Still not mine. OpenOffice spell check of the day: Voldemort is a misspelled Democrat.

Time passed, as it generally does, and soon enough it was a date that Hermione remembered quite well, the day that Harry, Ron, and herself had started at Hogwarts. And yet, she had not yet gotten Luna to tell her of any plans in assisting with the Sorcerer's Stone and Voldemort. Luna had avoided visiting the Weasleys since her return to the past, and while Hermione appreciated her reasons for wanting to stay away, helping Ron somehow was the best method for interceding until Luna started Hogwarts herself.

"You," Luna's voice rang out in the otherwise unoccupied kitchen, where she was making a small lunch, "are leaking again, Hermione. Did you know that nargles make certain that their children face at least one predator in their first year, while they look on in secret? I always thought of that as a skillful approach to parenting..."

'And you think that the three of us are nargles, to be taught through survival?' Hermione thought, with a touch of annoyance. 'What was the point of doing this, then, if not to change things, to spare Harry the pain he had to go through?'

"Keeping everyone else I love alive. Even if I stop Him from returning, the Death Eaters will eventually rise up around someone else. If I do everything, you all won't be able to defend yourself, and it all worked out the last time, at least for a couple more years... If I do anything, someone might get killed who wasn't last time, and it might not be someone who I want to have die."

'A couple more years? Then...'

"...If she hadn't been possessed, she wouldn't have been the woman we knew. It hurt, but it made her better, in the end. I'll keep an eye on it, but..."

'That's horrible! You know what that did to her, and you're just going to let it happen? I understand why, but will you really be able to sit there and not stop it, Luna?'

"I have to. If I chance changing that, who knows what worse thing might happen instead?"

Summer changed to Autumn, and to Winter. Now that Ronald was at school, Luna began visiting the Weasleys once more. Seeing Ginny again, and being reminded of how her closest friend – at least prior to Hermione taking up residence in one of the dusty corners of her mind, which was a different sort of close – had been as a child... Well, Luna thought, it made her decision to allow that girl's innocence to be crushed both harder and easier. This Ginny was a flighty, talkative creature, though very nice to Luna as she'd always been.

It was Ginny who had first said something to Luna about her habit of talking to herself. Which was quite necessary for communicating with Hermione, as Luna had begun answering before Hermione had shouted her down in her mind.

Upon contemplation, Luna had to agree that being locked in Saint Mungo's Mental Damage ward would not be a productive way to alter the future, as it would mostly have the effect of leaving Harry with no interview in the Quibbler, and presuming that did not undo him, would leave them one person short at the Ministry. More than that, should no one think of using Thestrals to get there. Probably not the positive effect she was going for with the plan.

Still, calling Hermione an imaginary friend had rather hurt, and the later conversation with Hermione about how she would have to bend the truth in the future did as well.

It was a fine day in early June when Luna received some rather horrifying news while at Ginny's, not quite matching up with what she was expecting. While she knew, thanks to Hermione, that the time had come and gone for three of her friends to have their first, great brush with death, what she heard when she came to visit for the first time after that event was not quite right.

"...They thought he might die, at first, but he pulled through.." Ginny said, still looking worried about it. "It was some sort of puzzle set up by Snape, he said, and he and H.. Harry just guessed at it. Dumbledore found Ron in time, thankfully, but it was much too close."

'What happened to me? Oh, I hope they're friends with me still!' Rang Hermione's thoughts through Luna's head, but Luna ignored them for the moment, trying to work out how she changed things.

"So.. Ronald and Harry Potter went through some obstacle course by themselves..?" Luna asked Ginny, sipping at her tea.

"Oh, them and another friend, but their other friend was injured before that. Not as badly, she was out of the hospital wing before I got to visit Ron, but she got beat up by a statue or something. Of course, Harry was the real hero! But Ron did a good thing, too, I'll have to be nice to him for a while, once he finishes recovering. Mum says he might be weak from the poison for a while."

Luna shut her eyes, and said to herself – and her 'imaginary' friend - "I can't think of what I did... But I need to."

Ginny gave Luna a Look – even without looking, Luna could tell – and said "What did you say?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Ronald will be fine, and this time next year, we'll be the ones at Hogwarts, right?"

"Right!"

But Luna remained troubled about the evident change, and spent the next several weeks trying to remember what she'd done differently that might have altered what happened with the Stone. And eventually, she came to a troubling conclusion: She'd done nothing that should have. Random chance, perhaps, had just fallen a different way this time.

That was worrying, but even more worrying was another question. How much random chance had been involved in no one dying to the basilisk? Not that she intended to bring that up to Hermione.

Ginny Weasley was having one of the greatest days of her life, as nervous as she currently was. For she was starting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, at long last. While she'd been unable to find Ron and Harry to join them on the train, she did sit with Fred, George, and Luna.

The trip across the lake had be glorious, taking a boat with Luna and two other girls Ginny didn't know, and Ginny was now standing and talking with Luna as they waited to be sorted. Ginny did hope that Luna would be in Gryffindor with her; while the other girl had gone very, very weird since her mother's death, she was still a friend and Ginny would love to know at least one of her roommates.

Ginny looked over at the Gryffindor table, frowning. Where WERE Harry and Ron, anyway? She couldn't see them, and she was sure they hadn't been on the train... Even if they missed it, Mum and Dad could have Side-Alonged them by now.

"Lovegood, Luna!" rang out through the hall, and her friend's name made her return her attention to the ceremony. Luna strided towards the stool, looking far more determined than usual, and placed the hat on her head...

...And sat there, nothing happening. Ginny continued to watch as Luna sat there, unmoving, a far-away expression on her face, and time passed.

There was a cough, to the side, and people were beginning to fidget. "Maybe she's a squib,"said someone off to her left, getting Ginny to turn rather angrily towards the source of the voice. Before she could confront the rather tactless person, however, she was interrupted by a scream, a scream of rage and pain.

Turning towards that, Ginny was more than a little surprised to see that it was the Sorting Hat. The Headmaster was standing up, concern on his face, and now Ginny was getting quite worried about what precisely was happening with her friend, when the scream ceased, getting the Headmaster to pause.

Luna stood up, evidently unconcerned by what had just happened or the fact that she still had not yet been assigned a house, and plucked the hat off her head, saying "There's no need to be rude about things. Really, if you won't come to the decision, you can hardly blame me for settling the argument for you." And she walked off, heading directly for the Gryffindor table, her badge and scarf changing to the proper colors for such as she did so.

"...She goes where she wants..." wheezed out the hat, tiredly, and there was a small amount of scattered applause at the Gryffindor table as Luna sat down, her wide eyes turning back to the hat. A look of concern flashed across the Headmaster's face, once more, but the sorting proceeded without further odd occurrences. The hat barely touched Ginny's head before it called out Gryffindor.

It had been the best day of Ginny's life, strange as it had been, and she couldn't wait to tell Tom about it.