Here's chapter five, and in record time for me; it's only been, what, ten days? Eleven? I had some spare time, and this turned out to be a very easy chapter to write, so... here you go!
WEASLEY GIRL: SECRETS OF THE PAST
Based on the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling
CHAPTER FIVE
A Loony On The Hogwarts Express
For as long as Ronnie could remember, the morning of September the 1st had been a time for hectic chaos at the Burrow.
The Hogwarts Express always left from Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters at 11 o'clock in the morning, sharp, and Mum always insisted on everyone getting an early start so that this year they wouldn't have to rush — and yet, somehow, even though everyone tried to have everything packed and ready days in advance, and got up at the crack of dawn when the day came, it never helped. Everyone always ended up remembering at the very last moment that there were five dozen different things they'd forgotten to do or pack. And so they were all running up and down the stairs in various states of undress, colliding with each other as they searched for things they couldn't find while trying to eat breakfast at the same time.
When they were younger, Ronnie and Ginny had been confined to their room on these mornings, just so they wouldn't get in everyone's way. But now, when they were both going to Hogwarts, they were rushing around along with everyone else, because Ginny couldn't find the scales she'd inherited from Charlie, and Ronnie's quill had gone hiding somewhere. Among other things.
Harry, who clearly wasn't used to the September-the-1st rush, seemed a little lost in all the chaos, but he did manage to narrowly avoid colliding with Percy on the staircase between the second and third floors, and had some problems getting Hedwig to agree to go into her cage for the trip, so at least he was getting into the spirit of things.
The only one who took everything calmly was Crookshanks, who had wandered out into the yard and was sitting there watching everyone rush back and forth to the car with all their luggage. It was clear he thought the entire thing was vaguely ridiculous, especially when Dad almost tripped over one of the chickens while hauling Ginny's trunk.
"Did you pack the diary, Ronnie?" said Ginny as they entered their room for the last time, to make certain nothing was left behind.
"No, I thought you did — oh, bugger!" Ronnie rushed over to her bed and lifted up her pillow, where the little book to her relief was waiting for her.
It had taken some time for the Weasley sisters to decide on what to do with the strange diary, but after having thought of and rejected about a dozen plans, they'd finally settled on the one that seemed to make the most sense: Keep the diary a secret until they got to Hogwarts, and then take it to Dumbledore. If there was anyone that was absolutely trustworthy, and wise enough to be able to figure out whether it was Gilderoy Lockhart or Tom Riddle that was the villain here.
Ronnie had, still in the role as Draco Malfoy, written with Tom twice more. She hadn't managed to write more often because of Crookshanks — whenever the cat had seen her trying to write in the diary, he had jumped up to lie down on it so she couldn't write anything. Maybe he thought it was some sort of fun game, or maybe he just thought Ronnie shouldn't waste her attention on a diary when she could be spending it on him. Ronnie didn't have the heart to get too angry with him for it, though it had meant that she could only write in the diary when she was certain he wasn't in the room.
Tom, on the two occasions she had spoken to him, had been very polite, even friendly, but was clearly getting a little impatient — after all, he'd written, I am dependent on you, Draco. He'd been pleased when Ronnie had said she would take the diary to Hogwarts, though, and had wanted her to promise to tell him as soon as she was in her dorm. (He'd asked what house she was in, so she'd had to answer "Slytherin" and then pretend that someone was calling for her before he got around to asking her what the Slytherin common room was like. Pretending to be Malfoy wasn't easy.)
Now she picked the book up. "Well, Tom," she said, knowing full well that he couldn't hear her and probably wasn't even aware of her when she wasn't writing to him, "you'll have to go in my pocket. I think the diary's small enough to fit."
It was, but only just barely. Her trousers were perhaps a little small for her (she had grown a bit lately), and while the diary did fit, it wasn't very comfortable and would probably be even less so when she sat down. Oh well, couldn't be helped. She could change into her robes on the train, they had much roomier pockets.
"Girls!" Mum called from downstairs. "Hurry up, we have to leave!"
"Coming, Mum!" Ginny called.
Out in the yard, Dad had got into the car, and everyone crowded to get in. You wouldn't think that eight people, two owls and one cat would fit in a normal-sized Ford Anglia, but as Dad had secretly enchanted the insides to subtly expand to fit however many people were in the car at the time, everyone fit quite comfortably.
Ginny, who was smallest, sat in the front with Mum and Dad, while the rest of them got into the back. Crookshanks jumped in and settled down on Ronnie's lap, and Harry and Percy both had the cages with their owls on their laps. Hedwig was giving Harry dirty looks from her cage; she wasn't too fond of her cage after having had to spend two month straight in it.
