Loony Lovegood had been having better days. In fact, she was quite sure that she had seen a better day last week. Of course, only last week she had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry for the first time. Then, for whatever reason, the school's board of council, or whatever it was called, asked her to come forward and tell them about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and the Nargles.

So, of course, she was more than willing to tell everyone. Now, normally, people were quite understanding about things they didn't understand; or, at least, they ignored those things. But, for whatever the reasoning, they decided that she was unfit to attend the school. Well, she then stated she would leave and go back home.

Apparently though, that wasn't enough and now, the minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge, decided that neither her nor her father were fit to be members of their society. Now, had she known that offering to leave the country would only make things worse, she would have kept her mouth shut; but, as it were, she did not.

Nevertheless, here she now lies on the floor of some place in St. Mungo's. Her father, bless his soul, could not stand going into such a place. He had committed suicide. Such sadness would usually follow a young girl's thoughts but, as it was, Luna felt no sadness. In fact, she felt nothing.

As she started to think about how long she had been in here, she now recalled that it had been a few years. Frankly, she felt taller now. She even remembered hearing that Harry Potter, whose godfather was innocent, as she and her father always stated, defeated that evil Tom Riddle man (as she and her father knew he would).

Frankly, the guards, who liked to call themselves 'Healers', always stated they would let her go if she admitted that the creatures weren't real. Frankly, she had no desire to like (and, if she did, wouldn't that be like that Dolores Umbridge lady wanted?).

Yes, she was quite sure it would be exactly like she wanted. Not that Loony had ever met Umbridge, at least not in this life, but had she been free to live her life she would have. She then would have had a chance to get together with Harry, had Ginny not been sent to the Chamber of Secrets (but, the risk of Loony herself going was too great), or had she fought in the Battle of Hogwarts she may have made out with that Neville guy. He was quite a looker, you know, as he got older.

Still, there was also the chance that Loony, herself, could meet that Rolf Scamander, grandson of Newt Scamander and Porpentina, and would then have twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander, and maybe a daughter (had Luna gone to the United States and ate crabs with old bay on them) but, as it were, those things would never happen.

Instead, Loony found herself all alone in thing musty place they called a hospital. At first, she had seen many healers but, now, she was all alone. Every fortnight they would drop off two weeks of food but, even that, was random now. It seems that in the hustle and bustle of the war, Loony had been forgotten. Even so, she figured that at least she wasn't cold. That would be a plus, wouldn't it?

I mean, it's not like she didn't have a roof over her head or a nice place to call her own. The room wasn't that bad. In fact, it had that portal that had been opening for the last two to three weeks (no one believed her when she said it was there). Frankly, she figured it was a temporal and spatial portal leading to another time and place (but, only, in the same dimension mind you).

The only reason she hadn't gone through it yet (other than the fact that it had only just became the right size for her) was that she wasn't sure where it would take it. I mean, she was in a restraining jacket. What if she went somewhere where there were evil people? What if they wanted to harm her? It's not like she had her wand.

Oh, yes, she could perform magic without one – but, at the same time, Daddy told her not to – so, now what was she to do? Would she go through the portal, or would she remain here in this room? Well, quite frankly, the thought had occurred to her that it may not remain forever but, then again, it might stay forever. Who could really know for sure?

Well, in the strictest sense, she supposed something or someone knew. Because, as it was, someone made it appear; right? She just didn't know for sure on who it was. In any case, she decided that maybe she should just go ahead and go through it.

With that decision finally reached, Loony stood on her shaky legs (because, in all fairness, she had been limiting her food intake to make it last). Speaking of food, how was she supposed to open a can of tuna when her hands were tied behind her back? That really wasn't very thoughtful of the healers, if they could even be called that anymore. She certainly wasn't healed.

Either way, she decide d top step forward and enter the intra-dimensional spatial-descending portal and hope for the best. Where was worse than here, she supposed.

So, with a heavy heart and equally light footing, Loony stepped into the portal and vanished. No alarms went off. No one cared. In truth, they had forgotten her. After all, what was one crazed individual compared to their hero defeating one Tom Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort (even if said crazed individual's father had told them his real name months before attending Hogwarts).

Yes, such was the life of Loony. She was never quite understood by her peers (even when she did attend Hogwarts and the final battle – they, still, kept hiding her clothes). Oh, Harry offered to help her but what was the point? He would always betray her (even in the future when she had his children, he would leave when they turned out to be as equally gifted and apparently crazy as Loony herself).

Nonetheless, here Loony had a chance for freedom. A small chance, yes, but a chance nonetheless. Where exactly was here though? She stood in the middle of the Great Hall but it didn't have any chairs or tables and, quite frankly, the ceiling was bare. She did hear voices though.

Drat, she thought, as she looked around, there was nowhere to go. So, as it were, she remained where she was. The form-fitting restraining vest securely connected around her torso and upper body – while her lower body was covered quite nicely as well. After all, the female healers had at least prevented that particular future from occurring (and, quite frankly, Loony had no desire to be raped by the male healers anyway).

