Luna's year

Harry spent that afternoon in better spirits than he'd been in all week, despite an afternoon of Divination and Potions classes which would normally be quite sufficient to take the wind from his sails.

Today however, the constant bickering between Firenze and Trelawney hadn't dampened his mood, and even Snape's relentless chiding hadn't particularly stressed him. The talk he'd had that morning with Luna had somehow rejuvenated him; his words had come slowly and haltingly at first, but seeing her listen to him so earnestly had put him at ease. The words came more easily, until they were rushing forth in a torrent of expression and emotions that had been building up without release for five long years...and at the end, he was glad he'd told her everything, having given him at least some satisfaction that she now knew everything Ron and Hermione did.

Their walk back to school had been just as enjoyable as their encounter with the fairies, Luna telling Harry little secrets like how the Patil twins had once switched identities so Parvati could get into the Ravenclaw Common Room to see Roger Davies (who she'd apparently had quite a crush on, according to Luna), or the time she'd gone on one of her late night walkabouts and had gone to the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate only to find the Headmaster himself already there, evidently having experienced the exact same late night craving. His idea of punishment for her being out after curfew had been to recite at some length about his penchant for warm socks, and how these underappreciated and simple garments were actually quite critical in the overall scheme of things. Harry had grinned at the thought of the rather odd sight of Luna and Dumbledore having one of the more peculiar conversations in history, over cups of steaming hot chocolate in the middle of the night.

"Check," said Ron, bringing Harry back to the present as he gleefully removed the debris of one of Harry's broken pawns.

Harry blinked at the board. Once again, he hadn't anticipated Ron's move. He took some solace though, that the game had progressed longer than was tradition; at least he was putting up a good fight. He scanned the board intently for a possible countermove, determined to make a serious attempt at finally scoring an upset win, but his King was virtually surrounded by his own pieces and couldn't move in any direction except closer to Ron's Queen, which was hardly a playable option.

"Shouldn't you two be working on Snape's assignment?" suggested Hermione from her plush divan near the fireplace, Crookshanks curled up lazily on her lap as she flipped through the latest edition of the Daily Prophet.

"Nag nag nag...we don't have Potions tomorrow, remember?" countered Ron, watching Harry put his finger hesitatingly on a sacrificial bishop for a moment before withdrawing it.

Hermione sighed. "Honestly, why must you always put your homework off to the very last moment? Haven't you both learned your lesson by now?"

Harry glanced over the top of his glasses at Ron, who was having trouble suppressing a grin. They'd grown so accustomed to Hermione's scolding over the years that it almost seemed unconscionable to go through a single day without it. In fact, as Harry took in the quiet and relaxing sights and smells of the Gryffindor Common Room, his favourite abode for the last five and a half years, while playing his umpteenth chess match with Ron before the blazing hearth, Hermione's nagging combined to paint an almost nostalgic reminder of their first year at Hogwarts.

Harry realized with a slight pang in his stomach that these quiet, comfortable moments with his friends were finite; in less than two years, they would no longer be calling this place home.

"What are you two smiling about?" asked Hermione suspiciously from her seat, having caught their muted glances at each other.

Ron looked back furtively at Harry, evidently thinking the same thing he was.

"Don't ever change, Hermione," said Ron, grinning.

"Oh...you two, honestly..." said Hermione in frustration, though Harry chanced a glance towards her out of the corner of his eye; her paper wasn't covering her face quite enough to obscure a failed attempt at suppressing her own smile.

* * *

"Out! Out!" barked Madam Pince, pointing towards the library door. "You said you'd be five minutes half an hour ago! Why I made an exception I'll never know - "

Ginny threw Luna a look of resignation as she quickly gathered her books from the table. She knew they'd been pushing their luck, asking the librarian to stay for a few minutes longer beyond the usual closing time, especially considering they still had eighteen inches of blank parchment to fill out for their essay on the influence of the English Civil War on the wizarding world.

They might have finished by now, if some accursed Ravenclaw hadn't jinxed an ink bottle to spill across Luna's notebook earlier; their attempts to scourgify the parchment couldn't determine between the spilled ink and the written words, and so they'd inadvertently wiped out most of the first page.

