Disbelieving in Trees

Disbelieving in Trees
Potter47 Chapter Three
The Telephone Call

Luna walked purposefully towards the door of the lobby and emerged upon the car park. He was there--she knew it, though of course she didn't know how she knew it because how can someone know how they know something? Or how they know how they know something?

It was dusk now, and not nearly as dark as the last time Ronald and Luna had stood in this place. He was leaning against the tree again, and whether it was because of the increased lighting or perhaps because he was more attuned to her aura, Ronald looked up.

He swallowed when he saw her and she did the same when she saw him--just because he did it first.

He didn't comment as she leaned against the opposite side of the tree, and he couldn't explain the odd sense of déjà vu he felt as she did it.

They closed their eyes now, just at the precise moment though of course they didn't know that. And then Ronald spoke:

"Snape...?"

"I prefer to think of him as Severus," said Luna, which was true.

Ronald shivered despite the warm air around them. "That is just wrong, Luna. He's like twice your age--"

"Oh, more than that," she said, smiling slightly to herself. If one wasn't paying attention, they might have thought Ronald had done the same, but his smile was really a grimace.

"He's more than twice your age, then," said Ronald. He snorted slightly; "And you said Hermione was too old for me."

Luna's back straightened slightly, and her eyes narrowed.

"Well, she is."

"That's a little hypocritical, don't you reckon?" said Ronald, fumbling round the word 'hypocritical.'

"You don't know what that means," said Luna. She wasn't insulting him; oh, no, she was just stating a fact. He didn't know and she knew he didn't.

"Yes I do."

"Only because of Hermione. That doesn't count."

"Now look who's being hypocritical!" said Ronald. Luna blinked.

"When were you?" she asked, and he fell silent. She felt this was a perfect opportunity to explain her hypocriticalness.

"Hermione is too old for you," she said again. "Because the girl is supposed to be younger than the boy. That's how it works."

"Yeah? And why is that?"

"Well, have you ever heard a fairy-tale that had a handsome prince rescue a beautiful princess's great aunt?"

"What? Well, no. But why would he?"

"Exactly."

Ronald didn't really understand what she was talking about, but it was different than when he didn't understand Hermione; because Luna wouldn't try to explain, and Hermione would spend hours trying to force the idea into his brain. He didn't know which he preferred, though of course he did and just didn't want to admit it.

Luna continued in her earlier point:

"It's all right for the boy to be older than the girl, of course--Severus is a lot older than me, yes, but I'm also a lot younger than him, and that balances it out, you know?"

"No," said Ronald simply, and Luna smiled. Hermione would have smiled 'despite herself', Luna reckoned, and that phrase only meant that the person didn't smile enough.

--|--

Hermione closed the hotel room door behind her, slightly out of breath, with a strange, unsettled feeling in her chest. She leaned against the back of the door, still holding the knob with both hands behind her back, and just sort of looked at nothing and thought a moment.

Letting out a breath--or had she taken one in?--she stepped away from the door and went over to her side of the bed...plopped herself down on the mattress and stared at nothing once again for quite a time. And then, something hit her.

Idea in mind (which is really a rather boring place for it to be), Hermione reached over to the Muggle telephone on her bedside table, and dialled very quickly, so that if she hadn't been so careful, she likely would have made a mistake and called Switzerland or something.

It rang on the other end, and barely had finished that very first ring before a squeaky little voice piped up on the other end: "Harry Potter's residence, this is Dobby speaking, how may Dobby help you?" Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, she heard from the background: "How many times have I told you not to answer the phone like that, Dobby? You know I don't like people knowing this number--" And then that same voice was louder and clearer, clearly having taken the phone from the House-elf.

"Hello?" said Harry.

"You know, you shouldn't treat him like that just because he answered the phone a way you don't like--"

"Gee, this couldn't be Hermione, could it?" said Harry sarcastically, and ignored her comment, having heard it many times before. "What's up?"

Hermione was sure her voice sounded rather urgent: "Is Ginny there, Harry? I mean, I know she probably is, but if she's sleeping--"

"Sleeping? Ha!" said Harry. "She never sleeps anymore, practically--though I reckon it'd be easier for her to, if she didn't insist on midnight ice-cream runs--" His voice was louder and yet distant: "Ginny! Hermione's on the telephone!" He was back at the receiver: "She'll be down in a minute."

