Leaving

by SJlikeslists

It's forty years later when someone decides it is time to write a new history of the last war. Using the former Luna Lovegood for source material wasn't her first choice, but she'll work with what she's got.

3. Hogwarts, The Early Years

Chapter 2 – Hogwarts, The Early Years

It is now understood that some members of the teaching staff at Hogwarts were involved in the Order of the Phoenix or other groups dedicated to opposing Voldemort's second rise to power. Did you notice any of the faculty members actively working for this cause during your early years at the school? Were any of them subtlety or overtly engaged in swaying students in this direction?

My favorite class was Muggle Studies with Professor Charity Burbage. That's not what you expected to hear, was it? You thought it would be something more exciting. Care of Magical Creatures perhaps? I knew more about the care of all types of magical creatures (not just the ministry approved for study ones) before I ever came to Hogwarts than most students with a NEWT in the subject would ever dream of knowing. I lived and breathed nothing but magical creatures from my ninth to eleventh years. Muggle Studies was an entirely different world to explore.

I was sorted Ravenclaw for a reason. I enjoy knowledge for knowledge's sake. Professor Burbage knew her subject well. You walked out of her classroom each session knowing that you had just been in the presence of someone who believed her subject was important and special and infinitely worth studying. She was a woman with a cause. She was preparing us (she thought) to grow up and go out into the world knowing that the Muggle world and our world were fundamentally the same – they were both comprised of people, and people were people whether they had magic or not. She was training us to stand against those who refused to accept that our similarities were greater than our differences. I can see that in retrospect. She was fighting the darkness via the path that was available to her at the time, and she did it well. She did it so well that it cost her her life. The Malfoy boy told the ministry when they were putting together the names for the memorial. Not all heroes die in battle. Some of them have their light snuffed out quietly somewhere outside of the spotlight.

25 January 2038

Adrienne,

Could you also get me the details of the death of the Muggle Studies teacher? It is Burbage, Charity.

Sadie

It was a classroom this time. Given Luna's response to her question, Sadie guessed that the woman concluding her lecture at the front of the room must be Professor Burbage (making the class Muggle Studies). What appeared to be light bulbs were scattered across the tables in the room with some of them having been dismantled. Luna was seated toward the front of the class with a group of Ravenclaws who all had their chairs scooted slightly farther from Luna's than it was necessary for them to be.

"Miss Lovegood," Professor Burbage said as the students began to gather up their belongings to go. "Would you be so kind as to stay after class and help me put these away?" She gestured toward the bulbs scattered around the room.

Luna merely nodded and retrieved a box from the front of the room in which to place them. As Luna and Professor Burbage cleared the tables, Sadie noticed that the teacher seemed to be studying Luna as they worked. She finally decided to speak. "I thought we might talk about some things that I've noticed lately in my classroom. Do you mind?"

Luna, collecting the last of the bulbs from the back table, turned round with a curious look. "Is there a problem, Professor Burbage?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me that. Was I mistaken this afternoon or did one of your seatmates attempt to vanish your textbook in the middle of my lecture?" Professor Burbage's voice was kind but a little strained.

"I'm sorry if it disturbed you, Professor." Luna replied quite calmly.

"I was actually thinking that you might have found it disturbing." The teacher's tone of voice was very gentle, almost as if she were trying to convince some skittish wild creature to come closer.

Luna shrugged while answering, "Not particularly."

"And if she had been successful in her undertaking, would you have been disturbed then?" A faint note of frustration was creeping into the woman's voice now.

Luna smiled at her teacher. "You give rather detailed notes. I daresay the inconvenience would have been minimal."

"I see." Professor Burbage seemed to ponder the situation for a moment. "I am tempted to report this behavior to Professor Flitwick. I suppose it would accomplish very little, however, and might even have unpleasant consequences for yourself." The woman shook her head and sighed before taking the conversation in a different direction.

"You show quite an aptitude for this subject. Many students from the old families have difficulty learning to look at life from a different perspective. You don't seem to have that problem. You seem to be more open than most."

"Thank you." Sadie decided it must be Luna's first year of Muggle Studies – that would make her a third year. Obviously, the "moving" of Luna's stuff that Constance had mentioned had already been going on for some time. Luna didn't seem to think it out of the ordinary. She was very nonchalant about the whole situation. Had the others picked on her from the very beginning of her school career? Had they ever given her a chance? Or had they taken in her slightly bedraggled appearance and her faith in her father's paper and written her off as not worth getting to know?

"There's a muggle saying that I would like to share with you. It's called 'thinking outside the box.' It means that instead of sticking with the way things have always been done, a person really looks at the world around them and tries to find a way to do things differently. That type of person knows that there is always more than one way to solve a problem, and they look for it when everyone else has become discouraged and given up. That kind of thinking makes many people uncomfortable. They don't understand why someone can't just stick with the tried and true way of looking at things, but when something goes wrong, it's the thinking outside the box that usually saves the day. You remind me of that phrase. I appreciate that in a student."

Luna's eyes were focused intently on Professor Burbage's face, and Sadie could practically see the wheels spinning in her head as she mulled over the words that had just been spoken.

Professor Burbage continued "Luna, pencil in Tuesdays at four on your calendar."

Luna's brow furrowed, "I'm sorry?"

The young woman smiled at her, "It's another muggle expression. You have a standing invitation to tea in my office each Tuesday afternoon at four. You may show up or not – that's entirely up to you, but I'll be there ready to listen or discuss as the case may be. Coursework, world events, Quidditch statistics – whatever you would like."

Luna's furrowed brow was easing into a brilliant smile as the memory shifted, and Sadie found herself smiling as well. No wonder Professor Burbage had been Luna's favorite teacher. It wasn't exactly a thought that Sadie would have expected to be connected to her original question, but Luna had developed a habit of surprising her. Why would she associate a kind teacher taking the trouble to get to know her with the fight against Voldemort? Had the teas been secret recruiting sessions? Did Charity Burbage make a habit of cosying up to disaffected students and using their isolation to push them into joining a cause? Sadie shook her head. Where had that question come from? It was worthy of Constance herself. The thought made Sadie feel faintly queasy for some reason. She was being ridiculous. There was not some massive headline making conspiracy hiding under every aspect of Luna's memories. Charity Burbage was just a kind woman who cared about her students. There was nothing sinister about that. She was obviously more tolerant of Luna's differences than Luna's classmates had been. That was probably the association Luna had made in her head. Tolerance was not something that would have been appreciated under Voldemort.

