Harry groaned, sandwiching his head between the pillow and mattress.

"Wake up!"

"C'mon, get up already. You know she's not going to let me go to breakfast until you're up, and I'm hungry!"

Opening one eye and peeking out of his four-poster, Harry tried to gauge his friends' mood. Ron, already dressed with his and Harry's school bags dangling from one arm, wearing an easy smile; Hermione, not a single thread of her uniform out of place, one hand on her cocked hip with an impatient look on her face.

"You look terrible. Did you toss and turn all night?"

Pushing himself up, he grabbed his glasses and dug out a fresh uniform from his trunk. "Don't think so. I went to bed after I got back to the Tower."

"You sure? Dean said he got up to use the loo in the middle of the night and your bed was empty."

"I got in late, didn't I? It was probably before I got back. Now, unless you're planning to scrub my back, I'll meet you in the common room."

Hermione gasped at his insinuation, while Ron merely chuckled. "You better not rinse and repeat; I wasn't lying about being hungry."

When he made his way down the steps from the boys dorms following his shower, he was surprised to see that Ron and Hermione had been joined by Lavender and Parvati. The four of them all wore smiles, some more strained than others, at his arrival.

"Good morning!" He stiffened momentarily when Lavender's arms went around his neck, her embrace not letting up until he reciprocated. For someone so unaccustomed to physical affection, he was surprised at the different feel of Lavender compared to Hermione or Mrs. Weasley. Not better, or worse; just different. "Are you okay? What's going to happen to you?"

He saw Parvati perk up in anticipation of his answer. No doubt what happened in the First Floor corridor had already made the rounds of Hogwarts' gossip network.

"I have detention every weekend until the end of term, and I lost my spot on the quidditch team," Ron gasped. "And the Headmaster took my wand away until the end of the school year."

There were various exclamations of surprise at his punishment, but the loudest by far was Ron's.

"No quidditch!? They can't do that!"

"Honestly, do you have any sense? Quidditch is the least severe of all of those!"

"Not to us," Ron pointed out, and Harry was forced to agree; he'd happily take detentions all year if it allowed him to stay on the team. If it weren't for being denied his wand, he'd be devastated over losing his spot on the team.

The group of Second Years left Gryffindor Tower and made their way to breakfast. Harry had just finished making his plate when a throat cleared behind him.

"Good morning, Professor."

McGonagall, wearing a frown, nodded at his greeting. "I came to inform you of who you will be serving your detentions with."

"Better not be Snape…" Ron mumbled through a mouthful of food across from him.

"Professor Snape has other duties to attend to. There were, however, two volunteers among the faculty. You will be spending every Saturday night with Professor Trelawney," McGonagall turned her nose up, seeming disappointed at Harry's elated anticipation. "Each Sunday, however, you will report to the Third Floor, and spend three hours with-"

"No! Not him!"

"Professor Lockhart," she finished looking slightly satisfied at his apparent devastation. "That will be all."

October 31, 1992

Luna wasn't sure what to do. She'd returned to Ravenclaw Tower after a refreshing walk on the grounds only to find that several of her things were missing, including her Transfiguration essay due Monday. It was only half-finished, and she needed to find it to complete it before the weekend was over. After an exhaustive search through Ravenclaw Tower, her hunt took her out of the common room and she began wandering the halls. The portraits promised to keep their eyes out if they saw any sign of it laying around, and Luna allowed herself to enjoy a few minutes of interesting conversation with them.

Carefully enunciating "Tempus" and checking the time before tucking her wand back behind her ear, she pondered her options. The Halloween Feast would be starting soon. Perhaps she could have a bite to eat before resuming her search? The nargles had been especially tricky, there was no sign of her homework anywhere! With a frustrated huff, she turned to walk towards the staircase, catching sight of a familiar figure as she did so.

"Hullo!"

"Hello," he replied. Harry didn't sound like he normally did; his voice was much more self-assured and smoother than she'd heard before. "What brings you to the Seventh Floor, my dear?"

"The nargles nabbed my homework, so I'm doing a floor-by-floor search of the castle!" She answered with a bright smile. "Do you want to come along?"

