I am lying in the Quidditch pitch on the ground. I don't think they'll think to look for me here. I've been in hiding from them for quite a few days now. Not that any of them seem interested in me. Not really. Up until a few weeks ago, I don't think some of them even knew my name. If they did, it was most likely paired with "Loony". I understand where they're coming from; if I were them, I'd think I was loony, too. But I wonder what being loony really is. I've started wondering a lot of things, ever since a few weeks ago.
I never really knew him all that well, so I was pretty surprised when his owl showed up at our tent in Sweden. I took the note from the leg of the owl and began to read it. It mentioned many things, such as his muggle relatives and how his summer was going. He talked of simple things, like how Snape had given everyone extra assignments for over the summer and about his aunt's flower garden was coming into full bloom. I was glad to read that he wasn't dwelling on things. It isn't very healthy to dwell. When I had reached to end of his note, I spotted the PS at the bottom of the page in what looked like a hasty scrawl. It told me to look at the other leg of his owl, as though he was sure that I would overlook it, which I did. I reached for her other leg and noticed for the first time, I small package. I untied it and proceeded to open it, as it is customary to do that in order to find what is inside. Unto to the ground floated another note, in similar style to the 'PS' before it. It read:
I thought you might like this. It's from my aunt's flower garden, if you're wondering.
I smiled and gazed into the package. In the middle was a flower, a daisy. For the rest of the day, I had worn it in my hair, wary of any low branches in the forest, as Daddy and I looked for Crumple-Horned Snorcacks. We didn't find any that day, though I do believe I caught a glimpse of one in the distance.
As the days passed until it would be time to go back to Hogwarts, we had written letters back and forth. I told him of Crumple-Horned Snorcacks and what the stars look like from Sweden; he told me of relative's behaviors since he arrived home and what the stars looked like from Surrey. We talked of many things, bizarre as singing toilets and as normal as afternoon tea.
The day of the journey back to Hogwarts had arrived. Daddy took me to the station around ten forty-five on a Muggle train. I go on one every year, to get to the station, you know, but after all this time, they still seem as strange as ever. He was just dropping me off there, though. Apparently, there was some emergency down at the Quibbler offices about a talking rubber duck. I raced through the barrier, which never gets old, no matter how many times I go through it. Lugging my trunk onto the Hogwarts Express and looked for an empty compartment, as always. It was always easier just to sit by myself than to listen to people jibber-jabber for half a day. Except for last year, of course. I searched for a few minutes before settling myself down into a compartment and opened the latest copy of the Quibbler. I had just started reading an article about the complex societies of wide-jawed fairies when a knock on the door jostled me out of my thoughts.
"Yes?" The door opened a bit and Hermione Granger's head popped in the crack.
"Hey, Luna. Do you mind if we sit with you?" I shook my head slightly and she waved the others behind the door over. There was a large clatter on the other side of the glass and some owls hooting. Next thing I know, a huge, ginger-colored cat is in my lap. It doesn't stay there for long, though, leaping from open space to open space as five other people cram into my compartment. Ginny Weasley waves and sits next to me.
"Hi, Luna. Have a nice summer?" Her smile is so bright, although she has this look as though she's been around several people yelling for the past two or three hours. Then again, with a house full of brothers, I guess that's bound to happen. Hermione takes the seat next to her and gives her attention to me, her eyes imploring me to go on.
"It was rather enjoyable. Sweden was absolutely beautiful, you know. I wished we didn't have to leave." Ginny looked to Hermione and I think she might have glared but I couldn't see properly. Hermione turned back to me, her face showing mild self-restraint.
"Did you, er- find any of those things that you were looking for?" Ginny looked like she was giggling, and I was trying hard to repress a smile myself.
"Well, I did catch a glimpse of one, but I didn't really get a good look. Anyway, how was your holiday?" I had asked the question to all of the compartment's inhabitants and, as if on cue, they all looked to one another with the exception of Neville and Harry, though Ronald might have cast a glance over at him. Harry, however, smiled and started telling me about his trip to Diagon Alley with the Weasley family and Hermione. In turn I told him of the talking rubber duck. Ronald told jokes to pass the time until the trolley came around. We bought piles of sweets that were sure to last us the rest of the journey.
