperated, "How many times do we have to tell you??"
"You're being rather close-minded, you know," Luna said.
"Close-minded?" Malfoy blurted, "You expect me to believe that you overheard a Death Eater, in the school, telling Professor Snape they were going to knock off both me and my mother?"
"Yes!" Ginny said.
"Yes," Luna said, at the same instant, nodding vigorously.
"If that was true, then why didn't Professor Snape warn me?" Malfoy shot back.
Ginny and Luna exchanged glances. Ginny knew full well that were Snape to warn Malfoy and his mother of Voldemort's plans, his cover would be blown. But, she didn't dare tell that to Malfoy... "Well, why would he warn you? If he's in contact with Death Eaters, why would he side himself with someone who's been branded a traitor?" Ginny lied, hoping it would come off convincingly.
Malfoy's eyes widened. "Me?" he said, "Branded a...but how - "
"You-Know-Who seems to think that you gave that portkey book to Harry," Ginny said, "So he thinks you're a danger to him now."
"What?? Potter!!" Malfoy spat, "He stole that book from me! I know he did! I knew something was fishy when the trunk ward charm went off! Damn Crabbe and Goyle, those lazy - "
"Well, that's a confession if I ever heard one," Ginny smirked. "So you're admitting you did have that book, and you were helping You-Know-Who, after all."
"What? No, I meant - "
"Oh, give it up, Malfoy!" Ginny said, "You're not fooling anyone!"
"Orb," Luna said serenely, pointing at Ginny's hand.
"Eh? What?" Ginny said, her train of thought momentarily disrupted. She looked at the tiny crystal sphere in her hand; it was glowing very brightly and pulsating. "Oh! I think this is the spot," she said, glancing around and looking for the wooden stake in the ground that Snape had told them marked the area where the Skankegg root could be found. They lowered their wands closer to the forest floor as they searched, Ginny being the one to find the old peg near the base of a dead hemlock tree.
"Well, come on," she said as she and Luna got down on their knees and started digging away the topmost layer of soil in search of the exotic roots. "You too, Malfoy."
"I'm not digging through dirt like a common gardener!" he spat at them, "I'll supervise."
"You'll dig right along, or else I'll tell Snape you didn't, and then you'll have to do another detention."
Malfoy glared at her, though he seemed to consider her threat meaningful enough that he roughly drew out the small spade they'd gotten from Madam Sprout's greenhouses before coming. He reluctantly dropped his knees to the ground and started digging away.
Locating the roots wasn't difficult; Snape had given them a small sample of one, and its telltale bright olive colouration was easy to distinguish it from the other, more mundane, root systems. They worked quickly, and it had taken them only about twenty minutes to collect enough of the Skankegg roots to fill up Snape's bag; which was quite long enough as Ginny was concerned, as the ground, although thankfully not frozen, was still cold enough to be permeating her legs to near-numbness by now.
"Okay, that's enough," she said, as Luna dropped one last root into the bag. "Let's get back, I'm freezing."
The moment they stood, Ginny realized with a start that they were being watched by a group of centaurs, so concentrated had they been with digging up roots that they hadn't noticed the new arrivals until this very moment. She noticed with dread that several of them held bows at the ready, trained directly on them.
"AUGHH! HALF-BREEDS FREAKS!" Malfoy yelled, stumbling backwards and reaching for his wand.
"No! Don't - " Luna called out, a moment before an arrow was loosed at the Slytherin. "Impedimenta!"
At the literal last instant a flash from Luna's wand hit the arrow inches from Malfoy's face, sending it spinning harmlessly into the forest; the Slytherin was standing rigid as a tree, his wand not yet raised into the ready position, and yet Luna had somehow managed to draw hers from behind her ear and fire off a spell in the same amount of time. Ginny stared at her open-mouthed...
The other centaurs who hadn't fired all trained their bows on Malfoy, who paled visibly. Ginny drew her wand but didn't point it at them, just as Luna stepped in front of Malfoy.
"Luna! No!" Ginny cried, fearing for her friend's life. Why does she do that, she thought furiously...not in a million years would Ginny trade Luna's life for Malfoy's.
"Stand aside, child," One of the centaurs holding a bow at the ready said darkly, "Our quarrel is not with you."
"I know," Luna said calmly, holding her wand at her side and evidently being careful not to point it at the creatures before them. "But it's not with him, either."
Ginny swallowed hard. There were a good dozen centaurs before them, and even if all three of them managed to get spells away, there was no way they could possibly overcome all of them before getting struck by arrows in return. She decided it was best to let Luna be their voice, as the only centaur she'd ever met had been Firenze, who, with his tolerant view of humans, was hardly representative of his species. She walked slowly over to stand next to Luna, being very conscious not to make any sudden movements.
