Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All rights go to respective owners.

Chapter Summary: While Fred is in detention, George goes exploring alone. He meets a first-year Ravenclaw and helps her out of a tight spot. It's the beginning of a wonderful, albeit a little insane, life-long friendship. George & Luna! friendship.

We're All A Little Mad

George Weasley had noticed the name on the map for awhile now. Mostly because it seemed so out of place. Sometimes, the name would be wandering in a random corridor. But more often than not, it would be outside, what George knew to be, the Ravenclaw common room.

Naturally, he just had to investigate.

One night while Fred had detention with Snape, George went to find the owner of the name on the map. Flitting through the shadows and secret passages of Hogwarts, George followed the name until it came to a stop in the sixth floor corridor.

"Are you going to keep following me?"

George stepped out of the shadows and cast a quick Lumos to light up the area. The small, quiet voice belonged to a tiny girl in Ravenclaw robes (She has to be a firstie, thought George), who (according to the map) was Luna Lovegood.

Luna…Lovegood? Wheels turned in quickly in George's head and he put the pieces together. Wait a minute!

"You're Luna, right?" He casually strolled up to her. "You live near us. I'm Fred Weas—"

Luna, with a small smile, interrupted. "No! You're George! And I know your sister. She's my friend."

George was stunned. What!? How did she know I was George? No one can tell us apart! Luna giggled at the sight of George's bewildered look.

Trying to keep up with this small Ravenclaw, George said, "Well, I'm glad my sister is one of your friends. Care to tell me why an ickle firstie is roaming the corridors past curfew?"

At this inquiry, Luna withdrew into herself. She seemed to be unsure of what to say and for a second, George was worried he had somehow pushed her too far.

Oops. Maybe I should just help her get back to her common room.

Just when George was about to ask if she needed help getting back to Ravenclaw tower, Luna whispered, "The nargles stole my stuff and the Umgubular Slashkilters have blocked the entrance into the common room."

Shock and then anger raced through George because he understood. He had grown up in the magical world in a huge family and knew there were times that it was almost impossible to cope. Magic didn't fix everything. Percy would be a prat, Ron wouldn't shut up about the Chudley Cannons, Ginny would obsess over Harry Potter … and that wasn't even mentioning how overbearing his mother acted. Life could be especially frustrating with magic and he was thankful he had Fred. Together they had found an outlet of dealing with the impossible — by making the impossible happen to other people. Pranking was more than just a creative outlet, it was a way to cope with the impossible in their lives.

And George was guessing that by believing in nargles — whatever those were — was just one way Luna coped with the impossible. Fred and George caused the impossible; Luna chose to believe in it.

It wasn't a perfect method, but it was better than most things they had brainstormed.

"I think we should go," Luna smiled, "Filch is coming."

Startled out of his thoughts, George looked down at the map. Filch and Mrs. Norris were headed straight for the corridor where they were currently standing.

"How—?" George started before quickly stopping. Questions for another day, he thought. "Nevermind. Come on! I'll show you a secret, if you promise not to tell!"

Luna looked up at George with a curious expression on her face. "Why would you want to show me? I'm just Loony." Tears filled her eyes.

Grinning, George grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. With an exaggerated flourish, he gave her a deep bow before standing up right. He looked into her eyes and simply said, "Well, if you're Loony, then I'm mad as a Hatter. Shall we do the impossible tonight, milady?"

Luna smiled. Gripping George's hand, she said, "Let's go!"

Laughing, George pulled Luna down the hallway. George brought her to the kitchens, where he introduced her to the house elves, who seemed to love Luna. They sat together and drank hot chocolate provided by the house elves. Luna told George stories about the many creatures she believed in, while George told her about some of the pranks he had pulled with his brother.

It was a long night before George had made sure Luna had made it into her common room okay. It felt even longer before he made it back to his dorm. But it had given him time to think. And even more time to plot. The Ravenclaws would be finding themselves at the end of some nasty pranks in the near future.

Because nobody messed with his friends.

Prompt (Pirate Battles — Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges): (pairing) George Weasley/Luna Lovegood