Author's Note: I do not and never will own HP.
Written for the OTP AU! Competition. Round 5: Different House AU. Pairing: Ginny/Luna
It wasn't what she'd expected, this castle with drafty stones and star-strewn ceilings. She didn't know who she wanted to be, but she knew she wouldn't find it in a tower. The Hat yelled "Slytherin" and she skipped to her new table, robes swishing against her legs and her new shoes pinching her feet. The others didn't know what to make of her, watching the dreamy-eyed girl with her wand stuck behind her ear, her robes just a bit too long for her.
"Hello," a second year, Millicent Bulstrode, whispered and gave her the shyest smile Luna had ever seen. "I'm Millie."
Their friendship was forged there, between courses, but they didn't know it yet. Luna passed her a pitcher of pumpkin juice and Millie hexed Draco Malfoy under the table for trying to spill it in Luna's lap.
There was a girl at another table, a girl under yellow and black banners, but Luna didn't know her yet either, didn't know the way she'd knot her tie in the mornings, or the way people would speak her name. She had a diary burning a hole in her pocket and mismatched socks that drooped at her knees because her mum had had to cut them down to size from her own.
They met in Charms. The Hufflepuff had vivid red hair and freckles. Her name was Ginny Weasley, and she wouldn't let you forget it. All her uniforms had badger patches that she'd managed to beg and borrow from other House-mates and her scarf had been charmed from red and gold.
"Rest of my family's in Gryffindor," she explained, and Luna understood.
The rest of Ginny's family was also boys and if anyone thought that she had been Sorted into Hufflepuff because she was weak (because she was a girl), they were soon disabused of the notion. Ginny's spells were out of control, but no one could deny they were powerful. Sometimes Luna saw a red glint in Ginny's eyes and she ignored it because she thought it was normal.
Months later, she'd find out it wasn't, but regret wouldn't reverse what had happened. There was no way to change the past, to replenish Ginny's soul from where it had been splintered and shattered. Luna refused to try.
Her tie was striped green and silver, but she refused to let that define who she was. She braided Millicent's hair in the common room, tying it off with a green ribbon and admiring the way the colour accentuated her eyes.
The first time Ginny came into the Slytherin common room with Luna, everyone froze, if only for a second, and Ginny scowled. Luna took her to the dormitory, warded the door like Millie had shown her the very first night, and told her to be careful of Wrackspurts.
"They make your head fuzzy," she said solemnly, pretending she didn't notice Ginny's fingers tapping against her pocket, sliding furtively against something tucked inside. It was a diary, but she didn't know it yet.
She found out months later, when Ginny ran straight into her, tear tracks down her face and body shaking.
"Harry Potter's got my diary," Ginny managed to hiccup, and Luna patted her shoulders, feeling the fluted contours of bones.
"I'll get it back," she promised. It was a lie, but it didn't matter in the end, because it wasn't really Ginny's anyway. She visited Ginny in the Hospital Wing, sitting solemn-eyed in the visitor's chair, feet dangling an inch above the floor and hands clasped in her lap. She didn't leave until Ginny opened her eyes, and then she smiled and told her that she was a ninny for not telling her.
"But I understand," Luna assured her, all innocent smiles and wistful blinking. "Your head's been full of Wrackspurts all year, it must have been terrible-"
"Sod off, Luna," Ginny grumbled, but there was a smile on her face when she did it.
"Would you like to visit this summer?" Luna asked instead, hitting her heels against the legs of the chair. It hurt a bit, but that wasn't important.
"If Mum and Dad let me," Ginny said. Her hands kept shaking and she was pale as milk, but Luna beamed.
"Good," she said, rummaging in her book bag. "I made you a necklace." It was paper clips and butterbeer corks, but Ginny took it anyway, draping it around her neck.
"I hope Madam Pomfrey has a fit when she sees it," Ginny confided.
"She won't," Luna said serenely. "It's not a toilet seat."
Ginny laughed until she cried.