"Of Stars and Gorgons," Hermione/Luna, G Title: Of Stars and Gorgons Author:kethlenda Pairing: Hermione/Luna Rating: G Warnings: none Word Count: 520 Summary:Hermione walks out under the emerald stars, knowing she shouldn't be out of Gryffindor Tower this time of night, for once not caring. A/N: Just a little something I found on my hard drive tonight.
Hermione walks out under the emerald stars, knowing she shouldn't be out of Gryffindor Tower this time of night, for once not caring.
The Dark Mark is slowly fading from the firmament, its green pinpricks of light winking out one after another, but enough remain to trace the shape of the memento mori against the black sky. Hermione wants to see the Mark snuffed out, to see the pure white of true stars, the round gold of the moon, something to tell her this is the same old world it's always been, though her childhood and any vestige of a sense of security died along with Dumbledore.
She passes the smoldering ruin of Hagrid's hut; she passes swaths of beaten-down grass and knows, from what she's managed to reconstruct of the night's events, that this must be the way the Death Eaters ran.
Hermione turns around, and not because she fears for her safety; she knows they're gone, at least for tonight. She doesn't want to smell charred wood and the tang of curses; the whole purpose of her walk is to channel her restlessness into her feet until she's calm enough to sleep.
She heads for the lake, where the Mark grins at its own reflection, but at least the scent of the air here is refreshing: a different sort of green entirely. She smiles a little, seeing the silhouette of a figure standing on the shore. Great minds think alike.
The other screams, jumps back, and Hermione recognizes her voice. "Luna? It's all right, it's me; I'm not a Death Eater…"
"Oh, sorry, Hermione," says Luna, stepping back out of the shadows. "I thought you were a gorgon."
"What?" Hermione can't decide whether to laugh or be royally pissed off--of all the things Luna could be afraid of right now, she picked gorgons? Then again, she just compared Hermione to one, and Hermione is in no mood for cracks about her hair.
"Did I make you upset?" asks Luna, cocking her head to one side. "It's a myth that gorgons are ugly, you know. People just say that so other people won't go off looking for them and get turned into stone. They're actually quite beautiful…"
Hermione makes a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Forget it. I'm sorry. I'm just upset about tonight. I feel like I could have done more." She thinks of the minutes draining away, wasted, herself and Luna shaking and prodding Flitwick when all the while, Dumbledore was being killed, and Bill's blood was spilling onto the stone floors. "I'm sorry, Luna, I should have realized it was a ruse…"
"No, I should have…" Luna throws her arms around Hermione's neck suddenly; Hermione freezes for a moment, unsure what to do. They're acquaintances, maybe even friends, but they've never really been hugging close. Somehow, though, the warmth of Luna's body against her own feels like the most natural thing in the world right now, feels like something normal and true under the false green stars, and she holds on to Luna as though her life depended upon it.