Chapter 52: Distractions

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"What do you mean he's not there?!"

Hermione stomped up the stairs and kicked the door of the third year boys' dormitory open.  She glared at Harry's empty bed, accusing it of lying to her.  She threw the covers back and tossed the pillows over her shoulder.  Going so far to lift the mattress and looking beneath the bed itself.

"Did you really think I would lie about this?" Ron asked incredulously.  "Or somehow miss the fact that he's not in his bed?"

"No but I am very flustered right now and this is my coping mechanism."  She glared at him.  "Unless you rather me be cross at you instead-"

Ron held his hands up.  "Nope, not one bit.  Throw his covers around some more if you like."

She did but it did nothing to make her feel better.  "I don't understand," she said.  "He wanted to nap here instead of go to the Infirmary.  I walked him up here.  He asked me to sit with him until he fell asleep.  I left the room with him sleeping in his bed!"

Ron rubbed his chin.  "I hate to break it to you, but he must've been pretending to.  He's really good at pretending to be asleep.  Like, weirdly good at it."

They shared an uncomfortable look.

"But I was sitting in the common room.  I would have notice..." she groaned and opened his trunk.

Ron watched her rummage in it, idly wondering if he should be stopping her, before catching on.  "He must have grabbed his cloak."

She slammed the trunk shut.  "He could be anywhere by now."

Ron nodded.  "Let's go check the usual places: the kitchens, the owlery, the Medical Ward just in case he gave us the slip, the library."

"And if we don't find him?" she asked, her hands wringing.

"We wait till dinner time and see if he shows up at the Great Hall.  If not I'll go find Percy and the twins and we'll search the castle."

"That's a good plan," she admitted.

"Thanks.  You spend enough time with the twins, you're bound to come up with one."

-0-

Luna skipped down the corridor, her bare feet bouncing up and down on the cold stones.  She hummed softly to herself, skipping without a distinct destination in mind.  She stopped at an intersection; head tilted.  She changed direction and skipped down a different corridor, still humming softly.  Her steps took her all over the corridor, as if she was following a path only she could see.

She stopped at a tapestry of a field of flowers.  With a glance up and down the hall to ensure privacy, she slipped behind the tapestry.  She sat down on the stone bench nestled inside the small alcove hidden by the tapestry.  Normally she would snuggle into the corner but she sat in the middle of the bench instead.  She hummed softly, a wordless tune that was pleasant to listen to.

"I do hope I'm not bothering," she said to the seemingly empty space.

A sniffle was heard.  "You're not bothering me," Harry said.  His voice was wet.  "How did you find me?"

"I found a path of wrackspurts out there and decided to follow them here.  The alcove is full of them and they usually don't collect here.  I decided to sit here until they left.  Wrackspurts are scared of two people you see.  They gather when there's only one but if there are two, they tend to get shy and leave."

"Good thing you know about them" Harry said and he sounded serious.  As if he believed her.  "Why do they gather?"

"I'm sure you've heard the expression 'Misery loves company'.  Well they are the company in the expression.  They like misery and their presence, in large numbers, increases misery.  They don't mean to, it's just their nature."

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