What Do A Lion And A Wolf Share?

The Interview (Sort Of)

"And finally, this is the library. We'll do our interview in here, Luna," Hermione gestured to the matching blue loveseats in the most comfortable room Nott Manor had to offer. Ginny, Luna, and Hermione sat down and started in on the biscuits and tea Hermione had left out under a warming charm before she started the tour.

"Morgana, Hermione, this place is huge," Ginny exclaimed, her hands full of jammie dodgers. "I can't believe Theo lived here by himself for so long."

Hermione was glad Ginny asked to tag along for the interview last night. While Hermione loved and appreciated Luna, she wasn't always sure how to handle her. She also didn't know how Theo would react to the eccentric witch and thought Ginny, who he'd talked about Quidditch extensively with at dinner, could be a contingency buffer.

"We didn't even cover all of it! But I'm glad you could both come over. Theo has made it as homey as he can, but having friends over it makes the place less creepy."

"Do you like your new room?" Luna asked, her protruding eyes watching Hermione over her tea cup. "I'll need to make you a cork bunting to hang above your door for protection."

"Yes, I like it," she answered, purposefully not asking Luna why she'd need a door decoration to avoid an explanation of whatever made up creature she was thinking about. Hermione thought about her new room, bone white, sparsely decorated, and bigger than the second floor of the house she grew up in. The first few days she stayed there she had slept fine in the giant room, likely a product of emotional exhaustion at how quickly her life had changed. Last night, however, she suffered a bout of insomnia and came to find the emptiness of the room jarring. Tossing and turning, she struggled to shut out the extremely annoying voice of Draco Malfoy criticizing her. She found that no amount of counting sheep could banish yesterday's painful reintroduction from her head. Like a pesky weed, the image of the man's slate eyes glaring at her had taken root in her head and refused to be pulled, even into the day. "But this room is my favorite," Hermione stressed, gesturing at the cozy book-lined room and forcing herself to focus on her friends.

"Hermione Granger liking a library? Shocking!" Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ginny, while Ginny threw her half-chomped biscuit at her.

Hermione heard Theo's breath hitch behind her. When she turned to look at her brother, he was staring at Luna with wide eyes. The blonde witch had dressed in sunshine yellow robes and piled her blond mane into a messy bun, held together by her wand. She knew her friend's haphazard appearance was likely offputting to Theo, but hoped he could pull it together and be polite while she was here.

"Hello there. Hermione, who do we have here?" Theo leaned against the doorway and grinned, his eyes still on Luna.

"Of course, I apologize. Luna, this is my - my half-brother Theo Nott. Theo, this is my friend Luna Lovegood. She was a year behind us at Hogwarts, in Ravenclaw."

"A pleasure, Miss Lovegood," Theo said formally, striding towards her. He took her hand in his and pressed his lips to her knuckles before offering a deep bow. "I'm honoured that a witch as lovely as you would grace us today. I've never seen the library more beautiful." Hermione caught Ginny's eyes, the two of them wearing matching shocked expressions at the suave greeting from the same man they'd seen so hesitant at dinner last night.

If Luna was surprised at his formal welcome, she didn't show it. Instead she gently smiled at him as he dropped her hand. "You've an infestation of nargles in the room to the left of the entrance," Luna said dreamily, the only response to Theo's unusually complimentary greeting.

"Ah, I'm sure we have an infestation of a lot of things in the parlour. I'm actually working on that room right now. I'm in the process of curse-breaking and removing the Dark artifacts in the manor. Unfortunately, that means most of the rooms are sealed off," Theo sighed. "My late father was a collector and each room is a new, terrible challenge. That room alone is full of cursed portraits."