A Doc, A Looney and a Box

Author's Note: First Chapter finished! I've been batting it around for a little while, trying to figure out just how I wanted to introduce my dear Luna into the story, and I think I've finally found a fairly good way of doing so. For all of you who haven't read it this story is a sequel to A Doc, A Bookworm, and a Box, and I would highly suggest reading that first as a lot of the plot in this story will pick up with what happened after the events of the first.

Imaginary Friends

Christmas morning dawned bright and early, a crisp layer of snow covering every inch of ground. Harry Potter was fast asleep in bed when he heard the door creak and a patter of footsteps attempt to sneak their way in. Under the covers, he reached over to nudge his wife awake, opening his eyes just enough to wink at her mere seconds before they were under attack.

"Daddy, daddy!" James called out, flying onto the bed and directly on top of Harry. "Time for presents!"

"Urgh! You're getting heavy!" moaned Harry jokingly as he reached down to tousle the boys hair, sending him into a fit of giggles. He and Ginny sat up just in time for their second son to climb up onto the bed, thumb stuck firmly in his mouth.

"Al wants presents too," said James. "But he said it's okay if I open mine first," he added quickly, glancing surreptitiously at his mother and father to see if they had bought his story.

"I'll bet," said Harry, yawning loudly before scooping up James in one arm and Albus in the other. "But breakfast first. Then maybe we'll see what Santa bought you."

"All right!" shouted James. Ginny laughed, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she climbed out of bed, kissing both boys and then her husband before making her way down to the kitchen.

Harry managed to shuttle both boys back to their bedroom, getting them to brush their teeth and (unsuccessfully) comb their hair before they rushed back down to the kitchen, where the boys impatiently devoured their breakfast before rushing to the pile of shiny presents underneath the Christmas tree. Albus, being the youngest, went first, despite his brothers protests. He spent a half hour tearing through the packages, admiring everything from the thickly knit jumper his grandmother had sent him to the child-size Firebolt his father had bought him.

When it was James' turn he tore through his gifts, protesting when his mother insisted he change into his own jumper, shouting excitedly over the package sent by his Uncle George from the WWW and chasing down the golden snitch that escaped from the box his father had left for him.

By the time this ritual was finished it was nearing noon, and Ginny shipped the boys off to their rooms to change for the annual trip to the Burrow, where they would reunite with their cousins and wait eagerly for the traditional Christmas dinner, which was still prepared by Mrs. Weasley every year without fail, no matter how expansive the Weasley (and now Potter) brood became.

"I'll meet you there later," said Harry when the boys had disappeared.

"Oh?" said Ginny as she scooped up the now empty plates and sent the scraps of wrapping paper careening into the rubbish bin. "Do you have Ministry business?"

Harry shook his head. He moved to the washroom, changing into a clean set of robes and brushing a hand through his hair. "I was going to go see Luna, actually," he said casually.

Ginny froze, turning to stare at him. "Ah," she said quietly. After a moment she continued with what she was doing. "Has there been any change?" she asked after a moment.

"Well, no," he said. "None at all, really. I just thought…well, since her father hasn't been around and she doesn't really have anybody else…well, nobody should be alone at Christmas."

"You're right," said Ginny. "The boys and I will see you later. Make sure you tell her we all said hi," she added, smiling when Harry came over and leaned down to kiss her. "And this one, too," she added, placing a hand on her still flat stomach.

"Ah, how could I forget the newest Potter. Merry Christmas, little Lily or Remy," he said, leaning down, kissing Ginny right on top of her belly. He walked out of the house before disapparating, appearing right in front of St. Mungo's. He walked right through the front doors, waving at the front desk before making his way to the lift. As the doors were closing he heard a shout and put his hand out to stop them.

"Hey Harry, Merry Christmas," said Neville Longbottom as he pressed his way inside.

"Merry Christmas, Neville. Visiting your parents?" he said.