Once again, there was a knock on the door. Shortly after the knock, without any word from us, the door, yet another time, slid open. This time, it revealed Cho Chang, the seeker on my house's Quidditch team. I must admit, she is rather pretty, but her personality isn't wonderful. The company she keeps isn't much better, I think to myself as I notice Marietta Edgecomb at her side, free of the balaclava she wore at the end of last year. All the laughter stopped at once and all eyes turned to the doorway. The looks on our faces were less than pleasant, as Marietta had caused the downfall of the D.A. the year before, though causing her own face to break out into pustules creating the word "SNEAK" on her face.
"Hi, Harry." Cho said shakily. He had an indifferent look on his face, as did I. Looking at each other, I noticed something that wasn't there before, as I am quite sure he noticed as well. I saw pain, hurt, and caring. I had seen all this before, though. After the rescue mission, we talked and I saw it. In our letters, I could hear it, even though he wasn't talking. But there was something new in there that I was pretty sure was in my eyes as well. Loneliness. It was as if all the air was slowly being sucked out of the room and we couldn't hear a thing. I wonder how long we weren't paying attention for it seemed as though we were there for hours, though no one had even looked our way in confusion. Suddenly, Cho was talking to Harry who seemed to be having a hard time concentrating. Reluctantly, his gaze turned from me to Cho, the indifferent mask replaced upon his face.
"-so I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get together sometime?" Cho asked, a nervous smile playing on her face, her hands twitching as though she couldn't stand still.
Harry got up and turned around to open his bag in the rack above him. Pulling out a small cardboard box, he finally turned around from poking things inside, as though prodding something into shape.
"Yeah, sure, maybe," he said absently, handing me the box. Cho's eyes were glued to it, looking like there was something poisonous inside. Jealously clouded her eyes as she looked from me to Hermione to Ginny and then back to the box and me. She left with a huff of envy, although I doubt the boys noted it as that than as exasperation. However, Hermione and Ginny looked to me worriedly, just like I looked back at them.
There was no further incident during the journey except for a bit of a squirmish involving Malfoy and his goons. They aren't that bright, are they? After everything with the D.A. and at the Department of Mysteries, did he really think that he could take us on, especially with Crabbe and Goyle?
At last, we reached the Hogsmeade station and were welcomed by a loud voice yelling, "Firs' years. Firs' years, this way." I could tell that the rest of the group felt elated and I couldn't help feeling the same.
The six of us laughed the entire trip and shared a carriage on the way to the castle. Neville, Harry, and I patted the thestrals on their back, though many people around us were either looking fearful, the number of which was very few, or disgusted because it seemed to them that we were patting something that wasn't there. Ronald, Ginny, and Hermione had smiles on their faces when we took our places inside the carriage. The air inside the carriage was filled with excitement and longing. It was as though we were taking a trip back home, and in a way, we were.
Still, I couldn't help noticing the little changes in everyone. Little changes that no one would have noticed had they not been paying attention. Ginny and Ronald appeared a little too exuberant for their own good, seeming like they had been too long confined in small spaces, and jumped at small noises. Hermione gave off the distinct air of being laid back. She didn't seem at all like last year, as though she were stepping on glass or eggshells or something equally fragile. Neville seemed- no, was- more confident. When I first saw him on the train last year, he didn't look as though he had an ounce of confidence in him. Despite the evilness of the year before, it looked as though some good things were coming out of it. His grandmother apparently bought him a new wand, and he was busy showing it to Ginny, Ronald, and Hermione. But Harry was different, too. A strong enough gust of wind looked like it could knock him over. He looked and no doubt felt tired. I remember it well and the memories are only too clear in my mind from the time when my mother died.
At this point in time, he was staring off into space with a dazed look in his eye, most likely thinking about his godfather. He was sitting in the window seat, gazing off into the sunset, which looked very pretty but not captivating. I was sitting next to him and so I patted his hand with my own in an attempt to comfort him. He was shaken out of his reverie -although not too harshly I hope- and looked down at our hands. Raising his head slowly, he smiled in a grateful fashion. In turn, I smiled as well since it was a moment in which people should smile. And he was happy, and I was happy for him.
