Chapter 1: Summer Changes Everything
What is this life, if full of care?
We have no time to stand and stare.
The long lilac curtains that were hooked over the bronze rail were draped to the side so that the warm, summer light could flood through the French doors that opened onto a small balcony. Beside the long window was a single bed, with a cream and emerald duvet and pillow. Lying in the bed was a young girl, the back of her head facing towards the swirl-patterned ceiling.
The rest of the room was quite bare. The walls were painted in a pale orange colour and the floors were left boarded with a single rug of many colours. Opposite the French door was another door into the main hall, a poster of a women from the 'Weird Sisters,' occupied this space and in the corner was a large, oak wardrobe.
The floor was spotless—not a single item was out of place. On the trunk at the end of the girl's bed, were a few scattered items and two shelves in the furthest corner had acquired a couple of books but other than that, there was nothing.
The floorboards in the hallway that joined onto the bedroom creaked slightly and the mumbles of two voices could be heard through the walls. At the sound of the voices, the girl in the bed shuffled slightly, long strands of matted hair wrapped around her face and she cuddled into the blankets.
Someone struck on the door three times and it rattled gently. "Luna!" the voice called, it was feminine. "It's time you were getting up," the voice giggled slightly and the girl in the bed made every effort not to get up.
Luna grunted and it sounded like, "I'm having a lye-in."
"Luna," the same girl shouted through the door. "It's nearly half-past twelve. If, if you don't get up, I will bring Draco, Ron and Harry in to see what you look like with bed-hair."
There was a long silence whilst Luna sat up in the bed slightly and rubbed her eyes. "Ginny," she began.
"That may have more effect if you hadn't tried it everyday this month," she said as she swung her legs over the bed. "Ron, Harry," Luna whispered jokingly, "and Draco," she added. She began to pull some clothes on as the nights were hot and she had been sleeping in very little.
It hardly seemed possible that August was finishing and September was gradually approaching but what perhaps was even more impossible, was that Draco Malfoy-- the Draco Malfoy-- had spent the last months with the Weasley's, Luna Lovegood and of all people, Harry Potter.
Luckily, this had not developed as many problems as Luna had thought it would. Despite the fact that Draco had been chasing after her the previous year, he had insisted it was a result of trying to keep her safe so that he could prove to Harry Potter and his, 'heroic,' friends, that his intentions were purely good.
Luna stood up and opened the wardrobe so that she could see into the mirror that was fixed onto the inside of the door. Even she could see that her hair was longer than a broomstick and for whatever moral reasons she had decided to not cut it for—even Luna could see it was ridiculously long. Perhaps it was just the mocking of Mrs. Weasley or it was just the need for change, that she wished she had red hair like the Weasley's.
Her large moon-like eyes drew away from the focus of healing scars along her left arm and the right hand side of her neck. The markings left of the previous, traumatic year she had spent at Hogwarts.
She closed the wardrobe doors and made her way up to leave the room. Feeling strangely nervous, she opened it and stepped outside. She sighed with relief as the smiling Ginny Weasley that was in front of her, waved mockingly.
"It's about time too," Ginny laughed, flicking back a strand of lightened red hair.
"I don't like the heat," Luna said densely.
"I know you don't—you tell us every morning," Ginny reminded her.
"Afternoon," somebody replaced Ginny's word. "It's now the afternoon."
Harry Potter was standing in the hallway; one hand in his pocket and his other raised below his nose, checking the wristwatch that was on his arm. He looked quite the adult now and it was amazing to think how someone could change so much in just a few weeks. He was the same Harry Potter though. Messy black hair occupying his head, emerald green eyes scanning the surroundings and that oh so trademarked scar.
"All right, Harry," Luna began. "I admitted I like my lye-ins," she began quietly. "I would like to remind you, that Ron was in bed until quarter to one yesterday," she said with a hint of smugness in her voice.
He smiled. "Well—I'm not sure where he's got too. In fact—I think he spends less time in this house than I do. Anyone would think he didn't live here," Harry rolled his eyes.
