Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. It should be intuitively obvious that I have no rights to Harry Potter or anything associated with it, but on the off chance it is not, the reader should know that I in fact have no such rights.

Chapter 1 - Spin

February 1, 1996.

Harry Potter didn't need to keep wearing the bandages he routinely acquired after Umbridge detentions for as long as he used to anymore, due to the large amount of scar tissue that had built up. In a way, he was glad his most recent detention had him write something other than the usual "I must not tell lies" - there was a chance he would end the year with just an ugly scar on the back of his right hand rather than a legible one.

He flexed his hand open and closed as he sat facing the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, reviewing his Charms notes with Ron. He paid far more attention in Charms this last month than normal, for Luna Lovegood and he had been exchanging small charms with one another during their month-long courtship, and he wanted to make something for her birthday. He already had the perfect gift already – a book on rare magical creatures written by her great-great-great aunt – but he knew she would love a hand-made gift as well. She really liked the warming anklet he made for her out of fire lilies – perhaps something similar would work.

He and Ron had been revising for a while when their best friend Hermione sat down with them. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes – you two studying without me prodding you," she said, the small smile on her face belying her tone.

"Harry wants to stay on top of his new favourite class," Ron said with a smirk.

"Well, there's not exactly much to learn in Defence Against the Dark Arts these days," Harry said, looking at his scarred hand.

"You don't have keep letting her bait you, Harry. She's horrible and evil but she's no fool. If you keep responding to her like that, you're just playing into her hands," Hermione said.

"Well, what else can I do? Let her insult Luna and her dad's paper like that?"

"Harry, how does letting yourself get carved up in her detentions really help Luna?"

Harry thought about that. "It shows that she's not alone. That someone cares."

Hermione smiled at him. "I think your being her boyfriend shows that far better than earning endless detentions does. And I would imagine it's far more pleasant."

He smiled. "Yeah, I guess. The only thing keeping me going through Defence is the hope that the position really is cursed, and that she'll be gone at the end of the year."

She rolled her eyes. "We can't rely on a superstition to get rid of the woman, Harry."

"It's not a superstition!" interrupted Ron. "There hasn't been one Defence professor who stayed more than a year since Mum and Dad were students here. I think it's pretty clear there's some kind of curse on the job."

Hermione said, "That's not evidence, Ron, that's coincidence. And anyway, even if the trend does continue, that doesn't mean she won't get some other position here."

Ron shook his head. "No way. Dumbledore would never allow it."

"He may not have a choice, Ron. Remember, he didn't hire her in the first place. That's assuming he's even still here next year."

"Dumbledore isn't going anywhere."

"We hope."

"So what do we do then?" asked Harry. "We can't just hex her until she leaves. Or do anything stronger. Dumbledore may not like her, but he won't let students turn on a professor like that. We'd all be expelled for sure."

"I have a plan," Hermione said with a smile (a rather vicious one at that, Harry thought). "Not to get rid of her – we're in no position to do that at this point. But if we're ever going to be in that position, we need to get the public to see that you're not making everything up about You-Know-Who being back."

Harry said, "That makes sense. So what's the plan?"

"Can you stick around the Room of Requirement after tomorrow's D.A. meeting?"

"I was going to hang out with Luna, but o.k."

"Good, I've asked her to stay as well."

"What about me?" asked Ron. "Do I get to come?"

"This stage of my plan doesn't really involve you, Ron," said Hermione, but seeing the annoyed expression on his face, added, "but you're welcome to stick around."

"Great," said the redheaded boy. "Just for your plan, though. I don't need to watch loverboy here snog his girl."

That earned him a swat with Harry's Charms notes, which led to a few minutes of the two Gryffindor boys playfully smacking each other with their notes, to the general amusement of most of the common room. Hermione shook her head at the spectacle, and began revising her Arithmancy lessons for the day.

February 2, 1996.

