"And she just, out of nowhere, threw herself between you and Grease- thing?" Sirius found himself enthralled with Remus's tale of the previous night. He was torn between shock and disbelief that this Luna chick had done something so decent and delight at the "Hygiene is your friend" speech. Sirius saw Luna entering the Great Hall for breakfast over Remus's shoulder. "Shh, here she comes." Luna made her way over and sat next to Sally. Sirius cleared his throat. "Ah, Luna, you know, if you, um, wanted to, you could, er, sit here. Next to, uh, Moony, I mean Remus and, well me." Luna looked up from her toast. "Sirius, right? Well, no thanks. I'm fine here." Luna bent her head down to her plate. Sirius looked puzzled, shrugged, sent Remus an "I tried" look, and went back to his own piece of toast. "Mail," said Sally without looking up. She was reading one of her textbooks, and held out her hand as her owl dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet into it, turning a page at the same time. Remus and Luna exchanged looks and shrugged. She looked up and noticed her brother's owl. She caught it, as it was about to land in her oatmeal. "Ringo, tell 'Ace that he should stop overworking you," she said to the owl. She gave him some toast and let him sip some Pumpkin Juice. Untying the letter, she sent the owl on its way. "Ringo?" Sally looked amused. "We both like the Beatles. I had a cat named Paula once." Sally smiled. "What did he say?" Remus, James and Sirius raised their eyebrows. "Lover?" "Not that it's any of your business Sirius," began Sally, but Luna held up her hand as she read the letter. Luna's jaw dropped, and so did the letter. She sat there dumbly. "What's the matter? Did he break up with you," Lily sneered. Sally sent her a warning look, and picked up the letter. Sally whistled under her breath. "Aw, does he want his engagement ring back?" "I certainly hope she didn't sleep with him," Lily said dismissively. "Lily, James, Sirius, you don't know what you're talking about," said Sally, throwing anxious glances at Luna, but the girl seemed to be in shock. "Luna, Luna talk to me. Are you okay?" Luna wasn't responding to the nudges that Sally was giving her. Lily continued in vain. "Really, she just needs to get over it." "Lily, shut up! All three of you, shut up!" At this point, Remus had gone to the other side of the table and was trying to get Luna's attention, which seemed to be focused after the owl from which she'd received the letter. Sally looked ready to kill. "Okay, first of all, Solace is Luna's older brother. And, according to this letter, they think they know how her father was killed." Lily's smile disappeared from her face, and James and Sirius looked up, interested. "Her father was killed?" "Yes, James! Her father was killed! Oh, I feel awful." "Don't." All five of them looked up. Luna seemed to have recovered herself. She stood up slowly, then lost her balance, and Remus caught. "Easy, easy. Let's get you to Madame Pomfrey," he murmured, still supporting her. He half carried her out of the Great Hall. "Sally, can I see the letter?" Lily did feel guilty, and she moaned as she read the letter. Dear Luna, Hello. I hope you're doing okay. I have some bad news, Lu. There's a dark wizard over here, and I don't know if you've heard of him. His name begins a "V", but the Ministry worker I talked to couldn't stand to say his name. Anyway, it turns out that Dad was an Unspeakable for the Ministry, which explains a lot. This is still under investigation, and I only know because I work for the Ministry. Luna, this is important. YOU CANNOT TELL MOM! I don't care how much guilt you feel, but if you tell her, it could tell her. PLEASE let me break it to her. Luna, stay in the school. I don't like the way things look around here. My boss is going mad, and I think this "Dark Lord 'V'" is more than we're used to working with in the States. I think he definitely has something to do with it. Stay safe. I love you. Solace Lily closed her eyes in horror. "Oh God, Sally, You-Know-Who killed her dad!" "Looks that way, doesn't it?" Sally read the letter again, and tucked it in her pocket. "Guys, cover for me. I'm skipping Transfiguration." Sally left the Great Hall. Lily nodded after her. "Is it I? Or, do you guys feel guilty too?" James grabbed Lily's hand, and Sirius said, "Lily, we've all been a bit.mean to Luna." "What's going on with her and Remus," asked James. Sirius shrugged, and Lily looked startled. "Why do ask, James? What has she done to him?" "Nothing," said Sirius. "That's the strange part. Remus says Snape cornered him last night. He was going to try something, when Luna comes running down the hallway out of nowhere." "Luna throws herself between him and Remus, yells at Snape about personal hygiene, threatens him and makes him leave," Sirius finished. Lily looked puzzled. "Then," continued James, "Luna and Remus go back up to the common room, stay there till nearly 2:00 in the morning and tell their life stories to each other, and she practically falls asleep on top of him!" "I can't puzzle it out," said Sirius. Lily shrugged, and James continued. "I don't get it. Why is Moony hanging out with her?" "Well, she DID save him from Snape," said Lily. "I guess if Remus thinks she's alright, she must be. You know, I said that she pushed me away on the train. Sally thinks that she was living in a flashback, and, hearing what New York is like, I don't really blame her." "So what, she had a tragic, sad life? She's like a Little Orphan Annie?" "No," said Lily, thinking. "I don't think she had a tragic childhood. I mean, I know that her dad died, and they did lie to her, but she's a witch. She'll be okay. Her brother sounded very loving to his sister in that letter. And, I'm sure that her mom usually has it together. She obviously must be nice under all the confusion. Remus is polite. He thanked Luna for telling off Snape. But he didn't have to talk to her until an un-holy hour in the morning if there wasn't something there." The three sat there, silently thinking.