Sadie realized that the next memory had started while she was pondering, but she didn't appear to have missed anything important. The scene was still taking place in the Muggle Studies' classroom, but Luna looked older. Most of the students had a harried, almost exhausted look about them. Sadie recognized that look. It must be close to time for O.W.L.S. She did a quick scan for Luna and discovered her sitting near the back at a table. She was not sitting with other Ravenclaws as tradition would dictate but with a girl wearing Gryffindor colors – Ginny Weasley. The two of them seemed to be decidedly more relaxed than the other students. One Ravenclaw in the front row was frantically waving her hand in the air. Her voice, when Professor Burbage called on her, was nothing short of panicked.

"Do you mean to say that we won't be revising at all?"

Professor Burbage smiled indulgently, "That's exactly what I am saying. All this last minute cramming isn't good for any of you. I can't stop you when you walk out that door, but it isn't going to happen on my time. You've all done very well with the coursework this term, and I have every confidence that you will all pass your O.W.L.S. with little to no trouble – provided, of course, that you all manage to relax and remember to breathe. I have something more important to discuss with you today."

She paused for a moment to allow the echo from the collective gasp to die away. "I'm choosing to say this to you now because I know that some of you won't be returning to my classroom for N.E.W.T. level work – despite your impressive passing scores on your coming examination." She added looking directly at the girl from earlier who seemed ready to hyperventilate at any moment. "Someday you will be old and gray, and in the grand scheme of things it isn't really going to matter if you remember that you once knew that the word is pronounced 'electricity' or that one does not need to shout to be heard when speaking into a telephone." Sadie noticed that Ginny Weasley seemed to be very amused by that last bit.

Professor Burbage was scanning the room again – pausing to make eye contact with each one of her students. "It is all useful information, but it isn't what I hope you retain from your time here. There is one and only one principle that I care that you take with you when you go. You have spent the last three years studying people. People who do things differently than you do, people who know about different things than you do, but still people. Regular people who breathe and hurt and laugh and love and cry just the same as you. I want you to remember that. If you carry that knowledge with you, then I have passed on the most important piece of information that I possess. If you haven't learned that lesson, then nothing else I've taught you really matters. I have much faith in you all, please don't let me down."

Sadie found that she needed to pause after watching that memory. Had Professor Burbage known how close they were to a time when that lesson would be needed? Or had she merely been trying to teach a sense of tolerance to the students in her care? How many students had heard those words over Charity Burbage's years on the faculty? How many students had taken those words to heart? How many of them had been inspired to stand against the lie that was going to engulf their lives in the coming months based on the ideas they had been exposed to in that classroom? Sadly, that was information that Sadie would likely never possess. Was that why she had been killed? Because she was contradicting the lie that Voldemort's followers perpetuated about being a higher class of humans?

The stories about Voldemort had always made him seem so much larger than life. It was like he was this huge, faceless source of evil in the world that had almost succeeded in taking over everything. If he was capable of feeling threatened by a simple teacher saying a few words to her students, how powerful could he actually have been? It couldn't be that simple, could it? Mustn't there be more to the story than that? The all-encompassing, evil dark lord had been afraid of ideas? Yet, isn't that what Luna had implied in her original answer? Charity Burbage had been dangerous because she knew the truth and wasn't afraid to speak it. It was almost funny (in a sad, ironic kind of way) when you stopped to think about it. Everyone had such a built up idea in their minds of how massive an undertaking being heroic had to be, but in the end, it was always the simple things that ended up being heroic – whether it was a boy with a disarming spell or a woman with a passion for teaching truth.

When she played the third memory, Sadie found that they had been out of chronological order for the first time. She would have to remember that and not depend on order in developing her time lines. Like the others, this one took place in the Muggle Studies classroom. Luna and her classmates seemed younger than in the last but older than in the first memory. Luna and Ginny were again sitting together, and Professor Burbage was standing at the front of the room. An unknown woman was sitting in the back scribbling notes on a clipboard. Suddenly, the strange (and rather toad like Sadie thought) woman made a nasty hemming sound as if something were stuck in her throat. Professor Burbage paused in her note giving to look in the woman's direction.

"Is there a problem, Professor Umbridge?" Sadie noticed that Burbage's voice sounded different than she recalled from the earlier memories. She sounded almost patronizing.

"Oh, not at all. Do go on with what you were doing. I think I have seen quite enough. You'll be receiving the results of your evaluation shortly. I'll just say now that you seem to be a very organized young woman who knows what she is about. It is a pity that Dumbledore would waste such teaching skills on such an unnecessary subject."

"Excuse me?" Professor Burbage's voice had gone from vaguely patronizing to barely controlled anger in a matter of moments.

"Oh, nothing against your teaching, dear. You've really done amazingly well with what we all know is a pointless subject of study. Muggle Studies, really. What self-respecting head of a school would waste time on such a thing." Professor Umbridge appeared to be completely oblivious to the fact that Professor Burbage was giving her a death glare or that her fingernails were about to draw blood from the palms of her hands.

"I would like a word with you in the hall, if you please." The anger in her voice was becoming more apparent. Sadie was amazed that the other woman had yet to notice.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. You'll get a full copy of my report later. Go ahead and do what you do, maybe when things are run differently around here we can find a better use for your talents." Her voice was dripping with what she appeared to think was a pleasing tone of comradery.

"Hallway, now." Professor Burbage practically shouted.

"Well, I never." Declared Professor Umbridge in a shocked tone.