Neville nodded. "You're here for Luna?" he said. When Harry responded in the affirmative Neville reached out, putting his hand on his arm. "I know," he said quietly. "I was going to stop by and see her too, but I haven't the time. Can you tell her I said hello? I've heard that there hasn't been any change since they put her in. Have you…"

Harry shook his head. It had been a year since the Ministry had decided in favor of committing Luna to the care of St. Mungo's. Harry himself had been a witness in the case, and try as he might he had been unable to get the Ministry to decide against the order. He had gone at least once a week since then to see her, although the doctors were saying the same thing every time. The delusions that had seemed so harmless when she was younger had taken over her mind, to the point that she could no longer tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

The greatest delusion of all was Luna's imaginary friend, the girl she had spent the better part the time after the fall of Voldemort trying to convince everybody had really existed. The girl she called Hermione.

Harry and Neville parted at the their floor, Harry turning down a quiet hall and making his way down to Room 19. The orderly at the end of the hall waved when he saw Harry, standing up and going through his keys to let Harry into the room.

When he entered he saw nothing but an empty room, walls scattered with drawings of all the things that existed in Luna's mind. There were strange crumple-horned creatures with wicked eyes and small furry monsters, and everywhere there was the girl, a pretty creature with wildly curled hair and dark, intelligent eyes. Harry glanced over the drawings and finally found Luna sitting by the window.

She was looking out over the street below, face turned away from Harry. Her long, wavy hair fell past her waist, shining brightly against a royal-blue robe that fell to her ankles. "Merry Christmas, Harry," she said after a long moment of silence. Then turning she smiled, her wide blue eyes sparkling happily.

"Merry Christmas, Luna," said Harry, and closing the space between them he gave her a warm hug, settling himself down at the seat opposite her. He reached into his robes, pulling out a small package wrapped in silver.

"A present?" she said airily, plucking the object from Harry's hand. She stared at it for a long moment. "It's very pretty," she said, and began to sit it back down when Harry stopped her, repressing a chuckle.

"You have to open it," he said.

"Oh. Right," said Luna. She plucked the paper aside with her slender fingers, revealing a small glass orb. "What is it?" she said.

"A Remembrall. Like the one Neville's gran gave him when we were in school. It's not much, I just thought you might like it."

"It's very pretty," said Luna. She held it in her palm, staring at the shimmering surface. "Tell Neville I'm sorry he couldn't make it to see me, and hello."

"I…what?" said Harry. He was about to ask her how she knew he'd seen Neville but stopped himself, shaking his head.

"It'll help you when you're…you know, concentrating on things," he said. "I just thought maybe it could help you sort out your thoughts."

"It was a lovely thought, but my thoughts are fairly sorted," said Luna with a smile. "What about you, Harry?" she asked. "Is there anything you've forgotten?"

"Quite a bit. It's easy to forget things when you've got a pregnant wife and two trolls running the house," he said with a laugh. Luna smiled, offering him the Remembrall without a word. He took it from her, holding it in his palm. Suddenly a bright blue light shone from within, glowing so brightly that it stung his eyes. "What the…" he stammered, almost dropping it when Luna plucked it out of his grasp.

"It's all right," she said. "You'll remember her when the time is right."

"Luna," said Harry. "Don't…I mean…listen, this Hermione person can't be real, how could you be the only person who remembers her?"

"It's not about seeing what's there. It's about seeing what's not there," she said with a small smile.

Harry chuckled, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. "I better go," he said, standing. "You take care of yourself Luna," he said, moving away.

Luna watched him leave, waiting until the door had closed behind him before picking the Remembrall back up. She stared at its surface for a second, as if waiting, but the glass remained clear. Although she wasn't certain why, or how she remembered, Luna knew everything about the girl that had once been a sister to Harry Potter-a girl who most people had thought would grow to be one of the greatest witches of her time.

The memory was fuzzy around the edges, like markings made in pencil that somebody had tried to rub away but couldn't. Because of that there were details that escaped her-the sound of her voice, or the clothes she wore. But there were other things that were firmly imprinted in her mind and refused to go away.

