**IMPORTANT: It will be a bit longer for me to get the next chapter up, for I have just suffered a loss in my family. I wanted to uphold my promise to get this in this week, because this would have just sat around on my computer, not touched for a while. I'll be writing the next chapter, don't worry. This chapter is probably going to be really sloppy, and for that I'm sorry. I hope you all enjoy.

- - - - - - -

Luna was lost in her thoughts again, absentmindedly doodling on a small piece of parchment. It was a lazy Saturday. Nothing was going on around Hogwarts. Luna, for once, wasn't even stimulated by the library, where she was currently at. The book that she picked out was about griffins, which was one of her favorite animals. It sat opened on the first page, last touched about 40 minutes ago.

"Only six more days." Luna thought happily, her stomach fluttering slightly. It was finally going to happen. She never thought this was going to happen. Of course she knew it was going to happen, but it just seemed to take forever to come to this point. She was thankful she waited for Harry. If it wasn't going to be with him, she knew her next choice would have to be a werewolf. Someone she most likely didn't love at all. She didn't have to worry about that now. She smiled happily to herself.

She gave up on her feeble attempt to occupy her time in the library. She stood up, stretching her short legs. Picking up the book, she walked over to the shelf and placed it back in its proper place. She gracefully walked out of the library, and immediately saw all the bored faces that were roaming the halls. Everyone was feeling this boredom. There was absolutely nothing for anyone to do. That was the one problem that Hogwarts faced. Though it was a grand school, there was nothing else really to do.

She eventually found a very bored looking Ginny on the third floor, relaxing on a bench. Ginny's eyes lit up at the sight of Luna, giving her something to talk about. "Hey hey missy."

"Hey." Luna replied, sitting down next to Ginny. She laid her head against the stone wall. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing at all, like the rest of the school population." Ginny stated with a wave of her arm. "Honestly, there has to be something to do."

"I know, I couldn't even read in the library."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at Luna, laughing slighty. "I think hell has frozen over if you can't find something to do."

"Weird, isn't it?" Luna laughed at herself too. "I just need something to stimulate my mind. Something really interesting."

"You can find Harry." Ginny offered.

"Quidditch practice until late afternoon."

"Oh. So that's were Seamus has been."

They sat in another silence, watching students pass by every now and again. Luna could have fallen asleep, since she was so bored. She fiddled with her fingers, closing her eyes. She hummed nothing in particular.

"I got it!" Ginny shouted, startling Luna slightly. She opened her eyes to see a very wide eyed Ginny practically jumping up and down in her seat.

"What?"

"Hermione is probably sitting in her room. We should go see if she wants to do a sleep over or something."

With that, the girls began making their trek to Hermione's private Head Girl quarters. Luna had never actually been in her quarters, since she shared them with Draco. Hermione usually spent most of her time away from her room for that reason, and also to spend her time with her friends. Luna walked behind Ginny, since Ginny was the only person of the two that knew where to go. They climbed up to the fifth floor and made their way down the long hall until Ginny stopped and knocked on the statue of a knight. It sprang to life, turning it's head towards the two girls.

"Can you tell Hermione that Luna and Ginny are here?" Ginny asked sweetly.

The knight nodded his head and turned his back to them. Luna didn't rightly know what was going on until she saw the knight stick it's head through the wall. Luna watched in awe as his head passed effortlessly though the stone wall. It amazed her how the castle could still surprise her after six years.

All of a sudden, Hermione popped out of the stone wall and smiled at them. "What are you guys doing up here?"

"We're bored and have a plan." Ginny said excitedly. "Is the blonde beast inside?"

"No. He's with his goons." Hermione said flatly.

"How did you do that?" Luna said, staring at the stone wall.

Hermione looked at what Luna was staring at and smiled slightly she grabbed one of the stones on the wall and pulled at it, revealing a stone door that blended completely with the wall. She opened it to reveal the beginnings of the Head Boy and Head Girl common area. "The knight alerts us to who wants to get in, and we can either deny or accept them."

"Wow." Luna airily replied.

Hermione lead them into her quarters, and Luna was surprised at how neutral the colors were. Usually the common rooms of each house held its houses colors, but this room had all colors that weren't represented. The sofas were a deep purple color, and the tables a dark wood. Some things were accented with white and other assortments of colors. For the most part, it looked much like any other common room, except it held a more homey feel. There were two stair cases that Luna figured lead to the other's room.