Sadie almost squealed in frustration when the memory ended. Had they left the room? Had Luna not seen or heard any more? What had Professor Burbage said to that woman? Who had she been any way? Why was she doing evaluations of the staff? And what had she been suggesting about the school being run differently? If it was Luna's fourth year as she suspected, wouldn't that have been the proper time for the original formation of the DA? The books had always said that the DA had been formed in response to a feeling on the part of the students that they were not being adequately prepared for what they thought was coming. Sadie had always thought that meant that the students thought there was something wrong with the curriculum and had taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation. But what had Constance said in that last, downright snarky letter? She had been too busy being miffed over the insinuation that she try to prove that Luna's father wasn't actually her father. She dug through the papers covering her desk until she found it. There it was "illegal Ministry influence at Hogwarts." What did that mean? The ministry, from what she had pieced together, had seemed to be very complacent toward Voldemort's potential return during that time. Had they been trying to take over at Hogwarts to ensure that the students were being taught the same? In the back of her mind, she had always thought that while noble and all it had been a little grandiose on the part of the students involved to think that they were the ones who had to tackle the problem. That was part of what she had wanted to know from Luna. Why hadn't they trusted that the adults would take care of it? Maybe she had part of that answer now. Maybe they couldn't. If that woman (who obviously had the same basic prejudices that led to the whole mess in the first place) was a ministry official, Sadie's whole viewpoint on the situation was blown.

26 January 2038

Adrienne,

Get me whatever you can find on a Professor Umbridge who was at Hogwarts during the '95-'96 term.

Sadie

You seem to have spent a large amount of time with Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom during your school years. They were all Gryffindors, and you were a Ravenclaw. How did you end up such good friends with a group of students from a different house? Were you really as good of friends as the stories say?

My family lived close to the Weasley's, and I knew Ginny from early childhood. We took the same elective courses beginning in our third year, and we naturally spent time together in them. Our friendship grew from there.

The memory opened in the now familiar Muggle Studies' classroom. It was obviously early – there were very few students in the room, and Professor Burbage had yet to make an appearance. Luna (a third year one Sadie decided) was seated by herself at a table reading an edition of the Quibbler and absentmindedly twirling a piece of her blond hair round her finger. Snow could be seen falling outside the window above Luna's head. As Sadie watched, Ginny Weasley came through the classroom doorway and started to slide into a seat in the back. She glanced around the room, and her gaze settled on the back of Luna's head. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to consider something for a moment before standing up and regathering her books. She made her way down the aisle and balanced her load on the edge of Luna's table.

"Hello, Luna." She said when that girl failed to look up from her reading.

Luna flipped her head in Ginny's direction and blinked up at the redhead. "Hello, Ginny." She replied before turning her eyes back to her paper.

Ginny smiled and shook her head a bit before trying again. "I was wondering if I might sit with you today."

Luna looked up and blinked again. "Don't you usually sit back there?" She asked flicking her hand in the direction of Ginny's previous seat.

"Luna, if I have to listen to any of my housemates rehash who went to the Yule Ball with whom one more time, I am going to cause somebody bodily harm. You would be saving me a week's worth of detentions if you would let me sit with you." Ginny winked at Luna and gave her a disarming smile.

Luna seemed to be considering something for a moment before suddenly asking "Did Professor Burbage talk to you?"

It was Ginny's turn to blink in surprise. "Am I already in trouble for something?" She asked sounding faintly concerned. "Break's just ended."

Luna just stared at her for what felt like an endless amount of time but was probably only a few seconds.

Ginny gave a dramatic sigh. "If you are determined to make me suffer through the excruciating experience of detention just because you won't save me from my own awful temper, I guess I shall have to find somewhere else to sit." Ginny turned and started to walk away.

"Wait." Luna's voice was quiet but commanding. "You can sit here any time you like."

Ginny spun around and looked at Luna questioningly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Luna responded finally answering Ginny's earlier smile with one of her own.

"I'm glad that's settled then." Ginny stated dropping her things onto the table and plopping down into the chair beside Luna. "What did you do for your holidays?"

Sadie had gotten so used to memories that took place in the Muggle Studies' classroom that she was the one blinking in surprise as she recognized the Hogwarts' library. Luna was again seated at a table, but this time there was no copy of the Quibbler in evidence. She was, instead, working on what appeared to be a potion's essay. Once again, Ginny Weasley made her appearance on the scene. She stomped all the way to the table and practically threw her schoolbag down on the top earning herself a patented ice glare from Madame Pince (who Sadie noted didn't look a day younger than she had during her own years of frequenting that library).

"Ug!" Ginny exclaimed sparing a quick glance in the now shhing Madame Pince's direction before lowering her voice a bit. "I've just come from Defense. She's horrible. It's like the Ministry has been conducting some nasty experiment where they've been crossbreeding foul-tempered giant toads with their employees and one of them has escaped."

Luna looked up at Ginny blinking. "I don't think that's very likely. But if you like, I could ask Daddy to check into it for you." Sadie looked for any sign of sarcasm, but it was clear from Luna's expression that she was being dead earnest.

Ginny's mood instantly broke, and she let out a laugh that she instantly tried to quiet with her hand. She shot another quick glance in Madame Pince's direction, but that woman was no longer paying any attention to them. "I don't think that will be necessary, Luna, but thank you for offering. Would you work on Ancient Runes with me? I've been having an awful time with that new set." Luna nodded, and the memory began to dispel. Sadie paused the playing. Thinking back to the rather toad like woman from the earlier memory, she hurried to her writing desk to send off another note to Adrienne.

26 January 2038

Adrienne,

She may have been the Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher.

Sadie

This time they were in a different classroom. It was Ancient Runes if the hangings on the walls were any indication. Noting the textbook sitting in front of one of the students, Sadie judged it to be the second year of the course – which would make Luna a fourth year. Sunlight was streaming through the window, and the boy whose textbook Sadie had checked flipped it open to the first page and creased back the binding. It must be the first day of class. Luna was standing in the doorway. It was apparent that she had arrived later than the other students but before the instructor. Each table in the room was already occupied. The little knot of Ravenclaws was making a show of being deep in conversation with each other – all conveniently turned away from where Luna stood. A red-haired girl seemed to notice the sudden degree of busyness on that side of the room and turned toward the door. Ginny smiled at Luna and waved her hand in a beckoning gesture.

"Hey, Luna. Come and sit with us." She said in a voice clearly meant to carry to every part of the room. At least one of the Ravenclaw girls had the decency to blush.

