I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: This is for Season IV of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round 02

Team & Position: Caerphilly Catapults, Chaser 1

Base Prompt: Write about someone doing their homework for the Ancient Ruins class at Hogwarts.

Optional Prompt: #01 - (word) hangover.

Optional Prompt: #08 - (picture) jadamee. files. wordpress 2012/09/depositphotos_8652650-scribbles-on-a-checkered-paper-sheet. jpg

Optional Prompt: #11 - (song) 'Afterlife' by XYLO

According to Merriam-Webster, an alternate definition of hangover is "something (as a surviving custom) that remains from what is past."

A big thank you to Shirekat for all her help in beta work for the story.

I'm bad luck baby, you know

Follows me around everywhere I go

And I don't need your sympathy, no

I need a...miracle, oh

...

I'm waiting for the afterlife

To show me a good time baby

Somebody save me, I just wanna be loved

-XYLØ, "Afterlife"

It was Luna's third year of school, and the chill January air could be felt in the halls of Hogwarts. Her quick breaths caused small puffs of fog to appear as she hurried through the corridors attempting to make curfew. She had, once again, lost track of time in the library whilst working on her homework—an Ancient Runes essay this time. Climbing the tight spiral staircase of Ravenclaw Tower, she arrived at the eagle knocker guarding the entrance.

"What is seen but not heard?" it queried.

Luna could see a Wrackspurt fluttering around the knocker, drifting lazily around and occasionally passing directly through the head of the eagle. She stood watching its movements for a moment before finally responding, "Light."

"I'm sorry, child, but your answer is incorrect."

Luna sighed as the Wrackspurt drifted through the door and into the common room. She had been locked out of the tower again. With no Ravenclaw prefect patrol tonight, she was likely the last 'Claw out in the corridors. To get inside, she would need to involve a professor. With little hope, she tried knocking on the door, "Can someone please let me in?"

After a minute without an answer, Luna started back down the stairs towards Flitwick's office, mentally berating herself for losing track of time. She knew how the students liked to pick on 'Loony Lovegood.' This prank, for example, was fairly typical. They would confound the knocker to repeat its last riddle, but make it believe that it had asked a new riddle. The most devious aspect was the charm's ephemeral nature—it would disperse after the first answer to the question. As each student only got a single guess per riddle, it made it nearly impossible to get a correct answer. Additionally, since the same riddle was used until someone got a correct answer, whomever was last to the common room would be locked out, needing a professor to let them in.

Arriving at the bottom of the staircase, she crossed the hall to Flitwick's office and knocked on the door. "One moment, please," the professor's voice filtered through. A short time later the diminutive professor opened the door. Upon seeing his guest, a disappointed look crossed his face, "Again, Miss Lovegood?" She could only nod in response. "Very well. You know the routine: 5 points from Ravenclaw and a detention tomorrow for being out after curfew. Let's head upstairs."

Luna walked back up the stairs following Professor Flitwick in an uncomfortable silence. About halfway up, the professor's question cut through the quiet, "So, where were you this time Miss Lovegood?"

"I was in the library working on an essay for Ancient Runes. I didn't notice the time until Madam Pince closed the library, after which I came back to the tower. However, a stray Wrackspurt kept me from answering the riddle correctly," Luna replied airily.

The pair finished the climb in silence. As they arrived at the door, the knocker queried, "What makes a house a home?"

"Before I answer, what was Miss Lovegood's answer to the question?"

"Light."

The professor shook his head as he answered, "My answer is love, for home is where the heart is."

"Well stated," the door swung open to allow the pair entrance to the common room. A large number of students were still in the expansive, circular common area, sitting at the tables either working on homework or reading a book.

Stepping inside, the professor motioned Luna to stand in front of him. "You should really attempt to find a study partner, Miss Lovegood. That way you'll have someone to help you keep track of the time, and they could also help you with the door's riddles."

"I understand, sir."

Flitwick's expression softened. "Miss Lovegood, you're doing quite well in your studies," Luna opened her mouth to thank him but Flitwick continued, "but school isn't just about homework and tests. You need to interact with your peers and make friends. I know that it can be difficult, but it's well worth the effort. Trust me." The professor spent a few seconds looking at Luna. "I'll see you tomorrow in class, Miss Lovegood. Have a pleasant evening."

"You too, Professor Flitwick," Luna replied as she watched the professor walk out of the common room. She still had to finish writing her Ancient Runes essay, so she readjusted the bag on her shoulder and made her way to a table near the far edge of the common room. As she set out her things, she thought back on her previous two years of schooling.

Back in first year, Luna had attempted to make friends with her classmates. However, none of them could see beyond her odd behavior. Within a few weeks the nickname "Loony" had been applied to her. It was the end of first term that finally shattered her hopes of finding friends. "Loony" had ranked first in her year and the other students were resentful of her success. When classes started again after Christmas, the pranks had begun.

In Ravenclaw house, as long as four simple rules were followed pranking was not only allowed but encouraged. Nothing permanent; nothing dangerous; it can't interfere with the target's academics; and it must be within your year group. The idea was that the victim would need to research the prank to reverse the effects and thereby learn something in the process. If a student was unable to resolve the prank on their own, they could ask a prefect for help, but that help came at a cost: each instance would result in 10 points taken from the house.

