Chapter 17: Bud!
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"You know, you should pretend you're going flying every day if it wakes you up that much," Hermione says.
Ron frowns. "But most days I won't be."
"That's why it's called pretending," she says, clearly trying to keep the condescension out of her voice.
"You sure you don't want to join us?" Harry asks hopefully, looking back and forth between me and his bushy-haired friend.
"Yes," Hermione says. I give a small smile and a wink.
"Ah, right," Harry says with a grin, "you've got your snogging to do."
She mock glares at him. "Don't you start with that again, Harry!"
"Hey, just think of it as a euphemism for studying," I say. "That way, next time your roommates ask you where you've been, you can say, 'oh, I was just in the library, snogging as usual.'"
Hermione doesn't find that as funny as I do, instead sticking her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Why would studying need a euphemism?"
Harry and I both laugh at that before I speak up. "Hmm, well I suppose I didn't think that one through, because what happens when Harry and Ron come to snog with us?"
"Okay, I think I just lost my appetite," she says.
"Me too," says Harry.
"Why? We're just talking about studying." Ron says.
"As if you could ever lose your appetite anyway," Hermione says, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, he just knows a good euphemism when he hears one," I say. "Like 'dirtying the shutters' or 'dipping in the wishing well'"
Hermione shudders. "I don't even want to know what those mean."
"I just made them up, actually," I say with a grin. "I just wanted to see how far in the gutter your mind was."
"You must be a masochist," Harry says as he sees me rubbing my shoulder that dared be in range of Hermione's hand. Her smacks are getting more forceful.
"So flying and then snog—er, studying until lunch then?" Ron asks.
"Sounds fair to me," I say.
"At least this time you'll have someone there when you try to dip in the wishing well," Hermione says, trying unsuccessfully to fix me with a glare. The amusement in her eyes is more than enough to give her away; the curling of her lips just makes it extra obvious.
"I dunno, if we're both there you might dirty the shutters."
"She probably will unless she winds up the plastic penguin," Harry adds.
"That's disgusting, Harry," I say.
"I have no idea what's going on around here," Ron says.
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"Hello, William," Luna greets us when we reach the seventh floor corridor. "I see you've brought a friend."
Her melodic voice makes me smile. "Ah, I didn't want to keep the lovely morning views all to myself, in case you weren't here. I looked for you up here around sunset, you know."
Luna smiles back. "I'm sorry I missed it."
I see Hermione looking at me with an unreadable expression, then she turns to Luna. "I'm Hermione, by the way, Hermione Granger."
"Mmm," Luna says.
I discreetly hold up a finger for quiet, then point at the window, and Hermione looks perplexed, but acquiesces and turns her attention out the window.
There we stand in silence for some time, and once again I lose myself watching the beautiful cumulus clouds drift lazily toward the horizon.
When the puffy, white clouds move in front of the sun, golden rays of light shimmer into existence and bathe the countryside. I find myself hoping and waiting for the next cloud to drift in that direction.
A hand lightly touches my shoulder, and after the most recent captor cloud releases its prisoner, I turn to find Hermione watching the spectacle, too, with her hand on my shoulder. A moment later she turns to me, expression softer but still unreadable, then her gaze falls to Luna.
"Thank you for sharing this with me," Hermione says softly.
"You're welcome," the other girl says in her sing-song voice. "Not many people want to watch."
"I can't imagine why, it's indescribably beautiful."
Luna hums in agreement, and we all return to our sky gazing for a few moments, but we all shift slightly. The moment has passed. "I'm glad you brought her, William, I like her."
"I like her, too," I say.
Hermione seems to understand, and smiles. "What's your name?"
"My name is Luna."
"I'm glad to meet you, Luna." Hermione looks like she wants to hold out her hand, but she isn't sure exactly how to interact with the unusual Ravenclaw.
Luna turns and smiles at her. "Likewise. Goodbye, William, Hermione."
"See you around, Luna," I say.
Hermione and I walk leisurely and silently to the corner where the entrance to the Room of Requirement is hidden. We both glance back to find Luna gone. Surprisingly Hermione doesn't comment, as if she might have expected that as well.
"May I?" she asks quietly, as if trying to avoid spoiling the moment with too many words.
I smile and… not in encouragement.
In short order the wall begins its grinding and groaning to produce a door for us, and we enter an incredible library, completely covered in neatly-ordered stacks of bookshelves except for a small sitting area near a fireplace.
I haven't seen it in person, but I would not be surprised if this one turned out to be larger even than the main Hogwarts library.
"Very impressive," I say.
"I'm glad you like it. So...William, huh?"
I give a small chuckle as I walk over to a nearby shelf and begin perusing the stacks. "She asked me if Bud was short for anything, and I said William. You know, Bud is an okay name in the States, but here it just sounds awkward."
"Would you like me to call you that?"
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