It was a nice feeling, having the ground of Hogwarts underneath my feet and we made our way to the Great Hall for the Sorting and the Welcome and Welcome Back Feast. I would have to part with my new friends for the time but I didn't mind, as it gave me time to think. To think about what had happened these past few hours, not to mention the past month. I sat down at the Ravenclaw table whilst Harry and the others found seats at the Gryffindor table. I saw some girls in my year pointing at me and laughing quietly, but I only sighed and turned my attention to Dumbledore, who had begun speaking, and though it was quiet, I felt like I couldn't hear a word. Everything just seemed to float in through one ear and out the other. I didn't pay it any mind and completely forgot about it when the first years were ushered in by Professor McGonagall. All of them quite frightened and I did my best to offer a friendly smile to any who looked my way, which was only a few, since most had their eyes focused in front of them.
The Sorting seemed to go on forever when at last, Yin, Susan (RAVENCLAW!) was sorted and Dumbledore said something that passed yet again in and out of my mind before the trays were filled and I began to eat. When it seemed as though everyone had their fill, the headmaster gave another short speech addressed to the students, namely the first years and some of the older students who acted like first years before we were allowed to leave for our dormitories. I met up with Harry and Neville on the way as Ronald and Hermione had gone to talk to the new fifth year prefects about the first years, and Ginny, as one of the chosen two, had left with them. The trip was somewhat quiet until we reached the staircases separating the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. I said my goodnights and they did as well before we parted ways for the night.
I reached my dormitory before the rest of my housemates as they were still down in the common room fussing over whatever gossip they had come across on the way upstairs. I sighed and moved over to where my four-poster bed was located. Sitting down on the mattress, I realized that my trunk had been brought up, as it had been every year. Inside of it, I remembered with a start, atop the rest of its contents, was the box that Harry had given me early that day. Jumping up, I walked over to it and opened the trunk and came face to face with a small cardboard box sitting innocently on top of my belongings. I picked it up and walked right back over to my bed. Sitting down once more, I took the top off the box and peered inside. Lying on the bottom of the box were three different flowers: a daisy, a lily, and a daffodil. There was a note attached to the cover piece and was in the same scrawl that I had been reading for part of the summer. All it said was, "Welcome back".
That was two months ago. A lot has happened since then. Although, not so much that Ronald and Hermione have come clean, even though all of us suspect something. I'm somewhat nervous, considering that it is my O.W.L. year and I'm sure that quite a lot of us will be on our last nerve when it comes to taking the test. Plus, Harry and I have been spending a lot of time together, whether it be just the two of us or in our group of six, which includes the trio as well as myself, Ginny, and Neville.
And that was how I ended up here, in the Quidditch pitch, lying on the ground, hiding from the very people who hide my things during the school year. They weren't exactly looking for me, but the second I walk in the Great Hall, their eyes would be darting back and forth between me, Harry, and their gossiping partners, spreading rumors faster than a Blibbering Humdinger at full speed. So I came out here. I don't mind missing dinner, I wasn't exactly hungry anyway. And I'll probably get to breakfast early, since I don't like being stared at while eat. It's rather unnerving and less than comfortable, making it hard to concentrate on eating.
I hear footsteps now, but I'm not that worried. I doubt anyone would find me here. Unless they know me, which few do, and in that case, I would not be worried. The footsteps stop right behind my head so I can't see them, not that I was trying to in the first place. After a few seconds, there is a soft sigh and then movement to the left of me. There is a slight rustling and I know that someone is lying down next to me. As it is, I only know of two people who would do this, considering the previous theory is correct. Ginny would have started talking by now; Neville and Ron would have been too embarrassed or confused to actually lie down. Hermione found me out here about a month ago and I managed to trick her into lying down. She discovered that if you can't beat them, join them since she couldn't get me up and since then, we have become friends in a sense. And Harry......... well, Harry would have understood. He told me about Hermione finding me out here and I told him why I had been out in the first place. I told him that every now and then, it's nice to look at the sky and just think. One night, a few weeks back, and a few weeks after Hermione found me, we went out and talked, looking at the sky. It was nice. And since it feels like it did that night, I think it is safe to assume that it is indeed Harry out here, lying next to me.
