Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be. Also, feel free to check the FAQs on my FFN profile before leaving reviews about anything you dislike (including characterization or length).

Author's Note: A couple of things to note here. 1) If you don't think that asexuality & aromanticism are queer identities, save us both times and leave. You are not welcomed here. 2) I know about the aroace flag. I just don't prefer it. 3) The people that Harini notes around here are based on actual people that I saw at this year's Pride. It was awesome.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T03); RAVEN (2024); MC4A (Su-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: Prideful; Watts; Red Instead; Condiment Shelf; Willy Shook Here (Y); Major; Feather Head; Flashers; Sap Bath; Royal; Ginger; Blood; Hogwarts MC [x2]; Magical MC [x2]; Sandbox (Y); Cinematic; Reader; Mark It Up; Dreamers; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent [x2]; Rian-Russo Inversion [x2]; In a Flash; Bucket Listing (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Exchange; Greatest Gift; Outer Limit; Two Cakes (Y); Fuzzy Socks; Ship Sails; 3rd Rule; Zukes of Hazard; Outer; Park; Zed Era; Finders; Gender Bender; Hold the Mayo; Rainbow Connection
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Post-Term 03
Subject [Task (Prompt)]: n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Library [Can't Spell Treason without Tea](Sapphic Ship)
RAVEN Challenges: A&B [01](Analyzing); Traits [56](Observant); Colors [50](Lemon); Items [93](Umbrella); Settings [36](Festival/Fair)
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (Lunar Lion)[ ; 4B (Epiphany)]; Chim [Stormy](Protection; "What Sarah Said" - Good Charlotte; Race Bent); Hunt [Su Set (Festival/Fair; Park/Playground); Su Items (Fidget Ball)]; Fire [Disphoria]; Garden [x]; TWT [Task#2](Green)
Representation(s): Desi & Fem Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood QPR; NB Luna; Ace Harry; Pride Event; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Abandoned Ship; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontradional; Zucchini Bread; Spinning Plates; Brooms Only; Car in a Tutu; Clio's Conclusion; For the Vine; Lovely Coconuts);

Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn); Demo 1 (Under the Bridge; Sweetest Burn); Demo 1p (Dog Star; Uncivil Obedience); Demo 2p (Piper Mix)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Terrarium); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; O3 (Oath); HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary); Once (Santa Fe); CM (Navigate; Yogin); War (Obstruction; Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Ntaiv; Avasa; Kulonbozo)
Space Address (Prompt): TrB 5D (Evil Twin); SuB 1D (Cookout); AU 4D (Different Friend Group); CM 5A (Free Space);
Word Count: 922 words

(^^)
Queerly Here
(^^)

Luna wore a lemon yellow peasant dress with long sleeves. Over the dress, she had on a long vest of neon orange with blood red peonies embroidered over it. Xyr waist length dirty blond hair had been coiled into a chignon that was held in place by a wooden hair pin with a peony carved into its head. Harini only knew that xe had on black leather boots that went up just below xyr knees because she had been there when Luna had put them on. For all that xyr outfit was loud, among the crowd fill up the park for the event, xe didn't stand out much.

Harini bit her bottom lip as her eyes darted around them as they walked through the park that was hosting the local Pride Fest this year. Everywhere was a riot of colors. There were a lot of just regular rainbows and also a fair amount of rainbows with extra bits. There were also repeated patterns or groups of colors. She knew just enough about the community to know those colors and patterns had their own more focused meanings, even if she didn't actually know enough to say for certain what those meanings would be.

She was definitely starting to regret her own modest outfit. She had chose a simple light sand camisole that wasn't quite long enough to meet the waistband of her white linen shin-length skirt. Unlike Luna's elaborate hairdo, Harini had opted to attempt to control her ink black curls by gathering them into a braid as thick as her wrist that reached down to the top of her thighs. On her feet were sensible leather and bamboo sandals.

Because her camisole left her arms bared to the June sun, the deep purple of her soul mark was also visible. The reaching tentacles covered both of her shoulders and wrapped around her arms all the way to her wrists. The octopus' eyes peeked out above the drooping back of the camisole, whirlpools in shades of blue ranging from a dark indigo to an icy blue. Not even the visible scars she had accumulated over the years did anything to detract from how obvious and large the soul mark was.

Harini was used to having people stare at it. Even in the magical world where the scar on her forehead was the thing most strangers demanded to see, everyone still stared at the soul mark. Most people's soul marks were small like a pound. Other than lilac branch that curled around Luna's left rib to bloom between xyr breasts, the largest soul mark that Harini had ever seen was the size of a hundred pound note. The difference wasn't based on magic, as far as Harini could tell.

Like most things about her, it seemed like her soul mark was equally freakish.

But no one here was staring. No one whispered as the two of them walked through the aisles made up of booths for various things. Music blared from one section of the fest, something between rock and rap with words that Harini couldn't make out from where they were. From a different direction came the layered scent of food from around the world.

And the people!

A man walked by twirling a lacy parasol over his head. His full beard had been dyed to match his magenta ballgown and parasol. A small dumpling of a woman dressed like a deathcap mushroom greeted him before hurrying onward to a group of other mushrooms down the pathway. Next to a covered booth was a group of people dressed in tiny shorts and leather harnesses. Most had tails of various materials. Only a few had leather masks on their faces that looked like muzzles of various animals.

Then she saw a booth decorated with mostly white, gray, and black. The only other colors was violet and two shades of green. Harini's heart was in her throat as she drifted closer. She was barely aware of Luna following behind, making sure that her back wasn't left exposed just like xe had during the war.

She could feel the gaze of the booth attendant on her as she read the displayed infograph on the table. The attendant said nothing and continued to roll a fidget ball between their palms. The display was fairly simple, just a picture of two flags with labels and then a list of terms with their definitions. Harini adjusted her glasses to make sure that she was reading the words correctly.

Blindly, she reached for Luna's hand only to find that xe was already reaching for hers. She could barely see through the threatening tears as turned towards her companion, loyal and true. She tightened her grip on xem as she struggled to get the words out.

"There's a word," Harini finally managed. She tried to smile but all it did was make the tears spill over. Luna's hand was surprising cool as xe wiped them away. "There's a word."

"Yes," Luna agreed in that flat way xe had that seemed so otherworldly. Despite the simplicity, Harini knew that Luna understood the importance of Harini's declaration. Suddenly, Harini didn't feel like she was just accompanying Luna to support xem. She looked around their section of the park with new eyes. The crowd wasn't made up of strangers who might figure out that she was broken inside. Instead, it was made of people who were different in ways that were like her.

And all of them were here.

It was more than enough.