Don't Leave | Luna Lovegood

The First Day

I woke up and wacked my head on the backboard of my luxurious four poster bed. I pulled the midnight blue covers away from me and stepped into my slippers. The aftermath of me trying to find my pyjamas the night before lay in front of me, in the form of my entire trunk full of clothes lying limp around my bed. Sunlight streamed through the window right next to my bed, and the faint sound of bird song could be heard.

In the bed next to me, Luna was faffing about trying to find her Hogwarts robes, whilst humming quietly to herself.

Three other first year Ravenclaws shared our dorm room, but none of them would even meet my eyes, let alone be friends with me.

Every now and then, I caught one of them looking at me, but as soon as they noticed I had seen them, they bent their heads back down to the ground. I couldn't tell if they were scared of me or if they genuinely just hated me for what my father did, but I left them alone, not wanting to cause any trouble.

I still didn't understand why I had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Nobody in the black family had ever been a Ravenclaw before, and even my adoptive parents had been sorted into Gryffindor in their time at Hogwarts. It just didn't make sense. But at the same time, my dad had been the first in our family not to be a Slytherin, so maybe... no. It's supposed to run through families, that's just how it works. My father was an exception and just because he wasn't a Slytherin didn't mean it made sense for me to be a Ravenclaw.

I was interrupted mid thought by a loud pecking at the window. I snapped my neck towards the window and saw a barn owl hovering outside, holding a folded piece of parchment addressed to me. I slipped open the window and took the message.

"thank you" I whispered to the owl, knowing full well that it couldn't understand a word I was saying. I chuckled to myself, "talking to animals now are we?"

"there's nothing wrong with talking to animals, Ivy", It was Luna. she had snuck up on me whilst I leaned out the window and was smiling wistfully at the outside world behind me, "I sometimes think animals must be so lonely with nobody to talk to, I just think it must be nice for them to hear someone talking to them for once, you know? A bit of company for them."

"I guess" I smiled at her and shifted my feet past her to get to look at the message in private. I unfolded the parchment and was met by an extremely short message written in very neat handwriting

Dearest Ivy Black,

Meet me in my office at your leisure once your school day is completed to discuss certain matters. The password is "caramel cobwebs"

yours sincerely,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

After leaving the Ravenclaw tower and having what my mum would have called a "substantial" breakfast of bacon and eggs, Luna and I made our way to our first lesson of the day; potions.

The potions room was located in the dungeons along with the Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms, and it was extremely dark. I was slightly scared at the idea of facing other people's judgement again, but I just had to deal with it. By the time we got to the classroom, all of the Hufflepuffs were standing nervously by the door.

A pale man with greasy black hair opened the door, his robes billowing around his legs. He motioned for everybody to enter the classroom and we obliged. Luna and I found our seats at the back of the classroom and started taking out our supplies. The man marched to the front of the classroom and started talking some rubbish about bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses, but I didn't listen. I had no doubt that he gave this speech to every first year class in an attempt to make his subject seem more interesting than it actually was.

His eyes searched the room, taking in every face, before landing on me.

"well, well, well", he spoke, "don't you just look startlingly similar to your father?"

I felt my cheeks turning pink, but I knew I had to hold in my anger. I couldn't make a fool of myself in my first ever lesson at Hogwarts. I straightened up my back, trying my best to seem confident.

"yes, Professor..." my voice trailed off, as I realised I didn't actually know his name

"Snape," he sneered, before looking around the room again, "I can tell you've been paying great attention to the lesson" he laughed, his every word dripping with sarcasm.

He turned away, and began walking back to the front of the room, whilst anger rose up inside of me.

"well, I didn't see any need to pay attention" I retorted, immediately regretting it.

He snapped his head back around. "oh?" he smiled, but it wasn't a joyful smile, "and would you like to tell me why this is the way of things, Miss Black?" he put particular emphasis on my surname.

I felt my face go even more red. I had no clue what to say, and the entire room was paying very close attention to our conversation.

"that's what I thought." He sneered again, "detention. After school, Friday."

I wanted to argue with him, but I knew it would lead to nothing, so I simply sat there in silence.

After a long day of tedious lessons and watchful eyes, I left Luna in the Ravenclaw common room and made my way to Dumbledore's office, the parchment clutched in my hands.

I had no clue what Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about, but I was terrified. What if he told me that I was untrustworthy, that I had to leave? What if he told me that I didn't belong in Ravenclaw, and that I would have to lose Luna, the only person who would actually talk to me in this place?

Once I had made my way up the stairs, and was sitting in front of Dumbledore, however, I had calmed down slightly. He seemed to study my face for a while, a sympathetic look on his face, before he spoke.

"I brought you here today, Ivy, because I sense that there are some things troubling you."

"er... yes," I replied, startled at how forward he was, "I guess the daughter of a mass murderer will always have something troubling her." I laughed, but he frowned.

"no, it's not that," he mumbled, almost to himself, "you don't feel you fit in Ravenclaw, is that it?"

"yes, I suppose so," I replied, confused at how he knew that, "It just doesn't make sense, I mean nobody in my family has ever been a Ravenclaw."

"you know, Ivy, your father was the first in your family not to be a Slytherin." he looked at me with a pitying expression at the mention of my father, and I hated it. I didn't need pity. I had lived my whole life without that man, I didn't need him. And I most certainly did not need strangers to try and console me and tell me that the situation I was in wasn't a problem. I could look after myself.

"I'm aware."

he furrowed his brow, seemingly searching for the right thing to say.

"what I mean to say is that It doesn't always run in families." he said finally.

I sighed, and twisted my neck around to stretch it. It had been a tiring day.

"The sorting hat is never wrong, Ivy," he whispered, "It will make sense in time." and with that, he gestured for me to leave the office and return to my common room.