Luna-ticked in Knockturn Alley

Chapter 2: In The Beginning

Merlin Black felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest. The images in his mind were nothing but a bunch of swirls and blobs. Merlin sat on his chair with his hands over his eyes. With his friends sitting around him in the Gryffindor common room, Merlin struggled for an idea, any at all, that would help him rescue Luna. Merlin thought about how he found out he was a wizard and his trip to Hogwarts. He thought back then that his life seemed scary and overwhelming. He had been wrong.

For the first ten years of his life, Merlin Black lived in a simple cottage in Vermont, USA. Just looking at this brown house surrounded by a white picket fence, a person would never have guessed that a special child lived in it. Merlin rarely felt special. He felt he was an ordinary child living in an ordinary house. Merlin was being raised by his parents Katie and Douglas Black. They had chosen to name their son Merlin because their favorite book was King Arthur And The Knights of The Round Table. After Merlin went to school each day, his parents, who were both highly successful lawyers, went to work in the office that they owned.

As Merlin was heading home from Tyler Elementary School on his tenth birthday, he was confronted by a bully. Merlin hated bullies. In fact, he hated anyone who operated on the side of evil. His parents had always raised Merlin to be a righteous individual. Merlin looked at the bully who looked like a grotesques orangutan with red hair. The bully demanded that Merlin hand over his wallet. Merlin was never one to back away from a bully so he refused. The bully hit Merlin's left eye. Wincing in pain, he looked around for help, but no one was around. Merlin then looked at a tree that was directly behind the bully and wished that the tree would reach down and grab the bully. He felt as if a bolt of lightening had hit him when the tree obliged and grabbed the bully. The bully screamed in terror and Merlin ran away. He was determined not to tell anyone what had happened because he was afraid that he would wind up in an insane asylum if he had.

The next day, Merlin went to the local bank with his grandfather Mortimer Black to deposit his birthday money. Merlin always liked going to town because he liked to be around all of the people even though he did not have many friends at school. When Merlin and his grandfather arrived at the bank, he walked up to the counter to deposit his money into his savings account. Before Merlin could talk to the teller, a gun went off behind him. He turned around and saw a rather tall man wearing a ski mask and brandishing a gun. It was quite clear what the man's intention was. He was here to rob the bank. The man menacingly took two steps forward when a car backfired. The noise scared the bank robber and he fired his gun. In the next moment, Merlin's grandfather fell to the floor dead.

Merlin continued to have nightmares about his grandfather's death even though five months had passed. Katie and Douglas Black decided that it would help their son deal with the loss of his grandfather if they moved away. The Black family had an uncle who lived in England so they moved there.

On the day of Merlin's eleventh birthday, Merlin and his family settled into their new house on 4 Knotsbury Lane. That night, Merlin was reading a Sherlock Holmes book when he heard a mysterious scratching sound at his bedroom window. He rushed to the window to see what the sound was and discovered a brown owl looking in the window. The owl somehow looked smarter than most owls. When Merlin opened the window, he discovered the owl had a letter attached to his leg. That letter would change his live forever because it was a letter inviting Merlin to a school called Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Merlin stood behind the barrier between platforms nine and ten at Kings Cross Station. Packed in his trunk were his robe which held his wand of oak, his potion ingredients, his clothes, and his spell books. Sitting on top of Merlin's trunk was a cage which held his gray owl Feathers. Merlin looked around with delight at all of the people traveling to their daily destinations. Kings Cross Station reminded Merlin of the town he used to live in. He looked at his watch and saw that he only had ten minutes to board the train before it left for Hogwarts. Merlin kissed his parents good-bye and checked to make sure no one was watching. Merlin then took a deep breath and ran through the barrier starting his adventure.

Merlin emerged at the other side of the barrier and was quite impressed with the size of the scarlet Hogwarts Express. He had never seen a train that was so large. Even though Merlin was excited about the journey to Hogwarts, he wondered if he would make any friends.

Merlin apprehensively started to board the train when he heard a voice cry out, "Let go of my frog!"

Merlin quickly boarded the train. What Merlin saw made him start to get angry. A blonde haired boy with an arrogant smirk was holding a frog that clearly wasn't his. There were two grotesquely large boys laughing behind him. A short timid looking boy was trying to get the frog back.

"I said give it back!" the timid boy shouted.

"No, I think it will make an excellent lunch for my eagle owl," the blonde hair boy responded.

Merlin walked right up to the blonde haired boy, looked him straight in the eye and said in his best sarcastic voice, "Ahem, may I help you?"

"Oh, no! Another Mudblood on the train! That's the second one they've let on the train today!" the blonde haired boy screamed in disgust.

"Actually, the name's Merlin Black. Niiice to meet you," Merlin sneered as he mockingly extended his hand as if expecting a hand shake. "Just who are you?"

"As if it is any business of yours, I'm Draco Malfoy," the blonde hair boy sneered back.