Outside the doors of St. Mungo's, Harry looked back up to the topmost floor. He squinted for a moment at the flash of blue at her window, feeling an unexplained sense of loss grip him tightly for several moments. But shaking his head, he walked away, Apparating away to The Burrow, and leaving Luna behind.

All that day the nagging sense that something wasn't right stayed with him. That night he brought up the sensation to Ginny.

"What do you mean, you think that maybe she's right?" she said.

"I don't know," said Harry. "It's just…do you think maybe this Hermione person might have been real? Some sort of massive memory charm, or worse? I think I might go to the Department of Secrets, have them look into it. I mean, Luna's always been a bit…" he paused, looking for the best word to use. "Off." He finally settled on, nodding to himself. "But she's smart and you never know…she may even be able to see something that we can't."

Ginny was thoughtful for a long moment. "You may be right," she said. "Do what you think is best Harry. At the very least then you'll know you did whatever you could for her."

Then, kissing her husband good night, Ginny turned out the light on Christmas Day.

"Daddy, Daddy! Time for presents!"

Harry's eyes flashed open. He was struck suddenly with a strange sense of déjà vu, but he quickly pushed it away as James and then Albus leapt into bed with him and Ginny.

"Urgh! You're getting heavy!" Harry teased, as the Christmas morning ritual began.

Far away in St. Mungo's Luna was looking out the window. It was Christmas again. The tinkle of holiday music filtered in through her window and she watched the same people pass by as had the morning before. Breakfast was brought in at half past eight, by an orderly in a red velvet cap, who wished her a Merry Christmas and quietly passed her a bottle of butterbeer, snuck in from outside the hospital.

When she had eaten, and the orderly disappeared back to his post, she turned to dig in her dresser for the Remembrall that Harry had given her. It was nowhere to be found. The same thing happened every morning, as it had for several days now.

She waited at the window for Harry, greeting him and smiling when he came in. It was the best part of her day, though it never varied. She remembered when the time loop had first began that she had tried to tell him, over and over, what was going on, but of course nobody had believed her. So she had stopped trying, deciding that she'd rather just enjoy the visits rather than feel guilty and even more alone every time he left her.

Harry came promptly at noon, as he had a dozen times before, and Luna went through the motions of the half-hour conversation as she always did, wondering if the loop would just go on forever or if it would finally spiral downward, growing smaller and smaller until time just poofed out of existence. It was a chilling thought, and it occupied her thoughts as he bid her farewell and she was left alone in her room, where she watched him leave on the street below.

Luna sighed, staring down at the Remembrall that she held in her hand. She quietly tucked it into the pocket of her robe and closed her eyes.

Ten Years Later

"I better go. You take care of yourself Luna," said Harry. She watched him leave, smiling sadly to herself as he walked out the door. She glanced down at the Remembrall in her hand, gripping it tightly. She closed her eyes, feeling the weight leave her hand as it suddenly flickered itself out of existence. She took several deep breaths, waiting until she heard the lock move in the door.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," she said, without moving.

The loop had closed in tightly, like a noose around the fabric of the world. Now only this thirty-minute stretch of time seemed to be all that was in existence, and it simply repeated itself, over and over. "I'm sorry, but it's not Harry," said a strange voice.

Luna jumped, turning around quickly. A young man stood there, staring intently at her. He was tall and thin, with longish brown hair. He wore a tweed jacket, the sort of thing muggle professors wore, and a bow tie and suspenders. "Who are you?" she said. He was the first new person that she had seen in a very long time.

"I'm the Doctor. And you're…strange," he said. "Physically part of the time loop the TARDIS has detected by mentally detached from it. The entire earth has been reliving the same moment in time over and over again for a long while now…and you're the only person on this entire planet that's even aware of it. Besides me of course. Now why is that?"

"I'm not certain. What's a Doctor?" said Luna.