"I'm sorry," said Harry to her. "I promise I'll let you out as soon as we get to Hogwarts, and then you won't have to go back into your cage for several months."
Hedwig still sulked a little, but did accept the owl treat he fished out of his pocket to give her, so apparently Harry's offence wasn't completely unforgivable.
"I wish Scabbers was here," said Ginny wistfully from the front seat. Seeing Harry, Ronnie and Percy with their pets probably made her miss her rat.
"Chin up, dear," said Mum. "That nice clerk from Flourish & Blotts promised that he'd owl us if someone found Scabbers, remember?"
Of course, as it had been more than two weeks, nobody (not even Mum, and certainly not Ginny) had any hope of seeing Scabbers again alive, but nobody said this out loud.
"Well," said Dad. "Everyone comfortable? Then we're off!"
It turned out that they weren't, though. They'd barely got out of the driveway before they had to go back so that George could fetch his box of Filibuster fireworks. Then, just as they were off again, Fred realised he's left his broomstick, and so they had to go back for that.
"I swear you two do this on purpose," Percy muttered sourly as they drove out of the yard for the third time.
"Dad, better go back again," said George. "Percy forgot his sense of humour."
"No, keep going, Dad!" said Fred. "Can't forget something he never had in the first place!"
"Oh, shut up!" said Percy.
Dad tried to talk Mum into flying instead of driving the normal way ("Nobody would see — use the Invisibility Booster I installed, then fly over the clouds, we'd be there in ten minutes."), but she utterly refused.
Not that it turned out to be necessary. After an otherwise eventless journey, they managed to reach King's Cross at half past ten, half an hour before the train was to leave. As Percy said, this had to be the earliest they'd ever managed to arrive for the train.
They barely even had to stress as they found the trolleys to unload their luggage onto and roll into the station, with Hermes and Hedwig in their cages and Crookshanks sitting proudly on top of Ronnie's trunk as he was being wheeled forward. A few Muggles did turn to look at them, but Muggles always looked. The trick was to get past the barrier to Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters when said Muggles weren't looking.
Mum was grumbling and fussing, of course, but she always did that at King's Cross, so nobody was paying too much attention to her — at least not until she said: "Why, here's Xeno Lovegood! That's right, little Luna's starting Hogwarts this year as well, isn't she?"
They all turned to see a sight that made a lot more Muggles turn their heads and stare than the Weasleys had. There, pulling a trolley behind him (rather awkwardly because the trolleys were designed to be pushed in front of you), came their closest wizarding neighbour, Xenophilius Lovegood. He was a tall, thin man, with long blonde hair roughly the texture of candyfloss, and currently he was wearing a suit that looked Muggle in everything but colour; it was the loudest shade of purple Ronnie had ever seen.
On the trolley, sitting on top of a wooden chest that looked like it was made of oak, sat the daughter of the Lovegood household. She was a blonde girl roughly Ginny's age, looking around at everything with large, silvery-grey eyes, with an expression not unlike what you might see on a young kitten; complete wide-eyed amazement at everything around her. She was wearing a dress the exact same shade of purple as her father's suit, and had tucked her wand behind her ear for safekeeping.
Ronnie hadn't seen Luna Lovegood for ages, but it seemed that the girl hadn't changed much.
"Hello, everyone!" Mr. Lovegood greeted, sounding out of breath. "So glad to see you all again!"
"For heaven's sake, Xeno, you're supposed to push the trolleys, not pull them." Mum was immediately over by him. "And they're not meant to be rides for children either!"
"Oh, but it's tradition that a first-time Hogwarts student gets to ride the trolley through King's Cross," said Mr. Lovegood, letting go of the trolley in order to catch his breath. "And it's terrible bad luck to push things around on a Wednesday. Attracts Wrackspurts, you know."
Ronnie didn't know what a Wrackspurt was (probably another one of those things that nobody but Mr. Lovegood had actually heard of, like the tradition of first-year trolley rides), but she did know one thing. "It's not Wednesday today, it's Tuesday," she said.
"No, really?!" Mr. Lovegood blinked. "I could have sworn it was Wednesday. Well, that makes me look rather silly, doesn't it?"
"Er..." Ronnie had no idea what to say to that."
"It is still September the 1st, right?" said Mr. Lovegood, apparently worried that he might have got the dates wrong as well, but he breathed a sigh of relief when they assured him that yes, it was September the 1st and he was in time for the Hogwarts express.
