Ch. 3 –
A/N – I would like to give a HUGE piece of Chocolate Fudge with a side of German Chocolate cake to MyOwnLittleWorld!!! She was my very first reviewer... koodos to you!!!
A/N #2 – This is NOT a Myrtle Luna slash! I repeat, IS NOT!
"Ms. Lovegood....Ms. Lovegood.....MS. LOVEGOOD!!"
"What?" she gasped, suddenly coming out her slight other-world. The class snickered as she looked around and her eyes widened in realization that she was in potions class.
"Well, since Ms. Lovegood here seems to be out of it" More snickering. "10 points from Ravenclaw and a detention." As the class stared, some wincing in sympathy, though not many, Snape burst out "Back to work!" and glided back over to his desk in a dramatic fashion.
After that Luna tried to pay attention to class, but her mind kept wandering to the interesting conversations she would have with Myrtle, and the debates about being dead vs. alive. I wonder what Myrtle's doing right now? She thought
Luna had been meeting Myrtle every night since she had first broken down after her father's death. They had talked about many things in the past four weeks, from animals they had both seen to debates whether being alive or dead was better. They had not learned much about each other, in fact, except for what she had said the first night, for Luna had not said anything personal to Myrtle, and Myrtle had followed suite. I wonder if I could sneak out and talk to Myrtle again tonight? Luna thought absently while stirring a potion. Christmas break had ended, and Luna had to sneak out of the dormitories to talk to Myrtle because of the number of students and the number of times she had been caught coming back to late. Luna and Myrtle had become good friends, revealing little about themselves, but talking pleasure in each other's company and what the other could teach them. Myrtle had turned out to be a very smart and nice girl, and Luna could learn a lot from her about the most random things (the things she likes best!). Myrtle rarely cried anymore, only when something was thrown at her, and Luna's openmindedness had made them fast friends as well as good ones.
"Class dismissed" Snape was saying in the background of her thinking. As she gathered her books to go, Snape stopped her and sneered cruelly, "Your detention will be cleaning the girls bathrooms on the second floor, the ones with the awful wailing girl in them." Before Luna could protest that Myrtle was truly a nice person Snape had left. Oh well, at least I will have someone to talk to during my detention. Hey, this won't be bad at all, I can just clean it up with my wand and have an excuse to be there talking to Myrtle! With that thought, she dreamily walked out of the dungeons and towards her common room, totally forgetting to go to lunch.
*** Later at the detention ***
"It's all HOW you die, that's the key. It's not whether your dead or not that really makes weather or not it would be best, it's what you have to go through to BE dead"
Luna had cleaned the bathrooms with a wave of her wand and was now having another conversation with Myrtle about death. "Hey Myrtle, you're dead right?" Luna said, as if just realizing it. "Was it worth it? I mean, how you died?" there was a slight silence "How did you die, Myrtle?" The weight of the silence had increased, it was now so think you could use it as a winter coat.
"well, " Myrtle began slowly.
This was the first time Luna had asked anything personal, and this memory was definitely personal. Did she want to tell Luna, I mean, they were friends, but was this really a good idea? Well, she thought after a moment of silent contemplation, what harm could it do?
"It all began with Olive Hornby. She was teasing me about my glasses again and I had run up to the bathroom to cry. A little while later a heard a funny voice coming form somewhere outside the stall by definitely in the bathroom. It was obviously a guy speaking, so I opened the door to the stall to tell him to get out but when I did I saw a pair of large, glowing amber eyes... and then I died. Just sort of floated away."
"Why did you come back then?" Luna asked dreamily, very intent on the story she was being told.
"I wanted to haunt Hornby, make her regret ever teasing me!" Myrtle said this so venomously that Luna had to laugh.
Myrtle had been expecting a number of reactions, ranging from sympathy to hatred, but this was not one of them.
"I wish I could do that. You know, be able to walk through walls and be able to haunt people! It would be SO cool" Luna was laughing hysterically now. "I didn't know you liked to prank people?" Myrtle said, a bit of happiness creeping into her voice from Luna's infectious laughter.
"Yeah, I do. But I stopped when my dad said it was a waste of time." Luna has sobered at the thought of her father, but the grief she felt now was not much comparative to the grief she had felt before.
Myrtle noticed the change, but also noticed the Luna was coping with the grief. Did I do that? She thought to herself. She decided to try a question.
"So Luna, I answered a question about my past, it's your turn. What was your dad like?"
