The night, and with it the shadows, had vanished, making way for a warm summer day in the midst of time.The soft rustle of long robes could be heard within the Forbidden Forest.Headmaster Dippet studied the surroundings intently. Even in the dead of night, he had insisted that Luna and Tom show him the scene of the events - the small clearing.

  With great reluctance, Tom had complied. And so they strode silently through the undergrowth until they reached the small, hidden sanctuary.

  "It is beautiful here, Tom! I can understand why you seek solitude here on full moon nights and beyond," the Headmaster remarked.

  The moss-covered clearing, fringed with small bushes and shrubs, had something enchanted about it, almost as if it had fallen out of the flow of time.

  Waving his wand, Dippet silently cast several spells in all four cardinal directions.

  "Wherever this rift in space-time existed, it seems to have closed again," the Headmaster stated soberly.

  "What if it opens again?" Menie asked with a worried voice.

  Dippet turned to her. "That is quite possible. But for now, let us hope for the best. I shall reinforce the protective charms around the castle once more."

  Luna looked around, lost in thought. Menie, too, had grown strangely quiet again, Tom noted.

  "Tom!", The Headmaster drew his attention back to himself.

  "You are very fortunate that it is still the holidays and that, besides Miss Menie, I am the only one staying here. Had it been otherwise, I would have had to expel you for this repeated misconduct," he paused briefly.

  "But I can understand, Tom, why you are so fond of visiting this pce even after dark. And I hereby officially give you permission to come here as long as the holidays st. As for Miss Luna, however, that is not within my power. Her sister must decide that," he nodded toward Menie. She, however, was elsewhere in her thoughts.

  The Time-Turner, it went through her mind. It had to be lying here somewhere in the middle of the forest. Since it had melted into the ground, they both thought it best to leave it where it was. It was completely destroyed anyway, so even if someone were to find it, they would never be able to use it.

  "Miss Menie!" Dippet’s gentle voice brought her back to the here and now.

  "Yes, please," she replied quickly.

  "After this test fright, I suggest we let this day fade out pleasantly as well, in our familiar circle..."

  Tom had a bad feeling about this. What on earth was the old fogey up to now?

  As if the Headmaster could read his thoughts, he looked at Tom with a strangely knowing smile. Tom was momentarily startled. The thought that Dippet might be as skilled a Legilimens as he was himself did little to please the Heir of Slytherin.

  "It is only around noon. And I suggest we meet outside my quarters in two hours. From there, we shall embark on a little excursion," Dippet announced mysteriously, then turned to leave, the others following him in silence.

  "Well, this day is off to a great start yet again with too little sleep," Tom thought to himself, while Luna, walking just a short distance beside him, seemed genuinely to be looking forward to it.

  The hours drifted by, and a soft knock at the door roused Headmaster Dippet from his preparations. Excitedly, he opened the door with a flick of his wand. In stepped the young teacher and Luna, followed by Tom.

  With a joyful greeting, he waved his wand once more, and all the suitcases hovered toward the open door.Tom raised his eyebrows in irritation. "What in the world is he pnning this time?", he wondered.

  Menie also looked a bit confused, as it seemed the Headmaster was pnning to go on a journey.

  "This time, it will be an overnight trip," Dippet revealed, noting the young teacher's puzzled expression.

  "How lovely," Luna’s quiet voice rang out.

  "Well then. Shall we?", he asked, looking around the group.

  Menie then tucked her arm into his with a smile, while Tom merely rolled his eyes.

  This was going to be "splendid." A day trip with an overnight stay wherever the Headmaster had pnned it was certainly not what he had envisioned for today... or for the entirety of his holidays. Here he was, forced to waste his precious time with an old fogey, a brazen young witch, and a strange girl.

  "Curse it all," he thought to himself.

  What he could not have guessed, however, was how much he would one day long to return to these carefree days...

  The Quill of Time – dipped into the gss of worlds-ink – had let the paths of the small group cross for a moment in the river of life.

