Harry Potter and the Secret of the Moon

Chapter One

The Burrow

It was a sweltering July, the hottest Paris had seen in a century. But a certain fourteen-year-old girl was not thinking of missing the pool party at Arena's mansion...No, she was thinking of the house in Scotland that she was going to. Four years. Four years in Scotland. Rainy, foggy Scotland, she thought. The train chugged slowly out of the station, and Luna got her last look at the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

"Harry! Get up. Make breakfast, and don't let the scones burn!" Petunia Dursley rapped sharply on Harry's door.

Ugh, he thought. Right in the middle of a great dream! He had bee dreaming that he was on his Firebolt, soaring over the Quidditch pitch, Cho Chang cheering him on. Harry threw back the covers and got up. Slipping his shoes on his feet, he headed downstairs. Dudley Dursley ran out from the bedroom to Harry's right.

"Do you know what today is, Four-Eyes? Today's the day before my birthday! You know what that means, don't you?"

"Yes, Dudley. It means you try to pummel me and fail," droned Harry. When would Dudley get over that stupid habit?

"Oh. Well, yes!"

Dudley ran at Harry, who ducked, and went slamming into the wall.

"OOOOOOOWWWWWW!" he screamed, wrapping his piggy arms around his thick head. "MUUUUUUUUM!"

Damn, Harry thought. Maybe next year I should just let him hit me. He hurts less than Aunt Petunia's frying pan.

Harry pulled the scones out of the oven when he reached the kitchen. He put on the tea, flipped the pancakes, and stirred up the bacon. His Uncle Vernon came into the kitchen, ignoring Harry as usual. He sat down and opened the newspaper. Aunt Petunia and Dudley followed.

The mail slot clanged as Harry set the pancakes on the table.

"Get it, boy," Uncle Vernon growled.

I wonder if he realizes I'm almost fifteen. Doubt it, Harry thought bitterly. He picked the mail up and absently flipped through the envelopes. Dursley, Dursley, Dursley, Potter, Dursley...POTTER! I got a letter? By post? Harry flipped it over. Return address...The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole. Ron! Harry walked into the kitchen and threw the envelopes at Vernon. He opened his without sitting down. The letter read:

Harry,

Hey! My Mum wants you to come out early this summer, instead of waiting for your birthday to pass. My cousin from France is coming to stay with us for four years! Something to do with her parents...they're Aurors my Mum says. But anyway, she went to Beauxbatons for a while and now she's coming to Hogwarts with us. We're asking Hermione to come, too. My Mum said she wants us to get acquainted, so Luna isn't anxious about meeting people. I heard she plays Quidditch and is pretty good too. I think she's a Chaser. But she'll be here tomorrow night, so please write back A.S.A.P. And send it the normal way, okay? We'd pick you up 16 July if you can come. We're going to come in a car (my Dad got another Anglia). Well, I hope I see you soon,

Ron

"What have you got, boy?"

Harry snapped out of his reverie. "What? Oh, my friend wants me to come early this summer. He said his parents would pick me up tomorrow if you'll let me come," he said.

Uncle Vernon raised his eyebrows, obviously remembering the last time the Weasleys came to pick Harry up. Harry apparently interpreted this and quickly said, "They have a car."

"I suppose it's alright. We can get rid of you a few weeks early, so yes, you can go," Uncle Vernon said.

"Thanks!"

Harry dashed up stairs and pulled out his quills and parchment. First a letter to Ron, then to Sirius. Harry quickly scribbled a note to Ron:

I can come,

Harry

Then he wrote a longer letter to Sirius, telling him where he would be.

"Hedwig!" The snowy owl looked up and blinked. "Well come here!"Hedwig flew out of her open cage and over to Harry. "Take this to Ron," Harry pointed to the first note. "Then take this to Sirius."Hedwig flew out the open window and Harry started packing.

* * *

Ginny Weasley peered out the front window of her home. A yellow car with checkered sides pulled up and she watched with interest as a young girl popped out of the door. Ginny frowned. The girl had on a black t-shirt, with a name of a band on the front Ginny had never heard of. Her red plaid skirt came to about ten centimetres above her knee, and her black boots came to the middle of her shins. The girl pulled a trunk laboriously out of the backseat and dropped it to the ground. She reached back inside and an owl perched on her arm. She said something to it; it flew off her arm and hovered over her trunk as she paid the cabby. As the car drove away, the girl bent down and grabbed the handle of the trunk, dragging it to the front door. The owl followed and settled on her shoulder.