"Hello," I said, breaking the suddenly silent silence.
"Hey," a familiar voice rang out from the darkness beside me. I was right; it was, in fact, Harry. Just Harry. And that was all there was to it.
I never really knew him all that well, so I was pretty surprised when his owl showed up at our tent in Sweden. I took the note from the leg of the owl and began to read it. It mentioned many things, such as his muggle relatives and how his summer was going. He talked of simple things, like how Snape had given everyone extra assignments for over the summer and about his aunt's flower garden was coming into full bloom. I was glad to read that he wasn't dwelling on things. It isn't very healthy to dwell. When I had reached to end of his note, I spotted the PS at the bottom of the page in what looked like a hasty scrawl. It told me to look at the other leg of his owl, as though he was sure that I would overlook it, which I did. I reached for her other leg and noticed for the first time, I small package. I untied it and proceeded to open it, as it is customary to do that in order to find what is inside. Unto to the ground floated another note, in similar style to the 'PS' before it. It read:
I thought you might like this. It's from my aunt's flower garden, if you're wondering.
I smiled and gazed into the package. In the middle was a flower, a daisy. For the rest of the day, I had worn it in my hair, wary of any low branches in the forest, as Daddy and I looked for Crumple-Horned Snorcacks. We didn't find any that day, though I do believe I caught a glimpse of one in the distance.
As the days passed until it would be time to go back to Hogwarts, we had written letters back and forth. I told him of Crumple-Horned Snorcacks and what the stars look like from Sweden; he told me of relative's behaviors since he arrived home and what the stars looked like from Surrey. We talked of many things, bizarre as singing toilets and as normal as afternoon tea.
The day of the journey back to Hogwarts had arrived. Daddy took me to the station around ten forty-five on a Muggle train. I go on one every year, to get to the station, you know, but after all this time, they still seem as strange as ever. He was just dropping me off there, though. Apparently, there was some emergency down at the Quibbler offices about a talking rubber duck. I raced through the barrier, which never gets old, no matter how many times I go through it. Lugging my trunk onto the Hogwarts Express and looked for an empty compartment, as always. It was always easier just to sit by myself than to listen to people jibber-jabber for half a day. Except for last year, of course. I searched for a few minutes before settling myself down into a compartment and opened the latest copy of the Quibbler. I had just started reading an article about the complex societies of wide-jawed fairies when a knock on the door jostled me out of my thoughts.
"Yes?" The door opened a bit and Hermione Granger's head popped in the crack.
"Hey, Luna. Do you mind if we sit with you?" I shook my head slightly and she waved the others behind the door over. There was a large clatter on the other side of the glass and some owls hooting. Next thing I know, a huge, ginger-colored cat is in my lap. It doesn't stay there for long, though, leaping from open space to open space as five other people cram into my compartment. Ginny Weasley waves and sits next to me.
"Hi, Luna. Have a nice summer?" Her smile is so bright, although she has this look as though she's been around several people yelling for the past two or three hours. Then again, with a house full of brothers, I guess that's bound to happen. Hermione takes the seat next to her and gives her attention to me, her eyes imploring me to go on.
"It was rather enjoyable. Sweden was absolutely beautiful, you know. I wished we didn't have to leave." Ginny looked to Hermione and I think she might have glared but I couldn't see properly. Hermione turned back to me, her face showing mild self-restraint.
"Did you, er- find any of those things that you were looking for?" Ginny looked like she was giggling, and I was trying hard to repress a smile myself.
"Well, I did catch a glimpse of one, but I didn't really get a good look. Anyway, how was your holiday?" I had asked the question to all of the compartment's inhabitants and, as if on cue, they all looked to one another with the exception of Neville and Harry, though Ronald might have cast a glance over at him. Harry, however, smiled and started telling me about his trip to Diagon Alley with the Weasley family and Hermione. In turn I told him of the talking rubber duck. Ronald told jokes to pass the time until the trolley came around. We bought piles of sweets that were sure to last us the rest of the journey.
