Sickles in the Moonlight
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm just playing a little with the world she established.
A/N: Hey everyone, this is my first story and I am excited to hear what you think. Please review; praise is much appreciated and constructive criticism is welcome. Please no flames. With that said, hope you enjoy!
****SitM****
Harry stepped through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾ for the fifth time in his life, though not as excited this time around. As much as he loved the school he'd come to see as his home, he knew it could never feel the same after witnessing the death of his fellow student and Triwizard Champion, Cedric Diggory. He also felt an increasing sense of foreboding as Minister Fudge had disbelieved his and Dumbledore's claims that Voldemort had returned, and attacked them both through the Daily Prophet.
But those weren't the only attacks on Harry. First Harry and his cousin Dudley were nearly kissed by a pair of dementors, then he had been forced to attend a hearing to determine whether or not he would be expelled from Hogwarts because he had cast the Patronus charm in self-defense. He was almost convinced that the Ministry had sent the dementors on purpose and got very upset when he was able to repel them; hence the hearing for performing magic in front of a muggle who already knew about its existence!
Harry was more than happy to hop on the train and let his worries disappear behind him as he rode away to the magical school that had turned his whole life around. Harry walked into a train car with Ron and Hermione close behind. They gave Harry quick goodbyes as they had to go to the prefects' compartment for the beginning of the journey. With a promise to save them space in a compartment, he wandered through the train looking for an empty compartment. Unfortunately, most of them were full.
After ten minutes of searching, he found a compartment with only a single occupant, a 3rd or 4th year Ravenclaw girl. Harry decided this was probably the emptiest compartment he would find, so he opened the compartment door and asked softly, "Excuse me, could I sit in here? There is hardly any room elsewhere."
The younger girl looked up at the sound of his voice. The two teens stared at each other, as if assessing one another. The girl had very long, scraggly, dirty blond hair, and she had her wand stowed behind her left ear. Around her neck was an odd necklace of what looked like Butterbeer corks, and she was apparently reading a magazine upside down. But what really caught Harry's attention were her eyes. They gave her a look of constant surprise, and were a gleaming silver in color. Harry continued to just stare into her eyes until she finally spoke.
"You are Harry Potter," she said dreamily, knocking Harry out of his stupor.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's me," Harry said lamely. "And you are?"
"My name is Luna Lovegood, though some people call me Loony. And if you wish to sit in here, you are free to do so."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Luna," Harry responded as he stowed his trunk on the overhead rack. He turned to sit down across from her and found himself staring into her silvery eyes once again. His gaze remained steady, looking for a reaction as he asked, "Why do people call you Loony?"
He watched as her eyes momentarily darkened as a fleeting sad look filled them. But it quickly disappeared and she answered, "Most people don't see or understand some things as I do, so I imagine they find me rather odd."
Harry was quiet for a while, reflecting on what she had told him. He had recognized that sad look that had appeared in her eyes; he had seen it many times before in the bathroom mirror at Number 4 Privet Drive. That combined with the rude name made him very concerned for her. This sounded too familiar for his liking.
Before he could ask anything further, Ginny popped her head into the compartment, unaware of Harry's presence. Luna also seemed unaware of the other girl at the door, just reading her upside down magazine, until Ginny spoke up. "Hey Luna, have you seen Michael? I can't seem to find him anywhere," she exclaimed, evidently exasperated.
Luna looked up from her reading and said, "Sorry Ginevra, I haven't."
Ginny groaned. "He told me he would meet me on the platform, but I didn't see him and now the train's about to leave."
Luna didn't seem overly concerned by Ginny's distress. "He probably just forgot. It was likely the work of Wrackspurts, it's what they're best at," she replied simply, as if it was the obvious explanation and didn't sound even remotely odd.
Harry was utterly confused, and felt he had to interrupt. "Wrackspurts? What in the world are those?"
Luna turned her dreamy gaze back to the boy sitting across from her and explained, "They're tiny invisible creatures that float into your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy. My daddy's written an article about them in the latest edition of The Quibbler, if you'd like to read more. I've got more copies in my bag. Would you like one, Harry Potter?"
Harry looked closer at the magazine she was reading and recognized it to be the one in question. Figuring it couldn't hurt to humor the girl, he just said, "Sure, why not? And you can just call me Harry." Upon hearing his confirmation, she bent down to rummage her book bag for a copy. Meanwhile, Ginny seemed to have finally realized Harry was there too.
"Oh Harry, sorry, I didn't see you there. Did you just meet Luna?" Ginny inquired, smiling apologetically.
