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femmefest. I hadn't signed up, but in addition to this extra treat, I was happy to get one pinch hit to write. The two fics are stories about the same Luna and Cho, of course, because I'm unable to get motivated to write anything but what belongs to the same reality. They seem to have worked well separately, and no commentor mentioned that the other fic, too, could have been written by me.
I've sometimes wondered if it's all right that I submit to fests my fics, which perhaps don't qualify according to the rule that they should be completely independent and not sequels – that a fest fic must not be a part of an on-going series (such as a sequel or a prequel to an already existing fic) (The quote is from the guidelines of Remus Lupin Fest.) Following that rule would mean that I wouldn't be able to take part in fests because I want my work to be a consistent whole. In a way, all my fics belong to one big series, and I've recently formed several sub-series on AO3. Of course, I add the fest fics to series only after the reveals. And I've always crafted each fic so that it can stand alone, too.
Here's a Femmefest treat, which, according to my timeline, is set in April 2002 and can be – and has been – enjoyed separately, but can be read also as a sequel to To Know What She's Seeking and Real and Romantic.
Title: A Swaying Route
Author: paulamcg
Rating: G
Pairing: Luna/Cho
Summary: When Luna loves Cho, she's willing and able to transform her own wants. She wants an adventure, and this weekend the two of them can share something like that.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3150
Author's Notes: This was written as a treat to bluemermaid at Femmefest 2021. I'm grateful for the lovely, inspiring list of prompts and likes. Thank you for the beta, justtoarguewithyou!
Read here on AO3
or right here:
A Swaying Route
Pressing her forehead against the windowpane, Luna looks down past the swinging sign that depicts a twinkly snitch. She can't wait to see old Bizzy Dunpollock exit his shop. It must be the time for Quality Quidditch Supplies to close, and for the lovely part-time shop assistant, the Magpies' marvellous Seeker, and Luna's own sweetie pie, to Apparate up to her bedsit. Which is now their shared home, isn't it?
Yes, Luna believes it is. She's sitting cross-legged on the desk they've set here for her to use when writing her Magiornitology research report. And she, who used to find it harder to make friends with humans than with other creatures, even invisible ones, feels finally secure in being held closest to someone's heart.
Cho, too, is still overwhelmed by the miracle of having found romantic love. Unlike Luna herself, she wasn't even aware of this deep need, she says, before the cold morning three months ago when Luna ventured here through the Floo with her Paraguayan calabash gourd and blurted out that she was bisexual and wanted to spend more time alone with Cho.
Turning her head towards the fireplace, Luna flips back to that page in her mind where she's treasured a vivid image of Cho kneeling on the hearthrug back then, wearing a flimsy, almost translucent slip nightgown. And she can feel again the thrill in the challenge of keeping her tender gestures cautious enough despite the enticing pressure of Cho's head under her collarbone.
She's always stored in a safe place – among beautiful beliefs and dreams – these gems: whatever she's reached of people she admires. Since her first years at Hogwarts, she's gathered a subcollection that includes Cho's soft chuckle mixed with Marietta's giggling, and Cho's half-smile next to the marble one on Helena Ravenclaw's face, and Cho's cold fingers on her palm when she was teaching Luna the partner dances she had enjoyed at the Yule Ball – after she'd confessed to Luna that she'd not wanted Cedric to kiss her, and that she doubted she'd ever want to kiss anyone at all.
Luna's wanted to kiss Cho – among more others than she can count. Mainly those older than her, both at Hogwarts and after. And she cherishes all of them in memories – those she kissed and those she didn't, those who became her lovers for a while, and those she simply loved. Her love for each of them is still back there, along the path she's travelled.
But now she loves Cho, and she is able and willing to transform her own wants.
There is so much the two of them share in common and can enjoy together. Cho's the friend who's shown interest in any odd topic Luna tends to bring up too abruptly at their old mates' birthday and housewarming parties, their engagement parties, hen dos and weddings. Though she's never considered any career but Quidditch for herself, Cho appreciates Luna's dedication to Creature Study. Cho's the one who's taught Luna to fly better, and accompanied her to hidden habitats of rare beasts and birds. Now perhaps... did Luna end up with Fire-Crowned Eagles as the topic of her field study in Paraguay just because birds are Cho's favourites?
And here she is, Luna's shiny magpie!
Cho's appeared by her queen-size bed and let herself fall on her back on it, both sighing and laughing with relief. "What a day! Some crazy customers... So glad to be home."