"Well I am. Well, I'm THE Doctor, not A Doctor per se. Well…oh, no time to explain. I just think you'd better come with me before your friend shows up again. He's due in…oh…thirty seconds." He reached his hand out and Luna took it, immediately letting herself be pulled out the door by the Doctor and down the hall. The orderly stared blankly at them. "Psychic paper, he thinks I belong to the Ministry of Magic," said the Doctor in explanation.

"Ah," said Luna. They turned down a long corridor, at the end of which a large blue box stood, doors slightly open. A young woman with red hair poked her head out, waving frantically. "Come on!" She called out, and the Doctor and Luna flew through the doors, which the young woman shut firmly behind her.

The Doctor flew to the controls, working them over as the young woman came over and took Luna's hand. "Are you all right?" she said. "The same day over and over for ten years…you must be bored out of your mind!" she said.

"I think it was probably a bit more traumatic than that," said a young man standing nearby. Then, lowering his voice, he said, "I mean, she was already in the…ahem…well, you know."

"I'm not insane," said Luna. "Not entirely, anyway."

"I didn't mean…well…"

"He's my dear husband Rory," said the young woman. "And I'm Amy. Pleased to meet you. This is the TARDIS."

Luna looked around for the first time. The Doctor had left the controls and was staring at her expectantly, arms crossed. She took a few steps forward, remembering that she had stepped into what seemed to be a small blue box and now stood in a vast enclosure of glass and metal, with steps leading to who knew where. "It's nice," she said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "This is why I don't like witches and wizards," he said. "Takes all the fun out of the dimensional anomaly if they're already used to that sort of thing."

"And just when were you going to tell me there were such things as witches and wizards? On earth? Real magic!" said Amy, turning to the Doctor.

"I don't know, must have slipped my mind. Just learned about it myself," he said.

"So you can just like…wave a wand and…poof!" said Rory, gesturing wildly.

"I'm sure it's a load more complicated than that," said Amy. "Complicated rituals, runes…"

"Actually quite a lot of it is poofing and wand waving," said Luna dreamily.

"Oh." Amy stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged.

The Doctor was reading something on the TARDIS display panel as this conversation went on, and after a long moment he clapped his hand excitedly. "Right! I think I can see where the disruption in time and space is coming from," he said. "And, not surprisingly, it seems to center on our friend here."

"Why me?" said Luna.

"I don't know. Is there anything strange about you? Anything that doesn't quite seem to fit with the rest of the world you know?"

"Everybody has always thought I was looney," said Luna. "Nobody believes in the things that I do. Crumple-horned Snorcacks and Nargles…and they don't believe in Hermione, either."

The Doctor froze, a strange look passing over his face for a moment. "Hermione?" he said strangely.

"Yes. My old friend. She went to school with all of us, but one day I woke up and it was like she had never existed. I was the only person who remembered her. She had been gone for a while…years…I don't know where. But at least people knew who she was. Now they all think she was my imaginary friend."

"Imaginary…friend?" said Amy haltingly. She spun around to look at the Doctor. "I had an imaginary friend once," she said.

"Somebody lost in a crack in time?" said Rory. "But it can't…I mean, it'd have been healed."

"Maybe not if she wasn't part of Amy's timeline. But that doesn't make sense," said the Doctor. But all of a sudden he and Amy both seemed stricken by something.

Amy's eyes widened. "Hermione," she said breathlessly. "I can't…I mean, the girl…"

"Yes, yes, I'd completely forgotten. You got to meet my old self, and…but how can that be possible? I remember doing all those things and there was never…oh," he said, blinking. Amy nodded as he came across the end of that memory. "Oh," he said, a little more quietly. "We lost her. Didn't we?" He was quiet for several seconds, then turned to Luna.

"I'm…I mean…I'm so sorry," he said, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder.

"She isn't dead," said Luna.

"No. I don't think she is," said the Doctor. "Otherwise why would you remember? But right now, and I really hate to say this, that isn't our concern. If we don't stop that time loop the whole earth is going to blink to a stop. The only problem is, to stop the time loop we have to travel outside of it. And the TARDIS isn't having any of that."

