Title: September

Author: SeerySly

September

September was the month of halves.

The train clattered down the tracks, traveling far out of reach of the Muggle world. Every compartment in the long, scarlet train was filled to bursting with students heading towards another year at their wizarding school, Hogwarts. In one compartment sat two red haired twins and their dread-locked friend. The three had their heads bent together in deep conversation.

"No, shut up Fred, that's a horrible idea," one of the redheaded brothers muttered furiously to the other. Fred punched his brother softly on the shoulder.

"Well you come up with something better then!" he replied. Their friend waved his hands in front of their faces.

"Would you both shut up? It's simple, don't you see? We smuggle them in as regular sweets, no one will know the difference!" he said, smiling widely. The other twin rolled his eyes.

"They'll confiscate them, Lee. They'll find them in our trunks," he sighed. "We should have just left them at home."

"They're not going to be checking trunks when they've no reason to be!" Lee pointed out. The three were silent for a moment.

"We could keep them in our pockets?" Fred asked. George shook his head.

"Bad idea."

"How about the pockets of our spare robes?" Lee asked.

"No good."

"Well what do you suppose we do, then?" he asked.

"Put them in your socks," an airy voice said from behind them. The three boys spun around, staring straight at a small, blonde girl dressed in a pink sweater. She had two red radishes hanging from her ears.

"Excuse me?" Fred asked incredulously, as if he hadn't heard her correctly.

"You're talking about your candies, the ones that make you sick right? If you're trying to sneak them in, you should put them in your socks," she said dreamily, plopping herself down on the seat farthest from them and pulling out a magazine.

"Why our socks?" Lee wondered, staring at the girl, looking confused.

"Well, would you want to go searching through someone's socks?" she replied, flipping her magazine upside down. He shook his head. "Neither does Filch," she said, giving the three a half smile. The boys looked at each other. Slowly, George got to his feet. He rummaged around in his ratty, burgundy trunk and pulled out a handful of what looked like normal candy. He looked at the other two, who both shrugged, before stuffing them into a faded black sock that was hanging precariously from the mouth of the trunk. He latched the trunk again and sat down. The cabin was silent except for the rustling of the magazine pages.

Outside, the sun was starting to fall beneath the horizon line. The train continued to rattle along the tracks, rocking the compartment slowly back and forth. Soft snores came from the seat closest to the door. The blonde girl had fallen asleep, her head against the back of the seat, her hands limp over her folded magazine. She mumbled something in her sleep and attempted to roll over, but, with no room to do so, burrowed the side of her head against her shoulder. Fred watched her carefully, intrigued. The girl was odd, no doubt, but he felt like he knew her. Across from him, Lee and George were taking turns tasting Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. George made a face as he chewed a neon yellow bean. Fred snorted at his brother's face, and glanced back at the sleeping girl. Her name was escaping him for some reason, but she was so familiar.

"Luna Lovegood," he said suddenly. The other two looked up at him curiously.

"What about her?" George asked, tossing a dark green bean to Lee. Fred shook his head, smiling.

"I thought I recognized her," he replied, indicating the sleeping girl.

"Yeah, they live right down the road," George said. He pushed the bean toward Lee, who had refused the first time.

"I couldn't remember where I knew her from," Fred muttered, kicking his legs up on the seat next to him. "Wonder why she's in here," he added, looking back at Luna. Her pale face was bent into a delicate frown. She mumbled again moved her head to her other shoulder.

"Heard she hasn't got any friends," Lee said, sniffing at the bean in his hand. He licked the end cautiously before taking a hesitant bite. Then, deciding he liked it, stuffed the rest in his mouth. Fred pushed his hair away from his face, watching the girl intently. It was sad, really, that she sat where there was an empty seat, not where there were friends. He folded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, that's what I heard too. Heard she just kinda…wanders, you know?" George added. He bravely stuck a cloudy gray bean in his mouth and began chewing. Fred shrugged.

"Toss me a strawberry one," he said, pointing to a pink bean.

"Get it yourself," his twin shot at him.

"Just throw it, Georgey," he mocked. George picked up the bean and threw it at his brother. It hit Fred squarely between the eyes.

"There's your dumb bean," George said irritably.

"Thank you."

Fred popped the bean in his mouth and crushed it between his teeth. The taste of strawberries filled his mouth. He closed his eyes. It was sad that Luna had to sit by herself. He couldn't understand how she felt, always alone, but then again, she always seemed rather cheery despite it. He felt her adjust her position at his feet. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into bright, silvery-blue eyes. Luna blinked slowly and yawned. Then, as if remembering she was tired, closed her eyes again. She nestled down into her sweater and sniffed. Fred glanced at George and Lee. They had become bored with their game, and Lee was staring blankly at the window at the dark countryside while George sat back against his seat, one hand covering his eyes.

