A/N: Wow, okay first off, I'm super sorry for this chapter being this late. School sucks sometimes. People are actually digging this story, which surprised the hell outta me. It was supposed to be a little side thing while I wrote my own story but I guess I'll be putting more into it. For disclosure's sake, I'm gonna be messing up the timeline a lot, so I guess it's an AU. Oh, and I don't own shit. Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Me, Myself & Luna
October 1st, 1992.
…
Eventually Harry did get himself a new pair of shoes.
Once again sneaking out of the house on a Thursday claiming illness (during the daytime this time, of course; he didn't want to break his promise to Miss Alicia), the boy bought himself a pair of black Chuck Taylors.
It became Harry's most prized possession, being the first thing he could say was his and his alone.
Things progressed normally around the Dursley household since that day; Harry still worked ungodly amounts of chores, Dudley still chased him around (Harry was somewhat beginning to have fun with it now; nowadays, at least, it was easier to outrun the hefty boy and his friends) and he still loved going to school.
But late in the nighttime, Harry was studying a different type of music appreciation.
Hip hop was utterly fascinating; in the year he'd spent visiting the record store, Miss Alicia and her husband, the equally as cool (if not a little eccentric) Harrison had essentially thrown him headfirst into a world he'd never been aware of.
From A Tribe Called Quest, to De La Soul, to LL Cool J,to newcomers like Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Harry's already small cupboard room was quickly becoming taken over by pillars and columns of cassette tapes.
Tonight, though, was different.
Popping in a new album Mister Harrison had given him earlier today, Harry slipped under the covers and prepared his ears. The now familiar hiss of the tape noise filled him with anticipation and excitement. Who knows what kind of rhymes he would hear this time around?
Right before the music started though, the boy heard something slip through the front door. Quietly removing his headphones, Harry crept out of his door with a small, hard toy bat he kept next to him just in case.
Looking down at the floor where the moonlight shone through the front door window, a fancy reflective letter laid daintily, looking almost as if it'd been untouched by human hands. Placing his weapon down, Harry picked up the letter and flipped it over to the front.
He tilted his head curiously. "To the Cupboard Under the Stairs, Privet Drive…?" Something in Harry's body went completely still. The boy's breathing became labored and fearful; whoever sent this knew exactly where it was going.
Looking closer he saw the sender at the top right. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry?"
...
"So you're going off to a different school, huh?" Alicia murmured.
Harry nodded sadly. He was ecstatic when he found out he was a wizard; not only that, but his parents had been ones too!
It was much better than thinking they were irresponsible drunkards that had gotten killed in a car accident for eleven years.
But leaving Privet Drive meant leaving Mr. & Mrs. Midtown and the record store. He couldn't bear being apart from them for so long; they'd given him so much to enjoy and hadn't asked for hardly anything in return. He couldn't even tell them that he was a wizard; even though it wasn't lying, the boy hated to leave the kind couple in the dark about anything.
"Hmm..." Mister Harrison hummed, rubbing a palm to his neat, wooly beard. With a snap of his fingers, the towering man whispered in his wife's ear, who looked at him with a pleased expression. Harrison ran to the back of the store and Alicia sniffled, "The shop won't be the same without you around here geeking out every Friday, squirt."
Harry felt his eyes tear up and he gazed down at his sneakers. "I-I really will miss you both a lot. I'll make sure to write you as often as I can and mail presents for Christmas and whatever else I can-!"
The rambling boy was cutoff by a heartfelt hug by the curly-haired woman. "We'll miss you too, Harry."
It was very hard for Harry not to cry at the warmth of Miss Alicia's embrace. Hugging the young woman back with the same ferocity, the boy buried his head into her shoulder and started softly sobbing.
"Shh, shh, it's okay," Alicia soothed, rubbing small circles into his back. "You'll make plenty of friends at your new school, you know that right?" Harry looked up at her and wiped his eyes, "But what if they don't like me?" A scarier thought entered his mind. "What if they treat me the same way the kids treat me here?"
