Chapter Eleven: Talking About Rocks With Friends
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The following week passed in a blur of faces, names, half-completed homework assignments, and (mostly) unchallenging spellwork.
Euphemia graciously introduced Luna to her friends Everett and Fleamont — the latter of whom, Luna was surprised and a little stricken to find, possessed the surname of Potter. He resembled Harry not at all, aside from the disastrous mess of black hair; after spending a little time in the company of the three of them, however, she observed something of Harry's characteristic expressions in Fleamont's face, and was able to mentally translate Euphemia's striking features into that bright-eyed, gentle angularity that had been present in the looks of Harry and his father.
At first Luna had expected to find it difficult to be around people who reminded her so strongly of absent friends, but she quickly found that they provided the sense of comfort and familiarity she had been so desperately craving. The three of them instantly adopted her into their circle, and soon enough were talking and laughing with her as if she had always been a part of their lives. Everett's unobtrusive, witty candour, Euphemia's bright and loving warmth, Fleamont's zest for life and theatrical sense of humour; they gave her life colour, instilled in her a sense of hope and strength that made her believe she really could do what she had come here to do.
Her friendship with Perpetua, as well, was slowly beginning to flower. The girl was dazzlingly intelligent, an excellent witch, and clearly longing for a friend, which Luna was glad to be to her. Nearly all of Luna's free time was spent either alone, or in the company of her three Gryffindor friends or Perpetua (she had designs toward introducing Perpetua to the trio and thereby procuring for her more friends, but hadn't yet come across the right opportunity to do so). Occasionally she would sit in the dorms with Cecily and quietly do homework or listen to her gossip about the goings-on of Slytherin house; for the most part, however, Luna had successfully managed to alienate herself from the Slytherins, and from Riddle, with whom she had not spoken since their introduction at the Sorting Feast. This fact had, as of yet, failed to occur to her.
On the afternoon of September the ninth, Luna was sitting in the library with her Gryffindor compatriots as the four of them tried and failed to focus on studying for the impending Charms exam that would be taking place on the following Monday. She was wishing briefly for the presence of Hermione (who would have brought them all to attention in a matter of moments), when a figure slipping out of the Restricted Section caught Luna's eye. She easily identified the student, despite his evident desire to avoid being seen: Marcus Selwyn, twin brother of Edith and best friend of Orion Black — and whom she had only laid eyes upon perhaps twice over the course of the week, despite his belonging to both her house and her year. She momentarily considered pointing him out to Everett and Euphemia, but decided against it, as allowing him to remain inconspicuous might lead him into further mistakes or other things that might clue her in as to what he (and, by extension, almost certainly Riddle) might be up to. She trusted her friends, but given the bizarre and complex reality of her mission, it didn't seem like the best idea to risk having to explain it to them in exchange for potentially enlisting their help.
As she was directing a well-timed question regarding Caterwauling Charms at Euphemia, Luna noticed someone else who seemed to have been paying attention to the clandestine Slytherin presence in the library: Yancy Bulstrode, Carlotta's older brother and probably the only member of his family to have ever been a member of Gryffindor house. He was also a prefect, and so when he motioned her aside as her friends were leaving the library, Luna followed.
"You saw Selwyn leaving the Restricted Section earlier?" he began, and Luna nodded, meeting his eyes. He nodded faintly back, and then after a moment inquired, "I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but have you got any idea what he might have been up to in there?"
Luna shook her head. "Not really." She paused briefly, thinking. "You haven't spoken to Carlotta about it." Her tone was level; she knew what his answer would be.
Yancy sighed. "No. I believe that whatever Selwyn's up to, it has something to do with another prefect in your house. He's doing everything legitimately, with a prefect's permission and all, not technically breaking any rules. I don't think Carlotta would be willing to talk about it with me." He shifted uncomfortably. "I… wasn't sure at first that I could ask you about it, either, but given that you know Euphemia and Everett, and you don't really seem to be friends with Riddle, I thought — " He came to a halt, evidently not having intended to let slip to whom specifically he had been referring.
