Alex sighed. She relaxed slightly, dropped the hand sickle on the table, and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Luna, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what I've been doing."
Luna's grip on her tightened. "Stupid, Alex. I'm here. I'm your friend. I'm not going to run away because you're practising necromancy. But what you were doing was just so dangerous. Anything could have happened to you. I know you want to prove yourself to my future lord, but, please, Alex, promise me you won't try any more rituals without me?"
Alex's insides clenched. Guilt, which had been starting to settle, reared its ugly head once more. "Yes, okay. I promise."
Luna leaned back, gazed into her face, and smiled, her face returning to something more recognisable as the dreamy, unconcerned witch who worshipped pudding and hunted myths and legends. "Thank you, Alex." She stepped backwards. "Shall we go get washed?" She wrinkled her nose. "You are really icky."
"So, you think you'll have a copy that doesn't have the burnt bit?" Alex asked.
Two baths and a floo trip later, Alex and Luna descended into the Rookery's basement, where, according to Luna, most of the really Lovegood stuff went on.
"I think we might," Luna answered, now leading the way down a short corridor. "Ah, here it is."
Alex looked up at a huge, curved, mahogany door, carved with all kinds of magical creatures, from dragons to nifflers. It was certainly different. Luna opened the door and they both stepped in.
Alex looked up again and breathed in sharply. The library was small, round, with a circular stair case, just like Luna had described. And also, just like Luna had described, the book shelves around the edge stretched upwards, all the way to infinity.
Luna smiled at her. "Do you feel like you're going to fall up?"
"Yeauhg."
"When I was six, I tied a letter to a balloon in here and let it go."
Alex tore her gaze away disconcerting view. "And?"
from
the
"It never did come back down." Alex bit her lip. She had to know. "What did the letter say?"
"It said, 'Don't jump.'"
Alex blinked.
"Well, I thought that the library might go on forever. But then I thought that maybe it didn't, and maybe there were people who lived at the very top. But then I thought that maybe the people who lived at the very top might think that the library went down forever, when, in fact, it doesn't."
"Ah." Alex looked around, trying not to think too hard about people living in an upside-down rookery in an upside-down world. "So, where would this book be then?"
Luna frowned. "You know, I'm not sure. We did have a bit of a move around a few months ago…" She turned, leaned out of the door and screamed, "DAD! WHERE ARE THE NECROMANCY BOOKS?"
Alex goggled and a faint voice bellowed back, "Sixth floor! Right hand side! Between the books on demonic summoning and the muggle physics section."
"THANKS!" Luna turned back and beamed.
Alex fought down her urge to throw something as she followed Luna up the stairs.
"Now, let's see." Luna trailed her finger along the books. "Ah, here we are."
The collection wasn't nearly as large as the Black Library's. Alex stared. Whereas the Black Library had a whole row of shelves dedicated to the magic of death, here, there were only a dozen individual books, but those dozen were large tomes, thick and uniform, with expensive leather bindings, and each one had the sign of the deathly hallows imprinted on the spine.
They each pulled out a book and got to work.
It didn't take too long for Alex to find what she was looking for.
Make sure that your central foci be of high quality and possessing absolutely no cracks. The Inferi are soulless beings that do not live and yet are once again touched by magic. In this respect, they much resemble the victims of those darkest of creatures, the dementor, and, as such, it is fitting that the central foci for the inferi ritual be taken from said creature. Acquire yourself a stake, sharpened from a dementor bone, that it may serve you well for all your future raising, and place it on the point in the deathly hallow where the circle meets the bisecting line most highest.
Alex thumped her head on the open book, and rolled her forehead around on the pages. She really was an idiot.
— DP & SW: TFoP —
The sun was bright and the day was young.
Alexandra and Luna stepped out of the Diagon alley public floo point, furtively eyed the early morning shoppers, and darted towards the nearest public toilet, careful not to jostle the contents of their shoulder bags.
Once inside, they both pulled out green coloured potions from their bags.
"Bottoms up," Luna chirped and swigged the bottle in one long gulp. Alex downed her own dose and soon found herself, once again, regarding her grown up self in the mirror. Something grabbed her around the chest. "Gah!"
"Will you check out these!"
"Luna!" She grabbed the inquisitive hands and easily pulled them away. "What are you doing!" She turned around to face her assailant.
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