a/n
Hello fellow fanfictioners!
This is my first published Harry Potter story- don't be too harsh.
This is, I suppose, my own take on fem harry (one of them anyway).
This chapter is a bit of fluff really- just an opening kind of chapter- theme setting.
Anyway, I'll let you read in peace. Please let me know what you think!
I glanced at my watch.
7:30.
Stumbling out of bed, I pushed the blue and bronze hangings aside, neglecting the crumpled bed sheets. Instead, I staggered to my dresser, noting that Ginny and Hermione were already up, although Luna lay still, entangled in a web of dreams.
I frowned.
Luna was my best friend, along with Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and her twin brother Ron. But for three long years I had wanted something more. Luna was just so clueless.
Instead of drowning in my sorrows, I headed for the bathroom, nodding good morning to Ginny on my way, grabbing a clean uniform on my way.
By the time I was done it was half eight, and I was running late. (Hey, Looking perfect on the first day of the year is universal.)
Scurrying down to the common room I caught Ginny and Hermione just before they left for breakfast.
"Morning, Rose," they giggled, their eyes fixed on my hair.
"What? What is it?" I demanded, but all they did was laugh.
Glancing in the mirror that hung above the fireplace I realised that my hair had changed from its usual oaky red, to the same shimmering shade of gold that coloured Luna's tresses. Being a metamorphic, my hair often reflected my thoughts and emotions. I had been thinking about her all morning.
Scowling, I quickly changed it back. The girls had figured it out in fourth year, and it was the bane of my existence.
"Oh shut up," I cried, and stalked off to breakfast. Giggles trailed behind me the whole way.
Upon arriving, I quickly scanned the hall for Luna, although it didn't take me long to find her. Her head was tipped back, and laughter was spilling from her mouth and bouncing off the walls. Curly, gold hair cascaded down her back, somersaulting over her shoulders. Her crystal eyes were alight, bright like stars in the night.
A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I took the seat next to her and reached for a piece of toast.
"Morning Rose!" she said, her voice light and bubbly.
"Good morning, Luna," I replied stiffly. My hair was the colour of overcooked eggs.
Noting my stiffness, she frowned, but didn't say anything. Instead, she took a bite of a shiny red apple, and juice dribbled down her chin. Unable to contain my self, I giggled.
In reply she fixed me with an icy stare, until she burst into giggles herself. Luna's laughter was incandescent. Like champagne. It was frothy and sparkling.
By the time Professor Flitwick had presented us with our timetables, it was nearly 9:00. Unfortunately, the girls and I had separate classes for the first time. In our sixth year, we were each taking classes relevant to our chosen career. Luna was studying to become a healer, Ginny an auror, and Hermione was taking as many classes as she could to keep her options open. I was taking classes to become a professor, here at Hogwarts, I hoped. I wasn't sure what I wanted to teach yet so I had selected a range of topics I was interested, including transifiguration, potions, advanced potions, charms, and defence, along with several other subjects.
Saying our good byes we all fled to our first classes, Ginny to transfiguration, Luna to anatomy, and Hermione and I to charms.
The day seemed to drag on forever. Although my classes were interesting, I couldn't seem to focus. My thoughts were on Luna. By third period Hermione had saved me a dozen times from stupid mistakes, in both charms and transfiguration. She had told me more than once to get a grip. At lunch Harry had to slap me three times to get me to help Ginny with her potions homework. Every one else thought that he was just being nice, but I knew he was sweet on her. Too bad he was best friends with her twin, Ron. Who was sitting next to Hermione, seemingly enchanted by the function of a rubber duck. I shook my head. Boys. But then again, I had practically been drooling over Luna all morning.
Hypocrisy at its finest.
After lunch we all finally had a class together. Defence against the dark arts.
Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Ron, Harry and I all trudged to Snape's classroom. Too bad he wasn't teaching potions anymore. He was the best, and since I was taking two potions electives I needed all the help I could get. Nevertheless, the lesson was comfortable. As the boys were in Gryffindor, we had been thrown together for DADA since first year. It was how we all met. Well, except for Ginny and Ron, of course. Back then they were pretty hostile, but now we were all the closest of friends. After all, we had been through a lot. Saving the philosopher's stone in first year, Ginny in second, Sirius in third, helping Harry through the tournament in fourth, and confronting Voldemort last year in the Department of Mysteries. I hoped - we all hoped - for a quiet year, but I doubted it's likelihood. We had never had a quiet year, not once.
