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Dedicated to somethingUNEXPECTED9520, 22Moons, and evanna11. I dedicate all chapters to my reviewers :)

Chapter 2: The Deal

"Excited, Luna?", the dark girl asked the dirty blonde girl. Luna turned to look at Padma Patil, who was right behind her. Like Luna, Padma wore her black robes over a turquoise sari and was putting her royal blue cap on her head. Luna smiled. Padma was the first to really apologize for mistreating her in Luna's fourth year. Since then, the pair had become study partners and decent friends.

"Extremely. But it's a bit strange to be leaving at the same time." Luna sighed. She had so many amazing and interesting memories at Hogwarts. The two Ravenclaws were standing near the doors that would lead into the Great Hall. "What are you planning to do this summer?"

"I have three weeks before I start Healer training. Father put in a good word for me at St. Mungo's so I should be finished with the basic training by Christmas."

"Really?", Luna's eyes widened at this. "That's amazing. I didn't know you wanted to be a Healer. What did you want to specialize in?"

"Well", Padma pondered for quick second before replying, "I thought of working in either Spell Damage or Artifact Accidents, but I thought of working with children as well. It's too soon to tell." Luna was amazed at this. Padma had been one of the people who graciously volunteered to help the Healers at the Battle At Hogwarts, so it was no surprise that it had truly impacted her life. "What about you? Summer plans?"

"Ginny's invited me to spend some time with her and her family this summer, but I'm not really going anywhere. It would be nice if you could come over and have some tea before you begin training. Or at least I could help you study."

Padma nodded, "That would be fantastic! I have no one to study with, and I'm not about to ask Parvati."

Luna laughed at this. "I thought she was staying at Hogwarts and become Trelawney's apprentice?"

"She is, but she has permission to return home on the weekends. Parvati's actually very gifted in Divination, even if her master is Trelawney!" The two girls giggled at this. To this day, Trelawney was still making death predictions about students, but at least this time they were not 'outlandish' or 'overdramatic'.

"Everyone! Eyes forward!", a loud voice roared over the large group of students. Everyone turned around to see their headmistress standing at the top of the stairs. McGonagall. "Now, I want all of you to form four lines, in your house in alphabetical order. When you walk in, Slytherin walks in first, followed by Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and then Gryffindor. You walk in to your designated seats just as we have rehearsed. Understood?" A murmur went around the seventh years as they all sorted themselves out. Padma promised Luna to see her after the ceremony and moved to her spot, as Luna put in herself in her place between Su Li and Morag McDougal.

The doors finally opened and one by one, starting with Slytherin, the seventh years walked in and the choir began singing a slower version of the school song with some added verses due to the large groups of seventh years that were graduating. The stage where the students would received their diplomas was strangely on the side where the Slytherin table normally stood.

As Luna walked in, her eyes immediately began searching for her father. She spotted him sitting next to Arthur and Molly Weasley. Mrs. Weasley gave a tearful smile and wave to Luna, who had become another 'adopted' member of the Weasley. Next to her was Charlie, and George, wearing his fake ear, with his arm around his girlfriend Angelina Johnson. In front of them was Bill and Fleur with their newborn daughter Victoire, sitting next to Mrs. Tonks and her blue haired grandson Teddy, who had just turned two. After everyone was seated, Percy and his fiance had walked in, obviously late, and took their seat quietly in the back.

McGonagall made her way to the stage and casted a Sonorus charm on herself, "Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and family, I welcome you all to this momentous occasion. I am most proud of this group of students, the largest graduating class Hogwarts has ever had, most of whom showed a great deal of courage at the Battle of Hogwarts." There was a small cheer from the crowd that earned a round of applause. Luna shifted in her seat. She was so anxious to get the ceremony over and done with, which was an odd characteristic for the normally dreamlike girl. She suspected the Nargles would be to blame there.

McGonagall began to name off the Slytherins, the smallest group. Most of them had transferred to Beauxbatons, seeing as Durmstrang came into question and investigation with their interest in the Dark Arts. Luna thought it was too difficult to try to continue her education anywhere besides Hogwarts.

