Can't Fight the Moonlight

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created originally by TVM and are copyrighted to him, any reposting or archiving without written permission is an infringement on the copyright of this series. So in other words You damn well better ask before you steal it.

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Summary: None

Original Airdate: July 7, 2008 @ 9:30 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW 'Scent of a Girl')

Story Codes: no sex

It was three days after the celebration. Hermione was resting on a blanket in the garden of the Burrow. She was reading a biography on Churchill. At first she had wanted to bring some documents from work to go through, but Ron had convinced her to not bring her work to their vacation. Hermione was completely engrossed in her reading, so much that she didn’t notice Luna coming through the gate.

“It is very fascinating to see how you scrunch your face together when you concentrate.” Luna said, thus announcing her presence.

“Huh!? Luna, what are you doing here?”

“I was merely taking a stroll around the village and then I saw you. I hope I don’t intrude.”

“No, no. Of course not. I was just very much engrossed. Please sit down.” Hermione said, patting the blanket and putting the book away. Luna sat down and read the title of the book.

“Churchill? My grandfather met him once.” Luna announced as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Hermione didn’t know what to think. Churchill had existed after all so there might be some merit to Luna’s claim.

“How did that happen?”

“It was long ago in Africa. Mr Churchill was still quite young. He was in Africa doing some work for the muggle ministry. My grandfather was there to study African wizardry. It just so happened that they were the only two Englishmen in some minor village. Apparently Mr Churchill treated my Grandfather to some excellent whiskey.”

“Did he tell you this? Are you sure he was telling the truth?”

“He died long before I was born I’m afraid. He was hiking the central African jungles and that was the last thing heard of him.”

“Ohh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“Don’t worry. He was quite famous in his day. He wrote about his adventures. Osiris Lovegood’s amazing adventures and Osiris Lovegood’s extraordinary explorations. Have you heard of them?”

“I’m afraid not, but I’ll be sure to read them if I ever get the chance.”

“We have the books at home of course. I’ll be sure to lend them to you some time.”

“Yes, that’d be nice.”

Hermione didn’t know quite what to think. She had some serious doubts about whether those tales were true. Still they might prove a fascinating read.

“I had another reason to come however. I just wanted to tell you that I’m moving to London.”

Hermione had not expected that and neither had she expected how happy she would become about it. She leaned in and gave Luna a hug.

“That’s great. Where are you going to live? What are you going to work with? I will just have to show you the sights. This is going to be so great.” Hermione said, unable to contain her excitement.

Luna just stared at Hermione wide eyed, clearly surprised by the reaction.

“That was uncharacteristically emotional of you Hermione.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me it’s just….”

“I didn’t say it was bad. I’m very much pleased that you are so happy about it. I would love to let you show me the sights.”

“Have you been in London before? Other than for the Hogwarts Express and Diagon Alley obviously.”

“Yes, mother was quite fond of London. But I haven’t really been there since she lived. My father tends to find it far to stressing. I’m going to live in a small apartment above Ollivander’s. He is going to let me have it for free. I did treat some very nasty wounds when we were in captivity and he has expressed great gratitude for that.”

“I presume that you are going to work for the Quibbler?”

“Yes I will. The paper has been doing very well since that interview with Harry.

It seems that we have gathered a loyal following due to our commitment to truth and our opposition towards Voldemort.”

“So, when will you move in?”

“Some time later towards the autumn. I’m going to do some travelling first. I’m actually going to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather.”

“But he disappeared!” Hermione exclaimed, suddenly worried.

“Yes.” Luna confirmed.

“Yes, you can’t just say yes. This sounds awfully dangerous. What if you run into some Dark wizard or some escaped death eater or…” Hermione was in a rant of dangerous things that could happen. She did not like the thought of Luna all alone on a different continent. Just then the two were interrupted by Ron who came out of the house.

“There you are, we are going to have game of Quidditch before supper. Wanna come and watch?”

