The night breathed warmth and fate. Without a single stir, she stood before him, looking into the unfathomable darkness of his eyes- almost as if she could see his soul...

  The moment he reached out his hand toward her - toward her beauty - her stillness broke. Hurriedly, she gathered her dress and pulled it on. She gave him a tentative smile before returning to the tent without a word. He remained alone - alone in a sea of thoughts and long-lost feelings...Only when the morning had softly awakened did he, too, retreat into the tent - falling into a sleep woven with strange dreams...

  The midday sun was already high in the sky as the small group made themselves comfortable outside the tent at a small table with coffee and a few snacks.

  Luna and Tom sat next to each other. Yet neither dared to look at the other. Almost embarrassed, Tom looked at the ground, the images of the past midnight repeating before his eyes...

  A delicate flush y upon Luna’s face as she stirred her coffee with a dreamy smile. Menie, sitting opposite her, watched the strange scene in silence. Something had changed between the two. And within her sprouted the uneasy suspicion that they had met secretly once again during the night and had indeed grown closer...

  "That rascal," it went through her mind with a fsh of anger. With a warm smile and the conciliatory words, "We were all young once," Dippet drew her from her thoughts.

  Until just now, he had been absorbed in his Daily Prophet. Now, however, he smiled at her encouragingly.He was right, after all. Luna, as well as Tom, were still young. Why stand in the way? Life could be over so quickly.

  After a while, Luna made herself comfortable in the soft grass beneath the trees. Lost in thought, she was weaving a small wreath of flowers. Meanwhile, Tom wandered about somewhat restlessly. Menie, like Luna, had settled into the grass and enjoyed the sun's rays on her skin. Dippet, meanwhile, leafed through his Daily Prophet.

  "Tom! Tom, please come here for a moment. This should interest you greatly!", the Headmaster called out to the Heir of Slytherin.

  He, however, was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the call at all.

  "By Merlin’s beard! Riddle!", he called now, somewhat impatiently; Tom finally reacted and came hurrying to him at once.

  Caught in the nd of fantasy - in dreams so beautiful and sweet Luna smiled to herself. Suddenly, the Headmaster's loud shouting tore her from her daydream...

  Only slowly did the name seep into her consciousness...

  "Riddle," she breathed infinitely softly into the te summer wind.

  Images suddenly raced past her inner eye...Images of the speech at the beginning of her fifth school year, when Professor Dumbledore was still alive.

  It had been that moment when the Headmaster had spoken the name Voldemort aloud in public for the very first time before all the students, in connection with his former name as a student -Tom Riddle.

  Time was shattered and stood still. An icy cold flooded her body. Her heart began to race. But this time, it was not with joyful excitement, but with a panic that slowly rose within her. Heedlessly, she left her flower wreath lying in the grass and ran a good distance deeper into the forest.

  No one noticed her rapid departure—no one except Tom, who was still standing beside Dippet."Strange," it went through his mind for a brief moment....

  The afternoon drifted by. And Dippet suggested another joyride in his car.

  "Where is Luna?", the young teacher inquired of Tom and the Director, looking around searchingly for her "little sister."

  Tom merely shrugged his shoulders. "She vanished in that direction quite some time ago."

  "Oh," escaped her, and with a quick pace, she too disappeared in said direction.

  Luna had sat down beneath a centuries-old oak tree. Her thoughts were a stormy sea.

  Again and again, she saw his cold, glowing red eyes before her. There was nothing human left in his face. His soul, split unto infinity and destroyed forever.

  But Tom was so human. His eyes - like the vast, storm-swept sky had looked at her during the night with a deep longing for closeness. He had an extraordinary connection to the elements. The sky above him and the earth beneath him were one with Tom. And his soul—Luna couldn't say for sure - but his soul must not be destroyed yet... there was still so much light in him. She had felt it again and again.

  "Luna!", Menie’s voice echoed through the undergrowth. "There you are! I’ve been looking for you! Come, Director Dippet wants to take us on another joyride. And to be honest, I’m looking forward to it. Or would you rather stay at the tent?", She looked at Luna questioningly.

  "No, I’m coming," she breathed softly, stood up, and hurried after her "big sister."

  At the small clearing, they were already waiting for the two women.

  "Mark my words, Tom! You will always have to wait for a beautiful woman!", Dippet chuckled with a knowing look over at Luna.

  When everyone was in the car, it started off slowly, winding through the narrow forest paths while the sunlight broke through the dense canopy of trees, bathing everything in a gentle light. Dippet and Menie were, as so often, deep in animated conversation, and Tom silently observed the strange girl beside him. She looked at the ndscape in silence.

  He leaned toward her carefully, wanting to ask her something; involuntarily she stiffened, almost as if she feared him...

  He couldn't understand it. She was suddenly like a different person toward him. She also made sure not to sit too close to him. And it made him angry! What on earth had he done to be treated this way by her?

  He tried Legilimency - tried to see her thoughts - to feel them...

  He grew increasingly unsettled. How was it possible that he saw nothing but a leaden bckness? It couldn't be. She was much too young to be such a good Occlumens. For a moment, he considered trying his Legilimency on her sister, but his gut told him to leave it be - for now...

  As evening softly touched the celestial dome, they were back at the campsite. Spontaneously, Dippet and Menie had decided to spend another night here. Luna and Tom had complied.

  Menie, too, no longer missed the strange mood lingering between the two. And briefly, she wondered if there had been an argument between Tom and Luna. The Director, however, was in good spirits as always. He had to py the evening card game alone with the young teacher, as Tom had retreated into the tent and Luna, as always lost in thought, y in the grass watching the evening sky.

  They said their goodnights quite early for the night's rest. Soon the familiar snoring of the Director rang out, and Menie too had quickly fallen into a deep sleep.

  Luna, however, y awake and could find no peace. The realization of who Tom really was... or rather, who he would one day be, shocked her too deeply.

  She felt the approaching midnight awaken and quietly slipped out of the tent. A little way off from the camp, she sat down in the soft grass, her gaze as always fixed on the sky...

  "Did you seriously think you could hide from me here?", a low and familiar voice hissed into the night...