The Thirteenth Hour

Chapter 4

How many secrets can you keep?
'Cause there's this tune I found
That makes me think of you somehow and I play it on repeat
Until I fall asleep, spillin' drinks on my settee

Do I Wanna Know? - The Arctic Monkeys

—

Luna woke the following morning after a night of fitful sleep feeling groggy. Her dreams had been uncharacteristically unpleasant, full of long fingers and long corridors, and also panic, a smothering fear that she was trapped somewhere she didn't belong and couldn't move. She stretched in her bed, reluctant to leave the warmth and safety of her blankets.

"Oi! Luna! Get up! We're going to miss breakfast!" A well-tossed pillow flew through Luna's bed curtains, landing on Luna's abdomen. Sitting upright, Luna pulled the curtains open to reveal Cat, already in her school robes, hopping on one foot as she hurried to pull a sock on. The other girls had already left the dormitory.

Getting up, Luna spotted a trunk which had appeared at the foot of her bed. Opening it, she found not only a set of new black school robes and Ravenclaw uniforms but also a rainbow assortment of sweaters and stockings that were not at all far off those she had left behind in 1997. Pleased and feeling a rush of affection for Albus Dumbledore, she dressed with speed, only getting distracted for a few moments by a pair of socks in her trunk which shouted the day of the week when one went to put them on. She picked her wand up from her bedside table, tucked it behind her left ear for safekeeping, then set off with Cat towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

The enchanted ceiling above them was a gloomy grey color, indicating that a storm front had moved in overnight. Luna and Cat walked by the Slytherin table to sit at the Ravenclaw table, and Luna did not turn her head to glance at the Slytherins as they passed.

Lucinda was seated further down the table, having an animated conversation with two admiring boys. Luna and Cat seated themselves next to Lorraine, and no sooner had they sat down than they were handed their class schedules by their Head of House. The three of them began inspecting and comparing their schedules.

"I've got Potions first thing this morning," Luna read aloud.

"Oh, that's bad luck," Cat groaned through a mouthful of toast. "I hate Potions, dropped it as soon as I could."

"Not to mention you got a 'Dreadful' on your O.W.L.," Lucinda interjected from behind Cat, having left the boys behind. "Lorraine and I will be in Potions with you, though, Luna."

Cat made a rude gesture at Lucinda, then returned to the schedules. "Yuck, Luna, why would you take Arithmancy? It's so tedious!"

"I think it's fascinating!" Luna objected.

"I love Arithmancy! We'll be in that together, too!" Lorraine said.

"And we'll all be in Charms together after lunch," Lucinda added, peering over Cat's shoulder at the schedules.

Luna glanced at her watch, then began shoveling food in her mouth. Her father always said it was bad luck to start an adventure on an empty stomach.

"Luna, no one's going to take your food away, you can slow down," Lucinda joked, earning a pointed look from Cat. "Just kidding, of course."

"Oh, I don't mind. Back home, I get made fun of all the time," Luna replied airily, making the other girls rather uncomfortable.

As she continued to eat her breakfast, Luna developed an acute sensation of being watched. Against her better judgment, she allowed herself to look up and scan the Slytherin table. There, halfway along with the table, surrounded by other Slytherin boys his age, Tom Riddle was keeping an eye on her. Luna froze with her fork halfway to her mouth and watched as Tom held her gaze, then turned his eyes to one of the other boys to briefly respond to him. Then, with an air of nonchalance, he looked to her again out of the side of his eyes, the corners of his mouth languidly curling upward in a wry smile. She couldn't tell if he was smirking at his friends or at her. She was fairly certain it was at her.