Luna's year

Astronomy class was looming ever closer, and Harry found himself seriously considering taking a pass. He hadn't been looking forward to it; Ron had been on his case all through lunch about making amends with Hermione, and had been so persistent that Harry had ended up muttering a feeble excuse in order to leave early, abandoning his nearly full plate at the table. The thought of sitting with both of them through a whole hour-long class was giving him a bad case of anxiety. But then, he only had himself to blame, really.

And to make matters worse, he hadn't seen any sign of Luna all day, which he supposed was a mixed blessing. Though he'd come to thoroughly enjoy her company, this was tempered at the moment by the knowledge that he'd blatantly broken his promise to her about the fairies, just hours after making that pledge. His stomach churned at the thought of telling her he'd betrayed her trust...how would she react? Would she think ill of him? And yet to pretend he hadn't was unthinkable. She deserved to know; after all, she'd brought him there for the express purpose of making him feel better. And for a few sublime hours, he had.

And now, thanks to his blunder, he'd lost not only his previous cheerfulness but possibly one of his best friends, to boot. He had the distinct impression a promise was serious stuff to Luna, recalling quite vividly her strange, silent vow to herself when he'd made her pledge to keep their little escapade into the Slytherin Common Room secret. How on Earth would she think of him after this?

He was making his way up the staircase to the second floor, hardly noticing the other students as he trod heavily along, every step accentuating his crestfallen spirits. He was heading for the library to wait out the rest of the lunch hour, and just as he put his foot on the bottommost step of the second flight of stairs, he realized with a lurch that Hermione likely be there, given that she hadn't been at the Gryffindor Table. He halted in mid-step, a pair of Slytherins following close behind having to walk around him in annoyance, evidently under the impression he'd deliberately made himself an obstacle in their path.

He sighed, concluding that the library was probably not the best place to be at the moment. He was considering going to the Gryffindor tower for awhile, as the chilly January air was making the warmth of any fireplace very enticing, when someone called out his name from above.

"Harry! Harry!"

He glanced up to see Colin Creevy quickly making his way down towards him. His shoulders sagged. He really wasn't in the mood to be giving Colin scoops to use in his school news gazette.

"Um...hi, Colin," said Harry blankly.

Colin had never really outgrown his penchant for hyperactivity, though, he at least rarely carried his Muggle camera around with him anymore, relying mostly on word of mouth to create articles in his paper.

"When's the next D.A. meeting?? Everyone's asking, now that holidays are over and all, and - "

"Shhhh!!!" hushed Harry. Even though Umbridge was no longer around to enforce her gulag-like philosophy, he'd insisted on maintaining the secrecy of the DA, as he held little trust of the Slytherins. He had to admit, however, that the DA lessons had completely slipped his mind. "Colin, keep it down!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" Colin beamed. "Hush-hush and all that, right?"

"Yeah, look," said Harry tiredly, "I'll get together with Ron and Herm...Hermione tonight and we'll work out the scheduling, all right? We'll send it through the galleons before the end of the week, I promise." His stomach lurched at the thought of having to go to Hermione, given their spat the previous day, but he had no choice. Only she could work the ingenious charm that the fake galleons used.

Colin's hand reflexively reached into his pocket, evidently trying to detect wether his galleon was warm or not.

"We haven't done it yet, Colin," said Harry. "Before the end of the week though, all right?"

"Righto!" said Colin brightly, "Till then!"

Harry watched the young Gryffindor scamper off down the staircase out of sight and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't in much of a mood for socializing at the moment, least of all with Colin Creevy.

He was about to march up the second flight of stairs before realizing that he wasn't going to the library after all, having just decided against that particular course. Just then a familiar sight above caught his attention.

Luna was strolling down towards him, her small pinecone earrings dangling with every step. He might have laughed at the sight, given better circumstances...

As it was, Harry felt his stomach tighten. He hadn't expected to see her that very moment!

"Um...hi Luna," he said as she came to stand before him on the landing, staring up at Harry with those large silver eyes, her expression unusually earnest. He briefly wondered if...no, she couldn't know, could she? he thought.

She kept silent, continuing to stare up at him expectantly. He felt his stomach give a sharp twinge. "Er...I'm going to the Gryffindor tower to warm up a bit. Would you like to - "

Luna's gaze drifted down to his tie, Harry seeing a look of disappointment cross her face. He thought he saw her shoulders sag ever so slightly, as though she seemed almost resigned to something. He felt his insides give another sickening twist. He knew he couldn't put it off, he had to tell her.

"Luna, I've...there's something I have to tell you - " he began hesitatingly.

She looked back up at him, her large, pale eyes looking slightly hopeful.

"I just...I slipped up, last night," he said heavily. "I don't know why. I just shot my mouth off, I was arguing with Hermione and - "

"I know," said Luna softly. "I just had a talk with Hermione, about the fairies."

