-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling
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Loony for Luna
Chapter Four
Luna's Wrath
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Fred and George sat morosely at the Gryffindor table, both pushing the food around their plate with a most dejected air.
"Got caught did you?" Angelina sat down next to Fred.
"What are you babbling about now?" George's voice was void of any feeling or enthusiasm.
"She means..." Alicia sat on Fred's other side. "That loony Lovegood caught on to what you were up to and turned you the cold shoulder."
"Don't call her that." George said angrily
"Oh come on." Angelina giggled "You've been found out. You don't have to pretend to defend her anymore."
"We were pretending?" Lee gave Angelina a hard look "Since when?"
"You know, Angelina." Fred shifted in his seat to look her in the eyes "A person would almost think you were jealous."
"Jealous?" Angelina howled with laughter "Of Loony..." A murderous look from George stopped her mid-loony "...Luna Lovegood?"
Lee nodded at Fred in encouragement.
"Why would Angelina be jealous of Loo...Luna Lovegood?" Alicia was incredulous.
"Because." Fred continued "You lot have been the center of our attention for six years. Now Luna has come along and you have to share it."
Angelina laughed loudly "Don't you think highly of yourself!"
"Did you lot have something to do with why she won't speak to us?" George looked from Angelina to Alicia, his eyes were more furious than either had ever seen them, even after they were banned by Umbridge two weeks before.
"You know why she won't speak to you." Alicia smirked "She caught you in your little joke."
George slammed his fist on the table, his goblet of juice tipped over and spilled down the white tablecloth.
"It wasn't part of any damn joke!" He stood and stomped from the great hall, Lee following in his wake.
"You've got to be kidding me." Angelina rolled her eyes
"Does he look like he's kidding to you?" Fred pushed his plate away and reached down for his and George's book bag's. "Get it through your heads. We were...are...Luna's friends because we WANT to be."
He stood and turned to leave, then turned back.
"If I find out you had anything to do with this..." He didn't finish his sentence, but turned again and went to find his brother and friend.
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It was a beautiful, clear Sunday and Ginny and Luna walked through the snowy Hogwarts grounds. As had been typical for the past week, Ginny was pestering Luna for answers. Unlike everyone else, except for maybe Ron, Ginny could see how miserable her brothers were by the loss of their friendship with Luna Lovegood.
"But WHY won't you speak with them?" She pressed
"Why does it matter?" Luna countered
Ginny stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"It DOES matter!"
"It doesn't." Luna shook her head stubbornly
"You can say that so easily." Ginny narrowed her eyes angrily "You haven't seen how my brothers mope around the common room."
"I don't believe that." Luna turned on Ginny angrily "I can't believe... you're in on this too? I thought you were my friend."
Luna stomped away from Ginny and around the side of the building.
Luna barely had time to take in her surroundings before a very poorly aimed snowball, spurred on by the gods of bad timing, hit her solidly on the forehead. Seething, Luna looked up to see Lee, Fred and George, George just lowering his throwing arm.
"Oh shit." he muttered to himself as Luna wheeled around on her heel and stormed away in the opposite direction.
"Luna!" He called as he gave chase "wait please!"
"Now you've done it." Ginny said to Fred and Lee as they passed her, following on George's heels.
George meanwhile had finally caught up with Luna and took her elbow.
"Luna...I'm sorry. I didn't..."
"Let go of me please." Her eyes, normally sparkling blue, were cold, hard steely grey. George dropped her arm, recoiling from the anger he saw in her face.
"It's bad enough you tried to trick me." She spat, her voice reminding him of a hissing, angry cat. "Now you want to abuse me physically as well?"
George looked up guiltily, his eyes falling on her forehead where an angry red welt had displaced her normally fair skin.
"It was an accident." Fred came up behind them "We didn't know you were coming, how could we?"
"You should have been more careful." Luna crossed her arms over her chest. "What if I had been a smaller person? You could have hurt someone."
But George was concentrating on her other words. "We never tried to trick you."
"Oh please! Not the innocent act again." She rolled her eyes and turned away to return to the castle. "You know, stupid people generally don't get sorted into Ravenclaw. It's part of the whole 'Wit beyond measure' thing."
