A/N: I decided that, since it'll be Christmas here in a few hours (4 hours and 42 minutes to be exact), why not write something for my (not so) faithful readers? I'll apologize if anyone of you reading here is following InSanity… I got caught up in Hannibal and it's very, very hard to get my sanity straight enough.
And this is how this fic works. A random Word Generator decided three dictating words for me. The first being the title, the second and third being the characters. Lo and behold, the last two words actually described the characters.
Disclaimer: Nope.
:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::
Beneath
extending or directly underneath, typically with close contact.
at a lower level or layer than
Identical and Daydreaming
:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::
The halls were silent, clearly described by the night. Students weren't allowed to roam the halls at this time but they didn't exactly listen to the rules, did they? It could have been said that they can't not wear their House colors but they wouldn't have known (but of course they already did that just to avoid losing points for Gryffindor) but they are awesome so they know what is allowed and not (they had a long list of rules to defy after all).
But never mind that. Filchy and his hellion of a cat were stalking the halls in exactly the way they imagined Voldy-no-I-don't-have-a-nose would, the only difference being the halls, which were filled with tacky garlands (no offense to whoever decorated the place) and balls (and didn't that sound so dirty even in his mind).
Naturally, the state of the hall blamed to the fact that Christmas is approaching, and naturally, the reason why they are currently here, outside and roaming the halls, after curfew, and hiding from the caretaker who doesn't do anything but grouch.
"Come on, Gred, Mrs. Norris should be far away from us now."
With a shred grin, the twins tiptoed their way out of their alcove (it was theirs because, definitely, they had the foresight of carving their names on the unfortunate stone).
Light footfalls caused both of them to freeze on their places. They both looked at each other and nodded at the same time before running, as quietly as possible, to the nearest hiding place. Fred ended up behind a suit of armor who looked like it was about to fall apart if not for the spear that was stuck up its… oh. It was one of the earlier pranks they did when they were first years. It was a wonder how it remained like that for 4 years with none the wiser… or maybe the Headmaster merely enjoyed a laugh or two whenever he passes by. Certainly, it was something Fred could imagine.
Looking away from the suit of armor, Fred glanced around to look for his brother and had to stifle a laugh when the oh so clever George Weasley tried to blend in with a life-sized blank portrait. It was a good try but unless he made himself float, his feet would always be in front of the frame. Well that and the fact that if anyone were to look at him sideways… yeah, his brother was stupid.
Fred had to make himself scarce when the footfalls came closer to them and it seems George had noticed how stupid his hiding place was when he slipped over to another suit of armor.
Soon enough, the footfalls became louder and Fred was curious as to who was out and about. Maybe an ickle little firstie lost in the huge fortress Hogwarts is? Or maybe a little birdie sneaking around to meet with their significant other and snog (or something dirtier that Fred refused to think about but certainly deserves a capital S) in a broom closet? But nonetheless, he's curious so if he were to be caught and it was a prefect, he'd blame George.
Being careful as to not knock over the spear-up-his-arse armor and create a racket that he would usually enjoy if not for the current circumstance, Fred peered around to see that George was doing the same. He raised an eyebrow at his twin who raised his in response but soon enough looked away from each other in favor of their current curiosity.
The footfalls were odd, not the tap-tap-tapping that should come from a decent human being with shoes, but an odd slapping kind of sound. So it's either the person is barefoot or had squishy somethings under their shoes… he certainly had an experience like that once when the Gnomes became too clingy. He shuddered in remembrance. The shoe became a sacrifice for the Greater Good.
"The Nargles seem to enjoy playing around you…"
Fred came face to face with wide silvery grey eyes. If it weren't for the ground he was holding on, Fred would have jumped, but instead fell on his arse with a startled noise. Fred rubbed the aching on his back and stared up at the girl staring at him. And staring. And staring. And sta—
"Do avoid going near mistletoes with me, the Nargles might infest in you and take over your mind. They prefer me alone and I wouldn't have minded if not for the Blibbering Humdingers appearing."
And with that, the strange girl walked away, leaving Fred almost out of breath and in panic. Needless to say, the girl was a whirlwind of strangeness that was worse than their mother and that was definitely the highest praise a human of the other specie can receive.
Turning his wide eye to his twin, Fred uttered the words that had been circling his mind.
"What just happened?"
And then George was laughing at him. "I believe, my dear brother, she just told you, you were beneath her."
:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::
The next day, Fred was still being teased by his brother (traitor that he is) when he saw the strange blonde again. And, yes, most definitely, the circumstances were quite dire and somehow Fred knew that it would leave him as bewildered and out of breath as last night.
Sure enough, it left him bewildered because the little blonde was walking around, barefoot, with her wand tucked behind her ears and—yes, those were definitely bottle caps as her necklace. Was the girl on Trelawney's tea?
And it left him out of breath when the girl ran into him, seemingly running away from something.
It also left him (and George) angry because of the obvious signs of… uncooperative peers.
"What happened?"
It was George who chose to talk first because Fred was holding the blonde who looked ready to cry but was holding it in, her wide eyes teary and dilated but her hands clenched in an effort to avoid the tears from falling.
"N-Nothing."
