Chapter 8
A Little Bit Loony
Ron sat at the back of the classroom he was not paying much attention to Professor McGonagall who was, at her own insistence, still teaching the NEWT level Transfiguration classes. He had to admit to himself that Horcrux hunting was far more intense than he had expected it to be. He had imagined that the three of them would be scouring the bottoms of old chests and the backs of long unused cupboards, checking one dusty relic after another. He had not considered that these objects would be protected from just such scrutiny, and that the protection may in any way prove dangerous to the scrutineers. Ron vowed that he would listen more to Harry and Hermione who had warned him that their search would not be an easy chore, and without knowing it scored one point for the wizard who carried Voldemort's scar on his forehead.
"Mr Weasley!" The sound of his name shouted out laced with a heavy Scots accent brought him back to reality. "Have you been listening to a word I have been saying?" Professor McGonagall continued in an exasperated tone of voice.
Ron's stammered reply of "Err…y. y. yes sure," gave her no confidence.
"Well can you?" McGonagall asked and arched her eyebrows with deep suspicion that Ron's mind had been anywhere but in the classroom where it belonged.
There were a few sniggers from his fellow students as Ron's face began to let him down and assumed the colour of a ripening tomato. "Sorry, err, what?" Ron finally admitted his mental wanderings.
McGonagall stared hard at her wayward pupil. "Can you, Mr Weasley, turn this plate into a wooden spoon?" her tone suggested a loss of points to Gryffindor, or a worse punishment to Ron, if the correct answer was not forthcoming.
For once Ron was very certain of his answer. "No," he said matter of factly.
"And would you care to tell us why?" remarked Professor McGonagall, hoping against hope that he wasn't going to tell her that he couldn't remember the spell.
"Oh, well it's because it is made of gold. None of the pure metals, such as gold, silver or lead can be transfigured into anything else, so you could make a gold spoon out of a gold plate but you can't change gold to wood or wood to gold, …which is a bit of a shame." He gave the Professor the briefest of smiles.
"Very well, quite correct," she said almost grudgingly, and returned to the front of the class. "An essay on the attempts by non alchemists to turn lead into gold, it should be at least two feet long, and in my study by Friday."
There was a scraping of chairs and a murmur of voices as the class stood to leave. Ron remained seated, his brow furrowed in thought, it had suddenly occurred to him that at least two of the objects he, Harry and Hermione were seeking, were made of gold, so even if Voldemort had changed their appearance there was no way he could transmute the metal. Ron wondered if Hermione had worked that one out yet, probably he told himself, because she was very clever, and of course she was very pretty. He sighed, now what had made him think of that? Perhaps it was always going to be that way. His own silly actions had lost him the one thing that had he played it straight, could have been his after all.
Thinking like this never really did Ron any good, and not having anyone to talk it over with only made it worse. By the time he was walking down to lunch he was feeling very depressed, then turning onto the main stairs he spied a head of yellow hair and the slim figure of Luna Lovegood below him. He didn't think he tried to catch up with her, but by the bottom of the stairs he was at her shoulder. Luna for her part was hiding a smile, she had felt Ron's troubled presence behind her, and had slowed her pace. It was amazing how his thoughts stood out above the other students pouring down to lunch and the little secrets she had learned from them. Now he was at her side and she turned her head to face him.
"Hi Ronald, going to lunch?" she said airily.
"Err… yes," he replied uncertainly. He could have sworn that the girl had known he was there before she could have seen him, but her smile pushed away any doubtful thoughts.
"Fancy grabbing a sandwich or two and eating them outside?" she suggested, and Ron, bereft of the companionship of his best friends, jumped at the offer. However if the truth be told that was not his only reason.
The late summer weather was still holding, in fact on some days it could still be exceptionally warm. Today was one such day, and it found Ron and Luna sitting out on the grass enjoying a cloud free sky. Their lunch, such as it was, was consumed in short order, and as Ron watched his sunny if somewhat strange companion pick daisies out from amongst the blades of grass and then weave them into a daisy chain, he began to relax. He lay back and supported his head on folded arms, staring up into the blue of the sky, he heard the laughter of a group of students from a little way off as they played in the sunshine, and wished he could be as carefree.
