We Aren't All That Different

"Guys!" Harry shouted. "Please - we're trying to -" He broke off because nobody was listening to him anyway. Everywhere around the room, people were chatting animatedly, but not one of them seemed interested in what Harry was trying to tell them.

Ron murmured something and suddenly a small flame erupted from the tip of his wand. Some girls close to him screamed and that caught the others' attention. Slowly, the talking ceased and heads were turned in Harry's direction. Ronald grinned at him. "See, mate?" he said. "You just have to know how to do it right." He playfully boxed Harry's shoulder, looking pleased with himself.

Luna smiled to herself and walked away from the centre of attention towards one of the darker corners, where she had just spotted Neville. He was standing alone, looking rather lost, and Luna was determined to change that.

It felt good to be back in the DA, to be back in the Room of Requirement with all the other students. The Room of Requirement had some special atmosphere of its own, with the rough magic coming through the walls, through the furniture, penetrating the air. The dark wood of which the few pieces of furniture were made and the huge, thick cushions in dark red and purple looked expensive - almost too expensive for a room in which Defence against Dark Arts was about to be practiced. Then again, this was Hogwarts. Nothing was impossible here.

And the students themselves - they radiated rebelliousness and self-confidence and an eagerness for new things, and all that together made for a feeling so intense that Luna was sure that in certain moments she could feel it physically.

"Hey, Neville," she said as she reached him. Quickly, she scanned him and decided he looked slightly better, but it didn't really make a difference.

"Hey," he said softly. "How're you doing?"

"I just wanted to ask you that," Luna replied. "But I'm all right, all things considered."

"Same here."

Luna looked at him inquiringly. "Are you sure?"

"I'll tell you when I want to talk about it, okay?" He sounded slightly irritated, and Luna shrank back. She had just wanted to help.

"Sorry," she answered. "I didn't know you get defensive when people want to help you."

For a moment, Neville looked at her in surprise because of her sulky tone. "It's not because of you," he said, trying to explain. "I just don't feel comfortable about talking right now. I'm sure you can understand that, having experienced... that, yourself."

"I would've been glad if I'd had somebody to talk to," Luna said. Memories were coming back to her, images flashed up in her mind. Sitting under a rosebush, crying silently, trying not to make a sound. Trying to smile at her father, hoping he'd smile back at her. Her father with a stony look on his face, not noticing her wet cheeks. A funeral, a coffin with white lilies and red roses on top of it -

Luna shook her head to clear her thoughts. All that had been years ago. It was over now. She had to focus on Neville and concentrate on what he wanted, not what she'd want in his situation.

"Sorry," she said just as Neville was about to reply. "I... lost focus for a moment. Of course it's all right if you don't want to talk."

Hermione cleared her throat loudly and looked over to them. Neville blushed slightly and Luna shut up, listening to what Harry was saying.

"- really cool to see how many of you've come," he just said. "And the best thing is that there's so many people who weren't part of the DA last year." He paused for a moment and looked at the mob in front of him.

Now that he had said it, Luna too noticed how crowded the room was compared to the year before. There were a lot of new faces: some that looked familiar, and some that she had never seen at all.

"I suggest we split up into smaller groups of maybe... I dunno, six or seven people? Every group'll have one of the 'old' DA members from last year to help you. All right?" People smiled back at him or nodded in agreement, so Harry, Hermione and Ron split the students up - Luna was sure they were more than fifty - and in the end there were about six smaller groups.

"Neville, you'll be the leader of this one, okay?" Harry put one hand on Neville's shoulder for a moment, looking at him. When Neville nodded, Harry pressed his shoulder lightly and moved on to the next group.

"Er," Neville said, sounding nervous. "All right. So... right. Introductions first." A blush crept over his cheeks. "So, I'm Neville Longbottom, usually sixth year Gryffindor, now an Exchange in Slytherin." Only Luna could see the bitterness in his eyes, the sadness etched into the small lines around his mouth that hadn't been there when the Exchange had begun. The despair around him was almost a visible aura.

He looked at the girl standing to his left, who nodded and said, "Polly Robinson. I'm a third-year Hufflepuff, and I really enjoy watching Quidditch." She grinned as the others - especially the boys in their group - nodded enthusiastically.

"Seth Cavalier," the boy next to her said. "I'm usually a Ravenclaw, fourth year. At the moment I'm an Exchange in Gryffindor." Luna realised with a start that she knew him - he was only a year below her, and it was an open secret that he was madly in love with Audrey from Luna's old dormitory, who didn't love him back, sadly.

They continued like that. Luna noticed that they had not a single Slytherin in their little group - except Neville and her, but they didn't count. Miranda had said she wouldn't be able to come because she had to study. While this was, in itself, believable for Miranda, Luna still had her doubts. She wasn't sure she could trust the other girl. Her fear of being tricked into a false friendship and then fooled publicly was far too big. After what she'd experienced with Madeleine and especially Elinor, she'd become careful. Though most of the time Luna managed to push these dark thoughts to the back of her brain, from time to time they came back. Then Luna suddenly saw things everywhere that might point to a trick by the other girls.

Luna blinked twice. She really should stop thinking so much about that. Now she'd missed some of the people's names. Expectantly, and determined to listen closely this time, she turned to the girl to her right who was about to introduce herself.

"I'm Thekla Harlakinden, I'm from Hufflepuff and I'm a fourth-year," the girl said. Luna looked at her. The girl's black-rimmed glasses dominated her otherwise rather pretty face. Poor girl, Luna thought. I've heard a lot of names, but Thekla? I really feel sorry for her. Her name makes me think of a fat spider, for some reason.

It was only then that she noticed how quiet their group had become. They were all staring at her. Do I have a spot on my nose? Luna thought, worried, and had to restrain herself from touching her face. Are my robes showing something? Frantically, she looked down her front, but couldn't see anything. Why are they all staring at me?

Neville nudged her slightly. "I think it's your turn," he whispered into her ear. His warm breath smelled like lemon, with only a hint of cinnamon. She knew what that meant: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They were the only thing that came in lemon flavour with cinnamon. Luna herself liked that combination a lot, because the two flavours made for a nice tingling sensation in her mouth. Luna's stomach grumbled. She hadn't eaten since diner, which had been over two hours ago. Some Beans would be delicious now. She especially liked the moss green ones - they tasted like chilli. She loved the burning feeling they left on her tongue.

Neville nudged her again and she snapped out of her reverie.

"Oh," she said, slowly. "Well. My name is Luna Lovegood. And no, it's not 'Loony Lovegood'," she quickly added upon seeing the looks on some faces. "I'm a fifth-year Ravenclaw, normally, but at the moment I'm one of the Exchanges in Slytherin." Faces were still turned towards her expectantly, but she didn't know what else to say, so she turned to look at Neville.

Before he could say anything, though, Harry started speaking again. All the groups had gone through their introductions. "Now that's over, I suggest we just start practicing. I thought that maybe Petrificus Totalus would make for a good beginning. Don't worry, we'll practice other spells, as well," he added, and Luna remembered Zacharias' remark from last year, when he had laughed about them practicing Expelliarmus.

