Authors Notes: This is my first Fanfic and i've never really tried writing before, but i got bored one day. Please review, i could use some advice since i'm new to this and all. :) Enjoy!
Harry Potter stared at the chalkboard in front of him, head resting on his hand, and eyes slowly drooping shut as he attempted to block out the drawling monotone of his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts, who was in the process of berating Neville for his pathetic excuse for a Draught of Living Death. Suddenly, Harry heard a slight *pop, and awoke with a start as he was splattered with flaming-hot slug juice. He had hoped to leave his cauldron simmering while he caught up on some much needed sleep. His carelessly placed ingredients, including a fat, black, Japanese slug sitting beside the cauldron, overheated, and left Harry sopping wet with smelly, slug remains. He glanced over at Snape, who was too busy deducting points from Gryffindor for Neville's lumpy concoction to notice Harry's predicament. Harry let out a sigh of relief and quickly began to siphon the slug off of his robes with his wand.
"Make sure you save that, Harry," a dreamy voice said from behind him. "Daddy says slug juice is a fantastic natural vitamin."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Luna." Harry said, rolling his eyes and turning back around.
All of the sudden an image flashed through Harry's mind, it was as if his consciousness was trying to grasp on to something forgotten. He remembered a sandbox, and something about a slug. He turned back around and looked at Luna, chewing on her quill and reading her potions book. All of the sudden the memory flooded into Harry's mind.
He sat in a turtle shaped sandbox at the park near Privet Drive. It was the day of his fifth birthday, and the Dursley's had allowed Harry to come watch Dudley play. He sat in the sandbox, poking at a slug with a small stick. Taking a brake from this exciting activity, Harry put the stick down and sat up. He watched Dudley attempt to fit his round bottom into a swing on the playground. Then, Uncle Vernon , with great difficulty, began to push Dudley. Harry watched miserably as Dudley soared into the air, roaring with laughter. Harry sighed, picked up the stick, and went back to poking his slug.
"You know, some people in Africa drink slug juice!" exclaimed a voice from behind Harry. "It's actually a natural vitamin."
Harry spun around. A little girl about his age, maybe a year younger, was sitting in the sandbox with him, pale and freckled, with waist length, dirty-blonde hair. He hadn't even noticed she was sitting there, and he wondered if she had been there a long while.
"You should save this one, and take it home," said the girl, in such a normal voice that you would think she had been talking about the weather. "My daddy says they last for up to three weeks."
Harry gaped. Then, realizing this might be rude, he quickly shut his mouth.
"Oh… th- that's cool I guess." he managed to stutter after a long pause.
Ignoring Harry's brief moment of shock, the girl carried on talking about slugs and their natural health benefits. Harry simply sat and nodded. He didn't want the girl to leave, for no kids his age had ever tried to speak to him before that day, and he was quite enjoying the company, even if it was from an odd little girl, talking about slug preservation.
After talking for a while, the girl paused and considered the small boy in front of her. She looked at him with big, blue eyes.
"What's this from?" she said, leaning forward and brushing the bruise on Harry's cheek lightly with her finger.
Harry was taken aback by the way the girl just touched his face as if they had known each other forever, and he quickly smacked her hand away.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" the girl questioned, unperturbed at Harry's reaction.
"No, s'fine" Harry mumbled, feeling guilty. " It's just from when I fell off my bike yesterday."
Of course this was a lie. Harry had never ridden a bike before. He had only watched with jealousy as Dudley rode around the yard on his. In all reality, Aunt Petunia had screamed and hit him with a frying pan for making a spider jump onto her head after she had yelled at him for not hanging the laundry correctly. This was ridiculous of course, for how could Harry have "made" the spider jump on her.
"Oh," she said vaguely, as she attempted to catch a fly that was buzzing around her head. "Well, I have to go, my daddy's calling me."
"I'm sorry I smacked you! Please don't go!" Harry pleaded desperately as the girl stood up and wiped the sand from her scabbed knees.
"Oh no it's not you!" she said, smiling down at Harry. "I really must go, though. Meet me back at this spot tomorrow, and we can talk some more."
Before Harry could explain that he wouldn't be coming back to the park again, the girl ran to her father, clasped his hand and left through the park gate. Harry realized with a pang of sadness that he had not even asked the girl her name. He mournfully continued his slug poking until it was time to leave.
"C'mon Boy. We're leaving." snapped Uncle Vernon.
Harry sighed and stood up. As he walked away from the sandbox, he looked back at his pathetic slug for a moment, and then turned back around.
"I met a girl today!" Harry said, looking up at his uncle, who didn't respond.
"She said slug juice is a natural vitamin." Harry pressed on, as Uncle Vernon continued to ignore him.
"She was probably crazy," sneered Dudley, "Of course you would be one to talk to a crazy person."
"She was not crazy!" Harry said, and he pushed Dudley to the ground.
He regretted it immediately, and he received a slap across the cheek for losing his temper. He could feel a fresh bruise forming on top of the one he already had. Harry put his hand to his cheek, and remembered the little, blonde girls finger brushing over it. Harry had never experienced such a gentle touch before. He continued to walk towards the car with Dudley and Uncle Vernon, angry tears streaming over his bruised face. He wanted to talk to the girl again. If he could just see her one more time, he would talk this time, tell her everything, everything about his parents, and where the bruise had really come from. He knew that she wouldn't laugh at him or call him crazy. But, even being as young has he was, he knew he would never see her again. Harry dragged his feet back to the car, crawled into the back seat, and rode home in silence.
Harry looked incredulously at Luna, greedily taking in every detail of her face. Her long, scraggly hair fell into her eyes as she leaned over her cauldron and added some ingredients. She brushed the hair behind her ear and continued to work. He noticed the train track of freckles that ran across her face, and her large, blue eyes…
"Can I help you with something, Harry?" Luna asked, without looking up from her cauldron.
"What?" Harry said quickly as he snapped back to reality. "Oh, no, Luna, I'm sorry it's just…have we met before? Before Hogwarts, I mean?
"No, I think not Harry. You should really go to the hospital wing and ask Madame Pomfrey to check you ears for nargles." Luna replied vaguely, as she stood up and took her cauldron to Professor Snape, who gave it a sniff, and nodded. She walked back to her desk, and gathered her books. "Goodbye, Harry Potter." she said with a smile, and she skipped out of the classroom.
Harry had not even noticed class was over. He unceremoniously stuffed his books into his bag, and took his cauldron to Snape, who, as expected, gave his potion a sniff and wrote a big T in his grade book next to Harry's name.
"Congratulations, Potter. You just earned yourself a weeks worth or remedial potions." he sneered.
Harry shuffled forlornly out of the classroom. His mind drifted to Luna as he walked down the corridor towards transfiguration. She hadn't remembered him. This quite bothered Harry actually, but then again, he wasn't an important part of the Luna's past, as she had been to him, the little, beaten boy sitting in a turtle-shaped sandbox, poking a slug.