I'm just as fucked up as they say,
I can't fake the daytime.
Found an entrance to escape into the dark.
Got false lights for the sun,
it's an artificial nocturne,
it's an outsider's escape for a broken heart.
Artificial Nocturne - Metric
•
Luna and Tom left the thestrals behind, making their way through the Forbidden Forest back towards the castle. Tom was doing his best to not make it obvious that he had lost his sense of direction amongst the trees. She didn't need to know he was following her way out.
They walked in silence, the night noises of the forest around them. The night had become unusually cold for September, so cold that their breath began to mist in front of their mouths, mirroring the swirling fog at their feet.
When they broke out of the Forest, the girl suddenly stopped walking and stared up at the night sky.
"What are you doing?" he asked, turning around.
"Lovely, isn't it?" she said, neck craned backwards, exposing her vulnerable throat.
"What is?" he asked. His eyes lingered on the line of her jaw, then her collarbone.
A small smile appeared on her face. "Everything." She pointed at the stars. "That light travels millions of years just to meet us here, tonight. It's a bit of the past just reaching us now." Lowering her gaze to him, she said, "It's magical."
Tom glanced briefly up at the constellation at which he had been gazing earlier, the one he used to find as a child, then back to her. "Are you always so easily amused?" he said dispassionately.
She looked up and to the right, as though considering her response for a moment. Then she nodded. "Yes."
Gracing her with small shake of his head and the laziest eye roll, Tom said, "Let's go. I can't be out here all night."
At the foot of the spiral staircase to Ravenclaw Tower, Luna turned to him. "I quite enjoyed our adventure tonight, Tom."
"It wasn't an 'adventure.'"
"I felt quite adventurous, didn't you?"
"Not at all.
"Of course, not nearly so adventurous as when my father and I were in Sweden searching for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"I - what?"
"Sweden," she replied. "It's a country in Scandinavia, northeast of here. They speak Swedish."
"I know what Sweden is," he said, nostrils flaring. She is mocking you, are you going to let her?
"Apologies."
Tom brought his left hand to his right to twirl his ring. He saw Luna's eyes drift down to his hands then back to his face. Not for the first time, his hackles were raised. "Luna," he asked suddenly, testing out the way her name felt in his mouth, "why did you want to be my friend?" His face was deliberately passive, his voice now humming an overture of amicability. To his surprise, Luna took a half step back when she heard it.
Her nose wrinkled ever-so-slightly, her tell for being displeased with him. "I just thought...we might make a good pair."
Displeasure at both his inability to manipulate her as easily as he was accustomed to, as well as her obvious mistruth bubbled in his gut. "I don't mean to engage you when you're clearly lying, but what on earth would have given you that idea?"
She opened her mouth to say something, obviously thought better of it, then shut it again, instead offering a shrug and a blank look in response.
"Well, make no mistake," he said coolly, injecting as much ice and disdain into his voice as possible, "you are no friend of mine."
It was not until he had already made it halfway to the Slytherin common room that he realized he hadn't even given her detention.
•
The following night at dinner, Cat snapped her fingers just in front of Luna's face, where she sat staring at the beef wellington, chewing her lip. "Lovegood!"
"I was just wondering," Luna said, releasing her lower lip from her teeth, "what a soul might be made out of? Do you suppose it's fragile? Is it brittle like spun sugar? Or is it sturdy like oak?" She knocked her fist against the wood of the Ravenclaw table. "Or perhaps it might be rather bendy, like a bit of bamboo." She propped her chin on a hand and continued to look thoughtful.
"Erm, a soul?" Lorraine repeated.
"What are you on about now, Luna?" said Cat. She tapped Luna's head with her finger. "What goes on in there?"
"Haven't the foggiest," Luna replied, making Lorraine and Cat snort with laughter. Finally coming back to the table, Luna looked around. "Where's Lucinda?"
Lorraine was lost into another bout of giggles at this, so Cat answered, "Oh, she's off with some boy. Gryffindor. Probably snogging. Ran off with him this afternoon."
"Oh, that's nice," said Luna.
"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Cat said, fighting a smile.
"Fancy a game of Gobstones? I've finished my homework for tomorrow," said Lorraine as they finished eating.
"Sure, let's head up to the common room," said Cat.
The three girls stood up to leave the Great Hall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Luna gave a cheery wave and a grin at Tom, who had been side-eying her from amidst his usual group of lackeys. At her wave, he turned his head away.
"You, uh...friends with Tom Riddle now?" Lorraine asked in an attempt at nonchalance.
"No, not at all," Luna said, continuing to grin. "He's made that thoroughly apparent."
Once they were settled down at a table in the Ravenclaw common room with Lorraine's set of Gobstones, Luna deferred playing to the other two girls. "I would like to practice my commentating skills, to be honest. I have commentated Quidditch and quite enjoyed it."
Lorraine and Cat acquiesced to having their game commentated, but quickly began to regret this as other Ravenclaws turned to see what was happening with bemused expressions. "I suspect Cat will perform the Wronski feint here soon, she is quite clever after all...," Luna said in a dreamy voice that carried around the common room.
"Luna, that's a Quidditch maneuver, this is Gobstones," Cat muttered.
They were just about to ask her to stop when Lucinda finally reappeared, bursting into the common room looking perky and pleased with herself.
"How is everyone?" she asked, beaming. "Good? Great! I'm quite hungry, shame I missed dinner."
"Someone's in a good mood," observed Lorraine.
"Are you happy because of the boy? From earlier? Goodness, if snogging makes one so happy, perhaps I should try it," mused Luna.
