Disbelieving in Trees

Disbelieving in Trees
Potter47 Chapter Four
The Great Fall

"Do you think Humpty Dumpty was pushed?"

Snape blinked. "What?" he said, looking up from his crossword--it was a Muggle one, which Luna reckoned made it very simple (the words stayed put) and very difficult at the same time.

Luna was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling with her arms wide over the bedspread. He was seated at the desk, ignoring her. They had (without all that much discussion) decided that to keep up the appearance of being a couple, they would have to have so-called 'alone time.' Luna had made sure everyone noticed him following her to her room that morning, after a very tense-yet-uneventful breakfast which had been the polar opposite of the previous day's.

Luna had sat with Severus this morning in the Lounge, while Ron and Hermione actually sat together in the Restaurant. Both groups were somewhat quieter than normal (not to say that Severus was usually an avid meal-talker) and before Luna noticed, she was full.

Since then--it had been two hours or so ago, and was now about noon--the two of them, Luna and Severus, had been much as they were now, not speaking to each other much at all.

"I said, do you think Humpty Dumpty was pushed, Severus?"

Snape blinked again, his mouth falling open rather stupidly. "Lovegood, I find myself growing wary of asking, but what on earth are you talking about?"

Now Luna blinked, and she sat up on the bed, propping herself up with her arms.

"Don't tell me you don't know about Humpty Dumpty," she said incredulously.

Snape shook his head slightly, as though deep in thought--"I don't believe so, Lovegood. Was he a house-elf?"

"No. He was an egg."

"An egg? You mean he was transfigured, surely?"

Luna shook her head. "No, he was just an egg--have you really never heard it, Severus?"

"Heard what?"

Luna's mouth fell open much as Severus's had done. "That's so sad!" she said. "Never even heard of Humpty Dumpty... goodness, Severus, how did you spend your childhood?"

Severus quirked an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

"Not particularly, no," said Luna, "because it's not a very pleasant tale, surely--although perhaps you were a very happy young boy because you weren't exposed to the sorrow of Humpty's story...."

"Just tell me who the damned egg was, Lovegood, and be done with it. You're breaking my concentration."

Luna sighed. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall," she recited, "Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again."

There was silence for a moment as the words passed through Severus's head. "How sad," he said then, emotionlessly, and turned back to his crossword.

Luna sighed once again, and let herself fall back onto her back. "Severus, you really need to work on your people skills."

He snorted, and then groaned, as though he found what she had said amusing despite himself, and was agitated that she had broken his concentration once again.

"Oh, yes, you have wonderful, 'people skills' yourself, Lovegood--"

"Well then, you really need to work on your tone, is that better?" she said, her gaze following the swirls of plaster across the ceiling.

"Sure," said Severus, and he turned back to the paper once again.

Luna's gaze reached the edge of the wall and the ceiling, and she furrowed her brow. Propping herself up once again, she scooted herself off the bed as quietly as possible. Making sure her feet were silent on the rug, she walked over behind Severus at the desk.

He didn't notice her, and she could see the crossword puzzle in his hand that he was holding against the wooden desk. Only two words were filled in. Something clicked in her head.

"That must be very difficult, Severus," she said, and he jumped noticeably in his seat.

"Lovegood--" he spat, breathing heavily, "never sneak up on me--"

"You've been working on that for about two hours, haven't you, Severus?" said Luna, and Snape's eyes widened ever-so-slightly in an I'm found-out manner.

"I told you not to call me that," he said then, having nothing better to say.

"Why? It's a lovely name."

"Exactly."

"That seems childish." Luna returned to her point: "Even you, Severus, in your horrendous lack-of-Humpty-Dumpty-knowing, surely could answer more than two of those in two hours?"

"What exactly are you insinuating?"

"I'm insinuating," said Luna, using his big word, "that you haven't been concentrating on that crossword puzzle at all, you've been concentrating on something else."

"And what might something else be?" said Severus, because he was most certainly not going to give himself away in case she was simply completely off.

"You were using Legilimency, weren't you?" said Luna, and Severus's shoulders deflated a bit and he let the crossword, which he had been clenching tightly in his fist, fall to the desktop. He didn't speak.