"I expect it has something to do with, you-know-who," Ginny smiled feebly.
"Yes—most likely," Luna said, smiling as she remembered what Ron had said to her as they had travelled home on the last day of term. That had been before Harry had come to stay at the burrow.
"Mum's made us brunch—she seems to think that," Ginny began and she faxed a small cough to clear her throat, "that growing kids such as yourselves, need a good breakfast," she imitated and Luna giggled.
Ginny led Harry and Luna down the stairs of her house. They were clad with wooden panelling and if you found a certain one—you could find the secret room within the house. They walked through the dark hall and into the kitchen.
Mrs. Weasley had her back turned to them and was standing at the sink. The radio was blasting out some strange story about muggle killings in paradise and Ginny almost choked on her own tongue as the door to the kitchen hit back against the wall fiercely.
"What happened to you?" Harry burst out, unintentionally.
The first person to walk through the door glared at him. Ron Weasley, now perhaps the tallest person in the universe; was standing in the doorway, covered in what looked like mud, water and fish slime. Although this look was far from bewitching, Luna could not help but keep her eyes fixed on the Weasley.
He forced himself to walk through the door and behind him, stood a second boy. He also, was covered in the same concoction as Ron. His spiked blonde hair was now dripping with puss and his rigid body was slouched. Draco wiped his hand across his forehead and scowled at Luna and Ginny's Laughter.
At the noise, Mrs. Weasley turned suddenly, "oh my," she exclaimed, unable to hide the smile that was twitching in the corners of her mouth. "What on earth happened?"
"Well," Draco began, "twa," he paused for a moment. "Twit here," he pointed to Ron, "decided to take part in one of the twins' pranks against me—funnily it got him to," he added spitefully.
"Well, we can easily clean it up—honestly why you can't look after yourselves and play nice," she mumbled as she cast a spell; very similar to the one Ginny had used a couple of years back to clean a train compartment. Draco sat at the table, satisfied and the others sat down as well.
"So, mum," Ginny began in her bewitching voice.
"Uh oh," Ron and Harry said in unison.
"What do you want?" Mrs. Weasley turned to her daughter, deciding to cut the small talk.
"Well—we need to get our Hogwarts stuff. We have left it a little late this year," that was an understatement—it was two days until the scarlet train would be waiting for them at the station. "And you know," all the people sitting at the table winced slightly, "we were hoping to go alone," the final word seemed to echo for a lifetime.
"Well," Mrs. Weasley began and turned herself away from them for a moment. "All right," she said slowly and Ginny was about to cheer until, "but," dreaded buts. "You have to stay together," she spoke slowly.
"Sure we will," Luna said to her but crossed her fingers under the table. "I need to visit the office—for some reason letters have been vanishing," she shrugged. Luna had meant the home of the Quibbler, when she said the office.
"Luna, dear," Mrs. Weasley's eyes shone menacingly. "Will you let me give your hair a little trim? It's getting awfully long—you'll be tripping over it soon," she exclaimed as she handed out bowls of food. Ron looked down greedily at the bowls.
"Mum," Ginny whined. "Lu's hair is fine," she glared towards her friend worriedly.
"Can I have it dyed red, too?" Luna asked with a giggle.
"That's sweet," Mrs. Weasley said as she pulled out her wand. "I only want to take a little off."
"Umm, okay," Ginny looked worried at Luna's answer and wondered if it would be like the Bill massacre.
"Ah! Good," Mrs. Weasley smiled, pleased. "It won't take long."
Luna turned away from her food so that Mrs. Weasley could get to the back of her head, without brushing Ginny every time she lifted up her arm. Luna closed her eyes tightly, as the wand glided through her hair. Ginny screamed and Luna kept them firmly tight even though blood had begun to pound into her face with worry.
"Can I open my eyes?" Luna squealed.
"You're going to have to at some point," Ginny's voice wavered slightly.
