Chapter XX: Up Close and Personal

Luna found a perturbed Harry as she walked the halls of Hogwarts. She was on her way to see Cho when she saw her friend gaze into an empty hall.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked as she stopped beside him. Harry practically jumped out of his skin when he heard her call.

"It's Jäger," Harry said with a shiver. "He just went by and when he passed me he gave me a death glare. I mean it was more sinister than the ones he gave me before. I wonder what riled him up?"

"Hermione," Luna automatically said.

"Sure. She could test the patience of a saint but what did she do exactly," Harry wondered while Luna looked at him in despair. "What?"

"You could be so dense sometimes," Luna sighed. "Where's the Hunter?"

"At this time of day? He's probably training in the courtyard," Harry said with a shake of the head. "He seemed so serious that only a fool would disturbed him now."

"Are you calling me a fool, Harry Potter?" Luna asked so casually that he realized that he had offended her.

"Ah… NO!" he blurted out. "Why would I call you a fool? Did I call you a fool?" he nervously asked.

"You have implied it," she looked at him through narrow slits. "You said that only a fool would disturb the Hunter while he trains. Well then, I am about to disturb his training. I will see you later, Mr. Potter." With a huff, she left him standing there blinking in confusion.

"Why can't I say the right words when it matters the most?" he asked but even the portraits, who were listening, were clueless.

… …/…

Luna found Jäger not by the courtyard but by the lake practicing some kind of martial art that she was not familiar with. Stripped to the waist, Luna could see his finely toned body as his muscles flexed with each movement.

She suddenly heard a whine of awe but she merely took a deep breath and sighed.

"Steady, he won't bite. I think," she smirked at her reassurance and walked towards him. When she neared, she noticed that he was practicing while holding a pistol in each hand.

"That's a strange style of fighting," Luna commented as she came to a stop.

"It's called the Gun Carta," Jäger said as he continued with his routine. "It utilizes the effective killing radius with minimal risk from the shooter. Kill ratio had increased to 98 and danger to the shooter decreased to 13. It's an effective killing technique."

"I'll bet," Luna said as she sat on the ground. "I have a question to ask."

"Off the record?" he asked, not pausing from his exercise.

"Definitely," she assured him and before he could give his permission, she asked. "Are you angry with Hermione?"

With the mention of her name, Luna heard the unmistakable sound of the triggers being squeezed. "I take it that it's a sensitive subject?"

"Take it how you wish but I am not angry with her," he said as he stopped his routine and placed the guns on a table that was nearby. "And you could tell Lady Granger that she need not hide from me because there is nothing to fear. Had you two approached me in the noon time, she would be uncomfortable under that invisibility cloak."

"How did you know?" Hermione asked as she took off the cloak, revealing herself standing behind Luna.

"There was a breeze coming behind you and you were blocking it," he said calmly. "Lady Lovegood's hair did not flow with the force of the wind. And besides, remember what we talked about last night? I felt you before you left the castle."

"When exactly?" Luna asked, intrigued by what was transpiring.

"When she left the infirmary after… her apology," Jäger looked away as if embarrassed by his admission.

"You could track people like that?" Hermione, forgetting her embarrassment, asked him in astonishment.

"With extreme concentration, yes," he gave a small smile that relaxed Hermione further. "But I sensed that this is not why you came to see me."

"Apart from Hermione being embarrassed, we really need to get that interview," Luna said. "We've been… distracted lately that we forgot what we were supposed to be doing."

"I still could sense that that is not why you came to see me," he waited and he didn't wait long.

"I… we just wanted to know more about you," Hermione said as she sat beside her friend.

"I'm afraid that is not possible," Jäger said sincerely regretting that he could not say more.

"Any good reasons?" Luna asked as she looked at him.

"Very good reasons," his eyes darkened for a moment and Hermione noticed for that instance that his eyes turned into voids. Literally. And a second later, his eyes returned to their violet splendor Hermione came to love.

Love? Hermione blinked in surprise. Was she falling for a man she knew nothing about? Was she really falling? Or was it just admiration?

"You didn't want anyone to use anything about you against you," Luna said in realization.

"You're smart," the Hunter said with a smile. "Must run in the family. Although I think you got a little eccentricity from your father."

"You know my family?" Luna asked in awe.

"Quite," the Hunter smirked but Hermione felt that there was more to this than what he was letting on to.

"And?" Hermione waited. For some reason she could not understand, her mere suggestions gave results.

"I knew your mother," Jäger simply said with a hard glare to Hermione. Hermione knew she was threading in dangerous waters but she held firm, hoping that he would not get angry. Luna, despite the little tidbit, prayed that Jäger would not shoot her friend.

"Ask your father," he picked up one of the pistols, loaded it and cocked the hammer. Both girls jumped at the sound for its eerie clicking somehow echoed through the air. "Are we done?" he asked in a cold voice. Both girls knew they should end the conversation but Hermione pressed her luck.

"Why are you so evasive to opening up?" she said in exasperation. But what he said next chilled their spines.

It was not the ice filled voice he had, though it helped, nor the soulless gaze he had, though it helped, but the words were shocking and for the first time since she met him, Hermione didn't know who he really was.

"The last time I've opened up, to a woman or anybody, she sold me out to my enemies."