"He was drawing his wand for battle, and has committed a grave insult," the lead centaur said in a deep voice, "Not only has he defiled the forest with his presence, he has insinuated that we are half human!"
"He is...rather ignorant of such things," Luna said. Ginny noticed that Malfoy was hardly in a position to protest, even had he been so inclined...Luna had only to step out of the way...
"Do not attempt to protect him," the lead centaur warned, "while your presence is tolerated, we will not be dissuaded from exacting retribution for his offense."
Luna spun around and faced Malfoy. "Apologize," she said quietly but firmly.
"Wh - what?" The Slytherin stammered.
"Will that really satisfy them, Luna?" Ginny whispered.
"I don't know," Luna said gravely, "But Ronan isn't here, I don't think I can convince them otherwise," she turned to Malfoy, "And best put your wand away."
"B-but..."
"Apologize to them," Luna repeated, "And be sincere." Ginny winced at that. She could hardly imagine Malfoy doing such a thing.
Luna turned around to face the centaurs, though didn't move from her position in front of Malfoy. "He would like to apologize for his lack of wisdom," she announced.
Ginny saw a few of the centaurs glance at each other uncertainly, though they all kept their bows trained. "Let him come forth, then, and do so without hiding behind another," the lead centaur said.
Luna spun around once more to face the Slytherin. "All right, are you ready?"
"W-what?" Malfoy said, his terror-filled eyes growing wider, "They'll kill me! They're just itching to - "
"Draco, listen to me," she said, "We're right here with you. We won't let that happen. Anyway, centaurs aren't generally treacherous by nature, you know. Now please put your wand away..."
"No!" Malfoy said, drawing back, "That's just what they want!"
"Don't back away!" Luna warned, "I can't - "
"Malfoy!" Ginny snapped, "Get back here If you don't want to get turned back into a ferret - "
Ginny felt more than heard an arrow fly right between her and Luna, hitting Malfoy's scarf with such force that it pulled the grey and green Slytherin garment clear off his coat to land amidst the trees beyond.
"AAAUUUGGGH!" Malfoy screamed as he turned and bolted into the darkness.
Luna spun around to face the centaurs. "STOP IT!" she called, now pointing her wand directly at them.
"Luna, don't!" Ginny said, though she held her place at her friend's side, their wands parallel.
"You dare to protect those which defile these woods?!" the lead centaur said loudly, clearly becoming very agitated. Ginny saw with consternation that the arrowheads were now pointing directly at them. "We have allowed you to wander this land without reproach these many years, and you now seek to defend those who desecrate our sanctity??"
Ginny thought she heard a distant noise in the woods, though she realized it was most likely Malfoy running back to the castle. At least she hoped so; the last thing they needed was more centaurs.
"I'm sorry," Luna said, "But I couldn't let him come to harm, he really wasn't here of his own accord, you know."
"The reasons for his presence matters not!" the centaur rebuked, "In protecting him, you have made yourself an - "
A much louder crash in the forest cut him off, and this time everyone noticed. Ginny could now hear a veritable cacophony of snaps and cracks, quickly becoming louder. Judging from the centaurs, who were now all glancing towards the north nervously, whatever was coming clearly wasn't Malfoy.
"What is that?" Ginny whispered.
Luna shook her head. "I don't know...it sounds large..."
Ginny was startled by the sudden sound of galloping, turning to see the centaurs quickly disappearing into the forest...her sense of dread multiplied tenfold...if a dozen centaurs armed with bows fled in fright at whatever that was...
"Luna! Let's go! Nox!" she said, extinguishing her wand. "Come on!" she whispered harshly, tugging hard on Luna's sleeve, as her friend finally followed and turned off her own wand's glow.
They slowly made their way back whence they came, all the while hearing something huge in the area they'd vacated. Whatever it was, it made absolutely no attempt to disguise its presence, as it sounded almost like whole trees were being snapped in half; this was actually fortunate, as it also served to hide the noise they were making groping around the woods in the dark...they didn't dare light their wands until they were far enough away that the noise behind them was barely detectable.
When they finally decided it was safe enough to re-light their wands Ginny could see with relief they'd managed to stay on course; their old footprints in the sparse snow cover reassured her they were at least not going to get lost.
"What was that thing?" Ginny said as they walked back, "Have you ever heard anything like that out here before?"
"No," Luna said simply, looking thoughtful.
"And why were those centaurs in such a snit?" Ginny asked, " I mean, I know Firenze isn't like most of them, but good lord - "
"They're not really very tolerant of humans, really," Luna said as they stepped over an old fallen log, "And, well, Draco's comment about they being half-breeds..."