"We'd been stuck here for three days before the Doctor managed to find you," said Amy with a sardonic smile.

"What we need is a more organic method of time travel," said the Doctor. "The TARDIS is just too complicated, it's like trying to sneak a battleship through a shopping mall."

"Well, what about a time turner?" said Luna.

"A time what?" said the Doctor.

"A time turner. Wizards use them all the time if they need to be in two places at once. I know where we can get one."

Amy and Rory both turned to look at the Doctor. "Cheap and easy time travel. The magic kind. I kind of like it."

"We aren't that far away. They're kept inside the Ministry of Magic. And as it's Christmas, there shouldn't be that many people around."

"Can you draw?" said the Doctor. Luna nodded, and darting off to somewhere the Doctor returned with a map of London. "Here. Show me," he said, handing it to her along with a pen.

Luna took up the pen, sketching onto the map all of the magical places she knew of in London. She circled their location at St. Mungo's, then sketched in the place where the Ministry of Magic belonged. When she was finished, she handed it off to the Doctor. "

"There's really like this big magical underground?" said Amy, mesmerized. "Oh, I have to see it sometime."

"Why don't we focus on saving the world first?" said Rory.

"Again," said Amy, winking.

"Right! We're off!" said the Doctor. He moved around to the console and began to push at the buttons, pulling levers and adjusting knobs. There was a sudden gasping sound and the entire ship rocked. By the time Luna found her footing they had arrived. She started toward the door but the Doctor shouted, moving to catch her before she touched the knob.

"Right. First things first we need to assess the situation. We're still caught up in the time loop, and it's only getting shorter. Right now we have fifteen minutes. If we don't get the Time Turner back onto the TARDIS before then it'll be back to point A and…here's the kicker…we could all get stuck in it, forever."

"So it's in and out, ASAP," said Rory.

"No. You're staying here. You too Amy, no arguments," said the Doctor. Amy began to protest but the Doctor lifted his finger warningly, turning to Rory. "Keep an eye on her. Or…well, try to anyway. Come on." He took Luna by the hand and pulled her after him and through the door.

Although Luna hadn't often been inside the Ministry, the few times she had been in had imprinted a map of the place on her memory. She recognized their location immediately as being the main entry hall, where Harry and Dumbledore had once fought together against Voldemort, now so very long before.

"It's this way," she said, pulling the Doctor along with her as she started towards the section that housed the Time Turners.

"You're certain?" he asked.

"You act like it's the first time I've broken into the Ministry," said Luna lightly, turning to smile at him. "Trust me. It's this way."

"Then after you," he said. He withdrew his Sonic Screwdriver, although he was certain that it would do very little good where he currently was. Luna saw the gesture, feeling a very rare pain in her chest.

"I wish I had my wand," she said with a small shrug. "It vanished shortly before I was forced into St. Mungo's. Not that they'd have let me keep it anyway."

"Ah," said the Doctor slowly. He was watching her face as they walked along, studying her quietly as if not certain what to make of this new creature. "Did you hear that?" he said suddenly, as a small clattering noise echoed faintly around them. Luna shrugged in response.

"So why didn't you let those two come?" she said. "It's not any more dangerous for them than it is for us. And they can't use that box if something happens to you, can they?"

"No…not really," said the Doctor. "You are very astute, aren't you?" he said.

"Mad people usually are," she said. "Hold on, this is it." She went up to a large door, pressing firmly on the handle. It gave after a moment's urging and they found themselves in a long corridor that led lower into the heart of the Ministry. Luna continued leading the way. They walked in silence for several moments.

"You know, it's not that I don't trust them or anything," he said finally.

"Mmm," hummed Luna.

"It's just that…well…they're so very human. I'm not sure how they'd be able to handle knowing about all…this. I'm not sure I know how I'm handling knowing there are so many humans with so much power mucking about," he added.

"Muggles get up to about as much trouble as we do with their guns and bombers and things," said Luna. "At least with magic there's some sort of definition between good and evil. At least, there's supposed to be."