The lesson went well, Hermione and I both successfully cast non-verbal spells. 10 points for Ravenclaw. When the bell rang, the classroom was filled with the common place sounds of scraping chairs, closing books, and student chatter. I however remained in my place. Snape had never, ever awarded me points. Not too my memory. In fact, aside from his own house, he never awarded ANYONE points. Rather, he had constantly been stealing away. As I slowly packed up my things I realised that the classroom was empty, aside from Snape himself. He looked at me coldly, as he always had. Although, this time, something told me his reason was perhaps not so simple as blind hate. Standing up, I hurried from the classroom and headed for advance potions.
When I arrived in the dungeons, most of the class had already assembled. All six of us. No one like potions much, and Snape was a very harsh marker. Considering that Professor Slughorn expected nothing less than outstanding for a OWL grade, even mainstream potions held only eight students, including myself. Looking around the room, I noted everyone present. Ernie Macmillan, Lavender Brown, Draco, Harry, and Hermione. As I sat next to Hermione, Slughorn strode into classroom, cheery look on his round face. On my left, Harry frowned. I knew why, he told us that Slughorn had been reluctant to return to Hogwarts, and yet here he was. Happier than Professor Snape had ever been.
I reconsidered.
Maybe that was just personal.
~
After quizzing us on a series of potions, and promising a bottle of liquid luck to the best potion, Slughorn set us to work brewing the draught of living death. It seemed ironic, that Slughorn had set us that particular potion. The first thing Snape had ever said to me was, "What would I get if added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The answer had, of course been the Draught of Living Death. He had asked Harry first, but when he replied "I don't know, sir," Snape had turned to me.
Here I was, six years later, with a new proffessor, stumbling over the same potion. I always had a knack for potions, and Snape seemed to despise me for it. In fact, the boys often teased that he wad afraid I would steak his job.
At the end of the lesson, Slughorn announced that harry and I had tied for first, both our draughts almost perfect. Beaming, we excited the classroom with a very frazzled Hermione, and headed for the library.
My evening was filled with homework, and laughter. I was glad for the lighter work load - last year had been a nightmare. At 10:47, I climbed into bed.
Do I need to tell you who I dreamed of?
The rest of the week was uneventful, and I quickly fell into a routine. I cherished the time I spent with my friends, as I knew the façade of an easy year would fade soon. The amount of time spent pouring over text books in the evening grew every day. Luna and I spent much of our time together, sitting side by side in the library, our noses inches away from the thin papered texts. Although we didn't share classes we still found ways to help one another, reading over each other's essays and the like. It was nice. And although my feelings for her were still strong, they had calmed. Like a twisting river, rather than a bottomless ocean.
After a week back, something still felt different. Strange. Perhaps it had to do with Luna, or the new classes. Or Snape. He had been acting strange lately. Giving me points for poor work and turning a blind eye when I fought with Draco in the halls. Even Harry had noticed.
He asked me about it one evening after a combined quidditch practice, as we hiked back to the castle. Ginny also played, but she had hung back. Talking to her brothers, Fred and George. They were twins as well.
"What's with Snape?" he blurted, an emotion behind his voice I couldn't pick.
"I don't know," I said truthfully, "Until now I was nothing to him, just another know-it-all Ravenclaw. But something's changed. It's almost like he pities me."
Harry frowned. I knew what he was thinking. The only thing he had to pity was the death of my parents, both sets. My parents had died when I was just one year old, and my adoptive parents died of cancer when I was ten. Since then I had been moving in and out of foster homes. I didn't even know my parents names - no one had ever bothered to tell me. But the thing was, Harry parents had died too, and Snape had never paid attention to him. In fact, Snape treated Harry like shit. I wondered what the difference was.
"Don't worry," I smiled, reassuringly, "It's probably nothing. He probably thinks that I'm some prodigy student. No one's taken two potions electives in 52 years. Not even him."
Harry smiled back.
"Gee," he said sarcastically, "I wonder why?"
I stuck my to tongue out at him, and linked my arm through his, and we continued on into the night.
