Disclaimer: I really don't own anything.

A/N: Okay, peeps, here's the new chapter. I only got a few reviews for the last one, but I wanted to continue anyways. I was bored, okay??? Well, I stayed up until like 3 o'clock writing this chapter, so you'd better like it, or I'm coming after you. No, not really, 'cuz I don't know where any of you live. But please, read and enjoy.

Oh, and thanks to Danu3, who was the only reviewer for this story, but reviewed twice. I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, and I hope those dreams stop soon. And to answer your question, yes, eventually Ginny will stop mean, but not for a long while. Harry's got to suffer a bit more first. I know, I'm so mean, but all will be revealed eventually.


Chapter 3: Luna

"Boy! Boy get up, we've got to take you to that freak school today! We're leaving in fifteen minutes. If you're not ready, we're leaving without you and you're not going!"

Harry groaned and rolled over, reaching for his glasses and placing them on his nose. He looked at the clock on his bedside table. Eight o'clock. The train left in an hour. He sighed. Usually, he would be very excited about this day. He was going back to Hogwarts for his seventh year, getting away from the Dursleys. But today, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself under the covers and stay there until the end of the year.

Usually, he would leap out of bed, those last fifteen minutes going painstakingly slow. When he finally got to the station, he would pass through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾, where he would meet Ron and the rest of the Weasley clan, and most likely Hermione. The three of them—four including Ginny—would then proceed to the empty compartment at the end of the train, where they would play Exploding Snap and discuss what they wanted to do when they left school, all the while listening to Ginny complain about having to spend one more year all alone at school.

But that was under normal circumstances.

Another sharp rap at the door by his aunt brought him out of his reverie. He called out "Coming!" and rolled out of bed. He stumbled sleepily over to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt. He pulled them on, ran a hand through his unruly black hair, and began to search for a pair of socks. They normally hid under the bed, he decided, and proceeded to bend down and shove his frame into the small space under the bed. He found a pair of socks and attempted to pull himself back out. As he sat up, he cracked the top of his head on the bottom of the bed frame. He cursed under his breath and massaged his scalp. This was not turning out to be a good day.

Harry walked around his room, checking every nook and cranny for any left behind school supplies. When he found none, he closed and locked his trunk and dragged it down the stairs into the front hall. He left it there and walked into the kitchen.

His rather obese cousin took up one whole side of the table, shoving pancakes and bacon into his mouth like there was no tomorrow. With a pang, Harry was strongly reminded of the day he found out about Ron's death. Harry swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat and took a seat at the table. Aunt Petunia placed a plate with one pancake in front of him and scowled down at him, as though daring him to ask for more food. Harry did nothing of the sort. Instead, he silently began to eat. Petunia shared a confused look with Vernon, who was glaring menacingly at Harry over the top of his newspaper. Harry quickly finished his breakfast and moved to clear the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and Vernon heaved himself out of his chair and made his way to the hall. Harry was just scraping the bacon rinds into the garbage disposal when they heard a thump from the hall, soon followed by a loud crash and then a shout of "BOY!" Harry gulped. It sounded as if his uncle had tripped and fallen over Harry's school trunk. Harry slowly slid into the hall, careful to keep his back against the wall.

Sure enough, Vernon was lying flat on his face in the middle of the hall and Harry's trunk was tipped over on one side. Vernon stood up and made his way over to his nephew, his face purple with rage.

"You ungrateful brat!" he snarled, putting his face close to Harry's. "Petunia and I take you in and feed you, and you repay us by trying to kill me? I won't have it!" He raised his fist and Harry closed his eyes, bracing himself for the blow.

It never came. Harry opened one eye to find his uncle staring at the front door, which was now open. Harry edged around his large uncle to see who was at the door and came face to face with Remus Lupin. Harry's face broke into the first grin he had done in weeks. Remus smiled at him.

"Hello, Harry," he said pleasantly. "How are you?"

"I'm…I'm good," Harry said slowly. "Erm…not to be rude or anything, but…what are you doing here?" he asked. Remus smiled.