"Isn't that always the case?" the Doctor mumbled. They stopped talking when they reached the chamber that housed the Time Turners. Luna herself picked the instrument that they intended to use, the largest and most ornate of the small hourglasses. Gently placing it around her neck, she moved close to the Doctor and looped the chain around his as well.

"We won't have time to get back to your box unless we use it now, too," she said. The Doctor nodded and Luna turned the hourglass once. They felt themselves propelled momentarily backward.

Their trip back to the TARDIS was unevently, apart from having to dodge their past versions of themselves. "Feels like I've been doing that a fair bit recently," said the Doctor as he brushed his coat off. "And this time I didn't even get a fez."

"Did you get it Doctor?" said Amy, leaning out of the TARDIS as he and Luna approached.

"Got it!" he said. Luna lifted the chain off her neck and handed it to him, and without hesitation he ran into the ship and immediately began the process of wiring the Time Turner into the mainframe of the TARDIS.

"The problem I was having," he said after several long moments, "was that whatever is causing this particular Time Loop has nothing at all to do with time. At least, not the proper sort of time that I deal with. It's magical in nature, of that much I'm certain."

"And it's centered around her," said Amy, glancing at Luna.

"It appears so. I'm not certain why, though. But we're about to find out!" He pressed a lever and all of a sudden the TARDIS was off. The lights began to flash, the TARDIS struggling to break free when all of a sudden everybody was thrown to the floor. Luna felt like her stomach was spinning, and thought it was very likely that she was going to be sick, when all of a sudden the rotation stopped.

"Where are we?" said Amy.

"We are on a train in the Scottish Countryside," said the Doctor. "On September the first, 1992."

"My first day of school," said Luna in surprise.

"Mmm. Looks like there's something to this. Let's have a look."

All four stepped out of the TARDIS. It was the Hogwarts Express, there was no doubt about that to Luna, and even she couldn't help but gasp a little in surprise when she saw that they were standing at the entrance to an almost empty compartment. The only passenger inside was a small blonde girl of eleven, who was dressed in bright blue and neon green, a spinning silver orb around her neck.

"Is that you?" said Amy. Luna nodded, and they all watched the girl for a moment before Amy asked, "Why are you all alone?"

"I'm really quite shy," said Luna. "I always have been. It's because people don't really believe the things I do. I spent half the journey in this car, by myself. It was Hermione who…" Luna paused, looking at the lonely little girl and then out at the window, where the sky had begun to darken. "Who introduced me to Ginny, and some other girls. And Neville Longbottom. We were friends, sort of, for a couple of years. Even before I met Harry."

"But if Hermione didn't exist…then…" Amy's eyes widened. "Could that have caused the Time Loop?"

"Anomalies like that usually just sort of heal themselves," said the Doctor. "But I do think we ought to stick back here and watch for a little while."

At that the four of them found a spot where they could watch the girl without themselves being noticed.

"Now I want you to think," said the Doctor after several moments of silence. "Think very carefully. Can you remember how exactly that first meeting happened? How exactly did you meet all of them?"

"They thought I was mad, even then. But they were at least nice," said Luna. "Ginny ran in here because she got the giggles when the other girls mentioned Harry. Hermione came in after her and they sat in here with me for a little while."

"Ah…okay. But if Hermione doesn't exist at just this moment then Ginny doesn't…"

He trailed off as the door to the compartment flew open. Ginny came rushing through, cheeks bright red, and seeing only Luna sat down at the opposite end and stared steadily through the window. The young Luna watched her for a moment, her own cheeks turning pink, and then hid her face behind the pages of a magazine.

"I was terribly shy. I always have been, even though most people don't really realize it," said Luna as she watched the girl. Then before anybody could stop her Luna moved through the car, past Ginny, and sat down next to her younger self. She leaned down, whispering something in the girls' ear that nobody else could hear. The girl glanced up, eyes widening, and she looked immediately at the girl who was sitting on the other side of the train. Luna smiled and hid herself again behind the door with Amy, Rory and the Doctor.

