Fic: Part One
Title: Of Nargles and Assignations
Rating: PG
Pairings: Harry/Cedric (implied at this point)
Warnings: Timeline twist, technically AU
Summary: Harry asks Luna what she thinks about a certain conversation.
Special thanks to my most spectacular beta, rotaryphones who also provided this lovely piece of art
Chapter Links: Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen
One-shots in the same universe: Untitled (Christmas Present for Min), Doppelgängers in a Coffee Shop, Double Shift
Harry pushed open the door to greenhouse three, searching for the half-withered Pustulating Pod that he planned on attempting to revive.
"Hello, Harry." A girl with pale blonde hair, dressed in a strange amalgamation of safari khakis and a Sherlock Holmes get-up, was prowling through Professor Sprout's leftover supply of mistletoe.
Harry drew up short. "Hello…"
"Luna. Luna Lovegood."
He recognized the name only enough to know that people called her "Loony."
"Er...did you lose something?" Harry set his book bag down on the bench and rifled through it for his Herbology textbook.
Luna shook her head, her radish-shaped earrings twinkling against the paleness of her hair. "I'm hunting for nargles."
Nargles? Perhaps they called her "Loony" for good reason. "Okay. I - I'll leave you to it."
Luna hummed an affirmative and then lunged at a particularly large bunch.
A voice in Harry's head, annoyingly similar to Hermione's, reminded him to mind his manners and not comment on the strange behavior. He turned away to fetch his plant. The poor thing looked decidedly withered, but a hint of green amidst the dried and wrinkled brown gave him hope that it was, just barely, alive.
"Cedric was looking for you, by the way."
Harry jumped.
Luna popped out from behind an imposing silver beech and cast him a dreamy smile. "Said he wanted to talk to you."
Harry hoped the weak winter light streaming in through the glass was dim enough to hide his furiously red face.
"Did he, er, say what about?"
Luna shook her head, reaching up to poke a particularly large bunch of mistletoe.
"Did he say where I could find him?"
"He said he'd already mentioned a meeting place to you; that you would remember." Luna continued searching, blessedly oblivious to Harry's increasing blush and nervous fidgeting. "Well, he didn't say it to me so much as murmur it to himself, but I suppose he wouldn't have said it aloud if he hadn't wanted someone to hear."
Harry's heart beat a trip-hammer rhythm. The last time he'd talked to Cedric had been right after the Yule Ball. The older boy had stopped him on the stairs and said - and said to --
"Hey Luna." Harry set down his pruning shears and turned to face her, filled with a sudden mix of determination and trepidation.
She paused in her search and turned those limpid blue eyes at him. "Yes, Harry?"
Harry was struck with a bout of Gryffindor courage. Momentarily he wondered if he could bottle it and save it for his next - inevitable - encounter with Voldemort.
"If, say, some older bloke came up to you, and well, he said..." Harry trailed off. How could he explain it? He would rather explain to Luna than to Hermione, who would question and dissect and want to know things and then tell a teacher. Luna seemed like the type who would just listen.
Harry squared his shoulders and deepened his voice a bit in imitation. Then he slid up to Luna, leaned down, and adopted a conspiratorial tone. "You know the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor?"
She shook her head; Harry plowed ahead.
"It's not a bad place for a bath."
Luna blinked at him.
"Take your egg and…mull things over in the hot water or something." And Harry stepped back.
Luna blinked at him some more.
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Luna, if some older bloke came up to you and just said what I said, what would you think?"
"That I should dunk my golden puzzle egg in the bath water," she said. "It's a hint for the tournament, obviously. Are those allowed?"
They weren't, but no one was playing fair and no one - save Harry's best friends - understood that Harry didn't want this tournament nonsense. He would take what help he could get in order to stay alive.
"Well, no, they're not, but --"
"You said an older bloke?" Something alarmingly lucid glinted in Luna's blue eyes. "If that Ludo Bagman said that to you, I'd say tell the headmaster."
Harry carded a hand through his hair, frustrated. "No, Luna, Mr. Bagman isn't trying to make me cheat --"
"Not about the cheating, Harry." Luna's tone was very patient. She tilted her head at him like a curious bird, and from her expression Harry was aware that he had missed some crucial piece of Luna-speak.
"What about, then?"
"The chatting-up, of course." Luna turned back to the mistletoe. "The prefect's bathroom is a notorious destination for assignations."
Harry had heard Hermione use some impressive words before, but he hadn't thought Luna had it in her to make a highbrow dictionary entry sound so scandalous.