"So your daughter's off to Hogwarts for the first time, right, Xeno?" said Dad.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts," sang Luna, starting on the famous school song and causing several more Muggles to turn their heads and stare.
"Er, yes," said Dad, a little uncertainly, as Luna kept singing. "It's Ginny's first year as well. You both know the family — this is Ronnie's friend, Harry Potter."
"Ah yes, good day to you," said Mr. Lovegood to Harry with a lopsided smile. "We've never met, of course, but I'm happy you're staying with Molly and Arthur. Decent folks if ever I knew any. I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, and this is my Luna."
Luna, who was still singing, waved from her perch on the trolley, looking at Harry with the mad amazement that seemed to be her default expression. Then she waved at all the Weasleys as well, one at a time. Fred and George, who seemed to think this was funny, waved back.
"Er — pleased to meet you, sir — and, er, Luna?" said Harry, and looked like he wasn't completely certain whether he meant it or not. (This was a pretty common reaction from people who met the Lovegoods for the first time.)
They'd now caught the attention of a passing Muggle guard, who came up to them and asked them (politely, you'd have to give him that much) whether there was any problem here. "Such a large group can't just stand around here," he said, "you're blocking the way for everyone."
"Oh, terribly sorry, sir," said Dad, all smiles. "We'll be moving along now."
"Hold on! That cat is not in a carrier." The guard motioned to Crookshanks, who was still sitting on Ronnie's trunk. "Where is its carrier?"
"He's very well-behaved," said Ronnie nervously. She hadn't even thought of getting a carrier for Crookshanks; not that she would have been able to afford one at any rate. "He won't run off!"
"I'm very sorry, Miss," said the guard, "but the rules about transporting animals on trains are very clear. Dogs should be on leashes, and smaller animals such as cats or birds must be carried in an enclosed basket, cage or pet carrier."
"But I don't have one!" Ronnie was about to start pleading with the Muggle, when she was interrupted by Luna, who had finished singing the school song and now instead sang in a louder voice (and in a tune she'd clearly made up on the spot):
"Daddy, the train is leaving.
Daddy, the train won't wait.
We'd better run along now,
Or we shall all be late!"
"Oh, dear," said Dad, glancing at the clock on the wall. They still had about ten minutes before the Hogwarts Express left, but they'd need some time to find compartments and get the luggage on board the train. "Molly, you take the children and see that they get on the train. Sir," he said, turning to the guard, "it's really quite simple. If you would allow me to explain..."
Just what sort of explanation he had for the guard, Ronnie never heard, because now Mum ushered everyone along, and they hurried along towards the platforms, Mr. Lovegood now pushing the trolley with Luna instead of pulling it along.
When they reached the barrier in between Platform Nine-and-three-quarters, they ended up having to wait a few minutes outside there because a Muggle couple was saying goodbye to one another right by the barrier, and saying their goodbyes so affectionately that even Harry was blushing (and Ronnie was internally questioning why the girl didn't seem to mind having her bum squeezed like that).
Finally, the two loving Muggles, completely oblivious to everything but one another, parted, and Mum looked at the clock. "Hurry up, now," she said. "Xeno, why don't you and Luna go first?"
"Goodbye, Muggles!" said Luna to the world at large as her father drove her and the trolley towards the brick wall - and then they vanished right through it.
"Right," said Mum. "Percy, now you go, and then Fred, and then George."
In short succession the three Weasley brothers strode briskly forward and vanished just as the Lovegoods had.
"Oh, good, here comes Arthur," said Mum as Dad came towards them from a distance. "Then I'll go through now with Ronnie, then Harry can come, and Ginny, you can go through with your father. Mind your cat now, Ronnie!"
"Hang on, Crookshanks!" said Ronnie, grabbed her trolley and rushed with it towards the barrier. She'd gone through the barrier loads of times, of course, ever since she was little and came with the family to King's Cross to see her brothers off — but it was always a little scary to rush towards a solid wall like this; she always kept half-expecting she'd crash into it. But of course she never did, and she didn't this time either; the barrier simply vanished before the trolley could make contact, and Platform Nine-and-three-quarters appeared in front of her, filled with the usual crowd of witches and wizards, owls and cats.
Crookshanks hadn't moved an inch. Now he simply turned his head to look at her, as if to say: I wasn't worried, were you?
Ronnie had to move out of the way quickly, as Mum came in right after her, and they joined Fred, George, Percy and the Lovegoods right by the scarlet steam engine that waited by the tracks.