Harry blinked. He felt his head spinning, the sickening realization that Luna already knew hitting him...and she'd had to hear it from someone else...

"I didn't mean - " he said, his voice sounding strangely disembodied to his ears. He felt the colour drain from his face, as though hit by a reverse disillusionment charm. Luna took a step closer to him.

"Harry - " she said.

This was it. He was about to lose someone who'd been such a godsend to him. His dizziness worsened, a dull ringing rising in his ears to the point where he thought he might lose his balance, his vision blurring around the edges -

Suddenly, he felt a mass of sandy-coloured hair brush up against the side of his face. Luna was standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek - Harry felt a strange surge of energy push aside his dizziness, feeling slightly tingly; it was a magical, almost otherworldly sensation...

Luna drew back, looking up at him with misty silver eyes. "That was really sweet of you, you know..."

Harry felt lost, his dread having been replaced with intensely chaotic confusion. "But - " he stammered, "I don't...I...I broke..."

"Your promise, yes," Luna finished for him, Harry glimpsing a hint of a smile playing across her face. "Hermione told me. How you defended Daddy. But you really shouldn't have, you know."

Harry gaped at her. "B-but...didn't...aren't you mad??"

Luna tilted her head slightly to one side. "Harry," she began, "I wanted to see if you would tell me, and I'm so very glad you did. You really shouldn't fret, you know. Last night your heart and your brain got into a fight, and your heart just happened to win, that's all. Actually, it always does with you, doesn't it?"

A sense of overwhelming relief overcame Harry as he grabbed hold of the corner banister to keep his legs from giving out from under him.

"Harry, it's all right," said Luna as she quickly took hold of his arm before he could fall. "No one knows where the fairies are, you know. That's what really matters. Besides, the way most people react, we could post it in Colin's newsletter and everyone will think it's a big joke, really."

He looked at her. "But aren't you upset?" asked Harry sombrely, "Even a little? How can you just..."

She tilted her head, smiling slightly. "Because I believe in you, Harry," she said. "You didn't do it out of malice, it was an accident. You are rather prone to them, after all, if I do say so. But then life would be so boring without them, wouldn't it? I had a rather bad one once when I was six, I fell off - "

His vision clouded again, though this time with tears...the terrible weight he'd been bearing the last two days lifted from his conscience at last, filling him with an exuberant giddiness.

He abruptly reached out and wrapped his arms around Luna, drawing her close in a monumental hug, burying his face in her long, dirty blonde hair, Luna stiffening briefly as he'd obviously surprised her. At first her arms remained at her sides, moving up after a few moment's hesitation to gently press themselves against his back. Harry's euphoria was immune to the strange looks he was getting from some passers-by, who he couldn't recognize anyway through his tear-stained glasses. He was so ecstatic at the moment that nothing could dissuade him from expressing his glee.

Finally he let her go, and as Luna drew back she looked at him strangely, as though at a loss, though it only lasted a brief moment before her dreamy countenance returned and she smiled serenely up at him.

"Well," she said serenely, "I'll see you later, Harry. I have to bring some notes to Ginny before History class..."

She drew away and turned to go down the staircase when she paused for a moment, turning back to him.

"Hermione's in the library, Harry," she said thoughtfully. "She's in a rather bad way..."

"I'll talk to her," promised Harry, suddenly wondering why he'd gotten so upset at Hermione the day before. It all seemed so ridiculously contrived now...

Luna smiled brightly at him, before turning back and disappearing down the stairs.

As he watched her go, he suddenly realized how powerful his reaction had been. He'd never reached out and hugged someone to within an inch of suffocation like that before.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?"

Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "Oh...Harry?"

She seemed to take a few seconds to wake from her reverie before nodding to the chair Harry was standing behind. "Yes, of course..."

Harry smiled at her as he took his seat, a pang of guilt shooting through him as he caught sight of her tear reddened eyes, knowing full well that he'd been responsible for their current state. He honestly wondered why he'd reacted so harshly the night before; in retrospect, it now seemed a very minor incident, yet there was no denying the anguish he'd caused her.

"Um, how are...I noticed you didn't come down for lunch," he said uncertainly.

"Well, I didn't think you would've appreciated that, Harry" said Hermione carefully, swallowing hard.

Harry sighed, his shoulders sagging. As much as he hated to think so, she was quite right. He'd been very cold and rude to her all morning, so why would she have wanted to subject herself to more aggravation?

"Hermione, I'm sorry for what happened," he said sincerely. "I shouldn't have blown up like that, I got really carried away. I was a real git, I know..."

Hermione reached out and took hold of his hands in hers, her eyes once more welling up with tears.

"Harry...thank you..." she whispered. "I can't tell you what a relief that is."

"I don't know what got into me," he admitted heavily. "I just wasn't thinking straight, I guess..."

