Pod
“I see nothing” Blaise commented holding a pair of binoculars looking out into the ocean. He was currently standing on the deck on a small yacht positioned off the coast of Orkney.
The wind was blowing so hard that Theodore had both his hands on top of his head to prevent his hat from flying off “That’s because we just got here, they don’t just pop out because we’re here”
Still peering into the sea, “I thought they lived around here”
“Whales don’t just live in one place” Theodore explained “They travel around, this place just happens to be a common route for them”
Putting down the binoculars Blaise looked at his friend “How do you . . .”
“Butler explained on the way here”
“Who wants something warm!” Ginny came out of the deck holding two flasks, she almost tripped from the sudden gust but managed to not fall “Woah, Artemis wasn’t joking about the wind”
“Are they just gonna sit inside?” Blaise took one flask from Ginny “We’re supposed to be whale watching! Not boat sitting!”
“They’re coming relax” Ginny laughed “Most of them haven’t eaten breakfast yet so Butler made toast, sausage, and eggs”
As soon as Ginny mentioned sausage a loud grumble was heard, and both boys looked at each other.
“Looks like someone skipped breakfast as well,” Blaise said with a cocky smile.
Theodore puckered his forehead “Oh please that was clearly from you”
“Come on boys” the girl turned to Theodore offering the flask “Aren’t you gonna get cold Theodore?”
“He’s worried his hat will fly away” Blaise answered opening his flask.
Theodore gave him one last glare “I’ll just get back inside, there are no whales yet anyway”
“Alright then” Ginny shrugged “Just be careful, the floors are quite slippery”
“Yeah, you did a good enough demonstration” Theodore joked.
“Oh, come on! And I thought you were nicest of them” exclaimed Ginny.
Blaise huffed “Unbelievable leaving me out here alone!? Fine! You go back with your warm fire and sausages. But I’ll be the one who sees a killer whale!”
The two could barely hear Blaise’s grumbling as they got inside the boat. Theodore took the flask from Ginny after he was sure his hat wouldn’t fly anytime soon. “It’s nice that your family was alright for you to come alone”
“Oh, they weren’t too keen on the idea at first” Ginny rubbed her hands “I mean a couple of kids in the middle of the ocean is not exactly a good idea, and my brothers went livid when they found it was a bunch of Slytherins. It took Butler calling via fireplace to assure my parents that he would make sure to supervise us”
“Even the twins?”
“Oh, they wanted to tag along but Mom thought that they would probably sink the boat”
As they got down they headed for the tiny nook that was filled with a breakfast spread. Draco was enjoying the sausages while Pansy was spreading jam on her toast and Luna was on one side drinking tea with the latest edition of the Quibbler in her hand.
“Ah, so only one idiot remains” Draco commented when he saw Ginny and Theodore come in.
“Is Mr. Zabini holding up there?” Butler asked with mild concern, he was also wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
“Oh, he’ll live” Ginny waved her hand dismissively and took a seat next to Luna “Where’s Artemis?”
Pansy pointed to the control room “He said something about putting a scanner or something”
“Oh, it’s just a sonar detection device” Luna sipped her tea when she realized her year-mates didn’t quite understand “It’s a machine that’s used to see if there are whales nearby”
“Not exactly sonar” Artemis had exited the room “That buoy is equipped with an advanced hydrophone that would listen in on the area sea mammals in real time”
Once again everyone else aside from Luna looked at him with confusion.
Luna put down her teacup “Basically if the whales or dolphins make a sound underwater, we can hear them, then we’ll probably where they are?” she looked at Artemis for confirmation and he nodded.
“Oh, you could have just said it that way” Pansy sneered.
Artemis just rolled his eyes “Anyway, the weather will probably clear in a hour so hopefully we’ll be seeing some of the dolphins . . .”
“Wait there are dolphins?” Ginny was bouncing with excitement “I thought there were only whales?”
“Calm down Ginny” Theodore patted her back.
“There are a variety of mammals who come up here during the summer” Artemis shrugged “If they don’t get bothered by the ships that is”
“Oooohhh” Ginny rubbed her hands in anticipation “I’ve only seen them in pictures in Muggle Studies”
Luna put down her copy of the Quibbler “Will we see Nessie?”
