AN: This is a Lunar Chronicles Harry Potter AU, I hope you like it. I'm a bit rusty with the fanfiction business.

Chapter 1

Of Tutors and Headlines

Cinder fiddled nervously with her silver and green tie as she waited at the table in the library for her next student. Tutoring was a necessary extra credit she was doing for Transfiguration class to make sure she didn't fail. Failing meant her stepmother would kill her – or at least take her out of Hogwarts. Hogwarts was her gateway to a life outside of the Muggle world and she couldn't afford to be taken out.

While waiting for the kid to show up, she flipped through her messy notes, wondering whom the student would be. The only thing her professor had told her was that he would be a year above her. She was lucky she had an extensive knowledge of Transfiguration – it was her best subject after all. Cinder was at the top in her year, another reason why she couldn't afford to fail. All her status among her peers would be lost, and it had already been hard earned.

It was one thing for her to be Muggle-born and in Slytherin house, but it was a complete other thing to be one of the only disabled students at the school. With a perpetual limp in her left leg, she walked with a cane and was slower than most of her other students. Her left wrist was also a bit messed up and sometimes it bothered her to the point of needing painkillers. Aside from being Muggle-born, she was also dirt poor and her adoptive family was only barely able to afford tuition. Luckily, her stepmother despised her enough to want her out the house.

Brushing dark hair out her face, Cinder mentally prepared herself to get out of her seat. Her tutee was obviously not going to show and she would have to begin her trek back to the Slytherin Common Room now if she wanted to make it before dinner. Grabbing her cane, Cinder, slow as possible, rose out of her seat. She had barely made one step when a person ran up to her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" said the person – a boy – apologetically, gently helping her sit back down. He flashed her a smile and Cinder took a second to recover before she actually took a look at his features. Though his face was contorted with apology, Cinder recognized him – she would recognize him anywhere, if she were being honest.

It was the handsome Kai Prince, son of the Minister of Magic. She'd spent a lot of time looking at his perfectly sculpted face in the past, staring across the Great Hall at him laughing at the Gryffindor house table. With a face burning red, she managed, "It's, um, alright."

Kai took a seat across from her, loosening his tie a bit. "Really?" He grinned, copper colored eyes lighting up with humor. "You looked about ready to leave when I arrived." This only served to make Cinder's blush deepen, but she didn't really understand why.

"Well, I was," she said, avoiding his eyes. "But it's alright." Kai's smile seemed to become even more pleased. "So, uh, what do you need help with, Prince?" said Cinder, his last name falling awkwardly from her lips.

"Oh, I just need help with this spell. I can't seem to get it, no matter how much Professor tries to teach it to me," he said, frustration edging his tone just a bit. "Transfiguration is my worst subject."

Though Cinder doubted the validity of this statement (Kai was virtually good at everything), she asked, "Which spell?"

Pushing his book towards her, he pointed out the spell he was struggling with. It was NEWT level, but Cinder had long since mastered it. The spell was supposed to, if done correctly, turn the object you directed it to into another object of your choice. It took a great deal of focus, though, and she suspected that was why Kai was having the trouble he was having. Making sure he at least knew the incantation, they began practicing on paper clips and pencils Cinder already had.

After about 30 minutes of practice, Kai could turn a paper clip into a needle, but couldn't do anything larger than that. Still, it was progress.

"Wow, Linh. How do you know so much about Transfiguration?" he asked of her, after repeatedly switching his paper clip to a needle with awe. Each time he gained speed.

"I don't know, I just do. It comes naturally to me, I guess." She smiled, glad for the compliment. He beamed back at her, continuing to quickly transfigure the paper clip. "If you keep practicing like that, I'm sure you'll be able to do bigger objects."

"Like what, pencils?" he joked, laughing. He stopped his transfiguring and looked up at her, eyes locking onto each other. "Thanks so much, Linh. What do you say we meet back up again tomorrow? I really wanna get better at this," he said, and she admired the eagerness in this tone. His eyes never left hers and her breath caught.

Mistaking her pause for caution, Kai added, "I promise I won't be late next time."

Remembering how to breathe, Cinder smiled at him. "Yeah, sure, I'd be happy to help." With a hesitation and a bite of her lip, she said as an afterthought, "And you can call me Cinder."

Though he looked a bit surprised, Kai was overall pleased at this. "Well, you can call me Kai, Cinder."

They spent a little time packing up, before Kai had gathered all of his books and stood. She remained seated, thinking of her leg and once again preparing herself to rise. She wouldn't have any time to put her books down in the Common Room, but she had expected it. He smiled at her, a bit confused. Cinder wondered if he was putting together that she was the disabled cane girl as he stared at her. To make it a bit easier for him, she grabbed her cane and used it to support her on her way up.

"Do you need help?" he asked cautiously. "I can hold your books."

