Hello everyone. This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction... So I'm a tad nervous. I have noticed that a lot of the HP fanfictions get only flamers as the reviews. I hope that doesn't happen to me.
Ok, so to clear some things up before questions need to be asked, I will explain the kind of setting and such. It's not really AU but it's not sticking true to what happened in the series. The only reason I say this is because the whole Chamber of Secrets thing... hasn't happened yet. And also, there will be some confusing... things going on. But Luna is in her Fourth Year, meaning she is fourteen. (I think, correct me if I'm wrong.)
And... yes. I think that's it!

Song Suggestion for this chapter - All I Need by Radiohead

Alright... read on.


With a gentle sigh, barely above a whisper, Luna smiled at the few of her friends in the train car with her. They were all engrossed in conversation – Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Ginny. Faintly, she heard they were talking about the upcoming year at Hogwarts. Currently, they were off to start their Fifth Year. While her and Ginny were only Fourth Years.
Although she was excited, she found her thoughts, as they often seemed to be, were other places. So, as her fellow schoolmates chattered on, she smiled dreamily, listening to them every now and then.

Only an hour had passed during the trip to Hogwarts and without notice, Luna stood and nodded towards her friends as they ceased their conversation, sending her a quizzical look.
"You alright Luna?" Harry asked, looking concerned.
She simply nodded, tucking her wand behind her ear before tilting her head to the side. "I'm fine Harry. I'll be off to find the trolley."
And with that, she turned and slid open the door, closing it behind her before anyone could say anything else.

After a few minutes of walking, she eventually found the trolley and the smiling lady who pushed it. Inspecting her choices, she tapped her chin thoughtfully, finding it particularly hard to make a decision. She was caught between buying two Chocolate Frogs or a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans when an all too familiar voice unpleasantly interrupted her thoughts.
"Loony Lovegood," the snide drawl of the blonde Slytherin made her pleasant mood drop a bit. However, she continued to smile, offering him her best friendly look before returning her attention to the matter at hand.
"Hello Malfoy." She greeted him, still smiling a bit as she pointed to the jelly beans, pulling out enough money to buy two boxes. Not really in the mood to talk to any of the Slytherins, she turned around with a small nod towards them.

However, Malfoy and his two gooneys were obviously not on the same page as her. The two large blokes lumbered behind the significantly thinner boy, the same arrogant smirk on their faces. Although, she was quite positive they had no idea what was so funny – they probably didn't even understand the insult of her name.
"I'm not done with you, Lovegood." Malfoy loudly announced, looking like he was not used to being ignored.

Sighing a bit, Luna turned around, tucking the candy into her pockets as she nodded. "Alright."

A bit put off by her agreement, Malfoy hesitated for a moment. Finally he sneered, seeming to be back to his ignorant self. "Seen any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks lately?" His tone quite blatantly suggested that he was not looking for a serious answer – simply making fun of her belief in the non-existent creature.

Looking almost interested, Luna nodded fervently, her radish earrings dangling about as she did so. "Oh, yes! My father and I spent a weekend during the summer spotting them." She sounded almost proud, as if this proved their very existence.

The Slytherins smug look dropped at her reply, not sure if she was being sarcastic or if she truly believed she saw these things out in the wild with her crackpot father. Nonetheless, he rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. Well, my father says they don't exist."

Blinking a few times, she tilted her head to the side, looking thoughtful before she replied, tone completely serious. "Well, my father says they only appear to intelligent people. Perhaps you should suggest a different approach for your father?"
With that, she nodded, ignoring Draco's gaping mouth before wishing him to have a safe trip and turning around on her heel, making her way back to the train car her friends were in.

After that incident, nothing too exciting happened to Luna. The train ride went by easily and she even found a wood flavoured bean that she decided didn't taste too bad. Waiting until her friends had filed out of the train car before she followed them, smiling a bit as the cool air greeted her.
It was a short trip to Hogwarts and she spent most of it twirling her bottle cap necklace around her finger, humming quietly to herself.

Once she was seated at the Ravenclaw table, Dumbledore stood up, clapping his hands to get the schools attention. Gradually, everyone's conversations died down and all eyes were fixed on the headmaster, awaiting the speech he gave every year. Briefly, she thought that it would be nice to touch the old headmasters' beard. It reminded her of fluffy clouds, wisps of condensation, cascading from his chin.
While she was listening, Luna's attention seemed to be somewhere else. Her day dreamy gaze was currently scanning the other students, smiling queerly at the ones who caught her. Her gray eyes met with one of the teachers, perched high up on the table behind the talking Dumbledore.
Severus Snape had caught her gazing at him, arching an eyebrow in a condescending way. Her same smile stayed put and she blinked a few times before raising her hand and giving him a small wave.

Immediately, the pale man's scowl only deepened and he glared at her for a few more seconds before forcing his gaze away. In his mind, he was trying to find some way to take points from Ravenclaw. But one could not justify taking points for a student simply acting strange.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Dumbledore had finished his speech and everyone was eating. To Luna's delight, there was pudding – her favourite kind as well. Loading quite a lot of it onto her plate, she looked over at the boy sitting beside her.
Realizing she didn't know his name, she took a spoonful of her pudding and continued to stare at him, a curious expression on her face.
After a few moments, the boy looked up from his mashed potatoes and to the side slowly, swallowing his food nervously as they made eye contact.

"Hello..." He finally said, forcing a slightly weak smile onto his face before raising his eyebrows and turning back to his food, feeling a bit unnerved by her staring.

"You're eyes look as green as leaves in the spring." She commented before going back to her pudding, oblivious to the confused look he gave her before promptly moving a little further away from him.

By the time the feast had ended, Luna's friends in Gryffindor were already swept away with the crowd. It was too bad, really, she thought to herself as she watched them get lost in the sea of students. She had wanted to wish them a goodnight and to be careful of Nargles while they slept. Oh well, tomorrow was always another day.

Following the other Ravenclaws to their tower, she skipped alongside a few of the other girls. They pretended like she wasn't there, mostly, casting annoyed looks at her every once in awhile. She didn't notice, continuing along happily until they reached the door.
Making her way up the cold staircase, Luna wondered how many other students had walked on these stairs. It would be interesting to meet them all and ask them what they thought of Hogwarts. Perhaps she would ask them if they could see faces in the cracks of the stone as well.
After a long day, her bed seemed like a wonderful place and she fell onto it with a small giggle. The other girls looked at her as if she were mad before muttering to themselves in a reserved manner. Not many of them were outgoing or loud – mostly studious and quiet people who kept to themselves.

Rolling over, she fell asleep within minutes, a happy smile on her lips as she drifted into her dream. At first, her dream was no different than others she had before. There she was, wandering the school with a serene smile. Where was she headed this time?
It almost looked as if she were going towards the dungeons, but then, she turned suddenly, as if distracted. Most of the time her dreams were silent, just like this one had been until... Luna saw herself scream, eyes wide with fear as she watched something. She couldn't see what it was, however, because it was almost as if she were the thing making her dream-self scream.
Watching in horror as dream Luna fell, looking as if she had been petrified, she tried to help herself but instead...

Sitting up with a wild breath, Luna's eyes were wide and she could feel her hands shaking. Glancing down to make sure she was still in one piece, she saw that she was wearing her robes still, meaning she must have fallen asleep in them.
With a quick glance to the clock, she saw it was almost two o' clock. Heart racing and palms sweating, she slowly lied back down, not daring to shut her eyes again.
She hadn't had a nightmare since... her mother had died.