It had been a good meeting that day, Harry thought. Today's meeting of Dumbledore's Army focused on Shield Charms and the dodging of spells. Harry was dismayed at how few D.A. members had thought of simple dodging as a way to protect themselves. After being stung by some powerful Stinging Hexes, most learned that getting out of the way was just as good a way of avoiding getting hit as a Shield Charm, if one could manage it. Real life was not a formal duel, and they needed to learn that. He was unsurprised to learn that most of the best dodgers were Quidditch players, as well as Dean Thomas, who played football during the summer months, and Justin Finch-Fletchley, who played rugby. Harry himself had years of trying to dodge his cousin Dudley's gang to aid his Quidditch reflexes.

Harry had sparred with Luna that day, and while she was not particularly adept at dodging his hexes at first, she quickly improved. Her Shield Charms were generally excellent, and her Stinging Hexes were powerful and quick, being hard to dodge, and nearly bursting through his shields on two attempts.

The look of pride on her face when she finally stung him was quite endearing, while at the same time being scary enough for him to never want to make her mad.

His other friends also did well. Neville was getting far more effective every meeting, as Cho Chang learned today to her detriment. Hermione was excellent as always, although George Weasley held his own against her. Ginny Weasley once again proved her power with hexes, and Harry hoped for her sake that her boyfriend Michael Corner didn't hold being stung by her multiple times.

Lavender Brown was Ron's duelling partner, and when she went easy on him at the beginning, Harry went over and encouraged her to think of him as a vicious opponent rather than as friendly Ron Weasley. She was more effective after that, and she had a productive duelling session with the youngest Weasley boy, although she did apologize to him afterwards for some of the hexes getting through. Ron's complexion got redder at this, although whether it was for someone who had as weak a duelling reputation as Lavender stinging him, or due to the ongoing attention of his pretty dark blond housemate, Harry was unable to say.

He went and wrapped his arm around Luna's waist, earning a quick kiss from the blonde girl, as they waited for everyone else, save Ron and Hermione, to exit the room.

"Hello Hermione. Hello Ronald – you're awfully red," she said conversationally.

"Er, I may have overexerted myself today. That Lavender is tougher than she seems," he said, with a hint of admiration in his voice.

Luna nodded. "Yes, I believe that. She seems so cheerful and bubbly, you wouldn't think she could hurt anyone. I get underestimated myself all the time, you know. People think I'm odd." She stage whispered last comment this as she leaned in closer to Ron, oblivious to the discomfort her bluntness was giving him. "Makes it easier to get that first hex in, though. Against most people that is." She gave Harry a smile at that.

"So," Ron said to Hermione, "Your plan?"

The bushy-haired brunette nodded to her friend. "Right. I spoke about this to Luna yesterday, but she wanted you here, Harry, before she agreed to anything." Harry raised an eyebrow at Luna, who smiled vaguely at him. Hermione continued, "As long as the Daily Prophet keeps spewing its lies, no one is going to believe Harry and Dumbledore, and they've made it clear they're not giving up this story. So we need to look at alternative media which could get our message out there. Put our own spin on things."

"Spin?" Ron asked.

"Our own slant on the situation," Hermione said.

"But we don't have a slant. We have the truth."

"Exactly, but no one is putting the true spin on the true facts. And that's where Luna comes in."

"The Quibbler," Harry said.

Hermione smiled. "Exactly. The Quibbler supports you to begin with, and Luna has some pull with the publisher, I imagine," she said wryly.

"But they've been publishing stories supporting me since the summer," Harry pointed out.

"I've been looking over the last few issues, thanks to Luna," (the blonde smiled at Hermione at this point) "and those were all editorials or opinion columns. I was thinking we could try and pitch Luna's father a feature interview. With you, Harry."

"But I told Hermione I wasn't going to talk to Daddy until we got your approval," Luna said.

Harry gently squeezed his girlfriend's waist at that, eliciting a small giggle from her. "Thank you. Do you think he'll agree?"

"I think so," she said cheerfully. "It might not be published for a while – the March issue that's coming out in a few weeks has the features on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and the Lizard People that I was telling you about," (Ron mouthed "Lizard People?" to Hermione, who shook her head, as if to say, "Don't ask.") "but there's nothing as important scheduled for April, as far as I know. Maybe he'll print it then."