She craned her head to see whether he was there, too, and indeed - he was standing close to the door, talking quietly and fast to Fulke, who was listening intently. Then they both chuckled. Luna smiled.

"While we practice," Harry's voice interrupted her thoughts, "we'll pass round a piece of parchment and a quill, and please - everybody who wants to participate here for a longer time, write down your name."

Afterwards, they were busy spreading cushions all over the floor to make sure they'd land softly. Luna looked around for Ginny and saw her talking to a girl with a black ponytail who looked strangely familiar. Ginny looked up, like she had felt Luna's look. Luna could read the question in her eyes - D'you want me as your partner?

Luna hesitated, then shook her head. She moved her head in Neville's direction. Ginny's eyes lit up with understanding and she turned back to the other girl.

Luna turned to Neville. "Do you have a partner already?" they both asked at the same time.

"No," they then answered in unison.

Baffled, they stared at each other for a second, then Luna burst out laughing. The look on Neville's face was just priceless. One corner of his mouth curled up, too, and she noticed an amused sparkle in his eyes, if only for a split second. A good, warm feeling settled down inside Luna, somewhere close to her heart.

"Good," she said. "But I warn you - I've always been terrible at Petrificus Totalus."

"That makes two of us, then," Neville replied.

"This evening can only become amusing," Luna decided half to herself and hummed quietly.

They started practicing and it went surprisingly well. Luna felt content with herself and the world at large. Just when they had both really gotten into it and were getting better and better, Harry called a partner change. Luna looked at her watch. An hour had already passed. Time had practically flown by.

At that moment, Neville's hex hit her. He'd fired it when Harry had called, and Luna, who hadn't been looking, was hit with it full force in the chest.

She fell back, unable to move, let alone stop herself from falling.

In that moment, somebody else who'd just been petrified bumped into Neville from behind, and he stumbled. Luna could see from her position on the floor how surprise and determination not to fall mixed on his face. He tried to hold himself back with wild, flailing arm movements that looked almost funny. Of course it all didn't help in the end, and he collapsed right on top of her.

Surprised, she coughed and tried to touch her sternum, where she felt a sudden pain, but found herself pinned to the floor by the spell.

She looked up, only to meet Neville's eyes. For a moment, she felt like she was being sucked into those huge eyes, those warm pools of chocolate brown. Then she quickly looked away. Whatever was happening there, it made her feel uncomfortable, because suddenly she was so exposed, strangely vulnerable. She didn't feel she could handle this situation - it was a new, unknown feeling that made her unsure of what she should do next.

She felt Neville getting off her, apologising repeatedly, then removing the spell from her. Clumsily, he helped her up, carefully avoiding looking her in the eye. So he's felt it, too.

Before she could think about that further, a girl with pigtails looked at her expectantly and stepped in front of her, blocking Neville from view.

"I'm your new partner," she said in a voice that seemed to waver between happiness and defiance.

Luna looked at her properly for the first time and noticed the cute button nose that made her look very young. Then, she saw the bright pink hair ribbons and knew who the girl was even before she said her name: "Rose Zeller."

Luna's mind flashed back to the Sorting ceremony out in the Quidditch stands, and Dumbledore calling out this name. With a flash of guilt, Luna remembered how she'd reduced the girl to somebody with more hair ribbons than brains. Rose would have a perfect chance to prove Luna wrong right now, so Luna smiled at her even brighter than usual.

"Luna Lovegood," Luna said, shaking the other girl's hand. "Let's start?"

"Let's start."

After that, they barely talked anymore and concentrated completely on the spells they had to cast.

Eventually, after what seemed like five minutes but had actually been more than an hour, Harry called a halt to their practicing.

"It's only twenty minutes until curfew," he said, checking his watch. "We'd better go. Thanks for coming, and I hope you enjoyed it."

A smattering of applause resounded, then everybody went for the door. In the jam that had happened, Luna found herself standing next to the girl with the black ponytail whom Ginny had been talking to at the beginning of the meeting.

"Weird, isn't it?" the girl smiled. "That we meet again here, in yet another jam."

Now Luna remembered where she knew her from. "Are you - Natalie MacDonald?" she asked, and the girl nodded.

"I knew I knew you," Luna explained, "but I didn't know where to place you."

There was a short silence, then Luna said, "Did you make the Quidditch team, after all? I didn't hear anything."

Natalie grimaced slightly and shrugged. "Exchange came first," she said. "But by the way it looks right now, there won't be any Quidditch anyway while the Exchange takes place, so no harm done."

"Glad to hear the Exchange didn't damage your Quidditch career," Luna said with a slight smile, and meant it. She didn't want her plan to ruin even more people's lives.

"Oh, not at all. I reckon we'll have try-outs when the Exchange's over," Natalie replied. "I'll try then."

"I'm sure you'll make it." Luna gave her a thumbs-up.

The jam had disappeared and they could walk through the door. "Thanks," Natalie said, waving. "And bye. I'm sure we'll see each other again." With that, she went away.

Luna had spotted Mona Scrope and went over to her. "Hello," she said. "I didn't see you in there."

"I didn't see you, either," Mona replied. "But it was quite crowded, of course. I partnered Helen Keckilpenny. She's a third-year Gryffindor. I never thought Gryffindors were like that," she added pensively. "She was... nice. After everything the others had told me, I always thought Gryffindors were a real pain in the - well." She blushed slightly. "I reckon I was a bit naïve."

"That happens to everyone," Luna replied. "And that's why I think the DA is a good place to further House unity. Finally, we get to see people from other Houses and talk to them. That removes a lot of prejudices, I'm sure."

"Neville! Zack!" Mona shouted at that moment. "Over here!" She waved. When the two boys had come over to them, she asked, "Where's Fulke? Did you lose him?"

Zacharias grinned widely. "He's still in there. Talking to Hermione Granger." He rolled his eyes slightly. "He almost worships her, it's weird."

At that moment, Fulke came out of the door, talking animatedly to Hermione. When he noticed his friends waiting for him, he blushed slightly, but Luna was sure his grin would have reached all around his head if it weren't for his ears. She had never seen him look as happy as he did at that moment. But when she saw the dark expression on Ronald's face, she knew that Fulke would never have a chance with Hermione.

Eventually, when Fulke had managed to walk away from her, Zacharias asked, "In love, Litcott?", smirking.

"Oh, shut up," Fulke grumbled, but the grin on his face didn't quite vanish.

They started walking towards the Slytherin dungeons, Zacharias and Fulke still bickering. Mona listened with interest, and Luna just dawdled along, not really caring about what was happening around her. She was looking forward to coming to her dormitory and seeing Merlin again and then cuddling her pillows and sleeping.

Suddenly, an icy hand grabbed her own. She froze, shocked. Medea, help me, what's going on here? she thought, horrified.

Random thoughts raced through her head - Rebecca, Madeleine, Elinor, prank, attack, danger - but Luna's mind was too horror-struck to actually form coherent sentences.

Calm down, she then told herself firmly. It's nothing to worry about. A lot of people have cold hands.

At that moment, the hand pulled her backwards, away from the others. Luna's heart skipped a beat and she whirled around, preparing inwardly to see something horrible.

