House: Gryffindor

Position: Muggle Studies

Drabble/Standard: Drabble

Prompt: (Last line) The train started, taking me away from this town and all its people.

Word Count.: 965

AU: Muggle AU. The Lovegoods are featured differently from their canon selves.

Disclaimer: I don't know when the Hogwarts Express arrives, so please believe it is canon for this story. Also, mentions of mental breakdown and not being right in the head.

"No. You can't do this. Please, no!" my mother cried hysterically.

"Mum. Really, it will be fine. I am not going away permanently, it is just—"

Before I could complete, my mother cried out, "For seven years! You are going away for seven years! Why?! Don't you like it here?!"

This was part of the reason I was so anxious to move to some other town. Now that I had been admitted to a prestigious school, a boarding school at that… Well, I wasn't going to let the chance slide away. I wanted to go. I wanted to be admired. I wanted to learn. Most importantly, I wanted to know what it was like being a kid.

"Luna, please no. I beg of you. Your father—" she choked up.

Shortly after I was born, my parents' marriage fell apart. My mother, Pandora, was a famous actress but her father didn't want her to continue acting. It was a bitter tug-of-war which went on for two years. Finally, Xenophilius, my father, was not able to stand it and filed a divorce. It was devastating for her. Something within my mother snapped that day. She behaved like a child. She was kicked out of the theatre. By the time I was five, I had to take care of her mother. We had become very poor since her mother spent money on anything and everything. Over the years, I had-mostly-got my mother relatively sane again.

The only good thing which happened in my life were the Weasleys. The Weasleys were as poor as we were but that didn't stop them from being the most happy-go-lucky family I ever had the pleasure of meeting. It was them who told me of the prestigious school where I could go once I was eleven, despite the fact that I had to be from one of the poorest families in Ottery St. Catchpole. Only the most brilliant students had the opportunity to go to Hogwarts—the legendary school in the Scottish Highlands. Almost all the brilliant minds of Britain had visited Hogwarts.

We had to register for Hogwarts as early as we could since the registration filled up very fast. It was only my luck that there were still four seats left when I registered my name. Then, there was an entrance exam six months prior to the new Term. This exam was especially hard since it decided whether or not the students were good enough to visit Hogwarts. I had always been exceptionally intelligent. I somehow got through the entrance exam and secured a place at Hogwarts. Ginny, unfortunately, was more of a sports-girl so she didn't get in.

"Mother, it will be fine," I said in a soothing voice.

"I already lost him. Now you are going away too!" she wailed, clutching at my clothing.

"Mum, this is my life's ambition. Don't you want me to be successful? Dad would've," I knew that it was cruel of me to use my father in such a conversation. However, I knew it would work. It was the only thing that would work. Even after the divorce, Pandora was hopelessly in love with Xenophilius which was one of the prime reasons for her break-down. I hated my father. I hated the fact that he hadn't even cared to look back at them. He had gotten forward in his life, marrying Ana Malfoy—a girl from a millionaire family while I had to take care of a woman who behaved like a ten-year-old.

Instantly, my mother's expression took on a dreamy look as she said, "He would've wanted it, wouldn't he? Oh yes! He would've wanted to see his only child excel!"

"Yes, mum. That's what I was trying to explain," I said patiently.

"Yes, yes. I must tell him about this occasion when he gets back in the evening! Maybe some beef is in order! My daughter is going to Hogwarts!"

"Yes, Mum."

"It will be brilliant! It has been ages since a girl from Ottery St. Catchpole went to Hogwarts! You'll bring us much pride, Luna. I can feel it," Eileen Prince told me.

Eileen was also a diorcee but I loved her. She had divorced Tobias Snape a couple of years before I was born. They also had a son—Severus who was the Chemistry Professor at Hogwarts. She was strong.

Everyone started singing praises to me. Being admitted at Hogwarts wasn't a walk in the park.

When I started to feel overwhelmed, Molly Weasley, Ginny's mother said, "Come on, all of you. Can't you see that she is getting overwhelmed?"

I loved Mrs. Weasley. She made nice sweaters to keep warm in the harshness of the winter. She listened to my rants as I talked about my mother. She never once complained when I was unable to hunt and thus had to ask Mrs. Weasley for food.

Practically, the entire village was at the train station. The Hogwarts Express would arrive at exactly 11:20am and would leave by half-past-eleven.

11:17

"We all will miss you!"

11:18

"Don't worry, you will do brilliantly,"

11:19

"Make us proud!"

11:20

This was it. The opportunity I had been waiting for all this while. And yet… I felt incomplete. I realized that I wouldn't have Ginny there. No one would listen to my childish rants. I wouldn't have her mother there. Even if she were slightly insane. However, if I truly wanted to be an astronaut, I had to work hard. Hogwarts may be my only chance. I can't let it slip away. I have to go.

"My mother! Don't let her starve!" I said to Mrs. Weasley as I was wrapped in her hug.

"We won't," Ginny said.

The train started, taking me away from this town and all its people.

A/N- Hope you like it. Please read and review. Have a wonderful day/night.