"You were spying on Hermione, weren't you?" said Luna then, continuating her insinuating.

"Now, why on earth would I spy on--"

"Oh, you weren't?" said Luna, almost disappointedly. "Too bad--"

"Too bad?" said Snape. "How do you mean?"

"It's just a pity, because it might be a good idea, you know? It might help us with--"

"Shh," said Snape, and he was concentrating again. Luna grinned. This would be fun.

After a minute or so, Snape resurfaced from his mind (or from Hermione's?) and told Luna:

"She's concentrating on something... it is difficult to see just what it is...."

"But can't you just... I dunno... read her thoughts? Wouldn't she be thinking about what she is concentrating on?"

"That is not always the case," said Severus, and Luna felt that her newfound Severus-sense was tingling. Something wasn't quite right.

"Well, try."

He furrowed his brow, and his mouth moved in such a way that Luna reckoned he was roaming his tongue over his right bicuspid.

He closed his eyes, and his brow furrowed in concentration once again, and Luna noticed his left cheek twitched slightly. And after another few moments, he relaxed once more.

"I can't. She's blocking me out."

"She is not," said Luna, and now she understood. "You don't want to see into her thoughts, do you, Severus? You were just watching her."

Severus sighed now and Luna realised how odd it was to hear him sigh like that. He let his eyes close a moment, and then looked up at her in a very care-worn way, which was also very odd. He spoke in a more teacherly way than he had been.

"Miss Lovegood, do you understand how Legilimency works? One must... desire to see into another's mind, to see that person's most private and personal thoughts. And--" His voice actually hitched a moment, and Luna thought that the wonders would never cease, which meant that surely a Snorkack would be waiting outside her door when they went down to dinner. "And, Miss Lovegood, I have been sitting here in this chair for the past two hours, as you so kindly informed me, probing my way past that wall over there, into the next room, and finding Miss Granger's mind. She is not blocking me out, no, she doesn't have any idea I am there. But you see, as I said, one must wish to see into another's mind, and I--I can't. I've tried, Miss Lovegood, I have been perched quite literally on the edge of her thoughts for all the time you were laying purposelessly on that bed over there, and I have been unable to enter. And do you know why?"

Luna shook her head. She had never seen this side of Severus, and she doubted many people had.

"No," she said. "No, why?"

"Because, to enter a person's mind is the ultimate in unscrupulous invasiveness. One can never go back, can they? And I--" He smirked wryly. "Perhaps I'm just too nice a person--"

"That's so sad!" said Luna again, and she lunged at him then and encircled his neck in a very tight, Everything's-going-to-be-all-right hug. Severus looked as though he'd been strangled.

He finally managed to pry her away from him, and his breathing was very not normal. "What on earth was that supposed to be, Lovegood?"

"A hug," said Luna, and then her eyes widened even further, which seemed impossible. "Don't tell me you've never been hugged--" She made as though to embrace him again, but he put his hands out to prevent it.

"Stop it--yes, I've been hugged before, you can cease with the pity this instant--but goodness, you need to work on your hugging. People tend to like to breathe, I dunno if you've realised--"

Luna sat somewhat sadly back on the bed, and faced him with a very caring face.

"You really care for her, don't you Severus?" she said, and her brow was very high on her forehead. She could cry--

His mouth seemed to try to work itself into a smirk, a snarl, a grimace, and even a frown, but finally it just relaxed and he slumped backwards into the chair.

"Apparently," he relented.

Her heart reached out to him, and although it didn't work quite as his own mind reached out towards Hermione's, it did something: it gave her yet another bit of determination, that this wedding must not go forward.

"It's all right, Severus," she said in her most comforting voice, "Luna will make everything better...."

And he sent her a terrific glare, but she knew he didn't mean it, not really, his heart wasn't in it. She stood, and said, "This is going to be a war, you know," and she started walking back and forth, gathering her thoughts as she gathered her pace, "and it's going to be the most important war any of us have ever been in--ever imagined we'd be in... much more than Voldemort, than Grindelwald for you--"

"I am not old enough to have--"

Luna continued, heedless: "We must wage this war, not on Hermione, not on Ronald, of course--they are merely soldiers such as ourselves, misguided in their beliefs. We must wage this war on thoughts."

