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When Ginny first introduced Luna Lovegood, Hermione was at a loss for words. The girl was so... odd! Everything about her seemed to grate on the older girl's nerves. She was Ginny's friend though, so Hermione tried not to come across as too abrasive. She wasn't the best at it to be completely honest.
When she had learned how close Luna had become to Harry she was quite confused. Didn't Harry think her odd too? The boy smiled and admitted that that was what made her lovely. Having someone to talk to and a different point of view was something he didn't realize he wanted so much until he met the eccentric blonde. She was someone he could say things to that he would otherwise feel too embarrassed or ashamed to say for she never judged. She would always say something that left him both relieved and contemplative. Her words would sooth his emotions and open his mind.
Hermione didn't get it. Harry spoke as if he fancied the girl, but he insisted that he didn't. He said it was hard to explain, but he thought of Luna as a very dear friend. At times she felt akin to something like an older sister to him which Hermione found completely ridiculous. He hadn't even been friends with the girl a year. Not to mention they were older than Luna. Harry had insisted 'not in mind'.
Then the girl bloody well had Ron's approval as well! He said he found her entertaining. He would. She sat spewing her nonsense with that ridiculous magazine upside down in front of her and Hermione could barely contain herself. The bookworm of the group looked around at all her friends as they laughed and listened to the absurd things Luna said in the courtyard. She noticed the faint blush dusting Neville's cheeks as he smiled and looked at the blonde.
Feeling heat spread across her own face, though with irritation, Hermione made it to her feet and brushed herself off. They all must have gone mad. She made an excuse of needing to get in a little more time at the library before turning in a report, then promptly left. She heard her friends calling after her, saying their 'goodbyes' and 'see you laters', noting how Luna said nothing. She told herself not to, but the temptation was too hard to resist as she glanced back. The blonde caught her eye and held her there.
Her expression was unreadable as she stared at Hermione, yet the older girl felt as though the look had meaning. It rippled through her and she found it very unnerving. Just as the feeling of unease was beginning to become a bit suffocating, Luna gently smiled and vaguely nodded her head. The action startled Hermione, and as if broken from a spell, her body twitched and she jerked her head forward. The heat coming from her face was unbearable now as embarrassment consumed her. She awkwardly made her way to the castle, hoping no one saw her.
Hermione didn't know how long she had been sitting in the library now, but she did know that she had finished all her assignments at least an hour ago. Sometimes she would simply linger in this wonderful place of silence and solitude when she didn't feel up for socializing. Her thoughts ran rampant and they all had the same central theme - Luna Lovegood.
She absently started down at the book in front of her, not reading it at all, while fiddling with the quill in her hand. It was a habit she had to make it look like she was working when she slacked off in the library. She was known to be a very dedicated student and that image meant a lot to her. Even if some of the other students teased her for it, she took pride in it.
Right now though, she felt a bit like a fool. Her friends all got along so well with Luna, yet Hermione couldn't bring herself to do so. She reasoned that it was the fact that they simply were far too different from one another. She couldn't wrap her mind around the way Luna's worked. It was utterly preposterous! Where were her facts? With all these things she says and believes, where are the facts?
It seemed so simple and silly, but that really was it. Hermione couldn't get over it. If Luna had any real, solid facts to support all her out-landish claims, then the bookworm could probably get on with her a lot better. At times, she felt that the little blonde was making a mockery of her House. Wit beyond measure? If she were truly so intelligent, shouldn't she show a certain amount of skepticism when it came to all these things?
"Hello, Hermione," came an airy voice to her side.
The girl in question jumped so hard she busted her knee on the table and tossed the quill out of her hand. She looked over to see Luna walk around to the front of the table and bend down. When the younger girl rose back up, she placed Hermione's quill down in front of her, then took a seat across from her. The older girl felt her face flush in embarrassment caused by simple actions from Luna Lovegood once again that day.
She looked back down at her book and stroke the pages, pretending to be reading again as she found her voice, "H-Hi... Luna. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," she couldn't help but reprimand, "its quite rude."
"I apologize then, though I didn't think I was sneaking. You simply didn't notice me until I spoke. I passed your table a few minutes ago when I returned a book. I thought perhaps I should come say hello on my way back," the blonde said easily.
