Oh yes it's lady's night....
Date: March 26, 2000
Time: Starts at 11 a.m. and goes until well after midnight
Character(s) Involved: Luna Lovegood, Nymphadora Tonks
Location: Luna's house and the Wizarding community at large
Complete or Incomplete: Complete
Rating: G
Allowing herself to sleep so soundly after the gala had not been a good idea. But Sunday was Luna's usual day to catch up on sleep she'd missed during the week, and last night's party had left her particularly exhausted.
Waking up and finding it was 11 a.m. gave her the necessary shock to get her day started, however. Tonks would be by that night for the pamphlets, and they had to be ready. And there were a few things Luna wanted to experiment with before then.
The first half of the day was spent doing just that. Trying out different color inks on the parchment, running test copies with the press to get the hang of it--the font blocks were charmed to follow instructions to make the process more efficient, but sometimes they got a bit full of themselves--figuring out what all the levers, placed wherever they would fit, did or couldn't do.
And then there was a hefty task of adding a particular graphic to the pamphlet. The process of animating it was similar to that of photographs, she found through some trial and error; Mr. Hopping never got around to letting her do this at his shop, so she had to find her own way.
But convincing the press to animate it... that was the hard part. There were so many levers and buttons with particular spells already worked in, and modifying one or two to perform a slightly different task than they were used to was a bit tricky. But Luna was starting to understand how this creature worked....
"All right, Luna?"
Luna looked up, a wave of cold going through her body. She had thought it might be hard to do this without incident, and she was right; her father was standing in the doorway.
Mr. Lovegood was a shy man... a surprise, considering he was a journalist. He was modest, passive, had a soft voice and a harmless demeanor, for all his height. Even now the question he posed sounded pleasant and nonthreatening, because Mr. Lovegood did not like to invite conflict. But Luna knew her father well enough to know what he really meant to say: what do you think you're doing?
"Still trying to get the hang of the press," Luna said in a tone of frustrating contemplation. She even accentuated the point with an exasperated sigh. "I wanted to make sure I was completely ready for The Quibbler's next run, you see."
"I do see."
Was he convinced? Luna hadn't realized how dark it had become until just now, for when she looked to examine his expression she found nothing but shadow.
He suddenly nodded his head. "A lot of parchment you've used."
Luna self-consciously pulled the piece she was holding very close and hoped he hadn't seen the writhing image on it. "Just experimenting here and there."
"Mm. Your mother used to do much of the same."
"I know."
A silence grew between them that went on for a painfully long time; both were mute while they tried to think of the next thing to say, decided their current idea wasn't it and moved on to the next.
Dad had come to his decision first and broke the silence with, "It is a very complicated device. I can help you, if you like."
"Thanks, but I'd rather do this on my own."
Her father sighed unexpectedly, and Luna instantly regretted her answer... until she realized she had no other choice, at least. It seemed to have worked, anyway, her father had turned to leave.
"I'll be heading back upstairs then, if you're sure."
Luna couldn't help but smile a little at his retreating form.
"I'll be fine, Dad. I still have a bit to do though, so if you hear a lot of clanging and shuffling and multiple voices down here, you don't have to bother yourself with checking on me."
There was a long pause, and finally her father turned to look at her. But in the dimming light, Luna couldn't quite make out his expression. "Is that because you'll be doing something in here that I would prefer not to know about?"
"Most definitely." She smiled sweetly.
Dad chuckled. "Very well. You'll hear nor see a hair of me until morning."
"...Thank you, Daddy."
The door shut and Luna breathed a gentle sigh of relief. Good, Dad was out of the way. But the hours were speeding away; it was already dusk. Luna lit a few of the non-burning lamps in the shop; it was dangerous to light a fire with so much parchment around. Her mother had been the one to find a solution to that. These lamps were like self-contained Lumos spells and didn't heat, so they were safe around the parchment. The thought brought a smile to Luna's face as she returned to her work.
When she looked up again another hour had passed; but so had her first print run, which turned out much better than she had expected. There were five hundred sheets printed, which was enough to get started on. But she continued in an effort to pump out as many pamphlets as she could. Tonks would be arriving soon, and she didn't want to delay the next step.