"You don't need to worry, Yancy," said Luna quickly. "I know Riddle's up to something, too, and I'd like to find out what it is. I'll keep an eye on Marcus for you, and if I see anything I'll let you know."
At this, he looked much relieved. "Oh, brilliant. Thank you, Lovegood. It's been bothering me for ages — nobody seems willing to hear a word against him, especially the professors…"
Luna tilted her head. "Actually, I think you're wrong about that. You might be surprised." She smiled at him, and skipped off to catch up with Euphemia on her way to Care of Magical Creatures, leaving Yancy to puzzle out that remark by himself.
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Luna ended the day in Divination with Perpetua.
"Scrying-glasses and crystal balls," Professor Shearwater was saying, "as you all know, are some of the most well-known methods of Divination. Of the two, crystal balls are typically favoured for their reliability, but many diviners maintain that scrying-glasses are capable of producing prophecy with astronomically higher scoring in the Paphlagonian Fateful Index." She paused, her bony nose rumpling; abruptly, she doubled over in a sneeze, and straightened again with a surreptitious wipe of her mouth before continuing. "Over the next few days, each of you will work on improving your proficiency with one or both of these; it's up to you to decide on your preference, but as two of my scrying-glasses are in need of repair, most of you will be working with the crystals for today. Make good use of your time, and be sure to record any images you see, whether or not you believe them to be prophetic; our most keen insights often come from unexpected places." The professor smiled wanly and, with a gesture of her wand, opened a pair of tall wooden cabinets to the side of the room. The sound of shuffling feet filled the room as students rushed to claim their chosen magical devices. Luna, engaged in watching Perpetua's doodled Golden Snidget whizz around and behind the neat lines of her notes, did not rise from her seat.
"One crystal ball per table only, please," Professor Shearwater added airily, her eyes already on her paperwork, as two Ravenclaws bickered over one of the newer-looking crystals. "I'm sure you all remember how to share."
Perpetua glanced at Luna. "Do you want me to get us a crystal ball?" she murmured, starting to rise from her chair. Luna shook her head with a smile and lightly touched her friend's hand to stop her. "No, sit down. I'll get it." She made her way briskly to the wall, the crowd around the cabinets having thinned significantly. Remaining in the cabinet was a cloudy and suspiciously orange-tinted crystal ball, a respectable selection of teacups and knuckle-bones, and an age-spotted scrying-glass which looked as though it hadn't been dusted in a dragon's age. Luna instantly felt sorry for it and reached for the glass with eager fingers.
"Miss Lovegood, is it?" Professor Shearwater called from her desk. Luna glanced over, the darkened surface of the mirror already in her hands. "That's one of the damaged ones, I'm sorry to say. You'll have to take one of the crystal balls." The professor's red hair fell over one shoulder as she bent to attend to the parchments on her desk.
Luna frowned, disappointed, and glanced over to see that Orion Black had apparently taken possession of the last functional glass. With a sigh, she made to put hers back, but at the last moment hesitated, and instead carried it with her beneath the iffy-looking orange crystal as she made her way back to the table where Perpetua waited.
Upon noticing the scrying-glass Perpetua raised a quizzical brow but did not comment, instead focusing her attention on the crystal ball as Luna placed it on the stand in the centre of the table. Luna held the convex half-bubble of the mirror underneath the edge of the table, circling it with the palms of her hands, and watched it carefully as the lights of the classroom flickered in the black, distorted image it reflected. She had always had an easier time drawing images out of scrying-glasses than crystal balls; Professor Trelawney's obvious favouring of the latter had been disappointing, as Luna had typically found their results vaguer if admittedly far more frequent. Glancing out of the corner of her eye at the obnoxious hole-in-the-air that surrounded Riddle, she noted with interest that he had not chosen the glass himself and had instead allowed Black to take it; it had seemed obvious that he might wish to use it himself, given his dazzling competency in every kind of magic that she'd ever seen him demonstrate. He had evidently opted, however, to use one of the crystal balls instead, and was currently staring intently at it while Rosier yawned and fidgeted with his tie.