"Well, Harry, isn't it obvious?" said Hermione. "I've never seen you react quite that way before."

Harry blinked at her. Over her shoulder he caught sight of several students making their way out of the library; he realized lunch hour must be nearly over, but something about what Hermione had said made him shun such trivial matters.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Hermione bit her lip, clearly nervous about upsetting him again. "Harry, you're very, well, protective of Luna...haven't you noticed?"

Harry drew back. "Well, yeah, but she's been the same with us, just look at what she did in the forest, and at the Shack - "

"Harry, please don't get upset," pleaded Hermione, "I wasn't criticizing, I really wasn't. There's nothing wrong with that at all, really, it's just, well, I think it shows how you really feel about her."

Harry felt his stomach go into convulsions. "Er, I like her, I mean - "

"Oh Harry," said Hermione, shaking her head and smiling sadly, "Well, anyway, I suppose it took me some time to see past my preconceptions too. I used to write her off as a flake, remember?"

"Yeah," said Harry with relief, grasping at the chance to change the subject. "I think Ron still does sometimes."

"He'll come around, Harry," she said. "At least, I hope so. First impressions can be lasting sometimes, but I'll keep working on him."

They sat in silence for a while, Harry noticing the library was now mostly empty, the clock on the wall indicating only a few minutes remained before start of afternoon classes. Either Hermione wasn't aware or didn't care about being late, which struck Harry as highly unusual.

"We had a little heart-to-heart, Luna and I," said Hermione suddenly. "I'm beginning to at least understand her way of thinking. At least a little, anyway."

Harry blinked. "You do?" he asked, stunned. "Does that mean you believe in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack now?"

"Oh, hardly!" laughed Hermione, "No, I wouldn't go quite that far. But at least I'm starting to understand why Luna does."

She mulled thoughtfully. "You know, Harry her, well, her 'philosophy' on life, I suppose is the best way to describe it - it's actually rather sensible, in a way. Well, at least for someone who's willing to believe the things she does."

Hermione ran her hands back through her brown hair. She looked exhausted, Harry thought.

"I just have to watch myself, I have a tendency to snap when I hear those theories of hers," she said softly. "Honestly, I don't know why I do it. But then...Goblin Pies..."

Harry smiled. Much as he didn't like to admit it, that particular story didn't so much cross the thin line into absurdity, it vaulted over it and landed twenty feet beyond. He was just about to mention the time when Hermione caught him completely off-guard.

"You know, I get so upset when Ginny tells me some of the things she puts up with," said Hermione, "From the other Ravenclaws, I mean. But am I any different, really?"

"Sure you are," said Harry comfortingly. "I mean, they pick on her because they're gits, don't they? I'm sure she doesn't go out looking for trouble."

"Yes, but, Harry, I do that too, maybe I don't so much 'pick' on her, but I haven't been very understanding, much as I'm ashamed to admit it," said Hermione self-consciously. "Even after everything she's done - "

"Don't torture yourself," said Harry. "Maybe you're not putting Luna down as much as you think; it's just that you tend to defend your views by attacking her, sometimes..."

Hermione looked stunned. For several seconds she just gaped at Harry before gradually assuming an air of introspection. "You know, you might just have something there, Harry?"

"Uh, I do?"

"Harry, do you think I'm narrow-minded?" she asked seriously.

It was Harry's turn to be stunned. Hermione had always been so sure of herself, a tower of certainty and conviction, yet at the moment she seemed to be full of self-doubt and reaching out for reassurance.

"Er, narrow-minded?" asked Harry uncertainly, "Um, what makes you ask that?"

"Oh, I won't get mad, Harry," said Hermione, giving a dismissive wave of her hand, "Tell me what you really think."

"Um, well, no...I don't think - "

"Be honest," said Hermione, "I really want to know."

"Well, now don't get mad...but...you do get a little on the skeptical side sometimes," Harry said with baited breath, though Hermione looked more introspective than upset.

"But I don't know if I would call that narrow-minded. And anyway, it not really a bad thing," he hastened to add, not wanting to make her think any less of herself. "It's helped us out a lot in the past, remember? I mean, I don't even want to think of where we'd be today if you weren't there!"

She smiled sadly at him. "Well...thanks, Harry, that's nice of you to say. But still, I really should try to be more tolerant, for Luna's sake at least," she sighed, "She really has a good heart, you know..."

"I know," said Harry.

* * *

"Will you come off it?" said Ginny heatedly, "Do you always have to be such a git?? We weren't trying to trick you!"

"How stupid do you think I am??" Malfoy shot back, as they continued their trek into the Forbidden Forest in search of Snape's exotic ingredients. "You planned all of it so I'd get caught in the tower! I'll get you back for that - "

"If that's true," said Luna vaguely from behind them, "How would you explain why we waited around to be caught as well?"

