Luna Lovegood

Remus's van, which had been magically expanded was even larger. He replaced the rows of seats with seats that lined the van walls, behind a bench for the driver. There was an island bench in the middle of the van and enough room for thirty people inside.

Chloe grinned behind the wheel of the driver's seat, beside Sirius, with Mrs. Weasley beside him.

"What's with your face?" Ron asked Hermione once everyone was loaded into the van. On the other side of Hermione, Siria glared at Ron.

"What is wrong with you?" Siria mouthed. Hermione's blush accented the make up Chloe had applied, but still seemed subtle enough to be a healthy glow.

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said through gritted teeth. To change the subject, Hermione turned to Tonks and Remus, who were on the other side of Siria.

"Tonks, do you happen to know how Metamorphmagus are born?" Hermione asked. "About all I've been able to find is that it's very rare."

"Er, well, it's supposed to be hereditary, so I suppose one of my mum's family members was one," said Tonks.

"But there isn't any record of a Metamorphmagi in the Black family," said Hermione. She sighed, but in a way that told them that, rather than being disappointed, the gears in her head were working extra hard.

"You know," said Siria, as she examined Tonks's face, "I've been wondering. How do you know that you look the way you do and that you're not morphed?" Tonks usually had a heart shaped face, but changed her hair more than Chloe. She often had upturned eyes, but sometimes had deep set or downturned.

Today she had an oval face with grey, hooded eyes. Her hair was much longer than usual, well past her back. Rather than one of her usual bright colors, it was grey with the occasional strand of black.

"You know how holding your breath feels?" Tonks said. "It's like that, but I could do it forever."

"If you stare any harder, you might burn a hole," Remus told Siria.

"I's fine," Tonks said and waved it off. "Bet you wouldn't mind being a Metamorphmagus."

"Maybe, but I feel like the Dursleys would have beat me harder," Siria confessed as she stroked her finger down her scar. "I'd rather not have more."

"Hey," Ron called to Remus and Tonks. "Why didn't Podmore show?"

"Couldn't tell you," said Tonks.

"You don't need to worry about it though," said Remus. "Just focus on enjoying the ride to school. Prefects have to patrol the corridors."

"Did anyone ever hex you?" Ron asked Remus. Remus's eyes widened for a moment.

"Not for being a prefect. Though, if they tried, I imagine James and Sirius would have stopped them," said Remus. He smiled at Siria. "Couldn't hurt to have Siria teach you the Shield Charm," he added.

"I agree," said Hermione. "Siria'd make a great teacher, don't you think?" Hermione beamed at Siria with a surprisingly mischievous smile.

"I do," said Remus. Siria blushed. "It is your O.W.L. year. Have you been thinking about teaching?"

"You could say that," Siria murmured. To her relief, they arrived at the station.

Sirius swept Siria under his arm the moment she stepped out. He and Mrs. Weasley escorted Siria right into the station and through the barrier. As much as Platform 9 ¾ took Siria's breath away, she liked to admire King's Cross, if only for a moment. Sirius looked to his watch and nodded. There were thirty minutes for good-byes.

Once Amos Diggory and Moody came through with the trunks, Siria and Cedric loaded them onto the train. The two filled the last three compartments. When they returned, they found the rest their party had all made it through the barrier.

"See you at Christmas, and I expect a call every week," Siria told her father.

"I thought you said phones didn't work," said Chloe. Siria pulled her Black Family compact mirror from her jacket breast pocket.

"It's a magic mirror," Siria said with a smirk to Sirius. Chloe looked as though something clicked, but said nothing.

"I expect to know about half the trouble you get yourself into," said Sirius.

"We'll keep her out of it," said Fred and he slung his arm around Siria's shoulder. She rolled her eyes as George's arm followed and she was squished between the twins.

"You can count on us," George told Sirius.

"Please," said Sirius, "she'll get into twice as much for just being near you."

Cedric came by and extended his hand to Sirius. "I've got to see to the prefect compartment, but wanted to say thank you. If I may, please look after my parents," said Cedric. Sirius shook his hand. "I'll keep an eye on Siria, as much as she allows."