But all she saw was Neville, standing in the dim light of the corridor. The torches on the walls made flickering shadows on his face. He looked like a small child who'd lost his mother. For a long moment, they both just stood there, looking at each other, their hands still intertwined.

Then Neville stepped closer to her, slowly put his hands around her shoulders, bent his head and leaned against Luna's shoulder. Luna was perplexed. What was going on here? What was Neville doing?

Her heart was suddenly beating very fast. She didn't know what do to. Trying hard not to panic, she put her hands on his back and held him. It felt good and awkward at the same time to feel him so close to her. It was the first time in a long time that she had been so close to somebody... probably the first time since her mother's death. Her skin was tingling wherever she touched Neville.

It was at that moment that Luna noticed that Neville was holding on to her, clinging to her, trusting her to hold him up. A warm feeling shot right through her. Luna couldn't describe it, it was too complex to be described by words, but it felt good, and it made her feel strong. Heart pounding loudly in her ears, she realised that it was her who gave Neville strength. Although she doubted she was up to the task, she silently swore herself she'd do everything she could to make him feel happy.

After some time, which felt like an eternity and at the same time way too short to Luna, she noticed something. Neville wasn't just hugging her. His back was trembling. His whole body was trembling. Then her shoulder became wet.

Neville was crying.

Luna started stroking his back slowly, trying to give him some comfort with the gesture. She knew he didn't need words now, and she wouldn't tell him everything would be fine after all because she knew it wasn't true. Sometimes it was better to let somebody grieve than to try helping. Luna remained silent. Somehow she felt as if it was only herself holding Neville up, as if he'd fall apart if she stopped holding him. She grasped him a little closer. Closing her eyes, Luna started to try and send comfort to him, concentrating entirely on the love and help she wanted to give him. With quiet, soothing sounds she stroked his hair, trying to share his pain, and let him know she was sharing his pain.

Her own heart was aching as his sadness made her remember her own grief and loss, but with surprise, Luna noticed another feeling that was much stronger than the pain that would usually be overwhelming. Whatever that feeling was, it made her feel like she was floating an inch above the ground.

Neville had come to her for comfort, not anybody else at Hogwarts. It was her who was responsible for him now, and she was the one who'd have to hold him back from falling into the dark pit he was standing in front of. That new responsibility, but also the trust Neville gave her, made her feel like a much better person.

He believed her to be able to help him and make him strong. He trusted in her. If Neville trusted her, Luna thought, maybe she should try trusting herself too. If Neville believed her to be strong, maybe she was. Maybe she had never seen it before, maybe she was stronger than she'd ever thought possible.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Luna took a deep breath, holding Neville tight to her chest, stroking his hair and his cheeks. He wasn't only seeking comfort in her now, Luna could also feel how he gave her comfort with his trust in her.

Long minutes later, the trembling ebbed away and he moved his head away from her shoulder. He shot her a shy glance from behind his hair, as if he didn't dare look at her directly, now that she had witnessed him crying.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Luna said quietly. "Don't let them make you believe that you're weak."

He nodded slowly, opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again silently. Then he started walking close to her, Luna keeping up beside him. She noticed a flutter in her chest that felt like a butterfly trying to get out. Not daring to say anything, not wanting to destroy the atmosphere, they walked in silence and returned to their respective dormitories without saying a word.

*

That night, Luna had a very weird dream.

She was lying in her bed, holding Merlin close to her chest. Suddenly she noticed that Merlin had grown huge brown eyes, and a mouth that looked just like Neville's. The mouth came closer and closer and grew bigger and bigger and didn't stop growing, until Merlin's mouth almost suffocated her because no air came through to her.

She jumped out of bed, trying to run away, but where the floor had been, there suddenly was a black hole. She was falling into it, falling -

The scene changed. She was sitting under her rose bush back in their garden, when suddenly Madeleine came walking towards her, throwing insects at her. Elinor and Rebecca joined her. Then Ginny was there, but she sat on Luna's swing and just laughed. Her Mum came running towards her, trying to help her out, but suddenly she fell to the floor and didn't move anymore. Luna ran towards her, insects crawling all over her body and the others still attacking her. "Mum!" she shouted. "Mum!" Frantically, she tried reanimating her, but she knew it was too late. "You should have known," McGonagall said to her left. "It was your fault she died." "No!" Luna screamed. "NO!"

She sat up in her bed, panting. She looked around, searching for her mother, until she realized that it had only been a dream and that she was awake now. Regular breaths from her dorm-mates penetrated the silence. A slight snoring came from Leila's direction. Luna willed her breath to calm down, then she took her old watch from her bedside table. She couldn't see anything and prodded it with her wand, as usual. "It's four thirty in the morning," it finally squeaked, sounding tired and irritated. "Why aren't you asleep?"
Luna sighed and lay back down, trying to fall asleep again. She lifted Merlin up with both hands and held him up above her head. His eyes were back to normal and he looked like he was winking at her because of the stitched eye. The button eye stared at her, accusingly. At least he didn't have a mouth anymore.

"It wasn't my fault she died," Luna whispered into the silence. "You know that, don't you, Merlin?" She shook her head. "It wasn't my fault. What could I've done? I had no idea what was going on. Of course I saw the flame, but ... how could I know what it meant, back then?" A dry sob escaped her. "Mummy," she murmured, "I miss you."

Two hours later, she woke up again, squinting slightly. At least one of the others was already awake, because the light was turned on, making everything look green.
Luna noticed a black spot on her pillow and looked at it a bit closer. Suddenly it moved and she shrank back. What the hell is that? she thought, but then consoled herself with the thought that it was probably just a spot of dirt, and she'd only imagined the movement.

The spot moved once more, and it hit her - it was a cockroach!

Screaming loudly, Luna immediately jumped out of bed, clutching her hand to her mouth. Cockroaches were revolting and Luna was very much terrified of them. Quickly she snatched Merlin away from the beast and stood on tiptoe on the floor, shivering.

"Can't you just shut up?" Rebecca grumbled sleepily. "I wanna sleep." She turned over in her bed.

"Sorry," Luna mumbled. She decided she'd go back to bed. Quickly, she took a pair of socks out of her wardrobe. With them, she pushed the cockroach off her bed. With one of her boots, she decidedly squashed it. The crunching noise was quite satisfying.

She pulled back her blanket to climb in and screamed again, even louder this time. A whole herd of cockroaches was romping about in her bed. She sprang back instinctively, feeling sick.

Then it occurred to her that she had just been lying in there - and the animals ... Her legs started tingling and Luna scratched herself furiously. She didn't even want to think about it, or she'd have to throw up. Her, in the same bed as these - No, Luna, don't think about it.

Quickly, she stunned them all with her wand and made them vanish. At least now there was no heap of little black legs and bodies in her bed anymore.

"Ewwwww!" Luna said, with feeling. That seemed to be all her mind was able to produce at the moment. Ew, ew, ew.

She had been in the same bed as these - beasts. She needed a shower, right now. Long and hot and purging her of the memory of the cockroaches. Getting clean, just washing it all away.

Luna collected her things and went to the door. Madeleine sat in her bed and watched her closely. There was something gleaming in her eyes that made her look slightly mad. Her hair was frizzy and unkempt and looked like a halo around her head. She smiled, her teeth flashing menacingly.

