Quite Nice: Chapter Two
I don't own Harry Potter
A/n: I never thought I'd actually write more to this, but it's the favorite thing I've written thus far and this plot line was annoying the crap out of me. It's not a bad thing that a lot of people seemed to like it as well. Reviews inspire me, so please be little dears and tell me what you think of the second part by clicking on the review button down at the bottom of the page. Oh, by the way, this chapter contains a bit of Spanish, spoken by fairies. I apologize if it's not correct Spanish, but I tried. Translations are at the end of the chapter.
Luna was not a stranger to feeling weirdly; in fact, most of her life revolved around the oddities of human life, and nothing could really surprise her anymore. In retrospect, she could appreciate that the most recent recreation of the banality of human chemistry was perhaps one of her most normal experiences. When her father had deemed her old enough for his "talk", as it was called, two years ago, he called this particular act "a common interaction in the courtship of two persons." She could remember asking him why people brushed lips—there were so many things (like noses!) that could get in the way—when you could have something more convenient, like knees. Now, when it mattered most for her to know why, she could no longer recall what her father had responded with. She wished that he wasn't on an expedition exploring for that sniggle-tailed quarle with a magazine patron so she could send him an owl and ask him why her knees had been so unstable after Harry had parted abruptly, saying something about being caught before walking briskly up to the castle doors, his face a bright red beacon. The harder she thought on it, the harder it was to recreate the details, and Luna was quite ready for some more research in this particular field.
Yet, as outgoing as she may be, she wasn't really sure if it was appropriate to go and ask Harry for help solve this mystery of human interaction. She had heard the idle gossiping of the other girls in her dormitory, and she knew that they considered this a "big step", whatever that was. The others seemed to think that this act was particularly important, and that was enough to make Luna wary of approaching the subject with her friend. She really didn't have very many of them and was unwilling to estrange one of the few she had managed to make in her four years at school. Still, she wondered about the strange way she felt as his lips had been upon hers, soft and pliant. If she thought really hard, she could feel the light touch of his fingertips on her cheek, the brushing of the other one in her hair.
By the time she decided to give up on trying to create an explanation for the tingling of her nerves, the distant roar of many loud Ravenclaw voices indicated the return of a number of her classmates to the common room. Dinner was fast approaching, and Luna, anticipating the chill in the castle when darkness fell, began searching in her trunk for her favorite sweater, the neon orange one that flashed random sentences in bright yellow wording. It was only then that she noticed the missing jar of sugar stars. Slowly, she began to shift her clothing about, looking for the innocuous glass container, yet she knew that it was indeed missing. Sighing heavily, she sank unto her bed. It had taken at least a month to perfect the recipe to the way it had to be to attract las hadas del azúcar, funny little Spanish sprites that had affinities towards match-making. They were only attracted by their namesake, only when it was prepared in a precise way, and only every seven years. Luna had seen them only once in a wooded area by her house when she was eight and she fervently desired to see them again.
But it was sensible to concur that the jar of her sugar stars wouldn't appear until June, seven months too late. If she was the confrontational sort, she could go to her dorm-mates and politely ask for them to return it. If it would cause any good, she would do it, but she knew that they would deny it, and with no proof, she had nothing substantial to rely on. With a slight shake of her head, she resigned herself to another seven year wait and got dressed for dinner before walking down to the Great Hall, twirling merrily at every corner.
The following day, a Monday, dawned brightly, influencing much of the students to spend their afternoon break outside, enjoying the last bit of fair weather before the harshness of a Scottish winter blew in. Harry was among those who wandered idly, along as he had done yesterday. Ron and Hermione, as far as he knew, were still in the common room, completing yesterday's neglected homework (at Hermione's insistence, no doubt) and most likely discussing what they should do with him. Wouldn't want to deprive them of time to decide how to make me less reclusive, Harry thought nastily before feeling a stab of guilt. Technically, he could appreciate that their concern was simply a byproduct of their friendship, yet they didn't quite understand that sometimes human company seemed to stifle him and all he really needed was some time to think. Weren't thinking too much yesterday were you? the snide voice in the back of his head interjected. Too busy snogging Loony Lovegood. Harry shook his head swiftly, willing the annoying thought to exit his brain immediately, earning some odd stares in the process. He hadn't even begun to analyze what exactly had influenced him to kiss Luna under that tree yesterday. Flopping moodily against a tree, he swept his gaze sporadically across the grounds, having to clear his mind several times of the image of a slight, protuberantly-eyed blonde girl that had a propensity to enter his thoughts unbidden when he lost concentration.
