LUNACY ll Mattheo Riddle x Reader

22. ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍʟᴇꜱꜱ ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ

"Who's that girl Harry's been spending so much time with?" I ask Hermione one early morning, as she, Theo, and I take an early stroll through the misty grounds. "You know, the one with the silver-blonde hair?"

"Thought I was the only one who'd noticed," Hermione grins. "Her name is Luna Lovegood, she's a year below us in Ravenclaw."

"Isn't her father the one with the wacky newsletters?" Theo frowns.

"Theo, you shouldn't say things like that," Hermione chides, but the reluctant smile she exchanges with him after that has me thinking she completely agrees with him- She's just too nice to actually voice it out loud.

"So are they... Friends? Dating? What is it?" I ask.

"Well, they were friends when Harry brought Luna to Slughorn's Christmas Party, but then the whole thing with- Well- Er-"

"Me being hexed into acting like a complete bitch broke out, continue," Theo fills the gap for her.

"Right. So, Harry and Luna came chasing after me, Harry was all flustered and he didn't know what to do, mostly just went on with insults about you," Hermione places a few awkward pats on Theo's arm, "But Luna knew all the right things to say. Told me what a strong, lovely person I was, and if there was someone who couldn't see that, it was their loss. And that I shouldn't let others judge me for my feelings or for my actions, because the only person who could make a fair judgment about my life was myself."

"I like this Luna," Theo decides.

"Harry must have thought so, too- I think that was around the moment he started catching feelings for her, but being the oblivious person that he is, I don't think he's realized it just yet."

"Knowing Harry, he never will," I shake my head. I leave the two a short while later, as it soon becomes painfully clear who the third wheel is here.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

"Late again, Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape says that second period, clicking his tongue when Harry enters the room a total of thirty seconds after a group of rowdy Slytherins do. Scowling, Harry scowls at Snape as he flings himself into the seat beside Ron.

"Before we start, I want your essays on the Imperius Curse," said Snape, waving his wand carelessly, so that twenty-five scrolls of parchment soar into the air and land in a neat pile on his desk. "Now, if you will all open your books to page- What is it, Mr. Finnigan?"

"Sir," the Gryffindor boy says, "I've been wondering, how do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the paper about an Inferius attack, released upon a Wizarding family by a Death Eater named-"

"An excellent question, Mr Finnigan," Snape interrupts him, and Finnigan looks so shocked about Snape having actually fed him a compliment that he shuts himself up instantly. But it's obvious, to me at least, that Snape didn't just say what he did out of the goodness of his shriveled up heart- It was a desperate attempt to cut off a sentence that would have only added to the already staggering animosity between the Slytherins and the rest of the school.

From my seat in the back, I can see very clearly the way Enzo shrinks into himself at the exchange. It was all over the Prophet this morning- How Alaric Berkshire, Enzo's uncle, was arrested under the suspicions of having created an entire family of Inferni.

Harry starts muttering something to Ron and Hermione, causing Snape to continue loudly, "Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject. Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost."

"Er- Well-" Harry stammers for words. "Ghosts are transparent-"

"Oh, very good," Snape interrupts him, his lip curling. "Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. Ghosts are transparent."