"Could you take me to see them?" Luna asked lightly, swinging her feet as she sat on the ledge near the covered bridge.
Adrian cocked one eyebrow, not looking at her as he pondered the lake far below.
"I think they're beautiful," Luna continued as if he had responded, "Just a bit misunderstood. Like Wakkamost."
"What's a Wakkamost?" Adrian asked, bemused, conjuring a small rock to throw from the bridge.
"Small orange creatures, they live in the cabbages and eat the mold." Luna informed him sagely, "People think they cause blights, but really they're trying to help."
Adrian had learned not to question the strange things Luna said, nor the strange seer like abilities she had displayed more than once.
"They aren't friendly, not like thestrals." Adrian warned quietly, "I don't think Hagrid broke the rules just for me to escort you to them later."
Luna huffed quietly, a disgruntled noise that was eerily similar to the scoffs Hedwig gave when he stopped her after her fourth treat. Luna paused, eying one strand of her hair which drifted between her eyes. She stuck out her bottom lip, exhaling quickly to puff the strand away gently.
"What's your Animagus form?" She asked abruptly, both hands raising to cup her chin and take the weight of her head. She turned, tilting her head slightly and glancing with her hazel eyes onto Adrian's scarred face.
"I-I beg your pardon?" Adrian blinked in surprise at the suddenly direct question. His tone of voice nearly squeaked, raising in pitch so quickly it was obvious he was taken aback.
"Animagus form, I thought you were trying to do that with the mandrake leaf under your tongue. Tricklibellies were all around you since the year started," She tilted her head sideways, "They like the smell of rosemary."
Adrian's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a few seconds. After a pause, his entire expression slipped and fell flat, leaving her with something painfully blank, "So what if I was?"
Luna smiled, a large bemused expression overtaking her face, "I wondered what your form would be. I think you'd be a dashing otter."
Adrian gave a bark of laughter against his better judgement, cracking his facade, "An otter? Wherever would you get such an idea?"
Luna smiled knowingly, "No, perhaps you're right. Have you considered a badger?"
"I'm not a Hufflepuff."
"But you're so excellent with finding things out."
Adrian blinked quickly in lapse of anything else, "I don't see how that's relevant."
Luna giggled as if he had been the butt end of an inside joke. "Hufflepuff's are good at finding things."
"You should find a Hufflepuff then, hunt down your missing shoes." Adrian noted, pointing at her bare feet. Her toes wiggled on the cold stone for emphasis.
"Oh, it's not that cold anymore." She smiled softly, once more looking at him as if she knew all the answers to questions he hadn't asked yet. "they'll turn up eventually. My roommates think it's funny how my things go missing."
Adrian's teasing smile fell slightly. Luna didn't notice and instead hummed tunelessly and looked out over the lake.
"This is a pretty place," she mentioned casually, "I should make a necklace up here. Do you have any twine?"
"Your roommates treat you badly?" Adrian asked, his voice slightly pinched. Luna glanced at him from behind her hair, shaking her head slightly.
"You can't fix my problems, Adrian." She quietly murmured.
Adrian swallowed thickly, hands curling into tight fists, "What are their names?"
Luna giggled slightly, "I wonder how you're a Slytherin. You're so hotheaded you should be a Gryffindor,"
Adrian opened his mouth to argue, his words failed when he saw the look in Luna's eye, "Besides, I don't take help from those who can't fix their own problems.
Adrian scowled, "I don't have any-"
"I heard from a girl in Slytherin that you beat Draco Malfoy until he was coughing blood."
Adrian shook his head speechless. Luna twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, "I heard you also attacked her."
Adrian's head snapped up, "Why were you talking to Suz-"
"Anger makes you look ugly," Luna stiffened for a small second, twiddling a strand of her hair between her fingers. A draft of wind blew in through the hollow windows, tugging on Adrian's hair and sending a shiver through his spine. He twisted his wand, nearly shaking as he quietly cast a warming charm over his shoulders.
Without a thought, he cast another, encompassing Luna in a comfortable warmth.
"Thank you," she smiled softly, "Do you think that the Grindylows in the lake sleep when it freezes?"
Adrian appreciated it, the sudden random changes in topics to things he possibly knew.
"No, the lake doesn't freeze at the bottom where they live during the summer."
Luna nodded as if it made perfect sense, and then turned to look at him with a questioning look. She tilted her head and squinted, leaning forward to an unsettlingly close degree.
....
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