Ronnie turned to look for Harry, Ginny and Dad, but they didn't come.
"Oh, bother," Mum sighed. "They're being held up by curious Muggles, no doubt, and can't cross the barrier. I'll wait for them here and send them along, you lot find compartments in the meantime."
"I'm going to go join the other prefects," said Percy pompously.
"Hey, there's Oliver Wood!" said Fred. "C'mon, George, let's go tell him about Harry! He'll be ecstatic when he hears that we can get Cormac McLaggen replaced as a Seeker!"
"I'd better go find Neville and Hermione," said Ronnie. "Mum, can you tell Harry and Ginny that — ummmph!" She had in no way intended to say "ummmph," which as far as she knew wasn't even a word, but it was the sort of thing you said when Mum unexpectedly pulls you into an enormous hug.
"You take good care of yourself now," said Mum. "Mind your brothers, look after your sister, and please, don't go rushing off into trouble this year."
"You mean I should cancel my plans to wrestle trolls in the Forbidden Forest on Saturdays?"
"Ronnie —!"
"Er — Veronica, could I trouble you to look after my Luna on the train ride?" said Mr. Lovegood, coming up to them with Luna clinging to him. "It is the first time she travels this far on her own, I'd feel better if I knew she had company."
Ronnie really didn't know if she felt like it. She had looked forward to spending the train ride with Harry, Hermione and Neville, and Luna was so... Luna-ish. But then, Mr. Lovegood was one of the few people still supporting Dad's Muggle-Protection Act... and Luna, despite her normal expression of amazed surprise, was clinging rather hard to her father, and was probably a lot more nervous than she was letting on.
"Yeah, all right."
So with Mum staying behind to wait for Harry and Ginny, the rest of the company went their separate ways; Percy to join the prefects, the twins to join Oliver Wood, and Ronnie to unload the luggage together with Luna and her father, and hopefully finding Hermione and Neville.
However, time was running short, and the only ones she saw that she recognised at the moment were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, Malfoy's stooges and two-thirds of the Trolls trio. They were perhaps not on the very top of the list of people Ronnie didn't want to meet (that honour went to You-Know-Who himself), but she would rather avoid them if she could. So she found an empty compartment and, with Mr. Lovegood's help, got the luggage loaded up.
All the while looking back towards Mum to see if Harry and Ginny were arriving. But they didn't.
When the whistle sounded, marking the near-immediate departure of the train, Ronnie left Crookshanks with Luna and rushed over to Mum, who was still standing there and now looking seriously worried.
"Mum," Ronnie panted. "Something must've happened to them."
"Nonsense, dear, they're just being held up for some reason," said Mum, but she didn't look very convinced. "Get on the train! You're not going to miss it, whatever happens!"
"But Mum...!"
"Now, Veronica!" That was her 'not-to-be-argued-with' voice, and Ronnie found her legs obeying instantly without even waiting for the get-go from her brain. Before she knew it, she had run back to the train and was halfway through the door, where Crookshanks and Luna had just entered, the latter after giving her father a last goodbye-hug.
"They're not coming?" said Luna, looking wide-eyed at her.
"Doesn't look like it!"
"But they were right behind us! Maybe Wrackspurts got to them and clouded their minds so they got confused and ran in the wrong direction or —"
"Luna, I have no idea what you're talking about." Ronnie looked out the door to see Mum hurry towards the wrought-iron archway that led to the rest of King's Cross — and then she had to pull back as the door closed, almost slamming into her face.
"Are you all right, Veronica?" said Luna.
Ronnie was about to answer, when the train jolted, shook and began to move, almost causing her to lose her balance. Just barely managing to avoid falling over, she leaned against the wall and watched in dismay as Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters rolled past, vanishing behind them and soon replaced with the houses of London, going faster and faster as the train picked up speed.
"Fuck," she swore through clenched teeth. There went the last hope of seeing her sister and best friend boarding the train at the very last second. "What the hell do we do now?"
Luna paused for a moment. "Find a place to sit?" she suggested.
Ronnie stared at her.
Just as the silence started to get uncomfortable, Luna blinked. "Oh! That sounded a little callous, didn't it?" she said, as if she had just now figured that out. "I'm sorry, Veronica. I didn't mean to sound as if I didn't care. I only meant that there's really nothing else for us to do right now. But your Mum and my Daddy will find them, you'll see, and they'll get them to Hogwarts! They'll just miss the train ride, is all."