"But, Ginny, aren't we supposed to sit with our houses?" The boy across from her asked in a tone of genuine surprise.

Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back to reply, but Sadie had lost track of the conversation. She was too busy staring at the boy who had spoken. It was Colin, Uncle Colin. He looked just like the picture that her father kept on the desk in his study. She hadn't really thought about the possibility that she would come across him while looking through Luna's memories. She had known that he was at school with her, of course, and their paths must have crossed in the DA. But she hadn't ever really let herself think about it. There was a difference between knowing that something was possible and actually actively thinking about it happening. She had just been so caught up in the prospect of this idea of hers and all its possibilities that she had forgotten to think about what it might be like if she ran into some personal ties along the way.

She felt strange. Not that it wasn't strange to be rummaging through someone else's memories to start with, but this was stranger. Her father never really talked about him. He only made occasional comments about how he had been very brave and had died in the Battle of Hogwarts. She only knew that he had been a DA member because she had found the coin when she was a little girl rummaging through her Dad's desk looking for spare parchment. She'd thought she had found money until she saw that there was writing on the edges. It had said "Harry's come. We're taking Hogwarts back." She hadn't realized then what it was she had found. She didn't put it together until she was older. Sadie had always guessed that the two of them hadn't been very close, and that her Dad's reluctance to talk about it had come from him feeling guilty that he had been so far away while everything was happening to his brother. She had been a little shocked that Luna had thought she would ask him for information on the DA. Maybe Luna had recognized her last name and done a little checking up on her. She couldn't blame her she supposed. She had answered Luna's note as politely as she could without saying what she really thought – that it was highly unlikely that her uncle would have been mailing off lists of the members of subversive organizations by owl to France. She definitely wasn't barmy like Constance had suggested, but she was a little odd.

It felt odd to be looking at him like this. The photograph that her father kept on the desk was a muggle one. This Colin looked so very alive in contrast. He talked with his hands she noticed; the same way that she did when she was excited. He looked . . . bouncy she decided – like he had more energy than he could use and it was going to come bursting out of him at any moment. Realizing that she had completely missed what was going on, she made an effort to refocus her attention to the situation at hand. Luna was seated at the table with Ginny and Colin and another girl who had scooted her chair back slightly. She was sitting with her arms crossed tightly, and she was definitely pouting. Ginny had apparently decreed that Luna was sitting with them whether anyone else liked it or not, and the girl was seething in silence. Colin didn't seem to be bothered by it; he looked like he had picked up with whatever conversation had been going before the interruption. When he asked Luna a question, Ginny used the moment of her distraction to give a meaningful glare at the pouting girl. The girl looked startled, then scared (Sadie couldn't really blame her – Ginny was looking rather dangerous at the moment), and finally decided that it was imperative that she start reading the first chapter of her textbook. The memory ended there.

Most children in my age group grew up hearing tales of Harry Potter as bedtime stories. I wasn't one of them. Ginny used to talk about him sometimes, and I remember asking my mother about him. She said that there were lots of stories that people told about Harry, but nobody knew which ones were true and which ones were not. He was, after all, a boy just like anyone else who should be allowed to grow up into whoever he was going to be without having to listen to meddling people telling him whom they thought he should be because of the stories they had heard.

When I got to school, there were always stories about Harry making the idle gossip rounds. I tried not to listen to most of them. I didn't meet him myself until my fourth year. He was kind, and he was loyal – and he was very much in need of people who would see him as Harry rather than their pieced together idea of what Harry should be. It would have been difficult not to become friends with him.

Sadie stopped the memories from playing. Adrienne had been correct at the beginning – having to look beyond the Harry Potter angle had been a blessing. Everyone always focused on him. She wasn't going to go down that road. Her writing was going to be different. She would just skip over the Harry Potter memories. Besides, if Constance was right, she had no desire to watch memories of Luna and Harry snogging. At the thought of Constance, she felt a sudden surge of anger rush through her. What else had Constance said? That Harry had let the kids in the DA think that they were capable of fighting back without ever teaching them how? That he had gotten some of them killed because they were in over their heads in the final battle? Had he gotten Colin killed? Had Colin believed that he was capable of fighting Death Eaters because Harry Potter had convinced him that he could? He shouldn't even have been there. He was muggle born. He would have been expelled that year and spent it in hiding. He wouldn't even have been there for the battle if that stupid coin hadn't called him back. "Harry's come. We're taking Hogwarts back." She thought about those words in light of what Constance had told her. So, the great Harry Potter had wanted Voldemort to be distracted to give himself an advantage, had he? He, of all people, would have known what he was sending them out to fight against. What were the lives of some nameless, faceless follower kids in the grand scheme of the greater good?

Kind? Loyal? Clearly, Luna was every bit as much in the Harry Potter fan club as Constance had suggested she might be. She didn't need to see that kind of blindly devoted memory. This wasn't Harry Potter's story anymore. She pushed ahead to the next answer.

My friendship with Ronald Weasley didn't come quite as easily. Teenagers are difficult creatures, I think. So often they feel they must hide who they are from those around them. Ronald was gruff, often thoughtless with the things he said to those with whom he came into contact. You had to take care that you remembered the boy underneath all that – the one who was sweet and thoughtful and kindhearted. The one you saw in the moments when he forgot to put up the pretense of the unsure adolescent and let the boy he was meant to be shine through instead. That's what friends do after all. They recognize who you are even when you aren't sure of it yourself.

As the memory came into focus, Sadie recognized the familiar feel of the yard and realized that she was back at The Burrow. A very, very young Luna (probably only three or four) stood to the side watching as the equally young looking Ginny Weasley sat on the ground crying over what was obviously a scraped knee. A boy not much older than the girls was kneeling on the ground next to Ginny and speaking in a soothing voice while he patted her gently on the head.

"Sh, Gin-Gin," he was murmuring. "It's okay. Don't cry. Please don't cry. Can I help you get up? Let's go see Mum. She'll make it feel better, and she'll prolly let you have a cookie."