"I don't think we'd want to wait two months," Ron said.

"A month and a half," Hermione corrected automatically. "Magazines print issues in the month before they're dated. Usually, at least. I don't know if The Quibbler does."

"It does," Luna said. "I think I could convince Daddy to print something like that. It wouldn't be that hard. Stories about Harry are always good copy."

Harry groaned.

"I know you hate all that 'Boy-Who-Lived' stuff, Harry, but it's true. We may as well take advantage of it," Hermione said.

"I guess."

"Well, even so, would it really work? I mean, no offence Luna, but a lot of people think your Dad's magazine is something of a joke," Ron said.

"Now hang on..." Harry began, only to be interrupted by his friend.

"I'm serious, Harry. If you want people to take you seriously, we can't have an interview where you're asked nothing but questions about Crumple-Horned Snorgles."

"Snorkacks," Luna interjected cheerfully.

"Er, right. Sorry. But I'm serious about this. We don't want people to think this is just another weird Quibbler story."

Luna's voice rose slightly. "Daddy's stories are not 'weird'. Do you only believe what the Prophet says?"

Ron's voice began to rise as well. "You know I don't, Luna. But we're only going to get one shot at this. You know Umbridge is not going to let Harry get away with speaking to the papers a second time. Do we really want to waste our attack on a story people might not believe?"

"They might not believe it anyway," Harry said quickly, before Ron and Luna's conversation got heated. "I'm now the 'Boy-Who-Lied', according to the Prophet."

"But they'll read it just the same," Hermione said. "And then they'll see how Harry's telling the truth, because V-V-Voldemort being back explains everything that's been going on, unlike the tripe the Ministry is trying to feed people."

"Okay. So if Luna's Dad agrees to print some huge interview with me, who do we get to do it?"

"Rita Skeeter owes me," Hermione said. "She'd do it."

"That troll? After everything she said about you last year? She's a total liar," Ron said.

"But she's well known, and people believe her," Hermione pointed out.

No one said anything for a few moments, until Luna spoke up. "I think Ron's right. She's not very credible. I don't think Daddy would want her bringing down the reputation of The Quibbler."

"Who do you suggest then?" Hermione said defensively.

"Daddy, of course."

"What?"

Getting that annoyed tone in her voice she seemed to reserve for Hermione, Luna said, "I'll have you know Dad is a very skilled interviewer, thank-you-very-much. He's been a journalist for nearly thirty years, and he's done hundreds of interviews over the years, for The Quibbler, the Owl-Scryer, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror, and he'd be perfect to interview Harry."

Hermione looked surprised. "Wait, the Express and the Mirror? The Muggle papers?"

Luna nodded. "After graduation, he worked as a Muggle journalist for a few years. They had him interviewing members of the Muggle Wizengamot -"

"'Parliament'," Hermione interrupted automatically.

"- for a while. He quite enjoyed it. He said they were far more interesting than members of our Wizengamot, who won't give him the time of day, usually."

Hermione considered this. "Huh. I didn't know that about your Dad. You think he'd want to do the interview?"

"Oh yes," Luna said happily. "He's wanted to talk to Harry since Christmas. I'm sure he'd jump at the opportunity to interview Harry, especially now that we're together."

Ron laughed uproariously at that. "Oh, shut up," Harry said to his friend, not unkindly. "I'd really prefer to be interviewed by Luna's dad than Rita Skeeter."

"So when do I ask Daddy to do this?"

"How about next Hogsmeade weekend. We'll meet at the Three Broomsticks," Hermione suggested.

"No, too public. How about the Hog's Head?" Harry suggested.

Hermione said, "Remember how well that worked last time? We'll get a private room in the back of the Three Broomsticks for the interview."

Harry nodded. "Okay, that works. So long as it's private."

Smirking, Ron said, "You just don't want Luna's Dad intimidating you in front of other students."

"Oh, I don't think Daddy would intimidate Harry, Ronald. That's not how you conduct an interview," Luna said airily.

