( video ; seelie locked. )

[brainiest]

[ The locket opens on just Hermione's face; behind her there is nothing but a blank wall, at least until she turns. Then there's a small bookshelf, a series of vials and a cauldron before she sits down and refocuses the camera on her and nothing else. It takes her a moment to speak but she does - after taking a long, deep breath. ]

For anyone that doesn't know me, my name is Hermione Granger. We're about to enter a war and I don't think it's right that any of us enter entirely unprepared - there's only so much we can do, but I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that everyone is ready and as capable as they can be. 

[ Another deep breath and she turns, so that both her cauldrons are in sight. ]

I've been brewing potions for the last few days, as much as I can and as quickly as I can. I have things for cuts, scrapes, wounds, for loss of blood and for burns, anti-paralysis... I think you get the idea. I've got a lot of stock and I'm ready to give it to anyone who thinks they might need it before they go and fight. If you need it after then you know my name and how to contact me, right?

[ She looks troubled, still; war isn't something she is entirely comfortable with, even now, even with how familiar she is with it. ]

Just let me know if you want or need something and I can pop over and deliver it. And if you have, um, friends that might need it but can't read this? Let me know. I'm an equal opportunist potioneer, I promise. Thank you for your time.

[ And, added a little later, if the change in the shadows of the room are any indication -- ]

You don't have to pay me for them, but if you can find ingredients or donate something that would be nice. Just so I can keep this going.

[ Happy, Mako? ]

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[marred]

[ he mutters, ] Gods help me. [ all the while, george preens beneath the attention. though, luke truthfully doubts either of them can recall when their own birthdays are. they're ancient snakes who try not to draw attention to themselves. it's always about others — their stories may be of their own weddings, a renewal of vows every one hundred years, but it's always been to see him smile or roll his eyes, poking fun at george for getting some icing of his wedding cake beneath his chin or dancing with the wrong snake as he presumed it was martha's mother. never have they ever been so selfish as to pull attention onto them — and it's why luke had gone around them, refusing to properly gain their permission, as he freed them from a staff that would only see them sitting in his suite as he forgot to take a piece of his father with him on his own travels. (he always expects it to disappear). ]

[ with pride in his voice, ] She will be; she's after Luke!

[ affronted, martha gasps. ] George! You'd just let me go?

If it meant she was around more —

[ luke shakes his head. ] Dude, you don't have a chance. [ and he would puff out his own chest, but he doesn't, content to slouch and no longer be stiff and made of the stone the staff can easily turn anyone and anything into. though he's confused over the recent events in the audience chambers, he doesn't want to think on it too much. it burrows beneath him, an itch he can't quite scratch, and while it's familiar in its touch, it isn't as burning as it had once been, driving him to a titan who had scorched him from the inside out. ]

[ thankfully, though, their interlude has ended, the two snakes as talkative and playful as they've ever been — and martha provides him with a distraction. ]

[ she blushes red. luke laughs at the sight of her blue disappearing as she becomes as dark as a normal red apple. she disappears from the coffee table; luke watches her from the corner of her eye as he predicts where she'll end up next. looking to hermione, he shrugs his shoulders. he'd created the muggle quest out of a desire to have a reason to talk to her. it sees her laugh, each time he brings it up — and a part of him has forgotten it, no longer needing only it as an excuse to talk to her. the evolution of a friendship — it's a little confronting for luke, realising he actually has a good friend he'd make the dumbest and most transparent reasons to talk to for. ] I think I can handle it. You forget, I can find almost anything. And you need it, so even if I'm running around the world until I'm really tired ... [ he shrugs. ] It'd be worth it. [ his eyes shifts away from her face, resting on her shoulder where martha appears. luke shifts his attention back to hermione, hoping martha can surprise her as she kisses her on the cheek instead of him; luke smiles. ]

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[brainiest]

I don't think they're going to help you escape from these two, Luke. [ Not that she thinks he really wants to, not right now, but all the same. She knows what it's like to have people that care about you, that watch you, but it's not something she's sure about in a solid way - it's not like the snakes that are always at his side. The way the Order had looked out for them had been dutiful, powerful, like a family, but there had always been the blanket understanding that, maybe, they were there for Harry more than the other youngsters. To keep Harry safe, to make sure that he was prepared, raised to understand what his job was. She and Ron were additions to that. She never felt like they were the main focus, which was right. Harry was the most important.

And now, without her parents, imagining herself dying and them never knowing? She has to shrug that thought out of her mind quickly.

Hermione is happy to ignore the confusing reigning inside of her and move to lean against Luke instead, watching his snakes with a fond smile. This is comfortable, it's something she could see herself getting used to, and for now she isn't entirely sure what she should be doing with herself other than settling at his side and allowing herself to bask in the few bare moments of peace she'll have until, she's sure, her world is turned upside down again. Tilting her head up, she smiles at Luke, her voice low and quiet so as not to disturb the snakes too much. ]

Then I'll write a list. Once the battles coming up are over I might have a little more time to actually start a garden in my house, make things for myself. Then I won't have to bother everyone else about things like flowers. [ Though, really, having a reason to go and talk to Luke would never be too much for her. She knows that, sometimes, they miss one another because of what's going on in the Drabworld and she wants to avoid that in the future. Luke is becoming part of her family, part of the people she loves, and she isn't going to let him slip from her fingers just because they both get a little bit busy. The words, though, it'd be worth it, strike her and her mouth drops open. She shifts closer, not entirely sure what she wants to say but wanting to say something, maybe to express her gratitude, the way she feels, something to thank him -

but Martha beats her to it. There's a kiss on her cheek and Hermione's eyes widen as she leans back, lifting her hand to touch the spot before she feels herself go a little pink, touched by the gesture. Unsure how to actively ask for Martha to join her, she holds out a hand - the one wearing the bracelet she'd been given that winter. ] And what did I do to earn that honour?