"So what is this plan to cure this boredom?"

"Well," Ginny began as she sad down on the couch. Luna quickly joined her, and Hermione sat across from her. "We were thinking of having a sleep over tonight!"

"You choose to have the party the night I have to do late patrols of the hall." Hermione said with slight disappointment. "If you guys are still up after midnight, I'll come over."

"That sucks." Ginny said. She popped of her shoes and curled her her feat beneath her. "What are you doing up here all by herself, anyway?"

Hermione shifted her eyes hesitantly before she spoke. "Promise me you won't tell?"

Ginny scooted closer to the edge of the couch, now full attention on Hermione. "This must be good if you're making sure we won't tell."

"We promise." Luna reassured Hermione.

Hermione nodded her head and pulled out a shrunken book out from her pocket. She released it to it's natural size and handed it to Luna and Ginny. Luna tilted it and read the title of the book, letting out a small gasp in the process.

"You're studying to be an animagi?"

"Yes. If I am at all to help with this war, becoming an unregistered animagi is a great decision."

"That's so cool. I want to be one." Ginny had always expressed her want to be an animagi. Luna, too, had those dreams where she became all sorts of different animagi. Luna and Ginny opened the old book and began gingerly skimming the pages. Luna looked at some of the pictures that adorned the book, astonished at the grave detail. One picture in particular showed a man half way through a transformation. From what Luna could see, she deduced that he was becoming some sort of bird. He had the beginnings of black feathers around his eyes and ears. His arms and hands were widened to an extreme width, and his body was curving to fit the shape of a bird. Finally, his legs were drastically shorter in comparison to the rest of his body. Luna stared the picture for a few minutes, then heard Ginny whistle softly at whatever she was looking at. "This is horrible."

Luna looked up at Ginny and then quickly began reading what she was reading:

One must be careful when making the first transformation. One of the worst problems that some wizards and witches face is being stuck in mid transformation. Mid transformation is when the witch or wizard has not completely transformed, having only certain parts of their body transformed. It causes a great mental confusion and stress, since the mind is trying to be reduced to that of the animal, but the human mind is trying to keep sane. The ways to achieve mid transformation are from deteriorating focus, human contact, illness, and interruptions.

One famous case was that of Randulfus Vaughan. Randulfus, a Russian wizard of the 20th century, attempted to change into his given animal, a raven. He began the process (turn to chapter 4 for more descriptive explanation of the process) and was interrupted by his child walking into the room and touching his arm. The process immediately stopped and left him in mid transformation. He attempted to talk to his child and explain to get help, but his mind, at that point, was almost that of a raven. The only sounds he could make were typical raven noises. The picture to the left shows Randulfus' mid transformation only a day after it happened. He was taken to a specialized hospital in Russia and was in intensive care for three weeks. He eventually regained his human physicality, but it took four more months for him to be able to be considered healed...

"That is horrible." Luna muttered, staring at the picture of Randulfus in a new light. She shuttered lightly at the picture, knowing the man must had been under a great deal of confusion. She closed the book and handed it back to Hermione. "It seems too scary to even try it."

"The first two chapters are trying to scare you. They tell you about all that can go wrong, and how serious you must take it. It becomes easier after those chapters, but it's not an easy process." Hermione warned. "It's pretty complicated. The only easy part is performing the spell that tells you what animals are best suited for you."

"You don't get to choose?" Ginny said with a hint of disappointment.

"Well, you ultimately get to make the final decision, but the spell gives you the three options. I did it a few days ago. The results were... interesting."

Hermione had Ginny and Luna sitting on the edge of the couch, eagerly waiting. A few moments passed, with Hermione smirking softly at the two girls barely containing their curiosity. Finally Hermione broke in a small smile and said, "They gave me the options of three types of bears, and I chose the asian black bear."

"A bear?" Ginny said, skeptically looking at Hermione. "I think the spell got that one wrong."

"I don't think so." Luna said, studying Hermione closely. "Bears are always very caring and smart. They know how to get to food wherever it may be hidden. They're pretty strong, and guard their family fiercely."

Hermione shared a private smile with Luna in thanks. Ginny still looked at Hermione with small skepticism, but gave her a kind smile. "I still think there could have been something better for you, but what Luna says is right."

"I thought that too," Hermione began. "But it just feels right. I can't really explain it. I probably will be able to know once I actually transform."

