New fic time! This is the first Harry Potter story that I've written in quite a few years, (I'm pretty sure that I've deleted all my old trash ones off the face of the internet. Hopefully. I better actually check that now.) but I had this idea that kept sticking in my mind. I thought writing one chapter would get it out of my system, but one chapter became 20k words within a single week. Long story short I am trapped and probably need help but this has been super fun and indulgent to write so far. I've been having fun researching historical things, coming up with ridiculous scenarios, as well as diving into the Harry Potter Lexicon and wiki again for this fic too.

A little bit about the fic before I leave you alone: Right now, I have plans for this fic to go from May of fifth year to the complete end of school, followed by some years after graduation. It will most likely be passing the 100K wordcount. There is some romance in this story with the main character, but only while she is in school. If that changes at any point when I am writing the story (I always try to write chapters ahead of time before I post the next one.) I will tell you guys. The same applies to things like violence, character death, and other potential reader turn-offs. Speaking of the two, there will be some violence in later chapters, but I'm not yet sure of how graphic things might get. As of right now, there is one (important) character whose death is planned, but more may pop up along the way. Despite that, I suppose I should mention that the tone of this story starts off fairly light and humorous, but gets more serious as time passes.

Well, enough rambling from me. As per usual, constructive criticism is welcome, and I hope you like the story!

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Luna absently wondered if a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product had gotten past the wards of the school. It seemed that some of the colours around the Great Hall had been switched. Dumbledore's hair was auburn, a rather nice shade actually. It went well with his blue-and-yellow robes. As she strode closer, she noted that what appeared to be blue at first was closer to turquoise. That, combined with the yellow, and the new hair colour he sported seemed like a good sign. It promised stability, happiness, and calm. Goodness knew that they needed some in these times. She wondered if the Weasley twins had done so intentionally or not.

It had been rather clever of them to change the colours of everyone's auras too. Although, it appeared that the strange shifts in his aura had caused poor Harry to sit at the Slytherin table, rather than the Gryffindor. His physical auric body had become a dark and murky pink. That certainly explained why he was sitting with the Slytherins. Their ranks were filled with those involved in the Great Waffling Cover-Up of 1955. As were the Ravenclaws, but her friend must have been aware that a murky pink aura would not go well with the blue and bronze of her house.

Despite the fact that everyone's physical auric body had been drastically changed, no one seemed to be taking note of it. Perhaps they would be more bothered if a different layer had been disturbed. There was still a very noticeable silence in the great hall. Few were talking. The scraping of cutlery and clinks of china filled the air. Luna noted that the meal had been changed around that evening. Thursdays normally consisted of a pork dish, with vegetables only harvested in the late growth season. There was soup and sandwiches being passed around here. Taking a deep inhale, she recognized the scent of chicken, as well as bacon, and leek. A traditional Scottish recipe then.

Despite the tantalizing smell of the soup, few were eating. Students pushed around their food, and quietly murmured among each other. Harry was one of them, slowly stirring his soup, as he stared contemplatively into its depths. Luna deducted that he was trying to look into the past lives of the chicken and the pig. She was glad that her friend was taking initiative, and going deeper into divination. Professor Trelawney was not that good of a teacher in her opinion. She focused too much on looking into the future with physical methods like tea leaves and crystal balls. Now, if she started to teach the class the proper yoga practices to open their third eyes, she would have a larger success rate.

Luna left that train of thought behind, tucking it away for a later time. She was hungry, but could not join everyone before, as her OWL notes had mysteriously gone missing. Luckily, they had been water-proofed, so she doubted that the ashrays would be able to ruin them. Luna decided to sit next to Harry, wanting to join in on the confusion of the great hall. There were vacant spots on either side of him. Luna decided to sit on his left side, because his right hand was his dominant one. This prevented there from being a barrier between their arms, and showed familiarity between them. They were friends after all.

"You really should eat Harry," she said, smoothing out her robes. "I know that your relatives' home has an infestation of the elusive ara ararauna. They'll eat you out of house and home if you're not careful."