Luna Lovegood, though! Now that he knew who she was, he couldn't see how he could've missed her before. She was easily noticeable in the crowd of the hundreds of Hogwarts students, always acting differently than those around her. She was the bane of many jokes and the topic of a lot of gossip. It was hard to explain why he had been so drawn to her under the tree, why she wouldn't completely leave his mind.
So engrossed was he in trying to understand just what teenage hormonal imbalance had led him to such actions, he failed to notice the small crowd of fifth-years that had converged on the other side of the tree he was leaning against. However, even though he was hidden behind the wide trunk, and therefore not noticed by the girls behind him, he could still hear them. It was hard to concentrate through their meaningless chit-chat, and he was about to re-locate to a quieter spot in which to brood when he heard a snippet of their conversation.
"Really, I seriously want to know who dropped Loony on her head when she was a baby," one adolescent laughed as the others giggled around her. Something clenched in Harry's stomach as he settled stiffly against the tree, trying to hear the rest of the conversation.
"Have you heard the rubbish she spouts about those stupid animals her father's trying to find? How old is she, still believing in fairy-tales?" This provoked another round of giggling that made Harry unconsciously curl his hands into fists.
"Look at what I filched from her trunk!" one crowed triumphantly. "She's been babbling about attracting some fictional character with these for months! What an idiot! I bet she was going to go outside at four in the morning into the Forbidden Forest to try and get these things to come to her. And with what? Sprinkles!" Harry pushed himself up from sitting position and whirled around. He stalked around the tree and found himself staring at a gaggle of Ravenclaws.
"Give it back," he said lowly, causing a number of heads to snap up. He could see the jar in the tallest girl's hands, half full with small, multi-colored particles.
She paled slightly before saying, "Give what back? This? This is mine."
Harry scowled deeply. "I'm not deaf," he snapped. "Give it here."
The Ravenclaw tutted. "Fine, it's not mine. But don't tell me you believe the trash she spreads around? Why encourage her?"
"Even if you don't believe what she says, it doesn't give you the right to take her stuff." He moved closer to her and motioned to the jar. "Give it to me."
She handed it over with a huff. "Fine, take it." Snatching it from her hands, he stalked off angrily. He moved closer to the school, scanning the random groups of black-clad students for a glimpse of long blonde hair or for a pair of large blue eyes. He was so intent on looking for her that she caused him to jump when she appeared in front of him.
"Wherever did you find my jar of sugar stars?" she asked excitedly, taking it from his right hand.
"From a group of Ravenclaws," he said, uncomfortably aware that the last time she had been this close to him, he had been kissing her. "I think they took it from your trunk."
Yes, that would make sense, wouldn't it?" She smiled happily up at him. "I rather thought that they had taken it, but you never can be sure, can you?"
"You shouldn't let them get away with it," he said, taking an inadvertent step backwards.
"If I don't, they'll only endeavor to do something more serious to me, and I don't really mind the absence of my belongings, as long as they're returned at the end of the year, although it is rather bothersome to keep an inventory. No matter, anyway. Thank you very much for finding this, by the way. It's taken a long time to perfect my sugar stars, and I can only attract las hadas del azúcar tonight. I haven't seen them since I was eight, and I rather hoped to catch sight of them again. You should come with me! They really are fascinating creatures." She tapered off and looked at him expectantly. After a few moments, she said, "Well, do you?"
"Do I what?" Harry asked, somewhat dazed.
"Want to come with me tonight to see them?"
"I, ah, guess so," he said without really thinking.
"Stupendous!" she said. "Meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at twelve thirty tonight. Oh, and Harry, you'd better be careful and wear that interesting cloak of yours." With that said, she skipped off up the steps to the Great Hall, leaving Harry to realize that he'd just agreed to meet her at the edge of a forbidden area three and a half hours after curfew.
Quietly, Harry emerged from his four-poster bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He had to meet Luna in forty-five minutes, though at the moment he was considering sending an owl to tell her that he didn't feel up to making it. But that meant going up to the owlery, which was almost as far away as the grounds and what was the point in that? Sighing lightly, he opened his trunk and donned his Invisibility Cloak, activating the Marauders' Map as he descended the staircase into the Gryffindor common room.
The journey through the castle was fairly uneventful, though Harry had to take the long way to avoid Snape, who was patrolling on of the main corridors that led to the Entrance Hall. Honestly, did that man ever sleep? Harry made his way swiftly across the dewy grass towards the black horizon that was the Forbidden Forrest, hoping that Luna was somewhere noticeable, because he was not going to wander around the perimeter of the forest in his wet trainers. He found her easily enough, though, as she was standing fairly close to Hagrid's Hut. Thankfully, Hagrid was, according to the map, unmoving in his house.