Hermione wasn’t too fond of the idea. She had seen the siblings play on many occasions and it always ended in hexes and curses flying everywhere. On the other hand, she felt guilty about spending the entire afternoon reading.

“Sure, I’d love to.” Hermione said in a very unconvincing voice. Ron didn’t seem to pick up on it though. He ran into the forest towards the clearing they used for Quidditch. Hermione turned to Luna.

“Would you please join me? It’s awfully boring to sit alone and watch.”

“I’d be delighted.” Luna said to Hermione’s great relief.

They walked up the path to the clearing to find the game already underway. Hermione and Luna sat down in the grass watching the action unfold. It was a game between the three older and the three younger siblings. They weren’t full teams so they played with one quaffle one bludger and no snitch. Harry had been assigned to be the referee, but he was having a hard time. Whenever he looked in the other direction someone did a dirty trick. George managed to let loose a cloud of green smoke over Bill. Charlie had a small spider looking creature attack Ginny. It didn’t hurt her, but it did tickle her.

“Have you ever played Quidditch?” Hermione asked.

“No I haven’t, but I do have a broom. I named it Calypso.”

“I’ve never liked flying broom. Seems awfully dangerous.”

“No it isn’t. You just have to get to know your broom and it will be good to you.”

Hermione had never heard of anyone getting to know their broom, but she supposed that if anyone was going to do it, it was going to be Luna.

“Do you want to see it?” Luna asked.

Before Hermione could answer Luna had stood up and loudly declared “Accio Calypso”. It took a few seconds before the broom came zooming and placed itself in Luna’s hand. The Quidditch players were very surprised to see an empty broom come zooming by. Ginny, who had seen it before used this opportunity to score.

“It is a Valkyria 33. My dad bought it to me when we were in Sweden. I had wanted a broom for years, but he was so worried about me. Then when I told him about what we did at the ministry he decided I was old enough. It is a very good broom.”

Luna handed it over to Hermione who started to examine it. It was made of what appeared to be birch and it had a simple, yet elegant design. There were some signs on it that Hermione immediately recognised as ancient runes.

“It says Valkyria and that it makes sure that the owner won’t come to Valhall prematurely.” Hermione translated.

“Yes, it has a special function. It is supposed to chase after me and catch me if I fall. I have never tried that function of course, but it is nice to know.”

“Are you sure that will work?”

“Ohh yes. The Valkyria has a very solid reputation.”

Hearing that the broom had such a safety feature was nice, but it didn’t change the fact that Hermione would never get on it. That was an unnecessary risk that Hermione wasn’t willing to take.

“Do you want to try it?” Luna asked.

“No, I’m not getting on a broom. No way.” Hermione said, shaking her head for emphasis.

“And here I thought you were a Gryffindor.”

Hermione looked over at Luna and saw a small smile curling her lips.

“Are you trying to get me on a broom by implying that I’m afraid?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m doing.” Luna confirmed with an amused smile on her face.

“Well, at least you are honest about it.” Hermione said.

“If I can prove to you that it is perfectly safe, will you then join me on a trip on my broom?” Luna asked.

Hermione took a moment to think about it and decided that she could hardly back away from solid proof.

“Ok, but it better be solid proof.”

“Harry. Can you please come over?” Luna shouted.

Harry seemed to be more than happy about leaving his impossible job as a referee

“Hey, Luna. What can I do for you.”

“Hello Harry. I am trying to convince our friend here to join me on a trip with my broom. She does however have some doubts about the safety. I now wonder if you could help me out and prove that it is safe.”

“Sure, I’ve been trying to get her to try a broom for years. What can I do?”

“Fly off on my broom, fall off and it will catch you again.”

“Harry, don’t you dare do it. There is no way of knowing if it will really work.” Hermione said sternly.

Harry took a look at the broom.

“So you want me to do something daring and reckless just in order to prove a point?” Harry asked.

