Chapter Text
"Luna?"
"Oh, hello," Luna answered airily. "I wasn't expecting company. Other than the owls of course."
"Um… do you want me to go?" Ginny asked hesitantly, pocketing her letter and taking a cautious step towards the Owlery's exit.
"No, that's alright. I was just walking, you know, and ended up here. It's very nice, actually. People are so loud most of the time. Owls are different." She raised an arm to gesture at the surrounding nestboxes, which had the (probably) unintended effect of prompting a shape to alight onto it in a rush of white wings. Luna gasped excitedly, patting the snowy bird's head with a wide smile.
Ginny beamed back at her friend. "She's Ana's owl." Hedwig swivelled her head around at her voice, before taking off from Luna's arm and landing on her shoulder. "Hey girl, how are you? Catch anything good to eat lately?"
Most people saw Hedwig as an ordinary snowy owl, but Ginny knew better than that. She could See the amber glow in her eyes, a mark of something older, wilder, more intelligent. A similar spark existed in all messenger owls, vestiges of their strix ancestors, but it was especially pronounced here.
Hedwig gave a purring hiss, the noise getting louder as Ginny put her hand up for a few love bites. Wilder or not, she was still just as demanding of affection as the other messengers she knew. "She must really like you," Ginny told Luna. "Ana said it can take a while for her to warm up to people."
Luna nodded solemnly. "Hedwig clearly loves you as well. She must be an excellent judge of character."
Ginny cocked her head. "Wait, how'd you know her name?" But Luna just turned to stare out the window instead of answering. Knowing better than to repeat the question, Ginny decided to let it go. "Did you have a good day?" she asked, offering an arm for Hedwig when her perch became more precarious.
"Not particularly," Luna replied matter-of-factly. "Astronomy and Transfiguration were both interesting, but Potions was quite horrible."
Narrowing her eyes, Ginny looked Luna up and down, "Did something happen?" Nothing. She held in a sigh: Luna could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to be, and she had a better chance at wrestling a troll than getting a straight answer out of her sometimes. "Lune. Please tell me."
Luna shrugged. "It's only, I can't find some of my things, and Professor Snape told me some rather mean things to me because of it."
"Aww, Luna…" Ginny walked over to hug her from behind, Hedwig flying to a nearby bench. "I'm really sorry. Snape's horrible, I can see why everyone hates him so much."
She could feel the laughter in Luna's chest, even if it wasn't audible. "You know, I've heard he's slightly improved from what he used to be."
"Well he's still a dick and a terrible teacher," Ginny insisted, before pursing her lip. "Do you have any idea where your stuff is?"
"No," Luna shrugged again. "But I suspect it was nargles that took them, there were quite a few in my dormitory last night."
"Were there?" Ginny questioned, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
Luna had never been like the other kids. She saw the world differently than everyone else, never felt totally present in any conversations she was a part of, and was, if Ginny was truly, terribly honest with herself, a bit off-putting at times. Of course, Ginny didn't care about any of that, because it was Luna! She was kind, and a total delight. How could you not like her?
At the tutoring circles the two of them attended when they were younger, when lessons were finished and the kids were allowed to play, she would often have her quills broken, books or parchment ripped or stolen, mud thrown at her. The children who did it would be punished, sometimes, but it all depended on who was leading the circle that day. While Ginny's own mother tolerated none of it, and neither did Mrs. Diggory or Mr. Abbott, several other parents and teachers didn't seem to care. A few even agreed with their children, saying Luna was a problem child who didn't pay attention and couldn't sit still enough to learn from the lessons, so what was the point of treating her with any kindness?
After Pandora's accident, when she'd grown more closed-off and distant for a time, she held nargles to blame for those incidents, which had increased in frequency and severity. And now it was happening again.
Frankly, Ginny wasn't entirely sure if the various phantasmal creatures Luna described were real at all. Her Sight wasn't open to them, none of her family knew what they were either, and all her searches in the Diagon Alley Library or Flourish and Blotts had come up dry. It didn't matter one way or another; Luna was still her friend, of course, and it wasn't like she was hurting anyone. Even if the invisible beings haunting her vision didn't exist, she could clearly perceive something, going off how eerily good she'd gotten at reading people's emotions. Most of the creatures corresponded to one or two; oralfas for joy, wrackspurts for sadness, heliopaths for anger…
Nargles for spite and cruelty.