"You have a lot on your mind, don't you Ron?" Luna said, laying the completed daisy chain on his chest. "If it would help you could share the load, I may even be able to help."
Ron propped himself up on one elbow and squinted in the sun's glare at the girl sitting next to him. The daisy chain clung to his robes as he considered his answer. "I wish I could but I can't," he said eventually, "It's all rather complicated and I wouldn't want to betray anyone's trust in me."
"You mean Harry and Hermione, and the fact that they haven't really run away," Luna replied quietly, "I expect they are in hiding somewhere, trying to find out what Voldemort is up to, or trying to find a way of getting rid of him." She smiled at Ron who was staring at her open mouthed, and then she reached forward and reclaimed the daisy chain, and placed it on her head like a crown.
"What could possibly have given you such an idea?" said Ron trying to cover his surprise.
"Oh" she said waving her hand in the air as if the matter had no importance, "I have my methods Ronald." Which to Ron's mind was not a satisfactory answer, but for the moment it seemed that was all he was going to get. For she jumped to her feet at the sound of the school bell, and with a quick, "See you later," turned and headed back to the castle.
Ron clambered to his feet and ran after her calling for her to wait for him, and the daisy chain which had slipped from Luna's head as she spun away lay forgotten on the grass.
"What do I do about her Gin?" Ron asked his fiery haired sister later that day. "I know she's crackers but there is something about her that draws me in."
Ginny regarded her brother with surprise, he had never asked her opinion on anything before, but maybe the Hermione incident had knocked a bit of sense into him, at least as far as girls were concerned.
"You say she has worked out what Harry and Hermione are up to as well?" Ginny asked.
"Yeh, not the details or anything like that, but generally she's pretty close. I just wish I knew where she was getting her ideas from." he replied with a frown.
"Perhaps she figured it out on her own, She's not daft….. well she is a bit. What I mean," said Ginny getting her thoughts back in order, "is that she isn't stupid. In class she always gets top marks and McGonagall thinks very highly of her, but if you want to know if you should trust her then you better talk to Harry and Hermione first." Then Ginny looked thoughtful, "Umm… it might be worth remembering that she is in Ravenclaw, and there is very little on Rowena in the school library, I know because Hermione asked me to look. It's possible that the Ravenclaws have access to material that we don't."
The subject of their conversation sat alone at a small table in the Ravenclaw common room, with part of her mind she was checking the essay she had just finished for Professor Flitwick, with another she was considering how much she could tell Ron about her ability. Dumbledore had told her on her very first day that she should be careful who she let into her secret.
"Your gift is very rare Miss Lovegood," the old Headmaster had said, "and in the past it has been used by those with ill intent to cause much mischief. You, unlike the Legilimens, need no spell to retrieve thoughts and because you can separate your mind completely, unlike the Occlumense, you could never be broken. You must find a way to hide your ability."
So she had developed Loony Lovegood and the ruse had worked well, very few of her housemates passed the time of day with the strange girl, and she was ignored by all the others. Only once had she come close to telling anyone about her secret, but she had even fought shy of telling Harry Potter at that time. Now she was in a quandary again, for it was his best friend she wanted to tell and she wasn't sure if it would be safe, not for her but for him. Perhaps she should ask Dumbledore for his advice. "Remember he is dead," said one part her mind to the other, "Yes I hadn't forgotten," she replied, "we will just have to be very careful how we do it."
* * *
The next time Ron had a chance to talk to Harry was an evening of much merriment in the Shack. It was Hermione's birthday and today she could claim to be an adult in her mother's and father's world as well. Despite the isolation she was living in with Harry, nefarious means had been found to provide her with a suitable amount of presents, and several guests had arrived to help celebrate. Remus, Tonks, Ginny, Ron and Harry were gathered around the large working table and were engaged in demolishing the birthday cake Dobby had prepared. While Remus was regaling the others in a slightly risqué tale of the original marauders, Ron collared Harry and beckoned him down the stairs and into the kitchen. There he told his own story, leaving nothing out, even mentioning the fact that he felt some undeniable attraction to Luna, and admitting that he did not want these feelings to sway his decision. Harry was understandably amazed that Ron was being so frank, and was at a loss to know what to say. The sound of a gentle cough from the doorway made them both turn to see Hermione standing there, leaning against the door jamb, her arms folded across her chest, as she regarded the two young men.
