Chapter 22: Luna Lovegood
While the original Harry hung out with his two friends and the twins, he did not notice a quiet visitor that irregularly show up at the Burrow. Near Ottery St. Catchpole, a pair of father and daughter, both silver-haired and quite queer from an outsider's perspective, lived in an equally bizarre house,
They were the Lovegoods, and the daughter, Luna, was one of the fan favorites and the top in my list of Potterverse heroines. She is also a loyal albeit eccentric friend whom I could most definitely rely on. If meeting her earlier changes the story, it's most definitely worth it for the Seer-like powers she has and the fact that her purity, innocence and plot armor rivals and exceeds that of any protagonist.
Nonetheless, this just means I only need to approach Luna and leave the impression that I'm a person who she could talk to and confide in. That opportunity came quite close to the end of the holidays, when I was reading on the window of Ron's room while the Weasley siblings play Quidditch on the field below.
From the distance, I saw a petite girl in bright yellow - which can only be pulled off by Luna, skipping, almost floating across the field towards the Burrow. From below, Ginny was first to notice and excused herself to greet the visitor.
Shutting the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 on my hands, I slipped down using my shadow to the bottom of the stairs. Though this ability is entirely soundless and leaves no traces, as soon as I appeared, Luna's eyes locked into my position, as dreamy as always, and muttered to no one in particular:
"Are you Harry Potter?"
Ginny, standing beside her, followed Luna's gaze and spotted me move out from the stairs. She looked at both of us and introduced:
"Harry? This is Luna Lovegood, my childhood friend. Luna, he's Harry Potter."
"Nice to meet you, Luna," I smiled, stretching out my hand which she absentmindedly shook.
"You too, Harry Potter. Ginny talked about you a lot. I think she might be interested in...", Luna replied in her usual brutally honest way, earning a hand clamped on her mouth from the subject of the unfinished conversation.
"Sorry, she's just... well, forget what you heard, Harry. I only told her good things, I swear. You know, that time in the Chamber of Secrets...", Ginny excused in a high-pitched voice, avoiding my eye. Just as she's about to spill even more of her thoughts, a passing bushy-haired girl gave me a glare and pulled both of them away.
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General POV:
"So, am I right to assume that you're Luna Lovegood?", Hermione questioned as soon as Harry was out of earshot.
Not even attempting to answer, Luna merely greeted, staring eerily: "Hello, Hermione Granger. You've got a lot of Nargles on you", she commented, after a pause.
Ginny merely shrugged at Hermione's puzzled gaze, used to the girl's peculiar antics. She seems to not understand what Luna was talking about either, despite knowing her for quite some time, and Luna also doesn't intend to offer any more explanations.
"Luna, what do you think about Harry?", asked Hermione, focusing back to the issue at hand. The brunette noticed Harry's unusual interest in the newcomer. Usually, even when the Weasleys were visited by their cousins, Harry would never come down to personally.
Though this can be discounted to be a fickle choice Harry probably unknowingly made, Hermione's intuition told her this matter is not as simple as it seems. However, Hermione mentally chided herself, she should have no more interest in Harry's relationships than Ron would, considering they're both only best friends to the Boy-Who-Lived.
Before she could take back her words, Luna stated in her dreamy tone:
"He seems quite... unusual" - both Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and raised their eyebrows at the person who's currently wearing pale yellow and have Butterbeer corks on her earrings - "I didn't see him until he appeared, the first time this happened, too."
"What do you mean? Wasn't he just walking downstairs for, I don't know, a break from his book or to play with Ron?", Hermione tilted her head, looking quite confused.
"Well, I have this feeling if someone're close to me, you know? Don't you?", both of the girls gave up at being surprised at this point, "Anyways, when I went in with Ginny, there's just"- Luna's hands clamped together and sprang open - "pop and he's there, on the stairs."
Luna stared at the two, not particularly concerned with the doubtful glances she received. Hermione, realizing Luna's unique temperament, was convinced that there would be very few who could handle and fewer liking her in a romantic sense. Her mind immediately went to Harry, who seemed to change drastically over the summer, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Ginny caught Hermione's light nod and proceeded to set up a game for all three of them. It's what Harry and Hermione calls UNO, and despite its strategic planning one can win as long as they are dealt a good hand and have quick reflexes.
Luna unexpectedly kept getting to the last card, but forgets to say UNO and had to continue to draw new ones. Hermione was the ultimate victor, but she seems not too thrilled about almost being beaten by a beginner if not for a technicality. Their conversations strayed from the Boy-Who-Lived, and ended in a great debate between Luna and Hermione about the existence of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks - with both sides retreating, unconvinced.