A/N: I own nothing.
Chapter II – Chez Lovegood
There is a special kind of magic—more unpredictable than Charms, more complicated than Transfiguration, and more volatile than Potions—and that is the magic associated with the way someone acts around a person she likes. Ginny Weasley experienced this rather annoying form of magic multiple times during the first week that Harry Potter had stayed.
It was a sunny morning when the Weasley family first heard from Hogwarts. Ginny was with her parents in the kitchen, already eating her porridge. As soon as Harry arrived, Ginny's heart thudded in her chest, and her bowl went flying to the ground. Face burning, Ginny crawled under the table to retrieve it. She seriously considered staying under the table for the rest of the meal, but Mrs. Weasley poked her head under the table to mutter, "Scourgify." Immediately the contents of the bowl vanished, and Mrs. Weasley gestured to her daughter to sit back in her seat.
As she crawled back out from her hiding spot, Ginny's heart stopped—she had seen the boy sitting in the seat next to hers, and he was kindly pretending not to have noticed her face, which was as red as a beetroot.
Thankfully, Mr. Weasley made the situation less awkward by handing Harry and Ron their Hogwarts letters.
"Letters from school. Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry. Never misses a trick, that man."
As Fred and George ambled into the kitchen, Mr. Weasley handed the twins their letters and added, "You two have them too."
For a few minutes there was silence as everyone read his or her letters. Ginny had grown up with six older brothers, so she knew the basics of what all Hogwarts letters said; she immediately zoned into the book list—the only part that changed every year:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wandering with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Ginny's face grew worried. Gilderoy Lockhart was an extremely famous author whose looks were supposedly great; she knew her mother owned a great deal of his household books, but wasn't sure that she owned any of those on the booklist. She knew that the books were rather expensive, as she had gone with her mother to many a bookstore to scourge the shelves for any of Lockhart's books for a steep discount.
Fred said, peering over Harry's shoulder to read his booklist, "You've been told to get all of Lockhart's books, too! The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan—bet it's a witch—"
Mrs. Weasley caught his eye; Fred pretended to be busy with the marmalade. All of the Weasleys, except perhaps Mr. Weasley, knew that their mum rather fancied Gilderoy Lockhart.
George continued, "That lot won't come cheap. Lockhart's books are very expensive…"
Mrs. Weasley looked worried. "Well, we'll manage; I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand…"
Harry looked at Ginny, and asked, "Oh, are you starting Hogwarts this year?"
There went her stupid heart again, beating like a drum and quite possibly just as loudly. Ginny managed to do the impossible: she nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and, trying to regain some of her long-lost dignity, attempted to suavely put her elbow on the table and continue eating in a dignified manner. Instead, she stuck her elbow into the butter dish.
Bugger.
Fortunately, no one saw this degeneration of her mental state except Harry—who extremely kindly pretended to have momentarily gone blind—because at that very moment, Ginny's older brother, Percy Weasley, walked into the kitchen. He was already dressed, his shiny Prefect's badge pinned to his chest.
"Morning, all," he said, quickly, "Lovely day." He sat down in the only remaining chair but jumped up again, almost immediately, pulling from underneath him an owl. It was Errol.
"Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and taking a letter from under its wing. "Finally—he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys, Harry."
He carried Errol to the owl perch but he flopped straight off again, so Ron put him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic."
Then he ripped open the letter and read it out loud. "'Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there,
"'I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your one off.
"'I'm very busy with schoolwork of course'"—"How can she be!" said Ron in horror. "We're on vacation!"—"and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?
"'Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love from Hermione.'"
"Well that fits in nicely; we can go and get all your things then, too. What are you all up to today?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
Harry, Ron, and the twins had already decided to go to the Weasleys' paddock to practice Quidditch. Ginny was actually rather decent at the game, but none of her six brothers knew she could play, let alone fly—and what if she dropped the Quaffle and let the other team score? She didn't like to think about it.
After the boys left, Ginny's mother asked, "What's your plan for today?"
"Mum, can I go to Luna's house?"
"Can't you walk, dear? I'm doing the dishes."
"Mum…the Lovegoods live four miles away…"
"Oh, I'd forgotten. Why don't you send her an owl to see if she's free while I finish up the dishes?"
Ginny nodded and ran to the draining board where Errol was still lying. Prodding him awake, she asked him, "Errol, you up to flying eight miles?"
The owl hooted feebly; Ginny took the reply as a yes. She found a spare bit of parchment and a quill and hastily scribbled a note to Luna. Attaching it to Errol's leg, she whispered, "Can you take this to Luna Lovegood's house for me?"
Errol hooted, this time a little stronger, and began flapping his wings, preparing for flight. Ginny opened the window for him, and he took off towards the Lovegoods' house.
The Lovegoods were an interesting family, for lack of a better word. Luna Lovegood's mother had died not two years ago and her father, Xenophilius, had completely let himself go—in grief? freedom?—Ginny knew not. He had let his once close-cropped hair grow into a white candyfloss mess; he had abandoned his glasses in favor of a slightly squinty-eyed look. He had also started a magazine which he named The Quibbler, which published the conspiracy theories in which he so strongly believed.
The Lovegoods' home was shaped like a chess piece; a rook, to be precise—quite tall yet rickety-looking. The path to the house was flanked by odd plants that Luna had to identify every time Ginny visited.
As Ginny was thinking about this, Errol tapped on the window with his beak.
