Chapter 6: You're Not What I Expected
Luna had the latest copy of the Quibbler up to her face, but for once, she wasn't reading the latest report on the search for the Crumple Horned Snorckack. She was listening intently to what was occurring just around the glossy pages of her father's paper, as Hermione Granger tried to gently assure Harry Potter that nothing was pulling the carriages.
Luna hummed a little to herself. So, Hermione had never personally known anyone who had died. A lucky one, she supposed. She wondered if Ronald Weasley had ever known someone who had passed - an elderly relative, perhaps? Maybe not - Ginevra occassionally mentioned a great aunt who by her account was apparently still living.
"You're not going mad." The words, airy and dreamy, were out of Luna's mouth before she could stop them. Not that she wanted to. Whenever she had said something to say, she said it. Her philosophy had always been if the spirit moved one to do something, just do it. Especially if it felt good.
She lowered the Quibbler - a magazine edition - from her face and peered owlishly at where Harry and all his friends stared. "I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am."
From the way she wrinkled her button nose, it was obvious Hermione believed in this about as little as she believed in the Crumpled Horned Snorcack. Harry and his trio clambered aboard the seemingly horseless carriage, quickly followed by Luna's best mates racing to catch the ride to the castle. Luna embraced Ginny warmly. Her silver eyes sparkled when she saw the Venomous Tentacula plant Neville was holding; he maintained a healthy distance away from the others, in the corner of the carriage.
But Luna truly brightened when she spotted Ronald Weasley lowering himself gingerly into the space immediately to her left.
For a brief moment, an awkward silence reigned between the six. Hermione finally broke it.
"Everyone, this is Lo..." For some reason, the word caught in her throat, and Luna tilted her head, blinking probingly. Hermione ducked her head into her lap. "Luna Lovegood." Luna's name came tumbling out of her in a breathless mumble. Lifting her chocolate eyes to somewhere around Luna's clavicle, she got out, "What an interesting necklace!..."
Luna fingered it absently. "It's a charm, actually..." Glancing around at them all, she explained, quite seriously. "It keeps away the Nargles."
Her silvery orbs shifted, catching Ron staring at her, and for a moment, their eyes met. Luna's lips pursed in a shy line that wasn't quite a grin. The Wrackspurts attempted to invade her mind, enticing her to simply rip the charm off from around her neck, and... and...
But she wouldn't dare. She wasn't even that spontaneous - and with all his friends and his sister seated right in front of them!
The carriage wheels creaked and the cart began to make its rumbling way up to the castle.
"Stupefy!"
Her blonde hair flicking over her shoulder like a cascading waterfall, Luna turned through a kind of pirouette, in the midst of her own duel, just in time to see Ronald Weasley knocked flat on his arse by a Stunning Spell, bested by his partner yet again. The satisfied curl to Hermione's lip quirked into something deeply amused, and for a second, Luna felt something she very rarely felt: an irrational hatred for the other woman, and her air of superiority.
Glancing down, Luna bit her lip in sympathy as Ronald slowly staggered to his feet; her cringe deepened for him when peals of giggles erupted from many of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls, who now gathered around Hermione and chittered. Hermione laughed with them, sending a fond look Ron's direction. If Luna didn't know any better, there might have even been a twinge of apology in the other witch's expression.
Across from his best mate, Ron was swaying woozily, blinking rapidly and Luna resisted the urge to run to him, even as she knew the Fwoopers could make dark spots dance behind one's vision.
Harry now strode into the midst of the waning duel, shaking his head and tssking. Luna had to admire him for how he was still trying to find his footing as a teacher, after leading the DA for some weeks. She watched as Harry stepped into Ron and murmured something low in his ear.
"All right, all right..." Harry called for quiet, and a hush fell over Hermione and the twittering girls. "This... this isn't working." He turned his head on a swivel to stare around at them all. At the beginning of their dueling lessons, Harry had held something of a mass sparring exhibition, to best establish a baseline for everyone's fighting skills. Then he had attempted to pair everyone else based on ability. The lowest skilled duelists would square off with the highest and so on and so forth, in the hopes of challenging the weakest to hone their craft.
Honing their craft was one result, Luna conceded. Or they could just do what Ron did and get knocked on their buttocks each and every time.
She surfaced out of her thoughts to find Harry was staring in her direction. He sharply snapped his finger and pointed, face scrunching in recall. Luna started to point at herself and mouth, 'Me?', puzzled. Harry knew who she was!
"No, not you, Lu! There!..." Harry snapped his finger again as the name came to him. "Boot! Terry Boot! If you wouldn't mind pairing off with Hermione?"
Terry Boot, who had been assigned as Luna's sparring partner based on ability, looked a little too delighted by this shuffling, and Luna smirked with amused sympathy at how Ron clearly noticed: he was sporting a clear frown of disapproval.
Harry nudged Ron. "Ron, you duel with Luna..."
Luna glanced up sharply, blinking rapidly as Ron sheepishly approached her.
She had to wonder who was the strongest duelist between the pair of them, as she and Ron bowed low to each other, as was customary. As she counted paces, Luna figured perhaps it didn't matter who was better than the other, if Harry was beginning to see a need to slide away from an emphasis on ability when it came to dueling.
Turning to face her partner, Luna resolved to do her best against Ron, regardless of how she felt about him. He may have promised Hermione he would go easy onher(at least before he got his arse kicked), but that didn't mean she should slacken off and do the same for him.