Fred jumped into her path "What makes you think we are trying to trick you then?"
Luna rolled her eyes again and walked around him.
"Oh don't worry, you haven't lost your touch." She said over her shoulder. "It was nothing YOU did that clued me in."
"If we didn't of anything..." Lee began "Then why are you mad at us?"
"Who said I'm mad? I'm not mad at you." She was clenching her hands into fists."I'm just ON TO you."
George stepped in front of her and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me." she said through clenched teeth.
"Luna...are you okay?" Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie MacMillan appeared from around a corner. "Are they bothering you?"
"No." she said, angry to see the length Fred and George would go to for a joke. They had convinced Justin and Ernie to get in on it too? That would explain their sudden interest in her...wouldn't it? "Nothing I can't handle thank you."
Shocked by the acerbic tone in her voice, Ernie and Justin slunk back around the corner they had appeared from.
"What are you yelling at them for?" Fred asked, beginning to get a bit angry himself. "They were just trying to help you."
"WHY WON'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Luna raged, her eyes filling. "WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?"
"Luna." Lee said softly, afraid of upsetting her more. "You haven't done anything."
"What makes you think this is all a trick?" George asked as he offered her his handkerchief.
"Don't worry." Despite herself, Luna accepted the handkerchief "Like I said, you didn't slip up."
She turned away from them again, saying over her shoulder "Let's just say that being hidden in a bathroom stall is very helpful when it comes to getting information."
Instead of following her this time they let her go. They looked at one another, completely puzzled.
"She overheard someone?" Lee's eyes were just beginning to turn angry.
"Give you three guesses who." George spat between clenched teeth.
"Don't need 'em." Fred turned and followed the trail of Luna's footsteps in the snow.
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Angelina made the mistake of sidling up to Fred and George that very evening.
"Were having tryout's tomorrow."
"So?" Fred mumbled and kept his attention on his Transfiguration essay.
"Pity you can't be there, since you got yourselves banned."
George looked up. After what she had done, did Angelina actually have to nerve to act all angry and self-righteous with them over their Quidditch ban?
"Go away Angelina." Lee muttered into his own essay.
"You two and Harry put us into a terrible fix you know." She persisted "You know Malfoy was baiting you to do exactly what you did."
They ignored her.
"And you fell right for it. How could you be so gullible? "
George looked up again, his eyes blazed with anger. "It's over and done with, so shut up about it already."
"Do you realize what you've done to our chances of winning the cup again this year? You might as well have handed it to Slytherin."
Fred slammed his book closed."You think we don't know what we've done? You think we're not miserable over what happened? That Harry isn't? What? Do you think rubbing our noses in it is going change anything?"
Angelina had never seen Fred so angry. "We'll I..."
"Had any good conversations about us in the bathroom lately?" George closed his book, rolled up his essay and stuffed it in his bag.
"Next time you decide to talk shit about us, you might want to check and make sure the stalls are empty first."
He shoved his chair back and turned for the dormitory stairwell. Fred scooped up his own work and followed.
Angelina looked at Lee "What's he going on about?"
"Luna was in the bathroom when you were telling everyone our hanging around with Luna was all a joke." Lee began to pick up his own work
"You've ruined everything." He turned and followed Fred and George upstairs.
As Angelina watched them go, the most horrible feeling of guilt fell over her.
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Angelina watched as Luna continued to give Fred, George and Lee the cold shoulder during the final Dumbledore's Army meeting before the holidays.
The guilt was killing her. She had been friends with Fred, George and Lee since they had met on platform 9 ¾ their first year. Angelina had somehow gotten separated from her parents and older brother and she couldn't find them. Fred and George had found her crying and been so kind. They took her to their mother, and together, they had found Angelina's mother and brother.
Since then, they had been inseparable.
'Maybe Fred was right', maybe I am jealous.'
After the meeting broke Fred, George and Lee passed her, all three giving her looks fit to kill.
'They really do hate me now, don't they?' She thought sadly 'I just have to make this right!'
So, she waited outside the doors for Luna Lovegood to emerge.
"Luna." She stopped her with a hand on her elbow. "Can I talk to you?"
