Rocky Mountain Music - Eddie Rabbitt

Draco's self-imposed lack of social interaction (except when it was enforced by Dumbledore's magical last will) came to an abrupt end when Luna Lovegood let herself fall down next to him. He sighed.

"Found you!" She said triumphantly.

"There aren't that many places I could have been," Draco said. "You would have found me sooner or later."

He sat on the grass behind the cabin with his back pressed against the wooden wall. Although the sun had already begun to set on the other side, it gave off warmth. He was on the side of the dark, again. Through the wall, muffled sounds could be heard, a rattling kettle and conversations. Actually, it was fine here, Draco had concluded. That was, until a certain blonde had decided to join him.

"What do you want?" He asked. "You wouldn't want to be seen with me after what's happened last time." Too late he noticed that he hadn't said that he didn't want her to keep him company. Luna noticed, as well. Where did her sudden perceptiveness come from?

"Oh Draco," she smiled, and began to weave a necklace out of daisies. Against his will Draco's eyes followed her fingers as she chose blossoms and skillfully knot them together. She did that a lot, he guessed.

"I don't care what they think about me. You shouldn't, either. George had, and has, a really hard time coping with the awful stuff that happened. You mustn't take it to heart. Also, worrying will give you wrinkles."

Draco scoffed. Of course Luna didn't care about the others, she was Luna. They had accepted her otherworldliness and liked her. With him, it was a whole different story. Draco stayed silent and watched Luna tinkering with her greens. They sat rather peacefully together, but although Luna had said she didn't care, he couldn't forget George's hate. Sitting next to her made him nervous. Any moment somebody would storm out of the cabin, find them together and abuse him of harassing her. Why should they believe that it was Luna who had initiated the conversation? Building walls maybe hadn't been the best plan in the past, but the easiest one. He would survive a few days with those people without opening up, he decided. He should send Luna away.

"Just imagine I'm your mother."

After a moment of confusion, rage kicked in. "Leave my mother out of that," he hissed. "You have no right to talk about her!"

Luna's hand on his arm startled him. "I know," she said with a soft smile, directly looking into his eyes. At once he wished she would look at something else, her gaze was too strong, too intensive. Was that why she loved to look at butterflies? Because the other wizards couldn't bear her look?

"I didn't mean to offend you," she said. "But I see you're struggling to take advice from me. Just imagine my words, but your mother saying them. Would you listen?"

With that she got up, laid the crown of daisies she had made – it was a crown, not a necklace - on his head and said: "They will protect you from evil thoughts. I will go back in and look if I can be of any help. Have a nice evening, Draco!"

Draco didn't even try to say something, he simply stared after her as she left, making a little jump every third step.

OOO

Severus Snape stared at the piece of paper he had found beneath his pillow. It read: "Ask Hermione Granger if she slept well." He shook his head and looked up to the wooden ceiling. "That has to be a joke, Albus."

But since he knew that Albus rarely made such jokes, he dressed and went to the living room, where Molly Weasley was already busy preparing breakfast. By now he suspected that the head of the Weasley clan hardly did anything else than preparing meals for others. Not that he complained: They tasted excellent. He gave her a nod and received one in return. Then he settled himself into one of the cozy chairs next to the fireplace and waited for the victim of Albus' schemes.

It didn't take long for her to make an appearance. Hair tousled and still in bed clothing, she gave Molly Weasley a shy smile and began to put plates on the table. Time to get busy, then. Severus stood up and casually strolled over to her.

"Did you sleep well, Miss Granger?" He heard himself ask. He felt the weight of the charm lifted from his shoulders. Surprised, the girl spun around and faced him. Her eyes were guarded as she looked at him, and internally, Severus sighed. Then something akin to realisation dawned on her face. "Oh, that's one of Dumbledore's tasks, isn't it?" She smiled. "I slept well, thank you." She clearly was lying. But since he wasn't obliged to do any more than simply ask, he only raised his eyebrows. Granger stared at him with a silent challenge in her eyes. She definitely wouldn't say more. So he slightly bowed his head to her and went back to his chair by the fireplace. Granger continued to prepare the table.

OOO

Minerva McGonagall entered the room and sat down at her place. She smiled at Molly when the other woman filled her plate with food, and was surprised when she realised that it was actually a rather nice morning. Admittedly, Minerva wasn't the youngest anymore, so it had taken a little time for her to adjust to their current situation. But in a moment like this, she wasn't even that angry anymore at Dumbledore. Minerva was a scholar, and when she looked at this cabin with all its temporary inhabitants… in an ugly way, it was fascinating. Of course, Minerva loved some people more than others. Logically, she loathed Umbridge, but in a clinical, cold way – at least that was what she tried to tell herself, that she was pragmatical in her hatred. And Snape – it wasn't so easy to be pragmatic with him. Every time she looked at him, she felt the sting of betrayal. Why hadn't the old git come to her? After years of trying to be cordial, establishing a friendship, it hurt that he never had seemed to care. That the role he had played during the war was still not completely clear didn't help to ease the mistrust.

However it was, Minerva was interested in the outcome of Albus' experiment. What she had seen by now proved that most people here were estranged from each other: Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley not being together anymore, the Granger girl consequently being banned from all Weasley interactions. Draco and Snape as outsiders, and Umbridge the hate object of them all. There was the fact that Ronald Weasley didn't seem to get along well with his mother, and that George Weasley seemed to have struggles Minerva hadn't yet analysed. Where had Luna Lovegood been all the time? And Kingsley - he had been far to occupied with his career during the last years to keep up any relationships. Everyone, Minerva reasoned, had been ripped from their familiar surroundings, from the roles they usually played, and now they didn't know what to do with each other. It wasn't clear yet what their roles were. But not with me, Minerva decided. She was still the same. Molly was here to feed them, and to provide them with motherly advice. But Minerva would take up the task she had always had: It was her responsibility to maintain law and order, to lend an ear whenever it was necessary, to be impartial and strong for when the others couldn't be. After all, how different was it from leading a Hogwarts house? And with this conclusion drawn, she bit forcefully into her bagel.

OOO

AN: Thank you to all who took the time and reviewed this story. Finally, a new chapter!