Harry was the first to speak. "So what do you think?" he asked the girl with all the answers. Hermione watched Ron's face most carefully, she could see how worried he was, on the one hand he may have found a very good ally in the hunt, but on the other she may be someone using her womanly wiles to put him in a position where he could betray the whole enterprise.
"I think you should ask her straight out how she knows these things," said Hermione.
"And!" said Ron, expecting more instructions than this.
"What you do depends on the answer she gives," she added most unhelpfully.
"Hermione, that is not much to go on," said Ron, his exasperation clear.
"OK," Hermione said finally making up her mind. "Get her to Hagrid's hut tomorrow after tea, and ask her then." Ron gave an uncomprehending look. "We'll be there to hear her answer." she finished.
"We will?" said Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione, "we will." And Ron had to be satisfied with that, for that was all he was going to get.
The party broke up at eight o'clock so that Ron and Ginny could get through the tunnel and back to the castle without causing any suspicions. Remus and Tonks left with them but they separated at the edge of the forest and made their own way out of the school grounds, then apparated back to Grimmauld Place where they were staying.
Harry and Hermione sat alone on an old Gryffindor sofa, which Dobby had found for them, in a store room under the tower, it was so well used that it was probably the most comfortable piece of furniture that Harry had ever sat in. He snuggled up to Hermione and handed her his last present; Ginny had passed it to him earlier that evening. The small bottle Hermione removed from the wrapping was very familiar to her, but welcome never the less.
"I was nearly out of this. Thank-you." she said giving him a kiss to reinforce the sentiment. She looked around the room, marvelling at the balloons and decorations Dobby had found. Considering their circumstances they had had a pretty good time, but there was one thing missing she looked at Harry. "No music," she said wistfully, "that would have made everything perfect."
Harry gave her a suspicious look but took his wand from his robes, waved it once and muttered "Anselmo." Red and blue sparks erupted from the end of his wand, and they gathered in a large cloud on the far side of the room, then they began to swirl faster and faster. As the sparks faded away, they left in their place a man, sitting at a small piano. He stayed so still, not looking to the left or right, it was hard to tell if he was real, it seemed as if he was waiting for something.
"Go and ask him to play," said Harry, "anything you like."
Hermione stood and slowly walked over to the piano man, not really sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her. The man didn't acknowledge her presence, but after she whispered to him he nodded once and began to play. The song was a slow ballad, and was begging to be danced to. Hermione retraced her steps to Harry and held out her hand. Harry groaned, he knew this would happen, he didn't like dancing very much but there was no way he was going to disappoint Hermione; he stood and held her in his arms. The dance was not complicated; they swayed with the music and really did nothing more than turn slowly around and around, but to Hermione it was the most wonderful moment as she and her Harry danced cheek to cheek. The words of the song said it better than Harry ever could and he felt the tears of happiness that were running unashamedly down Hermione's face. Then as the last notes faded away and with them the man and the piano, Harry looked into the shining eyes of the girl he loved the most and kissed her deeply.
* * *
Luna walked down with Ron to Hagrid's hut the next day. His excuse to get her there had been quite pathetic.
"I think Hagrid has a horned snobbery in a cage, want to come and see it with me?" he had asked, with as much excitement as he could muster.
Luna had wanted to laugh out loud, how could Ron expect her to believe in such a ridiculous animal, but she didn't because she knew the real reason behind his request and she didn't mind the subterfuge. Everything had been made very clear to her and Luna knew now that she really should have trusted Harry all that time ago with her secret, and that there was no doubt anymore, in either of her minds, that both Ron and Hermione could be trusted as well.
The place appeared deserted, neither Hagrid nor Fang were anywhere to be seen, so Ron and Luna sat on the stone steps that led to the front door and the golden haired girl waited for the red headed young man to start his pitch.
