Luna's year

Ron staggered down the last few steps of the Gryffindor tower in a near stupor. But then, that was hardly surprising, considering he'd tossed and turned all night long, awakening every few minutes; he doubted if he'd gotten as much as a couple of hours' slumber all told. Normally a sound sleeper, he needed his nightly eight hours to avoid feeling lethargic the next day; getting only a couple of hours had transformed him into something akin to a zombie.

Staggering out into the Common Room, he consoled himself with the thought that he was going to spend the next few days at home, where he could savour his mother's cooking and recharge his batteries. He wandered over to the fireplace.

"Hey," greeted Neville from the large divan facing the fire. He appeared to be stuffing a small box with bits of shredded newspaper. "You're up early!"

Ron yawned as he turned his back to the fire, inching backward towards it until he felt the soothing warmth of the flames rise up his legs and back. "Couldn't sleep," he said drowsily. "Did anybody else come down yet?"

"Nope," replied Neville, shredding up more newspaper and dropping it into his box. "Not since I've been here, anyway."

"That's for Trevor, right? Don't you have a cage for that?" asked Ron, recalling Neville's old second hand birdcage.

"Are you kidding?" said Neville, patting down the shredded paper along the walls of the container. "It's freezing out there...at least this will keep him warm enough till we get to the train."

Ron nodded, turning around and putting his hands over the fire, gradually warming himself up to a tolerable degree. "Well," he said after a few minutes, "I'm going to go grab a bite, you coming?"

"No, I can't," answered Neville. "I've got to go pack, I never got around to it last night. I'll meet you there later, though."

Ron yawned and crept off through the small tunnel and emerged into the hall, making his way through the bright, seasonally decorated corridors. There seemed to be quite a bit of mistletoe floating about this year, he noticed. Probably Flitwick's doing, he mused. He yawned and waved to a couple of passing second year Gryffindors, headed back in the direction of Gryffindor tower.

As he entered the long central corridor, he made for the Great Hall when he saw Luna Lovegood dreamily walking down from the far end. Hoping to duck out of sight before she noticed him, he marched quickly to the open doors leading into the Great Hall, before a realization struck him.

Oh wait, he thought, recalling everything Hermione had said the previous evening, silently kicking himself.

He stopped and turned around again, waiting for the Ravenclaw. Okay Ron, he thought, just take a deep breath...

She strolled slowly down the hall as though lost in the forest, gazing dreamily at the various colourful decorations floating about, finally drifting to the large Christmas Tree that graced the castle's main entrance. She slowly wandered around its base, gazing at the myriad ornaments, candles and ribbons sprinkled through its green branches, coming to a stop at the near side. She took out a small object from her robes and gingerly placed it in an undecorated spot under one of the lower overhanging branches.

She took a step back and contemplated it thoughtfully, before stepping forward once more and turning the new ornament to face another direction. After gazing at it a moment longer, she seemed to take satisfaction in its current position and stood back, gazing contentedly up at the tree, as though taking in its beauty for the first time.

Ron sighed, tapping his foot and growing increasingly impatient. His stomach was growling angrily. C'mon, already, he thought impatiently.

He slowly walked up next to her, who continued gazing dreamily at the tree, apparently oblivious to his presence. He glanced at the ornament she'd just affixed, surprised to see his eyes drawn to a beautiful and intricate miniature wreath, made out of twigs, small pine cones, acorns, dried flowers and other tiny odds and ends.

Wow, he thought, that's actually not bad...

He counted six tiny dandelions scattered about its rim, each one larger than the rest of the dried flowers and clearly meant to be symbolic of something, though he couldn't guess as to what.

"Um...hi, Luna," he said hesitantly.

She turned and looked at him with a vacant expression. "Oh hello, Ronald," she said vaguely, turning back to the fir. "It's a rather beautiful tree this year, isn't it?"

"Er, yeah," he replied, grateful that she was concentrating her unnerving gaze at the tree and not him. He waited for her to wake from her apparent reverie.