Luna jumps down from the desk and walks over to her, admiring how the wide sleeves of her black work robes are spread like wings, and her white silk scarf gleams against her chest just as her pretty face glows, framed by the dark helmet of her sleek hair. Yes, she'll manage to resist the urge to strip her beautiful partner naked, or just to sneak a hand under her clothes.
Bending to kiss the crown of Cho's head, she breathes in the fruity scent of her shampoo.
"This is the best smell. The broomstick polishing wax isn't too bad either." She grabs Cho's hand and smells it, too. "But it's great you'll now have two days off – up until your match, right?"
"Yep, but I must go up to Montrose for practice tomorrow and on the day after."
Luna wants so much... Yes, they'll spend as much time together as possible. "We can... Let me show you!" She pulls her wand out of her hair, which still stays up thanks to the quill she's also stuck into the bun and, sitting down on the bed, Summons the roll of parchment from the desk.
"You finished it!" Cho sits up to have a better look, and lifts an arm to give Luna a half hug.
"Yes. I even managed to attach the pictures – the best ones of the bird with the flaming crest – without setting the parchment on fire." Luna charms the roll to flash out the close-up of the Eagle's head.
"Wicked!" Cho presses her cheek to Luna's shoulder. "I'd like you to read the conclusions aloud to me."
"Later. If you read to me my description of the mating dance the Eagles do in flight! Tonight in bed!"
"Deal! And you may undress me now before we eat. I'll wear only that jumper you knit for me..."
The oversized jumper against her bare skin, and her muscular thighs showing below the hem! Cho's always comfortable with – and even enjoys – showing anything of her beauty to Luna, whom she can trust not to touch her skin without her own initiative.
"You're so sure we'll have dinner at home?" Luna teases Cho while stroking her neck with the scarf she's unwrapping slowly. "Do you believe I've managed to put together a meal – besides that masterpiece?"
"Yes, it's rubbing off on me." Cho laughs when letting Luna take off the robes. "I believe in incredible things now. Even in your South American recipes."
"All right, there is something to eat." Luna Summons the jumper from the wardrobe before proceeding to pull the chemise over Cho's head, so as to allow herself to feast her eyes on the bare breasts and the slim waist only for a moment. "But just a simple soup. Because I wanted to be done with the report. Now I can come with you tomorrow, and we can spend the whole two days in Scotland."
"I don't know if Roger..."
"We don't have to stay in that flat. I'd like us to... have an adventure."
What fun to be leaving the town of Montrose behind, flying away towards the wilderness like this in the April afternoon sunshine!
Through the Disillusionment Luna can barely discern a shimmer of Cho beside her, and she revels in sensing the combination of what Cho's breathing out to her: the warmth, the scent and the soft sound of being real and alive. What's missing is the taste of Cho's skin and lips and mucous membrane, but Luna's able to fill in with her imagination.
She reaches out a hand and manages to place it where Cho's got a firm grip on her Firebolt, so as to stroke only the dragonhide of the Quidditch glove – but also to make Cho move their joined hands over in order to help in steering. That's how – by pretending to forget to keep her broom steady – Luna can always make her partner come and fly closer to her, with a shoulder rubbing against hers. Now, of course, it's reasonable to take care of not losing each other in their near invisibility.
"Did you enjoy watching the practice?" Cho whispers in Luna's ear. "You must agree that Roger's great, so much better than our other Chasers."
Of course, they are both proud of the player who used to be the Captain of their House team. And above all... "It's great he's not been chasing you, girl!"
"Or any girl. He helped me start thinking that perhaps I could want a bit more with girls. He's disappointed I'm not Apparating down to London and going to Heaven with him tonight."
Roger must have grown too dependent on his teammate and flatmate over the past two years. Cho became his faghag soon after he left the French team, joined the Montrose Magpies, and started looking for a boyfriend at London gay clubs. Luna doesn't mind sometimes going out with them to dance, bathed in the flashing Muggle lights and moved by the electric noise, but that's far from a paradise for her. She prefers swirling with Cho – in a flashy disco outfit or not – in private rooms, or better still, in nature, and fondling her cautiously and herself more thoroughly while watching her dance with abandon. Cho, too, now believes that this is when each of them can reach the deepest joy possible.
"He's going by himself, or perhaps with Sebastian..." Cho's continued. "And in any case he'll stay in the Muggle flat in Craven street tonight. So we can stay in the flat here alone."
