Luna Lovegood wasn't particularly fond of Halloween.
It was the time of year when the physical world was closest to the spirit plane, and the time of the year when Luna got the most interference from the spirit world, making her even less connected to the physical world. She'd spend the three days of Hallowtide in a daze, barely making it to her classes and completely unable to concentrate on anything said around her, often wandering the castle aimlessly even past curfew, led astray by whispers and figures that weren't entirely real.
One year she came out of her Hallowtide daze to find that she was sitting on a tower, and that there was a boy sitting next to her.
"Hello," she greeted him, her voice absent as she tried to figure out who she was, let alone who the boy next to her was.
"Er – hi," the boy replied awkwardly. "Are you alright? You seemed cold, but you weren't moving…"
Luna noticed that she was wearing a cloak and scarf, but she didn't think she owned anything trimmed in red or gold. If only she could remember what the colors stood for.
"I followed a Limpjing here," Luna turned her large silver eyes on the boy. "It was going to show me the future." She wasn't sure what the boy's expression was meant to convey, but it looked uncomfortable.
"Do you want to go back inside?" the boy asked eventually. "It's past curfew, and it's getting cold. I'll take you back to your dorm, if you want," he offered awkwardly.
Luna looked over at him, trying again to figure out who the boy was. He seemed familiar, somehow. "Alright," she said, standing abruptly. "I suppose there isn't a point in staying now that Hallowtide is over, anyway."
The boy looked confused. "Hallowtide? Don't you mean Halloween? That was the day before yesterday…"
"No," Luna replied, looking down at him. "All Hallows' Eve is the first day of Hallowtide. It's a triduum."
"I… see."
Luna didn't think he really did, but reached out a hand to him anyway. "Come on, let's go. Aren't you cold? You really should have brought a cloak if you were coming to the tower," she chided.
"But, but-" the boy spluttered, ignoring her hand and getting to his feet, "But I gave you my cloak and scarf!"
Luna blinked slowly. "Oh." Looking down at herself, she remembered that she'd already noticed before that the cloak and scarf weren't hers. "That was very kind of you." She carefully unwound the scarf from around her neck and gave it back to him, noticing the cold as soon as she took off the cloak. The boy looked rather warm, actually, considering how red his cheeks were. "Thank you," she said, then turned to go.
The castle seemed terribly quiet now that she couldn't hear the spirits anymore, and Luna always felt terribly alone right after All Souls' Day ended. But then she heard hurried footsteps behind her, and the boy reappeared at her side, cloak lopsided and his scarf trailing over one shoulder. Luna giggled.
"You look like the Pintsuckers were at you," she said dreamily, reaching out to tug his outerwear into place. "They especially like to pull at cloaks." His clothing fixed, she started walking again, wondering where she was going. She knew the way, though, so she wasn't worried.
"Er," the boy said, and she smiled absently at him. "Never mind," he muttered. He walked beside her through the castle, though she felt that he was walking in the wrong direction, and eventually they stopped in front of a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.
"What two things can you never have for breakfast?" it asked, to the boy's apparent surprise.
"Lunch and dinner," Luna answered absently, and made to step inside the room that was revealed when a hand on her arm stopped her. Turning a muted curious look on the boy, she thought he must still be feeling quite hot. His face was so very red.
"Er-" he said, releasing her hurriedly. "I, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. At the DA. Right?"
Luna blinked slowly. DA? That sounded familiar. "Yes," she answered simply. Maybe by tomorrow she'd have remembered what DA stood for and who the boy was.
"All- alright then," the boy said, not meeting her eyes. "I'll see you then." And he left, walking in the direction Luna had felt he needed to go. Humming slightly, she walked into the familiar room and headed for where she felt she'd find a bed. Maybe tomorrow everything would be clearer. Maybe tomorrow she'd remember where she was, and what her name was.
A/N: A very odd oneshot on the topic of Halloween. I was thinking about how most authors would be likely to write some fluff about costume parties and people getting together, and then wondered how the real characters would act around Halloween. And then this came to me. I have different theories about Luna and try to incorporate a different one into each story I write involving her; it's really fascinating! Here, she has a tenuous connection to the spirit plane that gets overwhelming around Hallowtide (which, if you've never heard of it, you really should read up on. Wikipedia has some good information on it, though I originally thought that Hallowmas was the name for the triduum. Apparently that's only the more recent use of the word, and Hallowmas originally was used only for the feast on All Saints' Day). The unnamed boy was a Gryffindor, obviously, and I wrote it so that either Harry or Neville could be meant. Whichever you prefer, though I mostly did picture it as being Neville.
Happy Halloween!