A/N: *sighs* Writing Luna was a little harder than I thought it would be. Oh well, hopefully I pulled it off well. On the other hand, this little one shot is set in Mysterious Fates' universe. If you don't know what that is, its my main fanfic and which majority of my one shots are going to be related to.
Enjoy!
The Cherry Blossom Tree
5th year at Hogwarts
Subha Patel had always thought that everything happens for a reason. Meeting Ginny and Sakura, finding Harry as her brother, Ron acting like a knucklehead as usual and she and Hermione bonding over their friends' (including Fairy Tail) antics. However...she didn't expect to be stuck in detention with Luna Lovegood for a prank that Draco Malfoy attempted to pull on her. She would definitely kill Draco if she ever got the chance. And pulling Luna into her personal grudge against Draco had been the last straw. When Luna passed by with Lavender and tried to defend her, he basically called her a blood traitor and "Loony Lovegood" and Subha's blood boiled hotter than ever as she punched Draco in the face.
Twice.
Unfortunately, by the time she took out her wand, Snape had passed by and gave her detention for the evening, unfairly dragging along Luna in the process. But Luna, even though they didn't know each other thoroughly, was quite a delight to be around with, even if she was a bit of an odd ball. Then again, so was she...sort of. Ginny had some interesting stories about her since Luna was in the same year as her so Luna was exactly the way Subha pictured her.
They were sorting out the ingredients in the classroom that evening when Luna suddenly said, "I wonder if the Nargles are rearranging all of the ingredients. It would explain why all of them are disorganized."
Subha arched her eyebrows in amusement. "Oh really?"
"Oh yes. Didn't Harry tell you?"
"Um...er..." Subha was rendered speechless at her sudden theory.
"It's alright if you don't remember immediately. They often mess with your minds a bit."
Subha remembered Harry telling her about meeting Luna during the carriage ride. She later remembered him and Ginny telling her about how she usually went on about Nargles. Subha, having no idea what Luna said half the time, usually smiled and nodded while trying to figure out why Snape had only given her a one day detention when any normal Gryffindor would have gotten a month and five-ten points taken away. In addition to Toadface Umbridge being a hawk around the school for any "misconduct" and the news of Subha being Harry's sister traveling faster than what happened at the World Cup last year, this was even more suspicious. Hell, she's been trying to figure out why he's been lenient towards her since her first day in Potions. It's been making her mind hurt by thinking about the subject. It was complicated enough as is.
An hour later, Subha glanced in Luna's direction. She felt responsible for the fact that she dragged Luna into all of her drama. But what can she do to make up for it? She didn't know her very well, so getting her something that she would like was out of the question. But maybe she can. She just needed to get to know her better.
Before she could start a conversation with her, Luna suddenly spoke up.
"You know, now that I think about it," said Luna serenely, "you being related to Harry makes a whole lot of sense, and yet at the same time, it doesn't."
Subha gave Luna a quizzical look. "Whatever do you mean by that?"
"Well, you seem to absolutely hate to be in the spotlight. And...you seem to jump right whenever you see someone in trouble...like you did when Malfoy called me Loony Lovegood. You didn't have to do that though."
"It-its fine." Subha felt her face grow hot as Luna pondered about what else Harry had in common with her. Then she clapped her hands. "Oh! How about your eyes? They're always the exact shade of green as his whenever you're near him."
Subha moaned. "You're not the first person to mention the eyes," she mumbled. Granted, it's not like it bothered Subha but it didn't help the fact that almost every person who has meet Harry before her mentions it the minute Harry introduces her to them. Subha can only think of three examples so far: Ludo Bagman, Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Moody. And boy did the first two annoy her to death.
Luna giggled. "You're funny. I hear a lot about you from Ginny. I hear that you two are best friends?"
"It's funny though, a lot of people call me sarcastic and sassy with a dry sense of humor," said Subha. "But yeah, me and Gin have been best friends for quite a while, actually." She let out a chuckle as she put all the beozars in the cabinet drawers. "I remember the first time meeting her. We went to the same muggle school, me and Ginny and it had been Gin's first day. I was running like crazy to reach homeroom in the morning when I suddenly crashed into her. Her books went flying everywhere, but I found out that she skipped a grade and that we were in the same classes together and...we became fast friends right away. I don't think life would be the same without her. She's like one of my closest sisters, and I don't think Sakura would disagree with me."
"Sakura? You mean Sakura Kinomoto? Isn't she- "
"Yeah," smiled Subha. 'My godsister is also our best friend. She's sort of lucky that she's back in Japan right now and not here or otherwise she would have been swamped with admirers. I think you remember when she came with the Weasleys to see Harry during the Final Task last year..."
