Ithaca: Sonickidds does not own Harry Potter, only me and the plot.
hey guys, welcome to Chasing away the nightmares. this is a rewrite for Not so Different. i repeat, this is not a new story. This story is beta-ed by the author, Alice the Strange. Everybody thank Alice for doing such a wonderful job!
For the first time that year, Luna Lovegood stepped through the large oak doors of Hogwarts. It was her fourth year at Hogwarts, and she loved being back to the place she called home – especially as her own home was not exactly welcoming. Luna wandered through the crowd of students, ignoring the odd stares that were directed at her.
All around her, people were busy talking and gossiping about their summer, and most were beginning to shuffle off to the Great Hall so the Sorting could begin. Luna had just started to head in that direction, when out of the crowd, she heard someone call out her name.
"Hey, over here!" the girl shouted at her, waving enthusiastically. Luna smiled and waved back, weaving through the crowd to get to her only friend, Ithaca.
Luna had known Ithaca since second year, from when she transferred from a American school. Ithaca had approached Luna on the train, wondering why she was alone, and Luna explained why everyone kept away from her. People abandoned Luna because she told of fantastic creatures. Ithaca thought that was a stupid reason to outcast someone, she even thought a few of them might exist, and sat with her. After that, the two had quickly become close friends.
Ithaca was a well-known joker. She was a thin, dark skinned, Ravenclaw girl with raven-dark hair and eyes like vanilla. Most people, including Luna at first, thought she was blind because of her pale eyes. However, few students ever tried to bother her, or Luna when the two were together, for her pranks were said to rival even those of Fred and George. The only one who dared bother Luna when she was anywhere near Ithaca was was Cho Chang – but as said before, Ithaca was definitely not someone to mess with.
Ithaca ran excitedly towards Luna and enveloped her in a tight hug. However, when she saw Luna wince in pain, she immediately let go, frowning in concern. "Luna…are you…"
Luna nodded sharply, cutting her off.
Ithaca began going over the routine check that she had done ever since she had found out about Luna's most closely-kept secret. "Do you still have bruises that need mending?" she asked as she scanned Luna for anything that might be wrong.
"Y-yes," Luna stuttered, "but…" She twisted her fingers together awkwardly, and asked, "Can we take care of it after the feast?" Hastily, she glanced down, avoiding her friend's gaze. Ithaca sighed, but agreed.
"Fine, but we're stopping at Pomfrey's after. Now come on – the feast will be exciting." She dragged Luna, being as careful as possible due to her wounds, to the Great Hall.
The two took their seats at the Ravenclaw table, watching the Sorting Hat ceremony and cheering along with everyone else for their new house members. After the ceremony was completed, food appeared on the table. The younger students looked in wonder, while the older students dug right in.
Ithaca watched Luna pick at her food for a minute or so before her usual assault of questions began. "Luna, have you been eating regularly?" she asked suspiciously.
Luna nodded, but didn't meet her eyes. Ithaca knew Luna well and could tell when she was lying to her, but she chose not to question her further. Luna felt bad for lying to Ithaca, but she did not want her to worry too much.
"Have you been sleeping well?" Ithaca probed. Again, Luna nodded untruthfully, and again Ithaca knew she was being deceitful.
"I want to watch you eat something. You've only been picking at your food so far," she ordered the other girl. Luna sighed, but picked up her fork. She started scooping up her food and slowly eating. She had to eat two spoons of mashed potatoes, and finish her meatloaf, before Ithaca was satisfied. Soon dessert popped in, replacing the dinner. Ithaca eagerly wolfed down a piece of pie, while Luna pushed her ice cream around her plate.
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Luna walked into the Ravenclaw common room and headed to a spare sofa with Ithaca. Other students were gossiping, playing games, or heading up to bed early. Luna's bandages were starting to bother her. She rubbed fretfully at her injured arm.
Earlier, after dinner, Luna had visited the medical wing to be fussed over by the school nurse. When Madame Pomfrey inquired as to how she had received the wounds on her body and hands, she'd made up a lie about falling, and sharp rocks. The nurse looked like she did not believe her, but thankfully did not question further. Unfortunately, the nurse was out of healing potions, and the wounds were to deep
to be healed by magic, so the nurse had bandaged them in the old-fashioned way.