Hermione recognised the gleam in Harry’s eyes. It was the same gleam he always had before they were going to do something daring and reckless.

“You are going to do it aren’t you?” Hermione asked with and exasperated sigh.

“You bet I am.” Harry answered.

Luna handed it over and Harry got up on it. He was as enthusiastic as a young boy with a new toy. Hermione just gave him an intense glare.

“This is going to great.” Harry said as he took off.

He took the broom for a ride, trying speed, acceleration and other features. Then he set it on a straight course and jumped off. The broom reacted in an instant, changing course and catching Harry well before he hit the ground. He then slowed down and made a smooth landing in front of Hermione and Luna.

“See, I told you it’d be safe.” Luna said.

“Yep, it didn’t even hurt when it caught me.” Harry confirmed.

Hermione looked at the other two and realised that she was defeated.

“Ok, I’ll try, but I’m not going on that thing all by myself.”

“Of course not, You’ll just sit behind me. It can easily hold two people. You know what? Let’s take a little trip. We’ll fly somewhere fun and we’ll be back before supper.” Luna said with a happy smile.

Now that the broom had proven itself safe, Hermione was actually starting to look forward to a little trip with Luna. She had no idea what it would entail, but with Luna it was sure to be interesting. And it would surely be better than watching Quidditch.

“So you want to take a little trip? I guess we could do that.”

“Yay. Let’s go right away.” Luna said and got up.

“But, where are we going?”

“I don’t know. We’ll just do some flying and see what catch out attention.”

“But we can’t just go away without planning. We could end up anywhere. What if we get lost?”

“Don’t worry. The broom knows how to find its way back to my house from anywhere. Besides where is the fun in a trip if you know where you are going. I happen to think that the fun is in not knowing where we’ll end up.” That wasn’t really Hermione’s philosophy. She very much liked to have things planned out in advance, even if it was recreation. On the other hand Luna’s obvious enthusiasm was starting to rub off.

“Ok, We’ll do it your way.” Hermione said.

“This is going to great. I promise you will like it.”

Luna got up and mounted the broom. Hermione hesitated so Luna stretched her hand out for. Hermione took a deep breath and mounted the broom behind Luna.

“Hold on now. The start is the tricky part.”

“I thought you said it was safe.” Hermione said in a panicked voice.

“Don’t worry. It is perfectly safe. Just make sure to hold on.”

The only thing to hold on to was Luna, so Hermione did so wrapping her arms around the younger girl’s stomach.”

“Here we go!” Luna said and kicked off.

“Bye girls! See you at supper.” Harry screamed behind them as they flew away.

The broom took air, quickly ascending to an altitude of 50 meters. Hermione felt her heart beating quickly. Mostly it was from fear, but there was also a bit of excitement. She made sure to hold on as tight as she could to Luna. It did make her feel a lot safer, not only because that made things steadier. She also felt that being close to Luna somehow made it safer. They had already reached the Lovegood residence, now rebuilt to its old glory. Luna started to circle it.

“I’m gonna get us something to eat. Let’s see what do we have?”

“We’re not going to land before we get something to eat?” Hermione asked.

“We could do that, but this is going to be more fun. Accio fruit bowl.” Luna shouted.

A bowl of various fruits came sailing out of an open window. Luna quickly tapped the broom with her wand and the fruit bowl started to soar right behind the broom.

“It’s a nice feature isn’t it? The broom can have any object trail it to wherever we are going.”

“I’ve never heard of a broom doing that.”

“I bet you have only heard of those quidditch brooms. This one isn’t as fast as a quidditch broom, but it does have all these other nice features. It really is a very sensible broom.”

“It does seem very practical.” Hermione admitted.

“It sure is. Once I had Neville’s toad trailing behind the broom. I’m afraid the toad was scared senseless, but I did bring it back to Neville.”

“When did this happen?”

“It was last summer. He came to visit Harry at the Weaslys before going to Brazil. Neville is a true hero, but he sure can’t keep track of that toad. Me I think it just wants to explore. I found him in the creek close to my house.”

