A big Weasley grin to Chloe 'Remuslupin' Black, walters1, FrogPond, jadely31, Kristin93, ninjacat5 and especially to Gemma Remus 'Mc'Gee' Black whose review really put a smile one my face, thank you so much.
There is quite a bit of rushing through in this chapter, but hopefuly you will understand that there are some parts that aren't really important.
So here is chapter twenty (woohoo milestone chapter!) Well I have put ownership of Harry Potter on my Xmas list, but it depends on whether or not it gets to JK Rowling in time...fingers crossed.
Hermione had immediately buried her nose in a large book, Ginny had started catching up with the boys and Dean seemed genuinely happy to hear that she was now with Harry, and he himself had, got a new girlfriend; Charlotte, a muggle girl who worked in his local bakery. It had taken a grand total of five minutes for Luna to want to apparate straight back to George's side, and yet, two hours later, she still found herself sat besides one of the many windows of the Hogwarts express, looking at the British countryside hurtling past.
For Luna it was without doubt the longest journey of her life; if the rest of her time at Hogwarts was going to be this slow, she was going to jump out the window.
As soon as the train pulled up at the station, she jumped out of her seat, grabbed her bags, and near enough sprinted out on to the platform.
''Luna, wait a moment'' Ginny called from behind her, struggling to get her bag down from the overhead shelf. Once on the platform, Luna waited for Ginny and Hermione to leave the train, before the three of them began the walk towards the carriages which would take them to the castle.
The added decorations of the memorial service had since been removed, and apart from the memorial plaques on either side of the doors to the Great Hall, the castle looked identical to what it had been before the war.
''This is surreal, being back here.'' Ginny said as the three made their way to the Great Hall, she looked down at her Hogwarts uniform, which they had since changed into, and she tugged anxiously on her red and yellow Gryffindor tie.
As they stepped inside the Great Hall, the reduced number of students became apparent yet again. The Slytherin table was half empty, while the other three house tables were filled up to about three quarters of the way across.
''Look, there are some Gryffindors sat with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws over there, and over there too.'' Hermione observed, as her eyes darted around the three non-Slytherin house tables.
''New school policy; members of any house can sit together now, something to do with house cooperation.'' Dean interjected, as he walked in behind the girls. ''Although it seems as though the Slytherins are keeping to themselves''
''That's great, you can sit with us Luna'' Ginny bsaid as they began to walk, to what was the Gryffindor table; but now in amongst the majority of Gryffindors sat members of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.
Luna took a spot about half way along the table, Ginny, Hermione, Dean and Seamus all took seats beside her, and they then began to talk amongst themselves.
''Excuse me'' A male voice broke Luna out of the conversation, as she turned to see who the voice belonged to. Stood behind her was a man that must have been around the same age as Harry and Ron; he was average height, skinny, with short dusty blonde hair, and soft facial features. ''Is this seat taken''
Luna realised that she recognised the man as he gestured towards the seat on the other side of her to Ginny. ''No, feel free to take it yourself''
The man moved to sit besides Luna, but before she could rejoin her previous conversation, he spoke again. ''You're Luna Lovegood aren't you, I don't know if you remember me? I'm Rolf Scamander, I'm in Ravenclaw too, I was in the year above you.''
''Oh yes, sorry I did forget. I wasn't here last year, and the Wrackspurts seemed to have affected my brain.''
''Don't apologise, I just wanted to reintroduce myself to you, I wasn't here last year either.'' Luna was slightly surprised when he didn't question what she had meant by Wrackspurts, as everyone always had done whenever she had mentioned them before, but also found herself curious as to why he had not been at the school in the previous year.
''May I ask, why were you not here last year?'' Luna asked.
''The same thing that I've heard happened to you; taken by Death Eaters before I had the chance to get here.'' Rolf seemed to be reflecting on what had happened to him with calmlness, and Luna wondered if it secretly affected him in the same way as it did her, when she remembered her own experience with the Death Eaters.
''Oh well, at least I can understand how you feel.''
''Actually, that's why I wanted to sit next to you, so I could get to know you; so that I can speak to someone who isn't going to give the old 'I know how you feel speech' and actually they have no idea what it's like.''
''Well I will always be happy to be talk if you need me.'' Luna smiled softly at him.
The room became quiet and only hushed whispers could be heard as newly appointed headmistress, Professor McGonagall stepped forward. ''Words cannot explain how delighted I am to see you all here at Hogwarts; those of you who have rejoined the school, welcome back, and too any new additions, I hope that you enjoy your years with us. As many of you know and have realised, it is no longer a requirement for the four houses to sit on their specific tables.''
Professor McGonagall took a moment to look across at the Slytherin table and give them a stern look, before continuing ''This is for the encouragement of house cooperation and companionship, as the war proved that our bonds of friendship are so very important. This is just one of the changes to how the school will be working this year. As many of our previous seventh years have returned to properly complete their final year, NEWT classes will consist of both former seventh years, and of students who will be beginning their NEWT year for the first time...''
Luna sat and listened to Professor McGonagall introduce newly appointed teachers (there was many of them!), and discuss the usual school rules, before finally finishing and starting the feast.
''Maybe we'll be able to eat something now that Ron's not here'' Ginny joked as she reached for two chicken drumsticks. Luna chuckled, but Hermione's face fell and she suddenly didn't look so hungry anymore.
For almost an hour, the occupants of the Great Hall sat and filled themselves on the tonnes of food that was being offered to them. During this time; Seamus ate a giant bowl of ice cream and almost vomited afterwards, Ginny asked Dean about how he met his new girlfriend, and Rolf began asking Luna about the classes that she was taking; Luna thought he was a little to happy when he realised they were taking the same NEWT's.
Finally, Ginny and Hermione stood. Ginny turned to Luna ''Okay I'm going to bed before I burst.''
''I'm going to start heading towards the Ravenclaw common room anyway so I'll walk with you'' (despite her encouragement of house cooperation, Professor McGonagall had explained that common rooms were still for specific house's)
''I'll come with you Luna'' Rolf said from the seat next to her, causing both Ginny and Hermione to give him suspicious glances when he wasn't looking.
''Okay let's go then'' Hermione began making her way through the Great Hall and towards the many staircases of the castle.
As Luna and Rolf began walking in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room, Ginny stopped to watch for several seconds; there was something about Rolf Scamander that she didn't like.
''So I'll see you tomorrow'' Rolf said to Luna once they had reached the Ravenclaw dormitories.
''Goodbye Rolf'' Feeling shattered, Luna forced a smile and turned to enter the girls dormitory without looking back.
She was the first one inside, but she could see the belongings of two other girls by the other beds, and assumed that she had just come in early. She walked across the room, and slumped down on to her bed and began to sort through her things.
She paused when she heard the faint hoot of an owl. Moving to the window, she could make out the shape of a bird approaching in the darkness.
As soon as she recognised the bird, she swung the window open. The owl flew directly to her window and hovered before landing on the windowsill.
''Hello Brian'' Luna's face was beginning to ache with the size of her smile.
The owl hooted again as Luna took the message from him and unfolded the small piece of brown paper.
Tell me everything. George x
Luna's smile increased at the short but simple message. She pulled out the parchment and quill from her bag, and she began to write down everything that had happened since the train had pulled away from Kings Cross Station.
Next chapter; George spends his first day without Luna
According to wiki Rolf Scamander is the man Luna marries and I decided to use his name for this character in my story, but I promise that their will not even be a slight possibility of Luna/Rolf in this story. If I had written the DH then it wouldn't of happened there either.
R & R, I will not beg this time...but I will next chapter if it doesn't work ;^)