It's been a long night. After talking to Neil, Charlie had sat on the porch of the hut that Neil had showed him, enjoying the quiet of that place called the Hidden Hamlet, but he still hadn't relaxed. Eventually, he'd wandered down to the beach. Somehow, the sound of the sea that he couldn't see was comforting.
There are few things in the world that Charlie Bartlett is as bad at as actually feeling like he fucked up.
He watches Luna walk past him and he calls out to her, but she doesn't seem to hear him. Which is when Charlie realises that she's still wearing her shoes and, by the time he catches up to her, he's breathless and skidding in bare feet on the damp sand.
"Luna?" he says, reaching out and taking hold of her shoulder gently. "I'm not sure it's safe to sleep at night, you know?"
After years with his Mom, strange behaviour doesn't really phase Charlie at all. He just knows how to keep someone safe.
"We just got back from Sweden," Luna answers, and if it's nonsensical, it's at least apparent that she's still asleep. She's easy to stop, though, not even stumbling as she pauses. "They have the strangest mice there, you know."
Oh, Jeez. Charlie had a roomate at his first school who did this sometimes. He wraps his arm gently around both of her shoulders, guiding her away from the waves.
"They're green and they glow in the dark, but I don't have a name for it," Luna explains haltingly. "I don't have a name for it...." She only stumbles a bit as she lets him guide her away, instinctively leaning into his side.
It's somewhere along this trip that Luna wakes up, and she's surprised to find herself being escorted along somewhere, only because it feels like forever since someone has found her on one of these expeditions.
No, wait. A Carrow found her, once, but Luna doesn't let herself recall it.
"No," says Luna. "It's never really about what I want to do, or where I want to go. Otherwise I think things would be different." She smiles up at him, charmed by anyone who would go out of their way for her.
"Ah," says Charlie, giving her a squeeze, even though the night's not really chilly and she's wearing more clothes than he is. "Well. You want to sit in the sand or something for a bit? It's kind of a beautiful night."
Luna makes a tiny, happy sound. People are so rarely physically affectionate with her that it's a big deal. "I would like that very much," she tells him. "I suppose it being a beautiful night is the reason I came out, not that I can be sure."
"They told my father I needed special potions when I was a first year at Hogwarts," Luna says, easily relating. "But he refused to let them give it to me, and I do think wizarding rules for such things are different than for you. It's not as if I'm a werewolf."
He laughs a little self-consciously. He gets all...It's weird, when he thinks about Edmund and Luna and everything that's different and all the shit that he never even suspected might be real.
"...I'm sorry. It's never going to not be weird, you know? That those things really exist."
Luna sits down on the blanket, half-collapsing-- she's still a bit sleepy. "Don't worry. There's plenty that you Muggles do that we don't get. Daddy always said that you had Science because you didn't have Magic." She smiles, wiggling into a comfortable position.
That sleepiness helps her, allows her to curl up happily against her new friend in a way that's almost kittenish. She yawns. "There was a great wizard named Darwin who thought that. Never great enough to get a card in the chocolate frogs, though."
There are few things in the world that Charlie Bartlett is as bad at as actually feeling like he fucked up.
He watches Luna walk past him and he calls out to her, but she doesn't seem to hear him. Which is when Charlie realises that she's still wearing her shoes and, by the time he catches up to her, he's breathless and skidding in bare feet on the damp sand.
"Luna?" he says, reaching out and taking hold of her shoulder gently. "I'm not sure it's safe to sleep at night, you know?"
After years with his Mom, strange behaviour doesn't really phase Charlie at all. He just knows how to keep someone safe.
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"That's nice. C'mon. C'mon up here with me."
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"There's a lot of things there aren't names for, you know? Maybe the glow in the dark mice is one of them."
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No, wait. A Carrow found her, once, but Luna doesn't let herself recall it.
"It's not morning, is it?"
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"Middle of the night. You still desperately want to go swimming?"
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"I was on this medication once. I did some crazy shit without really knowing I was doing it."
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He laughs a little self-consciously. He gets all...It's weird, when he thinks about Edmund and Luna and everything that's different and all the shit that he never even suspected might be real.
"...I'm sorry. It's never going to not be weird, you know? That those things really exist."
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"Science instead of magic?" A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "You know, I kind of like that."
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