He chuckled, reaching up to tuck a lock of her pale blonde hair behind her ear. "As amusing as that sounds, I'm afraid I already have plans. Good luck, though."

Luna froze, not sure how to react to his unexpected gesture. "Ah-, yes, I mean- all right then." He gave a casual wave, walking past her and descending the staircase, leaving the flummoxed Ravenclaw standing confused in the middle of the deserted corridor.

What had she been doing? Oh, right! The Feast! Luna hurried toward the staircase, but though her pace was much faster than Harry's had been, she didn't catch sight of him on the way to the Great Hall. It wasn't until halfway through her meal that she realized the nargles must have snatched her wand as well, somewhere along the way.

"What's there to discuss? It has to be Malfoy, that no go-good git! You heard what he said in the corridor! He as good as admitted it!"

"Ron, as unpleasant as he is, Malfoy's average at best when it comes to spellcasting. Do you really think he could manage something like what happened to Mrs. Norris?"

"So maybe he had help. Who else would do it?"

Hermione sighed. "We don't really know any of the older years. Surely Malfoy's not the only Slytherin that's prejudiced against muggleborns. I'm just saying, we shouldn't base our suspicions on him because he's the most vocal."

"What do you think, Harry?" Lavender asked. "Did you see what happened?"

He started, blinking as though coming out of a daze. "No, I had my detention until the Feast started, and then I did some studying until we all met up."

"How did it go with Trelawney, anyway?" Ron questioned. "What'd she have you do?"

"It wasn't bad. We talked about my horoscope, and we read tea leaves. She had a little more insight about what this year might hold for me."

Lavender leaned forward, familiar with some of the Divination Professor's pronouncements from their weekly excursions. "Really? About-, about what you told me?"

Harry nodded, wearing a grimace. "Yea." Glancing at Ron and Hermione's questioning looks, he added, "Remember what I told you - the warning I got?"

"Oh."

"Right. You reckon this Heir of Slytherin is the one that batty elf was telling you about?"

"Seems as likely a suspect as anything else."

They all went quiet for a moment, until Ron caught sight of his sister descending the stairs from the girls' dormitories. "Oh, at the Feast last night Wood gave Ginny the seeker spot for the rest of the season, because… you know. I told her you'd take her flying, give her some tips. That okay?"

"Sure. Figure she can use my Nimbus, too. You know the school brooms are pants when it comes to acceleration and maneuverability." Harry tried not to show how much it smarted that he'd be sitting in the stands for the remaining three matches of the season.

Ron smiled kindly in understanding. "That's right generous of you, mate. I know how much that broom means to you, I'll make sure she knows how to maintain it, and I'll even double-check her work myself."

Nodding his thanks, Harry raised his hand to get Ginny's attention, walking over to her before she could sit down in one of the chairs. "Hey, I hear you're going to be filling in for me."

She blushed brightly, her freckles almost disappearing beneath the deep red color of her cheeks. "Um, yea."

"Ron said you wanted me to give you a few pointers. Is now okay? I still have about two hours before detention with Lockhart."

"Sure!" she squeaked, before running back up the steps to change.

Ron chuckled and Hermione rolled her eyes, but Lavender stood up and walked over to where he waited for Ginny. She reached out and lightly touched his elbow, her brown eyes warm with affection. "That's a really nice thing you're doing for her."

Harry shrugged. "I just don't want to let the House down because of- because of what I did." Her smile was beaming, and Harry felt a touch of warmth. 'Probably from standing too close to the fireplace', he thought idly, unable to look away from her for some reason.

"Are you ready?" Ginny asked, rather impatiently in his opinion, from her spot at the foot of the stairs. 'Wait, how long had they been standing there staring at each other?'

"Ah, right, sure. Let me just grab my bag. Bye Ron, Hermione!" Lavender, with one last squeeze, released his arm. "Bye Lavender."

Luna was getting worried. She hadn't been able to find her homework or her wand, and it was nearly dinner time. It would be bad enough getting a Troll on her Transfiguration assignment, but what would she do about her other classes if she didn't have a wand? She'd asked a prefect for help, but all she did was try a Summoning Charm in her dorm room, to no avail.

