The first thing that Ginny Weasley had ever noticed about Luna Lovegood was her shoes.

It was a rather odd thing to notice, in the scheme of things.

At the time, Luna's hair had been pinned away from her face with a hairclip in the shape of a carrot. But Ginny had noticed Luna's entirely ordinary shoes. The sole had peeled away from the heel of the left one, and they might once have been black. Ginny's own shoes had been brown before her mother had dyed them.

Luna's legs were longer and scrawnier than the average second-year's, and they swung merrily back and forth as she read the potion out loud. Ginny put in the ingredients and stirred when directed to do so. Snape deemed the potion passable.

The following day, Prudence recovered from her bout of flu and resumed her place at Ginny's side in Snape's dungeon. Luna had reclaimed her customary sat in the back and hummed as she dropped ingredients into her cauldron. The girls had not spoken again, save the occasional polite and entirely silent acknowledgement in the corridors. Ginny had been friendlier than most of the others in their year, but Luna was not the type to misunderstand her place in the complicated and constantly mutating Hogwarts hierarchy.

So Ginny had surprised even herself when she had invited herself into Luna Lovegood's compartment. She, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville had passed an enjoyable afternoon in the Ravenclaw's company, even though none but Ginny had ever spoken to Luna. But the Ravenclaw drifted away when they had arrived at the feast, and Ginny had not spoken to her since.

However, Luna Lovegood's presence of the threshold of Madam Pince's library that afternoon wasn't entirely unexpected. Ginny and her friends had not been the only fourth-years assigned a horribly difficult transfiguration essay. Ginny's notes and books were spread across the table alongside the notes of her dorm mates, Samantha Cauldwell and Prudence Montgomery. Despite the seriousness of their situation, the other two had become consumed by a debate over whether Dean Thomas or Eddie Carmichael was the more attractive. Ginny couldn't blame them. She too found the difference between Dean Thomas and Eddie Carmichael far more interesting than any comparison of switching spells and swapping spells.

Ginny had just hissed that one could not compare Eddie's hair to Dean's on the basis on length alone when she looked up and saw Luna Lovegood on the threshold. She had piled her perpetually tangled hair atop her head with the aid of no less than four quills. Wide blue eyes caught brown ones, and Luna gave Ginny a vague smile before starting for a table.

She had no sooner unloaded a copy of the Quibbler, ink, a piece of soggy toast wrapped in a napkin, and several transfiguration textbooks when a Ravenclaw girl in the throes of N.E.W.T.'s came barreling around the corner. The older girl's small eyes and brown hair looked even darker against her pallor, which was the sort of colour one achieves after not leaving the realm of Madam Pince for several months. She darted over to Luna's chosen table and hissed, "Loony! Can't you move?" Her stance was almost territorial.

Luna did not stir, already absorbed in her Transfiguration notes. The other girl tapped Luna on the shoulder with rather more force than the occasion required. "Loony!" she hissed. "Lost your hearing as well as your mind?"

Luna lifted her head to gaze expressionlessly at the offending seventh year, one of the quills from her hair falling to the floor as she did so.

"Move!" said the girl. She moved so quickly that even Ginny hadn't expected it. The seventh year dropped her books upon the table, catching Luna's ink bottle and sending it skidding across the table. With a small crash, it broke, expelling more ink than Ginny thought such a small bottle could contain. Luna's white shirt suddenly bore a thick ribbon of black that leaked through her shirt and down toward her skirt. The cracked ink bottle spun to a stop near the edge of the table and began dripping straight into Luna's bag.

Luna blinked.

The rest of the students watched the saga of Loony and her tormenter with ill-disguised hunger. For the first time in her life, Ginny prayed for the appearance of Madam Pince.

Luna blinked again.

Ginny stood up so quickly that her chair fell backward and hit a bookshelf. This, of all things, induced a sudden screech and then the low roar of Madam Pince's rapid footsteps around the corner. The librarian's small eyes darted from the upsetter-of-chairs to the dropper-of-books to the spiller-of-ink. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the ink stain on her floor, and she sprung.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, GIRL? OUT! OUT WITH YOU!" She brandished her wand like a knife as she came toward Luna, who shrank back in her chair. Luna Lovegood's ruined ink pooled in her schoolbag and in her lap as she stared at the librarian. The seventh-year girl remained poised over Luna's table, her hands hovering awkwardly over the pile of books. She turned red and dropped her hands to her sides. A small group of fellow seventh-years shuffled to make a space, and the girl sat down at their table without taking her wide eyes from Luna.

"OUT!" said Madam Pince again, brandishing her wand like she might hit Luna round the head.

Luna finally stood. Her shirt had sagged under the weight of the ink, revealing the top of a pale blue bra. She turned away from her audience to gather her things, though she had no option but to stuff them in her ruined bag. Ginny, who was still standing motionless on the other side of the library, tried to no avail to catch Luna's gaze before the latter darted into the corridor.

