Stuck with Me [Harry Potter]

Chapter 5 - Luna Goes on a Hunting Trip

She had so much time on her hands, more so than when she had been home on holiday. She sat on her bed on the second floor and gazed out the window as the sun set, and she ogled the beautiful golds, pinks and oranges in the sky. It looked like a painting. She spotted Draco in his usual spot, staring at the horizon.

"He loves the sky," she muttered, only guessing since she never really asked him. This could be something they had in common. She loved the sky, too.

She sighed contently as she lay her head over her folded arms on the windowsill. She gazed out at the far distance at the forest about a kilometer away. She smiled as an idea lighted her mind, and she hopped to her feet. Why hadn't she thought about doing this when she first arrived home?

Because she always did it with her father... who was now in Azkaban.

She took a deep breath as she tried to dismiss her sinking heart. She wanted to make her father proud. She would go out and find those crumple-horned snorkacks and surprise him when he comes back. She knew they were out there somewhere.

After changing into her outerwear and grabbing a rather large net on a pole, she went out barefoot into the grass. Draco was gone. She was going to tell him that she was leaving and ask him if would like to come along. She looked around her property several times over. He was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he went back home? She nodded. That was most likely what happened. Too bad. She liked having the company, even if they hardly spoke with one another.

She moved on and danced her way through the grass, and about half-way to the forest, it got as tall as her waist. She noticed a ladybug land on her hand as she had her arms out. She let it sit there and enjoy the ride.

She came upon the edge of the forest, the sky darkening. She entered the forest as an orchestra of nature sounds delighted her ears. Smiling, she walked over the leaves, twigs and rocks. The soles of her feet were so thick, she barely felt anything as she stepped on them.

A loud shrill shriek encumbered the forest.

"A snorkack!" she said and beamed. She started running in the direction of the sound, running through thickets of branches and bushes, the leaves of which were getting caught in her hair.

The loud shriek sounded again.

Luna's heart pounded with excitement at finally being able to capture a snorkack and keep it as a pet. As she ran, huffing, her father's words entered her mind, along with a memory of the both of them sitting on the steps to their house when she was ten years old...

"Luna, the crumple-horned snorkack is the rarest of magical creatures and can only be found in that forest over there. Their call is a loud shriek, but when you hear it, don't be frightened because that is their happy call, a call they make when they know a friend is nearby. Someday we will catch one together and keep it as a pet and name it Pandora after your mum. The creature's cat-like, so they won't be much trouble to keep around."

She heard the shriek again heard, but louder. The wood was almost pitch dark now, and Luna had to put on special magical glasses in order so see in the dark. When she put them on, she saw the forest as if it were noon-day. She ran more towards the noise until she entered a calm clearing of feathery green grass swaying in the wind. She sat crisscrossed, waiting for the snorkack to arrive.

As she sat and waited, the dark sky above her twinkled stars at her. She jumped to her feet when she heard a low rumble of an animal.

"There it is," she said and crouched behind a tall tuft of grass. The large, furry, four-legged creature with tall ears like horns walked out into the clearing. "Alright, here we go..." Luna muttered, and was about to jump out with her magical net whose net expanded to the size of whatever she was capturing, but something startled the cat-beast, and it ran off back into the forest. Luna slumped back down in the grass in disappointment. "I suppose I will have to try again later."

The sound of something slithering in the grass encumbered the still silence of the forest clearing. Luna stood up and saw a rather massive green snake slithering in her direction. It's eyes glowed yellow, even through Luna's magical glasses.

"Oh, hello," she said to the massive snake as it stared at her. She looked along its body and couldn't see his or her tail. "My, you are very long, aren't you?"

This snake wasn't a magical creature, just a snake slithering through the clearing. She would know, after reading book after book on magical creatures, and visiting them at Hogwarts whenever she had some spare time.

The snake opened its mouth, showing long fangs. She didn't know much about non-magical creatures, but she knew creatures themselves, and that snake looked hungry. She stood and looked around and heard something scampering in the brush. She caught the rodent with her net and came back and placed it in front of the snake. It started to swallow the rodent whole.

"There, now you are satisfied," she said. "You can wait with me for the crumple-horned snorkack, but make sure you do not startle it. They are not fond of snakes."

She knew the snake couldn't understand her, but talking to it helped her relax. She would be waiting all night for that snorkack to come back.