At the word cookie, Ginny's face cleared and the sobbing slowed to a mild hiccoughing sound. The red-haired boy (who Sadie supposed was a young Ron Weasley) pulled Ginny to her feet. She made a rather large production of leaning against him and limping on her way, but he didn't protest her actions. He merely pulled her arm around his shoulders and led her in the direction of the front door of the house.

The young Luna followed behind chewing on her fingers with her head cocked to the side as she contemplated the actions of the siblings. She sighed and mumbled to no one in particular "Brothers are nice."

The memory ended and refocused in a hallway at Hogwarts. Luna was sprawled across the floor with books, parchment, quills, and myriad other items scattered from a torn bookbag in every conceivable direction. A gaggle of students in Slytherin robes stood nearby giggling rather malevolently at the sight. Not one was making any motion indicating that they would be helping Luna up. A few were even kicking items farther down the hall.

One member of the group spoke up, "Must be a new kind of creature, Loony. Sneaks up behind you and knocks you down. Best have your father investigate. I'm sure he'll be interested to hear." The ill-intended snickering continued down the hall as the group moved on. A red headed boy who had rounded the opposite corner in the middle of the Slytherin's comments took in the scene and immediately knelt to gather together the scattered objects.

"You all right?" He asked her.

Luna merely nodded and began to gather her own pile of belongings. The two worked in silence while everything was collected. As he handed her the last bottle of ink (miraculously unbroken), Ron Weasley spoke again. "Slytherins. Right nasty creatures all around. I reckon somebody should see about locking them up and studying them for a while." He gave Luna a wink and a grin and continued on his way down the hall. Luna double blinked after his retreating figure before smiling and walking off in the opposite direction.

Luna was walking on what Sadie recognized to be the Hogwarts' grounds. It appeared to be very cold – snow covered the ground, and Luna's breath was visible in little puffs that hovered in front of her face. She didn't appear to be going anywhere in particular. Rather, she seemed to be out enjoying a winter ramble. The scenery appeared untouched. It was obviously very early in the morning. The top layer of snow was fresh and stretched out in unsullied whiteness in each direction but one. The faintest impression could be seen stretching out in front of Luna. The footprints had been partially blown over, but were still visible. Luna didn't seem to be following them – she seemed oblivious to their presence. She simply appeared to be heading towards the same set of trees that they led toward. As they came closer to the trees, Sadie spotted a figure sitting under one of them. Sadie soon recognized the individual as a Weasley boy – no other families seemed to produce quite that shade of red hair. It must be Ron. This was, after all, one of Luna's memories about him. He was seated in the snow with his head resting in his hands that were braced by the elbows on his knees. He must be terribly wet and somewhat frozen, but his posture seemed to indicate that he had weightier things on his mind than mere physical comfort.

Luna paused and watched him for a few moments as if contemplating whether or not she should disturb him. Apparently she decided that she should, for she came closer and called out a greeting. "Hello, Ronald."

The boy started and turned his head in her direction. His voice sounded flat when he answered her "Hello, Luna." He seemed to be searching for something further to say before he settled on "Kind of cold for an early walk, isn't it?"

Luna cocked her head to the side and made sure that he was making eye contact with her. "Warmer than sitting in a snow bank, I should think."

Ron gave a self-depreciating shrug and turned to gaze at the unbroken snow. "Sometimes it's easier to think away from people."

Luna seemed to sense the tension emanating from the boy and refrained from saying anything in response. She merely stood patiently and waited for him to continue.

Ron seemed to accept the unspoken invitation. "Have you ever messed something up really badly, Luna?" He inquired, the flat inflection in his voice being replaced with something sad and somehow resigned. "Not schoolwork or simple stuff that you can fix, but people. Have you ever messed up so badly that you don't even know if the people involved will give you a chance to fix it?" Seeming to sense the rhetorical nature of the question, Luna remained silent. She simply sat down next to the clearly troubled boy in the snow.

Ron continued, "I've made such a mess of things. It's all tangled up, and I don't think I can untangle it because no matter what I do people are going to get hurt. I don't want people to get hurt, but they're going to be. Whether I fix things or leave them like they are. I hate that I'm the one who mucked everything up. I hate that I'm hurting her. I hate it when girls cry. Do they do that on purpose, Luna, because they know how badly it makes blokes feel?"

The memory faded into the sound of Luna's voice.

My friendship with Neville Longbottom just sort of came to be. We were in the same places at the same time. We had the same friends. It was a natural progression that we would end up being friends with each other. Sometimes something bigger than yourself recognizes the need for certain people to enter your life and creates an opportunity. I like to think that that's what happened to Neville and myself.

A group of students were gathered in a room that Sadie could not identify. They seemed to be spreading themselves out – leaving singly or in pairs at various intervals. Luna stepped out into the hall, and Sadie found herself in a hallway she recognized from Hogwarts. But, if she remembered correctly there were no doors in that particular hallway. She turned to see where Luna had come from and found herself face to face with an empty stretch of wall. That was bizarre. She turned to see where Luna had gotten to and spotted her toward the end of the hallway hurrying (although Luna was so graceful in her movements that hurrying seemed a most inappropriate word to describe the process) to catch up with a slightly chubby boy who was walking away with a rather preoccupied air.

"Neville." Luna called in a quietly pitched voice that nevertheless garnered the boy's attention for her. He turned to face her, and Sadie found herself looking into the face of her old Herbology professor. This boy seemed different from the man she was acquainted with however. Her Professor Longbottom was laid back and easy going. He chuckled through lectures and told jokes to lines of queing students that he passed in the halls. There was no laughter to be found in this boy's expression. He looked serious and troubled and determined. His eyes were shadowed, and he showed every indication of someone who hadn't slept well for several days.

He didn't respond to Luna's greeting. He merely stood still until she had caught up to him and waited for her to continue. "You did really well tonight." She told him looking up to meet his eyes.

The determined expression faltered, and he appeared to finally actually see Luna standing in front of him. "Thanks?" The word was awkward and questioning as if he were unsure of what he had heard and didn't want to embarrass himself.

Luna smiled at him in an encouraging fashion. "I mean it you know. You've been doing quite well. Not just tonight, but altogether recently. I wanted to tell you because I suspect maybe you don't hear it often enough."