Luna stepped out of the cab and took a deep breath. This place was nothing like home to her...there were chickens in the yard! Nonetheless, she strutted up to the front door and rang the bell.

"FRED! GET THE DOOR!" sounded from inside. Luna's owl, Talon, ruffled his feathers in alarm.

A rather flushed Fred Weasley opened his front door.

"Hello...you...must be...Luna...Won't you...come in?" he panted out.

"Er...yes. And from what I 'eard, I'll guess you're Fred," Luna said in her cheeriest voice. First impressions now, family parp later, she thought. Fred had regained his breath.

"Well, come in then," he said, moving away from the door frame.

Luna stepped through the threshold to see a pair of curious brown eyes peering at her.

"And you're Ginny, right?" she said.

"Yes," was Ginny's nervous reply.

"Oh Luna dear, you have grown!" Mrs. Weasley bustled out of the kitchen. "I remember twelve years ago you barely came up to my waist! But look at you now, all grown up and pretty! And I see your freckles have faded a bit," Mrs. Weasley had the same idea as Luna.

"Well, Ginny will be going to summer camp in a few weeks, so after that, you and Hermione will have the room to yourselves for a few days."

"'Ermione? Did you 'ave another girl?" Luna asked. She hadn't seen these people in a while, but a birth announcement would have reached her, wouldn't it?

"Heavens, no! I'm sorry, I forgot to say. Ron's two friends are coming out to stay early, too. Hermione will be here tomorrow, but Harry should be here soon," Mrs. Weasley chuckled. "Ginny, why don't you show Luna around and then get her settled in your room."

A timid Ginny led Luna around the house.

"Here's my room. And there's Ron's. He's with my dad now, they'll be back with Harry in a while," Ginny said as she opened her door.

Luna stepped into a vividly purple room: carpet, walls, bed, drapes...everything a different shade of purple.

"Do you like purple or something, Ginny?" Luna asked.

Ginny blushed scarlet.

"Oh no! I didn't mean it like that! I just love purple, too. In fact...." Luna opened her bag and pulled out a little satchel. She opened that, too, and took out several beaded bracelets.

"Which do you like? They're friendship bracelets," she said, holding them out.

"Oh...these are so pretty, Luna!" Ginny said, picking up the middle one.

"Thanks. I made them, so if you ever want more, like for your other friends or something, just tell me. They're bloody easy to make, though they don't really look it, and I 'ave a ton more in my trunk," Luna rattled off.

"Wait! Say something again," Ginny looked surprised.

"Why?" Luna asked, puzzled.

"You sound funny...well, different anyway," she said.

Luna blushed.

"Oh, well you see, I was born in Dublin... lived there till I was five...and then I moved to America for seven years, then in France for two years so I 'ad to learn basic French, plus my parents are British, so I guess I do sound a bit 'odge-podge..." she said.

Ginny smiled. "Sorry."

* * *

Harry scampered around his room, grabbing last-minute things. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were sitting in the parlour a bit nervously. Their last meeting with the Weasleys was not exactly pleasant. Dudley was no where to be found. A knock sounded throughout he house and Harry's spirits soared. Hedwig raised her head only a slight. Of course it's nothing to you, Harry thought. But then he regretted it, because his snowy owl looked at him reproachfully, as if she could read his thoughts.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, Hedwig," he muttered as he dragged his trunk to the bottom of the stairs.

He peeked into the parlour to see Mr. Weasley smiling gently at Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He could tell what they were thinking. Uncle Vernon is harping on Mr. Weasley's robes, Aunt Petunia is looking at his not-so-immaculate shoes, and Mr. Weasley is just trying to be congenial.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley," Harry said as he rounded the corner.

"Oh Harry! How are you?" Mr. Weasley jumped up.

"Ron and George are in the car, if you'd like to be going. We really should be. The trathic was simply horrendous!" Mr. Weasley said.

"Oh, sure," Harry said turning to his aunt and uncle. "Well, bye I guess."

A curt nod from Vernon and a scared look to the door confirmed Harry's departure. He and Mr. Weasley picked up Harry's various belongings and went to the car. When Harry opened the door after putting his things in the trunk, he was barraged by punches from Ron and George.

"Hello, Harry. How're you?" Ron said.

"Well, I was feeling fine," Harry smirked, rubbing his arm. "So is your cousin home yet?" he asked.

"Don't know. We left before she came. But we're taking a portkey back," George said.

"A portkey? With a car?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Yes, we just have to drive over here..." Mr. Weasley said.

