A/N: written for the prompt "your common room on a rainy day" for simplypotterheads dot tumblr dot com. Given than my Hermione fic was chosen as last week's winner, this one isn't eligible to win but I had a blast writing it. I'm loving this challenge a lot I must say, and I'll probably write every week of the challenge. All the prompts are so inspiring. Thank you Ashley!

Still not a native speaker, still not found a beta, still sorry for the mistakes.

And go Ravenclawesome!


It's a quiet Monday evening, one of those uneventful ones, and Luna reckons it's a welcome change. Life in Hogwarts has been pretty hectic lately, more than it ever was in her first years as a student here. She's got friends, now. They may not consider themselves as such, but they're her friends, the Dumbledore's Army's members, and she likes it, but it means she doesn't have much time for herself lately.

She's sitting by one of the Ravenclaw Tower windows, looking far into the deep sky. It's her favourite moment of the day, just in between light and dark, because it offers so many mysteries and gems that she's the only one to treasure. She knows no one else pays enough attention to notice anything in the sky, but Luna has never been one to take beauty for granted and she looks for it everywhere, so she does notice them, all the little details that make every dusk sky different. And she knows, now, that beauty is hidden.

Like Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot. No one knows, because no one ever pays attention, but Luna does, and she's seen, the longing in their eyes and the innocent brushing of their hands and the slight blushes on their cheeks and the small smiles on their lips. She's seen it all and even though she's got her back turned to them for her eyes are fixed on the sky, Luna knows that if she were to look behind her, she would find them sitting here with their friend Michael Corner, and she would notice the differences in their relationship dynamics. Anthony never looked at Michael the way he looked at Terry; Terry never looked at Michael the way he looked at Anthony. And it's beautiful, really, the way they carry this secret within themselves, and Luna feels blessed every time she realizes she knows, because it's a wonderful gift, to be able to witness their love.

Up in the sky, she can see all the colours and the twirls of the clouds long before they're even in the picture; she can feel the drop in temperature long before it even starts getting chilly; she can picture the shining stars long before they even start peaking from beyond the moon. And she knows long before it starts that rain is going to fall. Beauty is anticipation.

Just like Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst. Luna's heard them talk, more than once, and she knows they're hesitating about joining Dumbledore's Army. And Luna gets it, she really does, because everything always seems so complicated when you don't really take time to realize that life takes you wherever it wants to take you, much more than you freely take the path you want to take. Luna just goes with the flow, really, and maybe that's why she's actually much happier than everyone she knows. And as she watches the sky turn to clouds, she thinks back on Lisa and Mandy, and she realises that their internal struggle is probably what makes them beautiful, in a way. They're not sure where they're going, but then again, no one ever is, and that's the beauty of it all. And Luna is glad to be wise enough to realise it, because there should be no pain in not knowing.

A few seconds after the clouds appeared, it starts raining. Sighing dreamily, Luna gets even closer to the window if possible. Droplets of water silently make their way down the windows, and her blue eyes, captivated, observe their gracious dance. The patterns are never complicated, but then again, Luna likes simplicity; beauty is understatement.

A bit like Padma Patil. She doesn't talk to her much, but Luna knows that if she were to turn her head, she'd find Padma sitting on a chair, her feet tucked underneath herself, a book in hands, and completely oblivious to the longing in everyone's eyes. They're mostly boys, who look at Padma's caramel skin, and her big, deep, hypnotizing eyes, and her long, curvy black hair, and the lovely curves she hides beneath layers of clothing, but there are some girls too, and Luna knows that they both hate her and want to be her. A few are probably even in love with her. Because Padma, she's everyone's dream girl. She's beautiful and kind and clever and passionate and she's a role model, really. Luna is happy with herself, but she wouldn't have minded being Padma.

Suddenly, there's a loud noise outside, and a strike of lightning in the sky, and the droplets' ballet turns into chaos. Everything is a blur as the raindrops seem to be fighting and stomping in the need to hit the windows with a terrible force. And Luna doesn't mind the violent spectacle; beauty is also madness.

Just like Cho Chang. She's been awfully quiet, lately, but if Luna can hear murmurs of invisible creatures, then she definitely can hear the muffled sobs coming from the other side of the common room. It's sad, really, what happened to Cho. It's actually so sad that "sad" doesn't even begin to cover it, does it? And Luna would like to walk up to her, take her hand and ease away the pain, but she doesn't feel like it's her place at all, so instead, she just watches Cho's slowly fading into insanity, fascinated by her beautiful despair, and weirdly anticipating the inevitable train wreck. Not that she'd tell people – they would not understand, and accuse Luna of the worst intentions when she knows it's not fair, what happened to Cho and Cedric Diggory. It's not fair, really, and no one should have to go through such a loss at such a young age, but when Luna encounters Cho in the hallways of their school, she usually can't look away for the pain on Cho's face is so raw and brutal that it takes her breath away. Luna suspects that she would have had the same face after her mother died, had her father not reminded her that she would see her mum again, and it's kind of interesting, watching Cho; Luna reckons she's her what if?

Luna stays here, watching the torrents of water hit the windows, she stays here a long time, so long actually that when the rain stops and she turns away from the window, Luna's alone in the completely empty common room. Silently, she makes her way to her dormitory, thinking of Terry, of Anthony, of Lisa, of Mandy, of Padma, of Cho. Luna never really talked to them, but she knows them. She knows them, because she observes quietly, from the shadows, and people don't even realize she's here, and she can fully see them in all their beauty, a beauty they don't even realise they hold within themselves, and Luna can say she loves them, these students who often don't know who she is, these students who sometimes torment her, these students who mostly do not care about her. She loves them, because after all, they're her House, aren't they?


A/N: Thank you all for reading this! :)