Fic: On Her Own (Part V): Rated G
Title: On Her Own: Part V
Summary: Luna leaves her husband and travels to Hogwarts to become a teacher.
Characters/Pairings: Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Minerva McGonagall
Rating/Warnings: G
A/N: I started writing this story in June of 2008, and part five was written just about one year ago. I do like this story, but if there are any inconsistancies or changes in tone, that's why. So far most of it has been introspective. Also, I'm not really sure what direction I'm heading in with pairings.
part one | part two | part three | part four
Word Count: 1,114
“Classes begin in one week,” Minerva was saying. “As usual, I expect that you have started on your lesson plans-”. She stopped speaking as Luna entered. She flushed a pale pink, surprisingly complementary to her pale eyes and bright aquamarine robes. Everyone except Minerva was wearing either black of their house colors. The headmistress herself wore grey tartan, but Luna didn’t mind so much. She usually stood out, and she liked it, mostly.
Her office was so different than Dumbledore’s. Gone were the silvery trinkets, replaced with overstuffed chairs, photographs of friends, quidditch banners, and tartan. She was the anti-Umbridge. The only thing that was the same was the wall of portraits, including a new silver frame with her old Headmaster snoozing in it. As her Deputy Headmistress, McGonagall was often severe. She still had the same harsh bun, but she was much kinder to Luna as an adult.
No one spoke. Luna breathed in, hard, when Minerva came to her rescue. It wasn’t that Luna was afraid, but she was apprehensive. What would all of her former professors think about her? “Everyone, this is Luna Lovegood,” she said, “Our new Care of Magical Creatures professor. She has recently taken some time away from Naturalism to come here, and she will be a wonderful asset to our staff.” Luna let out a breath she wasn’t aware of holding. She hoped Minerva wouldn’t refer to her by her married name.
Luna smiled. The rest of the staff was smiling at her warmly, welcoming her. Hagrid with his booming voice, Snape, seemingly reluctant, and everyone else was somewhere in between. Flitwick was still there- his voice as high as ever, but Professor Binns was gone. “We’re still waiting for one more. Our Herbology professor has a knack for being late,” Snape said dryly, from behind a potions book.
As Luna moved to sit in a cushy-looking blue chair, a tall gangly man burst through the doors and knocked straight into her. She flew back a couple inches, but luckily remained standing. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Miss. Are you okay?” he asked, standing up. He brushed her off kindly. Luna didn’t know why he was doing that, but she started to speak, “Oh, please, no worries...” when she turned around and the man looked up at her.
He’d grown up, certainly, finally. He looked the same, just older, a little heavier, fuller in the face, but same gangly arms and knobbly knees, matted hair, and he was covered in dirt, like he’d been playing in it. Luna didn’t care.
“Neville!” she exclaimed, wrapping him up in a big hug, before he even realized who she was or what she was doing. A friend. Oh, a friend. She could cry! He recognized her voice immediately. Well, that, and also because she was hugging him. Luna liked to hug. Was he still the same? She wondered. Would he hate me for moving far away and never looking back on my friends, on everything? She could feel the tears welling up but ordered them to stay put.
“What are you-“ he started to say, before being cut off by Snape raising an eyebrow.
“Perhaps you two could finish your little reunion after the meeting?”
“Ahem, yes.” Minerva said, as they pulled apart. “Talk later?” Neville mouthed to Luna, who nodded and grinned. “Anyway, new passwords have been assigned, Heads of Houses. The stairway password is still the same as last year, though.” Minerva eyed Luna. “Didn’t you ever wonder how a teacher could head off a student when doing something wrong?” Her eyes twinkled. “Well, a password makes the stairs move faster, and it gets us where we need to go with no diversions. To this day, I thank Rowena for her ingenuity.”