"What on earth are you--"

"This war is between what we think and what we know, inherently, inside ourselves. I know that I belong with Ronald--he thinks he belongs with Hermione. You know you belong with Hermione, deep down, and she thinks she belongs with Ronald."

"So what are we supposed to do about all this?" he said, as though humouring her but of course that was just his tone again.

"We have to convince them of what they already know," said Luna with a bit of this is my whole point relish. It was so much sweeter than the green kind.

Severus mulled this all over in his mind, and then he picked up his crossword again, and tapped it a couple of times with the Hotel Corridor pen he'd been holding the whole time. Then he said:

"You first."

--|--

Luna walked down the hotel corridor of the Hotel Corridor, trying to think of just what the first attack would entail.

Step, step, step, went Luna's feet, making sure not to step on the lines in the carpet. She chewed on her tongue, deep in thought.

And then she stopped short, turned tail (though she didn't have one, of course) and went back the other way.

Stopping in front of number nineteen, she made her hand into a fist and knocked firmly, three times--hesitated--and knocked twice more.

There was no immediate response, so she knocked once again, and pressed her eye to the peephole. She frowned--it didn't work very well backwards.

Then, quite suddenly, a blue eye appeared on the other side of the glass, and Luna blinked. The eye jumped back in surprise.

"Luna, what are you--" said Ronald, pulling open the door, breathing heavily.

"Human," she said impatiently, and looked around inside the room. "Is Hermione here?"

"Er--no," said Ronald, shaking his head. "She's... she's out in the car park."

Luna's eyebrows shot up. "The car park?"

"Yeah," said Ronald, nodding. "Dunno why." Then he shook his head again, and Luna wondered if he was getting dizzy. "What do you want with Hermione?"

A spell duel

, Luna thought, but she said: "Oh, I just had a question about the wedding--"

"Well you could ask me, couldn't you?" Ronald said, a bit defensively.

"Erm--no," said Luna, thinking on her feet, because there were no chairs in the corridor. "It's a... bridesmaid question."

"Oh," said Ronald, and he appeared to be biting the inside of his cheek. "You're right, you'd better ask Hermione."

They stood awkwardly for a minute--Ronald more so because it was difficult to tell when Luna was doing something awkward--and then Luna said, "Are you going to invite me in?"

"I dunno," said Ronald. "I thought you wanted to talk to Hermione."

"Well, I can wait for her," Luna said, and she made to step over the threshold, but her foot 'caught' on the floor, propelling her off her feet and into Ronald's arms.

"Careful!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Luna, smirking to herself--somehow she managed to get back to her feet on Ronald's other side, and was now in the room.

"Since when do you trip?" he said, brow furrowed. "You've always just seemed to glide--"

"So, Ronald," said Luna, walking over to the window and peering out--Hermione was still in the car park, standing by the very tree Ronald and herself had stood against twice before, "how is everything?"

Luna wondered what Hermione was doing.

"Er...fine," said Ronald. He blinked twice quickly when Luna fell backwards (intentionally) onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "What are you doing here, Luna?"

"Waiting for Hermione, I told you," said Luna, noticing with amusement the rather shabby-looking ceiling.

"Couldn't you just go out to the--"

"Of course not, because I would invariably miss her on the way down--you know, she'd end up coming up just as I was going down so I'd end up out there alone and have to come all the way back up here, and that's not fun."

Ronald blinked again--Luna wondered why he blinked so much; it was unnatural.

"Right," he said, and scratched the back of his neck. "Erm... so, what have you been doing lately?"

Luna smirked, simply to see what he'd do if she smirked.

"Er--never mind," said Ronald quickly, and shook his head with a bit of a nauseated look. "I... er... I need to use the loo." He didn't move immediately, and was watching her watch him upside-down from her spot on the bed.

"It's over by the door," said Luna helpfully.

"Right," Ronald said.

He seems confuzzled about something

, Luna thought as the door closed behind him. I wonder what...?