"Err… shame really, that no one is here I mean, Hagrid must have taken the horned snoggleberry for a walk," said Ron lamely.
"I thought it was a horned snobbery Ronald," said Luna seriously, "I wouldn't have bothered to come down for a horned snoggleberry, Dad and I saw one of those over the summer holidays."
"Oh yes, …did you, …silly me I meant a snobbery," he gave a false laugh, and wondered how deep a mess he was going to dig himself into.
Luna gave Ron a knowing look. "Ronald, there is no such thing as a snoggleberry, horned or otherwise."
"Oh, isn't there?" he said with a touch of panic in his voice.
"No," she confirmed, "and I doubt very much if there is such a thing as a horned snobbery either. You'll have to do better than that." Ron said nothing because nothing came to mind. Then Luna decided to send the conversation off in a totally different direction. "If you wanted to get me on your own, you only had to ask you know," she said coyly fluttering her eyelashes at him. "I mean I do find you rather cute you know, maybe a bit more than cute."
Ron managed a muted strangled sort of noise.
"I first noticed you on the train, do you remember? Luna continued, "Then when you started playing Quidditch with Harry, I sort of, well, noticed you more." She smiled sweetly at Ron who was beginning to wish there was no hidden agenda to this meeting. "When did you notice me?" It was so innocently asked that Ron could do nothing but answer truthfully.
"On the train coming up this time, you had your head out of the window," Ron looked a bit embarrassed, "I thought you had nice legs," he admitted. "Then I sort of noticed the rest of you."
Inside Hagrid's hut Harry and Hermione were sitting, hidden, by an open window, listening to the conversation outside, and both of them felt that despite the reason for them all being here, the two inside should not be listening to what was transpiring on the step on the other side of the door.
In those few moments of reflection Ron had totally forgotten why he and Luna were sitting on that cold stone step. He was staring into a pair of shockingly blue eyes that were dancing with light and held him entranced. The owner of those eyes reached out a hand and caressed his cheek then slipped her arm around his neck. As she pulled him towards her, Ron heard her say, "Isn't it fortunate that we both noticed each other." He was going to agree but at that moment her lips met his and the softness of her mouth drove all coherent thought out of his brain. Ron sealed his fate by sliding his arms around Luna's slim frame and completing the embrace.
Inside the hut there should have been two rather embarrassed young people wishing they could have thought of some other way of discovering Luna's secret, but at the moment Ron and Luna's lips met outside, some unknown impulse had driven Harry and Hermione into a similar situation. The passion in both kisses was equally intense, but perhaps because Harry and Hermione had practiced more, their kiss broke first.
Harry smiled, "She knows we're here," he whispered breathlessly, "could you feel it?" Hermione nodded and only with difficulty prevented herself from drawing Harry back to her. "Come on, out the back door," and he pulled her to her feet and the pair of them crept across the room.
By the time they had walked around to Hagrid's front door Ron and Luna's kiss was just ending. Ron looked rather flushed, Luna looked serene and smiled graciously at Harry and Hermione as they walked up to the step. There was a short silence as the four looked at each other, and it was Luna who broke the impasse.
"I am a Despuamense, a mind skimmer, that's how I knew," she said answering all their questions in one go. "And you Harry, should be careful, if anyone sees you you'll be in awful trouble," she warned him.
"Luna's right Harry," said Hermione with an unusual hardness to her voice, it was still early enough for anyone to be out in the grounds and the events of the last five minutes had made them forget how dangerous their situation could become. "We ought to continue this at home," she finished, glaring at the pair on the steps.
Harry didn't pick up on the change in her manner and merely nodded, "OK you two," he said to Ron and Luna, "Let's go." Then allowing the others to lead the way, Harry and Hermione checked there was no one around and turned and headed into the edge of the forest.
On the way through the passage to the Shack, Hermione slowed Harry so that they fell well behind Ron and Luna. "Do you know what a Despuamense can do Harry?" Hermione whispered to him as they stumbled through the dark tunnel.
"No not really, though I do seem to remember reading something about them in that dark arts book we found over the summer," he replied. "I thought they called them something else."
