strength & brains • hermione granger

| chapter three |

The sun rose like a flower opening, gifting its petals unto the world. Amid the dancing, raindrops were the blush of scarlet, the warmth of tangerine. The yellow shining sun started rising from the ground. It filled the sky with mighty colours of red and splashed the clouds with endless rays of pink. It was bright and mesmerising as it inviting everyone to stare, deep into the horizon.

Gazing toward the illuminated clouds, still, beneath the ethereal glow, Luna wished with all her might that it would sink back down below the horizon so she could see the spectacular sight again, to witness such a heavenly thing again.

Walking down the glowing lively green grass, a blonde girl wrapped herself in a thick blanket as she trudged down the hill in a pair of black winter boots, hair blowing in the wind, it's colours dancing in the sky as snowflakes pecked her cheeks as they floated from the sky, landing on her and melting at her body temperature.

With her hands clutching at the blanket, not cold but not warm either. Mackenzie searched for a quiet spot, a place where she won't be found even if it was early in the morning and mainly everyone was sleeping in because it was a weekend and that meant no classes for the next two days. Catching sight of light blonde, almost white, hair, the Slytherin walked over only to spot a familiar Ravenclaw turned Gryffindor for her bravery and courage.

"Lovegood," Mackenzie called as she caught sight of the blonde. "What are you doing here?" She questioned, plopping next to her and crossing her legs as she stared at the Gryffindor, who smiled at the blonde Slytherin.

"Gazing." She answered, looking up, her silvery blue-grey eyes pierced into the sky, shining with positivity and curiosity. Mackenzie tilted her head to look up at the sky, eyes darting around as she tried to find the thing that captured her attention.

"At what?" She asked, not able to pinpoint the 'objects' location if there was an object in the first place.

"The sky. What else?" She laughed, her voice ringing throughout the area, her voice soft and calming which graced Mackenzie's face with a smile as she stared at the blonde.

Luna Lovegood was an extraordinary yet unique girl, who always had curiosity shining in her eyes and as the blonde Slytherin gazed into such innocent eyes, she realised that this must have been the reason why Pansy fell in love with her.

But as she looked deeper into her eyes, she could see a hint of sadness almost like she was slightly broken and Mackenzie had a feeling she knew why but even after what happened in Malfoy Manor, Luna still managed to see the world in a positive way instead of being negative.

A gust of wind ran past them, giggling like children as the girl's hair followed, reaching out. Luna shivered slightly, and it only then did Mackenzie realise that the girl was wearing nothing but her pyjamas which consisted of a yellow shirt with white daisies on it and matching long pyjamas leggings that hung loosely seeing as it was a couple of sizes too big for her.

Unwrapping the blanket from around her, Mackenzie draped it over the blonde's shoulder, the blanket immediately embracing Luna as if it was a worried mother. The chocolate coloured blanket sent the blonde into relaxation as she immediately felt warm, comfort surrounding her as she breathed in the scent of the Slytherin Lesbian.

"What about you?" Luna asked as she looked to the side, finding the girl in nothing but a grey short sleeved top with the mickey mouses face printed onto it along with matching short shorts that had the original Disney character's hands printed onto it, her tanned legs on display, the blonde stretching them forward. "Aren't you cold?"

"Of course not," She laughed, eyes twinkling. "This temperature is exactly the same in my bedroom." If possible, Luna's eyes seemed to bulge out of her head as she looked at the Slytherin in shock, wondering how she could be able to even be in a room that was around 3 degree's cold.

"How?" She wondered, and Mackenzie could see the small twinkle of curiosity shining as the sunlight illuminated it, making it shine brighter.

"How what?" She asked, raising one of her perfectly done eyebrows.

"How aren't you cold?" Mackenzie smiled and began to tell the Ex-Ravenclaw about her obsession with snow. She'd always look forward to winter and would make snow angels with her, now deceased, parents, all of them laughing.

Memories popped into her mind, each playing like a movie as they flashed before her eyes, making the world seem unreal as words poured out of her mouth each time a memory appeared in her head. Mackenzie told Luna everything about her, what she likes, what she hates, how her past was like, what her parents were like and so on because for some odd reason, sitting by Luna, you wanted to tell her everything about yourself and that may have been because of her personality or because she just sat and listened, genuinely curious about what you had to say, and that was one of the reasons Mackenzie couldn't wait for her best friend to finally admit her liking to the blonde Gryffindor because she knew how much Pansy loved to talk and she knew how much Luna loved to listen.