Operation: Bookworm, HP fanfic
This is forauthor_by_night , who requested Luna, Ginny and/or Hermione in Paris. It's a lot longer than a drabble, coming in at 873 words. I'm totally fine with that!!!
"Grab her!"
Hermione looked up from her desk, and her eyes widened in panic. Quickly she reached for her wand--
“Expelliarmus!” Her wand flew away from her in a graceful arc.
“No, please don't take me, you don't understand!” she pleaded.
Luna just stared at her with unblinking eyes as Ginny laughed, twirling Hermione's wand. Ron and Neville held both of her arms in a firm grip, although not tightly enough to hurt her. Suddenly Harry appeared in her office
“I should have known!” she growled. “We haven't been students in years. Aren't you a little old for tricking friends with your cloak?”
All her friends started laughing, and even Luna tilted her head to the side, half-smiling, as though Hermione were a puzzle she hadn't quite solved. “Definitely wrackspurts,” she said with a nod of her head. “Clearly her mind has gone all fuzzy with them.”
“So you're saying then,” Ron said with a smirk (not that Hermione could see his face from this angle, but she could hear the smirk in his voice), “in your expert opinion, that our intervention came not a moment too soon?” Luna nodded solemnly in reply.
Harry suddenly had that stubborn look in his eyes that Hermione had come to recognize meant trouble. “All right, troops!” he commanded. “Phase One of Operation: Bookworm has successfully been completed. Commence Phase Two!”
Ginny started muttering a series of spells on Hermione's office door. Hermione strained to hear what her redheaded friend-possibly ex-friend after today-was saying. Her heart sank as she recognized the complex wand movements. Ginny was layering a level of locking charms keyed with her wand signature that would make opening her door next-to-impossible.
Meanwhile, Luna had taken Hermione's wand from Ginny and encased it in some sort of clear box. Knowing Luna and her kind of work with animals, no animal-even a homo sapiens-would be able to get in or out of that box.
Neville and Ron continued to hold her captive, and Harry was fiddling with a broken quill he'd taken from her desk. The quill glowed blue, and any dream Hermione had had of escape left her.
“Everyone ready?” Harry asked. Hermione tried to protest that, no, she was not ready, but all her friends affirmative cries drowned out her voice.
Each of them placed a single finger on the quill, and Ron managed to force Hermione to touch the quill as well. With a whoosh that she knew all too well, the six of them disappeared from her office, as the portkey took them to their unknown destination.
With a jerk they all arrived, falling on soft springy grass. Hermione was finally free of Ron and Neville's clutches, but she was still without her wand. She scrambled to her feet and looked around, trying to figure out where she was. In the distance she observed statues and a fountain and-she squinted for a better look. No, no way did Harry have authorization for an international portkey! “Where are we?” she demanded.
“What, you don't recognize it?” Ron teased her.
“We can't be here! What if Muggles saw us arrive?”
Neville answered her with an easy grin. “The Luxembourg Gardens are closed already. Besides, this particular spot of grass has Muggle-repelling charms on it, besides all the signs that say to stay off the grass.”
“This isn't... how... an international portkey?! Harry!” She turned to glare at him.
He shrugged and held out his hands. “There are a few advantages to being the Boy Who Lived and the Chosen One and all that nonsense. Like the Department of Magical Transportation giving me free of reign of creating portkeys in emergency situations.”
“I am not an emergency situation!”
“When was the last time you left work before 8pm?” Ginny asked. “Or the last time you had dinner at the Burrow? Or the last time you hung out with your friends for longer than a 30 minute lunch?”
Hermione didn't know what to say.
“Like I said, wrackspurts. Your brain has gone all fuzzy, and you've forgotten how to have fun.” Luna, of course.
“I understand how important your work is to you. I get how stressful it is, trying to repair the Ministry and all. Harry and I are there too. But you're going to burn out if you don't take a break every now and then.” Ron paused and took a deep breath. “Hermione, I don't just miss my girlfriend, I miss my best friend. Spend the weekend with us in Paris? Please?”
Luna handed Hermione back her wand. She twirled it in her hand thoughtfully.
“Is there anywhere around here where we can eat? I skipped lunch,” Hermione confessed. “I'm starving, and I could really go for a glass of wine.”
Her friends cheered. “You can have as much wine as you like,” Ron said with a grin, slipping his hand in hers. “Of course, your boyfriend might take advantage of you...” he added in an undertone, so the others couldn't hear.