He quickly lost patience with that plan. "Um...what's that you're carrying?" he asked.

She turned her large silvery eyes on him, making him wish he'd kept silent. "It's a blanket," she replied serenely, holding it out for him to see. "Ginny let me borrow it last night. I wanted to bring it back before she left, I didn't want someone taking it seeing as it's not mine."

"Um....yeah, I guess," he said, becoming more uncomfortable by the moment. He had to broach the subject quickly before he lost his nerve. He took a deep breath. "Err...listen, Luna, I was, um, wondering..."

She held the blanket up against her chest with both arms folded over it protectively and gave him her undivided attention, which hardly served to decrease his unease. Her pale eyes were gazing intently at him in the unblinking manner which he found so disconcerting.

"We're, um, sort of going to the Burrow, well, no, definitely to the Burrow, for the holidays, I mean, with my folks and I was, um, wondering, you know, if you'd like, to um, go, I mean come with us, on the train and stuff, you know...to the Burrow...for Christmas..." Blimey, he thought, nice and smooth, Ron, she'll think you're the one who's nutters...

"I'd love to," answered Luna suddenly, smiling dreamily at him. "That's quite sweet of you, actually. Thank you, Ronald!"

With that, she headed off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, Ron exhaling once he realized he'd been holding his breath. He turned back towards the Great Hall, taking one last glance in Luna's direction before heading through the doors, noting her normally serene, drifting walk had turned into a most exuberant gait, practically bounding up the stone steps to the Gryffindor tower before disappearing from view.

* * *

Harry heaved his suitcase onto the rack over the seat, pushing it over the guide rail until it was snugly in place, before turning back and helping Hermione do likewise, putting it up beside his own. He looked back to the door, noting that was the last one, everyone was here. He took his seat, nearest to the door.

Luna was sitting on the opposite side Hermione, next to the window; Harry noticed she'd put the her raven up on the luggage shelf, enclosed in a rather large circular cage, electing to keep her bag at her feet, a rolled up copy of The Quibbler sticking out one side. Ginny, sitting in the middle between her and Hermione, seemed to be having some difficulty suppressing her amusement at Ron's obvious discomfort trying to cope with Luna's staring, having haplessly ended up in the seat directly opposite the Ravenclaw.

Harry smiled. He'd been in the process of unpacking his suitcase that morning when Ginny ran up excitedly to inform him Luna was coming to the Burrow after all. It had saved him from having to explain to Ron about his sudden change in plans. But, now that Ron had invited Luna along, he felt this was going to be a thoroughly enjoyable holiday.

He wondered inwardly at what had provoked the sudden change in Ron, though he certainly wasn't complaining; Ginny said she'd rarely seen Luna so happy. By the time he'd repacked and made his way down to the Common Room she'd already left, undoubtedly to pack her own things.

"That's it!" exclaimed Ron suddenly, making Harry jump. "That's where I saw it!"

"Saw what?" asked Hermione, looking at Ron in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"That book Malfoy had!" replied Ron excitedly. "That symbol on the cover, I remember where I saw one just like it!"

Hermione thought for a moment. "You mean last night in the library?"

Ron had told Harry of their suspicious encounter with Malfoy the previous night; while it was certainly cause for concern, they hadn't actually caught him red-handed, other than sneaking his way into the library after hours. Ron hadn't mentioned anything about a book, though.

"Yes!" said Ron. "I can't believe I couldn't remember before...it was that book Lestrange had in the forest, remember?"

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Holy cricket!" she said.

"What?" Harry asked, suddenly becoming concerned. "He had Lestrange's book with him last night? Here in the library?"

"Yes! Blimey!" Ron said, "Why couldn't I have remembered that last night? We've got to tell Dumbledore!"

"What's the book about?" asked Ginny curiously.

"Who knows?" Ron said. "But it can't be anything good, I'd wager..."

"I wonder if it's a ledger?" mused Hermione almost to herself. "It might have a list of names, contacts..."