Here... The basement flat in the house surrounded by a tiniest secluded garden in the magical neighbourhood at the hidden end of Montrose high street is cosy enough, but Luna's dream soon to come true is something else again.
The two of them are out here high above the Montrose Basin. And – thanks to the charm they've used to escape being seen by Muggles – as they look down, their chameleon bodies are merged into the glittering shallow waters that coat the mudflats of the estuary.
"Here," Luna finally whispers back, "we've arrived in the habitat of hundreds of wader and waterfoal species. We'll find a nest here – for you and me."
"A nest?"
"Yes, steer us closer to that reed bed ahead, a little to the right. And then I think we must land. The Disillusioning is wearing off, and there are Muggles around because their Visitor Centre has planned routes for wildlife walks. They told me when I owled the Herfest College."
"Her... fest?" Cho repeats distractedly as she's guiding Luna's broom, too, lower and towards the edge of the Millburn Reedbed.
"The ancient magical college at the University of Aberdeen. They agreed to rent the cottage to me, because they no longer do Magiornitology research here. Shame." Luna's fallen on her knees as she hasn't concentrated at the moment of her feet touching the ground. "But that means they're happy to let someone from Oxford use it."
Cho's fumbling for her arm, which is still not fully visible, so as to help her up, but she sounds a bit disappointed. "So this... the cottage is for your studies?"
"Perhaps that too... But not this weekend. Now this is a holiday, adventure, whatever... A date!"
Leaning against Cho and hugging her tight, Luna looks around. There's nobody in sight, but she thinks she can hear distant human voices invading the jubilant chorus of birds and insects. The two of them are standing on a grassy track, and beside it, just behind them, there's an elevated wooden structure.
Turning back towards it, Luna whispers, "I just thought we'd better hide for a moment. And funny, that..."
"That's the cottage?"
"No, that must be a hide – a place where Muggles go to scan the area and watch wildlife without being seen by the birds and the beasts. So we'd better not hide in there, but among those shrubs next to it."
Hand-in-hand, lugging their broomsticks along, they hurry to the shelter of the still leafless but dense enough shrubs and, in silent agreement, lie down on the moist ground. Once flat on her stomach, Luna immediately reaches out to place an arm over Cho's shoulders. And she's joyfully startled to feel the softness of a breast, instead, under her palm, as Cho's lying supine. Suppressing giggles is hard – for both of them.
Without moving her hand away, Luna turns on her side and leans on an elbow, and stares down at Cho's pretty face, which is now fast returning to her full view.
Cho smiles and breathes out a blissful sigh, as if this closeness were the highest pleasure, before whispering, "How can we find the... nest you've rented?"
"Magic's going to reveal the cottage to us now that we've got our feet on the ground."
"At the moment we've got more than that on the ground." Cho laughs. "Not that I mind much. But these dry stalks of last year's plants are a bit sharp, and the mud's wet."
Luna gives one more soft stroke to Cho's chest, feeling the warmth gathered from the bright sunlight on the black fabric of her training outfit, and shifts her hand to touch the soil. "Just moist. And look, there's some new green growth, and we can spot flowers when..."
"You're a flower, a marsh violet, so beautiful in your lilac sweater." Cho stands up nimbly, and looks down with her head tilted. "Let me pick my flower now!"
"All right. It must be safe... " Luna reaches a hand up for Cho to grab, and allows herself to be pulled to her feet. "Because there's nothing left of the Charm, just..."
Standing, she looks over the shrubs, and spies a small group walking towards them along the track. That's an excuse for her to embrace Cho passionately, and to almost touch her lips to the ear into which she whispers.
"Those people can see just how charming we look, and understand that this couple of sweethearts has been rolling around in the hay or whatever..." As they can't guess that one of them is asexual. "Oh, hullo," she says aloud, giving a small wave, as if embarrassed, after she's looked over Cho's shoulder just before the hikers pass.
Cho clings to her, giggling, and struggling to form the words. "Should we... get going? And in which direction?"
"Could you transfigure our brooms? I know you won't trust me with your precious Firebolt. And I can find out about the direction."
Having pulled her wand out of her bun, causing her hair to cascade over her shoulders, Luna searches her jeans pockets for the letter from the college warlock. Here... This should be enough: tracing the text with her wand tip, then...
She sticks the wand inside her left boot. Yes, it was an important piece of advice that she arrive wearing boots.
