"Why isn't she wearing shoes?" Pansy pointed at Ginny's friend. Her stage whisper carried to every part of the Slytherin common room and the girl sitting with Ginny on the floor, her legs crossed in front of her and first year spell books spread out, looked up.
"People steal them," she said placidly. "It's warm today so I didn't worry about it."
Pansy Parkinson pushed her chin forward as she examined the barefoot girl. Her dirty blonde hair framed a face that would be beautiful when she was older but wasn't now because her grey eyes seemed too big. "Ravenclaw?" Pansy asked, indicating the blue tie that hung, undone, around the girl's neck.
"Luna," the girl, for that was her name, said.
"Who steals your shoes?" Daphne Greengrass asked. She could always be pulled into a conversation about shoes or hats.
"My Housemates," Luna said. "Did you know there's a shoe history museum in Canada?"
Daphne blinked at her as a must-see destination was added to her list. Pansy stayed focused on the more immediate oddity. "You can't just wander around without shoes," she said. "People will think you're touched."
"They do," Luna agreed. "They call me Looney."
Ginny nodded. "I've tried to get to her to hex them but she refuses."
Pansy snorted and Theo, happy to be distracted from his own work, said, "I bet we know stuff you firsties don't. You should let us teach you."
Cassius Warrington, one of the much older students who had been lying on the couch with the book he was supposed to be studying draped over his face, perked up at that. "Hex session?" he asked. "We could go to one of the classrooms no one uses anymore." Within a few minutes the devilry of a bad idea had taken over and all the students in Slytherin common room found themselves wandering down the halls to a dusty room filled with broken desks, a bookshelf holding outdated editions of textbooks with broken spines and missing covers, and a long bench. Cassius clearly considered himself somewhat of a skilled hexer and subjected them all to a sonorous lecture on the matter. He probably would have kept going if a bored student hadn't interrupted him with the suggestion they just duel and show the little firsties what real witches and wizards could do.
Ginny and Luna, who had both sat down on the bench, leaned forward to watch. "This is fun," Luna said, as Cassius Warrington knocked two different opponents down. "Almost like having friends."
Pansy, seated on her other side, made another one of her rude noises. "You just pay attention and the next time one of those stupid 'Claws tries to take your stuff, let one of these loose."
"Works better if you can do it silently," Ginny said without thinking. "And you do have friends. We're your friends, right?"
"Silently?" Cassius had heard her idle comment. "Sure, that's better, but no one even tries to learn that until sixth year. Don't get ahead of yourself."
"I can do it," Ginny boasted, narrowing her eyes. "Only for a couple of spells, but I can."
"Show me," he demanded, laughing at her and grinning at the other older students. "Come duel."
"You don't have to do this," Draco hissed. "He's years older than us."
"I'm fine," she said, though some of the hexes she'd see the boy use had been a little scary and she'd already decided she needed to ask Tom about them. She was fine, too. She stood up and bowed and gripped her wand and just twitched it once someone called start and Cassius gasped as the curse slammed into him. Then she yanked his wand - she still needed to verbalize her accio which was embarrassing because it would have been much more dramatic if she hadn't.
The older boy's face spread into a slow smile. "I like you," he said. "You fly?"
"I do," she said.
"Try out for Quidditch next year," he said. "We could use someone tiny and sneaky."
"You still need shoes," Pansy said to Luna as the older Slytherins wandered off, impressed by the firstie but not wanting to admit it. Rumbles of 'that explained why a Weasley was Sorted into Slytherin, she was actually a talented witch and not just some glory-hound trouble maker like the rest of her family' followed the group as they headed off down the corridor and left Ginny and her friends alone in the classroom.
"It's not that cold today," Luna demurred, "And they always come back eventually." She looked down at her toes and wiggled them. "Sometimes not both, though."
"You can't just let people pick on you like that," Draco said as Ginny's arm around the odd girl's shoulders helped him decide what to do. Theo was fishing socks out of a pocket and trying to put them on the girl's feet to keep them warm and if Theo could be noble so could he. He could be impressive. "They can't just take your things. We should all go up to your dorm and demand they return them to you."
"I don't think that would work," Luna said. "But thank you. You're very sweet."
"What are friends for?" Draco asked. He nudged Ginny. "You are coming home with me for Easter, right? My mum is all over me to have you over for a party. And you're coming too, right?" He looked at Luna, whose eyes got wide.
"Are you asking me to a party?" The idea clearly delighted her.
"Don't get too excited," Theo advised from where he knelt at her toes, trying to get her to pay attention long enough to get a second sock on her icy feet. "Narcissa Malfoy is sure to insist you wear shoes."
A Lovegood? Tom asked later. I don't think I know that family.
She's very nice, Ginny wrote. She's so clever and always wears this odd necklace. Like this. She drew the little triangle pattern for Tom and there was a bit of a pause.
It's good to have friends, he wrote at last. I'm glad you have friends because the girls in your year in Slytherin are all awful but this Luna sounds very interesting.
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A/N - Thank you so much to turbulenthandholding, who beta read the original version of this for me. She is a treasure. All newly added typos are on me.