Walking outside, her posture slumped and eyes downcast, Luna sighed. 'I guess I'll have to ask Professor Flitwick for help', though the thought of admitting she'd lost her wand was humiliating. Her professors had already fussed at her for keeping it behind her ear in the past.

Movement near the quidditch pitch caught her attention, and she watched as Ginevra and Harry walked out together, each of them holding a broom. Luna started in their direction, picking up on the tail end of their conversation.

"-promise I'll take good care of it. I'll polish it every night!"

"I know you will; Ron'd never let you get away with mistreating it!" They both laughed, though Harry's sounded more forced than Ginny's. "I'll put away the school broom. You did good out there, the 'Puffs won't know what hit them!"

"T-thanks, Harry," she replied, a tremendous blush breaking out over her face before she raced away, running right past Luna without a second glance, like… like she wasn't there at all.

"Hello."

"Hi Luna, why the frown?"

Luna weighed whether or not to tell him. 'Would he laugh at her, too?' "I- I've misplaced something else. Something more important."

"'Something else'? What did you lose before?"

"My Transfiguration homework. Remember? Last night in the Seventh Floor corridor?"

Harry looked like a nest of wrackspurts had just taken root in his brain. "I… I don't remember, sorry. It hasn't been a great week for me. What did you lose today?"

"My wand," she tried to say confidently, but despite her best efforts, it came out as barely a whisper.

He smiled, and her heart sank. 'Not him, too!', she thought, but rather than laugh at her, he set the school broom in his hand on the ground and swung his bag around, opening it up and rooting inside for something.

"Is this it?"

Her jaw dropped. There, in his outstretched hand, was ten and a half inches of oak and dragon heartstring. "You found it!" she cried, nearly knocking him to the ground as she collided with him.

Harry delicately placed one arm around her, his response hesitant compared to her furious embrace. "It was in my bag when I got up this morning. I don't know how it could have got there, I'm sorry."

Pulling back a little to look at him, she could tell he was sincere. "It was the nargles, Harry," she informed him, very seriously.

"What are nargles?"

"Mischievous sprites that like to steal things. They're quite a bother, and apparently they've made their way into the castle."

"Well I'm glad that I could get it back to you. I had no idea whose wand it was."

"Me too," she said cradling it with both hands. "It's dragon heartstring, from a Welsh Green, and oak. Ten and a half inches, sturdy, and good for charms work."

"Sounds like a great wand," he replied, looking a little sad.

Luna wasn't sure what she said to upset him, but she was determined to cheer him up, especially after he'd found her wand. "That doesn't look like the broom you used in your last game."

He glanced down at the school broom at their feet. "No, it's one of the school's. I let Ginny take my broom for the rest of the year."

"That's rather generous of you. But won't you need it for quidditch?"

Harry gave her a strange look, and she wondered if she'd said something she shouldn't have. "I was kicked off the team. You didn't hear about what happened last week, in the corridor outside the Great Hall?"

"No." It was true; she'd received nothing but stony glares and silence from her yearmates since she'd cost Ravenclaw 75 points for skipping Potions. "What happened?"

He reached down, scooping up the shoddy broom and hefting it over his shoulder. "I got in trouble. I don't really feel like talking about it."

"Oh."

"I better go put this back and close up the equipment shed. I have detention in a few minutes."

"Okay." She wanted to make him feel better, make him smile again, but Luna didn't know how; not without knowing what was wrong. 'Oh no! Had he spread his wrackspurts to her?' "Harry?"

He paused. "Yea?"

"Thank you. For finding my wand, I mean."

Shooting a crooked grin in her direction, he nodded. "I'll keep my eyes peeled for your essay, too. Maybe the nargles will slip it into my things again." That possibility didn't sound so bad to Luna.

"Thank you."

Luna felt a lightness inside her as she skipped back to the castle, a swell of happiness that continued throughout dinner. Even eating alone wasn't so bad. Luna had a friend, someone who was looking out for her.

Despite staying at the Library almost all the way until curfew, rewriting her essay didn't bother her - much. She floated along back to the dorms, going over her conversations with Harry that weekend. He'd seemed much happier on Halloween than he did earlier today. What was it he said? He'd been in trouble last week?