"Did Fred and George put you up to this?" Luna looked at her suspiciously
"No, I promise, I'm here on my own." Angelina pointed to a bench "Can we sit?"
Luna nodded and followed her to the bench.
"Luna, I owe you an apology." Angelina began "You overheard me in the bathroom didn't you? When I told Katie and Alicia that Fred and George were playing a joke on you."
Luna nodded "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I'm sorry."
Angelina was aghast. Luna was apologizing to her?
"Oh Merlin's ass, no! Don't you apologize to me!"
"You shouldn't apologize to me either" Luna looked at Angelina with earnest eyes "You were only telling the truth."
"But it wasn't the truth!" Angelina sighed "I was wrong. It wasn't a joke...it was...they really do like you Luna."
Luna looked at her suspiciously "They made you say that."
"No, I promise." Angelina bit her lip "I was jealous of you."
"You?!" Luna very nearly laughed "Jealous of me? Now I know... this is a joke."
Angelina shook her head
"It has to be, why would you be jealous of me? I'm just...Loony Lovegood."
"I wouldn't call yourself that around them, they get really angry when people call you that." Angelina smirked "I should know, I called you it plenty...because I was jealous."
"That can't be." Luna shook her head and looked at her hands "Why would you be jealous of me?"
"Because, since they met you, they don't seem to have time for me anymore." Angelina wiped at a tear "We've been inseparable since day one you know, the five of us. Fred, George, Lee and me and Alicia. We added on Katie the next year and since then, well, you could say we lived in our own little bubble."
"Then along came this cute little upstart" Angelina bumped Luna's shoulder with her own " and she so rudely intruded on our happy little group, and...and Fred and George seemed to like her more than me.
"Suddenly they were spending all their time with her, and getting banned from Quidditch, which was sort of the glue that bonded our little group."
"They didn't want to get banned..." Luna began
"Oh, I know. But...well, I've always been a bit too competitive for my own good and the sanity of those around me. But the important thing, the thing that you need to know, is it's really true what they have been saying. They really do like you Luna, you are their friend."
"I want to believe you." Luna sighed "Everything has just been so strange since they have been around me."
"Strange, what do you mean?"
"People are being nice to me." Luna looked up again "Boys I mean. And I keep getting these letters."
"What kind of letters?"
"Well, some of them, I already know who they are from. Boys aren't very good at keeping secrets you know. But they're all...love letters."
Angelina laughed "You know why that is don't you? Why you're getting more attention than before?"
Luna shook her head.
"Well, Fred and George are very popular, you know that."
Luna nodded, her eyes confused.
"So when boys like Fred and George take an interest in a girl, it makes other boys look at her closer. Obviously, these boys are finally seeing the same thing in you that drew Fred and George to you."
"But what are they seeing?" Luna unconsciously rubbed the bump in her robes that hid her special scrolls, the ones with the burgundy ink and ribbon.
"Well, you're quite cute, and funny. You're very good at defensive magic, and your smart too. I also heard you were with George after they were banned, I over heard him telling Fred and Lee that you made him feel better that day."
Luna pulled her secret scrolls out, the special ones.
"But I've been getting these too. I know they can't be real...but I can't help but wish they were."
Angelina took the scrolls and read them.
"Oh!" she exclaimed "They're so beautiful. But you don't think they're real?"
"How could they be?"
"Luna, I don't think you see yourself very realistically."
Luna shrugged.
"Well, I admit, I can't promise these are real. But Fred and George and Lee...they are for real."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Angelina smiled "it's too late now, but will you talk to them tomorrow morning before we all leave for the holidays? It would make them so happy."
"I will." Luna smiled "Thank you Angelina."
"And me?" Angelina smiled sadly "Do you forgive me?"
Luna put her arms around Angelina and gave her a squeeze.
"Of course I forgive you."
The next morning Luna looked for them, but Fred and George were gone.
Their father had been attacked by Voldemort's snake.
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Chapter Five Preview
Even assured of their fathers survival,
Fred and George mope out the holidays. Desperately trying
to figure out how to make Luna their friend again.
Advice comes from a family friend.
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Luna spends a miserable holiday
despairing over not having been able to talk to
Fred and George before they left, until she receives
a special Christmas gift from
her secret admirer.
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