“I helped Neville look for his toad once. The first time we met on Hogwarts Express.”

“Yes, he told me about that. Right after I brought the toad back he told me about all the times it had disappeared. It was quite amusing to hear.”

“You like Neville don’t you?”

“Ohh. Yes he is a very interesting person. I don’t think people realise that.”

Hermione started to think about that statement as they soared through the air.

He was still holding on to Luna for dear life, but she wasn’t as scared anymore. In fact she was starting to enjoy the tremendous view of the English countryside and the wind rustling her hair. Luna’s long blonde locks flowed freely and Hermione couldn’t help but notice that they smelled a little like pineapple. It was quite interesting that Luna was so fond of Neville. Hermione thought they would make a very cute couple if they ever got together. Curiosity took over and Hermione just had to ask.

“So, has he ever asked you out?”

“Yes, he actually did one occasion. It was right after the big battle.”

”So what did you say?”

“I said I’d be happy to go out with him as a friend.”

“Just a friend? I mean he has grown up to become quite handsome don’t you think?”

“Yes, that is true. He is very handsome.”

“So why didn’t you accept a date then?”

“Look. I think that is the ocean in the distance. Let’s land on the beach.”

Luna was obviously dodging the question, but Hermione let it slide. She didn’t want to ruin the good time they were having by prying.

“It does look inviting to on the beach. Good idea.”

Luna descended and touched down easily in the sand. It was far from any buildings and the weather was cloudy so there wasn’t anyone around. The beach seemed to stretch out forever in both directions. There were soft dunes and the occasional tree and bush.

“This place is beautiful. Where are we?” Hermione asked.

“Well, we went west, that is all I can say.”

Suddenly Luna ran away from Hermione and threw herself in the sand.

“What?” Hermione asked.

“Hello little friend.” Luna said, obviously not speaking to Hermione.

Hermione got down in the sand next to Luna and saw some sort of crab. It was toiling with some seaweed, but it was hard to say whether the crab was eating it, building a nest out of it or something else completely.

“Isn’t he cute? I wonder what it is.” Luna asked.

Hermione looked at it. The only cute thing about it was that it was small. If it had been big it had been quite an awful monster.

“He is special. I give him that.” Hermione diplomatically said.

“I wonder if he is hungry. Accio banana.”

A banana came flying from the bowl of fruit. Luna peeled it, broke the top off and put it in front of the crab. It looked at it in what almost seemed like suspicion. Then it slowly closed in and dug into the banana with his claws.

“You know I think it is a he.” Luna remarked.

“How can you tell, I mean you don’t see the … you know…or can you see it?

Luna let out a soft giggle.

“No, I just know.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Hermione answered.

“That would be a first.” Luna said in a perfectly neutral voice.

Hermione turned to look at Luna.

“Luna, were you just sarcastic?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“I believe I was, yes.” Luna said in the same neutral voice before she broke out into laughing.

Hermione quickly joined in the laughing and realised that she was having an even better time than she had imagined.

“Look, He really was hungry.” Luna said as she observed at the crab.

And sure enough he seemed to be hungry. He was now feasting on the banana.. Hermione thought it was very fascinating to watch. Luna took a bite of the banana before reaching over and offering it to Hermione who also took a bite. Then the crab suddenly left and walked away. He was surprisingly fast. He didn’t walk very far though. He soon came back, now with another crab in tow.

“He got his friend. Isn’t that nice of him.” Luna exclaimed. Hermione simply nodded. She of course had a more scientific approach than her younger friend. She made a mental note to herself, that crabs apparently had some way of communicating that there was food around. She also concluded that it could very beneficiary from an evolutionary point of view to be able to share such information.

“I wonder if they are in love? Sharing a banana on the beach is very romantic, don’t you think.” Luna said.

“Yes indeed.” Hermione answered, at the same time realising that she and Luna were doing the exact same thing.

