A/N: This is my first fan fic so bare with me! I've posted this story before on another website, so it you've seen it before it's not plagiarized.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to JKR.

As I packed my trunk with my school things my favorite song came on the radio, sung by The Weird Sisters. "I love this song," I said to myself as I folded up my robes and put them in my trunk. As I closed it, my father knocked on the door. "Come in," I said.

"You need to be hurrying, Luna. The train leaves in 35 minutes," he said.

"I'm all packed. I just need help with my trunk." My father went over to my trunk, picked it up, and carried it out. My father is such a nice man. He's the editor for The Quibbler. Many people think it's a stupid newspaper, but I think it's very informal.

As I walked towards the door to leave, I realized I had forgotten something. I hurried over to my dresser and opened the top drawer. I pulled out a picture of my mother and looked at it for a moment.

She's so beautiful, I thought. Her wavy blonde hair fell past her shoulders and her mysterious blue eyes shone as she smiled up at me, waving. I could feel the tears coming, but I held them back. I missed her so much, even after all this time. My dad missed her too. He didn't show it, but I could tell there was still a faint bit of sorrow in his misty grey eyes.

I stuck the picture in my pocket. I never went anywhere without it. Just then my dad came to the door.

"We have 30 minutes and who knows how long it will take."

"I'm coming," I said as I turned to him.

I followed him out the door, down the stairs, and on outside. There was a muggle taxi waiting with my stuff in the trunk. We live on the outside of London and we have to keep secret from the muggles so we use muggle transportation sometimes to get around. Dad and I got in the back. "King's Cross Station, please," he said.

I stared out the window to my house. It would be awhile before I saw it again. But I couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. I was going into my 5th year there. The classes were going to be harder, though, but OWLs were coming up soon.

I never really had any friends before. Sometimes I would talk with Ginny Weasley, also in 5th year, but she wasn't really a friend. But things seemed to have changed last year.

As we pulled away from my house, I watched the houses and other things go by while thinking about last year. That's when I met Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Logbottom. We all shared a compartment together on the train along with Ginny. I was sure they all thought I was mad, but through the year, things began to change.

My dad's voice broke my train of thought just then.

"Hurry up, Luna. We don't have much time left." We were already at the train station.

I got out, after my dad paid the driver muggle money, and went to get a trolley fro my trunk. Not too long afterwards I was on platform nine-and-three quarters.

There was about a minute left until 11:00, when the Hogwarts Express left. The scarlett steam engine stood among the crowds of witches and wizards all saying good-bye to their children.

"Hurry along there, Luna, the train will be leaving any moment," my dad said. "Let's get your things on board.

We went over and loaded my trunk on the train where there was a wizard taking them. Suddenly the whistle blew, signaling the time for departure.

"Good-bye dad," I said. "I'll miss you and I'll see you soon."

"Good-bye Luna. I love you."

"I love you too, dad."

I jumped on board and turned around to wave. He waved back as the train started moving. I went inside and closed the door. I looked out the door window to see my father's figure grow smaller and smaller as the train picked up speed and finally turned the corner.

I turned away from the window to find a compartment. There were people running around in the hallway, having a good time, but since I was running late, I didn't have time to find a good seat.

I searched the corridor, looking in each compartment, trying to find an empty one. But every one seemed to be full. Well this is just great, I thought to myself.

Just as I was turning away from a compartment full of Hufflepuffs, I ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I said quickly. I looked up to see who I had hit. There were three tall boys standing there, two big ones who looked like gorrillas, and a third in the middle who had silver blonde hair and cool grey eyes. He looked familiar. I thought I had seen him last year, but I couldn't remember his name.

"That's alright," said the blonde boy as I slid around them.

I kept on walking, looking for a place to sit. Then a compartment door opened on the left and a familiar face came out.

"Oh, hi Luna," said Harry Potter. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I said. "But I just can't find a place to sit."

"Oh, well, you can sit with us if you like," he said, gesturing towards his compartment.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want to bother you guys or anything."

"Oh no, it's fine. Come and sit with us."

I walked into the compartment, finding just Ginny and Neville looking up at me. I expected Harry's other two friends had Prefect duty.

"Hi, Luna!" Said Ginny. "Did you have a good summer?"

"Yes, it was nice, thank you. How about you?"

It seemed kind of different to be talking to them like this, like we were friends. But I decided to give it a go.

"Oh it was good. Harry got to come over and stay with us again and I think we all had a good time."

I looked over at Harry who had just sat down after closing the door. I remembered last year when his godfather, Sirius Black, died. It must have been hard for him. And since You-Know-Who was still out there, how could anyone have a good time? But I supposed Ginny was just trying not to think about it and was trying to stay postitive.

Just then the compartment door opened and in walked Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

"Oh man am I starving!" said Ron. "I can't wait 'till the food trolley gets here!"

"Oh Ron," said Hermione,"can't you think about anything but your stomach?"

"No," said Ron, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, no, wait.........no, I can't."

Everyone laughed. Ron always had a good sense of humor. He could be funny without trying to be. Ron then looked over at me and just suddenly realized I was there.

"Oh, uh, hi Luna," he said, kind of unsure.

"Hello," I said. I knew Ron still thought I was mad, but if it hadn't been for me last year, they all wouldn't have gotten to the Ministry of Magic.

"Oh, hello Luna. How are you?" said Hermione who was sitting on the other side of Neville.

"Fine, think you."

It was kind of quiet for a moment. Then the boys started to talk about Quidditch.

"I can't believe France won the World Cup this year!" said Ron in disbelief. "They were really bad last year!"

"I know," said Harry. "I was hoping England would've pulled through."

"Well, Ireland had a pretty good season," piped up Neville. "So did Poland."

