Disclaimer: Not mine. Nuh uh. Harry et alia belong to JKR and the suits at Warner.

A zillion points to the house of whoever manages to divine the Muggle versions of some of the books Harry and co. find in the library.

ooOOoo

Chapter 10: The Horse Mutterer

Luna had been reading books and thinking, it became apparent. And now she wanted Harry and Draco's help. Harry was still considering how he could be any use a day later.

"I've heard that a suicide attempt can be a cry for help," Ron said cheerfully, helping himself to some more roast potatoes.

"It's hardly that," Harry protested. "Here – you missed one," he added sarcastically, tilting the silver platter Ron had almost single-handedly emptied.

"Ta."

Hermione sighed. "It's not very safe, Harry."

"What? It's just a horse, not a hippogriff. And Hooch is going to help us." They hadn't tried anything with Simon today. Today had been more of Luna brushing the horse until he went to sleep standing up. Harry had been of a similar mindset, but couldn't manage it, and had gone to help Draco and Trudi practise with the gloves while Luna fussed happily over the dozing horse. Harry had spelled a few items to see if the gloves could get a fix on different spells – they could, but they tended to group spells into classes and if – for example – Harry put an itching hex on one rock and a tickling hex on another, the gloves chose the closest. Or the most strongly applied. Still, it was interesting in a clinical way, which was the best way to see it as he and the two Slytherins maintained a rigid formality. That wasn't unexpected between himself and Draco – it was probably the easiest way to work – but Harry found himself regretting it with Trudi, who seemed like a neat kid, just extremely shy and with a tendency to overcompensate for it by being as ferocious as a crup on guard duty.

He'd spent the afternoon catching up on assignments and now guessed he was ahead enough to spend a little more time helping Luna.

All in all, a good day. But there was still time for an argument with his best friends, whom he had been neglecting lately…

"I don't see that Luna has paid much attention to what any of the teachers might want her to do," Hermione said shrewdly. "I think she's become a bit accustomed to going her own way since all of the teachers have been so distracted with finding a way to break the Blockade."

"Not like anyone we know, then?" Ron said, grinning.

"Breaking the Blockade? I'm still working on – oh." Hermione rolled her eyes. "We've always had each other to stop ourselves from getting out of control. We put limits on ourselves."

"You think?" said Harry. "I can give some good examples of times we didn't."

"Well, we learned from them, didn't we?"

"I'd hate to think we didn't."

Hermione's smile was warm. "We were lucky. Luna mightn't be. She's very independent."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Ron had been listening carefully, frowning a little. "Why are we so different?"

"We're different because we're us. Not because we're Harry, or Hermione, or Ron, but because we're Harry and Hermione and Ron. There's this amazing synergy we generate – I know I sound like I'm boasting…" and Hermione was keeping her voice low "… but it's true. Do you know how lucky we are to have had each other?"

Harry, who had been feeling guilty for neglecting his friends in favour of the horse, Draco and Luna, nodded. "I do," he said equally quietly. "But it doesn't mean Luna is wrong, or that I shouldn't help her."

"And Malfoy," Ron said – for once without wrinkling his nose like he'd just smelt something decaying. Harry wondered if Hermione and he had been talking.

"And Malfoy. Who can be almost pleasant when he puts his mind to it," Harry added, unable to see how far he could push Ron on this one.

Ron just grinned like he was ten years older than Harry. "I guess anything can happen."

"Um… yeah. Well, I think you're worrying too much, Hermione."

"I'm not –"

"Yes, you are," Ron interrupted, pushing his plate away. "And Harry appreciates it. Don't you, Harry. But this is just a horse, not Voldemort. Or even Malfoy with sight and a wand. And if you or I were more interested in pets other than the magical kind, we'd be practically rather than politely involved, even though Luna rubs you up the wrong way."

"I don't think Harry needs our help on this," Hermione said, glaring at Ron.

"Yes, I do," Harry said, pouncing on the opportunity and mouthing thank you at Ron when Hermione wasn't watching. As soon as Hermione turned her head, Ron toasted Harry with his goblet of pumpkin juice. "Luna has some practical experience, Hooch too, but Draco is just along for the ride – so to speak – well, that's the impression I get from him… that and he's found something new to be possessive over; but I don't know anything other than what gets filtered through Luna and Hooch. I didn't want to ask, because I know you're busy with your Prefect duties as well as studying for exams, but I wouldn't mind a bit of help sifting out the good information about horses from the bad."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh… well, I guess I could put some time aside…"

"How about after dinner?"

