Severus knocked and opened the door in one smooth movement. Beside the dresser, Samantha shrieked and dove for cover in the drapes on her bed. Recoiling, he jumped backwards and kicked the door shut, blushing furiously. It would take some time getting used to the idea that there was a person in his house other than him. Forget person - there was a woman in his chambers! An alien species! No – strike that - he mentally admonished himself. A student was in his chambers… and technically that room was her chambers. Knocking lightly upon the door, he called through it, his words jumbled and his mind distracted.

"Hey, would you… do you want…Breakfast is starting in the great hall"

Oh, great. People gawking as she sat in a corner at her own small table. Feeling visibly alienated instead of just mentally estranged. All wearing the colors of a house except her. Her creepy silver hair and stormy grey eyes frightened all people in her old muggle school, was she to never belong anywhere? Never have friends? She didn't want fluffy pink girly sleepovers, but she would like a friend to speak with, or even to sit quietly with. She had never even had a pet before. Looking at her feet, she called softly through the door.

"Must we?"

"Your classes start today. Don't you want something to eat?"

"Eating's fine, but where would I sit?"

"Sit wherever you want. Make friends. Make enemies. Don't tell anyone anything you wouldn't want the school to know and exploit."

Samantha grinned at her closed door.

"Thanks. Really comforting."

"So, coming?"

"I guess, hang on…"

Striding over to the door, she opened it and glided through. With a snap of her fingers, her hair was combed and parted neatly. She looked up to meet the black eyes of her temporary provider.

"Okay, let's go."

Stomach clenching nervously, Samantha braced herself to enter the Great Hall. Taking a calming breath, she shook her hair and walked defiantly through the magestic oak doors. Walking calmly through the center aisle, she pretended to ignore the whisperings and mutterings that sprang up before her, and looked around for somewhere to sit. One of the students from the table furthest from her smiled and waved. She had long dirty blonde hair that fell to her waist and enormous owl-like glasses. She had a necklace made of some kind of cork-like material, and earrings twisted in the shape of radishes. There was a space on either side of her. The girl smiled and patted the bench beside her, indicating that she could join her if she liked. Returning the smile, she walked over and joined the girl, grateful for a friendly face. The whisperings around her doubled in intensity.

"Hello" said Samantha, unsure of what to say.

"Hello. You're Samantha, aren't you. What house were you finally sorted into?"

"Um, I don't have a house. I was apprentanced to Professor Snape."

"So you're an Independent?"

"Yes, you've heard of them?"

"Nobody else believed me when I said that not all students were sorted. Now perhaps they'll believe me about other stuff, like the scaly horses that pull the carriages up to the castle and the Nargles."

"Nargles?"

The two had a pleasant conversation for the rest of breakfast, each enjoying having someone to talk to. At the end of breakfast, as the students were filing out of the great hall, Samantha asked a final question.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, Luna. Luna Lovegood. Fifth year student of Hufflepuff. Number 489732. That's how you're supposed to respond in prison, you know. Name, rank, and serial number. Except in Africa. There you only have one name, and there aren't many prisons. Most criminals are just flogged and set free."

Luna turned and was swept away in the flood of students, humming softly to herself. Tears came to Samantha's eyes from holding in her laughter. Shaking with suppressed mirth, she collapsed in fits of semi-hysterical laughter in the first empty corner she came to. Maybe this term wouldn't be so bad after all.

Compared to being an African criminal, classes should be a piece of cake.