Chapter One
Luna sat in the Hogwarts express, reading the Quibbler. She was sitting alone in her compartment, therefore she had laid her legs over the whole bench and was thinking of how this year was going to work out. This was going to be her fifth year at Hogwarts already! 'Time flies,' she whispered. And then she put her Spectrespecs on, which she got with her issue of the Quibbler. 'Hmm,' she mused. 'I think I like these...'
Just then came somebody crashing into her compartment, followed by a loud BANG and some muttered curses. Luna took her Spectrespecs of to see what was happening, because with Spectrespecs, you could see things, well, different.
Harry Potter was lying on the floor, obviously petrified. His hair was messy and he had a bloody nose. Luna whispered 'Finite Incantatum', and Harry could move again.
'Are you okay?' Luna asked and helped Harry to his feet.
'Yeah, I'm fine. And now I'm gonna get that filthy, evil-'
Luna cut him off. 'No, first you're going to sit down, get a nice piece of chocolate and slowly tell me what's happened.'
'Why slowly?' Harry tried to smile.
'Uhm, I don't know. Maybe because, if you're going to talk like you just did, I can't follow you anymore. So, sit down.' Luna fumbled in her school bag and found a chocolate bar and gave it to Harry, who nodded thankful. She wiped his nose off and checked if it wasn't broken. Fortunately for her it wasn't -and for Harry, of course- because she didn't know the healing spell for a broken nose.
'So... tell me!' Luna whispered curiously.
At that moment came Draco Malfoy stalking into the compartment. Harry sighed.
'Hello there! I was just looking for you, my little friend. How about we finish our conversation?' Draco smirked his typical evil-like smirk.
'Go away.' said Harry. 'I swear I'll cut you down in a hundred pieces where you stand!'
'Oooh, Potty is a bit heated, isn't he?' joked Goyle. Draco had taken both of his mates with him, apparently, because Luna could hear another male voice now, saying:
'Yeah, Draco, let's just finish this. I don't wanna spend my time here any longer.'
Draco smirked once again, and aimed his wand at Harry. 'No!' cried Luna and she jumped forward and tried to disarm Draco, but he was too fast.
'Ha-ha, now, you little Mudblood lover, I'm way faster than you, so don't think you'll get your dirty hands on me. Now move, I want to get to Potty. Now, step aside!'
'No!'
'I bet you will!'
'Never!'
'Okay then... Crabbe?' And there came his fellow Slytherin-friend.
'Can you take care of Luna? I can't wait much longer.' Crabbe grabbed Luna by the collar of her shirt and flung her to the other side of the compartment, where she lay still for a few seconds. Then she yelled 'stupefy!' and Crabbe was blasted backwards, right into the hallway. Luna tasted blood. Now she wasn't the only one with a bloody nose.
'Luna!' cried Harry. 'Are you-?' but Draco'd already aimed his wand at Harry and was ready to perform his curse....
'DRACO MALFOY!' cried a furious woman's voice. 'STOP THAT, NOW!' Minerva McGonagall screamed. 'Are you crazy? What's happened here? Tell me!' she looked furiously to Draco, and then Harry.
'He called my mother a... well, let's say it was not nice what he said,' Harry sneered at Draco. Luna stood up and licked a little blood from her hand.
'Mm,' she said. She liked the taste of blood. Just then, Draco looked at her and got a weird look in his eyes. Just for a second, then it was gone. Luna looked back.
McGonagall coughed.
'Now... you two (she pointed at Harry and Draco) come right with me.' said McGonagall. 'And for you three... (of course, she pointed at me and those two big, fat, guys) just go to your own compartments. The train will arrive in about an hour,' she said in an upset voice. 'And Luna, dear, your nose bleeds. Maybe you should clean it.'
~*~*~*~*~*~
An hour later, Luna sat in her school robes as the train slowed down. She was very hungry and couldn't wait until she was inside the castle and could eat what she want! But of course she had to wait until those first years were sorted into their houses.
When she got out of the train and walked to the carriages that would let her to school, she first stroked the Thestrals. She loved these creatures very much. You could only see them if you had seen somebody die before your eyes. Thestrals looked like horses that were very bony, and except for a fur they had a hairless, gloomy skin.
Luna gave the Thestral that pulled her carriage a piece of flesh, which she always took with her when she was near Hogwarts. She used to go to the Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest in most afternoons of her school year.
When she stepped into her carriage, someone came running over to her.
'Hey, Luna!' called Harry. 'You mind if I sit here?'
'Of course not. I think it's actually very nice that you want to sit right next to me.' She smiled a bit shy. Harry liked that. He had liked Luna since he'd met her for the first time. She was just herself, and she didn't care what other people thought about her and her father. Actually, Harry liked her a lot.
'Hmm,' mused Luna. 'Do you also hate Nargles? They always steal my favorite pair of shoes!'
'Am I supposed to know what Nargles are, Luna?' asked Harry laughing.
'No, probably not. But they're very nasty creatures. Anyway, how come you're here? What said McGonagall?'
'Oh, you should've seen that. She went crazy! She was so furious at Malfoy. I think it's because I'm... you know... McGonagall wants to protect me from all that dark stuff.'
'I know what you mean.'
~*~*~*~*~*~
After the feast, Luna was so stuffed full with food she could think about nothing but to be able to sleep! She was so tired that she almost fell asleep where she was walking.
As she was walking in a empty corridor, Luna heard footsteps behind her coming nearer.
Next thing she knew was that someone pulled her back into an empty classroom and sort of hugged her. But it wasn't a real hug. That person more crashed into her and was panting heavily.
It was Harry.
Luna looked at him. He looked back.
'Luna...' he began. 'I just wanted to say that I... I like you. Very much.'
And with those words he was gone just as fast as he'd crashed into her, just a few moments ago. Luna blinked a few times. Whoa, she thought. He, Harry, he likes me? Then she got back to earth.
'Harry, Harry, wait!' She yelled. But he was already gone.
She walked further to her own house and thought about Harry's action. Now she thought about it, she liked him very much too. He was always nice to her, and honest... When she got in her bed she decided that she was going to talk to Harry next day. She must know why he was gone so fast... She wanted to know more. While she thought about him and his confession, she drifted off in a nice, dreamless sleep...