A Clear Head

Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round 13 for Puddlemere United.

Captain's Task: write about a character that can be considered dominant (tried to make Cho dominant by protecting Luna, I hope it worked…) (use the word Queen somewhere in the fic).

Also written for the November Monthly One-Shot Exchange for Cheeky Slytherin Lass. Thank you, Amber, for being such a great friend!:3 Ily!

(ChoLuna, Friendship, scarf).

Word Count without A/N's: 1,033

"She's ridiculous."

"She's loony."

"Well, that's why we call her Loony, isn't it?"

"The way she goes on and on about Wrinkspurts and the like. Honestly? How on earth does she expect to make friends?"

"Oh, that's easy. She doesn't."

Luna Lovegood knew exactly what people said about her during her earlier years at Hogwarts, and she didn't care in the slightest. She took it in her stride. Their judgement was clouded by the very same creatures they'd ridiculed her about.

Plus, she rather much preferred the animals around the grounds rather than the people; especially the Thestrals. They never judged. With the animals and her fair-weather friend - Ginny Weasley - around, it didn't matter much to the ethereal blonde the rumors people spread about her or the possessions they'd mess with. Though she really wasn't sure if that even was them… she hated making assumptions about people.

Luna didn't mind in the slightest.

Cho Chang, however, though it was rather odd. How this girl - who didn't seem to cause any harm besides believing in certain things - could be bullied this badly, and even worse, how the other girl merely took the attacks everyone gave her.

The way her friends talked about Luna Lovegood was merely horrifying and unacceptable in her mind. She didn't notice how they treated the other girl for pretty much her entire third year, but she did notice it in her fourth year. When she entered the Ravenclaw Common Room with her friends after a stressful day of classes, she noticed a large poster that read:

LOST SHOES & CLOTHES

All her friends started snickering around her, and Cho frowned, as if she'd been left out of some huge joke.

"Guys?" she asked hesitantly, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, you don't know love?" asked Marietta Edgecombe, through bouts of laughter. "Loony thinks she lost her shoes and clothes after we hid them by levitating them onto the ceiling!"

Cho's eyes narrowed in anger. "But why would you hide somebody's shoes and clothes? Mari, that's cruel."

"It's so funny," added Ellie, her other friend. "She thinks the Wrackspurts hid them."

"No, it's not funny," she snapped, remembering the way her eight-year-old younger sister was and still is bullied in primary school. The way they called her 'fat girl' and avoided her at lunch. They way she ran home crying because of things people said to her at school. "And you shouldn't do things like that to her," she added in disgust.

Marietta pursed her lips. "You don't even think it's a little funny?"

"No," said Cho firmly, "I really don't."

Cho decided she'd approach the other girl when she saw her on the grounds, at least just to talk. It'd been coming for a while but the sight of the poster and her friends laughing had been the breaking point for her.

How? Cho believed that it's time the other girl stopped...taking everyone's crap.

Luna was outside on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, and she appeared to be feeding meat to the thin air. And the meat kept disappearing. Cho frowned a little bit at that, but she didn't let it deter her.

She cleared her throat. "Hey," she called.

"Oh, hello," the other girl said, not even looking up at her. "The weather's quite lovely, isn't it?"

"It is," agreed Cho, a bit uncomfortably. "I just wanted to say hello."

"Oh, that's quite nice of you," said Luna, "Not many people seem to do that, I'm afraid."

Cho nodded, before asking her, "So...if you don't mind me asking, what're you doing right now?"

"Feeding," she replied. "The thestrals get hungry easily, you know."

"Thestrals?" asked Cho curiously, raising an eyebrow. "What're thestrals?"

"One can only see a thestral if they've seen someone die," explains Luna.

Cho nods in interest; she would've doubted the theory if it hadn't been for the random disappearance of the meat slices. "I saw your posters in the common room for lost shoes," she said, after a moment of silence.

"Oh, have you found a pair?" asked Luna innocently, looking up at Cho.

"I'm afraid not," said Cho uncomfortably, "But I do think I know someone who does know where your stuff is."

"Really?" asked Luna, "That's great! Who?"

Friends. People I talk to…people I'm ashamed of…

Cho cleared her throat, "you know what, it doesn't matter who knows. It just matters...that I know. Some people levitated them onto the ceiling."

Luna put a hand to her heart, as if in shock. "Oh, I don't think anyone would do such a thing! Are you sure?"

Cho nodded, "I'm afraid so…the thing is, why would you let them?"

Luna shrugged, tugging at her scarf. "I mean, it's not their fault. They can't help what's in their heads. Besides, things always have a way of coming back to you."

"But still...they really should be able to help it, in my opinion," said Cho, still thinking that the other girl wasn't thinking straight in that aspect.

"Oh, that's alright. And thank you for being so nice," added Luna, "It's nice to know someone has a clear head."

"It's no problem," said Cho with a smile. "I'll be getting your stuff down for you, and please let me know if you ever need anything."

Luna smiled. "That's sweet of you, Cho."

It took Cho a total of three hours, but she'd found Luna's stuff hanging over the ceiling of the North Wing where she took Divination.

Seriously? That's a new level of cruel.

She found Luna in the same place she saw her last time, on the ground near the Forbidden Forest. When Luna saw her, she smiled brightly.

"Thank you so much! Where were they?"

"The North Tower," replied Cho crisply. "By the Divination classrooms."

"Oh," nodded Luna, "I didn't expect the Nargles to go that far." She paused before asking, "would you like to maybe hangout some time?"

For a moment, Cho forgot just what that would do to her reputation as the "queen bee" of her friend group. She could only think about the bright look on Luna's face and how she wished that for her little sister.

"I'd love to."

A/N: Thank you for reading, and this wraps up this collection & the season of QL! I loved loved loved working with everyone and meeting new people!

Thank you to Sam (MissingMommy) for betaing my fic! You're amazing, love:3

Um, why...I'm probably going to be back for season 6. Why? Because I'm insane. Go figure. However, depending on when the season starts (if it starts smack dab in the middle of AP exams...) I might not.

Please R&R :)

-Ana