Time: Starts at 11 a.m. and goes until well after midnight
Character(s) Involved: Luna Lovegood, Nymphadora Tonks
Location: Luna's house and the Wizarding community at large
Complete or Incomplete: Complete
Rating: G
Allowing herself to sleep so soundly after the gala had not been a good idea. But Sunday was Luna's usual day to catch up on sleep she'd missed during the week, and last night's party had left her particularly exhausted.
Waking up and finding it was 11 a.m. gave her the necessary shock to get her day started, however. Tonks would be by that night for the pamphlets, and they had to be ready. And there were a few things Luna wanted to experiment with before then.
The first half of the day was spent doing just that. Trying out different color inks on the parchment, running test copies with the press to get the hang of it--the font blocks were charmed to follow instructions to make the process more efficient, but sometimes they got a bit full of themselves--figuring out what all the levers, placed wherever they would fit, did or couldn't do.
And then there was a hefty task of adding a particular graphic to the pamphlet. The process of animating it was similar to that of photographs, she found through some trial and error; Mr. Hopping never got around to letting her do this at his shop, so she had to find her own way.
But convincing the press to animate it... that was the hard part. There were so many levers and buttons with particular spells already worked in, and modifying one or two to perform a slightly different task than they were used to was a bit tricky. But Luna was starting to understand how this creature worked....
"All right, Luna?"
Luna looked up, a wave of cold going through her body. She had thought it might be hard to do this without incident, and she was right; her father was standing in the doorway.
Mr. Lovegood was a shy man... a surprise, considering he was a journalist. He was modest, passive, had a soft voice and a harmless demeanor, for all his height. Even now the question he posed sounded pleasant and nonthreatening, because Mr. Lovegood did not like to invite conflict. But Luna knew her father well enough to know what he really meant to say: what do you think you're doing?
"Still trying to get the hang of the press," Luna said in a tone of frustrating contemplation. She even accentuated the point with an exasperated sigh. "I wanted to make sure I was completely ready for The Quibbler's next run, you see."
"I do see."
Was he convinced? Luna hadn't realized how dark it had become until just now, for when she looked to examine his expression she found nothing but shadow.
He suddenly nodded his head. "A lot of parchment you've used."
Luna self-consciously pulled the piece she was holding very close and hoped he hadn't seen the writhing image on it. "Just experimenting here and there."
"Mm. Your mother used to do much of the same."
"I know."
A silence grew between them that went on for a painfully long time; both were mute while they tried to think of the next thing to say, decided their current idea wasn't it and moved on to the next.
Dad had come to his decision first and broke the silence with, "It is a very complicated device. I can help you, if you like."
"Thanks, but I'd rather do this on my own."
Her father sighed unexpectedly, and Luna instantly regretted her answer... until she realized she had no other choice, at least. It seemed to have worked, anyway, her father had turned to leave.
"I'll be heading back upstairs then, if you're sure."
Luna couldn't help but smile a little at his retreating form.
"I'll be fine, Dad. I still have a bit to do though, so if you hear a lot of clanging and shuffling and multiple voices down here, you don't have to bother yourself with checking on me."
There was a long pause, and finally her father turned to look at her. But in the dimming light, Luna couldn't quite make out his expression. "Is that because you'll be doing something in here that I would prefer not to know about?"
"Most definitely." She smiled sweetly.
Dad chuckled. "Very well. You'll hear nor see a hair of me until morning."
"...Thank you, Daddy."
The door shut and Luna breathed a gentle sigh of relief. Good, Dad was out of the way. But the hours were speeding away; it was already dusk. Luna lit a few of the non-burning lamps in the shop; it was dangerous to light a fire with so much parchment around. Her mother had been the one to find a solution to that. These lamps were like self-contained Lumos spells and didn't heat, so they were safe around the parchment. The thought brought a smile to Luna's face as she returned to her work.
When she looked up again another hour had passed; but so had her first print run, which turned out much better than she had expected. There were five hundred sheets printed, which was enough to get started on. But she continued in an effort to pump out as many pamphlets as she could. Tonks would be arriving soon, and she didn't want to delay the next step.