"I'm right here," said Siria. She tapped her foot into Cedric's leg. He smiled at her.

"I'll be counting on you," Sirius told Cedric. Siria tsked.

"See you soon," Hermione told Siria. "Cedric said he'll try to keep it short, but it also depends on the Headgirl." Fred and George let go of Siria, so she could hug Hermione.

"You'll see her soon," said Fred.

"Honestly," George shook his head.

"Don't you have business with Lee?" Siria asked with herself still nuzzled against Hermione, in a hug.

"Alright, alright," said Fred.

"Just don't be surprised when everyone thinks you're dating," said George.

"Though, you'd be lucky to have Hermione," Fred added. Hermione pried herself away to go to prefect compartment with Ron.

"Anyone who think you're dating is an idiot," Chloe told Siria. "It's obvious Ron likes her and you love the two." Siria scratched behind her neck.

"You'd be surprised how many idiots make it each year," Siria sighed. She hugged Chloe, who parted the hair around Siria's scar.

"You're beautiful," she said and placed a kiss on the scar. Chloe tucked her head beside Siria's ear. "I know you want to help people, but you need to look out for yourself," she whispered then pulled back. "Stay out of trouble," Chloe laughed and tapped Siria's nose.

"What did Chloe say?" Sirius asked as he hugged his daughter.

"I'm beautiful & to stay out of trouble," Siria repeated. Sirius's mouth went thin, but he let go so she could hug Remus.

"Call, if you need us," said Remus. "Remember, mind what you write and no codes."

"I know," she rolled her eyes. "I love you too." She hugged Tonks. "I hope I get to see more of you, it's been fun," she said.

"It's been brilliant," said Tonks. "Keep your head up."

The whistle sounded. Mrs. Warrington hugged Siria and, in her effort to hug everyone, Mrs. Weasley hugged Siria twice (B5, 183). The doors were closing. Sirius unnecessarily hoisted Siria onto the train. He picked Dennis up and put him in Siria's arms.

"I love you!" Siria shouted over the slammed doors and whistle. "See you soon!"

"Thank you!" Dennis and Colin called.

"See you next summer!" said Dennis.

"Be safe!" Siria insisted as she rushed Colin and Dennis inside.

"You too!" Sirius called. "I love you!" She heard just before the door closed.

"I'll be the last compartment," Siria told the Creevey brothers. "Cassius is across the hall from me, if you need us."

"Can't we join you?" Dennis asked.

"You've been glued to me all summer," said Siria, "but you hardly even wrote your friends."

"But we'll see them all year," Colin argued as they walked down the train corridor.

"What are you going to do when I graduate? Only talk to each other?" She asked.

"I don't mind," said Dennis, but a girl his age slid open a compartment door behind them. She called for him. He eyed Siria for a moment, but went to join the second year girl. Colin was called a few doors after and gave in.

It was for the better, Siria thought. She got hushed whispers with each compartment she walked by (B5, 184). Siria raised herself as tall as she could. Her heels were much shorter than Chloe's, but she focused on the end of the corridor, as Chloe told her, and strutted all the way down to the end of the train.

Neville was at the end of the hall, with his toad and his trunk. "Hi Siria," Neville uttered. "They're all full." (B5, 185)

"Don't be silly," Siria laughed. She slid open the door to the compartment she had stashed her, Hermione's, and Ron's things.

Ginny smiled at Siria, but the other person caught her eye. Luna Lovegood had a copy of the Quibbler, upside down. Her protuberant eyes glanced over the magazine, to examine Siria and Neville as they stepped in (B5, 185). Siria waved to Cassius as she closed the compartment door. Cassius pointed to the crack he had left when he closed his door, so Siria mirrored it. She supposed they'd be better to able to hear trouble, which was sure to come for her.

"Hello, Luna," Siria greeted as she sat across from Luna and beside Neville. Luna peered over the top of her magazine and examined Siria's scar. Siria gave an awkward smile.

