Chapter 66. Carriage Ride To School

I gasped, air quickly filling my lungs as I raised my body from the ground, the pain in my arm from my nightmare of repressed childhood still lingering. I grunted while holding my arm to help dull the throbbing. ‘I guess that was my first night…’ Painful flashes of my blood slowly being corrupted left me in shock and fear. I let out a shaky sigh, trying to keep calm, but was interrupted by Pansy. “Lucas! Are you still hurt? Here! Eat this!” She stuck something in my mouth, the mellow yet bitter flavor of chocolate filled my cheeks.

Strangely enough, the lingering pain in my arm abated as I tasted the dark bitter flavor of chocolate. I let out a sigh of relief, a smile returning to my face. “Thank you.” I nodded, Val slithering from my clothes to my collar. “You had a scary nightmare, screaming about the pain…” Val muttered. I sighed, since I was now a third year, the regulations over pets had now loosened, allowing for Val to no longer be hidden outside of class, but I was sighing over the fact that he was so close to me while I was having that nightmare. “Sorry Val…” I muttered while giving him a small treat.

“Where did that thing go?” I asked, leaning back up with the help of Pansy by my side. “The Dementor’s gone now…” Luna said, staring at my confusion for a bit before explaining. “A dementor sucks happiness… Leaving only the worst memories behind in someone…” Through my blurry and pained mind, I made out a hint of sadness in Luna’s speech, her voice was just a bit lower by the end. “Dementor…” I mumbled with a sigh, the cloaked figure still lingering in my memory.

“I’m sorry to get off track here, but when did you have that?” Draco asked, pointing at Val, now visible from my sleeve. I scoffed while Val quickly ducked back inside my robes, his chirping sound in fear. “That’s Valdemar, Val for short. It’s alright…” I muttered to Val while introducing him, letting him know it would be ok to be seen now, at least while not inside classes. Val chirped as he slowly showed his head outside, saying hello to Draco. Draco chuckled while patting Val. “He’s a good breed!... Um, I trust you have cure for poison and Bezoars with you.” I scoffed while nodding, Pansy frowning as she spoke. “Val doesn’t bite. He’s a good boy.”

“How long have you known about Val?” Draco asked, Pansy arrogantly explaining that she knew about Val for two years that I snuck him inside the school. However while they argued, another hand was held out to Val, belonging to Luna Lovegood. Her bracelets clamored with each other as her hands shook. I frowned in confusion, wondering why someone scared would force themselves to hold their hand out like that. However, looking at her expression, she didn’t look frightened.

It was hard to know considering her mostly stoic expression, but her azure eyes looked deeply into Val’s deep blue slitted eyes. She wasn’t hiding or recoiling in her gaze, but facing it head on. Val quickly smelt her hand, his tongue flickering between her fingertips. Luna hid a small gasp, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. ‘She’s not scared… I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she’s not scared…’ Before I knew it, Luna was leaning as closely as possible to Val, her nose almost touching his.

Pansy and Draco quieted down, seeing this strange behavior, all of us watching Luna in confused silence. She then stared at me, her stoic gaze piercing through me. “How old is he…?” She asked, still feeling his head. ‘All of that thinking just for a simple question? She really is strange…’ “4 years old.” Luna hummed in response, looking back at Val. It was then that I noticed she was taking out a small notebook from under her robes and began writing. “What does he like eating…?”

The rest of the train ride was Luna continually asking questions about Val, clearly interested in him. Draco whispered that she was a nut when it came to Magizoology, a part of me was excited to see another passionate about the subject, but the other saddened at the fact she was in a different house. ‘If she was Slytherin, we would have gotten along so well…’ But despite my unhappiness, I continued to explain Val’s habits seeing Luna’s bright blue eyes continue to study deeply with interest.

Exiting the train, and hurrying over to the carriages under the continual pelt of raindrops overhead, I noticed Luna was following along with us, further back, but following along nonetheless. That is until her name was yelled out from further behind us. “Luna!” I glanced behind me to see a small red-headed girl, the youngest Weasley together with her brother, Hermione, Chiara, and Potter.

I gave the Thestral a few pats and treats of appreciation while Luna was being led away from us, together with her own friends. ‘Hermione's not the type to call names… And it looks like they are meeting for the first time… Perhaps…’ I glanced at a few Ravenclaws whispering under their breath at Luna and frowned in thought while getting aboard my carriage together with Pansy. ‘It’s none of my business.’

“It’s so good to see you! Everyone, this is my friend, Luna Lovegood!” Ginny said with a large smile, soon turning to a frown glancing behind her at the leaving carriage. “Why were you together with Malfoy and his friends? Did they do anything to you?” Ron asked, glaring in the same direction as his younger sister. Hermione noticed Luna was silently staring between her and Chiara, studying them more than even the famous boy. “No… There was no space with other Ravenclaws, so I sat together with them…” She said, staring directly at Chiara, tilting her head to study the nervous girl.

Chiara slightly ducked behind Hermione as a buffer away from Luna’s piercing gaze. “I-It’s good to meet you.” Chiara stuttered, twisting her hair in angst. Ginny chuckled while everyone got aboard the large carriage. “Luna is a bit quiet, but she is an amazing friend!” Everyone gave their polite greetings as the carriage began moving, Luna afterwards just stared out the front looking ahead.

Everyone was awkwardly quiet, not knowing what to say with someone they hardly knew. It wasn’t as if Luna was easy to talk to either, she hardly gave anyone besides Chiara, and Hermione a glance, preferring to stare anywhere else besides peoples faces. “Um… Did you notice the train breaking down, and the lights going off?” Ginny finally asked, trying to start a conversation. Luna continued staring off into the distance. Silently pondering, her mind processing her own thoughts, before actively thinking over Ginny’s question.

“It turns out a Dementor was searching the train. It attacked Harry.” That last point gave Luna a twitch, glancing at Ginny for a moment, before looking at Harry. “One came to you too…?” Hermione frowned in shock. “There was another one?” “Oh my! Are you okay!?” Ginny quickly asked, they all then watched in silence as Luna slowly nodded, and turned around to stare outside the window as she spoke. “It seemed only interested in Lucas…”

“Lucas?” Hermione asked, confused with his name suddenly coming into conversation. “That makes no sense.” Chiara muttered, Luna snapping her head, staring at Chiara. Chiara jumped in her seat, frighteningly babbling excuses to avoid Luna’s gaze. “I-I meant… Um… That Dementors don’t attack people without reason!” Ron scoffed with a nod. “Yeah, if it anyone deserved it the most in that car, it would have been Malfoy. I still think he was more involved with that incident last year…” Chiara nodded nervously, Luna finally looking back out the window, her gaze unmoving from the empty front of the carriage.

While Harry discussed what it felt like to have been attacked by a dementor, and wondered if Lucas felt the same, Hermione frowned in thought. ‘Dementor’s were after Sirius, and Harry is his goal, so that makes sense… What does Lucas have to do with it all?’ She sighed under her breath, thinking about how he managed to get himself mixed up in their things again, thoughts of Lucas being placed in Slytherin instead of any other house he could have easily been sorted in passed through Hermione’s mind yet again. Being stuck in Slytherin held Lucas hostage amongst his peers, forcing him to keep his true thoughts hidden under sharp words. Even if she knew that, Hermione still was irritated with his complete disregard of her memories, willing to erase them rather than just talking to her. She still kept the potion, moving it between her fingers. Still wondering why she felt the need to keep something that made her chest tighten in anger.