Lunar Shift ~ Bienvenues Chez Nous! ~
AN: Sorry that I haven't updated in quite a while, I've been pretty busy as of late (I know I know, crap excuse) but I promise to update more regularly once I receive a few reviews. But thanks for the ones I already have!
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Once the train slowed to halt at Hogsmeade platform, hundreds of students spilled out all of different ages ranging from 11 to 17. Near the rear of the red train, three girls, one in uniform with a shining red badge bearing the mark 'P', said their goodbyes to one another as they were sure to see each other again and the one in uniform wanted to join her friends. She told the pair about Harry and Ron, filled with many adventures, and the two girls couldn't help but smile at Hermione's enthusiasm to talk about her best friends.
"I'll see you around!" she called among the sea of black robes. Julia and Luna waved back and watched for a moment as Hermione greeted her friends laughing on the way to the waiting carriages. The pair sighed a little and Luna guided her friend to the line of transport. As they walked along the line trying to find a spare, they stared, for Julia saw nothing holding the carriages up, and Luna saw some kind of mythical horse-like creature with leathery wings supporting them. Luna shuddered as she imagined them for some reason as a human and saw a tattered vampire.
Finding no spares, Julia spotted one with just one seat empty, three of them seated with Malfoy and his cronies. She groaned. "Luna there's absolutely _no_ spaces left, apart from that one." She pointed at a distance holding her face in her hands in annoyance. "There _has_ to be another one.
"There isn't." Luna replied. "Come here a minute." And she darted behind a bush." Julia followed anxiously, and gained the shock of her life as Luna showered herself with moonlight sparkles, and shrunk to the size of a cat. Blinking her red eyes, Luna shook her black coat a little and stretched. "Much better." The cat said.
"Jesus Christ!" Julia yelled immediately clamping her hand to her mouth. "No wonder it's a cat planet!"
"Once you've regained your composure can we _go_?" Julia smiled warily and picked Luna up, to which she wriggled and stood on her shoulders instead. "Go quick, the carriages might leave without us!" Julia nodded and strode up to the empty seat, plonking herself next to Malfoy without a word and letting Luna rest on her lap. She stubbornly kept her gaze to the outside.
"What do you think you're doing in _our_ carriage?" Malfoy spat, though unconsciously he hoped she would stay. 'My words aren't exactly helping.' Crabbe and Goyle watched stupidly at the two, clenching their fists in case they had to resort to violence, though unconsciously they hoped they didn't need to as Goyle rubbed his black eye and Crabbe stroked his split lip and large bruise. To their shock, the girl didn't even turn around, she just gave Malfoy the finger and said,
"Leave me alone Malfoy." His nostrils flared at this mere _girl's_ defiance, but inwardly thought 'Good move'.
"Then I demand to know your name!" The cat in her lap hissed, with all her sharp teeth bared. He sneered in response, as she gave no answer. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered.
"Actually no. But I think she'll have yours once you've finished with it." Her gaze remained impassive to the clear and cold night sky. Her prosecutor narrowed his piercing blue eyes and ran his hand over his slicked back blonde hair, keeping the stray strands in place. Of all the nerve! She should not be so defiant to a Malfoy. He has a high powered father who could ruin her life!
"Who are you?" he ordered. She turned her head to him and sneered,
"None of your damn business!" She glanced to the front of the carriage and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Tell me this, how do these carriages operate with no hold?"
"You should already know that. Unless you're a mudblood." He sneered with a smirk in his smile.
"Mud-whaty?" Julia replied looking at him with superiority at which Malfoy unconsciously sat up to level her gaze.
"Hey, she really is a mudblood! MUGGLE IN CARRIAGE 5!!!" he yelled out the window to which the numerous carriages behind them exploded into 'WHAT?!'
"Oh muggle!" Julia replied. "Right I get-'cha. Sure I am, not for long though."
"What do you mean 'not for long'?"
"Luna'll give me magical abilities soon." She replied, smiling to the cat in her lap. "Aren't you?" Luna only glared in return. "eh...heh heh." 'Of course she will, she saved me. Saved me from that horrible life on the streets. And here I am, walking into a castle...like a princess.' The unwelcome belt of laughter from three of the lesser mortals sharing her carriage shattered her thoughts. (AN: Remember she's still in 'princess' mode). She frowned. "What's so funny?" she asked as the carriages slowed to a halt outside a magnificent castle, however as she descended from her seat she couldn't but glare at Malfoy.
"A cat!" he laughed. "Give you...! Magic...?!" Each word was punctuated by a snort of laughter that pierced her to the soul. 'How _dare_ he! How DARE he make fun of my _friend_!' Without warning, and without any thought, Julia found her hands clasped around Malfoy's throat, squeezing as she felt a large pulse of blood in his cold veins. Her eyes remained on his neck, above it turned blue, and below a pulsating red. She did not take notice of his gasping and efforts to remove her hands. Luna hissed sharply, lightly scratching Julia's neck in warning.
A crowd of students gathered round the pair, and as soon as Hermione found them with Harry and Ron, she desperately tried to find Luna but there was no one resembling her unique appearance. "Julia! Stop it!" She yelled, her eyes straying to a cat that had a crescent moon marking on its forehead and it scampered into the bushes by the Hogwarts entrance. Yet Julia did not yield.
With a cry of anger Julia was forced off her feet as Crabbe and Goyle launched their bulky bodies to her frail frame making her careen into the grassy land. 'Oomph!' The crowd gasped at the display, Hermione grasped Ron's arm in the tension. They watched, stunned as the tall but thin girl found new strength and kicked the heavy bodies into the air to land in a heap at the feet of their gasping and red necked master. She stood defiantly and straightened her beret with a humph of indignation.
