Another Spin

Xander blinked and looked around. The loop had reset itself abruptly, for no reason he could tell, and now he appeared to be in England.

"Kitty!" a blonde girl called out and Xander felt himself being picked up and cuddled by a young girl. He was a Mau again. He'd thought everything looked bigger.

"You can't just pick up stray cats, Honey," an older man in a bright blue and green robe told her, apparently the girl's father.

"I'm not Honey, I'm Luna, daddy," the girl corrected him. "And he's not a stray, he's my cat now."

Selene rolled her eyes at her family's antics.

"In fact, he's my familiar!" Luna decided.

Noting the British accents, Xander decided he must be in England. Normally, when he ended up on another continent, it was a fused loop, but not always, so he'd have to see how this played out.

"If he's your familiar, then he'll follow you around without being carried," her father said in a smug tone, clearly believing he'd won the argument.

Luna set Xander down and looked at him, her large grey eyes pleading. "You'll follow me, right?"

Xander sat down and waited.

Luna cautiously took a step away from him.

Xander stood up, moved a step closer to her, and sat down.

Luna's parents watched in surprise as she and her new familiar quickly became embroiled in a game of follow the leader with the black and white cat copying everything she did.

"He's either her familiar or extremely intelligent," Selene said. "Either way, I'd say Luna has a cat."

"I suppose so," Xenophilius agreed, with a grin.

Luna took Xander home and by that point it was a no-brainer to tell where he was. Xander was in a Harry Potter loop. Not wanting to make waves, he tried not to alter things too much…honest!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ron snorted. He'd had to put up with Ginny's stupid friend Luna all day. He was nine, dammit, he shouldn't have to put up with stupid girls, and everyone knew they had the pox. He'd taken to calling her Looney when his mom couldn't hear, and her stupid cat had growled at him!

At least the cat was smart enough to realize when she was being insulted, Loony didn't seem to notice at all, even though Ginny glared at him. Tired of putting up with them and their crazy ideas of what games to play, Ron retreated to his room only to stare in shock at Luna's cat sitting on top of a severed horse's head that was laying on his pillow!

Ron was not what one would call insightful, but the look the cat was giving him was easy to interpret.

Ron wet himself and fainted.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Looking at the ritual Selene had set up, Xander frowned. His memories of magic from the Moon Kingdom told him their magic was deeply rooted in ritual, and from what he saw this ritual was almost fatally flawed. Fortunately, it also looked to be easy to interrupt. Satisfied that he could save Selene when it became necessary, Xander hopped down from the table and waited.

Selene Lovegood finished writing and double-checked her rune work. 'Looks good,' she decided. Taking one last look around, she spotted Xander and went to pick him up, but he dodged away from her reaching hands. "Come on now kitty, I can't leave you underfoot while I work, it's too dangerous."

After about ten more attempts, Selene finally whipped out her wand and levitated Xander out of the room, ignoring his yowling and clawing at the air.

*SLAM*

Xander growled as the door slammed shut. He knew what was going to happen, but had no way to stop it! He could feel the ritual begin, and started to panic. He'd grown to like the Lovegoods in the months he'd been there, and the thought of Selene dying as she had in canon and the effect it would have on her family was horrifying.

Attracted by her familiar's yowls, Luna found the panicking cat clawing at the door. "What's the matter, kitty?"

Xander spun around and his worried eyes met Luna's. Ever since the start of this loop his magic had felt off, depriving him of most of his bag of tricks, including speech. Having no other choice, Xander attempted a mind meld.

He flubbed it badly. Instead of sharing his current thoughts with her, he accidentally forged a connection between both of them and the moon itself. A silver crescent appeared on Luna's forehead and silver fire outlined both their bodies as she threw back her head and screamed.

Luna turned and punched the door to her mother's workshop, shattering it like it was made of spun sugar.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Xander relaxed on top of Luna's bed as she packed for Hogwarts.

"Should I bring my boots?" Luna asked. "I might get a chance to go hiking in the forest."

Xander sent a feeling of amusement through their link.

"I know I could just take everything," she said, "but I don't think I'll need everything!"

Xander napped while Luna packed. He'd already made sure all the essentials were packed so he didn't have to worry about her forgetting something important. He awoke as she picked him up to take him with her, but a quick transformation into a feathered serpent allowed him to sleep curled up around her neck like a feather boa. He'd spent the entire night placing protective enchantments on all of Luna's things in preparation for Hogwarts, so he was understandably tired.

Selene gently woke him when they arrived at the station. "You take good care of her, OK?"

Xander raised his feathered head and gave her a slow and obvious nod before tucking his head back under a coil and pretending to be a piece of clothing again.

"Any luck finding out what he is?" Selene asked her husband as they saw the pair onto the train.

"No, and even the most avid crypto zoologists just give me strange looks when I describe him," Xenophilius admitted. "There is no record of anything like him anywhere."

"Nothing in the ministry records either," Selene added. "Not even in my department." She didn't mention where she worked, as it was forbidden, but they both knew. "He reads like a powerful animagius, but not at all like a wizard, and his natural form is feline."

"Dear, it's been years, I think we can stop looking for answers. If there were any to be found, we'd have found them already," he said.

"Our daughter has a familiar bond to a strange and powerful creature of uncertain origins," Selene said with a sigh. "I'd feel better if I had some idea of what it was."

"Some things are just mysteries we'll never solve," Xenophilius told her. "What he is, is caring and protective of her, little else matters."

"I suppose you're right," she admitted. "But is it too much to ask that he be the familiar?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"This car looks good," Hermione said as she spotted a mostly empty compartment.

Harry and Ron, following her in, had just put away their trunks when Ron turned and saw Luna and squeaked much like Scabbers did when someone accidentally sat on him.

"Morning, Ron, and how are you?" Luna asked cheerfully.

"I-I'm good Miss Lovegood." Ron said politely, looking a bit pale.

Typed by: Elrod Albino