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The floor in front of the Milliways hearth is a bit occupied this evening.

Luna is stretched out on her stomach, chest comfortably propped up by a sofa cushion, her battered old copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard open in front of her. A mug of cocoa rests on the hearthstones within easy reach.

Though for the moment, her chin is resting on her hand and she’s watching the little fish dart in and out of the flames in the fireplace.

Botherable.

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"Hey, Luna." Cy is standing. It's not really clear he could ever lie on the floor the way she is.

Luna twists her head back and around to look up at him.

"Oh, hello, Cy."

And because the position really is very awkward, she maneuvers about until she's seated, tailor-style in the floor in front of the fireplace.

"How are you?"

"Pretty good these days. And you?" Cy is content to grab a chair and sit opposite Luna.

"Pretty good as well," Luna replies with a smile.

She rests her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands.

"Dad is well. Classes are good, though the Ministry is starting to cause all sorts of problems. But our army is beginning to come along quite nicely."

All in all, it's been a pretty good year, and it's not even Christmas yet.

"Your army?" Luna doesn't seem like the sort that would even be in an army.

"Well, not my army."

She's just a volunteer.

"We call ourselves Dumbledore's Army, though he's not aware of it, of course."

"It would probably be more accurate to say that it's Harry Potter's Army. He's the one who is in charge. But he's not the sort who wants things named after him, I think."

"At any rate, we have one. And it's quite wonderful."

"OK, can you back up a moment? Who are Dumbledore and Harry Potter, and why do you have an army? Who are you at war with?" As always, Luna is just a bit confusing. He should be used to it.

Luna's used to being asked to back up and repeat (and Cy is much more patient in the asking than a lot of her classmates).

"Dumbledore is the headmaster of my school," she explains. "He's one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived. But some people in the Ministry are very unhappy with him right now. And one of those people, Professor Umbridge, is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at our school this year."

"Except she's not really teaching us much of anything. Just having us read out of the book. They say the Ministry doesn't want us to learn anything practical because they're afraid Dumbledore might try to take things over. And use us, I presume."

"So, some of us are learning on our own. And Harry Potter's teaching us. He's one of my school mates. He knows more about Defense Against the Dark Arts than any of us."

"So you're really just doing independent study, but if you get caught, you'll be expelled?" He considers this and wonders if the students' behavior only proves the point about Dumbledore.

"Which ministry?"

"Oh, at the very least."

Funny how cheerful that comes out.

But it's rather exciting being part of a secret organization.

"The Ministry of Magic, of course. It governs the wizarding world in Britain."

"I don't know a thing about wizards except what I hear here, remember? And I don't know much about Britain either." He really needs that college education he's planning to get. Badly.

"That's true. I'm sorry."

Even for Luna it's occasionally hard to remember that not everyone knows the workings of her world. One of the quirks of human nature, she supposes.

"At any rate, that's what I've been up to. I was a bit afraid Dad would fret, but he seems quite proud."

"What have you been doing lately?"

"The usual, only not.

"I mean, the Titans are up to our usual bit with crimefighting and doing good. No big fights lately." He knows that can't last.

"But I'm starting college in the fall. That's gonna be a big change."

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

She knows the basics of how Muggle college works. At least in Britain. One of the advantages of having a squib as a family friend.

"What will you be studying?"

"Planning to do a double major of physics and engineering. That should come in really handy for me. But first I have to get through the core classes." He shows her the booklet he's been carrying around today. "Lots of choices. A lot of them not really that interesting. But they're required."

Luna nods as she looks at the booklet.

"Hogwarts is like that, too. With core classes. You start to pick electives in your third year. What sort do you have to do?"

She's willing to bet they don't include Astronomy and Potions.

"Physics and engineering. Does that mean you'll build things?"

"History, English comp, world literature, economics, stuff like that. Useful, I guess.

"But yeah, it means I'm taught to build stuff. I already know how, but now I'll know how even better." And he'll even know why things work. He hopes. His systems are still a mystery.

Luna reaches over to retrieve her mug of cocoa and cups it in her hands.

"What sorts of things do you want to build?"

Good question.

"Better parts for myself, for starters. I think I could make a more streamlined body. But I also want to build better cars. I've build a car, but I know I could do a lot better."

Luna tilts her head and studies him.

Of course, she knows very little about building things, let alone about building bodies. But that doesn't mean she might not have ideas.

"Perhaps you could give yourself wings," she suggests.

"Flying is lovely."

"Yeah, it is. But wings won't work on me at this weight. Even jetboots don't.

"I do, however, think I can find a way." Scramjets are the way to go. He's sure of it.

Maybe.

[ooc: sleep now - more tomorrow]

"That's the nice thing about there being so much ahead of you to learn," Luna says. "Think of all the new thoughts you'll have once you start taking your classes."

So many possibilities just waiting.

"You'll be able to learn to make things that have never crossed your mind before."

[OOC: Sleep well!]

"I hope so. Just been a long time since I was in school. And I have to do a lot of it over the Internet, since me being in classes could be distracting." And dangerous.

Luna knows a little bit about the internet. She has a notion that this will be the equivalent of taking a correspondence course.

"Because you look different, you mean?" she asks.

"And cause I'm famous. In a good way and a bad way. Could be all kinds of messy." He doesn't want Gizmo attacking the school. He doesn't want some crazed stalker girl stalking him for a date and his body parts.