"Does the spell bind you to continue the process?" Luna asked.

"I don't think so. The spell is available in all sorts of books that help you find out stuff about yourself. If the spell actually made you keep up with the process, I wouldn't think it would be printed everywhere."

"I want to try it." Ginny finally said. "What do you have to do?"

Hermione took the book from them and flipped through it quickly, once she found the page, she turned it and pointed to a small paragraph. "Read that out loud and hold a quill in your hand then your eyes closed. The magic will begin to write out the options."

"Sounds simple enough." Ginny said as she pulled out a quill and parchment. She studied the page for a second before she began reading. "Life now must reach thy breath of bliss supreme. Make thee the one and only Guide. Thou art the bridge between my two lives. O let my longings in thee abide."

Ginny closed her eyes immediately. At first, Ginny's hands did nothing, but it slowly started to move. It scribbled on three lines, but Luna couldn't read from where she was sitting. Once it was done, Ginny opened her eyes and brought the paper to her face.

"They're all feline." Ginny said with a slight shock. "A spotted linx, a bengal cat, and a ragdoll cat."

"Wow." Luna said, looking at Ginny in a new light. "It makes sense, since you're so independent."

"I guess so." Ginny said with a sly smile. "Your turn."

Luna looked at the quill and paper hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to hear what it would be. "It's probably just going to be all grey wolves."

"You never know until you try." Hermione said with a reassuring smile. "Who knows, you may be a crab or something."

"Oh Merlin I hope not. How terrible would that be? All I would be able to do was pinch Death Eater's toes."

"That could save a life!" Ginny joked.

"And then I'd be crushed easily." Luna picked up the quill and paused for a second. She reassured herself that this wasn't a life changing thing, and that she never had to follow through with it. She breathed in slowly, taking her time with the spell. "Life now must reach thy breath of bliss supreme. Make thee the one and only Guide. Thou art the bridge between my two lives. O let my longings in thee abide."

She felt something stir within her, and then felt her hand slowly writing. It was much like the sensation of her wolf taking over her body, except she felt magic flowing in her hand. Her hand finally stopped writing, and she grabbed the paper to see her results:

Island Fox

Timber Wolf/Belgian Shepherd Mix

African Wild Dog

"That's interesting." Luna finally said.

Ginny took the paper out of Luna's hand and scanned it quickly. "I have no idea what these dogs look like. Especially the mix."

Hermione took out her book and began flipping towards the end of the book. She landed on a picture of the Island Fox, and looked at it oddly. She gave it to Luna to study. Luna furrowed her brows at the fox. The picture showed two of them huddled together, with grey hair on their backs, and red hair on its ears and chest. it had a relatively small face with brown eyes and a black nose. The size of the animal itself was small.

"It looks too small." Luna said finally. "I don't think I'd want that."

"Well, let's look at the african wild dog." Hermione said, taking the book once again to find it's picture. She eventually found it and handed it to Luna. Her eyes widened at the odd looking dog. It had blonde and black spots everywhere, its muzzle mainly black and the rest of its head blonde. It had rounded ears that seemed huge on the dog and small black eyes. It was an overall short haired dog, except its tail. It was a skinny long dog. It was probably the size of a normally large dog.

"That one is weird." Ginny replied. "Really weird."

"Yea, it is." Luna agreed. "Do they have a picture of the mix dog?"

"Nope." Hermione said. "They only have pictures of pure breeds in here. I don't know how you're going to figure out what it would look like."

"We all know what a wolf look like, so maybe we can look up a picture of the other dog and try to figure it out." Luna suggested.

"Good idea." Hermione said, quickly finding belgian shepherd, which had long hair and a narrow face. It had black and sandy brown fur, except it was not spotted liked the african wild dog. The colors alternated in different spots. It was a tall dog, with long legs. There was another picture next to it with short hair, which looked more like a muggle police dog. None of them had any idea what the dog would look like.

"If I was going to become an animagi, it would have to choose a bengal cat." Ginny said, looking at her parchment once again. "I think that would be the coolest one. Which one would you pick?"

Luna had to think for awhile on which one would she choose. She was surprised that none of her choices where full wolves. She figured since she was a loup garou puella, that she would get a full wolf animal. Yet there was no pure wolf on the list. The only thing that came to a wolf was the mixed dog. The african wild dog was completely out of the question, since it would stand out easily in England. The island fox could fit in easily with its surroundings, but she wasn't exactly thrilled about it either. She looked again at the names, and noticed the mixed dog was standing out to her more than the others.

