Luna's year

"You WHAT?" exclaimed Hermione, snapping her book closed and leaning forward out of the large plush chair next to the fireplace, a shocked expression on her face. "What on Earth were you doing in the forest? You found Luna on the trail to Hogsmeade, didn't you?"

"Yeah, well," Ron said, flopping down heavily in the sofa facing the Common Room's warmly blazing hearth, dropping his broom tiredly to the floor. "We thought Hagrid wouldn't come back until he'd seen the firecrackers, so..." He leaned backwards and rested his head in the corner of the chair, his eyes half closed and looking to Harry. "I never want to go back in there, mate. Those spiders have it in for me, I'm telling you!"

Hermione shook her head at Ron in exasperation. She turned to Harry. "How'd you get away from them? Did that old car save you again?"

"That's the strange part," said Harry in a low voice, leaning over the side of his chair. He didn't want the other Gryffindors scattered about the room to overhear; the last thing he wanted was to inadvertently enhance Luna's reputation as an oddball in Hogwart's grapevine of gossip. Hermione, seeing Harry glancing around them, grasped his meaning and leaned closer, listening attentively.

"She cast this spell," said Harry, "I think it was Electronumos, something like that...anyway...you wouldn't believe what that spell did, Hermione."

"What?" she asked, her eyes widening in anticipation.

"I'm pretty sure it was a lightning strike, or something just like one...I mean if you could've heard it, my ears are still ringing a little...and there was something in the air too, I could feel this static all over, you know, like when you run a balloon through your hair?" Harry asked as Hermione slowly nodded, looking at him with her mouth slightly open, apparently speechless. "Anyway, it made a hole in the ground where it hit and blasted a bunch of spiders. The others didn't seem to want to hang around after that."

"Harry," said Hermione quietly after several moments of silence. "I don't remember ever reading about a spell like that anywhere..." her brown eyes looked apprehensive.

"That's the other thing," continued Harry, glancing back to ensure no one was eavesdropping. "She said it was one of the spells her mother used to experiment with...she said she'd made a promise to her never to use it..." he looked at Hermione, a concerned look dawning in his eyes. "I was wondering...you know, if it was..."

"The spell her mum was experimenting with...when..." Hermione finished, her eyes staring back at Harry with equal disquietude.

"Yeah," said Harry heavily. He sighed, turning his gaze to the glowing fireplace. "She didn't look right, Hermione. I don't know if it was an effect of the spell or something else..."

Hermione was looking very worried now. "What did Madame Pomfrey say?"

"I don't know," said Harry sadly. "She kicked us out before we could ask anything. I'm going to drop by later tonight and check up on her."

"I'll go with you," said Hermione.

* * *

They decided to go visit Luna in the hospital wing at eight o'clock that evening. Harry prevented Hermione from waking Ron. "He had this huge spider on him, Hermione, I think he's still in shock. Maybe we should let him sleep it off." Hermione nodded in agreement and left Ron slumbering peacefully before the fireplace. She and Harry quietly made their way out of the Common Room and into the main hall.

Harry led the way into the hospital wing, Hermione following close behind. As they walked by the first few beds he could see that, apart from Madame Pomfrey, the place was quite deserted.

"Excuse me, Madame Pomfrey," said Hermione as she approached the nurse's desk at the far end of the arched hall. "But we came down to visit Luna Lovegood...is she all right?"

"Oh yes, child," replied the nurse. "She's perfectly fine, just went through a traumatic experience is all. I expect she'll have a few nightmares about spiders and all, but she's otherwise in excellent health."

"Oh, al right. Well thank you, then." smiled Hermione as she and Harry left the hall.

Harry closed the door behind him and turned to Hermione, waiting until a pair of Slytherins had walked out of earshot before speaking. "Well, I guess she's gone to the Ravenclaw tower, then."

"I imagine," agreed Hermione, striking a pensive pose. "I think we should still check up on her tomorrow morning, say at breakfast? In the meantime," she said, looking down the hall towards the staircase going to the second floor, "I'm going to go to the library. I'll catch up with you later, all right?"