Luna stood up, glanced out the window again to make sure Hermione was still busy and a safe distance away, and then went over to her sootcase--she knew it was Hermione's because it said "HG" in very proper-looking letters, and Hermione had always been very supportive of Harry and Ginny's relationship.

Earlier that day, Luna had discovered, by way of Severus, that Hermione had been misleading when she told Luna to pack a sootcase. You weren't, apparently, supposed to pack your clothes with soot at all.

And now, Luna had her wand in her hand as she opened Hermione's sootcase--suitcase, actually, Severus had said--ready to blacken Hermione's clothes with magical ashes. But when she popped open the suitcase, it wasn't clothes that met Luna's eyes.

Said eyes widened as they took in what she saw now. Papers upon papers had been neatly thrown inside, all headed with the distinguishing word "REVENGE." And there were plans upon plans here that had been brainstormed, apparently, to get back at Luna herself!

But why would she want to get back at me?

Luna wondered. What did I ever do to Hermione?

She bit her lip, then, and thought that perhaps the incident with the little boy had something to do with it... but when she had met him, she had had this inherent feeling that he would be a wonderful jump-up-and-downer, and she couldn't just ignore that....

And then there was the whole make-them-jealous plot, but surely--surely--Hermione knew nothing of that....

But then Luna saw another paper--the back of one that had been covered in tiny planning--with the words I do not have a soft spot for Snape, I do not have a soft spot for Snape written again and again in an attempt to convince the writer that they were true.

Luna grimaced--Ginny must have told her, she figured. Luna had suggested the make-Ronald-jealous idea back in school, to Ginny, back when Ron and Hermione had been dating, before the latter had disappeared. Ginny hadn't taken her seriously then, especially when Luna had mentioned Severus as the ideal candidate, but it was the only logical explanation that didn't involve political scandal, which for once Luna felt probably had nothing to do with it.

Luna was having, oddly, an odd time thinking at the moment. She was trying to explain things in her head that she never would have thought she would have to explain, things that were utterly mundane in origin, and the words were sort of muddling round her head, not making much sense. She felt almost dizzy, and not good-dizzy like she felt around Ronald. Bad dizzy, like when she had spun round in a circle on her mother's broom when she was little, to see what it felt like--though not quite as bad as when she had done so off the ground.

Hermione knows,

Luna thought, and she tried to fix everything up right neat again in the soot--suitcase, and she closed it and put it right where she'd found it, and she stood too quick and she couldn't see right and she fell over, onto the bed, and closed her eyes a minute. Hermione knows.

She tried to breathe, in-and-out, but only managed out-and-in, which threw her off spectacularly. A minute later, she heard a flush from the loo, and then the door opened and Ronald was there and she was in a wrong state.

"Luna? You don't look so good--"

"I'm not feeling so good either," said Luna, and she stood shakily, reaching her arms out for something to lean on, the desk perhaps or the dresser--she hadn't expected Ronald to be right there, and that was strange because normally she always knew where he was.

He caught her arm and put it over his shoulders, and Luna was vaguely, vaguely amused by the thought that Ronald had had far too much experience in helping people who were injured or not feeling great.

He took a step towards the door, and waited for her to do the same. She did, hesitantly, and then he took another, and so did she, but at the third step she collapsed against him, limp.

"God, what happened, Luna?" he said, and tried to get a better hold on her.

"Nervous breakdown," she informed him helpfully. "I can't walk, by the way--"

He almost laughed at the way she said it, but didn't, and just then the door burst open and Hermione was there, silhouetted on the threshold.

"What the--Luna, what are you doing in here?" she said suspiciously, ignoring Luna's closed eyes, limp body, and nauseated expression.

"She's sick, or something," Ronald said, "I dunno what happened--"

Luna attempted to furrow her brow, because she'd just told him it was a nervous breakdown, but she couldn't manage it and she certainly couldn't correct him out loud.

"Was it something she ate?" Hermione said, not leaving the doorway, not stepping closer, and still with an edge in her voice. "Could those buffet-scrambled-eggs have been funny?"

"I ate them, too," said Ronald, and Luna lurched to one side, partly because she wanted to leave the room, to lay down in her bed, away from Hermione, and partly because she wanted to see if Ronald would let her go. He didn't. "And she seemed fine a few minutes ago--"

"But what was she doing in here?"