This of course made Hermione’s mind go into overdrive.

‘Are we having a romantic moment here just like the crabs? Of course not, we are just friends. And for all I know, maybe the crabs are just friends as well. What am I thinking? Crabs don’t have friends. They have others in their flock at most. Crabs aren’t capable of friendship. I think Luna is really getting to me. But that doesn’t mean that this is romantic. No way. We’re just two friends having a good time. Luna is a girl, not that that matters really. I mean it isn’t wrong or anything to be with a girl. But the important thing is that I’m with Ron. That’s right. I’m with Ron. So, why is he just playing quidditch? I bet he hasn’t even noticed I’m gone. Of course he has noticed, I’m sure he misses me. Why am I getting worked up over this? I’m just on this beach with a friend, nothing wrong with that…’

“What are you thinking about? Luna suddenly asked.

The question actually wasn’t very sudden, but it felt like sudden to Hermione who had been completely lost in her own thoughts.

“Absolutely nothing…I mean crabs. I was thinking about crabs and nothing else.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Hermione looked at Luna, fearing that she would be questioned.

“Don’t worry, Hermione. You’ll tell me some day. We all have secrets. It’s ok.”

“Uhhh, thanks.”

“It’s ok. I believe we are out of banana.” Luna said and proceeded to summon two apples from the bowl.

Hermione was very relieved about the change in topic and she heartily bit into the apple. It was very juicy and tasty.

“It is home grown. Mum planted the three when she and dad moved in.” Luna said.

There was a sadness in her face and Hermione felt like she wanted to do something. She put her hand over Luna’s shoulder and patted it. She was just about to remove it again when she felt Luna’s soft hand on top of her own. Hermione looked into Luna’s big silvery eyes. Hermione had never seen this vulnerable side of Luna. Usually nothing got to her.

“You really miss her don’t you?”

For once Luna didn’t have an answer. She did however lean her head to Hermione’s shoulder. Hermione tried to think about something to say, but came up blank. She did however keep her arm on Luna’s shoulders. She had a feeling that was just what Luna needed. They rested like that for some time, watching the crabs eat. Then Luna got up and spoke in a much happier voice.

“Let’s take a walk and see what we find. All kinds of interesting things can be found at shores you know.”

“Good idea.” Hermione said and got up.

They started to walk together down the beach, both looking in the sand for something interesting. There was the sound of seagulls in the distance and the waves slowly washing up on the shore, but other than that it was very quiet. This time it was Hermione who found something. She bent down and picked up few small shells.

“These are nice. I think I’m going to glue these to a frame. Wouldn’t that be neat.” Hermione said.

“Ohh, yes. That would look very good. What photo are you going to put in the frame?”

“I have this one photo. It was taken by Colin Creevey on the day of the battle of Hogwarts. He took it just before we went out to fight.”

“Yes, I remember that. He was a very good person, Colin. We had many classes together. He was always very polite to me.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“He liked to take pictures of me. Said I was a very interesting motif.”

“I think I’d like to see one of those pics one day.”

The two girls spent the reminder of the afternoon on that beach. Talking and browsing for interesting objects. Hermione felt complexly relaxed for what seemed like an eternity. In fact she couldn’t even remember when she last had felt this good. Somehow things seemed so easy with Luna. She always said what was on her mind and after a while Hermione started to do the same. At one time they took shoes and socks off to feel the water. Luna couldn’t resist splashing water on Hermione who had swiftly retaliated. They had needed a drying spell after that. It wasn’t until the light was starting to fade, that they remembered they had to go back. By then the crabs had finished or perhaps dragged away the banana and the girls had finished the fruit.

“By my little friends, I hope you liked the fruit.” Luna screamed as they took air.

“Bye, bye little crabs.” Hermione filled in.

Saying good bye to crabs wasn’t a thing Hermione would normally do of course, but after an afternoon with Luna it felt like the right thing to do.