Hermione refused to look up from her book and turned the page. She wasn't sure why, but she knew deep down somewhere that looking at Luna's face was a bad idea. It left her so confused and vulnerable feeling earlier. Now that she was alone with this girl and speaking to her, a certain amount of unease set in without even looking at her face.
"Ah, I must say my desire to speak to you was not just a passing fancy as it may have just sounded," Luna stated honestly.
The older girl's hand twitched as she clutched the corner of her book. She was now beginning to grow worried about what the other girl was going to say. Luna had a knack for making Hermione uncomfortable by saying whatever crossed her mind. The unexplainable look that was directed at her earlier made her even more on edge, waiting for Luna to elaborate like she knew she would.
"Hermione... Do you think me strange?" she asked honestly.
Grasping her book more firmly, she practically hissed out in frustration, "Yes!"
"I'm glad," was the simple and near immediate response.
It threw Hermione off so badly that she whipped her head up and stared at the girl before her in confusion. Luna's smile was so open and genuinely pleased that it just confused her more. She furrowed her brow and asked, "What do you mean, 'you're glad'?"
Luna laughed lightly and Hermione had to admit that the girl had a lovely laugh. She didn't actually hear it very often even though Luna smiled a lot. After a short moment, the blonde's laughter faded and her smile turned serene. She continued to openly look at the older girl's face and Hermione didn't find it quite as unnerving this time.
"I was beginning to worry. You haven't argued with me in some time now."
Leaning back in her seat slightly, Hermione remembered that she had been laying off the dreamy girl quite a bit lately. With everyone so keen on incorporating her into their little group, she thought it in bad taste to argue with her so much. She didn't want them turning on her because she couldn't let things go.
It made her friendship with them sound harsh, but it wasn't. She was the harsh one and she knew it. She knew most people had trouble getting along with her and she didn't want to push away those who had become her dear friends despite her more abrasive nature. While she couldn't let go of her annoyance surrounding Luna, she could try to rein it in so it didn't show as badly.
Of course the only one that would find it odd would be the girl she was trying to accept as best she could. She thought on it for a moment, then continued her questioning, "You were worried... because I haven't been arguing with you? Do you want me to argue with you?"
Nodding, Luna placed her fingers atop the table as if vaguely reaching towards Hermione's, though remaining a safe distance away. She slightly tilts her head to the side and the older girl swore her eyes were practically dancing with mirth as she said, "You mind works so very differently than mine. It's easy for me to subjectively understand your reasoning, yet I am unable to follow that same reasoning myself. I like hearing your opinions and I like that you thoroughly think out your responses."
Feeling mildly ashamed of herself, Hermione solemnly looked back down at her book once more. She couldn't handle the look Luna was giving her anymore. All this time she was thinking rather poorly of the younger girl while she in turn seemed to have been thinking rather highly of her. The same thing that frustrated her was what Luna enjoyed - the fact that they were so different.
The blonde's voice was light and on the verge of laughter as she continued, "I like seeing how frazzled you become when you're unable to supply a proper counter-argument, yet you refuse to back down on your claim. You then try your best to come up with anything to support your side, even if it takes you weeks."
Absently stroking the pages of her book, Hermione softly admitted, "I don't understand your reasoning. Not even subjectively. I don't understand you at all. The thing that bothers me most about you is that you'll believe anything. Its absolutely ludicrous. I feel like I need to prove you wrong, because I can't handle not being able to understand."
Luna lightly hummed to herself, then quipped, "I'm sure you've hear the judicial phrase 'innocent until proven guilty'? My view on the world is more or less the same concept. I think anything is possible until it has been irrefutably proven otherwise. Always think the best until its been proven to be false. Most simply refer to it as 'hope'. It's an abstract concept, I understand, though not having it leads to a very unfulfilling life."
Lifting her head to study the girl across from her, Hermione can't fight the frown upon her face. In a way, she felt like she was being mocked. Was Luna insinuating that she didn't have hope? She felt frustrated again and stared off across the library saying, "I still think believing everything you hear is foolish."
