Chapter XVI: Fly Me to the Moon

"Colin, there you are," Hermione exclaimed as she almost bumped into the boy rounding the corner.

"Ah," he squeaked, dropping his camera which shattered on the stone floor. The spool of film rolled out, unravelling itself to from a writhing black snake, hissing at her. She looked down on it disdainfully and with a wave of her wand it was entranced, compelled to her bidding. Setting it to entangle Colin's ankles so he couldn't run, she stared him in the eyes. His face was a blank canvas, but his eyes were piercing green. There was fear there, and an odd respect also, which brought a rush to her head.

"No more running, Colin," she tutted, twirling her wand lazily. "Time for the heir to reveal herself."

She reached up and slowly unfurled her blindfold which sat around her head like a turban. Her crown of snakes slithered out, rattling with anticipation that sent a shiver down her spine. At the sight of them Colin froze solid, toppled forward, and broke apart just as his camera had. The blood that sprayed from his corpse became a great wave, filling the corridor as it rushed her, bringing with it a foul stench and the distinct form of a swinging club. It struck her and the blood enveloped her face, flowing into her eyes and mouth and nose.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see.

She was going to drown, to die alone and blind and helpless.

She screamed as she woke.

Harry rolled over as a muffled shout disturbed his latest attempt to sleep. Why wouldn't she just let him sleep? First with the creaking and rustling as she settled, then the banging and muttering, and now this? He pushed himself up on one arm to see what she was doing, and found he was face to face with a manic bush of hair illuminated by a strip of moonlight through the window. Christ, I thought my hair was unruly… how does she get a brush through that?

"Harry?" she whispered.

"Yeah," he grumbled, stifling a yawn. When she didn't continue he prompted her with a "what's up?"

"Bad dream," she said bluntly.

Once she mentioned it, Harry noticed she was trembling slightly. The pair reclined in uneasy silence for a time.

"Why are you on the floor?" Hermione asked out of nowhere.

"Trying to sleep."

"You didn't go up to your bed?"

"Wasn't sure I'd be welcome," Harry said. He was going to add 'didn't want to leave you here', but a yawn stole his voice and Hermione beat him to speak next.

"Oh… But why are you on the floor?"

"Comfy," he murmured, thinking how typical it was that his mind was finally trying to switch off and go to sleep now he was trying to use it.

"How is the floor comfy?"

"Eh. Couple cushions, blanket, 's good. Beds are too squishy."

Harry had struggled the first few nights at Hogwarts. The bed in the inn had been a hard, lumpy thing and a marked improvement over his pile of discarded textiles under the cupboard. The Hogwarts beds felt like they were going to swallow him. Rolling over took effort, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do with the lower half of the bed because he always slept foetal. The floor was a little hard even for him but at least he was supported by it.

"There's other couches," Hermione suggested, as she readjusted her impromptu bedding on hers.

He didn't know what to say to that. He had obviously considered the option, and a couch was about the level of comfort he was looking for, but they were all on the other side of the common room. From all the way over there, it would feel like he was leaving Hermione on her own. The room had grown cold after everyone retired upstairs and the fires went out, and there was a rule about leaving friends to the cold.

"I'm good here," he finally answered.

"Well, suit yourself. Say, what time is it?"

"Don't know. You got a watch?"

"There's a clock on the wall."

"It's dark," he reminded her.

"You're a wizard," she reminded him right back.

"Oh. Yeah."

Harry slipped his wand out from under his pillow-cushion and flicked it upwards, willing a gentle light into being as he had in Ollivander's. He didn't bother with the incantation; it would have been blinding to his dreary eyes. The room lit up in a soft green, and he easily found the grandfather clock.

"Two in t' morning."

"Hmmm… We should set an alarm, so we can be gone before anyone gets up."

Hermione was starting to sound far more awake than she had any right to be at that ungodly hour. Harry was just alert enough to recognise that she was making a lot of sense.

"Good plan. Can you…?"

"Yes, there's a spell for that. Moneo tempor," she chanted, to no apparent effect. "That will wake us in three hours and forty five minutes."

"Useful," Harry noted.

"Most witches just use a watch, but… well…"

Harry was getting good at recognising her exact fading tone that meant 'but I can't see', and learning that she appreciating someone moving the conversation on.

"Teach me it tomorrow maybe?" he requested. Nothing like the idea of learning to get Hermione Granger distracted.

"Sure thing Harry. Oh… By the way… Did you cast a silent lumos just now?"

