Luna hummed quietly to herself as she watched a crispy auburn leaf floating in the breeze outside the window of Charms class. She was even more distracted than usual today. She pouted slightly as the leaf fell out of her line of sight. Such a pretty leaf, she thought. She turned her attention to the book in front of her, tracing her index finger along the faded golden font that read 'The Standard Book of Spells'. She sighed. Anyone could see that the old charms book had been studied a thousand times, its once bright red cover worn and torn by the hands that held it over the years, revealing the original cover beneath the faded paper.

Her father offered to buy her a new one, but Luna could never replace her mother's old books. They were all she had left of her. Besides, she loved to read the notes she had added into the textbook. Aside from the fact that the evident similarity in her own rounded handwriting gave her some comfort, her input was most helpful. Her mother really had been an incredibly bright witch.

"Miss Lovegood!"

A few students snickered as Luna jumped, knocking her ink to the ground. Professor Flitwick groaned impatiently.

"If you are quite done delaying my class, Miss Lovegood, I would be grateful if you would listen to my instructions, or is that too much to ask of you?"

"Sorry, Professor…" Luna mumbled as turned to clean up her mess.

"You can fix that after I'm finished speaking! As I was saying, you must pair up for this assignment. I want you to research and practice three charms of your choice. I want at least three inches of parchment on each charm on my desk at the beginning of class next week. Now, there are five minutes of class remaining so use that time to find a partner!"

Luna resumed her cleaning. She didn't look for a partner because she knew nobody would want to pair up with her anyway. She didn't mind, of course, she enjoyed being herself and felt sorry for those too self-conscious to stand out and be themselves. Either way, she was quite content in her own company. Focusing on the mess of ink and glass before her once again, Luna fumbled around for her wand to aid her in her clean up.

"Reparo!"

Luna froze. The owner of that familiar voice may as well have cast an Immobulus charm on her. She silently looked on as the shards of glass that lay scattered on the inky ground before her turned into a solid ink bottle once again.

"Scourgify!"

Luna watched on as the ink vanished from sight. Finally, she turned her wide eyes to the source of the spells. Hermione stood just a meter behind her, smiling weakly.

"Sorry about your ink, Luna," she said, "It was left on the ground too long, most of it was dried into the stone anyway."

"That's quite alright, Hermione," replied Luna in her usual musical tone, "Thank you for helping me. I really should be more careful, I'm not usually so clumsy… Perhaps some of your Wrackspurts have taking a liking to my brain. Yes, that makes sense…"

Concentrate, Luna, she thought to herself. She wished she wasn't so easily distracted sometimes. Being the outcast of Ravenclaw had only worsened her already short attention span, as it was better to zone out to the protection of her thoughts when witches or wizards decided to be nasty. She much preferred her dreamland… There you go again, snap out of it. Hermione is a lovely witch, focus on her, she silently argued with herself.

"Luna? Are you okay?"

She glanced up dreamily to find Hermione's hazel eyes filled with concern. Luna stood up, but still wasn't quite eye level with the taller girl. She picked up her bag and quickly stuffed her belongings into it before slinging it on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Hermione, skipping a school year has just made Charms considerably more difficult," she explained as she studied the brunette. Her hair was bushier than usual, and her eyes were dark with fatigue. "Is Hermione okay?"

The older girl rubbed eyes, now aware that she was noticeable tired. She smiled at Luna again, making the blonde feel as though a family of fairies were fluttering around in her stomach. Even when she was exhausted, the witch was still stunning.

"I'm fine, thank you, Luna," she replied, "I just haven't been sleeping very well. I can help you with your Charms if you'd like. We could pair up for Flitwick's project."

"That would be lovely, Hermione, thank you," Luna said, unable to repress a grin, "But I am surprised you don't already have a partner. Surely anyone would stampede to ask the brightest witch in our year to pair up with them?"

Luna smirked as she noticed a shade of pink creeping into Hermione's cheeks. She took great pleasure in flattering people, but particularly the witch stood in front of her.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Have you any other classes to attend today?"

"No, I'm finished for the afternoon."

"Wonderful. Well then, should we get started?"

Luna nodded and followed Hermione to the library. They placed their bags down at Hermione's usual desk of choice before searching for charm books.

"We need to find three charms to study and execute. Let me know if you come across anything you find interesting." Hermione instructed her before plucking a rather dated looking black book from the shelf.

Luna traced her fingers along the spine of each book, observing the different lettering on each title. A particularly battered purple book took her fancy, so she took it from the shelf and sat cross legged on the floor, leaning against the desk that Hermione was already seated at with a stack of five books. She was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't even notice that Luna's book had nothing to do with charms. Why was this book so familiar to her?