Merlin demanded that Draco return the frog and Draco asked what would happen if he didn't. Instead of answering, Merlin glanced at the snack cart and reached out as if he was trying to touch it from across the train. With an angry gesture, Merlin pulled his arm towards him. The snack cart mysteriously rolled across the train and knocked down Draco and the other two boys. Merlin caught the frog before it hit the ground. Merlin handed the frog back to its owner and gained his first friend at Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom.

After Draco and his gang retreated to a compartment of their own, Merlin sat with his new friend.

"As you have probably heard, my name is Merlin Black. What's yours?" Merlin cheerfully implored.

The short boy timidly responded, "My name is Neville Longbottom. Thank you for rescuing my frog Trevor. I wasn't expecting anything like this to happen on my first year."

After Merlin replied that Neville was quite welcome, the compartment door opened and two boys and a girl entered. One was a red haired boy who was wearing a red sweater. The girl had brown bushy hair. The other boy attracted Merlin's attention the most because he looked somewhat like him although there was something quite different about the boy. Merlin figured out what that was when he looked at the boy's forehead. There was a scar in the shape of a lightening bolt on it. The red haired boy looked quite happy about something.

"C-Can I say something to you?" the red haired boy choked.

"Sure, " Merlin replied.

"That was amazing! " the red haired boy screamed.

Merlin asked what was so amazing. The girl with brown bushy hair who introduced herself as Hermione Granger explained that strange things can happen when a wizard or witch gets angry, but few have any control over what happens. The red haired boy extended his hand for Merlin to shake and introduced himself as Ron Weasley.

Ron pointed at the boy with the scar on his forehead and blurted out, "Of course, you know who this is."

Merlin looked at Ron with a puzzled look and replied, "Sorry, I don't."

Ron's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head as he screamed, "What!!!!!! You don't know who Harry Potter is?!!"

Since the shock of Ron's yell almost knocked Merlin off his seat, Merlin got up and shouted back, "Hey, take it easy! I just got to this country!"

Harry felt as if Merlin was going to be his new best friend because Merlin was the first person he had met that didn't stare at his forehead.

Chapter 3: Cupid's Luna-cy

Merlin Black thought happily about his fifth year of Hogwarts. In his present state of mind, everything that happened before his fifth year was a blur of events that consisted of getting his best friend Neville Longbottom out of scrapes and getting into scrapes with Draco Malfoy. His thoughts kept drifting back to one time and one person. Merlin thought about when he had met Luna Lovegood in his fifth year of Hogwarts.

Luna, I miss you.

I wonder if you're all right.

Luna, wherever you are, I will come to your rescue.

I will make your kidnappers pay for what they've done.

If they've hurt you, I will rip them apart.

I'd die for you.

Luna, I love you.

In the beginning of his fifth year, Merlin Black arrived at the Great Hall for the feast. He sat down at his usual place next to his best friend Neville Longbottom. Merlin didn't have many friends besides Neville. Until now, that had been fine with him. That changed when Merlin glanced at a girl with silvery white hair sitting at the Ravenclaw table. The girl looked most unusual to Merlin since she was wearing a necklace made of butterbeer caps and radish earrings. However, what was most unusual to Merlin was that he found that he could not look away from her.

After Merlin looked at the girl for a while, he decided that he wanted to find out who she was.

Merlin looked at Neville and asked, "Neville, who is that girl wearing the radish earrings?"

Neville shook his head as if he didn't care and stated, "Oh, that's just Loony Lovegood."

Merlin hated to hear someone calling people names, even if that someone was his best friend Neville.

Merlin gave Neville a dirty look and sneered, "Excuse me, Neville. Maybe you didn't understand my question. What...is...her...NAME?!"

Hermione glared at Neville and added, "Honestly, Neville! You really should try to use more sensitivity. Merlin, her name is Luna Lovegood."

Ron looked at Luna and commented that she was the weirdest girl that he had ever met.

Harry acknowledged Ron by saying, "She always has a dreamy grin on her face that makes her look like she doesn't have a clue what's going on."

Merlin looked at Luna again and shocked all of the boys sitting around him by uttering, "I think she's pretty."

All of a sudden, a drawling voice sneered from behind Merlin, "So ickle Black thinks Loony Lovegood is pretty. Merlin has a crush on Loony. I can just think of the children this filthy Mudblood and Loony will have."

Merlin did not have to look behind him to know who had spoken. He knew Draco Malfoy was standing behind him. Since Merlin's usual tactic of fighting with him didn't seem to work, Merlin decided to try something else. He turned around and using his cheeriest voice possible replied, "Why, hello Draco! How are you?"

Draco looked completely shocked because he had expected Merlin to get angry and retaliate. Draco stuttered in surprise, "Wh-what did you say?"

Merlin replied with a grin, "I said 'how are you?' You don't look so well Draco."

Draco opened and closed his mouth as if he had forgotten what he wanted to say. Draco then snorted, "Never mind how I am!"

Neville's toad Trevor escaped from his hand and landed on the table. This event gave Merlin an idea.

"Draco, you were a ferret last year. What would you like to be this year, a fly?" Merlin remarked.