"Cripes, the Order could really use something like that!" exclaimed Ron.

"Well, hold on," Hermione said, "We're just speculating here at best...and look, Malfoy wasn't staying at Hogwarts during the holidays anyway, right?"

"That's true," Harry said. "Okay, he won't do anything for now, but when we get back we should investigate this..."

"It could just be any ratty old book, anyway," said Ginny. "I mean, leather-bound books aren't exactly rare, are they?"

"No, no, it's definitely the one I saw," said Ron. "Ore one just like it. It had the same runes on the cover, that's what made me think of it..."

"What runes?" chimed Lune, looking at Ron curiously.

"I can't remember exactly," he said. "I only saw them for a second...but I'm almost positive they were the same ones I saw on that book in the forest."

"When we get back," said Harry, leaning forward, "We'll go to the library and have a brainstorming session...we have to figure out a way to get that book, or at least see what's in it."

They chatted animatedly for a time, until they felt the train give a slight lurch, the signal that they had gotten underway.

"Well," said Hermione, rising from her seat and looking at Ron. "We may as well go do our patrol now, shouldn't we?"

Ron sighed. Harry couldn't help but get the feeling he'd never really been terribly enthusiastic about his Prefect's duties.

"Yeah, all right," said Ron, slowly getting up and following Hermione out of the compartment, sliding the door closed behind him.

Luna's turned her gaze to Neville, who reached up and grabbed his cardboard box from the shelf, removing the cover. "I guess I can let him out for a bit in here," he said, tilting the box over onto his lap.

The amphibian jumped out onto Ron's vacated seat.

"Toad!" Harry was startled by the sudden loud croaking voice. "Food!"

There was a loud flapping noise, Harry glancing up to see Luna's raven furiously pecking away at the lock of its cage. Luna stood up serenely and turned around to face the excited bird.

"Hey, don't let him out!" cried Neville, lunging for his toad, who had already jumped clear to the floor. "He'll eat Trevor!"

Luna gave the raven a few treats from her pocket. "You're not to eat him, Nevermore," she said, pointing to the toad jumping about the compartment. "He's Neville's pet. His name is Trevor. Do you understand?"

The raven stopped its flapping and peered at her. "No toad?" it croaked.

"No toad," nodded Luna, handing it a few more treats before retaking her seat.

"Whoa!" said Neville in astonishment, ogling the raven, "I didn't know it could talk!"

"I've been teaching him," said Luna dreamily, "Ravens can speak quite well, you know."

"Mum and Dad will love to see that," said Ginny. "Mum just loves birds, and Dad, well, anything that's out of the ordinary gets his interest going."

Harry grinned. He'll sure take a liking to Luna, then, he thought.

"Why'd you bring it along, anyway?" asked Neville, taking out a bag of Pepper Imps from his pocket and proceeding to chew on one.

Luna turned her gaze on him. "He can't stay in the owlery," she said. "Owls and ravens don't get along very well, you know, so I've been keeping him in the dormitory...but I couldn't leave him there for an entire week, no one would take care of him."

Harry glanced up at the large bird. Though it had settled back down, he supposed it could be a bit intimidating if let out of its cage. He kicked himself for not having thought to ask Hagrid to take care of it for a few days; a raven to him would be like a budgie to Harry.

* * *

"Luna, would you be a dear and pass the cranberry sauce?" asked Molly Weasley.

With ten people sitting at the table, there was barely enough room in the Weasley's small, impossibly cluttered kitchen for anyone to slide by; though with winter's grip firmly established, there was no question of eating out in the garden as they'd done during the summer holiday.

Harry watched the young Ravenclaw carefully pass the bowl down to Mrs. Weasley, recalling the last time he'd seen Luna and cranberry sauce together; it hadn't exactly been the most pleasant of experiences for her.

"So how's Andrew doing these days, Luna?" asked Arthur Weasley from the end of the table, smiling at her. "I haven't seen him since the World Cup, blimey, time flies! Still running The Quibbler, I imagine?"