Ronnie sighed. "I hope you're right. Crookshanks," she said to the cat, who was sitting on the floor, "can you find Neville and Hermione?"
He looked up at her, then raised himself, stretched, and began plodding down the corridor. After he'd moved a few feet, he turned to check if she was following, just as he had done when leading her to Harry in Knockturn Alley.
Luna giggled.
"Well, it seems they're on the train, at least," said Ronnie. "He's ruddy smart, he'll find them. Come on, we'd better follow him."
"Yes, Veronica."
Ronnie paused. "You know, you can call me Ronnie. I wouldn't mind."
"Thank you for the offer," said Luna solemnly. "but I don't think I've quite earned the right yet."
"Earned the — what are you talking about?"
But Luna merely shrugged, and so Ronnie decided to let the matter drop and instead follow Crookshanks.
They followed him down the corridor, passing several compartments where students were sitting — some of them Ronnie knew, some of them she didn't know at all (probably Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws or Slytherins in different years than hers, since she was fairly certain she knew all the Gryffindors by sight, at least).
A few compartments down, however, Crookshanks suddenly darted up towards a small moving lump there at the end of the train. As Ronnie looked further, she recognised the shape of a toad and just had time to call out: "Crookshanks, leave that toad alone!" when it dawned on her that he wasn't attacking the toad at all; he just gave it a curious sniff and then stopped by one of the compartment doors, sitting down and waiting for them to catch up.
The toad, meanwhile, hopped along the corridor, completely undisturbed by the meeting with Crookshanks, heading straight for Ronnie. And it struck her that she'd seen this particular toad before; in fact she knew it quite well.
"Hello, Trevor," she said, bending down to pick him up. "Wandered off from Neville again, have you?"
Trevor didn't answer; he just looked adoringly up at her with his big toad eyes.
It was at that precise moment that she heard a familiar voice from the compartment Crookshanks was sitting outside. "Oh no, now Trevor's gone again!"
Ronnie quickly turned to Luna and winked at her — how often do you get such a perfect set-up for a memorable entrance? — and then hurried up to the compartment so that she could enter through the half-open door and say with a casual air: "He's not as gone as you might think!"
Just as she had hoped, in the compartment were the two people she was looking for. Hermione, already in her school robes, was standing closest to the door, while by the window, just as round-faced and good-natured as she remembered, was the fourth and final member of Potter's Gang, Neville Longbottom.
"Ronnie!" he cried, raising himself from his seat. And then he had to sit down again because the train just then came to a turn that made him lose his balance. "I should have known! Trevor always knows how to find you!"
"We were getting worried," said Hermione, as Ronnie handed the toad back to Neville. "I was just going to go look for you."
"And I was going to stay here in case you showed up," said Neville. "Good to see you again, Ronnie! Thank you for Trevor too!" He placed the toad carefully on his knee, and blushed a little as Ronnie hugged him. "Where's Harry?"
"Wish I knew." Ronnie grew serious again, and was just about to tell them about the barrier and how Harry and Ginny hadn't showed up, when Luna entered the compartment, followed by a proud Crookshanks.
"Hello, Veronica's friends," said Luna, waving to them as the entered.
Neville and Hermione both looked at her with confused expressions, so Ronnie hurried to introduce: "Er, right — Neville, Hermione, this is my neighbour, Luna Lovegood. She's starting Hogwarts this year. Luna, this is Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger."
Luna smiled at them both, and then turned to Hermione, looking curiously at her. "You're Muggle-born," she said conversationally.
"...yes, I'm aware of that," said Hermione after a few moments' hesitation. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Oh, no. I just wanted to say that I don't agree with the Daily Prophet when they imply that Muggles are savage brutes or that they're all to blame for how Harry Potter was treated."
"I — never said you did!" Hermione was taken aback.
"Oh, I know. I just thought that with all the Muggle-hatred going on lately, you might have heard a few wizards or witches say such things, and maybe it would cheer you up to learn that not everyone agrees." Luna smiled, and it was a genuine smile.
Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then apparently gave up on answering, because she turned to Ronnie instead. "Where's Harry?"
"Dunno," said Ronnie, feeling the worry enter her again. "He and Ginny never made it through the barrier, so they missed the train. I don't know what happened to them — hang on, what's this?" She'd just noticed something outside the window — a snowy white owl, flying beside the train and doing an impressive job at keeping up with it.
It was Hedwig.