"Stupefy!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Back and forth the pair jousted, their wands slashing the air. It didn't take long for Luna to discern that Harry was wise to have shuffled the pairings; she and Ronald were a pretty even match. Her golden hair flying behind her like a banner, Luna threw her body into the duel, energy building as she started to just have fun. Ron's smile had tightened with exertion, his deep blue eyes flickering with a pleasant surprise as he impressively noted Luna's skill.
It was unconscious on their parts, but before long, the gap between duelists had shortened, until Luna could begin to count some of the freckles on Ron's nose and cheeks. The blasts of spellwork roared in her ears, followed by Ron's melliflously bass shout of:
"Expelliarmus!"
Luna gasped as her wand flew out of her hand and tumbled away in a high arc. Ron caught it expertly, even as he appeared quite stunned with himself.
It was only then that they both realized the hush that had fallen over their comrades, as pretty much everyone other sparring match - including Hermione and Terry - had paused to take in the zealous, if not exactly fierce duel between the redheaded Weasley and the Ravenclaw odd duck.
Ron's blue eyes flickered with something like contrition, and he strangely resembled Neville in that moment. "I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't-"
"Don't apologize," Luna shook her head, her voice soft and mumbling.
"I should think not!" Harry chortled, moving in between the pair and clapping Ron encouragingly on the back. "Good show, mate! Well done!"
Luna nodded. "Yes. Well done, Ronald." She held out her hand to shake, sportsmanlike. Ronald chuckled awkwardly and clasped her palm. Electricity shot up Luna's fingers, and she sucked in a breath.
"You too, Luna."
Luna grinned shyly up at him, only to falter and curl into herself meekly when Hermione dashed past and threw her arms around Ron's neck to congratulate him.
Luna's gaze snapped to Ron's in anxious fear as Draco Malfoy returned to Umbridge's office. The Inquisitorial Squad Head Boy looked thoroughly sour and annoyed, as he clutched in his fist the bag of sweets Ronald had requested.
Pinned to Pansy Parkinson's side, Luna could only watch as Malfoy started to hold out the bag of candy, only to smirk devilishly and withhold it.
"Fuck you, Weasley. Prisoners shouldn't get privileges." And he tossed the bag in the other direction, where his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle caught in. "Dig in, ladies and gents!"
Daphne Greengrass actually shuffled her prisoner, Neville, all the way across the room so she too could partake in the feast. Luna glanced to Ronald once more, only to see him smirking knowingly and her jaw nearly dropped with astonishment as she realized:
He had been banking on this very thing! She had first thought he was wonderfully, terribly mad to have asked for sweets, seeing as they weren't really in a position to ask for anything. Now, it dawned on Luna that Ron hadn't been expecting to be fed at all. Rather, he had counted on the Slytherins to follow their basest instincts and catch what catch could for themselves.
Over in the other corner, Malfoy's whining voice bawled in annoyance, "Slow down, Goyle, for Merlin's sake!... The sweets won't up and wander off!" A retching sound could be heard. "Goyle?..."
Pansy, still holding Neville against her, shifted to the side, clearing a view of Goyle now doubled over in pain. Luna watched as Ron's smile turned wolfish. She had to figure he couldn't have anticipated that one of his brothers' Puking Pastiles would be amidst the bounty... or did he? In any case, Goyle's acute case of indigestion was the window of opportunity they needed, and Ron seized it.
Sensing Adrian Pucey's wand shift away from his throat, Ron boldly lunged for it and wrested it away.
"Expelliarmus!" He Disarmed Daphne Greengrass before she had a chance to cry out and Luna leapt high to catch her captor's wand as it arched. Time seemed to slow down, such that her feet hadn't returned to Earth before she was shouting "Stupefy!" and sending Vincent Crabbe end over end over an armchair.
As the gorging Slytherins scattered with cries of shock, Neville twisted away from Pansy in the chaos and grappled a wand into his own hand, joining the duel - really, more of a magical brawl. Ginny certainly wasn't making a distinction between the two, as she now full on tackled Goyle, and the adversaries struggled for control of the wand that Goyle had no business wielding anyway. Pirouetting almost gracefully, Luna Rictusempraed Adrian Pucey, watching her secret sweetheart's captor crumple into a corner with a particularly satisfied relish. Her long blonde hair tumbling about her shoulder, the lustrous strands were full enough that they momentarily blocked her peripheral vision.
"Luna! Watch out!"
Luna turned, in time for her lips to come with a hair's-breath of brushing Ronald's cheek as he lunged into her personal space and nearly past her. A blast from his wand echoed nearly directly in her ear, followed by a shout. Luna completed turning her head over her shoulder: Ron had brought down Malfoy seconds before he had a chance to attack her from behind.
Silence reigned in the office. Luna noted how she and Ron were shoulder to shoulder, nearly back to back, as their gazes swept the room for any remaining threats. Her breath was coming out of her in pants, gulps.
"Well...that was dramatic!" Ginny huffed, puffing a strand of her ginger locks out of her face.
Luna nodded, turning her head slowly to take in where Ron was staring down at her with concern.
"Are you all right?"
"I... I think so," she nodded.
"Nice one with Crabbe."
"You too. With Adrian," she swallowed.
He shrugged. "I had a good sparring partner."
She smiled at him. Ron smiled back, the pair taking a moment to gaze into each other's eyes.
Neville broke the tableau, glancing oddly between Ron and his best girl. "Mates: escape! Let's go!"
The spell was broken, Luna ducking her head shyly, but not before she caught sight of how Ginny had been glancing between her and her brother with barely concealed amusement.