"The library?" asked Harry. "It's getting pretty late, you know."

"I know," replied Hermione, "But I really want to go see if I can find any references to that spell you described. Anyway," she smiled at him, pointing to her prefect's badge, "I have certain privileges about after hours activites."

Harry grinned, knowing prefects were exempt from curfew, gathering that Hermione would be in the library a good while.

"Well, okay," he said, "I won't wait up for you, then."

With that, he bade her goodnight and made his way back to Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione marched up to the library, noting the place was almost deserted, apart form Madame Pince, of course, and a handful of night owls. Hermione made her way down to the Arcane section, figuring it would be the best place to start searching for rare or forgotten spells...her instincts told her the spell Harry had described sounded suspiciously like something that would not be out of place in the Ancient Magic sub-topics.

As she passed the reading lounge, she saw a solitary figure in a large divan facing the fireplace, a large book splayed open across the armrests. But she couldn't tell who was there, as the chair's tall back obscured the person sitting therein.

She continued down the rows of bookshelves. As she passed the second last row she spied out of the corner of her eye a dark shape sitting at the reading table in the aisle, near the window. She stopped to get a better look, quickly recognizing the familiar form. Luna's presence surprised her, as she'd assumed the young Ravenclaw had retired to the her dormitory for the night.

Hermione moving closer, noting how Luna was sitting with her arms crossed on the table, her head buried therein, her long dirty blonde hair looking very unkempt and falling to either side of her.

Hermione hesitated for a moment...something seemed odd to her. She slowly made her way down to the end of the aisle, quietly taking a seat next to the Ravenclaw's.

"Luna?" said Hermione gently, placing her hand delicately on Luna's shoulder, noting it was trembling slightly. "Are you okay?"

Silence ensued for several moments, before Luna finally spoke in a hushed voice.

"Oh...yes, I'm quite well, thank you," Luna said without stirring, but her shaky voice told Hermione that was far from the case.

Hermione leaned her head down on the table next to Luna's. "Hey...Harry told me what happened in the forest," she said softly. "That was the spell, wasn't it? The one your mum was using when..."

Luna raised her head from her arms and looked at her, the telltale stains of dried tears on her cheeks hitting Hermione like a bludger.

"Oh, yes, actually," she said in an unconvincing attempt at a conversational tone. "She experimented with that particular one quite often, you know. She was becoming rather good at it too, but..."

Hermione winced. No wonder Luna was so distraught. Her heart sank as she saw the Ravenclaw straighten up in her chair, attempting to project some semblance of normalcy, which, for Luna, was unusual enough. "She experimented with many variations of it, as you might imagine," said Luna, her every word quivering. "The last one, didn't quite work out as she'd expected - "

Luna took a deep breath, which sounded rather ragged to Hermione, looking at her intently, her large silver eyes staring at Hermione almost pleadingly. "Mum made me promise never to use those spells, you know..." Her voice was becoming heartbreakingly hoarse.

"But...I had to...I couldn't just...just let..." she bit her lip sharply as Hermione saw a flow of tears welling up in her eyes. Luna quickly turned around and bent over, covering her face with her hands, which Hermione noticed were shaking.

Hermione couldn't take it any more. Her own eyes welling up with tears, she leaned forward and hugged the young Ravenclaw, who finally broke down and collapsed into her arms, shaking terribly with grief. Hermione's heart sank even lower as she felt the anguish coursing through the younger girl. She couldn't imagine anything more traumatic for Luna than having to recall her mother's death while at the same being forced into a situation where she had to break a solemn promise she'd made to her as a child.

Luna cried for several minutes, at one point Hermione catching sight of Madam Pince's reflection in the window, standing behind them. She'd evidently been searching for the source of Luna's weeping, quiet though she was. At first glance, her stern face made Hermione fear for a moment that she was going to kick them out of the library, though after catching sight of Luna's sorry state her expression softened a little; she hesitated a few moments, seeming to consider the situation, before leaving quietly without saying a word.

