The night sky shined brightly onto Luna's face as she stared out from the astronomy tower. She looked up at the stars and wondered if they felt the same way she did. Both gazed upon by curious eyes, and always isolated from the things around them. Luna felt that way, she always did. In her hand, she held a sketchbook, where she would draw out her favorite constellations. They used to be her mother's favorites, her mother loved the stars, and Luna too reciprocated that same love. She had been sitting up there for quite some time now, but just couldn't find the will to stand and return to her dormitory. She looked down from the sky, and her eyes were drawn to the moon's reflection in the water. She looked down at the boathouses and was instantly reminded of her first year at Hogwarts. Those boathouses weren't where the ridicule began for her, but it is where it began to become unbearable. She stood from the window seal where she had been sitting and put her things in her bag.
The castle's cold stone floor felt rough underneath her bare feet as she walked through the corridors. Her being without shoes definitely wasn't an unusual sight, but the blonde witch looked far from her usual self. There was an aura colder than the winter air that surrounded her and encased her inside of her own dark thoughts. Her typically wondering curious eyes stared straight ahead of her. She noticed that the typically warm and inviting magical flames that lit Hogwarts felt different. Her whole world seemed to be tinted a few shades darker and not even the warmest of those fires could have brought her back from her darkened state.
Though the world around her was - for the most part - tuned out of her mind, she still heard them talking.
"There goes Looney Luna." one person whispered as she walked by.
"She really does look insane." said another.
For years Luna had heard these remarks, at first she pretended they didn't bother her, but they did. The truth was that words always had and always would hurt more than any spell someone could cast upon her. However, Luna believed she had been cursed. She thought that her curse was not only to always be different but to never forget just how different she was. Even though she had joined Dumbledore's Army, and was spending a considerable amount of time with people she considered to be friends, she still felt the disconnect. It was like everyone was always waiting for her to say the wrong thing, or to say something to help further prove that she truly was looney. In fact, Luna was tired. She was tired of the constant remarks made by her peers and the people that were supposed to be her friends. She was tired of blaming the Nargiles for her missing items when she knew it was just the other kids being cruel. All Luna wanted was to be just like everyone else, normal. She tried sometimes, she really did. But when Luna attempted to be anything other than who she was, her mind would flash back to a promise she had made her mother before she died.
Luna was only nine when her mother was taken from her, and just a few short months prior to her mother passing, there was an incident. She had begun showing signs of magical ability at a very young age, and other kids around her were frightened that she was able to morph her face into strange shapes. Luna thought she was being funny, but the other children thought she was a monster. When Luna returned home crying after playing with other children, her mother sat her down and said, "Luna, you are a very special young girl, and because you are so special you will do great things with your life. However, sometimes other people won't understand or be able to see exactly how special you are. People in this world will be jealous that they can't be as magnificent as you, which is why you must take great care of your gifts. When other children poke fun at you or tell you that you are crazy, don't listen to them, my dear. One day, when they finally understand, they will wish they would have treated you differently."
"And what if they never understand Mommy?" Luna asked, the tears running down her face.
"Well, then I suppose it's all the same. You still have yourself, and you will always have me." Her mother said as she gave her a hug.
"Promise me you will never forget that my love?" her mother asked gently.
"I promise," Luna replied. She wished her mother were there with her in this moment, she really needed a hug. Luna kept reminding herself what her mother had told her, but she felt as though she couldn't even remember who she was anymore, and that left no one there to help her.
Looney Luna… looney Luna… looney Luna. The words kept spinning around her mind over and over as she slowly walked towards her destination. When Luna walked out of the castle, the cold night air fell over her, and she could feel her skin begin to crawl. Pulling out her wand, she summoned a blue flame to not only keep her warm on her journey but to light the path in front of her. As she walked through the dark courtyard no one stopped her to say hello and no one asked where she was headed. This just further proved Luna's darkest thoughts to be correct. She was alone, and no one was going to miss her.
As she stepped onto the dock, the cold wind blew out the flame she had summoned to help her see, but the reflection of the moon was so bright she didn't need it anyways. She walked towards the edge of the dock and looked down at the water. It calmly waved underneath her, and the reflection she saw was anything but a reflection of herself. This girl was visibly sad, something Luna had, for so long, managed to keep locked away. She hated sadness because it made her unproductive.
She closed her eyes, and she saw the stars, but they weren't normal stars, they were all pieces of her. Within her mind she searched through them one by one, passing by different memories from her life. One was her in the room of requirement with her friends. Another was at her mother's funeral, her father holding her as she softly sobbed. The next was her when she was young, dancing around with kitchen with her mother and father singing songs. This moment felt particularly different from the others, almost as if it was the northern star of her memories. It was, in fact, the last time she thought she had felt true happiness. Luna opened her eyes.
If she ever wanted to feel that happiness again, she knew what she needed to do. She placed the tip of her wand on her temple and reminded herself that the spell would be quick and painless. She whispered the spell into the night air, and she could feel the magic leaving her wand, and into her head. Everything was dark.
She opened her eyes and saw in front of her, her own memories and thoughts. Just like she had imagined they floated through the air like stars. These memories, however, were not the happy ones, but the memories of all of the awful things she had been called, and the awful things people had done to her. With a flick of her want, they soared into the sky and found their place amongst the stars. Just as those memories had made her feel, they were alone amidst the darkness. She had made them into stars as a reminder to herself that even the darkest parts of her being were still shining and beautiful pieces that reminded her she was living. Underneath them, she stood whole once again, and when she looked back down at the water, her beauty shown more brightly than any moon. Once more she gazed back up at the stars and mumbled, "How pretty." Having found herself once again, she then returned back the castle's warm and glowing embrace.