"Well, I was going to colour-code my study notes, but… Oh, all right."

ooOOoo

"Thanks, Ron."

"No problem. You know how Hermione gets if she feels she's not needed."

"And she says I have a rescuer complex."

"Yeah. Well, hopefully she'll relax a bit. It's not easy when your girlfriend is upset and doesn't want to, um… You did know, didn't you? Harry?"

Harry's jaw had dropped to the floor of their dorm room, along with (more literally) his satchel.

"Harry?"

"I…. Ahh…. Congratulations. And no, I didn't know. When did this happen?"

Ron's ears were pink, clashing with his red hair. "Last week. Sorry. You… You don't mind, do you?"

"What? Of course not! Ron – you're both of you my best friends. I just… um. You – I'm not jealous, if that's what you mean…?"

"Jealous? No – that wasn't what I meant!" Steam of relief was blowing out of Ron's ears. "But I'm glad you're not. Jealous, I mean."

"I've never thought of Hermione like that. She's pretty, and really smart, but I guess she feels more like a sister to me. Like you're the closest I have to a brother."

Ron was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "We'll be late to the library… don't want to upset Hermione now."

But Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Ron look so happy.

ooOOoo

Getting Hermione in for research turned out to be a good idea after all, Harry reflected over a mountain of books. Luna had turned up halfway through their evening in the library and, after carefully choosing the seat furthest from Hermione, put down her own selection. Harry looked at the titles: Back to Basics: binding spells to keep you on wild animals; Tails of the Wild and Wyrd; and what seemed to be two children's books: My Pal Pooka and Winnie the Witch Goes to Pony Club.

Hermione carefully didn't look at Luna's selection of books beyond the titles. Her own selection from the Muggle Studies section (which boasted quite a good range on pet care, Harry was surprised to find) included an arithmancer's take on the subject, The Amazing Pip Popadopolis' Guide to Natural Horse Wizardry. The introduction stated how easy it was to tame a horse if you followed the 64-step P-program, which involved only a little higher-order mathematics delving into i-space and the Mayan calendar. Hermione had thought that one looked extremely promising.

Harry put it aside – his brain hurt just looking at the introduction.

Wiccans and Horses by Ginny Newarithmancy seemed little better – it was all about the natural harmony between female spirits and equines. Hermione blushed when Harry looked at it. "That's one I picked up by accident," she whispered. "It looks like something that old fraud Trelawney would read." Harry agreed. Among other things (like tides of the moon affecting the emotional bonds), the author stressed the importance of building up a psychic relationship with your equine partner.

("'Bonds'? 'Equine partner'?" Ron muttered in disgust. "I can't believe that sort of stuff is allowed out of the Restricted Section!"

"What do you mean, Ron?" asked Luna.

Ron blushed like a sunset. "Ahhh… nothing… Harry, what's that book you're holding?")

The library was relatively unpopulated for a Sunday evening. Usually the tables were all occupied as students worked on assignments they should have finished two weeks ago and had to be handed in by Monday at the latest. Thursday evening was usually busy for a similar, Friday-due-date reason. But because it was so quiet Harry and his friends were keeping their voices down with extra care so that Madam Pince didn't notice them. They hadn't heard her take points from anyone this evening – she was probably hoping someone would do something to annoy her soon just for the opportunity.

"Hey, I wonder if we're related?" Harry whispered as he saw the author of the next book: Potter's Horse Dictionary. He looked inside. "Eyew. That's gross." He slammed the book shut again, getting a severe look from Madam Pince. But no loss of points, luckily. "Simon looks okay on the outside, but if that's what he looks like on the inside I may never go near him again."

Ron picked up the book. "That's disgusting!" he said happily. "I've never seen stuff like that even in Snape's office. What's a tapeworm – can you measure things with it, or something? And what's this spavinitis of the near fore fetlock business? I dunno… I guess as this book was written… let's see… first print was in eighteen-twelve, this edition came out twenty-two years ago. Better get out the family records, Harry, mate, if you want to prove this guy as a blood relative. Bloodworm relative, maybe," he added thoughtfully as he looked at a writhing photo.