'It is just like us.' Her wolf said softly in her mind. 'It has a part of it a wolf, but that isn't what makes up the whole animal. It has two separate species in it, which forces it not to be able to fit in either wolf or dog. However, the dog is highly unique and stands out against a normal wolf or dog. It has faced hardships to become this mix, but it would be the most unique animal."

Luna smiled at the truth of what her wolf was conveying. She was a mixed breed herself. She was neither werewolf, nor normal wizard. She was a rare breed that held both of the attributes of each gene pool. It made her stand out, but also made her tougher than the rest. "The mixed dog." Luna said, causing looks of surprise from Ginny and Hermione.

"You didn't seem too keen on the idea of wolves being a possibility, and you go choose the one with some wolf in it." Hermione said with a small smile.

"Well, I changed my mind." Luna said, adding a bark of a laughter at Ginny's face. "Come on, you can't be that surprised."

"I honestly am, but good for you!" Ginny said excitedly. "I really want to do this now."

"I'd talk with Dumbledore first." Hermione added quickly. "I got permission from him because I didn't want to get in a heap of trouble if something bad happened."

"Oh I will."

And owl tapped on the window lightly. Hermione walked over and let it in, and it flew directly to Luna. Luna looked at it oddly, but took the letter off it's leg. She scratched his neck soothingly, making the owl hoot happily. Luna turned back to the letter and opened it

Guess who just arrived at this fair school? Go to the front doors.

Luna knew that hand-writting, for she had gotten letters with this same writing ever since the end of November. Luna didn't tell Ginny or Hermione, for she immediately started running out of the room. Ginny and Hermione were on her heels, asking what in the world was going on. Luna didn't bother to answer, because she was so excited. She practically jumped down the stairs, and didn't even see Harry pass her by. She eventually heard his voice and he joined Ginny and Hermione chasing her.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry yelled.

"We don't know, she just started running." Ginny said quickly, panting slightly at the rate Luna was running.

Luna rounded on the last steps and finally stopped. She glanced around the room until she saw what she was looking for.

"NATASHA!" Luna screamed in joy. Natasha, wearing some ill fitting robes, smiled slightly at Luna. Dumbledore stood behind her, giving Luna a friendly smile. She wasted no time as she moved quickly to envelope Natasha in a tight hug. Natasha gripped tightly to Luna as they nuzzled each other in greeting. After a few moments, Luna pulled away to face Natasha. "I can't believe you're here."

"Dumbledore told me that you plan on doing the ceremony this coming weekend." Natasha replied, her New York accent filling Luna's ears. "He invited me to come earlier than Jelena so that we can spend some time together."

"Thank you, Dumbledore." Luna said, turning to him and smiling appreciatively.

"You're most welcome, Miss Lovegood." Dumbledore said.

Luna then noticed her friends and boyfriend standing around awkwardly. She introduced her werewolf friend to her friends. Each smiled at Natasha politely, but Luna noted that Natasha blushed slightly when Harry went up to her and introduced himself. Luna remembered how Natasha had a crush on him, and she smirked to herself. Harry began beckoning them all towards dinner, when Luna said, "I don't think we're going to go to dinner." Everyone stop and look at her. "We want to talk some."

Everyone nodded their heads, and Harry came up and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I'll bring you guys some food later on, if you like."

"That would be kind." Luna replied, giving him a small hug.

"Natasha, would you like anything?"

"Unless you can find a large quantity of meat, I'll just have some water." Natasha answered.

Harry nodded his head and gave her a small smile before he lead the rest of the group away from them. Luna turned around and began leading Natasha to her room. They walked the short distance to her room in a comfortable silence. Luna opened the door and let Natasha in before her. She saw that her room was enlarged, and that there were now two of everything on opposite walls.

"Wow, this is pretty nice." Natasha said, walking over and sitting at the edge of a bed.

"This is pretty new. Usually it was just one of everything." Luna smiled meekly. She sat in one of the soft chairs, her legs crisscrossed in front of her. "How have you been?"

"Alright." Natasha replied. "I guess you got my last letter, about me not doing the mating ceremony."

Luna smiled sympathetically. "I got it the day before Valentine's day."