Luna opened her eyes and looked around at the people first. Ginny was biting on her thumb, Draco was rolling his eyes, Ron was eating and Harry was wondering what all the fuss was about. Luna pulled her hair from behind her back. It was down to her mid-back and she sighed with relief.
"From that scream, I thought you'd chopped all my hair off," she giggled. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley. It's fine," she added.
"You're welcome, love," she said and went back to her washing. "So—will you be going today or tomorrow?" she asked sullenly.
"Tomorrow, mum," Ron said quickly, before Ginny could answer.
"Very well—I have to go see your father about something. I believe Percy will be around later. Apparently he came with the job," she smiled and left the kitchen, untying her apron as she left.
The five people left in the kitchen, barely said a word as the radio continued to blurt out songs. Ginny momentarily sang along to, 'shattered spells,' but stopped when Ron kicked her harshly under the table. She blushed when she realised Draco was watching her.
Ginny smiled at Luna and went back to poking her sausage with her fork. Eventually, one by one, the three boys left Luna and Ginny. They both seemed quite relieved that they had gone and turned to watch as Draco went to his bedroom—the last to leave. Ginny and Luna stood up and agreed that it was about time that they finished their neglected summer homework. They disappeared into the library and there they remained for most of the day.
Chapter 2: Down Town Diagon
Sometimes, the world spins us around in all types of directions.
We just pick ourselves up and start again.
Once again, it was a beautiful day. Even though autumn was just around the corner, the suns rays beamed down at the earth, warming its waters and torturing its inhabitants with uncontrollable heat. The Weasley house however, remained particularly cool, thanks to a nifty spells that was now shielding the people inside. It was like resting in a castle of ice.
Most of the people, who were inside the house, were sitting in the kitchen and enjoying a breakfast of toast and cereal. The radio was turned on and the host of the show was reporting that the weather would turn from, 'moderate to fair,' before the latest song released by the Weird Sisters began.
Luna was sitting between Ginny—who was tenderly streaking strawberry jam onto a very lightly toasted piece of bread—and an empty chair. She was busily pouring apple juice over her cornflakes, whilst prodding at a small, squeegee blob on the table, with her wand.
Someone stood behind Luna and the light that had been shining down on her, was filtered away by the body. For a second, the person remained quiet but as they grew impatient, their foot began to tap tunefully on the kitchen floor. This had caught both Harry and Draco's attention but unfortunately, not the person who was supposed to be interrupted. Eventually, they gave a masculine cough.
Luna turned around abruptly and looked up to see why Percy was standing over her. "Yes, Percy?" she said, slightly teasingly but completely unaware of being so.
"I really do wish that you would get rid of that," he stared down at the blob for a moment, "thing," he elaborated. "It's leaving a rather mucky mark on the table and smells faintly of socks," he added to argue his reasonings.
"A bit like you then, Percy," Ginny muttered, without even looking at her older brother.
The oldest male in the room, hissed slightly. "I'll thank you for that," he growled sarcastically and ignored the fact that Luna had now gone back to prodding the substance. "Now—any volunteers to get Ron up?" he asked hopefully.
Hearing Ron's name, Luna looked up and both Harry and Ginny gave a slight chuckle. Not understanding what was so funny, Percy, Draco and Luna, scanned them curiously. Draco looked as though he had been about to say something or perhaps nominate himself but Ginny managed to speak first.
"Luna will do it. Won't you, Lu?" Ginny told her friend, still smiling with ambiguous thoughts.
Luna looked slightly putout for a moment but she smiled meekly at the idea. "Oh yes," she began uncertainly. "I can do that," she finished, whilst sliding her seat backwards and standing up quickly. She looked down at her blob of goo sadly and began to walk out of the kitchen, failing to notice that Percy was in the process of transporting it to the bin.
Luna began to jog up the stairs that lead from beside the kitchen—rather conveniently situated there for midnight snacks. Ron's bedroom was next door to her own room, at the end of the corridor on the third storey. Luna liked this set-up of bedrooms because she could often hear Ron talking in his sleep as the walls were so thin and he did say some interesting things, occasionally.