She'd used that as an excuse to let them stay a little longer, though the librarian's patience had now obviously lapsed. They quickly scampered from the library, Madam Pince on their heels, closing the door firmly shut behind them once they were out in the hallway.

"Well so much for that," sighed Ginny, silently cursing herself for having wasted her free time that morning by agreeing to help Colin design a new logo for the Hogwarts Express. "How are we going to finish this on time now?"

Luna seemed utterly unperturbed. "Well, we still have lunch hour tomorrow, don't we?" she remarked, holding her notebook across her chest as she gazed at Ginny. "I'm sure we'll get it done."

"We'd better," said Ginny as they slowly started back towards the two-tiered staircase at the end of the hall, the torches casting misshapen, flickering shadows of themselves on the walls as they walked. "Otherwise I'll really be kicking myself for putting it off."

She consoled in the knowledge that Luna was in the same boat, surprising as it was. Despite her dreamy and absent-minded exterior demeanor, Luna nevertheless managed her schoolwork quite well. Ginny was glad Luna hadn't worked on it that morning, otherwise she would have spent the last two hours working by herself in the dreary library.

At least I'm not as bad as Ron, she reasoned. Her brother had perfected the last minute submission into something of an art form over the years, often working with Harry in the Gryffindor Common Room until the wee hours of the morning. In truly desperate times, she knew Hermione would just let him plagiarize parts of her own work.

"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow," said Luna airily, as they neared the end of the corridor.

"Eh, how's that?" asked Ginny, glimpsing a decidedly mischievous glint in her friend's eyes. She wondered if she'd somehow misunderstood; the wording seemed nonsensical.

"Oh, it's something a Muggle author wrote once," said Luna vaguely. "It does seem to apply to us, doesn't it?"

Ginny was unable to suppress a smile. It sure does, all to well, she thought. Leave it to Luna to think up these things...

They were descending the staircase when Ginny belatedly noticed they were alone. She only then realized it was well past curfew, and proceeded to keep a careful watch for Filch and his mangy cat.

"I don't know, Luna, I can't help it - I just can't get worked up for anything Binns assigns," she griped in frustration. "I swear it's all I can do just to stay awake in his class!"

"Yes," agreed Luna thoughtfully, "He is rather dreary sometimes, isn't he?"

"At least Snape keeps us on our toes," said Ginny. "Through terror, maybe, but at least we pay attention. I don't know which I hate most, History of Magic or Potions - "

"Well, I much prefer Professor Binns," said Luna dreamily as they emerged into the deserted main hall. "He's never called Daddy's paper a rag."

Ginny vividly recalled the incident in Potions class early that semester. Luna had been positively furious with Snape that day, so much so that the scene had imprinted itself in Ginny's memory.

"Hey, isn't he back yet? Your Dad, I mean?" asked Ginny, recalling his trip to Bavaria during the holidays.

"No," said Luna, "I sent off Nevermore a few days ago to see how he's getting on, you know, but I haven't heard back yet. It is rather far though, so that's to be expected, really."

Although Luna seemed perfectly serene, Ginny thought she detected the tiniest hint of worry in her friend's voice.

"Well, I'm sure he's fine," said Ginny reassuringly, a moment before suddenly realizing she was walking by herself. She stopped and peered back curiously at Luna, who was staring past her down the hall.

Ginny quickly spun around and looked in the same direction apprehensively, fully expecting to see Filch or Mrs. Norris approaching.

Instead, the deserted hall presented nothing out of the ordinary. She walked back to her Ravenclaw companion.

"You okay?" she asked, getting no reaction. "You-hoo...Earth to Luna - "

Luna was staring very intently down the corridor. "Who is that man?" she asked quietly. "I've never seen him before; I don't think he works at the school."

Ginny snapped around, alarmed. She blinked repeatedly, staring hard at the shadows in case someone was lurking therein, but after several moments she was satisfied there was definitely no one in sight.

"What man?"