Artemis looked at her and blinked, paused then replied “Not in the ocean, also limited to Scotland”
“Oh,” she said somewhat disappointingly.
After an hour or so the sky had finally cleared, and one could see the clear blue seas of Northern Ireland. The gang had finally gone out and was greeted by a completely soaked Zabini.
“Took you guys long enough” Blaise still had his hood up and was even wearing goggles.
Draco couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s appearance “What in Merlin’s . . . you look ridiculous”
“While you look like a spoiled brat” Blaise lifted up his chin “While you were inside with your comfy fire, I saw a couple of dolphins”
“Dolphins where!?” Ginny ran over to the edge of the deck and started looking.
“Geez dolphins really got her crazy” Pansy muttered, though also she was looking around.
Luna leaned over the railings and let the breeze blow by “It’s quite a lovely day isn’t it”
Artemis had his binoculars on “Ginny, you might want to look here”
“Oh, where OOOOOOHHHHHHH” the redhead head cooed as on the northeast side of the boat two dolphins had made an appearance.
Even the pessimistic Pansy and Draco couldn’t help but gasp as they saw the creatures jumping.
“Oh hello” Luna looked down and immediately everyone came to see what the blonde was looking at and gasped. Following the current of the boat was a pod of dolphins, some would even jump and greet with their distinctive babbling sound.
“Wait that’s how they sound like?” Theodore blinked.
Artemis shrugged “Pretty much, be careful though they’re quite . . . devious to say the least.”
Blaise gave the Irish boy a look “How can a cute fish . . .”
“They’re not fish . . .”
“Cute water thing”
“Okay sure whatever”
“How can they be devious?”
Theodore interjected “I thought they were just smart”
Artemis raised a finger “And that’s exactly why they’re dangerous”
“Oh, dear they’re just so lovely!” Ginny ignored the boy’s conversation and just continued to admire the mammals.
Theodore whispered to Artemis “Let me guess, they have a body count?”
“It’s a given”
“Better not tell Ginny then”
“Okay,” Blaise looked around trying to divert the topic “We came here for the whales, where the heck are they?”
At that moment a large creature rose right in front of the boat, water splashing the deck, but everyone just looked at the humpback.
Words fail to describe what they had just seen. Luna had heard of the creatures; she had seen illustrations from both her mother’s and father’s journals. There were some in the Muggle Studies books but they fail to capture the majesty of the life form. There was an otherworldly beauty in whale, one could only appreciate it if were witnessed in person. The lines symbolizing it’s age, the tiny eye that looked soft, almost comforting despite its mass.
As quickly as it arrived it had now disappeared back into its native waters. Sounds of the seas and seagulls filled their silence.
Everyone was wet from the encounter, but it was safe to say most of them thought it was worth it.
“That thing” Theodore pointed a finger “You know near the liney part?”
“You mean the eye?” Artemis raised a brow.
“That was an eye?” Blaise asked in astonishment.
After viewing the whales, the group found themselves back on shore in one of the Islands of Orkney, they were currently in Rackwick Bay. Butler had set up a makeshift kitchen by the beach with Pansy assisting him, Theodore was attempting to look for shells but kept getting bothered by Blaise and Ginny. Draco, amidst the chaos, was seated alone by the beach with some driftwood he found earlier and was simply poking the sand.
“Rough summer?” Draco looked up to see Artemis, who even on a summer holiday whale watching was still wearing a suit, well it was corduroy, but a suit, nonetheless.
“How are you still comfortable in that thing?” Draco looked back into the ocean, grabbed a pebble, and threw it.
Also looking at the sea “It’s not that bad honestly”
“Of course, you would say that” he then noticed the Ravenclaw was not to far from their view, she had removed her shoes and her jacket and now was visibly seen wearing a light blue dress and she was picking things from the shallow part of the sea “Aren’t you going to watch her?”
“I believe she knows how to swim” Artemis placed his hands in his pocket “Yes, I recall she would sometimes swim in the lake at night”
The blond shook his head “Why am I not surprised”
“It’s a miracle none of the merpeople attacked her by accident”
Poking his stick in the sand again “So, how miserable is Potter right now?”