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[marred]

We could make statues! [ but he goes unheard as martha merely shrugs, slithering to curl around hermione's hand and peer at the bracelet she wears. a smile lights her features as she brightens considerably. instead of being honest, declaring that being thought to be twenty and beautiful had made her turn as scarlet and deeper in shade than george, martha chooses to act coy within the same breath as george bursts into excitement upon the coffee table. ] Oh, nothing.

[ luke ignores her, knowing martha to be easily swayed when one wishes to take to her, refusing to see her as a reptilian beast to be fearful of as she's depicted so cruelly in the media. ]

That sounds like a bit of a lonely life you want to lead there. [ independent, self-sufficient, locked away in her own house — though she might have the friends she's made here, and those from home, if she's (un)fortunate enough to have any of those types hanging around her, it sounds a little lonely to luke. he's been there, he's done that — and in a crowded cabin, no less — as he had tucked himself away in self-imposed isolation. but he hadn't done so to solely not bother anyone when it had been his anger that was a beast greater than any of the creatures kronos had wished to awaken during the battle of manhattan. hot and scorching, uncontrollable and large, he had locked himself in pandora's box in hopes no one would ever open the lid — and someone had, unleashing a great evil upon the demigod and mortal worlds that almost saw it crumble in its entirety. though he takes to self-imposed isolation quite a bit, pushing people away purposefully and unintentionally, running faster than anyone could hope to catch up to him, it's a feat he can no longer accomplish with a fox and two snakes — and two dogs so intent on crushing him when he's sleep — fettering themselves to his sides. ]

[ he shifts, arm bending at the elbow as he leans against his closed first, body turned to her, but his gaze on martha as she remains as an accessory around her wrist. ] Huh. [ his lips curve upward. ] Guess you got those.

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[brainiest]

Garden statues? Are you telling me you're going to decorate my house for me, George? [ Hermione smiles as Martha curls around her hand, leaning back against Luke again now that she was comfortable. She loves the presents she had been given and she had been looking for a reason to show off the fact that she'd gotten them in the first place - there hadn't been much of a time for thank you notes and dropping in on people, though she had simply assumed that Luke had gotten the gifts she'd had sent over to him.

Charmed as she is by the snakes, Hermione almost doesn't notice Luke speaking until she turns her head and actually pays attention. Lonely? Pausing, she shifts, considering it for a moment. ] It's not too lonely. I see people, you know. I pop in and out of Caer Glaem all the time. [ It's not so bad. Hermione knows what she has to do when it comes to her place in the Drabworld; she has to make potions, check on people, make sure that everyone is healed and healthy. If she stops then she'll end up with her friends getting hurt and her unable to help - and what's the point of that? What's the use of her if she isn't capable of helping, of researching and showing the things she's found and remembered to the rest of the people around her? She doesn't want to think about her uses if her magic stops working or she isn't allowed in the library anymore.

Her eyes leap back to Luke and she smiles. ] I did. What do you think I've been doing during my breaks? I've been listening to music and reading my new books. They're amazing presents, Luke.

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[marred]

Yes. It's only fair since you made me a scarf, I make you statues. [ george beams, perhaps his truest smile without a rat being involved to elicit it. martha hushes him as maia tilts her head, looking at him curiously, as he pokes his tongue out toward her to se her become restless once more. ]

[ luke rolls his eyes, ignoring george. but at least she's gained her own confirmation he'd received her gifts, even if he hadn't attached a thank you note to his own he'd dropped by her doorstep before heading off to elf paradise with thalia in tow. but he smiles, almost pleased, ] You're going to have to recharge your iPod soon. It doesn't run on solar power, you know. [ hence his note, meaning a little more than simply informing her it'll need a power up — much like herself, requiring a moment to relax, despite her own protests of doing such a thing — and perhaps needing him to help her around the technology hub he finds himself at home in. his expression turns sheepish, though; ducking his head, he looks from the corner of his eye to the coffee table before them. ] But, uh. Yeah, sorry about all that writing in them. Force of habit. [ as it had been a part of may castellan he had adopted, writing his own notes in books, marring them much like the scar on his face. being able to open one of them and remember how much he had enjoyed a passage to only find it still resonates with him had made him feel attached to someone, even if that luke is now a mere ghost to him. ]

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[brainiest]

Well, that's very nice of you. I'll have to make sure to invite you all over when I start making my garden properly. [ Oh, and look how cute he is. She had been wary of snakes since she was thirteen but... George and Martha are different.

When Luke speaks, though, Hermione looks over and she offers him a smile, nodding her head. ] I got the idea. It gives me more reason to pop in and bother you. It's nice to have something to listen to and I suppose it all adds to you trying to get me into your music.

[ She's not entirely oblivious no matter what anyone might think. It's nice to have a reason to come and see Luke, to have an excuse to take five minutes for herself and just relax in his company. Actually having a good reason to sit down and talk to him rather than having casual conversation over the lockets when they each have a spare minute is definitely a bonus too. When he mentions the books, though, all she can do is shake her head. ]

Normally I would find writing in a book suspicious or a little wrong - defacing knowledge, after all - but I like yours. They add to the charm of the gifts, I think.

[ Plus it gives her a little insight into Luke and how he thinks, what he thinks about, and that is always welcome. ]