As always, Luna just had to stare at them, although she didn't want to. She wanted to have a shower, but Madeleine's teeth were so huge and yellow that they were like some magnet. Luna stared and stared, fascinated.

"Why d'you stare like that, Lovegood?" Maddy snapped eventually.

Luna tore her gaze away from the other girl's mouth, then shook her head. She was confused now, it had all been a bit much for her. After all, it was only six thirty in the morning.

"What's up with you?" Madeleine questioned further. "Had bad dreams?" She grinned nastily. "Or did you have some friends visiting you?"

"You -" Luna began, but stopped herself. She didn't want to say anything now she'd regret later on. "You put the cockroaches in my bed," she said with forced calm, but was pretty sure Madeleine wouldn't notice her anger underneath.

"Yes," Madeleine said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Didn't you like it? I thought them cute." She sounded like she was having a conversation about the latest Weird Sisters album.

"No, I'm not that fond of them," Luna replied. She wouldn't let Madeleine provoke her, so she joined her in her conversational tone.

"I could ask Elinor for more," Madeleine said. "I heard she knows somebody who can get her more of them. Wouldn't you like that? Maybe you could get used to them."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Luna replied. She was trying to think of a witty response, but nothing came to her, so she just said, "Good bye" and left.

In the washroom, she stared at herself in the mirror. She held her towel clutched to her chest so tightly she could see the veins on her arm. What are they doing to you? she thought, staring at herself. What do you let them do to you?

She looked fearful, even to herself. But she knew she'd have to wait until the letter from her Daddy arrived, because although she knew that he wouldn't allow her to change her wish, she still had a tiny bit of hope inside her. Maybe, just maybe, it would be possible. Maybe she had persuaded her father to make an exception to his principles.
It wouldn't do any good to worry now, though, and she went into the shower to get the dirt and the horrible feeling of the cockroaches' feet off her.

*

At breakfast, Luna sat down at a table that was still empty. At the moment, she didn't want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to think about everything that had happened to her and what she should do about it. She felt like laying her head down on the table, burying it in her hands and just letting all her feelings overcome her for a moment. But Luna knew it wouldn't do her any good. If she broke down now, she wouldn't be able to regain her strength again.

Still, everything that had happened in these last few days had worn her out. It seemed an eternity since she'd lain in her bed, coming up with the plan for the Exchanges.

She sighed. She couldn't remember ever feeling so hollow - especially now that Madeleine and Elinor had started showing her their hostility openly. Luna wondered what would come next. She was sure the cockroaches had only been the beginning.

And to top it all, there was detention waiting for her sooner or later, and Luna still didn't know what it was going to be. Knowing Dumbledore, though, she hoped it wouldn't be too harsh a punishment - more like something to help them start thinking about their current situation. It was certain that Malfoy would be in the detentions as well, and Luna wondered who else would be there; but she didn't know the other Exchanges too well and couldn't assess their behaviour. As long as it wasn't only Malfoy and her in detention, though, Luna reckoned it would be all right.

Luna looked up when two younger girls sat down at her table. They were chatting animatedly, and it took a moment for Luna to recognize them. Or, at least, one of them.

"Mona?" she asked. "You look different. Did you... do something to your hair?"

Mona beamed and pointed to the girl next to her. "No, Helen did." As she saw the puzzled look on Luna's face, Mona added, "Helen Keckilpenny. Remember, the girl I told you about? She was my partner in the DA."

Luna dimly remembered having heard about Helen before. But the morning had been so eventful that she had forgotten about a lot of the people she'd met and heard about. Now that she looked at Mona a little closer, it was quite obvious that she looked different. Her light brown hair was cut shorter and had some lighter streaks which hadn't been there before. It made her look a bit cheeky.

"Wow," Luna said after a study of Mona's hair. "That looks pretty good."

"Yeah," Mona agreed, beaming. "Helen is a pure genius when it comes to hair styles."

Helen smiled slightly and her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "Thanks, Mona," she said. "But you're exaggerating." Luna was both glad and surprised to see how fast new friendships between the Houses could begin.

They all looked up when the owls entered the Hall, delivering the mail. Two owls landed in front of Luna, who stared at them in surprise. One carried a letter. The other one had a bright red parcel tied to its leg and it pecked Luna to get some money. Luna searched her pockets and dug out seven sickles. She knew what the parcel was because of the blue lightning bolt on the wrapping- it was Dracula's Virtue's new record.
She sighed happily. Finally it had arrived. She had been looking forward to it for so long that now she almost couldn't believe it was actually here. It was a nice surprise, after all the awful stuff that had happened to her lately.
However, Luna first turned her attention to the letter. She feared its content, for it was a letter from her father. Ignoring Mona and Helen, she took a deep breath and then broke open the seal.

Luna, it began and that already told Luna her cause was lost. Usually, her father always began his letters with some term of endearment. Only in serious cases did he call her by her first name in letters. Thank you very much for your letter. I don't think I have to say much, because you know how I feel about this. You have to think your decisions through before you make them. What you did with this letter is exactly the opposite. How will you ever be successful in life if you make every decision on a whim, without carefully weighing up your options? I'm really sorry to tell you this, Luna, but I can't fulfill your wish. Not because I don't love you, or as punishment, but because I want only the best for you and your future. You've experienced my education for fifteen years now, and should know what I expect of you, and what I allow you. You also know that this is what your mother would have wanted, too.

Please don't be sad because you won't get the Quibblers ahead of time; I'll still send them to you as soon as they're public. And a package with a little kitten should reach you in the next few days, you can already think about a name for it if you want to.

Should you have any problems - as you hinted in your letter - please talk to me about them. I'll help you wherever I can, and I hope you know that.

All my loving,
Your Daddy

PS: I think you might be interested to hear that Carys (the Nilorac, mind you, not your mother) is developing quite nicely. By now we already have a rather good insight in a Nilorac's usual way of life.

Luna slowly put the letter down on the table in front of her, staring off into nothing. Then, also very slowly, she let her head sink to the table as well. Her forehead touched the cool wood and she took a deep breath.
I should've known it, she thought. Why did I even ask? But of course she knew why she'd asked. It was just human to always have a little spark of hope left inside oneself, no matter how low the chances. Of course, Luna hadn't expected her father to suddenly change one of his basic principles and agree to send her the Quibblers. But deep inside, there had been that small voice that had said, 'Try it. Maybe he will.' And just as always, the little voice had been wrong, and Luna had known beforehand that it would be wrong. But there was the fear that maybe this could be the one exception he made, and she'd be angry at herself for not trying it.

Luna sighed deeply. Then she looked up again, carefully folded the letter and put it in her pocket. After that, she forced all thoughts about it away and turned her attention to the bright red parcel in front of her.

The blue lightning bolt across it was the sign of her favourite band: Dracula's Virtue. A small tingle started to spread in Luna's stomach. Carefully at first, she opened the paper around the parcel, but it was a lengthy procedure. The company that had sent it had used loads of Spellotape to make sure the paper stayed the way it was. In the end, Luna just ripped it off and found herself staring at a plain brown cardboard box.