"Ready," Cho says, not as a question, and sounding proud.
There are two pencils in her hand, which is finally bare. Such a small hand for a Seeker, with deceptively delicate-looking fingers with shiny nails... Oh, pencils!
"Great! You managed to turn them into something so much smaller, and unmagical, too. Besides..." Luna starts twisting her hair back into a bun. "I can use them as hair sticks. Thanks!"
"Make sure you don't drop them!"
"I won't. Or if I do, just Summon yours – your Firepencil!" Luna offers her palm to Cho, and as Cho places her fingers on it, she caresses them, and glancing at Cho's face, bends her head to kiss them. "Let's go! My boot will tell me where."
Cho laughs, and adjusts her steps to Luna's, as the magic guides them to first follow the people who passed them.
Skipping along the path, swinging their arms, Luna feels she is exactly in the right place at the right time. And it becomes ever more right when in the next moment, her boots make her veer aside, towards the reed bed.
"Here it is wet," Cho protests.
"That's why we needed boots. Walk closer to me!"
They are now surrounded by tall reeds. But under their feet, which are compelled to take a swaying route, there's firm ground beneath ankle-deep moss green water. And suddenly there spreads a wide channel of open water on both sides of this path.
"That's a seal!" Cho exclaims.
A pair of round eyes and a pair of nostrils have appeared on the surface, and the seal begins to swim beside them, and... winks, welcoming them.
Luna winks back, and winks to Cho, too. "It's a Mageal. We've crossed over to the Fey Nature Reserve."
The Mageal swims up to a large flat rock. And as it clambers up and turns its belly towards the sun, a house rises like a cloud of mist over the rock, and solidifies itself, starting with the couple of steps which lead to a wooden porch.
"Here we are. We can stay tonight and tomorrow night. I've got some shrunken meals in my pockets. And you'll move in with me – just as I moved in with you in Diagon Alley. We'll share two homes." And more than that. What must be enough.
"All right. I've told you I believe in your meals. And the house is starting to look sturdy enough." Cho settles on the upper step. "But let's sit here for a while and enjoy the weather and this magical nature."
Luna sits down at the other end of the step so as to have a view of both her and the house, and as Cho moves closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, she can't help laughing. "The Warlock of Herfest College can't imagine..."
"What?"
"That this promising student from the famous Merlin College has come here now with plans to watch a single magpie."
"Not a single one." Cho grins. "One in an established relationship."
In fact, Luna can't resist turning away and watching a flock of oystercatchers, other black-and-white birds, just with more white in their plumage, yes – other pies: called also sea pies. And closer to them, on this side of the invisible magical border... two bright spots whirring in circles around each other.
"Look!"
Cho's quick to follow her gaze before she's had time to point. "Golden Snidgets! A pair of them! The rarest..."
Perhaps not the very rarest, but... "Your very favourites, of course. As you're the most true magpie, forever seeking flashy treasures. Want to catch them?"
"No." Cho pecks Luna on a cheek. "I've caught the treasure I want."
There's a splash, and the Mageal's set off, having waved with a flipper, considerate enough to give them their privacy. Luna lifts her face towards the sun and closes her eyes, focusing on the sounds. All this chirping, cheeping, cawing, cooing, clucking, quacking... is penetrated by the honking of geese – yes, Rainbow-Footed Geese, who must be on their way... They belong to those – the majority of birds here – who are only winter visitors or passing migrants.
Luna wants... There are so many things she wants. There's so much to do in Creature Study. The most important task to promote separating study of human-like creatures from study of beasts and birds. And each magical species of animals, big and small is... like the bats she met in Paraguay – just irresistibly fascinating...
But no, Luna won't let her mind wander to other paths now.
Now she's simply right here with this love.
(Notes: If you've read any of my Luna fics set in summer 2002 or later, you've perhaps seen here some foreshadowing of her relationships with a bat named Basil, and with others. :) Maybe that gives some more substance to a sweet story with no major conflict.)
femmefest. I hadn't signed up, but in addition to this extra treat, I was happy to get one pinch hit to write. The two fics are stories about the same Luna and Cho, of course, because I'm unable to get motivated to write anything but what belongs to the same reality. They seem to have worked well separately, and no commentor mentioned that the other fic, too, could have been written by me.I've sometimes wondered if it's all right that I submit to fests my fics, which perhaps don't qualify according to the rule that they should be completely independent and not sequels – that a fest fic must not be a part of an on-going series (such as a sequel or a prequel to an already existing fic) (The quote is from the guidelines of Remus Lupin Fest.) Following that rule would mean that I wouldn't be able to take part in fests because I want my work to be a consistent whole. In a way, all my fics belong to one big series, and I've recently formed several sub-series on AO3. Of course, I add the fest fics to series only after the reveals. And I've always crafted each fic so that it can stand alone, too.
