mahogany ; d.m

59 - disappearances

"Yeah, I mean you never know, she could have just missed the train, or gone home early over the Christmas," Athena interjected. "Or perhaps she just decided to stay at home."

Pansy thought it out for a moment, an obvious discomfort upon her expression. She shifted in her seat, kneading her palms to her thighs in stress, before a sudden thought occurred and she immediately looked at Ginny.

"Weasley, you live near her, don't you?"

"Yeah—"

"So did you see anything—off?"

"I don't live that near to her. I can't see her house from mine. And why would anything be off?"

Pansy rolled her eyes and muttered, "Bloody hell, are all you Gryffindor's this clueless?"

"Play nice, Parkinson," Maeve derided, throwing her a grin.

"I just mean—her father was getting a bit loud in the Quibbler. What if—?"

She was cut off when the compartment door slid open again and two burly boys stumbled inside, Theo and Blaise. Much to Pansy's frustration, she was unable to continue when Theo began speaking over her without meaning to.

"Make some room," he grinned, shuffling in between Athena and Pansy. Blaise took the opposite seat, slinging his arm around Maeve's shoulder, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Any luck with Lovegood?" Blaise asked.

"No," Pansy huffed. "As I was saying, what if something's happened to them? I mean, it seems logical, doesn't it?"

Silence. Everyone considered the possibility.

"I wouldn't panic until we get there," Maeve said.

The remainder of the journey was spent with discussions that steered far away from the topic of Luna, distracting themselves from worrying. Pansy resigned herself to silence for the most part, the anxiety was practically radiating off of her. It certainly made Athena nervous.

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Pansy rushed to get onto the platform, not hanging around for even a second.

"Bloody hell, she's doing my head in," Theo groaned.

"Give her a break. She's just worried," Athena said. "I mean how would you feel if your girlfriend mysteriously went missing?"

"I doubt she's actually missing though. I mean it's Lovegood. She's always been the mysterious one."

Theo's words were no comfort to anyone. It was what they were trying to tell themselves. The problem was with what Pansy had stated about Luna's father. With snatchers on the loose almost everywhere these days, they couldn't rule any possibility out.

The castle was quiet when they arrived. Sinisterly quiet. It was unsettling.

Especially with the conclusion drawn that Luna was indeed not there.

This wreaked havoc for all of them. But for Pansy especially, she was hysterical, sick with worry. She was listing ways they could attempt to find her, but the rest of them knew how pointless that would be. She could be anywhere. She could even be...

No.

It wasn't a reality any of them could face.

As well as that, half of Gryffindor was missing. Many of them had stayed over the Christmas, but had now disappeared. Ginny and Athena felt their absences as they sat idly in the common room, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, when everything was wrong.