Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter Seven: Danger Lies Where Fawns May Travel

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and for anyone who managed to avoid chemistry in any of its forms, sublimation is when something in solid form goes straight to its gaseous form without turning into a liquid first. The most popular example, dry ice.

XxXx

Luna stood stoically below the high, small window within her alcove only one floor up from the library. There was a rain-cleared, cold autumn night outside tonight; Luna stepped closer to soak in the moonlight streaming down through the window.

Slowly she pointed her wand down and whispered softly to heat the air that drifted quietly along the floor. Immediately she could feel the warm air rising, escaping out of the cracked window. It wasn't like the ventilation spells cast all over the potions classrooms, but she supposed it would do.

Hermione hadn't seemed herself at dinner. She and Ron were speaking again. Luna had watched her, and she hadn't seemed happy.

Following the little breeze out through the window with her eyes, Luna could see something flying erratically out there, scratching glowing, harsh lines across the dark sky.

Fawkes flew wild now that Dumbledore was dead. She could see him sometimes, like tonight, flying erratically past a window or towards the forest, or just aimlessly past any number of places. But whenever she tried to get a better look at him, he'd disappear before her eyes could focus again against his brightness.

She could see him better now that he had only moonlight to compete against. She'd seen hundreds of glimpses, thousands of bright shadows shrieking across the edge of her eye. It made her feel like she'd been spinning in circles for days, or weeks. Months.

The magical bird was pulling away from them all, his wild, frenzied nature claiming him back, as Dumbledore had once claimed him.

He unnerved her, and for a moment, made her feel wildly happy all at once. He didn't need anything or anyone, not any more. Not like her.

She turned back to where her new purple potion had been seeping slowly into its glowing pebbles behind her. Luna was horribly, riotously pulsing with excitement.

Finally, after several long hours of soaking, almost none of the liquid was left, the hot pebbles had absorbed as much as they could hold. It was time. Lowering her wand until it was almost level with where the pebble laid at the bottom of the cauldron, she started her pitched chant, and then watched grinning, as the pebbles sublimed madly up into the air and twisted about in her makeshift breeze as they mostly spiraled harmlessly out of the window.

Then she fainted.

XxXx

Harry spent the next morning at breakfast brooding over the Daily Prophet and crunching on some toast. The wizarding paper was filled with more of the usual; Death Eaters had struck again. This time for once, at least nobody had died. Six were in St. Mungo's though.

It was a typical Thursday morning then. If all were to follow the general pattern set earlier this summer, this weekend would probably hold a deathly end for some poor family or another at the Death Eaters hands. It made Harry's blood boil; Voldemort was getting bolder by the month. And he was stuck safely here at Hogwarts, unable to be of any real help. Not that anybody else was really managing to stop them.

This Saturday evening, while they were doing a preliminary skills test upon everybody at the DA meeting, some family would likely awaken to find Death Eaters upon their doorstep.

The Order was trying to keep up, but they usually couldn't get word of a planned attack until just before it happened. So rescue ended up being rather hit or miss more than half of the time. Morale was sinking and panic was spreading all over the wizarding community, and at Hogwarts too. Three students had already been pulled out by scared parents.

And at dinner last night, regardless of the panic and danger spreading sickly across the country, McGonagall had announced that there would indeed be a Halloween Ball this year. Harry had been shocked to hear that it was indeed still October. It seemed like so much more time had past, with everything that was happening.

And Harry wasn't excited at all to hear that for at least one night, nobody would be able to tell who was who on Hogwarts grounds. Under the masks encouraged by the ball, there could be anybody. They needed to have patrols out that night. They'd have to plan for it, Ron and some of the other more fun-loving members of the DA were not going to be happy about pulling shifts that night.

Harry for one was glad to have an excuse not to dance and pretend to be joyous and carefree; he planned to be on shift all night. They'd have to remember to coordinate security that night with McGonagall and the Order as well.