"Uh… yeah?" he grunted, not seeing what the issue was.

"Harry, non-verbal casting is fourth year material! That's amazing! I can barely do that on a good day," she told him enthusiastically.

She can 'barely do' fourth year material. Of course she can, Harry mused dryly. Then it dawned on him that he had done fourth year material.

"Wow," he breathed. He'd done something four years beyond his level the first time he held his wand!

"Yes, wow. Natural feats of magic like that are the mark of a powerful wizard in the making, according to… well according to just about everyone really."

"Huh." Harry had ever thought of himself as a powerful wizard. He was still coming to terms with being any kind of wizard - with being any kind of special that wasn't simply 'freakish'. What would he even do with power? Teach the Dursleys a thing or two, that's for sure.

"Articulate as ever, Harry," Hermione jibed playfully. "You sound like you haven't slept a wink… You haven't slept at all have you?"

"No."

"Were you… Were you staying up to watch over m- us?"

"Nah, just can't sleep," he yawned, feeling like that might not be true much longer.

"Oh."

She sounded sad.. No, not sad; disappointed.

"Should I 've been?" he asked, suddenly worrying he'd messed up somehow.

"No… It's just… It's nothing. You should try to get some sleep; I won't keep you up when you're clearly exhausted."

"Mm," he hummed in reply. His eyelids were getting very heavy, and his arm was having trouble holding him up. He didn't want to stop talking, but maybe he could just lie back down, take the weight off…

"Goodnight Harry."

"G'night."

"Harry…"

"Mm?"

"Thank you for staying with me. It means a lot."

Harry was too close to sleep to respond. By the morning he'd forgotten her final words completely.

Harry and Hermione slipped out of the tower just after six, well before anyone in their house would be up. It was just as well no one was there to see them as each had a cushion stuffed under their robes when they left; Hermione's night on a couch had reminded her just how spartan their accommodations still were and she had been determined to do something about that, especially when it was at the expense of their house.

It was, Harry would later reflect, not at all surprising that in roaming the corridors at the crack of dawn they encountered the lovely Ms Lovegood sporting a distant grin and just one shoe, on which she was hopping.

"Hey Luna, are you alright?" he called from down the corridor, worried she was injured in some way.

"Oh, hello Harry, hello Hermione. Isn't it a wonderful morning for a stroll?"

She hopped over as she spoke, closing the distance remarkably quickly and with exceptional balance.

"Uh, yeah… Why are you hopping?" Harry blurted out, not wakeful enough to dance around her oddities.

"Oh, I would have thought that obvious Harry; I only have the one shoe, and the stones are ever so chilly."

"Why do you only have one shoe?" Hermione puzzled aloud.

"I've unfortunately lost the other," Luna responded, not sounding at all upset over her predicament.

"Nargles?" Harry asked knowingly. When things went missing it tended to be nargles. If one were to draw an accurate picture of a nargle, he thought, it would be four to five feet tall and wearing blue-trimmed robes.

"Oh no, not at all. I simply put it down to speak with a portrait and can't remember where I left it."

"Uh… Wouldn't it just be in front of the portrait."

Don't even mention why she would need to put down her shoe.

"That's brilliant Harry. Now, which portrait was it…?" she mused, tapping her chin in puzzlement and studying the ceiling intimately.

"Oh dear," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"What brings you to this part of the castle?" Harry enquired. She was a fair way off of any path he could envisage from the Ravenclaw dorms to… well, to anywhere really. Even Harry and Hermione shouldn't have been in that corridor; they had diverted around to it when they heard Filch coming their way.

"I believe I'm here to speak to you, Harry. About your birthday party, most likely," Luna intoned with her eyes fixed on Hermione for some reason.

"Uh, I don't think I'll be having a party, Luna."

"That's a shame, Harry; the Weasley twins are putting a lot of effort into surprising you. They'll be devastated to hear it's all for nothing," she said, her head drooping sorrowfully as a pensive frown marred her lips.

"The twins are throwing me a party?" he queried, incredulous. He knew they were somewhat supportive of him and Hermione, but to go out of their way like that… No-one had ever done that for him. He had never had a birthday party that wasn't a thinly veiled insult or excuse for Dudley to eat more cake than usual, while he got none of course. The idea of a normal birthday party - nothing special, just a few friends around a table, a small present from each - brought a tear to his eye. It was a dream so utterly alien that he hadn't considered it would happen now he was at Hogwarts, even when he was discussing birthdays with Hermione. He almost tuned out of the rest of what Luna was saying.

