A few days later Luna was busying herself pulling vines from the rocks by hand. Using her wand to clear all of this would have been too easy, too quick. Doing it by hand made her muscles ache and shut off her brain. It was helpful. Every now and then water would spray up from the river flowing below making sure she did not over heat.

Luna was pleasantly surprised when Ginny appeared above her, holding a couple glasses of iced tea that had no doubt come from Luna's father. Luna stopped her work as Ginny took a seat on one of the rocks above, her legs swinging as she handed one of the glasses down to Luna. The small girl was thankful for a break. She was tired, doing this without magic was harder then she had thought it would be.

Ginny said nothing when Luna went back to work pulling the vines away from the rocks. They clung on for dear life as if Luna was ripping them away from their homes. Luckily this spot got a lot of direct sunlight so Devils Snare wasn't something she had to worry about running into.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, her legs still swinging freely. Luna strained fighting a particularly annoying vine as she answered.

"I'm cleaning up." She grunted as her hand slipped and she almost fell backwards.

"Are you a witch or not?" Ginny teased knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. It was the way they grew up. Weasley's and Lovegood's always had magic at their finger tips. That wasn't a bad thing, it was a good childhood but now doing things like this was odd and out of place. Truth was Luna just needed the work out, she needed the strain. How would she explain that to her friend?

"Don't be jealous that you have to wait three more days before you can use your magic outside of school." Luna joked lightly and with one more tug the vine came tumbling down. There was a sense of accomplishment clearing this by hand. It was like nothing she had felt before. The magic this would have required would have been simple and she wouldn't have felt this way. Maybe she had missed something being able to use magic her whole life.

"Mum is so strict. I am basically 17 I should be able to use magic at home." Ginny complained.

"Well until then why don't you get down here and take a vine." Luna said with a shrug of her shoulder before she picked up another vine and started pulling all over again. Ginny didn't seem to need much prodding before she jumped down and started to help. There was obviously something on her mind but Luna didn't want to pry.

After a long fruitful break of silence between then, Ginny started to talk. All she needed was some manual labor to get her to loosen her tongue.

"George won't come home," she started as she pulled viciously fighting her current vine. Luna stopped what she was doing and looked over at Ginny. The girl didn't even notice. She just kept moving along. This explained why the girl was here, three days before her birthday. Her house must be going crazy but yet she was here, at Luna's. Wrestling with more then just vines. "He won't come home and mum is a mess. She keeps crying and dad doesn't know how to comfort her. How do you comfort a women who hasn't only lost one son but another one is pulling away?" She sighed and with one more rage filled tug the vine fell at her feet.

"I don't know Gin, I don't know. " Luna sighed feeling helpless. Ginny just shrugged her shoulders, defeated.

"I know, thanks though Luna. I just, I don't want to go home tonight. Think I can stay here?" She asked turning to look at Luna. Luna knew her father wouldn't mind.

Ginny sent her mum a owl, letting the women know that her daughter wouldn't be home that night. At first Ginny didn't want to, but Luna's father talked her into it. As soon as the letter was sent Ginny sat in the living room with Luna's father, listening intently about his travels. He could talk about that subject forever, Merlin knows Luna had heard every story a thousand times and she would listen to them a thousand more. She loved his stories and it seemed Ginny did too. The ginger hung on to his every word ever as her eyelids drooped. It wasn't long until exhaustion won out in the girl, Luna was feeling it herself.

Her father though, was oblivious, he continued talking even though the girl was clearly slumped over snoring softly.

"...majestic creatures, the crumple-horned Snorkack, but very evasive. Their horns ever explode to keep poachers from getting too close." He said cheerfully. Luna popped up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad she's asleep." She whispered softly to avoid waking the girl on the couch. It had looked like the girl could use the sleep.

Xenophillus grasped at his glasses, that had been having from a chain around his neck, and held them up to his eyes. He peered through the lens and chuckled softly as he glanced at Ginny's sleeping form.

"Ah yes, so she is." He sighed softly letting his glasses drop again down around his neck. This man was confounding but he was her only family. She loved him. It was then that she realized there was nothing to forgive. She wouldn't have given up Harry Potter for his safety but she could imagine doing all sorts of things for him. For the first time since she came home she wrapped her arms around him from behind. She hugged him tightly and it felt good. With a soft sigh she laid her head on his shoulder and fixed her blue eyes on Ginny sleeping peacefully. It made Luna happy to see, Ginny was the closest thing she had to a sister.