After a few moments the younger Luna stood up, making her way over to where Ginny sat. "Hello. I'm Luna Lovegood, nice to meet you," she said, reaching out with one slender hand.

All of a sudden it seemed that the entire world seemed to shift. "It's sorting itself out! Come on!" said the Doctor, pulling everybody inside the TARDIS before slamming the doors shut. They immediately took off once again, the sound of the ship roaring in everybody's ears. There was a sudden flash as Time expanded all around them. The TARDIS continued roaring for just a few moments more, and then they had made their final landing.

The Doctor pulled the Time-Turner from the TARDIS console and then handed it to Luna. "There you are," he said congenially. "I think you earned that fair and square." He tossed it to her and she caught it lightly with both hands. The Doctor moved behind her and then opened up the door that led into her bedroom. Luna stared out into dreamily for a few moments, and then moving through it went to the window.

"It's Boxing Day," she said, a faint smile forming on her lips as she saw the large crowd gathered below on dirty snow. She smiled, then turned around to look at her three companions. "Thank you, I suppose," she said. "For saving me…and everything."

"You are a brilliant young lady," said the Doctor. He moved forward, taking her by each elbow. "And I'm going to see to it that you're released from this hospital as soon as possible…"

"I think I know a way to get her out of here sooner," said Amy, eyebrows raised. Both the Doctor and Rory turned to stare at her.

"What do you mean?" said Rory, looking somewhat suspicious.

"I mean that I've never, EVER, met a real life witch before and I'd like to see a little bit more hocus pocus before we throw her back, Doctor," said Amy.

"What?" said both the Doctor and Rory.

"She's not here for our amusement," said the Doctor.

"Oh, come off it, it's not like she's going to be missed," said Amy, waving her arms around at the otherwise empty room. "And we still need to figure out what's going on with this Hermione person."

The Doctor stood where he was for a long moment, staring into Luna's eyes. Finally he sighed deeply. "How about it then? All of time and space in a little blue box with a madman and these two kids, newly married and crazy in love, for company…does it sound good to you, Miss Luna Lovegood?"

"It sounds amazing!" she said. "But first, I'm going to need a wand."

"A…wand?" said the Doctor. "You mean a wooden wavey magic thing?"

"Maybe," said Luna. "But…"

She reached into his pocket, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver. "But if you have an old one of these, I think I could make it work."

Several minutes later the Doctor emerged from a storage room in the TARDIS, a long metal cylinder in hand. "I don't remember which one of us it belonged to, but I found it floating around down there…say, how exactly do you think you're going to make that work?"

"All a real wand needs to work is a magical core," said Luna. "And as it so happens I have one right here. Can you open it up for me?"

"Open…ah," said the Doctor, and using his own Sonic he went to work on the old one.

She pulled out its core, and pulling the Time Turner from her robes she slid it neatly into place on the inside. As she screwed it back closed it glowed with a bright silvery light. Luna turned, pointing it at the ceiling.

"Lumos," she whispered. There was a high-pitched whirring and then a bright light filled the room for a few moments. Luna smiled happily and Amy, obviously impressed, leaned over to Rory.

"Sonic Wand. Very nice," she said.

"All right then! Luna's got a wand, Amy and Rory are still our proud newlyweds and we have saved the earth…once again! Who's up for a field trip to the Mesozoic?"

The TARDIS whirred and disappeared. Thousands years away Luna opened the doors and leaned out, watching as newly made stars blinked happily in the night sky. It was a time before man…before all the pain and suffering of the life she had known had ever come to be. She took a deep breath of the cool night air, her mind suddenly feeling more right than it had in a very long while. "Harry Potter," she whispered to the empty darkness. "One day I'll find you and thank you for everything you've been to me. But it's time I go off for a little while, and find myself. I think, for the first time."

She smiled, letting her hair lift up and caress her face in the zero gravity. Then, taking a deep breath, she took a step back and into the ship where her new friends, and her new home, awaited.