So, she waited as the voices got closer. She stood there in the middle of the room or, she supposed, what was really where the staff table would go. Speaking of the staff table, why wasn't the school open? Certainly, it should be. Right? Or did she lose more track of time then even she realized?

Ah, right, time. She went into that portal. So, now, where was she again? Or, rather, when was she? Wait, let's not go down that stereotypical time joke continuum. At least, she had no desire to do so. No, she had to remain calm and figure this out. Well, speaking of figuring it out, those four voices she heard entered the room.

Now, they were quiet. She looked them over and figured out what happened. She was in the past, she recognized the four of them. The founders, she thought, yes, the founders. Well, at least she'd be seeing a new cell (or would it be old? No, let's not go there).

"Hello? Are you alright, sweetie?" Helga Hufflepuff asked her, looking around from behind Godric Gryffindor, but with kind eyes.

"Ma'am," Rowena Ravenclaw said calmly, as she stepped forward, "Are you okay?"

For once, both Godric and Salazar showed their intelligence and remained quiet; letting the women handle it. Nonetheless, they kept an eye out in case they needed to help their friends.

"Well," Loony began, "I am quite alright, if you choose to believe me, of course."

Helga smiled at the younger female, "Tell us what you want, dear one, and I am Helga Hufflepuff."

Loony smiled, "I know. You see, I am from the future. I know," she paused, "It sounds strange and you probably will not believe me, but I am. In fact, I went to this school for a brief time. A week to be exact."

Rowena kept inching forward, "The future?" She looked over the young lady's form, realizing that she had been beaten and starved, possibly drugged for quite some time, "Why only a week. Oh, and I am Rowena Ravenclaw. What is your name?"

Loony smiled, "My name is Luna Lovegood, but everyone calls me Loony, and that is why I was there for a week."

Rowena looked confused, "Why would they call you Loony? What does that mean?"

Loony sighed, noticing how the four of them looked at each other when they heard her last name, "Well," she began, "No one wanted to believe me about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and the Nargles. Or even about the Gulping Plimpy. It is quite disconcerting to have no one believe you, after all."

Salazar, now quite concerned and confused, both by the lady's dress (if one can call it that) and her treatment, spoke up, "What didn't they believe you about them?"

Loony looked over to Salazar, "What, you know of them?"

Salazar nodded, "I am aware that the Nargles are quite relaxed this season. In fact, we won't need radishes until next mating season. Wearing too much radish tends to make them go crazy, though." He then waved a hand over the spot on the floor that, in turn, revealed a sleeping Nargle.

Loony's eyes opened very, very wide, "You…believe me?"

Rowena nodded her head, "Yes, young one," she smiled placing her hands palm first, "We have no reason not to. Even if we hadn't seen them ourselves, there is no reason to deny that which we have not seen. After all, what would be the point in that?"

Loony began to cry, "No one ever believed me before," she fell onto her knees, still crying, not noticing when Helga and Rowena rushed forward to figure out how to remove the bindings on her Luna's jacket.

Godric looked over to Salazar and nodded, motioning to the door, as he wasn't sure if Luna would be indecent underneath her binds.

Salazar nodded as well, joining Godric out in the hall, and lightly closing the door with his wand. He sighed as he looked to his friend, "Godric, we need to contact the Lovegoods. I know she says she's from the future and, quite frankly, we have no proof otherwise so, for the time being, I am inclined to believe her. Nonetheless, I believe we must contact Cyrille and Adriana. If Luna is a member of the Lovegood line, we have a responsibility to alert Lord and Lady Lovegood."

Godric nodded his head, "I concur. Not only are they helping to fund the founding of the school, they are our friends and we owe them that for no other reason. Furthermore, Luna has been through quite a lot. She doesn't look more than seventeen years old. If she spent a week here as a student, that means she was eleven, assuming we continued our plans to start education here at eleven, therefore she has spent at least six years locked up for no other reason than admitting the truth."

Salazar nodded, "I will need to speak to her when she is more relaxed, in order to figure out how she got here. If it was a time portal, she may be able to stay, as long as it won't unbalance time itself. Frankly, though, I am disappointed in the future leaders of this school and the Wizarding populace in general. Who dares to confine a young witch simply because they disagree with her? Despicable."

Godric sighed, laying a hand on Salazar's right shoulder, "I agree. Nevertheless, we must not jump to conclusions. Let her rest, at least for now, Rowena and Helga will take care of her. If there is a way to help her, we will do so. I do fear, however, that she may have lost a lot of trust for people. That binding that was around her was meant to keep her confined. I also did not sense her wand on her, but I did sense a lot of power from her."

Salazar ran a hand through his hair, "Yes, as did I, but I sensed no malcontent. It seems that she was speaking the truth, but I couldn't enter her mind."

Godric laughed, "Then, I guess there is a good chance she's a Lovegood. All Lovegood's are immune to Legilimency."

Salazar laughed as well, now walking with Godric toward their offices, "Don't remind me, I still remember trying to read Cyrille's mind when I first met him. His natural defences put me in a coma for a week."