Hermione felt powerless to help her friend, knowing that nothing she could say would make up for the sadness Luna was experiencing. She was getting a definite sensation that Luna was releasing years of pent-up anguish...

Eventually Luna drew back and looked at Hermione with her silvery eyes, which now had a reddish hue. "Thank you," she said softly. "I suppose...I needed that. Mum died so unexpectedly, you know, it was so very hard on Daddy...I had to be strong for his sake..."

Hermione stared at Luna with a mixture of sympathy and awe, upon the realization that Luna had shouldered an inordinate amount of grief following her mother's death out of adoration and protectiveness of her father.

"Luna," said Hermione, "I think your mum would have been proud of what you did back there, in the forest, don't you"? Do you really think she'd have wanted you to keep that promise today, if it meant your life?"

Luna stared at the table, seeming so lost to Hermione's eyes. After several long moments she finally drew up and looked a little better.

"I...I suppose not," she said. "When I was little she often told me those spells were quite hazardous, you know. That's why she made me promise not to use them..."

"To protect you," said Hermione, hoping Luna would make the connection.

They stared at each other for several moments, when Hermione thought she detected a flicker of Luna's old self in her large silver eyes. "I imagine she would have been quite happy to see her spell succeed then," she said, her voice becoming stronger and less wavering than before.

Hermione smiled. "I think she would have," she said.

"Well," Luna said, slowly regaining her dreamy composure, "I really should go and send Daddy an owl..."

She got to her feet and made for the library. At the entrance to the aisle she paused a moment, looking back at Hermione. "Thank you, Hermione," she said sincerely.

Hermione smiled at her. "What are friends for?"

Luna stared at her, Hermione thinking she saw her silvery eyes becoming misty again for a moment, before Luna smiled at her, and was gone.

Hermione sighed and looked at the bookshelves on either side of her. Strangely, the thought of digging through these old tomes looking for Luna's spell no longer held much attraction.

* * *

Ginny glanced at Colin Creevy at the table ahead of her with growing irritation. He kept looking around at the other students in the classroom and scribbling something in his notebook.

Ginny leaned closer to Luna, who was sitting next to her, serenely making what appeared to be a bracelet of acorns. "What's he playing at, I wonder?" she whispered.

"I imagine," said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off her half completed bracelet, "He's likely making a list of everyone who sits together. I heard Padma saying he's working on creating a school newsletter, you know. I suppose," she said, waving her hand around the class, "he's keeping track of who talks to who to establish a list of gossip contacts."

Ginny looked back at Colin, who was now looking down the second row and making notes. Colin making a newsletter? He'd better not make up stories about me, she thought warningly.

"Well," said Ginny, "at least he's not going around flashing that Muggle camera in people's faces anymore."

"Daddy said it's a good idea," said Luna, delicately fitting another acorn onto the double-twisted string she was carefully weaving. Ginny saw some of the other students glancing at Luna, a few pointing and giggling. She tried her best to ignore it but part of her was nevertheless fuming.

"He did?" asked Ginny distractedly, wondering if Luna was even aware of the others making fun of her. She marvelled how Luna could so easily tune everything out and immunize herself to the endless taunts and ridicule. Herself, she couldn't help but scowl at one of the Ravenclaw girls in the next row, who was doing some of the more overt mocking.

Luna nodded serenely. "He says it's always a good idea for people to be kept informed of important developments." She glanced at Ginny while reaching for another acorn, "I don't think many people trust the Daily Prophet anymore."

"Well I suppose that's true," said Ginny. "But then, the Prophet and Colin's newsletter aren't exactly going to compete over the same news stories."

Ginny and most of the class jumped on their stools as the large heavy door to the Potions classroom opened suddenly and hit the wall with a resounding bang. Professor Snape walked smoothly but quickly to the front of the class, his dark robes billowing behind him. Luna, on the other hand, showed no sign of realizing the Potions Master had arrived, contentedly continuing to fasten another acorn to her bracelet.