Mr. Weasley was not the best driver, but Harry decided it best not to comment on it. 'Over here' proved to be behind an abandoned apartment building. Mr. Weasley drove the Anglia into the driveway beside it. He got out of the car and walked over to a Diet Coke can.

"Now boys, make a link from me to the car. When I touch the portkey, hold on tight," he said.

The boys grabbed each other's hands. Harry held onto the car's mirror. Mr. Weasley touched the portkey and all of them felt the familiar pull upward and saw nothing but a whirl of green light.

* * *

"So this 'Arry, is 'e nice?" Luna was sitting on the bed opposite Ginny's.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. He's sort of good-looking, too," Ginny added, blushing.

"Ooh...I see," Luna said, raising an eyebrow. "I got it."

Ginny blushed a deeper scarlet.

The girls got into a conversation and became friends right away. A half an hour later, they were playing a game of Exploding Snap. Luna looked up as Mrs. Weasley knocked on the door.

"Well girls, it seems Mr. Weasley isn't going to be home tonight. There was a lot of trathic outside Ottery. They're stuck in some kind of jam. I hope they don't get sticky. We've only got one shower," she said.

Luna smiled at her mistakes and calmly explained the confusion. She corrected Mr. Weasley's 'trathic' to 'traffic'.

"Oh, well that's good," was Mrs. Weasley's flustered reply. "Come down for dinner in an hour, then."

"How did you know about the jam? And the trath- I mean, traffic?" Ginny asked when her mother left.

"Well, I was born in Dublin, a Muggle city. Then I moved to the States to Salem, Massachusetts, another Muggle settlement. Then we moved to Paris, the Muggle capital of France. My mum's parents are Muggles, so she sort of wanted to be near cars and trains. Didn't want to live in a wizarding community," Luna said. "Plus, my dad likes Muggle stuff, so 'e didn't mind."

Exploding Snap got noisier and noisier as the girls played for an hour. They smelt the sweet aroma of Yorkshire pudding and hurried downstairs. But when they got there, they found that was the only edible thing on the table.

Mrs. Weasley had tried to make French dishes the Muggle way to make Luna feel welcome, but had only succeeded in making a mess of her kitchen.

Chicken Cordon Bleu, garden ratatouille, and pear and apple clafouti were on the table, burnt to a crisp.

"Aunt Molly! This was so nice of you!" Luna said. She meant it, too.

"Oh, dear. This didn't come out right at all! I meant for you to feel at home, but it didn't really work..." she said.

"But you did! My mother can't cook French foods, no matter 'ow 'ard she tries," Luna said, her eyes twinkling. Her aunt smiled.

"Well, at least the pudding stayed. That is my specialty! I guess we can have roast beef," Mrs. Weasley said as she whipped out her wand and four plates appeared on the table, laden with roast beef, mashed potatoes and some unidentifiable vegetable. Fred came downstairs, his nose wrinkled to the point where he didn't seem to have one.

"Jeez...what died in here?" he asked.

"Just sit down and eat, Mr.," Mrs. Weasley said. Luna and Ginny smiled.

After the dinner ordeal, nothing seemed to go wrong. Fred and Luna got along wonderfully, as they had when they were younger (which neither of them knew). Exploding Snap was got going again, and even Mrs. Weasley joined in. At ten o'clock Ginny, Luna, and Fred headed upstairs. They were out practically before their heads hit their pillows.

* * *

The next morning before dawn, a very tired and very cranky Mr. Weasley drove into the drive at The Burrow. George had brought along some Flopping Whoppers, which exploded in your mouth because it was wet. Unfortunately, Ron spilt his water bottle on George's pocket, and the Whoppers burst through the fabric and bounced all over the car. As a result, Mr. Weasley was not put into the best of moods. But as the four walked through the door, Harry immediately felt awake. He loved Ron's house, for all its shabbiness, and would never hate staying there.

Ron and Harry crept up to Ron's room and slid under the bedclothes without bothering to get changed. They immediately fell asleep, only to be woken up four hours later. Harry would find himself justly surprised.

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up and didn't know where he was. Judging from an awkwardly stifled squeak from down the hall, a certain Wealsley cousin had realized she wasn't home, either. But Ron was already getting out of bed and making for the door. So Harry jumped up and followed him downstairs.

Mrs. Weasley had apparently given up French foods, because on the table was sausage, eggs, and toast. Fred and George were already eating, and Ron dug right in. Harry, however, went over to Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello Harry, dear," she said smiling.