Luna didn't break into tears, or even flinch at the question of her dad. "He was fun. He was very open, and taught me to be receptive to everything. He was the editor of The Quibbler and he was my role model. I look exactly like him, except I am a girl, and we are said to have the same sort of personality," Luna looked thoughtful, then continued, "He used to take me hunting, or rather, looking. We would spend months at a time looking for a rare creature, hardly ever finding it. We would look for it to prove it really did exist. But, most of the time when we found it, we thought it was too beautiful to keep in captivity and let it go. But it was enough for us. We knew they existed, even if everyone else didn't." Luna sat quietly for a while after that, hugging her knees to her chest, thinking.
About three minutes later, when neither of them had spoken, she continued. "He and my Mother, Meg, were said to have a lot in common. Both adventurous and kind to all. Neither caring about what other people thought as long as in their heart they knew it was right."
By this point Luna seemed to be caught in a trance, remembering everything she could. "I don't really know exactly what she looked like. I never see pictures of her because my father burned them all when she died. All but one, which he kept on himself and never let me see. All I remember is a sweep of blond hair, and the smell of a new spring breeze, full of adventure waiting to come, and happiness to be had. I remember amethyst eyes, and a kind voice that instructed me of worldly ways." Luna sighed. "I was there when she died. When her experiment blew up and she died. I was nine, didn't really know what to do, just wasn't sure. Now I wish I had paid more attention to her. Don't get me wrong, I loved her dearly, but I always thought she would be there, never thought she would leave. I was open-minded and sensible, even at that age, but the possibility of her dying never crossed my mind." Luna sighed again, a sigh that weighed heavy in the air, and was full of sorrow and loss.
Luna had lost all that strangeness that had marked her all the years she had lived. Her openmindedness had diminished; the rushing rivers of grief washing it away like a small leaf, leaving behind only the roots of the tree in its place. She had changed, sure she still had that quality of dottiness, her mind seeming to be somewhere else, but it now seemed otherworldly, not strange and abnormal. Neither girls noticed this change though, and at that moment Luna noticed how late it was getting. "Well Myrtle, thank you so much for letting me tell you this. It really helps you know. I haven't talked to anyone about my mother in years. But it's late, and I have to get back to the dorm. Can I come back tomorrow? I told you all my bout my parents, you need to tell me something about yours."
"Alright" Myrtle said softly to Luna "Come anytime"
Neither Myrtle nor Luna noticed the significant changes in them both after this conversation, nor the changes that were to come in the conversations that would follow.
A/N – sorry for them being a bit out of character, I need a little work.
A/N – I would like to give a HUGE piece of Chocolate Fudge with a side of German Chocolate cake to MyOwnLittleWorld!!! She was my very first reviewer... koodos to you!!!
A/N #2 – This is NOT a Myrtle Luna slash! I repeat, IS NOT!
"Ms. Lovegood....Ms. Lovegood.....MS. LOVEGOOD!!"
"What?" she gasped, suddenly coming out her slight other-world. The class snickered as she looked around and her eyes widened in realization that she was in potions class.
"Well, since Ms. Lovegood here seems to be out of it" More snickering. "10 points from Ravenclaw and a detention." As the class stared, some wincing in sympathy, though not many, Snape burst out "Back to work!" and glided back over to his desk in a dramatic fashion.
After that Luna tried to pay attention to class, but her mind kept wandering to the interesting conversations she would have with Myrtle, and the debates about being dead vs. alive. I wonder what Myrtle's doing right now? She thought
Luna had been meeting Myrtle every night since she had first broken down after her father's death. They had talked about many things in the past four weeks, from animals they had both seen to debates whether being alive or dead was better. They had not learned much about each other, in fact, except for what she had said the first night, for Luna had not said anything personal to Myrtle, and Myrtle had followed suite. I wonder if I could sneak out and talk to Myrtle again tonight? Luna thought absently while stirring a potion. Christmas break had ended, and Luna had to sneak out of the dormitories to talk to Myrtle because of the number of students and the number of times she had been caught coming back to late. Luna and Myrtle had become good friends, revealing little about themselves, but talking pleasure in each other's company and what the other could teach them. Myrtle had turned out to be a very smart and nice girl, and Luna could learn a lot from her about the most random things (the things she likes best!). Myrtle rarely cried anymore, only when something was thrown at her, and Luna's openmindedness had made them fast friends as well as good ones.
"Class dismissed" Snape was saying in the background of her thinking. As she gathered her books to go, Snape stopped her and sneered cruelly, "Your detention will be cleaning the girls bathrooms on the second floor, the ones with the awful wailing girl in them." Before Luna could protest that Myrtle was truly a nice person Snape had left. Oh well, at least I will have someone to talk to during my detention. Hey, this won't be bad at all, I can just clean it up with my wand and have an excuse to be there talking to Myrtle! With that thought, she dreamily walked out of the dungeons and towards her common room, totally forgetting to go to lunch.