"That's enough Julia!" shouted a voice of authority. The crowd's faces and the air stilled with in drawn breathe as a vision of a fairy appeared before them. Her eyes and crescent marking on her forehead flashed dangerously and her black rippling hair waved with the wind in unison of her yellow and black layered dress. She stormed to the girl and pinched Julia's ear with a glare. "I never thought I'd have to pick up a mischief maker off the road!"
"Oww! Ow ow ow ow OW!" she yelled as Luna dug her nails into the ear. "Stop it you're hurting me, Luna!"
"The pain you inflict should the pain you receive!" She tore her hand away in outrage and turned to Malfoy and his cronies. "Although your actions deserved it, _I_ will have to apologise for my friend." Malfoy glared at her, rubbing his neck where red hand marks were apparent. A few people in the crowd chortled in laughter. Malfoy coughed the last of the caught mucus in his breathing canal and said hoarsely,
"Who are you? What is your name?" the second question though was directed to Julia who sulked against the stone wall of the castle.
"Fair enough, my name is Luna Kaguya." She replied, and moonlight from the skies poured down onto her and was received by a welcoming moon marking. The crowd waited in bated breathe for what she was going to do. However from her fingertips exploded streams of light that seemed to follow the lines of her veins, and her clothes merged into a yellow Chinese dress covered by a cloak much resembling the crowds. As though nothing had happened, she pointed to Julia. "That unruly girl is Julia Holdsworth."
"Hey." Julia said quietly. "I tried to keep my temper but I snapped okay? It's hard to keep mine with such a character next to me begging for my name." A round of laughter filled the crowd and one shouted,
"Malfoy, you'll need to improve on your pick up lines!" Luna's and Julia's stare rested on a boy near Hermione, to whom she shushed. 'That must be the Harry Potter boy' thought Luna. She tilted her head a little to see him better through his glasses. Bright green eyes...'like Artemis''. She sighed wistfully but then shook her head. 'They will do well with or without me. They've grown up and it won't be long before Crystal Tokyo will shine.'
"And I'm sure you know better, Potter." Malfoy spat back in a hoarse voice, though the hint of sarcasm could not be missed.
"Maybe you should get your voice back before you try insults Malfoy! It might be a little better!" shouted out who Luna assumed was Ron. Flaming red hair startled her first, but he seemed to be of a good nature and heart.
Suddenly the large, wooden doors of the castle swung open, and alone, in the doorway stood a small but very plump woman. She smiled a sugary sweet smile and said, "The feast may begin without you. Come along now." And she waddled out of sight. Luna could feel the hairs on her neck stand on end, a common feeling with a bad omen. Whisperings sailed through the crowd, wondering who this new visitor was and thinking that she was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Luna quickly grasped Julia's arm and they were caught in the sea of students entering the castle. Once they entered, they followed the crowd and soon found themselves in a huge hall, with four long tables set out and one at the end, no doubt for the teachers. Pulling Julia's arm a little, to which she hoped wasn't because she was still angry, Luna glided along the polished floors to a side of the hall, hidden behind a pillar. Some students saw them and they pointed and spoke in hushed voices of what the newcomers were going to do.
However their hopes of action diminished as the feast arrived once the Sorting had finished. Yet Luna could not bring herself to tear her eyes from the ageing man in the golden chair. She could not bring herself to remember such a man behind half moon spectacles. For a moment Luna glanced to Julia who looked longingly to the food, begging some of it to come into her hands. Luna could tell that she was starving. So much food within arm's reach was too tempting for Julia to bear, but her mouth watering stopped as Luna's hand was laid on her lower arm. She pointed upwards and Julia held in a cry of surprise for there was no roof! 'There is a roof' Luna whispered to her ear. 'There must be some sort of spell on it.' Julia nodded, faintly seeing a beam of the ceiling, as though it was camouflaged. Her gaze was so fixed on the ceiling, that she made a small jump as Luna presented her with a burger and an orange coloured drink. Julia nodded in thanks and dug in, suspiciously drinking the pumpkin juice but growing to like it. In the corner of her eye, she could see Luna staring into the crowd of students. She followed the gaze, and saw Hermione, then her friend Harry, then another girl and another. She could only suppose that her friend was gazing intently at Harry.
'You like Harry Potter?' she whispered down into Luna's ear, to which Luna sharply tore her gaze away and blushed beet red. She shook her head quickly after that. Julia grinned in triumph. She had caught her friend in action. "You do don't you?" Julia said a little louder, not fearing they would be discovered for the noise from the students was getting a little loud. Luna only shook her head harder making her black hair shimmer in the light. "So he's meant to be 'The Boy Who Lived' huh? Don't see how, looks like a wimp to me!" Julia continued, grinning down to the shorter Luna as she went redder, in fortified anger.
"How do you know?!" she burst. "From what Hermione tells me, he has to be so courageous to endure all he's seen!"
"Ha!" Julia laughed in victory. "Defence to someone you don't know! Looks like someone _does_ have a soft spot! I was only kidding you know. The one thing I can remember from my parents was 'don't judge a book by it's cover!'" She continued scornfully, "I don't know why I listen to that advice. As if they took it themselves. I can remember how they yelled 'filth' when they saw a tramp. I guess that would be what they'd call me huh?"