One older-looking girl, seated across from them, made a strangled sound. She grabbed the arm of the girl next to her. They both bore a strange resemblance to the late Stubby Boardman. Especially in the shape of their nose, and the colour of their very thick hair. The other students around them tensed as well, and all eyes were on her. That included Harr- oh dear that poor Slytherin was definitely not Harry. He did look similar though, she had made an honest mistake. Luna did not get the chance to explain this to the cadre of snakes however.

"What?"

"Who're you?"

"Look at her robes, Avery, she's quite clearly the replacement Ravenclaw!"

Only one boy, who couldn't have been older than twelve, laughed at this remark. A sharp look from the older students quickly silenced him. Luna couldn't help but notice that the other students were looking at their table now as well. Looking at her.

"Well, are you?"

This was asked by the boy she decided to call Not-Harry-Potter. The wizarding world had an affinity for giving people hyphenated names, and she felt that it fit the student quite well. Hopefully he didn't already have one in place, it might overshadow her own new nickname for him.

"Am I which?"

"The replacement Ravenclaw?"

"If you can tell the difference between us, then I suppose I'm not a very good replacement," she answered.

There was another titter from The-Boy-Who-Laughed. Her new hyphenated nick-names were catching on if she did say so herself. Dirty looks were coming from all of the tables, including the Slytherin one, focused on him. This also drew the attention of the head table. The headmaster rose from his seat, followed by Professor Slughorn.

The Slytherins all bowed their heads, focusing on their meals. Recalling the rumbling in her stomach, Luna did the same. She ladled a large portion of the soup into a bowl for herself, and took two tempting-looking sandwiches for herself. They were cut diagonally, making a nice triangle shape, the only way which sandwiches should be served in. Luna liked this, as well as the combination of sliced beef and cheese between them. She took the top layer of bread from both sandwiches, and dipped them into her soup. The bread went quite well with it, and worked as an excellent way to sponge up the fragrant soup.

By the time she had finished one slice, Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn had arrived. The Slytherins seemed to hunch even further into their meals, avoiding the gaze of Dumbledore. Luna did not however, she had already tried to fall through the connection between the table and the kitchens back in her second year, but she just wound up with a soiled tie.

"Hello Headmaster, Professor Slughorn."

"Headmaster?" Slughorn asked.

"I don't know if I'll receive that position for quite some time," Dumbledore said, slightly bemused. "I'm only the deputy after all."

Slughorn looked between them, not bothering to hide his confusion.

"Erm, who are you?"

"Ah, I see," she smiled demurely at the both of them. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

Luna knew what was coming, the moment she gave away her last name. Slughorn's eyes lit up as he made the connection between her blonde hair, and the last name. She had seen him do the exact same thing with other students in her potions class, as well as when she went with Harry to his Christmas party. It was the face (the considerably younger, blonder one) of a person who had made an exciting new discovery, one that they would share with the world. Luna supposed that was the point of his Slug Club meetings after all, but she had not been to them before. Not many people wanted them in their clubs, but she didn't mind too much.

"Any relation to-?"

"The very same," she assured.

"I was under the impression that Selene was the only Lovegood attending Hogwarts. How are you related?"

"She's my grandmum."

That explanation did not go as well as she expected. One of the Slytherins inhaled her soup, and not in the Ron Weasley fashion, either. She had to be thumped on the back by the one sitting next to her. A boy, who had lovely red hair which reminded her of Ginny's, dropped an entire sandwich into the pot of soup. The steaming liquid splattered everywhere, but mostly landed on the robes of the girl sitting closest to her.

"Watch it, Prewett!"

The two teachers took it a little better than the students. Slughorn sputtered like a kettle, unsure of what to say to her bold remark. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in shock.

"I do believe that Miss Lovegood is a little too young, and you a little too old for that to be possible."

"Hm, normally when this sort of thing happens, you try to keep it a secret," Luna said to herself.

"Pregnancy out of the wedlock?"

"They are fun to keep. I'd like to see how long it takes before they all discover the truth," she mused. "Well, Professor Dumbledore, would you mind?"

Luna stood on her tip-toes so that she could whisper her new secret to the man. Everyone had long since abandoned their food by this point. Now, they all leaned in closer, trying to hear what she was whispering to him. His eyebrows shot up so high, they were hidden in his auburn hair. Then they returned, knitting together in puzzlement, and his forehead wrinkled.