Ginny gently spun her friend around to face her. "Oh, Luna… why didn't you say anything about it after class earlier? I would have helped."
"It's alright. My things will find their way back to me soon, I'm sure of it."
But Luna's dreamy stare seemed a bit more fragile. There was something of a droop to her pale eyes, a slight twitch in her hand, and she looked much more vulnerable than she usually did. Shouldering her bookbag, Ginny took her hand and led her over to the Owlery's exit, an idea coming to her mind. "C'mon, I think I know how we can get them back. Hedwig, could you help us find Percy?"
Ana's owl gave her a short bark, and when Ginny opened the door she took off and flew down the stairs. She led the girls down three staircases and two hallways, weaving around confused students and affronted paintings. One of the castle's brownies waved at her from an alcove, another laughing in delight at the two firsties chasing after an owl. Ginny grinned and waved back, ignoring the strange looks she got from a nearby group of fifth-years in favour of continuing on until Hedwig stopped at a door.
"Of course. Should have known he'd be in here," Ginny laughed, opening it and stepping inside.
Luna perked up somewhat as she took in the sight around them: they were in the library, on the upper level. Rows and rows of bookshelves filled the massive, three-storey room, with tables sporadically placed every now and then. Hedwig quietly flew through the stacks, getting quite a few stares, before turning away from a nearby window and shooting down the corner.
"What the- hey!" a voice whisper-shouted, followed by a short crash and muttered cursing. Ginny laughed again, before tugging Luna around the corner to stumble across three sixth-years: Percy, Oliver Wood, and a curly-haired Ravenclaw prefect she knew to be Penelope Clearwater.
Oh this was perfect.
"Ginny?" Percy asked incredulously, sitting on his overturned chair with his limbs all windmilling. On the table, Hedwig was perched atop one of his notebooks, looking very smug. Oliver shook with suppressed laughter next to her, while Penelope had a broad grin. "What's going on? Owls aren't allowed in the library,"
"Gonna tell on me, Mister Prefect?" Ginny walked back to the window and opened it. "Thanks, Hedwig. Oh, wait!" Remembering why she'd come into the Owlery in the first place, she pulled the letter back out of her robe and held it up. "Can you take this to Mum?"
Hedwig gave a drawn-out blink, before nuzzling under Oliver's hand, bobbing her head at Penelope, and hissing dramatically at Percy. She took off from the table with goodbye bumps for Ginny and a delighted Luna, grabbed the letter in her beak, then flew out into the afternoon sky.
"Percy, I'm sorry, but don't think I can take you seriously ever again." Compared to Oliver, Penelope Clearwater was a bit of a mystery to Ginny. She'd met her a few times before- get-togethers at the Burrow, lunches and the occasional party, but nothing more. Judging by the slight twinkle in the Ravenclaw prefect's eye, she seemed to be good company. "Big bad prefect, scared by a little owl."
"You clearly haven't spent enough time around Hedwig, Penny. She definitely did that on purpose," Percy huffed, getting back up and fixing his chair. "Oh, hello Luna, I didn't see you there. Is everything alright, you two?"
Ginny shook her head. "No. Someone stole some of Luna's stuff last night, she still can't find it."
Penelope scowled, snapping her book shut and turning to her Housemate. "Is this true?"
"Yes," Luna said, her small, shy voice making Penelope's frown soften slightly. Ginny felt vaguely guilty about putting her on the spot like this. She knew her friend could be shy around unfamiliar people, but she also knew Luna probably wouldn't ask for help without someone pressing her. "My cauldron, and my textbooks for Potions and History."
"Do you know who took them?" Oliver asked gently, making Luna visibly relax and Ginny smile slightly. He had a way of making people feel at ease (when he wasn't playing quidditch: games at the Burrow could get intense when he was there), it was probably why he got along with everyone in her family.
"The nargles were most prominent around Helen Dawlish and Kimberley Sheringham."
While the other two looked confused for a moment, Percy just nodded, more used to Luna's Luna-isms by now. "Alright. We'll talk to them before dinner and make them get your things back."