“He’s absolutely livid” Artemis shrugged “I’ll let Dumbledore deal with that”
“Always wanting things to go his way” Draco poked the stick a little harder in the sand “Sadly, that is something that will never happen to the most of us.”
“How’s your dad?”
Draco sighed and broke the stick before standing up and tossing it into the ocean. He then turned back to Artemis, he didn’t say anything just stared at him after awhile he just yelled and stomped towards Theodore who was busy making a castle. Not surprisingly, he wrecked the castle which resulted in an argument.
Artemis just let out a sigh and looked back at the ocean, he saw Luna approaching him, the bottom of her dress was soaked, and the tie of her hair was barely holding on.
Luna stopped next to him and noticed the little brawl the Slytherin boys were having with Ginny and Blaise trying to calm them down. “It’s starting, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” he looked over the girl “Aren’t you cold?”
“It’s a warm day” Luna looked up at the skies it was a clear blue “Would you like to go for a swim”
The boy scowled “I respectfully decline”
Still looking at the sky, “You need some exercise you know” She turned to him “Dueling requires some physical effort”
He let out a deep sigh “Other forms of fitness first”
“How about walking” Luna gestured towards the long shoreline “I’m sure they’ll call us when they’re done”
He turned to their group and Pansy had bumped the two Slytherin boys in the head. They were now kneeling on the floor while the girl gave them a stern lecture with Ginny and Blaise chuckling behind her, even Butler couldn’t help but be amused.
“She cares more than she looks” Luna commented.
“She does” Artemis gestured “So, shall we?”
Artemis had taken off his jacket as he and Luna walked along the shoreline, Luna was ahead skipping leaving marks on the sand. The Irish boy observed the girl, for a while he had theorized whether or not she had any relation to the People. He still was yet to know how her mother obtained a copy of the Book, did she steal it like he did before? Was her mother a close friend with one? Was she distantly related?
Luna had stopped her skipping and Artemis didn’t realize until he bumped into her.
“Sorry,” he raised his hands.
The blonde just shrugged it off “Nargles in your head?”
He lowered his hands “Maybe”
Luna once again looked over to the sea, in the distance one could see a pod of whales passing by “Congratulations by the way”
Artemis raised a brow “For what?”
“Butler mentioned your mother is carrying life”
“So that’s what Zabini was going on about earlier” he let out another deep sigh.
Luna had a mischievous smirk “It would be amusing to see you being an older brother” she placed her hands behind her back and leaned towards him “It would be most amusing if she were a girl”
He shook his head “Well, thankfully she’ll have it easier than I did. He or she will have an actual normal childhood.”
This made the girl frown.
He gave her a small melancholic smile before walking further.
Luna followed the gentle breeze blowing, her hair tie had now fallen, and her hair was now flowing like a will-o'-the-wisp. The girl cocked her head as she observed his back, he had grown taller once again and soon even on her tippy-toes would not be able to reach him.
His frame was quite thin for his stature and his skin was still ghostly pale, his raven hair had grown out to a certain degree and she realized it wasn’t as kept as it was in school. Most of the time his hair was slick back exposing his forehead. Right now it was loose and almost looked fluffy.
She skipped ahead of him to see how his hair was in the front and she thought his bangs were longer.
Artemis stopped walking when he noticed the intense look of the Ravenclaw, he responded with an eyebrow raise.
“You haven’t cut your hair” she stated.
“Probably tomorrow”
She reached over her hand and pushed back his hair to have a clearer look of his face, she was pleasantly surprised to see his eyebags had somewhat reduced.
“You have a remarkably large forehead” Luna’s face was quite close.
He blinked “I . . . have . . . no comment for that”
She pulled back her hand, rubbed her chin, and stepped back for a moment before once again messing with his hair.
“What in Merlin’s name are you doing?” the two stopped and saw Pansy panting as she had ran over to the other side of the shore just to call them for lunch.
Luna’s hands were still on Artemis’ hair “He has surprisingly silky hair” she said as though that were a good enough explanation.
The boy just shrugged.
Pansy looked at the two before shaking her head “If you’re done with whatever you two are doing, lunch is ready” she said in an almost defeated tone before returning to the rest of the group.