"Isn't there a phone in the bedroom?"

"Er... no... wouldn't that sort of inhibit sleeping?" Hermione didn't respond. Harry, however, made conversation: "So, is Ron there? I mean--of course he's there, but is he in the room?"

"Oh, no," said Hermione, almost sounding bitter. "He went for a 'walk.' I think he's out in the car-park--"

"God, you two weren't fighting again, were you? Well, you're unique at least; you never hear about people bickering like a young engaged couple, do you?"

"Ha, ha," said Hermione rather sardonically. "So, how is life at the Scarburrow?"

"We've been a bit lonely since you guys went off...I won't mention the times I've had to actually chase Ginny when she decides she's going to run off to France... Honestly, I reckon it's not at all healthy to be pregnant--ah, here's Ginny."

Hermione heard the sound of the phone changing hands--she had never really thought to try to decipher what it sounded like--and Ginny's voice was in her ear. "Hey, Hermione," she said--a pause--"Go away, Harry."

A moment later, Ginny spoke again: "So, how is the bride-to-be?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine..." began Hermione, twirling the phone-cord in her fingers and furrowing her brow; she walked over to the window and moved the curtain out of the way, biting her lip, "...except I'm not sure about this at all."

"Oh, really? I'm sure you're the first witch ever to feel that way--"

"Did you have second thoughts about Harry?" Hermione said, almost slightly relieved.

"Er...no, not really," said Ginny in a voice that indicated that she very much wished Hermione hadn't asked. Hermione was deflated once more. "But the vast majority do, I'm positive. It's completely normal."

"Yes, but is it completely normal to almost vaguely be utterly jealous of Luna Lovegood?"

Silence. Then:

"Well, I used to envy her privacy and lack of brothers--"

"That's not what I mean," said Hermione.

"Well, what do you mean?"

"She just..." Hermione looked out the window again, at Ron in the car-park and her heart lurched strangely, "she has this connection with him, she always has, I've felt it before...and they never seem to argue..."

"Well, most couples argue--" interjected Ginny.

"Do you and Harry?"

"Er...yes?" Ginny said, and it was almost a question. "I mean, not like you and Ron, but sure we argue..."

"About what sorts of things?"

Ginny struggled for a moment, and then sort of pathetically said, "Ice-cream flavour? I prefer strawberry, and he likes chocolate--"

"You're not really helping, Ginny, you do know that?"

"I had sort of figured."

"When we and Ron argue..." said Hermione, and she sat back down on the bed, looking at the floor, "it always has been about the same things, hasn't it? I mean, if we could just settle our differences about work and Snape--oh, yeah, Snape," said Hermione, sounding utterly flustered once more and overcome with words. "Have you heard the news about him?"

"What? Did he wash his hair?"

"Yes, actually," said Hermione, furrowing her brow, noticing that she hadn't noticed, "but that's not what I'm talking about. He's dating Luna."

Silence. And it wasn't the shocked silence that Hermione had expected.

"Hello?" said Hermione, thinking for a moment that the connection had been lost. But then Ginny spoke:

"Luna?" she repeated in a thoughtful voice. "But Luna would never date anyone but--" And then the thoughtfulness turned to epiphany: "She's trying to make you jealous!" said Ginny very quickly, and then she erupted in a fit of giggles. "I never thought she'd actually do it..."

"What? Do what?" said Hermione, who felt rather lost.

After Ginny had calmed, she said, "Get lost Harry, this is private," and Hermione assumed that Harry had entered the room once again. Then: "Oh, Hermione, that is just hilarious..."

"I don't see it," said Hermione, shaking her head.

"Don't you? Luna knows that you've always had a soft-spot for Snape, and she's exploiting that to her advantage... oh, clever girl... but why on earth would Snape agree to it?"

"I have a soft spot for Snape?" said Hermione, bewildered. "When was I going to be told?"

"Oh, you never noticed it? Like you just said, you and Ron always argue about him more than anything else; that's because in your crazed, 'Free the House-elves!' mind, you see Snape as someone to be pitied, which none of us have ever really understood--he's not an elf, Hermione, and we've tried to get you to understand that..."