Luna marveled at the thought, though she didn’t really intend to catch many wrong doers. The rest of the meeting was a blur, thought she was brought back to life for a few moments when she was handed a schedule. Lunch duty, double classes, corridor patrol, and lesson plans were on the top of her list. Her list was posted on a board in the office, along with everyone else’s. The board was plaid with all of the house colors. Luna stared at it, the way Minerva’s handwriting appeared on the board magically. She had to give Minerva a list of animals for each year so they could be prepared in advance. She was already so behind. She thought about all the creatures they studied in her seven years as a student. Luna wanted to shake things up a bit.
At the end of the meeting, Minerva wanted to speak to her about something. Everyone had gone, except for Neville, who was waiting downstairs. “Luna, I didn’t want to ask you in front of everyone, but Filius wanted to know as soon as possible. He knew you were a Ravenclaw while a student, and as you know, it is tradition for former students to be the head of their house.”
“Oh, no,” Luna said, eyes wide. “Gosh. I couldn’t possibly infringe. Six out of eight characters in that word spell “firing,” she said, deadpan. She was nervous enough about coming back, about leaving her husband (who she hadn’t thought about in quite a few days, which was excellent), about ripping her children out of their home. She didn’t need anything else to worry about.
The Headmistress would have laughed aloud if Luna hadn’t been so serious. Luna stared at her, and Minerva thought quickly to speak before Luna once again insisted that she had wrackspurt, whatever that was. “Aha. But eight out of eight letters spell refining. So that means you should take the position.”
She had her there. “I guess it does,” she said, silver eyes solemn, chewing on her lip. “But what exactly does that mean? And how will I know what to do?”
“Ravenclaw is, for the most part, a relatively calm house. For this term, you will apprentice Filius in his duties as Head of House, and you won’t have any real pressure on you until after the Christmas holiday. After that, you will assist him with his duties. You won’t be on your own, I promise. Plus it comes with a pay increase. Does that sound fair to you?” Minerva entered the stone phoenix with Luna trailing her.
Luna ran her fingers through her hair. It was still long, but not quite as scraggly. “Very fair.”
The phoenix came to a halt. “Very well,” Minerva said. “I shall apprise Filius straight away. See you at dinner!”
“Ta!” Luna gave an offhanded wave and turned to meet Neville. “I hope there is pudding.”
Kat of Puff
Summary: Luna leaves her husband and travels to Hogwarts to become a teacher.
Characters/Pairings: Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Minerva McGonagall
Rating/Warnings: G
A/N: I started writing this story in June of 2008, and part five was written just about one year ago. I do like this story, but if there are any inconsistancies or changes in tone, that's why. So far most of it has been introspective. Also, I'm not really sure what direction I'm heading in with pairings.
part one | part two | part three | part four
Word Count: 1,114
“Classes begin in one week,” Minerva was saying. “As usual, I expect that you have started on your lesson plans-”. She stopped speaking as Luna entered. She flushed a pale pink, surprisingly complementary to her pale eyes and bright aquamarine robes. Everyone except Minerva was wearing either black of their house colors. The headmistress herself wore grey tartan, but Luna didn’t mind so much. She usually stood out, and she liked it, mostly.
Her office was so different than Dumbledore’s. Gone were the silvery trinkets, replaced with overstuffed chairs, photographs of friends, quidditch banners, and tartan. She was the anti-Umbridge. The only thing that was the same was the wall of portraits, including a new silver frame with her old Headmaster snoozing in it. As her Deputy Headmistress, McGonagall was often severe. She still had the same harsh bun, but she was much kinder to Luna as an adult.
No one spoke. Luna breathed in, hard, when Minerva came to her rescue. It wasn’t that Luna was afraid, but she was apprehensive. What would all of her former professors think about her? “Everyone, this is Luna Lovegood,” she said, “Our new Care of Magical Creatures professor. She has recently taken some time away from Naturalism to come here, and she will be a wonderful asset to our staff.” Luna let out a breath she wasn’t aware of holding. She hoped Minerva wouldn’t refer to her by her married name.
Luna smiled. The rest of the staff was smiling at her warmly, welcoming her. Hagrid with his booming voice, Snape, seemingly reluctant, and everyone else was somewhere in between. Flitwick was still there- his voice as high as ever, but Professor Binns was gone. “We’re still waiting for one more. Our Herbology professor has a knack for being late,” Snape said dryly, from behind a potions book.