"Hey. Don't waste your thoughts on your parents. They obviously don't deserve it." Luna replied, smiling softly to Julia for comfort, who nodded a tiny little nod. Though Luna sighed to herself and stared sadly to the ground, as though hoping someone would appear through it. She shook her head. 'I guess I miss him more than I would admit. I've only been apart from him when we were searching for the senshi. *sigh* his presence was always fun, and I guess I grew used to it. Harry Potter, change your eyes please!' "Just for the record, he's too -young- for me anyway, he just reminds me of someone, that's all."
"...Right. What are we waiting for by the way?" Julia said, changing the subject abruptly as though the matter was dropped.
Luna stopped her gazing and looked back up to the staff table. "I want to talk to Dumbledore privately. For that, I need to follow him to his office as a cat so that I can be quiet. I'm sorry, but you'll have to do something while I'm gone. Here-" she handed Julia an ear piece. "Wedge it into your ear, turn it on, like this-" she flicked a tiny switch on the ear piece to which a sudden jab dug into Julia's ear. "And to talk we'll need...this!" she held out her palm and in a small array of sparkles some tiny devices appeared. "Clip it onto a tooth...and voila! We'll be able to talk to each other in case we get lost." Luna stopped and looked to the throng of students, watching them as they left the hall, then at the teachers leaving their chairs one by one. Julia followed her gaze, fiddling with the annoying electric device and saw the plump woman who opened the door into the castle. 'Sugary sweet voice huh?' Julia thought. 'I'd just _love_ to meet her.' Her tone in her voice was rather sinister, something no one would want to be on the receiving end.
As Dumbledore got up and left, Luna winked to Julia and shrank before her very eyes into the black cat from earlier, "Who said muggles we useless eh?". Julia snorted thinking of all the stupid things humans have done to the planet through listening to the news. But in her musing she just managed to spot a group of young students being led by Granger and Weasley before they disappeared through the doorway. She turned back, only to see Luna scamper through another doorway after Dumbledore. 'Right.' Julia thought. 'Let's go.' She ran through the empty hall after the three friends and ran up some circular steps, catching notice of the changed stairways but just as she turned a corner, she stopped and listened. Feeling like some kind of fugitive she heard some footsteps that grew louder then fainter as whoever it was walked away. Peering round, she only saw the trails of the line of young students and a tabby cat with yellow eyes. She shuddered. This cat definitely wasn't as well groomed as Luna. Ignoring its stare, she ran through the corridor where she was sure she saw the group turn into.
Nothing.
Just a large painting of a large lady in pink. Walking up to it in abating breathe, she was about to turn another corner by the painting when she stopped and looked back to the painting. The woman moved in picture and peered down at her with noble eyes.
"Password?" she demanded slowly.
Julia peered up and whispered on her breathe, 'password? This must be where they went!' "What is your name?" Julia asked the fat lady.
"That is none of your concern unless you are part of those behind this frame."
"There must be many there to hide behind someone _that_ large..." Julia muttered. "Okay, um, open sesame?" Under the lady's piercing stare she continued, "...alakazam?...hocus pocus?...OPEN UP!" Julia grumbled in defeat and leant against the stone wall, banging her head on it in the process in exasperation. She turned her earpiece and mouthpiece on and hissed, "What's the password to get to Hermione?"
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Slinking camouflaged in the shadows, Luna managed to keep on a close tail to Dumbledore, even when he opened a wall with a sweetie password. She waited on the inside of the door for Dumbledore to turn his back to emerge in her human guise and step out into the light. As Dumbledore sat in his large chair, he said,
"Who do I have for the pleasure of company?"
Startled, Luna stepped out of the shadows and sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore. He watched her over his glasses, an amused grin on his face. "I am Luna Kaguya." She said formerly, straightening her yellow and black dress. "What is it that amuses you so?"
"It is not everyday I find a beautiful lady in the office of an old man like me."
Luna couldn't help but have herself grin a little. Her reaction set Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye that made Luna think about her past. Her face suddenly contorted into pain as she saw an image of herself being slammed into a wall. Through the eyes of the girl by the wall, she looked up and saw a pleasantly handsome young man, with blue eyes that twinkled in mirth. As the girl gasped, Luna also gasped and awoke from her brief reverie. Dumbledore looked her way in concern and opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a bit of chocolate.
Heaving a little from the memory and pain the woman against the wall gave her, she turned her head a little and saw Dumbledore hand her some chocolate. Confused and shocked, she accepted it and ate it slowly, letting its warmth spread through her body. Her hard breathing ceased, and she managed to sit properly again. "Are you alright?" the old man asked. Luna nodded feebly and sighed. "Then if you would be so kind as to tell me why you are here?"
Luna sighed again and contemplated how to answer this question without sounding as Julia aptly put it: 'a crackpot.' "Well- " she started, and again, her mind drifted, to an office remarkably like this one, with the same young man at the desk, and she was looking through the eyes of that woman again. She could see herself wring her hands, and the man was looking at her amusedly, just like Dumbledore would have. Gasping again, she looked up to Dumbledore, and continued, "As soon as I heard your name I knew I had to find you. I don't know why, but I know you will help me in some way."
Luna watched as Dumbledore stared at his phoenix on its perch, as though in deep thought. She took this time to look at her surroundings, at the paintings of previous headmasters and stacks upon stacks of books. She saw the Sorting Hat on a bookshelf, and alongside it sat a magnificent sword that gleamed in the moonlight streaming through the window. Suddenly Dumbledore stood and went to a cabinet by the door. Opening it and pulling some kind of stone basin from it, he placed it gently on his desk and took out his wand. He placed the tip on his forehead, and then to the gaseous liquid. It swirled in acceptance of a new thought and he said,
"I was wondering when I'd find you." Luna raised an eyebrow.