"-think that's what they said. Either that or they were planning to feed Mrs Sprout to a venomous tentacula, which would be awfully uncouth even for them. I mean, really, tentaculas don't even eat human flesh; it would disagree with their digestive systems terribly!" she disapproved very vocally.

OK, probably would have been safe to tune out of that anyway. How does that even - no, no, don't go there.

"Probably the party then," he sagely concluded, nodding to give the impression he knew what was going on.

"We can hope," Luna agreed.

"Luna…" Hermione ventured, "aren't you meant to keep surprise parties secret. So they'll be a surprise?"

"Oops," Luna giggled, but her whole demeanour rapidly dropped after that. Her shoulders sagged and she brought her bare foot down to touch the floor. "I messed up being a good friend, didn't I?"

Harry was completely taken aback by the sudden change in her. He had never seen his friend so… he wasn't sure what the right word was for it. Sullen? Defeated? Whatever it was, it was wrong. On some fundamental level the sight of Luna without her glowing aura of indecipherable positivity was wrong.

"No…" he breathed.

"So silly of me," she muttered, walking away with her head bowed. "Silly, silly Luna. What would mummy think? So silly."

Harry didn't go after her. If he'd known how to help, he would have, he told himself. If he wasn't uncomfortably reminded of how messed up his own head was feeling that morning, he would have. If Hermione had said they should, he would have.

It wasn't until it was too late to run after and track her down that Harry got his thoughts together and realised would ought to have been should. I don't think it's you who messed up being a friend, he thought bitterly. Then he thought, well Hermione didn't go after her either, and was immediately disgusted with himself; of the two of them, he was better friends with Luna than she was. Or at least he was supposed to be.

Thinking these miserable thoughts, he cast several glances at Hermione as she walked beside him, trying to gauge how she felt. There was as set to her jaw he didn't think she normally held, and her breaths seemed somehow forlorn in their drawn out length, but he really wished he could see her eyes at that moment. He'd heard the phrase 'the windows are the eyes to soul', but it was only then that he understood how true it was; without that window, his friend's emotions were a mystery to him. And he definitely wasn't up to asking.

The next time Harry saw was Luna was in charms class, the last lesson of that day. He made sure to sit next to her, not in his usual seat, and ask her how she was doing - casually, but earnestly. She had simply given him a quizzical look and replied that she was perfectly well and looking forward to Jupiter's zenith. He missed the gentle but frantic tapping of her fingers on her thigh as she smiled.

Luna proved to be correct in her prediction: Pomona Sprout was not consumed by a venomous tentacula, and the day before Harry's birthday the twins appeared out of nowhere during Harry's free period and tried to frog march him out into the grounds. Thankfully, they took the hint when he shrugged them off and allowed him to walk under his power and in his own space. They didn't even crack a joke about it, which honestly just put Harry more on edge. He was relieved when he saw a group of students standing around a pop up table and waving to him.

Luna, Ginny, Neville, Hermione, and Lee Jordan were present. Not the greatest turnout, but Harry was immensely thankful all the same. Those seven showing up meant more to him than… than he didn't know what.

Excitement urged him into a run. Over the treacherously slippery ground he left the twins behind, which drew surprised shouts from them and jeers in jest from Lee. The twins were by no means slow, but Harry's lithe frame and years of Harry-hunting experience had their advantages.

Pulling up in a skid just short of Hermione, and drawing a few short breaths of crisp autumnal air, Harry finally took his eyes off the terrain. When he looked up he found the table was laden with such a variety of food Harry was impressed whoever had prepared it had managed not to include a single fruit or vegetable. More catching to his eye was the pile of brooms stacked up beside it, along with a quaffle and practice beater gear.

The twins nearly crashed into his back, which given the amount of space available must have been on purpose.

"Merlin, Harrikins, you're a quick one!" a twin gasped.

"I'll say, Fred! It's like chasing deer through the forbidden forest," the other replied.

Neville's happy grin faltered into shock. "Have you done that? Truly?" he asked fearfully.

"Course we have!" Fred asserted.

"We swear it."

"Marauder's honour!"

"Isn't the forest dangerous though?" Neville stammered.

"Only if something catches you," George said, grabbing Neville suddenly to illustrate the point, which elicited a mousy squeak from the boy.

"That's why you've gotta run,"

"So you don't get caught."