Pride almost convinced her to say no, but eventually she decided that he was being sweet rather than condescending. She nodded shyly, a warm blush travelling up her face. "If you don't mind…" Kai grabbed her books and Cinder smiled at him. She made a vain attempt to stand straight, but eventually it was too much weight on her leg.

In silence, they walked towards the Dining Hall. Cinder wondered if people were staring at them – Head Boy Kai Prince and son of the minister walking with disabled girl. It must have looked like such a charity case. On top of that, she was also a Slytherin and Kai was a Gryffindor. They were really so different. And he was from one of the wealthiest pureblood families, with a long history of being in Gryffindor and she was a measly Muggle-born, poor and didn't know a thing about her real heritage, being adopted.

As her thoughts continued to stray, she decided she needed to do something to save face for Kai. It must have been embarrassing being seen with her. Luckily, she didn't have to do it harshly, because a distraction in the form of her Ravenclaw friend Iko caught up with them.

Iko excitedly ran up to Cinder, squealing something about some gossip that happened in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Cinder and Kai stopped in their tracks and paused their pleasant conversation about the standings of the house cup. With a noisy clearance of her throat, Cinder indicated Kai's presence to Iko. Iko rarely ever had tact, but somehow this time she knew she had to hold in her squeals. The wide-eyed pointed look she gave Cinder spoke volumes, though.

"Uh, Kai, this is my friend, Iko," said Cinder, rolling her eyes. Kai grinned at this action and introduced himself to Iko. "I can, um, go on with Iko from here." Upon witnessing the slight hurt in Kai's eyes, she quickly amended her statement. "I'm sure you have stuff to do, you know, and I'm just slowing you down," she laughed unconvincingly.

This didn't seem to fix any of Kai's hurt. "Alright, I guess," he said, obviously attempting to brighten. "See you tomorrow night then, Cinder." This was with a happy smile, one that made her feel a bit better for ditching him. She reciprocated the sentiments and retrieved her books before watching him walk off into the distance, hands stuffed into his pockets.

Iko waited until he round the corner before hounding Cinder about the encounter, automatically taking Cinder's books. "Cinder! Why were you and Kai Prince hanging out? And why wasn't I told?!" Iko squealed (nearly everything she said was with a squeal). "You're a terrible best friend for withholding this information!"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "I'm tutoring him, Iko," she said, exasperation present in her tone. "I didn't know it was gonna be him until he showed up!"

Iko looked over at her, eyes narrowed. "Hm. Okay. I'll accept this."

A laugh erupting from inside of her, Cinder once again rolled her eyes at her friend. Iko was a pretty girl, gorgeous even. At the moment she was twirling her infamous blue braids. Iko had creamy dark skin and legs that went on miles. She was honestly much prettier than Cinder, whose hair was thin and straight and who only had one correctly functioning leg. Cinder did have tanned skin, pulling off the sun kissed without actually having to be sun kissed (actually, at home, she spent a lot of time in the sun).

Together they walked to dinner, while Iko chatted happily about whatever had happened in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

The next morning, Cinder awoke on her left wrist and instantly felt the pain spring up there. She was in for a long day, it seemed. The only saving grace was that she was ambidextrous, something she appreciated more and more as the years went on.

Despite the trouble she had putting on her robes that morning and showering, she was out her room and rushing through the Common Room within an hour. She always rushed through the Common Room to escape the disgusted looks she got from her peers and whispered slurs. Today she was rushing to get to the Infirmary to get some painkillers for her wrist; otherwise it would be extremely hard to focus all day.

When she arrived, after fast limping all throughout the castle, she was met with two people. Dr. Erland, as to be expected, and – she realized with a jolt – Kai. Face reddening, she tucked away some of the fly away hairs behind her ears and schooled her features into indifference. She noticed Kai smile at her.

"Ah, Miss Linh. It's nice to see you here again," said Dr. Erland, amusedly watching Cinder smile back at Kai timidly.

"Not for me, Doctor," she said back on instinct, forcing her eyes away from Kai. "I just need some painkillers," said Cinder, wincing, "I slept on my wrist last night." Understanding dawning in his eyes, Dr. Erland walked off to go get that for her, leaving she and Kai alone.

"So, why are you here?" Cinder asked him, genuinely curious. Last she'd seen him he didn't look sick, and even now he looked perfectly healthy.

"Oh, I'm not sick or anything. Erland's a friend of mine," he said, dismissing the topic with a laugh. He asked whether or not she had made it safely to the Dining Hall. A bit disappointed he hadn't noticed her sitting at her table; she was about to answer when Erland returned, announcing his presence with a quick rattle of the bottle of pills he was holding. Handing them over, Cinder smiled at him gratefully, yet she lingered there.

"You know, I think the both of you are supposed to be getting to the Dining Hall around now," said Erland, a pointed look in his blue eyes. Both Kai and Cinder noticed this and blushed. Saying their goodbyes to an amused Erland, they walked out of the Infirmary together.