Back in the common room, Luna stretched out onto the couch, with her feet on Ithaca, and smiled. "Hey, I'm not a foot rest," Ithaca said teasingly, not really minding Luna's feet on her. The two girls talked for a while about what they'd done over the summer. Ithaca told Luna yet again that if Luna needed a place to stay, she was welcome – but Luna rejected the offer, afraid of what her father would do if he found out.
"Please, Luna, can you at least consider it?" Ithaca pleaded with her. "I just hate to see you get hurt."
Uneasy, Luna avoided eye contact, barely managing an, "OK." She wanted to live with Ithaca badly, but her father was a far more powerful wizard than people gave him credit for. She had decided that she couldn't, and would not, risk her best friend's safety for her own selfishness.
"Fine," said Ithaca at last, sighing. "Just don't wait until it's too late. Just remember, we can help you if you open up."
Sadly, in the wizarding world, most cases of child abuse where ignored. The only exception was if the child came out and told someone, but even if they provided evidence most of the wizarding courts let it slip. Luna was to afraid of her father to even think of telling anyone. Ithaca was shocked to find out how different the British wizarding laws where, compared to the American wizard laws. In America child abuse was taken very seriously.
Ithaca stared into Luna's silvery eyes and thought she saw a glimmer of happiness there, just for a moment, before it was replaced with regret.
"Well... off to bed with you. I know you were lying about getting sleep, so come on." Luna, unwilling to leave the soft couch, was half-dragged up the stairs to their living quarters, where nightmares awaited one small, tortured soul.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Luna, plagued by her dreams, whimpered and cried in her sleep, reliving the darkest memories of the place she was expected to call home.
Luna had just returned from the wonderful care of the Weasleys. They took her in every so often to play with Ron and Ginny, and Luna had dreaded retuning home, for she knew what awaited her when she did.
Every time she went to the Weasleys, her father would hurt her. She never understood why. She had always done what she was told, but maybe she didn't cook his meals right, or maybe she did not clean the house well enough, or maybe there was something she had been doing wrong for years that she had just never known about. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she got hurt for it.
Luna cautiously walked into the kitchen, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that it was empty. She removed her shoes, trying not to make a sound on the old wooden floors. She heard her father snoring in the next room and relaxed a little, but remained tense. Luna inched her way into the hall, sneaking past her father and towards the stairs, trying not to make a sound.
She put one small foot on the steps, carefully. Inching her way up. The young child was at the sixth step when she put her foot down, and was rewarded with a loud creak.
In the silence, the noise sounded deafening. Luna held her breath in fear, listening for her father's snores. When she realized that she couldn't hear them, she panicked. Spinning around, she was greeted by her father's face, incandescent with rage. Luna tried to run up the stairs, but her father was faster, and her grabbed her foot and dragged her down.
Luna landed heavily on her arm, and could not hold back a cry of pain. Her father approached hers slowly, ready to hurt her with the slightest movement. Luna backed up against the wall, closed her eyes, and prepared her small frame for what she knew would be a long night. A small part of her hoped, just a tiny bit, that her father would go too far tonight and finally end her pain.
Ithaca was awoken by Luna's quiet whimpers. She slid out of bed, and quietly walked over to Luna, muttering a silencing charm. Then she crawled into the bed, and pulled the blonde towards her. Ithaca held Luna, rocking her gently back and forth. Luna snuggled up to her like a child, still half-asleep. "Mummy?" Luna asked, still caught in her dream. Ithaca's heart broke a little from that one simple word.
"Shh, child, go back to sleep," she whispered, rubbing Luna's hair gently. Ithaca hoped she sounded as close to Luna's mother as possible. It obviously worked, as Luna tried to curl closer, before murmuring, "G'night, Mummy," and falling completely asleep.
Ithaca had comforted Luna during her darkest nights for a couple of years now. She did not dislike getting to hold Luna – in fact she loved it, this feeling of closeness, of protection. It was only the reason behind the holding that she hated. Ithaca felt murderous towards the man who had done this to her friend Luna, and hoped for the day when Luna was no longer plagued by her so-called "father".
Until then, Ithaca would always be there to chase away Luna's nightmares.
well i hoped you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Beta-ed by Alice the Strange