Grossly Out of Touch

Hermione Granger

"Do you think The Blaze is out there?" Ginny asked with a yawn as we all attempted to sleep that night. It proved to be impossible… with a stupefied version of Goyle outside and a very dead and rotting Luna Lovegood in the back of the cave.

"How many times are you going to ask that?" Malfoy snapped angrily.

"God," Ron muttered, "some people get snappy when they're sleepy."

"Can it, Weasel," Malfoy whispered angrily.

I groaned. "Do I have to repeat my speech?"

"No!" Both Malfoy and Ron said at the same time. I'm pretty sure even Ginny was saying it softly.

I rolled over onto my back. Sleeping on stone floors was not comfortable. I was tempted to use the wand to conjure up some mattresses or pillows. Even a simple blanket would be nice…

However, we all swore we wouldn't use the wand unless we were being attacked. And we also swore that if we were careless with using the wand, Draco's father or someone else would sense it and figure out our location. And so, I was in control of the wand for that day. We decided to alternate days... Malfoy, me, Ron, Ginny. It was kind of comforting knowing that I had it in my pocket that night.

"Screw it," Malfoy said. "There's no way I'm sleeping tonight."

"Yeah…" Ginny said, "That body is giving me the creeps. Even if I can't see it… just knowing it's there is making me nervous."

"Let's move it, then," said Malfoy, getting up off the ground. I was "sleeping" next to Ginny and open air. Ron was on the other side of Ginny, and Malfoy was on the complete other side of the cave… closest to me.

"What?" I asked, also getting up off the ground. "Have you gone mad?"

"Well I'm in a cave here with all of you, aren't I?" He asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"Seriously!" Ron said, sitting upright. "You can't be considering touching that thing?"

"That thing is Luna Lovegood!" Malfoy said dangerously.

"You mean, was Luna Lovegood," I said as I bit my lower lip.

"You three are grossly out of touch with death," Malfoy snickered. He walked over to the back of the cave. I followed him. "Oh, good, I didn't even have to ask for volunteers and I've got one!"

I rolled my eyes. "Where are you bringing her?"

"Just outside… we don't have anything to dig a hole with, so we should just put her in some bushes or something," he suggested, bending over to pick her limp body up.

"Hermione!" Ginny shrieked. "You're not going to touch her, are you?"

I thought about what Malfoy had said. You three are grossly out of touch with death. "Oh, Ginny, it's just Luna."

"Yeah," Ron said with a cracked voice. "I'll help, too." We both were trying to show Malfoy that we weren't afraid of the dead body… but I, for one, was terrified.

Ginny backed into the corner. "Well, don't look at me for help! I think you three can manage."

Malfoy grabbed Luna's head and I gently picked up her feet. I tried not to look. If I looked in the other direction, it made it seem like I wasn't carrying her. Ron helped us see to the end of the cave. "This is really disgusting," he muttered.

"Why are the Weasleys so squeamish when it comes to death?" Malfoy asked with subtle interest. She's only sleeping. She fainted. Someone stupefied her.

No one spoke at this. "Oh, well, some people are never comfortable around dead bodies, I suppose," Malfoy said, still carrying Luna.

Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't…look. "Oh my god!" I screeched, dropping my half of Luna.

"Shit, Granger!" Malfoy said, stumbling with the dead body. "I thought you were braver than that!"

"It's just… she's so… mangled." I looked at the Luna I once knew. Her blond hair was sprayed with blood, and it was matted and tangled. Her skin was bloodied and dirty, and her clothes were the same way. Her limbs were broken, no doubt, and her eyes were shut tight.

"Spare us the gruesome details!" Ginny wailed, covering her ears hastily.

"I'll carry her myself, then," Malfoy said as he adjusted the way he was holding Luna's body. He exited the cave and when he came back in, he wiped his hands on his legs. "There," he sighed. "Now we can all go to sleep."

I shook my head. "That just frightened me even more! There's no way I'll be able to sleep without having dreams where Luna is—"

"Stop!" Ginny cried suddenly. "I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

"So," Malfoy said smoothly after a quick moment of silence. "Do you think The Blaze is out there?"

"You git!" Ginny scolded with a smile tugging at her lips. "You yelled at me when I asked the question about an hour ago!"

"Yeah, well, that was you," he mumbled. "And I want answers this time! A discussion, maybe."

"Alright, then," I said slowly. "I think it's out there."

"Me too," Ron said.

"I don't think it is," Malfoy said.

"That's because you're a pessimist!" I sneered.

"No I'm not!" He defended. "I'm a realist!"

"That's a good one!" I said with tears of laughter staining my cheeks. "A realist? No way!"

"Yeah," Ginny said with a smirk. "You're totally a cynic, Malfoy."

"I suppose maybe I am a cynic, but that has nothing to do with why I don't think there is a Blaze," he retorted.

"Then why don't you think there's one?" Ginny asked. She still didn't state her belief, I noticed.

"Because it would be hard for wizards and witches to escape Hogwarts, travel for months, and then build a city with no magic at all!" He said.

"Yeah, it would, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't do it," I pointed out.

"Well, do you see anyone we know running like that? Getting away from something that hasn't even come yet and facing hidden dangers to escape what might not even be a threat?"

"I see us, doing it," Ron said slowly.

"No, this is different," Malfoy started.

"I agree," I said, "because we know there's something happening back at school. And we know that the threat of Voldermort killing us is very real."

"And those who founded The Blaze didn't know if the Dark Lord was really going to attack Hogwarts," Ginny pointed out. "All they knew was that he was gaining power and they needed to run away if they wanted to live."

"Which, of course, was pretty pointless," I said with a laugh, "since Voldermort never attacked Hogwarts until now."

"Yeah, they would've lived anyway," Ron said. "Unless they did something really stupid."

"Such as running away from the safest place in the wizarding world," Ginny said. "I don't think The Blaze exists."

"Well, then," Malfoy smirked triumphantly. "I guess I should mention that even though I don't believe it exists, I have proof that it does."

"What do you mean?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"I mean," he said, pulling something from his pocket, "that Luna Lovegood was going to The Blaze," he paused. "And she had directions."

Author's Note: Well, there's another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. Oh, and Letty, I do agree that it sort of fits with the book, but in some ways, I don't think it does. I don't want to spoil HBP for anyone that didn't finish it yet, but I'll just say that my story picks up in a very different place than where HBP leaves off. I just think that the ending of HBP doesn't suggest that Hermione and Ron would take off like that and leave Harry. And I'll also say that I started writing this before HBP came out, so I don't want to adjust my plan for this story according to the new book. Yes, I have a plan! I know how I want this to end… and it's going to have A LOT more chapters before that happens, though, so don't worry!

NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: This one's in Draco's POV (don't worry; I'll have a Ron or a Ginny chapter soon!). He shares the directions with the others, who try to figure out what it means, since it's in riddle form. The next day, it's Ron's turn to have the wand. Hermione won't hand it over, though, because he keeps talking about food and she's afraid that he'll use the wand to get some bacon. So Ginny gets resourceful and finds some raspberries for Ron to eat. But, when Ron sees where they came from, he loses his appetite for the first time in his life. Then they all start to follow the directions. And some other stuff happens, but I don't want to spoiler the entire thing! Please review!