Feeling a little awkwardness seeping into the air around them, Cinder searched her brain for something to say. Luckily enough, Kai said something. "I practiced the spell a little more last night, you know. It's really easy to do now. I don't even have to think about it."

"Oh, really?" said Cinder, sensing her tone was sarcastic even thought she was admittedly feeling a bit proud. "Think you'll be able to try something a bit more intimidating that a pencil tonight?" she said, pausing for a dramatic gasp, "Maybe a… pen."

Kai laughed. "Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to do a marker. I'm feeling a bit lucky." Cinder chuckled at this a little. "Jokes aside, I really appreciate your help… I was totally hopeless before."

"I'm happy to help. It's actually a win-win situation – I get extra credit for tutoring and you-"

"I don't fail my NEWTS."

They laughed together again. "Yeah, that. See! Perfect situation."

"Yeah, I'd say we balance each other out very well." Cinder's eyes widened at this and Kai seemed to realize what he'd said when his eyes turned pink. He stuttered to correct the statement, "Uh, I mean. Er. You know what I mean. Right?" In an attempt to make him feel less embarrassed, she laughed and was glad to see him smile with relief at the sound.

Arriving at the Dining Hall, they walked in together, still smiling – Kai was grinning, in fact. But then reality set in for Cinder – they were from two different houses, and rival houses at that. With a quick, "See you later," Kai went to go sit with a few other Gryffindors, all of who were staring at her. Every bone in her body was focused on getting her to the Slytherin table faster under the scrutiny of Kai's friends. Of course, this didn't make too much of a difference. She sat down at the end of the table, which was her usual spot. Other outcast Slytherins sat around her, but none of them talked to her.

To be honest, they weren't outcast Slytherins, because every Slytherin was an outcast. The popular Slytherins sat at the top of the table and gave everyone else a bad reputation. Being in Slytherin house was good training for being alone, if anything.

After picking some toast, she finally gained the courage to look up at the Gryffindor table and she searched it, lying to herself that she wasn't really look for anyone in particular. When she found the familiar copper brown eyes and that they were staring right back at her, she smiled to herself, despite growing red. He grinned at her and she reciprocated it, finding comfort in the smile.

The morning news distracted her from staring at Kai. The owls flew in through the windows and she refocused her gaze upon them, smile sticking to her face resiliently. An owl dropped a newspaper in front of her. Still beaming, she took a look at the strong bolded letters and somehow any giddiness left over from Kai disappeared in a flash.

10 MUGGLE-BORNS FOUND MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD AROUND EUROPE

Blood-Purist Lunars suspected of murdering 10 different Muggle-borns in connected killing spree.

Headlines like this were not, unfortunately, rare.

Lunars were a group of dark magical people, intent on killing Muggle-borns like her for the sake of "cleansing" the magically community. They called themselves Lunars, at least. They followed a leader named Levana, who was hell-bent on destroying the Muggle-born population. The mark of a Lunar was a picture of a full moon, which they projected into the sky every time they killed.

Seeing headlines like this made Cinder fear for her life. She, after all, was a Muggle-born. Sometimes it felt as if no one was doing anything to fight against the cause. Cinder and the rest of the Muggle-borns were utterly helpless against Lunars, especially if their leader was Levana. The amount of magically skill Levana processed was terrifying to anyone to ever witness it. And she was bloodthirsty. It was common knowledge that she had murdered her sister and her sister's daughter just so she could be the only living Blackburn left. Some considered the Blackburns to be the Princes' counterparts – they were equal in power and wealth. Their only difference was the house they were usually sorted into. The House of Blackburn has a long record of Slytherin members. They were direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself. Slytherin's bastard son was named Cyprus Blackburn.

Cinder was staring, shocked, at the newspaper when Iko sat down across from her. "Hey, Cinder… Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah…" Cinder lied, but she didn't want to make Iko pity her.

At this response, Iko narrowed her eyes, but didn't question Cinder further, which Cinder was very grateful for. "Hey, did you hear about the Hogsmeade trip we have this weekend?" Iko asked her, obviously trying to change the subject with forced cheeriness in her tone. Though Cinder appreciated the effort, this got her thinking about another bad thing in her life, however pettier it seemed.

"Uh, no. My stepmother didn't sign the permission slip, Iko. I can't go."

Iko twirled her hair, saddened by this. After a few moments of silence, Iko brightened. "Hey, you know, maybe you can send a letter to your stepmother to convince her to left you go! With all the extra credit you've been doing, your grades must be higher than ever!"

Cinder couldn't deny, this was a valid suggestion – Cinder's grades were impeccable at the moment. Proving this to her stepmother might just be the bargaining chip she needed. New hope planted, Cinder thanked Iko and got up to leave. If she could get to her next class – Potions – early, she could begin writing her letter there. She basically hopped to get out of the Great Hall, already planning her wording out in her head.