Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the plot.
It was a beautiful summer day in Ottery St. Catchpole. Pandora was off running errands in Diagon Alley, leaving Xenophilius to watch Luna for the day. They were outside at the moment, Xeno having decided it was far too nice a day to stay cooped up inside the Rook. While her father was busy writing an article for the latest edition of The Quibbler, Luna was spinning in circles until she spotted a butterfly a few feet away. She immediately started chasing it, though unfortunately Xeno was so preoccupied with his article that he didn't notice his daughter wandering farther and farther away from the house.
"Come back, buttewfwy! I wanna be your fwiend!" the little girl called as she continued to chase the flying insect. At one point she almost managed to catch it, but it slipped away at the last second. Eventually Luna grew tired and started to head back home. The only problem was, she couldn't see it anywhere!
"Daddy?" she called. There was no answer. The two-year-old looked around and noticed there was a forest nearby, and even though she was a little worried about being so far away from home, she decided it wouldn't do any harm to explore a little until her daddy showed up. And so Luna set off toward the forest.
Meanwhile, Bill Weasley, who had recently come home from Hogwarts for the summer holidays, was taking a walk in that very same forest with his brothers Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron. Percy had refused to come along, preferring to stay inside reading, and Ginny was taking her afternoon nap.
"Be careful, all of you!" Molly had warned them. "Stick together, and Bill, make sure the younger boys don't get lost."
"Okay, Mum," Bill answered, and they had set off on their trek. A few minutes into the trip, Fred and George's faces cracked into identical devilish smiles as they concocted the perfect plan to scare three-year-old Ron.
"Hey, Ronnie," said Fred. "Do you know what lives in these woods?"
Ron gulped. "What?"
"Lester the Giant Spider," said George. "He's 20 feet tall, he's got dripping fangs and a million hairy legs, and he eats little brothers for lunch!"
"L-little brothers?" gasped Ron.
"Stupid little brothers..." Fred began.
"...like YOU!" both twins chorused in unison before collapsing in fits of laughter. The little boy screamed and ran to hide behind Bill.
"Now really, boys!" said Bill indignantly. "There's no need for that!"
Suddenly there was a rustling sound nearby, and Ron gasped in horror. "It's Lester the Giant Spider!" he cried.
"Ron, there is no giant spider in these woods," Charlie told him.
"Yes there is! It's gonna eat me, just like Freddie and Georgie said!" A figure emerged from the trees; this was no giant spider, but a tiny girl with long, dirty-blonde hair and large silvery eyes. "Hewwo!" she said brightly.
"Hi!" said Bill. "Where did you come from? And where are your parents?"
"Hang on..." said Charlie slowly, "isn't this the Lovegood girl? The one who lives over those hills?"
"I think you're right, Charlie." said Bill. He turned to the little girl. "It's Luna, right?" She nodded. "What're you doing out here all alone?"
"Mummy's out s'opping, an' I wost Daddy."
"Ah. Well, why don't you come with us, and we'll get you back home to your daddy," Bill told her.
"WHAT?!" Fred howled.
"You said this was going to be a boys-only trip!" cried George.
"I know, but we can't just leave this girl by herself," Bill told them. "By the way, Luna, I'm Bill Weasley, and this is my brother Charlie, the twins are Fred and George, and that's Ron. Now c'mon, let's go find your daddy."
Back outside the Rook, Xenophilius had finished writing his article and was looking around for his daughter. "Luna!" he called. "It's time for your nap." There was no answer. "Luna? LUNA!" A feeling of horror and dread spread through the man's body as he realized his daughter was simply nowhere to be seen.
"Oh no," Xeno moaned, dropping to his knees, "no, no, no, no, NO!" She couldn't be gone; she just couldn't! Pandora was going to be furious when she found out about this, and Luna was the only child they had! He just HAD to find her!
"LUNA - WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Bill, I think we're walking in circles," Charlie complained. "We've been to this spot three times already."
"We're lost?!" George exclaimed. "But we didn't bring any food with us! If we don't get out of here soon I'm gonna eat Fred!"
"Not if I eat you first!" Fred retorted.
"Okay, how does this sound - instead of one of us eating the other, we both eat Ron?" George suggested.
"That's enough!" shouted Bill. "No one's going to eat anyone! We're going to get out of here. Just stay calm!" He gestured toward his right. "Let's try this way."
They walked for a while, Luna singing under her breath while staring alternatively at the three youngest boys. "I'm hungry," Ron whined.
"Yeah, and this girl won't stop staring at us!" added Fred.
"Boys, I promise you we're gonna get out of here," said Bill. "Now be quiet!" And so the group continued walking.
"I'm hungry!" Ron yelled.
"Ron, please!" Bill said in exasperation. Just then Charlie held up a hand. "Guys! I hear something." They all listened closely until finally they heard a voice somewhere far away calling Luna's name.
"DADDY!" the toddler shrieked, running full speed toward the direction of the voice with the Weasley boys hurrying along in her wake. In her haste, Luna tripped over an exposed tree root and fell forward into the dirt, but she quickly got back up and continued running.
Finally, as the group emerged from the forest, they found Xenophilius standing there; a look of enormous relief came across his face as he spotted his daughter running toward him. "Luna!" he cried, picking the little girl up and hugging her tightly, tears streaming down his face. "Thank Merlin you're safe!" He then put her down and glared at her. "What were you thinking, running off like that? You could have gotten hurt or even killed!"
"I sowwy, Daddy," said Luna. Xeno turned to the boys. "Thank you so much for finding my Luna."
"No problem, Mr. Lovegood," replied Bill. "Anyway, we'd better get back home. Goodbye, Luna!" he called as the boys left.
"Bye-bye!" Luna called back, waving.
"I'm back!" Pandora called as she came out of the fireplace, shopping bags in hand. She found Xeno looking over the article he had written and Luna quietly drawing with her crayons. "Any problems while I was gone?"
"No, dear, everything went perfectly fine," Xeno answered. Pandora then took a closer look at her daughter. "Luna, you're filthy! Mummy's going to have to give you a bath, young lady!"
As Pandora was bathing Luna, the little girl said, "Guess what, Mummy?"
"What, sweetheart?"
"I went to da woods today an' I sawed Biww Weezwy an' his bwovvers. Biww was weal nice an' - " She noticed her mother had a strange look on her face. "Mummy, wass wong? Mummy?"
Back in the sitting room a few minutes later, Xenophilius looked up to see his wife standing at the base of the stairs, a murderous look upon her face. Oh no, he thought. This can't be good.
"So nothing happened while I was gone, you say?" Pandora said in a low voice. She then seized her husband roughly by the ear. "Downstairs, in the kitchen - now. We need to talk."
"Dora, please! I-I can explain!" Xeno protested as Pandora dragged him away.
A/N: What happened next, you ask? Well, let's just say that part of the story is better left untold.