She answered the eagle door knocker's riddle, but paused on her way to the First Year's dorm, catching sight of her roommates crowded around a table studying together. Luna considered going over to say hello, but ultimately decided against it; no need to push her luck, and it had been a pretty great day already.

Seeing her missing essay sitting on her pillow, though, changed her mind. With a bright smile, she returned to the common room and approached the other four First Year girls. "Hi!"

"What is it, Lovegood?" Angie asked, not lifting her eyes off the parchment in front of her.

"Did one of you find my homework? It was on my bed when I went upstairs."

There were murmurs and shrugs, but no real response. Luna clasped both of her hands behind her back, bobbing back and forth. "Thank you. I spent the whole evening rewriting it, but I think that the original version was a lot better."

An awkward silence fell over her roommates, with Michelle finally looking up in her direction. "What? What do you want?"

Luna took the question in stride. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything about the corridor on the First Floor."

"You mean the destroyed wall down the corridor from the Great Hall? You don't know?" Luna shook her head, and Angie glanced furtively around the room. "Supposedly Potter was using dark magic and tried to bring down the whole castle."

"That doesn't sound like something that Harry would do," Luna replied with a frown.

"Here we go again," a new voice said, "Lovegood's going to tell us all about how, despite supposedly being best friends with the Boy-Who-Lived, she doesn't know a single thing going on in his life!"

Luna turned, seeing Marietta Edgecombe leaning against the back of a couch with her arms crossed. "He is my friend."

"Marietta…" Cho said quietly.

"What? She's an embarrassment to the House! Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart, not crazy as a loon!"

Roger Davies chuckled from his seat near the fire. "Loony Lovegood."

"Better watch out, or her old man might put an article about you in his paper," Eddie Carmichael said, laughing along with his quidditch captain. "Just think, all three of his subscribers would read all about it!"

"That's enough!" Penelope Clearwater, the prefect that had helped her the other day, shouted out, her loud voice cutting through the raucous laughter in the common room. "Settle down, some of us are trying to study!"

The assembled students generally complied, though smiles and giggles were still audible here and there. Luna stood, still as a statue, biting her lip and her breathing hitched.

"What are you still standing there for?" Michelle asked in a snotty tone. "You got your essay back, just go to bed, Loony."

She didn't hesitate, running up the stairs and closing the curtains on her four-poster to cry in private.

November 8, 1992

"Hey! How was detention?"

Harry flopped down onto the sofa next to Lavender. "It was awful! That First Year, Creevey was there with his camera. We spent two hours posing for publicity photos. He says he's going to send them to the Daily Prophet!"

"Aww, poor Harry," she said with a grin, gently patting the side of his head. "Must have been terrible for you."

"He's just lucky I don't have my wand. There's no way I could have held back from cursing him!" Harry whined dramatically. "What did I miss around here?"

"Hermione's off looking up the Chamber of Secrets in the Library, Ron's supervising his little sister's broom maintenance, and Parvati is visiting her sister."

"Oh, okay. I was kind of wondering what you were doing just sitting here by yourself."

"I was waiting for you, silly. I figured you could probably use some company."

Harry glanced at her from the corner of his eye, feeling glad in a strange way. "Really?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, uh, thanks." They sat together on the sofa, Harry staring at the fire, Lavender idly swaying her leg back and forth. He was acutely aware of each time her leg brushed against his, and struggled to come up with something to talk about. "Say, have you noticed Ron's been having a hard time with his classwork the past few weeks?"

She nodded. "Well, yea, of course." Harry turned fully to regard her, his eyebrows raised expectantly. "It's his wand. Just because he sealed it up with Spell-o-tape doesn't mean it's fixed."

"But- how's he going to get through this year without a working wand?"

Lavender looked around, taking stock of which students were lounging in the common room. She leaned towards him, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Well, I heard that Ron hasn't told his parents, and asked his brothers not to, either. He doesn't want them to get angry that he needs a new one. Wands don't come cheap, you know."

"That's not fair! He was defending Hermione!"

Lavender shrugged, moving back to her original position. "He doesn't want to get in trouble with his folks, you know how it-" She abruptly closed her mouth, the color draining from her face. "Sorry."