"That does seem like a bit of a predicament. But you're welcome to stay here and continue your education in the meantime. OWLs are just around the corner after all."

"Wonderful. Thank-you H- Professor."

"You should explain the situation to Headmaster Dippet and get things sorted out."

"Of course."

Dumbledore turned to leave, but stopped when he saw she wasn't standing.

"After dinner then?" He asked.

"The soup here has divinative properties."

Slytherins, Luna decided, were the inverse version of sunflowers. They were green after all, just like the stems and leaves of a flower. The moment the teachers left, their heads rose up again. They faced towards the dark, rather than the light. It was for their own safety and health of course, they needed the darkness to grow. Luna wasn't so certain if she wanted to give up her ability to look at the sun. Although, her father had told her she should learn to do so to help with vampire etiquette.

Luna wasn't interested in rejoining Ravenclaw, either. She had been bullied terribly there, the students were all rather close-minded. It was time for a new experience. She had enough Gryffindor friends to know what that house was like. That left Hufflepuff, and she didn't see anything wrong with that house. Luna knew that she was loyal to her friends, but she was not completely sure about the "fair play" idea.

As she looked over at the Hufflepuff table, (more than half of the table was still looking at her) she saw that the sandwiches there were cut into triangular quarters, rather than triangular halves. A good sign. Luna then recalled that Dumbledore had not even told her yet that she could be resorted into a new house after she was registered. Her conversation with the sorting hat later that evening would help though.

"Seeing anything?" She asked, leaning towards Not-Harry's soup.

Not-Harry-Potter recoiled, as if she had shocked him. Once more, the other Slytherin students froze, and they stared at her with unblinking eyes.

"Seeing any what?"

There was a mocking tone to his quiet voice, but Luna was not going to let him get away without explaining first.

"This type of meal dates back to the sixteenth century. A soup being in it's native Scotland, inside an ancient castle filled with magic might give you the power to see something."

The others (there were many girls sitting around Not-Harry, something they had in common) relaxed once again. Luna was surprised when none of them gave the snort of derision she had come to expect from her fellow students.

"My gran told me there was a recipe for that," the boy with Ginny's hair piped up. "Said it was for important gatherings."

"We are at an important gathering now."

"What do we see?"

"Time of course," Luna said, feeling encouraged by their enthusiasm.

"What do we look at?"

"Did any of us take divination?"

One of the girls from across the table got up, and came over to sit next to Luna.

"The teacher and class are a bit of a joke," she said. "I'm Lucretia Black, by the way. And this is my dear cousin Walburga."

She waved her hand in the general direction of the girl still sitting across from them. Walburga was twisting a heavy-looking ring that sat upon her finger, and eagerly looking into the contents of her soup.

"That's a nice name. It has a good balance between the long and the short, and stops it from being long-winded."

"What about us?" The-Boy-Who-Laughed asked.

"Cousins," Lucretia said, even more dismissively. "They're firsties, and we're both year sevens."

"Both powerful magical numbers," Luna replied.

Something about what she had said caused Not-Harry-Potter to suspiciously look at her. Luna was used to looks by now, and was not fazed by his.

"I'm Cygnus," The-Boy-Who-Laughed loudly proclaimed, "and this is my cousin Orion. He's going to be head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black one day."

Luna couldn't help but laugh when she heard him add the "noble and most ancient" moniker on his last name. The way he puffed out his chest reminded her of an especially proud peacock, but his features were all pointed and sharp, like a ferret's. Luna wasn't one to keep up with who was related to who in the wizarding world. It was easy to assume you were cousins with someone if you were pureblood. Seeing Cygnus reminded her of a tiny Draco Malfoy. All he missed was the blond hair.

"Are you seriously bragging about the future achievements of our cousin, brother?"

Just like that, the resemblance to Malfoy was gone, as he blushed and stopped talking. Before an awkward silence could settle upon the table again, Not-Harry-Potter announced;

"There's a spider in my soup."