"Good evening, Harry," Luna said as he approached, sounding far too bright than someone should at nearly one in the morning.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Harry asked, stifling a yawn.
"Las hadas del azúcar." Luna returned promptly before turning on her heel and heading briskly into the forest, causing Harry to take three long strides to catch up to her.
"And these are…?"
"Roughly, it translates to 'the fairies of sugar'. They appear as chubby Spanish matriarchs and quite like matching up prospective couples." She fought her way through the thick foliage of the forest, straying from the beaten path.
"Are you sure that this is safe, Luna?" Harry asked as a branch scratched his left cheek.
"Fairly certain," she returned. "We have to go rather deep into the forest before we'll be able to stop and try to coax them out of their hiding place."
"Luna…are you quite sure these things exist?"
"Of course," she said, her voice losing a bit of its dreamy quality. "I've seen them before." To tell the truth, Harry rather doubted her, but was unwilling to make her angry. He lapsed into silence and so did she, and they walked for another twenty minutes until they found themselves at a small clearing deep inside the forest. Luna dug inside her robes and extracted her jar, deftly unscrewing it. "Form a cup with your hands," she ordered lightly and Harry complied. She poured a copious amount of the stars into his palms. "Now spread them around," she encouraged, taking some stars for herself.
Harry sprinkled some on the ground, feeling increasingly stupid with each passing moment. When he had exhausted his amount of stars, he met her in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by little candy sprinkles, and there they stood for a good twenty moments. He was just about to suggest they turn back when he heard a little voice exclaim, "Mira, mira! Comida!" Amazed, Harry saw a little woman materialize out of thin air and descend upon the sugar stars, quickly followed by ten others, which quickly became twenty. Harry had to keep rubbing his eyes to make sure he was actually awake, as Luna looked on ecstatically beside him.
It took a couple of minutes before one looked up. "Mira! Dos seres humanos!"
"Un chico y una chica!"
"Deben ser novios, no?" The whole of them erupted into giggles.
Harry leaned closer to Luna. "What are they talking in?"
"Spanish. They originate from Spain, you know."
"Ah." Harry turned his attention to the little Spanish women, suddenly noticing that they had stopped eating and had decided to fly closer to him and Luna.
"Sí, yo estoy de acuerda," one said seriously.
"They're getting closer, Luna," Harry said lowly, looking at the fairies with some trepidation.
"Oh, dear," Luna said.
"What, they're not dangerous, are they?" Harry reached slowly into the pocket of his robes, searching for his wand. One was getting perilously close.
"Not exactly," she whispered.
The fairy closest to Harry poked him in the chest. "Bese Usted a muchacha!" it demanded. A cacophony of "sí's" followed.
"What do they want, Luna? What are they saying?"
"Oh, um, I really must say that I'm quite sorry, Harry. I didn't consider this." She looked fairly apologetic.
"Consider what, Luna?!"
"Well, they like to match people up. I think they're telling you to…well, telling you to kiss me, actually."
"Perfect," Harry said darkly. "Fairies are involving themselves in my business. Just perfect."
The one closest to him flew closer, an expression of consternation on her face. She poked him harder, shocking him with her tiny finger. "Bese Usted a muchacha!"
"Ow!" exclaimed Harry, annoyed. "That hurt!" Two more shocked him, repeating the phrase. Next to him, three of them were poking Luna, shrilly saying, "Bese Usted a muchacho!"
"Now, really," she was saying to them, "stop that! We're friends!…um, nosotros somos amigos!"
"No me importa," one said, shocking her again. "Bese Usted a muchacho!"
Harry brought his wand out and waved it, but it didn't seem to phase the five fairies that we continually shocking him. He was just about to try stunning them when Luna stopped him. "They won't—ow!—like that, Harry."
"Then how do I stop them!?"
"I'm not sure, apart from the obvious, that is."
Harry swore quietly as another one approached and tried to smack it, earning a particularly big shock. "Let's run for it!" Harry yelled.
"I'm not sure that will work—" Luna said, but it was too late. Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the forest, hopefully heading back towards the castle. Unfortunately, the fairies were persistent and renewed their shocking on the retreating backs of their hapless subjects.
"What now?" Harry yelled behind him as one hit him right between his shoulder blades. "Are they going to follow us all the way back to the bloody castle?"