Ron grinned wider, and said, "That's not quite what I meant, Luna. Anyway, should you ask him? Don't you think Umbridge is reviewing your owl post now that you two are together?" Ron asked. "Maybe I could message him. Or Ginny could."

"Ginny would work," Hermione agreed. "Or I could. He got that letter we wrote last week."

"I'll send it to him. Daddy and I have our ways of communicating surreptitiously. If we don't hear back from him in a week, we'll assume my owl's been intercepted. I think Hermione should send the follow-up letter in that case, Ron – she's already owled my father once. It wouldn't seem as odd as you owling him," Luna said.

"Sounds like we have a plan," Ron said happily. "Let's get down to dinner before all the steak-and-kidney pie is gone, Hermione."

Hermione shook her head and smiled. "Don't stay up here too late, you two," she said to Harry and Luna, following Ron out of the room.

After his friends were gone, Harry leaned in for a kiss from Luna. When then finished, Harry concentrated on a comfy couch. Once the Room provided one, they cuddled up in it. Sighing contentedly, she asked him how his day was.

"All right, I guess. Divination with Firenze is completely different from Trelawney's class."

Luna nodded. "I know. It's interesting how he teaches the centaur principles of divination by astronomy. I think he should get together with Professor Sinistra to teach a joint class at some point. I do miss Professor Trelawney sometimes, though. She wasn't very good, but her classes were entertaining."

Harry snorted. "She wasn't predicting your death on a yearly basis."

"No, but thankfully she's never really predicted anything successfully to begin with. I wouldn't want to worry about losing you so soon, you know," she said quietly.

Harry kissed her forehead and said, "Lavender Brown swears Trelawney predicted the death of her pet bunny in third year."

Luna laughed, and said, "I stand corrected."

"I also had Umbridge today."

"Oh yes, I forgot that. You haven't mentioned detention yet. Did it go all right?"

"Fortunately she just had us copy more of the textbook today. I swear, it's the most useless class ever. She doesn't even bother to quiz us."

Luna laughed. "Do you want her to?"

"At least she'd be pretending to teach," he said, exasperated. "I swear, my whole class is going to fail their O.W.L.s."

"Not those in the D.A. Of course, they have a real teacher." She looked at him admiringly as he said that.

Blushing at the complement, he asked, "Do you really think your Dad would want to interview me?"

She looked at him unblinkingly. "Harry, you're the only boy I've ever mentioned to him. I'm going to disguise our interview proposal in a letter telling him all about my new boyfriend. And he's going to see you wearing the charm I made you as a necklace. I think the only thing that would stop him from interviewing you would be if he heard about Cornelius Fudge breeding Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to hunt down goblins."

Harry smiled. "Do they do that?"

"Oh no, Harry," she said patiently. "Snorkacks are gentle and peaceful creatures. Unless you try and uncrumple their horns. But I doubt Fudge knows that."

"Unless the Lizard People told him."

She fixed her gaze upon him again. "Now you're just being silly." Before he could defend himself, she added, "I don't think there are any Snorkacks where they come from. They're quite rare, you know."

He laughed at that, and she smiled one of her slight smiles at him. "We should get down to the Great Hall," he said.

She cuddled into him more closely. "Five more minutes, Harry. I'm so comfortable."

He wasn't going to argue with that logic.

February 4, 1996

Harry had managed to convince Hermione that after a full weekend of studying he deserved the late afternoon off, if only to clear his mind from from the mind-numbing History of Magic revision of that morning. Honestly, in a world with Merlin, Morgan le Fay, Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, and Gellert Grindelwald, why he had to study and endless series of indecisive goblin rebellions was beyond him. He had learned more history from Arminius Esterhazy's Memoirs of the Late War Against Grindelwald, the book he had bought the weekend before, than Professor Binns had managed to teach him in four-and-half years. Unlike the disengaged ghost he had as a teacher, Esterhazy made history come alive.

Harry had rendezvoused with Luna outside the Transfiguration classroom, and spent the better part of two hours just wandering the halls with her holding her hand and chatting with the blond Ravenclaw. They were drawing fewer looks than they had just a week ago – it seemed the Hogwarts population had accepted that they were together, and were waiting for the next bit of juicy gossip to occur.