Finally, McGonagall had began naming off the Ravenclaws in K's, signaling the row where Luna was to stand. They followed in line up to the stage and slowly walked up.

"Su Li!", McGonagall called out as an a small Asian girl made herself to McGonagall, shaking her hand and shaking Flitwick's as well.

"Luna Lovegood!", a loud but short cheer came from the section of redheads. Luna smiled at the Weasleys as she walked up the stage, earning her diploma from McGonagall. She received congratulations from the Head of her House.

"Well done, Miss Lovegood!", Flitwick whispered to one of his favorite students. Luna nodded a thanks before hurrying back to her seat. Luna sat through the rest of the Ravenclaws, clapping loudly for Padma Patil, and Hufflepuffs patiently, clapping at everyone who received a diploma. Finally it got to the Gryffindors.

"Hermione Granger!", a loud cheer erupted through the Great Hall. The brown eyed girl blushed before receiving her diploma from her favorite former teacher.

"Neville Longbottom!", another cheer rang out, not as loud as Hermione's, but enough to make Neville smile in appreciation. Luna clapped and cheered the loudest for him.

"Harry Potter!" Everyone stood up and clapped for the Boy-Who-Lived as he modestly made his way to the stage and accepted his diploma.

"Ginvera Weasley!", a loud cheer came from the Weasley section.

"Ronald Weasley!", It was probably the loudest cheer from any other student, partly for his services to the school and the wizarding world, and for the fact that he was the last student to be called. McGonagall encouraged another round of applause for all the students before she continued.

"And now, we will recognize our valedictorian and our salutatorian. Please welcome to the stage Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood." Luna was stunned. She had no idea that among her large group of graduates that she was second best. She hurried to the stage with her friend. When they made it up there, the two received medals honoring them. Professor McGonagall told the girls to remain on stage. "We shall also award several students for special services to the school. Let's have a round of applause for Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood!" The rest of gang made it up and they all received merits for their bravery and loyalty to the school. After the gang made it back to their seats, Professor McGonagall made another recognition to the prefects and Head Boy and Girl, which was Michael Corner and Hermione Granger.

"Graduates, please raise your wands!", Professor McGonagall instructed the graduating class, nearing the end of the ceremony. All the students raised their wands in the air.

"Denique Initium!", the student cried out. Sparks left each wand and joined together to form the Hogwarts crest. This part of the ceremony signified their graduation, much like turning a tassel. Students moved from their seats near to their friends and began hugging each other. Luna pushed her way through the crowd, hugging Ginny when she found her and Harry and Hermione. Ron shook her hand with a smile and she gave a huge hug to Neville. They did it. They finally finished Hogwarts, together.

Everyone left the Great Hall to meet up with their families. Luna bide farewell to Padma, with promises from both girls to owl each other over the summer. Luna was looking for her father when she ran into someone.

"Pardon me, sir!", Luna apologized before looking up. The man she ran into was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"My fault, Lovegood", Malfoy apologized. Luna was surprised. Despite having forgiven him and his family, it still was not so pleasant to run into the person who's family held you captive.

"Malfoy", Luna replied, dreamlike with a touch of awkwardness. "What are you doing here? I didn't see you all year."

Draco gave a small smile, different from his usual sneer, "I finished my schooling at Beauxbatons. I'm now Head of the Malfoy household." Luna had heard about that. His father Lucius had passed away about a year ago, leaving Draco in charge of the entire Malfoy fortune. "Of course, the family business has changed."

"Well good for you, but why are you here?", Luna questioned, trying not to make herself sound suspicious.

"My future wife has graduated today, Astoria Greengrass," Malfoy replied plainly. Luna remembered that name. She was one of the seventh years that actually was supposed to graduate this year. Despite being a year younger than Luna, she caught up by attending Beauxbatons but chose to finish her final year of school at Hogwarts.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Malfoy", Luna replied honestly. She was relieved to see Malfoy move on from how he was when Voldemort was in power.

"Thank you", Malfoy answered, a bit surprised to have Luna be so nice towards him. "And, about two years ago..."

"Forgive and forget, Draco," Luna put up her hand. As rare as it was for a Malfoy to apologize, she had moved on with that part of her life.