"I - that's - " began Malfoy, evidently unable to come up with an explanation to satisfy himself, much less Luna. "Don't confound the issue!" he said angrily without turning back.

"Oh, well...I forgot you're not in Ravenclaw," said Luna dreamily as she strolled along behind.

Malfoy stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to come face to face with the dreamy Ravenclaw, who had almost walked straight into him in her slightly absentminded state. Ginny took a couple more steps before coming to a stop when she noticed she was walking on by herself.

"What do you mean by THAT?" shot Malfoy, glaring at Luna.

"Hmmm? Oh...well, you did seem confused by the question, you know," said Luna, gazing at him serenely.

"Watch your mouth, Lovegood! You were deliberately trying to confuse me!"

"No," said Luna innocently, "Though I do agree you were rather fuddled."

"Okay, that's enough, you two," Ginny interrupted. "Let's move it, the quicker we can get out of here the better."

Malfoy spun back around to face her. "Who appointed you leader, Weasel?"

Ginny's face flushed with indignation. "No one," she said, trying to keep her anger from rising to the surface, "But somebody has to remember why we're out here in the first place!"

"Well, I'm the Prefect here, so obviously I'm in charge," drawled Malfoy, pointing at his badge. "Now, first, we'll - "

"If you're a prefect," chimed Luna from behind him, "It's odd that you received detention for being out after curfew, isn't it?"

"They're going to hear about that!" nodded Malfoy, turning back to her, "If they think my father is going to sit still and let this - "

Luna tilted her head slightly. "He's in Azkaban, isn't he?" she asked, reaching up to straighten her reindeer hat.

Malfoy gaped at her, a look of fury crossing his face. He wagged his finger threateningly at her. "You'll pay for that when he gets out, you weirdo, just you wait!"

"Actually, we heard that You-Know-Who wasn't really inclined to get him out," said Ginny.

"What? Liar!" Malfoy said.

"Oh, so you're admitting your father has ties with You-Know-Who, then?" Ginny countered.

"I...I didn't say that!" stammered Malfoy. "Look, are we going to get those vine things or not??"

Ginny shot a coy smile at Luna as they turned back to the task of obtaining the rare Skankegg root for Professor Snape. She looked at the tiny crystal orb he'd given them as it lay in the palm of her hand, and saw with satisfaction that is was glowing a brighter shade of green than before; they were heading in the right direction, due East.

They walked for a while in relative silence, only Luna's soft humming of 'Weasley Is Our King' providing any relief from the discomforting stillness of the woods. Ginny had a fleeting thought back to the Burrow during the holidays, when Luna had enchanted them with an impromptu and heartbreakingly beautiful rendering of Silent Night; of course, given their surroundings, a low humming was about all that Ginny was willing to hear at the moment.

She glanced at Luna and took heart in her friend's unconcerned demeanour. Luna seemed perfectly at ease here, which suggested to Ginny that there was likely nothing to fear, at least for the moment. To the Ravenclaw, this must be very much akin to one of her late night strolls through the forest, Ginny thought. Even so, she nevertheless couldn't quite dispel her natural wariness. And by the looks of it, neither could Malfoy, who kept glancing around them nervously.

"Will you bloody well knock it off already?" Malfoy shot back angrily a while later. "You're going to alert every filthy beast out here!"

"How uncouth," said Luna. "You don't have to be frightened, you know. The giant spiders are still hibernating at this time of year, and - "

"I'm not scared!" protested Malfoy rather unconvincingly. He glanced back at her. "What giant spiders?"

"Oh, nothing," replied Luna vaguely. Malfoy's head began snapping left and right with even greater frequency, Ginny noticed.

They walked on in silence, every once in a while Ginny catching sight of Luna playfully spinning in circles as she walked. The light from their wands was casting multiple twisted and broken shadows of themselves on the trees all round, frequently causing illusions of movement in the woods which only served to startle Malfoy to no end. At least the snow cover on the ground was rather light, Ginny noticed thankfully, as it likely meant they wouldn't have to do much digging to get at the roots Snape wanted.

"Did you owl your mother?" Luna asked Malfoy dreamily.

"What? What are you talking about, Loony?" answered Malfoy without slowing his pace.

"Your mother," said Luna airily, "Did you hear back from her yet?"

"I - what business is it of yours, Lovegood?" Malfoy practically spat.

"Well, we sent an owl last night to warn her, you know. I was just wondering - "

"You're the one!" Malfoy spun on his heels, pointing an accusatory finger at Luna. "My owl's been missing all day! You sent him off!"

"We had to get an owl that knew your address, Malfoy," interrupted Ginny, coming to stand next to Luna. "Will you stop chewing us out, for Merlin's - "

"What are you playing at?" Malfoy spat, "What trick are you going to pull on her? Tell me now!"

"It's not a trick!" exclaimed Ginny, exasperated. "How many times do we have to tell you??"