  The long robes of Dippet, Menie, and Luna rustled through the castle corridors. Tom, too, was dressed in a traditional, long bck robe.They stepped out onto the grounds. An azure sky, embroidered with white fleecy clouds, hung over the nd.

  With mischievous anticipation, Dippet hurried across the grounds. Beside the greenhouses, in front of one of the sheds, he came to a halt.The tension in Menie and Luna grew. Meanwhile Tom, rather bored, with his arms crossed behind his back, watched the Headmaster as he swung his wand with a broad grin and the door to the shed opened....

  "A car!", Luna breathed in surprise. A car like those the Muggles drove in the early 1940s. Menie was quite amazed as well. Tom, on the other hand, was used to the sight.

  "Not a normal car, but an enchanted car, Miss Luna," he replied proudly.

  "With this, I invite our small group for a joyride," he grinned broadly.

  "Joyride, Headmaster. A joyride is what the Muggles call it," Tom corrected him, without so much as a change in expression.

  "Oh! Well then, a joyride it is." He quietly murmured a spell, and the car's engine sprang to life, slowly driving out of the shed before coming to a halt in front of the small gathering.

  "If you please." With a gesture, he opened the door of the car, which had no roof. A blessing given the temperatures.Menie climbed in a bit awkwardly, as she was not used to such a vehicle.

  "Tom, Miss Luna, the two of you shall take your seats in the back," the Headmaster directed. Meanwhile, he stowed all the luggage into the magically enrged trunk. Then he too climbed into his new acquisition, more poorly than gracefully. With his wand, he tapped the steering wheel once, and the car set itself in motion without any further action on his part.

  Menie let out a cry of delight. And Luna, too, took great joy in it as the wind from the drive softly brushed against her face. Tom, on the other hand, did not flinch and gazed silently at the ndscape. They had left the castle grounds behind by now and were driving along a bumpy forest path.Beside them, rge old deciduous trees rose on both sides, casting a gentle shadow into the glistening light of summer.

  Luna held one arm out of the car, letting the wind gently tickle her nose. Tom, however, remained silent while Director Dippet once again chatted cheerfully with the young teacher.

  Among the shadows of the trees, colorful butterflies danced back and forth, while high above in one of the trees, a woodpecker loudly announced its trade.

  Tom, who was just about to turn toward Luna, caught a part of her tresses in his face, as she was leaning halfway out of the car with her upper body.

  "Girls," he thought privately.

  Slowly the car wound its way over the narrow and uneven forest paths, past the small wizarding vilge of Hogsmeade.

  "Don't worry, it won't be long now until we reach our destination," Dippet said, turning back toward Tom and Luna.

  "As far as I'm concerned, this ride could go on forever," she whispered dreamily to herself, which made the Director smile.

  They had left Hogsmeade behind for quite a while when, on the right side behind the trees, a small ke glistened as bright as aquamarine. Just like the eyes of the strange girl, it went through the mind of the Heir of Slytherin.

  "How beautiful it is here. Can we take a little rest?", Luna asked Dippet.

  "Why, certainly!", he replied, and with another flick of his wand, the car stopped at the side of the path.

  Excitedly, Luna left the car and ran down to the ke. Like a small blue diamond, it was embedded deep into the nd.Quickly she slipped off her shoes, gathered up the hem of her long dress, and stepped into the wonderfully cool water with her small feet.

  "Don't you want to come into the water too?", she called out to Menie, who was just coming down with the Director and a hovering picnic basket.

  "I’d love to!" she replied. and was in the water just as quickly as Luna.

  The bell like ughter of the two echoed across the ke as they spshed their feet back and forth.

  "Like two small children," Tom thought disdainfully, settling down somewhat apart against one of the trees.

  Dippet, on the other hand, who had made himself comfortable on a rge, soft bnket, ughed along with the two young women.And once again, something reached him in his solitude.