Alicia felt her heart clench at seeing her favorite customer so anxious and down in the dumps. No one deserved to feel like the were unwanted, least of all a boy as sweet and well-mannered as Harry.
"I have zero doubt that you'll be the most popular kid there," The caramel-skinned woman replied firmly, offering a watery grin. She ruffled his hair and hopped up from her place on her knees. "You're Harry freakin' Potter! Coolest kid in the world, remember?"
Harry's green eyes lit up happily behind his tears and he nodded, "Yeah, I remember."
A grunting Harrison came stumbling out of the back room, a small box in his hands. "Alright, Harry. Me and the missus came to a decision that you deserved a little goin' away present," His heavy country accent rumbling through a lopsided grin. Plopping down on a chair, the older man handed the box to the boy, who lifted it with considerable effort.
"What's this, Mister Midtown?" Harry inquired. Harrison shared a look with his wife and his grin widened. "Wait 'till ya get to school to open it."
…
Harry found himself highly confused.
The trip with Hagrid to get his supplies for school had gone smooth for the most part; meeting all those people and finding out that he- him of all people!- was famous in the Wizarding World had come as quite a shock.
Getting his wand was a lot of fun up until the shop owner, Ollivander, had mentioned the wand that had chosen him was the brother of the one that had given him his ever-present scar.
Even getting to the train from Platform 93/4 had proven to be a hassle until he saw a couple of first years going through the wall!
Now he had made it onto the train, with nothing but his few clothes, his newly-acquired snowy owl Hedwig and the mysterious, heavy present the Midtowns had left him. Walking down the corridors to the rhythm of the music bumping in his headphones, the young wizard searched high and low for an open room so that he'd finally be able to sit down somewhere for once today.
Spotting a seemingly empty car, Harry quickly took advantage of his situation and slid open the doors. Much to his surprise, he found someone was already occupying it.
(Music: De La Soul – Eye Know)
A girl with lengthy, dirty blonde hair sat cross-legged on the seat, her large silvery-blue eyes roaming an upside-down newspaper intensely. She was pale, more pale than any person Harry had ever seen; not sickly so, just very… white. Her legs were covered by a pair of black tights with stars sprinkling throughout that led into her midnight blue skirt and a pair of old-style leather shoes. A strange necklace hung from her long neck over a comfy looking dark green sweater.
Unsure about how to go about asking the girl if the room was already occupied with someone else, Harry considered just leaving the her in peace and finding one to himself. Suddenly the girl turned her head to him in one quick movement; Harry was frozen in place by her stare.
She blinked and smiled oddly. "You are welcome to sit with me, if you would like."
Blinking back and chuckling nervously, Harry tugged his belongings inside the cart and sat down across her with a heavy sigh. "Thanks, um…?"
The girl tilted her head cutely and let out a high-voiced "Oh!". "Luna Lovegood. It's very nice to meet you, Harry Potter."
Harry's groaned inwardly, "Does everyone know who I am?"
Luna gazed out of the train window dreamily, "Oh yes, I would certainly think so. You are the Boy-Who-Lived, after all."
It was a label Harry was quickly beginning to become annoyed with. From the bits and pieces he'd picked up from the people around the village and from Hagrid's accidental slips, it seemed like the man who'd killed his parents- an evil sounding wizard named Voldemort- had cast a curse on Harry as a toddler and it rebounded, killing him too.
If anything it made Harry feel worse about himself. The way he saw it, he'd inadvertently killed his family.
"Most people wouldn't sit with me, you know," Luna stated, jolting Harry out of his self-deprecating daydream. He looked at the spacey girl curiously, "Why not?"
"They say I'm weird and freaky," She replied matter-of-factly. Her voice was still pillow soft and unfocused, but a tinge of hurt made its way through. Harry suddenly felt righteously angry; he didn't know this girl very well, but she seemed perfectly fine, if a tiny bit odd.
She didn't deserve to be called a freak.