"I can't really say," Luna said loudly before turning herself to address the fairy attacking her elbow. "You should really consider stopping that before you make me angry. Ow! Now, come on, please, that really does sting."
"Enough," Harry roared, stopping abruptly, which caused Luna to run into him. His back was going numb, and he was thoroughly annoyed at the little women who were pursuing him so doggedly. If kissing Luna was the only thing that was going to stop them…well he'd done it before, hadn't he? It was a far cry better than explaining to the boys in his dormitory why a little Spanish lady had followed him to his bed. He pulled Luna towards him and tilted her chin up rather roughly. She looked at him with wide eyes that he could barely see through the dark of the forest. Quickly, he lowered his lips to her, and the shocks stopped immediately. He had barely brushed her lips with a chaste kiss before withdrawing.
"No, no, no," the fairy closest to him shrieked. "Un beso major que eso!" She shocked him again.
"I kissed her," Harry shouted. Damn these stupid, interfering fairies!
"Mejor, mejor!"
Harry turned to Luna again. "What does that mean?!"
"Better, I think, but my Spanish is a bit rusty." Harry cursed again and touched his lips to hers. This time, he held it for a longer time, her lips conforming against his. He broke away again, which elicited another round of "mejor's" from the little women.
"I don't think you're doing it how they like it," Luna supplied in a helpful tone.
"You do it then!" Harry said, frustrated that his inexperienced kissing technique was being critiqued by a bunch of sugar loving fairies.
"I guess I could try." She put her hand lightly behind his neck and pulled his face towards hers, meeting his lips with hers for the third time in the past minute. Later on, Harry would fail to remember what she did with her lips, or even what was happening outside of that moment. It was similar to Cho's, yet entirely different, and he would be able to recall only snippets of it: how her eyes had fluttered shut, and so had his, the way he had pulled her closer to him. She seemed to know what she was doing and not know at the same exact time, experimenting with moving her lips against his. They broke softly, leaving Harry somewhat dazed. The fairies were smiling and clapping and one close to Luna patted her on the shoulder and said, "Muchachos adolescentes! Puedan ser ignorantes con cosas como esto, no?" Luna smiled.
"I think they'll let us go now, Harry," she said.
"Thank God" Harry muttered, and he pulled her through the rough foliage, using the point me spell to find his way through the forest. When they left, Harry found his Invisibility Cloak, which he had hidden by Hagrid's Hut and reactivated the map.
"I really am sorry, Harry," Luna said as they walked towards the castle. "It never occurred to me that they might try to match us up. It didn't happen last time, but I was with my father, so I guess they wouldn't."
If it had been any other girl, Harry was sure he'd think he'd been taken advantage of. Yet, he knew instinctively that Luna was not inherently manipulative. She had simply wanted to share her outing with him and had failed to think through the consequences. "It's okay," he said, and he meant it. "Here, I'll take you to the Ravenclaw common room, if you show me where it is."
"It's not really necessary; I can find it on my own."
"No sense in getting you in trouble. Here." He pulled the cloak over the two of them. She was small enough to fit under it with him, but the closeness of it almost made Harry blush. She led him through the corridors with whispers, leading him to her dormitory. They only had one tight spot in which Filch appeared suddenly in front of them, and Harry had to pull her close to him to leave the caretaker leeway to pass, causing him to really blush this time as he felt her body against his.
"It's just up the hall, now," she said. "I'll be fine from here. Thank you muchly for helping me back and accompanying me into the forest."
"It's okay." After a moment of deliberation, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
"Good night," she said before emerging from under the cloak, looking at him one last time before flouncing around the corner.
End of chapter
Spanish translations:
mira: look
comida: food
dos seres humanos: two human beings
un chico y una chica: a girl and a boy
deben ser novios, no?: they should be boyfriend/girlfriend, no?
sí, yo estoy de acuerda: yes, I am in agreement
bese Usted a muchacha!: kiss the girl!
bese Usted a muchacha!: kiss the boy!
nosotros somos amigos: we are friends
no me importa: I don't care
un beso major que eso: a better kiss than that
mejor: better
Muchachos adolescentes! Puedan ser ignorantes con cosas como esto, no?: Adolescent boys. They can be ignorant about things like this, no?
Before ending, I must say that I'm not trying to show some sort of cliché or be insulting to Spanish people. I made the annoying match-making fairies Spanish because I can somewhat speak it, and online translators suck. That's the only reason, end of story. Why use a different language in the first place, you ask? Because it's funny to think of Harry being told to kiss a girl by someone he can't understand.