Surely they'd be there to handle matters on the Hogwarts grounds, which was one area of Hogwarts that Harry didn't want DA members wandering around during such a risky night. Perhaps the Order member that was teaching transfiguration, and Remus. He'd have to check when the full moon occurred around Halloween.

Then again, assuming that Voldemort didn't strike at Hogwarts on Halloween night, the Order might indeed be too busy elsewhere to help supervise a school dance. He'd have to have Ron and Ginny plan a backup schedule in case the extra Order members got pulled away.

Harry stared sullenly down at his plate. He wanted to go out with the Order members to help stop the Death Eaters. But Hogwarts would have to be his main concern, without the DA, who would be left to keep the students safe? The professors couldn't be everywhere.

XxXx

That evening Hermione waited nervously for Luna to show in the library. Where was the girl anyway? Granted the girl was rarely anything near punctual, but she'd already been waiting almost ten minutes for the girl to show up. And the girl hadn't shown at meals.

Fiddling uselessly with her pen, Hermione gave it up and grabbed her topic list to go to the bookshelves to get started. Luna could help when she finally got there.

Half an hour later Hermione looked up from where she was making notes upon transmutable spells, to find a rather bleary eyed Luna plop stiffly into the seat across from her. "You're late. We were to begin at half-past six".

When Luna didn't respond to Hermione's portentous tone, Hermione couldn't help rolling her eyes back to her own book, the girl barely seemed to notice when Hermione wasn't being really friendly. The other girl merely pulled one of the books in Hermione's pile towards her and opened it to the page Hermione had marked as of interest.

Hermione let her eyes rake over the girl she had refused to look at for the last several days; she didn't look so good, her eyes were red, she seemed kind of drawn in… she generally looked rather peaked in fact… Hermione started adding up symptoms in her head. They did not make her happy.

"You are not hung-over," she scrunched up her nose, "Luna, it's only Thursday! You're worse than Ron."

Luna only sent her one of her sheepish sort of grins in return. She didn't really know what a hangover should feel like, but it was as good as a way to describe her pounding head and sluggishness as any other. She rather did feel as though she had spent the entire night sleeping hanging upside, instead of upon the stone cold floor of her alcove. Was this why vampires always looked so upset?

Maybe next time she should try for better ventilation.

With Hermione still shaking her head a bit at the audacity of the younger girl in front of her, the two of them went back to taking notes on spells that might be of interest to the DA.

Honestly, Hermione thought, it wasn't like Luna wasn't smart enough to know not to drink so much that she was still feeling its effects the next evening, or even how to relive a handover's symptoms when she should earn herself one. She wasn't Ron, for god's sake, not to know how to perform a spell without getting half the pronunciation or wand movements wrong.

She sniffed as she turned back to her notes after one last glance at the other girl feeling quite justified for deciding against developing their relationship any further. Obviously they wouldn't suit. It was a school night after all. The girl really ought to have better decorum than this, she was a sixth year, they were both practically adults.

XxXx

Luna wandered slowly down to Ravenclaw territory after she finished studying for the DA with Hermione, feeling lighter than she had all day.

Blending softly into the shadows as she made her way downward, she abstractly thought about all of the work that was due in class within the next several days. She really ought to work some more on it. As cloyingly close as the walls usually felt in the Common Room, she wouldn't have time to wander about the castle at all tonight.

It was a good thing then that she didn't have anything going in the alcove either. There was no way any of the other Ravenclaws would let her go off alone until her schoolwork for tomorrow was done. Sometimes being in the house known for its dedication to knowledge was a bad deal for those less than completely absorbed by their schoolwork. There was just so much more interesting things to learn…

Ignoring the area where the rest of her year was cloistered across the room, she settled sedately into one of the other corners of the octagon-shaped room, and went back to studying. At least they were finally studying elemental magic in Charms; she hurriedly started scribbling everything that came to mind down upon her parchment. She could cross check it later in her text.

