Shadows and Smoke (Luna)

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It was quite late in the evening, and slowly the crowd in the Ravenclaw common room was thinning out as most students retired to their dorms. Eirian however did not feel tired at all. She had been practicing with Elliot for a long time and then they had just talked. It felt nice to talk with him, or to be silent for a while without it being akward. With Elliot, she doubted anything could ever be akward, which was quite a relief. Eirian couldn’t do awkward, it meant that something wasn’t going according to a plan and that there was no logic behind some actions. If everything was fully logical, there was no space for awkwardness, things were just proceeding like they should. And she was thinking quite much about something that shouldn’t even need any thinking, right? Ah, for Merlin’s sake, she was probably just tired and her thoughts were running in circles.

Elliot had given her a little task however, and she intended to try it at least before going to bed, but for that she needed and wanted to be unobserved. Therefore, Eirian waited until the last Ravenclaw student had excused himself towards the dorms, then she slowly stood up and even slower approached the crackling fire in the fireplace. The heat intensified with every step and made her skin crawl, but she grit her teeth and tread even closer, even hunkering down before it, one hand resting on the cool marble mantlepiece. The flames were spluttering and hissing, hungrily eating away at the logs and devouring them one by one, turning them into nothing but grey ashes. They want you too… they will get you if you come any closer… a voice whispered inside her head, the voice of a ten year old girl, and Eirian could feel beads of sweat forming on he forehead.

And yet… she had to! She had promised him. Gritting her teeth even tighter, Eirian tried to drown out the voice in her head and the rushing of her blood in her ears and slowly, very slowly lifted a hand and put it closer and closer towards the flames, her fingers trembling. There’s nothing to it… just touch that log on the side there and nudge it closer to the flames…yes, it’s hot… but just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you’re gonna burn. Just try… TRY!
The ringing in her ear was growing louder and louder, and her breath started to accelerate along with her heart beat while her fingers were inching closer and closer towards the log, the heat almost getting unbearable now. But just as her fingetips touched wood, she heard the entrance behind her back swing open, and she retracted her hand hastily. Failure… or,… success?!

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Luna was a quiet soul. She knew how to be alone, and she knew how to observe others. For instance, Luna had just come from the library, where the librarian had finally asked her to leave. She had seemed very apologetic in the process, most likely due to Luna’s continued appearance there. She was a regular, and she was acquaintances with the librarians because of it. They seemed to find her choices in reading often odd, but were polite enough not to say anything. It was a shame they weren’t polite enough to keep the slight raise of their eyebrows, the slight narrowing of the eyes as they read the title of The Quibbler upside down off their faces. Luna understood that many didn’t believe her father’s newsletter, and for them she felt pity at their lack of belief. Her times in the library and her times alone had made Luna adept at reading people by their most brief actions. Often, it was their motives that she gave the benefit of the doubt, not their reactions. 

It is with this skill that Luna was able to pick out true friends, and it was why she had so few. Very few mean what they say, and of those, few were kind to her. Eirian Hughes was as vague as a stranger, though. Luna had little contact with the girl, other than brief exchanges in the common room or in the library. It was odd that, being in the same house, the two girls had never shared a complete conversation of worth. Nevertheless, Luna found Eirian interesting. She was a girl of good intentions, but set ways. Painfully constricted ways and this was perhaps one of her biggest cons. Luna had come in quickly, making her way past the lingering students in the main commons of Ravenclaw Tower up to her shared room, where she could deposit the stack of four large books that she struggled under the weight of. After, she had decided to change into her pajamas, featuring bright yellow flowers, meant to bring her luck. Around her neck, she kept her necklace of butterbeer corks. Luna’s dirty blonde hair flowed freely down her back, reaching her waist. Her steps had been quiet in her attempts to not disturb the students occupying the commons. To her surprise, however, when she reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the girl’s dormitories, only Eirian Hughes was left. It appeared the girl did not know of her arrival, so she stood still and observed out of habit.

Eirian was nervous, panicked in a way. And yet, for some reason, Luna watched with quiet fascination as the older girl reached out slowly and touched a log in the fire. Immediately, the door up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory swung open loudly, making Eirian flinch back. Biting her lip, Luna watched for a moment more before turning to see a fifth year girl skipping down the stairs, two pairs of Luna’s shoes in her arms. Luna’s first thought was that the girl did not look much like a nargle, but her second was of the fact that students often took her things to hide them from her. A small smile reached her lips as Luna held out her hands. ”Thank you.” Without a word, and wearing the guilty face of one who had been caught in the act, the girl quietly gave back the shoes and ran back up the stairs. After a moment, Luna placed her shoes gently on the floor next to the entrance and walked over to Eirian, her arms lankly by her side. ”Good evening, Eirian.” Eirian had probably, at some point, looked back to see who had come and seen Luna with the other fifth year girl; therefore, Luna did not feel like she was intruding anymore. The girl’s moment had been broken. ”I doubt Madame Pomfrey has gone to bed yet, if you are hurt. . . You know, if you need to go to the Hospital Wing.” Luna’s voice was sincere but distanced, almost as if she were only half there. Her intent was not to make Eirian embarrassed, if what she had been doing was private. It appeared to be a great fear—fire. What an odd way to face a fear . . . she thought.

EIRIAN | 721 | SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!