Without another word, Luna spun on her heel and walked off in the other direction leaving a surprised looking Neville Longbottom in her wake.

The next memory opened in the Hogwarts' library. Luna was once again surrounded by a table full of books while she worked on an essay – it appeared to be Herbology on this occasion. It wasn't Ginny Weasley who disturbed her study time this time. A somewhat nervous looking Neville Longbottom approached her and gingerly sat his bag on the table across from her. He paused a moment waiting for Luna to acknowledge his presence. She didn't. He slid quietly into the chair in front of his bag and again waited for some sign that Luna had noticed him there. She continued to work without looking up from her parchment. Just when it appeared that Neville was getting ready to give up and leave, Luna spoke. "Was there something you wanted, Neville? Or did a wrackspurt knock it from your head?"

Visibly relaxing, Neville smiled at the blond who still hadn't looked up from the parchment on which she was scribbling furiously. "Um, no. To the second question that is. I don't think I know what a . . .never mind. I did want . . . that is I was going to ask . . . well."

"That's odd," Luna interrupted him. "They don't usually come into the library."

"You miss it too, don't you?" Neville finally spat out.

That got Luna's full attention. Her head snapped up from the parchment, and her eyes locked with the boy's. She didn't ask (as Sadie expected her to do) what it was that he was going on about. Rather, she nodded her head and replied "I do."

"Do you feel like we're missing out on something important?" He continued, the nervousness leaving his voice. "Like we should be doing something instead of sitting round school pretending that everything is fine? Does that sound crazy?"

"Just because the DA isn't meeting any more," Luna was saying, "doesn't mean that we've forgotten why we were meeting. It doesn't mean that we have to stop being ready for what's coming."

"So, what do we do now?" Neville was looking at Luna with a hopeful expression spreading across his features.

Luna plunged a hand into her robes and drew out a small, golden coin from her pocket. "We make sure we're ready when we're needed," she said.

The memory shifted, and the library disappeared. Luna was standing with Neville's arm draped around her shoulders. He appeared to be limping and was leaning rather heavily against her small frame. She, however, was not protesting. She guided him into a chair and took the seat beside him. Sadie looked around and noticed that they seemed to be toward the back of a large crowd gathered near the lake on the Hogwarts' grounds. Mixed with students and faculty were a large variety of people – some of whom had to be ministry officials. It had to be Albus Dumbledore's funeral. No other occasion would have warranted such a large group being present on the school grounds. Well, except for the final battle itself, and this was definitely not that.

"I can't believe he's gone," Neville was saying in a hushed voice to Luna. She just looked at him with a hard to read expression. "What do we do now?" He asked her. "With Dumbledore gone everything is just going to fall apart." His voice had a blank quality to it that was difficult for Sadie to reconcile with her own memories of Professor Longbottom's perpetually cheery voice.

Luna merely looked at the older boy with an intensity so great that he turned to see what it was that she was doing. Only when she was sure that she had his complete and undivided attention did she say anything at all. "He's gone – what he was fighting for isn't. It doesn't mean that we get to bow our heads and hide from everything. He's gone, but we're not. That makes it our responsibility to pick up the pieces. To finish what he started. It's our job now."

Neville was staring at her with a look approaching awe. He reached over and gently picked up her hand in his own before squeezing her fingers. "I'm glad you're here to remind me."

Luna smiled at him through teary eyes and turned her head to face the officiating wizard who had begun to speak at the front. The two of them sat silently, hands intertwined, while the funeral proceeded. The memory faded out.

Life would be rather boring if you spent it surrounded by people who thought exactly the same ways about exactly the same things at exactly the same times as yourself. If you look at it from that perspective, it made perfect sense for Hermione Granger and me to be friends. Yes, we really were quite good friends. We still are in fact. You are only limited in your friendships with people who view life in a different manner by insecurity about your own thinking. If you need to surround yourself by those who will justify your own thoughts, it's because deep down you think your own thoughts are in need of justification.

Hermione and I didn't always agree. We even argued on occasion, but we respected each other for being steadfast in our own beliefs. That, I think, makes a better foundation for a lasting friendship than any amount of commonality on common matters could ever build.

Luna was back in the library. Hadn't she ever just hung out in the Ravenclaw common room? Although, given the memories Sadie had seen concerning her housemates, that might not have been such a pleasant place to be. She clearly got on better with that little group of Gryffindors – why didn't they just hang out in the all-house common room? Wait. Hadn't one of the professors said that that was a fairly recent addition to Hogwarts? Had it not been in existence yet when Luna was a student? Sadie scanned the room looking for Hermione Granger to make her appearance. These were supposed to be memories of her after all. She had looked over the room twice before a girl with crazy curls haphazardly swept up into a ponytail walked up to Luna's table and hovered beside it. Sadie studied the girl's face – it was Hermione Granger. She had overlooked her because of the hair. She never would have realized. Had no one introduced the poor muggle born to the wonders of Sleakeasy's yet? Did she not have roommates to teach her these things? Ginny Weasley? Somebody?

"Luna, I was wondering if I might speak to you for a moment?" Hermione sounded hesitant – almost as if she was unsure how Luna was going to respond to her question. Her hesitation seemed warranted for when Luna looked up there was no smile as there had been for Ginny Weasley or Neville Longbottom. Instead, an aloof expression that seemed somehow out of place on Luna's features accompanied the uplifted eyebrow that was apparently going to be Hermione's invitation to continue.

It was obviously enough encouragement for Hermione because she did continue. "I know that we didn't get off to a very pleasant start when we first met." Luna's other eyebrow raised giving her an almost disdainful look (Sadie was tempted to laugh. Words of wisdom spouting, perpetually unaffected by those around her Luna Lovegood looking disdainful was an almost comic combination.). "I was hoping that we could fix that." The disdainful expression on Luna's face was easing up a bit, and Hermione looked heartened by that fact. "Some of us were thinking that we aren't going to be learning much in Defense this year, and we thought that maybe we should get together and try to fix that. Harry's going to teach us." Hermione paused and took a deep breath. "Look, Luna, I know you believe Harry, and he needs all the people who believe in him that he can get right now. If you're interested, we're meeting at the Hog's Head next Hogsmeade weekend. Okay?"