"Well," Hermione said, clearing her throat pointedly, "I certainly hope you aren't expecting us to go jaunting about the forest for this party."

"Aww, killjoy!" George accused.

"Don't worry, Hermione. We aren't quite that reckless," Lee assured her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, what he said," Fred agreed, grabbing a biscuit from the table.

"We don't take ickle kiddies off into the forest," George expounded, taking a biscuit for himself and knocking it against Fred's like they were mugs of ale. Neither seemed concerned by the shower of crumbs that created.

"Second years and up only."

"How very reassuring," Hermione said sardonically.

"Oh!" Fred cried, "but where are our manners? Happy birthingmas Harry!"

The group chorused the sentiment. Harry stood stock still and silent, completely at a loss for what to say. His only reference was Dudley, who would always ignore his guests in favour of tearing into presents and food. Harry may not have known what he should do, but he felt that wasn't it.

"Speech!" Lee shouted.

"Speech!" the twins echoed, clapping their hands to make a beat.

"Speech, speech, speech," they all chanted - even Hermione joined in, half-heartedly.

"Ugh," Harry moaned, "I don't know how to do a speech."

"That's easy Harry," Luna told him. "You open your mouth and words come out. I'm told it's best if the words make sense, but it's your speech so don't let that stop you."

"Uh, thanks? Ok… So, thanks for all coming, I guess. Actually, how are you all here? I'm amazed we all have a free period together."

"We don't," Fred beamed.

"You don't?"

"Oh, I do, but we don't," he specified with a worrying grin.

"Same here," Lee said.

"And me," George said.

That wasn't too surprising, given they shared most of their lessons. Ginny and Neville obviously shared Harry's timetable so they didn't even have to say it. Which left Luna or Hermione. Harry wouldn't have chalked either of them up for skiving, but he supposed Luna wouldn't have argued hard enough if the twins signed her up.

"I'd happily miss a lesson to be here, Harry," Luna asserted, "but I am glad I didn't have to."

So Luna hadn't skived off either. Which means…

"Hermione?" he asked incredulously. "Are you skipping classes?"

She shifted nervously, grinding a foot into the ground. "It's only history of magic," she muttered.

"Wow. I didn't think you were the type. And don't you love history?"

"I'm perfectly capable of defying a stereotype, thank you very much," she declared. "Besides, as much as I love history, professor Binns' class is a total joke. I mean, really, do we need to spend a whole semester on Goblin rebellions of the seventeenth century? I read that section of the textbook in an afternoon, and it's not like it even has any standing on the current political climate what with the next rebellion leading to the dissolution of both political parties involved."

"Ok… Why don't we focus on what's important here?" Fred suggested. "We totally got Hermione Granger to ditch class!"

"Imagine McGonagall's face if we told her!" George said, eyes glazing over at the thought.

"You wouldn't dare!" Hermione seethed. She stamped her foot, but the squelch didn't add much to her unspoken threat.

"Oh, we certainly would dare," Fred enthused, leaning in close to her, "but don't worry your little sockies off. We don't snitch on fellow makers of mischief."

"It just isn't done." George agreed heartily.

"Good. Because if you did I'd… I'd have to turn you both into toads."

"Hey, don't threaten us with a good time; we might just change our minds!"

"Too true brother. Say, can you really do human to toad transfiguration already?"

"No," Hermione pouted, like she was disappointed in herself, "but that won't stop me trying it."

Even though she was clearly joking, there was an ice to her tone that put Harry on edge. The twins must have picked up on it too as they subtly backed off, and not so subtly changed the subject.

"So, Harrikins, up for a game?" one of them (Harry had lost track of which was which by then, not that he was sure he had it right in the first place) asked, waving over at the broom pile.

"Sure!"

He grabbed a broom and was already mounted when he remembered: Two of their number actively disliked flying to the point they probably couldn't play, and he had no clue if Luna was any good on a broom.

"Uh, that is if everyone's alright with it," he murmured apologetically. He really wanted to fly - he always wanted to fly - but leaving his friends out didn't sit right with him.

"It's your party Harry," Hermione answered, "you do what you want to." Her words were encouraging but her tone was disappointed.

"I can probably manage keeper if we put the posts low enough," Neville suggested.

"Hey, why don't we forget the match and do some tandem flights?" Ginny piped up, which Harry noticed was the first time she had spoken.

"That sounds wonderful Ginny," Luna said.

"Sure," the other boys all agreed. Harry suspected the twins and Lee would say anything to get on a broom, and Neville the same, only to get out of flying competitively.

