She had a dream. She was walking through the corridors, where she welcomed the musty smell of old books and old castle walls. She was off to the library, as usual. They had another rather lengthy Potions essay to write, and unlike Harry and that hideous little book of his, she was going to do some good, honest researching herself. The essay had something to do with designing a potion to repel Aquavirius Maggots, because they were quickly becoming a preferred weapon of dark wizards—
Hermione turned the corner, expecting to see the comforting rows of books and students poring over textbooks, but instead she was in a big, empty room, a room that she quickly realized was the Room of Requirement.
A long, narrow mirror stood in at the very center of the chamber. She approached it, curious. She recalled Harry and Ron raving about it during their first year, but she couldn't remember what they had said. Her eyes traced the golden frame, the emblazed inscription on top, the clawed feet that planted it to the ground, and then, into the mirror itself—
She was standing, hand in hand, with a pale eyed girl, straggly blonde hair down to her waist, wand tucked behind her ear and a necklace of butterbeer corks. They were both grinning and giggling as they stared at the creature playfully squirming in the younger girl's arms, a piglike thing with furry little purple ears, like a hippo's, and spiraled horns—
Hermione woke with a start. That was one of the oddest dreams she'd had in a long time. She wondered if it had been the pumpkin juice she had drunk yesterday—
Yesterday. As in the day she had publicly humiliated herself in front of Malfoy and how many others. Her pleasant dream was shoved aside by the cruel laughter resounding in her mind. With a groan, she buried her face into her pillow and pulled the curtain of her four poster aside to let the harsh sunlight in.
The day was Saturday, and a perfect day to recruit more members, since nobody could use the excuse of homework. But S.P.E.W. was, surprisingly, the last thing on her mind.
She set out to find Luna during breakfast in the Great Hall, she couldn't find the little Ravenclaw anywhere. She gave Harry and Ron the excuse that she was going to the library to do some research, and went off on her search for Luna.
She wandered around the castle, hoping to bump into the girl, but to no avail. Hermione hoped Snape hadn't gotten his hands on her—after all, she had hexed his favorite student. But after snooping around the dungeons, she decided that Luna wasn't there after all.
A part of her knew that she couldn't find Luna anywhere. She finally gave up and sulked in the Gryffindor common room with her Arithmancy homework for the rest of the morning and afternoon. Harry and Ron were thankfully, not there, and for once in her life she hoped they were busy with Quidditch. The last thing she wanted was their prodding questions.
Soon Hermione had gotten used to the comforting pace of homework, and she was able to get most of it done. Whenever she was upset she could always turn to homework. However, this usually made her particularly crabby, which was how she felt when Harry and Ron finally climbed through the portrait late in the afternoon, clutching at their stomachs as they let out wild, raucous laughter. They finally subsided when they were out of breath—until they started up again.
She was clutching her quill so tightly in her hand that it almost bent in two. "What is it?" she snapped.
It took a while for the two boys to gain some form of composure. They fell onto the couch on either side of her, looking quite amused with themselves.
"You didn't hear?" Ron said. "Ravenclaw held tryouts today—"
"You know I don't care for Quidditch," she muttered.
"Nobody really cared to watch, since Ravenclaw did finish in last place last year," said Harry. "Even the captain said that isn't likely to change—"
"We should've though, that's a pity," Ron said.
"Well?" Hermione snarled.
"They had to find a new Seeker, see, since Cho left last year," Ron said. She wanted to slap the stupid grin off of his freckled face. "Guess who it is." And then the boys' guffaws started anew.
Hermione stared at them for a long time, before she felt the stone plummeting into her stomach.
"You mean—" she mumbled, clutching at her head. "Oh, Merlin's right sleeve—"
"Dear old Loony," Ron snickered. "Reckon she was the only one that showed up—"
"Well, they don't have anything to lose," Harry said.
"First match is against Slytherin, isn't it?" Ron asked.
But before Harry could reply Hermione had already left her textbooks scattered on the floor and had disappeared through the portrait hole.
Hermione stormed through the corridors, looking for that damned Ravenclaw. Many students made way for her, quickly sensing the Head Girl's anger and moving away before she could unleash her wrath upon them.
What on earth was that girl thinking? Of course, Hermione wondered that a lot, but especially now. Out of all the absurd things she had to do, she had to go off and try out for the Quidditch team—why couldn't Luna go off and brainwash a herd of captured Wrackspurts, like she proposed earlier? No, she had to go off and become Ravenclaw Seeker—Hermione would give her a good lecture, that's what she'd do—that ridiculous little girl—
She found Luna Lovegood sitting outside perusing a comic book, by the tree near the Great Lake. She would be easily overlooked, since she was obscured by the surrounding bushes and such—the only reason Hermione could find her was because she somehow knew where to look. And how, she thought to herself, rather indignantly, did you know where to look?
"Luna!" Hermione shrieked, fists at her sides.
Luna looked up from her magazine. Hermione stopped in her tracks. The familiar sight of the Ravenclaw had suddenly drained away the furious oration that had been forming in Hermione's mind for the past five minutes.
"Hello, Hermione," Luna said with a smile, as if Hermione had said a polite "good evening."
"I—I didn't see you today," Hermione said, in a weak voice.
"Oh yes, I was busy."
"You were busy," Hermione said blankly. If she hadn't known otherwise, she would have thought Luna had just been working on her essay for Transfiguration class.
"Yes, I was trying out for the Quidditch team," Luna said. "I did hear that tryouts were today, you see, so I showed up."
"Were you the only one who showed up?" Hermione asked, tentatively.