Once again, there was a knock on the door. Shortly after the knock, without any word from us, the door, yet another time, slid open. This time, it revealed Cho Chang, the seeker on my house's Quidditch team. I must admit, she is rather pretty, but her personality isn't wonderful. The company she keeps isn't much better, I think to myself as I notice Marietta Edgecomb at her side, free of the balaclava she wore at the end of last year. All the laughter stopped at once and all eyes turned to the doorway. The looks on our faces were less than pleasant, as Marietta had caused the downfall of the D.A. the year before, though causing her own face to break out into pustules creating the word "SNEAK" on her face.
"Hi, Harry." Cho said shakily. He had an indifferent look on his face, as did I. Looking at each other, I noticed something that wasn't there before, as I am quite sure he noticed as well. I saw pain, hurt, and caring. I had seen all this before, though. After the rescue mission, we talked and I saw it. In our letters, I could hear it, even though he wasn't talking. But there was something new in there that I was pretty sure was in my eyes as well. Loneliness. It was as if all the air was slowly being sucked out of the room and we couldn't hear a thing. I wonder how long we weren't paying attention for it seemed as though we were there for hours, though no one had even looked our way in confusion. Suddenly, Cho was talking to Harry who seemed to be having a hard time concentrating. Reluctantly, his gaze turned from me to Cho, the indifferent mask replaced upon his face.
"-so I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get together sometime?" Cho asked, a nervous smile playing on her face, her hands twitching as though she couldn't stand still.
Harry got up and turned around to open his bag in the rack above him. Pulling out a small cardboard box, he finally turned around from poking things inside, as though prodding something into shape.
"Yeah, sure, maybe," he said absently, handing me the box. Cho's eyes were glued to it, looking like there was something poisonous inside. Jealously clouded her eyes as she looked from me to Hermione to Ginny and then back to the box and me. She left with a huff of envy, although I doubt the boys noted it as that than as exasperation. However, Hermione and Ginny looked to me worriedly, just like I looked back at them.
There was no further incident during the journey except for a bit of a squirmish involving Malfoy and his goons. They aren't that bright, are they? After everything with the D.A. and at the Department of Mysteries, did he really think that he could take us on, especially with Crabbe and Goyle?
At last, we reached the Hogsmeade station and were welcomed by a loud voice yelling, "Firs' years. Firs' years, this way." I could tell that the rest of the group felt elated and I couldn't help feeling the same.
The six of us laughed the entire trip and shared a carriage on the way to the castle. Neville, Harry, and I patted the thestrals on their back, though many people around us were either looking fearful, the number of which was very few, or disgusted because it seemed to them that we were patting something that wasn't there. Ronald, Ginny, and Hermione had smiles on their faces when we took our places inside the carriage. The air inside the carriage was filled with excitement and longing. It was as though we were taking a trip back home, and in a way, we were.
Still, I couldn't help noticing the little changes in everyone. Little changes that no one would have noticed had they not been paying attention. Ginny and Ronald appeared a little too exuberant for their own good, seeming like they had been too long confined in small spaces, and jumped at small noises. Hermione gave off the distinct air of being laid back. She didn't seem at all like last year, as though she were stepping on glass or eggshells or something equally fragile. Neville seemed- no, was- more confident. When I first saw him on the train last year, he didn't look as though he had an ounce of confidence in him. Despite the evilness of the year before, it looked as though some good things were coming out of it. His grandmother apparently bought him a new wand, and he was busy showing it to Ginny, Ronald, and Hermione. But Harry was different, too. A strong enough gust of wind looked like it could knock him over. He looked and no doubt felt tired. I remember it well and the memories are only too clear in my mind from the time when my mother died.
At this point in time, he was staring off into space with a dazed look in his eye, most likely thinking about his godfather. He was sitting in the window seat, gazing off into the sunset, which looked very pretty but not captivating. I was sitting next to him and so I patted his hand with my own in an attempt to comfort him. He was shaken out of his reverie -although not too harshly I hope- and looked down at our hands. Raising his head slowly, he smiled in a grateful fashion. In turn, I smiled as well since it was a moment in which people should smile. And he was happy, and I was happy for him.
