Chapter 1
Crazy as Can Be

Week 1

Luna Lovegood. That's what Ginny told me her name was, the girl with the wide eyes and the butterbeer cork necklace that had been in our carriage on the train at the start of term. I notice her everywhere now and the things that she does. I don't know how I couldn't have noticed before... they're just so, noticeable. Like now for instance, she's reading that magazine that her dad edits, The Quibbler, upside down and she's still wearing that butterbeer cork necklace and she's added ridiculous earrings. No one else seems to notice her, that or they're just used to what she does by now and it's no longer a shock. But it's a shock to me. I've never seen anyone so odd, but so normal.

The bell rang loudly. I pulled my bag with me as I stood up, which, of course was stuck under my foot. I tripped and hit my head on the corner of the bench. I felt my head start to sting as blood flowed freely from a fresh cut.

"You alright, Neville?" I heard Ron ask as he, Harry and Hermione got up to go to classes as well.

"Yeah" I said, seizing a paper napkin from the table and pressing it to my head. "Yeah, I'm fine" Harry and Ron helped me up and went on their way. I fumbled in my bag for my timetable, still having not memorised it fully. I looked down Tuesday's lessons until I found 1 o'clock. Damn, Divination. I honestly didn't know why I chose Divination in the first place. It was a total bludge and it didn't help that Professor Trelawney kept trying to predict Harry's death most of the time, causing us not to learn anything but the different ways that Harry would die. It was a good time to just sit back and relax, though I never could relax in Professor Trelawney's room, despite the perfume-smelling fumes. I'm terrified that she'll ask me a question and I won't know the answer, or worse, she'll ask me a question and I'm asleep. What will happen to me then?

Other students didn't seem to have the same worries as me. Dean and Seamus called Divination "the sleep subject" and spent the whole time that Trelawney was predicting Harry's death, snoozing lightly on their poufs, their heads on the desk and occasionally drooling all over their books.

I never understood anything of what Trelawney said. To be frank, I doubt anyone did but Parvati and Lavender who sat at the front on the edge of their poufs, eagerly nodding their heads at everything she said, without fail.

I felt my palms start to sweat as I realised that I hadn't done last week's homework. I fumbled for my homework diary that Gran had insisted I use and saw that it wasn't something that I could do while she was predicting Harry's death for that week.

Write a three foot long essay on the effect that the Moon has on fortune telling when it is in the seventh house at the same time that Jupiter aligns with Mars.

Which planet is Jupiter again? I thought desperately it's the one with the rings isn't it? Something told me that I wasn't right. I racked my brain for something that I'd learned in Astronomy that could help me start this essay in class.

Mercury, Venus, Earth. I thought as I hurried along the third floor corridor oh, what comes next! Before I knew what was happening, my stuff went flying everywhere as I fell for the second time that day and I winced as I heard my inkbottle shatter in my bag. I looked up, expecting to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle laughing and walking away, but instead I saw someone that I didn't expect. Luna Lovegood. She was crouched down, picking up my books and siphoning the ink off them.

"I'm sorry" she said in her dreamy voice "I didn't see you there. I suppose the wrackspurts were in both our heads."

"The what?" I asked, confused as I got up, still pressing my hand to the cut on my head and accepting my books and bag back from her.

"The wrackspurts" she said again "they're what caused us to run into each other" she nodded earnestly. My brain couldn't keep up. Wrackspurts? I didn't even bother asking what they were as Luna swung her own bag back over her shoulder.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around Neville Longbottom." She said, smiling softly and drifted off, humming a cheerful tune to herself. Shaking my head I hurried on. I was still at least ten minutes away from north tower. They should have floo networks for this I thought furiously as I took a wrong turn through a tapestry and had to backtrack. The corridors were emptying as students made their way into classes on either side, looking at me like I was stupid for getting lost.