"Oh no, there were lots of other people too."
"To try out for other positions, you mean."
"No, for Seeker. It's a popular spot, you know."
"You mean," she mumbled, "there were other people trying out for Seeker?"
"Yes," Luna replied.
"And you—you were chosen."
"Yes."
"You were chosen as in, singled out as the best from a party of candidates."
"Yes."
"And the captain—he's new, isn't he?"
"Jeremy Stratten? He is a nice boy—"
"Never mind that. There weren't any Slytherins around that Confunded him?"
"There wasn't anyone except us," Luna said. "I think it's because nobody thought we were worth watching, considering our performance last year."
Hermione sighed, palm cradling her forehead. Hermione, despite her more-than-average-intelligence, could not wrap her mind around this absurd concept.
It had to be the Slytherins. No doubt they were scouting the other House Quidditch tryouts. Hermione didn't understand much of that athletic nonsense, but she wouldn't have been surprised if they had sabotaged the teams so they would have the upper hand. The odor of a certain Malfoy seemed to permeate from this scheme.
"You're sure."
Luna nodded.
"So you're the Seeker of the Ravenclaw team."
"We did establish that at the beginning of the conversation, didn't we?"
"Look, Luna, I know you're doing this because of what Malfoy said to you—"
"He made an interesting suggestion," Luna said, calmly. "And after commentating last year I thought playing sounded fun—"
Hermione felt a rise of panic within her. "But the first match—"
"Yes, they told me it's against Slytherin. I've already an eagle hat. I can make it eat a snake, and you can wear it, if you like."
"Thanks, Luna, but—are you sure that you'll be all right?"
"Of course," Luna replied, turning another page in her comic book. "Why?"
The Slytherins had enough fun with Luna when they were on the ground—Hermione was horrified to think about what they'd do to the poor girl when they were in the air. Luna was smaller and thinner than Hermione—she wouldn't last long against those burly savages.
"If you hurt yourself," Hermione found herself saying, "I don't know what I'll do." Was that a hint of desperation in her own voice? Why was she terrified for Luna's safety?
"Don't worry," said Luna reassuringly. "I'll still be able to help with S.P.E.W.—"
"Luna—"
"—I'll only have practice a couple times a week, so I can still go to meetings—"
"No, I mean—"
"And I can still make tea cozies and such, that's no problem at all—"
"I—"
"And maybe Harry and Ronald could help too—"
"Luna, will you shut up and listen to me?" Hermione screamed.
The Ravenclaw flinched, slightly shocked, but then set down her reading and sat still, listening.
Hermione stared hopelessly into the girl's pale, questioning gaze. This had nothing to do with S.P.E.W. In fact, she couldn't care less about S.P.E.W. at the moment—
A horrible vision seared her mind—those green robed barbarians shoving Luna and knocking Bludgers at her head—and then the girl's tiny, frail unconscious frame in a bed in the hospital wing—hot tears had formed and threatened to overflow.
"It's just that—" she croaked. What was she going to say? That Luna couldn't risk her life for Hermione's cause? What was it that bothered her so much, anyway? She was confused and flustered and scared all at the same time—she had never felt so overwhelmed before, and that was saying a lot, since she could handle a heavy N.E.W.T. load as well as S.P.E.W.—then why was she so emotionally distressed over one girl's foolish decision?
But the idea of Luna in the hospital wing was so unsettling. It hurt, to think about it, physically hurt—
"I don't want you to end up—you know, in bad shape," Hermione whimpered, and she knew at once it was the most insufficient thing she could ever say.
Luna studied her for a long moment. Hermione stared at the ground, forcing the tears back. For once, she didn't want to know what the Ravenclaw was thinking. God, she had no idea what was going on in her own head—
"Dinner should be ready soon," Luna finally said, looking skyward. "I do hope there's pudding."
The sudden change of subject caught Hermione off guard. "What?" she croaked.
"I wish I could skip dinner and go right to the pudding." Luna had a content smile on her face as she thought of the pudding that was in her future. "Don't you wish that sometimes, Hermione? Pudding is very important."
Hermione stared at the Ravenclaw as she lay back to watch the clouds, her fingers laced behind her fair head. There were times when she was blunt, even painfully so, and then there were other times there was no way to tell what was going on behind those gray, dreamy eyes.
"I—I guess," Hermione muttered. She was never tired after a hard day of classes, but for some reason, she felt incredibly exhausted. She fell on the ground next to Luna with a sigh. Then the thought of the two of them on the ground together was unsettling. She sat up again.
Luna propped herself up on her elbows. "Did you lay on a Nargle?" she asked, vaguely swatting at the ground where Hermione had just been.
"No, no, I didn't," muttered Hermione, too drained to tell her that Nargles didn't exist in the first place. "I just realized I have to finish my Arithmancy homework—"
It was Saturday afternoon. And besides that, Arithmancy wasn't due until Wednesday. Luna wasn't stupid. She saw right through Hermione's words—but she only nodded, and gave Hermione a dreamy smile. "I'll see you at dinner, then," she said, and Hermione could have sworn the girl had sounded a little sad.
"Yes, yes, I suppose," muttered Hermione, before she jumped to her feet and tried to walk away as casually as she could, before breaking out into a run when she had reached the castle corridors.
She had no idea what was going on anymore. The world was turning upside down. Luna Lovegood had just become Ravenclaw Seeker. Hermione Granger had become a complete mess, for no reason at all. And that dream, that ridiculous dream—
She returned to the common room and without much of a greeting to Ron and Harry, she finished her Arithmancy homework. And she found herself looking forward to pudding that night.