"You're being rather close-minded, you know," said Luna.

"Close-minded?" Malfoy blurted, "You expect me to believe that you overheard a Death Eater, who happened to be just visiting in the school, tell Professor Snape they were going to knock off me and my mother?"

"Yes!" said Ginny.

"It's what happened," agreed Luna at the same instant, nodding.

"If that were true, then why didn't Professor Snape warn me?" Malfoy shot back.

Ginny and Luna exchanged glances. Ginny knew full well that were Snape to warn Malfoy and his mother of Voldemort's plans, his cover would be forever blown. But, she didn't dare tell that to Malfoy -

"Well, why would he warn you? If he's in loyal to You-Know-Who like you say, why would he side himself with someone who's been branded a traitor?" lied Ginny, hoping it would come off convincingly.

Malfoy's eyes widened. "Me?" he said, "Branded a...but how - "

"You-Know-Who seems to think that you gave that Portkey to Harry," said Ginny, "So he thinks you've turned coat now."

"What?? Potter!!" spat Malfoy, "He stole that book from me! I know he did! I knew something was fishy when the trunk ward went off! Damn Crabbe and Goyle, those lazy no good - "

"Well, that's a confession if I ever heard one," Ginny smirked. "So you're admitting you did have that book, and you were helping You-Know-Who, after all."

"What? No, I meant - "

"Oh, give it up, Malfoy!" said Ginny, "You're not fooling anyone!"

"Orb," said Luna serenely, pointing at Ginny's hand.

"Eh? What?" said Ginny, her train of thought momentarily disrupted. She looked at the tiny crystal sphere in her hand; it was glowing brightly and pulsating.

"Oh! I think this is the spot," she said, glancing around and looking for the wooden stake in the ground that Snape told them marked the area where the Skankegg root would be found. They lowered their wands closer to the forest floor as they searched, Ginny being the one to find the old peg sticking out near the base of a dead hemlock tree.

"Well, come on," she said as she and Luna got down on their knees and started digging away the topmost layer of soil in search of the exotic roots. "You too, Malfoy."

"I'm not digging through dirt like a common gardener!" he shot at her, "I'll supervise."

"You'll dig right along, or else I'll tell Snape you didn't, and then you'll have to do another detention."

"Didn't Mr. Filch mention he wanted someone to go and unclog the pipes in the girl's washroom on the second floor?" breezed Luna, her glowing wand tucked behind one ear as she dug away at the roots.

Malfoy glared at her, though he seemed to consider her words meaningful enough that he quickly drew out one of the small spades they'd gotten from Madam Sprout's greenhouses. He reluctantly dropped to his knees and started digging away.

Locating the roots wasn't very difficult; Snape had given them a small sample of one, and its telltale bright olive colouration was easy to distinguish it from other, more mundane root systems. They worked quickly, and it had taken them only about twenty minutes to collect enough of the Skankegg roots to fill up Snape's bag.

Nevertheless it had taken quite long enough as far as Ginny was concerned, as the ground, although thankfully not frozen, was still cold enough to be permeating through her coat and chill her legs to near-numbness by now.

"Okay, that's enough," she said, as Luna dropped one last root into the bag. "Let's get back, I'm freezing."

The moment they stood, Ginny realized with a start that they were being watched by a group of centaurs only yards away, so concentrated had they been with digging up roots that they hadn't noticed the new arrivals until this very moment. She noticed with dread that several of them held bows at the ready, trained directly on them.

"AUGHH! HALF-BREEDS FREAKS!" screamed Malfoy, stumbling backwards and fumbling for his wand.

"Don't - " Luna called out, a moment before an arrow was loosed at the Slytherin. "Impedimenta!"

At the literal last instant a flash from Luna's wand hit the arrow only inches from Malfoy's face, sending it spinning harmlessly into the forest.

The Slytherin stood rigid as a tree, his wand not yet raised into the ready position, and yet Luna had somehow managed to draw hers from behind her ear and fire off a spell almost instantaneously. Ginny gaped at her in disbelief.

The other centaurs who hadn't fired all trained their bows on Malfoy, who paled visibly. Ginny drew her wand but kept it pointing towards the ground, just as Luna stepped in front of Malfoy.

"Luna! No!" cried Ginny, fearing for her friend's life. Blast! Why does she do that, she thought furiously. Not in a million years would Ginny trade Luna's life for Malfoy's.

"Stand aside, child," one of the centaurs said darkly. "Our quarrel is not with you."

"I know," said Luna calmly, holding her wand at her side, being careful not to point it at the creatures before her. "But it's not with him, either."

Ginny swallowed hard. There were a good dozen centaurs before them, and even if all three of them managed to get spells away, there was no way they could possibly overcome all of them before getting struck by arrows in return. She decided it was best to let Luna be their voice, as the only centaur Ginny had ever met had been Firenze, who, with his tolerant view of humans, was hardly representative of his species. She walked slowly over to stand next to Luna, being very careful not to make any sudden movements.