"Yes, they had another term for them alright," she said evenly, "they called them mind leaches. They can invade your thoughts and pick them clean without you ever knowing. Far more subtle than a Legilimens, she could be extremely dangerous." Hermione had a hard glint in her eyes that Harry had never seen before and it worried him.
"If she is so dangerous, why are we taking her to the Shack, and why didn't she sell us down the river that time at the Ministry," said Harry trying to make some sense of it all.
Hermione didn't beat about the bush. "If she is working for the other side then we will have to deal with her, and the Shack is the best place for that. As for the Ministry perhaps it wasn't the right time." In the dim light Harry saw Hermione reach for her wand as if prepared to carry her suspicions to their final conclusions.
Harry restrained her and dragged her to a stop. "What's got into you Hermione? you've never acted like this before, you could be condemning a perfectly innocent school girl," he said as persuasively as possible.
"What's got into me," she flashed back angrily, "I'll tell you what's got into me, she did, she got into my mind, and she made me kiss you."
"Oh…" said Harry understanding, and he drew her into a hug, "What has happened to the famous Granger logic. We've known Luna for what, two years?" he felt Hermione's head nod in assent. "If she was working for Voldemort, now or in the past she wouldn't have been able to hide it. Snape couldn't manage to keep it from us; we all knew how evil he was, even if Dumbledore couldn't see it, and just now if she meant us any harm, she could have made us fight, or try to kill each other. You are just being oversensitive."
Hermione drew back and looked daggers at him. "Oops" thought Harry and sought to set things right again. "I do understand love, first Ron and his potions and now Luna, both taking control of you from you, and you feel that you have no defence against it." He sighed, "I can promise you it is much worse when Voldemort does it." Harry gazed into her face held between his hands; he could see that the anger was dissipating. "You didn't mind kissing me did you?"
The faintest smile reached the corners of her mouth. "No of course not," and to reinforce her words she kissed him again.
Ron had obviously let Luna through the barrier, for when Harry and Hermione reached the main room the two of them were standing by the work table. Luna looked as if she had been crying, in fact she still was, and Ron stood by her his arm protectively draped around her shoulders, he was worried and there was a look of panic about him.
"Luna's sorry Hermione," said Ron quickly, "she didn't realise how upset you had been with me, or why, you hide it too well, …thanks," he gave her a sickly smile, "and of course I never think about it, well at least not when I am with her, it seems. Luna was only trying to give you a demonstration of her ability in the nicest way she could think of."
Hermione began to regret her sudden outburst.
"I could feel your anger," Luna said between sniffs, "Oh, Hermione," she cried afresh, "I thought you were going to kill me."
Now, much though she didn't want to, Hermione could feel the waves of fear and remorse emanating from the blond haired girl in Ron's arms, the disadvantage of being a Despuamense clear. Only by rigid control could her secret be kept and her safety assured, that control was gone, blown away by Hermione's anger, at that moment Luna was the most vulnerable of the four. Now it was Hermione's turn to apologise, and taking the crying girl from Ron, she led Luna to the far end of the room and sat her on the edge of the bed and girl to girl they sorted out their differences.
Harry and Ron disappeared down to the kitchen to rustle up Dobby, or if necessary rustle up tea for themselves. Ron watched Harry as he filled the large black kettle with water. "You know mate," he said to Harry, "I've begun to realise that Hermione and I could never have lasted long together, even if I had played it straight, and courted her fair and square."
"No?" queried Harry.
"No," Ron assured him; "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Hermione is brilliant, brilliant but scary, very scary." Ron gave an involuntary shiver. The quiet chuckle from the two lads was lost in the noise from the kettle, as the water in it began to boil.
"You can ask if you like," Hermione told Harry as they watched Ron and Luna descend the stairs on their way back to Hogwarts.
"Ask what?" said Harry, hoping he wasn't pushing his luck.
"Why I decided we could trust her," she replied, not even sounding cross.
"What trust her, instead of blowing her into atoms?" he said, amazed at his temerity. "I did wonder."