The elderly librarian gave the remaining students a threatening look, as if they intended to copy Luna. Ginny resumed her seat and tried to focus on her transfiguration notes. Her vision blurred slightly, whether from anger or tears, she didn't know. The other tables seemed to draw into themselves, no doubt discussing Loony Lovegood's latest oddities. The seventh-year girl who had ignited the whole incident put her head very close to one of the other girls at the table. The girl smirked for a moment, and Ginny felt her eyes burn with rage and embarrassment for her sometimes-friend. Prudence and Samantha stared at their transfiguration notes, not daring to look up at Ginny.

Had rustling parchment always been that loud? Chairs scraped, books slammed into each other, quills scratched. The ceiling of the library seemed to rise, making each murmur echo across the library and into Ginny's head.

Did you see her skirt?

She didn't even talk, the freak.

Loony, they call her.

I hear the other girls in her dorm hide her things.

The strap of Ginny's bag dug into her shoulder as she made her way out of the library.

Aside from the distant groan of moving staircase and Peeve's cackle from inside a classroom, the corridor was completely silent. Ginny's feet carried her towards the girl's toilets.

She pushed the door open and ducked her head to do a quick look for shoes. None. She was on the point of leaving when she caught her breath. There had been a sob, she had heard it quite plainly.

She turned around slowly. "Luna?"

A pair of scuffed shoes suddenly appeared, as if Luna had been holding them up to evade detection. There was an unsure silence before Luna answered, "Yes, Ginny?"

Her voice did not crack or waver, but Ginny could sense the effort it took to make those words sound so conversational.

"Are your things ruined?"

One of Luna's eyes appeared suddenly in the crack of the stall. The single pale blue eye, surrounded by a puffy rim of pink, looked ghostly. The eye gazed at Ginny for a moment before saying quietly, "They'll be alright. I fixed the books and my homework. The dumdirgers, they won't be the same anymore, but I'll ask Daddy to send me more. I don't think I can fix my clothes though."

Some presence of mind seemed to return to Ginny. "Pass them over the top of the stall, I know how to make them right."

The eye blinked again, then withdrew. A moment later, thin hand placed a set of robes and a Ravenclaw tie over the door. Ginny laid them on the edge of the sink and began siphoning off the ink with her wand.

"Thank you, Ginny. I'm not very good at those sort of spells." Said Luna from behind the door as she placed the rest of her clothes over the top of the stall.

"It's alright. I reckon my mum's been teaching my brothers and I how to clean up our own messes since we were born."

"Oh. Daddy and I don't clean very much, I suppose. It wouldn't be any use if he did, anyway. We've got a Rabidus Lingula infestation, and you know how they make everything untidy."

Ginny murmured something noncommittal as she started on Luna's skirt.

"I'm starting to think there is a nest of Rabidus Lingula in the library as well," said Luna conversationally. "That would explain why Madam Pince has been so cross."

"Or maybe she's always cross."

"I am surprised Mr. Filch didn't make her any happier."

"Sorry?" Ginny's hands faltered. "What do you mean?"

Luna's voice drifted dreamily from behind the stall door. "Well, I saw her after the Welcoming Feast last week, you see. Her and Mr. Filch."

"Really?"

"Oh yes." Luna let out an uncharacteristic giggle. "I imagine a broom closet is rather cramped, though."

Ginny giggled, then fell silent. Someone in the corridor was talking loudly about something of little importance, but the two fourth-years remained silent until the voice had faded.

Ginny handed Luna her things over the top of the stall. "I'm sorry that girl did that to you, Luna."

"It's alright. You didn't do it, did you? And you didn't call me Loony either. Nearly everyone calls me that."

Ginny blushed. It wasn't as if she had never used that particular nickname. "It's not a very nice nickname, I suppose."

"I don't think so. But I'm much too old to be hurt by a little nickname." The door clicked and Luna emerged from the toilet fully dressed. She smoothed the front of her skirt and fixed Ginny with a distant smile. "You're quite nice to help me, Ginny."

Ginny hesitated. "Luna, Hermione and Harry and my brother are having a meeting at the Hog's Head this weekend. They want to start a, well, a sort of defense against the dark arts club. Because Umbridge is so awful. Do you want to come?"

"Come to the meeting?"

"Erm, yes. They've invited some other Gryffindors, and I've promised Hermione that I'll tell a few people in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It's supposed to be a secret."

"Yes, I'll come. It sounds nice."

"Good. I had better go back to the library to get my things. But I'll see you this weekend then."

Luna nodded. "That'll be wonderful."

A/N: Thank you for reading! You guys are my best source of feedback and constructive criticism, so please please please review!