Luna knocked on the door once or twice and waited for him to respond. Straining her ears, she listened for any signs of a squeaking bed or a disgruntled word. When there was no noise at all, she tried knocking on the door a bit more firmly.
There was a brief pause, until Ron eventually spoke. "Go away," he mumbled, obviously drowsy and rather annoyed at being disturbed. "Don't bother me."
Luna bit on her lip. "We're going to Diagon Alley, shortly," Luna informed him but there appeared to be no response, "you're missing breakfast," she added hopefully.
There was a sudden crunch, as Ron had obviously shifted his weight. Luna smiled in triumph. "I don't care," he mumbled and Luna looked crestfallen.
"Really?" she asked him, not believing him in the slightest. "I thought that you hated missing food?" she added with a giggle.
"What time is it?" Ron asked bluntly.
"About half past ten," she replied through the door.
Any progress that had been made was rejected by this latest remark. "Ugh," he grunted sluggishly, "get me up in a couple of hours," he continued, apparently falling back onto his bed.
"Ronald," Luna raised her voice slightly, "you are like a lion. You sleep and eat," she moaned, "with the occasional chance to take a bit of pleasure by playing with a piece of wool," she quietened slightly and hoped that this would wake him up slightly.
"A lion? Yeah," he sounded as though he had taken her words in but not really understood them.
Luna's hand suddenly reached for the door handle and she gripped it firmly, twisting it to the right. "That's it. You either get up now or I will come in and make you and you'll be coming out in whatever state that you may be in," she shouted, not giving him an opportunity to speak.
There was a sudden breeze in the room, as Ron threw his blanket over himself. Cursing at her slightly, Luna took more time than necessary to turn her head to the side and pretend to be embarrassed. She bit on her lip slightly and knew what was coming—this hadn't been the first time that this had happened during the summer holidays.
"Sorry," she mumbled, backing out of the room.
Ron looked as though he didn't believe her but could hardly control himself, as the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "Do you think I could get dressed first?" he asked, knowing that she would hate the very idea of him showing anything to anyone.
"I'll just be going back downstairs," she mumbled as she left the room, closing the door behind her but keeping her lips tightly pulled together.
Luna made her way back down to the kitchen and passed Georges' room on the way. From outside the door, she could hear strange noises and it sounded very much like he had a small farm inside with him. Luna smiled as she walked past, strutted down the final stairs and allowed herself to glide back into the kitchen.
"Is he coming?" Percy asked abruptly.
Luna sat back down at her seat and looked at her place, slightly confused. "Yes. Yes, I believe so," she said airily, her thoughts elsewhere. "I say. Did anyone see where I put my Rosined Slime?" she asked distractedly.
"You know what?" Ginny said suddenly. "I think it grew legs and walked away," she said, noticing that Percy had become uneasy.
"Really?" Luna asked excitedly. "Did you see where it went?" she began to peer around the kitchen and Percy avoided her. Harry ate his last slice of toast to hide his amusement and Draco snorted.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Luna," Ginny hid her amusement well. "It fell out the window and a bird swooped down and picked it up," she clenched her hands onto the side of the table to keep herself from laughing.
"Oh. That is a shame," Luna shook her head sadly. She hadn't seemed to take into consideration that the window was a good seven or so, feet high and that the slime had only grown legs, not arms. Not to mention the fact that it didn't have any eyes.
Luna went back to eating her cereal and Ginny looked at the clock expectantly. They had decided to go to Diagon Alley at eleven o clock and it had taken Ron a good twenty minutes to make himself presentable to come downstairs. He wondered into the seat beside Luna and forced a piece of toast-- that Ginny had prepared for him—into his mouth.
"Nice of you to grace us with your presence," Draco sneered.
Ron's head snapped forward and he chewed at his food forcefully, so to finish it sooner. He looked as though he was about to pull his wand out from his pocket but Harry spoke, apparently sensing trouble.