*** Later at the detention ***
"It's all HOW you die, that's the key. It's not whether your dead or not that really makes weather or not it would be best, it's what you have to go through to BE dead"
Luna had cleaned the bathrooms with a wave of her wand and was now having another conversation with Myrtle about death. "Hey Myrtle, you're dead right?" Luna said, as if just realizing it. "Was it worth it? I mean, how you died?" there was a slight silence "How did you die, Myrtle?" The weight of the silence had increased, it was now so think you could use it as a winter coat.
"well, " Myrtle began slowly.
This was the first time Luna had asked anything personal, and this memory was definitely personal. Did she want to tell Luna, I mean, they were friends, but was this really a good idea? Well, she thought after a moment of silent contemplation, what harm could it do?
"It all began with Olive Hornby. She was teasing me about my glasses again and I had run up to the bathroom to cry. A little while later a heard a funny voice coming form somewhere outside the stall by definitely in the bathroom. It was obviously a guy speaking, so I opened the door to the stall to tell him to get out but when I did I saw a pair of large, glowing amber eyes... and then I died. Just sort of floated away."
"Why did you come back then?" Luna asked dreamily, very intent on the story she was being told.
"I wanted to haunt Hornby, make her regret ever teasing me!" Myrtle said this so venomously that Luna had to laugh.
Myrtle had been expecting a number of reactions, ranging from sympathy to hatred, but this was not one of them.
"I wish I could do that. You know, be able to walk through walls and be able to haunt people! It would be SO cool" Luna was laughing hysterically now. "I didn't know you liked to prank people?" Myrtle said, a bit of happiness creeping into her voice from Luna's infectious laughter.
"Yeah, I do. But I stopped when my dad said it was a waste of time." Luna has sobered at the thought of her father, but the grief she felt now was not much comparative to the grief she had felt before.
Myrtle noticed the change, but also noticed the Luna was coping with the grief. Did I do that? She thought to herself. She decided to try a question.
"So Luna, I answered a question about my past, it's your turn. What was your dad like?"
Luna didn't break into tears, or even flinch at the question of her dad. "He was fun. He was very open, and taught me to be receptive to everything. He was the editor of The Quibbler and he was my role model. I look exactly like him, except I am a girl, and we are said to have the same sort of personality," Luna looked thoughtful, then continued, "He used to take me hunting, or rather, looking. We would spend months at a time looking for a rare creature, hardly ever finding it. We would look for it to prove it really did exist. But, most of the time when we found it, we thought it was too beautiful to keep in captivity and let it go. But it was enough for us. We knew they existed, even if everyone else didn't." Luna sat quietly for a while after that, hugging her knees to her chest, thinking.
About three minutes later, when neither of them had spoken, she continued. "He and my Mother, Meg, were said to have a lot in common. Both adventurous and kind to all. Neither caring about what other people thought as long as in their heart they knew it was right."
By this point Luna seemed to be caught in a trance, remembering everything she could. "I don't really know exactly what she looked like. I never see pictures of her because my father burned them all when she died. All but one, which he kept on himself and never let me see. All I remember is a sweep of blond hair, and the smell of a new spring breeze, full of adventure waiting to come, and happiness to be had. I remember amethyst eyes, and a kind voice that instructed me of worldly ways." Luna sighed. "I was there when she died. When her experiment blew up and she died. I was nine, didn't really know what to do, just wasn't sure. Now I wish I had paid more attention to her. Don't get me wrong, I loved her dearly, but I always thought she would be there, never thought she would leave. I was open-minded and sensible, even at that age, but the possibility of her dying never crossed my mind." Luna sighed again, a sigh that weighed heavy in the air, and was full of sorrow and loss.
Luna had lost all that strangeness that had marked her all the years she had lived. Her openmindedness had diminished; the rushing rivers of grief washing it away like a small leaf, leaving behind only the roots of the tree in its place. She had changed, sure she still had that quality of dottiness, her mind seeming to be somewhere else, but it now seemed otherworldly, not strange and abnormal. Neither girls noticed this change though, and at that moment Luna noticed how late it was getting. "Well Myrtle, thank you so much for letting me tell you this. It really helps you know. I haven't talked to anyone about my mother in years. But it's late, and I have to get back to the dorm. Can I come back tomorrow? I told you all my bout my parents, you need to tell me something about yours."
"Alright" Myrtle said softly to Luna "Come anytime"
Neither Myrtle nor Luna noticed the significant changes in them both after this conversation, nor the changes that were to come in the conversations that would follow.
A/N – sorry for them being a bit out of character, I need a little work.