"It's not always believing in what I hear. It could be what I see, what I feel and so on. Believing doesn't stop at things Daddy prints in The Quibbler," Luna said. She reached out and gently placed her hand on top of Hermione's homework assignments before continuing, "This here is believing in yourself."
Seeing the movement out of the corner of her eye, Hermione's head turned back and stared down at her work as the younger girl removed her hand. She murmured, "That's just homework."
Sighing lightly, Luna responded with, "Its more than 'just homework'. Its something you did because you believed you could. The thought never even crossed your mind that you couldn't, did it?"
The older girl furrowed her brow as she looked at the other girl again and shot back, "Of course it didn't. I have to do my homework."
Luna smiled gently and said, "You didn't have to do it. I know many students who don't. You did it because you wanted to. You did it because you strive for top marks. You did it because you believe that it is within your power to achieve this. If you didn't believe this, you wouldn't put so much time and effort into it. You would slack off like ordinary students. But you do not because you believe that you can be more than ordinary and transcend into extraordinary."
Hermione didn't know whether to be angry or pleased as she felt her face flush once again that day. She supposed it was a little of both. The younger girl was becoming rather unnerving again though. It bothered her how easily she was read.
She saw that look again. The look Luna gave her as she turned to leave earlier. It was so full of meaning that Hermione couldn't understand. It was like she was peering into her very soul. The blonde held her in her gaze once again, then softly said, "You are already beyond extraordinary Hermione Granger."
It was too much. The older girl jerked her head away and focused her eyes on a near by bookshelf. She clenched her jaw and felt hot all over. She wasn't sure what she was feeling or even how to respond to something like that. The words alone where a bit hard for her to handle. Luna's tone and piercing gaze made it feel far too... intimate.
"I do hope that one day you're able to believe more. I think it would make you quite happy and expand your thoughts. You often seem frustrated and its because your logical mind rules you. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy your mind and value it more than any other student's here. Even more than some of the professor's. I hope to hear your thoughts and opinions again soon now that we've had this talk. I always treasure your input, so please never hold back."
Hermione's focus on the shelf began to waver and her face softened. She still didn't have the nerve to look at Luna again and wasn't sure what to say, so she opted to nod slightly. She had never been so highly praised nor had anyone ever encouraged her to freely say exactly what she wanted to say. She had a tendency to rub people the wrong way when she did.
Luna stood up slowly and smoothed out her skirt while her gaze lingered on the older girl in front of her. She smiled a whimsical smile as she placed a wrapped candy atop Hermione's book and said, "Goodnight, Hermione Granger. I will see you tomorrow."
Turning on her heel, the dreamy girl proceeded to skip her way towards the exit. Hermione looked down at the candy and was amused to find that it was a Kinder egg. She found it very suiting that Luna would like those, then the realization dawned on her that Kinder eggs were a muggle candy. When and where had Luna obtained it?
Against her better judgement, she raised her head to look after the younger girl only to find her standing at the end of a far bookshelf looking at her in turn. She had lingered there and smiled at Hermione. The older girl knew why she blushed this time. The look she received was one of adoration. Luna nodded much as she had at Hermione's departure earlier that day. She then turned around the shelf and out of sight, continuing her skip to the library's exit.
Looking back down at her apparent gift, Hermione reached out with a shaky hand to brush against its foil wrapper. She gently scooped it up and sat staring at it for some time. After everything that had just transpired that evening she mused that it was almost as if Luna had just confessed to her.
Yes, she thought her a very strange girl, though she remembered what Harry said about it, 'That's what makes her such a lovely person,' and 'She just has a way with words, you know? Its like she can read your thoughts and say just the right things to make you feel good while also making you think rather deeply about things.'
Lightly running her thumb down the Kinder egg in her hand, she did think quite deeply about the things Luna had said. The longer she sat there, the more she wished to speak to her again. The realization began to sink in that it was in fact a confession of sorts. The younger girl more or less had just told Hermione that she loved her mind.
She gently brought the candy to mouth and let the foil just barely graze her lips. She closed her eyes and basked in the warm feelings that followed. She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life. Someone, not just anyone, Luna Lovegood loved and admired her mind. She wanted to watch it grow with her and that meant more to Hermione than anything in the world.