"I know that he isn't an elf Ginny, and if you think I don't than I don't think it's me who's mind should be called crazed," said Hermione in one breath. "And I don't pity him--"

"Slow down," said Ginny, who was still chuckling between words for some reason that Hermione would never understand... "Now listen carefully, Hermione: Luna is trying to make you jealous of her, so that you would, for whatever convoluted reason that anyone would do so, leave Ron in favour of Snape. Then she can have Ron."

"That sounds selfish--"

"It is selfish, Hermione, but then what isn't?"

"So what am I supposed to do?" Hermione said, and Ginny didn't answer for a minute.

"Ginny?" said Hermione again.

"Oh... I'm here, don't worry, it's just... I'm really not the most experienced person when it comes to things like this... I mean, no one's ever tried to interfere with me and Harry but Voldemort, and I don't really think that's the same sort of situation...."

"Well...thanks, Ginny," said Hermione, and she felt rather deflated. "Remember, the wedding's--"

"Tuesday, I know, I know," said Ginny. "I'll be there the night before, I don't care what anyone says about travelling."

They said their good-byes, and Hermione put the phone back on its cradle, and laid back on the bed, staring up at the swirling plaster of the ceiling and thinking.

She heard a rather loud noise from above her...and again...and again. She wondered how she hadn't heard it before, because now that she thought about it, it hadn't just started.

And then, something hit her.

Well...it more sort of floated down onto her wafted its way down to her...it was bits of dust-like plaster that fell from the ceiling, and it landed in Hermione's hair, and on her shoulders. She looked up, and suddenly her ears kind of recognised that it was the sound of...the sound of something sounding as though it were a person jumping up and down above her, but of course that couldn't really be it...

Hermione ran through her mind: who's room was above theirs? She didn't think it was any of the wedding guests'...

Standing, then, Hermione took one last glance out of the window, and saw Ron was still just standing there, leaning against the tree, and it almost looked as though he were having a conversation with the wind.

And now Hermione not only felt jealous of Luna, but of the wind as well...she shook her head to clear it, and marched out of her room, looking back and forth... she went left, towards the lifts, and soon was stomping back towards the room directly above hers...

The door was open, and that was rather strange...when Hermione peered into the room, she saw no luggage or anything, and reasoned that this room must not have any occupants. She could hear that the sound had in fact come from here...

Glancing down both ways of the hall, Hermione stepped into the room and peered around the corner, past the edge of the wall that formed the loo...and saw a small, Muggle boy that looked around ten. And... he was jumping up and down, repeatedly, just above where she had been downstairs... he had even, apparently, moved the bed over to have better access to the exact spot.

"What are you doing?" Hermione said in her best former-Prefect-and-Head-Girl voice.

The boy looked round at her, and stopped jumping, looking crestfallen.

"Nothin'," he said.

"You most certainly weren't doing nothing!" said Hermione, and her cheek twitched because it had been a double-negative and she didn't like improper speech. "You were doing something! You were jumping up and down repeatedly just above my bed!"

"Well..." said the boy, and he sounded very meek and innocent and cute. "This nice weird lady said she'd give me a magic pirate-coin if I did this for her!"

Hermione's face flattened and her mouth became very a very thin line. "Nice weird lady?" she repeated suspiciously. "And what exactly did this nice weird lady...look like?"

The boy screwed up his face in thought, and then said, "She was tall."

"How tall?"

"Taller than me."

Hermione groaned, and asked again: "But what did she look like?" Hermione didn't really see the point... she already knew the answer. But she needed proof.

"She had big eyes," said the boy. "And yellowish-brown hair." And then his face lit up, having remembered the good part: "And she had veggies on her ears! It looked funny!"

Hermione let out a breath, and let one in. Breathe. She had to breathe. Calm down, Miss Granger, she told herself.

She stormed out of the room, into the hallway, and then back into the lift. When the doors had closed, and she was alone, Hermione let out a sort of muffled roar of frustration: "OUUUUUUHRGH!"

And then she looked at her reflection in the mirror that was on the back wall of the lift. She saw the absolutely furious expression on her own face, and snarled to herself:

"This means war!"

TBC...please review.