Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me.
Written for the OOC Fun Competition at HPFC, with prompt christmas socks.
Feel free to review! And please don't mention that the characters are OOC- I know. It is intentional. Enjoy!
-:-
"Look, Dobby gave me new socks for Christmas!" Harry said with a smile, bending his knee to show off the mismatching pair.
Luna gave him a quizzical look. "Why don't they match?"
He stared.
"Loon- Luna, are you feeling okay?" Ron ventured from his sprawl on the couch.
She nodded slowly. "Of course, I feel fine." Luna cocked her blonde head to the side and Harry noticed that her usual radish earrings were gone, replaced by classic pearl studs.
"Well," Harry started, looking helplessly at Ron, who shrugged, "Dobby likes socks to be different. I don't really know why."
Luna raised her eyebrows. "That's strange."
They both stopped writing and looked at her.
"Let's go to the hospital wing," Ron said, standing up and setting his parchment aside.
"Why?" she asked. "Are you feeling ill, Ron?"
Just then, Hermione entered the Room of Requirement, bushy hair tied back and a business-like expression on her face. "Guys, we need to…" she trailed off, seeing Ron's stance and Harry's uncomfortable look. "What's going on?"
Ron shook his head. "Luna is acting a bit oddly…" he glanced at the blonde, who was staring right back at him with her protuberant eyes.
Hermione huffed. "Ron," she said in a stage whisper, "it's Luna."
"You don't understand, Hermione," Harry said. "It's-"
"I'm right here," interrupted Luna. "We should get to practicing, instead of sitting around."
The trio exchanged glances.
"And she asked me why my socks didn't match!" added Harry, disregarding Luna's comment.
"We need to take her to a teacher, or something," Hermione said.
Luna stood up. "Hermione, Ron, Harry, I need to be going to Transfiguration. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to meet up with Ginny." As she left the Room of Requirement, Harry noticed that her butterbeer cap necklace was missing, too.
How unusual.
-:-
"Hi, Luna!" Ginny said when Luna entered the classroom. "How has your day been?"
Luna sighed. "Fine, I guess," she said as she sat down. "I talked to Harry and the others, but they seemed to be having issues this morning."
"Nargles?" Ginny said sympathetically.
"Er- what?" Luna said. "Nargles aren't real, Ginny. Where's the proof of their existence?"
Ginny's gum fell out of her mouth. "L-l-lun-"
Professor McGonagall came into the room, and Ginny quieted, although she cast flabbergasted looks at Luna all throughout Transfiguration.
What was going on?
-:-
Luna sat on the blue chair, arranging her robes to pool at her side so she could concentrate on her Transfiguration homework, explaining the theory behind Vanishing spells.
A shadow fell over her and she looked up. "Neville!" she said, twirling her wand in her polished fingers. "What are you doing in our common room?"
"Hi, Luna," he said, fidgeting. "Harry said you weren't feeling well. I got a first year to let me in."
Luna frowned. "I'm feeling fine, really. I don't know what Harry's talking about."
"Maybe he's being affected by Blubbering Humdingers," Neville suggested, half joking.
"I just told Ginny," Luna said. "I don't mean to be rude, Neville, but it's time for you to stop living in a dream world. Reality is reality, and we need to focus on the D.A. and getting rid of Umbridge."
Neville sat down hard on the couch next to her.
"Luna," he said, "we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey right away."
Neville must be having a bad day, too.
-:-
As she entered the Great Hall for dinner, Luna noticed Harry showing off his socks to Dean and Seamus. She sighed. Poor Harry must not know how ridiculous he looked.
"Luna," someone said loudly after she had finished eating. She turned. It was Neville again, having awkwardly walked over from the Gryffindor table.
"Hello, Neville," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Want to come for a walk with me and Ginny?" Neville said.
She shook her head. "I need to go to the Owlery and mail Daddy. Have fun on your walk!"
Luna's smile, very different from her usual vacant one, stunned Neville. He watched her go in disbelief.
It was a strange day, indeed.
-:-
Dear Daddy, Luna wrote, crossing her legs beneath her and petting her owl with one hand as she dipped her quill with the other.
How are you? I am doing well. My friends are also well, although they are acting strangely today. Talking about silly things like Nargles and Crumble-Humped-Snorlacks, I believe it is.
Honestly, it's enough to drive a Ravenclaw mad! They have no proof of any of those things. You understand, right?
But other than that, I've been having a good year.
Luna paused. With Umbridge searching their mail, she couldn't mention the D.A., but her father knew all about it- she had told him over break. Finally, she wrote on.
Studying has been very productive.
Write soon. Love,
Luna
Daddy would know what she meant. She mailed the parchment and left the Owlery.
What was going on with her friends?
-:-
She was walking down the corridor, busy thinking about her Potions essay, when someone bumped into her.
"Excuse me," Luna said, picking up her books from where they had fallen.
"Watch where you're going, Loony," Draco Malfoy sneered, tossing his pale blonde hair and wrinkling his refined nose.
"Sorry," Luna said.
He stared at her as she stuffed her broken quill into her bag.
"That's it?" Draco said. "No crazy creatures, no weird comments?"
Luna shook her head. "I hate people like that. All I want to do is graduate and get a nice job and hang out with my friends and family."
He looked her up and down. "Lovegood, you're a pureblood, aren't you?"
No one understood.
-:-
At the next D.A. meeting, she saw that Harry was once again wearing mismatching socks.
Luna shook her head.
Sometimes, she wished her friends were normal.