"She was looking for you!"

"Why?" said Hermione, that 'edge' in her voice suddenly resembling a razor's.

"Something about the wedding, bridesmaids, something--"

"Oh," said Hermione, sounding less suspicious.

"I think I should carry her--"

"What?" said Hermione. "No, you could levitate her instead--"

"When she's like this? And besides, isn't this place Muggle?"

Hermione conceded that point, but something about her made Luna feel Hermione would have very much preferred Luna not be carried, especially by Ronald. If she was able, Luna would have made a face.

"Fine," said Hermione, and Luna felt herself start to float in more way than one. She wasn't really floating, of course, because she could feel Ronald's arms under her, but then, that was why she was, too.

And he took a step, and it jostled her slightly but Luna felt at peace. Her mind was sorting itself out, putting the right thoughts in the right places again, slowly slowly slowly, and she felt the itsy-bitsiest bit better.

And then Ronald took another step, and another, and finally they had reached the door, but Hermione was still standing there.

"Erm... could you--let us through?" Ronald said.

"Oh!" said Hermione, who apparently hadn't realised that she had been in the way--Luna doubted this very much--and scampered off to one side.

Ronald carried her over the threshold, and Luna saw the difference in lighting through her closed eyelids--while inside the room had been moderately dark, lit only through the half-open windows, out here was brightly and fluorescently lit, making the corridor appear very bright orange.

"Er...she's next door, right?" said Ronald, and Luna nodded against him just before Hermione said, "Yes," and he walked slowly to number twenty-one, which took much longer than it should have but Luna didn't mind.

"Uh--do you have your key-thingy?" Ronald asked Luna, and she shook her head against him. "Oh, great--Snape!"

This struck Luna as an odd exclamation of frustration, she opened one eye and saw that Severus had opened the door.

"Weasley," he said coolly in response. "Did something happen to her?"

"Oh, no, I just felt like carrying her back--"

Luna smiled slightly.

"You never know, do you?" said Snape wryly, and backed up into the room, keeping the door as far open as possible. "I daresay the bed would be a good place," he added, when Ronald seemed uncertain of what to do next.

"Right," he said, and with some reluctance Luna felt herself--a few steps later, of course--be let down onto the cool bed.

The moment Ronald's hands left her back, Luna felt uncannily drowsy and her eyes closed and her mind went blank and she fell asleep.

TBC...please review.

Author's Notes

I've never really done this before, but I've decided it might be a good idea, and a way to convince you all that I really value your reviews, which I do...

I'll start from the beginning, the very first review of this fic:

wvchemteach -

Thank you! I know that you wrote this particular review about four months ago, but as I said, I'm starting from the beginning. As I may have said before, I don't really see Luna as a difficult person to write, as I tend to find it very easy to get into her head (or perhaps I'm already there?)

Deep Grey -

Humorous puns? Is that supposed to be a joke? :)

taylor -

As you can see, yes.

crzyangelchic -

About the sootcase... that part sort of just flew out of my fingertips, I didn't even think of it consciously. And every time I proofread the chapter, it took me by surprise...

Tahlya -

Yes, I love my title very much, but I love open-minded R/Hers (or any other shippers) even more. A couple years ago, I wrote a poem called 'Obviously,' which opposed R/H, and the response was not nearly as...civil as my more recent non-R/H writings...thank you. Also, I didn't even know there were chain hotels in France (or that they would be anything like the ones elsewhere) and I really just wanted to be on the safe side with the author's note...

Penny Lane -

I take it you're a Beatles fan? And a Luna fan? Hmm...excellent combination, in my opinion. Have you ever heard of a story of mine called "Believe in Yesterday," by any chance...? It might interest you.

Kaladelia Undomiel -

You certainly like troubling authors like me who try to spell your name in responses to reviews, don't you? And yes, I like serious-Luna--if you want a more serious Luna, check out my story "Believe in Yesterday"--it's mainly about her mother's death.

gollyg20 -

Thank you!

JaneIsDead -

Your name makes me rather sad...it reminds me of "Joan of Arcadia," which was recently cancelled... oh, I miss that show... (Yes, the story is continuing.)