"You know about me?"
"Of course. All of my thoughts have been stored in this pensive, as were those from the Silver Millennium." Luna gasped and cried,
"No wonder I thought I knew you! Oh, I should have thought of this!" Dumbledore smiled warmly and said,
"Now I'm sure you would like to remember how we knew each other, hm?" Luna nodded faintly and walked to Dumbledore's welcoming hands. "Simply let your mind wander into the pensive and you will see into your past life." She nodded and followed his orders. Her brain did not register the pleas of Julia's voice.
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She stamped her foot on the floor in exasperation and grunted her displeasure. 'Great. I can't believe she isn't replying.' As she looked down the halls she spotted two girls heading her way. Carefully keeping herself hidden behind a suit of armour she heard them say a password, but it was long and strange that she forgot it at the next second.
"Wait!" she cried desperately. Before one of them entered the portrait hole and the painting was opened at it's fullest, the red headed girl whirled around and spotted Julia.
"Can I help you?" she was standing next to a slightly taller boy, (though not as tall as herself) and he tried to measure himself up to straighten to Julia's nose. Obviously he was thinking if _he_ could take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed.
"Yes, I'm looking for Hermione Granger. Is she back there?"
"She should be. Hang on." Just as she was going to enter the portrait hole she yelled back to the boy, "Michael I'll see you tomorrow!" He raised his eyebrows in indignation of being blown off and hurried down the corridor. Once the girl returned with Hermione in tow, they ushered Julia in with them and plonked her onto the sofa. At once two boys, a little older than Julia hurried to her side and for a moment she could see tears in the twins' eyes.
"Excellent welcoming for the Slytherins!" one said.
"We are forever in your debt! How can we continue your wondrous work?" Now if she could remember correctly, Slytherin was another house, and this one from seeing some first years, was Gryffindor. She smiled sweetly to the boys kneeling before her and said,
"I'm sure you can do better than beat a couple of Malfoy's cronies. Why don't you - simply give Malfoy a _treat_ to remember?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief, as did the twins', and they nodded. The 'treat' bit gave them an idea... "Why don't you tell me your names, oh mischief makers?"
"Fred Weasley."
"George Weasley."
"Okay, then I dub you, 'Trickery twins!" They grinned, and nodded, taking a roll of parchment from a table and huddled over it. Why they did so, Julia did not know. Turning back to the other girls on the armchairs, the ginger said,
"I'm Ginny Weasley, those were my brothers. I think they'll love you now!" Julia chuckled and replied,
"I hope they can keep up with their new name...I'm Julia Holdsworth by the way."
"What happened to Kaguya?" Hermione asked.
"Oh um," Julia grinned nervously. "She just had to do something, we'll be leaving once she's done." The girls glanced at each other and knew not to impose too much. "But she has to do it alone, so she told me to take a wander around Hogwarts. But," she sighed. "This place is so big I could never do it alone." They nodded in understanding and Ginny yawned. Looking at her watch, Julia noticed the time and said, "You guys don't have to stay. You've got school tomorrow and it's already pretty late."
Ginny stood up and stretched out her arms. "In that case, I'm going to bed." She suddenly recoiled and held on her shoulder, wincing a little. She laughed nervously and said, "That bruise from this morning still hurts."
"From what?" Julia asked.
"Fred and George dropped a trunk and it hit Ginny. She ended up collapsing down the stairs." Hermione replied for her.
"Oo!" Julia winced. "Get better soon!"
"I will. Night night." Ginny said with another yawn and trudged up some stairs. The common room was now empty apart from the two girls, as they stared into the fire.
"You don't have to stay." Julia said quietly into the silence. Hermione nodded and got up. "There wouldn't happen to be a book though that I could read?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders and replied,
"I've only got some magic books for this year."
"I'll read those."
"You sure?" Julia nodded. "Okay, what subject would you like, I've got Potions, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Astrology, oh can't think of any of my other ones." Julia smiled at the large choice.
"I'll take Transfiguration." Hermione nodded and went upstairs to get her books. Once she had disappeared, Julia heard some footsteps from the other flight of stairs and the one and only Harry Potter appeared, staring at the stone floors. He didn't look up, even when he stepped in front of Julia into another armchair with a sigh. A few moments passed before Julia spoke.
"Are you alright?" Harry yelled in surprise, jumping and falling onto the carpeted floor in front of the fire. He frantically searched for the speaker, and saw Julia's innocent face staring at him resting in her hands that were balanced on her elbows that were on her knees. She smiled kindly and offered a hand to help him up. He accepted gratefully and sat back onto his seat, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "You didn't answer my question."
"Oh, right. I - I'm fine." Julia's lips tightened into a thin line.
"Sure, sure. Mr Potter - I'm sure you realised by now that I have a short temper?" he nodded a little.
"So lying will not help matters." She smiled brightly and said, "I'm Julia Holdsworth, Hermione might have told you. I'm just a visitor, so if it's a secret, it's safe with me." Harry stared at her smiling and strangely warm face that contrasted occasionally with her temper and found himself smiling a little. He nodded and plunged into his story. A couple of minutes after he started, Hermione descended the stairs and offered her books, only to immediately head back upstairs, to which Harry could continue.
~~~
Luna's very still body over the pensive suddenly regained its spirit and came to life. Shock was written all over her face. She straightened herself and looked back up to Dumbledore. "DD-sensei?" she whispered.
He smiled.