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley. Out of curiosity, is Percy here?"

"No, Percy is in at the Ministry. They have a lot of work these days," she said.

"Really? Any particular reason?" Harry asked.

"Actually, yes. There were some strange reports of screaming lately. Apparently there are banshees around, or something of that type. They might be manticores." Harry made a mental note to ask Hagrid what a manticore was. "They sound just like banshees before they kill, so everyone available was called in for a hunt, so to speak."

"Oh, I see," Harry went back to the table and sat down next to Ron.

In a few minutes, Ginny came through the door at the end of the room. Harry, Ron, and George looked curiously up. The latter two looked a little disappointed. Harry, on the other hand, was happy to see her.

"Hello, Ginny," he said, smiling.

"Hi Harry," she said. "And you two needn't look so disappointed, Luna will be down in a second. She's in the bathroom."

As if on cue, Luna walked through the door. Harry was amazed. She was nothing he suspected. Automatically, you think Weasley, you think tall, red-head, and freckles. Harry had thought Luna would be a older version of Ginny. On the contrary, Luna was a tan, not-quite-slim girl with light brown hair. Her eyes were darker than Harry had ever seen, so dark they looked black. She was pretty, no denying that, but was a 'different' pretty. Not like Parvati or Hermione. Just different. Luna was apparently taken back, too. Ginny had told Luna Harry was good-looking, but she had no idea how good-looking. His eyes were so green they made her dizzy. She walked forward and smiled, holding herself as straight as possible, hoping Harry didn't notice the flush she could feel in her cheeks.

"'Ello. I'm Luna," she said.

"Er, hi. I'm Harry," he said bashfully.

Luna looked at Harry's forehead, and suddenly jumped a bit.

"You're - you're 'Arry Potter!" she said.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, yeah I am. Though I don't think I'll ever get used to people knowing that at first sight."

She turned to Ginny. "You didn't tell me 'e was 'Arry Potter!"

"Yes. I know." Ginny smiled.

"You - you! Aargh...never mind. And 'ello, George," she said through partially clenched teeth.

"Hello - wait, you can tell me and Fred apart?" he asked, bewildered.

"Well, yes. Why?" she asked, raising her trademark eyebrow.

"Never mind."

She shrugged and sat down between Harry and Ginny, where Ginny was frantically motioning for her to sit. She had noticed the change in Harry's expression when Luna came into the kitchen, though the others hadn't.

"Oh! 'Ello, Ron. I'm sorry I didn't say 'i before. I was just a bit shocked," she said cheerily.

"Hello, Luna," he replied, smiling. This is going to be fun.

"And 'ello, Uncle Arthur."

"Yes, hello Luna. Your mother's parents are Muggles, correct? And you live in a Muggle city, right?" Mr. Weasley asked excitedly. Ron rolled his eyes.

Breakfast went along fine, and afterwards everyone headed out to play Quidditch while they waited for Hermione.

"So Luna, I hear you're a pretty good Chaser," Harry said. Compliments, he thought, win her over with compliments.

"And I 'ear you're a pretty good Seeker," she said smoothly.

"Oh, will you two stop flirting and just get on your brooms!?" Ron shouted.

Luna blushed and Harry looked at the ground. They both mounted their brooms and flew in opposite directions.

* * *

Hermione arrived in a few hours and was just as surprised as Harry was at the sight of Luna.

"'Ello, 'Ermione!" Luna said as Hermione stepped out of her parents' car.

"And you are?" Hermione said, obviously looking around for the same girl she spoke to

"Luna. And apparently we're going to get along wonderfully," Luna said sarcastically.

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry...I thought, well...you don't look...Oh I'm so sorry, Luna!" Hermione stammered. Luna laughed.

"Don't worry, 'Ermione. No one told you what I'd look like." Hermione smiled apologetically.

"Right, then. Now that that's over..." Ron and Harry walked toward the two girls.

"Hi!" Hermione ran to Ron and Harry, giving them quick pecks on the cheek. Ron turned extremely red and Harry looked very surprised.

"Hi," they stammered.

But after that awkward meeting, Hermione and Luna got along fine. Hermione and Luna seemed to be made for each other, though at a first meeting they seemed like opposites. Luna liked Hermione's devotion to schoolwork. Needless to say, Harry liked everything about Luna, straight down to her rather strange accent that sounded a bit Irish. Ron liked that Luna was pretty hyper at times, Fred and George each thought he had never met a better schemer in his life.