Anony Miss -

Interesting word, "kloply." Is it a technical term?

crzyangelchic -

What was what announcement? Oh, I've just looked back... no, that was just the hotel-people saying that breakfast was over. I'm sorry if I inadvertently left you hanging...

SarahColdheart -

Why haven't you reviewed my Yesterday Sequence!? Shame! Just kidding...but I do love the feedback, you know.

Penny Lane -

Really? Wow, I've never had a fangirl before... I feel special.

SeeStar -

If only more people would write them!

pab99

- Ahhhhhh... open-mindedness. I love that in a reader.

BakaAngel

- Thank you! By the way, do you ever have difficulty spelling your name, what with the two "a"s right beside each other? Do you ever become BakAngel when you're very tired or you just don't care?

S.C. Preclarus Noctis -

Nice name. I assume it's your real one? Thank you.

S.C. Preclarus Noctis -

Thank you again, five days later.

Ms. Snarky -

Well, that's who Luna is. She's not crazy... at least, she's just as sane as I am!

Ms. Snarky -

Don't worry, I didn't think of it as patronising--partly because I read your second review first...sorry...but I wouldn't have anyway.

NinitademiBrooke

- Thank you! Continue!

Philipa Aleshre

- What is it with these names? And here I am, all alone in my corner with Pigwidgeon37 and Granger13...

wvchemteach

- No, I've never noticed that, as I tend to avoid comparing my writing with classic authors...it tends to end badly, one way or the other. But it's quite a compliment, so thank you very much! And part of me wants to write a spell duel between Hermione and Luna, now you mention it... I just cracked up laughing at the thought... but I really doubt that's how it'll end. (I have a vague idea--this is much less planned out than the Sequence.)

RavenEcho

- "Reader!" said I, "thing of fandom!--reader still, absurd or random!
Whether reccer sent, or whether flamer tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this fanfic site enchanted--
On this home, Mary Sue haunted--tell me truly, I implore:
Is my--is my fic worth reading?--tell me--tell me I implore!"
Quoth RavenEcho, "I adore."

S.C. Preclarus Noctis -

Wow, an open-minded H/Her! No offence, but you're a rare breed.

Kaladelia Undomiel -

I agree.

Fairy -

Ingenious? Wow, that's a strong word...thank you! And an HG/SSer to boot? I feel honoured. (Though as I found earlier today, I share Ms. Snarky's favourites list with none other than Kaz (author of "Falling Further In") and that really made me feel "Wow." (I've never actually read FFI, as it's not finished and extremely long, and I don't know if I would want to read it anyway, but I know it's one of the classics, so that means something--perhaps that I overuse parentheses, perhaps something even more...important.)

lovelacelove -

And I love readers who love Ron/Luna, just as you love Ron/Luna, lovelacelove, so I'm going for the record for the number of times the word 'love' can be used in a single sentence.

TheSari -

Thank you! And I will!

MsMissProngs

- Really? Seeing things how Luna sees them leaves me a bit...unperturbed.

megan

- Hermione's mad at Luna because she doesn't know she likes Snape more than Ron. I hope you don't want to kill Hermione. Rage against fictional characters is never a good thing, and can lead to psychological problems down the line.

Celess

- I hope you don't think it's written like a soap opera...? That would be a bit deflating, really....

Philipa Aleshre

- I love it too. I will keep writing (and have, as you can see.)

ME!!

- Heh, your parents must be weird to name their kid that...

sorry, i forgot

- Why must I get the reviewers with name issues? I'm glad you liked H and G in the chapter, because they're going to be back.

twiggers

- This is why I probably shouldn't attempt to comment on every review.

Penny Lane -

I'm very glad to hear that, because what author would want to hear something like "I really liked it, but I'm not going to read anymore. Sorry!" Thank you.

NinitademiBrooke

- Thank you.

Mirrorbay2000

- I will continue to updat, don't worry! Thank you

EternalEcho

- Thank you very much, and you even reviewed each chapter individually! That's what we egotistical review-starved authors love, you know! (Although 'review-starved' doesn't exactly apply to this fic, does it?) Keep reviewing! Please, please, please!