"You're Siria Potter-Black," she said (B5, 185). "Last we spoke was the Yule Ball." Her voice was as dream filled as ever.

"It's good to see you too," Siria replied, though she wasn't sure where Luna was going with the conversation. "That's a nice necklace," she referred to the butterbeer bottle caps Luna wore around her neck (B5, 185). Luna's dirty blonde hair framed it.

"Daphne Greengrass was quite upset when you left early," Luna said. Siria had not noticed until now how little Luna blinked (B5, 185). She supposed Luna's wand just sitting behind her ear, like a pencil, kept her focus more (B5, 185).

"I doubt it," Siria muttered. She couldn't picture Daphne upset.

"I heard her," said Luna. Siria shifted in her seat.

"Oh" Siria said. She waited for Luna to return to her attention to the Quibbler.

Siria looked across the hall, to Cassius's compartment. She was sure Daphne was there, but doubted she would be upset. For as much as Siria had a temper, Daphne was composed. Daphne was probably as collected as Patricia.

"Thanks for the book," Neville told Siria. Siria's eyes widened for a moment. "I'd been wanting it for awhile. I'm glad we share a birthday. Yours is the only one I remember on time."

"Oh, yeah," Siria said. She had completely forgotten Neville's birthday, again. It sounded like Sirius remembered and sent something on her behalf. Her stomach flipped a little, but she smiled. She didn't want to tell Neville she forgot his birthday, when he remembered hers.

"You'll never guess what my great-uncle Algie got me!" Neville told her and he handed her Trevor the toad. He rummaged through his trunk. He pulled out what looked like a small, grey cactus covered in boils. Neville had a large smile on his face as he extended the potted plant toward Siria. [B5, 186]

"Mimbulus mimbletonia," Neville said with more pride in his voice than Siria had ever heard from him (B5, 186).

"Wow," Siria beamed. She had no idea what it did or why he was so happy, but didn't want to disappoint him. "That's amazing."

"I know," said Neville. "I can't wait to show Professor Sprout. I don't think there's one in the greenhouse."

"You're probably right," she said.

"What does it do?" Ginny asked. She eyed the mimbulus mimbletonia with even more caustion than Siria or Luna.

"Loads of stuff!" Neville assured her, "it's got an amazing defensive mechanism." He rummaged through his bag for a quill. Neville raised it over the plant. [B5, 187]

"Maybe you could just tell us," Siria suggested as quickly as the words could come out, but Neville jabbed the quill tip into the plant.

Siria turned away, but was too slow. Foul, green, thick liquid shot from every boil on the mimbulus mimbletonia. Ginny raised her arms to cover herself. Luna shielded herself with the Quibbler [B5, 187]. Their compartment door flew completely open, as Alice, Cassius, and Maddy rushed to Siria's rescue.

Alice gagged at the stench of manure that filled the compartment. Cassius covered his snigger with a cough. Maddy waved her wand and the foul liquid vanished. Her eyes were full of pity toward Siria.

"Sorry," Neville muttered. "I didn't realise it would be so…" (B5, 187). Siria handed Trevor back to Neville. She stroked her hair, but the liquid was gone.

"Thought you were attacked," Cassius said.

"Stink sap isn't poisonous," Neville whispered as he put the quill and mimbulus mimbletonia away (B5, 187).

"You okay, P.B.?" Cassius asked. Maddy surveyed the room while Alice returned to their compartment to laugh.

"Fine," Siria grumbled.

"You looked like wet cat," Cassius grinned. Siria ran a hand through her hair again then realized it was her face that looked mortified.

"I'm fine now, thank you," she said and ushered him out so she could close the door back, all but a crack of the way.