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Please review! I'd like to know if I should continue!
AN: Sorry that I haven't updated in quite a while, I've been pretty busy as of late (I know I know, crap excuse) but I promise to update more regularly once I receive a few reviews. But thanks for the ones I already have!
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Once the train slowed to halt at Hogsmeade platform, hundreds of students spilled out all of different ages ranging from 11 to 17. Near the rear of the red train, three girls, one in uniform with a shining red badge bearing the mark 'P', said their goodbyes to one another as they were sure to see each other again and the one in uniform wanted to join her friends. She told the pair about Harry and Ron, filled with many adventures, and the two girls couldn't help but smile at Hermione's enthusiasm to talk about her best friends.
"I'll see you around!" she called among the sea of black robes. Julia and Luna waved back and watched for a moment as Hermione greeted her friends laughing on the way to the waiting carriages. The pair sighed a little and Luna guided her friend to the line of transport. As they walked along the line trying to find a spare, they stared, for Julia saw nothing holding the carriages up, and Luna saw some kind of mythical horse-like creature with leathery wings supporting them. Luna shuddered as she imagined them for some reason as a human and saw a tattered vampire.
Finding no spares, Julia spotted one with just one seat empty, three of them seated with Malfoy and his cronies. She groaned. "Luna there's absolutely _no_ spaces left, apart from that one." She pointed at a distance holding her face in her hands in annoyance. "There _has_ to be another one.
"There isn't." Luna replied. "Come here a minute." And she darted behind a bush." Julia followed anxiously, and gained the shock of her life as Luna showered herself with moonlight sparkles, and shrunk to the size of a cat. Blinking her red eyes, Luna shook her black coat a little and stretched. "Much better." The cat said.
"Jesus Christ!" Julia yelled immediately clamping her hand to her mouth. "No wonder it's a cat planet!"
"Once you've regained your composure can we _go_?" Julia smiled warily and picked Luna up, to which she wriggled and stood on her shoulders instead. "Go quick, the carriages might leave without us!" Julia nodded and strode up to the empty seat, plonking herself next to Malfoy without a word and letting Luna rest on her lap. She stubbornly kept her gaze to the outside.
"What do you think you're doing in _our_ carriage?" Malfoy spat, though unconsciously he hoped she would stay. 'My words aren't exactly helping.' Crabbe and Goyle watched stupidly at the two, clenching their fists in case they had to resort to violence, though unconsciously they hoped they didn't need to as Goyle rubbed his black eye and Crabbe stroked his split lip and large bruise. To their shock, the girl didn't even turn around, she just gave Malfoy the finger and said,
"Leave me alone Malfoy." His nostrils flared at this mere _girl's_ defiance, but inwardly thought 'Good move'.
"Then I demand to know your name!" The cat in her lap hissed, with all her sharp teeth bared. He sneered in response, as she gave no answer. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered.
"Actually no. But I think she'll have yours once you've finished with it." Her gaze remained impassive to the clear and cold night sky. Her prosecutor narrowed his piercing blue eyes and ran his hand over his slicked back blonde hair, keeping the stray strands in place. Of all the nerve! She should not be so defiant to a Malfoy. He has a high powered father who could ruin her life!
"Who are you?" he ordered. She turned her head to him and sneered,
"None of your damn business!" She glanced to the front of the carriage and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Tell me this, how do these carriages operate with no hold?"
"You should already know that. Unless you're a mudblood." He sneered with a smirk in his smile.
"Mud-whaty?" Julia replied looking at him with superiority at which Malfoy unconsciously sat up to level her gaze.
"Hey, she really is a mudblood! MUGGLE IN CARRIAGE 5!!!" he yelled out the window to which the numerous carriages behind them exploded into 'WHAT?!'
"Oh muggle!" Julia replied. "Right I get-'cha. Sure I am, not for long though."
"What do you mean 'not for long'?"
"Luna'll give me magical abilities soon." She replied, smiling to the cat in her lap. "Aren't you?" Luna only glared in return. "eh...heh heh." 'Of course she will, she saved me. Saved me from that horrible life on the streets. And here I am, walking into a castle...like a princess.' The unwelcome belt of laughter from three of the lesser mortals sharing her carriage shattered her thoughts. (AN: Remember she's still in 'princess' mode). She frowned. "What's so funny?" she asked as the carriages slowed to a halt outside a magnificent castle, however as she descended from her seat she couldn't but glare at Malfoy.
"A cat!" he laughed. "Give you...! Magic...?!" Each word was punctuated by a snort of laughter that pierced her to the soul. 'How _dare_ he! How DARE he make fun of my _friend_!' Without warning, and without any thought, Julia found her hands clasped around Malfoy's throat, squeezing as she felt a large pulse of blood in his cold veins. Her eyes remained on his neck, above it turned blue, and below a pulsating red. She did not take notice of his gasping and efforts to remove her hands. Luna hissed sharply, lightly scratching Julia's neck in warning.
A crowd of students gathered round the pair, and as soon as Hermione found them with Harry and Ron, she desperately tried to find Luna but there was no one resembling her unique appearance. "Julia! Stop it!" She yelled, her eyes straying to a cat that had a crescent moon marking on its forehead and it scampered into the bushes by the Hogwarts entrance. Yet Julia did not yield.
With a cry of anger Julia was forced off her feet as Crabbe and Goyle launched their bulky bodies to her frail frame making her careen into the grassy land. 'Oomph!' The crowd gasped at the display, Hermione grasped Ron's arm in the tension. They watched, stunned as the tall but thin girl found new strength and kicked the heavy bodies into the air to land in a heap at the feet of their gasping and red necked master. She stood defiantly and straightened her beret with a humph of indignation.
