bts/skinnydipping
“Hello Luna, how was your summer? Are you glad to be coming back to Hogwarts?”
“Oh yes, daddy says it’s very important to revisit sites of past trauma - it clears out the wrackspurts.”
“I dunno about the wrackspurts, but there is supposed to be a confluence of bioluminescent muskrills in the lake tonight,” Ginny piped in as Luna disappeared into a compartment full of Ravenclaws. “It’s supposed to be quite the show, they light up in all sorts of different colors and flash in synchronized patterns. I was thinking of sneaking down after lights out - wanna join?”
“We’re not even back on school grounds yet and already you’re plotting ways to break rules? You’ve been spending too much time with Harry.”
“Oh come on Hermione, it’s harmless! In fact you could probably get permission from Hagrid to go see them - observing magical creatures in their natural habitat and all that. Or you could just kip under Harry’s cloak and pop down to the lake without anyone being the wiser. . .”
“Oh go on, Gin. We’ll see.”
* * *
Despite herself, Hermione found her feet itching to climb out of bed and down to the lake that night. After 30 minutes of wrestling with herself, her feet and curiosity won out, and she found herself creeping surreptitiously down the stairs for the common room. She had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice arrested her from behind.
“Going out, are you, ‘Mione?”
Ginny and Harry were playing a game of gobstones, although they were seated so closely together that Hermione imagined it must be difficult to maneuver the pieces.
“Thought you might want to borrow this.” Harry’s invisibility cloak was in his hand, making it look as though his arm ended just past the elbow.
Hermione took a deep sigh and crossed the room to take the cloak, never taking her narrowed eyes off Ginny’s, which looked as smug as if she had caught a canary.
“Aren’t you lot coming, then? Don’t you want to use this?”
“Just as soon as I finish schooling Harry at gobstones. We’ll come be all right without the cloak though - we’ve both done our fair share of sneaking around.” Ginny’s wink was infuriating, and Hermione chose not to dignify it with a response. She was halfway out the portrait hole when she heard
“Oh, and Hermione? They’re supposed to be most brilliant when the water’s riled up - might be a nice night for a swim.”
* * *
The stars were certainly beautiful, anyway, Hermione thought to herself as she sat on the lakeshore, although there wasn’t a muskrill to be seen. What was Ginny playing at, anyway? Something in her manner made Hermione uneasy about this whole thing. She was just contemplating how much longer she would stay, when -
“You’re supposed to get in the water, Granger.”
That voice. It was dripping with decadence and sarcasm, low and sultry, full of easy confidence. But how had she known about the Muskrills?
“What are you doing down here, Parkinson? I never took you for an animal lover, nor an appreciator of natural phenomena.”
“There’s a whole world of things you don’t know about me, Granger. Now come on, do you want to be dazzled, or don’t you?”
And without further ado, Pansy began to strip, tossing her clothes over a branch of a nearby tree.
“What are you doing, Parkinson?!” Hermione’s voice did not hide her alarm.
“How do you expect me to swim with the muskrills bogged down by all this fabric? Besides, the muskrills are tiny. They’ll get caught up in the cloth and drown. And you say I’m no lover of animals. Are you coming, or are you just going to watch the show?”
“I’m not getting in there. I don’t even think there are any muskrills out tonight. We must have been misinformed.”
“Your information might be faulty Granger, but mine is watertight.”
Hermione tried not to stare as Pansy removed her bra and knickers before striding cooly over to the lakeshore and wading into the shallows. Her skin was iridescent in the moonlight, taking on a pale glow as she swam further into the lake. Merlin, she really was beautiful - it was almost as if the water around her was glowing. . . and then Hermione realized that it was glowing. First a few, then dozens of little lights were undulating all around Pansy in the water.
Hermione bit back her surprise as Pansy called out, “Still want to watch from the sidelines?”
By way of reply, Hermione stood and tugged her clothes off, covering her body self-consciously as she waded in, and exhaling sharply as the cold water rose along her exposed skin.
They splashed around enjoyably as more and more muskrill lit up all around them. Soon they were surrounded by hundreds of tiny, glowing lights in all different colors.
“I can’t believe they’re real! Why have I never heard of this before? It seems like something that everyone would want to come see!”
“I’m sure they would, if they new about it. But muskrill aren’t endemic to Scotland. I hope they don’t mess with the ecology…”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I imported a crate of them and turned them loose in the lake tonight.”
“You what?” Hermione was dumbfounded. “ Why would you do that?” She turned to face Pansy, treading water so close to her that their fingers brushed in the water, sending tens of muskrills rippling away in every direction.
“Because, Granger, how else was I supposed to get you to go skinny dipping with me?”