Blaze
“So you guys got any chocolate from your folks?” Blaise said as he opened some elegantly wrapped boxes from his mother.
Theodore was sitting crossed legged on his bed “Father was never a fan of the holiday, too old fashioned?” he said giving off a low awkward laugh.
Blaise raised a brow before turning to his other friends “Let me guess stuff starting happening with your parents?”
“Father has been . . .” Draco licked his lips “Been sort of . . . moody this summer. And he was never one to bother with such . . . trivial holiday”
“Well, I’m sure he must be fun at parties” Blaise closed his trunk.
Draco decided to ignore Blaise’s comment and turned to Artemis who was also seating on his bed working on something on his magically run laptop “I assume you’re not a fan of sweets?”
“I can appreciate them but I can also live without them,” Artemis said not looking up from his laptop “Also mother has never celebrated the holiday and I don’t think it would be fitting to start now”
Blaise looked around at his friends “Am I the only one here who grew up with a somewhat normal childhood?”
Luna had also decided on staying in the castle for the holidays, this was because her father seemed to be busy these days and he didn’t want to disturb his work. She also had some overdue Arithmancy and Potions homework to get through and she needed some extra help on the latter subject.
As Professor Snape specifically said that if she were to set something on fire again she would repeat the year.
This was why she was at the Slytherin dungeons asking for a certain Irish wizard for some tutoring, or a fireproof charm whichever comes first.
That was when she spotted Pansy who upon seeing the Ravenclaw rolled her eyes “You looking for Fowl?”
“Nice to see you too” Luna gave the older girl her signature dreamy smile.
The Slytherin crossed her arms and looked away “You could have just owled him you know”
“Well my owl at the moment doesn’t have a sense of direction” Luna tapped her chin “Always ends up going near Professor Hagrid’s hut for some reason”
“Of course you have a broken owl” Pansy grumbled “Wait here I’ll get him for you”
“Wait a moment!” Luna then gave the girl a small satchel “It’s from Ginny”
At this Pansy’s cheeks turned slightly red “What . . . is that a smoke bomb?”
“I don’t think so” the blonde cocked her head “I believe they’re toffee eggs”
The girl looked at the bag “Why would she give me anything?”
“She said it was a thank you for the Care for Magical Creatures help” Luna still had the bad out-stretched.
“But how sure are we that he’s already . . .” Draco paused upon seeing the two girls “Lovegood?” he then saw the item Luna was handing over “Did Pansy blackmail you”
Immediately this made the said girl turn red “Mind you own business Malfroy” she then grabbed the satchel from Luna then grumbled something before storming off leaving all four of them to look at her retreating figure.
They were quiet for a moment until Theodore spoke “So . . .” he turned to Draco “You two still haven’t made up?”
At this Draco growled “That’s not any of my concern”
Upon hearing, Luna did a small frown “That’s not very nice”
Before Draco could insult her Artemis quickly changed the topic “Did you need something?”
“Ah yes” the girl clapped her soft hands “I was hoping you could assist me in a little problem I have”
“So things are most combustible with pure oxygen” Luna nodded and the table with several beakers was lit on fire “That’s good to know”
“Well its basic chemistry” Artemis had his nose and mouth covered by a handkerchief and raised his wand with his other hand “Which sadly most wizards are not taught”
Luna cocked head “The colors look quite pretty though,” she said as the burning blaze turned from a shade of blue to a shade of green then to yellow “They remind me of Fuego Bailarenas, they’re tiny sprites that are attracted to flames and they dance around causing them to change color”
They were currently in the Room of Requirement for Luna’s lesson, the boys had decided to leave Artemis alone with her, and judging by the fire that was going on he couldn’t blame them.
“Sadly they usually die if they can’t find any more flames” Luna continued her musings “But before they die they lay eggs and when they eventually die the younglings will hatch and they will eat the corpse of their mother for food”
Artemis ignored her rather disturbing descriptions “Nitrum!” he cast and a white smoke erupted from his wand and went over to the burning fire.
The colorful flames were now covered by a white fog that was surrounding the table which after a few moments the fire had been put out leaving a burnt table and broken beakers.
“A simple Aguamenti wouldn’t suffice?” Luna asked.
“There might be chemicals in those vials” he put his wand back under his robes “It’s better to be safe, I’m not sure how much damage the room could hold before it leaks out”
“That is true” at this Luna brought out her wand which she used to pull a broom and a dustpan and started to clean the aftermath.
“Exactly what potion were you trying to make” Artemis swore he saw her put live maggots into her cauldron a few moments ago.
“It was supposed to be some form of porridge” Luna then took out a parchment that looked like it had seen better days and that was on the verge of falling apart “Then again maybe I should have translated it beforehand”
Artemis went over and looked at the parchment and immediately his eyes widened.
It was written in Gnommish.
“Where did you get this?”
“My mother has a large collection of journals and books” she explained “This was in a collection labeled ‘foreign recipes’, according to my father there was a porridge or soup that he liked but he doesn’t remember what it was called”
“It’s foreign” Artemis read through the parchment “This is a recipe of some sort of supplement for newly born centaurs”
At this Luna looked him with surprise “You can read this language?”
“I . . .” he felt slightly uncomfortable with her large silvery eyes staring into him like a mist trying to suck out something “Stumbled upon the language while researching Ancient Runes”
The girl cocked her head “Is that so?” she looked at the parchment again “If I recall there were other pages that had similar inscriptions, as a child I thought they were just pretty designs”
“You managed to get maggots right” Artemis raised a brow “Though you have misinterpreted the temperature for boiling”
“Oh, that explains it” her eyes gleamed “Why don’t I try again?”
It was already night time when the two had finished up their ‘experiments’ and they were currently walking towards Ravenclaw tower.
“You didn’t have to escort me,” Luna said as she was skipping a few steps ahead of the Slytherin “You already have Crabbe and Goyle doing that”
“From what I heard they’re not doing a very good job” he had his hands on his pockets “Also it’s a nice evening”
She spun around “That it is” she then paused when they reached the Ravenclaw staircase “Oh yes I almost forgot, could you please wait for a moment”
Artemis watched the girl skip up the stairs and he couldn’t help but remember that scene from Giselle where she dances with the witches. What did bother him though was how on earth Luna’s mother got her hands on pages from The Book. As far as he knew the closest things to fairies for wizards were house-elves.
“Sorry for taking so long,” Luna said coming down the stairs carrying what seemed to be a medium-sized green box with the Honeydukes logo in gold lining.
“Is this for Pansy?”
“No, it’s for you” she extended the box to him.
He wasn’t sure how to react so he just accepted the box “This looks different from the ones in the train”
“They’re from the exclusive line” Luna shrugged “I saw a couple of Beauxbatons girls asking elves for these”
Still being unsure “Umm . . .”
“Don’t worry” she smiled “These aren’t acid pops”
At the mention of this, his face went slightly pink before opening the box and seeing a vast assortment of Liquorice Wands.
“They’re not eggs per se but they seem to suit your style,” she said with twinkling eyes “Happy Easter,” she said before turning back to her dorm.
“Wait” he closed the box “May I ask what your mother did for a living?”
Luna stopped her skipping and turned to him with a melancholic smile “She was just a good witch”