"Yes," said Luna dreamily, delicately spooning some of Mrs. Weasley's almond butternut cheeseballs onto her plate. "Daddy says readership has gone up quite a lot since last year; we might even be able to go back to Sweden again this summer!"

"Sweden?" said Charlie, seated directly across from her. "Good choice...that's a great place to spend summer holidays; I went there for a bit after graduation, they have some of the best trout fishing in Europe."

"They're fishing for something else," giggled Ginny, Charlie glancing unknowingly at her. Harry forced himself in maintaining a straight face while Luna nibbled away serenely on a pearl onion she'd impaled on a toothpick, her unblinking gaze directed intently at Ron's older brother. She'd been staring at him ever since they'd sat down for supper, in fact.

"Oh, yeah?" said Charlie, "More into salmon, are you, or grayling maybe?"

Luna shook her head. "We're collecting evidence of the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," she said conversationally. "We went last summer, but we only found a few tracks. Still, Daddy said it's only a matter of time before we see one, and then he can write it all in The Quibbler for the readers."

She suddenly put her onion down. "I don't know who you are," she said, abruptly changing the subject in mid-discussion.

Charlie blinked and smiled bemusedly and looking quite nonplussed, while Ginny almost choked trying to keep her eggnog down. Evidently Luna had never met Charlie before, Harry thought. Of course, with Charlie having graduated from Hogwarts several years ago and spending most of his time in central Europe since then, it wasn't too surprising.

"Er..." said Charlie, glancing at Molly, "I'm - ".

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce you! Luna, this is Charlie, second eldest in the family, you know. He works with dragons in Romania...Charlie, this is Luna Lovegood, Andrew's daughter, she's in her fifth year at Hogwarts, in Ravenclaw, if I remember, isn't that right, dear?"

"That's what you get for joining the party so late, Charlie," smiled Arthur Weasley.

Harry grinned at the sight of him; while Charlie was always very calm and easy-going, it was an amusing twist to see him taken aback by Luna's uniquely meandering personality. Ron, on the other hand, seemed intensely satisfied to have someone else be the target of Luna's unnerving stares.

"Pleased to meet you, Luna," said Charlie belatedly, and smiling brightly, as she'd taken up nibbling on her onion again. "What exactly is a...Crumple-Nosed...um, what?"

Ginny burst into giggles. Luna snapped her head around. "They're real, you know!" she said sharply.

"Er...what's real?" asked Charlie. Fred and George looked at each other, identical wry smiles on each of their faces.

"Her dad comes up with these theories - " elaborated Ron, addressing Charlie.

"They're not theories!" protested Luna. "There's plenty of evidence - "

"They think there's these little horned rabbits hopping around all over the place," continued Ron, "That Quibbler paper is always full of stuff like that - "

Luna picked up a pearl onion from her plate and flung it at Ron, hitting him in the eye before it dropped down and splashed into his cup of nutmeg.

"OW!!" cried Ron, rubbing his eye with one hand and spooning out a large heap of mashed potatoes with the other. "Food fight!" he yelled, Ginny quickly grabbing some stuffing off her plate, while Fred and George scrambled to pick their nutritional weapons of choice. Harry hastily pushed back from the table and prepared to duck.

"PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE!!!" shrieked Molly, bolting up from her chair so quickly that it skidded back into the pantry. "There will be NO food fights in this house! Drop your taters this instant, young man!" she said, pointing her fork threateningly at Ron.

"But she threw an onion at me! Right in the eye, too! Blimey, I could've been blinded!" objected Ron, reluctantly dropping his food back onto his plate upon seeing his mother was not going to listen to his arguments.

"She is a guest in this house, Ron Weasley," lectured Molly. "Honestly, where are your manners today? Sid I raise you to be an uncouth boor?!"