They still got dirty looks from some Slytherins and some Ravenclaws, but no one said anything to them today. Luna's shy roommate, Morgana Dempster even gave them a wide smile and a friendly wave. Even if the girl didn't have the courage to publicly show she actually liked Luna for fear of her other roommates' reaction, according to Luna she was less reticent to be friendly to her in private than before. That was a start, at least – Harry fervently hoped that Luna would be able to make some true friends in her house, the way he had in Gryffindor.

They made their way to the Owlery. Luna had her letter to her father, telling him about the first month of school, and all about her new boyfriend. Being the boyfriend in question, Harry was curious about what exactly she said, but when he asked, Luna merely smiled enigmatically and said she told her father the truth about Harry, and it was all good.

Naturally, he worried regardless.

More interestingly, Luna confirmed to Harry that she had hidden their interview request to Mr. Lovegood in the letter somehow. She didn't give him the details ("family secret," she said), but assured him that her father would be able to read it, and more importantly, that anyone intercepting it wouldn't even know the hidden message existed.

Luna herself was surprised that Harry was sending Remus Lupin a letter from the school. Harry had sent a letter by owl post to their former Defence professor from Hogsmeade on their date last weekend, precisely because Harry suspected that Umbridge was monitoring his owl post. When Luna asked why Harry was sending another letter, he smiled and said he got the idea from Memoirs of the Late War.

Arminius Esterhazy spent some time in the Intelligence Division of the Joint North American Magical Expeditionary Force during the Grindelwald War, and came to the conclusion that if the enemy saw no messages were being sent when they expected them to be, they would search for hidden communications. However, if open communications were sent anyway, with the expectations the enemy might intercept them, there was a far greater chance that an enemy would not look for any hidden messages.

Harry's theory was that by sending letters via Hedwig to Remus Lupin, whom Umbridge must have known was a friend of his parents, it would make her less likely to look for other means of communication, and possibly keep her from finding his use of the Hogsmeade Owl Post. So Harry wrote a short letter for Hedwig to take to Remus, telling him about his new girlfriend and how happy he was. Luna was quite impressed by this subterfuge, and Harry was glad the Esterhazy book was already provided him one interesting stratagem.

Harry introduced Hedwig to Luna, who petted the Snowy Owl and fed her some owl treats. Luna seemed quite taken with the bird, and Harry was glad to see that Hedwig liked Luna and responded affectionately to the young blonde. After a short while talking to his owl, he gave her the letter to Remus, and Luna gave her the letter to her father. They gave her some owl treats for the road, and let her fly.

They sat on the stairs from the Owlery for a few minutes, holding hands, just enjoying each other's company.

"Oh, I forgot to mention before, I'm going to be spending the Easter break at the Burrow," Harry said.

Luna's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! Do you think Mrs. Weasley would let me come visit you? Or maybe you could come visit my house! I can make you my fresh-water plimpie soup – Daddy says it's delicious, but he has to say that – and show you all around like I told you. Oooh! And maybe we could get together with Ginny and Ron and all go into the village for ice cream or tea! It's a Muggle village – I'm sure you've been there with Ron - but it can be lots of fun."

Harry's smile grew increasingly wide as he listened to Luna. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and he found himself really looking forward to the Easter break. "I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will let you come visit. I know I want to come to your house if your father will let me. I've actually never been into Ottery St. Catchpole, so that sounds like a fun idea."

"Will Hermione be there?"

He shook his head. "She and her family are going to Spain that week."

"I've never been to Spain. It's on our list for an expedition at some point, though." She then whispered to him, "Daddy has a contact who says she saw the nesting fields of the Hungarian Monopodal Truffners there. Don't tell anyone." She looked excited as she said this.

"I won't," he said sincerely. "Wouldn't they nest in Hungary, though?"

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head. "They're very devious, you know. That's why their nesting fields have never been found."

He smiled at her. "Well, I hope you get to go. I've never been anywhere, other than London, Surrey, the Burrow, and here. Oh, and a really mad trip to the sea just before I turned eleven when my uncle was trying to avoid my Hogwarts letters."

