The Day After Tomorrow

THEY SAVED THE WORLD ONCE

30 - THEY SAVED THE WORLD ONCE

IT was another morning, another day and there it was, her familiar owl with the Quibbler. Luna had decided to start republishing articles instead of letting it die out completely, and it felt like a good turn towards her father, like she was doing something to keep his legacy alive. And behind it was a large grey owl that was just as familiar as her own, clutched in its claws was an envelope, a little crumpled but still crisp around the edges for her to recognise the familiar script.

All around her, Luna could hear gossip, the usual spattered din of the Great Hall had turned into a hectic frenzy of speculation. All anyone could talk about was the engagement of Slytherin prince Draco Malfoy and the elegant Astoria Greengrass.

"They're much too young don't you think?" Lavender's voice was an octave higher than the rest at the Gryffindor table. Part of Luna had to resist the urge to sigh loudly and dramatically at Lavender. She somehow found it in herself to announce and discuss everyone's personal business at extra loud volume. A not so hushed discussion on the level of scandal ensued for as long as it took for Luna to finish her cup of tea and then Lavender, as she always did, signalled the next topic: the disappearance of the Golden Trio. She looked almost dizzy with information; her lips were moving so fast.

"They haven't disappeared Lav." Said Neville from beside Cho. They'd given up on the unwritten house rules of seating and Luna was glad. Though he spoke quietly, like he always did, his voice cut through the din of noise easily. When he spoke these days, people listened.

Lavender didn't look nearly sheepish enough at being chastised. "They're not here though." She shot back. It was true, Luna thought. They were gone. Each one after the other like dominos.

She'd known Hermione had left, she'd told her as much and it had been a brave thing to do. When they'd hugged goodbye, Luna had pushed all the good energy she could into the embrace, missing her already. It was one of the reasons why she'd moved from her seat at the Ravenclaw's table to sit by Cho and Neville. The three of them, joined together by their shared worry. Perhaps they were the only three who knew for sure where they'd gone, but it seemed that it wasn't hard to guess.

Rumours had already spread. Glancing away from the conversation that was surely about to escalate, and quickly, Luna unpeeled her copy of an old edition of the Quibbler, and not for the first time in the last week, placed it aside in favour of the letter. She stroked the owls, as they fluffed their feathers beside her. She'd broken the wax seal and was pulling out the parchment with neat, cramped writing, her lips tugging up into an involuntary smile.

Beside her, Cho poked dismally at her plate. Some part of her felt sorry for Harry, Ron and Hermione, that nothing they could do could go by uncommented. She wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow's edition of the Daily Prophet had their faces plastered on the front, under the words 'Drop Outs'. Before she could say as much to Luna, she noticed the envelope, the letter in her long fingers. It'd become routine these letters. "So who's the pen pal Luna?" Luna's face went an uncommonly rosy colour. Cho narrowed her eyes. "And don't say it's a long lost aunt, I can see it in your face its someone special."

Someone special, how peculiar that Cho had managed to describe him so well, Luna thought. Special seemed apt, along with other words like warm and thoughtful and kind-hearted. "He's a friend of mine."

Cho looked unconvinced. "A friend?" she prompted.

"Yes, a friend. His name's Rolf." She felt blissfully calm like she hadn't in a long while, there was something comforting about chatting with Cho, about everyday mundane things like letters. About Rolf, he'd felt a bit like her secret for a while.