Draco gave her a genuine smile but quickly hid it, "Congratulations, Luna.". Luna nodded a thanks before Draco went off to find his fiance. She turned and finally found the person she was initially looking for.

"Father!" Luna ran up to her dad and hugged him. Xenophilius Lovegood hugged his daughter back. Lately, he had finally began recovering from the post-traumatic stress after Luna was kidnapped not so long ago.

"Luna, my dear, is there a reason that Malfoy boy approached you?", Xeno looked concerned.

"Making amends, father", Luna assured her father. He seemed a bit skeptic but believed his daughter.

"Luna!", a gruff voice called out.

"Hagrid!", she greeted her now former professor. Luna introduced Hagrid to her father, both shaking each other's hands.

"You must be proud o' 'er!", Hagrid praised Luna. "One of me best students I ever had". Xeno looked pleased. "And Luna I wish you well on your trip. I got you sumthin'" The half-giant handed her a large journal, meant for her to take notes on her trip with drawing pencils to sketch out the animals she encounters. She was about to thank him when it hit her. She looked over at her father. Luna had still not broke the news to her father yet.

"Trip?", Xeno asked, shocked and confused. She felt nervous. Luna always told her father everything that was going on in her life, sharing with him about how she and Neville felt about it other. The fact that Luna had kept this one thing from him made things worse than they should have been. "Sweetheart, what is he talking about?"

Luna bit her lip, a habit that was not Luna-like at all. She didn't know how to approach the subject with her father after all that had happened. Hagrid left to see another student, unbeknownst that he had ruined the 'surprise'.

"Daddy, um", Luna said, nervously. "Can we talk about this when we get home?" Not what would have her father feel any better but he sighed and nodded. That bought her some time to think about how she would go about convincing him to let her go. Luna silently thanked him before running off to her 'extended' family, the Weasleys. Molly Weasely spotted her first and gave one of her famous bone-crushing hugs.

"Now, Luna, I expect I'll be seeing you a lot this summer", Molly stated with Luna nodded. After the war, Molly took on another 'daughter' and welcomed Luna into their house warmly. She also knew it was the last summer before everyone went off into different directions in their lives. She went through the Weasleys with hugs, even giving a small kiss to little Victoire and Teddy Lupin (Percy just said "Well done" and shook her hand with a small smile creeping up on his face). She found Hermione with her parents.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger", Luna smiled. Before the start of the year, Hermione used her small connections to the Ministry to find her parents and un-modify their memories. It took some time, surprising some Ministry members that such a young witch could produce a strong spell as Oblivate. Her parents were not pleased, but were somewhat relieved to see their daughter again. Hermione's parents nodded. They had been introduced over the Christmas holidays but were still getting used to Luna's strange personality. "Mind if I borrow Hermione for a moment?"

"Not at all", her mother responded as she greeted Ron. Luna and Hermione walked away far enough to where they could still be seen by many of their classmates but quiet enough to carry on a conversation.

"What is it, Luna?", Hermione immediately asked. Since the war, the girls's friendship grew stronger, so it was no surprise Hermione could sense there was something troubling the blonde girl.

"Well, congrats on being the first in our year, but that was no surprise really", Luna praised Hermione.

The brown haired girl blushed, "Thank you, Luna, and congrats on being second, though please don't change the subject."

Luna sighed, "Hagrid just told my father about the expedition." Her voice trailed off.

"Luna! I thought you were going to tell him over Christmas break."

"I was. I just got a little preoccupied," Luna bit her lip, another characteristic possibly caused by the Nargles. "I've just been so nervous. I mean, it has been two years but I'm scared that it's still not enough time for my father."

"But Luna, you are nineteen, right? You don't need your father's permission to go," Hermione pointed out.

"I know that. I just, I just wanted him to want me to go, you know? And I don't going around behind my father's back, even if it's something I really want." Hermione knew that she never liked keeping anything from her father, and that it must have nearly killed Luna to keep the trip from him for almost six months.

"Well, explain the trip to him. Tell him how important it is to you. And you know, you could mention it would help with the Quibbler. It doesn't hurt to," Hermione suggested.