She laughed. "Obviously that didn't work."

"No, they just kept coming, and eventually Hagrid showed up."

"Well, I've been in England and Scotland, obviously, and Ireland to visit some cousins, France when Mummy wanted me to go to Beauxbatons, Belgium – they have the most lovely chocolate there, you know – and we all went to the States when I was three, but I don't remember that at all." Her voice took on a sing-song quality as she listed the places she had been. "We're hoping to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer. Looking for Snorkacks, you see."

"I bet that will be fun."

"Oh, I'm sure it will. Daddy wants to 'rough it'. Sleep in a tent, use as little magic as possible, cook over a fire, that kind of thing. He thinks using as little magic as possible will help flush out the Snorkacks."

"Do you think that will work?"

"I hope so. I've never been camping without magic before, so it should be fun even if we don't find them. I hope we look somewhere near a river or a lake – I like going swimming."

"I've never been camping at all," he said. "Or swimming. It sounds like a lot of fun for a vacation. You'll have to tell me all about it when you go."

Harry noticed that Luna got a far away look in her eyes for a moment, and then she looked shyly down at her lap. "Well, maybe..."

"Hem, hem," interrupted a voice that could only be from one person.

Harry and Luna stood on the stairs, not letting go of each other's hands, in front of a short, ugly woman with an unpleasant expression who resembled nothing so much an anthropomorphic toad in hot pink fuzzy robes.

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," said Luna dreamily.

"Miss Lovegood, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice, looking down pointedly at their interlaced fingers. "What are you doing?"

"We were sending a few letters by my owl, Professor," Harry said with a hint of defiance.

"And to whom were you sending letters?"

"I don't think that's..."

"My father," interrupted Luna, with a quick look at Harry.

"And you Mr. Potter?"

"I sent a letter to Professor Lupin."

Umbridge scowled. "Remus Lupin is no longer a professor at this or any institution, and is not qualified to teach anything whatsoever."

"Professor Lupin was the best Defence professor we ever had!" said Harry.

Luna squeezed his hand in support.

"And why were you writing a letter to a werewolf, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge pressed.

"It's private."

She scoffed. "I am the High Inquisitor of this school. There is nothing private from me, Mr. Potter."

He sighed. "Professor Lupin is a family friend, Professor Umbridge, and I wanted to tell him all about my new girlfriend." He squeezed Luna's hand lightly, and looked at her tenderly.

Umbridge scowled again. Harry was certain she caught the difference between the respectful inflection he gave Remus' title, and the far less reverent one he gave hers.

Luna added cheerfully, "That's why I wrote Daddy as well."

"And why were you sitting here on the stairs?"

"Oh, we were just chatting, Professor, about Hungarian Monopodal Truffners and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Luna said in her airy voice.

"Hmph. Well, you shouldn't be loitering on the staircases. Five points from Gryffindor and five points from Ravenclaw. Now run along to the Great Hall. Supper will be served momentarily."

"Yes, Professor," they said resignedly in unison, and began the walk down the staircase.

"Oh, and Mr. Potter?" said Umbridge in her falsely friendly voice.

They turned around and looked at the High Inquisitor.

"Someone with your reputation and record with the courts should be very careful about to whom he writes. Sending messages to a Dark creature such as a werewolf. I wonder what the public would think? Oh well, I'm off to inspect the Owlery. Security, you see; something sorely lacking, apparently, with all of the incidents in the last few years. Dead professors, dead students, petrifications... what kind of institution is Dumbledore running here?"

Harry began to seethe, and Umbridge said, "Off you go, you two. Or I shall have to give you yet another detention." She smirked as she went up to the Owlery, leaving a frustrated Gryffindor and an apprehensive Ravenclaw behind her.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Luna wrapped Harry in a hug, trying to comfort him and make him forget their encounter with the High Inquisitor.

She was only partially successful.

[A/N: Special thanks to MandibleBones for beta-reading this and helping make it a more readable and less grammatically infelicitous chapter.]