Breakfast the next morning was strange. Luna was acting skittish, and sat next to Ron, instead of her usual seat between Hermione and I. She didn't look sad, or angry, just confused. I vowed to find out what was going on. On the way to potions I drilled Hermione, begging her to tell me the situation. But she shook her head profusely, claiming not to know. She rudely told me it wasn't any of her business and that I should ask Luna myself. When we arrived a class I continued walking when we reached our usual bench.
I sat next to Ernie Macmillan instead.
For three days I awoke with my face a perfect replica of Luna's.
On the fourth day I confronted Luna in the astronomy tower.
"Luna," I began sternly, "What did I do? What's wrong?"
She tried to turn away from me, but I caught her shoulder.
"Neither of us are leaving until you tell what the hell is going on." I stared at the clock. 35 minutes till curfew.
Admitting defeat she huffed through her nostrils and began to speak.
"I think there is something wrong with me, Rose." I opened my mouth to reject her theory, but she left no room for interruption.
"When you're around, my stomach squeezes and my hands sweat. You make me feel light-headed, and nervous. And yet thinking about you keeps me grounded. Its like being in love, in the romantic kind of way, but..." She trailed off.
I didn't need to hear it. But I was a girl.
"Luna," I said softly, wrapping my arms around her, "So what? So what if I'm a girl? You've always been different, unique. This is just one more difference."
She sobbed, her chest moving quickly.
"But what if this is one difference too many? I heard Pansy Parkinson punched Hannah Abbott because she's gay. Everyone teases her."
I smiled at this.
"Then perhaps Pansy Parkinson and you are more alike than I thought. I think she's afraid too. I saw her snog Penelope Clearwater last year."
Luna tilted her chin to look at me, her eyes were swollen with longing.
Carefully she wrapped her arms around my neck, and I tipped my head forward. Our lips were inches away.
It was over all too soon, that kiss. It was sweet and gentle, like her laughter. But it was also hot, and passionate, like mine. I had been dreaming of this for three years., but she pulled away before I could properly imprint the memory on my brain. We both looked at the clock. Ten minutes too curfew. Time to go.
Nothing happened for nearly a month.
Well, nothing interesting. Stolen kisses in the charms corridor, sneaky hand holding at breakfast, and sweet nothings whispered into each others ear as we sat side by side in the library.
On the last day of term all six of us scurried outside to enjoy the fading sunlight. Exams had finished yesterday, so classes had been simple. The teachers were smart enough not to set us difficult work, and instead allowed us to gossip and practice spells and potions at our leisure. We sat beneath a huge oak tree, adjacent to the lake, all rugged up as winter was fast approaching. Luna had brought a blanket, and beneath it my fingers were threaded through hers. The boys, Ginny and I were arguing heatedly over quidditch, Hermione had a book balanced on her lap, and Luna was practicing a new charm. It kept the wrack spurts away.
It happened suddenly, and when it did Luna and I just sat there, blinking through our confusion, and later realisation. Ron had decided that he too, was cold, and instead of summoning his own blanket he tugged on ours instead. With little time react, Luna and I stayed still, four curious pairs of wide eyes staring at our entwined hands. I opened my mouth, intending to spout some petty excuse, but Harry spoke first.
"Congratulations, you two! About time!" he exclaimed, embracing Luna in a rare hug.
Hermione smiled happily, and Ginny bounced excitedly. Ron frowned, as though he didn't understand, until Hermione whispered in his ear. A smile lit up his face, and he muttered something about third year. I noticed his red cheeks. Hermione had gotten rather close.
At 6 o'clock we trudged back to the castle for the Halloween feast. Luna's arm was linked through mine. Relief pulsed through my body. We both knew we couldn't be entirely open about our relationship -we did share a dormitory after all (and teachers always assumed the worst), but it was nice to be open with our friends.
The feast was uneventful, but it was fun anyway. Luna, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were all returning home for the break, and were talking about their plans. Each had offered for Harry and I to join them, but we declined as per usual. Hogwarts was our home, and we didn't need any more than that.
When the evening drew to a close, Headmaster Dumbledore intercepted us, calling me and Harry aside. Harry and I bid our goodbyes to the rest of the group, promising to meet them before they left in the morning, and followed Dumbledore to his office.
This had better be good.
a/n
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