It was a nice feeling, having the ground of Hogwarts underneath my feet and we made our way to the Great Hall for the Sorting and the Welcome and Welcome Back Feast. I would have to part with my new friends for the time but I didn't mind, as it gave me time to think. To think about what had happened these past few hours, not to mention the past month. I sat down at the Ravenclaw table whilst Harry and the others found seats at the Gryffindor table. I saw some girls in my year pointing at me and laughing quietly, but I only sighed and turned my attention to Dumbledore, who had begun speaking, and though it was quiet, I felt like I couldn't hear a word. Everything just seemed to float in through one ear and out the other. I didn't pay it any mind and completely forgot about it when the first years were ushered in by Professor McGonagall. All of them quite frightened and I did my best to offer a friendly smile to any who looked my way, which was only a few, since most had their eyes focused in front of them.
The Sorting seemed to go on forever when at last, Yin, Susan (RAVENCLAW!) was sorted and Dumbledore said something that passed yet again in and out of my mind before the trays were filled and I began to eat. When it seemed as though everyone had their fill, the headmaster gave another short speech addressed to the students, namely the first years and some of the older students who acted like first years before we were allowed to leave for our dormitories. I met up with Harry and Neville on the way as Ronald and Hermione had gone to talk to the new fifth year prefects about the first years, and Ginny, as one of the chosen two, had left with them. The trip was somewhat quiet until we reached the staircases separating the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. I said my goodnights and they did as well before we parted ways for the night.
I reached my dormitory before the rest of my housemates as they were still down in the common room fussing over whatever gossip they had come across on the way upstairs. I sighed and moved over to where my four-poster bed was located. Sitting down on the mattress, I realized that my trunk had been brought up, as it had been every year. Inside of it, I remembered with a start, atop the rest of its contents, was the box that Harry had given me early that day. Jumping up, I walked over to it and opened the trunk and came face to face with a small cardboard box sitting innocently on top of my belongings. I picked it up and walked right back over to my bed. Sitting down once more, I took the top off the box and peered inside. Lying on the bottom of the box were three different flowers: a daisy, a lily, and a daffodil. There was a note attached to the cover piece and was in the same scrawl that I had been reading for part of the summer. All it said was, "Welcome back".
That was two months ago. A lot has happened since then. Although, not so much that Ronald and Hermione have come clean, even though all of us suspect something. I'm somewhat nervous, considering that it is my O.W.L. year and I'm sure that quite a lot of us will be on our last nerve when it comes to taking the test. Plus, Harry and I have been spending a lot of time together, whether it be just the two of us or in our group of six, which includes the trio as well as myself, Ginny, and Neville.
And that was how I ended up here, in the Quidditch pitch, lying on the ground, hiding from the very people who hide my things during the school year. They weren't exactly looking for me, but the second I walk in the Great Hall, their eyes would be darting back and forth between me, Harry, and their gossiping partners, spreading rumors faster than a Blibbering Humdinger at full speed. So I came out here. I don't mind missing dinner, I wasn't exactly hungry anyway. And I'll probably get to breakfast early, since I don't like being stared at while eat. It's rather unnerving and less than comfortable, making it hard to concentrate on eating.
I hear footsteps now, but I'm not that worried. I doubt anyone would find me here. Unless they know me, which few do, and in that case, I would not be worried. The footsteps stop right behind my head so I can't see them, not that I was trying to in the first place. After a few seconds, there is a soft sigh and then movement to the left of me. There is a slight rustling and I know that someone is lying down next to me. As it is, I only know of two people who would do this, considering the previous theory is correct. Ginny would have started talking by now; Neville and Ron would have been too embarrassed or confused to actually lie down. Hermione found me out here about a month ago and I managed to trick her into lying down. She discovered that if you can't beat them, join them since she couldn't get me up and since then, we have become friends in a sense. And Harry......... well, Harry would have understood. He told me about Hermione finding me out here and I told him why I had been out in the first place. I told him that every now and then, it's nice to look at the sky and just think. One night, a few weeks back, and a few weeks after Hermione found me, we went out and talked, looking at the sky. It was nice. And since it feels like it did that night, I think it is safe to assume that it is indeed Harry out here, lying next to me.
"Hello," I said, breaking the suddenly silent silence.
"Hey," a familiar voice rang out from the darkness beside me. I was right; it was, in fact, Harry. Just Harry. And that was all there was to it.