"Oh, come on," said Luna, taking Ginny's hand in hers and pointing it down the empty hall. "Right there, see?"

Ginny began to wonder if Luna might be hallucinating. "Luna, are you okay? I mean, are you feeling - "

"Yes, really," insisted Luna. "Well, I suppose you can't see him, he's going down the staircase now..."

Ginny glanced back down the hall. The only moving thing she could see near the staircase was a tiny form which she quickly identified as a mouse or rat, moving along the wall before quickly disappearing down the stairs. She looked back at Luna.

"It's a mouse, Luna," said Ginny. "I can't believe you mistook that for a person! Goodness, for someone with such big eyes I'd have thought - "

"It was a man," said Luna with such conviction that Ginny couldn't help glancing back towards the staircase. "Something was rather odd about him."

Ginny sighed, deciding to indulge her. "Okay, can you describe the culprit?"

"Oh, well, he was rather portly," said Luna, her gaze still fixed on the stairs that led to the lower level.

"You mean fat," giggled Ginny.

"One of his hands was quite peculiar," continued Luna. "Almost as though it was made of silver, I suppose."

Ginny gasped out loud, a chill shooting down her spine. She covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide with a sickening realization. "That's...no it can't be..."

Luna turned and looked at her inquisitively. "Who can't it be?"

Ginny reached out and grabbed Luna's wrist. "Luna...are...are you absolutely sure that's what you saw? Please tell me you're joking!"

Her Ravenclaw friend regarded her earnestly, her large silver eyes devoid of their usual mistiness. "Yes, that's truly what I saw. I'm sorry I wasn't jesting though, you seem rather upset - "

Ginny stared at her friend for a few moments longer in a futile hope she'd blurt out that she'd been kidding all along. She finally released her hold on Luna's wrist when it became obvious no such outburst was forthcoming, suddenly realizing her grip had tightened painfully, her knuckles white with strain. Her stomach was tightening itself into knots.

"We have to get Harry," said Ginny nervously, "Or Dumbledore...I can't believe this..."

"Ginny?" asked Luna asked, "What's wrong?"

Ginny swallowed hard. "I think that was Wormtail," said Ginny dispiritedly. "At least, it sounded just like him, from what Ron told me."

Luna's looked thoughtful. "I know who that is," she said vaguely. "Harry told me about him just this morning. He betrayed Harry's parents, you know...come on," she said, making a beeline for the staircase.

"Come on? Where - Luna, wait!" said Ginny, catching up to her. "Where are you going? We should go warn someone, this is dangerous! If he sees us - "

"He's already seen us," said Luna matter-of-factly. "But he doesn't think we can see him."

"Well, we can't!" exclaimed Ginny, "...can we?"

"Well, you can still see him as a rat, can't you? Here..." Luna pulling her wand out from its resting place behind her ear, tapping Ginny lightly on top of the head.

" 'Occulo praestigiae'," she said, as Ginny felt the trickling warmth of the disillusionment charm run down her body to her feet. Luna then cast the charm on herself, quickly becoming a vague, faint outline to Ginny's eyes.

"Oh, dang it! Fine then," said Ginny. "If we get killed I'm never going to let you live it down!"

They took off running for the staircase.

"Well, we wouldn't need to worry about tomorrow's assignment in that case," said Luna dreamily.

They scampered down the staircase to the lower level as quickly and quietly as they could, a few times bumping into each other as Ginny had difficulty gauging the distance between them in their camouflaged state.

Ginny turned the corner, feeling an arm blocking her way. "There," whispered Luna, barely audibly. "About halfway down the hall...see?"

Ginny strained her eyes, seeking out a tiny form along the walls, but couldn't make out anything in the dark shadows. She wondered how Luna could be seeing Wormtail in human form when she couldn't. He was clearly in his animagus form, wasn't he?

The only light in the area was provided by two faintly glowing torches on the wall to either side of the painting that masked the entrance to the kitchen. "I can't see...what's he doing?" she whispered.

"He's just going on," Luna breezed back. "He just turned the other corner."