"That's just… I mean you're not… ugh!" Harry sputtered, annoyed. "If it makes you feel better you've been completely unfreaky towards me."
The blonde girl's cheeks dusted pink and for a moment her hazy eyes averted Harry's green gaze shyly. Harry coughed awkwardly and suddenly his Chucks became the most interesting thing in the room. "Sorry about that. I don't like people being called mean things."
Luna simply smiled, "Thank you, Harry Potter."
Harry grinned back, "Just Harry is fine, Luna Lovegood."
Luna's smile widened. "Very well, Just Harry."
…
The rest of the ride was spent getting to know the weirdly dressed girl. Luna, while very unique to talk to, seemed like a cool person. More than once she had captured Harry's attention with tales of her and her father searching out the magical wildernesses for mythical animals and rare creatures, only to make him laugh when describing what effect they have on wizards and witches.
Eventually, Luna noticed the Walkman strapped to Harry's belt. "What is that?" She questioned, intensely interested.
Harry snapped it off of his belt and held the cassette player in his hands tenderly. "It's something called a cassette player. Came from a... really dear friend of mine. It's how I listen to all of my hip hop."
The blond girl looked at it all around, curiosity piqued to its limit. "What's hip hop?"
Harry opened his mouth to explain it, but just as quickly closed it. How do you describe something as important as hip hop to someone who's never heard of it before?
"Okay, um..." Harry started. "Alright, so do you know what jazz is?"
A nod.
"Perfect! Okay, good. So imagine jazz with louder drums and instead of it being purely instruments there are people speaking poetry and telling stories in rhymes," The green-eyed boy explained.
Her silvery-blue eyes widened in interest, "May I listen with you?"
Harry gaped for a moment before happily pulling out and extra pair of headphones from his cart ("note to self, write a 'thank you' note to Miss Alicia for giving me these all those weeks ago," He thought) and handing them to his new friend.
(Music: De La Soul – Me, Myself & I)
A drum break appeared seemingly from thin air, surprising the young witch with a yelp. A burst of instruments followed soon after; bass guitar, a crazy sounding synth keyboard, and what sounded like a man harmonizing with the chaos of it all and failing spectacularly.
Luna had fallen in love with it immediately.
Harry looked over to Luna, who was sitting completely still save for the rhythmic tapping of her feet. She began flipping her hair back and forth, a look of joy on her cute features. Harry grinned and started dancing with her, the both of them getting up and moving their bodies in sync to the music. Soon after, they flopped back down next to each other, happily exhausted.
"This is wonderful!" Luna exclaimed breathlessly. "I can't believe I've never heard of this kind of music before!" Harry simply beamed and ran a hand through his hair, "It's all I listen to most of the time."
Luna turned to him, a pleading expression in her large eyes, "Oh Harry, you simply must tell me where to get one of these… these, um..."
"It's called a Walkman," Harry answered. "I don't think any shops in Magical Britain would sell one of these..." Her countenance withered and she withdrew back dejectedly from Harry. "Oh."
Harry leaned over directly in front of her face and smiled, "But I don't mind sharing with a friend."
The blonde girl immediately brightened. Her eyes, now dangerously focused, zeroed in on Harry's. "Do you mean that, Harry Potter?" Harry nodded happily, "Sure! You're quite nice and I don't see a reason why we shouldn't be. Would you like to be my friend?"
Luna lurched over and hugged Harry warmly. Harry, who had only been hugged by Miss Alicia and never from someone his own age, internally panicked. "Oh jeez, what do I do, what do I do?" He thought frantically. The boy wrapped his arms around the – admittedly very comfortable – peculiar girl and squeezed back in response, hoping he hadn't done anything out of order.
The blonde girl pulled back, her cheeks red and her gaze back to the ceiling. "I have a feeling this will be an interesting year, Harry."
Harry simply shook his head and reclined back in his seat, "I hope it's not too interesting, Luna."
…
The Opening Feast was truly something to behold.