"Mum, she said it was okay!" called Ginny, ripping the piece of parchment from his talons and skimming through the words written in Luna's squiggly handwriting: Yes, of course you can come over! I'll be sure to show you all the new additions to our lovely front yard. Oh! Be sure not to Floo in-Daddy's experimenting with the fireplace. You'll see what I mean when you arrive. Cheers - Luna.
"Lovely timing," commented Mrs. Weasley, "I'm just finishing up the last of the dishes. Hang on just a moment while I dry this."
As soon as Ginny's mum finished cleaning the dishes, she dried her hands with her wand and instructed Ginny to take hold of her arm. "Now Ginny, I know I tell you this every time I take you anywhere via Side-Along Apparition, but you must never—I repeat, never—Side-Along Apparate with anyone who doesn't seem responsible, mature, or experienced. You must never trust another person (other than me or dad, and perhaps Bill and Charlie) with your life and body. Splinching is terrifying, Ginny, and I only hope you will never mistakenly trust someone who is barely of age with the responsibility of transporting you."
As Ginny had heard this speech nearly two hundred times before, she didn't pay as much attention as she normally would have. She took her mother's arm, absently wondering as she Side-Along Apparated whether Harry was thinking of her at the moment or not. (Probably not, though, she reasoned. After all, he's got much more important things on his mind. Like Quidditch.)
Mrs. Weasley and Ginny Apparated straight in front of the gates of the large, rook-shaped house. Luna Lovegood was in her front yard, seemingly waiting, and jumped up excitedly when she saw the newcomers.
"Oh, Ginny, it's so lovely to see you again," she beamed. "You too, Mrs. Weasley."
Mrs. Weasley smiled and asked politely, "Is your father in, Luna? I don't think I ought to leave without saying hello to him, it's been quite a while since I've visited."
"Yes, I'm sure he's about here somewhere. Daddy!"
A few moments later, out from the front doors shuffled out oddball Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood. At first impression, Xenophilius looked rather like a terrifying vagabond-Ginny had felt terribly guilty upon learning that he was actually her friend's father.
"Good morning, Xenophilius!" said Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh how lovely to see you, Molly!" replied Mr. Lovegood, and the two began conversing about their daughters' upcoming first year at Hogwarts.
"Ginny!" Luna cried. "I'd so love to show you the new and improved front yard, if you'd like. There are so many enchanting plants here now!"
"I'd love to," Ginny smiled. She loved going to Luna's house. Luna was always so passionate about whatever she believed in, and it did feel nice to spend time with an actual girl, however eccentric.
They started at the gate, and as they followed the zigzag path, Luna pointed out every plant.
"Mum used to love Snargaluffs, so even though they're really hard to take care of, we didn't take them down," she said softly. Ginny knew better than to comment about how she detested Snargaluff pods, so she just nodded quietly.
"I haven't told you anything about what happened to my mum, have I?" Luna asked after a short pause.
Ginny shook her head. "I...I didn't want to ask."
Luna nodded. "That was very tactful of you, Ginny. Most people aren't... well, I haven't talked about this with anyone. Except Daddy, I mean. But I trust you, and I know you won't hurt me just because I'm a little strange."
Ginny was touched. She had never had many girl friends-she usually just spent time with her older brothers' friends; she found it much easier than trying to make friends of her own. Impulsively, she reached for Luna's hand and squeezed it. "I won't tell anyone, Luna, not if you don't want me to."
Luna smiled sadly and said, "I was nine...it was just last year. Last January, actually. She loved experimenting with potions...she was quite amazing with them. She knew every potion in the book, but that specific day... she decided it wasn't enough. She wanted to invent a potion. It exploded...I was at school, at Muggle school, and Daddy was in the backyard harvesting the Dirigible Plums, and I keep thinking that if I'd been home..."
Ginny shook her head violently. "Luna, you know thinking about these things will only make you feel worse. Don't think that way. It's not your fault, I promise."
Luna was tearing up, but she gave Ginny a watery smile. "Thank you. I think you're the best friend I've had, ever."
Ginny smiled. "I can say the same, Luna."
Luna turned away, and Ginny pretended not to notice her wiping away stray tears. To quickly change the subject, her eyes lit on the first thing she saw-a plant.
"Are—are these the Gurdyroot plants you bought last year?" Ginny cried, as Luna turned around and nodded. "But they've tripled in size!"
They made small talk about the other plants in the front yard—Luna and Ginny had already made up their minds to swap notes about all the interesting plants they would learn about in Herbology.
"Luna, I nearly forgot to tell you! Guess who's staying at the Burrow?"
"Who?"
"Harry. James. Potter."
"Oh! You're so lucky, it's like if Newt Scamander came over and stayed with my family at my house! Harry Potter has saved the world twice in the past twelve years..."
Ginny furtively looked around, and after seeing that nobody was around, said, "Luna, I think I've got a bit of a thing for him. This is strictly confidential. You must never tell anyone."
Luna smiled and said, "Of course not. Don't worry, if Newt Scamander stayed with me, I'd probably fancy him, too."
Ginny giggled. "Luna, Newt Scamander is probably fifty."
"Fine, his son then! Or grandson."
The two giggled, and Ginny thanked her lucky stars that a girl lived close enough to her to save her from the six brothers who frequently enjoyed humiliating her. (Not that I need any help humiliating myself, reminded the small voice in the back of Ginny's head.)
But when Ginny was with her best friend, it didn't seem to matter.
A/N: I imagined Luna's birthday to be in February. So in January when her mother died, Luna was nine, that February she turned 10, and in February of the next year (which is the year we are in), she turned 11, if that makes some sense. Just clarifying! Thank you to my proofreader and tumblr user likejameslovedlily for pointing the potential confusion out to me :).