"OK…OK so I overreacted, I'm sorry," said Hermione trying to put a lid on her temper tantrum. "I hate not feeling in control, and you said it yourself, she could have set us against each other, so I was right to be worried."
"But you're not now?"
"No, not now," she sighed.
"So why?" he asked.
"She lost control, and she was completely vulnerable." Hermione explained. If she, was working for Voldemort it would have shown, and if she was under any form of compulsive spell she would not have been able to drop her defences like that. Besides we had a really good talk, and she told me something."
"Oh yeh, what was that?" said Harry, with a little sigh of relief, not really caring, just thankful that their latest problem had sorted itself out.
"She told me that you loved me," said Hermione coyly.
Harry looked at her in wonderment, "But you already know that." he said with surprise.
"I know, but a girl likes to be reassured once in a while," she said with a smile. A smile that ended in a shrill giggle as Harry proceeded to show her just how much he did love her.
* * *
Ron and Luna reached the castle steps well before evening curfew, but as usual the main halls were deserted. Very few students ventured out of their common rooms these days, even the library was rarely occupied after dinner, it wasn't clear if Madam Pince preferred it this way or not. Ron was very relieved the way things had gone back at the Shack; he was pleased that Luna had the Harry and Hermione seal of approval, pleased that his judgement of the girl had been upheld, glad that he wouldn't have to continue to see her behind his best friend's backs. That first proper kiss on the step of Hagrid's hut had held all the confirmation Ron needed to tell him that his attraction to Luna was genuine, and now he couldn't give her up if he tried.
Their silent companionable wanderings led them into the trophy room; Ron remembered the incident in their first year when Malfoy had tricked them with a supposed duel, and Filtch had so nearly caught them. He also recalled his detention, in the second year, when he had cleaned every cup, plate and shield in that immense cabinet that now gleamed with the gold and silver trophies. Some of them he had cleaned more than once, he tried to swallow as in his suddenly dry throat the foul taste of his own slug hex returned to haunt him. Then it occurred to him that he had never taken the trouble to look at the trophy that actually belonged to him, his Special Award for Services to the School, it should be here along with Harry's. Yes, there it was, on the second shelf in a group of about a dozen similar awards and Harry's next to his, both golden cups shone brightly standing there, on small wooden plinths.
"Here Luna," he said pointing at the awards, "Have you ever seen these, Harry and I won them in our second year, I'd almost forgotten about them."
"What Ronald?" the girl appeared distracted, "Sorry, but there is something here that is not right. Did you say you had an award?"
"Yes, its here," Ron didn't bother to mention that he had only been thinking about it.
"Oh that's nice, and Harry has one too," Luna was having trouble focusing both her thoughts and her vision. She drew closer to the glass of the cupboard door so as to see better. "What is this one." she said almost dreamily, pointing to an award at the back of the shelf.
"That, Oh that's Riddle's," Ron spat out, "the one he got for framing Hagrid, never understood why Dumbledore didn't destroy it, once he knew that Riddle had become Voldemort."
'Hem- hem', the quiet throat clearing cough was enough to make Ron's blood run cold. "Possibly Mr Weasley because he knew he would be overstepping his powers, after all no one has ever proved that this Voldemort really exists," the voice dragged Ron back two whole years, and he turned to stare into the rather unpleasant features of Delores Umbridge.
Ron was about to set the late unlamented Inquisitor of Hogwarts straight, when he realised that Luna was still staring into the cupboard, and swaying alarmingly on her feet. He reached out to steady her, and at his touch she turned to him, "Why is it writhing like that? It's the only one, it looks like it is alive," she mumbled. She appeared to be getting more unsteady by the second, and Ron held her to him to keep her on her feet, he glanced back at the trophies, he could see nothing amiss. Luna had swivelled in his arms and was staring in the same unfocused fashion at Umbridge and the two people with her, they were the Ministry spies; Ron had never caught their names. Luna regarded Umbridge and the other woman and paid them little attention, then her sight fell on the third figure a dark haired, bearded man, with a sallow complexion, Ron felt her stiffen in his grasp, and her eyes opened very wide. Luna screamed once and fainted.
* * *