"Ludo Bagman is far too old for you," Luna continued. Her voice was dreamy, but the lucidity of her words was starting to frighten him. "If Cedric said that to you, on the other hand, it wouldn't be so bad, would it?"
Now he was frightened. Utterly.
Still, it was a relief to know that he hadn't completely misread that conversation with Cedric.
It was less of a relief to realize that Cedric might like Harry the way he liked Cho. The way Harry thought he liked Cho. He thought back to the word assignation and how naughty it sounded. He could only form hazy mental pictures of what might go on in the prefects' bathroom between two students, and he found himself blushing even more.
Cedric Diggory was the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain; a prefect; older, and far more handsome than Harry. Cedric was popular, and he seemed by all means a very decent chap - nice even. Harry remembered seeing Cedric smiling at a group of younger Hufflepuff girls who were all eager to meet their school champion. Cedric was more than nice - he was sweet. Harry was just Harry, a scruffy-haired mite who wore his whale-sized cousin's hand-me-downs and had a Dark Lord after him.
"What makes you think Cedric would say something like that to me?" Harry asked.
Luna laughed, the sound like gently falling chimes. "Honestly, Harry, half the girls at this school would fall over themselves to get an invite like that from Cedric, not to mention a good tenth of the boys."
A tenth? Harry started doing bad math in his head and abandoned the notion as soon as his calculations landed on Seamus Finnegan.
Luna cast him a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Also, you blush every time someone mentions him." She paused, then added, "You should say yes. It might do you some good."
The resulting silence was a study in one-sided awkwardness. Harry gaped while Luna searched the mistletoe. After a few minutes, she tipped her safari hat back a bit and shaded her eyes.
"I think the nargles need some bribing. I'll be back with treats." And she drifted out of the greenhouse, as dreamy and Luna as ever.
Harry watched her go and wondered why people thought she was loony. She was loony, but she saw everything. She saw the things Harry managed to hide from Hermione, who was a bloodhound when she was curious.
Harry sighed and turned to his plant, which looked even more pitiful than before. He picked up the pruning shears and promptly dropped them on his foot when the greenhouse door swung open.
"Cedric will be in the library leading the Hufflepuff First Year study group, by the way." Luna punctuated her helpful hint with a wave and vanished once more.
Harry stared at the closed door and said, belatedly, "Ow."
Two
Rating: PG
Pairings: Harry/Cedric (implied at this point)
Warnings: Timeline twist, technically AU
Summary: Harry asks Luna what she thinks about a certain conversation.
Special thanks to my most spectacular beta, rotaryphones who also provided this lovely piece of art
Chapter Links: Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen
One-shots in the same universe: Untitled (Christmas Present for Min), Doppelgängers in a Coffee Shop, Double Shift
Harry pushed open the door to greenhouse three, searching for the half-withered Pustulating Pod that he planned on attempting to revive.
"Hello, Harry." A girl with pale blonde hair, dressed in a strange amalgamation of safari khakis and a Sherlock Holmes get-up, was prowling through Professor Sprout's leftover supply of mistletoe.
Harry drew up short. "Hello…"
"Luna. Luna Lovegood."
He recognized the name only enough to know that people called her "Loony."
"Er...did you lose something?" Harry set his book bag down on the bench and rifled through it for his Herbology textbook.
Luna shook her head, her radish-shaped earrings twinkling against the paleness of her hair. "I'm hunting for nargles."
Nargles? Perhaps they called her "Loony" for good reason. "Okay. I - I'll leave you to it."
Luna hummed an affirmative and then lunged at a particularly large bunch.
A voice in Harry's head, annoyingly similar to Hermione's, reminded him to mind his manners and not comment on the strange behavior. He turned away to fetch his plant. The poor thing looked decidedly withered, but a hint of green amidst the dried and wrinkled brown gave him hope that it was, just barely, alive.
"Cedric was looking for you, by the way."
Harry jumped.
Luna popped out from behind an imposing silver beech and cast him a dreamy smile. "Said he wanted to talk to you."
Harry hoped the weak winter light streaming in through the glass was dim enough to hide his furiously red face.
"Did he, er, say what about?"
Luna shook her head, reaching up to poke a particularly large bunch of mistletoe.
"Did he say where I could find him?"
"He said he'd already mentioned a meeting place to you; that you would remember." Luna continued searching, blessedly oblivious to Harry's increasing blush and nervous fidgeting. "Well, he didn't say it to me so much as murmur it to himself, but I suppose he wouldn't have said it aloud if he hadn't wanted someone to hear."