A sigh drew her attention back to her partner. "I can't see anything," Perpetua whined, flopping back in her chair.
Luna suppressed a giggle. "Perpetua, you haven't even tried! Come on."
The redhead tried to pout at her, but the expression transformed almost immediately into a rueful grin. She made a groaning noise and pulled her wild mane of hair over her face, making Luna laugh again. "I can't. All I see is me getting expelled."
"Don't be so dramatic," Luna chided, silver eyes wide with amusement. "Look —" She paused, thinking. "Just… make your mind like something old and silver opening up. Like a mirror."
Perpetua glared helplessly through her hair. "What does that mean?"
Luna sighed, trying to find a way to make her understand. "How… if you were to see your mind, or yourself maybe, as an object, what would it be?"
Perpetua paused. "A geode, I think," she said slowly, after a long pause. "I'm not sure why. But… appearances are deceptive. That feels like it suits me."
Luna hummed and tapped her lips with a finger. "All right. That makes a lot of sense. Now… how do you open a geode?"
Her friend looked perturbed. "Break it?"
Luna shook her head. "You can't do that with divination. What about if you put the geode in water? Over a very long time, water will gently break a rock. Isn't that true?"
"Erode a rock," Perpetua corrected, but Luna waved a hand impatiently. "Yes, I suppose."
"Imagine," said Luna, "you are taking the geode that is yourself and placing it underwater. In a rushing, bright river."
Perpetua hesitated, then closed her eyes. "I'm imagining," she mumbled.
"Now imagine the water speeding up. Imagine years passing. The geode grows smaller, its shell thins and becomes translucent."
"That's not how that works," Perpetua whispered, and Luna shushed her.
"The geode hasn't opened, but when it is small and fragile enough, you let the timestream slow and draw it out of the water. When you hold it against the light of the sun, you can just make out the shapes of the crystals, like when you can see sunlight through marble that's been sculpted very thin. That's what divination is; you just have to wear the walls thin enough to catch a glimpse. Do you see?"
Perpetua opened her eyes.
"Do you see?" Luna repeated, her excitement making her impatient. Her companion nodded slowly, the ghost of a smile dawning on her face.
"I think, maybe. That… still didn't make any sense, though. Do you know anything about how a geode forms?"
"No," said Luna merrily, fingering the edge of her scrying-glass. "Try again."
Perpetua took a deep breath and looked into her crystal ball, her gaze growing unfocused and soft. Something flickered in her face, and she met Luna's eyes again. Luna raised her eyebrows.
"I almost had… something," Perpetua said softly, her expression faintly stricken. "I'm not sure, though."
"That's all right," Luna said encouragingly. "Everybody starts out with fragments. What did you see?"
Perpetua was silent a moment. "I'm not really sure," she replied at last, eyes wandering to the side. "I don't know. Maybe it was nothing." Luna's brow creased in a slight frown, but she didn't press the issue.
The aura-hole behind her fluxed abruptly, making the skin of her back prickle, and Luna turned to look at Riddle. He had his face turned partway toward her, and had clearly been listening in on her conversation with Perpetua, though his body was angled such that he could reasonably claim innocence if she accused him of eavesdropping. She noted, with chagrin, that he was smiling.
The rest of the class period passed without incident. Luna did not use the scrying-glass.
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A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter this time around; I'm still adjusting to the massive amount of free time I have during the summer and figuring out how I'm going to factor writing into my schedule. Thank you all for your patience and support, I've gotten nothing but love from you guys and it's been completely amazing. 3 You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
A special note of thanks to Anduril on AO3, who was one of my earliest readers and has consistently sent lots of love and feedback. I adore reading your comments and I'm so glad you love the story as much as I do! Hope your summer is going wonderfully.
Look forward to the next update in a week or two! :) I love you guys! xo shai