Natasha ran a hand through her dark black hair. "Yea. Apparently I disappointed some fellows back at the pack." She laughed for a second in disbelief. "I guess it's hard, getting used to this new face."

"You are very beautiful, Natasha."

"You didn't see me before." Natasha said, as she rummaged through one of her pockets. She pulled out a crumpled photo and handed it to Luna. "That is the last picture of me before, well, before this."

Luna took it from Natasha, and looked down at the picture. Her eyes widened at the difference in the Natasha she always knew, and the Natasha she was looking at in the picture. She was very youthful looking, with wide eyes and small plump lips. She had a button nose, and a short bob hair cut. She had full bangs, and a darker grey eyes. She was much shorter in the picture, probably only as tall as Luna was now. She had very small hips, and a very small chest, making her look even more childish. She was fairly pale, with freckles littered all over her body, especially a line of them under her eyes and on top of her nose. She stood on a road crossing, taking a large step, her arms swinging next to her. The thing that Luna thought was striking was how she looked laughing. Her mouth was wide, her small teeth sparkling, and her head thrown back. She looked truly happy.

Luna looked back up at her, seeing how much she did change from who she was. She was tall and muscular, with very wide hips. Her chest was only slightly bigger, enough to make her not look like a little girl. She had lost the majority of her freckles, though some were still seen on her face. Her mouth had thinned out slightly, but still held a slightly more than normal plumpness. Her eyes weren't as wide, but they were still big on her. They held a more oval shape, and more mysterious. The color had changed to the striking violet blue that Luna thought was so unique to her. Her hair still held held it's color, though it reached to the middle of her back. She was paler than before, making her seem like a porcelain doll. She had lost the button nose, and was now replaced with a slimmer, angular nose.

"At least I gained a chest from it." Natasha joked, giving a half grin.

"Where are you in the picture?" Luna asked, handing it back to her.

"Abby Road." She replied immediately. "I'm a huge Beatles fan. You've heard of them?"

"Some," Luna said. "Harry listens to them a lot, so I've heard some of their songs."

"Well, a really famous picture was taken of them crossing this road in London. I was being a typical American and wanted to recreate the picture."

"You look happy."

"I was. I am now too." Natasha said, sitting down on the bed again. "I guess it's just hard to express it. I was so loud then."

"You sort of remind me of myself." Luna said honestly. "Thought I wasn't so outgoing, you seem like we would have gotten along well."

"Your right. Though I probably would have gushed more over boys and what not then."

"Speaking of boys, I saw that small blush you had when Harry introduced himself."

Natasha smiled slightly, closing her eyes in embarrassment. "I had the biggest crush on him when I was twelve, and he is an attractive man. My wolf was making sure I knew."

Luna felt a sharp pang of jealousy rush through her veins. "Really now?"

"Don't worry, he's all yours." Natasha said, sensing Luna's emotions.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm not used to a werewolf thinking he's cute."

Natasha laughed loudly at that, a small glimmer of her old self shining through. "You are worried of me? Harry has a huge following of girls! You mean to tell me that there aren't girls that have gone after Harry?"

"Well, there are some.."

"See? I'm not going to go after him. Plus, he was completely concentrated on you when we met."

"I guess you're right." Luna replied. "Did you think anyone else was cute in the room?"

"Well I mean, both of the guys were spoken for. The red head isn't my type at all. To gangly."

"I had the biggest crush on him back in the day." Luna replied. She stood up and walked over to her dresser to pull out a sweater. "It was pretty pitiful. I would just stare at him whenever we were in the same room."

"That's pretty sad, dear Luna."

Natasha stood up and gave Luna another hug. Luna wrapped her arms around Natasha and held her for a few moments. "It's good to have you here." Luna said, tightening her grip.

"It's good to be here." Natasha replied. "And I'm happy for you. Harry seems like a good guy."

"He is."

A moment of silence passed between them, before Natasha spoke again. "So have you seen his willie yet?"

Luna busted out in laughter, her body shaking against Natasha. She pulled away from the hug and sat down on her bed. "You know exactly how to kill a touching moment."

"It's what I do best."

Luna had the briefest memory of Constantine, and how they would have similar situations between them. Luna looked back up at Natasha, realizing that she was much better than Constantine would ever be, and that Natasha would never betray her. Luna smiled to herself, relief spreading all around her as she felt the place in her heart that ached for Constantine be slightly filled by Natasha.