Here's a Femmefest treat, which, according to my timeline, is set in April 2002 and can be – and has been – enjoyed separately, but can be read also as a sequel to To Know What She's Seeking and Real and Romantic.
Title: A Swaying Route
Author: paulamcg
Rating: G
Pairing: Luna/Cho
Summary: When Luna loves Cho, she's willing and able to transform her own wants. She wants an adventure, and this weekend the two of them can share something like that.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3150
Author's Notes: This was written as a treat to bluemermaid at Femmefest 2021. I'm grateful for the lovely, inspiring list of prompts and likes. Thank you for the beta, justtoarguewithyou!
Read here on AO3
or right here:
A Swaying Route
Pressing her forehead against the windowpane, Luna looks down past the swinging sign that depicts a twinkly snitch. She can't wait to see old Bizzy Dunpollock exit his shop. It must be the time for Quality Quidditch Supplies to close, and for the lovely part-time shop assistant, the Magpies' marvellous Seeker, and Luna's own sweetie pie, to Apparate up to her bedsit. Which is now their shared home, isn't it?
Yes, Luna believes it is. She's sitting cross-legged on the desk they've set here for her to use when writing her Magiornitology research report. And she, who used to find it harder to make friends with humans than with other creatures, even invisible ones, feels finally secure in being held closest to someone's heart.
Cho, too, is still overwhelmed by the miracle of having found romantic love. Unlike Luna herself, she wasn't even aware of this deep need, she says, before the cold morning three months ago when Luna ventured here through the Floo with her Paraguayan calabash gourd and blurted out that she was bisexual and wanted to spend more time alone with Cho.
Turning her head towards the fireplace, Luna flips back to that page in her mind where she's treasured a vivid image of Cho kneeling on the hearthrug back then, wearing a flimsy, almost translucent slip nightgown. And she can feel again the thrill in the challenge of keeping her tender gestures cautious enough despite the enticing pressure of Cho's head under her collarbone.
She's always stored in a safe place – among beautiful beliefs and dreams – these gems: whatever she's reached of people she admires. Since her first years at Hogwarts, she's gathered a subcollection that includes Cho's soft chuckle mixed with Marietta's giggling, and Cho's half-smile next to the marble one on Helena Ravenclaw's face, and Cho's cold fingers on her palm when she was teaching Luna the partner dances she had enjoyed at the Yule Ball – after she'd confessed to Luna that she'd not wanted Cedric to kiss her, and that she doubted she'd ever want to kiss anyone at all.
Luna's wanted to kiss Cho – among more others than she can count. Mainly those older than her, both at Hogwarts and after. And she cherishes all of them in memories – those she kissed and those she didn't, those who became her lovers for a while, and those she simply loved. Her love for each of them is still back there, along the path she's travelled.
But now she loves Cho, and she is able and willing to transform her own wants.
There is so much the two of them share in common and can enjoy together. Cho's the friend who's shown interest in any odd topic Luna tends to bring up too abruptly at their old mates' birthday and housewarming parties, their engagement parties, hen dos and weddings. Though she's never considered any career but Quidditch for herself, Cho appreciates Luna's dedication to Creature Study. Cho's the one who's taught Luna to fly better, and accompanied her to hidden habitats of rare beasts and birds. Now perhaps... did Luna end up with Fire-Crowned Eagles as the topic of her field study in Paraguay just because birds are Cho's favourites?
And here she is, Luna's shiny magpie!
Cho's appeared by her queen-size bed and let herself fall on her back on it, both sighing and laughing with relief. "What a day! Some crazy customers... So glad to be home."
Luna jumps down from the desk and walks over to her, admiring how the wide sleeves of her black work robes are spread like wings, and her white silk scarf gleams against her chest just as her pretty face glows, framed by the dark helmet of her sleek hair. Yes, she'll manage to resist the urge to strip her beautiful partner naked, or just to sneak a hand under her clothes.
Bending to kiss the crown of Cho's head, she breathes in the fruity scent of her shampoo.