As Luna moved to sit in a cushy-looking blue chair, a tall gangly man burst through the doors and knocked straight into her. She flew back a couple inches, but luckily remained standing. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Miss. Are you okay?” he asked, standing up. He brushed her off kindly. Luna didn’t know why he was doing that, but she started to speak, “Oh, please, no worries...” when she turned around and the man looked up at her.
He’d grown up, certainly, finally. He looked the same, just older, a little heavier, fuller in the face, but same gangly arms and knobbly knees, matted hair, and he was covered in dirt, like he’d been playing in it. Luna didn’t care.
“Neville!” she exclaimed, wrapping him up in a big hug, before he even realized who she was or what she was doing. A friend. Oh, a friend. She could cry! He recognized her voice immediately. Well, that, and also because she was hugging him. Luna liked to hug. Was he still the same? She wondered. Would he hate me for moving far away and never looking back on my friends, on everything? She could feel the tears welling up but ordered them to stay put.
“What are you-“ he started to say, before being cut off by Snape raising an eyebrow.
“Perhaps you two could finish your little reunion after the meeting?”
“Ahem, yes.” Minerva said, as they pulled apart. “Talk later?” Neville mouthed to Luna, who nodded and grinned. “Anyway, new passwords have been assigned, Heads of Houses. The stairway password is still the same as last year, though.” Minerva eyed Luna. “Didn’t you ever wonder how a teacher could head off a student when doing something wrong?” Her eyes twinkled. “Well, a password makes the stairs move faster, and it gets us where we need to go with no diversions. To this day, I thank Rowena for her ingenuity.”
Luna marveled at the thought, though she didn’t really intend to catch many wrong doers. The rest of the meeting was a blur, thought she was brought back to life for a few moments when she was handed a schedule. Lunch duty, double classes, corridor patrol, and lesson plans were on the top of her list. Her list was posted on a board in the office, along with everyone else’s. The board was plaid with all of the house colors. Luna stared at it, the way Minerva’s handwriting appeared on the board magically. She had to give Minerva a list of animals for each year so they could be prepared in advance. She was already so behind. She thought about all the creatures they studied in her seven years as a student. Luna wanted to shake things up a bit.
At the end of the meeting, Minerva wanted to speak to her about something. Everyone had gone, except for Neville, who was waiting downstairs. “Luna, I didn’t want to ask you in front of everyone, but Filius wanted to know as soon as possible. He knew you were a Ravenclaw while a student, and as you know, it is tradition for former students to be the head of their house.”
“Oh, no,” Luna said, eyes wide. “Gosh. I couldn’t possibly infringe. Six out of eight characters in that word spell “firing,” she said, deadpan. She was nervous enough about coming back, about leaving her husband (who she hadn’t thought about in quite a few days, which was excellent), about ripping her children out of their home. She didn’t need anything else to worry about.
The Headmistress would have laughed aloud if Luna hadn’t been so serious. Luna stared at her, and Minerva thought quickly to speak before Luna once again insisted that she had wrackspurt, whatever that was. “Aha. But eight out of eight letters spell refining. So that means you should take the position.”
She had her there. “I guess it does,” she said, silver eyes solemn, chewing on her lip. “But what exactly does that mean? And how will I know what to do?”
“Ravenclaw is, for the most part, a relatively calm house. For this term, you will apprentice Filius in his duties as Head of House, and you won’t have any real pressure on you until after the Christmas holiday. After that, you will assist him with his duties. You won’t be on your own, I promise. Plus it comes with a pay increase. Does that sound fair to you?” Minerva entered the stone phoenix with Luna trailing her.
Luna ran her fingers through her hair. It was still long, but not quite as scraggly. “Very fair.”
The phoenix came to a halt. “Very well,” Minerva said. “I shall apprise Filius straight away. See you at dinner!”
“Ta!” Luna gave an offhanded wave and turned to meet Neville. “I hope there is pudding.”
Kat of Puff