mirrorball

chapter one

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Clara had gathered her prefect instructions from Slytherin's head girl and strutted down the train hall looking for Luna. She was getting quite nervous as she was almost at the end of the train and there was no sight of the short blonde so far.

She reached the last carriage and opened the door. Inside sat Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and another brunette Gryffindor who had his back turned to the door.

"Sorry, I thought- have any of you seen Luna Lovegood?" Clara asked.

"Oh yes, I think she's in the carriage opposite this one." Ginny said with a stiff smile.

"Thank you, I've looked everywhere. I thought I was going mad!" Clara said with a laugh.

Ginny did not return the laugh and instead visibly gulped and gripped her books. Clara cringed at herself and made a note to not joke about being insane around people that actually thought she was insane.

Neville Longbottom also looked terrified and clutched his toad tighter than ever. The other Gryffindor turned to face her and looked up at Clara. Immediately Clara recognized the boy as Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Harry Potter wasn't just popular at school, he was famous worldwide. When he was just a baby he had escaped death at the hands of Lord Voldemort. This was an achievement that had always made Clara curious, but she hadn't ever talked to the boy before, let alone gotten close enough to him to ask about the most traumatic part of his life.

She met his green eyes with her own and could tell he was registering her presence. She shifted a bit and opened her mouth for words that didn't come out.

"Right, I should go. Wouldn't want to let her go on a mad streak without me." Clara said as she continued to search the eyes of the curious boy in front of her. His look of curiosity shifted into a look of disgust and she suddenly felt very offended. She returned his cold glare and closed the door to the carriage.

She walked to Luna and sat next to her. The blonde looked up from her newspaper and a bright smile came across her face.

"Clara! I was wondering when you'd show up. How was the prefect meeting?"

"It was alright, they've got Granger on Gryffindor. Let's just say she better not try to beat me out again this year for top marks. Things will get messy if she does."

Luna put down her newspaper and turned to face Clara.

"Well I certainly think you can beat her like you have every year before, but I don't think of Hermione as the type to just let someone get the top spot without a competition."

"That's true, Luna. Godric, I've missed you! You'll never believe the look that Potter gave me just a minute ago. Truly ghastly, it's as if no one taught him proper manners."

Luna chuckled and quickly pulled Clara into a tight hug. The pair pulled away from each other and smiled.

"So, what's the news of today?" Clara said as she leaned her head on Luna's shoulder.

Luna pulled up her copy of The Quibbler and started reading out the articles. This was Clara's favorite part of every day. It usually happened right before curfew on the great lawn under the stars. Luna would read The Quibbler to her and they would discuss anything and everything. Luna never judged Clara, and the same courtesy was given to Luna by Clara. There was no one in the world that she would ever consider telling secrets to, and why would she need anyone else? The only person Clara needed besides her father was sitting right next to her. As long as that stayed the same, there was no doubt in her mind that everything would be alright.