"That's enough Julia!" shouted a voice of authority. The crowd's faces and the air stilled with in drawn breathe as a vision of a fairy appeared before them. Her eyes and crescent marking on her forehead flashed dangerously and her black rippling hair waved with the wind in unison of her yellow and black layered dress. She stormed to the girl and pinched Julia's ear with a glare. "I never thought I'd have to pick up a mischief maker off the road!"
"Oww! Ow ow ow ow OW!" she yelled as Luna dug her nails into the ear. "Stop it you're hurting me, Luna!"
"The pain you inflict should the pain you receive!" She tore her hand away in outrage and turned to Malfoy and his cronies. "Although your actions deserved it, _I_ will have to apologise for my friend." Malfoy glared at her, rubbing his neck where red hand marks were apparent. A few people in the crowd chortled in laughter. Malfoy coughed the last of the caught mucus in his breathing canal and said hoarsely,
"Who are you? What is your name?" the second question though was directed to Julia who sulked against the stone wall of the castle.
"Fair enough, my name is Luna Kaguya." She replied, and moonlight from the skies poured down onto her and was received by a welcoming moon marking. The crowd waited in bated breathe for what she was going to do. However from her fingertips exploded streams of light that seemed to follow the lines of her veins, and her clothes merged into a yellow Chinese dress covered by a cloak much resembling the crowds. As though nothing had happened, she pointed to Julia. "That unruly girl is Julia Holdsworth."
"Hey." Julia said quietly. "I tried to keep my temper but I snapped okay? It's hard to keep mine with such a character next to me begging for my name." A round of laughter filled the crowd and one shouted,
"Malfoy, you'll need to improve on your pick up lines!" Luna's and Julia's stare rested on a boy near Hermione, to whom she shushed. 'That must be the Harry Potter boy' thought Luna. She tilted her head a little to see him better through his glasses. Bright green eyes...'like Artemis''. She sighed wistfully but then shook her head. 'They will do well with or without me. They've grown up and it won't be long before Crystal Tokyo will shine.'
"And I'm sure you know better, Potter." Malfoy spat back in a hoarse voice, though the hint of sarcasm could not be missed.
"Maybe you should get your voice back before you try insults Malfoy! It might be a little better!" shouted out who Luna assumed was Ron. Flaming red hair startled her first, but he seemed to be of a good nature and heart.
Suddenly the large, wooden doors of the castle swung open, and alone, in the doorway stood a small but very plump woman. She smiled a sugary sweet smile and said, "The feast may begin without you. Come along now." And she waddled out of sight. Luna could feel the hairs on her neck stand on end, a common feeling with a bad omen. Whisperings sailed through the crowd, wondering who this new visitor was and thinking that she was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Luna quickly grasped Julia's arm and they were caught in the sea of students entering the castle. Once they entered, they followed the crowd and soon found themselves in a huge hall, with four long tables set out and one at the end, no doubt for the teachers. Pulling Julia's arm a little, to which she hoped wasn't because she was still angry, Luna glided along the polished floors to a side of the hall, hidden behind a pillar. Some students saw them and they pointed and spoke in hushed voices of what the newcomers were going to do.
However their hopes of action diminished as the feast arrived once the Sorting had finished. Yet Luna could not bring herself to tear her eyes from the ageing man in the golden chair. She could not bring herself to remember such a man behind half moon spectacles. For a moment Luna glanced to Julia who looked longingly to the food, begging some of it to come into her hands. Luna could tell that she was starving. So much food within arm's reach was too tempting for Julia to bear, but her mouth watering stopped as Luna's hand was laid on her lower arm. She pointed upwards and Julia held in a cry of surprise for there was no roof! 'There is a roof' Luna whispered to her ear. 'There must be some sort of spell on it.' Julia nodded, faintly seeing a beam of the ceiling, as though it was camouflaged. Her gaze was so fixed on the ceiling, that she made a small jump as Luna presented her with a burger and an orange coloured drink. Julia nodded in thanks and dug in, suspiciously drinking the pumpkin juice but growing to like it. In the corner of her eye, she could see Luna staring into the crowd of students. She followed the gaze, and saw Hermione, then her friend Harry, then another girl and another. She could only suppose that her friend was gazing intently at Harry.
'You like Harry Potter?' she whispered down into Luna's ear, to which Luna sharply tore her gaze away and blushed beet red. She shook her head quickly after that. Julia grinned in triumph. She had caught her friend in action. "You do don't you?" Julia said a little louder, not fearing they would be discovered for the noise from the students was getting a little loud. Luna only shook her head harder making her black hair shimmer in the light. "So he's meant to be 'The Boy Who Lived' huh? Don't see how, looks like a wimp to me!" Julia continued, grinning down to the shorter Luna as she went redder, in fortified anger.
"How do you know?!" she burst. "From what Hermione tells me, he has to be so courageous to endure all he's seen!"
"Ha!" Julia laughed in victory. "Defence to someone you don't know! Looks like someone _does_ have a soft spot! I was only kidding you know. The one thing I can remember from my parents was 'don't judge a book by it's cover!'" She continued scornfully, "I don't know why I listen to that advice. As if they took it themselves. I can remember how they yelled 'filth' when they saw a tramp. I guess that would be what they'd call me huh?"