Opening it, white writing became visible. The Cave of the Ancient, Luna read. Well, that sounded interesting. She pulled out the record in its black sleeve. Eight faces surrounded the writing - three women and five men. They were slowly revolving around the writing, nodding their heads in tune to an inaudible melody.
Immediately, Luna found Zoticus Throckmorton, the singer, who looked awesome. A very attractive man with a wild mane of hair and a black stubble on his cheeks, Luna's focus was immediately drawn to him.
His dark piercing eyes seemed to stare directly into hers. A shiver ran down Luna's spine and she quickly looked away, feeling observed. He seemed to notice he was making her feel uncomfortable with his stare, and a small smile curled up the corners of his mouth.
Luna was suddenly very glad that she was sitting, otherwise her legs might not have carried her anymore. That smile... she sighed dreamily.

It was a pity classes would start soon, or she'd walk back to her dormitory immediately and listen to it. Somewhere at the bottom of her trunk, there was a record player. At the moment, it was magically shrunken, but it still worked very well.
Turning over the sleeve, Luna scanned the titles of the songs. Under your skin, she read, Find Truth, and Heaven can wait, then the bell rang, and Luna remorsefully stuffed the record into her bag, said goodbye to the two younger girls at her table and went out.

Her first class today was going to be Care of Magical Creatures - which Luna didn't particularly like, simply because it took place outside in the cold.

Shivering, Luna drew her cloak tighter around her as she descended the stairs that led to the field in front of Hagrid's cabin. Sadly, they didn't have this class with the Gryffindors so Luna wouldn't be able to talk to Ginny. Personally, she didn't like Hagrid too much and thought he made lessons either very boring or very dangerous. The fact that she had to share this lesson with the Hufflepuffs didn't make things easier.

Ever since Luna had witnessed the incident with Malfoy and the Hufflepuffs, Luna didn't want to have much to do with any of them.

She knew it was unfair to judge a whole group of people because of one single event, but she couldn't help it. The image of Malfoy, who had looked really helpless - at least for a split second, before he had regained control of himself - inside the circle of Hufflepuffs popped up in her head whenever she saw one of the people who had been in the group.

Maybe she had to think back to this scene so often because it had been the first time Luna had seen Hufflepuffs act malicious and mean. Until then, Luna had always felt the majority of them to be peaceful and impartial. Of course, there were "black sheep" everywhere - like Zacharias, who wasn't at all peaceful or impartial - but generally, Hufflepuff had always been the House that seemed most fair and careful about judging people.

Had Malfoy single-handedly managed to change that? That would be a bit much, even for him. Or would it? Seeing how he had the whole of Slytherin under his thumb without much effort, it wasn't all that unrealistic to think he could stir up blind hatred in the peace-loving Hufflepuffs.

Of course, he also didn't do anything to make his life in Hufflepuff better in any way. As far as Luna had noticed, Malfoy was the one Exchange who had done the least to accommodate to his new House. He didn't seem to have any good contact with his new Housemates at all.

Luna guessed he was some sort of special case - probably just like Harry. They both were persons who polarized. You either loved or hated them, there was no in-between. And loving one of them automatically meant hating the other one. It was no surprise the school was divided, Luna mused, if it didn't take more than two students to do that.

Luna reached her classmates, who were almost all there already, most of them shivering in the cold just like her. As she looked at them, a realization dawned on Luna: the incident with Malfoy and the Hufflepuffs had partly been her fault, even though she hadn't been directly involved.
After all, it had been her idea to bring Exchange students into the other Houses. Sure, Luna had never dreamed that her simple idea could have such dramatic effects as she'd seen in the past few days - either for her, or for anyone else in the school, but still...

Without her, Malfoy would never have been attacked by a group of angry Hufflepuffs. Without her, she and all the other Exchange students would never have had to leave everything behind and try to fit in with a whole new group of people - especially from a rival House. Without her, Neville wouldn't have to lead a life as miserable as it was at the moment.

At that thought, a surge of guilt rose in Luna. It was her fault alone that Neville had to suffer under his dorm-mates every day - like having to cope with his father's death wasn't enough. Every time she caught a glimpse of his huge, sad eyes in his round face, Luna felt incredibly guilty. It's my fault, she thought. He'd hate me if he knew who'd had the idea of the Exchanges. Luna gulped. Neville probably wouldn't be the only one to hate her for that.

There was Malfoy to start with, but others, just as well. Unbidden, her brain made a painful flashback to the small face of Amy Pickering with reddened eyes and wet cheeks from crying. She had had to leave all her friends to go to a foreign House. Luna remembered how McGonagall had shot the poor girl one of her strict looks to shut her up, and how the girl had looked even more miserable afterwards.

Luna really was glad she didn't have much to do with the other Exchanges, or she'd feel even guiltier. She remembered Seth Cavalier from the DA meeting, and when she thought of how because of her, he couldn't be close to Audrey anymore, she felt somewhat guilty, although she didn't know him at all. Then again, Luna also knew how Audrey detested it how Seth was always following her around and never gave her a moment's peace. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Seth was gone for a while.

Luna stood a little away from the other small groups of students around her, staring at them but seeing nothing. She got the occasional odd look, but Luna was so used to them by now she didn't care anymore.

Hagrid eventually stepped out of his hut and said something in his booming voice with the thick dialect Luna always had trouble understanding. She soon found herself tuning out, snapping out of her reverie only when she realised the others were gone.

Frantically, she looked around, wondering where everybody had vanished to. Eventually, she caught sight of them, close to the border of the Forbidden Forest.

Grabbing her bag, Luna started to run after them. "Hey!" she called. "Wait for me!"

The others stopped and watched her rush towards them. Almost everyone was giggling when she finally arrived with the rest of the group.

"Why did you just leave like that?" Luna demanded.

"We called you three times," Leila said pointedly. "You didn't react, so we thought we'd start walking. You'd notice we were gone soon enough." She smirked. "Well, we were right."

"Good ter see ye came, Luna," Hagrid said loudly, obviously trying to be nice. "I'll show yer the Thestrals today. Come along." With a movement of his giant arm, he indicated the direction in which they were going to walk - directly into the Forest.

Luna loved the Forest, contrary to most other students who liked to stay away from it out of fear. She knew that if one looked closer, there were many marvellous and miraculous things to discover in there; many rare creatures had their home here, where they weren't disturbed by humans.
With huge eyes, Luna looked around her, trying to see as much as possible as they walked behind Hagrid in single file.

Suddenly Miranda was next to her, tugging at her sleeve. They both had to squeeze to manage to walk on the narrow path together. "Everything all right with you?" Miranda asked. "You looked quite sad earlier."

"Mmmm." Luna was still looking around her at the flora and fauna of the Forest. "I'm fine."

At that moment, she tripped over a root she hadn't noticed. In the last second, Miranda caught her by her arm, preventing Luna from falling.
"Whoa, careful there!" she exclaimed, then inquired, smiling, "You sure you're all right, Luna?"

Luna smiled back slightly. "Sure thing."