"Uncouth!" joked Fred, elbowing George. "Ouch! Hear that, our little brother's lost his couth without us there at Hogwarts to keep 'im in line!"

"Okay, fine," muttered Ron under his breath, his ears turning scarlet, twisting his spoon loosely in his potatoes. Harry almost chocked trying to keep from bursting out laughing at the sight of Luna sticking her tongue out at Ron before resolutely turning back to her cheeseballs. Harry figured he'd better have a talk with Ron about taking shots at The Quibbler; he never seemed to learn.

"Anyway," interjected Bill, turning to his father as Molly retook her seat, "Has anyone heard from Tonks lately? Moody told me she was supposed to check in last week."

Harry's ears picked up. He glanced at Ginny, who was also listening attentively. Luna, however, was contentedly nibbling away on her cheeseballs, staring alternately at the people around the table.

"Well, I wouldn't get too worked up just yet," Mr. Weasley was saying. "She might just not be in a good position to contact him, you know, with the - " he glanced at the students, "The job she's doing."

"Yeah, well, I'd still feel a lot better knowing she's all right," said Bill. "You know, that - er - job is kind of sensitive, and all."

"Oh, I know," said Mr. Weasley. "But really, Bill, think about it - there's no one better for it, is there? Especially with her, um...talent."

"I realize that," Bill was saying, "But still, we shouldn't assume anything. It could, er - "

"Oh for heaven's sake," exclaimed Ginny, dropping her fork on her plate, unable to contain herself any longer. "We know all about the 'job'! Will you all stop trying to tiptoe around us!"

"You do?" asked Mr. Weasley, stunned at that bit of news. "How'd you find out?"

"Hope there hasn't been a leak," said Charlie worriedly, glancing at his older brother.

"There hasn't been a leak, all right? Now listen," said Ginny, as she proceeded to recount the events of their furtive attempt to recover the pensieve in the Shrieking Shack.

When she'd finished, Mr. Weasley seemed under the influence of the stupefy hex, while Mrs. Weasley looked horrified, hands covering her mouth in shock as she stared wide-eyed at Luna, who'd continued nibbling serenely on her pearl onions and cheeseballs throughout, as though they were discussing the latest Quidditch scores.

"Good lord," said Mr. Weasley finally, breaking the silence. "That was...extraordinary."

"Arthur!!" protested Molly, slapping his arm.

"...extraordinarily unwise," he continued in a reprimanding tone and wagging his finger at them all. Harry glanced at Ron, knowing that Arthur Weasley wasn't one to seriously berate anyone. "That was most reckless, children, and I hope you'll think twice before embarking on such a perilous undertaking again."

"Hang on," said Bill, addressing Ginny, "What you said...when Tonks assumed her normal form...was there anyone around that could've seen her?"

"I don't think so," answered Harry, as Ginny had been unconscious during that part of their encounter. "One of the Death Eaters was already knocked out, and the other had run off by then..."

Though the more Harry thought about it, the more he wondered if someone might have lingered long enough to see something; he never did figure out how Malfoy and his cronies had somehow managed to extricate themselves from the tunnel, after all, especially as they'd all been bound. Could there have been another Death Eater they hadn't detected? But no,...if there had, he'd certainly have attacked, wouldn't he, thought Harry.

He looked at his Ravenclaw friend across the table. And Luna would have seen anyone under a disillusionment charm, anyway...

"Well, there you have it," Mr. Weasley was saying, leaning back in his chair. "Don't fret, boys. Tonks knows her stuff, I'm sure she's fine. She might've just reported directly to Dumbledore, seeing as how she's in that area these days."

Harry looked at Ginny. His own thoughts seemingly reflected in her eyes, as she looked apprehensively back at him.

* * *

"Well, what do you think?" asked Ginny, plopping herself down on her bed and facing Luna, who was sitting on the edge of hers.

"He seems nice," said Luna dreamily, running her hands absent-mindedly over the blankets. She looked back to her friend. "I was a bit disappointed he didn't know about Snorkacks though, especially as he works in Romania, after all."

