'Just one more week to go' This was Luna's mantra that she kept repeating to herself. One more week and she could go home, leaving the bullying behind again until September. That mantra certainly gave her something to look forward to but did nothing to relieve the pain of having to wear odd shoes - and both of them being for her left foot.
Her tormentors obviously knew there was only one week left of term too, and seemed determined to get as many 'pranks' in before their time ran out. Her heart sank when she heard a girl's voice behind her, experience from her two years in Hogwarts had taught Luna things like this did not end well. She then found herself confronted by the last two people she expected to see.
After Hermione pointed out the young girl in the corridor, Harry wasted no time in approaching the little blonde.
"Hello Luna. I'm Harry Potter, and this is my girlfriend - Hermione Granger."
Waiting on the hammer to drop, Luna said nothing - just stared at the last two people she would have expected to join in with her tormentors.
Sensing something was wrong here, Harry tried his best to put the rather oddly dressed young girl at ease. "I don't know what you've heard about me - there are all these strange stories going around - but I'm not a bad guy. I just found out you are my godsister and wanted to introduce myself. Listen Luna, if you need anything - anything at all - you come see me."
Luna was almost in tears at the first bit of kindness she'd received since entering Hogwarts. Harry looked ready to walk away and give Luna her space but Hermione wasn't having that. Something was badly wrong here and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"Luna, why are you wearing two left shoes?"
Luna's answer was barely above a whisper. "I can only wear what's left in my trunk. Things keep going missing. I hope they turn up before I go home - they did last year…"
The young blonde then got to see another side of Harry, though Hermione's arm slipping around her shoulders reassured Luna that his anger wasn't directed at her.
Having so recently witnessed Hermione's memories of her younger self being bullied may have affected Harry's response to hearing that, but he wasn't sure. He would like to think the fear and vulnerability displayed in Luna's oh so expressive eyes would have gotten a similar reaction out of anyone. Both he and Hermione hated bullies, and were no longer prepared to stand back and let it happen if they could possibly help. "People are taking your stuff? What are the prefects doing about it? Surely Flitwick is dealing with them?"
Hermione was trying to comfort Luna and keep Harry calm at the same time. "Harry, what has McGonagall ever done for us? You don't see our prefects stoping Fred and George pulling pranks, they just don't want to be pranked themselves."
Nodding in agreement, Harry reached a decision. "Dobby." The little elf was there in an instant, and Harry knew exactly what he wanted to do. "Dobby, this is Luna Lovegood. She is my godsister, and a member of our family. People have been taking her things, leaving her standing here in two odd shoes. Could you find Luna's stuff for her?"
Dobby stared at the girl, studying Luna intently before nodding and popping away. Luna was about to protest that Harry didn't have to do this when Dobby popped back with a right shoe for her. The relief at having the proper footwear, and being able to remove the painful shoe that was never meant to be worn on that foot, saw Luna hug Dobby - and make a friend for life.
"We were just about to head down to lunch, would you like to join us?"
Hermione's offer had Luna's jaw hanging open, though Harry misread her reaction as reluctance. "I'll understand if you don't, things tend to be a bit crazy around us."
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