I decided to change the title, since Harry isn't as important to the story as I thought he would be (I know what I'm doing, I just wasn't sure what to call it).
And I also decided this is a good moment to reveal where the elves came from. Yep. It's my favourite crossover again. This kind of elves appear in some of the Discworld books. In case you haven't read them: Yeah, they're the badguys. They come from a 'parasite universe', make people believe they are beautiful and perfect and then have... fun with them. Often a sadistic kind of fun, but they also like stories.
Oh. And also, Sues are wonderful, aren't they? ;)
II(:
Chapter four, in which Secrets are Meant to Remain Secret
Luna's mother had never called them that, but Luna knew what they were. They were perfect, because people thought they were. People thought they were perfect, because that was what they wanted them to think. Luna only saw one once. A beautiful, pale, dark-haired woman (who, now that Luna thought about it, resembled Marie quite a bit) in the middle of a circle a lot like the one in the Forbidden Forest. Mum told her to leave, and Luna did, but then she heard the screams. The little girl ran quickly back to the circle. Later on she would sometimes think that maybe she should have ran to get Dad instead, but there was no time, was there? She had run as fast as she could, and still arrived too late. Her mother was lying on the ground, partially inside the circle. She opened her eyes, which seemed like quite a lot of effort, stared at the child for a moment and closed them again - forever. Luna sometimes wished there had been some last words to remember, but the woman had been too weak to speak. There was only that look in her eyes and the snow on the ground.
XXX
Herbology was the only class Luna shared with Neville, but not with Marie. Apart from that the couple had become practically inseparable. As they fed a carnivorous plant together, Luna wondered why the elf had chosen him of all the people. Neville was nice, that was true, but surely that wasn't what Marie Suzanne O'Doome looked for in a boy? He seemed so… ordinary. In fact, it was strange how quickly he had gone from being the man who had lead Dumbledore's Army to victory back to being the shy, clumsy boy who had forgotten his remembrall once. There were all sorts of rumours, more of them now than there had been at the start of term, but…
And then it hit her. Neville Longbottom was a story waiting to happen. And they liked stories.
XXX
Who was he, really? He never talked about it much. Marie had thought she could find out the truth (There had to be a truth somewhere, she was sure of that. One that most people didn't know.) if she just got to know him well enough. When he wasn't around, Marie tried other ways to figure it out. She read, she listened, she even tried to pay attention in History lessons. And then (she was quite proud of coming up with this trick) she spread her own rumours just to see which ones people would believe…
This was not what she had come here for. Her main intention had always been learning to think like a witch and she wasn't going to give up on that one. But sooner or later it was all about the fun, wasn't it?
She turned a page. There was something! Not quite proof, but good enough for someone willing to believe.
XXX
'Come off it, Luna,' Neville said 'You know she's not like that!' Luna knew that she was, but she also knew she had to be a little more subtle about it. 'She likes me for… well… me. There isn't really much else to like or not like about me.'
'There are more rumours about you than about Harry, Neville!' Luna hissed, leaning over to him, careful not to get bitten by the plant.
'So?' said Neville, who had decided that the best way to deal with rumours was to ignore them completely.
'I don't know,' Luna whispered 'Maybe she thinks you're the heir of Gryffindor or something?'
Neville shrugged and the plant snapped at him, missing his hand by about half an inch.
'Why would that matter anyway?' he asked 'It wouldn't make me any better than anyone else,' he said 'We've fought a war over it, Luna. And we won.'
This was a strange answer, Luna thought. It was technically correct, but things didn't really have to matter to make a good story. It also pretended to be a 'no', but it wasn't. Luna considered pointing it out, but decided against it.
'Her kind like stories, though,' she just said, hoping it sounded enough like a warning.
XXX
'It's gettin' worse,' Hagrid said 'I found this the other night.'
Luna wasn't quite sure what 'this' was. When she realised what the Gamekeeper and Headmistress were talking about, she had hidden behind a statue. Unfortunately, not being seen meant she couldn't see them either.
'You think they killed it?' McGonagall sounded worried.
'Prob'ly. No animal could've done it.'
They? So there were more?
'Are you sure?' the Headmistress asked.
'Animals ain't that cruel.'
'So it's true what - '
But Luna wasn't listening any more. She had to do something about it.
XXX
'Oh, and by the way, Neville,' Marie said. They were sitting alone by the lake on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 'Not that it really matters to me, but… I've been meaning to ask you…'
'Yes?'
'Is it true what people are saying about you?'
Neville laughed a little nervously.
'Which part?' he asked. They were saying many things. Ever since last year there had been more and more rumours every day. By now the concentration of unconfirmed rumours in the Hogwarts castle was nearly reaching the point where people mostly say 'You know what they say'.
'I don't know,' Marie said 'Which part is true?'
'Does it matter?'
XXX
There they were. Maybe she could still save him and maybe if she saved him she could save everyone. Luna took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the handle of the frying pan.
'Leave him alone, O'Doome!' she shouted.
The elf turned around.
'Jealous, Lovegood?' she asked.
But Luna was good at ignoring people who mocked her.
'I've got a frying pan,' she said 'and I'm not afraid to use it.'
'What're you doing, Luna?' Neville asked in shock.
'Saving you,' Luna replied, raising her weapon.
Marie smirked.
'And you really think it's going to be that easy?' she said.
Luna turned around. More elves were emerging from the Forest.