Ginny blinked. "No, silly!" she laughed. "I meant about what they said about Tonks?"

Luna stared at her. "Oh, well, we didn't really learn much, did we?" she said. "We don't really know what goes on in that Order of theirs. I think they're entirely too secretive, really...your father did seem rather worried, though."

"You saw that too?" asked Ginny. Her father had tried to give the outward impression that everything was fine, at least in front of the students. But his body language had told her that he was apprehensive about something.

Luna nodded vaguely, gazing about the room.

"You have such a nice house," she said dreamily, changing the subject as easily as one would draw a breath, taking in Ginny's small and cluttered bedroom. "I've seen it from the outside, of course, but it's even nicer inside."

"Well, it's home," said Ginny off-handedly. "I guess you get used to it after a while. Don't let the looks fool you though, there's lots of little problems with it; Dad's always having to recast his charms to keep it all sticking together."

"Ours is always infested with Bollywoggles in winter," said Luna, eyes popping madly as though the creatures were ready to pounce out of the closet any second, "Daddy thinks they come in through the plumbing, you know, just before the pond freezes over."

"Eh?" asked Ginny curiously, removing her slippers and throwing them beneath her bed. "What's a Bollywoggle?"

To Ginny they sounded like one of Luna's mysterious fantasy creatures, but if they were actually in her house...

"Oh, they're dreadful little beasties," said Luna. "I really don't like it when they tie my hair at night, though it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't make double knots."

Ginny winced. She wondered how she could sleep if she knew little creatures were likely to come out of the woodwork and play with her hair while she slept...

"Eww..." she said, grimacing, "Can't you like, hex them out?"

"Oh, yes," replied Luna, "But they're clever little things, really. They always find a way back. Anyway, did you hear, Kirley McCormack said they're going to include a stop at Ottery St Catchpole next year as part of their tour, isn't that peachy?"

"Who?" asked Ginny, confused. "Kirley McCormack?"

"Oh, come on," said Luna, "You know Kirley McCormack, he's lead guitarist for the Weird Sisters; you've got a picture of them right there," she pointed at the poster of the Weird Sisters hanging on the wall just above Ginny's dresser.

"Oh!" said Ginny, finally recalling where she'd heard the name before. "Okay, I know who you're talking about now! I saw them at the Yule Ball a couple of years ago, they were great!!"

"I didn't get to see them," said Luna sadly, "But maybe I'll get another chance when they come by next year...hopefully Daddy will be able to get us tickets...did you know Donaghan Tremlett is from this area too? I didn't know that until I read about it in this month's Quibbler," she said, pointing to her bag on the floor. "You can read it tonight if you like."

"Well, maybe tomorrow, thanks Luna," Ginny said, stretching her arms and stifling a yawn. "I think I'm going to go get a glass of milk and hit the sack though, I'm bushed."

"It is rather late," said Luna dreamily, running her hands slowly over her blankets. "Well at least I won't wake up shivering this night..."

"Oh!" exclaimed Ginny. "Hang on, I can't believe I was forgetting - "

She crouched down beside her bed and pulled out a box from underneath, colourfully decorated with gold and green Christmas wrapping, turning around and putting it on Luna's lap.

"This is from Hermione and me," she said, smiling. "Happy Christmas, Luna."

Luna stared at the box for several moments, mouth slightly open as though disbelieving what she was seeing, before finally raising her gaze to Ginny, silver eyes wide, her expression even more surprised than usual.

"Ginny?" she said softly. "This...I didn't..." she trailed off, a strange look in her eyes, almost as if she could not for the life of her comprehend why anyone would want to give her a Christmas present.

"Well, come on, open it!" said Ginny eagerly.

Luna stared at her a while longer before turning her attention back to the box sitting on her lap, proceeding to very delicately remove the bow and ribbons, and was being exceedingly careful about not tearing the paper as she slowly unwrapped the box.