Luna nodded at Hermione and went back to reading her textbook. Hermione stayed standing at the edge of the table for a moment staring down at Luna before turning and walking back to another table equally buried under books.

The new memory opened on the hallway in front of the great hall. Sadie could tell that it was mealtime because clumps of students were going in and out of the large doorway. Luna, in contrast, was walking by herself toward the main staircase. "Luna, wait!" A voice called from behind her. Luna and Sadie both turned to see Hermione Granger sprinting toward her with her bookbag clutched between her hands.

"Are you heading toward the library?" Hermione asked a little out of breath. Luna merely nodded in response. "Would you mind if I walked with you?"

Luna shrugged her shoulders in indifference and began to climb the stairs. "Look, Luna, I know you don't like me much, and that's fine, but I need your help with something. Not for me," she added quickly, "it's for Harry." She paused to give Luna a chance to respond, and when she didn't, she continued to talk. "It's really hard for him with Umbridge always watching him, and people trying to goad him into talking about what happened when V-Voldemort came back. He needs to tell his story, so that people will know what's really happening out there. It's dangerous, and it's just going to get worse. It isn't fair that the ministry is going to leave everyone unprepared just because they're being idiots. I was hoping that you could help. Well, more like your father really. What does someone have to do to get a story into the Quibbler?"

Sadie was beginning to feel very put out with Hermione Granger. She might not seem nearly as unpleasant as Constance had described, but she only seemed to speak to Luna when she needed something from her. Was this what Luna considered being "good friends?" Good friends didn't just use each other when they wanted something. Had Luna had so few real friends in her life that she didn't know the difference?

Luna stopped walking and turned to face Hermione on the steps. A slight smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes were twinkling. "I don't not like you." She stated simply as if that had been the substance of Hermione's statement. She began her trek up the steps again while Hermione stood rooted to the same spot with a look of puzzlement across her face. Luna had gotten fifteen or so steps ahead of her before she seemed to realize that Hermione was no longer with her. She looked down at Hermione with an expression of confusion. "Were you coming then?" She asked. Hermione nodded slowly and began moving almost warily up the stairs. When she reached Luna's level, the two girls began walking together. "So," Luna said in a friendly tone of voice, "Daddy will want details."

The new memory opened in what Sadie recognized as the prefect's meeting room. A tall, skinny boy in Ravenclaw robes was almost shouting at the girl wearing the head badge. Hermione was sitting between Luna and Colin and rolling her eyes. Luna was staring at the ceiling as if it were the most intriguing thing she had ever laid eyes upon, and Colin kept peering around Hermione to look at Luna and then shifting his eyes back to the shouting boy with an unbelieving expression on his face. When Sadie focused on what the boy was saying, she shared Colin's incredulous expression. How could anyone be that insensitive to someone else's feelings? Granted, Luna seemed to always take things in stride, but why wasn't the head boy or the head girl telling that sorry excuse for a prefect to get over himself and grow up?

"I won't do it any more. That's what. She's driving me absolutely barmy. Wrackspurts, and blimring something or others and couple horned I don't even know whats. I can't do it any more. I can't do one more night of rounds with her. I'll resign if I have to. I mean it." The boy paused for air, and the head girl took advantage of the silence.

"I know you're upset," she began in what was clearly intended to be a calming tone.

The whiny boy didn't let her finish. "Upset? Upset doesn't cover the half of it. Months I've put up with this rubbish. What was Dumbledore thinking? She's got no business being a prefect in the first place. I won't work with her anymore and that's the end of it."

Most of the room had joined Colin in peering back and forth between the boy and Luna who still seemed oblivious to the scene taking place in front of her. "Now, there's no call for that kind of talk." The boy wearing the head badge interrupted. "If you can't even manage to be civil to people sitting right in front of you, maybe you do need to resign." The whiny boy snapped his mouth shut, choking off whatever reply he had been about to make.

Suddenly, Luna spoke up from her seat beside Hermione. "That's all right. He doesn't need to resign. If I'm causing problems, then I should be the one who goes."

Hermione was instantly on her feet, and it was clear even to Sadie (who had no previous experience in reading Hermione's expressions) that now would not be a good time to try to argue with her. "Oh no, you most definitely will not. Luna Lovegood, you earned that prefect's badge, and you are going to keep it. This utterly ridiculous and completely pointless conversation has gone on long enough, and I'm ending it. I'll trade patrolling duties. I'll go with Luna. Everybody happy now? Good."

The head boy (indicating a most astonishing lack of brain power Sadie thought) decided to protest. "You can't. You're not from the same house. We always split up duties by houses."

"There isn't anything in the rule book that says it has to be done that way. It's just a stupid tradition. Get over it." Hermione's tone suggested that she was about to lose what little patience she had had at the beginning of her suggestion. "You have a problem. I'm giving you a solution. Take it."

"What about Ron?" The head girl spoke up. "He'll be getting paired up with him." She gestured at the whiny boy who had caused all the trouble. "Shouldn't he get a say in that?"

Hermione smiled a rather unpleasant looking smile. "I guess he should have bothered to show up at the meeting then." Sadie glanced around the room – Ron Weasley wasn't there.

The head boy clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "True enough. Consider yourself switched. Meeting adjourned."

Hermione and Luna lingered in the room after everyone else had left. "You didn't have to do that you know."

"I know," replied Hermione. "But I wasn't about to let you quit just because of some whiny, narrow-minded loser. Besides, you can't have liked patrolling with that nitwit, and I would dearly like to have some decent conversation if I have to roam the halls in the middle of the night."

"Nine to ten thirty is hardly the middle of the night." Luna stated matter of factly.

"You know what I meant," Hermione said with a smile. "I never get to talk to girls anymore. Ginny's always busy with Quidditch or her boyfriend. And my roommates . . . well . . . you know."

"Things haven't gotten any better?" Luna's voice had gone soft and gentle.

"If by better you mean that I no longer have to listen to Lavender's gushing about how much happier Ron is without me around because she is now permanently attached to Ron by the lips, then yes. It's loads better."