Compounding the problem was that Marietta Edgecombe's younger sister Bridgette was in Luna's year. There had been a few times where Luna had been sure that Marietta had performed the prank instead of her younger sister. When this occurred, she had approached Professor Flitwick to look into the suspected rule-breaking. Each time, the professor had found in favor of Bridgette. Luna had become the quintessential Girl Who Cried Werewolf. As the year progressed, rather than responding to the pranks she tried to just let the effects of them pass by; her disconnection from the world increasing her perceived "looniness." It was near the end of the school year when Luna learned that Marietta and some other upperclassmen had occasionally spent weekends teaching Bridgette and her friends the charms and jinxes they had used.

Her second year had been even worse than the first. Despite the distance of the Dementors from the school, the happiness-draining effects still seemed to reach Luna. It seemed like every day she had been forced to relive the moment she watched her mother die. This combined with the pranking had caused her to briefly wonder if it might have been better if she'd gone with her mum. However, Luna knew that her daddy needed her and she held onto that thought with all that she could. Regardless of these difficulties, she still managed to place first in her year come the end of first term. This saw the pranking turn even more malicious as they started hiding her things under charms and as transfigured items. Thankfully, due to the 'nothing permanent' clause, she was able to get everything back at the end of the year.

Then came this year. She had tried to make friends with some of the Beauxbaton students staying at the castle for the Triwizard Tournament. She knew that she would never be like them, with their perfect skin and teeth, but she hoped they could be friends anyway. However, they were primarily seventh-year students and didn't want to hang around a third-year. With the Yule Ball only available to fourth-years and up, Luna didn't bother staying at Hogwarts for Christmas and went home to spend time with her dad. For some reason, the other Ravenclaws had left her alone the first week back from break. With this evening's prank on the knocker, hostilities had resumed.

With all of her research materials out, Luna was finally ready to resume work on her essay. As she dabbed her quill, a much-hated voice sounded behind her, "You're sitting at our table, Loony." Luna took a deep breath, calmly set the quill aside, and stopped her ink bottle. Lastly, she plastered a serene smile on her face before turning to face Bridgette.

Standing beside the hateful girl were two other girls and a boy, all from the third-year Ravenclaw class. At some of the nearby tables, other students were pretending not to watch the confrontation.

"Oh, hello!" Luna exclaimed. "I'm sorry you lost your name. What would you like me to call you?"

The four students were nonplussed while some of the students at the other tables appeared to be holding back laughter. Whether they were laughing at Luna or Bridgette's group, Luna couldn't say. It took Bridgette almost ten seconds before she finally managed to respond with a simple, "What?"

"I didn't notice anything here before I sat down," Luna stated nonchalantly, "and there was no name reserved for this table. If this was your table, you must have lost your name. Do you think the Stitchworts took it? We seem to have a fairly large population of them here—"

"Oh stuff it, Loony! Why don't we help you move off our table?" With a jerk of Bridgette's head, the other two girls took hold of Luna's arms while the boy shoved all of her things to the floor. As her Ancient Runes essay was pushed from the table, Bridgette caught sight of it and snatched it out of the air. She looked at it for a moment before she frowned and gazed at Luna. Bridgette stared for several seconds before a smirk broke out on her face. "I don't know how you expect professors to read this chicken scratch, Loony. It really isn't fair to them. Thankfully, I know a spell to clean up this mess. As we're such good friends, I'll help you out." The girl pulled out her wand and used the soft incantation: "Scribere Nuntius. I'm sure Professor Babbling will thank me when you turn this in." Bridgette shoved the parchment into Luna's chest before she sat down at the table with her friends. They pulled out a deck of cards and began playing a game of Exploding Snap, completely ignoring Luna.

Quickly gathering her research and writing materials from the floor, Luna stuffed them haphazardly into her bag. With Bridgette's group down here, she could safely move up to the dormitory to finish the essay.

A few minutes later and Luna was relatively alone once more. She let out a soft sigh as she began setting her research materials on the bed around her. Thankfully, her ink hadn't spilled when pushed off the table or during her expeditious packing. When she finally got everything in place, she pulled out the parchment to complete her essay. As she saw what had been done to it, she almost let out a sob: the parchment contained only scribbles where her writing used to be. She took a deep breath as she pulled out her wand and attempted to diagnose the issue.

A few quick charms later, and she had her answer. Her essay was still there, but the prank spell made it appear as nothing more than scribbles. The spell should wear off tomorrow morning, just in time for her to turn the essay in for class. She attempted a simple "Finite" but was unable to cancel the effect of the spell. With its complexity, this was likely yet another prank taught to Bridgette by her sister.

Luna rested the back of her head against the headboard while she considered her options. First, she could restart the essay from scratch. While doable, this would likely take a couple of hours, cutting into her sleep and leaving her tired the next day. Second, she could attempt to look up a specific counter curse in the Ravenclaw library, it would likely be there somewhere. However, that could also take a couple of hours and there was no guarantee she would find the reversal spell tonight. Finally, she could keep going with the essay as it was, effectively writing it blind.

Picturing her essay in her mind, she looked down at the parchment. If she thought of a grid like her daddy used when laying out The Quibbler, she could mentally overlay it on top of the scribbles. She could then continue writing, using the grid to properly lay out the essay. Then, tomorrow morning, her essay would be readable once the spell reverted. Staring at the parchment, she searched for where she had left off earlier. When she was confident of its location, she kept one eye on the page while dipping and blotting her quill before continuing her essay, "As for Younger Futhark, most of the runes are a hangover from Elder Futhark with the exception of…"

A half-hour later, Luna set her quill down and cast a quick charm to dry the ink on the parchment. The essay was done—well, as done as it could be with the spell still active.

As she readied for bed, she set her sights on the future. Next year she would find someone to save her from this loneliness, and maybe, just maybe, someone who could love her for who she was.