"Hey. Don't waste your thoughts on your parents. They obviously don't deserve it." Luna replied, smiling softly to Julia for comfort, who nodded a tiny little nod. Though Luna sighed to herself and stared sadly to the ground, as though hoping someone would appear through it. She shook her head. 'I guess I miss him more than I would admit. I've only been apart from him when we were searching for the senshi. *sigh* his presence was always fun, and I guess I grew used to it. Harry Potter, change your eyes please!' "Just for the record, he's too -young- for me anyway, he just reminds me of someone, that's all."
"...Right. What are we waiting for by the way?" Julia said, changing the subject abruptly as though the matter was dropped.
Luna stopped her gazing and looked back up to the staff table. "I want to talk to Dumbledore privately. For that, I need to follow him to his office as a cat so that I can be quiet. I'm sorry, but you'll have to do something while I'm gone. Here-" she handed Julia an ear piece. "Wedge it into your ear, turn it on, like this-" she flicked a tiny switch on the ear piece to which a sudden jab dug into Julia's ear. "And to talk we'll need...this!" she held out her palm and in a small array of sparkles some tiny devices appeared. "Clip it onto a tooth...and voila! We'll be able to talk to each other in case we get lost." Luna stopped and looked to the throng of students, watching them as they left the hall, then at the teachers leaving their chairs one by one. Julia followed her gaze, fiddling with the annoying electric device and saw the plump woman who opened the door into the castle. 'Sugary sweet voice huh?' Julia thought. 'I'd just _love_ to meet her.' Her tone in her voice was rather sinister, something no one would want to be on the receiving end.
As Dumbledore got up and left, Luna winked to Julia and shrank before her very eyes into the black cat from earlier, "Who said muggles we useless eh?". Julia snorted thinking of all the stupid things humans have done to the planet through listening to the news. But in her musing she just managed to spot a group of young students being led by Granger and Weasley before they disappeared through the doorway. She turned back, only to see Luna scamper through another doorway after Dumbledore. 'Right.' Julia thought. 'Let's go.' She ran through the empty hall after the three friends and ran up some circular steps, catching notice of the changed stairways but just as she turned a corner, she stopped and listened. Feeling like some kind of fugitive she heard some footsteps that grew louder then fainter as whoever it was walked away. Peering round, she only saw the trails of the line of young students and a tabby cat with yellow eyes. She shuddered. This cat definitely wasn't as well groomed as Luna. Ignoring its stare, she ran through the corridor where she was sure she saw the group turn into.
Nothing.
Just a large painting of a large lady in pink. Walking up to it in abating breathe, she was about to turn another corner by the painting when she stopped and looked back to the painting. The woman moved in picture and peered down at her with noble eyes.
"Password?" she demanded slowly.
Julia peered up and whispered on her breathe, 'password? This must be where they went!' "What is your name?" Julia asked the fat lady.
"That is none of your concern unless you are part of those behind this frame."
"There must be many there to hide behind someone _that_ large..." Julia muttered. "Okay, um, open sesame?" Under the lady's piercing stare she continued, "...alakazam?...hocus pocus?...OPEN UP!" Julia grumbled in defeat and leant against the stone wall, banging her head on it in the process in exasperation. She turned her earpiece and mouthpiece on and hissed, "What's the password to get to Hermione?"
~~~
Slinking camouflaged in the shadows, Luna managed to keep on a close tail to Dumbledore, even when he opened a wall with a sweetie password. She waited on the inside of the door for Dumbledore to turn his back to emerge in her human guise and step out into the light. As Dumbledore sat in his large chair, he said,
"Who do I have for the pleasure of company?"
Startled, Luna stepped out of the shadows and sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore. He watched her over his glasses, an amused grin on his face. "I am Luna Kaguya." She said formerly, straightening her yellow and black dress. "What is it that amuses you so?"
"It is not everyday I find a beautiful lady in the office of an old man like me."
Luna couldn't help but have herself grin a little. Her reaction set Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye that made Luna think about her past. Her face suddenly contorted into pain as she saw an image of herself being slammed into a wall. Through the eyes of the girl by the wall, she looked up and saw a pleasantly handsome young man, with blue eyes that twinkled in mirth. As the girl gasped, Luna also gasped and awoke from her brief reverie. Dumbledore looked her way in concern and opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a bit of chocolate.
Heaving a little from the memory and pain the woman against the wall gave her, she turned her head a little and saw Dumbledore hand her some chocolate. Confused and shocked, she accepted it and ate it slowly, letting its warmth spread through her body. Her hard breathing ceased, and she managed to sit properly again. "Are you alright?" the old man asked. Luna nodded feebly and sighed. "Then if you would be so kind as to tell me why you are here?"
Luna sighed again and contemplated how to answer this question without sounding as Julia aptly put it: 'a crackpot.' "Well- " she started, and again, her mind drifted, to an office remarkably like this one, with the same young man at the desk, and she was looking through the eyes of that woman again. She could see herself wring her hands, and the man was looking at her amusedly, just like Dumbledore would have. Gasping again, she looked up to Dumbledore, and continued, "As soon as I heard your name I knew I had to find you. I don't know why, but I know you will help me in some way."
Luna watched as Dumbledore stared at his phoenix on its perch, as though in deep thought. She took this time to look at her surroundings, at the paintings of previous headmasters and stacks upon stacks of books. She saw the Sorting Hat on a bookshelf, and alongside it sat a magnificent sword that gleamed in the moonlight streaming through the window. Suddenly Dumbledore stood and went to a cabinet by the door. Opening it and pulling some kind of stone basin from it, he placed it gently on his desk and took out his wand. He placed the tip on his forehead, and then to the gaseous liquid. It swirled in acceptance of a new thought and he said,
"I was wondering when I'd find you." Luna raised an eyebrow.