"That's brilliant, Hermione! Thank you!", Luna all but cheered. The girls exchanged a hug before going back to their families, with Hermione whispering, "Good luck". Luna met up with her father. Once they get home, Luna would convince him to let her go. She was sure she could convince him and felt confident just thinking of what to say now.

"Father?", Luna called out. She had just gotten home, having spent a great deal of time at the Burrow with her friends. The house was dark, except for a small light that came from her father's sitting room. She walked in to see her father in his usual chair, a beat up tan colored chair with smudged ink stains on the arms of it. There was a smaller chair just across from him, so Luna took it to speak to her father face to face.

"Father, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the trip, and that I accepted it before I could have a chance to talk to you about it. I was planning on telling you over Christmas", Luna began. Her father had a scared look on his winkled face, but he urged her to continue. "You remember that I loved animals right? That every night instead of fairytales, I'd beg you to tell me about a creature that you learned about. You know that I've always wanted to be a magizoologist, daddy. I finally have a chance at it with this trip. It's in South America, mostly to study about the Peruvian Vibertooth. I start in Colombia, make my way to Peru, then Brazil, and it ends in Chile. It's a year long expedition, but I have Christmas break, and I don't leave until September." Luna breathed in. So far, so good. She recited this for her father perfectly, and now it was time to see what he said. "So, what do you think?"

Her father still had a scared look on his face. He turned away from her, shaking his head, "No. I cannot allow it." He got up and started walking out of the room. Luna's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe that he would refuse to let her go.

"Why not?", Luna demanded. She hardly ever raised her voice like that to anyone, especially her father. Her father turned, his face with the sadness expression Luna had ever seen but she stayed firm. "Why would you not allow me to go?"

Her father sighed, "It's been over a year since you were kidnapped. Don't ask me anymore." He turned back around and headed for the door.

Luna stopped him. "It's been two years, daddy. A lot has changed since then, people change. Draco Malfoy personally apologized to me. And above all, I have matured greatly over those two years."

"I'm arguing with you there, my dear", her father responded. He turned to see her face. "You have indeed grown and became a magnificent young woman."

"Then why not let me go?", Luna all but pleaded. "I'm quite old enough to go without your permission, but I didn't want to do that. I want to go, but only if you want me to go too." The last sentence didn't come out the way Luna wanted, but it got the point across straight away. Her father couldn't think of any more reasons for Luna not to go. She won this discussion but followed Hermione's advice anyway. "And, you know, I could always contribute articles for the Quibbler about my findings." Xeno's face looked sharply at his daughter's, impressed. He was touched that she wanted her father to continue the Quibbler.

"In that case, I must insist that I pay for this trip", Xeno finally said.

Luna's eyes grew wide, "Thank you, but I already paid for it." It was true; Luna had used part of her reward money for aiding in defeating Voldemort two years ago.

Her father pondered for a minute before replying, "Well, then I shall pay for the next trip. And whatever else you need for the trip now."

Luna smiled brightly before hugging her father, "Thank you so much!"

Xeno smiled a little, "On one condition." Luna let go of her father and nodded her head. "I'm going to pick you up some books on herbology and magical creatures. I want to study through these so you're better prepared. And lastly, I want you to take a volunteer course that St. Mungo's. They'll be teaching you how deal with cuts and first aid. Understand?" Luna nodded. She was so delighted to know that not only is her father alright with her going to another continent, but he was helping her out on the trip as well.

Luna went upstairs to write to Hermione about her father allowing her to go, and answered one from Padma asking if she will have tea with her on Wednesday afternoon. After she sent off Padma's owl, Kalindi, with her answer, Luna sat back and relaxed on her bed. She was sure that this summer would be the best.

Hey there everyone! It's done! This chapter was originally supposed to be with chapter one, but I thought it would be took long, of course I was wrong. The interesting thing about this chapter is that I could have finished it days ago, but all I could think about was the upcoming film. I wrote in about Padma before I saw the movie and was amazed that it was partly true. :) I hope you all enjoyed my idea of a Hogwarts graduation :)

Please review! Thank you!