"Hermione?" Harry ventured when she said nothing for a few moments.

"I would rather not. It's just that I'm not so good with heights. Or speed. But you should go on up without me, I won't spoil your fun."

"You're sure?" Harry checked, torn between the skies and his friend's company.

"Positive. I brought some light reading material, so I shan't get bored." She patted her bag, which sure enough gave a dull thud of several books.

"Ok then. We'll just take a quick flight, yeah?"

He looked around at the group, who nodded with varying degrees of approval. They mounted up in a line - this time Ginny made sure to hand Neville the best of the borrowed brooms, as he needed every advantage he could get - leaving Luna and Hermione without brooms. The twins were sharing a broom for some reason, with the rear twin facing backwards.

"Luna, do you fly or are you going tandem?" Harry asked. It occurred to him as he spoke that if she said she flew, they could have played three-a-side after all.

"Ooh, I'd love to ride with you. If you don't mind," she replied, fixing him with her big doe eyes. He hadn't been offering his broom, but before he could work up to turning her down she had scooted onto the back.

"Oh, uh, right," he mumbled. "I guess you should… hold on, then."

He had been thinking, and dreading, that she would place a hand on either side of his hips, which was why it hadn't been his broom he offered. When she wrapped her arms soundly around his body and pulled in close he nearly fell off.

This is far too much contact. Don't like this, don't like this at all.

It's only Luna, he argued with himself. If she doesn't hold on she'll fall off.

Still don't like it. Far too tight, too restrictive. She should stop.

Do you want to tell her to get off?

The image of those doe eyes filling with tears came to mind. The memory of Luna plodding dejectedly down a corridor because she thought she'd been a bad friend played on repeat.

It's only Luna, his inner demons agreed. They didn't lower his heart rate though.

"Everyone else has taken off, Harry," Luna whispered in his ear. "Is something wrong? Oh no, we aren't too heavy are we? I did eat a lot of pudding at lunch."

"No, it's fine," Harry said as he lifted off. The broom was sluggish - not because it held two passengers as combined they weighed less than many adults, but because its pilot was unable to lean into it properly with hands about his stomach. What was really affecting the performance was his level of distraction; his usual glee was being muted and he was struggling to pour enough of his will into the broom.

"Oooh, weeee," Luna said calmly.

The twins swung past in a wide arc, with the rearmost miming a hugging motion and winking outrageously at Harry. He broke off the gesture to duck under a quaffle thrown at his head by Lee, prompting the two brooms and their riders to engage in a game of cat and mouse where neither appeared to know which was which. Harry chose not to join in, if only because those sorts of aerial manoeuvres would force Luna to hang on even tighter.

"Can we go higher, Harry? I'd like to scan the forest canopy for humdingers."

"Uh, sure. Is that where they live then?" Harry asked as he angled the broom up into a gentle climb.

"No, they typically live underground, but you never know where one might show up," Luna told him.

Harry took them over the edge of the forest, unsure if the 'forbidden' element extended to the airspace above it. He didn't look out for humdingers, taking in the sights instead. Every time he'd come this high he'd been distracted from sightseeing by searching for a snitch; now he was looking for a distraction from Luna's presence and the view was all he had.

The castle was magnificent as ever against the backdrop of the Scottish highlands, but it was actually less impressive from above than below and he quickly tired of it. That Gryffindor tower was the most prominent feature from this angle didn't help. He looked instead at the grounds as a whole; at the sheer scale of the place. Hogwarts took up the better part of an entire valley, and most of that was either empty space or the black lake, because nothing short of a city could have filled the expanse.

Harry wondered how they kept the school hidden from muggles; he had seen magic do some wondrous things, but hiding an area on a geographical scale still ought to have been impossible. What would a plane see if it overflew the valley? Hogwarts: A History claimed the school appeared as ruins to non-magical eyes, but plenty of people went out of their way to explore ruins, so there was surely something else to it. He'd have to ask Hermione if she knew.

Thinking of Hermione, Harry sought her out, looking for her speck on the gentle hillside. He thought he found her, and the table besides, but there were two specks there. He was sure he'd left her alone. But it was definitely her, her and someone else.

He'd left her alone, and now she wasn't.

The terrible thoughts to follow didn't have time to fully form in his mind because, at that moment, vibrant spells started flashing between the pair.

A/N

Cliffhangers are fun, aren't they?

Thanks for the ideas Sherlock and steve.