Author's Note: Today was a self-care day for me, so this just...happened! Enjoy.
The alarm nearly vibrates off her bed and clatters on the floor before Luna realises it's going off. With a muffled groan, she retrieves it, turning it off and sticking it back under her pillow. She's already learned if she leaves it out, one of her oh-so-friendly dorm-mates will manage to turn it off, break it, or throw it out the window. This new one, charmed to only vibrate and not make noise, was a brilliant investment.
Her dorm-mates slumber peacefully around her as she clambers into her robes as quietly as possible. It's six in the morning on a Saturday, and she knows they won't be up until breakfast is nearly over-all the more reason not to wake anyone. As she stuffs her wand in her back pocket, one of them stirs a little and she freezes, waiting to make sure that she's home free before slipping out.
The common room is deserted, and Luna waits a moment before the crackling fire to warm her hands. Late October is absolutely freezing in the mornings, and this day is no exception. Her earrings, made of turnips this time, bob merrily against her ears as she dashes out into the corridor, her feet clad only in mismatched socks. Her shoes have gone missing again. She's pretty sure they've been hidden in Cho Chang's trunk, but there's no time to retrieve them.
A few older students mill around the Great Hall, but they pay the straggly-haired first year no mind, leaving Luna free to push her way past the front doors and skip down the worn steps. She knows exactly where she wants to go-the same place she's gone for two months now.
Hagrid showed her, the first Saturday of the school year. She'd been wandering the grounds, a rather desolate-looking, slumped-over Ravenclaw with a missing tie and brambles caught in her hair from where a Gryffindor boy had pushed her down, and Hagrid took pity on her, showing her a magical garden, just the other side of the castle.
"It's a secret though," he'd told her conspiratorially, winking and putting a finger by his lips. "So don't go telling no one about it."
Luna had no intentions of ever doing so, and it is with great care that she lets her steps wander. There aren't many people awake, but she knows that someone could look out a window at the wrong time. The thought of her semi-private sanctuary being invaded makes Luna feel sick in a way that being called "Loony" and having her books thrown into the rafters can't.
With a sigh of relief, Luna hurries into the garden, feeling the tingle of the privacy wards over her skin. Hagrid told her before that the privacy spells were for the students' safety, considering the number of dangerous plants, but she can't help but feel safer as she sinks down on the ornate metal bench just inside the entrance.
Out here, all she can hear is the twittering of birds, the snapping of some of the plants, and the susurration of the wind through the grass. No shouts, no jeers, no pushes down the stairs or jostles in the dorm. The tension eases from Luna's shoulders, and her customary dreamy smile spreads across her face.
As long as she can have a safe place, she can take anything they throw at her.