Colin quickly put his notepad away. The chatter of the preceding minutes abruptly turned into nervous silence. Snape looked around the darkened classroom with a cold stare, his eyes coming to rest on Luna, who was still serenely stringing acorns. Ginny's anxiety rose sharply. She tried kicking Luna's foot under the table but only managed to bump the leg of her stool.

Snape slowly and ominously moved down the steps from his desk and behind Colin (who hadn't dared turn to watch), and came to stand directly before Luna, his icy stare apparently lost on her. After several moments she noticed his shadow fall across her table, staring up at him innocently.

"Are we enjoying our little crafts, Miss Lovegood?" said Snape slowly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ginny held her breath.

"Oh, yes," answered Luna dreamily. "Don't mind me, though. I'll stop as soon as class starts."

Ginny grimaced, closing her eyes tightly. Wrong answer, she thought.

"Class starts the moment I enter the room, Ms. Lovegood," said Snape darkly, raising an eyebrow before turning abruptly and walking back to his desk. "You have delayed the start of class. Five points from Gryffindor."

Ginny's eyes popped open. She head a general rustling through the classroom along with several murmurs. Did anyone dare say anything...?

Snape snapped back around and gave no sign he had noticed. His dark eyes turned back to Luna, who had her arm raised. "Yes, Miss Lovegood?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm in Ravenclaw, actually," said Luna serenely. Ginny heard low moans coming from the Ravenclaws on the other side of the room.

Snape frowned for a moment, his eyes dropping to her Ravenclaw crest. He looked over to Luna's housemates, whom were all sitting on the far side of the classroom. He turned back to her. "Thank you for pointing out my error, Miss Lovegood," he said in a low voice. "Ten points from Ravenclaw then." More low groans drifted from the far side.

Luna raised her hand again. Ginny quickly took it and pulled it back down, Luna frowning at her.

Snape paid no attention. He looked over the classroom. "As your inaugural task for fifth year, you will prepare a Strengthening Solution, which I described to you last Friday. Some of the ingredients are quite exotic, so if any of you mess up your preparations," he said menacingly, "you will get no second chance."

As if we ever get second chances anyway, Ginny thought, setting her cauldron on the table before her, Luna doing likewise.

Snape turned his back to the class and waved his wand at the wall. "This is the list of ingredients you will require," he said as the words instantly appeared on the board. "Do not," he said firmly as he turned back to face the students, "use any metallic tools to handle the Aqua Fortis, use only your glass receptacles."

The students set themselves to preparing the brew, which Ginny recognized as being much more complex than any they'd made the previous year. Clearly Snape wasn't wasting any time getting them on track for their O.W.L.S.

Fifteen minutes had gone by and they still weren't even halfway through the intricate process. Ginny was adding a spoonful of shredded boomslang skin to her brew when she detected Luna humming "Weasley is our King" softly under her breath. Ginny couldn't suppress a smile, knowing how Ron still hated that tune, even after it had become Gryffindor's victory song. Luna glanced at the blackboard then drifted over to the side cupboards, bringing back a jar of crushed scarab beetles. After adding the darkly-coloured powder in the specified minute increments, she put the jar next to her friend's cauldron, as Ginny was almost ready to add her own. Ginny smiled and reached for the jar, noticing at that moment Luna staring, seemingly transfixed, at the board behind Snape, who was sitting at his desk, slowly scanning back and forth to detect any potential disasters in the making. Her melodic humming had come to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" whispered Ginny, looking back at the board, thinking that perhaps Luna couldn't make out what was written, or that maybe Snape was obscuring part of it. Ginny could see it clearly from her angle, though. "It says pureed Jobberknoll feathers, Luna."

At that, Luna's hand shot up sharply. Ginny almost dropped her jar. "Luna!" she whispered harshly. "What is it??"

