Luna bounces up to him happily, wide smile on her face, and Harry smiles too.
"Harry!" She says.
"What is it, Luna?" Harry asks.
"The nargles are going to be visible tonight! Will you stay up and watch them with me?"
His smile widens. "Of course I will! When wouldn't I?"
"Never." Luna says.
"Exactly," Harry nods, "So, where do you think will be the best place to see the nargles?"
Luna thinks for a second. Her face screws up in concentration, her cloudy blue eyes clearing, her pale cheeks flushing slightly as she thinks. "I know! The top of the astronomy tower, at midnight. Will I see you there ten minutes beforehand?"
"Ten minutes beforehand." Harry agrees.
At what he thinks to be eleven thirty-five, Harry picks up his wand from the bedside table. He whispers a tempus , watches as the time loops out of the wand. The spell says it is eleven twenty-six, and he decides that he can get up by now.
He casts a warmth spell on his clothing and lets the heat sink in, then he grabs the map and the cloak and heads out.
As he begins to pad out, Rom mumbles something. Harry freezes in place, then quietly continues walking out.
The second Harry leaves the common room, he feels the biting chill of the night and the wind digging into the skin. He has never been more grateful for warming charms.
As he gets higher and higher up, the chill gets colder and colder, settling as an itch under his skin. Harry tugs the cloak closer to himself and gently unfurls the map, watching as Luna's name swirls around the staircase up the tower and he climbs up it, too.
Once at the top, they swing their legs over the edge of the tower and look up at the sky. It is filled with stars tonight ─ next to no clouds cover the spheres of light and the moon is almost offensively bright.
"I wonder what the nargles really look like," Luna says.
Harry chews his lip. "I think they'll look like fireflies," he suggests, "With tiny claw-like nails, large golden wings and a body that is a strange colour somewhere between green and gold."
She hums. "Maybe they'll hold little blades of grass that they use as weapons to fight off their enemies."
A laugh spills over Harry's lips. "Maybe."
Silence falls over them.
"Look!" Luna says suddenly, pointing at a floating orb in front of them. It's got tiny claws for nails, large golden wings and a body that is a strange colour between green and gold. In it's hand it holds a little blade of grass sharpened to a point.
They laugh.