"Don't you . . ."

Hermione cut her off. "Please, Luna. Don't. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm fragile. Don't you start as well."

Luna nodded in understanding while Hermione seemed to remember something. "Oh yes, I nearly forgot. This is for you." She held an Ancient Runes' text out towards Luna.

"What?" Luna looked genuinely confused.

"Ginny said you haven't had your book for class for a couple of weeks. I don't care how good the notes are; you need the textbook. It's my old one. You can give it back at the end of term. Do I want to know what happened to your copy?" Hermione's voice sounded a little terse, but it wasn't directed at Luna.

Luna shrugged, "The same as the others. Thank you."

It was Hermione's turn to shrug. "That's what friends do." The two girls walked into the hall together discussing a potentially tricky translation that Luna was currently working on, and the memory disappeared.

Sadie was looking at her blank wall once again. That hadn't been what she had expected. They really were friends – the whole lot of them. She had always pictured them as more along the lines of acquaintances. All the stories that didn't focus solely on Harry Potter had always been "The Trio this" and "The Trio that." It didn't really leave the impression that they had let other people into their little world. Clearly, Luna had been. Well, she didn't really know about Harry, and she was still too worked up to view that section. Another flicker of grief for the uncle she was never going to get to know shot through her. Luna and Ron had been good enough friends for him to open up to her when he was upset, and Hermione and Luna had obviously been closer than anyone had realized.

Sadie had found herself liking Luna better than she had ever expected from the descriptions she had always heard of the brilliant, but out there species researcher. She was glad that Luna hadn't been shunned for the entirety of her Hogwarts' career. It was good to know that there were people in her life then who had appreciated her. She had so many questions now though. How had Hermione and Luna gone from what appeared to be a bit of animosity in the first memory to the easy friendship they seemed to display by the last one? Was it really all in that one conversation in the middle? Or had it taken longer for them to learn that respect for each other of which Luna had spoken? Had Luna and Neville been dating? Or had that been friendly comforting she had seen at Dumbledore's funeral? What about Constance's theory about Luna and Harry Potter? It was no good she realized. It didn't matter how angry she was at Potter right now. She was supposed to be an unbiased author. If she couldn't even watch a few minutes worth of memories, she had no business trying to write about what had really happened. She was going to have to watch the Harry moments.

One hour later, Sadie was curled up in her chair with a hot cup of tea and a throw blanket. Constance had been wrong about Harry not caring. There was no way that the boy she had just watched grieving over the death of his godfather, the boy was shaking as he told a scruffy looking reporter about Cedric Diggory's death, or the boy who had taken an ecstatic Luna to an exclusive Christmas party "as friends" didn't care about the people around him. If anything, he seemed to care too much. Maybe Constance's parents had misunderstood. Maybe he had been so worried that the DA had been an honest attempt at helping them prepare. Maybe it had just gone wrong. Speaking of things going wrong, clearly, there had been something wrong with Ron and Hermione as well. Who was Lavender? She would have to get Adrienne to check on that for her. Speaking of Adrienne, she hadn't owled her back in a while. Was she having difficulty finding information?

26 January 2038

Adrienne,

Find a housemate of Hermione Granger's named Lavender for me.

Sadie

She shoved the pile of papers on her desk off onto the floor to make room to work on her rough draft. Perhaps she should go ahead and send Luna her next set of questions. That rough draft was due in five days as well. It would probably be better to go ahead and have it on hand for whenever she got ready. It would just be hard to not go ahead and watch it when it came. She was getting addicted to this story. Deadlines were deadlines. There would be no watching the next set until this rough draft was finished. She could do that. She had self-discipline.

Fourteen hours later Sadie woke to the kind of neck cramps that can only be obtained by falling asleep with your head on your desk. That's what she got for trying to go for so long without sleeping. She would do a charm to loosen up her neck muscles – unfortunately she had fallen asleep on her wand arm, and it was far too numb to move. She waited rather impatiently for the uncomfortable prickling sensation shooting up her arm to fade away. At least she had finished her rough draft. Now if only Luna had already gotten back to her. She checked the slot under her window where owls could drop mail when she wasn't home. It was empty. She had mailed the parchments to Luna, hadn't she? She was quite certain that she had. Why didn't she have mail from Adrienne either?

27 January 2038

Adrienne,

Are you having any luck at all?

Sadie

She began polishing her draft of Luna's early childhood while she waited. She found herself intrigued all over again. Surely, the answers to most of her questions had to be somewhere in Adrienne's archives. She looked up as an owl dropped a letter into her slot. She had been so focused on her writing that she hadn't even registered the tapping on her window.

27 January 2038

Dear Miss Creevey,

I'm not your personal secretary. If you want information from the archives, you may fill out a Ministry Archive Information Request form like everyone else. I'm sure Mr. Perkins will be happy to see to your request, and he should get back to you in the next year or so.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Finch-Fletchley

Junior Secretary, Archives Department

Ministry of Magic

Sadie stared in disbelief at the parchment in her hand. What in the world had gotten into Adrienne? It had been Adrienne's idea to move Sadie's requests to the top of the pile to start with; she hadn't asked her for that. And personal secretary? What was that all about? Her eyes fell to the copy of her Lavender request to Adrienne that was lying on top of the pile on her floor. "Find." That's what it said. No please, no thank you. Just "Find it." Oh, no. A sense of dread filled Sadie as she went digging through the pile of papers looking for all of her recent notes to Adrienne. She couldn't have. She would never have. She had. She hadn't meant to turn into a demanding, bossy berk. She had just been caught up in what she was doing, and she hadn't even paid any attention to what she was writing. She hadn't really thought about Adrienne during the whole process at all. She was just using her to get information . . . like she had just been angry at Hermione Granger for doing when she thought she was just using Luna when she needed her.

This was not going to be an easy fix. It was going to take some serious effort on her part. And, like Hermione Granger had before her, she was going to have to step out and take a chance that her overtures would be rejected. She had one advantage over Hermione in her approach of Luna, however, she happened to know for a fact that Adrienne had a weakness for cookies. Today she was going to use that information. She had flooing to do.