Neville, who was closest to the window, opened it as far as he could, making an opening just big enough that Hedwig could fly in through it. Which she did, with such speed that she collided with Neville, sending Trevor hopping to the floor and almost causing Ronnie to lose her balance and fall back. However, after a few seconds of feathery white chaos, the owl regained control over herself and flapped her wings to land and perch on one of the armrests, ignoring the amused look Crookshanks sent her and trying to look as if that undignified entrance hadn't happened at all - not at all helped by the fact that Luna was giggling again.
"Are you all right?" the blonde girl managed to say in between bursts of giggles.
Ronnie sat down by the owl to check if she was hurt, but Hedwig seemed fine. And she had a letter tied to her leg, which Ronnie saw was for her.
Everyone gathered around as she rolled out the small piece of parchment, and read:
Ronnie,
Sending Hedwig to catch up with you. If you get this letter, can you please keep her with you for the ride?
Ginny and I are fine, but we couldn't get onto Platform 9 3/4. For some reason, the barrier wouldn't let us through. But your parents and Mr. Lovegood are working on another way to get us to Hogwarts, so we'll see you there. Say hello to Hermione and Neville for me.
Harry.
They looked at one another. "The barrier wouldn't let them through?" said Neville. "Never heard of anything like that happening before!"
"Just because something has never happened before, it doesn't mean it can't ever happen," said Luna sagely. "Nobody's ever caught a Crumple-Horned Snorkack before, but that doesn't mean someone won't eventually manage."
"What's a Crumple-Horned —" Neville began.
"This is ridiculous!" Hermione snapped. "It's obvious what happened: Someone must have tampered with the barrier!"
"Are you sure?" said Ronnie.
"It's either that, or the barrier malfunctioned on its own," said Hermione, "and according to Hogwarts: a History, that barrier has never even once malfunctioned since it was first raised."
"Hogwarts: a History doesn't say anything about there being Nargles at the school either," said Luna, "but there are."
For a moment, Hermione was dumbstruck again, clearly torn between amazement of having found someone else who had actually read Hogwarts: a History and exasperation at such a ridiculous statement. She settled for: "No, there aren't!"
"Yes, there are! Daddy told me all about them!"
Neville, who was probably worried this difference of opinion might evolve into a fight, hurried to ask: "So, Luna, what house do you think you'll be in?"
Luna turned to look at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "I don't know," she said. "Daddy and Mummy were both Ravenclaws, but Daddy says that I shouldn't be bound by tradition and that I should be in the house that suits me. What house do you think I'll be in?"
Neville blushed. "I — couldn't say," he murmured. "I hardly know you."
"That's a very interesting colour you just turned," Luna observed. "Red for Gryffindor, isn't it?"
"Well, now, that explains a lot," came a very unwanted and extremely unwelcome voice from the doorway — and yes, of course, there came Draco Malfoy, dressed up in his best school robes and flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Great," said Ronnie, turning on them, "the Trolls have arrived!"
Malfoy ignored the use of their disliked collective nickname and went on: "I always wondered what a sniveling coward like Longbottom did in Gryffindor. Turns out he just matches the house colours."
Ronnie turned on him. "If you don't get out of here right now, Malfoy, I'll make you match your house colours! You'd be amazed at how green someone's face can get after they've been kicked in the balls!"
Malfoy, however, wasn't intimidated. Of course not, he was with his bodyguards. "Well, thank God that you said that, Weasley, I thought you were planning to kiss me — that'd make anyone turn green. So, where's Potter? Finally got fed up with all of you? Or did the big, bad Muggles get to him?"
Crabbe and Goyle both grunted with what was probably supposed to be laughter, and then entered the compartment to stand menacingly next to Malfoy. Neville got to his feet and joined Hermione to stand by Ronnie, Crookshanks began growling from the seat he'd occupied, and Hedwig ruffled her feathers in an annoyed way.
Luna, however, looked at Malfoy with her huge grey eyes and smiled. "It's so nice of you to be concerned for Harry," she said. "But I can assure you that Muggles aren't monsters at all. You don't have to be afraid of them."
Just like Hermione had, Malfoy opened and closed his mouth a few times before managing to think up an answer. "Afraid? Me? Of such sub-human filth?"
"Daddy says that people often mock or react with hatred towards things they fear," said Luna serenely. "But I'm certain you're really a very nice person."
"I'm certain you're a complete loony!" Malfoy countered. "Let me guess, you must be a Hufflepuff."
"I must?" Luna blinked in surprise. "Oh, I was just wondering what I'd be! Thank you ever so much! Neville didn't know, but you did! Are you a Hufflepuff too?"