"This is the best smell. The broomstick polishing wax isn't too bad either." She grabs Cho's hand and smells it, too. "But it's great you'll now have two days off – up until your match, right?"
"Yep, but I must go up to Montrose for practice tomorrow and on the day after."
Luna wants so much... Yes, they'll spend as much time together as possible. "We can... Let me show you!" She pulls her wand out of her hair, which still stays up thanks to the quill she's also stuck into the bun and, sitting down on the bed, Summons the roll of parchment from the desk.
"You finished it!" Cho sits up to have a better look, and lifts an arm to give Luna a half hug.
"Yes. I even managed to attach the pictures – the best ones of the bird with the flaming crest – without setting the parchment on fire." Luna charms the roll to flash out the close-up of the Eagle's head.
"Wicked!" Cho presses her cheek to Luna's shoulder. "I'd like you to read the conclusions aloud to me."
"Later. If you read to me my description of the mating dance the Eagles do in flight! Tonight in bed!"
"Deal! And you may undress me now before we eat. I'll wear only that jumper you knit for me..."
The oversized jumper against her bare skin, and her muscular thighs showing below the hem! Cho's always comfortable with – and even enjoys – showing anything of her beauty to Luna, whom she can trust not to touch her skin without her own initiative.
"You're so sure we'll have dinner at home?" Luna teases Cho while stroking her neck with the scarf she's unwrapping slowly. "Do you believe I've managed to put together a meal – besides that masterpiece?"
"Yes, it's rubbing off on me." Cho laughs when letting Luna take off the robes. "I believe in incredible things now. Even in your South American recipes."
"All right, there is something to eat." Luna Summons the jumper from the wardrobe before proceeding to pull the chemise over Cho's head, so as to allow herself to feast her eyes on the bare breasts and the slim waist only for a moment. "But just a simple soup. Because I wanted to be done with the report. Now I can come with you tomorrow, and we can spend the whole two days in Scotland."
"I don't know if Roger..."
"We don't have to stay in that flat. I'd like us to... have an adventure."
What fun to be leaving the town of Montrose behind, flying away towards the wilderness like this in the April afternoon sunshine!
Through the Disillusionment Luna can barely discern a shimmer of Cho beside her, and she revels in sensing the combination of what Cho's breathing out to her: the warmth, the scent and the soft sound of being real and alive. What's missing is the taste of Cho's skin and lips and mucous membrane, but Luna's able to fill in with her imagination.
She reaches out a hand and manages to place it where Cho's got a firm grip on her Firebolt, so as to stroke only the dragonhide of the Quidditch glove – but also to make Cho move their joined hands over in order to help in steering. That's how – by pretending to forget to keep her broom steady – Luna can always make her partner come and fly closer to her, with a shoulder rubbing against hers. Now, of course, it's reasonable to take care of not losing each other in their near invisibility.
"Did you enjoy watching the practice?" Cho whispers in Luna's ear. "You must agree that Roger's great, so much better than our other Chasers."
Of course, they are both proud of the player who used to be the Captain of their House team. And above all... "It's great he's not been chasing you, girl!"
"Or any girl. He helped me start thinking that perhaps I could want a bit more with girls. He's disappointed I'm not Apparating down to London and going to Heaven with him tonight."
Roger must have grown too dependent on his teammate and flatmate over the past two years. Cho became his faghag soon after he left the French team, joined the Montrose Magpies, and started looking for a boyfriend at London gay clubs. Luna doesn't mind sometimes going out with them to dance, bathed in the flashing Muggle lights and moved by the electric noise, but that's far from a paradise for her. She prefers swirling with Cho – in a flashy disco outfit or not – in private rooms, or better still, in nature, and fondling her cautiously and herself more thoroughly while watching her dance with abandon. Cho, too, now believes that this is when each of them can reach the deepest joy possible.
"He's going by himself, or perhaps with Sebastian..." Cho's continued. "And in any case he'll stay in the Muggle flat in Craven street tonight. So we can stay in the flat here alone."
Here... The basement flat in the house surrounded by a tiniest secluded garden in the magical neighbourhood at the hidden end of Montrose high street is cosy enough, but Luna's dream soon to come true is something else again.
The two of them are out here high above the Montrose Basin. And – thanks to the charm they've used to escape being seen by Muggles – as they look down, their chameleon bodies are merged into the glittering shallow waters that coat the mudflats of the estuary.
