The next morning, the train left Hogwarts much emptier than usual. Almost everyone fourth year and above had chosen to stay for the ball, along with a few of the third years as well.

Harry watched it go from his room in Gryffindor tower before making his way down to the Great Hall. He needed to show up for lunch to prove that he hadn't stowed away on the train, otherwise the rest of the plan wouldn't work.

Just as he suspected, Dumbledore's eyes were on him the moment he entered the hall. The Headmaster smiled and nodded at him, obviously happy that Harry was complying. Harry snorted and made himself a sandwich.

After lunch, he started on his homework, as he had nothing better to do. He made a through a good chunk of it by the time dinner rolled around, though, so he figured it was worth it. Then he made another brief appearance to appease any prying eyes, then made a bit of a show out of leaving early. Harry figured that if he appeared to be sulking, there would be less suspicion about his not appearing at meals. Instead, he went to the kitchens and loudly requested "enough food to see him through the stupid ball," then returned to the tower and kept working to pass the time.

That night, under the cover of darkness, Harry shrunk his trunk and placed it in his pocket before donning his thickest cloak. He climbed aboard his Firebolt, opened the window of the boys dorm, and with a whispered "Point me, Luna," he was off. Hedwig's cage was in his trunk—the owl had flown off somewhat suddenly the day before, but he had a feeling that she would find him at Luna's fairly easily. As for Monty, he had entrusted him to Neville and the twins for the duration of the break. God only knew what they would get up to, but Harry trusted Neville to keep things from getting too out of hand.

He arrived at Luna's house after about three hours of flight. It was amazing really—by car, that trip would've taken about eight hours, but with no traffic and no speed limits, the Firebolt was truly able to shine.

And Luna was sipping tea and waiting for him, looking as though it was two in the afternoon rather than two in the morning. "Hello Harry! Hermione is here, too."

Harry started. "What? I thought she was going to spend Christmas with her family."

"Oh yes, but Daddy received a sudden owl yesterday while we were on the train. Hermione's grandmother in France had a scare with a fall, and so her parents rushed there and asked if Hermione could stay here for a couple days, just until they can get back. It's worked out quite nicely for what I wanted to show you, actually."

"Aren't her parents muggles? Did they buy an owl?"

"No, it was Hedwig."

"Hoot." The owl added proudly.

Luna smiled, "Yes, you knew, you clever thing."

"What?"

Harry had intended to sleep in the next day, but apparently Luna had other plans for the trio. She dragged the tired boy and slightly less tired girl out of bed at seven, and was uncharacteristically impatient with them as they prepared for the day. Harry almost pointed out that Luna was still in her nightgown herself, but didn't get the chance.

Harry had barely sat down to breakfast when his egg sandwich was snatched out of his hands. "Sorry, Harry, but you'll have to eat while we walk." Luna smiled, but seemed slightly strained. "You as well, Hermione."

"Are we going somewhere?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, and it's very important that we get everything done in time."

"For what?" Harry butted in.

Luna hummed for a moment. "It's the solstice today. The veil between realms is at its thinnest."

Hermione clapped her hands together and laughed. The move was so very Luna and so-very-not-Hermione that Harry had to double check he hadn't gotten the two confused. "You know what's going on?" He asked her.

Hermione shook her head. "To be honest, no. I have a couple theories though, and I think one of them is about to be confirmed."

"Let's go!" Luna was practically vibrating with excitement.

The blonde witch led them down a winding path. The trees gradually thickened around them until the path ended in a small green meadow. There was a small pond off to the right, and a few flowers here and there. This would have been a perfectly normal sight, if it weren't for the fact that it was supposed to be winter. There had been a thin crust of snow along the path, but it completely disappeared at the start of the meadow.

Harry opened his mouth to ask, but something made him stop. He felt… peaceful. He didn't want to disturb the quiet. Instead, he took off his mittens, hat, and heavy coat so as to fully enjoy the warmth of the meadow. Beside him, Luna and Hermione were doing the same.

