like a redheaded stepchild

Chapter 9: Riddle Me This

Something was wrong. Luna knew that she was occasionally a bit spacey, and had a tendency to wander and drift off. However, she did not normally find herself disposing of the corpses of roosters in the dead of night. Tom had only asked to borrow her body, but when she asked him what he had done, he was evasive. It worried Luna a bit, but she couldn't bear to deny her one and only friend.

At one point, Luna would have written her mother and asked her for help. But her mother was dead, buried in the orchard behind her house. She thought about writing her father, but knew that he wouldn't be any help. The only person left to turn to was Tom. None of the other Ravenclaws were her friends, and Ginny who had once been close to her instead spent all her time with her new friends in Gryffindor or her brothers and honorary sister.

So instead, Luna wrote in her diary, pouring out her soul to Tom. He was kind and comforting, though a little condescending. At least he cared. At least he listened. He even asked about Nargles and heliopaths and how Luna was feeling. No one else had. No one else cared. So Luna stayed in her dorm, and wrote. If she felt a little odd or a little cold, she had not really felt right since her mother had died, and Luna had found her dead on the lab floor.

And Tom was always happy to write back.

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"Alright, this Weasley family meeting is officially called to order," Fred said. He was definitely Fred, as he and George both had dropped the act, and were looking deadly serious.

Around the table sat Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George. They were in yet another abandoned classroom, and had come prepared with both the map and cloak, as well as a stockpile of explosives Fred and George had.

"First, we owe Harry and Hermione an apology," George said. "You two were right. Lockhart is an evil, evil bastard, and we've got to stop him."

"Sorry," Ron said, looking down and feeling very ashamed. Ginny nodded, her cheeks still red and puffy.

"Right," George said, taking over. "Now that Percy is out of commission, we've got to be more cautious. No more sneaking around alone. From now on, we move as a group. If we get the chance, we do the same thing to Lockhart that we did to Sleepy the Wonder Turban."

"What is that, exactly?" Hermione asked.

Fred and George nodded to the impressive pile of fireworks in the corner. Everyone else made appreciative noises.

Hermione tapped her chin. "When can we strike though? Lockhart always has students following him around, and if we do it in his chambers he might have some horrible trap planned."

"We'll use the map," Harry said, pulling it over.

Ron nodded. "Yeah. And we can use the cloak to make sure he doesn't spot us sneaking up on him."

"Whatever you do, don't get caught," Fred said.

George nodded. "One petrified Weasley is all we need. Mums already gone barmy since Percy's been petrified. It happens to one of you lot, and she'll storm the castle herself."

That evening however, the groups plans came crashing down. Dean Thomas was found petrified, and a new bloody warning was scrawled onto the wall.