"Shut it, Ron."

"Hey, I was just –"

"The book, idiot. I've just had dinner."

"Yeah, good point." Ron put it down on top of the books they had looked at earlier: Ponyshaman by a North American wizard, and A Practical Guide to Horseshoeing, which Luna wanted kept out for some unexplained reason.

"Here," said Hermione, pushing a book under Harry's nose. "This one got good reviews in the literature, and a lot of articles in the more recent magazines on Muggle pet care cite it."

Harry looked at the cover, which showed an older, slightly battered-looking wizard sitting on a horse. There was no bridle or saddle or even a headcollar, but the horse moved calmly around an arena, trotting a serpentine course without seeming guidance from the wizard. "Cool," said Harry, wondering if Simon would ever let him do that. The title was The Horse Mutterer, and it was written by Robert Python, presumably the man on the horse on the cover. The man somehow made the horse stop and back up a couple of steps, then he tilted the brim of his cowboy hat to Harry. Harry found himself smiling at the man on the cover. "I'll start with this book."

Luna leaned over. "Ooh – that's Robert Python. Mum took my uncle on a course with him ages ago. She had a great time and learned ever so much."

"And what about your uncle?" asked Harry.

"Oh… I expect he learned a lot, too," said Luna with her daffiest grin, the one where she looked like she was about to burst out laughing at something the invisible Little People were telling her. Harry wished she wouldn't – it was hard enough getting Ron and Hermione to like her without her acting like Loony Luna.

Maybe he'd shown a bit too much on his face, because Luna was watching him now with the sort of thin-lipped calculating assessment that made him cringe. He'd only seen it a couple of times, but it always unnerved him. It gave him that awful sinking-fear/rising-reactionary-anger feeling like he had just had points taken from Gryffindor –

"Oh, there's Draco," Luna said, distracted. Not entirely thankfully. Harry would have preferred it to be someone other than Malfoy.

Draco was standing over by the checkout desk, talking to Madam Pince. Unlike virtually all of the other staff, she didn't seem upset by Draco's blindness. It was strange – even though Draco was the one who was blind, it seemed to be everyone else who didn't know where to look.

Trudi was standing next to Draco and her expression was guarded and a little bit wound up. If anyone looked at Draco and looked at him wrong they would have to deal with her. Harry smiled at her loyalty. It wasn't something obvious in Slytherins, but he supposed part and parcel of ambition was knowing when to use loyalty like the tool it was, and –

– and when did he start thinking like a Slytherin? Now he was creeped out by Slytherins for the second time that weekend.

"I wonder what they're doing?" said Luna. Before Ron had finished saying "Who cares?", she had picked up her books and walked over to the desk. Harry saw her smile at Trudi, who looked nervous at a non-Slytherin someone being friendly, and saw Draco smile back when he heard her voice.

When he felt Hermione's hand on his arm, he realised he'd stood up to go over and… well, he didn't know.

"She's fine," Hermione whispered. "And it looks like Malfoy has an appointment with Madam Pince."

True enough, the sour-faced librarian led Draco and Trudi (and Luna) into the back room where mysterious things like rebindings and appendectomies for books took place. Harry had never been any further into it than the smell of fresh glue and old paper.

Harry looked down at the book again, where Robert Python was watching him with an ageless, non-judgemental expression of knowing exactly where Harry was, and what he was doing.

Harry wished Mr Python could tell him where and what that was.

ooOOoo

Harry was so engrossed in reading the story about the Muggle racehorse stallion who tried to kill anyone who came into range that it took a little time for the palpable tension radiating from Ron and (to a lesser extent) Hermione to get his attention. He looked up to see a beaming Luna, who had dragged over Draco and, by default, Trudi.

Draco looked bemused. Trudi looked capable of murder. Harry didn't miss the way one of her hands was hidden in her pocket.

Ron looked like he was about to spit slugs. Harry supposed it was easier to be more tolerant of someone when they weren't standing in front of you.

"I know we're still in the library," Draco was saying. "But it's going to take the spell a bit to settle into the gloves, so why don't we go and practise outside some more?"

"Yeah, Malfoy. Why don't you?" Ron was leaning back in his chair, his eyes narrowed with dislike.

Draco stiffened, his head swinging around to face Ron just as if he were still sighted. "Luna," he breathed softly, "I thought I specified in our tests you weren't going to drop me into any cess-pits. Weasleys count as such, you know."