“I might just let you do that,” Hermione replied with a smile.
"Grab her!"
Hermione looked up from her desk, and her eyes widened in panic. Quickly she reached for her wand--
“Expelliarmus!” Her wand flew away from her in a graceful arc.
“No, please don't take me, you don't understand!” she pleaded.
Luna just stared at her with unblinking eyes as Ginny laughed, twirling Hermione's wand. Ron and Neville held both of her arms in a firm grip, although not tightly enough to hurt her. Suddenly Harry appeared in her office
“I should have known!” she growled. “We haven't been students in years. Aren't you a little old for tricking friends with your cloak?”
All her friends started laughing, and even Luna tilted her head to the side, half-smiling, as though Hermione were a puzzle she hadn't quite solved. “Definitely wrackspurts,” she said with a nod of her head. “Clearly her mind has gone all fuzzy with them.”
“So you're saying then,” Ron said with a smirk (not that Hermione could see his face from this angle, but she could hear the smirk in his voice), “in your expert opinion, that our intervention came not a moment too soon?” Luna nodded solemnly in reply.
Harry suddenly had that stubborn look in his eyes that Hermione had come to recognize meant trouble. “All right, troops!” he commanded. “Phase One of Operation: Bookworm has successfully been completed. Commence Phase Two!”
Ginny started muttering a series of spells on Hermione's office door. Hermione strained to hear what her redheaded friend-possibly ex-friend after today-was saying. Her heart sank as she recognized the complex wand movements. Ginny was layering a level of locking charms keyed with her wand signature that would make opening her door next-to-impossible.
Meanwhile, Luna had taken Hermione's wand from Ginny and encased it in some sort of clear box. Knowing Luna and her kind of work with animals, no animal-even a homo sapiens-would be able to get in or out of that box.
Neville and Ron continued to hold her captive, and Harry was fiddling with a broken quill he'd taken from her desk. The quill glowed blue, and any dream Hermione had had of escape left her.
“Everyone ready?” Harry asked. Hermione tried to protest that, no, she was not ready, but all her friends affirmative cries drowned out her voice.
Each of them placed a single finger on the quill, and Ron managed to force Hermione to touch the quill as well. With a whoosh that she knew all too well, the six of them disappeared from her office, as the portkey took them to their unknown destination.
With a jerk they all arrived, falling on soft springy grass. Hermione was finally free of Ron and Neville's clutches, but she was still without her wand. She scrambled to her feet and looked around, trying to figure out where she was. In the distance she observed statues and a fountain and-she squinted for a better look. No, no way did Harry have authorization for an international portkey! “Where are we?” she demanded.
“What, you don't recognize it?” Ron teased her.
“We can't be here! What if Muggles saw us arrive?”
Neville answered her with an easy grin. “The Luxembourg Gardens are closed already. Besides, this particular spot of grass has Muggle-repelling charms on it, besides all the signs that say to stay off the grass.”
“This isn't... how... an international portkey?! Harry!” She turned to glare at him.
He shrugged and held out his hands. “There are a few advantages to being the Boy Who Lived and the Chosen One and all that nonsense. Like the Department of Magical Transportation giving me free of reign of creating portkeys in emergency situations.”
“I am not an emergency situation!”
“When was the last time you left work before 8pm?” Ginny asked. “Or the last time you had dinner at the Burrow? Or the last time you hung out with your friends for longer than a 30 minute lunch?”
Hermione didn't know what to say.
“Like I said, wrackspurts. Your brain has gone all fuzzy, and you've forgotten how to have fun.” Luna, of course.
“I understand how important your work is to you. I get how stressful it is, trying to repair the Ministry and all. Harry and I are there too. But you're going to burn out if you don't take a break every now and then.” Ron paused and took a deep breath. “Hermione, I don't just miss my girlfriend, I miss my best friend. Spend the weekend with us in Paris? Please?”
Luna handed Hermione back her wand. She twirled it in her hand thoughtfully.
“Is there anywhere around here where we can eat? I skipped lunch,” Hermione confessed. “I'm starving, and I could really go for a glass of wine.”
Her friends cheered. “You can have as much wine as you like,” Ron said with a grin, slipping his hand in hers. “Of course, your boyfriend might take advantage of you...” he added in an undertone, so the others couldn't hear.
“I might just let you do that,” Hermione replied with a smile.