After two wrong turns and a chute behind a tapestry that took me down two floors I ended up asking a painting on the fifth floor for directions. I thanked him and broke into a run tearing down the corridors. Left, right, right again until I reached the trapdoor, which, thankfully, was still down, someone having just climbed up. I seized the rungs and pulled myself up into Professor Trelawney's stifling classroom.

Professor Trelawney's fumes had the desired effect on me that day. I couldn't stop thinking about Luna; the way that she had apologised for knocking me over, the way she had helped me up and handed me back my books and the way that she had so carelessly mentioned Wrackspurts in front of someone she barely knew. What were wrackspurts anyway?

Week 2

For the rest of the week I continued to look out for her. I only really saw her at mealtimes when she would face the Gryffindor table, often reading the latest edition of The Quibbler that her father had obviously sent. It was interesting to see all the different ways that she could read that thing, upside down, sideways, even diagonally. I still found her interesting. She was like a puzzle that I couldn't seem to figure out. It would also help if I didn't stop bumping into her in the corridors. I thought as I made my way through the grounds to third period Herbology.

"Hello, Neville Longbottom." I heard a dreamy voice say from in front of me. I looked up to see Luna skipping towards me, a vacant smile on her face.

"Uh-Hi, Luna" I stammered, not knowing how she could be so happy when today was so gloomy outside.

"Here" she said, handing me a turnip looking thing.

"Uh, what is it?" I asked awkwardly, accepting the thing.

"It's a gurdyroot." She said happily, "it keeps away the wrackspurts. Your head's full of them."

"Um, thanks?" I said, unsure of what to say.

"That's alright." She said, before skipping off in the opposite direction. "You need to keep it in your pocket all the time though!" she called back. I raised an eyebrow as I slipped the gurdyroot into my pocket.

"Loony and Longbottom sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" I heard a voice jeer from behind me and turned to find some first years giggling outside their classroom. I immediately felt my face flush red as I adjusted my Mimbulus Mimbletonia in my arms. I wanted to say something but it was like my vocal cords had stopped working temporarily. Instead I walked straight past them, in what I thought was an attempt to not look flustered, but obviously not because the first years dissolved into peals of laughter.

"Longbottom." drawled Malfoy when I reached the greenhouses "That plant isn't going to help you get a girl, unless you've told Lovegood that it's a Crumple Horned Snorkel in disguise."

"Snorkak" I corrected before I could stop myself. I immediately wished I hadn't opened my mouth, why did I do that? Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at my statement, their eyes mocking me. I hugged my Mimbulus Mimbletonia close to my chest and pushed past them towards the door of greenhouse six, where we would be working today.

"I'll bet Lovegood can't wait to shag you." Goyle shouted stupidly after me. You'd better enjoy it Longbottom, because it'll be your first and last time!"

I felt tears welling in my eyes as I set my bag down at a bench, keeping my eyes low so people wouldn't see. I heard the rest of the class come in and sit down as I kept my eyes fixed on a beetle crawling across the table.

"You alright Neville?" Ron asked me as he dumped his stuff next to me. "You look a bit gloomy."

"Yeah, I'm fine" I replied, looking up fleetingly before lowering my eyes to the ground.

"Whatever you say, mate." I heard Ron say, before resuming a conversation with Harry and Hermione that had undoubtedly been going since they left Transfiguration. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Dean were the nicest people in the year in my opinion. The five of them always made sure that they said Hi to me when they saw me, when everyone else never bothered to even notice that I was there. I liked Hermione best though, she was the one who had helped me through first year, with getting bullied by Malfoy and getting picked on by Snape, I don't think I would've survived without her. I admit, I did have a sort of crush on her in third and fourth year, but then she turned me down at the Yule Ball. I don't even know why I asked her. Why would she want to go with Neville Longbottom? She was still friendly towards me, but she didn't help me out in potions anymore, that job had been passed on to Dean and Seamus, neither of which was too crash hot at potions themselves.