"Can you stay with her?" Luna asked softly as she loosened her grip slightly. "I've got something I need to do." Her father grasped Luna's arms tightly as she tried to pull away. She could understand his reluctance, she had said those same words before she had been taken by those death eaters over Christmas break. "I will be right back, I promise." Her promise seemed to soothe him and she was able to peel herself away. Her lips grazed the top of his head before she wakes towards the door. She glanced at him for a second and worry really started to sink in. If he was like this about a small Trip she had to make how would he survive her going back to school?

He didn't move from his seat in the old armchair as Luna grabbed her iridescent rainbow cloak. Would it always be like this? She wondered, her father crippled with anxiety every time she left. It was just the warriors that had battle scars from this war.

"She shouldn't wake up, but if she does make sure she isn't alone." Luna instructed fastening the buttons on her cloak. Xenophillus glanced up at her and a soft smile played at his lips. He looked proud.

"My darling Moon, you are extraordinary."

"Don't leave her alone," she instructed him again. "I will be right back." She said before she apparated. Her home disappeared as her body squeezed and stretched. She jumped into the middle of Diagon Alley, barely able to catch her breath. The pebble stones alley ways were still filled with witches and wizards, the back to school sales making the stores stay open later then usual. All the noise around her was like a drone. These people were happy and free, there was no threat anymore. Luna wished she could feel that.

Anxiety ate at her with all these people milling about her. She grasped her cloak tightly around her. Her knuckles turning a bright white from the pressure. She almost went back home, then she remembered she had a mission.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was just a head, even among the bright displays of all the other shops it stood out. The most cheerful shop Luna had ever seen. It illuminated in a way the other shops did not. Luna wasn't alone standing on the street outside of the shop. Parents stood on the curb, chatting and laughing as their children shopped inside. Luna had never been inside before. Their products had been banned at Hogwarts and she was never much for pranks having been on the receiving end of them more often then not. They were popular though, looking through the windows Luna could see the place packed with students. She took a breath and walked inside before she could talk herself out of it.

Laughter echoed around like it was coming out of the walls. Cheers could be heard just to her left as a group of younger students watched a demonstration of one of the products. It was all too much, too much noise, too much activity. Luna couldn't breath. She darted over to a corner that seemed to be neglected and tried counting backwards to relax. When that didn't work she tried focusing on why this corner was neglected. Her gaze fell upon a rack of simple looking cloaks. For your protection, the sign read and Luna smiled. She fingered the material, it was thin not meant for actual use but it was quite brilliant. Shield cloaks.

"Welcome to Weasley's Wizard wheezes, how can we help with your joking needs?" The voice came from nowhere. Among the other noise in the shop she hadn't heard the girl approach and then suddenly she was there. Luna fell into the rack of cloaks, taking the rack down with her to the ground. "I'm so sorry didn't mean to startle you." The girl said helping Luna untangle herself from the mess of fabric she found herself tangled in. A deep red flush spread to Luna's cheeks as she started up at the girl with the almond colored skin. She had such a positive energy about her, it was catching.

"It doesn't take much to startle me, it's alright." The girl grasped Luna's arm and tugged her back to her feet. A soft laugh escaped her and Luna tilted her head. She hadn't said anything funny.

"Well can I help you with anything, were you looking for a cloak?" The girl asked her eyebrows peaking in interest. Luna shook her head, thanks to Harry she could do a simple shield charm, she had no need for one of these cloaks.

"I'm actually looking for George Weasley." Luna spoke, flattening her hand over her flyaway hairs. The girls happy smiled faded in the blink of an eye.

"Then I am sorry to say you've wasted your time. Mr. Weasley sees no one." She spat out. Luna shrank back, not because of the girls tone but because she had come here for one reason and it was about to be for naught.

"Angie." A voice came from above, Luna had hardly heard it above the rest of the noise in the shop. Up on the stairs she hadn't even noticed stood George. His face unshaven, he nodded his head down at them and the girl, Angie smiled again.