Harry's heart beat a trip-hammer rhythm. The last time he'd talked to Cedric had been right after the Yule Ball. The older boy had stopped him on the stairs and said - and said to --
"Hey Luna." Harry set down his pruning shears and turned to face her, filled with a sudden mix of determination and trepidation.
She paused in her search and turned those limpid blue eyes at him. "Yes, Harry?"
Harry was struck with a bout of Gryffindor courage. Momentarily he wondered if he could bottle it and save it for his next - inevitable - encounter with Voldemort.
"If, say, some older bloke came up to you, and well, he said..." Harry trailed off. How could he explain it? He would rather explain to Luna than to Hermione, who would question and dissect and want to know things and then tell a teacher. Luna seemed like the type who would just listen.
Harry squared his shoulders and deepened his voice a bit in imitation. Then he slid up to Luna, leaned down, and adopted a conspiratorial tone. "You know the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor?"
She shook her head; Harry plowed ahead.
"It's not a bad place for a bath."
Luna blinked at him.
"Take your egg and…mull things over in the hot water or something." And Harry stepped back.
Luna blinked at him some more.
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Luna, if some older bloke came up to you and just said what I said, what would you think?"
"That I should dunk my golden puzzle egg in the bath water," she said. "It's a hint for the tournament, obviously. Are those allowed?"
They weren't, but no one was playing fair and no one - save Harry's best friends - understood that Harry didn't want this tournament nonsense. He would take what help he could get in order to stay alive.
"Well, no, they're not, but --"
"You said an older bloke?" Something alarmingly lucid glinted in Luna's blue eyes. "If that Ludo Bagman said that to you, I'd say tell the headmaster."
Harry carded a hand through his hair, frustrated. "No, Luna, Mr. Bagman isn't trying to make me cheat --"
"Not about the cheating, Harry." Luna's tone was very patient. She tilted her head at him like a curious bird, and from her expression Harry was aware that he had missed some crucial piece of Luna-speak.
"What about, then?"
"The chatting-up, of course." Luna turned back to the mistletoe. "The prefect's bathroom is a notorious destination for assignations."
Harry had heard Hermione use some impressive words before, but he hadn't thought Luna had it in her to make a highbrow dictionary entry sound so scandalous.
"Ludo Bagman is far too old for you," Luna continued. Her voice was dreamy, but the lucidity of her words was starting to frighten him. "If Cedric said that to you, on the other hand, it wouldn't be so bad, would it?"
Now he was frightened. Utterly.
Still, it was a relief to know that he hadn't completely misread that conversation with Cedric.
It was less of a relief to realize that Cedric might like Harry the way he liked Cho. The way Harry thought he liked Cho. He thought back to the word assignation and how naughty it sounded. He could only form hazy mental pictures of what might go on in the prefects' bathroom between two students, and he found himself blushing even more.
Cedric Diggory was the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain; a prefect; older, and far more handsome than Harry. Cedric was popular, and he seemed by all means a very decent chap - nice even. Harry remembered seeing Cedric smiling at a group of younger Hufflepuff girls who were all eager to meet their school champion. Cedric was more than nice - he was sweet. Harry was just Harry, a scruffy-haired mite who wore his whale-sized cousin's hand-me-downs and had a Dark Lord after him.
"What makes you think Cedric would say something like that to me?" Harry asked.
Luna laughed, the sound like gently falling chimes. "Honestly, Harry, half the girls at this school would fall over themselves to get an invite like that from Cedric, not to mention a good tenth of the boys."
A tenth? Harry started doing bad math in his head and abandoned the notion as soon as his calculations landed on Seamus Finnegan.
Luna cast him a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Also, you blush every time someone mentions him." She paused, then added, "You should say yes. It might do you some good."
The resulting silence was a study in one-sided awkwardness. Harry gaped while Luna searched the mistletoe. After a few minutes, she tipped her safari hat back a bit and shaded her eyes.
"I think the nargles need some bribing. I'll be back with treats." And she drifted out of the greenhouse, as dreamy and Luna as ever.
Harry watched her go and wondered why people thought she was loony. She was loony, but she saw everything. She saw the things Harry managed to hide from Hermione, who was a bloodhound when she was curious.
Harry sighed and turned to his plant, which looked even more pitiful than before. He picked up the pruning shears and promptly dropped them on his foot when the greenhouse door swung open.
"Cedric will be in the library leading the Hufflepuff First Year study group, by the way." Luna punctuated her helpful hint with a wave and vanished once more.
Harry stared at the closed door and said, belatedly, "Ow."
Two