"You know about me?"
"Of course. All of my thoughts have been stored in this pensive, as were those from the Silver Millennium." Luna gasped and cried,
"No wonder I thought I knew you! Oh, I should have thought of this!" Dumbledore smiled warmly and said,
"Now I'm sure you would like to remember how we knew each other, hm?" Luna nodded faintly and walked to Dumbledore's welcoming hands. "Simply let your mind wander into the pensive and you will see into your past life." She nodded and followed his orders. Her brain did not register the pleas of Julia's voice.
~~~
She stamped her foot on the floor in exasperation and grunted her displeasure. 'Great. I can't believe she isn't replying.' As she looked down the halls she spotted two girls heading her way. Carefully keeping herself hidden behind a suit of armour she heard them say a password, but it was long and strange that she forgot it at the next second.
"Wait!" she cried desperately. Before one of them entered the portrait hole and the painting was opened at it's fullest, the red headed girl whirled around and spotted Julia.
"Can I help you?" she was standing next to a slightly taller boy, (though not as tall as herself) and he tried to measure himself up to straighten to Julia's nose. Obviously he was thinking if _he_ could take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed.
"Yes, I'm looking for Hermione Granger. Is she back there?"
"She should be. Hang on." Just as she was going to enter the portrait hole she yelled back to the boy, "Michael I'll see you tomorrow!" He raised his eyebrows in indignation of being blown off and hurried down the corridor. Once the girl returned with Hermione in tow, they ushered Julia in with them and plonked her onto the sofa. At once two boys, a little older than Julia hurried to her side and for a moment she could see tears in the twins' eyes.
"Excellent welcoming for the Slytherins!" one said.
"We are forever in your debt! How can we continue your wondrous work?" Now if she could remember correctly, Slytherin was another house, and this one from seeing some first years, was Gryffindor. She smiled sweetly to the boys kneeling before her and said,
"I'm sure you can do better than beat a couple of Malfoy's cronies. Why don't you - simply give Malfoy a _treat_ to remember?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief, as did the twins', and they nodded. The 'treat' bit gave them an idea... "Why don't you tell me your names, oh mischief makers?"
"Fred Weasley."
"George Weasley."
"Okay, then I dub you, 'Trickery twins!" They grinned, and nodded, taking a roll of parchment from a table and huddled over it. Why they did so, Julia did not know. Turning back to the other girls on the armchairs, the ginger said,
"I'm Ginny Weasley, those were my brothers. I think they'll love you now!" Julia chuckled and replied,
"I hope they can keep up with their new name...I'm Julia Holdsworth by the way."
"What happened to Kaguya?" Hermione asked.
"Oh um," Julia grinned nervously. "She just had to do something, we'll be leaving once she's done." The girls glanced at each other and knew not to impose too much. "But she has to do it alone, so she told me to take a wander around Hogwarts. But," she sighed. "This place is so big I could never do it alone." They nodded in understanding and Ginny yawned. Looking at her watch, Julia noticed the time and said, "You guys don't have to stay. You've got school tomorrow and it's already pretty late."
Ginny stood up and stretched out her arms. "In that case, I'm going to bed." She suddenly recoiled and held on her shoulder, wincing a little. She laughed nervously and said, "That bruise from this morning still hurts."
"From what?" Julia asked.
"Fred and George dropped a trunk and it hit Ginny. She ended up collapsing down the stairs." Hermione replied for her.
"Oo!" Julia winced. "Get better soon!"
"I will. Night night." Ginny said with another yawn and trudged up some stairs. The common room was now empty apart from the two girls, as they stared into the fire.
"You don't have to stay." Julia said quietly into the silence. Hermione nodded and got up. "There wouldn't happen to be a book though that I could read?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders and replied,
"I've only got some magic books for this year."
"I'll read those."
"You sure?" Julia nodded. "Okay, what subject would you like, I've got Potions, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Astrology, oh can't think of any of my other ones." Julia smiled at the large choice.
"I'll take Transfiguration." Hermione nodded and went upstairs to get her books. Once she had disappeared, Julia heard some footsteps from the other flight of stairs and the one and only Harry Potter appeared, staring at the stone floors. He didn't look up, even when he stepped in front of Julia into another armchair with a sigh. A few moments passed before Julia spoke.
"Are you alright?" Harry yelled in surprise, jumping and falling onto the carpeted floor in front of the fire. He frantically searched for the speaker, and saw Julia's innocent face staring at him resting in her hands that were balanced on her elbows that were on her knees. She smiled kindly and offered a hand to help him up. He accepted gratefully and sat back onto his seat, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "You didn't answer my question."
"Oh, right. I - I'm fine." Julia's lips tightened into a thin line.
"Sure, sure. Mr Potter - I'm sure you realised by now that I have a short temper?" he nodded a little.
"So lying will not help matters." She smiled brightly and said, "I'm Julia Holdsworth, Hermione might have told you. I'm just a visitor, so if it's a secret, it's safe with me." Harry stared at her smiling and strangely warm face that contrasted occasionally with her temper and found himself smiling a little. He nodded and plunged into his story. A couple of minutes after he started, Hermione descended the stairs and offered her books, only to immediately head back upstairs, to which Harry could continue.
~~~
Luna's very still body over the pensive suddenly regained its spirit and came to life. Shock was written all over her face. She straightened herself and looked back up to Dumbledore. "DD-sensei?" she whispered.
He smiled.
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Please review! I'd like to know if I should continue!