Malfoy sputtered — he actually sputtered — in indignation. "Do I look like a Huf—" he began, but then apparently changed his mind, maybe out of fear that she'd answer yes. "Do you have even the faintest idea who I am?"
Luna shook her head. "No, but I've always heard that Hufflepuffs were supposed to be kind and helpful. I'm so glad to find out that's true! Oooh, now you're turning the same interesting colour as Neville did!"
It was then Malfoy must have decided to retreat with what little dignity he had left. "Crabbe, Goyle," he said. "Let's get out of here, this compartment's infested with lunatics. Potter's not here, anyway."
It was Neville who first started laughing after the Trolls had marched out of the compartment, and one by one the others joined in as well. Even Hermione was looking at Luna with considerably more goodwill than before.
"Too bad Harry's not here," Ronnie giggled. "He would have loved that."
"D'you think he and Ginny will get to Hogwarts all right?" said Neville, worried as always.
"Of course they will. Mum and Dad'll take care of everything," said Ronnie as she sat town on the seat next to the one occupied by Crookshanks, who immediately jumped up in her lap and started to purr. Hedwig perched on the armrest, looking very pleased when Ronnie carefully stroked her feathers with a finger. "I don't suppose you want to tell us the news you had in the meantime?"
"News?" Neville had returned to his seat and picked up Trevor. "Oh — yeah, the news for Harry, the ones I wrote in the letters he didn't get. Those news. I don't know, Ronnie, it seems a little wrong to tell you without Harry here..." It was easy to see, however, that he really wanted to — it must have been hard to wait for so long to share.
"If it's a secret," said Luna, who had sat down by the window, "then I shouldn't hear it. If you want to tell Veronica, though, I can take a nap." She smiled, leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "You can talk all you want when... I'm... sleeping..." her voice trailed off.
"Er, no, that's not —" said Neville, and stopped, because Luna had slumped and was already breathing slowly. "—necessary?" he finished feebly.
"She can't be asleep already," said Hermione, leaning closer to Luna. "It's not humanly possible to — my goodness, she is asleep! Just like that!" She turned to Ronnie, a mixture of disbelief, fascination and annoyance on her face. "Who is this girl?"
Ronnie could only shrug helplessly. "My neighbour," she said. "She lives with her Dad just outside Ottery st Catchpole, not too far from the Burrow. They're... kinda weird."
"I figured that, thank you!"
"Yeah, but they've grown weirder after Luna's Mum died two years ago." Ronnie felt a little awkward talking about this, but figured Hermione wouldn't be satisfied until she got an explanation. "Dunno exactly what happened, cause nobody would tell me, but I think it was some kind of accident and Luna saw it."
"That's horrible," said Neville.
Ronnie nodded. "Ginny and I went over to her house a few times after the funeral, but she just kept talking about all these strange creatures that nobody's ever heard of, going on about conspiracies and stuff, acting if she could see and hear things we couldn't. Maybe she can. I dunno. But I think she creeped Ginny out."
"She didn't creep you out?" Hermione quirked a brow.
Ronnie shrugged again. There were definite reasons why Luna Lovegood had never been a frequent guest at the Burrow, even if she lived so close by — and it wasn't all because Mum disapproved of The Quibbler. There was something slightly unnerving about Luna; maybe her semi-permanent look of mad amazement, maybe her odd way of talking, maybe the way she didn't always seem to be all there... or possibly the sneaking suspicion that maybe she in fact was more there than anyone else. Of course, Luna didn't have a very easy life and Ronnie felt sorry for the girl, but hadn't always been sure she liked her.
Then again, anyone who could so effortlessly weird out Draco Malfoy couldn't be all bad.
But perhaps this wasn't quite the time to focus on Luna, not when there were other things to focus on. "Did you want to tell us about the news for Harry, Neville?" Ronnie turned away from the sleeping girl and looked expectantly at him.
"I think Harry should be the first to hear it," said Hermione, though she looked about as curious as Ronnie felt.
"Probably," Neville sighed. "I've been looking forward to telling him, and probably we won't have time at the welcoming feast, with several other things going on, and the Sorting, and all. I suppose I can tell him afterwards, in our dorm room..."
"But then we won't get to hear it!" said Ronnie.
"It's none of our business, really," said Hermione. "You're far too nosy for your own good, Veronica."
"I'm not nosy, I'm curious!"
Neville took a deep breath. "I've been writing letters to Remus Lupin!"
Hermione and Neville turned to look at him. "Who's Remus Lupin?" said Ronnie.