If she could just get to the minimum length for the essay, perhaps she would still have time to research for more useful air-oriented spells or charms. Perhaps they could incorporate some elemental magic into what they were doing in the DA. Spells grounded in fire were pretty useful in battle, right?

She could just bet that with all that red hair, at least one of the two Weasleys would be good with fire. Her headache all but forgotten, she giggled as she scribbled out the last couple lines of her Charms' essay, and then turned back towards more interesting topics.

XxXx

Neville scratched the back of his head and tried to get himself to stay awake as Hermione ran through the nine tenants of human transfiguration again. They'd been at it for almost an hour, and he didn't think he'd really absorbed any of it yet. He was past frustrated, and was really only trying to pay attention to the smarter witch to stay polite.

He could swear that he wasn't usually this stupid but he was just so tired that he couldn't keep his mind focused enough to string all the long words she was throwing at him along in the right order. He was close to proclaiming it all quite hopeless.

He and Harry had already spent most of the evening working upon the little battle they would have everyone work out in the meeting on Saturday. It was a brilliant idea, surely, but he hadn't realized how much work it would be or how long it would take to plan everything.

He was lucky that Hermione was still up (not that he was completely convinced that she slept anyway) to help him with the transfiguration prep, or the professor probably wouldn't let him even do the practical tomorrow. Apparently, transfiguring your body parts into other things was serious stuff. Even if it was just a hair that wasn't even on your head anymore.

He rubbed his eyes, as he asked Hermione to go over the sixth rule one more time. Why was providing the proper limits in the beginning of the spell so important anyway? As long as they were indeed in the spell, surely they could go last or somewhere in the middle, right? Why was the beginning special?

He glanced up at Hermione as he voiced his thoughts to her, and then felt a sheepish heat rise up the back of his neck at he heard her tone change from its general lecture-mode to something even more patient and slow. He had just asked another stupid question, hadn't he? Damn.

Maybe if he promised to go over it all again during breakfast, she'd let him go to bed. It'd hopefully make more sense to him in the morning light. It couldn't possibly make any less sense anyway.

Excusing himself, and thanking Hermione for her help, he headed up for bed, leaving Hermione to turn back to whatever she'd be reading and taking notes upon before she turned her intellect towards the task of helping him.

He figured they were both happier for him deciding to finally call it a night.

XxXx

Ginny grinned into the brisk breeze as she hovered high above the quidditch pitch early Friday morning. She loved it when they had practice before breakfast. There was no better way to start the day than darting about on a broom early in the morning. It was better than sex even.

Not that her brother would know that. She smirked down at where Ron was currently calling everyone over so that they could start their last activity before breakfast, drills.

As the last of the team was assembling into a shaky line against the ever-present wind, Ginny mischievously smacked the back of Dean's broom, almost (but not quite) unseating her now-on-again boyfriend. She grinned impishly up at him, "Bet I can beat you back here after our five laps."

"You're on. When I win, I'm picking my reward." He leered playfully down at her shirt.

At Ron's shrill whistle, she laughed back at the older boy as she zoomed on ahead. "Good luck with that, I'll tell you what I want went you finally get back here. " That boy was way too easy to bait.

And she already knew what she wanted when she won. And she could keep her shirt on, if she wanted to, for it as well. Hah.

She loved playing quidditch with the boys. They all were just as stupid as her brothers.

She glanced back at where Dean was deciding whether or not the outcome of the bet would be more to his favor if she won after all. Bit more useful than her brothers though.

XxXx

Hermione munched happily upon her cherry turnover as she went over her notes with Neville. She liked the third tenet the best.

"Focus upon what you want to change. See all the differences. As you perform the spell, imagine all the differences disappear. See, Neville, you just need to focus and imagine your strand of hair of hair becoming a thread of silk! I can't wait until we start working upon transfiguring tissues that are still attached! I can't wait until we transfigure our arms into wings next week."

"Do you think we'll be able to fly?"