Lucinda, who had picked up one of the Gobstones to inspect it, dropped the stone suddenly, causing it to squirt foul-smelling liquid just to the left of Cat's face. "I suppose so," Lucinda replied.
"Well done, then," Luna said, patting Lucinda on the shoulder.
Once more, Lorraine and Cat collapsed into laughter, and Lucinda turned bright pink.
•
Monday morning arrived, and Luna awoke quite early, feeling refreshed and cheerful after a lively evening of Gobstones with her friends. She pulled her hair into a single long braid, put on mismatched socks, then headed down for a bite of breakfast before the other girls were roused.
Upon entering the Great Hall, she noted that the ceiling was the pale yellow of early morning sun. There was only a handful of students arrived in the Hall for breakfast so early: two Ravenclaws, a Hufflepuff, and Tom Riddle, seated alone at the Slytherin table.
Luna weighed her options for a moment. Tom hadn't seen her yet; he was bent over a book and taking occasional bites of his toast. As she watched, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand, the black and gold ring there glittering as the light of the dawn ceiling reflected off it.
Mind made up, Luna walked over and slid herself into the seat across from him.
He looked up, and for a moment fatigue was visible on his face. This was quickly replaced with irritation. "Oh, for - what do you want this early in the morning?"
"Good morning," she said brightly. "How did you sleep?"
"I didn't," he clipped, then returned to his book, placing his forehead in the palm of his left hand, creating a screen between Luna and his face. Clearly, he intended the conversation to be over.
"Why didn't you sleep? Did you have nightmares? You know, if you place three drops of aquavirius maggot pus on each eyelid before bed, you can fend off the nightmares."
Now dragging his left hand down his face in exasperation, Tom sighed. He briefly glowered at her between his long fingers, then put his hand down on the table. "I'm not going to ask what an aquavirius maggot is, nor am I interested in the purported magical purposes of their pus," he said. "I didn't have nightmares. I didn't sleep."
"You do look rather tired and peaked," Luna said clinically, leaning slightly forward to inspect him more closely. In doing so, she also caught glance at the pages of his book. Of course. How many times could one book use the work "Dark"?
Tom scowled. "Do you have any sense?" His polished, disquieting demeanor was slipping, and he began to tap his ring against the table in annoyance.
"Why didn't you sleep?" Luna asked again, barreling forward.
"I don't sleep well. I never have. I frequently skip a night." He leveled a glare at her and pressed his lips tightly together, daring her to ask more.
"Do you just lay there and lay there and can't sleep?"
"Yes," he said, his lips barely opening to let the word escape.
"How dreadful. Although I suppose you might get a lot done while everyone else is asleep." Luna looked down at the ring on his hand, which he was still tapping against the wood. "That's a lovely ring. Is it a family heirloom?"
For a moment, she thought perhaps she had gone too far. Tom's entire body stiffened. The ring stopped tapping, and she was fairly sure he stopped breathing for a moment. Meanwhile, his eyes were penetrating hers with an intensity that gave her the feeling he could see the bones and beating heart inside her. Then, almost imperceptibly, he began to breathe again. And so, Luna realized, did she.
"I haven't got any family."
Luna made a habit of abandoning expectations, but she was still taken aback at this response, this volunteering of information. She searched for evidence of manipulation, but instead found little flaws in his usually flawless facade: his black hair stuck up a bit on the left where he had run his fingers through it, there were blueish shadows under his blue eyes on his pale skin, and there was an infinitesimal decline in the haughtiness of his mouth.
"I'm sorry. Did your parents die?" she asked, although she knew the answer. When he didn't respond, she said, "My mum died when I was younger. In front of me, actually. That's why I can see the thestrals."
He looked thoughtful, considering her words. "I grew up in an orphanage," he finally said, slowly, answering her question without directly responding to it, and his eyes had a faraway look for the briefest of moments.
Without thinking, Luna reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. Her hand was small compared to his. His fingers were quite cold against the warmth of her palm. The pads of her second and third fingers briefly touched the black stone of his ring.
As though burned, Tom jerked his hand out from under hers, immediately all sharp edges again. "Didn't we discuss this already?" he snapped.
"Right, right," said Luna, standing up. "Not friends. Zero friendship. Of course, Tom." And she drifted away, headed to Ravenclaw table feeling terrified, but also a bit triumphant.
She sat with her back to the Slytherin table, and began to spread marmalade on a piece of toast. As she chewed her toast thoughtfully, the ceiling above became brighter and brighter. Lorraine, Lucinda, and Cat arrived to breakfast together, seating themselves next to Luna.
"Good morning," said Luna.
"Ha, ha, very funny, Luna," said Cat, looking very groggy.
"Here," Lucinda said, handing a platter of hard-boiled eggs to Cat. "Eat something."
Cat accepted the platter of eggs gratefully. After taking a couple and passing the platter along, she rubbed her eyes and muttered, "It should be illegal to hold school on Monday mornings."
"Well, then Tuesday morning would simply feel like Monday morning," Lorraine said sensibly, helping herself to a sausage.
"Perhaps Cat has invented an Anti-Mondays Charm," Luna supplied.
"As usual, I'm not sure what that is you're talking about, Luna," Lorraine said.
"I just hate Mo-o-ondays," Cat said while trying and failing to stifle a yawn.
Lucinda snorted. "You're just a little ray of sunshine this morning, aren't you?"
"I didn't get snogged into a good mood last night," Cat fired back.
"Perhaps you should try it, then," Lucinda said, her nose in the air.
Sticking her tongue out, then sighing melodramatically, Cat said, "I have the worst friends ever."