That seemed to satisfy Miranda for the moment and she fell behind, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts, which weren't exactly pleasant. She now knew she was guilty in more than one way.
Without her, a lot of people could have been spared a lot of trouble. There never would have been anyone forced to leave their friends and usual life behind. Nobody would have had to find their own, new way in a different House where they had to get along without any help at all.

The House tables would never have been abolished to be replaced by smaller tables. Luna remembered seeing Alan Skipwith in the common room last night, sporting a huge black eye. He'd told her in whispered tones that 'one of these damned Gryffindors' hadn't wanted to give him the jar of marmalade immediately, which had led to a fight with several people involved. Luna sighed. Had it not been for her, none of them would've fought, Alan wouldn't have a black eye, and life would be way more peaceful.

By now they had reached a clearing, and Hagrid had laid out some raw meat to attract the Thestrals. Luna watched drowsily as the first of them arrived and started sniffing at the meat. Thestrals were nothing new to her. Her parents had told her early about them, and after her mother's death, she had been able to see them, too. During her many journeys with her father, they had seen Thestrals in many different countries in many different shapes, and her father had never failed to point them out to her.
Therefore Luna wasn't really interested in this lesson and just noticed without much surprise that there were only two other people besides her who could see the beasts.

One of the creatures came over to Luna and she started stroking its head without paying much attention.

Her head was filled with guilty thoughts. Had it been selfish of her to suggest the inter-House Exchanges? After all, it had been an attempt to get away from Ravenclaw in the first place. Of course, Luna never would have chosen Slytherin as her new home had she had the opportunity to decide, so the plan hadn't exactly worked out. But still, she probably wouldn't have even thought of the Exchanges had it not been for her own problems.

All she'd wanted was to get away from Pandora and Bianca and their constant giggling, and from Carmella and Agatha and their bullying. Audrey had been the only girl in Luna's old dormitory who had been at least remotely friendly.

But, Luna thought, was it all only negative? She didn't want to see only the bad side, she should at least try to find some good things about the Exchanges. Otherwise, she probably would help Madeleine and Elinor destroy herself from the inside.

Besides, she knew there were good things about the Exchanges. She noticed it in her own daily life - in the days since she had arrived in Slytherin, she had gotten to know so many new people.
Elinor and Madeleine, of course, but also a lot of people who could become friends some time in the future, like Fulke or Mona, Nuncio, Miranda, Alan, Frank, or even Zacharias. Also, she had become closer to both Ginny and Neville because of the Exchange.
Without it, a lot of good things never would have happened to her. She also never would've gotten to know Leila, who managed again and again to amuse Luna, without knowing it.

Her parents had always taught her that nobody could live without others, that every person needed others, no matter what they said. Never forget that you need your neighbours, Luna, her mother had told her once. You only see the world from your own perspective, but they see it differently. You need them to teach you their point of view, so you can understand the world better. Luna had never forgotten these words and had always tried living up to them. Since the Exchange, she had really started to understand what her mother had meant.

Before, she had never been able to see why people hated each other so much for apparently no reason at all. Now, after spending some time in Slytherin, the most-hated House in Hogwarts, she thought she could slowly grasp the complexity of it all. While there obviously were many personal quarrels with students the Slytherins didn't like, there also was something that went much deeper. Luna sensed that Malfoy and his group of friends were one of the main reasons for that. They kept up the illusion that Slytherin had a reputation to keep up, and it was more or less the most important thing to them. They never even bothered to see behind the placement of others. You're Gryffindor? Wow, what an idiot you must be...

Fulke had only confirmed what Luna had been assuming for a long time - a small group of people was in the lead for the whole of the school; not only in Slytherin, but in all Houses - whether they did it deliberately or not. Luna was sure that Harry wasn't aware of the influence he had on people; still, they all followed him in almost everything they did. Either you acted accordingly, or you were looked at as a weirdo. And Luna, knowing herself what it was like to be different, understood very well those who just ducked their heads and went with the crowd. It was everything but enjoyable to stand up against a mob of people who were willing to press through their interests with every and all means.

Exhausted, Luna closed her eyes. A throbbing pain at the back of her skull made her momentarily lose focus. She had to blink twice to make her vision clear again. Everything that had been going on had caused this huge thinking process inside Luna which she just couldn't stop. You shouldn't worry so much about others, she advised herself, but she knew she wouldn't listen.

In the meantime, Hagrid finished the lesson and led them out of the forest again. Luna was amazed at how quickly the lesson had gone by. She noted she hadn't heard a single thing of what Hagrid had said and hoped she wouldn't need the information during her OWLs. Then again, she knew so much about Thestrals already; would Hagrid really have told her anything new? To calm herself down, Luna assured herself that she'd probably known it all already anyway.

Inwardly, Luna tried to remember her next lesson, but found herself unable to do so. She'd always had problems memorising her timetable and so early into the new school year, it was a miracle she hadn't walked into a wrong class by now.
Now, though, Luna was more than unsure as to what she was going to have next. Potions, maybe? She knew for sure that she had Potions that day, but she couldn't recall the exact time.

It was at that moment that Luna spotted Leila walking past her in her usual, hip-swinging way. Without really thinking, Luna started following Leila. They were in the same class, after all, and Leila would lead her to the correct room. Now she just had to make sure Leila didn't notice Luna tailing after her. Luna didn't want to be confronted with Leila's biting comments yet again; she just wanted to be alone for a while to try and clear her head for the next lesson.

So Leila and her started their venture through the castle. After a while, Luna stopped thinking about what she was doing and walked as if in trance. Step, step, step, she thought in rhythm with her own movements. Then she started a little game she had often played when she had been little. Words turned into very strange creatures if you thought them very often in a row. Stepstepstepstepstepstep, Luna thought. Stepstepstepste - and there it was. The wondering of who could have possibly thought of that word, especially as it sounded like nonsense to herself right now.

Leila suddenly stopped and Luna almost crashed into her because she had been so lost in her mind-game. Although Luna skidded to a halt just in time, of course Leila had heard her and turned round. Surprised and suspicious, Leila looked at her for a moment. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "You don't take Arithmancy, do you?" She stopped for a moment, thinking. "I've never seen you in class," she then added, as if that explained a lot of things.

Luna had to actively stop herself from saying "step". Instead, she paused for a moment and tried hard to stop thinking stepstepstepstep. Then she looked at Leila and suddenly she knew where she had to go. "No," she slowly said, already half-turned. "I don't take Arithmancy." With that, she turned completely and walked away. She had totally forgotten she had Ancient Runes today and now she was in the entirely wrong section of the castle. With a deep sigh, Luna started to walk back. That's what comes of relying on others, she thought, only somewhat bitter.

*

In the middle of the Ancient Runes lesson, Luna remembered what she had promised to the girl - Lavender? - at breakfast some days ago. She'd wanted earrings, she'd get earrings. Luna took out a piece of parchment and tried to think of a good pattern for the crochet. She herself had some miniature Heliopaths and Nifflers on her own earrings, but Lavender didn't strike her as the kind of person who'd appreciate something like that.
Flowers? But then again, Lavender wasn't five years old anymore. Same for butterflies and little stars.