"I kind of had a strange feeling that you would need a ride to the station today," he explained. "For some reason, I felt that your relatives would not be so cooperative today. I can see that I was right," he said, sternly looking Vernon up and down. "I'm glad I got here when I did, or otherwise, I'm sure that Harry would have a very nasty black eye. You, sir, have no respect for your nephew, and I personally will make sure that changes." Vernon's face turned, if possible, even more purple.

"I will not have you freaks in my house any longer," he hissed. In one swift movement that surprised everyone, Vernon snatched up Harry and bodily threw him out of the door, where he collided with Remus and they tumbled down the porch steps. Harry quickly rolled out of the way as his trunk followed. With one last sneer in Harry's direction, Vernon slammed the door shut. Remus stood up and brushed off his robes.

"Well, what a charming man your uncle is," he said sarcastically, holding out a hand and helping Harry to his feet. Harry snorted. "Is he always like that?" Remus asked. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. "Although, he's never actually thrown me out of the house before. For some really strange reason, I have the feeling that he's not going to want me to come back." Remus shook his head.

"Well, we'll deal with that when the time comes," he said. "Right now, we've got to get you to the station. The train leaves in half an hour. Let's go." He picked up Harry's trunk and carried it down the drive. Harry ran to catch up.

"Um, Remus?" he asked the older wizard. "How are we going to get there?" Remus grinned mischievously.

"Who do you think your godfather left his motorbike to?" he asked wickedly. Harry stared.

"You've got Sirius's bike?" Harry asked disbelievingly. Remus nodded and laughed.

"For the moment, yes," he said. "But he really wanted you to have it." Harry started.

"Me? Sirius left his bike to me?" he asked. "But he loved that thing! Why would he leave it to me?"

Remus shrugged. "His mind worked in strange ways, Harry. I think he knew that you would love to have the bike, and would take the best care of it." Harry nodded slowly. "Well, come on, let's get going. We don't want you to miss the train." He led Harry to the end of the block, where the large black motorcycle was waiting for them.

Fifteen minutes later, the two of them landed with a thud in front of King's Cross station. Remus had flown the motorcycle in order to both show Harry how it worked, and to make good time. Harry climbed off the back and undid his trunk. Remus reached over and pushed a button labeled "Home", and the bike roared to life and flew away. Remus laughed at the amazed look on Harry's face. Harry just glared at the older man. Remus went inside and reappeared moments later with a cart to put his trunk on. Harry wheeled the cart over to the wall between 9 and 10 and waited for a large group of muggle tourists to walk by. He pushed his way through the wall with Remus close behind him, and they made their way over to the train.

Remus helped Harry carry the trunk up onto the train and find a compartment. Once Harry was settled in, they exited the train. Remus turned to face Harry and placed both his hands on the boy's shoulders. Remus smiled.

"Well, young Harry," he said in a false voice of authority. Harry had to fight to keep from grinning. "On your way to your seventh and final year at Hogwarts. How proud I am of you. Now, you behave yourself, young man. I will be keeping a close eye on you. Closer than you may think," he finished, giving Harry a mysterious wink. Harry looked confused and was about to question the older wizard when the whistle sounded. Remus gave Harry a small push. "Now, off you go. Don't miss the train." Harry boarded the train and waved as Remus Disapparated.

Harry's good mood disappeared at once, as though Remus had taken it with him. He slowly headed off to his compartment, dreading the empty loneliness that he knew was awaiting him. He received a surprise, however, when he slid open the door and came upon Luna Lovegood. He stepped back in shock, but Luna did not seem to have noticed him. She was staring out the window, and all that Harry could see of her was the back of her blonde head. He knew it was her, however, as he didn't know any other girls with hair that color.

"Erm…hey, Luna," he said hesitantly. She slowly turned her face toward him, and he saw that she had been crying. Her misty blue-grey eyes were slightly red and puffy, and her cheeks were wet. Harry felt an instant flow of sympathy and pity towards the distraught girl. Luna sniffed.

"Oh, Harry," she said. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here. I'll leave…" she trailed off and stood up. She tried to go around Harry, but he put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, confused.