Ginny nodded in understanding. She briefly wondered where Malfoy was at the moment, but then put the thought aside. He'd gotten himself into this mess, he could bloody well get himself out, so far as she was concerned.
"They didn't seem to mind you being here, though," Ginny remarked.
"Oh...well...they did at first, you know," Luna said, "I think they were surprised though when I started arguing with that Ronan fellow about the meanings associated with the movements of Mars...Mum would have had a field day pointing out how they'd misunderstood so much of it, she was really much better at that than I am...anyway, after awhile he said I could come and go as I please, but now..."
"What do you think will happen?" Ginny asked, ducking under an overhagning branch as Luna did likewise.
"I don't know," Luna answered, "They were really quite upset."
That's an understatement, Ginny thought.
* * *
"Ohh, that Snape!!" Tonks exclaimed, holding a half-eaten chocolate Snorkack in her hand as she lay in bed. "Is he insane? Sending students in the forest for detention??"
"Not insane," Hermione interjected from her chair next to the bed, "Just really nasty." She glanced at Luna, who had been quietly reading the latest edition of The Quibbler on the other side of Tonks' bed as Hermione had been bringing the young Auror up to date on the latest happenings. Ginny had told her of the encounter the previous night; it had been a harrowing experience, to say the least, and yet Luna was back to her dreamy self, as though nothing had happened. They'd decided to keep it from Harry for the moment, otherwise he might well go and try to challenge Malfoy to a duel, Hermione thought. She envied her Ravenclaw friend's ability to not get stressed or flustered; it would certainly make life less harrowing, she realized.
She wondered if Luna kept a batch of her chocolate Snorkack treats on standby these days...it seemed highly unlikely that she would have gone straight down to the kitchens in the middle of the night to bake them up right after an encounter such as she'd had. But then, Luna was a most unlikely personality.
They'd gotten up early that morning to come pay Tonks a visit while she was recovering in the hospital wing, and while Hermione questioned the choice of treats for a morning visit, there was no denying that they were as delicious as ever, having finally yielded to temptation and helped herself to a couple.
"Well, I'm going to have a talk with him about that," Tonks said, "If not here, then for sure at the next Order meeting."
"Actually," Hermione said, "Maybe you'd better not...knowing Snape, he's likely just to take it out on us afterwards."
"I swear," Tonks said in frustration, "I don't know why Dumbledore keeps him on staff. He hasn't changed at all since I was here, by the sounds of it. I mean, having him work for the Order, fine! But he's a terror as a teacher!"
"Oh, I agree," Hermione nodded.
Tonks nibbled on the rest of her Snorkack, glancing at the open box full of the chocolates next to her. "I could really get addicted to these," she said. "What are they supposed to be, anyway?"
"Oh, well, they're supposed to represent Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Hermione said quickly, "They're myth - er, they're endangered animals, Luna and her dad sometimes go out looking for them in Sweden."
"Oh yeah?" Tonks said, looking interested.
"Happiness is a Swedish sunset," Luna chimed melodiously from behind her paper.
Tonks turned to Hermione, looking slightly bemused, who smiled slightly and gave a half shrug.
"Well, that's...nice," Tonks said, "How's Harry doing, anyway? I haven't seen him since I've been locked up in here."
"Oh, well, he had...things on his mind," Hermione said, glancing at Luna, who was still reading her paper, "But I'm sure he'll drop by now that he's feeling better."
"Well, good," the young Auror said, seeming to consider whether it was wise to indulge in another Snorkack so early in the morning. Her indecision lasted only a few moments before she picked out another one from the box. "Remus has been asking about him too. He hasn't had much of a chance to keep in touch, with the Ministry and all; he was really looking forward to seeing Harry at the Burrow during the holidays, actually, especially after Arthur Weasley had managed to convince him to drop by for Christmas. But you know Remus, he hates to tear himself away from his desk when he thinks there's still something left to do...he's going to work himself to an early grave that one, I swear."
Luna's large silver eyes pooped up over the top of her newspaper. "You know Minister Lupin?" she asked.
"Oh, sure," Tonks said, smiling at her, "He was in the Order before becoming Minister, you know. I still can't bring myself to call him 'Minister' though!"
Luna continued to stare at Tonks, the sight of her intensely fixed eyes just barely visible over the top of the paper making Hermione work hard at suppressing a giggle. After several moments it became clear Tonks was beginning to feel distinctly awkward. "So...er, why do you ask?" she finally said in an effort to get Luna to do something other than gaze at her .
"Oh well, I thought maybe he would know..." Luna said before raising the paper back up.
"Know what?" Tonks asked before Hermione could warn her.