A rainbow maybe? Luna dimly remembered her Mum wearing huge earrings with a colourful rainbow on them. It had looked very good. Luna decided that the pattern would be a rainbow, then.

However, as she checked her school bag - which was where she kept her wool to not lose it - she noticed that she didn't have enough colours. A rainbow with only three colours would look pretty weird, she thought and stared at the wool. Suddenly it hit her. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Lavender was a Gryffindor, after all, and she only had blue, yellow and red wool left. She'd make Lavender earrings with a red-yellow-striped crochet pattern.

Smiling contently, Luna picked up the end of the red wool and started searching for her needle. It had to be somewhere in there! For the moment, Luna was very glad she sat alone at the end of the room - at least nobody would notice her rummaging around in her bag.
As she hadn't found the needle immediately, she decided to just turn over the bag. It had to fall out then. Carefully, she looked up and to the front of the room to see whether anyone would notice. Two students from the front row had started a discussion and it was becoming more and more heated. Slowly more and more people became involved. Perfect, Luna thought, smiled, and then turned her bag upside-down.

With a loud clattering, everything fell out. One of her heavier schoolbooks fell on her left foot and Luna stifled a yelp at the last moment. "Damn you," she muttered instead, shooting the book a dark look and stuffing it back into the bag immediately.

Then she turned to the heap on her desk. First, she sorted out four other textbooks and put them back in the bag, as well. Then there was a blue cardboard folder with her essays in them. One roll of parchment had fallen out and Luna carefully put it back in, then returned the folder to the sack, as well.
Now the heap was considerably smaller. After returning two ordinary quills and three sugarquills into the bag as well, Luna found an only half-eaten package of Bernie Bott's Every Flavour Beans she hadn't even known was in that bag. Carefully tasting one of the Beans, Luna decided they were still edible. The Bean was rather hard and difficult to chew, but after chewing long enough, the flavour eventually came out. Mmmmm. Lettuce.

After the third Bean, Luna had to remind herself firmly of what she had originally wanted to do. The Beans always managed to make Luna dream away; she couldn't quite explain it. Maybe it had to do with the different tastes.

Lifting up several small pieces of parchment with scribbling on them, Luna continued searching through her bag.

It was then that the bell rang. Luna stopped in the middle of her search. No, she thought slightly angry. You can't just ring right now. I'm in the middle of looking for my needle. But it didn't help, the bell continued as if it hadn't heard her.

Scratching her head, Luna stared at the chaos on her desk. She couldn't afford to be late. Her next lesson was Potions and Snape would never forgive her being late again. He'd put her into detention. It was a miracle he hadn't done anything when Luna had been very late after the incident with Neville and his father, though Luna suspected that McGonagall, who seemed to know about what had happened, had talked to Snape and had made him do nothing.

But should she throw it all back in her bag? Then she'd have to start sorting it all out again. She'd come so far already! It wouldn't take much longer until she had her needle. Not knowing what to do, Luna stood in front of her desk a little longer, until the students for the next lesson already started to arrive, shooting her odd looks. Finally Luna made a decision.

She heaved her bag on her shoulder and then started collecting all the things still on the table into her arms. It was dangerous because the things were all loose and Luna wasn't sure whether she'd be able to hold them all. Well, she'd have to try it, at least.

She staggered out of the room with her arms crammed with stuff. Now I just hope I don't crash into anybody, Luna thought worriedly.

Somehow she actually managed to get through the castle without incident. When she had finally arrived in the Potions dungeon, she emptied everything onto her table, panting.

Ginny was already there at their table and looked at her with curiosity clearly visible on her face. "Everything all right?" she asked. "Did your bag break?"

"No," Luna said, still slightly out of breath. "I was searching for my needle, but I couldn't find it, so I emptied the bag on my table. But then the bell rang and I had to hurry, but I didn't want to put it all back into the bag, so I carried it in my arms." She sat down and looked at the heap in front of her with a worried expression. "Now I hope I can find the needle."

After a short hesitation, Ginny only said, "Ah." Cocking her head slightly, she looked at the stack and asked, "What does your needle look like?"

Luna shot her a look. "Have you never seen a needle before?"

Ginny grimaced slightly. "'Course I have. But, you know, there's different kinds of needles. Embroidery needles, pins, sewing needles -"

"Mine is a crochet hook," Luna interrupted her. "It has a wooden handle."

Ginny started looking through the heap, as well. Together, they put aside several crumpled pieces of parchment, an old apple with by now deep brown skin, some dried blooms and directions for use of a fridge.

"There it is," Luna said with surprise, looking at the small booklet.

"You have a fridge?" Ginny asked, sounding equally surprised. "Isn't that this Muggle thing that keeps food cold?"

"Yeah," Luna said. "We have one, but it doesn't work properly. It has some sort of tail at the back, but we didn't know what it's for. And as we couldn't find the instructions, Daddy charmed it to make it cold inside. So now it works, but we still don't know what the tail is for. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear I found the instructions."

Before Ginny could answer, the doors crashed open and Snape stormed in. "What's this nonsense, Creevey? Five points. No, don't protest." He strode directly to the blackboard and tapped it once with his wand. The Draught of Peace appeared. He flicked his wand and the ingredients appeared under the title. "You will find everything you need in the store cupboard," Snape said quietly. "You have an hour and a half. Start."

Luna ignored him. While everywhere around her, people began rummaging around and walking to the cupboard, she was determined to first find her needle. It couldn't be so hard to find it now; after all, there were only crumbs and some handkerchiefs left. Lifting one of the handkerchiefs (which had her initials embroidered upon them), Luna finally found the crochet hook.

"Got you!" she said loudly, and Ginny looked at her.

"Good thing," she said, eyeing Snape cautiously. "You'd better get started, y'know."

"Sure," Luna said. "Now that I have my needle..."

But Ginny hadn't been the only one to hear her exclamation. Snape had gotten off his chair and was striding towards them. When he arrived at their table, he looked down on the chaos in front of Luna. "Miss Lovegood," he said softly.

Luna looked up. "Yes?"

"I'm eternally sorry to interrupt you in your search," Snape continued, still in the same quiet voice.

"Oh, that's quite all right," Luna said and smiled slightly. "I'm already finished anyway."

"Good." Snape's face looked contemplative. "Tell me, Miss Lovegood, where are your ingredients for the potion?"

"I don't have them yet," Luna said. "Because -"

"And where is your cauldron?"

"I didn't set it up yet," Luna said. "As I tried to tell you, I -"

"Miss Lovegood, do you know what lesson this is?"

Luna looked up at her professor with a confused look. Snape didn't remember what he was teaching? She hoped he wasn't ill. "Potions, sir."

"Correct. And what do you need for this lesson?"

"Well, a cauldron, and a recipe, and of course the things for the potion to brew it."

"Correct. So why can I not see any of these things on your table?"

"I tried to tell you," Luna began. "I was searching for my needle, I didn't have the time ye -"

"Why would you need a needle for this lesson?"

"I don't," Luna replied. "It had nothing to do with this lesson."

Next to her, Ginny silently banged her forehead on the table. "Oh no," she muttered.

"Ten points." With that, Snape turned away. "And if you don't have everything perfectly on your table within one minute, you'll lose another ten points. Oh, and ten points from Gryffindor, as well, Miss Weasley."