Luna skipped forward toward the pond, cheerfully gesturing for Hermione and Harry to follow. They glanced at one another, and Hermione quietly slipped her hand into Harry's. They both know that it wasn't out of fear, rather, it was a gesture of solidarity. Whatever Luna was about to reveal to them, they were in it together.

The blonde girl knelt in front of the pond, and Harry and Hermione soon did the same. What Harry had missed from the other side of the meadow, however, was that the pond had the tiniest island in the middle of it. On that island was something that could only be described as a shrine, even though it was only about a foot tall. There was an amazingly intricate statue carved of a light-colored wood. It was a petite woman, who would have been tall if she had been full-sized. Her hair was done in an elaborate series of braids, and her clothing was a form of flowy and embroidered ceremonial garb. She had high cheekbones, a slightly upturned mouth, and eyes that could only be described as ethereal. Despite the fact that they were the same color as the rest of the statue, they held a depth not often see in any art. The only other object on the tiny island was a plain bowl made of a much darker wood that was placed just in front of the woman. It was almost comical, the difference between the elaborate statue and the rough bowl, but they somehow belonged together. Harry could just barely make out the bowl's inscription. It was one word, Titania, and just reading it sent a small shiver down his spine.

Luna started humming, as she often did, only this time her voice was not the only one. A baritone joined her in a rough but gentle harmony, then a sweet soprano joined them, and then a tenor. Voice after voice joined in, until soon a whole choir was singing a song with no words.

Harry was stunned to hear Hermione's voice, and even more so to hear his own. At some point they had joined the song without even realizing. Harry closed his eyes, and he listened. There was one voice in particular that clung to his, so small it was almost a whisper, but there nonetheless. It was achingly familiar to him, but Harry was equally certain that he had never heard it before in his life. No matter how he strained his ears, he could not hear it any more or any less.

The song ended in much the same way it had begun. The voices peeled off one by one, until it was just Luna, and then it was silent.

Harry opened his eyes, and was shocked to see the egg next to him. He had purposely left it in the house, not wanting his dragonette to get cold in the winter morning. He turned to Luna to ask, but the girl was in the pond.

And suddenly, the old fashioned nightgown that she had been wearing made sense. After all, why would she get dressed when she was just going to strip anyway? Luna was stark naked, her gown forgotten in a heap next to Hermione as she approached the shrine. Once she was in front of the island, she picked up the wooden bowl with both hands, tilted her head back, and drank deeply of it.

Harry didn't know what he had been expecting. He supposed that part of him thought there would be some flash of light, or Luna would transform into something, but nothing happened.

It was at that moment, however, that Harry realized two very important things: 1) Luna was naked, and 2) he was staring, and had been staring at naked Luna for a really long time. A really long time. Uncomfortably long. Oh no. He quickly averted his eyes, thanking whatever beings were behind the weird ritual that whatever spell they had been under had prevented him from noticing naked Luna in a, er, different way.

Not that he would just ogle naked Luna! It was just, he's a guy, and she's really pretty, and sometimes-

Never mind.

"You can turn around now, Harry." Luna's voice chimed softly. Soft. Luna was delightfully soft, actually- NO. Back on track, Harry.

"What?" His voice didn't crack. Not even a little.

"I said you can turn around now."

And so he did. Thankfully, Luna was fully dressed, though somewhat damp. Looking at her a little more closely, however, he realized that something actually had changed when she drank from the bowl. She had finally shed the jittery energy that had been surrounding her all morning, and her eyes were the most focused he'd ever seen them.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, yes. I feel so very clear, it's lovely." She smiled broadly. "Today, I have permission to tell you a couple of things, but I don't have long."

"Yeah, what exactly was that?" Harry asked as he bent down to pick up the egg. "And how did the egg get here?"

"That's a shrine to Queen Titania. When we sang, we offered her a look at ourselves, every part of ourselves, to show that we're worthy." She nodded toward the egg. "And the bond is a part of you."