Luna's eyes popped back up over the paper again. "Well, about the goblin pies, of course," she said dreamily, "I thought that since he must have access to the previous minister's old records..."
"Goblin..." Tonks turned to look at Hermione, apparently not comprehending Luna's reference. "Oh I get it! Yeah, oh absolutely! There were mountains of goblin pies in his office when Remus went in and - " "She's serious," Hermione said, biting hard on her lip in an effort to keep a straight face. "She...believes that Fudge had goblins assassinated and stuffed into pies when he was trying to take over Gringotts."
"It was in The Quibbler," Luna said proudly, pointing unnecessarily to the paper's logo.
Tonks gaped at Luna, then Hermione, then Luna again. "Oh...well, I haven't heard Remus make mention of it...but, I'll, er, make sure to ask him next time I see him."
Luna's paper rose up to cover her face once more. "Thank you," she said happily.
The moment the paper obscured Luna's face Tonks turned to Hermione and gave a look of total bewilderment, to which the young Gryffindor had to stuff her knuckles into her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
A short time later they were interrupted by a rapping noise on the door to the hospital wing. It was early morning; Hermione couldn't understand why the person didn't just open the door and come in. "It's open!" Hermione called out after hearing a second burst of rapping at the door.
Madam Pomfrey had gotten up from her desk at the far end of the wing and was making her way down towards the door, the intermittent rapping continuing all the while. "Yes, yes," she said impatiently, "You'd best have your hands full when I get there, whoever you are - "
The moment she pulled on the handle she gave a start when she saw the black form of Nevermore standing at the foot of the door, having just been interrupted in his pecking by the sudden absence of a surface to knock on. "No flying in the hospital wing!!" Madam Pomfrey ordered as she saw the large black bird spread its wings expectantly.
"Oh, look, it's a crow," Tonks remarked.
"It's a raven, actually," Hermione corrected her.
Luna dropped her paper and spun around. "Nevermore!" she cried happily, jumping up from her seat and running over to the door, crouching down to retrieve the letter from the raven's leg. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you...I don't have any treats with me at the moment, though, oh wait, yes - "
She ran back to Tonks' bed and snatched a chocolate Snorkack from the box.
"Will it eat that?" Tonks asked Hermione as Luna scampered back to give the treat to her raven.
"It'll eat just about anything, I think," Hermione said. "Hey, when am I going to get out of here, by the way?" Tonks asked Madam Pomfrey as she walked by her bed, heading back to her desk. "I feel fine!"
"Would you rather be at St. Mungo's?" the nurse called back.
"No," Tonks said self-consciously. Hermione couldn't blame her; while rather deserted, the hospital wing here was infinitely more enjoyable to spending time in an actual hospital.
"Letter from your dad?" Hermione asked as Luna took her seat and joyfully unrolled the parchment.
"Yes, Finally! I've been waiting..." she said, as she started reading the letter.
It took only moments however, for Luna's joyful expression to slowly fade from her face. In fact, her already pale colouration drained away as her eyes slowly widened, a look of horror coming over her features. "...no..." she whispered hoarsely.
Hermione's felt her insides grow cold at Luna's expression. This was definitely not normal behaviour for the young Ravenclaw. "Luna, what is it? What's wrong?" she said, becoming very concerned.
Luna slowly looked up at her, her face as white as the Grey Lady's, her large silvery eyes welling up with tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but her trembling lips voiced no sound. She very slowly extended a shaking hand to Hermione, who took the letter and quickly began to read:
Dear Luna,
I'm sorry it took so long to reply to your letter of the 21st instant,
however your raven was very reluctant to part with it, seeing as I was
not the intended recipient.
I must confess to some confusion as to the contents of your letter, as
from what I gathered you seem to be under the impression that your
father is here; in fact I haven't seen him in years, last time being
the Quidditch World Cup when it was held in the Netherlands, as I
recall. I held onto your raven for several days, thinking he might be
on his way and your letter simply outran him somehow. I didn't want to
send your bird back without an answer from him, but since he hasn't
shown up I'm assuming he must have realized his mistake and headed
back home.
Which brings me to my second item: I deduced from your letter that you
are under the impression that I am deceased! I assure you, you have
been most certainly misinformed. I expect that your father was on his
was here to attend my 'funeral'? Well, rest assured if your father
does show up I'll give him your letter and let him know about the
misunderstanding...though I imagine the moment he sees me up and about
he'll figure it out for himself!
At any rate, it's nice to hear from you. I really should keep in
better touch, I know, I wasn't even aware that Andrew had a daughter!
Take care, and say hello to your mother for me,
Uncle Randolph
Hermione dropped the letter onto her lap and looked at Luna, who looked about ready to break down.
"Oh...no...Luna..."