"Oh, just rip it open, Luna!" said Ginny, hopping up and down anxiously on the edge of her bed. "It's just paper!"

Luna bit her lip and slowly tore the rest of the paper off as though it was a painful exercise. She turned the box back upright and gingerly lifted off the cover, carefully lifting out the blue and bronze coloured hand knitted blanket, Hogwarts crest emblazoned on the top, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw crests side by side on the reverse.

"Hermione and I took turns knitting it over the last couple of months," said Ginny. "Ever since they started taking your blankets, we figured it might come in handy..."

Luna stared at Ginny and swallowed hard, running a hand back through her long, dirty blonde hair. She remained quiet for several moments, looking down at the unfolded blanket on her lap.

"This is...very sweet, Ginny..." she said, her voice unusually quiet. "Thank you..."

Ginny leaned forward. "Luna, are you okay? What's wrong...hey, whoa..." she got up and quickly sat down next to her friend on the other bed.

Luna raised her head and looked at her. Her large silver eyes were very misty, which was doubly shocking to Ginny considering she'd never seen her in such a state.

"I really...didn't expect this..." said Luna softly, "I didn't even get you anything..."

"Well you deserve it!" said Ginny encouragingly. "And you already gave us our Christmas presents a long time ago, oh gosh, Luna, I didn't want to make you sad..."

Luna shook her head vigorously, strands of long pale locks whipping across Ginny's face in the process. "I'm not," she said earnestly.

She held the blanket up again. "It really is lovely, isn't it..." she whispered.

"Well...are you sure you're okay?" asked Ginny with genuine concern.

Luna looked at her and nodded, smiling dreamily. "Oh, yes..."

"Oh, and nobody can steal this one from you, either," said Ginny. "Hermione put a charm on it, once you put it on any bed, you're the only one who can remove it."

Luna looked at the blanket in her hands. "Really? How does it work?"

"Yeah, here, I'll show you," said Ginny, standing. "You'll have to get off the bed, though."

Luna stood up. "Okay, now cover the bed with it," instructed Ginny.

Once Luna had drawn the blanket over, Ginny took hold of the top edge. "Okay, now watch this," she said, and went to pull it off.

The blanket immediately came to life, digging itself in under the mattress and pulling itself very tight. Ginny couldn't even manage to pull so much as a corner out of place, tugging furiously. "Nope - it's not going anywhere," she said with satisfaction. "Now you try it."

Luna delicately took a corner and pulled up, watching with astonishment as the blanket loosened itself and drew off the bed without protest.

"What charm is this?" asked Luna, staring at the blanket in wonderment.

"Well, I'm not sure, actually," said Ginny. "That was Hermione's doing. I think she asked Professor Flitwick for help too. It works pretty well though, doesn't it?"

Luna nodded, staring at her for several moments before throwing the blanket on the bed and hugging her startled friend.

"Thank you ever so much, Ginny..."

* * *

Hermione was in the process of unpacking her suitcase up in her bedroom when she heard a shriek from downstairs, clearly her mother's. The sound made her heart race, as her mother was such a calm and collected woman and definitely not one to panic so.

She dropped the socks she was holding and quickly grabbed her wand from her dresser, bolting for the stairs. Though technically not permitted to use magic outside of school, if her mother was in some kind of danger, the rules would fly out the window, for all she cared, racing down the stairs and almost running into her father who was at the same moment hurrying up from the basement.

She ran into the kitchen just in time to see her mother violently thrusting a broom at the open window above the sink, trying to repel what looked like a large black raven trying to force its way in.

"Mum, no!" yelled Hermione, running to the sink and pushing the broom away. "It's Luna's! Don't hurt it!"

"What?!" Her mother gaped at her as the raven finally hopped down onto the counter, eyeing the older woman warily. "You mean - it's a post - raven?"

"Yes!" said Hermione, the corvid sticking its leg out, a rolled-up message clearly visible. "Luna got him a little over a month ago, his name's Nevermore." She proceeded to carefully unwrap the message.