"What! Why?" Ginny asked furiously. "I didn't do anything!"

"Precisely," Snape said coldly. "You did nothing. But you should have - maybe then Miss Lovegood would already have set up her cauldron."

"But this isn't fair!"

"Shut your mouth, Miss Weasley," Snape said. "Or you'll lose your House another ten points."

Fuming with rage, Ginny sat next to Luna. "Idiot," she muttered, clenching her fists. "Damn bloody idiot."

"It's my fault," Luna said, turning towards her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't talk nonsense. It's Snape, what d'you expect? And you'd better get your things, or you'll lose even more points."

Quickly Luna started brewing the potion as well, and soon she and Ginny weren't behind the others anymore. Ginny's cheeks were still red with fury, and Luna put a calming hand on her arm.
With a little smile, Ginny looked at her. "I don't get how he can get away with being so unfair," she whispered.

Luna shrugged slightly. "I don't know. But the angrier you get about it, the more he'll like it."

Meanwhile, Snape had started collecting their homework - one and a half rolls of parchment on the effects and dangers of the Draught of Peace. Luna was very proud of her own essay. She had spent long hours researching, reading and writing it, and she felt she should get at least an 'E' for it.
Snape took the parchments from the students behind Luna and Ginny. Luna already bent down to retrieve her essay from her bag, when she heard Snape's bored "Homework." Ginny handed him her homework, but Luna was still searching her bag.

"One moment," she murmured. "It has to be somewhere in here. I know it is."

"Miss Lovegood," Snape said, "again you're disturbing my lesson. Hurry, or I'll have to take away even more points."

Luna looked up at him with huge eyes. "I can't find it," she said quietly, not quite believing it herself. "It's not in my bag. But I know I put it in there!"

"Of course," Snape said. "I suppose a little fairy flew by and stole it. Or maybe you want to blame Peeves?"

Luna stared at him, surprised and hurt. Why did he mock her like that? She hadn't done anything wrong! She was more than sure that she had put her essay in her bag this morning. "No, it was neither of them, I think," she said slowly.

"Maybe you lost it on the way here?" Ginny suggested. "After all, you were carrying lots of things in your arms, you wouldn't've noticed you'd lost it."

"That's possible," Luna said contemplatively. Turning to Snape, she said, "I'm really sorry, but I don't have the essay here right now. I suppose I lost it on the way. I could go and search for it, if you want."

Snape's look silenced her. "Do you think you're funny?" he asked. "Because you're not. You're nothing but ridiculous. Ten points from Ravenclaw."

"But," somebody from the back of the room protested loudly. "She's in Slytherin now! You can't take points from Ravenclaw!"

"What I can do and what I cannot do is none of your concern, Mr Dunne," Snape replied icily.
Despite his reply, Snape looked at Luna once more, obviously thinking. "Very well," he then said. "If that's so, I'll not take points from you. You have time until tonight to bring me your essay."

A collective gasp came from the class. Snape had just made clear how much he favoured his own House - even the Exchanges. Immediately Gryffindors started protesting loudly, and Luna herself half rose in her seat, too. "But, sir -" she started, but Ginny pressed her down again.

"Are you mad?" Ginny hissed. "Shut up!"

"What? But Snape's being unfair!"

"Of course he is. He always is. This is Snape we're talking about. But this one time he's unfair and it benefits you. Don't you dare say anything against that! And besides, losing points would just give the Slytherins another reason to hate you."

Luna stared at Ginny. "You know," she said pensively. "You sound like a Slytherin talking."

Ginny eyed her. "Am I supposed to take that as good or bad?"

"I'm not sure," Luna said honestly.

Ginny sighed. "Listen, it may be that I sound like a Slytherin at the moment, but maybe the Slytherins are right for once. If someone does you a favour, don't protest about it. Just accept it."

Luna was silent for a while. "Okay," she eventually said. "I suppose you're right."

After the lesson, Luna immediately went back to her Ancient Runes classroom to search for her essay. It was neither on the way there nor in the room itself. Exasperated, Luna closed her eyes. This is impossible, she thought. I know it must be somewhere right here.

Still, it wasn't.

Eventually, Luna decided to go back to her dormitory. Maybe she had left the essay there. But it wasn't anywhere in there, either. Slowly Luna became worried. The paper couldn't have dissipated into thin air. Or could it? By now she was ready to believe anything. She slowly retraced the way she had gone and searched intently.

Miranda met her in the common room and asked what she was doing. When Luna explained, Miranda joined her and they continued searching together. They lifted up every single armchair in the Common Room and searched under every table and in every dark corner, however impossible it was that the essay was there.
They went back to the dormitory and continued their search there. Even Leila, who by now was lying on her bed again, looked under her own bed in order to help them. Of course the assignment wasn't there.

After almost forty-five minutes of fruitless search, Luna let herself fall down on her bed. "I don't believe it," she murmured. "It can't just have vanished."

"Don't worry," Miranda said. "I'm sure we'll find it in the end."

Luna grumbled something and pressed Merlin close to her for comfort. She doubted she'd find the essay again - she had no idea as to where it could be.

The door opened, and Rebecca and Madeleine came in. "What's going on here?" Rebecca asked lightly, sounding almost as she had on Luna's first evening. She looked around the room. "Did somebody die in here?"

Luna stayed silent. After a short hesitation, Miranda explained, "Luna's Potions essay has vanished."

"Has it indeed," Rebecca said. Madeleine said nothing. Instead, a small, silent smile was clearly visible on her face. A horrible feeling spread in Luna's stomach. Had Madeleine - but no. She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't be so mean.

On the other hand, it had been Madeleine who'd put the cockroaches into Luna's bed. If somebody was capable of doing something like that, making an essay vanish wouldn't be a problem. Luna looked at her dorm-mate intently, trying to read in her face, but Madeleine's usually lively face was like a mask.

Was that a sign? Luna feared it was. Suddenly Madeleine looked at her. One corner of her mouth slowly curled up, and a mad glint was visible in her eyes.

That was enough for Luna to confirm that it had indeed been Maddy who'd hidden the essay.

Where? Luna asked silently with her eyes, trying to reach her dorm-mate. And why?

Madeleine was silent for a moment, then she said aloud, "Everybody gets what they deserve."

The others looked at her confusedly. Luna could see Leila and Miranda exchanging glances. But before they could ask anything, Madeleine announced, "I'll go to bed now." Shooting Luna one last long glance, she sat down on her bed and shut the curtains around it.

Immediately, the others turned towards Luna. In their eyes, Luna could read one question - What's going on here? But Luna wasn't going to say anything. If Maddy didn't want to confess that she had done it, it was none of Luna's business to give her away.

"I'm tired, too," she said and closed the curtains around her bed. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she willed them back. She wouldn't cry about something as trivial as a stupid essay. No, she wouldn't.

A little sob escaped her and she pressed Merlin against her even harder, trying to fall asleep, trying to escape her thoughts.

Being so caught in her own sorrow, Luna of course didn't notice how Miranda quietly rummaged around in Luna's schoolbag and eventually pulled out something, smiling wickedly.