Harry suddenly realized exactly who the whisper voice had been. He blinked, processing before asking. "And who is Titania?"

Hermione eagerly butted in, "Titania is the Queen of the Summer court of the fae. The fae realm has been separated from this plane of existence for over 5,000 years, according to human records. The Summer court is considered to be the most benevolent of the six courts, however, they are still known for playing tricks and being somewhat cruel."

"Is that a direct quote?" Harry asked drily as he processed what had just been said.

"Seelie and Unseelie, Seen and Unseen, by Chroniculus Punnet." Hermione replied without hesitation. "It was one of a few books that I cross referenced when trying to figure out what was going on. Ignis's questions asked a lot, but before that my other guesses were centaur, seer, prophet, cursed bloodline, or hag."

"Hag?" Harry asked incredulously.

"It's actually a fairly good guess." Luna said, tilting her head. "Some of the less-desirable qualities would make sense then."

"Sooo are you secretly a fae, then?" Harry asked as he leaned over to pick up the egg. "And how did this end up here, anyhow?"

"I'm not one of the fae, not really." Luna explained as she sat down in the grass. "A few hundred years ago, around the 1720s I believe, my many-greats-grandfather Cerritulus got involved with the fae. He made a sacrifice to someone in the Summer court in exchange for certain abilities. The ritual went off without a hitch, however, it had some unforeseen consequences."

"That's- that's insane and brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed. "No one on record has had contact with the fae in thousands of years, but he managed it? On his first try? He must have been the foremost ritual expert of his time. Did he pass some of the abilities down the Lovegood line?"

"Sort of. The next day, he opened his door and found a baby. His baby, actually."

"Great surprise." Harry muttered.

Luna smiled. "She was a gift from the fae, so he named her Fayre, but he realized quickly that she wasn't like most children. There was something about her that was Other. He did another ritual a few years later, to contact the court and ask questions. What he found out was that Fayre was half fae, half human. Since then, my family has had some abilities. We can see things others can't, commune with certain creatures, and have this wonderful connection with certain types of magic, but it comes with a cost. We're all a bit, well, Loony." She smiled somewhat bitterly. "My father says that Cerritulus figured out a way to make existing on the mortal plane easier for Fayre, but that record was lost with him."

"With him?" Harry asked. "Not when he died?"

"We're not quite certain if he died." Luna said simply, and Harry's eyes widened. "According to his grandchildren, when he was in his deathbed, one of the fae appeared and took him. His daughter Fayre disappeared that day, too. I think that they both went to the Summer Court, and that they're probably there still, but there's not really a way to prove it."

"So why didn't you tell us this earlier? Does it have something to do with the solstice?" Harry asked.

"I'm bound by certain rules, ancient rules. I've told you about as much as I'm allowed, actually." Luna smiled again, but Harry noticed that she was becoming somewhat strained again.

"Luna, do you need to sit dow-" But the girl had fainted before he even finished his sentence.

Neville stared at Monty. Monty stared at Neville. Well, it looked like Monty was staring at Neville. Snakes didn't have eyelids, you see, so it was hard to tell if he was staring or just looking in his general direction.

"Want to explain the sombrero?"

"Hiss, hiss."

"Yeah, still don't speak parseltongue buddy. How about the lipstick marks?"

"Hiss, hiss."

"Hmm. I still don't understand you, but I'm gonna guess that means 'Fred and George.' You like plants?"

"HISS."

"Brill."

A/N: You know, that wasn't the direction I intended to go with this chapter, but I'm happy that I did. I really wasn't certain what I would do with Luna, but this feels right to me. It explains a lot, but also is vague enough to keep her interesting and full of surprises.

Very very soon we'll get to the ball and those shenanigans :)))

In other news, I'm definitely switching to biweekly updates instead of weekly. School is... a lot, and I don't want to get burnt out from what is supposed to be a fun thing, you know?

As always, let me know what y'all think, and if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Thanks, and see you next time!