"Here," Luna finally whispers back, "we've arrived in the habitat of hundreds of wader and waterfoal species. We'll find a nest here – for you and me."
"A nest?"
"Yes, steer us closer to that reed bed ahead, a little to the right. And then I think we must land. The Disillusioning is wearing off, and there are Muggles around because their Visitor Centre has planned routes for wildlife walks. They told me when I owled the Herfest College."
"Her... fest?" Cho repeats distractedly as she's guiding Luna's broom, too, lower and towards the edge of the Millburn Reedbed.
"The ancient magical college at the University of Aberdeen. They agreed to rent the cottage to me, because they no longer do Magiornitology research here. Shame." Luna's fallen on her knees as she hasn't concentrated at the moment of her feet touching the ground. "But that means they're happy to let someone from Oxford use it."
Cho's fumbling for her arm, which is still not fully visible, so as to help her up, but she sounds a bit disappointed. "So this... the cottage is for your studies?"
"Perhaps that too... But not this weekend. Now this is a holiday, adventure, whatever... A date!"
Leaning against Cho and hugging her tight, Luna looks around. There's nobody in sight, but she thinks she can hear distant human voices invading the jubilant chorus of birds and insects. The two of them are standing on a grassy track, and beside it, just behind them, there's an elevated wooden structure.
Turning back towards it, Luna whispers, "I just thought we'd better hide for a moment. And funny, that..."
"That's the cottage?"
"No, that must be a hide – a place where Muggles go to scan the area and watch wildlife without being seen by the birds and the beasts. So we'd better not hide in there, but among those shrubs next to it."
Hand-in-hand, lugging their broomsticks along, they hurry to the shelter of the still leafless but dense enough shrubs and, in silent agreement, lie down on the moist ground. Once flat on her stomach, Luna immediately reaches out to place an arm over Cho's shoulders. And she's joyfully startled to feel the softness of a breast, instead, under her palm, as Cho's lying supine. Suppressing giggles is hard – for both of them.
Without moving her hand away, Luna turns on her side and leans on an elbow, and stares down at Cho's pretty face, which is now fast returning to her full view.
Cho smiles and breathes out a blissful sigh, as if this closeness were the highest pleasure, before whispering, "How can we find the... nest you've rented?"
"Magic's going to reveal the cottage to us now that we've got our feet on the ground."
"At the moment we've got more than that on the ground." Cho laughs. "Not that I mind much. But these dry stalks of last year's plants are a bit sharp, and the mud's wet."
Luna gives one more soft stroke to Cho's chest, feeling the warmth gathered from the bright sunlight on the black fabric of her training outfit, and shifts her hand to touch the soil. "Just moist. And look, there's some new green growth, and we can spot flowers when..."
"You're a flower, a marsh violet, so beautiful in your lilac sweater." Cho stands up nimbly, and looks down with her head tilted. "Let me pick my flower now!"
"All right. It must be safe... " Luna reaches a hand up for Cho to grab, and allows herself to be pulled to her feet. "Because there's nothing left of the Charm, just..."
Standing, she looks over the shrubs, and spies a small group walking towards them along the track. That's an excuse for her to embrace Cho passionately, and to almost touch her lips to the ear into which she whispers.
"Those people can see just how charming we look, and understand that this couple of sweethearts has been rolling around in the hay or whatever..." As they can't guess that one of them is asexual. "Oh, hullo," she says aloud, giving a small wave, as if embarrassed, after she's looked over Cho's shoulder just before the hikers pass.
Cho clings to her, giggling, and struggling to form the words. "Should we... get going? And in which direction?"
"Could you transfigure our brooms? I know you won't trust me with your precious Firebolt. And I can find out about the direction."
Having pulled her wand out of her bun, causing her hair to cascade over her shoulders, Luna searches her jeans pockets for the letter from the college warlock. Here... This should be enough: tracing the text with her wand tip, then...
She sticks the wand inside her left boot. Yes, it was an important piece of advice that she arrive wearing boots.
"Ready," Cho says, not as a question, and sounding proud.
There are two pencils in her hand, which is finally bare. Such a small hand for a Seeker, with deceptively delicate-looking fingers with shiny nails... Oh, pencils!
"Great! You managed to turn them into something so much smaller, and unmagical, too. Besides..." Luna starts twisting her hair back into a bun. "I can use them as hair sticks. Thanks!"
"Make sure you don't drop them!"