"Oh! You're seeing something?" She excitedly asked, leaning towards him. "Spiders tend to symbolize rebirth, as well as cunning, and the ability to manipulate your thoughts to improve your life-"

Lucretia, who was also looking at the soup chimed in, "The only thing I'm seeing in that soup is a distinct lack of hygiene. The school really needs to do something about this spider problem."

"They really need to do something about the petrifying monster as well, don't they?" Walburga quipped back.

Luna instantly recalled everything that Ginny had told her about the terrible first year she spent in a haze. They had both spent their first year alone, without any friends, despite the friendship they had harbored as children. Ginny had fallen in too deep with the diary, and she became cold, distant. The one friend Luna knew she could look forwards to being around at school was gone.

The feeling of fear, that pressed down upon all the students returned to her body. It was a heavy, cold sensation, that nested deep within her stomach. It radiated outwards like ripples on the frigid surface of the Black Lake. Theories of who the heir could be flew thick through the air. So did feathers, once Hagrid's roosters had been slaughtered. Ginny confided that she had been unable to eat chicken since the incident, without feeling immensely guilty.

"Are you there?"

"The monster only attacks mudbloods who aren't in Slytherin," Orion said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Even Tom's safe."

Tom. Mudblood. Luna knew that she should have expected the latter, seeing as she was sitting in a nest of snakes, but it still bothered her. The former was different. She could still remember her and Ginny, sitting at the kitchen table in the Burrow. The memory was clear as day. Sunlight streamed through the windows, and Mrs. Weasley had baked a wonderful batch of chocolate cookies with chopped nuts. A plate of them sat in the middle of the table, and their warm smell wafted through the air. Luna had always liked how cozy the Burrow was. But that feeling faded when Ginny finally managed to choke out the name of the diary's owner. Tom. And here she was sitting right next to him, talking about predicting things through soup.

"Eee! Could you imagine him staring down the monster?" Lucretia squealed, clasping onto Not-Harry-Potter's arm. "I bet you'd win Tom!"

Tom rolled his eyes, and the boy with Ginny's hair narrowed his, glaring.

"Stop trying to make Prewett jealous, cousin," Walburga said, primly setting her spoon to the side.

Eyes, staring... She did not know what the creature was for certain, but she could guess. Ginny could not give her all the details, and Luna doubted that she would if she could. To the rest of the school, almost nothing was told. They just needed to know that the monster had been killed. But, putting all the details together, she was fairly certain she knew what sort of monster had been running amuck in the bowels of Hogwarts.

"What can peel layers like an onion yet still remain whole?"

"I think she's still not with us," Cygnus said.

"Your family would be able to purchase some mandrake draught if you did somehow get petrified, anyways," Orion said. "I know that mine would. They wouldn't leave me lying like a plank of wood in the hospital wing for an entire semester."

Luna didn't like the change in conversation. She especially didn't like sitting next to the person who would possess her best friend in the future. Thus, she rose from her seat, and smoothed out her robes.

"I do believe I should meet with the headmaster now."

"Cygnus, be a gentleman and escort Lovegood to the office," Walburga said.

Her younger brother looked absolutely mutinous when she told him to do this. Most of them, including him, were still eating dinner after all. However, he still stood up, and offered her his arm. Being a fifth year, Luna felt perfectly capable of walking to the office on her own, but this was 1943. She also figured it would draw unnecessary attention to herself by already knowing where the office was, as a supposedly new student. Luna wanted to keep the secret up, and see how long it would take others to figure it out. Maybe she and Dumbledore could make a bet out of it.

She and Cygnus strode through the halls in relative silence. He could barely hold her arm, the Napoleonic figure that he was. He took two steps for every single one of her own, and so his walk turned into more of a trot. Luna could tell he was seething, because he was forced to do something on the command of his older sister. The little boy had a lot of pride. This anger dissipated almost instantly when they came across two boys in Slytherin colours. The taller of the two wore a prefect's badge. Cygnus stopped, and inclined his head towards them.

"Abraxas, Selwyn."

They dipped their heads as well.

"Cygnus."

"Black."

"This is Luna Lovegood. She's in your year. Miss Lovegood, these two gentlemen are Abraxas Malfoy and Doran Selwyn."