They shuffled quietly down the hallway, rounding the corner and pausing for a moment to make sure they hadn't been detected. This corridor was better lit than the first, and Ginny could see the tiny form of a rat disappear under a doorsill up ahead.

"He's in that room," whispered Luna, pointing unnecessarily as Ginny could hardly see her.

"Yeah, I saw," said Ginny. They slunk quietly to the black, heavy oak door. Ginny recognized it as the entrance to Snape's office, which adjoined the main Potions classroom a bit further up the hall.

Ginny's hand moved hesitantly to the handle for a moment, before lowering it to her side after considering the risks. Given the old, creaky nature of most of the doors in Hogwarts, it was highly unlikely they'd be able to open it quietly.

"Well, we can't lock him in there," she whispered. "He'd could just crawl out under the sill again, couldn't he?"

She barely made out Luna's form sidling up to the door, trying to listen.

"Hear anything?" whispered Ginny, moving up to the door and doing likewise.

"No..." replied Luna. "Oh wait...yes..."

Ginny pressed her ear tight against the blackened wood. The voice was very faint. Someone was speaking at some distance from the door, but it clearly wasn't a voice she recognized; she assumed it belonged to Wormtail's.

" - has betrayed us, therefore the Dark Lord wishes him dealt with immediately."

There was a prolonged pause. Ginny wondered if he could be speaking to himself, or perhaps into one of those mysterious books Hermione had described.

"What evidence do you have of this?" she heard a voice, unmistakably Snape's, shoot back drily.

"Obviously he has given one of the books of teleportation to Potter," replied Wormtail. "Last night, he and several of his friends made a most inopportune appearance at Bodwin Moor. Not only has he put the Dark Lord's plans at risk, but Dumbledore is now very likely aware of his need for the wand."

Ginny drew a sharp breath. From what Hermione had told her over lunch, the wand he was referring to could only be Luna's...which now resided just a few inches from her.

"What plan?" asked Snape snidely. "I wasn't informed of this."

"That's because your purpose here is to provide intelligence about Dumbledore's activities," countered Wormtail. "The flow of information only needs to go one way in order for you to fulfill your duty to the Dark Lord who, incidentally, instructs you to do everything in your power to retrieve the book and to eliminate the traitor Malfoy."

Ginny gasped. Though she despised Draco, this was beyond anything she'd anticipated.

"Brilliant plan," remarked Snape sarcastically. "Who do you think Dumbledore would suspect, fool? Are you forgetting that as head of Slytherin House, I am the only member of the staff who knows the password to Slytherin tower?"

"Well, what would you have me do?" Wormtail shot back. "Lord Voldemort has commanded it. He'll surely know if we haven't carried it out!"

"Does the Dark Lord wish to lose his eyes and ears within Hogwarts?" argued Snape, "Because that would surely be the outcome were I to carry out that order. And at any rate, I am not convinced that Malfoy has betrayed us as you claim. He despises Potter. I have no doubt whatsoever of this. Why would he knowingly do anything to aid him?"

"This makes the second time that Potter and his friends have endangered our operations since Malfoy was brought into the fold. Whether deliberately, or through neglect or incompetence, he has clearly become a liability to our efforts. At any rate, the issue has been made irrelevant. It's not for us to second guess the Dark Lord," Wormtail replied. "Guilty or not, Lord Voldemort has stated his wishes very clearly in this matter."

There was a brief pause, during which Ginny heard what sounded like stool legs squeaking, as though it had been dragged several feet along the stone floor.

"While Malfoy is at Hogwarts, we dare not act," said Snape. "The only opportunity to eliminate him without arousing suspicion upon me would be at the next Hogsmeade weekend. You can have your people lie in wait for an opportunity there. I will ensure that I remain at school, hence I will not be implicated."

There was another silence. "When is it scheduled?" asked Wormtail finally.

Ginny heard the vague sounds of rustling papers. "On the second Wednesday in February," Snape replied.

"That's a month off!" Wormtail said, "We daren't delay that long! His knowledge of the books of teleportation - "

"Which he has already divulged to Potter, according to you," answered Snape. "Therefore the damage has already been done, has it not?"

