Catalyst

Chapter 43: Grawping Scandal

The next meeting of the DA, Luna made a point of paying close attention to how Potter and his friends acted towards the others there. Aside from a few humans he was especially close to, he treated all of the attending members with the same courtesy he had been showing her. He spread his attention evenly, helping each member equally. Including Luna. It was odd, to say the least. Odd to be a part of a group, to not be singled out and isolated. She couldn't say she didn't like it. She couldn't say she liked it either. All she could say was that it was...different.

It wasn't even just Potter anymore. The others were following his example. They were including Luna, asking her questions, listening to her. It was a very different experience to feel as much a part of the room as the scent of sweat that accompanied it. Among the Swarm, the connection to those around was natural, a default state of being. To be treated like this among humans felt more like an aberration, a blight against the world's natural order. Every action, every word she had to say felt forced and awkward, as though there was a set of rules about conversation that she didn't know. Luna had no idea how to deal with it. So in lieu of finding an actual answer she settled for attacking her partner in particularly creative ways.

Hannah Abbott had started off with a simple tactic; throwing up a shield, and firing a few stunners at Luna, which were easily dodged. She counterattacked with a blasting charm at the floor, throwing up a cloud of dust that she banished towards her opponent. While Abbott was temporarily blinded, Luna circled around her, casting levitation charms repeatedly. She felt one connect, right as a gust of wind blew away the dust. Abbott turned towards Luna victoriously, a spell on her lips, right as Luna moved her wand tip up, causing to Abbott follow suit.

Taking advantages of Abbott's startlement, Luna began casting another spell, moving her wand through the motions of a stunner. Interestingly, this also forced Abbott to fly around, crashing her into the ground and disorienting her even more. By the time she was done casting, the Hufflepuff wasn't in any condition to maintain a shield, leaving Luna's free to disarm her and bring an end to their bout.

"Nice job, Luna," said Weasley, the one closest to Potter. The compliment confused Luna. Not so much because of the content, but because she didn't know how she was supposed to respond to it.

"Thank you," she said, forcing on a small smile.

"You're welcome. I haven't seen anyone use spells like that since..." Weasley grimaced. "Well, since Abathur. But you probably picked it up from him, right?"

How much could she tell him? He already knew part of it so Luna decided to present a simple truth. "Yes, a bit. Although he didn't have much time before..."

"Yeah. He stopped hanging out with us a lot before that though. It seems like such a stupid thing now," Weasley commented. What was she supposed to say here? She wished Thenabar were here. In the absence of anything more obvious to do, Luna stayed silent. "He probably saved my life first year too. "Say, I don't suppose you know any more details about what happened to him?"

"It's...not my place to say," Luna said hesitantly.

"Fair enough. I'm sorry to bother you about him," Weasley said. He turned to walk away. "Anyway, keep up the good work."

"Why do you think you and Abathur never made up?" The words escaped Luna's mouth before she realized she had said them, causing her jerk back in shock.

Weasley looked puzzled for a second. "Well, we didn't have much time before whatever happened happened. Maybe he just felt awkward about the whole thing. He wanted to make up and didn't know how, and didn't have time to figure it out. I mean, we all want to have friends, but a lot of us don't really know how to make them," Weasley said. "Sorry to vent at you again."