"Yeah, Poland did have a good team," said Ron. "They would have won that game against Germany, if it wasn't for their Keeper who got hit by a bludger and broke his nose."

About that time, the food trolley arrived.

"Alright!" said Ron, loading his pockets down with cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. "This is my favorite part of the ride!"

"Oh, and I suppose your friends aren't that important?" said Hermione smirking.

"I was just kidding!" said Ron.

After eating for awhile Hermione asked, "I wonder who will be on the Quidditch team this year? You know, since alot of people have left?"

"Well, I'm trying out for Chaser," said Ginny. "And Harry's still Seeker and Ron's still Keeper."

"Do you think I should try out?" asked Neville. Everyone looked at him.

"Um, well," said Harry,"I guess, if you really want to."

"We should be getting new people this year, too," I chimed in. Everyone suddenly looked at me.

"It had been awhile since I said anything, so I thought I'd join in."

"Yes, well, that's fine," said Hermione smiling. "I'm sure most teams will need new players."

Just then the compartment door slid open again and three people walked in. I recognized them at once. They were the boys I had ran into earlier.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is," said the blonde middle boy in a drawling voice. "It's Potty and Weasel and their brave friends. If you call Longbottom and a mudblood brave."

Ron suddenly jumped up at the boy, but Harry stood up quickly to hold him back.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" said Harry, struggling to keep Ron from jumping on him.

Malfoy! That was his name, I knew it! I just could't think of it. I was trying to remember his first name. Was it Darren? Or maybe Darrell. Something with a D.

Malfoy smirked and scanned the room. Then his eyes landed on me. I just sat there staring up at him as he stared at me. His smirk grew bigger.

"I see you have a new little friend with you," he said, looking me up and down.

"Leave Luna alone. She didn't do anything," said Harry.

"Always standing up for people, Potter," said Malfoy. "Always having to be the hero." His two friends sniggered. Ron quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"Get out," he said.

Malfoy smirked one last time. He turned to go, but before he left, he turned around and looked right at me. I stared right back. Then he turned away and left.

"Why does he always have to bother us?" said Hermione as she got up to close the door.

"'Cause he hates us," said Harry. "Surely somone as smart as you would've figured that out by now!"

"Ha ha, very funny," Hermione said sarcatically.

"Yeah, we know you're not that stupid," said Ron. "By the way, are you going to eat that?" He looked over at me, pointing to the pasty next to me.

"Oh, no. Go ahead," I said as I handed it to him. He took it and him and Harry sat back down.

"So, who were those three anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Draco Malfoy and his two cronies Crabbe and Goyle," said Harry, crossing his arms. "They're in their 6th year with us, but in Slytherin."

"And I'm guessing you all hate each other," I said with a little grin.

"Since day one," said Ron shaking his head.

"I'd always seen them around last year," I said, "but I never really knew who they were."

"Well, hopefully you don't get mixed up with that crowd," said Harry, "especially since Malfoy became a Prefect."

"Oh, and speaking of Prefect," said Ginny turning to me, "guess what I got." She turned so I could see the front of her robes. On there was a shiny silver badge that read Prefect.

"Oh wow," I said looking at it. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," said Ginny. "Mum was so excited that she threw a big party that lasted for hours!"

"Sounds like fun!" I said smiling.

"Yeah. I got finished with all of my Prefect duties before you came in. We didn't really have a whole lot to do."

Later on, everyone talked about their classes and how Neville dreaded Professor Snape. They were all just telling me about the time in their 3rd year when Neville changed a boggart into Snape and then Snape in a dress ("The funniest thing ever!" laughed Ron.) when the train started to slow.

"Oh no," said Hermione. "You all forgot to change into your robes."

I looked around and realized she was right. Her, Ron, and Ginny were all in theirs due to their Prefect duties, but Harry, Neville, and I had forgotten.

"Well," said Ron, "we need to go and monitor the corridors, so Harry and Neville can change in here and Luna can change in the bathroom."

"Sounds good to me," I said as we all got up. Harry looked at me and smiled as I made my way to the door and walked out. I had to get my robes from my trunk and get to the bathroom before we stopped.

After I had gotten my robes and changed, the train had stopped.

"Oh no, I hope I won't be late," I said to myself.

People were still getting off the train, so I followed. When I got off, I searched around on the platform for Harry and the others. I decided I would walk towards the carriages and find them there.

Suddenly, somone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey there," they said.

I turned around to see who it was. It was Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin boy.

"Oh, hi," I said, sounding kind of shocked. Malfoy must have noticed it too because he said, "What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," I said smiling a little.

"So, you're one of Potter's friends, I'm assuming?" said Malfoy.

"Um, yeah, I guess," I said shrugging. "We only met last year. By the way, I'm Luna Lovegood." I stuck my hand out for him to shake.

"Draco Malfoy," he said, shaking my hand. He had a surprising grip. As I looked at him, I realized he didn't look bad at all. He kind of looked like the boy next door. I smiled up at him as I let go of his hand and he smiled back.

"Well, I'd better go and find the others," I said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Ok. See you," said Malfoy still smiling.

I walked off, trying to find the others, but I still thought about Malfoy. He's not so bad, I thought to myself. He's alot different from last year, though.

I finally spotted Harry through a crowd of Ravenclaw 2nd years. I went over to them.

"I thought we had better wait on you," said Harry.

"Oh, that was nice of you," I said. He smiled at me.

"Well, we'd better get in," said Hermione.

Before I got in, I looked over at the thestral that would be pulling our carriage. Thestrals always gave me the creeps, but I had been getting used to them.

I climbed in and sat between Ginny and Neville. Then the carriage took off up the trail to Hogwarts.

A/N: Hope you all enjoy it so far. Please review! No flames please.