But Luna didn't seem to have heard, or at least gave no indication she had. Snape had glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but had quickly shifted his gaze to the other side of the class. Seeing this, Luna began waving her outstretched hand back and forth in wider and wider arcs, making quite a spectacle. Ginny quickly added her crushed beetle powder, spooning it in more hastily than she should have, then rushed to the cupboard and found a jar of the pureed Jobberknoll feathers, which she immediately brought back to the table and put in front of Luna. "Here!" she whispered in her ear. "This is the next ingredient, Luna, right here, look...put your hand down, for heaven's sake, you're going to get in trouble again..."

But by now some of the students had started taking notice of Luna's attempts to get the Potions teacher's attention, and the distraction was becoming too great even for Snape to ignore, as he finally turned an irritated gaze to Luna. "You have a question, Miss Lovegood?" he asked curtly.

But Luna seemed to take no notice of his tone, as she stared back at him unblinkingly with those luminous silver eyes. "Excuse me, professor," she said in her dreamy voice, "But we cant use pureed Jobberknoll feathers...isn't there something we can substitute?"

Snape's eyebrows went up as his eyes widened dangerously. "Substitute?" he said, in what to Ginny sounded like an honestly shocked voice. "Substitute, Miss Lovegood?"

He stood up and was slowly making his way towards their table, Ginny desperately reaching for the jar of Jobberknoll feathers, intending to add it to Luna's potion herself, but Luna quickly grabbed it and moved it to the far end of the table, out of reach.

"Yes," said Luna simply, without the slightest indication she had committed an unspeakable faux pas.

Snape was now standing right in front of them, crossing his arms. The entire class had stopped working on their potions, everyone staring at the rapidly brewing confrontation.

His voice held a sinister edge that Ginny had learned to beware, as it always preceded some kind of severe punishment. "One does not...'substitute'...ingredients in making potions, Miss Lovegood."

"But Professor," continued Luna, her large eyes still staring up at him, "I've read an article about Jobberknolls this past summer, they've been designated an endangered species, you know."

Ginny closed her eyes as her head dropped. No, No, No, she thought.

Snape looked down stonily at Luna. "Have they, now?" he said icily.

Luna nodded vigorously. "The Confederation for the Protection of Endangered Magical Creatures said so," she said airily. "It was in The Quibbler."

Snape slowly uncrossed his arms, his appearance frightfully menacing. "You are not to bring up that ridiculous rag in this class ever again, Miss Lovegood, is that understood?" He said, snapping his head sharply in the direction of a giggling Ravenclaw. The giggling stopped abruptly.

Luna was looking at Snape, her silver eyes wide, mouth open, her normally surprised expression replaced by one of shock. Ginny knew that one could ridicule Luna to no end without any consequences, but to take a shot at her father...

Snape turned and walked back to the front of the class without looking back at them.

"Why you...you..." Luna looked furious, having gotten up off her stool, the dreaminess in her voice conspicuously absent. Ginny quickly took her wand out of her robes and pointed it at Luna under the table.

"Silencio," she muttered under her breath with one hand covering her mouth.

Snape spun around, glaring at Luna. "Yes, Miss Lovegood?"

Luna opened her mouth, her body trembling with fury. She went to speak but was startled by the resulting silence. For a moment her look of anger gave way to one of surprise and she tried speaking again, to no better effect.

A look of realization crossed her face as frowned at Ginny and stomped her foot loudly on the floor, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Ginny avoided her angry stare, raising her eyebrows and looking sheepish while staring at the ancient and pockmarked surface texture of her cauldron.

"Well," said Snape with as close a thing to an amused voice Ginny had ever heard him use, "I never thought I'd see the day when a Weasley would make oneself useful." He seemed to hesitate a moment and looked at Luna with something approaching a smirk, "Five points to Gryffindor," he said.

Ginny raised her eyes and met Luna's, a very apologetic look on her face. Luna gave her an extremely frustrated shake of the head, hair flying, and sat back heavily on her stool, staring angrily into her cauldron.

I'll make it up to you, Ginny thought to herself, as they resumed brewing their potions in silence.