"One of Harry's Dad's old friends. Remember, how Harry told us he'd found out they were a gang of four? I asked if he wanted me to find out if any of them were left, and before we left Hogwarts for Summer he said yes. Turned out Gran knew them... my parents went to Hogwarts at the same time as them, after all."
"So at least one of them is still alive," said Hermione, who seemed to have suddenly forgotten her reluctance to know this in advance.
"Two of them, actually." Neville grimaced. "The other one, Sirius Black, went to the Dark side and joined You-Know-Who. He's in Azkaban now. Killed thirteen people with one curse."
Ronnie felt as if someone had punched her. It was strange, really — she didn't know this Sirius Black, and had never met Harry's Dad, but still... she'd really always thought of people who joined the Dark side as, well, like the Malfoys; obviously evil from the first start. If this Mr. Black had been friends with Harry's Dad, he must have seemed like a decent bloke, mustn't he?
A decent bloke who happened to be a mass-murderer.
Suddenly, old Mad-Eye Moody and his constant paranoia didn't seem so funny.
"What about the final one?" said Hermione in a small voice.
"His name was Peter... Peter something," said Neville. "Don't remember his last name, sorry. He's dead too, that's all I found out. Mr. Lupin didn't really want to talk about him, or about Sirius Black, in the letters he sent."
"Don't blame him," Ronnie muttered.
"No, we really can't," said Neville. Then he brightened a little. "Mr. Lupin seems all right, though. Said he'd been thinking a lot about Harry and would be happy to tell him about his parents if he wanted."
"Harry would like that," said Ronnie with absolute certainty. "You should tell him as soon as we meet him."
As Luna slept on, they talked a little more. Neville didn't really have many other things to tell from his Summer holiday, as a good part of it had been spent with that dreadful cold (Hermione's Muggle remedies hadn't really helped either), but he had managed very well in the family greenhouse — no wonder, because Neville had a true passion for plants, and while he was generally not very good with schoolwork, he was the undisputed top of the class when it came to Herbology.
Hermione talked a bit about her Summer in the Muggle world, though she didn't really go into as much detail as Ronnie and Neville wanted. In fact, she seemed a little uneasy about it — and finally, she looked down and admitted: "My parents didn't want to let me go back to Hogwarts this year."
"What?" Neville and Ronnie chorused. "Why?"
"Partly it was the hatred," said Hermione miserably. "You remember that man who started yelling at them at Gringotts, Ronnie? Well, what we didn't tell you then was that he wasn't the first. A lot of people had been glaring and making nasty comments about my parents before that."
"I'm gonna kill everyone in the Daily Prophet!" Ronnie growled. "Starting with that Rita Skeeter!"
"And partly," Hermione continued, "it was your Dad."
Ronnie felt her jaw drop.
"I mean, he was very polite and friendly to them and they liked him," said Hermione hurriedly, "but he told them about what had happened last year! You know, with Voldemort and all that? He — he didn't know I hadn't told them already... They were very upset with me for keeping it a secret. They said they weren't sure the wizarding world was good for me. A bad influence, they said, and dangerous."
Ronnie had found her voice again. "But they did let you return."
"Eventually," said Hermione. "But they said if anything more happened this year..." she trailed off.
"Want my parents to talk to them?" said Ronnie.
"I'm not sure. Maybe."
"Well," Ronnie said, trying to sound cheerful, "They'll come around. I'm sure nothing bad's gonna happen this year."
The words had barely left her lips when she feverishly wished she hadn't said them. Using such words was the same as inviting a whole lot of bad things to happen.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Notes: I hope you don't think this story drags too much. They'll be at Hogwarts next chapter, and then things should hopefully pick up a bit.
I've been wanting to introduce Luna to this story ever since... well, ever since I decided that I'd cover second year. She's possibly my favourite character from the books, and I hope I did her justice here.
I know a lot of fanfics have portrayed Luna and Ginny as having been good friends before Hogwarts, but while this makes a great deal of sense given how close they live and how well they seem to get along in the books, that doesn't quite seem to be the case when reading the novels - then Harry would have met Luna at some point while staying at the Weasleys.
So my take on it is that the Lovegoods were sort of "friends of the family" but Ginny and Luna weren't close, because Ginny couldn't quite handle Luna's oddness. As Ginny matured she began appreciating Luna more, and around their fourth year was when they really became friends. In the Weasley Girl universe, the same thing happened; Ronnie and Ginny did try to reach out to Luna out of pity a few times after her mother died, but they weren't friends. Luna, of course, realises this, which is why she still calls Ronnie "Veronica."