Hermione's dad chuckled. "Well, that's a switch," he said laughingly. "Owls delivering mail are strange enough but a raven..."

"Well, Luna's kind of...unique," said Hermione, opening the drawer and grabbing some of the treats she usually gave to Hedwig and Pigwidgeon.

"Um...do you like these?" she said, holding out a few treats for Nevermore to see. "They're for owls, normally, I don't have anything specifically for ravens."

"Fine," croaked Nevermore, making Mrs. Granger jump. Hermione held them out as the raven quickly snapped them up one by one, then promptly hopped back up on the window sill before flying off into the night.

"Honestly," Hermione's mother was saying, "That bird scared the dickens out of me...I kept hearing it tapping louder and louder at the window, till I got worried it might shatter, so I tried to shoo it off - " she looked at Hermione. "Why on Earth would anyone want a bird like that?"

Hermione smiled at her. "It's just Luna, Mum," she said. "I'd like to invite her over for a weekend this summer; she's really...well, different, but she's very sweet, really. You'll like her."

"Well," said Mrs. Granger as she looked at her husband, "I suppose it's all right, we didn't have any particular plans for this summer, did we?" He shook his head.

"Great!" said Hermione. "Thanks, Mum!" She ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

She sat on the edge of her bed next to forgotten suitcase and unrolled the parchment. She was surprised at fluid smoothness of Luna's script, as she'd never shared any classes with her and it was the first time she'd seen the Ravenclaw's handwriting; somehow she'd expected it to a bit more homespun in appearance:

Dear Hermione,

How are you getting on? Hopefully you enjoyed your ski trip and didn't injure yourself. I never really understood why Muggles like to ski so much; it seems so odd, tying sticks to one's feet and sliding down hills...but then, perhaps it's the closest they came come to flying on broomsticks, I suppose.

Things here at the Weasley's been quite enjoyable. I'm still rather surprised that Ronald invited me over for the holidays, he's a bit odd isn't he? Well, I really wasn't looking forward to spending Christmas alone this year, and the Weasleys are really nice; William is working at Gringotts in London now; he's seeing Fleur Delacourt, she was that girl from Beauxbatons, did you know? He apparently used to be a curse-breaker for Gringotts in Egypt until recently; I imagine he must be quite good at deciphering runes and such. Anyway, I met Charles yesterday for the first time; he said he works with dragons in Romania, which sounds really interesting, don't you think? I'm under the distinct impression he's doing something for the Order down there too, from the sounds of it. He's never heard of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks though, unfortunately...I was rather hopeful he might have, as Daddy tells me Romania is one of the best sighting hot spots for them, aside from Sweden. Oh well. I imagine he has his hands full with dragons.

By the way, I think something odd is going on about Percival, I noticed he wasn't there for the holidays, but when I asked about him Ginny kicked me in the shin...left a bit of a mark too. I'll ask her about him when she comes back up, she's gone down to get a glass of milk right now. Oh, I am prattling on a bit, aren't I? I really shouldn't, I'm using Ginny's ink after all...

I want to thank you so much for the lovely blanket you and Ginny made for me, it really is beautiful. It worked perfectly too, Ginny couldn't pry it off the bed at all! I have to confess I was rather surprised, but also truly moved...I really will never forget this, Hermione.

I hope Nevermore didn't startle your parents; I imagine they must be used to owls by now, but some people seem frightened of ravens for some reason. They really shouldn't, you know...he really is a sweet little bird (well, not so little, I suppose).

Anyway, everyone here misses you, myself included...oh, Ginny's back up, she says hi, we'll see you in a few days then.

Once again, Hermione, thank you so very much,

Happy Christmas,

Your friend,

Luna

Hermione smiled as she slowly rolled the parchment back up. She'd noticed Luna's admission about not looking forward to a lonely holiday, something she doubted she'd never have admitted it if hadn't been heartfelt.

I really have to thank Ron for inviting her, she thought.