Subha hadn't realized she had gone quiet over the memory until Luna called her back to earth.
"That's a sweet story. No wonder most people feel like you've known the Weasleys for a while."
"Really? People actually get a feeling?" Subha's eyeballs moved from left to right and then right back at Luna.
"Well, they take what they can from seeing you argue with Ron most of the time."
Subha sighed in resignation. "Oh...right. That." She then let out a slightly embarrassed giggle. "Ron's an idiot, but he's brave, kind and supportive when it counts. I guess our fighting has bordered into sibling love, but I may be wrong. But we have been talking so much about me," added Subha, "What are your family and friends like?"
"I don't have many friends," Luna said calmly. "Many people call me Loony Lovegood because they think I'm different from them."
"B-but isn't being different a good thing?" said Subha, slightly aghast, "I mean, you're a unique human being. If the world was the same, wouldn't that be boring as hell?" She suddenly cringed in embarrassment as she put away the celery in the top right drawer. "God, I must have sounded so chessy right now."
Luna smiled widely. "No, of course not. I live with those ideals anyway, so it works with or without the context. As for my family...hmm let's see..."
Subha waited as Luna thought about what to say. That's when Snape came inside.
"Ms. Patel, I do hope you're not slacking off on detention," he sneered. "It would be...a shame if you were to spend another precious evening in here seperating ingredients instead of studying for your OWLs."
Shame my ass, Subha thought furiously. Maybe you'll be able to tell Malfoy to keep his big mouth shut for me the next time he tries to insult anybody. Rolling her eyes with a grumpy expression, she put away the lacewing flies into the middle left drawer. She couldn't let Snape get the satisfaction of her being miserable.
"Wouldn't it be the first time, eh?" she muttered quietly as Snape left the room.
Everything was silent as Subha and Luna sorted the ingredients into their proper places. After they finished, their time in detention was up and they were free to go. Luna followed suit after they both left the classroom. Subha felt suprisingly okay with Luna walking beside her. Then she realized that Luna hadn't answered her question about herself.
"Luna...you never told me about your family." Subha gave her a warm smile. "Ginny told me a bit about your father but-"
Luna suddenly grabbed her hand and made a run for it. Three minutes later, she tried to ask: "Luna, what- "
"I want to show you something in the forest," replied Luna as she ran by Hagrid's hut, dragged Subha along in the process. It was getting dark but Subha let her anyway. Something told her that it was worth getting caught for. Then, almost immediately after her mind formed that thought, a familiar voice said, "Hey, where are you two going?"
Stopping and glancing sideways, they saw that it was Harry at the entrance of Hagrid's hut. Subha didn't see him in the growing dark but recognized the voice immediately.
"Harry?" said Luna, "Is that you?"
"Um...yeah, it's me," Harry said questionably. "But what in the blazes are you two do together?"
Subha tried to discreetly tell her to not mention anything about detention with Snape or Malfoy but Luna didn't get the clue. Even in the evening sky, Subha could see her brother's face contort into fury as Luna described explicitly what happened. Luna, you are way too honest, she thought in vain.
"If you can calm down Harry," Subha said soothingly, "I can explain everything."
"Okay, first off," Harry came walking towards us and turned towards Subha. "You got detention. With Snape. That's surprising enough. And second," he added, pointing at Luna, "what did Malfoy try to do and why was Luna with you?"
Subha sighed and put up her arms in a surrender position. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you." She put a hand on her hip and pushed a strand of her black hair away from her face. "Malfoy attempted to put me under a body binding curse and humiliate me in front of the entire school. But I caught the gist of it quickly and blocked it before he and his stupid cronies could do a thing. But Luna passed by and while trying to defend me, Malfoy said that she should be loony someplace else. I punched him, by the way," she added happily, which made Harry's one eyebrow go up as if he was remembering another similar incident. "Twice. And Harry...getting off with a day of detention and having no points taken whatsoever is the more surprising part for me. If it had been you or Ron, you would have lost fifty points while also gaining a month's worth of separating potion ingredients in the dungeons."
"Good point," agreed Harry. "But still, especially with Umbridge around..." he paused before he said, "can I murder Malfoy?"
Subha smacked her forehead. Not wanting to deal with Harry's overbearing instincts, she said, "You'll get plenty of time for that during the upcoming Quidditch match. Now go, before Toadface arrives and makes you write another fifty lines of 'I must not be out after curfew' and you have it carved on your left hand."
Harry rolled his eyes. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you and Luna going into the Forbidden Forest at this time, especially with curfew, as you previously mentioned."
Subha groaned as she pointed at the castle. "Get going, Potter."
"Don't worry Harry, we'll be back before you know it," Luna assured him.
