Nargles & Neruda

Mischief Of Your Own

"I'm sorry for crying so much. I must look an absolute fright," Hermione laughed self-consciously, rubbing at her damp cheeks.

"Don't apologize for your tears, Hermione. You look lovely no matter what you are feeling," Luna said with an earnestness that caught Hermione off guard. Luna's eyes were studying her with an expression Hermione couldn't quite read.

"Thank you, Luna." Hermione felt suddenly emboldened by the moonlight and continued, "I could never look as good as you though. All that blonde hair..." Hermione reached out and pulled one of Luna's long curls through her fingers. Luna's cheeks blushed a deep red, like rose petals on an icy pond. "And who else but you could pull off those glasses you're always sporting?"

"The Spectrespecs?" Luna asked pulling them out of her pocket. "I think they would look quite nice on you." Luna slid closer to Hermione on the bench and gently slid the pink glasses onto a giggling Hermione. "There! You look perfect." They were both smiling and giggling with an uncomfortable range of emotions.

Hermione was suddenly seeing the world from Luna's perspective. Donning these literal rose-colored glasses, everything took on a warm and inviting tint. In a way, she did feel more hopeful.

When she turned, Luna was studying her intently. Hermione heard a rustle in the tree above her and she nearly fell out of her seat. Looking up, she could see that it was a small creature. At first, she couldn't recognize it, but then she realized that she had seen a drawing of it once before in the Quibbler. "Is that... a Nargle?" Hermione asked in a shrieking whisper.

"Yes. And quite a young one it appears. Don't worry, he's going the other way, I don't think he'll bother us," Luna said as she shook her bottle cap necklace at it. The Nargle seemed startled by the noise and disappeared immediately. Hermione stared at Luna. She felt like she was living in an alternate universe or some incredibly vivid dream. She took off the glasses and handed them back to Luna. She sat in silence for a moment while the shock wore off.

"Luna, thank you. I feel like lately, I've just been screaming into the void. I keep talking and talking and no one is hearing me. You hear me. You listen. And you try to understand."

"Of course I listen to you, Hermione. You're very interesting," Luna smiled. "And you're my friend."

Hermione met Luna's gaze and held it. They were both looking at each other with curiosity. Hermione could feel a pulse between them. Hermione felt a spark of longing as she looked at Luna's doe eyes examining her in the hazy darkness.

They mutually shifted closer to each other, and without another moment's hesitation, Hermione softly pressed her lips to Luna's. Luna responded in kind, hesitantly kissing her back.

But it wasn't long before both of their kisses became harder and more sure. Luna twisted her fingers into Hermione's hair, pulling her face closer to her own. Luna's lips felt like satin against Hermione's. She was relishing every brush of her tongue against Luna's own, and the feel of Luna's body under the thin fabric of her nightgown.

Heat was rising between them and Hermione felt herself wanting to push Luna down onto that bench and to slide her own body on top of her. She longed to feel the press of Luna's soft breasts against her own as their chests rose and fell in harmony. But the sheer seductiveness of the image was enough to shock Hermione into reality. She quickly realized what they were doing and where they were.

"We should move," she whispered. "Anyone could see us out here."

"I can think of somewhere we could go, but we might get caught on the way," Luna said, panting.

"I can take care of that bit," Hermione said, picking up the invisibility cloak.

***

The Room of Requirement was outfitted in a way that neither had seen it before. The floor was comfortably covered with soft rugs and a number of large lavender pillows. The perimeter of the room was lined with lit candles giving off a gentle glow, and there was a hearth burning low and warm at the end of the room.

"Who knew the room was such a romantic?" Hermione joked. Luna turned and smiled at her nervously. Hermione wanted Luna more than ever. They had walked the halls pressed impossibly close under the too-small cloak. She felt as though there had been this energy brewing between them since the beginning of the term. She had barely allowed herself to be conscious of it until tonight. Hermione grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her closer.

She noticed that the room also had windows tonight for the first time in her recollection. It was as if the room understood that Luna was made of the stars and needed to be seen under their light. Hermione caressed Luna's glowing cheek and said, "You remind me of a muggle poem that I read once, 'As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.'"

Luna blushed deeply while beaming up at Hermione, "That's beautiful. Is that Neruda?"

Hermione was surprised. "Yes, I never thought you'd know muggle poetry."

Luna shrugged. "My dad likes muggle books. He keeps a few in the house that I've read over the summers at home." Luna paused in thought, "I like one of his other poems, 'I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses. I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.'"

There was a powerful electricity between them, and as if unable to withstand its strength, their lips met with a renewed ferocity.

Luna lay down on the ground against one of the pillows, pulling Hermione down on top of her. Like a wish granted, Hermione could feel their bodies meet, and press against each other in a chaos of fabrics and skin.

Luna untied Hermione's robe and slowly eased it off of her shoulders. Once free of it, Hermione tossed it aside. Hermione nestled herself into Luna's body letting her kisses drift from Luna's lips to her neck an earlobe. Luna's mouth fell open in an almost moan as Hermoine's hand slid down the side of her nightgown and caressed her hip and outer thigh.

Luna's fingers grasped at the back of Hermione's nightdress gently digging into her shoulder blades. She started to pull the dress up Hermione's body and Hermione sat up to let it fall from her. "May I?" Luna asked. Hermione smiled deviously and said, "Only if I can do the same," sliding Luna's dress further up her thighs.

Luna giggled and pulled Hermione's dress over her head and let Hermione free her from the silk around her. Every inch of Luna's skin was ghostly pale and shining like mother of pearl except for her breasts which looked as if her nipples had been dipped in the juice of fresh summer strawberries. Hermione smiled at the thought, longing for a taste.

Hermione felt Luna's hand slide between her thighs and she let out a slight moan, louder than she intended. She opened her eyes, feeling suddenly self-conscious, but Luna only smiled at her and continued kissing down her body. Hermione smiled and relaxed into Luna's grasp. The night stretched out before them, giving them an eternity to relish in every touch of each other's fumbling fingers under the jasmine-scented moonlight.

***

Dear Hermione,

Normally, I wouldn't ask this, but I wonder if you could talk some sense into Ron. Remember how I told you about that run-in with Blaise a few weeks back? Well, Ron still hasn't let it go.

He got into a real scrape recently hanging around Knockturn. Apparently, he was trying to wait for Blaise or Draco or someone and then follow them. All he got was roughed up by some idiot down there. He's lucky that I was around to help out. The Ministry would not take kindly to anything deemed an 'unauthorized mission' or in this case, general stupidity. He doesn't seem to realize that this isn't Hogwarts and going off alone would have real consequences.

Maybe he'll listen to you more than he does me. It's worth a shot, at least.

Harry

Hermione,
Look, I think we both said some things we didn't mean.

Can we just pretend that last night didn't happen?

Ron