"Pleased to meet you," Luna said, offering her hand to them.

"I take it you're related to Selene? Hufflepuff third year?"

Luna decided to omit that Selene was her grandmum this time around.

"Yes."

Neither of them came close to touching her until she stated she was pureblood. But when she did, they kissed her hand instead of shaking it. Abraxas seemed to know what he was doing, but Selwyn did not. The toad-faced boy left saliva on her hand. The gesture made Luna's skin crawl. This was how things like the biting bogles got spread. She blinked in surprise, and resisted the urge to wipe off her hand. It was important to be polite when faced with other cultures, as her father had pointed out. As far as she was concerned, pureblood boys from the 1940s were about as foreign a species as you could get.

"How was detention?" Cygnus asked.

"Ridiculously long for a simple remark," Abraxas replied. "Especially since I hadn't done anything wrong."

"All I said was that a dead mudblood was a good one," Doran defensively said, in a very croaky voice. "It's not like they could prove who I was talking about."

"As far as I know, there's only one dead-" Cygnus thought to look around, just in case any teachers or portraits were listening in."-mudblood around here."

"With all the family members that Grindelwald's followers have been killing, they've been cracking down on anti-muggle sentiments."

"'S what happens when a continental wizard decides to-" Cygnus stopped short again.

All eyes were drawn to Abraxas.

"Shite sorry- oh double that I just swore in front of-"

"I don't mind."

"I don't either," Abraxas said. "My parents weren't happy they had to send me to Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. But they would rather go across the channel than have me die, or worse, be forced to join the little training camp going on at Durmstrang. The Malfoys serve no one."

"What's wrong with British schooling?" Cygnus indignantly asked.

"Beyond it being inferior to the French?"

"I really do need to get to my meeting," Luna said, trying to head off the argument. "Cygnus?"

"Selwyn will take you."

"I will?"

His remark went unheard, as the two were already in a heated fight.

"You're almost there anyway. Keep walking until you see a gargoyle statue, and then ask to be let in."

Doran Selwyn was definitely not a gentleman. He had the manners of a toad. In fact, his uncanny resemblance to one reminded him of another prejudiced pureblood she had known. That was a normal thought to have really. With all the inbreeding, it was difficult not to see resemblances between the past and present students that were around her.

She reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance just as Dumbledore did. There was a young girl in Hufflepuff robes walking with him. She recognized her grandmum from pictures she had seen in a photo album.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood. I trust you found your way here without too much difficulty?"

"Yes, it was no trouble at all."

"Now before we meet with the headmaster, I'd like to warn you that he's having a little trouble wrapping his head around the idea of time-travel."

"I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal throughout my time here."

"I don't mind," Selene said. "I've always wanted to meet someone from the future."

"I don't have much surviving family. Just my dad really."

"I don't either," she sadly replied, blinking her owlish eyes. "We stopped going abroad when Grindelwald's berks got my mum and my Auntie Achelois. We have to stay in Britain now."

"The Lovegood family always seems like a small one."

"Indeed."

They smiled at each other, and Luna was glad to have met a kindred spirit. Together, they entered the Headmaster's office. Hopefully they would settle her time-travelling predicament without too much trouble.

Well, look who's down at the bottom of the chapter! I'm just here to teach you things about the story so far, seeing as I've been doing a lot of research for this fic. Both historical, factual, as well as delving into the Harry Potter wiki and Lexicon. Consider this a fun facts area of sorts.

Selene: Name of a goddess affiliated with the moon.

Doran: The male equivalent of Dolores I liked the most. Note that he is also toad-like, and his last name alludes to the lines below.

"'Oh yes — an old family heirloom,' she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. 'The

stands for Selwyn... I am related to the Selwyns [...]'" (Deathly Hallows 251)

Q: What can peel layers like an onion yet still remain whole?

A: A snake.

Tom's Aura: Pink is considered a member of the red aura group. Red can be good or bad. It symbolizes the blood, and the ability to attract or repel. People with red auras often have the desire to be number one, and they can have bad tempers. They are also strong in the body and mind. The dark, murky pink is supposed to show further deceit, dishonesty, and immaturity.

Today is also Harry Potter's birthday.