Harry eventually relented and astonishingly, handed Subha the Invisibility Cloak. "Alright. But I want to see you back in the common room in thirty minutes." Smiling as he rubbed Subha's hair, he ran quickly in the dark towards the castle.
"God, please kill me," said Subha after he was out of earshot.
"He's only looking out for you," said Luna as they entered the forest. "He just doesn't want to see anything happen to you."
"I know that he has a tragic past and that me, Sakura and Sirius are the only family he's got, but it's just..." She sighed, not knowing what to say next. Giving up, she asked instead, "Anyway...where are you taking me?"
Luna smiled mysteriously with a odd comfortable sparkle in her silvery grey eyes. "Oh, you'll see."
They walked a little deeper for a few more minutes when Subha saw a sudden pinkish glow in the distance. As they got nearer, the glow got brighter until Subha found herself standing in front of a huge oak tree with cherry blossoms.
"Cherry Blossoms..." trailed off Subha in shock and happiness. "...Luna, what in the blazes is a cherry blossom tree doing here?"
"Oh, right!" exclaimed Luna as she started to dig through her rucksack. "I found a note by the tree when I was feeding the Thestrals Monday morning."
Luna pulled out a folded piece of paper that had aged with time and gave it to Subha, who opened it up to see a letter that was from...
Subha gasped as she held the letter a little further away from her to see if her eyesight hadn't gone wacko. "Oh my god."
The note said:
To my future goddaughter and son,
I'm writing this letter just in case we don't make it. I'm surprised that I'm visiting Hogwarts in what seems like years after I graduated in order to write this. Then again, everything seems crazy when the world is at war quite literally with itself. But I just want you both to know that me and Priya love you with all our hearts. This cherry blossom tree started out as a small tree in a pot back in Nadeshiko's backyard, in Japan. Before our fifth year here, Nadeshiko asked me and Priya to plant the tree someplace in the forest so our then future kids can see our friendship blossom into something more. Nadeshiko had always wanted to name her daughter Sakura, the Japanese meaning for cherry blossoms. Looking at the tree now in its true state, I can clearly see why Nadeshiko wanted to name her daughter that. It's wasn't just because it sounded beautiful. It was because the blossoms flying in the air provided a promise for a better future, a better life, a life without war. We all have to live with the hope that everything will turn out all right. And in some ways, it did.
Lots of love,
Lily
"Oh my God..." Subha repeated in awe and sadness. There was a certain weight to the letter that she could feel, but couldn't pinpoint. This is proof that Lily Potter was her godmother...always was...always will be. The note sitting in her hands right now was solid proof that she lived, and it brought on a strange mix of emotions. She didn't know how to feel about it.
"I got curious when I found that note, so I picked it up and read it," said Luna. "I hope that doesn't bother you."
Subha shook her head. "No, what in the world are you talking about?" She wiped her eyes. "If you hadn't found the note, me nor Harry wouldn't have even known about it."
As Subha reread the note a few more times, trying to absorb every word, Luna started digging through her bag again as she said, "Oh, and the note came along with something else too..." she pulled out a photo that looked as old as the paper. Taking the photo, Subha saw the picture was of three very familiar looking young girls about the age of fifteen: One with red hair and green eyes, which Subha identified as Lily, the girl in the middle had gray hair and aqua eyes (Nadeshiko), and finally, the girl on the right had jet black hair with her electric green eye color shining through her puplis...
"Mum..."
Luna peered at the picture and put her hand on Subha's shoulder. "It's times like this when I realize how fates are connected, especially when we least expect it to be. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."
Subha sniffed. "Really? Who?"
"My mum. She loved to experiment with spells. I was nine when one of her spells went wrong."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I still got dad. Besides, we can't predict what comes next in life. It's an never ending cycle."
Subha pulled her head up to the tree. It had certainly grown in the past fifteen years. So Nadeshiko got her wish...she had a daughter who was as kind and beautiful as a blossom on a tree.
Sakura...you really have to see this, Subha thought as she smiled. I'll tell Harry and Sakura when the three of us are together again.
Facing Luna, she gave her a hug.
"What's this for?" Luna asked in surprise.
Subha pulled out and said: "It's nothing. Just thought that I owe you for this. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Luna smiled in return as the both of them left the forest and headed back to the castle with Subha feeling lighter than bird in flight.
A/N: HAI GUYS! Hope you guys liked this one shot. And yeah, this one is fairly short. That's due to the workload of my senior year in high school. This one shot plays a small homage to some scenes from the 3rd, 5th and 7th books/movies. XDXDXDXDXD
Leave a review if you liked it! If you didn't give me some pointers instead of just hate comments. Haven't had a problem but just putting it out there. :D So please be civil to each other!