I apologise deeply for taking this long to update.
[So you should.]
Weren't you bothering Char?
[She's no fun. Doesn't react anymore. You on the otherhand…]
Oh fruitcakes…
Ryan: Thanks, nice of you to say good luck. Sorry about the wait.
Hexwa: Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.
The Great Muses: Thanks. Here 'tis.
LoudMouthStar: Thanks Meg. Yes, I've been telling her to shut it, but now she's even worse, coz she knows it gets to me.
Marrae: Thanks, glad you like it. Next time, if you could leave an email, I can inform you when I update.
Voltor1: Thank you. Indeed, my computer is evil. As was Char's. My computer just happens to be more so, because it lost all her plans, as well as her email. It took me this long to find it again.
Crimson Storm: The fight in the library was between Pansy Parkinson and Aine. However, Aine and Draco got the blame. Thanks for the constructive criticism.
GNatgirl: sorry it's taken so long.
Aine turned her head to the side, and Draco's lips brushed her cheek. Her hand came up, and she slapped him. "What the hell do ye think ye're doin'?" She snarled.
"I would've thought it was obvious." Draco replied.
"Did I say I wanted ye te kiss me? No. I dinna."
"You mightn't have said it aloud, but your body language was." Draco snapped.
"Doesna matter. I dinna invite ye ta kiss me, Draco Malfoy, and until I do, don't even think about it." Head held high, Aine stormed out.
She kept walking for a long time, wanting to get as much distance between herself and her love as possible. Finally, she stopped, leaning against the glass of Greenhouse One. "Damn." She muttered, her control slipping, the Irish in her showing through. "Damn, damn, damn. If I dinna ken better, I'd think Lady Brigid was tryin' ta torture me." She slammed her head back against the glass, satisfied in the shudder this action produced. "Screw this. None of this is worth my sobbin' over. I'm turnin' into a bloody mortal, bemoanin' my existence."
"We aren't all like that." A soft voice said.
Aine jumped, turning to face a slight girl with silver hair and eyes. "Mary Mother o' Jesus!" She gasped, "where did you come from?"
"Round back." The girl said, her lips twisted into something resembling a smile. "Didn't you hear me?"
"No, I dinna! Goddess of All, don' scare me like tha'!"
"Sorry." The girl shrugged. "I honestly didn't mean to." She paused. "What did you mean before?" She asked. "About turning into a mortal?"
"I dinna ken if I can tell you tha'." Aine said reluctantly. She could trust the child, her senses told her that. But she didn't even know the girl's name.
The girl shrugged, sending the silvery hair fluttering. It was very fine, and caught in the fronds of the young Pernicious Lustwort seedling next to her. Gently, the girl pulled her hair out of harm's way. "Ok. My name's Luna Lovegood."
"I'm Aine. Aine Fey."
"Nice to meet you." Luna inclined her head slightly, and Aine tensed. She could sense it…Fae magic. This girl was dangerous.
"You too." She said, her voice guarded. She didn't want to answer Luna's question…but something in her demanded it. "I am a Changeling. A cursed Changeling. Until I commit a selfless act, or Lady Brigid and Lady Aine give their say so, I am immortal."
Luna nodded. She seemed to understand exactly what Aine was saying, and how Aine felt about it. "Terrible." She said solemnly. On any other mortal, the remark would have seemed silly, and incomplete. But Luna made it work. "What about Draco Malfoy? What have you got to do with him?"
Aine only just stopped herself from slapping the mortal. "Tha's really none o' your business." She growled.
"Very well." Gracefully, Luna walked towards the door out of the greenhouse. "You coming? Or do you need to be alone?"
"I'm coming." Aine said reluctantly.
Ginny flipped through yet another book. "This isn't good, 'Mione." She said, brown eyes worried. "I can't find anything in any of these books on how to summon Lady Brigid."
"Neither can I." Hermione sighed, "I found one to summon Lady Aine, Queen of the Faeries, but how can she help us? It was Lady Brigid who imposed the curse, even if Lady Aine agreed."
"We'll just have to keep looking then."
Ten more minutes passed in silence while the two girls flipped through the heavy tomes.
"This is hopeless!" The red-haired Gryffindor exploded finally. "I can't find a single thing!"
"Me either." Hermione groaned. "Although I did find an interesting family tree."
"Really? Do tell more." Ginny prodded, curious.
"It's Luna's. She's related to the Feys. Very distantly of course, but she is related."
"Explains the eyes. And some of the mystery." Ginny said thoughtfully.
"Yeah...it does. I can't believe I didn't realize it before." Hermione's hazel eyes were shining, the gold flecks showing through even more, indicating she was very excited. "This is really good. We might be able to use Aine's blood connection with Luna as a way to stop her from doing anything too bad!"
"But…wouldn't that be manipulating Aine? Wouldn't the best way simply be to be her friend? Then she'd want to fight for the side of light." Ginny said.
Hermione seemed reluctant to give up her idea, but nodded. "Probably right, Ginny. Besides, I'd like to be friends with her. Think of all the things she knows!"
Chuckling at her friend's eagerness for knowledge, Ginny once again began to flip through the book in front of her. She wasn't going to give up on this avenue of action just because they'd made a plan.