Harry waved away her mumbled apology, jumping to his feet. "I'm going to see McGonagall. You want to come?"

"Now? But-, but curfew is in ten minutes, we'll never get there and back in time!"

"Yes we will," he grinned. "Just let me run up to my dorm real quick."

Harry ran up the steps, taking them two at a time, and quickly dug his invisibility cloak out of his trunk, stuffing it into a pocket and hurrying back to the common room. "Ready?"

Lavender hesitated. "We'll get in so much trouble…"

"Do you trust me?"

She eyed him suspiciously, then nodded affirmatively. "I do."

Together, they ran through the corridors down to the Fourth Floor, where McGonagall's office was. Several sharp raps on the door later, and their stern Head of House opened the door to admit them.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Brown. I trust there is a good reason for you to be at my door several minutes past curfew?"

"Professor, I want you to let Ron use my wand for the rest of the year."

She blinked. "What?"

"His wand was damaged a few weeks ago, and he's been struggling with his classwork ever since. We can share my wand in class, and he can use it the rest of the time."

"Mr. Potter-"

"It's not like it's doing any good just sitting in the Headmaster's desk!"

"Mr. Potter, your concern for your friend is admirable, but I'm afraid I cannot grant your request. While I'm sure that you came here out of sincere concern, allowing your best friend to have unsupervised custody of your wand, after your earlier actions is not a realistic option."

"But-"

She silenced him with a frosty look. "While I agree that Mr. Weasley's learning is being negatively affected by his damaged wand, loaning him your own is not going to happen."

"What if I bought him a new one?"

Lavender's eyes widened, and even McGonagall's impassive expression shifted slightly at that question. "That is very generous of you, but Molly and Arthur are unlikely to accept such charity. That being said, without Ronald making a formal request, I cannot contact them about his wand without his approval."

"What if... " his mind raced, thinking back to some of the more outlandish boasts that Lockhart had made during his detentions. "What if I set up a, uh, a fund of Galleons for students that need their wands replaced during school?"

His professor's face softened at his earnest request. "Harry, you shouldn't spend your money so frivolously. Your parents left that to provide for your education."

Harry wasn't deterred. "Professor, if it weren't for Ron, my education would have come to an abrupt end last year, below the Third Floor corridor." Now Lavender's wide eyes were accompanied by a jaw dropping in surprise.

McGonagall weighed his expression, finally nodding. "I will speak with the Headmaster. If this is really what you want, you'll likely need to sign some documents in his office later this week." She looked over her shoulder at an ornate, antique clock hanging from the wall. "If that is all, you should return to Gryffindor Tower. I hope, for your sake, you do not run into Mr. Filch on the way." With that last comment, the door to her office closed.

"She didn't give us a note! Even if we avoid Filch, the prefects will catch us for sure!"

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Harry said with a grin. "Or, rather, I've got us covered!"

He pulled the invisibility cloak out of his pocket and with a swirl threw it around his shoulders. Holding it open with one arm, he beckoned her to step inside.

"Wow…" she murmured. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

He laughed softly in reply, and together they made their way back to the dorms with no trouble. And if Lavender pressed a little closer to him than was necessary on the walk, Harry didn't see any reason to mention it. All in all, by the time they got back, Harry would have had difficulty even recalling what had put him in such a bad mood earlier.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't last, when Colin Creevey's petrified body was discovered early the next morning.

A/N: Phew! Two chapters in less than a week!

Some things happened 'off-screen' in this chapter; just in case it wasn't clear, Harry 'was' Tom when he encountered Luna on the Seventh Floor; he took her wand, and used it for the canon event that happened on Halloween in 2nd year. Hope that everyone caught that - way I see it, no one reading this story needs me to re-hash canon events for them ;)

Gosh I really love writing Luna. Story recommendation this chapter is (at the risk of being immodest), my new Harry/Luna oneshot, "Ring-Ring!". It's sappy, fluffy, and short; three things that I am very much NOT known for. I hope you enjoy.

Last thing: I took a COVID test yesterday morning. Haven't been feeling very good, so if for some reason I disappear, that's probably why. Be careful out there!

Stay safe, healthy, and happy! ~Frickles