"He was drawing his wand for battle, and has committed a grave transgression," the lead centaur said in a deep voice. "Not only has he defiled the forest with his presence, he has insinuated that we are half human!"

"He's...rather ignorant of such things," said Luna. Malfoy was hardly in a position to protest, even had he been so inclined; Luna had only to step out of the way and -

"Do not attempt to shield him," the lead centaur warned. "While your presence is tolerated, we will not be dissuaded from exacting retribution for his offense."

Luna spun around and faced Malfoy. "Apologize," she whispered.

"Wh - what?" The Slytherin stammered.

"Will that really satisfy them, Luna?" whispered Ginny.

"I don't know," said Luna gravely. "But Ronan isn't here, and I don't think I can convince them otherwise." She turned to Malfoy, "And best put your wand away."

"B-but - "

"Apologize to them," repeated Luna, "And be sincere." Ginny winced at that. She could hardly imagine Malfoy doing such a thing, much less convincingly.

Luna turned around to face the centaurs, though was careful not to deviate from her position in front of Malfoy. "He would like to apologize for his lack of wisdom," she announced.

Ginny saw a few of the centaurs glance at each other uncertainly, though all kept their bows trained.

"Let him come forth, then, and do so without hiding behind another," the lead centaur said.

Luna spun around once more to face the Slytherin. "Well, that sounds reasonable. Ready?"

"W-what?" said Malfoy, his terror-filled eyes growing wider. "They'll kill me! They're just itching to - "

"Draco, listen to me," said Luna, "We're right here. We won't let that happen. Anyway, centaurs aren't generally treacherous by nature, you know, it's a common misconception. Now please put your wand away - "

"No!" said Malfoy, drawing back, "That's just what they want!"

"Don't back away!" warned Luna, "I can't - "

"Malfoy!" snapped Ginny, pointing her wand at him, "Get back here If you don't want to get turned back into a ferret - "

Ginny felt more than heard an arrow fly straight between her and Luna, hitting Malfoy's scarf with such force that it pulled the grey and green Slytherin garment clear off his coat to land amidst the trees beyond.

"AAAUUUGGGH!" screamed Malfoy shrilly as he turned and bolted off into the darkness.

Luna spun around to face the centaurs. "STOP IT!" she called, now pointing her wand directly at them.

"Luna, don't!" said Ginny, though she held her place at her friend's side, their wands parallel.

"You dare to protect those which defile these woods?!" the lead centaur said angrily, the others clearly becoming very agitated. Ginny saw with consternation that all arrowheads were now pointing directly at them. "We have allowed you to wander this land without reproach these many years, and you now seek to defend those who desecrate our sanctity??"

Ginny thought she heard a distant noise in the woods, though she dismissed it as it was most likely Malfoy running back to the castle in a panic. At least she hoped so; the last thing they needed was more centaurs.

"I'm sorry," said Luna, "But I couldn't let him come to harm, you know. He really wasn't here of his own accord, actually."

"The reasons for his presence matters not!" the centaur rebuked. "In protecting him, you have made yourself an - "

A much louder crash in the forest cut him off, this time everyone taking notice. Ginny could now hear a veritable cacophony of crashes, snaps and cracks, becoming alarmingly louder. Judging from the centaurs, who were now all glancing towards the source nervously, whatever was coming their way clearly wasn't Malfoy.

"What is that?" whispered Ginny.

Luna shook her head. "I don't know...it sounds large..."

Ginny was startled by the sudden sound of loud galloping, turning in time to see the centaurs quickly bolt off into the forest. Her sense of dread multiplied tenfold; if a dozen armed centaurs fled in fright at whatever was approaching -

"Luna! Let's go! Nox!" she said, extinguishing her wand. "Come on!" she whispered harshly, tugging hard on Luna's sleeve, as the Ravenclaw finally followed and turned off her wand's glow.

They slowly made their way back whence they came, all the while listening to something huge ravaging the area they'd just vacated. Whatever it was, it was making absolutely no attempt to disguise its presence, as it sounded as though whole trees were being snapped in half. This was actually fortuitous, as it also served to hide the noise Ginny and Luna were making scrambling away in the dark; they didn't dare light their wands until they were far enough away that the crashing noises behind them were barely detectable.

When they finally decided it was safe enough to speak Ginny could see with relief they'd managed to stay on course; their old footprints in the sparse snow cover reassured her they were at least not going to get lost this night.

"What was that thing?" asked Ginny as they walked back, "Have you ever heard anything like that out here before?"

"No," said Luna simply, looking thoughtful.

