Greetings. Another warning (I'm sorry LOL): if you don't like same-sex intimacy, then f off. No just kidding. Just don't read. Enjoy!
It was 6:15, and I sat silently at the dinner table, staring at my food. I dared not look over in Snape's direction at any time. In fact, I didn't look at anyone. I was too afraid to even move. By this time, all of my friends knew about what had happened. I had repeated the story at least five times. "Are you still upset?" Hermione directed her attention back to me after having a long conversation with Ginny Weasley.
"I'm not upset, I'm…confused."
"Listen, Professor Snape hates every student in this school who isn't a Slytherin or a pure or half blood." Hermione explained, "You're a Ravenclaw, and you're a muggle. You're the perfect person for him to hate."
"But that's the thing, Hermione..." I said quietly, "I don't think he hates me at all…"
"...Well, what could he possibly want with you?" Hermione asked.
"I know as much as you do…" I really did have no idea, but I needed to find out soon for my safety's sake.
The following weekend I decided that I needed to come out of my shell a little, so, I joined the Frog Choir. Singing had always been a passion of mine. With all the alone time I had at the orphanage, singing just came naturally. The conductor, and head of my house, Filius Flitwick, assured me I was in good hands and that, after hearing my audition, I was going to bring great talent to the choir. I also took up drawing again, another skill of mine. I liked sitting in the courtyard and sketching the womping willow or even another student sat nearby. I'd even done a portrait of Luna. I really liked Luna. She and I spent a lot of time together chatting, reading, doing homework, and playing with her spectrespecs. And she was the one who started my obsession with her father's wizarding tabloid The Quibbler. She wasn't afraid to be herself, a quality I had the utmost respect for. We clicked really quickly. In fact, I'd never liked someone so much.
"Just as the 'Yule Ball' is a tradition of 'the Tri-wizard Tournament', the 'Warlocks' Prom' is a newly founded tradition of 'the Clash of Magic'." Professor McGonagall explained to the student body, "It will be a dance held on the night of Halloween." She clarified that the Clash of Magic was a dangerous tournament consisting of 3 tasks, much like the Tri-wizard Tournament, and that we'd be competing against an American wizarding school named Beetlerot Institution of Sorcery and Witchcraft. Competitors would be picked at random, which made anyone like me who hated getting involved with anything want to vomit. The way we'd know we were chosen was that our wands would glow, as if under the lumos charm, and vibrate. After learning that, I wanted to throw my wand out a window.
"Do you think either of us will be chosen?" Luna asked.
"I hope not."
Luna and I sat in the library the next morning, holding up and pretending to read our Herbology textbooks which hid our latest issues of the Quibbler, which we were really reading, inside. We were both giggling at how this week's issue theorized that Sirius Black was actually Stubby Boardman of The Hobgoblins, one of my favourite rock bands. "Your dad's hilarious. I don't know how I've managed to live seventeen years without this magazine." I smiled as I flipped through the pages. Luna smiled back silently.
"I have something to show you." She got up from the table, took my hand and led me through the hallways and up flights of stairs until we reached the 7th floor in the left corridor. We stopped in front of the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabus the Barmy to teach trolls ballet. Luna walked past it 3 times, and a secret door appeared. She took me inside, let out a sigh of relief, and turned to me with a nervous smile, "There's usually Syltherin students in here...doing...inappropriate things...But I guess we got lucky." She led me to the middle of the room and drew her wand. She then began drawing circles with it, "Expecto Patronum!" An energy force known as patronus came from the tip of Luna's wand and danced around us. It brought instant smiles to our faces.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A spirit guardian." Luna's gaze followed the string of silver light. "It's a projection of all your positive feelings. It's also a defense against dementors…" The light transformed into a hare that hopped gleefully around us. "Now you try." She told me, "Think of your happiest memories, and cast the spell." I couldn't think of even one happy memory, though. My whole life had revolved around being alone and miserable, but once I thought about it, I supposed the night I had met Hagrid and was told I was leaving the orphanage was the best day of my life. I thought of when Hagrid and I shared a hug and how it was the only one I'd ever received in 17 years. I thought of how Wingbeak and I trusted each other immediately and formed an unbreakable bond. The excitement and disbelief I had felt when I learned I was going to learn witchcraft and attend a magical school was a feeling I'd never forget. Luna took hold of my hand that was grasped onto my wand, and started to circle it. She nodded her head, telling me to cast the spell.
"Expecto Patronum!" The same silver light then emerged from my own wand. Luna smiled and we watched it transform into a fox.
"That's your patronus, Fay." She kept her eyes on me as I watched the fox rub up against my leg and trot around us with Luna's hare. It was such a happy moment. It was if the memories of the orphanage had just drifted away. I felt her take hold of my wrist and turn me toward her. "You have beautiful eyes. They're...hypnotic..." I blushed. She intertwined our fingers and smiled into my eyes. With our patronuses dancing around us, Luna stepped closer and kissed me softly on the lips. I was shocked, but I didn't pull away. I'd never had a kiss before. After a few seconds, there was a roar of gasps and laughs like fireworks going off. The kiss ended as I stared at the faces of fellow students, who had obviously been hiding under invisibility cloaks, surrounding us, pointing and snapping pictures. I looked at Luna who was expressionless. She just looked back, ignoring the hype. It was no little innocent kiss any more.
Throughout the following week, I realized I'd never received so much attention in my life. Luna and I were on every cover of the Daily Prophet, so basically every witch and wizard who was capable of reading knew what had happened between us. We were harassed in every way, shape, and form. Luna's shoes were stolen, and spitballs attacked me during classes and Wingbeak when he would attempt to deliver letters to me.
I sat in potions class staring at my feet. Students around me were muttering and whispering about me, not caring if I could hear them or not. The same was probably happening to Luna. Professor Snape was sat as his desk reading the same issue of the Daily Prophet that featured myself and Luna on the cover kissing and then being caught by our peers. He folded it over and glared at me. "Quiet!" He ordered the chatty class. The noise immediately died down.
"Professor," Malfoy called from the back of the room, "d'ya think Loony Lovegood snuck that kissing concoction in Woodcroft's pumpkin juice when she wasn't looking?" The class erupted into a fit of laughter. I hugged my issue of the Quibbler to my heart.
Fuck you, Malfoy.
Snape rolled his eyes and tossed the newspaper into the bin next to his desk. I don't think he found it too funny. I watched the moving picture of me and Luna on the cover of the discarded newspaper, and sighed. I guessed I had to get used to being ridiculed; it was everywhere thanks to Rita Skeeter and whoever reported us to her. But thanks to my newly discovered patronus, I supposed I didn't have to let the chaos and harassment get to me; I had my very own guardian.