"He's up in his office." She said moving aside, Luna glanced up again only to see the blur of him disappearing through the opening of a room that was at the top of the stairs. It amazed her how he had come to her rescue, then again it wasn't the first time. He had been kind to her during the meetings of Dumbledore's Army, the first time around. One of her classmates had stolen her shoes again and she had been forced to go to the meetings without them. Fred and George had been the first there, before her and Fred had laughed. He didn't question it he just laughed. George however had taken off his shoes and taken everyone else's. It was the only interaction sh ever had with the twins. They were a few years older and in a different house but she didn't forget that.

The wiry stairs were unsteady as she climbed them, they swayed and creaked under her every step. She couldn't race up them fast enough. When she was upstairs she went through the same doorway George had disappeared into.

His 'office' was a mess. Two barely used desks were pushed into the nearest corner and a make shift cot took up the majority of the space. It sat in the middle of the room, blankets and pillows scrunched up to one corner. George stood facing the wall away from her, struggling with his wand. He flicked it and flicked it but the mess he was attempting to clean up barely moved. His third attempt was the charm. The discarded clothes and broken objects cleared off of the floor. Luna had heard about emotions messing with your magic and abilities but she had never seen it before now. Her heart ached for him, losing her mother at nine had torn her in two, she couldn't imagine losing someone he had literally spent his entire life with.

"What can I help you with Looney?" He asked when he finally turned towards her. His eyes lacked the laughter she had expected. She thought about letting him get away with calling her that, it was after all what most people called her. She didn't want that name anymore, not now that she was actually looney.

"Don't call me that." She snapped defensively starting off on the wrong foot already. She tried to back track, her voice growing soft and airy as she spoke next. "My name is Luna, my mum named me after the moon. She uh had a thing for the moon and stars." She rambled slightly, giving him more information she had expected to.

"The stars huh?" He asked, something resembling a sly smirk crossing his lips for just the briefest of moments. Feeling slightly uncomfortable Luna strolled farther into the room, walking close to the unused desks in the corner. Her fingers dancing across their dusty surfaces as she walked by them.

"Yeah well, I'm not here to introduce myself." She muttered.

"Then why are you here?" He asked leaning forward. His elbows resting on his knees. She didn't think about softening the blow of what she said next.

"To tell you to go home." The words sounded harsher then she had intended. And the silence that followed afterwards was tense and uncomfortable. What had she been thinking. This wasn't a conversation she could have with anyone, especially someone who called her Looney.

"I am home." He spat at her. His words like a share dagger slicing into her skin. She should have thought this out better, chosen her words more carefully. She wasn't the type to fly off the handle, that was Ginny. Ginny, her best friend, the cornerstone of strength that was asleep on Luna's couch because she didn't want to go home. Suddenly Luna's resolve strengthened.

"This isn't home, it's an escape..." She started chasing a thought that hockey transformed into something else. Luna struggled to keep up with her own thought process as she chased one thought after another. "Your family is struggling with this...loss and you disappearing and refusing to go home helps no one. " he opened his mouth to speak but Luna had finally found gumption and she wasn't giving it up now. She waved her hand effectively shutting George down before he could interrupt her. "I am still talking George Weasley. Go home, this pain you are feeling it isn't just your. Stop being selfish, your family needs you."

"Get the hell out of my shop!" He yelled cutting in before she could say anything else. His face contorted in rage as he advanced on her. His hands gripping on her forearms. The world went black around her, suddenly she wasn't in the joke shop but in a deserted Alley, Death Eaters closing in on her. Their grubby hands grabbing at her, their touch like fire burning into her skin. Quickly they disarmed her and slipped the hood over her head. The darkness swallowed her and the breath was stolen from her chest. Everything spun.

Just as she felt her knees weakening George's office came back into view. It had felt so real, she felt it all. Even now her hand throbbed from the punch she pulled trying to get free from them. The flashback had been rough she had a hard time catching her breath. She blinked trying to force the horrific nausea aside. When she opened her eyes again she saw George laid out on the floor. She could feel her racing heart throb through the pain in her clenched fist. Painful groans echoes around the room coming from the figure at her feet.

She panicked. Fueled by embarrassment and fear she ran, her feet hardly touching the ground as she flew down the stairs and out of the shop. What had she done?