"I won't. Or if I do, just Summon yours – your Firepencil!" Luna offers her palm to Cho, and as Cho places her fingers on it, she caresses them, and glancing at Cho's face, bends her head to kiss them. "Let's go! My boot will tell me where."
Cho laughs, and adjusts her steps to Luna's, as the magic guides them to first follow the people who passed them.
Skipping along the path, swinging their arms, Luna feels she is exactly in the right place at the right time. And it becomes ever more right when in the next moment, her boots make her veer aside, towards the reed bed.
"Here it is wet," Cho protests.
"That's why we needed boots. Walk closer to me!"
They are now surrounded by tall reeds. But under their feet, which are compelled to take a swaying route, there's firm ground beneath ankle-deep moss green water. And suddenly there spreads a wide channel of open water on both sides of this path.
"That's a seal!" Cho exclaims.
A pair of round eyes and a pair of nostrils have appeared on the surface, and the seal begins to swim beside them, and... winks, welcoming them.
Luna winks back, and winks to Cho, too. "It's a Mageal. We've crossed over to the Fey Nature Reserve."
The Mageal swims up to a large flat rock. And as it clambers up and turns its belly towards the sun, a house rises like a cloud of mist over the rock, and solidifies itself, starting with the couple of steps which lead to a wooden porch.
"Here we are. We can stay tonight and tomorrow night. I've got some shrunken meals in my pockets. And you'll move in with me – just as I moved in with you in Diagon Alley. We'll share two homes." And more than that. What must be enough.
"All right. I've told you I believe in your meals. And the house is starting to look sturdy enough." Cho settles on the upper step. "But let's sit here for a while and enjoy the weather and this magical nature."
Luna sits down at the other end of the step so as to have a view of both her and the house, and as Cho moves closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, she can't help laughing. "The Warlock of Herfest College can't imagine..."
"What?"
"That this promising student from the famous Merlin College has come here now with plans to watch a single magpie."
"Not a single one." Cho grins. "One in an established relationship."
In fact, Luna can't resist turning away and watching a flock of oystercatchers, other black-and-white birds, just with more white in their plumage, yes – other pies: called also sea pies. And closer to them, on this side of the invisible magical border... two bright spots whirring in circles around each other.
"Look!"
Cho's quick to follow her gaze before she's had time to point. "Golden Snidgets! A pair of them! The rarest..."
Perhaps not the very rarest, but... "Your very favourites, of course. As you're the most true magpie, forever seeking flashy treasures. Want to catch them?"
"No." Cho pecks Luna on a cheek. "I've caught the treasure I want."
There's a splash, and the Mageal's set off, having waved with a flipper, considerate enough to give them their privacy. Luna lifts her face towards the sun and closes her eyes, focusing on the sounds. All this chirping, cheeping, cawing, cooing, clucking, quacking... is penetrated by the honking of geese – yes, Rainbow-Footed Geese, who must be on their way... They belong to those – the majority of birds here – who are only winter visitors or passing migrants.
Luna wants... There are so many things she wants. There's so much to do in Creature Study. The most important task to promote separating study of human-like creatures from study of beasts and birds. And each magical species of animals, big and small is... like the bats she met in Paraguay – just irresistibly fascinating...
But no, Luna won't let her mind wander to other paths now.
Now she's simply right here with this love.
(Notes: If you've read any of my Luna fics set in summer 2002 or later, you've perhaps seen here some foreshadowing of her relationships with a bat named Basil, and with others. :) Maybe that gives some more substance to a sweet story with no major conflict.)
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Date: 2021-06-12 05:44 pm (UTC)(To me a "series" on AO3 is very general. It can be a single universe, but not always. I have a couple of series where the linking feature is format, e.g. drabbles or poems. I know of series where the fics were/are written for specific challenges.
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Date: 2021-06-12 08:40 pm (UTC)As for anonymity, I've recently noticed a mention in some fest guidelines that an artist's style can be too recognisable for true anonymity – but, of course, artists are not asked to change their styles, just not to sign their works in any case. I'm afraid my writing style, too, and not only my characterisations and storylines, could be recognisable, if my earlier work were known among the fest participants and other readers. It seems to me that writing only in one universe is very rare. Since I'm not known and recognised, and nobody seems to notice, I haven't decided to check with any mods.
What you say about “series” on AO3 is reassuring, too. I think the fact that writers use series in various ways can prevent people from noticing that my fest fics end up as parts of bigger stories.