"Morning, Ron," he said with a smile. "We really should get going," he added to the others.
"I agree," Ginny nodded and Luna watched as one of Ron's cheeks inflamed slightly.
All at once, five chairs slid backwards and all of the teenagers stood at the same time. Luna tapped her pocket tenderly, to check that she had put her money into it and they began to filter out into the next room. Percy quickly followed at Luna's heels, snatching a pile of letters from the table.
As they reached the study, he handed each of the students their letters—his own siblings a pouch of money-- and reminded them that they were to behave and stay together. Draco seemed to be weighing his letter in his hand and Ron was the first to take a pinch of the floo powder from a crystalline jug that would take them from the study to the grate at the Leaky Cauldron.
Luna had been the last to travel to the pub, where everyone was now assembled. She watched as the others dusted themselves off but ten her eyes dropped onto Draco. Ron looked up to check that Luna had arrived safely and his eyes followed her gaze.
"What's wrong, Malfoy?" Ron asked, spitting slightly, "you look like somebody has died," he added, looking hopeful.
Luna and Ginny both peered into Draco's hand and even Harry, could not help but to also look into Draco's outstretched fingers. Resting in his hand; was a brand new and shiny, Head Boy badge. Draco seemed unhappy about this but Luna congratulated him.
"Great," Draco moaned ironically, "now I can actually punish you without feeling guilty," he added, yet his words were empty and pointless. "I'll see you all when I get back to the house," he informed them all, mainly looking at Luna and Ginny.
Draco walked away from the four remaining students, including Luna who was busily watching a passing owl. Harry and Ron began to walk away in the opposite direction, not exchanging words with either of the two girls and Luna focussed on them as they left the pub.
As Luna and Ginny began to follow the two boys' lead, they both noted how quiet the pub was, particularly on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. As they left the Leaky Cauldron, Luna realised that they probably didn't need to be worried over the lack of people, as everyone was wondering down the crowded street.
Diagon Alley was bursting with people and it looked as though the streets had stretched to make room for all of the hustling parents and students. Luna felt a short tug on her sleeve as Ginny pulled her towards the bookshop.
"Hurry up, Luna," Ginny moaned with a smile, "you're dawdling," the young redhead moaned.
Luna rubbed her neck and ignored the raised scars, as Ginny held the door open for an elderly witch. Luna stepped back for a moment and then followed Ginny into the shop. A shop assistant greeted them and they provided the clerk with their booklists. They were both asked to wait, while he produced the books that they required.
Time moved along quickly and Luna—as well as Ginny—had now finished doing all of her necessary shopping. They had wondered over to the ice cream parlour, very giggly and consulting their memories of last year, when they had experimented with cervassa.
They had decided to get a quick, on the go ice cream and use the fireplace at the parlour to get back to the Burrow. As they were about to walk into the café, Ginny put her hand in front of Luna to stop her from walking in.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked, concern in her voice as she stared around the wall of the parlour.
"Look," Ginny pointed around the street. It was where Knockturn and Diagon joined. "It's Draco and he's talking to," she squinted her eyes slightly and the pitch of her voice rose, "a Death Eater," she panicked slightly. "That cheating, fowl," Ginny began to mumble some swearwords that Luna decided to ignore.
"Ginny. Maybe it's not what it looks like—Draco looks flustered. I don't think that they were having a normal conversation," she added, now wondering over to a board with the list of different ice creams that she could choose.
"I don't know—he looks pretty smug and that other person has gone," she paused, "hang on—Lu, you may have been right. He looks upset," Ginny informed Luna, who just grunted in response.
"I don't think we should talk to him about it," Luna informed Ginny as they wondered into the parlour and waited for the queue of people in front to move forward, "I think we should ignore it and see whether he says anything," she added far more sensibly than she had meant to.
Eventually, their turn to order came and the two girls both ordered the same ice cream—Banana surprise. They would have to wait to find out what the surprise was and each protected their tub of ice cream, as they travelled down the flow network—Ginny first and Luna second.