Cedric and the Headgirl kept Hermione, Patricia, and Ron for the better part of an hour. Ginny, Neville, and Siria were trading their Chocolate Frog cards, which they bought when the food trolley came by, when Hermione and Ron returned. Ron dove right into a Pumpkin Pasty. [B5, 188]

"Bianca Storm, from Ravenclaw, is Headgirl," Hermione told them while Siria handed her a sandwich Kreacher had packed. "Usual, two prefects from our year and up, boy and girl pairs," Hermione bit into her sandwich. Siria caught sight of the door across the way slide closed again. Daphne Greengrass's soft brown hair flowed down her back, as she walked to sit down.

"Guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" said Ron, who swept up one of Kreacher's sandwiches.

"Daphne," Siria said, still gazing into the other compartment. She couldn't see Daphne, only Maddy and Patricia, who was still getting comfortable together.

"And Malfoy," Ron spat.

"Malfoy?" Siria asked as her attention snapped back into the compartment. "Why?"

"I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons," Hermione said, but doubt carried in her voice.

"Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff," Hermione said, "and Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw" (B5, 188-189). Siria hummed, only half listening.

"It shouldn't be too bad," said Ron. "We gotta patrol corridors from time to time, but we can dish out punishments." Ron grinned at Siria.

"Can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something. I'll make Goyle do lines," Ron told them. He mimed writing in the air with his face screwed up in pained concentration. In his impression of Goyle's grunt, he said "I… must… not… look… like… a… baboon's… backside (B5, 189)."

Though everyone laughed, no one laughed as long or hard as Luna Lovegood. She collapsed to the floor and gasped for air in a fit of laughter. Cassius and Cedric came to check on them. "I wasn't sure if it was laughter or screaming," Cassius said. Cedric came for the same reason. There were tears in Luna's eyes when Neville helped her to back into her chair. Siria picked the Quibbler off the floor, as Cedric took the seat beside her and Cassius returned to his compartment. [B5, 190]

"Luna, could I see this?" Siria asked. There was a crude charactercher of Cornelius Fudge, recognizable by his lime green bowler hat. It was the headline that caught Siria's attention though, "How Far Will Fudge go to Gain Gringotts?" (B5, 190)

"Baboon's— backside," Luna giggled as she nodded.

After the first three paragraphs, Siria realized the article was rubbish. The sentence "[Fudge]'s had [goblins] drowned, he's had them dropped off buildings, he's had them poisoned, he's had them cooked in pies..." was what made Siria stop. [B5, 192-193]

"Luna's father's the Editor," Cedric whispered into Siria's ear. (B5, 195)

The compartment door rattled open, but came to an abrupt stop halfway. Cedric and Siria peered of the magazine, in time to see a silky black ponytail whip out of sight. Siria folded the Quibbler back and poked her head into the hall. She extended the magazine to Luna and looked at Cedric.

"It's Cho," Siria said. Pink tinged Cedric's cheeks. "Go after her!" Siria insisted.

"She dumped me," Cedric reminded her. Siria cocked her head as she shook it at him.

"Cedric Degalus Diggory, go after her!" Siria pointed.

"That isn't my middle—" Cedric began to correct her, but Siria shouted over him.

"I don't care. Go, you mopey boy, or so help me!"

"Go," Hermione told him. "At least hear what she wants to say." Cedric glanced at Siria with a look that said he was unsure, but he patted her arm as he hurried after Cho.

Siria rolled her eyes as she sat beside Hermione. She wrapped her arms around Hermione's arm and nuzzled her shoulder. Hermione, who had pulled out the Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six, rested her head on Siria's as she continued to read. There moment of peace lasted just long enough for Ron to eat another of Kreacher's sandwiches.

It wasn't Cedric's return that ended their peace, but their usual arrival of trouble. Siria squeezed her eyes shut. "Maybe, if I pretend to sleep, he'll leave," she thought. The familiar scent of roses and wood lingered under Hermione's strawberry scented shampoo. Hermione sighed.

"Well, well. I'm surprised" said the cool drawl of Draco Malfoy. Siria rolled her head off of Hermione's shoulder and glared at the doorway. Crabbe and Goyle flanked Draco Malfoy as he smirked at Siria. He had a copy of the Daily Prophet under his arm. Siria knew the edition well. Its headline was "The Girl Who Lied" and it was published the Sunday after the first issue of Lumos, in which Cassius and Siria gave their account of what happened the night Voldemort returned.

