I'm slow at writing, you hate me, I suck, I tried, I didn't get that many reviews, so I wasn't quite that encouraged to write. I didn't feel so happy either, so I'm afraid that I tried to hard to make this chapter light a fluffy like my strawberry whipped yogurt. I'm so so sorry. And if you forgive me, I promise I'll send you all virtual Crumple Horned Snorkack shaped cookies… please forgive me? It's quarter till midnight, I've got school tomorrow and I'm working my butt off to finish this chapter to get it up for you all. Now it's 11: 46. I'm so losing sleep. I was up till 4:30 in the morning Friday and 3:00 yesterday… be a little tiny bit appeased.
I found myself with my back inches from the floor, my breath caught in my throat, and staring up into Harry Potter's face. He pulled me back up and grinned uneasily.
"Hey Luna," He laughed a little nervously. "Um… are you alright?"
"Yeah." This came out rather breathily. Nice Luna. I thought. You sound like one of the Gentlemen was trying to suck out your voice. "I mean, yes, I'm quite fine. Thank you, it was very kind not to let me hit the ground. Especially considering that I knocked into you."
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Yeah well, I was waiting for you." I tilted my head, curious.
"No one's ever waited for me outside a class before. Do you need something?"
Harry rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. "Actually, I was wondering if…" He broke off and looked at me full on. "Uh, if I could get a subscription to the Quibbler." Harry finally blurted out.
A warm bubbly feeling rose up inside of me and I grinned rather widely at him. "Well, sure Harry! Next month's addition is going to be great, you know. A whole section on the Minister's plans to replace candles with these orbs that will draw people to vampires!"
"That sounds great, Luna." He smiled, but he seemed disappointed in himself, like he'd just had the opportunity to catch a snitch, but had been to afraid to take the dive. We started walking together. "Where are you going next?"
"Care of Magical Creatures."
"Oh, you're taking it?" He seemed surprised that I'd be interested in creatures that most people believed him, and I told him so. Harry looked a little sheepish and grinned nervously. "I just figured you'd be more involved with Divination." He told me with a shrug.
I shuddered, an involuntary reaction, and Harry laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of it, especially learning about the stars and such, but I liked Firenze teaching us better. Professor Trelawney… she is a good conversationalist, but…" I shrugged and trailed off. "Whenever she asks me what I see in the crystal ball, I tell her I see a dancing yellow smurf trying to attract a puffeskin, and she always finds that as a way to predict death." He laughed harder.
"Predicting death is the only way to get a good grade in that class." I nodded in agreement.
"Last year when I had Firenze as a teacher… that was a nice, optimistic year."
"When I had him he didn't seem to like the idea that humans could be very competent and Divination."
"He was probably right." I reasoned. "So few witches and wizards actually display real psychic ability."
"And some don't even remember it." Harry told me wryly. I nodded earnestly. A gaggle of 3rd year girls walked by us and blatantly ogled Harry and smiled at him. An unfamiliar feeling rose in my chest, and I shook my head to quell it. He however, was used to such attention and didn't even notice.
"That's the way it is with Crumple Horned Snorkaks! People see them and they're so excited and flustered they don't even remember." Harry smiled at me.
"Well, when you see one, you'll remember to keep a cool head."
"Oh well, of course." I teased him and tossed my hair mischievously. "I mean, I'm me." Harry shoved me playfully.
Draco Malfoy and his loyal band of brainless cronies rounded the corner and walked toward us. They made what seemed, in my humble opinion of course, a rather dramatic job of separating to walk around us. They all stared us down and Draco smirked at me. I thought this was all rather silly, so I couldn't help but laughing. Harry glanced at me, and started laughing at them too.
Please understand, I normally don't approve of laughing at other people, especially since he seemed to be so set on having his dramatic time. But it was all so childish and the laughter just bubbled out of me like when Ginny and I get bored in potions and add random things to the mixture and it bubbles over. I simply couldn't help it. The Slytherins around us that had nearly past looked affronted at our laughter and walked away haughtily. I couldn't help but notice Draco send me a lingering look and smirk, which I returned with a glare.
"That was… special." I told Harry, a little breathless from the laughter. He nodded and chuckled in agreement.
"I've got to get to class, but it was good seeing you, Luna." I smiled at him.
"It was lovely walking with you. Goodbye Harry."
"Bye Luna." He walked around the next turn and continued walking straight.
The rest of my day was boring in comparison. A few people tried to steal my books, but I managed to put them in my bag before they could. I mean, really. It was starting to become simply childish. Couldn't they think of something a tad bit more, well creative to do? They'd push me, call me Loony Luna and steal my things. It was all terribly, sadly…
Uncreative.
I sighed, and walked to the knights of armor who guarded the Ravenclaw common room.
"Luna!" A voice called to me. I didn't recognize it as one of my housemates, so I tilted my head at the suits of armor as though I was simply curious about them, and turned to walk away from the knights. I stopped once I was a good distance away from the armor. I was now instead in front of a portrait of a brown horse stubbornly pulling away from an angry and swearing auburn haired young man and pretended to study that.