"And why were those centaurs in such a snit?" Ginny continued, " I mean, I know Firenze isn't like them, but Merlin's Beard - "

"Well, they're rather intolerant of humans, really," said Luna as they stepped over an old fallen tree, "And, well, Draco's comment about their being half-breeds wasn't terribly wise."

Ginny nodded in understanding. She briefly wondered where Malfoy was at the moment, but then put the thought aside. He'd gotten himself into this mess, he could bloody well get himself out, so far as she was concerned.

"They didn't seem to mind you being here, though," Ginny remarked.

"Oh, well they did at first, actually," said Luna, "They seemed surprised when I started arguing with that Ronan fellow about the meaning of the movements of Mars. Mum would have had a field day pointing out how they'd misunderstood so much of it. She was really much better at it than I am, though. Anyway, after awhile he said I could come and go as I please, but now - "

"What do you think will happen?" asked Ginny, ducking under an overhagning branch as Luna did likewise.

"I don't know," answered Luna solemnly, "They were really quite upset."

That's an understatement, thought Ginny.

* * *

"Ohh, that Snape!!" exclaimed Tonks, holding a half-eaten chocolate Snorkack between her fingers as she lay in bed. "Is he insane? Sending students in the forest for detention??"

"Not insane," interjected Hermione from her chair next to the bed, "Just very nasty."

She glanced at Luna, who'd been quietly reading the latest edition of The Quibbler on the other side of Tonks' bed while Hermione had been bringing the young Auror up to speed on the latest happenings. Ginny had told her of the encounter the previous night in the dormitory; it had been a harrowing experience, to say the least, and yet Luna was back to her usual dreamy self, as though nothing untoward had taken place. They'd decided to keep it from Harry for the moment, otherwise he might well go off in a rage and challenge Malfoy to a duel.

Hermione envied her Ravenclaw friend's ability to not get stressed or flustered; it would certainly make one's life less harrowing, she mused.

She began to wonder if Luna kept a batch of her chocolate Snorkack treats on permanent standby these days. It seemed highly unlikely that she would've gone straight down to the kitchens in the middle of the night after such a harrowing encounter. But then, Luna was a most unique personality.

They'd gotten up early that morning to come pay a visit with Tonks as she was still laid up in the hospital wing, and while Hermione questioned Luna's choice of treats for such an hour, there was no denying that they were as delicious as ever, having finally yielded to temptation and helped herself to a few.

"Well, I'm going to have a talk with him about that," said Tonks, "If not here, then for sure at the next Order meeting."

"Actually," said Hermione, "Maybe you'd better not...knowing Snape, he's likely just to take it out on us later."

"I swear," said Tonks in frustration, accidentally crushing her Snorkack, "I don't know why Dumbledore keeps him on staff. He hasn't changed at all since I was here, by the sounds of it. I mean, having him work for the Order, fine! But he's a terror as a teacher!"

"Well, I can't argue there," agreed Hermione. "Though he knows his potions..."

Tonks licked the remains of her Snorkack from her fingers, glancing at the open box of treats next to her. "I could really get addicted to these," she said. "What are they supposed to be, anyway? They look like tusked rabbits."

"Er, well, they're supposed to represent Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," said Hermione, "They're myth - er, they're 'endangered' animals; Luna and her dad went out looking for them in Sweden last summer."

"Oh yeah?" said Tonks, looking interested.

"Happiness is a Swedish sunset," Luna chimed melodiously from behind her paper.

Tonks turned to Hermione, looking slightly bemused. Hermione smiled slightly and gave a half shrug.

"Well, that's...nice," said Tonks. "How's Harry doing, anyway? I haven't seen him since I've been cooped up in here."

"Oh, well, he had...things on his mind," said Hermione as she glanced at Luna, who was still contentedly reading her paper. "But I'm sure he'll drop by now that he's feeling better."

"Well, good," the young Auror said, seeming to consider whether it was wise to indulge in another Snorkack so early in the morning. Her indecision lasted only a few moments before she snatched another one deftly from the box. "Remus has been asking about him too. He hasn't had much of a chance to keep in touch, with the Ministry and all; he was really looking forward to seeing Harry at the Burrow during the holidays, actually. But you know Remus, he hates to tear himself away from his desk when he thinks there's still something to be done; he's going to work himself to an early grave that one, I swear."

Luna's large silver eyes popped up over the top of her newspaper. "You know Minister Lupin?" she asked.

"Oh, sure," said Tonks, smiling at her, "He was in the Order before becoming Minister, I've known him for years. I still can't bring myself to call him 'Minister' though!"

Luna continued to stare at Tonks, the sight of her intensely fixated gaze peeking out just over the top of the paper was making Hermione work hard at suppressing a giggle.

After several moments it became obvious the young Auror was beginning to feel distinctly awkward.

"So...er, why do you ask?" she finally said in an effort to get Luna to do something other than stare at her .

"Oh well, I thought maybe he would know," said Luna before raising the paper back up.