"Does Tom want me to sign it?" Siria asked Malfoy as she rose up with her best smile on. It started out as a forced one, but gained some truth when she learned her heels made her taller than him. "Should I make it out to Tom Riddle Jr., The Dark Lord, or Voldemort?" Siria extended her arm for the paper.

"What's going on here?" Patricia asked in her usual level and calm tone, which didn't at all mirror the expressions of the people behind her. Cassius and Maddy were right behind Patricia, wands by their sides. Alice stood behind them, grinning with how much she would love to hex Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle written on her face. Daphne wore a look of indifference, as she held Astoria behind Alice.

"Just telling Potter-Black to stay out of trouble," Malfoy said through gritted teeth.

"It's good of you, a prefect, to look out for your fellow students," Patricia told him. Footsteps thundered down the train corridor, several pairs in fact. They came with voices that jumbled and drown each other out.

"Is there a problem?" Cut over the chatter and stopped it. It was a short girl with long, dark braids and deep brown eyes. She scanned over the people who had gathered.

"No problem here," Malfoy said as he glared up at Siria. She cocked her head up.

"None at all," Siria smiled down at him.

"Then everyone should return to their compartments," the other girl said. "Prefects, we'll talk about how to deescalate."

Siria peered into the corridor. Ernie MacMillan, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchley were just behind Lee Jordan and the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The small crowd parted, for Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy to leave, and glared at them as they walked. Cedric returned, with Cho Chang holding his hand.

"It's been taken care of, Diggory," the short girl looked even smaller beside Cedric. She crossed her arms and glanced around. "Return to your compartments," she instructed. Rather than returning to their own, everyone crammed into Siria's or Cassius's.

"We saw Malfoy coming for trouble," Ernie told Siria. "Hasn't even had the badge for a day."

"No kidding," said Justin.

"I really want to know what Dumbledore was thinking," Ron confessed. "That prat, a prefect."

"Are you okay?" Hannah asked Siria. She examined Siria's face, which was easy to do because the two were still standing right beside the door.

"I'm fine. I could take Malfoy with one arm behind my back," Siria joked.

The compartment door slid open again. It was Cedric, with Cho Chang still at his side. He sighed at the group of people crammed in. "Alright, clear out," Cedric told them. "Thank you all for looking after Siria, but now Storm thinks she's the boss of a bunch of troublemakers." Siria smirked, but covered her mouth. "You'll see each other in classes," he said as he shooed the others out. Ernie, Hannah, Justin, and most of the Gryffindor team left. Fred and George stayed out of pure defiance, until Lee Jordan reminded them about their remaining business.

"You have quite a lot of friends," Luna noted in her airy, dreamy voice. Siria glanced through the compartment door windows, into Cassius's. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode had just stepped out. Pansy glared back at Siria as she marched away. Maddy nodded to Siria, through the window.

"I suppose I do," Siria smiled.

Petrified, Siria stood before the usually horseless carriages that carried them up the castle. Two months ago, Siria convinced herself that she was so tired that she was hallucinating. Today, however, she was not tired or hungry. Over summer, her eyes had been checked and her glasses prescription updated. So… why was this still happening?

Between the carriage shafts were creatures she couldn't name. They reminded her of horse-Voldemorts. Someone took the skeleton of a horse and stretched a piece of snake-like skin over it. They added wings and eerie, white eyes without pupils. Did she tell someone? No one else seemed to notice. [B5, 196-197]

Hermione and Ron loaded into the carriage, as usual. Ginny caught up and climbed in with them. Neville and Luna, however, saw Siria staring.

"Do you… see something?" Neville asked.

"You can see them too?" Siria asked. Neville nodded and relief washed over his face. Luna gave a distant smile.

"They've always pulled the carriages," said Luna. "Don't worry, you're just as sane as I am," and she stepped into the carriage. [B5, 199]