  With half-closed eyes, the Heir of Slytherin watched as Luna jumped back and forth in the water together with her sister, the teacher. She wore a long, cream-colored dress with yellow flowers on it, which she had gathered up high so the hem wouldn't get wet.When she noticed Tom's eyes on her, she called out for him to join them in the water, which he declined with a shake of his head.

  After a while, when both had had enough, they settled down on the bnket next to the Director, completely out of breath and with wet feet. He had already arranged the food on many small ptes.

  "Come, Tom, and help yourself!", Dippet called over to Tom, who stood up slowly and joined the small group.

  "Are you really going to eat nothing again?", Menie scolded her sister.

  "I don't know... I'm just not hungry," Luna breathed, her head in the clouds.More like her head is on cloud nine, Menie thought privately, gncing briefly at the boy who was to bme for this predicament. Since Luna had met this boy a few days ago, she had been even more absent-minded than usual, and her appetite had vanished into thin air.

  "Here," she handed her "little sister" an apple, which Luna accepted dreamily.

  Tom and the Director chewed on a chicken leg, while she herself enjoyed a succulent piece of chocote cake.

  Luna had stretched out on the wonderfully soft bnket and gazed into the warm light of the te summer sky. She had set the apple aside. Involuntarily, she found herself thinking back to the kiss...

  How she longed - how she longed to feel his lips upon hers once more.Time drifted away in the river of infinity. The evening had softly settled over the nd, bathing the world in a twilight glow.

  Menie and Dippet were pying cards, and Tom walked a little apart from the group through the forest undergrowth. Luna was still stretched out on the bnket, her gaze fixed on the sky, when suddenly from far off, the howl of a wolf echoed through the woods.Menie started instantly.

  "Armando," she called softly to the Director; they had by now arrived at a familiar form of address.

  "Don't worry, Miss Menie, wolves are everywhere here. And for this one," he pointed to his wand lying beside him, "that should be no problem."

  "Sir," Tom had returned from his little stroll. "If I may ask, where will we be sleeping tonight?", he wanted to know curiously.

  "A good question, Tom," the Headmaster mused, winking mischievously at Menie, who understood immediately.

  "I thought the bnket was rge enough for us all to fit on. And for one night, that should be perfectly sufficient."

  Menie had to fight with all her might to stifle a ugh. It was a sight for Merlin, the one Tom was presenting right now. For a brief moment, his composure had completely slipped...

  Now Luna joined in as well. "But what if the Merpeople kidnap us in the night and drag us into the depths?", At this, Menie could no longer contain herself and burst into loud ughter, as did the Director.

  Tom was starting to feel as if he were in a madhouse. An old fogey who wanted to sleep squeezed together with them on a bnket in the middle of the forest. A teacher who apparently found it funny, and on top of that, a crazy girl who believed they would all be kidnapped by Merpeople... what had he done to deserve this?

  The Heir of Slytherin stood with his hands behind his back in front of the picnic camp, his face expressionless. Meanwhile, Luna had sat up, tilting her head, not understanding at all what the Director and her Mel found so funny. Merpeople could be unpredictable.

  "Don't worry, Tom," Dippet sputtered toward him. "I have, of course, brought a magical tent. We should all have more than enough room in there," he winked at him.

  Without another word, Tom sat down next to Luna, who smiled dreamily at him.

  "What do you think? Shall we py a round of cards too?", she asked the boy who had stolen into the realm of her fantasy.

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Fine with me."

  The cards were quickly shuffled and the game began.

  "What will you give me if I win?", he asked, as if in passing.

  "And what would you wish for?", Luna asked in turn.

  "I don't know," he admitted honestly.

  "And if I win... may I make a wish?", She looked at him curiously.

  "...Perhaps," he replied softly.

  Time passed, and Dippet began to get into a move-on spirit.

  "Now, my dears. I would say that’s enough for today. We shall find a pce to camp. And as Miss Luna noted, preferably not down here by the ke. For one never knows what lurks in its depths...", he finished, and with a silent spell, the bnket and the picnic began to pack themselves as if by magic, flying toward the car.