"I - yes, I suppose," agreed Wormtail reluctantly. "Very well, we'll wait until then, but not a day longer. Now I must be off; I have to pay a visit to the traitor's mother."

"To what end?" asked Snape, a bit too quickly, Ginny thought.

"Lord Voldemort has ordered that both be eliminated, of course," said Wormtail. "The traitor's mother may well be a danger to us all. Indeed, the Dark Lord has long suspected her lack of commitment; this will allow us to settle the matter."

"I see," said Snape. "And what of Lucius?"

"He can rot in Azkaban, as far as Lord Voldemort is concerned," replied Wormtail. "Actually, he regrets that the Dementors have left; it would have been a rather fitting end for him, don't you think? Well I must be going, I can't disapparate from here, I have to get to Hogsmeade before I can get to Malfoy Manor...curse that Dumbledore and his wards..."

Ginny quickly backed away from the door, pulling Luna along with her. "Come on!" she whispered forcefully, "We've got to go tell Harry!"

They ran up the stairs, no longer bothering to quieten their footsteps, and made their way to the Slytherin tower, Luna having convinced Ginny of the need to at least warn Malfoy beforehand. They came to the blank patch of stonework that concealed the Slytherin Common Room.

" 'Mortalis Aspis' " said Luna. The stone wall stared stubbornly back at her, unmoving.

"Er...are you sure this is the right spot?" asked Ginny. The bare wall here looked no more remarkable than the rest of the ancient stonework in the area.

"Yes," said Luna, "They might have changed the password, I suppose."

"We can send him a note!" exclaimed Ginny. "We're not far from the owlery here, come on!"

They quickly made their way to the owlery tower, running up the spiral stone staircase, their footsteps echoing oddly as they passed a startled Mrs. Norris who had been slinking down in the opposite direction.

They emerged into the large circular room, their feet making odd crunching noises as there was no way to avoid stepping on thousands of tiny bones from long-dead animals.

"Pig!" Ginny called up. "Come down here, hurry! Oh, I hope he's not out hunting..."

The tiny owl gave a familiar hoot as it quickly fluttered down to her and perched itself on one of the lower pegs sticking out from the wall, rotating his head back and forth, until Ginny realized he was looking for the source of her voice...they were still disillusioned!

Ginny quickly drew her wand and dispelled the charms, at which moment Pigwidgeon flew happily down and perched on her shoulder. Luna had put her notebook up against the wall and began writing quickly, Ginny peering over over her shoulder.

Draco Malfoy,

There's very little time to explain, but you and your mother are in danger. Well, you're not, at least for the moment, but your mum is. Please let her know, that Wormtail fellow is on his way to your home right now, and he has some rather nefarious intentions.

Luna Lovegood

" 'Nefarious'?" asked Ginny.

Luna turned around, tearing off the sheet from the pad and rolling it up carefully. "Oh, well, it was the first word that popped to mind...anyway, do you think he'll believe us?"

"I don't know," said Ginny worriedly. "Hope so."

Ginny noticed Luna's demeanour had altered from the usually dreamy and slightly dotty girl she was accustomed to seeing. Rather, she was now very alert and earnest. The last time Ginny had seen Luna like this was when they'd gotten separated from Harry's group in the Department of Mysteries the year before. She still recalled quite vividly, with her own ankle broken and Ron all but incoherent, how Luna had quietly taken charge of the situation, getting them safely through a group of hostile Death Eaters to rejoin Harry. At first Ginny had attributed it to dumb luck, but she now knew that Luna was capable of surprising determination when the situation warranted it. She took a measure of reassurance by the same quiet resoluteness now present in her friend.

As they didn't have any ribbon to tie the note, Luna unrolled the paper and folded it until it was little more than a square inch in size, Ginny telling Pigwidgeon to carry it in his beak.

"Take it to Draco Malfoy!" She called up after him as she threw him up in the air. "In the Slytherin Tower, wake him up if you have to!"

They watched him flutter quickly up the tower until he disappeared through one of the open windows.

"We'd better send one to his mom too, just to be sure." suggested Ginny.