The décor, the tables, the ghosts and specters roaming the Great Hall, the smell of the food – it was almost too much for the young boy to take in. Hundreds of students sat, observing the rest of the first years walk in. One by one, they all went up to the pointy hat the Headmaster, who Harry had learned was Professor Dumbledore, had called the Sorting Hat.
He gulped nervously upon seeing Draco Malfoy join into the Slytherin House, pridefully taking his place next to a couple of the older looking house members. "Definitely not where I wanna end up," He thought with a shiver of anger. His introduction to the blond boy started with his insulting Luna and ended with some not-so-friendly words and threats.
Speaking of said girl, Luna Lovegood was next to approach the stage. Her regular daydream-esque expression never left for a second, but she squeezed her new friend's hand anxiously. Harry squeezed it back gently before she walked, ignoring all the odd looks she was getting from the rest of the student body. Gently settling down on the chair, the girl sat the Sorting Hat on her head and closed her eyes.
"Hmm… now let's see here," The Hat's deep voice groveled inside her mind. "Secretly very observant, a talent for absorbing information… Ravenclaw wouldn't be a bad choice, do you think?"
"I imagine not, but I don't really much careto know too many things," Luna replied simply.
The Hat hmpf'd in response. "Reasonably brave, but not your defining trait. So Gryffindor is out," The Hat said bluntly. "Not particularly ambitious either, but quite friendly. Yes… outgoing and hard-working are a good combination, even if you're a bit on the introverted side..."
"So it's either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, I imagine?"
"I shall let you decide, if you would like," The Hat offered.
Luna shook her head gently. "Thank you, but I wouldn't want to take your job away from you. I trust your judgement, Mister Hat." The Sorting Hat was surprised. Usually students jump at the opportunity to choose, but this one trusted him enough to do what he did best. At that moment, The Hat knew exactly where to place the spacey girl.
"I appreciate that more than you'll know, Miss. A kind soul like yours deserves to go to… Hufflepuff!" The Sorting Hat called out. A modest applause was raised at the Hufflepuff table and Luna hopped up and placed the Hat back onto the chair gently. "Thank you, Mister Hat. Hopefully I'll see you again soon," Luna whispered to the Hat. She caught Harry's gaze and smiled before skipping over to sit down next to the boy that had gone before her.
Harry blew out a nervous breath as his name was called. The entire building's eyes were on his now; even the paintings, it seemed, were interested in seeing where the Boy-Who-Lived would end up in. Harry plopped down and stuffed the Hat on his head and closed his eyes, hoping it would distract him from all of the people staring at him.
"Your friend is quite unique, Mister Potter," The Hat said in amusement. Harry sighed and smiled, "Yeah, she's different. But I like her, she's a pretty cool girl."
"Indeed. Now then, let's see about you, shall we?" The Hat said, mischief thick in his voice. Harry gulped.
"Quite brave of you sticking up for her like that earlier. Most wouldn't have done that for someone they had just met," The Hat commented. "Perhaps that bravery will see you through some significant times…?"
Harry shrugged, "I don't think I'm exactly the brave type. It's good to do what's right, right?" The Hat grunted in agreement, "You are not wrong. Ah, what's this? Hidden intelligence, and an intense love for knowledge and… music?"
Harry blushed. "It is one of my favorite things to do."
The Sorting Hat laughed heartily, "The Boy-Who-Lived, it seems, is much simpler than the books and the headlines will have you think, eh? A mind that yearns for knowledge would fit beautifully in… Ravenclaw!"
The Ravenclaw table roared. The Gryffindor table was inconsolable, the Hufflepuff table cheered good-naturedly and the Slytherin table offered a weak clap as a whole. Harry sat down with his House, welcomed by high-fives and claps on his shoulder from all sides. He looked towards Luna who, while miffed that her friend wouldn't be in her house, abandoned her usual absentminded appearance and smiled warmly at him, waving shyly.
Harry smiled contently and waved back. "Maybe school won't be so bad after all," The boy thought.