"It's no problem, and yes we just met. Though you two seem to already know each other, Ginevra," Harry said, failing to suppress a grin as she blushed and pouted at hearing him use her full name.
"Hey!" she snapped. "Don't you call me that. The only ones who use that name are Luna because she refuses to shorten my name for reasons known only to her, and my parents."
"Fine, geez," Harry conceded, as he took the magazine Luna was now holding out to him. "So, who's Michael?" he added, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Ginny blushed lightly. "Oh, he's my boyfriend," she explained. Her face darkened, and she added, "Though not for much longer if he doesn't have a good reason for abandoning me on the platform."
"Well, when you find him, I hope for his sake that it really was these Wrackspurt creatures that made him forget and not ignorance on his own part. Merlin knows what you'll do to him." He sniggered, and also noticed that a slight grin appeared on Luna's face when he mentioned the invisible creatures.
"Yeah, well, I'll see you two later," Ginny said, annoyed.
"Sure, seeya Ginny."
"Goodbye, Ginevra."
Ginny closed the door and walked off in search of her boyfriend, leaving Harry and Luna to their reading. Harry found the Wrackspurt article to be interesting, but he also found himself glancing up at the girl across from him multiple times throughout the train ride, even catching her eye a couple times. Whenever that happened, he quickly averted his gaze, and knew his cheeks colored slightly. Why was he blushing? He admitted to himself she was rather cute, but he hardly knew her. But then he caught himself watching her again and had to concede there might be something there...
His thoughts were interrupted as Hermione and Ron entered the compartment, having finally finished with their meeting. Harry welcomed the distraction, but not after deciding he would try to get to know the blond Ravenclaw during the coming school year. Especially because he was concerned about that sad look darkening her happy, silvery, even beautiful eyes.
****SitM****
When they finally reached Hogsmeade, the four teens quickly disembarked from the train and headed in the direction of the carriages. When Harry noticed Luna falling back, he stopped and turned to her with a questioning look.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Harry asked.
Luna looked back at him with a slightly hopeful look. "You want me to join you? I didn't want to assume…" she trailed off, unsure. Harry saw that gloomy look reappear in her eyes and knew he was going to have to talk to her about that later. But as for the problem at hand…
"Of course," Harry answered. "I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure." He barely stifled a sigh of relief when she became much cheerier after his response. "Come here," he added, and when she reached him, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in case she decided he was being insincere and started to fall behind again. He had a feeling she had to deal with a lot of insincerity and he wanted to make sure she knew she could trust him. "Let's go."
A few minutes later they reached the carriages, and Harry suddenly gasped. Ron and Hermione started and turned to him, concern in their eyes.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione inquired, utterly confused, as nothing seemed to be wrong with her friend.
"What are those things?" Harry exclaimed, pointing at one of the large, skeletal, winged horses pulling the carriages. "They've not been there before."
Both of his friends just stared at the carriages, evidently not seeing what he saw right in front of them. His suspicion was confirmed when Ron responded, "Uhh… Harry? Those are the carriages, mate. Of course they've been there."
At this point, Luna piped up. "Don't worry, Harry, you're not going mad. I can see them too." Her choice of words wasn't very assuring to the raven-haired boy.
"What are they then?" He was both scared but fascinated by these ominous creatures.
"They're thestrals, of course. Only those who have seen death and come to understand what it means can see them," Luna explained in her dreamy tone.
"I've read about those. I can't imagine why they would be pulling the school carriages though. They're supposed to be quite unlucky," Hermione informed them.
Luna, however, was unfazed by Hermione's statement. "People just say that because they're afraid. They're really quite gentle actually, people just avoid them because they're a bit…" Luna paused, looking to Harry almost expectantly. Harry was oblivious to her gaze, but concluded her statement himself.
"Because they're different," Harry finished. He turned to Luna, who was giving him a meaningful look. He asked, "So since I was too young to understand death when my parents died, I couldn't see them until after…" He trailed off, unable to say Cedric's name without reliving that awful moment.
Luna nodded. The four students finally climbed into a carriage, and Luna had barely sat down next to Harry when he asked, "What about you Luna?"
Luna looked up at the bespectacled boy. "My mother, she died when I was nine experimenting with a spell she created," she responded calmly. Ron and Hermione seemed a little unnerved by the cavalier way in which she had referred to her own mother's death, but Harry saw that slight darkening in her eyes once again and recognized that she was masking her feelings. He shivered. This girl seemed to have almost as rough a childhood as he had. He wrapped a comforting arm around her, squeezing her shoulder softly, hoping to send a message that he understood. They all just sat in relative silence after that until the carriages arrived at the front of the school.