Luna nodded and quickly began writing another letter.

Dear Mrs. Malfoy,

I don't suppose you know me, but I go to Hogwarts School of Witch with your son Draco. Anyway I can't explain right now as time is pressing, but there is a fellow named Wormtail going to your house tonight, and I'm afraid he has some rather nef dreadful intentions.

You aren't safe, please leave quickly and find a good hiding place somewhere. I've just owled your son, so hopefully he'll be able to help you better than I can.

Luna Lovegood

Luna held the paper close to her eyes, quickly scanning it. "I can hardly read the last few lines," she said. "I only had the ink that was left in the quill, you know..."

"It's good enough, at least you didn't write 'nefarious' again," said Ginny, allowing herself a slight teasing smile. "We can't wait for Pig to get back, we'll have to use one of the school owls..."

Luna nodded sagely, folding up the little piece of parchment as she had the first.

"You there!" Ginny called out to a fast looking dark grey owl. "You! Yes, you, the grey one! Come down here, hurry!"

The school owl (Ginny assumed it was; she doubted another student's personal owl would have obeyed) quickly fluttered down to her. She took Luna's folded note and told it to carry it in his beak, as she had with Pigwidgeon. She was preparing to throw it up in the air when Luna interrupted her.

"Maybe you should tell it where it's going," suggested Luna.

Ginny gaped at Luna once the words had sunk in. "I have no idea," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Do you know Malfoy's address?"

Luna shook her head.

Ginny's shoulders sagged. "Well, what now?" she asked. "We don't have time to go look it up - "

Luna looked pensive for a moment before staring up at the owls above them. "Excuse me," she called up airily, "Are there any owls here who might know Draco Malfoy's home address? It's rather important."

Ginny gazed up into the gloomy rafters high above them. A single faint hoot drifted down to them, the owl responsible being out of sight in the uppermost darkness. She pulled the note from the grey owl's beak and told it to never mind, as it lazily flew back up to its perch after giving her an irritated look.

They waited. Aside from the single hoot, there was no sign that any owl had taken notice of Luna's request.

"Dang it," said Ginny, "Where are you? The owl that just hooted!"

They were greeted by continued stony silence and the stares of multitudes of gleaming yellow eyes.

"Please," Luna called up, "It's very urgent."

Finally they heard the lazy rustling of feathers up in the darkened rafters, finally seeing a huge owl drift down towards them. It was so large that Ginny flinched as it flew over her, coming to set itself on one of the lower perches above their heads.

"Good lord, it's big," she remarked. It looked to be at least as large as Luna's raven. She'd seen the owl flying around the Great Hall on occasion when mail arrived, but had never paid any attention to whom it belonged.

"It's an eagle owl," said Luna knowingly, taking the note from Ginny and reaching up on her tiptoes to show the folded parchment to the large bird. "This is very important, I really wouldn't bother you unless it was," she said. The owl was regarding her stoically, as though it had fulfilled its mission just by flying down to them.

"Please," said Luna, stretching her arm out as high as it could go, waving the tiny paper under its beak, "It's for Mrs. Malfoy...she's in danger..."

After several moments the owl finally hooted softly and reluctantly extended its leg.

"I'm sorry," said Luna, "But I don't have a ribbon. This is all rather spur of the moment, you know...could you carry it in your beak, just this once? It's just a small note, really."

The owl looked at her as though she was asking for the Moon, but Luna's insistence seemed to successfully convey the importance of the delivery as it abruptly snatched the note from her hand with its beak and gave a powerful thrust of its wings, rising quickly up the tower and out one of the lower exits.

"I think that's all we can do, at least for now," said Ginny, breathing a sigh of relief. "We should go tell Harry straight away, though. Professor Dumbledore should know that Wormtail was here."

Luna nodded sagely. As they turned to leave, the door to the owlery swung open violently, hitting the wall with a resounding bang, startling the large flock of birds overhead and revealing a terrifying silhouetted figure standing in the doorway, casting a long shadow on the bone-strewn floor.

Ginny felt her blood turn cold at the sight before her.

Oh no...