It seems paranoid, yes, but secrecy about House location is vitally important. Especially to Ravenclaws. "Luna!" The voice called again. It was a girl, I was certain, and most girls were quite too embarrassed to talk to me. Except for… Ginny!
I turned around with a small, serene smile on my face. I don't know why, sometimes it's hard for me to actually show how excited I am with my facial expressions. Mum used to say that I always expressed everything in my eyes.
"Hello Gin." I greeted her with my nickname. My red headed friend bounced on her toes and smiled at me.
"Hey Luna, how are you?" She had something to tell me, I could plainly see that, but she wanted to be polite and get around all the introductory talk.
"I'm lovely. I just wish I could help this boy." I said, motioning to the picture. "And you, Ginny?"
"I'm fine, I'm just… hanging out." She linked her arm through mine and started tugging me along as if we were just going on a little stroll throughout the castle. I giggled a little at her silliness but walked with her anyway. "So Luna." Ginny looked at me and smiled, her hazel eyes alight with good humor and mischief. "Is anything new?"
"Of course things are new Ginny. New things happen every moment." She tugged my hair lightly. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh… I just. I know something you don't know." She sang.
I stopped dead in my tracks. If there was anything I was a sucker for, it was a good secret. It was my blasted curiosity, and my want to be a journalist. I spun around to face her. "What, Ginny?" I egged her on, knowing she wanted to tell me like Phlapers wanted to fly. "What do you know?"
She swatted at my head. "I'm not a dog, don't encourage me like one." I laughed at her. Ginny was the kind of person who you could actually relax around. I always wondered what she saw in me.
"Fine. You know what secrets do to me Ginny." I looked at her sadly. "What's new with you?" Ginny blushed unexpectedly like McGonagal would if she was caught starkers by the Weasley twins.
Which, by the way, she practically was one Christmas. Long story, I've never been so glad that I stayed over school for break.
Though I did pity McGonagal. And Fred and George, for that matter. Anyway, Ginny blushed bright, bright, bright red.
"Well…" She began slowly. "I think I have a crush on someone."
"Such as a certain Neville Longbottom?" I automatically guessed.
Ginny looked alarmed. "Luna! Shush! Do you realize—" She broke off into a whisper. "Someone could hear you!"
I looked at her. "Yes. I'm sure that they care who you like." I said, motioning to a large watercolor of a few drunken fairies singing at the top of their lungs.
"I'm just saying… there are spies everywhere." She said this so seriously I could tell that she actually thought that some portrait or something was listening to our conversation and just waiting to report it back to Neville, or an enemy of hers.
"You watch too much television." I informed her, thinking of all the action movies I'd seen over the summer when vacationing around the muggle world with my father.
"What's television?" Ginny looked at me interestedly.
"Never mind Ginny." I stopped and looked around at a black door I hadn't noticed before. Something about it just made me want to enter it. "What is that?" I asked her, looking at the door, completely intrigued.
"Well, Luna, we like to call those newfangled things doors nowadays!" She smirked, and in a very mature fashion I responded by sticking my tongue out at her. "C'mon we're going to miss curfew if we don't get back to our common rooms soon."
"Hold on." I said. The door was just. Drawing me nearer. I leaned my ear against it, and it was unnaturally, almost… bizarrely freezing. I pushed open the door a crack and saw the Grey Lady, Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar and the Bloody Baron all sitting at a table looking upset. I motioned Ginny forward, and she came.
"This is awful! We must do something. We can't just sit here and do nothing while our students are practically being sentenced to a violent death!" Nick shouted angrily. The Fat Friar wrung his hands.
"This has gone on long enough. I say we go to Dumbledore." The Grey Lady said, turning her beautiful gaze upon the Bloody Baron, who looked simply furious at the entire situation.
"And trouble him even further? I agree, something must be done, but we can't just lay even more on the man. I think we should wait until we know more, then if absolutely necessary, we go to Dumbledore." The Baron looked at all the fellow ghosts around him. Nick looked livid and his head wobbled dangerously.
"I swear Baron, if one student is harmed, we will not wait to go to Dumbledore." Nick said to him.
"Agreed." The Grey Lady said, also looking angry. "We will not risk putting students safety in jeopardy. If the situation calls for it, action will be taken." The Friar nodded quickly, and the Baron looked at her and nodded slowly. "
"Alright," The Friar said. "I see our business is done goodnight everyone."
Nick looked at the Grey Lady, who raised an eyebrow at the Friar's pleasantries. The both got up to leave together.
"Bloody—" Ginny swore, and we sprinted away.
"Night Ginny!" I yelled.
"Night!" She called back once we reached our separation point.
"EGO adveho sub votum requiro scientia." I whispered to the knights once I got just outside my common room. I ran up to my room and collapsed on my bed, dead tired.
"Luna, you're such a loon. Get in here at a normal time." One of my housemates snapped at me angrily.
"What dictates normal time?" I asked, confused.
"Loony twit." She muttered.
So sadly unoriginal.
Review… please? I'm losing so much sleep over this.
Latin translation (um, I think)- I come under the wish to seek knowledge
Lame. Sorry.