  The evening softly wove through the forest, bathing everything in an enchanted atmosphere.Silently, Luna and Tom took their seats next to each other as the car slowly wound through the narrow forest paths. Here and there, the soft call of an owl rang out, greeting the approaching night.

  Attentively, the Director looked around for a suitable spot for their camp. Soon enough, he found what he was looking for. Hidden behind a good stretch of thicket y a small clearing. He brought the car to a halt.

  The small group climbed out, trudged through the undergrowth, and briefly inspected the spot. Satisfied, they walked back to the car where Dippet, with a flick of his wand, sent the contents of the trunk flying outside, letting them float toward the small clearing.All by itself, the tent for the night pitched itself. It looked strangely small - too small for so many people. But upon entering, it was as if one were standing in a spacious apartment.

  Menie and Luna would share a room in the travel tent. Tom and the Director, on the other hand, had their own small rooms. Inside the tent and all around it, numerous candles hovered, illuminating the beginning night, which had flowed into the celestial dome with its sapphire-blue velvet and stars.

  Inside the tent, soft music pyed, and a lighthearted mood was in the air. They had decided to py a few more rounds of cards together before saying goodnight.Even Tom was in a good mood by now. Luna ate a little something, much to Menie's delight. And the Director sipped on a cherry liqueur.

  At a ter hour, protective charms were cast around the tent, and then everyone went to bed, weary.The night y heavy and warm upon the nd. Tom, as always, slept naked. Menie and Luna left their clothes on but did not cover themselves. Eventually, the soft snoring of Director Dippet could be heard.

  Tom y awake in bed, the bnket pulled only to his loins. Menie and Luna, however, had already drifted into the realm of dreams...

  The sounds of the forest filled the air. Then suddenly, a soft rustling came from outside his room; the fp covering the entrance was gently pushed aside. A white figure entered...He had to look twice to trust his eyes. There stood that strange girl, slowly approaching him...

  "Luna!", he whispered infinitely softly.

  But she made no sound. He tried again, calling her name quietly. But still, nothing. As she reached his bed, he knew why she hadn't answered.She was sleepwalking...

  Carefully, she y down with him in the narrow bed, pressing her small, delicate body close to his...Through the thin summer dress, he could feel the contours of her body—warm and soft. His breath quickened...

  Gently, he brushed a blonde strand of hair from her face...The touch made her start... a soft cry rang through the night as she realized she was lying next to a completely naked Tom...

  Footsteps and a sleepy murmur could be heard in the tent. The fp of Tom's room was pushed aside again, and Director Dippet stood in the middle of the room, his gaze fixed on an unmistakable scene..."By Merlin's beard - Tom! At least pce an Imperturbable Charm on your room...", he grumbled to himself before leaving the room with the words. "Well, at least you two aren't doing it in the forest this time."

  Tom ran a hand over his smooth face. He desperately wished for a hole to open up and swallow him... he felt such deep shame. Luna, too, had turned bright red...

  But he quickly composed himself. With a malicious smile, he looked at Luna, who was still looking at the floor in embarrassment. With an elegant flick of his wand, he pced a strong Silencing Charm on the small room.Then he leaned very close to her face. "What do you think? Shall we follow the Director's insinuations... he believes we've already made love anyway," he breathed hoarsely into her ear.

  With wide eyes, unable to say a word, she stared at him. Then she slowly peeled herself out of his bed and was already about to leave the room when she turned back to him once more, a strange glint in her eyes.

  "Tom," she whispered excitedly. "Can we go back out into the night? It is almost midnight, I can feel it," she breathed softly.

  The energy at this hour was quite different from the rest of the night. It was so much stronger - more mysterious...

  "Please!" she breathed again.

  Without a word, he stood up, grabbed his underwear, put it on, and came toward her. He stopped directly in front of her. He towered over her by at least a head. His expression, as always, gave nothing away.

  Then he whispered again, infinitely softly. "I want to see you - I want to see you - there, in the light of the moon....