"Know what?" asked Tonks before Hermione could warn her.

Luna's eyes popped back up over the paper again. "Well, about the goblin pies, of course," she said dreamily. "I thought that since he must have access to Minister Fudge's records..."

"Goblin...pies??" Tonks turned to look at Hermione, apparently thinking she'd missed some part of Luna's reference. Hermione furtively rolled her eyes.

"Oh I get it! Yeah, oh absolutely! There were mountains of goblin pies in his office when Remus went in and - "

"She's serious," said Hermione, biting hard on her lip in an effort to keep a straight face. "She's of the opinion that Fudge had goblins assassinated and stuffed into pies as part of his efforts to take over Gringotts."

"It was in The Quibbler," nodded Luna proudly, pointing unnecessarily to the paper's prominent logo.

Tonks gaped at Luna, then Hermione, then back at Luna again. "Oh...well, I haven't heard Remus make mention of it...but, I'll, er, make sure to ask next time I see him."

Luna's paper rose up to cover her face once more. "Thank you," she said happily.

The moment the paper had obscured Luna's face Tonks turned to Hermione and gave her a look of total bewilderment, to which the young Gryffindor had to stuff her knuckles into her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

They were interrupted a short time later by a rapping noise on the door to the hospital wing. It was early morning; Hermione couldn't understand why the person didn't just open the door and come straight in.

"It's open!" Hermione called out after a second burst of rapping sounded at the door.

Madam Pomfrey had gotten up from her desk at the far end of the wing and made her way down to the door, the intermittent rapping continuing all the while. "Yes, yes," she said impatiently, "You'd best have your hands full when I get there, whoever you are - "

The moment she pulled on the handle she gave a start when she saw the black form of Nevermore standing at the foot of the door, having just been interrupted in his pecking by the sudden removal of a surface to knock on.

"No flying in the hospital wing!!" ordered Madam Pomfrey as the large black bird spread its wings expectantly.

"Oh, look, it's a crow," remarked Tonks.

"It's a raven, actually," Hermione corrected her.

Luna dropped her paper and spun around.

"Nevermore!" she said happily, jumping up from her seat and running over to the door, crouching down to retrieve the letter from the raven's leg. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you! I don't have any treats with me at the moment, though, oh no wait, yes - "

She ran back to Tonks' bed and snatched a chocolate Snorkack from the box.

"Will it eat that?" Tonks asked Hermione as Luna scampered back to feed the treat to her raven.

"It'll eat just about anything, I think," said Hermione.

"Hey, when am I going to get out of here, by the way?" asked Tonks as Madam Pomfrey walked by her bed, headed back to her desk. "I feel fine!"

"Would you rather be at St. Mungo's?" the nurse called back.

"No," said Tonks darkly. Hermione couldn't blame her; while rather deserted, the hospital wing at Hogwarts was an infinitely more enjoyable place to spend time than in an actual hospital.

"Letter from your dad?" asked Hermione as Luna took her seat and joyfully unrolled the parchment.

"Yes, finally! I've been waiting - " she drifted off, reading the letter.

It took only moments however, for Luna's joyful expression to slowly fade. In fact, her already pale colouration drained away as her eyes slowly widened, a look of fright coming over her features.

"No..." she whispered.

Hermione's felt her insides grow cold at Luna's reaction, as this was definitely not normal behaviour for the young Ravenclaw. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, becoming quite concerned.

Luna slowly looked up at her, her face as white as the Grey Lady's, her large silvery eyes becoming misty. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but her trembling lips uttered no any sound. She slowly extended the shaking parchment to Hermione, who took the letter and quickly began to read:

Dear Luna,

I'm sorry it took so long to reply to your letter of the 21^st instant, however your raven was very reluctant to part with it, seeing as I was not its intended recipient.

I must confess to some confusion as to the contents of your letter, as from what I gathered you seem to be under the impression that your father is here; in fact I haven't seen him in years, last time being the Quidditch World Cup when it was held in the Netherlands, as I recall. I held onto your raven for several days, thinking he might be on his way and your letter simply outran him somehow. I didn't want to send your bird back without an answer from him, but since he hasn't shown up I'm assuming he must have realized his mistake and headed back home.

Which brings me to my second item: I deduced from your letter that you are under the impression that I am deceased! I assure you, you have been most certainly misinformed. I expect that your father was on his was here to attend my 'funeral'? Well, rest assured if your father does show up I'll give him your letter and let him know about the misunderstanding...though I imagine the moment he sees me up and about he'll figure it out for himself!

At any rate, it's nice to hear from you. I really should keep in better touch, I know, I wasn't even aware that Andrew had a daughter!

Take care, and say hello to your mother for me,

Uncle Randolph

Hermione dropped the letter onto her lap and looked at Luna, who looked about ready to collapse.

"Oh...no...Luna..."