****SitM****
Over the next few weeks, Harry hardly saw Luna, and when he did, he was always distracted by something else, whether it was Umbridge's awful detentions, her useless classes, or the fact that Dumbledore seemed to be actively avoiding him. Finally, after the meeting in the Hog's Head to form their defense group a month later, he told Hermione and Ron he'd like to be alone for a bit, to which they both nodded understandingly, then he walked out the door, scanning the street for any sign of Luna. When he caught a glimpse of familiar messy, dirty blonde hair disappearing into an alleyway down the road, and he rushed after it. He caught up to Luna just before she reached the other end of the alley and lightly grabbed her shoulder. She turned at his touch, and her silvery eyes widened momentarily when she recognized who had stopped her, and he found himself staring back into those eyes for a moment before she brought him back to reality.
"Hello, Harry. Is there something I can do for you?" she inquired curiously, in her trademark dreamy tone.
"Yeah, actually, I've been a little concerned about you, but haven't really found the time to talk with you since our first day back. Care to walk with me?" he invited.
All the more curious, Luna nodded slowly then followed him out of the alleyway and away of the village. They walked in silence until they found themselves near the shore of the Black Lake.
Harry sat down on a patch of ground almost untouched by snow and patted the space next to him invitingly, while looking up into Luna's bright, silvery eyes. When she was settled comfortably on the ground, he finally spoke.
"You know Luna, I see a lot of myself in you," he started.
Luna looked back at him quizzically. "You seem to think that is not a good thing," she observed.
Harry shook his head sullenly. "That's just it. It's not a good thing. The day I met you on the train, I noticed many times when a sort of… haunted look crossed your face. Your eyes darkened when we talked about your mean nickname, when you thought you might not be welcome among my friends and I." Harry faltered when she averted her eyes, looking down at her lap. "Look, Luna. I want to be your friend. And as a friend, I'm concerned about you. I recognized my own sadness in you that day, and I couldn't stand to think that you were suffering even nearly as much as I have. I just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, about anything, that I am here for you. OK?"
Luna looked back up at him, and for the first time, he saw tears in her eyes. She sniffed, then said softly, "I still feel sad about it sometimes, my Mum's death. Daddy has done a great job raising me on his own for the past few years, but he does struggle. It's just not the same."
Her voice had lost its distinctive dreamy quality, replaced with a quiet, sorrowful tone. Her tears were now crawling down her cheeks as she poured out her soul to him, talking about how much she missed her mother, about the constant teasing and bullying she endured since she first arrived at the school, about how everyone she met brushed her off and called her "Loony" behind her back as well as to her face. Harry just sat there with his arms wrapped around her, comforting her as she bared all her problems and insecurities to him.
Hours later, they were still sitting silently together, holding each other, and staring out at the lake. Every once in a while, Luna gave a quiet sniffle, but the tears had eventually stopped a couple hours before. The sun had set and the full moon was very bright tonight.
Harry turned his head to her, still pondering on what she had told him. He squeezed her softly to get her attention. When Luna's gaze fell on his face, he stared directly back at her, into those brilliant bright silver eyes. Harry compared them to a pair of sickles glinting in the moonlight. They were beautiful, and, Harry realized, so was she. The light that fell on her pale face gave her an ethereal glow, and her long hair framed her face quite nicely.
As he continued to stare deep into those pools of silver, he considered how much he now knew about this eccentric girl. She had trusted him with all of her woes, and he had grown to care for the girl in his arms.
Before Harry could talk himself out of it, he screwed up his Gryffindor courage, and leaned down, placing a chaste kiss on Luna's lips. He pulled away to see her eyelids flutter closed as the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.
"That was nice," she mused. Her eyes flicked open to stare into his before quickly shutting again as she grabbed the sides of his face gently and pulled it down to hers, claiming his lips once again. This kiss was significantly longer and when they finally broke apart, they both had goofy grins on their faces.
Harry turned serious. "Luna, I will also be here for you." Suddenly, he was extremely nervous. "And… well, I think it would be easier if… um…"
"Yes, Harry, I imagine it would be easier if we were in a relationship. I accept," Luna interrupted, a huge smile splitting her face.
"Yeah, great," Harry said, his goofy grin back in place. He kissed her once more before lying on his back, pulling Luna with him, and casting a warming charm to melt the snow and dry the ground beneath them. As they on the grass underneath the full moon, Harry watched her until her eyelids closed over those beautiful silver eyes, and he soon followed her into the realm of dreams.
****SitM****
A/N: So that's that! Again, please review. Let me know what you thought, and I'll try to get more stories out. Thanks!