"No, that's okay," he said, smiling softly. "You can stay. I don't mind, really. In fact, I could actually use the company."

Luna smiled and sat down. She stared at the black-haired boy for a minute, and Harry had to fight with all his might to keep from fidgeting under her gaze. He stared back, and when she didn't make any sign of looking away, he cleared his throat. Luna started.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry," she said. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Harry asked. Luna looked away, embarrassed.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said quietly. Harry wasn't fooled.

"Luna, I hate it when people lie to me," he told her. "I know that we don't know each other that well, but you can talk to me about anything." Luna nodded.

"Well, I was just thinking…" she trailed off for a moment, and Harry waited patiently for her to continue. "I was just thinking…what if…what would it have been like if…if…if Ron hadn't…" she trailed off again, her eyes filling with fresh tears. Harry sighed, feeling that lump rising in his throat for the second time that day.

"Did you have feelings for him, Luna?" he asked the blonde girl. She suddenly became very interested in her feet. She nodded slowly, then shook her head, and then shrugged.

"I really don't know, Harry," she said honestly. "I mean, when I first met him, back in fourth year—your fifth year—I though he was the most gorgeous guy I'd ever met. But he seemed like he was afraid of me, he was always acting nervous when I was around, and he was constantly asking me if I was feeling normal. I could tell that he just though of me as Loony Lovegood like the rest of the whole school population, but I couldn't help it. I…I think…I think I loved him, Harry," she finished quietly. Harry didn't say anything, and for a moment Luna thought that he had left. She looked up and found herself looking into his brilliant green eyes. He smiled softly.

"He was a good person," Harry said quietly. "It was hard for me too. Hell, it's still hard. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at his bed in Gryffindor tower the same again. And when Ron died, I was left with no one. Hermione left me for…someone," he spat, despising the name of the man that had snatched his girlfriend away, "and Ginny blames me for Ron's death, and Sirius died as well. They're all gone. I've got no one left." Harry felt tears well in his eyes as he wondered why he was telling all the troubles in his life to this odd girl that was almost a stranger to him. Luna smiled gently and placed her hand on Harry's arm. He looked up at her.

"You've always got me, Harry," she said softly. That did it. For the first time since his best friend's funeral, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the boy who defeated Voldemort as a one-year-old child, broke down and sobbed onto the shoulder of Luna Lovegood, his newest and last true friend.


A/N: Oh, so sad!! I almost made myself cry writing this. Okay, I know, at the beginning it was kind of weird. But I wanted to fit Remus in there somewhere, and I wanted him to be the new kind of father-figure in Harry's life. And I'm kind of going through an "I-love-Luna" phase. She's going to appear in every chapter of this story from now on, or 98 percentof them, anyways.

I'm also writing a new story (I know, I know, but the ideas just keep coming!!). I'm almost done with the first chapter, and all I'm going to tell you is that it's going to be a DM/LL story. It's going to be really good, though. I really don't think I've ever read a story with Draco and Luna hooking up, so I'm writing one myself. I'm not sure when it's going to be up, but I know that it will be soon.

And I know that I haven't been updating my other stories lately, but I'm not getting any reviews, and I'm also having some majorly bad writer's block going on. Those stories are surprisingly hard to write. This one is much easier, and it is by far the best one I've got. But no worries! Christmas break is coming up soon, like, in the next week, and I'm going to be doing some major updating over those two weeks that I'm out of school, so all of my stories are going to be updated within the next week, I promise. And if they're not, I give you all full permission to egg my house (although my parents might not be too happy about that!!! LOL!!!)

And just so you all know, I have really long author's notes, but I'm making sure to put them all at the end of the chapters, so that you don't have to scroll down so far in order to read the story. Geeze that annoys me!!

Okay, well, that was the third chapter. Was it totally horrid? Am I being too hard on poor Harry? Please review and give me your honest opinion. Did you forget how?? Well, then I'll remind you. Just click on that little purple/blue button at the bottom of the screen. Easy enough, right??