To Merlin's satisfaction, Draco was as angry as he had ever seen him. Draco wanted more than anything to hit Merlin, but he knew better than to try that in front of the entire staff table. As a raucous chorus of laughter erupted from the Gryffindor table, Draco angrily walked to the Slytherin table. After Draco left, Neville asked Merlin why he had yelled at him and not Draco. Merlin shrugged his shoulders and replied that arguing with a brick wall serves no purpose at all.

Several months passed. It was time for the first Quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Merlin sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to eat breakfast with his friends. Harry, Ginny, and Ron were discussing Gryffindor's chances of beating Slytherin now that Ron was Gryffindor's new keeper. Harry tried to calm Ron down by complementing a save he had made in practice. Merlin was about to help Harry cheer Ron up when he heard a dreamy voice say hello. Merlin turned around and saw Luna Lovegood wearing an enormous hat that was in the form of a lion's head. When Luna touched her hat with her wand, the hat let out a very loud roar. Merlin could hear people laughing at her. He looked at Luna and realized that she didn't seem to care. This impressed Merlin greatly and he opened his mouth to compliment Luna on her boldness. However, only a gurgling sound came out.

"Are you all right? I don't believe I know your name," Luna said with concern.

When Luna looked down at Merlin, she looked into his eyes.

Blushing right red, Merlin stuttered, "M-M-Merlin."

Merlin got up from his chair and rushed to the Gryffindor common room where he spent the rest of the day. Sitting in a chair by the fire, Merlin thought about how stupid Luna must have thought he was. This made Merlin cry because he realized that he was in love.

For several weeks, Merlin tried to gather the courage to talk to Luna. Every time he got close to Luna, he got too nervous to speak. This depressed Merlin so one day he decided to study in the library away from the crowd of Gryffindor students. After he studied for a while, the door opened and Hermione entered the library. Merlin certainly was not surprised to see Hermione because he knew that she was the smartest girl in his year. Hermione sat down in a chair next to Merlin.

"What's wrong, Merlin? You don't look very happy," Hermione implored.

Merlin didn't feel like facing up to Hermione so he continued to look down at his book as he whispered faintly, "I can't talk to her."

Hermione put her hand on Merlin's shoulder to comfort him. "Merlin, I don't understand why you can talk to me, but you can't talk to Luna," Hermione stated.

"But I like Luna!" Merlin blurted out.

"Oh, thank you very much!" smirked Hermione mischievously.

"You know what I mean!" Merlin sneered.

Hermione then took a galleon from one of the pockets in her robe. "Merlin, I'm going to help you talk to Luna," Hermione commented. Hermione tapped the galleon with her wand and chanted the word Courago. After handing the galleon to Merlin, Hermione instructed Merlin to keep it in his pocket and that the galleon would give him the courage to talk to Luna.

As the year progressed, Merlin became less and less shy around Luna. He even told her that he thought she was pretty. He had found out from Padma Patil, another Ravenclaw student, that Luna's birthday was on Valentine's Day. Merlin had read a notice in the Gryffindor tower that there was a Hogsmeade trip scheduled for that day. One month before Valentine's day, Merlin asked Luna if she would accompany him to Hogsmeade. Luna agreed.

Merlin wondered what to get Luna for her birthday. Merlin considered flowers but thought that since Luna had such exotic tastes, flowers might not be appropriate. Merlin decided to make Luna another necklace of butterbeer caps. Every night Merlin went down to the lower level and tickled the pear on the painting hanging on the wall to get into the kitchen. The house elves were very happy to supply Merlin with the butterbeer he needed to complete his quest. Before Merlin went to bed each night, Merlin drank the butterbeer and put the cap in a box. On the fifth day, Ron got curious about what Merlin was doing.

"Merlin, I don't get it. Are you collecting butterbeer caps? I only know one person at Hogwarts who would do such a thing." Ron implored.

"That's right, Ron. Her birthday is coming up," Merlin answered.

On the day of the Hogsmeade trip, Merlin met Luna at the entrance to the Great Hall. Merlin was holding her red butterbeer cap necklace which was wrapped in a pink box with a bow on it. Merlin could not believe his good fortune at being able to walk to Hogsmeade with Luna. They talked about the weather and the chance Gryffindor had of winning the Quidditch cup after losing half of their players. Merlin didn't think they didn't had any chance at all, but he didn't seem to care.

Merlin and Luna entered Madam Puddifoot's tea shop and sat at a table behind Harry and Cho Chang. After Merlin talked with Luna for a while, he gave Luna her birthday present. Merlin was not prepared for what happened next. Luna started crying and ran out of the tea shop carrying the necklace. After Merlin sat at the table with a confused look for a while, he decided that there was nothing he could do but return to Hogwarts.

When Merlin exited the tea shop, he met Hermione. Even though the day had not gone as well as he had hoped, he knew he owed Hermione a great deal since she helped him get over his fear of talking to Luna.

"Hermione, I want to thank you for what you did for me in the library. That spell of yours really helped me get over my fear of talking to Luna," Merlin stated.

"Merlin, I hate to break it to you, but there is no such thing as a Courago spell. You did that on your own," Hermione replied wistfully.