The legs of the chair squeaked across the floor as Ron stood up and shoved his chair back. He shook off Hermione's hand. "Would've thought cess-pit was a step up for a junior Death Eater…"

Draco's face flushed crimson. "What would you know about it, Weasel?"

"Enough to ask Dumbledore to check your arm before he lets you into classes again, you piece of –"

There was a sharp crack! and Ron went silent. But only to anyone on the outside of the large blue-green bubble he was floating in. Ron's mouth opened and closed angrily, and Harry guessed by the odd purple tinge his face was going, it must be almost as red as his hair now.

"Who did that?" Madam Pince, thin and predatory where offenders against the library code were concerned, stood over them. "Potter – Malfoy! No magic in the library!"

"I didn't!" Harry protested. Amazing. Everyone always blamed him…

"How could I?" Draco drawled. "I don't have my wand. And thank you ever so much for instantly thinking it was me."

"Yes, well. Old habits die hard. Of course it wasn't you… But who was it?" She glared around the table.

"Sorry, Madam Pince," squeaked Trudi, looking like she wanted to disappear through the floor. "But he was saying nasty things about Draco being a Death Eater – which he isn't – and… and… Well, he shouldn't have said that."

"That's right," said someone – Hermione, in total defiance of all natural laws. "Ron got a bit worked up and said some things I'm sure he will apologise for –" she glared at the bubble. Ron's mouth worked frantically, but no sound emerged. Harry wished his lipreading was better… then again, given what he thought he could understand, maybe it was better it wasn't. "Poor Trudi here naturally wanted to defend Malfoy, and she didn't do anything nasty… At least I think that's just a simple bubblehead charm grown to full-body size…"

"That's right," said Trudi, wringing her wand in her hands. "I use it when I go diving in the summers… it's not nasty, it just… makes people shut up for a bit."

Madam Pince's mouth did not twitch in a smile. Harry probably only imagined it had. "Well then… if you release him right now I shall only take five points off Slytherin… and as for you Mr Weasley… I hope you can hear me, because if you come out of that bubble speaking the sort of nastiness that got you into it, it will be twenty points off Gryffindor and a detention. Five points as it is for picking a fight in the library. It would have been ten, but as you were beaten by a first year, well…"

Draco had his eyes half shut. Harry suspected he was praying Ron hadn't heard and would get the detention.

After making Trudi promise to teach her the Instant Quiet spell, the librarian released Ron, who carefully kept his lips pressed together but couldn't stop the glower at Malfoy who, of course, couldn't see it.

"Um… there's a chair here," said Luna, considerately indicating an empty chair on the side of the table furthest from Ron (and, incidentally, closest to Luna).

"We're researching horses," she continued as Draco sat. Trudi dragged over another chair from a nearby table and glared at Ron, who looked perplexed to have someone so young glaring at him. Ron shook his head and looked askance at Harry, who gave a small grin back. Ron shook his head again, but looked like he was trying not to laugh, to Harry's relief. "Hermione's found some great books," she added magnanimously."

There was a sudden tension at the table. Draco, looking like the words burned him, said, "Well, I expect if anyone could find books on an obscure subject it would be Granger."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Thank you."

"Not at all," Draco gritted out. Then he smiled sourly. "Don't suppose you have some with large print?"

"Do you want to use some of the books to practise with the gloves?" asked Luna.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Harry mentioned you had some Mendeleev gloves." At Harry's bemused stare, she added, "Well, that was what he described."

Draco looked pleased, and held up one hand, flexing his fingers to show how they fitted around his hand, fastening at wrist and around the index finger and cut back away from the other fingers. It was a little like two triangles of soft tan leather fixed together to cover the palm and the back of the hand. "Yes. They're quite marvellous. Unfortunately they're keyed in to potion ingredients, but I've been widening their scope to landscapes and varied surfaces. A spell to help with reading books was integrated into them when they were made, but never activated. That's what Madam Pince just did for me."

"How abstract can you get with the instructions?"

"I can tell them to point out things which can cause me harm, but unfortunately the whole of creation can damage you if you use it wrong – for example, oak leaves." He grinned. "I nearly dislocated my shoulder when I tested the command under a tree."