"Only if you give yourself a twenty or thirty feet wingspan, Ronald. And manage to strength and hollow out your bones. And hyperdevelop your chest and arm muscles. And a half dozen other things. Don't you read the text, at all?"

"My triceps are plenty developed Hermione!" Ron's face got red. "I play quidditch. Which you'd know if you and Harry ever came to the pitch every so often. It wouldn't kill you to socialize with the rest of us, you know."

Hermione hid a yawn behind her hand; Ron would latch onto only that part of her explanation. The boy was dense. Seriously. What did watching quidditch practice have to do with socializing, what would be the point? It would be rude to even talk to the players. Hermione laughed behind her hand.

And she looked up into Neville's sideway glance. "What?"

"Are you going to ask Luna to the Halloween Dance, Hermione?" He smiled.

Hermione decided that Neville was quite wicked as she noticed both Ron and Seamus leaning forward in to hear her answer.

"No. No I am not. We are not dating, Neville. " She included the other two boys in her distilling gaze. "I am not planning on dating anybody. Nor on taking anybody to the dance." She lowered her voice a little. "There are other plans in place for the dance, remember?"

It took just a moment for the puzzled look to slide off Neville's face. "Oh right. The shifts. Gotcha."

Ron smiled as he turned back to his breakfast. Maybe he would volunteer to patrol the halls with Hermione. They could use the extra time together; Hermione never seemed to have any time for him anymore. Even when she wasn't angry with him or something or whatever.

Then he looked down the table where he found that Lavender was looking him over with a familiar gleam in her eye. But then, he'd probably have more fun getting close and personal at the dance with the other students who weren't right down obsessed with this stupid war.

That's okay. He had a plan. He would wait Hermione out on this one. It was perfect. She was only ignoring every male and interested party on Earth until after the war right? He would date her after the war then. Superb. But that didn't mean that he couldn't spend time with the girl. You know, make her miss what she was preventing him from giving her.

He smiled. "Hey Hermione? Do you mind going over what we're doing in Herbology this afternoon, during lunch? I think I'm all turned around again." He gave her the smile that usually made Lavender giggle.

Hermione glanced up at him, "I would, Ron. But I've got to go over the stuff we're doing in the DA tomorrow. Lunch is the only time I've really got open to do so." Hermione glanced over at Neville, "Why don't you get Neville here to help you? He's always great in Herbology."

His plan ruined, Ron looked at where Neville was nodding and smiling at Hermione. Great. Well, he could always ask Lavender out to tide him over until the war finally ended. Heh.

XxXx

As the seventh year Gryffindors made their way towards their first classes, Ron sulkily noticed a grinning Luna Lovegood glide up to Hermione and ask her if they were still on in the library for lunch. Isn't that where that little snot kissed Hermione?

Ron paused mid-sentence from where he was speaking with Lavender about what color and type of costumes they would be wearing to the dance. Exactly why they had to match, he didn't know, but the elation he had felt when she had said yes to his invitation plummeted when Hermione started chatting amicably to Luna about meeting in the library, bleh, bleh, and bleh. Right after class. In the library. With Luna Lovegood, not him.

The Luna said something, and Hermione laughed, and then Luna bounced off to her next class.

That was practically dating. At least by Hermione's standards. And it was way more attention that she'd given that stupid, insipid, sixth year, little arse, than she'd given him all year. It wasn't fair.

He excused himself from Lavender's clutching arms as they went separate ways towards their classrooms, and caught up with Luna Lovegood. Really, he'd be doing the stupid chit a favor if he clued her into what Hermione wanted out of life right now. And there wasn't any bloody way it could be her.

"You know she doesn't even like you like that, right? You're just a friend to her. She could be dating me, but she doesn't want to date anybody right now. That means definitely not a cocked up little snot like you. You're almost nothing to her. Just a friend, Loony, don't read anything else into it." Something finally uncurled within his chest, he laughed a bit at her shocked face, and then he hurried off to his next class before the blood in his veins had a chance to cool down.

Why in the world would Hermione want to study with that? It was sickening.