Once again, Luna traced the silver lettering on the title cover. She knew the title, of course, but that wasn't what made it so familiar. The cover was different. She had never seen a copy of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them' in this style before. She traced the silver title again, her finger gliding easily with the familiar font. Luna caught her breath as her distracted mind suddenly came to life. She shakily opened the book, the inside of the purple cover tattered ever so slightly, revealing the true cover lying beneath it. Slowly turning her gaze to the first page, her eyes widening as they absorbed the rounded writing so familiar to her own. Luna breathed out the name so weakly that it was scarcely audible.

"Pandora…"

She quickly turned to the next page, her blue eyes welling up as she saw her mother's notes strewn across the textbook. How did it end up in the library? When did she lose it? A surge of emotions pulsed through the blonde as she turned each page, suddenly desperate to learn all of her mother's thoughts and opinions. She hadn't felt like this since the first time she read her Charms book. Perhaps there were more of her books in the castle? Her eyes welled up at the thought of pieces of her mother that could be scattered throughout Hogwarts.

"Luna? You're shaking… Are you alright?"

Luna shook her head, making sure to keep her head turned away from her friend. "I'm okay, Hermione, just reading a book."

She may have avoided eye contact, but Luna's wavering voice gave her away. She jumped as a warm hand gripped her shoulder. She looked up from underneath her veil of dirty blonde hair to see Hermione kneeling in front of her, a look of concern covering her pretty face once again.

"Luna…"

A large tear drop splashed onto a page of the precious book. Luna hugged it tightly as if to will the memory of her mother to hug her back.

"It was my mother's book… She must have left it here by accident when she attended Hogwarts. I have one, her Charms textbook, but to find a new one? I –"

A sudden warmth enveloped her, gripping her firmly until her shaking stopped and her breathing steadied. The sweet scent of raspberries floated around her. Luna inhaled deeply before fully realising that the source of the aroma was in fact the brunette hair that was now tickling her face. This was the second time Hermione had hugged her like that. Luna couldn't even attempt to hug her back; her arms were wrapped around the book, trapped by the pressure of the older girl's body against hers. After a few minutes, the Gryffindor loosened her grip on the blonde and sat back on her haunches, one hand remaining on Luna's shoulder.

"Although it isn't the same, I can empathise with you in ways... For the time that I didn't have my parents, I found myself so desperate to cling onto any fragments of them I had left. I know, of course, that it is vastly different but if you do ever want someone to talk to, I am here, Luna."

Luna dragged her teary eyes away from the book long enough to look up at Hermione through strands of her dampened blonde hair. She wiped her now stinging cheeks and pushed her hair back out of her face.

"Thank you."

There is was again, the look that always confused Luna. Hermione's hazel eyes were brimming with fear. What was she so afraid of?

"I mean it."

The sleeve of Hermione's jumper soothed Luna's raw cheek as it absorbed a single tear that had escaped from the vast seas of her blue eyes. Once again, their eyes locked and there was that same fearful look. Luna couldn't bear it any longer.

"Hermione, why are you so afraid?"

Her question fell on deaf ears. She looked at the Gryffindor, whose gaze was no longer meeting her own. Luna once again felt the soft cuff of Hermione's sleeve against her face, but this time she wasn't crying.

"Hermione?"

The brunette's expression changed as she read her name falling from Luna's lips. The Ravenclaw didn't even have time to react before she was overwhelmed by the scent of raspberries and that warmth of Hermione's soft lips pressed against hers. It was the kind of lingering kiss that gave those involved time to absorb every last detail. One by one, each muscle in Luna's body relaxed until she was aware of nothing else in the world but the comfort of Hermione's actions.

"Merlin's beard! Who is that over there?"

Like that, she was gone. Luna turned around just fast enough to see Hermione bolt through the door. She turned back around to see a group of students from her own house looming over her.

"Loony Lovegood the lesbian… Of course. Who was that?"

Luna calmly stood up, making sure that her mother's book was safely tucked in with the rest of her belongings in her bag. She feigned her usual dreamy expression and smiled pleasantly at the Ravenclaws.

"She's the prettiest witch in the whole castle."

Saying nothing more, Luna skipped out of the library. She held it together long enough to get back to her bed. Eyes welling up with tears, she placed both of her mother's books under her pillow. Her mind was racing. Why had Hermione run off like that? And why did it bother her so much? She sighed as she rolled over in bed, pulling her duvet tighter around her as she did so. A silent tear trickled across her pale cheek. She'd unintentionally let her guard down with Hermione. She closed her eyes and prayed that it wasn't a critical mistake.