Before Dumbledore's Army, fourth-year Luna was an outcast. Shunned by her peers, put down by the other kids in her year, and left behind, Luna found Hogwarts quite depressing from her very first day. The only glimmer of light for her was her only friend Ginny Weasley, a spirited redhead from Gryffindor. Sadly, because of her House she was not around often, which opened up a door for Luna's own House to tease her without abandon.
"Oh my God, what a loony bird," one of the older girls commented with a touch of ugly hate in her voice. Luna looked up from her copy of the Quibbler as she read in the common room and stared at the girl.
"I know, right?" the girl's friend replied, throwing back her mane of brown hair and uttering a sharp, dolphin-like laugh that made everyone within 5 feet of her wince and slap their hands over their ears.
Face burning slightly, Luna returned her gaze to the Quibbler, vowing that not a tear would slip out of her eye on their watch. Her gesture, unfortunately, egged the girls on.
"Always poking her head into that piece of junk, wearing the weirdest things, honestly!"
"You know, I don't even think she's human!"
"Seriously, guys," another girl chastised. "Ravenclaws don't hurt other Ravenclaws."
The room, which had gone nearly silent when the girls had began speaking, burst into a sea of nodding and sounds of assent. Luna, flushing, noticed the bullies roll their eyes and back away, allowing Luna to slide off the armchair she'd pushed by a window and run out to the library.
Luna, heart thumping, entered the library. "Good afternoon, Madam Pince," she greeted the irate librarian as she passed. She received nothing in reply but a stern look. Luna hurried along the rows and rows of shelves until she reached a small table set up by the dusty shelves of the oldest and most arcane books ever known to Wizardkind. The girl Luna saw at the table, though, looked totally out of place amongst the vast shelves of thick tomes.
"Hi, Ginny," Luna greeted the vivacious Gryffindor, whose hair was braided loosely into one ponytail. Ginevra Weasley was one of Luna's only friends. She defended Luna at every point where the bullies were, and Luna was always grateful that Ginny was always there to talk with her.
"Hi Luna!" Ginny waved ecstatically at the sight of her friend. Her face fell, however, when she saw the flush in Luna's cheeks. "Did the bullies?..." she trailed off delicately, leaving her question unfinished.
"Yes," Luna answered in a whisper. "Sometimes, when I am in the common room, it feels like I have no friends," she confessed. "Sometimes, I wish I had many friends...not just one person...and they all liked me for who I am...but really, no offense to you. Ginny, you're an amazing friend."
"Oh, Luna, thanks!" Ginny replied. After a moment's thought, she pressed on.
"You know, Harry, Hermione, and Ron-remember them from the train?-they'd like members to recruit for a Defense Against The Dark Arts Association. I'm seriously thinking of joining. What about you? Maybe you can find more friends there than you would find in your common room." She added hopefully, trying to get Luna's spirits up.
Slowly, Luna's gray eyes lit up with hope as miraculous as a caterpillar's transformation into a graceful butterfly. In fact, Ginny hadn't seen hope like this for quite a long while.
"Ginny...where can I sign up?"