"Welcome to Greenhouse six, fifth years." Professor Sprout said jovially as she walked into the classroom, smiling warmly at me. She reminded me of my Grandmother when she wasn't being strict. I forced a smile back at her before catching sight of Malfoy and his Slytherin friends across the room making kissing gestures at me.

I didn't get it, I talk to one girl alone, one girl and I'm getting mocked? Well, that might've had something to do with the fact that that one girl was Luna Lovegood.

Week 3

I shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked into the dusky grounds, making a beeline towards the lake. I liked the lake; it was a place where I could pull down all my barriers and just let myself think without worrying that people would see me without my mask on. Not that it was a very strong mask though. Dean told me the other day that he could read me like an opened book. And I thought I had a relatively strong mask.

I was half way around the lake when I saw her, frolicking between the trees at the edge of the forbidden forest, letting her hand brush against them lightly as she passed them by. Even from this distance away I could see that she was smiling. I felt a smile spread across my face in turn as I found my legs walking towards her, my smile becoming bigger. Just seeing her run around the trees without a care in the world made me want to jump for joy and whoop and run with her.

My legs picked up speed until I was close enough to talk to her without yelling.

"Hi, Luna isn't it?" I said, walking to the trees at the edge of the forest as she looped around a large oak. She stopped and skipped towards me cautiously.

"Hello Neville Longbottom." She said, her familiar greeting brought a small smile to my face.

"Please, just Neville." I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. She stared at it quizzically for a few seconds before deciding that she didn't want to shake my hand and hugged me instead. I was completely taken aback as she wrapped her arms around my waist as though she had known me her whole life.

"Hello Neville" she said, cocking her head slightly as she pulled away from the hug.

"Hi" I stammered, still shocked by the fact that she had chosen to hug me. She continued to survey me in a... well... a Luna way, for a few minutes while I tried to think of what to say to her. "Uh, what were you doing?" I asked feebly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I was looking for the moon frogs." She replied, "They always come out around dusk."

"But why run?" I asked, confused as to why she was running around.

"Because you have to scare them silly." She laughed "If you don't scare them they won't light up and you won't be able to see them." She looked at me for a few seconds. "Would you like to look for them with me?" her eyes lit up like a firework as she grabbed my hand.

"Uh, no- sorry Luna, lot's of work, maybe some other time?" I said, flustered and the spark in her eyes died. She looked disappointed.

"Yes, alright." She said dejectedly "You'd better go back up to the castle, it'll be dark soon."

"Won't you get lost?" I asked as she skipped off into the forest.

"No" she replied with a small smile "The moon frogs will guide me back." And with that, she was gone. I could hear her skipping through the undergrowth of the forest, looking for moon frogs. I shook my head, she really was crazy, but a good crazy and definitely someone worth becoming friends with.

I walked quickly back up to Gryffindor tower, feeling momentarily proud of myself for remembering the password as I passed through the Fat Lady. I sat down at a table and pulled a fresh sheet of parchment from my bag and dipped a quill in some ink and wrote down what I knew about Luna, which was not much, but so much in just a few words.

Her Name is Luna and she's crazy as can be.

AN: Hello! It's me! Back with another Neville/Luna multi chap! Yes my dear friends, this is the one I promised you when I finished Not Alone, Never Alone and it is here! Now, as you can tell, this is set in fifth year, in Neville's perspective (DEAR GOD THIS IS SO MUCH EASIER!) and will be around ten chapters long. Don't worry, they will be ten LOONNNNG chapters. I'm thinking weekly maybe bi-weekly updates, because, despite my promises, this is the only chapter I have finished (I can't not post a fic once I've finished the chapter.) I need some self restraint.

While you're waiting for this to get updated, you could have a little read of Not Alone, Never Alone for all you Nuna fanatics, or anything else for the rest of you.

Reviews are always valued and appreciated. So is constructive criticism.

Until Next Time

~The Original Horcrux~