"And I'll keep a close eye out in the future," Penelope added, shaking herself out of her befuddlement. "If it happens again, be sure to let me know, ok?" she asked kindly. Definitely good company then.
"I will. Thank you," Luna told them quietly, a relieved grin slowly coming to her face. "I- I was rather upset about earlier."
"Hey, it's alright," Oliver answered. "You can always come to us if someone's giving you a hard time. I promise, we'll do what we can to help."
Ginny squeezed her friend's hand, glad her idea worked. She then let go and walked over to the sixth-years, pulling out her Theory textbook as she sat down. "While we're here, d'you think you could help me with this? Vector wanted us to answer these questions by the weekend, but I'm a bit confused."
"Can I see?" Penelope asked. Ginny passed the book across the table, holding in a delighted squeal when Luna meandered next to her instead of vanishing back into the corridors. "Oh, yeah! I love Magical Theory, I'd be happy to help. So, no one really knows where magic comes from. There are lots of theories, of course, but it's almost impossible to prove any of them. Some people say it's bleedover from the Unseen, some think it's more like the 'breath' of the world, others even-"
Tom!
Yes, Ginny?
You would not believe what happened earlier.
Oh? Do tell.
So, I was going to deliver a letter to Mum right? But Luna was in the Owlery and she looked sad for some reason and it turns out two of her roommates stole her things! How mean can you get? I took her to Percy and then he and this other prefect named Penny got the people bullying her to stop. Sometimes I forget how cool he can be when he doesn't have a stick shoved up his butt.
Wow.
It sounds like you've had a busy day.
Yeah but it's fine. I'm really proud of Luna, you know? Talking to them (and their other friend Oliver, he's the Gryffindor quidditch captain and really nice) was definitely a bit out of her comfort zone but she did it anyway! And she liked them I can tell. She started asking Penny all these questions about the muggle world it was really sweet.
I'm glad I got to help her. She deserves it.
You really are an excellent friend, Ginny.
Although, I am somewhat worried.
Why?
Luna is important to you, correct?
She's my best friend.
Does she have any friends besides you?
I don't
Maybe my brothers? But they have their own friends so I guess not. It's still early in the year though, I'm sure people will get used to her soon.
But what if they don't? From what you've said, she's a very strange girl. People don't like what they don't understand, and they lash out against it. Unfortunately, Luna is likely doomed to a life of no one never being able to understand her.
And because of that, I worry her friendship will be bad for you.
What does THAT mean? I've known her since I was four years old! I don't care if no one else understands, she's so sweet and fun to be around! How could you say that?
Please, Ginny, would you hear me out?
Fine but you better have a damn good reason for saying those things.
Do you have friends besides her and myself? Other than your brothers, of course, that's different.
Yeah! Ana and Hermione and the chasers and Oliver and Lee-
And how much time have they spent with you lately?
I mean…
They always ask how my day is. Ron and Ana and Hermione sit with me a lot. The chasers are really cool and Lee's really funny-
They aren't YOUR friends though, are they? They're your brothers' friends. What about people who are yours alone?
Just you I guess. I'm not sure my roommates like me, I think it's because they guessed I'm a septima. Same with the boys. Colin Creevey seems nice though, he's a muggleborn so he doesn't know he should be avoiding me.
Or maybe they're being unkind because of Luna?
…
…
Ginny. I know this is hard to accept, but that girl is bad for you. Her erratic behaviour continually drives people away, and I suspect you might be getting dragged down with her.
But Percy and Penny and Oliver liked her when we sat with them! So did Ana and my brothers when she was over for my birthday!
Three older students, two of them prefects, looking out for a first-year. Your family being good hosts. And a girl wouldn't want to start trouble with another guest after your parents took her in. Just because they are obliged to be nice doesn't mean they actually like her.
Maybe, but
Trust me. This can only end poorly. Luna will come to rely on you more than is healthy, and it will only cause you pain in the future. Ending your friendship now is the best way to avoid further heartache in the future.
Tom, I
…
…
Maybe you're right. I never thought about it like that before.
I guess I'll start avoiding her from now on.
I'm sorry, Ginny. A friendship is always a difficult thing to break, even if it is for the best. You can always come to me if you need someone to talk to.
Ok, Tom. I'll do that.
Thank you for being my friend.
Of course. I will always be here for you.