eccentric ➳ luna lovegood

03

A/N: Wow, everyone. The response to this story, especially in the last few weeks, has been astounding. Thank you for all of your support. I've been writing this story for a long time, and I'm so happy it has so many fans. Thank you.

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THE FIRST day of classes was not going the way Jade wanted it to.

She had two classes on Monday, Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic. It would have been simple enough, really, if the boys hadn't gotten up to their usual antics.

When Mandy rushed at her down a corridor, face beet red and tears streaming down it, Jade had no idea how to react. They were supposed to be heading to class, and instead they were heading toward the Hospital Wing. She hadn't gotten anything out of Mandy, other than "the boys are hurt."

Upon entering the Hospital Wing, they saw Terry and Anthony standing next to a bed, both of them covered in various bandages and different degrees of bruising. When the door shut, they turned around, grins spreading across their faces when they saw who had entered.

"What have you two gotten into?" Mandy yelled, throwing her belongings on to an empty bed and crossing the wing in few steps.

Anthony, still grinning, held his hands up in defense, looking at Jade for any sort of backup. She shrugged, putting her and Mandy's belongings in a neater pile on the bed.

The person they were surrounding was Michael, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, wrapped in crisp white bedding and fresh white bandages.

"Is he okay?" Jade asked, glancing between the two boys.

"He should be, Pomfrey was confident he would only need a day or two of rest. Sucks that we had to do it on the first day of classes though." Terry rubbed the back of his neck, grazing the bottom of his hair. It had finally grown back over the summer.

"What did you do?"

"We decided to lure the Giant Squid out again."

"You're both so utterly stupid. Oh my god. So utterly dumb." Mandy muttered, backing away from the trio.

Anthony stepped toward her, arms outstretched, but she backed up again.

"You nearly got our friend killed!"

"He's alive though, isn't he?"

Anthony gestured back to the bed, where Michael was lying. Jade and Terry took a particular interest in the parchment falling out of her bag, commenting on the yellowing shade of it. Jade wasn't too sure how it had gotten so discolored, but it provided a decent distraction while her best friend argued with her boyfriend.

Though helping them talk things through would have likely been an easier solution, they continued staring at the parchment, eventually moving to the jewelry both of them were wearing.

"Luna made me these earrings not too long before we came back to Hogwarts, that's probably why you haven't seen them."

Jade placed her hand behind them and pushed them forward slightly so Terry could get a better look. They were a bit longer than she was used to, a silver hook attached to a long silver chain with Butterbeer caps on the ends. Luna had painted over them, drawing small, colorful butterflies. They had become some of her favorite earrings, and she had worn them nearly every day since she got them.

"Those are quite lovely, Jade. I got this ring from my father over the holiday, but I haven't worn it until today. He said it's a family heirloom."

Terry outstretched his right hand where a large black ring sat on his third finger. The only distinguishing feature on it were the engraved initials "TLB."

"Are those your dad's initials?" She asked, leaning in closer and squinting her eyes.

"They are. We have the same name."

The yelling ceased behind them, the only sounds in the wing being the echoes of two different conversations bouncing off the stone walls. Before Jade could completely turn around, Mandy had grabbed her left hand and was dragging her from the wing, their belongings in tow.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Jade, they could've gotten Michael killed over their obsession with this stupid squid. I cannot believe them."

"I don't know why they love the squid so much, but this is the only time its been this bad, I'm sure they get a pass for that, right?"

"Jade. They get no pass."

They walked toward Defense Against the Dark Arts briskly, sliding between crowds of fourth years and cliques of fifth years from all different Houses. They entered the classroom with seconds to spare, taking two of the five empty seats in the room, which were also the only two empty seats in the room.

Professor Snape made no mention of their near tardiness, but Harry Potter had earned himself a detention after talking back to him.

Mandy disappeared after class, not even stopping to say goodbye. Jade was sure she would see her later, but she didn't know when, and she definitely didn't know where her best friend was going now.

In her break between classes, she sat by herself in the Great Hall, eating potatoes and some sort of specially flavored meat. It was hard for her to see Luna any time before dinner, as their breaks between classes never matched up, so she kept to herself, reading segments from the Daily Prophet.

She was one of ten N.E.W.T. students in History of Magic, and there were only two who were not Ravenclaws. Ernie Macmillan and Dean Thomas had found themselves in the class, due to their sheer enjoyment of the subject matter rather than Binns' teaching.

She spent most of her time thinking about Luna and what they would do after dinner. Maybe they would go to the tower and play a game of wizard chess, or they could go for a nighttime walk around the castle before curfew. She enjoyed the thought of a relaxing night with Luna, especially after Mandy and the boys had given her so much stress.

Her daydreams about her time with Luna came to a halt when she exited her classroom and found Mandy outside, face as red as her hair again, though she was crying harder this time.

"Anthony hates me."

Without a word, Jade grabbed her hand and the two went straight back to the tower and sat in their dormitory, exchanging no words or noises except for Mandy's occasional sobs and Jade trying to calm her down. They sat on her trunk staring out the window for what felt like hours, but couldn't have lasted that long, as Su soon entered with Luna.

Luna said nothing, she just sat with them, staring at the oranges and yellows coloring the clouds as the sun set beyond the castle. Jade grabbed her hand, holding it loosely so she didn't upset Mandy, and kept her other arm around her best friend, who leaned against her shoulder.