Had he forgotten to mention she was without proper clothing for the incredibly chilly weather? Oh yes, they definitely have their new guinea pigs for their Crying Citrus and Altering Almonds. A shared look with George confirmed that they were using the first batch they had made.
Looking down at the small blonde he was holding, Fred motioned to George, who raised and an eyebrow in which he then sent his own raised eyebrow until the other relented and removed his cloak.
"A gentleman aren't you, Gred?" Fred grinned at his twin who scowled at him. Fed took the offered cloak and wrapped it around the trembling blonde. "Now miss, it would certainly be ungentlemanly of me I were to ignore the fact that you have a name. Georgie over here has the worst name ever."
"Not as bad as Fred, eh?" George took the blonde's hand and kissed it in the most dignified way he could. "Now, mademoiselle, since I, the great George of the Weasleys, have saved you from the hands of the cruelest and most abominable Freddie-poo, this gallant knight would like to ask for her new majesty's, no doubt, beautiful name."
There was a moment in which Fred and George waited for the blonde's reaction or reply or whatever but both nearly gave sighs of relief when the blonde gave a weak giggle.
"I'm Luna Lovegood but everyone calls me Loony."
"Hmm… yes, well, the only Loony I know is Loony Tunes," A lie, he had no idea what a Loony Tunes is but the muggleborn firsties were quite eagerly talking about it. "So I believe Ms. Luna will do."
Luna stared up at him with her wide eyes for a long time. For a long time. For a long—when would she blink?!
Finally—finally—Luna blinked. "Luna is fine."
For a minute, Fred thought of asking just who was being entirely uncooperative to the odd blonde, but a casual glance around the people basically listed the names off. It was quite useful to take note of the faces of those he sees often with the more known groups.
For a minute, Fred didn't know what to do and merely stared at his twin. He was a prankster, for Merlin's sake, he wasn't armed with social graces in this kind of situation. Thankfully, the blonde merely turned around and walked away. Fred was never more thankful of the oddness that surrounded the girl.
:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::
It was in Christmas morning that Fred and George were ambushed (truly, it was the only word to explain it) by the blonde. It wasn't the fact that most students should be at home—and they finally remembered of the Lovegoods who resided quite near to the Burrow—that the presence of Luna surprised them, it was the fact that the little blonde decided to outdo the Headmaster's eye-wateringly deer patterned, shiny, golden robes. It wasn't ugly, per se, but one could argue for hours and never come up with a decent answer (was there even a question?).
The odd Ravenclaw (as they discovered) plopped down in between them as if it was the most common and normal thing to do, disregarding the fact that she should be sitting at the Ravenclaw table and not at the Gryffindors' tender, loving care (please do note the sarcasm).
"The Minister's army of Heliopaths took a day off because it is Christmas," Was her explanation (to what, Fred wasn't aware).
"Well hello Ms. Lovegood, to what do we owe the pleasure of obtaining thy grace?"
The blonde fiddled with her Radish-like earrings (wait, are they actual radish?) . "The Nargles told me it would be a great idea to come here. Besides, Father released a Christmas special of The Quibbler and expressed his interest in sending some of my friends free copies."
She pulled out two magazines from her bag and handed one for each of them. Fred didn't know what The Quibbler was but it sounded… quirky and what he would have thought as something Luna would make. It seems the oddness is genetic.
"Well," Luna stood up and brushed her skirt. "I still have to give Harry his copy, so goodbye for now." She made to walk away before she stopped, stared up at the Great Hall's ceiling and retrieved a crudely wrapped package from her bag. "The Moon Frogs reminded me to give you this," She handed the package over to George who looked at it oddly before nodding his thanks.
Fred leaned in to his brother to stare at the package and glanced up at the still staring blonde. "Is this our Christmas present? We thank you, Ms. Lovegood."
"No need," Luna smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear to adjust her wand. "I only gave back what was yours, but I'll keep in mind to give you a present."
With that, Luna walked away, presumably to give ickle Harrykins a copy of The Quibbler, whatever's in it. Fred stared at her direction for a while with a puzzled face. Luna certainly is odd. Odder than Dumbledore, even, and he didn't know that was possible.
"Well, she did give back what is mine," George broke through his thoughts, handing a folded paper to him. "But she did leave you a note."
Don't let the Nargles make you believe that you're beneath anyone
-Luna Lovegood
"How is this supposed to be mine?" Fred decided to ask, annoyed at the way George was laughing at him no matter how secretly it is.
"You're obvious, so, so, so, so, sooooo very obvious," George sang. "Freddie and Luna, sitting on a tree K-I-S—mpph!"
"Georgielyn, if you don't stop now," Fred lowered his voice and glared at his brother. "Those Altering Almonds will be altered just for you. Remember, I was the one who made it."
George's eyes widened and shook his head. "I- I'll stoff nah."
Fred beamed at him. "It was nice doing business with you, sir."
Smiling at his twin, Fred flicked his wand, smirking as his twin's clothes changed into a shirt with the words 'Bread Man' printed across it in bold letters.
"Ain't a man yet, Georgielyn, but a ginger you are."
:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::
A/N: Sooo… hehe Merry Christmas everyone~!
