Disclaimer: not my characters, not my world!
A.N.: This is my first fanfiction, so I don't know if it's any good! Please review and let me know what you think; constructive criticism is welcome! I'll try and update around once a week, but it might be sporadic. Also, btw, this story is AU- Ginny and Harry never get together, because I love Harry and I don't want to break his heart. Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!
xoxo
-S
Understandably, Ginny didn't interact with Luna much their first year. Ginny was busy with other things- like getting possessed, and accidentally opening the Chamber of Secrets itself. And they were in separate houses. And Luna wasn't the type to go try and make friends, really, she was just there, babbling about strange creatures and getting bizarrely high grades.
Ginny only really noticed her twice that year. The first time was her very first History of Magic class, which she had thought would be really boring, since all her brothers complained about it a lot. And, even worse, they'd be sharing with the Ravenclaws and would get massively surpassed in knowledge. Ginny wouldn't be surprised if every Ravenclaw in the class had already learned the textbook by heart (Ginny herself was straddled with a used copy, and had only opened it to look at the funny doodles).
Anyway, this was before the whole evil-wizard-possession thing, and Ginny was still relatively optimistic and determined to pay attention, even if it was History of Magic and they were partnered with the Ravenclaws. And then Professor Binns gave a short speech in the importance of history, and began to lecture about the origins of magic, which was apparently almost entirely speculation. He talked vaguely of elemental beginnings, and instinctual and accidental magic, and said many technical terms.
It was extremely dull. Ginny felt her resolution rapidly slipping away, and she began to doodle stars on her parchment.
Then, someone interrupted Professor Binns.
It was a very tiny girl - a Ravenclaw, thought Ginny tiredly- sitting in the very back row. She had straggly blond hair and large blue eyes. She would have been rather cute, except she was wearing a lot of bright, colorful jewelry, which was distracting.
"But sir," she said serenely, "isn't it true that magic comes from the sun and the moon? Many wizarding cultures have myths that they came down to Earth in human form and gave the gift of magic to wizards and witches. And as you said, magic has two basic forms- fiery and icy, and that fits the sun and moon hypothesis. And many famous magical theorists have speculated that-"
"I must stop you there, young lady," said Professor Binns, sounding rather irritated. "And what is your name?"
"Luna Lovegood, sir," said Luna Lovegood.
"Well, Miss Lovegood, this is a very common myth that stems from uncivilized cultures, and has been generally debunked by the Britain's wizarding community as a whole. It results from the common fallacy of taking fable for fact.."
As Binns continued, Ginny looked towards Luna for her reaction. Professor Binns had spoken in a nasty, disapproving sort of voice, and most of the Ravenclaws and some of the Gryffindors were giggling softly.
But Luna just sat there obliviously, staring into space.
Later, Ginny would envy Luna her unnatural ability to ignore the whispers, the laughs, the scornful looks. For now, she just looked on in wonder.
The second time, she heard the entire story second-hand from Colin Creevey. She wasn't sure that it was entirely true, since Colin was prone to exaggerating, but either way, something was up with Luna Lovegood.
Snape had been walking around the fourth-floor late at night, possibly up to some very sinister or sketchy business. Suddenly, he had heard an eerie song. He immediately assumed a defensive posture, as it may have been an evil spirit, and took out his wand.
Then, Luna Lovegood had rounded the corner. She looked a little ghost-like, sure, with her pale straggly hair and big eyes and flowing white nightgown, but Snape realized she wasn't a ghost and became furious at the deception. Different accounts, though, said he was only angry because Luna called him a bat, or because he had missed dinner.
What was clear, though, was that Snape had given her detention and deducted a number of points from Ravenclaw. Then, he had asked Miss Lovegood exactly what she was doing so foolishly in the middle of the night:
"Well, sir," she had said in her usual dreamy manner, "I'm looking for Wrackspurts. They love song, you know, and are elusive during the day,"
Snape, apparently, was very flustered at this point, but tried to keep his dignity:
"And why, may I ask," he said icily, "Are you looking for these.. Wrackspurts?"
"Well, anyone who so happens upon them is granted three wishes!"
According to the rest of the tale, Snape had then gone looking for Wrackspurts, and when he couldn't find them, Luna informed him that they were allergic to bats, and he had thrown her into the dungeons. She had escaped on the back of a phoenix and foiled Snape's evil plans for revenge.
"Uh-huh," said Ginny, raising an eyebrow.
"It's true, all of it!" protested Colin.
And maybe some of it was. Ginny looked over to the Ravenclaw table and looked at Luna. Granted, she seemed as normal- or abnormal- as ever, but the other members of her house were shooting annoyed glances and whispering rudely.
But then Colin distracted her again, and she forgot all about Luna.