At his feet, Luna shivered slightly, completely asleep again. What would the other two think if…?

He knew George wouldn't say anything, wouldn't even care really, but Lee? But Lee, too, was falling asleep. Carefully, Fred placed his feet on the floor and stood. He reached slowly up to his battered trunk and pulled out his school robes. Then, moving as quietly as he could manage, he moved in front of Luna. Careful not to wake her, he draped the robe gently on top of her, tucking it softly around the front of her shoulders. She stirred just enough to grab the edge of the robe with a small hand before burrowing her face in the fabric and slipping back into a deeper sleep.

Fred sat down again and stared out the window. He felt his face break into a half smile.

A crowd of black-robed students pushed and shoved their way through the huge double doors, making their way into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and the feast. Fred remained close to his brother as he allowed himself to be jostled by nearby students. He managed to cross the threshold of the huge hall, and together, the twins made their way to the table on the far right of the hall. The took their seats near the back of the hall, a place where they could easily not pay attention. Fred watched the other students enter the hall, talking and laughing and jeering. Soon, the tables were filled with the last few stragglers entering the hall. Fred looked down at the grains in the table. His eyes felt heavy and his stomach was growling. He wished they could skip the sorting ceremony and get to the food.

"She's got your cloak still," George whispered to him, nodding towards the doors. Fred glanced up and saw Luna carrying his robe, the hem dragging along the floor. She wore the same half smile on her face as she crossed the hall towards him. He felt his mouth go dry. What would people say if they knew he'd given Luna his cloak to keep warm? That was something people did when they liked each other, not when they were barely acquaintances. He tried not to watch her as she approached him, but his gaze kept flickering back to her. "Fred," she said airily to him, and he was taken aback at how she could tell him and his twin apart. He glanced up at her, trying not to look at her too long. She set his cloak on the table next to him.

"You left this on the train," she said. Fred could feel his pounding heart ease up a little. She hadn't said thank you, hadn't said anything to indicate that he had done something that was common among a boyfriend and a girlfriend. She gave him the same smile she had on the train, then turned and walked away. He sighed.

"Fred and Luna, sittin' in a tree," George chuckled under his breath. Fred shoved him jokingly.

"Shut up," he muttered back. Suddenly, the great double doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered the hall briskly, followed by stumbling, nervous first years.

"Finally!" Ron groaned from down the table.

"Is ickle Ronniekins hungry?" George mocked, leaning towards his youngest brother. Fred felt himself relaxing. Now that his personal nightmare with Loony Lovegood was over, he could return to what he did best: being one half of the Weasley twins.

"Did mummy forget to pack you a snack?" Fred continued off of George. Ron's ears turned red and he turned to his older brothers.

"Shut up!" he shot at them, but the twins just laughed.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall shouted from the top of the hall. Slowly, the chatter ceased and all eyes turned expectantly towards the old woman. She set the weathered, old Sorting Hat down upon the old, wooden stool and stepped back. The hat began to sing. When it was finished, the hall broke out into applause and Professor McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment. She cleared her throat and began to read the names off the parchment. One by one, the nervous first years sat on the stool, put on the hat, and were sorted. Finally, the last name was called, and Dumbledore stood up from his seat behind the teacher's table.

"Let the feast begin!" he said happily, just as he did every year. Food appeared on the platters in front of them and people all along the tables began piling it on their plates. Fred ate happily, listening carelessly to the chatter around him.

"Fred! George!" someone called from down the table.

The twins looked to the speaker. It was Seamus Finnegan.

"What do you have for us this year?" he asked, attempting to be elusive but failing miserably at it. Fred laughed.

"A brand new batch of Puking Pastels!" he called back.

"And an exploding toilet!" George added, then said slightly softer, "You know, we never did do that. We were supposed to send Ginny the toilet seat."

Fred laughed and began to join in more conversation. As he joked and laughed with his fellow Gryffindors, something hit hit him like a sack of bricks.

The candies had made it into the school. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. He glanced across the hall towards the Ravenclaw table and his eyes met a pair of large, silvery-blue ones. Fred nodded a brief thanks in her direction before turning back to his meal.

At the Ravenclaw table, Luna wore a half smile as she piled pudding onto her plate.

A/N: A new Fred/Luna story for y'all! I decided to move in a new direction with this one. It will be through Fred's point of view mainly, with maybe a few flits of Luna POV here and there. For the most part, I think this chapter turned out to be a little mediocre, definitely not my best writing. But I have the rest of the story planned out and I'm hoping it will be better. I'm really excited to get going on it! Sorry for the long wait, everyone, but I hope this one will be as, or even more, enjoyable as Daisy Chains!

Love,

Seerysl