"Ouch. Hmm. What if you gave them parameters like, ah, 'use human common sense'?"

"Tried that. Either there is no such thing as common sense, or it's too abstract."

"The former, I expect," Hermione said, trying not to laugh out loud. Madam Pince had already been cross with them once today.

Trudi and Ron were staring at the pair as if the world had suddenly shifted on its axis.

Harry had been thumbing through the books. "Here's some poetry," he said, doubtful if Draco would be interested.

"From this century?"

"Um… no. An Australian wizard. Ukulele Fiddlesticks. A ballad – The Shaman From Snowy River."

"Oh, I know that one," said Trudi unexpectedly. "It's about a young initiate who needs to prove himself – and does so by riding a horse down a cliff and through three dimensions."

"How did that prove he was a shaman?" Draco asked. "Don't they have to have visions or something?"

Trudi shrugged. "Maybe not in Australia. Or maybe the poem was allegorical for his psychedelic journey."

There was a brief silence as everyone – including Draco who had forgotten he was blind – stared at her.

Trudi went scarlet and muttered, "Well, when my father was posted to the Australian embassy we had to learn some of the local culture."

"Your father's a diplomat?" asked Hermione.

Trudi was staring down at the table. Draco answered. "Her father's ambassador to Australasia and Pacifica. Trudi… do you think there's any truth to the story? Do you think a horse could be ridden through another dimension?"

"I don't know. I think it was just a story. A Muggle animal shouldn't be able to, um, sense dimensions, let along go into them."

"Hmm. Find me a book with big words and pictures, will you?"

ooOOoo

It had been all Ron could do not to comment at the table. He held himself back until they were back in the common room.

"Honestly… I thought I would die," he said, flopping down on a couch. "I wanted to go and find a My First Wizard Reader for him… And then when Trudi gave him that book on nailing bits of metal to horses –"

"Shoes, Ron," Hermione said, grinning.

"Nailing metal shoes to their feet, then. And his face when he figured out what they were doing with the hammers… and he said…"

"Not to my bloody horse!" Harry and Hermione joined in.

"Shame Madam Pince chucked him out. He was just getting entertaining." Ron sighed.

"He took the book with him, did you notice?"

"Oh, don't worry 'Mione, he was probably just looking for new torture ideas. Nailing things onto people might be something he hasn't explored fully yet."

"I just thought it was odd, that's all," Hermione said, tapping her fingers on the windowsill. "Why that book?"

Harry shrugged. "It had large print."

"And pictures," laughed Ron. He sat up. "Hey… where did he get those gloves? Mendeleev gloves are Dark Magic."

"Dumbledore gave them to him," said Harry. "Luna said they Snape made them – I know, I know, how does she know? It turns out Luna isn't so loony after all. She knew how to get around some of the teachers to do research."

"Speaking of research," said Hermione, and was interrupted by groans from the other two. "As I was saying… I wonder if those gloves could help with research?"

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think they could find a Secret Weapon for Harry to do in old Voldie?"

"I'm certainly open to suggestions on that one," Harry said.

"I've been trying to find something to help with the Blockade… maybe open up a new way to communicate with the outside world. The owls are too erratic. When was the last time we had any get through, anyway? I think I've got a few leads, but they keep turning out false – still, I know there's something there, some shadow of an idea. I just don't know how to track down the information. Malfoy said the gloves weren't very good at anything too abstract, which seems reasonable if Snape made them to use in making light-sensitive potions, but maybe they could be used to find specific information. Do you think he'd let us trial them, Harry?"

It appeared Hermione had been researching a great deal more than horses.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because he doesn't seem to hate you so much now that you're working on a project together."

Ron snorted. "Is that what that horse is? Besides, you're the one who was all chummy with him in the library!"

"I was not 'chummy'. I was taking advantage of a moment when he was nearly civil in my presence to ask him some questions."

"Huh."

"Harry, back me up on this."

"Sorry, Ron – you're losing your girlfriend to Malfoy."

Hermione stood up, her face flushed. "If you two are going to behave like… like boys I'm going to go and find some decent conversation in a book. Or possibly with Luna. If all else fails, I'll go and talk to Malfoy."

She slammed the door on her way out.

"What did I say?" said Ron.

"I think it was 'what did we say?'" said Harry. "Pass me that Horse Mutterer book, will you?"

ooOOoo